This was the first issue I got with my Dungeon subscription back in the fall of 1991. I don’t know if it was just good luck, or a personal bias because it was my first, but I consider this a high water mark for the magazine (admittedly, I haven’t read many of them).

This issue features an excellent scenario focusing on shades and shadows, a great side adventure with a berbalang (which I am just now realizing I might have subconsciously ripped off in my most recent ongoing D&D game) and the amazing Ravenloft adventure “Bane of the Shadowborn.” This last, written by William Connors (a prominent hand in the development of Ravenloft as a campaign setting), deals with the most interesting Darklord of all: the intelligent sword Ebonbane. It is easily my favorite Ravenloft adventure and, unlike most Ravenloft material, works quite well as a horror game by measuring success by cleverness rather than material strength. Great stuff.