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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 8490590" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 83: May 1993part 5/5The Third Degree: Jeff gives us a negative review this time, as he examines Millennium's End and finds it somewhat wanting. The art is amateurish, the crunch heavy and clunky, and the writing tone smug and condescendingly superior. Take the role of paramilitary mercenaries in the war-torn future of 1999 and meddle in global politics for fun and profit. No pretences at heroism, just good old fashioned killing and exploitation for money & power without the veneer of alignments and nonhuman species to soften things. A classic example of teenage attempt at grimdark maturity, thinking you can do better than D&D by making things more realistic. If Zack Snyder wanted to make a film based on an RPG, this'd be the one he'd pick. Ouch. If he disliked it that much at the time, imagine how cringy it looks in hindsight, now all that premillennial tension stuff is well and truly over. I think we can safely leave this in the past, there's better systems around if modern day action is your thing and the setting's not much to write about either. The Everwinking Eye: As is often the case, Ed follows on directly from last issue, bringing the history of Zhentil Keep up to the present. it took several decades for the Zhentarim to worm their way into the power structures and do their big takeover, but when they did it was quite the bloodbath, purging the people in power while the majority of the loyal soldiers were out fighting orcs, then sealing the gates so the remnants got massacred. Amazingly enough, this did not make them popular with the neighbours, or leave them with a strong military capable of projecting conquering power, so their expansionist ambitions were soon curtailed for another generation. Things were shaken up when Manshoon seized power from the lord who killed his father, with the aid of Fzoul Chembryl and some beholder allies, bringing in a new generation of hungry young Zhentarim that rely more on magic than massed physical force as a power source. Now he, Fzoul and Lord Chess have a … complicated power sharing relationship, which will be elaborated upon in other books. It's a paranoid life, being an evil overlord. Unless you get rid of the human element and rely entirely on undead & constructs, you still need to keep key people on your side and delegate certain tasks to keep the lights on, food, housing, etc. Neglect the logistics in favour of maniacal cackling and you rapidly wind up poor and hemmed in with the country decaying and common people plotting rebellion. While not brilliant at that, they're definitely doing better than Gilgeam, who despite being a literal god is laughably inept at governing and expanding rulership beyond what he can conquer personally, and saw his personal power deteriorate over the centuries along with his number of worshippers. Once again, this paints a picture of them as dangerous, but not unbeatable, and prone to weakening their position long-term due to their own cruelty. It also reminds us that the amount of magic in the Realms varies quite a bit in different countries and eras, as it's useful, but also dangerous and unreliable. When a bunch of dead & wild magic zones pop up, the reliable fighters wind up in charge, while other times turn into full-on magocracy. You have plenty of choice as a DM to adjust the tone of your game without departing from canon simply by when and where the PC's go adventuring. Bloodmoose & Company can't resist making a Rocky & Bullwinkle reference. With both the Raven's Bluff and wider Forgotten Realms material focussing more on antagonists than general worldbuilding, this issue is fairly interesting, but shows their need to escalate after more than 5 years adding things onto the same world. It's the same boredom that led to the elections in the RPGA, and the general increase in big metaplot events in the books. When will the need to keep things interesting for the hardcore start confusing and driving away the casuals? Onto the next issues, to see if they get any letters praising or criticising these articles.</blockquote>

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