Dragon #324 just came in

[derelictjay]

A few here seem to be excited about Lupins. What're they? Are they from an older edition? If so, then that's cool. (I'm a sucker for bringing back older edition material)

Yep, Red Steel I believe. And did like them as a race at that.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Flaws for Bards? I thought being a bard was flaw enough.

 

[MKMcArtor]

They're originally a Mystara/Known World race, introduced in the D&D Creature Catalog (the green softcover book with a cover featuring a number of wary adventurers looking into a cave entrance). It was a book that felt very British, the same kind of tone used in Night's Dark Terror - probably because of the involvement of Bambra and Morris et al.

Lupins were originally wolf-headed humanoids that hated werewolves and hunted them with silver weapons. The Red Steel setting expanded things a lot and gave them their own nation alongside the rakasta and tortles etc. Quite a shift, but not necessarily a bad one. Much more swashbuckling wolf-man action.

Cheers,
Cam

They actually first appeared in X2: Castle Amber, but you're right that they've been updated and expanded several times in Basic D&D, first edition, and second edition.

However, they're quite cool in any edition and any culture.

 

[BOZ]

thalmin, any chance you could save me a copy of #324 and #325? i'm actually planning on going to gameday this time.

 

[mearls]

Flaws for Bards? I thought being a bard was flaw enough.

In my current Eberron game, the Flakey Guy (every group has one - he's the guy who is there for about 50% of the sessions) plays a bard. The running joke is that, as a bard, the presence of absence of his character has no effect on the party's total strength.

My players don't know that, when I first said it, I wasn't joking.

 

[Gez]

Next month's Dragon #325 preview:

Arcane Ancestry 2 by Scott Carter. The power of sorcery comes from the blood. See what your soprcerer can do when something other than a dragon roosts in his family tree.

Heh, I'll have to translate and post my remade sorcerer class -- the epigone -- before.

Lo and behold, I did.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

In my current Eberron game, the Flakey Guy (every group has one - he's the guy who is there for about 50% of the sessions) plays a bard. The running joke is that, as a bard, the presence of absence of his character has no effect on the party's total strength.

My players don't know that, when I first said it, I wasn't joking.

In the game I was in in Chapel Hill, I played a bard, and I don't know if I'd say he had no effect on the party's total strength. If nothing else, it was like there was a pool of about 20 extra hp that the party got to blow through before they had to start worrying about their own characters dying. And I was being careful with him, too.

Best,
Nick

 

[Kesh]

They're originally a Mystara/Known World race, introduced in the D&D Creature Catalog (the green softcover book with a cover featuring a number of wary adventurers looking into a cave entrance). It was a book that felt very British, the same kind of tone used in Night's Dark Terror - probably because of the involvement of Bambra and Morris et al.

Lupins were originally wolf-headed humanoids that hated werewolves and hunted them with silver weapons. The Red Steel setting expanded things a lot and gave them their own nation alongside the rakasta and tortles etc. Quite a shift, but not necessarily a bad one. Much more swashbuckling wolf-man action.

Cheers,
Cam

I think Red Steel was the best treatment they ever got. Very interesting culture and social makeup.

Heck, I just like RS. I'd love to see it brought back somehow.

 

[thalmin]

thalmin, any chance you could save me a copy of #324 and #325? i'm actually planning on going to gameday this time.

No problem.

 

[Razz]

The flaws for Bards aren't really JUST for Bards. For those who have Unearthed Arcana, you should remember reading the section on flaws. You choose up to two or none at all, and when you choose one you get a bonus feat.

The new flaws in the Druid and Bard class acts section are recommended for Druid and Bard players, but any character class can take the flaws. Pretty much, I like the flaw idea, and new ones help my players customize their characters (and for them to get their much needed extra feats)