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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 4981086" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 152: December 1989part 4/5Cyberspace by I.C.E. What with cyberpunk and shadowrun coming out around the same time, it looks like we have a bit of a fad going on. Obviously, not all of them will survive, as with any bandwagon. In quest of adventure: Hmm. Questing to achieve goals for some higher power, or atone for some misdeed. Certainly something with plenty of literary antecedents. This could stand a little more incorporation into D&D. On the other hand, it's also something that could be handled very wrongly, as the crappy fiction at the start of this article shows. Arbitrary railroading for some piddling infractions while ignoring other ones is a textbook way to get a pissed off party. On the other hand, getting levels restored or a bud raised is a very expensive business, and doing a quest for that kind of thing rather than paying is a much more dramatic option, that can lead into all kinds of spin-off adventures as you encounter people along the way, and take on their adventures as well. This is a good demonstration of the fact that it's much easier to build adventures for a character if they have some strong principles or goals, as you have carrots and sticks to work with and riff off. It's also a good reminder that if the characters are becoming too powerful, you can reduce them in capability by removing stuff or putting them in a situation where they can't use it without making things worse, allowing you to reestablish a degree of drama without starting a whole new set of characters. So if you wanna kick it second edition stylee, this is a good article to draw upon. If not, treat with great caution. Palladium reminds us that they liked TMNT before it was cool and got it's own show and movies. Don't think it's going to be all kid friendly like the new stuff. The game wizards: One of the few people still present who was part of the company nearly from the beginning, Jim Ward is now one of the most senior figures in TSR, and has responsibilities to match. This includes a whole bunch of silly little things, like making sure the mail goes to Lake Geneva, USA, not the original Geneva in Switzerland. And not getting out of touch and remembering how to have fun, and produce games that are fun for you. He makes a few jokes about becoming an evil dictator, which probably are less funny if he's being leaned upon by TSR's real evil overlord :wolves howl, organ music plays, evil laughter: And he gives a few hints as to next year's upcoming products. Despite the touches of humour, this isn't as informative as the last couple of years end articles, and feels like worrying foreshadowing. Soon the problems you jest about will be happening in all seriousness. And you will be the one responsible for passing down the cycle of pain, making sure someone produces all the Buck Rogers stuff. How do you justify that to yourself? Definitely something worth thinking about. The role of computers: Dragon Wars shows that even 8 bit systems can have pretty decent graphics. Another adventure game where you start from nothing, and become a serious badass and overthrow the evil ruler of the land. Assemble a party, learn a wide variety of spells, and get exploring. The usual mix of fighting, puzzle solving and talking to annoying villagers ensues. They give it 5 stars. The Kristal is based on a stage play, of all things. Take the role of Dancis Frake <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f644.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll eyes    :rolleyes:"  data-smilie="11"data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /> and engage in space piracy. Piloting, swordfights, and the incredibly annoying problem of landing. It does have a few programming glitches, but overall, is another fun tricky game for you to grab for christmas. Indiana Jones and The last crusade - The graphic adventure is one of the many tie-ins to George Lucas' big summer blockbuster. A point and click adventure puzzle game, you find items, solve puzzles, and talk to people to progress through the game and get top score. This'll probably take quite a few playthroughs, and consulting a hint book for the last few points. With a whole bunch of different tricks to master, they give it 5 stars. Lucasfilm do seem to put quite a bit of effort into these things. Beyond the black hole is a stereoscopic 3D game Put on the 3d glasses, and enjoy a distant, far more sophisticated descendent of Pong. It also gets 5 stars for it's spectacular visuals and interesting gaming challenges. They are being generous today. Ahh, the joys of gimmicks. So glad we can do proper 3D games without needing stuff like that these days. TSR Previews: Another all D&D schedule this month. On the generic side, we have the updated battlesystem rules. Are you ready to add a little mass to your combat again? No? Wimps. More significantly, we have the complete fighter manual. Splatbooks may have been around for quite a while, but here's where they really start making their mark. Say hello to kits, lots of new toys, and all the bloat that goes with them. The forgotten realms is really doing well again this month. The third monstrous compendium compiles a ton of creatures, many of which probably got their first appearance in the magazine, and updates them as per usual. They give us the trail map for Kara-Tur. FR9: Bloodstone lands shows you how to play really high level adventures of your own. And Pool of Radiance becomes a novel, having already been a computer game and a module. How many people will have both the desire and money to snap all these 4 up? Regular D&D continues to quietly do increasingly strange things, with PC2: Top Ballista! Not a very informative name, this bemused me when I first heard of it. Still, skyship flying techie gnomes have potential, otherwise we wouldn't return to them. Hopefully these guys'll be less irritating than their krynnish counterparts.</blockquote>

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