An Open Letter to Dragon and Dungeon Readers

[Erik Mona]

We'll continue to support the Living Greyhawk campaign in Dungeon with "Living Greyhawk Approved" articles similar to the City of Hardby we ran in #109. Dungeon #114 also has an adventure usable as an introduction to the LG campaign, set in the city of Greyhawk. Dungeons #117, 118, 119, and 120 will contain a massive four-part poster map of the World of Greyhawk similar to the FR map published in Dragon a couple years ago. Wolf Baur's got a module on tap set in the Land of Black Ice, and I've also got Sean Reynolds at work on a Greyhawk adventure. Greyhawk fans will have lots to like about the new Dungeon (as will Eberron and Forgotten Realms fans--lots of exciting stuff for those settings coming up as well).

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon Magazine

 

[diaglo]

WoooHOOOOooooo...

i'm giddy. i'm hyped.

tHank You. thaNk yoU. thanK yOu.

i've been banging on the snail mail, email, and internet since Wolfgang and Barbara were there.

finally my wish has come true.



(ps. thanks Erik Mona too. but you know for me Poly has been dead/useless since the 80s)

 

[Bloodstone Press]

soundd great! I look forward to august.

 

[jaults]

Erik,
Has the idea of releasing mini-games or mini-game supporting articles on the Paizo website or RPGNow been considered? I would gladly shell out $5 for more material for Spelljammer or $10 for a new mini-game. I really like the Dungeon articles, but I also really like the mini-games...

Jason

 

[Mercule]

And we’ve been listening.

Great! It sounds like you guys have put a lot of thought and work into things. I'm looking forward to seeing the new shape of things. I'll almost certainly be picking up the new Dungeon.
Some miscellaneous comments follow.

The “New” Dragon

Starting with Issue #323, Dragon Magazine opens its pages to a new era of utility and power.

I hope this doesn't translate to an ever-increasing power creep and munchkin's wet dream. If it's more utility to work the game, that's awesome.

Whether you knock down dungeon doors in the tabletop RPG, command warbands with the D&D Miniatures game, invade the Underdark online with your closest friends, or enjoy reading about the exploits of your favorite characters, the ‘new’ Dragon magazine is THE source for information and content about your favorite aspects of Dungeons & Dragons. Starting with issue #323, Dragon will contain a bonus quarterly Catalog detailing upcoming D&D releases from Wizards of the Coast, so you’ll have the scoop on the latest products all gathered in one place.

Hmm... while I like miniatures games -- full bore unit warfare, not lame skirmishes -- I happen to be the only person in my group who doesn't loathe them. Hopefully miniatures stuff will be only an occasional thing.

I'm also hoping that this doesn't mean the continuation/rebirth of a regular fiction or "Silicon Sorcery" section. Those are of somewhat less value to me than a rat turd.

And lest you think we’re skimping on RPG content, the ‘new’ Dragon will have something for every RPG’er, no matter what character they play. With features like the new Class Acts—which provides content for every core D&D character class EVERY issue—and Winning Races—a column that offers a new PC race or monster class progression each issue— Dragon will continue its tradition of providing the best D&D RPG content to its readers.

I've always been a fan of the multiclass progressions and similar things from Dragon right after 3E was released -- things that showed us how to use what was there even better. I'm hoping that "Class Acts" doesn't just turn into "PrC of the month", though. I'm already choking on prestige classes. I'm not too sure about trying to handle EVERY classe in EVERY issue, either. Overall, though, I'm hopeful for this column, though.

The races column, though, I'm far from sanguine about. The occasional new race would be nice, but I'm not sure if having one in every issue would be a good use of space.

As for the racial class progressions, it depends on what you mean. If you're talking about the malconceived "racial classes" from "Savage Species", then I've got no use for it. If you're talking about classes that are specific classes for monsters, like are sometimes included for dragons, etc., then I'm on board.

The “New” Dungeon

Beginning with issue #114, Dungeon magazine becomes the ultimate resource for Dungeon Masters.

Sounds great! I've been thinking about picking up Dungeon as a resource, and I think the added DM-related content will cinch it up.

Finally, each issue of the magazine will feature Wil Save, a regular column of gaming observations penned by none other than Wil Wheaton of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame.

I've got nothing against Mr. Wheaton in any way. Didn't care one way or the other about Wesley Crusher and don't know much else about him, other than hearing he's a pretty nice guy. So, don't take this in the wrong way.

I'm just not sure why I should care what he thinks about D&D. Gygax and Cook make sense -- they wrote the books. Wheaton is just an actor and I don't listen to actors' opinions on anything else.

On the other hand, if he turns out to be a great essayist, then I'll be happy. He's just got to start at zero on this one, IMO. His celebrity brings no cred (positive or negative) to the table.

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Awesome!

This means I'll definitely be renewing my Dungeon subscription. It's still the best resource for the money, especially now that polyhedron is taken out.

 

[eris404]

Mini-Games... Well, sad, but Min-Game Magazine in PDF shows promise.

I didn't actually use the minigames, but I loved reading about them - they had a lot of interesting ideas. I will be sorry to see them go. But I think you are exactly right about a minigame PDF magazine. It's a good format and I'm surprised that someone hasn't come up with one already. Going slightly off-topic here, I think that d20 Modern has been undersupported and could benefit from something like this, too. Maybe combine the two?

 

[Remathilis]

Sigh...

Looks like I'm finally going to have to shell out for a DUNGEON subscription as well. Luckily, I'm cancelling my subscription to EGM, so it MIGHT work out...

Like the idea, killer on the pocketbook.

 

[d20Dwarf]

I think I'll be picking up a Dungeon subscription now. I buy it every month anyway, but I really like the proposed changes to it.

The Dragon changes I'm not too thrilled with, but I'll still keep my subscription (hey, it's DRAGON after all). I don't even look at the computer game articles as it is, even though they have feats and spells and things for a regular game. I hope they get more computer gamers to buy the magazine as a result, but somehow I think the crossover angle isn't going to do much. Miniatures....bleh, they aren't a game, they're a D&D aid.

 

[Zaukrie]

Dungeon: more likely to buy. It's a great place for busy people who want to DM to get adventures. Plus, all the interesting stuff is really for DMs (see below).

Dragon: Hard to say. Does your letter state clearly that all DM stuff moves to Dungeon and this is really only a players magazine now or are we just reading it that way? If so, I'm a lot less likely to buy Dragon (which I just re-upped for a year, d$*&). The "classic" articles that people listed on this site when Erik (I think it was Erik) asked were all DM related. I can't believe that you'd actually take all the DM stuff out, monsters, planes, running adventures in different types of environments....all the in-game stuff (I consider Dungeoncraft "meta game" as it talks about running the game as opposed to in-game stuff that is still mostly for DMs like monsters, politics, ecologies.....).

Is that really the split? If so, Dungeon better have a lot of pages dedicated to being a DM. I know there are less DMs, I know that is why we get less DM material from WoTC and others. Dragon was one of the places to still get this in digestable doses (unlike 250 page hardcovers).