2025-02-08
I've made fanzines before. Been part of a couple of really seriously fancy fanzine projects even. Made several submissions to a really fun print-on-demand RPG fanzine, and edited another that was printed and stapled on an office printer. It's been awesome.
I've written about them before.
Even though I'm an avid tabletop role-player I don't do much gaming these days, for lack of time and a consequence of prioritisation. When I do it's mostly one-shots with simple home brew mechanics. My bookshelf is very devoid of RPG products, especially commercial ones. I just had a look and it's even emptier than I though! I have a printout of the free Labyrinth Lord pdf (is there still a free version? I don't know) and a printout of the free Stars Without Number basic rules pdf. Then my own games and adventures, of course.
Most of the shelf space is occupied by the RPG fanzines I've been a part of, and a few issues of some I haven't. There are a couple of pretty thick issues of a fanzine that I've edited but not gotten a physical copy of myself. Maybe I'll get those eventually.
Suffice to say it's quite obvious that I love making and partaking in fanzines. I wish there were more fanzines out there, and that I had more time to read them.
But producing a fanzine can be a big task.
It's probably because of this that I find myself with the urge to make one again fairly often. More or less every time I park my bum on the sofa, actually, because the shelf with all the other ones is in plain view. Fond memories and a pride in my work.
If (and that's a big if) I were to start one again it wouldn't be purely about tabletop RPGs. I've expanded my hobbies quite a bit. Yet the common denominator amongst them is DIY.
I love playing OpenTTD and make my own mods (called NewGRFs or GameScripts) for it, as well as contribute code. I love the aesthetics and lore of Warhammer 40k and do a lot of scratch bashing, kitbashing, and painting around that even though I don't play. In the past couple of years I've built and modded my fair share of furniture. When my bike breaks I fix it myself if I can (not the car, though. Fuck that horrid monster). I still write and run my own RPG adventures from time to time.
It would be fun to make a fanzine about DIY things. It would be fun to do it with others. Alas I barely have the time I want for the hobbies I already have. The time and energy for another fanzine just isn't there right now. I hardly have time to post here, even!
But maybe I'll make a fanzine again some day. You never know.
-- CC0 Björn Wärmedal