News — Jeff Butler

In November 1984, Dragon Magazine #91 hit the shelves. To me, it never really seemed to jump out, probably because Dean Morrissey never really captured my attention like many of his contemporaries, probably because my mind is geared toward fantasy looking more unreal.Looking back on the issue now, I find that incredibly sad as Issue #91 is a masterpiece. It is absolutely filled with incredible content from Gygax showing us a new demon [the goristro], to Ed Greenwood’s ‘Nine Hells revisited’, which is an astounding look at devils and where they live.Ares gives us an incredible Star Frontiers Knight Hawks...

Everyone has a ‘First Dragon’, and for me it was Dragon #88. Sure, I didn’t actually own it, as it was in the possession of a boy I didn’t get along with overly well, but he did sit across from me in art class and laid this issue on his desk one afternoon in middle-school. I was both amazed and intrigued by it, and when I actually got to flip through the pages I was blow away by the artwork I found [because of course at this time I had no idea how to actually play D&D] For that reason,...

Good old Merle M. Rasmussen did manage a few very inspired modules in the 1980s, and X6: Quagmire! absolutely makes that list. This adventure, for characters 4-10, is a nice little romp through exotic climbs to a mythic ‘spiral city’.  Its purpose seems to be to expand on the D&D Expert set and show exactly how to run a true wilderness adventure.  To this end, it does a great job, and the mass of charts and encounters in the back will help any DM if they are looking to flesh out the travel aspect of a D&D campaign. The artwork,...