THE RPGATMNETWORK MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY IS BACK! Want to contact other gamers? Find new players for your campaign? Organize an official club? What better place to look for top players and DMs than right here within the RPGA™Network! We're all mem­ bers of the same organization and we ought to know each other. So we've started working on a new type of membership listing which will be available only to RPGA Network members and clubs . Details on how to get one will appear in a future POLYHEDRON™ Newszine when the new directories are ready to go. (PLEASE don't shower us with requests before the announcement!) Before we start things rolling , we want to offer you the option of with­ holding your name from the directory . If you want to be listed in the directory for your state, you don't have to do a thing. If you do NOT want to be listed , fill out the form below and mail it to RPGA HQ at the address on the form below. Deadline for mail receipt of your declination is November 16, 1984. If we haven 't heard from you by then, your name and address will appear in the directory. ~£I'"" __ _____. Clip & Mail~~.,~~ I I I Mail to: RPGATMNetwork, P.O. Box 509, Lake Geneva, WI 53147 I I -- -- --------- - I § NO, I do not want to be in the RPGA Network Membership Directory. Please with- I I hold my name and address from the listing . I I (Please type or print clearly in ink.) I Name ------------ 1 Street 1 City/State ______________ ___ _ _ SampleI Zip Code _______ RPGA # __ ______ file_ I I RPGA and POLYHEDRON are trademarks of TSR, Inc. ::,u,r,,l'.,_,.l.l.l..,.~fl _......,..flFF..,..WA""'fflEEE Issu e n.20 POLYHEDRON " Sample file Contents POLYHEDRON . Cover Story 21 E ncounte rs - by J ames M. Ward. The GAMMA WORLD® game Aquabot destroys the crystal city of the R adioactivists. Special Feature 13 The 384th In carnat ion of Bigby's Tomb - by Frank Mentzer. A "new" module , created for the AD&D ® game tournament at the 1984-Winter Fantasy mini-convention. Features 6 Cryptic Alliance of the Bi-month - by James M. Ward. The H ealers. 8 The Proton Weapon - by Kim Eastland. A new STAR FRONTIERS® game technological item. 10 The Druid - by James M. Ward. The archetyp ical AD&D game druid character. 21 Women in Role Pl ay in g - by Roger E. Moore. Notes for the Dungeon Master. 23 N ow that it's over - by R oger E. Moore. Looking back at the GEN CON® 17 About the cover Game Convention. A near ly indestructable GAMMA 25 Di spel Confusion - by Jim Ward, Penny Petticord, and Frank Mentzer. WORLD® game Aquabot descends on the un suspecting mutated inhabitants of Departments the main city of the R adioact ivists . Cover by Roger R aupp. 5 Notes from HQ POLYHEDRON™Newsz ine (the official news­ Newszine becomes the exclusive pro pert y of POl .\ 'HEDHON' " letter of TSR's ROLE PLAYINGGAME ASSO· the publisher up on pubHcation , unless special CIATION™Network) is publis hed bi-monthly wri tten arrangements to the contrary are NEWSZINE by TSR, Inc. The mailing addr ess is POB 509 , made prior to publication. Lake Geneva , WI 53 14 7. (414) 248-3625. Volume 4, Number 5 DUNGEONS &. DRAGONS, D&.D, ADVANCED POLYHEDRONNewszine welcomes unsolic­ DUNGEONS&. DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&.D, Issue #20 ited submi ssions of written material and BOOT HILL, GAMMA WORLD, TOP SECRET, artwork. No responsibility for such subm is­ DRAGON, DRAGONLANCE, AMAZING, and Editor STAR FRONTIERS. ROLE PLAYING GAME Mary Kirchoff sions can be assumed by the publisher in any Editorial assistance event. No submissions will be ret urn ed un less ASSOCIATION, RPGA, and GEN CON are Roger E. Moore Jam es M. Ward accompanied by a self-addr essed , stamped trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. THE Patrick Price enve lope of sufficie nt size. ADVENTURES OF IND/ANA JONES, game elements , and character names and like­ RPGA'" Network Coordinator POLYHEDRONN ewsz ine is mailed free to all Penn y Petticord nesses are trademarks of Lucas film Ltd ., used RPGAT• members. Membership rates: 1 year Production under authorization. Toon is a trademark of - U.S. Bulk Mail • $10 . 1 yea r - Foreign Mail Marilyn Favaro Steve Jackson Games. Star Trek is a trade­ Roger Raupp • $14. 1 year - Fore ign Internat ional Air Mail mark of FASA. MARVELSUPER HEROES is a Sample• $25. file Contributing artists All prices are subject to chan ge with­ trademark of the Marvel Comics group . Roger Raupp Larry Elmore out notice. Changes of address for the deliv­ Dragonriders of Pern game is a trademark of Jeff Easely Clyde Caldwell ery of sub scriptions must be received at least Mayfair Games. James Bond 007 is a trade­ Joseph Pillsbury 30 days prior to the effective date of the mark of Victory Game . Lost Worlds is a trade­ change to insure uninterrupted delivery. mark of Nova Game Design. 101984 TSR, Inc. Material published in POLYHEDRON All Rights Reserved. 4 l88Ue #2,0 Notes from 09, ___ _ We've got a lot of important notes this read ily, but there will be a ceiling on the our GAMMA WORLD® game tourna­ issue, so we'll take it one piece at a tim e. number of eve nts we can take. We m ay ment. It featured advent ur es aboard a even go to a pre-registration only system , truly unique ship with a mysterious GEN CON® Game Fair with no at-t he-door regist ration at all so mutant who might or might not be on Now that we've almost recovered from that we will know how ma ny sign-ups your side. And member Kelley Foote GEN CON 17 Game Fair, it's time to there are for each even t and can allocate came to our rescue by allowing us to use take a look at the RPG A ™ Network activi­ enough space ahead of time. It gives us a his scenario as ou r GANG BUSTERS™ ties there. We had a members-only tour­ little more control of the situ ation. game event. "Federa l Crac kdown" is a nament for each of the TS R games concerted effort by the govern ment to currentl y in print except THE The tournaments clean up the bootleggers and speakeasys ADVE NTUR ES OF INDIA NA in Lakefront City. JO NES™Rol e-Playing Game, which was Gee Whiz! I wanted a really dynamite This year we went back to the or igin al so new we could n't find any qualified AD&D® tourn ame nt thi s year, so I asked RPGA Netwo rk scorin g system - vot ing judges. Most of the scenar ios were taken Fr ank Mentzer to write one for us. T he style. For those of you who aren't famil iar from modu les soon to be released by resu lt was "Need le," a 3-roun d tourna ­ with it, instead of advancing whole tea ms, TS R , so the judges and players got a ment about an obelisk in the jung le. The we advance the best few players from preview of adven tur es yet unpub lished. characters came with full-page back­ each team, as determin ed by player and Du e to a compute r mixup, our event s grou nd sheets which not only outlined DM votes. I don't have the space to did n 't make it into the pre-registration the ir persona lities, but gave each charac ­ explain it in full , bu t it bears closer exa m­ brochure, so people didn't know how to ter's perceptions of all the others to pro­ ination, so watc h for an ar ticle within the sign up. Consequently, some of the events mote role-playi ng interact ions. Th e next issue or two . were very poorly attended, although a scena rio had a little bit of everythi ng - a We chose a first, second , and third special conve ntion offer we made helped m aze, a retrieval operat ion requiring place winner from each of the final rou nd to avert a total d isaster. We offered a free several months of game time and hun­ teams and awarded pr izes. First place ticket to the RPGA Network event of dreds of workers to comp lete, a sea bat tle, winners received a I-year membership your choice with purchase of a new mem­ political intrigue and trad in g negotia­ extens ion , $10 in gift certificates good at bersh ip at the regular $12 price or an tions, as well as encounte rs with bad the RP GA Network booth or through extensio n of your existing membershi p . natives and bad puns. Gee Wh iz! It was a mail order, and a set of limit ed run blue Those who couldn't get into desired lot for the DM s to handle, but they all did dice with hand-painted silver numb ers. events took advantage of the offer, as well an excellent job. And as for the final Seco nd place winners received a 1-year as a few smart people who realized that round, all I can say is "Gee Whiz!" membership extension an d $5 in gift they could use this to sign up for 4 events Th e MARVEL SUPE R HEROE S certificates, and third place winners per day instead of the 3 they could get game tourname nt was taken from the received a 6-mont h membership exten­ through event registrat ion .