TES Your Loot! nity a CTE eg i Python King’s MgMaida ob Bay Bs Ce ee ee ee ee ce ed tee rachis pier eine ar ar le ar [ka ae ame) 2 Jb. eat = ee ee a ee a ee ee eae ey YOU ARE LC OFAN For every foly cay, cere s a Glarpy. For every peasant, a Toit. For every Kuight, a Dragon. & Re Ee a ee ee Fe ee at eee ea nC ee 813.6 CU EAT ae eo et ak eC Eo ae Aer ee teed) Gok Dy ee ea eer ee eae ee eee vou ake THE LAW You are tic Man. If something ratis you the wrong way ~ pue a. price om its cad? Place A a i ee cee es The Fantasy Kingdom Sim THE MAJESTY DEMO RULES! .. AND SO CAN YOU! ee PSS YOU RULE DCC RUC ae Lhd a Mae oe majestyquest.com PER ea er) See ot ee me rar oe REE pmlc ae ee ae Cet ee ree) DRSUNEARTHED ARCANA BEET X 24 Countdown to Sr Baton Issue #268 Volum XXIV, No 9 February 2000 Why wizards rule y 26 -Gotten Gains [arcane Lore New spells from the Joumal of one of Oerth's Kevin Haw Now that you have a treasure hoard, invest it! JO What Do You Know? Lloyd Brown IIL No matter what your class, ‘you have a few basi skills, 1) The Armory Annex Ryan Staake ee 4G Before the Bow Gregory W. Detwiler smd archmagi in "Greyhawk Grimoire.” 19, Mali J Bazaar of the Bizarre From the bizarre ™maggcal items offer “Power at Price.” Sino Hoon {Dragon's Bestiary Beyond the basic lizard man, new species of "Lizard Fol” Jaton M. Richards {The New Adventures of Volo The songs only touch onthe mystery of Lost Princess Road.” Ed Grenoa Missile weapons galore 40 Secrets ofthe Brotherhood of True Flame Paul Fra Tne WyRe'S TURN. 6 Learn what magic makes the True Flame the most. 5. Mian 3 powerful sceret society. §) Giants in the Earth ——_ a , “1 eat ceiueor at 58 The Python King's Treasure coe ; 2 iter ive ea Fool Wolf pays the price for deception. OREN Be Tiina utr ieee ie pie Ce neie 12 En ee a 48 x Antiaets iri orate nen tr DraconMigrii SHOPKEED Comune ArrRActions: 128 Wrar’s New? Sean K. Reynolds & Andy Collins From super heroes to the supernatural, expand your science-fiction campaign with these new powers and relics. tomst HD game worlds, recalletion ofskils although he on. Th fanlyshown, heh snd histTEETER Nox’s CREATIVE COMBAT SYSTEM™ lets you... vo - ©SetTraps & Create Spell Combinations Westwood ¢ Interact with your Environments www.westwood.com e Choose from Three Styles of PlayCD UA UAThe Turn ’s Taking Turns eof my favorite ADED* campaigns in college was the one in which we took tuens wearing the DM’shat. At frst the idea seemed a recipe for dis- aster, since each of us players wasa sirong-minded individual. Asittumed ‘oul, our disparate person: esand styles wore exactly what weneeded Sharing the DM'sjob not only gave everyone a chance to play but also lent more depth and diversity to the setting. in our caso the FoRccITTEN REALMS campaign. (Our fist task wasto divey up the turf. Twas the most selfish, grabbing up huge tracts of land as part of my personal ter ritory Since was the DM about ha the time, that seemed fai: My adventures ‘took place in Waterdeep, Cormys, anc the oddball settings like the Hlordelands, Kara-Tur, and Zakhhara. Others claimed their favorite parts of Faerin, and my friend Bob called dibs on Realmspace, sincehewas a devoted fan ofthe Set LiaMaer” rules Becanise most of us had! lots of elasses andl ajob or three, we depended on modules and the pages of Duxeson” Adoentares, only rarely con- eocting our own scenarios, Bven then, being the DM was demanding, sono one minced turning over the DM's screen for acharactersheet, numberof ground rules Kept us from breaking the campaign. Most important was the rule that you never played your own character esan NPC Whenever xan adventures, my invoker ‘was conveniently elsewhere researching ‘spell or taking a vacation on the Moon- ‘a coast. When someone else took over, iy character retumed, and the new DM's character sucldenly remembered a pressing obligation elsewhere. ‘The benefits ofthe shared-world DMing went beyond the obvious, Since the same group of characters experi enced adventures all over (and far above) the world, thesetting seemed all the more vivid and real. Moving from ACen swe this week? one fantasy culture fo thenext feltlikea real journey into strange lands, yet refer ences to foreign gods, nations, and rulers became familiar tothe group asa whole. In the end, weall ended up better play ers and DM for the experience, since ‘we'd seen the world from both sides of the DM'sscreen, Ifthere wasa key to oursuccess, it was that we agreed tosharea big, unified ‘campaign world. That beeasy forcampaigns beginning with the ard dition game, since the CGieevHiaw setting provides the back- drop for place, character, and deity names, IU also easy fora world as big and well known as the FoRcori= Ren setting, ‘Thesame idea could work when ereat= inga campaign world, though no doubt the process would be much more chal- lenging, requiringa delicate balance bbetiveen shared knowledge, for continuc ity-and secrets, forthe sense of discovery so crucial to rich eampaign worlds. ¥ias your group evershared the DM's role this way? Let usknow-how it worked out, and share the fruitof your experience with those who might never hhave considered DMing before, The task {sa lot lessintimidating if you're sharing, it with all the other players. Dave Gross, Faitor MAL ‘Group Pabisher Johnny Witson Publisher Wendy Noritake “ltr Dave Gross Asocate Eltoe Gris Perkins Asie Ete chris Thomasson Senior Art Dintor ‘Shauna Welf-Nare'so artDincoe Larry Smith ‘susan Gari Bon Gough Gicalstion Dinstor Pierce Watters et Sele Dror Bob Henning edt Mart ‘omn Dum Aas rodctin Manager ‘BobbiMaas iran Asstt Rebeccatiere ‘bocce huge eens psec ems cit Coss, otter. arn oma a ba aes Ph ete mag ese FRovwun er eocanlow, ch apo ice Raunt ie i id ped tc done tomy ht eae at ate baciaet het jeanfes oc Be eee rit ak emermetiee ter tes ae ar sega eane yh or ee Fong thet rotoscoawsccsnetton osihanin lems ce i Catey nec & Briere: 08D; Fexayice (Maer Gente Gu ae Rese he Gr a SEER re fares Ses Heres end chat nae, enti (itis hot me wanna tare Cherri a Leet h prnein rem aw Chi eA Seouey Siete tame mae ee eee dae cere Bae cutee saetrentrataes Sine sete nceme antes cee a ameetime anette fete cmrertaeenctn cere te ae Genre apes ne of errs sa atti ‘Bimon Meghna a cr ae cara Al se sn Ste) #Sn Tenses seems oe aero Sons an Horio Atenbna, Sage Moraaae Dror SPREE tas Srne Soer ost buaa Ban gape a7 Ramen Rom omyian OES 48 tet ere mrss oe aes EN ene Seated i Pred LSMeret ae Cedi ter tant Cerner) dn from your regular gaming sessions? Mom eee ete at gee et eee et in the old country with your porents and bored out of your skull? & Ceca GRIP iGM offers the tools needed for CO en cn ners eeu eed Reet cee ae | ee Cu re ea cy Dee ce es ture, save ond review maps from current Se eee eee eu ti desiged advent modules avlble for Per ted SUSU MatI ee ete eee ere ye ‘Be sue fo inquire o your favorite game Per ees GRIP, or you would like more informatio Sa ea i Denn LCE Ce aE GRIP GM Module US. $25.00 a Peet Geo cas system, ond officially ees Sy BeD-Mail No Greyhawk?! Twas disheartened by the recent editor- ial commentin “D-Mail” that there will not be a lot of Gkeviaivx® support in Deacon Magazine in the future, although Foxcorres REAlAts will continue tobe supported because itis so popular There hasbeen some gooxl Gikevi49isk material in the magazine lately. Can you tellus what the status ofthe Grewriavik setting, isanel what (ifany) produetsarein evelopment? Thank you. Greg Hill Grand Rapids, MI Don't pari! (When 1 Fine fo panic, yout read i ere firs.) The Gxt Haw campaign ‘sw about to nnis completly from thes pages, but it's trv that'll eave the bulk of Pn dates eee Cee in Touch! teen eee eee See ees a ee eer ec ete ee eS begin a new RAvENLOFY campaign! The Skills & Powers rules in “Harrowed Heroes” inspired me instantly, and they had my players practically choking on. character creation ideas. The Cult of Simon Audaire” was page-for-page one of the most helpful and engaging articles I've encountered in DRacon Magazine. Not only did the article create a major subplot for my campaign, but it eonvinced me tobase my campaign in Richemulot and explore that domain more fully “Heroic Horror Campaigns” will undoubtedly be reread before Lwrite ‘each of my adventures. It puts the essen tial elements of a horror campaign into focus ane! challenges me to create sophisticated adventures. Wau occa Prune ed Ome ae but they are impractical. campaign support to another source, The exact identity ofthat source isa secret we'll revel ina month or tuo, When we present Garvuawe campaign information, i be the kind that translates easily nto mest campaign settings. For instance, check out this month's "Greyhurek Grimoire,” te first of three short artick ‘that drm thei inspiration from the wizards of Ocrit but that are just as useful in the Foxsorten Reauas, BIRIHRIGH®, Mrstanat, Ravenorr®, and SrenisaMaten corms, just to name a fe, Ravenloft Resurrection Issue #264 contained so many useful articles that, the moment finished read- ingit cover to cover Iwas compelled to Before thisissue, the RavENLOrT set- ling rarely left my bookease, Now Ima subscriber on the RaveNLOFT mailing, list, frequent visitor to the Karge website, and a PM fall of ambition and creative enery notices appeared in my mailbox soon after issue #264, and [happily signed up fora three year tour! Subscription renewal Jemry Jensen’ Pacific, WA We're alwys happy to lure unother hapless bictim into te Demiplane of Dread, espe- cially then he renews atthe sari time! As with the GaevHawk setting, we want to Ieep the Ravextorr articles useful fo those iwho haven't (yet) wandered into the mists, ‘nut the feedback on Raventorr articles hha been strong enough that ze en several mre in the works forthe first part ofthis year. Look for more of “Van. cy” eoery fro issurs, ‘and for more horror articles—ohien else?— ‘each October, No Honest Salesmen My question concerns the spaceship designs in Deacon Magazine Along with the ALTERNITY? game, there have been many ship eesigns printed, including the “Starship Perks and Flaws" article in issue #253, anda contest that went with it Issue #259 presented the winner of this contest, the CSS Nomad. All of these ships. Jooked very nice... if they were funded by some sort of military government, Combat craft looksexy, they're exct ing, and they make for good story plot- lines, but they aze impractical. Not one ‘of theships presented isa self-suflicient merchant vessel—either passenger andlor cargo, The vast majority of shipson our oceans are not military but Where are these designs? Yes, mere ‘commerce seemsboring, but other ele- ments could makethem exciting Jeremy A. Michele Billings, MT While there area few fieightersand sinilar nonmilitary vehicles described in Starships, it true that mast vessel in SF games tend toward the “sexy” and “exciting.” Of arse there's a reason for tha. Even the Millennium Faleon, a sin rather than a fighters cool appearance nal its ight from Dnperial Desirayers—not to mention its role in the destruction of two Death Stars,Thus, game designers (and most gamers) fend to think in termsof fighters and battle ships rather than refueling rigsand oxygen transports, Still, you male sora good points, Jeremy. you readers to demand i, we'll make our next ATERNITY competition the designa- _gnrbage-scow contest ter inspires enough other Shaken Up Over Earthstokers My friends and Tare confused about cer- tain parts ofthe “Earthstokers” article in Issue #265, Specifically we've puzzled by the quote, “Many spells release SFPs (eismic force points), and a few spells deplete them.” The confusion is about the exact difference between “release” and “deplete."Isita typo? Should itbe “require” rather than “release?” Or does any spell thatrelease SFPs result in one of the Consequences of Volemo Magic occurring? Finally, how long doesit take for SFPS torebuild after thoy have been depleted? How long doesit take for them to rebuild afterbeing released? David Nef Warrensburg, MO Good question, Dawid, We cot have picked ‘better vor for “relensed.” Spells tat release” SEPsada them tothe surrounding encirorment, perliaps causing a seismic event. Spells that “deplete” then take them cut ofthe surrounding evirenment, making wil be orother seismic event, In general, “rele” fs good. Unless you're a carthquake-inducing maniac, ofcourse How quickly SEPs regenerate afer deple- ly up tothe DM, who shoul consider how seismically active a particular area should be. The le would cc a highly actiee aren arate of 144 per day. ies likely that th n earthquake isbad, “dep ow is entire active regions SEPs naturally, while jt regenerate SEPs at 3rd Edition Question Lave been playing the ADKD game since the beginning of the ist Edition andl was pleased with the changes in the 2a, so Lam really looking forward to the dtd Faliton, My only egrets that thing Lave becomes obsolete with each new edition. Itistoo bad that there Ssno way of tradingin old material for credits toward the new edition material, but thal fajust the nature ofthe beast DM oF THE MONTH would like to nominate our demonic DM for the DM/Player of the Month award.He has been my DM for the entire sixteen years I've been gaming, and he’ been playing for over twenty- five years.To preserve his identity. let's callhim Ed, Ed always adds spice to the game with ‘music and miniatures, as well as cos- ‘umes and his acting skis. and we all enjoy him as a DM, but sometimes he | goes overboard, ‘Not too long ago, we were playing at | Ed house.The adventure was setin | some ruins deep in a tropical forest. Our | | DM of the Month: "Ed" | miniatures were on the table,along with the trees buildings,and so on.To make a | ong story short. at the climax of the adventure, we found the main monster-—a | giant spider We fought the creature and survived the battle with minor wounds. [ts treasure was ours, and we went inside the building There were webs every- ‘where.As we started to burn them, Ed said,"As you set fire to the web, it spreads Quickly toward the ceiling. In the freight you see a large. dark shape run from the ames Then icjumps down and lands right in front of you.” Righe then, Ed dropped a big hairy live tarantula spider on the table. [esac eee ieee the bathroom. (Im very afraid of spiders) No one else got any treasure because the demonic DM told us that whatever action we took upon the spider's arrival,our characters took also.So.my elven | mage/thief took off.as did almost everyone else. Only two party members | | foe Anyway, my reason for writingis that have been reading the proposed changes in iggue #264, and Thavea question regarding the Armor Class rule, Rule 1 states that changes in AC should be rec: culated to goup instead of down and thatall adjustments should be inverted. When you roll io hit, the total of the Final roll modified by the values isthe AC that you hit: What are the mocificafion values thatyou should add based on classand level? In the 2nd Eaition method, you calculate the THACO based on ciassand Jeyelanc then add modifiers eal like the idea ofthe AC going up instead of down and can see the valueof the sys tem. Lam looking forward to trying this new rule outin acampaignam prepar- ing to start soi you could clarify this for me, L would greatly appreciate Dan Pitts St.Louis, MO remained,and against just the two of them, che spider had no trouble. | Our halrorefghteriassassin is now resting in peace.as he fought che bease single-handedly while the remaining character took off after the rest of us. Ie wil take me a while to get over that one. —Gynce Stren 1t'a simple matter to translate the 2nd E tion charts into attack bomuses based on ola ter, for instance, a 01 THACOdropsa 15 the same formal, only reversed. ‘That said, don’t assume that everythin you read in the previews of Sr Edition ‘exactly as it ill appear in the new Edition. Almost al ofthe ten roays to play 3rd Eai- tion today are simulations rather ty duplications ofthe actual rules, and the text ust gone through its first editing pass ‘as ae work on this issue (in November 1998), Things can still change, though closely resemble what we're Siniply gioe afi I time his or reporting to you in these pages. Anal don't forget that there are plenty ofchans aintor and othe significent, fngoen’t yet reported.Send More Guns Thave been playing the ALTHRNFIY" game system now for alittle vera year, and 1 must say thatthe Stak'DRive® campaign thatmy GM hasbeen running hasbeen soesore! Las abit worried when the Activity game came outthat Wizards ofthe Coast would not support the product that much, but to my delight, they have! So kudos to the AuraxNttY team, Keop itup! This month our group played the Dake Marte” campaign forthe first time. Again, [think you have a winner! T've played itonly once, but the whole mystery, intrigue, The X-files fel is— daresay ithe borat My only concern was the lack of equipment and weapons initially introduced. We have four play my group, and three of them are armed. One hasa 9mm Glock 19, one has a9mm Parabellum, and one has a 4a revolver The 4 was easy to get stats for using the main book, but for the Glock and the Parabellum ourGM tused the same stats (irom the standard listing for the 9mm pistol in the Player's Handbook). Will there ever be listings for the different types of PLS weaponry and equipment, or will an UZI, MAC-10, andl an AKR always share the same stats? Just wondering if there are any plans for a guide of some sort oran article in Diacow Magazine. Keep the SI games coming! R,Scolt Robbins Statesville, NC We, too, le become DarkeMarres fons Most of the sla hacen’ played AcreRNmrY Jorafew months, but Cris's promise to run “The Killing Jar relent his past month), ‘nd the adn ofthe Starcraft gare (in sfors next mot has a ent feo of > ‘eager to wwe throusira sen of erglings with ‘flamettrverst Not only do we oto very ifrent articles with new weapons slated for May ‘an Jute, but the A-Teen has produced an entre Arms & Equipment Guide for the DankeMarrex setting in stores this month ‘More Aurervrry Articles Thave beena longtime reader of Deacon Magazine andl woul like to take this ‘opportunity to tell you what a valuable tool the magazine hasbeen in the games that haverun overthe years Now that's out of the way, let's got to somo eriticism, Lenjoy your AtTERNTTY game section. The profiles on the vari- (ous ALTERNITY races have been insight- ful ane interesting, In the most recent issue I purchased, you had a section ‘with adventure hooks—Keep those coming! I was wondering if you might throw ina page or two now and then detailing new systems and aliens. That would be cool! A lot of us ALTERNTTY fansare hungry fornew material to come out in your magazine, Please don't disappoint us! ‘Thanks forthe years of excellence in writing, artwork, and in-depth game analysis. You have (for the most part) seemed to be on top of what we, as ‘gamers, are looking for. Robert Shroads Jackson, MI While fully renized systerasand new ations reno deck forthe next fee montis, you _might fond the “Transmissions page useful ‘nfleshing out your cnn. Better yet for new Creatures you shld check out the ALiEN ‘COnPENDIUM® IL defor relersein April, ‘Mearcohile,zwe'l pt bolo those article fypescon the wis ist Form Over Function Asallong-time player of the AD&D 2nd. Edition game, [have been both nervous and excited about the 3E premier at Guy ‘Con? 2000, The information given on your website has certainly piqued my interest in playing 3E as soon as it comes ‘out as even the artwork is greatly improved. However, “form over function” issues that I think ‘you should consider before deciding on the final sketches, ake, Forinstance the male and female warriors on page 29 of issue #264. They look pretty tough, but ina real melee scenario, they might endl up cursing their armor. Imagine this: Your PC yetsinto a bar brawl with Mr, Warrior. The smartest tactic sinoe he looks so formidable, would be to clisarm himso that he would be forced to fight with his “shields there is much less force delivered through an of-hand forearm than the end of alongsword in a dom- nantarr, any damage you received ‘would be greatly reduced. Furthermore, what litle ACbonus he received from that shield would be nulified. Ifyou got this far, the nextbest thing to hope for would bea knockdown, sending Mr, Warriorto his knees, As he tried to get spikes were stuck in the floorboards, beet 00> up, he would quickly notice that hiskne ‘wore nogwick comGood and Evil come 1n many forms. You'll want all 206._. STRATEGO" LEGENDS eer BE Cun ours and collect. Hand pick See Ron Sn CEI] SSN contains all you need to play: 60 of the 206 holographic pawns to build your army and eure ts battleboards in the system. Gey aoe ete) Pc Build and trade for more pei De STRATEGO" LEGENDS is Bet i f i i i 1 \ ] ' ] \ j \ ] \ ] ] \ \ ' \ \ ] i i i Ce a i 1 i i i 1 \ 1 i i f i Dae ann J i i i i jj i :Now he's disarmed and stuck, fora short time at leas, so either move in for the kill or attack with along weapon, such asa spear, so that he can'treach you with his forearm shield-blade, Any PC would probably Tike to have the awesome armor and weapons of Me. Warrior, but it'd be Wise to leave the knee pads and shield for some other adventurer. Asimilar situation could happen with the female warrior, switching the knock- ‘wer used on armor to prevent grapple attacks, pecially from elephants. The Hild is stil ashe, wnless the warrior iooses to use it asa weapon, in wiih ese it isawoapon. Ashieldbnsh deliened with a spiked shield wil do more damage. “Thirdly, disarming an apponent is gon erally an inferior tactio. tts more dificult than a straight blow and could tence you pen to retaliation throug Toss of at- tional attacks or throug ering disarmed yourself in afiledcttemp. Should you |) ‘lease smack publisher Johnny L. Wilson Cat en down fora shield-rush into wall, sending her oversized spiked bracer deep into the framing. Sure, the D&D game is fantasy, and thocteativity Lackwood has put into these sketches s phenomenal, but one of {ho great things about the AD&D game isthatithasalways been tempered! with some eal medieval history. Thereis a reason ancient warriors didr’tempha- sive shicld spikes orblades, and that’s because shields work bettors shields than as weapons. Long live Lockwood, jastnot those shields Jeff Myrom Hancock, MI Wie passed lef eter ko Todd, since e's ot only aerrifc artist but also a grent big game ‘008. Here's toate had fo say: “Thanks for your Kind zoords, Jeff Our rst priority has ber to make the game ook exciting, but lel me commenton yourcon- cernsibout the armor. “Firstly, you are making an erroneous ‘assumption about the knee-spikes, If they ‘were fo point dowonroad chen the ee zs bent, there tou be no purpose to them. Wher the knees are bent, they point upward, oasto make a memorable mpresion on the Iocwer quarters of n opponent ‘sanatonty. He cam kee ust fe “Secon spikes are considered a mar- shall wenpon. In the event ofa grapple,a haraeter wearing spiked arnor cm cruse Teal damage roeretsa character without spikes cao. Infact character in spiked srmior with a sil in martiel weaponry is never realy disarmed. Historically, spies 42 - FEBRUARY 2000 sucoved, would you rather then be facing a truly unarmed opponent, or one equipped to stab you with his shield or grapple you in your na-spiked armor and make it stick? T think these warriors would like for you to focus on the disarm maneuver. The samt is true ofa shield rush, Tt could be good ifit morks the way you hope i wil, Inn, you Ihave sacrificed lethal attacks while your ‘opponent probably has not. “Lastly, as alvoays, tke DED game is trily flexible. W's an option. If your fight cers don’t aoant to wear spikes, they don't ave to.” “What's New” is Back! have subscribed to Deacon: Magazine ‘ever since issue #80, yet this is my frst fime writing to you. Your magazine has always heen a treasure to receive, and | always look forward to the next issue ‘with all its useful articles and stores, Granted, some articles didn’tapply tothe games | play, but they were interesting to read nevertheless. was saddened when Foglio left Dsscow Magazine years ago, It was truly a dark day in the magazine's history, Imagine my sur= prise when [received my ‘November issue and spotted in the upper left hand come, “"We're Baack!” Hore the maga Zine's plasticshielding and immediately flipped to the back of the magazine (like Tused to dowhen Lreceived a new issue of Draon Magezine), “What's New!” is back! I's like getting the old fix all over sgain! It's great to see Phil back with. the magazine—a moment that has been Jong overdue, Thanks forthe fix, and keep up the great work! Mike Vienonen Roundl Lake Beach, IL Like yous HnvalongtmePoglia fan, so there in my min that ed snap Ips soon as Pil & Dix” zone free af other obligations. Better yet, Pils cnr- tex versions ofthe etril la are so {fliterng tha! ce don’ see the relationship ‘ting anytinesoon. Noe fonly that Koonce ool just ake aint os n0 dou Name That Tune? Please smack group publisher Johnny LL. Wilson over the head with one of many “Best ofthe 1980s” hit compila- tions forhis attributing an 80s ht to the WRONG BAND on the last page of Dragon Magazine Annual #4. Tmbuk3, not Huey Levi, performed The Future's $0 Bright ([Gotta Wear Shades)” Geez, and the majority of you guys arein the demographic that should know. You ‘oughta be ashamed! Notas ashamed as Timbuk3 for disappearing like 5e ‘watfles ata breakfast buffet, but ashamed nonetheless David Insley Trappe, MD One fares publisher replies: “Rexonreofold _guys-with gray boards trying to male refer nce to pp culture. Fregret my inability to cite the name of te one-hit wonder group in ‘my Afteraord ara ool obser that, i. perfect word, shoul hace fact-checked ry fully memory Of corse, as Hiiey ‘Lewis (hope! sag ons epary- ‘mous albu, There Ain't NO Pefect Worl’ It go home ad lstento my Benny Goodman and Gabrielli records, ooii- ng any references to music recorded afer 1950." We were reluctant onl the traditional punisioent ofa Pnkbely on the guy th sigs our timesheets, but we tought olny the "Sons ofthe 80s” collection ant Ii al his other CDs We're not surewhethor it save us rom fture errors but oe ike the sequined glove heooors these days, -%Reentry cere Ce CEN: Rach volume Tne Walt is Oyer! eee eLetter OR areata eet gE Psi Aeire Yt eke Tee tree Serres aCe ee nso | co es ery eed esa ee Pare etd Can a past life affect the fut “Kyi, thie only member of @ sinall Kendo club has his world tuned upside down, ‘Sudden visions oF past life eels revive anciente Then ivairies and ambi: tions, turning friends into deadly enemies! Kyaiis former mentor | Tate embraces past life as Yawaru, and renews his old ambition to, cleanse the word of its weaker el \ is ret SLonvention Calendar February SheVaCon February 4-6 vA Roanoke Airport Marriott, Roanoke, VA. Contact: SheVaCon RO. Boxi6 Verona, VA 24482-0416. Email: sheva@adelphinanet BeomCon2000 February 11-12 a Hosted by Tracy Hickman, ‘Web: http:/ / wwwitrhickman.com/ Bcomcon 3amicon Kappa February 18-20 A National Guard Armory lova City IA. Contact: Jon Maakestad (email below. ‘Web: wwwsflsorg/gamicon DunDraCon XXIV February 18-21 cA San Ramon Marriott Hotel San Ramon, CA. Contact: DunDraCon, Inc 1145 Talbot Ave, Albany, CA 94706 Web: wwwidlundracon.com Ludus 2.0 February 18-21 vA DullesDay Inn, Herndon, VA. Contact: Barking Mad Productions PO.Box 482 Purcelville, VA 20134 Web: wwwbarkingmad.org Email: [email protected] March Conjuration 5 March 10-11 * Shatner Building 3480 MeTavish St Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Web: http:/ /ssmu.megilica/gamers/ guild. htm Email: megillgamers@hotmailcom CosCon 2K Mareh 10-12 PA Days Inn Conference Center, Butler, PA. Contact: Circle of Swords PO. Box 2126, Butler, PA. Prineecon XXV March 17-19 NI Whig Hall, Princeton University Princeton, NI. Contact: Princecon 25 107 John E. Busch Ave. Somerset, NJ 08873 Web: princetongames.org/princecon/ 44 - FEBRUARY 2000 ‘Convention Calendar Policies Herre et eee elie eee cote sicnmrruriaee resorts Sieh seeianl cts Seeoaeme ee “rellratin pen rei mstrdud te folonng nin ri Convarin ss hs 2 Steanaleaton 5 Asa) wre omaion nt con temaion cant oie ‘Conan ys, events eel hur ass rater ul tte cred We 9 Shs cnn wo lr se cot ha arpurcrer as el No can srs aes ‘Warning: Yet expshl nat n- ten sntta us by canton sal mentor. Pate. shy eno rca cr ee: yeu ee ‘Copy das ar the ory leach ron, feurmorte eon sat an se Tus, he cap oat fer Boontasis Wet on (ay of Speen Arsoueemats oral ovarins ‘hetbs ated Camron" Ooi 101 Lindh SW. Rain, WA, 8B055,05A, Tacrvaren Ising mun bo charged Dae he environ ts en ete, dls eve una, Stone rons enc pase ce Us mmadaey Met gator hangs hou decent rapurs sea heat Trptant: On Maazel pts pho rumba convenient Be cern at ay aes yo Serica anc i Your al eamentan oe; we wi om caro ‘Sw hata caved You ao mi sb scar een Wek at mare st Mal or ia 35 hy poss, er aay Kegs red oy hfs Pas do retour carrion oe: yf, asthe metedhasrat proven lle ‘Australian convention $ Cann convonton Bonito conventan (sue souicoaq 7 an) SBEVNS 13S ‘VONTIOS 4SVIE ONIN Stellar Con 24 March 17-19 Ramada Inn and Conterence Centex, High Point, NC. Contact: StellarCon 24 Box Eliott University Center, UNNCG, Greensboro, NC27H12. Web: wrmuncy edu /student groups/ 19 /stellarcon Ne April Egyptian Campaign 2000 March 31-April2 IL Southern Ilinois University ‘Carbondale, IL. Contact: Egyptian Campaign 2000 c/oSIUC Strategic Games Society Office of Stuclent Development Carbondale IL 62901-4825. Email: ECGamCon@aolcom Web: wwwisiu.edu/~gamsocMegaCon 2000 March 31-April2 AL Expo Conter, Orlando, FL Contact: Beth Warden 4023 Tampa Re, Oldsmar, FL. 34677. Web: wwwamegaconvention com Email: [email protected] URICON 1X March 31-April2 RI Memorial Union University of Rhode Island Kingston, RL. Contact: URICON IX Attn: Neal Tanner 67 Upper College Ra. Kingston, RIO2881 Webs hitp:/ Jopusaccuri.edu/ GamingClub/ Email: gameclub@etal ured Imagi-Con 1V April PA ‘Kehr Union Building Bloomsburg University Bloomsburg, PA. POHZHO8E oe F F u L B s N E v A R s foun cma Kom aw a Contact: The Role Playing Guild Box 8 Kehr Union Building, Bloomsburg University Bloomsburg, PA 17815, Email: [email protected] ©urCon 2000 28-30 MA UMass Campus Center, Amherst, MA Contact: OurCon RSO178-416SUB UMass, MA 01003. Web: hitp:/ /ourcon/tripod.com Email: [email protected] May Fantasy Fair X May21 . The Cresset Exhibition Centre Peterborough, UK. fcoOzZ-r>or>cusdro Oe oOAe the an eanzz OPNNDPOrPZAtPraA Contact: 5 Arran Close Holmes Chapel ‘Cheshize CW47QP United Kingdom. MISCON 2000 May 26-28. Double Tree Hotel Edgewater, Missoula, MT. Contact: MISCON P.O. Box 7721 ‘Missoula, MP 59807. Mr june Milwaukee Summer Revel 4 June 15-18 wi Sheraton Milwaukee, Milwaukee, W1, Contact: Milwaukee Summer Revel PO.Box 779 New Munster, WIS3152. Web: wwwalisnet/-melka /mse/ indexhtmPo ‘iy ead ae Ses Sam ae oe BPR, ST Se on Tewaee etediee Sis Best xe ha Tee sue 7 REASONS TO JOIN OW: 1. Joining is easy. Start with 5 books for $1. Your bil incluting Shipping and Rancling) aod your PEWTER DRAGON vil cona wn boris cot Yur satitactonfguarane. youre rot hapn wih Your bros etm hem eh 0 fay ac ‘apors tor nanbessip wl be carceles, you ove rothng. he PEER DRAGOH PN yrs keep a ou nan yo” ong. 3. Save pa 5c of ushers hardcover edtn prices" noe la Nhu sexe, sametres aes Psi ot spec pests. cst Pekatles mt oats our eau bw pots Sogou mertorehp ako p02 yes They na eso ye. 4 Ext Doms oe 8B) fou fr 898 pus song andnardng and stuee aur Tent grec. ory 3 tous 8. AFREE Cb Magen cares yup 17 fines Yup apo set bss tach els he Feta Bone Sears ps coer ete oc, ine eae Cn ed ‘hort in anger ee. 6 Ordering f lke, Feared Bec Selectors ae sents yu acral, Te cacao ora ter cke—ampy al iu Mi orb mae al So rae x wm pei ate yaa a ay ae 1 Sa fh dee our Nene Ney Fou sland utyateg bose ave, paso ot tar afer epee 7. Convenient joing and erring it) fhamatarvietu te seo WWAOINSERG.GOMYOUR PASSCODE IS) Sb aSTOnline Gaming at its Best Inmy experience, MUDs are far from the best place to find a good online roleplay ‘ng experience, Sure, some MUDsbill themselves as “roleplaying oriented,” ‘but as often as not that isn’t the case ven inthe ones where it’s true the object ofthe game isstil to killas many ‘computerized badlies as possible, Per- sonaly, fl want to fight computerized enemies, [play an RPG console game. ‘There isabetter way to roleplay conline, Internet Relay Chat, the medium lemonized by many asnothing more than anestof pedophiles is actually fre- quentedi by some good roleplayers.1 play in two IRRPGs andl run another {es great fun, and it yields something, ‘you can'tget from alive game: complete, readable (or more often, readable with a lide GM editing) logs. Plus, thanks to ain Question of the Month spond torte Question of thie Ménth oF any other roleplay ees eran cer vete Lae at WHATS THE CLEVEREST TRAP YOU EVER ENCOUNTERED, ON nag Vea a ieee meer anes arene aie eee aed Each timeIstarta campaign, whether as a player or DM, I'mahways discovering something new. 've been DMing a group forabout four months, During, that time, Ihave purchased the ADED? ine Rules CD-ROM 2.0(anal the Core ‘Rules Expansion) the Deacow Magazine Archives, and—mostrecently—the Foxcorren Resta" Interactive Atas These productshave been a greathelp increating my newest campaign, which we started the other night, Tdecided to break out the laptop computerand run the game with these newest tools. After some intial adjustments, Ihave to tell. you thatit was one of the best cam- aignsT’vehad asaDM. Tdicin’tneed to thumb through books fo find out whata spell does; 1 had it in seconds from the Cove Rules. ‘Where are we? A click and a zoom, turn eld maE predictable ... occasionally even foolish. the extra features added to the major IRC dlients, one can seamlessly and instantly add sound effects and music (even one’s own!) to the experience. I feel every roleplayer with any writing talent should try playing RPGs on IRC; then again, my EsperNet friends andl are always on the lookout formore good roleplayers, so Lmightbe biased... Nikki Johnson. Yarmouth, ME Nifty Gadgets Thave been playing the D&D" game since the early 80s and have enjoyed the game more and moreover the years the laptop around and, “You're here” ‘What's the tavern look like? Click Here's the floor plan. Tprepared maps and printed them in advance for most of the campaign. The greatest part was random encounters. Set some filters, and let the computer generate an encounter complete with, THAC(, hit points, and experience points. [recommend these three pro- grams to every gamer with a computer. Oh, and lest I forget the dice generator 1 finally managed multiple rolls without any dice falling off the table Jack Pinckert Lake Wales, FL 2nd-dary Concerns ‘Thied edition is coming! Third edition is coming! Is official and you did ask for suggestions, sohere are mine: The current magie systems boring, Have you ever seen someone play three ‘wizards who were identical except for stats names, andhit points? Itmight be a terrible thing to say, but no longer run ‘mages becanse I fitinto this category. ‘The magic isstatic inflexible, and predictable, and the magic rules seem arbitrary and occasionally even foolish. Scrolls cannot be read without arid tmngic spell, ut priests can’ tcast red magic so they can’t use scrolls, A mage «an cast a spell with anly a vocal com ponent even if naked and hogetied, but hot ifcarrying a shield. Perhaps what lam trying to say is that there isno unifying theme, no ‘underlying logic, and no real method to the ADKD magic system. It scemslike collection of rules created to justify a few spells and keep mages ina “wweak- ling wizard” stereotype. Speaking of foolish rules... The party had just pulled in.a major haul and was settling in for’ months of downtime (the paladinhhad a big penance to work off). The thief decides tolearn to read ancl write, so he hires a tutorand spends 4or hours aday learning to read. After 6 months, the GM tels the player to spend the profi- ciency slots and add Reading to his proficiency list, Unfortunately the player didn’t have two fee proticiency slots to spend. The thie had to go from Sih level o 12th level (over 3 game years} before he could read his native language without rolling his, Read Languages skill. T dort know ifthis situation is intentional orjust an. ‘oversight, butit has always bothered me. ‘My last concern isnot rally game related;it’smore like apet peeve, Between the original 2nd-Edition books and the revised 2nd-Edition books, the ‘quality of theartwork (How do Tsay this?) went to hell in a kandbasket. Actu- ally, isnot that bad, but it could have ‘been better, The only example I feel I need to point oxt resides on the front cover of the Player's Handbook. Itis impossible to hold your left arnt in the ‘manner depicted without having some- body stand behind you twisting your fst another 0 degrees or so, which really hrarts. While thisis a very minorand nit picking concer, it also seems to reflect ‘theevel of attention and care paid tathe details, notjustof the book, but of the gameiitselt (Ona better note, the illustrations appearing in the Deacon Magazine arti- cles are very good. Ifthis artwork acct rately reflects the quality of the art appearing; in the Sed Edition, [will et my words without hesitation, John C. Campbell Anchorage, AK Miniatures Rulet ‘Since the 1970s, the playersin my group have used lead and pewter miniaturesto varying clegrees. I've happily con- tributed sevoral hundred to the DM's arsenal. Themain benefit ofthe minis is in visualizing your position relative to otherbeings and terrain. We avoid many disputes by simply playing our charac- ters according to where they stand on the table. Itis usually obvious that you ‘or cannot see an enemy, hide behind an object, and so on, ‘The DM generally looks at the mini chosen by a player prior to an adver ture, determining what the player will possess at the outset of the game based ion what the mini carries. fancy cloak, ‘well painted, is perhaps a cloak of clvertind. A greatsword with omate etching might indicate the PC is from a wealthy family or isa successful mercenary. A tome slung atthe side might hea book the party is changed with returning toa great sorcerer, The minis lend bit oFhistory and detail to your story, even without playing out that history Something To Believe In_ Pairick Curtin responds tothe “Farm” (Question ofthe Month from D&acon Magazine #26s. (Do your PCs have some- thing t fight agninst? Or do they have something ta fght for? Is there a diffrence in your compaign?) Being a Dungeon Master off and on since 1979.1 consider the players having _something to ght for or aginst (often combining both) a key elementina geod campaign The game | run volves group of personable" as | can as vale does tke a loro flor to cone ‘Up we) a name forthe ore warchief who esters the party during aplivng Sesion “Having hin insult ee carats gets them to tdenel in a8 someone they don ie, akg him a great roleplaying hole The -haractrs will wane 0 find their enemy, allowing the DM to lead them where he or she wane thins be Isso try to give monsters base nder- acing of acticg which net only ops ths players Gn ther foes busca nelps low-level monetrs remain formidable foes fora longer sresch of ie My pyar patty of Televal clerics and pacns are jes cautious when | amounes the res ‘nee ofan oreish war arty inthe viii. always tr to gv the illins shadowy superiors as well This ges the characsers something 0 figure out and readies the ret lve! of antagonists win hey defeat aciine ote Final et Intec shades of Fn my compaq Along wit he - standard humanoié menace.the neve element fies resiscnce from the orl demthiran communis who view the recent ineuision 8 hose invasion ino their and Going afer 3 pare of oes that rotehes a ow fare fe sary but what does the party do when & group of waodcuters oes mii afar trespassing an elven cccipled forest? Th nora seok and destroy salutions done ahiays work in this seen. Spe tne svg che characers more motivation than simple greed can often lead eosome ofthe most mesnarable role Patrick Curtin EL Pas0,TX There isanother quality to minin- tures that is protty difficult to measure the pleasure of seeing “yourself” and being soon the same way by the other PCs, The best miniatures are works of art, painted or not. With a fancy paint job to highlight the details, itis possible tolearn things about your character that you mightnothave thought of on your own, enjoy painting them as well. Ieis rewarding to take a sculptor’s vision and refashion itto fit my own wants. Loften modify or convert miniatures, changing ‘weapons or adding items. All ofthe players in our game havecustomized minis, both mounted and on foot. All together, these things combine to inspire “ownership” of thecharacter by the player Noone wants to losea character