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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5822767" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 266: December 1999part 2/7Dungeoncraft: The first year of this column is over, and we've pretty much finished the topic of building your first map full of monsters. So they move on to some more general advice for christmas. And here Ray falls pretty firmly on engaging the players, not just their character's statistics. Give them genuinely meaningful choices, set them puzzles that they have to use their brains to solve, not just dice rolls, and make sure they have noncombat interactions with characters to add variety. All the things last month's fast-play story lacked, in other words <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> So this is a good reminder of how tabletop RPG's are not computer games, there are some things that they'll always do better than even the most wide-open sim game. And if you're going to go to the effort of getting everyone together, do you really want to put them into a linear dungeon crawl anyway? Play to the strengths of your medium. I think that's advice that's valid whatever you're doing. Shop keep is rather festive, but doesn't realize it. Sage advice: What planar races can become psionicists. (all of them. 10th level.  See ya later. ) Does chill touch work once then discharge, or can you keep on attacking. (you can keep on bein' cooooooooool. ) Is the limited magic item use restriction based on large or small divisions. (Large. Kick those min-maxing twinks back into their place )Can item be cast on one item and also affect anything contained within it (no) Does demilich soul-trapping have a save. (Yes. Not easy though. )How many spells does an amber dragon really cast (we missed a slash. )Pls explain the sword of life stealing (Natural 20 means natural 20. Not some stupid number like vorpal sword's plus only calculation. You only get hit points if you drain someone. )Can stone golems be affected by magic missiles (what part of immune to all spells but the specific ones mentioned don't you understand)What proficiency do you need to get the benefits with a longtooth dagger (Dagger, even when it's a longsword. )How many HD does a 30th level spirit of the land have (basic addition. It comes to 41d8+22. Quite a hefty number.)What are type I-VI demons. (True Tanar'ri. Vrock to Balor. Go for the power. )How many missiles does Snilloc's major missile make (just the one big nasty one. ) Does comprehend languages let you read pictograms and voweless arabic writing (if that's the way it's supposed to be written. If it's being done in a diliberately obscure way it might not make sense still. )Do you get a save against heat metal (no, because it's not being cast on you. Master the art of the quick strip, and you can avoid most of the damage. )Can you cast admantite mace on a magical mace (yes, but only use the best bonus. They're the same type of bonus, so they don't stack.) Ohh. Alternity stuff again. Skip could do with a change. Onward we go. What are the penalties for using a dumb GID (No shadow combat for you, matey.)Can datalink telepathy be used to reprogram stuff. (oh yes, but only if you know computer language. )How much do broad skills cost robots (nothing. It's the processor power that's the expensive part. Data is cheap. )Do you use table D17 or the custom parts list for building robot PC's (both)Do planetary thrusters harm photon sails (no. Just fold them up when you land)How many G's can a robot take (no more than a human. )Can you use a fusion torch engine as a weapon (oh yes. They can be ridiculously effective. )How big is a spikespore's second form (Human size. It takes about 12 hours to turn back. ) Do heavy weapons need power cells. (No, they need actual ammo. Beams just don't have the same ....... impact, no matter how flashy they look. )</blockquote>

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