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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5362034" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 207: July 1994part 5/6Gunnar Thorson starts his murder investigation in earnest. The dragon sage: For a third month in a row, they have something extra for Council of Wyrms. While they may not have enough faith in it's long-term selling potential to make it a full-blown line, there must be quite a few people who like it in the office. So here's a new kit for it. Sages have a bit of a problem on a human scale because they're not that suited for adventuring. But Dragons are inherently big, scary and awesome enough to make up for that. And while spellcasting isn't their primary thing, they do get an interesting selection of spells drawn from both wizard and priest lists. (Divination and summoning are normally opposed specialities. ) If you have a large party, and are struggling to differentiate your dragons, it doesn't hurt, even if it probably is slightly underpowered overall. Now, how do you do a draconic rogue variant? That's one I'd be very interested in seeing them tackle. Rumblings: This month's gossip is primarily concerned with our links to the computer game industry, in one form or another. As we've heard earlier, Zeb Cook is off to Magnet Interactive. On top of that, GURPS is getting computer games, Battletech is getting a CD supplement, and WotC are establishing a pretty solid web presence. TSR, on the other hand, are losing their relationship with SSI that produced so many good games, while all their net presence is in the form of third party newsgroups and websites. It's not great news for them really, if you read between the lines. Along with CCG's, this is another strong, and still growing competitor that will do a lot to take players and designers away from RPG's over the years. Getting half a dozen people together to play a game socially is a lot harder than turning on the TV and settling down to a session of final fantasy. These aren't really very good signs for us or them, are they. There's a rum do about, old chap: A proper Amazing Engine article. About time. Spike Y. Jones turns his mind to distinctive plot hooks for this setting. The result is system free, but of course very steeped in victoriana, and so would take quite a bit of adapting for another game. Ware the french menace! How the hell does evolution apply to faeries? They're going to try and blow up parliament again?! Or replace the MP's with dopplegangers? How does this new technology of blood transfusions work when done between fae and people? Zombie Prince Albert strikes again! And a bit of parallel dimension fun just for the hell of it. A lot of rather fun ideas here, which seem to capture the mix of weirdness, humour and historical flavour the game wants to be played with. It's too little too late, but this is an entertaining little read who's heart is in the right place. Great Responsibilities: What is with superheroes being outside the law. The good guys are rarely affiliated with any legal organisation (and the ones that are are generally noticeably less effectual) while the villains are never punished using the proper legal system, and get off ridiculously lightly for their crimes. It makes sense with the ones so powerful that no mundane system could hold them, but for street level ones it can only be explained away by liberal application of drama points. Plus unless you have super-senses of some sort, or incredible luck, spotting crimes in time to foil them regularly and get that superheroic reputation is a bit tricky. There are plenty of less glamorous things you can do with superpowers that make the world a better place proactively, instead of waiting around for some villain to attack.  With a sample superheroic organisation based upon these principles, this is one of those ones that seems quite decent at what it intends to do, but not too good if you're looking for a fast-paced, high action campaign. There's always the danger of actually making the game less fun when you add more detail and realism, and this seems the case here. But if you want to try a more logical setup for your superhero-filled society as seen in the likes of Aberrant, this could be what you need. Essential Villainy: Deliberately contrasting with the last article is a second system free supers piece. How do you make a memorably diabolical villain? Pretty much the same way you do in any genre. While powers may play a part, it's more in how they behave, and how they relate to the heroes. Whether they're flat or three-dimensional, scary or risible has little to do with their statistical capabilities, and more to do with how they're played. So this is one of those bits of end of issue filler that takes a familiar topic and tries to spruce it up by applying it to a new genre. I yawned my way through it.</blockquote>

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