The most recent D&D tome in my gaming collection is a DMG Core Rulebook II - beside it there are no companion volumes, only scuffed ancestors that survived being converted into pizza money during college. I'm sure many hobbyists would find my little library woefully incomplete, and certainly not current. Yet, even with gaping omissions, I have become versed in core themes, and aware of mutable mechanics that can bring fantastic adventures to life. My confidence in assuming the task of either player or game master isn't degraded by not having the publisher's latest answer key on the table. Perplexity wastes time, an occurrence I believe should be rare when dealing with such a prevalent system. I wouldn't say that I'm against continuing development, I'm just more willing to buy a book for inspiration as opposed to regurgitation.

Nestled in the mammoth dealer's room at last year's Indy GenCon was a small booth showcasing a Japanese RPG called Meikyu Kingdom. When I stopped to have a look at their publications, an attendant did his best to explain the setting to me in halting English. Rather than shrug my shoulders and walk back into the swirling crowd, I revealed my secret Otaku side to the guy by mentioning that I knew who Ryo Mizuno is, and what SWORD WORLD was. I'm betting that it was the first mention of something to the foreign gamer that could've started a long conversation...had our native tongues not been entirely different.

In fact, I've had many such strange encounters, being an anime and manga fan for nearly as long as I've enjoyed RPGs. One of the leading reasons for my appreciation of those media arises from how the Fantasy genre merits serious and expert treatments. Ryo Mizuno was one of the founders of Group SNE, which developed an RPG setting called SWORD WORLD. In a sense, he could be compared to any of the founders of TSR. Here in the States, our beloved TSR game D&D was depicted in an animation by the same name, which I'm sure no one would say is a serious treatment. Rather, saying the game was degenerated into childish TV pabulum would be truthful. Conversely, and rather shockingly to my young eyes, would be the viewing of the first animation related to (the then unknown) SWORD WORLD; a multi-part video release called Record of Lodoss War. Even today, this series from the early 1990's has impact. I'd bet my paycheck that it even bests the much more recent Dragonlance animated movie. So, what did this mean to an American nerd like myself? It meant that I should learn to love subtitles and reading books backwards, because some incredible genre titles were being made in Japan!

My own submissions can be found in issues two and three, comprised of artwork like you see below and NPC designs. For future issues I'll have some concise adventures targeted for the pre 3~4th Edition fans. Ordering issues is a simple matter; you can purchase softcover printings or PDFs (with a delay for the latter if the issue is new). For more details, please visit the web site: www.fightonmagazine.com