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<blockquote data-quote="DungeonmasterCal" data-source="post: 1561807" data-attributes="member: 5388"><p>I remember the Nine Hells articles (and the Elmore drawing of the Paladin stating "Tomorrow I ride on the Hells". We all thought that guy surely had more balls than brains. </p><p></p><p>Issue 114's Witch Class is one of my favorites, and my first original D&D character was an anti-paladin (my first character was a fighter I inherited when a player quit the campaign). </p><p></p><p>"Good Hits and Bad Misses" saw much usage in our campaigns. My players LOVED those charts, even the Fumble chart. I've created a d20 based Critical Hit system that we use now, but it still lacks the feel of that original one.</p><p></p><p>The Dragon's Bestiary--more cool monsters than you could shake a stick at, and most you wouldn't even dare doing that to. </p><p></p><p>Bazaar of the Bizarre--Having a regular monthly article with new magic doohickeys was great.</p><p></p><p>New NPC articles, such as the Bounty Hunter, the Mariner, the Deathmaster, The Dreamer, etc. I played a Type II Bounty Hunter for years, and the most insidious foe some of my early players faced was a Deathmaster.</p><p></p><p>Historical articles about so many topics, such as early forms of long distance communication, themed articles about real world cultures and how to integrate them into a campaign (the issue with all the classes and weapons from India is still one of my favorites).</p><p></p><p>The Halloween issues chock full of undead and necromantic goodness, and the April Fool's issues that were actually funny.</p><p></p><p>And The Forum!! Sure, sure, we have messageboards and the internet now, but man...I miss reading the Forum articles.</p><p></p><p>"What's New with Phil and Dixie"...it was great to have them back for awhile.</p><p></p><p>Oh...and the covers that actually seemed to tell a story on their own. I can't recall the issue, but the cover features an undead knight in rusted armor astride a skeletal horse in a dismal marsh, holding a lantern on a pole. I created a whole adventure based on that one cover, and tied the incident to a holiday celebrated in the campaign I ran then. Another favorite was a Jim Holloway cover of three wounded orcs surrounded by an elven army, and one of the orcs beckoning the elven commander to "Come get some". Current covers, while often done by very talented artists, seem flat and lifeless to me.</p><p></p><p>In today's Dragon, I really have no use at all for anything to do with the Forgotten Realms or any of the fluff, to be honest. I used to read Dragon cover to cover because even the fluff was interesting, but now it just seems to be advertisement for more product. Now I just glean the crunchy bits out and put the rest away. Some of the older Dragon mags (especially from the mid 80's to early 90's) carried articles that challenged a person intellectually, involving random number theories, how languages were developed, and historical facts to back up examples for game play. I've not missed a single issue since #115 (and have managed to track down 70% of the remaining issues), but I feel Dragon has "dumbed down" a great deal over the years, and have been pondering how better to spend my subscription money.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DungeonmasterCal, post: 1561807, member: 5388"] I remember the Nine Hells articles (and the Elmore drawing of the Paladin stating "Tomorrow I ride on the Hells". We all thought that guy surely had more balls than brains. Issue 114's Witch Class is one of my favorites, and my first original D&D character was an anti-paladin (my first character was a fighter I inherited when a player quit the campaign). "Good Hits and Bad Misses" saw much usage in our campaigns. My players LOVED those charts, even the Fumble chart. I've created a d20 based Critical Hit system that we use now, but it still lacks the feel of that original one. The Dragon's Bestiary--more cool monsters than you could shake a stick at, and most you wouldn't even dare doing that to. Bazaar of the Bizarre--Having a regular monthly article with new magic doohickeys was great. New NPC articles, such as the Bounty Hunter, the Mariner, the Deathmaster, The Dreamer, etc. I played a Type II Bounty Hunter for years, and the most insidious foe some of my early players faced was a Deathmaster. Historical articles about so many topics, such as early forms of long distance communication, themed articles about real world cultures and how to integrate them into a campaign (the issue with all the classes and weapons from India is still one of my favorites). The Halloween issues chock full of undead and necromantic goodness, and the April Fool's issues that were actually funny. And The Forum!! Sure, sure, we have messageboards and the internet now, but man...I miss reading the Forum articles. "What's New with Phil and Dixie"...it was great to have them back for awhile. Oh...and the covers that actually seemed to tell a story on their own. I can't recall the issue, but the cover features an undead knight in rusted armor astride a skeletal horse in a dismal marsh, holding a lantern on a pole. I created a whole adventure based on that one cover, and tied the incident to a holiday celebrated in the campaign I ran then. Another favorite was a Jim Holloway cover of three wounded orcs surrounded by an elven army, and one of the orcs beckoning the elven commander to "Come get some". Current covers, while often done by very talented artists, seem flat and lifeless to me. In today's Dragon, I really have no use at all for anything to do with the Forgotten Realms or any of the fluff, to be honest. I used to read Dragon cover to cover because even the fluff was interesting, but now it just seems to be advertisement for more product. Now I just glean the crunchy bits out and put the rest away. Some of the older Dragon mags (especially from the mid 80's to early 90's) carried articles that challenged a person intellectually, involving random number theories, how languages were developed, and historical facts to back up examples for game play. I've not missed a single issue since #115 (and have managed to track down 70% of the remaining issues), but I feel Dragon has "dumbed down" a great deal over the years, and have been pondering how better to spend my subscription money. [/QUOTE]
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