Jo h n Ki n g s l e y Pa n g a n Editor in Chief and President

ludivino Cl i m a C o Jr. Managing Editor

Contributors Br u C e gi B B s si m o n ro s s e r Ju n e Wi l l i a m s an d r e W la W r e n C e

Photography

Wa y n e ha m m o n d | http://waynehammond.net/

Special Thanks to:

Th e TeChnologian sT u d e n T Pr e s s WWW .arTiCleCiTy .C o m

Undergrad Magazine is a Drop Out e-publication. We welcome original and unpublished contribution of different topics. Submissions shall become property of Undergrad Magazine and shall be subject to editorial review. Undergrad Magazine reserves the decision to publish any submitted materials.

The contributed articles and images presented in the publication are due credited and are not property of Undergrad magazine or otherwise emphasized. This magazine cost nothing so please don’t sue us. :-)

Visit us at undergrad.blog.com and undergradmag.multiply.com. Vol. 1 No. 1 March 2009 issue

Features: Cover Story: The First Game Master 8 “Habemus Pappam” No More? 16 From Tabletop to online RPG games, he molded the very Could it be the end of the world or the fall of the most foundation of gaming and Ludivino Climaco Jr. pays tribute influential 2000-year-old Church? A saint prophesied the to the memory of a gamer that started it all—Ernest Gary current pope to be the last one to lead us to an unknown end. Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragon. Cover Story: Sci-fi & Fantasy, Horror, Gaming, Anime & Comic The A-Z of Global Warming: Deforestation 20 Conventions—They are not all the same 12 It’s never inconvenient to know the truth. And if you’re fans are not to be confused with Lord of the Rings skeptical of the Four Horsemen descending gloriously from junkies and so as their conventions. June Williams will tell us the heavens paving our ultimate demise, try deforestation. their difference before we embarrass ourselves by bringing Simon Rosser will tell us why. a lightsaber to a horror convention. sCOOL supply: What’s your Best and Worst Subjects? 27 PS3 Game Previews and Reviews 22 The worst subject by far must be Math! Let’s see if Is it worth buying the PS3 console? Andrew Lawrence will try celebrities like John Travolta and Lucy Liu would agree on to sway you to buy one with its anticipated game releases. their subjects back in school. (It’s gotta be!) Print Screen:

Alma Matter: Let There Be Twilight 23 John Kingsley Pangan “battle of good and evil” art by Seven Steps to College Success 6 Does this teen fantasy-romance movie get nods from If you’re having a post-highschool nostalgia. Get over it. It’s professional critics? Well, it’s difficult to answer that, but we the next level for the fittest in the classroom—thenerd shall live can consult a cracked-up one. And we’ll know from John and the jerk will die. Bruce Gibbs lectures college survival 101. Kingsley Pangan if it’s lights out for the film. School Memos

What should one say in moments like this? We have come bearing gifts? Welcome to the maiden voyage of Undergrad magazine. This ‘Beginning’ issue beckons a momentous genesis in the monthly publication for students and former ones.

The magazine partakes with the everyday hard roads and fun times of the youth and the youth at heart. We encourage you to ventilate your grievances, speak your mind out, and be advocates of responsibility while enjoying the times of our youth.

Ironically, besides this exuberant first step is the scrutiny of a possible revelation of our world. Are we near to the last days of our world? If we are, then is this because of our doing?

Global Warming or Biblical plagues?

Deforestation or Divine intervention?

Scientific or Prophetic?

So many questions answered only in riddled silence.

Have fun also the thrill-ride of this issue’s sections like Print Screen, a crazy movie and TV review portion where we dissect and bash even the best movies and T.V. series. Alma Matter covers about your school, the campus stereotypes, and tips for those who are studying. There is also sCOOL Supply that talks about gadgets, trends, fashion, and lifestyle of the average and the popular students. Watch out also for our next month’s issue ‘The Righteous and the Wicked Alike: Heroes or Zeroes?’ John Kingsley Pangan Contributors

Bruce Gibbs

Bruce Gibbs has been a college instructor and is the author of the college success book, Giving Away the Keys: A Professor Unlocks the Secrets to College Success. You can visit the book’s web site at www.GivingAwaytheKeys.com or pick up a copy at Amazon.com PAGE 6

June Williams

V.P. Buzzy Multimedia Publishing http://www.buzzymultimedia.com

Reference: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/hobbies/article_1189.shtml PAGE 12

Simon Rosser

A lawyer by profession, I felt inspired to write The A-Z of Global Warming book, published in June 2008, after viewing Al Gore’s docu- mentary, An Inconvenient Truth in Nov 2006. Based on the most upto date scientific information, this Deforestation extract gives a flavour of the books content. To pre-order the book from Amazon goto http://www.amazon.co.uk/Z-Global-Warming-Simon-Rosser/dp/0955809207/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books &qid=1206442671&sr=1-9 PAGE 20

Andrew Lawrence

Andrew Lawrence is the developer of http://www.e-bookz-online.co.uk a site that promotes mostly info products on all subjects.

To find out more info on the PS3 you can find a full in depth report at http://www.theps3report.e-bookz-online.co.uk. PAGE 22

4 contributed articles are courtesy of www.articlecity.com Stuffs

iPod - It’s still the most popular portable media player and competitors are trying hard to climb after it. Maybe Apple Inc. can finally afford the capital ‘I’.

New Moon - The sequel to the have been talks of Dakota Fanning and Vanessa Hudgens playing parts. Does that mean Twilight another musical? Please. movie is scheduled to be shot this month. There Mama Mia! College Grads and Highschool Musical cheating screw-ups, - Congratulations! and countless Afterovernights years at of your kissing classmate’s you teachers’ were house unbearable asses, for projects several enough. and theses—you have reached the end of your school journey and the start in the real world. It’s another way of saying ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire. ’

Job Hunt – The world economic crisis worries students and professionals alike. After the crisis, the sea would turn into blood and the sky would start hailing brimstone.

Summer Haven? We can suggest a really- People hot areone. planning You know, and the saving place for where perfect eternal summer suffering vacation and hotspots. all those stuffs going on. It’s free.

Rowling’s Roles are wondering what - The her newauthor novel J.K. would Rowling be hasall about. already Let’s been hope knighted it’s not in France. Now fans the Battle Against Alzheimer’s . original article invitation Future Freshmen Harry Potter and graduation things are - Partygoing like to getin prom weirder while in college.you still can because after your Highschool

Grandslum in the Oscars The Best Movie goes to - We still haven’t gone over the result of the Academy Awards. awards but at least thereDark was Knightthe late Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor. . No? Okay, should have also champed Best Make-up. No offense,Slumdog Brad. Millionaire might have bagged the Dark Knight

5 Alma Matter

Seven Secrets to College Success by Bruce Gibbs Congratulations. You have made the decision to pursue higher education and to meet your goal of obtaining a college degree. You are embarking on a journey that can take you places you may have only dreamed of. c o m . istockphoto . w w w

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g i r l SeVeN STePS TO COLLeGe SuCCeSS Being in college can be fun but it can also be 4. Be confident: As an instructor, I like challenging. In this article I have put together ten students who are confident in their abilities steps that can help you to be successful at your and act on them. Many times students are afraid to collegiate goals. speak up in class or write a paper about an interesting subject because they are afraid what the instructor or 1. Be punctual: Being late for class is a their fellow students may think. As a result research sign of disrespect. It tells the instructor papers or projects are sometimes dull and boring you don’t want to be in his class or that you don’t because they cover “safe” topics. It’s okay to be afraid. take the class seriously. You also miss important It’s not okay to let fear keep you from doing something information when you are late. Do you like it when you really want do. So go ahead and write that paper people are late for something you’ve planned? Of you’ve been longing to write or start on that project course not. The instructor has spent time preparing that you truly believe in. Be confident and be able to for the class and you should give the instructor the back up your findings or conclusions with evidence. time you have scheduled for his class. Besides, you have spent money for the class so you Volunteer: College instructors like students should show up on time to get what you paid for. 5. who volunteer. Volunteerism shows you Being punctual also helps when it comes time for want to really want to get involved in your major or grading. Grading is subjective and you want to do your school. You don’t have to volunteer for something everything you can to leave a positive impression big. It could be something as simple as agreeing to in your be a group discussion i n s t r u c t o r ’ s ... do everything you can to leader or leading a mind so he can class project. It could remember you leave a positive impression be volunteering to be this way doing on a student committee grading. Being in your instructor’s mind so or to be on the board of late for class he can remember you this a student chapter of an doesn’t make organization. Find ways a positive way doing grading. to volunteer. This will not impression. So only help your grades if you are habitually late, why should he sweat but it can also enhance your studies. over your grade? Take my word for it, show up on time. Be prepared for tests: Depending on your 6. instructor, you may not know when she may 2. Do the homework: It is a waste of call a pop quiz. Successful students are prepared your time and the instructor’s time if and always ready. You can be prepared by reading you just sit in class but never do the assignments. the class material before the class, participating in Not doing class assignments is a guaranteed way class discussions, and by doing the assignments and to fail. Instructors use assignments to determine exercises in your textbook. your knowledge and your grade. Assignments also help you to learn more about your field of Get to know people: Successful people study. Instructors can also tell if you half-heartedly 7. network. You have to do the same too, completed an assignment. And don’t wait until the even on a college campus. When you get to know last minute to do your assignment. If you start early people on campus they share with you information you will have a better product than if you waited that they have. This information can help you in a until the due date to start on it. class, help you to save money or a purchase, assist you in choosing a class, or even choosing a major. 3. Ask questions: Some people think asking Networking is a very important tool in the world of questions is dumb. In reality it’s just the business so you might as well practice the skill while opposite. Instructors like students who ask questions. you are in college. It shows you are interested in the class and that you really want to learn more about the subject the Remember that you can be a success in college. Yes instructor is an expert in. The question you ask is it’s hard but you can do it! probably the same question several other students in the class want answered so you’ll be doing them a favor. t o k n o w m o r e a b o u t t h e a u t h o r t u r n t o p a g e 4 7 Feature THE FIRST GAME MASTER

by Ludivino Q. Climaco Jr.

T he title of this article is inspired by the opening lines of the obituary to the late American writer and game designer Ernest at the 2008 , which read “The first DM....” Gygax, in co- creating the pioneering and popular Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy game with fellow designer David “Dave” L. Arneson in 1974, is generally acknowledged as one of the fathers of the tabletop role-playing game, the original form of role-playing game (which will simply be referred to as “RPG” from this point on).

An RPG is a game in which its players play the roles of fictional characters. The players decide the actions of their characters that a formal system of rules and guidelines consider valid, and the success or failure of such actions are determined by such system. The players may improvised as much as the rules allow them, thereby affecting the direction and result of the game with their choices. One player called the Game Master (GM) describes the imaginary place and the actions of its inhabiting characters to the other players for their characters to interact with. The players, in response, describe the actions of their own characters to the GM. Finally, the GM describes the outcomes of all these actions according to the system of rules mentioned earlier. Obviously, the GM play the roles of everything else except the players’ characters. Most RPGs are played like a radio drama where only voice acting is required, which is why the players usually just sit around a table and conduct the game as a small social gathering. The details of the characters are usually image from the Wires uNDeRGRAD | MARCH 2009

created Chainmail, a miniatures that was based on medieval-era tactical combat. For the second edition of Chainmail published in 1972, he added a supplement with fantasy elements to the rules. Among the elements were non-human warriors drawn from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and other sources. Rules for individual heroic characters, including wizards, were also included. The wizards had access to ten spells that could be used to affect a battle, like fireballs and lightning. It was the combination of fantasy elements with real-world rules in the second edition of Chainmail that attracted Arneson, then a history student working part time as a security guard. Arneson himself derived his ideas of the modern tabletop RPG from the miniature he played with the Midwest Military Simulation Association, a gamer group in the Minneapolis- tracked on sheets of paper. Most systems of rules St. Paul in the late 1960s. His games with the typically require players to roll dice or employ some group involved non-combat objectives for each player, sort of randomizer to determine the outcome of most a significant departure from wargaming towards more of their characters’ actions, most typically in combat individualized play and varied challenges of later RPGs. or other stressful situations. DM stands for Dungeon When he began meeting with Gygax and the latter’s Castle Master, the term for GM in D&D. & Crusade Society chapter of the IFW since the second Anyway, Gygax was born in on July 27, 1938, Gen Con, their wargaming eventually led to a form of the son of Swiss immigrant and Chicago Symphony acting gaming called “role-playing”, which involved more Orchestra violinist Ernst Gygax. His family moved to individual combats than wargaming would allow. Lake Geneva, , in 1946, where he stayed Arneson incorporated the supplement to the second until his death in 2008. His interest in science fiction edition of Chainmail to the rules he made for his and fantasy was born out of pulp novels his father let RPG that involved medieval miniatures exploring the him read. He was also very interested in gaming since dungeons of a castle inhabited by fantastic monsters. the age of five, starting with chess and card games. When he ran this game, Gygax immediately saw the When he was ten years old, he began with some friends potential of role-playing games. Gygax then work what is now known as the “live action RPG” (LARP), with Arneson to develop the latter’s RPG, developing where one of them acted as a referee while the others, supplemental rules and adding other fantasy instead of describing their characters’ actions, act these elements. The game that evolved was , out, often in costume. which modern D&D players would consider as just a Coupled with a fascination with history, Gygax became campaign setting--a fictional world that serves as a involved in miniature wargames in 1953, and was setting for an RPG campaign, which is a continuing soon beginning to design his own games. A miniature storyline or set of adventures, typically involving the wargame was simply a representation of a military same characters--and not a complete game. The operation that incorporated miniature figures and gameplay would now be recognizable to the same modeled terrain as the main components of play. By players, featuring the use of fixed hit points (the 1965, he was contributing many articles for magazines amount of damage a character can endure before dedicated to wargame hobby. Then he devised passing out or dying) and armor class (how protected innovative ways of generating random numbers and a character is from physical damage), character used not only the common six-sided die but also dice development (levels and experience points), and with four sides, eight sides, ten sides, twelve sides and dungeon crawls (perhaps the simplest type of RPG even twenty sides. adventure in which the players’ characters navigate a In the 1960s, Gygax, then an insurance underwriter, labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters co-founded the International Federation of Wargamers and looting any treasure they may find). (IFW), an organization of several wargaming clubs that After phone and mail design collaboration, Gygax and worked to promote interest in gaming, particularly those Arneson wanted to publish Blackmoor, later called The set in the the medieval era. He then held the first Lake Fantasy Game, but Arneson could not afford to invest Geneva gaming convention, then primarily a wargaming in the venture. So Gygax quit his day job in 1973 and only convention, or Gen Con for short (now one of North attempted to publish the game through Avalon Hill, America’s largest annual hobby-game gatherings). but he got turned down. After a couple more failed In 1971, Gygax, now a shoe repairman to make more attempts to get The Fantasy Game published, Gygax time for pursuing his interest in game development, co- partnered with childhood friend and founded the Tactical Studies Rules publishing game company

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