Kai Lord
Hero
In short, this issue rocked.
First off, something that almost no mention whatsoever has been made of; it has possibly the coolest collection of dragons since the Chromatics. As stupid as the Rust Monster is, that's how cool the Rust Dragon is. Then there's the Howling Dragon, pure wickedness, as well as a Dragon that makes you insane. All illustrated by the impeccable Sam Wood.
In the sealed section are spells you can base an entire campaign around. My DM and I are already planning how my character can survive a Searing Seed spell (the spell that impregnates you with the seed of an evil Outsider, which bursts out Alien-style then becomes a perverted version of you with the Half-fiend template) so that he can have an even more lethal version of himself as a recurring villain.
Vile Rebellion has the subjects body parts detaching and crawling away as miniature zombies, leaving only the magically preserved head. Definitely for more of an Army of Darkness type campaign, but hey, you can't say it isn't cinematic.
There's also a spell that ages the recipient to their death ala Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, after which the victim's corpse raises as a zombie to serve the caster and his spirit hangs around as a ghost cohort! Nothing "over the top disgusting" just a great FU to a good guy from the bastard evil sorcerer. I actually had an evil sorcerer that was poised to take over the world cast a similar spell on a player once. Like the ELH, Dragon 300 offered mechanics for things I've been winging on the fly all along.
Then there's Wall of Maggots and Corpsebond. Can't see ever having an evil NPC use the latter, but hey, with one piddly little spell they got everybody talking. "'Mature' doesn't mean sex with corpses! I'm so dissapointed!" Whatever. The point is there are some very cool spells in there, many more I haven't mentioned that would be a little much for the PHB.
So they print those spells and to make people raise some eyebrows they label them as "VILE" just to get people excited. Duh. Wall of Maggots is cool for no other reason that it marks the heralded return of the long missed Rot Grubs.
Then there's no forgetting the spell that causes hundreds of crawling bugs and worms to burst out of a person and possibly infest those nearby as well. Gross, yes, but could easily be used in a campaign no darker than Raiders of the Lost Ark.
NOTHING in the magazine advocates PC's playing evil characters. For all the bruhaha that was made over this, let me say it again: NOTHING in the magazine advocates PC's playing evil characters. If Tracy Hickman or anyone else doesn't want to play a terrorist great, Dragon sure as heck doesn't suggest you do.
In Monte Cook's "How far will you go?" article he states an exampe of a "Vile" game with sexual content is one where players talk about hearing of necrophilia and rape, and that some NPC's might even partake in those activities. Good lord! Characters are talking about nasty stuff going on in the world! Protect your children because this is destroying the game!
The Prestige Classes also have some great adventure hooks. Imagine running across a troupe of Rakshasa and their entourage. No problem, just have the cleric bless the bolts for the two fighters crossbows and open fire. They do so and fwip! fwip! the bolts change course in midair and are drawn toward the Rakshasa's twisted henchmen instead who take the hits with barely a flinch. The Rakshasa smile. Uh oh.
So we have almost an entire issue crammed with new monsters (the Abyssal dragons), spells, NPC PrC's, even a section on Undead templates. You can build a campaign around every single section, and they're all included in one issue.
I'm amazed so many people jumped against this issue due to Tracy Hickman's knee jerk. It doesn't suggest running evil parties. It doesn't say make things disgusting and then you'll be playing a "mature" game. It simply provides tools that DMs and players can utilize for subject matter that definitely isn't for kids, and does a darn good job of it.
First off, something that almost no mention whatsoever has been made of; it has possibly the coolest collection of dragons since the Chromatics. As stupid as the Rust Monster is, that's how cool the Rust Dragon is. Then there's the Howling Dragon, pure wickedness, as well as a Dragon that makes you insane. All illustrated by the impeccable Sam Wood.
In the sealed section are spells you can base an entire campaign around. My DM and I are already planning how my character can survive a Searing Seed spell (the spell that impregnates you with the seed of an evil Outsider, which bursts out Alien-style then becomes a perverted version of you with the Half-fiend template) so that he can have an even more lethal version of himself as a recurring villain.
Vile Rebellion has the subjects body parts detaching and crawling away as miniature zombies, leaving only the magically preserved head. Definitely for more of an Army of Darkness type campaign, but hey, you can't say it isn't cinematic.
There's also a spell that ages the recipient to their death ala Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, after which the victim's corpse raises as a zombie to serve the caster and his spirit hangs around as a ghost cohort! Nothing "over the top disgusting" just a great FU to a good guy from the bastard evil sorcerer. I actually had an evil sorcerer that was poised to take over the world cast a similar spell on a player once. Like the ELH, Dragon 300 offered mechanics for things I've been winging on the fly all along.
Then there's Wall of Maggots and Corpsebond. Can't see ever having an evil NPC use the latter, but hey, with one piddly little spell they got everybody talking. "'Mature' doesn't mean sex with corpses! I'm so dissapointed!" Whatever. The point is there are some very cool spells in there, many more I haven't mentioned that would be a little much for the PHB.
So they print those spells and to make people raise some eyebrows they label them as "VILE" just to get people excited. Duh. Wall of Maggots is cool for no other reason that it marks the heralded return of the long missed Rot Grubs.
Then there's no forgetting the spell that causes hundreds of crawling bugs and worms to burst out of a person and possibly infest those nearby as well. Gross, yes, but could easily be used in a campaign no darker than Raiders of the Lost Ark.
NOTHING in the magazine advocates PC's playing evil characters. For all the bruhaha that was made over this, let me say it again: NOTHING in the magazine advocates PC's playing evil characters. If Tracy Hickman or anyone else doesn't want to play a terrorist great, Dragon sure as heck doesn't suggest you do.
In Monte Cook's "How far will you go?" article he states an exampe of a "Vile" game with sexual content is one where players talk about hearing of necrophilia and rape, and that some NPC's might even partake in those activities. Good lord! Characters are talking about nasty stuff going on in the world! Protect your children because this is destroying the game!
The Prestige Classes also have some great adventure hooks. Imagine running across a troupe of Rakshasa and their entourage. No problem, just have the cleric bless the bolts for the two fighters crossbows and open fire. They do so and fwip! fwip! the bolts change course in midair and are drawn toward the Rakshasa's twisted henchmen instead who take the hits with barely a flinch. The Rakshasa smile. Uh oh.
So we have almost an entire issue crammed with new monsters (the Abyssal dragons), spells, NPC PrC's, even a section on Undead templates. You can build a campaign around every single section, and they're all included in one issue.
I'm amazed so many people jumped against this issue due to Tracy Hickman's knee jerk. It doesn't suggest running evil parties. It doesn't say make things disgusting and then you'll be playing a "mature" game. It simply provides tools that DMs and players can utilize for subject matter that definitely isn't for kids, and does a darn good job of it.
