Dragon Magazine #127
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CONTENTS Magazine Issue #127 Vol. XII, No. 6 SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS November 1987 15 Cal1 to Arms: The fighters world, from berserkers to battlefields. 16 Lords & Legends Kyle Gray Four famous warriors from European myth and legend. 22 No Quarter! Arn Ashleigh Parker Publisher Mike Cook Creative combat for fighters with style. 26 Bazaar of the Bizarre The readers Editor A magical treasury of bows and bolts for arcane archers. Roger E. Moore 32 Two Hands Are Better Than One Donald D. Miller Assistant editor Fiction editor When a two-handed sword becomes a three-handed sword, and other handy facts. Robin Jenkins Patrick L. Price 36 In Defense of the Shield Tim Merrett Editorial assistants A good shield might be the best friend youll ever have. Eileen Lucas Barbara G. Young 38 Fighting for Keeps Roy G. Schelper Debbie Poutsch Georgia Moore Your new castle is full of orcs? Its BATTLESYSTEM supplement time! Art director 46 In the Heat of the Fight Sean Holland Roger Raupp Berserkers, ambushes, fanatics, tribal champions all in a days work. Production Staff 48 A Menagerie of Martial Arts Len Carpenter Marilyn Favaro Gloria Habriga Twenty all-new martial-arts styles for Oriental Adventures. Colleen OMalley OTHER FEATURES Subscriptions Advertising 8 Role-playing Reviews Ken Rolston Pat Schulz Mary Parkinson Game designers rush in where deities fear to tread. Creative editors 56 The Ecology of the Yeti Thomas Kiefer Ed Greenwood Jeff Grubb A particularly chilling encounter on the high glaciers. 62 Arcane Lore Arthur Collins Selections from a lost tome on lifes little illusions. 68 The Dragons Bestiary Thomas M. Kane and Scott Bennie A slimy pair of surprises: Xadors fluid and quagmire. 70 The Role of Books John C. Bunnell From the Realms to Romulan space: books for gamers everywhere. 74 The Role of Computers Hartly and Patricia Lesser The computerized TSR/SSI AD&D® game: the latest word. 82 The Marvel®-Phil Warren Spector A guest column about all sorts of Things. DEPARTMENTS 3 Letters 88 Index to Advertisers 94Convention Calendar 4 World Gamers Guide 90 Gamers Guide 98 SnarfQuest 6 Forum 92 Dragonmirth 102 Wormy 14 Sage Advice COVER The last three survivors of an orcish army, their standard still aloft, challenge their elven opponenta to one last fight. Jim Holloway's cover painting for this month has no title but if you have a suggestion for a possible title, write it down and send it to us. We might print the more interesting ones in a later issue. 2 November 1987 Tuckers LETTERS kobolds This months editorial is about Tuckers kobolds. We get letters on occasion asking for advice on creat- ing high-level AD&D® game adven- on special items like these would be very inter- tures, and Tuckers kobolds seem to World saving esting and could also spice up even the dullest fit the bill. dungeon adventure. Many high-level characters have Dear Dragon: Chad Hanneman little to do because theyre not chal- Christopher DeGraffenreid made a good point Solon IA lenged. They yawn at tarrasques in the Letters column in issue #123. He and must be forcibly kept awake We have considered collecting all of the magi- inquired about what was going to happen to his when a lich appears. The DMs favorite worlds, Oerth and Krynn, now that the cal items ever described in DRAGON® Magazine new campaign setting is the FORGOTTEN and putting them together in a Best of collec- involved dont know what to do, so REALMS setting. tion, with some additional material as well. they stop dealing with the problem We all know now that the DRAGONLANCE® Weve also considered doing this for all of the and the characters go into Character and WORLD OF GREYHAWK fantasy adven- monsters that have appeared in The Dragons Limbo. Getting to high level is hard, ture settings will be continued, but the primary Bestiary and Creature Catalog features. but doing anything once you get emphasis will be on the Forgotten Realms. Will there is worse. any of the existing Greyhawk adventures be One of the key problems in adven- compatible with the Realms? Will future adven- TSR BBS Q&A ture design lies in creating oppo- tures be made so? And what about all Realms nents who can challenge powerful modules to be: Will they be interchangeable Dear Dragon: with Greyhawk? I think these are questions we Have you ever thought of starting your own characters. Singular monsters like all want answered. bulletin board system like the Steve Jackson tarrasques and liches are easy to Most importantly, the letter in issue #123 left Games Illuminati BBS (its number is (512) 447- gang up on; the party can concen- out an entire fantasy setting. What about 4449, 300/1200 baud)? If you did this, it would trate its firepower on the target Nehwon, home of Lankhmar? Will it be contin- give the readers a direct link with you, and we until the target falls down dead and ued or de-emphasized? I am the DM for some could just send you our comments via modem. wiggles its little feet in the air. friends in this very realistic and fun world, and The board would also allow you to put up Designing monsters more powerful I wouldnt trade it for any realm. Why dont you previews and notices of upcoming games and than a tarrasque is self-defeating; if all open up and tell us all what is happening in products from TSR. You could even put up a the group kills your super-monster, these many and varied worlds? classifieds section, which is usually the main use Steven Wardell of a bulletin board. what will you do next send in its Ridgefield CT Ben Franco mother? That didnt work on Long Beach CA Beowulf, and it probably wont work Most adventures designed for one world or here. another might be converted to fit another game We are still collecting letters from gamers who Worse yet, singular super- world, with a lot of luck and lots of work by the would like a BBS for TSR, Inc. The idea does monsters rarely have to think. They DM. No adventures are planned which will be seem to have some merit, though we have also just use their trusty, predictable usable with several worlds, however Modules found that running such a system would be a claw/claw/bite. This shouldnt be the which are designed for one world alone were very challenging job (to put it mildly). created to carry the flavor of that world and its measure of a campaign. These inhabitants, and this flavor doesnt carry well games fall apart because theres no from world to world. challenge to them, no mental stimu- Warren Spector informs me that a 128-page lation no danger. Castle Greyhawk module is due out in January In all the games that Ive seen, the 1988, and a hardcover Greyhawk sourcebook is worst, most horrible, most awful- being prepared, much like the recently released beyond-comparison opponents ever DRAGONLANCE® Adventures volume. seen were often weaker than the Many of the adventures from DUNGEON Adventures were designed to be used in any characters who fought them. They campaign world, and a few are specific to one were simply well-armed and intelli- world (such as Oerth or Krynn). Fill out the gent beings who were played by the subscription card in this issue and check it out. DM to be utterly ruthless and clever. The world of Nehwon is on hold for the time Tuckers kobolds were like that. being but watch for further developments. Tucker ran an incredibly danger- ous dungeon in the days I was sta- tioned at Ft. Bragg, N.C. This Swords & spice dungeon had corridors that changed Dear Dragon: all of your donkeys into huge flam- As an AD&D® game player and Dungeon ing demons or dropped the whole Master, the game becomes a lot more fun and party into acid baths, but the exciting when unique items come into play. I demons were wienies compared to mean, its not often that you find a talking the kobolds on Level One. These sword that has the ability to take over the mind kobolds were just regular kobolds, of its wielder and give him several special with 1-4 hp and all that, but they powers. Have you ever thought of releasing a were mean. When I say they were magazine section, or even a hardback, on mean, I mean they were bad, Jim. unique magical items of gods or heroes, telling how they were made, who made them, who (continued on page 88) were their previous owners, etc.? Backgrounds D RAGON 3 The World Gamers Guide If you live outside the continental United than three issues, you must send us DD: D&D® game States and Canada, you can be included in another postcard or letter. Overseas Ameri- GW: GAMMA WORLD® game the World Gamers Guide by sending your can military personnel may also be listed MSH: MARVEL SUPER HEROES game name and full address (carefully printed or herein. OA: AD&D Oriental Adventures system typed, please), plus your gaming prefer- When listing gaming preferences, write RQ: RUNEQUEST game ences, to: World Gamers Guide, DRAGON® out the complete title of the games you RT: ROBOTECH® game Magazine, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI most enjoy. For the purposes of this SF: STAR FRONTIERS® game 53147, United States of America. column, the abbreviations listed below are T: TRAVELLER game The World Gamers Guide is intended for used. TMNT: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA the benefit of gamers who would like to TURTLES® game contact other game-players around the AD: AD&D® game TS: TOP SECRET® game world, to share their interests in gaming BS: BATTLESYSTEM supplement TT: TUNNELS & TROLLS game through correspondence.