Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5026402" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 160: August 1990part 2/6The last call inn: Willie Walsh pops over from Dungeon to provides us something that isn't quite a full adventure, but certainly facilitates them. A fully mapped out inn plus a few helpful statblocks, along with quite a bit of description of what the average medieval inn was like. If the players get a little rambunctious, having a proper environment to maneuver in, fight, and run away will be a very definite help, for drawing up maps on the fly slows things down quite considerably. Like the underdark bit in issue 132, and the sample castles in issue 145, this is both more immediately useful than most of their articles, and a lot more rehash resistant, as even if they return to the same topic, different people will always put very different spins on maps and statting out stuff, and you can incorporate more than one location into your campaign easily, which is often more than can be said for optional rules. So yeah, pretty pleasing to see some more of this stuff. The touch of the black hand: Another far more specific article than usual, complete with maps. This is definitely a welcome change, and I do wonder if it'll be the start of a trend. Thieves guilds are another thing that you could have peaceful interactions with, or it could all go wrong and you wind up breaking in for the sake of love, vengeance or retrieval, like a certain heroic duo who've made several appearances in the magazine. Interestingly, they decide to make the guild small enough that every individual is named and statted out individually. Which makes sense, given the size of the average settlement in D&D, and avoids the kind of problem we saw all too often in say, VtM, where you supposedly had this 100,000 to one ratio, and yet every settlement had a full complement of social positions including enough members of every clan that the position of primogen actually meant something, which was ridiculous. But enough about things that haven't happened yet. These guys seem to be pretty smart cookies, with the brains to know how far they can push it, robbery-wise, and about the right proportion of multiclass characters to add extra skills to the mix. They're also plugged in to the support industries, both low and high class, that keep them out of trouble. You could do a lot worse than following their example. Once again, this is both likable and well done, useful for characters over a wide range of levels and scenarios. It adds up to this being a pretty top notch themed section. I look forward to slipping these guys into my gaming experience. Sage advice: Your ruling on Raistlin's decay-o-vision is contradicted by the novels ( You ought to know by now that novel characters are not bound by D&D rules. This doesn't even deserve justifying. )There is a half-orc in Love and War. I thought there were no orcs on krynn ( Bloody writers. Skip must discipline them a little. Mmm. Skip is going to enjoy this. ) What are the age, weight, etc, for Krynn's PC races (See the dragonlance monstrous compendium appendix) I don't understand basic class name abbreviations ( You see, you take the first letter of the class. There's only 8 of them, and none have the same initial. Shouldn't be that hard to remember. ) When do tinker gnomes get proficiencies, and what combat table do they use (2/3, and wizards. They aren't good at regular fighting. This is what giant steam powered mecha which explode easily (and hopefully have an ejector seat ) are for) I still want more info about tinker gnomes (Um, why? You're not planning on playing one, are you?! )How many draconians can you get from a single egg. Can you make chromatic draconians? (Lots. 4d12 is a good example number, and the weaker ones produce even more. Probably, but no-one's done it yet.)Why are there mentions of monks and assassins if those classes aren't allowed on krynn. (Because there are still religious types that pray in obscure corners, and people who kill people for money. They just don't get special skill sets for doing so. You can take the appropriate kits if you really like. ) Why are there no invocation spells (because invocation and evocation are the same school. Your confusion is understandable)Do minotaurs and irda get thief skill modifiers (nope. We were feeling lazy that day)What are the stats for hoopak (Meh. Help you play a kender? Skip thinks not. )How can you have knights of solamnia before they were founded. ( Writing sloppiness. Go commiserate with the House V'neef fans)Do clerics in krynn get bonus spells for wisdom. Do clerics of the magic gods get wizard spells ( Yes. No, because they do not exist, as Skip said before. )Where is more info on the valley of the mage (WG12. Buy now! etc etc.)Can 0 level characters keep their powers when they learn a class (as long as they keep practicing. )Why do 0 level characters loose stuff when they gain levels ( Because they've been doing it all wrong, and need to unlearn their bad habits to gain truly great skills. The classes are the true ways, and picking up skills piecemeal like we do in the real world is just crap in comparison. Oh if only there were still heroes such as this in this world to teach the people here the true ways. Then you would see people able to take dozens of blows and keep fighting and climb sheer walls without tools like spiders. Oh woe, for these are fallen times. )What is a time of special need (When your god thinks so. )What gods are venerated in Celene (Mostly Ehlonna)Who hates goblinoids (Everyone, even other goblinoids! Can I get an Amen? Can I get a hell yeah? Now everybody scream! )What are the racial demographics of Ulek. What race is their leader (Read closely, padawan, and all will be revealed. Remember, everyone's human unless we say otherwise. See the prejudice inherent in the system. )</blockquote>

Verification