Dragon Reflections #99

Dragon Publishing released Dragon #99 in July 1985. It is 100 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00. This issue features magic treasure, city life, and the ecology of the will-o'-wisp!

The cover is by Clyde Duensing III and shows an adventurer stumbling upon what might be a lich. So far as I can see, it was Duensing's only cover for Dragon, though he did some other illustrations for TSR. Interior artists include Stephan Peregrine, Roger Raupp, Jim Holloway, Larry Elmore, Timothy Truman, Jeff Easley, Joseph Pillsbury, Dave Trampier, and the Marvel Bullpen.

This month's special attraction is "Treasure Trove II," and is a follow-up to the excellent feature in Dragon #91. I found the items a tad more pedestrian this time and somewhat verbose, although I did like Ed Greenwood's catstaff. The article is accompanied by "A sharp system for swords" by Pete Mohney, which expands upon the magic sword generation tables in the Dungeon Master's Guide. It was the last of three articles Mohney wrote for Dragon.

"The neutral point of view" by Stephen Inniss claims that AD&D's rules heavily emphasise good and evil alignments while leaving the neutral alignments poorly supported. The article suggests expanding existing mechanics—such as turning and cleric spells—to give neutral alignments equal weight, thereby improving game balance. I was a little disappointed, as the title led me to expect a discussion on the philosophy and roleplaying of neutrality. Inniss published many articles with Dragon, often with an emphasis on mechanics and simulation.

"Tables and tables of troops" by James Yates argues that the AD&D rules for fighter followers are too narrow, producing nearly identical forces, and proposes a new system that accounts for terrain, lordly character, alignment, level, charisma, and race. The idea is good, though the troop tables are just different assortments of light, medium, and heavy infantry and cavalry. I wish there had been more colour for each option - perhaps the desert cavalry wear sun-bleached leather jerkins and colourful veils, for example. This article was Yates's only publication.

"The ecology of the Will-o-Wisp" by Nigel D. Findley is a grim tale of doomed adventurers who stumble upon an ancient elven manuscript revealing the true nature of will-o-wisps. The article recounts how these deadly marsh lights evolved from boggarts, reproduce in triads, wield telepathy and electrical power, and lure prey with false treasure. It is well-written and imaginative, and a worthy addition to this strong series. Findley was a talented and prolific RPG author, taken from us too young.

"That's life in the big city" by Kevin Anderson and Kristine Thompson offers Dungeon Masters practical guidance for designing believable medieval towns, emphasising population, geography, fortifications, and the gritty realities of urban life. The article grounds its advice in historical examples, highlighting valuable details such as the gatekeeper's quiet authority and the unique dangers that emerge in city streets after dark. Thompson published nothing else for RPGs, but I'm not sure if Anderson is the same author who later wrote for Savage Worlds.

"History of a game that failed" by David F. Godwin opens with the overpowered Lord Arrogo versus a hapless red dragon to illustrate how careless distribution of magic items can wreck a campaign climax. Drawing on his own early mistakes, Godwin offers hard-earned advice: fudge dice when needed, tailor modules, be stingy with magic, and always remember that the DM runs the game. There are some good tips, along with others I don't care for. However, I always enjoy articles that take the perspective of "here's what didn't work." It is one of two pieces that Godwin published with Dragon.

"Authentic agencies, part III" by Merle and Jackie Rasmussen concludes their series on real-life espionage organisations for use in the Top Secret game. This time, the focus is on Communist intelligence groups such as the KGB, GRU, and CCI. It's an excellent series for those running an authentic Cold War–era spy campaign.

"Dennim and the Golem" by Robert S. Babcock follows a clever thief whose search for treasure in a mountain cave leads to a fateful encounter with a mysterious metal guardian. It's a solid tale with a vivid protagonist and a nice twist, although held back by stock villains and excessive exposition. It appears to be Babcock's only story.

There is a single game review. Gems for Death by The Companions is a richly detailed, system-neutral adventure module that builds tension through layered scenes, realistic NPCs, fiendish traps, and a dynamic villain timeline. Reviewer Arlan P. Walker concludes, "This one's very good, folks. Don't miss it."

John C. Bunnell returns with a round-up of all the latest speculative fiction:

• Crewel Lye by Piers Anthony is a pun-filled Xanth adventure that's "guaranteed to entertain."
• Stormwarden by Janny Wurts is a weather-magic fantasy with vivid characters and tangled plotting that is "a near miss that's nonetheless worth reading."
• Witchdame by Kathleen Sky is a tale of sorcery, politics, and destiny that's "a bit better than average for an alternate-England novel."
• Enchanters' End Game by David Eddings is the epic conclusion to the Belgariad, which is "likely to find itself shelved somewhere between Tolkien and Donaldson as one of the standard sequences in the field."
• Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede is a witty fantasy quest full of humorous characters and situations, and is "cheerful, exuberant fun."
• The Magic Cup by Andrew M. Greeley is a Grail-like Irish quest that is "intensely believable and absorbing reading."

Finally, ARES presents about a dozen pages of science fiction and superhero material:

• "Tanks a Lot" by Alex Curylo introduces vehicle combat to Star Frontiers.
• "Psybots and Battle Mechs" by Michael Breault previews Proton Fire, a robot-based RPG that was never released.
• "The Marvel-Phile" by Jeff Grubb shares stats for various Soviet-aligned heroes, such as Vanguard.
• "Danger on a Budget" by Bruce Humphrey suggests some nasty surprises lurking in the ruins of Gamma World.

And that's a wrap! It was a solid issue, with my favourite article being Findlay's ecology. Next month, we have the landmark issue #100!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's funny, Thieves World has more mature content, but despite having read both it and the Xanth series around the age of 9-10, I feel like Xanth is the more problematic one.

The problematic elements of Xanth, IMO, are that Piers Anthony is talking to an intended audience of kids with ideas that start with merely wildly sexist before sliding into much worse stuff.

In contrast, I don't think anyone believes the characters of Thieves World are giving out appropriate life lessons.

 

[RealAlHazred]

In contrast, I don't think anyone believes the characters of Thieves World are giving out appropriate life lessons.

Listen, we are in an era where there are people who read Thieves' World, see the characters are basically telling you they're the bad guys, and then the reader asking, "Well, why can't I do that?"

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The problematic elements of Xanth, IMO, are that Piers Anthony is talking to an intended audience of kids with ideas that start with merely wildly sexist before sliding into much worse stuff.

In contrast, I don't think anyone believes the characters of Thieves World are giving out appropriate life lessons.

Precisely so. Thieves World presents a squalid, gritty world with troubled, morally conflicted protagonists. Xanth presents as a lighthearted humorous fantasy world, but espouses multiple problematic themes and beliefs.

 

[JML]

There's a lot of fiction that haven't aged all that well or have problematic themes/scenes, along with knowing things about authors that can for many people color how they might view that author's work. Still happening today, as I'm sure people around here know quite well. It can be challenging for anyone on where they draw the line. I read Eddings when I was pretty young and it was still challenging to find a lot of sci-fi or fantasy in stores or at the libraries. I can certainly understand why in a review Enchanter's Endgame and The Belgariad were seen as being stand-out works at the time: there's inventive concepts, a flexible and expansive use of magic, new variations on older themes, exciting fight scenes and conflicts, and dialogue that crackled and was actually very funny. I certainly didn't know anything about the Eddings past criminal actions and abuse at the time, and I'm fairly certainly the reviewer wouldn't have either (it was much harder to find out that sort of thing for the average person, assuming anyone even knew where to look or thought to do it). YMMV on whether any of it is a dealbreaker. (I mean, there's some very weird racial aspects too that can perhaps be justified due to the divine influences on the nations, but probably don't pass editorial muster today either, and might have been leftover from a time when the book might have used a variety of typical fantasy species, rather than different nations of human, but who knows?)

As a generally rule, I found a lot of good recommendations in the book reviews from Dragon, and always looked forward to seeing them, especially from Bunnell, who usually had interesting things to say about the works.

My play group was doing things with Star Frontiers and so any issue that had support for that was welcome. (this was an issue we back-ordered for sure) Letting us play with tanks and powered armor might not have been the best idea...

 

[David Howery]

I read partway through the Thieves World books, right up to the point they introduced that guy who was a god or something and couldn't be killed. I found him to be incredibly annoying, and wondered if he could actually die if he got tossed into a volcano, and was hoping someone would write that story, and wasn't disappointed that it never happened. The last book in the TW series I read had almost the entire book about him, and that was pretty much the end of it for me....

 

[RealAlHazred]

I really, really enjoyed the first book of the Belgariad. I enjoyed the rest, but the first one was excellent -- of course it was, he'd been shopping it around to publishers for years! Anything you work that long on will be a peak example of your skill; e.g. "1408", which was the story Steven King used in teaching a writing class for decades.

I find it hard to lose myself on the Eddings book now, knowing what I know.

 

[jolt]

The first Xanth book, 'A Spell for Chameleon' didn't have much sexualized content and I think the publishers used the basis of that book (pun-based humorous fantasy) as a calling card for the entire series which seemed to get more and more sexualized as it went on.

As for Donaldson, I read an interview with him 10+ years ago where he talked a little about the Covenant series. I only remember bits of it and I haven't been able to find it again. Apparently, he got the idea from his father who was a doctor who studied leprosy (in Pakistan I think) and he had seen some of the leprosariums in the US. He liked the idea of someone so powerless being giving tremendous power, and still being powerless.

As for the rape scene, I recall him being a touch defensive about it. The GoT books were really big at the time and he seemed to feel those types of scenes were far more explicit and seemed to occur (as he put it) every other chapter and no one seemed to care. He felt his scene was important as it drove home to the reader (and Covenant himself) that while the idea of being cured of leprosy might seem like a great thing, in reality it wasn't and it informs Covenant's denial of the world he finds himself in - earning the moniker 'the Unbeliever'. Covenant is broken, but he doesn't dare abandon his own brokenness.

Another weird thing about the series is that, at least in the first two books, Covenant is (almost) irrelevant to the plot. He's important thematically, but plotwise he does virtually nothing. He's largely just led around serving as the Point of View character. It isn't until the final book of the first series that he consciously abandons his disbelief and takes direct action.

I remember being confused by the book even when I was finally able to read the whole thing. At the end of it, Covenant is back on regular earth (still with leprosy) and very little seemed to have resolved. I didn't know it was trilogy at the time - it was just a book my older brother had. It was another 4 years or so before I got to read the others.