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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5663120" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 243: January 1998</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 8/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>Re:Views: A few years back, Rick and Lester shared the RPG reviews column from month to month. Now Lester's got his own, as it seems the public is demanding more reviews, but they don't want to bring back computer games, minis, proper book reviews, or anything else. So instead of variety in topic, we have variety in format, with this gimmicky attempt to seem modern by placing the review in the context of an email. (which it might actually be, if Lester doesn't work in the building with them) So this ironically looks more dated than the regular reviews, just like calling the letters column D-Mail. Still, let's see if the content is good despite the format. And really, it doesn't seem that different, although it is shorter. Description, good points, bad points, roundup. </p><p></p><p>Asylum sets the PC's within a city sized madhouse, in a postapocalyptic wasteland, where everyone, including them, is quite quite mad. It seems to be a textbook case of cool ideas, somewhat amateurish presentation. Take the setting, and convert it to another set of rules like GURPS. So really, this isn't that different from the regular reviews. I'm thoroughly underwhelmed. </p><p></p><p></p><p>TSR Previews: March sees another half a dozen new items and change for your enjoyment. The forgotten realms has finished looking at Netheril, and is off to Cormanthyr instead. The lost library of cormanthyr by Mel Odom is the novel. They may be gone, but their defenses against intruders are still very much alive. For those of you who want to travel back and play it for yourselves, buy Cormanthyr: Empire of elves. Can you change the present during your stay in the past? Let's hope they don't start ret-conning things via time travel in setting. </p><p></p><p>Dragonlance is really getting into the swing of the 5th age. Wings of fury gives us more info on dragons under the new ruleset. We've seen the novel characters stand up to the great dragons and suffer in the process, now you can see if your characters can run it any better. The novels continue to be a bit goofy, with The Doom Brigade by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin. Draconian and dwarf are forced to work together to survive. Monsters get humanized in the face of bigger, badder monsters. </p><p></p><p>Ravenloft gets Shadowborn, by William W Connors and Carrie A Bebris. Another story of heroism perverted within the domain of dread. Can the shadowborn family make a difference, or will they become monsters as well. </p><p></p><p>Planescape finally fills in the inner planes, with their 3rd monstrous compendium appendix. Have fun, try not to die too suddenly. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Profiles is back after ten and a half years. I guess the staff has changed enough that this'll be able to fill another year or two of articles. I wonder if we'll see any recurring faces, and if so, how they'll have changed in the interim? </p><p>Our first face is indeed a familiar one. Margaret Weis may have lost a little hair, and an agent since her last photo in issue 120 (cancer is a cruel mistress), but her writing has gone from strength to strength, producing multiple multimillion selling series, which has probably made her quite wealthy. She's now making sure that she gives back to the community, helping out young writers. Quite a sweet profile really, and definitely gives me a better picture of the person behind the profile than the old one. She's still pretty busy, with the Sovereign stone setting her next big project. Definitely interesting to see this series return, as it'll help me get some more perspective on the progression and turnover of the big faces in the hobby. </p><p></p><p></p><p>While there's a few interesting new things in this issue, there's also a quite ridiculous amount of repeated material, even more so than the last couple of years. I'm getting an idea why people don't talk about this period very much. Besides the reduced readership, the fact that they're really playing it safe leaves me wondering what there is to talk about. Well, apart from the stuff that's relevant to the next edition, but that's still over 2 years away. That's going to be a long, slow buildup, isn't it. I'm once again left quite eager to keep moving.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5663120, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 243: January 1998[/U][/B] part 8/8 Re:Views: A few years back, Rick and Lester shared the RPG reviews column from month to month. Now Lester's got his own, as it seems the public is demanding more reviews, but they don't want to bring back computer games, minis, proper book reviews, or anything else. So instead of variety in topic, we have variety in format, with this gimmicky attempt to seem modern by placing the review in the context of an email. (which it might actually be, if Lester doesn't work in the building with them) So this ironically looks more dated than the regular reviews, just like calling the letters column D-Mail. Still, let's see if the content is good despite the format. And really, it doesn't seem that different, although it is shorter. Description, good points, bad points, roundup. Asylum sets the PC's within a city sized madhouse, in a postapocalyptic wasteland, where everyone, including them, is quite quite mad. It seems to be a textbook case of cool ideas, somewhat amateurish presentation. Take the setting, and convert it to another set of rules like GURPS. So really, this isn't that different from the regular reviews. I'm thoroughly underwhelmed. TSR Previews: March sees another half a dozen new items and change for your enjoyment. The forgotten realms has finished looking at Netheril, and is off to Cormanthyr instead. The lost library of cormanthyr by Mel Odom is the novel. They may be gone, but their defenses against intruders are still very much alive. For those of you who want to travel back and play it for yourselves, buy Cormanthyr: Empire of elves. Can you change the present during your stay in the past? Let's hope they don't start ret-conning things via time travel in setting. Dragonlance is really getting into the swing of the 5th age. Wings of fury gives us more info on dragons under the new ruleset. We've seen the novel characters stand up to the great dragons and suffer in the process, now you can see if your characters can run it any better. The novels continue to be a bit goofy, with The Doom Brigade by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin. Draconian and dwarf are forced to work together to survive. Monsters get humanized in the face of bigger, badder monsters. Ravenloft gets Shadowborn, by William W Connors and Carrie A Bebris. Another story of heroism perverted within the domain of dread. Can the shadowborn family make a difference, or will they become monsters as well. Planescape finally fills in the inner planes, with their 3rd monstrous compendium appendix. Have fun, try not to die too suddenly. Profiles is back after ten and a half years. I guess the staff has changed enough that this'll be able to fill another year or two of articles. I wonder if we'll see any recurring faces, and if so, how they'll have changed in the interim? Our first face is indeed a familiar one. Margaret Weis may have lost a little hair, and an agent since her last photo in issue 120 (cancer is a cruel mistress), but her writing has gone from strength to strength, producing multiple multimillion selling series, which has probably made her quite wealthy. She's now making sure that she gives back to the community, helping out young writers. Quite a sweet profile really, and definitely gives me a better picture of the person behind the profile than the old one. She's still pretty busy, with the Sovereign stone setting her next big project. Definitely interesting to see this series return, as it'll help me get some more perspective on the progression and turnover of the big faces in the hobby. While there's a few interesting new things in this issue, there's also a quite ridiculous amount of repeated material, even more so than the last couple of years. I'm getting an idea why people don't talk about this period very much. Besides the reduced readership, the fact that they're really playing it safe leaves me wondering what there is to talk about. Well, apart from the stuff that's relevant to the next edition, but that's still over 2 years away. That's going to be a long, slow buildup, isn't it. I'm once again left quite eager to keep moving. [/QUOTE]
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