Dragon 353 came early!

[Nikosandros]

Was this one actually shipped way in advance of the projected date?

I can't really believe hat it arrived in Italy after just 6 days...

 

[kenmarable]

THE MODRONS RETURN
by Ken Marable
After a lengthy isolation, the modrons march again! Venture of Regulus, the home city of these whimsical beings of perfect law, encounter the six most numerous types of modron, and explore the planes as a rogue modron PC.

WOO frigging HOO!! Sorry, just had to do a little celebratory dance. I actually didn't know if they were going to print my article or not. I have no idea what the final state of the article is, especially since what I delivered was longer than requested, of course. So I certainly can't spill any beans on what is coming out even if I didn't have an NDA.

But I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves the little guys. They really did get the 3.x shaft.

I will say that I was very pleased with how my draft turned out, which is difficult considering everyone is their own worst critic. Again, I have no idea what the final article looks like, but when I sat down with the modrons from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd edition (MotP web enhancement), I realized that they were nearly word for word the exact same descriptions. So I decided not to do the exact same thing again only with 3.5 stats and MM4 formatting. Of course, I tried to stay true to them, but I also tried to breath some new life into them with some plot ideas and some loving for the lesser used modrons (there are more than monodrones and quadrones after all, and they could have used some stuff to make them a bit more interesting and more than just fillers in the mathematical progression).

But who knows, my article might have been totally gutted and rewritten and leaving my name on the preview is a typo. So we'll see.

This creates the dilemma of whether to celebrate tonight with the wife and kids, or watch Heroes?

 

[Shade]

This creates the dilemma of whether to celebrate tonight with the wife and kids, or watch Heroes?

Don't miss Heroes. Just celebrate tomorrow night. Don't wait until Wednesday, or you'll miss Lost.

Congrats on the article, BTW.

 

[kenmarable]

So that's 7 down and 7 to go...half the modrons down.

Unless the tertian is in Dragon #353, which I hope not, cause we'll be back to 6 modrons again.

FYI - The "rogue modron PC" MIGHT count as one of the 6. I don't know for sure.

But if they are ever interested in a follow-up article on the rest of the modron heirarchy, I know one interested writer. However, with the longer stat blocks, it would be a rather big article to handle the rest.

Modron: Objection- whimsical is #245 of Words that Do Not Apply To Modrons. Please comply to code

Also, the word "whimsical" never appeared in the draft I handed in.

 

[Greg K]

Alzrius,
First, thanks for taking the time to reply.

The replacement class abilities for spellthieves are cursed blow (on a successful sneak attack, you give up a spell slot to curse the target), hamper magic (on a successful sneak attack, you give up a damage die to reduce the target's caster levels), spelleater (when stealing a spell, you may consume it to heal damage instead of casting it), spellskill (when you steal a spell, you use its energy to improve your skill bonuses), and trickster (you gain less skill points per level, have less class skills, and have no trapfinding and do less sneak attack damage, but in return you can cast spells as a bard).

Hmm. The ability cast spells like a bard sounds good. However, I am disappointed that there is nothing replacing the tying mystical abilities to sneak attack

For clerics, giving up turning can get you one of the following class abilities: cultist (you are immune to atempts to see through your lies), evangelist (you can understand languages magically), fanatic (you are more intimidating and strike easier), healer (you can AC bonuses for healing creatures), justicar (you bring creatures back alive easier), mystic (you gain an extra spell slot), relic hunter (you avoid traps easier), sage (you gain Knowledge bonuses), scribe (you gain Scribe Scroll), shaman (you gain an animal companion), theologian (you resist divine spells easier), wanderer (you gain several skills as class skills), warrior priest (you can use a quickened spell on yourself or your gear), and weaponmaster (you don't need a free hand to cast spells with your deity's favored weapon).

Meh. Nothing that really sounds interesting.

 

[Desdichado]

there is a preivew for Monsternomicon II and the new Talisman game.

Demon dogs! You people are blathering on and on about modrons when there's a Monsternomicon II to discuss!? What kind of sick people are you?

 

[Shade]

Class Acts includes variant class features for spellthieves, a guide to the fighter, spells which can't be affected by spell resistance, and a bunch of replacement abilities for clerics in place of turn undead.

Hmmm...the article in bold sounds familiar. This might be my second "double dip" issue.

 

[BOZ]

Quite a few things, actually. Xinivrae, another contender for the title of Queen of the Succubi (along with Shami-Amourae and Lynkhab) was a succubus lord who "reveled in the seduction of women." She was cast into the Dreaming Gulf (layer 230).

Two new types of loumara demons are mentioned: "nature-corrupting manitous, and blade-haunting caligrostos." It also mentions that with the help of Elluvia Maure, Malcanthet has managed to bind Sifkhu, a slumbering loumara lord (quite possibly the only one).

ooh, all the intrigue - i love it!

Hou did indeed do the illustrations for the article. The main piece for the article shows some tentacled monster attacking Ben-hadar. It's a fairly impressive full-page piece, and Ben-hadar is nicely indistinctive, but still with a humanoid shape. He does have claws at the end of his arms.

Chan's art basically shows a rather pretty female face in a sparkling cloud.

The art for Sunnis depicts her as quite svelte for an earth elemental, being tall and thin. Her humanoid figure is noticeably feminine, having the basic hourglass shape, as well as small but distinct breasts, and has one hand on her hip. The back of her head is also shaped as if she had a short but full head of hair.

Zaaman Rul, by contrast, seems a bit stocky in his portrayal. Unlike Sunnis, he's clothed, though only in a leather kilt. He actually has hair, and his wielding a sword of fire over his shoulder in his right hand.

super sweet. looks like he took into account the notes i made, and made an effort to match the illustrations up with the flavor text (unlike the art from PS MC3).

although i'm not as sure about Sunnis being svelte and thin - more feminine i wanted, yes, but not "cute" either. beautiful in a solid way, like, "oh, she's a brick... house!"

 

[BOZ]

WOO frigging HOO!! Sorry, just had to do a little celebratory dance. I actually didn't know if they were going to print my article or not.

then congratulations indeed. good to see the quirky little buggers getting some good airtime.

Also, the word "whimsical" never appeared in the draft I handed in.

that's reassuring. a slaad might be whimsical, but a modron is anything but.

 

[BOZ]

Hmmm...the article in bold sounds familiar. This might be my second "double dip" issue.

congrats to you too, in that case.