"Classic" Dragon Articles

Thotas

Thotas

First Post
Thanks Azazyll, you reminded me of another one ... the machine cyst material. But you neglected to mention the best thing about that one, and if Erik's looking for hints about how approach future projects, you've given me a great opportunity to give him one. Many people argue lately about what kind of crunch/fluff ratio is best, and this article was great for that. Because not only did we get a great set of monsters from it, we also got several story outlines that could cover a very short of very lengthy stretch of a campaign. The longest one they provided could cover at least a 10 level span. Maybe some of the people who complain so much about have yet another PrC in an issue would be happier if there was a much plot specific (but setting flexible) advice on how to use them as the machine cyst article had?
 

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T

Tratyn Runewind

First Post
Hello,

Wow, a way interesting question and a chance to influence a secret Erik Mona project all in one. Most excellent... :D

The "Voyages of the Princess Ark" series, and its follow-on, the "Known World Grimoire" column, are the pinnacle of Dragon to this old Known World/Mystara fanboy, and the major reason I acquired the Dragon Archive CD-ROM set. Wonderful mix of story and BD&D rules support. The maps in particular are the equals in quality (if not size) of those in the Gazetteers themselves.

Other favorites of mine that have been mentioned include:
  • the Deryni-inspired stuff including the original 1e Psionicist class and Len Lakofka's Cloistered Cleric.
  • The Tucker's Kobolds editorial.
  • The "U 2 Kan Ern Big Bux" quiz. ("Cute on the end of a spear." "Yo! Ugly! Let's party!" "Not got long to live.")
  • the "Giants in the Earth" column, which began the tradition of blatant copyright infringement that was carried to its peak in the first-printing Deities and Demigods, which contained the Cthulhu and Melibonean Mythos. (The tradition continues to this day, as copyright questions are apparently one of the reasons why the Dragon Archive CD-ROM went out of production.) Sparrowhawk was probably my favorite write-up.
  • the Nine Hells articles.
  • the Marvel-Philes column, a generally well-written showcase of Marvel's vast array of characters that I liked even though I thoroughly disliked the mechanics of the TSR Marvel RPG.
Cool stuff I've not yet seen mentioned includes:
  • One of my favorite "crunchy" articles, the fixed 1e Monk class that was later reprinted in "Best of the Dragon volume 3". Much more usable than the old 1e PHB Monk.
  • My favorite Dragon adventure setting (not really quite what I'd call a full "module"), capable of killing even heavily-powergamed characters, yet relatively merciful to the polite and discreet, "The Dancing Hut". The bit about Baba Yaga never bothering to use calling diagrams, because the lower-planar creatures all know and fear her, was particularly cute... :)
In more general terms, I also liked the willingness of Dragon back in the day to publish good articles for non-TSR games like Champions and Car Wars.

Hope this helps! :)
 




Mouseferatu

Mouseferatu

Hero
Wow. I, too, missed this thread the first time. Erik, if you're still reading, maybe now you can hint at what this is about?

I'm going to mention an article nobody else has. I loved the article that provided alternate charts for the Wand of Wonder. In fact, I mentioned this article a few months back, and the writer was kind enough to send me a copy. :)

I loved the anti-paladin, death master, duelist, witch... Basically, all the new classes that did stuff you couldn't do with the core classes. I loved the Ecologies, especially those that were written "in-character" and provided new material and alternate versions of the creatures.

In fact, come to think of it...

I think my favorite articles from back in the day were those that introduced new elements to the games, things you simply couldn't do (or at least couldn't easily do) with what you had available. Don't get me wrong, there's always room for articles on how to better use what you've got--but I've rarely found those as inspiring as those that presented something new. It's a much harder feat to accomplish now, because 3E is so much more flexible than previous editions, there's a lot less that you need brand-new material for. Still, I'd love to see more of such things.

And while it's not an article issue, I'd like to second (third? fourth?) the call for more actual scenes, and fewer character studies, on the cover. They're a lot more grabbing.
 



Beckett

Beckett

Explorer
Missed this thread the first time around, and it looks like many of mine have already been said. But, I'll go ahead and repeat them.

Politics of Hell
Anti-Paladin
Death Master
Ecology of... articles by Ed Greenwood, Roger Moore, Nigel D. Findley, and Spike Y. Jonez. Particular favorites are the Beholder, the Mind Flayer, and the Doppleganger (which I don't think was by any of the four). Findley's Gibbering Mouther also had some very nice bits.
Armies Up From the Ground, and other articles from that same issue dealing with running land (an aspect of the game that always fascinated me, but seemed neglected).
King of the Table Top
Greenwood's Nine Hells, particularly the opening.
Nogard
The Deck of Many Things- I've still got my Deck, but haven't introduced one into a campaign for a long time.
 

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