If ever a TSR publication needed a graphic lift in 1983 it was the RPGA newsletter Polyhedron, was not only in black and white but also clearly an afterthought in terms of art and editorial design, even if it did have some good articles. Therefore the lift that the magazine gets in this issue is very welcome indeed. 

Starting out with a beautiful drawing by Larry Elmore on the cover, as soon as you open the magazine you can see a change in how it is displayed, down to the typography which greatly enhances the reading of the magazine. It looks classy now. 

In terms of articles you get a cool “encounters” column, a space to tell a tale about the cover art in as a tiny adventure module for the game represented which this time is AD&D. The usual “Basically Speaking” column on Basic D&D, Mentzer’s continuation of his multipart article on mapping, and lastly a really useful double page spread by Gary Gygax on how to go about creating your own campaign world.