the option to gate in 1-4 Liches

YIKES! And furthermore . . . DOUBLE YIKES! Oh how I loved 1st Edition.

• Bug Riders (Jack Rick) Human sized bug people who ride giant insects. Extra points for a variety of mounts offered: giant versions of Daddy long Legs, Wolf Spiders, Black Ants and Red Ants.
• Lich King (Daniel Lukacinsky) A nightmare riding sickle wielding skeletal lich warrior. There is apparently only one, but with an AC of -8 (the maximum in 1st edition was -10) psychic abilities and the option to gate in 1-4 Liches, you don’t want to meet him.
• Vanith Vadiren (Phil Masters) A species of angelic Pegasus riding elves who dwell in the Twin Paradises plane of existence. They are powerful, come in force and do not like the Drow. I suspect they are a good “deus ex machina” rather than an encounter.

This is what I love about homebrew content. Some of this stuff (like the vanith) are clearly "stuff from my home campaign" while other stuff is "wouldn't it be cool if," like the lich king. (Should have trademarked that one, Lukacinsky!) And then there are the bug riders, that could well be either category.

The ripped from a home campaign stuff tends to be more useful, IME, but the other stuff is typically the most fun to read.

The biggest reveal for me here is that the term "metagaming" was in use in 1983!

The biggest reveal for me here is that the term "metagaming" was in use in 1983!

Indeed. The difference is that it used to be considered a bad thing.

Indeed. The difference is that it used to be considered a bad thing.

First it was just how things were played. See Best of the Dragon, Vol. 1, where someone learned the language "wall" so they could interrogate a dungeon about its contents.

This issue came out a year after TSR published Pharoah and the year Ravenloft was published, so the Hickman Revolution is underway.

Indeed. The difference is that it used to be considered a bad thing.

I mean, it is now, but did it?

The most positive attitudes to metagaming and Monty Haul and true munchkinry (rather than mere min-maxining) - three separate things, just pointing out their temporal co-occurrence, that I ever saw, were all from 1989 through 1997, and I've never seen them regarded with much love since, online or off.

I mean, it is now, but did it?

The most positive attitudes to metagaming and Monty Haul and true munchkinry (rather than mere min-maxining) - three separate things, just pointing out their temporal co-occurrence, that I ever saw, were all from 1989 through 1997, and I've never seen them regarded with much love since, online or off.

I think of metagaming as an integral part of many "non-trad" narrative games. Not in the "bad" sense of giving your character an unfair advantage, but for the purpose of contributing to the story beyond what the PCs strictly know or control.

I think of metagaming as an integral part of many "non-trad" narrative games. Not in the "bad" sense of giving your character an unfair advantage, but for the purpose of contributing to the story beyond what the PCs strictly know or control.

That's not what metagaming means though in any context. People simply do not use that term because it's an integral part of the game, therefore it cannot be metagaming any more than the auction in Amber, for example.