Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 2/8


Off-the-cuff NPC's: Such as these ones. Here's a whole bunch of quirks you could give your impromptu NPC's. They incline quite a bit towards the broad and humorous, and some are very silly indeed. Still, it should ensure that they're memorable and easy to integrate, and with 208 of them, you probably won't use then up too quickly. I know random tables are often labeled as old skool, but these ones really do have a level of whimsy we don't see anymore, except in april issues.  As such, I have to make my usual warning to use them with caution if you're trying to run a dramatic campaign, for unless it's set in Krynn, this may spoil the tone.


Another nameless comic is scattered through the magazine. What's with that? I guess it is appropriate to the articles coming up.


Improve with improv: The DM'ing advice continues. Looks like that's definitely the theme this time. You know, you could have delineated that more clearly. Are they ever going to do that as well as Roger did again? Whatever. Not that advice on improving your improvisation skills is a bad thing. In fact, it's pretty much essential, for the nature of an RPG means the players will inevitably try something outside the proscribed options (and it would actually be more boring if they didn't, to be honest) In fact, you're more likely to produce a fun game without any preparation than any  improvisation. But there are still tricks you can learn that make success more likely. Chief among them, as it's mentioned first and last, is getting your players to work with you. Pay attention to them, figure out what they want to do, and if you can't guess, just ask them outright. Second is having stuff prepared that works in a large variety of situations, so if you're stuck, you have a whole bunch of tricks to fall back upon. A lot of the time, improvisation is merely a matter of being exposed to situations often enough that you have a pretty good idea what will happen if you do X, Y or Z. Indeed, you can compare it to improvising as a band. In theory, it should result in chaos, but as long as the players can pay attention to each other, stay in the same key, and keep a groove going, some really cool stuff can happen almost by accident. Just don't get stuck relying on cliches all the time, for that will become as dull as sticking entirely to prepared material. So this ironically points out just how much preparation goes into being able to confidently improvise. Everything is a matter of balance really. \:/


Dot to dot: Hmm. We've been given advice on quickly building NPC's, now we have an analogous one for building a community. This themed section may not have too many new ideas, but it is collecting a lot of them and putting them together into a quite cohesive package. I ought to give it more credit, as it would be very handy for newer players. Obviously, if you want to build a community fast, you do not create a map, as that's hours of work even if you're good at this stuff. Far better to get a feel for a place, which you can then build out logically from and create things that make sense in context as and when they're needed. And maybe a few key locations and people. After all, what would new york be without the empire state building, or paris without the eiffel tower? Oh yeah, and remember to figure out what the law is like, and how harshly it's enforced, because chances are, you're gonna need to know that at some point. This article again inclines towards the whimsical in it's presentation, using a lot of IC examples to demonstrate it's points. It does make it more amusing, especially with the rather silly names. Overall, I think it manages to justify itself even to longterm readers through entertainment value as well as informativeness.


Arcane Lore: We continue to redress the cultural balance with a bit more indian stuff, following directly on from last month, and fully integrated with the new kits introduced there. So get ready for a long list of stuff stolen from mythology and religion. Seen those before, and probably will do so again. Still, at least these generally produce more diverse results than the latest collection of variant blasty spells.

Cloud Messenger is the ancient indian method of sending remote messages. Cloud come down, you talk to it, and it takes said message to the desired person. Perfectly logical when you don't have more powerful technology.

Waking light of Dawn wakes things up. Since it's only a 1st level spell, it's ability to remove magical slumber is limited. You're probably better off with a little strategically applied violence than wasting a spell slot.

Distract is worse than tv tropes for keeping everyone around from getting any productive work done. It's one that seems directly drawn from an old TV show in execution. Play that funky flute, guru boy. Don't ask where the wah wah guitar accompaniment is coming from.

Skin of the fire Tiger makes you red hot! And then very chilly when it wears off. Still, in the meantime you get to do the burning grapple trick. There are more powerful spells to do that around, I'm afraid.

Serpent Garland is a fun one. Turn a necklace into a snake. Make it permanent and give it as a present and you have a great assassination tool to keep in reserve for someone.

Mourning Stone lets you transfer your angst to a rock. Then the cleric can take that pain, and use it to make beautiful sculptures or architecture. Really don't want to live in something made of that though.

Third Eye is not a divination, but a really nasty gaze attack that also takes it's toll on you. Curious decision there. Have fun with your beholder like death and disintegration ray.

Life Illusion lets you trap someone in an illusory world, possibly for weeks or months if they keep failing their save. It's nice enough that you don't starve to death while in there though, unlike some other versions of this effect.

Monsoon is the third application of the coastal storm based mass devastation principle in the last few years. They really ought to put something like this in the corebook if it's so popular.

Om is your basic meditative prana. You sit crosslegged and chant and become able to heal faster and resist mindfucking. Course, anyone can walk up to you and backstab you to death, so guards might be wise.

Sanctify Ghi creates an indian variant on holy water. Holy butter? Actually, that's probably pretty tasty, if a bit fattening. Gotta bulk up a bit before going on those month long fasts.

Karma Sight draws from Legends and Lore, letting you manipulate the optional rules there better. You'll know if you're in danger of coming back as a slug or achieving nirvana and can hopefully change your ways accordingly.

Steep Soma Juice is another, more powerful magical fluid making spell to buff it's drinker. As this is long lasting and can affect quite a few people at higher level, it's used to show favour to people in the community. Enjoy your subtle social engineering.

That art Thou is a particularly neat bit of divination, allowing you to share the senses of everyone and everything around. This'll probably be a bit of an overload, but very handy for avoiding nasty surprises. What does a trap or secret door feel anyway? Man, you could have tons of fun describing this one.

See all faces is another way you can get to know someones basic character without all that hassle of actually socially interacting with them. That's a trick applicable to most cultures.

Pool of Deeds lets you find out what cool stuff a person has done and is going to do. It does not let you change the future though, however hard you try. Have fun with your new knowledge of predestination.

Conceal Lifeforce is one of your basic divination deflectors. It can even hide your soul from the agents of reincarnation. Feel free to do bad shit in the meantime without your alignment changing or being turned into a cockroach. But if you get caught, oh things will get unpleasantly interesting. Watch out for Maruts.

Reincarnation sight lets you track down the new life of someone, even if it's in the outer planes, and restore their memories of the old one. If they've been dead longer than your ability to raise them, this is a nicely flavourful alternative. Just don't take a baby away from their family and expect them to jump straight back into the adventuring life.

Penetrate Cosmic Ignorance lets you see the deific manipulations and bigger ramifications behind everyday events. This can be bad for the sanity, for mortal mind was not made to contain that much intertwining information. It may also be hard work for the DM, but that's to be expected when you have high level spells.

Call Avatar is one of those plot device spells that like Gate, may save your life, or result in smitings for disturbing said deity. No matter how powerful your cleric is, they always have to respect their boss, especially in a culture like this where letting go of your ego is considered crucial to enlightenment.

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 3/8


The game wizards: Ah yes, the CD rules and character generator. This is one experiment with computers that was a pretty decent success, so much so that they later produced an add-on with a ton of the crunchy bits from various splatbooks. It did indeed make creating characters quickly and legally easier, especially in long-running campaigns, as when you levelled, or the sheet got worn out from marking and erasing spells & damage, you could just print off a new one, and it'd be just as good in quality at no additional effort. Fully indexed and searchable, so it's good for the DM and rules lookup as well. It occurs to me that if this hadn't succeeded, it would be very unlikely that we'd have got the Dragon Magazine Archive either, and then I probably wouldn't have been able to do this thread. So this is a step towards integrating computers into your roleplaying that is pretty significant really. And this article makes it pretty clear why you would want to buy it as well, without forgetting to inject a bit of humour into it's selling process. I'm pretty glad it's here, because it gives us another useful historical marker to take note of. TSR were taking steps to improve their computer-friendliness, if they'd survived they might have got there eventually, if not by the same route as WotC.


Powers from the past: Oooh. A new idea. In regular D&D rules creating magic items is the exclusive province of powerful spellcasters, and requires vast amounts of time, expense and deliberate effort. Also damper on narrative drama is that you can't normally enchant an existing item. When something is created, that's about as awesome as it gets. Wouldn't it be cool if it could work the other way around, and an item could develop special powers of time through being used in awesome deeds and developing a legend correspondingly. Well, using this system, you can. The result will have a very interesting effect upon a setting, especially when you include the proviso that someone currently owning a magical item will find it a lot harder to create new ones through their deeds. It essentially creates a system whereby the vast majority of items have a legend and original user associated with them, and if you want to make more, you have to do something worth being celebrated without any crutches. That's actually a pretty awesome premise from a narrative PoV. Not sure it jives perfectly with D&D's expected number of items per level thing, but since that only really becomes codified with 3e, that's not really an issue yet anyway. So this is a great idea that has potential far beyond this system, making for good novels as well. Jackpot!


Vampire: The dark ages! Now White Wolf are muscling in on medieval territory. Do you have what it takes to go against the 800 pound gorilla and survive? If you're now a 300 pound orangutang, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.


Bazaar of the Bizarre:  David Howery's back again, filling another little idea. Magical scabbards don't get nearly the screentime swords do. I believe this is a perfect topic for the magazine to cover. He's got no shortage of ideas, even if some of them are nicked from existing myths and legends. Should fill up another few pages nicely.

Bondbreakers let you draw your sword even if they're tied up. You're ready to fight anyway. Naughty naughty very very naughty.

Quickarm Scabbards can teleport your sword to your hand and back, even from a distance. This allows you to pull a whole load of tricks and then look innocent as soon as authority turns it's head around.

Scabbards of adjustment fit any weapon perfectly. Hurr hurr, IYKWIMAITYD.

Scabbards of care are another one bringing a feminine touch to proceedings, allowing you to leave the business of oiling and cleaning your weapon to it. That'll save a good bit of time each evening.

Scabbards of empowering give your sword a plus which fluctuates in an interesting manner, depending on how long it stays in the sheath. Which means the less you fight, the more badass you are when you do. Interesting dynamic to have.

Scabbards of Forging can completely fix a broken sword by just shoving the pieces in it and leaving them there. If you don't have the logistics for a blacksmith in your supply train, carry one of these.

Scabbards of flame are another one that empowers their sword. If you kill someone wielding a flaming sword, make sure you take all their stuff.

A Scabbard of Protection gives you another chance to stack extra AC bonuses beyond your armour and shields and rings and boots and etc. Truly, you can get obscene negatives with the right combinations.  

Scabbards of Sharpening are another one that makes your weapon badass, but they'll need regular returning for resharpening. Like most of the others, this does not stack with a magical sword's powers. Oh well.

Scabbards of Weightlessness do exactly as it says. If your DM's an encumbrance tracker, this is mildly cool. Otherwise, it's just a bit of extra flavour really.

The Scabbard of wound closure gives you arthurian badassedness. Course, clerics with their blunt weapons'll still be able to take you down, but that just keeps them the powers behind the scenes. Let the fighters have their little bit of limelight, posturing and preening.

Scabbard-swords are an emergency one-use item for if you lose your weapon. The kind of thing made by paranoid wizard/thieves.

Scabbards of binding prevent you from drawing your sword, by being intractably sticky. Unless it's a valuable magic sword trapped in them, it's easier to just discard the bugger, leave it in the treasure pile for the next sucker to solve.

Scabbards of Cowardice try to stop you from taking your weapon out by twisting around, and are of course impossible to discard once you've seen their bad side. Give it to your enemy for the usual fun.

Scabbards of Tripping are even worse, because they hamper you every round you fight. Way to enforce pacifism on people.

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 4/8


Rifts is now up to 11 world books. Just how many more can they come up with? It's a big world out there, after all.


Miniature player character record sheets: Well, this is a turn-up. Normally, when they give us extra character sheets, they're longer than the standard one. Some can go up to 4, maybe even 6 pages in complex and highly customised systems. Maybe that isn't what you want though. Maybe you want a sheet that cuts out all the stuff that isn't relevant for your class, thus allowing it to actually be smaller. So yeah, three little sheets, one for fighters, one for rogues and one for spellcasters. Enjoy. Not a bad idea, but one of those cases where there just isn't much to say. Keep it up.


Forum: Tim Nutting reminds people that if they have a problem with their game, discussing it with their DM and other players will be more likely to solve it than writing to the forum and waiting several months for your letter to be printed and maybe get replies. I'm not going to argue with that at all.

Eyal Teler moves into using e-mail. He again recommends the turnabout is fair play method of dealing with annoying players. Do as you would be done by is a lesson everyone should learn.

Ryan Leach thinks that DM's ought to try and make new players particularly welcome rather than the opposite. Mind you don't get patronising though.

Eleanor Clarke gives her experiences with sexism, which haven't been too bad. But if you do encounter it, exploit it, instead of getting intimidated. People trying to chat you up are particularly vulnerable to all kinds of subtle humiliations. And then you wonder why we get shy and bitter.

William Valentine is another guy who just shrugs at the fact that not many women are interested in roleplaying. It might be nice to have a few more, but it's not worth stressing about.


Rogues gallery: A dwarf who wears nothing but armor? Oh dear. I'm sure that's meant to sound badass, but it actually sounds hilarious. What, nothing at all underneath it? And he will wear nothing but armour until he finds or avenges his family. Can you say chilly and chafing. Well, it keeps you looking brooding and the smell will keep you a loner. So yeah, this month's character is a fail simply because it's so cliched and unintentionally funny. Did no-one spot that, or did they put it in precisely for that reason. It's certainly a very sharp step downwards from last month. I do wonder what they'll try and serve us next.


Network news: Another PSA from the RPGA, as they try and expand their user base. This time, it's by explaining how you get an official RPGA presence at your convention, and encouraging smaller conventions around the world to write to them and request permission to run official adventures. A lot of recruits are made via people playing a con game casually, and then getting hooked on the idea of tapping into a wider world of gamers. So the idea of getting more people on the ground seems a rather good one. Build things from grass-roots support, instead of just bombarding us with adverts (especially when they don't have the money for regular TV ads anyway) Once again it seems like this is one department of the company that has it's head screwed on straight, while around them is much flailing. I'd be pleased to see them succeed.

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 5/8


Campaign classics: Magical sand? Well, that's as good a topic for a Bazaar. It's certainly bizarre, at any rate. Now, what campaigns are filled with sand? Athas and Zakhara, mainly. And if you guessed the one that romanticises it's deserts more, you were right. Arabian niiiights, like arabian days. More often than not, are hotter than hot, in a lot of good ways.  

Fire Sand creates flaming walls wherever it's sprinkled. This seems like one that could backfire easily if it's holder is careless. I'll bet fireball is involved in it's creation.

Rasping Sand is another one that's pretty hazardous to it's user. Wear a special glove, or have your sprinklin' hand abraded to the bone. Gee. better not lose it, or you'll be more screwed than Cyclops without his glasses.

Sand Cages are pleasingly cinematic. Throw it, and the victim is trapped within it's swirling bars. This doesn't actually stop them moving though, but merely abrades them while they're inside it. False advertising, methinks.

Sand of Mirages is almost too obvious. Sprinkle for easy illusions. You'd be more disappointed if they didn't include it.

Sand of Obscurement is an easy way to do the disappearing ninja thing. Fwoosh. Mind you don't run into a wall as you make your getaway, as it can be hard to navigate with your eyes closed.

Sand of Restoration temporarily recreates buildings if you sprinkle it on a ruin. Now that is an awesome idea. You can get to explore dungeons that literally don't exist anymore. That's a plot device I'd love to use at some point.

Sand of Sinking is also pretty versatile, as you can use the ability to turn floors and walls into quicksand as a means of travel as well as a weapon. After all, many platformers have secret bits accessible by going down the sand pits. Why shouldn't a DM nick that trick?

Slow Sand is another misnomer. Complete paralysis is not slowing. Still, at least this one'll probably work better than expected. Who's going to complain to Standards & Practices about that?

Solid Sand is pretty much the opposite of Sand of sinking, letting you turn a soft or fragile surface into a rock solid one temporarily. Let's get bibilical, forge a way through the wilderness.

Thirsty Sand is pretty nasty. As if dehydration wasn't a serious risk already in the desert, someone has to make it even worse. Another one you should probably be careful when sprinkling, for if a bit gets in your eyes, you'll really regret it.

Sand of Scintillation explodes in a flash of light. Like sand of obscurement, this is perfect for the ninja wanting to make a good entry or exit without being spotted. Not the most imaginative ending, but this article definitely has enough good ideas in it to justify itself. You can really mess with the tactical landscape with this collection, which is great fun to plot about.


The role of books: Book of moons by Rosemary Edgehill sees her once again defying genre categorisation and cliches to deliver something that's both fun, and has more sardonically realistic reactions to the strange things happening than the average book. Long may she fail to toe the line.

Enchanted forests, edited by by Katharine Kerr & Martin H Greenberg continues his dominance over the fantasy anthology field. It not only has good stories, but the influence of Mrs Kerr means they're sequenced well too, going from one subtheme to another. The broad and vague theme also means the stories have plenty of room to surprise. It looks like this publishing house has no shortage of material to assemble in various orders.

The fantastic four: To free atlantis by Nancy A Collins is another not so great novelisation of comic characters. The focus is poor, it tries to have too many plots going on at once, and then reveals an enormous twist in the end which invalidates most of the previous events. While not uncommon amongst comics, this is still stupid writing. And without the pretty visuals for fights, this is even less tolerable than normal.

Star trek concordance by Bjo Trimble is a highly comprehensive guidebook, primarily aimed at covering TOS. All the episodes, indexed with detailed listings of creatures, events, jargon, and more obscure stuff like the precise backstage crew involved in each episode. John's main complaint is that there isn't the same kind of research put into the real world references, so the inaccuracies the series made to real history & mythology for dramatic licence are not pointed out as such. Don't believe everything you read.

The art of star trek by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, on the other hand, avoids that issue by being largely stills & artwork. Not that there isn't a good deal to learn from this, as they include behind the scenes shots, storyboard and concept art sketches, costume design information, and the backdrops used for alien worlds and space scenes. The perfect thing for a nerd to have on their coffee table.

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 6/8


Sage advice: There can so be chaotic psionicists in Athas! (No they can't. Or at least. you can't. It's just another case of NPC's breaking the rules. )

What racial xp bonuses do aaracockra and pterrans get ( Sappy sappy respect for nature and your life path is good for them. They'll never produce badasses to rival the sorcerer kings)

Do defilers cause damage when they cast, or when they memorize? ( When they memorize now. Retcon, retcon, with great glee we retcon. We care not who's flowers we trample. And we pretend not to have a care in the world, but secretly fear that next day, we will never have been today. For who knows what the dread hand of retcon may touch next. )

Can you resurrect the undead of the dead land (nah. They've been dead too long.)
What are the thieving adjustment for athasian races that can't become thieves, but can get some rogue skills from another class (Here ya go, son. Good to be able to provide a bit of basic help for a change.)

Do you hurt your hand if you punch someone who's stoneskinned (nahh. )

Does dispel magic stop clay golems wounds from being unhealable (no)

You've changed the thieving modifiers (We changed a lot of things in Players Options. Some of them are mutually contradictory. Hence the word options, y'know.)


Role-playing reviews: Giantcraft makes Giants playable as PC's, but does have some issues. It's a little too Forgotten Realms specific, has writers ADD, and doesn't do enough to make giants more than just big people. Sure, it'll do the job, but don't expect a free ride. There's so many splatbooks competing for attention these days.

GURPS Fantasy folk also gets a pretty mediocre review. As with most things GURPS, it's good for producing creatures that are varied and statistically balanced, but it's more an encyclopaedia than a setting guide, with roleplaying notes sticking firmly to the stereotypes. Still, if you have your own ideas ready to go, you could choose a far worse system to put them in, and this'll help you build them quickly and easily.

The Complete Ninjas Handbook brings Aaron Allston back to one of the subjects he loves best. It's not as comprehensive as his old Ninja HERO book (see issue 162) but then, the complete series sticks to it's 128 page formula. It does a decent enough job of creating a whole bunch of rogue hybrids and tying them together with a cultural setup that supports all-ninja campaigns. It's a decent enough way to round out the series, which has been dragged out a bit beyond it's natural ending.

Faeries is a supplement for ARS Magica. It does a good job of making them interestingly whimsical and full of setting detail, but rick finds the rules for using them as PC's rather too complicated and sometimes vague. Guess despite moving from White wolf to WotC, the writers are still thinking in the same way they used to.

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 7/8


Dragonmirth gets slightly confused by events. Swordplay is starting to increase in size. I guess it happens to every regular comic. Libram X returns to get a half-decent send-off instead of being unceremoniously cancelled at the climax. Still feels like the story is seriously cut down from it's original conception. Am I right in this inference? Anyone with any behind the scenes stuff to spill on this one?

Knights of the dinner table: Hey, at least the format changes aren't all bad. We also get classic stuff like this, that would go on to have it's game made into a real system.

Floyd starts to get anachronistic. Another case of the real world intruding in amusing ways, thanks to the joys of magic.


TSR Previews: More stuff out this month that they didn't mention last time. They are getting sloppy. You know, if you formatted things a little less garishly you could fit them in.

Birthright gets Greatheart by Dixie McKeone. The shadow world threatens an elven burial ground. Oh, they do go on. Will it wind up being everyone's burial ground?

The forgotten realms gets Escape from undermountain by Mark Anthony. Oh, Artek is so screwed. You know what Halaster is like. You may get the guy you came to rescue, but there will be a price.

First Quest concludes it's own novel trilogy. The farmboy hero now has a full party of stereotypes and a talking animal. They're now ready to save the world! Doug Niles, who really ought to know better by now, churns out the requisite cheese.

Our generic adventure is The Silver Key. Even fairly powerful characters have to run when faced with lots of orcs. Easy to place in any campaign (except dragonlance )

And spellfire has obviously been busy when we weren't looking, because it's up to booster pack 8. Characters and locations from classic modules such as the tomb of horrors join the fray. What powers will they have in this game?

And now we're caught up with this month, on to the next month. Birthright continues to launch stuff at an unprecedented rate. It's obviously a favorite of someone in upper management. The book of Magecraft does the splatbook thing for this campaign world, with a particular focus on the unique domain magic tricks they can pull. Binsada gets a domain sourcebook, giving you another fleshed out place that your PC could be in charge of. And Sword of Roele is another adventure. Geared towards mid-level characters, it's a survive and conquer mission against an awnsheigh. Looks rather like a chimera on the cover. Is that him, or just one of his pets.

The Forgotten realms gets two novels, but no sourcebooks. Vaguely unusual. The veiled Dragon by Troy Denning sees our stalwart novelist working on the harpers series. They have to do good while not getting to be heroes for it, because of the whole secret organisation thing. On the other hand, regicide isn't the kind of thing you can easily hide, and you can bet the people investigating it in Murder in Cormyr by Chet Williamson will get a decent amount of kudos. Now, will they raise him, and if not, why not.

Planescape gets Something Wild. One of their more forgettable adventures. ( I own it, and all I remember is something vague about dream manipulation playing a part,  and those eco-aesop anti rangers trying to get into the beastlands. Neh.)

Dark sun gets The Rise and fall of a Dragon King by Lynn Abbey. Trying to follow in P. N. Elrod's footsteps by humanizing one of the big villains of the setting I see. Damnitt, why can't they revel in their cosmic power instead of getting all angsty and brooding. Surely you've suffered enough.

Dragonlance has another prequel. Don Perrin shows us the pre war life of Theros Ironfeld. Who? Man, they're getting increasingly obscure these days.

Ravenloft is also in the mood for filling out a villain's backstory. King of the dead by Gene DeWeese does for Azalin what P N Elrod did for Strahd. Will it enjoy anything like the same success?

We also get a generic AD&D novel, and a straight generic novel. The rod of seven parts gives you a sample story loosely based on the module of the same name. Doug Niles is responsible for this one as well. And Winged Magic by Mary H Herbert. Another not very edifying teaser leaves me with nothing to say. The size and quality of these does seem to be going down, and the number of typos increasing. Who was in charge of this section anyway?

Dragon Magazine Issue 226: February 1996


part 8/8


The current clack: Wizards of the Coast get a whole page to themselves this month, as they make massive layoffs despite (saying they're) making record profits. They're dropping the ventures that aren't working, and concentrating on the ones that are. Once again, they're proving themselves more business savvy than TSR ever were. Of course, that pragmatism comes at a cost in innovation. In fact, it seems they've completely cut their roleplaying department. They want a proven seller rather than risking tons on developing a new property. Hmm. This is very interesting indeed in light of future events. Both the good and bad aspects of this attitude will be applied in force when they take over D&D. So this is a definite historical pointer. Really, its amazing just how quickly they rose to prominence.

The other news is fairly dramatic as well. There's another gaming magazine folding, and FASA's fan club has fallen apart, defaulting on their debts. Things aren't looking so good for gaming in general. On the plus side, it seems most companies now have at least a token online presence. And we can be pretty sure that'll only get better. Pretty big changes in the landscape, really. I'm rather pleased they're reporting on them.


With lots of useful crunch, quite a few articles that are good for any system, several very interesting historical details, and bad articles that are hilariously bad rather than just dull, this is the best issue they've done in a while. That's not to say there aren't problems with it, the beginning in particular is pretty ropey, but it shows they are still getting good submissions, and picking them out of the pile. I guess all those repeated reminders of how you submit to the magazine do serve a purpose. If only everything had as firm a logic behind it.

Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996


part 1/8


124 pages. A prime example of the put everything right up front and clutter everywhere image style. I disapprove. Things can only look genuinely big if you give them enough context to establish scale. Otherwise the brain just defaults to seeing them as normal. Just as to make music loud, you have to get people to want to turn it up, not simply record it louder. It took me quite a few looks to realise how big this thing was supposed to be. Needs moar contrast. The topic is another return to familiar territory. The Underdark! Where monsters this big wouldn't really fit realistically! Are there some new caverns down there that delvers still haven't found. Hopefully. And hopefully they'll be full of interesting challenges and treasures too.


In this issue:


The wyrm's turn: Ahh yes, a reminder that we can be constrained by our cultural touchstones a little too easily, and ought to draw upon other real world cultures if we want to create a varied and interesting world. Like Roger didn't say that in his tenure. (issue 176) The solution? The Encyclopedia Brittanica! I'm sorry, that's just unintentionally hilarious. To expand your knowledge of other cultures, you go straight for looking through the filter of posh white guys. The irony is staggering. I mean, sure, you need a translator unless you're willing to spend years learning the language and cultural references from the inside out, but that choice? It hurtses my brain. This is another example of them repeating a topic, only shorter, and not as well handled as the previous article. Gimme a break.


D-Mail: There's a whole bunch of letters commenting on their new look this month, mostly positive. First up, is a certain Iquander, who is particularly pleased at Greyhawk getting better treatment in the magazine than it used to. Do it more! I smell foreshadowing.

Secondly, we have a suggestion that they should compile all the spells ever developed in the same way they did magic items. This is one case they're waaaay ahead of you. Still, this stuff takes time. Especially here, where they have to dig through the archives and assemble everything in alphabetical order. Lot's of hard work for their editing staff.

Another rather shorter bit of praise for the greyhawk article. You know, it was hardly as impressive as the ones in issue 204-8. Much of this is absence making the heart grow fonder.

In contrast, they do have a letter saying they should be careful with the campaign world specific articles. Too many, and the magazine ceases to be useful to the general public. It'll still probably cater to more of their readership than articles on other game systems, and they did those for ages without it hurting them. It's merely a matter of not doing too many in a single issue.

Two letters commenting that the switch to perfect bound has made it hard to read the beginning of each line. You know what the fix is? Increasing the margins! That means they can fill the magazine up with a good % or two less actual content. How's that for making savings as well.

And finally a letter from someone who seems to want to adhere too closely to canon, by wanting them to tell him exactly where the named magical swords in the Forgotten Realms are. Oh dear. I think that counts as not quite getting it.


The secrets of successful dungeon building: Swordplay artist Matthew Guss tries his hand at article writing (as well as illustrating said article, thus providing them two products for the price of one, and ensuring they're better integrated than usual. ) The result is surprisingly serious given his comic output. It's also very very 2nd edition, with a lot of the emphasis on building a dungeon by thinking about the people who made it, the resources they had, the reasons they had to make it in the first place, and how they would realistically keep and utilise their treasure. No gonzo corridors of death here. I find that rather curious. I guess he's just following the crowd, after all, that's what they've been saying for years now. This does feel rather like another of their returns to basics that we're seeing far too much of lately. So the illustrations are easily the most new and entertaining parts of this article. I am forced to conclude that he probably ought to stick to them.

Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996


part 2/8


The dragon's bestiary: Quelle surprise, more darkdwelling monsters. Will they actually help the ecology down there make more sense, or just be more horrors to kill?

Bainligor are moderately badass flightless bat-people. They come in huge numbers, and their stats scale up a lot, but are relatively slow, so they are not ones you want to stick around and fight the whole horde of. Still, at least they're more interesting and negotiable with than Gibberlings. Good luck to your dwarven communities if a horde attacks them.

Giant scarab beetles nom dung and undead, thus serving a vital ecological role in the underdark, and quite possibly in keeping spawning undead from taking over the world in general. They might also eat you if you get in their way though, so sticking around to say thanks isn't the best idea. Like denzelian, it's good to have them there.

Carapace is another gross organic thingy that grows all over you and grants you powers, but also gradually consumes you. Are you willing to make that sacrifice? If you don't have a good cleric around, it will be the end of you, but you've got a good chance of taking down plenty of enemies with you.

Darkness Elementals are of course made of negative energy, This means they can blind you, but are vulnerable to magical light. The usual negative energy = Eeevil rule is in full force here. So we still need positive energy ones to complete the symmetry, but all the para and quasiplanes are long since dealt with in the magazine. They'll have to start making up new planes if they want to do more of these.

Fireweed is like brown mold, only far less dangerous. Plant it in a volcanic region and it'll grow quickly and render the area inhabitable in the process. Another one that's more flavour and ecological filling in than combat encounter.

Glouras are whimsical fae with quite powerful charming capabilities, and the willingness to use that power to assemble harems of slaves who will defend their mistress to the death. You may well have to fight your own buddies again. Be ready with those dispels

Whispering Moths are another ecology filler, serving the role of bats or bees in spreading seeds and fungi spores. They're not harmless though, and are especially likely to be a pain for surface adventurers, as like regular moths, they're drawn to light. If you can keep your head and toast a whole swarm in one go, you'll get a truly ridiculous amount of experience.  

Blue ring octopi are another of the few good guys down there. Like svirfneblin, they survive by caution and co-operation, hiding and fighting only if they have to. You may well meet some if you get turned into an aboleth slave, which can lead to making new friends when you break out. I think that sounds like a pretty decent plotline, don't you.

Vampire squid are illithid's weapons of choice in spreading their reach to the waters of the underdark, kicking the asses of aboleth & kuo-toa. They're another one that has a strong implied plotline connected to them, with interesting issues of morality and sacrifices for freedom raised. This is proving a very interesting collection of monsters indeed.

Albino Wyrms have relatively low HD for dragons, and no particular magical abilities, but are pretty tough still. They're also of dubious sanity, so they're probably not that effective really, and may get stuck in one area as they age (which can't help) Not a very interesting way to end an otherwise pretty good article.

Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996


part 3/8


Journeys to the deepest dungeons: Or the logistics of penetrating dungeons miles deep, with entire cities of monsters and surviving. Even at 20th level, you can't just walk in, kill them all, and take their stuff. (and even if you do, it's going to take some pretty involved magic to get it all back to the surface, so logistics will come into things anyway. ) More realistically, you have two options. You can pick a target within your power, get in, make a surgical strike, and get out again before they can retaliate. Or you can assemble a larger team, maybe even an army, and use them to keep the general population busy. (and they will have problems in a city of Drow or Illithids) So really, it's the kind of undertaking that'll take a few adventures just to get the resources to take on the big one. As with our first underdark special, in particular the advanced aboleth article, this tells us that there are adventures possible that are epic far beyond the usual scope of what happens in play, and it's up to you to seize those possibilities proactively. That's not a bad message to send to a group.


The ecology of the Osquip: Om nom nom! Whosa happy rat-thing? Whosa OW! Bleeding hell, it bit my finger off! Do you know how expensive regeneration spells are?! Anyway, welcome back to the guilds of bickering sages. They played a substantial part in the first few ecologies, but haven't been around much lately. It seems that they're experimenting with format even here, with the crunchy footnotes put at the bottom of the page, rather than all being saved up for the end. This actually is probably an improvement, particularly in pdf format, which is not as conducive to rapid flicking back and forth as paper. The fiction is pretty entertaining as well, as we see said sages bicker, theorize, and aim snide remarks at one-another. And make poop jokes. Oh yes. At least they're not getting all flustered when talking about mating habits. Family friendly magazine, blah blah blah. An excellent addition to the series, that gives me plenty of new tricks to try on my players.


AD&D Triviathon: Ha. We've had a few of these knowledge tests before, but this is the first time they've made it a competition with actual prizes. Very interesting. Unfortunately, it's on a pull-out poster which they haven't scanned in, so I can't match my wits against it, see how I would have done. That's mildly irritating, but as ever, what can ya do. You can only go so far to track this stuff down. :shrugs:


Sage advice: How do wererats transmit lycanthropy through their swords (By rubbing their weapons in their were-ratty filth. You really don't wanna get hit by that. )

Do you lose a point of con after being resurrected (yes. Each time, it gets easier to die and harder to come back. Sometime, you're gonna fail. Do you feel lucky this time, punk?)

Why can't you cast spells through a projected image anymore (you can. We just don't advertise it anymore. )

What's the difference between AD&D 2nd ed and the new rules (It's still 2nd edition. Only the packaging and the errata has changed. We still want you to buy the new versions though. Lorraine, er, I mean we, need your money.)

Krynnish characters can so be bards! It lists them in the book! No, those are actually just thieves with musical proficiencies. If you have bard characters in dragonlance, you must retcon them immediately!)

Do you get to roll % immediately if you increase your strength to 18 by wishes (If you like. )

Since when do rangers cast wizard spells ( They did way back in 1st edition. Don't you remember that? Ed certainly does. )

What happens if an invisible character is in the way of a magic missile shot (It ignores them. A magic missile does not miss it's target, no matter how improbable that may look.)

What happens when two half-elves mate ( That's a bit personal, isn't it. Look, we're just people. Our bits work just the same as any human or elf. We don't turn into a glowing ball of light or cause earthquakes or anything.)

Is charging a full or half move action (depends how far you charge)

Do undead get fatigued (no. Not for a second. )

How fast can you move running or sprinting (running is x2, sprinting is x3. Is that so hard?)

What AC do you get when you combine cap and coif ( Are you making a dirty irish joke? No? Skip'll be watching you. 4. )

What affects a weapon's speed factor ( magic)

What are the saving throws against normal blows (2 for everything. They're unlikely to do much)

Is there a formula for converting proficiencies to the new rules (no. You'll have to fudge it)

How many pages extra does having a reversed spell take (none, unless it's listed separately )

What happens if a specialist uses a item from an opposing school (nothing. They either don't know how to use it, or can use it fine. There's not some canon police waiting to sweep them up if they try and use a forbidden item.)

What age should you be at a particular XP level (There is very little correlation between the two. You can go a lifetime without getting any, or be epic while still in your 20's. It's all about accomplishment, not putting the time in. Just like becoming famous in real life. )

Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996


part 4/8


The role of books has a Magic: the Gathering special this month. Since role-playing reviews has already done that recently, this means it has become such a breakout hit that no-one's quite sure where to put it anymore, and so anyone remotely related is trying to get in on the act. Ahh, the joys of becoming a breakout hit that creates a whole new genre. Until the shine wears off, and the world puts you in a niche, you get to do virtually anything you want. It's a brilliant position to be in.

The pocket players guide for magic the gathering is already up to it's 4th edition. They must be releasing them every 6 months or something. Still, being released by the official writers, it's got a better ability to keep up with the breakneck rise of CCG's than any third party competitors. Apart from the attempts at IC banter, which fall a little flat, it's a pretty solid explanation of the game, well organised and indexed. That should make them quite a bit more money by handling their own support industry as well.

Learn Magic cards, by Larry W Smith, PhD, on the other hand is just plain innaccurate in a lot of it's details, some of them worryingly basic. This problem is compounded by the fact that the writing is smooth and authoritative and consistent in it's misreadings. Unless it's John who has the rules interpreted all wrong, which isn't completely beyond the bounds of probability. Still, it is worrying, and he can't recommend it. Curious and interesting. Any comments on this?

The unauthorized strategy guide to Magic: The gathering by Gregg Williams and Paul Dreyfus (man, these titles really are getting stupidly huge) isn't bad, but it is very focussed upon helping newbies. This means serious tournament players are likely to outgrow it fast. If you just want to have fun with your family, on the other hand, this might be the right guide for you.

Deep magic by Charles Wolfe & George H Baxter, by contrast, is aimed at experts, particularly those with the cash to spend on buying tons of booster packs to get those rare cards for really brutal deck-building. It's so focussed on these optimal strategies that it neglects the more achievable builds, which means it won't be useful to a lot of people. Still, it's a good way to keep people buying more booster packs, isn't it.

Targen's tome: A masters guide to Magic by John M Corradin, looks like another attempt at writing from a semi-IC perspective. With quite a bit of humour, and accessible top tens of most useful cards, it's both useful and a good read despite being a bit rough around the edges. Remember, a game should be played for fun. Taking the whole thing too seriously kinda spoils it for everyone.


Network news: Once again this column clearly and concisely states what it's trying to accomplish. To make these conventions work, they need people able to write good adventures. After all, they can't keep reusing the tomb of horrors for eternity. We need self-contained, easy to understand adventures that can be played in a single session, with pregens that are correctly tailored to the challenges of the adventure. You need to submit your idea first, and then be willing to test and edit afterwards. As with most of the company these days, it's not particularly accessible to newbies anymore, but still, it's probably an easier way to get a foothold than going straight into freelancing for official books. And it's easy enough to understand what you have to do here. I just wish they didn't have to repeat themselves so many times in slightly different formats to get the message across.

Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996


part 5/8


Bazaar of the Bizarre: We had two specials on elven magic items last year. Inevitably, this brings the complaint that dwarves are under-represented. Oh, suck it up. You're still easily in the top percentile in terms of media coverage and shiny toys to play with. Spare a thought for the Norkers and Dire Corbies. They're never going to get a special on them, while you've still got several to come over the years.  Now enjoy your presents, ya grumps.

An Axe of Dwarvenkind can turn into a battle axe or a pair of twin returning throwing axes. In either form, they're only really any good for dwarves. No question how the treasure's gonna be divided if you get one of these.

Stonereaver axes are not only super effective in dwarven hands, they also hurt stone based enemies even more. No big surprise from a race built on mining stuff.

Dwarven Warhelms give you a bonus to AC, and also to ale! (I presume that's meant to be morale, but is a very appropriate typo played straight) It's even cumulative in groups. Let's quaff some more, lads!

Explode stones are a very bad pun. They can be used as grenades or dynamite, both of which seem handy in subterranean warfare. Watch the enemy don't reverse engineer them, because then you have very definite technological advancement and we can't be having with that.

Hammers of Battering allow you to automate your violence in a whole bunch of interesting ways, and avoid having to keep rebuying material components. Definitely one for the priestly then.

Hammers of Stunning seem pretty self-explanatory. You hit them once, they're at a substantial disadvantage and you can keep on pounding. Always useful when facing a big boss.

A Manual of the Forge gives you a free proficiency. It's not as invaluable as the ones that give you level or ability score boosts, but certainly nothing to be sneezed at. Search for lots of variants on this to become a real skill monkey.

Oil of Corrosion Resistance is invaluable in a community where they try and build things to last. A manufacturer of this can make a pretty penny by selling it on to all the craftsmen.

Oil of Sculpting is basically stone shape in a jar. Another one that has considerable economic value. Not trusting magic rapidly disappears when it's just so useful.


Floyd has the summoner/demon relationship rudely inverted.


They're in the book: Another way of using books as plot hooks. Well, it's important to get our adventurers reading, especially since 2e has the lowest literacy level amongst characters of all editions thanks to the way the proficiency rules work. Actually, this is pretty interesting, as it showcases the various ways clues can be hidden in an otherwise unrelated book, or collection of books. The main issue here is that it is rather tricky to adjudicate, as you can't just put the books in front of the players and let them find the clues themselves. You can either give the solution away, or like secret doors, make them roll, and just use the solutions as flavour when they discover. Or if you're really dedicated, scribble on a real book and make them search for the anomaly IRL. Yeah, Not sure I'm keen on that one. Maybe annotate a .pdf instead. So this is a good idea, that may be a lot of work in actual play. I'll have think about how I can make this one work to my benefit.


Tactics for two: Our CCG coverage this month is a little collection of variant rules for the Blood Wars game. Rules optimised for two players? Seems slightly odd. After all, the game doesn't break down when played that way, unlike in solitaire play. Still, they would probably know better than I do, having plenty of chances to playtest it. The changes aren't that great, mainly being adjustments to how much stuff you can play, and a few additions and clarifications that will keep play suitably brutal when the political aspect is greatly reduced. It makes me wonder just how badly the game handles 2 player under the core rules. And was that a problem when it came to actually finding people to play the game with? This is one of those cases where I'll have to turn my questions upon the general public. What were your experiences with this game and how did the number of players change it?

Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996


part 6/8


Tales from the fifth age: Mission from kendermore by Harold J Johnson. A story of a whole adventuring party of Kender from their original creator? Oh dear god. This is what I call penance for my sins. Still, it demonstrates exactly why Kender are prime adventurer material. Even if the situation wasn't that dramatic before they got there, they'll find a way to make it into an adventure. And no matter how bad things get, how many of the party get lost, they still act like it's one big game, with the long-term consequences irrelevant. And yet despite all the bickering and sidetracks, they still somehow wind up on the winning side most of the time. And hey, if they lose, that just means the fun continues with more challenges to solve. Their stealth skills & toughness makes them much more likely to survive than the average adventurer. This makes this very interesting, and rather unusual in style. The fact that the kender do gradually get eliminated throughout the story makes it all the more entertaining, and very unusual for the magazine, which has become quite shy about killing off protagonists. You could almost say it's penance from the author, providing the readers with sadistic amusement at the expense of his own creation. So I'm not sure what to make of this, but would be very interested in knowing the behind-the-scenes thought that led to it's writing and publication. It is once again a fairly dramatic change from the usual fiction published in the magazine.


Arcane Lore: Oooh. Pretty fireworks. Another thing that has a long association with magic, including a substantial appearance in The Hobbit. We certainly aren't short of elemental fire spells, but this once again shows that you can create a new genre from existing ingredients, like collectible card games, paranormal romance or comedians in drag with fatsuits. And is rather amusing really. Let's amaze those hobbits and startle the goblins.

Firecrackers inflict minor damage and are loud and startling. Is this going to be one of those articles that does technology with magic? Those get dull quite quickly.

Sparkler, on the other hand can light up any metal object without destroying it. A nice alternative to conventional torches or light spells. Watch as they go ow when you hit them with it. Tee hee.

Flare is another one that does pretty much what it does in reality. It even has the same material components. Meh.

Goblin Chaser is very closely inspired by a certain Hobbit scene. Sparking balls of fire to rout your enemies. It's not just pain, it's noise and impact. Wheee.

Spark Fountain is an extended one that'll make an area painful to pass through for quite a few rounds. That'll be good both as visuals and battlefield control, especially if you can shield your own side.

Bakarapper sends out little explosions that explode again. Another familiar real world firework that you don't want to get caught up in the middle of.

Dragon Whirl is a more macho Catherine Wheel. Another one that'll be good for battlefield control over a moderate area such as driving enemies away from your castle wall.

Roman Candle gives you a rapid fire mini grenade launcher, which you can wield, or set down to serve as one of those regularly firing obstacles you have to slip between in CRPG's. Make it permanent and you have a perfect ornamentation to your insane lair.

Special Effects lets you reshape the visuals of many of your spells. Later on, this stuff'll be free. But for now, it takes a 4th level spell. 2nd ed can be harsh in many ways.

Starburst lets you terminally taste the rainbow as it arcs over the horizon and explodes in your face. Or is that Skittles. Oh well, you won't be any position to complain once ye've got a taste o' this sonnie.

Display lets you put on a full gandalf-esque performance in a single precisely timed package. It even lets you make normally deadly spells child-friendly but still impressive looking. That should be exceedingly useful. Can't really complain about this one, as it has lots of cool bits and callouts in amongst the dull spells.

Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996


part 7/8


Forum: Larry Framness prefers the old modules, and would like to see many of them re-released. Wait a couple of years, you'll be in luck.

Peter Levi thinks we need to reach out more to convert the ambivalent. There's a lot of everyday stuff we could do, but don't. Star Trek managed to become normalised through persistence, (although you still see jokes) we can do it too! Ahh, idealism.

Tres Deloach wants to cut the cruft and get back to the dungeon too. There's just so much crap out now that it's squashing down the good stuff. That complaint is definitely increasing in frequency quite rapidly. No wonder sales slumped.

Nicholas Smith reminds you that if your game sucks, pull out and start a new one. You have to know what you want and satisfy your own needs.

Tobias Hill reminds us that rogues are more powerful than they seem, because on the same XP total, they'll often be several levels ahead. He's also finding TSR's supplement bloat is just getting too much to handle. Not much connection there, but both valid.

David Carithers wants some example of dwarf chants to sing. Perhaps something about ale?

Anton J. Uselmann gives his advice about introducing new players into an ongoing campaign. Maybe they should be a touch behind, but not so far they can't catch up with a little work.


Dragonmirth has plenty of retorts to life's problems. Swordplay goes colour and doubles in size. Not that the joke really needs it. Knights of the dinner table shows that Exalted has nothing on the new edition of Hackmaster when it comes to buckets of dice.


Down to scale: Or let's usher out minis coverage with another bit of introductory painting advice. We've seen this a good few times now, each time a little different. At least this one is a decent size, at 4 1/2 pages and a full 9 steps detailed. Not all of those steps will be used every time, which makes it feel a little less basic than it otherwise would. Some of them you might want to do out of order, particularly painting the base, which generally isn't very complicated compared to the mini itself. But this is both easy to understand, and quite informative for it's size. So this feels like one of the last remnants of the old order, mixed with the new attitude of the current one. Not a bad combination, really, especially if you haven't read the previous ones.


Role-playing reviews: The nightmare lands introduces dream based magic and adventure to Ravenloft, which is perfectly suited for it, really. As with Astral Travel, the more intellectually capable characters have a huge advantage, while warriors will be helpless lunks. It certainly isn't for newbie players and DM's, and Rick feels the setting info is a bit sparse, this could justify becoming a whole other line like planescape. So the question is if it's doing too much, or not enough. Not an easy one.

Nightspawn is essentially Palladium's answer to the World of Darkness, monstrous creatures that thought they were human, are trying to balance their human and monstrous lives and preserve a masquerade, while keeping cosmic evils from conquering the universe. Only since this is palladium, there's less angst, and more random rolls, strange mutations and bits of huge weaponry with which to mow down your enemies. How very adolescent. Well, again, that is very appropriate, and a big part of why Vampire became such a huge success as roleplaying went through it's 2nd decade. You can have lots of fun here, as long as you're willing to fudge the rules a little bit.

The world of necroscope brings Brian Lumley's alien, shape-twisting vampires to the Masterbook system, of all things. Well, I suppose it wouldn't be hard to squeeze them into TORG. This becomes another case where the descriptions are brilliant, if rather gross, but the rules aren't too great, and struggle to fit the books events into the system. Just play an all Tzimisce V:tM game instead.

GURPS Blood types brings a vast load of variant vampire types, most from various real world mythologies, some rather obscure. The strength and flexibility of the GURPS rules means all can be made to fit into your game, and it shouldn't be too hard to convert ones from other games too. They rarely seem to be any problem at all.

The cairo Guidebook, on the other hand, doesn't include enough system stuff to make it worth buying over a real book on egyptology, especially not for Call of Cthulhu, which ought to avoid falling into real world cultural cliches too much when venturing around the world. Go back to more primary sources if you want interesting adventures there.

Aaah, Dragon 226 -- the issue that really kicked things off for me.

The strip went from 20,000 readers in Shadis to 250,000 in Dragon (I could be blanking on their distribution at the time). What a difference that many eyeballs can make.

I still have fond memories of my three or four year run with Dragon.

I eventually had stop doing them for Dragon (and Rifters) because of demands on my time but I loved doing the 1 to 2 pagers.

(and the easiest 1,000 bucks a month I ever made).