The Premier Magazine of Games and Gaming It is fun to be unique. It is fun to be part of something unique. Sometimes, though, some of us forget just how strange all of this stuff is to the unitiated. In the eyes of the mainstream of contemporary culture, what we do — play “games” — is decidedly different. Some would even call it strange . Some of us seem to revel in this strangeness, using it as a shield for other flaky behavior. Sometimes this is good, but more often, it is not so good. A good friend of mine looks forward to the newest magazines each time I visit home. He doesn’t play games, but he always reads each issue from cover to cover. When I asked him why he did it, he replied that he FEATURES liked to try to figure out what was going on from the context of the The Politics of Hell . 2 article, and often did. (I later learned that TD is also his preferred A Short Course in D&D . 7 “throne” reading material because it is so engrossing.) Simulating the Cavalry Plain . 9 He was of the opinion, as an “outsider” that some of us might just be Sorcerer’s Scroll . 10 a little freaky, and his appraisal is not uncommon. Our hobby suffers Six Guns and Sorcery . 12 from some bad impressions and bad press. To many people, the Fantasysmith’s Notebook . 14 appelation “wargamer” conjures up visions of a budding group of Elvish Tactics . 17 warmongers, intent on world destruction, or some sort of blood and The Awful Green Things from Outer Space . 24 violence freak that gets his jollies on carnage and mayhem. Mention Bazaar of the Bizarre . 31 fantasy, and many think that we are a bunch of hopeless Walter Mitty- Giants in the Earth . 35 types, disassociated from the real world. Dragon’s Bestiary . 50 If each of us made an effort to explain, without prosletyzing, to a few of our acquaintances, what it is all about, we could clear our image VARIANTS considerably. The industry is attempting to promote understanding, it’s Level Progression for PC’s & DM’s . 32 the turn of the gamers now. We will never see our hobby grow enough, or gain enough recognition as a “legitimate” pursuit if we don’t make an DESIGN/DESIGNERS FORUM effort to shed our “strange” image. Running around in SS uniforms, The DMG - Developers’ Notes & screaming “Burn the tanks” is not the answer, nor is dressing up in an interview with the author . 4 armor, running around looking for orcs . REVIEWS Divine Right . 45 Sorcerer . 48 HUMOR Editor Voyages of the E.S. Znutar . 23 Monty Strikes Back . 37 Finieous . 51 BACKGROUND The Cavalry Plain at Austerlitz . 8 Armies of the Renaissance . 16 NEWS/VIEWS Up on the Soap Box . 19 Out on a Limb . 20 Convention Schedule . 22 THE DRAGON is published monthly by TSR Periodicals, a division of TSR Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box GenCon Update. 22 110, Lake Geneva, WI 53147. It is available at better hobby shops and bookstores, or by subscription. Subscription rate is $24 per 13 issues. Single copy price is $2.10, back issue $2.60, but availability of back issues is not guaranteed. Sub- scriptions outside the U.S. and Canada are $28 per 6 issues, and are air-mailed overseas. (Payment must be Publisher E. Gary Gygax made in U.S. currency or by international money order.) All material published herein becomes the exclu- Editor T.J. Kask Art Dept. Dave Sutherland sive property of the publisher unless special arrangements to the contrary are made. Subscription expiration Assistant Editor Gary Jaquet Tom Wham is coded onto the mailing list. The number to the right of the name, prefixed by “TD” is the last issue of the Circulation Jake Darlene Pekul subscription. Notices will not be sent. Change of address must be filed 30 days prior to mailing date. Unsolicited material cannot be returned unless accompanied by a stamped return envelope, and no responsibility for such material can be assumed by the publisher in any event. All rights on the entire If your mailing label says TD 28, contents of this publication are reserved, and nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher. Copyright 1979 by TSR HOBBIES, INC. this is your last issue . resubscribe Second-Class Postage paid at Lake Geneva, WI 53147 Alexander von Thorn Eventually, Satan challenged God, and many angels supported him. But God and his angels were victorious, and Satan and his suppor- (Author’s note: The following article cannot be considered the offi- ters were sentenced to Hell for all eternity unless they repented their cial doctrine of either Advanced Dungeons and Dragons or the Roman sins. Satan responded, “Better to rule in Hell than to serve in heaven!” Catholic Church. However, it is compatible with AD&D, and except for With that, he passed to Hell in a brilliant flash, and from that time on his the parts about Asmodeus it is not in conflict with works on demonology followers, human and supernatural, gave him the name of Lucifer as generally accepted by Catholic exorcists, thus enjoying tacit ap- “Prince of Light,” and the star of the morning was named for him. The proval by the Church. However, this article does not have a nihil obstat; French claim that when Satan passed through the earthly plane en much of it is original, and it approaches the subject from a different route from Heaven to Hell, he went down through the island of Mont- angle than a religious tract would and should not be considered as such. St.-Michel, off the coast of Brittany. Some scholars theorize that the The rise of Asmodeus is not documented in any major text on de- influence of the devils, who were now actively working against God and monology, but very little original work on the subject has been done good, was the reason that God sent his son to Earth, although that belief since the Middle Ages, so it is possible that the situation has changed. is not universal among Christians. However, parts of the Book of Isaiah Perhaps Mr. Gygax has more accurate sources of information which refer to a Messiah are thought to have been written during the Once upon a time, there were no devils. Only God and the angels Babylonian exile of the Jews, which happened shortly after the fall of were in heaven. (The term God is used to refer to the Creator of the the devils (at least as far as this writer can figure out). It is also said that Universe. He is called Yahweh by some, Allah by others, and many God misses Satan, and that He hopes that he will repent and ask God’s other names.) The most powerful, most intelligent and most beautiful of forgiveness, which of course He will grant to any of the fallen angels all the angels was called Satan. He was given these traits by God in (although God may require some service to be performed, in order to order to carry out the most arduous task among all the angels—that of test their newfound devotion to the cause of righteousness. It is thought testing the merit of mortal men. He used temptation and suffering to try that it is this possibility that holds many of the devils back from repen- to get them to choose evil instead of good. He usually succeeded, be- tance. Whatever the reason, none of the devils have repented.) cause most men had something (or someone) which they held near and And so, Satan became the Lord of Hell. All the devils worked for dear, over and above considerations of ethics, and so Satan came to the damnation of men and the promulgation of evil and suffering. Satan hold the majority of mankind in contempt. Satan was not happy in his found it ridiculously easy to accomplish things using his talents of temp- work, because he had to cause the downfall of many men who other- tation and suffering. The mere threat of his immense power kept the wise would have led relatively blameless lives. Sometimes he had to devils in line. A group of humans who were obsessed by power, or evil, cause great suffering for good men, like Job, which he didn’t like to do, or both, developed a cult around Satan, and they set up a tight hierar- either. Job had done nothing to deserve the problems that Satan gave chy in order to pursue their goals through evil. Even some of the illiter- him, and Satan came to feel sorry for Job and those like him. Satan felt ate peasants occasionally said a prayer to Satan when God didn’t seem that God was being unfair. In coming to that conclusion, he set his own to answer their prayers. The forces of evil were strong, and flourished in judgment above the wisdom of God. He gradually worked around to the ignorance of the Dark Ages. Satan schemed and plotted, for he the idea that there were better ways of organizing the universe than the believed that he had simply been outmaneuvered by the forces of good way God had set up. He came to think that he could do a better job than because he had failed to plan his first assault properly, and that if he took God. Satan discussed his ideas with other angels, and many agreed that the time to develop a strategy, to take advantage of his own strengths he had some valid points.