prosfilaes
Adventurer
I read that review when this issue first came out, and it stuck with me until I finally chased down a copy in 2010. Then I looked for the (non-existent) sequel. Good book.
Let's read the entire run
- Thread starter (un)reason
- Start date
I read that review when this issue first came out, and it stuck with me until I finally chased down a copy in 2010. Then I looked for the (non-existent) sequel. Good book.
humble minion
Legend
*sigh*
There was basically no sex at all in the first 4-6 Anita Blake novels. I enjoyed them immensely. The end of book 7 was a poorly plotted porno ex machina, which really made me scratch my head in bemusement, and I was incredibly sad when subsequent books only got more and more nauseating. I think I could only stomach two more books after that.
David Howery
Hero
While I moderately liked the ST shows, I've never been a real Trekkie. However, I did buy this book, because I'm a big fan of alternate history in general, and I've always regarded the 'Mirror Mirror' episode as probably the best episode in the whole ST saga. I found it... moderately entertaining...
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 203: March 1994
part 6/6
Through the looking glass: Once again we see how companies are trying to survive by experimenting with different scales more. Robert's preamble this month is largely devoted to the scales. 15, 23, 25, 28, 30mm, many of these are close enough together that you can mix them, although certain ones will loom amusingly over others. I guess every problem is an opportunity in this instance, as you can use them to represent a setting full of giants and dwarves.
Our first set of reviews are not of minis, but sourcebooks for Warhammer fantasy battles. Splatbooks are in full force these days, with ones for the empire, elves, dwarves and goblinoids out now. All get Robert's recommendation. In another sign of Game Workshop's expansion, they're also sourcing out production of minis, with Epcast producing an appropriately ugly riveted tank called a gobsmasher. Palladium, on the other hand get another unusually low mark, showing that they need more quality control than one person writing, editing, doing quite a bit of artwork and handling most of the business at once can manage. Grenadier, on the other hand, are their usual reliable selves, producing a whole bunch of humanoid rat variants that seem well-suited for using unofficially as Skaven. Yeah, games workshop really are on the up these days, with the competition in poor shape. This looks like it may be a continuing trend.
TSR Previews: Back to firing on all cylinders and then some here. First up is the Planescape campaign set. Join the factions. Marvel at the awesome Diterlizzi illustrations. Sneer at the cant. Get ready to buy the supplements, because less than a page on quite a few of the infinities out there really isn't enough.
The forgotten realms takes us to where humans are forbidden, in The elves of Evermeet. Now it's been statted, you can bet some group will ruin it. They might even be one of the official novel writers.
Al-Qadim has the slightly misleadingly named complete sha'ir's handbook. It also has stuff fairly evenly distributed between sorcerers, elementalists, and a whole bunch of weird and wacky new kits. (which are far superior to the complete wizard's handbook ones) But the genie controlling mages are the big draw of the setting, so they get to enjoy top billing.
Ravenloft shows us some more frankensteinian horror in Adam's Wrath. Is Dr Mordenheim still mucking around with these things after all the times he's messed up? He really ought to learn how to let go. Will you side with the man, or the monster?
Dargonlance has another anthology. A rather large one. The Dragons of Krynn is another one that does exactly what it says on the tin, reminding us that this setting was designed to showcase the blighters in the first place. It is, as we say so many times, Dungeons and DRAGONS.
Two Generic AD&D books this month. HR6: Age of heroes takes us back to ancient greece. Crack out your Legends and Lore, and prepare to get mythological. Or you could play it gritty, removing most of your armour and much of the weaponry. There's also Fighters Challenge II. The original 4 solo adventures did well enough to start the cycle again. Will we get a third go round before diminishing returns become too great to continue?
Speaking of solo gamebooks, the Endless quest line returns. They got a quite ridiculous 36 books before the line ended in 1987. Will they match that run this time around? Two of them get this off running. Dungeon of fear, and Castle of the undead. The second of these is tied into the Ravenloft setting. This is definitely another interesting development.
The primary conflict this month seems to be between those pushing for more darkness in gaming, and those still favoring a whimsical, lighthearted style. Seeing the two approaches juxtaposed so closely, going from the dark hyper-realism of the Bradstreet work to the wispy angular Diterlizzi illustrations really makes them both seem all the more fascinating. The two new columns are cool ideas as well, even if their initial implementations are a bit ropey. But then, the ARES section had similar teething troubles, and I certainly missed that when it ended, so hopefully I'll be able to say the same about these. So a fascinating, if flawed issue, where once again, we see how the hobby is growing and changing, if not as quickly as history would indicate. Remember, trends take quite some time to percolate out into the wider public, often years. Looking at release dates can be very misleading as an indicator of what people are actually doing on a day-to-day basis.
part 6/6
Through the looking glass: Once again we see how companies are trying to survive by experimenting with different scales more. Robert's preamble this month is largely devoted to the scales. 15, 23, 25, 28, 30mm, many of these are close enough together that you can mix them, although certain ones will loom amusingly over others. I guess every problem is an opportunity in this instance, as you can use them to represent a setting full of giants and dwarves.
Our first set of reviews are not of minis, but sourcebooks for Warhammer fantasy battles. Splatbooks are in full force these days, with ones for the empire, elves, dwarves and goblinoids out now. All get Robert's recommendation. In another sign of Game Workshop's expansion, they're also sourcing out production of minis, with Epcast producing an appropriately ugly riveted tank called a gobsmasher. Palladium, on the other hand get another unusually low mark, showing that they need more quality control than one person writing, editing, doing quite a bit of artwork and handling most of the business at once can manage. Grenadier, on the other hand, are their usual reliable selves, producing a whole bunch of humanoid rat variants that seem well-suited for using unofficially as Skaven. Yeah, games workshop really are on the up these days, with the competition in poor shape. This looks like it may be a continuing trend.
TSR Previews: Back to firing on all cylinders and then some here. First up is the Planescape campaign set. Join the factions. Marvel at the awesome Diterlizzi illustrations. Sneer at the cant. Get ready to buy the supplements, because less than a page on quite a few of the infinities out there really isn't enough.
The forgotten realms takes us to where humans are forbidden, in The elves of Evermeet. Now it's been statted, you can bet some group will ruin it. They might even be one of the official novel writers.
Al-Qadim has the slightly misleadingly named complete sha'ir's handbook. It also has stuff fairly evenly distributed between sorcerers, elementalists, and a whole bunch of weird and wacky new kits. (which are far superior to the complete wizard's handbook ones) But the genie controlling mages are the big draw of the setting, so they get to enjoy top billing.
Ravenloft shows us some more frankensteinian horror in Adam's Wrath. Is Dr Mordenheim still mucking around with these things after all the times he's messed up? He really ought to learn how to let go. Will you side with the man, or the monster?
Dargonlance has another anthology. A rather large one. The Dragons of Krynn is another one that does exactly what it says on the tin, reminding us that this setting was designed to showcase the blighters in the first place. It is, as we say so many times, Dungeons and DRAGONS.
Two Generic AD&D books this month. HR6: Age of heroes takes us back to ancient greece. Crack out your Legends and Lore, and prepare to get mythological. Or you could play it gritty, removing most of your armour and much of the weaponry. There's also Fighters Challenge II. The original 4 solo adventures did well enough to start the cycle again. Will we get a third go round before diminishing returns become too great to continue?
Speaking of solo gamebooks, the Endless quest line returns. They got a quite ridiculous 36 books before the line ended in 1987. Will they match that run this time around? Two of them get this off running. Dungeon of fear, and Castle of the undead. The second of these is tied into the Ravenloft setting. This is definitely another interesting development.
The primary conflict this month seems to be between those pushing for more darkness in gaming, and those still favoring a whimsical, lighthearted style. Seeing the two approaches juxtaposed so closely, going from the dark hyper-realism of the Bradstreet work to the wispy angular Diterlizzi illustrations really makes them both seem all the more fascinating. The two new columns are cool ideas as well, even if their initial implementations are a bit ropey. But then, the ARES section had similar teething troubles, and I certainly missed that when it ended, so hopefully I'll be able to say the same about these. So a fascinating, if flawed issue, where once again, we see how the hobby is growing and changing, if not as quickly as history would indicate. Remember, trends take quite some time to percolate out into the wider public, often years. Looking at release dates can be very misleading as an indicator of what people are actually doing on a day-to-day basis.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 204: April 1994
part 1/6
128 pages. We have to talk dear. We never find time to game anymore.
Oh, do we have to? I was planning to repair the D on our house. One hurricane and who know's where it'd end up. Oh well, I suppose it can wait until tomorrow. I can fix the wisteria you keep going on about as well. What's for dinner?
Frankfurters.
April Fool. Yes, it's a very particular brand of silliness that has infiltrated the cover this year. It's american gothic, but not the way white wolf would do it. The magazine can turn it's funhouse mirror on the rest of the hobby, with fascinating results. At least, it looks that way from the contents page. Let's hope these jokes make me laugh, not groan.
In this issue:
Letters: The usual collection of april insanity, some of it real, some of it fake ensues. Someone desperately seeking issue 200. Mind flayers invading the earth. Super crossovers of ultimate destiny. A combination of foods that seems perfectly optimised for giving you gas. And another couple of people who really want to kill canon characters. Ahahahaha. Metaplot comes down from above, not up from below. You cannot dictate to them like this, and they will laugh at you for trying.
Editorial: Continuing directly on from the letters page is another assortment of semi-random goofiness, this time by the staff. In a job which involves creativity, people will come up with ideas that don't get past the filters. So let's look at what people have been up to, at least the stuff they haven't censored because of course this is a family-friendly magazine, or because it might reflect badly on upper management.
rgan music, roll of thunder: They're still finding the time for silliness in the office, which helps them keep the products fun, if sometimes a bit too goofy. April fool indeed.
First quest: Speaking of silliness, we once again continue onward in a surprisingly seamless manner, with Roger Moore telling us just how goofy his early gaming experiences were. We already had hints of that in his many editorials, but here he really goes to town. Serious Roleplaying this is not. But is is pleasing to see that many of our writers actually played the game just as we did. So yeah, badwrongfun aplenty in this tale of punnishly named characters, 4th wall breaking escapades, and lots of half-ogres and stranger unofficial races and classes. This is great fun to read about, even if it would be annoying if the DM was trying to run a serious game. Even call of cthulhu isn't safe from his goofiness. Is nothing sacred! :shakes fist: Yup, this is massively better than the first instalment. He seems to be recovering now the pressure of delivering a magazine every month is off. Hopefully he'll start contributing articles again soon too.
Dance steps for space hulk: In the grim darkness of the far future there is only WAR! And dancing.
But the dancing must happen at the same time as the WAR! April Fool. Allen Varney comes up with something truly leftfield this year. Fight the genestealers with funky dance routines! Spin, kick, leap, and throw your companions around the field. Defeat them and then breakdance around their corpses. You know, this looks like it might actually work. The moves make sense, and some have valid tactical applications. And Allen shows you how you can recreate real world dance sequences in game. This could be absolutely hilarious, especially if the GM gets in on the act. The idea of genestealers doing the thriller dance routine is pretty hilarious to me. So I really like this one, which manages to be mostly comedy, but treated with a straight face and presented in such a way that it still has useful ideas for gaming. The UK judge awards you a 9.3.
Bard on the run: More filks this year. Elvis, Robert Palmer, Jimmy Buffet, and the Chordettes get to endure having their lyrics twisted to fanstastical ends. Elvis comes off best, probably because it's short and rhythmically simple, while Drizzt with Jimmy Buffet causes my brain the most irritation. But really, it's just another three pages of so-so humour, to make this into a proper april issue. Fun to read once, but not really doing much for your gaming. On we skip then.
Potion commotion: Aaaand it looks like it's crossword time again. Lots of clues based upon obscure setting details this time around, including plenty of planescape ones that you'll currently need to have been an old school planes buff to dig out. How very sneaky of them as a bit of co-ordinated promotion. Still, as usual, have fun trying to solve this one.
part 1/6
128 pages. We have to talk dear. We never find time to game anymore.
Oh, do we have to? I was planning to repair the D on our house. One hurricane and who know's where it'd end up. Oh well, I suppose it can wait until tomorrow. I can fix the wisteria you keep going on about as well. What's for dinner?
Frankfurters.
April Fool. Yes, it's a very particular brand of silliness that has infiltrated the cover this year. It's american gothic, but not the way white wolf would do it. The magazine can turn it's funhouse mirror on the rest of the hobby, with fascinating results. At least, it looks that way from the contents page. Let's hope these jokes make me laugh, not groan.
In this issue:
Letters: The usual collection of april insanity, some of it real, some of it fake ensues. Someone desperately seeking issue 200. Mind flayers invading the earth. Super crossovers of ultimate destiny. A combination of foods that seems perfectly optimised for giving you gas. And another couple of people who really want to kill canon characters. Ahahahaha. Metaplot comes down from above, not up from below. You cannot dictate to them like this, and they will laugh at you for trying.
Editorial: Continuing directly on from the letters page is another assortment of semi-random goofiness, this time by the staff. In a job which involves creativity, people will come up with ideas that don't get past the filters. So let's look at what people have been up to, at least the stuff they haven't censored because of course this is a family-friendly magazine, or because it might reflect badly on upper management.
rgan music, roll of thunder: They're still finding the time for silliness in the office, which helps them keep the products fun, if sometimes a bit too goofy. April fool indeed. First quest: Speaking of silliness, we once again continue onward in a surprisingly seamless manner, with Roger Moore telling us just how goofy his early gaming experiences were. We already had hints of that in his many editorials, but here he really goes to town. Serious Roleplaying this is not. But is is pleasing to see that many of our writers actually played the game just as we did. So yeah, badwrongfun aplenty in this tale of punnishly named characters, 4th wall breaking escapades, and lots of half-ogres and stranger unofficial races and classes. This is great fun to read about, even if it would be annoying if the DM was trying to run a serious game. Even call of cthulhu isn't safe from his goofiness. Is nothing sacred! :shakes fist: Yup, this is massively better than the first instalment. He seems to be recovering now the pressure of delivering a magazine every month is off. Hopefully he'll start contributing articles again soon too.
Dance steps for space hulk: In the grim darkness of the far future there is only WAR! And dancing.
But the dancing must happen at the same time as the WAR! April Fool. Allen Varney comes up with something truly leftfield this year. Fight the genestealers with funky dance routines! Spin, kick, leap, and throw your companions around the field. Defeat them and then breakdance around their corpses. You know, this looks like it might actually work. The moves make sense, and some have valid tactical applications. And Allen shows you how you can recreate real world dance sequences in game. This could be absolutely hilarious, especially if the GM gets in on the act. The idea of genestealers doing the thriller dance routine is pretty hilarious to me. So I really like this one, which manages to be mostly comedy, but treated with a straight face and presented in such a way that it still has useful ideas for gaming. The UK judge awards you a 9.3. Bard on the run: More filks this year. Elvis, Robert Palmer, Jimmy Buffet, and the Chordettes get to endure having their lyrics twisted to fanstastical ends. Elvis comes off best, probably because it's short and rhythmically simple, while Drizzt with Jimmy Buffet causes my brain the most irritation. But really, it's just another three pages of so-so humour, to make this into a proper april issue. Fun to read once, but not really doing much for your gaming. On we skip then.
Potion commotion: Aaaand it looks like it's crossword time again. Lots of clues based upon obscure setting details this time around, including plenty of planescape ones that you'll currently need to have been an old school planes buff to dig out. How very sneaky of them as a bit of co-ordinated promotion. Still, as usual, have fun trying to solve this one.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 204: April 1994
part 2/6
Arcane Lore: Another set of silly spells, as has happened many an april before. The crazed book of Mog is one of those magic grimoires that tends to appear and disappear mysteriously when least wanted, and makes very little sense. If you see it and want the stuff within, make a copy.
Gain Weight is near impossible to cast if you read the description. Balance a 50 pound cheese on your head? You'll do yourself an injury trying that. Mind you, if you succeed, the penalties inflicted are well worth it, especially as it's only a 1st level spell.
Wake-up call is the reverse of sleep. This is one of those joke spells that isn't even worth memorising, for it's components look like they'd do the job quite adequately on their own.
Macho's Uncontrollable Hideous Belching does exactly what it says on the tin. A humiliating and rather smelly way of making sure enemies can't stealth away. Watch you don't get indigestion yourself when casting it.
Pelf's rancid arrow may be a fairly blatant bit of parody, but ruining all the supplies of the person you hit is a very nasty way to deal with them, particularly if you're undead and they're at the bottom of a dungeon. Starvation is so much crueler than killing them in combat.
Hold Portal Open is the reverse of the usual hold portal. This is another one that seems useless initially, but really isn't. How many times have DM's screwed you over with one way or trapped doors that slam unexpectedly, leading you to have to find another way out.
Hallucinatory Murrain is a silly pun name, and is another reversed spell. Rather than creating illusionary vegetation, it makes existing stuff look and smell manky. I can think of uses for this one too. This is proving to be a pretty good article really.
Wall of Paper is also a bit silly, but not to be underestimated. It might not be that good an obstruction, but it sure beats spending several hours wallpapering a room. And after all, that's just the kind of convenience magic should be used for. It's ironic that the joke articles sometimes have stuff more suited to everyday use than the normal ones.
Teleport without Awareness is just plain mean. Who knows where they'll end up. It doesn't even have a save either. If they don't have their own means of magical transportation, they'll be living in interesting times for ages after this.
Power word, kill rodents is another one that sounds silly, but has plenty of practical value. One word'll get your house nice and clear of anything smaller than a rabbit in a jiffy. The value of being a specialist if you want to be a commercial wizard once again becomes apparent, as you can do quite a few more appointments per day that way. And so we bring this year's april fools section to a rather good end, that would work fine even without the humour.
The plane truth: Name changes ahoy! Having introduced the brand new city of Sigil to us, now it's time to go back to more familiar locales. Or are they? The planes are infinite and multifarious, and the same place may have many names. And calling them the wrong ones in the wrong places will get laughter or baffled looks. Of course, we must try not to use the H word, any more than we use the D words, for it is naughty, and miss moral majority will give us a good spanking if she catches us at it. In hindsight this is a reminder that some of the changes they made were for sake of playability and the sheer joy of making cool up, such as the gate-towns and the factions, but others were due to company politics and the frustrations that surrounded them. (Lady of pain? :Roll of thunder, organ music) It's also a reminder that despite concentrating on the outer planes, where alignment is one of the most important things in the multiverse, it actually had more moral greys, odd couples and compromises than most D&D settings in it's adventures. So this is another example of how you do teasers right, that sets my nostalgia glands a-secreting, and shows us that we can play D&D quite differently to the way the rules encourage you to go.
Creative thinking: Hmm. An article on advice for developing new psionic powers, along with new actual powers. Well, like advice on other systems, this gives them a good reason to say the same kinda thing as they would on developing new spells, only with different spins. And more psionic crunch is always welcome. I have no objection to this. Course, much of this is by necessity DM fiat, with costs for new powers figured out by eyeballing existing ones with similar strength. The main solid rules here are how long it takes to do research, determing if a power should be a science or devotion, and a rather annoying one that seems to have been invented purely for game balance's sake so psionicists have to expend money the way magic-users would during the research process, which doesn't feel very thematically appropriate. Yeah, I find that mildly irritating. Whatever happened to eschewing material things. That aside, this seems pretty solid. Now let's see about the powers.
Diagnose allows you to figure out what a disease is. Since Cell Adjustment can fix it for the same cost, without the preliminaries, and also gives you regeneration, I'm not very tempted by this.
Feature Dancing is the psionic answer to change self. This isn't too great either, because it's maintenance cost is per round, so extended deceptions don't seem very viable. Not hugely tempting, since there are better ways to disguise yourself.
Tool, on the other hand, is a variant of body weaponry that you probably can find millions of uses for, many which will require you to stay in it for an extended period. Fortunately, it's cost is low enough for that to be feasible. Perfect for the imaginative player.
Bonding is a variant on Charm Person. Again, it's probably a bit underpowered compared to the wizard's spell, but has plenty of interesting quirks. it would be ironic if psionicists are actually weaker at mind-control than wizards in some respects.
Enter Dream is another one that may be a problem due to a maintenance time measured in rounds. Dreams can go on for quite a long time, and even with a little time dilation, I'd rather like to stick around more than an hour or two.
Microkinesis lets your psionicist nick the role of a rogue almost as effectively as a wizard with Knock can. It may also reward inventiveness, but they concentrate entirely on it's lock-picking and trap disarming potential. Guess you'll have to make it worth the price with your mind again. So this is a collection that definitely seems rather conservative, particularly when contrasted with the equivalent spells. Maybe being able to use them more frequently'll balance that out in actual play. Not sure.
part 2/6
Arcane Lore: Another set of silly spells, as has happened many an april before. The crazed book of Mog is one of those magic grimoires that tends to appear and disappear mysteriously when least wanted, and makes very little sense. If you see it and want the stuff within, make a copy.
Gain Weight is near impossible to cast if you read the description. Balance a 50 pound cheese on your head? You'll do yourself an injury trying that. Mind you, if you succeed, the penalties inflicted are well worth it, especially as it's only a 1st level spell.
Wake-up call is the reverse of sleep. This is one of those joke spells that isn't even worth memorising, for it's components look like they'd do the job quite adequately on their own.
Macho's Uncontrollable Hideous Belching does exactly what it says on the tin. A humiliating and rather smelly way of making sure enemies can't stealth away. Watch you don't get indigestion yourself when casting it.
Pelf's rancid arrow may be a fairly blatant bit of parody, but ruining all the supplies of the person you hit is a very nasty way to deal with them, particularly if you're undead and they're at the bottom of a dungeon. Starvation is so much crueler than killing them in combat.
Hold Portal Open is the reverse of the usual hold portal. This is another one that seems useless initially, but really isn't. How many times have DM's screwed you over with one way or trapped doors that slam unexpectedly, leading you to have to find another way out.
Hallucinatory Murrain is a silly pun name, and is another reversed spell. Rather than creating illusionary vegetation, it makes existing stuff look and smell manky. I can think of uses for this one too. This is proving to be a pretty good article really.
Wall of Paper is also a bit silly, but not to be underestimated. It might not be that good an obstruction, but it sure beats spending several hours wallpapering a room. And after all, that's just the kind of convenience magic should be used for. It's ironic that the joke articles sometimes have stuff more suited to everyday use than the normal ones.
Teleport without Awareness is just plain mean. Who knows where they'll end up. It doesn't even have a save either. If they don't have their own means of magical transportation, they'll be living in interesting times for ages after this.
Power word, kill rodents is another one that sounds silly, but has plenty of practical value. One word'll get your house nice and clear of anything smaller than a rabbit in a jiffy. The value of being a specialist if you want to be a commercial wizard once again becomes apparent, as you can do quite a few more appointments per day that way. And so we bring this year's april fools section to a rather good end, that would work fine even without the humour.
The plane truth: Name changes ahoy! Having introduced the brand new city of Sigil to us, now it's time to go back to more familiar locales. Or are they? The planes are infinite and multifarious, and the same place may have many names. And calling them the wrong ones in the wrong places will get laughter or baffled looks. Of course, we must try not to use the H word, any more than we use the D words, for it is naughty, and miss moral majority will give us a good spanking if she catches us at it. In hindsight this is a reminder that some of the changes they made were for sake of playability and the sheer joy of making cool
up, such as the gate-towns and the factions, but others were due to company politics and the frustrations that surrounded them. (Lady of pain? :Roll of thunder, organ music) It's also a reminder that despite concentrating on the outer planes, where alignment is one of the most important things in the multiverse, it actually had more moral greys, odd couples and compromises than most D&D settings in it's adventures. So this is another example of how you do teasers right, that sets my nostalgia glands a-secreting, and shows us that we can play D&D quite differently to the way the rules encourage you to go. Creative thinking: Hmm. An article on advice for developing new psionic powers, along with new actual powers. Well, like advice on other systems, this gives them a good reason to say the same kinda thing as they would on developing new spells, only with different spins. And more psionic crunch is always welcome. I have no objection to this. Course, much of this is by necessity DM fiat, with costs for new powers figured out by eyeballing existing ones with similar strength. The main solid rules here are how long it takes to do research, determing if a power should be a science or devotion, and a rather annoying one that seems to have been invented purely for game balance's sake so psionicists have to expend money the way magic-users would during the research process, which doesn't feel very thematically appropriate. Yeah, I find that mildly irritating. Whatever happened to eschewing material things. That aside, this seems pretty solid. Now let's see about the powers.
Diagnose allows you to figure out what a disease is. Since Cell Adjustment can fix it for the same cost, without the preliminaries, and also gives you regeneration, I'm not very tempted by this.
Feature Dancing is the psionic answer to change self. This isn't too great either, because it's maintenance cost is per round, so extended deceptions don't seem very viable. Not hugely tempting, since there are better ways to disguise yourself.
Tool, on the other hand, is a variant of body weaponry that you probably can find millions of uses for, many which will require you to stay in it for an extended period. Fortunately, it's cost is low enough for that to be feasible. Perfect for the imaginative player.
Bonding is a variant on Charm Person. Again, it's probably a bit underpowered compared to the wizard's spell, but has plenty of interesting quirks. it would be ironic if psionicists are actually weaker at mind-control than wizards in some respects.
Enter Dream is another one that may be a problem due to a maintenance time measured in rounds. Dreams can go on for quite a long time, and even with a little time dilation, I'd rather like to stick around more than an hour or two.
Microkinesis lets your psionicist nick the role of a rogue almost as effectively as a wizard with Knock can. It may also reward inventiveness, but they concentrate entirely on it's lock-picking and trap disarming potential. Guess you'll have to make it worth the price with your mind again. So this is a collection that definitely seems rather conservative, particularly when contrasted with the equivalent spells. Maybe being able to use them more frequently'll balance that out in actual play. Not sure.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 204: April 1994
part 3/6
Creatures that time forgot: Our irregular series on prehistoric beasties manages to unearth another era to plunder. Issue 112 did dinosaurs in epic detail. 137 filled in the cenozoic. 176 went back to the paleozoic. Now it's time to look at the weird invertebrate thingies from the cambrian era. That is exciting. Course, most of these things were pretty tiny in reality, (and there may be other inaccuracies in light of subsequent discoveries and creative licence) so Greg Detwiler has decided to scale them up to be a decent challenge for a group of adventurers. Some of them are even big enough to swallow you whole. Get your swords out, or you'll be trilobitten.
Opabina are a variant on the things that appeared in issue 176. These ones are actually slightly tougher than last time, but otherwise identical. They're still pretty sluggish and wimpy, but they can surprise you and lash out with their tentacles.
Yohoia are somewhat faster and tougher, with two clawed limbs which they can also use to manipulate things with. They may grapple the PC's, which of course adds a whole extra set of tactics. Let's hope that doesn't put DM's off using them.
Marrella have a xenomorph like face, and a centipede-like body, and whip with their antennae. With a heavily armoured head, they seem like they'll be trouble for a single enemy. Good thing adventurers come in parties. Kill it with fire.
Odontogriphus are flat things with circular maws that drop from the ceiling, enwrap you and suck your blood. Sounds like they fit right in in D&D land. Greg has chosen his topic well.
Leanchoilia are fin-footed arthropods with more tentacles to attack with. Someone ought to find a way to make a show that crosses over the dinosaur and hentai fan crowds. Fun for boys and girls.
Amiskwia occupy the same kind of niche as seals do today, if somewhat grosser. Give them a bit of brains and psionics and they'll fit right into 150's sunset world too.
Hallucigenia are all spines and blobbiness and have a lot of attacks. They're pretty scary both to look at and to fight, especially if they pin you down. Once again, they seem pretty good for a movie adaption. Brr.
Cave hallucigenia are much smaller, and are another thing that drops on you from above and sucks you dry. This means the rest of your body is just left there for other predators, so they serve a valuable role in the ecosystem.
Acidic Hallucigenia are between the previous two in size, and unsurprisingly squirt acid to break down their prey. The HR Giger comparisons become ever more appropriate. Just be thankful they're not poisonous as well.
Sanctacris are armoured things with dirty great mandibles and armoured heads. They take advantage of this by lunging out of narrow passages where you can't surround them, and then retreating with one victim. Down we go, into another dungeon then.
Wiwaxia are all spines and scales, with their jaws in their rear ends. They crawl over you and eat you that way. They're really slow, so they're only a danger in confined spaces and numbers, but they're tough enough to still be a pain to clear out. At least they're not as goofy as piercers.
Ottoia are enormous sea worms with extending proboscises. They have a very amusing illustration that shows just how big they are. Hee. Almost scooby doo really. Letsa hunt those bugs.
Anomalacaris have been turned into whale size tentacled shrimp, ready to grab you and stuff you in their maw. They'll be short work for an actual kraken, but who's got one of those to just whip out any time. So this is pretty cool, and the dual statting for the amazing engine is a nice bit of icing on the cake, showing me how the same creatures translate to two very different systems. Let's hope they can dig up (literally) creatures from a few more eras before the edition changeover.
The game wizards: Hmm. What is this strange sound my ears detect? Hammy acting? Obvious sound effects? The latest in holophonic technology, trying to make it seem as though sounds are coming from in front, behind, above and below. Editors scrambling to get everything done and properly produced on time and within budget. And the strident voice of hype. Why, it can only be their new Audio CD line. Heeeeere's First Quest! Yes, the lessons they learnt with Dragon Strike are now being applied to AD&D in an attempt to hook new players. Well, it's certainly not a bad idea. But it was rather gimmicky, and we know stuff like that rarely has a long shelf life even if it sells well for a bit. The harder you try to be modern and hip, the quicker you seem embarrassingly dated in the long run. We know all this, but with sales gradually declining, they really have to do something or become irrelevant. And the results do have a certain kitsch appeal. So anyway, this is an article that even they admit is a bit pointless, for regular buyers of the magazine are not their target audience. Don't know why they bothered.
part 3/6
Creatures that time forgot: Our irregular series on prehistoric beasties manages to unearth another era to plunder. Issue 112 did dinosaurs in epic detail. 137 filled in the cenozoic. 176 went back to the paleozoic. Now it's time to look at the weird invertebrate thingies from the cambrian era. That is exciting. Course, most of these things were pretty tiny in reality, (and there may be other inaccuracies in light of subsequent discoveries and creative licence) so Greg Detwiler has decided to scale them up to be a decent challenge for a group of adventurers. Some of them are even big enough to swallow you whole. Get your swords out, or you'll be trilobitten.
Opabina are a variant on the things that appeared in issue 176. These ones are actually slightly tougher than last time, but otherwise identical. They're still pretty sluggish and wimpy, but they can surprise you and lash out with their tentacles.
Yohoia are somewhat faster and tougher, with two clawed limbs which they can also use to manipulate things with. They may grapple the PC's, which of course adds a whole extra set of tactics. Let's hope that doesn't put DM's off using them.
Marrella have a xenomorph like face, and a centipede-like body, and whip with their antennae. With a heavily armoured head, they seem like they'll be trouble for a single enemy. Good thing adventurers come in parties. Kill it with fire.
Odontogriphus are flat things with circular maws that drop from the ceiling, enwrap you and suck your blood. Sounds like they fit right in in D&D land. Greg has chosen his topic well.
Leanchoilia are fin-footed arthropods with more tentacles to attack with. Someone ought to find a way to make a show that crosses over the dinosaur and hentai fan crowds. Fun for boys and girls.
Amiskwia occupy the same kind of niche as seals do today, if somewhat grosser. Give them a bit of brains and psionics and they'll fit right into 150's sunset world too.
Hallucigenia are all spines and blobbiness and have a lot of attacks. They're pretty scary both to look at and to fight, especially if they pin you down. Once again, they seem pretty good for a movie adaption. Brr.
Cave hallucigenia are much smaller, and are another thing that drops on you from above and sucks you dry. This means the rest of your body is just left there for other predators, so they serve a valuable role in the ecosystem.
Acidic Hallucigenia are between the previous two in size, and unsurprisingly squirt acid to break down their prey. The HR Giger comparisons become ever more appropriate. Just be thankful they're not poisonous as well.
Sanctacris are armoured things with dirty great mandibles and armoured heads. They take advantage of this by lunging out of narrow passages where you can't surround them, and then retreating with one victim. Down we go, into another dungeon then.
Wiwaxia are all spines and scales, with their jaws in their rear ends. They crawl over you and eat you that way. They're really slow, so they're only a danger in confined spaces and numbers, but they're tough enough to still be a pain to clear out. At least they're not as goofy as piercers.
Ottoia are enormous sea worms with extending proboscises. They have a very amusing illustration that shows just how big they are. Hee. Almost scooby doo really. Letsa hunt those bugs.
Anomalacaris have been turned into whale size tentacled shrimp, ready to grab you and stuff you in their maw. They'll be short work for an actual kraken, but who's got one of those to just whip out any time. So this is pretty cool, and the dual statting for the amazing engine is a nice bit of icing on the cake, showing me how the same creatures translate to two very different systems. Let's hope they can dig up (literally) creatures from a few more eras before the edition changeover.
The game wizards: Hmm. What is this strange sound my ears detect? Hammy acting? Obvious sound effects? The latest in holophonic technology, trying to make it seem as though sounds are coming from in front, behind, above and below. Editors scrambling to get everything done and properly produced on time and within budget. And the strident voice of hype. Why, it can only be their new Audio CD line. Heeeeere's First Quest! Yes, the lessons they learnt with Dragon Strike are now being applied to AD&D in an attempt to hook new players. Well, it's certainly not a bad idea. But it was rather gimmicky, and we know stuff like that rarely has a long shelf life even if it sells well for a bit. The harder you try to be modern and hip, the quicker you seem embarrassingly dated in the long run. We know all this, but with sales gradually declining, they really have to do something or become irrelevant. And the results do have a certain kitsch appeal. So anyway, this is an article that even they admit is a bit pointless, for regular buyers of the magazine are not their target audience. Don't know why they bothered.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 204: April 1994
part 4/6
Campaign journal: This column is mostly co-oped by Greyhawk from this point on. As they said last month in the letters section, Greyhawk is cancelled, but there is stuff written but unpublished, and they still want to get it out. Wonder if this means Carl Sargent is still getting paid? Anyway, it's a lot better than nothing, and more evidence of support from the creative side of the company. After all, Blackmoor has never gotten any articles in here.
So yeah, it's time to take a tour around the decaying ruins of the great kingdom. Back in 1982, the general public of Oerth was still unaware of just what a scumbag Ivid was. How things have changed. Now, with undead things occupying many high government positions, it's pretty obvious something is amiss. This is particularly the case in Rinloru, which is nearly 10% undead by now. This is why you should never let priests of Nerull have any kind of secular authority. There's plenty of other nasty sorts in power around here, and they're not all allied either. The result is interesting, but it does seem to push Oerth in the same high magic direction as Mystara and Toril. I suppose that's one of the big flaws of the metaplot heavy post Greyhawk Wars Oerth in general. Poor niche differentiation. On the other hand, the level of darkness is distinctive, this looks like a world where not only is evil flourishing, things could easily get substantially worse, which you certainly can't say for Toril. So this is an article that highlights why this stuff wasn't to many people's tastes, even if it isn't badly written in itself. As the primary writer, Carl must take both the praise and the knocks for this.
Eye of the monitor: Ooh, the question of if computer games can be art. Now that is an interesting one. Their heavy degree of interactiveness means they can't simply be passively appreciated like a painting or TV show. On the other hand, there is a strong element of skill involved in creating them, and they do exist entirely to entertain and provoke thought. (well, apart from DDR, wii fit and stuff like that) Like Sandy, I'll probably incline towards the yes camp. Things like the mario and zelda series are definitely going to be remembered as one of the big cultural components of our era, far more than most bands, authors or painters. By that yardstick, there's definitely a degree of artistry involved.
Companions of Xanth throws sharp contrast upon our intro. The works of Piers Anthony are never going to be remembered as high art, to be honest. The game does not stray far from that formula, with terrible puns aplenty and a very linear plot. No alternate choices or sequence-breaking here, just straightforward puzzle solving. Meh.
Bloodnet mixes cyberpunk & supernatural shadowrun style, with you playing a detective gradually turning into a vampire. This involves both brutal combat and lots of talking to various people to accomplish your goals and survive, making it quite the challenge for Sandy. Save frequently, for as is genre convention, many of the people you deal with will double-cross you, and it may well be easier to just avoid that subplot altogether. Still, it does seem to have some rather cool bits, with random killing accelerating your decline into monstrosity in a pleasing way.
World of Xeen:CD-ROM gets lower marks than the text would indicate. It may be fun, but it also looks and sounds rather primitive these days. And in this fast-progressing world, that is definitely worth subtracting marks for.
Escape from Monster Manor also gets low marks for being simplistic and sloooow. Disk based games need to buffer more, so loading times don't ruin the experience. Silly game designers.
Libram X explains the cosmology of their universe. Also, Holy crap tentacle monster vs King kong mickey mouse world! You don't want to live there. My poor poor SAN score.
Forum: Mohammed F. Kamel presents the case for keeping the numbers out of the players hands, and sticking to vivid descriptions instead. This is a particularly good technique for horror gaming, where you want them to feel uncertain and out of control.
Todd A. Silva gives his contribution to the question of what a paladin should do to the fallen foe. In general, they should pick the merciful option, unless it's completely obvious they're going to offend again if given another chance. Hitting someone when they're down is pretty well established as dishonourable.
David Carl Argall reminds us that a paladin defeating villains but not killing them shouldn't let them go. They ought to be turned over to the rightful authorities to serve the proper sentence, whether they say they're sorry or not. Otherwise you're making a mockery of the law. Course, if the law is corrupt, or as incompetent as Arkham Asylum, then you might be justified in taking matters into your own hands.
Chad Cuss also tries to deal with the problem of just when a paladin should actually be violent, and how far they should go. As with many others, he reminds us that Lawful good does not mean stupid or lacking in proactivity. They should be actively seeking out evildoers to thwart and damsels to rescue.
part 4/6
Campaign journal: This column is mostly co-oped by Greyhawk from this point on. As they said last month in the letters section, Greyhawk is cancelled, but there is stuff written but unpublished, and they still want to get it out. Wonder if this means Carl Sargent is still getting paid? Anyway, it's a lot better than nothing, and more evidence of support from the creative side of the company. After all, Blackmoor has never gotten any articles in here.
So yeah, it's time to take a tour around the decaying ruins of the great kingdom. Back in 1982, the general public of Oerth was still unaware of just what a scumbag Ivid was. How things have changed. Now, with undead things occupying many high government positions, it's pretty obvious something is amiss. This is particularly the case in Rinloru, which is nearly 10% undead by now. This is why you should never let priests of Nerull have any kind of secular authority. There's plenty of other nasty sorts in power around here, and they're not all allied either. The result is interesting, but it does seem to push Oerth in the same high magic direction as Mystara and Toril. I suppose that's one of the big flaws of the metaplot heavy post Greyhawk Wars Oerth in general. Poor niche differentiation. On the other hand, the level of darkness is distinctive, this looks like a world where not only is evil flourishing, things could easily get substantially worse, which you certainly can't say for Toril. So this is an article that highlights why this stuff wasn't to many people's tastes, even if it isn't badly written in itself. As the primary writer, Carl must take both the praise and the knocks for this.
Eye of the monitor: Ooh, the question of if computer games can be art. Now that is an interesting one. Their heavy degree of interactiveness means they can't simply be passively appreciated like a painting or TV show. On the other hand, there is a strong element of skill involved in creating them, and they do exist entirely to entertain and provoke thought. (well, apart from DDR, wii fit and stuff like that) Like Sandy, I'll probably incline towards the yes camp. Things like the mario and zelda series are definitely going to be remembered as one of the big cultural components of our era, far more than most bands, authors or painters. By that yardstick, there's definitely a degree of artistry involved.
Companions of Xanth throws sharp contrast upon our intro. The works of Piers Anthony are never going to be remembered as high art, to be honest. The game does not stray far from that formula, with terrible puns aplenty and a very linear plot. No alternate choices or sequence-breaking here, just straightforward puzzle solving. Meh.
Bloodnet mixes cyberpunk & supernatural shadowrun style, with you playing a detective gradually turning into a vampire. This involves both brutal combat and lots of talking to various people to accomplish your goals and survive, making it quite the challenge for Sandy. Save frequently, for as is genre convention, many of the people you deal with will double-cross you, and it may well be easier to just avoid that subplot altogether. Still, it does seem to have some rather cool bits, with random killing accelerating your decline into monstrosity in a pleasing way.
World of Xeen:CD-ROM gets lower marks than the text would indicate. It may be fun, but it also looks and sounds rather primitive these days. And in this fast-progressing world, that is definitely worth subtracting marks for.
Escape from Monster Manor also gets low marks for being simplistic and sloooow. Disk based games need to buffer more, so loading times don't ruin the experience. Silly game designers.
Libram X explains the cosmology of their universe. Also, Holy crap tentacle monster vs King kong mickey mouse world! You don't want to live there. My poor poor SAN score.
Forum: Mohammed F. Kamel presents the case for keeping the numbers out of the players hands, and sticking to vivid descriptions instead. This is a particularly good technique for horror gaming, where you want them to feel uncertain and out of control.
Todd A. Silva gives his contribution to the question of what a paladin should do to the fallen foe. In general, they should pick the merciful option, unless it's completely obvious they're going to offend again if given another chance. Hitting someone when they're down is pretty well established as dishonourable.
David Carl Argall reminds us that a paladin defeating villains but not killing them shouldn't let them go. They ought to be turned over to the rightful authorities to serve the proper sentence, whether they say they're sorry or not. Otherwise you're making a mockery of the law. Course, if the law is corrupt, or as incompetent as Arkham Asylum, then you might be justified in taking matters into your own hands.
Chad Cuss also tries to deal with the problem of just when a paladin should actually be violent, and how far they should go. As with many others, he reminds us that Lawful good does not mean stupid or lacking in proactivity. They should be actively seeking out evildoers to thwart and damsels to rescue.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 204: April 1994
part 5/6
Role-playing reviews: This time, Lester decides to focus on card games, or at least, games that incorporate cards. Not everyone is content with just dice as a randomiser. And of course, with Magic: the Gathering making real waves, the scene seems to be set for a whole bunch of people trying to use them in some form, quite possibly in tacked on and bandwagon jumpy ways. This is a new topic, and so should be quite interesting.
Quest for the faysylwood sends your adventurers on a quest into the unknown, trying to find the legendary forest. Draw cards, which determine the lands you travel through, the challenges you face, and the dangers you can throw in the paths of your competitors. Sounds like many a board game out there, only with cards. Lots of tactics available here, which means that the leaders of the pack tend to get knocked back again by everyone else, keeping things dramatic. I can see myself having fun with this one.
Once upon a time doesn't do so well, with Lester finding the rules both too strict in some ways, and too vague in others. It is very much a game of skill, with winning or losing a matter of weaving the cards you're given into a coherent story. On the other hand, it looks good as a means of breaking writer's block. like Eno's oblique strategies. Make of that what you will.
Dark Cults is a game of gods manipulating a mortal's life. This of course leads to all sorts of hijinks, frequently fatal. Of course, the nature of card decks means they generally peter out anticlimactically, with the protagonist escaping or dying. Well, that's how it happens in real life. You really need to try to make a game become narrative simply by naturally following the rules.
Creatures and cultists turns the tables, being a card came of mad god cultists competing to see who can summon their dark god and destroy or take over the world first. This is pretty funny actually, with all kinds of chaos ensuing when you mix the mundane and magical to sabotage your opponents. You'll never be able to play Call of Cthulhu with a straight face again.
Sage advice: Do you get strength bonuses to attack and damage when you push a rock off a ledge on someone (no. Gravity is doing most of the work, not you. Skip does not approve of credit stealers )
How hard is it to hit the broad side of a barn (harder than you think, especially in a high pressure situation with missile weapons. )
How do beholders reproduce (See the ecology of the beholder, waaaaaay back in issue 76. Even Skip has trouble remembering stuff from that long ago. )
If I accidentally break a crystal shell and let all the phlogiston in, killing everyone, do I get XP for killing everything in the system (there are so many holes in that logic Skip doesn't even know where to start. Let's just say no, you can't play this storyline. Skip will dispatch the canon police to retcon you if you persist. )
Can Dwarven booze replace greek fire (Almost. It'd certainly make a good improvised substitute. But it's not as useful as dwarf-bread plate armour. Now that's a truly impenetrable defence.)
What happens if a toothless man is turned into a vampire (retractable fangs! Woo! )
Can a molydeus sever heads with an adjusted roll of 24 or 25 (yes. Basic math, my dear, once again.)
Why do you have stats for gods if we can't kill them (We don't. We only give stats for their avatars these days. Skip pitys yo, fool)
How long does it take to memorize a spell, oh great sage (10 minutes per spell level. This gets very tedious at high level)
The dragon project: Car wars! Another of those games that seems to have surprising survivability. Since they've done crossovers with them before, it's no surprise that they get a turn in the Project. Now, how do we incorporate dragons into a fairly low-key sci-fi setting? Well, they managed clones with memory backups in issue 166. A little genetic engineering should do the job. So get ready to face gigantic genetically engineered alligators, able to run at 20mph for short bursts, and with snouts tough enough that if they ram you, your car may well be damaged or overturned. That'll give a shock to people expecting a more conventional battle, even if it won't make a particularly credible extended threat when the protagonists have flamethrowers and missile launchers attached to their cars. The setting stuff is pretty good too, with nice touches of humour making this feel appropriate for the issue without going so far as to break suspension of disbelief. This is definitely making me reappraise Car Wars as a premise suitable for interesting long-term gaming in. Like Divine Right, I'd now be fairly enthusiastic to pick it up if I should stumble across it in the shops.
Fiction: A brush with life by Tim Emswiler. A little while ago, we had a review of a book where someone gained the power to bring things they painted to life. Here we get a rather more humorous spin on that idea. A young student finds that the minis he paints are coming to life. Unfortunately, they're not even remotely under his control, and rather annoying and demanding. This leads to comedy with great ease, and eventually results in the protagonist giving up painting altogether. Oh well. Some gifts are more trouble than they're worth. Better to learn that now than by leaving new york a smoking ruin when the statue of liberty decides to scourge the world of all evildoers. I rather like this one, as I generally tend to when they incorporate a bit of sadism into their humour. Now there's a pattern I have no objection to realising.
part 5/6
Role-playing reviews: This time, Lester decides to focus on card games, or at least, games that incorporate cards. Not everyone is content with just dice as a randomiser. And of course, with Magic: the Gathering making real waves, the scene seems to be set for a whole bunch of people trying to use them in some form, quite possibly in tacked on and bandwagon jumpy ways. This is a new topic, and so should be quite interesting.
Quest for the faysylwood sends your adventurers on a quest into the unknown, trying to find the legendary forest. Draw cards, which determine the lands you travel through, the challenges you face, and the dangers you can throw in the paths of your competitors. Sounds like many a board game out there, only with cards. Lots of tactics available here, which means that the leaders of the pack tend to get knocked back again by everyone else, keeping things dramatic. I can see myself having fun with this one.
Once upon a time doesn't do so well, with Lester finding the rules both too strict in some ways, and too vague in others. It is very much a game of skill, with winning or losing a matter of weaving the cards you're given into a coherent story. On the other hand, it looks good as a means of breaking writer's block. like Eno's oblique strategies. Make of that what you will.
Dark Cults is a game of gods manipulating a mortal's life. This of course leads to all sorts of hijinks, frequently fatal. Of course, the nature of card decks means they generally peter out anticlimactically, with the protagonist escaping or dying. Well, that's how it happens in real life. You really need to try to make a game become narrative simply by naturally following the rules.
Creatures and cultists turns the tables, being a card came of mad god cultists competing to see who can summon their dark god and destroy or take over the world first. This is pretty funny actually, with all kinds of chaos ensuing when you mix the mundane and magical to sabotage your opponents. You'll never be able to play Call of Cthulhu with a straight face again.
Sage advice: Do you get strength bonuses to attack and damage when you push a rock off a ledge on someone (no. Gravity is doing most of the work, not you. Skip does not approve of credit stealers )
How hard is it to hit the broad side of a barn (harder than you think, especially in a high pressure situation with missile weapons. )
How do beholders reproduce (See the ecology of the beholder, waaaaaay back in issue 76. Even Skip has trouble remembering stuff from that long ago. )
If I accidentally break a crystal shell and let all the phlogiston in, killing everyone, do I get XP for killing everything in the system (there are so many holes in that logic Skip doesn't even know where to start. Let's just say no, you can't play this storyline. Skip will dispatch the canon police to retcon you if you persist. )
Can Dwarven booze replace greek fire (Almost. It'd certainly make a good improvised substitute. But it's not as useful as dwarf-bread plate armour. Now that's a truly impenetrable defence.)
What happens if a toothless man is turned into a vampire (retractable fangs! Woo! )
Can a molydeus sever heads with an adjusted roll of 24 or 25 (yes. Basic math, my dear, once again.)
Why do you have stats for gods if we can't kill them (We don't. We only give stats for their avatars these days. Skip pitys yo, fool)
How long does it take to memorize a spell, oh great sage (10 minutes per spell level. This gets very tedious at high level)
The dragon project: Car wars! Another of those games that seems to have surprising survivability. Since they've done crossovers with them before, it's no surprise that they get a turn in the Project. Now, how do we incorporate dragons into a fairly low-key sci-fi setting? Well, they managed clones with memory backups in issue 166. A little genetic engineering should do the job. So get ready to face gigantic genetically engineered alligators, able to run at 20mph for short bursts, and with snouts tough enough that if they ram you, your car may well be damaged or overturned. That'll give a shock to people expecting a more conventional battle, even if it won't make a particularly credible extended threat when the protagonists have flamethrowers and missile launchers attached to their cars. The setting stuff is pretty good too, with nice touches of humour making this feel appropriate for the issue without going so far as to break suspension of disbelief. This is definitely making me reappraise Car Wars as a premise suitable for interesting long-term gaming in. Like Divine Right, I'd now be fairly enthusiastic to pick it up if I should stumble across it in the shops.
Fiction: A brush with life by Tim Emswiler. A little while ago, we had a review of a book where someone gained the power to bring things they painted to life. Here we get a rather more humorous spin on that idea. A young student finds that the minis he paints are coming to life. Unfortunately, they're not even remotely under his control, and rather annoying and demanding. This leads to comedy with great ease, and eventually results in the protagonist giving up painting altogether. Oh well. Some gifts are more trouble than they're worth. Better to learn that now than by leaving new york a smoking ruin when the statue of liberty decides to scourge the world of all evildoers. I rather like this one, as I generally tend to when they incorporate a bit of sadism into their humour. Now there's a pattern I have no objection to realising.
(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 204: April 1994
part 6/6
Psychotronic weapons: Tesla! Ahh yes, those wacky theories about wireless transmission. If anything is perfect for gaming, it's these. A surprisingly long article, this is a system free primer on the things he was supposedly able to do with his theories, and how it would make for good games. (along with limitations to make sure that it doesn't become a game-breaking god power. ) There's plenty of ways you can use the ability to capture and transmit energy sympathetically, many which are very scary when combined with real technology like nuclear bombs. It's not exaggerating to say that you can threaten the end of the world quite easily, which means the PC's have plenty of incentive to pull their socks up and get thwarting. This is very definitely an idea they haven't covered before, which means I'm pleased to see this. Like UFO's, it's a 90's cultural reference I'm quite amused to be reminded of, as I wasted many an hour playing Commands & Conquer: Red Alert, where tesla coils were easily the coolest form of base defence, and other pseudoscience devices like the chronosphere and iron curtain also added interesting tactical options. There's plenty of modern day or mildly futuristic/retro settings that could benefit from a little more Tesla, from Mage to Shadowrun.
Swordplay makes light of modern living. At least as an adventurer you're your own boss. Yamara & co get cabin fever. Ogrek solves this problem by taking them to a bad crossover world. Dragonmirth gives a shoutout to pinball. Twilight empire ends tragically, with the lovers separated for an eternity. Or at least until next issue, given the time rate differences between the worlds.
Through the looking glass: For a second time, this column is delivered by Ken Carpenter instead of Robert Bigelow. Actually, looking ahead, it looks like this is a regular arrangement, and they will continue to contribute in alternate months until they both get knocked off in the next big reorganisation. I guess Robert wants to focus on keeping his store open in these tough times, and has less energy to devote to this column. Like the departure of the Lessers, this feels like a sign that we're drawing to the end of the silver age of the magazine. Tarnished silver has a good ring to it.
We start off with a partially humorous look back at how far we've come. Paints and minis have improved quite a bit since the 70's, and for that he is grateful. But really, minis in the 70's weren't that bad. I suppose it is april and a little comedic exaggeration is to be expected. But this does have a touch of meanness to it as well. So much for nostalgia. Let's just enjoy the new painting techniques.
Our proper reviews once again show the rise of games workshop, and other games based on properties that aren't purely minis based. Mutant chronicles gets a review, another boardgame with plastic minis trying to get into the Heroquest/Space hulk mass market. Again, it's fun, but not too complicated, with a nice combination of co-operation and competition between players. But it does mean another nail in the coffin of wargaming, as minis become further detached from that.
For actual minis, we have a serpentine winged thing from Call of Cthulhu. Undead, skaven and orcs, a little for each monstrous side. An anthropomorphicised gorilla that's kidnapped a woman, for reasons we're not sure. A mech for Battletech. A dragon for Earthdawn. And the Green Knight, which is obviously most suited for Pendragon, but could appear in other games as well. So the companies that are surviving are the ones that tie in to other stuff. Another pattern we see again now, as the music industry suffers, and those areas connected to TV, movies, video games, etc suffer less than the straight recording companies.
TSR Previews: Since they recently killed off the D&D line, they now need a new gateway drug to put new bums on seats. Their answer? First Quest. With a CD, and a whole bunch of other bits and pieces, this is another attempt at making the game easy to learn while forcing them to buy the three corebooks as well if you want to get above the first few levels. Also damn useful for any aspiring DM is DMGR6: The complete book of villains. A relatively low key and system free book, this has retained it's usefulness to me long after the edition finished. Covering not only villains but general plot and roleplaying advice, this is a pretty handy reference.
Dark sun gets Forest Maker. Like a decanter of endless water, the idea that there could be something that valuable lying around unexploited simply will not do! The PC's must investigate. It also continues the Tribe of One trilogy. Simon Hawke takes our hero and makes him suffer for his enlightenment. There's still some of the old sadistic dark in him.
The Forgotten Realms doesn't just get a new Harpers novel, it gets a Super Harpers novel! Crown of fire by Ed Greenwood throws all sorts of fun into the mix as people seek the power of spellfire from it's unwilling possessor. Rock. Cheesy hair metal with extra mandolins to be precise, if I know Ed. Oh well. might as well enjoy the ride :throws horns and starts headbanging:
Dragonlance starts another novel trilogy. Night of the eye by Mary Kirchoff. So wizardly politics are going to be involved. Well, when you have good and evil forced to co-exist and work together for the betterment of magic as a whole on the same hierarchy, there are going to be tensions. When powerful upstarts burst onto the scene, they are going to make enemies. Surprised they haven't focused on it before now.
Much better than last year's april issue, with stuff that manages to be genuinely funny, stuff that manages to be generally useful, and stuff that manages to be both at once. With lots of non D&D stuff as well, this feels like a nice continuation from last issue as well, an indian summer of sorts as people send in a wider variety of material again, thanks to the Dragon Projects. For a second time this year, I'll have to give Allen Varney top credit for an issue, with two excellent, highly varied articles. He's really hitting his stride as a writer. It's a pleasure to have him on the team.
part 6/6
Psychotronic weapons: Tesla! Ahh yes, those wacky theories about wireless transmission. If anything is perfect for gaming, it's these. A surprisingly long article, this is a system free primer on the things he was supposedly able to do with his theories, and how it would make for good games. (along with limitations to make sure that it doesn't become a game-breaking god power. ) There's plenty of ways you can use the ability to capture and transmit energy sympathetically, many which are very scary when combined with real technology like nuclear bombs. It's not exaggerating to say that you can threaten the end of the world quite easily, which means the PC's have plenty of incentive to pull their socks up and get thwarting. This is very definitely an idea they haven't covered before, which means I'm pleased to see this. Like UFO's, it's a 90's cultural reference I'm quite amused to be reminded of, as I wasted many an hour playing Commands & Conquer: Red Alert, where tesla coils were easily the coolest form of base defence, and other pseudoscience devices like the chronosphere and iron curtain also added interesting tactical options. There's plenty of modern day or mildly futuristic/retro settings that could benefit from a little more Tesla, from Mage to Shadowrun.
Swordplay makes light of modern living. At least as an adventurer you're your own boss. Yamara & co get cabin fever. Ogrek solves this problem by taking them to a bad crossover world. Dragonmirth gives a shoutout to pinball. Twilight empire ends tragically, with the lovers separated for an eternity. Or at least until next issue, given the time rate differences between the worlds.
Through the looking glass: For a second time, this column is delivered by Ken Carpenter instead of Robert Bigelow. Actually, looking ahead, it looks like this is a regular arrangement, and they will continue to contribute in alternate months until they both get knocked off in the next big reorganisation. I guess Robert wants to focus on keeping his store open in these tough times, and has less energy to devote to this column. Like the departure of the Lessers, this feels like a sign that we're drawing to the end of the silver age of the magazine. Tarnished silver has a good ring to it.
We start off with a partially humorous look back at how far we've come. Paints and minis have improved quite a bit since the 70's, and for that he is grateful. But really, minis in the 70's weren't that bad. I suppose it is april and a little comedic exaggeration is to be expected. But this does have a touch of meanness to it as well. So much for nostalgia. Let's just enjoy the new painting techniques.
Our proper reviews once again show the rise of games workshop, and other games based on properties that aren't purely minis based. Mutant chronicles gets a review, another boardgame with plastic minis trying to get into the Heroquest/Space hulk mass market. Again, it's fun, but not too complicated, with a nice combination of co-operation and competition between players. But it does mean another nail in the coffin of wargaming, as minis become further detached from that.
For actual minis, we have a serpentine winged thing from Call of Cthulhu. Undead, skaven and orcs, a little for each monstrous side. An anthropomorphicised gorilla that's kidnapped a woman, for reasons we're not sure. A mech for Battletech. A dragon for Earthdawn. And the Green Knight, which is obviously most suited for Pendragon, but could appear in other games as well. So the companies that are surviving are the ones that tie in to other stuff. Another pattern we see again now, as the music industry suffers, and those areas connected to TV, movies, video games, etc suffer less than the straight recording companies.
TSR Previews: Since they recently killed off the D&D line, they now need a new gateway drug to put new bums on seats. Their answer? First Quest. With a CD, and a whole bunch of other bits and pieces, this is another attempt at making the game easy to learn while forcing them to buy the three corebooks as well if you want to get above the first few levels. Also damn useful for any aspiring DM is DMGR6: The complete book of villains. A relatively low key and system free book, this has retained it's usefulness to me long after the edition finished. Covering not only villains but general plot and roleplaying advice, this is a pretty handy reference.
Dark sun gets Forest Maker. Like a decanter of endless water, the idea that there could be something that valuable lying around unexploited simply will not do! The PC's must investigate. It also continues the Tribe of One trilogy. Simon Hawke takes our hero and makes him suffer for his enlightenment. There's still some of the old sadistic dark in him.
The Forgotten Realms doesn't just get a new Harpers novel, it gets a Super Harpers novel! Crown of fire by Ed Greenwood throws all sorts of fun into the mix as people seek the power of spellfire from it's unwilling possessor. Rock. Cheesy hair metal with extra mandolins to be precise, if I know Ed. Oh well. might as well enjoy the ride :throws horns and starts headbanging:
Dragonlance starts another novel trilogy. Night of the eye by Mary Kirchoff. So wizardly politics are going to be involved. Well, when you have good and evil forced to co-exist and work together for the betterment of magic as a whole on the same hierarchy, there are going to be tensions. When powerful upstarts burst onto the scene, they are going to make enemies. Surprised they haven't focused on it before now.
Much better than last year's april issue, with stuff that manages to be genuinely funny, stuff that manages to be generally useful, and stuff that manages to be both at once. With lots of non D&D stuff as well, this feels like a nice continuation from last issue as well, an indian summer of sorts as people send in a wider variety of material again, thanks to the Dragon Projects. For a second time this year, I'll have to give Allen Varney top credit for an issue, with two excellent, highly varied articles. He's really hitting his stride as a writer. It's a pleasure to have him on the team.
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