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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4872708" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 132: April 1988part 3/5Sage advice is tiny this month. That's a relieving change. Can woodland creatures charge in the woods (only as long as they aren't part of a unit.) Will flying over the woods negate the sight penalties. (only with respect to other flying creatures. And the pope's big pointy hat. )Do you need initiative to do a wrap-around (nope) Can you do a wrap around if attacked from the rear (Muuuust resist making your mom jokes. So hard. (your mom makes me so hard) Damnitt! And I was so close. )Can missiles be fired into melee (only if you don't mind hitting your allies as well)How do you hit a tree (Shoot at it.  Roll to hit normally. It'll probably be AC10, as trees don't move unless the grand druid (ie, celtic pope <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=";)" /> ) asks them too.) How fast will a forest burn. (Fairly slowly. Wind direction will play a big part in how it spreads. ) How do you calculate damage against creatures with different HD sizes. ( blah blah, average hit points, blah blah divide by 4.5, blah blah statistical gubbins. )Let the good dice roll: Another attack of statistical analysis here, showing us the probabilities of getting various ability scores with the various rolling methods. All seems pretty familiar. Come on, there's plenty of other stuff to run the math on. We don't need this again. Next! Fiction: Out of hand by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Kids with uncontrolled powerful magic. Just one of the things that's common in fiction, that really doesn't work in D&D. (although a really good roll on the psionic wild talents tables could just about emulate it. ) Here's that trope mixed with another common one, that of pictures stepping off the paper and coming to life. And of course, events proceed from there as you'd expect. Some people want to keep her talent under wraps, while others want to exploit it. A rather formulaic entry really. Still, deserves credit for it's strong portrayal of the life of a craftsman and their dealings with the clergy. Holy blessings don't pay the bills, and a man's gotta keep working no matter how you curse him. Overall, I think this comes out about average. The ecology of the Aurumvorax: Now this is a nice story. One of the monsters that demands ecological and social consequences to their existence gets them in spades. Greed, envy, use as a tracking device, material shortages, these guys definitely get the interest of adventurers of all stripes, trying to study or kill it. You can profit substantially if you can kill one, but you can potentially profit even more if you can manage the expensive process of raising one from a kitten. Of course, you'll have to watch out for envious people wanting a slice of the benefits without paying the costs. We see the trend for unreliable narrators turned up a notch in this one, keeping the "truth" back for the footnotes. And although there are less of those than in many of these, this is still a pretty enjoyable entry. There's definitely several extended and possibly convoluted adventures to be built using these ideas. Orcwars: This month's centrepiece is another mildly humorous, but still entirely playable little complete game. Even more than Nibar's keep, this is easily integrated into an actual D&D game, and indeed, is set in the Known World. Unite the Orc hordes, and ravage the civilized lands. Whoza get ta be da warboss? Sound like fun? Certainly looks like fun, with multiple winning objectives, and plenty of tactical choices. Will you obey da code of ethnics? Will you primarily raid da hooman caravans, or beat up the the other tribes? Decisions, decisions. Ug tired of decisions, want to SMASH! As ever, if I get the chance to try this out, I will report back on how it turned out. Arcane Lore: More druidic goodies in here this month. Want to be able to use animal tricks without completely transforming into one? Not a bad idea, and seems entirely within their thematic remit. So heres 6 new spells. Bat sonar, Deer speed, Lions claws, Oxen strength, bear hug, and vipers bite (with full power save or die poison, amazingly enough. ) That's some serious buffing, especially if you start combining them and developing your own animal power imitators. So a pretty cool idea, but one which may open the door to even greater feats of twinkery. Anyone who underestimates druids is a fool, as has been proven far too many times in the magazine. The king of conventions: Looks like this year, they're definitely trying to promote con going more in the magazine. Gen Con and Origins have finally got over the bad blood that polarised people in the late 70's/early 80's, and are working together with the RPGA to make an even bigger and better experience for YOU! As they said a couple of months ago, mini's in particular are getting a big push, as they try once again to stem the decline in wargaming. Poor old guard, trying so hard, when we know in hindsight they are doomed to fail. So this is one that is somewhere between amusing and sobering, for it could well be us next. What are we to do? Move on quickly, before things get too morbid. :brrr:</blockquote>

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