PixlBit

This was the November 1982 issue and the last one I have for that year. These are some of my notes and scans of things that interested me. You can read the whole issue if you want at annarchive.

                            

Note 1: This cover was by Jack Crane. I just discovered through this interview that he lives in Broomall, PA., just a short drive from where I live! He seems a man after my own heart in many ways. He's done six covers, some inside art and a short story for Dragon Magazine. I now know why his art is so familiar. He's done stuff for Philadelphia Magazine, which I see from time to time at doctor's offices and other public places.

                               

Note 2: (see pic above) This is the Dungeons and Dragons ad behind the cover. I've seen this in comic books, but not in color like this one. I had to scan it.

Note 3: An article by Gregg Chamberlain caught my eye, Souping up the Spider, and so I read it. I love the way D&D brings in all sorts of real world disciplines and arts, this one bringing in spider biology. The article tells you some basic facts about spiders, a list of spider types, their behaiviors and skills, and a list of D&D related stats, so you can use dice to determine the outcome of encounters. I love biology and read every spider description. One listing was for Daddy Longlegs. I had a disagreement with my bro-in-law at Thanksgiving as to whether a Daddy Longlegs we saw on a hike was a spider of not. He said no because it only had six legs. Well, this Dragon article didn't clear up the question, but wikipedia did. Opiliones are within the order of arachnids and have eight legs, but are not spiders, being related more closely to mites: "Although superficially similar to and often confused with spiders (order Araneae), Opiliones is a distinct order that is not closely related to spiders within Arachnida." - wiki. My bro-in-law's claim that it only had six legs was probably due to some species of Opiliones having two legs reduced in size to act more like feelers. So he was wrong about the legs, but right that it wasn't a Spider. This is why I love D&D. I get into all sorts of real world facts. Um. . . however, the Dragon article is wrong to include Daddy Longlegs in with Spiders.

Note 4: There was a very long article by Roger Moore, who would become editor-in-chief of Dragon in '86, about the Astral Plane. It's prefaced by Gary Gygax who emphasizes that, although everything in Dragon is supposed to be unofficial, this particular article is basically as official as you can get. The article describes what the Astral Plane is, and how you can access and move through it in the D&D world. It is followed by a full scenario you can play that takes place in the Astral Plane complete with floor plans, area descriptions, and encounter tables (I love encounter tables!). With Dragon Magazine you don't just get expansions upon official rules, you get whole games to play. Win win!

Note 5: A short piece near the end of the magazine lists and describes the content of several books of Myth and folklore that might be useful to players creating adventures in D&D. I remember being really into some of these books like Bulfinch's Mythology which, in three volumes, covers every myth and legend of the Western world. The other books mentioned were new to me but very interesting. I don't think many other games lead players into the kind of research material a historian or fiction writer might use.

And that's all for Dragon 67. I considered the fact that this blog would've been good to post in November before Thanksgiving because of the related cover art; so, I think I'll read all the issues concurrent with the present month and post notes on them. It's too late to do December, I think, so I'll read all the January issues I have and post in January. I have enough issues to cover every month in 2015, so you'll see blogs on this stuff all year long. Wee hoo!