Fight On! Is Back

In the early days of this blog, when the “Old School Renaissance” scene was full of vim and vigour, a major player was the fanzine Fight On! It was a wonderful, eclectic, and somewhat chaotic journal, filled with fun scenarios, monsters, optional rules, and the like. I happily contributed a couple of articles back in the day (“Background Professions” to #5 and “The Duchy of Briz” to #7).

After a decade of enchanted sleep, Fight On! is back with issue #15. Here’s the blurb from the editor Ignatius Umlaut:

Ten years later, we are back from the dead to Fight On once more! These revenant runes are just as jam-packed as you remember with classes, monsters, spells, magic items, rules mods, homebrews, and awesome adventures in the spirit of the eldritch era of fantasy roleplaying! Dedicated to seventies D&D legend J. Eric Holmes, this issue brings together old and new stalwarts alike to celebrate our 15th issue and new beginning! With art and articles by J. Eric and Christopher Holmes, Tom Gordon, Calithena, Gabor Lux, Jeff Rients, James Maliszewski, Kesher, Pete Mullen, Cameron Hawkey, Zach Howard, Alex Schroder, Richard Rittenhouse, Settembrini, Patrick Farley, Jason Sholtis, Robert Conley, Kelvin Green, Philipp H., Attronarch, Mitzi!, and many more, this is the first of our new forays into fanzine fame and glory! Ride that wyvern while the sun is shining, and keep Fighting On!

My life with roleplaying games started with Dr. J. Eric Holmes’s Basic Dungeons & Dragons set back in 1980 (the one with chits instead of dice). So I’m especially keen to check out this issue!

[Picture by Peter Mullen from FO! 15]

Trampier and Amthor inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame

There is something called “The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Hall of Fame.” It has existed since 1974 and includes many important game designers and artists. 

Since the Hall of Fame encompasses contributors to wargames, card games, and boardgames, as well as role-playing games, a lot of the people listed at the AAGAD Hall of Fame website are unfamiliar to me. But within the RPG world, there are many true legends.

In 2024, two people who have had a lot of influence on me during the many decades I’ve been involved in RPGs were inducted.

David Trampier – my favourite FRPG artist of all time (rivalled only by Angus McBride) – is now a member of the AAGAD Hall of Fame.

 

And Terry Amthor – a key contributor to the Middle-earth Roleplaying, Rolemaster, and Shadow World lines of Iron Crown Enterprises (Amthor was the primary author and creative force behind Shadow World, to which he contributed until his death) – also is now a member. (My current Ukrasia campaign draws heavily upon an early work of his, The Court of Ardor.)

Sadly, both Trampier and Amthor have passed away. But their contributions live on, and I am profoundly grateful to both of them for what they accomplished.