Dragon Magazine #123
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Magazine Issue #123 Vol. XII, No. 2 SPECIAL ATTRACTION July 1987 15 THE ARCANE ARTS: Publisher A step into the world of sorcerers and wizards. Mike Cook 16 The Mystic College James A. Yates Editor The stronghold and home ground of all magic-users. Roger E. Moore 32 Fire for Effect! Richard W. Emerich Assistant editor Fiction editor Flame and lightning do more damage than you might believe. Robin Jenkins Patrick L. Price 36 Arcane Lore Harold Dolan Editorial assistants A new column of magical spells beginning with the magic of fire. Eileen Lucas Barbara G. Young Georgia Moore OTHER FEATURES 13 Music of the Forgotten Realms Ed Greenwood Art director Roger Raupp What instruments do the bards of the Realms play? Find out here. 42 Lords & Legends Matt Iden Production Staff A second new column, with four heroes for Oriental Adventures. Marilyn Favaro Gloria Habriga 46 Gamers Around the World Heather Gemmen Subscriptions Advertising Want to share your adventures with someone far away? Read on and write! Pat Schulz Mary Parkinson 50 The Ecology of the Giant Leech Anthony Gerard Creative editors A tale of monsters and men and the thin difference between. Ed Greenwood Jeff Grubb 54 Time Flies . Lisa Cabala Contributing artists Better than a wrist-sundial: five time-tracking charts. Donald Clavette Richard Cameron Larry Elmore Chris Hunter 60 Just Making Time Roger E. Moore Jim Holloway Brian Maynard The joys and horrors of fantasy calendars. Dwain Meyer Joseph Pillsbury 62 Palimpsest Tais Teng Ken Widing Lawrence Raimonda When the old words are erased, new writing appears. David Trampier Valerie Valusek Richard Tomasic Marvel Bullpen 68 The Whole-Earth Ecology Danny Kretzer Putting a STAR FRONTIERS® game world together (more easily). 72 The Marvel®-Phile Jeff Grubb Presenting the other three Heralds of Galactus. 76 The Role of Books John C. Bunnell Pern, science-fiction conventions, and more. 82 Operation: Zondraker Merle M. Rasmussen Part 2: What do TOP SECRET® game agents do when they get to the Moon? DEPARTMENTS 3 Letters 88 TSR Profiles 99 Snarfquest 4 OMG Guide 92 Gamers Guide 100 Dragonmirth 6 Forum 34 Convention Calendar 102 Wormy 61 Sage Advice 98 Index to Advertisers COVER On the night of a full moon, two youths forge a sword of great magical power a flame tongue, perhaps, or a blade of elemental force. Donald Clavette, an artist from Woodbury, Connecticut, reveals the mystic glory of magic in his cover painting for this issue. Harley A letter came to the office the other day from a high-school student who had a problem with his gaming group. One of the players became upset because his character was kidnapped, and that player tore up Cover art prints The article entitled The Game Wizards, by his character sheet and left the Jeff Grubb [in issue #119], started to make me game, claiming that the DM was Dear Dragon: worry. If the Forgotten Realms are going to be being unfair. The writer (who had I enjoy the artwork on the cover of DRAGON® the home base of both the first and second been the DM) wanted to know how Magazine. I have purchased both of the covers editions of the AD&D® game universe, what will to handle situations like that, to keep which were sold as prints to the public. I would become of other game worlds? I for one, would players from losing their tempers like to be able to obtain MANY of the prints not want to abandon the world of Krynn for from the covers. Is there any way to purchase any other game world. Will modules still be over something as silly as a game. these prints, either from the original artist or created for worlds other than the Forgotten Well, sorry to say, theres no way TSR? Realms? If modules were not created for other to avoid it except to play with Ronald D. Martin Jr. worlds, that wouldnt be fair to many AD&D® mature* gamers, and theres no way Winterhaven, FL game players who would rather stay with their to test for game maturity among the favorite world. If I had to transfer my interest players just before you start a game. Any reader interested in obtaining a color and campaign to the Forgotten Realms, would it This problem is hardly unique to print of a particular cover from DRAGON® Maga- be possible to place my favorite characters from role-playing, as anyone who has zine should write a letter addressed to that my current campaign to that of the Forgotten played bridge, poker, chess, or the particular artist, then place it inside an enve- Realms without bending the rules severely? lope, along with a second stamped envelope Christopher DeGraffenreid MONOPOLY® game well knows. with your return address and the artists name, Wilkes-Barre PA Some time ago, a marriage counselor and send this material to: Cover Art Request, made the news with his claim that DRAGON® Magazine, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva, The answer to your question is no. TSR will not the TRIVIAL PURSUIT® game was WI 53147. We will check the letter and forward close up shop on Oerth and Krynn just because responsible for several broken mar- it to the artist as quickly as possible. We cannot the Forgotten Realms is being set up. Both the riages. Games are games, but people guarantee that the artist will have prints of his WORLD OF GREYHAWK Fantasy Setting and are people. or her work available for sale, but the artists that of the DRAGONLANCE® saga have a wide Nonetheless, role-players every- appreciate the feedback anyway. We cannot and loyal following, and it is our intention to where can probably sympathize a release the addresses of our artists as a matter keep producing material for these worlds over of policy, but we can and do forward mail to the the years. For example, later this year, we will little with the angry gamer who has appropriate people. RM be coming up with the DRAGONLANCE® Adven- lost a favorite character, even if tures hardback. As home base for the AD&D® everyone thinks the gamer shouldnt game, the FORGOTTEN REALMS setting is to have acted in the way he did. I, for Where'd it go? be the home for all adventures not specifically one, read the letter and thought of designed for Oerth and Krynn; furthermore, it Harley D. Quinn. Dear Dragon: is laid out so as to serve as either a full cam- Harley Davidson Quinn was a As a player of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® paign setting or an interesting world next gnome, the first D&D® game charac- game, I feel that we D&D® game players have door for your own existing campaigns (which ter that I ever managed to get to 6th been almost forgotten by DRAGON® Magazine. may or may not be on Krynn or Oerth). Except for a couple of articles a year, there is Now, if you or your players choose to take level. This was an incredible achieve- hardly any mention of the D&D® game, the characters from their initial campaign and ment for me at the time, since I had emphasis being on the AD&D® game. I was relocate them in the Realms, that has been been going through one player char- happy to see the article, Out of the Stone Age, provided for as well in the Realms boxed set. acter a week at our gaming sessions by Jake R. Patterson tissue #118), but it would The Realms, as you may have gathered, has a at Fort Bragg, N.C. Harley, though, be nice to see more about D&D® games. wide variety of gates and portals to other hung on. He found magical weapons, Kevin Davies planes, Prime Material and otherwise, and it is magical armor, henchmen, money, South Gillies, Ontario possible for your characters to either visit the treasure Harley hit the big time. scenic (deadly?) Forgotten Realms, or make the He was great. This is indeed a peculiar situation, and it has new world their home for AD&D® games. puzzled us for some time. The D&D® game sells Ive also been talking with Tracy Hickman, Then, in the middle of one of our extremely well, and the new edition of the game who pointed out that there is a reason that no longer dungeon-crawls on Saturday (Basic to Immortals Sets, revised by Frank super-high-level characters currently operate in evening, the party ran into some Mentzer in 1983-1986) is a superb game system. Krynn. The Realms might take a number of tough opposition and some of our For some reason, however, not many articles individuals who are too powerful for Krynn or better fighters got mangled. The have been specifically dedicated to that game. other worlds. Jeff Grubb group caller was looking over the (DUNGEON® Adventures has a similar problem character sheets to figure out what with D&D® game modules.) Obviously this is rich to do next when he spotted Harleys territory for would-be writers. We need D&D® game articles. Nuff said. RM current level. ERRATUM Hey! he yelled. How come this The DUNGEON™ Adventures sub- guys walking in the middle of the Oerth and Krynn scription card in DRAGON® issue party? With a start, I realized that #122 contained an error. A one Harley was, indeed, one of the Dear Dragon: year’s subscription to DUNGEON™ toughest fighters we had. I was I have been playing the ADVANCED Adventures is for six issues, not accustomed to putting all of my DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS® game for five characters in the middle of the years.