DRAGON 1 SPECIAL ATTRACTION 39 Creature Catalog III Two dozen more monsters for added AD&D® game excitement Publisher Mike Cook Editor-in-Chief Kim Mohan OTHER FEATURES Editorial staff Patrick Lucien Price Update from the chief Roger Moore 8 Gary Gygax Whats happening in the TSR realm Graphics and production Roger Raupp 10 All about the kender Roger E. Moore David C. Sutherland III A long article on a bunch of short subjects Subscriptions Plan it by the numbers Irene Swan 16 Frank Mentzer Calculate your way to challenging encounters Advertising Patricia Campbell 18 For king and country Paul Suttie A different way to deal with the alignment issue This issue’s contributing artists David Martin The role of books Larry Elmore 25 -John C. Bunnell Assessments of six stories gamers will appreciate Roger Raupp Dave LaForce Charging isnt cheap Peter Johnson Marsha Kauth 29 Ideas for creating and fixing magic items Jerry Eaton Joseph Pillsbury 37 The latest super-hero game reviewed Jeff Grubb Timothy Truman Observations from one designer to another Marvel Bullpen Jim Holloway 62 And Adventuring To Go . Brenda Gates Spiehnan Dave Trampier If you thought the wolves were bad, just wait a few pages Edward Wagner Tony Mosely Richard Tomasic DEPARTMENTS 3 Letters 56 Coming Attractions 91 Wormy 4 World Gamers Guide 69 The ARES Section 92 Dragonmirth 6 The forum 86 Convention calendar 94 Snarfquest COVER David Martin, whose work has graced the covers of a plethora of products in the gam- ing industry, makes his first appearance on the front of DRAGON Magazine with this action scene entitled Deadly Encounter. 2 SEPTEMBER 1985 Arent we all in this together? Making money might be the main reason why anyone goes into business; the point of this essay is not to judge intentions. But Ive got something to say about methods. other PC races. And to help offset some of the As the deadline for submitting advertis- For PCs only advantages that they do retain, these races are ing for this issue approached, we received forced to operate with a handicap when they some copy in the mail for an ad that you venture out into the sunlight. This is a logical Dear Dragon, wont find inside. As all advertising does, it I am bringing to your attention something that reason from the standpoint of game design, even had some glowing things to say about a I myself just realized. In “Demi-humans get a though its difficult to rationalize as a fact of product put out by the company that was lift” by Gary Gygax (issue #95), the aquatic elves life in the AD&D game universe. Its times like are not represented in the “Elves, Other” sec- these when we have to remember that were paying for the space. tion. Is this an oversight, or are the aquatic elves playing a GAME here, and once in a while Yes, thats okay. Anybody has the right to to remain the same as usual? realism has to take a back seat to playability call their own product the best of its kind, Alen Parker By the way, I pronounce it "svirf-nebb-lin, and we usually wont hesitate to publish Portland, Ore. with the accent on the nebb. KM such an ad. Weve even used ads in this magazine that referred to some other maga- The increased level limits for demi-human zine as the best in the business. Whether we characters, first outlined in the magazine and agree with someones claim or not is imma- further refined in Unearthed Arcana, do not Sorry, no glow apply to aquatic elves because that sub-race is not terial, and its not our place to judge any- open to player characters. New level limits are Dear Dragon, way that sort of comparative decision only given for the races and sub-races to which Mr. Findley’s article on the ecology of the will- rests with you, the consumer. PCs may belong although, to be fain the new o-wisp (issue #99) was great. I have a question, Feathering your own nest at the expense benefits should also apply to NPCs of the same though. When a will-o-wisp is killed, does the of someone elses, though, is out of bounds. races within the campaign. Aquatic elves should light keep emanating from its body? In other The ad we refused to run was a combina- be treated as described in the Monster Manual. words, can you use a dead will-o-wisp as a light tion of praise for one product and a blatant The vast majority of them will be of 1st level source? put-down of a product put out by another (1 + 1 HD), with certain higher-level leader Al Pace company in the gaming industry. types present according to the number of elves Stratham, N.J. in an encountered group but since aquatic Advertising that builds up one product elves do not use magic, there will be no magic- Id say no, judging by the fact that the will-o- while tearing down another is not a new users or spell-casting clerics in the group, no wisp is able to regulate the brightness of its illu- concept. Hamburger franchises, to name matter how large it is. KM mination; if it loses control over the light, then it one example were all familiar with, have loses the light, too. The answer would be differ- been doing it for years. But Id like to think ent if the light were some form of natural phos- that the gaming industry is above that sort phorescence, but nothing in the creatures nature of tactic, and I dont think thats being Deep subjects indicates that this might be the case. KM naive or puritannical. It would be a sad state of affairs if the Dear Dragon, whole industry threw ethics and fair play In Mr. Gygax’s article in issue #95, “Demi- humans get a lift,” he states that the duergar, Racial inequality? out the window and decided that the best, drow, and svirfneblin “. will suffer severe sight or the only, way to get your money was to problems and sickness due to the exposure to Dear Dragon: try to persuade you not to spend it on some- sunlight.” However, in the descriptions of the “Tables and tables of troops” (issue #99) was one elses stuff. Of course, things are no- three of them, only the drow suffers any penalties written excellently, but I cannot understand why where near that bad but if we have due to exposure. I am using the descriptions of all the remaining character races were excluded. anything to say about it, things arent going the drow and svirfneblin from module D1-2, so In issue #95, demi-humans were allowed to attain to get any worse, either. they might not be complete, although I think they higher levels. With this official change, a PC Removing this ad from our schedule is are. By the way, how do you pronounce lighter of any race may reach 9th level (with the our way of striking a small blow in favor of svirfneblin, anyway? exception of hairfeet halflings). This means that Todd Kiehn other demi-humans could attract men-at-arms. friendly competition. Am I just being naive Los Altos, Calif. Would these PCs use the human tables and again, or arent we all in this together? simply substitute their own race for that of the It could be that the penalties for duergar and followers? Or would they get only human men-at- svirfneblin werent mentioned in their original arms? Would the normals be 1st-level fighters and descriptions because it was assumed that those the sergeants 2nd level? What tables would races would only be encountered underground, gnomes and halflings use since their height is not where sunlight is not a factor. But now that player favorable to cavalry — the dwarf table? characters are permitted to be of those races, its Robert March important to specify how they operate above- Marlboro, Mass. ground; a subterranean PC is going to have to come out of the darkness in order to be a viable This is a perfect example of the unplanned member of an adventuring group, unless youre obsolescence that has befallen a lot of our recent in a real strange campaign where all the activity articles, and which will be evident in some artic- takes place below the surface of the earth. les yet to come. The large-scale rule changes that The deeper reason simply has to do with game weve published in the last few issues, and which balance. Drow, duergar, and svirfneblin PCs as are incorporated into Unearthed Arcana, didnt described in Unearthed Arcana do not have all of exist when much of our current crop of article the innate powers and abilities given for those manuscripts were being accepted. In this particu- races in the FIEND FOLIO Tome, Monster lar case, James Yatess manuscript was accepted Manual II, and other sources because if they many months prior to its publication at a time did, they would be too powerful in relation to when we didnt know that Gary was going to DRAGON 3 expand the level limits for demi-human fighters. have a desire or a need for the information, so as if it was “sparked”? Is there a saving throw We were afraid that the article would be seen that we can continue to produce all-new material involved when a creature is wearing clothing by some people as incomplete, but we decided to instead of using a lot of space and time on re- under his armor? use it anyway.