A Wizardry Talent (unpublished 1982 Interplay article)

Steve Plambeck · 07-29-2019, 05:58 PM

This is about a house rule that very nearly became canon.

Many, many long ages ago (actually it was November 1981) I submitted what I still consider my original group's most important TFT house rule to Metagaming. To my delight at the time, William Gustafson wrote me to say he wanted to include our Wizardry Talent as an optional rule in the upcoming second edition of In The Labyrinth! He went on to ask me if I'd write it up as an article for what was to be Interplay #9.

Heck yes, I was flabbergasted! And more than happy to write the article, which I completed and mailed to Gustafson right after the holidays. It was now January, 1982. I waited with baited breath for my next issue of Interplay to arrive in the mail, and see my own name in print. Plus of course I assumed every TFT player in the world would be impressed by our house rule, adopt it, and cheer.

And as all us old timers know, there never was a Metagaming 2nd edition of ITL, nor a ninth issue of Interplay -- it all went kaput in 1982. TFT going out of print was unthinkable to me, and besides now I wouldn't become famous.

The link below will take you to my unpublished article "TFT: What Makes A Wizard A Wizard?", for Interplay #9, 1982. Of course I had no computer yet, this is a scan of the browning original typed pages I recently rediscovered. Of course my group's Wizardry Talent itself was never lost, as we continued using it, revised and expanded, for almost another 20 years. This article shows it in its original, simplest form.

https://1drv.ms/b/c/c21a9b09d5f79c77...cYkLA?e=vok6o4

Aside from nostalgia, this in a good excuse to kick off a discussion of alternative rules for how learning and memory work, both under the old and newer rules. I've had quite awhile to think about it since I wrote the article.

07-29-2019, 05:58 PM	#1
Steve Plambeck Join Date: Jun 2019	A Wizardry Talent (unpublished 1982 Interplay article) This is about a house rule that very nearly became canon. Many, many long ages ago (actually it was November 1981) I submitted what I still consider my original group's most important TFT house rule to Metagaming. To my delight at the time, William Gustafson wrote me to say he wanted to include our Wizardry Talent as an optional rule in the upcoming second edition of In The Labyrinth! He went on to ask me if I'd write it up as an article for what was to be Interplay #9. Heck yes, I was flabbergasted! And more than happy to write the article, which I completed and mailed to Gustafson right after the holidays. It was now January, 1982. I waited with baited breath for my next issue of Interplay to arrive in the mail, and see my own name in print. Plus of course I assumed every TFT player in the world would be impressed by our house rule, adopt it, and cheer. And as all us old timers know, there never was a Metagaming 2nd edition of ITL, nor a ninth issue of Interplay -- it all went kaput in 1982. TFT going out of print was unthinkable to me, and besides now I wouldn't become famous. The link below will take you to my unpublished article "TFT: What Makes A Wizard A Wizard?", for Interplay #9, 1982. Of course I had no computer yet, this is a scan of the browning original typed pages I recently rediscovered. Of course my group's Wizardry Talent itself was never lost, as we continued using it, revised and expanded, for almost another 20 years. This article shows it in its original, simplest form. https://1drv.ms/b/c/c21a9b09d5f79c77...cYkLA?e=vok6o4 Aside from nostalgia, this in a good excuse to kick off a discussion of alternative rules for how learning and memory work, both under the old and newer rules. I've had quite awhile to think about it since I wrote the article. Last edited by Steve Plambeck; 11-16-2023 at 08:18 PM.