Here is the body of a letter I just sent to scalemail:
Dear Sirs and Madams invovled in the wonderful publication known as Dragon,
I picked up issue 348 last week and have to say I am much pleased.
In a previous letter of mine, which was printed in issue 345 (I've gotta say it was thrill to see my name in print in Dragon), I said that I always look forward to the April/ April Fool's issue and the October/ Halloween issue of Dragon.
Here's what I like: it was a good issue of Dragon (lots of useful, nifty gaming content) and at the same time a good Halloween issue of Dragon (lots of scary, useful, nifty gaming content).
In the past, I wondered when Core Beliefs would start bringing on the bad guys. "Core Beliefs: Vecna" was an excellent start to what I hope is a continuing trend: fleshing out the bad guy groups in detail as rich as they deserve. I loved it.
"Bestowed Curses" was a nifty little goody. The existing effects in the rulebooks for curses feel more than a little dry. This added some much needed flavor.
"Bloodlines" was nice. No DM has enough monsters, and three new vampire templates are a welcome addition.
As for "Horrors of the Daelkyr", I don't really know much about Eberron, so much of the specific details of the flavor was lost on me, but I have to say: What DM can't use six new ugly monsters?
"Ecology of the Wight" was another excellent entry in the new Ecology Of series, but if you're going to mention the real world history of the Wight and The Saga of Grettir the Strong, then perhaps you might mention the article in issue #210 or #198 (I can't remember off the top of my head) that contained D&D stats for that sort of wight.
One thing I miss from the old days is the just about annual inclusion of a Call of Cthulhu article in October. I remember particularly the ones in #s 198, 210, and 222, mostly because they were from around when I started reading Dragon regularly.
Thanks for your time,
JustiN Taylor of Walker, MI
(The N at the end of JustiN is intentional; if you run this letter, please pay attention to that)
Why am I putting it up here already?
There's one issue that I'd like to expand on a bit.
I think most letters regardin 348 will be rather like mine praising the creators involved for sticking to the traditional October Horror and Undead theme pretty much throughout. Why aren't more people disappointed when the April issue is light on the Humor theme?
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Because the theme of horror is directly relevant to and useful in 95% of D&D games. Comedy is a lot harder to pull off, both in the magainze and in the game. I will actually use stat blocks for the creatures printed in the halloween issue; I won't be putting jello monsters or red bellied pun people that receive face time in April in my game anytime soon.
It's apples and oranges. If we're going to do April Fool's, how about Christmas? We could have stats for Santa's elves, a write up of his sleigh, and maybe a magic spell allowing travel through chimmney's.
Halloween is about monsters and things that go bump in the night. So is D&D. That overlap is worth exploring. The overlap between D&D and every other holiday known to (American) man, is not.
Because the theme of horror is directly relevant to and useful in 95% of D&D games. Comedy is a lot harder to pull off, both in the magainze and in the game. I will actually use stat blocks for the creatures printed in the halloween issue; I won't be putting jello monsters or red bellied pun people that receive face time in April in my game anytime soon.
I have run a game that did include Jello monsters, Death Sheep, and Killer Spruce trees. It was satyisfying to all participants. I recommend that you try it sometime.
It's apples and oranges. If we're going to do April Fool's, how about Christmas? We could have stats for Santa's elves, a write up of his sleigh, and maybe a magic spell allowing travel through chimmney's.
That would be awesome. You have inpired me. I'm going to start work on this now.
Halloween is about monsters and things that go bump in the night. So is D&D. That overlap is worth exploring. The overlap between D&D and every other holiday known to (American) man, is not.
I have to admit that Flag Day, Arbor Day, and Sweetest Day issues of Dragon do sound rather bland or wrong, but D&D is a game. Games are about fun. Nothing says fun like Death Sheep.
Anyways it isn't every holiday. It has been tradition since before the ten or more years that I have been following Dragon pretty regularly to make April the funny issue of Dragon and October the scary issue of Dragon. I think it's wrong to ignore or tone down this tradition. If it's good to have an October issue that's got at least four scary articles, why on all the infinite planes would it be good to have an April issue with exactly one funny article?
Now that the letter in the first post has actually run in Scalemail does anyone have any new/old comments?
Oh and thanks for running my letter. It's a real thrill.
Now that a new April issue has come out it is time for the thread necromancer to hit this thread.
I've been away from home for a while and haven't seen my subscription copy that is doubtless awaiting my return, but I did stop at a major bookstore and give the issue a thorough look-through.
My feeling is that it looks like an excellent over-all issue of Dragon that is a lousy April issue. It doesn't even have one humor piece; at least last year we had The Ecology of the Adventurer.
Which, apparently, a lot of people are taking more seriously thanks to that issue! :D
Was that the April Fool's joke hidden in there? The fact that an extraplanar race that exemplifies Law, torn evenly between those who loved and those who hated them and saw them as a "joke", is now seen in a more serious light?
You guys are really creative if that was the intent.
That depends greatly on how you feel about modrons...
They're okay. A lot less fun than Slaad, and not inherently silly as Death Sheep and Killer Spruce Trees are.
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Contributor
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Was that the April Fool's joke hidden in there? The fact that an extraplanar race that exemplifies Law, torn evenly between those who loved and those who hated them and saw them as a "joke", is now seen in a more serious light?
You guys are really creative if that was the intent.
Yeah, more or less that's what we were going for. The cover is probably the most humorous part of the issue, really.
They're okay. A lot less fun than Slaad, and not inherently silly as Death Sheep and Killer Spruce Trees are.Which is why you'll never see those latter two creations in an April issue of Dragon for as long as Erik is in charge. ;D
How long's he gonna be in charge given recent announcements regarding Dragon's tranition to a new incarnation (ie. death)?
After having read this April issue of Dragon thorouhly, I liked it, but found it as disappointing in terms of humor as I had previously stated.
It's apples and oranges. If we're going to do April Fool's, how about Christmas? We could have stats for Santa's elves, a write up of his sleigh, and maybe a magic spell allowing travel through chimmney's.
That would be awesome. You have inpired me. I'm going to start work on this now.
Wizards of the Coast actually has stats for santa and his elves somewhere on thier site.