News — Jim Holloway

Today I’m taking a look at Dragon Magazine #167 from March 1991.  The volume was edited by Roger E. Moore and art directed by Larry W. Smith. First off, I’m going to go over content.  The issue doesn’t have a specifically central theme, which is usually something I enjoy.  That lack of cohesion makes the issue seem fragmented and random, and the art layout does nothing to help with this. Articles of interest include an intriguing piece for Oriental Adventures called ‘Lords of the Warring States’ by Thomas Kane.  Odd, since TSR was two full years into the release of...

I mean seriously, of all the TSR adventures from the 1980s, does any have a title better than Against the Cult of the Reptile God?  I really think author Douglas Niles must have stolen this title from a lost Robert E. Howard Conan manuscript because it is really that cool. Niles, a personal favorite TSR author, spins a tale of the ‘dying’ village of Orlane located near Greyhawk’s Gran March.  Once thriving, now only a maze of locked doors and frightened faces, Orlane needs a band of brave adventurers to help free it from whatever evil plagues the settlement.  Well,...

Ok, just for anyone who doesn’t know, I love the art of Jeff Laubenstein, so any review I do with his artwork is going to be skewed in the direction of the positive.  Having established, of the pre-1990 FASA Battletech supplements, this has to be one of the finest out there. I once ran a full mercenary company in the game and this book was an incredibly valuable resource, having information so detailed that there is even a contract that can be copied and signed for each mission your crew intends to take on.  In fact, using this book, I...

Do you ever have one of those moments when you have to make a choice and it is nearly impossible to do so?  You know, like when someone asks your favorite movie and you can’t possibly answer, then you counter with ‘how about action movies, or horror movies, etc.’ and then when faced with that it is still almost impossible to answer?  Yeah, well sometimes choosing pieces of artwork from classic AD&D modules is just like that for me. It was no different for TSR’s I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City. Produced in 1981, the module is an interesting study...

The cover piece of Dragon Magazine #159 is actually called ‘The Privateer’, but to me and my old DM Mark, it will always be known as ‘What’s a clever captain to do?’ which is the bio write-up of the cover design that appears on page 4. That tag line has been the inspiration for pretty much everything I’ve ever done in the AD&D Spelljammer setting because no matter what I encounter, I always first ask myself that question, and trust me it makes EVERYTHING more palpably fun! [Special Note: I played a version of Spelljammer last summer and the entire...