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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5582095" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 236: December 1996part 2/8The seldarine revisited: And here we go with some very intentional rehash, albeit the kind that actually builds upon and improves previous articles. In issue 155, they added a whole bunch of new elven gods in an article. However, I wasn't very impressed, in large part because they didn't include speciality priest details for them, despite being well into 2e by then. Well, this fixes that problem, along with adding a couple of new deities on top of that. The specific names still feel a bit like a random syllable generator was let loose on the elvish language, but the writing is rather more palatable than last time, and the sphere selections and granted powers are on the upper end of things, but not utterly obscene. So this is an interesting revisting that goes quite some way to redeeming & justifying the original article, which I rather approve of. Still doesn't mean they'll get a place in official future supplements though. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Elemental summoning gone wild: Hmm. This is more like it. Adding a bit more sadism to Athas, which is already rife with it. Athasian cleric's elemental summoning abilities are ok, but not great compared to the granted powers some speciality priests get. This adds a bit of wild mage style fun to this, by adding the potential for all sorts of variations, from being eaten by a grue, getting a bonus spell effect, or para-elementals hacking your signal. Most of them are bad, but you might luck out and get healed or temporarily transformed into an elemental avatar ready to spectacularly kick the butt of whatever's troubling you. In short, this is one of those articles that makes your times more interesting, and keeps players from getting complacent in their playing. After all, things might go smoothly 95% of the time, but that 5% is more than enough that they won't take them for granted. Muahahahaha, and all that. Mystic, Miracles & Meditations: Featuring one of the hardest to make out headers they've done recently. Once again it looks like their graphic designer was too busy mucking around with the computer filters and forgot about practicalities. Anyway, this is a couple of new kits for Masque of the Red Death, and associated extra proficiencies. The kind of crunch there's always room for, even if we struggle to find the time to use it all. Exorcists are in the business of getting rid of evil spirits, which is obviously a major growth industry on gothic earth. This means they get reduced odds of punishment for using necromantic spells in the line of duty, but if they abuse their powers, hoo boy. Sounds like a path of what I was going to do anyway thing, but hey, it's less of an issue than paladins. Enthusiasts are more capable of moral ambiguity, being the kind of preacher that goes around getting a congregation by being loud & doing miracles. Hallelujah!!!!! They aren't that well educated in proper magical theory though, and often wind up being the target of scientific debunkers. That seems like a setup that leads to lots of interesting adventures. While the kits are ok, the new proficiencies are horrible. Meditation abilities that you use to grant bonuses to your ability scores? Representation of your degree of contact with the church hierarchy. Supernatural presence that only affects monsters, and makes them more positively inclined towards you, and appears more an innate gift than a learned skill. This is not only unbalancing, but a fundamental misapprehension of what nonweapon proficiencies are supposed to represent about your character. I object quite strongly and am baffled how that got past editing. Do they not examine mechanics and how they fit with the existing game at all? WTF man? This becomes extra baffling when you consider it's by James Wyatt, who is going to be pretty significant next edition. Father, I am  disappoint.</blockquote>

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