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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5307955" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 199: November 1993part 7/8Ready, aim, Fire!: :sigh: You're recycling titles again. But not topics, it seems. As one of our final basic D&D treats before they get kicked out, Bruce is giving us the weapon mastery details for siege weapons. Ballista, Springals, Light and heavy catapults are already ready to kick butt, but now you can specialise in them to even greater degrees. Ok, so that's the kind of option most PC's aren't going to bother with, unless they're 36th level and enjoying the supreme generalissimo stage too much to move up to immortaldom and being a small fish in a big pond again, but it's nice to have. Slightly more recycled is the talk on guns. Seems like people want to put them in every world. And since Mystara is one of the kitchen sink settings, and it'll soon be out of his hands anyway, Bruce decides to capitulate and figure out a logical place for them in the setting. Those obnoxious Heldanic knights are trying to bogart the technology, but it is spreading anyway. And since this stuff is rather dangerous to the user, it's being used more frequently in cannons than it is hand pistols, as you can light the things with fuses and make sure you're well back when they go off. As with the siege weapons, we get mastery stats for hand guns, and 4 sizes of cannons. Again, it's not useless, but it does feel a bit like a sour parting shot when you consider a year or so ago Bruce said he didn't want to include them in this setting. So this is fairly interesting from a historical point of view, and useful from a mechanical one, but a bit depressing too. Homogenisation sucks. And of course politics sucks too, but that goes without saying. Decidedly mixed feelings here. Dragonmirth is all dressed up and ready to play. Yamara is still absent as Ogrek is his usual charming yet infuriating self.  Twilight empire is in no mood for a prolonged mexican standoff. We have a battle to win here people. Lets get too it. Forum is relatively small compared to the stoneskin special earlier. Jonathan Keepers thinks Oklahoma city's fandom is unpleasantly exclusionary. Oooh. This seems very specific and potentially flamewar provoking. It'd probably work better on an internet forum though. K. W. Brown has a rather interesting observation on the lead bill issues the minis industry has been facing of late. It's the amateurs that get lead poisoning. People who actually work with it take precautions and usually avoid the issues. I suppose it's the same kind of issue that results in doctors hardly ever getting sick. Ann Dupuis shows once again that she really does her research, talking about RPG's where violence is not the primary focus. GURPs comes off particularly well, perhaps because she's currently writing for it. Having tons and tons of noncombat skills and advantages does allow you to take your focus off the kicking ass. Anonymous seems to be becoming quite the regular in here, with another contribution in quick succession. That old rule about always needing names is well and truly gone. Anyway, his problem is that their game has recently started developing more depth and actual roleplaying, apart from one player who is stick in hack-and-slash mode. This is presenting increasing tension. You may have to get rid of him. We've been through this before. Sometimes you just have to cut the chaff to move forward. Bigger isn't always better. Through the looking glass: We kick things off here with another game review. Dragon Lords (not to be confused with Dragonlord, Dragonlords, or The Dragonlords, which are three entirely different products, also mentioned in here at various times. :§ ) is a hex based wargame where each side commands a wizard, and a bunch of dragons with knights riding them. Fairly simple ruleswise, it uses double-blind maneuvering and lots of breath weapon varieties to give you tactical options, making winning about outguessing your opponent more than luck or mechanical superiority. Once you get the hang of things like facing and altitude manipulation, things go quite quickly. Robert quite likes it, but thinks it would be improved by a bit more crunch. Well, you are an expert. That's perfectly normal. Our first mini review is a trio that use the same lycanthropic transformation gimmick as last issue. Only this time it's a female werewolf. I smell bandwagon jumpers. We also have an absolute ton of undead. A duo of skeletal cavalry. A trio of amorphous ghosties. A trio of still sleepy vampires. Another trio, this time of undead pirates. Anyone can die, and nearly anyone can return, albeit not always in good condition. The living are hitting back though. A diorama of an adventurer captured by Orcs. Tons of little details in this one. A model of the oft-neglected packhorse. A mule'd be better. A wizard reading a scroll. Whether mighty magic will be forthcoming is up to you. A relatively small tank. And a trio of dark elves, ready to shoot you with (probably poisoned) crossbows. The girl looks like she's the one in charge, which is as it should be.</blockquote>

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