Dungeon 126 - Well Done!

[GVDammerung]

Dungeon 126 is an excellent issue.

Sean K. Reynolds is better at higher levels where he can get more inventive but the Blackwall Keep adventure is solid. The tactical map was unnecessary, even wasteful as it was rather pedestrian in its details, but it confers bragging rights; more of this later.

Wolf Baur’s Clockwork Fortress is the star of the issue. Solid design but with the inventiveness and energy that are Baur’s signature. It is great to see Baur more regularly in print these days. He is easily among any list of Top 10 designers.

Eric Boyd is a fine designer, of which there is no greater evidence than his ability to pull from the too often soggy Forgotten Realms something other than bathos. Vampires of Waterdeep is particularly adept as it has its Realms chops but is almost equally useful outside the Realms. While it is a cliche excuse that insults the intelligence of the reader only slightly more than the speaker/writer to say that “you can adapt X in Dungeon/Dragon to any setting,” Boyd actually pulls it off and his work could be the benchmark for claims of nigh universal adaptability. Blood of Malar is an outstanding adventure. I look forward to the next installments.

The Menageries is so-so but as the only adventure entry in Dungeon from a non “pro,” it is not bad.

Very nicely done is the synergy between Blackwall Keep, Swamp Dangers and the forthcoming Lizardmen ecology. This is a great template for how to have articles work together in other than “theme issues.”

And closing out Dungeon 126 is the return of a Critical Threat! With Maps of Mystery to return next month! Finally! Sanity has come back to the Dungeon! Applause! Applause!

More than the sum of its parts, Dungeon 126 is a great exercise in C Y-ing your “A.” Here comes Gencon and Mona and company must face the readership. So -

(1) For Forgotten Realms fans who may be disgruntled, we have the 3 parter from Eric Boyd beginning this issue, with Greenwood’s paunchy Big City article in Dragon. That should keep the FR fans quiet and duly servile;

(2) For Greyhawkers, as the Age of Worms is more Adventure Path than Greyhawk, there is the Clockwork Fortress, which has the added benefit of being capable of engendering a fair amount of discussion among the Grey cognoscenti;

(3) For Eberron fans, there is nothing, which is something more than it seems. While the staff can backpeddle and note previous Eberron content, they are still likely to hear Eberron fans voice some complaint, which is the point. Any complaints can then be the impetus for more Eberron content, going forward, and such “in person” complaints will bullet proof Dungeon, to a degree, from any countercharge from anti-Eberroners when Eberron content in the Dungeon increases.

(4) There is even an “insert” for added “value,” the Age of Worms tactical map.

Tactically, Dungeon 126 is a masterpiece of CYA right before Gencon. Bravo!

[Hal Maclean]

GVDammerung wrote:

!

More than the sum of its parts, Dungeon 126 is a great exercise in C Y-ing your “A.” Here comes Gencon and Mona and company must face the readership. So -

Talk about damning with faint praise :)

I haven't seen the issue yet myself (thank you post office) but I'm glad about the return of "Critical Threats" too. Personally, my favorite part of the magazine are the Campaign Workbooks at the back. I'd be happy if all four/five were included in each issue, but even one or two is better then nothing.

[Great Green God]

GVDammerung wrote:

The Menageries is so-so but as the only adventure entry in Dungeon from a non “pro,” it is not bad.

Personally, I thought it was brilliant.

;)
GGG

[tony wikeruk]

I hate to say it as i was one of the "overloaders", but will the PDF be out soon i hope?

[Amaril]

tony wikeruk wrote:

I hate to say it as i was one of the "overloaders", but will the PDF be out soon i hope?

Do you mean the Age of Worms Overload PDF?

http://paizo.com/dungeon/resources

[Michael Griffith]

I enjoyed the first of the Vampires of Waterdeep entries, but the ART for the NPCs was...off.

I don't want to be accused of making a personal attack on the artists and I know style is a subjective thing, but really, two of the NPCs just looked really off.

I thought Hala was some sort of weird zombie from the drawing. She looks totally unreal, and I think the artist went overe-the-top in their interpretation of Eric Boyd's description of Hala.

And Orlpar reminds me of a high schooler's art show drawing of the Joker from Batman comics.

Other than that, this was a really fine issue.

(I agree with the first poster in this thread that the map insert could have used something more, but I think it offers some good use for most DMs.)

[Krypter]

Yes, this was a fine issue, and I especially want to commend Wolfgang Baur on his great retro-adventure, The Clockwork Fortress. With the subtle mention of the modrons and other Planescape elements, this adventure manages to pack not one but TWO obscure - but well-loved - campaign worlds into one clever little package. Inventive but not too over-the-top, this adventure is superb.

I also thought The Menagerie was a different type of adventure, one that rewards capture over slaughter, and with good reason.

[Mr IndustrialPants]

This issue was very well done. The return of Critical Threats was nice (and just FYI to everyone here...Critical Threats did make some apperances during the Wil Save run...just sayin), and imho Critical Threats should be in every issue.

As a note to further issues with maps:
I LOVE maps with adventures. They're a very nice surprise...but why not print something on the other side too? Sure it's white and could be used to show the adventurers what the area looks like snow-covered, but I doubt that's the purpose of this apparently blank side.

My suggestion:
Put a battle map of the final battle for the adventure the map is for so we can use it in our games.

For those paying attention The Clockwork Fortress is a sequel to "Raides of the Black Ice".

Keep the Greyhawk adventures coming!!! WOOHOO!!!

[Dryder]

Great Green God wrote:

GVDammerung wrote:

The Menageries is so-so but as the only adventure entry in Dungeon from a non “pro,” it is not bad.

Personally, I thought it was brilliant.

;)
GGG

What a surprise! ;)

"Not so bad", "brilliant"... For me and my players it was FUN! And that's what count's!!!
I just added a bit more to the chaos in the Menagerie with putting a BARREL OF MONKEYS into it (from 2E "Book of Marvelous Magic". This was sooo cool!
And btw, the map is cool.

Uhh and YES - #126 is another great issue! Wonder if the curve will go down again, with the quality paizo presently puts out, it gets harder and harder to stay on top - but somehow those guys manage this feat! Great job!

[Krypter]

All the Dungeon editors have to do to keep their magazine at the top is to add a little Planescape to all their adventures. ;)

There's a setting that doesn't get enough love.

[Hunter]

Great Green God wrote:

GVDammerung wrote:

The Menageries is so-so but as the only adventure entry in Dungeon from a non “pro,” it is not bad.

Personally, I thought it was brilliant.

;)
GGG

I must say, if I ever get an adventure published in Dungeon, I DEFINITELY want Tony Mosely to illustrate it :)

Hunter

[Gavgoyle]

Hunter wrote:

I must say, if I ever get an adventure published in Dungeon, I DEFINITELY want Tony Mosely to illustrate it :)

Hunter

My 3 year-old daughter was looking at my issue and started laughing uproariously. When I asked her what she was laughing at, she pointed to Tony's Rust Monster and said "He's eating forks! That's SOOO silly!"

I agree, silly and great.

[Great Green God]

Gavgoyle wrote:

Hunter wrote:

I must say, if I ever get an adventure published in Dungeon, I DEFINITELY want Tony Mosely to illustrate it :)

Hunter

My 3 year-old daughter was looking at my issue and started laughing uproariously. When I asked her what she was laughing at, she pointed to Tony's Rust Monster and said "He's eating forks! That's SOOO silly!"

I agree, silly and great.

Yeah, I almost died laughing when I saw the title shot with the large shocker lizard wrestling the chair.

Silly is as silly does. Thanks for the silly, Tom!

GGG

[Ed Healy]

Hunter wrote:

My 3 year-old daughter was looking at my issue and started laughing uproariously. When I asked her what she was laughing at, she pointed to Tony's Rust Monster and said "He's eating forks! That's SOOO silly!"

My 2 year-old just likes eating my magazines, so I have to keep them under a proverbial lock and key. DUNGEON 113 got a nice bite out of it just this week :(

[Hal Maclean]

Hal Maclean wrote:

I haven't seen the issue yet myself (thank you post office)

Well, my issue finally arrived last week but I didn't have a chance to read it until last night. Another excellent issue! Mind you, not perfectly suited for my needs -however I'm just one voice in the choir :)- but more enough to keep me coming back for seconds and thirds.

I only skimmed the two adventures that are tied to on going sagas ("Blackwall Keep" and "Blood of Malar") but from what I could see they they appear fairly simple to run as stand alones. Once I have all the parts I plan to give them a more detailed read.

(and likely plunder the best ideas for my own campaign... :) )

"Clockwork Fortress" on the other hand was a real gem that completely drew me in. Not only an engaging plot and exciting encounters but also with a gorgeous back story. I may have to reread "Old King Bog" soon just to see if it's been knocked out of first place for the last year or so :)

"Menagerie" gave me a new respect for a much neglected monster. I only used the ravid myself once, and didn't think much of it, but this opened my eyes to a world of other possibilities. With me the real proof of the depth of an article or an adventure is the "that could stand on it's own" moment. When you see something, just casually tossed in that could easily develop into an article itself. In this case it was the little sidebar on different kinds of animated objects. I could easily see that as a "Campaign Workbook" all its own, listing a bunch of unusual objects, by size and outlining their special combat effects.

(e.g. "Stapler (tiny object)whenever it deals maximum damage the target must make a DC 11 Fort save or become pinned in place, unable to leave his square until he either makes a Fort save in subsequent rounds or yanks himself free dealing 1d4 damage to himself in the process." That's not the best write up but imagine a few dozen common or not so common objects with similar ideas attached to them)

Once again, in "Dungeon Craft" Monte Cook took something I already used and showed me ways to make it even better.

Now at last we move into my favorite part of the magazine, the reason I resubscribed after a decade or more of absence.

"Merchant Madness",the first of the CWs, nicely blended presenting adventure ideas with some useful NPC patrons/foils in a format that is very, very, unforgiving to the long winded (take it from someone who knows :) ). That's a tough tightrope to walk without falling off on one side or the other. It gave just enough to spark the imagination.

"Swamp Dangers" managed not only to present some useful hazards (Choking Cinder Fungus :) ) but also nicely captured the atmosphere of the swamps too. Pestilent, vermin plagued and down right unpleasant.

And finally we have the return of "Critical Threats"!

(I guess I can stop holding my breath now... Good thing, was starting to get a bit woozy :) ) A brand spanking new NPC, with lots of interesting bits of history to develop and nibble on. The crunchy elements were a nice touch too.

That mental image of a tatooed and pierced former dancing girl ripping her way through a group of PCs in some kind of savage frenzy is absolutely priceless.