Dragon Publishing released Dragon issue 47 in March 1981. It is 80 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00. In this issue, we have a new RPG called Crimefighters, planar adventures, and the AD&D Exam!
In issue #45, Dragon published an article from Robert Plamondon, which included assistant editor Kim Mohan's (occasionally harsh) editorial comments. I expressed the hope that Plamondon took it with good humor, but it appears not. The editorial column opens with a letter from him to Mohan. It starts:
Mohan writes a somewhat defensive response, saying, "I saw this as a golden opportunity to impress writers with some important facts about the way we operate." All in all, it's an unpleasant little exchange, but I note that Plamondon went on to publish several more articles in Dragon.
This month's special feature is a complete RPG called Crimefighters, a pulpy game where "players take the roles of heroes, agents, detectives, and adventurers attempting to stop nefarious criminal masterminds." The game system is percentile-based and is similar to Chaosium's BRP. The game is surprisingly complete given the limited page length and includes rules for vehicles, explosives, and psychic powers. Crimefighters was written by David "Zeb" Cook, a young high school teacher recently employed by TSR as a full-time game designer. Cook made his name at TSR with products such as Slave Pits of the Undercity, Dwellers of the Forbidden City, and (most famously) the Planescape setting.
Cook also wrote a 4-page sample adventure for Crimefighters, called "The Case of the Editor's Envelope." The game is complemented by editorial assistant Bryce Knorr's "The Pulps: Paper Heroes," which gives a nice potted history of the genre.
There are several other feature articles, all D&D-related. "Take the AD&D exam" by Philip Meyers contains a host of questions to sharpen your knowledge of the game. Here's a sample (answer true or false):
For those interested, the answers are: True, True, False, False, False.
There are several articles regarding travel to the other planes. "Elementary ideas for elemental adventuring" by Stephen Kienle primarily discusses the behavior of different spells on the elemental and ethereal planes. "Seek, but don't expect to find" by Karl Horak is a rather mathematical article that gives a formula for resolving searches on the astral and ethereal planes.
"Creatures from elsewhere" by Patrick Amory presents us with seven planar monsters, including the phoenix, the fury, the reptilian mapmaker, the blob-like aruchai, and the tentacled sugo. In addition, there are two genuinely weird creatures: the wirchler, which resembles Pacman with a pair of arms, and the omniscient flard, which looks like a pillar of white marble.
This month's "Bazaar of the Bizarre" focuses on planar magic. We have the Flute of Dismissing by Richard Lucas, the Horseshoes of Hades by Victor Selby, and the Staff of Ethereal Action and Syrar's Silver Sword by Ed Greenwood. Ed also presents the Calendar of Harptos for the first time in "The merry month of...Mirtul?" Dragon would introduce more and more Forgotten Realms lore over the coming years.
Let's look at the regular columns. In "Leomund's Tiny Hut," Len Lakofka offers advice and house rules for the thief class. This month's "Giants in the Earth" is by fantasy author Katherine Kerr and presents statistics for two women from Roman mythology, Camilla and Medea, Tamer of Dragons.
In "The Rasmussen Files," Merle M. Rasmussen shares some new Top Secret classifications and courses. "Sage Advice" returns with the usual assortment of rules questions, while Bryan Beecher has another "Squad Leader Scenario," this time with the Russians in Berlin. And in "The Electric Eye," Mark Herro reviews several sports video game titles.
In "Simulation Corner," Bryan Beecher describes some of SPI's challenges, especially the high turnover of R&D staff and the crowded production schedule. He also shares several reforms the company hopes will create a new "golden age" for them. In truth, SPI was strapped for cash and would collapse within 18 months.
"Dragon's Augury" has something of a science fiction focus. ROBOTS! by Task Force Games is "a great buy and should be a welcome addition to most SF gamers' collections." Starfire, also by Task Force Games, is "a real winner." Fast Attack Boats by Yaquinto is "undeniably fun," but "those looking for extensive insight into small craft tactics had better look in another direction." Also reviewed are several Traveller adventures by Game Designers' Workshop. Across the Bright Face and Mission on Mithril are "well thought out and interesting." Finally, Research Station Gamma is "the best of all the [Traveller] adventure supplements published to date."
This month's cover was by John Blumen. Interior artists are James Holloway, Todd Oleck, Steve Swenston, Dave LaForce, David Trampier, Roger Raupp, Darlene, and Jeff Dee.
And that's a wrap! The highlight articles for me were Crimefighters! and "Bazaar of the Bizarre." Next month, we have a new Top Secret mission, underwater D&D adventures, and Dragon 48½!
In issue #45, Dragon published an article from Robert Plamondon, which included assistant editor Kim Mohan's (occasionally harsh) editorial comments. I expressed the hope that Plamondon took it with good humor, but it appears not. The editorial column opens with a letter from him to Mohan. It starts:
Mohan writes a somewhat defensive response, saying, "I saw this as a golden opportunity to impress writers with some important facts about the way we operate." All in all, it's an unpleasant little exchange, but I note that Plamondon went on to publish several more articles in Dragon.
This month's special feature is a complete RPG called Crimefighters, a pulpy game where "players take the roles of heroes, agents, detectives, and adventurers attempting to stop nefarious criminal masterminds." The game system is percentile-based and is similar to Chaosium's BRP. The game is surprisingly complete given the limited page length and includes rules for vehicles, explosives, and psychic powers. Crimefighters was written by David "Zeb" Cook, a young high school teacher recently employed by TSR as a full-time game designer. Cook made his name at TSR with products such as Slave Pits of the Undercity, Dwellers of the Forbidden City, and (most famously) the Planescape setting.
Cook also wrote a 4-page sample adventure for Crimefighters, called "The Case of the Editor's Envelope." The game is complemented by editorial assistant Bryce Knorr's "The Pulps: Paper Heroes," which gives a nice potted history of the genre.
There are several other feature articles, all D&D-related. "Take the AD&D exam" by Philip Meyers contains a host of questions to sharpen your knowledge of the game. Here's a sample (answer true or false):
For those interested, the answers are: True, True, False, False, False.
There are several articles regarding travel to the other planes. "Elementary ideas for elemental adventuring" by Stephen Kienle primarily discusses the behavior of different spells on the elemental and ethereal planes. "Seek, but don't expect to find" by Karl Horak is a rather mathematical article that gives a formula for resolving searches on the astral and ethereal planes.
"Creatures from elsewhere" by Patrick Amory presents us with seven planar monsters, including the phoenix, the fury, the reptilian mapmaker, the blob-like aruchai, and the tentacled sugo. In addition, there are two genuinely weird creatures: the wirchler, which resembles Pacman with a pair of arms, and the omniscient flard, which looks like a pillar of white marble.
This month's "Bazaar of the Bizarre" focuses on planar magic. We have the Flute of Dismissing by Richard Lucas, the Horseshoes of Hades by Victor Selby, and the Staff of Ethereal Action and Syrar's Silver Sword by Ed Greenwood. Ed also presents the Calendar of Harptos for the first time in "The merry month of...Mirtul?" Dragon would introduce more and more Forgotten Realms lore over the coming years.
Let's look at the regular columns. In "Leomund's Tiny Hut," Len Lakofka offers advice and house rules for the thief class. This month's "Giants in the Earth" is by fantasy author Katherine Kerr and presents statistics for two women from Roman mythology, Camilla and Medea, Tamer of Dragons.
In "The Rasmussen Files," Merle M. Rasmussen shares some new Top Secret classifications and courses. "Sage Advice" returns with the usual assortment of rules questions, while Bryan Beecher has another "Squad Leader Scenario," this time with the Russians in Berlin. And in "The Electric Eye," Mark Herro reviews several sports video game titles.
In "Simulation Corner," Bryan Beecher describes some of SPI's challenges, especially the high turnover of R&D staff and the crowded production schedule. He also shares several reforms the company hopes will create a new "golden age" for them. In truth, SPI was strapped for cash and would collapse within 18 months.
"Dragon's Augury" has something of a science fiction focus. ROBOTS! by Task Force Games is "a great buy and should be a welcome addition to most SF gamers' collections." Starfire, also by Task Force Games, is "a real winner." Fast Attack Boats by Yaquinto is "undeniably fun," but "those looking for extensive insight into small craft tactics had better look in another direction." Also reviewed are several Traveller adventures by Game Designers' Workshop. Across the Bright Face and Mission on Mithril are "well thought out and interesting." Finally, Research Station Gamma is "the best of all the [Traveller] adventure supplements published to date."
This month's cover was by John Blumen. Interior artists are James Holloway, Todd Oleck, Steve Swenston, Dave LaForce, David Trampier, Roger Raupp, Darlene, and Jeff Dee.
And that's a wrap! The highlight articles for me were Crimefighters! and "Bazaar of the Bizarre." Next month, we have a new Top Secret mission, underwater D&D adventures, and Dragon 48½!
