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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4561315" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 57: January 1982part 2/2Random magic items: Ever thought it a bit odd that only certain shapes of magic item have certain powers? Want a bit more unpredictability in that area. This bunch of tables decouples item type and powers, so you can determine both randomly. Of course, since they have to be generic, the list of powers isn't the greatest. This could have been better, but it still adds a decent selection to my list which should keep players from finding the same old bits of treasure for a few more sessions. Just watch out for the cursed stuff, as ever. The versatile Magician: A generalist spellcaster for DragonQuest with access to spells from all three colleges, only not to such great ability. This is the problem with games with rigid class roles. First thing gamers try to do when making new classes is to blur the existing ones in various combinations. Before you know it, you might as well have gone for point buy in the first place. This is not as well done as the Top Secret one above. Giants in the earth: This months characters converted are C.J Cherryh's (she seems to be quite popular with the GitE authors. What's with that?) Morgaine and Vanye, Lynn Abbey's Rifkind, and Robert E Howard's Belit and Dark Agnes.  The Wandering Trees: Another 16 page tournament module, this is obviously a wilderness one, which means druids and rangers get a chance to shine. Watch out for the <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing phooka, because trickster fae aren't funny when you're the butt of their jokes. Nice to see them once again expanding their repetoire and giving regular readers more options to challenge their players with. Up on a soapbox engages in epic fail this month, with two laughable articles.Brian Blume falls flat on his face at understanding human nature, and tells us that evil behaviour is completely ineffective in both real life and adventuring because no-one would trust that character, or continue to associate with them. They'd end up alone and friendless, if not locked up or dead. No-one intelligent could possibly enjoy playing an evil character. Er, yeah. Thats as dumb as the people who believe that good would never work because they'd help everyone who asked, even those who took advantage of them, never kill diliberately, and always forgive and give mercy to their enemies, no matter how obviously that would be a bad idea. Oh, and nice guys can't get chicks. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> No-one could possibly get any success or pleasure out of acting like that. Everyone would hate such an insufferable holier than thou prig. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f644.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll eyes    :rolleyes:"  data-smilie="11"data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /> Sometimes I dispair at people, I really do. Still, I suppose it's more entertaining than another bland common sense article. Like this one. Roger Moore reminds us again that sexism and rape are bad things, mmmkay, even in fantasy worlds, and putting them in may cause discomfort in female gamers, and discourage girls from joining your group in the first place. No <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> sherlock. The only people who don't know that already are candidates for the creepiest gamer thread, and they're unlikely to take it in, even if they do read this magazine fanatically every month and can quote every single optional rule from it. Having been one of our most consistently entertaining regular faces for the past couple of years, Minarian Legends finally comes to an end. (or at least, says it does. We'll see if it stays gone.) I wonder what Glenn'll do next? He finishes off with an extensive chronology of everything since the great cataclysm, so you can see exactly when all the events detailed in previous issues occurred in relation to one another. Farewell. It's been interesting finding out about you. The history of the shield: Another system free real world historical article. They've had a pretty wide range of shapes and construction materials over the years, as people look for the optimum compromise of protection against whatever weaponry is popular at the time, and mobility. Very little of which is reflected in the rules for games, unlike weaponry, which gets all manner of neat custom effects in some games. I guess offense is more interesting than defense. This article is certainly pretty inoffensive. Actually, that's doing it a disservice, as it is very comprehensive and well researched. But it is the kind of article you need to be in the right mindframe to enjoy. Send in your entries for the 5th invitational AD&D tournament now! This year, it's the quality of your custom creations such as spells, monsters and magic items that are being tested. The dragon's augury: Star viking is a tactical boardgame of interstellar raiding and pillaging. While high quality in components and appearance, it suffers from the fatal flaw that the sides are seriously unbalanced, making it virtually impossible for the vikings to win. Which is a bit rubbish, since they're the namesakes. The reviewer suggests some house rules to fix this, which adds a different spin to the article's purpose. Not sure if I should approve of that or not, but it certainly adds interest. Champions is one of the first iterations of the Hero system. And it's only around a tenth the size of the bullet-stopping brick 5th edition would become. Which means there are still significant gaps in the powerset and some point cost to effectiveness issues. But even so, the effort to fun ratio might still be higher than more recent comprehensive versions. Hard to say. Simulation corner: The importance of illustration in game design. This can have more impact on the comprehensibility of a game than you might think. It certainly has a big impact on popularity, as good graphic design is crucial in making first impressions. Of course, being able to afford good artwork is one of the things that sets the professionals apart from the enthusiastic amateurs. Another fairly common sense article with several good examples from the actual era. The electric eye: We get the results from the survey a few issues ago. Unsurprisingly, it is very male and teen oriented, with quite a high percentage of people who program their own games. Apple is the most popular company (hah. D&D players are artistic types. How little things have changed in that respect. ) And cassettes are just beating disks as the preferred method of storing and loading programs. They'd like to see more programs and reviews in the future. Interesting. But only if you enjoy statistics. Dragonmirth is here. Wormy expands on the wargaming theme that would become significant later. Still no sex in D&D in What's new, but we do get a little cheesecake for your enjoyment. Even with the changes, this still feel very much like business as usual. They haven't dropped a beat.</blockquote>

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