Good Dragon Articles II

[DMH]

Rereading http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=109274 I wonder if there has been any new articles that would be considered "best" since 3/05.

 

[Alzrius]

"Not For The Living: Six Haunted Templates" in issue #336, by James Jacobs, should certainly qualify. That article, featuring location templates for haunted locales based on contemporary horror movies, is an article worth its weight in gold. I think it stands out as one of the best articles by one of Dragon's best writers.

 

[The_Old_one]

I'll second 'Not for the living', and I'd also add in;Birth of the Dead (#336 again), which very nicely expands the origins of undead nasties beyond 'just because'. It's served to inspire several recurring villains in my Eberron campaign, between both former PCs and villains who considered themselves unjustly slain.

Ecology of the Mooncalf (#340), as it manages to make a formerly goofy monster into something truly awesome.

Creature Collection V (#343), because I'm greatly enamoured of all the creatures it introduced.

 

[Endur]

This is a little older, but the Vault of the Drow article in the Living Greyhawk section of Dragon #298 was excellent.

 

[Canaan]

I don't remember which Dragon mag it was in, but it was the article that talked about the history of Hell and included stats for Satan and for God. It was a very cool article.

 

[Alzrius]

I don't remember which Dragon mag it was in, but it was the article that talked about the history of Hell and included stats for Satan and for God. It was a very cool article.

Actually, it didn't have stats for God. Just Satan and Belial IIRC.

 

[The_Old_one]

Another couple that I'm surprised I forgot,

The Plunderer's Handbook (#331) is seen as required reading by my players, being chock full of good advice for dungeon crawling players.

Cults of the Dragon Below (#332) is also excellent, and is not necessarily useful only for Eberron campaigns. I'd use it in any game involving the Far Realm, or general Cthulhoid nastiness.

 

[Shade]

Add another vote for "Not for the Living".

I'll add:

• All the Demonomicon articles
• Thunder and Fire: The World of the Kaiju (#289) - Best. Template. Ever.
• Enter the Far Realm (#330)
• The Ebon Maw (#312)
• Power Fantasy (#306)
• Swashbucklers (#301)
• The Children of Tharizdun (Annual 5) - the rotripper and kurge are two of the most interesting undead released in 3E, and they languish in near-obscurity
• All the planar dragon articles
• Creature Catalog IV and V
• Horrors of the Daelkyr (#348)
• Specialist Fighters (#310)
• Return to the Lost City (#315)
• Cinnabar, Red Steel, and the Red Curse (#315)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

"Not For The Living: Six Haunted Templates" in issue #336, by James Jacobs, should certainly qualify. That article, featuring location templates for haunted locales based on contemporary horror movies, is an article worth its weight in gold. I think it stands out as one of the best articles by one of Dragon's best writers.

I'm wrapping up an adventure now that used this article, and while a lot of it is somewhat self-evident (anyone running a horror adventure has presumably read some novels and seen some movies), it's a nicely codified piece that puts all the advice in one spot. I refered to the magazine regularly as the Maidensbridge Abbey adventure played out. I'd definitely like to see it in Dragon Compendium Three or Four some day.

 

[BOZ]

[*]Creature Catalog IV and V

has anyone seen CC VI announced yet?