Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Preview: Dragon #418

It's been a while since I last plugged something new from Dragon or DungeonWizards has for whatever reason, went back to publishing all their articles in one complete document instead of releasing individual articles throughout the month. For blogging purposes I liked being able to pick out specific topics when they became available. Now it's like the old days when I had to wait a month, buy the issue (yes folks you still a D&DI subscription) and then skim for that one part useful to me. Anyhow, looking at the preview of the articles for Dragon #418  I am rather intrigued by some of their entries:

Editorial: King of the Monsters
By Stan!
This month’s theme — Doom & Gloom — is brought to you by the tarrasque.
 
(Ah yes! Who doesn't like the Tarrasque? I smell some old school topics coming...)
 
The End Is Nigh!
By Dennis Johnson
Meet the new and improved tarrasque and its twisted cult following.
 
(Hm, has there been a 4th Ed version of the Tarrasque yet? How do you make it new and improved? I need to know! And a Tarrasque cult? I got some ideas for that....)
 
Backdrop: Hochoch
By Claudio Pozas
The beleaguered town of Hochoch is the last, best hope for the Grand Duchy of Geoff, but it needs a few good adventurers.
 
(Claudio, you rock! Keep the Greyhawk standard high!)
 
History Check: The Tarrasque
By Jeff LaSala
Learn the secrets of this primordial, party-eating monstrosity.
 
(So much Tarrasque in one issue, gotta love it.)
 
Ye Olde Creature Catalogue
By Tim Eagon
Behold four monsters plucked from the Palace of the Silver Princess, the halls of Castle Amber, and other classic dungeons.
 
(I like the name of this column. Amber and the Palace are not specifically Greyhawkian, but I'd bet one of the other two featured in this interesting will be.)
 
Wondrous Weavings: Tapestries of Power
By Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
Deck the halls with the finest magic tapestries money can buy.
 
(Nothing exactly old school or Greyhawk here, I just like magic tapestries.)
 
That's it. I'll keep an eye on how this issue turns out, until next time Merry Needfest!

Update 05/09/2021: Updated link to issue 418, now available at DMsGuild.
 

9 comments:

Darva said...

No offense to Claudio, but he has zero GH credentials. I'll check out the article, but I'm not getting overly excited.

Mike Bridges said...

You have a point Darva. When I saw Claudio's name 'artist' always pops in my head first. I've no idea what he's done outside that, so yes, we will see.

Mystic Scholar said...

Tapestries and flying carpets. You forgot your penchant for flying carpets!

Hehehehehehehehe

Unknown said...

Excellent, my players are operating out of Hochoch right now.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I'm a regular DDI subscriber, and usually read the Dragon articles in order to convert the material back to 3.5 D&D.

That said, I have been fairly impressed with Claudio's writing. He's putting together an impressive resume of material with WotC, both in the ezines and some of the actual 4e books.

But, as a Gyruff fangirl from the LG days, I'll be happy to just see a canon map of Hochoch!

delete/edit/repost to fix a dumb typo :)

Unknown said...

Oh, and by the way, Mort. I added Greyhawkery to the blogroll at my new GH blog, Songs of the Sheldomar:

http://songsofthesheldomar.blogspot.com/

Hope to send you a little traffic at least, there's far too few GH related blogs that update regularly!

Darva said...

I found this, from Claudio Pozas himself, on facebook:

"Hochoch is getting the spotlight for the first time. I went through not only the The Liberation of Geoff and the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer, but much further back (all the way back to the 83 boxed set and Against the Cult of the Reptile God), to get the "clearest" look at Hochoch, its environs, the look of Geoffites and the weather in the region.

I am eager to see what Greyhawk fans think of the article (and no, there's no tarrasque in it). Mike Schley did the map, and he seems pretty excited about it too!"


Sounds promising! Glad to see he did his homework in researching the article.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/145589585501508/permalink/442137372513393/?comment_id=442227589171038&offset=0&total_comments=23

Mike Bridges said...

Amber, Darva, thanks for the input! :D