Grey Worlds
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File:Cover_of_Grey_Worlds_zine_issue_15.pngFile:Cover_of_Grey_Worlds_magazine_Vol_1_Iss_1_Jan_1993.png]]
Grey Worlds was a fanzine about Rolemaster that first appeared in 1989. It was eventually published by Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) as a professional-quality magazine.
Contents
Grey Worlds started life in 1989 as a fanzine focused on I.C.E.'s Rolemaster fantasy role-playing game, although occasional articles about Bladestorm, Cyberspace, Dark Space, and Space Master also appeared.{{cite web | url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100706024524/https://www.erzo.org/shannon/gaming/indices/grey-worlds.txt | title =The Grey Worlds Index | last =Appelcline | first =Shannon | access-date =2021-03-19}}
I.C.E. eventually took over production and created a professional-looking magazine that covered I.C.E. products, particularly Middle-earth Role Playing and Rolemaster,{{Cite web | url=https://rpggeek.com/rpgperiodical/2081/grey-worlds | title=Grey Worlds | Periodical | RPGGeek }} although articles about Shadow World and Silent Death also appeared.
Publication history
Grey Worlds was started as a Rolemaster fanzine in 1989 by Ross Henton and Lem Richards. They published it regularly, and by 1992, they had produced 15 issues. Although it began as a primitive-looking zine, the final issues were of increasingly better quality, albeit still stapled and with a black & white cover.
At that point I.C.E. took over production, with the plan to produce a regularly-scheduled glossy games periodical. Henton and Richards were retained as the Editor in Chief and Production Manager respectively. The numbering was restarted, and Issue 1, a professionally printed and saddle-stitched magazine, was released in June 1993 featuring a full-colour cover by Angus McBride and numerous advertisements. However Issue 2 was not released until January 1994, and Issue 3 did not appear until 1995. Production ceased after Issue 3.
As games historian Shannon Appelcline noted in his 2014 book Designers & Dragons, "ICE picked [Grey Worlds] up, with the intent to publish it at a more professional level, an experiment that failed after just three issues published over two years."{{Cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons: The '80s|publisher=Evil Hat Productions|year=2014| isbn=978-1-61317-081-6}}{{rp|109}}
Reception
Herb Petro reviewed the magazine in the February–March 1991 issue of White Wolf.{{cite magazine|last=Petro|first=Herb|title=Capsule Reviews: Magazines; Grey Worlds #6|magazine=White Wolf|date=February–March 1991|number=25|pages=38–39|url=https://imgur.com/a/PwppIu8}} He stated, "I have been very pleased with Grey Worlds, receiving it since issue #4, and I recommend it to all ICE RPG fans." He rated it overall at 4 points of a possible 5.
References
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