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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4770479" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 115: November 1986part 2/4Honor among thieves: Ahh, here's another unsurprising article. Although they make their money breaking the law, any successful thieves guild must have some code of it's own to keep things from falling apart. Even if they never formalize it, stuff like no squealing, no lying about your hauls, double agents will have their membership terminally revoked, and no going after people with "relationships" with the guild is pretty much going to happen anyway. And many of them do dress it up in formal oaths and pledges to make things absolutely clear to dumb n00bs, and give standardized punishments for breaking them. And then they're just a few steps away from becoming law enforcement themselves, Pratchett style. Funny how they do wind up becoming just another accepted part of society, with their own training system and accepted path of advancement. In the real world, far too many criminals are criminals because of mental illness, poverty, or inability to get a good above board job, you can go up and down in people's esteem based on what you've done recently rapidly, and any code they have is honored in the breach as much as the observance. Almost make you want to live in a D&D world. The math on the economics may not add up, but it makes perfect sense on it's own terms, there's a place for everyone, plenty of opportunity for you to advance your station, and the people who get into power do on the whole deserve it and have worked for it. Anyone else think so? Or is this another sign I've been doing this for too long and going mad? Getting up in the world: A second article in quick succession on climbing? I guess that given the evidence of the last couple of issues, they really have made a conscious decision to present multiple differing views on a topic. Well, I guess embracing the rehash and trying to turn it into a positive thing is one way to deal with it. This one also turns it's attention to non-thieves climbing ability. One good thing about the new Non-weapon proficiency system is that it does allow other classes to at least try things they really should be able to do. The problem is that it has inconsistencies with previous writings on the subject. Should you try and reconcile the two lists of modifiers, or treat them as independent subsystems and apply one or the other. Lots of tedious rules minutinae, in other words. It is however, interesting that this one was obviously written after the first one, by people which had read it. That kind of co-ordination between their writers is pleasing, and definitely something I could stand to see more of. Tools of the (thieving) trade: Mr Garcia continues to prove that he is the don of all things larcenous, examining the tools thieves need for their other abilities, the penalties they suffer for going without them, and how they can improve their odds further by spending a little more. Ninja outfits to improve your stealth skills <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> face paint, hearing cone (with protection from ear seekers, of course.) drills, 10 foot poles for springing traps if you aren't willing to risk disarming them the subtle way, and all sorts of other fun. Which doesn't come cheap, but such is life. As once again, the same writer is taking the reins, this ties in well with the other articles, building on them without too much overlap. While the individual articles in this month's theme haven't been exceptional, they have been very well tied together. We haven't seen them try stuff like this for over three years, in the psionics special. You need writers who are active, and get their stuff in early, so the other writers can work on the idea and produce further material to make this work. And someone with the ambition to co-ordinate it all. If this is what having Roger as an editor means, then it will be a welcome change to the last few years. Hammer of thor, spear of zeus: Hello to another power-up to the class that least needs it. Giving clerics the option of learning a weapon appropriate to their deity seems like a pretty reasonable idea, if a a mild power-up. Giving them not only access to a new weapon, but the ability to multiple specialize in it to indefinite degrees, gaining an extra +1 to hit each time; on the other hand, makes them almost the equal of fighters in terms of attack progression, while still having all the spellcasting of clerics. Definitely an option that has the power to mess up a game at higher levels. Exercise caution about allowing it in your game. Sharper than a serpents tooth: Sssssnakeses. Looks like this is this month's realistic biology contribution. The nature of their senses, biology, methods of attack, and 12 new sets of stats, which are generally more powerful than the original entries. This is probably a case where the writers like what they're writing about a little too much. Still, like spiders, they do provoke instinctive fear in people, making them great for a little horror gaming. Mix some of these variants with your yuan-ti, and people'll never be sure what's going to strike at them when they open a door. Another competent but unexceptional article. Airs of ages past: Harps! Now there's an unexpected topic for elminster to turn his eye too. All 9 items in this article have a common origin, the lost city of Myth Drannor. Well, elves have always been fond of music. In addition to the various cool magical powers they possess, Ed also proves he knows what he's talking about when it comes to the technical aspects of music. Either he's already a musician, or this is another case of him putting a whole load of research in for accuracy in minor technical details that most people wouldn't notice. These are as flavourful as ever, with Jhantra's harp a particular favorite of mine. In any case this is another great entry that is both entertaining reading, and full of things I'd love to incorporate. Music is a big part of mythology, (often the medium for telling it as well) and it probably gets less airtime than it deserves in roleplaying. While incorporating it into your game and not being horrible cheesy may be a challenge, it's one that amply pays for itself if you succeed.</blockquote>

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