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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6022240" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 293: March 2002part 7/10Places of mystery: Greyhawk gets it's counterpart to Ed's current column, describing new places for you to adventure in. Of course, they don't have the same art budget here, so it's just descriptions. A cursed castle in an area infested by orcs, and with who knows what horrors in the lower dungeon levels, and a hidden citadel full of advanced Shadows that can teleport between any shadow they choose, meaning you're never truly safe once you've aroused their ire, no matter how far you run. As with Ed's recent works, these are presented as challenges too big for a regular party to clear out in one go, so you can have multiple parties exploring the same dungeon complex, and monsters replenishing themselves regularly. (which'll certainly happen if you face Shadows and aren't properly equipped) Since they're both surrounded by hazardous terrain, you can't expect to be able to run to the surface, rest up and go shopping whenever resources start to run a little low, or for the monsters to stick in their rooms whenever you're not around, and you'll have to plan accordingly. While you'll have to fill in all the layout details yourself, these are fairly flavourful little sketches that nudge you towards making brutal old school adventures that'll take sessions to solve and kill plenty of characters in the process. If you want to make stories that your players'll talk about the way Gary did back in the day, pay attention, because they're trying to show you the way. A splintered sun: We've had stuff aimed at the DM, now for something a bit more player-centric. A knightly prestige class that puts a specific spin on paladin style virtue, with a test for entry? You can have plenty of those, and having them makes it more likely you'll have conflicts between good creatures who've simply prioritised one virtue over another. In this case it's physical and moral fortitude beyond normal endurance, and they get a special power that boosts their constitution when they drop to 0 HP, allowing them to press onwards for a little while longer and then die, or get away to get some healing before it wears off and they collapse again. Their mental disciplines include taking 10 on skills in stressful situations, and the ability to take a partial action even if surprised. So they will play a bit differently from regular fighters or paladins, while still being front-line melee combatants. Of course, the real meat is in the setting detail, not only telling us about their history, code of conduct and initiation rites, but also providing some sample NPC's of various ranks in the organisation. So this really demonstrates the advantages of designing your prestige class for a specific campaign rather than keeping it generic, and making your own, not just allowing whatever ones from official books your players ask for. At the very least, you should adapt them a little and give them places within your world.</blockquote>

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