Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5101215" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 172: August 1991part 5/6Into the spirit of things: A little runequest stuff this month. (featuring a recycling of that vampire pic from the expert set yet again, where it seems rather inappropriate. ) Although quite a few of them are necromantically focussed, actually. Feigning death, zombie creation, turning yourself in to an undead creature, possessing someone else's body, those all seem like pretty standard D&D conversions. But there are a few new ones, like erasing spells from others minds, synergistic spellcasting, selective invisibility, and permanent removal of ability scores. Actually seems like a pretty powerful set overall, and allowing them in your game will have significant consequences. Just the thing for a bit of hidden lore they'll want to spend a few sessions chase down. Possibly a bit twinky, but that's the risk you take with magazine articles. Nice to see the variety, as ever. Shining Armor: Top Secret continues on directly from last issue. Last time, you got advice and weapons for fighting tanks. This time it's for playing as the crew of one. \m/ This is actually pretty tricky, as there is more to it than just rolling in and killing everything. Even something as big and obvious as a tank can be hidden, and there are lots of logistical issues to consider when owning one. Not to mention how unpleasant it actually is in one, and the limited visuals you have. I do hope that cameras and computers have reduced that issue quite a bit in the intervening decades. Anyway, enjoy the stats for 15 APCs, 24 full size tanks, 4 tank destroyers, and 4 other light armoured vehicles. Another dense little article, full of crunch, that doesn't hesitate to draw on supplements and previous magazine articles, this'll be damn useful to a few people, and a bit of a pain for everyone else. It is interesting to see them continuing to do very niche stuff like this, and I wonder what the current level of pressure is to drop it. Oh well, a good half a decade more to enjoy yet. Completing the complete fighter: Kits! At bleedin' last! It's been two years since 2nd ed arrived, and only a couple months less since kits started rolling out in the supplements. You'd think they'd have published some before now. Still, better late than never, particularly when they're the class that most needs customising. Throw open the floodgates, come in, come in! Assassins demonstrate their new commitment to equal opportunities killing for hire, with a fighter variant. (after all, thieves already have a kit in their splatbook. ) Unsurprisingly, they get moderate stealth and backstabbing abilities, with their only drawback being the illegality of their profession. (which in some places isn't a drawback at all) So they're pretty par with swashbucklers for twinkiness, likely to lead an entertaining life and outshine your average fighter handily. Nomads slot in perfectly to the recent Horde stuff. Extra badass at attacking from horseback, but slightly disadvantaged off it, they seem fairly balanced. No objections here. Northmen are another one that gets solid benefits for merely social penalties. Still, two bonus nonweapon proficiencies are hardly game-breaking, are they. You really never do have enough of them, as I've said so many times. So it's two fairly solid kits and one slightly overpowered one. Not a terrible haul. Looks like the magazine is finally getting into the groove of the 2nd edition. Still a long way to go before they overtake the number of 1st ed classes, but hopefully they'll get there. 9 more years to go, and kits do generally come in larger batches. Guess I'll have to keep going and count them up at the end. Playing the crowd: Ooh. Social combat. Wasn't expecting that. Rules for getting the attention of a mob and bending them to your will. Very much a case of May the most Charismatic man Win, as you would expect, but facts also play a part. Having patsies in the crowd will definitely help, for the mob is stupid and fickle. Don't expect them to stick around and risk their lives if the going gets tough. And if you succeed, expect people to remember you and possibly spread distorted stories of your exploits. Woo. All seems pretty simple to implement, and has potential to give you considerable amounts of fun. This is one that may not be that big, but more than makes up for it in adventurousness. Two thumbs up. Ashes to ashes? Looks like Vampire already has a supplement. Guess they got off the bat running as well. Was this a home run?</blockquote>

Verification