Drmg067, Dragon
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DRAGON
1
Dragon Publishing has a new boss, and
DRAGON™ Magazine has a new publisher.
The man at the top is Mike Cook, formerly
the head of the Education Department at TSR
Hobbies, Inc. Now, as Executive Vice Presi-
dent in charge of the Dragon Publishing div-
ision of TSR, Mike is responsible for making
big business decisions (the kind editors are
scared of) and overseeing the activities of the
division as a whole.
He also assumes the title of publisher of the
magazine, which has traditionally been held
by the person in charge of the division. Mike
won’t be taking a major role in the production
of DRAGON Magazine, and there are no plans
to change what’s printed between these cov-
ers just because the publisher’s name has
changed.
Mike moved into the job previously held by
Jake Jaquet, who has been hired by Crystal
Publications Incorporated of Crystal Lake,
Ill., to serve as the company’s president and
the publisher of its forthcoming periodical,
GAMEPLAY Magazine.
I worked with Jake for three years; as of this
writing, I’ve worked with Mike for three weeks.
I consider both of them friends, and I wish
both of them good luck in what they’re doing
— because I think they already have all the
skill and talent they need.
ust in case anyone was thinking that there are no
more frontiers to be crossed, we offer this issue of
DRAGON™ Magazine as proof that the “state of the
art” in fantasy role-playing (AD&D™ gaming, in par-
ticular) is still advancing, and has yet to tax the
limits of our writers’ imaginations.
As voluminous as the AD&D rules already are, there are
plenty of ways they can be expanded and embellished. E. Gary
Gygax, the creator of the AD&D game, makes that point more
strongly than ever by revealing dozens of all-new spells for the
magic-user class in
From the Sorceror’s Scroll.
The roster of
new spells is so long that we had to break the presentation into
two parts, saving the 5th-9th level spells for next time.
And to expand your gaming consciousness in another direc-
tion, there’s a
looong
treatise by contributing editor Roger
Moore on what it’s like to adventure on the Astral Plane. The
article, annotated by EGG himself, is wrapped around an AD&D
scenario called “Fedifensor”— an idea of what an adventure on
the Astral Plane. might be like. It’s not a full-fledged “astral
module” (the state of the art isn’t quite that advanced yet), but a
DM who supplies a hefty dose of imagination, and applies the
principles in Roger Moore’s article, can make “Fedifensor” an
adventure that will test the mettle of even high-level characters.
The prolific Mr. Gygax is also responsible for four other
features that help to fill out this issue’s 80 pages: the first
installment of his descriptions of the deities and demigods of
the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Fantasy Setting: another of his
regular
Featured Creatures
columns; an essay primarily deal-
ing with what’s “official” and what’s not; and a last-minute
addendum to his regular column material, in the form of a
return letter to all the readers who’ve sent in their reactions to
the new character-class proposals published in issue #65.
After all of the aforementioned articles were shoehorned into
place, there wasn’t space for too much else — but we did
manage to slip in a set of “Spy’s Advice” questions and answers
by TOP SECRET
®
game author Merle Rasmussen; a brief look
at some unusual kinds of spiders, adapted for AD&D use by
Gregg Chamberlain; the first installment of a new review fea-
ture,
The Role of Books,
by Lew Pulsipher; and a piece of fiction
by Gillian FitzGerald that offers the best reason we know of for
not letting a black cat cross your path — because that animal
might not be
just
a cat. . . . — KM
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.
OTHER FEATURES
Spy’s Advice
— Answers to TOP SECRET
®
questions ....
12
Souping up the spider —
Eleven new arachnids ..........
15
Deities & Demigods of the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ —
Heironeous, Hextor, Iuz, and St. Cuthbert
............
23
THE ASTRAL PLANE: A special section
.................
27
Astral encounters ..................................
28
Astral traveling
..................................... 29
Encounter checks and the Psychic Wind
.............
30
Movement & combat
...............................
31
Magical alterations ................................. 32
Cleric spells
..................................... 32
Druid spells
......................................
34
Magic-user spells
................................ 34
Illusionist spells
..................................
44
Magical items
....................................
44
King of the Cats —
Fiction by Gillian FitzGerald
..........
50
Loyal Readers:
A letter from EGG to you
.................
61
Poker, chess, and the AD&D™ system —
Official words
...
63
REGULAR OFFERINGS
Out on a Limb —
Letters from readers
....................
3
From the Sorceror’s Scroll —
Scads of new M-U spells
....
4
Featured Creatures —
Elves and their canine comrades
...
10
Module design contest rules
............................
47
Dragon’s Augury reviews
The Role of Books —
Beginning a new series ........
67
Trollpak
...........................................
68
Convention schedule
...................................
70
Dragon Mirth ..........................................
76
Wormy .............................................. 77
What’s New............................................
78
2
N
OVEMBER
1982
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
FEDIFENSOR —
A scenario for AD&D™ adventuring
on the Astral Plane
.................................
37
Vol. VII, No. 6
November 1982
Publisher:
Mike Cook
Editor-in-Chief:
Kim Mohan
Editorial staff:
Marilyn Favaro
Gali Sanchez
Roger Raupp
Business manager:
Debbie Chiusano
Circulation:
Cherie Knull
Office staff:
Sharon Walton
Contributing editors:
Roger Moore
Ed Greenwood
Not a hammer
To the editor:
Christopher Townsend’s new proficiency
system (DRAGON #65) looks like a well
thought out replacement for the official one.
Although the system in the Players Handbook
is not really in need of replacement, it is an
interesting alternative.
However, I did find an error in Mr. Town-
send’s categorizing of weapons. As anyone
who owns the AD&D Dungeon Masters Ad-
venture Log should know, since it illustrates
many lesser-known weapons, a lucern ham-
mer is not an un-edged bludgeon weapon, but
rather is a spiked, 5’+ long pole arm, and
would therefore belong in Mr. Townsend’s
Short Pole Arms category. I can understand
the mistake, though; I once played in a cam-
paign in which the DM allowed clerics to use
them, not realizing what they were!
David MacKenzie
Bethesda, Md.
Further, the attacks of the Yellow, Orange,
and Purple Dragons’ breath weapons provide
hit location specifics that are not part of gen-
eral AD&D rules.
Even though these monsters are not “offi-
cial,” many readers take DRAGON Magazine
articles as gospel. Inclusion of vague histo-
ries, suppositions, and hit location attack
forms makes the game more difficult to play
and in fact breaks some of the general rules
that created the game.
This issue’s contributing artists:
Jack Crane
Bruce Whitefield
Jim Roslof
Marc Hershon
Lenard Lakofka
Chicago, III.
Jim Holloway
Phil Foglio
Roger Raupp
Dave Trampier
Jerry Eaton
In retrospect, I can appreciate Len’s criti-
cisms and most of his points of view. In de-
fense of what we do (and in defense of the
author of the maligned article), I must point
out that it is neither possible nor desirable for
all the material in DRAGON™ Magazine to be
of “official” quality. And we’ve made the point
often enough that the words we print are not
to be taken “as gospel.” In one way or anoth-
er, every issue of this magazine is an experi-
ment, and a lot of the articles are experimental
and speculative in nature. If you like an idea,
use it and enjoy it. If you don’t, there’ll be
more ideas to choose from next month. — KM
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. USPS 318-790. ISSN 0279-6848.
We’re human, just like Mr. Townsend, and
we make human-type mistakes. (And we seem
to keep finding new ways to illustrate that
point all the time.) Needless to say, we failed
to spot the error — and, also needless to say,
that won’t be our last mistake. . . . — KM
‘Common errors’
Dear Editor:
DRAGON #65 contained an article on “The
Missing Dragons.” I would like to point out a
few common errors in this type of article
which, if they were cleared up, would improve
the game and the monster in question. Writers
tend to make the monster shrouded in myth.
They do this by ascribing information to
sages, bards, long-dead wizards, etc. Frankly,
this is just trite. The monsters in the Bestiary,
et al, are meant as part of text on the subject of
monsters. Thus, the monsters’s stats and his-
tory should not be vague. [Just say that] The
monster came from some locale, has such
and such attacks, etc., and leave out the
mystery.
These dragons have very powerful attack
forms when one looks at the consequences of
their breath weapons. Imagine, however, how
it would be to have a red or a black dragon
breathe in your face. This would be like being
directly exposed to a flame thrower or a mix-
ture of nitric and sulfuric acids. However, the
red and black dragons simply do damage and
do not blind or melt the face of the target.
The point is that the AD&D system is not a
simulation, it is a game. Certainly we can look
at our current knowledge of chemistry and
biology and know the consequences of sodi-
um chloride fired into someone’s face. We
would also know how to give artificial respira-
tion, as is suggested in the article. But alas,
medieval man did not know these things.
Translation and
design opportunity
Is Japanese your
first
language?
Are
you fluent in English as well? Is Japa-
nese history well known to you? Are you
a student of mythology of the Far East?
Do you play D&D
®
and AD&D™ games
regularly?
If you can answer each of the above
questions in the affirmative, then you
have an unparalleled opportunity with
TSR Hobbies, Inc.! We are now seeking
a full-time translator and designer to
work with our line of fantasy role play-
ing games. The position has excellent
pay and benefits plus opportunity for
advancement based on performance.
Employment location is at the main
Corporate offices in Lake Geneva, Wis.
Applicants must send a complete re-
sume with salary history. Be sure to
state how many years you have played
both the D&D game system and the
AD&D game system. Indicate familiar-
ity with other FRP games, please. Sub-
mit information to:
Personnel Dept.
TSR Hobbies, Inc.
P.O. Box 756
Lake Geneva WI 53147
D
RAGON
3
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