Welcome to 1983! A big year for AD&D which will see among other things the debut of the animated TV series and the Ravenloft module, we have some 72 entries on my list to get through this year of D&D products, so let’s get to it! 

We start off with issue 69 (nice!) of Dragon magazine, with a great Clyde Caldwell cover and a bunch of really good articles inside, it’s a great way to start the year. The magazine opens with a double article on Runestones, first with an historical overview and then with Ed Greenwood chiming in with a fantastical take on the runes, which if you are a Forgotten Realms fan you will know as Dethek, the Dwarvish script, a great article for FR fans. 

Gygax then introduced the concept of the Thief-Acrobat, which seems to be the first time that there is a development of a character subclass, something which is now very much an integral part of D&D. Gygax also brings us a further instalment in the Gods of Greyhawk series, and more fungoid monsters. Other articles are Lakofka’s exploration of the NPC class Entertainer, and Moore’s comparison of the various classes in AD&D. Last but definitely not least is Greenwood’s article bringing us 4 more magical tomes from the Realms as related by Elminster to the author, in a long article full of lore and information about the FR.