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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4906760" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 139: November 1988part 3/5TSR previews: D&D gets GAZ9: the minrothad guilds. Want to be a merchant prince rather than a dungeoneer? Let's hope they figure out how to make another playstyle fun. AD&D gives Kara-Tur it's own full boxed set. Zeb Cook must be very happy that he gets to keep revisiting and adding to this. Marvel Superheroes is picking up the pace with it's third gamers handbook following hot on the heels of the second. M to R get to find out all their powers. And now we must fight.Novelwise, as mentioned earlier, we have Azure Bonds. Alias and crew gotta do what they gotta do. Will you enjoy reading about it too? Dragonlance is still recycling material on the other hand, with our third installment of the graphic novel conversion of the first series. And finally, on the wargaming front, the Sniper system gets the Bug Hunter game. As inspired by Predator and Starship troopers. Now that's how you don't do alien relations. Buck Rogers has yet more upcoming products next year. They really are going to push this for everything they can, aren't they. Hand-to-hand Against the rules: Nerf time again. They've introduced tons of new martial arts in the magazines, plus a few general revisions. But here, the writer wants to reduce the access many classes have to these powers. He also wants to save us from ourselves, by fixing the problem of classes specialising in them when it would provide markedly less benefit than specialising with a weapon. This article actually turns out to be better thought out than first impressions would indicate, if rather conservative in terms of enforcing training requirements and social divisions. Not every member of each class should have the same attitude, especially in a setting where members of one class often pretend to be members of another. A mixed bag of suggestions here, some of which I like, and others which I don't. Guess I'll just have to do the usual plunder and discard routine then. Jetboots, don't fail me now: Star Frontiers' article this month attempts to solve that old chessnut of making exciting chase scenes when everyone of the same race moves at the same rate. And fail, because the solution used still results in a fixed movement rate for a particular individual, only now that rate varies slightly based on their attributes. So success or failure in a chase is still pretty much fixed. And they don't even take encumbrance into account. A not particularly good bit of filler. Sage advice: Can a spellcaster memorise a lower level spell in a high level slot (No, unless they use metamagic. That would let you cast particular spells more often and mess up the game balance) Can you be hurt by your own fireball (Oh yes. Muahahaha! Don't forget the volume of the fireball splays out if there isn't enough room for it to expand properly. Fireballs in dungeons are responsible for many adventurer casualties. ) Are there restrictions on magic-users trading spells ( Only whatever costs indivdual magic-users impose. Aren't you glad you don't have to deal with an overarching organisation imposing stupid union rules like thieves, assassins, monks, druids, etc. ) Can rangers wear plate mail (If they don't mind the stealth penalties. )How do rangers get MU spells (from the justified ancients of mu-mu. Kick out the jams, y-all!) What level do rangers cast spells, do they get bonus spells for high stats, can they use items for magic users once they can cast spells (Rerun questions. Change the channel luv) How can a ranger build a stonghold if they can only own what they can carry ( If someone else technically owns it. )Do elven rangers surprise chances stack (no, use the best.)Can dual class fighters and rangers specialise or not ( Depends if you take material from dragon as official. Remember, Gary's stuff isn't official anymore, no matter how much he claimed it was at the time. )    What do I do with characters made before the new rules (We'll forgive you if you retcon them, just this once. ) Can you get proficiency in two weapon fighting ( We do not recommend it  Keep whining and wait another 12 years) Is specialization in swords in general or a specific type (One type. Again, you'll have to wait a bit for weapon groups to come into style. ) Can you specialize in more than one weapon (No. Bad twink. )Does weapon specialization count as a magic bonus (no) Why can't assassins use shields anymore (they can, just not during assassinations. Union regulations, again.)Do you have to roll to hit when assassinating (depends if you're abstracting the process or not. The jury is still out on this one. We suspect they may choose to scrap assassins altogether rather than answer it)Can you backstab or assassinate with missile weapons (Skip says No! kids. Other writers will subsequently contradict him. Skip sometimes wishes he could cap all those bitches asses. ) Can you backstab with two weapons (Once you've attacked once, the element of surprise is gone, so nope. ) Do you multiply strength or magical bonuses on a backstab (No, only the dice.)Do super high level thieves get more than 5x damage on backstabs (no) Why can't thieves use longbows ( Not stealthy enough, and not thematic) Do you add elves chance to surprise to their move silently odds (no. use the best roll. Don't keep on.) How far can a thief acrobat fall (oh, pointless minutinae, oh mindless tedium. whyeyeyeyey. Miaow. ) What races can become thief-acrobats (any that can become thieves. Of the base classes, that means any at all, doesn't it.  How generous are we! ) Do thief-acrobats pay extra for training (Nope. Skip likes thief-acrobats. They're cool. Skip does not like assassins. They're not cool. Skip is very partisan. Boom boom mutha<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=":)" /><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=":)" />ers and I'm not talking about Basil Brush here.  ) Do gauntlets of ogre power give you the bonuses to your acrobat skills. (only in your arms, so it only affects your pole vaulting rating. ) Does evasion affect missile attacks (yes) How can thief acrobats multiclass (same as regular thieves. Have you no power of inferance at all? )Can assassins become thief-acrobats (no, as they're part of the same class group. )What races can become cleric/thieves (originaly only half-orcs, but in our benevolence, we have opened up a whole load more in UA)Are druid/illusionists possible (Theoretically, but there's currently no class other than humans which can be both, unless you allow winged folk (issue 51 ) in your game. And given how twinked they are, that would be a bad idea. )Who can become magic-user/assasins (lots of elf subraces. Fear them. ) Can a dual classed cleric/fighter use edged weapons (Skip is a maverick! Skip says yes! Skip forgets how annoying gods are. This is in contradiction of previous rulings and common sense and skip may get slapped for it. )Can you combine specialization and backstabbing (No! Only single classed characters may specialize. Not sure if specialized characters can dual class though. ) Can multiclassed fighter/mages wear plate (As long as they don't mind not being able to cast spells. Which rather defeats the point, doesn't it. ) Can barbarians and cavaliers multiclass (they have to be human, so not at the moment. This may change as more races are introduced )How do demihumans add another class after play (They can't. Oh, woeforous fate. I have chosen my path, and now I am bound to it, unto level I max out and beyond. )When can fighter-illusionist specialize (only if they are human, and newly adopting the fighter class) Do multiclass casters stack levels to determine spell power (No. Note that this is far less crippling than it would be in 3rd edition, because of the exponential nature of the XP tables)How do proficiencies work for muticlassed characters. (They get all of them, but have to spend them separately.) Can humans become triple classed (if they have the obscene stats needed)Can a dual classed fighter make multiple attacks. (Depends. They might be forced to forfeit all their XP for doing so if they do it at the wrong time) Half orcs still haven't had their errata from issue 35 added to the PHB (Sigh. Well spotted. We really ought to get round to that. )Do elves get their full surprise chance while wearing elfin chain (Nope. Even they aren't that good at armourmaking. Makes you wonder why they bother. )</blockquote>

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