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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5932376" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 279: January 2001part 4/7An elven lexicon: As is their habit whenever they have a race themed issue these days, they do a basic language primer to fill in a few pages. This hasn't really thrilled me before, and doesn't this time either. Their usual elitism is in full force here, with other races struggling to learn it simply because it takes such a long time to truly master, and there are so many words for subtle variations in various things. Their writing uses far greater complication in it's punctuation, methods of emphasis, prefixes and suffixes than english. Which means even more than ever, it really really needs multiple books by an obsessive linguist, not a four page article in a magazine to properly convey. Come on, Klingons got their own language, and I'm pretty sure they're not as popular as Elves. Truth or Damodar: Oh, Bruce Payne. The only guy who appeared in both D&D movies. Why did you do it? I guess it actually wasn't too bad an experience for him. He got to do some ear raping, which I'm sure was fun to act out, he got to wear a cool outfit, and his suggestions were listened too by the director. Ok, the blue lipstick didn't turn out to well, but you can't have everything, and they did get rid of it in the sequel. They're still being pretty positive about this, and since googling shows he was one of the better received parts of the movies, I guess they're justified this time. You certainly can't say this killed his career, looking at IMDB. I wonder who else they can get in to do an interview. Somehow I doubt Jeremy Irons'll be amongst them. Unusual suspects: The final article in this little series deals with Monks and Druids, unsurprisingly. Since they have fairly strict alignment restrictions, they will be more culturally ingrained in some races than others, but James finds at least two credible sounding excuses for each of the corebook races to play each class. I think this symmetry has been filled pretty solidly, and with surprisingly little complaint from the letters and forum crowds. Now hopefully we can incorporate other non-core classes and races, (quite possibly combined) with similar lack of drama in game. Fiction: The sleeping tide by J Gregory Keyes. Fool Wolf finally stops being involved in standalone stories, with one that brings together threads from several of his previous encounters, and doesn't resolve neatly at the end either. And the plot definitely thickens, with character development from all involved, even Fool Wolf's trapped goddess. We've had enough time to establish a little emotional investment, so this turn of events leaves me very eager to find out what happens next, if there'll be a resolution to his tales, or he'll just keep going through life being a massive liability to everyone around him. It may sound cool being a wandering adventurer, but when you don't have a choice, it gets very exhausting. Don't make me wait 6 months for the next instalment. VS Fiends: Oh boy, if any creature is an almighty pain in the ass to defeat, it's demons, devils and their lower planar compatriots. When a creature has teleport without error at will, multiple immunities (which vary quite a bit depending on individual creature. ) an extensive selection of spell-like abilities and the brains to use them, you really do need to bring your A game if you want to win, because if they don't want to fight, they can get away any time unless you've dropped a dimensional anchor on them. Still, at least they can't summon cascade like last edition, and there are more abilities specifically designed to do extra damage to them. Plus anti-teleporting magic is in the corebook, not some obscure supplement. It's definitely a fairer fight now than it was before. Just don't ever get complacent, for they have long memories and lots of favours to call in. They can afford to wait a few decades until you're vulnerable, and then snatch you away for eternal torment. This only really covers the actual combat side of interacting with them, which is rather limited really. They can be so much more to your campaign. I'm still not very impressed with this column. The adventures of Volo: More Cormyran legends this month. Like the Rayburtons, the Rallyhorns have some substantial treasures, much of which is valuable. Or at least they did, until they sealed it up in a tomb, which was subsequently looted, and not there when cash-strapped descendents looked for it. (Really, that's like putting up a big neon sign saying "come take my stuff!", no matter how many traps and wards you also put in there) Still, doing so without ruining everything, and then disappearing without a trace shows a little more style than most adventurers manage. The mystery remains unsolved to this day. Elminster actually bothers to put in a few minutes work this time, to heap his usual disdain on Volo's reporting methods. Still, that element feels a little forced. The rest of it's fun though. It feels as though he's getting vaguely bibilical, with all these family trees. Wonder if we'll get to see a big joined-up version like the ones in the Silmarillion any time.</blockquote>

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