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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5918339" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 278: December 2000 part 7/7Silicon Sorcery: 5 new magic items from Icewind Dale get backconverted to D&D stats this month. They all have pretty cool names, which definitely makes me more predisposed to using them. Let's see if their powers can match their names in inventiveness.Alamion is a longsword that makes you resistant to fire, detects fire using creatures and is super effective against evil outsiders. If you're a paladin going to hell, you couldn't have a better friend in all the world. Dead man's Faces are helms that provide a bonus against fear effects, which is moderately useful. The flavour text is more interesting than their power, being based around the funereal practices of the followers of Tempus. This is an unusual amount of depth for video game items, and well worth using in a tabletop game. Faith Killer isn't too surprising, being an axe that dispels any divine spells when it hits someone. There's quite a few people around the multiverse who don't like the idea of gods now. I suspect that's why they'll hit back and institute the wall of the faithless to keep us in line. The Bitch Queen's Envoy is a shield given to servants of Umberlee, that makes them invisible and untouchable to water creatures. How useful this'll be will be pretty context specific, but it's a truly awesome name, nonetheless. I hope you can get good use out of it in the game. Black Swan Armor isn't the most powerful in terms of armor bonus, but gives you resistance to 4 energy types, a charisma enhancement, and has reduced armor penalties. Since it's designed for a female wearer, I'm left wondering if it looks chesecakey in game. How are you supposed to take a military leader seriously when they're showing great acres of cleavage? (until they prove they've got Great Cleave as well) So with plenty of effort to integrate them into the setting, and powers that aren't just more plusses, this lot can definitely have high marks. Dungeoncraft: Ray reveals that yes, he wasn't part of the in crowd for the new edition's development, so he's only found out about it as we did. I suspected as much. And due to lead-in times and all that, he's 3 months behind in getting to talk about it. No wonder he's been running booster episodes these past few months rather than starting new topics. Still, this one is quite topical, as it asks the difficult question of when, and indeed if you should switch systems, particularly mid campaign, where the change in rules might hurt people's sense of immersion, as characters can suddenly do things they couldn't before. (or possibly the opposite, which would also annoy them.) A one-shot to try things out before you commit your main game would be a rather good idea. Still, while he doesn't leap headfirst into 3e, he does have positive things to say about it, particularly in the universal resolution system removing big chunks of the headache in winging unexpected actions. All you have to do is figure out a stat to roll against and an appropriate DC. And you can still eyeball those and not worry about it too much if you turn out to not be calculating things strictly by the RAW. Keeping the game moving is more important than adhering to the letter of the rules at all times. As with some of the other writers, he's obviously still writing with the 2e spirit, even if he's using the new rules. And I find myself fully in agreement with his observations this month. You don't want to jump in and use everything in the new system at once just because it's cool and new. That way lies making mistakes you can't easily take back before you get the hang of things. Dixie is foiled in her latest attempt to rule the world by the wonders of chocolate. That's just cruel. I'm afraid we have a lot of short, somewhat insubstantial articles this issue. It seems like they're still waiting for the freelancers to catch up with the new edition and start sending in stuff using the new rules, with a lot of system free ones that feel like filler. Despite dwarves being fairly popular, there's no real game-changers for them here, just lots of stuff that tells us what they think we want to hear. Looks like there's still another few mountains of rock to dig through to find the gold in this magazine. Better get a bigger pickaxe if I want to get through them faster.</blockquote>

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