The Dragon Issue #3 was published in October 1976, with a cover price of $1.50. The issue contained the usual mix of fiction (a bit too heavy on the fiction for some readers) and gaming material. One of the more controversial articles of the early years of The Dragon appeared in this issue.
In the editorial, Tim Kask gives an impassioned defense of his decision to include so much fiction in the first two issues: "I include fiction in TD so that the reader’s [games] will be better: fuller, more complete and better founded. Some of the fantasy campaigns now extant rely entirely upon the work of one author, or are centered around only one cycle or mythos. If that suits you, fine. As for myself, I’d rather play in a campaign that blends many cycles, mythos’ and authors’ work. It seems to have a richer flavor."
Kask conceded that this policy had been unpopular with fans and stated that there would be far less fiction in future issues. Issue #3 includes just one story, part 3 of "Search for the Gnome Cache," a serialized novel by Gary Gygax (writing as "Garrison Keller"). Given the first two issues contained stories by Fritz Lieber and Gardner Fox, it's a shame that this pedestrian piece is what survived the chopping block. "Gnome Cache" would finally peter out in issue #7.
The reduction in fiction meant that Kask needed more material to fill the magazine, and it seems that quality gaming articles were still scarce. To fill the column inches, he opted to publish a "plethora of obscure sub-classes," prefaced with this statement: "The authors of D & D have asked me to stress that none of the following are to be considered 'official.' I feel that the purpose of THE DRAGON is to provide new ideas and variants and have printed in the past and will probably print in the future things that I wouldn’t let in my own campaign; a great deal of them are superfluous and better handled by the DM. Be that as it may, I would like to urge caution and discretion in allowing the proliferation of weird sub-classes. All too often, they only make it harder for the DM, and are often too powerful to use as player characters. In the last TD, the alchemist was intended to be recommended as a non-player character, as are many of these."]
This is hardly a ringing endorsement of the material! The subsequent pages detail the healer, scribe, samurai, berserker, idiot, and jester. The design quality varies enormously, and of the contributing authors, only Jon Pickens did any other substantial work in the industry.
This issue publishes reader letters for the first time, in a section called "Out on a Limb." Two writers, Garry Spiegle and Lewis Pulsipher, give detailed critiques of the early issues. Garry later worked for TSR before helping to form Pacesetter games. Lewis Pulsipher went on to design and publish several games, as well as writing many articles on the industry. In fact, he still writes a regular column for EN World—an excellent reminder of how young this hobby is!
There is one other noteworthy article. Indeed, it may be the most infamous article in Dragon magazine history. It is called "NOTES ON WOMEN & MAGIC” and is by Len Lakofka. Lakofka was a former president of the International Federation of Wargamers and a close friend of Gary Gygax. He was one of Gygax's original play testers and highly regarded as both a player and DM. Modern readers are probably familiar with his character Leomund, the creator of various spells.
Lakofka's article aimed to modify the D&D character classes to be more "female-friendly," but his suggestions most likely had the opposite effect. He started by limiting both the strength of female characters and their ability to progress in the fighter class. He also replaced the Charisma attribute with a Beauty attribute for women and included a bunch of new female-only spells, such as seduction and charm men. He also gave the female thief class some questionable level titles, such as Hag, Wench, and Succubus. All very offensive stuff.
Editor Tim Kask was about to get a short break from the arduous search for D&D articles. The next issue would be devoted to an entirely new game!
M.T. Black is a game designer and DMs Guild Adept. Please follow him on twitter @mtblack2567 and sign up for his mailing list.
In the editorial, Tim Kask gives an impassioned defense of his decision to include so much fiction in the first two issues: "I include fiction in TD so that the reader’s [games] will be better: fuller, more complete and better founded. Some of the fantasy campaigns now extant rely entirely upon the work of one author, or are centered around only one cycle or mythos. If that suits you, fine. As for myself, I’d rather play in a campaign that blends many cycles, mythos’ and authors’ work. It seems to have a richer flavor."
Kask conceded that this policy had been unpopular with fans and stated that there would be far less fiction in future issues. Issue #3 includes just one story, part 3 of "Search for the Gnome Cache," a serialized novel by Gary Gygax (writing as "Garrison Keller"). Given the first two issues contained stories by Fritz Lieber and Gardner Fox, it's a shame that this pedestrian piece is what survived the chopping block. "Gnome Cache" would finally peter out in issue #7.
The reduction in fiction meant that Kask needed more material to fill the magazine, and it seems that quality gaming articles were still scarce. To fill the column inches, he opted to publish a "plethora of obscure sub-classes," prefaced with this statement: "The authors of D & D have asked me to stress that none of the following are to be considered 'official.' I feel that the purpose of THE DRAGON is to provide new ideas and variants and have printed in the past and will probably print in the future things that I wouldn’t let in my own campaign; a great deal of them are superfluous and better handled by the DM. Be that as it may, I would like to urge caution and discretion in allowing the proliferation of weird sub-classes. All too often, they only make it harder for the DM, and are often too powerful to use as player characters. In the last TD, the alchemist was intended to be recommended as a non-player character, as are many of these."]
This is hardly a ringing endorsement of the material! The subsequent pages detail the healer, scribe, samurai, berserker, idiot, and jester. The design quality varies enormously, and of the contributing authors, only Jon Pickens did any other substantial work in the industry.
This issue publishes reader letters for the first time, in a section called "Out on a Limb." Two writers, Garry Spiegle and Lewis Pulsipher, give detailed critiques of the early issues. Garry later worked for TSR before helping to form Pacesetter games. Lewis Pulsipher went on to design and publish several games, as well as writing many articles on the industry. In fact, he still writes a regular column for EN World—an excellent reminder of how young this hobby is!
There is one other noteworthy article. Indeed, it may be the most infamous article in Dragon magazine history. It is called "NOTES ON WOMEN & MAGIC” and is by Len Lakofka. Lakofka was a former president of the International Federation of Wargamers and a close friend of Gary Gygax. He was one of Gygax's original play testers and highly regarded as both a player and DM. Modern readers are probably familiar with his character Leomund, the creator of various spells.
Lakofka's article aimed to modify the D&D character classes to be more "female-friendly," but his suggestions most likely had the opposite effect. He started by limiting both the strength of female characters and their ability to progress in the fighter class. He also replaced the Charisma attribute with a Beauty attribute for women and included a bunch of new female-only spells, such as seduction and charm men. He also gave the female thief class some questionable level titles, such as Hag, Wench, and Succubus. All very offensive stuff.
Editor Tim Kask was about to get a short break from the arduous search for D&D articles. The next issue would be devoted to an entirely new game!
M.T. Black is a game designer and DMs Guild Adept. Please follow him on twitter @mtblack2567 and sign up for his mailing list.
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