Let's read the entire run

[David Howery]

Ill gotten gains: The last time we got a full article on taxation was issue 95, where Arthur Collins had quite an amusing take on how adventurers and taxation relate to one-another, with others in issue 36 and 74. So this is one final visit to that bit of old skool realism before the edition change. Adventurers shouldn't simply be able to accumulate wealth unimpeded. There ought to be plenty of people trying to remove their money from them by means legitimate and devious when they get back to civilisation, and cool things for them to spend it on. Some might even turn a profit if you invest properly and don't get swindled. This falls into the useful but dry category, especially when compared to the more playful writings of over a decade ago. This really is an area where a more playful and less verbose style of writing would help the medicine go down.

this was where the 'training costs' in 1E came in handy... I always used those as a shorthand for taxes, equipment maintenance/replacement, fending off lawsuits ("You looted the ruins of Great Boggy Tower?! My ancestors built that tower! You took my inheritance!"), etc. It's hard to imagine that someone would demand umpteen thousands of GPs for training, but saying that part of it is taxes and other expenses makes more sense...

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 268: February 2000


part 4/7


Fiction: The python king's treasure by Gregory Keyes. Fool Wolf's life is once again full of highs and lows, love, betrayal, feast, starvation, and repeated near death experiences. It's not that he can't catch a break, but something will come along sooner or later to screw it up. That's the life of the classical adventuring scoundrel, always in and out of trouble, never getting to settle down. In the meantime, we do get to find out some more interesting stuff about his world, and the way spirits and humans relate in it. It's not all one-sided deals where they bind or possess one another, there are oaths that are sworn for mutual benefit, and other long-term relationships. So this is pretty cool, especially as he solves his problems with brains, rather than unleashing raw power whenever he gets in a jam, and isn't totally a slave to the whims of fate and manipulative spellcasters. His adventures are worth a few more watches.


PC Portraits: NPC's is this month's theme. Which frankly is so vague a concept as to not be one at all. What really distinguishes PC's from NPC's in terms of appearance? If this is anything to go by, it's not being quite as attractive on average, which is a fitting indictment on the wish fulfilment fantasies of many players. The heads do have odd proportions in this one, and tend to be quite small compared to their necks. But there is a decent variety anyway. Who's to say they can't serve their intended purpose.


Arcane Lore: Back to Oerth for a named spell journal, where the history is if anything more important than the spells within. As with far too many journals, a trail of people killing each other for the stuff within is a notable feature of the overall thing. It all feels both formulaic and insubstantial. There's only a couple of spells, and they get big colourful sidebars detailing them. Truly a triumph of style over substance.

Lightning Serpent is actually quite good for a 1st level spell, as it may not be that accurate, but it keeps on attacking independently. One of these near the start of the battle'll add to your offense decently.

Kieren's Curse Ward lets you piss off gypsies and break into ancient tombs with substantially greater smugness. Shoulda had that a long time ago. Course, you can bet Ravenloft dark powers'll blow through that just like they do for all the other supposed countermeasures. Stay out of Ravenloft, kids!


Bazaar of the Bizarre: Round and round we go, with another set of items that are both boon and pain. We had this in issue 263. They aren't even trying to maintain variety now, are they. They're just burning through whatever they have in the slush pile before it's obsoleted by the edition change. Crunch crunch crunch.

Chitin Helms form an exoskeleton around you, then replace your original skin and bones, transforming you into an insectoid thing with decent armor and abilities, but severely impaired social skills. You've managed to integrate thri-kreen into your party before. Just get someone else to play the face.

Bone Wands gradually drain your life force to power their effects, and eventually come to life. Perfect for a Ravenloft style game.

Candelabra of Holding can suck you into them like the mirror. They are rather less stable though, and people in them often escape and try to kill their captor. Again, this has a very definite horror slant. Being turned into a Wax Golem does not sound like a good way to live.

Dairon's Hound is a flawed figurine. If it tastes blood, it goes berserk, and then you're screwed. It could still be useful for tracking and fetching though. It'll take a good divination spell to spot that little problem before it becomes an issue.

The Hourglass of Lost Youth can stop time, but at a serious cost to your lifespan. Even more than Haste, this is probably not worth the cost, but might be tempting in a pinch.

The Sliver of Life's Reflection lets you make a duplicate, at the cost of some permanent lifeforce. This means you'll want to take good care of them, for even a high level character won't be able to treat them as throwaway mooks. Very tempting for PC's though.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 268: February 2000


part 5/7


Dragon's bestiary: Oooh. New PC races! Shiny! This column's never done that before. The writer asks why they don't have variants on lizard men based on various lizard species. Um, they did. Mystara, remember? Shazaks, Gurrash and cay-men? Made PCable in the princess ark series? Some people, no sense of history at all. I dunno. Oh well. These don't seem too bad, even if their ability modifiers are rather more extreme than most of the humanoids made PCable previously. They should make decent counterparts to the many cat and dog variants from issues 237 & 247.

Agrutha are bigger tougher lizard men, the ogres of the reptilian world, with decidedly limited intellects and class choices. Still, they're still smart enough for basic tactics. And remember, your mobility is limited in the marsh. Their's isn't.

Crcodilians, like regular lizard men, are divided into neutral grunts and highly evil boss guys. The big difference is that the boss guys are smaller than the regular ones here. They do learn spells though, which explains why the regular crocodilians don't eat them with their substantial natural weaponry.

Varanids are based on Komodo Dragons. They're fast and tricksy, ascetic and amoral. You really don't want them as enemies, because a village isn't going to have much luck against them.

Geckonids have pretty obvious ancestry. This makes them very good at climbing, and they can see through invisibility without even trying. They have kenderesque humorous tendencies, which is a bit worrying. Just the thing to annoy players.

Iguanids are the all-rounders of the lizard people, with the widest range of classes open, skill at climbing and swimming, natural weapons and magic resistance. One would make a pretty interesting addition to an adventuring party. Looks like they're still providing useful stuff for the old edition even as the changeover draws nigh.


The new adventures of Volo: A little playful legendry from Volo this month. Ancient magitech empires, being what they were, frequently looked for ways to make the effects of spells applicable to larger groups. Teleportation gates are a good example of something that has huge logistical benefits and are relatively easy to control, as long as you have sufficient guards or a magical warding system set up around them. No surprise then, that there's more than a few of these hidden in ruins, just waiting for people who know the passwords to use. Volo has figured out some of their OS, but not nearly all, and following his advice may get you in trouble. Elminster knows a little more of course, and has no hesitation in being smug about this. These can serve as both adventures in themselves, and avenues to further adventures, which means that once mostly solved, players may well visit them repeatedly. I'm going to have to give him another A grade, aren't I, because this all seems like great storybuilding material.


Giants in the earth: Ed takes over this column as well. He's apparently decided to go the route of Margaret & Tracey and try writing in a new, non-gaming connected world. Although googling shows that it was pretty generic fantasy fare anyway, just not tied into the bloated continuity of the Realms, and got mixed reviews for being mostly high action fighty stuff with not much plot. So let's see what he has to offer in terms of characters.

Craer Delnbone is very much the swashbuckling roguish sort, slim, good-looking, and wielding light weapons with style. Dunno why he doesn't have the actual kit, since he's more than qualified ability-wise, and they've included them in these sorts of write-ups before.

Hawkril Anharu is the intentionally contrasting big stoic fighty guy, heavily armed and armored. Isn't that one of the most obvious pairings in tropesville? I hope they have a bit of nuance to transcend the cliches in the actual books.

Lady Embra Silvertree continues Ed's habit of making the wizards way more powerful than anyone else in the party, even beyond the imbalance AD&D rules naturally cause anyway. Come on, it's a new world, couldn't you try to play against type? I guess audience expectations remain the same. Still, she does have some interesting limitations, and plenty of cool backstory stuff to round her out.

Sarasper Codelmer is the cleric, although he consciously rebels against being used as a healbot, not wanting to deplete his own lifeforce prematurely. Combined with his quirky shapeshifting, and he's easily the least stereotypical of the characters here. Still, I don't think it's going to be enough to stop people from thinking of the Realms instantly when they think of Ed, just as people don't think of Mythus or Cyborg Commando when they think of Gary.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 268: February 2000


part 6/7


FX Artifacts: Aka magical items for Alternity. Which is a relatively easy topic for them to add stuff on even after doing a whole book on the subject, because the system is pretty close to AD&D, and they have 25+ years of materials from that to convert. And indeed, I can recognise the sources for quite a few of these powers and drawbacks. Still, they're certainly not all implemented in the same way as they were in other systems, and they are given a good sci-fi dressing. Plus the specific items are both well described, interesting and have good illustrations. So this was an easy assignment, but it didn't feel phoned in despite this. The writers really do care about Alternity, and are still hoping it'll get a continuation.


Dungeoncraft: Ray finally moves to talking about good ol' location based adventures. Even here, he has some rather interesting suggestions. This is one case where doing a little extra effort at the start will save you more in the long run. Make it big enough they can't clear it out in one go, and you can reuse it. Even more cleverly, you can design it with different entrance points, and build new expansions, put new monsters in, and it's quite possible they won't even notice the recycling. The specific adventure is pretty cool too, providing an easy way to get new PC's involved and working together, and incorporating plenty of the larger setting details rather than just being a place filled with monsters. It both makes good reading, and is useful advice. Still, it does seem specifically designed as a first adventure. I guess that'll give him room to talk about how successive ones at higher levels will differ in design later. The long game continues.


Sage advice: What can you do while gaseous (move around verrrry slowly. That's it. )

What does past life reveal if you were unconscious just before you die (sod all. Way to foil those annoying wizards )

Do invisible things cast shadows (no)

What happens if a speciality priest has a forced alignment change (they become a regular cleric until the matter is settled)

Does a wizard have to completely relearn spells drained by a magedoom. (no, just standard rememorization)

What demihumans can be elementalists (only half-elves. Demihumans aren't generally very good at picking up new variant magic disciplines. )

Dragon spellcasting level guidelines contradict themselves. (use the individual descriptions. Exception based design strikes again. )

6 seconds is way too long to cast feather fall (1 segment is not 6 seconds, and we don't even have segments anymore. You're talking rubbish.)

Can a speciality priest of Berronar Truesilver cast extra protection spells (no. Just the ones they have with greater power. )

Can you cast a spell round corners with a mirror (No. That's one of the more inventive bits of rules lawyery Skip has seen, but still no. )

Do spellsingers have to use the new nonproficiency system if they use skills & powers stuff. This totally nerfs them at low level (That's your problem, not Skip's. )

Spellsingers are too good at casting high level spells. This needs fixing (Skip agrees with you. God, Ed comes up with some overpowered crap. )

Are spellsingers limited in highest spell level by int (yes)

How does polymorphing yourself with a wand work (just like normal polymorphing)

Can smoke power hurt things that need magic weapons to hit (yes)

What does push do (See 1st ed AD&D. For whatever reason, it was never converted, but it shouldn't be a problem to use. )

Does high wisdom protect you against ghost powers (sure)

Are hold spells saved against paralyzation or spells (spells)

Do spellcasters know how long their spells will last (if they're of fixed duration, they should be able to keep track of it. )

What spells affect a deck of many things (not a lot. It's a bitchin' thing, you gotta take your knocks. )

Can you automatically memorize spells after using a candle of invocation. (yes, but you've gotta take the time. )

How long does bless last on a weapon (6 rounds. Really not long enough. )

Is bless affected by magic resistance (would you cast it on someone who wasn't willing? If so, yes.)

Does your natural dex boost the thief skills granted by gauntlets of dexterity (That makes no sense at all. Lamest twinking attempt evar.)

Do drow objects degrade inside a bag of holding (if anything's going to keep the radiation they need out, it's a bag of holding. At least it keeps the sun out as well. )

Do wizards have to research a whole new spell to customize an existing one (no. It's considerably easier than that.)

Do weapons have an alignment (Only if they're intelligent. No thinking, no morals, no alignment, no matter how they're used. )

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 268: February 2000


part 7/7


Silicon Sorcery: They've been increasing the frequency of computer game conversions over the last year. Now they get their own regular column. I think that proves pretty conclusively they're either popular with the readers, or the company is getting kickbacks for including these. So this time, we're converting some summoned monsters from Disciples: Fallen lands into something that fits the AD&D cosmology. Which since they seem to be from a fairly generic Hell, is an easy fit.

Beliarh are big humanoid coobeasties, that charge their opponents and trample them. They're quite smart, but don't have any particular spell-like powers to back that up, so they're still very much shock troops.

Infernal Avengers are mysterious cloaked beings with big swords, that can terrify people with their faces, and unleash really devastating fireballs. They're obviously all about vengeance, and actually seem to enjoy being summoned for an appropriate mission. So if you want to go hellish, but don't want to be screwed over, you could do a lot worse.


KotDT has another attempt at modern gaming. They still don't get it, I'm afraid. Dragonmirth mocks playboy readers. Shop keep mocks D&D's history. There does seem to be a lot of nostalgia around back then.


Coming attractions: A rather more substantial collection than usual for this era this month. Many are still rehashes though. Drizzt's second trilogy gets released in an omnibus edition. The first book of the cleric quintet gets reissued, with more to follow. The Dragonlance chronicles get reissued as individual books again, so now you can choose between them and the compiled omnibus versions. The best of the dragonlance short stories over the years get compiled and rereleased in a new form. It's tedious to the point of brainrot. I really can't wait for this to be over. There's also the 3rd and final part of the priest's spell compendium. So you haven't done as many as wizards got after all. No surprise there. And finally, there's Secrets of the Magister by Ed Greenwood. Exactly how much this has in common with the original Magister book from a decade ago I'm not sure, but I am not inclined to be generous at the moment.

Onto the vaguely new stuff. Dragonlance gets Rise of the Titans, another dual stat adventure. Alternity gets Beyond Science: Guide to FX. Yeah, I definitely see the influence this one had on D20 modern a few years later. It also gets the Dark Matter arms and equipment guide. More attempts to find big sellers by packing lots of crunch in. And Marvel Super Heroes does Spider-man: Marvel Team-up. Noo yoik sees things go to crap, and a whole bunch of heroes have to work together to fix things. They really are focussing a lot more on adventures using existing heroes rather than your own this time around. What is with that?


What's new introduces an old joke to a whole new generation. And It's funnier than ever, curiously enough. Growf Growf.


So it looks like they're going to use the extra size in these issue to fill us up to bloating point with generic material. Those who are fed up of 2e will be well and truly nauseous and never want to go back, while those who aren't will have enough material to keep their game going for years to come. And since the OSR does tend to focus on 1e rather than 2e, I think we can say that tactic worked all too well. So they're now busy measuring up the coffin for 2e, making sure it's suitably large and extravagant in trappings. Will there be tears at the funereal? Probably, but I'll check to be certain.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 269: March 2000


part 1/7


132 pages. Larry Elmore finally finishes his witches of the seasons series, started more than a hundred issues ago. Like Tom Moldvay's undead reexamination series, it's good to see it resolved, especially given the health problems he had in the interim. Fittingly, the theme of the issue is once again nature based stuff. Like the underdark, we've already had quite a few goes at this, but they want to make sure we're well and truly saturated with it before the edition changes arrive. So it's time for another feast of goods rapidly approaching their sell-by-date. Let's try and grab some nice bargains.


In this issue:


The wyrms turn: In the course of exploring 25 years of roleplaying, I'd be the first to admit I've become more than a little blase about things. And I'm quite aware that losing that sense of wonder is not that great for your ability to have fun. Dave is worrying about exactly the same issue. A talking animal doesn't even make us blink. A dragon is reason for realistic caution, but no real awe or panic. A vampire or medusa sees us shrug and get out the appropriate countermeasures from our backpacks of holding. So yeah, how do you regain that sense of wonder? As with a lot of things based on advancement, the easy solution is to pace yourself, but I think that horse is well and truly out he gates. The other things are to either take a break, do something completely different to allow yourself to re-sensitise, or to focus on something specific for an extended period, so as to develop more nuance and get them emotionally involved. But even that can stop working if you do it repeatedly. Guess the battle to keep things fresh will have to continue, otherwise you're faced with the prospect of a long, slow, bored rest of your life. And I certainly don't want that.


D-Mail: We start off with someone who is generally happy with what they've seen of the 3e rules, but deeply suspicious of the artwork. The writers quickly assure him that he doesn't have to change his playstyle because of that. OR DOES HE?! (dun dun dun) Never underestimate the subliminal power of presentation.

A letter from someone who's interpreted the teasers in the worst possible way, and has sworn never to buy 3e. They try to correct him, but that probably won't help the individual, merely those observing the debate.

We get some more praise for dungeoncraft. It is turning out pretty nice, isn't it.

We then have two letters praising Alternity, and one of them wanting it eliminated from the magazine entirely. It continues to be a rather divisive subject, and one they'd like to find a permanent solution too. Whether that will be giving it it's own magazine or simply killing it is still being debated in the offices.

We then have someone telling them off for using a traitorous guest star. Now they won't trust any genuine new players, and might well kill their characters in response. All I have to say to that is muahahahaha. If you can't take a little treachery then you certainly shouldn't play in my games.

A letter pointing out errors a few issues ago. Not a rare sight, really. The grist mill continues to turn, and editors only have time to check things over a few times.

A rather interesting diversion. Apparently Gen Con is being moved from Milwaukee to Indianapolis. This is obviously good for the general public, as it continues to increase in size and needs bigger infrastructure, but bad for people living nearby.

A threat from the equal heights rights group to end the discrimination against halflings or face kneecapping. Quite right too. You do not mess with someone who's face is at groin height unless you want to feel exquisite pain.


Nodwick is in so much trouble. Imagination is more disturbing than showing the full horror.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 269: March 2000


part 2/7


Forum: Thomas B. Knoedler thinks that it's not that thieves are too weak, it's that you don't know how to play them properly. Right back atcha, shifting blame like Margaret Thatcher! If ma flow is ill it's 'cause the beat was crapper.

Justin Bacon doesn't think characters should be defined purely by their combat roles. Thieves may not be great in combat, but they are invaluable out of it. They should actually be useful more of the time than fighters. After all, you only spend a tiny amount of time in combat, and what good are they out of it?

Chad Atkins wants casting spells to consume calories. Tee hee. Losing weight based on how powerful a spell you cast? That would be a damn good variant kit for Dark Sun, but seems a bit silly otherwise. Emaciatomancy? Bulimeamancy? No, I don't think I could quite take this seriously in actual play.

Gregory Rick thinks clerics shouldn't have to memorise spells, but instead call upon their deity on the fly. Sorry, it's arcane casters that are getting that option first. You'll have to wait a few years for Favored Souls to come along.

Christian Tomsey has great praise for his player's between session activities. The web is full of mails of events, background materials, artwork and even poetry. This proves exactly how invested they are in the game. Mucho envy to you guys.

Cory Herbst has a campaign where kobolds are the supreme civilisation, and humans are tribal guys raiding them. His players are having a great time as the underdogs. Don't be afraid to make your world drastically different from the norm.

James Sheppard is one of the growing number of people who wants to see energy draining sorted out. It ruins campaigns, and bears little resemblance to mythological bloodsucking. There is a reason many Ravenloft variants exchange it for some other power.

Joseph Herpler argues against increasing ability scores as standard. You ought to have to work specifically for them, independent of gaining levels. Perfectly reasonable view, if more suited to a skill based game where everything is improved independently.


ProFiles: Rob Lazzaretti is this month's profilee, with a rather wide-boyish photo not showing him at his best. He started out as a general artist, but somehow became most well known for his maps, with the planescape ones in particular being his distinctive handiwork. Stretching to two pages, this profile goes into rather more detail than most. They use this column as yet another avenue for promoting the new edition, with plenty of talk on things like his favourite new class and upcoming things he's working on. Still, the format continues to improve, with a proper list of his gaming credits as well as plenty of hints for aspiring artists. Make sure you integrate with the rests of the adventure, otherwise it becomes just pointless eye candy. This is still a valuable part of the magazine.


Up on a soapbox: Having talked about fanboys, geeks and nerds, Gary now looks at the definition of munchkin. People who play overpowered characters, and steamroller the opposition via rules lawyering and min-maxing, or simply because their DM is similarly generous with the opposition and treasure. Now, it does have to be said that there's nothing inherently wrong in system mastery, it's all about how you apply it. But that's not the real crux of his argument. No, the real danger to roleplaying is the sophisticates and one true wayers, who sneer at any other playstyle, and drive out people who don't meet their standards, making the game as a whole inaccessible. After all, the fact that people are playing is just as important as how they play, and if you don't get new players in, then roleplaying's demographics will gradually age and shrink. A statement that seems all too relevant these days. How many younger people have you recruited in recent years and how did they play when they started out? Really, this is a strong reminder of two things. If the game isn't fun, there's no point in playing, and if there's no-one to play with then roleplaying games don't work very well, because they're an inherently social hobby. Plus, playing obscene power can be very fun indeed. So once again he's asking us to think hard about our basic assumptions, and whether they'll really make for good gaming in the long term, for us and other people. After all, as the creator of roleplaying, he wants to see his hobby flourish. Now he just needs to get people to listen and put some of this stuff into practice, which is far easier said than done.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 269: March 2000


part 3/7


Countdown to 3rd edition: 5 months to go. Here we get to see rogues, and the new skill system showcased. This is one area I have no hesitation in saying 3e was a substantial improvement on previous editions. Sneak attack is now clearly defined and explained in what it can and can't do, Rogue skills are integrated with the general system so you don't have to buy a particular one if it's not appropriate to your concept, and the DC system scales far better than the old percentile one. Plus taking 10 and 20 are valuable additions to the general rules. It's still not perfect, but you can easily pick a point or two in a skill that only mildly interests you without knocking down the optimisation of your character too much, which is a lot more than you can say for 2e. No complaints here, so I have less to say than the last two. Now, when we get to fighters and the new/revived classes, that should be interesting.


Animal henchmen: Looks like we're starting off our articles with another look back at the vast mountain of material 2e accumulated, with an article that doesn't introduce new creatures, but does reference a whole bunch of them, some from fairly obscure supplements. Well, that's another way to help clear out the warehouses. And lets face it, there have been a lot of stories with intelligent animal companions, talking or not. Of course, the big issue with animal companions is that they remain fairly static in power while the PC's change enormously. A problem which we now know 3e will handle considerably better. So it's a bit ironic really to see an article that tries to fix this, but doesn't really go far enough, and spends most of it's time looking backwards. This isn't going to be one I reference again once a few months has passed.


PC Portraits does druids and rangers, which is indeed pretty in theme as usual. They do tend towards a certain nobility of features, but I think that's just the artist's style rather than intentional. Hoods, animal features, leaves, feathers and other symbols of the natural cycle are of course popular adornments. Overall, I think this is one of the better composed sets in the series, with relatively detailed shading and no big proportional mishaps. They can use this guy again when they need some more faces.


Herbcraft: As is their habit around this time, they dig up at least one topic that hasn't been seen in the magazine for over a decade. Herbalism previously got articles in issues 82 and 119, both of which are for 1e. So this can avoid rehash simply by incorporating 2e rules. Which it does, expanding on what you can treat with a basic roll, and then detailing some specific magical herbs that can provide further effects beyond that. So this doesn't step on the toes of previous articles, and has enough fantastical elements that subsequent articles are unlikely to repeat it directly in turn, and makes fairly pleasant reading. Like the article last issue about what a person can do untrained, it's good for clarifying the rules, which is helpful as you finish an edition, to make things feel nicely resolved. You can't say they haven't gone to quite a bit of effort to tie up all the loose ends, with all these articles and compilation books and CD's.


Extra healing: Now, Herbalism and Healing have a lot of synergy, to the point where they're obligatory for some cleric builds. (which eats up all your slots if at least one of them isn't a bonus from the kit) Of course, there's always room for more expensive subdividing of skills, and it looks like that particular annoyance of 2e is about to get another airing before the next edition mostly puts skill bloat to bed, and 4e kills it for good. (so far) So here's 3 new healing sub-proficiencies, and 4 new herbalism ones for you, should you be obsessive enough to want a character devoting their whole life to this field of study. They then detail a whole bunch of natural herbs, most of which don't have any defined mechanical effect. Well, I suppose they want to keep it useful for next edition, because you're unlikely to be seeing something like this there. And I can't particularly say I'll miss this topic. Byebye.


Beneath the boughs: In issue 251, we got an interesting little article on Dryads in the Dragonlance 5th age setting. In a fairly obvious symmetry filler, the same writer follows up with one on satyrs. Now, they already have AD&D rules in the Complete book of Humanoids, but they don't have SAGA rules yet. And on top of that, they gain better class options in Krynn than other worlds, as is also the case with ogres, elves, gnomes, and some other races; and some slightly altered ecological information from their previous appearance in issue 155. They also have four new spells detailed for both systems. As with the previous one, this is jaunty, packs it's crunch into small packages, and fits plenty of flavour in there as well. If you want a satyr who's a bit less comic relief (after all, in krynn, they're regularly upstaged by kender and tinker gnomes) and more competent and able to work with a party for a decent length of time, this article provides a nice little upgrade for two systems.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 269: March 2000


part 4/7


Fiction: All too familiar by J Robert King. An intelligent animal features in this story, so it's just about in theme as well. And it is a pretty entertaining one, amusingly free of angst, but with a decent amount of whimsy and plenty of action and plot twists. Technically, if anything, the bad guy wins, but in a practical sense, his own hubris turns out to be his undoing. Which is exactly the kind of thing that makes for good reading, as it avoids the more obvious cliches and goes down it's own route, and does it with style. Just like a good cat would. You know how unpredictable they can be, even if you get them as a litter and raise them the same way. So this is pretty entertaining, and not weighed down with continuity despite being from one of their regular writers. Don't let the marketing people turn everything into a tie-in fest. You know what that did to comics.


Arcane Lore: Another one with a single new spell, and a ton of setting blurb. Murq's Mystic Missile is just another variant magic missile. How many of those do we have now? Coming near a dozen. The setting stuff is rather more interesting, with this being another long established but left vague Greyhawk character getting their lives and times (and diabolical plots) filled in. Actually that does seem to be becoming a distinction between Oerth and Toril. Even though Gary may be sorta back, he's no longer in the driving seat of his own world, and other people are working via forensic expansion rather than wholecloth creation. And that's not a distinction that flatters Oerth, really. Plus, overall, this is a continuation of the abrupt drop in usability from last year. I'm really not happy at all about this development.


Dragon's Bestiary: Demihuman pets. Now there's an odd omission considering we've seen dwarf bred spiders, gith dogs, Troll dogs, Ilithid baboons, elf enhanced squirrels, and quite a few more things created to serve other things over the years. looks like this is another last minute filling in of symmetries here, for those who'll stick with the old stuff instead of leaping straight to the new edition.

Yyllethyn are elven horses. Like most things elf, they're smarter, prettier, longer lived, and slower breeding.

Crayghe are elven hawks. Exactly the same proviso as previously apples here.

Byut are elven deer, and are too fragile and ethereal to survive in the wild. Useless things. What value is beauty without any practical use?

Pennig are halfling ponies, and like their breeders, are amiable, tough little things that can go anywhere there's decent food. No surprises here either then.

Twill are our first interesting delivery. Little marsupials domesticated by gnomes, they fill the same role as the little creatures in the moties stories. Able to carry tools in their pouches and reach places little stubby gnome hands can't, they can be a big help in creating incomprehensible and unreliable machinery.

Stoight are forest gnome's pet of choice, and similarly adorable and quirky. They can scare animals much bigger than them with their sheer speed and viciousness. One of these would make a great pet for an adventurer.

Brak Twan are dwarvish digger dogs. They have infravision and typically dwarven tenacity as hunters and guards. Nothing too surprising here again.

Guttar are underground oxen that graze on fungi. Don't we already have those, detailed ages ago in Drow of the Underdark. So many supplements to keep track of. Once again, I'm not surprised they've wound up repeating stuff. So I guess the gnomes are the only ones that come out particularly well from this little business. It's easier to avoid getting stale when you don't get as much attention anyway.


The ecology of the pseudodragon: Can you guess which set of regulars is most likely to deal with a creature that can become a wizard's familiar? I think you can. It's the monster hunters guild again. And once again, they find themselves at odds with one-another, as the more principled members of the group would prefer that good creatures not be captured and dissected to make magical items for profit. And at least with PvP, one side of the group actually gets to win. Their bit part cast members are also increasingly becoming recurring characters. It all ends rather comically, yet again, with them not dead, but rather humiliated. And no better off financially either. Guess they'll keep muddling along until something stops them for good.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 269: March 2000


part 5/7


The new adventures of Volo: Two months ago, we looked at the various elven kingdoms of the Realms. This month, halflings and gnomes get lumped together, as they have too many times. We get a seriously broken bit of aesopping here, as he simultaneously says they're not to be underestimated, and yet makes most of the settlements here need guardianship by some powerful wizard, dragon, or similar crap to survive in the harsh world of the Realms. That's about on the same level as romance novels who say the heroine is a strong independent woman at the beginning, but she winds up bouncing from one man to another throughout the plot, defining herself by them and worrying endlessly what they think, and then ends the story happily married. Gnomes come out of this better than halflings, but really, this is a nasty case of theory and practice failing to line up. Sorry Ed, but this one is going to get a firm thumbs down.


Giants in the earth: We finally do something that would have appeared in this column's original run, AD&D stats for historical figures. In this case, from ancient egypt. Now, since they did have a habit of deifying their pharaohs, that might mean we've already seen them in Legends and Lore. Will this be rehashed? References at the ready.

Imhotep didn't appear in L&L in either his mortal or divine forms, curiously enough. Course, he played a pretty critical part in Masque of the red death, but that's not really historically accurate. In addition to being a great doctor, he's also exceedingly good at motivating a workforce. Given the difficulties involved in surgery, I'm not sure why dexterity is his lowest stat then. Well, if you've got magic to do all the heavy work, you don't need super nimble fingers.

Ramses II was pharaoh for a stonking 66 years, a pretty good run by the standards of any monarchy. He was supposedly the guy in charge in moses' time, although he obviously didn't die in a flood, and might well have set the Jews free without quite so many plagues as the bible version suggests. You obviously don't stay in charge that long without being a fairly astute politician.

Ramses III wasn't in charge as long, and was a more hands on warrior, always off pacifying the neighbours. This means troublemakers may encounter him directly. Perfect opportunity for adventurers to do a takeover.

Wenamon is a priest of Amon who was saved from raiders by an opportunely timed storm, which of course he thanked his god for. A good example of how what is a legendary event for a real person would be just tuesday for a D&D adventurer, with provable supernatural powers and easy access spellcasting. This is one case where reality doesn't seem stranger or more spectacular than fiction.


Urban Legends: Last month was all about putting magical item equivalents in Alternity. This one involves the monsters. The big difference here is that you probably won't be facing more than one or two types of monster per adventure, and hunting them down will be as much or more of a challenge than the actual battle. So let's get our x-files on, and go to investigate sewer alligators, hook-handed muderers, animating mexican statues, bog monsters and family murdering changelings. Unlike last month, this means they aren't all drawn from D&D, instead casting a slightly wider net of folklorish fun. Each gets a good page of writing, plus stats and illustration. The way they're framed does seem conducive to avoiding hack-and-slash play, and making the whole episode revolve around one. You could steal this format for your monster writing, and see if that would rub off on the way you run the monsters in response. Control the format, and you control the content.


Wizards Live: The online schedule once again looks pretty busy, with 14 scheduled live chats this month. Skip is once again doing Sage Advice live, which sounds like fun, Elaine Cunningham is getting a good Q&Aing about her life, and the RPGA gets two chats devoted to it. Are the logs of these saved anywhere. It seems another thing that would help us get a clearer picture of the mood in the WotC camp as 3e drew near.


Dungeoncraft: Before actually drawing the map for his first adventure, Ray pauses again, asking us to think about exactly what rooms we need in our layout, and how they should connect. After all, if you just get a blank sheet of graph paper and start drawing until you fill it, you'll wind up with a sprawling monstrosity which makes no sense, is confusing to navigate, and doesn't have nearly enough toilets for it's inhabitants to live comfortably. So he encourages you to figure out what essentials you need, and only then add the extra embellishments that make your adventure quirky and unique. Which does seem pretty sensible. As is often the case, this probably isn't how most of the classic old adventures were designed, but it'll do the job. He's once again giving us a clear step-by-step approach that'll only fail for you if you're completely devoid of creativity. It makes me rather interested in seeing what the final result will be, so it's with some irritation that I see that it'll be appearing in Dungeon rather than Dragon, presumably in an attempt to encourage more crossover between their readerships. (gotta collect 'em all! ) Ok, so it's not as if issues of Dungeon are that hard to find online (unlike Polyhedron) but it still means I won't get to properly review the final product. Sigh.