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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5637860" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 241: November 1997part 7/8Campaign Classics: Ah yes, Yak-men. While genies got plenty of expansion in Al-Qadim, Yak-men were the big breakout new monster of the setting. Quite right too, as they have enough mythic ancestry to be resonant, but are also pretty unusual in powers as D&D monsters, and their power levels are sufficiently scalable that they can continue to be a challenge into the mid-teens at least. An article supplementing them is to be welcomed. So here we get a look into their politics and day-to-day life, when they're not off bodysnatching and trying to overthrow and enslave everyone else. Despite being fairly unified and stoic for an evil race, there is still a degree of internal politics, and the losers end up on the sacrificial altar while the society as a whole goes onwards. With details on how their kingdom is divided up, stats for the leaders of the provinces, and even the manifestation of their dark god, this is a nicely specific article, not afraid to make a stand and pin things down in many ways, while also being helpful in showing you how to transplant them to other settings. In addition, it's fully aware of and builds upon the ideas from issue 233's birthright/al qadim hybrid article, which is something I find very pleasing indeed. If anything, it has quite a bit in common with the princess ark travelogues in the way it expands upon a previously mentioned place, and isn't afraid to set it up as a challenge for all levels. That makes me pretty happy, as that's just the kind of adventure location I can use. KotDT sees conspiracies in every random roll. Someone really should break the miners guild monopoly. The inflated prices they're charging are ridiculous. Dragonmirth applies modern principles again to hilarious effect. Swordplay needs a new party leader. Floyd gets some much needed exposition. Role-playing reviews: Bubblegum crisis RPG gets a reasonably positive review, despite Rick not being into anime at all. Since that's about to undergo a real boom around here, he may not enjoy RPGing so much in the near future. Anyway, character building is based on random generation & lifepaths, traveller style, and the system is based on the Fuzion engine. While fairly crunchy, it's clearly explained, and seems to facilitate the kind of action the show shows. Give it a good chewing over.  Hong kong action theatre sees the first mention in the magazine of infamous designer Gareth-Michael Skarka. Even more than the last review, this wins Rick over by the way it approaches it's subject matter. It actually has some elements in common with the Amazing Engine, in that you're playing an actor, who has some stats in common each time, but plays different roles regularly. Still, it implements them better, encouraging you to flip genres regularly and break the 4th wall while still developing your character. Whether it's aged well I'm not sure, but i'm sure you could still have fun with it. Cthulhu Live reminds us just how little coverage LARPing gets in the magazine. Rick loves it as much as he loves Cthulhu tabletop, and finds it rather easier to get into than dressing up as warriors and wizards. The system has been stripped down quite substantially to fit the environment, and the sample scenarios are excellent. Now you just need to have enough players and a suitably atmospheric location to make them work properly. Not a challenge I would object to taking on.</blockquote>

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