[Kickstarter] The Complete Oracle AD&D Fanzine Reprint From 1982-83

One of my favorite gaming archival organizations is the Play Generated Map & Document Archive (PlaGMaDA) which takes materials created by players and GMs and gives these handcrafted gaming treasures a home. (I even made a donation of my own to the archives.) Every so often, Tim Hutchinson of PlagMaDa will compile some of these materials into a new supplement for players, collectors, and gaming historians. His most recent Kickstarter was the amazing "Habitition of the Stone Giant Lord and Other Adventures From Our Shared Youth" that collected eight D&D modules written by players during the D&D heydays of the 70s and 80s.

Tim has launched a new Kickstarter for another amazing compilation -- this one collects all five issues of "The Oracle," a D&D fanzine from 1982-83 featuring new character classes, new adventures, new rules, as well as movie/game reviews and original fiction. This new compilation looks to be 200 pages and will be a limited-run hardbound book for collectors. Within 24 hours, the fundraising met its goal, and now Tim is adding new stretch goals to the project including more supplementary material and the only issue of The Augury -- a companion 'zine to The Oracle.

I love stuff like this. I love homemade gaming materials. I love 'zines. And a hardback collection of D&D gaming zines from the 80s? Count me in. If you have a similar tastes, you should absolutely help fund this slice of gaming's past -- a past you can bring to your table and play!

Phlegm Elementals And Killer Tomatoes Await In 32-Year-Old "Weird Works"

More than two years ago, I discussed the monster manual titled Weird Works I wrote back in 1982 when I was 16 years old. I donated this kid-written D&D monster tome to PlaGMaDA -- The Play Generated Map and Document Archive. But I stupidly neglected to make a copy of this hand-written book for myself before I mailed it off. Fortunately, Tim Hutchinson of PlaGMaDA was kind enough to send me a scan of the interior pages just the other day. And today, I'll share it with you. Click this link or the cover to the right to take a gander at my first gaming supplement. (One note: The cover is not a high-rez scan but rather a low-rez photo I resized for the PDF.)

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: I wrote this when I was 16, so be kind to 32-years-ago me. I illustrated it to the best of my cartooning ability (Don Martin-esque, I think), and many of the entries are of a parody nature. ("Killer Tomatoes?""Phlegm Elementals?" "GIANT SMURFS?!?") But there are 17 creatures within that had some good idea kernels to them. In fact, some of these creatures ended up being the inspiration for future creatures that have appeared here on The Savage AfterWorld! (Click the links in the list below to see how these creatures evolved!)

Within, you'll find:

• Boogeyman
• Bookbat
• Cannon Creature
• Dragon, Plaid
• Golem, Paper
• Gravedigger
• Jitterbug
• Killer Tomato
• Oilque
• Quasi-elemental, Chicken Fat
• Quasi-elemental, Lint
• Quasi-elemental, Phlegm
• Quasi-elemental, Saliva
• Smurf, Giant
• Spinbuzz
• Venus Man Trap
• Zlophmore 

So there you have it -- the forerunner of both Deviant Databases. Hope you enjoy thumbing through a piece of my gaming history. And if you have gaming artifacts of your own to share, make arrangements with PlaGMaDa to give them a home!