Though I did find some decent material in the issue I must say, you have me always waiting for Spellcraft and now it is gone? What gives? Are you dropping it or just short on material? If you are short on material just give the word.. *chuckles* I can more then fix that myself. In any event, please say what is going on with the column.
Thanks..
PS: Great shipping time, hope it continues :)
Contributor
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That, unfortunately, fell to the Bumped-For-Space monster. That CR 53 baddie leaves few adventuresome articles untouched. In #327, it set its sites on our poor little Spellcraft article. It had come down to saving Spellcraft or saving a feature, and Erik Mona decided to guard our precious feature and let Spellcraft fall...temporarily. Thankfully, we were able to cast restoration on Spellcraft and it'll be back, as strong as ever, in issue #328!
Please let Eric know, we do accept Web Enhancements as donations to help the victim's family and friends of this dreaded monster.
*chuckles*
Thanks for the reply
I did the cleric Class Act this month! Any comments on it, anyone?
-Amber
PS: Great shipping time, hope it continues :)
Really? I still haven't gotten mine! And this isn't the first time I've seen it at my comic book store before it's made it to my mailbox.
Shipped to subscribers Nov 30
Appears on newsstands Dec 21
What gives?
PS: Great shipping time, hope it continues :)Really? I still haven't gotten mine! And this isn't the first time I've seen it at my comic book store before it's made it to my mailbox.
I also received mine yesterday in the mail (NJ). GLG, it sounds like you have local/regional mail lags in your area. Time to call your local post office and whip them into shape! :P Just don't go postal...
*drum roll*
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I did receive my Dragon Magazine after anxiously awaiting it for most of the last week. Some of my tension was released when I received Dungeon yesterday, but alas, I finished it before the mail arrived today.
Now, about my concerns for Dragon. The #1 issue remains Under Command. Please, please, please, drop it from the magazine. I play Dungeons & Dragons. That is, I play a role-playing game that Dragon is supposed to support. In a previous issue (326 in fact, page 23 - RPGA update 1st column 3rd paragraph) Ian Richards admits that this is a game of its own. Fundamentally, the four pages dedicated to Under Command do not support my game, and the rest of the magazine does nothing for players of D&D Miniatures. If anyone has arguments to the contrary, I would love the opportunity to refute them. Rather than attemting to service a wide variety of readers poorly, please focus on those of us still playing the game the magazine is designed to support. So, the next time the CR 53 Bumped-for-Space monster raises its head, let it have a good chomp of Under Command instead of a feature (regular or special) that has actual ramifications for "Dungeons & Dragons".
That being said, if you do include articles for Under Command despite my sincere wishes, they should be useful to people that actually play the game. The articles from the last half-dozen issues have included strategies that are blindingly obvious or variants that most players will not use. Under Command should really find another place.
If I'm mistaken and this is actually paid advertising space, please just omit the page numbers on the bottom and the entry on the table of contents. I won't feel like I'm missing real content if this explained to me in a straight-forward way.
Apologies if I'm sounding a little.... Whatever.
I've enjoyed all of Erik's introductions. I will point out that photocopying from Dragon is prohibited by copyright law. If the magazine is suggesting that we be allowed to use photocopies for our personal use (which I think would be wonderful and generous) a statement to that effect should be included in the magazine in the event we choose to make copies in a public place that frowns on copyright infringement.
Previews is an appreciated feature. Emphasis on actual product is preferred over information on TV shows and movies.
The RPGA update hasn't been very useful as of late. I don't know if the editors (I'm talking to you Erik) thought we would find it less boring if it was broken up into bite size pieces. It didn't work. Like my earlier complaint about Under Command, the information isn't actually useful to people who participate in the RPGA. A full page is probably unnecessary to encourage new members.
The features on tombs, dividing treasure, and mixing various classes are useful. The most important aspects of the magazine are, in my opinion, these features. They give me things that I didn't even know I needed. Regular features are something I look forward to, count on, but can create on my own following the examples provided in previous issues. However, the fiction is useless to me. If you must include fiction (and I'm not saying that there has not been some excellent fiction in Dragon over the years) I want something I can take directly into my game. I want a feat, or an item, or something. The best fiction in Dragon over the years has actually been that which presents a creature, item, or spell at the end of the article.
Regarding the Ecology and Winning Races - both articles are excellent. However, D&D is full of essentially humanoid creatures. Though these articles explain how these races differ from a standard PHB race, they still use armor, weapons, etc, as a standard race.
Bazaar of the Bizarre - I thought you had changed the name to Magic Shop. I think this article was a little weak, but I don't think converting real world devices into magical items is particularly difficult or clever.
Generally, good job. I look forward to my issue next month. I do hope you'll consider my (somewhat rambling) input. Perhaps next month I'll condense it into an easy to understand and more clearly explained whole. Until then, good luck making your deadlines.
I envy your subscribers who have already received your Issue #327. Mine has yet to arrive. Bummer.
Yeah, still waiting over here, too. Not a good feeling with one issue left on my subscription... :-(
I have to agree with the opinion above concerning Under Command..
I may be the only one, so I don't try and preach but I kind of keep everything modern out of my games. Steam punk, gunpower and the such are all discarded without a thought. In my world, we have this thing called.. magic.
Now the ecology and such related, I use them from time to time so I can't say it is totally a bad thing, just not your thing perhaps..
As for your article Amber, was pretty good, those sections are small and I feel meant to bring something more to an aspect of the game that is usually missed. You did just that :)
Getting my dragon earlier then normal, I feel it was santa's way to saying, You have been a good person this year. *chuckles* I kind of look at it now as I am lucky I got it and don't worry if late or not.
I did the cleric Class Act this month! Any comments on it, anyone?
-Amber
I was really intrigued with the idea that a holy symbol might be something other than a wood pendant hung from the neck. I especially liked the fingerless gloves for the fire domain. I have a trident-carrying cleric of Procan in my campaign. I think the chaos domain amulet is right up her alley. I intend to ask if she wants to incorporate it into her character.
Was this your first article, Amber?
The cleric one was good. Clever expansion of what constitutes a holy symbol as well as a compelling game reasons to incentivize customizing them.
I'm really glad to see "Bazaar of the Bizzare" back.
The cover blurbs seemed more prominant again this time, though...
Thank you very much, guys. :-) I appreciate the feedback, it keeps me honest. Or something. And I really did like that one.
Troy: I also wrote Sacred Spells in issue #299 and Ecology of the Duergar in #325. I have an article coming out next month (that one is going to be totally awesome) and theoretically in two more issues soon after.
I have an article coming out next month (that one is going to be totally awesome) and theoretically in two more issues soon after.
Great. I look forward to reading anything that is totally awesome.
This issue was an improvement over previous ones. I never liked the fiction- Ever- But if you're willing to support it, fine. In that case, its nice to have it back.
I will echo the above statements- Drop Under Command. I don't play the minis game, I know nobody who does. I never read the articles, as they are no use to me whatsoever. I can't say they'd be missed.
And now for something I seem to like to do, the Blow-By-Blow!
"With Friends Like These"- Well, ok. The advice offered by this article seems to be "Don't be an ass clown." Which, I feel, anybody with half a head of sense could have told you. The example charachters ARE all very nice, but ironicly enough, could all be problematic if improperly played. And i'm not sure what the artwork had to do with this article, but overall? Not bad.
"Tomb Raider"- Finally, an article with some info I didn't know. And what do you know- Both the historical background AND the advice on exploring tombs is useful! This is more like it.
"The Spoils of War"- Not much I can say. Not that interesting, but solid. Has some good advice. Again, not bad.
"Ecology"- Please. God. No more Monstrous Humanoids. No more creatures that are LIKE Monstrous Humanoids (Chokers). No more Underdark natives. The Duergar Ecology was good, and I really liked the Night Hag and Raksasha ones, but please. You have other monsters. Act like it. (Yes, I know that next month is the Ecology of the Will 'O Wisp. My point stands.)
"Winning Races"- Please. God. No more Mon... Oh, wait, this one's an Outsider. Cool. And is, incidentally, the first i'd probably use in a campaign. Not bad. (Their chosen weapon is the Trident. Is this meant to be symbolic, or just ironic?)
"Silicon Sorcery"- Please. Drop this feature. Drop it like the bad habit it is. I know its probably good advertising money. But, most of its contributions are useless to me. Most of its contributions are probably useless to everyone. It started with the Chocobos, and just slid downhill from there- I have hated this feature for as long as it has run. I will hate this feature until it leaves, and then, I will STILL hate it for taking up space. Get rid of it. Please.
Overall, good issue. Probably the one i've liked the most since the relaunch. I still don't know why you had to relaunch them, but you know what? Keep making issues like this, and I'll keep my subscription. Happily.
Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
"Is this meant to be symbolic, or just ironic?"
Considering that diaboli are not supposed to be evil, ironic. Only if the really behaved like the "classic" devils they resembled would it be symbolic.
I have to say the article I got the biggest kick out of was Modern Magic. I made me think about Merlin in "The Once and Future King," when all those modern devices were at his disposal (a sort of inside joke with the reader, I imagine).
I can really see a use for those items in a Harry Potter-ish type D&D game, or even better, I think, in an Urban Aracana setting. (Sure, you go to the FedEx station if you wanna; I'm just gonna pull out my little Figurine of Delivery and we'll be all set!)
As a player of many bards, I think I'll draw the line at the Horn of Recording. Gotta get my guildmaster to stamp that baby out.
Dragon hasn't produced a lot of really nice issues for me since 2003 and I've seriously been thinking about not buying another one until it gets better. This issue is really no different, though it is somewhat a little better than the past year's issues.
RPGA Update is not useful to your typical Dragon subscriber/buyer. It only caters to RPGA players and those players can get their information disseminated without sucking vitality out of Dragon. I highly suggest cutting it out.
"Tombraider" is OK. It's a lot like the Knights and Swashbuckler component features in past issues, though I have to say I liked the Knights and Swashbuckler components better. I already know about tombs and few of my adventures actually take place in these things. I can see, however, how a (relatively new) player might like this article.
"The Spoils of War" strikes me as a badly written article. It's not a bad topic, mind you, but the article doesn't really tell gamers how to make each method work in a practical sense. Most of the article after the methods of dividing spoils is worthless. It strives to be widely applicable by being generic, but by being generic, it becomes useless.
"With Friends Like These" is a nice article addressing issues that plague too many a group. I have handled issues of the same sort in the past, so I can't really make use of the article, but I found it entertaining anyway, and I know many peeps can use the help. The Antiheroes archetypes could have been better researched with more literary and motion pictures references; it's supposed to be a professionally written article after all. The best part of the article was the cool artwork, and that's really a reflection of how far off the quality of the writing is.
"Ecology of Grimlocks" is great. Things like this are useful for DM and player alike, and the Grimlock is a monster that's close to my heart. One small quibble I have is that Grimlocks who have Overbright allies typically know enough to quash light sources, and especially enough to use Darkness spells and effects, in any case. This should have been included in the Versus article. "Protect your vision" is a vital tactic against Grimlocks.
"Winning Races" has yet to impress me and this month's Diaboli is no exception. I tolerate it, but I don't look for it.
"Modern Magic" is old hat for those of us who play and have Urban Arcana but I can see where this might be a new concept for some people. Memory Crystal strikes me as an unusual item, though. Usually, a universal magic item with Silent Image suffices to replicate an image you hold in your mind. Why the need for this inferior tech-based version?
Mirrors of Communication are old hat even for those of us who don't have Urban Arcana. I mean, really. The rest of the items are cute, but I liked the Slate Folio and Figurine of Delivery best.
Silicon Sorcery is spot on this month. It's usually hit or miss with Silicon Sorcery. Blademaster and Mountain King were great, as was the Kabuki And Dragon Warrior, but Asheron's Call stuff struck me as ewww. Racial Feats I consider a great development in the mag because it disseminates the concept of hard-wired feat synergy, somewhat akin to Draconic Feats in Dragon. Good to see the community catching up with my ideas. ;)
"Frankenstein" was just great through and through. All the peeps with Craft Construct in my campaigns just loved it.
Under Command: scrap the feature already. Few people who play D&D are going to use miniatures the way they're priced now. If they're into miniatures, they're more likely to buy a dedicated miniatures mag, not Dragon.
Class Acts: The Canny Barbarian is OK for Barbarian players. not great, but not bad, either. Just OK.
Class Acts: Bards From History is great stuff. Very informative for some bard players.
Class Acts: Tokens of Faith is OK, but not that great. I'm particularly put off by the small incidental bonuses. As a rule I like to vary holy symbols in my campaigns for RP purposes, but this is just hokey. I could just as well introduce a hundred small modifications and improvements to Fighter weapons for Fighters. Ultimately, I don't want to have to keep track of these incidental things, and the possibility for stacking power makes it another problem I have to think about when I tweak the rules.
The focus on Clerics is also off-putting. A Knight Templar or similar high ranking ally could be a Paladin or even a Fighter or Rogue. These people can be just as pious as anyone else, but they don't get these bonuses? Why do people think that Clerics are the only people who have religion on the brain? Some of the most powerful warriors and heroes in history have a fair degree of spirituality to them.
The worst part is the meta-gamey feeling I get from reading the various forms of holy symbols and what bonuses they provide. A Cleric of Travel gets a bunch of feathers that incidentally grant a +1 sacred bonus to avoid getting lost? Say what? More appropriately, it could have been a small holy symbol for Travel that also was a navigating tool like a sexton, granting anyone who knew how to use it a +2 bonus to Survival checks to avoid getting lost.
Most of the holy symbols read like a fashion mag rather than actual sets of symbolic items. You do can do good work, Medesha, but this one I'd rather pass.
Class Acts: Animal Allies was very useful indeed. I could modify those stat blocks to model a lot more than just 3 animals. Yeah, baby.
Class Acts: The Multiclassed Fighter was absolutely worthless. I can tell these things to any player who asked me about multiclassing Fighters and I usually do so without prompting. These is just completely wasted space.
Class Acts: Ranged Monks is actually a disservice because the author does not take care to tell the reader that Ranged Monks are really quite a spell less effective than melee ones without pursuing options that he goes on not to spell out in his article. Furthermore, shuriken really evoke a different sense of monk than many people I know think about. I chalk it up to Occident/Asian differences, but it's still jarring.
Class Acts: Pigeonhold Paladins offers a great short article on a view I've always thought should be the default one. By what stretch of the imagination can anyone think that champions of Good don't exist in Asian campaigns? Is Asia so Evil, then, that champions of Good have no more chance there than in Dark Sun? What's so bad about a champion of Good in Dark Sun anyway? The only thing bad about this article is that it's so short. Rather than an article featuring Holy Warrior of various alignments (like Clerics aren't Holy Warriors), I believe that I would have appreciated a variant Paladin article a lot better. Champions of Good that don't wear heavy armor nor ride about on a horse.
Class Acts: Building a Better Ranger is a great one. It fails to mention the value of greater mobility to a character who doesn't like people to get too close, nor Spot so that you can maximize longer encounter distances, but I guess that's just because the space is so short.
Class Acts: Art of the Sneak Attack is great, but it fails to mention several things about maximizing SA opportunities in a team-based rogue. The most important thing a Rogue can acquire is some form of ranged weapon, either something he can specialize in, like a bow, or something he can hold in his off-hand like a dagger. This ranged weapon is custom-equipped so that the Rogue can take advantage of fleeting effects like Hold Person, Monk stun, Grappler Pin, or Cowering among other effects, without having to wade into possible melee where the condition has been applied. With Precise Shot, he can capitalize potentially anywhere on the battlefield.
Class Acts: Flaws for Sorcerers is OK. Magical Overload could have been worded or designed differently, but the concept is what's important, so no complaints there.
Class Acts: Survivalist Spells is a nice primer for Wizards. Again, it's not like I don't say these things for Wizard in my campaign, so ultimately, it's not really a useful article to have. You can actually print RPGA stuff on that page, and I wouldn't miss it.
Mr Mona, I really like Dragon and I used to like it better. Ramming Speed is one heck of an article and Campaign Components are great. I hope to see more articles that don't harp on the obvious and actually expand the game for players.
Most of the holy symbols read like a fashion mag rather than actual sets of symbolic items. You do can do good work, Medesha, but this one I'd rather pass.
Sorry it didn't appeal to you - it's still one of my favorites. :-) The 'fashion mag' element was surprisingly difficult and, I hope, will jump-start ideas for players who have always used wooden amulets on a string.
Am I the only one who cracked up on reading F. Wesley Schneider's Class Acts for Druids: A flying squirrel and a moose! What a hoot! Cheesy and clever all in one article.
I love the adventures of "Moose'n'Squirrel." Now that we've got stats for Rocky and Bullwinkle, can Mr. Schneider provide stats for Boris and Natasha? How about Dudley Do-Right's stats as a paladin?
Director of Games
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Am I the only one who cracked up on reading F. Wesley Schneider's Class Acts for Druids: A flying squirrel and a moose! What a hoot! Cheesy and clever all in one article.
I love the adventures of "Moose'n'Squirrel." Now that we've got stats for Rocky and Bullwinkle, can Mr. Schneider provide stats for Boris and Natasha? How about Dudley Do-Right's stats as a paladin?
Ohh.. don't say that... you will only encourage him. :-)
Ohh.. don't say that... you will only encourage him. :-)
Bullwinkle: Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.
Rocky: Again? But that trick never works.Bullwinkle: See, nothing up my sleeve. Presto!
Lion: Roar!
Bullwinkle: Ooops. I must have the wrong hat.
Rocky: And now, for something completely different.
Bullwinkle J. Moose's Conjuring hat
This top hat can summon one of the following creatures. Unlike other summon monster items, the possessor ofthe hat cannot direct the actions of the creature, and risks being eaten by them.
Roll d% for result
01-30 Bear
31-60 Lion
61-80 Fire breathing dragon
81-90 Tiger
91-99 Rhino
100 Flying Squirrel
Caster level 9th; Prerequisites Craft Wondrous Item; Summon nature's ally V; Market price 6,300 gp. Wt. Nil.
So it is, actually, impossible to pull a rabbit out of his hat? :-p
So it is, actually, impossible to pull a rabbit out of his hat? :-p
Of course. Consider it a cursed item. I'm sure Rocket J. Squirrel thinks it is.
It's the 21st over here and I still haven't got my copy. Luckily my friend, a fellor subscriber, got his in 2 weeks ago and let me look at it. I loved the article on Golems. I'm playing an Artificer Golem master in a current game, and the info was extremely useful. If more stuff like this could be made I'd be estatic. Props to Dragon for the new format. I love every issue and it's what made me become a subsciber. Hope to submit Articles someday.
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Ohh.. don't say that... you will only encourage him. :-)Bullwinkle: Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.
Rocky: Again? But that trick never works.
Bullwinkle: See, nothing up my sleeve. Presto!
Lion: Roar!
Bullwinkle: Ooops. I must have the wrong hat.
Rocky: And now, for something completely different.Bullwinkle J. Moose's Conjuring hat
This top hat can summon one of the following creatures. Unlike other summon monster items, the possessor ofthe hat cannot direct the actions of the creature, and risks being eaten by them.
Roll d% for result
01-30 Bear
31-60 Lion
61-80 Fire breathing dragon
81-90 Tiger
91-99 Rhino
100 Flying Squirrel
Caster level 9th; Prerequisites Craft Wondrous Item; Summon nature's ally V; Market price 6,300 gp. Wt. Nil.
Ooooh. I like!
So it is, actually, impossible to pull a rabbit out of his hat? :-p
Amber,
sorry if my first answer sounded abrupt. It didn't occur to me until later that not everyone is familiar with the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. My bad.
The cartoon ran on U.S. network TV for most of the 1960s, and lived on in syndication after that. Each show was a compilation of shorts, with Frostbite Falls' own Rocky and Bullwinkle involved in a cliffhanger serial, as they battled the Cold War bad guys Boris, Natasha and Fearless Leader. It was irreverent, filled with satire, clever lines, bad puns and adult references that went over the heads of the kids.
In later seasons, the serial segments were introduced by the Bullwinkle and Rocky "pull a rabbit out of my hat" bits, in which all sort of fearocious creatures were yanked out . In the last episode of the season, Bullwinkle even drew out Rocky!
Hope this better explains things.
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Am I the only one who cracked up on reading F. Wesley Schneider's Class Acts for Druids: A flying squirrel and a moose! What a hoot! Cheesy and clever all in one article.
I love the adventures of "Moose'n'Squirrel." Now that we've got stats for Rocky and Bullwinkle, can Mr. Schneider provide stats for Boris and Natasha? How about Dudley Do-Right's stats as a paladin?
We're glad you liked that one. When Wes showed it to Jason and I, we both laughed. As of right now, there are no plans to present stat blocks for other characters, but one never knows what Wes will come up with next...
:)
Amber, sorry if my first answer sounded abrupt...Hope this better explains things.
Oh, I'm familiar with the show. I just found it really amusing that Bullwinkle never could pull a rabbit out of his hat using that item. So Rocky was being literal when he said the trick never works!
Still, I appreciate you taking the time to explain. It's the mark of a classy poster. :-)
but one never knows what Wes will come up with next...
I do! I do! Oh, wait, no I don't.
Ooooh. I like!
Thanks Saurstalk.
On the table for the hat, what exact variety of "fire-breathing dragon" is to be used? I'd appreciate an exact age and type, I'm worried about it creating game balance issues.
LOVE THE HAT!!!
On the table for the hat, what exact variety of "fire-breathing dragon" is to be used? I'd appreciate an exact age and type, I'm worried about it creating game balance issues.
LOVE THE HAT!!!
Let's say Red Wyrmling (HD 7d12+14), Breath weapon 2d10 (DC 15). That's enough flame to char-broil a moose. But I'll take other suggestions :-)
Bullwinkle: "Whoa! I don't know my own strength!"
My newsstand normally gets these early, but it seems this one was on time. Ah well.
I wasn't too impressed with this issue. I think it's my least favorite since the relaunch. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of content here, to me. But on to specifics...
Cover: Not bad art, though I have the nagging feeling I've seen it before. The gemstone is very nice, but something about the rest of the picture seems off. Maybe it's just the fuzziness of the art. Also, the cover blurbs are back, clogging up the page again. (Yeah, I know the reasoning. But last issue was just so nice...)
Four features this month, supposedly.
Tomb Raider was pretty well-researched and generally pretty well-written, but it didn't cover anything I didn't already know. Bits of the historical detail were interesting reading, though, so I'll give it a qualified thumbs-up.
The Spoils of War looked like it could've been a useful general-advice article for newer players, but I thought it lost some of its coherence later on. I have other articles that've covered the subject better, so no loss to me; seems like a wasted opportunity, though.
The Silverfish: Haven't read it yet, won't comment on it per se. I don't know whether or not I ever will; I don't look to Dragon for fiction. I would've preferred to see a game-related feature here.
With Friends Like These was a solid article. Some minor shortcomings IMO, but nothing worth mentioning. I really enjoyed the artwork for this one, too; fantastic character designs, there.
The features start closer to the beginning of the issue now. That's a positive change. On to the recurring columns...
Ecology: Pretty cool. I think I'd have enjoyed it more if we hadn't just had duergar and chokers recently. A little Underdark goes a long way for me. Still, that's no fault of the article's.
Winning Races: Diaboli. I used to love the Known World setting, but I didn't remember these guys until I read the sidebar. They don't excite me. The article itself seems competent though.
Bazaar of the Bizarre: Yeah, "magical technology" is a common inside joke that dates way, way, way back. But there's a reason for that: it's fun. I really like the slate/PDA and figurine/parcel service. Also, seeing the title "Bazaar of the Bizarre" (instead of "Magic Shop") gives me the warm nostalgic fuzzies. Please keep it that way.
Silicon Sorcery: Racial feats. Er, okay. Would've been nice if they hadn't been *drow* racial feats, but all the same... seems like a decent adaptation. (I should note that I don't play Everquest, I suppose.) Since the "Heroic Feats" column appears to have gone missing this month, I suppose one group of feats isn't overkill. And the basic idea -- a hierarchy of feats indicating further development of innate powers -- is a solid one.
A Novel Approach: Terrific article in all regards, but my English degree compels me to say: ShellEy! Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
Under Command: Glanced at it, skipped it. I don't play the mini game. I'd be just as happy replacing this with more D&D content. I'd rather have had Heroic Feats and Spellcraft (not to mention Player Tricks, Adventurer Tips, and Coup de Grace) than this.
Sage Advice: I like that last question; I'd considered that possibility myself just recently.
Class Acts: As usual, spanned the gamut. This issue did seem a bit more solid overall than previous issues. I also like the organization in alphabetical order, rather than putting the four "main" classes first. This month, I like Barbarian, Bard, Cleric (though I don't like the bonuses), Druid (hilarious *and* useful), Ranger, Rogue, and Wizard. Sorcerer leaves me cold; I have no use for flaws. Paladin is intriguing, but lacks sufficient space to cover its topic. Monk I find questionable; I'm not sure a ranged monk is really feasible in many cases. Fighter seems very obvious, though I suppose it would help new players.
Overall, while there were a couple of things I really liked in this issue, there was more content than usual that I found empty of both practical in-game use and sheer entertainment value. In other circumstances, this would be an issue I'd skip buying. I think the deletion of so many regular columns in exchange for the fiction (which I generally don't read) had something to do with that. I also missed the 'saurian shifters' article, which I see is now scheduled for next issue.
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Having just finished the Issue minutes ago, I wanted to add my two cents. Overall, I was pleased with this issue. In my opinion, it seems that Paizo finally reached a balance with fluff and crunch. More so, the information on Tombs, Exalted/Antiheroes and character-driven components of Class Acts were well done and helpful. (Really liked the information on Canny Barbarians.) The Winning Race was good and I can't wait to roll one up. The Bizarre of the Bazaar had some useful items, though it seems that the parcel service should not just be directed to a recipient, but a location should also suffice. (This way, you could send stuff home while dungeon-tromping.) I do wish that the Tomb Raider article had been a bit more extensive, instead of just focusing on primarily two tombs. I.e., a wider study. And once again, I loved the class flaws in Class Acts and hope to see more. (Have you ever considered racial flaws?) Silicon Sorcery was pretty nice, too - even makes me want to hunt down the game to give it a spin! However, the dividing treasures articles was pretty much a waste ... but I'm not a novice gamer, so I imagine others might find it useful. Last, Silverfish was a good short story. Well written with a nice intro to some characters I hope to see more of in the future.
In the end, I've a few more issues before my subscription runs out. If you can maintain this balance with fluff and crunch, it'll go far toward convincing me to renew my subscription.
Under Command: scrap the feature already. Few people who play D&D are going to use miniatures the way they're priced now. If they're into miniatures, they're more likely to buy a dedicated miniatures mag, not Dragon.
Is that really what you meant to say? Actually, most D&D players use minis and the pricing (and time-savings) of the pre-painted D&D minis is one of the strongest selling points.
Whether those people also play the D&D Minis game is perhaps more in doubt.
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I think I've already made it clear that I don't think Under Command belongs in Dragon. Admiting my bias, let me try to defend Roxlimn's point.
I like miniatures. I have miniatures. I have hundreds of them. Most of them need to be painted. Unfortunately, due to owning two cats that think painting is fascinating, I'm unlikely to catch up. I really only paint minis I know I'll use for recurring NPCs, or my own PCs.
Anyway, as a fan of minis, I don't like the little pre-painted rubberized minis available from Wizards. Besides poor quality, they're sold in random packs. That just isn't cool. Any potential savings is eliminated in the possibility of having too many repeats or failure to attain the specific mini you desire.
Now, the minis are suitable for use in the role-playing game, but the UnderCommand feature doesn't support that. It supports the use of these minis using Skirmish rules.
It might be because I'm 25, but I play D&D with many younger people. Still, I don't know anybody who plays a skirmish game with D&D minis. I've played Warhammer 40K, and I think tatical combat games can be fun, but I don't like the D&D version. And I don't know anyone else who does.
Now, this doesn't mean that nobody is playing it. I'm sure there are quite a few people. Just far fewer than play D&D (the role-playing game). 2 pages in a magazine isn't going to get them to subscribe. I highly doubt a significant fraction of the readership plays D&D minis and plays D&D. That is a lot of time to put into two very different games. Rather than provide a tidbit for that infintesmal cross-section of the Role-Playing community, let the feature go and put in a feature that supports Role-Playing. Heck, those two pages could be used for Wil Save and Aseo would be happier (as would I).
I have to say that I really like the guy who does the art for the ecology of... I wish he'd draw every single ecology of from here on out.
I also gotta say that Winning Races Diaboli is the best ya'll put out yet. The art was good and the concept too. Can't wait to use them.
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Contributor
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I have to say that I really like the guy who does the art for the ecology of... I wish he'd draw every single ecology of from here on out.
Yeah, Peter Bergting is awesome! I think the current plan is to have him continue as the Ecology artist for as long as he's willing to do it. I could be wrong, but that's certainly my hope! :D
I also gotta say that Winning Races Diaboli is the best ya'll put out yet. The art was good and the concept too. Can't wait to use them.
Thanks! It was a lot of fun to write. I was glad Erik allowed me to reference the Far Realm in anticipation of our big Far Realm article in #330. :)
Once you use the diabli let me know how they worked out for you. :)
I also gotta say that Winning Races Diaboli is the best ya'll put out yet. The art was good and the concept too. Can't wait to use them.Thanks! It was a lot of fun to write. I was glad Erik allowed me to reference the Far Realm in anticipation of our big Far Realm article in #330. :)
Once you use the diabli let me know how they worked out for you. :)
*Nods head in the affirmative* That has definitely been the highlight for me concerning the Winning Races article. *Drools over coolness of Diabloli*