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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4816758" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 123: July 1987 part 4/5Sage advice: What's the point of leather barding if horses have a natural AC of 7 (Good point. Methinks a little revised table is in order. Now everything's shiny again.)How much damage does a catapult do (See the master set. Skip don't put out unless you pay, babe. I don't care if you got the chance to use them way before 26th level.)What's the difference between light and heavy crossbows. (range, rate of fire, cost, weight. What isn't different.)Do you lose initiative when using a bastard sword one handed (not unless you spend several minutes flipping through the rulebook to check this.) What is a war hammer, +3 Boomerang (I think this is another case of well duh. It's +3 to hit and damage, and if you throw it, it automatically comes back. Gives your dwarven fighter a whole new set of cool descriptions to their moves. )How much damage does a lance do (1d10, but only on horseback. They're big awkward things. There is such a thing as being impractically well hung.) What's a javelin (like a spear, but with a longer throwing range. Thin pointy things come in many shapes and sizes. I could make another peenar joke but I won't)The Combat charts contradict the separate listings (oops, our bad again)What are the split numbers on the water movement charts ( for boats that have both oars and sails) How much food do you find when foraging. (an abstract number measured in meals per day. We can not be bothered to deal with the vagaries in human taste and appetite.  ) What is storm giant's special damage (calling lightning. You've been reading wormy, haven't you? Yeah, it's like that. ) How does a roc save (at Beaklays bank. ) What happens if a lightning bolt hits a solid object ( The DM can choose if it bounces straight back, or billiard style. Either way, hilarity may ensue, and other members of your party be hurt. Isn't invisible stalker overpowered (Oh no. It is emminently subvertable. Summoned creatures are pains in the ass to keep under control. ) Fiction: Palimpsest by Tais Teng. Hmm. Another twist on a few familiar topics in this month's fiction. Seemingly incomprehensible fae, 4th wall breaking stories, post apocalypse, and philosophical musing on the foolishness of humanity, willing to cut off their own hand just to spite their arm. Put together in such a way that you expect it to take one plot twist, and then it does a different one at the end, yet if you go back and reread, it all makes sense in light of that revelation, this is another pretty interesting piece that'll hopefully get your mind working to create similar twists in your own games. They are pulling a lot of surprises out of their hat this issue. Just when you think it's going to be predictable and formulaic, they throw you a curveball. Whee! The whole-earth Ecology: The Star frontiers article this month is another one on building realistic creatures. Why are they the way they are? How common are they? What do they eat. How do they survive. What is their relationship with other creatures in the same region. Are they physically plausible. This last one is much more important in sci-fi than fantasy, for the degree of pure handwavium that the genre can tolerate is not as great. Not nearly as big or imaginative as Lew Pulspher's article on the same subject back in issue 59, this is a return to the same old rehash, slightly reflavoured for a different game. Another one that would be perfectly reasonable for a more recent reader, but doesn't really throw any new ideas or tricks into the mix for me to use. Like many a critic, novelty seems to becoming increasingly paramount in my equations of if I enjoy an article. After all, anyone can practice doing the same thing over and over again, and get better at it, but no matter how many new ideas you come up with, it never ceases being really hard coming up with more.The marvel-phile: Jeff gets back to some long unfinished business, with three more of the heralds of galactus. (see issue 92 for the first three) Air-walker, Firelord, and Destroyer. (but not Aunt May <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=";)" /> <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /> ) More cosmic level characters who had decidedly short tenures before being destroyed or retiring. A planet eating force of nature just can't keep good help these days. Who will he try and recruit next, what amusing themes will their powers have, and how will they cope with their heavy burden? Another bit of contractual obligation filler before he carries out his next diabolical plan, a list of the people killed off by Scourge. I look forward to it.</blockquote>

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