Let's read the entire run

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 260: June 1999


part 3/7


Greater drakes: So you want to ride a dragon, but your DM doesn't want something that'll overshadow the entire party, and is just maybe small enough that a Dragonlance could actually make sense as a combat implement. I think we have a perfect niche to be filled by an article. After all, they've already given us a whole load of draconic familiars, and lesser dragon variants to fight, and half-dragons for when you have sex with them, and equipment made out of their body parts. Why not adapt them to fill other niches in your life as well. Or would that just be unhealthy?

Vandalraug are the base model, bigger and tougher than most, but with no special features. If it's raw damage you want, then go for the vanilla option.

Kavainus are bony and spooky, can see ghosts, and become ethereal. This makes them amazing on a tactical level, and handy when hunting undead. You can ride them nearly anywhere, but you can't mistreat them, because they'll be able to escape any restraints. Better be good to them.

Arsalon have yellow and black scales, and form a symbiosis with a wasp or bee nest in their throat. Which means their breath weapon is bees. (my god) That's both interesting and pretty funny. I want to use these just to see the looks on people's faces.

Retchenbeast are little and toadlike, perfect for riding in swamps, and regurgitate swamp muck at their enemies. Since there are real world creatures that do similar, this makes perfect sense, and doesn't violate physics at all. And it's a better idea than trying to tame a froghemoth, that's for sure.

Silisthis are the underwater ones, long and thin and eel-like. They work like elephants or octupi, storing water in their throat sacs and then squirting it at high pressure to knock down assailants or speed their swimming. Once again, this seems grounded in real world ecological principles. Which actually isn't surprising, given it's been written by our resident ecologist. These are much better than his previous attempts at making new monsters.

Fumarandi breathe smoke formed by the chemical reactions of their toxic digestive systems. They tend to be quite cranky, and of course you might want a gas mask if you're gonna ride them, but there are worse things than adding chemical warfare to your arsenal. Have fun trying to properly train them.

Of course, these new options aren't complete without some kits to make it easier for players to get on board. In the spirit of generosity, Johnathan gives one to each class group. Air Knights are the popular heroes of the sky, inspiring the population as they protect them, and probably acquiring nicknames along the way. But if they lose their mount, they will mope. Generally, I think that's a substantial net positive.

Sky Wizards have things even better, as they don't even have that minor drawback. Like swashbucklers or dragon hunters, their only "drawback" is that they're so awesome that they're very likely to be the first target for any major trouble. Which from an adventurer PoV is just another benefit. Twinkitude!

Storm Priests, on the other hand, bear the weight of responsibility for their team on their shoulders, and suffer if they start to lose. Better make sure you're tactically prepared and on the winning side then.

Wind Scouts aren't so popular, because the public doesn't appreciate the strategic importance of knowing the terrain before a battle. They also have a tendency to be grumpy loners. After all, they're more legit than most rogues, but they're still not perfectly suited to the military life. So these are pretty fun, but do slant towards a higher-powered game by default. Having flying and substantial extra attack capabilities right from 1st level will make a huge difference.


Ahh, the silver anniversary rereleases. Now these mark the point where D&D really started feeding off it's own past rather than outside sources. Sort of an orobourus wyrm, getting more and more incestuous with each generation.

 

[LordVyreth]

Arsalon have yellow and black scales, and form a symbiosis with a wasp or bee nest in their throat. Which means their breath weapon is bees. (my god) That's both interesting and pretty funny. I want to use these just to see the looks on people's faces.

Is somebody a Linkara fan? Or just a reader of bad comics? You're right; this does sound like a fun article. And I love the names: a smoke-breathing monster called Fumarandi and vomiting toad called Retchenbeast are perfect.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 260: June 1999


part 4/7


Draconic design: Who wants to build their own unique dragon with random rolls?! Well, that's taking things a step further than Lew Pulsipher did way back in issue 50. Yes, it looks like it's back to the old skool time again, with an idea that could have been done 20 years ago, but they never got round to it. Greg Detwiler once again puts together two ideas that have been done before to create a result which hasn't. The joys of combinatoric math. The result isn't that comprehensive, you still need to do quite a bit of the mechanical work yourself, but that does make it less system specific. And it is grounded pretty well in myths from around the world. So this is workmanlike rather than inspired, but pretty useful and fun both in playing around to see what you get, and in it's potential to provide lots of encounters for your game that the PC's won't instantly know what to do with. It seems he's still quite valuable in making sure they have enough good articles to fill their issues.


Spawn of tiamat, Children of Bahamut: Tiamat and Bahamut were two of the original unique monsters from the very first Monster Manual. While there have been a few more over the years, such as the Corpse Tearer and the Steel & Grey Dragon, it hasn't caught on like doing new Demon Lords has. I think that part of this is because regular great wyrms are so incredibly scary, anything capable of reliably kicking their ass would be a real challenge for even a level 20+ party. And indeed, even a quick scan of their stats show these guys do not match up to the average great wyrm, which makes them a bit problematic when put in context.

An-Ur, the wandering death lives on the ethereal plane and gorges itself on ectoplasm and proto-matter. With the ability to semi-materialise and attack while staying near invulnerable, and send people scattering to random other planes, it'll be a real pain to fight if you don't have easy access to planeshifting powers, even if it doesn't kill you. So at lower levels it'll be more a plot device than something that gives you a TPK, and even at higher levels you'll have to play it smart to win. Interesting.

Dhrakoth the Corrupter is also rather weaker physically and magically than a good wyrm, but makes up for that with energy draining. It's curiously slow as well, so you'll be able to outrun it if outmatched. Without the versatility of spellcasting, and zombies it's only minions though I can't see it sustaining a long-term plot.

Mordukhavar the Reaver is the only one of these that matches up to a regular red wyrm in terms of general toughness, and even it may lose out in a slugfest due to the lack of damage bonuses on it's physical attacks. Still, compared to the Devils it actually hangs out with, it has more than enough magic to compete in the 9 hells political games, and the muscle to kick a pit fiend's ass no trouble. It's all about comparison.

Medrinia is the undersea emissary of Bahamut. She's almost the equal of a great wyrm bronze dragon, but not quite, and she can summon large amounts of dragon turtles to back her up if she needs to make a point. I think that'll make up for any shortcomings against an individual superpowerful monster.

Xathanon isn't hugely powerful or versatile, but can move at unlimited speed, and empower others, temporarily turning them into great wyrm gold dragon proxies to kick ass in it's stead. This is obviously a huge opportunity for the players if they play their cards right. I approve.

Vanathor the golden Harpist sees them fail music theory as well as game mechanics. 6 octave vocal range is not enough to go from subsonic to glass-shattering. Still, that means it does get 6 breath weapons, and it also has 19th level spellcasting abilities, so once again what he lacks in power he'll make up in versatility. So this article has lots of cool ideas, but doesn't back them up with the mechanical rigor and research they need to fit into AD&D's established power ranges. Rather disapointing, really.


Dragon names: As with the elven name guide, it's time to string together some long chains of syllables. A long life means plenty of time to rack up the achievements, and add on more descriptives and superlatives to bolster the ego. Keep rolling, adding on more until you have too many for a player to remember, so the dragon then has good reason to get pissed off at them when they fail to use it's full name when referring to it. Tee hee. This is very much fluffy filler to round off the themed section. Still, we've had worse.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 260: June 1999


part 5/7


Van Richten's legacy: Ah yes, the Foxgrove-Weathermay sisters. Faced with the question of how to replace Van Richten after they killed him in Bleak House, they decided to give his role to two younger nieces, (well, technically not blood relations, but the daughters of one of his adventuring companions.) and continue the story. After all, it's not as if there's brand new monsters appearing regularly that his research would no longer cover. Ravenloft likes to stick to variations on the classics. But anyway, this isn't so much about them, as it is a description of Van Richten's old home. Overflowing with books, more than a few weird magical items, and the requisite secret room where the extra dangerous stuff is kept, this is filled with references to various Ravenloft modules and characters. He even has the sunsword from the original module, and isn't that going to make it a hell of a lot harder for any present day adventurers to finish Strahd off for good. Ravenloft is actually really tiny when you look at the math. I once added up the populations of all the domains, and it comes to around 1.5 million, total. That's small enough that everyone can get personal attention from the monsters that lurk pretty much everywhere, and any name level adventurers will encounter the domain lords along the way. For all they might try to draw upon the same vein as the WoD, you aren't really powerless or insignificant to them, and once you've got a few levels under your belt, you can make a real difference. So this has some moderately useful setting info, and a hell of a lot more you can read between the lines. The gameline still has a few more twists to come before they cancel it and hit the reset button.


Nodwick visits another classic dungeon, and finds it's been turned into a tourist attraction. For once, everyone is in agreement on what needs to be done.


Fiction: The honor of two swords by Kate Novak-Grubb. (what, was she not getting enough recognition writing using purely her maiden name?) We return to telling stories of Jeff & Kate's personal group, last seen in issue 247. Here, we finally find out how Ishi got dishonoured back in the east, and she gets to make up for that with some serious asskicking. And also learning that while honor is admirable, it doesn't always work, especially when you're dealing with weird supernatural beings. Sometimes you've got to play it smart, and it's ironic that the paladin would wind up being the one teaching that lesson. This is definitely one of their better bits of gaming fiction, as it bucks stereotypes, isn't yet another origin story, and has a stable romance in it that isn't consumed by drama. See, you can make that interesting if you try. Plus Wizard of Oz references. There's room for a few more stories using these characters.


Dragon! Guardian of the skies. This deluxe model can be yours for only $195. Ai Carumba. I've got guitars that are worth less than that.


The ecology of the Aspis: Aww. It wants to pretend it's people. Only it's not very good at it, unlike dopplegangers or steel dragons. Aspis are one of those intelligent hive creatures that are generally going to stick to the nest. But it's not inconceivable that one might be sent out to acquire information, rebel, or be the sole survivor of their hive, and wind up becoming an adventurer. Once again, Johnathan proves adept at constructing a distinctive voice and mindset for the creatures he's covering, making them both plausible and fairly amusing. With a nicely twisty tale, full of ed up undertones (stockholm syndrome and love potions, hmm) and rules for making them available as PC's, this is well up to his usual standard. He's really making this series his own.


This month's competition is suitably birthdaylicious. And very specific. Design a new greater Drake. Not a new monster, not a new dragon, but a new greater drake. Hmm. I'm really not sure what to say to that.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 260: June 1999


part 6/7


Arcane Lore: We've had plenty of birthday issues where dragons get new toys. How about a little something for us poor schmucks who actually have to kill them? There's been plenty of people who've lost their lives to dragons, you'd think a few of them would become wizards in their relentless quest for vengance instead of going the knightly route. Yup, I think I approve. This column hasn't suffered nearly as much from topic moribundity as the Bazaar or Bestiary.

Dust Shield is a minor but useful shielding effect that'll keep the environment from messing with you, and annoying swashbucklers from throwing sand in your eye. Since flying dragons can make a mess, this is pertinent, if the least of your worries once they're about to breathe on you.

Chain Invisibility is a sneaky little trick designed to rile up a dragon or other greedy fool. Your stuff isn't really gone. But taking the time to realise that mid-combat'll make you vulnerable.

Fizzlebreath is another one that'll make them waste a few rounds, and quite possibly panic. Remember, they can often kill you in one hit, so don't even let them get that off.

Body Reunion is an interesting sympathetic magic that's useful for hunting not only dragons, but all sorts of missing creatures. A scale, a lock of hair, an old baby tooth, whatever it takes.

Lockjaw is another one to make sure they can't even attack. Now what we need is something to blunt their claws and clip their wings, and enough wizards to unleash them all at once.

Soften Scales is another pretty obvious defence reducer. After all, they do have huge negative AC's. Even an experience warrior will struggle to get hits in if you don't help them.

Earth Magnet is pretty much what I expected it to be. If you're flying, it grounds you, if you're earthbound, it sticks you there. Since Draconic mobility is underused by too many DMs, consider if you want to bother.

Temporary Youth is really mean for dragons, but pretty neat for the rest of us. A bit longer would be nicer though, as with a tiny duration, it's only good for combat, not social tricks. Maybe a higher level variant then. Still, it's good that this stuff isn't totally focussed on one monster. It's definitely more PC friendly than the last few years.


Role models: This column serves a dual purpose, as seems to have become it's formula. The majority of it is devoted to the rules disputes that are far easier to resolve when you have minis, questions of positioning and how far characters can move in a round, which lets you know if characters can attack other ones, and what ranged modifiers they're likely to be facing. This becomes especially important if you split the party, and one hears the other in trouble, or some similar inconvenience. Meanwhile, the second, shorter sidebar is about painting faces. The secret here is to imply, not overdetail, as minis are small, and you won't be able to make out details unless you get really close. When it comes to faces, the human mind has an amazing ability to extrapolate and fill in the blanks. So once again, it does two things in two pages, and doesn't go into much depth on either. Does White Dwarf still do painting advice at this point? I know they went from covering all sorts of systems into pure house organ as well, but is that still within their remit? And are they only pandering to the new kids, or do they still produce material aimed at long-term fans? If only those threads hadn't stalled in the low double digits. So anyway, while Dungeoncraft is steaming ahead adding new depths to our roleplaying design skills, this column is not keeping up with respect to minis. It all remains a bit basic.


PC Portraits: Not too surprisingly, this column goes for the dragonslayer option. As with the sci-fi one, I think showing their bodies would allow the artist more ability to accurately represent this specialisation. As it is, the main thing they share is a certain intensity of expression. Well, we have had quite a few dragonslayer kits over the years, and they don't have that much in common either, particularly the spellcasting ones. Given how smart dragons are, that's probably for the best. If they know what's coming, they will have prepared a countermeasure. So as usual, this doesn't give me a huge amount to talk about, and you could easily use the portraits for other purposes. Meh. Give it a year or so more to wear out it's welcome.

 

[Hussar]

This issue sounds so bloody familiar. I think I owned this one at one point, but, in my rather frequent moves, it's been long lost. Sigh.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 260: June 1999


part 7/7


Zero point players: The Alternity article this month is essentially a sci-fi Rogues Gallery column. They've recently released a novel for Star*Drive as to try and get the property cooking, and here's the tie in statting up some characters from it. Fairly standard promotional method these days. Let's see if the characters are cliches.

Pete Sokolov is a dual wielding badass with a cybernetic arm, and a whole bunch of general enhancements. He fits the brooding loner stereotype to a tee, is an ex secret agent, and is an expert at computer hacking and martial arts. I suspect he'll still get his ass kicked by a team who can really specialise in their various disciplines. In the meantime, it seems like he's very much stamped from the mold that produced Drizzt. Again. Give. Me. A. Break.

Geille Monashi is also a dual-wielder, and despite the description saying she wears a sensible jumpsuit, the artist just has to giver her a stripperific twist. She can psychically interface with computers, which lets her pull off amazing tricks on the net. Once again, she's a self-sufficient loner, and the two of them have to learn how to work together to get through the plot. Formula!

Karcen Borun looks like the main villain. He's bio-enhanced and plastic surgeried to the gills, and is doing his best to take over the megacorp and damn the costs to everyone else. I'm guessing he fails eventually. Selfishness is it's own reward.

Marius Grayes is a mid-level legbreaker in the Syndicate. Genetically engineered to deal with high gravity, this makes him exceedingly strong in regular environments. He's very much a blunt, direct straight-talker, which means he's unlikely to ever get to the top, but he has more than enough loyal followers to make a good fight for a group of PC's. So these characters don't step far out of their cookie-cutters, but they might be handy for use in actual play. Much mehness, really.


Dragonmirth has a really hard puzzle, and some clever tricks to show us. KodTD has a TPK. You really need to spot when the enemies aren't bluffing.


TSR Previews: The number of releases continues to decrease, while the amount of rehash stays high. Return to the keep on the borderlands takes us back to see who's moved in since it got cleared out in the early 80's. Actually, it's pretty similar, only with more plot. Hey ho. Drizzt's tales are also getting reprinted. Popular fella, for someone who broods so much.

In the new stuff, the Realms gets Skullport, Another place within spitting distance of Waterdeep for adventurers to get some XP in. Like undermountain isn't enough for an entire career already. Dragonlance sees Dezra's Quest by Chris Pierson. Looks like it's the centaur's turn in the spotlight during the chaos war. Who's next, the Irda? And finally, Alternity's novel series seems pretty busy too. Zero Point by Richard Baker. What a rubbish collection.


ProFiles: Richard Baker is one of the designers who really shaped TSR's 90's output. Somehow, he managed to get in on his first try, even without having done any gaming work beforehand. After contributing to a whole load of settings, and writing more than a few generic books as well, he was one of the lead designers for Birthright and Alternity. As ever, even the works that weren't commercial successes are presented very positively in the magazine, with him being "very happy" with the way they turned out. He continues to prove his versatility, moving into novels as well. What part will he play in the next few years of products? As ever, we shall see.


Continuity continues to gradually return to the magazine, with quite a few references to previous issues and other books. The quality remains fairly constant, but I think I'm enjoying it a little more when there are a whole bunch of outside connections to spot. Obviously there'll be another new beginning fairly soon when 3rd edition comes out, but in the meantime, they ought to make the most of the longest-running, most filled in edition of them all. On we go then.

 

[jonesy]

ProFiles: Richard Baker is one of the designers who really shaped TSR's 90's output. Somehow, he managed to get in on his first try, even without having done any gaming work beforehand. After contributing to a whole load of settings, and writing more than a few generic books as well, he was one of the lead designers for Birthright and Alternity. As ever, even the works that weren't commercial successes are presented very positively in the magazine, with him being "very happy" with the way they turned out. He continues to prove his versatility, moving into novels as well. What part will he play in the next few years of products? As ever, we shall see.

And now found over yonder:

Hi, folks!

If you followed my blog over at Wizards of the Coast, you can now follow it here:

Robot Dragon Battleship


Hope to see you around!


Rich Baker
Game Designer, Author
Self-employed Man About Town

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 261: July 1999


part 1/7


116 pages. Succubus Pron, Succubus Pr0n. Classically inspired Succubus P40n. Well and truly back in fashion after being consigned to the middle pages in the 90's. If any of their covers says screw the old code of conduct, let's get some fanboys in, it's this one. So yeah, this is testament to just how much they have changed already, despite in many ways seeming to play things safe compared to TSR. It's definitely worthy of note. Of course, whether the contents'll be as daring is still up to question. Still, it should be easier to find out than forming a relationship with another real person and getting to see them naked. Let's continue pushing the bounds of geekery ever further.


Scan quality: Excellent, no indexing.


In this issue:


The wyrms turn: Although it's not particularly obvious in the contents page, this issue has a shadow theme. And so Dave uses this editorial to talk about moral ambiguity in your heroes. While the idea of edgy, badass anti-heroes who struggle constantly with their darker side rose to prominence in the 90's, they still have yet to really fall out of fashion. If anything, they might still be growing in popularity, despite having become a derided cliche in themselves. I suppose that's a testament to how people want to view themselves. Since the average person has more than a few moral slips in their closet, they find it easier to identify with a flawed hero than one who is utterly steadfast in their rectitude, and never even drops litter or breaks the speed limit. And without internal conflict, the writer might actually have to give their heroes a decent challenge to keep the story interesting. So this is an amusing little editorial that shows us some of the more interesting little quirks of human nature. We might strive for perfection, but if we achieve it, we grow bored and actively look for an excuse to leave it and do something different. What are we to do with ourselves?


Sage advice goes first for a change. Haven't had that in a while.

Can spellcasters cast spells in armor that doesn't count as armor (no. It just means thieves suffer no penalties. )

Does shield completely negate magic missiles. (Only if you have the right facing. You are keeping track of your characters facing, aren't you.)

Are Sha'ir gen improvement rituals variable in time or not (no, actually)

How the hell does a sha'ir survive the longer rituals (stamina and magic assistance. If it were easy, everyone would do it straight away.)

What happens when dimension door goes awry in sigil or ravenloft. (Say hello to Skip's friend Confusion! Who knows where you'll end up. Skip recommends it be troublesome, but not instantly fatal. )

When do you become invisible again after attacking wearing a ring of invisibility. (When you make yourself invisible again. The onus rests on you. )

What happens if you combine there/not there and invisibility ( you never know if you'll stub your toe or not. It's most inconvenient )

If you close your eyes, is an object automatically not there (no)

Does there/not there work on people (no. That could cause existential crises. )

What happens if a giant throws a boulder that isn't there for it's target. ( events will conspire so that they make sense for all observers, no matter how improbable that is.)

Does a rope of entanglement work on huge creatures (If it's long enough. Usually it will be.)

Can you recharge Nidus' wand of endless repetition. How. ( Yes. It's an item from an obscure forgotten realms book, so a spell from another obscure forgotten realms book seems appropriate. )

Can a ghost use their aging attack on the astral plane (No, for a whole number of reasons. Your cosmological knowledge is messed up.)

How much damage does an exploding staff of the magi do (A quite ridiculous amount if it's well charged. You'd have to be mad to do it. )

What's an unseen servant's movement rate (6. No, you can't dress it up in a maids uniform, you sick pervert. )

Can you memorize more than one copy of a spell (Recyled question. Yes you can)

Can you set ioun stones into things (not if you want them to actually work. It's more impressive when they're floating around you anyway.)

What happens if you kill someone wearing a hat of disguise. (They turn back. Not the best way to penetrate a disguise though. Just take their hat off.)

What happens if you affect tanar'ri with poisonous or nondamaging gas effects (Immunities trump resistances. Resistances do nothing when irrelevant. )

Can you feed someone at deaths door a goodberry (no. They'll choke. You'll accelerate the problem you were trying to prevent. )

How long does a goodberry last (see the duration of the spell, dummy.)

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 261: July 1999


part 2/7


D-Mail: We start off with two letters of praise for issue 258, in particular Bruce Cordell's man vs machine epic. Yeah, that one's joining the hall of fame alright. Not hard to figure that out.

Of course there was also the matter of issue 258's reduced size, which does not go unnoticed either. They're not particularly happy about having to do that either. We need more advertisers! Sales wouldn't hurt either, as the more readers you have, the more advertisers are willing to pay.

Of course, there's always someone who has to complain about the slightest pushing of the envelope, and so we get another letter saying they don't want to see technology in their AD&D, or Alternity in their magazine at all. It's quite strange how little variety they want.

A bunch of talk about 256's Dungeoncraft, and how names and words form, and are appropriated and bastardised by other languages. This is a topic that whole books have been written about. A magazine article is not going to be able to give an in depth and nuanced coverage of this.

And finally, another letter from someone who thinks the magazine has improved quite a bit from the final days of TSR. They're concentrating on what they ought to be concentrating on. Well, that's certainly true, whatever subjective quality analyses might be made.


Nodwick passes on his experience to a new generation of henchpeople.


Forum: Christopher Record thinks monks and psionicists ought to be part of the same class group, as they both draw from the same power source. We are seeing a surprising number of things that they'll only get round to adopting 2 editions later in here.

James Walker reminds us that the DM isn't always right, and letting the players affect your plot in a logical way is more interesting for both sides than railroading. The game is most fun when no-one knows for sure how things are going to turn out.

Daniel Chilcott wonders what nonstandard races really means. You ought to have plenty of options for PC's, so you can choose what ones are standard for your world, instead of being stuck in tolkien rip-off land again.

Pierrr Van Rooden thinks that priests and bards are actually the most powerful classes at the moment. They're certainly the most flexible. We've had plenty of arguments about this one before.

Clyde A. Starr Jr has suggestions for the rules that would result in the books being absolutely massive. We can't compile everything good about the last edition into the corebooks.

Jack Pitsker thinks that healing ought to scale with level, otherwise characters actually take longer to get back to full health as they advance. Very good point, whether HP are a reflection of toughness or cool, it makes more sense for them to replenish in proportional amounts.


Dungeoncraft: Ray finally can't put off making a map any longer. But before he does, he takes another lesson from the old modules and brings it up to date. Rumours! After all, it's good enough for the caves of chaos. Having a good dozen or two rumours, some of them false, some true, means your players have a ton of incentive to stick around the general area of their home base until they're used up. And having red herrings and active lies being spread by people makes the world seem bigger, not just a backdrop to whatever story the DM wants to tell, that'll reveal just whitespace if you go off the path. I approve. The mapping advice, on the other hand, is fairly typical. Make it useful, visually distinctive, and give the things within it logical placements. And make sure the number of NPC's statted up correlates with the number of buildings in a sensible fashion. The kind of basic checklist that of course many published modules ignore freely, and indeed, you can probably get away with missing out several of the elements in this one, as long as you make sure the ones you do include are good. So really, despite Ray saying you shouldn't do more work than you need to, following every single step in his columns will result in a bit of overkill. Just do as much as you can in the time you have available. We are making progress, but it's obvious now Ray's in for the long haul, and'll be giving out new bits of information accordingly.