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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5173003" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 181: May 1992part 4/8More magic for beginners: Greg Detwiler feels like he's been doing this often and frequently enough to publish a sequel to one of his previous articles. Have a little more confidence in yourself. Ed was starting to do that kind of stuff right from his second submission. So here we have some more sample items and useful advice for those of you who want to be generous with the magic without breaking the game. The solution? Finer graining of powers.  Items of Proficiency and Specialisation allow anyone to use them straight away. This allows you to have a full golfbag of weapons, which is rather tricky to do normally under the proficiency system. Just be careful not to become too dependent on the item over your own skill, otherwise you'll be in big trouble if you lose it. Weapons of Enchantment penetrate DR, but aren't any more likely to hit and cause damage. Just the thing for if you want to slow advancement into monty haul territory while still giving the players regular measurable upgrades. We know D&D has problems in this area, and here's part of the solution. Miniature/Polymorphed gear are another couple of ways of getting round the encumbrance limit. just say the word, and it goes from full size to something else more convenient. This is particularly useful for rogues and other people who want to take stuff where it shouldn't be. Illusory Missiles are further variants on his ideas from issue 149. You're unlikely to disbelieve them in the middle of a heated combat, so it's almost as good as the real thing. Just make sure you finish them off properly once they're down. Continual Torches have both the benefits of a torch, and an item with continual light cast upon them. This means you can set fire to stuff, but also makes them trickier to put away. Decisions decisions. I can see some groups having a long discussion over the merits and ramifications of these two options. Weapons of Illumination are another case of taking the benefits of established items, and splitting them up. Want a sword which sheds light, but doesn't give you any bonus to hit or damage? I suppose it's better than nothing, once again. Hammers & spikes of Silence are of course ideal for the enterprising thief who doesn't want to wake people. It's the little things that make the big difference when the element of surprise is at stake. Armor of comfort comes in various forms. The basic variety lets you sleep in it without penalty. There are also variants which allow you to stay comfortable in environmental extremes, with the strongest even protecting you against otherplanar environments. I think that's easily worth the equivalent of a plus or two in terms of convenience. Sleeping bags of Armor Nullification are another solution to the same problem. Snooze in comfort without undressing. Just make sure you get out quickly when danger threatens. Another one that might not be particularly powerful, but can definitely be a lifesaver, and makes adventuring a much more pleasant experience in general. This is why you should stay on the good side of spellcasters. The role of computers: The writers here continue to back the wrong horse, heaping praise on the Atari Lynx, and trying to make comparatively small figures look impressive. It's faintly embarrassing in hindsight. But then, the Dreamcast was also a good system that seemed to be finally picking up speed when it was cancelled. Like VHS and Betamax, it's hard to know who the winner of a console war will be, and the battles can go on years before one side concedes. For now, they're still fighting. Warbirds,Shangai, Block Out and Ishido all get short but very positive reviews. A whole bunch of different genres are catered for now. Get in while you still can. Danger zone is our only negative review. With mediocre graphics and truly terrible sound, it really isn't keeping up with the other flight sims on the market. Seems a bit of an afterthought amongst the vast quantities of hints, many for years old games.</blockquote>

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