Fleetfang's page

Mark has stated that the new factions will be available with the release of the updated Guide to Organized Play slated for Gen Con (roughly 1st week of August).

Boo! Too long to wait! Boo!

Still, thanks for the quick reply, Ryan.

When are these new factions going to be available for play? I ask because my gaming group is about to launch into playing PFS and if it's going to be soon, then we may hold off on starting our first characters until the new options open up.
Thanks!

I have to agree with Hama on this one. There's something that just rubs me the wrong way when I hear MMO terms at the gaming table. Maybe that's because I don't play MMOs (and have actually seen some great D&D players vanish into their WoW addictions, never to be seen at the table again).

But of them all, I actually can't bear to hear "mob" at the table. In D&D a "mob" is not a monster. It's an angry group of villagers with pitchforks and torches.

Furthermore, I just found out that everyone I've EVER heard referring to monsters a "mobs" has been mispronouning the word... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_(video_gaming)
A "mob" in MMOs should be pronounced mOHb (like goat, or go), not mAHb (like the pitchforks and torches mob), since the term originates from the root "mobile". I know a bunch of y'all already knew that, but it's news to me. :P

Maybe if people referred to monsters as "mohbs" then it wouldn't bug me so much. If people are going to bring their MMO to my pen & paper game, they should at least have the courtesy to get their own jargon right. ;)

Could be, Bran. Could be. I don't have that issue (that I know of), and i thought for sure I had the map. It might be that a friend of mine used it in a gmae session and I mistook it for being in my stack of tools.
I'll pick up the back issue. Thanks!

Okay guys, this is driving me crazy. I'm trying to prep for a game that I'm running tomorrow, and I'm sure that I won't be able to find this thing in time... But to at least move on with my plans, I thought I'd post here so that maybe when I check again later, y'all will have answered my question.

I'm looking for a particular map from Dragon (possibly Dungeon, but I think Dragon) that was a city street at night. At least I'm pretty darn sure it was at night. I think it was only a 4-page sized map once it was folded out. I've found some similar Dragon maps from back around 2002 or so.

I can't for the life of me find it. It was a kick-ass map. Really utilitarian. So I'm just gonna have to find a new copy of the issue to restock my maps.

But which issue was it from?!

Is there anyone here who has better tabs on what maps they have and which issue they came from? Does anyone else remember this map that I'm talking about. I sure hope so. Any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks!
--FF

But Wolfgang, this Demonweb Pits project isn't the "secret project" you and MikeMcA are psyched about that's going to be in Dragon next year...

Can you say if your project has anything to do with Greyhawk?

Or maybe you could just say if it definitely is NOT related to Greyhawk...?

Classic fans want to know!

Rhennee people are not so much anti-religious, so much as "spiritual." They don't worship deities of their own, but rather mystical forces.

There is more on this in teh Living Greyhawk Journal that introduced the Darkhagard prestige class (#2 or #3?).

Cheers!
--FF

Yeah, I saw that Teasing. Nice!

I also spotted the BBoD v. SoUD similarities last night when I was looking over the list of suggested spells. I pretty much came to the same conclusion. Sphere it is! Then I'll take Kurtulmak's Crushing Claw (bigby's), and round things off for the career with, oh, I dunno... PW:K or maybe the Wish afterall.
Heck, if my PC lives that long, I'll let y'all know.

Thanks for the feedback!

Hmm... Yes, the Tomes and books would be swell. So would scrolls for that matter, but the World's Largest Dungeon campaign takes place entirely in the danger zone of, well, the world's largest dungeon. :)
I don't know what lies ahead, but I've got a feeling that there won't be much in the way of stores where we can buy whatever we'd like. Unfortunately.

Also, in reviewing the Sorcerer Swap rules for spells known, it looks like one can never swap out 8th and 9th level spells. The swapped spell has to be two levels lower than the highest level spells that the Sorcerer can cast. Bummer!

So I've seen the fault of Wish. I MAY still take it right at the end of the campaign, just for bragging rights.

I just found out that there's a Warmage joining the pool of characters that the players are using. He won't always be around, but having a "blaster" sorcerer compared to a Warmage (the class built for blasting), are there spells I should choose in order to better dish out the pain? Is it even possible to keep up with him, considering the greater variety of spells and free feats he'll be getting?
Or should I just have my wicked kobold off him at the first opportunity? heh heh heh

Good point on the XP hits per day.

My main reason for taking Wish was that in my 20 some-odd years of playing D&D I've NEVER played a PC high enough to get that spell. It's the gold ring that's ALWAYS been out of reach. Knowing that WLD is a campaign that rolls PCs all the way up to those epicish levels, it's my hope that one day I'll get to it.

That, and I figure once I get it, 5000 xp here and there for inherent bonuses to all of my important stats would be kinda nice. :)
I'll look at Sphere of Ultimate Destruction and the Hand of Crushing Goodness.
Heck, I can always plan to take Wish at 20th level and use the other 9th level spells until then.

Any other advice on the way is appreciated. Thanks, guys!

Hey all, I might've taken this to a different board in the past, but for one reason or another, I decided to post here looking for advice.

I'm currently playing in a campaign of World's Largest Dungeon. Although the party make-up is in a sort of rotating roster (due to high mortality rates), I've thrown all of my energy behind an unassuming kobold sorcerer (front-end blaster style (rays), with some utility and defense spells).

Now, I know that planning his spell selection far into the future of his progression may be getting a bit ahead of myself, I was looking at those seemingly-unattainable 9th level spells that he may one day be able to cast. There won't be a lot for him. Three different ones at most, so of course I'll want to make the most of them.

Time Stop has always seemed like one of the best 9th level spells out there for a Sorcerer. The only thing is that in this campaign, the DM has banned polymorphing spells and summoning spells.

So here're my questions:
1) Under those restrictions, would Time Stop still be a good choice? Or is there a better option? (I'm leaning toward Time Stop, Wish, and maybe PW:Kill)
2) What would be good uses of the time that's been bought with it?
3) Any spells in particular that I should pick up along the way to help with that?

Thanks for the assist, guys!

EDIT: All WotC books are allowed in this game, with DM's Right of Refusal for any specific stuff he might feel is overpowered. Cool.

" Skeletor wailed. Meanwhile,

This is my take... IF the project is Castle Greyhawk... which we've I think established doesn't really have an "inn" featured prominently...

1) Erik is the most prominent proponent that Greyhawk has out there who is in ANY position to promote the World of Greyhawk as it exists now. We owe him thanks all the time for bringing the classic material back into the mainstream through stuff like Core Beliefs and -hell- EVERYTHING.
2) Gary is still putting out Castle Zagyg (or Zagig or however it's spelled now). Nothing is affecting that release here.
3) IF (IF!) this is Castle Greyhawk, then yes, WotC is putting it out in a ploy to pull some revenue from Gygax. That's just good business.

BUT:
If the "Evil Corporation" is going to do this, would you rather have Erik "Mona-kainen" on board helming it in a respectful and knowledgable way? Or would you rather someone else did it? Because I guarantee you that if Erik had passed on taking it, then SOMEONE else would have been pulled in. And it would not have been Gary. (Too many legal issues that don't need to be opened up, etc)

And what if it ISN'T Castle Greyhawk?
I checked out the preview slide. It's definitely Mordenkainen. And he's definitely scrying on some castle. But honestly, it could be ANYWHERE.
And in my opinion, it looks more like cover art for a Sourcebook, rather than an Adventure. I mean, look at the covers for adventures that they have out there. Adventures need to have ACTION splattering all over their cover art! A group of adventurers bringing the pain to some big bad evil MF! Swords! Spells! Impending Catastrophe that can only be staved off by these brave few!!

Not misty ruins even further removed from the viewer because we're watching a Wizard who is watching them. I mean, there's not even a rogue in the back with a sneaky look on his face like he's going to stab Mr. Wizard in the back. Where's the "Adventure" here?

Don't get me wrong, the art looks Absolutely Astounding! As soon as the art's online, it's going straight to my Wallpaper.
I just wouldn't bet on it being a dungeon delve. But for a campaign sourcebook? HELL YES! An Iconic Wizard vigilantly watching a mysterious castle, half hidden in mists? It speaks to a much larger world that the book will deliver to you. HELL YES. THAT makes sense to me...

So what if it IS the long-awaited, much-clammored for Greyhawk Campaign Setting that we've been telling WotC to put out for the last 5 years?
Well, then, maybe the ire we've rashly directed at WotC (and at Erik by proxy) is misplaced. Because any release that comes out at the same time as Castle Zagig that promotes the World of Greyhawk is going to HELP ol' EGG's book sell.

That's my take on it, anyway.
Thanks Erik. For whatever it is, because you're bringing us Greyhawk. From WotC no less. Congratulations, man. And Best of luck in completing your Project. Whatever it is. :)
--FF

Well this is almost completely off the current topic, and yet the subject line still fits. Wacky...

Erik,
I've started talking to people in the Verbobonc region of the Living Greyhawk campaign about buying multiple copies of the Dungeon issues that have the Map of Greyhawk in them.

I'm hoping that if enough Greyhawk fans who never buy Dungeon and if enough people who normally buy Dungeon get multiple copies... if a large enough number of those folks do this, a large enough number to bend the sales figures $6.99 at a time, if that might be some good ammunition in the fight to get more Greyhawk material put back into Paizo's magazines.

I'm sure you're all for upping the sales figures in any case, but if there's a spike in sales of Dungeon over the next four months, I hope y'all can attribute that to Greyhawk fans trying to get their voices heard.

Booya.
---Fleetfang

...and we appreciate that, man. :)

If I ever did know you were a Greyhawk fan, I'd since forgotten it. But that's great to hear. I can rest assured that you're doing everything within your power to sneak all of the Knights of the Chase and Scarlet monks into the pages of Dragon that you can.

I see now that your hands are tied. I hope that more of us Greyhawk fans can speak up and assist with your Escape Artist check on it.
Who should we be sending letters to in order to get the LGJ back in the pages of Dragon (if even on a irregular basis)? I'll spread the word for a concentrated effort.

With a heartfelt thanks and Sympathy for the Edit-ezu,
The Fangster

Adding to the list of Demon princes, how about sticking Graz'zt on-deck as well in the case the articles are well received?

Addressing the rest of the campaign-specific articles that Erik mentioned: I'm sure that that's good news for the people who rebelled against the at-the-time-of-the-revamp apparently hard line against campaign-specific articles... But getting campaign-specific articles for the Realms and for Eberron while maintaining that the Living Greyhawk Journal will remain in it's shallow grave seems like a slight to the Greyhawk players.

I understand that all the books that come out to support the game in general are supportive of Greyhawk, but I think that argument falls flat when you see Prestige Classes like Stormlord, for which you have FR-specific requirements, in them.

The general support for Gh has never been there with WotC. We don't see books detailing the wasteland of the Duchy of Tehn or the Nyr Dyv... I would doubt that anyone who doesn't play Greyhawk would even know what those things are; while if you mention "Mezzoberranzan" to someone who doesn't play FR, they might have a bit of an idea of what you're talking about.

It's nice to see support coming from Dungeon in the form of Istivin and The Isle of Dread. That's very VERY nice, actually. But having more fluff (with crunch) articles specific to Greyhawk would be even more welcome in the pages of Dragon.

More than just profiles on the gods! Expansion on the different human cultures, profiles of the Circle of Eight and how one might use them in a home-game, and why not city views for GREYHAWK? The City of Greyhawk, Verbobonc, the ruins of Molag...
There are tons of cities that could be detailed.

So I guess I'm saying, don't play favorites! ;)
--Fleetfang

I've been away from the boards for a long while.
Mr. Bulmahn, about three months ago, a month before you posed your question here, I had a suggestion and I'll post it again, if for no other reason than to bump this thread and answer you directly.

I'm all about wanting more 1-inch grid battlemats.
*** Tavern! Tavern! Tavern!
Actually, a full sized, two-story Inn would be fantastic! Tavern downstairs with big common room, individual rooms upstairs... Lots of places for intrigue and confined-space battles.
*** I'd actually like to see a large open, generic Wilderness area. Maybe with a small trail on it. Forest tiles are somewhat available around about online, but they're never larger than 8.5"x11".

I think a cool idea might be to tie the battlemats to upcoming WotC D&D releases. Hit us with an Ice Plain with snowdrifts as a tie-in to Frostburn. Then a Desert Ruin for Sandstorm's release. And a Large, multi-decked ship for the release of Maelstrom next year.
How's that sound for marketing passibilities?

Other battlemap ideas:
-Rocky mountainous pass with many small flat "landings" for combats (tie to Races of Stone)
-Tribal village (usable for Orcs, Wild Halflings, Lizardfolk...)
-Rogue's Guildhouse, complete with Gauntlet of Traps (a tie-in for Complete Adventurer?)
-Military Keep, or Outpost on the Wilderness
-Temple (one of say, Heironeous and another to Hextor on the other side would be really cool!) (tie to Complete Divine)

That's all the time I have for posting right now. I'm ducking out of work early. Happy Turkey Day everyone!

--Fleetfang!

Yes, Mad God's Key is one of the most popular adventures amongst the people I've met in Living Greyhawk. Even in my short time there, I've come to learn that if you haven't played it, you should. I've taken it upon myself to gather together 6 other adventurous souls (5 other players and a Judge) to make new characters with the express purpose of going after the Key.

Luckily, I foresaw this opportunity and didn't read the adventure when it came out.

An interesting thing about LG modules is that they aren't really commercially available. Not really "published" in any kind of sense.

That said, I'd love to see more LG stuff appear in Dungeon!

I've recently started playing in Living Greyhawk (Verbobonc up in Chicago), and I've noticed that there are some seriously talented writers scripting modules for the Campaign.

Just a question out of curiosity, but has the Staff at Dungeon ever considered pulling modules from the Living Greyhawk campaign and publishing them in the magazine? Are there insurmountable legal issues at work here? Just don't want to reprint stuff? It seems like there's a huge pool of talent (and already scripted material) that isn't being tapped.

Or better yet, perhaps in conjunction with the RPGA, Paizo could help to put out a collection of modules from retired years.
Would any folks here be interested in that?

Congrats MattSern!
For the groom's cake, why not a huge square jello mold with a skeleton and a spear floating in it?
;)

I greatly prefer Option 3!
In fact, someone mentioned a feeature along the lines of a one page side-trek in another thread. Something along the lines of the old Book Of Lairs' one/two encounter adventures would be GREAT!

I find maps without any kind of reference in my mind don't get used. I forget what the map of mystery was thre months before... or even one month before. Heck! a week or two, even. But I remember Critical Threats. I know where to find them and when I might use them.

Of course failing the Option 3 or the "Page of Lairs" feature, I'd have to say I like having a spare map. At least keep them in there in case other people want to use them. :)

Yeah, personally, I've liked the 3rd Edition art. And aside from a letter that was printed a long, long time ago in Scale Mail, looking for a return to the pastoral scenes of old, I've never heard of anyone complaining about it. (The Editor's reply was something to the effect of "You will never see seamstresses on the the cover of Dragon again.")

I like the (I forget the jargon for it, but) the blurbs that are laid down the side of the page more than the banner relegated to the bottom or the top like the first Unleashed issues. But it looks like the new Dragon is returning to that, so I'm good with it.

And (at the risk of sounding like a perv) for the record, I'm not against seeing a little skin on the cover. =)

Seeker, you've pretty much written an article query for Dragon right there! You should flesh out the format a bit and email it to Paizo.
Heck, if you don't want to do it, I'LL write it. Great springboards, man! I especially like the idea of naturally-occurring curses that spawned our real world superstitions.

John. Totally off topic: I love "Racing the Snake." I've actually been eager to get my players through "The Speaker in Dreams" in order to move them on to the City of Greyhawk via your adventure. RtS seemed catered to my players' characters (Rogue Master of Disguise, Ranger, Bard, and a neophyte exalted Wizard/Cleric)... and my players have a real problem with keeping the pace of adventures on track. They fight one battle and then want to rest for a day. I get crazy trying to keep the tension on.

So, hey, just wanted to let you know that I'll be running my boys and girls through your little playground soon enough. Thanks for a great adventure. :)
--FF

I've got to say that I liked it. Not entirely certain WHY, but nailing down the whys of it aren't really important to me.

When I picked upi the 'Warforged issue' I found myself gravitate to the back page as I hopped the El home. It's a good read. And if it's irrelevant to your game, at least Wheaton has a healthy view of the game as a whole.

Oddly, the same really can't be said for Mr. Gygax's Soapbox articles that ran in Dragon not too long ago. Every one of those was, yes, an insight into the infancy of the game we play today, but just about every one of them was tainted by his "DM Versus The Players" Dungeon Mastering mentality.

Wil seems to have a healthy balance of sanity and fanaticism for the game. A good balance. And, as Torpedo said, he's a good writer.
I like it.

Ah, but you see, he really really liked the article on Erebus and he's integrating it into the center of his campaign story.

The real problem here is that he's a bit of a control freak when it comes to his campaign (and that's totally his prerogative)... but he doesn't recognize that my character's cohort is, by the RAW, a second PC under my control. Instead, HE plays him as an NPC who has his own secrets and motives. His number one priority is to protect my PC.

Unfortunately, this all means that, control freak that I am about my character, I don't get to pick what spells my cohort is preparing for the day, I don't get to dictate his movements in combat, I will always have a sneaky suspicion that the cohort will stab my character in the back...

My DM wants it both ways. We're playing a BoVD campaign, but this cohort doesn't "do" any of that Vile stuff. The bottom line is that I think he's afraid of what I could do with a cleric who is really maximizing the effectiveness of my Rogue character. I mean, the guy never prepares Blindness or Hold Person...and forget about Wrack.
I mean, come ON, this is basic "enable the Sneak Attack" stuff.

Sorry about the rant, but I'm still a little peeved that my DM doesn't look at the Leadership Feat in the proper way. Even from the get-go of recruiting my cohort.

Diggity Dang, Roberto! That's AWESOME! I figured it was just there to search the message boards!

I have never used this "word" in my life, but you've got some seriously l337 skillz.

I agree. The Mushroom tile was very cool. The other four that came out later in the year as color sidebars were not nearly as groovy. Me like cardstock.

I've got a bit of a problem here concerning the Shadow Apostle Prestige Class from Dragon #322, and I was hoping someone might illuminate me, as I've gogt an evil cleric cohort for one of my characters and this seems to be right up his alley.

If everyone would turn to page 65 in their hymnals... The requirements for this class list your basic alignment and skill stuff. All fine and good (evil, that is). But check this out:

"Spells: The ability to cast 3rd-level arcane or divine spells, including at least three spells with the Darkness descriptor or shadow subschool descriptor."

That makes perfect sense, considering the flavor of the new god Erebus and all. But I'm looking through the core rules and -correct me if I'm wrong here - as far as I can tell, a straight class Cleric from the core rules will NEVER be able to qualify for this prestige class. There are only two spells on the cleric spell list that have the Darkness descriptor. 'Darkness' and 'deeper darkness.'

Now, I realize, if you open things up to the BoVD or (God forbid the FRCS), then it might be easier to qualify. Especially if one of the cleric in question's domains is Darkness. But in the core books there is no Darkness domain, and my DM is only allowing domains from the PHB. My cohort has Evil and Trickery and that's that.

Was the Shadow Apostle intentionally locking out clerics not built with the BoVD or FRCS? I notice that the new spells in the Erebus sidebars are solely Sor/Wiz as well. If they were divine spells too, then there'd be a chance for a straight cleric to EVENTUALLY qualify. But no!

Does anyone have a solution to this problem?
Thanks,
Fleetfang

Just have the Back Issue Order page from #323 with me here at work, so I've got to go with cover art to jog my memory...

If I remember correctly, #305 was one of my favorites. A friend of mine utterly devoured the Spies issue (#316). There was an issue back in the 270s that detailed the ecology of Halflings that was so full of great info, I bought two copies so that one could get torn up in the wear and tear. Similarly, #291 gave Gnomes the same star treatment and that was another great issue. And #298 (or was it #297?) was Drow-centric, and a good one... though it's sold out just about everywhere.

Great question. If I can find the time, I'll go through my last four or five years and see what other precious gems are there.

And yes, Mike. Step away from da bomb... yo. ;)

Kryptonian Scion wrote:

We get a monthly Forgotten Realms article - usually two between the special locations and Prestige Classes. They only take up 2 or 3 pages each, so it's not a horrible thing for the few people like myself who loathe FR.

I suppose 2 or 3 pages each for Eberron articles isn't too bad for people like myself who loathe Eberron. :)

And *I* suppose that 4 or 6 pages for Forgotten Realms and Eberron isn't terribly horrendous for people like myself who loathe both the Reams and Kieth's Homebrew. :)

For the record, I don't LOATHE FR or Eb, but I'm not really that interested in seeing anything that's world specific unless the nations and people of Greyhawk got the same treatment.
...splintered readership, indeed. :)

Agreed!

Except including third party products in reviews really would not make the magazine any less 100% Official content than it is already. I mean, these other companies already advertise in Dragon, why not let us know about the actual products? :)

PS: frankly, I'm hearing the word Eberron too often right now. The fact that monsters in the MMIII is going to have a paragraph on Eberron-placement just kind of makes me sick. :P~

I'm going to say that I understand the need to support a new setting, especially one as different as Eberron. BUT I could definitely see a generic adventure being easier to drop into Eberron than the other way around.

As a twenty-some-odd-year fan of Greyhawk, I've been really pleased to see that Dungeon has begun supporting that world since WotC dropped the ball on it. Liking it that way, I'd not be too much of a fan of seeing things change to accomodate the New Kid on the Block.
Especially considering how much more difficult it would be to make use of an Eberron adventure in a world that ISN'T Eberron.

Stick to the core. Even six adventures a year seems like too many to me. Five? Okay. Go for it. That's almost six. :)

And HEY not to derail the thread, but could one of the editors give me a definitive pronounciation of "Eberron"?? Thanks!

--Fleetfang

Sean,
And ditto that for you.
Thanks for the straight-up detailed answers, insights, and explanations.
I stand corrected on the catalog issue and you've got my appy-polly-loggys for that one.
--FF

Robert and Mike,
Thanks for the replies. In retrospect, even with my disclaimers, the all caps on "worst" was a bit harsh. My APOLOGIES. :)

But like I said, I've come to look forward to each month's DRAGON hitting the store shelves, and I really liked what was going on with it, especially the last couple issues. That, and the fact that DUNGEON was likely one of the BEST issues ever, I guess I had raised the bar unbelieveably high for you guys. Consider it a friendly challenge.

By the way, I didn't want to dilute my massively-massive post's points, but I really enjoyed the return of the ECOLOGY feature. That kind of thing is always, and will always be, good content. Also, the SEE NO EVIL and the SEVEN DEADLY DOMAINS articles were also quite well done. In fact, they could have made a good couple of cornerstones for an issue based on Sin. I like the idea of Themes for each issue. It makes it far easier to reference articles later. Hopefully that'll re-emerge in the coming months.

I'll be around for a while still. Nope, ya haven't heard the last from me, heh heh... ;) You can bet I'll let you know what I'm thinking in the future.

With high hopes,
--FF

Don't alienate your core audience of dedicated D&D gamers in an attempt to court beginners or people who have never played (or maybe even heard of) D&D before. If all that DRAGON offers are the basics that dedicated players already know, then what reason do dedicated gamers have to continue buying it every month?

This hard-core "please the masses" marketing revamp brings me to my next point. It seems like the whole idea of putting eleven different micro-columns in Class Acts every issue is another attempt to put something in for everyone. I can understand the desire to appeal to the masses...
But I think you need to ask, at what point are we getting declining returns from this style of content?
To me, it's akin to firing a shotgun at a dart board in the hopes of hitting the bull's eye. Sure, you've got a good chance of hitting it, but what's the point? The dart board has been blown to smithereens in the process!
Sure, perhaps once a month, you'll have one reader say "wow, those new Animal Tricks really made the issue for me," but at what cost? I certainly wasn't impressed with the Class Acts.... the articles were far too short. There's just not much that an author can do with one page. There were ideas that would have been much better if fleshed out in even just two or three more pages each.
Why not do Class Acts on a rotation? Month 1: Rogues, Paladins, Wizards, and Druids. Month 2: Barbarians, Bards, and Monks. Month 3: Socerers, Clerics, Fighters, and Rangers. Then repeat.

The funny thing is that even with specialized theme issues, there used to be such detail that readers could find something to use pretty much every month anyway. By trying to hit everything in such a shallow way, that probably isn't going to happen as often. And -no offense to the poster who said that the Druid tricks made the issue for him- a one page article is not going to "make the issue" for most people.

As a design side note, I'm wondering if every month we're going to be looking forward to seeing the same four year old stock art for the Iconic characters on these eleven pages of Class Acts. If you thought it was Unleashed and exciting now, wait until 5 months down the line when you're trying to track down the one useful page you saw in Class Acts for the Sorcerer... Was it in issue 275 or 276? Who knows? the page looks exactly the same every month!
Please don't do this.

So I've touched on the short micro articles. Now I turn to the Samurai vs. Knight feature article... This just made me angry. In my mind, it rivals the whitewashed ideas in that Art of War article that was printed a year or two ago.
Ten pages. TEN. Devoted to a long series of hypothetical situations and variables that the author would inevitably throw out, almost as soon as he brought them up. Ten pages of text that led to six words. "The better fighter wins the fight." Great. We could have had a whole lot more white space in the magazine if we'd deleted the entire article except for that sentence. At least I wouldn't have wasted so much time reading to the completely senseless conclusion.

Ten pages that might otherwise have been used to flesh out the ideas in Class Acts. Or give us more magic items. Or give CoupdeGrace some room to actually SAY something. I was interested in the idea of how a book comes to print, but there really wasn't room to say much more than "Well these guys come up with some ideas, then they pass it to these other guys to test it out, and then this other list of people edit it." Not very enlightening. This kind of thing deserves a series of articles akin to the old DungeonCraft articles. If something is worth telling, take the time AND GIVE THE AUTHORS THE SPACE to tell it to us correctly. In the detail it deserves.

Let me reiterate: DRAGON is the official D&D magazine. Stick to D&D. If I wanted a fantasy genre magazine, I'd pick up a fantasy genre magazine. If I want a video-game magazine, I'll pick up a video game magazine.

Alright. I have other things to say, but I think this is more than enough to get y'all started.
Please don't ignore our voices. DRAGON hasn't always been a great magazine, but in the last few years, I feel like it has done a fine job bringing pen-and-paper gamers new content, both crunch and fluff, information about new releases, and events happening in the gaming community. But the "unleashed" version feels like a very large step backward.
I've been reading since issue 260 (not counting a year or two back in the early 90s). I'm going to ride this through for about two more issues. But if things continue as they are, and we see no sign of change on the horizon, and the good people in charge of the magazine continue to ignore the comments that we, their readers, have to say, then #325 would probably be a nice round number to end my collection at. I love reading about D&D and getting new information every month, but honestly, if issue 323 is an indication of what DRAGON will be offering in the future, NOT buying it would be one of the easiest things I've ever done.

Please remember that this has all come from a reader who wants DRAGON to be the best magazine that it can be. To everyone who read all the way through this novella, thanks for reading. If you agree with me, please speak up. And if you don't, please put me in my place.
Thanks again,
Fleetfang

I realize that the catalog is all ad space paid for by WotC, and that it's only going to be there once every three months. But don't try to play it off as an idea that you got from reader suggestions. This is a corporate initiative to sell more stuff. It's not there for my convenience. I never asked for it, I don't want it, and frankly, if the people in the First Watch department are doing their job, it's completely redundant.

Please don't try to pass off advertising as content. In the catalog or in the sidebars scattered throughout the magazine. It would be refreshing to see an unbiased account of new materials that are released. If there's something keeping Paizo from an unbiased review of WotC books, then why not review something published under the d20 license? Mongoose and Malhavoc both release books all the time it seems. Yet I know nothing about whether I should buy them or not. Give us information, not advertising.

White space in the design... White white white. Perhaps the new design is supposed to make us snowblind in preparation for Frostburn's release next month.
It does NOT make an attractive magazine. If the layout people learned that it makes words easier to read and therefore content easier to process, that's fine. But it does NOT make for a better magazine. I don't know of anyone who has been so distracted by colorful graphics or the old font (which I really didn't realize I liked so much until it was gone) that they've had trouble comprehending what an article is about. Bring back the graphics and the color. We need it. Artwork sparks our imaginations and makes articles MORE comprehensible, more memorable, and -yes, I believe- more accessible to new readers.

An example: Two kids, Albert and Bernie have never played D&D before. Albert picks up issue 322 because he sees some creepy guy looking at him. Flipping through it, he sees dark castles of shadow, adventurers exploring a cave by torchlight, pages that look like they're out of old tomes, and creepy characters in long robes. Bernie picks up issue 323 and also flips through it. He sees for the most part black text on a stark, clear, clean field of white, a two-page picture of a Samurai and a knight, what looks like a lot of products that are coming out, some plastic minis on a white field, a big article on a video game, and a catalog, which is oddly more colorful than 90% of the rest of the magazine.
Does it really matter that the text is easier to read or that the articles might be scientifically proven to be more easily understood? Albert's imagination has been sparked. He's more likely to read the magazine, to buy it, and maybe learn more about Dungeons & Dragons. And Bernie? Well, Bernie's already moved on over to the comic book rack to find something that's more interesting to look at.

I don't know if your boys in marketing have numbers that contradict this or not, but all this revamping in the look, making it "more accessible" to someone who doesn't play D&D...
You don't need to dumb it down for the readers. If you do, you'll only wind up alienating your core audience. In an attempt to draw in new readers, you'll alienate the people who care about this hobby and really want DRAGON to be THEIR SOURCE for new D&D information and material every month.

I think Albert and Bernie are the exception to a general rule.
Suzy Browser at the local Borders Bookstore probably isn't going to pick up a DRAGON and buy it any more than I would glance twice at Yu-Gi-Oh the Magazine. I don't play the game; I'm not going to buy the magazine. I think the best way to draw in new readers is to put out the best dang gamer magazine on the shelves. Then gamers like me will tell my friends how awesome the latest issues have been and how they should pick it up too. Random people in an airport bookstore are more likely to buy Amazing Fantasy than a magazine that is attached to a game that they do not play.

[continued again]

Krail is right. I appreciate the fact that the editorial staff etc is posting replies in this forum, but please don't play the party line. If you guys want our opinions (and by opening up these message boards, that is what you are inviting), then don't IGNORE what the majority of us have to say.

I'm going to try one more time to post what my first impressions were. Hopefully, my connection to the board won't get all fubared...

Let me note that I'm not trying to be beligerent here. I obviously feel strongly about DRAGON, and I want it to be a better magazine. That's the place that I'm coming from in writing all of this.

ISSUE 323.
In my opinion, pound for pound, or rather OUNCE FOR OUNCE, this was one of the worst issues of DRAGON I've read in the past four and a half years that I've been reading it. If not THE worst.

The whole issue seemed to be one big infomercial that started with "But wait, there's more!" and ended with -what?- seventeen pages of ads. And it's not like the catalog (sorry, "BUYER'S GUIDE") told us much of anything that anyone who is going to be picking up DRAGON didn't already know. The First Watch section tells us everything we need to know about what's going to be coming up... And if that isn't enough, in Under Command, we got a sidebar that was such a thinly veiled ad for the MHB that I was struck speechless by it. Next time, perhaps the informative sidebars that are breaking up all of this god-awful white space can have a handy page reference to the 'Buyer's Guide' for the reader's *convenience*. "Don't wait! Act now! Turn to page XX and order it today!" ... gah.

[continued]

I'd like to see an official place for a D&D Q&A with the sage, too.
But please please PLEASE do NOT do anything on a "Subscriber Only" basis. The last Editors of Dungeon finally put to rest that whole Subscribers Only stuff, and with very good reason...

Some of us want to support our local gaming stores, to keep Mom and Pop businesses IN business. The entire concept of "Subscriber Only" perks goes against the cottage industry that helps to keep our Favorite Local Gaming Stores open.

The Unleashed D&D magazines need to make steps forward, not overturn good decisions from the prior "administration."
'Nuff said.

I pull them out and use them... for the most part. Greyhawk maps I'll use (Thanks for the Isle of Dread, Dungeon Mag!), but although I've pulled out the counters from old issues, I'll never use them. Not with the high standards of minis that my friends and I use.

By far the most prized inserts are the battle mats. The alley. The town. The caves. Each of these has gotten use in at least one game that I'm involved in at one time or another.

I want more of these!
(It would be great to see a mat of a tavern's interior sometime. Talk about useful!!)

I've tried posting something twice now. Maybe I overloaded the message length or something. Whatever. Here's my first impression, without the major rants I had before.

When I read "But wait, there's more!" in the From the Editor column, I knew things were going to be bad.

Unfortunately, I was right. I'm gonna test-post this, just so I don't rant on for another 45 minutes of typing before finding out that my message got cancelled again.

--Fleetfang

I've been a subscriber since early 3E, and was a subscriber back in the 1E days, so I've seen alot of changes to Dragon. Since you asked for what we liked and what we didn't, here are my opinions on issue 323.

Cover: I don't care for the new logo. The cover art wasn't as exciting as that of the new Dungeon.

First Watch: A mixed bag. I don't mind previews, but I'd prefer if it was more like the "In the Works" column on WOTC's site, giving some actual excerpts.

Scale Mail: Nice additions with the...