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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5437949" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 219: July 1995part 6/8The game wizards: Hmm. Dragon Dice. Ok, it's not exactly a third CCG, as it doesn't involve cards, but it's very much in the same genre, where you have to put together a structure from lots of little modular packs and fight it against other players. As it's the first release, we get lots of behind the scenes talk from Lester Smith, the main designer. The usual trials and tribulations manufacturing something in a new format involved. Figuring out what looks good when put on dice. And then the basics of how you actually play the game. It's skewed more towards skill than luck, with the choice between offence and defence an important one. Once again, I think system mastery will prove pretty important, and they'll have further articles with tips and tricks coming up. And once again I am left with mixed feelings. I don't have quite the personal disdain for this I did for CCG's, as it is an interesting variant rather than a straight bandwagon jumper. But I did regard it as another unwelcome intrusion and pretty much ignored it first time round. I think I'm willing to be a bit more magnanimous this time and see how it does. After all, it looks like there's a substantial supplement mill coming up. As tempting as it would be to prejudge for dramas sake, I'm not going to do that. What's a wizard to do: Still more playtesting talk, this time for Birthright. Despite the tales of their evil overmistress (Wolves howl, roll of thunder, organ music etc) discouraging playtesting, they're still managing to get some done. Such as this rather interesting little piece on domain magic. In the basic game, wizards may not get domains even when they get to name level, having to settle for a piddly tower, while here, they can tap power from the land to do large-scale spells with cool tactical applications even at low level. The prospects are quite drool inducing. Undead hordes without spending months digging up the graveyards manually, mass teleportation, magically enforced laws that apply everywhere in the country, it's all pretty cool. Course, there are checks and balances. Most interesting is that the more developed and populated an area becomes, the less magic there is to tap, so wizard rulers have to keep substantial wildlife preserves if they want to properly exploit their powers, and there's a real temptation to become a hermit ruler in a lonely castle with nothing but hordes of undead or constructs as servants. Which sounds absolutely perfect from a dramatic viewpoint, as it creates just the kind of tensions that lead to cool stories. Yep, this definitely looks like a fun addition to our campaign options. Did the implementation work in actual play? Rumblings: Computer game conversions once again dominate this column, one way or another. Neverwinter nights gets a rather belated bit of promotion, as more people realise just how cool and useful the net is. White Wolf is making a Vampire computer game, not too surprisingly. Magic:the Gathering is also moving to the digital world, complete with online multiplayer coolness. Bruce Nesmith has been poached by a computer games company, while another is hiring big names in sci-fi like Michael Dorn to appear in their cut scenes. They've long since overtaken roleplaying, and will soon pull ahead of the music and film industries. Speaking of film, the Dragonlance cartoon idea that would take well over a decade to get out of development hell appears here. They really aren't pushing their multimedia side enough down at TSR. They do have some new arrivals. Mike Nystul, unsurprisingly given his recent appearance in the magazine, plus Alan Polack and Bill Olmsdahl. Hrmm. Seems like a whole lot of poaching going on. The big companies borrow from the small companies, which recruit from the even smaller companies that aren't exactly stable financial prospects, but have talented people manning them. Creativity is a cannibalistic business.</blockquote>

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