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Keep the Superiors train rolling.
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Feb 8, 2016 04:19
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Wrap up Superiors, then do GMs Guide.
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Feb 8, 2016 04:22
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The whole point of the Drow is to have an evil player race for your party to fight. Obviously they had to be elves who are cursed with black skin, because who else could be so edgy and special. They come in small groups so you can have cute little mirror matches against the party, they have spell resistance so you can't just have the wizard chump them at the beginning of the encounter, they have powerful magic items that turn to dust in the sun so that their fighter can duel your fighter, and their leaders are super sexy evil cleric women to ensure that there will be a divine caster on the enemy side.
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Feb 8, 2016 06:48
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I think it's more that they couldn't get rid of the Drow because Drizzt is such an iconic part of the realms and the fanbase would transmute into an undulating mass of pure white-hot rage if they killed off the drow race. They were able to crush the Egyptians and depower the Thayans because they don't have nearly as much screen presence.
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Feb 8, 2016 07:21
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Kurieg posted:I think it's more that they couldn't get rid of the Drow because Drizzt is such an iconic part of the realms and the fanbase would transmute into an undulating mass of pure white-hot rage if they killed off the drow race. You say that first part like it's a bad thing. Were the Thayans racist as well? I thought they were just massive dicks.
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Feb 8, 2016 07:25
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I like Ravenloft! 
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Feb 8, 2016 07:31
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Oh I would like it, but Hasbro would have thrown a fit and 4e would have ended a lot sooner than it did. Well they were Wizard-racist, if you weren't a wizard you were chattel. Thing is 4e made a *lot* of changes to the world, mostly to break up and weaken the existing governments and allowing for player characters to actually do something beyond be the pawns of greater powers (primarily all the loving wizard nations because they'd been riding high on the Mystra train). quote:
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Feb 8, 2016 07:38
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Kurieg posted:Thing is 4e made a *lot* of changes to the world, mostly to break up and weaken the existing governments and allowing for player characters to actually do something beyond be the pawns of greater powers (primarily all the loving wizard nations because they'd been riding high on the Mystra train). See while I agree with cleaning out stagnant or offensive parts of the setting, I don't see that as necessary for player agency- if the PCs make a goal to topple a kingdom or organization in a setting, I'm going to let them have a fair crack at it, NPCs be damned. Or are you saying there aren't enough openings for that?
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Feb 8, 2016 08:03
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It does change things from a relatively static setting to one where a lot of old truths no longer hold sway and there's plenty of opportunities. You're no longer working against all the institutions who want to keep the status quo.
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Feb 8, 2016 08:34
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Kavak posted:See while I agree with cleaning out stagnant or offensive parts of the setting, I don't see that as necessary for player agency- if the PCs make a goal to topple a kingdom or organization in a setting, I'm going to let them have a fair crack at it, NPCs be damned. Or are you saying there aren't enough openings for that? There weren't really enough openings. Too many nations/organizations in the Forgotten Realms were full of what were effectively max level wizards.
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Feb 8, 2016 10:18
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 (S)ENTRIES, PART 1 We've reached the end of the book, so it's time for a sample operation! If you might play this game later, and your GM seems inclined to use sample scenarios, maybe skip the next couple updates. Eyes Only Briefing A quick summary of the operation, intended for the Director. In this case:
The Spine The basic flow of the operation goes like this: The agents meet Rudek in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where he answers some questions and getse them into Bosnia. There, they heist the laptop from SATO HQ in Sarajevo, then escape into the Serbian Zone. Anton meets up with them, and drives to his Double Cross at the cemetery in Gostilj. Regardless of Anton's fate, the agents turn up additional clues when policing the scene. They either track the paymaster or track Anton, the trail leads to Belgrade and a Payoff. The Job The opening hook is Rudek offering the job. He's a fixer well known to and trusted by at least one of the agents, althuogh he has a shady background in Balkcan intelligence. Meeting Rudek Rudek meets the party in a chain hotel room in Dubrovnik, Croatia, wiring necessary funds to the agents in advance. If they're suspicious, they can arrive early and scout, but the situation isn't very sinister. Rudek lays out the objective, starting with a photo of Lennart, which Military Science recognizes as a Canadian Air Force general. Rudek suspects that he's been looking into purchasing records or shifty political deals, but is holding the evidence close to him. The laptop never leaves his side. Objective: Secure the laptop, ensure no backup exists for it (this is obviously because the vampires are doing a cover-up, but what's Rudek's justification for this objective?). Reward: 100,000 euros, half now and half on delivery. Once the party secures the laptop, they're to rendezvous with Anton Dedopovic on the Serbian side of the partition line. Rudek gives them a flash drive with a basic dossier on Lennart, satellite photos of Camp Butmir, GPS coordinates for the Dedopovic rendezvous, and a Belgrade phone number to call when the job is done. If the agents agree, Rudek eletronically transfers funds to whatever account they specify - a 1-point Accounting spend or 2-point Criminology spend recognizes the bank as owned by the Russian mafiya. Asking Questions The players will probably want more info than that. Either Rudek provides it freely, or they'll have to dig it up on their own. Some topics: Brigadier-General Lennart Military Science will yield Lennart's background - if not available, spends of Bureaucracy, Network, or Digital Intrusion (Difficulty 5) will also work. Lennart is a logistics expert in and liason with the USAF. The only red flag in his file is a sudden transfer to Sarajevo before he finished his NATO tour in Naples. It might have been to stymie an investigation in Europe, or it might have been something he did to get access to records of Bosnia and Kosovo missions. Which it was is up to the Director and the further conspiracies of the campaign. File doesn't indicate specialized computer training, so it's unlikely that there are any hidden backups of his data online (Investigative use of Digital Intrusion will yield this, plus the fact that hiding backups online would be an even bigger security breach than taking his laptop home every night). No obvious hooks to pressure Lennart are found - he doesn't drink, he has a modest retirement plan, he votes Liberal, and his long-term girlfriend in Alberta is similarly clean. Anton Dedopovic Anton is an rear end in a top hat. He's a killer and rapist working for the Serbian mafia. His main interests are human trafficking and heroin, but he's useful as a cut-out for operators in former Yugoslavia. Tradecraft and Streetwise get all this info, but for a 1-point spend of Tradecraft or Criminology, you can find out that he's been spotted in Switzerland several times, and rumor is that he's trying to set up a heroin ring there through a private hospital. The truth is that he's trying to find a cure for his disease. The Rendezvous Rudek's GPS coordinates lead to an Orthodox cemetary east of Gostilij. If the agents want to scout it out, Rudek would warn that they lose two days and risk running into a roadblock. Tradecraft tells that entering the Serbian zone is likely to alert Dedopovic. If they insist on it regardless, give them a roadblock that they can spend Military Science, Intimidation or Cover to get past, but doing so will absolutely report them to Dedopovic. Dedopovic's sniper Vladek is staking out the cemetery, but he has orders to not make contact with the agents. Noticing him is a Difficulty 6 Surveillance test, catching him is a Surveillance contest. The Lift One way or another, the party eventually heads to Sarajevo. Rudek arranged rooms at a hotel, but the agents can also use Network (Difficulty 4) to get a safe house in the area. Time to steal a laptop. Heisting the Laptop This should be pretty easy, not actually being the heart of the operation. It's fine if it turns out a bit anti-climactic. The Target Lennart lives in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, and has one local woman who cooks and cleans for him. She doesn't live on the premises, but comes in while he's out. Security is good but not amazing - Difficulty 4 Infiltration, failure notifying both the NATO base and the police. His office is in Camp Butmir, which has a constant presence of uniformed personnel from a dozen different nations at all times. Getting on the base isn't hard - 1-point Forgery or Difficulty 3 Cover will get you credentials, Difficulty 4 Disguise or 2-point Military Science or Intimidation will also get you in. Lennart's office is watched by his adjutant, Captain Sebring, who knows exactly who is or isn't supposed to be in the office. Lennart keeps his laptop secured in the office during work hours, and then takes it with him when he goes home. Lennart's Schedule
The Boost The players will come up with a plan to secure the laptop. Let it work. In playtest, agents bugged the office with Infiltration and Electronic Surveillance, identified the laptop model with Data Recovery, bought the same model, duplicated Lennart's with Conceal, and made a switch during his final day on the base, so that he wouldn't notice the switch until he had already left the country. Alternate possibilities:
The Escape If the agents go in hard, there will be a chase. Use Thriller Chase Rules as usual, crossing the border into the Serbian zone gives the agents a 2-point Driving refresh, as Sarajevo police have to request clearance for pursuit. If they went quiet, they can cross the border with ease, steal a car, and make it to the rendezvous, where everything will no doubt go as planned. Next: Nothing goes as planned.
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Feb 8, 2016 15:27
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ProfessorProf, do you know why the sample adventure is titled "(S)ENTRIES"? The best I can figure is that BGen. Lennart and his laptop, Dedopovic, and to a lesser extent Rudek, are acting as "sentries" for the player agents' "entries" into the world of vampires, but that might be a stretch.
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Feb 8, 2016 16:59
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senrath posted:There weren't really enough openings. Too many nations/organizations in the Forgotten Realms were full of what were effectively max level wizards. The Neverwinter you see in NWN2 would have been a really good city of adventure, since the leadership has been decapitated and there's so much that's been destroyed and lost. They never really wrote about it in the 3.5 books though, and by the time you see it in 4e it's been doubly hosed by the spell-plague, Neverembers Mismanagement, and about 30 civil wars.
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Feb 8, 2016 17:13
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Kurieg posted:Neverember Is it like a law that the city be led by people with really stupid names that start with "N"?
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Feb 8, 2016 17:22
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Davin Valkri posted:ProfessorProf, do you know why the sample adventure is titled "(S)ENTRIES"? The best I can figure is that BGen. Lennart and his laptop, Dedopovic, and to a lesser extent Rudek, are acting as "sentries" for the player agents' "entries" into the world of vampires, but that might be a stretch. Yeah, I have no idea. That sounds as plausible as anything.
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Feb 8, 2016 17:25
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Rand Brittain posted:Because that would make all the Drizzt novels for 4e non-canon, is the only reason I've been given. Don't tell me Mr. Genderswap Yuri Action can't just write some silly book about how Drizzt and Elminster travel back in time to undo the events that lead into 4e, undoing them for the setting but still having them affect his God NPCs. wiegieman posted:The whole point of the Drow is to have an evil player race for your party to fight. Obviously they had to be elves who are cursed with black skin, because who else could be so edgy and special. Because just having a bunch of normal elves who happen to be dicks is silly. Only humans are allowed to cover all alignments without having to split off into sub-races. Doresh fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Feb 8, 2016 |
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Feb 8, 2016 18:19
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Doresh posted:Don't tell me Mr. Genderswap Yuri Action can't just write some silly book about how Drizzt and Elminster travel back in time to undo the events that lead into 4e, undoing Not to be Pedantic, but Salvatore is Drizzt's writer, and you get a Kojima-esque situation where he's sick of writing the guy, but does't trust anyone else to do it well. Honestly my favorite settings have always been Ravenloft and Planescape, Forgotten Realms is largely a nostalgia entry-realm for me, despite the massive issues it has.
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Feb 8, 2016 19:20
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I've always liked Ravenloft, but running it in D&D has always struck me as a screw-you of Wickian proportions. Dumping a bunch of murderhobos into a gothic horror scenario, turning a swathe of their magical arsenal inside-out, and offering them bennies to start meandering down the road to NPChood was a raw deal, and that's not even touching the outright racism toward non-humans and renamed Roma given mechanical weight.
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Feb 8, 2016 19:38
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I'd volunteer to cover the 3.X Ravenloft material, since it's the one that made fall in love with the setting, but I don't trust myself to actually finish it (I never finished that Wraith: the Great War review).
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Feb 8, 2016 19:39
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I'd like to see that. My experience is with the 2E material, which worked relatively well if you ignored the 'suck your PCs into the Demiplane of Dread!' approach they seemed to like, and made everyone native to the setting and aware of the risks of using certain spells and tactics. And, you know, made sure your players knew they were in for something more Dracula than Army of Darkness. Bieeanshee fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Feb 8, 2016 |
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Feb 8, 2016 19:46
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Bieeardo posted:I'd like to see that. My experience is with the 2E material, which worked relatively well if you ignored the 'suck your PCs into the Demiplane of Dread!' approach they seemed to like, and made everyone native to the setting and aware of the risks of using certain spells and tactics. That's pretty much the approach 3.5e went with.
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Feb 8, 2016 20:08
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Okay, I'm definitely intrigued now.
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Feb 8, 2016 20:12
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Planescape is great because like Ravenloft you can throw PCs into it, but let them go back to their own setting whenever they want, and Sigil is awesome for them to visit instead of awful like Ravenloft. You can attach it to literally anything in D&D and it still works- it's basically the oversetting along with poor Spelljammer. Sigil also doesn't have Romani racism.
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Feb 8, 2016 20:12
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Bieeardo posted:Okay, I'm definitely intrigued now. gently caress it, unless someone beats me to it, I'll  tomorrow.
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Feb 9, 2016 00:15
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Yeah, Ravenloft 3e is defined for me by its attitude of "This land is still worth saving. Don't give it up to the night."
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Feb 9, 2016 00:25
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Rand Brittain posted:Yeah, Ravenloft 3e is defined for me by its attitude of "This land is still worth saving. Don't give it up to the night." Yes, that's exactly the tone darker settings should go for: Yes, the odds are stacked against you, things look grim, but fuckin' hell, you save that one little kid, that village, you put down one monster, break a single curse - there's another star shining in that big black void now, if people keep going someday, that sky's going to be littered with light. I find relentlessly bleak settings like Necropolis exhausting - where it's "the world's permanently hosed and ain't nothing you can do."
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Feb 9, 2016 01:04
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Robindaybird posted:Yes, that's exactly the tone darker settings should go for: Yes, the odds are stacked against you, things look grim, but fuckin' hell, you save that one little kid, that village, you put down one monster, break a single curse - there's another star shining in that big black void now, if people keep going someday, that sky's going to be littered with light. Which always brings across the tone of 'So why are we bothering to play' rather than exhaustion, to me. God, I hate Grimdark. Dark is great! Grimdark, not so much.
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Feb 9, 2016 01:29
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Superiors: Asmodeus Asmodeus is the Prince of the Game, the internal security of Hell.  Argument of Casuistry is a Servitor attunement that may be used to convince anyone of the rightness or wrongness of a premise, based on physical evidence. However, this evidence does not need to be real - it can be flimsy, circumstantial or manufactured. You can, for example, 'discover' a burst capsule to convince someone that blood is a movie prop. This requires a Will roll to activate and lasts for (CD) minutes, resisted by Perception. If proof of the falseness of your evidence is shown, however, their mind will become clear again and they'll remember you lied. If they resist, you cannot use this attunement at all for (CD) hours. Insert Coin to Continue allows you to spend 1 Essence after you fail a roll. You may reroll, but must spend Essence again to improve it - nothing carries over from the last roll. Interventions may not be rerolled, and if the new roll also fails, you can't reroll a second time. You can use this up to (Celestial Forces) times per day. Rule of Law may only be used after invoking the Humanity attunement. It forces celestials on Earth to play by earthly rules, even if they don't want to. The target suffers all the restrictions of Humanity, adapted to suit their current form. This costs 3 Essence, can't be resisted and can only target those inhabiting a vessel or host that are in range of your ability to touch. This lasts for (Celestial Forces) hours or until your Humanity attunement ends, whichever is first. Sense for Betrayal allows you to sense dissonance in any celestial, even angels, with a Perception roll. This perception lasts for (CD) hours, and will not identify anything about the target except how much dissonance they have and that they are a celestial of some kind. Asmodeus offers distinctions above Baron, but only to his Wordbound - there are no simple Marquises, Counts and Dukes. He odes, however, offer some lesser Distinctions as needed. Marquises are assigned to specific projects or objectives, but have free rein within those to execute their own plans using any servants of the Game nearby. Counts run the organizations of Hades and its key buildings. They have almost total authority over their domains. Dukes govern large parts of Asmodeus' territories, and they act as feudal lords of the Game, commanding the Bishops within their domain and all those demons the Bishops themselves command. However, they are kept in check by each other, Asmodeus and their Bishops. It is believed that Asmodeusc teaches the Songs of Banishing, Binding, Retribution, Concealment and Correspondence, plus a variant of Numinous Corpus: Arms to produce appendages able to do much paperwork.   Remember: the Humanity attunement is the Game's ace in the hole, making you appear entirely human in all respects. Expanded Rites: 1. Cause dely, frustration and confusion via legal paperwork. 2. Officiate at a chess tournament, deal a poker game or otherwise control the gameplay of humans. 3. Play and win three games in a row against a skilled opponent or opponents. Sometimes this is a 2-Essence rite but limited to a specific game or game type.  When appearing openly as himself, Asmodeus prefers to have a fearsome presence. All of his vessels are intimidating, and his burning eyes are a terrifying symbol of his power in Hell. Most demons attempt to avoid his attention, and even Princes fear his raised voice. Asmodeus never does anything that does not benefit him, down to his very apperance. He apepars imposing to remind demons that he writes the rules, and to convince them that he must always appear this way. He has found that an even, bland tone heightens anxities and makes his occasional changes from it even more striking. Besides, Asmodeus does not like to instill more energy into anything he does than is absolutely necessary. That would mean caring, which a Djinn Prince never does. This does not stop him from redefining situations so that any irritation he wants to express becomes useful, of course. When he is not acting openly, Asmodeus will take on any form that might be useful to him. He frequently does not announce himself even to his own servants, and a few of his demons have been unaware they were reporting to him, thinking he had passed them over for inspection. He deals with this naive thinking as he sees fit. He has used many names and Roles, but mostly not known to be his. He sees little point in gathering power under names known to be his - it's less work to just use his own name, in those cases. Many believe that the Word of the Game is purely metaphorical - pierce for perso, move for action, a complex and useless relabeling of the Symphony. A metaphor, however, is an artificial analogy between unrelated concepts. Asmodeus and his demons hold that the Symphony is the Game - not a filter, but in truth. They believe the universe was designed with rules, that its denizens were made with certain skills and flaws. Both celestials and mortals are controlled by their attirbutes and the nature of the world. They can be manipulated by those who understand this well. And thus, Asmodeus and his demons are arrogant enough to believe that the entire Symphony is a game. An unfair game. There is nothing just or fair about the world, and so therefore justice and fairness do not matter. What matters is winning. The Game is about knowing the rules well enough to manipulate them against your foes - and everyone is your foe - instead of yourself, so that you are the clear and decisive winner. And with victory safely in hand, you can write the rules of the next game to your liking. The Game is a force of order. The rules must be followed or used, both the rules of the natural world and those made by Asmodeus, who does not draw a distinction between the two. If a demon must bend the rules, they'd best either not get caught or have a very, very good reason. On top of providing order to Hell, Asmodeus oversees all forms of the Game as played by humans. Mind-games, twisting the truth - that's all playing the Game of Asmodeus. Hypocrites, oathbreakers and thoe that exploit the letter of the law rather than its spirit further the Word. Further, Asmodeus also supports human competition in 'traditional' games - sports, board games, gambling and so on. Before the Fall, Asmodeus was one of the most deovted Cherubim serving Dominic, Angel of Judgment. He was diligent, passionate and loyal, Dominic's closest friend. They worked together with the Metatron to codify the Word of God into the first laws, which Asmodeus found deeply fascinating. It is unsurprising, then, that Dominic sent Asmodeus to speak with Lucifer and test his judgment. Asmodeus spoke with Lucifer for a very long time, trying to learn his reasons. Lucifer appeared forthright, just and equitable, and Asmodeus came to believe it was unfair that God not listen to Lucifer's grievances. Lufier convinced Asmodeus that Dominic would better judge the rightness of his actions if he saw the Movement in action rather than be distracted by its apparent flaws. So Asmodeus returned to his friend and said in strict truth: 'Lucifer is aware of the choices he has made, and his reasoning will be explained soon.' Dominic could not tell the Truth, hidden by Lucifer's ineffability, but he trusted Asmodeus. And so Asmodeus returned to help Lucifer plan what would be the Rebellion. It's failure, to Asmodeus, was a triple betrayl: Dominic, for not following them. God, for not listening. Lucifer, for lying to them. And as he Fell, ASmodeus realized all of it signaled a greater truth: that justice was a lie, existing nowhere in the Symphony. He had no reason to care any more - God played them as pieces in some cosmic game. In the chaos of Hell, Lucifer named Asmodeus with the Word of the Game, and Asmodeus took to the job of enforcing order with a vicious will. Instead of penance, he gave punishment. Instead of justice, he placed rules. The Game has not always been the finely tuned machine it now is. When Lucifer gave ASmodeus the Word, the idea of the universe as a Game to be played didn't exist - games of chance with one's life, sure, but the idea as a whole was weak and unrefined. Even now, the invention of new games shifts the metaphors and labels of the Gamesters. The current fashion for chess and card games as a structure is only a few millenia old. Int the earliest years, Asmodeus used what he knew - the makings of Judgment. In the beginning, it was more directly an opposition to Dominic, and it took Asmodeus' single-minded obsession to create the idea of the Game as something to play. He is deeply proud of it.  The way the Game is played has never been quite identical to the way Judgment operated. Dominic is known for public trials, while the Game prefers more secrecy and subtlety. Makatiel, Prince of Disease, was the first Prince openly executed by the Game, but that was in collusion with Judgment. Asmodeus either has or would like others to think he has arranged from the removal of other princes, claiming secret responsibility for the deaths of other Princes, such as Beelzebub, the first Prince of Corruption, or Mariel, Princess of Oblivion. Those who suggest that the Game takes credit not due to them are likely to be accused of treason. It is often believed that the top priority ofr Asmodeus is to prevent Renegades. This is false - Asmodeus's first and only goal is to win, which he breaks down into lesser objectives. First, prevent demonic pieces from benefiting the other side, directly or indirectly. Hell can't play effectively if its pieces break the rules, so Asmodeus devotes a lot of time to preventing that. Lucifer has charged him to maintain order and loyalty among inherently selfish, chaotic and treacherous beings. Asmodeus takes pride in doing his job well under these conditions, though he still holds the task in a certain amount of contempt. If demons would just obey the rules, the Game could focus on offense. Still, Asmodeus does what he can to advance his goals while enforcing the rules. The Game also regulates the actions of other Princes. Though Lucifer sometimes chooses to intervene personally, he relies on Asmodeus to keep Hell running smoothly day to day. Asmodeus does this by mitigating the influence each faction has on the rest. He usually supports the more militant, proactive groups, but he has also been known to discreetly undermine them by quiet support of the 'softer' Princes, should the militants threaten his plans. Because playing blind is best left to opponents, which is everyone else, Asmodeus uses a network of spies. His demons go in disguise to mislead his foes, with Roles on Earth and more inventive methods elsehwere. When they discover danger or disloyalty, Asmodeus does not always order them to act, though - they may instead be told to observe. This allows a better understanding of the situation and potentially uncovers allies or accomplices in treachery. He's also not above setting up spy networks that don't realize they're spies for him, or giving misinformation to the spies of others. Asmodeus also does more straightforward things - fighting Heaven and expanding his Word, mostly. He prefers to fight Heaven by influencing other groups to do it for him - usually just telling Ball the right piece of information will do it. Asmodeus does not rule out subtler plots, though, or even personal appearances. He also needs to protect and expand his Word. He holds the Game is played everywhere, if often poorly, but he finds it easiest to show this to others in the fields of politics and law. He looks forward to winning the War and designing a new set of rules for the world to come after. Asmodeus acknowledges that God created the first Game: the Symphony before the Fall. He believes that he himslef has redefined and refined this Game after the Fall, making it something that belongs to him. Asmodeus believes that God, too, must play by the Rules, which is why God has not intervened directly in the Game between Heaven and Hell. He also believes that Lucifer does not correspond to any standard piece or card in any game, though he is obviously both a player and Player in the great Game. Even chess cannot classify Lucifer. He cannot be the queen piece, for Asmodeus knows the queen's moves but not the full extent of Lucifer's. He cannot be the king, either, for the War would not be over with Lucifer's death, though Hell would be crippled. (Asmodeus has decided that Fate is the 'king piece', even before Kronos' ascension.) Asmodeus continues to resent that he must serve Lucifer, and takes a certain satisfaction in refusing to name Lucifer in the role as the most important piece, without which the game is lost. Asmodeus doesn't really hate or scorn humanity - he doesn't care enough about humanity to hold them in hatred or contempt. He has noted their ability to act without Disturbance and to influence Words, which led him to make the Humanity attunement in order to duplicate that nature and disguise his servants. He has come to the conclusion that humanity is most valuable as ignorant pieces and tokens of victory to feud over. He does not individual humans as having some skill in the Game, however, and he does not forgo the use of Hellsworn or sorcerers. Next time: Opinions.
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Feb 9, 2016 01:35
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Rand Brittain posted:Yeah, Ravenloft 3e is defined for me by its attitude of "This land is still worth saving. Don't give it up to the night." From what I read of Ravenloft, it always seemed singularly bleak and hopeless to me. I never got the impression the horrors could be overcome but temporarily.
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Feb 9, 2016 01:56
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Alien Rope Burn posted:From what I read of Ravenloft, it always seemed singularly bleak and hopeless to me. I never got the impression the horrors could be overcome but temporarily. My personal favorite D&D setting is Dark Sun, even if it has lovely fiction attached to it, apparently.
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Feb 9, 2016 02:10
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Dark Sun is definitely my favorite as well. Once I finally finish with UA I may do a Fatal and Friends for some of the crazier stuff, like the Book of Artifacts and the Halfling bio-engineers. Just because you love something doesn't mean you can't point out its utterly ludicrous elements as well.
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Feb 9, 2016 02:15
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Maybe Asmodeus's word, which he interprets as 'everything', is giving Eli word-friction like Gabriel.
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Feb 9, 2016 02:34
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Nessus posted:Hey man, enough temporaries start to look like a lifetime. My first exposure to D&D was the PC game Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager. I remember casting Silence on wizards, than talking them to iniatiate a fight. I want to run the Culture novel The Player of Games in Hell. Is there anything that can force demons into honorable competition?
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Feb 9, 2016 02:43
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I loved Shattered Lands and Wake of the Ravager. I also played them before I started playing tabletop D&D, which makes it surprising that I could actually manage...those older games did not try and and "hide" the D&D mechanics well and I had no idea what "1d8" was compared to "2d4" or what a THACO was.
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Feb 9, 2016 02:48
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Nessus posted:Hey man, enough temporaries start to look like a lifetime. Not just bad fiction, but bad metaplot fiction, culminating in a second edition boxed set that massively rewrites the setting at the hands of the novel heroes. PCs? Pfft, what about 'em?
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Feb 9, 2016 02:57
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Ratoslov posted:Maybe Asmodeus's word, which he interprets as 'everything', is giving Eli word-friction like Gabriel. That or his head is so far up his own rear end he can see daylight. It seems to me that Asmodeus' Word fundamentally boils down to the idea of law and order. Not justice like Dominic, but the idea that everything is part of a greater cosmic order. Being a demon prince, Asmodeus naturally believes that this order, these cosmic rules, can be manipulated and used to one's benefit like any mortal laws.
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Feb 9, 2016 03:07
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Ratoslov posted:Maybe Asmodeus's word, which he interprets as 'everything', is giving Eli word-friction like Gabriel. It's all in the game, yo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cryMVK1PwuQ
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Feb 9, 2016 04:55
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Cythereal posted:That or his head is so far up his own rear end he can see daylight. It seems to me that Asmodeus' Word fundamentally boils down to the idea of law and order. Not justice like Dominic, but the idea that everything is part of a greater cosmic order. Being a demon prince, Asmodeus naturally believes that this order, these cosmic rules, can be manipulated and used to one's benefit like any mortal laws. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1494157-the-player-of-games Just read the whole book: quote:The set-up assumes that the game and life are the same thing, and such is the pervasive nature of the idea of the game within the society that just by believing that, they make it so. quote:All reality is a game. Physics at its most fundamental, the very fabric of our universe, results directly from the interaction of certain fairly simple rules, and chance; the same description may be applied to the best, most elefant and both intellectually and aesthetically satisfying games. By being unknowable, by resulting from events which, at the sub-atomic level, cannot be fully predicted, the future remains makkeable, and retains the possibility of change, the hope of coming to prevail; victory, to use an unfashionable word. In this, the future is a game; time is one of the rules. Generally, all the best mechanistic games - those which can be played in any sense "perfectly", such as a grid, Prallian scope, 'nkraytle, chess, Farnic dimensions - can be traced to civilisations lacking a realistic view of the universe (let alone the reality). They are also, I might add, invariably pre-machine-sentience societies.
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Feb 9, 2016 05:05
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Aw man, did 5e really reverse all the cool stuff about 4e Forgotten Realms? I loved High Imskar and its psuedo-Eberron-ness. I bet they destroyed it just so they could bring about actual Egyptian slave empire. 4e FR was loving great.
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Feb 9, 2016 05:06
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mcclay posted:Aw man, did 5e really reverse all the cool stuff about 4e Forgotten Realms? I loved High Imskar and its psuedo-Eberron-ness. I bet they destroyed it just so they could bring about actual Egyptian slave empire. 4e FR was loving great. It seems to have- they haven't released a proper setting guide yet, just one for the Sword Coast. The changes have mostly been pieced together from the novels. 5th Edition has got to be the least coordinated roleplaying game I've ever seen. And Greenwood didn't write High Imaskar therefore it's bad and Mulhorand is good. 
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Feb 9, 2016 05:24
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