Let's read the entire run

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 1/8


109 (132) pages. So we've finally reached the end of Dragon's print run. This requires an extra big issue to send everything off. Paizo obviously want to feather their nest for the uncertain times to come, because they increase the price a quite shocking $3 to $10.99. Mutter mutter mutter. Still, all this extra stuff doesn't come cheap. For a start, we get a cover with a proper sense of location and poise for the first time in ages. No Rarr, we're badass, spikey, harshly coloured and in your face all the time. Larry Elmore delivers a nice piece of an adventuress and her (rather familiar looking) dragon, looking back. Which is appropriate, really, harking back to those classic covers of the 80's. We also get plenty of other big names back for one last article, and some effort is made to tie up the loose ends. It's nice that they had time to prepare for this. They should go out with a bang, not a whimper. So lets see just how well they've done.


Scan Quality: Good, large white border, unindexed, ad-free scan.


In this issue:


Editorial: Even the editorial is extra large, with contributions from all four editors, (although obviously Erik gets the biggest word count.) as they try to sum up their feelings on their time here. They're all grateful for the chance to contribute to the game they loved in an official capacity, even if it was damn hard work at times. They're also careful to thank everyone else who's worked on the magazine in recent years, and most of the big names of D&D in general. After all, it's always been very much a group effort, even if much of that group only communicate through mail or computer. Each of them holds their share of the responsibility for making the magazine as good as it is. (or as bad as it is, in the case of the fiction department these days ) So here's to editing. I could certainly have done with an editor over the years, and for all the flak they get, it's important to remember that they are essentially a positive force on most creative endeavours.


Scale Mail: Our first letter is one from Larry Smith, ex-Art Director. Since his departure was where they shifted from full covers which depicted actual scenes to single person covers with often sketchy or nonexistent backgrounds, it would be easy for him to be snarky about things not being what they used too. But no, he praises both the old artists and the current staff, seeing their approach as equally valid, and reminding us that life will be ever-changing. To the future, whatever shape it may take.

Our next letter gets recursive, asking them to do a longer letters section. Since they have boosted the page count for this final issue, and they are getting tons of letters, this is a really easy one to grant. Still trying to please as many as possible, right to the last.

Our next letter is a short but sweet goodbye. Not everyone has some witticism or last request to contribute, and this is for all of them.

Some do have very specific requests through, like one for more ioun stones. They would almost definitely have got round to it if given more time. But alas, it is not to be. Maybe next edition will do a nice big one, if it's not too interesting an idea for the 4e writers.

The next letter is an ode to the physical experience of reading a magazine. So much of what we do is on computer, and sitting in front of a screen all day is not good for our health. It'll be a shame to lose another holdout. I hear ya on that one, I hear ya. Be it writing, music, video, playing games, communicating with each other, it's increasingly all dependent on one little box. It does worry me, making one thing the focal point for your entire life, especially when it's so very vulnerable to destruction. All it takes is a little water in the wrong place to lose everything.

Even recent arrivals are devastated by the loss of the magazine, as the next letter proves. It's definitely good to see that they were still acquiring new readers right up to the end. Proves the hobby isn't comprised entirely out of grognards, and doomed to fade away when they all die out.

And finally, we have an observation that Paizo's Pathfinder material looks like a good replacement for Dungeon, but not so much for Dragon. Trust me, they'll add a fair amount of new crunch along with the adventures and setting material, and that'll be easily used with regular 3.5. (although some of it, you may not want too) And if that's not enough, just track down some of the vast quantities of old d20 books from 3rd party publishers. There's always something new to find there.


From the publisher: This is identical to last issue. Nothing to see here, move along, move along.

 

[LordVyreth]

Editorial: Even the editorial is extra large, with contributions from all four editors, (although obviously Erik gets the biggest word count.) as they try to sum up their feelings on their time here. They're all grateful for the chance to contribute to the game they loved in an official capacity, even if it was damn hard work at times. They're also careful to thank everyone else who's worked on the magazine in recent years, and most of the big names of D&D in general. After all, it's always been very much a group effort, even if much of that group only communicate through mail or computer. Each of them holds their share of the responsibility for making the magazine as good as it is. (or as bad as it is, in the case of the fiction department these days ) So here's to editing. I could certainly have done with an editor over the years, and for all the flak they get, it's important to remember that they are essentially a positive force on most creative endeavours.

Aww, it was nice and strange seeing Jason Bulmahn posting his farewell editorial on this issue. Did I ever mention here that before he went on to be a bigwig at Paizo, he was my DM in college? Yup. He got of my characters killed. I still have a picture that they commissioned of my main character up on my wall.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 2/8


First watch continues to be of greater than usual size this month, as they try and cram in as much stuff as possible, including things not actually coming out for a while. Still, there are plenty of other sources for finding out what's coming next now. It's not as if the magazine is essential for tying the hobby together anymore, with the internet doing things faster and with more commentary.

First up is Exemplars of Evil. Which looks to me rather like Book of Vile Darkness II: DM advice bogaloo. Well, they are increasingly focussing on sequels to things that sell well. As with the other ones, I just have to hope they figured out how to put a different spin on the topic and introduce new ideas.

Second is the conclusion of their module trilogy, with Fortress of the Yuan-ti. This looks pretty self explanatory. A mid level adventure starring their well loved genius snake-men hybrids. They're also releasing a new set of dungeon tiles, but don't have the space to tell us about it. Oh well. It's not as if those offered any great surprises either.

Slightly more surprising, and quite possibly amusing, is A Grand History of the Realms. An attempt to weave the tangled chronology of the sourcebooks, modules and novels into a coherent tapestry, and resolve inconsistencies, this certainly looks like it has the potential to reveal more than a few things I've always wondered about, and more that I never even thought of. Still, soon this'll be out of date as well, as the realms progresses ever forward, the biggest and busiest D&D world of all. Long may it do so, for it does still have tons of cool stuff amid the silliness.

Paizo do not hesitate to promote their own projects, of course. Old Skool modules with modern production values continue to be one of their prongs of assault. U1: Gallery of evil. J1: Entombed with the Pharohs. E1: Carnival of tears. And J2: Guardians of Dragonfall. They're going to release one a month for the forseeable future, until diminishing returns force them to kill or alter the format. They're also releasing a compilation of their various Game Mastery aids, complete with some bonus extras. Will that help clear out some warehouse space for their next projects.

They also continue to support their long time friends. Green Ronin are still doing plenty of stuff with Freeport, with two new books, one providing lots of setting details, and the other focussing on the crunch. Guess which one'll probably sell more. They're also following up their deck of many things with a Deck of Illusions. Another classic item gets a solid representation for players to actually draw from, which adds to the fun. Goodman Games are up to their 50th Dungeon Crawl Classic, Vault of the Iron overlord. And it is indeed a doozy, with the players venturing inside a still active mechanical device who's parts move around, making mapping very tricky indeed. Sounds like the kind of thing I'd enjoy running.

On the minis side, we have a decent selection as well. Dwarven Forge return to their Cavernous Lake, filling it with all new items that can be placed in many places. Must have proved quite popular then. And Privateer Press release Hordes: Evolution, letting you do new things with your rampaging warbeasts. This ain't your kid's pokemon. Can you keep control of all your minis, and the things they represent?

Several other games get mentioned as well. Talisman's new edition is now out, another case of repeated spoilage around here. Key Largo is finally completed, despite the death of it's creator, thanks to a little work from familiar name Mike Selinker. Slugfest games release the Red Dragon Inn, a card game where adventurers kick back and have a little fun at the tavern, while trying to ensure they get the most spoils when they're divided up. Sounds like a good game to use as a minigame in a campaign. And Privateer Press release Infernal Contraption, where mad inventors compete to build the scariest machines, just as wizards do with spells. The gap between them isn't that great, really.

Computer games get a disproportionate amount of page space, much of which is screenshots. NWNII: Mask of the betrayer gets another piece, which doesn't actually say much more than last time. They also choose the Culdcept Saga, which looks like a cross between Yugi-oh and Mega Man:Battle network. Turn based, deck controlled combat, and grid based movement between events, it also has elements of monopoly, of all things. If you like CCG's, this could well satisfy that itch for a bit.

In movies, they promote Beowulf. Ahh, yes, the one where they use CG technology to give Ray Winstone a hypermuscled body and Grendel's mom is a sexy shapeshifter who gives birth to the dragon that kills them at the end. Not exactly a great classic film. Still, they're getting some tie-in products as well, so they have good hopes for this. Beowulf: the movie board game is one of these. Since it's basically an adaption of an existing game, this doesn't seem particularly brilliant either. If I'm wrong, I'd be happy to hear it though.

Our final topics are mainly for observing, not buying. Steel Sqwire are producing artwork made of thousands of carefully arranged dice, and are showing an exhibition at Gen Con. You could buy one of these, or even commission something specialy, but it'd be expensive. You could also visit the Mythic creatures Exhibit at the museum of natural history. Of course, that's probably long ended by now, but these things are like busses. There'll be something very similar again in a few years, possibly even now if you know where to look. And I must say I'm quite eager to look around, see what cool new things are going on once I've finally completed this trek through history.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 3/8


The top 10 issues of dragon: Whether or not you consider this the end of Dragon magazine, there's no denying it represents an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and evaluate everything that's come before. And so they surveyed the forums to find out what were people's favourite issues. The result is quite interesting. There's an even mix of ancient issues and ones from the last 5 years, but absolutely nothing from between 1987 and 2002, showing that 2e is currently very much out of fashion with the readers despite all the cool setting stuff they did in the 90's. The ones that got most remembered also trend towards the goofy, which also makes their increasing habit of being sensible all the time in recent years seem a bit dumb in hindsight. It's not at all what I would have chosen. However, the two original issues on the Nine Hells being top by a substantial margin is not surprising at all. The amount of influence those still have whenever people want to get devilish is still huge, and the writing is one of the most evocative pieces they've ever done. It was the thing that really cemented Ed as the absolute number one of their contributors, a position he has yet to be knocked from, many editorial changes later. They entirely deserve to be remembered as well as they are.


So i suppose now is the time to go through things and figure out what my personal favourites are. What has held up with the passage of time, and what should have been best forgotten. This could take a while.

20: 210. Tom Moldvay finishes his multi-part series on alternate undead with the high level stuff, and we get lots of other cool halloween articles, including a Call of Cthulhu one, and reviews of White Wolf books. One of the last issues that still feels like they were open to the rest of the hobby.

19: 270. The period between the WotC takeover and 3e's release is pretty easy to forget, with a lot of boring issues that are neither top nor bottom. However, with the dual themes of high level and planar stuff, and a decent amount of april humour, this managed to hit the spot, giving us plenty of useful new material, before we said goodbye to 2e for good.

18: 18. Most of the early issues look decidedly rough in terms of both mechanics and artwork, but the ideas still hold up, and they got away with things that they simply couldn't just a few years later. Here we see the introduction of Traveler, which will play a surprisingly large part in the magazine, and some decidedly not family friendly Lankhmar material. It's interesting to think what D&D might have become if it had become more established before the moral majority brigade got involved.

17: 166. Speaking of the Moral Majority, 1990 was probably the most problematic year for them in that department. The backlash over them removing fiends from the game was massive, and cast a shadow over the entire year. As a result, this is where they brought them back, mostly unchanged in all but name. That mixed victory aside, this issue is also full of some of the best non D&D material in their run, with really cool stuff for Cyberpunk, Battletech and Car Wars, and the Dino Wars standalone game.

16: 276. We're spoiled for choice when it comes to october issues, and this is another fun one, with the ecology of the sheet phantom and John Kovalic's minigame bringing the mischief, while Skip & co concentrate on bringing back all sorts of other monsters. Another of the early 3e issues where you really feel the sense of freedom, before they were caught up in being all serious, all the time.

15: 344. Nostalgia runs rampant in the 30th birthday issue, with not just one, but three big names from the past brought back, and an article building on something they introduced in the 10th birthday issue. Erik uses this opportunity to increase the budget and do things he couldn't normally get away with, and it pays off.

14: 189. As we went through 1993, Roger was starting to lose the thrill of being an editor. But this attempt to spice up the magazine by requesting more real world stuff based on other cultures paid off quite nicely, creating a thread that ran through the next three years. Cultural diversity is one thing that 2e did better than any other edition, and without his efforts, we wouldn't have had a lot of that.

13: 112. There's been a few times in the magazine where they've drawn a hard line and substantially altered the format in one go, instead of gradually introducing new features and cutting old ones. 323, 274, and 225, all have their good and bad points. But this one is the most effective in itself, with both the huge comprehensive index and room for several other classic articles as well. In just a few issues, Kim would be gone, Gary would be formally ejected from the company, and they'd be gearing up for 2e. If any issue marks the end of the old school, it's definitely this one.

12: 198. Roger's last issue as full editor, and Sandy Petersen's finest hour in the magazine, this is another october one that seriously brings the goods. The Dragon Project is in full swing, keeping diversity up, and Tom Moldvay gives us a highly amusing load-bearing boss. All too soon, both basic D&D and non D&D coverage would be gone, so enjoy it while you could.

11: 150. Yet another awesome October issue, this sees them doing something a little different, and turning their attention to Mind Flayers and other cosmic horror. While many of the details in here were contradicted by the later Ithilliad, I find myself actually preferring this treatment. In addition, there's stuff for Call of Cthulhu, Top Secret, Star Trek and Superheroic games in general, making this one of their highest variety issues in general. The combination of these elements makes it one you can return too and use in all sorts of situations.

10: 55. The years of 1979-1981 were dramatic ones for the magazine. It seemed that their size and budget increased on a regular basis, and their professionalism tried to keep pace with it. This issue came near the end of that process, when the excitement was at it's peak, but before they got rid of wargaming and did their first period of closing off to focus on Official D&Dtm Material. In addition, they aren't afraid to criticise themselves publicly, with several writers making their reservations about the Fiend Folio clear. Soon, the meteoric rise would be over, and they'd start to feel like a real corporation. That's what success inevitably does.

9: 97. 1985 was the first year that D&D really felt "mature", as they brought out a whole load of significant products that they'd been talking about for years. Unearthed Arcana, Oriental Adventures, the Temple of Elemental Evil, and the Master Set. While things weren't all hunky dory behind the scenes, they still had both tons of creativity and a sense of fun, and this captures those aspects, with the articles on improvisation, taking prisoners and Pages from the Mages adding interesting elements to your play, and the fiction about MMO's spectacularly prophetic. Here's to building for the future, even while not knowing if you'll be there next year.

8: 91. The return to the nine hells doesn't have quite the same impact as the original, but the info it introduces is more advanced, so it deserves plenty of credit too. Plus it comes right at their commercial peak, so it has a certain effervescence as a whole that makes it exciting to read. If you want darkness and politics presented in a fun way, you'd better pay attention.

7: 131. The issue that made the Underdark a big thing distinct from regular dungeons, this sees Roger really hitting his stride and making a difference. With a mini adventure, and substantial expansions for Svirfneblin, Hook Horrors and Aboleths, it made the world beneath our feet seem a lot bigger and weirder. Which is just what you need when you've been doing this for a while.

6: 81. No big special feature in this one, just a whole ton of high quality articles, from the peak of the magazine's first wave. Ed adds a bit more depth to the Basilisk, we get the highest level module they did with the magazine, and lots of little setting bits that are good for any system.

5: 309. The transition from 3.0 to 3.5 was marked by this amazing bit of co-ordinated work between Dragon and Dungeon. One of the longest and most focussed themed issues they've ever done, ending with one of the best articles they've ever done. Not all the other articles in there are brilliant, particularly the ones that are merely about rules updates, but that final one lifts the whole thing up a long way. Finally, the Githyanki are as scary as they ought to be.

4: 75. While the issue as a whole isn't all perfect, the nine hells is another one where the big special feature is just so good it pulls everything else up. And since the average quality of the articles is a little higher than Incursion, with contributions from people like Gary & Katherine Kerr, and their first homegrown Ecology, it just edges it out here.

3: 171. You never forget your first time, and even after going through every issue, I still find myself going back to this one, and using it's advice. Intelligent monsters, well-organised superheroes, stupid Buck Rogers, and some of the best Known World material in the magazine's run. It's a big, strange place, and it's good to have the full perspective on it at last.

2: 287. After a long slow upward grind through the late 90's, Dave Gross finally gets things just about perfect, just as he leaves, which is very ironic really. After he goes, the amount of setting material and sense of freedom the new edition has granted nosedives at shocking speed. In the meantime, this kickass planar special does a lot to get the new edition up to speed.

1: 351. Other issues may have better individual articles, but absolutely no issue beats this one as a complete package where everything was working towards a single goal, firing on all cylinders, and drawing on history effectively while also creating cool new stuff to add to it. The previous two Campaign Classics issues were cool, but also had to deal with patchy and shallow bits as they tried to fit everything in. This one, every single article works both individually, and as part of the larger whole, and none are merely converting old material to the new edition. It's as close to perfection as they ever got, and I really wish they had tried to do more really ambitious themed issues like it and Incursion.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 4/8


And now for the hall of shame. They did manage to throw up a fair few stinkers along the way, after all, and I would be remiss if I didn't warn people away from them.

10: 3. The issue that really showcases the fact that yes, there was a lot of crap back in the old days too, and at least the modern stuff is better edited. The largest, most flimsily designed set of classes we'd ever see, and more than a few other half-baked ideas. Still, at least it's memorable.

9: 157. Buck Rogers gets forced down our throats, to massive public indifference, and considerable annoyance in the offices. The themed section is one of the most half-assed they ever did, showing that Lorraine might have been able to crack the whip, but she couldn't force them to write good, useful material. The rest is merely so-so, but that beginning drags the whole thing down.

8: 154. In which TSR bow to the satanic panic, only to have to deal with the backlash. This issue is packed full of corporate , and most of the general articles are pretty boring too. It really is annoying when the upper management are the problem, rather than the solution.

7: 64. Gary really started to lose his grip in 1982, both of the company, and in terms of adding things to the system that weren't very well thought out mechanically. This is an excellent example, with the introduction of the celestials, one of the most mechanically annoying monsters to keep track of in all D&Ddom. Meanwhile Brian Blume makes a bizarre diversion into sumo wrestling, and Giants in the Earth continues to taunt us with illegal characters. It all just leaves me irritated.

6: 151. The issue that indicated maybe they were starting to do the oriental fetishism the late 80's saw to death, with two of the worst ecologies they've done, and a whole lot of other dull stuff. Any idea, even a good one, wears out it's welcome eventually, or simply isn't applicable to the present problem, and it's stupid to stick with it in that situation.

5: 231. By the mid 90's, D&D had created so many supplements and settings that it was a real nightmare to keep track of them. This issue really brought that home to me, back in the day. At some point, you really have to take a break or let go, and that was my personal breaking point.

4: 224. The end of 1995 saw TSR realising something was very wrong, and starting to panic, realising they had to change or die. Unfortunately, this only hastened their decline. The three "little red triangle" issues were full of poor choices in both articles and formatting, and this is the worst of them. They'd removed the last bits of third party coverage, and still didn't know how to properly replace it, and weren't communicating well internally. It really shows, unfortunately.

3: 122. Aka Gary's formal resignation notice. The magazine had been going downhill for a good year before this, with Kim's resignation and Roger being forced to handle Dragon & Dungeon simultaneously really hurting their organisational capabilities. It's not until next year that he would really get the hang of things and start pulling up again. In the meantime, we get poorly organised issues like this one. Even without the shoddily redacted farewell from Gary, it wouldn't have been good, but that easily pushes it down into this not so exalted position.

2: 300. In which WotC fail pathetically at being dark and mature, to an extent which still boggles me to this day. You read it back and wonder what possessed them to collectively read and edit this stuff and think it was actually a good idea, all the way through to publication. Obviously Monte Cook has to take the lion's share of the blame, but no-one comes out of this looking good.

1: 310-14. It's cheating, I know, but it really is impossible to choose which of these 5 issues is worst to single out, because there's nothing there to choose from. The biggest dullest heap of grey, generic crap the magazine ever did in a row. Most of the other issues here were bad in more memorable ways, or less usable in actual play, but nothing beats the second half of 2003 for sheer boring. And since D&D is still supposed to be a game, that makes them the biggest failure. A game is nothing without fun.


Unsolved mysteries of D&D: We continue the system-free retrospective with a runthrough of things that still bug people to this day. There's a ton of loose ends and unexplained things from various settings and modules that people still debate about on forums, decades after they last appeared in print. Of course, if they gave concrete answers, they'd ruin the fun in a lot of cases, so this turns out to be an article that asks big questions, but doesn't really resolve much. If anything, it's likely to keep them talked about more in the future, as it makes even more people aware of these little bits of history. Essentially, trololololo suckers! Do what you like in your game, because you're never getting to see the complete picture. Well, that wasn't particularly helpful. They could definitely be doing more here.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 5/8


Time Dragon: Since it's still the title of the magazine (with or without it's The), they would be remiss in going out without an article on dragons, be it introducing a new type or expanding on old ones. Our first article this issue that actually has any mechanical stuff in it, this is one for the Epic level players. Anything that has time travel effects is automatically a huge problem for most groups, as it goes another step beyond scrying, mind-reading and teleportation in letting you set up a situation where you can beat an opponent without them having any chance against you at all, even if they're physically superior in a straight fight. (and since it's dragons we're talking about here, you don't even have much chance of being able to kill them with brute force before they can react) Even hatchlings start at CR 26, going up to 90 for great wyrms, making them a suitable foe for when your characters can deal with hecatoncheires without breaking a sweat. So this is very much an exercise in unfairness intended to remind people there's always a bigger fish out there, always a new adventure to challenge your players with. Which is a good note to end things on. Even after 359 issues, there's still only a handful of epic level articles, and both players and DM's have to forge their way into the unknown if they want to keep campaigns fun at that level. There's only a molehill of covered ground, so let's hope they don't keep trying to sell us what's already been sold in the electronic issues.


Demonomicon of Iggwilv: For our final entry in this series, they throw open the doors, and encourage you to make your own demon lords. After all, they aren't going to be allowed to do it any more, and there's still so many more adventures to have. Course, this being third edition, they have to be formulaic about it, providing a template you use to adapt existing creatures into demon lords. They then provide us 5 examples of this technique. Ardat the unavowed, Dwiergus the chrysalis prince, Lascer, lord of the shadow shoal, Shaktari, queen of mariliths, and Ugudenk, the squirming king. Three Tanar'ri, two Obyriths. All with rather scary tricks up their sleeves, but the stats derived from advancing some other creature, saving space here. That should be more than enough to work from. I really don't need this, having created several abyssal lords of my own, but this does read like them trying to set free a few minds while not completely taking the stabilizers off. Oh, the compromises they have to make.

They also go into detail about the divisions in the demonic phyla. The insubstantial loumaras, born from the dying dreams of a pantheon eaten by the abyss. The cthonic Obyriths, ancient and maddening, from before the days of intelligent life. The tanar'ri, our well known embodiments of every sin known to man, born from the souls of chaotic evil monsters that went to the abyss. Artificially created stuff of various stripes, including quasits, yochol, retrievers, etc. The abyssal equivalents of animals. And there's bound to be a few that don't fit into those classifications, since it is a realm of chaos. A good example of the complex built up D&D mythology that's accreted over decades, that is about to be swept away by the complete setting reboot of the next edition. Rather saddening, really. Still, this article is a reminder that when the official stuff ends, you're free to make stuff up yourself without worrying about future products contradicting them. But it is definitely a bittersweet ending. So it goes.


1d20 Villains: Another big list looking back on characters from adventures, novels and sourcebooks who have really stuck in people's minds over the years. Unlike the top 10 magazines, this is compiled entirely from staff preferences, which means it's slightly more even-handed in covering characters from all eras, and has a couple of odd choices at the top. Meepo and the Lord of Blades? Really? One a comedy villain and the other barely three years old. I find it difficult to call them classics. Still, questionable choices aside, this isn't just a descriptive list. Each of the 20 characters here gets a feat, magical item or other brief bit of crunch detailed to make this list actually useful for players and DM's. Many of them are pretty cool, and often quite powerful, as befits their iconic owners. So this is another one aimed at long-term players, who really need something to spice up their campaign. Don't be afraid of the Canon Police, let your player face iconic villains and have a chance to win. That's the kind of thing that'll perk them up even if they seem completely jaded. The power of celebrity can trump even the most fantastical spells.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 6/8


Treasures of Greyhawk: Greyhawk might not have had an official column for quite some time, but it's still technically an active campaign setting along with Toril and Eberron. They're hardly going to leave without giving it a little love, especially since Erik is still lead editor. So here's another collection of named items who's owners we should all be familiar with, since they appeared in all the corebooks from 1e to 3e. This also gives them another excuse to tell us more about the people behind the magic, while still providing game-useful material. Will any of these be remembered like the originals? Unlikely, but I really don't think that's the point.

Heward's Bell can summon or banish all sorts of things, depending on how you ring it. Disco dancers are not among those things, unfortunately.

Heward's Lyre of Truth ( and isn't that a terrible pun name that'd fit right into Gary's original campaign ) lets you force people to tell the truth when played, detect lies by plucking a single string, and if you detune it, it lets you do the opposite and bend the truth to your advantage. That's both useful and full of flavor in how it works. Awesome.

Keoghtom's Spidery Map lets you find nearly anything apart from it's creator. Building in back doors is a tremendously sensible thing to do for any creator, and it's good to see him keeping up that tradition.

Keoghtom's Staff of Purification is a reversed Staff of Affliction that retains it's original sinister appearance. Even evil artifacts can be redeemed if you know how, as the magazine has shown on several occasions, and isn't that so much better than simply destroying them.

Murlynd's Hat is of course a cowboy one, reminding us that Greyhawk has silly crossovers baked in from it's early days. It's abilities are relatively minor compared to it's sheer cool factor, and he regularly loses them and has to make new ones, so you never know what you'll get. But it'll probably be awesome in at least some small lifesaving way.

Murlynd's Rattlesnake Whip lets you disarm people, grapple them, climb buildings and swing on chandeliers. Anyone with a remotely swashbucklerish bent would delight in having this.

Nolzur's Orb slowly and continuously oozes his marvellous pigments, and has several other intriguing colour based effects as well. Make sure you don't just leave it in your backpack with everything else, or they're likely to wind up all sorts of odd colours and make a terrible mess.

Quaal's Cloak provides you with a full 50 feather tokens before it gets too threadbare to work, and in the meantime gives you a constant feather fall effect to save your hide. Will you go for the long or short term benefits?

Quaal's Surrependitous Armor of Expedience has 0 spell failure chance and gives you boosted movement rates and flight when you need it. Any multiclass warrior/arcane caster will be very happy indeed to be able to use both classes features to full effect.

The Robe of the Mad Archmage reminds us that other magical items beyond weapons can be sentient. It's as mischevious as it's creator, letting you unleash quickened spells at a whim and store spare spell levels for an emergency so you always have a trick up your sleeve. Just don't be boring, and don't try to wear other magical clothing, or it'll get jealous.

Tasha's Grinning Idol is surprisingly boring, simply boosting your mundane social skills and the DC of your Enchantment spells. Oh well, it's still a pretty flexible trick, even if it's not particularly inventive in itself.

Yragne's Signet has some minor protection magics for the wearer, but it's main significance is unlocking a bunch of magically sealed buildings around Greyhawk City, thus opening up new adventure locations for the party that gets their hands on it. And since no-one else has been able to get in in centuries, they're pretty likely to have interesting stuff remaining in them. Happy treasure hunting.

This is a pretty good ending to their magical item collections. Not only is the flavour far better than most, but the effects are also far more inventive and less "fair" than their recent Bazaars, with plenty of charged items and effects that aren't built around combat effectiveness or taking the obvious solution to problems. It's definitely nice that they feel they don't have to stick so closely to their usual design formulas for the final issue.


One last evening with the wizards three: Another little plot thread is tied up here, courtesy of the hard work and suffering of Edward Greenwood. He's been contributing stuff for 28 years now, seeing others come and go, and if anyone deserves the most praise for making the magazine as good as it is, it's him. The wizards three last met on the magazine's 30th anniversary, a bit over a year ago, so they're relatively fresh in regular readers minds. Now we get to see all four of them, as Dalamar manages to get day release from Krynn. And of course, the new member and the old returnee have sarcastic words to exchange to one-another. The banter is as sharp as ever, with some additional metaness as they both lampshade Elminster's persistent mischievous lechery, and these very articles. Mordenkainen finally confronts El about their persistent observer (while not letting slip that he's been aware of Ed for ages anyway. (see issues 196 and 200) It's a slightly strange ending, and does feel somewhat truncated, as they don't include any spells this time. I guess even with the expanded page count, they had lots of things they wanted to fit in, and so the editors had to do a bit of pruning on this one. Still, it is both entertaining in it's own right, and a nice bit of nostalgia fanservice for the longtime readers. There's likely to a be quite a few people picking up this issue who haven't touched one in years, and this is for them. And maybe this'll appear in the electronic issues sometime as well. Let's make a toast to shared history.


Elminster vs Raistlin: This again? Pff. Didn't issue 282 settle this one already. I guess not, since the battle was called off due to cheating. (as if anything could be called unfair in a battle of archmages. ) And once again, it's obvious that while Raistlin might just be able to pull a trick out of his sleeve and beat Elminster in an all-out fight, it's even more obvious that Elminster wins both in terms of raw power, and at life in general, as he actually gets to have friends and lovers and generally enjoy his long, interesting existence, while Raistlin's life is one trial and irritation after another. I'm definitely going to have to side with the guy who's been a huge help to adventurers everywhere with the info he shares over the one who almost destroyed the world. You should pick your role models based on what you want to be, not what you most closely resemble.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 7/8


The ecology of the Tarrasque: Hmm. So it's your final ecology. How do you make sure you go out with something big. Something that defines the D&D experience. Something that hasn't been done before. And then it hits you. No-ones done the tarrasque yet. The tarrasque, while not really the most badass monster in the game, has a unique position, seemingly designed specifically to serve as the capstone for an ordinary game, or the gateway monster to an epic one. A monster that you can't kill by simple application of force. A monster that spends most of it's time asleep, and can erupt into any campaign and devastate the land without warning, and then disappear again just as suddenly even if you fail to foil it. It makes for very dramatic stories indeed. And they get in not one, but two of the biggest names in ecologies to handle this one. Ed Greenwood shows up again to do the main part, with a cameo by Johnathan M Richard's association of monster hunters. Since both of these guys like their whimsy, the fiction does have some quite mischievous flourishes, including mention of how the creature has changed in the editions, and a foreshadowing of the big bit of loophole closing screwage that they would institute in 4e. Ed reminds us that he really is the king of weird little biological details and their implications, as well as useful little rules clarifications, which is something they almost totally lost in their drive for big bits of shiny new crunch.

Not that they neglect the big stuff either, with a CR30 advanced version of the tarrasque for those of you who get well into the epic levels before encountering it, and want it to stay genuinely scary. They even have a footnote, although it's a bit half-hearted. In other words, they draw from all the best parts of the ecology format from the last 25 years, and combine them in one kickass package. They really ought to have done this before the magazine was about to end. You shouldn't be afraid to try new things, but you also shouldn't be ashamed to go back to old methods if they work better than the ones you're currently trying. It's not nostalgia if it's still very much applicable to now.


Savage tidings: Welcome to the end of the adventure. If it weren't for this, the magazine would have come to an end several months sooner, and for that it definitely deserves credit. We finish off this series by looking back at what came before, and forward to what might come ahead. These recaps are actually very helpful to me, because of course I haven't read the Dungeon adventures, so this finally lets me have a better idea of what's been going on between the snapshots. Once again we have advice on how to incorporate new characters, which is of course increasingly awkward at this stage in the game. And they tackle the tricky question of what you do next. Epic levels are problematic in D&D in any edition, and especially when the entire campaign up to that point has been scripted, finishing that plot and suddenly opening things up usually results in anticlimax and grinding to a halt (see Babylon 5 for a great example of this.) You should either make plans even before it finishes, or be ready to say "and they lived happily ever after." and finish on a high. Will I live happily ever after now this is over? No chance. That's the difference between stories and reality. No matter what triumphs you make in reality, the ending is always going to be the same. Deterioration and eventual death. Still, once again, they've shown that they are aware of all the common problems, and taken steps to counter them. They've solved a good number of the problems inherent in the gameplay of 3.5. We can't expect them to solve reality as well. So lets sign off with the knowledge that at least our characters can get a happy ending, even if we don't. Peace out.


Volo's guide: This column is one of the few articles that feels like business as usual this month. Still, they probably had to choose which article from their buffer would get to go out this month. And not too surprisingly, they've picked another post metaplot event update. They warn you not to read this if you're playing the adventures and books where this stuff takes place. So let's see how Myth Drannor is coping, another 6 months after it's reclamation. Open violence has subsided quite a bit, but a definite siege mentality is developing, as both the zhents and drow enjoy hit and run attacks taking advantage of the woods and darkness. The really big monsters are pretty much gone, but there's still tons of little bits to unseal, many of which are still trapped. Surely there's only so much to uncover though. Give it 10 years, and the frontier town will become pacified and civilised, and within a century it'll be a thriving city again. What a co-incidence that they're planning a timeslip of that length over the edition change. They also include a full history of how we got to this point. As you'd expect, entries increase substantially in frequency once we get to the era we actually lived through. It's a good example of how things develop very differently in fiction when events happen in the present rather than as backstory. How long will the Realms enjoy that kind of attention before it dies, or at least goes on hiatus like all the other D&D settings have at some point. Being made into the living campaign world for the RPGA has pretty much assured it's survival for the duration of 4e, but what then? The novels certainly aren't coming with the frequency or sales they used to, nor are the rules books. Will even the biggest D&D setting die eventually? Or will it outlive it's creator, and still be going centuries of real time and millennia of game time in the future like Oz? Anyone going to offer odds? Lets hope for the best, because it still seems like there's room for tons of cool adventures in the Realms, even after all the cheese and crap it's had to deal with.


Dragonmarks: Keith Baker takes the reins personally for the final instalment of his campaign articles, instead of just overseeing things and writing portentous introductions. Another good example of their philosophy to get the big guns in and ensure they go out with a bang. He doesn't disappoint, with a collection of speculations and information about the Mourning. Playing on the fears of both nuclear and biological apocalypse, the city of khorvaire may be ruined, but ...... things lurk in the mist. Some of them insane, some of them incomprehensible, and others just irredeemably sociopathic, but none escaped unscathed. (and this month's influences aaare - Kingdom hearts, and Robin Hobb's Assassin series. ) Why did it happen? Will it happen again? If this was any of the old AD&D lines, these questions would be canonically answered in a few years, but thanks to eberron's frozen timeline, this may never happen. Will this change come next edition. As of writing this, I'm not sure. Still, we have more than enough plot hooks here to run a good few adventures. The rest of the story is up to you. Don't be afraid to take it in directions the original writers never intended. The canon police will not break down your door for doing so.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Issue 359: September 2007


part 8/8


Sage advice is of course, getting in theme for the final issue, with the questions having a definite death theme.

If the creator of an effect dies, does the effect end. (Only if it needs concentration, yess.)

What is a death effect. Is it anything that causes instant death. (No. Special descriptor. Look for it. )

Can you use bluff to feign death when hit. How would the enemy penetrate it (Only with a readied action. Jusst the way the rules work. Spot check.)

What counts as a single attack for the massive damage rule (iff you make a single roll to attack or ssave, itss a single attack. )

What kind of action is the assassins death attack. (Whatever type of action the attack itss attached to iss.)

What happens to a familiar when its master dies (It becomeses a normal animal again. Don't worry, geraldine, Andy will protect you, yess, collins collins. )

What happens to a psicrystal when it's creator dies (Becomes inert, yess. Same principle. )

If you're killed wearing a ring of regeneration, do you lose a level when you regenerate. (If it regenerates you, you never really died. If you died, it can't regenerate you. Ssilly question.)

If you die from a disease or poison, does it keep running (it doessn't matter, because raising you will get rid of it. Unless itss a nassty magical disease, collins collins. Andy hatses them.)

If you raise a character with with negative levels, what happens (You need to roll to see if they become permanent sstraight away. Thiss might kill you again.)

What special qualities do you keep after death (Mosst of them, yess.)

What happens when you kill a summoned creature with death throes (They activate as normal, then it goes back to itss home plane, right asss rain. Very sstrange, yess. )

Does an undead creature stay undead after being defeated. No, but it's sstill hard to raise because you had to messs up the body. Undead take a lot of chopping up to sstop. Very grossss, collins collins. )

Does being undead count against your lifespan (no)

Do magic jar and trap the soul work on ghosts (No rule againsst it, even if magic jar doessn't make much ssense as written.)

Does a ghost rejuvenate even if you didn't reduce it's HP to 0 when killing it (yess. Nassty ghosties are nearly impossible to get rid of by combat.)

Does a vampire turn to gas even if you kill it without reducing it's hp to 0 (no. They do sstay down. )

How much damage can a dead body take before being destroyed (Use the destroying object rules, yess. )

NOW IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO RELINQUISH THE MANTLE OF SAGEHOOD!!
Noo, collins collins. Pleasse don't take it away. Pleassse! Look at Geraldinesss ssad eyeses. Andy wass going to give him the chance to do it next month. You wouldn't take that away from Andy, collins collins. You wouldn't take that away from Geraldine, collins collins! Andy will change, yess. Andy can go electronic, yess?
NO! YOU HAVE CONSISTENTLY PROVEN UNRELIABLE TO US! WE HAVE A DIFFERENT PLACE INTENDED FOR YOU IN THE NEW ORDER!!! GOODBYE!
:fading sobbing:


Class acts: Adventurers get Body Modifications. (and a truly miraculous avoidance of showing pubic hair, considering the pic's pose) Not quite as cyberpunk as the last time they tackled this, this is still an inventive and sometimes gross set of ideas involving implanting objects into your body. Skin pouches for contraband, subdermal armor and retractible weapons, and for the ultimate twink, the chakra mutilation to create an extra magic item slot. (just the thing a soulmeld shaper would think of. ) The lengths some adventurers go to for that little extra edge.

Arcane finishes off the series of collations with wizards getting their guide. Gotta preserve the symmetry :sigh: Even Mialee looks incredibly bored with this.

Divine ties up some more loose ends, with Forgotten Faiths. For whatever reasons, the 6 gods here never got an official D&D 3e writeup (although Ezra did appear in the 3rd ed WW Ravenloft stuff. ) Seems a bit late to convert them now, but it would be a shame to leave guys like Kanchelsis and the Queen of air and darkness to moulder in 2nd ed. Will we ever see them reemerge in some form in 4e? Time will tell.

Warriors get The Universal Key. Smashing things is a universally accepted way of gaining entry or egress from a place, but there are more subtle means. Like acid, rust cubes, hacksaws, blowtorches, etc. And if they fail you can take a feat that makes the brute force option even more effective, blowing through an object's hardness at higher level. Nothing hugely groundbreaking here.

And finally, we get a special class act from Monte Cook. As arcane stuff got a crap deal earlier, and monte does love his magic, he gives us Arcane Lore Abilities. 8 new powerful feats intended for high level spellcasters, to represent permanent alterations they've performed on themselves in the course of their magical researches. Just the thing for when you're reaching those epic levels, and really want to get some powers that make you stand out for the final part of your campaign. 3e may fall apart around these levels, but he's done far more than his fair share of work to help you go out in style, with Ptolus' adventure paths culminating in Jabel Shammar, Arcana Evolved going to 25, and now this. It's good to see him make an actual appearance at the end of things, after his parody cameo in nodwick last month. Like George Clooney in the final episode of ER, this definitely helps this series feel more resolved.


Nodwick reveals who is behind their loss of reputation. But it's still not a happy ending, really. This is what happens when you annoy the creator of the universe. You just can't win, can you.

Dork tower turns out the lights. But we've still got a few pages to go. And that joke is overused for ending shows anyway. You'll just have to turn them on again. We'll wait. Try not to trip over anything in the meantime.

Order of the stick make a desperate break for freedom. And ride off into the sunset, with a host of cameos. Shame it's out of continuity. The real adventure continues on Rich's webpage. And dragon is still electronic only. Still, we can dream, can't we?

So we've reached the final page. What's next? Who knows. But What's New is there to give us a fond farewell (my, hasn't Growf grown up handsome when we weren't looking), and yet another abortive attempt at sex in D&D. Don't say it was all a dream. Nooooooo!


And that's a wrap. Not a bad one, all things told. They had a higher budget, they managed to round off most of their current projects, and still found the time to give several old favourites one last spin. It's about as satisfying as you're going to get given the short notice. Here's to closure, even if there was still so much more they could have done. Here's to 31 years of them, and nearly 6 years of me reviewing them. And now to step out into the fresh air, and to see what tomorrow brings. Fare thee well, everybody.

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

In word...

Wow.

I started reading this thread when you were on about 250 or so and went back and read the whole thread before that. Since then I've been following along. I was a subscriber from about that same point (issue 250) through to the end. Its been interesting, fun, and educational to get your insights on magazines I hadn't looked at in a few years.

So, the inevitable question...

What's next?