Of course, theres more to our Doom and Gloom issue than just the tarrasque. Do they self lessly protect innocent lives, or simply try to save their own? What are they willing to risk in order to stop the apocalypse that the tarrasque represents?
It presents heroes with a genuine conundrum. In the end, maybe thats what I like best about the tarrasque. And even if they do manage a victory over the creature, it merely slips back into a long slumber, from which it will even-tually rise and begin rampaging again. When the tarrasque shows up, the best the PCs can do is redirect its rage so that it doesnt f latten innocent towns and villages. With the Big G, its Mother Earth wounded by nuclear weapons, while the tarrasque is quite literally the personification of the primordials rage at having been pushed aside by the gods. However, both are more than mere gigantic beaststhey each represent the unbridled fury of an aggrieved primal force of nature. Sure, theyre both titanic liz-ards that, while similar to dinosaurs, clearly stand apart and above that classification. And the similarities are more than just superficial.
#DRAGON MAGAZINE MOVIE#
In many ways, the tarrasque is like my favorite movie monster, Toho Studios venerable King of the Monsters, Godzilla. Everyone else in the surrounding countryside tries to survive. Theres pretty much just one tarrasque adventure plot, and it goes something like this: The tarrasque wakes up and starts smashing everything within reach. and to set the right tone, weve included a pair of articles about one of my favorite D&D monsters of all timethe tarrasque! In honor of the close of the Mayan long-count calendar, and the mystic apocalypse that some claim this event augurs, weve made this months theme Doom and Gloom. Here is it, the end of the yearplus, if you believe the doomsayers, the end of the world. Visit a town in dire need of adventurers.Ģ9 WONDROUS WEAVINGSBy Jennifer Clarke Wilkesĭeck the halls with the finest tapestries. Meet the new and improved tarrasque and its twisted cult following.īehold four monsters plucked from the Palace of the Silver Princess, the halls of Castle Amber, and other classic dungeons. Learn the secrets of this primordial, party-eating monstrosity. But it's all the pioneering work in 50-120 that I remember most fondly, and keep going back to.ON THE COVER: Craig J Spearing rocks your world with his awesome illustration of the terrible tarrasque. I'll give a shout-out to the Silver Age as well (the Paizo era), which was also very good. We saw the formation of the Forgotten Realms in Dragon articles, the release of experimental new material from GG himself (like the Barbarian), the creation of the demihuman pantheons, high quality comics like Wormy, Snarfquest and What's New with Phil and Dixie, adventure modules (before Dungeon appeared on the scene). They were released during the height of D&D's popularity, and helped form much of its background lore. To my mind, issues 50-120 were the Golden Age of Dragon Magazine.
#DRAGON MAGAZINE PLUS#
#63 - First issue I bought, plus the final (and in my mind, best) of the articles that defined the common D&D races (kobolds, goblins, gnolls), new gods/monsters/NPCs, and one of the best modules ever released in Dragon ( Chagmat).
#100 - Anniversary issue with the "embossed" dragon cover, rules for DragonChess, new Gary Gygax fiction, and the classic " Beyond the Gate / D&D meets Modern World" module.
Honorable mentions to the following issues: #75 - First part of Ed Greenwood's iconic take on the Nine Hells (still influencing every description of this plane and its politics even after 20 years), a very good module ( Can Seapoint be Saved), and the first installment of the classic Snarfquest comic.