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 Recent Posts
First off, I would like to apologize for my comments about the Styes being too much Cthulhu. I have read it now and actually feel it is one of the better adventures I have seen in Dungeon. The mood it invokes (or at least how I will play it when I can fit it in) is almost more of a Jack-the-Ripper type environment than anything else. My only comment would be that I felt the final aquatic battle wasn't as necessary and broke at that point into more of a typical D&D dungeon hack. Just a little though, not fully. I think I might actually play a beginning portion in which the PCs are involved in hunting and capturing the killer... only to be convinced of his innocence (or non-compliance) after his death. As for the comments on the "glut" of Cthulhu material I have to again apologize. When I was writting that comment I was starting to wonder why I couldn't feel warm, as it turns out I had three days of fever induced anguish and discomfort to think about my misdeed. The comment was misplaced. I do feel that the far realm is D&D's version of Cthulhu, but this adventure had little to do with either. Additionally it is Dragon who I feel has had a slight focus on these, not Dungeon. This was a tie in adventure to Lords of Madness and had nothing to do with Cthulhu. So for Erik and the crew I apologize for my complaint. If you have a "Innsmouth" problem there at Dungeon, I can't tell. In my opinion you have done the best job to date on balancing material and variety. Keep up the excellent work. As of yet I have haven't finished the latest Dungeon (still getting over the flu) but what I have read is excellent. I just have the Archwood adventure left to go and have very high hopes for it as well... Sean Mahoney
I like Call of Cthulhu, I think it is a great game. But I am little concerned lately on how much it is getting focused on for D&D. Mostly this is a comment on Dragon mag, someone there has a serious Cthulhu fetish. I just got #121 and haven't read the Styes just yet... I have read through the editorial, Prison Mail and Will Save and am now starting Fiend's Embrace. But one of the other things I look at is the "Next Month" side notes. Enter the Far Realm by Bruce Cordell seems one more in a series of Cthulhu-ish themes in the magizine... throw in the other two articles being Ebberon and I am getting a bit dissappointed in the mag... Sean Mahoney
I don't want to discourage someone from being creative, but I can think of few players who wouldn't feel getting an extra feat is worth a -1 to attack and spot and search checks beyond 30 ft (which would really not affect search that much). You don't really rely on your fighter for search and spot checks, but you would expect the rogue to be good at these skills. So a fighter taking this enhances his role with little detriment, while a rogue hurts his ability to do his job (though likely even a rogue would think this a worthwhile trade-off in this particular case). I should probably respond to my own response here. I didn't read the proposed flaw as closely as I should have before shooting off my mouth. I didn't realize that there was a -1 to attack and just thought it was search and spot type skills... that makes a big difference. However, I often play wizards and would likely think this flaw is great from a min/max point of view. I try to avoid spells with attack roles anyway (you can certainly specialize a wizard with feats and such to make the effective with ranged attack spells, but I don't in general... personal preference). I generally rely on the rogue for spot and search, and only get involved if I have a spell that increases my skill dramatically (and after getting a +10 or +20 from a skill, the -1 from the feat would be insignificant). But feats are few and precious for a spell caster. There are a LOT of item creation and metamagic feats out there. A fighter type though would be fairly hurt in his ability at lvl 1 with a -1 to hit (as one of the main features of the class is a +1 to hit). The other feat is nice, but fighters get a lot of feats so the value isn't as high for them. Anyway... just my 2 cents, take it for what it is worth. Sean Mahoney
The trade-off of a flaw's faults for a feat's benefits should be fairly even, IMO. Agreed, however, it doesn't necessarily seem consistent with the example you give below. But even then that is somewhat subjective... see below. ...I'd like to see more work with general flaws and traits, rather than class-specific or race-specific. Flaws (and traits) could be expanded to deal with both physical and mental variables. The problem is that different things are more or less debilitating to a character depending on that characters class. I saw a great example on the boards earier of player who wanted to get an extra feat for having his cleric not able to wear armor. This would seem reasonable until we also learn that the character has plans to multi-class as a wizard... well, not wearing armor isn't much of a hinderance at that point, since the player probably just wouldn't do it. Another example might be someone taking a -1 to hit. This would be a huge hinderance for a low level fighter, but less so for a wizard or sorcerer (you can simply take spells that don't need attack roles). It would still be a hinderance but not to the same degree (and so should not garner the same reward). So, basically, what I am saying is that with the specialization that occurs in a characters role, through class selection, each benefit or detriment has a different level of impact on the character. To take away then the class restriction opens that door of abuse wider. E.g., a homemade one I made was "Blind in One Eye." With it, the character suffers from poor depth perception, and suffers a -1 to attack and spot and search beyond 30 ft., though I don't think you can really search beyond 30 ft. This sort of flaw can be taken by anyone, regardless of race or class and provides a nice little character for your PC. I don't want to discourage someone from being creative, but I can think of few players who wouldn't feel getting an extra feat is worth a -1 to attack and spot and search checks beyond 30 ft (which would really not affect search that much). You don't really rely on your fighter for search and spot checks, but you would expect the rogue to be good at these skills. So a fighter taking this enhances his role with little detriment, while a rogue hurts his ability to do his job (though likely even a rogue would think this a worthwhile trade-off in this particular case). Sean Mahoney
Another option would be to take the existing adventures and modify them to be MUCH shorter. As an example. You could look at Life's Bazaar and decide you want it shorter. You then would need to decide what level you want it for, redesign the map of Jzadirun to have maybe 5 rooms or so and the access to the shaft leading down to the fortress. Do likewise to the fortress (you could also just lower the number of encounters with out changing the map as another alternative). You would then need to make sure the encounters are going to be appropriate for characters levels that you expect to arrive there (if this remains an intro adventure for lvl 1 you need to change the fight with Kazmojen for instance). That would then mean the PCs have plenty more leveling they need to do but you can leave in the important parts of the adventure to maintain the AP in its entirty. Sean Mahoney
I was just starting a AP campaign and got about 1/2 way through the first adventure when the group fell apart for a variety of reason (marriage, moves, etc.). I had used the Stormblades though in the very beginning. I wanted to set them up as competition. The players had gotten together as a group and decided they were all from caulderon and grew up as friends who decided to form an adventuring party (makes life easy on me when they all make up the reason for being together). So they started when the bard arranged for them to meet and get a contract for their first adventure, sealing some entrances to the underdark which seem to be letting monsters into the region. But on their arrival to accept the job as a group they are greeted by the Stormblades who just accepted the job. Times were hard for the want-to-be adventurers who just all put their life savings into prepping for an adventure. They had several more unseccessful days of looking for work, when the Stormblades return victorious. They were then invited by the blades to stay for the victory celebration at the inn. The blades took the chance to rub it in a bit. Then on the way back from the inn that night they heard a cry coming from an alley and went to investigate.
I don't know that I can really answer that as it pretty much depends on what level they are when you want to do your side quests. I would look at a couple things. 1) Use the personal quests to boost levels to get the party ready for the next adventure. 2) Read the players. If they are tired of Dungeon Crawls but that is next up on the list, that is a good time. 3) When you identify one you want to skip, read through it, identify the things that move on the overall plot and incorporate those things into your adventure. or 4) Do what you need to in order to incorporate the character background pieces into the existing adventures. Sean Mahoney
I think the real trick is DM involvment. If you as a DM make sure that the flaw the character takes is balanced against the power of the benefit, you should be fine. If you feel the choice is a blatant min/max with out benefit to story or balance, then say no and give your reasons why. Ideally your players should be interested in working with you to create a great story and should be amenable to this suggestion. However, we are all suseptible to min/maxing inclinations. Now I should point out that I only have an issue with min/maxing in the instances where it makes the PCs not balanced with one another. I can adjust the game world to be balanced to them as necessary, but I don't want one PC to overshadow all the others. To this end I actively help my less experienced players min/max so as to get the most enjoyment from their characters with out the more experienced players feeling they need to hold back. Sean Mahoney
What is everyone's opinion on running little series of Class Acts like that? If an article concept is cool enough, do you mind seeing it appear in a serial form? Of course. I don't see it as much as a split article as much as a recurrence and expansion of an idea. If it is a good idea, then of course you should keep using it and expanding! Sean Mahoney
The answers are obvious here. It would be difficult to research more thoroughly than Eric Boyd. Waterdeep is protypical realms (although honestly not my favorite spot in the realms... maybe it was overdone for me when I played a Undermountain campaign that turned out to be purely a hack and slash thing which wasn't my bag). In answer to the third question... no. I would not buy the magazines purely for realms content. I fully intend to enjoy the whole thing. ;) As a huge FR fan, I look forward to this type of thing. However, I have found things very easy to convert to the realms (even Eberron adventures which seem overly focused on the war forged). That said, I feel the less FR adventures in the magazine the better for it. Generic adventures are just easy to fit into the realms. The adventure path for instance translated very nicely into the realms. I was very pleased with it. Sean Mahoney
I was going to breeze over them, but since I have an author asking... ;) Support Your Local Barbarian - Basically a synopsis on how a sorcerer can make a barbarian tougher. I guess this seems somewhat obvious to me, and I am not sure it would be real useful for most people. However, I do like the idea of encouraging teamwork in role-playing and covering HOW and WHY people should do it. Interesting though that you never see something that says "when you cast on your friends your spells are never saved against." This means that you have a chance to loose effectiveness of your powers if you cast against an enemy and not if you cast for a friend. It is FAR better to give an ally a +1 AC then try and give an enemy a -1 to hit. Overall this article felt a little too general for what it was shooting for. Using the Universal Language (Bards)- I really liked this alternate rule for diplomacy in situations where you don't speak a common language but use music instead. Short story... in 1994 I went to Mexico with NW Medical Teams. While working on a free clinic there I worked under the direct supervision of the crew boss. The entire crew spoke spanish and no english, and I spoke english and no spanish. However the crew boss just didn't speak at all. I never heard him utter a word. He whistled. It was amazing but he communicated everything he needed very well with nothing more than whistles. The language barrier didn't matter at that point. I don't know that I will use these rules in my game, but this is one of the types of things I love seeing. Keep it up! Tokens of Faith II (Cleric) - I liked this one as well. The holy symbol is something I have always used simply from the description of in Faiths and Pantheons (I am an FR guy), it never occured to me to use other symbols. I am not sure I will use all of these specific symbols, but it got my creative juices flowing. I began a thread on the FR-L a while back that talked about sects within the church being based on the different domains offered by a god (if a god offers Magic, Good, Healing and Sun as domains. Two clerics of the same god are just as different from one another rules wise if they pick completely different domains as a cleric of another faith). Having different holy symbols would be a great way to have these sects in the same church stand out. Or a PC who has a unique holy symbol... will she start a trend or sub-sect of her own (maybe adventuring clerics of that god all start wearing that same symbol but the stay at home types another). Honestly, my least favorite part of this one was that each had to have its own in game effect. I think would have been just as happy with the room for the effects cut for more examples. History of the Druids - Once again, stay away from the excessive use of historical articles... maybe I am just burned out on them at this point. But this article does little to inspire me. The Knifer (Fighter) - This article gives specifics on using the fighter to create a knife fighter build. While this didn't inspire me to create a knifer, I love the idea of this type of article as it encourages an overall view of your character and not just min/maxing using the rules (use them to your advantage, but make good roleplaying base for it). So kudos on this one even if I doubt I will personally use it. Principles of the Monastic Code - Not a big Monk fan myself. But this is the type of thing that makes me like them more. I feel there is a lack of good RP base for them as they are so new to the game. I felt this was a step in the right direction for them. (In FR monks are often dedicated to gods... so this makes me start thinking about the principles specific monks would have depending on their god... good stuff). Daydream Believers (Paladin) - This is another one that I don't think will see use in my game, but I like the direction of. Specifically this covers gnomes as paladins and how they "break the mold." When it comes to RP concepts the Paladin doesn't seem real flexible. This article shoots at removing that by showing how gnomes would have their own take. I liked it. Flaws for Rangers - My personal jury of one is still out on flaws. I feel they are a little too power gamer-ish. But I am still not sure as I like what they add to RP (and doesn't that deserve a bonus?). However, I do really like to see support for ideas from Unearthed Arcana, so I applaud this article and hope to see more (I am sure I will it seems a staple). The Story So Far (Rogue) - This was probably my favorite this month... and not just because the author was personally fishing for compliments. Basically it is four short backgrounds that give your character a minor in game benefit. I like the idea of the small benefit encouraging backgrounds... this type of thing will likely see use in future games I run. My only criticism or suggestion would be that the backgrounds don't seem quite defining enough and a little too specific. However, I don't think you could really make them more character or world specific in the magazine so I as DM would put a bit of that onus on the player creating the character (why did someone try to assasinate you? that sort of thing). The Multiclassed Sorcerer - This article showed what a few benefits of class combos with sorcerer might by or how the classes have synergy. I feel it was to little on each combo to of much use though. It might have been more use had it simply picked one of the combos and fleshed it out more. (and that give you more month after month material, right?) Swarm Familiars (Wizard) - This is basically new rules for having an entire swarm as your familiar using the improved familiar feat. I like seeing new applications of rules so I like this type of article. At first though it specifically did little for me... until I though of the bad guy in the adventure. A drow sorceress who is literally covered in crawling spiders and reveling in it... a bat swarm approaching the party while carrying a charge from shocking grasp would have jolts of electricity randomly flashing through out it... The leader of a group of sewer rats suddenly summoning his swarm of rats to him is made even more frightening when that swarm starts being used to cast spells. Anyway, interesting stuff. I liked it. I doubt a player of mine will ever use it... but you can bet you will see it used in some of my adventures! Sean Mahoney
It is pretty much just pointing out anatomical features and fairly well gives the artistic impression of the aged drawings of our own world. The words aren't really as important as the "feel" the art lends (that you are looking into the very being of the Kenku). But, since are curious I will make out what I can. I will start with the upper left hand side and move clockwise... no promises on accuracy and I can't make it all out. 1. Upper Jaw?
Anyway, those are my interpretations. Sean Mahoney
I haven't really frequented the forums before, but felt I would throw my proverbial hat in the ring of commentary and offer up my thoughts on issue 329 that just hit my mailbox today. The very first impression I had as I took it out of my mailbox was anger at my post office. They had folded it so hard it now has a permenant crease through it. It happens every so often when I get a large load of mail and today was such a day. As I walked back into the house I actually considered buying a bigger mail box. But, I can hardly blame Paizo for that... it's just the USPS can make me so mad! But I digress. The next impression I had was that the word Eberron jumped out at me from the cover. Not much else up in the left hand corner and it really caught my eye. Now, I am a big FR fan, but I now understand (somewhat) why people get tired of seeing setting specific articles in mags... they just aren't as useful, and I am getting somewhat tired of Ebberon (mostly from Dungeon adventures... and to skip ahead this article was just fine... but that was a first impression). I tend to read these from cover to cover and the first thing I logically hit then is the editorial. I have always enjoyed Erik's editorials from his time at Dungeon. He has a way of making you feel at ease and generally I find them thought provoking (a very good thing), and this one was no exception. Honestly I think I often get more out of his editorials than I often do some of the articles. I then read through the letters for others thoughts. I guess I could as easily come to these boards, but I find the comments more humerous in the mag (guess that is the advantage of picking which letters you want to respond to and might set-up a good laugh). The Blast from the Past though I have been reading each issue and even as someone who played many of the older scenarios I find little use in these. Maybe they are useful for newer players? I don't know. I don't see it as good use of space. The Dragon Talk this time fell into the same category. This time it covered a PS2 and GameCube title called Alien Hominid. The comments of the author seem to indicate they understood it really had no place in the mag... I would have agreed. They should have gone with their instinct. First watch is generally one of the parts I breeze through. Not bad in and of itself, just something I tend to find little of interest in. Those things I do think I would be interested in, I am generally already aware of. At this point I would give the First Watch an ambivelent status. I do feel it would be more useful with less miniatures (yes I fall on the, miniatures are not roleplaying side of the fence). Now the "Dungeon this Month" section I actually have a qualm with. As a subscriber to both Dungeon and Dragon magazines, what is the point of getting a "sneak peak" at an already released issue. I read Dungeon #120 well before I read Dragon #329... so why am I not seeing what is in the next Dungeon? But onto the articles... and this month... more historical articles. Beowulf, Mesopotamian Mythos and a Bestiary of the Real World (well, creatures of real world legend at least). The exception is the article detailing the Demon Prince Pazuzu. While it has historical tie ins and history, it seems far more based in traditional gaming. As a general rule I view historical articles as type of setting based article. If you play in Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Mystara, Eberron or anywhere but a historical campaign you are not likely to use the mesopotamian gods. So really articles about our world converted to gaming have limited use depending on how they are implemented. As a general rule I would advise avoiding them. I suppose it really depends on how it was presented though. I wouldn't mind an article that discussed creating a pantheon for you own game and used a real world pantheon as a good example of a finished product. The focus then wouldn't be on the historical gods, but creating the gods and fitting the needs of your game world and looking at how the gods of the mesopotamians (or whoever) fulfilled the needs of those peoples religious ideas. Anyway, on to the specific articles... The Beasts of Beowulf. If you ever thought it would be fun to recreate literature then this type of article is right up your alley. The states for the "bad guys" of Beowulf lay before you. If you haven't read Beowulf (and I would guess most people out there haven't), I would doubt you would find a lot of interest in this article. But the final test for me is, can I use this in my game? As I mentioned earlier I play in FR. I could conceivably fit these creatures into the Rasheman type setting, but I don't really feel they would add much. So I was left a little flat by this article (avoid the historical stuff). What intrigues me about stories like Beowulf that I think might be useful in a game is how so few creatures make for a great story. An interesting article then would be how to create a campaign arc around just a few creatures and have the PCs really be focused on those creatures as goals (whether it be defeating them or bypassing them or whatever). Mesopotamian Mythos. I think I stated my view above so I won't rehash it. Final Test: Just not useful in a game unless you are looking to play in a historical time period... I am not. I suppose you could snag a god or two who catches your interst if you are short in your game world. The Petit Tarrasque and Other Monsters. This was probably the most interesting of the historical articles to me. Not much I could take to my game table, but a good read. Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Pazuzu Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms. A long title, but one of two articles I really, really want to thank the staff for. It is a fairly good write up on the demon prince, his stats (rarely useful in games for gods, but slightly more so for a demon prince), goals (all hooks, very good stuff), his cult (certainly helps flesh out those hooks when you turn them into adventures), a prestige class (built in template to create the bad guy for those hooks), and a few minions here and there. Altogether a great article that can be of great use to a game. But what I like best about the article on Pazuzu is that while it stands alone as an article by itself quite nicely, it plays that much better by supporting the adventure The Forsaken Arch in the last issue of Dungeon (as does the ecology of the Kenku article). This is the type of thing I LOVE to see in the mag. Strong on its own... stronger in conjunction. Next, as mentioned above, is an ecology article on Kenku. I think that most all readers of the magizine I have heard from have sung high praises of the ecology articles and I would be among them. From reading feedback in the pages of the mag and on these boards, I think it is a no brainer to keep an ecology in each issue. I like the new format of the ecologies better than the older story based one as well. All good stuff. And, as with the Pazuzu article, the tie in to the adventure in Dungeon makes a great article that stands on it's own merits that much better. Bazaar of the Bizarre. I always liked the name, but I understood why they got rid of it. But since I like the nostalgia of it I am glad to see it back. This one contains historical (though relatively obscure) artifacts. I don't think I could take any of them whole clothe as they are historical, but they do show how items can affect cultures... and that adds to my game. In general though I am not sure I would use them in my game. I give this one a resounding.... "eh" of ambivelence. A Novel Approach features the new Eberron title, Marked for Death. I am not sure why this got billing on the cover, but it is no worse than any work of fiction to choose to be looked at for adaption and game ideas. I really like the look at "what can I take to my gaming table?" this article provides. I don't necessarily want to see Eberron articles anymore, but this was a great article. I garnered ideas for my game and that is what it is about. Sage Advice. As always interesting. I am always surprised by some of the questions that they even need asking, but others are certainly enlightening and I can't say how valuable they are when they cover a question that gets asked in the game. This makes them worth their weight in gold. Class Act. This is, IMO, the best part of the Dragon magazine we now have or have had, hands down. I ALWAYS find useful things for my campaign. At first I was annoyed that each class had something completely different, but cycling through many things for each class really does seem to work far better. If I like an idea I can apply it to more than one class. And 11 pages of flaws would be excessive (though I like the flaws, it would just be too much to have 11 pages in one magazine). This means if I like an idea I can expand for other classes or just wait for the next mag. Anyway, that is about all the impressions I had. Not much to say about the comics. Other than maybe I liked Nodwick better in Dungeon when it showed them in the adventure I just finished reading. But that is a small little gripe. Overall, my impression was mixed. I really like the new regular features and they make me look forward to getting the mag each month. I really, really support the tie in between articles in Dungeon and Dragon that each stand very well on their own. But the glut of historical articles as the main feature in this issue left a bad taste in my mouth. Is it odd to say that I feel this issue cemented that I like the overall direction of the magazine, but just wasn't overly impressed with this one in particular? Sean Mahoney
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