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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5698804" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 249: July 1998</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 3/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>Below the tomb of horrors: A second double tie-in, sort of, as we have material here that's useful for both the old and new tomb of horrors modules. Since the original Tomb was a mere 12 pages long, 2 of which was taken up by the pregens; plus the separate illustration book, this is actually a pretty substantial add-on, nearly doubling the amount of potential challenges they could face if they take a wrong turn. As this is the tomb of horrors, you can expect to be utterly screwed if you don't choose your actions very carefully, and won't even get a saving throw on many of the challenges, instead having to use your OOC ingenuity if you want to succeed. And even if you do get out, there are subtle traps in the magic items that'll cause you more problems along the line. So this is very much for the hardcore amongst you, and much of it feels like a conscious attempt to emulate Gary's sadisticness. And it did elicit a few diabolical chuckles from me, so it must be doing something right. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Sixguns and Sesheyans: It becomes apparent that their theme of Historical Fantasy this month is actually a pun with a double meaning, as they're referencing both real world history, and the history of gaming in their articles. Here, they're bringing Boot Hill to Alternity! Not that they really covered Boot Hill enough in the magazine for me to feel nostalgic about it the way I might if they bring back Marvel, Gamma World or Star Frontiers material. But making a left turn like this helps them establish Alternity as a universal system, not just a sci-fi one, until they can get a few more settings out. While this concentrates on the wild west, it also gives some details on the development of firearms throughout history, and the various ways you could introduce fantastical elements to the milieu, allowing you to take advantage of the already introduced crunch. Most of this falls into the competent but dry mold, with the exception of the final setting ideas, as there is a lot of info to be dumped upon us. So I didn't really enjoy reading this one, but can recognise it's usefulness. I think it needed another writer to really bring the Wahoo spirit. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Fiction: Wakes the Narrow forrest by J Gregory Keyes. Ah yes, Fool Wolf. I recall being told that he becomes another recurring character in the magazine, along with Orion and Ed's stable of bickering wizards. And as it turns out, he's a brooding loner hero who has some very good reasons for being the way he is. After all, when you have a powerful spirit bonded with you that has a nasty habit of killing everyone around you whenever it's let out, it kinda precludes the possibility of long-term healthy relationships. Becoming a hermit or an irresponsible drifter actually seems the safest course of action. There's some pretty substantial worldbuilding in this story, and it does lay the groundwork for further adventures without slowing itself down with exposition. My main complaint is of course with the complete failure of editing, putting the pages of the story in the wrong order, which took quite a bit of effort to unravel. Unlike little mathematical miscalculations, that's not the kind of thing you just shrug off. Someone's going to get reprimanded for this. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Wyrms of the north: Since Ed was the one who originally created Weredragons, I was wondering when he'd do one in this series. Wonder no more! As usual with Ed, we're dealing with an exceptional example of an already exceedingly rare subspecies. Her humanoid form is a Drow, and her Draconic form is a Shadow Dragon. But she does have the typical Weredragon trait of using sex to get what she wants, then eating paramours that become troublesome. And is also of dubious sanity, engaging in behaviour that makes it likely she'll be killed by some band of heroes eventually. So this is one of his more PC friendly articles, presenting a character that isn't so powerful and well prepared that they won't be able to pin her down and beat her if they play it smart, and that gives them good reasons to want to fight her in the first place. And the new spells are low enough level that people could use them, and useful enough that they would actually want to learn them. So as usual, there's plenty of merit in what he's writing, and you can easily steal bits for your own campaign if you like. He's building on what he did before to good effect as well. He just gets the best of both worlds, doesn't he.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5698804, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 249: July 1998[/U][/B] part 3/8 Below the tomb of horrors: A second double tie-in, sort of, as we have material here that's useful for both the old and new tomb of horrors modules. Since the original Tomb was a mere 12 pages long, 2 of which was taken up by the pregens; plus the separate illustration book, this is actually a pretty substantial add-on, nearly doubling the amount of potential challenges they could face if they take a wrong turn. As this is the tomb of horrors, you can expect to be utterly screwed if you don't choose your actions very carefully, and won't even get a saving throw on many of the challenges, instead having to use your OOC ingenuity if you want to succeed. And even if you do get out, there are subtle traps in the magic items that'll cause you more problems along the line. So this is very much for the hardcore amongst you, and much of it feels like a conscious attempt to emulate Gary's sadisticness. And it did elicit a few diabolical chuckles from me, so it must be doing something right. Sixguns and Sesheyans: It becomes apparent that their theme of Historical Fantasy this month is actually a pun with a double meaning, as they're referencing both real world history, and the history of gaming in their articles. Here, they're bringing Boot Hill to Alternity! Not that they really covered Boot Hill enough in the magazine for me to feel nostalgic about it the way I might if they bring back Marvel, Gamma World or Star Frontiers material. But making a left turn like this helps them establish Alternity as a universal system, not just a sci-fi one, until they can get a few more settings out. While this concentrates on the wild west, it also gives some details on the development of firearms throughout history, and the various ways you could introduce fantastical elements to the milieu, allowing you to take advantage of the already introduced crunch. Most of this falls into the competent but dry mold, with the exception of the final setting ideas, as there is a lot of info to be dumped upon us. So I didn't really enjoy reading this one, but can recognise it's usefulness. I think it needed another writer to really bring the Wahoo spirit. Fiction: Wakes the Narrow forrest by J Gregory Keyes. Ah yes, Fool Wolf. I recall being told that he becomes another recurring character in the magazine, along with Orion and Ed's stable of bickering wizards. And as it turns out, he's a brooding loner hero who has some very good reasons for being the way he is. After all, when you have a powerful spirit bonded with you that has a nasty habit of killing everyone around you whenever it's let out, it kinda precludes the possibility of long-term healthy relationships. Becoming a hermit or an irresponsible drifter actually seems the safest course of action. There's some pretty substantial worldbuilding in this story, and it does lay the groundwork for further adventures without slowing itself down with exposition. My main complaint is of course with the complete failure of editing, putting the pages of the story in the wrong order, which took quite a bit of effort to unravel. Unlike little mathematical miscalculations, that's not the kind of thing you just shrug off. Someone's going to get reprimanded for this. Wyrms of the north: Since Ed was the one who originally created Weredragons, I was wondering when he'd do one in this series. Wonder no more! As usual with Ed, we're dealing with an exceptional example of an already exceedingly rare subspecies. Her humanoid form is a Drow, and her Draconic form is a Shadow Dragon. But she does have the typical Weredragon trait of using sex to get what she wants, then eating paramours that become troublesome. And is also of dubious sanity, engaging in behaviour that makes it likely she'll be killed by some band of heroes eventually. So this is one of his more PC friendly articles, presenting a character that isn't so powerful and well prepared that they won't be able to pin her down and beat her if they play it smart, and that gives them good reasons to want to fight her in the first place. And the new spells are low enough level that people could use them, and useful enough that they would actually want to learn them. So as usual, there's plenty of merit in what he's writing, and you can easily steal bits for your own campaign if you like. He's building on what he did before to good effect as well. He just gets the best of both worlds, doesn't he. [/QUOTE]
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