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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5734642" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine annual 1998 </u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 1/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>124 pages. Big dragon, little dragon, it's hard to tell here. What have I said before about establishing scale in extreme close-ups? And making teeth fit together so they don't lacerate when you shut your mouth is always a good idea. It's not as if dragons don't have plenty of money to pay for a decent dentist. I guess it's probably a trust issue. Actually, the question of dragon teeth is an interesting one. Do they grow slowly but constantly to ensure they aren't worn down, do they produce multiple sets over the course of their lifespans and dramatic changes in size, or are they just incredibly hard, and extra ones fill in the gaps as they increase in size? We may never know. The question of what's in this third annual, on the other hand, shouldn't be too hard to answer. Let's see if any of the potential special features really are all that. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Scan quality: Good. Page widths vary, no indexing. </p><p></p><p></p><p>In this issue:</p><p></p><p></p><p>The wyrms turn: A fairly standard what's in the magazine blurb by the editor. It's time to try and cover as many settings as they can again, incorporate an adventure for the Dungeon fans, and give a little something to all their surviving systems as well. Just like the first annual (and doesn't that seem a long time ago), only without the CCG's. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> But what hasn't changed from then is the lesson that the company really needs to pay attention to it's fans, for if they don't, it could all fall apart. So there is a note of genuine humility and eagerness to please here that we've only seen a few times before. That's definitely worth noting, even if the contents don't seem that different. I wonder what the overall mood in the office is like at this point. </p><p></p><p></p><p>By dragons ruled and divided: I did suspect before that Ed had the full Wyrms of the North column series planned out, and quite possibly written even before they started publishing it. This pretty much confirms it, with full info on their territories, including the dragons 5 that have yet to be published. Which also tells us that it'll be drawing to a close sometime next year. But on his terms, not because people have been complaining in the letters page. While they may have been cutting down on the number of articles with continuity elsewhere, he continues to weave an ever larger and more tangled web with his inexhaustible supply of Realmslore, and both the public and the editors are happy to let him do so. He's already by far their biggest contributor, and his lead is only increasing as time goes on. This just makes it all the more obvious just how much he's done, and how much he still has a handle on all the information circulating around despite it's quantities. So this really serves as a capstone to this column, a testament to his talents, while vouching for his verbosity. And I'm sick of these superlatives, so let's progress to the next page. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Weaponmasters of the Flanaess: Greyhawk makes another attempt to compete with the Realms on it's own ground, that of providing new crunch that's generic enough to use anywhere, but also has details tying it into the specific setting as well. Only this time, more effort is spent on crafting the setting detail than the underlying crunch, as new fighting styles and combat tricks take up less room to describe than new spells and monsters. So really, this is two attempts at playing catch-up in one, given the frequency new combat styles turn up by comparison. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> That's not to say it's bad. The characters are well sketched out, have plenty of variety in fighting styles and are well integrated into the setting. And the new manoeuvres are useful but not overpowered, and not all of them require spending slots just to be able to use them. It's certainly better than some of the previous attempts at this. And it's well integrated with previous books that touch on the topic as well, providing options for S&P and regular characters. So it's not on the level of Ed's output, but I'm feeling fairly positive about this one. It reinforces that like the game as a whole, seeing the setting die once means some people are ironically all the more passionate about it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5734642, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine annual 1998 [/U][/B] part 1/8 124 pages. Big dragon, little dragon, it's hard to tell here. What have I said before about establishing scale in extreme close-ups? And making teeth fit together so they don't lacerate when you shut your mouth is always a good idea. It's not as if dragons don't have plenty of money to pay for a decent dentist. I guess it's probably a trust issue. Actually, the question of dragon teeth is an interesting one. Do they grow slowly but constantly to ensure they aren't worn down, do they produce multiple sets over the course of their lifespans and dramatic changes in size, or are they just incredibly hard, and extra ones fill in the gaps as they increase in size? We may never know. The question of what's in this third annual, on the other hand, shouldn't be too hard to answer. Let's see if any of the potential special features really are all that. Scan quality: Good. Page widths vary, no indexing. In this issue: The wyrms turn: A fairly standard what's in the magazine blurb by the editor. It's time to try and cover as many settings as they can again, incorporate an adventure for the Dungeon fans, and give a little something to all their surviving systems as well. Just like the first annual (and doesn't that seem a long time ago), only without the CCG's. :p But what hasn't changed from then is the lesson that the company really needs to pay attention to it's fans, for if they don't, it could all fall apart. So there is a note of genuine humility and eagerness to please here that we've only seen a few times before. That's definitely worth noting, even if the contents don't seem that different. I wonder what the overall mood in the office is like at this point. By dragons ruled and divided: I did suspect before that Ed had the full Wyrms of the North column series planned out, and quite possibly written even before they started publishing it. This pretty much confirms it, with full info on their territories, including the dragons 5 that have yet to be published. Which also tells us that it'll be drawing to a close sometime next year. But on his terms, not because people have been complaining in the letters page. While they may have been cutting down on the number of articles with continuity elsewhere, he continues to weave an ever larger and more tangled web with his inexhaustible supply of Realmslore, and both the public and the editors are happy to let him do so. He's already by far their biggest contributor, and his lead is only increasing as time goes on. This just makes it all the more obvious just how much he's done, and how much he still has a handle on all the information circulating around despite it's quantities. So this really serves as a capstone to this column, a testament to his talents, while vouching for his verbosity. And I'm sick of these superlatives, so let's progress to the next page. Weaponmasters of the Flanaess: Greyhawk makes another attempt to compete with the Realms on it's own ground, that of providing new crunch that's generic enough to use anywhere, but also has details tying it into the specific setting as well. Only this time, more effort is spent on crafting the setting detail than the underlying crunch, as new fighting styles and combat tricks take up less room to describe than new spells and monsters. So really, this is two attempts at playing catch-up in one, given the frequency new combat styles turn up by comparison. :p That's not to say it's bad. The characters are well sketched out, have plenty of variety in fighting styles and are well integrated into the setting. And the new manoeuvres are useful but not overpowered, and not all of them require spending slots just to be able to use them. It's certainly better than some of the previous attempts at this. And it's well integrated with previous books that touch on the topic as well, providing options for S&P and regular characters. So it's not on the level of Ed's output, but I'm feeling fairly positive about this one. It reinforces that like the game as a whole, seeing the setting die once means some people are ironically all the more passionate about it. [/QUOTE]
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