Dragon Magazine Issue 211: November 1994


part 1/5


124 pages. A second Halloween appropriate cover in quick succession. So good, they have to milk it twice! Actually, that's not too bad an idea from a commercial point of view. Still, it's that kind of thinking that leads the christmas adverts to start in september and not quit until the end of the year, when they immediately switch to easter. Bleh. Let's hope this isn't another sign of them running out of ideas.


In this issue:


Letters: A letter from someone who named their kid after a forgotten realms character and now wants to know what it means. Not a lot, after all, ed just made it up. I'm sure he could come up with an in setting meaning for all the various names in his world, he just hasn't got round to it yet.

A letter from someone interested in Star Trek gaming. There are star trek games out there, but none seem to do quite what you want. The licence doesn't seem to be particularly stable.

A call me from someone who wants to find a person they played with at a convention. Aww, how cute. Once again, I love facebook.

A pretty unsurprising complaint about the price increases. You'd be more surprised if no-one at all complained. No-one likes it, but what can you do when production costs keep rising.


Editorial: Roger may be gone, but Dale is still trying to push the same agenda of increasing the amount of non D&D RPG coverage in the magazine. To do this, he encourages you to say goodbye to system purism, and not only try other systems, but various hybrids of systems, settings, and your own houserules. If the canon police were real, they'd be onto him with great brutality for this act of sedition. Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, Star wars, Castle Falkenstein, Rifts, TORG, GURPS, he certainly covers a wide range of games, hopefully turning a few people onto ones they haven't tried yet. As usual, I approve of this. We do find, however, that the magazine still hasn't moved to desktop publishing, despite much of the company using it now. They probably ought to get round to that. Such is the problem with monthly deadlines. You can't risk taking stuff that works offline, even if the results of changing over would probably be beneficial in the long run. Another article that simultaneously shows the consequences of stagnancy while trying to avoid it. Very ironic, really.


First Quest: Speaking of the battle between adventurousness and stagnancy, this is the main theme of Jeff Grubb's turn in this column. New and different ideas are often greeted with bemusement and belittlement, until they become big hits and suddenly what came before looks very dated. Roleplaying did that to wargaming, and now it in turn is under threat from Computer RPG's and Collectable card games. His recollection of his own gaming origins seems pretty vague, and he's more interested in telling us how he got into TSR and become the kickass designer he is today. And then, he's pretty interested in figuring out where life will take him next. So this is very interesting, but isn't a great fit for the column, and shows that at least a few people at the company are aware they need to do something different if they want to stay in gaming and profitable. If that means leaving roleplaying behind, or at least changing it so much that many existing players say "That's not Real Roleplaying!" so be it. Change is better than death, even if it can be pretty scary. So this is one that foreshadows the troubles the company will face over the next few years. All a little disconcerting really.


The ecology of the dungeon: Looks like we've had another ecology article free year. The early 90's really has been a dry patch for them. Even this isn't really a normal ecology article, instead being another of our generalised worldbuilding ones. Water, air supply, waste disposal, how various creatures that live near each other relate and interact, and how these kinds of things would logically change over time. The kind of thing that they've been pushing regularly since 1983, but you need to bring back every few years to catch the new readers. Such as me, in this case, this being my own personal first exposure to these realms of worldbuilding and finding it quite cool. In rereading, it doesn't really have the same impact it did first time, but still, its a solid article, and a good reminder precisely why they need to go back to these basic topics every 4-5 years. (every 2 is probably too soon) Can't get too esoteric, or you won't be able to keep new players.


Sight in the darkness: After a whole load of articles that resulted in rather sobering thoughts, we finally one that provokes a genuine Wahoo! in me. Scientific analysis of infravision, and just what seeing heat really means for a demihuman. It's not just seeing in the dark in exactly the same way as normal. There's a lot of interesting information you can pick up by being aware of radiated heat. Hiding requires quite different procedures when you gradually warm up your surroundings, leaving afterglow anywhere you stayed for a while. Undead become extra scary, being nearly invisible in the dark even to elves & dwarves. A sudden burst of light can ruin an enemies darkvision at a crucial point, letting you do the quick getaway thing. Roger Moore once again shows that freed of the pressure of constant editing, he hasn't lost the touch that led him to produce game defining stuff like the series on demihumans back in 1982. This is one bit of rules analysis that's both cool and long overdue. (although it doesn't look like they're ever going to do one on the realistic ramifications of the existence and nature of alignment languages, which is one I really wanted to see.) If fully applied, it could be a real game-changer. Exactly the kind of thing the magazine ought to be covering.

Dragon Magazine Issue 211: November 1994


part 2/5


Fungi of the underdark: A little more ecology appropriate stuff here. The underdark can't just be full of monsters with nothing to live on. Unless you use some technobabble about time being retarded by underground radiations, sending things in closed rooms into a state of stasis until someone opens the door. How d'ya like them lampshades? So here's a whole selection of fungi to put in your game. That's a long overdue and welcome one.

Trillimac is a massive mushroom that can make a servicable paper or a dull but long-lasting meal. The kind of staple you need to build a civilised society, in other words. With no trees underground, that's the kind of cool ecological thoughts you ought to include in your world-building.

Nimergan makes a really brutal mushroom beer, and is favored by duergar who want to prove their manliness in front of their peers. Since dwarves are rather resistant to poison, you probably don't want to try keeping up with them unless you want to wake up naked, tied to a stalagmite with a bad case of green slime.

Ormu is glowing moss that gives DM's another excuse to let the players see underground. It's luminescent properties can be turned into dyes, and then used as an obvious fashion statement by Drow and any other underground races that give a damn about that kind of thing.

Askume is another poisonous lichen that can be used to great effect by nasty underdark creatures. Practice your herbalism, and you too could be inflicting save or die attacks on a regular basis!

Timmask may or may not be poisonous to humans, but de:censored: love it. This makes it handy as a summoning aid, a bribe, or a distraction. It is pretty rare though, which is a relief for the world, and means they're only available for obscene prices. Keep an eye on the underworld and you may be able to head off fiendish infestations before they even happen. Plot hooks aplenty in this collection.


I sing a song by the deep-water bay: Steven Schend once again acts as Ed's sidekick in Realmsbuilding. Once again we see the reasons why the Realms is a relatively stable world, where any magical cataclysms are confined to a countrywide scale at the most. Powerful do-gooders such as the Harpers everywhere. Actually, not many of them are full Harpers, but they seem to have learned to turn the bad guy's methods back on them by building a network of people who do favors for them and pass on information without knowing the full details. Hey, the success of that approach speaks for itself. This is why being chaotic good can prove more effective in dealing with evil than lawful good. So here's yet more little details about some of the many inhabitants of waterdeep, and what they get up to. Their secret methods of communicating, hideouts, and the means they use to protect them. Since Waterdeep already has multiple supplements and magazine articles devoted to it, this starts to feel like overkill, but it's still entertaining, with the 4th wall breaking fiction as amusing as ever. Steven might not have the sheer effervescence Ed manages, but he's still a pretty good writer. And there's lots of info here that can be easily applied to your game, so it's still useful even if it is familiar stuff.


Eye of the monitor has some new writers, the very abbreviated Jay and Dee. Do they have something to hide? They certainly show no desire to tell us about themselves, moving onto the reviews far quicker than the previous columnists. How do you expect us to get attached to you and have nostalgic memories with an attitude like that?

Civilisation is praised by both of our guys. Worldbuilding over 4,000 years? How could that not be epic? Tricky. It could have turned out overcomplicated and tedious though, and thankfully it hasn't. Despite being out for years, it still gets regular plays from them.

Heaven & Earth is a multilayered puzzle game, combining a whole bunch of different minigames into one storyline. Again, it's a huge time eater, and one they compete on to get top scores. I suppose that's one big advantage of a team over a  single writer.  

Reach for the Stars is another old game they pick because it was a longtime favourite. It's another god game, where you send out your spaceships to colonise worlds and build new bases. It's a bit primitive by today's standards but it's still fun because it's relatively quick and simple to play.

Bandit kings of ancient China is completely different, but still in the same kind of genre. Recruit heroes and try and protect the people from both corrupt overlords and wandering tigers. How cute.

Jewel Box  and Pipe Dream get tiny tiny reviews, barely even worth mentioning. They seem to be skimming over a whole bunch of games as a means of showing what they're interested in. And once again, it's quite a different selection from the previous review teams.

Aladdin (the Genesis version) gets 5 stars from both reviewers. Disney have successfully expanded their multimedia empire to fill the new medium, like Lucasarts before them.


D-Day in Miwaukee: Normally, Roger would have reported on convention season in his editorials.  Instead, another benefit of his leaving is that he gets the time to write up a full 8 pages of coverage with a ton of colour photographs instead. More than 25,000 people attended, once again easily smashing last year's record. Margaret Weis was once again chief troublemaker, ( I think Roger still bears a grudge from the time she sent Klingons to kidnap him) sending Buffy to Ravenloft and trying to set up an Elminster vs Raistlin fight (pfft, no chance. They're not even in the same league.) Jim Ward Dressed in frilly swashbuckler gear with rapier et all, and our evil overmistress (Wolves howl, roll of thunder) showed her megalomania by ordering her minions to attack the neighbouring stalls and take their floor space (all in a spirit of fun, of course) Other guests included Majel Barret, John de Lancie,  Timothy Zahn and Flint Dille, reminding us it's not just about RPG's. Once again, this looks like an enviable amount of fun. If you just looked at the conventions, it would seem like the glory days of roleplaying show no signs of ending.

Dragon Magazine Issue 211: November 1994


part 3/5


Topkapi palace: We started off this year with Allen Varney going to Turkey and bringing home some stuff on it's unusual locations. Now it looks like we're finishing it in the same way, with Steve Kurtz going to Topkapi Palace and bringing back a load of first hand photographs and info on it's history. It looks like a pretty cool place to insert into your campaign, some bits are labyrinthine and heavily guarded (particularly the harem) but it also has huge courtyards and places for the various servants to live. As is often the case where they draw directly on reality for inspiration, this reminds us how utterly unrealistic and impractical many fantasy maps are, with the basic amenities of living missing, and everything laid out in neat right-angles. The photos are of excellent quality as well, showing the minarets, spires and lavish colour scheme. It makes western castles seem positively dull by comparison. And it's hardly indefensible either, with it's design confusing invaders and making it hard to get a clear picture of the whole thing. This would of course be perfect for an Al Qadim campaign, but you could adapt it to some other fantastical culture as well. It's not quite as instantly game usable as the castles in issue 145, but it's still pretty interesting reading, and has plenty of room to be expanded upon, thanks to the references to other books which cover the palace and it's history in far more detail. Reality definitely has it's value in your fantasies.


Forum: Eric C. Putnam thinks that both too much and too little roleplaying are bad. Balance and maintaining interest are the critical things. The DM and players should work together to make sure no one person gets out of hand.

Michael Patrick is another person rubbishing Joe Kutcherfield's rejection of roleplaying. Seems he's stirred up quite a hornets nest. Most people here want personalities on their characters.

Douglas E. Berry tells Joe to get back to wargaming. Once again with the cheap zing. Find yourself a new group that shares your preferred playstyle.

Joshua McMillin thinks that fun is more important than roleplaying, but you ought to be doing some of that too. If the other players are wasting time, just tell them to get a move on.

Jason Wright also thinks it's not how much roleplaying you are or aren't doing, it's how much fun you're having. That's the spirit. Remember the game portion, otherwise we're all screwed. Can we have a new topic now?


Rumblings: In previous instalments of this column, we saw the end of TSR's relationship with SSI. Now, it's time to meet their replacements, Interplay. Actually, it looks like it's not the end after all. Interplay are getting the Realms and Planescape, while SSI is getting Ravenloft. Curious. Once again I smell the hand of behind the scenes politics, and wonder what led to things shaking out like this. Also probably involving plenty of wrangling negotiation is the return of Weis and Hickman to writing for Dragonlance. Whether it's genuine desire to tell more stories, or just the temptation of another fat payout, they're back, and the company seriously hopes they'll revive Krynn's flagging fortunes. Get ready for worldshaking metaplot events. In other news, WotC are bringing M:tG to computer systems as well, and there's a new SF gaming magazine out there. Probably won't last long though. Man, it's easy to be cynical about this stuff, knowing what's coming in the near future.


Fiction: Lifegiver by Darren C Cummings. Ooh. This is one I remember very positively. We've had plenty of intelligent swords over the years,  dominating their owners and frequently leading to their downfall, but what's rarely explored is the possibility of them learning and choosing to change from their experiences with owners over the centuries. Well, here you go. It may not be legal under D&D RAW, but hey, if you can have angsty conflicted vampires, you can definitely make a good story about an angsty pacifist magical sword. Of course, the people it meets are bound to be suspicious, especially when they know the legends about it's past deeds. And as Redemption = death in far too many stories, it doesn't end well. So a sad story here, but a good one, and one that definitely opened my eyes up to another plot avenue.


The wizards three: Near another year has passed since our esteemed archmages last met. Yeah, scheduling's a bitch when you have a ton of responsibilities. Being lighthearted and whimsical takes a lot more effort than it seems. Nothing of significance happens in this one, and all assembled are noticeably more lighthearted than previous instalments. Familiarity breeds contempt, which leaves them open for disintegrations. The primary focus is on the new spells, which get a considerably larger proportion of the article than in previous instalments. So let's see how cheesy and broken they are individually.

Belsham's mace is an entry level variant on the flying weapon that attacks independently principle. Since it only lasts two rounds, it's not going to be much of an independent actor, but it does have multiple nasty effects beyond just hurting what it hits. Just don't expect it to be as reliable as magic missile.

Falling Wall lets you do what Elminster can anyway, but everyone else is forbidden from with other wall spells. Squishy squish. Definitely one for the sadist. It doesn't last long though, or have much range.

Battlecurse impedes your fighting ability, sensibly enough. Since it only affects one person for a few rounds, it's considerably weaker than Hold person in most circumstances. Not really worth a 3rd level spell slot.

Aragaster's cloak of shadows lets you counter Evard's black tentacles, as well as providing general low level protection through concealment. He obviously wasn't very keen on being grappled.

Othnal's spectral dagger gives you another fairly standard flying weapon. Another so-so offensive effect to add to your selection.

Sphere of eyes lets you penetrate a whole bunch of misdirecting spells. Just the thing for if you're being regularly screwed over, but haven't quite reached the stage where you can use true seeing.

Jonstal's double wizardry and Improved double wizardry let you unleash two spells at once, under very limited conditions. Spell weavers still aren't remotely challenged by human multitasking capabilities. Not really worth it most of the time.

Valiancy is really crap compared to haste, but at least it doesn't age you. Another bit of experimental magic that doesn't compare to standard spells of the same level.  Seems like this year, he's definitely erring on the side of conservatism. What are we to make of this?

Dragon Magazine Issue 211: November 1994


part 4/5


Role-playing reviews: Cyberpunk time again. It may not be particularly innovative anymore, but it is reaching it's peak of commercial penetration, with shadowrun and cyberpunk 2020 both enjoying plenty of supplements and an active metaplot. And much as Rick would prefer not to have to deal with imaginary computers, as long as he's a reviewer, it's his duty to go where the money is. It's a hard life. Does it ever get easier?

Land of the free is a full book length adventure for Cyberpunk 2020. It takes a leaf out of Mad Max's book, and sends you on a road trip across america, with plenty of setting detail along with the plot. With tons of optional encounters and plot twists, it looks like the kind of thing that can be draw upon to fill out a campaign in general as well as following the actual tracks. Just don't expect gritty realism from this one.

Greenwar contrasts pretty sharply with the previous adventure, but is also pretty good. This puts you in the world of corporate espionage and buyouts, trying to take over an enemy company without ruining it (which rules out unsubtle uses of violence.) There's still room for tense searches and cool action set-pieces, showing that this kind of complex RP heavy adventure can work if done right.  

Paradise lost is for shadowrun. This time Mr Johnson sends the PC's to Hawaii, where they face a obstacle course of slightly undeveloped encounters. It all seems a bit contrived and flabby. They don't seem that good at adventures really.

Double Exposure is tighter in it's construction, but seems to suffer from the worst excesses of mid 90's railroading, with the story operating on ridiculous amounts of co-incidence rather than solid plotting and worldbuilding. You can't just have things happen because you say so if you want to maintain any illusion of reality.

Digital web is for Mage: the Ascension's Virtual Adepts, showing you what a digital wizard can do in the world of darkness. There's a whole bunch of methods they can use to do this, and the worldbuilding is pretty complex as well. As is the white wolf way, things aren't always clearly explained, but that'll just fuel the fanboy flamewars, which is good for the line in the long run.

Also notable this month is GURPS Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and Strangers in Prax, which looks like it might be the last Runequest supplement in quite a while. Now there's a sad statement. I know they were inactive for quite a while before Mongoose revived the property. What went wrong for that line?


Sage advice: Where are the rules for mass combat ( The castle guide. Buy it now, :teeth ting: )

What happens to sha'irs spell collecting on the planes (usually nothing. Gens can get out of ravenloft. Anywhere else is child's play in comparison)

Do dragon mages and clerics get better spellcasting choices than regular dragons (oh yes, very much so)

I thought dragons could only breathe 3 times per day (Are you still thinking in 1st edition rules. Get with the times man, don't be a square!)

Can I use a council of wyrms PC in another setting (only if you don't mind that you won't be able to advance levels with the other characters)

What spheres do dragon clerics get (same as any generalist. Far better than any specialist)

What tome of magic spheres do Lolth and Eilistraee get (Does Skip have to go back to this. Skip already gave you months of extra service. I guess it's not as humiliating as having to do spellfire stuff. Speaking of which, Skip supposes Skip had better lubricate Skip up for this months reaming.)

Does Iuz throw a tantrum if the heartwood spear kills him (yes. )

Who chooses what land Iuz razes (His player)

Do you get the spoils of war from a land Iuz razes (No. If he can't have it, no-one can)  

Can a wizard cast fly and attack a protected realm (yes)

Can you kill a champion as soon as they're chosen (only if your wizard's rank is lower)

Dragon Magazine Issue 211: November 1994


part 5/5


The role of books: Dun lady's Jess by Doranna Durgin puts a horse into a human body, and has her trying to make a living, find her rider, and get turned back. This premise is followed up logically and avoiding cliches. It seems like an excellent introduction that won't be easy to follow up.

A prince among men by Robert N Charrette is in sharp contrast to the previous one, too many ideas, poorly developed. And Arthur returns to a cyberpunk setting? That seems very cliche, since Shadowrun and Rifts cover much of the same ground. Why bother?

Aurian by Maggie Furey also draws upon a bit of arthurian mythology, but manages to take it a completely different direction and make both the characters and worldbuilding convincing. It's large, but makes easy reading, and looks like it could become a good trilogy or even longer. And we know our book publishers like their shelf fillers.

Batman: Knightfall by Dennis O'Neil is the one where batman gets his back broken, and Jean-Paul Valley replaces him. It does not get a positive review at all. Batman gets handed the idiot ball so the plot can work, the plotting is poor, and of course, the reset button gets pushed at the end. Bleah. Another reminder that 90's comic continuity was a sucky business.

The raven ring by Patricia C Wrede gets a blandly positive review. It just seems to be generally good all round, without any hugely distinctive features to generate controversy. So while it may be good, it's unlikely to make the leap to megasales.

The godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is one of those twisted modern day retellings of old fairytales. This is another one that feels awkwardly stitched together, drawing on so many stories, and introducing so many characters that no-one really gets enough spotlight time. Either make it longer, or edit it better.

Dragon's eye, edited by Cristopher Stasheff is an anthology set about dragons. To make sure this doesn't become monotonous, they draw on plenty of different regions, times and mythologies. From the usual celtic stuff to bibilical, napoleonic and WWII. The main complaint is that it's a bit expensive for it's size. Costs for everything seem to be going up too much around this time. Must be the economy.


Tarant loses his head, but keeps on ticking. The first story of Libram X comes to an end, but is left very much open for further adventures. After you've had a taste of the multiverse, how can you be happy going back to a normal life? Dragonmirth has more thoughts on dungeon hierarchy and ecology. Yamara and co establish a working relationship with those damnable insects against a greater foe.


Through the looking glass: Since Robert is now only bimonthly, he has to use this one for christmas shopping, otherwise he'd miss it entirely. When you count the lead-in time, he's probably writing this in september. If he didn't have an established relationship with the minis companies, there's no way he could do that. You have to work your ass off to establish a business, but hopefully if you do things right, they'll become automated after a while, so you can relax a little and do something with your life other than nonstop work. Or not. It all depends on if you're succeeding or not.

A dragon-riding warrior kicks off our minis this month. It's not a very big dragon, but as we've found before, three hundred foot great wyrms are a bit of a pain to represent on the tabletop. A cyberpunk street biker, looking like they're in the act of a drive-by shooting. A whole tribe of lizardmen, with predictably primitive weaponry. Shame there's no decent roads where they live for you to do a drive-by on them. Some more hard-bitten streetrunners and mercenaries, heavily dressed and armed. And some slightly less heavily dressed (but hardly immodest ) victorian ladies round things out. As usual, they're covering a wide range of eras and genres in here, even if the sales might not reflect that.


TSR Previews: A surprisingly light december this year, with the major push having happened last month. So the people manning the presses can enjoy time with their own families a little earlier.

Planescape gets The Deva Spark. The slightly awkward adventure that tells us that free will and moral agency is a complicated, and often incredibly stupid business. And can be liberally fucked around with by magic in D&D. Be careful what you eat.

The Forgotten Realms competes the "Marco" Volo trilogy series of adventures. Who is he really, and why is he on the run? Is the reason ridiculously improbable and nothing to be ashamed of at all.

Mystara releases the Poor Wizards Almanac for 1012. They may have shifted the universe sideways a bit, but they're still keeping the timeline consistent. It's a lot easier this way than having the metaplot changes scattered around in supplements as they come up.

They did a magic encylopedia a couple of years ago. Now they're doing an Encyclopedia Magica. I dunno. :shakes head: Almost as bad as demons, deamons and demodands. Anyway, Slade is in charge again, but the scope is much bigger this time. These tremendously pretty faux leatherbound follies attempt to collect every item TSR has even published. I still have all 4 of them. Still, this is one of those things that I'm very glad we have the internet for these days. Living documents are so much less expensive and inconvenient than things like these, which are out of date even before release, and need yearly updates to even come close to staying relevant.

The Amazing Engine releases Tabloid! A world in which all the stories in the tabloids are true, and you play one of these beleaguered bastions of journalistic integrity trying to find the truth and get it out there? Muahahaha!!! They do have amusingly weird imaginations.

Endless Quest gets Forest of Darkness. Another choose your own adventure. Which path will you pick, and will it get you home safely?

And finally, there's The Hidden War by Michael Armstrong. Just another basic sci-fi conspiracy novel. Cue the X-files theme music.


Between the themed section, the Realms articles, and the fiction, this manages to be a fairly pleasing issue for me. There's a whole bunch of cool ideas in them, many long overdue. Once again I am reminded exactly why I press on through this even when some issues are mostly useless. The constant churn of writers and fashions mean that even when they do cover the same ideas again, there's often at least a different perspective on them. But still, screw the cover versions. It's the new originals I'm really interested in. Bring them on, if you please designers.

Dragon Magazine Issue 212: December 1994


part 1/5


124 pages. Monsters breaking down the door? I don't think they're bringing us any decent christmas presents. Death and destruction, more likely. But probably not rape, since this is pretty much the middle of the 2e era. Curiously, they have a featured articles section, but no particular topic for the articles within. What's up with that then? Did they run out of money or space for intro artwork? (as they do seem to have a general theme of being adventure designing advice for the Dungeon Master. ) Don't tell me they're already feeling the pinch round here. Stuff like this is only going to get more frequent in the near future, isn't it.


In this issue:


Letters: A public service announcement from the runners of Gen Con that if you want to be involved next year, you'd better let them know pronto, for the deadline is surprisingly close. Given their size, a 6 month lead-in time is now needed. How very tiresome.

A letter trying to find the article on fighter assassins. Issue 172'll do you good.

A question about the probability of being published in the magazine. For your first article, not great. Do not let that deter you though.

A letter asking for help converting the FR Novels into adventures for their players. They keep wandering off the track. You know, railroading is generally considered a bad thing. We've had articles on this before. Trying to put players up against fictional characters usually has unexpected results.


Editorial: In a year which has seen their quotient of blatant promotional articles increase, Dale ironically tries to avoid that by pointing out the nonmonetary ways to facilitate gaming. Driving people to the game, providing the snacks, space, and DM'ing cost relatively little, and help make the whole experience so much more pleasant. Gaming is a fundamentally social hobby, and if no-one does these things, then campaigns are likely to be short and awkward. Creating a game club or convention may well be even more effort for you, but it has definite benefits for gaming in your area. Hmm. I think he may underestimate how much these things cost. Conventions in particular require massive outlay, even if they have a chance of making it back with profit at the end. And as a terminal cheapskate who managed to get through further education without getting into debt, (not easy at all these days) I've calculated exactly how much these things add up over the course of a year. Course, forgetting little courtesies like that which other people would consider necessities so I can afford to save to buy equipment to pursue my dreams may well be a part of why my social life is so messed up, but that's largely my own fault. This is an uncomfortable reminder that I've been living in my own world for far too long, and may not have been treating the people around me very nicely in the process. I'm going to have a good hard think about this. How much do we pay for the things we don't consider, that make the world work? How much do we get back for them in intangibles such as friendship, company and the practical favors people who know each other do when asked? What am I actually gaining and losing by living this way? Bah. I made the decision to put my creativity before my humanity a long time ago. I can put my life back together after I finish this work. (at least, I hope I'll be able too) Onwards!


First Quest: Tim Brown? Don't remember that name. What did he do? Greyhawk Ruins? Dragon Kings? Ok, that's not too bad. In fact, he's done quite a bit to push interesting epic games. It's mildly ironic, then, that the experience that hooked him on roleplaying was killing a single skeleton and barely surviving. Goes to show, it's the human element that's most captivating, whatever the supposed power level. He manages to get the balance between what leads up to his first encounter, the big event itself, and the rest of his early gaming experiences down pretty well. It also seems he likes quite a variety of stuff, with third party rpgs, wargaming and PbM all part of his youthful experimentation. This is definitely one that gives me a good picture of the man behind the writing, and his general approach to the world, most of which I quite like. He's probably been reading the previous instalments of this column and learning from their mistakes.


Hitting the books: Hello again, Eric Noah. Nice to see you. We've touched upon trying to make your campaign work like a novel or other work of fiction, but this is one of the longer and more detailed attempts at this we've seen in a while. So here's a step by step guide to how stories work, how you combine characters, plots, themes, events to make a coherent story. As a writing guide, it's pretty good, and has quite a bit of stuff that hasn't been covered in the magazine before. Unfortunately, it completely neglects the mechanical side of a role-playing GAME, and the opportunities and obstacles the rules present to telling a story in the literary mould. Apart from a reminder that the players choices should remain meaningful, there's a real danger that this could encourage DM railroading, by making them think they ought to craft a detailed story which has a definite beginning, progression and ending, rather than a world which can be interacted with in all kinds of ways. It does point out the standard D&D tropes of being a sociopathic mass murderer and thief, and encourages you to go against them, but doesn't say how, when the XP system is still built largely around violence. So as creative writing advice, this would be excellent. As DM'ing advice, it falls into the classic problems of 2nd edition, trying to change our playstyle without changing the rules to accommodate and reward what they want us to do. This is a big problem. Lofty ambitions need the right tools to fulfil them if you don't want to wind up just a frustrated dreamer.

Dragon Magazine Issue 212: December 1994


part 2/5


Adventures that improve with age: After the relatively new high fantasy advice, it's back to the dungeon. Dig up your old modules. Can it ever be as good as the first time? Actually, that's a very good question. I'm glad you asked. If you do it right, it can be even better! Obviously you can't expect it to be the same, but if you run it with a different party, or at least after a few years have passed to dull people's memories, then the thrill of seeing how they do things differently (and possibly worse) can make it even more amusing as a DM. That's the spirit. Make the most of what you already have, instead of constantly searching for novelty that won't really satisfy you anyway. Of course, there's always customising the adventure, but even without that, there's plenty you can do. If the randomness from changing players isn't enough, you could get sidekicks in to play the bad guys as well, removing the pressure to be both omnipotent neutral adjudicator and adversary. Yeah, I like this one, and it does have some very valuable lessons that we haven't seen before. We're not quite at the nostalgia boom yet, but articles like this are laying in the groundwork for it.


Consider the consequences: Ah yes, this pattern again. Having led with some cool ideas, the third article isn't nearly as impressive. Things following on logically from previous events is just the way the world works. Well, as often as not, they don't, they just peter out because people are lazy. But a good adventure changes the world, or hopefully at least saves it in such a way that people know you did so and will be suitably grateful. (shyear, right  ) The reset button should not be pressed, instead creating a new status quo with further plot hooks for future adventures. Technological advancements should change the economy, keeping the characters from getting complacent or pulling the same exploits over and over again without others developing counters. Unless you were raised on a diet of 80's cartoons where metaplot and character development were anathema, this isn't too controversial or surprising. Another one it's nice to remind the newbies of, but doesn't change my world in the slightest.  


Bug city! Shadowrun metaplot at it's finest. This is the 90's, remember. We're still feeling the fallout from that series of adventures today.


Tricks of the trade: A little more very 2nd edition gamemastering advice. It's not so much about the locations, it's about the characters, plot and story. Continuity is important, an in depth campaign has more than one plot element running simultaneously. Don't be afraid to lie to the players, at least IC, as after all, why should villains tell the whole truth? Once again this is system free roleplaying advice that does nothing to make the game better accommodate the playstyle. After 4 articles in a row, I'm a little tired of that. This stuff manages to be both crunch free and very dated seeming at the same time, which is not an easy feat, or a pleasing one to see accomplished. This collection does not feel like a good editorial decision.


Psychic proficiencies: Hmm. In the regular Ravenloft campaign, psionics was something that the original boxed set overlooked and the magazine filled in, and then got officially incorporated in the next edition. Looks like a similar process is going on for Masque of the Red Death. Still, even more than magic, William W. Connors chooses to nerf psionics to a huge degree to better fit the powerless ambience of the setting. Each power costs 4 nonweapon proficiency slots, and is quite a bit weaker than it's regular psionicist equivalent. This means that you're unlikely to be able to have more than one, and even that'll be a serious hit to your ability to operate in normal society. It's once again a reminder that AD&D doesn't give you nearly enough resource slots to make your character well-rounded beyond their class skills, and changing class is not generally an option. If I was going to do victorian horror with minor supernatural powers for the PC's, I would much rather use WoD or GURPS than try and kitbash AD&D to fit. So to be frank, I can't see myself using this at all. Just as with the main Masque books, this is just frustrating to read because they're putting so much effort into a fundamentally ill-suited setup.


Eye of the monitor once again changes hands. Just can't get the help these days, can we. Indeed, this time it's regular TSR staff Ken Rolston, Paul Murphy and Zeb Cook who've been rounded up to work on this column. This all seems a bit awkward and last minute. Three people can go to crunch time and produce a column in time for the deadline where one might struggle, since one could be playing and tossing out comments while another types. This is interesting, but another sign that things are starting to fall apart around here. Roles are blurring, people are taking on odd jobs to get things done in time, and everything gets a little higher pressure and closer to the wire. Sooner or later, people will bow out from the pressure. Plus, since these guys aren't regular computer reviewers, they aren't as good at dealing with them when they mess up. That lowers the professional tone a little as well. It's not a good transition.

The seventh Guest is one of those examples of what not to do with all that extra memory in CD based games. Pretty visuals, seriously insubstantial gameplay, largely unrelated to the supposed plot. Not of any great value.

Gadget, on the other hand, subverts your expectations of what a game and interactivity should be to create a genuinely creepy experience. The illusion and lack of choice is integral to the plot, making what is normally a problem into a solution. Of course, that means it doesn't have much replay value. Turn your friends onto it, and live vicariously through their frustration.

Gold Medallion gamepack is one of those compilations of 40 little games that they can't really give a full opinion on, but at least it's good value for money. Meh. We have enough of those now to fill a lifetime.

Quantum Gate also gets a tiny review. It's another one where your choices mean little, but at least you can make your character into a good or bad person. That means something to the reviewer.

Dragon Magazine Issue 212: December 1994


part 3/5


Fiction: Winter tale by Catherine Brennan. Quite a seasonally appropriate story this month. Rather tricky to summarise as well. A young squire is turning out to be rather bad at the knighthood thing. So he takes on a rather difficult seeming quest, and solves it via application of wits and folklore. It's funny, and has some cutting remarks about the nature of the artistic life, but doesn't really hit me as hard as the stories in recent months have done. It also has quite a bit of built up implied setting that you can steal for your own game, so that's another plus in it's favour. As usual, it seems like the fiction department gets to maintain higher average standards than the rest of the magazine.


This years statement of ownership shows their slow decline continuing. With an average of 79 thousand, but a last month of 76, their fanbase continues to drift away, albeit rather less than last year. Just about the only number going up is the number of free copies sent out, which has more than doubled for some reason. Wastefulness of resources and all that. Enjoy your deluxe boxed sets while you can.


Sage advice: Is a quickling's speed and attacks a natural power that you get if you polymorph into one (Your decision. Skip gives you carte blanche to disallow that, just like PC Gith lose their planeshifting and superspeed on their home planes)

Can you transmit a shocking grasp through a wire. (again, just because it was allowed in a module, don't mean you have to allow it. Skip urges conservatism, for you never know which trick will let the players break your game forever.)

How do you win a psychic contest against a nonpsionic power (use the opponents intelligence score)

Is half-dragon fear the same as dragon fear (yes)

Do magical items without plusses count as +0 for the purpose of hurting things (no,+1, unless stated otherwise.)

Can you energy drain mummies (no. Being powered by the positive energy plane rather than the negative one doesn't change that)

I still don't understand how a frost brand works (whoda thought such an innocuous item would cause such trouble. So it goes. If we knew where the problems would be, we'd fix them before releasing the game)

How much can winged boots lift (enough for all but the fattest people )

How often are defilers charged (once per turn in which they cast spells)

How long does Johdee's mask last (once per battle)

When do you use a rod of shapechanging (Just before declaring battle)

What does ignoring undead mean (you know when ghosts try and speak to people in movies, and even wave their hands through them, without being noticed. Yeah, it's like that.)

How does grak's pool work ( :Croons: You've always got a friend. You'll never be alone again. )

When do you draw a card to defend north Ledopolus (When someone attacks it. Like it says)

How do you decide what kind of champion an ally is (It's a hero unless the card says otherwise)

Does a champion come back to life if he casts animate dead and is beaten straight away (yes)

Does an animated champion count as undead (no)

What boosts a champions level (stuff that says it boosts their level )

Can a feebleminded spellcaster dispel their own feeblemindedness (Physician, heal thyself? No. )

When is the end of your turn (step 5)

Which cards have been replaced (These guys are about to become increasingly rare. Treasure them. )

Dragon Magazine Issue 212: December 1994


part 4/5


The game wizards: Another spellfire article here. Bruce Nesmith shows that it may only have been a few months, but he's already keenly honed his twinkery skills to create an unbeatable deck. He's done this by concentrating on speed and defence, trying to get realms out as quickly as possible while also making them tricky to eliminate. It's not totally without weaknesses, and indeed, he points out what he thinks it's flaws are, but it's unbeaten so far. On the surface, this seems innocuous enough, if a touch boastful, but of course, if this is common for the department then it's encouraging them to think about games in a more analytical way, encouraging system mastery and finding exploits. Which was of course the huge sea change in design between 2e and 3e, for better or for worse. So once again, this puts the lie to the statement that CCGs aren't influencing RPGs. They are in all sorts of little ways. And if you didn't like 3e, this is yet another thing you can blame them for.


Role-playing reviews has a Mage: the Ascension special this month. It seems to be focussing on the technowizardry side of the game in particular this time. This may be because Allen has recently joined the online community, and gives out his email address to all and sundry who may be reading. Man, things have changed. First there was the trust no-one and lie about your personal details to avoid weirdos and pedophiles phase, then there was the no-one is real on the internet irresponsible phase, then there was the realizing they were real, and most of them were perfectly normal, by which time internet use was standard in business and everyday life, so there's no point separating the two. Or maybe that's just how it was for me. Since this is a game specifically about the subjectivity and malleability of reality, I'm sure there's room for plenty of other perspectives and experiences.  

The book of shadows has a ton of new bits and pieces from a ridiculous number of authors within it's pages. It showcases the inherent fractiousness of mage traditions, and also their need to overcome this if they want to make the world a better place (and unlike the other supernatural splats, they can) The main complaint is that all this cool writing is made hard to read by gray patterned backgrounds. Now that's a mistake they continue to make for ages, with both Kindred of the East and secret of Zir'an messed up by it. Silly overzealous art directors.

The book of chantries is of course all about building a homebase for your cabal. The system sounds pretty familiar. Pool your background points and spend them on various aspects of your pad. Get ready to spend lots of valuable freebie points if you want a really good one. In addition to that, there's plenty of sample locations and the NPC's that inhabit them. Unlike many white wolf products, which can get over-specific, this stuff is easy enough to pick and choose from for your own campaign. A bit more tookitiness is probably a good thing.

Virtual Adepts is the splatbook for the good guy techno-wizards, letting us know about their history, and their very bright-looking present and future. With the internet rapidly taking over the world, they're having great fun, while being rather unpopular with the other Traditions. It's a great setup for lots of intraparty bickering, which lets face it, is what's so great about white wolf games.

Technocracy: Progenitors isn't quite so imaginative. The bioengineered creatures are pretty unexceptional as monsters go, and the IC bits are mostly dry lecture notes. The villains aren't getting as much effort as the heroes, which seems a little odd.

Technocracy: Iteration X is a bit more fun, cybernetics having more scope for obvious flashy effects than biotech. This includes the classic HIT Marks, but also ridiculous things like the Cyber-toothed Tiger. Exercise your imagination, because there's a lot of ways you could enhance your character with these kinds of resources, and many of them look damn cool. Now your players'll want to be one.


Forum: Gregory Johns thinks that Bards ought to have more freedom in making up shit about history if they succeed their legend lore roll. The DM should let other people collaborate in world creation and roll with their ideas.

Jim Looper Points out to the guy complaining about young gamers that they're actually older than he was when he started. You really ought to remember what you were like at that age, and put up with some inanity at first. They'll grow out of it a lot quicker with a little guidance than if just left to their own devices.

Kevin Lighton thinks it's not just the game you're playing that can get stale, it's the players you're playing with. Remember, you can change either independently to revitalise your interest in gaming as a whole.

Mike Delmonico praises Ravenloft, but also points out it's flaws. Of course, he has his own house rules to mitigate these. You've got to give them a reason to stick around.

Robert Griffin let his players take a temporary vacation to play evil characters, and then applied the consequences of their actions to his regular campaign. No-one seems very keen on repeating the experiment. Muahahaha. Evil genius. One I'd very much enjoy doing at some point.

Dragon Magazine Issue 212: December 1994


part 5/5


Libram X does that clip show thing. Swordplay is large, but not in charge. Dragonmirth has eating jokes that don't revolve around dragons for a change. Glatheld encourages ultra-violence and commercial cheer on Hard fun and beyond this christmas.


From the forge: Return of the ratings system! Well, we have had one for years from Robert, albeit not a particularly brilliant one. So it's not that surprising Ken has been getting mail complaining about the lack of numbers in his review. In a typically amusing irony, he overcompensates, giving us a system with 3 1-10 scales (technical, artistic and value) rather than just the boring 5 star rating. This is the great thing about new reviewers. They're still willing to change things around on a regular basis.

Most of our minis reviews this month are of landscapes and accessories. A wizard's chamber with a magical mirror, crystal ball, book stand, and of course somewhere to sit. (not as young as they used to be. ) A cottage and apothecary pairing to plonk in your idyllic little village. A set of magnetic walls for assembling your own dungeons. You know, this is what Advanced Heroquest did quite nicely, albeit not quite as impressively. 8 reversible doors for adding to your construction kit. A pharaoh's crypt and mad scientist's lab, obviously intended for horror purposes. A set of cards that you can lay out to create environments for your minis battles quickly and easily. Our only actual creatures are a pair of dueling wizards and a fairly small but still intimidating to 25mm characters Takhisis. Meh. Well, we have plenty of creatures already covered. A bit more attention on the backdrops makes for a well-rounded world.


TSR Previews: The Forgotten Realms kicks off the new year with a vengeance. Another Book of lairs, 96 pages of FR specific mini encounters, for when you need a few hours filled. Realms of infamy, another short story anthology. All the familiar names contribute little slices of life, many featuring iconic characters. However, the biggest name of all gets his own full novel as well. Ed Greenwood delivers Elminster: The making of a mage. Big wodges of backstory that demystify him even further. Familiarity may breed contempt.

Dragonlance also goes right to the top, with book 6 in the villains series covering Takhisis herself. As with the other one, I worry vaguely that this will remove all the wonder from a greater deity. Particularly as she keeps on losing. Tricky to have an impressive villain if they get foiled and have to retreat each week.

Ravenloft has another lycanthropic adventure, Howls in the Night. Unless it's a bait and switch, which is possible. What spin will they put on the themes this time?

Our generic stuff this time is the 1994 Monstrous compendium annual. They've largely exhausted doing this for individual campaign lines, so they're going to collect all the monsters released last year (and quite a few from earlier years too.) and put them in a single book for eases sake. Not a bad idea. Seems like they're doing quite a bit of compiling lately. Also out is City Sites. Another attempt to make on the fly adventure design easier with a load of common floor plans. Again, seems fairly useful, particularly if you're busy IRL.


I've been holding off for a while, hoping things were going to get better, and for the last couple, it even looked like they were. But man, this issue sucks. The themed section is dated, the crunch is dubious, the computer section is massively inferior to the previous reviewers. The whole package is deeply unsatisfying. I hope they're making some serious new years resolutions, because at this point, they need them.  Oh, for the innocent days of 15 years ago, when the main flaws were technical rather than narrative, and charming rather than tedious. This is all very frustrating for me. Just how far is this going to slide before it starts getting better again? Guess I'd better grit my teeth and find some more reserves of willpower to tackle 1995 with.

Dragon Magazine Issue 213: January 1995


part 1/6


124 pages. A pretty awesome cover here this month, even if it is recycled (precycled) from one of their upcoming products. Not sure if that's good or bad overall of them, but it's definitely a cheap move. Still, we are getting a planescape themed issue. Unless they custom commission some artwork for that, they're unlikely to get something appropriate, for surrealism is not a hugely popular genre at the moment, and the planes do tend to be quite specific in how they differ from earth. So I'll forgive them this time. Let's move on to the inside and hope that's original material, and not just cut stuff from their recent books.


In this issue:


Letters: A letter praising Masque of the Red Death, and wondering if it'll get any more books. Thanks to considerably greater sales than expected, they've already commissioned one for next year. Buy lots of that one, and you might get even more!  Woo. An honest success story.

A letter from someone who's been reading the Dragonlance novels and wants to move into the roleplaying side. Can you say hint hint. I think their motives for picking this one are not entirely due to the quality and interestingness of the writing.

A letter complaining that they're doing fewer high level adventures lately. They're doing less adventures full stop, but yes, this is a real trend. Even the so-called high level adventures only seem to hold out to the mid teens, in contrast to the companion & master level adventures released in the mid 80's. As usual, Dale has to defend them by offering the best they have in that department, even if it isn't that brilliant in the overall scheme of things. And it does look like the pendulum is starting to swing back again this year. They do have quite a bit of stuff aimed specifically at experienced guys to show off.


Editorial: Art director Larry Smith takes the editorial again. As is appropriate for the new year, he's thinking about making a few changes, to keep things from getting stale around here. A couple of years late, given the speed things have been changing around them, but better late than never. If anything, it feels like they've been changing too fast, and you're struggling to keep up. Yeah, I noticed that a while ago. Nice to see the people inside the magazine catch on. So this signals that we're reaching the end of the complacent years for the magazine, and entering the worry and panic phase, where they try a whole bunch of different things to turn sales around, but ultimately fail. As ever, I'll be interested in seeing how much the stress shows, and how much it gets glossed over and whitewashed. Happy new year.


First Quest: Regular reviewer and Bughunters designer Lester Smith takes his turn to dredge up his past. Appropriately enough, giant ticks attacking his character when he tried to loot a giant's body is one of the first things he remembers. He turns out to have quite a way with imagery that he really doesn't exploit enough in his reviews, describing several encounters in such a way that I can instantly put myself in them, without going overboard with the adjectives. And they make a loose narrative with a happy ending as well. I suppose that illustrates an important point. You only get a happy ending if you choose your cutoff point. If you hang onto a campaign, it will eventually cease being fun or just fall apart. So this is fun to read, and also has a few little lessons on how to make your game fun, despite all the odds. These definitely seem to be improving as time goes on.


Godsmen, bleakers, guvners and takers: Hello, planescape factions. You're making quite the waves amongst gamers. Ok, so they're essentially D&D's answer to Mage:the Ascension, taking exactly the same idea that reality is subjective, and it's our belief that can shape it, right down to the laws of physics, and then having a bunch of philosophies duking it out for control of the universe. Actually, I think I prefer the planescape factions to the Mage traditions. It's more obvious what they stand for, and easier to build a party consisting exclusively of one faction, as you still have the full class/race axes to play with. But the benefits you get from them are pretty minimal. Shouldn't the higher-ups in a faction get some additional abilities? Oh, you powergamers. :waves hand: You do keep on. Any excuse for a little more than the rules normally let you have. So each faction gets a few bits and pieces, be it new innate powers for everyone of higher rank, new spells, or donated magical items given to those in their good graces. Most of these will appear again in a few months time in The Factol's Manifesto, making this into a teaser of sorts. So this was damn cool on first reading, but loses a bit of it's impact in rereading because I do know it's just another extracted promotional tool, rather than something created specifically for the magazine. Once again we see the fact that they're relying more and more on staff writers these days.

Dragon Magazine Issue 213: January 1995


part 2/6


The demiplane of shadow: Ahh, now here's another thing it's been way too long since. A complete overview of a so-far left nebulous plane. A really cool one too. Let's face it, shadow is one of those themes that's inherently dramatic narratively. Caught between light and darkness, unable to exist without both, ephemeral, mysterious, brooding, morally ambiguous. Fangirl bait onna stick, in other words. it's no surprise that this is one that actually gets followed up on, actually becoming a full plane next edition as they hint it might here (with an extra special place in the cosmology at that), and one of the few survivors to make it to 4th edition. This is further reinforced by the fact that a good half of this article is devoted to updating Shades, one of our easier ways of becoming an immortal brooding world-travelling badass, as last seen in issue 126's ecology. So in retrospect, this article may have slight pacing issues, but that doesn't negate the fact that it's both awesome, useful and historically significant. The demiplane is an excellent place to adventure, and when you get to really high level, you have the tools to make it into your homebase, and move the game from dungeon crawling to manipulating the world from the shadows down the generations. (why should bad guys have all that fun? ) I still wuv this article.


Planar personalities: Somewhat less universal and more rehashed is this little bunch of Sigil's NPC's, most of which appear elsewhere in various supplements. Goddammnit Bill, Rich, et all, there's no way you're going to catch up with Ed in terms of world details at this rate. How can a whole team of writers working on a line be producing less and recycling more material than a single guy? Well, I suppose it's more focussed, game useful material than another round of magical pranks and details of food. So say hello to A'kin, the friendly fiend, Lissandra the gate-seeker, Estavan of the planar trade consortium, and Kylie the tout. All quite morally ambiguous characters, both good and bad guys can do business with them, or quite possibly wind up opposed to them. Despite the setting weirdness, they all fill fairly mundane roles, shopping, information, both buying and selling. As long as sigil is mostly comprised of things that need to eat, breathe, etc, economics will mostly work the way it does on the prime material, despite the things being bought and sold being a little odd. Actually, this feels rather banal in retrospect. I guess I'm spoiled by the more alien Exalted, Nobilis and WoD creatures, which manage to be several orders of magnitude more developed in terms of self-consistent alienness. Even the mid 90's already seems very dated in some respects.


You never know who you'll meet: The planes as presented in the AD&D cosmology do have their limits. Here we step outside them for some rather gonzo random tableage, perfect for when PCs enter that part of the map marked Here Be Dragons.  No matter how high level you are, the wrong result on these'll make your day pretty interesting, and may also threaten the entire world if you don't think fast. Still, in infinite parallel universes, you can probably go back in time to fix things, or find one that's almost identical except for a few little niggling historical details. It's how well you tell the story, not the stakes. What is fairly certain is this article provides a good monkey wrench for you to throw into a campaign that's getting too staid and has players that are getting too confident. Call it kill or cure. Either's better than letting a game just drag on past it's natural end.


The role of books: The sword of maiden's tears by Rosemary Edgehill is essentially an anti-quest, as the dysfunctional protagonists deny the mess they're in to precisely the point of believability. (and not beyond, as in too many magic meets modern day stories do. ) This does mean that a solvable problem becomes a far harder one by the end, but anyone who's studied economics knows that's pretty realistic. And it's that dose of reality that makes the drama all the more affecting. Sounds like she's amusingly genre aware whatever name she's writing under.

The list of 7 by Mark Frost gets one of our more common criticisms. Too many elements at once leads to clutter, and not enough attention given to any one of them. And combining the wrong ones is just nasty, even if they seem good individually. The art of editing and arrangement is one even good writers can struggle with, even after many books.

The winter prince by Elizabeth E Wein is a very welsh retelling of arthurian legend, with Mordred as the narrator. This of course means that the perspective is very different, even beyond the various creative liberties. The story is quite complex as well, with plenty to unpick from what is implied but left unsaid. Sounds like it'll reward rereading.

The child queen by Nancy McKenzie does something similar with Guinevere, portraying the story from her view, with a particular emphasis on the Arthur/Lancelot love triangle. Once again this shows how differently people can reinterpret the same source material. It only takes a few bounces round the hall of mirrors for an idea to become distorted beyond recogniseability.

Brian Froud's Faerielands by Patricia McKillip is a triumph of style over substance, with the story virtually inconsequential as a framework to hang the gorgeously rendered artwork. Might as well have just released it as a straight art book, as the attempt at eco-preaching is very much a broken aesop. Maybe he should collaborate with David Bowie again.

Spear of heaven by Judith Tarr gets a fairly good all-round review. It's set in an established world, but not unfriendly to newbies. It's a serious story, but the characters aren't lacking in sense of humour, and there's plenty of worldbuilding without the plot dragging. All just recommended.

Dragon Magazine Issue 213: January 1995


part 3/6


Eye of the monitor: Ultimate Domain gets a negative review of considerable detail, due to many small flaws. It's ridiculously slow, gives you very little help in figuring out how to play it, isn't sure what it wants to be, and when they tried to call the helpline, they spent ages on hold. Bleah. Sounds more like a chore than a game.

Genghis Khan II does only slightly better, having some fun elements, but also a bunch of niggly restrictions and areas which our reviewers would have done differently. They compare it quite a lot with the similarly themed Bandit Kings from their last review, and like that, you need to balance being a conquerer with a domain manager and protector. If you're looking for straightforward action, give it a miss.

Master of Magic gets our best review of the issue. It also sees our first mention of that great modern annoyance, patching. No longer do game designers have to make sure they iron out all the bugs before release. Instead, you need to download something, or in this case, actually send off for a disk to get the update. ( A practice I don't think will last long simply for cost reasons. ) But once they finished getting it working, they found they thoroughly enjoyed taking over the world with their wizards. Their main complaint is the lack of a diplomacy option. Play a proper RPG then! These two haven't touched a single one yet.

Space Hulk tries to emulate the board game and give you a limited amount of time to make decisions, but fails to get the balance right, with clunky AI making controlling your squad well enough to finish a scenario near impossible. And you never get to play the bad guys either. They wanted to like it, but were left frustrated.


Forum: Frederick Mills complains that his experienced players with new characters are metagaming. See, this is another thing in favour of changing systems regularly. It's never quite the same starting again after the first time.

Rob Gidlow tells us what real world cultures he uses for his FR nations. In the process, he also points out just what parts of the Realms still need their own sourcebooks. Get too it, Ed! Stop lallylagging round the dalelands!

Jason Whitbeck complains about rising costs. Haven't had that in a while. The whole lead banning debacle has been particularly bad for this, meaning models are both more expensive and come in smaller quantities. Hey, it's hardly as bad as the gouging oil companies give us. and if you don't like the costs of gaming materials, you can just stop. The existing ones'll last you ages.

Joe Katzman belatedly realises how nasty extraplanar creatures deploying summoning cascades can be, with a very real threat of the buggers taking over your entire world. This really needs houseruling, because you can't rely on the celestial cavalry to swoop in and save the day in time to avoid massive devastation.

Ruediger Landmann finds his players are abusing the -10 rule, knowing exactly when their fallen companions are going to die, and only saving them at the very last second. Put a bit of randomness back in the bleeding to death process to keep them from gaming the system like this.

Peter David Levi is a second forumite espousing something that would be taken up next edition. In his case, it's the elimination of demihuman level limits. The amount of time and effort to advance each level after name is so great that it's churlish to stop them at that point and pretty unlikely they'll get much further anyway.


Fiction: Harvesting the boneflowers by Joe Lunievicz. Now this is one I've always loved. The curiously poetic and touching story of skeletons in an undead army, their interactions with one-another and the living, and the mythology they've been given. If you're used to thinking of the undead as mindless monsters, this is quite a refreshing spin on things, completely avoiding the sexy vampire trope. In a way, they are still just tools, worked until they break, and then thrown away. But from their perspective, it's quite a different matter, with the prospect of an eventual reward if they just hold out and be good. I guess it's like programming robots to believe in silicon heaven. It makes good sense, even if it's pretty hilarious from the viewpoint of an impartial observer. And of course, we can use this as commentary on the human condition, and our ability to treat one-another in inhumane ways by classifying certain people as nonpeople. So there's a lot of levels to appreciate this story on. I hope I've managed to catch most of them.

Dragon Magazine Issue 213: January 1995


part 4/6


Sage advice: Sage advice drops the bolding that makes it easy to distinguish question from answer. Who's dumb idea was that then? I shall have to be extra careful until I get used to this.

How good is an amulet of proof against detection and location (pretty damn good. You'll have to consult gods to get round it )

 Can detect magic detect invisible creatures (not precisely. All it'll tell you is that there's something magical going on in that general region)

How do gnomes wield bastard swords (recycled question. Last time skip said use the worst of all options, this time, skip will be a little more generous.)

Can shadow magic affect objects (yes, but they automatically disbelieve. If a tree in a forest is cut down by a semi-real creature and no-one is watching, it's still cut down, it just takes a lot longer)

When a weapon loses it's pluses due to plane travelling, does it also lose it's ability to penetrate damage resistance (yes)

Does a cloak of displacement work if you're invisible (no)

Can golems ignore prismatic spheres (mostly)

Can you memorize low level spells in high level slots (not without metamagic spells)

What do you need to copy spellbooks (time, paper, ink. Very expensive paper and ink. )

Is Gib Htimsen immume to delaying events (yes)

Can you use assassins when you have no hope of winning (yes. That's exactly their point. )

Are multiple surprise raids cumulative (yes)

Does Mogadisho's horde force you to discard from your hand (no)


Role-playing reviews: While D&D does have resurrection, dying in RPG's is still a serious business, and frequently a session ruiner. But the great thing about gaming  is that you can imagine characters so dramatically different from mundane humanity that conventional labels of alive and dead don't apply, and then figure out what it's like to exist as one of them. Sure, it may be challenging, and probably won't enjoy the same kind of sales as something which tries to speak directly to the human condition, but it'll be interesting and different. I know there's been times when I've had all I can take of romances and heroes journeys, so I'm exactly the target audience for this month's kind of experimental gaming.

Nephilim sees Chaosium take a leaf from white wolf's book, putting you into the role of a bodyhopping spirit trying to achieve godhood down the centuries, described in decidedly florid prose. There's a lot to learn, with the magic system being a bit of a mess, and the campaign material sparse, but it has the potential for truly epic campaigns spanning generations, even more than Pendragon. Good luck trying to get a group together capable of fulfilling that potential.

Wraith: the Oblivion is also difficult to keep a game together, but for far more depressing reasons. Chief amongst these is of course the shadow rules, which are cool for a single player, but frequently cause a group to devolve into dark comedy and internecine bickering. The relentless grimness doesn't help either. Even more than Vampire, you are pretty damn screwed as a ghost. It's pretty much the height of white wolf as an uncompromising newcomer producing gaming as art, before they started to bow to the realities of practical design limitations and make sure their settings worked as places that are good to adventure in as well as read about. Once again, good luck getting a group together, with so many other inhabitants of the World of Darkness vying for attention, even though this might be remembered by many, you're more likely to wind up in a crossover game than pure ghost story.

Dragon Magazine Issue 213: January 1995


part 5/6


Rumblings: White Wolf has a pretty prominent place in this column as well. After much bickering, some of which was via email and has been preserved for posterity on the internet, SJG and White Wolf have agreed to put out GURPS Mage: the Ascension, but stop making any further products together. Neither side is very happy, and I'm not really sure who was wrong in the first place. Rereading them, it all seems a combination of misunderstandings and petulant overreactions.  Definitely wrong, on the other hand, is White Wolf's new Black Dog imprint, where they push the envelope, already pretty elasticated, well beyond breaking point, mostly for sensationalism's sake. The road to maturity does require going through adolescence, unless you want to end up like Michael Jackson, spending a lifetime trying to recapture what you missed out on at the time and looking increasingly creepy in the process.

In other news, there's a whole bunch of multimedia crossovers coming out soon. Cyberpunk 2020 is getting a soundtrack. The Death Gate Cycle and Battletech are both getting computer games, while Tank Girl is going from comic to movie and RPG. True ambition is never satisfied with conquering one medium, but must keep going until it overreaches itself and falls over. I wonder which of these were any good.


Series magic: Another Steven Schend Forgotten Realms article that is very much in Ed's spirit. I really ought to be making more batman & robin jokes about them. Seems like Laeral is taking a personal interest in him again, letting him in on some rather big secrets. Themed sets of magical items that synergise to give the wielder extra powers when you have more than one? It's not a new idea, especially when said theme is elemental (captain planet, he's our hero) but they're still not actually that common, since the logistical hassles involved in creating them are considerably greater than just making a similar number of unconnected magical items. You have to give kudos to anyone talented and determined enough to make a set. We get two examples here, a set of magical blades, and of course, a set of elemental themed rings (without Heart, of course) Both get plenty of references to their history, and where they might or might not be now, as is usual for Ed influenced stuff. The idea is slightly better than the implementation, but that just encourages you to create your own. After all, there's tons of themes out there, and if you make your own, you can better integrate it into your world and build a whole campaigns worth of adventures around assembling the set and making sure your enemies don't. Plenty of value in that.


Elminsters notebook: Speaking of Ed, he's talking about another female wizard who likes to keep a floating skull around for extra firepower. In typical Ed genius, he turns what would be seen as recycling of ideas in lesser hands and uses it to make his world seem all the more real and subtly interconnected. After all, a lot of what adventurers do is unearthing old stuff, combining it with other old stuff from different areas and eras, and then use it to fulfil their own ambitions. As with last time, he uses a bunch of footnotes to make this more accessible to newcomers, and keep the main narrative flowing while also making various amusing digressions. This shows him balancing material for players of all experience levels, and giving them plenty more adventure hooks, plus a whole load of potential spells and magic items for you to hunt down, or quite possibly write up yourself. (after all, the names are pretty self explanatory, unlike Nulathoes Ninamen) As usual for these articles, he's packing in one of the highest concentrations of plot hooks per page I've seen outside the original 70's modules, far outmatching most of the actual supplements released around this time. If you can't get a good adventure or two from this, I pity you.


Libram X starts a new story with Dave Gross replacing Jeff as writer, and the second death of the net zombie. Not a good way to go. Swordplay finds they have developed a reputation. Dragonmirth is duly warned that their GM intends to screw them over. Yamara finds out why halflings shouldn't overuse the hair products.