Inside the world of Dungeon & Dragons
This magazine was created by Susie Rae znc published by Harper Collins January 31st, 2023. This 92 page magazine goes over a years worth of D&D with a variety of different features. The bigger races are featured later on in the magazine on pages 40 & 41.
One of my favorite features in this magazine is all of the D&D inspired puzzles and games. There are color coded "Dungeon Crawl" to a classic maze to escape Ravenloft, word scrambles for monster names, word searches of places, Ispy for dice and so much more. I know that the games and puzzles were created for the younger readers but I very much enjoyed the nostalgic of these games. There are over 10 different side quest mini games to complete throughout the entire magazine.
For this Fox, I personally like that pages 16-23 talked about Dark Alliance and R.A. Salvator's Adventures of Drizzt. These were my first loves of Faerun, long before I even knew what D&D was. I was introduced to R.A. Salvatore's books in high school and that is where my first interest into this realm of ttrpgs was sparked. I think that it was great to add these pieces in especially as this magazine as this magazine is under "juvenile literature" category.
The Beastiary features eight common monsters between Cr 1/8-Cr3 which is great for introducing those creatures that are common for low level adventurers to run across in their first adventures. There are other classic monsters like the Cr 30 Tarrasque and the Cr 23 Kraken later in the magazine along with some oddities like Flumph and Gelatinous Cube.
In the featured Podcast section it introduces readers to "How we Roll" and "The Adventure Zone" there is also a focus on live streams with "High Rollers" & "Acquisitions Incorporated." I would love to see if next year there are more featured individuals in these categories.
The spread "The Page of Many Things" on pages 34 &35 was one of my favorite pieces featuring magical items of the realm. I also love that it features 5 cards from the Deck of Many Things- one of my favorite items. What is D&D without the loot and magic items. Seeing magic items can be inspiring for those interested in in starting their own D&D game. The page has some classic magic items as well that has been featured at my table and in many other games. These include the bag of holding, portable hole, bag of beans and carpet of flying to name a few.
The magazine also has pieces for those just getting into the world of D&D such as the "Combat 101" on pages 36 & 37 to give some common terms and rules as well as the Dm section on pages 64 & 65. There is also a glossary at the end of the magazine on pgs 88 &89.
Overall I enjoyed this magazine. The articles were easy to understand and read going over a variety of topics. The pages were visually appealing and there was lot of art and pieces to look at. I found it a tad interesting that in the 1st edition section (pgs 38/39) there was more art from the current games instead of the OG black and white art. I would be interested to see if this does come out every year and to see what pieces they would feature. I think this is a fun way to learn more about the D&D/ttrpg world and it was well rounded for facts, games and articles.