Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Art of Dragon Magazine 30 Years of the World's Greatest Fantasy Art by Erik Mona Dragon and Dungeon Magazines will return to Wizards, go electronic only. Rumored for a while now, today it was officially announced that Publishing will no longer be publishing Dragon Magazine or its sister magazine, Dungeon . This doesn’t seem to be by Paizo’s choice, as jointly announced the conclusion of Paizo’s license to publish the magazines – seems that Hasbro-owned WotC is looking to drink more deeply of the PDF market. In the press release (copied below), Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager of Dungeons & Dragons at WotC stated “Today the internet is where people go to get this kind of information. By moving to an online model we are using a delivery system that broadens our reach to fans around the world.” Readers that liked having the magazines in hand rather than being forced to a computer screen may disagree, especially those who recently resubscribed. Paizo is offering multiple transition options to subscribers with issues remaining after the final issues in September ( Dragon #359 and Dungeon #150 ), including the option of signing on for Pathfinder , “a new monthly 96-page perfect-bound, OGL-compatible, full-color softcover Adventure Path book printed on high-quality paper for use with the world’s most popular roleplaying game.” Personally, I just received the May ’07 issue of Dragon today, and it contains a “Last issue. Resubscribe!” announcement bundled with it. Either Paizo got caught off guard with this, or someone forgot to notify the shipping department. Paizo Publishing/Wizards of the Coast press release follows: Paizo Publishing to Cease Publication of DRAGON and DUNGEON Magazines to continue through September 2007. Paizo Publishing and Wizards of the Coast today announced the conclusion of Paizo’s license to produce DRAGON and DUNGEON magazines effective September 2007. Publication of DRAGON and DUNGEON will cease with issues number 359 and 150, respectively. “Today the internet is where people go to get this kind of information,” said Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, Wizards of the Coast. “By moving to an online model we are using a delivery system that broadens our reach to fans around the world. Paizo has been a great partner to us over the last several years. We wish them well on their future endeavors.” “We at Paizo are very proud of the work we’ve put into DRAGON and DUNGEON during the past five years,” says Erik Mona, Paizo’s Publisher and Editor in Chief of DRAGON. “While we’ll all miss working on these venerable magazines, our talented editorial and art staff as well as our phenomenal team of freelance contributors will continue to produce high-quality, exciting, new OGL releases that are aimed at supporting our existing customers and beyond. We look forward to sharing useful and provocative new products that support our favorite hobby.” Subscribers should visit paizo.com/transition to learn more about the future of their subscriptions. Multiple options will be available for customers whose subscriptions extend beyond the final issues of the magazines. The final issues will be DRAGON #359 and DUNGEON #150—both of which will contain special content commemorating the history of the these incredible magazines. The Savage Tide Adventure Path will conclude as planned in DUNGEON #150. Paizo will continue to publish its popular GameMastery line of RPG accessories, including a new line of monthly OGL adventure modules beginning in June with Nicolas Logue’s Crown of the Kobold King. Paizo Publishing spun off from Wizards of the Coast’s periodicals department in 2002. In its five years as publisher of DRAGON and DUNGEON, Paizo introduced popular features such as the The Shackled City, Age of Worms, and Savage Tide Adventure Paths, the Demonomicon of , Core Beliefs, and Critical Threats. Paizo published three official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS hardcover books—The Shackled City Adventure Path, The DRAGON Compendium, and The Art of DRAGON Magazine. In five years of publishing DRAGON and DUNGEON, Paizo received twelve EN World RPG Awards (ENnies) and the 2004 Origins Award for Best Gaming Related Periodical. ABOUT WIZARDS OF THE COAST Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), is a worldwide leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, and a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. The company holds an exclusive patent on trading card games (TCGs) and their method of play and produces the premier trading card game, MAGIC: THE GATHERING®, among many other trading card games and family card and board games. Wizards is also a leading publisher of roleplaying games, such as DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, and publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times bestsellers. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast Web site at www.wizards.com. ABOUT PAIZO PUBLISHING Paizo Publishing®, LLC is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, and board games. Paizo’s GameMastery line offers Game Masters fun and useful tools, such as Map Packs, Item Cards, and the new Pathfinder Adventure Path books, that improve their fantasy roleplaying experience. Titanic Games, Paizo’s board game division, unites the greatest game designers to create compelling, challenging games like Kill Doctor Lucky and Stonehenge, the world’s first Anthology Board Game™. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the five years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than a dozen major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry. Paizo Publishing, LLC and the Paizo “golem” logo are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the U.S.A. and other countries. © 2007 Wizards. 11 comments. They have known about it for a little while…however, you got something in the mail that was clearly part of the automated process. It also tales about 3 months to get a publication in process… Those who recently resubscribed have only been able to get 6-month subscriptions since October. (And readers who like having a magazine, or most other RPG products, in hand have repeatedly shown themselves unwilling to pay what it really costs. Although an RPG periodical that really goes high-end, delivering production values and a caliber of content reminiscent of Pagan Publishing’s old Unspeakable Oath, would be a very interesting experiment – one that it looks like Paizo may be inching toward with Pathfinder. ) I think Pathfinder has some decent potential. Many people were just buying Dragon and Dungeon just for the campaigns… Those two mags were $14 a month. > They have known about it for a little > while… Of course. And due to the rumor mill, they weren’t alone. > however, you got something in the > mail that was clearly part of the automated > process. It also tales about 3 months to get > a publication in process… I know, I’m aware of the process. I was just amused, is all. > Those who recently resubscribed have only > been able to get 6-month subscriptions > since October. Um, not according to my wife, who just resubscribed me for a full year two weeks ago. New online subscriptions can sign up for the monthly billing per issue, but my wife just mailed a check. It’s not in Paizo’s best interests to telegraph the end of the two magazines as far back as last October. That’d be slitting the wrist of their cash flow. > And readers who like having a magazine, or > most other RPG products, in hand have > repeatedly shown themselves unwilling to > pay what it really costs. Has any monthly periodical really tested this theory? I agree that if any publisher could test this theory and survive, it might be Paizo and Pathfinder . “Those two mags were $14 a month.” And $16 (US) at retail. Which is why I only buy DRAGON magazine but even at $8 cover price (hiked up a dollar last year), I’m selective with each issue. Funny, I was considering about subscribing. BTW, the PATHFINDER will be at a whopping $20 cover price. Since it will model closer to DUNGEON, I’m not interested. lame. Good magazine, but it won’t be as good in pdf. I can get pdf. content for free on the net. Damn, Dai is right…$7.99 a pop. SO pathfinder will only be $4 more a month for much higher quality paper stock. Interesting. THIS, we are not touching: “I can get pdf. content for free on the net.” Actually, $20 is more than $11.99. Dai, what are you talking about this time. 7.99 for Dragon + 7.99 for dungeon = $15.98. Pathfinder will be $19.95. Aside from small change, that is a $4.00 difference. 1) Pathfinder isn’t a new magazine – it is a periodical, but think of it more as a time-delayed, long-form module. 2) I’m not sure you’ll see Dungeon and Dragon as PDF content – the releases and interviews I’ve seen haven’t seemed to indicate that direction. For those who are interested, the head of Paizo sales just did an interview on Pulp Gamer’s Inside Track podcast on this topic. PATHFINDER is not going to be a double issue. Just 96 pages, just like one DRAGON or one DUNGEON. As you said, it will resemble more closer to DUNGEON than DRAGON. Good for DUNGEON readers, not good for the rest of us. Pathfinder Review: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. Nice review. I've had this on Amazon pre-order for months now and look forward to receiving it. I was originally going to convert over to Pathfinder from 4E, but have since decided to stick with 4E until Next arrives. Anyhow, how difficult do you think it would be to run this with 4E? I'm fine with ad hoc DMing, but I realize some conversions need more than "eyeballing" it. Do you think I could basically run this with a couple 4E monster books and not need extensive hours of work other than reading the book? Mercurius. Messages 5,276 Reaction score 3,096 Points 159. Steel_Wind. Adventurer. Dec 9, 2012 #1. One of the interesting things about Paizo's products are the interlocking nature of their releases, with a focus on providing cross-support from Paizo's other product lines to support a major release of a new Adventure Path. This summer will see the release of not one but TWO Adventure Paths: The hardcover Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition and the six volume Shattered Star Adventure Path which debuts next week at Gencon. Like the Rise of the Runelords , the Shattered Star AP is set in the Varisia region of Golarion, Paizo's official world setting for Pathfinder RPG. And like The Rise of the Runelords , the Shattered Star AP deals with the legacy of the Runelords and is itself an explicit "sequel" to the Rise of the Runelords AP. Practically speaking, with two APs releasing one month after the other with each concerning the same region and similar subject matter allows Paizo to leverage their product cross-support for not one AP, but two. And that's exactly what Paizo has done this summer. Throughout the coming week leading up to the release of many of these products on the Gencon floor, I'll look at the main Adventure Paths offerings as well as a wide range of Pathfinder Campaign Setting and Player Companion products, flip-mats, map packs, cards, cardboard, metal and plastic miniature products - all of which are designed to support these new Varisian flavored Adventure Path products. The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. Released earlier in July at Paizocon, the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is a hardcover compilation of the first Pathfinder Adventure Path, revised and updated from 3.5 to Pathfinder RPG. While the book has made its way into many gaming stores in North America now, there are still quite a few without it. Moreover, the product is still working its way through the book trade. Amazon has only started to deliver the book to customers this week. While I had a PDF to review the product, I ultimately decided to wait until the hardcover book was delivered to me before posting this review so that the full impact of the Anniversary Edition of Paizo's first Adventure Path could be appreciated. After all, it's the hardcover nature of the product that has gamers excited. They deserve to know what the hardcover is like and whether it is worth it. As it turns out, I am very glad that I chose to wait to publish this review until I had the hardcover of the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition in my hands. While I was writing the review, I spoke with Erik Mona in order to ask him what his favorite thing about the new hardcover edition was. "Just one thing? I guess the new artwork", he replied, sounding a little embarrassed -- as if that was too insubstantial a selling point for the company's new flagship adventure product. In my estimation, Erik Mona is not wrong and he has nothing to be embarrassed about at all with his answer. At 430 pages of gorgeous jaw dropping artwork, much of which is new and updated to be in line with Paizo's current art style, the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition is the one of the most lavishly illustrated books for a Role Playing Game you will ever see. The PDF of the book is very nice to be sure and the "lite" version is exceptionally snappy on my iPad version 1. Hell, even the "lite" version is an extremely attractive PDF and the "full" version of the PDF even more so. Still, in the end, it simply does not do the physical product any real justice as the PDF in either form understates the physical impact of the sheer beauty of this product when it is in your hands. This book is, beyond any doubt in my mind, the single most attractive book ever produced for a tabletop Role Playing Game. Ever. While tastes differ and vary from fan to fan, the overall impression left by the book is absolutely top-rate and is a rare example of a mainstream RPG product where the publisher spared no expense and gets almost everything about the look of the product absolutely right. Sumptuous full color throughout, Wayne Reynolds and the rest of the artists are at the top of their game. It is a visual feast. One plus to those who pre-ordered the book from Paizo (while having an Adventure Path subscription at the time it was pre-ordered ) is that the PDF for Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. also comes with a 30 page "interactive maps" PDF and a 10 page handouts PDF as well -- a definite bonus for every prospective GM. All purchasers who get access to the PDFs in their download account may choose to download both the "full" and the "lite" versions of the PDF, either in a per chapter or as a contiguous single file. The artwork that has been changed in Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. are primarily the cartoony style graphic illustrations from the Kyle Hunter era at Paizo. Hunter's style was featured in the Paizo magazine era and throughout the first two years of Paizo prior to the publication of the Pathfinder RPG. This art style no longer matches the style used in the post-Pathfinder RPG era and those illustrations have all been replaced. The graphic layout used by Paizo lead graphic designer Sarah Robinson is an evolutionary approach and it's far and away my favorite graphic layout that Paizo has used to date in a hardcover book. In my view, it is greatly preferable to the "Nintendoesque" design elements employed in the Beginner Box which has in turn evolved to a new layout style for magic items used repeatedly throughout the upcoming Ultimate Equipment Guide . The layout employed in Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. , in contrast, yields a better overall result. You can get a good feel for the layout used in the book by downloading the FREE Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. Player's Guide . And yes, the free Player's Guide has been updated and revised as well. While the illustrations in the Player's Guide are not as lavish and the lack of the maps detracts from the overall impact of the Guide itself, it does give you a good idea of what to expect in the main text of the book. Not everything artistic has been changed. Many illustrations remains and the original maps drawn by Rob Lazzaretti again illuminate the way for GMs and players. In some cases, the map key font has changed but the map itself is the same. (Some new maps drawn by Jason Engle describing the zones added to the Anniv. Ed. also appear in the book.) As it turns out, the decision to keep the original map art is a plus as the Rise of the Runelords Map Folio first released nearly five years ago remains useful to GMs at the table when running this product. (Note: the Rise of the Runelords Map Folio is still on sale for $2.00 until August 13 as part of Paizo's 10th Anniversary Sale). Not Just A Pretty Face. For those unfamiliar with what has since become Paizo's classic AP, not everything from the original six volumes of Pathfinder Adventure Path , Issues #1-6 (576 pages) could be included in a 430 page hardcover compilation. For the most part, the journals describing Varisia and all of the fiction offered in the original six volumes of the AP when it appeared in soft-cover format are not included in the Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed .. GMs won't miss these articles as most of the excluded material has been superseded by the Inner Sea World Guide and other Pathfinder Campaign Setting books released over the years. Some of the updated regional descriptions are included in the book's appendices. Since the AP was first published, many monsters which first appeared in the original Rise of the Runelords have been updated to Pathfinder RPG and published separately in Paizo Bestiary products over the years. These monsters are also excluded from the Anniv. Ed. . While it might have been nice to have it all between two covers, all of this monster material is available elsewhere (including the free online PRD) and its absence from the compilation should not trouble any GM. I expect that most Pathfinder GMs will already have these foes in Bestiary form anyway. The biggest content change is the rule system. Rise of the Runelords was first published under the OGL for ver. 3.5 in 2007. The big attraction for the Anniv. Ed . is that everything in the book has been revised and updated for Pathfinder RPG. But there is new adventure content as well. Apart from the updating of stat blocks to Pathfinder RPG, James Jacobs has also updated many encounters and NPCs using newer class information and rules from subsequent rules expansions to Pathfinder RPG. For the most part, the updating feels authentic and purposeful -- and does not come off as opportunistic or out of place. The changes improve the overall feel of the AP and it makes it feel a little more like Pathfinder and a little less like version 3.5. In some cases, entirely new encounters and encounter areas have been included as well, offering veterans of the original AP surprises and a completely new feel to some sections of the AP. While it would not be fair to characterize this entirely new material as comprising more than a small portion of the book, when combined with the revised stat blocks and newly re-rolled NPCs, together with the new artwork -- Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition looks, feels, and often reads like a new product. The Verdict. I do not normally link or discuss the cost of products on Amazon in my reviews. Frankly, while the cheap prices at Amazon may serve to keep customers' wallets a little heavier, the Amazon effect on the industry as a whole -- and the FLGS in particular -- is not a healthy one for our hobby. I don't want to do anything to promote that already harmful effect on the front page of ENWorld. However, in the case of the Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. , it doesn't really matter where you buy this book. Whether you buy it from Paizo, from your local hobby game store, or through the book trade, or an online seller like Amazon -- at $38 to $60 and at all price points in between, the Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed . is easily the best value in gaming currently available in the marketplace. While crystal balls are inherently foggy and unreliable, I predict that the Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. will be the adventure that this version of Pathfinder RPG is best remembered for. Ultimately, this book will join the pantheon of "great RPG adventures" that we collectively remember and discuss within the hobby as a shared experience over the course of decades, as new iterations of Dungeons & Dragons come and go. At some point in the future, some adventure product will be released by WotC, Paizo, Fantasy Flight Games -- or some other company -- that is better than this book. That will be a very tall order, but I have no doubt that someday it will happen. Given the sheer quality and value that Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. presents, that's quite an optimistic statement about our hobby -- but I believe it to be true. Nevertheless, at this particular point in time, right now? This book stands at the pinnacle of the hobby games market. In terms of the hundreds of hours of epic entertainment it provides, value for the money, value-in-use at the table, available cross-product support, and sheer physical attractiveness, Rise of the Runelords Anniv. Ed. is the gold-medalist in every category possible by any reasonably objective criteria you choose to apply. This book is the state-of-the-art. Given that you can purchase the state-of-the-art for less than $40 if you shop around? It simply doesn't get any better than this. Go buy it. Highly Recommended: All RPG enthusiasts. Title: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, 430 pp. Authors: James Jacobs, Wolfgang Baur, Stephen S. Greer, Nicholas Logue, Richard Pett and Greg A. Vaughan Cost: $59.99 Print $41.99 PDF. 15 Best D&D Modules Of All Time. What are the best D&D adventures of all time? I take a look at four decades of Dungeons & Dragons adventures and present to you the 15 Best D&D Modules Of All Time, from Night Below to The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh to . Based on a survey I took in 2013. Over 120 adventures were nominated, and over 500 votes cast to determine the Top 15 Best D&D Modules Of All Time. From BECMI, AD&D 1E, AD&D 2E, D&D 3E/3.5, and D&D 4E (in other words, offficial D&D adventures only, not Pathfinder or third-party adventures). About Top Lists: This is an experimental new forum, and a bit of fun. The idea is to post your Top 10 (or 20 or 1,000 or whatever) things in a given theme. Top 10 Sci-fi Games of 2014, for example, or Top AD&D 1st Edition Modules. See the sticky thread inside for more info, and please do feel free to post your own Top List! This one should serve as a good example! [h=4]#15: Night Below[/h] By Carl Sargent. A 3-book boxed set for AD&D 2nd Edition , a campaign set in the . It was described as "bursting and the seams with nasty, slimy, ugly things" by Cliff Ramshaw. Dragon (magazine) Dragon was one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products; Dungeon was the other. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review . The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007. [1] [2] Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August 2007, Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro, Inc.), the publication's current copyright holder, relaunched Dragon as an online magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. The last published issue was No. 430 in December 2013. A digital publication called Dragon+ , which replaces the Dragon magazine, launched in 2015. [3] It is created by Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, and restarted the numbering system for issues at No. 1. Contents. History [ edit | edit source ] TSR [ edit | edit source ] In 1975, TSR, Inc. began publishing The Strategic Review . At the time, roleplaying games were still seen as a subgenre of the wargaming industry, and the magazine was designed not only to support Dungeons & Dragons and TSR's other games, but also to cover wargaming in general. In short order, however, the popularity and growth of Dungeons & Dragons made it clear that the game had not only separated itself from its wargaming origins, but had launched an entirely new industry unto itself. TSR canceled The Strategic Review after only seven issues the following year, and replaced it with two magazines, Little Wars , which covered miniature wargaming, and The Dragon , which covered role playing games. After twelve issues, Little Wars ceased independent publication and issue 13 was published as part of Dragon issue 22. [4] The magazine debuted as The Dragon in June 1976. [5] TSR co-founder commented years later: "When I decided that The Strategic Review was not the right vehicle, hired Tim Kask as a magazine editor for Tactical Studies Rules, and named the new publication he was to produce The Dragon , I thought we would eventually have a great periodical to serve gaming enthusiasts worldwide. At no time did I ever contemplate so great a success or so long a lifespan." [6] Dragon was the launching point for a number of rules, spells, monsters, magic items, and other ideas that were incorporated into later official products of the Dungeons & Dragons game. A prime example is the campaign setting, which first became known through a series of Dragon articles in the 1980s by its creator . It subsequently went on to become one of the primary campaign "worlds" for official Dungeons and Dragons products, starting in 1987. The magazine appeared on the cover as simply Dragon from July 1980, [7] later changing its name to Dragon Magazine starting November 1987. [8] Wizards of the Coast [ edit | edit source ] Wizards of the Coast purchased TSR and its intellectual properties, including Dragon Magazine , in 1997. [citation needed] In 1999 a compilation of the first 250 issues was released in PDF format with a special viewer including an article and keyword search on a CD- ROM package. Also included were the 7 issues of The Strategic Review . This compilation is known as the software title Dragon Magazine Archive . Because of issues raised with the 2001 ruling in Greenberg v. National Geographic regarding the reprint rights of various comic scripts (such as Wormy , What's New with Phil & Dixie , Snarf Quest , and Knights of the Dinner Table [12] which had been covered in TSR's own statement in the first issue that "All material published herein becomes the exclusive property of the publisher unless special arrangements to the contrary are made." [5] ) that had been printed in Dragon over the years and Paizo Publishing's policy that creators of comics retain their copyright, [12] the Dragon Magazine Archive is out of print and very hard to find. Paizo [ edit | edit source ] In 2002, Paizo Publishing acquired the rights to publish both Dragon and Dungeon under license from Wizards of the Coast. Dragon was published by Paizo starting September 2002. [13] It tied Dragon more closely to Dungeon by including articles supporting and promoting its major multi-issue adventures such as the Age of Worms and Savage Tide . Class Acts , monthly one or two-page articles offering ideas for developing specific character classes, were also introduced by Paizo. Return to Wizards of the Coast [ edit | edit source ] On April 18, 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would not be renewing Paizo's licenses for Dragon and Dungeon . Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager of Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast stated, "Today the internet is where people go to get this kind of information. By moving to an online model we are using a delivery system that broadens our reach to fans around the world." [1] Paizo published the last print editions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines for September 2007. In August 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced plans for the 4th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. Part of this announcement was that D&D Insider subscriber content would include the new, online versions of both Dungeon and Dragon magazines along with tools for building campaigns, managing character sheets and other features. [14] In its online form, Dragon continues to publish articles aimed at Dungeons & Dragons players, with rules data from these articles feeding the D&D Character Builder and other online tools. Cessation [ edit | edit source ] In the September 2013 issue of Dragon (#427) an article by Wizards of the Coast game designer and editor Chris Perkins announced that both Dragon and its sibling publication Dungeon would be going on hiatus starting January 2014 pending the release of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition. [15] The final online version released was Issue #430 in December 2013. Dragon+ [ edit | edit source ] A new and fully digital bi-monthly publication called Dragon+ , was launched on April 30, 2015, [3] succeeding the existing versions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. Created by Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, the online edition ceased continuity with the printed and digital versions of both magazines, and restarted its numbering system for issues at No. 1. It is accessible in three versions - either as a free mobile IOS app (available in iTunes), as a mobile Android app, or via the web. The magazine brands itself as an app with content "showcasing what’s new in Dungeons & Dragons – from backstory and world information to discussions about what’s coming next from the creators and developers of your favorite D&D products". [16] Articles included cover content such as: game strategies and insights; details of the current D&D storyline; interviews; ongoing comic series; lore; Forgotten Realms world information; community updates and fan submissions; and videos. Additional content in the magazine is also accessible through links to the magazine's content in Facebook and Twitter feeds. Content [ edit | edit source ] Many of the gaming world's most famous writers, game designers and artists have published work in the magazine. Through most of its run the magazine frequently published fantasy fiction, either short stories or novel excerpts. After the 1990s, the appearance of fiction stories became relatively rare. One late example was issue #305's featured excerpt from George R.R. Martin's later Hugo-nominated novel A Feast for Crows . It also featured book reviews of fantasy and science fiction novels, and occasionally of films of particular interest (such as the TV movie of Mazes and Monsters ). From the magazine's beginning until issue 274, from August 2000, Dragon published articles for various versions of Dungeons & Dragons and, at various times, other gaming systems. With issue 274, Dragon published exclusively 3rd Edition D&D content, or content for other games published by Wizards Of The Coast's d20 System games. With the release of the 3.5 Edition update in July 2003, issue 309 on onward published only Edition 3.5 content and carried a "100% Official Dungeons & Dragons " masthead. The magazine switched to exclusively 4th Edition D&D content from issue 364 on the release of 4th Edition in June 2008. Articles [ edit | edit source ] Most of the magazine's articles provided supplementary material for D&D including new prestige classes, races, monsters and many other subjects that could be used to enhance a Dungeons & Dragons game. A popular long-running column Sage Advice offered official answers to Dungeons & Dragons questions submitted by players. Other articles provided tips and suggestions for both players and Dungeon Masters (DMs). It sometimes discussed meta-gaming issues, such as getting along with fellow players. At the end of its print run, the magazine also featured four comics; Nodwick , Dork Tower , Zogonia and a specialized version of the webcomic The Order of the Stick . Previous popular gamer-oriented comic strips include Knights of the Dinner Table , Finieous Fingers , What's New with Phil & Dixie , Wormy , Yamara and SnarfQuest . A regular feature of Dragon for many years was its "Ecology of . " articles as sometimes discussed by the fictional sage , in which a particular D&D monster received an in-depth review, explaining how it found food, reproduced, and so forth. Under Paizo's tenure such ecology articles became heavier in "crunch" (game mechanics) as opposed to "fluff" (narrative and description) than previously. [17] The Dragon submissions guidelines explicitly stated that Ecology articles "should have a hunter’s guidebook approach, although it should not be written 'in voice'" and further call out the exact format of Ecology articles, leaving less room for artistic license by the author. [17] In the early 1980s, almost every issue of Dragon would contain a role playing adventure, a simple board game, or some kind of special game supplement (such as a cardboard cut-out castle). For instance, Tom Wham's Snit's Revenge , The Awful Green Things From Outer Space and File 13 all started as supplements within The Dragon . These bonus features become infrequent after the 1986 launch of Dungeon magazine, which published several new Dungeons & Dragons adventures in each issue. During the 1980s, after TSR had purchased Simulations Publications Inc., the magazine had a subsection called Ares Magazine , based on SPI's magazine of that name, specializing in science fiction and superhero role playing games, with pages marked by a gray border. The content included write-ups for various characters of the Marvel Universe for TSR's Marvel Super-Heroes . Special issues [ edit | edit source ] As noted above The Dragon was preceded by seven issues of The Strategic Review . In the magazine's early years it also published five "Best of" issues, reprinting highly regarded articles from The Strategic Review and The Dragon . From 1996 to 2001, Dragon Magazine published the "Dragon Annual", a thirteenth issue of all new content. Editors [ edit | edit source ] Print versions: #1 – 34: Timothy J. Kask, Editor #35 – 48: Jake Jaquet, Editor #49 – 114 & 199 – 217: Kim Mohan, Editor-in-Chief #115 – 198: Roger E. Moore, Editor #218 – 221: Wolfgang Baur, Editor #222 – 238: Pierce B. Watters, Editor-in-Chief #222 – 229: Anthony J. Bryant, Editor #230 – 273 & 274 – 287: Dave Gross, Editor & Editor-in-Chief #288 – 311: Jesse Decker, Editor-in-Chief #312 – 315: Chris Thomasson, Editor-in- Chief #316 – 326: Matthew Sernett, Editor-in-Chief #327 – 359: Erik Mona, Editor-in-Chief. Digital (online/PDF) versions: #360 – 388: Chris Youngs, Editor-in-Chief #389 – 430: Steve Winter, Editor-in-Chief ( Dragon +) #1-7 Matt Chapman, Editor-in-Chief; #8-13 John Houlihan, Editor-in-Chief; #14-present Matt Chapman, Editor-in-Chief. Awards [ edit | edit source ] 1984: Origins Award for Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine of 1984 [18] 1986: Origins Award for Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine of 1985 1987: Origins Award for "Special Award for Outstanding Achievement of 1987". [19] 1990: Origins Award for Best Professional Adventure Gaming Magazine of 1989 [20] 1994: Origins Award for Best Professional Gaming Magazine of 1993 1995: Origins Awards for Best Professional Gaming Magazine of 1994 , Origins Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame [21] 2004: Origins Award for Best Game Related Periodical 2003 2007: Origins Award for Best Non-Fiction Publication of the Year 2006. Other releases [ edit | edit source ] Lua error in Module:Wd at line 171: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). A collection of Dragon was released as the Dragon Magazine Archive in 1999. It was released as a CD-ROM for Windows 95/98 or Windows NT with files in Adobe's PDF format. [22] The Dragon Magazine Archive was directed by Rob Voce, and published by TSR/Wizards of the Coast. [22] It was reviewed by the online version of Pyramid on November 25, 1999. [22] The reviewer felt that the archive was "worth the price", but noted that it was not Macintosh compatible: "This product fails pretty badly in the Mac world. Because the actual archive is in Adobe's PDF format, the files can be read by anyone with a Macintosh and Adobe Acrobat. Unfortunately, the search utilities that make the archive accessible are not available to Mac users." [22] Art of the Genre: The . Today I follow the rise of the Drow, both in their conceptual purpose and the art that has defined them. In modern fantasy there have been dark elves as far back as Tolkien when he speaks of Eol the Dark who forged Anguirel the blade used by Beleg Strongbow in the Hurin mythos. Yet, corrupted elves, and the mystery they hold, have become something else entirely when placed in the framework of role-playing games. Somewhere, in some nearly forgotten time, Gary Gygax read something, perhaps Funk & Wagnall’s Unexpurgated Dictionary , stating: “[Scot.] In folk-lore, one of a race of underground elves represented as skilful workers in metal. Compare TROLL. [Variant of TROLL.] trow “ and he used it to create the absolutely fantastic D&D monster we now call Drow. Erol Otus goes all black This was in 1977, Gary running his son, Ernie, as well as Rob Kuntz, in the rough draft of the adventure module G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief . Gary threw the first Drow at them, all black-skinned and white hair with souls as dark as their appearance. Ernie was so impressed with the Drow he broke off the adventure and fled, but that only enforced Gary’s vision, something Ernie recounts as follows: “I know this; Gary was adamant that the only Good aligned Drow would have to be one that was insane, it is not in their nature.” This leaves us with the foundation, a source indicating ‘evil’ in the Drow, and the initial looks at this race done by artists like Jeff Dee, Erol Otus, and Bill Willingham [who made the Drow so evil in his rendition they seemingly have killed Spiderman, Captain America, and Iron Man… seriously, look close!] reinforce this vision. Willinghams B/W hero slayers. Still, as with all innately evil creations, there’s a certain romance involved, something untouchable and forbidden in it. When the modules gave way to D1-2: Descent into the Depths of the Earth , D3: Vault of the Drow , and Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits , the Drow were further galvanized into the mindset of players as something they wanted more of. The Drow were mentioned vaguely in monster guides like and , but the love affair didn’t truly begin until TSR and Gygax released which allowed players to create the race as characters in 1985. This seems counter intuitive to Gygax’s vision, but nonetheless it happened, and in that year my best friend created his first playable Drow, Evendrad, as did thousands of other players nationwide, and life quickly changed for all DMs and players. This transformation from villain to hero is reminiscent to me of Terry Goodkind’s amazing ability to make things you hate in a fantasy series turn into things you love, [ala the Gar, Mord-Sith, D’Hara, etc] but nothing defined this Drow transformation better than another fantasy author in the late 80s, R.A. Salvatore. Salvatore, in his gem of a starter novel, The Crystal Shard , gave TSR Drizzt Do’Urden, and the realm of fantasy soon adopted a new kind of hero. This Drow protagonist, twin scimitars and all, took what was once a monster and made it a champion readers loved. For Drizzt, Larry Elmore was the first to help turn the visual tide, his depiction of him hooded and brown-skinned in the frozen north of Icewind Dale coming at almost the same time as Keith Parkinson did his half-drow in Waterdeep and the North . For the first time the Drow weren’t ebon black or royal blue, another level of depth coming to their mystery and evolution. Parkinson shows us the earth-tones of a Half-Drow As the Drizzt series progressed, the mantel of Drow representation fell to Jeff Easley, an artist who admits he was never shown the Drizzt series or any concept Drow art and was almost universally eviscerated by fans for his ‘aged’ representation of the dark race. He provided a rather unique silver-black version with a wild mane of non-styled white hair. When I spoke to him about the rendition he followed up with this, ‘My Drow might not have fit the mold, but I think they had character, a feeling of reality mixed in that isn’t seen in the shinier versions. Still, if ever given another shot, I hope I can redeem myself in the eyes of the fans as I think I better understand what the Drow are now.’ Well said, and as I thought about Drizzt and his impact, I decided to ask R. A. Salvatore his thoughts on the subject of the Drow. Showing him Ernie’s quote, I wondered if he echoed Gygax’s thoughts concerning evil Drow and he replied: “I wouldn’t say that I’m a “firm believer,” but generally speaking, Drow are monsters, and darned good ones.” Jeff Easley defines 'character' in the silver Drow Whatever Salvatore’s thoughts on good or evil, he’d officially let the genie out of the bottle and by 1990 TSR jumped on the good Drow bandwagon with both feet. Employing Ed Greenwood as a freelancer, they had him fill out the Drow pantheon begun by Gygax with more work in his campaign world of Forgotten Realms. Talking with Ed about it, he recounted the following concerning what his purpose was in the grand scheme: “As a freelancer, I was asked to write Drow of the Underdark (the original, 2E sourcebook with that title) after doing the Menzoberranzan Boxed Set . For that project, I was asked to create some Drow gods (enter Vhaeraun and ), give Gary’s “Elder Elemental God” a name (Ghaunadaur), specifically to give “good” Drow a deity and a role on the surface world, and to at least hint at Drow technology (as opposed to magic), as well as signaling that not all Drow society followed the matriarchal Lolth model.” Robh Ruppel asks 'What's that smell in the old elf nursing home?' As for Ed’s beliefs beyond his paid work from TSR, he returns to Gygax with this statement: “I personally first encountered Drow by observing Gary DMing an adventure at GenCon (part of the famous chain of adventures that culminated in Vault of the Drow ). Gary’s Drow were deliciously, wholly, elegantly EVIL.” Whatever the inception, players didn’t care, and now having good gods, and with Drow moving to the surface in greater numbers in the Forgotten Realms, the shift was on. By the mid 90s, the Drow were everywhere, and Salvatore just continued the process with series after best-selling series as Drizzt became the most recognizable icon of his race. TSR was also pushing the Drow envelope with computer games like Neverwinter Nights 2 giving both Drizzt and his people even more influence. Drow art was also advancing, the ‘aged’ Drow of Easley giving way to perhaps the greatest offender to Drow lovers everywhere, Robh Ruppel, and his infamous Starless Night cover where Drizzt is actually white-skinned. No offense to Robh, who was himself trying to follow in Easley’s concept work, but there is little doubt that this is the most loathed of Drow versions on gaming chat sites. By the time Wizards of the Coast bought TSR and created D&D 3 Edition, a much needed Drow facelift was in order, and to do this they turned to Todd Lockwood. Lockwood’s talent reinvigorated the Drow frame, and WotC introduced new Lockwood covers for the entire Drizzt series that brought an Elmore reminiscent softer and deep brown-black skin with the 3E lithe elf-body coming into play. Todd Lockwood says 'Look at the bones!' In Lockwood’s discussion of Drow he recounts his own experience as a player: “Back in the day, the other guy who ran campaigns in our D&D group loved to throw Drow at us. Armies of Drow. Then more armies of Drow. It got to the point where the Drow would show up and we’d all roll our eyes and say, “Drow? AGAIN? ARE YOU ( EXPLICATIVE ) KIDDING ME?” When the campaign was finally concluded (we had to kill Lolth on her home plane to bring an end to the Drow) we all agreed that if we never saw another Drow it would be too soon.” I commented to him that it was somehow ironic that he now made a living painting Drow, and he agreed, as well as stating in a quip to R.A. Salvatore: “Yes, many old-timers have told me how you [Salvatore] ruined the game: now everyone wants to be an angsty “good guy” Drow who fights with two swords…” Wayne Reynolds goes old school and is back in black Ruined or no, the Drow were alive and well in the new millennia, and for his part, Wayne Reynolds took a throwback view like Bill Willingham’s vision to Paizo with his cover of Dungeon Magazine #119 . His Drow with displacer beast draws a perfectly evil line in the sand while also returning to the utter-black marble skin likeness and almost wet white hair that elder gamers craved. Paizo was also moving forward with Pathfinder by the middle decade, and their third great adventure path released a fresher evil version of their Drow in Second Darkness . These modules brought the next evolution to the Drow, Steve Prescott’s more ‘violet’ version depicting what Paizo saw Drow to be in their new world of Golarian and it was a grand success. Steve Prescott hands it out in deep purple for Paizo I queried Erik Mona and James Jacobs over at Paizo, and Erik got back to me with several nice details touched on above, but also this interesting bit, “As an aside, I recently re-read Edgar Rice Burroughs’s The Gods of Mars and was taken by how similar Gary Gygax’s Drow were to the black Martians in the John Carter story. Both races are obsessed with torture, are more of less ‘pure evil’, and both races live in fantastic hidden subterranean cities.” So, what have we learned? Well, like anything that becomes beloved in fantasy, there are many versions and styles involved over the course of thirty years. Are today’s Drow what Gygax envisioned? No, but again, like any good , he allowed the players free will to choose, and when they did the Drow were changed forever. Whether you play a twin-sword Drizzt clone, sexy priestess of Eilistraee, or just use Drow to vex your players on occasion as a DM, they’ve become an invaluable part to role-playing lore.