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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6057625" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 300: October 2002part 3/10All 300 issues so far get their covers shown in miniature in this fascinating double page spread. See the lofty heights they have risen, and the depths they are currently sinking too. When shrunk down to postage stamp size, all the writing that they've sprayed over the covers in increasing density since 1996 is just illegible clutter. It really puts things into slightly depressing perspective. What also seems a bit awkward is that the historical retrospective doesn't cover the whole of Dragon, only the period since Kim Mohan joined, leaving info on the early days which people would really like to know about absent. Even if they'd lost touch with Tim Kask, surely they could get Gary to write a little extra about what it was like back in the day. Still, at least they're fairly candid about the problems they suffered in the recent past, and what they did to fix them. They do have good reasons for choosing to concentrate on D&D, given what happened to more general magazines during that period. But carrying on doing it after the crisis was over? When austerity becomes the new status quo rather than a temporary reaction to a crisis, it leaves you with far less room to manoeuvre next time things go wrong. The bestiary: Hmm. This is an entry that I remember hearing about before. Aside from Astral Dragons, Bytopia's admantine dragons, and Acheron's rust dragons, the planes are curiously lacking in D&D's namesake. Fixing this would have definite benefits, and they've finally got round to it. Let's see if the results are suitably quirky and inventive or formulaic and predictable. Howling Dragons are from Pandemonium, and quite quite mad. They're also quite capable of spreading it, with both their breath weapon and spell-like powers working to that end. So far, so predictable. Pyroclastic Dragons are from Gehenna, and show the typical gehennan love of brute force over charm, as well as lots of fire based powers which far too many things from the same plane will be immune to. Still, they probably won't be immune to their sonic spells, which they also have <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" /> Rust Dragons are of course preexisting. Any relation to rust monsters is purely co-incidental, and will be treated as a scurrilous accusation. Unsurprisingly, they get an upgrade to the new formulae for stats, but they'll still ruin all your equipment with one foul breath. Woo. Just when you thought D&D was becoming safe and sanitised. Styx Dragons of course, get everywhere the river flows, although they can't fly. Just as howling dragons target your wis, these drain your int with their breath, and get water and mind<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing powers. Tarterian Dragons enjoy a relatively high level of freedom for things in their plane, but ultimately they're stuck there like most other things. And in typical fashion, they get lots of powers to make sure no-one else gets out, and those lovely cycles of bitterness and abuse continue, giving the plane even more power. Doncha just love the lower planes. Course, I doubt we'll be seeing upper planar counterparts for these guys soon. As there have been no great surprises either, I am forced to yawn.  Pretty so-so, I'm afraid.</blockquote>

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