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"Classic" Dragon Articles
- Thread starter Erik Mona
- Start date
Garnfellow
Explorer
In no particular order:
- Roger Moore's Demi-Human series
- The Nine Hells
- The first few Pages from the Mages
- Tom Moldvay's series of articles on undead (someone's gotta find that guy and convince him to do d20 design!)
- The Death Master NPC class
- The Kingdom of the Ghouls
DemogorgonGroupie
First Post
I saw this thread, my fingers itched and I joined up just to reply. Unfortunately someone scooped me on my favorite old article, but here are some of my favorites anyway:
1. Chi-square test. I would like to know how many people became interested in math or science because of this little guy.
2. Tuckers kobolds. Having had to face a bunch of the little lizards based on this article, I will never forget...
3. Giants in the Earth. Always enjoyed these.
4. There was an article about artifacts based on real world items. Or did I dream it...
In general I always enjoyed new monsters, magic items or character classes. Crunchiness all around. I have only read one of the fiction stories, EVER. And that was the recent George R. R. Martin preview. Just an automatic skip for me.
Special mention for me was the Dragon annual with the gold cover. Everything in there was great!
This thread is reminding me of all those old mags buried in a box, a thousand miles away from me, sigh...
1. Chi-square test. I would like to know how many people became interested in math or science because of this little guy.
2. Tuckers kobolds. Having had to face a bunch of the little lizards based on this article, I will never forget...
3. Giants in the Earth. Always enjoyed these.
4. There was an article about artifacts based on real world items. Or did I dream it...
In general I always enjoyed new monsters, magic items or character classes. Crunchiness all around. I have only read one of the fiction stories, EVER. And that was the recent George R. R. Martin preview. Just an automatic skip for me.
Special mention for me was the Dragon annual with the gold cover. Everything in there was great!
This thread is reminding me of all those old mags buried in a box, a thousand miles away from me, sigh...
Savage Wombat
Hero
I agree with a lot of people here, but I haven't seen one of my favorites listed.
It was called "History of a Game that Failed" - a reference to Twain - and detailed all the things that can make a mid-to-high-level campaign get completely out of hand. It discussed topics ranging from magic item abuse to wish perversion, and all from the experience of someone who had gone through it personally.
It was called "History of a Game that Failed" - a reference to Twain - and detailed all the things that can make a mid-to-high-level campaign get completely out of hand. It discussed topics ranging from magic item abuse to wish perversion, and all from the experience of someone who had gone through it personally.
Dragon Articles
There's so many to mention. The above mentioned Nine Hells article is one of the all time best. I was always fond of the Anti-Paladin article. Ed Greenwoods ecology articles and just about anything from Ed was always top notch.
Dragon seemed so much crunchier and more useful back in those days.
There's so many to mention. The above mentioned Nine Hells article is one of the all time best. I was always fond of the Anti-Paladin article. Ed Greenwoods ecology articles and just about anything from Ed was always top notch.
Dragon seemed so much crunchier and more useful back in those days.
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grodog
Hero
fizban said:
Ironically, my favorite old SR, TD, and Dragon articles were system independent: they provided DMs with thoughtful advice, background information, historical information, and new ideas for use in your games. That's not to say that the various NPC classes, new spells and monsters, etc. also weren't cool: I miss the old eclecticism and advice for already-savvy DMs.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
The Roger Moore demihuman articles are my all-time faves.
The original witch articles (both in the first 100 issues).
The original anti-paladin article.
Gary Gygax's half ogre article.
The really crazy stuff from when the Dragon was The Strategic Review, with people learning to speak Wall to get info on dungeons, and the great point-of-view-of-a-rust-monster story.
Niall of the Far Travels stories.
Some of the really old dungeons, like the Pit of the Oracle, the Citadel by the Sea (should really be updated and released as an official module, IMO) and whatever that low level spider-themed one was called.
More recently, the original Dungeoncraft articles. So good that they should collect them and publish them as a unit.
The original witch articles (both in the first 100 issues).
The original anti-paladin article.
Gary Gygax's half ogre article.
The really crazy stuff from when the Dragon was The Strategic Review, with people learning to speak Wall to get info on dungeons, and the great point-of-view-of-a-rust-monster story.
Niall of the Far Travels stories.
Some of the really old dungeons, like the Pit of the Oracle, the Citadel by the Sea (should really be updated and released as an official module, IMO) and whatever that low level spider-themed one was called.
More recently, the original Dungeoncraft articles. So good that they should collect them and publish them as a unit.
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d20Dwarf
Explorer
I don't think it had more rules content than today's magazines. (I'm avoiding the terms crunchy and fluffy, I've hated them ever since 3e appeared.)fizban said:
I also think that thinking they were more useful is an exercise in nostalgia. I mean, back then, we were suckier gamers!
Over the years as your experience, tastes, and homebrews all grow, of course you'll find less to use in the magazine. But there are some awesome articles in the Wizards Workshop that I think define roleplaying for this generation, just as similar ones (but not in a regular section mind you!) did for us.And Psion's reminder of the Warning! in the Dernyi article is funny in that it reminds one of similar warnings made in reference to Monte these days.
