Let's read the entire run

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 355: May 2007


part 2/6


First watch: More very familiar topics from the home team this month. Complete Champion retreads the ground already covered in complete divine. They take advantage of the new association rules, plus there's the usual array of spells, feats and prestige classes. Do you feel the desire for ever more stuff? I really can't say I do. Course, stopping here means it's warriors who get the shaft again in terms of overall spotlight.

Another familiar name rereleased for the new edition is Drow of the Underdark. 16 years ago, this was one of Ed Greenwood's cool bits of worldbuilding. Now it's generic, and drawing on ever more history, in and out of character. Looks like their popularity shows no signs of fading.

Another thing who's popularity seems near unkillable, despite having it's share of crappy spin-off products is Star Wars. Star Wars Saga is the latest edition of the long-running RPG. Faster and more streamlined than the last one, this was taken by many people on forums as a testing ground for the mechanics for 4e. That turned out to be not particularly true, but it's still a pretty decent game.

Another D20 product feeding heavily on nostalgia is the Castles & Crusades basic set. And it does look a little more inviting than WotC's similar recent product. Plus, you know, boxed set. Always a challenge to produce for a small company, and deserving of a little kudos.

Also coming in boxes, of course, are this month's boardgames. Stonehenge is a whole bunch of games using the same pieces and rough themes, which seems interesting. And Exalted gets it's own boardgame, War for the Throne. They may not be advancing the metaplot, but this'll let you get a quick conclusion to this business if you want one.

There's also a cardgame. Torches & Pitchforks from Green Ronin. Play a mutinous pirate crew maneuvering to overthrow the captain and get in charge. Sounds like it could be a lot of backstabbing fun.

Our minis this month are from Gale Force nine, providing extra bits of terrain for your enjoyment; Reaper, who are still going strong, with minis both blank and pre-painted, and Privateer Press, who are actually releasing rather a lot, including actual pirates. Since several recent adventures have a nautical theme, these could well come in handy.

The computer games they select this time are Mass Effect and Odin Sphere. A dark future RPG in which the galaxy is threatened, and a cutesy RPG where you have to avert armaggedon for fairyland. So both similarities and contrasts here. Quite a decent choice to make.

Paizo release another comic compilation. This time, it's the Dark Elf, Downer, and his grim yet ridiculous adventures from Dungeon Magazine that you can get to read uninterrupted. Drizzt has yet more competition to deal with.

And finally, there's another True Dungeon event, this time with official WotC sponsorship. Race beneath Greyhawk will give you another chance to dress up and delve dungeons full of dodgy props. Should be a pretty cool show.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 355: May 2007


part 3/6


iDragon: Back in issue 275, while they were still low on crunchy 3e articles due to the changeover, they did a piece on music and D&D. The process of the internet undercutting the music industry had already started back then, but the intervening 7 years have really seen it go mainstream. Now anyone who's remotely computer literate can find nearly any song for free with a little searching, including many that are long out of print or never even officially released. Which means this time, they can be far more eclectic with their recommendations, knowing they're only a google away. (although they do take pains to point out there there are online stores that let you download music legally, even if that will involve annoying DRM a lot of the time. ) So instead of one master list of recommended songs, they give us four playlists for different occasions, including one designed specifically for their Savage Tide adventure path, with more emphasis on individual tracks than albums.The layout isn't as pretty as last time, and the fact that everything comes so much easier makes this feel like it has less depth and effort put into it. Oh well, that's what the internet does. Everything moves so much faster. Just got to adapt to it. We can still get comprehensive depth in other ways, if we're willing to stick at it.


Seven saintly domains: Back in issue 323, they did a piece on vice themed domains. Guess it's time to fill in another symmetry before they say goodbye, just as with the princes of elemental good. Of course, what exactly those virtues are is more argued about than the vices, so they're not exactly the same as the NWoD virtues this time. They pick Charity, Chastity, Generosity, Humility, Patience, Temperance and Zeal. Unlike the vices, which were deliberately made accessible to PC's by highlighting good god's personal failings, there's very few evil deities which can grant you access to even one of these. I suppose it's the same asymmetry that makes paladins common, and the other alignment exemplars relegated to magazine articles. Also unlike the vices, there's no new exclusive spells, which makes this article less interesting than it's precursor. So like the celestials compared with the fiends, this probably won't get as much use, simply because it doesn't have as much cool stuff in it. Oh well. That's how sequels go all too often.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 355: May 2007


part 4/6


Creature catalog VI: And so we come to the final big collection of monsters new and old. Many have come, and a surprising amount are still gone from 3e. The magazine has done their fair share to keep old settings alive in our hearts and update old statistics. It's not over till the last page turns. Can they pull something awesome out of the reserves and back into play? We may be reaching the last few minutes of play, but they might still make a difference to my overall assessment. There's certainly a few familiar faces on the contents page. Let's see if they're handled properly.

Black Beasts of Bedlam are basically chaos beasts with a better name and different colour palette, plus extra malevolence and brains. Spreading insanity and chaos throughout the multiverse, one stupid adventuring party at a time. What a job to have.

Cave Fishers are one of the many weird old monsters that have fallen to the new edition's increased focus on humanoids and eldritch horrors from beyond the stars. They got an ecology in issue 135, which makes their dropping seem particularly egregious. Some writers have no respect for history. What other awesome monsters never got updated. Haven't seen Slithering Trackers around in a while.

Giant Dragonflys are a fairly natural creature that also got displaced by the trend for faster, grimmer, LOUDER! They're exceedingly manoeuvrable flyers, and can be made into mounts, so in situations requiring precision flying like giant caverns filled with poisonous spikes or lava, they might well be a better choice than most of the trainable horse size dragon types they've done over the years. Good to see them again.

Dungeon Phantoms are an amusing trope lampshader. They explain how dungeons can be delved repeatedly, and still have lots of unsprung traps, as they reset them, while rarely fighting adventurers directly. Tee hee. Good luck catching them without a good bit of divination to reveal their weakness.

Rot Giants are one I'm not particularly bothered about being brought back. They look like undead, but they're not! You really don't want to hit them close up, for infection sucks.

Cannon Golems are pretty awesome looking, and not only have missile attacks, but also selfdestruct if things are going poorly. It's good to have minions without a sense of self-preservation.

Maedar are another fallen ecology subject. So who have the medusa been mating with for the past 7 years? Given the number that have templates in supplements, some of them have obviously been settling for whatever they can get. The impossible statistics of their 2nd ed entry are sorted out, although they're still ridiculously rare. They also include the glyptar in their description, making it a two for the price of one. Nice.

Obliviax are another awesome one that really should have appeared in an official MM. The number of wonky exploits you used to be able to pull have been toned down a bit, but they're still highly amusing little things. Being a dwarven spellcaster looks increasingly appealing in this context.

Scarecrows are still another obvious one if you're at all interested in horror. But we've been through the struggles to integrate horror into D&D in great detail over the years, and it's only got trickier with the edition advances. Amusingly, they give it a mechanical benefit for being able to rotate it's head 360 degrees. Pretty cute, really. They can fill a whole bunch of roles in your adventure.

Seedroaches, like cannon golems, take an existing thing and add cannons to them. It's a winning formula, like adding marmite or ninjas. (mmm, ninjas covered in marmite. :drools: ) They ought to make it into a template. The illustration is quite amusing too.

Giant slugs are still another neglected old eco-friendly monster. Ok, so their acidic slime probably leaves trails of dead plants wherever they go, but it'll grow back. Its all part of the cycle of life in a world where apex predators are more common than plants.

Springheels are obviously a riff on jack the ripper. As befits their name, they like urban environments, and leaping out, using spring attack, then running away giggling annoyingly. What video game boss am I thinking of as well when I say that? If I can't place it, can't be too overdone. So it proves another useful little updating where most of the tweaks are for the better in my opinion.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Dragon Issue 355: May 2007

Springheels are obviously a riff on jack the ripper. As befits their name, they like urban environments, and leaping out, using spring attack, then running away giggling annoyingly. What video game boss am I thinking of as well when I say that? If I can't place it, can't be too overdone. So it proves another useful little updating where most of the tweaks are for the better in my opinion.

Well, you're half right. Springheel Jack was around at about the same time as the Ripper, but was quiet different. Leaping over 8 ft. walls, paralyzing young women, etc.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 355: May 2007


part 5/6


The ecology of the devourer: Another undead monstrosity gets it's turn in the spotlight this issue. A soulless abomination that wants to consume yours to fuel it's existence. Perfectly standard trope really. How can we make it distinctive? Tie it into D&D's planar cosmology, and have it eternally seeking it's original soul to gain some peace. That adds aaaaaaangst and pretty backdrops to the recipe. Then we give them cool visuals where the soul they're currently digesting is trapped in their chest and visible. As with wights, this makes quite a bit of an effort to differentiate these creatures from other undead in terms of behaviour patterns and personal advancement preferences, as well as talking about the creatures they're likely to associate with. Seems fairly decent, and well tied into the D&D setting and history as well. Another one I have no objection too.


Savage tidings: A bit of a side-track in this month, as we leave the central depths of the isle of dread, and head for Scuttlecove, the city of pirates. Another chance for your players to go shopping, and load up on all the gear they need to be level appropriate for the next adventure. No walk in the park though, because most of this stuff was pirated in the first place, and this town is a hive of depravity and lawlessness, where you'll get backstabbed and robbed if you don't watch out. And you'll need to get an ear to the street and cultivate some contacts if you want good gear at a reasonable price. Here's some of the stuff you can find here, and the people who sell it. Poisons, magic items, even flesh golems made from yuan-ti parts can be had if you're willing to pay the price (or kill them and take their stuff. ) This is pleasantly ed up stuff, which makes sure that even this section remains an adventure, while having plenty of crunch you could extract and use elsewhere. This is much more interesting than simply making the pirate base another site based dungeon to attack and clear out. I quite approve.


Volo's guide: Another extraplanar entry here this month, albeit a rather short one. The abyss is one plane that connects here pretty much unchanged, with the same demon lords that plague the rest of the multiverse engaging in their usual attempts to corrupt and destroy as much as they can. They tend to be found out and destroyed eventually due to their own innate chaoticness, but as long as they survive in at home, they just take out their temper on underlings and start over again. Baphomet, Dagon and Graz'zt are given as specific examples, making people (and gods) lives a misery, often over surprisingly long timescales. Plenty of examples for maniacal laughter invoking xanatos gambits here. A nice example of just how elaborate you can make your plans in your own campaign. Not bad at all.


Dragonmarks: I totally called it! I knew shifters would be one of the things they'd want to cover in this series. But I didn't particularly expect the specifics. The way of the shackled beast is a fighting style and set of philosophical teachings aimed at them, saying that you have to chain your beast and gain control of it to become truly free. (and the video game I'm having flashbacks too this month iiiiiis - Cornell's quest in Castlevania 64! ) Mechanically, this is represented by a bunch of feats any class can gain, although fighters can get them as bonus feats; a monk fighting style, a new magical item, and shiftsilver weapons, which are so blatantly an rip-off of Exalted's moonsilver weapons it hurts. So yeah, they sure do know how to pick and mix their influences. I am amused, but do not entirely approve. This does have the air of being written by someone who has to come up with several things a day like this to make paycheck. And if there's one thing that we've learned over these past few years, it's that even doing what you love gets exhausting and sanity destroying when you do it to a production line schedule. So yeah, this is the kind of article that wouldn't get published if they didn't have a regular 4 pages a month slot devoted specifically to Eberron that they had to fill. Add up all the ups and downs, and it comes out pretty average.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 355: May 2007


part 6/6


Sage advice: Can you make an off hand attack with armor spikes while wielding a two-handed weaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghlarkhackhackslump.

If you're carrying a shield and make an armor spike attack, can you still use the shield (yes)

When do you lose your shield bonus (Climbing and flanking and flat-footedness and touch attacks. Lots of nassty ways.)

Does shield proficiency also automatically make you proficient with shield bashes (yess)

Can you take weapon focus in shields (One type per feat, yess)

Can you make AoO's with a shield (yess)

Are there any mundane ways of damaging your enemies armour (Not really)

Does tiny armor also reduce the enhancement bonus it offers (No, jusst the magical bonus, yess?)

Does fortification protect you from touch attacks (Yess)

Does heavy fortification negate vorpal weapons (no)

Does ghost touch armor protect you against wraithstrike (no)

Can you add more properties to armor that already has an effective bonus of +10 (As long as you don't push the overall price above 200,000)

Does a barbarians DR stack with adamantine armor (no)

Can you stack a buckler with a dastana (no)

Does divine shield protect against touch attacks (no)

Does heavy armor optimisation apply to mithral armor (no)

When a warforged enhances their natural armour, does it count as already having a bonus (no)

Can armour properties be added to robes (no)

Do tieflings and aasimar automatically get armour proficiency (no. Andy just beat sskip's record for conssecutive denialss, teeheeheehee.)

Are a suit of armor's spikes counted as a single weapon (yes)

What's the cost and craft DC for special materials (Around half the sselling price, ass ussual, yess.)


Class acts: Adventurers get Strangulation. Third only to poison and flaming oil as a deadly and unfair method of fighting, if you try it in D&D, you'll frequently find it useless, and have to switch to another weapon. But here's a little stuff to make it a bit less useless. Hopefully it'll get some love in some campaigns.

Arcane gets Arcane Laboratories. Wizards in particular are at their best when they're fully equipped and in a position to spend ages building up cool stuff. Here's some advice on what these places might look like and contain. It's been a while since we had something like this, so I don't object to it.

Divine gets Druid Guide. The rehash moves ever onward. I'll be glad when it's over.

Psionic gets it's own section without displacing anything else this time. How very pleasing. The contents are not so cool, as this is just another list that sorts powers in a way the main books don't, but anyone with a few hours could do by themself, making a master list of what discipline each belongs too. Their writers are not very inspired of late. Also, eeech, those are some seriously grody knees. Someone either likes anorexic models a little too much, or is being ironic. That's just not right.

Warriors get Eldrich Warriors. 9 substitution feats that replace fighter bonus feats for specific magic powers. Supernatural protection, spelllike abilities, evasion, armour bonding. These are definite power-ups. They are trying to make the weaker classes stronger and slip in nerfs to the powerful ones. Definitely interesting to see the agenda behind this stuff.


Nodwick faces an enemy who doesn't play by the adventurers code. Dork tower plays by the action movie code of kill them all and make bad puns while doing so. Order of the stick is reminded that what may be a problem for you is an opportunity for someone else.


As an issue comprised entirely of sequels and regular columns, this feels like they knew what was coming, and have already started rearranging their schedule to complete a bunch of symmetries before it's too late. As such, not all the articles are great, but they're better here than left unpublished. The disconnected stuff can take care of itself. We're got to make the very most of the pages we have left. Let's see what they have left to give us for the birthday issue. 4.

 

[delericho]

When do you lose your shield bonus (Climbing and flanking and flat-footedness and touch attacks. Lots of nassty ways.)

Wait, what? You lose your shield bonus when being flanked and when flat-footed? That surely can't be right?

Edit: no, it's not. The answer touches on the four things listed, but you only lose the shield bonus with two: touch attacks and climbing. For the other two (flanking and flat-footed), he says you don't automatically lose the bonus.

 

[Alzrius]

Class acts: Adventurers get Strangulation. Third only to poison and flaming oil as a deadly and unfair method of fighting, if you try it in D&D, you'll frequently find it useless, and have to switch to another weapon. But here's a little stuff to make it a bit less useless. Hopefully it'll get some love in some campaigns.

I certainly hope so. This was my first, last, and only publication in Dragon, and while getting something in the print magazine was a "check this off the bucket list" moment for me, it'd be great if this saw play in someone's campaign.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 356: June 2007


part 1/6


82 (100) pages So it's their 31st birthday. And here is where the magazine reports it's imminent demise. Not the kind of thing to put you in a celebratory mood. Since we found out on the forums in april, it once again goes to show. Lead-up times are still an issue in the electronic age, and indeed are one of the big things hurting newspapers and other print media as they struggle to compete. By going online they can sell the same amount of material for less and still make the same amount themselves, and react far faster. But in the process, they cut a load of people out of the distribution chain, leaving them literally redundant. It certainly doesn't feel like a happy ending. Still, it's not over yet. Let's see if they've been given enough time to go out with style.


Scan Quality: Good, indexed, ad-free scan.


In this issue:


Editorial: Safe to say that Erik was just as surprised, and possibly even more shocked than the average reader to find out about the magazine's demise. After all, they'd gone to great lengths to maintain a positive relationship with WotC, while also trying as hard as possible to make the magazine a success. But then again, perhaps it was that success that made them so eager to take it back. After all, they handled the magazine in house for over 20 years without any problems. Plus the way they'd started bringing back settings they licensed out several years in advance, and dramatically cut down on the amount of new OGL material they released should have been pretty strong hints that things were changing in there, and not all in ways that were friendly to them. So now they have to figure out how to keep the company alive, when their previous attempts at independent material like Amazing Stories and Undefeated tanked. Since one thing they've consistently got more praise than WotC in since splitting is their adventures and setting material, that just might be something to focus on. You never know. So oddly enough, while this looks like bad news, it already shows them preparing for their survival, which we know in hindsight worked pretty well. That is very interesting to note. They aren't stupid. The magazine may end, but life is definitely going to go on. After a pessimistic start, I can already be a little more hopeful after reading this.


Scale Mail: The letters still aren't quite caught up with the news. Our first one is though, and wants to thank them for all the memories, while hoping there'll be plenty more in the electronic age. Since the forum response to the issues hasn't got any less dramatic throughout 4e and Next, I think we'll be able to look back on them with interest as well in the distant future.

Our next letter is a complaint that they've sent in a question to Sage Advice repeatedly and never got an answer. The Sage always got more questions than he could answer, and that's only got worse since they cut his page count. Try not to get too upset about it.

And finally, we have another request for a full 3.5 conversion of the Modron Hierarchs. They probably won't have time now, but they aren't ruling anything out. Still the possibility for a last minute saving throw, as always. We live in hope despite life repeatedly demonstrating no-one gets out alive, and no real story ends cleanly.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 356: June 2007


part 2/6


First watch: Our expedition series takes us back to undermountain. Now this is the first one that might actually be smaller than it's original, given how it sprawled out over several boxed sets and a load more apocrypha in 2nd ed. Still, if they can have more concentrated action, and less empty rooms left for you to fill in, that might not be a bad thing.

Also on the adventure side of things is The Sinister Spire, part two of their new trilogy. See the horrible things that lurk in a drow city, even above and beyond the usual. Maybe you should get help from drizzt to solve this problem.

Eberron gets The Forge of War, which is obviously about the recent big conflict, and the warforged created to fight it. Still plenty of aftermath for you to use as plot hooks here.

On the D20 side we have lots of little modules in the old skool tradition. Paizo release D1: Crown of the Kobold king. Goodman games are up to number 46 in their Dungeon Crawl Classics series. And Expeditious Retreat join the fray with Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom for OSRIC. The nostalgia revolution is really heating up. I suspect these ones sell better than most adventures do at this time. We also have a rather bigger and more modern adventure. Dark wings over Freeport. Green Ronin are still full of support for this setting, and it's still growing and changing.

Our computer assistance is an updated set of character generation software from Hero Labs. Now with more customisability, and support for rulesets other than D20. Hopefully, they day will come when we can use this stuff to speed through the character generation process for most systems.

We've fought the blood war again recently. Now, the minis go back to The Night Below, another classic adventure set. Underdark monstrosities, plus some seeming non-sequiturs like Raistlin and a frost giant. (who really isn't going to fit into many underground places) Looks like this is going to be another one with extended previews. Bring it. Paizo are also contributing another location. We have bar fights often enough, now you can get a map for them.

Our dragonlance comic adaptions are now a third of the way through the final book in the first trilogy. They're also finishing off another drizzt book. No shortage of those to work on, as Salvadore releases a new one shortly as well. The story gets ever longer and more convoluted.

Gaming's strong association with the armed forces continues, to the degree that soldiers in Iraq are setting up Ziggurat Con. Now that is pretty cool, really. I wonder what the locals will make of this.

And finally, they promote Free RPG day, another attempt to make a hobby wide promotional tool. Since I've seen this celebrated in subsequent years, I know this is one that actually works out. Remember, the first hit is free. Then, you have to pay. And keep on paying, until there's nothing left and it has consumed your life. Or is that me and this thread. Moving swiftly onwards.