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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6136965" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 319: May 2004part 7/8Fiction: The altar of Duzares by Thomas Harlan. And so we come to the end of the last bit of serialised fiction in Dragon. Where the previous instalments were heavily urban, emphasising the melting pot (and powder keg) nature of the big middle eastern cities, this takes them out into the desert where all that investigation and politicing is irrelevant, and it'll all come down to their physical and magical skill to stop the assassins. This follows the pretty standard climax format of the heroes getting knocked out or captured, the big evil ritual succeeding, and then the heroes pull back from the brink and use all their resources to take out the big bads. It also takes the time to reveal the big secrets of the characters, particularly the stalwart knight who turns out to have a darker past than the others expect. As the final instalment, it's more serious than the previous ones, but there are a few action movie-esque one liners slipped in there. And like an action movie, it ends as soon as the big bad is defeated, not tying up any other loose threads or showing how they got back afterwards. It's definitely not as final or satisfying an end as Fool Wolf got, but it's not bad either. Shorter series with more regular characters mean you don't get the chance to get as attached to any one of them. Nodwick's party takes a decanter of endless water to Athas. Hilarity ensues. Dork tower get bored and decamp, and wonder how long it'll take for the GM to notice. DM's toolbox: Johnn's column is smaller and faster paced than usual, which fits the theme of making sure things don't stall. This is less about the social aspects of keeping the game moving, as they've covered before, and more about writing your setting and adventures in such a way that one awkward decision from the players doesn't completely throw you off. Know your players, know your setting, know your NPC's, and then you won't need a strict script to stick too. Don't make challenges that only have one solution, and especially not ones that are completely dependent on a particular member of the party's powers. Essentially this seems to be another reminder to play it as a roleplaying game, in which the NPC's have independent existences and free will, and aren't simply there to deliver lines and fights to the players, because if you try and play it like a book or TV show, you will likely be surprised by what happens. Embrace the surprises, and let the story be whatever happens, rather than the other way around. I think we've heard most of this before.</blockquote>

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