DRAGON Magazine, Is a Fitting Way for Us to Embark on Our 10Th Year of Publi- This IssueS Contributing Artists Cation
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DRAGON 1 SPECIAL ATTRACTION 43 MUTANT MANUAL A collection of creatures for GAMMA WORLD® game adventures OTHER FEATURES 6 DRAGONLORE: Our anniversary section 7 Tailor-made treasure Roger E. Moore A dragons hoard of valuables should be variable 11 The magic of dragon teeth Gregg Chamberlain Dragon-men of mythology interpreted for AD&D® game play 14 Dragon damage revised Leonard Carpenter Different attack figures based on size and age 15 The dragons of Krynn Roger E. Moore Background for DRAGONLANCE campaigns 18 Creative magic items Ken Hughes Enchanted objects dont have to come straight from the book 22 Detailing a campaign world Jim Dutton Second in a series: How the AD&D PBM game was born 26 Its a neat idea, but . John C. Bunnell A review of Dragonlance Chronicles Vol. I and II 28 Knowing whats in store Dave Rosene Descriptions of shops that PCs often visit Publisher 34 Auctions arent forbidding Tim Stabosz Mike Cook Basic facts of buying and selling Editor-in-Chief 56 Authentic agencies, part II Merle and Jackie Rasmussen Kim Mohan More real-world organizations for TOP SECRET® adventuring Editorial staff Patrick Lucien Price 62 The Forging of Fear Ardath Mayhar Roger Moore If you cant take the heat, stay away from the blacksmith Graphics and production Roger Raupp DEPARTMENTS Subscriptions 3 Letters 40 Coming Attraction 91 Wormy Georgia Moore 36 The forum 69 The ARES Section 92 Dragonmirth Advertising 38 World Gamers Guide 86 Convention calendar 93 Snarfquest Patricia Campbell Contributing editors COVER Ed Greenwood Ken Rolston Allegory, the sixth painting by Denis Beauvais to appear on the cover of Katharine Kerr DRAGON Magazine, is a fitting way for us to embark on our 10th year of publi- This issues contributing artists cation. Denis created the painting as an interpretation of what his studio looks like Denis Beauvais and the hoard of treasure also bears a close resemblance to the load of para- Keith Parkinson phernalia weve accumulated in the offices of the magazine over the last nine Jeff Easley years. Dragons hate to throw anything away. Roger Raupp Bob Maurus Valerie Valusek Jim Holloway The biggest April Fool of all Dave LaForce Marvel Bullpen Right now I feel pretty . foolish. Sorry if that seems like an unnecessary play on words, Tim Truman but theres no better way to put it. Richard Hentz Some of the material in our April issue was not meant to be taken seriously. Obviously, Dave Trampier Im still filling this space with words every month, so you all found out in the May issue that Tony Moseley Aprils column was a joke. But the next column couldnt come out in time to prevent quite a Joseph Pillsbury few people from going out of their way to compliment the editors column. I got a lot of Larry Elmore (Turn to page 4) 2 JUNE 1985 Positively negative Dear Dragon: Way back in issue #64 you featured new official creatures, one of them being the solar. In the Monster Manual II, it shows the solar with an armor class of 9, while in your magazine it shows it as -9. Which is correct? Im assuming its -9, but you know what they say about assuming. Andy Everett Lutz, Fla. Good, not perfect other number that seems reasonable. Change “60%” to “40%” or whatever. Don’t expect any There are assumptions, and then there are safe Dear Editor, system like this one to be perfect for your taste assumptions. For the record, the solar’s armor What good PCs are made of (issue #96) by exactly as it’s presented in the magazine, and class is -9. I hope that even someone who didn’t Katharine Kerr was a well-done article. It will don’t assume that it has to be used exactly as have access to issue #64 would be able to deter- add an enjoyable aspect to my campaign. How- written or not at all. — KM mine that the book’s listing is in error, by the ever, it seems that the system outlined is only for nature of the solar itself (a very tough customer) humans. Do all characters lose at least three and by the fact that the planetar — slightly less siblings before their adventuring careers? Also, powerful than the solar — has an armor class on the subject of demi-humans, where do multi- No brains needed rating of -7. — KM classed characters fit in? Or monks or bard characters (bards from issue #56)? I would appre- Dear Editor, ciate it if you could clear up these questions for I read the article in From the Sorcerors me. Scroll about the goristro (issue #91). It states Mystery guest Paul Schreiner that goristroi are too stupid and bestial to do Lakeview, N.Y. more than carry out their orders. It also states Dear Dragon: that they have spell-like powers. If they are so This question is for artist Robin Wood con- stupid, how can this be so? cerning her cover painting for issue #97. Who is Dear DRAGON, Mark Whitten the shy individual reflected in the large scales in I have found a problem in the article What Inman, S.C. the lower right corner? Please dont tell me that good PCs are made of. In section C, part 2, the lovely young woman with the harp plays only there is a 60% chance in a noble family that the Intelligence is not a factor where innate magi- as a diversion, while someone else pilfers coin in father died when the character was young. Would cal ability is concerned. Type I and Type II the shadows! What a rude trick that would be to this not depend on if the father was a fighter demons have intelligence ratings of low, the same play on a kindly old dragon. (section F)? Any non-fighter landowner would as the goristroi, and they also have spell-like Brian Murphy have his serfs fight for him, and thus be out of powers. The key word is “like” — magical Kent, Ohio danger of being readily killed. Thus, a noble powers of this sort do not have to be cast the way father who was a fighter should have this 60% a spell must be, but are simply used when de- If we handed out prizes for observation skills, chance, and a non-fighter should have a lesser sired. The effects of a spell-like power may be Brian would certainly be a candidate for this chance. similar, or perhaps identical, to the effects of a month’s award. The reflected figure showed up Also in this section, non-noble classes have certain spell — but technically, the use of spell- pretty distinctly in Robin’s original painting, only a 40% chance of the father dying when the like powers and the casting of spells are two which is about four times as large in area as the son/daughter was young. In the very low class different things. — KM reproduction on our cover. And we (along with and possibly even in the low class, deaths would Robin, of course) could see it in the smaller-sized be quite frequent due to back-breaking labor in artwork, but I honestly didn’t think anyone else unsafe working conditions, and thus, the chance would notice it. of death should be higher than 40%. Other than No halflings allowed I don’t know who the figure is supposed to be, these problems, I find this system innovative and and I didn’t think to ask Robin about it after she very helpful. Dear Dragon, turned in the painting. Let’s just assume that the John R. Palmer I am writing about The Handy Art of For- off-stage individual is just there to enjoy the Ingersoll, Ontario gery by Keith Routley (issue #96). In the music — and, unless she wants to respond to this Modifications to base chance table under the letter, let’s allow Robin to keep the secret of the When we prepared Katharine’s article for forgers race, it makes mention of all races but “shy individual” to herself — KM publication, I got the impression that “What halflings. Considering that halflings get a +1 on good PCs are made of” was one of the strongest their initial dexterity roll, I feel that they should pieces of writing she had ever done for us. But, as not be excluded from this article. Would you good as it is, the article (and the system described please explain the authors reasoning in this? Back to tracking in it) can’t cover every conceivable aspect of Jim OConnor character background. I suppose Katharine Sea Girt, N.J. Dear Dragon, didn’t try to include multi-classed characters in It says in the article Official changes for the system because of the enormous amount of Forgery, as defined in Keith’s article, is an rangers (issue #94) that when the terrain modi- complication that would have caused. Monks, by activity that can only be practiced by assassins — fier is considered to be of the next lower category, their nature, have a special pre-adventuring and according to the Players Handbook, mem- and the modifier was already in the -50% cate- background which can’t be expressed or de- bership in the assassin class is open to any race gory, then tracking is impossible. But what if a scribed in a system of dice rolls. The bard class but halflings. Within the game system, the only 10th-level ranger (110% base chance to track) is published in issue #56 (which allows a character way to “create” a halfling forger would be to trying to track an ogre that passed through a to begin as a bard without progression through allow the practice of forgery by all thieves; then secret door in an area that is frequently passed the fighter and thief classes) is not an official part no racial restriction is implied, because a thief over by other creatures (-50% for secret door, - of the AD&D® game system, so Katharine prop- can be of any race.