Indeed, that's an interesting find. The portrayal of (high-level) demons in 4e is definitely one of the few things I'm not enthusiastic about. 4e Balors just ain't scary. Even if you assume they have access to all kinds of rituals to use out of actual combat their powers are way too predictable. It requires a carefully staged encounter with a custom Balor and plenty of minions to achieve something comparable to a 'simple' 3e encounter against a 3e Balor. Still, the end result would probably be easier and quicker to run.
Let's read the entire run
- Thread starter (un)reason
- Start date
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Issue 306: April 2003
part 5/9
Urban Traps: Someone was la-ate submitting their material for the urban theme last issue. However, since that someone is Penny Williams (nee Petticord) one of our very long running writers and editors, they're letting it through anyway. And I'm glad they did, as this is one of those fun ones that both stretches their mechanical ingenuity and has nice framing fiction to boot. Unlike dungeons, with urban traps, you really don't want to make them lethal, as that causes no end of hassle in any normal legal system. Ironically, that means you have to be even more ingenious in setting up something that'll stop troublemakers, but won't be a problem to the owners. So lots of attention is put here no only on designing the traps, but also representing them mechanically, figuring out how much they'd cost, and most importantly, what kind of person would actually like to buy each one. Which means with old school diabolic ingenuity, 2e setting building and characterisation depth, and 3e mechanical rigour, this article is satisfying to me on every level. First time I can say that they've surpassed the very first ultra-lethal traps they included in here in coolness.
3.5 Revision Update: This month, they cover the fairly substantial reworking of damage reduction in 3.5, talking in detail about why it was a problem in previous editions, and how they think the new version has fixed it for sure, honest! Their big issue with the old version is that it created a feeling of "you must be this tall to go on this ride" and victory or failure could hinge on a single person having the right gear or power. So they've got rid of the specific plus requirements, and replaced them with generally smaller DR numbers that require specific materials to bypass, so even without their weakness a party can probably still kill them by brute force at the expected CR, it'll just be harder. Of course, if the old version didn't feel sufficiently mythic, the new one's tendency to make players carry golf bags full of different weapon types isn't a huge improvement in long-term play. It's fortunate that they decided to talk about this in the same issue Gary mentioned old school swarm tactics, because this once again illustrates exactly how they're trying to standardise the play experience over time so that challenges are always fair, everyone always gets to contribute, and players never have to run away from a fight they can't handle. Which yeah, does make things fairer, but also makes them less scary as well, which isn't what you want for monsters. So while I do think the 3.5 system is a slight improvement on the 3.0 version, I also think that standardising the DR system to this extent is a bad idea in itself. The D&D rules are flexible enough to handle a wide range of resistances, immunities and vulnerabilities too (which more monsters really ought to have in my opinion) and all three forms of weapon resistance are entirely capable of coexisting in different monsters without the system or setting breaking. Don't let your pursuit of balance keep you from going to the extreme as well. You just need to make sure you cover the extremes in all directions, not just one.
part 5/9
Urban Traps: Someone was la-ate submitting their material for the urban theme last issue. However, since that someone is Penny Williams (nee Petticord) one of our very long running writers and editors, they're letting it through anyway. And I'm glad they did, as this is one of those fun ones that both stretches their mechanical ingenuity and has nice framing fiction to boot. Unlike dungeons, with urban traps, you really don't want to make them lethal, as that causes no end of hassle in any normal legal system. Ironically, that means you have to be even more ingenious in setting up something that'll stop troublemakers, but won't be a problem to the owners. So lots of attention is put here no only on designing the traps, but also representing them mechanically, figuring out how much they'd cost, and most importantly, what kind of person would actually like to buy each one. Which means with old school diabolic ingenuity, 2e setting building and characterisation depth, and 3e mechanical rigour, this article is satisfying to me on every level. First time I can say that they've surpassed the very first ultra-lethal traps they included in here in coolness.
3.5 Revision Update: This month, they cover the fairly substantial reworking of damage reduction in 3.5, talking in detail about why it was a problem in previous editions, and how they think the new version has fixed it for sure, honest! Their big issue with the old version is that it created a feeling of "you must be this tall to go on this ride" and victory or failure could hinge on a single person having the right gear or power. So they've got rid of the specific plus requirements, and replaced them with generally smaller DR numbers that require specific materials to bypass, so even without their weakness a party can probably still kill them by brute force at the expected CR, it'll just be harder. Of course, if the old version didn't feel sufficiently mythic, the new one's tendency to make players carry golf bags full of different weapon types isn't a huge improvement in long-term play. It's fortunate that they decided to talk about this in the same issue Gary mentioned old school swarm tactics, because this once again illustrates exactly how they're trying to standardise the play experience over time so that challenges are always fair, everyone always gets to contribute, and players never have to run away from a fight they can't handle. Which yeah, does make things fairer, but also makes them less scary as well, which isn't what you want for monsters. So while I do think the 3.5 system is a slight improvement on the 3.0 version, I also think that standardising the DR system to this extent is a bad idea in itself. The D&D rules are flexible enough to handle a wide range of resistances, immunities and vulnerabilities too (which more monsters really ought to have in my opinion) and all three forms of weapon resistance are entirely capable of coexisting in different monsters without the system or setting breaking. Don't let your pursuit of balance keep you from going to the extreme as well. You just need to make sure you cover the extremes in all directions, not just one.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Issue 306: April 2003
part 6/9
Silicon sorcery: Another fairly long instalment from this column as they promote another D&D computer game - Icewind Dale 2. Unlike Neverwinter Nights, you get to control a whole party, and the game is more focused on on action than roleplaying elements. The game material reflects that, providing a full adventure scenario based on their tutorial system, which I find fairly amusing. Do you have what it takes to win a game of noughts and crosses FOR YOUR LIFE! (although they don't actually let you die in the actual game) You fight a battle for each square, and the first side to make a full line across the board wins. Since the monsters can be different every time, this little challenge can be scaled to any level save those so powerful they can easily bypass the entire room. (and even those could be forced to participate if it's a godly game of tic-tac-toe
)
Ironically, this is the closest thing to a joke article in the entire issue, and it's still presented with an entirely straight face, with a load of different ideas on variants and how to integrate them into your campaign. You could even run a full campaign around it, where it's standard procedure for disputes to be settled by monstrous noughts and crosses duels. (now a cartoon with a flamboyantly hairstyled protagonist determined to find the "heart of the board" ) I really don't know how to react to that. It's definitely interesting, I'll give them that. I'm not sure if I actually want to use it, but I admire their commitment to sparkle motion. Oh well, I'm going to give this high marks, simply because it's provided me so much material to riff with.
Nodwick suffers april fools day in the traditional fashion. Zogonia must be increasing in popularity, because it gets to go full page. 4 whole pages in fact. Much hilarity is had as the lich is vanquished, and everything is put back to normal. Well, almost. Dork tower suffers from the dread sucky name syndrome. Fortunately, there is a cure available. Nodwick then gets a second strip. Exactly what the townsfolk don't want. Now, if only they'd bring back dragonmirth. Then everything would be peachy-keen here.
Campaign News finishes here, because they've decided to put it back in Polyhedron where it originally came from. And before they say goodbye, they have another round of reorganisations and nerfs to hand out to us. They've been talking about the new metaregions for quite a while, so that's no surprise, but it is nice to know the names and contact emails for each of their co-ordinators. What isn't so pleasing to see is the removal of yet another magical item that has maybe proven too powerful. They won it fair and square and have had a good year to grow attached to it. There's going to be some grumbles about that. Still, it was amusing to see the trials and aggravations of running organised play from a distance, and the articles in this section were of above average quality for the magazine, so I'm definitely sad to see regular Greyhawk coverage end in here. Now it's just generic stuff and the Realms left.
Maybe someday I'll do this for Polyhedron too and see the other side of this migration, but that'd be years in the future even if I started immediately after finishing Dragon. (not bloody likely) For now, it's farewell, and I do indeed hope they fare well.
part 6/9
Silicon sorcery: Another fairly long instalment from this column as they promote another D&D computer game - Icewind Dale 2. Unlike Neverwinter Nights, you get to control a whole party, and the game is more focused on on action than roleplaying elements. The game material reflects that, providing a full adventure scenario based on their tutorial system, which I find fairly amusing. Do you have what it takes to win a game of noughts and crosses FOR YOUR LIFE! (although they don't actually let you die in the actual game) You fight a battle for each square, and the first side to make a full line across the board wins. Since the monsters can be different every time, this little challenge can be scaled to any level save those so powerful they can easily bypass the entire room. (and even those could be forced to participate if it's a godly game of tic-tac-toe
) Ironically, this is the closest thing to a joke article in the entire issue, and it's still presented with an entirely straight face, with a load of different ideas on variants and how to integrate them into your campaign. You could even run a full campaign around it, where it's standard procedure for disputes to be settled by monstrous noughts and crosses duels. (now a cartoon with a flamboyantly hairstyled protagonist determined to find the "heart of the board" ) I really don't know how to react to that. It's definitely interesting, I'll give them that. I'm not sure if I actually want to use it, but I admire their commitment to sparkle motion. Oh well, I'm going to give this high marks, simply because it's provided me so much material to riff with.
Nodwick suffers april fools day in the traditional fashion. Zogonia must be increasing in popularity, because it gets to go full page. 4 whole pages in fact. Much hilarity is had as the lich is vanquished, and everything is put back to normal. Well, almost. Dork tower suffers from the dread sucky name syndrome. Fortunately, there is a cure available. Nodwick then gets a second strip. Exactly what the townsfolk don't want. Now, if only they'd bring back dragonmirth. Then everything would be peachy-keen here.
Campaign News finishes here, because they've decided to put it back in Polyhedron where it originally came from. And before they say goodbye, they have another round of reorganisations and nerfs to hand out to us. They've been talking about the new metaregions for quite a while, so that's no surprise, but it is nice to know the names and contact emails for each of their co-ordinators. What isn't so pleasing to see is the removal of yet another magical item that has maybe proven too powerful. They won it fair and square and have had a good year to grow attached to it. There's going to be some grumbles about that. Still, it was amusing to see the trials and aggravations of running organised play from a distance, and the articles in this section were of above average quality for the magazine, so I'm definitely sad to see regular Greyhawk coverage end in here. Now it's just generic stuff and the Realms left.
Maybe someday I'll do this for Polyhedron too and see the other side of this migration, but that'd be years in the future even if I started immediately after finishing Dragon. (not bloody likely) For now, it's farewell, and I do indeed hope they fare well.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Issue 306: April 2003
part 7/9
Paladins of Greyhawk: Despite the many many articles we've got over the years to humanise paladins, they still get accusations that they're boring and all the same. You know what's a good way of making things less generic and stereotyped? Include a whole bunch of subdivisions, each with their own substereotypes that add too and sometimes replace the main one. It definitely works for White Wolf, and it can work for D&D too. Yup. It looks like our last regular Greyhawk article'll be devoted to the paladins of various gods, and just what flavouring this choice adds to the squeaky clean vanilla boys of team good. I can think of far worse ways to end this, so lets look at them individually, take our time on this.
Mayaheine's paladins tend to be optimists, feminists, and general champions of minorities and the downtrodden. Well, she is a new god, with a still growing following. That does tend to make people more hopeful that they can make a difference, change the world for the better where so many others have failed. Perfect adventurer material too, as they do tend to be more socially progressive than the average NPC.
Murlynd's paladins are of course gunslingers and experimenters in using technology to make people's lives better. Of course, like tinker gnomes, people may be rather afraid of their methods, which doesn't help general adoption, but that's just what you have to deal with in a world stuck in a medieval mindset. The greatest good is not achieved just by killing things, and lawful good technician is an entirely valid paladin archetype.
Pelor's paladins are pretty much the standard stereotype, giving their life for the cause and specialising in healing and turning undead. Someone has to be the straight man everyone else is compared too, and I guess they fit the bill.
Rao's followers, on the other hand, are all about the clever tactical solution to a conflict, studying the situation and then making a move that'll solve it quickly and with a minimum of risk and collateral damage. If that means avoiding combat altogether, all the better. Not that they're cowards or dishonourable. But lawful good definitely does not mean dumb or lacking in charm or humour in this case.
St Cuthbert's tend to be common sense, working class sorts, fond of a good drink and smoke when not out bashing the skulls of the unfaithful. So while closer to the vanilla stereotype than most of these, they also remind us that not all paladins are rich, and they're definitely not detached from the reality of the social problems ordinary people face. If anything, knowledge of those will just make them fight all the harder to stamp out chaos and poverty and improve the plight of the common man. Sometimes it's the subtle differences that bring a character to life, not the big ones, and this article has certainly given us plenty of different examples of that.
part 7/9
Paladins of Greyhawk: Despite the many many articles we've got over the years to humanise paladins, they still get accusations that they're boring and all the same. You know what's a good way of making things less generic and stereotyped? Include a whole bunch of subdivisions, each with their own substereotypes that add too and sometimes replace the main one. It definitely works for White Wolf, and it can work for D&D too. Yup. It looks like our last regular Greyhawk article'll be devoted to the paladins of various gods, and just what flavouring this choice adds to the squeaky clean vanilla boys of team good. I can think of far worse ways to end this, so lets look at them individually, take our time on this.
Mayaheine's paladins tend to be optimists, feminists, and general champions of minorities and the downtrodden. Well, she is a new god, with a still growing following. That does tend to make people more hopeful that they can make a difference, change the world for the better where so many others have failed. Perfect adventurer material too, as they do tend to be more socially progressive than the average NPC.
Murlynd's paladins are of course gunslingers and experimenters in using technology to make people's lives better. Of course, like tinker gnomes, people may be rather afraid of their methods, which doesn't help general adoption, but that's just what you have to deal with in a world stuck in a medieval mindset. The greatest good is not achieved just by killing things, and lawful good technician is an entirely valid paladin archetype.
Pelor's paladins are pretty much the standard stereotype, giving their life for the cause and specialising in healing and turning undead. Someone has to be the straight man everyone else is compared too, and I guess they fit the bill.
Rao's followers, on the other hand, are all about the clever tactical solution to a conflict, studying the situation and then making a move that'll solve it quickly and with a minimum of risk and collateral damage. If that means avoiding combat altogether, all the better. Not that they're cowards or dishonourable. But lawful good definitely does not mean dumb or lacking in charm or humour in this case.
St Cuthbert's tend to be common sense, working class sorts, fond of a good drink and smoke when not out bashing the skulls of the unfaithful. So while closer to the vanilla stereotype than most of these, they also remind us that not all paladins are rich, and they're definitely not detached from the reality of the social problems ordinary people face. If anything, knowledge of those will just make them fight all the harder to stamp out chaos and poverty and improve the plight of the common man. Sometimes it's the subtle differences that bring a character to life, not the big ones, and this article has certainly given us plenty of different examples of that.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Issue 306: April 2003
part 8/9
DM's toolbox: Skip and Penny both have their own articles this issue, plus they team up on this column as well. Busy busy busy. This is a list of ways you can fake out your players, to make sure they're more likely to follow the plot you've created and keep the game fun. (for you, at least) They definitely tend towards the sadistic, keeping the information the players have unreliable, and letting them dig their own grave that way. While there's the usual warning not to railroad them and make their choices irrelevant, I'm strongly reminded that Skip's published adventures have tended to get pretty negative reviews, and I do have to wonder how much that bleeds into his own games (which according to his profile in issue 276 he doesn't get to run much anyway) I'm definitely dubious of this particular bit of advice. It just looks like it's more likely to blow up in your face than help.
Dungeoncraft: Monte finishes off his little series on city adventuring by talking about the adventures themselves. This is where we're really reminded that he's regularly running adventures in Ptolus at the moment, and so these observations are born from plenty of actual play experience. (unlike Skip's) There's tons of adventures you can have without ever leaving the city limits, and even those that are slightly outside will be influenced by the knowledge that healing and restocking is within easy reach if you have the money. In fact one of the problems might be that you find yourself with too many options. The secret is to make sure you build stuff one step ahead of your players, and then to keep everything you make for future use, so you don't have to do so much work later. Creating flowcharts of where the adventure is likely to go is a better idea than detailed physical maps, especially if you haven't done the research on all the various things a functional community needs. (the toilets and bedrooms in dungeons problem writ large.) Similarly, timelines of what will happen if the PC's don't interfere keep the plot rolling nicely, and make sure they can't solve the problem on 15 minute workdays and only acting when fully charged up and prepared. And if you're playing in a game with plentiful magic, make sure the NPC's prepare accordingly, so PC's can't short-circuit the whole thing with one spell. Yup, that one's probably born out of bitter experience. This all seems like advice worth heeding, formed through trial and error as it is. Hopefully that way, your own adventure building'll be slightly less of a trial.
part 8/9
DM's toolbox: Skip and Penny both have their own articles this issue, plus they team up on this column as well. Busy busy busy. This is a list of ways you can fake out your players, to make sure they're more likely to follow the plot you've created and keep the game fun. (for you, at least) They definitely tend towards the sadistic, keeping the information the players have unreliable, and letting them dig their own grave that way. While there's the usual warning not to railroad them and make their choices irrelevant, I'm strongly reminded that Skip's published adventures have tended to get pretty negative reviews, and I do have to wonder how much that bleeds into his own games (which according to his profile in issue 276 he doesn't get to run much anyway) I'm definitely dubious of this particular bit of advice. It just looks like it's more likely to blow up in your face than help.
Dungeoncraft: Monte finishes off his little series on city adventuring by talking about the adventures themselves. This is where we're really reminded that he's regularly running adventures in Ptolus at the moment, and so these observations are born from plenty of actual play experience. (unlike Skip's) There's tons of adventures you can have without ever leaving the city limits, and even those that are slightly outside will be influenced by the knowledge that healing and restocking is within easy reach if you have the money. In fact one of the problems might be that you find yourself with too many options. The secret is to make sure you build stuff one step ahead of your players, and then to keep everything you make for future use, so you don't have to do so much work later. Creating flowcharts of where the adventure is likely to go is a better idea than detailed physical maps, especially if you haven't done the research on all the various things a functional community needs. (the toilets and bedrooms in dungeons problem writ large.) Similarly, timelines of what will happen if the PC's don't interfere keep the plot rolling nicely, and make sure they can't solve the problem on 15 minute workdays and only acting when fully charged up and prepared. And if you're playing in a game with plentiful magic, make sure the NPC's prepare accordingly, so PC's can't short-circuit the whole thing with one spell. Yup, that one's probably born out of bitter experience. This all seems like advice worth heeding, formed through trial and error as it is. Hopefully that way, your own adventure building'll be slightly less of a trial.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Issue 306: April 2003
part 9/9
Sage advice has redecorated with a fetching books, vines and crystal balls motif. It's quite pretty really. I rather approve.
Can bards affect themselves with bardic music (Skip thinks it's case by case time again, as this gets fiddly. )
Which description of harmonize is correct (The big one)
Does long term care + healthful slumber = 4x healing (No. Multipliers add, remember. Don't forget your basic math again. )
Can you use endurance on a petrified character before turning them back, to increase their odds of survival (No, but for complicated reasons, not simple ones. But you don't need to worry your head over that. Just remember not to waste your time doing it. )
Will wind wall affect a sling stone (yes)
Where are the brackets on bless weapon. (Nowhere. Read it as a full sentence, don't try and get lawyery or Skip'll throw some compound predicates at you. )
Can a barbarian use a wand while raging (No. The best they can do is smash you on the head with it.)
When do you apply automatic metamagic feats (Any time you like. )
Can shambling mounds get infinitely tough from lightning bolts (Yes, but not for long. We've learned our lesson from last edition, just as we did about summoning cascades.)
Can darkmantles grab creatures much larger than them (Yes. Special exemption)
Can undead automatically be killed by arrows of slaying (No. You have completely misunderstood the no constitution rule)
Does evasion work on shadow dragon breath (yes)
Can runecasters get infinite uses of a triggered spell by making it permanent (yes, but only one at a time. This can still be very twinky.)
Can you make AoO's against someone with spring attack if you have reach. (Only if they do something other than moving to trigger them. Nothing changes unless the rules specifically say it's changed.)
What's new reveals the real reason good gets such a bad rap, and why chaotic good is a necessary alignment. AND THAT DAMN SNAIL FINALLY GETS OFF THE PAGE! Thank god for that. That was one of the most painfully dragged out jokes in history.
With a ton of information on how they're going to shake things up in 3.5, and a few hints as to what lies even further in the future, this is fairly interesting as a general issue, but a complete failure as an april one, with not even an acknowledgement of the things they usually do here. So it shows that the transition to Paizo has once again made them even more serious and focussed on just a few things than the TSR > WotC one did. Still, at least we're getting tons of easy to use and often rather good game material, so at least they're succeeding at what they're focusing on. Now they just have to deal with the fact that diminishing returns arrive so much faster when you do that. I guess that's what the revision is for. :\ Let's move another step closer to it.
part 9/9
Sage advice has redecorated with a fetching books, vines and crystal balls motif. It's quite pretty really. I rather approve.
Can bards affect themselves with bardic music (Skip thinks it's case by case time again, as this gets fiddly. )
Which description of harmonize is correct (The big one)
Does long term care + healthful slumber = 4x healing (No. Multipliers add, remember. Don't forget your basic math again. )
Can you use endurance on a petrified character before turning them back, to increase their odds of survival (No, but for complicated reasons, not simple ones. But you don't need to worry your head over that. Just remember not to waste your time doing it. )
Will wind wall affect a sling stone (yes)
Where are the brackets on bless weapon. (Nowhere. Read it as a full sentence, don't try and get lawyery or Skip'll throw some compound predicates at you. )
Can a barbarian use a wand while raging (No. The best they can do is smash you on the head with it.)
When do you apply automatic metamagic feats (Any time you like. )
Can shambling mounds get infinitely tough from lightning bolts (Yes, but not for long. We've learned our lesson from last edition, just as we did about summoning cascades.)
Can darkmantles grab creatures much larger than them (Yes. Special exemption)
Can undead automatically be killed by arrows of slaying (No. You have completely misunderstood the no constitution rule)
Does evasion work on shadow dragon breath (yes)
Can runecasters get infinite uses of a triggered spell by making it permanent (yes, but only one at a time. This can still be very twinky.)
Can you make AoO's against someone with spring attack if you have reach. (Only if they do something other than moving to trigger them. Nothing changes unless the rules specifically say it's changed.)
What's new reveals the real reason good gets such a bad rap, and why chaotic good is a necessary alignment. AND THAT DAMN SNAIL FINALLY GETS OFF THE PAGE! Thank god for that. That was one of the most painfully dragged out jokes in history.
With a ton of information on how they're going to shake things up in 3.5, and a few hints as to what lies even further in the future, this is fairly interesting as a general issue, but a complete failure as an april one, with not even an acknowledgement of the things they usually do here. So it shows that the transition to Paizo has once again made them even more serious and focussed on just a few things than the TSR > WotC one did. Still, at least we're getting tons of easy to use and often rather good game material, so at least they're succeeding at what they're focusing on. Now they just have to deal with the fact that diminishing returns arrive so much faster when you do that. I guess that's what the revision is for. :\ Let's move another step closer to it.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Issue 307: May 2003
part 1/9
116 pages. A Game of Thrones themed issue? Very interesting, and rather more welcome to me than the Shannara one. That bit of fiction a couple of issues ago has a genuine payoff then. I suppose it's even cooler because like the steampunk issue, it shows how good ideas can still gradually build and be even more popular when revisited a decade later, which is a definite relief when you spend too much time bombarded by pop culture ephemera that vanishes unmourned once it's 15 minutes is up. You can make a sustainable career in the entertainment business, but it takes putting as much attention to promotion as actually creating stuff, and regularly releasing new material to build a fanbase, and that's two full-time jobs in one if you don't have a team behind you. Will they be able to give us an exciting encapsulation of this enormous series and make it look like a fun world to adventure in, or will this just be a load of promotional junk to leave in the trunk?
Scan Quality: Excellent, unindexed.
In this issue:
Neverwinter Nights, shadows of undrentide! Sweet. Computers might not be able to match real DM's, but they're definitely making progress.
Wyrms turn: Our editorial, unsurprisingly, is selling us on the idea of adventuring in Westeros. Like Middle-Earth, the world gives the impression of being far larger than any single character's story, with tons of history stretching backwards to play with. This means PC's have room to do stuff without constantly being overshadowed by the stars of the novels. In fact, in that respect, Martin is probably even better than Tolkien, because he makes it very clear there's no one viewpoint character, and anyone can die at any time via treachery or arbitrary twists of fate, but the narrative as a whole will carry on. Which is a lesson many DM's should take to heart. The party is not an inviolable perfect circle of chosen ones, that the story cannot take place without, and if you've written everything in advance so that it is, a less, shall we say, dicey medium would work better. Being willing to let the players change history from the books if they're playing in an existing fictional world isn't a bad rule to learn either. So far, so incentivising. What region and time period captures your interest?
Scale Mail: Our first letter this month, is a suggestion of how to speed along the mapping process with overlays on projection paper that fit together to make the full map without making hidden bits obvious. The main expense there'll be the projector then, unless you can "borrow" it from the office, which many people can do in their line of work.
We follow with some fencing minutinae, reminding us that even swashbucklers can be obsessive and geeky too.
Some really bad actual play story, heavily abbreviated. This really should have been in last issue, where we needed some risible letters to mock.
Continuing praise for Robin Laws and his ideas about social contracts. More articles that aren't game specific would be nice too.
And finally, linked to that, a reminder that you don't need to kill monsters to gain XP from overcoming them. Social conflict (as long as it's genuinely challenging social interaction, not just talking ) counts too. That's how all those Aristocrats and Experts get to level up. Haggling can be a cutthroat matter, and politics even moreso. Don't underestimate them because they haven't been on the front lines.
part 1/9
116 pages. A Game of Thrones themed issue? Very interesting, and rather more welcome to me than the Shannara one. That bit of fiction a couple of issues ago has a genuine payoff then. I suppose it's even cooler because like the steampunk issue, it shows how good ideas can still gradually build and be even more popular when revisited a decade later, which is a definite relief when you spend too much time bombarded by pop culture ephemera that vanishes unmourned once it's 15 minutes is up. You can make a sustainable career in the entertainment business, but it takes putting as much attention to promotion as actually creating stuff, and regularly releasing new material to build a fanbase, and that's two full-time jobs in one if you don't have a team behind you. Will they be able to give us an exciting encapsulation of this enormous series and make it look like a fun world to adventure in, or will this just be a load of promotional junk to leave in the trunk?
Scan Quality: Excellent, unindexed.
In this issue:
Neverwinter Nights, shadows of undrentide! Sweet. Computers might not be able to match real DM's, but they're definitely making progress.
Wyrms turn: Our editorial, unsurprisingly, is selling us on the idea of adventuring in Westeros. Like Middle-Earth, the world gives the impression of being far larger than any single character's story, with tons of history stretching backwards to play with. This means PC's have room to do stuff without constantly being overshadowed by the stars of the novels. In fact, in that respect, Martin is probably even better than Tolkien, because he makes it very clear there's no one viewpoint character, and anyone can die at any time via treachery or arbitrary twists of fate, but the narrative as a whole will carry on. Which is a lesson many DM's should take to heart. The party is not an inviolable perfect circle of chosen ones, that the story cannot take place without, and if you've written everything in advance so that it is, a less, shall we say, dicey medium would work better. Being willing to let the players change history from the books if they're playing in an existing fictional world isn't a bad rule to learn either. So far, so incentivising. What region and time period captures your interest?
Scale Mail: Our first letter this month, is a suggestion of how to speed along the mapping process with overlays on projection paper that fit together to make the full map without making hidden bits obvious. The main expense there'll be the projector then, unless you can "borrow" it from the office, which many people can do in their line of work.
We follow with some fencing minutinae, reminding us that even swashbucklers can be obsessive and geeky too.
Some really bad actual play story, heavily abbreviated. This really should have been in last issue, where we needed some risible letters to mock.
Continuing praise for Robin Laws and his ideas about social contracts. More articles that aren't game specific would be nice too.
And finally, linked to that, a reminder that you don't need to kill monsters to gain XP from overcoming them. Social conflict (as long as it's genuinely challenging social interaction, not just talking ) counts too. That's how all those Aristocrats and Experts get to level up. Haggling can be a cutthroat matter, and politics even moreso. Don't underestimate them because they haven't been on the front lines.
LordVyreth
First Post
This issue wasn't particularly interesting for me the first time around, since I didn't really know anything about the series except that earlier fiction excerpt. I, err, still haven't read the books (I'll get to them eventually!) but I wonder how this will look after the HBO series. Did you watch that one yet, unreason?
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Issue 307: May 2003
part 2/9
Zogonia engages in epic fail. Guess the party hierarchy is staying the same for the time being.
Up on a soapbox: Gary brings up another benefit of having a stable of players that delves into the same megadungeon, but not in the same combination each time. If one team gets killed or captured, another one can go in and rescue them, thus preserving continuity and allowing the campaign to continue onwards despite losing an individual encounter. Plus it definitely makes for good stories where everyone gets to laugh about it later, despite it being terribly harrowing in actual play, and one character rescuing another is a very bond-forming experience. (which will hopefully lead to them returning the favour in the future, not becoming bitter and betraying them because they're sick of always living in their shadow. ) So as with the editorial, this reminds us that you can run formats other than the 4 player team which never splits up, and your game will be the richer for it due to the multiple perspectives. Keep fighting against attempts to homogenise the rules and playstyle. That way leads only to boredom and diminishing returns.
House rules: Our house rule this month is one that was pretty much canon in previous editions. Racial reaction modifiers. Like Weapon speeds, and modifiers vs specific kinds of armor, this was partly dropped because it was often ignored in actual play, and partly because they wanted to encourage greater variety in races between campaigns, and a relationship table just for all the monsters that can become PC's in the first MM would sprawl over several pages. And to be honest, not one I can see myself bothering with. I've never been a fan of monoculture, so I'd only use it when it looks like the players are going to stop in a particular area for a full adventure or more, where there is a definite set of racial demographics and regular exposure for stereotypes and conflicts to develop. Otherwise, it's not worth the effort, and I can quite understand why they didn't keep it in the 3.0 revision.
Open skies: Another chunky guild article is our first feature this month. In issue 304 we had an article on intelligent flying mounts, and how to use them in your game. Now we have a guild full of them and their riders. There's a lot of attention paid to the politics of this, with an insistence that the rider and mount are equal partners who both have things to contribute. Which also means they have to fight a constant battle against quadruped bigotry and enslavement in unenlightened regions, which is both amusing and provides an endless source of adventure hooks. The history and setting detail makes this particularly easy to insert into any campaign, and they have a solid selection of new spells and feats that are well suited to high mobility combat, plus reprints of the stats for air infused creatures, half elemental, and air genasi to keep this accessible to those without supplements. It's a good reminder that you can make life an adventure by actively trying to change the world for the better, not just hunting down and killing those who would take over the world and change it for no-one's benefit but their own. And that nearly anything can have sex with anything and produce offspring in 3e, even humans and sentient columns of air, (maybe they got the idea by watching Marilyn Monroe standing on a grate) which can also lead to tons of adventures just trying to figure out how to raise the kid properly. If any cause is worth adventuring for, it's racial equality and (fully consensual) kinky interspecies sex. I officially endorse this guild.
part 2/9
Zogonia engages in epic fail. Guess the party hierarchy is staying the same for the time being.
Up on a soapbox: Gary brings up another benefit of having a stable of players that delves into the same megadungeon, but not in the same combination each time. If one team gets killed or captured, another one can go in and rescue them, thus preserving continuity and allowing the campaign to continue onwards despite losing an individual encounter. Plus it definitely makes for good stories where everyone gets to laugh about it later, despite it being terribly harrowing in actual play, and one character rescuing another is a very bond-forming experience. (which will hopefully lead to them returning the favour in the future, not becoming bitter and betraying them because they're sick of always living in their shadow. ) So as with the editorial, this reminds us that you can run formats other than the 4 player team which never splits up, and your game will be the richer for it due to the multiple perspectives. Keep fighting against attempts to homogenise the rules and playstyle. That way leads only to boredom and diminishing returns.
House rules: Our house rule this month is one that was pretty much canon in previous editions. Racial reaction modifiers. Like Weapon speeds, and modifiers vs specific kinds of armor, this was partly dropped because it was often ignored in actual play, and partly because they wanted to encourage greater variety in races between campaigns, and a relationship table just for all the monsters that can become PC's in the first MM would sprawl over several pages. And to be honest, not one I can see myself bothering with. I've never been a fan of monoculture, so I'd only use it when it looks like the players are going to stop in a particular area for a full adventure or more, where there is a definite set of racial demographics and regular exposure for stereotypes and conflicts to develop. Otherwise, it's not worth the effort, and I can quite understand why they didn't keep it in the 3.0 revision.
Open skies: Another chunky guild article is our first feature this month. In issue 304 we had an article on intelligent flying mounts, and how to use them in your game. Now we have a guild full of them and their riders. There's a lot of attention paid to the politics of this, with an insistence that the rider and mount are equal partners who both have things to contribute. Which also means they have to fight a constant battle against quadruped bigotry and enslavement in unenlightened regions, which is both amusing and provides an endless source of adventure hooks. The history and setting detail makes this particularly easy to insert into any campaign, and they have a solid selection of new spells and feats that are well suited to high mobility combat, plus reprints of the stats for air infused creatures, half elemental, and air genasi to keep this accessible to those without supplements. It's a good reminder that you can make life an adventure by actively trying to change the world for the better, not just hunting down and killing those who would take over the world and change it for no-one's benefit but their own. And that nearly anything can have sex with anything and produce offspring in 3e, even humans and sentient columns of air, (maybe they got the idea by watching Marilyn Monroe standing on a grate) which can also lead to tons of adventures just trying to figure out how to raise the kid properly. If any cause is worth adventuring for, it's racial equality and (fully consensual) kinky interspecies sex. I officially endorse this guild.
(un)reason
Legend
I've watched a few episodes online and liked what I saw, but since I started doing this, I find I really don't have the time for passive consumption of media. It's definitely on my list of things to catch up on when I finally finish.
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