"Classic" Dragon Articles

[ShadowDenizen]

Erik,
Thanks for the nod to the years of Dragons past. I think that you have done a stellar job so far, from what I've seen. I (we?) appreciate your taking into account the opinions of older gamers, while still trying to drag a new generation into a great RPG. While I'm still a far way from a subscription, Issue 330 was one of the first "Dragon" issues that I've picked up from my FLGS in many years.


Of course, most everything I've said has already been listed, but, for completeness' sake, here's some of the things I immediately thought of when this topic came up:

I'll also list the "Nine Hells" overview as my very favorite article: I still have my original issues with that article. (IIRC, it actually spanned two issues.)
The "Witch" character class.
The "Death Master" chracter class.
The "Gem Dragons".
"Giants in the Earth": not one specific instance, but overall.
the "Tesseracts" article
I'm sure in in the minoroty on this, but I always enjoyed reading "the Voyage of the Princess Ark" series
the Kender/Gnome ecology/history articles from when Dragonlance was first published.
Snow Elves
Deck of Many Things (IIRC, this was coupled with a "Dungeon" adventure called "House of Cards" where all the doors were sealed with cards from the Deck?)
the "Deryni" articles
the "ecology of" articles
the "Baba Yaga's" hut article

Oh, and what I wouldn't give for a Nine Hells boxed set...

I'll second this. (And while we're at it, one on the Seven Heavens, too): Sure I have the boxed Planescape Sets, which I still love, but a new boxed set? Is a no-brainer, IMO.

 

[DMH]

Man that bring be back! I vividly remembering playing The Awful Green Things From Outer Space with my friend after school! Good times, good times!

SJ Games bought it and put out a box set. I saw it in my FLGS recently and they bought it last year. FYI

 

[Ron]

Well, sure, the rules additions are for older editions of D&D, so are of limited use for 3e/3.5 players. I think the archive is great because it shows the evolution of the game, and reveals how gamers have always been pretty much the same, in that they have always been interested in the same basic things - rules additions, monsters, etc.

The CD was released during the 2nd edition tenure. As such, it was trivial to adapt material from previous editions. Still, I didn't found much material of interest to my game.

I agree with you about the historical interest. It was, for sure, what kept me reading from time to time.

At that time, the late 70s and into the 80s, the age of the average gamer was probably a lot younger than it is now, simply because the game itself was new, which would explain why Dragon didn't seem geared toward a more mature audience.

I can agree with that.

I think comparing the archive to today's game environment may be a little unfair. For a long time, Dragon was one of only a very few outlets for game material that was available on a wide-scale basis. The internet has obviously made the dissemination of game material much easier on a much wider scale. I'd say the Dragon archive is more interesting as an historical document than as a game resource for today's gamer - but I do think there are plenty of ideas to be gathered from it.

Yeah! As such, a well edited compilation might work. However, I was arguing that Dragon, since from its early days, was never as good as people remember.

 

[Olive]

I think its people who didn't read it back in the old days who are jaded, perhaps because they don't have the nostalgia factor working on them.

jaded adj.
Worn out; wearied: “My father's words had left me jaded and depressed” (William Styron).
Dulled by surfeit; sated: “the sickeningly sweet life of the amoral, jaded, bored upper classes” (John Simon).
Cynically or pretentiously callous.

I know what jaded means. You misunderstood. I don't mean jaded about the old magazines, I mean jaded (in the worn out sense) of new gaming material.

You get it all the time here. Old gamers going on about how everythign used to be fresh and new. Well, duh. Of course when you were new to gaming, things were fresh and new to you.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I love the insane "Strategic Review" articles that talk about people learning to speak Wall or the article written by a rust monster on his experiences with adventurers. Very, very silly, but rich in old, old, old school flavor. Many of these were reprinted in "Best of the Dragon" vol. 1.

The anti-paladin articles are good (again, for flavor), "From Dead Orc Pass to the City of Brass" is great, "Wormy" is a much-missed classic, and a sampling of the best old school April Fool's material (like the original Jester NPC class) were all wonderful.

The witch article that I think was mentioned on the front page is great. It was the second one, as I recall, but far superior.

"Citadel by the Sea," "Fedifensor" and whatever that 1E mountain dungeon full of spiders was were all great, too.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The best, most useful article I ever read was the Seven Sentence NPC. I think it still works well today.

I ran two campaigns with that article open in front of me at all times. Great stuff. I would agree that it's probably the most useful Dragon article ever.

 

[BOZ]

whatever that 1E mountain dungeon full of spiders was were all great, too.

Chagmat?

 

[Samothdm]

I'm sure in in the minoroty on this, but I always enjoyed reading "the Voyage of the Princess Ark" series

No, I really liked that, too! I re-read that several times over the years. It was one of the things I was most looking forward to reading again after I got the CD-ROMs. I liked all the crazy-weird stuff like the Spanish halfling guy from Texeiras or wherever. It was so different from the other game worlds out there, and it fit in pretty well with the Known World style.

 

[TGryph]

the Lost Orientals (2E oriental kits)

After hopefully perusing 6 pages of replies, FINALLY someone mentions one of the ones I wrote! Does my old heart good! Glad you enjoyed it

(BTW It was called The Other Orientals

TGryph

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, I posted last night, but it seems to have disappeared.

Claydonia.
Tom Wham Games.
Dragon Chess.
The cardstock buildings, ships, castles, etc.

The Auld Grump