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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5724978" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 253: November 1998</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 4/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>With a twist: Avoiding monoculture with nonhuman races is one thing we've talked about quite a few times over the course of this journey. Well, now we have random tables for that too! Sometimes I love doing this. This is both useful and amusing. Not too surprised to find out it's another one from the pen of James Wyatt, who continues to come up with interesting takes on niche topics. Some of them are fairly extreme, going well beyond any real world cultural variations to the point of whole subraces. But I guess that's nothing new, especially for elves with their tendency to splinter at the drop of a terrain. You try to compensate for a problem, and you can wind up overcompensating. Still, his contributions remain a lot more interesting than the average writer. I can see why he's getting plenty of repeat work from them. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Sufficiently advanced magic: Or putting AD&D elements in Alternity. Well, they're doing another racial conversion the other way just a little later in the issue, so why not. Actually, it turns out my first impression is disingenuous, as the talk about AD&D magic is restricted to a sidebar, and it's mostly about even more advanced technology than the default setting details. Since all of these are well known from other stories, this seems to be a pretty arbitrary distinction, but I suppose the distinction between magic and technology can be, especially when psionics essentially is magic with a veneer of technobabble. So really, I'm left pretty underwhelmed by this article. The statistics of the two systems are close enough that converting stuff between them isn't hard. And it doesn't introduce new ideas or mechanical tricks. Really, it's just a bit of filler that only got through because they're trying to give consistent coverage to their new system. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Fiction: Guardian of the barrow by Nancy Varian Berberick. We had one Beowulf story fairly recently in issue 236. Here's another quite different one. Set in his twilight years when the dragon showed up, it's a rather floridly written piece that reminds us that life goes on when one person's story is over. The dragon may be slain, Beowulf may have fallen as well, but a new person has to take over the role of king, and figure out what to do with the unstable political situation and the dragon's treasure. (I think one will wind up solving the other, one way or another. ) So it occupies an uncomfortable middle between trying to pay homage to the style of the original poetry, and present a more realistic view of things, not quite succeeding at either. The fiction department may have more hits than misses, but this isn't one of them. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Planar sites design contest. Looks like they're really racking up the number of competitions. What's this in aid of?</p><p></p><p></p><p>AD&D game aliens: Here we get the AD&D conversion for the Fraal, aka the Alternity system's take on Gray aliens. Frail physically, but with tremendous mental abilities, they have unlimited advancement as psionicists, (if they can make the Con minimum) but pretty limited class abilities otherwise. Still, even the ordinary individuals among their race have substantial Wild Talents, and other bonuses to their mental powers, which they pretty much take for granted amongst their own race. This does lead to another big drawback, that of not dealing very well with being alone, but that's solvable by having more than one of them in the party. (which is a good idea anyway, given their skill at psychic synergies. ) So they're quite powerful in their own way, but their limitations mean they certainly won't take over the whole game, for a party still needs a rogue and a wizard. And they are relatively iconic for a new race. If you're playing a game which includes the odd sci-fi element like Barrier Peaks they'd fit right in.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5724978, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 253: November 1998[/U][/B] part 4/8 With a twist: Avoiding monoculture with nonhuman races is one thing we've talked about quite a few times over the course of this journey. Well, now we have random tables for that too! Sometimes I love doing this. This is both useful and amusing. Not too surprised to find out it's another one from the pen of James Wyatt, who continues to come up with interesting takes on niche topics. Some of them are fairly extreme, going well beyond any real world cultural variations to the point of whole subraces. But I guess that's nothing new, especially for elves with their tendency to splinter at the drop of a terrain. You try to compensate for a problem, and you can wind up overcompensating. Still, his contributions remain a lot more interesting than the average writer. I can see why he's getting plenty of repeat work from them. Sufficiently advanced magic: Or putting AD&D elements in Alternity. Well, they're doing another racial conversion the other way just a little later in the issue, so why not. Actually, it turns out my first impression is disingenuous, as the talk about AD&D magic is restricted to a sidebar, and it's mostly about even more advanced technology than the default setting details. Since all of these are well known from other stories, this seems to be a pretty arbitrary distinction, but I suppose the distinction between magic and technology can be, especially when psionics essentially is magic with a veneer of technobabble. So really, I'm left pretty underwhelmed by this article. The statistics of the two systems are close enough that converting stuff between them isn't hard. And it doesn't introduce new ideas or mechanical tricks. Really, it's just a bit of filler that only got through because they're trying to give consistent coverage to their new system. Fiction: Guardian of the barrow by Nancy Varian Berberick. We had one Beowulf story fairly recently in issue 236. Here's another quite different one. Set in his twilight years when the dragon showed up, it's a rather floridly written piece that reminds us that life goes on when one person's story is over. The dragon may be slain, Beowulf may have fallen as well, but a new person has to take over the role of king, and figure out what to do with the unstable political situation and the dragon's treasure. (I think one will wind up solving the other, one way or another. ) So it occupies an uncomfortable middle between trying to pay homage to the style of the original poetry, and present a more realistic view of things, not quite succeeding at either. The fiction department may have more hits than misses, but this isn't one of them. Planar sites design contest. Looks like they're really racking up the number of competitions. What's this in aid of? AD&D game aliens: Here we get the AD&D conversion for the Fraal, aka the Alternity system's take on Gray aliens. Frail physically, but with tremendous mental abilities, they have unlimited advancement as psionicists, (if they can make the Con minimum) but pretty limited class abilities otherwise. Still, even the ordinary individuals among their race have substantial Wild Talents, and other bonuses to their mental powers, which they pretty much take for granted amongst their own race. This does lead to another big drawback, that of not dealing very well with being alone, but that's solvable by having more than one of them in the party. (which is a good idea anyway, given their skill at psychic synergies. ) So they're quite powerful in their own way, but their limitations mean they certainly won't take over the whole game, for a party still needs a rogue and a wizard. And they are relatively iconic for a new race. If you're playing a game which includes the odd sci-fi element like Barrier Peaks they'd fit right in. [/QUOTE]
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