April 1981 Dragon 1 Dragon Vol. V, No. 10 Vol. V, No. 10 April 1981 Publisher . E. Gary Gygax Editor . Jake Jaquet Assistant editor . Kim Mohan Editorial staff . Bryce Knorr Coming Attractions Dept. the ballot elsewhere in this issue). The Marilyn Mays With no small amount of pride, Dragon final voting will be done by members of Sales & Circulation . Debbie Chiusano Publishing is pleased to announce some the newly formed Academy of Adventure Corey Koebernick upcoming features that will be appear- Gaming Arts and Design. Membership in Office staff . Dawn Pekul ing in DRAGON magazine. Next month’s the Academy is open to those individuals Cherie Knull magazine will feature a cover by Tim Hil- who have made a contribution to the Jean Lonze debrandt and contain an exclusive inter- products and/or general advancement Contributing editors . Roger Moore view with the artist. In July we’ll have a of the hobby in any, some, or all of the Ed Greenwood cover by Carl Lundgren, whose work major divisions: boardgames, miniature most of you will recognize from the games, role-playing games, and compu- This month’s contributing artists: ter game programs; for example, de- many fantasy novel covers he has illus- Phil Foglio Steve Swenston trated. And in August, the cover will be signers, developers, authors, artists, edi- Cheryl Duval Mike Carroll done by Boris Vallejo, and we’ll have tors, writers, reviewers, convention or- Roger Raupp Dave Trampier another exclusive interview with the ar- ganizers, or any professional or amateur Kenneth Rahman Darlene tist. In all cases, the artwork for these who can prove a contribution to the Robert Liebman J.D. Webster covers has been commissioned express- hobby. More information on member- Jeff Dee Susan Collins ly for use as a cover of DRAGON maga- ship in the Academy is found elsewhere DRAGON magazine is published monthly by zine. We hope you’ll be as pleased see- in this issue. Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR Hobbies, Inc. ing these all-new, original pieces of art The mailing address of Dragon Publishing is P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva, WI 53147; telephone 414- as we are to be able to bring them to you. New Release Dept. 248-8044. Soon to be released (if it doesn’t es- DRAGON is available at hundreds of hobby Shows, Shows, Shows Dept. cape first) is the long-awaited Best of stores and bookstores throughout the United While the gaming convention season Dragon Vol. II. Best of II, like the first States and Canada, and through a limited number is still a few months away, this is the volume, will contain reprinted material of overseas outlets. The magazine can be pur- chased directly from Dragon Publishing by in- middle of the trade show season, when from early issues of DRAGON magazine. dividual subscription. The subscription rate within game manufacturers display and sell While a final release date has not yet the United States and Canada is $24 U.S. for 12 is- sues. Outside the U.S. and Canada, rates are as their products to wholesale and retail been scheduled, we hope it will be off the follows: $50 U.S. for 12 issues sent surface mail, buyers. The two major shows, the Hobby press around the first of May. or $95 U.S. for 12 issues sent air mail. Industry of America show and the New While we’re on the subject of new re- A limited selection of DRAGON back issues is York Toy Fair, have just recently con- leases, also in the works is the 1982 DAYS available by mail from Dragon Publishing for cover cluded. Adventure role-playing games OF DRAGON™ fantasy art calendar. price of a particular issue plus $1.00 per issue ordered for postage and handling. No issues prior were extremely well received, with the While the calendar itself won’t be availa- to #22 are available. The cover price for issues #22- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® and AD- ble for sale until fall, it will be worth wait- 31 is $2.00, for #32-36, $2.50, and for #37 to present, $3.00. Payment must accompany all VANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS™ ing for. The theme of the calendar is orders. If one or more issues in an order is sold games again leading the pack by a large dragons — specifically, those dragons out, a credit slip will be substituted which may be exchanged for cash or merchandise from Dragon margin. Happily, DRAGON magazine was that are to be found in D&D and AD&D, Publishing. also well received. And to top off the HIA from brass to red to black. And, of show, the TSR Hobbies display — a 60- course, there will also be another exten- The issue of expiration for each subscription is printed on each subscriber’s mailing label. foot castle complete with a wizard and a sive trivia listing, for which the calendar Changes of address for subscriptions must be re- dragon — won the HIA Award of Merit has become well known. ceived by Dragon Publishing at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the change in order to for the best display of the show in a field guarantee uninterrupted delivery. of over 1,000 exhibits. Enough Departments, Already, Dept. All material published in DRAGON becomes the Okay, Okay, Kim, I know, it’s deadline. exclusive property of the publisher upon publica- New Employees on Parade Dept. Look, I’m shutting off my typewri tion, unless special arrangements to the contrary With much regret, we say goodbye this are made prior to publication. month to a member of the Dragon Pub- DRAGON welcomes unsolicited submissions lishing staff, Dawn Pekul. Her replace- of written material and artwork; however, no responsibility for such submissions can be as- ment and the new kid on the block this sumed by the publisher in any event. No submis- month is Jean Lonze. Welcome aboard, Jean. sion will be returned unless it was accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope of suf- ficient size. Envelope, Please? Dept. DRAGON™ is a trademark for Dragon Publishing’s The Committee for the Charles Ro- monthly adventure role-playing aid. All rights on the berts and H.G. Wells Awards has joined contents of this publication are reserved, and nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without securing the Game Manufacturers’ Association prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright (GAMA) to reorganize the awards pro- 1981 by TSR Hobbies, Inc. cedure. Under the new system, nomina- Second class postage paid at Lake Geneva, Wis. tions for the various categories will be and additional mailing offices open to participation by all gamers (see April 1981 Dragon A mule can be an adventurer’s best friend, says author Robert Plamondon, if its saddlebags are stuffed with the right materials and equipment before heading down those dark stairs. His arti- cle presents a list of what every well-dressed pack animal should carry to give its owner the best chance of coming back in some fashion other than draped across its back. Those of you who would like some fresh ideas on what sort of adventures to develop will appreciate Michael Kelly’s sugges- tions for “instant adventures.” And if you’d like to go even fur- our mission, whether or not you choose to accept ther, just go a little further into the magazine, where Len Lakofka it, is to digest every morsel of this not-so-secret offers a complicated but comprehensive system for generating document. Be aware that if this information can a party of enemies that will be a good match for the player somehow be gotten into enemy hands, you’ll prob- characters they’re intended to meet. ably end up with one less enemy. And we’ll have Avalon Hill’s game Russian Campaign is the subject of two one more reader! articles, including Robert Barrow’s suggested changes to pro- Somebody once said that the only sure things in life are death vide the utmost in historical accuracy, and Bryan Beecher’s and taxes. In the world of gaming, you can beat the reaper, but, variant on the use of airpower in the game. as Phil Foglio depicts on this issue’s cover, you can’t shake the Among the regularly appearing columns in this issue is a taxman. The painting, entitled “Close — but no cigar” and origi- double-entry Up on a Soapbox, where Fred Zimmerman ad- nally commissioned as a DRAGON cover, was a first-prize dresses the issue of how to choose a new DM and Karl Horak winner in a SF/fantasy art show at BOSKONE, an annual event offers his observations on the “morality in fantasy” issue. That’s in Boston that Phil described as “one of the more prestigious followed by another installment of the Minarian Legends, where shows on the convention circuit.” DIVINE RIGHT™ author Glenn Rahman describes the history of The main attraction inside this issue is Doctor Yes, a 16-page the Bilge Rat and the mercenaries of Minaria. adventure designed for use with the TOP SECRET™ game rules. Merle Rasmussen, the author of the original game, created this The two newest members of the Giants in the Earth group are high-risk mission along with James Thompson, a crony of Merle’s Sparrowhawk and Tiana Highrider, prominent fantasy fiction who helped develop and playtest the rules. Administrators will characters adapted for use in an AD&D adventure. The regular have a lot of fun putting player agents through this test. The offerings also include a page of Sage Advice, the second install- players themselves will have .