November, 1979 elcome to a format change and a new column in beauty of the winning entries, but we wanted to recognize them, THE DRAGON. HI, I’m Jake and this is Cover to nonetheless. Also, in the Dragon’s Augury, you’ll find Short Takes Cover. Now that the introductions are out of the and First Impressions, devoted to a walking tour of the exhibitors at way, you’re probably wondering what happened GenCon XII, and a quick look at the items they had for sale. And to Kindly Editor Tim Kask and Dragon Rumbles. speaking of conventions, we also have a report on NANCON 88-II. Fear not, you’ll find Tim rumbling on the next page, explaining why Those of you interested in space games will find variations on Alpha he’s there. Cover to Cover will be in this spot each month, and will be a Omega and Stellar Conquest this month. Stellar Conquest, by the review/preview of each month’s contents, an eye to the old crystal ball way, has been repackaged in a box, and finally seems to be getting and future plans, and a little general BS (or would that be DS?). some of the attention it so justly deserves. This month’s cover is the work of Alan Burton and is his interpretation of every D&D player’s dream—discovering an entire lost city ripe for Fantasysmith’s Notebook this month asks the musical question, plundering. If that whets your appetite, try our main course, Jungle “How tall is a giant?" It contains some very helpful thoughts on the Fever, where you’ll find out how to set up a jungle campaign. scale of miniature figures. Michael Kluever, one of our regular contributors, makes another ap- In a more “traditional” D&D vein, we have an excellent piece of fiction pearance this month with his article on Armor of the Far East, and we by J. Eric Holmes. Trollshead, excerpted from his forthcoming novel. have another of his manuscripts for next month dealing with weaponry J. Eric, believe it or not, is not a writer by trade—he teaches neuro- of the Far East. Michael’s articles are always researched thoroughly, surgery in Los Angeles. and should be of great help to any gamer dealing with the period. Space limitations last month did not allow us to complete our coverage Third Reich fans should take note of William Searight’s article on the of GenCon XII. Winding it up in this issue, we have the winners of the game. Some interesting strategies are presented. TSR Periodicals sponsored Figure Painting Contest and Strate- gists Club Awards. Please forgive the quality of the pictures of the F.C. MacKnight continues his story this month about Fritz Leiber, Harry Figure Painting Contest winners. The photos do not do justice to the Fischer, and the evolution of the game of Lankhmar. This month’s piece was to be the conclusion, but Prof. MacKnight has found the story has “grown in the telling,” so there will be at least one more installment. As always, we have our regular features. This month in the Sorcerer’s Scroll, Gary Gygax discusses the relationship between stories, rules, and roles. Len Lakofka looks at death in AD&D in Leomund’s Tiny FEATURES Hut. We kick off a new column: Sage Advice. Jean Wells of the TSR Trollshead— New fiction by J. Eric Holmes ................... 3 design department will be answering questions about D&D and AD&D. Jungle Fever— T.J. Kask and Jake Jaquet ................... 4 Got a question? Send it to Sage Advice, c/o The Dragon, P.O. Box 110, Fantasysmith’s Notebook— How Tall Is A Giant? .............. 20 Lake Geneva, WI 53147, and enclose a self-addressed, stamped envel- Sage Advice— Questions &Answers on D&D ................ 26 ope. Jean will answer all questions with personal replies, and save the Sorcerer’s Scroll— Gary Gygax ............................. 28 “best,” that is, most commonly asked or confusing questions and their Leomund’s Tiny Hut— Lenard Lakofka ...................... 30 answers for us to run each month. A Surefire Strategy for Third Reich— William B. Searight ........ 35 Dragon’s Bestiary— The Ukuyatangi! ........................ 50 By the way, some of you may be wondering where the answers to VARIANTS Dragon Quiz #3—Name That Author and/or Title. You say you Can Jason Destroy the Dragonship?— Kenneth W. Burke ....... 10 didn’t know about the quiz? Did we forget to print that too? Seriously, Spicing Up Stellar Conquest— Tony Van Liew ................ 12 though, we (the TSR Periodicals staff and our printer—we’ll share the A New Profession for EPT: The Adventurer— Glenn Rahman ... 27 blame this month) inadvertently dropped a title and a couple of bylines REVIEWS for articles that appeared in THE DRAGON #29. Our apologies. Now, The Creature That Ate Sheboygan— Karl Mems .............. 47 here’s your chance to play editor: Take out your #2 robin’s-egg blue Indian Ocean Adventure— Mike Carr ........................ 47 editing pencil and open your copy of TD #29 to pages 4 and 5—Craig 4th Dimension— Richard Forsten ........................... 48 Bakey’s article—pick a clear spot in the art and in big block letters write Battle of Maiwand— Glenn Williams ......................... .48 “Of The Gods.” That’s the title that should have been there. Circle it and spec it for 48 point Souvenir Bold type. See how easy it is? Now HUMOR turn to page 6. Underneath the title and just above “Editor’s Note,” Wormy— by Tramp ...................................... 52 write in “by Deidre Evans,” spec it 18 pt. and underline it with a BACKGROUND squiggly line (the squiggly line means bold face). Ready for another Armor of the Far East— Michael Kluever ..................... 23 one? Turn to page 24 and the piece on Inns and Taverns. Want to try Lankhmar: The Original Game and What It Became— this one yourself? The by-line should be: “by I. Marc Carlson.” All F.C. MacKnight ....................................... 32 done? Looks good! NEWS/VIEWS Dragon Rumbles ......................................... 2 That’s about it for this month. In closing, for those of you who keep Figure-Painting Contest Champs ........................... 6 writing to us asking about the irregular appearance of Finieous Strategists Club Banquet photos ............................ 7 Fingers, please be patient. J.D., the artist who does Finieous, is in the D&D Is Alive and Well— NANCON 88-II report ............... 8 Navy and has recently had much of his time taken up with flight school. Convention Schedule, 1979-80 ............................ 22 THE DRAGON is not quite big enough yet to tell the government to Out on a Limb ........................................... 38 give him more free time, so bear with us. Finieous will be back soon. Vol IV, No. 5 The Premier Magazine of Games and Gaming VOL. IV No. 5 THE DRAGON has been undergoing a slight. Undoubtedly, we have published arti- gradual facelift in recent months, and making cles that some readers had no interest in at Publisher some policy changes as well. In this issue we all. Hopefully, there were enough that were E. Gary Gygax have initiated two of the more significant sufficiently interested in any given article to alterations with the introduction of Cover to make it worth publishing. It is very difficult to Editor Cover, and the redefining and movement of get a handle on how the readership is receiv- T.J. Kask this column. ing us when we get so little feedback, and so In the past, Rumbles was the catch-all few letters to the editor commenting on that Assistant Editor column for the magazine, containing infor- aspect of our magazine. Jake Jaquet mation concerning the contents of the issue, If there are games or areas of gaming that upcoming plans, policy statements, personal you feel that we are neglecting, please write Editorial Staff statements and editorialsa rather diverse to us and let us know. Contrary to popular Kim Mohan recipe. misconception, we do read every bit of mail John Baillie In the future, Cover to Cover will deal that we receive. (The operative word here is with the contents of the issue, going into receive. If one of the harbingers of the de- Art Staff greater detail than was possible in the past. It cline of a civilization is the deterioration of the Dave Sutherland will highlight the articles themselves, and postal system, our civilization is Erol Otis sometimes tell you about the authors, and doomed. .) Greg Fleming where they are coming from, their creden- We are never able to process submis- Darlene Pekul tials, or lack thereof, and other information sions as quickly as wed like to; right now useful to the reader. we're about seven weeks behind our already Rumbles will remain my place to sound slow schedule. Both articles and art, particu- THE DRAGON is published monthly by off, make statements regarding policy or pol- larly the latter, are piling up on us. By the TSR Periodicals, a division of TSR Hobbies, icies of TSR Periodicals, ask pointed rhetori- time you read this, we will be caught up Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva, cal questions, make personal statements, and again. Magazine publishing is a business of Wisconsin 53147 Phone: 414-248-8044 editorialize. fits and starts of activity. We have more changes in the works that There are some new areas that we intend THE DRAGON is available at better hobby will be implemented as time allows, and we to get into in the next few months. We hope shops and bookstores, or by subscription. Subscription rate within the U.S. are able to initiate them.