(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 231: July 1996
part 3/8
Why spy: As usual, as the themed section draws to an end, the quality starts to drop. It's very much more of the same, only this time from the perspective that PC's might hire a spy to get information for them. You don't want to do that! The whole point of being a PC is that you're the one getting hired to do stuff, going out, risking your neck, and generally getting into trouble. To top it off, we have another case of proficiency bloat, including one that was presented as a new thief skill a couple of articles ago. That's another of those things that made me realise the thief ability and proficiency systems were rather awkward in their current implementation, and something needed to be done to overhaul and better integrate them. So while this has some fun advice, it's another one that's primarily notable for increasing my dissatisfaction with the system as is, especially when there's lots of supplements bolted on. Despite everything, I still believed in the idea of "one system to rule them all." on some level. Seeing two articles in the same magazine that were impossible to use together once again adds to my frustration.
Wyrms of the north: And here we reach the straw that really made me not interested in carrying on with buying the magazine, back in the day. The realisation that every dragon in here would probably have their own unique self-developed spells was what pushed my suspension of belief in the Realms' fabric a little too far. That combined with the number of references within to other books and articles killed my desire to collect further for quite some time, for I realised there was no way I could keep up with it all on pocket money. IT'S JUST TOO MUCH! And so I wanted to get off. It is rather interesting just how much my endurance has increased since then. But I can still remember pretty clearly how I felt, and it is taking a conscious effort to carry on past this point. Funny how it all comes back to you, even if you haven't thought about it for years.
Defilers and preservers: Tie-in article time. Dark Sun is getting a book expanding on the unique quirks of their wizards, and here's some more kits exploiting the conceits of the world and it's cosmology. Harsh environments produce strange creatures to exploit any source of energy they can find. Thankfully, this isn't cut or recycled material from the book though, and is still useful without it, which definitely puts it well above most promotional articles from the start. As to whether they're good mechanically and thematically though, that still needs further examination.
Grey Chasseurs hunt undead and blur the distinction between wizards & clerics. They do get a lot of benefits from this, but like clerics, have to work to keep those godly relationships going. Unlike dragon hunters, undead are ubiquitous enough at various levels that you won't have a problem encountering them if you're actively looking, so I don't have a problem with this. Even with their advantages, they're still heading for an early grave by definition.
Obscures use an adjective to describe themselves when they probably ought to use a noun, which looks silly. That said, they are pretty interesting. They get around the normal athasian plant-killing problems by drawing energy from the neighbouring plane of darkness instead. This could very easily kill the central; drama of the setting, but they continue to show how scarce and hard to access magical energy is on athas by other means. They get unpredictable amounts, could fail altogether and take damage, and being transformed into shadow makes their social issues even greater than normal wizards. It's not an easy alternative by a long shot.
Pales continue the dumb naming conventions. And they function in a pretty similar manner too, drawing energy from the plane of the dead, which is similarly subject to failure and inflicting damage upon the user, and becoming rather undead-like themselves. Once again though, they do get quite reasonable benefits. Better stack up on those appearance altering spells to mitigate the social penalties.
Protectors are elf fighter-mages who try to keep their tribe safe at all costs. This may be a pain for adventurers, as they are constantly on call by the tribe's shamans. Once again though, I think the benefits well outweigh the penalties. Bonus blasty spells are worth a lot of hassle when it comes down to the bottom line.
Relic Seekers are rather interesting because the consciously go against the original conception of athas, a place where people just don't have the time or resources to waste on luxuries like archaeology. I guess they have jungles and a proper sea now. Dilution of theme, blah blah blah. Happens to any long-running setting.
That said, the idea isn't bad, and is mechanically pretty cool. Just transfer to another setting.
Slayers are wizard assassins. This is another one that seems better suited to another setting where wizards can at least advertise enough to get clients. As it is, they're stuck working for a singular powerful and nasty patron who'll be able to cause them serious grief if they screw up or try to leave employment. Dunno why wizards don't bugger off to another plane when they get the spells. So overall, I'm ambivalent about this collection. Some of it's cool, but others feel shoehorned into the setting. Once again, we may be adding a bit too much onto what was originally a really cool focussed world.
part 3/8
Why spy: As usual, as the themed section draws to an end, the quality starts to drop. It's very much more of the same, only this time from the perspective that PC's might hire a spy to get information for them. You don't want to do that! The whole point of being a PC is that you're the one getting hired to do stuff, going out, risking your neck, and generally getting into trouble. To top it off, we have another case of proficiency bloat, including one that was presented as a new thief skill a couple of articles ago. That's another of those things that made me realise the thief ability and proficiency systems were rather awkward in their current implementation, and something needed to be done to overhaul and better integrate them. So while this has some fun advice, it's another one that's primarily notable for increasing my dissatisfaction with the system as is, especially when there's lots of supplements bolted on. Despite everything, I still believed in the idea of "one system to rule them all." on some level. Seeing two articles in the same magazine that were impossible to use together once again adds to my frustration.
Wyrms of the north: And here we reach the straw that really made me not interested in carrying on with buying the magazine, back in the day. The realisation that every dragon in here would probably have their own unique self-developed spells was what pushed my suspension of belief in the Realms' fabric a little too far. That combined with the number of references within to other books and articles killed my desire to collect further for quite some time, for I realised there was no way I could keep up with it all on pocket money. IT'S JUST TOO MUCH! And so I wanted to get off. It is rather interesting just how much my endurance has increased since then. But I can still remember pretty clearly how I felt, and it is taking a conscious effort to carry on past this point. Funny how it all comes back to you, even if you haven't thought about it for years.
Defilers and preservers: Tie-in article time. Dark Sun is getting a book expanding on the unique quirks of their wizards, and here's some more kits exploiting the conceits of the world and it's cosmology. Harsh environments produce strange creatures to exploit any source of energy they can find. Thankfully, this isn't cut or recycled material from the book though, and is still useful without it, which definitely puts it well above most promotional articles from the start. As to whether they're good mechanically and thematically though, that still needs further examination.
Grey Chasseurs hunt undead and blur the distinction between wizards & clerics. They do get a lot of benefits from this, but like clerics, have to work to keep those godly relationships going. Unlike dragon hunters, undead are ubiquitous enough at various levels that you won't have a problem encountering them if you're actively looking, so I don't have a problem with this. Even with their advantages, they're still heading for an early grave by definition.
Obscures use an adjective to describe themselves when they probably ought to use a noun, which looks silly. That said, they are pretty interesting. They get around the normal athasian plant-killing problems by drawing energy from the neighbouring plane of darkness instead. This could very easily kill the central; drama of the setting, but they continue to show how scarce and hard to access magical energy is on athas by other means. They get unpredictable amounts, could fail altogether and take damage, and being transformed into shadow makes their social issues even greater than normal wizards. It's not an easy alternative by a long shot.
Pales continue the dumb naming conventions. And they function in a pretty similar manner too, drawing energy from the plane of the dead, which is similarly subject to failure and inflicting damage upon the user, and becoming rather undead-like themselves. Once again though, they do get quite reasonable benefits. Better stack up on those appearance altering spells to mitigate the social penalties.
Protectors are elf fighter-mages who try to keep their tribe safe at all costs. This may be a pain for adventurers, as they are constantly on call by the tribe's shamans. Once again though, I think the benefits well outweigh the penalties. Bonus blasty spells are worth a lot of hassle when it comes down to the bottom line.
Relic Seekers are rather interesting because the consciously go against the original conception of athas, a place where people just don't have the time or resources to waste on luxuries like archaeology. I guess they have jungles and a proper sea now. Dilution of theme, blah blah blah. Happens to any long-running setting.
That said, the idea isn't bad, and is mechanically pretty cool. Just transfer to another setting. Slayers are wizard assassins. This is another one that seems better suited to another setting where wizards can at least advertise enough to get clients. As it is, they're stuck working for a singular powerful and nasty patron who'll be able to cause them serious grief if they screw up or try to leave employment. Dunno why wizards don't bugger off to another plane when they get the spells. So overall, I'm ambivalent about this collection. Some of it's cool, but others feel shoehorned into the setting. Once again, we may be adding a bit too much onto what was originally a really cool focussed world.
rgan music: er, fiends, are notoriously tricksy. Don't be surprised if it's a fake.) 
