A draft manuscript produced for playtesting Warlock, an alternative to the emerging Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, for fantasy role-playing games. Later published in part, in Spartan Magazine #9 (August 1975), and formally published 3 years later as The Complete Warlock. While Balboa spent 2 years playtesting and editing Warlock, TSR Inc. established a dominant position for Dungeons & Dragons in the RPG market. Balboa's manuscript was finally published as 'a major D&D variant', a decision that landed them in court. Image and information courtesy of Brian Wagner.
Melan wrote:I scored a copy of Warlock on a huge auction, but it just isn't too exciting. Basically some guy's "like D&D but better" system, without the elements that actually make D&D fun, and make reading D&D rulebooks fun. Maybe I just can't get worked up enough for a game with a reworked magic system. OTOH, what I have may be an early version (looks like it, it is basically an old, old photocopy), since it is far less extensive than a proper ruleset would be.
grodog wrote:So, oh fanzine experts, are the other issues of Spartan worthwhile/interesting?
MShipley88 wrote:Does Melan mean "hammer" in Hungarian? Sounds pretty close to the Latin word.