I am overjoyed to learn that my ideas about the sub-regions are being considered. Even if it is not assimilated into the club, I'm glad it was at least talked about.

I agree with Initiate Jil's idea of PBM runners updating the general membership on what is going on. Being a GM of currently up and running PBM, I would enjoy writing every other issue commenting on what the poor players are dealing with. If it is possible, and if room could be found, it would be nice if a column could be started, taking one or two pages, two GMs would report each issue on what's going on. This would also help new members receiving the publication; instead of just a list of GMs, they would have an idea of what kind games were going on.

I would also like to express kudos to the club for the EPS. It's very fair and allows competition. I also agree that members playing in PBMs should get experience. My own players had to wait a LONG time to get their turns due to the fact that the game required seven players to start.

-- Novice (but not for long!) Steven Dashiell

I for one greatly appreciate the time and work our Editor, Rick Emerich, puts into Chain-Mail, and though we all realize that our newszine is among the best in the nation, I want more, and I'm sure that many of you do also. This letter includes some of my suggestions to improve our newszine.

Firstly, we all know that Chain-Mail cannot exist without the support of the members, but there are many members who choose to inactively participate; i.e. do nothing but read the newszine. I'm sure that some members don't want the hassle of perfecting a whole article. There are also members with an idea for an article, but for many reasons -- time, energy, knowledge, etc. -- they don't submit them. Many among us are referees (GMs), and we have devised new tables of rules for unique situations that might be of use to other players and GMs. All of these fall into a category I call "fillers:"

Not every member, for whatever reason, can or will supply one article, but every single member can be expected to supply at least one filler. These might be short, one or two paragraphs, which would provide a wealth of ideas for the readers, and will [potentially] provoke more imaginative thought than the longer articles may. A filler could simply pose an interesting question [with background] and leave it at that, while an article would take the work of answering these questions. Our Editor could cram fillers at the end of an article instead of wasting a quarter to a half page of our (newszine and thus save on) printing costs.

Another suggestion has to do with the organization of the newszine itself. I pose this suggestion to the members via "Club Forum" rather than to the Editor directly, because I am sure his response will rely primarily on that of the members. For those of you that don't realize it, the job of the Editor is thankless and demanding, functioning as secretary, ambassador, typist, grammartarian, publisher, and editor.

Recently, the Editor has differed the control of the "Club Forum" to Jil Conway. This, I believe, is an excellent idea and it led me to my next thought. What I believe the newszine needs are "department heads," or "departmental coordinators" functioning at the direction of the Editor. Delegating authority to coordinators like Jil would free up the Editor's time and help involve more members in the production of the newszine.

For example, an "art director" (I'd nominate Gennie Summers) would stay in contact with the Editor, who would request from the art director exactly what art he would need for an upcoming issue. The art director would be listed, along with the other departmental heads, in the newszine, and be responsible for collecting a staff of members interested in regularly providing art as well as accepting correspondence from members that send an "art filler."

The Editor would coordinate the actions of other departmental heads, such as: Crimsonvale Department (nominees: Jeff Young, Rick Emerich); Humor Department (nominee: Ben Gregory); Marvelous Monsters Department (nominee: Dennis DeBalso); and Unusual Incidents, such as encounters a la "Book of Liars." Each department head would be responsible for creating a staff and a list of contacts, and would be responsible for processing and organizing all submissions in his field as well as doing [preliminary] editorial overhauls.

The Editor still has the final say on all matters and he is responsible for coordinating the actions of all these groups. The Editor should be able to assign each department a certain amount of space and would hold the departmental head responsible for filling it. If one department has too much or too little material, it is the Editor's job to iron out these problems. If a departmental head repeatedly shirks, shuns, or does not fulfill his/her duties, obviously the Editor must take appropriate action.

It is my belief that each issue should contain submissions from each of the following areas of interest: Crimsonvale; Monsters (one or two new monsters in each issue); Magic (one or two new magic items or spells in each issue); Chapter of Lairs (not a whole module or adventure, but an interesting encounter or battle); Ranger Rick's (answers to technical questions); Librarian's Choice (at least one book review per issue); the "Club Forum" (of course); and art. In addition to these areas the Editor would make room for his area of responsibility, unique articles.

I am also going to go so far as to suggest a quantity of pages for these departments. Perhaps I am overstepping my bounds here but is is to make a point. We have about 34 pages to fill, and here is how I would assign them; of course, the most respected Editor should do as he sees fit.

There would be two pages (maximum) for "From The Editor's Desk." This section must stick strictly to editorial comments and newszine information, and if the editor wishes to address his personal opinions to the membership, he may use the "Club Forum" like other members. There would be three (actually, from two to five) pages for the popular "Club Forum," and three pages for "Ranger Rick's Round Table" and "Wizard Will's Wisdom" in which venue experienced DMs debate judgement calls and rule modifications.

There would be eight pages, including maps, for Crimsonvale. By keeping this short we make several improvements. This makes space for a variety of articles, and thus input from a variety of members. Also it is my, perhaps faulty, belief that if

we keep our demands small we will get what we ask for. In other words, if you ask a member to write a two page article you are much more likely to get it consistently than if you asked him for a 10 page article as frequently.

I would allot four pages to "Club Profiles," which makes room for about five members in each issue (judging by the average length in past issues), and one or two pages each issue for "Marvelous Monsters," which makes room for about two or three new monsters, quite a task. However, I don't believe this is impossible if we have an administrator whose sole club responsibility is gathering new monsters. The same is true for the "Wizard's Closet," but a page or two will be plenty to devote to spell explanations. Another page can be dedicated to "Librarian's Choice" -- a one page "book report" per bimonth is certainly not too much to ask for.

This will give the Editor at least 21 pages of regular material each issue. To this add two pages of art work (that would be coordinated to match the contents). That would leave about 11 pages for unique material, such as short stories, articles about gaming, and lairs and encounters would fill the remainder.

By holding our Editor responsible for only 11 pages of creativity, I believe that we greatly improve the quality of our product. By creating staff and departmental coordinators, we spread responsibility and thus improve club participation. If a member has nothing but an idea for an article or a question, he can direct it to a department head who may then write the article of pass the idea on to one of his staff.

-- Novice Will Nesbitt

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