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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5823877" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 266: December 1999part 3/7ProFiles: Mary Kirchoff is, like Sue Cook, a multiclass gaming editor/wife (married to Steve Winter). Seems surprisingly common. Unusually, though she started off more as a writer, and then gravitated more towards editing as time went on. (it's usually the other way around, if previous profiles are anything to go by. ) From Polyhedron, to Ares magazine, to Dragonlance, to being responsible for hiring R.A Salvadore, to her current job as head editor of the book department, it's certainly been an eventful ride, not all of it entirely successful. Can she bring the book department back to it's late 80's glory days? Probably not, but it won't be for lack of trying. Silicon Sorcery: Woo. We have the release of the dragon magazine archive. More amusing recursiveness to be able to review this article. They go into plenty of detail on it's interface and searching functions, which are of course needed to sift through such a vast amount of information usefully. They also make a big deal about the fact all the adverts and other bits and pieces are in (although of course they missed a few of the games, sigh.) which I suppose is a pretty big deal really. It does make me wonder why they bothered doing ad-free scans later, when the adverts are sometimes just as interesting, and certainly as informative in retrospect about what else was going on out there. As with most of their promotional articles these days, this is a good deal prettier and less irritating than TSR's ones, and of course the sheer ambition of the product is a pretty good selling point as well. It'll take a good decade or so for the rest of the publishing industry to really catch up, and even now, it's pretty haphazard what will be in print or electronically distributed and how their price points will compare. Like the OGL, this had a significant part in changing how we think about distribution, and the ways our reading experience could be improved by making everything cross-indexed and searchable. It deserves a good deal of praise, and I wish more old magazines had something similar. Countdown to 3rd edition: 8 months to go. Ahh, here we get into one of the really contentious parts of 3e. The Dungeonpunk artwork. "Realistic" medieval backdrops? We're bored of those and want to try something new. Which is an understandable sentiment after you've been doing this for 25 years, but still alienates a fair chunk of people. Aesthetics do matter, and how a book looks and is laid out will affect how people play it, even if the underlying rules are pretty much the same. Cuddly hobbits are out, dwarves have seriously updated their forge technology, and monks aren't all asian. While I'm not totally sold on the direction they went in, and it does seem like trying too hard to be kewl and badass in retrospect, I do think the idea of having a consistent set of iconic characters who appeared in the generic rulebooks throughout the edition and became well known names was a good one, as was the desire to make things distinct from what came before. And having a definite look for the books does make them easy to pick out on a bookshelf (although brown?! Is that really the colour you want to go with? I suppose it's slightly preferable to the orange of the 1e hardcovers) So the choices they're making aren't perfect, but they are interesting, distinctive, and deliberately counter to stereotypes. That should also count for quite a bit because it gets people talking, even if they don't like it. And let's face it, stirring up forum debate is free publicity. Feathered friends and foes: A short but interesting article to start off our features. Swanmays and Bird Maidens have established the idea of shapeshifters caused not by genetics or infection, but as a secret society that initiates worthy people into their ranks if they have the right stuff morally and skillwise. This does technically change your race, and with that your level limits, but they're some of the less onerous ones, and in the meantime you have a quite neat extra ability. I think quite a few PC's would be willing to take that offer. Black Swanmays serve specific Lawful Good gods rather than nature in general. This does mean they have all the more to lose if they stray from the path, as if being a paladin wasn't enough. But if you can't take the winds of fate, you shouldn't be pinning your flag to the heroic mast. Laridians have rather more interesting symbolism, turning into gulls. This means they're noisy thieving, squabbling sorts, who use their powers to make spectacular heists and get away with them. They seem like fun sorts to have around, and their ability to take their equipment when they transform is a huge practical benefit. Plus you don't have to worry about any moral code, just be a damn good thief, which I'm sure you were going to try and do anyway. Red Falcons are the evil counterparts of swanmays, fighters and priests dedicated to the dark, predatory side of nature. This means they have quite a lot of enemies to  get through, and may have to leave their armor and weapons behind if they're being beaten. Still, that ought to bemuse the players quite a bit if they don't have the magical artillery left to take them down. And spying is always handy. Thebestyns are wizards who follow Thoth, and turn into ibises with the help of a magical ankh, appropriately enough. That's slightly less cliche than the owl option I was expecting as well. They won't be able to access the highest level spells, and get to put all their weapon slots into nonweapon skills, which will be a bit of a hindrance at lower levels. Still easy flight combined with spellcasting should make them quite the tactical go-too, and they're full of flavour. Like the old articles on variant familiars, planar horses, and similar cool stuff, this is something they haven't done before, and is very welcome and useful for a game.</blockquote>

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