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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Glyfair" data-source="post: 2883957" data-attributes="member: 53">The Dragon  July 1978Cover:  Jean Morrisey?  (No credit in the issue, appears to be the name in the signature)<img src="http://paizo.com/image/product/magazine_issue/dragon/16/cover_120.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />This is an important issue for me.  This is the earliest physical issue of TD I've ever owned."Dragon Rumbles" discusses adding 4 pages to the issue to accommodate the last part of "The Green Magician."  The fiction debate is alive at this date, with this defense by Kim:  "It has always been THE DRAGON’s contention that roleplaying gaming requires large amounts of stimulation to ensure fresh and viable campaigns. Due to the fact that virtually all of the good roleplaying games require liberal interpretation, fresh ideas are paramount. We will continue to bring you quality heroic fiction."He also brings up the question of why so few people in the hobby have a sense of humor and take the hobby deadly serious.  He mentions that amateur 'zines "now they are filled with vitriol and bickering; satire goes unnoticed and/or unappreciated; humor is unwelcome."  One example he gives is someone taking it as a personal affront that a science fiction game had two ships called the Akryoid and Belushi.Also on this topic, he mentions the huge success of the experimental Snit's games.  Clearly on the side of whimsy, they were hugely popular.  Yet, The Dragon recieved letters from people calling them to task for publishing them.Is this actually any different from where we are today?  In fact, it's probably worse today with the immediate feedback of the internet.We have the ballot for the "Fourth Annual Strategist Club Awards for Creativity in Wargaming."  Traveller gets a nod in Outstanding Game alongside such games as Ogre and Squad Leader.  It also appears in Outstanding Game Design.  The nominees for Outstanding Wargaming Publication include the Dragon.  MiniFigs D&D line gets a nod for Outstanding Miniature Figure series.  Legions of the Petal Throne & Chivalry & Sorcery get nods for Outstanding Miniatures Rules.In the "Letters to the Editor" column we have a rebuttal to an earlier issues "Cthulhu Mythos Revisited" article.  This article argues fine points of Cthulhu mythos details, and perhaps highlights Kim's point in the editorial this issue about gamers being too devoted to their hobby."Near Eastern Mythos" falls under the D&D Variant header.  This article gives Gods, Demigods & Heroes stats for gods from Sumeria, Babylonia and Canaan.  Gods include Enlil, Ishtar, Baal andTiamat (a 20th level wizard, 16th level lord, with 6 levels of psionic ability).We have the first appearance of the Ninja in a D&D Variant article "The Ultimate NPC:  Ninja - The DM's Hit Man."  The introduction states "this was originally submitted as a PC; it was far too powerful for that."  This takes up 4 pages, and includes ninja weapon stats, among other tidbits.In the ads section we have a full page ad for Judges Guild.  They also seem to be carrying some Avalon Hill products, so that gives us some interesting tidbits for price comparisons.  JG is introducing the first of their generic map supplements with Castles Book I, Islands Book I, and Village Book I.  These books are each $2.75 (which would be about $8.50 in today's dollars).  City State of the Invincible of the Overlord is $8.00 (about $25 today).  For comparison Squad Leader, Diplomacy & Third Reich are all $12 (about $35 today).  Note that Diplomacy is priced at about $45 if you were to buy it today.Jim Ward gives us the 3rd installment in the Monty Haul series with "The Thursday Night D&D Game with Monty and the Boys."  One comment has the narrator (presumbably Jim) comment that his character is pretty weak, a 13th level magic-user with only 69 hp,  without an 18 in strength (all other stats were 18) who prefered not to use artifacts or tech devices.  Gary again heads up "From the Sorcerer's Scroll" for "Roleplaying:  Realism vs. Game Logic; Spell Points and Rip-Offs."  His initial sally is commenting that D&D is a game, which is about fun.  While D&D is far from unflawed, but some people seem to get their primary joy in attacking it.  They seem to fail to understand that D&D is a game.  It should be judged as a whole, rather than an individual part.  In something that will later develop strongly, he encourages those who feel need to fiddle with the framework to design their own game (i.e. changing the framework makes it "not D&D").He comments that most of these systems purport to be more realistic.  He points out that a game can never be "real."  Bullets kill, and a wargame that was real would kill people.  He recommends those who prefer that sort of thing go into those things they want to  be real (for example, someone who wants a real wargame should join the military).  One he establishs that, he continues on the level of reality.  One comment that's notable is "How can the critic presume that his or her imagined projection of a non-existent world or conjectured future history is any more “real” than another’s?"Here Gary puts up some guidelines about "variant D&D' rules.  "I fervently desire to put the matter of variants, particularly “realistic” variants, to rest once and for all, so as to get on to other more important things, but it keeps springing up every time a sound stroke is dealt to it. Additions to and augmentations of certain parts of the D&D rules are fine. Variants which change the rules so as to imbalance the game or change it are most certainly not."He gives a few examples of "destructive variants."  The first is allowing magic-users to wield swords or fighters to use wands.  He also mentions critical hit/critical miss subsystems, as being very bad for the game (in reference to instant death rules, based on his comments).He then addresses spell point systems.  He gets quite nasty towards the APAs (amateur press association).  He states "There one finds pages and pages of banal chatter and inept writing from persons incapable of creating anything which is publishable elsewhere. Therefore, they pay money to tout their sophomoric ideas, criticise those who are able to write and design, and generally make themselves obnoxious." (Apparently, at this time, Gary was recieving loud and voracious attacks in these fanzines).  He points out that perhaps magic-users are too powerful, but that can be fixed within the system.  Point systems add nothing but more bookkeeping and complications to the game.He also mentions bits and pieces that add nothing to the game, but take nothing away either.  He specifically mentions "social status."  His opinion is that if players enjoy it, use it.Finally, he addresses the complaints about TSR keep D&D proprietary, and complaints that they do so from a completely mercenary motivation.  He points out that TSR and D&D are synonomous.  When a shoddy D&D product is release, TSR bears the brunt of the criticism. After this long, but very interesting POV article, we have a D&D Design Variant article "Why Magic Users and Clerics Can't Use Swords."   The writer essentially creates a system where they can, but their are large drawbacks in doing so.  Somewhat ironically, this article is positioned in the middle of Gary's where he decries system that allow magic users to use swords.An MA variant article "Metamorphosis Alpha Modifications" addresses the fact that only pure humans can learn to use devices or weapons.  It also discusses making mutated animals more interesting, given the strong disadvantage to playing them (having to use mutations to have human intelligence and usually for manipulation ability).My favorite part of this issue is the Chaosium ad.  This is the first Dragon appearance of Runequest!!!  One of the handful of early RPGs to successfully compete with D&D in the fantasy genre,  It clearly tries to distance itself from D&D with such comments as "no artificial character classes," "mages can use armor and wield blades,"  and a combat system based on years of experience in the SCA.  However, it doesn't skimp on the story element, opening the ad with some vivid descriptions of being a Sartarite youth raiding the Shadows Dance, or mounting your nomadic steed to raid the Big Rubble of Pavis.  At $8.00 (again, about $25) this was a great value.Next we have the conclusion of "The Green Magician" by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt.  A long out-of-print story of Harold Shea (a major contribution to the feel of D&D according to Gary), this appearing is a major coup.  This story takes up 8 pages of this issue, which was quite a bit.  Was 8 pages of the Dragon worth using up for a hall-of-fame fantasy author?  The debate still rages.Wormy has the trolls and imp handling a riot of were-creatures.  Fineous Fingers has Fred & Charly facing Grond, the anti-paladin as Fineous runs away (until he returns after feeling guilty for leaving them behind).Jim Ward addresses "Game Balance" in the Design Forum.  He distills it to one principle "if a dungeon master runs a give-away game it can’t be a well run game and the same thing applies in the opposite direction of not giving enough to the players."  However, he really starts discussing "game equilibrium" where the DM likes have players jhaving powerul magic items and begins giving tips on dealing with it (mostly coming from one word - "imagination.")So, from this issue can definitely can see the state of the game was lively.  Gary certainly gives us a view at his mindset of the state of the industry.  It seems that then, just like today, the big dog (i.e the owner of the D&D line) gets slings and arrows thrown at it by some vocal minority.  In those days it was the amateur press, today it's on the internet.  At the same time, we can see variety in point of view, even within the TSR crew.  Gary will decry monty haul gamers, yet Jim Ward will defend them.  Gary will decry allowing magic-users to use swords, but TD will print an article so they can do so.</blockquote>

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