TSR [Let's Read] Polyhedron/Dungeon

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 53: May/Jun 1990



part 5/5



The ABC's of Acronyms: A short one that's focussed on Top Secret, but really is useful to any game, giving lots of suggestions for good words to fill out the acronyms of your alphabet soup agencies. Be they official government ones, or the secret villainous ones they're trying to foil, they still need a name, preferably one that's suitably catchy and symbolic. You probably don't have time to go through the whole dictionary, so this is a handy shortcut for those situations. Not bad, but there's probably something similar but better to be found on the internet these days so hardly indispensable.



A Magical Contest: Having just finished their third membership drive, time for another contest to encourage engagement. New magical items are one of the most popular kinds of articles, but Polyhedron doesn't do many of them. Want to change that? There are big prizes to be won! As ever, I look forward to seeing the results, and hope they'll be good.



The Living City: So we've finally reached the cover story. Before the invention of refrigeration, ice houses were big business for thousands of years, with an emphasis on the big, as you'd need to buy in serious bulk to take advantage of the square/cube effect on heat transference and have enough to last the whole summer, even with a heavily insulated storage space that's also built underground with a single vertical entrance to take advantage of convection effects for additional cooling. Pleasingly, this place shows that the writer has done their research, with a shaded entrance that leads to an underground cavern full of nooks and crannies. There's rumours that it contains a secret exit to deeper caverns with monsters and stuff, but it's not on the map, so that's probably false unless you really want to change it in your campaign. What might become an adventure though, is that one of the junior employees is also a thief, and his guild wants to use the place to secretly store stolen goods that are too hot to fence right now. He actually likes his employers and would rather not expose them to the liability, but once you're linked to organised crime, it's hard to say no to "requests" like that. It'll probably take the PC's involvement to cut the knot one way or another. Another fairly interesting entry that strikes the right balance between drawing on real world history and making the worldbuilding useful for a D&D game where you're expected to be adventurers passing through. The much greater number of submissions they get for this column continue to reap dividends in terms of quality compared to everything else here.



Bloodmoose & Company kill the monsters with several dramatic twists, then reveal that the whole series has been building towards a single terrible pun. And so this comic can conclude with us all making a hearty groan. Don't you just love a happy ending.



An issue that would definitely have read a lot better if I was reading it when it was released first time around, as it has a lot of riffs on themes that aren't terrible in themselves, but I've grown jaded on from decades of seeing variants of them. Once again, as they try to expand, they're catering more to newbies, leaving me a little bored. Oh well, I got through the last cycle of that approach. This too shall pass. Onward we go once again.

 

[(un)reason]

Dungeon Issue 23: May/Jun 1990



part 1/5



68 pages. Being a mighty-thewed minotaur is no impediment to having fabulous hair. In this edition though, the stat penalties are somewhat of an impediment to becoming a spellcaster. Is this one an exception to the rules binding the PC's, or is there a clever but entirely legal trick behind what we're seeing. Time to see what this one has to hold, and if it'll be entertaining, boring or annoying.



Editorial: The editorial is another round of things not to send them, because they won't publish it no matter how well written it is. This time it's not to overdo the extraneous setting details. Sure, stuff that establishes the personalities and motivations of the characters so we can roleplay them better is nice, but detailing their family tree a dozen generations back is a waste of your time and our limited page count. On the opposite extreme, a bunch of monsters sitting in their rooms that attack on sight and never surrender is just as bad. Basically, a little focus and self-editing goes a long way in making their jobs easier. Think what will actually be useful for other people's games, keep it in and chuck the rest. Help them tell good stories, rather than dictating a story to them, and they'll be most likely to come back for more. That kind of attitude is why I consistently prefer their module choices to Polyhedron's, which are much more often about forcing us to re-enact the story the writers wrote. Long may they retain it.



Letters: The first letter is from someone who's trying to put together a gaming forum on the infant internet. Any help would be appreciated. Good luck with that. There's definite advantages to getting in on the ground floor with these things.

Second is another person who wants more regular D&D material. That's pretty consistent across their publications, that writers prefer to submit AD&D material, but there's lots of quiet D&D players out there who feel ignored. Who will step up and be their champion?

Third, some praise of their high quality covers. Keep it up, and maybe do some more poster versions without any writing on them to put on our walls. No objection to that idea.

4th, a complaint that they didn't properly value all their treasure recently. Since 2e no longer gives XP for treasure, they no longer feel bean-counting is essential to adventure design anymore. You can focus all the clearer on killing them, since taking their stuff is now optional. The future, everybody!

5th, someone complaining that some adventures require supplements to make sense. Trust me, there'd be just as many complaints if everything submitted had to be corebook only. No winning this one, and adventures can be more complex and varied this way around.

6th, an IC one from an orc king complaining that the map in Rank Amateurs is inconsistent with the one in GAZ10. Consistent cartography is just one of the many arts and sciences those humanoids have no grasp of.

7th, 8th and 9th continue the interminable debate on if every adventure should use boxed text, with one yes, one no and one maybe. Will they ever reach some kind of resolution on this? Or will the editors just get sick of it and stop publishing letters like the saga of Allycia and Scud.

Finally, someone pointing out that House of Cards would be an absolute slaughterfest for a regular-sized party of the expected level and many would give up after just one or two doors. Well, yes. I noticed that too. Like Tomb of Horrors, that's entirely intentional. Even at that level, there are still dangers that can casually humble you, so don't get cocky.

 

[Ancalagon]

you are getting close to the dungeon magazines we used back in the day, so I am looking forward to that.

I'm currently running an adventure from a 1995 dungeon magazine (third time!)

 

[el-remmen]

you are getting close to the dungeon magazines we used back in the day, so I am looking forward to that.

I'm currently running an adventure from a 1995 dungeon magazine (third time!)

Which one? I am pretty familiar with the whole run and love Dungeon as a source above all else!

 

[(un)reason]

Dungeon Issue 23: May/Jun 1990



part 2/5



The Vinyard Vales: Lizard Men, locusts AND vinyards in the nordic inspired area of Mystara? It must be considerably warmer there than real world scandinavia. Straight away this first adventure trips my realism nitpicking in a way that purely fantastical things happening wouldn't. Still, regardless of what contortion of Immortal meddling got them there and keeps them alive in the first place, they're present and causing serious problems for the humble beverage farmers of the region. The PC's had better save them, or they'll be forced to meet mysterious strangers in taverns to get jobs while fully sober and where's the fun in that? You have to head into the swamps, wander around and deal with the usual set of random encounters, rescue travellers being attacked by lizard men, and eventually find their lair and face the brains behind the operation, which is quite an interesting twist so I won't spoil it for you. As usual for here, the starting adventure is probably the most generic, which means it's also the most likely to actually get played, but is less interesting to read than the more niche ones later on. And as I noted at the beginning, the worldbuilding is on somewhat shaky grounds. Still, although they make for a popular article series, who actually plays D&D for the ecologies? Overall, it's a solid but unexceptional opener.

 

[(un)reason]

Dungeon Issue 23: May/Jun 1990



part 3/5



The Pyramid of Jenkel: Willie Walsh is back once again, with a surprisingly normal dungeon crawl rather than his usual whimsy, although it does feature some very rarely used monsters. The city of Juncert was destroyed 500 years ago by mysterious magical apocalypse. Since cities are usually situated on prime real estate, the much smaller town of Jenkel grew up there as the legends faded and people were no longer terrified that they'd meet the same fate if they hung around. Now the same forces that caused devastation 500 years ago stir again and things get very interesting indeed for the townsfolk. An off-brand marilith from Tartarus (multi-armed snake ladies, like crabs, seem to be a body plan that evolves independently many times throughout the multiverse) comes through the unstable planar rift, decides this is a much nicer place to live than home, and gets to scamming and betraying people who don't know it's a scam and betray back casually and routinely. Pretend to be a god, start a cult, and then gradually push your followers into making increasingly extreme offerings until they're ready to engage in full-on human sacrifice, at which point even if they're not all evil, it's very hard to back out. Your typical fiendish scheme.

This is where the PC's get entangled. They'll get approached by the cultists, love-bombed, and then manipulated into taking an initiation test which is really just sending them into the pyramid to become dinner. (or if they're suspicious of the whole thing and turn them down you then encourage them to investigate the pyramid sneakily of their own accord) So the dungeon crawl part of this is fairly standard, as you explore the pyramid and the caves underneath it while fighting a mixture of local and extra-planar creatures, but it's the roleplaying before and after that are distinctive and interesting, as you deal with the various cult members in the beginning, and then the fallout when you escape to tell your tale, the dupes amongst them find out what they've really been worshipping and turn on the leader. There's plenty of different ways it could go depending on how the PC's interact with them, and more than enough moral ambiguity that hopefully the PC's won't just slaughter everyone and let the gods sort it out. Definitely a better framing device than once again meeting a mysterious patron in a tavern for your missions.

 

[(un)reason]

Dungeon Issue 23: May/Jun 1990



part 4/5



Old Sea-dog: Ah, now this is a plot hook no party will pass up on. A dognapping? Trying to destroy the world is understandable, but what kind of dastardly fiend would stoop that low?! It turns out to be a supremely petty squabble between nobles over a dogfighting tournament, with the kidnapped hound this year's favourite to win. Since they're long-term rivals, the lord who hires you is already pretty certain who's responsible, it's just a question of how he did it, and finding where the dog is to rescue it, preferably in time to still compete in the tournament and win. Fortunately, there's an obvious window of opportunity when they move the dog to a ship about to set sail. (after which things will obviously become much much harder) So this turns out to be a Mission Impossible style espionage and heist adventure, where you have to scout out the area, sneak onboard, find the dog, and sneak off again, which is obviously much harder, for the dog is loud and recalcitrant, so unless you're both skilled and lucky you'll probably wind up fighting your way out. This is further complicated by an attempted pirate hijacking on the ship at the same time, which you might end up fighting against as well, or using the chaos to your advantage in escaping. There's no one right solution here, and any plans you make are unlikely to go smoothly, so a lot of the fun is in improvising and fast talking your way through the mess you wind up in. Dumb hack-and-slash players will definitely struggle with this one, but for people who like their scheming and social engineering, this has potential to be both fun and funny. A risk I think is worth taking.

 

[(un)reason]

Dungeon Issue 23: May/Jun 1990



part 5/5



Deception Pass: A cliffbound choke point controlled by illusion using creatures who use their powers cleverly to seem more dangerous than they are? Haven't we already had one of these? :checks: Yup, Phantasm Chasm in issue 14. Still, that was a 4 page filler encounter, while this is a 23 page cover story adventure and aimed at somewhat higher level, so I think there's room for the two to coexist. Tucker's kobolds have become a byword for weak creatures winning by sneakiness, but think how dangerous more powerful creatures can be if they go all-out and use the best tactics possible. That definitely applies to Ogre Mages, which can combine invisibility, shapeshifting, flight, mind control and gaseous form to quite impressive effect in sneaky hit-and-run tactics, and have pretty decent blasting effects when forced into direct combat as well. They'll do their best to beat the PC's without them ever knowing exactly what is even attacking them. This is further assisted by their control of the higher ground, using the eponymous pass (which you really ought to rename in your own campaign if you don't want to give the game away) to box the PC's in and make retreat difficult. If you do manage to beat their ambush they'll retreat to an old dwarven fortress where they're even better situated to wear you down with sneakiness and traps. This is one where PC's who take things at face value and just charge at the enemy will probably die quickly, even if they're even higher than the intended level. On the other hand, if you have a competent diviner or abjurer, figure out what you're up against, and realise that most of their minions are duped or mind-controlled & can be easily tricked back or turned against them, you'll do pretty well. Keep your magical shieldings up and don't trust anyone, because all it takes is one failed save to turn the party against each other. Definitely not one for inexperienced players or DM's, but both an interesting read and a fun challenge to run if you like this playstyle. Another good lead-up if you plan to run the likes of Tomb of Horrors and Dragon Mountain eventually and want them sufficiently paranoid to actually survive the experience.



Another pretty competent issue, with a lot of adventures that need you to actually exercise your brains and engage in social interaction if you want to solve them. They're focussing pretty strongly on the role-playing side of RPG's at the moment, and it looks like that's only to get stronger. Let's see how long it takes for people to get sick of that and look for something different in their adventures.

 

[el-remmen]

Dungeon Issue 23: May/Jun 1990

part 2/5

The Vinyard Vales: Lizard Men, locusts AND vinyards in the nordic inspired area of Mystara? It must be considerably warmer there than real world scandinavia. Straight away this first adventure trips my realism nitpicking in a way that purely fantastical things happening wouldn't. Still, regardless of what contortion of Immortal meddling got them there and keeps them alive in the first place, they're present and causing serious problems for the humble beverage farmers of the region. The PC's had better save them, or they'll be forced to meet mysterious strangers in taverns to get jobs while fully sober and where's the fun in that? You have to head into the swamps, wander around and deal with the usual set of random encounters, rescue travellers being attacked by lizard men, and eventually find their lair and face the brains behind the operation, which is quite an interesting twist so I won't spoil it for you. As usual for here, the starting adventure is probably the most generic, which means it's also the most likely to actually get played, but is less interesting to read than the more niche ones later on. And as I noted at the beginning, the worldbuilding is on somewhat shaky grounds. Still, although they make for a popular article series, who actually plays D&D for the ecologies? Overall, it's a solid but unexceptional opener.

I have run this module (heavily modified) in a past campaign and placed it for possible running in my current campaign. For me the nitpicking stuff doesn't matter, b/c I use Dungeon as a mix n' match source for locations, plots, and NPCs.

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 54: Jul/Aug 1990



part 1/5



36 pages. Once again it seems they're trying to expand their sci-fi side, with a dark and presumably massive set of floating vehicles gliding through the sky on the cover. Do they have any ideas to actually bring the Living Galaxy to life in a shared setting yet, or will it just be more ideas to use in your own game. Let's find out inside.



Bookwyrms: This column is once again in pure promotional mode, working hard to sell us their not just one, but two planned Buck Rogers trilogies. Yet another reminder that they massively overestimated the demand for this gameline, made worse by the whole Dille family nepotism business, resulting in a whole load of time and effort by the writers going mostly to waste and no-one coming out of it particularly well, leaving a glut of unsold supplements in the warehouses that were still there when TSR died and WotC took over. It was one of their most irritating chapters when I was going through Dragon, and it's pretty much the same from this perspective too. Not a very pleasing way to start things off.



Notes From HQ: Convention season is in full swing, so they're both talking about ones they've recently been too, and looking forward to ones yet to come. ConnCon takes advantage of it's Connecticut location to make a lame joke of it's name, and it attracted a fittingly playful but somewhat rowdy clientele. Plenty of fun was had, but the hotel staff were not so amused, making it clear that they'd prefer somewhat classier clientele. Let's hope they can keep on going, produce more good adventures and file the rough edges off in future years. In other news, they introduce a new convention advisor, so if you want to set up a new one and were wondering who to call for advice, now you know. Finally, there's the usual last minute call for more GM's to run their Gen Con tournaments. Boot Hill in particular has already been cancelled due to lack of interest, and several other systems are still in the danger zone if no-one steps up to champion them. If you want to keep things from being all D&D, all the time, you need to step up and provide an alternative. Don't default to a system that isn't the best tool for running the games you want, just because it's the most popular and easiest to find players for.



Letters: The first letter is a fairly lengthy one from the guy who organised the first ever gaming convention in Austria. It took a whole load of work and promotion to get it together, but with a little advice from the RPGA they pulled it off nicely, and as a plus, made him the regional director for the country. Now he'll be doing it again every year for the foreseeable future. Hooray! Lots more working for free! No good deed goes unpunished, eh?

The second complains that their messing around with adding various types of combined membership plans is getting confusing. What they can offer changes as the economics underneath it shift. You'll actually have to put some mental effort into figuring out what the best deal for you is. It's only a decision you have to make every few years, nothing to get too worked up over.

The final one complains that the membership cards themselves have gone downhill in material quality and clarity of numbering in recent years. Partly cost-cutting, but also partly to make them compatible with their computer scanning equipment, so they can just quickly check if you're a real member or not and link all the tournaments you participate in to your account automatically instead of having to manually type everything into their database, which meant they were often behind by many months in their admin work. These are the sacrifices you have to make for progress.