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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6227263" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 347: September 2006part 1/682 (100) pages. Well, just a year to go before the magazine comes to an end. And it looks like they're struggling to think of new topics again. The elements? We did that less than 3 years ago in issue 314, not even half an edition gone. Well, let's hope that like horror, it's because they've been getting lots of good submissions on the topic, rather than feeling obligated to stick to a tried and tested formula. Let's open the pages, and see if I'm nicely refreshed, or left burnt and then soggy. Scan Quality: Excellent, indexed, ad-free scan. In this issue:Editorial: Oh god, the old met at a tavern cliche. I'm fairly tired of it, and after several years at the editorial helm of Dungeon, I can quite understand why Erik would be even more so. Yet at the same time, cliches become cliches because they work, so you can't completely ignore them. What you can do is go back to the source, study it, see how it varies in different cultures in the real world, and then put a fresh spin on the idea. The idea of a place to meet up, drink and socialise varies so much not just from country to country, but also on an individual basis, and even within the same place at different times of day, and the people that come there regularly might not even realise it, being so caught up in the patterns of their own little lives. As always, you can make infinite permutations out of combining a limited set of elements in different ways and proportions. Which hopefully also applies to the theme of this issue. Look closer, and find the many small variations in what seems monolithic. I've done plenty of that, and hope i can keep it up for a year longer. Scale Mail: Our first letter is another one who thinks they swung too far towards fiction in issue 344. Erik assures them that they will swing one way, they will swing the other way. But as long as he's in charge, they don't intend to go completely straight. <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" /> On the other hand, the combination of setting detail and obscenely powerful stats in the Demonomicons continues to be very popular with the readers indeed. It's just a shame they aren't covering other extra-planar celebrities with the same enthusiasm. The ecologies are also exceedingly popular with both readers and freelancers, but there's still one gripe. If using an obscure monster, tell us where it's published please. You know, that kind of info is only a google away. Expecting to be spoonfed won't win you legendary adventures. Looks like dragon still has some goth readers, with a letter that thinks the Gloom Dragon was cute. Huh. It takes all sorts. Still makes more sense than trying for a relationship with an omnicidal antipaladin. The equipment arrays are also a fairly niche thing that gets praised. This pleases Erik, as it shows he might be able to get away with a few more articles of that sort. Far less surprising is a request for a demonomicon on Demogorgon. Equally unsurprising is the reply that they're already working on it. It may be a while though, because they have another 12 part adventure path to get through, and they wouldn't want to spoil things by having him show up at low level. And finally we have two letters asking about long out-of-print material. Actually, your options on this are better than they've ever been, both legal and illegal. The internet makes matching up the supply and the demand wherever you are in the world a good deal easier.</blockquote>

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