amysrevenge
First Post
lol
Keep them coming. I love Gary, but I also recognize his... foibles. Good on you for calling them out.
Keep them coming. I love Gary, but I also recognize his... foibles. Good on you for calling them out.
Let's read the entire run
- Thread starter (un)reason
- Start date
(un)reason
Legend
The Dragon Issue 36: April 1980
part 1/2
72 pages. Another april fools issue gets an extensive collection of joke articles, gathered into a mini magazine within the magazine. Nice to see they're taking their humour seriously. Or something like that. Apart from that, there's no particular theme to this month's issue. The regular columns continue, and there are articles aplenty on games of all sorts. To the specificsmobile!
In this issue:
Dragon rumbles: Once again we deal with the tricky issue of playing in groups of different ages, and the conflicts this causes. D&D was originally intended as a game for adults, or at least people with adult attention spans, and the ability to play games without being disruptive and throwing tantrums when they lose. And as it increasingly attracts a younger audience, this becomes more of a problem. We've already seen gary's statement of intent to make basic D&D more friendly to newcomers. Its obvious that some assistance is needed with this. And quite a bit of it needs to come from the current players, as D&D is a bitch to learn on your own.
Out on a limb: A letter complaining about the magical plusses given to Fafhrd and the mouser's weapons, and pointing out that their weapons were given the same names no matter what weapons they had. To which the writer of the piece replies that they had the bonuses to reflect how badass they were and make them superior to regular characters of the same level. To which I say, Isn't level supposed to be the determiner of personal skill? Why not just make them higher level then? They're already around 20th level. What's a few more levels? So much for logic.
A letter praising most of the dragon's content, and complaining about the temporary dropping of Giants in the earth, and also that their shop sells out of issues too quickly. Which seems to be a common complaint. Guess readership is increasing faster than the circulation increases can keep up with at this point.
Three letters on monty haul and the problem overpowered characters present. Overinflation is always a problem. There comes a point when you just have to retire characters and start again. A philosophy they seem to be hard-coding into 4th edition. And finally, another letter of generalised praise. They seem to be printing letters that fit a theme this issue. I guess they have enough to pick and choose from now.
Fiction: The cube from beyond, by Gardner F Fox. A 6th niall story. And he actually gets to do something significant without his demon goddess patron, and be the primary driver of the plot again. But he's still seriously non politically correct. What is the attraction in forcibly taking someone, and why was it so common in books by writers of both genders?
The perseid war: A new Scenario for stellar war, by Steve Jackson (yes, that one. He already seems to be a pretty big player in gaming by now) Designed to support a style of play that is hard to manage in most scenarios, and also includes some new rules. Which is cool. He's the original designer, so the new rules should be well thought out and properly balanced.
Painted ladies and potted monks: Prostitutes and drugs in gaming, and the ramifications of exposing ....... younger players to them. Do you teach them that sex and drugs are bad things to be feared, even in a fantasy world, or a perfectly natural and healthy form of recreation? How much do the games that children play shape their attitudes in adulthood? Will presenting characters of religion or color in the game positively or negatively influence their prejudices with respect to real people. Heavy questions, presented with a light and humorous touch, without the oh noes hysteria that so often acompanies this topic. And they even mention homosexuality positively. (although its the first time they have at all, as far as I can recall.) Overall, this is a very good article indeed, promoting positive liberal attitudes and social responsibility without getting too preachy about it. (Which is a good example of the neutral good way and how it can be distinguished from lawfull or chaotic good, for those of you still involved in that debate.)
From the sorcerers scroll: Gary gives the stats of Conan at various ages, from teenager to ancient king. As is the case for virtually every character published here, he is not a legal character by D&D rules, developing in a decidedly odd way in two different classes simultaneously, and having a whole bunch of special abilities PC's can't acquire. You decry twinks and rulebreakers, and then turn around and present us with overpowered and illegal characters of your own, What kind of an example is that to set us? Ends with a blatant begging bowl asking for freebies in exchange for reviews. Which is pretty distasteful all round really.
Sage advice: As this is getting increasingly lengthy, I'm gonna break up the questions into new lines from here on, to make it easier to read.
Must spellcasters use books to store their spells? (only magic-users and illusionists, but yes, they MUST. (The days of alternate methods of recording spells are still quite a way away))
Can paladins condone or participate in suicide and euthanasia? (Hell no, not even tacitly. There is always a reason to live and keep fighting, and you've got to do your best to convince them of that or lose your specul powerz. Of course, it helps when you have magical healing and disease curing to back up this conviction.)
Must paladins be celibate. (Depends on their religion and the DM, but I personally encourage it. No sexx041ng for you when I'm DMing.)
How do 1st level magic users get their spells(from the person who apprenticed them, silly)
Why can't demihumans be sages (they can actually, they just aren't very often. Also, don't try and send me money. I don't work in the right department, and it won't help you get better rulings.)
Can you recharge charged items or not? (only as long as they still have at least one charge in them. (What's all that about then?))
Will you become permanently invisible if you overuse a ring of invisibility. (no, this ain't middle earth, and you ain't a slave of sauron.)
Can you automatically tell if an item is magical (no, unless it's glowing or something like that.)
What am I to I do with this pesky lawfull gooder in my party not letting me attack wounded creatures without provocation? ( I fail to see the problem
And if there is one it is purely a roleplaying matter, not a rules one, so it's not my business anyway.)
Does being resurrected make you lose constitution (yes)
Why cant half orcs be raised? (Once again, they have no SOULS!! Don't believe me, ask Gary. Gary, do half orcs have souls? Gary: Bitch be hollow and empty inside. Jean: See. Get that through your stupid heads. Unless they go all little mermaid on you (which would make a cool story, actually, ) they simply die when they die. Do not pass go, do not get reincarnated, do not get an afterlife. Are we crystal clear, or are you going to keep fighting? Krusk:That's right. )
Honorable designer Speaks! The designer of Samurai gives us a brief runthrough of his game. An article that reads like a combined advert and history lesson, trying hard to convince people that the game is cool so they buy it. Ah so. You must learn greater subtlety, Mr Campagna.
part 1/2
72 pages. Another april fools issue gets an extensive collection of joke articles, gathered into a mini magazine within the magazine. Nice to see they're taking their humour seriously. Or something like that. Apart from that, there's no particular theme to this month's issue. The regular columns continue, and there are articles aplenty on games of all sorts. To the specificsmobile!
In this issue:
Dragon rumbles: Once again we deal with the tricky issue of playing in groups of different ages, and the conflicts this causes. D&D was originally intended as a game for adults, or at least people with adult attention spans, and the ability to play games without being disruptive and throwing tantrums when they lose. And as it increasingly attracts a younger audience, this becomes more of a problem. We've already seen gary's statement of intent to make basic D&D more friendly to newcomers. Its obvious that some assistance is needed with this. And quite a bit of it needs to come from the current players, as D&D is a bitch to learn on your own.
Out on a limb: A letter complaining about the magical plusses given to Fafhrd and the mouser's weapons, and pointing out that their weapons were given the same names no matter what weapons they had. To which the writer of the piece replies that they had the bonuses to reflect how badass they were and make them superior to regular characters of the same level. To which I say, Isn't level supposed to be the determiner of personal skill? Why not just make them higher level then? They're already around 20th level. What's a few more levels? So much for logic.
A letter praising most of the dragon's content, and complaining about the temporary dropping of Giants in the earth, and also that their shop sells out of issues too quickly. Which seems to be a common complaint. Guess readership is increasing faster than the circulation increases can keep up with at this point.
Three letters on monty haul and the problem overpowered characters present. Overinflation is always a problem. There comes a point when you just have to retire characters and start again. A philosophy they seem to be hard-coding into 4th edition. And finally, another letter of generalised praise. They seem to be printing letters that fit a theme this issue. I guess they have enough to pick and choose from now.
Fiction: The cube from beyond, by Gardner F Fox. A 6th niall story. And he actually gets to do something significant without his demon goddess patron, and be the primary driver of the plot again. But he's still seriously non politically correct. What is the attraction in forcibly taking someone, and why was it so common in books by writers of both genders?
The perseid war: A new Scenario for stellar war, by Steve Jackson (yes, that one. He already seems to be a pretty big player in gaming by now) Designed to support a style of play that is hard to manage in most scenarios, and also includes some new rules. Which is cool. He's the original designer, so the new rules should be well thought out and properly balanced.
Painted ladies and potted monks: Prostitutes and drugs in gaming, and the ramifications of exposing ....... younger players to them. Do you teach them that sex and drugs are bad things to be feared, even in a fantasy world, or a perfectly natural and healthy form of recreation? How much do the games that children play shape their attitudes in adulthood? Will presenting characters of religion or color in the game positively or negatively influence their prejudices with respect to real people. Heavy questions, presented with a light and humorous touch, without the oh noes hysteria that so often acompanies this topic. And they even mention homosexuality positively. (although its the first time they have at all, as far as I can recall.) Overall, this is a very good article indeed, promoting positive liberal attitudes and social responsibility without getting too preachy about it. (Which is a good example of the neutral good way and how it can be distinguished from lawfull or chaotic good, for those of you still involved in that debate.)
From the sorcerers scroll: Gary gives the stats of Conan at various ages, from teenager to ancient king. As is the case for virtually every character published here, he is not a legal character by D&D rules, developing in a decidedly odd way in two different classes simultaneously, and having a whole bunch of special abilities PC's can't acquire. You decry twinks and rulebreakers, and then turn around and present us with overpowered and illegal characters of your own, What kind of an example is that to set us? Ends with a blatant begging bowl asking for freebies in exchange for reviews. Which is pretty distasteful all round really.
Sage advice: As this is getting increasingly lengthy, I'm gonna break up the questions into new lines from here on, to make it easier to read.
Must spellcasters use books to store their spells? (only magic-users and illusionists, but yes, they MUST. (The days of alternate methods of recording spells are still quite a way away))
Can paladins condone or participate in suicide and euthanasia? (Hell no, not even tacitly. There is always a reason to live and keep fighting, and you've got to do your best to convince them of that or lose your specul powerz. Of course, it helps when you have magical healing and disease curing to back up this conviction.)
Must paladins be celibate. (Depends on their religion and the DM, but I personally encourage it. No sexx041ng for you when I'm DMing.)
How do 1st level magic users get their spells(from the person who apprenticed them, silly)
Why can't demihumans be sages (they can actually, they just aren't very often. Also, don't try and send me money. I don't work in the right department, and it won't help you get better rulings.)
Can you recharge charged items or not? (only as long as they still have at least one charge in them. (What's all that about then?))
Will you become permanently invisible if you overuse a ring of invisibility. (no, this ain't middle earth, and you ain't a slave of sauron.)
Can you automatically tell if an item is magical (no, unless it's glowing or something like that.)
What am I to I do with this pesky lawfull gooder in my party not letting me attack wounded creatures without provocation? ( I fail to see the problem
And if there is one it is purely a roleplaying matter, not a rules one, so it's not my business anyway.) Does being resurrected make you lose constitution (yes)
Why cant half orcs be raised? (Once again, they have no SOULS!! Don't believe me, ask Gary. Gary, do half orcs have souls? Gary: Bitch be hollow and empty inside. Jean: See. Get that through your stupid heads. Unless they go all little mermaid on you (which would make a cool story, actually, ) they simply die when they die. Do not pass go, do not get reincarnated, do not get an afterlife. Are we crystal clear, or are you going to keep fighting? Krusk:That's right.
) Honorable designer Speaks! The designer of Samurai gives us a brief runthrough of his game. An article that reads like a combined advert and history lesson, trying hard to convince people that the game is cool so they buy it. Ah so. You must learn greater subtlety, Mr Campagna.
Orius
Legend
Why cant half orcs be raised? (Once again, they have no SOULS!! Don't believe me, ask Gary. Gary, do half orcs have souls? Gary: Bitch be hollow and empty inside. Jean: See. Get that through your stupid heads. Unless they go all little mermaid on you (which would make a cool story, actually, ) they simply die when they die. Do not pass go, do not get reincarnated, do not get an afterlife. Are we crystal clear, or are you going to keep fighting? Krusk:That's right.
Arrrrg!!!! Why did you have to post that?! I just pictured a half-orc Ariel!!! I think this is going to scar me, scar me I say!
Raven Crowking
First Post
The reason that half-orcs, elves, etc., don't have souls in early D&D is that Gary was steeped in folklore as well as in the literature of the period. There was a folk belief, dating far back into the mists of time, for example, that faeries (within this context, including elves and dwarves, for example) were frightened of church bells because they didn't have souls. The possession of a soul was what made humans unique among all creation.
This is obviously only one worldview upon which to build a game. However, it was a worldview that Gary was consistent with. And it is a worldview that has a history far longer than that of the game.
RC
This is obviously only one worldview upon which to build a game. However, it was a worldview that Gary was consistent with. And it is a worldview that has a history far longer than that of the game.
RC
(un)reason
Legend
The Dragon Issue 36: April 1980
part 2/2
Leomunds tiny hut: How to make a pantheon you can have faith in. AKA I don't like the idea of PC's killing gods, so I'm going to beef up their powers when they aren't on the prime material, reduce your powers when you are on a different plane of existance, and take a potshot at Jim Ward's GMing style while I'm at it. Now try and kill those gods. Truly Len, you are a visionary. (all of these optional rules would later become canon in Planescape) But the god slayers will rise again come 3rd edition. And then fall again in 4th ed. One of those things that obviously comes in cycles.
Minarian legends: More cool setting stuff for Divine Right, this time covering the history of the kingdom of Immer, and the old empire it was built upon.
Dragon Grumbles: Ok, welcome to this years comedy central. They're sick of doing this, so its time to sell up and head to the bahamas. April fool.
Out on a limbo: Joke letters. Stupid arguments, stupid suggestions, and political potshots. Probably not real.
Enjoying your Dragon: How to properly take care of a baby dragon, so it'll take care of you when you're old and grey. (and it's still a baby.) This may be a joke article, but it isn't entirely useless in game terms.
New joke monsters, the DM, and the keebler: the first is not statistically legal, while the second is. I don't think I have to explain these to you.
The tax man cometh: I think the title says it all. Take their money, more than all of it, and leave them in debt to an organisation that doesn't play fair, and never stops taking. Just like real life. I fail to see the joke here.
Meeting demogorgon: You say demogorgon's name. He appears. What do the NPC's in the party do? Roll on this random table to find out. Not that it matters, because you're all going to die anyway. Even converting to worshiping him won't save you. Because our double headed demon lord friend is an admiral crankypants when he's just got out of the abyss in the morning.
Bazaar of the ordinary: Another set of 4 ordinary items presented as magical ones, just to confuse people.
This months module, a 10 by 10 room. No orc, no pie, just a 10 by 10 room. That's your lot.
Leomunds in a rut: Jokes about footwear.
Sage advice: Jokes about the aforementioned herb, in Q&A form. Much eyerolling punnery here.
A visit to an interesting place: The best excuse for not handing your homework ever. I'm a D&D character who wished I was somewhere interesting, and found myself in the real world.
Campaign mixing sure stirs things up! Another story of a gonzo crossover game. Not sure if this one is based on real events or not, since if anything it's less over the top than the monty haul games. The line between excess and parody of that excess is a thin line indeed.
The mongols: Another one of those system free historical articles that seems to be in vogue in this period. And as ever, the most useful thing in it is the bibliography, as there's no way you'll get enough depth in a few pages to do justice to it.
The fantasysmiths notebook: Modifying and painting skeletons. Oooogie boogie boo. They're always going to be a staple of your undead armies, so if you like undead you'll be seeing a lot of these. This article shows you how to make the best of them while keeping the figures anatomically accurate. Which is pretty nice.
Giants in the earth: This month, the fictional characters overtwinked Aaaaaaaare. Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood. H.P.Loveraft's Richard Upton Pickman, and Thomas Burnett Swann's Silverbells.
.
Fighting in the streets: A new scenario for Squad Leader, the German sieges of russian cities in 1942. A short but sweet article that does exactly what it sets out to do.
Experience points to ponder: A system of awarding XP by the amount of damage inflicted, so as to make shares more fair, and allow you to learn from fighting even if you failed to kill them. Which of course takes tons of bookkeeping. I think you know my position on articles of this sort by now. It just isn't worth the bother.
Simulation corner: An essay on the development of wargames, from their simple and sketchy beginnings, to increasing crunch as they attempt to be comprehensive and also keep making money out of supplements, to finding out that too much crunch just slows things down and makes things less fun, and creating games designed to be elegantly simple and/or do one very specific thing very well. Which is also an evolution roleplaying games have gone through as well, in the last 3 decades. I wonder, it this one of those natural developmental paths that a media has a tendency to take, like the carnivore vs herbivore size, weaponry and armor race that has taken place at least 5 times in the past? And does the way wargames declined in the past few decades hold clues into the way RPG's will go, and what we could do to stop a similar slide into increasing obscurity, with the exception of 1 big company (games workshop). I think this deserves it's own thread.
The DM's right hand man? Once again we look at the subject of using a computer to aid in the bookkeeping for your gaming. This article is written by a (self proclaimed) computer science expert, and goes into a detailed look at just what a computer can and can't do to help you. Obviously it cannot substitute for creativity, and the visuals will be a bit crap. And you have to watch out that it doesn't use up more time working it than it saves. A pretty well thought out and informative article, which neither exaggerates or understates the benefits and problems. I quite approve.
The fastest guns that never lived parts I-IV: All the previous articles on this subject collected, plus a few new entries. As they point out, they, like the D&D characters in GitE, are tremendously powerful compared to an ordinary PC, sometimes have special abilities that we have no way of getting, (sigh) and should be used with caution.
Maclankhmar - A compromise game: More rather tedious houseruling minutinae by Mr MacKnight. You should have quit this series while you were ahead, instead of overburdening us with detail and running them into the ground.
The electric eye: A second computer article in the same magazine. This one focusses on the software aspect of computing. Another article aimed at the absolute beginner, and a reminder that they didn't really have dedicated computer shops yet, plus programs were small enough that their code could fit in a few pages of a magazine and be input by you personally. Which would also remain true for almost a decade yet. Yeah, things have really changed here. I wonder how long it'll be before the first mention of the internet in the magazine. Not until the 90's, I'll wager.
Dragons bestiary - The krolli: Ooh. writing and art by Todd Lockwood. I remember that name. He'll be doing plenty of cool stuff in the future. A fairly badass race of flying lizard men.
Reviews: Starship troopers (yes, I know the game's been out for a few years, and already got an article here) Mech war 2, a (very crunchy indeed) wargame. And our first computer game review, of Trek-80, a star trek tactical shoot-em-up. A very interesting set of reviews this issue, and nice to see them spreading out into new avenues. I wonder when computer reviews will get their own separate column? And how long it'll be before the magazine stops covering them, for that matter (sigh)
Wormy continues.
It's becoming pretty obvious at this point that the magazines are now too big for me to properly digest them mentally in a single sitting. (And they're still only going to get bigger, as well.) So from here on in, I'm going to stop trying to form an opinion on everything, and just concentrate on the articles that I do find interesting (be it because they are good or bad), useful, or parodyable. The magazine is still full of cool stuff, and it would be a shame if I missed stuff or got jaded with it from pushing through it all too fast.
part 2/2
Leomunds tiny hut: How to make a pantheon you can have faith in. AKA I don't like the idea of PC's killing gods, so I'm going to beef up their powers when they aren't on the prime material, reduce your powers when you are on a different plane of existance, and take a potshot at Jim Ward's GMing style while I'm at it. Now try and kill those gods. Truly Len, you are a visionary. (all of these optional rules would later become canon in Planescape) But the god slayers will rise again come 3rd edition. And then fall again in 4th ed. One of those things that obviously comes in cycles.
Minarian legends: More cool setting stuff for Divine Right, this time covering the history of the kingdom of Immer, and the old empire it was built upon.
Dragon Grumbles: Ok, welcome to this years comedy central. They're sick of doing this, so its time to sell up and head to the bahamas. April fool.
Out on a limbo: Joke letters. Stupid arguments, stupid suggestions, and political potshots. Probably not real.
Enjoying your Dragon: How to properly take care of a baby dragon, so it'll take care of you when you're old and grey. (and it's still a baby.) This may be a joke article, but it isn't entirely useless in game terms.
New joke monsters, the DM, and the keebler: the first is not statistically legal, while the second is. I don't think I have to explain these to you.
The tax man cometh: I think the title says it all. Take their money, more than all of it, and leave them in debt to an organisation that doesn't play fair, and never stops taking. Just like real life. I fail to see the joke here.
Meeting demogorgon: You say demogorgon's name. He appears. What do the NPC's in the party do? Roll on this random table to find out. Not that it matters, because you're all going to die anyway. Even converting to worshiping him won't save you. Because our double headed demon lord friend is an admiral crankypants when he's just got out of the abyss in the morning.
Bazaar of the ordinary: Another set of 4 ordinary items presented as magical ones, just to confuse people.
This months module, a 10 by 10 room. No orc, no pie, just a 10 by 10 room. That's your lot.
Leomunds in a rut: Jokes about footwear.
Sage advice: Jokes about the aforementioned herb, in Q&A form. Much eyerolling punnery here.
A visit to an interesting place: The best excuse for not handing your homework ever. I'm a D&D character who wished I was somewhere interesting, and found myself in the real world.
Campaign mixing sure stirs things up! Another story of a gonzo crossover game. Not sure if this one is based on real events or not, since if anything it's less over the top than the monty haul games. The line between excess and parody of that excess is a thin line indeed.
The mongols: Another one of those system free historical articles that seems to be in vogue in this period. And as ever, the most useful thing in it is the bibliography, as there's no way you'll get enough depth in a few pages to do justice to it.
The fantasysmiths notebook: Modifying and painting skeletons. Oooogie boogie boo. They're always going to be a staple of your undead armies, so if you like undead you'll be seeing a lot of these. This article shows you how to make the best of them while keeping the figures anatomically accurate. Which is pretty nice.
Giants in the earth: This month, the fictional characters overtwinked Aaaaaaaare. Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood. H.P.Loveraft's Richard Upton Pickman, and Thomas Burnett Swann's Silverbells.
.
Fighting in the streets: A new scenario for Squad Leader, the German sieges of russian cities in 1942. A short but sweet article that does exactly what it sets out to do.
Experience points to ponder: A system of awarding XP by the amount of damage inflicted, so as to make shares more fair, and allow you to learn from fighting even if you failed to kill them. Which of course takes tons of bookkeeping. I think you know my position on articles of this sort by now. It just isn't worth the bother.
Simulation corner: An essay on the development of wargames, from their simple and sketchy beginnings, to increasing crunch as they attempt to be comprehensive and also keep making money out of supplements, to finding out that too much crunch just slows things down and makes things less fun, and creating games designed to be elegantly simple and/or do one very specific thing very well. Which is also an evolution roleplaying games have gone through as well, in the last 3 decades. I wonder, it this one of those natural developmental paths that a media has a tendency to take, like the carnivore vs herbivore size, weaponry and armor race that has taken place at least 5 times in the past? And does the way wargames declined in the past few decades hold clues into the way RPG's will go, and what we could do to stop a similar slide into increasing obscurity, with the exception of 1 big company (games workshop). I think this deserves it's own thread.
The DM's right hand man? Once again we look at the subject of using a computer to aid in the bookkeeping for your gaming. This article is written by a (self proclaimed) computer science expert, and goes into a detailed look at just what a computer can and can't do to help you. Obviously it cannot substitute for creativity, and the visuals will be a bit crap. And you have to watch out that it doesn't use up more time working it than it saves. A pretty well thought out and informative article, which neither exaggerates or understates the benefits and problems. I quite approve.
The fastest guns that never lived parts I-IV: All the previous articles on this subject collected, plus a few new entries. As they point out, they, like the D&D characters in GitE, are tremendously powerful compared to an ordinary PC, sometimes have special abilities that we have no way of getting, (sigh) and should be used with caution.
Maclankhmar - A compromise game: More rather tedious houseruling minutinae by Mr MacKnight. You should have quit this series while you were ahead, instead of overburdening us with detail and running them into the ground.
The electric eye: A second computer article in the same magazine. This one focusses on the software aspect of computing. Another article aimed at the absolute beginner, and a reminder that they didn't really have dedicated computer shops yet, plus programs were small enough that their code could fit in a few pages of a magazine and be input by you personally. Which would also remain true for almost a decade yet. Yeah, things have really changed here. I wonder how long it'll be before the first mention of the internet in the magazine. Not until the 90's, I'll wager.
Dragons bestiary - The krolli: Ooh. writing and art by Todd Lockwood. I remember that name. He'll be doing plenty of cool stuff in the future. A fairly badass race of flying lizard men.
Reviews: Starship troopers (yes, I know the game's been out for a few years, and already got an article here) Mech war 2, a (very crunchy indeed) wargame. And our first computer game review, of Trek-80, a star trek tactical shoot-em-up. A very interesting set of reviews this issue, and nice to see them spreading out into new avenues. I wonder when computer reviews will get their own separate column? And how long it'll be before the magazine stops covering them, for that matter (sigh)
Wormy continues.
It's becoming pretty obvious at this point that the magazines are now too big for me to properly digest them mentally in a single sitting. (And they're still only going to get bigger, as well.) So from here on in, I'm going to stop trying to form an opinion on everything, and just concentrate on the articles that I do find interesting (be it because they are good or bad), useful, or parodyable. The magazine is still full of cool stuff, and it would be a shame if I missed stuff or got jaded with it from pushing through it all too fast.
Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
That's not unrealistic. A lot of companies send free copies of their games to reviewers so that they can get publicity.
(un)reason
Legend
I know. It's just the way it's done. Here's the stats for conan! Incidentally, there may be new Conan books out, but we're not going to review them, or even name them in the magazine unless you send us free copies, so there Bantam books. That is pretty much literally what he says. It's like he's starting to take getting lots of freebies as a result of his position for granted.
(un)reason
Legend
The Dragon Issue 37: May 1980
part 1/2
72 pages. Yet another price increase this issue, to $3.00. Dear oh dear. It's been under half a year. Still, I suppose in percentages it's nothing compared to the increases they underwent in the first year.
In this issue:
Dragon rumbles is presented by jake this issue, as tim has quit to get a new job. No, there's nothing acrimonious about the split, he's just tired and just wants to try new things. (is that true, or were there backstage shenanigans we're not hearing about?) There are two new additions to the staff, so its not as if they're tightening their belts. They also deny being funded by TSR, and encourage people to send in stuff on systems other than D&D, so they can cover them. Yeah, if they weren't profitable, they would be dropped. Why do people find that hard to believe? They aren't headed by someone willing to pump money into their own vanity projects and run the company into the ground .
Out on a limb: A particularly long letters section this issue. Two rather lengthy ones on realism in gaming, which recieves an equally lengthy reply.
A letter saying age is not a reliable indicator of maturity and ability to play well with others, and recommending against making listing age mandatory in classified ads. An article of generalized praise, but particularly pointing out the modules as cool and asking for more.
A letter complaining about how the magazine is too male oriented. To which they reply, when 98% of the submissions are by men, its pretty hard not for it to wind up being male oriented. We have a female rules lawyer on the team, and we've published stuff by women before (more on this later on) and will do so in the future if its good. But if you want more stuff, get off your ass and send it in. We can only work with the material we have. Amusingly enough, only recently we had someone else pleased that there were more women into roleplaying than there were into wargaming. I suppose everything's relative. Even when white wolf brought in a big load of new blood, the gender demographics never really reached parity. But I digress.
We also have another letter of generalised praise and commentary, and two letters commenting on the article on angels a couple of months ago. As is their wont, they provide a contrasting pair, one criticising them for being frivolous with the word of god, and one praising them for doing a good job on the topic. I suppose it's those kind of conflicting demands from both sides that would lead them to file the serial numbers off D&D angels and call them Devas and Archons.
The theory and use of gates: General talk of planeshifting (including the first mention of the city of brass.) and how to incorporate it into your games. Another Ed greenwood article, this mentions tons of popular authors, plus most of the RPG's around at the time, showing how well steeped in the culture he is. He encourages keeping things unpredictable, as the laws of physics change from universe to universe, and you should never be sure which bits of your powers and equipment are going to work the way you expect, or at all for that matter. Which is realistic, and keeps even disgustingly overpowered characters from getting complacent, but would never be allowed under current popular design philosophy for being biased and deprotagonising. Meh. Who gives a damn about fashion. This is good stuff.
The Gem dragons! Finally, neutrality gets it's own set of iconic dragons. They have the same iconic traits that they maintain all through the editions, Relatively low physical power, but high intelligence and charisma, and kickass psionic abilities. Includes their own singular high end badass to complement Bahamut and Tiamat, Sardior the ruby dragon. Who I don't remember seeing before, so he must not have caught on. But the dragon deities in 2nd ed were more interesting anyway.
A random event table for urban encounters. How often you'll encounter significant stuff in an urban setting, and what type and level they'll be. Does exactly what it says on the tin, even if it only works in D&D's standard implied pseudomedieval setting.
Cities can help make characters more real: Talk of how to run adventures set in cities, and which classes are most suited to them (rogues get to shine, oh yeah baybey) You can't just go around killing everything that moves. You need to set yourself goals and negotiate with people. Nothing new now, but for people who'd just spent 5 years down a pit in the ground, I guess this is valuable advice.
From the sorcerers scroll: Greyhawk moves into the AD&D realm, with the release of World of Greyhawk coming very soon. Which means lots more setting detail, including our first mention of Iuz. Plus there's lots of modules in the pipline, including lots set on other planes (we also see our first mention of the quasiplane of shadow here.) Deities and Demigods, and the Fiend Folio. Plus basic stats for Bigby and Robilar and their armies. Lots of stuff seen for the first time here that would show up again and again. Nice to see Gary's still busy buzzing away shaping the setting.
Sage advice: One letter that is simply mind breaking in the number of dodgy rules and stupid questions it presents, sending Jean and Skip (looks like he's part of the team as well now) running in terror and urging the writer to retire the character.
How do I deal with characters who gain 10+ levels in a day in someone else's game and then want to play in mine? (make them play separate characters for each game. )
Must someone know a person's language to command them when they are charmed? (yes, charming does not give you any special ability to understand each other)
Can I reuse the jeweled sticks that are the components for augury.(no. You need to shell out each time you cast any spell with material components. Yes, that can get expensive. Suck it up. You should get enough treasure in your adventuring for expenses like that.)
How long does ghoul paralysis last? (you know, it doesn't say officially. We'd better do something about that. I've always used 24 hours in my games.)
How do I deal with characters who have illegal ability scores. (either raise them to the minimums, or make the player roll up a new character)
Minarian Legends: The history of the elven lands in Divine Right. Not all happy shiny dancing, with meteor strikes, racial supremacy movements, and lots of wars detailed. Oh, and terrible terrible poetry. Yeah, this is pretty entertaining.
part 1/2
72 pages. Yet another price increase this issue, to $3.00. Dear oh dear. It's been under half a year. Still, I suppose in percentages it's nothing compared to the increases they underwent in the first year.
In this issue:
Dragon rumbles is presented by jake this issue, as tim has quit to get a new job. No, there's nothing acrimonious about the split, he's just tired and just wants to try new things. (is that true, or were there backstage shenanigans we're not hearing about?) There are two new additions to the staff, so its not as if they're tightening their belts. They also deny being funded by TSR, and encourage people to send in stuff on systems other than D&D, so they can cover them. Yeah, if they weren't profitable, they would be dropped. Why do people find that hard to believe? They aren't headed by someone willing to pump money into their own vanity projects and run the company into the ground
.Out on a limb: A particularly long letters section this issue. Two rather lengthy ones on realism in gaming, which recieves an equally lengthy reply.
A letter saying age is not a reliable indicator of maturity and ability to play well with others, and recommending against making listing age mandatory in classified ads. An article of generalized praise, but particularly pointing out the modules as cool and asking for more.
A letter complaining about how the magazine is too male oriented. To which they reply, when 98% of the submissions are by men, its pretty hard not for it to wind up being male oriented. We have a female rules lawyer on the team, and we've published stuff by women before (more on this later on) and will do so in the future if its good. But if you want more stuff, get off your ass and send it in. We can only work with the material we have. Amusingly enough, only recently we had someone else pleased that there were more women into roleplaying than there were into wargaming. I suppose everything's relative. Even when white wolf brought in a big load of new blood, the gender demographics never really reached parity. But I digress.
We also have another letter of generalised praise and commentary, and two letters commenting on the article on angels a couple of months ago. As is their wont, they provide a contrasting pair, one criticising them for being frivolous with the word of god, and one praising them for doing a good job on the topic. I suppose it's those kind of conflicting demands from both sides that would lead them to file the serial numbers off D&D angels and call them Devas and Archons.
The theory and use of gates: General talk of planeshifting (including the first mention of the city of brass.) and how to incorporate it into your games. Another Ed greenwood article, this mentions tons of popular authors, plus most of the RPG's around at the time, showing how well steeped in the culture he is. He encourages keeping things unpredictable, as the laws of physics change from universe to universe, and you should never be sure which bits of your powers and equipment are going to work the way you expect, or at all for that matter. Which is realistic, and keeps even disgustingly overpowered characters from getting complacent, but would never be allowed under current popular design philosophy for being biased and deprotagonising. Meh. Who gives a damn about fashion. This is good stuff.
The Gem dragons! Finally, neutrality gets it's own set of iconic dragons. They have the same iconic traits that they maintain all through the editions, Relatively low physical power, but high intelligence and charisma, and kickass psionic abilities. Includes their own singular high end badass to complement Bahamut and Tiamat, Sardior the ruby dragon. Who I don't remember seeing before, so he must not have caught on. But the dragon deities in 2nd ed were more interesting anyway.
A random event table for urban encounters. How often you'll encounter significant stuff in an urban setting, and what type and level they'll be. Does exactly what it says on the tin, even if it only works in D&D's standard implied pseudomedieval setting.
Cities can help make characters more real: Talk of how to run adventures set in cities, and which classes are most suited to them (rogues get to shine, oh yeah baybey) You can't just go around killing everything that moves. You need to set yourself goals and negotiate with people. Nothing new now, but for people who'd just spent 5 years down a pit in the ground, I guess this is valuable advice.
From the sorcerers scroll: Greyhawk moves into the AD&D realm, with the release of World of Greyhawk coming very soon. Which means lots more setting detail, including our first mention of Iuz. Plus there's lots of modules in the pipline, including lots set on other planes (we also see our first mention of the quasiplane of shadow here.) Deities and Demigods, and the Fiend Folio. Plus basic stats for Bigby and Robilar and their armies. Lots of stuff seen for the first time here that would show up again and again. Nice to see Gary's still busy buzzing away shaping the setting.
Sage advice: One letter that is simply mind breaking in the number of dodgy rules and stupid questions it presents, sending Jean and Skip (looks like he's part of the team as well now) running in terror and urging the writer to retire the character.
How do I deal with characters who gain 10+ levels in a day in someone else's game and then want to play in mine? (make them play separate characters for each game. )
Must someone know a person's language to command them when they are charmed? (yes, charming does not give you any special ability to understand each other)
Can I reuse the jeweled sticks that are the components for augury.(no. You need to shell out each time you cast any spell with material components. Yes, that can get expensive. Suck it up. You should get enough treasure in your adventuring for expenses like that.)
How long does ghoul paralysis last? (you know, it doesn't say officially. We'd better do something about that. I've always used 24 hours in my games.)
How do I deal with characters who have illegal ability scores. (either raise them to the minimums, or make the player roll up a new character)
Minarian Legends: The history of the elven lands in Divine Right. Not all happy shiny dancing, with meteor strikes, racial supremacy movements, and lots of wars detailed. Oh, and terrible terrible poetry. Yeah, this is pretty entertaining.
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