Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4637056" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 85: May 1984part 3/3Gamma hazards: Three new weird and disturbing monsters for gamma world here. Fungimals are rather creepy. They take the form of a harmless little herbivore, and then when eaten, infect the eater and transform them into a giant puffball which then releases more little harmless tasty looking creatures. And the circle of life continues. Not a good way to go. Humbugs are one of those creatures based off a bad pun. They transform into mundane objects, and create illusions to make people think that they work. Much irritation ensues. Jungle lurkers are psychic insects that disguise themselvesas plants, and drain life energy while creating illusions as a decoy. The closest to a straight up combat encounter here, they're still gonna be a pain in the ass to catch and defeat. All in all, an imaginative and entertaining set of creatures. Unlike the last set, back in issue 75, the humour doesn't get in the way of their usefulness. And their core ideas could be adapted for other games with great relish. I can see myself deriving quite a bit of sadistic use from these. Preventing complacency in Traveler gaming: Another fairly unexceptional "the stats don't tell you everything about a thing article. We've had them for alignment. We've had them for class. We've had them for sex and race. Now we have them for planets. Flesh out your planets beyond the basic infoblock, include ideas that you can't get by simply rolling, remember that what the galactic guidebook says may not be accurate for whatever reason. We've read articles like this before. We'll probably read many more of them in the future, for all kinds of games. The basic principles remain the same, and are as valid as ever. Doesn't stop this one from feeling like filler material. Coming soon, the marvel super heroes RPG by TSR. Which means that it'll get plenty of representation in this magazine if it's popular. Lions, tigers and superheroes: Ahh, animal stats. If a game doesn't include them, people'll complain until they get them (and if they do, chances are, they'll complain about them being unrealistic, but hey ho. ) This tackles that little topic in the Champions system. Which means lots of crunch packed into a small article. Given the effect based build, these are pretty logical and easy to understand. Dunno why people couldn't just build their own. Still, it's just the kind of thing this section should be providing, crunchwise. It could be more impressive, but it could also be a lot worse. Roger Raupp contributes some rather poorly proportioned art. I guess that's genre appropriate <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" /> Starquestions: Or Sage advice goes Sci-fi. This month, they're tackling Star frontiers, but they also intend to cover their other sci-fi properties such as Gamma world. (guess Boot hill and Gangbusters' rules questions will go unresolved though. ) As ever, lets see what inanity people present Penny & co.Who created star frontiers (Dave Cook & Lawrence Schick. Read the credits in the books. ) Will we ever get to see the prepublication version of the game. (Nah. We rewrote it because it sucked. You wouldn't enjoy it anyway. )What's the difference between regular Star Frontiers and Alpha Dawn (Marketing. It makes you do crazy things sometimes.)Can you play star frontiers with D&D (No. Our friendliness to crossovers is currently declining. We'd never approve something like expedition to the barrier peaks these days.) Can we use the new aliens from the modules as PC's (We do not recommend it, as they are not balanced in the slightest. ) Can a dralasite split in two. (no)Can a dralasite ooze under a door (no) Can a dralasite roll (yes, but it isn't the most efficient way of moving) Can a Vrusk carry someone on their back (Yes, but with lots of complaining)Can the PC races interbreed (Ick. No. Not even by artificial insemination ) Can you create a genetic superman. (Only as an NPC. Again, game balance, yah boo. )Why isn't psionics in Star Frontiers (We didn't feel it fit in properly. Not every game needs a magic equivalent.  )How much do skills cost (new level x3, each level bought up individually. It's a bit more complicated than a level system, but you'll get used to it.) Can I make a jack of all trades PSA ( :sigh: There's always one. Don't the current ones have enough versatility for you. )Which cost is correct for the standard equipment pack (The cheaper one) How do gas masks work for aliens (they need to have them specially made. This is particularly problematic for dralasites) How much tornadium do you get for 50 credits (50 grams. The rest of the weight is protection. You don't want an explosive that unstable exposed to the air. ) Why don't grenades have masses. (because they're too light. You can carry as many as common sense dictates. Don't tell me you still haven't got some of that, when we've said you need it so many times.)How do you handle vehicle mounted weapons ( Mechanically, fairly leniently. In terms of in game laws, expect trouble. ) What new modules are coming out (Not telling. <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" /> Go to your local shop regularly, see what's in.)  Huh. TSR and GAMA have kissed and made up. What heart warming news. Now the whole hobby can work together to make better conventions. Whatever happened to GAMA, anyway. You never hear people talk about it anymore. Does it exist? Do the various companies still bother to pay dues. Or has it joined the great dustbin of history. Wormy goes off on a random tangent again. Talanalan has some railroady GM'ing. Snarfquest blows stuff up and gets away. Although they've had longer issues in terms of page count, this is possibly their biggest yet in terms of actual game content. Or at least, due to the proliferation of small articles, it's resulted in my longest review yet. <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" /> I have to wonder just how I'll deal with their peak size 90's issues. My writing style's already changed quite a bit. Just what will several hundred more issues do to it? But I shouldn't digress. This is certainly not a bad issue overall, but it does have some annoying bits. At least the Ares section is a definite improvement on the first one, and it's not overloaded with adverts. But it doesn't have any real classic standout articles either. I guess we'll have to file this one under average.</blockquote>

Verification