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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5868402" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 271: May 2000part 4/7Arcane Lore picks itself up to get back to delivering a decent quantity of spells. Quality, of course, may be a different matter. This time the focus is on defensive magics. You know, abjurers still haven't got a special on them. And with only two of these spells being an abjuration, (and more being alterations) they're still unpleasantly underrepresented, and can even be edged out at their own job by other specialists. Diviners and necromancers have got their fixes, but it looks like Abjurers will have to stay the scrappy, overshadowed even by elementalists, wild mages and sha'irs. Clayskin is a weakened stoneskin. Now you can annoy your DM like hell right from 1st level. Those goblins are going to be really scared if you stock up on this one. Heat Wave surrounds you in shimmering, protecting you from missile weapons and cold. A good one for your low level fire elementalist who doesn't want to be all offence all the time. Innocent Bearing makes people not suspect you. Another one we've had before, albeit at higher level. There does seem to be a bit of power creep going on in this article. Shadow Shield is an illusory defence that works just fine as long as no-one disbelieves it. Or you don't get attacked by inanimate objects. Not too hard to get around, really. Skullhelm is your typical bit of necromantic forebodingnes. It's benefits are pretty minor. Who's going to try a called shot to the head when you're wearing something like this? Wild Swing is another way of saving a low level wizard's life by reducing damage. Well, if you want to live to 2nd level, it might be a good idea. Vapor Guard is another one that does something similar to previous spells seen here, only better, particularly when level is taken into account. This is becoming a definite pattern. Bone Block gives you a pair of extra skeletal arms, parrying attacks for you. Just the thing for an up-and-coming necromancer who wants to make the right impression. Dancing Shield fairly reliably blocks the first attack on you in a round. In one-on-one battles against people, this is of course particularly effective. Poor fighters have no chance really at this stage, do they. Protection from Curse is yet another variant on one we've seen very recently. Once again, with the sloppy editorial filtering. Throw it out, dudes. Battle Augury yet again makes me yawn. Momentary precognition to give you AC and save bonuses? Very familiar idea.  Protection from Polymorph seems a little too specific to use a spell slot on most days. Just stock up on dispel's, that'll be more likely to be practically useful. Iron Shirt lets a wizard give themselves all the benefits of armor without impeding spellcasting. Cheesy monkeys. Rary's Defensive Spell Enhancer adds 1 to the protection granted by whatever other spell. Probably not worth it, like too many other current metamagic tricks. Roll on next edition where they reach maturity, and all this built up crap gets swept away. Bazaar of the Bizarre: Another last burst of magic-free setting heavy frippery before edition change squeezes that stuff out of D&D for the foreseeable future. Eat, drink and be merry, for in 3 months time, there will be only war. Cockles in Laminari are shellfish preserved in thick glutinous kelp. That's several different food groups in one package. A bit of steaming would probably be a good idea to get rid of the excess salt. Djekul is fishy cheese that works well half-melted and with vegetables dipped in it. Damn, now you're making me hungry. Don't say I'm going to actually try a recipe from a fantasy game. Oh, the shame. Goldenseed nuts are basically fantasy peanuts that come presalted. Mmm. You can bet they'll be pretty moreish. Karafruit Sweetchews are little cubes of dried fruit to serve as sweet trail rations. Once again, I find myself salivating. It's really rather worrying.  Karispa is peppery watercress. That requires no stretch of the imagination at all. Basic reskinning is boring. Molvarti is goat cheese. Ironically, it works well served with lamb, which feels a bit wrong. Oh well, can't be squeamish about exploiting things every way possible. Pilac are dryable noodles that swell to 3 times that volume once water is added. Again, a good one for adventurers. Tusham is a particular variety of smoked boar, made rare by Iuz's depredations. Do you want to fight to preserve ancient cultural foods? Or is that too mundane for your party? Villosa are red mushrooms. <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" />lays super mario bros theme: They're pretty versatile. Raw, cooked or used to make a dye.  I wonder if eating too many gives you orange pee. Wickler is marbled cheese. Once again, they include a mouth-watering recipe in the description. Looks like there'll be enough to make a whole day's meals in here. Ambierre is apple wine with a bit of grapes. The precise formula is a secret, to keep it selling well. Do you want to make this into a plot hook? Bejl is a herbal mix that becomes a medicinal tonic when you add boiling water. Probably smells pretty pungent. No thanks. Frinnecre is mixed fruit cider from elven territory. The description reads like an advert from inside the setting. I mildly disapprove. Galda fruit brandy on the other hand is for the common folk, with nobles turning their nose up at it. This is nothing to do with it's taste. Silly fashionistas. Gauglathiir gets into full-on Jilly Goulden territory in it's description of alcohol. This is becoming almost comical. Who though publishing this stuff was a good idea? Heathen is Dwarven berry wine. What, you thought they bought it all from humans. You can't trust them to properly age it to a dwarf's discerning standards. Down the hatch. Iriador is an elven made wine that has a strong human market. Should make a pretty moneyspinner for them. Kaffet is Oerth coffee. Obviously their characters just couldn't survive without it, so they had to find an excuse to insert it. Woe for the sleepless! Mist Mash is another case of modern technology being introduces to oerth. Stronger sprits? That stuff rots your brain. Next thing you know we'll have renamed absinthe. Shamarit is iced wine from up north. Once again, they review this one as if they were working IC. Silaurey is from the farmlands around Greyhawk city. It seems to be a good middle of the road option. Skyrss barely qualifies as beer, but at least it doesn't leave you with a hangover. Is this a snide commentary on stuff like budweiser? In any case, it brings us to the end of another of their most inconsequential articles ever. I'm glad to have got through it.</blockquote>

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