Dragon Publishing released Dragon #97 in May 1985. It is 100 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00.
The cover is titled "Music Lover" by Robin Wood, a whimsical piece showing an old silver dragon listening to a bard. It was the first of many covers Wood painted for TSR. The interior artwork includes contributions from Roger Raupp, Larry Day, Jim Holloway, Dave LaForce, Larry Elmore, Dave Trampier, Julius Shell, and Tony Moseley, with a few pieces from the Marvel Bullpen.
This month's special attraction is a convention pre-registration brochure for GEN CON 18. Unfortunately, my digital version of the magazine does not include an image of the brochure.
Gary Gygax kicks things off with a bold article titled "Deities and their faithful," which proposes a system for determining the power of gods based on the number of their mortal worshippers. In essence, the gods gain 1 hit point for every 1,000 worshippers and also 1 hit point for every 1,000 beings on the current plane that share their alignment. It's an attempt to wrap mechanics around that old fantasy trope of the gods getting their might from the faithful. In practice, it would require the DM to track religious demographics for each plane, and that scarcely seems worth it.
In "Sticks, stones, and bones," Stephen Inniss presents an extensive system for improvised weapons in AD&D. It's impressively detailed, covering everything from broken bottles to bowls of soup, including modifiers for size, weight, and material. As with several of the Inniss articles, there is a lot of detail to crunch through, but the impacts on gameplay are relatively minor. Then again, perhaps some tables want to know how exactly much damage a skillet of boiling soup would do (1-2 points, with a saving throw versus breath weapons allowing for half damage, rounded down).
"Only train when you gain" by David B. Reeder notes that training costs (1500 gp/level/week) disproportionately impact low-level characters in AD&D. Reeder suggests that training costs should only apply when the new level grants the character a significant new skill, such as a new spell level or additional weapons. His proposal makes sense, but it avoids the more obvious solution of making the training costs more affordable at lower levels. This article was Reeder's only RPG contribution.
"For a fuller background" by Paul Montgomery Crabaugh proposes a revised approach to determining character heritage in the DragonQuest game by introducing race-specific social status tables and modifiers for experience and wealth based on background. These changes aim to prevent implausible heritage combinations and encourage more consistent character origins. It was the ninth and final DragonQuest article published by Dragon, with about half of them authored by Crabaugh.
Ed Greenwood appears twice in this issue. First is "The ecology of the Gorgon," written in character as Elminster and referring to a notebook of the naturalist Djaril Phylapur. Along with the typical details about biology, ecology, and combat behaviour, there are some fun snippets, such as noting the creature's ongoing rivalry with rust monsters. It's a strong entry in a strong series.
Greenwood also contributes "Pages from the Mages IV," presenting more spellbooks from the Forgotten Realms, with such titles as Bowgengle's Book and Brief's Book of Shadows. Each entry includes the tome's appearance, its history, and a list of new spells. There are also some delightful touches, such as a complete homunculus recipe in the Book of Shadows. It's another excellent entry in a beloved series.
"The Only Good Captive…" by Lew Pulsipher starts by describing a recent game where half the party were captured by monsters and subsequently executed before their companions could rescue them. He explains plausible ways for Dungeon Masters to preserve captured player characters from execution, including ransom, slavery, and irrational behaviour. Although it's a pretty specific situation, it's not an uncommon one, and the suggestions are helpful.
"Blueprint for a Big Game" by Jim Dutton is a detailed guide to designing large-scale AD&D campaigns drawn from the author's experience building a play-by-mail world for hundreds of players. Dutton emphasises the importance of clear goals, detailed mapping, and, above all, organisation. There was nothing really new in his method, but it was interesting to hear about such a large-scale AD&D campaign running years ahead of Living City and Living Greyhawk. Dutton was president of Entertainment Concepts, Inc.
"Authentic Agencies, Part I" by Merle M. Rasmussen presents a detailed breakdown of real-world American intelligence agencies for use in Top Secret campaigns, blending publicly available data with creative extrapolation. The article profiles the mission, structure, and activities of major organisations like the CIA, NSA, and DIA. It's a terrific resource for espionage games.
"Catacomb" by Henry Melton is about a teenage girl earning money in a deadly online dungeon game, alternating between her in-game adventures and her real-world problems. This story suffers from loose structure, overwritten passages, and a muted resolution. The concept, however, is decades ahead of its time. Melton went on to write many stories and several novels.
The ARES Section returns, presenting about a dozen pages of science-fiction and superhero gaming material. It includes three articles:
Starstone by Northern Sages is a system-agnostic fantasy RPG module offering three interconnected scenarios filled with complex NPCs, dynamic encounters, and deep narrative potential. It provides extensive maps, history, and intrigue across over 200 encounter areas, with a strong emphasis on realism and social tension. Reviewer Eric concludes, "Starstone is one of the best-detailed modules I have examined."
Thieves Guild 10 by Gamelords Ltd. is the latest in a series of thief-centric supplements, offering new rules for bandit gangs and a compact but well-crafted burglary scenario. While the adventure is adaptable and flavorful, much of the book repeats material from earlier volumes. Reviewer Arlen P. Walker notes, "I, at least, have grown tired of the snippets of rules."
And that's a wrap! This issue felt packed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My favourite article was, no surprise, Greenwood's "Pages from the Mages IV." Next month is a big one, with dragonlore, new magic items, and apocalyptic monsters!
The cover is titled "Music Lover" by Robin Wood, a whimsical piece showing an old silver dragon listening to a bard. It was the first of many covers Wood painted for TSR. The interior artwork includes contributions from Roger Raupp, Larry Day, Jim Holloway, Dave LaForce, Larry Elmore, Dave Trampier, Julius Shell, and Tony Moseley, with a few pieces from the Marvel Bullpen.
This month's special attraction is a convention pre-registration brochure for GEN CON 18. Unfortunately, my digital version of the magazine does not include an image of the brochure.
Gary Gygax kicks things off with a bold article titled "Deities and their faithful," which proposes a system for determining the power of gods based on the number of their mortal worshippers. In essence, the gods gain 1 hit point for every 1,000 worshippers and also 1 hit point for every 1,000 beings on the current plane that share their alignment. It's an attempt to wrap mechanics around that old fantasy trope of the gods getting their might from the faithful. In practice, it would require the DM to track religious demographics for each plane, and that scarcely seems worth it.
In "Sticks, stones, and bones," Stephen Inniss presents an extensive system for improvised weapons in AD&D. It's impressively detailed, covering everything from broken bottles to bowls of soup, including modifiers for size, weight, and material. As with several of the Inniss articles, there is a lot of detail to crunch through, but the impacts on gameplay are relatively minor. Then again, perhaps some tables want to know how exactly much damage a skillet of boiling soup would do (1-2 points, with a saving throw versus breath weapons allowing for half damage, rounded down).
"Only train when you gain" by David B. Reeder notes that training costs (1500 gp/level/week) disproportionately impact low-level characters in AD&D. Reeder suggests that training costs should only apply when the new level grants the character a significant new skill, such as a new spell level or additional weapons. His proposal makes sense, but it avoids the more obvious solution of making the training costs more affordable at lower levels. This article was Reeder's only RPG contribution.
"For a fuller background" by Paul Montgomery Crabaugh proposes a revised approach to determining character heritage in the DragonQuest game by introducing race-specific social status tables and modifiers for experience and wealth based on background. These changes aim to prevent implausible heritage combinations and encourage more consistent character origins. It was the ninth and final DragonQuest article published by Dragon, with about half of them authored by Crabaugh.
Ed Greenwood appears twice in this issue. First is "The ecology of the Gorgon," written in character as Elminster and referring to a notebook of the naturalist Djaril Phylapur. Along with the typical details about biology, ecology, and combat behaviour, there are some fun snippets, such as noting the creature's ongoing rivalry with rust monsters. It's a strong entry in a strong series.
Greenwood also contributes "Pages from the Mages IV," presenting more spellbooks from the Forgotten Realms, with such titles as Bowgengle's Book and Brief's Book of Shadows. Each entry includes the tome's appearance, its history, and a list of new spells. There are also some delightful touches, such as a complete homunculus recipe in the Book of Shadows. It's another excellent entry in a beloved series.
"The Only Good Captive…" by Lew Pulsipher starts by describing a recent game where half the party were captured by monsters and subsequently executed before their companions could rescue them. He explains plausible ways for Dungeon Masters to preserve captured player characters from execution, including ransom, slavery, and irrational behaviour. Although it's a pretty specific situation, it's not an uncommon one, and the suggestions are helpful.
"Blueprint for a Big Game" by Jim Dutton is a detailed guide to designing large-scale AD&D campaigns drawn from the author's experience building a play-by-mail world for hundreds of players. Dutton emphasises the importance of clear goals, detailed mapping, and, above all, organisation. There was nothing really new in his method, but it was interesting to hear about such a large-scale AD&D campaign running years ahead of Living City and Living Greyhawk. Dutton was president of Entertainment Concepts, Inc.
"Authentic Agencies, Part I" by Merle M. Rasmussen presents a detailed breakdown of real-world American intelligence agencies for use in Top Secret campaigns, blending publicly available data with creative extrapolation. The article profiles the mission, structure, and activities of major organisations like the CIA, NSA, and DIA. It's a terrific resource for espionage games.
"Catacomb" by Henry Melton is about a teenage girl earning money in a deadly online dungeon game, alternating between her in-game adventures and her real-world problems. This story suffers from loose structure, overwritten passages, and a muted resolution. The concept, however, is decades ahead of its time. Melton went on to write many stories and several novels.
The ARES Section returns, presenting about a dozen pages of science-fiction and superhero gaming material. It includes three articles:
- "Rogues of the Galaxy" by Igor Greenwald expands character options in Traveller.
- "The Marvel-Phile" by Jeff Grubb profiles Talisman, Box, and Guardian.
- "New Tools of the Trade" by Peter Giannacopoulos adds new artifacts to Gamma World.
Starstone by Northern Sages is a system-agnostic fantasy RPG module offering three interconnected scenarios filled with complex NPCs, dynamic encounters, and deep narrative potential. It provides extensive maps, history, and intrigue across over 200 encounter areas, with a strong emphasis on realism and social tension. Reviewer Eric concludes, "Starstone is one of the best-detailed modules I have examined."
Thieves Guild 10 by Gamelords Ltd. is the latest in a series of thief-centric supplements, offering new rules for bandit gangs and a compact but well-crafted burglary scenario. While the adventure is adaptable and flavorful, much of the book repeats material from earlier volumes. Reviewer Arlen P. Walker notes, "I, at least, have grown tired of the snippets of rules."
And that's a wrap! This issue felt packed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My favourite article was, no surprise, Greenwood's "Pages from the Mages IV." Next month is a big one, with dragonlore, new magic items, and apocalyptic monsters!
). It tended to produce very detailed, crunchy systems designed to cover every edge case, the kind of thing that probably appealed more to world-building DMs than to most players. I usually prefer rules over rulings, the exact opposite of the well-known OSR credo, because I generally value consistency over spontaneity. However even I don’t need or want a rule for absolutely everything, and this issue features two articles that seem like overkill.
. I also liked the way “Pages From the Mages” made spellbooks into unique magic items with their own lore, almost like real medieval manuscripts.
