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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5203519" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 185: September 1992part 4/6Sage advice: The alertness proficiency doesn't conform to 2nd ed rules (yes, the writer of the complete thief's handbook was quite the incompetent. Skip already sorted him out last issue, so worry no more about it. )The complete fighters handbook breaks the rules on specialization. ( No it doesn't. Buy a new PHB, it will be in agreement. The canon police will be along shortly to erase your memory of the old flawed books with their psychic hamsters. And so the complete fighters handbook will always have been correct.)Why do bards get reduced thieving penalties for armor, but fighter/thieves don't (The magic bard training faeries say so. Don't complain too much, or they'll revert to 1st ed rules) Can energy containment be maintained. (no, It's a reactive power used when needed, not activated beforehand) Is there a save against ID insinuation. (no. It's like ranged touch attacks. They already have to penetrate your mental resistance. Getting another roll to avoid it afterwards would make it too weak. )Can you develop new psionic powers (yes, but it aint easy. ) Does the complete psionics handbook replace the powers monsters got before (no)What can hurt a character in ectoplasmic form (anything that can hurt ghosts. This is a bigger selection of powers than you'd think. Also, running away from your comrades mid-fight may piss off the other players. )Can you use a spell and a psionic power simultaneously. (no. Types of actions per round rules, we need them. You can maintain already activated powers though. )What happens when you fail a system shock roll (You're dead. CPR and cure spells will do sod-all. You need a cleric with raising powers to get them back)Can you escape ravenloft by exploding an extradimensional space or a prismatic wall. (No. They've already planned for that trick. )What happens if people from different prime material planes see a colour pool while astral. Does it look a different colour to each (yes)-3 THAC0?! How the hell do you get that (by being really really badass. It is within high level PC's reach. )Can you use more than one psionic power with a preparation time of 0 in a round (no. Action type rules, again. Skip is developing some. Soon they will be official. Oh yes.)What armour & weapons can vikings have. (whatever's left after the 800 pound gorilla got first pick )Are undead cut off from the negative energy plane in the phlogiston? Does this mean they lose energy draining powers (no. Undead are a bitch to deal with. Like ravenloft, simple tricks that should logically work like that will do sod-all. ) Can psionicists use illithid series helms (no. They work off their magical powers anyway. Psionics are different, remember. )Role-playing reviews II: Two review columns this month? What, couldn't Rick and Allen agree to take it in turns like usual. Are they really such a popular part of the magazine? Perilous line, my dears. Anyway, along with his fiction contribution earlier, Allen Varney has decided to stick his two cents in about the cyberpunk genre. It's a troublesome one, in that far too many of the things in it actively undermine the original message of it's originator, making dystopia and loss of humanity cool instead of a warning. Like the World of Darkness being played as superheroes with fangs, this may be fun, but isn't going to make the world a better place. What are we to do with them. Cyberpunk 2020 falls prey to the excesses of pretentiousness rather badly. Big guns and attitude, these are the things that are good in life. It also has some inconsistencies and way too many typos. On the other hand, it's a vast improvement mechanically over the first edition. Mike Pondsmith may be a magpie, but at least he's stealing from good sources. Night city is the big setting expansionbook for Cyberpunk. Like Marvel and DC, Cyberpunk and Shadowrun seem to have taken opposite tacks on the real/imaginary city question. It goes into quite ridiculous amounts of detail, with little entries for every single city block, and tons of building layouts to make running adventures a snap. It really useful not only for Cyberpunk, but any modern day game. Hacker: The computer crime card game gets one of their odd context heavy reviews. It's actually Allen's baby originally, so reviewing it feels a bit odd. That said, he freely admits Steve Jackson Games have improved substantially on his original submission. But it's still not really good enough to compete with Illuminati. Send it back to the development labs!  A storytelling game of savage horror! W:tA gets it's byline. And the system gets it's name. Well, when you only have one game for a system, you don't need a generic name for it.</blockquote>

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