Alzrius
The EN World kitten
Since no one else has done so so far, here's the run-down on Dungeon issue #110, the May issue, which I just received today.
Editorial - Erik Mona gives us his rules for a good campaign, created from personal experience.
Prison Mail - The usual litany of letters, ranging from praise for great content to desires to see Polyhedron purged from the pages of the magazine. Of note are the editorial replies. The editors say that the new paradigm of several short adventures (as opposed to a few long ones) should begin by issue #114. Before that happens though, issue #112 will contain only a single adventure (didn't one of the editors say that would never again happen after issue #99?), the return to Castle Maure (expanded now with a new fourth level designed by Rob Kuntz) from WG5: Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. Also, revised writer's guidelines (for writing adventures) should be appearing sometime after issue #114. There's also a mention that, after one letter complains about the plethora of half-dragons, that we won't be seeing many more of them over the next year.
Buzz on the Bridge - By John Simcoe. A D&D adventure for four 3rd level characters. Giant bees have made a nest on the only bridge leading to the trade route from this remote halfling village. It's up to the PCs to remove the bugs. This adventure also includes a map of the bee-infested bridge, which takes four pages to properly display. Also are twelve little counters of bees (these are part of a page, not separate, so you'll need to xerox the page to cut them out).
This short adventure seemed rather lighthearted in tone, which was an enjoyable change. The halfling NPCs have great personality, and are quite likeable (what PCs wouldn't smile when, coming into town, a group of exciteable halfling children present them with flowers and ask if they're going to kill the "big mean bugs"?). Of note also is the artwork for this adventure. Jeff Carlisle did spectacular work with two full-page pieces!
Last Stand at Outpost Three - By David Noonan. No listing is given for what level characters that this adventure is meant for, but looking over the various encounter levels (ranging from 2 to 7), it seems that this is meant for a party of four 4th level characters at the very least.
The adventure begins two days into the siege of the outpost. Elven marauders are attacking, and no one can figure out why. After repelling the first wave, and getting a chance for some healing and interrogating a prisoner, a large sandstorm falls over the outpost, and the PCs must take cover with the other defenders in warehouses. However, this is the subject of repelling a second wave of attackers - elven zombies. The final leg of the adventure has the PCs setting out from the outpost, and meeting hazards abroad.
This adventure is quite interesting in terms of the mechanical aspects that it offers (especially to people who want to play a Dark Sun campaign). At the end of the adventure is the Athasian Zombie template, since on Athas most undead retain their memories/intelligence/personality. Likewise, the adventure has a weather table for the Tablelands, and an encounter table for stony barrens environment (the encounters are Dark Sun specific monsters). Encounters have listings for the light level, audible sounds, detectable auras, and important rules to recall. It's worth noting that every NPC, even those without psionic class levels, has at least one psionic power and a handfull of psionic points. However, contrary to what was pointed out in Dragon #318's preview of the Expanded Psionics Handbook, they don't also have the Psionic subtype.
This adventure is much less open-and-shut than most adventures printed in the magazine. Rather, it's meant to be an introductory adventure that has no real end to it, being the springboard for a Dark Sun campaign. The backstory is given for exactly why the elves are attacking the outpost, but the real treasure they're after is never given listed stats, nor is the villain who is instigating them to attack. Those are, apparently, beyond the scope of the adventure, and not printed here.
Downer - By Kyle Stanley Hunter. Downer turns the tables on his attackers, and has a comrade prepare to find out what the real story behind the attack is.
The Dark Sun DM's Guide - By David Noonan. This section largely describes the seven city-states of the Tablelands, after giving a brief overview of the campaign world, it's timeline, and demographics. After that is a very short (less than a full page) description of what's beyond the Tablelands.
The first part of the guide describes the feel of Dark Sun, with the best description being "fundamentally, Dark Sun is a campaign setting where the bad guys have already won", and gives two most common adventure themes as being revolution, and ecological fable.
The sidebar on page 60 describes the cosmology of Dark Sun, and it's as sparse as the rest of the campaign world. Besides the Material Plane, there is the Gray (the Border/Deep Ethereal), the Black (the Shadow Plane), and the four Elemental Planes (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water). There are no Outer Planes, so Outsiders come from the Gray, the Black, or an Elemental Plane. Distant regions of the Gray have wellsprings of life energy, effectively functiong as a Positive Energy Plane. Likewise, distant regions of the Black have wellsprings of death energy, functioning as a Negative Energy Plane.
The map on page 61 outlines the Tablelands, though you have to turn it sideways to make it look for familiar to Dark Sun veterans. Don't worry, it hasn't been redrawn, though unlike the revised boxed set of old, it doesn't show anything beyond the Tablelands (no distant city-states in the north, no Kreen Empire in the west, and no Obsidian Lands in the south are shown, though presumably all are there).
Although the spacial constraints of the setting haven't been expanded (the Kreen Empire gets obliquely mentioned once, and things like Eldaarich, Kurn/New Kurn, and the Obsidian Lands don't get a mention at all; likewise, don't expect to find out what's on the other side of the Silt Sea), the timeline of the campaign has advanced...drastically. Three hundred years have passed since the previous Dark Sun material. It is now the Year of Desert's Reverence in the 194th King's Age. This was done to make this incarnation a "safe harbor" so it doesn't conflict with existing material (meaning that this material, at least, shouldn't conflict with what you'll see over at www.athas.org though they never once mention the fan site beyond Erik Mona's introduction in the "Last Stand at Outpost Three" adventure).
The greatest changes in the three hundred year interim is that of the seven city-states, six have sorcerer-kings. That's right, six. Hamanu still rules Urik, Nibenay controls the city-state that bears his name (and the elan, a race from the Expanded Psionics Handbook are from there, having been created there by the Order before that cabal fell apart three centuries ago), and Lalali-Puy, the Oba, rules Gulg. However, Andropinis returned to Balic a century ago...and he brought the maenads with him (the second of the two races from the Expanded Psionics Handbook used in this setting now, half-giants notwithstanding, since they're originally from this campaign). Raam was conquered over two centuries ago by Dregoth, and it's his city now, and everyone knows it. Finally, in Draj, Atzetuk, the young man used as a puppet by the templars of that city and the House of the Mind psionicists, has long since thrown off his mental shackles and become a true dragon-king, destroying the House of the Mind and cowering the templars into submission. Only Tyr still has no sorcerer-king.
A very short sidebar is given on the dragon-kings themselves. It mentions that they aren't deities, but are the most powerful individuals in the world, since they "combine the versatility of an epic spellcaster with the sheer toughness of a dragon" and have their templars and armies. It also says that giving full stats for the dragon-kings would only be useful to epic parties, so there's little use in giving them here. It says that dragon-kings are "epic-level wizards who've performed a lengthy ritual required to turn them into a dragon - a ritual that gives them epic psionic power as well" (Dark Sun fans will note this is incorrect, dragon-kings needed to be epic wizards and psionicists before being able to become dragons).
The last paragraph of the sidebar says "If you need to run a dragon-king on the fly, assume they have the physical statistics of a great wyrm dragon, the spellcasting power of a 22nd-level wizard and the psionic power of a 22nd-level psion."
Each city-state has a listing of its demographics, lands, settlements, power groups, beliefs, commerce, language, arts and crafts, and entertainment. For characters from that city-state, there is a listing of why citizens would adventure, how their charater development cound proceed, and sample character names. Each city-state also has one "notable" NPC given full stats, a section on what a basic guard NPC would look like (stats fully given), and adventure seeds for that city-state. Also, Tyr has a full-page map of the city.
Dark Sun Monsters, part one - by David Noonan. This section has 23 new monsters for the Dark Sun campaign (most of them written up from 2E). Note that with the Athasian Zombie template in the adventure, thats 24, one short of how many said to be in this issue on the cover. Part two of this feature will be in Dungeon #111.
This opens with a mention that most mammilian animals don't exist on Athas. Also, "animals here can have psionic powers, so long as those aren't central to their threat as monsters. Animals that use psionics to survive should be created as magical beasts." After this is a compiled list of Athasian monsters, listed by increasing CR. The list not only includes all the monsters from parts one and two of this feature (meaning we know what monsters will be featured next month), but also selections from the Monster Manual, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Fiend Folio, Manual of the Planes, Monster Manual II, and Draconomicon. There are also a few name changes to what monsters from other worlds are called on Athas.
The monsters listed here are the baazrag (CR 1), boneclaw baazrag (CR 4), cilops (CR 5), Cinderbrute (CR 1), Cloudscout (CR 1), Critic Lizard (CR 1/4), Crodlu (CR 5), Floater (CR 1/2), Gith (CR 1), Speckled Hurrum (C 1/6), Inix (CR 5), Jankx (CR 1/3), Kank (CR 2), Kes'trekel (CR 1/3), Mekillot (CR 7), Mulworm (CR 1/6), Pterrax (CR 4), Ramphor (CR 1/6), Sand Howler (CR 6), Sandknight (CR 1), Spinewyrm (it's a true dragon, so it's twelve CR ratings are 2; 3; 5; 8; 9; 11; 13; 15; 17; 19; 20; 22), Wavearcher (CR 1), and Z'Tal (CR 1/2).
Next month's monsters will be the Rainrunner (CR 1/3), Earthdelver (CR 1/3), Firesnake (CR 1/3), Windraptor (CR 1/2), Yallix (CR 1/2), Zhackal (CR 1), Belgoi (CR 2), Erdlu (CR 2), Seskarran (CR 2), Jhakar (CR 3), Rasclinn (CR 3), Fordorran (CR 4), Lirr (CR 4), Razorwing (CR 4), Dune Reaper Drone (CR 5), Mastyrial (CR 8), Dune Reaper Warrior (CR 11), and Gaj (CR 11).
Also, in case anyone wants to know, the monsters from the Expanded Psionics Handbook are Brain Mole (CR 1/2), Folugub (CR 2), Crysmal (CR 3), Udoroot (CR 5), Gray Glutton (CR 7), Intellect Devourer (CR 7), Caller in Darkness (CR 9), and Psion-killer (CR 12).
Editorial - Erik Mona gives us his rules for a good campaign, created from personal experience.
Prison Mail - The usual litany of letters, ranging from praise for great content to desires to see Polyhedron purged from the pages of the magazine. Of note are the editorial replies. The editors say that the new paradigm of several short adventures (as opposed to a few long ones) should begin by issue #114. Before that happens though, issue #112 will contain only a single adventure (didn't one of the editors say that would never again happen after issue #99?), the return to Castle Maure (expanded now with a new fourth level designed by Rob Kuntz) from WG5: Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. Also, revised writer's guidelines (for writing adventures) should be appearing sometime after issue #114. There's also a mention that, after one letter complains about the plethora of half-dragons, that we won't be seeing many more of them over the next year.
Buzz on the Bridge - By John Simcoe. A D&D adventure for four 3rd level characters. Giant bees have made a nest on the only bridge leading to the trade route from this remote halfling village. It's up to the PCs to remove the bugs. This adventure also includes a map of the bee-infested bridge, which takes four pages to properly display. Also are twelve little counters of bees (these are part of a page, not separate, so you'll need to xerox the page to cut them out).
This short adventure seemed rather lighthearted in tone, which was an enjoyable change. The halfling NPCs have great personality, and are quite likeable (what PCs wouldn't smile when, coming into town, a group of exciteable halfling children present them with flowers and ask if they're going to kill the "big mean bugs"?). Of note also is the artwork for this adventure. Jeff Carlisle did spectacular work with two full-page pieces!
Last Stand at Outpost Three - By David Noonan. No listing is given for what level characters that this adventure is meant for, but looking over the various encounter levels (ranging from 2 to 7), it seems that this is meant for a party of four 4th level characters at the very least.
The adventure begins two days into the siege of the outpost. Elven marauders are attacking, and no one can figure out why. After repelling the first wave, and getting a chance for some healing and interrogating a prisoner, a large sandstorm falls over the outpost, and the PCs must take cover with the other defenders in warehouses. However, this is the subject of repelling a second wave of attackers - elven zombies. The final leg of the adventure has the PCs setting out from the outpost, and meeting hazards abroad.
This adventure is quite interesting in terms of the mechanical aspects that it offers (especially to people who want to play a Dark Sun campaign). At the end of the adventure is the Athasian Zombie template, since on Athas most undead retain their memories/intelligence/personality. Likewise, the adventure has a weather table for the Tablelands, and an encounter table for stony barrens environment (the encounters are Dark Sun specific monsters). Encounters have listings for the light level, audible sounds, detectable auras, and important rules to recall. It's worth noting that every NPC, even those without psionic class levels, has at least one psionic power and a handfull of psionic points. However, contrary to what was pointed out in Dragon #318's preview of the Expanded Psionics Handbook, they don't also have the Psionic subtype.
This adventure is much less open-and-shut than most adventures printed in the magazine. Rather, it's meant to be an introductory adventure that has no real end to it, being the springboard for a Dark Sun campaign. The backstory is given for exactly why the elves are attacking the outpost, but the real treasure they're after is never given listed stats, nor is the villain who is instigating them to attack. Those are, apparently, beyond the scope of the adventure, and not printed here.
Downer - By Kyle Stanley Hunter. Downer turns the tables on his attackers, and has a comrade prepare to find out what the real story behind the attack is.
The Dark Sun DM's Guide - By David Noonan. This section largely describes the seven city-states of the Tablelands, after giving a brief overview of the campaign world, it's timeline, and demographics. After that is a very short (less than a full page) description of what's beyond the Tablelands.
The first part of the guide describes the feel of Dark Sun, with the best description being "fundamentally, Dark Sun is a campaign setting where the bad guys have already won", and gives two most common adventure themes as being revolution, and ecological fable.
The sidebar on page 60 describes the cosmology of Dark Sun, and it's as sparse as the rest of the campaign world. Besides the Material Plane, there is the Gray (the Border/Deep Ethereal), the Black (the Shadow Plane), and the four Elemental Planes (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water). There are no Outer Planes, so Outsiders come from the Gray, the Black, or an Elemental Plane. Distant regions of the Gray have wellsprings of life energy, effectively functiong as a Positive Energy Plane. Likewise, distant regions of the Black have wellsprings of death energy, functioning as a Negative Energy Plane.
The map on page 61 outlines the Tablelands, though you have to turn it sideways to make it look for familiar to Dark Sun veterans. Don't worry, it hasn't been redrawn, though unlike the revised boxed set of old, it doesn't show anything beyond the Tablelands (no distant city-states in the north, no Kreen Empire in the west, and no Obsidian Lands in the south are shown, though presumably all are there).
Although the spacial constraints of the setting haven't been expanded (the Kreen Empire gets obliquely mentioned once, and things like Eldaarich, Kurn/New Kurn, and the Obsidian Lands don't get a mention at all; likewise, don't expect to find out what's on the other side of the Silt Sea), the timeline of the campaign has advanced...drastically. Three hundred years have passed since the previous Dark Sun material. It is now the Year of Desert's Reverence in the 194th King's Age. This was done to make this incarnation a "safe harbor" so it doesn't conflict with existing material (meaning that this material, at least, shouldn't conflict with what you'll see over at www.athas.org though they never once mention the fan site beyond Erik Mona's introduction in the "Last Stand at Outpost Three" adventure).
The greatest changes in the three hundred year interim is that of the seven city-states, six have sorcerer-kings. That's right, six. Hamanu still rules Urik, Nibenay controls the city-state that bears his name (and the elan, a race from the Expanded Psionics Handbook are from there, having been created there by the Order before that cabal fell apart three centuries ago), and Lalali-Puy, the Oba, rules Gulg. However, Andropinis returned to Balic a century ago...and he brought the maenads with him (the second of the two races from the Expanded Psionics Handbook used in this setting now, half-giants notwithstanding, since they're originally from this campaign). Raam was conquered over two centuries ago by Dregoth, and it's his city now, and everyone knows it. Finally, in Draj, Atzetuk, the young man used as a puppet by the templars of that city and the House of the Mind psionicists, has long since thrown off his mental shackles and become a true dragon-king, destroying the House of the Mind and cowering the templars into submission. Only Tyr still has no sorcerer-king.
A very short sidebar is given on the dragon-kings themselves. It mentions that they aren't deities, but are the most powerful individuals in the world, since they "combine the versatility of an epic spellcaster with the sheer toughness of a dragon" and have their templars and armies. It also says that giving full stats for the dragon-kings would only be useful to epic parties, so there's little use in giving them here. It says that dragon-kings are "epic-level wizards who've performed a lengthy ritual required to turn them into a dragon - a ritual that gives them epic psionic power as well" (Dark Sun fans will note this is incorrect, dragon-kings needed to be epic wizards and psionicists before being able to become dragons).
The last paragraph of the sidebar says "If you need to run a dragon-king on the fly, assume they have the physical statistics of a great wyrm dragon, the spellcasting power of a 22nd-level wizard and the psionic power of a 22nd-level psion."
Each city-state has a listing of its demographics, lands, settlements, power groups, beliefs, commerce, language, arts and crafts, and entertainment. For characters from that city-state, there is a listing of why citizens would adventure, how their charater development cound proceed, and sample character names. Each city-state also has one "notable" NPC given full stats, a section on what a basic guard NPC would look like (stats fully given), and adventure seeds for that city-state. Also, Tyr has a full-page map of the city.
Dark Sun Monsters, part one - by David Noonan. This section has 23 new monsters for the Dark Sun campaign (most of them written up from 2E). Note that with the Athasian Zombie template in the adventure, thats 24, one short of how many said to be in this issue on the cover. Part two of this feature will be in Dungeon #111.
This opens with a mention that most mammilian animals don't exist on Athas. Also, "animals here can have psionic powers, so long as those aren't central to their threat as monsters. Animals that use psionics to survive should be created as magical beasts." After this is a compiled list of Athasian monsters, listed by increasing CR. The list not only includes all the monsters from parts one and two of this feature (meaning we know what monsters will be featured next month), but also selections from the Monster Manual, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Fiend Folio, Manual of the Planes, Monster Manual II, and Draconomicon. There are also a few name changes to what monsters from other worlds are called on Athas.
The monsters listed here are the baazrag (CR 1), boneclaw baazrag (CR 4), cilops (CR 5), Cinderbrute (CR 1), Cloudscout (CR 1), Critic Lizard (CR 1/4), Crodlu (CR 5), Floater (CR 1/2), Gith (CR 1), Speckled Hurrum (C 1/6), Inix (CR 5), Jankx (CR 1/3), Kank (CR 2), Kes'trekel (CR 1/3), Mekillot (CR 7), Mulworm (CR 1/6), Pterrax (CR 4), Ramphor (CR 1/6), Sand Howler (CR 6), Sandknight (CR 1), Spinewyrm (it's a true dragon, so it's twelve CR ratings are 2; 3; 5; 8; 9; 11; 13; 15; 17; 19; 20; 22), Wavearcher (CR 1), and Z'Tal (CR 1/2).
Next month's monsters will be the Rainrunner (CR 1/3), Earthdelver (CR 1/3), Firesnake (CR 1/3), Windraptor (CR 1/2), Yallix (CR 1/2), Zhackal (CR 1), Belgoi (CR 2), Erdlu (CR 2), Seskarran (CR 2), Jhakar (CR 3), Rasclinn (CR 3), Fordorran (CR 4), Lirr (CR 4), Razorwing (CR 4), Dune Reaper Drone (CR 5), Mastyrial (CR 8), Dune Reaper Warrior (CR 11), and Gaj (CR 11).
Also, in case anyone wants to know, the monsters from the Expanded Psionics Handbook are Brain Mole (CR 1/2), Folugub (CR 2), Crysmal (CR 3), Udoroot (CR 5), Gray Glutton (CR 7), Intellect Devourer (CR 7), Caller in Darkness (CR 9), and Psion-killer (CR 12).
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