Sorcerer's Apprentice

Sorcerer's Apprentice : Issue 5 - Winter 1979

Troll Talk: Editorial by Ken St. Andre

A Sworded Adventure : Mini-Solo Adventure by Ken St. Andre

As You Like It: Individual Iniative in Solo T&T : Article by A.D. Young

The State of the Art: Some Comments on T&T Solitaire Adventure Design : Article by Ken St.Andre and Liz Danforth

Letters

Arcane Graffiti : News, Clues, and Reviews by Michael Stackpole

Classified Ads

Weapons Shop : Column by L.J. Harris

Know Your Foe 101: Concerning DMs : Article by John M. Morrison

Passage to Dilfar : Fiction by Roger Zelazny

The Revised T&T: An Overview of the Differences, Then and Now : Article by Liz Danforth

Redcap : Fiction by J.E. Coplin

Dancing for the Death God : Fiction, words by David F. Nalle, art by Dan Day

Troll Talk by Ken St. Andre - Winter 1979

Welcome to the new decade. Let me take this opportunity to play prophet, to extrapolate upon current trends, to give you my vision of the future. I predict the following things will happen in the next 10 years, for good, bad, or whatever:

1. I will grow a beard (not a hard prophecy to make - I've got a week and a half start on it already).
2. A major Hollywood studio will make a Dungeons & Dragons movie. It will be a bigger hit than Star Wars.
3. Metagaming will overtake TSR and SPI as the leading sf & f game manufacturer & distributor.
4. By 1985, home computers will be about half as common as television sets, and will offer a lot more to the consumers than even the best of the current models do.
5. Inflation will get worse every year.
6. The US will adopt a purely defensive and somewhat isolationist foreign policy - we'll finally learn to stay out of wars that don't concern us, and we'll quit trying to improve the rest of the world.
7. One or more space shuttles will crash and kill everyone aboard, but private industry and the military will both insist on improving the near-earth space program.
8. Man will walk on the moon again before 1990, and the first true space colony will be started.
9. 1982 - 1983 will have some of the worst earthquakes and weather on record as the Jupiter effect hits.
10. Nuclear weapons will be used in a war, but not a world war. Everyone will be greatly frightened.

I could probably go on for pages, but I really should say a few words about SA. We're looking forward to a great year, and will be experimenting with a new phototypesetter in SA6. There will be just as much great art and fiction, however, and we'll continue to print the best gaming, fantasy, and weapons related articles we receive. SA has now been expanded to 40 pages, with a new cover price of $2.25. The subscription price has also gone up to $10, but this won't affect those of you who have already subscribed. However, those who are buying SA over the counter will have to shell out the extra cash. (Wouldn't it make sense to subscribe before the price goes up again, which is inevitable given the increasing costs of paper, printing, and talent?)

We're very proud to be able to reprint Roger Zelazny's first Dilvish story ever, Passage to Dilfar. This is the first Zelazny story I ever read, and still one of my favorite shorts. Just try to find it in the old Fantastic if you can. Our artist, Gary Freeman, is probably going to be one of the major talents of the next decade. Watch for him - he may just be the next Frank Frazetta.

Lack of space prohibits me from raving over our other contributors as much as I would like to. Jim Coplin returns with a piece of heroic fantasy taken right out of British folklore and as unlikely a pair of heroes as you're ever going to find, in Redcap. Liz explains some of the differences between the new T&T and the old T&T. There's another Weapons Shop, and letters, news and tips, and more great art than ever before - not to mention a short solitaire for you T&T players in my personal city of Khazan.

I'm going to commit myself by stating that I'm going to try and attend Genghis Con in Denver over Memorial Day this year. Considering that Denver's 1000 miles away, that's a big journey for me. And the organizer promises me there will be a T&T tournament there - I'm hoping to enter it instead of run it - my characters never get a chance to play.

Best,
-Nostradamus St. Andre

[Opinions and predictions in this editorial do not necessarily bear any relationship to those of the rest of the staff, or of any other individuals who exist in the "real" world… -Liz & Pat]

Winter 1979.

H'aaarrrggghhh!
Khenn Arrth
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