Dragon+ Issue 17

You can read this issue here.

This issue is holiday-themed an feel quite a bit shorter than the others. 

We start off with a tribute to Dawn Murwin, who's been working as an art director for 25 years. She is apparently married to Dana Knutson, the artist who designed the Lady of Pain.

Interview with Adam Rex, who did the cover art. He made a book called "Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich", which is pretty awesome.

Adventure Crafting: This is an interview with Dani Hartel. She was on Dice Camera Action (and was awesome, IMO) and he makes the costumes for the Acquisitions, Inc. shows.

There's... a link to a pdf that allows you to make your own puzzle cubes!! I am doing this. Clear my schedule! There's also an interview with Mazzmatazz, who makes D&D monsters out of yarn and ran a hilarious Christmas adventure on Twitch a few weeks ago.

Character Spotlight: We get Strix's character sheet! She's level 9. Her sorcerer powers became active after she spent time living with Baba Yaga. I hope we learn more about her time in Baba Yaga's hut at some point.

Behind the Screen - Roll For Success: Ethan Gilsdorf writes about the benefits of playing D&D. He says it gives tools for empathy. Can empathy be taught? In my experience, either you have it or you don't.

D&D Classic: We get pdf of some articles from old issues of Dragon. One is a write-up of D&D Santa. Another is a gamma world article.

The third is a 5e update of a 3e article! The pdf looks as official as can be. It's a mini adventure, complete with new monsters like "gnome toymaker" and magic items. OK.. I don't like holiday-themed adventures, but the Yule Log made me laugh out loud. I am using that!!

Maps of the Month: Free Maps of the tomb of the nine gods!!

Best of the DMs Guild: Interviews with the Guild Adepts! They talk a lot about the collaboration process, and how it requires structure but usually leads to much better results.

Overall

Short, right? This is worth it for the maps and the adventure pdf.