SPECIAL ATTRACTION 43 The Gypsy Train — designed by Richard Fichera Wanderers and their wagons for use in AD&D® adventure settings OTHER FEATURES 8 Life beyond 15th level E. Gary Gygax New activities to keep high-level druids busy. 10 Thinking for yourself E. Gary Gygax A guest editorial by the creator of the AD&D game 12 The making of a milieu Arthur Collins One DMs way of tackling the chore of campaign-building 18 The ecology of the eye of the deep Ed Greenwood Dont get in over your head against this monster 21 Short hops and big drops Stephen Inniss Rules for jumping and leaping in the AD&D game 24 Ay pronunseeAY shun gyd Frank Mentzer All the right things to say 34 Agencies and alignments Merle Rasmussen Dossiers on the spy groups of the TOP SECRET® game world 54 Eira Josepha Sherman A chilly story thatll warm your heart DEPARTMENTS 3 Letters 69 The ARES section 89 Wormy 6 The forum 86 Gamers Guide 93 Dragonmirth 32 Coming Attractions 88 Convention calendar 94 Snarfquest COVER Publisher Mike Cook Jeff Buschs second contribution to our cover in the last four issues is this colorful scene of a weretiger in the process of changing shapes while a real tiger stands Editor-in-Chief guard in the foreground. Kim Mohan Editorial staff Patrick Lucien Price Charging more instead of settling for less Roger Moore Graphics and production Inside this magazine, in a couple of different places, youll find out that the price of a Roger Raupp subscription to DRAGON® Magazine has been increased. While I realize that no amount of explaining will soften the blow for someone who was just about to sign up for a year, Id still Subscriptions Melody Knull like to say a few words about why the price increase is necessary and why, from one stand- point, raising the price is preferable to not raising it. Advertising We havent changed the price of DRAGON Magazine since the single-copy cost was Lee Hein raised to $3.00 on issue #37, in May 1980 and notice that the single-copy price is still Contributing editors $3.00. Since about two-thirds of the magazines circulation is through retail outlets, a sub- Ed Greenwood scription price increase has no effect on most of our readers. (And no, there are no plans that Ken Rolston I know of to increase the cover price.) Katharine Kerr Weve tried to fight the good fight against the spiraling costs of all the materials and serv- This issues contributing artists ices we have to purchase to produce the magazine, but thats a battle that must eventually be Jeff Busch lost. The price of the paper the magazine is printed on has gone up as often as two or three Jim Holloway times a year. Printing services and postal rates, through no fault of the printer or the post Bob Maurus office, are substantially higher than they were in May of 1980. Those of us who work in the Atanielle Annyn Noel magazine operation are all earning more money now than we were making a year ago, or Jane Hoffman Marvel Bullpen four years ago. Dave Trampier All these costs, and more, add up over the course of time. And now, although we havent Denton Elliott given up the fight, we have been forced to give some ground. The extra revenue that we Richard Tomasic bring in from this price increase will, we hope, enable us to maintain the level of editorial Larry Elmore (Turn to page 32) 2 JANUARY 1985 with each other on a wide range of topics, while our answering service (in the letters column) is limited to fielding questions about the contents of the magazine. KM Crystalbrittle Dear Dragon, I thoroughly enjoyed the Creature Catalog in issue #89. Its nice to be able to pit my players discretion of the DM? 2) There was no mention against monsters they dont know about. There Potion problem of exceptional strength on tables B2 and E2. I feel was only one thing that bothered me. In the it should have been listed because it has a bearing description of the glasspane horror it lists the Dear Dragon, on the height and weight of a character, just as a ability of crystalbrittle by touch. In the article I enjoyed the Treasure Trove (#91) very much. 3-18 score does. 3) Constitution is said to be the there was no account of this power. I would However, the explanation concerning the potion characters physique, health, resistance, and appreciate it if you would publish the specifics of of explosions is confusing. fitness (p. 15 DMG), so should it play a part in this talent. The article states that the potion . only determining the build of the character? Lane Oase requires contact with open air and a physical Tom Thrush Jr. Mendota Hts., Minn. disturbance of some sort to set it off. Does the Buffalo, N. Y. potion only explode when both of these conditions Crystalbrittle is the name of a 9th-level magic- are met? If this isnt so, how could a person taste The elf-types Tom mentions were not included user spell created by Gary Gygax and printed the liquid (or drink it) without it blowing up in because the article only dealt with those races and along with other new M-U spells in issue #68. If his face when he opens the bottle? sub-races allowable for player characters; the you dont have a copy of that issue for reference, The description states that If the container Players Handbook prohibits an elven player heres a slightly abridged version of the spell hits its target but does not break, the liquid inside character from being anything but a high elf In description: will not be set off. This implies that air must be contrast, the sub-races of mountain dwarf and The dweomer of this spell causes metal, present with disturbance. If this is so, how can a stout and tallfellow halflings are permitted for whether as soft as gold or as hard as adamantite, potion explode from merely being jostled, like in PCs, and thus are included in the tables. to turn to a crystalline substance as brittle and a characters pack, as the article mentions? Please Toms second and third questions have basi- fragile as crystal. This change is unalterable short clarify this. cally the same answer. Its apparent to me that of a wish spell. Michael Hill Steve Innisss design had a dual motivation of The caster must physically touch the target Newport, Ky. realism and simplicity and whenever you go item equal to a hit in combat if the item is for two diverse objectives at once, you usually being worn or wielded, Any single metal item can The potion of explosions is an unstable liquid have to settle for a compromise between them. be affected. Thus, a subjects suit of armor can be that will almost always explode under ideal Logically exceptional strength and constitution changed to crystal, but the subjects shield would conditions and may or may not explode under both belong in any comprehensive system for not be affected, or vice versa. All items gain a certain other conditions. The term physical determining vital statistics. But making a system saving throw equal to their magical bonus value disturbance is, on second thought, perhaps not a all-encompassing could also mean making it or protection. A +1/+3 sword would get a 10% very accurate way to describe what sets off the unwieldy or even unplayable. (average of the two plusses) chance to save; an liquid. Let me give it another try: In order to work as much realism into the iron golem would have a 15% chance to save (for Ideal conditions for an explosion include the system as possible, Steve already had to sacrifice it is hit only by magic weapons of +3 or better). presence of air and an abrupt physical shock of some convenience; he admits that the system Artifacts and relics of metal have a 95% chance some sort delivered to the liquid such as when takes marginally longer to use than the tables to be unaffected by the spell. Affected items not a container is thrown against a hard surface. in the Players Handbook, and he apparently felt immediately protected will be shattered and Under these conditions, the potion will always that injecting any more complexity would be permanently destroyed if struck by a normal blow explode, as long as the container breaks. counterproductive. If your sense of logic demands from a metal tool or any weighty weapon, includ- The potion does not necessarily explode when that constitution or exceptional strength is too ing a staff it is merely brought into contact with air; it must important to ignore, make up an extension of an The maximum volume of metal that can be also be severely jostled at the same time. The act existing table, or an entirely new one, and dress affected by the spell is 2 cubic feet per level of the of opening a container and pouring out or tasting up the system to your hearts content. KM caster By this reckoning, a glasspane horror the liquid does not set off the potion, except on (having 8 hit dice) should be able to affect as the 5% chance that the container gets severely much as 16 cubic feet at one time more than a jostled when it is opened. Forum answers suit of armor, less than an iron golem.