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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5817695" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 265: November 1999part 5/7Marvel super heroes: Captain Marr-Vell. Not to be confused with just Captain Marvel, who ironically belongs to DC. (and that must irk Marvel comics quite a bit) Man, this opens up another can of worms when it comes to things like copyright, character histories, and comparing and contrasting. Neither are really A-listers, and have spent extended periods of time dead. And both have alter egos with which they have interesting relationships. It's a demonstration of how real world legal issues can affect what appears on the page quite a bit. There's still stories featuring Godzilla that they can't republish because the licence has expired. I do worry about what will happen if copyright keeps on being extended by big corporations, and how we'll make big new media properties if all the short snappy names are already taken. It's entirely possible to kill something through oversaturation. Will we eventually run out of room for new superheroes? Will we eventually run out of room for bands? TV shows? Movies that aren't remakes? It's a worrying thought, tempered by the knowledge that we'll probably invent a new way of entertaining ourselves at that point. I just hope I'll be able to understand and appreciate those too. The oerdian lesser gods: Telchur completes the collection of Greyhawk seasonal gods, representing winter. He's quite different from the other winter god we had a couple of issues ago, slightly less cruel, but a good deal more unpredictable, and very keen on his worshippers exposing themselves to the cold to toughen up. This pays off big time for his clerics, who become immune to nonmagical cold and able to unleash nasty weather. As with all the seasonal gods, they seem likely to have their congregation vary quite a lot depending on the time of year, and ought to maintain ties with the clerics of the other seasons. Rudd puts a third different spin on roguishness, being the goddess of gambling, luck, and swashbuckling sorts in general. Fighting her is a mug's game, since she's incredibly lucky, and can automatically spot attempts to cheat. Her priests also fall into the swashbuckler mold, getting tricksy spells and the ability to specialise in the rapier. They could definitely be a good way to fill out a party that wants everyone to look good and be mobile in battle. So once again, these gods aren't original, but they are interesting, and quite open to being compared and contrasted. Putting different spins on the same basic ideas is how we get the infinite variety that makes up the world. After all, it's all protons, neutrons and electrons. Just in different combinations. Fiction: The king of winter by Mark Anthony. Another short story by an established author that's basically a teaser/promotion for their full novels in the same setting? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> you WotC. This is just getting tacky. I actually don't mind the video game conversions too much because at least they're interesting, and often useful in game, but this? It's an unfulfilling attempt to get us to spend more money, so we can keep track of more continuity. Orion & Fool Wolf have the right idea of it, because their stories are both entertaining and written to be self-contained for easy access to newcomers. This, on the other hand, does not, and makes me rather cross. Once again, I am reminded that the average standard of the fiction is not nearly what it was when Barbara Young ran this department. Arcane Lore: More spells from less civilized locations. Actually, they haven't offered too many of those, so you can still say that they're underrepresented, ethnically speaking. Eh, just another day at the office really. Tana Relatha is made of woven reeds, and is full of spells that get you close to nature. Mud, tree sap, mists and spiders. Not the parts of nature I'm really that keen on getting close too, thanks very much. Tsanak Dorth is slightly more highbrow, being comprised of oak roots and obsidian. With four tree related powers, it does seem to be stepping on druid's toes a bit. I suppose niche protection between spellcasters is a bit of a joke now, after 12 years of articles like this. Yawn.</blockquote>

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