TSR Periodicals published The Dragon Issue 31 in November 1979. It is 56 pages long and has a cover price of $2.00. In this issue, Gary Gygax tells us why you can't game in Middle Earth, Eric Holmes shares an excerpt from his new novel, and Sage Advice makes its debut!
Editor Tim Kask states that the magazine is undergoing a gradual facelift, and so he has split his editorial column in two. In "Cover to Cover," Jake Jaquet will provide an overview of the magazine contents, while "Dragon Rumbles" will be Kask's platform to sound off about things that catch his eye. He promises that more changes are ahead as continued growth allows them to increase their professionalism.
There are two main feature articles. One is an excerpt from an upcoming fantasy novel by John Eric Holmes, the neurology professor who wrote the first D&D Basic Set. Featuring "Boinger the Halfling," it reads like slightly above-average D&D fan fiction, so I'm not surprised the novel was never published. Holmes did finally publish two novels, one set in Pellucidar and one featuring Buck Rogers, but the Basic Set remained his apex achievement in the field.
The other main feature is "Jungle Fever" by Kask and Jacquet, which provides several pages of information about using the jungle as a setting for your D&D campaign. It is mostly lore, with the only mechanical crunch coming with a bunch of creature stats lifted from the Monster Manual, such as the ape, boar, and jaguar.
This issue includes several of the regular features. In "Sorcerer's Scroll," Gygax discusses the relationship between games and books. Essentially, he claims that novels are a passive experience, while games offer an active experience. His (bizarre) conclusion is that "a truly excellent novel provides an inversely proportionate amount of good material for a game. The greater the detail and believability of the fantasy, the less room for creativity, speculation, or even alteration." His primary example is Lord of the Rings, which he praises for the quality of storytelling, but declares to be completely unsuitable as the basis of a game. Gygax always seemed to have a bee in his bonnet about Lord of the Rings.
"Leomund's Tiny Hut" offers a permanent injury table, which specifies the chance of your character becoming disfigured, etc. when you end combat with a low number of hit points. "Dragon's Bestiary" presents the ukuyatangi, which is a kind of green land octopus. None of the official books ever picked this creature up.
This issue introduces a new regular feature, one that has lasted (in one form or another) down to this day. The purpose of "Sage Advice" was to answer D&D questions from players and DMs. The inaugural sage was Jean Wells, who had just joined TSR as the first woman in the design department. Sadly, she had some bad experiences there and left within two years.
The very first published Sage Advice question is: "I have just bought the new DUNGEON MASTERS SCREEN, and it says that monks attack on the clerics table. But in the PLAYERS HANDBOOK it says that they fight on the thief's table. Which is it?" The answer? Monks attack on the cleric table. The designers changed their minds after the Players Handbook was published, leading to the discrepancy(!)
Jean brought a lot of humor to this column and enjoyed teasing over-serious gamers. In answer to the question, "how much damage do bows do?" she replied, "None. Bows do not do damage, arrows do. However, if you hit someone with a bow, I'd say it would probably do 1-4 points of damage." The column proved very popular.
This issue includes a few game variants, including a scenario for Alpha Omega, a new options table for Stellar Conquest, and a "surefire strategy" for Third Reich. There is also a new profession for Empire of the Petal Throne. There would only be one more EPT article after this published in The Dragon.
There is a whole swag of reviews, which is one of my favorite parts of the magazine. It really shows you how vibrant the tabletop gaming scene was in the late-70s. The Creature that Age Sheboygan by SPI is "a cleverly conceived, well-produced little game." Indian Ocean Adventure by GDW is "worthy of attention and recommendation" despite some flaws. 4th Dimension by TSR is "such a good game that once you've played it a few times you're hooked." Battle of Maiwand by Wargaming Magazine is "fast, smooth and evocative."
There are a bunch of "first impressions" as well, mostly based on what Tim Kask saw at GenCon XII. Imperium Romanum by West End Games "looks real good." Samurai by Heritage "shows promise." Korsun Pocket by People's Wargame Co. is a "massive, good looking East Front WWII game," while Medici from Polk's Model & Craft has "the most sumptuous graphics and production I have ever seen." Meanwhile, Yaquinto has just released Ultimatum, Beastlord, Battle, CV, Panzer, Time War, Ironclad, and Starfall, which is "most impressive set of releases that I have ever seen a single company make at once."
There are two background articles. "Armor of the Far East" describes the historical armor used by countries such as China, Korea, and Japan. "Lankhmar: The Original Game and What it Became" is a further memoir by Frederick MacKnight about his time at college with Fritz Leiber.
Three TSR ads caught my eye. One titled "Women Players: Lend Us Your Observations," asks for women to share their experiences with D&D. Jean Wells plans to use this information for an upcoming article. There is another ad pleading for new content submissions, and finally, two job advertisements, one for a Design/Production Staff Member and the other for a Staff Artist.
This issue was substantial, though no articles stood out. Next time, we have planar exploration with Gary Gygax, the winner of the International Dungeon Design Contest, and a new monster from Ed Greenwood!
Editor Tim Kask states that the magazine is undergoing a gradual facelift, and so he has split his editorial column in two. In "Cover to Cover," Jake Jaquet will provide an overview of the magazine contents, while "Dragon Rumbles" will be Kask's platform to sound off about things that catch his eye. He promises that more changes are ahead as continued growth allows them to increase their professionalism.
There are two main feature articles. One is an excerpt from an upcoming fantasy novel by John Eric Holmes, the neurology professor who wrote the first D&D Basic Set. Featuring "Boinger the Halfling," it reads like slightly above-average D&D fan fiction, so I'm not surprised the novel was never published. Holmes did finally publish two novels, one set in Pellucidar and one featuring Buck Rogers, but the Basic Set remained his apex achievement in the field.
The other main feature is "Jungle Fever" by Kask and Jacquet, which provides several pages of information about using the jungle as a setting for your D&D campaign. It is mostly lore, with the only mechanical crunch coming with a bunch of creature stats lifted from the Monster Manual, such as the ape, boar, and jaguar.
This issue includes several of the regular features. In "Sorcerer's Scroll," Gygax discusses the relationship between games and books. Essentially, he claims that novels are a passive experience, while games offer an active experience. His (bizarre) conclusion is that "a truly excellent novel provides an inversely proportionate amount of good material for a game. The greater the detail and believability of the fantasy, the less room for creativity, speculation, or even alteration." His primary example is Lord of the Rings, which he praises for the quality of storytelling, but declares to be completely unsuitable as the basis of a game. Gygax always seemed to have a bee in his bonnet about Lord of the Rings.
"Leomund's Tiny Hut" offers a permanent injury table, which specifies the chance of your character becoming disfigured, etc. when you end combat with a low number of hit points. "Dragon's Bestiary" presents the ukuyatangi, which is a kind of green land octopus. None of the official books ever picked this creature up.
This issue introduces a new regular feature, one that has lasted (in one form or another) down to this day. The purpose of "Sage Advice" was to answer D&D questions from players and DMs. The inaugural sage was Jean Wells, who had just joined TSR as the first woman in the design department. Sadly, she had some bad experiences there and left within two years.
The very first published Sage Advice question is: "I have just bought the new DUNGEON MASTERS SCREEN, and it says that monks attack on the clerics table. But in the PLAYERS HANDBOOK it says that they fight on the thief's table. Which is it?" The answer? Monks attack on the cleric table. The designers changed their minds after the Players Handbook was published, leading to the discrepancy(!)
Jean brought a lot of humor to this column and enjoyed teasing over-serious gamers. In answer to the question, "how much damage do bows do?" she replied, "None. Bows do not do damage, arrows do. However, if you hit someone with a bow, I'd say it would probably do 1-4 points of damage." The column proved very popular.
This issue includes a few game variants, including a scenario for Alpha Omega, a new options table for Stellar Conquest, and a "surefire strategy" for Third Reich. There is also a new profession for Empire of the Petal Throne. There would only be one more EPT article after this published in The Dragon.
There is a whole swag of reviews, which is one of my favorite parts of the magazine. It really shows you how vibrant the tabletop gaming scene was in the late-70s. The Creature that Age Sheboygan by SPI is "a cleverly conceived, well-produced little game." Indian Ocean Adventure by GDW is "worthy of attention and recommendation" despite some flaws. 4th Dimension by TSR is "such a good game that once you've played it a few times you're hooked." Battle of Maiwand by Wargaming Magazine is "fast, smooth and evocative."
There are a bunch of "first impressions" as well, mostly based on what Tim Kask saw at GenCon XII. Imperium Romanum by West End Games "looks real good." Samurai by Heritage "shows promise." Korsun Pocket by People's Wargame Co. is a "massive, good looking East Front WWII game," while Medici from Polk's Model & Craft has "the most sumptuous graphics and production I have ever seen." Meanwhile, Yaquinto has just released Ultimatum, Beastlord, Battle, CV, Panzer, Time War, Ironclad, and Starfall, which is "most impressive set of releases that I have ever seen a single company make at once."
There are two background articles. "Armor of the Far East" describes the historical armor used by countries such as China, Korea, and Japan. "Lankhmar: The Original Game and What it Became" is a further memoir by Frederick MacKnight about his time at college with Fritz Leiber.
Three TSR ads caught my eye. One titled "Women Players: Lend Us Your Observations," asks for women to share their experiences with D&D. Jean Wells plans to use this information for an upcoming article. There is another ad pleading for new content submissions, and finally, two job advertisements, one for a Design/Production Staff Member and the other for a Staff Artist.
This issue was substantial, though no articles stood out. Next time, we have planar exploration with Gary Gygax, the winner of the International Dungeon Design Contest, and a new monster from Ed Greenwood!
