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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4524219" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 42: October 1980Part 1/280 pages. This is where Dragon completely shakes itself free of its The. How does it feel, being liberated? Not that different, really. No one's even remarked upon it yet. I wonder if they will. Lets look inside and see, shall we. In this issue:Out on a limb: A letter complimenting them on the women in fantasy article in issue 39, with particular emphasis on the cheescake is annoying ad should be stopped aspect, and also expressing bafflement with the cover of issue 38 (yeah, I quite agree with that one, that's some equal opportunites WTFery there. )  A letter expressing discomfort with dragon putting a sports game (ringside) in a magazine primarily devoted to fantasy and sci-fi. To which they reply that roleplaying doesn't always have to have supernatural elements, and they'd like to see RPG's that tackle other mileu as well.A letter complaining about the existance of gem dragons, calling them unneccecary. Its a game dear, the whole thing is unneccecary.And a letter complaining at the rules for "equalizing" the sexes in issue 39, saying they now grossly unbalance the game in favour of female characters. 1: it was tongue in cheek, and 2: does the word optional mean anything to you people? Once again the editorial staff sigh, and wonder how to get out of this pile of flaming letters. After all, they can't simply ban people from the board yet.Demons, devils and spirits: It's halloween. And that means scary stuff. This year, they seem to have decided to focus more on the fiendish side of things than the undead. Our first article introduces 4 quirky new extraplanar monsters, the saraph, apollyon, asperim, and Orcus' horse, the Hacamuli. (be very afraid of this last one in particular, as it has triple energy draining, aging and disease as a result of its various attacks.) An interesting set of monsters, none of which I've seen before, and which will probably be just as surprising to the characters when faced with them. The posessors: An attempt to model the mileu of The Exorcist in a D&D monster. This really really doesn't work, as the success of the creatures hinges on the PC's behaving in a genre appropriate way, which is very unlikely indeed. Nice idea, but sorry, you'll need some other game to properly take advantage of it. Patron demons: Mmmm, demonic pacts. A risky business, as demons are not particularly reliable at keeping long-term bargains. But as long as you keep a steady stream of sacrifices coming their way, most demon princes'll be pretty happy to send some monsters back the other way who'll (probably) do your bidding, or at least go off and kill your enemies, and not you. It may bite you in the ass sometime, but your odds of avoiding an eternity of slavery and torture are probably better than if you signed a deal with devils. (as long as you're willing to become the one doing the torturing once you die) Lots of random rolls are involved in this article, as you'd expect. I quite approve, as it plays up the differences between having a lawful evil and chaotic evil patron, while not making it a just plain worse option. Restless dead: A follow up on the funerals article a couple of months ago. Bury your enemies and companions properly, and don't nick all their stuff. Or they'll be back, going woogie woogie woogie, and getting ectoplasm all over your nice new armour. Which does not make you popular with women, children or animals, and may be hazardous to your hairline. Yet another thing that's cool if used occasionally, but'll really get tiresome if overdone, unless you're playing in Ravenloft, where stuff like this is to be expected. Oh, but Ravenloft hasn't been invented yet. Another bit of history that's still miles ahead. Look forward to it. :evil grin: From the sorcerer's scroll: Gary encourages you to play monsters intelligently, so they don't get walked over by sneaky players, do stuff between encounters, and have properly thought out relationships with other groups of monsters in the same area. They should not simply sit in their room, waiting for PC's to turn up, then attack until they die. Which he would of course explore again in Keep on the borderlands. All good stuff, if still presented somewhat antagonistically. And two spells that were cut from the PHB because they didn't have an appropriate dice type <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> Crystalbrittle and Energy Drain. Which would both make it into the 2nd edition corebook, when they stopped trying to make spell lists geometrically pleasing in the number of spells each level had. Minarian Legends: The lands of Pon are the pat of the game that gets an extensive historical write-up this issue. I must say, I'm starting to get a bit bored of these. Just how many different countries and cultures are there to cover in Divine Right? Sage advice returns after a couple of months absence with new people answering the questions, Jim Ward and Will Niebling. Jean Wells may help out, but she has other jobs as well, and these will be occupying more of her time. And as Jim and Jean have the same initials, and that's all they sign the answers with, you can't tell who did which. Anyway, back to the questions. Can telekinesis shift a blade barrier (no) Is the holy water sprinkler a gun (WTF? No, it's a big ball with spikes. Your research is seriously erroneous.) Can a cleric attack while turning undead (no, it uses up his attack action for the round, like casting a spell. However, unlike spellcasting, it isn't disrupted if you are hit)What is the "life force" drained by a 9 lives stealer sword. (character levels, just like undead. Do we have to spell everything out for you?) Can you use an amulet of the planes as much as you like?(yes, but you never know where on the plane you'll end up, and you may appear somewhere that pisses off something powerfull. )Can an evil cleric turn holy lawful good monsters like paladins and lammasu (er, maybe. I know we made an offhand mention of that, but the rules were never fleshed out, cos we are dumb. If you do allow it, use the same probabilities as an undead of the same hit dice.)I don't understand the surprise procedure (read the goddamn rules again. Step by step, it's not that hard) You said a few issues ago that elves can't have psionics, but it says they can in the monster manual. Do I have to remove them from my character? (that depends on your GM, but we strongly reccomend it. Otherwise, you are not an Official AD&D Character. So there. Yes, we changed our minds. Suck it up. ) Why is the gauntlet of ogre strength worth so much more than the various girdles of giant strength? (Because it gives you the proper protection and leverage to really take advantage of that strength. If you try superman crap with the girdles, you'll rip your flesh and break your bones. (and look stupid, because lets face it, you're wearing a girdle. Nothing can make that cool) Yes, this is bloody stupid, particularly in light of our previous statements that D&D isn't supposed to be realistic, and I'm probably pulling excuses out of my ass. Once again, suck it up.)If a spell has a range of touch, does that touch need to be with your hands? (Yes. No feet, no headbutts, no goddamn prehensile penii. And before you ask, no, you can't play a deepspawn magic-user. Just no <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />)</blockquote>

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