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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4815556" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 123: July 1987 part 3/5Lords & Legends: Ur characters, we are wanting them. As was suggested a few months ago in a letter, sample characters are another rich ground for freelance submissions. So send them in! We can't do this without you! Interesting development. Will they be as horrendously twinked as the stuff from Giants in the earth? Signs so far do not look promising, with not a single below average stat between them. Yoshitsune, Benkei, Hsu Hsun, Myamoto Musashi, the current upsurge in oriental material continues, and most of them have some special ability that ordinary PC's can't get. This annoyed me first time round, and it looks like it's going to be bugging me again. Le sigh. Not a pleasing development. Gamers around the world: Ooh. We finally have an article that isn't remotely rehashed. A guide on how to write letters when trying to contact people through the world gamers guide. After all, making first contacts with strangers is one of the most nerve wracking things to do for a huge number of people. Making a <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=":)" /> of yourself, or the fear of doing so, can be huge problems, because if you get off on the wrong foot a potential relationship is ruined before it even gets a chance. So we have a whole bunch of advice on proper letter writing procedure. What to put in, what to leave out, and roughly what order to do it in. Formal letter writing was already an art in decline in those days, and of course, the internet has hastened that process, so this does feel a little anachronistic. But the basic principles are still sound, and well worth reiterating. Whether you're looking for a new group to join nearby, trying to set up a play-by-mail game, or simply exchanging correspondence with someone who interested you, this is some valuable advice that will hopefully encourage quite a few people to make that scary first step into communicating with people across the world. Memorable and very much appreciated. The ecology of the giant leech: What is this, gross-out season? Okay, leeches aren't as icky as rot grubs, but they still have quite a substantial squick factor. Another amusing tale, as an orc and a half-orc plot against one-another in the swamps. Who will wind up becoming dinner? Brains will win over brawn in a situation like this. Plenty of tricks nicked from real world biology in what is pretty good as a bit of fiction, but not hugely imaginative in making the conversion from little real world creature to giant fantasy creature. So overall, a fairly average entry. Moral lesson, a little real world biology info, a little encounter advice, all wrapped up in time for tea, another perfectly serviceable way to fill a couple of pages. Time flies: You can NOT have a proper campaign unless strict timekeeping records are taken! So said Gary! <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=";)" /> Yeah. timekeeping can be a tricky business. So here's 5 pages of tables that you can photocopy, and use to help you with this. Going all the way from turns to years, you can tick off time as it passes, and make little notes as to what happened in each interval. While it may need to be adapted to your own campaign, as it chooses symmetry over realism, this is another invaluable bit of advice that they haven't given us before, and is pretty much unconnected to specific systems. Like the writing in advice, this is also applicable to subjects far beyond roleplaying, and a refreshing change from their usual fare. This is a direction I could definitely appreciate for a while, as it gives me plenty of stuff to steal for other games. Just making time: We continue on from the last article, as is often their way. Now this is also very useful. Roger talks about making a calendar and astrological setup for your own world, and reveals that of the various D&D worlds. Toril and Krynn match earth's precisely, at 365.25 days a year. Oerth has a rather neater calendar of of 364, while Mystara is a fast one, with years only 336 days long. All except krynn have satellites fairly similar to earth's moon. Another slightly depressing reminder of how much more adventurous they could have been with the cosmologies and layouts of their worlds, but still interesting reading. Remember folks, you can do much better than this, because you don't have to worry about homogenising things for a large audience who may not be paying attention. Don't be afraid to experiment with your world design, and make things non symmetrical. It'll spice things up quite considerably. Colours, shapes, orbital periods, rotation times, cosmological influence. I look forward to making you lose track of them and have to look it up. <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=";)" /></blockquote>

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