DragonMagazine108 - DRAGON 1 - Special Attraction - Mutant Manual II

Oct 6, 2026

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DRAGON issue content from April 2, 1986 presents a curated “Special Attraction” section featuring Mutant Manual II and related game-themed articles. It includes features on AD&D® monsters and environments, cleric cantrips and 0-level orisons, tournament adventure design, agency and nuclear-age scenarios, and campaign plant creation for Biurndon. Departments cover letters, world gamer guidance, TSR previews and profiles, conventions, and recurring comics, alongside a cover story explaining the “Hidden Danger” artwork’s special status.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryComic

FormatPDF

Pages108

Reading Time41 min

AccessFree to download

SPECIAL ATTRACTION

Mutant Manual II

Another collection of GAMMA WORLD game creatures

Leomund's Tiny Hut

Ideas for adding variety to AD&D game monsters

The role of nature

The ecology of the pernicon

Cantrips for clerics

Making tournament adventures requires a special outlook

The TOP SECRET game comes of age

How to play it right

The plants of Biurndon

ORIGINS Awards nomination ballot - The Grey Stones

THE ARES SECTION

High Tech and Beyond

Globe crackers and smart computers in TRAVELLER gaming

Oni, the greatest enemy of Japan's CHAMPIONS villains

Old Yazirians Never Die

Age and aging in the STAR FRONTIERS game

The MARVEL-Phile

More Mutant Fever

DEPARTMENTS

Letters

World Gamers Guide

TSR Previews

TSR Profiles

Convention calendar

Gamers' Guide

Dragonmirth

Snarfquest

Wormy

COVER

"Hidden Danger"

DRAGON 1 87 Publisher Mike Cook Editor-in-Chief Kim Mohan Editorial staff Patrick Lucien Price Roger Moore Editorial assistance Eileen Lucas Art, graphics, production Roger Raupp Kim Lindau Subscriptions Pat Schultz Advertising Mary Parkinson Contributing editors Ed Greenwood Katherine Kerr This issue's contributing artists Brian McCrary Larry Elmore David Trampier Joseph Pillsbury Edward B. Wagner Roger Raupp Richard Tomasic James Faulkenberg Stephen Hearon Janet Aulisio Jeff Butler Dave Cockrum 2 APRIL 1986 9 2 22 25 28 30 36 40 42 62 68 78 81 86 90 3 4 6 64 SPECIAL ATTRACTION Mutant Manual II 􀂗 Various authors Another collection of GAMMA WORLD@ game creatures OTHER FEATURES Leomund􀂒s Tiny Hut 􀂗 Lenard Lakofka Ideas for adding variety to AD&D® game monsters The role of nature 􀂗 Bruce Humphrey Systems for bringing physical environment into play The ecology of the pernicon 􀂗 John Nephew Don􀂑t let a bunch of these bugs get to you The pernicon: a new version 􀂗 John Nephew Suggestions for toning it down and tuning it up Cantrips for clerics 􀂗 Arthur Collins Introducing the orison, 0-level magic for those 􀂓other􀂔 casters A different design 􀂗 Lisa R. Cohen Making tournament adventures requires a special outlook Agents and A-bombs 􀂗 Thomas M. Kane The TOP SECRET® game comes of age 􀂗 nuclear age, that is After the blast 􀂗 Roger E. Moore How to play it right, in case anyone􀂒s left The plants of Biurndon 􀂗 Eric W. Pass Creating customized greenery for your campaign ORIGINS Awards nomination ballot The Grey Stones 􀂗 Josepha Sherman It􀂒s what􀂒s inside the stones that􀂒s really important THE ARES􀂙 SECTION High Tech and Beyond 􀂗 James Collins Globe crackers and smart computers in TRAVELLER® gaming An Honorable Enemy 􀂗 Gregg Sharp Oni, the greatest enemy of Japan􀂒s CHAMPIONS􀂙 villains Old Yazirians Never Die 􀂗 Peter C. Zelinski Age and aging in the STAR FRONTIERS® game The MARVEL®-Phile 􀂗 Jeff Grubb The humorous side of the Marvel Universe􀂙 More Mutant Fever 􀂗John M. Maxstadt Even germs are strange in the GAMMA WORLD® game DEPARTMENTS Letters World Gamers Guide The forum TSR Previews 66 TSR Profiles 93 Convention calendar 96 Gamers􀂒 Guide 98 Dragonmirth 99 Snarfquest 102 Wormy COVER 􀂓Hidden Danger􀂔 has a special status among DRAGON Magazine cover paintings 􀂗 it􀂒s the only work of art we􀂒ve ever printed that almost died of old age before it appeared. Larry Elmore, the good ol' boy of TSR􀂒s art department, offered us this painting as a cover piece a couple of years back. We were glad to get it, and Larry agreed to let us hold onto it as an 􀂓escape hatch,􀂔 to be used if our supply of covers ever ran a little low. Well, that hasn􀂒t ever happened, but we finally decided it was high time to use it anyway. Now maybe Larry will do another cover for us. . . . Larry? Larry? Modern-day akasa Dear DRAGON, I found 􀂓The laws of magic􀂔 in issue \#106 extremely helpful. It has opened new doors for my campaign plans. I would like to incorporate some twentieth century adventures for my players by sending them to a modern world. Consequently I have some questions. Does akasa exist in modern times, or has it 􀂓burned out􀂔? If it does, my magic-users and clerics will have magic (and metamagic) ability. But what of modern people? Can a magic-user teach a twentieth century person to manipulate the akasa? And can modern clerics receive spells? Bryan Winter Ann Arbor, Mich. The answers to these questions depend on how you define 􀂓a modern world.􀂔 Within the context of the game, we can call it a parallel world, one of the infinite number of alternate Prime Material Planes that exist in the multiverse of the AD&D® game. But is a twentieth-century world one in which magic works the same way that it does in the player characters􀂒 native world? Personally, I􀂒d say it􀂒s not. Taking a cue from Robert Schroeck􀂒s reasoning in The City Beyon

FAQs

What is featured in the “Special Attraction” section of this DRAGON issue?

It highlights “Mutant Manual II” and additional game feature articles such as Leomund's Tiny Hut and ideas for adding variety to AD&D game monsters.

What gaming topics are covered under “THE ARES SECTION”?

It includes articles spanning high-tech developments in gaming, TRAVELLER® scenarios, adversaries from CHAMPIONS, age themes in STAR FRONTIERS®, and humor from the Marvel Universe.

What types of reader correspondence appear in the “DEPARTMENTS” section?

The issue includes “Letters,” with Q&A-style responses addressing game questions like akasa in modern times and whether certain paladin types are limited to humans.

Oct 6, 2026

Upload by noah