Pyramid #3/36: Dungeon Fantasy

[Kromm]

For scary dungeons:
Saints, mystic swords and arrows,
And lots of KA-BOOM

— Some hack

The latest from e23 is Pyramid #3/36: Dungeon Fantasy, which of course supports . . . GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. What does "support" mean? Let us count the ways!

• There was a time when every other fantasy supplement featured angry-looking, tattooed dwarves laden with anachronistic technology. The Demolisher gives you inked-up stumpies with the means to blow up the dungeon, ensuring that this supplement is just as cool as those ones! We can't have a KA-BOOM gap, after all.
  
  
• GURPS Powers: Divine Favor mentioned that its powerful system of miracles could be dropped into a classic fantasy game, but only now has that vision been realized! Dungeon Saints not only reworks the cleric and holy warrior into paragons, it adds a ton of new miracles – including Evil ones! – and reworks Auras of Power (from Pyramid #3/19) into learned prayers.
  
  
• If The Demolisher didn't add enough KA-BOOM to your Dungeon Fantasy, try The Musketeer. Using a completely different take on gunpowder (a bit more technology-driven and potent), this delver wields muskets, pistols, and rifles to lay his enemies low in a smoky haze. And when he runs out of ammo, he's not above a little pistol-whipping.
  
  
• Eidetic Memory rarely fails to spark the imagination, and The Horrific Dungeon is no exception. Learn how David turned a simple dungeon crawl into a nightmare from beyond – and how you can do the same.
  
  
• Why should mystic knights (Pyramid #3/13) get all the fun? Powering-Up: Imbuements shows how to add these versatile skills to any template without stepping on anyone's toes! With new modifiers for Imbue, a new Enhancement Skill, list after list of which Imbuements fit each class, and a couple of new lenses (mystic archer and mystic swordsman), this crunchy piece does all the work for you.
  
  
• Historically Rich Dungeons helps the GM answer questions, like "What did this place used to be?" and "What it was built on?" Why? Because layers upon layers of history mean layers upon layers of dungeon. Different layers. Interesting layers! Done right, your players will feel like they explored half a dozen dungeons in a single crawl, each more exciting than the last! You get all this and a random-generation system, for the time-crunched GM.
  
  
• All Charged Up Over Magic Items is short and sweet, like the lifespan of the artifacts it describes. Even world-shaking items can be balanced when they run on batteries . . .
  
  
• And we didn't omit the stuff you can count on in every issue, including a Random Thought Table that explores the dungeon fantasy-board games link and the dungeon fantasy-gonzo craziness link; an Odds and Ends that looks at practical issues with certain dungeons; and a Murphy's Rules that explains a lot about the current political situation (wherever you are).

— Rev. Pee Kitty & Kromm

[Kromm]

Yes, that's tag-team pimpage. Since PK was the issue's production reviewer, he got to describe most of the stuff I didn't write. I shamelessly promoted my own articles, edited things a little, and added hasty framing text and terrible haiku. Please let us know whether you like this kind of detailed review more or less than the really short ones I posted in the past. By which I mean, of course, "Does this level of detail make the issue look more tempting?"

[Bruno]

I like this format quite a lot, but my native enthusiasm for DF in general and this entire issue in particular may be colouring that opinion :)

[Rasputin]

Who woulda thunk that the system that allows for any genre, anywhere, with roleplaying to the Nth degree, would attract so many folks who want to have characters who meet in a tavern, go into a dungeon and whack indescribable (and often undescribed other than Hit Points) monsters?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I like this format quite a lot, but my native enthusiasm for DF in general and this entire issue in particular may be colouring that opinion :)

This. I think I like the format, but there's limited need for you to pimp something I'm already a john for. Or something.

That said, I always felt Pyramid was done an injustice with the lack of a haiku.

[Refplace]

I was considering getting this from what I read in the New Release page but reading this one got my to do it. If I don't have lunch money tomorrow I wont hate you though :)

Reading it now. Finished Demoloshers and I like them better then I thought I would. Working on Saints now and I expect to like and use that.

[jblalock77]

I definitely find this sort of preview appealing.

[tg_ambro]

I like the Krommbo (get it!) approach much more. The detailed reviews have lead me to pick up books I wouldn't have before, because, like most people, if you perform the old Madison Avenue "This will make your life better -here's why!" trick, I respond very well. And, I've always had a very soft spot (like the top of a baby's head) for Haiku, which probably stems from a mispent youth of writing bad haiku.

[Kalzazz]

I quite like it!

However, one thing . . . . how to combine disposable and rechargeable spellstones?

I like the normal 'one shot its gone' spellstones, but I also like the cool new rechargeable item ones to!

Any ideas how to combine these two cool things in same game?

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

That said, I always felt Pyramid was done an injustice with the lack of a haiku.

I killed some monsters
I found a +3 broadsword
I earned a level