Guilds & Groups: Moon Catchers

First of all, this is one of the few Dragon articles with art that I like. Its also the only article about an organization that I bothered to read instead of just skimming it for magic items, feats, or whatever could be most easily pilfered. I think its because the history and function of the organization is brief and open-ended. No roster of NPCs, no massive exposition of this guy or that dude.

Basically, a long time ago a moon showed up in the sky and it had a big-ass message written on its backside that portended bad...portents. Then it exploded and this group is trying to assemble it so that it can safeguard the world against an atomic dragon.

The lion's share of magic items are consumables that are formed from pieces of the moon that have been collected. While this is logically counter conducive to the organization's goal, the article states that they are, "an insignificant amount of Iltani, so they dont worry about them." Err...every little bit helps? I guess they dont need all of the moon to get it working again, but that doesnt make much sense. Myeh, easily changed.

Most of the slivers negate conditions that might effect you (like immobilization or blind), but one grants you all the knowledge of the organization instantly, and another gives you a save bonus. The sliver of knowledge would be handy to avoid lengthy exposition, just give one to each character and have the players read it on their own damned time.

The other two items are much cooler: one gives you a bonus to Diplomacy and Insight checks (better against catastrophic dragons), and the other one is a melee weapon enchantment that prones and restrains a stricken creature (but you have to nail them with a melee basic attack, first).

Yay, an article that I might end up using for purposes other than just magic item mining!