Dragon Magazine #2

TSR Periodicals published The Dragon issue 2 in August 1976. It is 32 pages long and has a cover price of $1.50. This issue introduces the remorhaz, brews up an alchemist, and welcomes Niall of the Far Travels!

Issue #1 was successful enough for editor Tim Kask to claim The Dragon is "the fastest-growing magazine in the hobby." He refers to overwhelmingly positive feedback while simultaneously begging for more letters. The plea for correspondence was a recurring theme in the early issues.

Kask states that the "increase in interest in Fantasy gaming in the past year has been nothing short of phenomenal." Furthermore, he is impressed that even the "big two" of gaming (Avalon Hill and SPI) have started to treat fantasy games seriously. As it happens, TSR would soon be much larger than either company and would acquire SPI in 1982, while Avalon Hill came under the control of Wizards of the Coast in 2004!

Dungeons & Dragons

There are five D&D articles, but no other RPGs are covered, which somewhat contradicts Kask's goal of making this an industry-wide magazine. Still, it's early days.

"Monkish Combat in the Arena of Promotion" by John M. Sneaton describes a combat system for monk-to-monk fights based on the En Guarde! RPG. It proposes that, at high levels, the monk must defeat a Master in a ceremonial arena before they can level up. Unfortunately, the system is complex and has limited utility. Sneaton was an artist who contributed the cover for issue 3 but appears to have done no other RPG publishing.

"Hints for D & D Judges Part 3" by Joe Fischer is the longest gaming article in the magazine. It provides practical suggestions for traps, treasures, mapping, and monsters. It's a well-written piece by someone who has done a lot of gaming.

Next is "Creature Features," which describes the remorhaz and includes some early art by Erol Otus. The attached statistics do not have a byline, although Rob Kuntz later claimed credit for the work. The remorhaz became a staple monster and has appeared in every D&D edition.

Wrapping up the D&D content, we have two articles by Jon Pickens, who deserves an introduction. Pickens was completing an English and Economics degree and was an avid gamer and a GenCon regular. He submitted several articles to The Dragon, and TSR was impressed enough to hire him as an editor in 1978. He worked on D&D until 2003, when he finally left the gaming industry.

The first Pickens article presents a new D&D character class, "The Alchemist," which is a concept that designers will revisit many times in this magazine. This version is a brewer of potions, which is all well and good, though it's unclear what they would actually do during an adventure. 

The second Pickens article, "D&D Option: Weapon Damage," introduces a simple expertise system that allows fighters and thieves to inflict more damage as they level up. It's a solid, if slightly uninspiring, idea.

Fiction

This issue includes three fiction pieces. First, we have the next installment of Gygax's serial novel, "The Gnome Cache." Dunstan, seeking his fortune, joins a group of scurrilous rogues pretending to be honest adventurers. Will they lead him astray? Unfortunately, the plot is not very interesting and contains clunky dialogue such as, "Know you not that such a ruction could bring unwanted attention?" 

Not much better is the conclusion to Jake Jacquet's "Search for the Forbidden Chamber." The heroes finally come upon the titular chamber only to find a note telling them that "F. Baggins" has already taken the prize. At least Jacquet's story does not take itself seriously.

Of much better quality is "Shadow of a Demon" by Gardner F. Fox, a well-known comic book writer. It tells the story of Niall of the Far Travels, an obvious Conan-pastiche, and features the usual sword and sorcery grist: a prophecy, an evil sorcerer, and a beautiful girl. On the plus side, the writing is good, and Fox tries to subvert the tropes he uses. He published several more stories about Niall in the pages of The Dragon.

Other

Richard Mataka's "Press Release" returns with reviews of two games. Venerable Destruction by Excalibre Games is "just a 'FUN' game and nothing more." And Star Command by Lou Zocchi is "an excellent set of miniature rules for the beginner or the avid Science Fiction buff." 

Finally, we have an essay on the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl by Lynn Harpold. These mythological essays would appear in later issues, often accompanied by D&D game mechanics for the featured deity. This particular entry is a little dry.

And that's a wrap! The content certainly felt less varied and polished than in the first issue, showing how difficult it was for Kask to source material in these early days. The highlight was the remorhaz. Next issue, we have a new view of dwarves, birth tables, and an infamous article on women in gaming.

An earlier version of this column originally appeared in EnWorld. Old issues of Dragon Magazine are available on the Internet Archive. You can view Issue 2 here.