Ed_Laprade
Adventurer
Ah yes, Quag Keep. The only Andre Norton book I've only read once! I was really expecting great things from this, so the disappointment was even greater when it turned out so... wonky.
Let's read the entire run
- Thread starter (un)reason
- Start date
(un)reason
Legend
The Dragon Issue 12: February 1978
Another year, another reason for celebration, as Dragon finally gets 2nd class mailing approval. Another step away from being a hobby towards becoming a smoothly running industrial machine (well, as close as you get where artists are involved
) This also gives us a chance to see the proper figures due to the business requirements. Still nowhere near the numbers that they would attain in its heyday, but still more than equal to most RPG supplements these days. Oh well. Times be hard for poor game designer. Old man row 'cross the river each day. The same number that seemed good on the way up can feel oh so small on the way down. Or something.
Also in this issue:
They shoot hirelings, don't they: A tale of player's cruelty to the NPC's under their control, and general evil imaginations. The kind of thing that would spawn an epic thread these days, because loads of people can tell a story like this. And people always want to hear drama and gossip. So fun all round.
A new look at illusionists: Yet more buffs and rules clarifications for this class. I can see why specialist wizards of so many stripes were introduced in later editions, the magic user always got loads of attention and cool toys.
The Persian Mythos and the lovecraft mythos (oh yes, you know how this story ends) get writeups, (including stats for the gods, so you can kill them, as we are, after all, kickin it old skool style. ) Fairly short entries, (tiny by modern standards) that remind us how rules light D&D was back then.
Some thoughts on the speed of a lightning bolt: Another bait and switch, as this actually has to do with the optional action speed and round segment rules, and how much of an advantage they give wizards, due to their lack of armor to slow them down. As a result, if you use them wizards are even more likely to be able to waste their enemies before they can react. As if they needed any more advantages after the first couple of levels.
Ship's Cargo: Does exactly what it says on the tin. If you have players of a piratical disposition, you'll need to determine randomly what treasure the ships they raid contain. This helps you do that.
The druids: Druids weren't bloody sacrificers of men, that was merely a vile roman slander. They were doctors, philosophers and teachers. Ahh, the joys of neopaganism. Really, given the scarcity and bias of records from that time, can we ever know for sure what they were really like. Most of it's just literary invention and deeply tiresome.
An excerpt from the first ever D&D novel, Quag Keep by Andre Norton. Hews surprisingly closely to the spirit of the game (particularly that of the actual plays by Gary and co that I've read. Andre has definitely done her research and tried to emulate the feel of those games), unlike many later D&D novels. Of course, that spirit is somewhat whimsical and has strong character as playing piece metagameing elements, but that doesn't detract from the entertainment. I wonder how hard it would be to get a copy of this book now. It's probably long out of print.
Wormy and fineous fingers continue to develop their respective plots.
The fantasy trip!: The ancestor of what would become GURPS starts here. Also, their back page is no longer filled with a placeholder saying this space for sale, or ads from TSR themselves. That is a definite step up in terms of looking professional.
Another mixed bag of good and bad, important and inconsequential here. They're still trying lots of new things, to see what works. And quite a bit of it is. Which is nice for us.
Another year, another reason for celebration, as Dragon finally gets 2nd class mailing approval. Another step away from being a hobby towards becoming a smoothly running industrial machine (well, as close as you get where artists are involved
) This also gives us a chance to see the proper figures due to the business requirements. Still nowhere near the numbers that they would attain in its heyday, but still more than equal to most RPG supplements these days. Oh well. Times be hard for poor game designer. Old man row 'cross the river each day. The same number that seemed good on the way up can feel oh so small on the way down. Or something. Also in this issue:
They shoot hirelings, don't they: A tale of player's cruelty to the NPC's under their control, and general evil imaginations. The kind of thing that would spawn an epic thread these days, because loads of people can tell a story like this. And people always want to hear drama and gossip. So fun all round.
A new look at illusionists: Yet more buffs and rules clarifications for this class. I can see why specialist wizards of so many stripes were introduced in later editions, the magic user always got loads of attention and cool toys.
The Persian Mythos and the lovecraft mythos (oh yes, you know how this story ends) get writeups, (including stats for the gods, so you can kill them, as we are, after all, kickin it old skool style. ) Fairly short entries, (tiny by modern standards) that remind us how rules light D&D was back then.
Some thoughts on the speed of a lightning bolt: Another bait and switch, as this actually has to do with the optional action speed and round segment rules, and how much of an advantage they give wizards, due to their lack of armor to slow them down. As a result, if you use them wizards are even more likely to be able to waste their enemies before they can react. As if they needed any more advantages after the first couple of levels.
Ship's Cargo: Does exactly what it says on the tin. If you have players of a piratical disposition, you'll need to determine randomly what treasure the ships they raid contain. This helps you do that.
The druids: Druids weren't bloody sacrificers of men, that was merely a vile roman slander. They were doctors, philosophers and teachers. Ahh, the joys of neopaganism. Really, given the scarcity and bias of records from that time, can we ever know for sure what they were really like. Most of it's just literary invention and deeply tiresome.
An excerpt from the first ever D&D novel, Quag Keep by Andre Norton. Hews surprisingly closely to the spirit of the game (particularly that of the actual plays by Gary and co that I've read. Andre has definitely done her research and tried to emulate the feel of those games), unlike many later D&D novels. Of course, that spirit is somewhat whimsical and has strong character as playing piece metagameing elements, but that doesn't detract from the entertainment. I wonder how hard it would be to get a copy of this book now. It's probably long out of print.
Wormy and fineous fingers continue to develop their respective plots.
The fantasy trip!: The ancestor of what would become GURPS starts here. Also, their back page is no longer filled with a placeholder saying this space for sale, or ads from TSR themselves. That is a definite step up in terms of looking professional.
Another mixed bag of good and bad, important and inconsequential here. They're still trying lots of new things, to see what works. And quite a bit of it is. Which is nice for us.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
Not really, no. Almost everything gets a HD upgrade across the board, for starters. We spent a long time pouring over that book trying to figure out what was going to change. What, fighters get d10 now? Whoah. What the hell is [this spell]?
It was a real bitch getting the books a year apart, especially since once you got the PHB lots of stuff it references (like the necessary saving throw and 'to hit' tables', which is a big chunk of the core of the game) don't come out until the DMG does.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
You can get it from Amazon right now; I don't think any of her stuff ever goes out of print. And there was 'Return to Quag Keep' at the beginning of the year (though how much of it was by Andre Norton and how much by collaborator Jean Rabe is up in the air; I think in that situation, Rabe does the vast majority of the work). I tried reading it but man, it turns dark and savage pretty quickly.
(un)reason
Legend
The Dragon Issue 13: April 1978
The announcement of monthly printing has finally caught up with them. From here on in, the years will seem to go by a lot slower, especially as the page count ramps up as well. This is also the first proper april fools issue, starting up the tradition of filking that would become a regular feature of these. In addition to the increase in publishing rate, they are also moving to bigger offices, as the company in general expands. So its still a meteoric rise then. Which is nice.
In this issue:
How heavy is my Giant: This is pretty self explanatory, as they do lots of maths to determine how heavy a giant of a particular size should be, and how much they should be able to lift. Relys on the laws of physics not being the same as here, as people of over 10 foot or so would need some serious structural redesign and reinforcement to stand upright without breaking their backs with the strain. Includes lots of weights for various materials, for those of you inclined to build a creature out of gold or something (as wizards will)
Tolkien in D&D: Yeah, D&D is heavily influenced by tolkien. No, that is not it's only influence, we like other stuff as well. Yes, we know some things are different from their source, it is a game after all. Now please stop sending us tedious knit-picking (sic) letters. Please?! Anyone listening? Bueller? Yeah. internet forums haven't changed people at all, they've just given them a new avenue to express themselves.
The bionic supplement: Yeah. Thiiss iiiss the seventiiiiieees! More toys for metamorphosis alpha. Has both advantages and problems, obviously.
Demon generation: Another treat for those DM's who's players have memorised the entire monster manual already. Can create some obscenely powerful creatures, particularly if you take the safety checks off. Still, you need them that powerful to challenge the players.
The japanese mythos: Another pantheon detailed for you to worship or kill, as your players choose. As japan has a larger selection of kami who operate on a near human scale, there are a greater number of gods here that are on a reasonably defeatable scale than average. Nothing too surprising here.
The filks page: Lets not go there, shall we. I may have filked before, I may do so again. But it still makes me squirm to see popular songs so abused
Errata for Warlord: Another game I don't remember, I'm afraid.
The winner of the stat that monster competition from issue 8, plus a new competition. This time you need to work from a description, rather than a picture.
Fiction: The stolen sacrifice. A third Niall story from Gardner F Fox, and we go increasingly epic in it. At the end of it, he manages to overthrow a kingdom and become a general. Is this a happy ending, or will the story continue? We shall see.
Fineous fingers and wormy continue.
Notes from a semi-sucessfull D&D player: A whole range of tricks for players, such as the now ubiquitous continual light on an object so you can carry it one, and the enormous usefulness of polymorph, plant growth and permanency spells. Tactical solutions are generally more effective than straight attacks, and this is particularly true back then before they nerfed most of the buff and utility spells. Lets face it, when the GM is against you, you need to use every trick you have to survive.
An ok issue, not as interesting as the last couple, but not bad. I guess it is significant because it starts the monthly circulation and the april fools thing, but it still feels like business as usual. Which I suppose is testament to the hard work of the writers and editors.
The announcement of monthly printing has finally caught up with them. From here on in, the years will seem to go by a lot slower, especially as the page count ramps up as well. This is also the first proper april fools issue, starting up the tradition of filking that would become a regular feature of these. In addition to the increase in publishing rate, they are also moving to bigger offices, as the company in general expands. So its still a meteoric rise then. Which is nice.
In this issue:
How heavy is my Giant: This is pretty self explanatory, as they do lots of maths to determine how heavy a giant of a particular size should be, and how much they should be able to lift. Relys on the laws of physics not being the same as here, as people of over 10 foot or so would need some serious structural redesign and reinforcement to stand upright without breaking their backs with the strain. Includes lots of weights for various materials, for those of you inclined to build a creature out of gold or something (as wizards will)
Tolkien in D&D: Yeah, D&D is heavily influenced by tolkien. No, that is not it's only influence, we like other stuff as well. Yes, we know some things are different from their source, it is a game after all. Now please stop sending us tedious knit-picking (sic) letters. Please?! Anyone listening? Bueller? Yeah. internet forums haven't changed people at all, they've just given them a new avenue to express themselves.
The bionic supplement: Yeah. Thiiss iiiss the seventiiiiieees! More toys for metamorphosis alpha. Has both advantages and problems, obviously.
Demon generation: Another treat for those DM's who's players have memorised the entire monster manual already. Can create some obscenely powerful creatures, particularly if you take the safety checks off. Still, you need them that powerful to challenge the players.
The japanese mythos: Another pantheon detailed for you to worship or kill, as your players choose. As japan has a larger selection of kami who operate on a near human scale, there are a greater number of gods here that are on a reasonably defeatable scale than average. Nothing too surprising here.
The filks page: Lets not go there, shall we. I may have filked before, I may do so again. But it still makes me squirm to see popular songs so abused
Errata for Warlord: Another game I don't remember, I'm afraid.
The winner of the stat that monster competition from issue 8, plus a new competition. This time you need to work from a description, rather than a picture.
Fiction: The stolen sacrifice. A third Niall story from Gardner F Fox, and we go increasingly epic in it. At the end of it, he manages to overthrow a kingdom and become a general. Is this a happy ending, or will the story continue? We shall see.
Fineous fingers and wormy continue.
Notes from a semi-sucessfull D&D player: A whole range of tricks for players, such as the now ubiquitous continual light on an object so you can carry it one, and the enormous usefulness of polymorph, plant growth and permanency spells. Tactical solutions are generally more effective than straight attacks, and this is particularly true back then before they nerfed most of the buff and utility spells. Lets face it, when the GM is against you, you need to use every trick you have to survive.
An ok issue, not as interesting as the last couple, but not bad. I guess it is significant because it starts the monthly circulation and the april fools thing, but it still feels like business as usual. Which I suppose is testament to the hard work of the writers and editors.
Mathew_Freeman
First Post
Thanks for writing these, I'm finding them very interesting!
Last edited:
Raven Crowking
First Post
Me too!
(un)reason
Legend
The Dragon Issue 14: May 1978
36 pages. Quite a bit of sci-fi stuff in this one, both in articles and in adverts. If anything, it seems like Sci-fi held a bigger market share in gaming then than it does now. (on the other hand, modern setting games were virtually nonexistant, so I guess they had to push something out the way) We also get to see the start of one of the classic bits of gaming lingo. Keep reading to find out what I'm on about.
In this issue:
We get to see the actual stats from the winners of the Name that monster competition. This is of course interesting because people have inferred quite different stats and backstories from the same picture. The amount of setting stuff in the entries is rather higher than that of official D&D monsters at the time. Really folks, you're being shown up by amateurs. You need to step up your game.
Space Marines commentary and Errata by the designer. Rather a lot of it. Another case where I don't feel qualified to comment, other than to say that this looks like one rules heavy game.
Nomad gods: The second boardgame set in Glorantha is now out. (this is still pre Runequest, remember) The themes and characters that would become important in Heroquest, much later, are still evident here. Greg is already showing plenty of ability as a game designer. This is another thread of history I will comment upon with interest.
A review of the boardgame Cosmic encounter. A pretty favourable one. But then, self selection means most of the reviews here will be fairly positive. The frequency with which they talk about boardgames at this time reminds you just how much computer games have edged out boardgames and other more bulky forms of entertainment now. Tempus fugit, and all that.
Robots as players in Metamorphosis Alpha: Another article that does exactly what is says on the tin, opening up a new player type, and corresponding playstyle, due to their different abilities. Uses one of the earliest point buy systems to create their stats, rather than the random generation more common in this era, which is nice. I don't think this is the very first instance of point buy character creation, but it'd be funny if it was.
Fiction: An interview with a rust monster. A tale of adventurers being rather stupid, as is not uncommon. You don't mess with the rust monster, even if that rust monster is a polymorphed adventurer.
Gary Gygax explaining what the difference and relationship between the new (john holmes edition) basic set and AD&D is, and how they relate to OD&D, as well as why they chose to do it this way. He says that he intends to keep the original version in print as well. (yeah, how long is that going to last) At this point, it's pretty obvious that after getting through the 3 levels in the basic set, you need to go on to AD&D. The days when BECMI would make BD&D become its own branch of the game with slightly different advancement styles and tropes are still in the future.
Monty HAUL!: That old chessnut of the joke campaign where the characters are obscenely overpowered and the DM is incredibly generous with rewards gets its slang name here. This is the ultimate wargame of ultimate destiny, featuring the norse gods, a battalion of platinum dragons, T-rex's and martians. Much fun was had by all, and many game rules were broken.
Hastur is the KING OF AIR!! Another entertainingly pedantic letter by a viewer who thinks that something in a previous issue was innacurate, in this case the lovecraft mythos stuff from a couple of issues ago. The great old ones should be more powerfull, so powerfull no mortal can touch them! Yeah, whatever you say mate. Now calm down, put the pen down and walk away. Its only a game.
Yet another expansion for metamorphosis alpha. Was it really that popular back then, or was jim ward just a one-man creative pimp-house arsenal for his game?
Wormy and Fineous Fingers continue.
Lycanthropy, the progress of the disease: How infected characters manage to gain control of themselves after the change, what abilities they lose (mostly spellcasting ability), and how PC's advance. Also includes stuff on the social ramifications of becoming a werecreature. As this is long before Ravenloft, horror is not on the agenda. Lycanthropes in standard D&D at this time seem to be fairly easy to identify, even in human form, and quite family oriented. How things have changed. Still quite an entertaining article, and it makes more sense of early mystara stuff.
Quite a good issue, overall. We've seen both a decent amount of new things that would be used again later, and generally amusing stuff.
36 pages. Quite a bit of sci-fi stuff in this one, both in articles and in adverts. If anything, it seems like Sci-fi held a bigger market share in gaming then than it does now. (on the other hand, modern setting games were virtually nonexistant, so I guess they had to push something out the way) We also get to see the start of one of the classic bits of gaming lingo. Keep reading to find out what I'm on about.
In this issue:
We get to see the actual stats from the winners of the Name that monster competition. This is of course interesting because people have inferred quite different stats and backstories from the same picture. The amount of setting stuff in the entries is rather higher than that of official D&D monsters at the time. Really folks, you're being shown up by amateurs. You need to step up your game.
Space Marines commentary and Errata by the designer. Rather a lot of it. Another case where I don't feel qualified to comment, other than to say that this looks like one rules heavy game.
Nomad gods: The second boardgame set in Glorantha is now out. (this is still pre Runequest, remember) The themes and characters that would become important in Heroquest, much later, are still evident here. Greg is already showing plenty of ability as a game designer. This is another thread of history I will comment upon with interest.
A review of the boardgame Cosmic encounter. A pretty favourable one. But then, self selection means most of the reviews here will be fairly positive. The frequency with which they talk about boardgames at this time reminds you just how much computer games have edged out boardgames and other more bulky forms of entertainment now. Tempus fugit, and all that.
Robots as players in Metamorphosis Alpha: Another article that does exactly what is says on the tin, opening up a new player type, and corresponding playstyle, due to their different abilities. Uses one of the earliest point buy systems to create their stats, rather than the random generation more common in this era, which is nice. I don't think this is the very first instance of point buy character creation, but it'd be funny if it was.
Fiction: An interview with a rust monster. A tale of adventurers being rather stupid, as is not uncommon. You don't mess with the rust monster, even if that rust monster is a polymorphed adventurer.
Gary Gygax explaining what the difference and relationship between the new (john holmes edition) basic set and AD&D is, and how they relate to OD&D, as well as why they chose to do it this way. He says that he intends to keep the original version in print as well. (yeah, how long is that going to last) At this point, it's pretty obvious that after getting through the 3 levels in the basic set, you need to go on to AD&D. The days when BECMI would make BD&D become its own branch of the game with slightly different advancement styles and tropes are still in the future.
Monty HAUL!: That old chessnut of the joke campaign where the characters are obscenely overpowered and the DM is incredibly generous with rewards gets its slang name here. This is the ultimate wargame of ultimate destiny, featuring the norse gods, a battalion of platinum dragons, T-rex's and martians. Much fun was had by all, and many game rules were broken.
Hastur is the KING OF AIR!! Another entertainingly pedantic letter by a viewer who thinks that something in a previous issue was innacurate, in this case the lovecraft mythos stuff from a couple of issues ago. The great old ones should be more powerfull, so powerfull no mortal can touch them! Yeah, whatever you say mate. Now calm down, put the pen down and walk away. Its only a game.
Yet another expansion for metamorphosis alpha. Was it really that popular back then, or was jim ward just a one-man creative pimp-house arsenal for his game?
Wormy and Fineous Fingers continue.
Lycanthropy, the progress of the disease: How infected characters manage to gain control of themselves after the change, what abilities they lose (mostly spellcasting ability), and how PC's advance. Also includes stuff on the social ramifications of becoming a werecreature. As this is long before Ravenloft, horror is not on the agenda. Lycanthropes in standard D&D at this time seem to be fairly easy to identify, even in human form, and quite family oriented. How things have changed. Still quite an entertaining article, and it makes more sense of early mystara stuff.
Quite a good issue, overall. We've seen both a decent amount of new things that would be used again later, and generally amusing stuff.
(un)reason
Legend
The Dragon Issue 15: June 1978
36 pages. Dragons 2nd birthday. We start with another burst of bitching at the post office. As ever their reliability is seriously random. Always the case, and probably always will be the case. What are you to do. This also starts the period in which their page count starts expanding consistently, as opposed to just for the occasional special issue. I'll keep track of this, and as soon as I have reliable data for the whole run I intend to do a graph, so we can get a proper visual image of the rise and fall of the magazine.
In this issue:
The start of another tradition, although I don't think they know it yet, that of having Dragon related articles on every birthday issue. This time, its a set of new spells for dragons, to supplement their spell lists and increase their versatility. Surprisingly few of them would go into general use, and get converted to later editions, and so these still feel fresh and idiosyncratic. Which means they're ideal for screwing your players over with.
Pits! You never know what you might find at the bottom of them. And if the DM doesn't know either, he can roll on this random table. Just leave the loan sharks IN the pit please.
Random events table for settlements: Something that would become important later on, in the domain management system in the Companion set. Like PC's, settlements need to face adversity on a regular basis to keep things from getting dull. Unfortunately, they didn't think ahead enough to include mechanical ramifications for these disasters, but the domain management stuff was a bit vague and heavily fiated anyway. We can do so much better nowadays.
Monty haul and the German high command: The tales of insane twinkery and crossover madness continue. Epic lulz are had by all, and the legendary meme continues to spread through the gaming populace.
More stuff on wandering monsters, how to decide on them, and how they should react to the players.
Notes from another barely successful D&D player. This one has a lot of elements of using mundane techniques to simulate magical abilities, and other such trickery. A good reminder that often the best way to win in those days was to avoid rolling the dice at all costs. And creative thinking is more interesting than straight-up fights in any game. So this is still valuable advice for anyone who's GM will accept solutions based upon real world physics.
The gospel of benwa: A joke story of the creation of the world, how it came to be, and how it was divided into law and chaos. Feels veeery dated, I'm afraid.
D&D ground and spell scale area: Some stuff from Gary on why they used different scales of movement for indoor and outdoor stuff, how to reconcile them with miniatures, and spell effects, and the proper size of miniatures to mesh with the inches scale used. Rather dry stuff, with a distinct air of high gygaxese to it, but informative in revealing some implicit assumptions about the game. Particularly interesting is the fact that despite being adapted from a miniatures game, they used them very little in the first two years of the original group, before it was published. So though miniatures and their sale were intimately connected with the first few years of D&D as a published game, and would be so again, there had already been a certain amount of ebb and flow in that area.
Weather in the wilderness: More random tables full of stuff that can be ported to any game with earthlike weather. If you can't be bothered to think up weather to suit the plot, and your players care, just roll here.
Examining movement tactics in Stellar Conquest. Mobility, proper exploration, outmaneuvering your opponent in combat. All the usual things that should be common sense in any wargame. Another unremarkable article.
Fiction: The green magician by L. Sprague deCamp. Another proper author who was a big influence on the game gets a story published in Dragon. A fairly entertaining time-travel story, this time involving interfering in the legend of Cuchulainn. Too be continued.
Fineous fingers is illegible this issue, while wormy is just filler art. This isn't very good.
More random encounters, this time for boot hill.
Another fairly average issue, with good articles, bad articles and dull articles. As it's an anniversary issue, it feels like they've tried to get some big guns in, but the overall effect is just more business as usual. I'm starting to get a bit fed up with all these random tables. Still, quite a bit of that stuff is still usable now, this issue is still useful as a resource, and I've got another hint into D&D's early history, so it's not exactly a waste.
36 pages. Dragons 2nd birthday. We start with another burst of bitching at the post office. As ever their reliability is seriously random. Always the case, and probably always will be the case. What are you to do. This also starts the period in which their page count starts expanding consistently, as opposed to just for the occasional special issue. I'll keep track of this, and as soon as I have reliable data for the whole run I intend to do a graph, so we can get a proper visual image of the rise and fall of the magazine.
In this issue:
The start of another tradition, although I don't think they know it yet, that of having Dragon related articles on every birthday issue. This time, its a set of new spells for dragons, to supplement their spell lists and increase their versatility. Surprisingly few of them would go into general use, and get converted to later editions, and so these still feel fresh and idiosyncratic. Which means they're ideal for screwing your players over with.
Pits! You never know what you might find at the bottom of them. And if the DM doesn't know either, he can roll on this random table. Just leave the loan sharks IN the pit please.
Random events table for settlements: Something that would become important later on, in the domain management system in the Companion set. Like PC's, settlements need to face adversity on a regular basis to keep things from getting dull. Unfortunately, they didn't think ahead enough to include mechanical ramifications for these disasters, but the domain management stuff was a bit vague and heavily fiated anyway. We can do so much better nowadays.
Monty haul and the German high command: The tales of insane twinkery and crossover madness continue. Epic lulz are had by all, and the legendary meme continues to spread through the gaming populace.
More stuff on wandering monsters, how to decide on them, and how they should react to the players.
Notes from another barely successful D&D player. This one has a lot of elements of using mundane techniques to simulate magical abilities, and other such trickery. A good reminder that often the best way to win in those days was to avoid rolling the dice at all costs. And creative thinking is more interesting than straight-up fights in any game. So this is still valuable advice for anyone who's GM will accept solutions based upon real world physics.
The gospel of benwa: A joke story of the creation of the world, how it came to be, and how it was divided into law and chaos. Feels veeery dated, I'm afraid.
D&D ground and spell scale area: Some stuff from Gary on why they used different scales of movement for indoor and outdoor stuff, how to reconcile them with miniatures, and spell effects, and the proper size of miniatures to mesh with the inches scale used. Rather dry stuff, with a distinct air of high gygaxese to it, but informative in revealing some implicit assumptions about the game. Particularly interesting is the fact that despite being adapted from a miniatures game, they used them very little in the first two years of the original group, before it was published. So though miniatures and their sale were intimately connected with the first few years of D&D as a published game, and would be so again, there had already been a certain amount of ebb and flow in that area.
Weather in the wilderness: More random tables full of stuff that can be ported to any game with earthlike weather. If you can't be bothered to think up weather to suit the plot, and your players care, just roll here.
Examining movement tactics in Stellar Conquest. Mobility, proper exploration, outmaneuvering your opponent in combat. All the usual things that should be common sense in any wargame. Another unremarkable article.
Fiction: The green magician by L. Sprague deCamp. Another proper author who was a big influence on the game gets a story published in Dragon. A fairly entertaining time-travel story, this time involving interfering in the legend of Cuchulainn. Too be continued.
Fineous fingers is illegible this issue, while wormy is just filler art. This isn't very good.
More random encounters, this time for boot hill.
Another fairly average issue, with good articles, bad articles and dull articles. As it's an anniversary issue, it feels like they've tried to get some big guns in, but the overall effect is just more business as usual. I'm starting to get a bit fed up with all these random tables. Still, quite a bit of that stuff is still usable now, this issue is still useful as a resource, and I've got another hint into D&D's early history, so it's not exactly a waste.
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