Polymancer magazine

Infobox Magazine
title = Polymancer


editor = Andrew Bernstein
frequency = Monthly
category = Games magazine
company = Polymancer Studios, Inc.
firstdate = December 2004
country = flag|Canada
language = English
website = [http://www.polymancerstudios.com www.polymancerstudios.com]
issn = 1708-4474

"Polymancer" is a magazine covering roleplaying games and related hobbies such as miniatures, wargaming, and LARPs. The magazine is published in Canada; its first issue was published in 2004.

Nature of Magazine and Content

"Polymancer" Articles (except adventure scenarios) are written without reference to rules. The magazine touts itself as being “system-independent” so that “players of different game systems may make use of them” [ [http://www.polymancerstudios.com/secure_downloads/polymancer_writers_guidelines.pdf Polymancer magazine writing guidelines] ]

The magazine covers many gaming genres such as fantasy, sci fi, horror, modern day, pulp. Most gaming magazines just cover fantasy because Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy RPG is the most popular game of its kind.

"Polymancer" is different from many magazines that cover RPGs by being printed. Many gaming magazines such as Pyramid are only available online. The April 19 2007 announcement that Paizo Publishing's license to produce Dragon and Dungeon magazines will end in September 2007, without being renewed [ [http://paizo.com/transition paizo.com - Dragon and Dungeon Transition ] ] ["Paizo Publishing to Cease Publication of DRAGON and DUNGEONMagazines to continue through September 2007" http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/news/20070419a] ["Paizo Publishing to Cease Publication of "Dragon" and "Dungeon." "Polyglot" Volume #3 Issue #5 http://www.polymancerstudios.com/polyglot/volume3/polyglot_volume3_issue4_2007_04_19.pdf] , leaves "Polymancer" as one of the few printed game hobby magazines geared towards consumers left ("see the for a list)." (Wizards announced that the two magazines will be replaced by an as of yet unspecified "online initative.")

There is a complete adventure scenario in every issue of the magazine “playable right out of the box.” [Polymancer writing guidelines op cit] The scenario map is in the magazine’s center spread. There is downloadable material to aid the gamemaster available at the publisher’s web site for most of the scenarios.

Articles in "Polymancer" tend to be long (over 4 pages) and the black and white illustrations differ from the color artwork found in "Dragon." "Polymancer" is comparable to how Dragon was in the 1980s. [ [http://www.alterworlds.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?t=53&sid=3b46f5e5617f89733aaf8a19c1f87c58 ALTERWORLDS :: View topic - Polymancer Magazine ] ] The articles in Polymancer are eclectic but they appear under a few regular headings:

*“Jousting With Words” is the editorial
*“The Lich’s Niche” is a ranting opinion column written in the form of an interview with a lich.
*“Tech Talk” is about ways to use technology (especially computers) in gaming.
*“Gaming Digital” is about play by email games.
*“Gauntlet” seems to be generally about problems gamemasters might face and how to solve them. They tend to be instructional in tone.
*“Mojo” is Polymancer’s own game rules system. Each article is a new category of rules for Mojo. This means Mojo is developed on a serial basis. The article announcing it in issue #2 says Mojo is meant to be easy to convert to other game systems.
*“Plot Fodder” is about getting adventure ideas from general topics.

Adventure Scenarios

There is a full adventure scenario in every issue. So far Polymancer has had horror, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, science fiction, pulp, cyberpunk, and Espionage scenarios. One scenario was written to be played as a set of linked miniatures wargame battles, as an RPG adventure, or both. [Harvard reference | Surname=B | Given=A | Title=Operation Burning Chain | Journal=Polymancer | Volume=1 | Issue=10 | Year=2006 | Page=18] Most Polymancer adventures are written for use with any RPG rules system, however, three adventures were written for specific RPGs: C.J. Carella's Witchcraft (by Eden Studios), [Harvard reference | Surname=G | Given=L | Title=Hush | Journal=Polymancer | Volume=1 | Issue=1 | Year=n.d. | Page=24] Jovian Chronicles (by Dream Pod 9), [Harvard reference | Surname=R | Given=T | Title=Wolf In Sheep's Clothing | Journal=Polymancer | Volume=1 | Issue=7 | Year=n.d. | Page=20] and HARP (by I.C.E.). [Harvard reference | Surname=The Unknown Gamer | Title=A Darkness Whispered | Journal=Polymancer | Volume=1 | Issue=8 | Year=n.d. | Page=16] The latter two adventures had the statistics that are compatible with the rules for the games the adventures were written for side-by-side with Polymancer's own "Mojo" rules system (see below), which is written to be convertible into other game rules systems. The Witchcraft adventure contains very few references to rules so it is likely to be easy to convert into the rules for other horror RPGs.

Comics

More than one comic has appeared in "Polymancer" magazine. There was a serial comic called “SideQuest” about a group of gamers that appeared in issues 1 through 8. Other comics that have appeared in Polymancer are "Quotable Quotes" starting in issue #8; it is based on humorous quotes from games that have been supplied by the magazine's readers by email. "Dice Quest" began in issue #10; the characters in Dice Quest are anthropomorphized polyhedral dice).

Notes

Further reading

*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 1.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 2.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 3.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 4.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 5.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 6.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 7.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 8.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 9.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 10.
*(n.d.) "Polymancer," vol. 1, no. 12.

External links

* [http://www.polymancerstudios.com Polymancer Studios] (publisher)
* [http://www.myspace.com/polymancer Polymancer Studios's MySpace page]