Let's read the entire run

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 250: August 1998


part 1/8


124 pages. So here we are at the end of the issues covered by the Archive. If Dragon hadn't gone electronic, I might have still done this thread, but I would have stopped at this point, because I do like to set myself achievable goals rather than endlessly ongoing ones. We would also probably have reached this point somewhat sooner, as there would be less scope for reading ahead filling in bits and pieces, and the long middle parts wouldn't feel like such a grind. But we're here now, so let's see if they've done anything special for this issue. Format-wise, nothing's changed. And the theme is a familiar one. Underwater adventures again. But they have been doing good articles recently. Maybe they'll have solicited some future classics from their writers. Give us a multi-part epic special again. Pwetty pwease.


In this issue:


The wyrms turn: So it seems that the greater proportion of positive letters in the letters page has been indicative of the larger trends in their submissions. It's hard to figure out what you need to do better to improve the number of readers when the current ones are either content or not complaining because they're afraid of losing the magazine altogether after it's recent absence. But they're still looking for ways to improve. If anything, as Ryan Dancey's post-takeover writing indicated, they're all the more interested in listening to public opinion after it becoming clear TSR not listening was what led to their downfall. So here they apologise for some recent mistakes, and promise to try harder. Ironically, the apology for their mistakes contains a mistake in itself (how could Kim print a correction for a game in the issue before it appeared? ) So yeah, they admit their editing needs work, and manage to really prove it in the same breath. :facepalm: Really not inspiring confidence in me.


D-Mail: A letter complaining that one of their recent monsters was grossly overpowered for it's XP rating. More crosses for their editors to bear in public. They'd better be preparing for the next edition to fix this.

A letter with a ton of advice, much of which they heed. They're getting rid of Bookwyrms, and doing another Psionics themed issue in the near future as a result of this. You do have the power, as long as you ask for the right things.

A letter on their Robin of Sherwood editorial. That was awesome, and you are paragons of taste for remembering it! Why thank you. Good to hit your nostalgia buttons. Hmm. Maybe we ought to do that a bit more

And finally, a letter from the netherlands, mostly about existing settings, but also the idea of Magic:the Gathering getting a D&D conversion. Again, it's mostly positive. The magazine is a perfect place for little expansions on worlds that don't merit full books.


Nodwick gets no treasure. But at least he's not tricked as to it's value.


Forum: Craig Hilton thinks obscene ability scores as standard is bad for the game. Method I 4eva! The classes that require them are a big part of the problem too. Fix that and much of the need to be better than everyone else goes away.

Lloyd Brown III gives fairly detailed thoughts about exactly how to nerf poison. Many of them ought to be nonlethal, quite possibly paralytic or with effects other than death & hp damage. Once again I nod.

Charles Stucker tells us how hard it is to use an axe, and how nasty it is when you fumble them. Try it yourself, get up the scars to give yourself credibility.

Joe Piela fills us in some more on the history of polearms. Wrong again, M Kant! Polearms changed a lot over the years!

Lizzi Plant isn't particularly happy with either existing proficiency system. We need a few more, and more improvable.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 250: August 1998


part 2/8


Sage advice is still having problems with stoneskin. It's the spell that keeps on taking up column space. Skip wishes Skip had a time machine so Skip could go back and rewrite that bloody spell.

Can you clarify the necklace of prayer beads (12th level, constant karma, nonstackable. )

Do 1/day powers recharge after exactly 24 hours or overnight ( you can choose from item to item as seems thematic, to the irritation of your players.)

Can a wall of force stop a sphere of annihilation (nope. It just goes right through. Fun.)

Are item saving throws neg or 1/2 (usually neg, as you don't usually track item HP)
Why can't thieves get basic picks all other classes can. (Good question. Skip doesn't have a problem with this, so skip will chastise the twitmongers who forgot this.)

Is called lightning magical (yes)

Can Keoghtom's ointment cure mummy rot (Sure. Rub it in, why don't you)

Can you cast nightmare on a disguised person you don't know (As long as you can clearly state somehow who you intend)

Do you get XP if your figurines of wondrous power kill something on their own. (No more than if your henchmen did. In other words, not unless this is mass combat)

Please clarify the exact way teleport handles your motion ( Skip thinks you're overthinking things. You can define the fluff for why teleport works the way it does as you please )

Do you lose a stoneskin charge from a giants boulder or being caught in a fireball. (Only if you're the one being aimed at, and yes. )

Can a dragon use clairaudience to spot a character under dust of disappearance (no trouble at all)

Can you heal damage from a sword of wounding by indirect healing powers (no. That's like saying you're a vegetarian when you're eating fish and birds )

Can a tarrasque heal damage from a sword of wounding (yes. It's the poster child for better than you exception based design.)

What does a ray of enfeeblement do to someone wearing a girdle of giant strength (subtract from their buffed score )

Can aid cure damage (no. The points are always temporary )

Can charm monster affect creatures with more than 8 HD. (Yes. It's like turning undead. You always get 1.)

Can I forbid metamorphose liquids from producing utterly broken compounds (Sure. Skip says never let real life logic wreck your game kids! Just say no! )

How do tentacles work (Scandalously! Just like the rest of your limbs, only without strength bonuses )


Out of character: Instead of gaming advice, Peter's column this month is pure personal viewpoint. Yes, Gaming can definitely be Art. It involves creating things that have no practical use, tells a story, involves substantial amount of technical expertise, and most importantly, can touch the hearts of those exposed to it. It may not have even the same kind of marketability as poetry or painting, but it's definitely a creative endeavour. The fact that it's an interactive one, just as Video games can be, makes things more blurry, and begs the question of who the real artists are, the writers or the players though. Still, you can't disqualify it on being improvised, or you'd have to disqualify jazz music. You can't disqualify it on being a derivative work, or you'd have to disqualify fanfiction. (double , and yes, I'm fully aware that people have argued vehemently against both of those in the past. ) You couldn't call every RPG campaign art, but I'm going to have to support him and say that at their best, both RPG books and RPG campaigns can be works of art. Hell, you could really say this thread is a work of performance art in itself, as it involves vast amounts of mental effort and creativity for no practical gain for me. If you could qualify Dr Johnson's first dictionary, which took him 9 years to do, this would probably fit into the same category, as while it is technically a reviewing and cataloguing, it also involves considerable personal agency in the way I approach it and the sources I draw from. And I'd hate to see the people who'd argue that people like The Nostalgia Critic and Spoony aren't artists in their own right. Or maybe art is a purely subjective concept that has no actual solid provable boundaries, like emotions or religion, and I'm just rationalising my own insecurities about the value of what I do. Still, at least I know I'm in good company. And after 250 issues, I think my ego could do with a little primping.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 250: August 1998


part 3/8


Heroes of the sea: Just as with the flying special 6 months ago, they decide to kick things off with a whole array of aquatic races given PC stats, so you can have an all-underwater campaign and still feel you have plenty of choice. And then quite possibly become dinner for the all-feline party using issue 247's rules. Looks like here there's more races given less detail than the flying ones, but not as many variants as the cat and dog articles. Kind of a middle ground, really. So let's see if the mechanics of the writeups hold together.

Crabmen fit into the strong but dumb niche, and their mental and physical quirks mean a lot of equipment that's built for humans won't work for them. Their natural armor and weapons mean they'll be ok at low levels, and then fall behind at higher ones. Still, given their short lifespan, they're not likely to make it that far anyway. No decades spanning epics with one of these in the party.

Koalinth are pretty similar to their land-dwelling cousins in terms of class options and culture, and able to survive out of water more than long enough to be viable PC's in a regular party. Like most goblinoids, they may tend towards evil, but they can still be excellent adventurers.

Locathah are of course very problematic in a normal campaign because they can barely move on land. But in an all-underwater campaign, they can be a staple character race. They do have the oddity of being able to be Bards, but not Thieves for some reason. Rules can be weird.

Malenti are of course perfect for becoming adventurers, with their angst-inducing backgrounds meaning at least some of them surely escape and wind up forming bonds with creatures less abusive than Sahuguin. They don't have the arcane skills of real elves, but do enjoy retractable claws and teeth that make them capable unarmed combatants, and can withstand depths that even most of the other underwater races would be crushed at. They could certainly support a Drizzt of their own.

Merfolk are another underwater-only suited race. Their class selections are surprisingly limited really, with Bards once again the only rogue choice. I'm rather curious why the author decided to do that. It's not as if there isn't plenty to possess down there, and the buoyancy means you can actually carry a lot more if you have the right kind of pack. I can't see any reason cultures wouldn't form that feature criminality.

Pahari are in sharp contrast to all the previous races, in that they can only be arcane spellcasters. Shapeshifting aquatic nymphs, they kinda fit the swanmay niche, in that they don't exactly fit in amongst all these primitives, are all female, and have magic resistance and substantial lifespans. But of course that makes them all the more valuable if you want a party with all the standard bases filled without putting a normal human into the mix. And it's good to see them expand on a more obscure race along with the standard monster manual ones.

Selkies are a decidedly weird one, with their timed week a month shapeshifting. (which they tell you to ignore here) They can't actually breathe underwater, but they move way faster than any of the others, and have decent class skills. Their main flaws are their pacifism, and their weakness for alcohol, which seem very likely to come into conflict with one-another while on land, especially when trying to play eco-cop. They'll have to get over one of them to truly satisfy the other.

Vodyanoi fill the niche of the really big tough guys, a la Minotaurs or Ogres for a land party. Although they're not as dumb as they seem, they aren't naturally social, and their size and bulk may be a real problem, especially out of water. Their limited class options force them into the role of bruiser, but at least you can be a tactical one like Beast instead of just a tool.

Liminals are half human, half merfolk, and the only race that can become thieves, although they lack priestly options. Like Half-Elves, they make good diplomats, but also have problems fitting in any one place. Still, this also means they bond very strongly indeed with the creatures that they do love, to the point they waste away if separated from them. Absolutely perfect for an adventuring party then.

So overall, this collection hews pretty closely to the formula established in the complete book of humanoids in terms of powers and balancing factors, with the exception of the weird aversion to thieves. Some of these may be powerful at starting level, but none have great level limits, and natural armor and weapons grow progressively less significant the longer you go on. And as they may well fall behind standard characters in terms of equipment as well, I very much doubt they'll be game breaking in the long run. Course, as with Council of Wyrms, running a long-term all underwater campaign is a real challenge for a DM, as they can't rely on published adventures at all, so you're not likely to hit those level limits. Still, given my love of pushing boundaries, it seems the kind of thing I'd like to try. Overall, this definitely adds stuff to the game that is of value and wasn't there before.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 250: August 1998


part 4/8


The dimernesti: Having just upgraded a whole bunch of monsters to PC's in AD&D, now it's time to update the sea elves of Krynn to the SAGA system. And hey ho, despite the supposed departure of magic from the world, things haven't changed much for them. They've had the same kinds of hassles that Ansalon had to deal with Dragon Overlords, but managed to overcome them. And their shapeshifting ability remains fully functional, showing it's an innate power rather than linked to the old form of magic. So this is quite a conservative conversion, changing as little as they can get away with given the massive alterations around them. A mere two years on, and the backpedalling is already very apparent. I'm left wondering how much longer they'll do any coverage on it, and if any new elements will be introduced over the course of those articles. Because this really isn't grabbing my attention.


Warships of the sea: Time for another delve into the real world, old skool style, with extensive lexicons, pretty cutaway diagrams, and lots of crunch. This is one aspect of bringing back the old style features that I fully approve of. Actually, we have had a book on this fairly recently, and this builds upon that, providing stats for ships from centuries after the books medieval cutoff point. Which of course means pretty substantial power creep, but that's the real world for you. Statistically, this is a bit dry, but it more than makes up for it with the excellent presentation and use of colour. It seems like they're finally getting over the novelty and teething problems of their computer editing programs and turning it to better support the articles. Overall, this is one of those articles that's fairly specialised, but pretty invaluable if you do want to cover it's topic in your game. Still, it's no cardboard castle. I know you're trying to be more careful with your money and production costs, but it is the 250th issue. You could stretch a little bit for the occasion.


The world of the mechalus: Our Alternity material this month is a good 10 pages long, and another article that feels like it's trying to be a special feature, but couldn't quite get the right degree of epicness up. Shoulda gone for one 20 page one instead, and you'd definitely have my attention. Instead, this feels like a mini splatbook for the race. Which was cool in the early 80's when Roger Moore was doing them, but now we have thousands of full length splatbooks from various companies competing for our attention, it's not so impressive. Still, it has more new crunch than some splatbooks (White Wolf, I'm looking at you) and a reasonable amount of setting detail squeezed in. However, this goes to show how far behind D&D Alternity is, and by trying to compete in the same ballpark in an established market, it's setting itself up to struggle. And the cybertech seems decidedly dated only a decade later, given the rise of wi-fi and mobile communication devices, so the sci-fi in this article hasn't aged well at all. In the end, this article feels like a bit of a quaint curiosity, less contemporary than some articles decades earlier. And since I don't have much nostalgia for the late 90's, certainly not for the computer technology of the era, I can't say this excites me at all.


Sunken Fortunes: Back to the in theme articles, with a little piece on what kind of treasure you can find underwater. Salt water in particular is very harsh on all kinds of materials, reducing many metals to a pitted mess in no time, and rotting away organics. This also means that while there may be the equivalent of dungeons down there, they may not be as stable, and you have to pay more attention to the 3D aspect of layout design. Still, gold, gemstones and ceramics survive the depths untarnished, so there are some very valid reasons to go and recover lost treasures, and that's not even getting into anything underwater races might create. So this starts off fairly realistic, and then introduces the fantastical elements and solutions afterwards, allowing you to dial up the level of cinematicness by introducing the new spells and item quirks. It contains information I haven't seen in the magazine before, and delivers it in a no-nonsense style. There's definite value in knowing what valuables you can realistically include in your underwater games.


Fiction: Dedrak's quest by Tracy Hickman. In issue 200 we had fiction by Margaret Weis. Here we have the other big name of Dragonlance in a bit of fiction that almost fits into one of their established worlds, but not precisely. A story starring dragons, who have gnome servants, but haven't seen humans in ages, and now regard them as a kind of boogeyman? That has quite a lot in common with Council of Wyrms. But the specifics are subtly different, and the tone is both whimsical and contains a strong moral message. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given his previous form. The fact that he's also writing sci-fi books at the moment is also apparent, with a magitech underpinning to the setting. Overall, I think I enjoyed this, as it does have a pretty good story and characters, despite being built around the obvious Aesop. The magazine could do a little more tackling of social issues than it does.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 250: August 1998


part 5/8


Wyrms of the north: Looks like for a second time, Volo has actually had an interesting love life as a result of his draconic investigations. Just goes to show, a little confidence makes up for a lot of practical shortcomings. Family is once again a strong theme in this article, as we not only have talk about Volo's illegitimate offspring, but another dragon who's decided to form a bond with a family of humans and see what happens to them over the centuries. As a Bronze dragon, he's able to assume human form with ease, and is relatively benevolent in his approach to manipulating them, although as he takes the long view, he won't save individuals from their own stupidity, and may even cull them if it would be for the better. There's some more seriously sloppy editing in this article, with two nasty discontinuities in the writing chopping away parts of sentences. So it seems that Ed is finally starting to repeat himself in this column, and the editors are continuing to make large, easily noticed mistakes. Put that together, and it does drag this article down quite a bit.


Dragon's bestiary: Once again they show that the rate and frequency with which they rehash topics is increasing in this era, with another bunch of aquatic monsters, last given an article a mere 15 issues ago. It's really not good enough, you know. If you haven't got anything of significance to say, you shouldn't say anything at all, and let someone else speak instead.

Black slime brings old skool ooziness to the oceans, turning you into more of it just as green slime does in caverns. And so another previously untouched symmetry was filled in.

Giant clownfish are a pretty direct conversion of the real life creature, only bigger. They're basically an excuse to pass on a bunch of real world ecological info to the rest of us philistines, as if we hadn't been eagerly devouring that stuff for 15 years. This is veering into patronising territory. Johnathan may write good ecologies, but he's not much cop at thinking up new monsters.

Giant diving beetles see the formula wheels churn once again, upscaling an existing creature while hardly changing it to reflect it's new circumstances. Yawn.

Sea cows get somewhat more fantasy info, with people farming them, and plenty of magical uses for their stuff. But they aren't really much use for adventurers, and the whole thing feels like setting-building for it's own sake. It's an excellent example of the stuff that would be brutally purged next edition, and in this mood, I can quite understand why. The pendulum really has swung too far to the froofy side this time.


Arcane Lore: Hmm. An al-qadim spellbook. Haven't had one of those here before, which is surprising, since it's part of Toril, and lots of the most interesting variant wizard types come from there. I suppose sha'irs, clockwork mages, ghul lords, jackals, etc, don't use conventional spellbooks, so they aren't going to be contributing to the greater lore stores of the multiverse. This is interesting for another reason, as it draws upon the same real world vein of lore as the Sons of ether in M:tA. Say hello to the Kitab al-Asfr. The work of a powerful geomancer, it's unsurprisingly focussed on earth spells.

Dusting the Rock makes any small particles of dust and gravel in the vicinity all fly towards you. This is obviously not very pleasant to experience, and may be immobilising in the right terrain.

Cone of Earth is a reskinned cone of cold, doing plenty of damage, and impeding the victims. You could also probably make use of the raw material created. It's certainly more lasting than a fireball.

Entombment sucks you in, but doesn't preserve you for eternity like the 9th level version. No, it's a slow suffocating death for you, unless there happens to be a dungeon immediately beneath where you're standing. And what are the odds of that?

And that's your lot. Rather short compare to most of these articles. Oh well, better to leave you wanting more than to wear out their welcome with repetition like far too many of the department articles do these days.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 250: August 1998


part 6/8


Bazaar of the Bizarre: Hmm. This month's topic here is items that can only be used by a particular class. Yeah, we haven't had that one before. Does seem likely to produce a rather disjointed collection. Plus, you could easily have concentrated on one class at a time, spin it out 4 times as long. Curious.

Soldier's armor has a whole bunch of minor extra benefits for fighters. Really, that's just to give clerics sour grapes, isn't it. I guess they get more than enough of their own.

Knight's lances make you less likely to be knocked off your horse. Probably a good idea. After all, accuracy and damage are not the only indicators of skill.

Boots of Marching are another great example of how much their editorial filters have lowered their standards for rehash recently. They're a good deal crapper than last month's Marching Boots too. Really, what were you thinking when you approved this?

Swords of Destruction break enemy weapons. And we know how much people hate that. At least it's not energy draining.

Necklaces of Success give you rerolls. Bah. Don't see why this one is class specific at all.

Staves of High Magery let you perform minor magical effects casually, and ignore those of others. Wizards shouldn't have to constantly engage in careful resource management once they get to high level. Just don't expend that last charge.

A Talisman of Power lets you cast spells as if higher level. The kind of thing that would become standard next edition, this is always a useful little booster.

Orbs of Protection give you saving throw bonuses, but you need to have it in hand to get full benefit. Choose lots of verbal component only spells to take full advantage of this.

Robes of the Specialist let you switch your spell specialities for ridiculous versatility. They even let specialists double-dip. Huge amounts of power at the cost of double the school restrictions. Now that is potentially problematic.

Rings of Escape let you run away at double speed. Another one for which the class restriction seems pretty unnecessary.

Vestments of Safety give priests of a particular god permanent Sanctuary. You can just sit back and buff your minions in safety, and then walk casually away if you lose. Way to make truly loathed recurring villain. A kender might actually come in handy for a change, as taunting would be a good way to get them to break the needed pacifism.

Symbols of Purity boost your undead turning level. Like spell level boosters, this is very familiar from 3e. It's not just what you can do, it's how well you can do it.

Divine Armor gives you permanent protection from evil. Just as useful, and less likely to be irritating to players than the sanctuary one.

Helms of Holy Might let you resist minding. Not as well as some previous items though, in what is becoming a familiar refrain. Blah.

The Hammer of Bablas is more powerful against evil creatures. Also very familiar. Clerics don't get the most interesting items, do they?

Burglar's gloves help you detect secret compartments and traps. But not doors though. Oddly specific that. Better than nothing I suppose.

Silent Blades are another variant on an already introduced weapon. Not only do they make no noise, they also silence the victim as well, which does seem like a good perk.

Assassin's Armor lets you obscure yourself and go insubstantial. Maybe Ninja armor would be a better name for it

Dust of Blinding is basically souped-up glitterdust. Perfectly normal trigger item.

Bard's Spellbooks let them store their magic and music in the same place. Another of the very minor conveniences that seem to be increasingly common in this column.

 

[Hussar]

The Hammer of Bablas is more powerful against evil creatures. Also very familiar. Clerics don't get the most interesting items, do they?

LOL, I read that as the Hammer of Babies. TOTALLY different item.

 

[Orius]

Sea cows get somewhat more fantasy info, with people farming them, and plenty of magical uses for their stuff. But they aren't really much use for adventurers, and the whole thing feels like setting-building for it's own sake.

Oh yeah sea cows, best monster stats ever!

Why would you ever need the stats for one of the most ridiculously placid mammals in all of existance anyway?

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 250: August 1998


part 7/8


Dragonmirth gets all monty python on us. Now that's vaguely surprising. Swordplay is also unusually culturally aware this time.

Alternity is also having a competition. Send in your spaceships. Once again, all rights are signed away, and the prize is free stuff, rather than money.


Roleplaying reviews: Ray again takes exactly the same topic the previous reviewers already did a few months ago. Sci-fi gaming. Zzzzz. How did we get here? Why can't we leave? Surely there must be some more oblique and specific topics to cover? Are those not selling well enough for you? I guess it's another serving of bread and butter then. Careful. Too much of that can be very fattening, especially when it's white bread.

Alternity players handbook gets a positive, but certainly not glowing review. It's a pretty game attempt at repurposing AD&D to fit sci-fi gaming, although trying to fit it into a class/level structure raises issues in itself. Ray's main issue is in their attempt to create a generic set of aliens and technology that definitely won't fit every setting. Sci-fi universes don't tend to have as many common tropes as fantasy ones, and it'll take some serious supplements for this to approach the depth and variety AD&D has managed, and become truly universal.

Blue planet, on the other hand, gets praised highly for it's setting, which manages to be both specific and focussed, and leave plenty of room for exploration. There might be a whole universe out there, but it's the mysteries of the planet Poseidon that get center stage, just as Planescape had Sigil as a place that you may never really need to leave. This time it's the rules Ray isn't entirely satisfied with, being a bit overcomplicated and very lethal. Why people still write rules like that is a very good question.


Amazing magazine is back! Buy it now or it'll go up again! Life can be so cruel sometimes.

KotDT engage in tawdry negotiations without the full information. Man, they are so going to regret that.

 

[jonesy]

Blue planet, on the other hand, gets praised highly for it's setting, which manages to be both specific and focussed, and leave plenty of room for exploration. There might be a whole universe out there, but it's the mysteries of the planet Poseidon that get center stage, just as Planescape had Sigil as a place that you may never really need to leave. This time it's the rules Ray isn't entirely satisfied with, being a bit overcomplicated and very lethal. Why people still write rules like that is a very good question.

Blue Planet is one of those RPG's that I've always wanted to run, but haven't ever gotten around to it. It seems to require quite a lot of preparation from both players and the DM.

And for some reason water related adventures generate less interest from players in my experience. We had fun with PC3: The Sea People, but still didn't use it a whole lot.