Recent content by M.T. Black

Reading a couple of hundred articles in Dragon makes you realize how good Greenwood's material really is.

Yeah, that seems a minority opinion. I am looking forward to digging into issues 100+ a bit more closely to see what I find.

I feel like the DM needs very good improv to make this adventure shine - either that or a lot of prep.

Yep, I am in the same camp.

I was thinking of his "Gnome Cache" fiction from back in the early days of Dragon. "Saga of Old City" is a much better read than that early fiction. I re-read it recently and it's still a fun read - certainly the first few chapters when Gord is in Greyhawk. I was less enthusiastic about...

TSR Inc. published Dragon #100 in August 1985. It is 116 pages long and has a cover price of $3.95. This milestone issue features more Pages from the Mages, a new high-level adventure, and Dragonchess! But first, a minor correction. Ever since issue #39, Dragon Magazine has been published by...

Yep. I recently re-read "Saga of Old City" and the druid gives a defense of neutrality that still seems to land on the "good" side of the equation.

lol! I read so much Piers Anthony as a teenager, and they are hard books to revisit.

I had the same thought, regarding problematic people and content. Also, I think the literary reputation of the Thomas Covenant books has really suffered over the years. When I was young, fantasy fans treated them as fine literature. But you rarely see them mentioned on fantasy "best of" lists...

Perhaps a deathlock?

Ah, good catch. Yes, I was thrown off by the middle initial. I look forward to seeing more of his writing on this stuff.

Dragon Publishing released Dragon #99 in July 1985. It is 100 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00. This issue features magic treasure, city life, and the ecology of the will-o'-wisp! The cover is by Clyde Duensing III and shows an adventurer stumbling upon what might be a lich. So far...

I was shocked and saddened to hear this. Rob and I only had a few interactions over the years, but he always seemed like a terrific guy. My condolences to his wife and daughter - how dreadful.

I felt like Gamma World really got short-changed after they absorbed Ares. While they were still publishing Gamma World articles pretty frequently, most of them were restricted to 1 or 2 pages and didn't appear in the magazine contents.

Yes, it is "damning with faint praise." But I also felt like it was an honest review, rather than Bunnell grasping for something good to say. It's an awkward position for him to be in, given how much focus TSR was starting to put on Dragonlance.