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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6110808" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 313: November 2003 part 3/9Shrine war: Obviously with the new D&D minis game being gutted of setting, they can't spend a load of articles expositing on the histories of the factions and the colour schemes they should be painted in. Instead, they're doing what all the other articles these days are doing and providing you with crunchy stuff you can drop straight into your game. A new scenario, and the battle tiles to go with it? That's neither a bad idea, nor particularly rehashed, which is cool. Each shrine has a map and it's own special rules appropriate to it's alignment, mostly of the "certain squares have particular effects on those in or moving through them." Each is 8x5 squares big, which means you won't be fielding particularly large warbands, but there are rules for rolling reinforcements if you want a nice long battle. Even if it's not as colourful as the Chainmail articles, it still looks like they have a fair amount of ideas to add to this game, and the diversion from regular D&D is always welcome. I hope they have other things to sell us as well as scenarios and new status and environmental conditions. Secrets of the illithids: In 2e, melding magic and psionics to create something greater than the sum of their parts was pretty exclusively an Athasian thing, and even then you had to be epic level to make much headway. In 3e, it's much easier, although you'll have to work pretty hard at it to be better than a single-classed wizard or psion of the same total level. Case in point, the Mind Mage Prestige class detailed here. It does get more interesting special abilities, but it has higher prerequisites and less advancement (8 levels over 10 for both sides) than the Cerebromancer that will appear in a few months time in the XPH. That means they'll effectively be a 13th level spellcaster/11 level psion at 18th level. (the earliest they can max out the prestige class) The usual MAD problems will be a pain in the ass. On the other hand, at epic level, the ability to add their prestige class level to their caster/manifester level will go from just about allowing them to keep up in terms of durations and spell penetration, to punching straight through creatures that would be immune to the spells of an unoptimised character of the same level. And the ability to spend power points to offset the level increases of metamagic feats will allow them to nova to a ridiculous degree. This essentially exaggerates the weak at low level, powerful at high level curve that makes spellcasters a problem, and as such, you should think very carefully before allowing it.</blockquote>

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