As we reach the chronological midway point through 1983 we are far from reaching the midway point in terms of D&D output for the year, this second half of 1983 will be a crazy one, from the new Mentzer Basic D&D set, to Ravenloft to the D&D animated TV series, there is still plenty to come. 

This month also marks the 7th anniversary of Dragon magazine, which usually means Dragons! and the magazine doesn’t let us down, introducing us to Landragons, wingless cousins to the more famous dragons. There’s plenty of other stuff there, though and Gygax gives us an article on Warhorse and barding (or horse armor), Leomund’s Tiny Hut column covers Bureaucrats and Politicians as NPC characters, and The Ecology Of… column covers the Bulette in an article full of puns on Moby Dick. We also get a homemade Combat Computer, a little device that you can use to determine base THAC0. Speaking of computers you also get a full BASIC program for character creation… have fun if you want to try it at home!

Other articles cover what to do with player’s cash when it start accumulating and an article on the several levels of RP engagement of players. Last but not least, my favorite article here is Ed Greenwood’s Seven Swords: Blades of the Realms, in it Greenwood gives us the powers and lore of seven magical swords from the Forgotten Realms. These are perfectly usable even in 5e D&D, with just minor adjustments, and I think we get some of the first mentions and descriptions of the Harpers in this article. Great stuff.