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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6139611" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 320: June 2004part 6/8Silicon sorcery: Warcraft again in this column, with The Frozen Throne expansion for Warcraft III. Last month, we reexamined Dark Sun's variant races and the possibility that you might do something similar for your campaign. This takes it a step further, talking about the idea of entire races being transformed mid-campaign due to magical weirdness or severe environmental pressure. This can go very wrong, (you might well get kender, for a start <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" /> ) and leave players feeling cheated or railroaded, especially if the changes to their abilities are detrimental to their build. Still, high stakes, high risk, high potential rewards as well, and if it looks like your game is gradually losing people's interest, better to have it go out with a 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=":)" /> twist ending than a boring one. The sample changes to the PHB races are all based around the theme of the magic going away, making the world a little darker and more desperate, which isn't the most original of themes, but it does serve to ramp up the drama. Well, this is certainly an improvement on the 2e days where they would pull big game-changers in the metaplot, but turn around and forbid us from doing the same or going off the rails in the adventures and fighting the screwage. I'm once again happy to see more heavy-duty rules experimentation in the magazine. Under command: Ugh. One consequence of a minis heavy game is that it gives the writers even more incentive to nerf shapechanging. So here's a big attempt to distract you from regular polymorphing with a load of specific spells that transform you in only one way for a short duration. This means they're intended pretty much exclusively as combat buffs, apart from one, as you won't have the time to keep up a disguise. They do gain a few abilities that you won't get with regular polymorph self, but really, this is the kind of stuff that sucks all the wonder out of the game, and I find it consistently annoying to deal with. So much for minis providing a little variety to the magazine when they're instead using it to push an agenda that also applies to regular D&D, and isn't pleasing to me at all. Screw that noise.</blockquote>

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