Heroes Magazine #1, Command Appearance

I have written about an issue of Heroes magazine before. It was issue #5 and I am not sure why I picked that one over this one. As I have talked about in the past old magazines are like miniature time capsules for me. I love reading one and seeing what was new and hot at the time the magazine was printed. I have a great Science Digest magazine from 1965 with an article by Asimov on life in 1990.

Heroes was the house magazine for Avalon Hill and as a result talks about Avalon Hill products. There are quite a few great Avalon Hill products so this is not a bad thing though it is limiting. Being the first issue there are also some housekeeping issues such as telling potential contributors what to submit.

The magazine starts strong with a pair of articles on the History of the Lunar Empire and A Traveler's Guide to Donara. I have always been more than a little intrigued with the Powers & Perils game. I purchased it when it first came out and could never get a group interested in playing it. The setting for the game seems to be a rich one based on the article on Donara.

The two other highlights for me were the Lords of Creation adventure by Tom Moldvay. I am not sure that I would ever have call to use it. I own Lords of Creation but it is not something that I have ever felt the urge to run. I would love to play it sometime but it is not a game I want to GM. The concept is good but there are others in the genre I would pick first. That being said the adventure reads well and has so many tables to use in other ways. The review of Telengard also intrigued me. Back in 1984 here is a 50 level megadungeon. The review suggests that each level has over 10,000 rooms and hallways. That may be a slight exaggeration but even if it is a tenth of that number I want a map of the beast. The ad for Telengard got me as well. There is something about the map. It is on page 42 if you can find a copy of the magazine.

Overall I have found the Heroes magazine to have well written articles and material I can use even if I don't play the game it is written for. You can find them periodically on eBay and sometimes even in runs which makes it nice. I would suggest picky them up but then I am a magazine freak apparently.


Published: 1894
Pages: 48

Contents:

- "History of the Lunar Empire: Zero Wane" by Greg Stafford
- "A Traveller's Guide to Donara" by Drachir Redins
- "So What's So Great About Powers & Perils" by Richard Snider
- "Amoeba Wars: An Analysis" by Mike Bennighof
- "Survival Run of the Starnomads (A Lords of Creation Adventure)" by Tom Moldvay
- "What Does a Hero Want?: A Selection of Article Topics for Heroes Magazine" by Heroes staff
- "RuneQuest: New Face for an Old Friend" by Greg stafford
- "Down in a Darkling Dungeon (A Review of Telengard)" by Mike O'Brien
- "Dune Scenario: The Ixian Jihad" by Kenneth W. Burke


Spell:

Command Appearance

Level: Third
Range: 9"
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: One Creature
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 3 Segments
Saving Throw: Negates

When this spell is cast the magic user compels the target creature to assist  them. The sole function of this assistance will be to get them to the base of  operations for the highest "boss" they know of.

The DM will need to determine who the highest ranking official the target of  the spell might know. The spell is also limited in scope to the immediate  location the target is in. The smallest scale would be a dungeon level or  perhaps an entire dungeon. Even if the guard in the town knows the location of  the king 200 miles away he will not take the party there but he might take one  to the mayor or at least the commander of the garrison.

While under the spell the victim can not combat the party. It will take them to  their leader but they do not have to do it in the safest manner though the route  must be basically direct. When the location is reached the target will then turn  around and proceed at the fastest pace possible to the location the spell was  cast at. Once there they are free to act as deemed appropriate.

The spell does not grant any special communication ability with the target of  the spell. The victim will know what they are expected to do though and act  accordingly.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last,  were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not  appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then  it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells  that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to  comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these  in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper  credit.