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At a Glance
So this has undoubtedly been done before, by various people, but this is my list. I don’t anticipate completing it… ever… because there are simply too many articles and I have plenty of books to go through too. However, I am going to start, and add things as I come across them. With that strategy in mind, this is probably not going to be organized.
General Notes
Someone should index all the Sage Advice answers, and link them to the descrptions of game mechanics, in an html environment so that the relevant answers would be readily available to anyone looking at a mechanic. The SRD could be an obvious choice, but I’m thinking they probably don’t pay the SRD guy enough. Since they don’t pay me anything, it’s totally logical for me to be contemplating this.
Dragon #359
This was the last issue of Dragon Magazine that was printed on tangible paper and mailed out to subscribers.
- The Top 10 Issues of Dragon. According to the editors, and in order from 1 to 10, they are #75, #76, #318, #336, #3, #72, #127, #315, #298, and #116. So I guess, if you’re only going to get 10 issues of Dragon, you should get these. I think my choices would be different, from a Realmsian perspective, but that’s a list I can’t write until I finish this summary of useful articles… which, as discussed above, will be Never.
- Unsolved Mysteries of D&D. This is a pretty awesome behind-the-scenes look at some unanswered questions. It starts with Eberron, which is meh. The Forgotten Realms answers provided here include the following gems. Ed Greenwood is not Elminster, and “Abeir-Toril” was coined by Jeff Grubb. Not exactly deep stuff, but okay. There’s also stuff on Greyhawk, Planescape, and Ravenloft, followed by what I think is the more interesting section: The Metagame. This section lists several things that were written and never published, including A Guide to the Cage (for Planescape), The Shores of Dusk (a Drizzt novel by Mark Anthony instead of R. A. Salvatore), and City of Sin (planned to build on Book of Exalted Deeds and Book of Vile Darkness). This section also exposes the truth of Richard Awlinson and T. H. Lain, pen names used for the Avatar series of Forgotten Realms novels and a series of 10 books that developed the “iconic” characters of the game. Then there’s Missing Persons, which notes the disappearances of David Trampier (writer/artist of the Wormy cartoon that appeared in Dragon magazine until 1988) and Carl Sargent (author of some Greyhawk sourcebooks). No answers are provided for their whereabouts, but they’re not dead. So that’s cool.
- Time Dragon: A Wyrm for the Ages. The time dragon is an epic dragon, like the force dragon and prismatic dragon in the Epic Level Handbook. A great wyrm is CR 90. Good luck with that.
- Demononicon of Iggwilv: Apocrypha. This adds several “minor” demon lords to the series.
- 1d20 Villains. This is another top-ten list, this time of villains. They are Meepo, Lord of Blades, Manshoon, Eli Tomorast, Kyuss, Artemis Entreri, Dragotha, Tharizdun, Eclavdra, Acererak, Iuz, Graz’zt, Iggwilv, Orcus, Lord Soth, Demogorgon, Vecna, Lolth, Tiamat, and Count Strahd Von Zarovich. Ah well, at least two are from the Realms.
- Treasures of Greyhawk: Magic of the Company of Seven. The Seven were Heward, Keoghtom, Murlynd, Nolzur, Quaal, Tasha, and Zagyg. This article presents some new magical items.
- Goodbye and Hello, as Always: One last evening with the Wizards Three. Seems shorter and less a rollicking read than I remember, but I’ll take what I can get.
- Elminster Versus Raistlin. This is a stupid concept, and it’s a little annoying to see it indulged, but at least they’re both declared victors. This is not even a remotely useful article, but I seem to be in the habit at this point of jotting down a couple words about every article.
- The Ecology of the Tarrasque. I want to do something with the tarrasque, but I haven’t yet decided what. So this might be useful.
- Demon Days. This is part of the Savage Tidings series, with which I have not kept up.
- Volo’s Guide: Myth Drannor, City of Song. Volo traipses through the refounded city of Myth Drannor, in Marpenoth of 1375 DR.
- Dragonmarks: Echoes of the Mourning. This is an Eberron article.
- Class Acts. Body Modifications is pretty self-explanatory, and has some potential. Wizard Guide has a bunch of useful clarifications/updates for wizards. Forgotten Faiths suggests some little-known deities. The Universal Key describes various tools you can use to get into things someone wants to keep you out of. Arcane Lore Abilities outlines some new feats.
Dragon #358
- Core Beliefs: Saint Cuthbert. I know, Cuthbert isn’t a Realms god, but as soon as I read the first line of this article, I knew that Cuthbert and Tyr are the same power. “Saint Cuthbert is the curmudgeon of the gods of Oerth— set in his ways, certain he knows best, and quick to gripe about the shortcomings of others.” So a lot of this may be relevant to Tyr’s faith, at least in my campaign.
- Master’s Forge. A bunch of item qualities (acid washed, deceptive, folded metal, etc).
- Checkmate! Presents a set of constructs useful for extraplanar wizard chess games. I may not use this, but ya never know. It could make for a fun Alice in Wonderland side trek.
- The Ecology of the Kaorti.
- The River Styx. Information on what a successful Knowledge check will tell you about various parts of the Abyss.
- Volo’s Guide: War Upon the Sands. A few updates on Mulhorand and Unther. Not really much of a Volo’s Guide (nothing wrong with it; it just should have used a different name) and it follows WotC’s lead rather than mine, but if that’s where you want the Old Empires to go then this could be good reading.
- Class Acts. Beyond Kung-Fu presents some alternate monk progressions… this looks like a variation I definitely want to include in my games. Arcane Feats lists several feats likely to interest arcane casters. Aztec Mythos IV (earlier installments in Dragon #352, 354, and 356) talks about sun gods of Aztec mythology. Psionic Alchemy describes some new substances. Paladin Guide outlines various aspects of playing paladins.
- Order of the Stick, on the last page, is pretty sad.
Dragon #340
This issue is all about the sun, moon, and stars. Neat stuff!
- A brief table of contents for The Wizards Three appeared in the letters section. Check out issues #185, 188, 196, 200, 211, 219, 238, 242, 246, and 344, the last being a special reappearance for the 30th anniversary issue.
- Two articles on astrology/astronomy. They include several 3rd edition feats and magic items and astrological organizations and house rule ideas, plus a Profession (Astrology) skill and a Master Astrologist prestige class, finishing with a sample Master Astrologer. Work on adapting this for the Realms.
- Two articles about solar and lunar stuff, again including new rule ideas, feats, spells, deities, organizations, etc.
- The Ecology of the Mooncalf.
- Wormfood: Making an Entrance is about uh… making an entrance. Things you can do to prepare for important meetings/audiences which will make a good impression on the mucky-mucks. Proper attire, baths & scents, heralds, etc. I definitely plan to incorporate this into my games.
- Bazaar of the Bizarre: Items of the Zodiac. Magical items related to the stars theme.
- The Twilight Codex. Spells related to the moon and stars.
- Class Acts. Opportunists turns some roguish abilities into general feats; this allows, for instance, fighters to take Backstab as a fighter bonus feat… overpowered much? Starcasters presents some backgrounds related to the overall astrology theme. Schools of Faith lists cleric spells from the PH by their school of magic. Ritual Markings adds some game effects for scarification… basically bonuses/penalties to Diplomacy and Intimidate skill checks.
- Nodwick. Classic. The wand of everything… abracapocalypse!
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