Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4600947" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 72: April 1983part 2/2Up on a soapbox: Oh, this is good. Someone's realized that hardly anyone uses the level titles in actual play, for quite a number of reasons. They're a cultural mishmash, and imply things about your social status that may not be true. They eat up synonyms that could be used for other classes. (this must have made D&D a real pain in the ass to translate to languages that don't steal liberally from other cultures. ) All in all, they cause more trouble than they bring benefit, especially if used as in game terms. Which is probably true. But of course the designers still have to stick with their current choice until the next edition at least. Such is the nature of progress. A new name? It's elementary: Want a flavourful name for something in the game? Use ye olde english. Still stuck, roll on this random table to generate appropriate sounding names. If you want names that sound like a different culture, go somewhere else. Not really much to say about this one. Just another way to fill up a couple of pages.  Spy's advice: Can you stop someone from attacking you with a ranged weapon by attacking them hand to hand (Yes, by a strict reading of the rules. Hmm. Maybe we should do something about that.) Should players be allowed to see the combat tables (yes) How far do you move when you retreat (10 feet) Can you keep from being hurt by clinching. (as long as they're trained and roll well. ) How do you get a HtH weapon value above 250 (dual weapon wielding. Twinktastic!) How did you extrapolate the extra damage in the combat example (see the injury modifiers table) Can you convert semi-automatic weapons to fully automatic ones (yes, but it'll cost ya. ) Who pays for food and stuff when you're on a mission (normally the agency, within reason, unless you're deep undercover and have to fend for yourself)  Do you get XP for rescuing someone during the course of an assassination mission (no)How do you learn a new language ( do a course, or treat it as an area of knowledge)When an agent switches bureaus, do they lose their raised ability scores (no, general experience counts for something. ) Can you describe the social special powers (surely they should be self-explanatory. Oh, alright then, here's a few lines)Do you get xp for using fake money if you don't know it's fake (no. You aren't honing your lying skills if you think you're telling the truth. )What do you classify rolling as (Crawling for movement rate, running and dodging for penalties to hit.) What's with the modifiers for called shots (I have my reasons. You can change them if you don't like them)Do distractions work in ranged combat (not very well)What's the damage for a hollow point bullet filled with mercury (same as for a Dumdum bullet) Are the new bureaus in dragon magazine legal (They aren't official yet. We have tournament compatibility to consider. You are encouraged to try them, if your GM will let you. ) Off the shelf: Once again, the entire conan series is getting reprinted. You'd think they could keep such a big author in print continously, but no. Besides. If you put different covers and running orders on the collections you can scam people out of more money. Anyway, the books given full reviews this month areOut of their minds by Clifford D Simak tells the story of a person finding his way into the place imaginary creatures live. The results are both amusing and scary. We can build you by Philip K Dick is another of his books with a strong message about technology and the way humanity can be blurred by it. Yes, it has dangers, but we still ought to try and improve ourselves. The world will only last so long, and becoming inhuman is better than going extinct. Elfquest by Wendy & Richard Pini is a novelisation of the first 5 issues of the comic. This means they can retell it with a different perspective and fill in some details. So they can sell it again to the diehard fans for minimal extra effort. <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=";)" /> Elfquest II by Wendy & Richard Pini is not a novelisation, merely the trade collection of issues 6-10. I hope that's not confusing. The making of the wrath of khan by Allan Asherman is an in-detail look behind the scenes, with lots of photos from the set and conceptual art. If it details all the production shenannigans I don't know, but I doubt it. Myth directions by Robert Asprin is the third in a series, but that doesn't matter too much, as its mostly about the humour rather than the plot. With illustrations by Phil Foglio, it's certainly well served in the visual area. File under light reading. Misplaced persons by Lee Harding is one of those stories about a person who suddenly finds the whole world starts ignoring him. Why? How does he escape this condition? Read it and see, because the review doesn't spoil us. Retief to the rescue by Keith Laumer is the first new book in the series for 10 years. But It's another strong entry, not a cynical cash-in. Much bureaucratic comedy occurs.  A world called camelot by Arthur H Landis puts sci-fi up against magic, and turns the offworlder into an unsuspecting epic hero in Edgar rice Burroughesque fashion.  Good triumphs (at a cost) evil is defeated in the end, everyones happy. Fantasy annual V, edited by Terry Carr is another returning series that the reviewer rather likes. Get the earlier ones as well, You won't regret it. The wind from a burning woman (ew) by Greg Bear is an innovative collection of short stories from a brand new author. The ideas are interesting, and the book looks good as well. I wonder if we'll see him again. The role of books continues to give us more potentially helpful guides to help us make our own worlds and mythology. I'm afraid even Lew can't keep this interesting. I think that's enough installments. If we spend all the time reading other people's stuff we'll never get the chance to make our own.Reviews: Questworld takes the runequest system and turns it towards more generic game settings. Why am I getting a sense of deja vu? <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=";)" /> It still has a default setting, and is slanted heavily towards fantasy gaming, so it's hardly a universal system yet.  Baby steps, I guess. Those reservations don't mean its a bad game, by any means, and it's adventures are useful to both Gloranthan adventurers and people making their own homebrews. A pretty reasonable review, really. Whadaya know, What's new almost manages sex in D&D, but gets distracted by jesters. Haven't you cleared them out from last year yet? Dragonmirth references pac-man. You'll never clear out that dungeon, ever. Wormy is mostly in foreign this month. Great Harold, what are they talking about? A pretty good issue, overall. They're introducing cool new cool stuff, and seem to be pulling out of the new year slump. Lets hope they keep their promises to put Monster trucks and other new topics into the magazine. <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=";)" /> We could do with the variety.</blockquote>

Verification