TSR Periodicals published The Dragon Issue 27 in July 1979. It is 52 pages long, with a cover price of $2.00. In this issue, The Dragon celebrates a milestone, we explore lots of wargame content, and the Bazaar of the Bizarre introduces us to the bag of wind!
This issue marks the beginning of the magazine's fourth year. Editor Tim Kask says:
“Out on a Limb” is back. Ray Rahman offers a lengthy criticism of the recent Lord of the Ring’s review, while Mark Hermansen complains about the plethora of material now required to play D&D. This was in 1979!
There are five feature articles this month. "From the Sorcerer's Scroll" has a guest author, Bob Bledsaw, the founder of Judge's Guild. Bledslaw subtitled his column "What Judges Guild has done for Dungeons and Dragons." In it, he discusses some of the supplements the company has produced under license from TSR, such as the excellent Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Judges Guild were true innovators, and the company continues to publish material today, under the leadership of Bledslaw's son.
"Giants in the Earth" gives us statistics for Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, John Carter of Mars, as well as Durathror (a dwarf prince from The Weirdstone of Brisingamen). "Dragon's Bestiary" presents the Horast, a six-legged, whip-tailed monstrosity that does not appear in any official books. "Bazaar of the Bizarre" offers a new magic item, the bag of wind, by Gary Gygax. It is a fun item with lots of options and effects. The final feature is "A Quick Look at Dwarves." Aimed at miniatures wargamers, it describes the organization of dwarven armies and draws heavily on Tolkien.
The issue includes two variants for D&D. "Elementals and the Philosophers Stone" expands the four elements to twelve, including things such as heat, moisture, and (strangely) pleasure. The ideas are ok but undeveloped. This area was treated much more effectively later on with the creation of the para-elemental planes in Monster Manual II. "The Mythos of Africa in Dungeons & Dragons" gives game statistics for gods such as Mulungu, Shango, and Ala. The statistics in these articles always seemed uninspiring to me.
There are two variants for Traveller. "Tesseracts: A Traveller Artifact" presents these strange hypercubes as an optional extra for starships, while "Star System Generation" provides a random system for generating star types, solar orbits, and so on. "Go Boldly Where No Man Has Gone Before" provides rules for expanding the Imperium boardgame.
There are three game reviews, none of them RPG-related. Agincourt by SPI is "incredibly playable" and "incredibly complex." The English Civil War by Philmar is "a great game in a lousy box," while MiG Killers by Gamescience is the "best single air warfare game available."
There are "Designer's Notes" for no less than three games included in this issue. James Dunnigen discusses how he combined realism with playability in Agincourt. Glenn and Kenneth Rahman describe how Divine Right came to be, while Jay Facciolo explains what makes Emerald Tablet unique.
Rounding out the Agincourt theme, "The Political and Military Effects of Agincourt on the Hundred Years War" is a long historical article that gives you exactly what it promises on the tin.
It's a substantial issue with a lot of wargame content. The RPG articles are generally useful, though none of them approaches the level of a classic. Tim Kask's editorial was probably the highlight for me!
The next issue is a good one, and includes the Politics of Hell, the return of Monty Haul, and Awful Green Things from Outer Space!
This issue marks the beginning of the magazine's fourth year. Editor Tim Kask says:
This comment is intriguing, given Kask would resign from TSR within twelve months. As he reflects on what The Dragon has achieved, he nominates things such as becoming the largest magazine of its type, expanding into foreign markets, and publishing quality fiction. Surprisingly, he adds this comment:
To this, he wryly adds, "Too bad we couldn't have published it ourselves." It's important to remember that TSR Hobbies and TSR Periodicals were two separate entities under a parent company. This comment is one of the few hints I've seen of any friction between the entities. It might also suggest that Kask would prefer to have been publishing games rather than magazines.
“Out on a Limb” is back. Ray Rahman offers a lengthy criticism of the recent Lord of the Ring’s review, while Mark Hermansen complains about the plethora of material now required to play D&D. This was in 1979!
There are five feature articles this month. "From the Sorcerer's Scroll" has a guest author, Bob Bledsaw, the founder of Judge's Guild. Bledslaw subtitled his column "What Judges Guild has done for Dungeons and Dragons." In it, he discusses some of the supplements the company has produced under license from TSR, such as the excellent Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Judges Guild were true innovators, and the company continues to publish material today, under the leadership of Bledslaw's son.
"Giants in the Earth" gives us statistics for Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, John Carter of Mars, as well as Durathror (a dwarf prince from The Weirdstone of Brisingamen). "Dragon's Bestiary" presents the Horast, a six-legged, whip-tailed monstrosity that does not appear in any official books. "Bazaar of the Bizarre" offers a new magic item, the bag of wind, by Gary Gygax. It is a fun item with lots of options and effects. The final feature is "A Quick Look at Dwarves." Aimed at miniatures wargamers, it describes the organization of dwarven armies and draws heavily on Tolkien.
The issue includes two variants for D&D. "Elementals and the Philosophers Stone" expands the four elements to twelve, including things such as heat, moisture, and (strangely) pleasure. The ideas are ok but undeveloped. This area was treated much more effectively later on with the creation of the para-elemental planes in Monster Manual II. "The Mythos of Africa in Dungeons & Dragons" gives game statistics for gods such as Mulungu, Shango, and Ala. The statistics in these articles always seemed uninspiring to me.
There are two variants for Traveller. "Tesseracts: A Traveller Artifact" presents these strange hypercubes as an optional extra for starships, while "Star System Generation" provides a random system for generating star types, solar orbits, and so on. "Go Boldly Where No Man Has Gone Before" provides rules for expanding the Imperium boardgame.
There are three game reviews, none of them RPG-related. Agincourt by SPI is "incredibly playable" and "incredibly complex." The English Civil War by Philmar is "a great game in a lousy box," while MiG Killers by Gamescience is the "best single air warfare game available."
There are "Designer's Notes" for no less than three games included in this issue. James Dunnigen discusses how he combined realism with playability in Agincourt. Glenn and Kenneth Rahman describe how Divine Right came to be, while Jay Facciolo explains what makes Emerald Tablet unique.
Rounding out the Agincourt theme, "The Political and Military Effects of Agincourt on the Hundred Years War" is a long historical article that gives you exactly what it promises on the tin.
It's a substantial issue with a lot of wargame content. The RPG articles are generally useful, though none of them approaches the level of a classic. Tim Kask's editorial was probably the highlight for me!
The next issue is a good one, and includes the Politics of Hell, the return of Monty Haul, and Awful Green Things from Outer Space!
I agree. I loved both the Dragon and White Dwarf when they covered other games. While I liked some mags which centered on just one game (i.e. The Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society) the inclusion of a wide variety of articles gave me exposure to other systems and also ideas which could be adopted for my favorite systems.
