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Dragon Reflections #36
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<blockquote data-quote="M.T. Black" data-source="post: 8140379" data-attributes="member: 6782171"><p><strong>TSR Periodicals</strong> published <strong>The Dragon</strong> issue 36 in April 1980. It is 72 pages long and has a cover price of $2.50. In this issue, we have a draconic sub-race, mature content in <strong>D&D</strong>, and statistics for Conan!</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]129590[/ATTACH]</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p>The magazine does not explicitly mention it, but this is Tim Kask's last issue with <strong>TSR Periodicals</strong>. The credits page makes no mention of Kask, though it does include an editorial by him (on the problems caused by age disparity in <strong>D&D</strong> games). The only real clue comes from this uncredited note at the top of the letters page:</p><p></p><p>A small tribute is in order. Tim Kask was a military veteran who became involved with wargaming and <strong>D&D</strong> while studying communications at college. He became friends with Gary Gygax, who invited him to join <strong>TSR </strong>in 1975 as an editor. Kask was the first full-time employee of the company. He moved from general editing duties to launching <strong>The Dragon</strong> in 1976. As this column has shown, the first issues were crude, but by 1980 Kask was publishing a highly professional magazine.</p><p></p><p>As regards his reasons for leaving, there are hints that he was unhappy with his compensation. Following his resignation, he published his own magazine, <strong>Adventure Gaming</strong>, which lasted just 13 issues before folding. This failure had devastating financial consequences for Kask, and he left the gaming hobby altogether for many years. Considering the influence of <strong>Dragon </strong>magazine, Kask's contribution to gaming was immense.</p><p></p><p>On to this month's features. "The Cube from Beyond" is another story by Gardner F. Fox featuring his Conan-clone, Niall of the Far Travels. In "Up on a Soapbox," Larry DiTillio (celebrated author of <strong>Masks of Nyarlathotep</strong> and co-creator of <strong>Babylon 5</strong>) discusses the inclusion of sex, drug use, and other mature content in <strong>D&D</strong> games. In "Leomund's Tiny Hut," Len Lakofka gives some guidelines for creating powerful and believable deities.</p><p></p><p>"Simulation Corner" suggests that the wargame market is now favoring microgames instead of the "monster games" that have prevailed to date. "The Electric Eye" by Mark Herro continues its introductory series on personal computers, while "The DM's Right-Hand Man" by Roy Earle demonstrates how you can use computers to automate gaming tasks.</p><p></p><p>"Minarian Legends" is back with more lore about the <strong>Divine Right</strong> wargame by creator Glenn A. Rahman, while Dan Campagna gives a detailed description of his new wargame, <strong>Samurai</strong>, published by <strong>Avalon Hill</strong>.</p><p></p><p>In "Dragon's Bestiary," Todd Lockwood (who later became a staff artist for <strong>TSR</strong>) presents the Krolli, a warm-blooded flying reptile who may be the first draconic sub-race. "Giants in the Earth" gives us statistics for Farael Sabatini's Captain Blood, H.P. Lovecraft's Richard Pickman, and Thomas Burnett Swann's Silverbells. Following a public chiding by Gygax, Schick and Moldvay appear to be giving these literary creatures more modest statistics.</p><p></p><p>Gygax himself presents statistics for Conan in "From the Sorcerer's Scroll." Intriguingly, he gives the stats at different stages of life. For example, Conan's Strength peaks at 19 when he is 30 years old, while his Charisma peaks at 18 when he is 40 years old. Gygax presents Conan as a Fighter/Thief and has these levels increase until the barbarian is middle-aged and then taper off. The <em>Dungeon Master's Guide</em> makes no provision for class levels to reduce with age, so this is an intriguing little innovation.</p><p></p><p>Jean Wells continues to offer up "Sage Advice" to players everywhere. The questions are occasionally grim and unsettling:</p><p></p><p>As always, this issue features a collection of variant rules. Steve Jackson presents a two-player option for his immensely popular <strong>Stellar Conquest</strong> game, while Bryan Bullinger shares an urban combat scenario for <strong>Squad Leader</strong>. F.C. MacKnight is back with some rule changes to the <strong>Lankhmar </strong>wargame to correct the overly simplistic Combat Tables and other short-comings</p><p></p><p>Bill Fawcett, co-owner of Mayfair Games, describes a complicated Experience Point variant for <strong>D&D</strong>, which relies on each player's actual damage inflicted. Meanwhile, Hammack, Blume, Gygax, and Kask present "The Fastest Guns That Never Lived," giving us <strong>Boot Hill </strong>statistics for gunfighters out of the movies and TV. For the record, Clint Eastwood is considered the best shot, followed by the Lone Ranger!</p><p></p><p>There is a lengthy historical article on the Mongols by Michael Kluever, discussing their weapons and tactics. These sorts of articles were fairly common soon after <strong>TSR </strong>merged <strong>Little Wars</strong> with <strong>The Dragon</strong>, but they have been pretty rare recently.</p><p></p><p>There are just three reviews featured in this issue. <strong>Starship Troopers</strong> by <strong>Avalon Hill</strong> is "an excellent buy." <strong>Mech War 2</strong> by <strong>SPI </strong>is the "best available" game for those interested in modern tactical ground warfare and "a must" for wargamers. Meanwhile, <strong>Trek 80</strong> by <strong>Judges Guild</strong> "is a well written program and a good Star Trek game."</p><p></p><p>And that's a wrap. There were no real standout articles, but a lot of solid content. Next issue, we have an article on planar travel by Ed Greenwood, new treasures in Bazaar of the Bizarre, and a sneak peek at the upcoming <strong>World of Greyhawk</strong>!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="M.T. Black, post: 8140379, member: 6782171"] [B]TSR Periodicals[/B] published [B]The Dragon[/B] issue 36 in April 1980. It is 72 pages long and has a cover price of $2.50. In this issue, we have a draconic sub-race, mature content in [B]D&D[/B], and statistics for Conan! [CENTER][ATTACH type="full"]129590[/ATTACH] [/CENTER] The magazine does not explicitly mention it, but this is Tim Kask's last issue with [B]TSR Periodicals[/B]. The credits page makes no mention of Kask, though it does include an editorial by him (on the problems caused by age disparity in [B]D&D[/B] games). The only real clue comes from this uncredited note at the top of the letters page: A small tribute is in order. Tim Kask was a military veteran who became involved with wargaming and [B]D&D[/B] while studying communications at college. He became friends with Gary Gygax, who invited him to join [B]TSR [/B]in 1975 as an editor. Kask was the first full-time employee of the company. He moved from general editing duties to launching [B]The Dragon[/B] in 1976. As this column has shown, the first issues were crude, but by 1980 Kask was publishing a highly professional magazine. As regards his reasons for leaving, there are hints that he was unhappy with his compensation. Following his resignation, he published his own magazine, [B]Adventure Gaming[/B], which lasted just 13 issues before folding. This failure had devastating financial consequences for Kask, and he left the gaming hobby altogether for many years. Considering the influence of [B]Dragon [/B]magazine, Kask's contribution to gaming was immense. On to this month's features. "The Cube from Beyond" is another story by Gardner F. Fox featuring his Conan-clone, Niall of the Far Travels. In "Up on a Soapbox," Larry DiTillio (celebrated author of [B]Masks of Nyarlathotep[/B] and co-creator of [B]Babylon 5[/B]) discusses the inclusion of sex, drug use, and other mature content in [B]D&D[/B] games. In "Leomund's Tiny Hut," Len Lakofka gives some guidelines for creating powerful and believable deities. "Simulation Corner" suggests that the wargame market is now favoring microgames instead of the "monster games" that have prevailed to date. "The Electric Eye" by Mark Herro continues its introductory series on personal computers, while "The DM's Right-Hand Man" by Roy Earle demonstrates how you can use computers to automate gaming tasks. "Minarian Legends" is back with more lore about the [B]Divine Right[/B] wargame by creator Glenn A. Rahman, while Dan Campagna gives a detailed description of his new wargame, [B]Samurai[/B], published by [B]Avalon Hill[/B]. In "Dragon's Bestiary," Todd Lockwood (who later became a staff artist for [B]TSR[/B]) presents the Krolli, a warm-blooded flying reptile who may be the first draconic sub-race. "Giants in the Earth" gives us statistics for Farael Sabatini's Captain Blood, H.P. Lovecraft's Richard Pickman, and Thomas Burnett Swann's Silverbells. Following a public chiding by Gygax, Schick and Moldvay appear to be giving these literary creatures more modest statistics. Gygax himself presents statistics for Conan in "From the Sorcerer's Scroll." Intriguingly, he gives the stats at different stages of life. For example, Conan's Strength peaks at 19 when he is 30 years old, while his Charisma peaks at 18 when he is 40 years old. Gygax presents Conan as a Fighter/Thief and has these levels increase until the barbarian is middle-aged and then taper off. The [I]Dungeon Master's Guide[/I] makes no provision for class levels to reduce with age, so this is an intriguing little innovation. Jean Wells continues to offer up "Sage Advice" to players everywhere. The questions are occasionally grim and unsettling: As always, this issue features a collection of variant rules. Steve Jackson presents a two-player option for his immensely popular [B]Stellar Conquest[/B] game, while Bryan Bullinger shares an urban combat scenario for [B]Squad Leader[/B]. F.C. MacKnight is back with some rule changes to the [B]Lankhmar [/B]wargame to correct the overly simplistic Combat Tables and other short-comings Bill Fawcett, co-owner of Mayfair Games, describes a complicated Experience Point variant for [B]D&D[/B], which relies on each player's actual damage inflicted. Meanwhile, Hammack, Blume, Gygax, and Kask present "The Fastest Guns That Never Lived," giving us [B]Boot Hill [/B]statistics for gunfighters out of the movies and TV. For the record, Clint Eastwood is considered the best shot, followed by the Lone Ranger! There is a lengthy historical article on the Mongols by Michael Kluever, discussing their weapons and tactics. These sorts of articles were fairly common soon after [B]TSR [/B]merged [B]Little Wars[/B] with [B]The Dragon[/B], but they have been pretty rare recently. There are just three reviews featured in this issue. [B]Starship Troopers[/B] by [B]Avalon Hill[/B] is "an excellent buy." [B]Mech War 2[/B] by [B]SPI [/B]is the "best available" game for those interested in modern tactical ground warfare and "a must" for wargamers. Meanwhile, [B]Trek 80[/B] by [B]Judges Guild[/B] "is a well written program and a good Star Trek game." And that's a wrap. There were no real standout articles, but a lot of solid content. Next issue, we have an article on planar travel by Ed Greenwood, new treasures in Bazaar of the Bizarre, and a sneak peek at the upcoming [B]World of Greyhawk[/B]! [/QUOTE]
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