The Best of Delusions of Grandeur

What is Delusions of Grandeur?

DoG is a zine that was started at roughly the same time as Imazine Volume One was winding down. Imazine was a major influence on DoG on the zine moved from a fairly standard RPG first issue to the kind of cultural and historical articles that Imazine was and is reknown for.

Unfortunately the zine is highly irregular with very long gaps between issues. In addition to this it is extremely hard to get hold of copies of the zine anymore. This is a shame because there was a lot of good stuff there. Enter then The Best of Delusions of Grandeur an anthology compilied from what the editor thought were the best articles from the zine. In addition to the articles other material such as editorials and letters have been included to give the uninitiated reader a feel for what the zine was like and may be again.

What does the anthology contain?

Diatribe

The editorial from the Apathy Bloos issue including a quick survey of RPG fandom at the time and reflections on zine writing and DoG itself.

The Legend of Arthur

An article on the potential historical King Arthurs and their relations and contributions to the legend of the High King. Offers a lot of useful information for playing a historical Athurian game in a post-Roman Britain being invaded by the Saxons.

Empire of the Petal Throne

Written by Dave Morris this is one of the best overviews of the material available on the legendary world of Tekumel and the Empire of the Petal Throne.

Aborigine Magic

A look at the magic, culture and legends of the Australian aborigines, fascinating in itself but written with a view for creating more interesting forms of magic in FRPGs.

The Wheel of Real Magic

An early attempt to create a coherent and orginal magic system based not in rule mechanics but rather in a philosophy of magic. Though hampered by an over-reliance on the mechanics of the AD&D game this article is extremely interesting in the way that it tries to shift the way magic is discussed within roleplaying, focussing not on systems and probabilities but on the way magicians might think.

Vitriol

A compilation of letters from the readers of DoG. Hopefully this is interesting both as a historical document of the people and discussions being carried out in roleplaying fandom during the Nineties as and an adjunct to the articles themselves.

What's Going On at the Slakberry?

A scenario by Paul Baldowski that caught the eye of the zine reviewer with the now defunct GM magazine. The scenario and review picked up a lot of attention for DoG and it is revised and reprinted here. A separate card sheet is included with the handouts for the adventure.

Ordering

This anthology costs £5/10 Euros or $10 (if paying by PayPal $15). To order please email in the first instance.

Metazine