Drmg105, Dragon
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D
RAGON
1
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
43
BETRAYED!
—
Designed by Jim Bengtson
A new challenge for AD&D® game player characters
Publisher
Mike Cook
Editor-in-Chief
Kim Mohan
Editorial staff
Patrick Lucien Price
Roger Moore
Art director and graphics
Roger Raupp
Subscriptions
Georgia Moore
Advertising
Mary Parkinson
Contributing editors
Ed Greenwood
Katherine Kerr
This issue's contributing artists
Robin Wood
Roger Raupp
Marvel Bullpen
David Trampier
Ted Goff
A.J. Toos
Joseph Pillsbury
Richard Tomasic
E.B. Wagner
Stephen Hearon
Larry Elmore
OTHER FEATURES
10
Leomunds Tiny Hut Lenard Lakofka
Toning down the new demi-human PC races
14
Travel works both ways Paul Vernon
PCs arent the only characters on the road
20
Seeing is believing Geoffrey Meissner
It isnt easy, but heres a look at invisibility
24
The rest of the Papers
Odds and ends to add to our centaur coverage
30
The well-equipped victim Ed Greenwood
Detailed treasure types for O-level encounters
36
A world of difference Fraser Sherman
Use parallel worlds to open up new gaming vistas
56
Spys advice Merle M. Rasmussen
Answers and suggestions for the TOP SECRET® game
64
On the Rocks at Slabs -John Gregory Betancourt
Tavern patrons protect their happy haunting grounds
DEPARTMENTS
3 Letters
4 World Gamers Guide
6
The forum
6 0 TSR Previews
62 TSR Profiles
69 The ARES Section
86 Convention calendar
90 Wormy
92 Dragonmirth
94 Snarfquest
COVER
People are still writing in to say how much they liked Robin Woods first cover paint-
ing, back on issue #97. This piece depicts an entirely different scene, but we expect the
painting to be just as popular as its predecessor. Through the aid of a ring of flying,
this magic-user is able to do battle with these giant bats on her own terms. That big
bat in the foreground is about to find out the hard way what a lightning bolt spell is
like and its not even grounded.
2 J
ANUARY
1986
For Paul
Here we go again
bling the amount. Determine raw double dam-
age first; e.g., an arrow +1 does 2-7 points of
damage, so raw double damage would be 4-
14 (2d6 + 2). A 14th-level archer also gets +7 on
damage and an extra +1 for using a magic
arrow, for a total of 12-22. Thats enough dam-
age, isnt it? Id make the archer live with his
generally lower number of attacks per round (he
never gets better than 3/1), as some compensation
for his greater ability to hit and damage.
You'll need to solve other problems to make the
two systems mesh smoothly; for instance, they
differ in the definition of point-blank and short
range. Maybe youll want to rule that an archer
who benefits from some of the aspects of weapon
specialization can never have proficiency with
anything but a bow. You can use the two systems
side-by-side, or you can mesh one into the other
without making the archer too powerful.
Its easy to lose track of whats really
important in life when you spend day after
day doing the same things. Anyone who
has a job, goes to school, or runs a house-
hold knows what I mean.
Once in a while, though, something
happens during one of those monotonous
days something that almost seems
designed to shake us out of our ruts and
get us thinking about what counts. I had
one of those experiences on the day before
Thanksgiving, when I received a letter
from a familiar address in San Diego.
It was Paul Crabaughs address, but it
was his mother who wrote the letter. She
wanted me to know, by means of what she
called the letter a mother should never
have to write, that Paul died of cancer on
Nov. 17, at the age of 29.
The news hit me right between the eyes
and sunk into the part of my brain thats
In Charge of Priorities. Paul had been a
regular contributor to DRAGON® Maga-
zine longer than I had been on the staff.
Over the years he had become one of my
many long-distance friends. He sent in
lots of articles, practically all of which
were accepted and printed. He always
wrote in a casual style that I enjoyed and
envied a style that made it seem as
though he didnt have a care in the world.
And maybe he didnt. He knew he was
sick, of course, and he did what he could
to fight the disease. But he never once
gave in, or even admitted his pain and
discomfort, said his mother. Right up to
his last hours he was looking ahead to
various articles and projects. In fact, he
enjoyed a gaming session with some of his
friends the day before he died.
Paul Montgomery Crabaughs name
will appear on only one more article in
this magazine a piece we accepted a
few months ago, and which will be printed
within another issue or two. But his con-
tribution to the magazine will go on for as
long as people keep buying back issues
and taking advantage of the knowledge
and insight in the pieces he wrote. And his
contribution to me will last even longer
than that. Whenever I get bummed out
about the problems I have to solve in my
life, Im going to try to remember Paul
and what he had to tackle. From now on,
Im going to see problems such as making
a deadline and balancing my budget for
what they are small obstacles, easily
overcome.
I realize now that my problems are not
big ones, and Im grateful for that. But if
I ever have to deal with a real problem, I
hope Ill be as strong and courageous
about it as Paul was.
Ill miss him.
Dear Editor,
Page 11 of Unearthed Arcana says that no
instances are known of half-elves descended from
grugach stock. However, in the article Arcana
update in issue #103, it says on page 12 that A
half-elf of wild descent cannot become a cleric, a
ranger, or a magic-user.
Based on this evidence, either (a) The rule on
half-elves of wild descent from Unearthed Arcana
is removed; (b) An error was made in issue #103;
or (c) Wild elves can toss humans a long way.
Which is it?
Nicholas Leahy
Boise, Idaho
Thanks, Nicholas. I love multiple-choice tests,
and I love making corrections to an article about
corrections. . . . The answer, of course, is (b). I
used the offending sentence in issue #103 as an
example to illustrate how certain classes were
prohibited to certain half-elves, and I didn't stop
to think that no half-elves can be of wild elf
descent in the first place.
Technically, the statement is accurate
—
there
is no such thing as a half-grugach cleric, or
ranger, or magic-user. What it doesn't say is that
there is also no such thing as a half-grugach
fighter, or thief, or illusionist, or . . . .
—
KM
Back to the dogs
—
KM
Dear Dragon,
Thanks for another great article by Stephen
Inniss (A dozen domestic dogs, issue #103).
One additional fact on water dogs is that the
webbing between their toes extends much farther
toward their nails than that of non-water dogs.
This increases their swimming efficiency and
speed, and the length of time they can spend in
the water over what their brethren can do.
Also, in the Costs table on page 28, an entry
for food dog is listed. Is this the kind of dog
used to hunt rabbits, or is it the kind that would
be served on a plate in Oriental Adventures?
Steve Null
Palm Bay, Fla.
A special archer?
Dear Dragon,
Should the archer NPC class (Best of
DRAGON Vol. III) be allowed to have the ability
of weapon specialization as described in Un-
earthed Arcana?
The description of very small normal dogs
mentions that some of the canines in this category
are raised for the cooking pot. This is what the
entry on the costs table refers to. A dog for hunt-
ing rabbits will probably be a small fighter or a
medium runner (in Stephens system) and will
cost 17 gp, as per the Players Handbook. KM
Adam Lidz
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
If youre using the unofficial archer NPC
designed by Len Lakofka, the original bonuses to
hit and damage given in that article should be
retained, not replaced by the combat bonuses
given in Arcana for specialization with a bow.
Those original bonuses are part of what makes an
archer an archer; besides, from 4th level on,
theyre better than the bonuses given to a bow
specialist. On top of that, the archer gets an extra
+1 when using any magical bow or arrow. If you
find these advantages too powerful, you can treat
the archer more like a regular bow specialist. But
if these advantages haven't caused any game-
balance problems in your campaign, then theres
no reason to replace them with the lower bonuses.
I can't think of a logical reason why archers
should be denied the benefit of the other aspects
of weapon specialization. If a bow specialist who
begins the round with arrow nocked, shaft
drawn, and target in sight is entitled to loose that
arrow prior to any initiative check, then an
archer should be able to do this, too. An archer
should be able to do increased damage at point-
blank range just as a bow specialist can, but dont
add in the archers damage bonus before dou-
A jump too far
Dear Dragon,
I found the article Short hops and big drops
(#93) very useful. However, it does not mix with
the Unearthed Arcana version of jumping. The
book says a thief-acrobat with 15 strength and 16
dexterity can make a running broad jump of 9
feet at sixth level, and any other character can
broad jump 8 feet. But in the article, a character
with combined strength and dexterity of 31 would
have a basic jump number of 9, which would be
doubled to 18 feet for a running broad jump.
Could you clarify this?
Peter Colucci
Alta Loma, Calif.
Youve clarified it very well, Peter. The two
systems are drastically different in most respects
D
RAGON
3
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