Dragon 095 (march 1985).pdf

D RAGON 1

SPECIAL ATTRACTION

Into the Forgotten Realms

A tournament adventure for AD&D ® game characters

OTHER FEATURES

Demi-humans get a lift Gary Gygax

The last word on level limits and ability scores

The influence of Tolkien on the D&D ® and AD&D ® games Gary Gygax

Why Middle Earth is not part of the game world

How taxes take their toll Arthur Collins

An interview with a guy who ought to know

The ecology of the cockatrice Ed Greenwood

Birds of a feather petrify together

Prices for the Roaring 20s Glenn Rahman

Helping modern adventurers stretch their dollars

Credit where credit is due Katharine Kerr

A nonviolent examination of experience-point awards

The many shapes of apes Stephen Inniss

Primates packaged for use in the AD&D game

Battles above the dungeon Tim W. Brown

Tactics for conducting combat in the wide-open spaces

Desperate Acts Gordon Linzner

Action, suspense, and an out-of-this-world enemy

DEPARTMENTS

Letters

15 Convention calendar

89 Wormy

Publisher

Mike Cook

Editor-in-Chief

Kim Mohan

Editorial staff

Patrick Lucien Price

Roger Moore

Graphics and production

Roger Raupp

Subscriptions

Georgia Moore

Advertising

Andrea Lee Anderson

Contributing editors

Ed Greenwood

Ken Rolston

Katharine Kerr

This issues contributing artists

Dean Morrissey

Roger Raupp

Bob Maurus

Marvel Bullpen

Jayne Hoffmann

Dave Trampier

Richard Tomasic

Daniel Flahive

Joseph Pillsbury

Denton Elliott

Tony Moseley

Larry Elmore

The forum

68 Coming Attractions

92 Dragonmirth

World Gamers Guide

69 The ARES Section

94 Snarfquest

COVER

Dean Morrissey, indeed the dean of all our cover artists, got the idea that there

should be a place where people can bring their old metal items and have them

fashioned into armor and weapons before embarking on the adventuring life. The

scene that resulted is entitled Toads Cloak Armorsmith Shop, and theres more

to it than first meets the eye.

In defense of advertising

If you havent read the first letter on the next page, please do so and then come right back.

I dont intend to refute Dans statistics or the method of his analysis. I wont take issue

with his facts or most of his opinions. But I cant accept his basic assumption: that the maga-

zine is worse because it carries more advertising than it used to.

The advertising in DRAGON ® Magazine carries with it several benefits, some less obvi-

ous than others. For the readers, its a way of getting information about what sorts of

products are available in the gaming industry information that may be interesting and

helpful even if you dont intend to buy the products being advertised. A few people have

actually written in to compliment the magazines advertising; we dont expect everyone to be

that crazy about it, but you shouldnt resent advertising for the space it takes, either. Try to

appreciate its value to other readers even if you cant use the information yourself.

For the magazine, its a way of making money, some income that partially offsets our

operating costs so that we dont have to pay our bills by taking more of your money. The

explosion of advertising that Dan has documented is one of the reasons why weve been

able to maintain a $3.00 cover price on the magazine for nearly five years wed rather get

(Turn to page 4)

2 M ARCH 1985

that answer is yes, is it possible for a high level

M-U to create one?

Bill Hilf

Orange, Calif.

Lets assume that the fachan has a typical

humanoid skeletal structure, down to and includ-

ing an opposable thumb on its upper extremity.

For the thumb to work the same way as it does

Hard of hearing?

the earned xp if the convert later changes his

mind or is converted again by a different cleric.

with other humanoids, it must be on either the

right or the left side of the fingers it opposes. If

the fachan didnt have this kind of hand struc-

ture, it would be implausible for the creature to

be as strong as it is.

Although there are two sides to the issue, I

think the conversion system should only be

applied to non-monster NPCs humans and

humanoids that can be of any alignment in the

spectrum, as opposed to humanoids (such as orcs)

that are, by definition, limited to a narrow choice

of alignments or no choice at all. An orc that was

converted to the worship of a lawful good deity

wouldnt really be an orc any more, not as we

know em. And whether or not the orc suffers a

reduction in level (hit dice) might be academic. I

can imagine a deity like Gruumsh repaying a

converted orc for his loyalty by striking him

dead on the spot and dead orcs all have the

same number of hit dice.

Dear Dragon,

Thats about the best I can do for a logical

reason. Actually, Bill, you can answer this first

question for yourself just by stretching your

willingness to suspend disbelief a little bit further.

If you can accept the existence of a creature

with one arm in the middle of its chest, you

should also be able to accept the fact that the

fachans single arm has either a right hand or a

left hand at the end of it.

Your magazine is the finest FRPG magazine on

the market, but one aspect of your magazine

bothers me very much. The aspect that I am

speaking of is advertisements. A quick study

showed me the following: In issue #62, there were

9 full page ads throughout the magazine, and

only 7 altogether in the first 33 pages (I only

searched the first 33 in the interest of saving

time). Issue #72 showed an increase in full page

ads from 9 to 12, but 26 ads were to be found in

the first 33 pages.

The glasspane horror is armor class 2 in any of

its forms hard to hurt no matter what it looks

like. The second form is indeed solid, as anyone

whos been hit by its fists can tell you. And no,

the horror is not a magically created being, but a

lot of magic-users probably wish it was that easy

to get one. KM

Then issue #82 came along. Explosion! The

full page ads stayed at 12, but there were 22

advertisements in the first 33 pages. Issue #92

showed a decrease of full page ads from 12 to 9,

but 26 ads were to be found in the first 33 pages.

The other side of the issue is the good old

nothing is impossible argument. Sure, there

could be such a thing as a lawful good orc, and

allowing player-character clerics to try to convert

monsters might work well in the campaign you

run or play in. But the conversion system de-

scribed in the article was not intended to be used

for that purpose. KM

Finally, I received issue #93. You raised the

subscription price from $24 to $30. The number

of ads in the first 33 pages were lowered from 26

to 20, but the full page ads skyrocketed from

9 to 25.

Potion notions

Dear Dragon,

In short, since issue #62, you have nearly

tripled both the full page ads and ads throughout

the magazine (if the first 33 pages are indicative

of the rest of the magazine), put another publica-

tion inside your current one (virtually eliminating

the benefits of your 16 page expansion), and, in

my opinion, lowered the quality of both the

magazine and the paper it is printed on. I can

live with some advertisements, but at the rate you

are going, we will soon be buying a magazine full

of advertisements! People have made requests for

fewer advertisements at a higher price, but no

attempts have been made to rectify this. For a

magazine that listens to its readers, you seem

to be getting hard of hearing.

I have a question about the Potion of Mind

Restoration (Treasure Trove, issue #91). Does it

Ring removal

cure the effects caused by potions and magic

items that affect the mind? Also I would like to

know if it cures fear spells.

Dear editor:

Brian Cope

Neosho, Mo.

In the Treasure Trove (issue #91), the Ring of

the Eagle seems to have a contradiction. It states:

All the wearers worn or carried possessions are

merged with the giant eagle form while the ring

wearer is in that shape. Doesnt that mean that

the ring cant be removed because it has merged

into the shape?

As described by its author, Mike Persinger, the

potion seems to work against intellectual dam-

age to the mind, as opposed to emotional

damage. It will cure any form of insanity a

feebleminded condition, and all but the most

extreme forms of intellectual damage that a

defenseless psionic might suffer. It is not good

against, for instance, charm or fear magic, even

though the mind is technically affected by such

forces. The conditions that the potion works

against cause physiological changes; forces such

as charm spells or other will-force spells cause

psychological changes, which the potion cant do

anything about. To name a few others, the potion

David Schwam

Piscataway, N. J.

Dan Fejes

Aurora, Ohio

Exactly the point, David. The user of a ring of

the eagle cannot take off the ring, or have it

removed, while he is in eagle form. (If he could,

that might be very hazardous to an ex-eagles

health.) The ring merges into the eagle form, just

like all other possessions of the wearer, and stays

that way until he calls upon the ring to change

back to his true form. Then its right back on his

finger, and he can take it off any time. KM

Well, Dan, you certainly came in loud and

clear. For some editorial thoughts on the matter,

see the column to the immediate left. KM

also wont work against a potion of delusion, to

offset the effects of a rod of beguiling, or to

Un-conversion

counteract a helm of opposite alignment. KM

Dear Dragon,

Creature queries

Quick fixes

The article The more, the merrier in issue

#92 was excellent, but I have some questions. If

the NPC who was converted comes to his

senses afterward, does the cleric lose some or all

of the experience he earned? Also, can monsters

be converted, and if so, will the monster lose hit

dice (or experience) because of this?

Halina Adamski

High Falls, N. Y.

Dear Dragon,

When the problems are simple, the fixes are

quick. Such as . . .

The description of the fachan (Creature Cata-

log, issue #89) states that the enchanted/treated

hide of a fachan can be made into a magical glove

or gauntlet. The next paragraph says that it [the

fachan] will be either right or left handed, but

how can the hide be right or left handed if the

fachan has only one arm in the middle of his

chest?

Issue #94: The second sentence of the second

paragraph in the description of the lillend (p. 50)

should have read as follows: In addition, they

may activate the following spell-like powers at

will, one per round, at the 7th level of ability

(where applicable): emotion (three times per

day), fire charm (once per day), hallucinatory

terrain (three times per day), knock, light or

darkness (as a cleric), Otto's irresistible dance

(once per day), pass plant, polymorph self (into

humanlike form only), speak with plants, speak

If a player character kills a non-player charac-

ter and receives an experience-point award for

doing so, those earned experience points are not

taken away if the NPC is later brought back to

life. By the same reasoning, a cleric who performs

a successful conversion does not have to forfeit

In the same issue, the only stated armor class

for the glasspane horror is 2. Is that the armor

class for all three forms? In its second form, is it

solid crystal or just a crystalline image? And

finally, is the horror a magically created being? If

D RAGON 3

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