DRAGON 1 Dragon Publishing has a new boss, and Mike moved into the job previously held by DRAGON™ Magazine has a new publisher. Jake Jaquet, who has been hired by Crystal The man at the top is Mike Cook, formerly Publications Incorporated of Crystal Lake, the head of the Education Department at TSR Ill., to serve as the company’s president and Hobbies, Inc. Now, as Executive Vice Presi- the publisher of its forthcoming periodical, dent in charge of the Dragon Publishing div- GAMEPLAY Magazine. ision of TSR, Mike is responsible for making I worked with Jake for three years; as of this big business decisions (the kind editors are writing, I’ve worked with Mike for three weeks. scared of) and overseeing the activities of the I consider both of them friends, and I wish division as a whole. both of them good luck in what they’re doing He also assumes the title of publisher of the — because I think they already have all the magazine, which has traditionally been held skill and talent they need. by the person in charge of the division. Mike won’t be taking a major role in the production of DRAGON Magazine, and there are no plans to change what’s printed between these cov- ers just because the publisher’s name has changed. ust in case anyone was thinking that there are no more frontiers to be crossed, we offer this issue of DRAGON™ Magazine as proof that the “state of the art” in fantasy role-playing (AD&D™ gaming, in par- ticular) is still advancing, and has yet to tax the limits of our writers’ imaginations. SPECIAL ATTRACTION As voluminous as the AD&D rules already are, there are FEDIFENSOR — A scenario for AD&D™ adventuring plenty of ways they can be expanded and embellished. E. Gary on the Astral Plane ................................. 37 Gygax, the creator of the AD&D game, makes that point more strongly than ever by revealing dozens of all-new spells for the OTHER FEATURES magic-user class in From the Sorceror’s Scroll. The roster of Spy’s Advice — Answers to TOP SECRET® questions .... 12 new spells is so long that we had to break the presentation into Souping up the spider — Eleven new arachnids .......... 15 two parts, saving the 5th-9th level spells for next time. Deities & Demigods of the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ — And to expand your gaming consciousness in another direc- Heironeous, Hextor, Iuz, and St. Cuthbert ............ 23 tion, there’s a looong treatise by contributing editor Roger THE ASTRAL PLANE: A special section ................. 27 Moore on what it’s like to adventure on the Astral Plane. The Astral encounters .................................. 28 article, annotated by EGG himself, is wrapped around an AD&D Astral traveling ..................................... 29 scenario called “Fedifensor”— an idea of what an adventure on Encounter checks and the Psychic Wind ............. 30 the Astral Plane. might be like. It’s not a full-fledged “astral Movement & combat ............................... 31 module” (the state of the art isn’t quite that advanced yet), but a Magical alterations ................................. 32 DM who supplies a hefty dose of imagination, and applies the Cleric spells ..................................... 32 principles in Roger Moore’s article, can make “Fedifensor” an Druid spells ...................................... 34 adventure that will test the mettle of even high-level characters. Magic-user spells ................................ 34 The prolific Mr. Gygax is also responsible for four other Illusionist spells .................................. 44 features that help to fill out this issue’s 80 pages: the first Magical items .................................... 44 installment of his descriptions of the deities and demigods of King of the Cats — Fiction by Gillian FitzGerald .......... 50 the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Fantasy Setting: another of his Loyal Readers: A letter from EGG to you ................. 61 regular Featured Creatures columns; an essay primarily deal- Poker, chess, and the AD&D™ system — Official words ... 63 ing with what’s “official” and what’s not; and a last-minute addendum to his regular column material, in the form of a REGULAR OFFERINGS return letter to all the readers who’ve sent in their reactions to Out on a Limb — Letters from readers .................... 3 the new character-class proposals published in issue #65. From the Sorceror’s Scroll — Scads of new M-U spells .... 4 After all of the aforementioned articles were shoehorned into Featured Creatures — Elves and their canine comrades ... 10 place, there wasn’t space for too much else — but we did Module design contest rules ............................ 47 manage to slip in a set of “Spy’s Advice” questions and answers Dragon’s Augury reviews by TOP SECRET® game author Merle Rasmussen; a brief look The Role of Books — Beginning a new series ........ 67 at some unusual kinds of spiders, adapted for AD&D use by Trollpak ........................................... 68 Gregg Chamberlain; the first installment of a new review fea- Convention schedule ................................... 70 ture, The Role of Books, by Lew Pulsipher; and a piece of fiction Dragon Mirth .......................................... 76 by Gillian FitzGerald that offers the best reason we know of for Wormy .............................................. 77 not letting a black cat cross your path — because that animal What’s New............................................ 78 might not be just a cat. — KM DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, and TOP SECRET are registered trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc. ™ designates other trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. 2 NOVEMBER 1982 Vol. VII, No. 6 November 1982 Publisher: Mike Cook Editor-in-Chief: Kim Mohan Editorial staff: Marilyn Favaro Not a hammer Further, the attacks of the Yellow, Orange, Gali Sanchez and Purple Dragons’ breath weapons provide Roger Raupp To the editor: hit location specifics that are not part of gen- Business manager: Debbie Chiusano Christopher Townsend’s new proficiency eral AD&D rules. Circulation: Cherie Knull system (DRAGON #65) looks like a well Even though these monsters are not “offi- Office staff: Sharon Walton thought out replacement for the official one. cial,” many readers take DRAGON Magazine Contributing editors: Roger Moore Although the system in the Players Handbook articles as gospel. Inclusion of vague histo- Ed Greenwood is not really in need of replacement, it is an ries, suppositions, and hit location attack interesting alternative. forms makes the game more difficult to play This issue’s contributing artists: However, I did find an error in Mr. Town- and in fact breaks some of the general rules Jack Crane Bruce Whitefield send’s categorizing of weapons. As anyone that created the game. Jim Roslof Marc Hershon who owns the AD&D Dungeon Masters Ad- Lenard Lakofka Jim Holloway Phil Foglio venture Log should know, since it illustrates Chicago, III. Roger Raupp Dave Trampier many lesser-known weapons, a lucern ham- Jerry Eaton mer is not an un-edged bludgeon weapon, but In retrospect, I can appreciate Len’s criti- rather is a spiked, 5’+ long pole arm, and cisms and most of his points of view. In de- DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is pub- would therefore belong in Mr. Townsend’s fense of what we do (and in defense of the lished monthly for a subscription price of $24 Short Pole Arms category. I can understand author of the maligned article), I must point per year by Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR the mistake, though; I once played in a cam- out that it is neither possible nor desirable for Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147. paign in which the DM allowed clerics to use all the material in DRAGON™ Magazine to be them, not realizing what they were! of “official” quality. And we’ve made the point DRAGON Magazine is available at hundreds David MacKenzie often enough that the words we print are not of hobby stores and bookstores throughout the United States and Canada, and through a limit- Bethesda, Md. to be taken “as gospel.” In one way or anoth- ed number of overseas outlets. Subscription er, every issue of this magazine is an experi- rates are as follows, with all payments to be We’re human, just like Mr. Townsend, and ment, and a lot of the articles are experimental made in advance: $24 for 12 issues sent to a U.S. we make human-type mistakes. (And we seem and speculative in nature. If you like an idea, or Canadian address; $50 U.S. for 12 issues sent via surface mail or $95 for 12 issues sent via air to keep finding new ways to illustrate that use it and enjoy it. If you don’t, there’ll be mail to any other country. point all the time.) Needless to say, we failed more ideas to choose from next month. — KM to spot the error — and, also needless to say, A limited quantity of certain back issues of DRAGON Magazine can be purchased directly that won’t be our last mistake. — KM from the publisher by sending the cover price plus $1.50 postage and handling for each issue ordered. Payment in advance by check or mo- ney order must accompany all orders. Payments Translation and cannot be made through a credit card, and ‘Common errors’ orders cannot be taken nor merchandise re- design opportunity served by telephone. Neither an individual cus- Dear Editor: tomer nor an institution can be billed for a sub- Is Japanese your first language? Are scription order or back-issue purchase unless DRAGON #65 contained an article on “The prior arrangements are made. Missing Dragons.” I would like to point out a you fluent in English as well? Is Japa- few common errors in this type of article nese history well known to you? Are you The issue of expiration for each subscription which, if they were cleared up, would improve a student of mythology of the Far East? is printed on the mailing label for each sub- ® scriber’s copy of the magazine.