Brigand magazine was a collaborative effort to bring back one of my favorite aspects of the tabletop scene- a golden age which, to my lament, I was born far too late to experience. This is an era whose core concepts I fell in love with during my time spent poring over their histories. I turned page after page through tomes that delved into community communication. These were unabashedly experimental, creating new terrible ways of adventure. Each page bright in awe inspiring art shouldered beside mind melting mathematics, each coming together with the thinnest paper and cheapest glue. Before the widespread use of forums or later social platforms, one of the main ways that you and your friends would get access to new classes, adventures, and monsters was through a magazine subscription to the official Dungeons (or) Dragons publication (yes, there were two, and to this day I don't know what the difference was). What was apparent, however, was its ability to allow designers a new space in which to test ideas that did not require the brands complete oversight.

Ken Rolston, designer of Morrowind, wrote of the first publications of Dungeon magazine, “the writing ranges from young and enthusiastic to polished…[and provides] great training grounds for new writers". 

TTRPG writing is a hobby whose main body of work was done mulled in solitude; shared only with a close circle of friends, Dungeon allowed those who read it and submitted to it the ability to bypass the major challenge in sharing work. Many have come to forget an insurmountable wall that existed before our own era of Newgrounds and other art sharing websites; this being the barrier of entry. To even place your foot in the door of a publishing agency was understandably far beyond the bounds of any average player. Dungeon magazine uplifted fan labor without any kind of stigma of fan creation. It was official enough for merit yet open enough for everyone to take a swing. 

For those who have not placed themselves in the sphere of tabletop gaming, there has been a rather severe split with the advancements of AI art and its use from fan content to even official publications. I have a rather staunch opinion I will not delve too deeply into for this write up. However, it did play a role in my wishes to present the results of working with real artists and writers. Quickly the goals for the first issue emerged, and thanks to the support and help of many amazingly talented people, the first issue was published physically. Not only that, it was distributed physically at physical gaming stores in NY and PA!

This is a project that started in early 2025, it’s been a long time coming. I thank everyone who humored the ups and downs of the project. It was put on the backburner many times for many reasons but always remained in my heart as my own proving ground. If I could make this happen, any other project was possible. I hope this was just the first issue of a series that could see many more in the future. Who knows, I might already be working on the second one… 

For those who were unable to procure a copy, don't worry-it can be found here in its entirety!

@Ricksteubens worked on the fantastic cover art for the zine as well as several great illustrations for an undead race!

@Manlypotato provided an amazing write up of his delve into his fathers old tabletop notes.

@Linethickness @ezkelart and @slimygoo provided an assortment of absolutely amazing comics which helped breathe so much life into the pages.

@mantis and @seven showed us the strange entomology of beautiful and fantastically terrible insects.

and @luis who provided a wonderful drink recipe which I made more than once while trying to edit this all together.

Another thanks to @Guayo and @Enclave for their pieces that were featured in articles.

We can't forget to say thank you to @Slug and @Miroko for putting advertisements in the pages!

And what would ego be for if I did not thank myself for my own submissions!