Accessory - Dragon Magazine #139, MAGAZINES, Dragon Magazine
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S
PECIAL
A
TTRACTION
15 Into the Wizards World:
Where power is magic, and magic is all.
Publisher
Mike Cook
16
Lords & Legends
The readers
Choice, fate, struggle, and luck: how four wizards achieved greatness.
Editor
Roger E. Moore
22
Where Wizards Meet
John C. Bunnell
A guild of wizards can govern nations
or destroy them.
30
Bazaar of the Bizarre
Scott Waterhouse
Two powerful tomes that even Arch-Mages covet.
Assistant editor
Fiction editor
Robin Jenkins
Patrick L. Price
Editorial assistants
Kim Walter
Barbara G. Young
10
O
THER
F
EATURES
A Gamer's Guide to DC HEROES
Jack A. Barker
Need the stats for Krypto the Superdog? He (and others) are in this index!
Speaking With the Spirits
William A. Barton
A seance is not a party game when Great Cthulhu is involved.
Oh, look
a harmless statue!
Rone Barton
Golems made more dangerous, in thirty dirty ways.
The Visitor
fiction
by Llynne Moore
Even the mightiest of sorcerers has a secret terror.
The New, Improved Druid
Richard Hernandez
For the woodland sect: familiars, new spells, and . . .
poisons?
And the Winner Is
The editors
The gaming awards from the 1988 GEN CON®/ORIGINS Game Fair.
Hand-to-Hand
Against the Rules
Vince Garcia
Should a wu jen know kung fu? Martial arts in
Oriental Adventures.
Jetboots, dont fail me now!
Charles A. Vanelli
No one outruns a laser
but fast feet help in the STAR FRONTIERS® game.
The Dragons Bestiary
Ed Greenwood
Lock lurkers, metalmasters, and other FORGOTTEN REALMS setting
fauna.
The Role of Books
John C. Bunnell
How to fix a rip in the universe, and other unusual matters.
The Ecology of the Spectator
Dougal Demokopoliss
Always faithful, ever vigilant, and dangerous to disturb.
The Game Wizards
David Zeb Cook
The second-edition AD&D® game: ranting, raving, and 3 X 5 index cards.
When the Tanks Roll
Ed Sollers
Rescuing nations from the Web: coups in the TOP SECRET/S.I. game.
Art director
Lori Svikel
36
Production staff
Marilyn Favaro
42
Betty Elmore
Kim Janke
Carolyn Vanderbilt
46
Subscriptions
Pat Schulz
U.S. Advertising
Sheila Meehan
50
56
58
62
70
76
86
90
96
D
EPARTMENTS
3
Letters
66 Sage Advice
98 Index to Advertisers
6
Forum
92 Gamers Guide
100
SnarfQuest
14 Publishers
Statement
94 Convention
102 Dragonmirth
54
TSR Previews
Calendar
Frog Prince is the first DRAGON® Magazine cover painting by Carol Heyer, a
writer/illustrator from Thousand Oaks, Calif. The Magicians wand is still smoking
after turning his opponent into a giant frog, Carol noted in her letter. Magics are
like that, yeah they are. .
. .
The real world,
part II
What did you think of this issue? Do you have
a question about an article or have an idea for a
new feature youd like to see? In the United
States and Canada, write to: Letters, DRAGON®
Magazine, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147,
U.S.A. In Europe, write to: Letters, DRAGON
Magazine, TSR UK Limited, The Mill, Rathmore
Road, Cambridge CB1 4AD, United Kingdom.
1. Will the entire system be dropped? If so,
what will replace it?
2. If it is dropped, what will happen to those
monsters that have certain innate psionic
powers (e.g., mind flayers, intellect devourers,
brain moles, demons, duergar, etc.)?
3. Wouldnt it be better to simply overhaul or
streamline the present system in the way the
bard was done?
Im sure that there are others like myself who
would like to get some answers to these ques-
tions. The psionics system is one of the parts of
the AD&D game that I enjoy using. It is unique
to the system and shouldnt simply be discarded.
Any help you could give on this matter would
be greatly appreciated.
P.S. How about an anthology of articles that
deals with dragons only?
IN DRAGON® issue #130, I made
some editorial comments about the
real world and how it was a lot
stranger than the worlds of science-
fiction RPGs. A similar point might
be made that the real world is a lot
stranger than the worlds of fantasy
RPGs, too, though hard-core gamers
may cheerfully argue the point.
What about magic? What about
dragons? What about daring deeds
of heroism against all odds?
Well, you could make an analogy
between magic in fantasy worlds
and the power of technology in
today's world. Both accomplish a lot,
even if most of us are fuzzy about
the details of how either of them
work. Technology has also created
some interesting modern-day oppo-
nents. Would your cavalier charge a
main battle tank or an armed com-
bat helicopter? Yet unarmored sol-
diers face both daily in our world;
just check the evening news. (This
latter point also takes care of the
daring deeds comparison as well.)
We can continue the comparison
by looking at a few other themes
commonly found in fantasy game
campaigns. As you read the follow-
ing, think of similar events from
fantasy games in which you partici-
patedand compare them for a
moment.
Man vs. beast: With modern weap-
onry, the slaying of virtually any
animal is absurdly (and perhaps
obscenely) easy. Still, some people
have used relatively primitive weap-
ons and have come out on top. A
few years ago, a bowhunter was
surprised and mauled by an adult
bear in the wilderness. The
bowhunter repeatedly stabbed and
eventually killed the bear with a
single arrow; being a butcher by
trade, the bowhunter knew exactly
where to strike to do the most dam-
age the bears neck. Elephants
themselves are often slain if shot
once in the ear.
Falling damage: A Soviet pilot
jumped from his damaged aircraft in
January 1942 at 21,980 (a little over
four miles) and survived after hit-
ting the edge of a snow-covered
ravine and sliding to the bottom. A
Yugoslavian airline stewardess sur-
vived when her DC-9 blew up at
33,330'; she fell to the ground in the
Continued on page 49
Missing map
Dear Dragon:
Can you tell me where I can get the map that
will take me to the lair of the legendary undead
dragon, Dragotha?
Casey Beard
Natchitoshes LA
Thomas R. Phillips
Aberdeen ME
As noted in the description of Dragotha (in
Lords & Legends, DRAGON issue #134), men-
tion of Dragothas lair was made only in passing
on a map of another dungeon complex, White
Plume Mountain (in the AD&D® module of the
same name). However, no other map or refer-
ence to Dragotha appears anywhere in that or
other AD&D game materials. The location of the
monsters lair is in hex K4-58 on the WORLD OF
GREYHAWK® setting maps from the boxed set.
That hex is north of the Howling Hills, on the
edge of the Cold Marshes. A DM interested in
having PCs meet this undead dragon should
design detailed maps as necessary
Ancient issues
Jon Pickens, who is working with the AD&D
game revision, was consulted on your psionics
questions. He replies:
1. Yes, although withdrawn for reworking is
a more accurate description of the systems fate.
2. The monsters are being held for reissue at
a later date.
3. Yes, but revising other parts of the AD&D
game rules has priority
We usually schedule the June issue of
DRAGON Magazine for articles on dragons. We
are not publishing any further article antholo-
gies in book form though we might do it
again someday.
Merchant-dicing
Dear Dragon:
What happened to the ads for back issues of
DRAGON Magazine? The last one printed was in
issue #129, when you were offering a last
chance for lower prices on back issues.
Keith Martens
Charlotte MI
Dear Dragon:
I have two questions regarding the merchant
character class in Taking Care of Business
(DRAGON issue #136). First, does a merchant
gain experience from treasure acquired in
dungeons or adventures? Second, when a PC
changes character classes to a merchant, does
he retain all hit points?
The Mail Order Hobby Shops catalog contains
all the latest information (including updated
prices) for ordering back issues of DRAGON
Magazine and back issues of DUNGEON®
Adventures, IMAGINE Magazine, AMAZING®
Stories, and the Best of DRAGON Magazine
anthologies as well. In North America, write to:
TSR Mail Order Hobby Shop, c/o TSR, Inc., P.O.
Box 756, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A. In
Europe, write to: TSR Mail Order Catalogue,
TSR UK Limited, The Mill, Rathmore Road,
Cambridge CB1 4AD, United Kingdom. In addi-
tion, ask for DRACOL, the special collectors list
of DRAGON issues not shown in the catalog.
Chad Schafer
Charmichael CA
Yes, a merchant gains experience points from
treasure acquired while adventuring. Also, if
the merchant is being used as a PC class, all
former hit points of the character are retained
when the change to the merchant class is made.
New hit points are gained only when the PCS
level as a merchant exceeds his level in his
former class; thus, a 5th-level magic-user who
becomes a merchant gains new hit points (1-6 of
them) only when he becomes a 6th-level mer-
chant. Note that as the merchant class is struc-
tured, multiclassed nonhuman characters may
switch to this class in the same manner that
humans may use it as a dual class; this was one
of the reasons that the merchant class was
recommended as an NPC class. If used as a PC
class, it would be best if only human merchants
were used as PCs.
Psionics blasted
Dear Dragon:
I have three related questions concerning the
future of psionics and the second-edition AD&D
game system:
DRAGON
3
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