The Dragon Issue 13 was published in April 1978. It is 32 pages long, with a cover price of $1.50. In this issue, Rob Kuntz talks Tolkien while Jim Ward tells us how to win D&D!
Editor Tim Kask is pleased to announce that this is the first of their monthly issues and also notes that it contains their third Gardner Fox story. He also encourages readers to check out a new gaming convention:
I'm interested to know what happened to Spring Revel. A quick google suggests it made its way to my homeland, Australia, for a while. But I can't find any recent news.
The magazine includes a short piece by Brian Blume on bionic body parts in Metamorphosis Alpha and some rules corrections for the Warlord boardgame by Tim Kask. The rest of the articles are dedicated to D&D, and it's a good collection.
"How Heavy is my Giant" gives tables for calculating giant height and weight. This article later appeared in "Best of Dragon" and is still used by some gamers today. The author byline is "Shlump da Orc" which is probably either Tim Kask or Dave Sutherland.
Jon Pickens, who joined TSR as an editor later that year, contributes a set of tables for randomly generating demons. Although it does little else except create a cluster of abilities, it's nicely thought out. Jerome Arkenberg returns, this time giving stats for the Japanese mythos, including beings such as Amaterasu.
Rob Kuntz gives us another "From the Sorcerer's Scroll." It is, sadly, his last one. He addresses the perennial question of how to integrate Dungeons & Dragons with Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." He starts by noting that:
By his last sentence, I think he means that the more you try and "Tolkienize" D&D, the further you will get from the game as written.
Some readers, exposed only to the fantasy fiction of Tolkien, imagined that it served as the primary inspiration for the game. Kuntz is at pains to refute this idea:
It was another six years before Middle Earth got its own roleplaying system (MERP from Iron Crown). And it was forty years before someone officially integrated Tolkien's world with the D&D game engine ("Adventures in Middle Earth" by Cubicle 7).
My favorite article in the issue is also the shortest. Written by Jim Ward, it is called "Notes from a semi-successful D&D player." Ward shares lots of good tricks that he has learned after several years of hard dungeoneering. For example:
Sure, few of these tips will surprise veteran players, but they must have been revolutionary 40 years ago. If nothing else, the article is a very entertaining read.
Next issue, Gary Gygax explains Basic vs. Advanced D&D, we have an interview with a rust monster, and we meet the famous Monty Haul for the first time!
This article was contributed by M.T. Black as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program.M.T. Black is a game designer and DMs Guild Adept. Please follow him on Twitter @mtblack2567 and sign up to his mailing list. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
Editor Tim Kask is pleased to announce that this is the first of their monthly issues and also notes that it contains their third Gardner Fox story. He also encourages readers to check out a new gaming convention:
"You are all invited to attend our SPRING REVEL here in picturesque Lake Geneva on April Fool’s Day Weekend. See the ad on the preceding page for more details. These small cons are quite different in tone from GenCon, being far less commercially oriented and more playing oriented. For one thing, we on the staff get lots more time to play and judge than we would normally at GenCon."
I'm interested to know what happened to Spring Revel. A quick google suggests it made its way to my homeland, Australia, for a while. But I can't find any recent news.
The magazine includes a short piece by Brian Blume on bionic body parts in Metamorphosis Alpha and some rules corrections for the Warlord boardgame by Tim Kask. The rest of the articles are dedicated to D&D, and it's a good collection.
"How Heavy is my Giant" gives tables for calculating giant height and weight. This article later appeared in "Best of Dragon" and is still used by some gamers today. The author byline is "Shlump da Orc" which is probably either Tim Kask or Dave Sutherland.
Jon Pickens, who joined TSR as an editor later that year, contributes a set of tables for randomly generating demons. Although it does little else except create a cluster of abilities, it's nicely thought out. Jerome Arkenberg returns, this time giving stats for the Japanese mythos, including beings such as Amaterasu.
Rob Kuntz gives us another "From the Sorcerer's Scroll." It is, sadly, his last one. He addresses the perennial question of how to integrate Dungeons & Dragons with Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." He starts by noting that:
"D & D was not written to recreate or in any collective way simulate Professor Tolkien’s world or beings. A few were included such as Balrogs, Orcs etc. for it was recognized that Tolkien made some impressions upon the Fantasy literary world which were worth including in D & D, but not to the extent of basing the game system around them. That is left up to separate judges — but in doing so they excommunicate themselves from the actual D & D system."
By his last sentence, I think he means that the more you try and "Tolkienize" D&D, the further you will get from the game as written.
Some readers, exposed only to the fantasy fiction of Tolkien, imagined that it served as the primary inspiration for the game. Kuntz is at pains to refute this idea:
"One must also remember that this system works with the worlds of R.E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, and L.S. de Camp and Fletcher Pratt much better than that of Tolkien. If one is to branch away from the D & D system, let’s say towards Tolkien’s world, he will be disappointed to find that most spells, characters, etc. do not function well within the epic world of Tolkien’s design... What I am saying is that for a role-playing, continuous adventuring world, Tolkien’s does not fit well within the D & D game style."
It was another six years before Middle Earth got its own roleplaying system (MERP from Iron Crown). And it was forty years before someone officially integrated Tolkien's world with the D&D game engine ("Adventures in Middle Earth" by Cubicle 7).
My favorite article in the issue is also the shortest. Written by Jim Ward, it is called "Notes from a semi-successful D&D player." Ward shares lots of good tricks that he has learned after several years of hard dungeoneering. For example:
"The polymorph spell can be one of the best double attack spells known if you use it right. For instance, if a cockatrice attacks and you succeed in turning it into a snail, you should capture the snail. Then, in the next battle, the snail is thrown in first with a dispell magic following it. The snail becomes a cockatrice, and if it survives the transformation, it fights your battle for you. If you do not want to bother with the keeping of your polymorphed creatures, I suggest you turn them into a goldfish so at least they die right away. We do not want those creatures coming around again later for revenge."
Sure, few of these tips will surprise veteran players, but they must have been revolutionary 40 years ago. If nothing else, the article is a very entertaining read.
Next issue, Gary Gygax explains Basic vs. Advanced D&D, we have an interview with a rust monster, and we meet the famous Monty Haul for the first time!
This article was contributed by M.T. Black as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program.M.T. Black is a game designer and DMs Guild Adept. Please follow him on Twitter @mtblack2567 and sign up to his mailing list. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
