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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5081431" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 169: May 1991part 5/6Bazaar of the Bizarre: Ed Greenwood turns his mind to ends more useful than last month, with another collection of quirky magical items. Back in issue 74 he gave us seven swords, now he gives us a dozen daggers. (so what we need are nine clubs with nails in, eight bohemian ear spoons, six spears a-stabbing, FIVE FAUCHARD-FORKS! Four flails lashing, three tridents twirling, and possibly a partridge in a pear tree. Can you guess when I wrote this bit <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />) Since these collections from him are generally pretty good, I'm quite optimistic about this. Let's see what cool tricks he's come up with this time. Blades of banishing dispel wards by cutting through them. Just the thing for a fighter who distrusts most magic and doesn't have a wizard on the team. Chill Blades not only hurt, they make you frostbitten and appropriately clumsy. This'll make fighting enemies with tons of hit points and big damage outputs a lot easier, as you can really wear them down. Dagger of defiance make it near impossible to get rid of you magically. Another good antiscrewage one for a fighter expecting trouble. Daggers of doomwarding give you a second chance in a pinch. Another thing that could be just what the doctor ordered. After all, what price your life in a world where save or die effects aren't uncommon. Dragonfangs let you shoot (not very impressive) lightning bolts and kill dragons more easily. These ones are probably more appropriate for wizards who'd like an extra blasty effect for if they run out. Fang Daggers have snakes heads and are poisonous. They're still not as nasty as most save-or-die monsters, but certainly not terrible. Once again we're seeing that new powers and creatures introduced here are actually frequently less terrifying than the old ones. Grimwald's Dagger is another sadistic creation from the mage who brought you the healing screwing greymantle. (see issue 92) It makes horrible noises and causes you to suffer from uncontrollable laughter. I think we're definitely getting a good idea of his personality and approach to combat. Invisible blades are pretty self explanatory. They're completely silent too. Just the thing for an assassin. Watch you don't cut yourself trying to find it again. Jump Daggers let you go all wuxia, adding an awesome cinematic edge to your combat. They have another special use that's even cooler, and would never be allowed in later editions. Someone taking proper advantage of this would be very good at winning fights without anyone getting hurt. Rust blades are made from rust monster antennae, and their special effect should be pretty obvious. Now anyone can screw you over and ruin all your stuff in combat. Muahahahaha!!!!!!  Speaking Daggers allow you to incorporate the worst aspects of mobile phones into your combat, repeating a prerecorded message every time they hit something. They can be both incredibly irritating, and used inventively as a secret way to deliver messages. Just the thing to give a villain with a fondness for Xanatos Gambits. Deedoloo dedoloo deduldumdedee. Genius. Spider fangs let you generate webs, and pass through other people's. Another one that's good for dealing with people without directly fighting them. So this is a fun collection, full of items that aren't generally obscenely powerful (People obviously prefer their unique named weapons a bit bigger and more impressive looking), but strongly useful, and which reward clever thinking and encourage playful action scenes. Looks like he's very much back on form. Forum is interestingly multicultural this month.Scott A Steinmetz talks about his convention experiences, and gives some advice on picking con games to join in on. Generally, the more choice, the better your chance of finding something you like, so big conventions have an edge. Don't be afraid to haggle, it's direct dealing, not a shop. And remember, it's not actually that hard to get involved as a GM or other volunteer either. The harder you go for it, the more fun you're likely to have.  Fabio Luis De Paoli speaks out in favour of letting evil characters indulge the full range of villainy if you allow them in your game. Otherwise it's just a bit wishy-washy. People need to remember it's only a game, and doing vile things to each other within it shouldn't spoil RL friendships.  Dan Howarth rebutts Toby Myers on the computer debate thing. They seem to be talking past one-another. Perils of written communication. Kristian Teglbjaerg encourages you to build your character as an individual, with a proper backstory and such, rather than just part of a party to fill a role. Solo play can be a fun way of getting to really know your character. Ahh yes, another thing that has risen and then fallen again in D&D land, with 4e in particular encouraging you to build and play your characters as a team.</blockquote>

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