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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6121066" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 315: January 2004part 4/8The exiled factions: The factions have already got a partial 3e updating in issue 288. This continues, but doesn't complete that process, with prestige classes for the Harmonium and Revolutionary League. The Harmonium Peacekeeper is a fairly straightforward 5 level paladin variant, with a particular emphasis on the mount and the smiting parts. The Anarchomancer is a somewhat stranger one that sacrifices three spellcasting levels for some extremely powerful and flexible magical rituals that do things even 9th level spells can't pull off. The nearly undetectable cover identity power at 1st level alone is very tempting, because it lets you do a "and now, I will reveal my true form!" moment with great ease and real mechanical impact. Meanwhile, the Athar, Guvners and Doomguard each get a couple of new magical items, and the Fated get stats for their current factol. As it has both updatings and new material, this is pretty cool, if very incomplete. The planes have got more attention under WotC than most of their old settings, and it's good that they're still providing new, non rehashed information as part of it. Let's hope there's some more to come. Regional feats of Oerth: One problem Greyhawk has had ever since being brought back in 1998 is the feeling that it's trying to play catch-up with the Realms, providing the same kind of nearly generic information in similar formats, just in smaller quantities. Not for lack of trying though, since apparently these 38 feats are only half of what Erik Mona wrote for this issue. As with the Realms regional feats, the benefits from these are slightly more powerful than equivalent regular feats, many of them providing multiple semi-connected benefits around a theme. Many of them are applicable to more than one nationality, and the various demihuman races don't get ignored either. It's all pretty high density. I'm sure someone'll get a use out of this, particularly if it gets allowed in the Living Greyhawk campaign, but I somehow doubt I will. The bloody swords: Ghostwalk? I don't even remember them mentioning that in the releases, let along getting any articles. Googling says it was only released 6 months ago, after they stopped doing previews in the magazine, and as one of the last things released for 3.0, it probably got lost in the cracks for most people. And meanwhile Savage Species was getting follow-up after follow-up ad nauseum. I am nonplussed and vaguely irritated by their promotional decisions. The new material here is a cult of Orcus pretending to be just a regular bloodthirsty mercenary group. They aren't particularly big, but they do have a nice line in zombie servants to make up the numbers, and some custom magic that lets their undead regain hit points by cannibalising others in classic zombie movie style. Makes more sense for a chaotic evil cult than spending tons of time on preservative and enhancing spells. It also means things are less likely to spiral out of control, as you can't both eat someone and turn them into another undead creature in classic spawn cascade stylee. Oh well. It still means players have plenty of reasons to run into them, get annoyed by their antics and try to kill them. Once again, while there may be a few setting specific easter bits, this is usable pretty much anywhere there's undead and demon lords. They may be trying a little too hard to keep everything modular.</blockquote>

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