ISSUE 394 | DEcEmbEr 2010 A Dungeons & Dragons ® Roleplaying Game Supplement ® Contents Features 5 the Executioner Assassin 42 Bazaar of the Bizarre By Rodney Thompson By Matt Sernett Assassins embrace shadow magic and pledge a shard of their souls to the Who knows when a thing thought to exist only in the mind of bards might Shadowfell to gain their power. We’re pleased to present all 30 levels of the leap into the lives of those around it as readily as any story might fire their executioner assassin! imaginations? Such is the case with these four legendary items. 25 totems of the Far Realm 48 reFlavoring Powers By Jim Auwaerter and Galen Mullins By David Gibson Throughout the world, there are those who find themselves touched by Every power comes with its own flavor text that describes how the power the Far Realm. Most fight back and try to reject it, but the Aberrant Soul looks when it’s used. Those descriptions aren’t set in stone; players can embraces it to create a totemic link with an aberrant creature. customize them for the theme of the character or feel of the campaign. 33 channel Divinity: Corellon 51 class Acts: RunePriests By Robert J. Schwalb By Robert J. Schwalb Corellon is the originator of arcane magic, having seeded its power in the Among the many relics left from the Dawn War are the terrifying Runes of world. It is said he himself planted the first forests, and the most ancient Unmaking, which the gods locked secreted away to protect mortals. Such woods still bear his mark in the towering trees. power never stays hidden forever. 55 unearthed Arcana: Psions By Peter Schaefer and Robert J. Schwalb Elder psions believe prolonged contact with another mind invites a serious danger from cross-personality pollution and merging of consciousness. The awakened reject these warnings, at great risk to their own psyches. COLUMNS 60 winning Races: ShiFters in the Realms 4 Editorial By Matt Sernett By Steve Winter Shifters understand the essential beast within. The Spellplague brought the The new character builder reveals interesting wilderness closer to home, and now shifters are as common as humans in things about D&D players. some parts of the world, as these new backgrounds attest. 76 amPersanD By Bill Slavicsek 65 Fiction: Arena of ShaDows The Dungeons & Dragons® rewards us with By Sarah Zettel excitement, intellectual stimulation, and best of Duke Arisor had become too cavalier about his own safety of late. He was not all, friendship. the first of Fairhaven’s prosperous citizens to assume that because the city was 78 conFessions of a Full-time WizarD well-ordered it was essentially safe. It was but one of his mistakes. By Shelly Mazzanoble D&D’s “Player-in-Chief” steps out of her comfortable wizard’s shoes to try on a pair of rogue’s sneakers. 82 D&D Alumni: Barrier Peaks By Bart Carroll Accompanying the all-new Gamma World roleplaying game will be a thoroughly updated version of the only adventure ever to feature on the Cover featherless, gun-toting, cyclops chickens. Illustration by Alex Aparin Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten realms, Eberron, Dungeon, Dragon, 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. ©2010 Wizards of the coast LLc. 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 edit o ria l 394 Dr ag on December 2010 Houston Rockets Editor-in-Chief Steve Winter Senior Art Director Jon Schindehette vs. the Transit Board Web Production bart carroll Before I came to work at TSR lo those many years ago, data is interesting but not yet useful.” It will become I was a newspaper reporter. A “city desk” reporter, to useful with time, and we intend to make the most of Contributing Authors Jim Auwaerter, David Gibson, be precise. Instead of covering glamorous sports events it in our effort to keep improving the magazines and Shelly mazzanoble, Galen mullins, Peter Schaefer, robert J. Schwalb, or exciting fires and car crashes, I covered transit com- delivering articles that players will actually use. matt Sernett, Sarah Zettel mission meetings and school board elections. I’ve been involved in publishing D&D for a lot of Try as I might, it was hard to make that type of mate- years, and this is the first time we’ve ever had informa- Developers Jeremy crawford, rial engaging to the average subscriber. Given a choice tion like this. We’ve always had theories based on book Stephen Schubert between reading budget proposals for the bus system sales, surveys, anecdotes, and customer feedback in Editor miranda Horner or box scores for the NBA finals, most people turn to every form imaginable. Suddenly, we have actual data. Cover Artist Alex Aparin the sports page. The fact is, though, they’d be better Let me tell you—it’s thrilling. off reading the transit commission minutes, because All we’re looking at is numbers: how many fighters Contributing Artists Eric belisle, Wayne England, the transit commission is spending their money. If you are there compared to wizards, how many half-elves Tony Foti, christine macTernan, think your taxes are too high and want to know where compared to humans and minotaurs, how many 15th- Slawomir maniak, Jim Nelson, all that money is going, you won’t find the answer in an level characters compared to 5th-level. craig J. Spearing, matias Tapia, UDON, ben Wootten interview with Moses Malone (look him up, you kids). The core question is how to put the data into What does that have to do with the Dungeons & action. If fighters outpull druids five to one, does Publishing Production Angelika Lokotz, Erin Dorries, Dragons® game? that mean we should devote more articles to fighters Specialists christopher Tardiff Just this—every month when we lay out our table of because they’re the most popular and the most likely Web Development mark Jindra contents and editorial calendar, we face a tug-of-war to draw readers? or should we lean more heavily Executive Producer, christopher Perkins between the classes and races that are the most popu- toward druids in an effort to boost their popularity? D&D Insider lar and draw the most readers, and those that actually We have a lot of work ahead figuring out what it all need some reinforcement but which aren’t as widely means and how to put it to use. We’re still giddy that Director of RPG R&D bill Slavicsek played. This begs the question of why certain classes for the first time ever, we can base those decisions on Special Thanks and races are more popular than others—is it because something real. That’s big. Josh Dillard they have the most feats and powers, or because Let us know where you stand: do you want to they’re the most appealing fantasy archetypes? We’re see more articles on what’s most popular or what’s pretty sure it’s a mixture of both, but the ratio is open most in need of a boost? Email your opinion to to a lot of passionate debate. [email protected]. The new D&D Character Builder is in a unique posi- tion to answer some of those questions. From our position as game designers and magazine editors, we’re beside ourselves with excitement that the new D&D Character Builder provides feedback on the types of characters that players are building. It’s way too early to draw conclusions—as John Feil cautions, “the Assassin By Rodney Thompson Illustrations by Eric Belisle, Ben Wootten, and UDON Assassins embrace shadow magic and pledge a shard of their souls to the Shadow fell to gain their power. By replacing a fundamental part of themselves with a dark reflection, they can manifest that piece of shadow to accomplish incredible things. The infusion of shadow magic allows assassins to identify weak points in an opponent’s defenses so that with a few moments of study they can reduce the stoutest enemies to corpses. An assassin usually keeps his or her profession a secret, since few trust those who regularly deal in death. Assassins’ guilds provide some measure of protection, especially in those regions where the study of shadow magic and assassination as an art form are banned. As an assassin, you are an outcast. You traded away a part of your soul for the power of death, and only the most-loyal companions accept your skills into their midst. Whatever drew you onto the assassin’s path, you become a trained killer from whom few can escape unharmed. The type of assassin you can create with this article is the executioner. Tm & © 2010 Wizards of the coast LLc. All rights reserved. December 2010 | Dragon 394 5 Assassin xEcutionEr to influence the party’s allies and enemies. An executioner stands as a capable E warrior, even when not performing an assassination. This quality makes the execu- Martial and Shadow Striker: Your sense of timing, skill with weapons, and tioner an invaluable member of an adventuring party that frequently finds itself ability to use the shadows as a weapon allow you to strike with lethal effect immersed in conflict.