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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4790911" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 119: March 1987part 1/5108 pages. Welcome to a second druid special. One of the classes with a more interesting history in the magazine, they certainly have their fair share of fans. And obviously submissions for them have been building up over the past year or two. So let's let them out to play. Will they be well balanced, as nature should be, or twinky like CoDzilla? Shall we see? In this issue: Letters: We have a letter asking what Chainmail was like, and what happened to it. Roger replies that it is pretty scrappy. You gotta be prepared to house rule if you want to use it for a roleplaying game. Not quite a discouragement, but definitely a caveat emptor. They'll be bad-mouthing the old stuff done by Gary before you know it. Two letters, one asking if they plan to do a sci-fi anthology, and another if they'd do a module anthology. Roger gives the same reply. We're considering it, but we need convincing that there's a big enough market for it. This is very much down to you, Loyal Readers! Forum: Brock Sides thinks that weapon specialization and nonweapon proficiencies only detract from the game, because people only take the twinky options, rather than using them as intended. Yeah, as they are at that point, they are rather abusable, aren't they. It's your job as DM to ensure crap like thatdoesn't get out of hand. Patrick Sieff thinks that people don't take orcs seriously enough. They can be a very real threat. Do more articles on them. But then people wouldn't be so scared of kobolds <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=";)" /> Larry Paisley suggests that videotaping a gaming session would be a cool idea, andcould definitely expand peoples minds on how the game is played. I very much agree with this idea. Jeff Klein points out that the OA races do not have sex discrimination on their strength scores the way PHB ones do. This is wrong! If anything, they should be even more severe, given that the east is even more restrictive about gender roles. Um. Ok then. I understand the logic behind your opinion, but I really wouldn't want to be in your shoes in the forum in the next few months. Really, this is just asking for trouble. Boyce Kline (no relation) gives a little advice for people still trying to find good models for their Dragonchess set. Interesting. Nice to see that still getting a bit of attention. Underestimating druids (is a bad practice): Gee, ya reckon? Yeah, they don't have as good weapon and armour options as clerics. But if you're a goddamn polar bear, who cares. But then, this is before the internet, which enabled character optimizers from all around the world to pool their knowledge in seconds. People were less likely to be disabused of their face value impressions then. Really, with their fast spell progression and low mid level XP requirements, druids are one of the most badass classes in the game, and this article goes to considerable lengths to point out just how to make the most of their abilities. Spells, social abilities, companions, special powers, all are pretty effective, even in dungeons. We get mathematical analyses of their spell access compared to other primary casters, showing just how quickly they get their badass powers by comparison. And we get additional justification of why they would become adventurers and work with good people. Expect a big spike in the number of people playing them in the near future, because this is pretty unambiguous. A solid start that hits both the mechanical and flavour buttons just fine. Is there a doctor in the forest: Herbalism. We've already had an article on this (issue 82), but it seems fitting for the issue's theme, so here's another one. With slightly higher overall power level, and considerably less flavour text and descriptive detail, this is very definite power creep compared to the last one, while also having less of a sense of irony about the quirks of healing in D&D. Once again we see how the game has gradually become taken more seriously, even as it remains just as ludicrous from a purely objective viewpoint. I vaguely disapprove. A definite step towards focussing on the crunchy effects for everything over the flavour. On becoming the great druid: Booyeah. Druidic battles. Now here's one of the D&D system's quirks they should have examined in detail a long time ago. While it can be inconvenient in troupe play where people are expected to stick together, high level druidic politics is a rich ground for adventures. How big are the areas covered by a particular druidic hierarchy. Can you get around this particular restriction by heading to an area which currently doesn't have the full quota of high level characters? Just what do druidic challenges entail? Remember, they are true neutral, so they are fully entitled to be sneaky and red in tooth and claw in their machinations, even though they have to play fair once the challenge is actually taking place. This is rich ground for interesting setpieces, alliances, betrayals, twists, backroom deals, falls and comebacks, all the things that you should be up too at name level politics. A solid article that doesn't quite match up to the depth the topic is covered next edition in the complete druids handbook, but is still quite adequate as a mind expander for the general population. A solid continuation to this month's theme. Cantrips for druids - Naturally: We had them for wizards. We had them for clerics recently. Now all the primary spellcasting classes have an additional selection of minor magics to make their everyday life a little more convenient. 12 minor spells that are primarily just for everyday work, but can be used inventively to turn a sticky situation round for adventurers. The somatic components are described as well, and are generally amusingly appropriate. (although as the forum shows, not everyone appreciates this <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" /> ) A short but sweet article, that you can integrate into your own game easily enough, and hopefully will add to it.</blockquote>

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