Hey folks,
Well, here we are, Issue #12, the big finale for 2025, and the last issue of our third year on this wild ride. I don't know about you, but it still blows my mind that Mad Scribe has come this far. What started out as a humble zine filled with scribbles, oddball ideas, and a healthy dose of nostalgia has become something real, something we're proud of. From the emails, comments, and support you've all shown, it's clear that it's something you're proud to read. That means the world to us.
We're wrapping up the year with a beast of an issue. I mean, when you've got Sandy freakin' Petersen sitting down to talk shop, you know you're doing something right. The guy helped shape the very nightmares we still roll dice to escape. And then there's Den Beauvais, an artist whose work practically bleeds old-school fantasy. His style is gritty, dramatic, and just flat-out badass. If you ever stared too long at the cover of a Dragon Magazine, odds are Den had something to do with it.
And that's just the start. Alex Williams is serving up not one but two killer pieces. First, Free Descent - a procedural nightmare built for Ironsworn. It's dripping with cosmic dread, Cthulhu-style horror, and all the twisted little scenarios you'd expect when you mix dark fantasy with the void. Then, in Men - the Forgotten Demographic, Alex dives into the cultural trenches to ask some hard questions about how the big entertainment machines have shifted their gaze, and what that's meant for the rest of us. Love it or hate it, it's a conversation worth having.
Victor Dorso's here with The Underutilized Curse, a sharp look at how GMs can weaponize one of fantasy's most classic tropes. Forget the old "-1 penalty" snoozefest, Victor shows you how to make curses truly haunting, the kind of thing players remember long after the session ends. Right alongside that, John Karakash gives us Magic Swords, a thoughtful spin on low-level enchanted loot. He'll make you rethink how even the humblest +1 blade can feel legendary in the right hands.
And if that wasn't enough for your table, Travis Fauber drops The Blue Lady, a full-blown Dragonslayer adventure. Historical fantasy flavor, mysterious noblewomen, scheming lords, and a tower prison straight out of a medieval nightmare. It's a classic setup with plenty of room to go gloriously off the rails. I can't wait to hear how your groups handle Lord Bertram Beau and his fortress.
Kyle's back with his quarterly board game list, and as always, he brings the heat. If you're hunting for something new to crack open on a cold winter night with your crew, don't miss it. Bre Molina dazzles our pages with her killer cosplay ... it's fantasy, it's glam, it's gorgeous. She brings the kind of style to the hobby that makes you remember why we fell in love with it in the first place.
Being the "Mad Scribe," I dug into some ancient Sumerian cosmology. In this issue's Scribe's Library, you'll find my own version of the Enuma Elish (Sumerian Creation Myth). Part of the setting lore for Ankur - Kingdom of the Gods, this one's for those who like their gods old, cosmic, and a little grumpy.
To all of you Mad Scribes out there, thanks. Thanks for keeping print alive, for still loving the smell of fresh ink, for remembering what it felt like to flip through a magazine on your bed while listening to heavy metal music.
We've got more big stuff coming in Year Four, but for now, grab your beverage of choice, queue up the Conan soundtrack, and enjoy this monster of an issue!
Stay weird,
Chris Miller
Editor-in-Chief
Mad Scribe Magazine
