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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4645574" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 88: August 1984part 2/3The ecology of the rust monster: Ahh, this is more like it. Now if ever a monster deserved an entry in this series, it's this one. The rust monster has been a D&D staple almost from the very beginning, and remains one of it's most iconic monsters. In fact, specifically because of it's exclusion from 4e, it's become the symbol for a certain kind of playstyle that the current designers no longer support, but many people still hanker for. Ed proves once again that he really likes his footnotes, providing us with a bunch of optional rules that clarify lots of points and make the creature even more scary in some ways. Crucially, it answers the questions, can you train them, and can you extract their rust inflicting power to use for your own ends. (yes, but not easily for both.) That'll make a lot of adventurers happy. Now they can put the screwage boot on the other foot. I certainly intend to make use of this article at some point, be it as player or GM. Like antipaladins, there was probably substantial prior demand for this article, and I hope you found it satisfying. I certainly have. Off the shelf: The chaos weapon by Colin Kapp is a very epic bit of science fantasy, with disgustingly powerful heroes facing off against even more disgustingly powerful villains. It may not be that deep, but it's a fun story. The paradoxicon by Nicholas Falletta is an examination of paradoxes in all their forms. How they work, why they are so annoyingly intractable, and the people who have struggled with them throughout history. It should give you plenty of inspiration on how to puzzle and frustrate your players. The sword and the chain by Joel Rosenberg is the second book in the guardians of the flame series. Since it looks like they're stuck in a fantasy universe for the long haul, (or at least a trilogy) it's time for them to really find out what makes their characters work, and set goals for themselves. The meta conceits do not detract from the drama of the story. Across the sea of suns by Gregory Benford gets a fairly negative review, as the primary narrative device of delayed lightspeed communications results in a confusing plot that gets bogged down by symbolism. Salvage and destroy by Edward Llewellyn, on the other hand gets a very positive review. While there is a certain amount of the usual examination of humanities stupidity there is far more celebration of our positive aspects, and our ability to survive in the face of great odds. The aliens get a pretty cool treatment as well. Neuromancer by William Gibson is of course the classic that was a huge inspiration on the cyberpunk genre. What seems like a techno-thriller at first turns into an almighty head<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=":)" /> with a downer ending. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Beyond the dungeon part two:  So, how do you make an exciting wilderness adventure, Mrs Kerr? It's not as if the great outdoors is short on features that are a real challenge to get through. You've just got to figure out how to fit it into the framework of the game. Once again, the need for a proper skill system becomes apparent, as stuff has to be handled with a combination of attribute checks and ad hoc bonuses based on what skills they ought to have. Which means difficulties will vary wildly from group to group, and the skill of the DM becomes paramount in judging how to run a situation. Game design has a long way to go in these respects. Of course it's not all wilderness out there. Towns, fortresses and ruins also receive the attention of her expert eye. Once you get out of the dungeon, you have to pay more attention to how your locations are structured, and the relationships of the people and creatures living there. Once again, this advice may be familiar now, but it's never been covered in this much detail around here before. If it seems unimpressive at times in retrospect, it's simply because the lessons here have been taken on board and developed upon so much since then. That's the thing about progress. It makes things look dated. We'd really miss this stuff if it wasn't there. Games workshop gives us a big full colour ad for warhammer minis. It looks pretty good. The indiana jones RPG. Another big licence to coincide with the new movie. I wonder how this one'll be handled in the magazine, as it's another TSR game. We shall see. Limited edition 10th anniversary D&D collectors set. Pop it while its hot, pop it while it's hot. Get it while it's cheap, cos it'll be worth more later. Elefant hunt: Another Tom Wham game. My, they are adding up over the years. How does he keep his imagination fresh? Well, in this case by stealing a real life situation wholesale and putting his own spin on it. Like the name says, you hunt elefants and other afercan game. If you're lucky you'll find their graveyard and can loot tons of ivory. A game that is fairly high on randomness, but still has more than enough tactical choices for you to consider, you're unlikely to see a consistent winner on this one. Still, it looks a good deal of fun, and by changing the score needed to win you can easily make this a long or short game, as you choose. It may not be very politically correct, but hey, this is a magazine where killing things and taking their stuff comes as standard. There's nothing wrong with enjoying imagining doing things you'd never consider doing in real life, right? Jorune! Another familiar name gets it's first advert here. We are getting some interesting adverts this month. Fiction: Key to Ramali by Ardath Mayhar. What, after your last three novels got viciously slated here, you send in some fiction to Dragon? Now that's gotta take some balls. I have to applaud that. Now I can see if your writing's really as bad as Chris Henderson says without having to spend any money. And the answer is ......... meh. I've seen much worse. She does have a tendency towards florid prose and silliness. But it's certainly not as bad as, say, the Gord stuff.  I can live with this.</blockquote>

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