DRAGON 1 Publisher: Mike Cook A new direction Contents Editor-in-Chief: Kim Mohan Editorial staff: Marilyn Favaro As we sit here, month after month, Gali Sanchez looking over our vast domain from our Vol. VII, No. 10 April 1983 Roger Raupp ivory tower, it gets tougher and tougher Patrick L. Price to keep all the citizens of the realm SPECIAL ATTRACTION Business manager: Debra Chiusano happy at the same time. Office staff: Sharon Walton Producing a magazine isn’t so much FILE 13 — The game of games . 39 Pam Maloney Product design: Eugene S. Kostiz fun any more — not when we know by Tom Wham Layout designer: Kristine L. Bartyzel ahead of time that thousands of people Contributing editors: Roger Moore aren’t going to be satisfied with it, no Ed Greenwood matter what we print. “More of this! OTHER FEATURES National advertising representative: Less of that!” our subjects shout. Well, Robert LaBudde & Associates, Inc. we’ve decided we’re just not going to The ecology of the piercer . 12 2640 Golf Road Glenview IL 60025 take it any more. Inside and out Phone (312)724-5860 Reducing the size of the magazine is one way to cut down the complaints we Gems Galore . 14 This issue’s contributing artists: get. If we only publish 32 pages a For richer role-playing Clyde Caldwell Mike Carroll month, no one will expect us to cover Keith Parkinson Phil Foglio Roger Raupp Edward Atwood everything. So, effective next month, The Real Barbarians . 24 32 pages it is. And that’s the way it was Tim Truman E. B. Wagner Tom Wham Dave Trampier It’s about time, we’ve decided, to broaden our readership base — we The PBM scene.. 30 DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is pub- need to get more people interested in To help you pick what to play lished monthly for a subscription price of $24 per year by Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR the magazine to take the places of Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI those who get disgusted and stop buy- April comes and April goes. 53147. but fools live on forever ing it. So, also starting next month, The true story of FILE 13 . 47 DRAGON Magazine is available at hobby we’re going to devote a few pages in stores and bookstores throughout the United each issue to the other kind of dragon Valley Elf.. 48 States and Canada, and through a limited number Duh Jock . 50 of overseas outlets. Subscription rates are as — you know, those funny-looking cars Spells for everyone . 51 follows: $24 for 12 issues sent to a U.S. or Cana- with the big fat tires. dian address; $50 U.S. for 12 issues sent via Lessening the amount of space we Everything we think you need surface mail or $95 for 12 issues sent via air mail to know about - - - . 52 to any other country. All payments must be in devote to game articles isn’t going to advance. make any of our really loyal readers A new name? It’s elementary!. 56 A limited quantity of certain back issues of very happy. But we aren’t worried about DRAGON Magazine can be purchased directly losing any of our really loyal readers. from the publisher by sending the cover price plus $1.50 postage and handling for each issue We figure they’ll keep buying the maga- ordered. Payment in advance by check or mon- zine, no matter what we put in it, just to REGULAR OFFERINGS ey order must accompany all orders. Payments cannot be made through a credit card, and keep their collections intact. Out on a Limb ................... 3 orders cannot be taken nor merchandise re- From these two drastic changes will served by telephone. Neither an individual cus- emerge a better magazine. Our cover- Letters from readers tomer nor an institution can be billed for a sub- scription order or a back-issue purchase unless age of funny-looking cars will enable From the Sorcerer’s Scroll ....... 6 prior arrangements are made. us to get wider distribution, which will The chivalrous cavalier The issue of expiration for each subscription enable us to get advertising from plac- is printed on the mailing label for each subscrib- es like carburetor companies and man- er’s copy of the magazine. Changes of address Figure Feature: Dragons ........ 44 for the delivery of subscriptions must be received ifold manufacturers. at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the Our revenue from those advertise- Up on a Soapbox ............... 54 change in order to insure uninterrupted delivery. ments will make it possible for us to All material published in DRAGON Magazine afford more expensive production tech- Spy’s Advice ................... 60 becomes the exclusive property of the publisher niques- like, maybe, full-color photo- upon publication, unless special arrangements to the contrary are made prior to publication. graphs of your favorite AA Fuel drag- Castles by Carroll .............. 62 DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited sub- sters in every issue. IV: The Tower of London missions of written material and artwork; how- ever, no responsibility for such submissions can Or, maybe we could afford to put a be assumed by the publisher in any event. Any complete dragster accessory in each Convention schedule ........... 63 submission which is accompanied by a self- issue —- a lug nut one month, a roll bar addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient size will be returned if it cannot be published. the next — and all of our brand-new Off the Shelf ................... 66 really loyal readers could build their The Role of Books, Part 3 ....... 69 DRAGON™ is a trademark for Dragon Publish- own dragsters after collecting enough QUESTWORLD review .......... 72 ing’s monthly adventure playing aid. All rights on the contents of this publication are reserved, issues in a row. and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole Looks like we’re almost out of space, What’s New .................... 75 or in part without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © 1983 by TSR so you’ll have to wait till next month to Hobbies, Inc. Dragon Mirth ................... 78 hear about the rest of our exciting Second-class postage paid at Lake Geneva, plans. Or, if you can’t wait that long, put Wormy ......................... 79 Wis., and additional mailing offices. together the first letters from each of POSTMASTER: Send address changes to these nine paragraphs— that’ll tell you Dragon Publishing, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva what you really need to know. WI 53147. USPS 318-790, ISSN 0279-6848. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, and TOPSECRET are registered trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc. ™ designates other trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. 2 APRIL 1983 ow many of you out there have always wondered how a game company works? Okay, how many of you out there have sometimes won- dered how a game company works? When you play FlLE 13, the latest game to come out of Tom Wham’s creative cranium, you may not learn an awful lot about how a real game company oper- ates, but you’ll be having so much fun you won’t care any more. Chess compliment seconds after dropping from rest shows some For something in a less lighthearted interesting results: vein, check out Gary Gygax’s official Dear Editor: Time Velocity Distance fallen presentation of the new cavalier sub- I was very pleased to see Tim Grice’s article (sec.) (ft/sec.) (ft.) on chess in DRAGON #70. Being perhaps the 1 32 16 class for the AD&D’” game; just like highest-rated (2200+) United States Chess 2 64 64 paladins are inclined to do, cavaliers Federation player who subscribes to the 3 96 144 take themselves very seriously. magazine, I felt compelled to write. 4 128 256 All that glitters is not a gold piece — a In short, the article was superlative. The Lo and behold! The object falls 48 feet dur- point that’s made emphatically in “Gems plusses and minuses in the matrix were very ing the 2nd second — three times as far as Galore” by Ed Greenwood. You’ll find well thought out. The various methods of during the 1st second — yet its speed only dozens of gemstones and other goodies cheating were interesting. Even the maximum doubles. During the entire four seconds of described in the space of a few pages — rate of assimilation of chess knowledge was falling, the distance fallen per second in- and you don’t even need a hammer or a thought of, thereby making the system more creased by a factor of 16, while the velocity of realistic. the body only went up 4 times. The relation- chisel to dig ‘em out. I would suggest these modifications and ship of distance to speed isn’t a geometric The barbarian, as a character class for enhancements to the system: progression, but a geometric retrogression! use in AD&D play, has been the topic of 1. Permit either player to play a gambit in Put in simple terms, after a fall of 64 feet, an much discussion on these pages in re- the opening. The gambitting player gains 10 object strikes the ground twice as fast, and cent months. Now, Katharine Kerr has points to his CM for 3 turns; however, he loses presumably takes twice as much damage, come up with a new twist on an old sub- 10 points on his CM for the rest of the game than it does after a 16-foot fall.