December, 1979 appy holidays from THE DRAGON—but as this the use of poison in D&D campaigns is generally discouraged, this month’s cover by Phil Foglio (two-time winner of the article presents a guide for allowing the presence of poison while Hugo award for best fan artist) illustrates, if you asked restricting its use by players. Those of you who found last month’s piece Santa for those super life-like miniatures, you might be on Armor of the Far East by Michael Kluever to your liking will be advised to use a little caution when you open the box. glad to see his follow-up of Weapons of the Far East. Phil, by the way, is one of the contributing artists for Days of the Dragon, our just released 1980 fantasy calendar. Last month we looked at an often neglected D&D environment, the jungle. This month another neglected environment, the sea, is exam- Applause, applause! This month we finally have the winner of the ined by George Laking. Mr. Laking and the Mid-Columbia Wargam- International Dungeon Design Contest! After repeated evalua- ing Society present megaflora aquans— the giant water plant. And tions of the many excellent finalists (including evaluations by the TSR those of you running campaigns with Druids will find Bill Fawcett’s design department), a winner has been selected: The Fell Pass by article on Druids helpful. Bill details some of the history of Druidism and Karl Merris. Page 22 lists 2nd and 3rd place winners and several some views on how to incorporate the Druid character into a game. honorable mentions. It cannot be over-emphasized how many excel- lent entries we had, and how difficult the final decision was. We extend But, even though D&D is a great game, THE DRAGON is not just for our congratulations to Karl and the other finalists, and our thanks to all D&D players. For the micro-armor buff, we have a rather lengthy list of the entrants who made the contest such a success. WRG rules modifications by Michael Reese, co-author of Trac- tics. For the Traveller enthusiast, Rich Stuart details a variant to add This month we have several D&D related articles, on a variety of politics and intrigue to the game. Brad McMillan offers some new subjects. Charles Sagui gives us: Poison: from AA to XX. Although spells for characters with high intelligences in Wizard. And this month’s Dragon’s Augury contains reviews of Samuri and Middle Sea. Also in the Augury are Short Takes on Ironclad and Sandlot Football. Think about your Friday night gaming get-togethers—then read A FEATURES Typical Night in the Life of Nine Ordinary(?) People by Jeff Sorcerer’s Scroll— Gary Gygax ............................. 12 Swycaffer. And while you’re in the Dragon Mirth section, check out Sage Advice— Questions &Answers on D&D ................ 14 Inert Weapons—the first of a series by Patric Shaw. As explained Leomund’s Tiny Hut— Len & Lakofka ...................... 6 last month, Finieous Fingers & crew are still in limbo—we hope to be The Druid in Fact and Fantasy— William Fawcett .............. 21 hearing more from J.D. soon. Wormy, on the other hand, forges The Fell Pass— The winning IDDC entry .................... M1 ahead, and will expand to two pages next month. Fantasysmith’s Notebook— Pity the Poor Hobgoblin ........... 29 In our regular features this month, Gary Gygax discusses the develop- Dragon’s Bestiary— Crawling Claw ......................... 39 ment of the “other” planes, i.e., those planes outside the prime mate- rial plane, in The Sorcerer’s Scroll. Len Lakofka offers “The VARIANTS Insectoids” in Leomund’s Tiny Hut. The fantasysmith asks us to pity Poisons from AA to XX— Charles Sagui ...................... 4 the poor hobgoblins as he discusses the use of miniatures in fantasy Aquatic Encounters with Megaflora— George Laking ........... 10 gaming in his Fantasysmith’s Notebook. And Jean Wells answers Spells for the Very Smart Sorcerer— Brad McMillan ............ 18 more questions concerning D&D in Sage Advice. Remember, ques- The Traveller Politician— Rick Stuart ........................ 24 tions should be addressed to Sage Advice, c/o THE DRAGON, P.O. WRG Rules Modifications— Michael Reese ................... 34 Box 110, Lake Geneva, WI 53147. REVIEWS Don’t forget, next month we’ll have the all-new, greatly expanded Samurai— Tony Watson .................................. 37 Mapping’ the Dungeons DM listing. This new listing contains over Middle Sea— James Ward ................................. 38 1,000 DMs’ names and addresses and should be a great boon to those Short Takes & First Impressions— T. J. Kask .................. 38 of you looking for new players and/or DMs. “I SURRENDER” DEPARTMENT HUMOR A Typical Night. — Jeff Swycaffer ......................... 40 This job is going to give me ulcers yet. Last month (TD #30) in Dragon Mirth— Inert Weapons, No. 1 ....................... 42 approximately this same spot in Cover to Cover, I was busy attempting Wormy— by Tramp ...................................... 43 to be cute and list some article titles and author credits that were somehow omitted when TD #29 was put together. To my professional horror and personal embarassment, when TD #30 came back from the BACKGROUND printer, we found several paragraphs from Cover to Cover and Dragon Weapons of the Far East— Michael Kluever . 6 Rumbles showed up a second time on page 22 as continuations of those columns. Nothing like having your explanation of a screw-up NEWS/VIEWS being screwed-up too. Much teeth-gnashing and head-slapping later, Dragon Rumbles ......................................... 2 we have (hopefully) resolved some of the problems inherent in our Out on a Limb ........................................... 3 printing routine. If not, I guess we’ll start looking for no-fault publishing Convention Schedule .................................... 26 insurance. Vol. IV, No. 6 Vol. IV, No. 6 The Premier Magazine of Games and Gaming December, 1979 This issue marks a couple of milestones Con. We have found it worthwhile to meet as for TSR Periodicals. First, you might notice a many of our readers, as well as detractors, as Publisher new name on the masthead, that of Corey possible. We would like to make it to Paci- E. Gary Gygax Koebernick. As we add personnel to the staff, ficon, but the high cost of getting there makes each job is altered somewhat, duties and it somewhat prohibitive, particularly in view Editor responsibilities shifted, and hopefully, we be- of the fact that there is considerable con- T.J. Kask come more efficient. In the past, all of us fusion and uncertainty regarding exclusivity Assistant Editor (however many there were—first it was just on sales. Perhaps one of us may get invited me, then the staff started to grow) were in- to do a seminar or something, in which case Jake Jaquet volved in all of the aspects of making this we might work out the logistical expense Editorial Staff beast grow and function. That meant that we problem. Kim Mohan all worked on mailing out subs, keeping sub This issue inaugurates a new pricing John Baillie lists, processing wholesale orders, shipping, policy. From now on, when we have a sub- layout, paste-up, design, editing, proofing, stantial inclusion in the issue, the cover price Art Staff etc. will be raised somewhat to offset the greater Dave Sutherland The jobs have grown at a staggering rate expense. All in all, 50¢ is pretty inexpensive Erol Otus as we have grown in size and distribution. for a module, compared to the regular price Greg Fleming Assembling and producing a 56 page maga- range. The same policy will pertain to games Darlene Pekul zine is not just 66% harder than doing a 32 that we insert, and other as yet unnamed Circulation & Sales page 'zine—it is two or three times harder. inclusions. We are fighting hard to hold off a Corey Koebernick As we have added staff, different areas of price increase, but we can’t for very much responsibility have been lumped together longer. The inflation rate alone dictates that THE DRAGON is published monthly by and various staffers have begun to specialize we raise it 25¢, and costs keep rising. TSR Periodicals, a division of TSR Hobbies. in certain areas. Corey has taken over all of This and the next issue will see us com- Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva. the aspects of sales and distribution, from pleting the bulk of our design and style Wisconsin 53147 Phone: 414-248-8044 subscribers, to wholesale sales to distributors changes in the layout of the magazine. We and retailers, to back issue orders. As the plan to keep on improving, but feel that with THE DRAGON is available at better hobby accounting needs multiplied, it became evi- the new format, modeled on THE BEST shops and bookstores, or by subscription. Subscription rate within the U.S. and dent that we would be needing someone like OF. we will have reached an excellent Canada is $24.00 for 13 issues. Subscrip- him soon, and we’re delighted to add him to state of the art. tion outside the U.S. and Canada are the staff. As some of you may know by now, we $28.00 for 6 issues, and are air-mailed. We find ourselves excited about the have not limited our growth by concentrating Single copy price, including back issues, is prospects for the coming year. TSR solely on THE DRAGON. TSR Periodicals is $2.60 per copy. All payments must be Periodicals has never been in better shape. sole North American agent for both of the made in U.S. currency or by international THE DRAGON is beginning to hit its stride, professional English gaming magazines: THE money order.