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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5263150" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 194: June 1993part 2/6Dragonbot Ver 3.1: Ha. Paranoia time again. The computer is being so successful in it's attempts to root out and destroy mutant scum is so successful that you get the marvellous opportunity to employ its latest development, a mechanical dragon, to further demonstrate the perfection of the computer's engineering. It's the best yet, but all the older models were perfect as well! It has a cloaking system, and anyone who can see through it must be a traitorous mutant scumbag requiring immediate termination. Rather more specific than the other article, this integrates and punctures a whole bunch of D&Disms with a Paranoia spin, making it pretty hard to fit into another game. It does get rather silly, but you'd expect that. Maybe this should have been in the april issue instead. In any case, this is still an entertaining read, especially when you get all the references, but I can't see it getting that much actual play use. TSR Previews: The game designers decide that maybe the loose leaf format for collecting monsters wasn't such a good idea after all, and release MCC1: Monstrous Manual. Still, they've collected creatures from lots of the compendia, revised them, and made all the artwork colour. And as noism's thread so epically indicates, there are a lot of people who remember this one fondly, probably more than the magazine. Rather less remembered is the Cardmaster Adventure design deck. Another way to facilitate quick easy design, I'm not sure how this one works. Spells, monsters and magic items are easy enough, but this seems a bit awkward. Ravenloft is our double dipper this month. RM2: Web of illusions takes you to Sri Raji, to see the rakshasa. Or not, given their skills at misdirection. If you don't see through their deceptions and pack some serious magical heat you are likely to become dinner. Meanwhile, Carnival of fear by J. Robert King sees a bunch of carnival performers try and solve a series of murders. Somehow, I don't think these monsters will be Mr Jenkins the janitor in a mask. The forgotten realms releases a new core boxed set reflecting all the metaplot changes, and incorporating a good deal of the material. Plus you can do some adventuring underneath shadowdale, fight drow and get saved by Elminster (and his little dog). Hey ho. Change keeps chugging along. Soon this too will be out of date. Al-Qadim has a rather less hurried pace in City of delights, one of their bigger boxed sets. Ok, there is some stuff about yak men, and their plot to take over the city, but that's just an adventure hook. Enjoy wandering around a high magic city with plentiful elemental connections, and lots of colourful characters to encounter. Try not to get on the wrong side of the law, for many of the guards are also not your basic 1st level mooks. Dark Sun gets splatbookalicious, with CGR2: The complete gladiator's handbook. You know the drill by now. Kits, equipment, roleplaying advice, all with that unique dark sun flavour (like barbecue, only drier.) mixed in. Don't be surprised if there's even more power creep than even this setting normally has. Dragonlance reaches part 2 in the dwarven nations trilogy. Hammer and axe by Dan Parkinson sees hill dwarves split away from their mountain cousins. Cue monty python jokes about molehill dwarves, given how small the things they're disagreeing over are. D&D has another tiny little adventure. In the phantom's wake is another 16 pager that would be rather hard to spot on a bookshelf. This format is starting to look seriously dated when contrasted with the 128 page splatbooks.  Role-playing reviews decides to have a spate of sci-fi. People may not be sending in many articles, but they can still rely on their columnites to cover a wide variety of other companies games. Battletech 3rd edition gets the full 5 star deluxe treatment, with rick praising nearly every aspect of it's rules and setting. Fasa have improved on the existing game both rules wise and in presentation, and look like they'll continue raking it in for a while yet. All power to them. Gamma Knights doesn't get quite such a great result. It's decent enough for what it is, but there's a few bits of rules weirdness, and it doesn't really integrate with the RPG at all. That's more a marketing decision than having anything to do with the existing setting. Orbit War also gets quite a bit of negativity. It was cool as a special feature in a magazine a decade ago, but on it's own, it seems both too expensive and terribly outdated. Once again the end of the cold war has changed the political landscape enough that this kind of thing no longer resonates. Tyranno Ex sees Rick argue heatedly with his playtesters over it's merits. When a game's this innovative, you can forgive it a few rules flaws. Plus evolution is an interesting business that deserves more publicity anyway. I wonder what he'll make of pokemon in a few years time. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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