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Dragon Issue 79: November 1983

part 1/2

84 pages Another step towards computers being integral to their operations is made here. On the plus side, this means nicer layout. On the negative side, as they've only just adopted it, only part of this magazine uses the changes so far. You don't get breaks to retool when the dreaded deadline beast needs regular feeding. I'm so glad at this point that I'm posting stuff considerably slower than I can do it, so I do get time to buffer and take breaks. Lets see if they can finish this year off in style.

In this issue:

Out on a limb: A fairly long letter criticizing Len's anti evil characters stuff in issue 76. Kim rebutts this, saying that as ever, you can use this stuff the way you want, but we strongly recommend you do it our way. After all, we're the professionals. We know what makes a fun game better than you do. We particularly know what makes up AD&D. By real world standards, a bunch of heavily armed guys independent of and political body who went around killing things and taking their stuff would be regarded as dangerous criminals. But that's irrelevant. There are standards of Good and Evil in D&D, and you should play characters that fit those of Good.
A short letter supporting Len, saying they're sick of evil characters ruining their games.
A letter pointing out they screwed up yet another computer program. Never let literary editors do a technical editors job.
Praise for the nine hells article and asking for more planar ones. They reply that they're certainly open to the idea as long as someone sends them high quality manuscripts. They'll need to be pretty damn good to measure up to Ed's example though.
A letter asking if the combat computer is available separately. They reply that no, you'll have to buy another issue. Yah boo, razzle, etc etc.
A letter commenting on the skills that make up a good GM. Quite an interesting one, too. Well done, Jonathan Helles, if you're still out there.

The ecology of the treant: An ecology for one of the more ecologically minded monsters. This is why monsters from dungeons don't overrun the forests and rip them down. They have their own horrors that are quite capable of taking care of themselves. And if you're only facing treants, you should count yourself lucky. Better that than being schooled by some kind of trickster fae. The fiction on this one isn't particularly great, as it's rather lacking in drama. However, it does have an appendix that actually has useful game information. And a robert heinlein reference Overall, probably a slightly below average entry, but not terrible.

The best of the dragon, part three! They really are churning those out. I don't know. Any excuse for some easy money.

Fiction: The ordeal by Atanielle Annyn Noel. Ooh. Fiction about gaming group drama. Makes a change from the straight fantasy stuff. You see surprisingly little crossover between the fiction writers and the gaming article producers. Anyway. Pretentious twit gets a little mischievious justice, learns from the experience, everyone winds up happier at the end. There's a definite moral to this story. Plus it shows that this kind of gamer existed long before white wolf started writing games specifically targeted at the florid melodramatic prose crowd. A pretty entertaining story that quite a few people could learn from.

Sage advice has an amusing nanofic at the start this time. Ahh, the perils of having more questions than you can possibly print. Anyway, back to the questions.
Do you get Xp per gold piece or silver piece ( Gold. If it was silver, Hoo boy. It'd the game assumptions right up. Merchants would kick adventurers asses no trouble. Hmm. Maybe that might be a good thing.)
Do landragons have claw attacks? Can they swim? ( no on both counts. They're LANDragons, aren't they?)
Can you use the combat computer in actual AD&D games. (That's what it was designed for.)
What is the min wis & cha to be a duelist. ( None in particular, other than the general 5 or lower rule, which would prevent them from joining it. )
Why can't duelists use flails ( No matter what you say, we can't find any reference to dueling with flails. No precision. Someone could get hurt.)
The ecology of the catoblepas contradicts the monster manual. Which one is correct. ( The MM is still the official answer. Your DM may change this for his game, as is his perogative. We are not responsible for any annoyance caused if you metagame and then find that things aren't what you expect them to be. )
Can the water creating pill in issue 73 be used as a poison. ( It'd certainly hurt if you swallowed it. But that doesn't make it a poison. )
Can ogres use magical boots or not? ( Um, maybe. We'll leave that up to your DM)
How do you find the new gemstones detailed in issue 72 (The DM will have to make custom treasure tables including the expansions, same as for any of the new items detailed here. Or they could place treasure as they see fit, instead of leaving it to the dice. Nahh, that's a stupid idea. It'll never catch on. )
Can lycanthropes who can change shape conciously do so on the astral plane. (Hmm. Since it totally cripples them as combat encounters to be unable to, I think we'll change our previous ruling and say yes.)
What special powers to githyanki knights have? Why aren't there more of them in Fedifensor? ( None, they're just complete bastards. Because Fedifensor is just a little outpost, not a full-blown fortress.)
How can you have assassins in an ice age setting ( Oh, you innocent little man. Assasination is like prostitution. As long as there is some form of valued item to create an economy, some people will for it, while others will kill for it. There have always been assassins, and there always will (at least, until 2nd edition bans them))
How do you make animal skeletons ( You need to make a variant on animate dead. If you know the basic one, it's easy enough to adapt.)
Doesn't tiamat spawn all evil dragons? How does that jive with the colour wheel theory mon? ( Even if she did originally create dragons (A rather specious claim) they're still biological entities that mate and lay eggs. Both statements can be true simultaneously. Oh, and the color wheel theory is complete bollocks. I wouldn't say so in the magazine that published it, but you can tell I'm thinking it.)
How can deities be druids above 14th level. (They're deities. They scoff at your puny mortal rules. )
Why do the AC's for dragon armour suck so much. Can you enchant them. ( because we don't want to break the game, and yes. )
Jesters break the rules! They let dwarves and halflings cast wizard spells, and break their limits on languages known (Yes. And your point is? They are a joke class, you know. As ever, you can houserule things. )
What is a cantrip ( see issues 59-61)
Do boodle wizards hit on a 1-3 or a 1-4 (Oops. We made a boo-boo. 1-4 is the right answer)
Why are locomotives so slow (Game balance. You can move way more than 12 inches a minute. They needed to be scaled down likewise. )
You messed up the section on undersea magical items in issue 48 (aw, come on, that was two and a half years ago. Don't keep bringing it up)
What is a balrog, and what are it's stats. ( You've read Lord of the rings, right? You can find it in the OD&D books. Unfortunately we can't print it any more, or the tolkien estate will suesess uss, my preciouss. )
Can the shield spell stop lasers (no)
Can lasers hurt things that can only be hit by magical weapons (yes. Shows you which side we want to have an edge in a crossover)
I can't engage in even the most basic reskinning activities ( no, you're a moron. We shall have to give you remedial answers.)
Do barbarians eat quiche? ( Barbarians stomp wussy quiche! RAAAAAAAAARG!!! Apart from Rogar of Mooria. He like his quiche a little too much. We worry about him sometimes. )