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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6261656" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 359: September 2007 part 3/8The top 10 issues of dragon: Whether or not you consider this the end of Dragon magazine, there's no denying it represents an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and evaluate everything that's come before. And so they surveyed the forums to find out what were people's favourite issues. The result is quite interesting. There's an even mix of ancient issues and ones from the last 5 years, but absolutely nothing from between 1987 and 2002, showing that 2e is currently very much out of fashion with the readers despite all the cool setting stuff they did in the 90's. The ones that got most remembered also trend towards the goofy, which also makes their increasing habit of being sensible all the time in recent years seem a bit dumb in hindsight. It's not at all what I would have chosen. However, the two original issues on the Nine Hells being top by a substantial margin is not surprising at all. The amount of influence those still have whenever people want to get devilish is still huge, and the writing is one of the most evocative pieces they've ever done. It was the thing that really cemented Ed as the absolute number one of their contributors, a position he has yet to be knocked from, many editorial changes later. They entirely deserve to be remembered as well as they are. So i suppose now is the time to go through things and figure out what my personal favourites are. What has held up with the passage of time, and what should have been best forgotten. This could take a while. 20: 210. Tom Moldvay finishes his multi-part series on alternate undead with the high level stuff, and we get lots of other cool halloween articles, including a Call of Cthulhu one, and reviews of White Wolf books. One of the last issues that still feels like they were open to the rest of the hobby. 19: 270. The period between the WotC takeover and 3e's release is pretty easy to forget, with a lot of boring issues that are neither top nor bottom. However, with the dual themes of high level and planar stuff, and a decent amount of april humour, this managed to hit the spot, giving us plenty of useful new material, before we said goodbye to 2e for good. 18: 18. Most of the early issues look decidedly rough in terms of both mechanics and artwork, but the ideas still hold up, and they got away with things that they simply couldn't just a few years later. Here we see the introduction of Traveler, which will play a surprisingly large part in the magazine, and some decidedly not family friendly Lankhmar material. It's interesting to think what D&D might have become if it had become more established before the moral majority brigade got involved. 17: 166. Speaking of the Moral Majority, 1990 was probably the most problematic year for them in that department. The backlash over them removing fiends from the game was massive, and cast a shadow over the entire year. As a result, this is where they brought them back, mostly unchanged in all but name. That mixed victory aside, this issue is also full of some of the best non D&D material in their run, with really cool stuff for Cyberpunk, Battletech and Car Wars, and the Dino Wars standalone game. 16: 276. We're spoiled for choice when it comes to october issues, and this is another fun one, with the ecology of the sheet phantom and John Kovalic's minigame bringing the mischief, while Skip & co concentrate on bringing back all sorts of other monsters. Another of the early 3e issues where you really feel the sense of freedom, before they were caught up in being all serious, all the time. 15: 344. Nostalgia runs rampant in the 30th birthday issue, with not just one, but three big names from the past brought back, and an article building on something they introduced in the 10th birthday issue. Erik uses this opportunity to increase the budget and do things he couldn't normally get away with, and it pays off. 14: 189. As we went through 1993, Roger was starting to lose the thrill of being an editor. But this attempt to spice up the magazine by requesting more real world stuff based on other cultures paid off quite nicely, creating a thread that ran through the next three years. Cultural diversity is one thing that 2e did better than any other edition, and without his efforts, we wouldn't have had a lot of that. 13: 112. There's been a few times in the magazine where they've drawn a hard line and substantially altered the format in one go, instead of gradually introducing new features and cutting old ones. 323, 274, and 225, all have their good and bad points. But this one is the most effective in itself, with both the huge comprehensive index and room for several other classic articles as well. In just a few issues, Kim would be gone, Gary would be formally ejected from the company, and they'd be gearing up for 2e. If any issue marks the end of the old school, it's definitely this one. 12: 198. Roger's last issue as full editor, and Sandy Petersen's finest hour in the magazine, this is another october one that seriously brings the goods. The Dragon Project is in full swing, keeping diversity up, and Tom Moldvay gives us a highly amusing load-bearing boss. All too soon, both basic D&D and non D&D coverage would be gone, so enjoy it while you could. 11: 150. Yet another awesome October issue, this sees them doing something a little different, and turning their attention to Mind Flayers and other cosmic horror. While many of the details in here were contradicted by the later Ithilliad, I find myself actually preferring this treatment. In addition, there's stuff for Call of Cthulhu, Top Secret, Star Trek and Superheroic games in general, making this one of their highest variety issues in general. The combination of these elements makes it one you can return too and use in all sorts of situations. 10: 55. The years of 1979-1981 were dramatic ones for the magazine. It seemed that their size and budget increased on a regular basis, and their professionalism tried to keep pace with it. This issue came near the end of that process, when the excitement was at it's peak, but before they got rid of wargaming and did their first period of closing off to focus on Official D&Dtm Material. In addition, they aren't afraid to criticise themselves publicly, with several writers making their reservations about the Fiend Folio clear. Soon, the meteoric rise would be over, and they'd start to feel like a real corporation. That's what success inevitably does. 9:  97. 1985 was the first year that D&D really felt "mature", as they brought out a whole load of significant products that they'd been talking about for years. Unearthed Arcana, Oriental Adventures, the Temple of Elemental Evil, and the Master Set. While things weren't all hunky dory behind the scenes, they still had both tons of creativity and a sense of fun, and this captures those aspects, with the articles on improvisation, taking prisoners and Pages from the Mages adding interesting elements to your play, and the fiction about MMO's spectacularly prophetic. Here's to building for the future, even while not knowing if you'll be there next year. 8: 91. The return to the nine hells doesn't have quite the same impact as the original, but the info it introduces is more advanced, so it deserves plenty of credit too. Plus it comes right at their commercial peak, so it has a certain effervescence as a whole that makes it exciting to read. If you want darkness and politics presented in a fun way, you'd better pay attention. 7: 131. The issue that made the Underdark a big thing distinct from regular dungeons, this sees Roger really hitting his stride and making a difference. With a mini adventure, and substantial expansions for Svirfneblin, Hook Horrors and Aboleths, it made the world beneath our feet seem a lot bigger and weirder. Which is just what you need when you've been doing this for a while. 6: 81. No big special feature in this one, just a whole ton of high quality articles, from the peak of the magazine's first wave. Ed adds a bit more depth to the Basilisk, we get the highest level module they did with the magazine, and lots of little setting bits that are good for any system.  5: 309. The transition from 3.0 to 3.5 was marked by this amazing bit of co-ordinated work between Dragon and Dungeon. One of the longest and most focussed themed issues they've ever done, ending with one of the best articles they've ever done. Not all the other articles in there are brilliant, particularly the ones that are merely about rules updates, but that final one lifts the whole thing up a long way. Finally, the Githyanki are as scary as they ought to be. 4: 75. While the issue as a whole isn't all perfect, the nine hells is another one where the big special feature is just so good it pulls everything else up. And since the average quality of the articles is a little higher than Incursion, with contributions from people like Gary & Katherine Kerr, and their first homegrown Ecology, it just edges it out here. 3: 171. You never forget your first time, and even after going through every issue, I still find myself going back to this one, and using it's advice. Intelligent monsters, well-organised superheroes, stupid Buck Rogers, and some of the best Known World material in the magazine's run. It's a big, strange place, and it's good to have the full perspective on it at last. 2: 287. After a long slow upward grind through the late 90's, Dave Gross finally gets things just about perfect, just as he leaves, which is very ironic really. After he goes, the amount of setting material and sense of freedom the new edition has granted nosedives at shocking speed. In the meantime, this kickass planar special does a lot to get the new edition up to speed. 1: 351. Other issues may have better individual articles, but absolutely no issue beats this one as a complete package where everything was working towards a single goal, firing on all cylinders, and drawing on history effectively while also creating cool new stuff to add to it. The previous two Campaign Classics issues were cool, but also had to deal with patchy and shallow bits as they tried to fit everything in. This one, every single article works both individually, and as part of the larger whole, and none are merely converting old material to the new edition. It's as close to perfection as they ever got, and I really wish they had tried to do more really ambitious themed issues like it and Incursion.</blockquote>

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