Let's read the entire run

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 225: January 1996


part 7/8


Palladium fantasy gets a new edition. Undertaken personally by Kevin Siembida! (wait, doesn't he do nearly everything there anyway. ) More fun and detailed than ever before!


Dragonmirth takes the pragmatic approach to the situation. Swordplay is quite dry in it's wit. Brave brave sir robin.


Even the gamers guide gets a logo in the new style, with the G once again looking like it ought to be in colour but isn't, and winding up looking murky and amateurish as a result. Come on, that's basic layout. Many things that are fine in colour look like crap when put in greyscale. Preview this stuff before sending it to print.


The changing faces of Dragon: Or let's highlight how little the magazine has actually changed in the last 10 years. They've lost their The, and eventually accepted that yes, they are a magazine after all, but they've stuck with their logo design for longer than D&D itself has at this point. Whether that's a good thing or not is very debatable. There is a lot to be said for not fixing something if it isn't broken, but it can also be called complacency. I suspect the main reason they're trying to change things is precisely because they're not working anymore. Still, this is interesting, because it points out a few changes I didn't spot at the time, such as the shift from a ™ to a ®. It's also amusing because once again they say they want the new magazine to have more attitude. You know who had attitude? Poochy. And you remember what happened to him? [brooklyn accent]Boy, they really screwed the pooch on that one.[/brooklyn accent] No, no, stop it, it's too easy, you're writing my commentary for me! Welcome to the failboat. We will be your ride for the rest of the year, presuming we don't capsize first. Um, um, can I get some semblance of sanity in here? So in conclusion, this is quite revealing. If anything, it reveals a little too much, and not in a flattering way, like your mum trying to squeeze into the clothes she wore as a teenager. (ok, ok, no more! ) Your choices in the past got you into this, and now you're making the wrong ones to get you out again. It wasn't just bad luck. I look forward to seeing how quickly they try to change the format again after this.


Rainforest rescue? It might not be too early for this eco-crap anymore, but it's still tiresome. The world isn't ending. Stop going on about it.


The role of books survives the purge.... For now. Actually, this new logo looks quite nice, even if it does have that badly photocopied air that pervades the rest of the logos. The basic theory is sound. Can they scrape up the cash to get it working properly?

The shape-changers wife by Sharon Shinn sees John welcome another first-time novelist onto the scene, producing something that would be excellent no matter the experience level of the writer. The ordinary and the fantastical is blended quite nicely, making both stand out all the better.

Two crowns for America by Katherine Kurtz, in deliberate contrast, sees him criticise a long established writer for being dull and formulaic in her writing. Sure it's a different milieu, but the characters are the same, the plot is the same, the magic works the same way. Did you think we wouldn't notice?

Ghostlight by Marion Zimmer Bradley, on the other hand, sees her try out her hand at gothic romance and do pretty well. It manages to make the twists sufficiently surprising that John doesn't spot them beforehand, and keep the characters well matched to the challenges. That way, you don't have to rely on a deus ex machina to solve the problems at the end.

Sisters in fantasy, edited by by Susan Shwattz & Martin H Greenberg (he must send comp copies of every anthology he does to John) takes a somewhat darker slant on feminist fantasy than the recent Chicks in Chainmail. It's also pretty engaging intellectually, without neglecting the emotional side either. Once again, they've pulled in a good selection of big names to do the job. Which is so much easier when you have the long established contacts.

Dragons of summer flame by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman sees John praise it pretty highly. Well, he was on board right from the start (see his review in issue 103) Their writing is more polished than it used to be, and they've had the courage to completely transform the setting, which is always a major risk when the world is as well established and filled in as this. In fact, they're almost too casual about the number of small and big changes they introduce. But then, creators are frequently a good deal less precious about their work than the fanboys. Just remember, the public are more conservative than they'd like to think they are. They can and will complain, as we're also seeing with regards to Athas.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 225: January 1996


part 8/8


Floyd escapes the undead by the skin of his teeth. And his saviour is starting to pick up his snarkiness.


TSR Previews: A rather slow month in february, once again, however, they also mention two new supplements for this month they forgot last issue, so I'll do those first. Land of the Minotaurs by Robert A Knack sees us return to Taladas for the first time in 4 years, as Kaz deals with conspiracies in the royal court. Go him. Planescape also gets it's first novel. Blood hostages by J. Robert King starts a trilogy focussed on the Blood War. Well, with a card line as well, it is one of the most popular plot drivers.

Anyway, next month sees the forgotten realms complete it's secondary splatbook series. Warriors and priests of the realms makes our tank classes more powerful and integrated, as usual.

Ravenloft shows how to make artifacts even more sadistic than regular campaigns, in Forged of Darkness. Great power, even greater drawbacks and prices. Remember kids, just say no to artifacts. The buzz may be hot, but before you know it, you're an undead monstrosity who'll die if you give up the artifact or fail to sacrifice a baby to it every full moon.

Dark sun moves it's supplements IC in The Wanderers Chronicle: Mind-Lords of the last sea. Well, at least he's not annoying like Volo. And it's another pretty boxed set. They retain their collectors value better than books.

And finally, the Blood wars card game gets it's 4th expansion pack. The inner planes decide to make the long trip to join the fray. I play the yeti with tentacle arms!


Rumblings gets renamed to The Current Clack, which sounds like a reference to something, but I'm damned if I can figure out what the joke is. It seems to be designed to catch the attention of people who pick up the magazine and start reading from the back, newspaper style, with the overspill placed several pages earlier in the magazine. Which would work better if they hadn't just started polybagging the magazine. :facepalm: Classic case of departmental uncoordinatedness really.

The news has some pretty interesting stuff though. Games Workshop is cementing their dominance of the minis market by taking over their own distribution. This means smaller shops are being squeezed by their minimum order numbers, and they're being sued for unfair trade practices and anti-trust breaches by their former distributors. Meanwhile, White Wolf magazine has recently died, after a year in which they tried to revamp themselves by changing their name and turning up the attitude knob. Once again their decision to do that on this magazine too looks not just laughable but thoroughly misguided. ( A let's read thread for White Wolf magazine would be very welcome too, by the way) White Wolf the company, on the other hand, are doing very well from turning the attitude knob up, which I do find rather curious. Just as interesting is Jolly Blackburn's leaving AEG and coming here, bringing Knights of the Dinner Table with him. There's plenty of other bits and pieces, but these are the ones that stand out. Is the gossip going to get more salacious with the new format? Well, there are worse ways to get readers than emulate the tabloids.


There's certainly quite a bit to dislike here, but it's not as bad as I was fearing it would be. Some of the ideas they're trying are not only good ones, but properly implemented as well. On the other hand, there's quite a few articles that are not only rehashed, but just plain worse than their previous appearances in the magazine. And they're really struggling to get the mechanics of the game up to scratch, which is a lot more noticeable now they're putting more crunchy articles in. It is very interesting though, as we're starting to see the growing pains that'll eventually flower into 3e. So there are signs they'll get through this. It's just a matter of how much they'll suffer and lose on the way. That makes me a little more enthusiastic about pressing onwards.

 

[jonesy]

Land of the Minotaurs by Robert A Knack sees us return to Taladas for the first time in 4 years, as Kaz deals with conspiracies in the royal court. Go him.

They really said that in the preview?

The book takes place entirely on Ansalon before the Cataclysm.

Taladas gets a single line in the whole book, and they do not refer to it by name, so it might not even be it that they are talking about. They just say something offhanded about a land beyond the seas.

By the way, it's Richard A. Knaak.

Meanwhile, White Wolf magazine has recently died, after a year in which they tried to revamp themselves by changing their name and turning up the attitude knob.

I always thought that the magazine had an oddly disjointed personality. Like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be.

 

[(un)reason]

They really said that in the preview?

The book takes place entirely on Ansalon before the Cataclysm.

Taladas gets a single line in the whole book, and they do not refer to it by name, so it might not even be it that they are talking about. They just say something offhanded about a land beyond the seas.

By the way, it's Richard A. Knaak.


I always thought that the magazine had an oddly disjointed personality. Like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be.

Partly me, partly them. They just said return to his homeland, and of course assuming makes an ass out of you and me. The misspelling of the writer's name is in the magazine. I suspect an overzealous spellchecker.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 1/8


124 pages. This cover looks a bit rushed. I can still see the brushstrokes. They've managed to blend the logo with the backdrop nicely this time though. Maybe it was just a stylistic choice. Oh well. They do seem to be putting more artwork in, with the contents page having a rather large variety of different colour illustrations excerpted. Will they work in context? Flip, flip, turn the pages quick.


In this issue:


The wyrms turn: Blaah. Another editorial on how to get into writing for the magazine. Either they're still getting tons of letters, despite having said this stuff a couple of issues ago, or they aren't and are trying to get more new writers by reverse psychology. We've heard all this so recently, that it really doesn't seem like people are paying attention. Well, apart from the quibbling about fonts. That's new. And also goes to show just how picky they've become about their formatting these days. There is such a thing as being too standardised. Oh well. As soon as online submissions become commonplace, that'll cease to be an issue. In the meantime, this just reminds me that they've had huge staff turnovers recently, so of course they're going to be repeating old ideas more, since they may well be new to them. Ironically, the better my memory is, the more I'm going to suffer due to this. Not a very promising beginning.


D-Mail: We lead with three letters asking for stuff from back-issues. I presume that like the requests on how to write for the magazine, they get rather a lot of these, and are trying to drill in the stock answer of no free lunch, you've got to pay, presuming it's even available still. Once again I feel both bah and blah about this. We also see another bit of polyhedron promotion. Looks like the drive to boost the RPGA is going to be sustained throughout the year then.

A letter deriding issue 224's castle defence article. If they get to the walls, you've already half lost. A good leader ought to be paying attention to politics and news, and making sure it doesn't get that far. And if it does, they should have an army ready to go, blast them on the approach. Offence is the best defence. Quite a few real world military people agree.

Another attempt to soothe a worried writer. What is obsolete now? Oh, that's a tricky one. Just think of it as all optional, some options which aren't compatible with others. You can still pick and choose which options you allow. At least presuming you can get the rest of the group to agree. Good luck with that, by the way.

A letter criticising Rick Swan's reviewing style. Surely the most important thing a review should tell you is if a book makes a game more or less fun. The reply goes off at a tangent somewhat, tackling minor points first. Curious.

And finally, yet another letter from someone wondering how to become an RPG writer. Another one?! Departmental co-ordination fail. This repetition is getting out of hand. Who's overseeing this section anyway? Anybody? anybody?


The magic goes away: Eeek. Nasty scary eyes and 80's hair. No thanks. Equally unwelcome is the topic, trying to sell you on cutting down magic in your campaign. While not a bad idea in principle; as the various historical sourcebooks and masque of the red death have shown, it's not very well suited to the D&D ruleset. You need a system built from the bottom up to really do it justice, because you won't get the proper breadth of characters and niche protection here, and if you try and tone down the level of general magic in the campaign, while leaving the PC's rules untouched, there is the very real risk of them just walking all over the NPC's, no matter what social hindrances you try to put in their way. Ironically, this is one of the worst timings for an article like this, with their tightened focus on AD&D and other TSR properties. So it's a well meaning but problematic article here. Just go to another system instead of spending ages trying to get this to balance. Runequest or WoD work way better for gaming with the magic stripped out.


Rome may not have been built in a day but...: We're in more of a hurry these days. And we have better equipment. Yes, it seems that one theme that's continued on from last month is the desire to speed up your creation process as a GM, by guiding you through it step by step. More hand-holding, in other words. And while these channelling methods may help you work productively, if you are completely devoid of inspiration, no amount of trickery will solve the problem short of full-on random tables.

 

[Orius]

Palladium fantasy gets a new edition. Undertaken personally by Kevin Siembida! (wait, doesn't he do nearly everything there anyway. ) More fun and detailed than ever before!

From everything I've heard about Palladium's operation, I wouldn't be surprised if Siembieda does these ads too. Which would make this one a bit of shameless self-promotion. Seeing the company's ads after having read about said company on the net makes them somewhat unintentionally funny.

The changing faces of Dragon: Or let's highlight how little the magazine has actually changed in the last 10 years. They've lost their The, and eventually accepted that yes, they are a magazine after all, but they've stuck with their logo design for longer than D&D itself has at this point. Whether that's a good thing or not is very debatable. There is a lot to be said for not fixing something if it isn't broken, but it can also be called complacency. I suspect the main reason they're trying to change things is precisely because they're not working anymore. Still, this is interesting, because it points out a few changes I didn't spot at the time, such as the shift from a ™ to a ®. It's also amusing because once again they say they want the new magazine to have more attitude.

I think it's interesting from a historical perspective. I kind of like that the logo remained similar over all the years, it's kind of like brand recognition. And the whole attitude bit is the whole lousy zeitgeist of the 90's so it' just some bandwagon jumping.

The magic goes away: Eeek. Nasty scary eyes and 80's hair. No thanks. Equally unwelcome is the topic, trying to sell you on cutting down magic in your campaign.

I agree. Yes, magic does affect game balance, but stripping it all out tend to come off as a crutch for a poor DM. The writer displays an obvious bias here with words like "troublesome spells" and "pesky magical items", and complaining that the magic ruins the flavor of the typical pseudo-medieval European Tolkien rip-off. Encouraging annoying nerfs won't solve the problem IMO.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 2/8


Off-the-cuff NPC's: Such as these ones. Here's a whole bunch of quirks you could give your impromptu NPC's. They incline quite a bit towards the broad and humorous, and some are very silly indeed. Still, it should ensure that they're memorable and easy to integrate, and with 208 of them, you probably won't use then up too quickly. I know random tables are often labeled as old skool, but these ones really do have a level of whimsy we don't see anymore, except in april issues. As such, I have to make my usual warning to use them with caution if you're trying to run a dramatic campaign, for unless it's set in Krynn, this may spoil the tone.


Another nameless comic is scattered through the magazine. What's with that? I guess it is appropriate to the articles coming up.


Improve with improv: The DM'ing advice continues. Looks like that's definitely the theme this time. You know, you could have delineated that more clearly. Are they ever going to do that as well as Roger did again? Whatever. Not that advice on improving your improvisation skills is a bad thing. In fact, it's pretty much essential, for the nature of an RPG means the players will inevitably try something outside the proscribed options (and it would actually be more boring if they didn't, to be honest) In fact, you're more likely to produce a fun game without any preparation than any improvisation. But there are still tricks you can learn that make success more likely. Chief among them, as it's mentioned first and last, is getting your players to work with you. Pay attention to them, figure out what they want to do, and if you can't guess, just ask them outright. Second is having stuff prepared that works in a large variety of situations, so if you're stuck, you have a whole bunch of tricks to fall back upon. A lot of the time, improvisation is merely a matter of being exposed to situations often enough that you have a pretty good idea what will happen if you do X, Y or Z. Indeed, you can compare it to improvising as a band. In theory, it should result in chaos, but as long as the players can pay attention to each other, stay in the same key, and keep a groove going, some really cool stuff can happen almost by accident. Just don't get stuck relying on cliches all the time, for that will become as dull as sticking entirely to prepared material. So this ironically points out just how much preparation goes into being able to confidently improvise. Everything is a matter of balance really. \:/


Dot to dot: Hmm. We've been given advice on quickly building NPC's, now we have an analogous one for building a community. This themed section may not have too many new ideas, but it is collecting a lot of them and putting them together into a quite cohesive package. I ought to give it more credit, as it would be very handy for newer players. Obviously, if you want to build a community fast, you do not create a map, as that's hours of work even if you're good at this stuff. Far better to get a feel for a place, which you can then build out logically from and create things that make sense in context as and when they're needed. And maybe a few key locations and people. After all, what would new york be without the empire state building, or paris without the eiffel tower? Oh yeah, and remember to figure out what the law is like, and how harshly it's enforced, because chances are, you're gonna need to know that at some point. This article again inclines towards the whimsical in it's presentation, using a lot of IC examples to demonstrate it's points. It does make it more amusing, especially with the rather silly names. Overall, I think it manages to justify itself even to longterm readers through entertainment value as well as informativeness.


Arcane Lore: We continue to redress the cultural balance with a bit more indian stuff, following directly on from last month, and fully integrated with the new kits introduced there. So get ready for a long list of stuff stolen from mythology and religion. Seen those before, and probably will do so again. Still, at least these generally produce more diverse results than the latest collection of variant blasty spells.

Cloud Messenger is the ancient indian method of sending remote messages. Cloud come down, you talk to it, and it takes said message to the desired person. Perfectly logical when you don't have more powerful technology.

Waking light of Dawn wakes things up. Since it's only a 1st level spell, it's ability to remove magical slumber is limited. You're probably better off with a little strategically applied violence than wasting a spell slot.

Distract is worse than tv tropes for keeping everyone around from getting any productive work done. It's one that seems directly drawn from an old TV show in execution. Play that funky flute, guru boy. Don't ask where the wah wah guitar accompaniment is coming from.

Skin of the fire Tiger makes you red hot! And then very chilly when it wears off. Still, in the meantime you get to do the burning grapple trick. There are more powerful spells to do that around, I'm afraid.

Serpent Garland is a fun one. Turn a necklace into a snake. Make it permanent and give it as a present and you have a great assassination tool to keep in reserve for someone.

Mourning Stone lets you transfer your angst to a rock. Then the cleric can take that pain, and use it to make beautiful sculptures or architecture. Really don't want to live in something made of that though.

Third Eye is not a divination, but a really nasty gaze attack that also takes it's toll on you. Curious decision there. Have fun with your beholder like death and disintegration ray.

Life Illusion lets you trap someone in an illusory world, possibly for weeks or months if they keep failing their save. It's nice enough that you don't starve to death while in there though, unlike some other versions of this effect.

Monsoon is the third application of the coastal storm based mass devastation principle in the last few years. They really ought to put something like this in the corebook if it's so popular.

Om is your basic meditative prana. You sit crosslegged and chant and become able to heal faster and resist minding. Course, anyone can walk up to you and backstab you to death, so guards might be wise.

Sanctify Ghi creates an indian variant on holy water. Holy butter? Actually, that's probably pretty tasty, if a bit fattening. Gotta bulk up a bit before going on those month long fasts.

Karma Sight draws from Legends and Lore, letting you manipulate the optional rules there better. You'll know if you're in danger of coming back as a slug or achieving nirvana and can hopefully change your ways accordingly.

Steep Soma Juice is another, more powerful magical fluid making spell to buff it's drinker. As this is long lasting and can affect quite a few people at higher level, it's used to show favour to people in the community. Enjoy your subtle social engineering.

That art Thou is a particularly neat bit of divination, allowing you to share the senses of everyone and everything around. This'll probably be a bit of an overload, but very handy for avoiding nasty surprises. What does a trap or secret door feel anyway? Man, you could have tons of fun describing this one.

See all faces is another way you can get to know someones basic character without all that hassle of actually socially interacting with them. That's a trick applicable to most cultures.

Pool of Deeds lets you find out what cool stuff a person has done and is going to do. It does not let you change the future though, however hard you try. Have fun with your new knowledge of predestination.

Conceal Lifeforce is one of your basic divination deflectors. It can even hide your soul from the agents of reincarnation. Feel free to do bad in the meantime without your alignment changing or being turned into a cockroach. But if you get caught, oh things will get unpleasantly interesting. Watch out for Maruts.

Reincarnation sight lets you track down the new life of someone, even if it's in the outer planes, and restore their memories of the old one. If they've been dead longer than your ability to raise them, this is a nicely flavourful alternative. Just don't take a baby away from their family and expect them to jump straight back into the adventuring life.

Penetrate Cosmic Ignorance lets you see the deific manipulations and bigger ramifications behind everyday events. This can be bad for the sanity, for mortal mind was not made to contain that much intertwining information. It may also be hard work for the DM, but that's to be expected when you have high level spells.

Call Avatar is one of those plot device spells that like Gate, may save your life, or result in smitings for disturbing said deity. No matter how powerful your cleric is, they always have to respect their boss, especially in a culture like this where letting go of your ego is considered crucial to enlightenment.

 

[Orius]

Off-the-cuff NPC's: Such as these ones. Here's a whole bunch of quirks you could give your impromptu NPC's. They incline quite a bit towards the broad and humorous, and some are very silly indeed. Still, it should ensure that they're memorable and easy to integrate, and with 208 of them, you probably won't use then up too quickly. I know random tables are often labeled as old skool, but these ones really do have a level of whimsy we don't see anymore, except in april issues. As such, I have to make my usual warning to use them with caution if you're trying to run a dramatic campaign, for unless it's set in Krynn, this may spoil the tone.

Another potential downside is that some of these NPC quirks are rather noticeably odd, so players might assume some random guy is actually important. That's occasionally amusing for the DM, but it can get frustrating if the players think the village idiot with a lizard on his shoulder is somehow important to the plot. Also, some are the type that really work only once, while others are generic enough to be reusable. Still, it's a good tool for when the DM needs to whip up an NPC on the spot.

Another nameless comic is scattered through the magazine. What's with that? I guess it is appropriate to the articles coming up.

It goes along with the next article (note the article text on p 32). Instead of a regular picture like the other articles, the illustrator here instead decided to do a short comic strip.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 3/8


The game wizards: Ah yes, the CD rules and character generator. This is one experiment with computers that was a pretty decent success, so much so that they later produced an add-on with a ton of the crunchy bits from various splatbooks. It did indeed make creating characters quickly and legally easier, especially in long-running campaigns, as when you levelled, or the sheet got worn out from marking and erasing spells & damage, you could just print off a new one, and it'd be just as good in quality at no additional effort. Fully indexed and searchable, so it's good for the DM and rules lookup as well. It occurs to me that if this hadn't succeeded, it would be very unlikely that we'd have got the Dragon Magazine Archive either, and then I probably wouldn't have been able to do this thread. So this is a step towards integrating computers into your roleplaying that is pretty significant really. And this article makes it pretty clear why you would want to buy it as well, without forgetting to inject a bit of humour into it's selling process. I'm pretty glad it's here, because it gives us another useful historical marker to take note of. TSR were taking steps to improve their computer-friendliness, if they'd survived they might have got there eventually, if not by the same route as WotC.


Powers from the past: Oooh. A new idea. In regular D&D rules creating magic items is the exclusive province of powerful spellcasters, and requires vast amounts of time, expense and deliberate effort. Also damper on narrative drama is that you can't normally enchant an existing item. When something is created, that's about as awesome as it gets. Wouldn't it be cool if it could work the other way around, and an item could develop special powers of time through being used in awesome deeds and developing a legend correspondingly. Well, using this system, you can. The result will have a very interesting effect upon a setting, especially when you include the proviso that someone currently owning a magical item will find it a lot harder to create new ones through their deeds. It essentially creates a system whereby the vast majority of items have a legend and original user associated with them, and if you want to make more, you have to do something worth being celebrated without any crutches. That's actually a pretty awesome premise from a narrative PoV. Not sure it jives perfectly with D&D's expected number of items per level thing, but since that only really becomes codified with 3e, that's not really an issue yet anyway. So this is a great idea that has potential far beyond this system, making for good novels as well. Jackpot!


Vampire: The dark ages! Now White Wolf are muscling in on medieval territory. Do you have what it takes to go against the 800 pound gorilla and survive? If you're now a 300 pound orangutang, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.


Bazaar of the Bizarre: David Howery's back again, filling another little idea. Magical scabbards don't get nearly the screentime swords do. I believe this is a perfect topic for the magazine to cover. He's got no shortage of ideas, even if some of them are nicked from existing myths and legends. Should fill up another few pages nicely.

Bondbreakers let you draw your sword even if they're tied up. You're ready to fight anyway. Naughty naughty very very naughty.

Quickarm Scabbards can teleport your sword to your hand and back, even from a distance. This allows you to pull a whole load of tricks and then look innocent as soon as authority turns it's head around.

Scabbards of adjustment fit any weapon perfectly. Hurr hurr, IYKWIMAITYD.

Scabbards of care are another one bringing a feminine touch to proceedings, allowing you to leave the business of oiling and cleaning your weapon to it. That'll save a good bit of time each evening.

Scabbards of empowering give your sword a plus which fluctuates in an interesting manner, depending on how long it stays in the sheath. Which means the less you fight, the more badass you are when you do. Interesting dynamic to have.

Scabbards of Forging can completely fix a broken sword by just shoving the pieces in it and leaving them there. If you don't have the logistics for a blacksmith in your supply train, carry one of these.

Scabbards of flame are another one that empowers their sword. If you kill someone wielding a flaming sword, make sure you take all their stuff.

A Scabbard of Protection gives you another chance to stack extra AC bonuses beyond your armour and shields and rings and boots and etc. Truly, you can get obscene negatives with the right combinations.

Scabbards of Sharpening are another one that makes your weapon badass, but they'll need regular returning for resharpening. Like most of the others, this does not stack with a magical sword's powers. Oh well.

Scabbards of Weightlessness do exactly as it says. If your DM's an encumbrance tracker, this is mildly cool. Otherwise, it's just a bit of extra flavour really.

The Scabbard of wound closure gives you arthurian badassedness. Course, clerics with their blunt weapons'll still be able to take you down, but that just keeps them the powers behind the scenes. Let the fighters have their little bit of limelight, posturing and preening.

Scabbard-swords are an emergency one-use item for if you lose your weapon. The kind of thing made by paranoid wizard/thieves.

Scabbards of binding prevent you from drawing your sword, by being intractably sticky. Unless it's a valuable magic sword trapped in them, it's easier to just discard the bugger, leave it in the treasure pile for the next sucker to solve.

Scabbards of Cowardice try to stop you from taking your weapon out by twisting around, and are of course impossible to discard once you've seen their bad side. Give it to your enemy for the usual fun.

Scabbards of Tripping are even worse, because they hamper you every round you fight. Way to enforce pacifism on people.

 

[David Howery]

and that was the last gaming article I had published.... after this came WOTC, Paizo, 3E, plagues of locusts, etc. etc... I did submit a couple more articles, but they pretty much got lost in the chaos. Once 3E came out and I found myself without a gaming group anymore, I just fell out of the whole RPG thing and stopped writing...