I discovered that old issues of the Dragon magazine are available free for download. When reading about old versions of Dungeons and Dragons there are often references to the Dragon Magazine.
I entertained myself browsing through the first 100 140 issues (June 1976 to August 1985) and took notes of articles I find can be of value today.
- OD&D is mostly covered up to #25
- After #25 most things refer to AD&D 1e (which for most practical purposes is quite compatible with OSR clones and Classic D&D)
- There is virtually no content to be found specifically written for Classic D&D
- There is a separate Dungeon magazine which also is downloadable for free, and which almost only contains D&D modules (adventures), so I have only noted a few such modules from Dragon magazine.
This is a list of articles I found in Dragon #1 – #130 that I found particularly relevant in 2020.
You are most welcome to give feedback on my list!
About D&D
| # | pages | Title or type of article | |
| 7 | 7 | Gary Gagax on D&D | *** |
| 8 | 23 | On Realism (Joke) | *** |
| 16 | 15-16,21 | Gary Gagax on Realism, Game Logic and more | **** |
| 16 | 36 | Game Balance | *** |
| 24 | 17-19 | Gary Gagax on Melee in D&D | **** |
| 26 | 28- | Gary Gagax on OD&D and AD&D | **** |
| 28 | Gary Gagax on OD&D and AD&D | **** | |
| 35 | 12-13 | TSR plans D&D and AD&D | **** |
| 39 | 16-18 | Women want equality | *** |
| 52 | 14-15 | On Classic D&D by Holmes/Moldvay | **** |
| 76 | 45-52 | Index of previous Dragon Magazine | |
| 77 | 26-29 | On Classic D&D by Mentzer | **** |
| 84 | 38-44 | On Companion D&D by Mentzer | **** |
| 95 | 12-13 | The influence of JRR Tolkien on D&D and AD&D | *** |
| 102 | 8-10 | Realms of role playing | *** |
| 103 | 8-10 | What the 2nd Edition will be like by Gary Gagax | |
| 103 | 56 | Profile: Gary Gagax (never sleeps) | *** |
| 107 | 63 | Profile: Elmore | |
| 112 | 41-64 | Index of previous Dragon Magazine | |
| 122 | 40 | Gary Gagax “Farewell” | ** |
Creatures (new AD&D 1e)
Creatures for AD&D 1e can probably be used with little effort in OSR gaming.
| # | pages | Title or type of article | |
| 27 | The Horast | ||
| 30 | 43 | Crust | |
| 32 | 39 | Crawling Claw | |
| 33 | 56 | Frost | |
| 35 | 18-19,42-43 | Angels | |
| 36 | Krolli | ||
| 37 | 6- | Neutral Dragons | |
| 38 | 10- | Dragons | |
| 42 | 7-15 | Demons, Devils, Spirits | |
| 42 | 44 | Necroton and more | |
| 44 | 88- | Ice, various creatures | |
| 45 | 66- | Dust Devil, Sand Lizard | |
| 48 | 10 | Sea, various creatures | |
| 51 | 66 | Piranha Bat | |
| 52 | 48-49 | Rhaumbusun (Crocodile-basilisk) | |
| 54 | 30 | Jabberwock | |
| 55 | 59 60 61 62 | Devil Spider Surchurr Dyll Poltergeist | *** ** ** **** |
| 61 | 48-49 | Umbreas and more | |
| 62 | 6-11 | Dragons (faerie and more) | |
| 65 | 28-30 | Dragons (yellow, orange, purple) | |
| 66 | 20-21 | Oriental (different spirits) | |
| 66 | 56-57 | Vultures, Hawk, Skeleton animals | |
| 74 | 12-15 | Landragons (non flying dragons) | |
| 90 | 20-23 | Bats, 6 types | **** |
| 91 | 8 | Goristro Demon | |
| 94 | 44-54 | Creature Catalogue II | |
| 95 | 38-39 | The many shapes of Apes | *** |
| 101 | 40-55 | Creature Catalogue III | ** |
| 102 | 20-28 | A collection of Canines (dogs) | |
| 110 | 8-14 | Dracolich | |
| 115 | 42-45 | Snakes | |
| 116 | 38-44 | Sea Creatures | |
| 118 | 64-67 | Spiders | |
| 119 | 46-53 | Creatures of the Woods | |
| 124 | 34-37 | Aaracockra | |
| 134 | 7-14 | Dragons | |
| 137 | 42-49 | Prehistorical animals | |
| 138 | 22-35 | The ungrateful dead | |
| 139 | 70-74 | Rare beasts of Forgotten Realms |
Creature Lore
| # | pages | Title or article type | |
| 14 | 14- | Interview with a Rust Monster | |
| 25 | 31-33 | Interview with an Iron Golem | |
| 25 | 42 | Vampires, Variety of | ** |
| 26 | 36 | Lich, Blueprint of | **** |
| 50 | 7-12 | Dragons: Fighting strategies | |
| 71 | 15-18 | Mind of the monsters | |
| 76 | 6-8 | On Beholders | |
| 78 | 66-68 | Ecology of Mind Flayers | |
| 80 | 6-8 | Psycology of Dopplegangers | |
| 81 | 27-28 | Ecology of a Basilisk | |
| 87 | 18-20 | Ecology of a Dryad | |
| 88 | 22-24 | Ecology of a Rust Monster | |
| 92 | 29-31 | Ecology of Ettins | *** |
| 94 | 24-26 | Ecology of Chimera | ** |
| 95 | 22-26 | Ecology of a Cockatrice | **** |
| 97 | 25-27 | Ecology of a Gorgon | |
| 99 | 19-20 | Ecology of Will-i-wisp | ** |
| 103 105 | 35-46 24 | The Centaur Papers | |
| 104 | 33-36 | Ecology of the Ochre Jelly | |
| 106 | 16-17 | Ecology of the Maedar | |
| 109 | 32-34 | Ecology of a Displacer beast | |
| 115 | 50-54 | Ecology of a Harpy | **** |
| 116 | 32-35 | Ecology of a Minataur | |
| 117 | 33-36 | Ecology of an Anhkheg | |
| 119 | 42-44 | Ecology of the Korred | |
| 124 | 56-57 | Ecology of a Gelatinous Cube | |
| 125 | 10-12 | Ecology of the Greenhag | |
| 126 | 29-34 | Undeads | |
| 126 | 41-43 | The ecology of the Shade | |
| 129 | 21-23 | Drow | |
| 131 | 36-39 | Ecology of the Aboleth + Stats | |
| 131 | 42-46 | Ecology of Hook Horror + Stats | |
| 134 | 17-22 24-26 28-30 33-36 | Give Dragons a Fighting Chance Serpents (Dragons) and Sorcery Dragotha (a Dracolich) Ecology of the Red Dragon | |
| 136 | 54-56 | The Golems Craft | |
| 137 | 27-32 | Ecology of carnivorous plants | |
| 139 | 42-43 86-89 | Golems (hiding) Ecology of spectator (+stats) |
Greyhawk
| # | pages | Title or article type | |
| 52 | 18-24 | Birthplaces in Greyhawk | |
| 56 57 | 18- 13- | Countries | |
| 63 | 14-17 | Sea Barons and more countries | |
| 86 87 88 89 90 | 30-34 23-27 8-11 20-24 24-28 | Gods of the Seul Pantheon |
Knowledge
These articles are mostly not about rules but other useful knowledge.
| # | pages | Title or Type of article | |
| 20 | 32- | Demonic Possession | |
| 22 | 50-54 | Pole Arms | |
| 25 | 12-13 | Social classes in D&D | |
| 31 | 28-29 | Books are books, Games are Games | **** |
| 32 | 21- | Celts | |
| 39 | 26-27 | Bows | ***** |
| 45 | 41-43 | History of Dwarves | |
| 45 | 49-51 | Castles | *** (historical) |
| 50 | 13- | Raising a Dragon | |
| 52 | 6-13 | Clerics | |
| 58 | 55-59 | Swords | *** Quality of swords? |
| 59 | 16-20 | Gypsies | ** Special “class” rules of limited use. |
| 59 | 49-55 | Halflings | |
| 60 | 6-14 | Elves | |
| 61 | 28-33 | Gnomes | |
| 63 | 25-31 | Humanoids (and their Deities) | |
| 63 | 51-54 | Plan before you play | |
| 63 | 67-71 | Coins | *** (historical) |
| 65 | 47-53 | Celtic mythology | |
| 65 | 56-62 | Law | *** |
| 65 | 63-65 | War | ** |
| 68 | 18-22 | Ice Age Adventureing | |
| 69 | 7-15 | Runes | |
| 72 | 24-29 | Barbarians | ***** |
| 75 76 | 8-33 23-44 | Hell and Devils | |
| 75 | 54-57 | Orcish language | |
| 80 | 14-16 | Five things to DMing Success | **** |
| 80 | 22-28 | Castles | |
| 85 | 12-14 15-17 | Clerics: Special Skills & Thrills Dragon Magazine #85 Clerics must be deity-bound | **** ** |
| 90 | 30-33 | Political Game | |
| 90 | 36-60 | Gladsheim / Norse Mythology + Module | **** |
| 91 | 18-34 | The Nine Hells Revisited | |
| 92 | 6-10 | Clerics – missions and playing | |
| 93 | 12-17 | World Building | |
| 93 | 24-30 | How to pronounce monster names | |
| 94 | 10-16 | Large Scale Logistics | |
| 94 | 41-42 | The Knights of Solamnia (Dragonlance) | |
| 97 | 8- | Deities and their faithful | |
| 98 | 6-10 | Dragon Hoards | |
| 98 | 11-13 | Dragon Teeth | |
| 98 | 15-16 | Dragons of Dragonlance | **** |
| 98 | 22-24 | Detailing a fantasy world | |
| 98 | 28-32 | Knowing whats in Store | ***** |
| 99 | 8-10 | The neutral point of view (between good and evil) | |
| 105 | 36-42,55 | Parallel gaming worlds | |
| 106 | 8-12 | The laws of Magic | * |
| 107 | 16-21 | The six abilities | |
| 107 | 22-25 | Increasing ability scores | |
| 108 | 12-20 | The Role of Nature | |
| 109 | 28-30 | A dwarf’s beard is more than hair | |
| 111 | 22-26 | Out-of-control campaigns | |
| 113 | 10-26 | Welcome to Hades | |
| 115 | 9-36 | Thieves | |
| 115 | 38-40 | Clerics: Weapons of choice | ** |
| 116 | 28-30 | Aquatic Elves | |
| 117 | 16-17 | Feuds and Feudalism | |
| 117 | 40-42 | Fun without Fighting | |
| 117 | 43-45 | Henchmen, Hirelings & Followers | |
| 118 | 8-14,18-20 | Gladitorial Combat | |
| 119 | 10-29 | Druids (several articles) | |
| 122 | 44-45 | DMs ten commandments | *** |
| 123 | 16-30 | The Mystic’s College | |
| 125 | 14-16 | Woodlands of the Realms (trees) | |
| 125 | 18-19 | Code of Chivalry | |
| 125 | 42-45 | Glory, Danger and Wounds | |
| 126 | 15-24 | Vampires | |
| 128 | 8-14 | Welcome to Waterdeep | |
| 130 | 70-78 | If looks could kill | |
| 132 | 28-32 | Trap Design | |
| 133 | 27-33 | Roman Pantheon + stats | |
| 135 | 18-19 | Usages of Rope | |
| 135 | 26-29 | When Game Masters go Bad | ***** |
| 136 | 18-20 | The long arm of the law | |
| 136 | 28-32 | Inns (with price lists) | |
| 136 | 34-38 | Fifty ways to foil your players | |
| 137 | 55-58 | Festivals | |
| 138 | 44-49 | Plague | |
| 139 | 36-40 | Speaking with Spirits |
Magic Items
| # | pages | Title | |
| 26 | 24- | Deck of Fate | |
| 30 | 35-36 | Extranous Magic Items | |
| 73 | 36-40 | 100 Unusual Magic Items | |
| 74 | 18-24 | Blades of the (Forgotten) Realms | |
| 77 | 18-24 | Curses and nasty items | |
| 80 | 34-36 | Treasures rare and wondrous | |
| 82 | 28-30 | Rings that do weird things (13 items) | **** |
| 86 | 26-28 | A few magic items | |
| 89 | 14-18 | Six very special shields | |
| 91 | 52-62 | Treasure Trove (47 magic items) | |
| 99 | 49-52 | Seventeen new treasures (Magic Items) | |
| 102 | 30-34,89- | Nine Wands of Wonder | |
| 115 | 46-47 | Nine magical harps | |
| 117 | 46-47 | Nine magical masks | |
| 117 | 48-51 | Magic rings | |
| 125 | 64-67 | Magical maps of Greyhawk | |
| 127 | 26-31 | Bows and Crossbows | |
| 133 | 10-11 | Arrows (and Quivers) | |
| 135 | 20-24 | Arrows |
Modules (Adventures)
A few I found interesting.
| # | pages | Title or article type | |
| 78 | 42-56 | Citadel by the Sea | |
| 80 | 35-45 | Adventure + City | |
| 92 | 46-53 | Adventure | |
| 102 | 43-54 | Valley of the Earthmother |
Rules, Lists
These are optional rules, items and other lists.
| # | pages | Title or type of article | |
| 32 | 19-20 | Permanent Damage | |
| 24 | 19 | Diseases | |
| 29 | 23 | Rewarding Heroism | * |
| 29 | 24-25 | Taverns & Inns + Menu | ***** |
| 31 | Criticals & Below 0HP | ||
| 32 | 4-5 | Poison | |
| 34 | 30-31 | Beware of Quirks and Curses: Magic items are not always nice | **** |
| 38 | 47-48 | DM Hostile Magic Users | |
| 39 | 34-35 | Criticals | |
| 43 | Witches | ||
| 48 | 60-62 | Instant Adventures | *** |
| 54 | 10- | Ruins | |
| 59 60 | 6-10 16-21 | Cantrips | *** ? |
| 59 | 57-60 | Poison | |
| 68 | 42-53+last 3 | Weather (Greyhawk) | |
| 77 | 6-13 | Tarot cards | |
| 78 | 7-33 | Psionics | |
| 81 | 6-17 | Poison | |
| 82 | 14-19 | Healing Herbs | |
| 83 | 10-19 | Gems | |
| 85 | 8-11 | First Aid | |
| 99 | 46-48 | Magic Swords | |
| 104 | 16-19 | Pick Pocketing (lists) | |
| 106 | 22-23 | Doors: Open them if you dare | |
| 107 | 14-15 | Reactions | * |
| 108 | 28-29 | Cantrips for Clerics | |
| 108 | 42-26 | The plants of Biurndon | |
| 112 | 27-31 | Cloaked in Magic | |
| 114 | 8-21 | Witches | |
| 116 | 9-27 | Maritime Adventures | |
| 117 | 22-24 | Dungeoneers Shopping Guide | **** |
| 118 | 22-29 | Jousting rules | |
| 124 | 17-32 | Aerial Adventuring | |
| 130 | 40 | Ingredients of (alchemists) potions | |
| 133 | 77-80 | Berserkers (NPC class) | |
| 136 | 46-48 | Recharge of magic items | |
| 137 | 16-24 | Treasures of the Wild | |
| 140 | 54-55 | Knives |
Random World
| # | pages | Title | |
| 17 | 15 | Sights and Sounds | *** |
| 21 | 10 | Random Town Events | *** |
| 41 | 30 | Doors | *** |
| 49 | 32-33 | Names | *** |
| 80 | 30-34 | Random Treasures/Items | |
| 105 | 14-18 | Wayfarers | *** |
| 105 | 30-35 | The well equiped victim | *** |
| 114 | 22-24 | Grave Encounters | ** |
| 115 | 48-49 | Dungeon floor design | *** |
| 115 | 60-61 | Doors (50 of them) | **** |
| 121 | 16-19 | Japanese Names | ** |
| 131 | 22-30 | Random Natural Caves | |
| 136 | 8-14 | Random City | |
| 137 | 8-14 | Hunting – whats for dinner | |
| 137 | 34-41 | Weather system | |
| 137 | 50-52 | Encounter tables wilderness (pre history) |
Fiction / Short Stories
These should be Fantasy short stories.
| # | pages | Title or type of article | |
| 1-7 | The Gnome Cache | ||
| 2 | 14- | Short Story | |
| 4 | 23-25 | Roads from Jakalla | ** Ok D&D, not much of litterature. |
| 5 | 18-24 | Short Story | |
| 6 | 12-14 | The Forest of Flame | **** |
| 7 | 12-15 | The Journey Most Alone | ** (planes and mystery) |
| 12 | 22-30 | Short Story | |
| 13 | 22-28 | The Stolen Sacrifice | ***** |
| 15 | 10-11 | The Gospel of Benwa | ** (creation story, law, chaos & neutrality) |
| 15 16 | 23- 25- | Green Magician (1/2) Green Magician (2/2) | Sister story to Wall of Serpents by L Sprague de Camp (I did not fancy Wall of Serpents that much, skipping this) |
| 24 | 42-43 | Monty Haul and the Best of Freddie | *** Power game session |
| 31 | Trollshead | **** | |
| 35 | 6,39-40 | Oasis | **** |
| 38 | 6- | The Cup of Golden Death | **** |
| 44 | 7- | Lure of the Golden Goblin | *** |
| 46 | 7- | Short Story | |
| 54 | 50-51 | Abomination | **** |
| 55 | 24-36 | The coming of the sword | |
| 58 | 37 | In the bag | *** |
| 60 | 31-32 | Short Story | |
| 66 | 73-74 | Friends in High Places | *** |
| 71 | 11-13 | The blink of a Wizard’s eye | * |
| 73 | 71-72 | Short Story | |
| 79 | 11-12 | The Ordeal | * (and not fantasy) |
| 81 | 18-22 | In the Cleft of Queens | ***** |
| 82 | 65-69 | Windwolf | ** |
| 83 | 26-30 | Short Story | |
| 84 | 57-63 | Short Story | |
| 85 | 28-35 | Valkyrie Settlement | |
| 85 | 56-62 | A stone’s throw away (Dragonlance) | |
| 86 | 59-63 | Short Story | |
| 88 | 59-63 | Short Story | |
| 89 | 55-61 | Short Story | |
| 91 | 86-93 | Short Story | |
| 93 | 55-61 | Short Story | |
| 94 | 57-63 | Fortunes of a Fool | ** |
| 95 | 60-67 | Desperate Acts | |
| 98 | 63-67 | The forging of fear | ***** |
| 99 | 63-67 | Dennim and the Golem | *** |
| 100 | 22-32 | Short Story | |
| 101 | 62-66 | And Adventuring To … | |
| 105 | 64-68 | On the Rocks at Slabs | |
| 108 | 69-75 | The Grey Stones | |
| 109 | 70-75 | Valkyrie | |
| 110 | 66-76 | The Wizards’ Boy | |
| 113 | 62-71 | A Difficult Undertaking | |
| 118 | 49-56 | Across the Fog-Grey Sky | |
| 119 | 63-73 | The Pawns of Crux | |
| 120 | 47-50 | Dragon Meat | **** (humourous) |
| 121 | 51-63 | Love and Ale (Dragonlance) | |
| 122 | 63-67 | The Prince’s Birthday | |
| 123 | 63-67 | Palimpsest | |
| 125 | 57-63 | The passing of kings | |
| 126 | 44-49 | Well Bottled at Slab’s | |
| 128 | 36-42 | The Spirit Way | |
| 129 | 58-64 | The old ways are best | |
| 130 | 42-49 | Shark Killer | |
| 131 | 41-45 | Out of hand | |
| 134 | 49-55 | Eyes of Redemptions | |
| 135 | 55-60 | Karl and the Ogre | |
| 136 | 41-45 | The curse of the Magus | |
| 138 | 57-64 | Between Lightning and Thunder | |
| 139 | 47-49 | The visitor | |
| 140 | 47-51 | Flesh and Blood |
Art – B/W
| # | page | description | |
| 29 | 26 38 | Three warriors and a horse Warrior – roman style | ** *** |
| 35 | 20 | Bowman in Chainmail | ** |
| 38 | 26 32 49 | Woman on Throne Warrion on Horse Troll, Dwarf | *** *** ** |
| 39 | 8 | Dark Paladin | **** |
| 45 | 12 16 18 61 | Alchemist Coat of arms (Shield + Two axes) Anvil with sculpture Castle against night sky | **** *** *** ***** |
| 54 | 13 | Wizard and huge spider net | *** |
| 59 | 57 | Poisoned nobleman | *** |
| 63 | 22 28-30 | Bandits Goblins (3x) | ** *** |
| 66 | 60 | Nobleman with Drinking Cup | ** |
| 71 | 10 19 22 54 | Two old wizards Elegant man with flute Rogue with sword Lich / Death god | **** ** *** **** |
| 72 | 7 10 58 | Mounted knight Female knight on Unicorn Man with sword at wall | **** *** *** |
| 80 | 22 | Castle | **** |
| 85 | 38 45 49 58 77 | Viking on Longship Executioner Orc with axe Hung in tree by mob Ruin: Gate & Trees | *** ** ** ** ** |
| 92 | 8 22 24 45 | Priest with warhammer Witch or Sorceress Dwarf with warhammer Hiding elf / Hunters with bows | *** ** *** ** |
| 94 | 4 | Wizard (?) | *** |
| 98 | 29-32 62 | Shop interiors: Smith, Leather, Tanner Blacksmith | **** **** |
| 99 | 65 | Wicked old man | **** |
| 120 | 19 | Angry dwarf with club | **** |
| 131 | 5 41,42 | Two knights jousting Dwarves | *** *** |
| 132 | 13 24 40 53 | A few ships A Demon (?) Woman drawing, man standing Man and witch (?) | ** *** **** *** |
| 134 | 48 69 | Barbarian (?) with Dragon Ogre | *** ** |
| 135 | 45 | Wizard | **** |
| 139 | 18 19 26 27 36 | Woman – tottooes in face Wizard Old Merchant Two village women Ritual and demon | *** **** *** *** ** |
| 140 | 17 25 29 31 | Old man in library Portraits of priests/shamans (2) Coat of arms (Dragons and swords) Wizard (and dead/defeated man) | **** **** ** *** |
Art – Full Color
| # | page | description | |
| 7 | 23 | Warriors having passed a river | ** |
| 66 | 6 7 | Old man inspecting sword(s) Monk in armory | **** **** |
| 72 | 81 | Mounted knight and goblins | *** |
| 90 | 59 | Elmore: Dragon & Warriors | ***** |
| 133 | 15 | Warrior + Death Knight(?) | **** |
| 134 | 23 | Fighter / Dragon | *** |
| 137 | 7 | Hydra & Warrior | *** |
| 139 | 15 | Wizard | *** |
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