: Arthur Collins introduces a non-player character class focused on swordplay, honor, and specialized fencing maneuvers like "Parrying the Death Blow!". Non-violent Magic Items
The ads alone are a time capsule. You will see full-page ads for the Intellivision console, Dungeons & Dragons action figures (the pre- cartoon show era), and a gaming store called "The Compleat Strategist" with 1983 prices. Reading the original PDF gives you the feel of the era. dragon magazine 73 pdf
For modern players and GMs, a PDF scan of this issue offers three distinct advantages over simply reading a wiki summary: : Arthur Collins introduces a non-player character class
The article detailed the not as an empty void, but as a landscape of floating islands, color pools (portals to other planes), and bizarre physics. It introduced the concept that time did not pass in the Astral Plane, preventing inhabitants from aging, though their minds could still decay from isolation. Reading the original PDF gives you the feel of the era
If you are looking for related content from this era, you might also be interested in the archives available at the Internet Archive , which began publication a few years after this issue of Dragon. Dragon Magazine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming