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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6058099" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Issue 300: October 2002</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 8/10</p><p></p><p></p><p>Elminster's guide to the realms: Ed is naturally neither grim nor dark, with even his nine hells material operatic as much as it is harrowing, so thankfully he doesn't even try to be in theme. However, he can be pretty sneaky when he chooses too, creating characters who really know how to use their everyday surroundings to best effect. Here's another one of those, a canny old Harper who's probably a bit underpowered for her CR due to having lots of NPC class levels, but since she also has tons of potions and bits and pieces, and knows the terrain around her home, I can see unprepared PC's getting their ass handed to them. Along with the highly specific NPC and terrain info, there's also several new minor potions and oils that should come in handy in any campaign, and more info that we really want to know on how to smoke and cure meat, which is such a typically Ed bit of worldbuilding it makes me laugh. While not that great by his standards, this is still a nicely refreshing break from the overall tone of the magazine, and shows why they keep him around. He fills up page count reliably, and can still do things no-one else can get away with. When he's gone, the magazine will gain yet another few points of banality. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Campaign news: We've finished this year's big events, so this column is looking ahead to next year, and telling us about the new adventures and organisational changes in store. They're putting individual circle members in charge of particular metaregions, which'll speed along the decision making process for everyday rulings and hopefully won't make them more arbitrary. There's lots more adventures to come, including higher level ones where you might be able to make a dent in Iuz's dominion, and more options for you to travel to get involved in them. Oh, and another little bit of skill bloat, just to keep this from being purely positive. As with the last time, it feels like these changes are probably the direct result of issues encountered in play and complained about, which is a good thing to see. I do think a general knowledge (the planes) skill would make more sense than knowledge (ether creatures) at 3e's general level of skill granularity though. That just feels like it was written to punish metagamers, or by someone who preferred the haphazard way 2e did things. What was the lead up to that weirdly specific ruling? </p><p></p><p></p><p>Playing Pieces: This is in theme, as it was a couple of months ago, and follows on directly from that revisiting of the vault of the Drow. After all, they are both vile and dark, so it fits perfectly. So here's 7 new Drow NPC's, plus a good old fashioned vampire who hangs around the vault because hey, even if the company sucks, you don't have to worry about sunburn, and elvish blood is pretty sweet. All of them are pretty morally dubious, and the last three are outright unhinged, a trio of murderous mimes that'll chill the blood of anyone with a hint of clown fear. So there is some silliness here, and also a healthy dollop of darkness, sex, drugs and rock & roll to keep the grimdark from taking itself too seriously, sticking it's head up it's ass and snacking on it's own faeces. Mixed message, certainly, but still more entertaining than being one thing all the time, regardless of the situation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 6058099, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Issue 300: October 2002[/U][/B] part 8/10 Elminster's guide to the realms: Ed is naturally neither grim nor dark, with even his nine hells material operatic as much as it is harrowing, so thankfully he doesn't even try to be in theme. However, he can be pretty sneaky when he chooses too, creating characters who really know how to use their everyday surroundings to best effect. Here's another one of those, a canny old Harper who's probably a bit underpowered for her CR due to having lots of NPC class levels, but since she also has tons of potions and bits and pieces, and knows the terrain around her home, I can see unprepared PC's getting their ass handed to them. Along with the highly specific NPC and terrain info, there's also several new minor potions and oils that should come in handy in any campaign, and more info that we really want to know on how to smoke and cure meat, which is such a typically Ed bit of worldbuilding it makes me laugh. While not that great by his standards, this is still a nicely refreshing break from the overall tone of the magazine, and shows why they keep him around. He fills up page count reliably, and can still do things no-one else can get away with. When he's gone, the magazine will gain yet another few points of banality. Campaign news: We've finished this year's big events, so this column is looking ahead to next year, and telling us about the new adventures and organisational changes in store. They're putting individual circle members in charge of particular metaregions, which'll speed along the decision making process for everyday rulings and hopefully won't make them more arbitrary. There's lots more adventures to come, including higher level ones where you might be able to make a dent in Iuz's dominion, and more options for you to travel to get involved in them. Oh, and another little bit of skill bloat, just to keep this from being purely positive. As with the last time, it feels like these changes are probably the direct result of issues encountered in play and complained about, which is a good thing to see. I do think a general knowledge (the planes) skill would make more sense than knowledge (ether creatures) at 3e's general level of skill granularity though. That just feels like it was written to punish metagamers, or by someone who preferred the haphazard way 2e did things. What was the lead up to that weirdly specific ruling? Playing Pieces: This is in theme, as it was a couple of months ago, and follows on directly from that revisiting of the vault of the Drow. After all, they are both vile and dark, so it fits perfectly. So here's 7 new Drow NPC's, plus a good old fashioned vampire who hangs around the vault because hey, even if the company sucks, you don't have to worry about sunburn, and elvish blood is pretty sweet. All of them are pretty morally dubious, and the last three are outright unhinged, a trio of murderous mimes that'll chill the blood of anyone with a hint of clown fear. So there is some silliness here, and also a healthy dollop of darkness, sex, drugs and rock & roll to keep the grimdark from taking itself too seriously, sticking it's head up it's ass and snacking on it's own faeces. Mixed message, certainly, but still more entertaining than being one thing all the time, regardless of the situation. [/QUOTE]
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