Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Dragon Reflections #34
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="M.T. Black" data-source="post: 8097502" data-attributes="member: 6782171"><p><strong>TSR Periodicals</strong> published <strong>The Dragon</strong> Issue 34 in February 1980. It is 73 pages long and has a cover price of $2.50. In this issue, we have lots of articles about the <strong>Divine Right</strong> boardgame, a new column dedicated to traps, and "Doomkeep," a dungeon by Brian Blume!</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]126733[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>This issue contains seven features about <strong>Divine Right</strong>, a fantasy boardgame released by <strong>TSR</strong> in 1979, where players control kingdoms engaged in warfare and diplomacy. The articles cover errata, variant rules, and some additional lore for the setting, Minaria. What is striking here is how much effort <strong>The Dragon</strong> put into promoting this game. They even announced a new semi-regular column to support it, called "The Minarin Legends." All this effort for a just-released game stretches the "we are not a house organ!" claim to the limit!</p><p></p><p>“Sage Advice” has the usual plethora of questions about rules minutia. For example, "One of my crazy friends has a Cleric/Fighter/Magic-User who also happens to be a human. In the Players Handbook under human, it says that humans are not limited as to what class they can become. Under the section on multi-classed characters, it says that only half-elves can be Clerics/Fighters/Magic-Users. Am I right in saying that his human can’t be a multi-classed character?" Important stuff!</p><p></p><p>"Leomund's Tiny Hut" proposes a more complex alternative to the standard <strong>AD&D</strong> initiative system--itself notoriously complicated. "Bazaar of the Bizarre" presents a detailed method for generating magic fountains. "Dragon's Bestiary" describes the Vilkonnar, a subterranean, energy-draining, and energy-blasting humanoid. The accompanying art is uninspiring, but the monster itself has some potential.</p><p></p><p>There is a new feature devoted to traps called "Dastardly Deeds & Devious Devices." The editor's introduction suggests readers were swamping the company with articles in this genre, and the published entry is a reasonably good example of a "Grimtooth-style" trap. For whatever reason, the series only saw one more entry (in issue #35) and then ceased.</p><p></p><p>We have variant rules for <strong>Risk</strong>, <strong>Avalon Hill's D-Day</strong>, and <strong>Snit's Revenge</strong>. For <strong>Dungeons & Dragons</strong>, there is a set of random monster tables, a fun little character name generator, and a list of quirks and minor curses to associate with otherwise useful magic items. I rather like some of the quirks, such as your touch kills green plants, or small fires within 10 feet of you sputter and go out.</p><p></p><p>“Dragon's Augury” presents a smaller than usual collection of reviews. The <strong>Bushido RPG</strong> by <strong>Tyr Gamesmakers Ltd </strong>is "worth the price to the person interested in developing a more cosmopolitan outlook." Quite a claim! But the game was widely reviewed and made quite an impact at the time. By contrast, <strong>Spacefarers Guide to Alien Monsters</strong> by <strong>Phoenix Games </strong>is "a shoddy and carelessly-produced product that has no place in any intelligence science fiction roleplaying game." Fortunately, <strong>Phoenix Games</strong> went on to do better work, including the second edition of <strong>Bushido</strong>!</p><p></p><p>Two fiction books get a review by Gary Gygax. <strong>Hammer's Slammers</strong> by David Drake is a "very good, action-packed work," while <strong>The Wolfen</strong> by Whitley Strieber is "enjoyable and worthwhile."</p><p></p><p>The longest article contains a 24-room dungeon called "Doomkeep," written by Brian Blume for the <strong>Second Official AD&D Masters Tournament</strong>. The 36 invited players divided into parties and then tried to complete as much as possible in the 3-hour time limit. The dungeon itself is a typical death-trap affair, with lots of puzzles, traps, mazes, and weird monsters. Here is a sample encounter:</p><p></p><p>[EXCERPT]"10. You are inside a room which is 20'x20'. There are two doors. In the center of the room is a pedestal, intricately carved, which is about 5' high and 3' in diameter at the top. From the top, a beam of blue light rises to the ceiling and enters a similarly carved fixture. Suspended in the blue beam is a folded piece of parchment, apparently floating with no support."[/EXCERPT]</p><p>Anything touching the blue beam, except for a naked arm, is instantly disintegrated. That's how things rolled in '79! The feature includes the scoring system and the original player scores, enabling readers to test their groups against the "Masters." Robin Hostetter of Georgia won the tournament, though he has seemingly disappeared from gaming history.</p><p></p><p>And that's pretty much everything of interest. It was weaker than some previous issues, though the inclusion of a full tournament dungeon was a highlight. Next month we have Traveller variants, an <strong>AD&D</strong> player rating system, and Gary Gygax discussing the future of <strong>TSR</strong>!</p><p></p><p><em>M.T. Black is a freelance game designer and a Dungeon Master’s Guild Adept. You can follow him on twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/MTBlack2567" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a><em>. Please check out his new Kickstarter, </em><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nazidracula/nazi-dracula-must-die-campaign-setting-for-dnd-5e" target="_blank"><em>Nazi Dracula Must Die</em></a><em>!</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="M.T. Black, post: 8097502, member: 6782171"] [B]TSR Periodicals[/B] published [B]The Dragon[/B] Issue 34 in February 1980. It is 73 pages long and has a cover price of $2.50. In this issue, we have lots of articles about the [B]Divine Right[/B] boardgame, a new column dedicated to traps, and "Doomkeep," a dungeon by Brian Blume! [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="Drmg034_Page_01.jpg"]126733[/ATTACH][/CENTER] This issue contains seven features about [B]Divine Right[/B], a fantasy boardgame released by [B]TSR[/B] in 1979, where players control kingdoms engaged in warfare and diplomacy. The articles cover errata, variant rules, and some additional lore for the setting, Minaria. What is striking here is how much effort [B]The Dragon[/B] put into promoting this game. They even announced a new semi-regular column to support it, called "The Minarin Legends." All this effort for a just-released game stretches the "we are not a house organ!" claim to the limit! “Sage Advice” has the usual plethora of questions about rules minutia. For example, "One of my crazy friends has a Cleric/Fighter/Magic-User who also happens to be a human. In the Players Handbook under human, it says that humans are not limited as to what class they can become. Under the section on multi-classed characters, it says that only half-elves can be Clerics/Fighters/Magic-Users. Am I right in saying that his human can’t be a multi-classed character?" Important stuff! "Leomund's Tiny Hut" proposes a more complex alternative to the standard [B]AD&D[/B] initiative system--itself notoriously complicated. "Bazaar of the Bizarre" presents a detailed method for generating magic fountains. "Dragon's Bestiary" describes the Vilkonnar, a subterranean, energy-draining, and energy-blasting humanoid. The accompanying art is uninspiring, but the monster itself has some potential. There is a new feature devoted to traps called "Dastardly Deeds & Devious Devices." The editor's introduction suggests readers were swamping the company with articles in this genre, and the published entry is a reasonably good example of a "Grimtooth-style" trap. For whatever reason, the series only saw one more entry (in issue #35) and then ceased. We have variant rules for [B]Risk[/B], [B]Avalon Hill's D-Day[/B], and [B]Snit's Revenge[/B]. For [B]Dungeons & Dragons[/B], there is a set of random monster tables, a fun little character name generator, and a list of quirks and minor curses to associate with otherwise useful magic items. I rather like some of the quirks, such as your touch kills green plants, or small fires within 10 feet of you sputter and go out. “Dragon's Augury” presents a smaller than usual collection of reviews. The [B]Bushido RPG[/B] by [B]Tyr Gamesmakers Ltd [/B]is "worth the price to the person interested in developing a more cosmopolitan outlook." Quite a claim! But the game was widely reviewed and made quite an impact at the time. By contrast, [B]Spacefarers Guide to Alien Monsters[/B] by [B]Phoenix Games [/B]is "a shoddy and carelessly-produced product that has no place in any intelligence science fiction roleplaying game." Fortunately, [B]Phoenix Games[/B] went on to do better work, including the second edition of [B]Bushido[/B]! Two fiction books get a review by Gary Gygax. [B]Hammer's Slammers[/B] by David Drake is a "very good, action-packed work," while [B]The Wolfen[/B] by Whitley Strieber is "enjoyable and worthwhile." The longest article contains a 24-room dungeon called "Doomkeep," written by Brian Blume for the [B]Second Official AD&D Masters Tournament[/B]. The 36 invited players divided into parties and then tried to complete as much as possible in the 3-hour time limit. The dungeon itself is a typical death-trap affair, with lots of puzzles, traps, mazes, and weird monsters. Here is a sample encounter: [EXCERPT]"10. You are inside a room which is 20'x20'. There are two doors. In the center of the room is a pedestal, intricately carved, which is about 5' high and 3' in diameter at the top. From the top, a beam of blue light rises to the ceiling and enters a similarly carved fixture. Suspended in the blue beam is a folded piece of parchment, apparently floating with no support."[/EXCERPT] Anything touching the blue beam, except for a naked arm, is instantly disintegrated. That's how things rolled in '79! The feature includes the scoring system and the original player scores, enabling readers to test their groups against the "Masters." Robin Hostetter of Georgia won the tournament, though he has seemingly disappeared from gaming history. And that's pretty much everything of interest. It was weaker than some previous issues, though the inclusion of a full tournament dungeon was a highlight. Next month we have Traveller variants, an [B]AD&D[/B] player rating system, and Gary Gygax discussing the future of [B]TSR[/B]! [I]M.T. Black is a freelance game designer and a Dungeon Master’s Guild Adept. You can follow him on twitter [/I][URL='https://twitter.com/MTBlack2567'][I]here[/I][/URL][I]. Please check out his new Kickstarter, [/I][URL='https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nazidracula/nazi-dracula-must-die-campaign-setting-for-dnd-5e'][I]Nazi Dracula Must Die[/I][/URL][I]![/I] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Dragon Reflections #34
Top