Just got in Dragon Magazine #320 - 30 Years of D&D

thalmin

Retired game store owner
This issue marks the 28th anniversary of Dragon magazine as well as the 30th anniversary of D&D. The contents include:

Wyrm's Turn - Matt Sernett (editor)looks back on our earliest memories and ahead to the future.

Scale Mail

Up on a Soapbox - Vorpal swords, tag-team DMs, and a bit o' Southern Comfort.

D&D Retrospective - What do the X-Files, beachtowels, and roleplaying have in common? Find out in this 30-year trip down memory lane.

Dragons Player Characters - Play 'em, don't slay 'em. D&D's ultimate iconic creatures as monster classes.

Fostered Dragons - The Perilous Burden. "Wyrmling on Board." It's not a warning, it's a plea for help. Learn how to survive adopting a dragon.

Dragon Kingdoms - The Way Dragons Rule. In a D&D world, who would wear the crown? See how every color of dragon, chromatic and metallic, imposes its authority on others.

New in Town - When cultures collide! Savagery meets the city in Richard Lee Byer's newest tale.

Elminster's Guide - The Roaring Dragon House. Waterdeep's newest den of vice and victory.

Countdown to Eberron - Dragonmarks, Dragonshards, and Dynasties of Power. A fortunate few bear their family's dragonmarks, while Eberron's three layers have their own draconic definitions.

Silicon Sorcery - Reshape your world with the racial transformations of Warcraft III.

Under Command - "Forms of Legend." A Shapechanging Giants of Legend Pereview. New shape-changing spells you can use to change in D&D Miniatures. Spells include: Aspect of the Earth Hunter (Drd 6); Aspect of the Wolf (Drd 1, Sor/Wiz 1); Body of War (Sor/Wiz 6); Displacer Form (Sor/Wiz 4); Holy Tranformation (Clr 7); Holy transormation, Lesser (Clr 4); Infernal Transformation (Clr 7); Infernal Transformation, Lesser (Clr 4); Primal Form (Drd 3, Sor/Wiz 3); Wild Runner (Drd 4).

DM's Toolbox - Dungeon Design and the Art of Simplicity - Fun Duneons. Make your dungeons fun again.

The Play's the Thing - The Teamwork Pool. How teamwork can hone your party into a company of legends.

Dungeoncraft - Characterization, Part 1 Bring Your Characters to Life

Sage Advice - Answers about equipment, creatures, and class features.

Plus Zogonia, Dork Tower, and Nodwick.
 
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I'd say... I'm almost disappointed. I would have expected something more... grandiose ? Exhilarating ? World-shattering ?

Maybe it's just me ... Mkae me dream ...
 

thalmin said:
Dragons Player Characters - Play 'em, don't slay 'em. D&D's ultimate iconic creatures as monster classes.

.

I've been looking forward to this article. The Draconomicon almost gets the job done...I guess all that is needed is some stats for those very early levels, where the PC is not even a full-strength wyrmling.

The whole age catagories / class level / racial level thing gets pretty wonky...but c'mon, you get to play a dragon!

Any next issue blurb?
 

thalmin said:
Dragons Player Characters - Play 'em, don't slay 'em. D&D's ultimate iconic creatures as monster classes.

What does this offer that Draconomicon doesn't? More importantly, is it built on the Draconomicon assumptions, or does it trump or ignore them?
 


Greatwyrm said:
You get the level progression for the basic dragons, in the same format as Savage Species.

Up to what level (if I was a bettin' man, I bet it would be 20, even though it makes much more sense for dragons to go beyond that.)

Which means I'll probably stick with Draconomicon's method, because it supports Book of Dragon's alternate progressions better. (Odd, that...)
 


Psion said:
Up to what level (if I was a bettin' man, I bet it would be 20, even though it makes much more sense for dragons to go beyond that.)
If you were a betting man, you'd be a winner.

[EDIT] One quick note is that most of the dragons top out at the Young age category with the twenty-level progression. There'd be plenty of room for more levels if you wanted to take it into Epic play.
 
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Some of the people at Maxminis.com have spotted the list of miniatures in the Basic D&D Set in this issue:

16 minis:

1x Regdar, Adventurer
1x Lidda, Adventurer
1x Aramil, Adventurer <-- in Gol?
1x Eberk, Adventurer <-- in Gol?
1x Medium Black Dragon (yay!)
1x Troglodyte
1x Dire Rat <-- in GoL!
1x Wolf Skeleton
2x Warrior Skeleton
2x Orc Warrior
2x Kobold Warrior
2x Kobold Skirmisher

4 double-sided map tiles
4 character cards
7 dice
Quick-start Rulebook
Adventure Book
Expanded Rulebook

Cheers!
 

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