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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5334037" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 202: February 1994part 3/6Mythic races of africa: So, what alternate races can you play in africa? What mythic creatures seem good for establishing positive relationships with humans and going on adventures with them? Lots and lots of animal men, mostly. And since we've been getting tons of them over the past three years in Bruce Heard's work, all with strong integrated cultures and quirks of their own, this feels decidedly uninspired by comparison. I suppose it's one you can get lots of use out of mechanically, since these are AD&D rules while those were basic D&D ones, but still, this is boring. Reading generic versions after someone else has done damn cool specific versions just isn't working for me at all. Maybe if they'd given examples from specific stories to showcase them. But no, instead this feels like another return to entry level, which I find rather jarring after the known world stuff went on so long, took us so far, and gave us so many tools.  Libram X has another frying pan to fire episode.Eye of the monitor: Computer programs grow ever bigger and more complicated as the years pass. Unfortunately, computer programers are as prone to the ravages of ageing and ossification as the rest of us. This frequently makes it a pain to get teams together, as everyone has to be on approximately the same level in terms of coding languages, and if they aren't willing to lean a new one, this can either disqualify them, or make them a drag on the entire team. It also means it's much harder to develop a whole new, more efficient and robust coding language, as you've got to compete with the established ones in the marketplace, even if they do have weird legacy issues and aren't totally suited to making modern games. This probably contributed the slowdown of advancement in computer technology in the 00's, and the increasing dominance of mobile systems that are easier to develop games for, many of which are actually fairly straight conversions of early ones like tetris and pac-man. It's a pain when every commercial product requires a massive team with multimillion dollar budgets, and as we're finding in music and movies, it's not a stable situation. What is overly built up will become bloated and rotten, and change will come by force, for they will not willingly convert to the new ways even when they do offer substantial benefits. It's the ciiiircle of life. Bah. If only there was a way of restoring people's ability to learn with the same speed and ease they could when they were young. It's horrible seeing people descend into creative irrelevance and mindless repetition of domestic patterns and knowing it's likely to happen to me too sooner or later. Hmm. Something in Sandy's writing seems to bring out the philosophical side in me. I wonder why. Back to the reviews. Master of Orion shows that computer game programmers are starting to poach RPG artists already, with Jeff Dee providing much of the visual flair. Explore planets, fight alien races, and get resources as you try to take over the galaxy. There are some minor flaws with the interface, and the alien races are not balanced at all, but it's still one of those games you can have plenty of fun and eat up huge amounts of time with, in the Civilisation or Sim City vein. Spaceward Ho! gets a split mark, reflecting the fact that it's a good deal better in multiplayer than solo. Another sci-fi themed wargame, it's pretty simple, but has some neat touches. This of course means it's easy to learn and get going with a bunch of friends. The fact that it conceals which sides are people and which are computers adds to the interest.  Bram Stoker's Dracula gets a good heaping of disdain. It's sluggish, has a poor control system, and dull visuals. Another mediocre movie tie-in. Biomenace gets another poor mark, but not quite such a negative description. It's just your basic side scrolling shooter. And it's another bit of freeware, so you can try it with no commitment anyway. It's no sweat off his nose if you like your junk food. Sage advice: What non core races can become psionicists (not many, and they're not very good at it. The powers of the mind are mysterious and inscrutable, and only humans can truly master them)What happens when a land is sucked into Ravenloft (This town,  (aaahh.) is comin like a ghost town. All the clubs have been closed down. Yeah, it's like that. ) Can you escape Ravenloft to Athas. (Frankly, given how hard it is to find a way out of Ravenloft, you aren't in a position to be picky on which world you escape to. At least on athas you can plane shift outta there. )Saurials can't have any rogue kits! Waah. (What about the ones available to everyone, and the ones from other books. Some people, no imagination. )What are the encumbrance levels for str above 18 (You must have an old PHB. Buy a new one :teeth ting: This is how we reward our loyal customers. Force them to double dip to keep up with a few trivial rules changes. You'll pay for the corebooks again and you'll like it. )Can you have two defense modes up at once (no)Why aren't the spheres for the halfling deities listed in their complete book (to force you to buy monster mythology, duh. Gotta collect 'em all. ) If you fail a save against scrying, can you try again (no. The matter is resolved. You've figured out you're being watched or not. That's it.)Are there mechanics for the invisibility factor (not really. Fiat fiat fiat) Armor of command looks like one type of armor and works like another. I is confuzzlded ( Oh trageday. Yes, it looks more impressive than it is. That is not an unreasonable thing for magic armor to do. )Also, beware of Skip bringing gifts to greek gods. They're petulant enough as it is. Now they'll be even more trouble.</blockquote>

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