I completely agree that the Death Knight ecology was in uninspiring.

I was actually surprised to read your comments on the ecology article after having read it myself. Looking back on it now, I do have to admit it to remembering that it was poorly written and repetitive, but I was surprised by your appraisal as a "dud" because I finished the article having genuinely enjoyed it. I probably enjoyed it because it was inspiring, and I was thinking about death knights in my game the whole time rather than focusing on the specifics of the article. The article might not be something I'd pay to read, given its craftsmanship, but the ideas in it hit home with me.

I suppose you can't comment further, though, least Matthew Sernett find the journal -- professional courtesy and all that.

Okay this has nothing to do with your post...but do you think Heidi is old enough to like clambering around on inflatable slides and bouncy things and chowing birthday cake? Fenris's birthday is coming up at Pump it Up, and even really little dudes and dudettes seem to have a blast there. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send details. It's going to be Friday, October 19th. I think. OH and Fenris loves littler kids, and he's super-sweet to them. Unless they are his brother.

Have to agree on the Ecology. It came across as more of a preview/ad for 4th ed rather than an actual article on Death Knights - I can't see it having much re-use value once the new edition is released. And the perspective issues on the main piece of art made me cringe. And in general terms, the "3.Xe was slow and silly and cumbersome and crap!" angle that is getting worked into every single 4e preview article is beginning to become more than a little wearing...

While on the subject of periodicals - I bought issue 2 of KQ yesterday. As far as feedback goes: I really liked the paladin variant class features variant and the honorary aristocrat levels rule, I didn't find the interview or the Ed Greenwood article particularly useful, and while I haven't done any playtesting, the assassin base class (and I do agree one was needed to replace the spellcasting version in the DMG) seems at a glance to be considerably overpowered as written (and the possibility of having a PC die due to a single botched 'assassinate' roll is something I wouldn't allow anywhere near my table - that stuff is for playing out). Belphegor was interesting, flavoursome, and well-written, but not something that I can see myself actually using a great deal during a game. The cover picture was nothing short of great, and is now my official monster art next time I need to show my players what a nightwing looks like.

I bought the issue for the ecology, since they're one of my favourite critters and a cabal of class-levelled greater barghests who prey on godlings and other powerful outsiders will be replacing the ur-priests in Scuttlecove when my Savage Tide campaign reaches that point. Mixed bag, really. Some of the background was wonderfully evocative, and the new feats add an entire new dimension to the creature, but the article as a whole is aimed, for obvious reasons, at lower-level characters than I plan to be using it against (not a criticism, just an observation), and the art style wasn't to my taste. There are a few editing mistakes too, particularly in the sample character description (size contradiction between the stat block and the fluff text, reference to a 'Great Hunt' that seems as if it should have been detailed elsewhere in the article, the odd grammatical error).

All up, worth the (cheap!) price, but not absolutely compelling. I'll probably buy at least some future issues, conditional on whether the content of a specific issue is useful to my campaign.

Oh, I don't know that the Ecology article was that bad. I've certainly seen equally (un-)inspiring articles in printed issues. And the clickable and very large images were a huge plus. I could easily see myself creating an ever-growing image bank if Dragon continues doing that.

As for the lack of quality in the article, I would have liked to see a feat or three. Another special ability. A magic item. And some clues on how to fight a death knight and how to run one. But I chalk that up to everybody at WotC being so focused on 4e that they've forgotten there's still a system to support for the next year.

And THAT is the real shame of it.

Hope the little one gets to feeling better.

And fall here is still in the mid eighties!

Time to curl up with an ablative coating of paper, and rustle the pages until spring.

You must be some kind of writer guy, with all those pretty words. :-)

While I live near the ocean, cetaceans are not on my list of "likely pets". :)

You're just making my quest harder, but I will not be stopped!!!1!

:P

Here's the link for other very high quality seals (and sealing wax), also by Atelier Gargoyle:

http://www.ateliergargoyle.com/pages/sealgallery1.html

I'm waiting for Red Sails Under Red Skies to come out in standard paperback format so I can carry it to work, but The Lies of Locke Lamora, also by Scott Lynch, is the best fantasy novel I've read in quite some time. Highly recommended!