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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5531701" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 230: June 1996part 3/8Fire in the five Peaks: Just as with last year, we have a piece on one of the ancient, singular dragons of Cerilia. Zakhur Lifesbane is one of those dragons that sticks to his home, and metes out a horrible death upon any who dare to intrude. This would be pretty boring, so there has to be something he's guarding to make it worth adventurers bothering. Enormous treasure? Nope. One of those artifacts that theoretically gives you massive power, but in practice just winds up being a huge pain in the butt, taking you over and killing you before too long. Now that's the kind of adventure hook I'd steer well clear from. While the writing here is pretty good, this doesn't look nearly as usable in game as last year's equivalent. It's only really good for a single adventure wheras Tarazin's plans could be woven throughout an entire campaign. Plus there is a bit of diminishing returns involved. Overall, I don't think this is that great. Wyrms of the north: Ahh. Oh. This series. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /> This officially marks the point in my mind that the Forgotten Realms jumped the shark and went from a brilliantly detailed world that was great fun to read about, to ridiculously overloaded with detail on every aspect of every region. A series entirely devoted to dragons of a single area of the realms? Um, yeah. That definitely felt to me at the time like we'd reached the point where they no longer had valid stuff to add to the world, and were just making up crap to sell to us because they wanted more money, rather than out of any genuine inspiration. It also marks the point where Volo started making regular appearances in the magazine. You already know my opinion on HIM. :spits: As much as I loved Ed Greenwood's work in general, my reaction to this can essentially be summed up as WTF IS THIS <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=":)" /><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=":)" />?!?!?!!! :throws the magazine down in disgust: And that's where I stand on this. While technically it may be better written than the last article, this really does hit the point for me where the Realms are too tied down and codified, and there's not enough room for you to stretch your improvising muscles without hitting your head on some silly little bit of canon. Let me out! The fact that it heavily references other dragons (that turn out to be later entries in this series that we won't see for another few years) further makes me feel hemmed in. Essentially, this whole article made me feel creatively claustrophobic and want to get the hell out of the Realms, and unlike the Skills & Powers stuff, time has not diminished that reaction. I'm remembering exactly why I stopped buying the magazine first time around. Arcane lore: Yet more draconic treasure here, to make your enemies well equipped and magically versatile. They remain supreme as the monster most likely to have some customised gear to throw a wrench in your plans. Curiously, this focusses on magical items as well as spells. Still, that keeps the variety up. They continue to come up with interesting new ideas here, 20 years in. Amulets of Supremacy are basically a free maximise spell for the dragon wearing them. Very scary indeed really, especially as they're exclusive. Whether half dragon PC's could use them is up to your DM. Dragon Fangs make your bit even more badass with their metal edges. Don't want to encounter these false teeth wound up and chattering towards you <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> Focus Objects let you turn your breath weapon into a single target attack, thus avoiding collateral damage. Not always going to be handy, since it is technically a reduction in power, but not useless either. Hoardstones make everything in your hoard look more valuable. It's like the fat girl angle and photoshop for insecure dragons. They'll never live it down if you tell their rivals. Wing Armor has obvious use. Going for the vulnerables can leave the enemy grounded for months, and many dragons are smart enough to realise this. This is adaptable to nearly any flying creature too. It's not all off-topic, with some more draconic spells following. More notable though is a little index of previous dragon-only spells from the magazine, and a couple of supplements. Gotta collect 'em all if you want really badass antagonists! Hoard Servant is like unseen servant, only stronger, and mentally suited to the cleaning and cataloguing of shiny things. Not hugely thrilling or dragon exclusive. Scale Shift lets you change color to fake out any hunters. Use it regularly while going out, and the townsfolk'll think there's dozens of dragons around and be really scared. Muahahahaha. Dragonbane helps a dragon figure out if they're screwed, by detecting spells and items targeted against dragonkind. Then they can concentrate against them, or run away as appropriate. Scalespray lets you clean off all the crap you've got encrusted on in a single explosive burst. If your enemies have you surrounded and breath weapons aren't going to cut it, it's time to break this one out. Clutch Ward lets you enchant your eggs to teleport away if tampered with. Sounds pretty reasonable, given the lengths people'll go to to protect their kids. But what do you do with that slot once they're all grown up, and you're too old to make more? Alter Breath Weapon is another energy type alterer. This is particularly useful for dragons, of course, especially if they expect to fight another one of their own type. You prepare for a whomph and get a zzzzap instead. Never trust anything with the power to pick it's own spells to be predictable. Death Matrix lets a dragon go all balor when killed, hopefully taking their attackers down with them, and ensuring you don't get profit from their corpse in any case. It's hard to get hold of, but even harder to get rid of, so it's a good plot device both ways.</blockquote>

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