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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4605195" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 74: June 1983 part 2/2Spying on the spies: The writer of the previous two articles gives their designers notes, revealing the extrapolations and decisions they had to make to build the organizations into remotely consistent creations to use in your game. Which even they admit did take quite a bit of work, given the amount of contradictory material in the TV show and comics. Lets hope someone got some use from this stuff, because I can't see myself doing so, and they did put quite a bit of work into it. The vicarious participator: Ahh joy. A roleplaying vs rollplaying piece. Lew tries to spread the idea of compromise between the people who just want to stomp <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> and the persona building obsessives. Because we're all in the same hobby, and fighting over this stuff is just stupid. He also draws the distinction between those people who really want to create fictional characters with their own likes, dislikes and personalities, and those who basically play themselves if they were a whatever in the game. Neither is really wrong, and the line between can be quite blurred. And now you know about it, you can figure out where you fall on this scale and consciously choose to change it. Not his best work, and he's trying too hard to be noncontroversial IMO, but still a solid piece of writing with some insights into the roleplaying condition that don't seem obvious and stale. He always has a good spin on things that would be dull in lesser hands. It's the combat computer: This months special feature is a cut-out wheel which is supposed to help you with your calculations. Not a bad idea. But make sure you cut it out correctly, otherwise it won't work. Notable also for being the first appearance of Tracy Hickman (unless I missed an earlier one) in the magazine. Another name we'll see going on to bigger and better (well, bigger anyway <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> ) things. Another decent entry to add to their list of helpful creations. What do you get when you cross a dungeon master with a computer: And here's another spin on the same subject. This provides you with a quick way of generating new characters. (at least, once you've entered the program into your computer <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ) As befits the expansion in computers capacities, this is rather longer than earlier programs, with several interesting little subtleties which reflect the authors biases. Obviously, you won't be able to get any use out of it now, (unless you can point us towards a retro code environment emulator) but It's nice to see them putting some of this stuff in the magazine again. And if it doesn't do what you want, you can rewrite it yourself, which is more than we can say for the modern crop of digital aids. A player character and his money: A second article from Lew this month. He attempts to restore some sanity to the economic situation in your game. A difficult task, as this is D&D, but hey, you gotta try. Remember, characters have to spend money just to live. And any place with lots of adventurers will suffer high inflation. (an excellent reason for you to keep heading for farther off continents or even extraplanar instead of settling down. You get higher level challenges, and don't ruin your home's economy and devalue your money there.) He tackles the other things that can eat up your funds; taxes, followers, building projects, equipment, influence etc. Unless they're being deliberately miserly, there are plenty of ways to keep them from being able to live off their current funds for the rest of their lives without them hating you for it. And several that will make you hate them, from thievery to being transported to another world without their stuff, or where it's not valued. Once again he's both full of ideas, and a catalyst for ideas in my head. Which is pretty nice, really. Reviews: Star Frontiers is the only review this month, but is a bumper sized one. This is one of those reviews that winds up feeling more like a promotional piece than an objective assessment. That's the problem with reviewing games by the same company that's printing the reviews. Even if your enthusiasm is entirely genuine, your opinion still doesn't carry the weight of someone not in the employ of the creators. That said, it still goes into a good deal of detail on the specifics of the mechanics and contents, so it should still be useful in determining if you want to buy it or not. Off the shelf: D'arc tangent no 1 by Freff & phil foglio is a comic with quite a bit of depth to it. About the search to discover why some races choose violence over empathy, it manages humour, detail and character development. Unfortunately, a quick search reveals that this is the only issue that ever got published, so the story is incomplete. Doesn't that just suck. Prelude to chaos by Edward Llewellyn is a romance set against the collapse of civilization. Eventually, anyway, as both it's protagonists are hard-headed independent types. Big questions are raised, moral ambiguities presented, The three legged hootch dancer by Mike Resnick is a story of an interstellar traveling circus, and the fun and trials they face along the way. This is primarily a humorous book, which is unusual for sci-fi. The walls of air by Barbara Hambly is another story that transports earth natives to a fantasy world, and has them wind up saving it. But the characters and world are well built enough that you care about them anyway. Orion shall rise by Poul Anderson is a postapocalyptic tale that spans an entire generation, and their attempts to regain power. We get to see how backroom politics and conflicts have very real effects on the world around. And some eco-crap. Not that that's a bad thing, as good sci-fi should throw a lens on real world issues. The mists of avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a retelling of arthurian legend from the PoV of Morgan de fay. Intrigue, lust, incest, battle and magic ensue, as you might expect. The druidic side gets considerably better press than the christian one. I don't need to sell this one to you, as it is fairly well known. What's new is in code this month, going with the spy theme. Wormy faces the wizard. Not quite as good as last issue, this is still full of many memorable moments and several things that would go on to be significant later. They may have built up a bit of history, but they can still add on a lot more before it starts to collapse under it's own weight and needs rebooting. So lets add a few more pieces to this jenga tower, see what shapes it makes next as it builds up to it's full height.</blockquote>

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