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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5175990" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 181: May 1992part 7/8The role of books: Born to run by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon gets one of those reviews where the reviewer wants to like it, but can't quite and doesn't know why, as all the right ingredients seem to be there. Isn't it a pain when that happens. Where has the magic gone? Escape from loki by Philip Jose Farmer is a Doc Savage pastiche prequel. It does not impress our reviewer, being very matter-of-fact and not pulpy at all in it's delivery. Must try harder. Python isle by Kenneth Robeson is another Doc Savage pastiche. it also gets a negative result for it's clumsy, overblown prose, more like fanfic than professional writing. It seems that this property isn't in very good hands. Was it open domain at that point? Horse fantastic, edited by Martin & Rosalind Greenberg is a story compilation about, you've guessed it, humanities favourite riding animal. With a mixture of fantasy and contemporary stories by a range of authors, it shows once again the strengths of the anthology format and the variety of stories you can tell within a seemingly limited topic. It's not all my little pony and black beauty. Tom Swift 6 Aquatech warriors & 7 Moonstalker by Victor Appleton are two rather more successful modern day continuations of a classic pulp series. With surprisingly restrained technology and good packaging, it seems this franchise is in safe hands. Dragon season by Micael Cassutt seems to have a lot in common with our own Twilight Empire. A guy has a girlfriend from another universe, who disappears back there and leaves him holding the baby. Course, there are also some substantial differences. The parallel world is more technologically focussed, and there's more emphasis on the philosophical ramifications of alternate choices. It more than manages to put it's own spin on these themes. A matter of taste by Fred Saherhagen is a vampire story starring Dracula, alternating between modern day intrigue and flashbacks of his life. It has some interesting examination of how vampire's powers and weaknesses intersect with modern technology, and the historical stuff is well researched too. But the powers never overshadow the human drama, which is as it should be. A world of darkness expands the WoD beyond just vampires. There is also poetry. What a surprise. Just the thing to draw in those Dragonlance lovers. The game wizards: Zeb Cook surfaces again to remind us that in 2nd edition, the rules are not the final answer. Unlike in Gary's day, you are not expected to constantly keep up with the latest rules updates and incorporate all the supplements into your game. In fact, since some are contradictory (although not explicitly yet, genre emulation still isn't a mature science. ) this is actually impossible. Similarly, while modules may in theory have a canon date when they take place, adhering to this in your game is a bad idea, and you should change details, make up new rules, etc etc to benefit you. Basically, this is a big plea to all the people out there in reader land to get off his back. He may have been the lead architect of 2nd edition, but he's nowhere near the ultimate authority in the company. He cannot tell you how to play, nor does he want to. 2nd edition is going to continue to expand in multiple different directions, and no one person can keep track of it all. One of those articles that rubs in just how different the company is these days. Superficially it seems a good deal more pleasant, with no-one chewing out the customers, and a real attempt at running professional PR. Course, the behind the scenes atmosphere might not be so good, but they're not letting on. And of course, their overall editorial control is a bit lacking, which will definitely lead to problems along the line. What are we to do with them? :shakes head: A very special agent: A bit more crunch for Top Secret. It certainly gets a lot more player-useful material than Marvel Superheroes, despite not getting articles as frequently. Probably something to do with the approvals process needed for the licence. So here's 5 new advantages and 6 new disadvantages to customise your character with. Well, I say new, but every single one of them I remember also seeing in GURPS, with the prices scaled almost precisely. So like the Runequest articles that convert D&D spells, this is helpful, but not very creative. Even the system for buying new advantages and paying off disadvantages is straight rip. It all rubs in that GURPS is just a better designed system in general. I find this very difficult to like as an article indeed. Vampire release a limited edition dragonskin version of the corebook, and a rubber stamp courtesy of Chessex. Huh. Neither particularly obvious choices given the game's themes.</blockquote>

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