Dragon Magazine #375, Dragon
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ISSUE 375 | May 2009
A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
®
ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT
TM
CONTENTS
Features
15
5
Keepers oF the Celestian order
By Matthew Sernett
Entities of the Far Realms are always seeking a way into the mortal
realm, and the members of the Celestian Order help keep them at
bay. Learn more about the order, along with new powers and other
character resources that help them combat this threat.
15
Game transparenCy
By Andy Collins
This article will help all DMs learn when and why to embrace
transparency over secrecy when it comes to many of the game’s
behind-the-scenes elements.
21
21
playtest: monK
By Rob Heinsoo and Mike Mearls
Another exclusive D&D Insider playtest opportunity! Get a first
look at the monk from
Player’s Handbook 3
, and send us your
feedback on the new class.
the Font oF sorrows
By Robert J. Schwalb
Long ago, a lord of fallen Nerath sacrificed his own child rather
than see him die to demon hordes. For this sin, Graefmotte was
born, and a new dark lord created.
34
5
34
dom ains oF dr e ad : Gr aeFmot te ,
77
Columns
77
Gontal: dominions oF nehu
By Bruce R. Cordell
Once a primordial bastion on Abeir, this fragmented
realm was destroyed when its master was thrown
down.
4
editorial
106
expeditionary dispatChes
By Andrew Schneider
Most lightning rail voyages are uneventful, but one run
near the Mournland holds surprises for its passengers.
113
desiGn & development: the monK
By Mike Mearls and Stephen Schubert
Explore the ins and outs of the monk’s design.
115
de s iG n & de v elopm en t:
85
playtest: hybrid CharaCters
We’ve updated the hybrid character rules based on
your feedback. Check out the changes here!
hybrid CharaCters
By Andy Collins
Andy discusses the changes to the bybrid character rules.
85
117
ConFessions oF a Full-time wizard
By Shelly Mazzanoble
Shelly “designed” a new familiar. Check out the results!
on the Cover
Illustration by Ralph Horsley
122
d&d alumni
By Bart Carroll and Steve Winter
A look back at D&D through past editions.
125
rpGa report
By Chris Tulach
The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn more
about how to get involved!
127
ampersand
By Bill Slavicsek
Bill discusses more of the changes in store for D&D in 2009.
106
Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Eberron,
D
u n g e o n
,
D
r a g o n
, d20, d20 System, Wizards of the Coast, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their
respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., in the U.S.a. and other countries.
This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of america. any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is
prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product is a work of fiction. any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events
is purely coincidental. Printed in the U.S.a. ©2008 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. For more Dungeons & Dragons articles, adventures, and information, visit www.wizards.
com/dnd
TM
EDITORIAL
375
PLAYERS 1,
Dr agon
May 2009
DUNGEON MASTERS 1
Editor-in-Chief Chris youngs
Senior Art Director Jon Schindehette
Web Specialist Chris Sims
Dragon
and
Dungeon
have been ticking along for many
years now, with only a few editorial direction changes to
speak of, most of them to do with D&D edition changes.
Dungeon
has traditionally offered D&D adventures,
while
Dragon
has been the place to go for all sorts of DM-
and player-focused articles related to the D&D game. As
someone who recently passed the ten-year benchmark
working on D&D (most of it on these magazines), I’m
very respectful of the magazines’ legacy, as is the rest
of Wizards of the Coast. Even with the transition to a
digital format, the content—and more important to this
discussion, where it lived—remained the same.
But now, we have a year of 4th Edition under our
belts, and we’ve taken a good, hard look at the magazines
and the content we release. In a few months (we’re not
ready to talk about specific dates yet), we’re going to refo-
cus the content of
Dragon
and
Dungeon
with the goal of
giving players and DMs exciting and useful 4th Edition
material in a clear-cut, intuitive way. In the new world
order,
Dragon
will become the hub for all your player
needs, and
Dungeon
will become the hub for all your DM
needs.
In addition to presenting D&D adventures of vary-
ing lengths as well as DM advice columns such as
“Dungeoncraft” and “Save My Game,”
Dungeon
will
also include recurring features for DMs that have
traditionally been under
Dragon
’s aegis. Ecologies,
Demonomicons, Bestiaries—they’ve been in
Dragon
because they’ve always been there, but not because they
should
be.
Dragon
will, in turn, retain its player-focused general
features, and we’ll begin a monthly series of meaty fea-
ture articles that home in on individual classes. These
features will be aimed at giving players new tools and
exciting options for their characters, and we’ll run sev-
eral of them each month. This means players of every
class will be able to find multiple articles dedicated to
improving their experience at the table.
This change represents a shift in how we organize our
content—something that will be easy to explain to new
players while still preserving the breadth of material
readers are accustomed to seeing. Such a change (
Dun-
geon
for DMs,
Dragon
for players) has been discussed
for years, dating back to the early days of 3rd Edition,
but never carried out for a multitude of reasons. Chief
among them was the concern over what would happen
to the
Dragon
subscription and sales numbers once there
was no longer any reason for DMs to buy it.
Dragon
was
always the more popular magazine, since it appealed to
DMs and players alike. At least one person at the table
each month would find something of interest. But now
that the magazines both come with one subscription,
that reason has gone the way of the gorbel.
It sounds like a bigger deal than it really is, because
the only place you’ll see a difference is in your monthly
compilations or in our online archives. This shift mimics
a core 4th Edition goal we’ve already applied to print
and accessory products, which strive to clearly describe
whether they’re intended for DM or player use. Just as
you won’t see paragon paths in a
Dungeon Master’s Guide
or world-building information in a
Player’s Handbook,
all
subscribers will clearly know what they’re getting when
they download
Dragon
or
Dungeon
content.
What this does
not
mean is a reduction in the over-
all volume of content each month. If anything, we’ll be
bringing you
more
exclusive content as a
D&D Insider
. All
your favorites will still be around, and we’ll continue to
listen to your input as well. We’ll have more information
on our ever-evolving content plans in the coming weeks,
but this is my big announcement for the month. Check
back with us again soon for more
D&D Insider
news.
Web Production Bart Carroll, Steve Winter
Graphic Design Leon Cortez
Contributing Authors Bart Caroll, andy Collins,
Bruce R. Cordell, Rob Heinsoo,
Shelly Mazzanoble, Mike Mearls,
andrew Schneider, Stephen
Schubert, Robert J. Schwalb,
Matthew Sernett, Bill Slavicsek,
Chris Tulach, Steve Winter
Developers
Stephen Radney-MacFarland,
Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert,
Chris Sims, Rodney Thompson
Editors Jeremy Crawford, Miranda Horner
Cover Artist Ralph Horsley
Contributing Artists Kerem Beyit, Concept art House,
Steve Ellis, Jason a. Engle,
Chuck Lucaks, William O’Connor,
amanda Sartor, Eric L. Williams
Cartographers
Jason a. Engle, Sean Macdonald
Web Development
Mark a. Jindra
D&D Creative Manager
Christopher Perkins
Executive Producer,
D&D Insider
Ken Troop
Director of RPG R&D
Bill Slavicsek
Special Thanks
Richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Logan Bonner, Michele Carter,
Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell, Torah Cottrill,
Jeremy Crawford, Mike Donais, Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee,
Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, Cal Moore, Stephen Radney-MacFarland,
Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Matthew Sernett,
Rodney Thompson, Rob Watkins, James Wyatt
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to drop
us a line at
. We’d love to hear
from you.
KEEPERS OF THE
CELESTIAN ORDER
S
by Matthew Sernett
Illustrations by Kerem Beyit
Some secrets you should learn only when you’re ready,
and some exist that none should know. Surely the
world and the planes hold such hidden and dangerous
truths, but no place holds so many as the mysterious
Far Realm, and no creatures bear so much perilous
knowledge as its denizens. Many who learn of the Far
Realm go mad. Others taste its foulness and hunger
for more, no doubt due to a madness already within
them. Yet some who wade into a shallow understand-
ing of the place beyond space stand irm at the shores
of its unfathomable depths. The greatest among them
would halt the tide of wrongness from that place,
though all its evils might crash against them in end-
less waves. These are the members of the Celestian
Order, and they are the light of the world.
Be they heroes, scoundrels, or those who hide true vil-
lainy in their hearts, the members of the Celestian Or-
der serve to protect the world from the dangers of the
Far Realm and from the knowledge that would open
more paths to that terrible place. As an organization,
they put no faith in the gods who control the world,
and they despise its primordial creators who would
destroy it. Instead, they ally themselves with myriad
primal spirits, because despite the numerous motives
such spirits have, they all oppose the alien inluence of
the Far Realm.
This article presents an organization and cam-
paign arc concept for your game to dovetail with the
idea of the primal power source expressed in
Player’s
Handboo
k
®
2. In addition, it provides several powers
for the
Player’s Handbook
®
classes that can help to give
those PCs a thematic connection to the primal power
source or the goals of the Celestian Order. Think of
TM & © 2009 Wizards of the Coast LLC all rights reserved.
May 2009
|
Dragon 375
5
5
May 2009
|
Dragon 375
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