Cue up the music from the Sound of Music. Issue 331 had bunches and bunches of "My Favorite Things."
From cover to cover, here are just a few:
Lucene hammer ... it's a smash
Garlic Draught ... mmmmm, tasty
Dune Yacht ... just call me the Caliph from now on.
Singing Ioun Stone ... never could hold a tune, anyhow
Microlithe longspear ... ouch! pointy thingee.
Evil token of faith ... Don't look under the hood, man!
Mountain Druid with a warhammer ... be nice to the Mountain Druid
Paladin's Cartuary ... something to remember me by
Necklace of Fireballs ... Ka-Boom
and of course,
A Wizard's Pointy Hat.
I love new equipment.
:-)
I liked seeing stats for atlatls (because, let's face it, atlatls are cool) and the "Familiarity Breeds" article because I should have thought of that, dammit.
-Amber S.
Two in a row!!! My Dragon arrived on time, without my having to call Dave in Customer Service! Keep up the good work. Also, I absolutely loved this issue. Rules for atlatls! YES!
This is the sorta of issue I could eat with a spoon, then lick the bowl for good measure. Way to go!
Glad you like the Atlatls.
Maybe you atlatl fans can settle a dispute I'm having with my group's GM. He says it's pronounced atl-atl, while I've been saying at-latl. I have no basis for my position on pronounciation, except to tweak him.
Mike did trim the section on the atlatl muffler, an ingenious stone device our primitive ancestors used to muffle the dart's trademark whizzing sound. Maybe we'll save the stealth atlatl for another time.
Dictionary.com backs you up, Troy.
ät-lät'l
Contributor
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Mike did trim the section on the atlatl muffler, an ingenious stone device our primitive ancestors used to muffle the dart's trademark whizzing sound. Maybe we'll save the stealth atlatl for another time.
Alas, it fell to the Kutforrspase monster. Even epic-level editors must bow to the wishes of that beast! ;)
Dictionary.com backs you up, Troy.
ät-lät'l
Wooohooo! (Does a little happy dance).
I can't lord it over the DM, though. Gotta keep him happy so he'll keep giving me extra XP for good roleplaying. :-)
Thanks, Amber.
I keep thinking I know a poem with atlatl in it, but for the life of me I can't remember it. I keep coming back to Ogden Nash, but that's not the one. That's about lamas.
"The one-l lama,
He's a priest;
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama."
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…
I know this is a bit of following along with threadomancy, but, as I subscribe from overseas (Japan), my issue just came in the mail last week or so. I'm always a bit behind the times. *sigh*
One question about the weapons in the Barbarian section though. The stone mace (I don't have the mag in front of me and I forget the name), weighs in at 10 pounds and does d8 damage with a crit range of 19-20. Umm, why would a stone weapon be more effective than the steel one? I liked the article and I thought the inclusion of stone age weapons was a great idea for barbarians, but, the damages for these weapons is pretty high.
I mean, why would I bother using steel weapons if my paleolithic stone versions are better? IMHO, pretty much all the weapons should be dropped down one damage die to reflect the fact that they are stone and not steel. Stone just isn't as effective as steel, no matter how well made.
The stone mace (I don't have the mag in front of me and I forget the name), weighs in at 10 pounds and does d8 damage with a crit range of 19-20. Umm, why would a stone weapon be more effective than the steel one? ... Stone just isn't as effective as steel, no matter how well made.
Good questions. I'll try my best to answer them to your satisfaction. And by the way, thanks for reading.
1) All the stone weapons listed are classified as exotic weapons. An exotic weapon is one that requires special training to use it effectively. Generally speaking, exotic weapons have superior damage scores and/or crit ranges than their martial counterparts, but only because you are trained to use the weapon in a lethal manner. That means that if anyone other than the barbarian who gives up proficiency in metal weapons or a character with the exotic weapons proficiency feat tries to use them, they take a minus 4 penalty. This is one way the rules simulate the superiority of the metal weapons -- except those in the hands of barbarians who are especially trained to use these ancient stone tools.
2) Steel is better than stone. Well, the core rules makes this assertion in several places, true enough. The DMG recommends applying a minus 2 penalty to attack and damage rolls to all stone or bone tools to reflect the difference. Your DM is free to impose this penalty on the stone weapons in the article, which meets the adjustment I think you are looking for.
3) Steel is better than stone. Not if you don't have access to steel, which is one perspective the article is coming from. Basically, it presents a player with a barbarian character some stone tools that better reflects the character concept of a stone-age warrior.
4) Steel is better than stone, no matter how well made. Actually, a good stone knapper can create an edge that is just as effective as a blade. Clovis points on atlatls could pierce the metal armor of the Spanish conquistadors (gunpowder, not blades, was the deciding factor in that conflict). Evidence suggests Clovis points have also pierced the hides of the great mammals to great effect. Microliths were used extensively throughout Asia to do the same thing In the real world, it doesn't matter so much whether your skull has been smashed in by a rock, a brick or a metal ball, they all do the job in one blow.
Weight and ease of handing are among the primary advantages of metal. A stone weapon with the reach of a longsword would be too heavy to wield.
I hope this helps. In the meantime, enjoy clobberin' your foes with your stone celt.
I like answer number 2 best. Heh. While it is true that clovis points might penetrate as well as steel, by and large, they are only going to do it once or twice. The major problem with stone weapons is that they break pretty quickly. Particularly if you're smacking them against something hard, like steel armor or that big nasty's hide. But, fair enough.
One other thing that I just noticed was in the Polearms section. The exotic polearm, Sharrash, Talenta. Huh? Is this a mistake? A reach weapon with a d10 damage, 19-20 crit for TIMES FOUR!! plus a tripping weapon to boot? You have got to be kidding right? I get a reach, keen scythe for the price of a feat? WAY overpowered for a weapon. Hrm, I want my spring attacking human fighter to be using this puppy. Stick a keen enchantment on it and I'm crit'ing 1 attack in 5 for quadruple damage. Large weapon so I get that double bonus for my power attack as well.
Please tell me someone made a serious mistake here.
Director of Games
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I like answer number 2 best. Heh. While it is true that clovis points might penetrate as well as steel, by and large, they are only going to do it once or twice. The major problem with stone weapons is that they break pretty quickly. Particularly if you're smacking them against something hard, like steel armor or that big nasty's hide. But, fair enough.
One other thing that I just noticed was in the Polearms section. The exotic polearm, Sharrash, Talenta. Huh? Is this a mistake? A reach weapon with a d10 damage, 19-20 crit for TIMES FOUR!! plus a tripping weapon to boot? You have got to be kidding right? I get a reach, keen scythe for the price of a feat? WAY overpowered for a weapon. Hrm, I want my spring attacking human fighter to be using this puppy. Stick a keen enchantment on it and I'm crit'ing 1 attack in 5 for quadruple damage. Large weapon so I get that double bonus for my power attack as well.
Please tell me someone made a serious mistake here.
Nope, the Talenta Sharrash if from the Eberron Campaign Setting, page 119. It barely met our guidelines for a polearm... and it is really god. Enjoy
Jason Bulmahn
Associate Editor of Dragon
Ah, I see. Really should check out Eberron sometime. At x2 it's not so bad. Fairly decent exotic weapon with reach. I could live with that.
Considering no weapon with a more than x2 crit ever has a larger threat range, one has to wonder what people were thinking when they made this weapon. Nice to know it got errata'ed.