The three and the three. Time for a next issue. This one kinda lacks the spice and material that the previous issues had. A large portion of the magazine is sacrificed by a generic ass story, and also a gigantic list of international DMs, which is actually quite interesting to see and read. But unfortunately, there’s not a lot going on here when it comes to the articles. The ones I enjoyed the most are the ones by the Fantasysmith, and that is it. A sad 2 out 5.
There’s some interesting new miniatures in page 21, what seems to be some raiders and knights.
Ads are storming this issue. There are ton of them and various full page spreads, including an ad for Dave’s Arneson’s Adventure’s in Fantasy. While I haven’t read the game, it is well accepted that it was quite mediocre and various reviews look at it negatively.
Content:
Cover to Cover: By Jake. Well, this is just a description of the content found inside this issue, which I already going to review article by article, so I feel it is a little redundant to list it again here. It is like the review of the review of the review. Heh.
Dragon Rumbles: By T. J. Kask. A touching editorial where Kask talks about some of the warmth and love from the fan letters, and how the team works together and they would read the “letter of the day” and have some laughs. Kask is also not going to be answering the Out on a Limb column anymore since he’s busy with some other work, including the distribution of White Dwarf (I wasn’t aware that TSR was in charge of the US distribution of White Dwarf) and expanding Dragon, which brings us to the not so touching new issues. Dragon is getting bigger and a little bit more expensive, but sadly, all future editions that contain adventures or games are now going to have an special extra charge in the future. So much for the freebie.
Out on a Limb: First letter is by Dan Bromberg and is just errata from the August 1979 issue. A little late. Next letter by, well, look at this, Ed Greenwood! Always fascinating to see this character pop out every once in a while, as a fan rather than a creator. His letter asks the question: Is White Dwarf going to be distributed by TSR? It seems so! He also asks for a lifetime subscription to Dragon (I can respect that) and to please hire a typesetter (I also need one heh). Yes, please, do that. Next letter is by Sam Vaughn, and he has the simplest request ever: To see a picture of Gary Gygax. The editor, of course, complies.
Fantasysmith’s Notebook: Paradise for Painterly People: Once again, the Fantasysmith making some glorious guides to help you bring your fantasy life into a tabletop reality. This article is a guide on how to start painting and also some tips on improving your speed while still retaining some consistency in visual quality. It mentions that Kask, as an example, takes around 40 minutes to paint a single mini, yet the author claims you can do it in about 5 minutes. Of course, any miniature painter nowadays knows of speedpainting and how it is actually possible to paint good while also being fast. It just requires practice and a lack of fear to mess up. It illustrates the steps with some cool illustrations that I can’t read quite well due to the low quality of the scan (it looks like the illustrations are pictures that where then scanned and paste it on the magazine) and resolution.
The Eyes of Mavis Deval: By Gardner F. Fox. Aaaaaand more Niall of the Far Travels. I don’t feel like reading any more of this generic piece of work, so yeah, did not read this one.
A CAU for NPC’s Gives Encounters More Believability: By H.R. Lovins. I have no idea what a CAU is, but… there’s a libido table of random, libidos? For use in party with several ladies. Yeah I don’t really know and I’m not sure I want to know lol.
AD&Ds Magic System: How and Why It Works: By Gary Gygax. I love how Gary Gygax has a fucking trademark symbol next to it for some reason. In this article, Gary explains or more or less the inspiration behind the magic system in D&D and why it works. The system mostly comes inspired by the worlds of Jack Vance, particularly the type of “mnemonic” that D&D uses. According to Gary, a magic user uses words to redirect and take power from some unknown source, and uses it to his will. It is an interesting read that explains more how Gary came with the concept of magic, than how magic actually works in the world of D&D. I guess, to date, consistency and ease-of-access in D&D lore hasn’t always been quite the forte for the game.
Converting the New Game into the Old Lanhkmar: By F.C. MacKnight. A rather large conversion guide for the lanhkmar board game. Can’t comment much since I barely know about the setting, and even less about the actual boardgame, but it seems this one is designed to make the current version (back then) into the old setting. I guess?
Smoothing Out Some Snaps In the D&D Spell Structure: By Lenard Lakofka. This is more or less what I imagine a “mod” from videogames, is translated into TTRPGs. A series of different replacements and tweaks to various spells from D&D. According to Lakofka, he and Gygax disagreed in a lot of things regarding the spell, so he did this article about the spells he considers should be modified. It is a big article too, quite big.
Convention Schedule 1980: ORCON IV (Jan. 18-20,1980), WARCON ’80 (Feb. 1-3, 1980), GENCON SOUTH (Feb. 15-17, 1980), DUNDRACON 5 (Feb. 16-18, 1980), EMPEROR’S BIRTHDAY CONVENTION IX (Feb. 16, 1980), WISCON 4 (March 7-9, 1980), COASTCON ’80 (March 14-16, 1980), SPRING REVEL (March 29-30, 1980), WV U-CON II (May 2-4, 1980), GENGHIS CON II (May 23-26, 1980), EMPIRICON II/CON-SPIRACY (July 4-6, 1980), PHRINGECON (July 11-13, 1980), GLASC V (July 11-13, 1980).
Clerics, take note: “No Swords” means No Swords!: By Lawrance Huss. Some bullshit piss poor excuse about why clerics can’t use swords, making use of so called theological and allegorical reasons, ’cause swords are meant to cut and release blood, while maces are the natural growth of the staff. If history can tell us something, maces and flails are far more brutal than swords. The article is more or less done in a semi-jokingly note, but some of the excuses are pretty poor and I don’t find sense in them other than making things difficulty and conservative.
Mapping the Dungeons II: The International DM List for 1980: Well this is a massive undertaking, I can’t imagine the logistic behind it. We have over 1,008 listed dungeon masters right here, from almost every single state and also including various gaming clubs and organizations. I’m still amazed by how people were quite open about giving their addresses back then just so they could find someone to play with. This list also includes game masters from other games, including wargames. If I must admit, I would probably have listed myself there hah. There’s also some DMs and clubs from overseas, with Canada and Australia having the biggest lists. There’s a single DM in the country of Togo in Africa. I imagine this guy probably struggled to find players. Can understand that.
Bazaar of the Bizarre: Magical Oils: Try Lotions Instead of Potions: By Larry Walters. A collection of joke potions based in real life lotions, including Old Spice, and… Cumin Seed? Alright. Some potions here are quite interesting and might find some use, but most of them are just to give some laughs to your table. Or bad looks.
Sage Advice: By Jean Wells. The usual Q&A with a variety of questions that range from what the price of the upcoming DMG is, to some more in-game complexities and even advice about how to run the game as a DM. One in particular seems to point out how a newbie DM didn’t properly check on a MU that became far too strong and far too rich too quick, so the DM tried to kill him but failed. The question is: should a DM kill powerful players like this? The answer is a resounding no, of course, there’s far more classier ways to deal with such situations. It does put into perspective this question (and other articles) how a lot of DMs really were trying to kill and make the life of their players difficult, despite various official articles and books stating otherwise. Even Gary advices against this idea, but then again, he would go on to make Tomb of Horrors and traumatize an entire generation so there’s that. Also:
QUESTION: May thieves use bows?
ANSWER: No
What?? Why? I feel like ranged weapons have been a mainstay of rogues/thieves since forever, or is it something only the ranger can do know? Once again, another case of clerics and swords.
The Electric Eye: Computer Technology and Terminology: By Mark Herro. A new Dragon column presents us the technology side of things. Step aside old man, the future is now! Back when computers were as heavy as gym equipment and as expensive as a car. Miss the good old era of CTRs that could melt your eyes? I don’t! And I actually got to live some of it, I do, however, miss the gaming industry of the 90s and 2000s, but that’s a tale for another story. This article here is pretty much a basic introduction to what a PC is, how they work, mor or less, and their impact in D&D and TTRPGs. This is a new era, boys. One that it is quite fantastical as scary. Ultima still is a few years away from coming, but D&D is going to be soon translated into the square 4:3 screen.
Game review: Wizard: By Brad McMillan. A boardgame based around magical combat using wizards as characters. The reviewer gives good praise to both the production quality of the board, the game itself and the mechanics of it, as well as it more or less accessible price.
Game review: Wizard’s Quest: By Bill Fawcett. Another wizard game that follows the basic premise of magical combat. This boardgame includes a large variety of pieces and materials, while still being top notch, however, the reviewer dislikes the similarity in art style and lack of variation, but other than that, he gives it a lot of praise, a little too much perhaps. Also quite as expensive as the previous game.
Magazine reviews: The Apprentice and Gamelog: By Gary Gygax. Ugh, this guy again. It is always more enjoyable to have good to say about something. Says the guy that shredded to pieces the last two magazines he reviewed, including their authors. This time he spends his time praising the magazines while making some off handed remarks to other “mediocre” zines, in his own words. It almost feels as if trying to compensate for the previous shit fest that he caused with the readers.
Game review: Invasion of the Air Eaters: By Tony Watson. Woah ’tis but a big review. A campy 50s-inspired micro game where aliens try to replace the Earth’s air with something else. You and other player face off in a battle of humans vs aliens in a typical hex map. The reviewer highly praises the game in mechanics and style, really enjoying its aesthetic and B-movie vibe. I too, like that.
Dragon’s Bestiary: Frosts: By Roger Moore. Not exactly the most interesting monster out there. It is a fairy with the main difference being that it’s themed around ice and cold. They aren’t particularly aggressive and will mostly attack evil creatures and are willing to help out others that need it. They are particularly useful with their ability to control temperatures and their ice attacks. Seems to be a better case of a helper/DM NPC, than an enemy.
Endless Questing 