Let's read the entire run

[jonesy]

Dungeon mastery: What would October be without some advice on running horror campaigns? Although actually, this sees them recognise that horror games, particularly D&D ones, work better if they have a little light and shade.

Totally agree with this sentiment. If the game is completely dark and broody and 'ooh, look out, behind you' all the time it dilutes the eerie and scary elements into nothing and then players start getting bored instead of interested. The best way to start a horror game is in perfect daylight with not a worry in sight, as if the game world itself was having a case of Wrong Genre Savvy.

 

[noisms]

My preferred method at the moment is 18d6, (maybe a few added drop lowest, as it allows far greater granularity than going straight to 4d6 drop lowest) assign 3 per stat. It has all the brutality of straight rolls, while generally at least letting you get into the class you want.

Now that's interesting. I've never even thought of doing it that way.

What made you decide on that?

 

[(un)reason]

Now that's interesting. I've never even thought of doing it that way.

What made you decide on that?

I found I enjoyed the choices you have to make doing it like that. You can generally get high scores in the stats you really need, but then you have to make hard decisions with the rest of your dice. It appeals to both the old school and character optimisation wonk sides of my personality at once.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 264: October 1999


part 6/7


Rogues gallery: Another instance of their increasing use of computer game material, with some characters from Planescape: Torment getting stats. Well, it did have some of the most interesting characters and plotting D&D games have produced. In hindsight it seems a fairly sure-fire choice. And it's definitely better than another forgotten realms novel.

Morte the floating skull gets to be a 10th level bard, with hit points that are impossible for a normal character of his stats and level, and dramatically different accuracies for his bite and headbutt. That is quirky. I suppose that's emulation for you. I suppose if he's irritating, hard to hit, and tough, you have an excellent distraction while the actual protagonist does the real work. It's a classic sidekick setup, especially when you're playing a silent hero, and need something hanging around to do exposition. And let's face it, he can hardly be more annoying than Navi.

Ravel Puzzlewell is a somewhat senile night hag, who's been imprisoned by the lady of pain, but could escape all too easily if her was together. She's eaten a whole bunch of magic items, which I assume she gives you if you fulfil certain conditions in the game. I can see how this one plays out all too easily. That's quirky for you. It too can become predictable, especially if you keep using the same voice actors.

Pharod Wormhair is a human, but pretends to be a tiefling for the extra street cred. He sells corpses, which means you may well encounter him when you die and come back. He also has tons of junk looted from them, which seems like another obvious opportunity. Do you get to kill him if he screws you, or will you have to talk for your plot coupons?

Fall-From-Grace is a succubus who's become Lawful Neutral, ironically, and joined the sensates. This does not mean she's given up on looking sexy, of course, only actually having any. But she does collect a wide variety of other sensations, and it looks like you can sell some of your more unique experiences to her. So this lot do seem very much in keeping with the planescape tone. I could see myself stealing them for my game.


Wolverine vs The Brood Queen: We've had fast-play introductions for D&D and Alternity fairly recently. I'm not at all surprised they're doing one for the Marvel Superheroes game. It's much smaller than the others though, at only 7 pages, and comprised purely of a single combat between our infamous canadian anti-hero, and the aforementioned xenomorph expy. No room for roleplaying or exploration here, it's pure asskicking with a few tactical options to liven things up. I suppose that gives them a real chance to show off the system. Since Wolverine has regeneration, he's pretty likely to win this fight eventually, but the alien queen will take a fair bit of pounding to finish off, and even with cards, things can be pretty swingy from round to round. As with all the fast-play games, this is really simple, even moreso than the old modules they used to do in the magazine, and won't do more than whet your appetite. Not sure if it'll get people buying or not. After all, those who've been reading the magazine regularly will already know about the game, and probably made their mind up. Those who haven't won't even notice. Unless they're also putting this in the middle of actual comics as well. Did they?


What a surprise. This month's contest is for ghost stories. Lets get those horrific juices flowing.

Shop keep has another case of why do they bother?


Role Models: Once again, they both provide new rules, and give you advice on how to implement them, before finishing up with a mini-scenario taking advantage of the new crunch. They're really getting this little formula down to a tee. This time, it's vertical movement, which can be rather tricky when using minis. Their solution? Bits of wire to wrap around your minis and hold them at the appropriate heights. Not a terrible solution, but one that will get very messy if you have lots of flying things or a zero-G environment to represent, and are moving them all around on a turn-by-turn basis. Still, unless you can afford quantum-locked supercooled magnets, or can fly into orbit just to play a game, it does seem like one of the better solutions. (the really simple one, stacking pogs, runs into problems when things are directly above each other.) This is fairly thought-provoking, as it presents a problem that doesn't have an immediately obvious solution, and requires some real world engineering knowledge to deal with, not just clever rules. Which is pretty cool, really. Anyone have other solutions to the 3D problem they'd like to share?

 

[jonesy]

Rogues gallery: Another instance of their increasing use of computer game material, with some characters from Planescape: Torment getting stats.

I didn't understand any of their choices for the characters. But they are the ones who wrote the horrible Torment novel, so..

I did like the art for the characters, but not for the characters they were supposed to look like. The art doesn't even agree with the descriptions in the dragon article itself. Ravel is called purple skinned, and in the picture she's red.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Wolverine vs The Brood Queen: Those who haven't won't even notice. Unless they're also putting this in the middle of actual comics as well. Did they?

I don't know if they did or not . . . but they did send it out to game and comic stores as a stand-alone free sample. They also did a Captain America vs. Baron Zemo one, and I've heard rumors of a Thing vs. Doctor Doom version as well.
Unfortunately, this is being done just as WotC kills the Marvel game--a product advertised for October or November (the Marvel Tales/Spider-Man Roster Book) will never be produced, nor will several others contracted for and even solicited in Previews.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 264: October 1999


part 7/7


Legacy of the dragon: Are Vampires getting everywhere again?! Not even Alternity is safe. I'm not really surprised, their popularity shows no signs of abating. Why shouldn't they try to get a small slice of that pie. The result owes more to WoD vampires than D&D ones, oddly enough, right down to terminology like ghouls and the kiss. I suppose that shows once again how they've captured the imagination of game designers and the public in general. And when you have a point buy system for powers, and need to present lots of options which individuals might or might not have, then of course it makes sense to mine the nearest reference material. So this is pretty derivative, but since they're actively trying to be generic, that's not too surprising. It does manage to squeeze in a few quirks in their specific settings, involving vampires of different species, and how the undead in general adapt to space travel. Overall though, I think this is just too predictable to be anything other than average.


7 of 9 gets to be on the cover of Amazing Stories. Pandering!


Dragonmirth fails again. It'd be less funny if they didn't. KotDT goes full colour. Someone turned the contrast up a little too high in fact. And they're fighting amongst themselves again. What do they need a GM for anyway?


TSR Previews: D&D gets another product designed to lure newbies in. The Diablo II Adventure game. Hee. Pregens, full rules and starting adventures based on the computer game. Ahh, joy.

AD&D is fairly rehashed, with the priests spell compendium vol II. Still pretty handy, really. They do seem to be trying to make the vast amounts of things they've made over the past 10 years accessable.

Greyhawk keeps trying to stay alive by feeding off nostalgia. White plume mountain gets a novelisation by Paul Kidd. The amusing group we've seen before in this magazine bicker their way through classic locations.

Dragonlance is doing even worse, reprinting Murder in Tarsis by John Maddox Roberts. Since that's one of the more slated novels in the series, I'm very surprised it sold well enough to justify this.

The Realms do their usual trick of having novels tied in with recent adventures. Under Fallen Stars by Mel Odom lets you see how the official metaplot events of the sea of fallen stars adventures will go. Once again, the setting details'll be out of date before you know it.

Ravenloft reaches out it's misty tendrils with Carnival. Another way to bring horror into any campaign, and quite possibly turn the characters into monsters. Muahahahahaha!!!!! Just pray they don't bring you with them into the demiplane itself.

Alternity gets another last ditch attempt to bring in more players before they cancel the line. Another fast-play set, with everything you need to get things going, but probably not enough to play a long term game. So you'll then have to spend extra for the actual corebooks. The writing's on the wall.


Profiles: Brom! Yes, that is his real name. Hee. He looks like he should be in a nu-metal band. Anyway, he's one of this decade's iconic artists, doing tons of RPG stuff, and more than a few other things as well, including book covers, computer game design, CCG's, and film work. He's also writing his own novel on the side, as everyone does. For someone who creates such dark illustrations, he seems pretty cheery. Guess angst worked out is no longer a problem. And as long as there's an audience for being slightly unsettled in a safe environment, he'll have plenty of work to make a living from.


Quite a few goofy bits in this issue, which i'm pretty sure was intentional. Some of them hit the mark, some of them didn't, but the quota of truly forgettable filler was fairly low at least. And the countdown definitely adds a certain frisson to the proceedings. Knowing exactly how long we have left will hopefully make people appreciate these issues all the more.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 265: November 1999


part 1/7


116 pages. Volcanos! Jungles! Savages! I can certainly see the thematic links there, even if they don't actually spell out the issue's theme. It's time for a journey into the rougher side of nature, the bits the druids don't talk about when they're trying to recruit newbies by talking up how awesome maintaining the balance is. Or maybe they do, because you want a certain number of people who don't mind blowing stuff up with lightning bolts, earthquakes and flame strikes. I guess you've got to tailor your spiel to your audience. Guess I should see if they've tailored this issue to my preferences.


Scan Quality: Excellent, indexed.


In this issue:


The wyrms turn: Another double length actual play story this month, as Dave tells us a particularly entertaining tale of the DM introducing special guest star PC's who may or may not be traitors, and the effect this had on the game. Since these guys are consummate professionals, this actually went pretty well, and when taken over by dopplegangers, they took to their new roles with sadistic glee. So this shows that despite recently saying you should always play heroic characters, deep down, they want to cut loose and do horrible things when they can get away with it as much as anyone. It's also a strong reminder that you can have sex, gore and PvP in a game and have a lot of fun as long as everyone can handle it. You can't spend all your time in safe happy parental guidance land. (and even there some shows slip quite a bit past the censors) Take some risks, do something that they'll definitely remember, even if you aren't certain they'll like it. Better to go out in a blaze of glory than hang around bored.


D-Mail: We kick off with a letter about MUD gaming. It's not doing too badly for itself, although it'll never really become a huge mainstream thing, and as the internet becomes faster and more commercialised, they eventually get sidelined by more visually flashy mediums. WotC never do do one, although White Wolf had a rather busy one on their site back in the day. I do have a certain soft spot for them, although really, I do regret losing a couple of years due to MU* addiction back then. Oh well. It's not a proper vice if you don't regret it, and I always did suck at the sex, drugs and rock and roll thing.

We follow up with some general praise, with a minor criticism. While modern art looks better, it's not always as useful as functional diagrams and maps. A very important lesson. Why spend all that extra money if it doesn't benefit the player?

Then we have a letter from someone who's found Dungeoncraft very useful in their actual play experience. The kind of letter that encourages them to keep it on next year when they look at their roster and consider a revamp.

A little more cliche twisting is added to the mix, hopefully giving us some more ideas to use in our own game.

A really interesting idea to create a computer-aided module that automatically scales with your characters, with computer aid. Not too hard to implement, really, but they'll stick to regular paper ones that don't do this more than a couple of levels up or down.

And finally, we have a complaint about them cropping their cover images and plastering them with promotional gumph. Sorry, their covers are just going to get more irritatingly cluttered in the next few years. Apparently they need all that promotion.


Nodwick faces his most encumbrance-busting lift yet.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 265: November 1999


part 2/7


Nodwick faces his most encumbrance-busting lift yet.


Forum: Martin Rosenkrantz tells us a story of how things went horribly wrong for him. Even with a saving throw of 3, that's a 10% chance of failure. It will come up sooner or later.

Gordon Dunne wants the house rules of maximum HP at first level and making fighters more interesting implemented. Another case of someone being in luck.

Ian Mathers reminds us that the AD&D combat round is abstracted over a whole minute. The difference between a monk's slaps, and a two handed sword swinging is pointless, as each roll still represents many individual attacks in both cases.

Garry Stahl has a pretty similar opinion to mine on the subject of deceiving your players. NPC's should lie shamelessly if it suits their personality and goals.

David L. Nelson thinks the average soldier ought to be at least a proper 1st level fighter. That'll go a long way towards keeping settlements safe from both adventurers and marauding humanoids. PC's shouldn't be so special. It might help keeping them from getting overconfident.

David Pierce thinks that the relative power levels of characters pales in contrast to their player's ingenuity in terms of impact on the game. How many times have we seen complete newbies beat mighty dragons in stories by using their brains?

Roy Greenhalgh reminds us that while clerics may be powerful, their god is a big balancing factor. Presuming they're played properly anyway. We've been through this before. Fluff penalties don't compensate very well for mechanical bonuses, because they're so often ignored.


Dungeoncraft: Ray continues to balance the pressures of verisimilitude, and filling the world with secrets to explore and monsters to kill and take the stuff of. Course, the two are not mutually exclusive, you just have to think about what effect all these monsters would logically have on the human communities and each other. This is why I wouldn't start with too small scale a map. It means you can have more things on a map without it seeming crowded, and allows the players to heal up, train, and generally advance the timeline during the days or weeks it takes to journey between significant locations, which also leads to a more realistic advancement rate. So as usual, I agree with most of Ray's advice, but not all of it. Everyone is going to run things slightly differently, and that's a good thing really. I think I'm always going to prefer doing things on a large scale wherever possible.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 265: November 1999


part 3/7


Sage advice: Do planescape characters get modifiers to the new thieving abilities (yes)

Does true seeing reveal if you've been artificially aged (no. It's your true form now.)

What happens to stuff a druid is wearing while an animal when they turn back (It falls off. Nothing so spectacular as merging.)

How quickly does control temperature work (instantly and insistently.)

Does a ring of fire resistance protect against normal fire (easily. )

Can you summarize negative status penalties. (if you like)

Can animal friendship break a familiars bond (no. That's their primary loyalty, no matter what. )

Can arrows fired from a magical bow hurt creatures that need magic weapons to hit. (no. The extra force comes at the release stage. )

What does the Paralyzation spell do? (use hold person if you can't be bothered to get the compendium. They are not that different anyway)

What spheres do knights of solamnia have (Kiri-Jolith's. He's the guy responsible. )

What happens if you disjoin a cage of Zagyg (they escape unharmed)

Can invisible creatures see other invisible creatures (no. Pixies have to work something out. I'm sure they're used to it, as they've grown up not seeing each other most of the time. )

Why do duergar PC's have their spell level limited to 10. (To keep the game from breaking)

Do speciality druids count as clerics or druids for purposes of level limits. (Druids)

How fast do Trow swim. (Faster than you. Better hope you're faster than your buddies)

If you take 6 continual lighted coins into an area of continual darkness, how many of them are cancelled out (1. Basic maths, my dear.)

Can you guard with a whip (Yes. What do lion tamers do? )

Which has default in order of attacks, reach or initiative (reach. Damn useful, reach. )

What happens if two people charge each other simultaneously (they can't. The resolution system doesn't work like that. Once one of them's closed, the other can't charge. )

Can you do more than one attack of opportunity against a swooping creature (Only if it does multiple provoking actions. Probably no, in other words. )

There's 40 posts on your message boards debating exactly how wall of force works. That's huge. (Oh my. Skip must get caught up on this newfangled intartubes thing. The private sage cannot be seen to not know what Skip is talking about. )

How much room do you need to charge (15 feet)

Can a +4 defender sword hurt things that need +4 to hit (No. It's the attack bonus that counts. Same reason you can't shield bash things with your magical shield and do tons of damage. )


ProFiles: Wolfgang Baur is another of our writers who's turned his hand to all sorts of things, and come out pretty well, as much due to luck as skill. Planescape, Al-Qadim, Birthright, he's certainly contributed to quite a few books that I personally enjoyed. Currently, he's immersing himself in conspiracy theory fun as he writes for Alternity's Dark Matter setting. But not taking the things he reads too seriously, thankfully. After all, as he knows, real life is very much about luck. Vast global conspiracies that stay secret against against all the odds just wouldn't be able to hold themselves together, given human nature.