Dragon #374, MAGAZINES, Dragon Magazine
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ISSUE 374 | AprIl 2009
A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
®
ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT
TM
CONTENTS
Features
arCane CharaCters
By Matthew Sernett
Arcane Power
is out this month! Check out two cool builds using
content from the new book to recreate classic D&D characters.
12
12
the White Lotus aCademy
By Peter Schaefer
Many of the world’s best arcanists graduate from the White Lotus
Academy. Learn about this unique school, and the specialized
knowledge the students there are taught.
23
23
Get FamiLiar
By Logan Bonner
Familiars are back in the game, and while
Arcane Power
includes
several, we’ve got many unique familiars here. Floating skull?
Check! Ice mephit? Check!
34
Creature inCarnations: orCs
By Mike McNerney and Greg Bilsland
Who can’t use more orcs? Get your fill with this newest Creature
Incarnations.
34
5
5
CharaCter ConCepts:
41
CoLumns
41
eCoLoGy oF the deva
By Chris Sims
One of the newest races from
Player’s Handbook 2
is
explored here.
4
editoriaL
78
desiGn & deveLopment
By Logan Bonner and Stephen Radney-MacFarland
Explore the arcane in the newest Design & Development
column.
53
Court oF stars:
prinCe oF Frost
By Keith Baker
Dragon’s newest recurring series kicks off with the
epic archfey the Prince of Frost!
81
ConFessions oF a FuLL-time Wizard
By Shelly Mazzanoble
Shelly has more innovation for D&D. See what’s up her
sleeve as spring rolls around.
85
d&d aLumni
By Bart Carroll and Steve Winter
A look back at D&D through past editions.
53
65
pLaytest: hybrid CharaCters
Multiclassing is fine if you want to dip a toe in
another class, but the hybrid character system lets you
actually combine two classes. An exclusive playtest
opportunity from
Player’s Handbook 3
!
88
rpGa report
By Chris Tulach
The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn more
about how to get involved!
on the Cover
Illustration by Wayne Reynolds
91
ampersand
By Bill Slavicsek
Bill previews
Divine Power
, and discusses more of the
changes in store for D&D in 2009.
65
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
374
MULTIPLE CHARACTER
DR aGOn
March 2009
Editor-in-Chief Chris Youngs
DISORDER
Senior Art Director Stacy longstreet, Jon Schindehette
Web Specialist Chris Sims
I’m conf licted. Now that
Player’s Handbook 2
is out, I’ve started
looking at the character sheet for Deimos, my beloved tief ling
warlock, and wondering if he wouldn’t look a little more appeal-
ing if he were, say, a barbarian. Or an avenger. Or, God help me,
a bard.
I’ll admit it. I have
newcharacteritis
. I can’t stop thinking about
rolling up a new character. Playing a new character. Leveling up a
new character. And now that all the
PH2
data is in the Character
Builder, I’m doubly screwed. More options,
and
it’s easier to make
a character? Gah!
So I’ve been thinking a lot about how to get my new character
fix. I’ve danced around this topic a bit in a couple of editorials,
but I’ve given it more thought and I have some ideas. The first two
are pretty basic, and you’ll hear them from a lot of folks in the
office here.
Play More Games.
Yes, playing in more D&D games is
something we’d all like to do more of. But as we’ve said many
times, 4th Edition is easier to run than past editions and you have
dozens of adventure options to choose from at this point—there
just aren’t any more excuses. So start a new game, and at least
your friends will be able to get their new character fix. Heck,
maybe your new campaign can involve:
Round-Robin DMing.
Again, we’ve said this a lot. Whether
this is a new campaign or an established one, round-robin DMing
can be combined with new characters. That way, each DM has
a unique, unchanging group of PCs to deal with, and those PCs
always struggle against the same DM. Sounds fun, right? It is!
Alternatively, you could try my new favorite idea:
The Swap Out.
Build your campaign structure (or alter an
existing campaign) so that you swap out characters every few
levels. You could make the swap after each adventure or adven-
ture arc. Your existing character goes on the backburner for
some reason, while the JV team gets to step up. After a bit, you
swap back. You could have a number of in-game reasons for this
approach.
Geographic Swap:
Your different adventuring parties are actu-
ally in different parts of the world, but they’re working toward a
common goal. Maybe they’ll eventually meet up, and the two par-
ties can mingle and swap some members.
Time Swap:
Your two parties are at different points in the cam-
paign timeline. It would be like having one party adventuring
in an Eberron campaign during the last war with another in the
present day. Both groups could even be working toward similar
goals, in theme if nothing else. Or maybe some quirk of the cam-
paign means the timeline is in f lux, so the groups know they’re
working in tandem with other adventurers in a different part of
the time stream (think
Lost
). Wacky!
Multi-Group Free-for-All:
You run multiple groups all at same
time, pursuing different but related tasks. Think about the end
of Return of the Jedi, when one group is attacking the shield
generator and one is attacking the Death Star. You could set
up a situation where you run a second group during climactic
moments in a campaign, each helping contribute to an immedi-
ate, pressing, but distinct goal.
Superfriends:
This is my favorite idea. Each player has a stable
of heroes he or she can draw from for each adventure, kind of
like the Superfriends in the Hall of Justice. Each adventure, the
Hall sends out a different squad. Sometimes Superman, Wonder
Woman, Samurai, and the Flash. In the next, Batman, Green
Lantern, Cyborg, and El Dorado are on the case. The number of
PCs available is really unlimited. You could play someone new
each week!
If all else fails, you can always get your multiple character
fix by building a hybrid character. Using the playtest article for
Player’s Handbook 3
that comes out next Monday, you can wrap
the best of two classes in the body of one adventurer.
This might sound like heresy to campaign purists, but all
these ideas are options I’m considering for the next game I’m
involved in. If I don’t figure out a way to try out some of these new
character options soon, I’m never going to be prepared for
PH3
.
What about you? Have you found a fun and innovative way to
run multiple characters in the same cam-
paign? If so, let us know! Send your stories
to
.
Web Production Bart Carroll, Steve Winter
Graphic Design Bob Jordan, Breanne Miller
Contributing Authors Greg Bilsland, logan Bonner,
Shelly Mazzanoble, Mike
McNerney, Stephen
radney-MacFarland, peter
Schaefer, Matthew Sernett,
Chris Sims, Bill Slavicsek,
Chris Tulach
Developers
Stephen radney-MacFarland,
peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert,
Chris Sims, rodney Thompson
Editors Miranda Horner
Cover Artist Jp Targete
Contributing Artists Jamie Carrillo, Matt Cavotta,
Steve Ellis, Howard lyon,
Cr MacTernan, Marco Nelor,
William O’Connor, Wayne reynolds,
Eric l. Williams
Cartographers
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
CHARACTER CONCEPTS:
ARCANE OPTIONS
by Matthew Sernett
illustrations by Matt Cavotta
Whether you need a quick character for a pick-up
game or you’re looking for inspiration for your next
campaign, Character Concepts has what you need.
In this article, we’ll examine two ideas made more
feasible by the recent release of
Arcane Power.
The
first is the hellbound mage. Like Faust, the hell-
bound mage has made a bargain with the forces of
Hell for power. The second concept is the arcane
archer, a spellcaster who uses a bow to deliver
magic effects.
CLASS
Marissa has to be a warlock with the infernal pact.
Multiclassing is, of course, an option if some class
has a power that’s really on target for the theme,
but it’s likely Marissa can get all she needs from
being a warlock.
ABILITY SCORES
Marissa needs a high Constitution, something not
easy to achieve given her thematic race choice. For
secondary abilities, Marissa should emphasize Cha-
risma and Intelligence. This gives Marissa a good
ability score in all the defense pairings and helps
out when the occasional power provides a benefit
based on one of those secondary abilities. Charisma
makes a good choice for the second high ability
score thanks to infernal wrath from being a tief ling,
but the
infernal pact
often provides a benefit based on
Intelligence modifier. Marissa’s ability scores there-
fore look like this:
MARISSA THE
HELLBOUND MAGE
Both the tief ling race and warlock class suggest
the idea of characters who have made a Faustian
bargain, but playing a character that has signed
over her soul can be a challenge. Maybe your DM
will let you play an evil character, or maybe your
character has good intentions but can’t resist temp-
tation. Whichever way you decide to go, here’s
every step that paves the road to Hell.
sCore
abiLity
sCore
abiLity
sCore
abiLity
str
deX
Wis
10
16
11
13
14
*
strength
dexterity
int
Wisdom
Cha
RACE
Due to the race’s origin story, Marissa is a tief ling, but
the concept works just fine with other races. Mechani-
cally, half-elf makes a good choice, while thematically
a human tempted by power or a deva destined to
become a rakshasa both seem like a lot of fun.
Con
Constitution
16
*
intelligence
Charisma
* Bonuses for race included.
TM & © 2008 Wizards of the Coast, LLC. All rights reserved.
April 2009
|
DRaGOn 374
5
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