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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5594219" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Annual 1996part 6/8Vampires A-Z: Now we've definitely had this topic before. Yeah, right back in issue 25, plus another in issue 126. People like their variant undead from around the world. Although looking at this and comparing them, it seems to be substantially inferior to those previous articles. For a start, it's completely crunch free, simply renaming existing undead for new cultural setups, saying there's not enough room for statistics. This despite being a good 3 times as long as the first one in issue 25, and not having that many more entries. (26 compared to 15. ) It really is a great demonstration of how much more tied down by convention and less can-do writers are now. It wouldn't be impossible at all to detail how they differ statistically as well from their primary template in the space you have. You'd just have to cut down on the descriptive fluff a little bit. Fail. Beyond the Flanaess: Greyhawk doesn't get an introduction, as like spelljammer, it's not a live setting anymore, but it still gets an article. Actually, this is a rather interesting one, as it's very old material indeed. An original sketch of the whole continent, approximately tripling the amount of area detailed in the previous books, by Ga :rumble of thunder, organ stab, wolves howl: sorry mistress, by it's original creator himself. That's both tremendously useful, and also an important hint of what the political situation is like in the TSR offices. Are they now aware that the company is in trouble, and trying to sneak out valuable information they haven't been allowed to relay for years, just in case this is the end? Or is it just generalised breakdown in discipline. Ok, there's still a bit of whitewashing in force, but still, we are getting valuable old skool information in highly condensed form. Of course, if Greyhawk were ever to come back, the details of these new areas might turn out to be as different as the expanded continents in Mystara were from their Master Set map. Well, we shall cross that bridge if it ever comes. In any case, this article is a joy to see.  Planescape: A fairly straight introduction here, covering all the usual bases. Fantastical locations, not for hack-and-slash, power of belief, anything can be found, Sigil ties it all together. Yawn. Pretty much what they said before it was released, only without the IC teasing. I suppose it contrasts with the previous settings, which have changed quite a bit over the years. But then, you don't really want the planes as a whole changing. That's the whole point. Individual worlds and species may come and go, but the universe remains, too vast for one creature to make a difference. Try and change that, and people get very pissed off. It's like if we suddenly woke up, and the sun was green, the moon was tiny and orange, and all the stars were different. (oh wait, they just pulled that kind of stunt in Dragonlance and look where it gets them) Oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Back to now then.A handful of keys: Proper control of your portals is vital for a low level Planescape campaign. Until they get hold of magic that gives them the choice of where to go, they are purely dependent on your generosity as a DM to control where they can go, how easy and costly it will be to get there, and how much travelling they'll have to do at the other end. So a bit of advice on how to do it right comes as welcome. Frequency, type of keys, random places in sigil in which they can be found, how to have them cycle in game, and alternate key ideas such as magical items, spells and thoughts. Yeah, this seems like exactly the kind of handy little reference that you'll want to take a look at if you have an adventure to run in a few hours and are running short on ideas. Basic, but not bad at all.</blockquote>

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