Dragon #380 (4e).pdf

ISSUE 380 | OCtObEr 2009

A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ® ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT

CONTENTS

Features

5 Player’s Handbook 3 debut: tHe seeker

By Robert J. Schwalb

Commentary by Robert J. Schwalb and Stephen Radney-Macfarland

The next class from Player’s Handbook 3 is here, exclusively on D&D Insider !

Learn about the seeker, an archer who controls the battlefield through the

mystical powers granted by her connection to the divine.

45 CHaraCter ConCePts: Primal CHaraCters

By John Zamarra

Check out builds for levels 1–30 for a powerful shaman healer and a glaive-

wielding warden, incorporating material from the Primal Power supplement.

56 CHannel divinity: tHe raven Queen’s

CHamPions

By Robert J. Schwalb

Those who serve the Lady of Fate are privy to mysteries others view with

envy. Unlock some of the secrets of the Raven Queen for your character!

18 abyssal Genasi

By Peter Schaefer

While most genasi are touched by one of five elements, some have a darker

heritage. Learn about those genasi whose bloodline has been tainted by the

Abyss.

67 bazaar oF tHe bizarre: draGonsHard items

By Eric Cagle

New magic items using the magic of dragonshards are here.

24 barbarian essentials

By Rob Heinsoo

Learn about the essential character building and play options for your

barbarian character, and get some new powers and mechanical options as

well.

75 PlayinG vistani

By Chris Sims

Planar wanderers? Thieving gypsies? Kidnappers? The vistani have been

given many labels, but few understand this clannish group. Learn their

secrets, and discover what drives the vistani on their endless quest in the

first of a three-part series.

36 Wizard essentials

By Eytan Bernstein

Character building and tactical advice for your wizard character, as well as

some new spells and other options.

Columns

tHe Caravans

By Chris Sims

The Playing Vistani series continues with feats and

other options for vistani characters.

4 editorial

92 desiGn & develoPment: Classes

By Michele Carter and Bill Slavicsek

Michele and Bill reminisce on Planescape as they

discuss Sigil’s inclusion in Dungeon Master’s Guide 2 .

94 ConFessions oF a Full-time Wizard

By Shelly Mazzanoble

D&D ’s “Player-in-Chief ” shares more of her

wisdom and insight.

99 rPGa rePort

By Chris Tulach

The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn

more about how to get involved!

103 amPersand

By Bill Slavicsek

Bill discusses more of the changes in store for

D&D in 2009.

and mystery

By Chris Sims

The Playing Vistani series concludes with rituals and

magic items from the vistani caravans.

on tHe Cover

Illustration by Emrah Elmasli

Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten realms, Eberron, D ungeon , D ragon , d20, d20 System, Wizards of the Coast, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their

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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

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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

84 PlayinG vistani : seCrets oF

89 PlayinG vistani : maGiC

e D i T oR i A L

380

WHAT YOU’RE

Dragon

Oc t ob e r 2009

Editor-in-Chief Chris Youngs

SeniorArtDirector

Jon Schindehette

LOOKING FOR

WebSpecialist Chris Sims

WebProduction bart Carroll, Steve Winter

GraphicDesign Keven Smith

ContributingAuthors EytanBernstein,EricCagle,

it’s another big month here at Wizards of the Coast,

especially for Dungeons & Dragons. Since we didn’t

feel we’d shaken things up enough—or given our-

selves enough to do—we went ahead and launched

a new D&D website. We hope you’re as happy with

this new site as we are. it’s been a labor of love for

well over a year now, and we think it shows the hard

work of everyone involved. We also think that users,

both new and old, will have a better experience on

the site, and that it’s never been easier to find the

content you’re looking for.

But wait, there’s more!

As you may have noticed, since we pushed all of

our DM support into Dungeon magazine, Wednes-

days are looking pretty crowded on the content

calendar. We were pretty sure this would be a side

effect of the change, but building out the october

calendar really cemented this in our minds.

in addition, we’ve come to recognize that player

content in Dragon magazine has grown, well, plump.

our features are routinely hitting ten pages and up,

and this makes for a lengthy online reading experi-

ence. Plus, it means that we’re spending more words

on fewer topics. As a result, we’re making one more

significant change to how we’re approaching D&D

Insider content.

Starting in November, we’re moving to a five-day-

a-week content schedule. You might have seen this

writing on the wall, considering our new content cal-

endar features five days in a week rather than three

like the old calendar.

The biggest change (other than two extra days

of new content) is that we’re moving away from

extra-long feature articles. We’re still intending to

do several longer features each month, but they’ ll

be about half the length of our longest features to

date. The rest of the month, we’re going to bring

you a series of shorter, 2- or 3-page articles focused

around a single concept, and typically tied together

with new mechanics. You’ ll see many more Class

Acts articles in this new scheme, as well as articles

focused around races ( Winning Races ), faiths ( Chan-

nel Divinity articles), roles ( Know Your Role ), and

power source ( Power Play ), among others.

Why these shorter, more frequent articles? We’ve

looked at articles our subscribers are download-

ing the most, and this is the direction the data is

guiding us. The major reason, however, is that we

know bigger articles often mean that a given issue

doesn’t have something for every player. We’re

aiming to change that. if your class isn’t represented

one month, then your race, power source, role, or

another element of your character should be. if it

still isn’t, then let us know.

Dragon has long attempted to be as inclusive of

every player as possible in a given month. Now we’re

taking steps to fully realize that vision, starting in

November. Stay tuned for next month’s content cal-

endar, which will be hitting the site later this month.

MicheleCarter,RobHeinsoo,

Shelly Mazzanoble, Stephen

radney-MacFarland, Peter

Schaefer, robert J. Schwalb,

Chris Sims, bill Slavicsek, Chris

tulach, John Zamarra

Developers Stephen radney-MacFarland,

Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert,

Chris Sims, rodney thompson

Editors Michele Carter, Jeremy Crawford,

Miranda Horner

CoverArtist Emrah Elmasli

ContributingArtists Drew baker, Christopher burdett,

Emrah Elmasli, Jason A. Engle,

William O’Connor, David rapoza,

Evan Shipard, Matias tapia,

Eric L. Williams, Kieren Yanner

WebDevelopment Mark A. Jindra

D&DCreativeManager Christopher Perkins

ExecutiveProducer,

D&DInsider Chris Champagne

DirectorofRPGR&D bill Slavicsek

SpecialThanks

richard baker, Greg bilsland, Logan bonner, Michele Carter,

Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, bruce r. Cordell, torah Cottrill,

Jeremy Crawford, Mike Donais, rob Heinsoo, Nina Hess, Peter Lee,

Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, Cal Moore, Stephen radney-MacFarland,

Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Matthew Sernett,

rodney thompson, rob Watkins, James Wyatt

THE SEEKER

Mechanical Design by Robert J. Schwalb

Commentary by Robert J. Schwalb,

and Stephen Radney—MacFarland

illustrations by David Rapoza

Oc t ob e r 2009 | Dragon 380 5

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