Contents Features 8 Branding Belle 44 Geography of the Undercity - Philadelphia Literary wannabe Richard Ford pens a short tale to get you in the mood for OGL Wild Following on with his series on the less West. salubrious side of Mega-City One (if such a thing is possible) Matt Sharpe takes us Way of the Fist to the streets of Philadelphia. I feel a song 14 coming on... Contrary to what the Minbari would have you think, everybody on Babylon 5 is really What’s In A Name? beating the tar out of each other. Keep up 52 with the G’Jones’s with this huge new guide to the ways of the Mutai. Part two of our series on Hyborian names focuses on Argos and Cimmeria. Brian the Cimmerian? You’d better believe it! 22 Creature Feature - Oozes Johnathan M. Richards believes oozes Something Fishy This Way have much more to offer than simply being 58 animated sludge. See if you agree. Comes What’s this? Richard Ford again, this time writing a scenario. With his reputation. How It All Began 30 What were we thinking? The Man From The North takes you to the fair. Go on, have Continuing with his exclusive new series, fun, just don’t eat the fi sh cakes... Gary Gygax looks back on the beginnings of roleplaying. Sample file 32 The Bandit Rob from the rich, then rob the poor as well, and sell their children into slavery. Being a bandit in the world of Hyboria isn’t romantic. It can be quite lucrative though. Regulars Check out this all new Character Class for Conan the Roleplaying Game. 35 Mighty Armies - Eye on Mongoose Latest releases here... Reinforcements 2 The Big Mongoose Questionnaire Because we need to know 5 Write for the Mighty Armies supremo Matthew Sprange Mongoose A guide for potential contributors has more exclusive rules to expand the new Inside the Chainmail Bra Fey loves tabletop wargame. Take part in gruelling 13 sieges and expansive campaigns in the an elf. Film at Eleven... 50 Jonny comfort of your gaming room! Nexus Talks to the aliens 54 Design & Conquer More cartoon mayhem with Monty Birthday Surprise 59 Product List Monthly goodies update 68 38 Subscriptions Get your copy of S&P delivered What’s this? Graphic stories in S&P! for a year, and save some cash into the bargain! Whatever next. Get a hint of the sort of Now with extra added FREEBIES! 70 thing we have in the pipeline. 1 Editorial Hi All, So Issue 12 is here. It hardly seems a year ago that I was putting together the template for the original concept. Since then we have come rather a long way together. I’ve certainly Cover art: OGL Wild West learnt a great deal about my business by Randy Nunley during this time. In fact, it amazes me that I managed to get Issue 1 out Editor: at all, knowing what I do now! Ian Barstow What I do hope is that you have enjoyed what we have done to date, and that, Editorial Director: like me, you are looking forward to the future. With tabletop gaming having Matthew Sprange arrived and graphic novels in the offi ng, Mongoose has plenty going on – as Production Director: usual. Since I last wrote an editorial we have relocated to Mongoose Towers, Alexander Fennell an even more salubrious establishment, and we in the Studio fi nd ourselves occupying the West Wing of the spacious edifi ce. Mongoose Staff: Rich Neale, Mark Humphries, Ian Belcher, Rich Life at the new Mongoose Towers is as hectic as ever, though. We have Ford, Bob Roberts and Ted Chang Starship Troopers on the horizon, with both wargaming and roleplaying rules in development. Even more, if you take a look at the back and inside back Artists: Randy Nunley, Nathan Webb, John Thompson, Jim Brady, Steve covers you will see some sample pieces from the graphic novels that are in Dillon, Gillian Pearce, Brett Ewins, development. In fact, the theme of S&P12 is something of a storytelling one. Arthur Ransom, Tony Parker, Andrew We also have a short graphic story from Armageddon: 2089 plus a short story Dobell, Vitor Ishimura, Reginaldo from new editorial guy Richard Ford to support the release of OGL Wild Almeida, Ralph Horsley, Paul Ridgon West. Fordy fancies himself as a bit of a literary type, so we might see some and Adrian Czajkowski more of his work in future issues. In fact, I’ve been so busy that there been no time for my monthly Tales from Mongoose Hall this month. It will be Contributors: Gary Gygax, Matt back as usual next time, I promise. Sharp, Fey Boss, Rich Ford, Todd Tjersland, Gareth Hanrahan, Bryan Sample file Steele, Matthew Sprange, and Jonny The question you are probably asking though is why the picture of the Nexus mongoose? Well, apart from the obvious, this is no ordinary mongoose. This is Montgomery, who lives at Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire. That’s Miniatures Painter: right, Mongoose Publishing has adopted its own mongoose! If you are in the Nathan Webb neighbourhood why not pop in and look the little fellow up. See him in his natural environment going out and killing all manner of dangerous reptiles Statistical Analysts: Mark Quennell, Steve Mulhern (I may have made up this last bit). I think you’ll agree he’s a handsome, dashing sort of chap. Just like us really. ADVERTISING: All ads are subject to approval by Mongoose Publishing, So, time for you to dip in and enjoy this month’s articles while I go off to which reserves the right to reject any thrash everybody at Gangs of Mega-City One. Want to know more? ad for any reason. Advertisers and/or agencies of advertisers agree not to hold Mongoose Publishing liable for any loss or expense from alleged wrongdoing that may arise out of the publication of such advertisements. d20 Modern, Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in Designation of Open Content the United States and other countries and are used with permission. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are All rules mechanics, tables and other material derivative trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version of Open Game Content and the System Reference Document are considered Open Game Content. All other 6.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20. text and artwork is closed content. All Babylon 5 material, with the exception of open game content designated above is copyright 2003 Warner Copyright © 2004 Warner Bros. Brothers. BABYLON 5, characters, names and All Judge Dredd material, with the exception of open game content designated above is copyright Rebellion A/S all related indicia are trademarks of Printed in China All Conan material, with the exception of open game and © Warner Bros. content designated above is copyright Conan Properties WB SHIELD: TM and © Warner Bros. International. (s04) All Lone Wolf material, with the exception of open game content designated above is copyright Joe Dever. Babylon 5 created by J. Michael Straczynski 2 This is a game about the American West. Some of the book is about how it was, and some is about how it is remembered. It is up to the players and Games Master to find their own version of the West, finding their own trail between truth and legend. If the players want a historically accurate game where miles are miles, events occur as they truly did, and death comes more often from disease than a bullet, then they will find the tools they need in this book. Alternatively, if the players want a game inspired by movies and dime novels, where the history is just a painted backdrop and heroes ride high in the saddle, then they too will find their desires catered for within. SampleThe characters file may be counted among those who build America, who drove the railroad across the continent and built the Western states. They may be soldiers who fight at the famous battles of the West, or adventurers who blaze the trails through the wilderness. They can be statesmen or scoundrels, outlaws or lawmen, the quick or the dead. They will either become part of the legend, or die in some godforsaken hot and dusty place and be forgotten. The basic system used in OGL Wild West is fundamentally identical to that used in the other Core books from Mongoose Publishing. The skills and feats are similar, as is the combat and task resolution systems. This 256 page hardback volume gives you everything you need to immerse yourself in the greatest genre ever created - because it really happened! Walk with the Earps to the OK Corral, back up John T Chance and the Dude in Rio Bravo, keep your eyes on the dastardly Tuco or backshoot Billy the Kid and save Pat Garrett the bother. Whether you want to blow up bridges in New Mexico or throw down Queens and Aces on the Mississippi, this book opens the doors to that experience. Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to pull that smoke cannon or just stand there bleeding? 3 The martial artist is a staple of popular culture and has been for decades in Western society. The fi ghting prowess of the martial artist has been amply demonstrated in comic books, novels, fi lm and television and many martial artists have achieved superstardom, or even cinematic immortality.