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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5661938" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 243: January 1998</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 7/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>In a class by themselves: A whole bunch of example classes using the class creation system from the DMG? Well, it's not something they've had before, so I'll give them that. On the other hand, when contrasted with the fact that they originally invented the idea in here, back in issue 109, and gave us a rather larger and quirkier selection of custom classes, this really isn't all that. I suppose it's much harder to innovate when the game is so much more filled in, and you need followers as well as leaders to really fill an idea in. But still, this has no emotional impact upon me, which contrasts very sharply to the original in issue 109. Really, all I have to say is meh. This is definitely on the mediocre side of their output. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Arcane Lore: Another trio of greyhawk spellbooks, as they try and bring it back to compete with the Realms. In a few months we'll see new books, but in the meantime you can see them once again apply the exactly the same fluff and crunch principles to two worlds that really need a little more differentiation. </p><p></p><p>The Ice-shard tome is yet another cold themed book. It has another tedious magic missile variant, a similarly standard magical chilling whip that inflicts penalties as well as damage, a nasty cold based slow torture spell, and a rather cool environment manipulation spell that lets you make a long-term freezer for all your storage needs. </p><p></p><p>The Incunabulum of the Forgotten City is one of those books of ancient lore from the fallen suel empire that lots of people'll want to get their claws upon. It lets you make a sadistic variant on mirror image that explodes when you hit the images, become able to monitor a place remotely with great precision, plus two very high level spells that strike directly at the opponent's magical abilities, causing them to misfire and get drained to decidedly unpleasant and somewhat unpredictable effect. The kind of stuff the Wizards Three would be very interested indeed in learning about, with their love of nested counter-counters. </p><p></p><p>The book of Darazell is the work of a wizard/assassin, and has lots of spells designed to bring subtle death, and a few nasty secrets above and beyond that. It's new spells include a sensory impairment one to help you stalk your victim, a telekinetic noose to bring about a slow dramatic death, which is pretty neat, immunity to nonmagical bladed weapons, which I'm pretty sure has been done before, and a magically conjured poisonous blade, which is actually a bit underpowered really. Wizards shouldn't be developing spells that require them to use their THAC0 to hit unless they're multiclassed. So another case of Sturgeon's law being fully in effect with a few neat ideas amongst the familiar and unwanted. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Dungeon Mastery: Margaret Weis's hubby makes his first contribution to the magazine. Co-incidence that they're appearing in the same issue? I think not. So here's a short, system free piece on real life knighthood. With a huuuuuuuuge bibliography. That's really the main attraction here, as trying to fit several centuries of stuff into two pages doesn't quite work. So yeah, he obviously knows his stuff, but you're better served going to those sources than sticking around here. Some people might be able to hook you and give you something useful for your game with half a page, but this is not one of those cases. </p><p></p><p></p><p>KotDT discover the joys of point buy. They may take a while to get playing. Dragonmirth discovers the joy of breath sweets. Swordplay discover what it really takes to motivate them. Floyd falls for the villain's threat. Honestly, even if they're threatening your friend's life, you keep fighting. Following their orders only makes things worse. Do they not realize this yet? </p><p></p><p></p><p>Role-playing reviews: Armageddon sees CJ Carella continue to build upon the unisystem. If Witchcraft was his WoD knockoff, this is his Rifts, upping the power level tremendously, and throwing stuff from every earthly mythology together to fight cthulhu. Power balance certainly isn't perfect, and there is some cruft in the skills and merits list, but the basic system is simple and effective, and the flavour text is pretty great. Really you can do a hell of a lot with the tools given here. </p><p></p><p>Fire, fusion and steel is for Traveller. It gives you guidance on how to build your own spaceship. Unfortunately for Rick, the complexity of the mathematics is beyond his ability to unpick. Which means he really can't judge the quality. It could be great, it could be crap. Either way, it's just too damn crunchy. What can you do? </p><p></p><p>Pocket empires, on the other hand, explains it's new systems in a clear and concise manner. As you might expect, this is their domain management supplement, showing you how to build entire planets and their political structures. Some bits aren't quite as big and comprehensive as they could be, but it's still a nifty bit of design that gives your traveller games rather more room for upward advancement. </p><p></p><p>Anomalies is a collection of 9 mini adventures. This gets 6 pips, with Rick loving every one, and the way they're put together. The presentation isn't actually that great by modern standards, but when the ideas are this good, like in our old skool favourites, who cares. You don't need hundreds of pages to create a great story. </p><p></p><p>First Survey is our clunker of the month, a regionbook falling prey to trying to cover too much ground, and so giving hardly any info on individual places and people. These days, we expect a little more than a list of planets and their general climates. </p><p></p><p>Lords of the expanse is a Star Wars supplement, continuing things in the darker vein they've been following for a while now. You get to play the scheming merchant lords of the Tampani Sector, doing all kinds of morally ambiguous things to advance yourself. Rick's main complaint is his increasingly common longing for an index. And of course, there's his amusing belief that the prequels are going to follow in this vein and be darker than the original trilogy. What is he going to make of the final result?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5661938, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 243: January 1998[/U][/B] part 7/8 In a class by themselves: A whole bunch of example classes using the class creation system from the DMG? Well, it's not something they've had before, so I'll give them that. On the other hand, when contrasted with the fact that they originally invented the idea in here, back in issue 109, and gave us a rather larger and quirkier selection of custom classes, this really isn't all that. I suppose it's much harder to innovate when the game is so much more filled in, and you need followers as well as leaders to really fill an idea in. But still, this has no emotional impact upon me, which contrasts very sharply to the original in issue 109. Really, all I have to say is meh. This is definitely on the mediocre side of their output. Arcane Lore: Another trio of greyhawk spellbooks, as they try and bring it back to compete with the Realms. In a few months we'll see new books, but in the meantime you can see them once again apply the exactly the same fluff and crunch principles to two worlds that really need a little more differentiation. The Ice-shard tome is yet another cold themed book. It has another tedious magic missile variant, a similarly standard magical chilling whip that inflicts penalties as well as damage, a nasty cold based slow torture spell, and a rather cool environment manipulation spell that lets you make a long-term freezer for all your storage needs. The Incunabulum of the Forgotten City is one of those books of ancient lore from the fallen suel empire that lots of people'll want to get their claws upon. It lets you make a sadistic variant on mirror image that explodes when you hit the images, become able to monitor a place remotely with great precision, plus two very high level spells that strike directly at the opponent's magical abilities, causing them to misfire and get drained to decidedly unpleasant and somewhat unpredictable effect. The kind of stuff the Wizards Three would be very interested indeed in learning about, with their love of nested counter-counters. The book of Darazell is the work of a wizard/assassin, and has lots of spells designed to bring subtle death, and a few nasty secrets above and beyond that. It's new spells include a sensory impairment one to help you stalk your victim, a telekinetic noose to bring about a slow dramatic death, which is pretty neat, immunity to nonmagical bladed weapons, which I'm pretty sure has been done before, and a magically conjured poisonous blade, which is actually a bit underpowered really. Wizards shouldn't be developing spells that require them to use their THAC0 to hit unless they're multiclassed. So another case of Sturgeon's law being fully in effect with a few neat ideas amongst the familiar and unwanted. Dungeon Mastery: Margaret Weis's hubby makes his first contribution to the magazine. Co-incidence that they're appearing in the same issue? I think not. So here's a short, system free piece on real life knighthood. With a huuuuuuuuge bibliography. That's really the main attraction here, as trying to fit several centuries of stuff into two pages doesn't quite work. So yeah, he obviously knows his stuff, but you're better served going to those sources than sticking around here. Some people might be able to hook you and give you something useful for your game with half a page, but this is not one of those cases. KotDT discover the joys of point buy. They may take a while to get playing. Dragonmirth discovers the joy of breath sweets. Swordplay discover what it really takes to motivate them. Floyd falls for the villain's threat. Honestly, even if they're threatening your friend's life, you keep fighting. Following their orders only makes things worse. Do they not realize this yet? Role-playing reviews: Armageddon sees CJ Carella continue to build upon the unisystem. If Witchcraft was his WoD knockoff, this is his Rifts, upping the power level tremendously, and throwing stuff from every earthly mythology together to fight cthulhu. Power balance certainly isn't perfect, and there is some cruft in the skills and merits list, but the basic system is simple and effective, and the flavour text is pretty great. Really you can do a hell of a lot with the tools given here. Fire, fusion and steel is for Traveller. It gives you guidance on how to build your own spaceship. Unfortunately for Rick, the complexity of the mathematics is beyond his ability to unpick. Which means he really can't judge the quality. It could be great, it could be crap. Either way, it's just too damn crunchy. What can you do? Pocket empires, on the other hand, explains it's new systems in a clear and concise manner. As you might expect, this is their domain management supplement, showing you how to build entire planets and their political structures. Some bits aren't quite as big and comprehensive as they could be, but it's still a nifty bit of design that gives your traveller games rather more room for upward advancement. Anomalies is a collection of 9 mini adventures. This gets 6 pips, with Rick loving every one, and the way they're put together. The presentation isn't actually that great by modern standards, but when the ideas are this good, like in our old skool favourites, who cares. You don't need hundreds of pages to create a great story. First Survey is our clunker of the month, a regionbook falling prey to trying to cover too much ground, and so giving hardly any info on individual places and people. These days, we expect a little more than a list of planets and their general climates. Lords of the expanse is a Star Wars supplement, continuing things in the darker vein they've been following for a while now. You get to play the scheming merchant lords of the Tampani Sector, doing all kinds of morally ambiguous things to advance yourself. Rick's main complaint is his increasingly common longing for an index. And of course, there's his amusing belief that the prequels are going to follow in this vein and be darker than the original trilogy. What is he going to make of the final result? [/QUOTE]
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