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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5198883" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 184: August 1992part 7/8Novel ideas: Troy Denning once again demonstrates why he's a pro writer and I'm not. You've gotta love the process if you're ever to become a prolific writer. And I still spend far too much of my writing time browsing the web and flicking from one program to another, nibbling at several different things at once to stave off boredom. I can't say I've ever been so engrossed in writing as to lose track of time or my surroundings. Anyway, this is quite an in-depth interview on him and his recent work, particularly the Dark Sun stuff. It's rather taken off, with people fascinated by Athas and wondering what will come next. There are still substantial mysteries in the setting, and the novelty of what's been done to the races and classes hasn't worn off yet. And that's a good thing, as people only really started to lose interest once all the big secrets were revealed. In hindsight, they should probably have covered more of Athas, included a wider range of environments and cultures, and not put all the Sorcerer-kings bunched up in one tiny corner of the world. Still, it's obvious that it has much to recommend it, and he has a good idea of what's coming up in the next couple of years. He's not just the writer for the novels, but an integral part of the world design team, which is definitely a good thing, as Dragonlance's freelance novels demonstrate. Once again the promotional stuff is a good deal more entertaining than usual this month, with plenty of detail that reveals where their heads are at. Funny how that happens. Magic with an evil bite: Some nasty spelljammer stuff here that would fit in nicely with last issue's theme. The neogi, along with beholders and illithids are one of the primary bad guys of the setting. New toys that make them more scary, but which you could hopefully take and use after killing them would be very welcome, especially as the other two already have multiple articles dedicated to them. Venom Bite lets you hit an enemy with the equivalent of a neogi bite, slowing and all. With a very fast casting time, it's an okish zappy spell to debuff your enemies with. Spider Gout lets you spit venom. Since it's material component is neogi saliva, it isn't going to be much use to other wizards. Well, do you want to go collect some? <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" /> Arachnophobia makes thousands of illusory spiders crawl over you. This naturally tends to cause freakout, even if you suspect it isn't real. Since some will run while others will drop and roll, this is a good one for splitting up the enemy for further future sadism. Identify Race allows the arrogant jackasses an easy way to figure out what your slaves are good for without the tedious business of actually talking to them or testing them to their limits the hard way. Lethal Hatchling lets you infect someone with a baby neogi which rapidly eats it's way out. This allows them to replenish their numbers without the usual hassle and need to sacrifice their own and really wreak havoc in battle. Good luck turning said baby into a decent servant though. Nature has a definite edge over nurture here. It's not just spells though. This article has a bunch of magic items for consideration too. Charms of Distraction give minor boosts to your AC, Saves and ability to paralyse stuff. All minor benefits, but they combine to make recurring villains more likely. See, this is just what the earlier article could have done with. Bands of the Serpent let neogi go all thulsa doom on us. This'll also let them expand their range of slaves to less intelligent reptiles as well. Lead an army of crocodiles against your enemies! Perfect pulp win! Bands of the Arachnid, on the other hand, get them in touch with the other half of their heritage. Turning into a spider may seem like a small change, but instadeath poison instead of slowing. Whooo boy. No competition really. On top of that, we also get a monster. Not often you get this kind of variety in a single article. Undead umber Hulks may lack the confusing powers of their living relatives, but ironically the illustration captures the brain hurting power of their 4 eyes and jaw/mandible combo better than the regular MM one. It's like looking at those pictures that can be a vase or two silhouettes. Much kudos to Tom Baxa for pulling off that feat. Both a well presented and versatile article, this was a joy to read, changing subjects quick enough to avoid boredom while maintaining an overarching theme. Very strong.</blockquote>

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