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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6112107" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 313: November 2003 part 5/9Dork tower also gets a second strip. They really need to get some new cartoonists. These ones are being overexposed. Ghost Elves: Of all the creatures getting an article in this issue, elves seem to be the odd one out. While they can be powerful, they're way too common as a PC race to be in any way mysterious or intimidating to use. So here's an attempt to bring back a little of that. It's also a blatant imitation of the Gith backstory. Ghost Elves were created when a deal with a devil went wrong, and the whole tribe was taken to the 9 hells to serve as slaves for generations. They eventually escaped, but found themselves forever changed by the experience. And now they live on the ethereal plane, reclusive and paranoid with their sense of humour stripped away. Great, more grim, brooding, morally ambiguous heroes for players to choose from. I think we already have enough of those, don't you? Just the options from the magazine are enough to fill that niche a dozen times over. That said, they're not bad mechanically, with escalating spell-like abilities as they gain levels that keep them interesting. But yeah, description-wise, they're completely unenthralling to me. We need neither more elf variants or more brooding anti-heroes, and with Drizzt still selling hugely, we definitely don't need another combination of the two. Dragon Psychoses: Most of the dragon articles we see show you ways to make them more powerful, or use their existing abilities more effectively. So it's with both relief and amusement that I see an article that reminds us dragons can be as <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=":)" />ed up as anyone, and with their longer lifespans and lack of decent social networks, they have a lot of opportunities to become traumatised or set in their ways to the point where they lose touch with reality. Characters are more interesting when they aren't all icy optimisation of their powers and every waking moment spent in lethal lair design. Nameless Dragons compulsively try and erase all evidence of their existence from the records. They automatically sense when someone uses their name, and home in on them to kick ass. If they get past the first stage, they become very good at hiding indeed, and convincing them that y'know, an identity and social interaction might have benefits gets increasingly tricky. Ravening Dragons let their base hungers get the better of them, and have to consume their own bodyweight in food every day. This means they're considerably harder to fight or negotiate with, but easier to trick and trap, as they don't have time for all that patient planning and weighing up their options. Better hope you can wear them down without too many losses, because each one lets them last a little longer without starving. Riddled Dragons go the opposite way, becoming obsessed with the cerebral beyond the bounds of practicality. This means they'll put stupidly obscure clues as to their master plans in the wake of their actions, and are likely to stop and talk even if it's not in their best interests. If you want a villain that goes at things 60's batman stylee, then this gives you an excellent excuse. The curing process is a pretty cool plot hook too. They can definitely have a place in my game. Spellhoarding Dragons get too greedy when it comes to magical gear and secrets, and neglect mundane treasure-seeking. This once again means they might let their avarice overcome their common sense, but they do get substantial magical tricks to play with, so don't underestimate them, and hope they retain enough sense to trade for new spells instead of just killing you and taking your stuff. Wandering Dragons not only wander endlessly, they become so sleep deprived that their dreams start manifesting as illusions in the surrounding areas. This means to cure them, you have to get to the bottom of their subconscious fears, while simultaneously dealing with a very real and mobile but irrational monster. Once again, this seems like a fun plot hook seen in many shows and movies, but not so many games, that you can get some use out of. This article has definitely had an above average amount of whimsy for one of this era.</blockquote>

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