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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5674223" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 245: March 1998</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 4/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>Little rascals: A little bit of hyperspecialisation here. Dwarf Rogue kits. Since the complete dwarves handbook only gave us 4, adding another 4 gives them a decent number of new opportunities to advance themselves. Or not, particularly if they turn out to be the sort that trade tangible benefits for purely social penalties. Which is particularly a temptation for rogues, given the inherent illegality of their skillset. </p><p></p><p>Delvers are dwarven indiana jonses, mining to dig up ancient artefacts and quite possibly world destroying monstrosities if they're not careful. They do indeed have substantial benefits in exchange for a mild social penalty. And this does irk me a little. </p><p></p><p>Hoardsackers specialise in stealing from Dragons. This does seem like a pretty suicidal occupation, and indeed, it doesn't make them popular with older more conservative dwarves. And as with the warrior kits who's benefits are all dragon specific, they'll have to actively work to make them useful. So really, their benefits don't outweigh the risks. </p><p></p><p>Scurr appear to be dwarven jesters, but they're actually spies for their governments, pretending to be pratfalling merrie pranksters while keeping their eyes and ears open for gossip and state secrets. Other dwarves who aren't in on the secret think they're complete and utter twats, and if they're found out, they can expect terminal dismissal. If you look a little deeper you'll see the tears of a clown. </p><p> </p><p>Talebearers are the only popular ones, being another dwarven bard variant focussing on stories and historical info. Amazingly enough, the author once again makes their only penalties social, simply saying their powers don't work as well on nondwarves. So that's 4 for 4, in a shockingly poor bit of mechanical design. That's almost Complete Elves handbook level of benefits exceeding penalties twinkery. I do not approve at all. If you try and fight the mary-sues on their own terms, and in the process become like them, everybody loses, even if you technically win. Bad writer. No cookie for you. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Wyrms of the north: Ed gets round to talking about draconic naming conventions of Toril. He's not just throwing syllables into a blender, there's actually a plan behind them. Or at least, there is now. How much of it is retroactive is hard to tell. Which I suppose is another reminder how many notes he has still to mine and turn into published articles. The dragon itself is another interesting example of how Ed is getting away with rather more than he used too. Imprisoned by a sadistic mother who enhanced her with regenerating spells and used her as her food source, before she was freed when her mother's magical experimentation killed her via Akira style limb growing overdose. That's some pretty high octane nightmare fuel right there. And it has indeed left her pretty traumatised, with huge trust issues and a tendency to go berserk if something triggers flashbacks. But thankfully, it hasn't led to the abuser becoming the abused, with her becoming rather protective towards people who play it straight with her. So this is another rather interesting character study that once again shows us just how much more he can get away with than any other writer they have on the staff. (except possibly the new boss) And precisely because of that fact, it holds the attention more than another rehashed helping of magical items or monsters. It also shows yet again that he's planned quite a bit of this stuff out in advance, with more references to dragons yet to come. I can't dislike this, as it's still just more ambitious and adventurous than anything else the magazine is doing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5674223, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 245: March 1998[/U][/B] part 4/8 Little rascals: A little bit of hyperspecialisation here. Dwarf Rogue kits. Since the complete dwarves handbook only gave us 4, adding another 4 gives them a decent number of new opportunities to advance themselves. Or not, particularly if they turn out to be the sort that trade tangible benefits for purely social penalties. Which is particularly a temptation for rogues, given the inherent illegality of their skillset. Delvers are dwarven indiana jonses, mining to dig up ancient artefacts and quite possibly world destroying monstrosities if they're not careful. They do indeed have substantial benefits in exchange for a mild social penalty. And this does irk me a little. Hoardsackers specialise in stealing from Dragons. This does seem like a pretty suicidal occupation, and indeed, it doesn't make them popular with older more conservative dwarves. And as with the warrior kits who's benefits are all dragon specific, they'll have to actively work to make them useful. So really, their benefits don't outweigh the risks. Scurr appear to be dwarven jesters, but they're actually spies for their governments, pretending to be pratfalling merrie pranksters while keeping their eyes and ears open for gossip and state secrets. Other dwarves who aren't in on the secret think they're complete and utter twats, and if they're found out, they can expect terminal dismissal. If you look a little deeper you'll see the tears of a clown. Talebearers are the only popular ones, being another dwarven bard variant focussing on stories and historical info. Amazingly enough, the author once again makes their only penalties social, simply saying their powers don't work as well on nondwarves. So that's 4 for 4, in a shockingly poor bit of mechanical design. That's almost Complete Elves handbook level of benefits exceeding penalties twinkery. I do not approve at all. If you try and fight the mary-sues on their own terms, and in the process become like them, everybody loses, even if you technically win. Bad writer. No cookie for you. Wyrms of the north: Ed gets round to talking about draconic naming conventions of Toril. He's not just throwing syllables into a blender, there's actually a plan behind them. Or at least, there is now. How much of it is retroactive is hard to tell. Which I suppose is another reminder how many notes he has still to mine and turn into published articles. The dragon itself is another interesting example of how Ed is getting away with rather more than he used too. Imprisoned by a sadistic mother who enhanced her with regenerating spells and used her as her food source, before she was freed when her mother's magical experimentation killed her via Akira style limb growing overdose. That's some pretty high octane nightmare fuel right there. And it has indeed left her pretty traumatised, with huge trust issues and a tendency to go berserk if something triggers flashbacks. But thankfully, it hasn't led to the abuser becoming the abused, with her becoming rather protective towards people who play it straight with her. So this is another rather interesting character study that once again shows us just how much more he can get away with than any other writer they have on the staff. (except possibly the new boss) And precisely because of that fact, it holds the attention more than another rehashed helping of magical items or monsters. It also shows yet again that he's planned quite a bit of this stuff out in advance, with more references to dragons yet to come. I can't dislike this, as it's still just more ambitious and adventurous than anything else the magazine is doing. [/QUOTE]
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