All your Dragon are belong to us [Archive] - Wizards Community

All your Dragon are belong to us [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
The Shaman
10-19-04, 10:46 PM How much Dragon magazine content makes it into your game?

I was flipping through my notes this afternoon, looking at house rules and such, and aside from monster cultist PrCs (which are The Bomb), some vehicle rules, and a couple of critters, I don't use most of what's published in the world's greatest roleplaying game's official magazine.
Antigone
10-19-04, 10:54 PM I like the ecology articles -- I get some ideas for adventures and flair out them. Other than that, I use them not at all, nor do I allow my players to use them. I can barely keep up with what's been published in book form, let alone a monthly magazine, and if I have to tote any more printed material to the game I'm going to need a back brace.
Obscure One
10-19-04, 11:03 PM If I ever have a writers block, or just don't know what posessed me to put my party into a certain god forsaken situation and I want to throw in something new, I might use Dragon for a spark of inspiration, but I'd rather just think it out, just so I can say that "I can do it all by myself like a big boy" :D . But seriously I use a bit here and there, but I just don't need or want to most of the time.
The Grinning Pint
10-19-04, 11:07 PM Dragon not only serves as a coaster, but as a source of timewasting!

That sums it up at our table.
Fixxxer
10-19-04, 11:33 PM Relatively little content actually makes it to my game, but I enjoy the articles and the stuff that I deem not to use generally gives me adaptable ideas for stuff I will use.
nekrolog
10-19-04, 11:47 PM It has cool artwork and gives me something D&Dish to read that I haven't read before. It's like reading D&D forums without the idiocy.
Cantankerous
10-20-04, 03:55 AM Back in the day, around the mid 50's to mid 120's in issue counts, there was the occasional article that made a difference for me, but not too much. The Nine Hells for instance, was something I used as part of a backdrop to a high level campaign, but even that, which is probably the most used item I ever culled from the pages of Dragon Mag, was heavily (and I do mean HEAVILY) modified by yours truely before I used any of it.

When there is an interesting article in it it serves as a springboard for my own ideas, nothing more. Nowadays though I get far more from reading the net (boards like these) than I could begin to get from Dragon Mag, so I don't waste my time or money on it. I'm not even sure where I could find it here in Vienna.

Isshia
Greldinard
10-20-04, 07:04 AM I love to read them, but in the end only a few things make it to my game, twisted beyond recognition.
DougC
10-20-04, 07:44 AM Dragon (and Dungeon, btw) primarily serve as inspiration for me, a "springboard" (to borrow from Cantankerous) for new ideas.

Although, I have used two things from the year's worth of Dragons that I have: 1) the gnome games in issue #291 (I especially love the one where the gnomes throw tomatoes at the game participants :D) and 2) the kaiju template in issue #289 provided me with the perfect campaign climax in a campaign where the PCs were ECL 36 before the release of the Epic Level Handbook. :cool:

(Note: Although I did read Dungeon, I actually bought it for Polyhedron, if it weren't for the "flipside," I probably would never have picked up a Dungeon magazine. :))
DeSkyggeKriger
10-20-04, 08:30 PM Isn't Dungeon supposed to be geared more towards DMs? From what I've heard, it has more adventures and such than Dragon.
DougC
10-20-04, 08:44 PM Isn't Dungeon supposed to be geared more towards DMs? From what I've heard, it has more adventures and such than Dragon. You are correct, it is geared more toward DMs, full of adventures and such. :)

Dragon, on the other hand, (it's a thread about Dragon:)) has articles for both DMs and players as well as some cool cartoons like Nodwick (or at least it used to, I haven't read it in a little over a year), which is what I always enjoyed the most in that publication. :D
Fixxxer
10-20-04, 09:03 PM Isn't Dungeon supposed to be geared more towards DMs? From what I've heard, it has more adventures and such than Dragon.

Dungeon is just that...it's a handful of adventures for use by a DM. Dragon is a collection of D&D-related articles. Both have a couple of cartoons int hem, like Nodwick, Zogonia and Dork Tower.
funnymanmike
10-20-04, 09:41 PM if it not in the core rule books, it seldomly enters the game. there's way to many options from all the dragon mag's + other books one can add in a game. I don't have that kind of time. (exception is the monster manuells, you can never have too many monsters to through at your party)
CzarGarrett
10-21-04, 09:43 AM I tend to use them as inspiration.

The ideas for each class towards the back can be quite useful for ideas. Either for my own characters to play elsewhere, or for NPCs and stuff in the game I'm DMing.
The Shaman
10-22-04, 03:10 AM :bump:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Shaman 10-19-04, 10:46 PM	How much Dragon magazine content makes it into your game? I was flipping through my notes this afternoon, looking at house rules and such, and aside from monster cultist PrCs (which are The Bomb), some vehicle rules, and a couple of critters, I don't use most of what's published in the world's greatest roleplaying game's official magazine.
Antigone 10-19-04, 10:54 PM	I like the ecology articles -- I get some ideas for adventures and flair out them. Other than that, I use them not at all, nor do I allow my players to use them. I can barely keep up with what's been published in book form, let alone a monthly magazine, and if I have to tote any more printed material to the game I'm going to need a back brace.
Obscure One 10-19-04, 11:03 PM	If I ever have a writers block, or just don't know what posessed me to put my party into a certain god forsaken situation and I want to throw in something new, I might use Dragon for a spark of inspiration, but I'd rather just think it out, just so I can say that "I can do it all by myself like a big boy" :D . But seriously I use a bit here and there, but I just don't need or want to most of the time.
The Grinning Pint 10-19-04, 11:07 PM	Dragon not only serves as a coaster, but as a source of timewasting! That sums it up at our table.
Fixxxer 10-19-04, 11:33 PM	Relatively little content actually makes it to my game, but I enjoy the articles and the stuff that I deem not to use generally gives me adaptable ideas for stuff I will use.
nekrolog 10-19-04, 11:47 PM	It has cool artwork and gives me something D&Dish to read that I haven't read before. It's like reading D&D forums without the idiocy.
Cantankerous 10-20-04, 03:55 AM	Back in the day, around the mid 50's to mid 120's in issue counts, there was the occasional article that made a difference for me, but not too much. The Nine Hells for instance, was something I used as part of a backdrop to a high level campaign, but even that, which is probably the most used item I ever culled from the pages of Dragon Mag, was heavily (and I do mean HEAVILY) modified by yours truely before I used any of it. When there is an interesting article in it it serves as a springboard for my own ideas, nothing more. Nowadays though I get far more from reading the net (boards like these) than I could begin to get from Dragon Mag, so I don't waste my time or money on it. I'm not even sure where I could find it here in Vienna. Isshia
Greldinard 10-20-04, 07:04 AM	I love to read them, but in the end only a few things make it to my game, twisted beyond recognition.
DougC 10-20-04, 07:44 AM	Dragon (and Dungeon, btw) primarily serve as inspiration for me, a "springboard" (to borrow from Cantankerous) for new ideas. Although, I have used two things from the year's worth of Dragons that I have: 1) the gnome games in issue #291 (I especially love the one where the gnomes throw tomatoes at the game participants :D) and 2) the kaiju template in issue #289 provided me with the perfect campaign climax in a campaign where the PCs were ECL 36 before the release of the Epic Level Handbook. :cool: (Note: Although I did read Dungeon, I actually bought it for Polyhedron, if it weren't for the "flipside," I probably would never have picked up a Dungeon magazine. :))
DeSkyggeKriger 10-20-04, 08:30 PM	Isn't Dungeon supposed to be geared more towards DMs? From what I've heard, it has more adventures and such than Dragon.
DougC 10-20-04, 08:44 PM	Isn't Dungeon supposed to be geared more towards DMs? From what I've heard, it has more adventures and such than Dragon. You are correct, it is geared more toward DMs, full of adventures and such. :) Dragon, on the other hand, (it's a thread about Dragon:)) has articles for both DMs and players as well as some cool cartoons like Nodwick (or at least it used to, I haven't read it in a little over a year), which is what I always enjoyed the most in that publication. :D
Fixxxer 10-20-04, 09:03 PM	Isn't Dungeon supposed to be geared more towards DMs? From what I've heard, it has more adventures and such than Dragon. Dungeon is just that...it's a handful of adventures for use by a DM. Dragon is a collection of D&D-related articles. Both have a couple of cartoons int hem, like Nodwick, Zogonia and Dork Tower.
funnymanmike 10-20-04, 09:41 PM	if it not in the core rule books, it seldomly enters the game. there's way to many options from all the dragon mag's + other books one can add in a game. I don't have that kind of time. (exception is the monster manuells, you can never have too many monsters to through at your party)
CzarGarrett 10-21-04, 09:43 AM	I tend to use them as inspiration. The ideas for each class towards the back can be quite useful for ideas. Either for my own characters to play elsewhere, or for NPCs and stuff in the game I'm DMing.
The Shaman 10-22-04, 03:10 AM	:bump: