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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4792355" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 119: March 1987part 2/5King of the jungle: Ed gives us a new nature focussed class. The Beastmaster. As with the Incantrix, they warn it's overpowered and should not be allowed to PC's at any cost, but it isn't really all that. (apart from the ridiculous post name level hit points. You're supposed to get fewer, not more on average) Any spellcaster with the ability to choose and develop their own powers will be able to outclass them magically, while a decently trained fighter will be able to take them down in a head-on battle. In terms of wilderness dealing powers, however, they massively outclass rangers, with Ed providing a massive, and not particularly well organized laundry list of powers that'll be a bit of a bugger to remember in actual play. This is very much the equivalent for rangers to Gary's introduction of the cavalier for paladins, something that occupies much the same thematic niche, but expresses it in a much more specific and less elegant way. As with the poorly playtested UA classes we saw in here first, I rather disapprove of this. Not Ed's most stellar work by a long shot, mechanically or flavour-wise. The uldra: Aka pointy hat gnomes, from the far north. Say hello to a new demihuman race for you to play. This is also in theme, just about, as they have strong ties with nature, and make good druids and rangers. Really, this is an attempt to address the fact that neither of our existing short bearded folk are that good at the nature connection thing, despite there being legends featuring them as such. Another demonstration of D&D's tendency to create variants for everything apart from humans. If you made their options a little broader in the first place, we wouldn't have to use kludgy patches like this to fix things. Anyway, despite being symptomatic of a larger underlying problem, this is a pretty decent article in it's own right. They aren't particularly overpowered, and we get plenty of fluff details and stuff on their gods. I would have no particular objection to my players playing one. The ecology of the korred: Ed turns his attention to one of the less commonly used fae races. Slightly smaller, wilder, and weirder relations of satyrs, Korred live in the wilderness, like to dance and play the pipes waaay too much, and make ropes out of people's hair. It's all good clean fun until someone dies of exhaustion. Another of those cases where D&D's adaption of existing myths has had decidedly idiosyncratic effects, creating several subspecies where one with some cultural variations would probably do. Ed once again is not at his best here, giving us a piece of work that is merely adequate, rather than exceptional. Still, we have stats for their god, which is another first for this series, so it's not all bad. But he does seem a bit distracted somehow. Hmm. The dragon's bestiary is also on theme this issue, with a whole cavalcade of sylvan creatures. This brings the total up to 8 articles, equalling the psionics issue. Interesting. Will they break that record at some point? As ever, I look forward to reporting statistics like this. But anyway, back to the topic at hand:Anchu are canid humanoids (with a bad illustration that makes them look more horselike than doglike. Sociable and with a reasonable class selection, they seem pretty well suited to becoming PC's. Giant capybara are even bigger guinea pigs than we see in the real world, up to 8' long. Aww, innit cute. Mweep mweep and all that. If you're in tropical swamps, there's good eatin on one of these. Wild halflings are like wild elves, yet another fricken case of conflating cultural variants with racial variants. Most tiresome. They get a pretty big writeup, giving them a whole host of nature related abilities. Seems like the only races that become civilised are those without an array of special powers that let them survive comfortably in all sorts of conditions. Is this diliberate commentary? Is our weakness and sense of insecurity compared to other races paradoxically what drives us on to do great things, overcompensating for our human limitations. It's an interesting premise. Leshy are another mischevious fae variant drawn from real world mythology. They'll confuse you, misdirect you, and ruin your equipment. This rarely goes down well, despite it saying that they'll regard you better if you laugh at their jokes. Luposphinx are of course dog-headed sphinxes. Like the other animal headed ones, they aren't very nice, and like to have humans for dinner. They often gather little bands of marauding followers as well, just to make things even more inconvenient. They'd make good midlevel bosses behind some bigger plot. Musical spirits are creepy undead that lurk in forests, and can force you to dance until you pass out. If you're clever, you can learn this trick from them. An interesting noncombat challenge here. Sashalus are cunning ambulatory fungi. As scavengers, they generally won't attack you unless you're already hurt. Another Ed Greenwood creation, these do have some of his customary flavour touches. So he's not totally off form this month. Wendigo are people who engaged in cannibalism, and have devolved to the level of beasts as a result. It could happen to you too. If you're starving in the woods, eat dubious berries instead first. Whispering pines are magical trees that mesmerize you if you try and cut them down. You'll need to come prepared if you want to counteract this and not starve to death. Wood giants, aka Voadkyn, are one of those creatures that would go on to be officially published. Relatively small for giants, and with a slight faeish tint, they hang around elves and treants being agreeably mischievous. Another thing that's more dangerous than they seem, with their shapeshifting, stealth, and skill with missiles. Wood Golems are created by druids, and do much the same thing any golem does. Big tough thing go smashy smashy, and be really hard to kill. Of course, being made of wood, it's vulnerable to fire. Take advantage of this if you can. Henchmen and hirelings: Another examination of a seemingly innocuous part of the game. In reality, just getting a decent job is a serious adventure in itself, whether you're an employee or employer. This is another thing that you can introduce into the game, as you try and sort out the serious disciplined followers from the flakes, the powerhungry betrayers, the spies in disguise, the slumming posh kids who'll be useless and complain constantly, but have parents that'll make your life miserable if you let them die, and that guy who says he's a black belt in several martial arts and has saved the world repeatedly, but obviously hasn't washed in months, and openly talks to your boobs during the interview. Another case where you'll have to consider carefully if you want this much realism in your escapism, because this would bore a lot of people, and be exactly what they play to forget. But even if you gloss over most of this, you've still got to sort out how many extras the party has, and how much they're getting paid. Or you could just go it alone, keep all the profits for yourself. Your choice, don't come crying to me when you die horribly. Another middling filler article full of perfectly serviceable crunch and roleplaying advice. I can certainly see myself applying this to sadistic effect.</blockquote>

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