Dragon 355
Ship Date to Subscribers: 04/03
Date Received: 04/11
Shipping Time: 8 days
Average Shipping Time (Jan-Dec ’07): 11.25 days
Wow, Dragon has gone bi-weekly! Just kidding, but it sure feels that way. I received issue 354 around 3 weeks ago, so I wasn’t expecting the next issue for a little while longer. Since I received this issue fairly early, I am going to try and get this review up quicker, also. So far it has been taking me a week (what with work, school, etc.) to post the reviews. Only time will tell.
I’d like to note that on this issue’s web page, the cover and the preview of contents was up in a timely manner. Kudos to whoever is getting their job done.
Cover
The cover is done by Howard Lyon. He has called it the trophy hunter. I am not sure what it has to do with the content of this issue. The closest thing I could find on just a flip-through is the Savage Tidings article which has things like poison and stuff. I guess I’ll find out when I read it. Other than that, it looked fine. The guy looked like a zombie on first glance, but on closer inspection, he’s just had a hard adventuring life.
Listed on the cover is “Seven Saintly Domains,” “Music in D&D,” “Ecology of the Devourer,” and “Creature Catalog: 12 Killer D&D Monsters (Dungeon Phantom, Giant Slug, Cave Fisher, Rot Giant, More.” On the spine is noted Creature Catalog VI, Seven Saintly Domains, iDragon, and Ecology of the Devourer.
Shorts and Staples
Editorial by F. Wesly Schneider
This is pretty much about the Monster Ecology supplement that has just come out or about to. Apparently there is some new stuff in the book, but so far nothing game related as far as I can tell. What has been added are some author thoughts on what their favorite monsters are. And not just any authors, but greats like R.A. Salvatore, Margaret Weis, and others. It’s still not enough for me to get, though. I’ll have to look at it and see. It’ll have to have things related to the game that was not included in the magazine.
Scale Mail
Only a few letters this month, but there is something special included. If you want to make an alu-fiend, James Jacobs through together some rules on how to do that.
First Watch
WotC books coming out: Complete Champion, Drow of the Underdark, and Star Wars Core Rulebook. I’m not interested in Star Wars (although I did play in one campaign and I was really impressed with my character, other than that ‘no thanks’). I am really interested in Drow of the Underdark. I love drow. Be a hater. I don’t care. The book even has stuff from Dragon issue 298 that was all about drow. Good job. Complete Champion sounds cool. They give all the core good deities the organization treatment from Player’s Handbook II.
Next month’s issue (number 356) looks great. Brand new dragons, Hextor’s core belief article, and the ecology of the linnorm (I remember them from way back when in Dragon magazine and they went with the Viking sourcebook I had). There is a story by Paul Kemp called ‘The Confession.” I have never read a short story in Dragon magazine, not because I don’t want to, but because it is not high on my list. I fully intend to go back through my mags and read every single one…someday. I just thought of something. I’m going to have to review it. Well, I guess here’s a toast to starting to read the short stories. Last is an article on the top 10 dragaons that have appeared in D&D. Could be interesting.
The True Dungeon previewed looks cool, especially the tokens you can get (you can buy them separately from the event). I hate to say that I have never been to a gaming convention. Several comic conventions when I was younger, but not strictly for D&D. I almost convinced my wife to go to one this summer, but our closest timeshare to the event was several hundred miles away. Let’s have something up in the northwest, okay?
I’ll just list the rest of the stuff, because none of it makes any different to me. Stonehenge board game, Torches & pitchforks card game, Gale Force Nine’s markers (these are the coolest of what is offered), Exalted” War of the Throne board game, Reaper miniatures, Dungeon magazine issue 146, Castles & Crusades RPG, a collection of Downer comics, Privateer Press miniatures, RPGA Report featuring Chris Tulach as the new Content Manager, Mass Effect video game, and Odin Sphere video game.
Scale Mail by Andy Collins (illustrated by Andrew Hou)
This month’s focus is on armor and shields and the like. AoO, Weapon Focus, and other options for shields. Sunder, size, DR, etc. for armor.
The Meat
iDragon by Jose Montero (illustrated by Andrew Hou, playlists by James Jacobs and F. Wesley Schneider)
I went into reading this article convinced that it was going to be a waste of my time. I don’t use music at all during my gaming sessions. Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of music, even scores to soundtracks. My favorite is the score for ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (which doesn’t appear on any of the mixes shown). But when it comes to gaming, background music, even quietly, tends to distract me. It doesn’t matter what I am doing, whether talking to someone or studying. It’s funny then that music is an integral part of my job (I’m a fitness instructor).
The article explains that with today’s technology, getting the music we want for our gaming sessions has become a lot easier. It’s even easier than that to compile our music any way that we want. That’s the bulk of it. Included are several listings for different scenarios (need a playlist for a major villain?) which look to include mostly music from movies. An added bonus is that you can get these exact playlists from iTunes in their iMixes section. That is probably the best thing about this article.
The mixes listed (with some sample songs): Heroes (Slaves to Rome from the movie Gladiator and Daniel’s Mastadge from the movie Stargate), The Dungeon (The Forest of the Dead/Graveyard from the movie Army of Darkness and Down the Pipe from the movie The Descent), Villians (Salazar’s Theme from the show 24 and General Bethlehem from the movie The Postman), and The Savage Tide (these were done in a specific order to go along with the adventure path). A few others were mentioned, but no lists were given. These are Battle, Horror, and Town.
Seven Saintly Domains by Hal Maclean (illustrated by Andrew Hou)
Hal Maclean wrote the article ‘Seven Deadly Domains’ back in issue 323. This article complements that one almost completely. The only thing this article didn’t have were new spells. Looking through the domain spell lists, I thought that there definitely should have been some new spells created. For instance, the spell prying eyes for the Generosity domain doesn’t seem to fit.
Other than not having new spells, I thought the domains were done fairly well. The domains are Charity, Chastity, Generosity, Humility, Patience, Temperance, and Zeal. There are some roleplaying suggestions for each domain and there is a sidebar that lists each domain and the possible religions from Eberron, Forgotten Realms, and Greyhawk to use.
Creature Catalog VI illustrated by John Gravato, Ramon Perez, and James Zhang
There are 12 new or updated monsters in this section, each one dome by a different other (mostly). I’ll at least list them separately with the author.
1. Black Beast of Bedlam by Thomas M. Costa
This CR 14 outsider can make targets that it has hit insubstancial, among many other abilities.
2. Cave Fisher by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 3 magical beast. This creature I remember from many years ago. Drizzt Do’Urden fought one in his youth. This is a cross between a lobster and a spider.
3. Dragonfly, Giant by Nick Herold
CR 2 vermin. Rules are included to use the giant dragonfly as a mount.
4. Dungeon Phantom by Jason Bulmahn
CR 6 undead. This is a pretty cool idea. It can create undetectable (at least by the normal person) traps out of thin air.
5. Giant, Rot by C. Wesly Clough
This CR 8 giant is gross, literally. A decay aura, disease-imbued attacks, and exploding pus defenses make this one of those creatures I wish to never encounter. Perfect menace.
6. Golem, Cannon by John Flemming
CR 14 construct. It looks silly, but I understand its usefulness during sieges. Nice self-destruct ability, too.
7. Maedar by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 4 monstrous humanoid. I believe these first appeared in a FR monstrous compendium. It’s about time this male version of the medusa appeared in 3rd edition.
8. Obliviax by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 1 plant. It sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. There is a nice side bar that gives rules for making the memory moss (the obliviax mossling’s “master”) as an environmental hazard.
9. Scarecrow by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 3 construct. I think everything having to do with horror came from Ravenloft, so that is where I think this came from, but I could easily be wrong. There are rules on making different types of scarecrows, like conscious, dread, and quested scarecrows.
10. Seedroach by Nick Herold
CR 1 plant and CR 7 plant (swarm). These roaches can be up to 4 pounds. I hate bugs. Especially ones that can turn you into a blood-filled tree.
11. Slug, Giant by Jason Bulmahn
CR 7 vermin. It spits acid. Death to all bugs!
12. Springheel by Nick Herold
CR 8 fey. An evil creature that presumably feeds on fear, so the more creatures it attacks, the more enjoyment it gets.
Regulars
The Ecology of the Devourer by Owen K.C. Stephens (illustrated by Peter Bergting)
I love the history of the devourer. They were originally githyanki that tried to slay the Lich-Queen, Vlaakith. I really like the githyanki, so anything that pertains to them is great. There are alternative historical ideas if you are not into the githyanki origin for your campaign, though.
Savage Tidings: The Market is Bad by James Jacobs and Richard Pett (illustrated by Ben Wootten)
This article gives additional information on the market of Scuttlecove. It goes into a summary of the factions that vie for control of Scuttlecove also. Described are a few of the merchants that work in the market along with a few of their wares. Ingram Cadgraydian is a wizard who deals in enchantments (a few new magic items are included), Riordan Darkly is a poison expert (some new poisons here), Morann is a golem maker, and Thevanan Quain makes perfumes and such (included is osssra is an inhaled substance that first appeared in the FR accessory Serpent Kingdoms).
Volo’s Guide: Demon Cults of the Realms by Eric L. Boyd (illustrated by Andrew Hou)
This is a great tie-in for the Demonomicon articles. It gives information on the cults of Baphomet, Dagon, and Graz’zt (who hasn’t received any love from Dragon magazine yet). Also included is information about Eltab (from Champions of Ruin), who looks like a very nasty fiendish minotaur (I like minotaurs).
Dragonmarks: Way of the Shackled Beast by Nicolas Logue (illustrated by Tyler Walpole)
Four pages for Eberron while only three for Forgotten Realms, score for us. Anyway, this article blends the shifter race with the monk class. There are five new feats: two general (Beast Strike and Fear No Binds) and three shifter (Disrupting Strike, Fierce Mind, and Shiftsilver Mastery). A new martial arts style for monks appropriately called the Way of the Shackled Beast Style uses three of these new feats as monk bonus feats. There is also a new minor artifact, the amulet of the twelve moons, and a new weapon substance, shiftsilver. Good stuff for feat-lovers (like me) and shifter-philes (I like all of the new races).
Class Acts illustrated by Julie Dillon
It’s Christmas! Instead of four we get five Class Acts this month.
Adventurer: Strangulation by Shane O’Connor
These are the rules for strangulation from the accessory Song and Silence. I had completely forgotten about this stuff, so I guess it was good that this has been updated. Included are optional rules for hit point strangulation and items like the cord and leather collar.
Arcane: Arcane Laboratories by Tim Hitchcok
Presented here are three workshops (Arcane Distillery, Astrological Observatory, and Construct Lab) for use by wizards (mostly) who will be working on items or learning about things. With each building you receive benefits towards the specialized area of expertise.
Divine: Druid Guide by Amber E. Scott
By now you should expect one of these in each issue until at least all of the core classes are done. I don’t know if the non-core classes will be covered (like marshal and wu jen). Abilities covered and given suggestions for feats and prestige classes: Animal Companion, Wild Shape, A Thousand Faces (no feats or PCs), and Spells.
Psionc: Power by Discipline by Scott L. Gable
Instead of lists of spells for the other classes we’ve been given, we get powers listed by discipline. Complete Psionic is included.
Warrior: Eldtrich Warriors by Scott Noel
The purely new and usable by players right now are nine new alternate class features for the fighter. These are: Armored Savant, Bonded Armor, Eldritch Grace, Eldritch Juggernaut, Fortification, Warrior of Air, Warrior of Earth, Warrior of Fire, Warrior of Water. Several of them can be used together to make some really interesting combos.
Do you work for the company that puts out Cliff's Notes?
:)
================
Great review, as always, and I just have to go a little off-topic here and say that I hope to see some more letters in Scale Mail in future issues. I miss seeing 3 or so pages of thoughts, and message boards, as fun as they are, are a bit different than letters pages in magazines.
I'm a feat-lover, too, and I hope to see more feats in Class Acts for the non-core classes. Lately it's been a string of boring class-guides and alternate class features, which are harder to keep track of than feats and getting more out of hand earlier than people say feats are.
Contributor
|
I'm a feat-lover, too, and I hope to see more feats in Class Acts for the non-core classes. Lately it's been a string of boring class-guides and alternate class features, which are harder to keep track of than feats and getting more out of hand earlier than people say feats are.
I think you're going to like future installments of Class Acts, then. :)
2. Cave Fisher by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 3 magical beast. This creature I remember from many years ago. Drizzt Do’Urden fought one in his youth. This is a cross between a lobster and a spider.7. Maedar by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 4 monstrous humanoid. I believe these first appeared in a FR monstrous compendium. It’s about time this male version of the medusa appeared in 3rd edition.8. Obliviax by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 1 plant. It sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. There is a nice side bar that gives rules for making the memory moss (the obliviax mossling’s “master”) as an environmental hazard.9. Scarecrow by Kevin Baase and Eric Jansing
CR 3 construct. I think everything having to do with horror came from Ravenloft, so that is where I think this came from, but I could easily be wrong. There are rules on making different types of scarecrows, like conscious, dread, and quested scarecrows.
OK, a little late, I know, but better late than never. :)
Let’s see, first of all yes the Maedar did appear in the FR Monstrous Compendium (MC3), but it first appeared in Dragon #106 – glad to see it back in the pages from whence it originated. :)
Obliviax you might have spotted in the Monstrous Manual (in fact, all four of these made appearances in the big ol’ Monstrous Manual). It originally came from the 1E MM2.
The scarecrow did not originate in Ravenloft (but the Dread Scarecrow did!), and was actually originally found in the 1E Fiend Folio.
5. Giant, Rot by C. Wesly Clough
This CR 8 giant is gross, literally. A decay aura, disease-imbued attacks, and exploding pus defenses make this one of those creatures I wish to never encounter. Perfect menace.
Thanks for the kind words about my Giant, Abinadi.
Dragon 355
6. Golem, Cannon by John Flemming
CR 14 construct. It looks silly, but I understand its usefulness during sieges. Nice self-destruct ability, too.
Yeah, the artwork isn't what I imagined either; but I do like the appearance, gives it a more conquistadore (sp) feeling which might be present in campaigns that use cannons. I am sure the artist was envisioning shipboard cannons.
At any rate, it is my first published creation, so if anyone has any feedback on it, I'd welcome any coments or criticisms.
Thanks
I have to admit, as I pulled this one just out of my postbox this morning and browsed it while relaxing on a sunny lawn, I thought that this is one of the weaker issues. The IDragon piece was interesting. The other articles I just browsed - the seven saintly domains sounded interesting, but nothing I wanted to read immediately. Same goes for the Monsters - I liked that there were some old ones in it, and of the new ones, the Rot Giant and the Cannon Golem sounded interesting. (Even though I think that the Cannon Golem will have no place in "standard" fantasy campaigns, like GH). I´m not interested in FR and Eberron, but I understand the need for those to be there. I will probably read the Savage Tidings soon. The Ecology of the Devourer - I´d rather have ecologies of standard monsters, and Devourers are to me not that standard. As I said, to me it was a weaker issue.
Well, I´ll sit down on my balcony now and give it a second look.
Stefan