Dragon #355

[frankthedm]

And How about that "Eldrich warriors" article. Now I am all for Fighter Love, but some of those were just too generous.

Trade the first level fighter feat for
Ignore armor weight
Armor slows you as one step lighter
+1 Max Dex bonus on any armor
Halve arcane failure rate
Is far too generous IMHO.

Edit: My gut says make it a replacer for the 6th level fighter feat so one has to invest 2 levels more than the four "Practiced spellcaster" compensates for. Mind you IMHO this is still very strong 'feat', but since this mainly helps Multiclass fighter / arcanists, it might be a wash.

Maybe 4th if the DM really wants to encourage taking fighter to four then dipping out into wizard then PRC.

 

[deClench]

• I loved seeing all the psionics in one place.

Yay!

It's perfectly obvious the sky is a rich chartreuse, right?

Right?

Of course, of course, now back to the mantra... art is pretty, art is pretty...

Yet they've still become great hits. Again, it was the writing and the material that made the book...not the art.

I'd say that was despite lack of art and not because of it. The art is vital to my perfect enjoyment of the material. I love words, but they can never capture an idea the way words and pictures can together.

If only it weren't so expensive!

That said, I think it would have been the coolest thing to have had the April issue's "Class Acts" illustrated with the OotS gang.

 

[frankthedm]

The freaky gith chick did not help the psi article IMHO. "Supposedly hawt humaniod girl holding phalic object" does not equal psionics in my book.

The “is that redgar?” Mageknight in the glowing armor was very a good fit for the Eldritch Warrior article.

The wolf looks like it just realized the druid is reading a D&D version of “The Pearl” . Not bad art, though maybe bigger than needed, though all the class acts seem to have art that eats up half the page.

 

[Nightfall]

Mike,

No idea but I know it's not the color that Razz says it is.

*sighs* Hopefully I'll see Dragon 355 tomorrow.

 

[BOZ]

same here - time to make a trip to Borders.

 

[Nightfall]

Boz,

Mine's coming via UPS. They keep SAYING "tomorrow". We'll see.

 

[Bacris]

Agreed. It might up the sales for some to say "Written by Jeremy Smith, co founder of Dreamscarred Press".

Eh, more likely the other way around. Dragon is far bigger than Dreamscarred Press

 

[Erik Mona]

As tongue in cheek as this comment is, it does seem to add credence to something I've been thinking for a while. It seems the articles are becoming more and more about the editor's tastes and preferences.

The case in point, most Paizo editors don't like psionics so we don't see many psionics articles.

The articles are very certainly reflections of the editor's taste, which is frankly what we're paid for. The magazines should not just be one stop in an ever-churning, indiscernible production line. Editors are to some extent paid for their taste, flavored with their understanding of the marketplace and ability to predict what excites readers. There is a production element necessary to the enterprise, but a little "vision" and forethought goes a long way. Dragon is currently regarded much more highly than it was two years ago, and that is a reflection of the tastes and market understanding of the editorial staff. And almost nothing else, honestly.

To address your second point, the reason that you do not see a lot of psionics material in the pages of Dragon is not because most of the Paizo editors don't like psionics, but because most of the _audience_ doesn't like psionics.

It's easy to see the art in editing a magazine, but the bottom line is commerce.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dragon Magazine

 

[Nightfall]

Erik,

So does that mean I'm not getting my 5-10 pages on Orcus from Eric Boyd?

 

[sckeener]

I bounced when I saw the cave fisher.

so... is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

A very good thing. It warmed my heart and brought a stream of fluttery images into my mind....of how once...long ago when I was a teenager, I ran a very good encounter with one....I'm sure the players remember it otherwise.

I've had a sweet spot for them ever since.