Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4693941" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 99: July 1985part 3/3Treasure trove II: We get two new articles based on magic items in this month's sorta centerpiece. Guess either one on their own wasn't considered special enough to carry the issue.A sharp system for swords is of course all about the sentient magic weapons. New powers, updated ego calculations, and the usual advice to individualize and name your magic weapons, as this makes the world feel more solid and the players more likely to attach to them instead of seeing them as simply powerful tools. No great surprises here, but another solid set of toys for when you don't have time to invent this stuff wholecloth, or want to roll randomly just for the fun of seeing what comes out. We then get 17 more items. Completely unsurprisingly, Ed Greenwood contributes significantly. All the big categories get at least one new item, plus some weird stuff like the oyster chest. (great idea, my dears. ) Most of them are pretty utilitarian and one-trick, rather than the massive lists of powers a single item can build up in the previous article. But they're mostly pretty cool. Particular kudos goes to the aforementioned chest, plus the armor of acid secretion (way to make a cursed item properly visceral. ) Potion of pain suppression, Rod of melting, and stone of mysterious sounds. Drama, comedy, and quirkiness are all fully represented. Another cool collection of old skool items, overall. Kevin Siembieda not only writes the entirety of Monsters and Animals, he illustrates it all as well. My, he's a prolific bunny. Authentic agencies, part III: Yep, I called it last issue. Here's the specs for the KGB, GRU, SSD, SAVAK, and other agencies you are likely to find yourself at odds with, as an american spy. Plus MELT, a fictional one that seems amusingly out of place these days. And that's about all I can think to say on this subject. Extended series do run into this problem after a while. Fiction: Dennim and the golem by Robert S Babcock. Some people choose to retire from adventuring when they have the money. Others have it forced upon them. And many just die. The protagonist of this story may not make the big time, but he still comes out better than he has any right too. Some interesting thoughts about alignment and it's effect on the world are touched upon in this one, without it descending into heavy handed rules exposition. A quirkily S&S style bit of fantasy, that fits in the magazine very well. ARES Log: Boo. We get an official announcement that we won't be seeing any more Gamma World modules or editions from TSR in the forseeable future. You aren't buying it, so we don't think it's economical anymore. Not that we've made any for years anyway, but with the heavy coverage it's been getting in the magazine, obviously some people have got their hopes up. Maybe in a few years time. Tanks a lot: So star frontiers has stats for personal level roleplaying, and spaceship wargaming scenarios. But not stats for ground vehicle combat. A sad victim of cutting for space. Still, what is this magazine for then, if not to fix that kind of omission. So we get a full 5 pages of stats and tables, giving us lots of vehicle equipment, what it does, and how much it costs. Better hope you don't get your vehicle wrecked too often, because this stuff's pricey. Still, if you wanna get your mad max on, I'm sure you'll find a way, even if it means hijacking a vehicle and scavenging the remains of any enemies you run across. They certainly don't object to a little overkill in this one, and using it could make or break a game, depending on the GM. Which I'd definitely prefer risking to the article exhorting overconservatism earlier. Psybots and battle mechs: We saw it in the Coming attractions section earlier this month. Now Proton Fire gets an article. The usual story of wanting to promote their cool new stuff. And yeah, this is pretty much a straight promo piece, giving us a synopsis of the setting, and not really contributing anything that probably can't be found in the book itself. I know you may be hurting a bit financially, but surely you could make the effort to put in some material that got cut or errata, something interesting like that. I'm most disappointed in you. This is not the way to get me to want to buy your stuff. The marvel-phile is also on a soviet kick this month, with the Soviet Super-Troopers. (Lame name, but they're in fine company there. ) Vanguard, Darkstar, Ursa Major, and Gremlin. Two tanks, a battlefield controller and a techie. Not the most balanced party ever, but superheroes have always been more about the personality archetypes than the precise powers when it comes to roles. After all, it's not really about power, but dramatic imperatives. And there's certainly no shortage of plot hooks in their backstories. Repressive governments just give superheroes more to rebel against. More superheroic stuff that's great fun, but can seem somewhat ludicrous if you don't buy into the tropes here. How many of these nationality themed groups are there? Will colour coded spandex ever go out of style? Will Jeff cover another country next time? Tune in to find out. Danger on a budget: Looks like despite the pessimistic editorial, Gamma world will continue to be a regular on these pages for quite some time. It still has a small but vocal contingent of hardcore fans who keep sending stuff in. This is another load of familiar advice adapted to a different system, reminding us that you don't need to throw bigger and badder combats at your players to keep things interesting. In a postapocalyptic wasteland, the sneaky are more likely to prosper than the big tough guys with machine guns who need to get lots of food and regular supplies of ammo from somewhere. So sneaky psychic enemies, environmental hazards, traps and roleplaying encounters are just as important as straight battles in creating a somewhat realistic campaign. Realistic? Gamma word? Well, if you really say so. Another article that contributes nothing I don't already know and probably will see again virtually every year of the magazine. Wormy continues the bright lights in the big city. Snarfquest hangs over the perpetual pit and panics. Dragonmirth mocks Conan again. For all the big changes D&D may be about to go through, there's a lot of overfamiliar material here. Sandwiched between two big issues, this definitely feels like a filler episode, with all the really good material held back for later. Apart from the really strong ecology, everything else is Ok to poor. Guess I'll just have to move on to the big one oh oh, see what stuff they've been stockpiling over the past 10 months for it.</blockquote>

Verification