Greetings to one and all! I am proud to present our 25th, silver anniversary issue of Chain-Mail, and hope that everyone will enjoy its uniqueness, layout, and content.

I wish to encourage a diversity of submissions and presentations for Chain-Mail in the future. Looking at the club's membership directory codes, it is apparent that, while most of us play AD&D, we also have a good deal of members involved with other, well-known game systems. Let's continue to support our flagship events - the Crimsonvale project, "The Wizard's Closet," "Marvelous Monsters," etc. - but also let's build upon the expansion into other as yet barely touched areas of fantasy, fiction, and gaming. Like any club, expansion of the membership ranks is key to the club's survival; this can be enhanced through an expansion of our newszine's focus to include more than just AD&D and related topics.

A couple of issues ago, the first god for the Crimsonvale project was presented in the new column "Deities of the Realm." Since then, several members have submitted gods, heroes, or have made proposals for constructing and managing a pantheon of gods. I have not printed any additional material for this column because I was uncertain on how to best present these submissions.

Rather than arbitrarily decide this issue on behalf of the club, I would prefer to have a consensus from the membership about the matter. Specifically, we need to decide:

• Will the planes of existence used for the TSR-created gods (as given in Manual of the Planes and Legends and Lore) be used for the homes of our gods, or shall a single, or set, of planes of the membership's creation be used as their home?

  Some thoughts: since many players will wish to use some of the AD&D gods already defined in the game system, especially the nonhuman gods, would it be easier just to use the planes already established? Or would we add our planes of existence for our own club gods to the ones established by AD&D? Will Nesbitt has suggested "Crimsonbluff" and/or "Netherbluff" for the planes of existence for our club gods.

• Will more than one god be permitted to rule over a "divine jurisdiction"?

  By this I mean will there be a definite order of responsibilities for gods, or can one or more gods share some certain areas of influence? For example, the "Mother Earth God" and "God of Humanity" might both claim jurisdiction for creation of humankind.

• How will the gods be related, if at all?

  On what basis shall we decide which god gave "birth" to another? Should all gods be considered of equal standing (though not necessarily of equal power), having been mysteriously created at the same time independently from one another?

• How shall we decide which god to use if more than one member submits a god for the same area of influence?

  If two separate members submit a "Mother Earth God" with nearly identical powers and responsibilities, whose shall be used? Should the decision be based on whose was received by the Editor first, whose the Editor thinks is best/most comprehensive, or should the various versions be merged by the Editor to form a final product?

• Should the standard of presentation of the gods be the one used in Chain-Mail #22 for Cathak, or do you have a suggestion for a better means of presentation?

  All members are strongly encouraged to write to the Editor with their opinions and ideas, so as to help with formation of a club consensus on this topic. I'd like to make the next installment of "Deities of the Realm" in issue #26, which is planned for printing on January 1, 1993; therefore, your expedient comments will be appreciated!

Seeing that the participation level and general feeling about our first Trivia Quiz Contest was low, I sought an alternative contest method which would avoid such problems. Almost six months ago I had an idea for a club contest which I thought would avoid the problems of the Trivia Quiz: it would permit all members to have an equal chance of winning; was relatively easy and fun to do; would permit participation without requiring any esoteric knowledge; and would award XP for at least making a real effort at participation. Thus was born the Scavenger Hunt!

I hope that everyone will enjoy this alternative contest, and make a real effort to participate.

Just so everyone understands, you don't need to get every item on the list to win! You need to get as many as you can and respond as quickly as possible to have the best chance of winning one of the first three prizes. Regardless, however, you will still earn XP just for making a real attempt at winning, so there really are no losers, just differences in the magnitude of winning! Best of luck to you all!

In closing, I wish everyone a healthy, happy, and harmonious holiday season! Best wishes to you all!

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com