blarg chicka honk honk'''''Dragon''''' is one of the two official magazines for source material for the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' [[role-playing game]] and associated products. [[TSR, Inc.]] originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, ''[[The Strategic Review]]''. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007.<ref name="cease">{{cite web| url = http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/news/20070419a| title = Paizo Publishing to Cease Publication of DRAGON and DUNGEON| accessdate = 2009-03-23| date = 2007-04-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://paizo.com/transition| title = Dragon and Dungeon Transition| accessdate = 2009-03-23| date = 2007-04-20 }}</ref> Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August, 2007, [[Wizards of the Coast]] (part of [[Hasbro, Inc.]]), the publication's current intellectual property rightsholder, re-launched ''Dragon'' as an online Magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. ==History==In 1975, [[TSR, Inc.]] began publishing ''The Strategic Review''. At the time, roleplaying games were still seen as a sub-genre of the [[WIkipedia:Wargaming|wargaming]] industry, and the magazine was designed not only to support ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and TSR's other games, but also to cover wargaming in general. In short order, however, the popularity and growth of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' made it clear that the game had not only separated itself from its wargaming origins, but had launched an entirely new industry unto itself. TSR cancelled ''The Strategic Review'' after only seven issues the following year, and replaced it with two magazines, ''Little Wars'', which covered [[Wikipedia:Miniature wargaming|miniature wargaming]], and ''The Dragon'', which covered role playing games. After 13 issues, ''Little Wars'' ceased publication and its content was folded into ''The Dragon'' (starting with issue 24)<ref>This according to editorials in issues 22 and 24 of The Dragon.</ref>. ''The Dragon'' later changed its name to ''Dragon Magazine'' and finally simply ''Dragon''. ''Dragon'' was the launching point for a number of rules, spells, monsters, magic items, and other ideas that were incorporated into later official products of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. A prime example is the [[Forgotten Realms]] campaign setting, which first became known through a series of Dragon articles in the 1980s by its creator [[Ed Greenwood]]. It subsequently went on to become one of the primary campaign 'worlds' for official ''Dungeons and Dragons'' products, starting in 1987. [[Wizards of the Coast]] purchased TSR and its intellectual properties, including ''Dragon'' in 1997. Production was then transferred from Wisconsin to Washington state. In 1999, Wizards of the Coast was itself purchased by [[Hasbro, Inc.]] In 1999 a compilation of the first 250 issues was released in [[Wikipedia:Portable Document Format|PDF]] format with a special viewer including an article and keyword search in CD-ROM format. Also included were the 7 issues of ''The Strategic Review''. This compilation is known as the software title [[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_related_products#Software|''Dragon Magazine Archive'']]. Because of a conflict regarding the reprint rights for the ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' comic strips printed in Dragon for many years, the ''Dragon Magazine Archive'' is out of print and very hard to find. In 2002, [[Paizo Publishing]] acquired the rights to publish both ''Dragon'' and ''Dungeon'' under license from Wizards of the Coast. It tied ''Dragon'' more closely to ''Dungeon'' by including articles supporting and promoting its major multi-issue adventures such as the ''[[Age of Worms]]'' and ''[[Savage Tide]]''. ''Class Acts'', monthly one or two-page articles offering ideas for developing specific character classes, were also introduced by Paizo. On April 18, 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would not be renewing Paizo's licenses for ''Dragon'' and ''Dungeon''. Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' at Wizards of the Coast stated, "Today the internet is where people go to get this kind of information. By moving to an online model we are using a delivery system that broadens our reach to fans around the world." <ref name="cease"/> Paizo published the last print editions of ''Dragon'' and ''Dungeon'' magazines for September 2007. In August 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced their plans for the 4th edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game. Part of this announcement was the "D&D Insider" subscriber content on their [[Gleemax]] site that would include the new, online versions of both ''Dungeon'' and ''Dragon'' magazines along with tools for building campaigns, managing character sheets and other features.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.enworld.org/index.php?page=4e | title=Unofficial 4th Edition News Page | author=MerricB | date=2007-08-16 | publisher=[[EN World]]}} said, ''D&D Insider ... contains a "Dungeon Master's Kit" ... "Character Generator" ... [and] "Dungeon & Dragon Magazines". ... dndinsider.com, which is due to go live soon ... I saw examples of the Dragon and Dungeon pages ... The intention is to provide subscriber services.''</ref> ==Content== Although ''Dragon'' provided coverage of fantasy and roleplaying games in general, it became primarily a house organ for role-playing games produced by TSR (or more recently [[Wizards of the Coast]]), with a particular focus on ''D&D''. Its coverage of games created by other companies is often peripheral. Most of the magazine's articles provided supplementary material for ''D&D'' including new [[prestige class]]es, [[race]]s, [[monster]]s and many other subjects that could be used to enhance a ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. A popular long-running column ''Sage Advice'' offered official answers to ''Dungeons & Dragons'' questions submitted by players. Other articles provided tips and suggestions for both players and Dungeon Masters (DMs). It sometimes discussed ''meta-gaming'' issues, such as getting along with fellow players. At the end of its print run, the magazine also featured four comics; [[Nodwick]], [[Dork Tower]], Zogonia and [[The Order of the Stick]]. Previous popular gamer-oriented comic strips include [[Knights of the Dinner Table]], ''[[Fineous Fingers]]'', ''[[What's New with Phil & Dixie]]'', ''[[David A. Trampier|Wormy]]'', ''[[Yamara]]'' and ''[[SnarfQuest]]''. Many of the gaming world's most famous writers, game designers and artists have published work in the magazine. Through most of its run the magazine frequently published fantasy fiction, either short stories or novel excerpts. After the 1990s, the appearance of fiction stories became relatively rare. One late example was issue #305's featured excerpt from [[George R.R. Martin|George R.R. Martin's]] later [[Wikipedia:Hugo Award|Hugo-nominated]] novel ''[[A Feast for Crows]]''. A regular feature of ''Dragon'' for many years was its "Ecology of ..." articles as discussed by the fictional sage Elminster, in which a particular D&D monster received an in-depth review, explaining how it found food, reproduced, and so forth. Under Paizo's tenure such ecology articles became heavier in "crunch" (game mechanics) as opposed to "fluff" (narrative and description) than previously. <ref>http://paizo.com/writersguidelines/dragon_writers_guidelines.pdf - The ''Dragon'' Submissions Guidelines explicitly stated that Ecology articles "should have a hunter’s guidebook approach, although it should not be written 'in voice'" and further call out the exact format of Ecology articles, leaving less room for artistic license by the author.</ref> In the early 1980s, almost every issue of ''Dragon'' would contain a role playing adventure, a simple board game, or some kind of special game supplement (such as a cardboard cut-out castle). For example, [[Tom Wham]]'s ''[[Snit's Revenge]]'', ''[[The Awful Green Things From Outer Space]]'' and ''[[File 13]]''. These bonus features become infrequent after the 1986 launch of ''[[Dungeon (magazine)|Dungeon]]'' magazine, which published several new ''Dungeons & Dragons'' adventures in each issue. During the 1980s, after TSR had purchased [[Simulations Publications Inc.]], the magazine had a subsection called ''[[Ares Magazine]]'', based on SPI's magazine of that name, specializing in science fiction and superhero role playing games, with pages marked by a gray border. The content included write-ups for various characters of the [[Wikipedia:Marvel Universe|Marvel Universe]] for TSR's ''[[Wikipedia:Marvel Super-Heroes (RPG)|Marvel Super-Heroes]]''. == Editors == * [[Tim Kask|Timothy J. Kask]] - Editor of issues #1 - #34* [[Jake Jaquet]] - Editor of issues #35 - #48* [[Kim Mohan]] - Editor-in-Chief of issues #49 - #114; #199 - #217* [[Roger E. Moore]] - Editor of issues #115 - #198* [[Wolfgang Baur]] - Editor of issues #218 - #221* [[Pierce B. Watters]] - Editor-in-Chief of issues #222 - #238* [[Anthony J. Bryant]] - Editor of issues #222 - #229* [[Dave Gross]] - Editor of issues #230 - #273; Editor-in-Chief of issues #274 - #287* [[Jesse Decker]] - Editor-in-Chief of issues #288 - #311* [[Chris Thomasson]] - Editor-in-Chief of issues #312 - #315* [[Matthew Sernett]] - Editor-in-Chief of issues #316 - #326* [[Erik Mona]] - Editor-in-Chief of issues #327 - #359 == Awards ==*'''1986:''' [[Wikipedia:Origins Award|Origins Award]] for ''Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine of 1985''*'''1990:''' Origins Award for ''Best Professional Adventure Gaming Magazine of 1989''*'''1994:''' Origins Award for ''Best Professional Gaming Magazine of 1993''*'''1995:''' Origins Awards for ''Best Professional Gaming Magazine of 1994'', ''Origins Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame''*'''2004:''' Origins Award for ''Best Game Related Periodical 2003''*'''2007:''' Origins Award for ''Best Non-Fiction Publication of the Year 2006'' == Notes =={{reflist}} == External links ==* [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dragon New Dragon Magazine Home at Wizards of the Coast]* [http://paizo.com/dragon Dragon Magazine homepage]* [http://home.earthlink.net/~dmindex/index.html Tholos] - cross-referenced database of ''Dragon'' articles* [http://www.aeolia.net/dragondex/ DragonDex] - a complete, exhaustive, and up-to-date index to the contents of Dragon magazine. {{Wikipedia|Dragon (magazine)}} [[Category:Dragon Magazine]]
