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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5346045" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 204: April 1994part 3/6Creatures that time forgot: Our irregular series on prehistoric beasties manages to unearth another era to plunder. Issue 112 did dinosaurs in epic detail. 137 filled in the cenozoic. 176 went back to the paleozoic. Now it's time to look at the weird invertebrate thingies from the cambrian era. That is exciting. Course, most of these things were pretty tiny in reality, (and there may be other inaccuracies in light of subsequent discoveries and creative licence) so Greg Detwiler has decided to scale them up to be a decent challenge for a group of adventurers. Some of them are even big enough to swallow you whole. Get your swords out, or you'll be trilobitten. Opabina are a variant on the things that appeared in issue 176. These ones are actually slightly tougher than last time, but otherwise identical. They're still pretty sluggish and wimpy, but they can surprise you and lash out with their tentacles. Yohoia are somewhat faster and tougher, with two clawed limbs which they can also use to manipulate things with. They may grapple the PC's, which of course adds a whole extra set of tactics. Let's hope that doesn't put DM's off using them. Marrella have a xenomorph like face, and a centipede-like body, and whip with their antennae. With a heavily armoured head, they seem like they'll be trouble for a single enemy. Good thing adventurers come in parties. Kill it with fire. Odontogriphus are flat things with circular maws that drop from the ceiling, enwrap you and suck your blood. Sounds like they fit right in in D&D land. Greg has chosen his topic well.Leanchoilia are fin-footed arthropods with more tentacles to attack with. Someone ought to find a way to make a show that crosses over the dinosaur and hentai fan crowds. Fun for boys and girls. Amiskwia occupy the same kind of niche as seals do today, if somewhat grosser. Give them a bit of brains and psionics and they'll fit right into 150's sunset world too. Hallucigenia are all spines and blobbiness and have a lot of attacks. They're pretty scary both to look at and to fight, especially if they pin you down. Once again, they seem pretty good for a movie adaption. Brr. Cave hallucigenia are much smaller, and are another thing that drops on you from above and sucks you dry. This means the rest of your body is just left there for other predators, so they serve a valuable role in the ecosystem. Acidic Hallucigenia are between the previous two in size, and unsurprisingly squirt acid to break down their prey. The HR Giger comparisons become ever more appropriate. Just be thankful they're not poisonous as well. Sanctacris are armoured things with dirty great mandibles and armoured heads. They take advantage of this by lunging out of narrow passages where you can't surround them, and then retreating with one victim. Down we go, into another dungeon then. Wiwaxia are all spines and scales, with their jaws in their rear ends. They crawl over you and eat you that way. They're really slow, so they're only a danger in confined spaces and numbers, but they're tough enough to still be a pain to clear out. At least they're not as goofy as piercers. Ottoia are enormous sea worms with extending proboscises. They have a very amusing illustration that shows just how big they are. Hee. Almost scooby doo really. Letsa hunt those bugs. Anomalacaris have been turned into whale size tentacled shrimp, ready to grab you and stuff you in their maw. They'll be short work for an actual kraken, but who's got one of those to just whip out any time. So this is pretty cool, and the dual statting for the amazing engine is a nice bit of icing on the cake, showing me how the same creatures translate to two very different systems. Let's hope they can dig up (literally) creatures from a few more eras before the edition changeover. The game wizards: Hmm. What is this strange sound my ears detect? Hammy acting? Obvious sound effects? The latest in holophonic technology, trying to make it seem as though sounds are coming from in front, behind, above and below. Editors scrambling to get everything done and properly produced on time and within budget. And the strident voice of hype. Why, it can only be their new Audio CD line. Heeeeere's First Quest! Yes, the lessons they learnt with Dragon Strike are now being applied to AD&D in an attempt to hook new players. Well, it's certainly not a bad idea. But it was rather gimmicky, and we know stuff like that rarely has a long shelf life even if it sells well for a bit. The harder you try to be modern and hip, the quicker you seem embarrassingly dated in the long run. We know all this, but with sales gradually declining, they really have to do something or become irrelevant. And the results do have a certain kitsch appeal. So anyway, this is an article that even they admit is a bit pointless, for regular buyers of the magazine are not their target audience. Don't know why they bothered.</blockquote>

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