I've been running C&C and I have nabbed a Dragon now and then.  I was wondering what everyone here thinks of Dragon.

I like it in general, but rarely is there an issue that (based on the cover) gives me something I need.  I find d20 too complex for my tastes, so I don't get anything out of Sage Advice or Scale Mail.

I haven't really been a fan of Dragon Magazine since the Princess Ark series ended. Back in the 80s and very early 90s Dragon was really cool. Today, it strikes me as being relatively useless.

I never cared much for any of the other gaming magazines either; except Dungeon when they had the Polyhedron mini-games built in.

RPGPundit

I agree with Pundit. Every gamer should have as many of the first 200 issues or so as possible. Sadly, I only own about 1/3rd of them in paper form.

Fortunately, there's a compliation CD of issues 1-250 in PDF form. It can be acquired online.

It's pricy as hell in CD-ROM format, though, so use your own personal judgement as to whether I neccessarily meant "bought" when I said "acquired."

The CD-ROM compilation is pure gold.  I can't recommend it highly enough to any serious D&D player or general rpg'er.

I read a few issues back in the early-mid 90s and I never ran into anything that set my preteen brain afire.  Any examples of must-read stuff in those issues?

I remember Roger Moore being quite cool when he was editing it but the change in editor co-incided with my own decreasing interest in Dragon.  The guy who replaced Moore write a first editorial of such misguided arrogance (along the lines of how D&D is the best game in the world so there's no point in covering any other game) that it made me feel completely unwelcome and I never bought or looked at another copy.

I stopped buying it around issue #60 or #70. I bought them every month for a couple of years, and used regularly to put stuff from it in my game. I don't know what happened to them... I think a bloke in Perth might have them.

Oh, man, I loves me some old Dragon magazines.

I don't know the issue numbers off-hand, but there were articles about Traveller nobility, designing, building, populating and managing a castle, unusual and non-combat magical items, tips for one-on-one scenarios, reviews...in short, it was evertything that the new Dragon isn't.

The Dragon CD Rom Archive is awesome if you play any fantasy game. Even has some good stuff for non-fantasy games in the earlier run.

The current run is principally useful if you are interested in the current D&D rules and/or metasetting.

I've got a few copies from that last ten years or so, but nothing from the old runs...does anyone have a link to that CD?

I've noticed that there is some gold in Dragon lately, but I don't know if what's in there is worth the price of admission.  I'm not all that interested in the d20 stuff, as my fantasy game of choice is C&C.

How's Dungeon lately?  I've only ever picked up one copy and I thought it was okay, it had some cool maps in it, but I'd never run the adventures.  Is it worth an occasional pickup?

Quote from: joewolzI've got a few copies from that last ten years or so, but nothing from the old runs...does anyone have a link to that CD?

Being long out of print, you'll have to hunt ebay or other aftermarket retailers. For a while, you could still find them on bookshelves of Waldens (now Borders Express), etc., but I think the lingering remnants of it in the supply chain have dried up.

QuoteHow's Dungeon lately?  I've only ever picked up one copy and I thought it was okay, it had some cool maps in it, but I'd never run the adventures.  Is it worth an occasional pickup?

I probably not the right person to answer this question, as I tend to brew my own, and mainly get dungeon to plunder maps and stats.

Quote from: Caesar SlaadI probably not the right person to answer this question, as I tend to brew my own, and mainly get dungeon to plunder maps and stats.

That being said, Dungeon is a very useful magazine for just that. There are some adventures in there good enough to run out of the box too IMHO.

I'll get Dragon if it has a cool article on Eberron or FR, other than that I get much more mileage out of Dungeon which I buy regularly.

Dragon and Dungeon are both in a new Golden Age. That's ironic for me, since I don't have a group to game with at the moment. Dungeon is the more consistently cool of the two, but Dragon has seen a big jump in coolness over the past couple of years.

Dragon has some really interesting articles of late, particularly "The Demonomicon of Iggwilv." This series of articles details various demon lords, revealing their home planes, their powers, their followers and minions, and general role in the multiverse. Another good series is the one which is detailing the gods and religions of D&D. The down side of Dragon is that it deals exclusively with D&D itself. At the least, it'd be good to see articles for other genres covered by d20.

Dungeon is also in a Golden Age. Yes, the adventures are all for D&D. But those adventures are some of the best out there. Plus, I dig the articles that give the DM tips, tricks, and NPCs to plug into their game.

I loved Dragon and Dungeon. I am sad they are gone. sniff.