Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5825192" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 266: December 1999part 5/750 Monster Maximizers: Ah yes, going back to the original mythology to give your monsters new cool powers. There's a reasonably familiar topic. After all, quirky powers and weaknesses really bring a monster to life more than adding a few more hit points and a bigger die type to damage, and will certainly make players remember them more. Most of these are pretty familiar as well, making this a fun one, but also an article that/'s more aimed at newer readers who don't have a grounding in mythological studies from reading the old folklore. Still, statistical conversions are always good, and it reminds us that there's more moral nuance than you'd think in things like nymphs, centaurs and various fae races, and even mundane animals have a whole bunch of weird myths attached to them. Now, if only they'd cover more myths from non-european cultures. That'd reduce the amount of overfamiliarity considerably. Fiction: The innkeepers secret by Troy Denning. After a couple of issues where the fiction was merely promotion for a novel the writer had coming out, we have one that uses the same characters as their novel, but at least has the grace to make a decent standalone story. Vangerdhast and the crown princess of Cormyr are off on adventures incognito so she can level up and be a suitable ruler. Obviously the big one will appear in the novel, but this is an interesting enough little ghost story on it's own, with well sketched characters, a plot that has some combat, but doesn't rely on it to solve the problem, and a decent helping of Realmsian whimsy that tops it off, but doesn't go overboard and make it all cheesy. While not quite as good as the average standalone story, this is at least something I didn't mind reading. Still a sign they're depending too much on their regular writers though. Arcane Lore: Another shapeshifter based article. Magic for and against lycanthropes? Haven't had that before. And not in a October issue either. Once again those damn bogarting undead are stealing the big publicity and corresponding countermeasures. Instantaneous Shift lets you skip the round of vulnerability when shapechanging. Just like spending Rage points in W:tA, this may be well worth the resource expenditure. Resist Silver lets poor shapeshifters take half damage from their big vulnerability. That'll weed out the amateurs from the true professionals who don't waste time with weapons, and just go for the big blasty spells. Ripclaw & Sabertooth sound like a lycanthrope comedy duo, but are actually a pair of spells to buff your natural weaponry. Useful to anything with claws or teeth, really. Scent lets you mark someone to be easily tracked. Since it requires a touch attack, it's not the most useful of 3rd level spells. Full Moon is, unsurprisingly, a forced transformation spell. This is particularly helpful when they've just infected some of your buds. Get ready for chaos and fur flying. It's even reversible, which will be much in demand if found out. Howl is just a refluffed Fear spell. Meh. Increased Infection doubles your odds of getting your mitts on new minions. Muahahahaha! Pack Mind is also pretty unsurprising. Buff up your buds, the more buds, the more buffed. Meh. Invest Lycanthrope is a nasty little trick. All the powers of a full lycanthrope for a day, but a very real threat of becoming an infected one after that. Way to lure people in with false advertising. Silverblade brings on the reverse side of the coin. Make your weapons temporarily useful against lycanthropes. Course, in Ravenloft, who knows what their vulnerability will be. It may well do sod-all. Resist Lycanthropy is no surprise either, as are Declaw, Hold Form and Lycanthropic Immunity. Snooze time. Wolfsbane lets you turn lycanthropes in undead style. See, that redresses the balance nicely. Until next time. The living dead are still well ahead.</blockquote>

Verification