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Ian R Malcomson <ian@domicus.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> mearls <mearls@gmail.com> writes
>>Hey everyone,
>>
>>What are some of you favorite or most memorable Dragon magazine
>>articles? I'm interested in hearing input on almost any era, but I'm
>>particularly curious about articles from the early days.
>>
>>Thanks!
>
> Personally, IMO the best ever articles from Dragon were Ed Greenwood's
> treatment of the Hells (two main articles, plus a follow-up). Again
> IMO, they set a benchmark for dealing with the Hells that the official
> output on them (the Planes of Law boxed set, and Chris Pramas' Guide
> to Hell) missed by a margin.
I've got a couple of binders full of articles that I marked for later
use (printed from the CDs).
Off the top of my head,
.. Spell paths (#216?) Something similar was done in Advanced Players
Manual
.. there was a coinage/treasure article (#167?) I quite liked.
.. A magic academy article (early 100s IIRC)
.. Not Another Magical Blade (IIRC title, I *know* it was issue 180)
about describing magic swords; I used guidelines from that for a
while
.. Elemental gods (no idea)
Okay, grabbed the binders of Dragon articles, quickly skimming for
anything interesting -- and the ones marked with a leading * are
particular favorites:
29: title not available
article on creating pantheons... always meant to revise and adapt
for 3e
53: Understanding Armory
armory and blazoning interests me greatly; this article gives some
basics of it, another article (much later, _Princess Ark_-related
IIRC) goes into mechanical/magical application of arms
58: Swords: Slicing into a Sharp Topic
history of swords. I use it primarily for descriptive purposes to
help differentiate between swords from different places and times.
59: Poison: The Toxins of Cerilon
I really should go through and adapt these poisons for use in 3e
63: For the sake of change
a history of coins
66: Language article by A. D. Rogan
languages are of interest to me, especially when relationships
between them are evident and relevant
74: Runes
'cause runes are cool. Informative, no mechanics
74: A player character and his money...
another money-related article, explaining how to switch from gold
standard to silver, and why
* 77: Elemental Gods
how to make elemental-aligned/-based gods
* 94: Same dice, different odds
divided rolls (4d10/d4 sort of thing), because I quite like the
mechanic. Average is still about 4 (around d8), but rolling 40 is
possible (though a 1/40,000 chance)
107: Economics made easy
simple guidelines for applying economics and inflation to a
campaign. Probably too much trouble, but interesting
* 123: The Mystic College
not (quite) Harry Potter style, but you could probably get
something close. 1e rules, replacing 'wizard's tower' with
'academy of magic'
125: Armies from the Ground Up
deals with demographic-related information and how to apply it (for
instance, drumming up a few troops is about the limit for most
gentry, and even minor nobility might find it difficult pulling
together an army of a couple of hundred on short order)
136: Building Blocks, City Style
city design article with random tables; if I could ever build a
*good* random city-builder program I'd be a very happy man
148: Always Wear Your Best Suit
"making armor and weapons unique for all characters" -- ways to
customize appearance (and value) of arms and armor... 1e, I use
principles from it for my campaign.
* 150: Unspeakable Secrets Made Easy
just because I like Cthulhu books
154: All in the Family
more on heraldry and application in-game
154: For King and Country
rules for a military campaign (looked interesting, mechanics
dubious -- 1e mindset)
163: Magic Gone Haywire
... just because I like quirky magic items.
* 167: Curses are Devine (title may be incomplete)
I like curses
* 167: "Just give me MONEY!"
guidelines for 'designing' monetary systems. I like having
differences in coinage that matter, beyond the 'we don't accept
foreign coin here, you have to get it converted at the
moneychanger' (and lose a few percent as a result)
179: Something *Completely* Different
introducing variation to treasure
* 180: Not Another Magical Sword!?!
customizing appearance of weapons
181: That's Certainly Unfamiliar
spells to augment familiar abilities
* 184: The 7-Sentence NPC
advice for providing NPC thumbnails
* 216: Paths of Magic
* 242: Laws of Spell Design
243: Enchanting Weapons
suggestions for weapon origins, histories, and customizing powers.
> I would say that the two articles dealing with a fantasy Dark Ages
> Britain for 2nd Ed. and the Robin Hood/Sherwood articles for 3E were
> excellent, but I won't because that would be pure arrogance talking.
Well, they were good.
And it's not arrogance if *I* say it.
Keith
--
Keith Davies "Trying to sway him from his current kook-
keith.davies@kjdavies.org rant with facts is like trying to create
keith.davies@gmail.com a vacuum in a room by pushing the air
http://www.kjdavies.org/ out with your hands." -- Matt Frisch
. "You are in a featureless
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