Dragon #336

[griff_goodbeard]

Great job Mouseferatu, I really enjoyed "Birth of the Dead". I honestly had never thought about having a BBEG rise as an undead creature (possibly while the party is still looting it's lair ). Undead are my favorite monsters, so this article will see a lot of use in my games.

The crunch value of Dragon has really gone down a lot. I really wish they would put more prestige classes (without the new format, I still dunno why they have to use it), spells, feats, monsters, etc.

I miss the good ol' Dragon days where I would see stuff like "7 new prestige classes!" or "40 new spells!". That was what made me excited every month for the next Dragon.

*sigh*

I've noticed this as well, but I accually prefer less crunch from Dragon. I've got tons of crunch already, and IMO a lot of the crunch from Dragon is overpowered/not play tested. I typically only approve about 30% of the crunch comming out of Dragon anyway. Save the crunch for sourcebooks.

 

[Alzrius]

Regarding the Demonomicon articles, any mention of Orcus or does it just highlight Iggy's lover as well as only a few foes?

Orcus doesn't get mentioned, though several other major fiends do. Graz'zt is talked about the most, given their shared history. It also mentions that Iggwilv is allied with (besides Iuz, obvious) the yugoloth Tul-oc-luc, the demon lords Zuggtmoy and Demogorgon, and the wizard Tuerny the Merciless (who, as of Return of the Eight is an advanced nalfeshnee). Also, the copy of the Demonomicon in Krestible mentions Fraz-Urb'luu, Juiblex, Pazuzu, and Zuggtmoy.

Also, do they have stats for anything that's summoned? What special powers does reading the book give?

No stats of any kind are given; all the spells augment the existing summoning spells. The copies of the book are minor artifacts that give you an effective +5 caster level for evil spells, and a +5 bonus on Charisma checks for using planar binding (or similar spells) on demons...+3 for other kinds of evil outsiders. Also, the first few pages are blank, and act as a focus for soul-trapping magic. The pages display the tortured visages of creatures trapped, but the highest hit dice creature can use dream on any creature that touched the book in the last 24 hours.

 

[Hussar]

Now keep in mind that I work on the OTHER magazine, but I'm pretty sure that the plan is to include some sort of stat block in ecologies that feature non-core monsters. In the Spawn of Kyuss one I wrote, there's a new template that basically lets you turn anything that breathes into a slightly tougher version of the Monster Manual II spawn of Kyuss, so readers who have this issue but don't have the Monster Manual II will still be able to use it in the game.

That would make me tres happy. I loved the Pazuzu article and the reworking of the Kenku would have fit beautifully into my urban campaign. One hiccup though. No stats for Kenku and I'm not about to buy a whole book just for one critter.

Pretty, pretty please put stat blocks in for non-core critters.

 

[demiurge1138]

That would make me tres happy. I loved the Pazuzu article and the reworking of the Kenku would have fit beautifully into my urban campaign. One hiccup though. No stats for Kenku and I'm not about to buy a whole book just for one critter.

Pretty, pretty please put stat blocks in for non-core critters.

Well, actually the kenku were on the MMIII preview on the WoTC site. But I understand the complaint entirely. It's cool that we're seeing ecologies on non-core creatures like kenku, dark creepers and spawn of Kyuss... but not if we can't use the articles because we don't have the stats.

Demiurge out.

 

[Alzrius]

Well, actually the kenku were on the MMIII preview on the WoTC site.

Here's the link! http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20040912b&page=4

 

[Hussar]

Thankies sir. When WOTC get's their site fixed, I'll be heading over there to check things out. Cool beans. Wish I had known about that BEFORE my urban campaign ended. :/

I wonder if Dragon could start putting out bonus Pdf's like Dungeon to supplement their magazines? Instead of those REALLY juicy maps, how about some crunchy bits to add onto their articles. Maybe some of the editted stuff that got left on the cutting room floor to flesh out the Playing with Class articles or things like that. Would that be possible?

 

[hong]

Zuggtmoy

I love that freakin' name. I mean, I don't know what it is or what it does or anything, I just love the name.

 

[Sammael]

It's probably a clever anagram of the word "Gygax" translated to another language.

 

[sad_genius]

Zuggtmoy, along with Iggwilv, is just one of those names that *sounds* like a name taken from real mythology, all teutonic and unwieldy. I love Gygax naming, even all the Yrag stuff - I mean, anyone care to top Beek Gwenders of Croodle?

 

[Krug]

Mmmm.. undead.