Dragon Magazine #372.pdf

ISSUE 372 | FEbrUary 2009

A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ® ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE 371 | JanUary 2009

CONTENTS

Features

5 Playing shadar-kai

By Chris Sims

Learn about playing a member of one of the Shadowfell’s most

compelling races.

16 secrets oF the city entombed

By Matthew Sernett

Rahesh, the long-dead capital of a lost empire ruled by undead, has

been unearthed. Now the Scholars of Sin study the city’s ancient

necromantic secrets—for better or for worse

25 deities & demigods: bane

By Ari Marmell

This new recurring feature introduces the followers of Bane—and

their dark master. What does it mean to worship Bane, and how do

non-evil followers reconcile their beliefs with those of this deity?

37 masters oF the Planes

By Robert J. Schwalb

What are your character’s ambitions? To become one with the force

of the storm? To rule in Hell? These and other planar epic destinies

can be yours.

columns

46 backdroP: tarmalune

By Ed Greenwood

Explore this bustling city on the continent of

Returned Abeir in the Forgotten Realms.

4 editorial

69 design & develoPment

By James Wyatt

James talks about the half-orc and gnome—why they

didn’t make the cut for the Player’s Handbook, but why

they’re back for PH2 !

74 conFessions oF a Full-time Wizard

By Shelly Mazzanoble

Shelly wants a job in R&D, and she’s going to get it.

78 d&d alumni

By Bart Carroll and Steve Winter

A look back at D&D through past editions.

81 rPga rePort

By Chris Tulach

The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn more

about how to get involved!

60 delving into dungeon delve

By Matthew Sernett

Dungeon Delve arrives on shelves soon, and if you’re

not sure if this book is for you, check out this article.

It will give you plenty of unique ways to use this new

book to add variety to your game.

on the cover

Illustration by Steve Prescott

83 amPersand

By Bill Slavicsek

Bill previews another upcoming release, and discusses

more of the changes in store for D&D in 2009.

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

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

EDIToRIAL

372

BUILD THEM AND

Dr agon

February 2009

Editor-in-Chief Chris youngs

GAMES WILL COME

Senior Art Director Jon Schindehette

Web Specialist Chris Sims

Web Production bart Carroll, Steve Winter

If you don’t visit the D&D site except to read these

awesome editorials, you might have missed a big

moment for D&D Insider last week. We launched the

Character Builder last Monday, January 26. This is the

full version for characters of levels 1–30, provided

you’re a subscriber.

That’s changed now. As we’ve said elsewhere, DMing

4th Edition is easier than in any other edition of D&D.

We do more of the work for you than ever before,

and monsters and encounters are sweetly simple to

adjudicate. Plus, the system gives you unprecedented

freedom to make changes and decisions that suit your

game—you’re enabled, not constrained. Heck, one of

our regular columnists, Shelly Mazzanoble, just ran

the game for her parents recently (they’d never even

cracked open a rulebook), and it was only the second

game she’d ever run.

Graphic Design bob Jordan, breanne Miller

Contributing Authors bart Carroll, Ed Greenwood,

ari Marmell, Shelly Mazzanoble,

robert J. Schwalb, Matthew

Sernett, Chris Sims,bill

Slavicsek, Chris Tulach, Steve

So there it is. I already transferred all my regular

character data for one campaign to the CB , and I’ll do

the same for my second character in a couple months

when Player’s Handbook 2 is out. You know, because

I’m playing a shaman, which you can preview by click-

ing here .

Winter, James Wyatt

Developers

Stephen radney-MacFarland,

Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert,

rodney Thompson

So what’s this to do with the Character Builder ? Well

now that you’ve got all these spare characters sitting

around, make a deal with your group that you should

all start taking turns behind the screen. If you volun-

teer to take first alternate DMing shift, you can coax

another player into following behind you. If you want

to keep it really simple, grab a copy of Dungeon Delve

in a few weeks to get started, and just run a few delve

sessions. Get enough rotating DMs in, and before you

know it, those characters won’t just be gathering dust.

There’s just no better way to play more than to run

more.

Editors Miranda Horner

Cover Artist Steve Prescott

While I was making my character the other night,

I started to get a familiar itch—and not one you can

solve with medication. No, this was the character

creation itch. I like to build D&D characters. The

Character Builder makes doing this easier, but when

you’re done with all these characters, you’re still lim-

ited by the number of games you’re playing. And that

brings me to my main point this month.

Contributing Artists Steve argyle, Drew baker,

Steve Ellis, Jason a. Engle,

William O’Connor, Chris Seaman,

John Stanko, Eric L. William,

Cartography Sean Macdonald

Web Development

Mark a. Jindra

D&D Creative Manager

Christopher Perkins

I’ve talked in past editorials about giving DMing a

try. But I want to give you the encouragement again. I

used to be a confirmed player. I didn’t have an interest

in running a game, unless doing so was the only way

I could play. Even then, I was constantly looking for

someone to pass the reins to. It wasn’t until 3rd Edi-

tion that I became genuinely interested in running a

long-term game. But even then, I did it more out of a

sense of responsibility to my job and less because I felt

like it was fun. I played in two other campaigns, and

loved it. But DMing? It never felt like it was for me.

Executive Producer,

What’s been your favorite aspect of the Character

Builder so far? I’m partial to not having to do any math,

but I also enjoyed being able to add custom elements

to my character throughout the process. So what about

you? And what was the first character you built? Send

us your class, race, and level to dndinsider@wizards.

com . We’d love to hear from you!

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, Jeremy Crawford, rob

Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Julia Martin, Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, David

noonan, Stephen radney-MacFarland, Peter Schaefer, Stephen

Schubert, Chris Sims, rodney Thompson, rob Watkins, James Wyatt

SHADAR-KAI

PLAYING

by Chris Sims

illustrations by Steve Prescott,

Chris Seaman & John Stanko

Cold of heart and dark of eye, passion burns still within

these people of shadow and deep winter.

RACIAL TRAITS

average height: 5’7”–6’

average Weight: 110–170 lb.

ability scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence

size: Medium

speed: 6 squares

vision: Low-light

languages: Common, choice of one other

skill bonuses: +2 acrobatics, +2 Stealth

shadow origin: your ancestors were native to the

Shadowfell, so you are considered a shadow creature

for the purpose of effects that relate to creature

origin.

Winterkin: Due to your connection to the raven

Queen, you gain a +1 racial bonus to your Fortitude

defense. you also gain a +2 racial bonus to death

saving throws and saving throws against the

unconscious condition.

shadow Jaunt: you can use shadow jaunt as an

encounter power.

February 2009 | Dragon 372

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