Anyone seen Dragon 352 yet?

[Nightfall]

Shroomy,

See this is what I mean! But I would also point you could also get say an Axe, or a great axe, not just a "sword." too. Evolving weapons aren't easy to come by. Plus it's still enhanceable beyond what it does via the class replacement feature.

 

[BOZ]

Loved the first one, though my only gripe is simply I wish they were more powerful than Primal Elementals from the ELH since they deserve to be. But then again, I like my super big baddies really super big baddies that can only be done in if my players decide to push the 20th level boundary. I can easily apply the Paragon template and triple their HD Overall, great article. Can't wait for this one coming up.

beleive it or not, some folks weren't too pleased that we made them as poweful as we did!

 

[Pants]

Got my issue two days ago and I've been pouring over it since.

Thoughts:
* Yes, alot of this issue is Bas-Lag stuff, but, IMO, it's sufficiently generic enough that you could use bits and pieces however you want. You could take New Crobuzon and slap it down into your world if you saw fit along with a race or two, some monsters, and some of the good fluff.
* The article definitely reads as if it would be more helpful to someone who has already read Mieville's books. I'm not sure that it would be a good primer for someone new to the setting, though I could very well be wrong.
* The article mentions that alchemists and thaumaturges don't work like sorcerers and wizards, but recommends using the artificer (for the alchemist) and the sorcerer (for the thaumaturge). So... which is it?
* Stats for the Possible Sword are included and I think it's a pretty nifty weapon.
* The races are: cactacae, khepri, vodyanoi, and remade (a template).
* The monsters are the anophelii (CR 7 for female), garuda (CR 1, I figured it would be one of the races...), grindylow (CR 6), the utterly weird handlinger (CR 3), the scabmettler (CR 4), the slake moth (CR 9, I always thought they'd be tougher...), the Weaver (CR 15), and the wyrmen (CR 1/3). The stats seem pretty good and seem to stick close to what I remember from the books and they're all portable enough to fit into most campaign worlds.*

Moving away from Bas-Lag stuff:
* The FR undead are pretty cool, though the charnel custodian bugs the hell out of me. It's a CR 11 undead with 22 HD. Whatever happened to unholy toughness?
Aside from that, all three are pretty neat and flavorful. The new charnel custodian is my favorite.
* John Gravato is a seriously weird artist. His style very much fits both the ugly undead and the grimy atmosphere of Bas-Lag. Here's hoping I see more of his work.

EDIT: Did some more looking, ignore the former part of this statement. :\

 

[demiurge1138]

Slake moths only a CR 9? Say it ain't so!

...of course, the protagonists of Perdido Street Station were low level, and didn't have access to magic weapons (I'm assuming based on the book that it has DR and some sort of miss chance). So it's plausible.

I'll still be advancing it, though

Demiurge out.

 

[Pants]

Slake moths only a CR 9? Say it ain't so!

Fraid so.

...of course, the protagonists of Perdido Street Station were low level, and didn't have access to magic weapons (I'm assuming based on the book that it has DR and some sort of miss chance). So it's plausible.

Erm, no DR or miss-chance.

I think a few of their abilities might have been 'missed' or purposefully left out. For example, in PSS they 'see' by detecting other creature's thought waves or some such. The descriptive text mentions them as 'eyeless' yet they have no blindsight or any real way of seeing. I also would've given them some sort of Fast Healing ability or damage reduction since it didn't seem like much could physically 'harm' them.

Also they're mentioned as being immune to psionics though there's no descriptor for that ability (and I think they're should've been one).

While I'm critiquing things, the grindylow, I think, should've had some poisonous bite or something. I vaguely recall them using some kind of poison in The Scar.

 

[PhoenixDarkDirk]

I like the kaiju yrthak.

 

[Shade]

Slake moths only a CR 9? Say it ain't so!

...of course, the protagonists of Perdido Street Station were low level, and didn't have access to magic weapons (I'm assuming based on the book that it has DR and some sort of miss chance). So it's plausible.

I'll still be advancing it, though

Ditto here. I'll be advancing them about 16 CRs, in fact, real soon.

 

[Razz]

beleive it or not, some folks weren't too pleased that we made them as poweful as we did!

I read that, seemed only a few. Good job overall, though. I know how hard it can be to balance out all the factors such as making them more accessible in play, yet keeping them epic, yet not making them too strong compared to the archdevils...

If it was up to me I'd pop them in the CR 30s and tell people in the article to weaken them yerself by lowering HD, SR, etc. and use them as aspects (or the real thing itself). Heh heh, but that's just epic snob ol' me. I am the type that doesn't want the super BBEG being taken down so easily unless you literally become legendary yourself (past 20th level).

 

[JPL]

* The article mentions that alchemists and thaumaturges don't work like sorcerers and wizards, but recommends using the artificer (for the alchemist) and the sorcerer (for the thaumaturge). So... which is it?
:\

Maybe those are sort of the quick-n-dirty substitutes...you might really need to rebuild the magic system from the ground up to make it fit the books more closely.

Dumping standard spellcasters and maybe using a combination of artificers, psionics, and incantations (from UA) would make for an interesting mix in a steampunkish, very alien setting like this.

 

[Robert Ranting]

Several months ago someone posted that Perdido Street Station would be covered in a Dragon magazine. I knew nothing about China Mieville's work and there were so many glowing remarks about it here at enworld, people were anxious for the article to be in Dragon... So thank you Enworld and Dragon Magazine for introducing me to another good author!

I second this sentiment. After reading the hype about this article coming up in Dragon, I went out and bought both Perdido Street Station and The Scar, and read both within the following two weeks. After completing my B.A. in English last year I had not read anything of substance for months, and while they are by no means perfect, these novels were exactly what I needed to reinvigorate my interest in reading for pleasure, and my love of the English language. Yes, he could use an editor. Yes, he inundates every page with enough adjectives and adverbs to choke the avanc. Yes, he goes off on wild tangents that often have very little to do with the story at hand. However, despite his faults, he succeeds at doing something that I've been trying to do for years: To fully realize an urban fantasy-steampunk environment as wonderous and terrible as any real world city.

By no means are these books for everyone, but for me at least, they were exactly what I needed. I'll be sure to pick up this issue of Dragon, to see how I can incorporate a bit more of Bas-Lag into my current urban steampunk d20 campaign.

Robert "Mine the Possibilities" Ranting