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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5610260" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 238: August 1997part 5/8Fiction: Nothing but trouble by Ed Greenwood. A third contribution by Ed this month. Well, if they're having to make some hard choices which articles to keep, and which to drop from their 6 month hiatus, it's certainly not going to be Ed's. And if they're short of contributors because people are pissed off they haven't been answering mail for ages, I'm pretty sure he has enough spare material to make up the deficit, so he wins either way. Actually, I don't think he's done completely system-free fiction in the magazine before, so this shows him once again showing off his flexibility. And also his dirty mind, because this story is so filled with innuendo and dirty humour (and full-on genderswitching, just to underscore what a filthy bugger Elminster is) as to make many a young geek blush. They may not have officially repealed the TSR code of conduct yet, but he's already getting away with rather more than he could under the old regime. Which amuses me no end. Also pleasing is that we finally get to meet Mirt the Moneylender, who's been mentioned casually before, but not really filled in as a character. And he certainly distinguishes himself from Elminster nicely, being competent and quick-witted, but certainly not godlike or immune to the ravages of time and chance. In fact, he makes for a rather more interesting protagonist. So this definitely helps me fill in a little more knowledge of the Realms, and makes it clear Ed's not going anywhere soon. In fact, he might be even more entertaining now. Mwa ha, muahaha!The dragon's bestiary: Sewers! For the first time in over 2 years, we have a monster topic that isn't rehashed! One I'm surprised we haven't seen before too, given that they make another good excuse for interesting and distinctive dungeon environments. This seems rather promising. Necromantic sludge is what happens when wizards keep on performing alchemical experiments and just dumping the remains. It may well develop intelligence and start oozing around making a pest of itself. No good deed goes unpunished. Plague moths are another magical experiment that backfired. Instead of a poison, they produce the effects of some random potion when they bite you. Course, since they come in large groups, that means the miscibility table becomes an issue. What an ingenious idea. You could definitely profit from these little guys, but it would be a painful process requiring lots of suffering and careful sorting of captured moths. I strongly approve. Albino Crocodiles are your basic urban legend fuel. Years of being exposed to magical goop does not make them easier to beat. Another neat little encounter idea. Water cats are not only good swimmers, but intelligent and with a very special poisonous bite that can provide an excuse for another classic sewer trope, the clan of mutants lurking beneath the city. They can simultaneously save your life and ruin it. How's that for fun. Lich's blood is another form of malfunctioning magical goop. It eats your magic, so spells will be useless against it. A decent end to a nicely themed collection that are perfectly designed to be weaved together into a single adventure. Forum pulls itself together as they try and ease back into a regular routine again. There is something different though. Hmm, what is it? It's a lot bigger than it's been for a year for a start. Oh, oh, oh! They now have headers on the letters, for the tl:dr amongst you. That is interesting. Not a bad idea, really. Peter Johansson backs up the people who say spellbooks should be pretty hefty. In case you'd forgotten during the interim. And again I yawn. Kevin McMahon puts a very specific slant on the low magic issue by bringing up resurrection. Of all magics, this is one that changes people's behaviour the most. When you have life insurance that really means something, it really affects how you play your character, often for the worse. Ban it, make death regain it's sting. Amber Decker also supports lower magic than the average D&D world. The 5th age stuff has particularly regained it's mystery with the recent changes. LT Bruce F. Beyers wants the cavalier back as a full class in itself. The 2e kit is ridiculously nerfed! Nostalgia does silly things. I wonder if anyone's going to deconstruct you. Chuck Moffat shares his multiple specialisation rules with us. Players really fear Driz'zt under these house rules. And his own drow fighter/mage/thief with exploding cigars. He's obviously heavily inclined towards the cheese side.  Daniel Bishop disagrees with Dale. PC's and NPC's ought to operate under the same physics, even if they don't have the same abilities, and there ought to be an IC rationale for why they can make exceptions to the game rules. Because is not a reason in itself. John Cudmore gives his reasoning for why high and grey elves have the names and behaviour they do. Semantics, like statistics, can make the same thing appear to be many things, all perfectly plausible to the casual observer.  Alexander Fontenot tries to defend dual classing. The first reason, that of powerful subclass combinations is reasonable, the rest doesn't hold up so well. A lot of us get pretty good at multiple things in our so-called short lifespans, often simultaneously. Paul A Schreiber brings back the parrying problem. Weapon sizes ought to play into it significantly, but skill is still the primary determiner. This one still needs a little refinement.</blockquote>

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