Drmg048, Dragon
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April 1981
Dragon
1
Dragon
Vol. V, No. 10
Coming Attractions Dept.
With no small amount of pride, Dragon
Publishing is pleased to announce some
upcoming features that will be appear-
ing in DRAGON magazine. Next month’s
magazine will feature a cover by Tim Hil-
debrandt and contain an exclusive inter-
view with the artist. In July we’ll have a
cover by Carl Lundgren, whose work
most of you will recognize from the
many fantasy novel covers he has illus-
trated. And in August, the cover will be
done by Boris Vallejo, and we’ll have
another exclusive interview with the ar-
tist. In all cases, the artwork for these
covers has been commissioned express-
ly for use as a cover of DRAGON maga-
zine. We hope you’ll be as pleased see-
ing these all-new, original pieces of art
as we are to be able to bring them to you.
the ballot elsewhere in this issue). The
final voting will be done by members of
the newly formed Academy of Adventure
Gaming Arts and Design. Membership in
the Academy is open to those individuals
who have made a contribution to the
products and/or general advancement
of the hobby in any, some, or all of the
major divisions: boardgames, miniature
games, role-playing games, and compu-
ter game programs; for example, de-
signers, developers, authors, artists, edi-
tors, writers, reviewers, convention or-
ganizers, or any professional or amateur
who can prove a contribution to the
hobby. More information on member-
ship in the Academy is found elsewhere
in this issue.
Vol. V, No. 10
April 1981
Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E. Gary Gygax
Editor
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jake Jaquet
Assistant editor
. . . . . . . . . . Kim Mohan
Editorial staff
. . . . . . . . . . . . Bryce Knorr
Marilyn Mays
Sales & Circulation
. . Debbie Chiusano
Corey Koebernick
Office staff
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dawn Pekul
Cherie Knull
Jean Lonze
Contributing editors . . . .
Roger Moore
Ed Greenwood
This month’s contributing artists:
Phil Foglio
Steve Swenston
Cheryl Duval
Mike Carroll
Roger Raupp
Dave Trampier
Kenneth Rahman Darlene
Robert Liebman J.D. Webster
Jeff Dee
DRAGON magazine is published monthly by
Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR Hobbies, Inc.
The mailing address of Dragon Publishing is P.O.
Box 110, Lake Geneva, WI 53147; telephone 414-
248-8044.
New Release Dept.
Soon to be released (if it doesn’t es-
cape first) is the long-awaited Best of
Dragon Vol. II. Best of II, like the first
volume, will contain reprinted material
from early issues of DRAGON magazine.
While a final release date has not yet
been scheduled, we hope it will be off the
press around the first of May.
While we’re on the subject of new re-
leases, also in the works is the 1982 DAYS
OF DRAGON™ fantasy art calendar.
While the calendar itself won’t be availa-
ble for sale until fall, it will be worth wait-
ing for. The theme of the calendar is
dragons — specifically, those dragons
that are to be found in D&D and AD&D,
from brass to red to black. And, of
course, there will also be another exten-
sive trivia listing, for which the calendar
has become well known.
Shows, Shows, Shows Dept.
While the gaming convention season
is still a few months away, this is the
middle of the trade show season, when
game manufacturers display and sell
their products to wholesale and retail
buyers. The two major shows, the Hobby
Industry of America show and the New
York Toy Fair, have just recently con-
cluded. Adventure role-playing games
were extremely well received, with the
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® and AD-
VANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS™
games again leading the pack by a large
margin. Happily, DRAGON magazine was
also well received. And to top off the HIA
show, the TSR Hobbies display — a 60-
foot castle complete with a wizard and a
dragon — won the HIA Award of Merit
for the best display of the show in a field
of over 1,000 exhibits.
DRAGON is available at hundreds of hobby
stores and bookstores throughout the United
States and Canada, and through a limited number
of overseas outlets. The magazine can be pur-
chased directly from Dragon Publishing by in-
dividual subscription. The subscription rate within
the United States and Canada is $24 U.S. for 12 is-
sues. Outside the U.S. and Canada, rates are as
follows: $50 U.S. for 12 issues sent surface mail,
or $95 U.S. for 12 issues sent air mail.
A limited selection of DRAGON back issues is
available by mail from Dragon Publishing for cover
price of a particular issue plus $1.00 per issue
ordered for postage and handling. No issues prior
to #22 are available. The cover price for issues #22-
31 is $2.00, for #32-36, $2.50, and for #37 to
present, $3.00. Payment must accompany all
orders. If one or more issues in an order is sold
out, a credit slip will be substituted which may be
exchanged for cash or merchandise from Dragon
Publishing.
The issue of expiration for each subscription is
printed on each subscriber’s mailing label.
Changes of address for subscriptions must be re-
ceived by Dragon Publishing at least 30 days prior
to the effective date of the change in order to
guarantee uninterrupted delivery.
Enough Departments, Already, Dept.
Okay, Okay, Kim, I know, it’s deadline.
Look, I’m shutting off my typewri
All material published in DRAGON becomes the
exclusive property of the publisher upon publica-
tion, unless special arrangements to the contrary
are made prior to publication.
New Employees on Parade Dept.
With much regret, we say goodbye this
month to a member of the Dragon Pub-
lishing staff, Dawn Pekul. Her replace-
ment and the new kid on the block this
month is Jean Lonze. Welcome aboard, Jean.
DRAGON welcomes unsolicited submissions
of written material and artwork; however, no
responsibility for such submissions can be as-
sumed by the publisher in any event. No submis-
sion will be returned unless it was accompanied
by a self-addressed, stamped envelope of
suf-
ficient size.
DRAGON™ is a trademark for Dragon Publishing’s
monthly adventure role-playing aid. All rights on the
contents of this publication are reserved, and nothing
may be reproduced in whole or in part without securing
prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright
1981 by TSR Hobbies, Inc.
Envelope, Please? Dept.
The Committee for the Charles Ro-
berts and H.G. Wells Awards has joined
the Game Manufacturers’ Association
(GAMA) to reorganize the awards pro-
cedure. Under the new system, nomina-
tions for the various categories will be
open to participation by all gamers (see
Second class postage paid at Lake Geneva, Wis.
and additional mailing offices
Susan Collins
April 1981
Dragon
our mission, whether or not you choose to accept
it, is to digest every morsel of this not-so-secret
document. Be aware that if this information can
somehow be gotten into enemy hands, you’ll prob-
ably end up with one less enemy. And we’ll have
one more reader!
Somebody once said that the only sure things in life are death
and taxes. In the world of gaming, you can beat the reaper, but,
as Phil Foglio depicts on this issue’s cover, you can’t shake the
taxman. The painting, entitled “Close — but no cigar” and origi-
nally commissioned as a DRAGON cover, was a first-prize
winner in a SF/fantasy art show at BOSKONE, an annual event
in Boston that Phil described as “one of the more prestigious
shows on the convention circuit.”
The main attraction inside this issue is Doctor Yes, a 16-page
adventure designed for use with the TOP SECRET™ game rules.
Merle Rasmussen, the author of the original game, created this
high-risk mission along with James Thompson, a crony of Merle’s
who helped develop and playtest the rules. Administrators will
have a lot of fun putting player agents through this test. The
players themselves will have . . . well, you’ll see.
Aside from the TOP SECRET adventure, nearly everything on
these 96 pages is designed to be valuable to those involved in a
D&D® or AD&D™ campaign. The article section begins with a
special section on underwater adventuring, headlined by Jeff
Swycaffer’s overview of things that must be considered when
going below the surface. A special edition of Dragon’s Bestiary
spotlights three aquatic adversaries, and some new magic items
that work best in a watery world are described in Bazaar of the
Bizarre.
On the other extreme is the Druid, a dry-land character if ever
there was one. Tim Lasko offers advice to the DM on how to best
employ the Druid in a campaign, plus a piece specifically for
players on how to play a Druid character to best advantage in a
dungeon environment.
A mule can be an adventurer’s best friend, says author Robert
Plamondon, if its saddlebags are stuffed with the right materials
and equipment before heading down those dark stairs. His arti-
cle presents a list of what every well-dressed pack animal should
carry to give its owner the best chance of coming back in some
fashion other than draped across its back.
Those of you who would like some fresh ideas on what sort of
adventures to develop will appreciate Michael Kelly’s sugges-
tions for “instant adventures.” And if you’d like to go even fur-
ther, just go a little further into the magazine, where Len Lakofka
offers a complicated but comprehensive system for generating
a party of enemies that will be a good match for the player
characters they’re intended to meet.
Avalon Hill’s game Russian Campaign is the subject of two
articles, including Robert Barrow’s suggested changes to pro-
vide the utmost in historical accuracy, and Bryan Beecher’s
variant on the use of airpower in the game.
Among the regularly appearing columns in this issue is a
double-entry Up on a Soapbox, where Fred Zimmerman ad-
dresses the issue of how to choose a new DM and Karl Horak
offers his observations on the “morality in fantasy” issue. That’s
followed by another installment of the Minarian Legends, where
DIVINE RIGHT™ author Glenn Rahman describes the history of
the Bilge Rat and the mercenaries of Minaria.
The two newest members of the Giants in the Earth group are
Sparrowhawk and Tiana Highrider, prominent fantasy fiction
characters adapted for use in an AD&D adventure. The regular
offerings also include a page of Sage Advice, the second install-
ment of our new miniature-figure review column, Figuratively
Speaking, and a trio of game reviews in Dragon’s Augury.
Dragon issue #48 finishes with a bang: The last seven num-
bered pages are full-page artwork, most of them in full color. We
promised to reveal the secrets behind Mike Carroll’s February
puzzle painting, and we’ve done just that on page 88. Just prior
to that is another two pages of our newest regular comic strip,
Pinsom, and immediately following the puzzle page are four
pages of the continuing exploits of Wormy, Jasmine and Fin-
ieous Fingers.
A final word of caution: Readers are urged to be in full control
of their faculties before opening the cover to DRAGON #48½.
Unfortunately, whoever composed this “special” issue of the
magazine was not in that condition at the time of the composing.
And that, as they say in the spy business, is all. — KM
Contents
REGULAR OFFERINGS
Out on a Limb — Letters from readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Up on a Soapbox
When choosing a DM, be choosy! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...28
What is, gaming’s role in life? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Minarian Legends — Bilge Rat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Giants in the Earth
Sparrowhawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Tiana Highrider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Sage Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Leomund’s Tiny Hut — Designing an adventure . . . . . . . . . .63
Figuratively Speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Convention schedule.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Dragon’s Augury
Asteroid.......................................... 81
Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...81
Space Fighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...82
Pinsom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
Wormy.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
89
Jasmine............................................ 90
Finieous Fingers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...92
If your mailing label says TD-48
this is your last issue—resubscribe!
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
Doctor Yes — New TOP SECRET™ adventure . . . . . . . . . . . .35
OTHER FEATURES
Take the plunge! — Underwater adventuring section
Watery words to the wise ........................... .7
Dragon’s Bestiary
Water-Horse
...................................
.10
Golden Ammonite
..............................
.10
Sea Demon ...................... ...............11
Bazaar of the Bizarre — Undersea magic items
........
.12
DRAGON #48½ — ’Tis the season
.....................
.13
The Druid and the DM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Druid in a dungeon? Why not?.
.......................
.22
Let a mule do it for you!
............................
..52
Instant Adventures — To get you started
...............
.60
GenCon® South Report
............................. .75
New orders for Russian Campaign .................... .76
Adding airpower options. ............................ .76
Now it can be told!....................................88
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