Dragon 070 (february 1983).pdf

D RAGON I

Contents

Publisher: Mike Cook

Editor-in-Chief: Kim Mohan

An open letter . . .

Editorial staff: Marilyn Favara

Gali Sanchez

To all of you who entered our Dun-

geon Design Contest, and those who

Roger Raupp

Patrick L. Price

can’t wait to find out who won: The judg-

ing will be well under way by the time

Vol. VII, No. 8

February 1983

Business manager: Debra Chiusano

Office staff: Sharon Walton

Pam Maloney

you read this, and we‘re hoping to be

SPECIAL ATTRACTION

able to publish one of the winning entries

Product design: Eugene S. Kostiz

as soon as the March (#71) or April (#72)

Layout designer: Ruth M. Hodges

MECHlCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

A new AD&D™ adventure

issue. Our plan is to try to wade through

Contributing editors: Roger Moore

the 200+ entries and establish winners in

two categories every 30 days. Even at

Ed Greenwood

that rate (which time wilt tell if we’ll be

OTHER FEATURES

National advertising representative:

able to maintain), it’ll be 10 months

2640 Golf Road

Glenview IL 60025

before we can tell the world about the

The Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Metal working for humans only

The hull truth about speed . . . . . . 8

Big ships should be faster

winners in all of the 20 categories, Have

patience, and we’ll do our best.

Phone (312)724-5860

This issue’s contributing artists:

To all of you who have written En over

Dean Morrissey Larry Elmore

Keith Parkinson Roger Raupp

the last few months asking for writers’

guidelines: The reason you don‘t have

Jim Holloway

Phil Foglio

‘em is because we don’t have a sheet of

instructions completely prepared. A half-

Giants can be awful

or awe-ful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Jeff Easley

Dave Trampier

draft has been gathering dust and coffee

Using GITE characters properly

DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is pub-

stains on Ye Olde Editor’s desk for quite

Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI a while now. YOE has finally come to

53147. realize that the thing isn’t going to write

DRAGON Magazine is available at hobby itself, and he hereby promises to finish it

stores and bookstores throughout the United up and get it ready to send out before the

States and Canada, and through a limited number

of overseas outlets. Subscription rates are as

lished monthly for a subscription price of $24

per year by Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR

Dwarves in Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Joining fantasy and SF gaming

A second volley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

More firearms in AD&D terms

end of February. Have patience, and

we’ll do our best.

How to make the most out of

FRP tournaments . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

The game within a game . . . . . 60

Characters as chess players

follows: $24 for 12 issues sent to a U.S. or Cana-

To all of you who have submitted

dian address; $50 U.S. for 32 issues sent via

surface mail or $95 for 12 issues sent via air mail

to any other country. All payments must be in

computer programs for our considera-

tion: We almost bit off more than we

advance.

could chew when we asked for reader-

A limited quantity of certain back issues of

submitted programs. We got a lot of

DRAGON Magazine can be purchased directly

them; unfortunately, we didn’t also get a

ordered. Payment in advance by check or mon- big block of time to sit down at a key-

ey order must accompany all orders. Payments board and try them out. The work is pro-

cannot be made through a credit card, and

from the publisher by sending the cover price

plus $1.50 postage and handling for each issue

REGULAR OFFERINGS

Out on a Limb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

letters from readers

orders cannot be taken nor merchandise re- ceeding slowly but surely. Evaluating

served by telephone. Neither an individual cus- programs is especially difficult — tough-

tomer nor an institution can be billed for a sub-

scription order or a back-issue purchase unless

er than assessing the quality of regular

From the Sorceror’s Scroll:

Social status & birth tables . . . 11

A ‘caste’ of characters . . . . . . . 12

Falling damage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

article manuscripts — because (a) we

prior arrangements are made.

have to judge every program on a rela-

The issue of expiration for each subscription

tive basis; that is, how does it stack up

is printed on the mailing label for each subscrib-

against other programs designed to ac-

at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the complish the same thing? and (b) we

change in order to insure uninterrupted delivery. have to be real sure that any program we

All material published in DRAGON Magazine accept and print is Perfect: no typos, no

er’s copy of the magazine. Changes of address

for the delivery of subscriptions must be received

Deities & Demigods

of Greyhawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Figure Feature: Knights. . . . . . . . . . 24

First in a series

becomes the exclusive property of the publisher glitches, no nothin’. Have patience, and

upon publication, unless special arrangements we’ll do our best.

to the contrary are made prior to publication.

DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited sub- To all of you who’ve read all the way

missions of written material and artwork; how- through this without finding anything

ever, no responsibility for such submissions can

Castles by Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

III: Jericho

Convention schedule . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Off the Shelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Book reviews

be assumed by the publisher in any event. Any that interested you: If you do have a sub-

submission which is accompanied by a self- ject concerning any of our policies and

addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient size

will be returned to the contributor if it cannot be

procedures that you’d like to know about,

drop us a short line, and in a subsequent

published.

issue maybe we’ll use this space to

ing’s monthly adventure playing aid. All rights answer your question, Have patience,

on the contents of this publication are reserved, and . . . heck, you know the rest.

and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole

or in part without prior permission in writing

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.

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.

DRAGON™ is a trademark for Dragon Publish-

Game reviews:

Citybook I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Civilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Daredevils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

What’s New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Wormy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

F EBRUARY 1983

Robert LaBudde & Associates, Inc.

he roots of fantasy role-

playing are planted in the

soil of northern European

culture, but that doesn’t

mean your campaign can’t

branch out to explore other climates and

other social systems. That fact illustrates

the secondary purpose behind our pub-

lication of MECHICA, this month’s spe-

cial feature. (The primary purpose is for

you to have fun!) DMs and players alike

should find it interesting, to say the least,

to deal with a situation and a society that

aren’t typical of the circumstances in

which most FRP adventures take place.

MECHICA is not the only “un-typical”

element in this issue; just in case any of

you faithful readers were starting to

think we were getting predictable, the

articles you’ll find inside should shoot

that theory full of holes. On that topic,

check out “A Second Volley,” contribut-

ing editor Ed Greenwood’s further exam-

ination of primitive firearms that might

be adapted into an AD&D milieu — if

both the DM and the players are very

careful how they’re used.

Ed’s other offering is “The Smith,” a

new NPC born from the opinion that

humans ought to be able to work with

metal as well as dwarves can — if they

specialize in the craft and work long and

hard at their anvils.

As a counterpoint to that opinion, our

other contributing editor, Roger Moore,

figured that humans shouldn’t have a

monopoly on interstellar exploration,

and he came up with “Dwarves in Space,“

some thoughts on how to combine as-

pects of the AD&D and TRAVELLER

game systems — including suggestions

for translating dwarves into TRAVELLER

terminology, Roger came back down to

earth, in a manner of speaking, to offer

some general guidelines for incorporat-

ing characters from our Giants in the

Earth series into a campaign.

From the Sorceror’s Scroll is made up

of three short sections. First, E. Gary

Gygax reveals to all you Good Readers

the social-status and birth tables

that will be a part of the AD&D expansion

volume; then Frank Mentzer takes a more

philosophical look at the subject of social

structure within a campaign; and, last

but not least, Frank provides an explana-

tion, as we promised last month, of how

the AD&D rules for falling damage are

supposed to work. It may come as a sur-

prise, but it sure is realistic.

Also in the realism department this

month is “The hull truth about speed,” a

short essay by Bruce Evry that attempts

to prove why (contrary to the DMG),

large ships should move faster than small

ones. And you can’t get much more

“real” than Ken Rolston’s long look at

how to succeed — or at least have a good

time trying — the next time you enter a

fantasy role-playing tournament. — KM

Tides and rivers

Dear Editor:

I found David Axler’s article on weather

(issue #68) to be quite interesting and very

useful. He’s obviously taken a great deal of

time to assemble a system that is greatly

detailed and accurate — aside from a couple

of small points.

I refer specifically to the section on tides

and currents (Appendix B). To begin with,

anyone who’s spent any time near or on the

ocean knows that there are two high tides

each day, not one as would be implied by Mr.

Axler’s explanation. The proper explanation

should read, “High tides will occur when the

moon is overhead and when it is on the other

side of the planet. Low tides will occur when

the moon is on the horizon (at a 90” angle).”

(This explanation can be further developed

when one considers the effects of lag — the

time it will take the tidal swell to get through

narrow channels, up rivers, etc.; I’m not famil-

iar with the maps for Greyhawk, and therefore

cannot offer any assistance with specifics

here.) One could likely find a fuller explana-

tion of tides in a scientific/astronomical

encyclopedia.

The second point is in his appendix where

he says, “All rivers flow in a general direction

toward the equator.” This is quite plainly not

true — just examine a map of the Earth and

see the Nile. Once again, this statement may

apply to the World of Greyhawk, but I’m think-

ing of applying Mr. Axler’s system to other

gaming worlds.

I see both of these complaints as minor in

light of the great service done by the article

itself, but I felt I had to write and try to correct

the errors. (For a real headache in terms of

tides, try my own gaming world on for size:

three moons and a cold climate.)

Jonathan Roberts

Scarsdale, N.Y.

doubt that small group of people would be

happy to see at least an occasional article on

one of their favorites. But the vast majority of

those who buy this magazine would have no

use for such material, and for that reason sel-

dom do we devote space to such games.

Our specialty is coverage of the D&D® and

AD&D™ game systems — the most popular

role-playing games available today. If Space

Opera, or Champions, or any other role-

playing game ever equals or exceeds their

popularity, it would certainly be to our benefit

— and the benefit of our readers — to change

the content of DRAGON Magazine to reflect

the change in the public’s preference. We

know we can’t make everyone perfectly happy,

so we have to “settle” for doing the greatest

good for the greatest number. — KM

Staples and cards

Dear Editor:

There are a couple of things I think would

help make your magazine a little better. First, I

think you should get a new type of binding.

Although there is nothing really wrong with

(Turn to page 19)

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 affirmatively, then you may

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:

Cheryl Gleason

International Division

TSR Hobbies, Inc.

P.O. Box 756

Lake Geneva WI 53147

Other games

Dear Dragon:

I play AD&D but I also play Champions,

Space Opera, and The Morrow Project. In the

eleven issues of DRAGON I have read, I

haven’t seen any articles about any of these

games. If you have published articles about

these games, what issues are they in? If you

have not, would you please publish some?

David Hungerford

Bloomington, III.

We’d like to be able to completely satisfy

everyone who reads DRAGON™ Magazine,

but we realize — and so should David and the

rest of our readers — that realistically we can’t

do that. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of

games that each have captured the interest of

a small proportion of our readership — and no

D RAGON 3

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