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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5868981" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 271: May 2000part 5/7Dragon's bestiary: This column has been relying a little too much on the contribution of the regular writers recently, probably to it's detriment. Not this month however, as we see the results of their recent competition. Will the contributions of amateurs be fresher than the usual suspects? They'd better be, given the number they had to choose from.Visceraith are another form of undead created by wizardly experimentation into transhumanism. They're a bunch of semi-substantial organs that use other people's bones like a hermit crab. They can also control bones other than the ones they're occupying, to unpleasant effect. Man. Bones, blood, worms, cobwebs, there's a lot of weird transformations you can go through, but probably wouldn't want too. What other variants on this theme will they come up with? Soul masks are greek stage masks that feed off the emotion they represent, and encourage it in those around them. Now there's something that has a short story about it somewhere, probably with people dying as a result of it. Makes me think of Vampire princess Miyu in particular, which is no bad thing.Dvati are a variant on the bonded twin principle also employed later by Mike Mearls in Iron Heroes. They act as one, and if one dies, the other does too. They have pretty good class abilities, and are all ambidextrous, so I can see quite a few cheese monkeys wanting to play them. So it seems I can pick out parallels for all of them, showing there can't have been any truly great original ideas amongst the entries. That is somewhat disappointing really. Still, they do all look perfectly playable. But merely average is still not quite good enough, really. The ecology of the bag of devouring: Wait a minute. This is a magic item, not a monster! Or is it? Maybe it's both. In any case, it's well worthy of study, assuming you can survive the experience, or have magical means of tracing the path of it's extradimensional throats. For the first time in a while, we have a new writer handling things, and a story in which the protagonist grows and changes substantially as a result of his adventure. A monster, dungeon, and hugely exploitable adventure hook all in one, this shows how what seems to be a cursed item is actually a strong opportunity if done right. And it also shows just how alien alternate prime material worlds can be. Guess it's another excellent and thought provoking ecology then. We are spoiled these days. The new adventures of Volo: More secret societies? When we're just about to get a whole book on them? I smell cut material. At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the Realms was a member of multiple simultaneously. WoDesque conspiracy exaggeration aside, this isn't about the usual subjects, but another up-and-coming new secret society, just itching to get a new branch in YOUR hometown. Another reminder or two that the Realms is a living and constantly developing world, and you can drop new things in, and take old ones out (where are the Horde or Maztican incursions now? ) as you go along to keep things interesting and it'll feel perfectly natural if you do it right. Plus they're a good adversary for players, as they're the right size that a determined group could wipe the whole lot of them out and make a real difference for the better, unlike the Red Wizards or Zhentarim. This all seems very playable with, and designed to tackle with the accusations that the Realms is hard to play in because there's too much built up canon. Looks like he's still listening to the complaints and adapting his style to compensate. I guess that's another reason for his longevity as a successful contributor. Top Secret: A second nostalgic callback this month, as we talk about doing espionage stuff in Alternity. Another one of those things that really makes it feel like they're trying to hit as many bases they can, make what we have feel as complete as possible for years more of play before they drop it all for good. What we get is moderately unusual as well. While we do get some new skills and equipment, the majority of this is devoted to 11 new careers, to help you build and differentiate suitable characters right from the outset if you know espionage is going to be a campaign focus. It doesn't particularly stand out as good or bad after a couple of readings, so I shall shrug and call it average. It does it's job, and I guess that's enough.</blockquote>

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