Breaking into print One of the questions we receive most often is some variation lines. Submissions without that form are returned unread. (You on How do I get to be a writer for TSR? did remember the SASE, didnt you?) Remember to spell out what Writing for DRAGON® Magazine is a good start. you plan to write. Dont just say Ive got 15 new magic spells or The first thing you need is knowledge of the magazine, of our There are five new magical swords. That doesnt tell us any- audience, and of the game system you plan to write about. thing. What are the spells? What do they do? What kind of (Dont write an article on FORGOTTEN REALMS® lore that includes swords, and why do we need them? Thats what creates interest. defilers.) Think of yourself as a salesman. Be convincing. You also have to know the mechanics the how of writing In your cover letter, tell us why you should write this article. If for a magazine. For DRAGON Magazine and DUNGEON® Adventures, you are submitting something on Ancient Egyptian PC kits, for the basics are in our writers guidelines, which you should example, Wed be more impressed if you had a small library of request by sending us a note and a self-addressed, stamped on Egypt, studied the history, or even took classes in Middle envelope (SASE). Specify which set of guidelines you want. Egyptian at U.C. Berkeley a few years ago. This tells me that you There are other submission guidelines that are fairly standard know your material and arent likely to make whopping great in the publishing industry. These include having your name, the mistakes. article title, and a page number on every page; double spacing We prefer queries to whole articles because we may not be your manuscripts; and using a font such as Courier in a legible interested. If we are, well ask for the article. We may give you a size. The standard is 12-point type. The reason for this standard deadline if a particular issue is coming up that suits your idea. is twofold: legibility, and that each page is approximately 250 I generally discourage e-mail queries for DRAGON Magazine (its words in length, and we can get an idea of word count by look- hard to put your best foot forward when youre used to the infor- ing at the manuscript. Small, single-spaced, proportional fonts mality of online banter), but if you are on an online service and like Times or Helvetica hurts our eyes, and tends to make us pre- we are interested in an article, we may ask you to e-mail it to us. disposed to dislike a submission. You can get more information Enough of the bad news. from books and magazines on writing such as Writers Digest and If you want to break into print, an easy place is the depart- The Writer. ments. Bazaar of the Bizaare, Dragons Bestiary, Arcane Lore, and Now for the hard part. We return manuscripts full of basic the like are always popular. grammatical or syntactical errors. For instance, know the differ- Im not trying to discourage anyone from submitting material. ence between their, theyre, and there. Punctuate your sentences In fact, I actively encourage submissions from new writers. So properly. Know the difference between passive voice (the ball why do some names pop up over and over in our pages? was thrown) and active (I threw the ball), and why we prefer Because they do it right, and they do it well. If you have an orig- the latter. inal idea that is really good, and you can present it well and If your cover letter is riddled with typos and misspellings, we clearly, you may find your name in the magazine one day as cant take your work seriously. Thats not being cruel; thats being well. realistic. We get dozens of queries and submissions every week, For an editor, few things are as exciting as opening an enve- and we can spend only so much time on them. We have to know lope from a new writer and finding a piece that is just what we which ones to look at and which ones not to waste time on. need. Will your submission be the next one? Okay, you have all this down. Good. Youre ahead of the pack. The next step is to send us a query letter. Dont forget the disclo- sure form thats attached to our guid- Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-in-Chief Editor Art director TSR, Inc. Brian Thomsen Pierce Watters Anthony J. Bryant Larry W. Smith Associate editor Associate editor Subscriptions U.S. advertising U.K. correspondent/advertising Dave Gross Michelle Vuckovich Janet L. Winters Cindy Rick Carolyn Wildman Printed in the USA DRAGON #226 3 February 1996 Volume XX, No. 9 Issue #226 The Magic Goes Away Paul Fraser Whats the secret to game balance? Could if be limiting the number and power of users of magic? Page 8 Rome May Not Have Been Built In a Day, But... David Clarke Your campaign world can be. This simple step-by-step walkthrough shows how to make one in just a few hours Off-the-Cuff NPCs Page 17 Melissa C. Thompson The key to an enjoyable gaming experience is memorable NPCs, and now you can create a few in no more time than it takes to read this blurb. Page 22 Improve with Improv Jason Strasser Improvisational skills are not just for musicians. Good DMs need to be able to make rulings and come up with game elements on the fly. Page 28 Dot to Dot Michelle Bottorff They may all look alike on the map, but not all cities are identical. Dont make all your towns clones of each other. Page 36 Powers From the Past Andrew Turpin Sometimes its the things people do that make their objects magical. Page 52 4 FEBRUARY 1996 Columns 3 . The Wyrm’s Turn So you want to write for TSR, eh? Its not Arcane Lore: Monsoons really all that hard... and the Power of Om 6 . D-Mail Michael A. Selinker Readers letters on castle defenses, obtain- These powerful new wizard and priest spells ing back issues, and more. come from the Indian subcontinent. Page 42 74 . .Forum Letters this month contain advice for DMs and players, as well as a discussion on Game Wizards: The Ultimate women in gaming. Dungeon Master’s Aid ® 78 . RPGA Network News William® W. Connors Network coordinator Scott Douglas dis- At long last! The AD&D game core reference cusses running a Network-sanctioned books (and more!) are on CD-ROM. event. Page 49 84 . Role of Books John C. Bunnell reads the newest novels Bazaar of the Bizarre: and keeps on Trekking. Magical Scabbards and Sheaths 89 . Sage Advice David Howery Skip Williams answers questions on the Sometimes, its not the sword thats magical. ® DARK SUN setting and the ever-popular Page 62 stoneskin spell Rogue’s Gallery: Theahtyn 92 . Role-playing Reviews Robert Martin Rick Swan plays some cool games. Meet Theahtyn, a powerful dwarven fighter. Just when 96 . his life was calming down, tragedy struck. Now he is Cons & Pros coming out of retirement, and he has a mission. We let you know where the conventions Page 77 are and whos going to be there. 120 . The Current Clack Campaign Classics: Allen Varney talks about the industry and The Magical Sands of Zakhara WotCs big news. Rudy Thalberger When your world is surrounded by sand, that becomes Other Material the fool you use. These wonderous sands were once fhe exclusive possessions of shairs. Page 80 100 . DragonMirth 102 . Gamer’s Guide 105 . Libram X 109 . Knights of the Dinner Table 110 . .Floyd 68 Miniature Player 115 . TSR Previews Character Record Sheets DRAGON #226 5 caught my interest. When I finished it, I then writing the Mail Order Hobby Shop and found that it was the first of a series of haunting gaming conventions looking for articles about the land of Tumish. Does the issues you want. Good luck. this mean that nothing is to be issued on this subject for general publication? As I have never been an RPGA Network Castles and magic defense: member, does this mean that I cannot taking a second look read about this and other areas of inter- Dear DRAGON, est within the FORGOTTEN REALMS that have I have a problem with Jeffrey Pauls also appeared in POLYHEDRON? article The Castle Designers Guide to Phil Martin Coping with Magic and the Supernatural Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, (issue #224). Hes overlooking the basic England principal of castle defense: the castle walls are the last line of defense. POLYHEDRON has published a great deal of In his example, he illustrates what Replacing old magazines interesting material that has never appeared happened to Hector, the hapeless DM, Dear DRAGON, anywhere else. One of the good things about who was stunned by his players annihi- ® In DRAGON Magazine issue #166, you joining the RPGA Network is the access to all lation of his castle. Mr. Paul decided that published a game called Dino-Wars. I this exclusive material. You can possibly get the problem was a design flaw in the cas- liked this game so much that I cut the back issues from the Network, but Id suggest tle. With the exception of his improved pages out of the magazine and put them joining. I was amazed the first time I looked towers, he had some very good ideas.