The Dragon Issue 5 was published in March 1977. It is 32 pages long, with a cover price of $1.50. In this issue they start their move to be more than just a "house organ" for TSR games.
Editor Tim Kask has some welcome news for readers. The Dragon has been so successful that they are expanding from six to eight issues per year! There is a downside, though, as the expansion was made possible because the magazine's sister publication, Little Wars (focused on miniatures gaming), is contracting from six to four issues per year. Indeed, Little Wars would soon cease publication altogether.
Kask is looking to expand The Dragon in other ways as well:
"I have extended invitations to a number of authors of fantasy and science fiction games, other than D&D and EPT, to write on their creations for these pages. While we recognize that D&D started the fantasy gaming genre, there are now a number of science fiction and fantasy games available that we feel should be treated in this magazine. I extend this invitation to non-authors (of games) to do this also. I’m looking for articles on STELLAR CONQUEST, THE YTHRI, WBRM, GODSFIRE, STARSHIP TROOPERS, OUTREACH, SORCERER, STARSOLDIER, GREEN PLANET TRILOGY, OGRE, MONSTERS-MONSTERS, VENERABLE DESTRUCTION and others. It’s time for THE DRAGON to expand its subject matter. I want to get into fantasy miniatures as well."
This list provides a little snapshot of the more popular sci-fi/fantasy hobby games of the time. Of those listed, I believe only Steve Jackson's Ogre is still in print. It's interesting to see that Kask did not include Ken St Andre's Tunnels & Trolls, which was arguably the third RPG ever published, after D&D and Boot Hill, and which remains in print to this day.
This issue of The Dragon has several pages of additional rules for Metamorphosis Alpha, a science fiction RPG written by Jim Ward which we introduced last column. Despite selling well, Metamorphosis Alpha fell out of print within two years, replaced by Ward's next game--the very popular Gamma World.
Two pieces of fiction are contained in the issue, chapter 5 of Gygax's "The Gnome Cache," and another short story by Gardner Fox, "Beyond the Wizard Fog." Fiction was now flooding into Kask's office. There were many excellent submissions that he did not consider suitable for The Dragon, and he notes that that TSR is thinking about publishing a fiction anthology. Prescient words, as fiction was destined to be an essential part of TSR's future.
There are several D&D articles, of course. These include an anonymous article on witchcraft, two new monsters (the ankheg and the witch), and a set of well-designed wizard research rules. The author of these rules, Charles Preston Goforth, Jr., seems to have published nothing else in the RPG field, although this article was reprinted in the Best of Dragon and some of his magic items were later included in the 2e Magic Encyclopedia. I did wonder if the name was a pseudonym for Kask or Gygax, but I can find no evidence of that.
This issue also contains one of the more famous articles in Dragon magazine history, titled "Gandalf Was Only a Fifth Level Magic-User." The author, Bill Seligman, looks at every spell Gandalf cast in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and concludes that the highest is a mere third level, making Gandalf a level five magic-user. The article has provoked arguments all the way down to this day. It is surely one of the most referenced Dragon magazine pieces ever published!
There is a funny little postscript to this. A few years ago, Bill Seligman (still a gamer) printed an explanation for the article, made necessary because he still receives regular mail about it. You can see what he has to say here.
This was a solid and enjoyable issue, and it feels like the magazine is starting to hit its stride. The next issue sees an important science fiction game designer make his debut.
M.T. Black is a game designer and DMs Guild Adept. Please follow him on twitter @mtblack2567 and sign up for his mailing list.
Editor Tim Kask has some welcome news for readers. The Dragon has been so successful that they are expanding from six to eight issues per year! There is a downside, though, as the expansion was made possible because the magazine's sister publication, Little Wars (focused on miniatures gaming), is contracting from six to four issues per year. Indeed, Little Wars would soon cease publication altogether.
Kask is looking to expand The Dragon in other ways as well:
"I have extended invitations to a number of authors of fantasy and science fiction games, other than D&D and EPT, to write on their creations for these pages. While we recognize that D&D started the fantasy gaming genre, there are now a number of science fiction and fantasy games available that we feel should be treated in this magazine. I extend this invitation to non-authors (of games) to do this also. I’m looking for articles on STELLAR CONQUEST, THE YTHRI, WBRM, GODSFIRE, STARSHIP TROOPERS, OUTREACH, SORCERER, STARSOLDIER, GREEN PLANET TRILOGY, OGRE, MONSTERS-MONSTERS, VENERABLE DESTRUCTION and others. It’s time for THE DRAGON to expand its subject matter. I want to get into fantasy miniatures as well."
This list provides a little snapshot of the more popular sci-fi/fantasy hobby games of the time. Of those listed, I believe only Steve Jackson's Ogre is still in print. It's interesting to see that Kask did not include Ken St Andre's Tunnels & Trolls, which was arguably the third RPG ever published, after D&D and Boot Hill, and which remains in print to this day.
This issue of The Dragon has several pages of additional rules for Metamorphosis Alpha, a science fiction RPG written by Jim Ward which we introduced last column. Despite selling well, Metamorphosis Alpha fell out of print within two years, replaced by Ward's next game--the very popular Gamma World.
Two pieces of fiction are contained in the issue, chapter 5 of Gygax's "The Gnome Cache," and another short story by Gardner Fox, "Beyond the Wizard Fog." Fiction was now flooding into Kask's office. There were many excellent submissions that he did not consider suitable for The Dragon, and he notes that that TSR is thinking about publishing a fiction anthology. Prescient words, as fiction was destined to be an essential part of TSR's future.
There are several D&D articles, of course. These include an anonymous article on witchcraft, two new monsters (the ankheg and the witch), and a set of well-designed wizard research rules. The author of these rules, Charles Preston Goforth, Jr., seems to have published nothing else in the RPG field, although this article was reprinted in the Best of Dragon and some of his magic items were later included in the 2e Magic Encyclopedia. I did wonder if the name was a pseudonym for Kask or Gygax, but I can find no evidence of that.
This issue also contains one of the more famous articles in Dragon magazine history, titled "Gandalf Was Only a Fifth Level Magic-User." The author, Bill Seligman, looks at every spell Gandalf cast in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and concludes that the highest is a mere third level, making Gandalf a level five magic-user. The article has provoked arguments all the way down to this day. It is surely one of the most referenced Dragon magazine pieces ever published!
There is a funny little postscript to this. A few years ago, Bill Seligman (still a gamer) printed an explanation for the article, made necessary because he still receives regular mail about it. You can see what he has to say here.
This was a solid and enjoyable issue, and it feels like the magazine is starting to hit its stride. The next issue sees an important science fiction game designer make his debut.
M.T. Black is a game designer and DMs Guild Adept. Please follow him on twitter @mtblack2567 and sign up for his mailing list.
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Most people don't notice him shifting the question to the D&D magic system or Tolkien's "magic weak" world though. I found it interesting that he wandered if the spells needed to be adjusted or the experience levels.
