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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6262511" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Issue 359: September 2007 part 5/8Time Dragon: Since it's still the title of the magazine (with or without it's The), they would be remiss in going out without an article on dragons, be it introducing a new type or expanding on old ones. Our first article this issue that actually has any mechanical stuff in it, this is one for the Epic level players. Anything that has time travel effects is automatically a huge problem for most groups, as it goes another step beyond scrying, mind-reading and teleportation in letting you set up a situation where you can beat an opponent without them having any chance against you at all, even if they're physically superior in a straight fight. (and since it's dragons we're talking about here, you don't even have much chance of being able to kill them with brute force before they can react) Even hatchlings start at CR 26, going up to 90 for great wyrms, making them a suitable foe for when your characters can deal with hecatoncheires without breaking a sweat. So this is very much an exercise in unfairness intended to remind people there's always a bigger fish out there, always a new adventure to challenge your players with. Which is a good note to end things on. Even after 359 issues, there's still only a handful of epic level articles, and both players and DM's have to forge their way into the unknown if they want to keep campaigns fun at that level. There's only a molehill of covered ground, so let's hope they don't keep trying to sell us what's already been sold in the electronic issues. Demonomicon of Iggwilv: For our final entry in this series, they throw open the doors, and encourage you to make your own demon lords. After all, they aren't going to be allowed to do it any more, and there's still so many more adventures to have. Course, this being third edition, they have to be formulaic about it, providing a template you use to adapt existing creatures into demon lords. They then provide us 5 examples of this technique. Ardat the unavowed, Dwiergus the chrysalis prince, Lascer, lord of the shadow shoal, Shaktari, queen of mariliths, and Ugudenk, the squirming king. Three Tanar'ri, two Obyriths. All with rather scary tricks up their sleeves, but the stats derived from advancing some other creature, saving space here. That should be more than enough to work from. I really don't need this, having created several abyssal lords of my own, but this does read like them trying to set free a few minds while not completely taking the stabilizers off. Oh, the compromises they have to make. They also go into detail about the divisions in the demonic phyla. The insubstantial loumaras, born from the dying dreams of a pantheon eaten by the abyss. The cthonic Obyriths, ancient and maddening, from before the days of intelligent life. The tanar'ri, our well known embodiments of every sin known to man, born from the souls of chaotic evil monsters that went to the abyss. Artificially created stuff of various stripes, including quasits, yochol, retrievers, etc. The abyssal equivalents of animals. And there's bound to be a few that don't fit into those classifications, since it is a realm of chaos. A good example of the complex built up D&D mythology that's accreted over decades, that is about to be swept away by the complete setting reboot of the next edition. Rather saddening, really. Still, this article is a reminder that when the official stuff ends, you're free to make stuff up yourself without worrying about future products contradicting them. But it is definitely a bittersweet ending. So it goes. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /> 1d20 Villains: Another big list looking back on characters from adventures, novels and sourcebooks who have really stuck in people's minds over the years. Unlike the top 10 magazines, this is compiled entirely from staff preferences, which means it's slightly more even-handed in covering characters from all eras, and has a couple of odd choices at the top. Meepo and the Lord of Blades? Really? One a comedy villain and the other barely three years old. I find it difficult to call them classics. Still, questionable choices aside, this isn't just a descriptive list. Each of the 20 characters here gets a feat, magical item or other brief bit of crunch detailed to make this list actually useful for players and DM's. Many of them are pretty cool, and often quite powerful, as befits their iconic owners. So this is another one aimed at long-term players, who really need something to spice up their campaign. Don't be afraid of the Canon Police, let your player face iconic villains and have a chance to win. That's the kind of thing that'll perk them up even if they seem completely jaded. The power of celebrity can trump even the most fantastical spells.</blockquote>

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