The cover was done by Phil Foglio, winner of
two Hugos as Best Fan Artist. Look for another of
his covers on the Dec. issue. <link>
-- Tim Kask (The Dragon #29)

More on S of F

Dear Editor,
Being fond of letter pages, I am distressed to read
in TD #25 that the newly Raised From the Dead
“Out on a Limb” may soon succumb to its second
death. So, being the Paladin at heart that I am, I
take typewriter in hand to send in a letter and do
my own small part at trying to keep your letters
page alive.

First off I have to disagree with your labeling of
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE magazine as being for
“gun freaks” and “violence mongers”. It is, I’m
sure, a far too sweeping statement of that magazine’s
readership. About the only parts of the
magazine that really pander to violence in a sensational
way are assorted ads. The feature articles
and columns are mostly, reputably, intelligent.
That the magazine is concerned with weapons and
warfare doesn’t make it a bad publication. It isn’t
like many of these “true combat” magazines I’ve
seen that are clearly sensationalizing and glamorizing
violence to sell their magazines.

[...]

“Judging And You!” by Jim Ward was a good, <find and link>
thoughtful article. I dislike having to ad-lib things in
my adventures on the scale he does, but each to his
own.

“The Tug of the Machine” was dull. I am generally
against fiction in TD or other wargame magazines,
even if it is quality stuff like Gardner Fox’s
stories. An exception is humorous fiction like the
Iron Golem interview. That was funny like most of
the previous humor pieces have been. More work
like that would be appreciated. It was also nice to
see another Westfinster Wargaming Society
Cartoon.

“Would the Real Orc Please Step Forward?”
was interesting, even if I’m not into fantasy miniatures.
Amazing how they pass off some of those
miniatures as orcs.

[...]

Since Undead are my favorite type of monster
and Vampires are my favorite type of Undead, I
couldn’t help but like R.P. Smith’s “Varieties of
Vampires.” Although I almost never make use of
monsters I find in wargame magazines, since there
are already so godawful many in the <A>D&D Monster
Manual, I just might make an exception this time.
I’m still not used to these non sf/fantasy articles in
TD. As long as the sf/fantasy content remains high
as it has been I won’t complain overmuch, even if I
still think it was a sellout to TD’s sf/fantasy heritage
to include other material.

Having written maybe two or three letters to
wargame magazines (or anything else) prior to this
one, I almost find it fun.

Lawfully (good) Yours,
Brian Wagner—Joplin, MO
[edit]
(The Dragon #29)
 

Luckily for all of us, it appears that OUT ON A
LIMB will survive yet a while longer. The letters are
starting to pick up, so we may be in business on
these pages for a little while yet.

While I’ll concede that the more recent issues of
SOF have toned down considerably, their earlier
issues were gruesomely violence oriented. I can
recall photo stories on how to take out sentries,
articles on weapons conversions and other “improvements”
on how to kill people or blow things
up. There were also many “reports” on mercenary
activities around the world that certainly glorified
“merc work”. It seems curious that as the violence
content has declined, so has their sales . . . . Or is
it?

I’m glad that you generally enjoyed the magazine,
except for the fiction. Some of our readers
enjoy it, some don’t. That’s why we don’t run
fiction every issue.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with
devoting all of your gaming interests to a given
setting or period, it certainly deprives a player from
more enjoyment that is there to be had. If gaming
can be considered as a form of problem-solving
mental exercise, why limit yourself to one narrow
period? Ancients and medievals directly correlate
to FRP — Editor (Tim J. Kask)
(The Dragon #29)
 

‘An excellent forum’
Dear Editor,


I, too, do not wish to see OUT ON A LIMB
cancelled due to lack of interest. In TD #29, in
response to Brian Wagner’s letter, you mention
that this column “. . . will survive yet a while
longer . . . ”, and while this does not inspire great
confidence in me, I am somewhat hopeful to its
continuing presence in TD. I would make a
suggestion in case letters start to lag again. Instead
of cancelling this page, run it only as often as
circumstances dictate. This is an excellent forum
for readers to express their views and all will be
somewhat poorer without it.

John Beck—CA
(The Dragon #32)