Wyrd Science is a new, quarterly magazine celebrating roleplaying games, war-games and board games that sets out to give space wizards, gelatinous cubes and tentacled gods the respect they deserve.
Issue 1: Session Zero
Features interviews with:
- Kieron Gillen - One of the most exciting writers working in comics today, Kieron's greatest hits include the likes of Young Avengers and Darth Vaderfor Marvel and his own groundbreaking titles such as Phonogram & The Wicked + Divine. We catch up with him to chat about his latest RPG inspired book DIE, his new Marvel/Warhammer 40,000 book Marneus Calgarand, well, pretty much everything.
- Simon Stålenhag - We speak to the artist/author behind Tales From The Loop, Things From The Flood and The Electric State about his new book The Labyrinth, and the dangers of both nostalgia and state violence.
- Chris Spivey - The award winning RPG designer tells us all about his new book, Haunted West, and how America must both face up to the tainted legacy of its past and rediscover the stories that past has hidden from view.
- Banana Chan - With one of the most interesting new RPGs of the year, Jiangshi - Blood In The Banquet Hall, about to drop we find out more about the game from its co-designer.
- Johan Nohr - As the artist and graphic designer behind MÖRK BORG, Johan Nohr has done more than almost anyone to change the look and colour of RPGs over the past 18 months, we check in with him to discover how to break the rules in the right way.
- Duncan Molloy - They're already responsible for publishing 2000 AD, the galaxy's greatest comic, and now publisher Rebellion have turned their attention to tabletop games. We speak to the man heading up the new division to seee what we can expect next.
- Thomas Pike - We speak to Themeborne lead designer about their Escape The Dark Castle/Sector games and their gritty roots in the dark & down at heel Britain of the 1980s.
- Dirk the Dice - We chat with the host of The GROGNARD Files, one of the best RPG podcasts in the UK today.
- Andre Novoa - We catch up with the found of new Portuguese RPG publisher Games Omnivorous about their incredible first 12 months.
- Sasha Bilton - One of the founder members of East London's H.A.T.E. gaming club, Sasha tells us all about the club's origins and how they've got through 2020.
On top of all that there is an original short story from Black Library/Aconyte Books' author Josh Reynolds, featuring one of his own original characters - The Royal Occultist Charles St. Cyprian.
Have a look back at the changing face of tabletop gaming in 2020 with contributions from podcasters, writers and games designers including Dan Jolin, Matt Thrower, Pamela Punzalan, Danie Ware, Luke Shaw, Chris McDowall, The Smart Party and Jay Dragon.
Plus all the soon to be regulars features such as Mira Manga's diary, Anna Blackwell's game-by-game dive into the world of solo-RPG, Pierre Mortel's Crooked Tales and Time Slip where, this issue, legendary Citadel Miniatures designer Trish Carden takes us back to Nottingham in the 1980s.
88 pages, full color magazine. Includes PDF.
Issue 2: Expert Rules
Wyrd Science returns with an even bigger and better second issue. Contains interviews, news, features and reviews covering everything from the history of D&D B/X through to the best tabletop games of today.
In this issue you'll find...
Quickstart - get up to speed with what's happening with interviews with & features on: What Would the Smart Party Do?, Coyote & Crow, Jon Peterson on his new book The Elusive Shift, the latest gaming design trends, game inspired art and much more
Main features:
- A celebration of D&D B/X's 40th Anniversary including interviews with game designers Stephen Marsh & David 'Zeb' Cook, Peter Bebergal on the books that inspired B/X & a look at the OSR scene and the best games of today inspired by it.
- An interview with April Kit Walsh about her new RPG Thirsty Sword Lesbians
- An interview with Cubicle 7's Emmet Byrne about Age of Sigmar Soulbound
- An interview with games designer Jay Dragon about their game of pastoral exploration and healing, Wanderhome
- An interview with Gavriel Quiroga about his new RPG Warpland
- A introduction to the Latin American RPG scene by games designer Diogo Nogueira
- A look at the new generation of model agnostic indie wargames from the likes of Space Weirdos to Reign in Hell
- An interview with Pontus Bjorlin about his new RPG ALTNYC88
- Interviews with pro-model painters Dana Howl, Brent Amberger, Amy Snuggs and Scott Walker and a look at how social media is changing that cene
- An interview with best selling Black Library author Guy Haley
- A look at the representation of women in the tabletop world today including interviews with the likes of Wingspan's Elizabeth Hargrave, 1minuteboardgames' Raina Medina, Dark Imp Game's Ellie Dix and Patricia Willenborg of Kismet Rose's D&D
Plus reviews: Age of Sigmar (3rd Edition), RPGs including Dune, Fallout, Achtung! Cthulhu, Inspirisles, Soulbound, Word Wide Wrestling, Whitehack, Caer Mundus, Old School Essentials, Animal Adventures and many more, and board games such as Oath and Uk'Otoa.
112 pages, full color magazine. Includes PDF.
Issue 3: The Horror Issue
Wyrd Science returns for their third issue, an exploration of the dark and shadowy corners of tabletop games. 112 pages of interviews, news, features and reviews covering everything from the history of horror RPGs through to some of the best tabletop games of today.- Roleplaying game historian Shannon Appelcline, author of the acclaimed Designers & Dragons series, takes us on a tour of the near 50 year history of horror RPGs from the sword & sorcery books that inspired D&D, through to the dark days of the satanic panic, the vampire obsessed 1990s and onto today.
- Connoisseur of the dark, Jack Shear, looks back at the gothic literature that helped shape the mist shrouded domain of dread that is Dungeons & Dragons' iconic horror setting Ravenloft
- They head to the Mythic North and explore Nordic folk horror RPG Vaesen with Graeme Davis, veteran writer behind games such as Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play and author of the Vaesen's new Mythic Britain & Ireland supplement.
- Indie game savants Adam Vass and Will Jobst sit down with Samantha Nelson and talk us through Campfire, their new game of spooky storytelling and the horror anthologies that inspired it.
- Stuart Hall looks at that staple of horror RPGs over the years -the sanity mechanic- and examines how attitudes to mental health in tabletop games have evolved over the years.
- Head into space and find horror amongst the stars as the designers behind games such as Mothership, ALIEN and The Wretched explain they go about adding chills to the inky void of space.
- Luke Frosticke meets up with the team from British design studio Rowan, Rook & Decard to learn what terrors inspired their award winning RPG Spire and how they've built a company that's anything but a horror show.
- Walton Wood speaks to Paolo Greco about The Book of Gaub, a new tome of wicked wizardry and maleficent magic that aims to put the sinister back into sorcery.
- Head down to South America where Brazilian game and graphic designer Guilherme Gontijo talks about his love of giallo horror films and his stunning looking new game Blurred Lines.
- Dan Thurot from Spacebiff.com explores how, and indeed if, board games can truly deliver a fearful experience.
- And we speak to Joseph McCullough about his latest war-game of Napoleonic Horror, The Silver Bayonet