Dragon #338

Dragon #338: Boccob

Got mine today and here's what in it.

Schools of Magic: It's not Hogwarts, but is does provide several place for your Wizard to get schooled.

Imps of Ill-Humor: New Imps based of the Humors of Medicine; Choleric Imp, Melancholic Imp, Phlegmatic Imp and Sanguine Imp.

Boccob: A very good article on the priesthood of Boccob; Who he is, who his clerics are, Hollidays, relics, myths and two new spells: Disc of Concordant Opposition (Cl5, Sor/Wiz 5) and Boccob's Rolling Cloud (Cl4, Sor/Wiz 4).

Staffs of the Magi: History and tradition of the staff and the Imbued Staff, which is similar to a weapon of legacy in that it gets stronger as the Wizard gains levels.

Spellweavers: Ecology of the six armed masters of magic.

Wormfood: The Wormhunter: A prestige class dedicated to hunting the Sons of Kyuss.

The Silver Hexametric Folio: A Spellweaver spellbook.

Sage Advice: How spells interact in effects and durrations.

Class Acts:
Barbarian: The Horselord
Bard: Focused Performer
Cleric: Religious Titles
Druid: Animal Magic items
Fighter: The Pikeman
Monk: Backgrounds
Paladin: The Solstice Knight
Ranger The Elk King
Rogue: Dwarf substitution levels
Sorcerer: Unusual spells due to bloodline
Wizard: Grimoires

Next Month: Classic Creatures, Races of Spelljammer, Dead Factions, Dragon Kings of Dark Sun, Ecology of Draconians, and Spellcraft: Mask of the Red Death.

{Edit in} According to the add for the DVD of D&D 2, the special features includes commentary by Lidda, Jozan and Krusk.

This is darn spiffy...and very useful to me. I won't say which, because players in my game might be around, but two articles in particular are eeriely appropriate for my game. For the last two or three issues of both Dragon and Dungeon, it's like someone at Paizo has been reading my mind.

Editorial: Compiling the Compendium, by Erik Mona - Erik talks about making the Dragon Compendium vol. 1.

Scale Mail - Letters this month talks about how issue #334's article on alcohol had no rules for being drunk, a desire for more Dark Sun monsters, and a desire for more Yugoloths in the magazine (Erik says the mag is open to proposals).

Schools of Magic, by Alfred O. Cloutier - This article describes eight magical institutions. Each of these magical schools describes their location, motto, curriculum, and history, along with admissin requirements. Each school is a specialist school, but not of the eight magical schools from the PHB. Rather, they're specialists of a particular philosophy (e.g. "war and combat magic"). A spell list of spells of each curriculum is given, along with choices for a prohibited school (which is a normal PHB school).

Imps of Ill-Humor, by David Schwartz - This article talks about how ancient medicine believed health revolved around the four bodily humors, and how sickness resulted from imbalance. Four new imps (NE extraplanar creatures) are presented, one for each humor, along with rules for using them as familiars.

Core Beliefs: Boccob, by Sean K. Reynolds - This expansive article covers everything you could ever want to know about Greyhawk's deity of magic. It covers Boccob himself (in terms of interests and motivations), what his clergy does and the roles of clerics, relations with other religions, the role of wizards holidays, myths, prestige class suggestions, relics of the faith, new divine spells, sample NPCs, and Boccob's planar ally. Additionally, sidebars cover the basics, holy texts, aphorisms, Zagyg, and Boccob's cleric's summon monster lists. There's even a sample map of a Boccob temple. Needless to say, this is a great article...it also drops a few bombs for Greyhawk, such as how all magic will eventually and inevitably be drained from the world. There may be a way to stop it though...

Staffs of the Magi, by Ben Vandgrift - This article talks about the signature nature of the wizard's staff, as well as its practical uses. It then gives rules for using a staff in lieu of a familiar, giving level-based progressions for powers a staff can gain. Several new related feats are also given.

Ecology of the Spell Weaver, by Tito Leati - This ecology covers the history, physiology, psychology and society of the spell weavers, as well as their ruins. It talks about how they had an ancient planes-spanning (but not at all invasive) empire, and when they attempted a major magical ritual that would have somehow altered all reality, it fragmented. Many of them have since been searching for a contingency that was created to turn back time (in the entire multiverse) to before that moment to prevent the cataclysm (which they call The Disjunction). Sidebars discuss Knowledge (e.g. the skill) of spell weavers, node hieroglyphs and node numbers (relating to the spell weaver language), an advanced spell weaver, and a new feat specifically for spell weavers.

Wormfood: The Wormhunter, by James Jacobs - This 5-level prestige class is engineered specifically to fight the minions of Kyuss.

Spellcraft: The Silver Hexameric Folio, by Greg Marks - This article discusses an unusual spellbook, with more than a few secrets, that's left over from the ancient spell weaver empire. It introduces five new arcane spells.

Sage Advice, by Andy Collins - The Sage covers the interactions of various effects and durations.

Class Acts
Barbarian - Giants in the Saddle, by Joe Pitkin - The Horselord is a variant barbarian, with the primary difference being that they have battle ecstacy instead of rage.

Bard - Focused Performer, by Robert J. Hahn - Two new feats are given, and the second one lets a bard spend bardic music uses to achieve greater effects.

Cleric - Religious Titles, by Lisa McSherry - This article gives a variety of religious titles and what they mean.

Druid - Animal Magic, by William L. Christensen - Two new animal magic items are given, the barding of size alteration, and the spectral collar.

Fighter - The Pikeman, by Paul Leech - This article talks about historical pike users, and their use in D&D, along with a few feat, Shield and Pike Style.

Monk - Backgrounds, by Amber E. Scott - Evocative backgrounds are given for monks, along with the minor bonuses they grant.

Paladin - Solstice Knight, by Hal Maclean - Substitution levels are given for the solstice knight, a paladin who acts as a warden during the longest night of the year.

Ranger - The Elk King, by Richard Farrese - This article talks about a ranger guild called the Fraternity of the Elk King, and introduces a new magic item, the mantle of the elk king.

Rogue - Dwarf Rogues, by Joshua Cole - Racial Substitution levels are given for dwarf rogues, focusing on demolition.

Sorcerer - Unusual Spells, by Matthew J. Hanson - Themed lists of spells are given that can be added to a sorcerer's normal spell list, provided the prerequisites are met.

Wizard - Grimoires, by C. Wesley Clough - Four grimoires are given that, although they aren't spellbooks, provide bonuses when used on certain skill checks.

Comics - Nodwick, by Aaron Williams; Dork Tower, by John Kovalic; Zogonia, by Tony Mosley, and the Dragon premier of Order of the Stick, by Rich Burlew.

As for next month:

NEXT MONTH IN DRAGON #339

Classic Creatures
by Sean K Reynolds
From the animus to the xvart, sixteen of GREYHAWK, MYSTARA, and RAVENLOFT's deadliest denizens return to menace your campaign.

RACES OF SPELLJAMMER
by Joshua Cole
The stoic giff, insidious insectare, and piratical scro take to the stars again!

DEAD FACTIONS
by Monte Lin
The Mercykillers, the Sign of One, and more of PLANESCAPE's forgotten factions reclaim Sigil's streets.

DRAGON KINGS
by Chris Flipse and Jon Sederqvist
Defile the land and raise your own empire as one of DARK SUN's godlike dragon kings. The first in DRAGON's new Year of Dragons anniversary series.

PLUS!
The Ecology of the Draconian, Spellcraft: MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, a new look for Class Acts, and comics, including The Order of the Stick.

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Am I the only one drooling over the next issue? Xvarts! Giff! Dragon Kings! Factions!

Wormslayer, eh? Interesting...

Demiurge out.

Alzrius said:

Scale Mail - Letters this month talks about ... and a desire for more Yugoloths in the magazine (Erik says the mag is open to proposals).

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I am so very jumping on that one...

demiurge1138 said:

Am I the only one drooling over the next issue? Xvarts! Giff! Dragon Kings! Factions!

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No, you're not alone. I'm mopping it up right now!

Hoody-hoo! Should get mine in a few weeks.

Any Eberron references in this issue? Any campaign placement suggestions in the Spellweavers Ecology?

eris404 said:

This is darn spiffy...and very useful to me. I won't say which, because players in my game might be around, but two articles in particular are eeriely appropriate for my game. For the last two or three issues of both Dragon and Dungeon, it's like someone at Paizo has been reading my mind.

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See.....Psionics are a good thing

takasi said:

Any Eberron references in this issue? Any campaign placement suggestions in the Spellweavers Ecology?

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The campaign placement suggestions are the only place we see an Eberron reference in this issue (that I found, anyway). "In EBERRON, a spell weaver node might appear somewhere in the Demon Wastes or deep within mysterious Xen'drik." That's it for Eberron, though there's also a sentence on placing the spell weaver nodes into the Forgotten Realms also, and a reference to Dungeon #130, "The Spire of Long Shadows" for more information.

Does the spellweaver article contain a new stat block for them, updating them to 3.5?