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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5454807" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 221: September 1995part 6/8ARS Magica stops numbering their editions, and just revises them. For now, anyway. The next owners will have different ideas. Bazaar of the Bizarre: Magic items to buff your familiar. We've already had articles on getting hold of better familiars (issue 86), and using magic to enhance your existing familiar. (issue 181) So now an enterprising wizard has even more tools to ensure their companion's badassity. Amulets of mutual location are yet another tool for ensuring splitting the party isn't permanent. What's that Skippy? Your wizard's stuck down the well again? You're getting very tired of that joke and wish he'd just memorise levitate? You wish you'd never answered the call at all? Ok then. The Basin of disguises lets you disguise your bird by giving it a wash. Once again we have to consider every eventuality to foil the master detectives. They are recycling abilities in different containers with increasing frequency these days. Boots of manipulation give your familiar fingers! Oh, what a joyful day for them, especially if you've already enhanced their intelligence. Much gratitude ahoy. The Bowl of Dampness keeps anything in it properly moistened no matter how hot and dry it is. A niche item, but one that could save lives, or keep something valuable and fragile from getting spoiled on the way to market or making a magic item. Coats of Adaption do exactly the same as the necklace would. I suspect we'll be seeing some more of these straight conversions in here. In fact, to save myself more boredom than I really have to, I shall just extract them all. Coats of displacing, Collars of protection, Legbands of Sharpness, you are all creatively moribund direct conversions of existing items. I yawn and flick my thumb at you. Begone! Coats of Slipperiness keep them from being pinned down. Just the thing for if you're about to be captured and need to get a message out. Collars of defending let your familiar use your saving throws. Now that's going to save their life more than a few times at high level. Collars of freedom keep them from being mind<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ed, ensuring their loyalty to you and you alone. At least, until you mistreat them too badly, at which point you won't be able to charm them back, but such is the risk that comes with power. A Dropper of good measures lets you affect small animals with a potion without worrying about overdosing them. Not a problem I'd considered before, but given how much trouble vets have treating various species, I can see why they'd think of it. Hoods of Suspension let you keep your falcon completely inert until you need them. If you have a whole bunch of these, you can make for seriously creepy tableaus. Another idea that's just ready for the stealing. Does Ravenloft have a falconer darklord? Legbands of Identity make them immune to polymorphing. Course, this is another one that may be a disadvantage if your wizard forgets what items he's given his familiar. Legbands of Haunting let them come back as a ghost to wreak their revenge against whoever killed them. Since ghosts in D&D are really scary, this will probably have the desired effect. Oil of Repulsion keeps predators away. Since it only works on animals, this will only be much use if you're sending them on a solo mission. And how often do you do a thing like that? The ecology of the crystal spider: The ecologies continue to venture to new worlds, with one set in Athas. Not a place where you get to do much detached academic study, but one where knowing what dangerous stuff is out there, how to deal with it, and if you can eat it after doing so is crucial. This ecology doesn't really take full advantage of this opportunity, lapsing back into detached pontification for the majority of it's length, showing a very detailed knowledge, without telling the story of how that knowledge was obtained. The results are still useful, and full of interesting little details, but overall, this isn't a brilliant ecology like the last few. Back to the up and down it is then.</blockquote>

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