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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5450881" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 221: September 1995part 2/8In dreams: Ah yes, dream magic. That's a topic that rolls around every few years. Issue 132 featured an entire class devoted to dream powers, there's been the odd spell or two in other issues, and of course, there were several big reviews of games in which dream magic features heavily, such as Changeling the Dreaming and Shattered Dreams. So I guess it would be appropriate for the magazine to jump on the bandwagon again, with this article by the assistant editor. Alter Dream lets you play dreamlord. This is exceedingly versatile and can mimic several lower level spells by controlling what they experience and giving them ideas. Have fun. Enter Dream is one we've had before, in issue 204. This works somewhat better than the psionic version, but still isn't really long enough to see a full dream. Is this really so hard to do? Maybe if it actually sent you in bodily, instead of leaving the caster asleep and vulnerable. Nah, that'd definitely need to be a higher level spell. Conjure Dream Object is one of those ones that'll be a pain to adjudicate, as it requires you to keep track of the weird things the character has seen in dreams. And since they lack any supernatural properties in the real world, this is just a bit annoying. So this is serious wasted potential in a fantastical magical world. Conjure Nightmare lets you get hold of said lower-planar horses. If you're not a scumbag, it may be more trouble than it's worth. Plus it may disappear abruptly if the dream it came from ends. I suppose it is a good deal better than basic monster summoning'd get you, so it needs the drawbacks to balance things out. Endless Slumber is your basic sleeping beauty effect. Only a wish or a very specific condition chosen by the caster can break it. Very much one for making games work like stories. Sleepless Curse keeps them awake for one day a level. At the level you can cast it, this has a pretty decent chance of killing them if it isn't removed in time. Drop that on them and teleport out, leaving them to deal with the consequences while you get on with your real plans.  Sleepwalking will of course let you control someone while they're asleep, with no memory of what they did. It's way weak for it's level, when you consider how long and effectively charm person lasts. Not worth bothering with unless you're theme obsessed. Slumber is like Sleep, only it doesn't break if you kill them, essentially making this a save or die in combat. it's got a longer duration and harder save than Hold Person too, making it quite a nasty option for capturing and humiliating someone. True Dream is your basic semiprophetic dream spell. it's such a staple of literature, and so subject to fiat, it probably ought to be lower level. I grow increasingly tired of that kind of spell. True Nightmare keeps you from refreshing your spells, and otherwise prevents you from getting a restful night. It's short duration though, so you'll need to have regular access to the victim to keep casting it. Probably better in a city/espionage situation than a dungeon crawl then. Actually, it'll be easier to get another couple of levels and go straight to sleepless curse. Healing Dream gives wizards another option for facilitating health in their buds. Ok, it's only 2hp per level, and takes it's time, but as ever, it's better than nothing. Overall, I think we have an article which is strong on flavour, but moderately weak on mechanics, with several of the spells rather under or overpowered by comparison to existing stuff of the same level, or just problematic. I thought he was supposed to be an editor. I suppose it is hard to look over your own work objectively. But surely they have other people in the staff to do that these days? In any case, this is a bit disappointing, but not truly terrible. Magic of kings, magic of the land: New spells for Birthright's realm magic system. Seems a reasonable enough idea, particularly as the selection in the core set was fairly limited. Since I seem to remember Birthright was a rather short-lived setting, it's probably not going to be that filled in, so any new crunch the magazine can fill in is welcome.  Forethought gives you an extra domain action next turn. Since this costs an action to cast, it'll only be useful if used very tactically. Practice your chessmaster-like planning ahead for great justice. Disrupt Ley Line puts a short term blockage in place. You'll probably have to scope out the ley of the land to get the one that'll reduce enemy power the most. Good thing you'll probably be dealing with recurring enemies in this world. Tangle Ley Lines is slightly more powerful, temporarily stopping all the ley lines in a province from passing power. This means it's a more blunt tool, and may disadvantage you too or make unexpected enemies if cast in the wrong place. Duplicate lets a wizard bugger off for a few months adventuring or studying and have a magical clone handle the tedious day to day stuff. This'll only work for a little while though. And don't let the public know, or they'll be deeply annoyed that you're slacking off. Enhance Source lets you double the power you can get for a couple of turns. It's fairly expensive, but you will get a net positive from doing so if you tap them out both turns. So this is another one you use just before you plan to be very busy dealing with trouble. Locate Sources is the only spell here that can be used from 1st level. Good thing too, as a new wizard probably needs a bit of help figuring out where there's some magic to tap. Course, you will need to get at least a little magical energy to cast it in the first place. It can be hard getting on the first rung. Divine Right is mechanically identical to forethought, but has completely different fluff. An interesting example of reskinning here then. I quite approve. Erik's Preserve prevents natural disasters in an area. Get the weather to behave, and you have a tremendous advantage in farming. One that seems likely to make you popular with the common people. Hand of Peace makes everyone stop fighting, walk home and suffer amnesia. The kind of thing that's pretty impressive in narrative terms, in other worlds, this would be very scary to be confronted with, especially as it doesn't have a save. Haelyns Courage is a god specific spell that buffs the troops and keeps them loyal to you, as long as you act appropriately. Typical godly behaviour, really. You could do similar spells for all sorts of gods. Nesirie's Blessing lets you move your ships around faster by giving them favorable winds. It's fairly cheap too, so you can easily recoup your costs in trade profits. Pretty unfair advantage for that clergy, really.</blockquote>

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