TSR Periodicals published The Dragon issue 35 in March 1980. It is 64 pages long and has a cover price of $2.50. In this issue, we have Traveller variants, a new take on experience points, and big news from Tim Kask!
In his "Dragon Grumbles" column, Kask is ebullient about the growth in the industry:
The regular monthly columns contain a few interesting nuggets. In "Leomund's Tiny Hut," Lakofka suggests that players should have to spend their gold on training to convert it to experience points, rather than just getting an experience point for each gold piece accrued. I think this is an excellent suggestion, as it presents a tidy rationale for the gold/experience equivalence. It also gives characters a way to spend the massive amount of coin they tend to accumulate in older versions of the game.
“Sage Advice” has the usual assortment of questions, ranging from the inane to the interesting. This one caught my attention:
"Giants in the Earth" returns after a short hiatus, this time with stats for Muitagh the Bowman, Umslopogaas, Edward Bond, and Ganelon. No, I hadn't heard of them either! "Dastardly Deeds & Devious Devices" is also back and presents two traps, the Quickfloor and Pedestal Room. This is the last appearance of the column, with no explanation given for its termination. The occasionally published "Up On A Soapbox" column this month features TSR employee, Terry Kuntz, arguing that wargamers are not necessarily warmongers.
"The AD&D National Player Rating System" makes its debut this issue, which was an attempt to grade the "top" tournament players. It speaks to how seriously TSR took competitive D&D at this period in history. For those who are interested, the top 5 players in the country were: Bob Blake, Ralph Williams, Loren Wiseman, Kristine Batey, and Robin Hostetter.
We have some fiction this month. Cynthia Frazer gives us a short and competent adventure story called "Oasis" that has some faint Lovecraftian vibes. She also published some Darkover stories around this time but then disappeared from the writing scene.
Bill Fawcett, who later founded Mayfair Games, brings us new lore on angels. Drawing on sources such as the Bible, the Summa Theologica, the Mishne Torah, and Dante's Inferno, he defines a 9-tier celestial hierarchy: 1. Seraphim; 2. Cherubim; 3. Thrones; 4. Dominations; 5. Virtues; 6. Powers; 7. Principalities; 8. Archangels; 9. Angels. General statistics follow, with the different orders being well distinguished.
The new "Minarian Legends" column kicks off with the history of Hothior, one of the nations featured in the Divine Right boardgame. This column was short-lived. Another column makes its debut this issue. "Simulation Corner" is focused on wargames and simulation games, and this month describes the history game publisher, SPI.
Gary Gygax returns in "Sorcerer's Scroll" with a column subtitled "What's ahead for TSR?" He leads off with a frank discussion of company revenue:
One thing that has emerged is a new strategy around Basic D&D. With sales of that set soaring, TSR has shifted resources to creating a sequel (the Expert Set) and now plans a whole series of boxed sets. Hence the D&D/Advanced D&D dichotomy is now set in stone. Indeed, there is so much focus on Basic presently that Gygax defensively notes, "This is not to say that Advanced D&D has been abandoned."
Gygax concludes the column with a vague, "Wherever D&D and AD&D eventually go, you can be sure that TSR has considered the possibility, discussed what it presents, and made plans to exploit it in a way which will offer the most and the best to our fans and customers." Given the remarkable growth the company was experiencing, it's not surprising that plans were in constant flux.
The Traveller RPG, released by GDW a little over two years before, was immensely popular at this time, and this issue includes a collection of variant rules for that game. "IBIS: Profit and Peril" presents a new military career in the Interstellar Bureau of Internal Security, while "Useful Skills" proposes several new, Administration-related skills. "The 'Other' Option" describes new career alternatives, "More Clout for Scouts" has more abilities and opportunities for the Scout service, and "Black Holes!" has rules for interacting with those extraordinary stellar objects.
After last month's lean effort, there are a good number of game reviews in this issue. Gangster by FGU is the "most original" RPG in existence and "could rival even the likes of Dungeons & Dragons." Titan Strike by SPI "is fun, and can be played in an hour." Double Star by GDW "is one of the most solid science-fiction games [Bill Fawcett] has played." War in the Ice by SPI is "fun," but Metagamming's Ice War is "the better buy."
Tim Kask also runs through a list of high quality and value-priced games from International Team: Jolly Roger, Magic Woods, Conquistadores, Tabu, Illiad, Odyssey, Medici, Zargo's Lord, Yorktown, Kroll & Prumni, and Okinawa. He concludes:
M.T. Black is a freelance game designer and a Dungeon Master’s Guild Adept. Please check out his website, www.mtblackgames.com!
In his "Dragon Grumbles" column, Kask is ebullient about the growth in the industry:
However, he also has a significant personal announcement:
The new editor is Jake Jaquet, who made his first contribution in issue #1, and who had been part of the editorial team since issue #5. Kask's new title was Managing Editor, but he would resign within a few weeks.
The regular monthly columns contain a few interesting nuggets. In "Leomund's Tiny Hut," Lakofka suggests that players should have to spend their gold on training to convert it to experience points, rather than just getting an experience point for each gold piece accrued. I think this is an excellent suggestion, as it presents a tidy rationale for the gold/experience equivalence. It also gives characters a way to spend the massive amount of coin they tend to accumulate in older versions of the game.
“Sage Advice” has the usual assortment of questions, ranging from the inane to the interesting. This one caught my attention:
A few things stand in contrast to the modern game, alignment restrictions on classes being the most obvious! But I also find it telling that there is a discussion about the appropriate penalty for players who "break the rules," even accidentally. It is a very gamist approach to Dungeons & Dragons.
"Giants in the Earth" returns after a short hiatus, this time with stats for Muitagh the Bowman, Umslopogaas, Edward Bond, and Ganelon. No, I hadn't heard of them either! "Dastardly Deeds & Devious Devices" is also back and presents two traps, the Quickfloor and Pedestal Room. This is the last appearance of the column, with no explanation given for its termination. The occasionally published "Up On A Soapbox" column this month features TSR employee, Terry Kuntz, arguing that wargamers are not necessarily warmongers.
"The AD&D National Player Rating System" makes its debut this issue, which was an attempt to grade the "top" tournament players. It speaks to how seriously TSR took competitive D&D at this period in history. For those who are interested, the top 5 players in the country were: Bob Blake, Ralph Williams, Loren Wiseman, Kristine Batey, and Robin Hostetter.
We have some fiction this month. Cynthia Frazer gives us a short and competent adventure story called "Oasis" that has some faint Lovecraftian vibes. She also published some Darkover stories around this time but then disappeared from the writing scene.
Bill Fawcett, who later founded Mayfair Games, brings us new lore on angels. Drawing on sources such as the Bible, the Summa Theologica, the Mishne Torah, and Dante's Inferno, he defines a 9-tier celestial hierarchy: 1. Seraphim; 2. Cherubim; 3. Thrones; 4. Dominations; 5. Virtues; 6. Powers; 7. Principalities; 8. Archangels; 9. Angels. General statistics follow, with the different orders being well distinguished.
The new "Minarian Legends" column kicks off with the history of Hothior, one of the nations featured in the Divine Right boardgame. This column was short-lived. Another column makes its debut this issue. "Simulation Corner" is focused on wargames and simulation games, and this month describes the history game publisher, SPI.
Gary Gygax returns in "Sorcerer's Scroll" with a column subtitled "What's ahead for TSR?" He leads off with a frank discussion of company revenue:
Gygax then talks about some of TSR's medium-term plans, though he spends most of his word count explaining the various delays affecting everything. One time-sink was the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III, which ignited the "Satanic Panic" and led to a barrage of bad media coverage but also "did things for sales you wouldn't believe."
One thing that has emerged is a new strategy around Basic D&D. With sales of that set soaring, TSR has shifted resources to creating a sequel (the Expert Set) and now plans a whole series of boxed sets. Hence the D&D/Advanced D&D dichotomy is now set in stone. Indeed, there is so much focus on Basic presently that Gygax defensively notes, "This is not to say that Advanced D&D has been abandoned."
Gygax concludes the column with a vague, "Wherever D&D and AD&D eventually go, you can be sure that TSR has considered the possibility, discussed what it presents, and made plans to exploit it in a way which will offer the most and the best to our fans and customers." Given the remarkable growth the company was experiencing, it's not surprising that plans were in constant flux.
The Traveller RPG, released by GDW a little over two years before, was immensely popular at this time, and this issue includes a collection of variant rules for that game. "IBIS: Profit and Peril" presents a new military career in the Interstellar Bureau of Internal Security, while "Useful Skills" proposes several new, Administration-related skills. "The 'Other' Option" describes new career alternatives, "More Clout for Scouts" has more abilities and opportunities for the Scout service, and "Black Holes!" has rules for interacting with those extraordinary stellar objects.
After last month's lean effort, there are a good number of game reviews in this issue. Gangster by FGU is the "most original" RPG in existence and "could rival even the likes of Dungeons & Dragons." Titan Strike by SPI "is fun, and can be played in an hour." Double Star by GDW "is one of the most solid science-fiction games [Bill Fawcett] has played." War in the Ice by SPI is "fun," but Metagamming's Ice War is "the better buy."
Tim Kask also runs through a list of high quality and value-priced games from International Team: Jolly Roger, Magic Woods, Conquistadores, Tabu, Illiad, Odyssey, Medici, Zargo's Lord, Yorktown, Kroll & Prumni, and Okinawa. He concludes:
And that's a wrap. Traveller fans undoubtedly appreciated this issue, but there was little here to excite Dungeons & Dragons fans. Next issue, we have high-level pantheons for AD&D, your favorite fictional gunfighters, and statistics for Conan!
M.T. Black is a freelance game designer and a Dungeon Master’s Guild Adept. Please check out his website, www.mtblackgames.com!
