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A Few Favorites

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Artifact
May 20, 2009 1:52:24 It was revealed today that the price of a D&Di subscription is due to increase in the not too distant future. I thought this might be an appropriate time to look back and recall some of my favorite Dragon articles from the past year or so (since the 4e launch):

Demonomicon: Yeenoghu, Baphomet
This is just a great recurring series, always full of fiendish details. I've always had a soft spot for gnolls (ever since playing one using rules from the Complete Book of Humanoids in 2nd edition). So, the Yeenoghu article was especially a treat. Baphomet was a 're-tread' (from an earlier 3.5 article) but still an interesting read.

Deities & Demigods: Bane
This article was great inspiration for my current PC, a tiefling warlord named Tyr (short for Tyranny). He admires the less tyrannical aspects of Bane (such as order and military might). There's some excellent backround in the article on the war between the gods and the primordials, details on Bane worship, and also suggestions for non-evil Bane-worshipping PCs (such as mine). Great pic BTW ;).

Domains of Dread: Sunderheart
A Romeo and Juliet tale with a sickening twist. I like that the core idea has been preserved (even if it is sans Ravenloft). The most recent article, 'Graefmotte' didn't strike me quite as strongly, although it was well done.

Ecology of the Deva
One of my favorite articles of the 4e era (so far at least). It really delves into what it must be like to live as a being capable of being reborn again and again. Great story, excellent artwork, I honestly can't recommend it enough.

Playing Dhampyr
This is another article that served as inspiration for one of my more recent PCs, a human warlock who became a dhampyr after failing to read the 'fine print'. I actually snatched the idea from someone who posted on these boards.

A few favorites from the general features:

The Ashen Covenant inspired me to use cults of Orcus more prominently in my 3.5 homebrew setting (we hadn't fully switched over to 4e yet at this point).

Legacy of Acererak was a blast of nostalgia for someone who remembers the final fight in Tomb of Horrors all too vividly ;). I also felt the same way about seeing Vecna and Kas in Open Grave. After years of DnDing, I love the kick of nostalgia that even a simple name can bring with it.

Attention to detail is an attribute of many Dragon articles but is especially noticeable with Mithrendain I think. Hestavar was another excellent planar city article, so I'll mention it as well.

We Who Are About to Die. Pair this with the Fight! article and you simply can't lose ;). If you like this, I recommend Dragon Magazine #303. It has a series of articles under the banner 'Campaign Components: Gladiators' (all for 3.0). The Complete Gladiators Handbook (a Dark Sun supplement for 2nd edition) is also great for ideas.

Wolves of Maldeen. A wandering "pack" of rogues and warriors who swear to fight evil wherever they find it. Another early article that I enjoyed and swiftly ported into our 3.5 games.

=== === ===
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With just these handful of articles, I feel that I've gotten my money's worth out of D&D Insider this year (even though some appeared during the free 'trial phase'). I'm really looking forward to next year.

How about you guys and gals? Any favorites?
#2
dayzdark
May 22, 2009 23:49:26 I didn't sign up to DDI for the sake of the magazines, but I get some use out of them nevertheless.

Well, my players have gotten good use out of the gladiator, illusionist, and necromancy articles (Grasp of the Grave is sick and wrong when paired with Enlarge Spell), and one of them has his eye on one of the feats from the more recent assassin article.

I used the back half of Umbraforge nearly as-written, which is saying something considering how much I prefer using my own adventures most of the time. A lot of the location articles (Hestavar, Greywall, and Sunderheart) cry out for a visit in some adventures I have in mind once my group reaches paragon tier. Even though I don't usually run the adventures in Dungeon, I'm grateful for the additional monsters (the dragon made of coins, for example, was awesome), and they've made it a lot easier to figure out exactly how Skill Challenges are *intended* to work, since the DMG is a tad vague on that point.
#3
Mock
May 27, 2009 19:26:40 We've used very little of what's come out in Dragon (though we use the hell out of the Character Builder). Maybe a feat here or there (whip training comes to mind). We've played (so far) 1.5 of the adventures in Scales of War.

The stuff I've really liked:

* The gladiator article that contained the weapon feats (I forget which title it was - either "Fight!" or "We who are about to die")
* Barbarian and Monk playtests
* Playing Gnolls
* Bard preview in Ampersand (first time I thought bards were interesting at all)

I've skimmed most of the non-column articles (I don't read the regular columns except Ampersand), made mental notes about them in case I needed to remember "Oh, there was an article that had a feat that did that..." and filed them away, but those five were the ones I really enjoyed.

Edit: let me say that doesn't mean the other articles sucked, just that I found them worthy of a skim, and remembering that they exist, rather than reading them in detail.
#4
subsistcyber
Jun 05, 2009 7:21:10 I can't say how much I love the ecology articles. It's too bad only a few are written a year. If only every creature in the monster manual had such detail fleshed out...

In particular:
Ecology of the Sharn
The little bit that focused on Forgotten Realms was stellar and the whole of the article allowed me to flesh out them poor mistreated magic lovers.
#5
aberzanzorax
Jun 05, 2009 15:20:39 Love ecologies, eh?

Have you checked out Kobold Ecologies:

A Dozen Ecologies
What makes a monster tick? The right story and a few new tricks that your players will never expect!

This set of all-new and revised Ecology articles from Kobold Quarterly magazine compiles a dozen creatures with rich backgrounds, lore, and diagrams - all in one place to make it easy to find the details you need to inspire your next adventure - or your next campaign!

• The Ecology of the Barghest by Nicolas Logue
• The Ecology of the Centaur by Wolfgang Baur
• The Ecology of the Cloaker by Paul Leach
• The Ecology of the Derro by Wolfgang Baur
• The Ecology of the Golem by Ross Byers
• The Ecology of the Half-Giant by Clinton Boomer
• The Ecology of the Homunculus by Joshua Stevens
• The Ecology of the Lich by Richard Pett
• The Ecology of the Maenar by Matthew Hanson
• The Ecology of the Phantom Fungus by Scott Gable
• The Ecology of the Retriever by Matthew Banach & Clinton J. Boomer
• The Ecology of the Revenant by Joshua Stevens

http://www.koboldquarterly.com/KQStore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=42

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Artifact May 20, 2009 1:52:24	It was revealed today that the price of a D&Di subscription is due to increase in the not too distant future. I thought this might be an appropriate time to look back and recall some of my favorite Dragon articles from the past year or so (since the 4e launch): Demonomicon: Yeenoghu, Baphomet This is just a great recurring series, always full of fiendish details. I've always had a soft spot for gnolls (ever since playing one using rules from the Complete Book of Humanoids in 2nd edition). So, the Yeenoghu article was especially a treat. Baphomet was a 're-tread' (from an earlier 3.5 article) but still an interesting read. Deities & Demigods: Bane This article was great inspiration for my current PC, a tiefling warlord named Tyr (short for Tyranny). He admires the less tyrannical aspects of Bane (such as order and military might). There's some excellent backround in the article on the war between the gods and the primordials, details on Bane worship, and also suggestions for non-evil Bane-worshipping PCs (such as mine). Great pic BTW ;). Domains of Dread: Sunderheart A Romeo and Juliet tale with a sickening twist. I like that the core idea has been preserved (even if it is sans Ravenloft). The most recent article, 'Graefmotte' didn't strike me quite as strongly, although it was well done. Ecology of the Deva One of my favorite articles of the 4e era (so far at least). It really delves into what it must be like to live as a being capable of being reborn again and again. Great story, excellent artwork, I honestly can't recommend it enough. Playing Dhampyr This is another article that served as inspiration for one of my more recent PCs, a human warlock who became a dhampyr after failing to read the 'fine print'. I actually snatched the idea from someone who posted on these boards. A few favorites from the general features: The Ashen Covenant inspired me to use cults of Orcus more prominently in my 3.5 homebrew setting (we hadn't fully switched over to 4e yet at this point). Legacy of Acererak was a blast of nostalgia for someone who remembers the final fight in Tomb of Horrors all too vividly ;). I also felt the same way about seeing Vecna and Kas in Open Grave. After years of DnDing, I love the kick of nostalgia that even a simple name can bring with it. Attention to detail is an attribute of many Dragon articles but is especially noticeable with Mithrendain I think. Hestavar was another excellent planar city article, so I'll mention it as well. We Who Are About to Die. Pair this with the Fight! article and you simply can't lose ;). If you like this, I recommend Dragon Magazine #303. It has a series of articles under the banner 'Campaign Components: Gladiators' (all for 3.0). The Complete Gladiators Handbook (a Dark Sun supplement for 2nd edition) is also great for ideas. Wolves of Maldeen. A wandering "pack" of rogues and warriors who swear to fight evil wherever they find it. Another early article that I enjoyed and swiftly ported into our 3.5 games. === === === === === === With just these handful of articles, I feel that I've gotten my money's worth out of D&D Insider this year (even though some appeared during the free 'trial phase'). I'm really looking forward to next year. How about you guys and gals? Any favorites?
#2 dayzdark May 22, 2009 23:49:26	I didn't sign up to DDI for the sake of the magazines, but I get some use out of them nevertheless. Well, my players have gotten good use out of the gladiator, illusionist, and necromancy articles (Grasp of the Grave is sick and wrong when paired with Enlarge Spell), and one of them has his eye on one of the feats from the more recent assassin article. I used the back half of Umbraforge nearly as-written, which is saying something considering how much I prefer using my own adventures most of the time. A lot of the location articles (Hestavar, Greywall, and Sunderheart) cry out for a visit in some adventures I have in mind once my group reaches paragon tier. Even though I don't usually run the adventures in Dungeon, I'm grateful for the additional monsters (the dragon made of coins, for example, was awesome), and they've made it a lot easier to figure out exactly how Skill Challenges are intended to work, since the DMG is a tad vague on that point.
#3 Mock May 27, 2009 19:26:40	We've used very little of what's come out in Dragon (though we use the hell out of the Character Builder). Maybe a feat here or there (whip training comes to mind). We've played (so far) 1.5 of the adventures in Scales of War. The stuff I've really liked: * The gladiator article that contained the weapon feats (I forget which title it was - either "Fight!" or "We who are about to die") * Barbarian and Monk playtests * Playing Gnolls * Bard preview in Ampersand (first time I thought bards were interesting at all) I've skimmed most of the non-column articles (I don't read the regular columns except Ampersand), made mental notes about them in case I needed to remember "Oh, there was an article that had a feat that did that..." and filed them away, but those five were the ones I really enjoyed. Edit: let me say that doesn't mean the other articles sucked, just that I found them worthy of a skim, and remembering that they exist, rather than reading them in detail.
#4 subsistcyber Jun 05, 2009 7:21:10	I can't say how much I love the ecology articles. It's too bad only a few are written a year. If only every creature in the monster manual had such detail fleshed out... In particular: Ecology of the Sharn The little bit that focused on Forgotten Realms was stellar and the whole of the article allowed me to flesh out them poor mistreated magic lovers.
#5 aberzanzorax Jun 05, 2009 15:20:39	Love ecologies, eh? Have you checked out Kobold Ecologies: A Dozen Ecologies What makes a monster tick? The right story and a few new tricks that your players will never expect! This set of all-new and revised Ecology articles from Kobold Quarterly magazine compiles a dozen creatures with rich backgrounds, lore, and diagrams - all in one place to make it easy to find the details you need to inspire your next adventure - or your next campaign! • The Ecology of the Barghest by Nicolas Logue • The Ecology of the Centaur by Wolfgang Baur • The Ecology of the Cloaker by Paul Leach • The Ecology of the Derro by Wolfgang Baur • The Ecology of the Golem by Ross Byers • The Ecology of the Half-Giant by Clinton Boomer • The Ecology of the Homunculus by Joshua Stevens • The Ecology of the Lich by Richard Pett • The Ecology of the Maenar by Matthew Hanson • The Ecology of the Phantom Fungus by Scott Gable • The Ecology of the Retriever by Matthew Banach & Clinton J. Boomer • The Ecology of the Revenant by Joshua Stevens http://www.koboldquarterly.com/KQStore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=42