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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5499330" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996part 5/8Campaign classics: Magical sand? Well, that's as good a topic for a Bazaar. It's certainly bizarre, at any rate. Now, what campaigns are filled with sand? Athas and Zakhara, mainly. And if you guessed the one that romanticises it's deserts more, you were right. Arabian niiiights, like arabian days. More often than not, are hotter than hot, in a lot of good ways.  Fire Sand creates flaming walls wherever it's sprinkled. This seems like one that could backfire easily if it's holder is careless. I'll bet fireball is involved in it's creation. Rasping Sand is another one that's pretty hazardous to it's user. Wear a special glove, or have your sprinklin' hand abraded to the bone. Gee. better not lose it, or you'll be more screwed than Cyclops without his glasses. Sand Cages are pleasingly cinematic. Throw it, and the victim is trapped within it's swirling bars. This doesn't actually stop them moving though, but merely abrades them while they're inside it. False advertising, methinks. Sand of Mirages is almost too obvious. Sprinkle for easy illusions. You'd be more disappointed if they didn't include it. Sand of Obscurement is an easy way to do the disappearing ninja thing. Fwoosh. Mind you don't run into a wall as you make your getaway, as it can be hard to navigate with your eyes closed. Sand of Restoration temporarily recreates buildings if you sprinkle it on a ruin. Now that is an awesome idea. You can get to explore dungeons that literally don't exist anymore. That's a plot device I'd love to use at some point. Sand of Sinking is also pretty versatile, as you can use the ability to turn floors and walls into quicksand as a means of travel as well as a weapon. After all, many platformers have secret bits accessible by going down the sand pits. Why shouldn't a DM nick that trick? Slow Sand is another misnomer. Complete paralysis is not slowing. Still, at least this one'll probably work better than expected. Who's going to complain to Standards & Practices about that? Solid Sand is pretty much the opposite of Sand of sinking, letting you turn a soft or fragile surface into a rock solid one temporarily. Let's get bibilical, forge a way through the wilderness. Thirsty Sand is pretty nasty. As if dehydration wasn't a serious risk already in the desert, someone has to make it even worse. Another one you should probably be careful when sprinkling, for if a bit gets in your eyes, you'll really regret it. Sand of Scintillation explodes in a flash of light. Like sand of obscurement, this is perfect for the ninja wanting to make a good entry or exit without being spotted. Not the most imaginative ending, but this article definitely has enough good ideas in it to justify itself. You can really mess with the tactical landscape with this collection, which is great fun to plot about. The role of books: Book of moons by Rosemary Edgehill sees her once again defying genre categorisation and cliches to deliver something that's both fun, and has more sardonically realistic reactions to the strange things happening than the average book. Long may she fail to toe the line. Enchanted forests, edited by by Katharine Kerr & Martin H Greenberg continues his dominance over the fantasy anthology field. It not only has good stories, but the influence of Mrs Kerr means they're sequenced well too, going from one subtheme to another. The broad and vague theme also means the stories have plenty of room to surprise. It looks like this publishing house has no shortage of material to assemble in various orders. The fantastic four: To free atlantis by Nancy A Collins is another not so great novelisation of comic characters. The focus is poor, it tries to have too many plots going on at once, and then reveals an enormous twist in the end which invalidates most of the previous events. While not uncommon amongst comics, this is still stupid writing. And without the pretty visuals for fights, this is even less tolerable than normal. Star trek concordance by Bjo Trimble is a highly comprehensive guidebook, primarily aimed at covering TOS. All the episodes, indexed with detailed listings of creatures, events, jargon, and more obscure stuff like the precise backstage crew involved in each episode. John's main complaint is that there isn't the same kind of research put into the real world references, so the inaccuracies the series made to real history & mythology for dramatic licence are not pointed out as such. Don't believe everything you read. The art of star trek by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, on the other hand, avoids that issue by being largely stills & artwork. Not that there isn't a good deal to learn from this, as they include behind the scenes shots, storyboard and concept art sketches, costume design information, and the backdrops used for alien worlds and space scenes. The perfect thing for a nerd to have on their coffee table.</blockquote>

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