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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4609625" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 76: August 1983part 2/2Sage advice is also pretty lengthy this month: Who was Baba yaga (A cannibal ogre-witch from russia. Pretty darn badass. You'll be seeing her again in the future.)Can a dungeon master change magic items after giving them to players (that would be cheating, unless you have an in-game rationale. We don't recommend it, as pissed off players often result. )What are mithral and admantite(super badass extra valuable metals for when gold and steel just aren't good enough.) Can a player character become a free-willed vampire (Hell no. We still think all devil leaders should be male. There's no way we're gonna be enlightened enough to let you play undead. And it would break the game anyway. )Why can't rangers be in groups larger than 3. Tolkien's rangers don't have that restriction (D&D is not LotR. We can do what we want, so ner.)How much XP should you get for solving problems and being clever (10-100, depending on how cool they were. Yes, killing is the quicker way to power than being clever and solving a situation without fighting.)Can characters take over a dungeon after clearing it out? (Sure, why not. Don't expect it to be cheap, as they take lots of upkeep. And now you're the ones who have to deal with pesky monsters and adventurers coming in trying to kill you and take your stuff. Turning things around like that could be fun.)Why do some GitE characters have percentile scores in ability scores they shouldn't (more differentiation in the upper scales of badass)What is knucklebones (see appendix F of the DMG)Which version of a person or monster is correct when there are multiple ones published in different issues(whichever one your DM chooses, or one of their own creation)Is everything in Dragon official (no.)Why do BD&D and AD&D contradict each other (because they are different games. Don't mix them up)What happens if a D&D character is hit by gamma world's de-evolution (they lose levels, no save. Be afraid)Can a paralyzed character speak or use psionics (no and yes, as psionics don't require movement)What does " mean (each inch translates to 10 foot inside, or 10 yards outside)What's the difference between a secret and a concealed door (duh. Ones secret, the other's concealed) Are constitution bonus' per hit die, or per level (per hit die. Tough rangers have it good, don't they.)How do you handle pregnancy (we'll leave that up to individual DM's)What does CO stand for? (Comeliness. It's a new stat. See issue 67.) How can a human have more hit points than a dragon (hit points don't just represent straight toughness, but also luck and skill. Don't you get that yet?)Can half ogres be barbarians? (they can certainly be barbaric, but they can't join the barbarian class) Why do half ogres have such low charisma's (because they're uuuugleeeee. And uncouth, and doodyheads, and smell.) What do half-ogres think about other races. (depends which side raised them, and how they were treated as kids.)Do rangers get benefits against half-ogres(no)Why do half-ogres roll different dice for their ability scores (because we say so. Their ranges are too different for just pluses or negatives to the dice to reflect properly without negative scores appearing and breaking the game.)We also get another extensive Q&A, on the proper format for submissions to the magazine. Write up submissions neatly, include SASE if you want a reply, what we want right now (more sci-fi stuff please) be persistent, keep trying. Nothing much has changed here since last time. Off the shelf: Talbot Mundy, Messenger of destiny, compiled by D M Grant, is a combination of biography and bibliography, with plenty of commentary as well. It offers plenty of detail in a well designed package. A field guide to dinosaurs is exactly that, giving plenty of information about the creatures, when they are from, and also museum listings so you can go see them in person (although those'll be long out of date by now.)  Invasion: Earth by Harry Harrison tells the story of an earth caught between two warring alien species, with vietnam parallels being drawn. Fast-paced and with a twist at the end, it's up to his usual standard. Tea with the black dragon by R A MacAvoy is an action-adventure/romance with two amusingly contrasting protagonists. The supernatural side is fairly light, but that just means things can stay mysterious at the end. Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster is a rather puerile comedy/epic fantasy. While that is not an inherently bad thing, it certainly doesn't blend them as well as say, discworld. Sounds like it would be perfect for a movie adaption starring Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Set of wheels by Robert Thurston is a bleak dystopian future from a battlestar galactica writer. Whoda thought that could happen <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=";)" /> The protagonist just wants to get away from all that, and blast off down the open highway, and the book follows his attempts to do so. The writer then has fun putting him through the wringer. Transformer by M A Foster has nothing to do with the soon to be released cartoon about robots in disguise. It does involve a shapeshifting creature though. And the stupid humans try and kill it, as they will do, which ends up causing just the problems they were trying to prevent in the first place. We once again learn about human nature by seeing it reflected through something else. Against Infinity by Gregory Benford is set on Ganymede, and follows human attempts to terraform it, plus the strange things they find there. They have to struggle against both the environment and each other, but of course, that's what generates the interest. Khi to freedom by Ardath Mayhar gets a rather sarcastic review. Apart from it's purely first person narration, it has little to distinguish it, being a melange of stock ideas, and weird aliens with unpronouncable names and stereotyped personalities. Could definitely do better. Storm season, edited by Robert Lynn Asprin is the fourth thieves world compilation.   As before, they've got hold of a solid collection of writers for the various stories. And as often happens after several books in a series they seem to be focussing more on the same cast of characters, and making things darker and more metaplot driven. If that's a good thing, it's hard to say. It certainly makes things less newbie friendly. Lets see where the next book takes them. Yearwood by Paul Hazel is the start of another fantasy saga. It's epicness is both a strength and a weakness, as it's characters feel more like archetypes than real well rounded people, particularly the women. Guess you'll have to tune in for the plot rather than the characterization then. Forbidden sanctuary by Richard Bowker tells a story of catholicism and aliens with a parallel religion, and what happens when the two collide. Which means there's plenty of philosophical and political thought to drive the plot along. You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy it. Reviews: Gangbusters is of course a TSR game, so the objectivity of a review here is in question. The reviewer does a good job of pointing exactly how the game makes itself fast and furious, and handles the various social aspects of city life and crimefighting. You can't just hack and slash your way through this one. And keeping the party together all the time is not really an option, making it better for small groups. But it is well organized, and includes plenty of material to get your game up and running quickly, so it's still probably more newbie friendly than many modern games. Borderlands (don't we already have something by that name :checks: yup. Issue 68. Damn name recycling. There oughta be a law <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=";)" /> ) is a wargame. Get resources, fight enemies, control territories. You ought to know the drill. Simple rules result in complex emergent strategies, and plenty of fun with webs of politics and trading if you play with 3 or more players. For those of you who prefer a little more depth in your world conquering than risk offers. Cities is a system free game supplement for any fantasy game, helping you both build and populate cities, and create encounters for existing ones. Whether you want realistic economics or high fantasy weirdness, it has some stuff to help you out. As long as you don't mind rolling on lots of tables, but that's a price I'm willing to pay. Judge Dredd's new boardgame also gets a review. Frag those perps before the other judges do, and get the highest score to win. Good, vindictive fun that isn't too taxing on the brain. A good emulation of the source material then <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Federation space is a star trek game of future war. Designed to contrast with and complement Star Fleet battles, it serves as the large scale strategic counterpart to the former's ship level tactical wargame. Travel between systems, form and break alliances, spend money, capture stuff. Doesn't sound very star treky to me. But I suppose making money is more important than upholding starfleet's peaceful ideals. You need to make sacrifices for the sake of playability. Dragonmaster gets a second review in here. This is actually more like a promotional piece and rebuttal than an actual review, and if it were not for its length, should really have gone in the letters column with all the other rebuttals. Still, it includes plenty of actual details about the game, so it's still useful in deciding if you want to buy or not. Wormy gets back to the snooker and jokes after the high drama. Snarfquest faces it's first challenge. What's new welcomes you to shamcon V. Business as usual in dragonmirth. Another rocking issue, if not quite up to the standards of it's predecessor. But then, that set a high standard. This one seems more concerned with looking back and outwards, with reviews, indexing and answering questions playing such a large part. Will they have another stroke of innovation any time soon. I'm not sure. Given the form of some of their writers, it doesn't seem that unlikely. Onward! No time to sit around mulling over the past if I want to catch up with the present. <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=":)" /></blockquote>

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