Dragon 354
Ship Date to Subscribers: 03/06
Date Received: 02/22
Shipping Time: 16 days
Average Shipping Time (Jan-Dec '07): 12.33 days
So far since I started reviewing this magazine, this issue has taken the longest time to get to my house. If I didn’t get it by Saturday, I would have e-mailed customer service about it. Last year I had an issue take almost a month to get to me. I corresponded with the powers-that-be and they said they would put an issue in the mail for me. It was either the next day or the day after that I ended up getting my late issue. I e-mailed CS back to apologize for not having enough patience and thanked them for their willingness to serve.
Anyway, onto issue 354. When I read in last month’s preview for this issue about the modrons, I was uncertain how I would receive a featured article about them. Back in first edition, I thought they were really silly. Probably somebody at TSR lost a bet or something like that. When Planescape came around in 2nd edition and their culture was fleshed out for the plane of Mechanus, I thought it was done very well, but I still thought they were weird. I never used them or Mechanus in my campaigns. Now they are back for 3rd edition.
Last month I commented that they should have been included in issue 353 since it was predominantly about the planes. Then I saw the cover on Paizo’s website. It instantly clicked. The April issue.
Cover
What can I say about it? A lone modron sitting down with a white background. It screams to me “April Fools.” The art looks an awful lot like Planescape’s own Tony Diterlizzi’s stuff, but it is Andrew Hou. I only know the main artists, so I don’t know if I’ve seen Hou’s stuff before. But doing these reviews are helping learn to differentiate between artists. Authors, too. Not much else is listed on the cover. Just Heironeous (I really like the Core Belief articles), Ancient PCs (I’m hoping this will give me some ideas to make my non-playable elven race more exciting), and articles on FR and EB. The spine lists Cormanthyr (the FR article) and the Ecology of the Kopru.
Shorts and Staples
After reading Erik Mona’s editorial on the modrons confirmed that I should make light of this issue. His take on laughter being a central part of roleplaying made me think back to my teenage years, especially when one of the PCs got dissed by a barmaid for old man…and the noises they made in the next room. Well, I don’t have stuff like that in my campaigns anymore, but that doesn’t mean there are outrageous moments. I think it was in “The Sunless Citadel” (I was a PC so I don’t really know) where my wizard found a fountain with a firebreathing potion effect to it. As it turned out, I drank straight from the fountain and started belching, at random, flame. A few minutes later I ended up blowing myself and the kobold I was chasing up. I made a ranger after that and I came up with things then that would probably be worthy of using Action Points now (like holding a door closed while the rest of the party gets ready to battle the hobgoblins trying to bust through said door, and throwing our only torch at the mad druid, catching him on fire and causing him to run away, fun times).
Scale Mail had three letters about issue 352, my first review, and all three had a different take on it. In the First Watch section we have previews of Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (I think this would have been better as a FR product, what with the War of the Spider Queen and all), City of Peril (I like the maps because I’ve been playing D&D Miniatures lately), Dragon Presents: Monster Ecologies (its just reprinting the ecologies from recent years, which I have, so there is no need for this product on my shelf), Game Mastery: Critical Hit Deck (these are interesting products, but I buy a very small amount of stuff each year that these will never be on my priority list), Dwarven Forge’s Den of Evil terrain set (I suppose if you set it up right, you could use it with D&D Miniatures, definitely making it look more real), SOTA Toys’ H.P. Lovecraft figures (I’ve mentioned before that I have no use for busts and the like), Zorcerer of Zo (an RPG that is inspired by Oz, Neverland, and Narnia), edible dice (need I say more?), a blurb about Gen Con Indy (in 20+ years of gaming, I’ve never been to a gaming convention), Castle Shadowcrag (an adventure that you can put your two cents in on their web site before it is even produced), Fin Fang Foom HeroClix figure (I am really into superhero stuff, but I have never gotten into this miniature game), War of the Burning Sky (I’ve actually downloaded the free guides for this 12 part adventure path from enworld.org just to check it out, but I haven’t read it yet), a blurb about a new movie coming out in 2008 called ‘The Dead Matter,’ and a one page article on the new Shadowrun video game for the Xbox 360 (it looks like KOTOR which I was really excited to play…then I played it for an hour and was really bored).
I have mixed feelings for next month’s Dragon issue, number 355. Creature Catalog VI has new and old monsters. They list a few (which sound like the old ones) are: the cannon golem (the picture they have looks like it should have been in this issue), the obilviax (wasn’t this a many legged FR creature?), the rot giant, and the scarecrow (from Ravenloft?). Hal Maclean writes ‘Seven Saintly Domains’ which are charity, chastity, generosity, humility, patience, temperance, and zeal. I haven’t checked, but I am assuming that Maclean also wrote the ‘Seven Deadly Domains’ article a year or so ago. I’ll have to check. I’m happy to get some good guy stuff. There is an article about music in D&D. This won’t interest me. I feel that music is distracting during gaming sessions. And listed for the ecology article is the devourer.
Sage Advice focuses on the Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords this month. I have only read what has appeared on the WotC website so a lot of this stuff is over my head. It looks cool though.
The Meat
Core Beliefs: Heironeous (written by Sean K. Reynolds, illustrated by Andrew Hou, cartography by Robert Lazzaretti)
I really enjoy these articles. They definitely make me want to game in Greyhawk. I like that I don’t have to go out and buy a bunch of new campaign books if I ever decide to use the oldest D&D campaign world (although getting the Greyhawk Gazetteer would probably help). I love the history given for the deities (I don’t know how much has appeared in game products, so they are all new to me) as well as what the typical cleric is like and what they are supposed to do for the faith. There are a few new spells as well as a few additions to the summon monster spells.
Return of the Modrons (written by Ken Marable, illustrated by Julie Dillon, special thankts to Tony DiTerlizzi)
Even though I have never used the modrons and that I probably might never use them, I really enjoyed this article. Marable went through their recent history and even mentioned the vestiges of Primus and Tenebrous, which appeared in Dragon #341). For player’s use is an exiled modron playable race. One thing about this I don’t like. It uses the construct (living) type. I think this should stay in Eberron. But at the same time I cannot think of any other way to make these free-thinking constructs unless you just turn them into outsiders with different abilities. Several modron types are stated out: the monodrone (with a messenger variant), duodrone, tridrone, quadrone (with winged variant), and pentadrone. There are even rules to add modrons to summoning lists and adding monodrones to the list of familiars you can get with the Improved Familiar feat.
Ancient PCs (written by Hal Maclean, illustrated by John Gravato)
I was hopping there would be something in this article for my hate-all-things-nonelven elves. My elves are few in number, but very powerful. They are not a PC race. So far I have enabled them to be the only race that can gestalt classes, but I wanted something more, or at least another option, to make them stand out. The one thing that I can see using for my elves is the new endless extraordinary ability. It gets rid of all bonuses and penalties of aging and it allows the creature to live forever (unless it makes the mistake of catching some bands of adventurers attention, this ability only makes it immune to aging). It seems the author is assuming that you are already going to play an ancient character at 1st level. His rules for player characters include a new feat, available for 1st level characters only, that enables you to pick one of a list of backgrounds that have differing abilities. Then there is one new feat for each of the backgrounds giving you additional benefits related to your chosen background. Maybe its just me, but I find it hard to believe that if you’ve been living for a few thousand years already, you’re going to be higher than 1st level. Maclean does give a few suggestions as to why you might be this old at 1st level, but I prefer think that age equals experience.
Regulars
The Ecology of the Kopru (written by Tito Leati, illustrated by Peter Bergting)
I’ve never used the kopru, but after reading this I think I will start. I thought their history was really cool (a very powerful and widespread race that declined because their food source also declined). There is also a variant that used to be this race’s noble class. Their young were purposely deformed in order to become stronger and smarter. Even if I don’t use the kopru (I am not really big into sea-based adventures), it has given me some ideas.
Savage Tidings: Heart of Darkness (written by Greg Vaughan, illustrated by Ben Wootten)
I’ve seen on the message boards that some people have been waiting for a prestige class to go allow with the theme for Savage Tide adventure path. Here it is, the Totemic Demonslayer. It has two main abilities: favored enemy (outsider) and totem tattoo magic. I think Vaughan did a great job meshing these two abilities into a 10-level progression prestige class (along with a few other abilities including some divine spellcasting). Included is a list of tattoos that the character can get, all with vastly different abilities.
Volo’s Guide: Cormanthor (War Amidst the Trees) (written by Eric L. Boyd, illustrated by James Zhang, cartography by Rob Lazzaretti)
This is a timeline of events that have taken place in Cormanthor since Eleasis 28, 1372. There is a spoiler warning for those that read the novels and purchase the adventures. Which is great for me. Now I don’t have to read the novels. I’m kidding. I get so little time to do personal reading that I am still on the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy (it took me a week to read this magazine and write this review). Even though I don’t game in FR anymore I still enjoy reading the novels, but for now Eberron comes first (I’m struggling through Tales of the Last War right now).
Dragonmarks: Boromar Clan (by Nicolas Logue, illustrated by Jon Hodgson)
This organization hasn’t gotten much attention in Eberron. A thieves guild consisting mostly of Halflings makes since right? So why does it seem so strange to me when the majority of halflings are nomadic dinosaur riders and there is a whole nation of gnomes that deal in secrets better than anyone else? So a standard D&D group of thieving halflings doesn’t seem to fit for me. Anyway, the Boromar Clan is given the new organization format treatment.
Class Acts (illustrated by James Zhang)
Adventurer: Elements of Surprise (written by Jasin Zujovi)
This article gives someone who wants to play a ninja some different options. The three new variant class features coincide with the elements (the standard ninja is seen as already having the air element). For fire we have the Blinding Flash option, water the Deceptive Mist option, and earth the One with the Earth option. I think they are all pretty cool.
Arcane: Power Word, Spell (written by Eric Jansing)
This is just a list of all spells do not require somatic components. I’ve said what I think about these types of articles before.
Divine: Aztec Mythos II (written by David Schwartz)
The next installment of deities has Chalchihuitlicue and Tlaloc. Two more cool histories and deities. I like that these two and the two previous were all seen as the Sun, just during different time periods.
Warrior: Barbarian Guide (written by Amber E. Scott)
This article gives some tables that are useful to barbarians and breaks down their abilities. I like that Scott has listed feats and prestige classes that take advantage of the barbarian’s abilities.
What's with people thinking Modrons are weird looking? They're EXTRAPLANAR CREATURES! They're supposed to be beyond the comprenhension of mortals.
And yet...no one seems to think rainbow-colored frogs, that humurously remind me of Skittles with teeth and claws, as representatives of Chaotic Outsiders are silly? : | (I still like them, btw, and use them now and then)
I'm lost for words.
They list a few (which sound like the old ones) are: the cannon golem (the picture they have looks like it should have been in this issue), the obilviax (wasn’t this a many legged FR creature?), the rot giant, and the scarecrow (from Ravenloft?).
obliviax - nope, nope, and nope. ;) look that one up in your 1E Monster Manual II, or the good ol' 2E Monstrous Manual under "Plant, Intelligent".
scarecrow - well, there was a Ravenloft scarecrow, and a more "general" one in the Monstrous Manual under "Golem".
And yet...no one seems to think rainbow-colored frogs, that humurously remind me of Skittles with teeth and claws, as representatives of Chaotic Outsiders are silly?How much XP do you get for tasting the rainbow?
You've just taken toad-licking to a whole other level.
The Ancient PC's article was excellent; I would have actually liked to see more on that topic. The overall magazine wasn't bad at all, even if I'm not a big fan of modrons and Savage Tide has nothing on Age of Worms. The best Dragon to come out in ages is still 341 (http://paizo.com/dragon/products/issues/2006/341).
And yet...no one seems to think rainbow-colored frogs, that humurously remind me of Skittles with teeth and claws, as representatives of Chaotic Outsiders are silly?How much XP do you get for tasting the rainbow?
Depends on your favorite flavor. The more tastier, the more XP. :D
They list a few (which sound like the old ones) are: the cannon golem (the picture they have looks like it should have been in this issue), the obilviax (wasn’t this a many legged FR creature?), the rot giant, and the scarecrow (from Ravenloft?).obliviax - nope, nope, and nope. ;) look that one up in your 1E Monster Manual II, or the good ol' 2E Monstrous Manual under "Plant, Intelligent".
scarecrow - well, there was a Ravenloft scarecrow, and a more "general" one in the Monstrous Manual under "Golem".
Strange. The quote says "Razz wrote" but I didn't write that LOL
weird! should say "Abinadi"
They list a few (which sound like the old ones) are: the cannon golem (the picture they have looks like it should have been in this issue), the obilviax (wasn’t this a many legged FR creature?), the rot giant, and the scarecrow (from Ravenloft?).
obliviax is also called "memory moss" IIRC, the Rot Giant is a new creature.
mmmm.... chocolate slaad...
chocolate salad? i don't know, it's hard to imagine putting bosco on lettuce.
Dragonmarks: Boromar Clan (by Nicolas Logue, illustrated by Jon Hodgson)
This organization hasn’t gotten much attention in Eberron. A thieves guild consisting mostly of Halflings makes since right? So why does it seem so strange to me when the majority of halflings are nomadic dinosaur riders and there is a whole nation of gnomes that deal in secrets better than anyone else? So a standard D&D group of thieving halflings doesn’t seem to fit for me. Anyway, the Boromar Clan is given the new organization format treatment.
Actually, I'm not sure that "most" halflings are nomadic dinosaur riders. The halflings from the Talenta Plains are certain nomadic and many ride dinosaurs. However, I think most halflings that have left the plains are now "civilized" halflings. It's stated that House Jorasco is largely made up of these halflings.
So, the civilized halflings might actually be a larger number of halflings than are still in the plains. Of these, I think those part of the Boromor clan are actually a pretty small percentage. They are just very notorious.
I'm pretty sure the boromars are a clan from talenta, which spawned the boromar clan in Sharn. There are a number of members of the clan mentioned in Sharn that are relatives fresh from the tribes of Talenta. But while Talenta has the highest concentration of halflings, it is true that it only makes up a small portion of halflings overall in khorvaire.
As I said in the Sucrose thread ... thanks for the nice review. :)
Wow! Another staggeringly thorough review. I admit I've come to look forward to your comments on the most recent issues. It's interesting to get some perspective on this stuff from somebody who's obviously been at this longer than me (or at least paying more attention). By all means, keep it up.
Thanks for the kind words. I try to be objective about the content, but I am also biased on several things, so I add my opinion, too. If you ever feel like you don't agree with anything I write, that will be okay, too. Check ya later.
I dunno...
This issue (and moreso last issue) contained so little that would be of use to me that I skipped them.
While the Core Belief article would be a fun read, and the smaller bits (Scale Mail, three of the Class Acts articles) would make for good light reading to me, there simply was not enough in this issue (and especially last issue) for me to buy them.
Not every issue can appeal to all gamers, I know.
I'm really hoping next issue will be the one to get me back into Dragon.
(Creature Catalog!!! YAY!!!!)
the cover is up now. ;)
I broke down and bought this issue, and I am now golad I did. I can get a lot of use from the Core Beliefs article and enjoyed the Class Acts articles more than I thought I would.
And I am glossing through the Modron article and actually seeing where I could use these strange critters in my games.
So while this is in no way a great issue to me, it IS worth buying.
Now to track down issue 353 to make my collection complete.