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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Glyfair" data-source="post: 2894386" data-attributes="member: 53">The Dragon #19 October 1978<img src="http://paizo.com/image/product/magazine_issue/dragon/19/cover_120.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />I'll start with one note here.  Last issue's rant by Gary about protecing TSR's IP seems to have been taken to heart with a very large use of the registered trademark symbol next to "D&D" everywhere in the issue.  D&D is used often in titles and the symbol is quite intrusive in the titles.The "Dragon Rumbles" column focuses mostly on GenCon XI, along with a side column by Gary Gygax lauding the people behind Origins '78.  For comparison purposes, it's noted GenCon had attendance of about 2000 people, and that was down from last year.  He attributes part of poor weather, part to it's closeness to Origins and also to the lack of cheap dorm facilities.  He also mentions the bad taste from a number of people dressed up in WWII uniforms with at least on exhibitor doing so when they weren't a wargame or figure company (hints imply that some Nazi overtones were present, but it's not clear)."The Battle for Snurre's Hall - The Origins '78 D&D Tournament" gives a synopsis of the first two rounds of the tournament, and details of the last round by two members of the team that won the event.  This was a West Virginia group who describes their style as "slash and hack with a large dose of planning and cunning tossed in to insure our escape."  It should be noted the winners are listed and the group had 9 players.  Round one had the group assaulting a hill giant's stronghold, round two had them enter a frost giant's lair and the final round lead them to a hall of fire giants.  Hmmm...this sounds somewhat familiar.  Actually, it's noted by the editor (and DM of the second round) that they will be amazed at how much they missed when they read Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl.  All three modules are "pimped" in this article, noting they cost $4.49 each (which is $13.72 in today's dollars) except for G3 which is $4.99 ($15.25)."How Many Ettins is a Fire Giant Worth: Competitive D&D" discusses methods for scoring D&D tournaments.  It's mentioned that the Origins tournament was scored giving points for killng giants, examining rooms, finding clues and multiplying that value by the number of survivors.  It's also mentioned that GenCon  XI used D2 & D3 as their modules and used a different system.  The parties had to go from G3 to follow the drow.  The most points were awarded for finding the one path around the Shire of the Kuo-Toa that allowed them to pass unscathed.  However, points were awarded for killng Kuo-Toa and also for finding information about this new race.  However, in round 2 all but one team was decimated by a demon encounter (the surviving team only lost one party member in that encounter), thus creating a problem choosing which teams to fill the other slots."A Compendium of Diverse D&D Personalities, or a Pigeonhole for Nearly Everyone You Ever Adventured With" is an early attempt to pigeonhole certain player types.  This list consists of the poor loser, the doomsday predictor, the masochist, the smug player, the genius, the real-lifer, shy people and the dominant player.Gary puts together a charticle on "Gamma World - A List of 'Treasures' to be Found."  Not much to say here, just a list of things to find, something he was good at putting together (as the AD&D DMG shows).Gary Jacquet takes over "From the Sorcerer's Scroll" this issue to bring us "Gamma World:  More Excerpts from the Journal of Hald Sevrin."  He describes the long road in developing Gamma World (Hiero's Journey is mentioned as an inspiration).  It also describes the background of the game as from a Journal of a character in that time (thus the title).Wormy, it should be noted, takes up two pages this issue, although not consecutive ones.  Fineous Fingers focuses on a paladin attacking a dragon in the "Prelude to Dragonquest."A D&D Variant article discusses "The Lowdown on Wishes."  The problem of dealing with wishes has been around for quite a while, and this is just one article on the problem.  Along with some normal comments, he recommends breaking wishes down into 4 classes with variant effects."Planning Creative Treasures" is a Design Forum article discussing...well, the title covers it pretty well.  Nothing groundbreaking focusing on having themes and having treasures connected.Yet another GD&H listing appears in a D&D Variant article "The Mythos of Australia in Dungeons & Dragons."  This covers the mythos of the aborigine."Systemic Magic - Revised Magic Tables" discusses breaking up spells into themed lists.  It breaks up the various classes spell lists into themed tables (Control, Summoning, etc.)  It has new mechanics that govern such things as spell fatigue, etc.Allen Hammack gives us a sequel "The Fastest Guns that Never Lived III."  This article focuses mostly on the characters from the Magnificent Seven and the Maverick brothers/cousin (of particular interest to me, as a James Garner fan).  "A Mixture of Magic and Technology:  Gamma World" is a review of Gamma World.  This article is postive, but focuses on Clarkes Law using technology/magic comparison to compare D&D to Gamma World."Spell Determination for Hostile Magic-Users or Why Did He Throw that Spell," a D&D Variant article, consists of charts to determine which spells a magic-user is throwing in a round (if an inappropriate spell is rolled, you can reroll). A solution to avoiding that bookkeeping intensive role of putting together a D&D magic-users spell list."Charts for Determing the Location of Treasure" is a true charticle with absolutely nothing besides the chart."Footsteps in the Sky" is an uncredited fiction piece that finishes up the magazine.In notable ads we have the first Runequest support materials advertised (Balastor's Barracks & Trolls and Trollkin).  Heritage models has some posable Star Trek figures listed describing "Star Trek Adventure Gaming Rules.'  I was unaware of any Star Trek game before FASA produced one, so this suprised me.  The tagline was "When you buy Star Trek figurines from us...you get the real McCoy!"  They are $10.95 each (about $33 today) for the 75mm figures and $2.95 (about $9) for the 25mm dioramas.  The rulebook is $5.95 (about $18).  Tribes of Crane also has a full-page advertisement.  This is one of the few play-by-mail games I ever considered trying.This issue gives us a look into the D&D convention scene.  In those days the adventures from the major D&D tournament is reproduced as a commercial product and becomes a classic.  Last year's D&D Open adventures were reproduced in Dungeon and is given a big thumbs down.  Has the gaming public become jaded, or has the quality of those adventures taken a nosedive?</blockquote>

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