Let's read the entire run

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 225: January 1996


part 4/8


I'm okay, you're one-dimensional: Another article on getting your character going in a hurry. If you want help fleshing them out, try imagining who they'd be played by. Pick am existing person or character, tweak a few details, plonk them in the new milieu, and off we go. You could also ask what their theme song would be, what their most important personality trait is, or what they first do when meeting new people. So this is an interesting grab-bag of ideas, that might work for you, or they might not. I think it'll be very much a matter of taste. Oh well, a few more tricks and options doesn't really hurt. At least this one does put an interesting angle on the whole character-building thing.


Network News: For a long time, we've heard very little about the RPGA in the magazine. Just as Dungeon handles the adventures, Polyhedron is where all the talk of RPGA activities goes. Exactly why they've decided to change that I'm not sure, but here's another soon to be regular feature. Actually, upon reading, it looks pretty obvious why they want to do this - to grow their player base. Raven's Bluff currently has around 5,000 adventurers living in it, played by people from all around the world. But it could be more, oh so much more. We want you! Course, you have to start from 1st level, and your character options are fairly strictly restricted. No weird races, spells from only a few extra books, standardised hit points, comeliness as an extra attribute, evil and chaotic neutral characters not allowed. Hmm. This definitely reads like a set of rules developed organically as and when they ran into problems, and had to patch them to prevent people from running roughshod over the city slaughtering everything. If I was reading this at the time, I might have been tempted. These days, on the other hand, I'm not. I was rather soured on the whole large scale connected RPG thing after 3 years of MUSH play, which ended after one site folded from lack of players, and I quit another after they decided my main character's type was no longer permitted, thus wasting several years of built up xp without the character getting a decent ending. The degree of arbitrary unnegotiable crap you have to deal with from moderators is greater, the amount of influence you actually get to have on the world far less than tabletop, and the choice of venues if you want to enjoy decent sized network externalities rather small. I have no desire to subject myself to that again. Still, this is one step to increase their revenue that seems both sensible and potentially fun for most people involved, so I'm not objecting. And it's looking increasingly unlikely I'm ever going to get hold of a decent collection of Polyhedron back-issues, it will be nice to see what's going on in that corner of the gaming landscape.


Back in the saddle: Another bit of rules tinkering here. Maybe you prefer the way nonweapon proficiencies scale in Skills & Powers, but don't want to adopt the whole point-buy rigamarole using it entails. Try this backconversion. The results are almost precisely halfway between the basic 2e nonweapon proficiency system, and the 3e skill system. Proficiencies starts around 10, ± your ability modifier, rather than being liked directly to ability, and you get to scale them to a greater degree than before, but they don't all escalate the way they do in 3e. That makes this very interesting as a curiosity, and a game using this will have more flexible and balanced characters than the basic system. Overall, I think I approve. After all, the system did need overhauling, and this is a step in the right direction, if not a complete fix.


Campaign classics: So, the magazine's readers have made it very clear that they still like many of the campaign settings TSR is no longer producing material for. So here's another regular column to try and fill that void. And not too surprisingly, we're kicking off with a Greyhawk one. Three spellbooks, each by established names. This would do just as well in Arcane Lore. Probably wasn't even written for this purpose. Oh well, at least that shows demand is there.

Vecna's Ineffable Variorum is constructed entirely out of creatures. Bone for the covers, Skin for parchment, hair for binding, blood for ink. Pretty gross really. It has three unique spells in it. Depth perception, which is obviously to compensate for Vecna's little ocular deficiency. Vecna's Conflagration, which does what fireball cannot and flings enemies away as well as burning them, which is awesome visually. And Turn Lightning, which is also pretty obvious in application. Don't go for the boring attack types against someone this smart.

Iggwilv's Nethertome is a rather large and glossy spellbook, and is largely focussed upon demonology. It does have some spells though, including two rather nasty unique 9th level spells. Iggwilv's Lightning Cage allows you to trap enemies in such a fashion that they take tons of electrical damage if they try to escape. And Iggwilv's Timeless Sleep is another variant upon the sleeping beauty thing, not as good as the one in issue 221, although she's more likely to use it to create guardians that last centuries, so adventurers have something badass to fight. Nice to see a villain doing so much for the adventuring community.

Acererak's Libram has gone through owners almost as quickly as the tomb of horrors went through adventuring parties. Exactly why is uncertain, as it only has one rare spell, Acerack's Blackstone, which is a fairly basic spell absorber. Frankly, spell engine is lower level and better. So this doesn't seem to be a very imaginative collection at all. Delve deeper into the ancient tomes, you'll get far better ways of doing the same things.

 

[Orius]

Campaign classics: So, the magazine's readers have made it very clear that they still like many of the campaign settings TSR is no longer producing material for. So here's another regular column to try and fill that void. And not too surprisingly, we're kicking off with a Greyhawk one. Three spellbooks, each by established names. This would do just as well in Arcane Lore. Probably wasn't even written for this purpose. Oh well, at least that shows demand is there.

I got the impression that when the Greyhawk fans weren't grousing about the Realms, they must have been impressed enough by Ed's Pages of the Mages series that they came up with their own response. There were several more Greyhawk Grimoire articles, though they got put into Arcane Lore. I think it just serves as another source for interesting spells and great spellbook descriptions.

 

[Erik Mona]

I can't wait until you get to #227, which includes a letter from me that editor Dave Gross scraped off the Dragon comment thread on AOL. That's my first appearance in the magazine.

I remember at the time thinking that #225 represented a bit of a fresh start, and that things got considerably better right before they got A LOT worse (in that the magazine stopped publishing altogether in 1996).

I'm interested to see if you get the same impression, and as usual I really enjoy these posts.

Thanks for doing them!

--Erik

 

[Infernal Teddy]

I remember at the time thinking that #225 represented a bit of a fresh start, and that things got considerably better right before they got A LOT worse

Yeah, that's the way I felt at the time too - 24 felt so bad I was close to dropping the magazine altogether, until 225 showed up at the FLGS. Felt like a reboot.

 

[Erik Mona]

I remember Dave Gross talking about it like it was a reboot on AOL just before it came out.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 225: January 1996


part 5/8


The convention listing gets renamed Cons & Pros. My sides, they are splitting.


Tales of the fifth age: Kindling, by Jean Rabe. All the rules have changed in Krynn. And this year, all the rules change in the fiction department as well. In their attempt to revitalise Dragonlance, they're filling the magazine with stories from it, just to make sure everyone's aware of it. Which means a dramatic shift in the style of material we're getting. Wheras for the whole of the magazine's lifespan, even the tales that were part of a series worked self-contained, this is hugely, horribly dependent upon what has come before, and feels very incomplete as a story as well, instead being more a set-up for events to come. It's main purpose is to introduce the gargantuan red dragon Malystryx, one of the major antagonists for the next wave of stories. Her origin is pretty mysterious, coming from some previously unmentioned brobdingnagian continent somewhere on Krynn, there's very little around these parts that can even remotely challenge her, and so she decides to stick around for a bit, make the place her own. So despite being longer than many of the bits of fiction in the magazine, this barely feels like a story, more an extended introduction. Which is an interesting change, but deeply unsatisfying when compared to the general high quality of short fiction around here. They'd better have a good payoff planned in future issues to follow up this setup, or I will be very cross with them for messing with one of the bits of the magazine that least needed it.


Rogues gallery: An elf wearing chainmail? What is this aberration. Common sense over displaying your pointy ears for the world to see? Dexterity as the lowest ability score? A nuanced and original personality that goes against stereotypes and has both cool bits and interesting flaws? I'm shocked. This new regular column has started up with something that's a vast improvement on the old Giants in the Earth character conversions. A character who isn't obvious and cliched, yet is still easily usable in an ordinary campaign. I was all ready to spew bile at this, and instead I find myself giving it fulsome praise. That is a pleasant surprise. I hope they keep this up, and don't slip into the bad habits of making supertwinked, rule-breaking mary-sues that PC's will loathe if they ever meet them.


Forum looks like it ought to have been some colour or other in the header and then casting a shadow, but they couldn't get the budget. So the draconic F winds up all smeary and indistinct, which is not very aesthetically pleasing. Another strike against their new direction.

Christopher Myers contributes well over a page on how arbitrary and illogical the dual-classing rules are. Bout time too. They have a certain interesting symmetry as a game concept, but absolutely no connection with the way people actually learn new skills. It's rather baffling how they were invented in the form they were.

Kerry Zane tells people to stop complaining so much. You know, if they did, this whole column would be pointless and wither away. A hobby needs a certain amount of friction to survive.

Tim Cafferty defends TSR's recent price increases. They do have a need to make money, y'know. Roleplaying is not a charity.

Chris Curran, on the other hand, thinks maybe the prices are a bit of a problem especially for new players. Buying three big hardback books is a pretty hefty buy-in. Bring back an affordable basic set.


Tournament rules: Earlier on, we had the official rules for RPGA play in Raven's Bluff. Now we have the Official Tournament Rules for Dragon Dice, for use in conventions this year. Rules clarifications, point allocations for armies, and the system by which you organise and advance contestants after each round. This all seems less arbitrary and irritating than the Raven's Bluff restrictions, largely because this is a fresh game which is just establishing itself, and so they've been developed in one go by a single team rather than accreting a bunch of odd little exceptions. They also include the official tournament tracking sheet, which is fairly simple and easy to understand. This again seems like a fairly sensible way to try and hold onto their player base, and make a bit more money from them. After all, if you build a community around a game, people are more likely to enjoy it and stick with it. So they are still doing some things right. I'm rather interested to see where this attempt leads us over the coming year.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Dragon Magazine Issue 225: January 1996


part 5/8
Tales of the fifth age: Kindling, by Jean Rabe. All the rules have changed in Krynn. And this year, all the rules change in the fiction department as well. In their attempt to revitalise Dragonlance, they're filling the magazine with stories from it, just to make sure everyone's aware of it. Which means a dramatic shift in the style of material we're getting. Wheras for the whole of the magazine's lifespan, even the tales that were part of a series worked self-contained, this is hugely, horribly dependent upon what has come before, and feels very incomplete as a story as well, instead being more a set-up for events to come. It's main purpose is to introduce the gargantuan red dragon Malystryx, one of the major antagonists for the next wave of stories. Her origin is pretty mysterious, coming from some previously unmentioned brobdingnagian continent somewhere on Krynn, there's very little around these parts that can even remotely challenge her, and so she decides to stick around for a bit, make the place her own. So despite being longer than many of the bits of fiction in the magazine, this barely feels like a story, more an extended introduction. Which is an interesting change, but deeply unsatisfying when compared to the general high quality of short fiction around here.

Although not called out as such, it is an extended introduction--this story is a chapter from the forthcoming Dawning of a New Age novel. Don't worry, the rest of the stories will be standalone, although they'll require you have a general understanding of what happened during DoSF. Given the popularity of W&H Dragonlance at this point, I guess that's probably a fair assumption. (And just to get a common misperception out of the way, DoSF was not written to introduce the Fifth Age or the SAGA Rules System. The novel came first, then the roleplaying folks got the go ahead to relaunch Dragonlance so long as it was post-DoSF, then they got told 'make it a new diceless system.')

 

[Orius]

So despite being longer than many of the bits of fiction in the magazine, this barely feels like a story, more an extended introduction. Which is an interesting change, but deeply unsatisfying when compared to the general high quality of short fiction around here. They'd better have a good payoff planned in future issues to follow up this setup, or I will be very cross with them for messing with one of the bits of the magazine that least needed it.

Looking back at the Dragonlance fiction that filled the magazine for most of the year, I wasn't too terribly impressed. Some of the stories weren't too bad, but this one is pretty forgettable.

Rogues gallery: An elf wearing chainmail? What is this aberration. Common sense over displaying your pointy ears for the world to see? Dexterity as the lowest ability score? A nuanced and original personality that goes against stereotypes and has both cool bits and interesting flaws? I'm shocked.

You forgot to mention the most shocking point: he likes to hang out with dwarves. Interesting character, though I'd have a hard time putting him in my own game. I just prefer to use my own material I guess.

I was all ready to spew bile at this, and instead I find myself giving it fulsome praise. That is a pleasant surprise. I hope they keep this up, and don't slip into the bad habits of making supertwinked, rule-breaking mary-sues that PC's will loathe if they ever meet them.

I wouldn't hold your breath on that.

Tim Cafferty defends TSR's recent price increases. They do have a need to make money, y'know. Roleplaying is not a charity.

Somewhere along the line I defaced the magazine and changed the first reference to the company to T$R.

Although not called out as such, it is an extended introduction--this story is a chapter from the forthcoming Dawning of a New Age novel.

Wow that is kind of a rip.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 225: January 1996


part 6/8


Sage advice gets rid of the little red triangle, and instead goes purple with black spikes. Lorraine must like her minions looking stereotypically evil. Most undignified to a sage who isn't as young as they used to be.

Can a giant object falling on a prismatic sphere penetrate it. (no. Even a falling planet will be stopped and destroyed or teleported to another plane by it's mighty power! Way to save the world dude! )

What's the point of chain lightning having scaling damage if the maximum is below the level you need to be to cast it ( Wands)

Can a frisky chest spell animate a giant gold statue (sure, if it isn't too big.)

Do mirror images make sound (Sure, why not)

When do enlarged characters get more knockdown dice. (when they go up a size category. Pure and simple)

How much do you know about magical items when you find them. (not much, unless you're a bard)

How do you know when magic is hostile (Common sense. Do we have to go through this every time.)

Can you move someone by pushing into their protection from evil radius (No. It's a magnetic repulsion. Note that paladin protection from evil doesn't do that anyway. )
What are the penalties for thieves wearing really heavy armour (Skip will help you out with that, no trouble.)

Do you go up to D20, then D100 for knockdown rolls by huge creatures (nah, just D20 is badass enough. It's like saves don't go below 2. The system breaks if you go too high, so we cap it.)


A rather stereotypical arabian bazaar scene? A bit jarring, in these politically correct days.


Dungeon Mastery: Oh boy, splitting the party again. It never ceases to be an issue, because there's just so many situations where it's unrealistic for half a dozen people to be joined at the hip 24/7. How are we to deal with this? Getting the players who's characters are absent to play NPC's? Seems pretty familiar. Actually, we already covered this in issue 190, along with a whole bunch of other bits of advice on what to do if they insist on not sticking together. So this seems both rehashed and very limited by comparison. It's not as long, it has less of a sense of humour, and the illustrations aren't integrated as well. Editing fail. You have to keep track of this stuff if you want to avoid boring us by telling us what we already know.


Role-playing Reviews: Warhammer Quest gets a second review. Rick is immediately drawn in by the high quality shiny bits and pieces, the rules are quick to learn and support a quite surprising amount of random happenings to keep things interesting. It's mostly just fighting, but there is enough potential for roleplay to use this as a gateway drug. And it's fairly affordable too. Shame christmas is over now. I guess timing is important when choosing your reviews.

Fudge gets a rather complicated verdict as it's not so much a system, as a formula for constructing your own RPG system. As such, it's very much for the expert DM, despite the simplicity of the basic system. Some more specific implementations like Spirit of the Century would be very helpful in raising it's profile. Otherwise there's just not enough to say.

Dragon Dice gets a pretty enthusiastic review. It's fairly original structurally, easy to learn, reasonably fast and has lots of tactical options. If you want to get in on the ground floor (having missed the boat for M:tG, go for it. Man, even the reviewers are getting bored with RPG's these days. How are the general public to be expected to hold on under these conditions.

 

[prosfilaes]

Can a frisky chest spell animate a giant gold statue (sure, if it isn't too big.)

And here starts the problem. I don't remember how much, but we get some fuss over the cheesy use of a frisky chest spell to move stolen treasure instead of protect it.

Actually, we already covered this in issue 190, along with a whole bunch of other bits of advice on what to do if they insist on not sticking together. ... You have to keep track of this stuff if you want to avoid boring us by telling us what we already know.

There was a rule of thumb in some comics that you can reuse a plot every year, since the reader turn-over was that much. I'm guessing that 35 issues = about 3 years is long enough that Dragon could go back and recover a subject.