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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5361065" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 207: July 1994part 4/6Eye of the monitor: Sandy once again tackles the backlash against violence in gaming. As not only a reviewer, but also a designer of one of the most celebrated gore heavy games of the year, he has a rather large stake in this argument. Unsurprisingly, his view on the matter is rather nuanced. Ironically, just as D&D players seem less likely to commit suicide statistically, it's looking like unleashing your aggressive urges on a collection of pixels makes you less likely to be violent to other people. Really, the important thing to do is raise your kids, not plonk them in front of a screen and let them play whatever they want, or just wander off unsupervised. Game rating systems only work if the parents pay attention to what's on them. This is a big part of why tribalism works. Even two adults can't give full time attention to a whole brood of rapidly growing little horrors. Having a whole bunch of aunties, uncles, grandparents around to share the burden helps in properly socialising your kids tremendously. Another bit of evidence that the way modern society is structured has some serious flaws, trying to go against human instincts and paying the price for it. But we're getting into soapboxing territory again, so let's cut to the games. Fantasy Empires tries to do the companion level D&D thing and create a game where you start off head of a dominion and then have to conquer the world. The result is as mixed in success as the original Dominion management rules, although it alters them a lot. It does get a good long review, with lots of advice, but it's also quite critical in a lot of respects. It can be a bit slow, and once you've got halfway and victory is pretty much assured, you still have to get through the rest of it to win. Really, it's more for wargamers than RPG'ers, and how many of those are still around today? Walls of Rome is another OK but not mindblowing wargame. I think you can figure out roughly what technology you have access to in this one, and it's not too surprising, although there are a few sloppy bits, particularly in the manual, which was obviously written before the game was properly finished. You'll have to work things out via trial and error instead. The role of books: The magic and healing by Nick O'Donohoe looks like it'd get a 5 star review if John did that kind of thing. It's hard for him to pinpoint what makes it so good, but he settles on the way it balances realism and fantasy, hope and cynicism.  getting proper depth into what you create is one of the hardest things to do, really. Witch and Wombat by Carolyn Cushman, on the other hand, fails to do the worldbuilding needed to make it's odd premise believable. It all feels half-finished, and the jokes aren't strong enough to make it work as a comedy either. Reading tons of other people's stuff doesn't necessarily make you a god writer. Sleipnir by Linda Evans mixes norse mythology with a hard-bitten modern day soldier protagonist. There's plenty of parallels to be drawn between ancient vikings and modern military, and this tackles them while keeping the action count high as well. Don't be surprised that there's lots of non gratuitous violence and swearing. Decalog, edited by Mark Stammers & Stephen James Walker, is an anthology of Dr Who stories. With adventures set in a whole range of the Doctor's incarnations, it's filled with easter eggs that reward detailed knowledge of the show. In fact it may be a little too focussed on hardcore fans. But it is full of imaginative twists and turns, and has a nice narrative device typing the stories together. He may be down, but he's not out by a long shot. The beekeepers apprentice by Laurie R King gives Sherlock Holmes a young female protegee from america. This sounds like it could turn into the worst kind of mary-sue fanfic, but this gets a good review anyway, showing her gradually learning instead of jumping right in, stealing his thunder. As pastiches go, there are many many worse ones. Sage advice: If you forego a saving throw, then someone casts a different spell at you, can you save (nope. This is exactly what fast-talking is for. Dramatically, it's a feature, not a bug. )Why the hell would anyone be a sha'ir! They can't get spells fast enough to use them in combat! (no, but they can keep going all day, and don't need to select their spells at the start. As tactical and utility casters, they rock to an incredible degree. Plus they can't lose their spellbook and become useless if captured.) Can gens get out of ravenloft (Eek. There's a quandary for you. It'd make the class useless if they couldn't but potentially setting breaking if they could. Skip will allow them to temporarily check out, as they're not PC's, but just like ghosts and roaming Vistani caravans, they can never truly leave. )Can paladins and rangers cast stuff from the tome of magic spheres (Skip does not want to seem churlish. Skip will give them one extra sphere each so they can keep up with the jones's)Does a ring of free action prevent paralysis (Skip is going to make a completely outre ruling and say no! Do not question the whims of Skip! )How exactly does a frost brand work (just say the word. (The word is on your lips ) Say the word. (The word is on your lips ) )Can a gem of insight hyper boost an elf over the centuries (No. It has to be a different creature each time) What happens when a wild mage abandons wild magic (Much Aaaangst as they ponder their new place in the world, and the harm they did with their former powers )Can undead drink potions (yes)How do undead recover hit points (by feasting on human Fleeeeeeeessssssssh and Brrrraaaaaaiiiinssss )How does sunlight affect non-vampire undead (see their descriptions. )What happens when a lich uses a wish. It shortens it's unlife by 5 years. Hey, that means it gets to be a demilich quicker. A plan with no drawbacks! )How do you determine a liches HP (Since they use completely different dice, a complete reroll is in order.)Can archliches be turned (Sure. It may not be easy though. )</blockquote>

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