News

I feel like, as I do a Dragon Magazine review each week, I’m getting too late in the magazine’s run for the bulk of my readers to remember them, as though, sometime around 1990, everyone stopped reading Dragon.  In truth, that is probably very true, but nonetheless, I’ll keep reviewing whatever random issue I pull out of my collection each week. This week brings Dragon #173 from September 1991.  It is a Dark Sun dedicated issue and therefore is chocked full of both Brom and Tom Baxa artwork.  Edited by Roger E. Moore, the top articles in this particular volume...

In the beginning, there was Shadowrun… and it was good.  Then, in 1993, FASA created Earthdawn as the semi-precursor to their breakout cyberpunk hit.  Much like the world of Conan reflects an age of Earth long forgotten, Earthdawn filled this same pre-history, which I have to say was infinitely cool considering the story from which Shadowrun was born.  However, somewhere along the line FASA took a turn that would unfortunately doom the game to a moderate hit that fell quickly into mediocrity.  To me, FASA had no concept of its own OGL, and thus failed to realize that the game...

Ok, so today is a ‘big one’.  Perhaps not as big as they get, but certainly in the upper echelon of what makes a classic TSR module. D3: Vault of the Drow was written by Gary Gygax sometime around 1978 and finally released in this particular version in 1980.  It is a pretty cool piece of work, although really more of a stopgap [much like D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth] between Against the Giants and Queen of the Demonweb Pits.  Coming in at a rather standard 28 pages, Vault is a smooth running exploration adventure that leaves...

In November 2003 the OGL for Wizards of the Coast’s D&D 3.0 was in full swing.  The game was a monster hit, at least among the public, and supplements for the game were coming out at a record pace.  Enter Draconomicon.  This 286 page full color hardcover gives you pretty much all the detail you could ever want on the standard version D&D dragons, as well as adding in specialized dragons, Prestige Classes [for both player AND dragons], and all types of dragon related creatures and sample lairs. Truly, a more dragon-tastic book could not be found when looking for...

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...