S PECIAL ATTRACTIONS Issue #158 Vol. XV, No. 1 9 Weve waited for you: DRAGONS! June 1990 A collection of lore about our most favorite monster. The Mightiest of Dragons George Ziets Publisher 10 In the D&D® game, no one fools with the dragon rulers and lives for James M. Ward long. Editor A Spell of Conversation Ed Friedlander Roger E. Moore 18 If youd rather talk with a dragon than fight it, use this spell. The Dragons Bestiary The readers Fiction editor Barbara G. Young 20 The gorynych (very gory) and the (uncommon) common dragonet. Thats Not in the Monstrous Compendium! Aaron McGruder Assistant editor 24 Remember those neutral dragons with gemstone names? Theyre 2nd Dale A. Donovan Edition now! Art director Larry W. Smith O THER FEATURES Production staff The Game Wizards James M. Ward Gaye OKeefe Angelika Lokotz 8 Should we ban the demon? The readers respondand how! Subscriptions Also Known As... the Orc Ethan Ham Janet L. Winters 30 Renaming a monster has more of an effect than you think. U.S. advertising The Rules of the Game Thomas M. Kane Sheila Gailloreto Tammy Volp 36 If you really want more gamers, then create them! The Voyage of the Princess Ark Bruce A. Heard U.K. correspondent 41 Sometimes its better not to know what you are eating. and U.K. advertising Sue Lilley A Role-players Best Friend Michael J. DAlfonsi 45 Give your computer the job of assistant Dungeon Master. The Role of Computers Hartley, Patricia and Kirk Lesser 47 The world of warfare, from the past to the future. Ivory in the Blood fiction by Brian A. Hopkins 58 They were the last of their kinds: dragon and dragonslayer. Novel Ideas Will Larson 80 New titles are arriving for the world of the DRAGONLANCE® saga. Role-playing Reviews Jim Bambra 82 An exercise in terror: Chaosiums CALL OF CTHULHU® game revised. Through the Looking Glass Robert Bigelow 104 A miniatures campaign can be wonderful, but its never easy. D EPARTMENTS 5 Letters 68 Gamers Guide 86 TSR Previews 6 Forum 71 Sage Advice 95 Dragonmirth 56 Editorial 78 Convention Calendar 96 Twilight Empire COVER In the nick of time, Gerald Brom (a recent full-time addition to the artists staff of TSR, Inc.) produced a painting for our cover, a portrait that he just had sitting around. Dragons Nest reveals the primary hazard of acquiring a dragons egg: dealing with the mother dragon. 4 JUNE 1990 DRAGON® Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is published monthly by TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 756 (201 Sheridan Springs Road), Lake Geneva WI 53147, United States of America. The postal address for all materials from the United States and Canada except subscription orders is: DRAGON Magazine, P.O. Box 111 (201 Sheridan Springs Road), Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A.; telephone: (414) 248-3625. The postal address for all materials from Europe is: DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd, 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LD, United Kingdom; telephone: (0223) 212517 (U.K.), 44-223- 212517 (international); telex: 818761; fax: (0223) 248066 What did you think of this issue? Do you have enjoyment of a paper magazine, which can be (U.K.), 44-223-248066 (international). Distribution: DRAGON Magazine is available from a question about an article or have an idea for a shared with the public at large. We havent game and hobby shops throughout the United States, new feature youd like to see? In the United investigated the cost involved in producing a Canada, the United Kingdom, and through a limited States and Canada, write to: Letters, DRAGON® diskette magazine simply because we have no number of other overseas outlets. Distribution to the book trade in the United States is by Random House, Inc., and Magazine, P.O. 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I, too, would like to United Kingdom is by Seymour Press Ltd., 334 Brixton go to a paperless workplace, but paper is easily Road, London SW9 7AG, United Kingdom; telephone: Best of fever made, easily used, and easily disposed ofand, 01-733-4444. unlike a computer diskette, paper is biodegrad- Subscriptions: Subscription rates via second-class mail are as follows: $30 in US. funds for 12 issues sent Dear Dragon: able. Finally, you must know that in order to to an address in the U.S. or Canada; £16 for 12 issues Ive been an avid reader of this magazine for produce the massive amounts of power re- sent to an address within the United Kingdom; £24 for 12 quired to construct and operate computer issues sent to an address in Europe; $50 in U.S. funds seven years now. I love all of the articles and for 12 issues sent by surface mail to any other address; input from the many who read and research systems (among other modern appliances), you or $90 in U.S. funds for 12 issues sent airmail to any with it. I have collected a lot of the issues from must have power companies and all the ecologi- other address. Payment in full must accompany all cal problems that go with them, not to mention subscription orders. In the U.S. and Canada, methods of #100 on, but Ive been waiting for The Best of payment include checks or money orders made payable DRAGON Magazine anthology, volume VI. the production processes involved in making to TSR, Inc., or charges to valid MasterCard or VISA Can you tell me when I can expect it, or if there both computers and their little diskettes. You credit cards: send subscription orders with payments to: is ever going to be one? can plant trees to make more paper You cannot TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 72089, Chicago IL 60678, U.S.A. In plant petroleum or ores to make more diskettes. the United Kingdom, methods of payment include cheques and money orders made payable to TSR Ltd, or We have been discussing the possibility of I completely missed your connection between charges to a valid ACCESS or VISA credit card; send another Best of anthology, but we have not the rain forests (which are being destroyed to subscription orders with payments to TSR Ltd, as per that provide farmland) and producing the magazine address above. Prices are subject to change without prior been able to get it approved for our product notice. The issue of expiration of each subscription is schedule. However, its still being kicked around. on diskette, or how this would save the planet, printed on the mailing label of each subscriber’s copy of If you would like to see volume VI, then by all but what the heck. Your enthusiasm for ecology the magazine. Changes of address for the delivery of means write to us and tell us what you would is good, but a little more research would help. subscription copies must be received at least six weeks prior to the effective date of the change in order to assure like for it to contain: Monsters? Magical items? uninterrupted delivery. New spells? Special articles for DMs? Some of Back issues: A limited quantity of back issues is your own favorite articles? Be specific when you available from either the TSR Mail Order Hobby Shop How do umber (P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A.) or from write. The more letters we get, the better the TSR Ltd. For a free copy of the current catalog that lists chances are that a new Best of will appear! available back issues, write to either of the above hulks smell?* addresses. Submissions: All material published in DRAGON Magazine becomes the exclusive property of the pub- Eco-diskettes? lisher unless special arrangements to the contrary are Dear Dragon: made prior to publication. DRAGON Magazine welcomes Dear Dragon: I was just rereading The Ecology of the unsolicited submissions of written material and artwork; however, no responsibility for such submissions can be I am writing in response to the letter asking if Umber Hulk, by Tony Jones in issue #152. The assumed by the publisher in any event. Any submission you would put the magazine on diskettes in- article was very good and quite informative, but accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope of stead of on paper [in issue #153]. Your response I noticed something that I believe may have sufficient size will be returned if it cannot be published. to this question was typical. Sure, it may be We strongly recommend that prospective authors write been a mistake. Early in the article, Mr. Jones for our writers’ guidelines before sending an article to us. easier to continue to ship the magazine as it is states that the creature lacks a nose but In the United States and Canada, send a self-addressed, not so much because, as you put it, you dont breathes through gill-like structures on its stamped envelope (9½” long preferred) to: Writers‘ have to plug in your computer to read each almost nonexistent neck.