Drmg061, Dragon
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D
RAGON
1
Vol.VI,No.11
May 1982
We have a couple of pieces of informa-
tion to pass along this month, which may
not be “news” by the time you read this,
but which certainly falls within our re-
sponsibility to report in as accurate and
timely a fashion as possible.
In a press release dated March 31,
Simulations Publications, Incorporated
(SPI) announced it had reached an agree-
ment with TSR Hobbies, Inc., whereby
TSR had initiated a legal and economic
chain of events to purchase SPI. As part
of the agreement, TSR will undertake the
distribution of SPI products in the Uni-
ted States and Canada. Kevin B. Blume,
TSR Hobbies’ Chief Operating Officer,
has assumed the presidency of SPI.
“We believe that SPI has a potentially
strong line of products,” said Blume in a
news release from TSR Hobbies, “which,
when efficiently marketed and distribut-
ed, will be profitable and and hopefully
will reverse SPl’s current deficit position.”
Christopher Wagner, outgoing presi-
dent of SPI, said, “This deal will work
because the capabilities of the two com-
panies are highly complementary. SPI
can make the products and TSR can sell
them.” Wagner is leaving SPI after one
and a half years in the position to resume
his consulting business.
Executive Vice President Redmond Si-
monsen and Vice President Brad Hessel
of SPI issued a joint statement which
said in part, “We are pleased to an-
nounce that SPI and TSR Hobbies have
reached an accord that is in the best in-
terest of the corporation, our employees,
our vendors, and most importantly our
customers.”
George has already lined up new fic-
tion from Robert Silverberg, Barry Malz-
berg, Gene Wolfe, Richard Lupoff, Ron
Goulart, Robert Adams, Lisa Tuttle,
George R.R. Martin, and Jack William-
son; a regular column by Silverberg; in-
terviews with R. A. Lafferty and A. Bert-
ram Chandler . . . and a few surprises.
There wasn’t time to get a subscription
ad for AMAZING into this month’s issue
of DRAGON™ Magazine, but those of
you who just can’t wait may subscribe at
the rate of $9 for six issues or $16 for
twelve issues. AMAZING is currently
published quarterly, but we’ll be going to
bi-monthly soon, and subscriptions will
be adjusted accordingly. Subscription
orders should be made payable to Drag-
on Publishing and mailed to AMAZING
Science Fiction Stories, P.O. Box 110,
Lake Geneva WI 53147.
* * *
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
This issue’s contributing artists:
Susan Collins Harry Quinn
Steve Peregrine Jack Crane
Roger Raupp
Mary Hanson-
Bruce Whitefield
Roberts
Paul Sonju
Phil Foglio
Jim Holloway
Dave Trampier
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
of hobby stores and bookstores throughout the
United States and Canada, and through a limit-
ed number of overseas outlets. Subscription
rates are as follows, with all payments to be
made in advance: $24 for 12 issues sent to a U.S.
or Canadian address; $50 U.S. for 12 issues sent
via surface mail or $95 for 12 issues sent via air
mail to any other country.
A limited quantity of certain back issues of
DRAGON Magazine can be purchased directly
from the publisher by sending the cover price
plus $1.50 postage and handling for each issue
ordered. Payment in advance by check or mo-
ney order must accompany all orders. Payments
cannot be made through a credit card, and
orders cannot be taken nor merchandise re-
served by telephone. Neither an individual cus-
tomer nor an institution can be billed for a sub-
scription order or back-issue purchase unless
prior arrangements are made.
The issue of expiration for each subscription
is printed on the mailing label for each sub-
scriber’s copy of the magazine. Changes of ad-
dress for the delivery of subscriptions must be
received at least 30 days prior to the effective
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
published.
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 Geneva,
Wis., and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
Dragon Publishing, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva
WI 53147. ISSN 0279-6848.
Finally, while the snow is still knee-
deep here in Wisconsin in early April, it’s
time to start thinking about the summer
convention season. The GEN CON® East
II Convention in June at Widener Col-
lege in Chester, Pa., will be our first ap-
pearance of the season. The convention
will mark the premiere of our 1983 D&D®
calendar. Not only will you be able to see
(perchance, to purchase?) a copy, you’ll
also be able to meet Tim Hildebrandt,
our special guest and the creator of the
artwork for the calendar.
REALMS OF WONDER, the calendar’s
title, may give you a sense of what you’ll
be seeing, but rather than try to describe
Tim’s fantastic paintings, we’ll just ask
you to make a point of stopping by our
booth at the show if you can. We think
you’ll agree that his work for REALMS
OF WONDER is every bit as good (dare
we suggest better?) as the work he’s
done in the past.
If the east coast is too far to go, Tim
will also be our guest at the GEN CON
XV Convention in August at the Universi-
ty of Wisconsin-Parkside. And if you
can’t get to either place, look for REALMS
OF WONDER in a store near you this
summer. The days-and-dates part is no
good until January, but the paintings are
timeless.
* * *
And as long as we’re reporting an-
nouncements: Dragon Publishing, as a
division of TSR Hobbies, Inc., has come
to an agreement with Arthur Bernhard,
President of the Ultimate Publishing
Company, Inc., to purchase Ultimate’s
publication, AMAZING™ science fiction
stories. Started in 1926 by Hugo Gerns-
back, the “father” of modern science fic-
tion, AMAZING is the oldest and long-
est-running science fiction periodical in
the world.
Joining the Dragon Publishing staff as
editor of AMAZING is George Scithers, a
two-time winner of the Hugo award as
best science-fiction editor, and past edi-
tor of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction
Stories magazine.
2
M
AY
1982
on’t let the guy on the cover give you too much heat
— he just does this sort of thing on weekends to
pick up a little extra money. The real wizards are the
writers and artists who filled up the inside of this
magazine, from EGG to Tramp and everyone in
between. The cover painting is the creation of Susan Collins,
whose work also appeared on the outside of issue #51.
The center 12 pages of this month’s issue is taken up by
Quest for the Midas Orb, an adventure created by Jennie Good
which was, ahem, good enough to win third place in the AD&D™
section of International Dungeon Design Contest II.
In the leadoff position, following two pages of “Out on a
Limb” letters, is the third and last installment of cantrips,
brought to you From the Sorceror’s Scroll by E. Gary Gygax.
These morsels of magic for illusionists are, like the magic-user
cantrips that preceded them, slated for inclusion in an upcom-
ing official volume of new AD&D™ rules. And, as the Sorceror
himself is wont to say, you Gentle Readers saw it here first.
We’ve looked at combat from one extreme to the other, in the
form of a couple of “related” articles by Phil Meyers and Rory
Bowman. The former describes a suggested new system for
conducting weaponless combat in an AD&D adventure. Notice
we said “new,” not necessarily “simpler.” If there’s a way to beat
somebody up and keep it simple, we’d like to know about it. The
second piece is something a lot of you have asked for, and we
hope it fills the bill: statistics and descriptions for about three
dozen “weird” weapons, an unofficial expansion of the list in
the AD&D Players Handbook.
Gnomes are the next object of scrutiny in Contributing Editor
Roger Moore’s series of articles on the humanoid races and
their deities. “The Gnomish Point of View” draws some clear
distinctions between gnomes and their “cousins” the dwarves,
and “The Gods of the Gnomes” drives the point home even
more firmly.
The next time your group wants to play “Cowboys and Indi-
ans,” send in the “Little People of the Iroquois,” portrayed in
Conrad Froehlich’s article. These legendary elf-like creatures
should fit especially well in a campaign one using an American
Indian mythos. If you feel the same way, fine. If you don’t, then
you can Sioux us.
For the second issue in a row, we’re able to give guidance to
TOP SECRET® agents direct from E. Gary Gygax. New rules
for areas of Special Knowledge, plus a completely detailed new
bureau for infiltrators, are featured in the column that starts on
page 60.
The latest edition of “Giants in the Earth” brings forth three
more characters from the pages of fantasy literature, including
everybody’s favorite chauvinist, Tarl Cabot. A quartet of new
critters are featured in “Dragon’s Bestiary” but that’s nothing
compared to the
eighty monsters portrayed in living (in most
cases) color on pages 52 and 53. That’s our way of giving you a
sneak preview of TSR’s new AD&D™ Monster Cards, which
should be on the shelf of your favorite store by the time this
magazine gets there.
The “Dragon’s Augury” review section this month showcases
two games that, at first glance, seem to have nothing in com-
mon — Call of Cthulhu and Hitler’s War. But on second
thought, wouldn’t Der Fuhrer have made a terrific Lovecraft
monster? Following the game reviews is a two-page section Off
the Shelf, wherein Chris Henderson takes a critical look at
some of the newest fantasy and sf book releases.
Last but never least, our comic section is a whopping five
pages long this time around—designed to make your month of
May as merry as can be. — KM
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
From the Sorceror’s Scroll — Cantrips for illusionists ...... 6
Quest for the Midas Orb — Prizewinning module
Giants in the Earth:
for AD&D™ characters .............................. 35
Deucalion ........................................... 10
Tarl Cabot ...........................................
11
OTHER FEATURES
Dossouye ........................................... 12
Without any weapons ... — Bare-handed combat..........
14
Dragon’s Bestiary:
Or with a weird one — Scarce and scary new weapons
... 16
Firetail..........................................
48
48
The gnomish point of view — Little guys in the limelight . . 28
Umbrae..............................................
The gods of the gnomes ................................ 31
Light worm.. ........................................ 49
New AD&D aid: Monster Cards
..........................
51
Tybor
...............................................
50
The winnah: Father Time — New rules for RINGSIDE.
.... 54
Dragon’s Augury:
Jo-Ga-Oh: The little people of the Iroquois ..............
57
Call of Cthulhu ...................................... 70
Special knowledge & new bureau — TOP SECRET® tips . . 60
Hitler’s War .......................................... 71
Off the Shelf — The latest from literature ................ 74
What’s New ............................................ 76
REGULAR OFFERINGS
Out on a Limb — Letters from readers .................... 4
Wormy ................................................
78
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.
D
RAGON
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