DRAGON 1 Publisher: Mike Cook Editor-in-Chid: Kim Mohan Quiet celebration Editorial staff: Marilyn Favaro Roger Raupp Birthdays dont hold as much meaning Patrick L. Price Vol. VII, No. 12 June 1983 for us any more as they did when we were Mary Kirchoff younger. That statement is true for just Office staff: Sharon Walton SPECIAL ATTRACTION about all of us, of just about any age, and Pam Maloney its true of this old magazine, too. Layout designer: Kristine L. Bartyzel June 1983 is the seventh anniversary of The DRAGON Magazine Contributing editors: Roger Moore Combat Computer . .40 Ed Greenwood the first issue of DRAGON Magazine. A playing aid that cant miss National advertising representative: In one way or another, we made a pretty Robert Dewey big thing of birthdays one through five c/o Robert LaBudde & Associates, Inc. if you have those issues, you know what I 2640 Golf Road mean. Birthday number six came and OTHER FEATURES Glenview IL 60025 Phone (312) 724-5860 went without quite as much fanfare, and Landragons . 12 now, for number seven, weve decided on Wingless wonders This issues contributing artists: a quiet celebration. (Maybe well have a Jim Holloway Phil Foglio few friends over to the cave, but thats The electrum dragon . .17 Timothy Truman Dave Trampier about it.) Roger Raupp Last of the metallic monsters? This is as good a place as any to note Seven swords . 18 DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is pub- the occasion, and it is now so noted. Have Blades youll find bearable lished monthly for a subscription price of $24 per a quiet celebration of your own on our year by Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR behalf, if youve a mind to, and I hope Hobbies, Inc. The mailing address of Dragon The ecology of the bulette . 26 Publishing for all material except subscription youll all still be with us for number orders is P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147. eight, number nine, number ten, . Special classified package: DRAGON Magazine is available at hobby Tracing THRUSHs nest . .28 stores and bookstores throughout the United Mary Kirchoff knew before she came to In trouble? Cry UNCLE . 30 States and Canada, and through a limited number of overseas outlets. Subscription rates are Dragon Publishing that in this business Spying on the spies . .34 as follows: $24 for 12 issues sent to an address in things dont always get done when they the U.S. or Canada; $50 U.S. for 12 issues sent via ought to be done. As evidence of that fact, The vicarious participator . 38 surface mail or $95 for 12 issues sent via air mail One perspective on role-playing to any other country. All subscription payments here is Marys official welcome to the must be in advance, and should be sent to Dragon DRAGON editorial staff a month late. Publishing, P.O. Box 72089, Chicago IL 60690. Programmed character creation . 42 Those of you who faithfully read the An article on computers A limited quantity of certain back issues of small print in the column to the left of DRAGON Magazine can be purchased from the Dungeon Hobby Shop. (See the list of available this one will have noticed that Mary DMs Personnel Service . 45 issues printed elsewhere in each magazine.) Pay- joined our staff as of issue #73. She is still and a program to go with it ment in advance by check or money order must the editor of the POLYHEDRON accompany all orders. Payments cannot be made Newszine published by the RPGA Net- A player character through a credit card, and orders cannot be taken nor merchandise reserved by telephone. Neither work. But now, shes also filling the and his money . 50 an individual customer nor an institution can be vacancy on our staff created when Gali . should soon be parted billed for a subscription order or a back-issue purchase unless prior arrangements are made. Sanchez made a switch to the Games Div- The SF universe . 59 The issue of expiration for each subscription is ision of TSR Hobbies, Inc. STAR FRONTIERS overview printed on the mailing label for each subscribers Needless to say, Mary tends to keep copy of the magazine. Changes of address for the busy. Needless to say, she likes it that delivery of subscriptions must be received at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the change in way. Were glad to have her on board. REGULAR OFFERINGS order to insure uninterrupted delivery. All material published in DRAGON Magazine Those of you who have enjoyed Roger Out on a Limb . 3 becomes the exclusive property of the publisher Moores writing in this magazine will be Letters from readers upon publication, unless special arrangements to the contrary are made prior to publication. happy to hear that this is Rogers last DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited sub- issue as a contributing editor. From the Sorcerers Scroll. 4 missions of written material and artwork; how- Huh? Is there a catch? You bet there is: Warhorses and barding ever, no responsibility for such submissions can be assumed by the publisher in any event. Any Effective with the next issue of DRAGON submission which is accompanied by a self- magazine, Roger Moore will be a member Leomunds Tiny Hut . 8 addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient size will Bureaucrats and politicians be returned if it cannot be published. of our editorial staff. Yes, Roger will still write articles for DRAGON is a trademark for Dragon Pub- SF/gaming convention calendar . 56 lishings monthly adventure playing aid. All us, at least as long as his four-foot-long rights on the contents of this publication are list of ideas holds out. And the big advan- Off the Shelf . 67 reserved, and nothing may be reproduced from it tage in having him on the staff is that Latest in literature in whole or in part without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © 1983 by hell be right around the corner instead of TSR Hobbies, inc. Gamers Guide . 71 way down in Loo-vull (which, I am Second-class postage paid at Lake Geneva, informed, is the way the natives say it), so Whats New . 73 Wis., and additional mailing offices. well be able to use his skills in lots of POSTMASTER: Send address changes to other ways to keep this magazine getting Wormy . 76 Dragon Publishing, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva better not just older. 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. TRAVELLER is a registered trademark owned by Game Designers Workshop, Inc. TM designates other trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc. unless otherwise indicated. 2 JUNE 1983 his issue's special inclu- sion is brought to you through the efforts of the guy who invented the wheel. With- our that idea to pave the way, we wouldn’t have been able to take two wheels and turn them into the (drum roll, please . .) DRAGON™ Magazine Combat Computer. Now, instead of going around in circles trying to determine who hit whom, all you Again, the articles were well done. I applaud AD&D™ Dungeon Masters can get a “to ‘I finally disagreed’ the quantum jump in professionalism of hit” reading with a simple twist of the recent articles over some published in years two cardboard discs. Better make plans Dear Editor: past by DRAGON. Yet, I see a letter like Tim “Up on a Soapbox” has always been one of Henke’s (in issue #64), asking that DRAGON now for what to do with all the time my favorite columns in DRAGON, and I’ve do his creative thinking for him, and I can’t you’re going to save. never really had any arguments with the opin- help but wonder what attitudes newer readers . For instance, you could put ions expressed in it over many issues. How- are gleaning from your publication of number- together a mission for player characters ever, after reading John T. Sapienza, Jr.'s essay oriented articles. to find one of the “Seven swords” de- in issue #72, “Level titles don’t do justice,” I Mark Kreighbaum scribed for us by Ed Greenwood’s old finally disagreed. Berkeley, Calif. friend, Elminster the sage. I don’t argue with his objections to the tech- . .And maybe this scenario will nical applications of level names; it would be To thoroughly respond to Marks letter would take more space than I can afford to use involve a trip through the home terri- silly to speak of a Tibetan bishop or a Catholic lama, but the idea is for titles to represent a here. And, a comprehensive answer is doubly tory of one of the “Landragons” created progression from 1st level onwards — if some difficult to come up with because Mark hasnt by Ronald Hall — or the electrum titles are inappropriate, then that is because it offered any examples of what he likes: Just dragon, another new species of dragon- is difficult to find technically appropriate what is an article that furthers the cause of kind from the imagination of the names that would accurately describe each role playing, as opposed to one that does not? aforementioned Mr. Greenwood. level and also fit into any campaign culture. But, if youll take that into consideration, Ill Then, when the characters succeed at I admire Mr. Sapienza's proposed abbrevia- give it a try. the tasks you’ve placed before them, tory system for character stats, and plan to use My first reaction upon reading that phrase they’ll probably come home with lots of it in the future.