[Let's read] Dungeon magazine from the beginning...

[hida_jiremi]

I was so impressed by (un)reason's "Dragon Magazine - From the beginning" thread that I was moved to do one myself for Dungeon Magazine. Let me go ahead and say that while I really like (un)reason's reviews and think they're absolutely fascinating, Dragon was never the magazine for me. I was always much more interested in Dungeon, which is what ultimately led me to pick up every single issue.

In this thread (which I won't actually start adding to until Friday, sadly, thanks to my heinous class schedule), I'll try to include a brief review of each and every issue, including all of the adventures, the letters column, art, and (when they start having it) the advice for DMs. I won't be reviewing Polyhedron when the two magazines combine. Heck with that. If someone else wants to, I won't stop them.

Hopefully, this thread will be as interesting and informative to people as (un)reason's excellent review thread.

Back in a while,
Jeremy Puckett

[(un)reason]

Good luck, dude. You'll need it. I look forward to seeing how you do (and how well you hold up. )

Edit: One more thing. Be careful with your policy on spoilers. While obviously we should know roughly what each adventure is about, and general quality judgements, be carefull with revealing any twists that might spoil the adventures for players. If people reading this are inspired to dig up their copies and use them, we don't want the players who also frequenting these boards knowing whats going to happen.

[Skiorht]

This should be very interesting. I kept up with Dungeon for the first two dozen or so issues, but dropped out shortly after the 2nd ed. transition when I lost interest in all things D&D for fifteen years. I'm curious to see how TSR's 90's focus on settings was reflected in the magazine.

[hida_jiremi]

Originally Posted by (un)reason

One more thing. Be careful with your policy on spoilers. While obviously we should know roughly what each adventure is about, and general quality judgements, be carefull with revealing any twists that might spoil the adventures for players. If people reading this are inspired to dig up their copies and use them, we don't want the players who also frequenting these boards knowing whats going to happen.

I fully intend to avoid spoilers as much as possible, though I may wind up slipping from time to time if a particularly insipid adventure offends me enough. There are a few of those, especially in the older Dungeons, but hopefully it won't happen too often.


Jeremy Puckett

[olshanski]

I applaud your efforts and I look forward to following this thread.
I have advice for anyone else that may be considering such a move... please do not include a poll.
First: I don't think the poll really accomplishes much of anything when compared with how useful the thread will be as it nears completion. A poll is nice for a short and fluffy thread, but for a thread like this that could be very useful, it really detracts from the overall content.
Second: The poll takes up valuable real-estate on every single page of the thread. If the poll is long and the thread goes on for several pages, this just means a lot of useless scrolling for the readers.

[(un)reason]

Originally Posted by olshanski

I applaud your efforts and I look forward to following this thread.
I have advice for anyone else that may be considering such a move... please do not include a poll.
First: I don't think the poll really accomplishes much of anything when compared with how useful the thread will be as it nears completion. A poll is nice for a short and fluffy thread, but for a thread like this that could be very useful, it really detracts from the overall content.
Second: The poll takes up valuable real-estate on every single page of the thread. If the poll is long and the thread goes on for several pages, this just means a lot of useless scrolling for the readers.

Allow me to explain the reasoning behind my choice to include a poll with my thread. The reasons I included a poll were twofold. Firstly, it was to give me an idea of what people wanted to see most in my reviews, and thus allow me to tune my reviewing correspondingly. Secondly, it was to allow me to know how many discrete people had viewed and developed an active interest in the thread. In a thread like this, there are of course going to be many repeat views, so having an idea how many actual people are reading is handy for posterity. Thirdly... Wait a minute, I'll start again

The reasons I included a poll were threefold. Firstly, it was to give me an idea of what people wanted to see most in my reviews, and thus allow me to tune my reviewing correspondingly. Secondly, it was to allow me to know how many discrete people had viewed and developed an active interest in the thread. In a thread like this, there are of course going to be many repeat views, so having an idea how many actual people are reading is handy for posterity. Thirdly, it helps me set the tone of the thread straight away in a roundabout fashion by controlling the way my options are phrased. Fourthly.... Wait, I'll start again.

The reasons I included a poll were fourfold. Firstly, it was to give me an idea of what people wanted to see most in my reviews, and thus allow me to tune my reviewing correspondingly. Secondly, it was to allow me to know how many discrete people had viewed and developed an active interest in the thread. In a thread like this, there are of course going to be many repeat views, so having an idea how many actual people are reading is handy for posterity. Thirdly, it helps me set the tone of the thread straight away in a roundabout fashion by controlling the way my options are phrased. Fourthly, I just like including polls and gathering statistical data. It pleases me to have solid numbers for opinions, progressions and demographics, as its something I can analyse and interpret in a rigorous fashion. Fifthly..... Wait, I'll start again.

The reasons I included a poll were fivefold. Firstly, it was to give me an idea of what people wanted to see most in my reviews, and thus allow me to tune my reviewing correspondingly. Secondly, it was to allow me to know how many discrete people had viewed and developed an active interest in the thread. In a thread like this, there are of course going to be many repeat views, so having an idea how many actual people are reading is handy for posterity. Thirdly, it helps me set the tone of the thread straight away in a roundabout fashion by controlling the way my options are phrased. Fourthly, I just like including polls and gathering statistical data. It pleases me to have solid numbers for opinions, progressions and demographics, as its something I can analyse and interpret in a rigorous fashion. Fifthly, a multiple choice poll to stephenls is like a red rag to a bull, so I made it like that because I knew he'd click every option just for the fun of it. Its a running gag. Sixthy...... there is no sixthly. Please don't hurt me.

[hida_jiremi]

Well, I'm getting started early, so let's crack this bad lad open and see what's inside.


Dungeon Magazine, Issue 1
No date listed on the cover, 64 pages with a cover price of $3.75. The year is 1986, and at this point the publication is bi-monthly.

Cover Art: A pretty decent (for the era) depiction of an attacking red dragon surrounded by its hoard. This is meant to be Flame, the dragon villain of the adventure "Into the Flames." Art by Keith Parkinson.

Issue Quote: "Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not today." -Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
(Dungeon Magazine traditionally includes a fantasy-themed quote in the table of contents area each issue.)

Notes: The editor for the starting run of Dungeon is Roger E. Moore - not the actor, but rather an alumnus of my college, the University of Kentucky. His editorial discusses his introduction to D&D through a friend named Sheila Wise, a fellow student at UK, including an amusing anecdote about using beans for miniatures. He also talks about the magazine's intention to "offer as broad a spectrum of material as possible." We'll see.

Letters: People suggesting names for the new magazine (including "Wyrm"), and at least one guy complaining that he doesn't want a new magazine since he wants that material to stay in Dragon. One guy ecstatic about the idea. Someone suggests that future issues review the adventures from past issues, to which Moore responds that it would be prohibitive in space and outside their scope.

Interior Art: Black and white art from the AD&D 1E era. Not especially bad examples thereof, but hardly epic fantasy art.


Adventures

"The Dark Tower of Calibar": AD&D, 4-8 characters of 4th-7th level. Ah. yeah, remember that old-school level spread. A reminder of how falling damage is calculated at the beginning of the module, and a reference to the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide having revised falling rules. This adventure was derived from a tournament module, and it shows. The adventure jumps almost immediately into the opening text, without much explanation for the DM about what's going on. Even the section that is for the DM mostly just explains that the encounters are really deadly.
Basic premise is that the city of Stoutwall has had the throne usurped by a wizard named Calibar. The prince escaped through luck, lost almost everything he had through bad luck, and has now returned, old enough to claim the crown. Unfortunately, it's been stolen by a vampire, and the PCs are hired to take it back from the creature... who has taken refuge in Calibar's old, pre-conquest tower.

"Assault on Eddistone Point": AD&D, 3-5 characters of 1st-3rd level. Unlike later issues of Dungeon, adventures aren't in level order throughout the magazine. I'm not actually sure what method they're using to determine what order the adventures are in (if there is one). Advice that a ranger, cleric, and dwarf would be helpful in the level and intro text.
A lot more intro flavor text in this adventure. Background for the region the adventure is set in mostly, including talk about a series of wars that rocked the region until a bunch of druids came in and enforced the peace, starting an organization of rangers to uphold the treaty. Communication in the region is done with signal mirrors, and a magic-user has recently been hired to replace the existing system with continual light spells inside shuttered boxes. The magic-user and her party have now vanished en route, and the local mayor has hired the PCs to find them all. He can't involve the druids or rangers for... certain reasons.

"Grakhirt's Lair": AD&D, 4-8 characters of 1st-3rd level. I didn't recognize the monsters in the splash art for this adventure until I was reading the text. Norkers! The adventure is about freaking norkers! There's also a note in the opening text that the flinds in this adventure have had their alignments modified to be chaotic evil, like their gnoll cousins, rather than their usual alignment.
A small town is having serious problems with raids by norkers (*snigger*). The local militia organized to defend themselves, but they were so outnumbered that the norkers wound up demolishing them and killing a quarter of the town's population. After the battle, everyone was curious how a bunch of normally chaotic creatures could have become so organized. (No joke!) A druidess has come bearing news that the norkers have organized under a powerful and charismatic leader named Grakhirt, and that if he were eliminated, the norkers would most likely scatter to the winds.
I find it kind of interesting that druids play a major part in the backstory of two out of the three adventures I've looked at so far. Is that indicative of the times, I wonder?

"The Elven Home": Basic D&D, 1-4 characters of 1st-3rd level. The adventure starts as the party is traveling off-road through forested hills in the early afternoon. Essentially, this is the first side trek, a short adventure that can be plopped down in the middle of travel to break up the monotony. If I remember correctly, there are going to be a lot of these "adventure happens while on the way to somewhere else" adventures.
Basically, the PCs stumble across a huge tree in the wilderness with a small stream flowing out from its roots and smoke coming from somewhere near it. Gas bubbles up out of the water that gets you high if you breathe it. The smoke is coming out of a hole in the ground that leads to some exploration. Short and kind of pointless, but still nifty.

"Into the Fire": AD&D, 6-10 characters of 6th-10th level. Holy crap, that's a big recommended party! Also, this is the iconic "first adventure from Dungeon Magazine." They keep coming back to it over the years, including two (?) sequel adventures. The intro text says that you can alter names to fit your game, but the adventure assumes a small kingdom with a mountainous western border. Spoilers ahead. (Included to show how convoluted the whole thing is.)
In the backstory, a young prince was sent overseas many years ago, but his ship was ambushed by pirates and the prince was sold into slavery. His silver medallion of office was taken by a red dragon named Flame after the dragon later destroyed the pirates. Fifteen years later, some knights disturb Flame, all get eaten but one, and the survivor steals the silver necklace during his escape. The dragon can't hunt the knight immediately because of a powerful blizzard, figures he'll die in it and the necklace will be okay until the snow dies down.
The knight finds a gnome (!) community and entrusts them with a sacred duty before he dies from his wounds and exposure: return his body and the necklace to a nearby fort. The necklace is returned to the king, who enlists a band of adventurers to discover how it got into the mountains and what threat might be lurking on the kingdom's western border. The knight was delirious by the time of his death and could only tell the gnomes something about "fire and flames," rather than what the problem actually was. The king's instructions also make it pretty clear that he hopes his son is still alive for the party to find. This begins a trek into the wilderness.

"Guardians of the Tomb": AD&D, 2-6 characters of 3rd-5th level. Geez, how many adventures are in this issue anyway? This is another short one that takes place at an abandoned shrine to a god of thieves. It can be dropped into an ongoing game or adventure, possibly as the PCs are traveling to somewhere else. Not really much to this one: small shrine in the middle of a swamp with some stuff in it. Not really inspiring or even that memorable.


Whew. One down, 149 to go!

Jeremy Puckett

[Skiorht]

Originally Posted by hida_jiremi

"The Elven Home": Basic D&D, 1-4 characters of 1st-3rd level. The adventure starts as the party is traveling off-road through forested hills in the early afternoon. Essentially, this is the first side trek, a short adventure that can be plopped down in the middle of travel to break up the monotony. If I remember correctly, there are going to be a lot of these "adventure happens while on the way to somewhere else" adventures.

These short adventures were my favourites back then. Many of the larger scenarios had too much backstory to fit our campaign, but small encounters were really good.

[hida_jiremi]

And another one in quick succession!


Dungeon Magazine, Issue 2
November/December 1986. So the previous issue is probably September/October. Still 64 pages.

Cover Art: A much more complicated piece than the last one. A crew of pirates are looking toward shore at a village built into a mountainside that is currently erupting into a volcano. The female captain has a low-cut blouse, 80s hair, and no pants. Kinda hawt, in a cheesy sort of way. You can definitely tell the era from this one. Art by Clyde Caldwell.

Issue Quote: "Quests may not be simply abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a time, but not forever." -Prince Lir, The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle

Notes: Roger is now the editor for both Dungeon and Dragon Magazines, and Robin Jenkins is assistant editor for both magazines. There were apparently some mistakes in issue 1, which are corrected in the letters column. They're planning on doing more Basic D&D modules by public demand, and are looking for more short, quickly-played adventures.

Letters: A few suggestions on what to name the Letters column; Moore is going to keep it simply "Letters" for now, though (much) later it becomes "Prison Mail." Questions about submissions for adventures, art and maps, including payment. Reminders to send a self-addressed stamped envelope. Addressing concerns about international readership, mentioning that the first issue wasn't available outside of Canada and America.

Errors from Issue 1: Two map labels were left off Dungeon Level 1, page 9 ("Dark Tower of Calibar"). The orcs in areas 30 and 32 have 1 HD; the orcs in area 32 can be on either side of the bridge. In "Grakhirt's Lair," the magical fountain is in room 26 (not room 22), and the mud-men are in room 25 (not room 21). An author's biographical sketch was dropped by accident.


Adventures

"The Titan's Dream": AD&D, 2-8 characters of 5th-9th level. Recommends that characters should be flexible in their problem-solving. They discuss scaling the adventure, since the puzzles are more important than the monsters in this module.
The princess of Greamarie, a small island nation, is to marry the son of the Doge of Falaigrea in order to end hostilities between their two countries. Unfortunately, the doge's son is cruel and arrogant, and the king loves his daughter, making him loathe to consent to the marriage. To solve the problem, the king hire adventurers to consult with a titan named Andromicus, who is supposed to have oracular powers. The party arrives on the titan's island to find him asleep on his throne. Right after they arrive, a grey mist picks up and draws the party to elsewhere. The adventure itself is pretty nonlinear. There are a bunch of "acts" to complete, but they can be done in pretty much any order.

"In the Dwarven King's Court": AD&D, 3-6 characters of 3rd-5th level. The art for this one makes dwarven nobles look pretty much like Saxons. The party is recommended to be friendly toward dwarves and predominantly good-aligned.
The adventure is set in a small dwarven kingdom ruled by married monarchs who have long sought to avoid war in otherwise dangerous times. Another dwarven kingdom neighboring this one has started to become aggressive in attempts to open new markets, but it hasn't turned violent yet. The peaceful monarch proposes a treaty between the two nations, but many don't trust the aggressive nation, since they're comprised mostly of hill dwarves. Racism ahoy! The two have exchanged gifts, including a jeweled sword presented to the peaceful king.
The adventure begins when the sword is stolen the day before the treaty signing. Showing up without it would be a grave insult, so adventurers are needed to investigate and suss out where it's disappeared to. Actually a pretty intriguing, multi-layered investigation adventure with a surprise ending.

"Caermor": AD&D, 4-8 characters of 2nd-4th level. A small farming village named Caermor is situated in some rocky highlands, like Scotland. Some short discussion of local flavor, like the dourness of the natives and its community alignment. Some talk that the inhabitants have dwarven blood, and the natives worship an obscure storm god. The town is in some sort of trouble, but they're too stubborn to ask outsiders for help, and the few adventurers that have already come to Caermor have not returned.
The village's trouble started about seven weeks back, with missing sheep, then dead sheep, then mutilated sheep, then cows and property damage. Four weeks ago, the first human victim was claimed, and now there is a strict sunset curfew in place. The townsfolk blame a wandering artist who moved into town some time back, since his local sweetheart was one of the first human victims, but when they went to accuse him, he was missing.
The adventure doesn't have a hook, as such. It mostly just assumes that the PCs show up in Caermor, figure out that something is wrong in town, and decide to take care of it without being asked. I guess PCs in this era were real busybodies. XD

"The Keep at Koralgesh": Basic D&D, 6-8 characters of 1st-3rd level. Again, kind of a large party recommendation, though this one admits that the adventure is kind of tough and that most of the party be above 1st level. Some commentary on using narration to describe monsters and attacks instead of just the mechanics. Interesting to look back at an era where that was necessary to mention.
The flavor text opens with the story of Koralgesh, a semi-legendary keep built into the side of a mountain on the coasts of the Western Sea. The keep was attacked by a pirate fleet at the height of their most holy festival, slaughtering every inhabitant of the city. When the last citizen had fallen, the mountain erupted in rage and the ensuing volcano swallowed up the keep and the pirates that had killed its people.
The adventure starts in a small town where the local dwarven blacksmith is the son of the royal blacksmith of Koralgesh. He claims to know where the lost keep is, and that it is still filled with amazing treasures. He agrees to tell the PCs where the keep is if they agree to bring him his father's hammer in return. Overall, a pretty standard "some guy knows the location of a great treasure" adventure. Some of the obscure monsters have a pronunciation guide with them, which is neat.

Overall: The adventures in this issue seem a lot more detailed, both in backstory and in terms of encounter complexity. A lot of improvement in just one issue. Or maybe they just refined exactly what it is they wanted, or had a better pool to draw from after their first issue.


Jeremy Puckett

[brianm]

The large parties may be due to some folks using the hirelings and henchmen rules for D&D and AD&D. We didn't use them much in my groups, but I've since learned that some groups never went anywhere without a team of henchmen in tow.

- Brian