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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5715635" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 251: September 1998part 8/8Previews: We're finally caught up to the point where they're showing new D&D products in this section. They change things around, so they're in the front, which makes sense. Our generic product this month is the Wizard's spell compendium, part 4. Like the magic item compendium, this means that you now have far more official stuff at your fingertips than you could ever hope to use. Technically generic, but also sorta a planescape project, is A Paladin in Hell. Only without the cant, but with the return of the things our old evil overmistress forbade, and a whole bunch of other nostalgia inducing elements that they hope will draw in the casual buyer. Man, this feels contrived. The Realms get a double bill, as usual. The Shadow Stone by Richard Baker sees another young character go through a coming of age story. No change there. On the other hand, it looks like Raven's Bluff is finally out of the RPGA's hands, because Ed Greenwood does a supplement on it. Hmm. Looks like the new management is really starting to make some changes, as they bring out books that weren't planned before the takeover. Greyhawk gets The Star Cairns. The start of a new series of old skool dungeon adventures. Put on your boots, we're going back to our roots. Don't forget your encumbrance rules. Dragonlance also does some fairly familiar stuff. The 5th age game gets it's own bestiary, so you have plenty more things to challenge your players with. Most of them probably also appeared in AD&D. They also rerelease The Art of the Dragonlance Saga. This line is no stranger to coffee table books, calendars, and other such frippery, and this continues their attempts to get money for old rope. Alternity gets Dataware. Details for sci-fi stuff like AI, netrunning, cybernetics, playing robots, etc. Trying to steal shadowrun's playerbase, eh? And finally we get to see something from another department of WotC advertised. Planeswalker is a Magic: the Gathering novel by Lynn Abbey. Man, we really are seeing the management changes from the takeover hit the release schedule this month.Onto the stuff by other companies. AEG release The way of the Phoenix for L5R. I know a splatbook series when I see one, and this certainly fits that bill. Since many of them are spell users, this has lots of new magic stuff to lure in players. Basement games unlimited release The Vemora. New system, same old macguffin retrieval adventures. So much for that plan. Chaosium move into the novel business, publishing Nightmare's Disciple by Joseph Pulver. Since the Cthulhu mythos was a literary universe before it was an RPG, this seems a little recursive. Not sure what to make of this. FASA follow up their recent big releases with smaller support ones. Record sheets for Battletech 3060, and the gamemaster's screen for shadowrun. Another company is following D&D's product model pretty closely. They also release a novel, Warrior: Coupe. The conclusion of a trilogy? This all seems very familiar. Gold rush games try and release a magazine devoted to LARPing, called Metagame. Interesting. Well, thanks to White Wolf, it does seem to be on the up again. How long did this last for? PEG continue to pump out the deadlands products. The Wasted West gives you lots of info about the hell on earth setting, in all it's grimness. Shane also unleashes Leftovers, their first Dime novel set there. He does seem to be a busy bunny. The Scriptorium, whoever they were, release a trio of CD's full of stuff that would probably be useful to a fantasy gamer. Fantasy and horror fonts and art, and a mapmaker. This feels like they're pushing the boundaries of what they should be covering a little. Strange. White Wolf, once again, are comfortably second in terms of prolificness. Their general WoD product is The Bygone Bestiary. Even they're getting into the general monster book business, even if they do describe rather fewer creatures in greater detail than D&D. These really are perennial good sellers. C:tD gets Inanimae: The secret way. A bunch of new kiths get opened up for PC's, albeit not with very solid mechanics. One that needs a little houseruling to hold together. Also, watch out for the eco-crap. It's almost as bad as werewolf.Speaking of W:tA, they compile 3 of their old tribebooks, just like mage did a couple of months ago. Red Talons, Shadow Lords and Silent Striders. Long term demand  keeps outstripping print runs, it seems. Good for them.Minds Eye Theatre unleashes Secrets of Elysium. Elder rules for LARP? Oh boy. This is going to get diableriffic. Get ready for much bitching as people want to use them, but the camarilla only lets a few people do so. Trinity continues their odd combination of region books and splatbooks with America Offline. Electrokinetics and north america get the spotlight. See why they're no longer the preemminent power around here. And hopefully learn from those lessons in reality. Profiles:  Tony DiTerlizzi is another of our artists who got where he is by sheer enthusiasm, and a desire to live up to the works of the people who influenced him, and produce works that makes other people feel about him the way he did about them. An ambition I think we can safely say he's achieved. Dave Trampier, one of our great vanished artists, gets a big shout-out, as do a whole cavalcade of other artists. Having achieved cult success with TSR and white wolf, he's now gone back to his very first love, children's books. This is another profile that is both amusing and helpful, giving you some definite hints on how to produce your own cool stuff. Be vocal in your love of other people's stuff, and often, they will return the favour, thus aiding both your careers. Give, and you shall get back. Don't be put off by the idea just because it's a cliche. Well, this is certainly more of a stand-out issue than no 250, with it's new columns, extra pages and special features. The repeated attempts at calling this a new beginning are getting a little frustrating though, as they aren't quite sticking, and in the process the magazine keeps drifting further away from catering to long-term readers. They may hit on the right changes to make eventually, but it's not easy when the feedback they're getting isn't the best. Still, they're trying hard, and that counts for a lot. No complacency here. And despite my own battles with boredom, I'm certainly not going to assume that the next hundred plus issues'll be a shoe-in. There's plenty of time for the articles to make me experience all sorts of emotions, and I just hope there'll be a decent variety of them in each issue.</blockquote>

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