Drmg062, Dragon
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D
RAGON
1
Those of you who saw a copy of the
December 1981 issue of DRAGON™
Magazine may recall a readership survey
form attached to the center of that issue.
Some of you — about 7,000 at last count
— even filled it out and sent it in. We
thought you might be interested in the
results....
Mr./Ms. Average DRAGON Reader is
usually male (95% of the time, at least)
and a little over 16½ years old. Get a
group of five DRAGON readers together,
and four of them will be students.
DRAGON readers have been playing
games on the average for a little more
than two years, and most also serve as a
DM for half the time they spend gaming.
Not surprisingly, heroic fantasy was
the most popular topic for games among
our readers. But science fiction showed
some strength we didn’t know it had;
two-thirds of the respondents marked
SF as one of their favorite game topics.
Another point of interest, particularly
to aspiring lawyers and Sage Advice
fans, is the subject of interpretation of
rules. For board games, 61% of the re-
spondents said rules should be followed
as closely as possible, and only 17% had
the opposite opinion. For role-playing
games, the percentages were 42% to
37% in favor of following rules as closely
as possible — but only 35% said their
gamemaster actually followed the offi-
cial rules as well as possible, compared
to 34% who felt the opposite way.
The single most important fact we
“learned” (which we always suspected
but never knew for sure before) is that
you, the reader, want information on the
D&D® and AD&D™ games — as much,
and as detailed, as we can possibly give
you. And we’ll aim to please. However,
we won’t follow your likes and dislikes to
the point of using 29.92% of our space
every month for new non-player charac-
ters, just because that was the percent-
age of respondents who said they want
more NPCs. Rather, we’ll take all your
preferences into consideration and try to
give you more— or, at least, not any less
— of everything you said you like.
For the record, we promised free one-
year subscriptions to five respondents
chosen at random. The lucky winners
are Chris Hunt, Bethesda, Md.; Evan
Franke, Carmel Valley, Calif.; Robert
Simpson, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jeff
Rentsch, Mendham, N.J.; and Edward
Rigdon of Chicago. Our congratulations
to them — and, before we run out of
room, there are a few people who de-
serve credit for composing the survey
and compiling the results— Gordon Gile
of the TSR marketing department and
Bryce Knorr of our staff for figuring out
what questions to ask, and Jim Curtis
and Maude Reek of the TSR Hobbies
computer department for totaling all the
answers. And I’d also like to thank the
members of the Academy....
Contents
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
Chinatown: The Jaded Temple — An adventure
for TOP SECRET® agents .......................... 35
ragons don’t care much about how old they are, at
least not on a year-by-year basis. But we humans
who create and distribute DRAGON™ Magazine like
to celebrate every chance we get — and this is one
of those times. DRAGON issue #62 marks the sixth
anniversary of our first publication. We’re glad to still be
around, and we’re glad that so many of you like it that way.
Leading off this month’s features is an anniversary tradition
— we call it our “full-blown dragon section,” for reasons that
should be obvious once you see the painting on page 5.
This month’s cover art doesn’t have a dragon in it, but nobody
on this end is complaining. Larry Elmore’s striking scene of a
mighty knight ganging up on a group of orcs goes well with the
latest installment of our series on the humanoid races by Con-
tributing Editor Roger Moore. The “rude, crude” half-orcs are
examined in detail, along with five new orcish deities that are
even ruder and cruder than the ruffians who worship them.
W ith two exceptions, every article inside this issue pertains to
the D&D® and AD&D™ game systems. One of those exceptions
is a big one — Chinatown: The Jaded Temple, an original
adventure written by Jerry Epperson for the TOP SECRET®
game. The other is about the new GANGBUSTERS!™ game
from TSR Hobbies, outlined for you by designer Mark Acres.
In From the Sorceror’s Scroll, Gary Gygax makes amends for
the lack of official information about AD&D spell books. Follow-
ing that is Contributing Editor Ed Greenwood’s imaginative
piece describing some spell books that just might turn up in a
treasure trove some day. Ed also provided The Scribe, a new
and expanded version of a non-player character type that was
first described ‘way back in issue #3 of DRAGON Magazine.
As proof of the fact that things are not always what they seem,
check out
Leomund’s Tiny Hut, on the topic of “Magic for
merchants,” and Zadron’s Pouch of Wonders, a grab bag that
you might not want to be left holding. Maybe it would make a
good birthday present — if you’re not overly concerned about
making it to your next birthday.... — KM
OTHER FEATURES
Our annual full-blown dragon section .................... 5
Faerie Dragon ...................................... 6
Steel Dragon ....................................... 8
Grey Dragon
........................................ 9
Bazaar of the Bizarre — Evil dragon armors .......... 10
GANGBUSTERS!™ Designer’s Notes .................... 11
Pages from the Mages — Long-lost spell books .......... 16
The Scribe — A non-player character class .............. 21
Half-orcs — They’re rude and crude ..................... 26
The gods of the orcs — And they’re even worse!. ......... 28
The Feline Phantom — A tale that won’t fade away ....... 52
Zadron’s Pouch of Wonders — What’s in it for you? ...... 62
REGULAR OFFERINGS
Out on a Limb — Letters from readers .................... 3
From the Sorceror’s Scroll — All about spell books ....... 14
Sage Advice ........................................... 24
Convention schedule ................................... 50
Leomund’s Tiny Hut — Magic for merchants ............. 56
Dragon’s Augury:
The Fifth Frontier War ................................ 70
The Free City of Haven ............................... 72
Off the Shelf — The latest in literature ................... 74
Wormy.. .............................................. 76
What’s New ............................................ 78
Dragon Mirth .......................................... 80
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, and TOP SECRET are registered trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc.
™ designates other trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc.. unless otherwise indicated.
2
J
UNE
1982
Vol. VI, No. 12
June 1982
Publisher. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Jake Jaquet
Editor-in-Chief. .
. . . . . . . . . Kim Mohan
Editorial staff
. . . . . . . . . . . Bryce Knorr
Marilyn Mays
Gali Sanchez
Sales. .
. . . . . . . . . . . . Debbie Chiusano
Circulation
. . . . . . . Corey Koebernick
Office staff
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Cherie Knull
Roger Raupp
Contributing editors. . . .
Roger Moore
Ed Greenwood
“Welcome addition”
Dear Editor:
I was pleased to find BEST OF DRAGON
Vol. II for sale in my local hobby store. I was
even more delighted to find NPC’s such as the
Anti-Paladin, Samurai and Berserker. “The
Sorceror’s Scroll” held great interest for me
and “Poison: From AA to XX” was a must!
Has anyone ever thought of making a sec-
ond Players’ Handbook containing a few of
the best NPC’s published in DRAGON Maga-
zine as player characters? That, of course,
would require a sequel to the DMG with new
combat tables and miscellaneous rules. This
would be a welcome addition to the AD&D
family.
Many times I have tried to play an Archer-
Ranger or Bounty Hunter in various cam-
paigns, but the DM either didn’t have suffi-
cient information, or in some cases, he just
wouldn’t try; thus, out comes the old Fighter,
Cleric or Thief.
In my opinion these rules need to be broad-
ened. Don’t misunderstand me, I think the
AD&D game is the best role-playing game
ever created and it takes up a great deal of my
time, but I guess I am just suffering from the
“Ole Druid Blues!”
In the tradition of all AD&D books, these
two new books would not be a necessity to the
game, but would instead be just a supple-
ment, a fine addition to the AD&D spectrum. If
there is controversy on an imbalance in the
playing of one of these characters, I believe a
good DM would be able to handle it. There
have always been choices when creating a
new character, but the ideas I have proposed
would open up even more options for the
AD&D player.
rule system. The expansion volume will al-
most certainly contain some new player char-
acter classes — such as Gary’s version of the
Barbarian, which will be previewed in the July
issue of DRAGON™ Magazine. For Hugh and
everyone who feels the same way, that should
be something to look forward to. — KM
‘Gone too far’
Dear Editor:
With regard to the article about science in a
fantasy world in DRAGON #60: While I do
agree that all of Mr. Holthaus’ examples are
correct and just, I think he has gone too far.
W ater running downhill is one thing, but cal-
culating the water pressure on a “normal” door
is something quite different, especially in a
world where gods, demons, and ultra-power-
ful magic take a hand in everyday affairs.
What actually happens as Malrob casts his
Fly spell? Does the magic slow his descent as
it builds up power, but give him control only
after the spell is completed?
As for the CO and methane questions, any
self-respecting dwarf or gnome should know
of these dangers and how to handle them.
After all, they are “miners of great skill.”
Ragnor has an intelligence of 3 if he’s going
to try to lift a spherical rock, which could be
rolled.
The weight (encumbrance) of 50 feet of
rope is listed in Appendix O of the DMG as 75
gp. Breaking a rope requires more than 2,500
Ibs. or 25,000 gp of pressure — sufficient to
hold anyone’s trust, but one must take into
account the position, age, and condition of
the rope before ruling that a rope has broken.
The ceiling questions are good, but again I
would trust the dwarf to use his mining abili-
ties (and the DM’s fairness) to help the party
overcome these slight problems.
Any horse would instinctively shy away
from a chasm it could not jump.
The best way to figure out if a person could
carry something is to have him or her try. Any
good DM would know the weight of the item
and be able to compare it to the player’s
strength. This is easier than figuring the vol-
ume and density and all the equations that Mr.
Holthaus uses.
Olaf must look up the range of his spear in
the Players Handbook, where it is established
as 30 yards — considerably shorter than the
desired 120 yards.
Mr. Holthaus has brains and knows how to
use them. But I don’t think such rigorous ap-
plication of physical and mathematical laws
belongs in the D&D and AD&D games. I am a
chemistry major and I have a good knowledge
of the laws of nature. As a DM, I must re-
member that not everyone has had the same
education I have, so to be fair to the players I
must “play dumb.” Common sense, not sci-
ence, must play the key role.
Roger Reinsmith
Detroit, Mich.
This issue’s contributing artists:
Larry Elmore
Jim Holloway
Phil Foglio
Kyle Miller
Paul Sonju
Roger Raupp
Harry Quinn
Dave Trampier
David Larson
DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is pub-
lished monthly for a subscription price of $24
per year by Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR
Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI
53147.
DRAGON Magazine is available at hundreds
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date of the change in order to insure uninter-
rupted delivery.
All material published in DRAGON Magazine
becomes the exclusive property of the publisher
upon publication, unless special arrangements
to the contrary are made prior to publication.
DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited sub-
missions of written material and artwork; how-
ever, no responsibility for such submissions 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 to the contributor if it cannot be
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DRAGON™ is a trademark for Dragon Publish-
ing’s 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 prior permission in writing
from the publisher. Copyright ©1982 by TSR
Hobbies, Inc.
Second-class postage paid at Lake
Wis., and additional mailing offices.
Hugh Weiler
W orthington, Ohio
Geneva,
What Hugh suggests isn’t a bad idea, but it’s
based on a misinterpretation. The character
classes presented in BEST OF DRAGON™
Vol. II were not designed to be used by player
characters, but only as NPC’s with whom
player characters might interact. Maybe we’ll
put out a volume of NPC’s some day, but
that’s what they’ll be — they won’t be por-
trayed as classes that players can choose for
their characters.
Why not? For one thing, we don’t presume
to have the knowledge or the power to drastic-
ally alter the fabric of the AD&D™ rules.
Classes for player characters are specifically
defined and “limited” (though there is still an
abundance of choices) in order to make the
game system as a whole work properly. Why
should a DM have to correct an “imbalance”
anyway? A well structured role-playing game
that isn’t tampered with to a great degree
shouldn’t — and in this case doesn’t — have
any imbalances to begin with.
Those of you who’ve been following “From
the Sorceror’s Scroll” know that Gary Gygax
is at work on expansion material for the AD&D
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
Dragon Publishing, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva
WI 53147. ISSN 0279-6848.
D
RAGON
3
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