Accessory - Dragon Magazine #082, MAGAZINES, Dragon Magazine
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DRAGON 1
Publisher:
Mike Cook
Editor in-in Chief: Kim Mohan
Editorial staff: Roger Raupp
Patrick Lucien Price
Mary Kirchoff
Roger Moore
Subscriptions: Mary Cossman
Contributing editor: Ed Greenwood
Advertising Sales Administrator:
Mary Parkinson
Our article wish list
Vol. VIII, No. 8
February 1984
One of the questions Im asked most
often is What sort of an article should I
write? My stock answer is Whatever you
want, as long as its good.
Oh, I know what the question means
what subjects are we interested in seeing
articles about? But unless I think about it
ahead of time, I usually have trouble com-
ing up with a concrete answer to that ques-
tion on the spot.
And now Ive thought about it, long
enough and hard enough to come up with a
short list of topics that I think would make
good AD&D game articles. In approxi-
mate order of their desirability, they are:
(1) Given that the magical universe has
laws that govern it, just as the physical
universe does, what are the laws of magic
in the AD&D game world? What is the
nature of magic? What is magic capable of
doing, and not capable of doing?
(2) What is life (so to speak) like on the
other planes of existence? Weve done a few
of these treatments, most notably Roger
Moores essay on the Astral Plane in #67
and Ed Greenwoods tour of the Nine Hells
in #75 and #76, but lots of planes are still
unexplored.
(3) What is the rationale behind the spell
classification system (abjuration, alteration,
conjuration, and so forth)? How can this
information be put to use for game pur-
poses, or isnt it useful at all?
(4)
How does a DM calculate XP and GP
values for original magic items? Is there a
system inherent in the DMGs treasure-
table values, and can it be applied to new
magic in a way that keeps the values con-
sistent with the official rules?
(5) Aside from direct intervention by a
deity or the minions of a deity, is there a
way for a cleric to enchant magic items?
Should there be a way, or would giving
clerics this ability unbalance the game?
(6) How should henchmen and hirelings
be treated, both by a player (through his
character) and by the DM? How are the
two types different, and what can be said
about how they will generally act?
If youve been dreaming of getting an
article published in DRAGON® Magazine,
and if one of these ideas causes a light bulb
to go on inside your head, you might be on
the way to composing an article that wed
be very interested in seeing. Drop us a line
to let us know what youre working on
(especially if its an other-planes article,
since someone else might already be work-
ing on your plane) or, take the plunge
and send in a finished manuscript. Well try
to give prime consideration to wish list
manuscripts, and maybe we can both have
one of our wishes fulfilled at the same time.
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
The Baton Races of Yaz. . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
A game of tactics and Tarnoses
OTHER FEATURES
National advertising representative:
Robert Dewey
1836 Wagner Road
Glenview IL 60025
Phone (312)998-6237
The ecology of the peryton . . . . . . . . . . .10
Why hearts? Heres why
Wounds and weeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Plants to help your characters heal
Enhancing the enchanter. . . . . . . . . . . . .20
DRAGONQUEST game alterations
Rings that do weird things. . . . . . . . . . . .28
Thirteen new pieces of magical jewelry
New avenues for agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
TOP SECRET® Companion preview
Curing the Monty Haul malady. . . . . . .46
How to help a runaway campaign
This issues contributing artists:
Jerry Eaton Richard Dell
Roger Raupp Kurt Erichsen
Jim Holloway Daniel Buckley
E.B. Wagner Larry Elmore
David Hutton Phil Foglio
Dave Trampier
DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is
published monthly for a subscription price of $24
per year by Dragon Publishing, a division of
TSR, Inc. The mailing address of Dragon
Publishing for all material except subscription
orders is P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147.
DRAGON Magazine is available at hobby
stores and bookstores throughout the United
States and Canada, and through a limited
number of overseas outlets. Subscription rates
are as follows: $24 for 12 issues sent to an address
in the U.S., $30 in Canada; $50 U.S. for 12
issues sent via surface mail or $95 for 12 issues
sent via air mail to any other country. All
subscription payments must be in advance, and
should be sent to Dragon Publishing, P.O. Box
72089, Chicago IL 60690.
Spells between the covers. . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Expanding the magical research rules
Windwolf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
A fictional flight of fantasy
REGULAR OFFERINGS
A limited quantity of certain back issues of
DRAGON Magazine can be purchased from the
Dungeon Hobby Shop. (See the list of available
issues printed elsewhere in each magazine.) Pay-
ment in advance by check or money order must
accompany all orders. Payments cannot be made
through a credit card, and orders cannot be taken
nor merchandise reserved by telephone. Neither
an individual customer nor an institution can be
billed for a subscription order or a back-issue
purchase unless prior arrangements are made.
Out on a Limb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Letters and answers
The forum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Opinions and observations
The issue of expiration for each subscription is
printed on the mailing label for each subscribers
copy of the magazine. Changes of address for the
delivery of subscription copies must be received
at least six weeks prior to the effective date of the
change in order to insure uninterrupted delivery.
Convention calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Review section:
One-of-a-kind game aids . . . . . . . . . . .50
Pavis.................................52
Big Rubble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
City States of Arklyrell. . . . . . . . . . . . .54
All material published in DRAGON
Magazine becomes the exclusive property of the
publisher upon publication, unless special ar-
rangements to the contrary are made prior to
publication. DRAGON Magazine welcomes
unsolicited submissions of written material and
artwork; however, no responsibility for such sub-
missions can be assumed by the publisher in any
event. Any submission which is accompanied by
a self-addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient
size will be returned if it cannot be published.
Gamers Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Dragon Mirth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Snarfquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
DRAGON® is a registered trademark for
Dragon Publishings monthly adventure playing
aid. All rights on the contents of this publication
are reserved, and nothing may be reproduced
from it in whole or in part without first obtaining
permission in writing from the publisher.
Copyright © 1984 TSR, Inc.
Whats New?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Wormy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
DRAGON, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, TOP
SECRET, BOOT HILL, and GAMMA WORLD are regis-
tered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.
designates other trademarks owned by TSR, Inc., unless
otherwise indicated.
Second-class postage paid at Lake Geneva,
Wis., and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
Dragon Publishing, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva
WI 53147, USPS 318-790, ISSN 0279-6848.
2
FEBRUARY 1984
ames we publish in this mag-
azine have to be fun to play.
But its nice when they can also
teach us something about the
virtues of cooperation and
teamwork. And thats what
The Baton
Races of
Yaz is all about
—
Skadingles,
Flibdills, Tarnoses, and Luggants all work-
ing together to succeed.
Baton Races
is the
latest game weve published by designer C.
C. Stoll, who was also responsible for
Flight
of the Boodles
(issue
#60)
and
Arrakhar’s
Wand
(#69). I dont know where he gets his
ideas, but I hope he keeps on getting them.
If this issues cover painting looks dark
and gloomy to you, then artist Jerry Eaton
did his job well. The scene portrays what a
dungeon would look like if the only signifi-
cant light source came from the casting of a
Mordenkainen’s sword
spell. It looks like
the wizard in the background has matters
well in hand even though his hand is
nowhere near the sword.
Our AD&D game articles in this issue
are led off by The ecology of the peryton,
in which Nigel Findley gets to the (ahem)
heart of the matter in explaining that
strange creature. Wounds and weeds by
Kevin Thompson suggests ways that char-
acters can use the flora they find around
them to make up for the absence of a cleric
with a healing spell; and in Rings that do
weird things, a DM can get ideas on how
to freshen up a treasure hoard with magic
rings that are unlike any of those that play-
ers may have accidentally read about in
the DMG.
One of the most complicated and open-
ended aspects of the AD&D rules is the
section on spell research. In Spells be-
tween the covers, Bruce Heard does some
research of his own on ways in which DMs
can moderate their characters attempts to
build up libraries and design distinctive new
forms of magic.
The DRAGONQUEST game has a
magic system of an entirely different sort,
and Craig Barrett has some definite ideas
on how to go about Enhancing the en-
chanter. Even those of you who dont play
that game may get some inspiration from
the magical principles and concepts he
discusses and develops.
TOP SECRET® game players who have
waited long and patiently for expansions
and additions to the rules dont have to be
patient any longer. New avenues for
agents is the first installment of a short
series of articles previewing the contents of
the TOP SECRET Companion, soon to be
released by TSR.
Our fiction feature this month is
Windwolf, a story thats difficult to char-
acterize without giving away the plot . . . so
Ill stop right there, and just say that I hope
you enjoy it.
And thats about the end of the space for
this issue. Have a happy Valentines Day,
and may your heart be stolen by something
other than a peryton.
KM
Strange but true
Dear Editor:
I have just discovered another error in the
listing of my chi-square program (#78). Line 670
should read NT=NF. . . instead of NT=NC. . . .
The result of this error is that in standard (un-
grouped) mode, the message regarding the test
will be wrong (always biased in most BASICs)
The chi-square value is still correct, however,
Im not sure of the source of this error. It
doesnt appear on my program listing, but since I
didnt have a printer at that time, what I sent you
was a typed transcript of the listing, and I cant
find a copy of that now. Well, if it was my error,
sorry. Regardless, I would appreciate your in-
forming your readers of the correction.
David G. Weeks
Webster Groves, Mo.
Dear Dragon,
In issue #80 in the adventure Barnacus: City
in Peril, Haermond II is listed as having a
strength of 8. This is impossible, even if he is
venerable, due to the statement in the DMG, p.
13 under aging, . . . any adjustments cannot
lower any ability below racial or class mini-
mums. I would like to ask what the correct
strength should be.
Jay Elliott
Sherrard, Ill.
Dear Editor:
Im writing in reference to The Ecology of the
Treant in issue #79. In this article, a halfling,
Clarissa, is a druid. This presents a great prob-
lem, for in the Players Handbook it clearly states
that halflings cannot be druids. Therefore, it may
create some confusion to AD&D players who read
DRAGON Magazine.
Dear Editor:
About the article Treasures rare and won-
drous (#80), I have a question concerning
number 31. You said the staff had two rubies
worth 500 gp each and the foot was shod with 25
gp worth of adamantite. This comes out to 1,025
gp, but the chart said it was worth 10,025 gp.
Which is the correct price?
Greg DeGruccio
Round Rock, Tex.
Neither of these characterizations was a mis-
take, because both of the characters in question
were portrayed as non-player characters. It is
perhaps unusual, but nonetheless legal, for an
NPC to have a characteristic outside the normal
racial or class limitations, which are meant to be
strictly adhered to only when player characters
are considered. Similarly the rules do indeed
prohibit PC halflings from being druids, but the
Players Handbook just as clearly allows them to
be druids if the character in question is a non-
player character. — KM
Greg McLean
Eustis, Fla.
Dear Kim,
Thanks for your kind editorial words introduc-
ing my first DRAGON article, Living in a
material world (#81). Alas, when sorting
through my tables and notes, I uncovered an
error (mine) which needs a bit of correction. In
Table VI, the last sentence of the entry for the
druidical spell changestaff should be changed to
read:
Curing the staff by sun drying and special
smoke requires 28 days. Shaping, carving,
smoothing, and polishing requires another 28
days. The finished staff, showing scenes of
woodland life, is then rubbed with the juice of
holly berries. This work must be done by a
druid of at least 3rd level, and will cost 5,000
gp.
Also, on the top of p. 66, the effectiveness of
substituted spell components depends on their
(a) appropriateness and (b) expense rather
than on their (a) effectiveness and (b) expense.
Michael Dobson
Lake Geneva, Wis.
Fixing our foul-ups
Dear Editor,
Katharine Kerrs article on castles in the
December issue was informative and stimulating.
One serious error was the definition of a hectare
as 10,000 square kilometers. The article notes
that it took fifteen to thirty peasant families to
work a holding of forty to one hundred hectares
in order to support a knight
et
al. With hectares
as large as the articles, agriculture must have
been labor-intensive
indeed.
Okay, let’s take ‘em one at a time.
The hectare mistake appeared in Katharine
Kerr’s original manuscript. (Of course, it should
be 10,000 square meters, not kilometers.) I know
she’d be willing to take all the blame, because
she’s a nice person, but we really should have
noticed the error and corrected it in our editing.
The missing number 67 on the map is our fault
— and no, we don’t make mistakes on purpose.
It’s a good thing there was only one bridge in the
city, isn’t it?
I pulled David’s original listing of the chi-
square program from our files and discovered
that the mistake did appear in the typed tran-
Thomas Mullen
Taipei, Taiwan
Dear Dragon,
I have read through Barnacus: City in Peril
(#80) and have found but one error. On the map
there is no number 67, yet on the following page
number 67 is described as being a bridge. The
only bridge on the map is the one joining the two
sides of the city together. I was wondering if the
number was left out purposely or was it an error?
Kedar Warriner
Beaconsfield, Quebec
D
RAGON
3
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