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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6253528" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 356: June 2007part 5/6Savage tidings: Welcome. Too. The. Abyss!!!!! I never tire of that. The first plane to get a module set in it, it's got plenty of attention in every edition since, and is one of the few that survived the transition to 4th ed without being too mutilated. With it's infinite layers, different writers have delighted in the chance to turn it to all sorts of different ends without worrying so much about stepping on the toes of existing canon. Anyway, we see the return of advice on how to replace lost characters once down there. Will you form alliances of convenience with demons, run across other adventuring groups and decide to team up for safety's sake, or rescue some poor sod from the horrors of the plane and wind up with them tagging along. Similarly, shopping may initially seem like a problem, but as long as we have those bloody mercanes showing up everywhere, this problem is easily handwaved away. And they have plenty of cool items you can't get on the prime material for love nor money. Finally, they show how to keep affiliations relevant in this stage of the game. They seem to have searched for potential problems, and systematically set out to solve them. As with the ship upgrades, the handling of this does hurt my suspension of belief a little, making the universe seem altogether too much like a theme park focussed around them and their adventures rather than existing as an independent thing in it's own right; but as it makes for much more fun adventures (as long as they stay on the path) I can quite understand why they made that decision, and respect the skill with which they pursue their goal. Guess it's just a symptom of the current trends in game design. Volo's guide: For a full 3 years, Volo regularly reported upon the various dragons found in the north of faerun, going well past the point of diminishing returns and only stopping when the danger become too great and people grew bored of the tales. But his fanboyism remains undimmed by the passing of time (just how old is he IC now? ) and so they decide to have a one-off special showcasing dragons from other parts of the Realms as his birthday contribution. We only have the standard 4 pages for this column, so they don't get the depth or new spells that they used too, but since I found the old ones a gross overdetailing anyway, I'm not objecting. Acuakvacaesin is a green dragon who's fallen in love with the elves of the moonshaes and now has a peaceful relationship with them. In fact, he secretly wants to be an elf himself. He'll be a laughing stock amongst other green dragons if they ever find out. Rhyaexthadarsh is a white dragon with a quite distinctive hunting pattern. She's clever enough to keep from overdoing it, disguising many of her attacks as the work of wolves, and so keeping trade through her territory running rather than killing the golden goose and profiting less in the long run. Her combat tactics are described in considerable detail, and should make her quite an interesting assailant. Svernvignarngix is a brass dragon who's trying to eliminate slavery from Calimshan by long-term political manipulation. Good luck with that one. He's typically talkative for his race, and has quite a few half-dragon kids. People who don't play nice in his oasis get turned into hamsters. How very 2nd edition of him. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> Quite a good collection, really. Dragonmarks: This month we get some stuff for Eberron's goblins. While they might mostly be the marauding tribal scavengers you see in other worlds, things weren't always like that. Once they had a proud empire, full of martial discipline, and were true terrors to the lands beyond. And even now, they gather round the remnants of their old glories, such as the Gathering Stone. A neutral ground where they can gather, trade, debate, and settle disputes, this is full of fun little touches that combine to create a picture that is both distinctive, and entirely in keeping with their established racial character. Another one you could extract from their setting and put into your own without too much trouble, this was a pretty enjoyable read, and definitely adds some more depth to their portrayal.</blockquote>

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