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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5762937" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 259: May 1999</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 5/7</p><p></p><p></p><p>Rogues Gallery: Another turn in Waterdeep, once again cementing it's place as the most detailed city in the most detailed campaign world. Many people think this is getting too much, but as Elaine Cunningham says here, people never seem to get tired of stories set in New York, so why should Waterdeep become old hat either? Maybe if we had a few more new writers, it'd help keep things fresh. But no, I guess it's another regular heavy month here. This is another column that has become far too formulaic as it's gone on. </p><p></p><p>Isabeau Thione is another sexy female thief who is fully aware of her physical attributes and exploits them to get what she wants. Seems like that's a female empowerment fantasy as much as a male sex one, as many women would love to have that kind of self-confidence and guilt-free selfishness that they can't pull off in reality. And as with last month, this makes alarm bells go off in my head. The glamour of the bad girl really isn't my thing. </p><p></p><p>Myrna Cassalanter is a professional rumor-monger. While technically a bard, she doesn't use a whole bunch of the abilities of her class. In a more technically advanced society, she'd totally be a tabloid writer. Like any hack, she's not above twisting the truth if it looks like there's more profit in it than being strictly truthful. And profit she does, having quite the mansion. It's alright for some. </p><p></p><p>Jerome Diloontier is a perfumer and occasional poisoner. Magically enforced discretion is his watchword. An oily bastard, he's not an outright villain, but he's certainly not a likeable character. His personality traits seem pretty easy to play out, and he's involved in plenty of plots, so he's one that your PC's could well run into over the course of an investigation. Muahahaha. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Dragon's bestiary: Johnathan M. Richards scours the infinite variety of the natural world once again, and manages to find a topic that isn't totally overdone for a change. Symbiotes. Despite being scarily common in reality, they've got even less coverage over the years than underwater or arctic things. This is actually one area White Wolf games do better than D&D, with so many of their supernatural types the product of unnatural symbiosis/parasitism. This could well contribute something valid to our game, even if it's ideas are straight from reality again. </p><p></p><p>Blood puddings are another transhuman metamorphosis a wizard could practice to make themselves immortal and a bugger to destroy permanently. They flow into you in gross fashion and take over your body. How pleasingly visceral and paranoia inducing. </p><p></p><p>Skullcap ivy replaces your hair with, well, ivy. On the plus side, that lets you photosynthesise. On the negative side, it looks weird and bugs will be attracted to the flowers in your hair. I doubt druids would mind that though. </p><p></p><p>Worry-warts are a pun creature that grows in you, does exactly what it says on the tin, and is near impossible to get rid of. Eww. Shoulda had this one last month. </p><p></p><p>Powerslugs supercharge your adrenalin glands, eventually making you die of a heart attack, but in the process substantially boosting your stats. One that could be a boon if cultivated carefully, and strikes a nice balance between carrot and stick. An excellent end to a collection I mostly quite like. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Wyrms of the north comes to an end, with a good old Z name. And another dragon that spends most of their time in human form, gradually doing long-term stuff to make the world a better place. (cue michael jackson song) It's a good thing the Realms has lots of powerful NPC's on both sides of the moral divide, or we'd be screwed. It's a particularly good example of how magical technology could advance in their future, if it was allowed too without countries blowing up sending things back to the dark ages. A new food source that would allow a far greater population of dragons to coexist over a the same landmass. And wouldn't that have all sorts of interesting knock-on effects on the other populations of intelligent creatures. So while this is the end of the series, it presents some very interesting new plot ideas for your long-term games, and some well sketched characters for the short term. Plus more barely disguised interracial sex. What would D&D be without that? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> There's plenty of value in this series really, and it has been pretty unique in the magazine due to it's sheer specificness. And since they're gradually cutting down on the amount of whimsy now, we may well not see it's like again. Let's down a good brew of one of Ed's fantastical drinks to it's passing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5762937, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 259: May 1999[/U][/B] part 5/7 Rogues Gallery: Another turn in Waterdeep, once again cementing it's place as the most detailed city in the most detailed campaign world. Many people think this is getting too much, but as Elaine Cunningham says here, people never seem to get tired of stories set in New York, so why should Waterdeep become old hat either? Maybe if we had a few more new writers, it'd help keep things fresh. But no, I guess it's another regular heavy month here. This is another column that has become far too formulaic as it's gone on. Isabeau Thione is another sexy female thief who is fully aware of her physical attributes and exploits them to get what she wants. Seems like that's a female empowerment fantasy as much as a male sex one, as many women would love to have that kind of self-confidence and guilt-free selfishness that they can't pull off in reality. And as with last month, this makes alarm bells go off in my head. The glamour of the bad girl really isn't my thing. Myrna Cassalanter is a professional rumor-monger. While technically a bard, she doesn't use a whole bunch of the abilities of her class. In a more technically advanced society, she'd totally be a tabloid writer. Like any hack, she's not above twisting the truth if it looks like there's more profit in it than being strictly truthful. And profit she does, having quite the mansion. It's alright for some. Jerome Diloontier is a perfumer and occasional poisoner. Magically enforced discretion is his watchword. An oily bastard, he's not an outright villain, but he's certainly not a likeable character. His personality traits seem pretty easy to play out, and he's involved in plenty of plots, so he's one that your PC's could well run into over the course of an investigation. Muahahaha. Dragon's bestiary: Johnathan M. Richards scours the infinite variety of the natural world once again, and manages to find a topic that isn't totally overdone for a change. Symbiotes. Despite being scarily common in reality, they've got even less coverage over the years than underwater or arctic things. This is actually one area White Wolf games do better than D&D, with so many of their supernatural types the product of unnatural symbiosis/parasitism. This could well contribute something valid to our game, even if it's ideas are straight from reality again. Blood puddings are another transhuman metamorphosis a wizard could practice to make themselves immortal and a bugger to destroy permanently. They flow into you in gross fashion and take over your body. How pleasingly visceral and paranoia inducing. Skullcap ivy replaces your hair with, well, ivy. On the plus side, that lets you photosynthesise. On the negative side, it looks weird and bugs will be attracted to the flowers in your hair. I doubt druids would mind that though. Worry-warts are a pun creature that grows in you, does exactly what it says on the tin, and is near impossible to get rid of. Eww. Shoulda had this one last month. Powerslugs supercharge your adrenalin glands, eventually making you die of a heart attack, but in the process substantially boosting your stats. One that could be a boon if cultivated carefully, and strikes a nice balance between carrot and stick. An excellent end to a collection I mostly quite like. Wyrms of the north comes to an end, with a good old Z name. And another dragon that spends most of their time in human form, gradually doing long-term stuff to make the world a better place. (cue michael jackson song) It's a good thing the Realms has lots of powerful NPC's on both sides of the moral divide, or we'd be screwed. It's a particularly good example of how magical technology could advance in their future, if it was allowed too without countries blowing up sending things back to the dark ages. A new food source that would allow a far greater population of dragons to coexist over a the same landmass. And wouldn't that have all sorts of interesting knock-on effects on the other populations of intelligent creatures. So while this is the end of the series, it presents some very interesting new plot ideas for your long-term games, and some well sketched characters for the short term. Plus more barely disguised interracial sex. What would D&D be without that? :) There's plenty of value in this series really, and it has been pretty unique in the magazine due to it's sheer specificness. And since they're gradually cutting down on the amount of whimsy now, we may well not see it's like again. Let's down a good brew of one of Ed's fantastical drinks to it's passing. [/QUOTE]
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