William Christensen's page

William Christensen wrote:

Just curious, but is there any news concerning recent/ upcoming submissions meetings? I have some queries from June in the stack, and I was wondering if I somehow got passed over or if you just haven’t had time for a meeting yet. Thanks guys!

We have not held one in some months. Making time for one of those meetings is on our list of Things To Do. I'm certain there'll be announcements here on the boards some hours to days after the meeting, wherein contributors discuss rejections and acceptances.

But as of yet, nothing.

Thanks for the info, Mike!

Just curious, but is there any news concerning recent/ upcoming submissions meetings? I have some queries from June in the stack, and I was wondering if I somehow got passed over or if you just haven’t had time for a meeting yet. Thanks guys!

I love Celtic legends a great deal, and any snippets of such that have popped up in Dragon have made me ecstatic (Master of the Hunt article = masterpiece).

That’s the coolest thing that anyone has ever said about one of my articles. ;) I'm glad that you liked it!

Just curious: are writers currently working on BotB articles going to be receiving the new and improved magic item guidelines?

Well Andy Collins actually posted an item from the DMG written up in the new "new format" on the thread on the WotC boards where he announced it... so anybody who wanted to create an item in that format should have no trouble doing so... although whether Mike accepts items in the new format yet is another question... other then the format I am not aware of any changes to the magic item creation guidelines, there did not seem to be any indicated in the thread I read from Andy (although admitadly I stopped following it after it degenerated into a b!@@%fest by certain posters)...

Cool! Thanks for the updates guys!

Doc_Outlands wrote:

Or sent donuts/zingers/twinkies with your submission!

Donuts give you a +10 bonus on your submission. The problem with zingers and twinkies is they're made by Hostess, which uses animal parts in its pastries, which makes its otherwise yummy pastries not vegetarian, which conflicts with my vegetarianism. Alas. Thus, Hostess goodies, while delicious, give you a –10 penalty on your submissions.

;)

Just curious: are writers currently working on BotB articles going to be receiving the new and improved magic item guidelines? Also, can you tell us anything about this cool new book that’s coming out? Specifically, if items from past issues of Dragon are going to be featured within?

Also, do hostess cupcakes and their other assorted goodies really contain animal parts? That’s just gross. What sort of “parts” are we talking about? I just had to make a will save to keep my horrible imaginings from making me sick.

Congratulations on multiple fronts....fatherhood is the best thing in the world. I got my sorceror on black dragon mini today and my 3 year old confiscated it for a while so he could play with it (but I got it back)....it warms my heart to see my kid playing with D&D miniatures ;)

That’s one thing that I’m already dreading…the moment my daughter can reach our miniatures! I mean, I’m cool with the plastic ones (maybe not my promo sorcerer on black dragon, which I can’t wait to see), but the metal ones are all painted so nicely… I’m just going to have to get a locking display case!

Thanks again for the congrats everyone! And congratulations on becoming a parent yourself Dryder!

Congrats, William. I wish you many smiles and not too many smelly diapers. :D

I think child birth is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life. Especially since I wasn't the one having the labor pains. ;)

Thanks guys! Yeah, it was pretty amazing! Plenty of smiles and smelly diapers both, but I don’t really mind the latter too much, although I prefer the former. :D

Luckily she (the baby) sleeps a lot, so I still have some free writing time. ;)

Luke Fleeman wrote:

BoB and Spellcraft were solid, as was CA.

That's all music to my ears. Thanks, Luke. :)

I also thought William did an excellent job with the BoB. I commissioned him to do it, and I gave him a really tough exercise with it, but I think he pulled it off perfectly. :)

Thanks guys! Your comments mean a lot to me. I had a lot of fun writing it. Strangely, I thought about pitching the same article about a year ago, and then wrote it off thinking that Mike wouldn’t go for it! Go figure.

Also, I would have replied to your post earlier, but the day that you posted I was busy coaching my wife through having our first baby! Quite the experience!

Thanks for turning me on to the Aquatic Fey bloodline stuff in 335, which I seem to have overlooked earlier. (Not everything in "Class Acts" does it for me.)

Yeah, the old Class Acts have a tendency to get overlooked unfortunately. :( There really is some neat stuff in there though, and much of it is worth a second look. I love the new format—it makes for better reading, and writing the extended articles is a hell of a lot more fun than trying to write for a single page.

William Christensen wrote:

And don’t forget to use the bloodline from the Aquatic Fey Kin article in Dragon issue 335 as well. It was a Sorcerer Class Act from some really cool author. I can’t remember his name, but I heard he was cool. ;) Yeah…

You're mistaken. I didn't write that one.

:D :P :D

Cool, Zherog. I said it was from a COOL author. :D

I was thinking that maybe it was Amber, but then I had this strange recollection of being at the keyboard for that one. ;)

And don’t forget to use the bloodline from the Aquatic Fey Kin article in Dragon issue 335 as well. It was a Sorcerer Class Act from some really cool author. I can’t remember his name, but I heard he was cool. ;) Yeah…

Fire me an e-mail at: riada_the_black@yahoo.com so we can work out details.

Just please let me know here that you sent an e-mail (I don't check that e-mail address very often :)

Hey Marc,

Just letting you know that I sent you an email about the issue.

Thanks you two, for letting me know what the die was like. Does anybody know what issue the Olidammara die was in? I could have sworn it was in Dragon…

I do indeed still have this issue. It is still in the un opened plastic package and still has the odd 6 sided die inside.

Like I said, I'd love to work out some sort of fair trade ... lemme know

Just curious, is that the die with Olidammara’s face on it, or am I confusing it with something else? I’m interested, but I’ll admit that I wouldn’t have even seen this post had Dragon Lord Chad not dredged it up. So maybe he should get first stab at it. Unless it is indeed the Olidammara die. Then I’m out for blood. ;) Do you have an email address that you don’t mind posting here that Chad and I could contact you at?

I just realized I still have an extra copy of Dragon issue 290 (the Scoundrels issue). It is in perfect condition - it's still sealed in the plastic packaging and even still has the cool die that was included.

If anyone needs this issue, let me know. Maybe we can trade if you happen to have an extra copy of an issue I need or something.

Thanks!

If Dragon Lord Chad doesn’t get his hands on that issue I’d like a stab at it. ;P Is that the one with the Olidammara die? I’ve been wanting one of those. I’d also like to read that article on Novgorod since I based a fantasy city off of it in an adventure I wrote awhile back.

Having played my share of solo campaigns and adventures, I have a few suggestions for you. If you feel that you can tweak a third edition adventure for 2nd edition rules (this really shouldn’t be too difficult, since the stats in second edition are much simpler), try the adventure “Gambler’s Quest” from Expeditious Retreat. It’s designed to be played with a DM and a single rogue (although it is easily convertible). I wrote the thing, so I may be tooting my own horn here, but it was a really fun one. I know that Expeditious Retreat is also publishing some new ones (one-on-one adventures) as well. You can buy either a print version through their website: www.exp.citymax.com, or you can download the PDF version right off of Paizo’s website!

If you don’t mind tweaking a standard Dungeons and Dragons adventure for second edition (this is really easy as well—you don’t even have to do anything, just run the monsters right out of the second edition MM and call it good), try running “Sword and Shield” or any of the Thunder Rift adventures. They’re designed for one DM and one player as well, and I had a great time playing them back in the day. In fact, “Gambler’s Quest” is sort of inspired by “Sword and Shield.” Anyway, let me know what you think, and have fun!

As any of my frequent contributors to CA might tell you, it's been a slow process that is resulting in the rejection of some articles that I had already accepted for the previous format.

Even though a few of my own articles aren’t going to see the light of day, I’m pretty happy with the new format (I just recently finished my first two-page class act and am pretty pleased with the results). I can’t wait to get the next issue to see the new format in print!

Zherog wrote:

You're not even gonna tell us what stuff you're using? :P

Oh, right!

Amai is a practitioner of the Wing Chun Kuen style, as presented in the monk Class Act in issue #334.

That’s cool! I’ve wanted to use that one since I read it! My next monk is going to be of the Wing Chun persuasion (mainly because I like Wing Chun in real life)!

Sorry, sorry, sorry - please I don't mean to be rude about writers articles (d'oh I guess I didn't think the actual writers might be watching the message boards).

I appreciate each writer who excercises their talent and imagination each time they come up with material. Thank you.

I'm just not sure the Class Acts format is great. I want more than a single page.

Elliot,

No need to apologize! I’m not offended in the slightest, and I doubt too many of the other writers on the boards are either. I mean, you’re just expressing your personal views on the magazine! :)

By lack of imagination maybe I mean they can be repetitive sometimes. Issue 328 Class Acts has another 'good spells to know and cast' for The Ranger and exotic mounts for Barbarians, Issue 333 'good spells for a Paladin' and exotic mounts for Druids. Iss 335 we're back to 'good spells for a Cleric' again. Can I see an exotic mounts for Paladin's (or Rangers) article on the horizon or did I miss it?

Sometimes they're just recycling the same idea and slapping a different class on it.

As the writer of the druid article in #333 that you mentioned, I just want to jump in and say that some ideas may be touched upon a second time around in the Class Acts section, but that doesn’t make the articles any less useful. There are those of us that can’t get enough of things like “Tokens of Faith” or ideas on how to use spells more effectively, or whatever. With the mounted druid I didn’t go through past class acts looking for something that I could rehash; I went to the keyboard with an idea for a character type that I would like to play, a character type that I thought others might like to play as well. Class acts are about variation. They’re about shedding new light on stale and fading character themes. I think most of the articles in question succeed at doing this.

As a matter of fact, Paizo will have a booth at PAX manned all weekend by Mike McArtor of Dragon fame. Erik, Jason, and Wes all plan to make appearances as well.

I believe Jason and Wes are running some games in the RP room, too. They'd have to give you the details on that, though.

Thanks Josh! Yeah, I’m hoping to meet the gang, and might try to beat the masses to either Jason’s or Wes’s game.

Thanks. :)

That article has a fun development history. I have two young kids (4 1/2 and 3 1/2). One Saturday, we were watching Cartoon Network - Scooby Doo in particular. So we're watching, and anything they want Scooby to do, they give him some scooby snacks. So I begin to think about that, and the "Training Treats" in that article came to be. From there I sent Mike the query, and the rest is history.

So yes - I got inspiration for a D&D article from watching Scooby Doo with my kids. :)

That’s great; I love Scooby Doo! I seem to get a lot of inspiration from watching X-Files, although I have yet to incorporate anything into my articles that was actually inspired by the show. Typically those things just end up in my home games; Dark Matter comes to mind, although it’s been so long since I played it (years!), and I haven’t yet played D20 Modern.

Hey, I'm a very busy woman! :-D

On a related note, I recently asked Troy if we looked how he expected. He replied with a comment I find too awesome not to share. I promised Troy there would be no relatiation against him by Paizo people - any retaliation should be directed towards me. :-D

Troy Taylor wrote:

I knew what Erik Mona looked like cuz I'd seen his photo posted before. But I really didn't associate the two big guys with James (Jacobs) and Jeremy (Walker). I just thought (at first) Erik had brought along some bodyguard muscle to the GenCon. He did sort of look like Mr. Big from Get Smart or some Mafia don flanked by a pair of leg-breakers.

Erik: "You see, Paizo tis a family. Yuz treat da family good, da family treats yuz good. Betray da family, and it's cement overshoes for you pal."

I will never be able to look at Erik the same way again. :-p

-Amber S.

That’s awesome! :D I’m so jealous — GenCon sounds like it was a blast! Maybe next year I’ll spring for a ticket out there. Just curious, does anyone go to GenCon So Cal? Is it just as big of an event?

I’m heading up to the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend! Do any of you fine writers (Class Acts or otherwise) plan on being there?

Ooh... well if Big James (for lack of a better qualifier) asked you for changes, that's a good sign indeed. And getting rejections isn't so bad - with fiction stuff, it just means it's time to send out to the next mag on the list, and the few times I've gotten positive notes from folks like Zoetrope and Pindeldyboz it was almost as good as actually getting published. :) Dungeon and Dragon rejections are a little tougher to take in that we're really the only market, so a rejection means a proposal's basically dead... but the trade-off is that the difficulty/prestige ratio is off the charts - for the kinds of cred that these mags command in their field, it's WAY easier to write for us than it should be. I mean, in gaming terms, these are the New Yorker, Playboy, and McSweeny's all rolled into one... but unlike those, us normal folks actually have a shot in hell with Dragon and Dungeon. And even with the crazy old system, our response times are still better. :)

Actually, just out of curiosity, who else on here publishes outside of the gaming genre? Fiction? Newspapers? Music stuff? I'm always interested in seeing what kind of crossover we get with any given field.

-Li'l James

Well, I’m currently writing Class Acts for your sister publication Dragon (and hoping to write some features and other regular columns someday!), working on an adventure for you guys (I recently received one rejection from you James, and one go-ahead from Jeremy in the last round of submissions: wahoo!), and working on a follow-up adventure to my critically acclaimed (okay, I’m full of myself here :) adventure “Gambler’s Quest” (published by Expeditious Retreat Press).

I venture into the realms of fantasy and horror as well, and even try a little bit of nonfiction. James: that’s great that you received good word from Zoetrope! They’re a difficult market, so to hear anything other than the standard form rejection is a good sign! Keep it up! I myself have yet to get my fiction published, but I think I’m on the verge. :) I too have received some good notes about my stories (“this is good, but we’re overbooked on lovecraftian fiction. Please submit again…”), etc. I submitted my novel to the Wizards of the Coast open call for their new book imprint, and am anxiously awaiting a reply.

Anyway, hang in there James, and every other writer on these boards! It’s a tough business to break into (a good deal of you have already broken in!) and we all need to stick together!

Hey Troy (and other CA writers), you gonna be at GenCon this year? We should totally get together and...be writery...together. Or something.

-Amber S.

Gen Con’s too far away for me at this time. :( I’m hoping to go to the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle at the end of this month though, if I can get everything in order. Is anybody else going to be there? I know that the Dragon staff is going to be! How about you other contributors?

Righto!

(and if need be, Tallyho too...)

On the subject of flaw articles, I recently had an idea for a variation on the theme. Specialized flaws differ from regular flaws in two key ways.

(1) A character may take a specialized flaw past 1st level though it still counts towards the maximum number of flaws she may take (i.e. 2).

(2) A character who takes a specialized flaw gains a bonus feat, however, she must take the particular feat mandated by the specialized flaw.

Of course, if you later eliminate the drawbacks of the flaw you also lose access to the bonus feat. Not sure if anyone else has had this idea before, too many books out there to read them all :)

The genesis for this idea comes from searching for some way to induct characters into secret societies/mystical orders and similar things. The flaw represents the consequences of a vow, sacrfice or ordeal undertaken during the process of membership while the mandated bonus feat represents the advantages of joining.

So for instance, a character might undergo a trial by ordeal with some sort of volcanic themed race (the "lavafolk" for lack of a better name) plunging her hand into a molten pool and gaining the "Charred Hand" flaw as a consequence. However, she would also immediately gain the "Kin of the Lavafolk" feat, whatever that might be.

Personally I think flaws have a lot of potential, but there's a natural tendency to only take them if you can avoid most of the disadvantages. This is where the DM has to step in.

Not to hijack the thread into a discussion on flaws but any oppinions?

Hal,

I think this is a great idea! I was thinking of something similar to this awhile ago, based on crime and punishment. I sort of love it and hate it when I see things like this on the boards. I first feel like my own idea has been validated, but then I worry about submitting lest I look like a hack stealing ideas from others. I saw mention from someone on anther board about an article they would like to see, and it even sounded like they planned on submitting. The thing is, I already submitted a proposal for the exact same article a couple of months ago! Then I sit and wonder if I should post or not, worrying that if I say too much about my proposals that they’ll get denied due to either (a) some cosmic force that demands secrecy in return for success, or (b) the editors seeing me divulge too much info and dropping the idea so that articles can remain fresh and surprising. Option (a) stems from my habit of not giving away details as to what I’m working on. I worked on a novel for two years, and during all of that time of people asking what it was about, I only told two. And then I only divulged the most basic of information. It’s sort of a superstition I have I guess.

Medesha wrote:

WOO, I made the top 10!

I have one this issue too. :-D Um, barbarian, I think.

Zherog (John E. Ling Jr.) should be getting up there in the count too.

-Amber S.

I have 5 up through and including 334. Damn, I'm more prolific than I thought. ;)

I was wondering what Zherog’s real-life name was, seeing that he’s a contributor and all. :) You wrote the animal accessories in last issue, right? I submitted a similar article a couple of months ago. It seems we have different enough items for the most part, but I included a climbing kit in mine as well, although the logistics of it are a bit different. Cool article! I love druids, and anything new for animal companions is a big plus in my book.

I have two more Class Acts coming out in this issue (#335), so that will put me up to four total! Top ten list, here I come! Given time that is… ;)

Troy Taylor wrote:

I wouldn't worry about duplicating ideas, or our writing creds (whatever that means). Mike's a fair guy who'll evaluate your idea on its merits.

The best thing you can do is pitch an idea you feel passionately about, one you feel confident you can write an article on and one you feel other players could benefit from.

I love Amber's story, because it reminds me that Joe Schmoe gamer with a good idea can get an idea into Dragon. I think, oddly, that I find Dragon more intimidating to submit to than Dungeon - which is ironic, since queries for Dungeon require a lot more thinking out, and Campaign Workbooks literally have to be finished products before you submit them.

I've also been lucky enough to have some success in Dungeon, and I haven't yet in Dragon. Somehow I think that makes getting something published in Dragon still seem unattainable. I keep plugging away though. I even submitted a query tonight (ecology articles, not Class Acts).

The problem with being really passionate about your ideas is that you invest yourself in them. That makes the rejections really sting... and they sting enough to begin with. Unfortunately the only way to avoid that sting is not to submit, and I don't consider that acceptable either.

Oh, and I agree, Mike is a class act. He's been nothing but supportive and gracious. Even if he has turned down all my Class Acts queries thus far.

- Ashavan

Ashavan,

Keep pitching ideas, and I assure you, you will eventually get the go-ahead for an article or two. It’s just a matter of having the right idea at the right time (and some mad writing skills, let’s not forget! :P ). Not that I’m a veteran contributor or anything, but I feel that I’m making some headway. ;) Dragon is a great place to submit besides. I’ve received some excellent feedback from Mike and others, and feel that the contributing process has greatly improved my writing. And yes, I agree, Mike is a real class act! Keep sending ideas his way and I’m sure something good is bound to happen!

*Caught in the open with a guilty look on his face.*

Alright, maybe we’ll see what we can do.

;)

Like I said earlier in another thread---D&D shall be played in many nursing homes in a few decades.... "Bridge" "I think not, Mabel" "Let's play D&D and then listen to Judas Priest!" "Hold on, let me get my dentures first, you guys can't understand me when I DM without my dentures!"

Okay, I'll stop now :-)

Awesome! I think that when this happens there will also be a hell of a lot more visitors at the nursing home. ;)

“Grandpa, can I have a vorpal sword?”

“No Jimmy, you’ll poke your eye out, and if you roll a natural 20 your head will fall off. Now go get grandpa a Mountain Dew.”

The first step, I think, is to retire Class Acts. Thereafter, synergistic support for the "Big Article" will come along (e.g., Pazuzu article supported by the Kenku article). By itself, and especially with Class Acts remaining, I do not think the "Big Article" strategy will do more than trend upward and plateau based on what the "Big Article" happens to be. What is needed is not this constant "pumping up" to a plateau but sustainable growth, IMO. That means (1) supported "Big Articles," (2) a "Big Article" strategic plan (that it appears is already in place to a degree with different kinds of "Big Articles"), and (3) growth of the remaining content.

While, because of the way the "Big Article" strategy interacts poorly with Class Acts, that is, I think, an immediate focus of discussion, once Class Acts are retired, and the "Big Articles" are set for synergistic support, there will remain the "undiscovered country" of the remaining content.

I may be biased, but I love the class acts section and the new format of Dragon. In fact, I had been away from Dragon and Dungeon both for quite some time (I was a sporadic reader at best) until the new formats came out. I began collecting again with the advent of those issues, and was inspired enough to begin submitting.

After I get my issue in the mail and excitedly unwrap it while doing the dance of joy, I first read the editorial, letters and first watch, and then do a flip through. That’s about all of the time I have in the morning when the mail comes. Throughout the day I read the short articles (class acts) one at a time as the chance presents itself. Then, at night I begin reading the longer articles. I really don’t understand why so many people have a beef with shorter articles; they contrast nicely with the longer articles, and provide the issue with variety. Also, I think the class acts are cool because every class gets treated in every issue. It seems that I integrate ideas from the class acts into my characters more than I do the feature articles (which is not to say that I don’t enjoy the feature articles; I love them as well).

I think that there is info on the Celtic Pantheon in Deities and Demigods (that's Odin, Loki etc. Right?)

Nope. You're thinking of the Norse (Viking) pantheon; that one is in the Deities and Demigods book. The first edition equivalent (I believe it was called Deities and Demigods back then as well) included a fair number of Celtic gods and heroes, and if you were really lucky you might get a copy that also included stuff from Lovecraft's mythos along with stats for Lieber and Moorcock's creations. :)

Even though issue 332 is already out, I just wanted to dredge this post up to mention my favorite thing about issue 331! I’m a big, big fan of hags (they’re such fun enemies!) and really enjoyed this issue’s ecology article. From the introduction of the article I got the impression that there was going to be an ecology article for each of the hags all in a row! Now this is something I’m looking forward to. So…are there going to be more? I realize that this month’s issue has kobolds because of the June theme, but please tell me you’re going to finish off the hag articles soon! Hags are cool…

You get 8 bonus points.. which, as of this moment.. can be redeemed for.. a nifty bit of string :-)

Thank you! Thank you everybody! No, please, hold your applause! I humbly accept these 8 bonus points (which are redeemable for a piece of string), and just want to thank the people that made this all possible. First, thanks to Mr. Jason Buhlmahn for replying to this thread and holding the contest. Second, thanks to Mr. Erik Mona for chiming in on this one. Finally, thanks to salcor for starting this thread, and to everyone else that participated. You’re all great. I really mean that. (Holds up 8 bonus points certificate and the piece of thread that he may redeem them for. Humbly bows amidst thundering applause and revelry before exiting from stage right).

Haft Strike does not alter the fact that the weapon has reach. If you strike with the haft, you must use the reach given by the weapon. However, in combination with Shorten Grip, you could use it to strike an opponent 10 ft. away and then haft strike the adjacent foe (albeit with a -4 penalty on the roll).

Glad to hear you like the article, it was a fun one for us to put together. It involved the Dragon staff sitting around one night watching a stack of kung fu movies and dreaming up cool things to do with a pole arm. Unfortunately, we could not come up with a feat that allowed you to knock out someone's teeth. (bonus points if you can name the kung fu movie that special move is from.. one hint.. wolves).

Jason

Eight Diagram Polefighter!! :)

Amber, since you’re in the know, does this mean that we’ll have to resubmit any submissions that we sent this week once they get things up and running? Thanks for letting us know what’s up!

I just discovered the thread about the email problems. Here’s the address in case anybody else was wondering what was up:

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/general/customerService/
emailTroubles#10953

If I don’t say that I appreciate it are you going to mess with my account for spite? :) Just to be safe, thanks guys, and good work!

I got a few things done this week and unfortunately sent 3 emails with various articles. Sorry about that Mike! Didn’t mean to help flood your inbox (I just barely noticed this thread)!

You guys have already received issue 331? I’m anticipating this issue even more than usual.

They are having serious internet issues at Paizo. Their email is down and I imagine updating the site is a low priority right now. Hopefully things'll get fixed in a few days. :-)

-Amber S.

Amber, since you’re in the know, does this mean that we’ll have to resubmit any submissions that we sent this week once they get things up and running? Thanks for letting us know what’s up!

Yeah, more Celtic stuff! In issue #330 we learn how to create a Celtic warrior from the Fighter's 'Class Acts', and in #329 we learned about inserting the ledgend of Beowulf into a campaign (the Viking invaders brought the legend to Ireland, and socially the two cultures were quite similar.) Plus, a Druid is almost exclusively of Celtic origin.

Perhaps there could be an entire issue focused on Celtic stuff? I know there must be SOMEBODY who has submitted Celtic queries and articles (hint, hint, nudge, nudge)! ;)

Seriously though, I love the Celtic stuff as well (not to mention viking stuff) and would love to see more in the pages of Dragon!

Does anyone have any suggestions about using the Vorpal sword in a campaign? I feel like it is too powerful to not allow a DC save once a critical is made.

If you as the DM feel like the sword is too powerful for your game, then I would say by all means, allow characters that are about to lose their heads Fortitude saves. However, the item should be powerful, as the vorpal ability counts as a +5 adjustment! Since in the DMG it lists circle of death as a prerequisite spell when creating this item, I would suggest assigning a minimum DC 19 Fortitude save to avoid death, since circle of death is a 6th-level spell and the minimum Intelligence score to cast a 6th-level spell is 16 which is a +3 modifier (begin with a DC of 10 and add the spell level plus the intelligence modifier, in this case the minimum possible, to find your DC).

The mailman finally stopped playing games with me and delivered my copy yesterday. It's both really cool and really weird seeing my name as the author of an article! I must have opened to that page at least three times! Mike did an awesome job laying out the article!

I'm making my debut in Dragon's pages in the next issue (331, Class Acts, Druid), and am sure that I'll be opening to my own article at least ten times. Okay, twenty. Actually, I don't think that I'll even have time to read anybody else's article because I'll be so amazed that I'm actually in Dragon. ;)

And the mailman had BETTER NOT play tricks on me by sending my issue late. :) I may die from anticipation.

Thanks for your input, Mike and Jason, regarding article deadlines.

First off, thanks enormously for these examples and info! In the future I’ll remember to send many queries all at once. I mistakenly thought that sending an email with fewer queries would be easier on an editor. I also tend to think that I need to submit my proposed articles within a week or so. Which brings me to ask, how long do you usually expect an author to take on an article? That is, if I query several articles when do you expect them to be submitted? I ask because if I query about a dozen articles and you accept eight of them (as you [Mike] said you did with one author on a previous post), should I have them all written within a week or two, or when?

Second, although I have not yet sold an article to Dragon, I have corresponded with Mike a couple of times, and can say that I too have found his comments helpful and insightful. Many editors (particularly those of fiction publications) rely heavily on form letters for rejected pieces, and when they do offer personalized responses, they are usually brief, and along the lines of “this is good, but we can’t use it right now." It’s really sad, because I don’t understand how one can expect to get the type of work that one wishes to see without giving a little bit of feedback to the writers. I suspect that the willingness of the editor’s at Dragon to do so is what makes it such a quality publication.

Third, Amber, I loved the “Tokens of Faith” article! It was a really cool idea.

Hey Mike,

I saw your shameless ploy to get your truck washed on a regular basis while reading through the newly posted writer’s guidelines, and I must say I am shocked and appalled.

That said, what type of wax do you prefer? I have Turtle Wax and Armor All…

It does seem that the druid is a greatly underappreciated character class. I’m glad to see that others love playing druids as much as I do!

Perhaps an article focussing on the "dark side" of the Druid from its Celtic origins? It seems like there is too much of the Green Peace activist in the Druid, and I don't know that they need to be played that way.

As for Sublimity’s suggestion, I find that evil druids of this sort (Celtic origins; think wicker men) make great villains, or even appropriate anti-heroes!