I’ve spent the weekend packing and addressing envelopes stuffed with the GROGZINE19 (and associated extras for Patreon backers at different levels). If you live in the UK, you can expect to receive it around the weekend.
This year we have designed the zine as a homage to the golden age of UK RPG zines from the early to mid 80s. One of the favourites from the era was Quasits & Quasars. There were 10 issues, including a team-up with DragonLords, and it is the latest to appear in the sluggish, Fanzine Festival.
“Played once, never again”
Edited by David Hulks, supported by his friend and GROGSQUADer Neil Hopkins (he’s done a great First, Last and Everything for Episode 29 of the GROGPOD), Quasit & Quasars was more about good content, rather than fiery exchange of opinion, by providing scenarios and other GM resources for both fantasy and SF genre games.
Unlike many others, it also featured solo games, Neil recalls carefully cutting and pasting the paragraphs together, using real scissors and glue, when composing the adventures.
From the three copies that I’ve studied (on loan from Doc Con’s Marc Gascoigne wing of his extensive RPG library) there’s a certain bias towards Tunnels and Trolls, which split opinion on the letters page. It was protected by the editors, promising a feature every other issue; as for Gangster! well, Gangster! got hit!
Dirk the Dice
The covers represented their coverage of the fantastic and the futuristic
Loving these sections especially. More pages please, an archive of these fanzines is such a good idea, so they can get a second reading, or even a first reading for many people like me who missed them the first time round.
If you ever want any code writing for an original Spectrum 16K / ZX81 / VIC20 listing for an upcoming Grogzine then give me a shout.
I wrote that Tank Battle game for the ZX81 and I remember it being a nightmare to transcribe from the screen to my typewriter as I didn’t have a printer!
It’s cool stuff!
That’s how I learnt to code – typing you ninja’s stuff in.
I’ve just picked up some Imagines and Adventurer magazines. Both have section s on fanzines – if I scan them how can I send them to you? Also, ever tracked down Pete Tamlyn?
I still have my Q&Q ‘zines from back in the 80s…
Me Too!
Oh my word! This is a flash back, and the the first letter. is my scrawly youthful handwriting! I had all of them at one time, and i wish I knew where they had gone, or where I could find some copies. Thanks for posting these, a window into the past!