A little over a week ago I received The Stronghold, a new zine on the gaming scene created by none other than +Boric Glanduum of The Dwarven Stronghold. Boric and I have been going back and forth about him putting out a zine. And I've been nudging him in that direction as much as I could. I was so glad when he told me he was going to go ahead with it.
Then Boric goes out and gets +Jay Penn to do the cover. And +Jim Magnusson to do the interior art. Boric went all out for his premiere issue. And after these past couple of years I can say I am a zine connoisseur. And The Stronghold is damn good.
It's your standard zine size, 24 pages, card stock cover. I like that Boric utilizes all available space, including the interior of the cover.
Boric added a cool thank you card with it. And in between my damn fingers that got in the way, I received the 2nd copy of issue #1. There is a lot in these 24-pages.
Found Items is the first article you'll find accompanied by a d30 table. I like it when folks make a simple thing interesting. Or take a look at it in a different way. Boric's writes about mundane items and as I look at the list, I think of all the cool things a player (that I) could do.
The Vat of Variance is his next offering. An artifact of dubious powers and outcomes. I can see humanoid cultures warring over this. This artifact will fit well within a DCC campaign. And Jim added his first piece of art for this article.
Then we move along to my favorite piece in the book, The Mimic. Boric introduces a bevy of new mimic types and sizes. I've always been a huge fan of mimics, but this article gave me a shit-ton* of ideas. I immediately considered using his mundane random table and using the result to have what the mimic would appear to be. Yeah, cool.
Missives from the 'Hold is next. A finger in nose piece. I believe this was written after a few weirdly connected comments on Google+ on night. This is the only place you'll find a rand nose picking table. You might find this useful in future games. Although the 'thumb' result sounds painful.
Next is are Treasure Tables. Boric creates a parcel of treasures. It's very interesting how he does the write-ups. Streamlines the horde.
Lastly is Rkoa, a nasty NPC gnoll to add to your campaign. I love that he chose gnolls. They are like the red-haired step child of the humaniod races. It was good to see the gnolls getting a little love by Boric and Jim added another piece for this article.
In addition with Rkoa, there is Chot Lake. Boric has a short write-up and a cool map.
On the back cover he does a small bit about being a "Patron" and those of us who are involved in Patreon. He gave a batch of us a nod, including myself, +Simon Forster, +matt jackson, +Dyson Logos, +Jim Magnusson and +Erik Tenkar. This is what the OSR is about. Creating cool stuff and then helping out someone else.
The Stronghold is a welcome addition to the zine community. Boric has worked his butt off and it shows.
Okay now to the giveaway portion of this post. I want to share The Stronghold with one lucky person. But there is a twist. I'll be sending you the "Boric Special". What's the "Boric Special"?, you ask. The "Boric Special" is you'll get two copies. Boric often forgets he's got a subscription or that he ordered something from a couple days before and ends up ordering a second copy. So I thought it only fitting my giveaway should be 2 copies to one person. All you need to do is comment below and let me know you want "The Boric Special". It sounds a little dirty and I am sure it will be by the end of the day. This giveaway is open for tomorrow only and on Saturday I'll randomly pick a winner.
PDF