I'm feeling maudlin today, and I thought about the old Dragon magazine for some reason.
Actually, I know the reason. I'm gearing up to reorganize my basement, a portion of which is my office. I keep all my books, including my gaming stuff, down there. And I have a goodly number of old Dragon magazine issues sitting on the shelves. I've been looking forward to picking up some of those old issues and rereading them, specifically in order to mine potential campaign ideas from them. And the thought of me going back to old Dragon issues and making them useful again, so many years after their publication, is very thrilling to me.
I know the magazine still exists, technically. And it makes me feel good to know the torch is still alight. But it's now focused on 4th Edition, and I don't have any interest in 4th Edition. I know that many will say that even 4th Edition materials could be "converted" for use in other editions, and that's a valid point. But I guess I'm also not interested in the new Dragon magazine because it just isn't the same Dragon that I once loved. And of course that's all just rooted in personal bias and nostalgia.
When it was announced in 2007 that Dungeon and Dragon magazines would no longer be published as print magazines, I was very upset, even though I hadn't bought an issue in many years. I made sure to pick up a copy of the final Dragon issue.
So, let me ask you: Do you have fond memories of Dragon (or even Dungeon) magazine that you want to share? And do you have a favorite issue (or issues) that you remember fondly?
P.S. I never really got into Dungeon magazine. Nor was I a big believer in modules. I always saw it as my duty as DM/GM to create my own stories. I think I'll explore this in a future post...
P.P.S. In digging around for old Dragon cover images, I found this great post at a blog called The RPG Corner. Enjoy!
I loved that cover, it was one of my favourites.
ReplyDeleteAnd like you, I do have access to back issues, so it's not really gone for me.
Yeah, I have that issue at home, and it was pretty much my favorite (sorry, being a Yank, I left out the "u"...forgive my barbarism ;-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though...not to sound like a little girl, but sometimes it's tough reading the old Dragons...not only because the old girl is gone forever. But also because I start getting sappy, mourning my "lost" youth, counting regrets, cursing myself for having spent so much time not gaming, etc. I have to work on curbing my self pity reflex.
*sniff* I need a moment...
Correction to my comment above: I USED to have issue #126, but apparantly it got lost somewhere along my life's travels. I went through my entire Dragon collection last night and, alas, the issue was not there. The suck of it all...
ReplyDelete