Dragon Publishing released Dragon #73 in May 1983. It is 100 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00. In this issue, we have half-ogres, non-violent magic items, and the inner planes!
This month's Special Attraction is an AD&D adventure called "Forest of Doom," which was written by Scott Butler and placed first in the recent Module Design Contest. It is set in the land of Launewt, which borders a dangerous forest that is the source of recent raids. A concerned young lord from the Council of Launewt commissions the adventurers to investigate. It's an artfully created adventure with a variety of challenges, but it appears to be Butler's only RPG publication.
We have an impressive selection of Other Features. First up is a pair of articles by prolific columnist Arthur Collins. "The Duelist" is an NPC class focusing on swordplay, honor, and self-reliance. Duelists might be hired for personal protection, to settle scores, or even to train nobility in the refined arts of combat. In "When It Gets Hit, It Gets Hurt," Collins proposes various mechanics to represent the realistic damage and maintenance of weapons and armor. For example, if a combatant rolls a natural 20, they might damage their opponent's armor. And when someone rolls a 1, weapons may get notched. This sort of thing can be fun, but it is not for all tables.
"The Solo Scenario" by Katharine Kerr explores the nuances and challenges of creating D&D adventures designed explicitly for a single player and DM. Though such scenarios have been part of the hobby since its earliest days, they've never been very popular as commercial D&D products.
After last month's article on the piercer, Chris Elliot and Richard Edwards return with "The Ecology of the Catoblepas," which I always thought was the most awkward of D&D monsters. This piece is written for laughs and only provides a little gameable information, but the series it spawned was much more helpful.
After a nearly two-year absence from the magazine, Paul Montgomery Crabaugh returns with a pair of articles. In "Relief for Traveller nobility, " he complains that noble birth in Traveller does not confer any of the expected benefits and suggests rules for estate ownership, revenues, and retainers. In "Patching the Cracks in Champions," he presents various house rules for the popular superhero game that cover wealth, living standards, and employment. Crabaugh was a talented designer but sadly passed away in 1985.
I consider this one a classic. "Non-violent Magic Items" by Lewis Pulsipher and Roland Gettliffe is a collection of 100 fun and imaginative arcane devices. Some items are pedestrian, but others show fantastic creativity, and it seems clear that this article influenced the development of the modern game's "common" magic items. Pulsipher will be familiar to many readers, but this appears to be Gettliffe's only RPG publication.
Several short articles present new D&D player options. "The Whole Half-Ogre" by Roger Moore takes the race proposed by Gygax back in Dragon #29 and fleshes it out with additional background material. Moore was especially adept at this sort of article and does a good job here. In "Thief's climb should be leveled out," John T. Sapienza suggests the thief progression table in the D&D Expert Set is flawed and proposes some minor fixes to beef up the class. And in "A Rare Way of Viewing the Wish," Lewis Pulsipher suggests wish spells should be once-in-a-lifetime events with reality-altering power rather than the nerfed versions of recent D&D editions.
"The Sagittarian" is a short story by Jessica Amanda Salmonson about Ain of the Arrow and his hunt for the great stag, Elo. Salmonson is best known for her novel Tomoe Gozen, which is about a female samurai.
Finally, "File 13 followup report" is a collection of errata for Tom Wham's File 13 game, which he published in the previous issue. This article is rather fitting since File 13 is about the challenges of successful game publication!
On to the Regular Offerings! In "From the Sorcerer's Scroll," Gary Gygax talks about the inner planes, though he has a peculiar angle. He notes that Deities & Demigods presents the planes as a torus, which many readers have criticized. After considering a couple of options, he depicts the inner planes as a cube, with the positive and negative planes comprising the upper and lower faces. The edges of the four elemental faces depict the four para-elemental planes, while the cube's corners depict eight new quasi-element planes (lightning, steam, etc). Gygax even supplies a colored cut-out cube so readers can have their own planar depiction in 3D. Phew!
In "Up on a Soapbox," Roger E. Moore critiques the trend for RPG conventions to award individual players instead of teams. He argues that this emphasis on individual prowess can undermine the inherently collaborative nature of most RPGs and notes that a hallmark of a skilled role-player is the ability to function harmoniously within a group.
There are three game reviews this month. Moon Base Clavius by Task Force Games is set in a fictional 1996 where Soviet forces attack an American moon base, leading to a conflict in space. With 108 die-cut counters and a grayscale map, the game offers four scenarios, each depicting different battle phases. Despite the engaging premise and detailed components, the game fails to deliver an exciting experience. Tony Watson comments, "The idea behind Clavius is a good one, but the game begs for some chrome, something to spice it up meaningfully. As is, it quickly becomes a dull exercise."
Grav Armor by Heritage is an armored fighting vehicle game set in the 31st century. It is part of the "Dwarfstar" line and features pocket-sized components. The game mechanics allow dynamic player interaction with unique unit detection and combat rules. There are various scenarios, though the game lacks a context for the overall conflict. Watson says, "While not in the classic mode of Ogre, Grav Armor is certainly a worthy addition to the genre."
Finally, Dragonmaster by Lowe (a division of Milton Bradley) is a fantasy card game for three to four players aged twelve and above. The game boasts premium components, such as 33 beautifully illustrated character cards, five unique "hand" cards, score charts, and plastic "jewels" stored in a cloth pouch. Players aim to amass the most jewels by playing various hands. Despite its high-quality components, Glenn Rahman concludes, "Dragonmaster is a bland and simplistic card game."
Susan Collins designed this month's cover. Interior artists include Dave Trampier, Keith Parkinson, E. B. Wagner, Jim Holloway, Edward Atwood, Roger Raupp, Joshua Mittleman, Jerry Eaton, Roger Moore, Mike Carroll, Jim Testa, and Phil Foglio.
And that's a wrap! At 100 pages, this is the largest issue we've seen, and it is full of interesting content. My favorite article was "Non-violent Magic Items." Next issue, we have new dragons, computer character creation, and a new AD&D playing aid!
This month's Special Attraction is an AD&D adventure called "Forest of Doom," which was written by Scott Butler and placed first in the recent Module Design Contest. It is set in the land of Launewt, which borders a dangerous forest that is the source of recent raids. A concerned young lord from the Council of Launewt commissions the adventurers to investigate. It's an artfully created adventure with a variety of challenges, but it appears to be Butler's only RPG publication.
We have an impressive selection of Other Features. First up is a pair of articles by prolific columnist Arthur Collins. "The Duelist" is an NPC class focusing on swordplay, honor, and self-reliance. Duelists might be hired for personal protection, to settle scores, or even to train nobility in the refined arts of combat. In "When It Gets Hit, It Gets Hurt," Collins proposes various mechanics to represent the realistic damage and maintenance of weapons and armor. For example, if a combatant rolls a natural 20, they might damage their opponent's armor. And when someone rolls a 1, weapons may get notched. This sort of thing can be fun, but it is not for all tables.
"The Solo Scenario" by Katharine Kerr explores the nuances and challenges of creating D&D adventures designed explicitly for a single player and DM. Though such scenarios have been part of the hobby since its earliest days, they've never been very popular as commercial D&D products.
After last month's article on the piercer, Chris Elliot and Richard Edwards return with "The Ecology of the Catoblepas," which I always thought was the most awkward of D&D monsters. This piece is written for laughs and only provides a little gameable information, but the series it spawned was much more helpful.
After a nearly two-year absence from the magazine, Paul Montgomery Crabaugh returns with a pair of articles. In "Relief for Traveller nobility, " he complains that noble birth in Traveller does not confer any of the expected benefits and suggests rules for estate ownership, revenues, and retainers. In "Patching the Cracks in Champions," he presents various house rules for the popular superhero game that cover wealth, living standards, and employment. Crabaugh was a talented designer but sadly passed away in 1985.
I consider this one a classic. "Non-violent Magic Items" by Lewis Pulsipher and Roland Gettliffe is a collection of 100 fun and imaginative arcane devices. Some items are pedestrian, but others show fantastic creativity, and it seems clear that this article influenced the development of the modern game's "common" magic items. Pulsipher will be familiar to many readers, but this appears to be Gettliffe's only RPG publication.
Several short articles present new D&D player options. "The Whole Half-Ogre" by Roger Moore takes the race proposed by Gygax back in Dragon #29 and fleshes it out with additional background material. Moore was especially adept at this sort of article and does a good job here. In "Thief's climb should be leveled out," John T. Sapienza suggests the thief progression table in the D&D Expert Set is flawed and proposes some minor fixes to beef up the class. And in "A Rare Way of Viewing the Wish," Lewis Pulsipher suggests wish spells should be once-in-a-lifetime events with reality-altering power rather than the nerfed versions of recent D&D editions.
"The Sagittarian" is a short story by Jessica Amanda Salmonson about Ain of the Arrow and his hunt for the great stag, Elo. Salmonson is best known for her novel Tomoe Gozen, which is about a female samurai.
Finally, "File 13 followup report" is a collection of errata for Tom Wham's File 13 game, which he published in the previous issue. This article is rather fitting since File 13 is about the challenges of successful game publication!
On to the Regular Offerings! In "From the Sorcerer's Scroll," Gary Gygax talks about the inner planes, though he has a peculiar angle. He notes that Deities & Demigods presents the planes as a torus, which many readers have criticized. After considering a couple of options, he depicts the inner planes as a cube, with the positive and negative planes comprising the upper and lower faces. The edges of the four elemental faces depict the four para-elemental planes, while the cube's corners depict eight new quasi-element planes (lightning, steam, etc). Gygax even supplies a colored cut-out cube so readers can have their own planar depiction in 3D. Phew!
In "Up on a Soapbox," Roger E. Moore critiques the trend for RPG conventions to award individual players instead of teams. He argues that this emphasis on individual prowess can undermine the inherently collaborative nature of most RPGs and notes that a hallmark of a skilled role-player is the ability to function harmoniously within a group.
There are three game reviews this month. Moon Base Clavius by Task Force Games is set in a fictional 1996 where Soviet forces attack an American moon base, leading to a conflict in space. With 108 die-cut counters and a grayscale map, the game offers four scenarios, each depicting different battle phases. Despite the engaging premise and detailed components, the game fails to deliver an exciting experience. Tony Watson comments, "The idea behind Clavius is a good one, but the game begs for some chrome, something to spice it up meaningfully. As is, it quickly becomes a dull exercise."
Grav Armor by Heritage is an armored fighting vehicle game set in the 31st century. It is part of the "Dwarfstar" line and features pocket-sized components. The game mechanics allow dynamic player interaction with unique unit detection and combat rules. There are various scenarios, though the game lacks a context for the overall conflict. Watson says, "While not in the classic mode of Ogre, Grav Armor is certainly a worthy addition to the genre."
Finally, Dragonmaster by Lowe (a division of Milton Bradley) is a fantasy card game for three to four players aged twelve and above. The game boasts premium components, such as 33 beautifully illustrated character cards, five unique "hand" cards, score charts, and plastic "jewels" stored in a cloth pouch. Players aim to amass the most jewels by playing various hands. Despite its high-quality components, Glenn Rahman concludes, "Dragonmaster is a bland and simplistic card game."
Susan Collins designed this month's cover. Interior artists include Dave Trampier, Keith Parkinson, E. B. Wagner, Jim Holloway, Edward Atwood, Roger Raupp, Joshua Mittleman, Jerry Eaton, Roger Moore, Mike Carroll, Jim Testa, and Phil Foglio.
And that's a wrap! At 100 pages, this is the largest issue we've seen, and it is full of interesting content. My favorite article was "Non-violent Magic Items." Next issue, we have new dragons, computer character creation, and a new AD&D playing aid!
