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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5291240" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 197: September 1993part 6/6The dragon project: ARS Magica gets a turn in the magazine this month. And in the process, we get to see Roger's editorial on evolutionary plots applied practically in another way, as this takes the big twist of Forbidden Planet and twists it to the point of near unrecognisability to fit it into their setting. The result is one of those adventures where there isn't really a proper good or bad guy, and it'll take a lot more work to solve the mystery than hacking and slashing. Unlike the GURPS one in issue 194, this'll take a moderate amount of work to convert to another system, heavily bound to Ars Magica's default setting as it is. I guess you'll have to practice those evolutionary tricks again. Should be fun. I definitely like this one, as it does manage to put a very distinctive spin on some familiar ideas, as well as once again introducing readers of the magazine to a new system. Swordplay still has cash-flow problems. The drow still have Ogrek problems. The undead have serious paternity problems. Where is Yamara in all this? Dragonmirth has very contrasting art styles. Twilight empire also has multiple familial problems. She might help dad escape, but I don't think Becca would let him kill mum. Through the looking glass: Minis continue to struggle onwards, with price increases and material changes frequent in this season's lineup. This certainly isn't business as usual, however much they'd like to pretend it is. But there's still more than enough choice for one little column. A vampire on the stairs, cape a-swishing. A princess with one of those silly conical hats that blow off at the slightest breeze. Some CoC deep ones, ready to lurk and rend. A rather emaciated looking minotaur. A nicely modular set of castle pieces. A gatehouse which might or might not mesh with the previous model. Another tank to add to your collection. A swarm of giant rats, one of those fantasy staples that's a bit under represented in minis. A suitably petite sylph. Some digitised monsters for Shadowrun games, looking suitably angular and polygonic for the era. A four-piece set of battletech mechs, some assembly required. A couple more mechs from Fantasy Force. Some polearms for those who want to mod their armies. An old skool paladin, judge Dredd style cops, and a trio of mad scientists, one of which is wheelchair bound. Affirmative action! Tons and tons of little things get tons of little reviews. TSR Previews: The Forgotten Realms continues to move forward, quickly obsoleting a few elements of the new core set. FRQ2: The doom of daggerdale rips off sleeping beauty. But don't think solving it'll be as easy as just kissing someone. Meanwhile, R.A. Salvadore has a very good month indeed. His new novel, Starless night, sees Drizzt return to menzoberanzan to kick ass and lift curses. And his previous novel appears in paperback with a bonus chapter. This line is still very profitable indeed. Ravenloft is also doing pretty decently. Castle Forlorn lets you explore this deeply messed up, vaguely scottish flavoured domain, experience serious time shifting weirdness, and try and solve one of the more intractable darklord's issues. Not easy, and definitely not a hack and slash one. Be ready to leave baffled, frustrated, and quite possibly dead if you can't find the clues. Dark Sun gives it's clerics a splatbook too. DSS2: Air, earth, fire and water. More cool tricks for them, particularly at high levels to make them a half-decent challenge to those bloody Dragons and Avangions. Are you ready to get para-elemental and save the world? Or just find out once and for all how those <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing magnets work. Our generic stuff this time combines the spectacular and the prosaic. The Book of Artifacts brings back dozens more ways to screw your players over while also making them think they're going to get obscene power. Most have extensive backstories, many tied into specific worlds. Use with caution. They also complete the first round of solo modules with HHQ4: Cleric's challenge. Tailored specifically to your talents, which means lots of undead. Get ready to roll. D&D gets champions of Mystara, the compiled book of the princess ark adventures. Now you too can explore the savage coast in detail and fly airships. Bruce Heard has worked a lot on this over the past 3 years. Enjoy. They also complete the Penhalligon trilogy. Come on, they've gotta save magic, because otherwise, they'd have to publish a whole new game with different rules! (shh, don't give them ideas <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> )  And in our increasingly small completely unconnected to D&D bit, we have AM4: Magitech, our next Amazing engine world. So what happened to AM3? Is it late, or are there still more books coming out that don't show up in these previews for space reasons? Vaguely bemusing.  It's quite notable how computers are moving forward in this issue, which is pleasing to see, but the gaming stuff has some very ropey bits indeed, with official promotion getting far too big a part of the magazine. The rise of grimdark and street level stuff isn't particularly pleasing to me either, as it feels rather like a step down when you've already enjoyed truly epic adventures and know that you can save the world. The shine of the start of the year is long gone, and it's pretty obvious they're building up their big guns for the huge christmas celebration. The next two may well be pretty lean pickings as well.</blockquote>

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