Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dargoth 06-17-03, 10:25 PM	This thread is the sequel to the Errors, omitions and what we suggest thread on the old boards The old thread can be found here http://archivedboards.wizards.com/rpg-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=152;t=005 205 Underdark: Introduction How To Use This Book in Your Campaign What You Need to Play Chapter 1: Races of the Underdark Chitine [Censored] Drow Duergar Gloaming Grimlock Kuo-toa Slyth Svirfneblin Other Character Races Age, Height, and Weight Chapt 2: Regions and Feats Character Regions Chitine [Censored] Gloaming Grimlock Kuo-toa Slyth Character Feats Axeshield Bowslinger Caustic Adaptation Caver Elfhunter Enhanced Adhesive Exotic Armor Proficiency Extra Wild Shape Familiar Spell Graft Illithid Flesh Highborn Drow Improved Familiar Improved Levitation Lolth's Meat Metanode Spell Node Defense Node Spellcasting Node Store Node Sensitive Portal Sensitive Stone Soul Strong Mind Tunnelfighter Tunnelrunner Underdark Immigrant Wisdom Breeds Caution Chapter 3: Prestige Classes Arachnemancer Cavelord Deep Diviner Drow Judicator Illithid Body Tamer [censored] Inquisitor of the Drowning Goddess Prime Underdark Guide Sea Mother Whip Shadowcrafter Vermin Keeper Yathchol Webrider Chapter 4: Magic and Spells of the Underdark Lore of the Underdark Node Magic Portals New Domains Balance Domain Portal Domain Watery Death Prestige Domain New Spells Amorphous Form Blindsight Burrow Burrow, Mass Caltrops Camouflage Changestones Clarity of Mind Contagious Fog Darkvision, Mass Deeper Darkvision Dehydrate Drown Drown, Mass Earth Lock Earth Shield Eradicate Earth Excavate Hail of Stone Locate Node Mark of the Outcast Mineralize Warrior Node Door Node Genesis Node Lock Portal Barricade Portal Stabilization Portal to Portal Redirect Portal Reformat Portal View Reflective Disguise Reflective Disguise, Mass Rushing Waters Sanctuary, Mass Spiderskin Stick Stone Metamorphosis Stone Metamorphosis, Greater Stoneskin, Improved Stone Shape, Greater Stone Sphere Tremorsense Tunnel Swallow Undermaster Viscid Glob Wall of Dispel Magic Wall of Greater Dispel Magic Weighed in the Balance Word of Balance Chapter 5: Equipment and Magic Items Adventuring Gear Weapons Armor Other Equipment Poison Magic Items Illithid Grafts Chapter 6: Monsters of the Underdark All-Consuming Hunger Annihilator Arachnoid Mouther (arachnoid creature template) Baphitaur Chameleon Bugbear (chameleon creature template) Earth Glider Elder Brain Faerzress-infused Minotaur (faerzress infused creature template) Giant Cockroach Giant Maggot Ineffable Horror Kuo-toa Leviathan Lith Lurker Maur (Hunched Giant) Mindwitness (half-illithid creature template) Phaerlock Portal Drake Stone Flyer Stony Devil (mineral warrior template) Gloura Chapter 7: Exploring the Underdark Geology and Environmnets of the Underdark Rocks and Rock Formations The Underdark Environment Climate Ecology Spelunking Cramped Spaces Climbing Access Underdark Encounter Tables Encounter Chance How to Use the Tables Uppderdark (Underground, Frontier) Upperdark Wilds (Underground, Wilderness) Middledark (Undergaround, Settled) Middledark Wilds (Underground, Frontier) Lowerdark (Underground, Wilderness) Lowerdark Wilds (Underground, Desolate) An Underdark Primer Chapter 8: Geography of the Underdark Underdark Domains [[Lots of entries, beginning with Ammarindar and ending with Yathchol. This chapter is about 80 pages or so.]] Chapter 9: Adventures in the Underdark Dungeons in the Underdark Adventure Sites Drowned Multum Gduar's Garden Shape of Water Richard Baker Managing Developer Roleplaying R&D Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Richs Responses from the Q&A thread on the old board Yamo: Why are there planetouched in 3ed when theres no mention of them in previous FR products Rich: Well, it's probably not fair to describe this as a "continuity error" when we decided to make a deliberate and reasoned change to the setting. We included the Planetouched because FR has always had a lot of planar material. The notion of divine or infernal bloodlines and genie descent was certainly raised in spots like Old Empires, the daemonfey, and Calimshan. The 3E Planetouched races do make this aspect of the setting far more prominent than it used to be (perhaps even too prominent, really), but it's not completely without some justification in 2E material. Why isnt city/town X on the FRC poster map? Rich: Merely an issue of space. The poster map in the FRCS simply can't show every thing we've ever located in Faerun, and the FRCS text is already crammed as tight as we can make the words go. Maskyr's Eye is still there; we just haven't shown you a 3E map or 3E text that happens to cover it in more detail yet. Whats the deal with Elven high magic and epic magic? Are they the same? Rich: I'm mulling over the relationship between epic magic and high magic. Without looking at Epic right this second, I might guess that elven high magic could be descriped as a Circle Magic version of epic spellcasting. As far as things like the Sundering, well, I don't know that it's possible (or useful) to try to couch it in game terms. Clearly the Seldarine wanted it to happen, so it happened. The reason we haven't reprinted high magic in any real detail yet is that we can't presume that you folks have the Epic Level Handbook. Even if high magic doesn't have anything to do with epic spellcasting as described in that book, it's certainly something you shouldn't be doing until you're a 21st-level + character, and Epic Level Handbook tells you how to be one of those. Will Rangers and Druids go back to recieving there powers from nature instead of deitys? Boy, it seems to me that they're really close to that already. Just because a druid notes Silvanus as his patron doesn't mean that he's really just like a cleric of Silvanus. In fact, the reason we did this (now that I think on it some) was to encourage folks *not* to create clerics of Silvanus by saying that Silvanus is really revered by druids, not clerics Why has the history of Elven crown wars changed in Races of Faerun? Why did the history of the Crown Wars change? The short answer: It's a mistake, for which I am mostly responsible. The reason the mistake occurred is that during the development of the Races of Faerun manuscript, one of the things I had to do was cut a whole lot of Eric Boyd's words because he overwrote some of his sections, such as the elves. No bad on Eric--his writing is fine, it's well-researched, and it's generally good stuff. It just didn't fit in the space I had available. So, most "errors" of omission probably stemmed from that fact alone. As far as tagging the Ilythiiri with responsibility for the Dark Disaster, I might have done that inadvertently while working with Eric's material, or he might have got in wrong in his design draft (not very likely, it's probably my bad). How does the Forgotten Realms cosmology fit in with the Manual of the planes? Two reasons: First, the 3E Manual of the Planes introduced the idea that each world might have its own unique cosmology, and Realms seemed well-suited to implement that notion. Second, the fiction seems to generally support the notion of a unique cosmology at least as well as it does the 2E Great Wheel. We hope to make this more clear and better rooted in the setting in an upcoming product I'm just starting to work on. Given that it took the elves thousands of years to decide to retreat to evermeet why has it taken them such a small amount of time to decide its failed? To be fair, as far as I can tell from the game product, the debate about the Retreat did not become prominent until after the fall of Myth Drannor (714 DR, IIRC). And not all elves have signed off on the idea that the Retreat is over. If 10 elves left Faerun during the Retreat, and 1 or 2 of them changed their minds during the last decade or so and decided to return, it doesn't mean that the Retreat failed or that all elves who did Retreat are going to go back. Will the new history of the elves detailed in Races of Faerun be considered canon or ill there be some eratta that corrects the mistake? Heck, I'm not sure. I don't know when the topic will come up again in another sourcebook. Off the top of my head, I think we should probably "reset" to the Cormanthyr version and not perpetuate the Races of Faerun mistake, but I hate to tell a future author to ignore a 3E source in favor of a 2E source. If I'm around when the topic comes up again, I'll make sure we use the right version. But that might be years away. Will there be source books for Kara Tur, Al Qadim and Maztica? We don't have any plans to revisit Maztica, Al-Qadim, or Kara-Tur any time soon. If we were to revisit any of these areas, it would most likely be for a single sourcebook. Al-Qadim or Kara-Tur would be the most likely candidate for a treatment like that (but, like I said, don't expect to see anything like that before 2005 at the earliest, and even then it's not likely). Why doesnt Spellfire work the same way it did in 2ed? I'm not sure I can get this one exactly right; Sean Reynolds might have a better answer, since he wrote that portion of Magic of Faerun. But here are two quick thoughts that occur to me: 1. 3rd Edition was careful to divide magical attacks into three broad categories: spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. Supernatural abilities are things that couldn't happen without magic of some kind, but aren't the same thing as a spell. A banshee's scream or a medusa's gaze are good examples. If you're in an antimagic field, how would the banshee's scream kill you? Some of the calls we made on what was supernatural and what was extraordinary (something the creature could do without any magic involved) were pretty tough--dragon's breath leaps to mind. Supernatural abilities really aren't the same things as spells in the game system. They can't be dispelled or countered for example. We all agree that spellfire should eat spells, and if spellfire eats spells it probably ought to work fine against spell-like abilities. But whether or not it should work against supernatural abilities is harder to justify. If a banshee screamed at Shandril or a medusa looked at her, would spellfire absorb that? Maybe, maybe not. 2. Spellfire in 2nd Ed. was designed to be something super-good, a real jaw-dropper of an ability that just broke the rules. That's fine in the context of fiction, but not so much in game play. One of our basic precepts in creating FR 3rd Edition is that we wanted to move away from "Here are things that some NPCs can do that you will never be able to do." Quantifying things like the Chosen of Mystra template or the spellfire rules helps to break down the barrier between NPC super-stars and your own PCs -- and that's good, because your own PCs should be the super-stars of your own campaign. By "toning down" spellfire in FR 3E, it's now possible that a confident and competent DM could play around with allowing a spellfire-using PC in his game without breaking his game entirely. You wouldn't want it to be a feature of every game, but you don't have to tell your players, "No, that's for Elminster, it's not for you." Bladesinger- can drow become bladesingers or not? Based on my reading of the Races of Faerun printing of the bladesinger class, yes. I don't see a good reason to say drow *can't* do it. In my own campaign I'd probably limit it to drow followers of Eilistraee or drow with lots of exposure to the surface world. High magic- Circle magic as a bonus feat? I've gone back and examined epic spellcasting (Epic Level Handbook) and the elven high mage prestige class (Races of Faerun), and I don't think there's really a need to create a special "epic circle magic" feat. Basically, the ritual component of epic magic (see page 92 of the Epic Level Handbook) does exactly that. will we ever see the high mage rituals successfully converted? Converting the rituals is something that could definitely be explored at greater length. IMO, "elven high magic" consists of a body of epic spells (many of them ritual-based) that are known to exist/have already been researched by the elves. The elven high mage doesn't strictly *need* that body of information to be a viable epic class (it compares quite nicely with the epic wizard or epic loremaster already), but if we wanted to put more space and effort into quantifying specific elven high magic effects, then assembling a few "elven high magic" epic spells would be the way to do it. We've got a 2004 product coming up where that might be appropriate, and I'll suggest the notion to the author who's working on the right part of the book. Are WOtC planning on doing more Tainted characters? In Unapproachable East, there are a couple of interesting new non-good characters, and some outright evil ones. For example, the blightspawned template and the Blightlords of Talona work together to show a "tainted" druidic circle that's causing big trouble in the U-East. There's also a template for shadow-walkers, those rogues who make a deal with Mask for power over shadow, plus a Shadowlord of Telflamm prestige class that builds on those powers. Oh, and we've also converted the dread warrior to a template in U-East, so you can make almost any character into an undead minion of some necromancer somewhere. How does the Blood war fit into the Forgotten Realms cosmology It's pretty clear from several FR sources that baatezu and tanar'ri fight each other at every opportunity (Hellgate Keep, for instance), so I'd presume that the Blood War, or some version thereof, is a part of the FR planar picture. As to how precisely it's carried out, we're currently working on a product for 2004 that will have some more information on that score--but we haven't written the relevant sections yet, so I don't have the answers at the moment. I would suppose that the Abyss and the Nine Hells probably have a number of direct plane-to-plane links that permit direct invasions. Part of the notion behind the unique cosmology of the FRCS is that things that would normally happen between the planes have to pass through Faerun. The reason we did that is to provide DMs with plenty of excuses for bringing almost any planar monsters, creatures, developments, etc., right into the middle of his FR campaign. Now, I don't know if we'd want to say that Faerun is a battleground in the Blood War per se, but I think it's kind of interesting to suppose that Faerun has the potential to be critically important in the Blood War--and so baatezu and tanar'ri are very interested in securing advantages over each other in Faerun. They might lack the requisite plane shift and gate spells to invade Faerun in great numbers, so the demons and devils that are dispatched to Faerun are going to be the "best and brightest" each side has at their disposal. Will there be a source book on Waterdeep/Undermountain Yes. We have some plans to do that in the future. Most likely we'd package Waterdeep and Undermountain together in some way, simply because we don't get the opportunity to produce more than 3 or 4 products a year, and we simply can't devote multiple product slots to covering a single spot--even something as interesting as Undermountain. Can't say much more than that right now; it's a ways off yet How will the Underdark source book fit in with the ongoing War of the Spider Queen novel series? The Underdark kind of stays away from War of the Spider Queen, simply because we didn't want to devote too much space in the game supplement to detailing exact events of a novel series that's half done. And, to be honest, we've told you a lot about the drow in previous underdark-themed supplements (Menzoberranzan, Drow of the Underdark, Drizzt's Guide), and we wanted to show off some new places and new features. The Underdark does account for major events that have occurred so far (for example, the fall of Ched Nasad), but we danced around the question of exactly what's happening with Lolth or what's going to develop with that in books 4, 5, and 6 of the War of the Spider Queen. It's an imperfect solution, but the best compromise we could reach Will there be a source book Netheril? We've got no specific plans to cover Netheril, per se. However, we do have a product idea earmarked for a little ways down the road that might touch on the topic, among other things. As far as what aspects of 2E lore on the topic we might change, I really couldn't say until we started working on that product and started examining the source material closely. Why where Orogs changed we chose to reinvent the race and recycle the name. In 2nd Edition, an orog was simply a 3 HD orc. In 3rd Edition, if you want a 3 HD orc, you should make an Orc War3 (or Ftr3, or Bbn3). So we thought about what would be a cool new take on the orc, and came up with the notion of the "deep orcs." Will there be stat blocks presented either online or in the Underdark sourcebook for the quasi-iconic characters that are featured in both the City of the Spider Queen interior artwork and the Underdark cover artwork? Hmmm, we don't have plans to post them, but I think that would be a fine web article. I'll mention it to Julia Martin. In case you're curious, here are some of our "quasi-iconics" who have appeared in art in our products: Araevin, a male sun elf wizard; Evendur, a male aasimar paladin; Belmora, a female shield dwarf cleric; Sanidine, a female earth genasi fighter; Falabrac, a male ghostwise halfling druid; Teherrun, a male tiefling rogue; Lirael, a female half-elf ranger. Mara, a female human barbarian. We've got a few others, but I don't think they've shown up in much of the art yet. Whats the deal with Orcus in the Forgotten Realms? I wish I could say there was a sound, well thought-out, involved explanation for the vicissitudes of Orcus, but I can't. Orcus has been an odd fit in FR since the days of the Bloodstone Lands, and he fell victim to the "transplanar existence" of 2E--Orcus getting whacked somewhere else meant Orcus getting whacked in FR. So, I guess I can't provide a good explanation. I suppose Orcus proved tougher than Kiaransalee expected. Are wizards working on a Manual of the Planes for the FR cosmology? The Forgotten realms players guide will have some more info on FR's planar structure, but that's not the main theme of the project The WOSQ novel Disolution had something interesting that I'd like to see implemented into the gaming side of the setting. Instead of saying that when you die you turn into a Larve, Imp, Pit fiend etc. Why not populate the FR specfic god realms with there own minions seperate to the Tannar'ri and Baatezu or at least make them advanced versions. For example in Disolution Quentthel is attacked by diffrent demons each representing an aspect of Lolth ie Evil, Spiders, chaos etc. That's an interesting notion about tying domains to particular outsiders. Id also like to see more 2ed divine spells converted to 3ed specficly more from the large list of Deity specfic spells found in F&A, P&P and DhD You will be seeing some more 2nd Ed spells brought up to 3rd Ed, in the Forgotten Realms players guide what are the star elves all wearing on their heads in their pictures in the Unapproachable east? Well, just like we prefer to allow our writers a little artistic license to show us what they think is cool, we writers and wordsmiths have to allow our illustrators some artistic license, too. Usually we're very pleased with the results. In the case of the star elves... ummm, the gnolls in the same pictures are really quite good! Will wizards publish the big versions of the 3ed FR map that where published in Dragon Magazine? Sorry, you'll just have to track down those issues of DRAGON if you want the promotional map. We don't have any plans to make 'em into a product of their own. Will Wizards publish a "atlas" for the Forgotten realms using the 3ed cartography? Yes, we've considered some sort of atlas project on several occasions. On the creative side, we'd like to do something just like that. On the business side, well, lots of big maps are prohibitively expensive (for us, anyway). We're looking at ways to do good maps for less money, and when we find it, products like the sort of thing you're describing will be on our schedule again. Why did Triel Baenre loose levels when she was converted to 3ed? Hmmm, when I wrote Condemnation, I think I'd been regarding Triel as a Clr20, just like in the Drizzt's Guide. Why or when we knocked that down in Silver Marches, I couldn't tell you (hate to admit it, as I edited that book). Sorry for the confusion. Do you think its to easy to Ressurect people? No, that's a place where the game needs to follow the D&D core rules. In D&D, it's deliberately easy to bring back a dead character because we (the game designers) don't want Joe (the player whose character got whacked) to quit the game in disgust because Nerferon the Astute was rent by a troll. It bugs me as a player/DM, because easy resurrection is something you don't see in much fantasy fiction. The big out for us on the novel side is a nice little 3rd Edition inclusion in the spells--the guy you're trying to bring back to life has to be willing to return. Many characters who are killed are presumably not unwilling to simply move on to their afterlife, and aren't interested in coming back. In the case of the vast majority of novel characters killed, presumably they're OK with not coming back to Faerun. Player characters don't necessarily fit this mold, but the protagonist of a novel isn't always assumed to be a "player character" in his own story, if you see what I'm saying. So, it's not a perfect answer, but it's the best one we have. In the upcoming Underdark book, is more going to be mentioned on Faezress other than what was in City of the Spider Queen? Underdark doesn't do much to change the faerzress mechanics described in City of the Spider Queen (we looked 'em over, and decided we were happy with them). However, there are some interesting applications of faerzress that take a step in the direction you're looking for. There's a faerzress-infused creature template, and drowcraft weapons and armor that are more effective in faerzress areas than out of faerzress areas (about as far as we're willing to go in the direction of disintegrating drow gear in 3rd Edition). Is the elven high mage prestige class supposed to be infinate like other epic classes? I'll have to look over the elven high mage and get back to you, but I think the answer is yes, it's infinite. Other epic prestige classes in Epic Level Handbook (like Union Sentinel) are infinite, so the elven high mage should be too. I'd use your "wait two levels, wait three levels" model to extrapolate the class abilities. By the races of faerun rules, there are certain items that are considered common in certain areas that enjoy a 10% discount, would it be within the intention of that to include any regional specific magic items that are mentioned in other sources, such as the hathran masks in U. East? I wouldn't give the 10% discount for items other than the specifically mentioned items. Hathran masks might only be available in Rashemen, but that doesn't mean that they're commonplace or easy to manufacture for Rashemi. Can an Epic level spellcaster who is becoming an Archmage use the extra 10th or 11th or whatever spell slots given to him by the Improved spellcasting feat, to meet the requirements of Arcane spell like ability??? Nothing in the archmage description or the Epic Level Handbook description says you can't, so I would say yes, you could do that. That said, the archmage ability was designed with a very basic sketch of epic level rules in mind, and I'm pretty sure the Improved Spellcasting feat was not necessarily designed with the archmage ability in mind, so there might be some difficult interactions there. There are probably nastier candidates than chain lighting; damage is just damage, after all, even when it's in large quantities. Do you guys plan to write something a bit more official than a web article in Rand's travel logs on the fate of Evereska? Well, the next time we do a product that reasonably touches on it, we will. But it might be a while before we do another product that Evereska might feature into, so it's hard to say when that might be. I'll see what I can do. The Arcane fire (su) abilty of the Archmage creates a bolt of raw magical energy. Is the damage from such a bolt the same as a spellfire bolt (50% fire soackable with various fire immunities, 50% raw magical energy unsoakable Arcane fire. The damage is untyped, nothing ablates it. And there's no save. (Like a lot of spells with a ranged touch attack, the attack roll represents your chance of getting out of the way.) It would be nice if arcane fire and spellfire were a little more alike or a little more different, though. Are the Baldurs Gate series games Canon? Well, Baldur's Gate is an official licensed Forgotten Realms product. We do get the opportunity to review these materials. Part of being a good licensing partner is giving your licensee an opportunity to use their media and creativity to best effect while remaining true to the core values of your intellectual property. That means accepting the fact that sometimes people will do things with your property that you might not have done, as long as they don't do things that would actively damage or invalidate the core premises of the property. (Before you guys attack me on that last bit, consider that what Hasbro/WotC define as the core premises of an intellectual property might be different than what you would define.) That said, it's my *personal* opinion (and mine alone) that anything that isn't a 3rd Edition D&D sourcebook can be treated as "optional" in a FR game. Everybody's FR campaign is different, after all--you've bought different sourcebooks, you've run different adventures, your players made up different characters, you've read and been inspired by different novels. Getting hung up in arguments over what is canon and what isn't just is not relevant, since you decide what's canon for your own games. As the Underdark source book wont be covering the drow heavily, will we be seeing a "Drow of the Underdark" type supplement after the WOSQ series finishes, or will there be some sort of web enchancement to cover the WOSQ events in the RPG side of the realms We've got no immediate plans to do that Will Underdark feature any info on those Drow cities that didnt make it into DDGTU? Ie the City under Dambrath, The Drow city under Thay or Dusklygth under The Tortured Land/The Great glacier? Yes, you'll see some info on T'lindhet (the city under Dambrath), Llurth Dreir, and Undrek'Thoz (sp?) (the city under Thay). I think we missed Dusklygth, though. why were the city breakdowns left out for a lot of places in UE? And is there any chance that in future products if you're going to continue to do that could you at least give us the population of the city/town any maybe the highest level character of each class? We decided to show a selection of city breakdowns, instead of making an effort to be exhaustive. It would've taken a lot of space to provide the full "city stat block" for every city mentioned in the product. And, to tell the truth, I'm not sure how valuable the full listing of Ftr4 (3), Clr4 (2), Com5, Com4(3), etc., really is. We've adjusted our format for Underdark to a looser, less formalized presentation that emphasizes the important stuff (the important characters, plus the city guard) without the exhaustive listing of everyone who lives in the town. There have been several spells, variant spells, magic items and creature templates published on the FR Web Page of the WotC website. Will all of these be collected and included in the upcoming FR Players Handbook Not all of them. The authors will take a look at these materials and see what's most important and most in need of updating, though. What material will be covered in the Forgotten realms players guide? It will include the majority of the material that appears in Chapters 1 and 2 of the FRCS (after much deliberation, we've decided we would rather have 1 complete book with everything updated to 3.5, even if that meant repeating some info that didn't strictly need updating), plus lots more, including the most important/most in need of updating bits from Magic of Faerun and Monsters of Faerun. We also plan to better integrate Manual of the Planes and Epic Level Handbook into FR, so you'll find good info on that too. Epic spells and Mystra ban We haven't spelled it out officially yet, but here's my opinion on Mystra's ban: You can't make a 10th-level spell. The ban specifically does *not* mean you can't metamagic up a 9th-level or lower spell. Nor does it prevent you from researching and casting epic spells. I think the ban's function in game terms is to say, "Don't invent a spell list of 10th-level spells that simply follow the spell progression patterns established for 9th level and lower spells." You might ask, What's the functional in-world difference between a "10th-level spell" and an "epic" spell? I suppose my answer would be, you need the proper feats and must pay the appropriate research costs to use epic spells, while a true 10th-level spell would actually represent a logical progression on the wizard spell table. If you had such a thing, any 19th-level wizard would be able to cast one. But, as matters stand now, epic spells aren't acquired through the simple extrapolation of the existing wizard spell progression. So, "in-world", I'd say that before Karsus' fall, the Netherese arcanists (and possibly all wizards in Faerun) enjoyed a spell progression that gave 'em 1 10th-level spell at 19th level, possibly an 11th-level spell at 21st level, and so on. The effect of Mystra's ban was to configure wizard spell progression to its current (3.0 PHB) state, and make super-powered spells something you could only get through epic feats and expensive research. That's just my two cents; we haven't written that down anywhere yet. It's an awkward "patch" to explain the effects of the edition change, so take it for what it's worth. More on Mystras ban: if an epic spellcaster spends the ressources and xps necessary to research a spell the gods of magic will allow it to work however destructive that spell may be, or that they don'T have the power to forbid epic spellcasting? Well, the "gods of magic" is coming darned close to saying "does the DM allow it, even if you've broken the epic spell seed construction rules", and I wouldn't want to say that the DM can't Rule Zero anything that's causing real grief in his game. So, the short answer is yes, if an epic spellcaster obeys the epic spellcasting rules, Mystra should let it go--but Mystra isn't stupid, and if someone were working on an epic spell like Slay All Gods, she might intervene.
PhilCW 06-17-03, 11:25 PM	A little timeline tidbit that always bugged me was between Cloak & Dagger and FRCS. What went on with the rest of the Manshoon wars, and what happened to the other 6 or so clones that were said to exist in Cloak & Dagger?
Dargoth 06-18-03, 08:55 AM	Hey Rich will stats (Partial or otherwise) for Aliisza and Kaanyr Vhok appear in the Underdark source book? How much of a write up does the Scourged Legion get?
WotC_RichBaker 06-18-03, 01:47 PM	No, we don't have stats on them in Underdark. They're mentioned briefly, along with the Scoured Legion, but they don't get much ink. Sorry. Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich will stats (Partial or otherwise) for Aliisza and Kaanyr Vhok appear in the Underdark source book? How much of a write up does the Scourged Legion get?
Masakado 06-18-03, 02:00 PM	Originally posted by PhilCW A little timeline tidbit that always bugged me was between Cloak & Dagger and FRCS. What went on with the rest of the Manshoon wars, and what happened to the other 6 or so clones that were said to exist in Cloak & Dagger? All of the clones are now presumed dead except for three: Manshoon "Prime" who is currently in the Zhentarim, Orbakh, vampire lord & the new "Faceless" of the Night Knives, and an unnamed clone that is currenly hiding out in Undermountain, presumably under the protection of Halaster Blackcloak.
PhilCW 06-18-03, 02:24 PM	Yes, i know of the fate of the last clones. I was wondering what happened exactly to the other clones (like the one witht he Simbul, or at Candlekeep), as well as some of the consequences of all those archmages running around blowing things up.
Masakado 06-18-03, 02:45 PM	Originally posted by PhilCW Yes, i know of the fate of the last clones. I was wondering what happened exactly to the other clones (like the one witht he Simbul, or at Candlekeep), as well as some of the consequences of all those archmages running around blowing things up. I see. I suppose the fate of the other clones is left open in accordance to the 3ed "Dale Donovan" policy of leaving things open for gamers to do. We have the beginning & end of the Manshoon Wars and the middle is left for us to tinker with, if we wish. Since the remaining three are the ones that are presumed to be left, it's quite possible to revive yet another Manshoon in your game, if you see fit. There's no reason that we DM's have to wait for "canon" to tell us what happened to the other clones. Personally, I'm lazy, so I accepted the "only 3 remain" option. As far as consquences go, there's probably not much to tell there. If a tower gets blown apart during a spellbrawl, you call the masons after the wizards destroy each other, & have them start laying a foundation for the new tower.
Dargoth 06-18-03, 09:06 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker No, we don't have stats on them in Underdark. They're mentioned briefly, along with the Scoured Legion, but they don't get much ink. Sorry. any chance we could see them in a web enhancement for Underdark? Maybe with a statistical write up of the Scouraged Legion as well......
Zanan 06-19-03, 03:55 AM	Vendui Mr. Baker! There has been quite a debate about the "return" of Orcus to Realmspace and what sort of status and rank he has / should have. He got "a bit" of coverage in the Bloodstone Lands - adventure series as well as in the Kiaransalee entry of Demihuman Deities. With regards to Realmspace he was dead and buried. The Book of Vile Darkness brought him officially back to life, Faiths & Pantheons re-introduced him to the Realms in a one line entry among the monster deities. Of course, much of the debate centers around his (much too high) divine ranking as a Lesser Deity, which would put a returned god without much worshippers at an equal standing to Mask, Loviatar or his arch-enemy Kiaransalee, who can all boast with thousands of worshippers. How does Orcus managed this jump in rank and why doesn't he follow the outlines given in TBoVD with regards to Demon Princes and divine rankings, i.e. maximum DR of 1 or 2. Thanks.
Dargoth 06-19-03, 04:33 AM	The Book of Vile Darkness brought him back in the Planes 1) Orcus is going to have to get his reincarnated self approved by AO otherwise he aint going anywhere 2) Alot of the info in the BOVD is invalid as the generic abyss described in the BOVD doesnt exist in the FR as its got its own cosmology
cwslyclgh 06-19-03, 04:42 AM	1) Orcus is going to have to get his reincarnated self approved by AO otherwise he aint going anywhere Faiths and Pantheons lists him as a lesser god (whether Sean says that it was a mistake or not, it is in print as such, with no official retraction from WotC)
Dargoth 06-19-03, 05:05 AM	Originally posted by cwslyclgh Faiths and Pantheons lists him as a lesser god (whether Sean says that it was a mistake or not, it is in print as such, with no official retraction from WotC) and thats the weird thing neither SKR or WOTC will say one way or the other
Zanan 06-19-03, 05:17 AM	Folks, this is the Q&A thread for us and Rich Baker. Let's him answer the questions and discuss them somewhere else, won't we?
Dargoth 06-19-03, 05:25 AM	Originally posted by Zanan Folks, this is the Q&A thread for us and Rich Baker. Let's him answer the questions and discuss them somewhere else, won't we? see the other thread then
WotC_RichBaker 06-19-03, 01:03 PM	That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die. Or so said H.P. Lovecraft, anyway. Regarding Orcus's divine rank, well, just like Lolth is different from core D&D in the Realms, it's OK if Orcus is different from core D&D. It seems plausible that Orcus has the most worshipers of any demon or devil because of his position in the Bloodstone Lands. I'd sure believe that Orcus might have more worshipers than Savras, or Velsharoon, or maybe even Eldath or Istishia. Originally posted by Zanan Vendui Mr. Baker! There has been quite a debate about the "return" of Orcus to Realmspace and what sort of status and rank he has / should have. He got "a bit" of coverage in the Bloodstone Lands - adventure series as well as in the Kiaransalee entry of Demihuman Deities. With regards to Realmspace he was dead and buried. The Book of Vile Darkness brought him officially back to life, Faiths & Pantheons re-introduced him to the Realms in a one line entry among the monster deities. Of course, much of the debate centers around his (much too high) divine ranking as a Lesser Deity, which would put a returned god without much worshippers at an equal standing to Mask, Loviatar or his arch-enemy Kiaransalee, who can all boast with thousands of worshippers. How does Orcus managed this jump in rank and why doesn't he follow the outlines given in TBoVD with regards to Demon Princes and divine rankings, i.e. maximum DR of 1 or 2. Thanks.
Zanan 06-19-03, 05:26 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Regarding Orcus's divine rank, well, just like Lolth is different from core D&D in the Realms, it's OK if Orcus is different from core D&D. It seems plausible that Orcus has the most worshipers of any demon or devil because of his position in the Bloodstone Lands. I'd sure believe that Orcus might have more worshipers than Savras, or Velsharoon, or maybe even Eldath or Istishia. There is no argument about the differences between the Core Rulings and the FR. What the point here is that we speak of a Demon Prince within Realmspace, just like Grazz't appeared in For Duty and Deity. It is clear that there are mighty Demon Princes around, some may even have greater realms than deities. Yet, that doesn't make them gods or place them on equal standing with a deity. Being a deity, one needs to have a large following - as is now laid down in F&P. While Orcus may have people who still follow him, and I can even envisage him having more followers than the demigods you listed, I would be surprised to see him outdistance a greater deity such as Istishia. The point is that - even though it is utterly irrelevant to most gamers - he jumped to a much mightier status (divine rank of 6 - 10) than he ever had before and gains abilities and stats which make him a deity, not a "mere" Demon Prince any longer. For someone who has lost his life twice and had his worshippers slaughtered all over the place, this seems a bit odd. Obviously, someone who follows Kiaransalee, who, after eons of trying, only recently achieved lesser deity status, is even more irritated.:rolleyes:
Telagaunt 06-19-03, 06:12 PM	Out of curiosity Rich, out of all the characters you've wrote about, is there a specific one you find most enjoyable to write about? Also, any regrets on writing something about a character you wish you had made differently? Doesn't matter if the character was your own idea either, just any you've wrote about :D
WotC_RichBaker 06-19-03, 09:00 PM	Jack Ravenwild was the most enjoyable so far. It's not even close. It was just fun to write City of Ravens. Nothing springs to mind in the regrets department, at least not yet. Originally posted by Telagaunt Out of curiosity Rich, out of all the characters you've wrote about, is there a specific one you find most enjoyable to write about? Also, any regrets on writing something about a character you wish you had made differently? Doesn't matter if the character was your own idea either, just any you've wrote about :D
Dargoth 06-19-03, 11:37 PM	hey Rich What are the chances of WOTC posting a Chosen every month as an article on the website? ie a similar article to Caddleys, with a stat write up of a chosen and a template of the chosen (like those for Bane and Mystra) along with what their up to and a few adventure hooks Before Im burnt at the stack by the Anti-Chosen lobby, wotc should start with those that have already been mentioned ie Rotting Man for Talona, Malek for Cyric, the 3 nature god chosen who live on the Emerald enclave etc. *Casts Protection from Fire onself*
cwslyclgh 06-20-03, 01:30 AM	actually Dargoth your idea has merit... if only to get the stats for those chosen we know exist, but do not have any stats for.... however I see it as an extreemly unlikley course of action for WotC to take at this point... but we can always hope. My question to rich is why he dropped his "official" WOTC screen name?
Saasiel 06-20-03, 01:33 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth hey Rich What are the chances of WOTC posting a Chosen every month as an article on the website? ie a similar article to Caddleys, with a stat write up of a chosen and a template of the chosen (like those for Bane and Mystra) along with what their up to and a few adventure hooks Before Im burnt at the stack by the Anti-Chosen lobby, wotc should start with those that have already been mentioned ie Rotting Man for Talona, Malek for Cyric, the 3 nature god chosen who live on the Emerald enclave etc. *Casts Protection from Fire onself* Yeah! This is an EXCELLENT idea! :bow: I will also advocate this.
Dargoth 06-20-03, 09:46 AM	Rich Question 2 Will PGFR feature epic progression for the FR Prcs featured in LoD, F&P, MAgic of Faerun etc?
E'tii'stil Shadowsil 06-20-03, 11:59 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Question 2 Will PGFR feature epic progression for the FR Prcs featured in LoD, F&P, MAgic of Faerun etc? I must second this!
Sovellios Darkshine 06-21-03, 06:41 AM	Rich 1. Why are all the FR NPC's written badly ? They are all full of mistakes and errors. Surely someone should be proof reading these. 2. Please stop giving all the spellcasters Combat Casting. It really is annoying and useless. 3. Why is the FR timeline not expanded since the Campaign book. Would it not be unreasonable to see every product have one page devoted to furthing the campaign line. Since only three game mechanical products come out each year and at least 9 or so novels come out each year, one page should cover it. 4. Could each 10 level prestige class have an additional note stating wether the prestige class can be taken into epic levels. 5. Would it be possible to see a complete and definite deities listing for FR, including cults (such as Entropy an the Cult of the Worm)and giving a listing of using domains from other products in FR and which god they should belong to. 6. KILL ORCUS !!!!!!
Telagaunt 06-21-03, 01:37 PM	I never thought of that before, but your number 6 sounds like a pretty nice idea to kind of downgrade just a bit epic level PrC's. Maybe each epic PrC needs like a Epic Ascension feat, each time you choose it, it applies to a different PrC :D
Dargoth 06-21-03, 08:39 PM	Rich Question 3 In the PGFR will all the monk and Paladin orders get write ups like those found on pages 25-26 in the FRC? If yes can you give the locations of the Monastrarys/Chapters houses in the write ups? Question 4 Will the abandoned drow city that featured in your novel "City of Ravens" get a mention in the Underdark source book?
Zanan 06-22-03, 12:30 PM	Another question, even though a bit off topic. Due to demand, I have just started converting the AD&D box "Night Below" to 3E. The first book was done by a different chap and I scanned the second and third one for stuff so far unpublished in 3E. I stumbled over the Alu-fiends and a friend of mine and myself have made them a template along the lines of the half-fiend. The latter does not meet the description of the old alu-fiends (daughters of humanoid mortals & succubi), more that of the cambions. Now, if I convert the box further and want to post/publish it with the Wizard's, who's the one to ask whether my conversion of the alu-fiends is legitimate? I know that there are other alu-fiend conversions in d20 books, but they are not from the Wizards and as such not applicable, I guess ...
WotC_RichBaker 06-23-03, 01:08 PM	3. No, we don't have plans for that, although that would be a good idea. (The book's getting pretty darned full, to tell the truth, and there are bigger fish to fry with the space we've got.) 4. We didn't end up mentioning it (although you're right, it would have been good to do so). Once again, we had some real space constraints to work around. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Question 3 In the PGFR will all the monk and Paladin orders get write ups like those found on pages 25-26 in the FRC? If yes can you give the locations of the Monastrarys/Chapters houses in the write ups? Question 4 Will the abandoned drow city that featured in your novel "City of Ravens" get a mention in the Underdark source book?
WotC_RichBaker 06-23-03, 01:11 PM	I've forwarded this suggestion to James Wyatt, who's working on the epic portions of the FR Player's Guide. It's a good idea, but I don't know if space will permit. Andy Collins worked up a bunch of epic prestige class progressions for the website a year or so back--I don't know how many of the FR classes he got to, though. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Question 2 Will PGFR feature epic progression for the FR Prcs featured in LoD, F&P, MAgic of Faerun etc?
WotC_RichBaker 06-23-03, 01:17 PM	Were someone to step forward to do those articles, I think that would be great. Work that us game designers do for the website almost always falls into the category of after-hours work, stuff we can do to make a little more money if we want to. We're treated just like any non-employees who want to submit articles for the website (although we've got an "in", since Julia Martin, the person who produces the FR website, generally is happy to get authors and game designers to contribute any time they want to). Unfortunately, I don't have the time right now, since I've got a novel trilogy I'm working on. But Julia might be interested in that series of articles from somebody else. Originally posted by Dargoth hey Rich What are the chances of WOTC posting a Chosen every month as an article on the website? ie a similar article to Caddleys, with a stat write up of a chosen and a template of the chosen (like those for Bane and Mystra) along with what their up to and a few adventure hooks Before Im burnt at the stack by the Anti-Chosen lobby, wotc should start with those that have already been mentioned ie Rotting Man for Talona, Malek for Cyric, the 3 nature god chosen who live on the Emerald enclave etc. *Casts Protection from Fire onself*
cwslyclgh 06-23-03, 04:31 PM	soi how does a "non-Employee" submit articles for the web site?
WotC_RichBaker 06-23-03, 04:38 PM	I haven't looked for it, but I would presume that somewhere on our site we post submission guidelines. Julia Martin is always looking for good new writers to help her keep the content fresh and interesting. Originally posted by cwslyclgh soi how does a "non-Employee" submit articles for the web site?
Darkmore 06-23-03, 06:25 PM	Any hope to see "druids draw power and spells from nature not from gods" written anywhere anyhow .. Ooops sorry already said it in Error and ommision ... :D C'mon just kiddin' I cant' handle it :D
cwslyclgh 06-23-03, 06:33 PM	I haven't looked for it, but I would presume that somewhere on our site we post submission guidelines. if there is I can't find them... I can find submission guidlines for Novel submissions, New Game Ideas (which is actually for new GAMES, and if you read the guidlines it wasy they don't except sumbissions for those... so having guidlines for them is pretty pointless), and Art portfolios.
WotC_RichBaker 06-23-03, 06:41 PM	All right, I'll ask our website folks what the deal is. Originally posted by cwslyclgh if there is I can't find them... I can find submission guidlines for Novel submissions, New Game Ideas (which is actually for new GAMES, and if you read the guidlines it wasy they don't except sumbissions for those... so having guidlines for them is pretty pointless), and Art portfolios.
Dargoth 06-23-03, 06:45 PM	hmm ok thanks Rich just out of intetrest how many pages is the PGFR supposed to be?
Faeryl Zauvirr 06-23-03, 07:53 PM	I am very curious about this but am unsure if this is the right thread to ask. Hap (a village in Battledale) is marked as being within Cormanthor on the Map but in its description says it is surrounded by farmland. So is it in the forest or surrounded by farmland? I believe their is a similar error in the Unapproachable East where a set of hills in north east Aglarond is referred to as a forest in the text.
cwslyclgh 06-23-03, 11:55 PM	thanks Rich :)
cwslyclgh 06-25-03, 07:44 PM	just bumping this back into view :)
Purple Dragon Knight 06-25-03, 08:49 PM	Hi Rich, I'm the Ethereal Roots guy! ;) I also wouldn't mind knowing how to submit articles to the WotC website (preferably the FR section but also the D&D section). I'm bailing out of the military next Monday in order to go back to school full-time, but I foresee a lot of empty hours I could devote to article submission... Any help would be incredibly appreciated!
WotC_RichBaker 06-26-03, 12:55 PM	I've asked Julia Martin about this, and her response is, "Sorry, we don't take unsolicited submissions." That sounds pretty hard, but it's not unusual--Julia would be swamped if she took everything that folks sent at her. I've asked her what it would take for her to consider putting someone on her "solicit-able" list. I'll let you know what she says about that. [EDIT] She wants to see professional writers. Your best way to break in is to get yourself published in a magazine like DRAGON, DUNGEON, or POLYHEDRON. Check out Paizo publishing's website for information on how to get yourself published in the magazines. I know that's a lot of work, but our web producers want to work with writers who have a proven track record. Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Hi Rich, I'm the Ethereal Roots guy! ;) I also wouldn't mind knowing how to submit articles to the WotC website (preferably the FR section but also the D&D section). I'm bailing out of the military next Monday in order to go back to school full-time, but I foresee a lot of empty hours I could devote to article submission... Any help would be incredibly appreciated!
Purple Dragon Knight 06-26-03, 04:40 PM	Thanks for the advice Rich. I've tried the Paizo road once this year but I never got a reply from them. It seems that it is the hard and long way to go, but I'm ready to persist and keep trying. Maybe one day I will receive that elusive, wonderful email reply that will jumpstart a (minor or major) writing career! :) Before I go, please allow me to ask you another advice. As you surely know it is many a FR gamer's dream to write a novel set in this wonderful setting, or be part of a design/writing team working on a FR or D&D sourcebook. Writing a WotC web article would also be a wonderful achievement for most of us... But reality, as you mentioned, demands for past writing experiences. Aside from Dragon, Dungeon or Polyhedron, what would WotC consider a valid experience? Do you have any recommendations on opportunities or venues for an aspiring gaming industry worker? Would graduate-level education count in any way in terms of writing experience? Would university education in the field of translation, or fluency in other languages also weigh in the balance? Thank you very much for your patience.
cwslyclgh 06-26-03, 06:04 PM	try Piazo again, and use email to submit your proposals, they were realy swamped earier this year, but recently I have been getting a less then a week response time from me emails.
WotC_RichBaker 06-26-03, 06:57 PM	Well, the Open Gaming License means that there are dozens of small game companies out there looking for writing talent. Someone who publishes good material with a d20 company certainly counts as a professional writer in WotC's view. We'd weight credits with another company about as well as we'd weight credits with Paizo. Obviously, I have no idea what exactly you'd need to do to get a chance to write for someone else's company, but an hour or two of web surfing ought to net you some contact info and submission guidelines for a half-dozen d20 publishers. It's something of a longshot, but you can keep your eyes on the Wizards website in the job postings area. If you want to go straight to game design, that might be hard to do without some professional credits on your resume, but there are plenty of folks here who got a foot in the door by hiring on in another department. (Unfortunately, we do most of our translation work out of house these days, but it's a big company, and things change daily.) Right now, we've got a couple of people in our Organized Play and Customer Service departments who are working on freelance design assignments for RPGs, mostly because they're in the same building and we know 'em. Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Aside from Dragon, Dungeon or Polyhedron, what would WotC consider a valid experience? Do you have any recommendations on opportunities or venues for an aspiring gaming industry worker? Would graduate-level education count in any way in terms of writing experience? Would university education in the field of translation, or fluency in other languages also weigh in the balance? Thank you very much for your patience.
Swordwraith 06-26-03, 07:42 PM	I have a few questions for you, Rich. First off, where can we get a schedule of new products planned to come out for the FR game setting? It is fairly common knowledge that a regional book for the underdark and the players guide to FR are coming out, but any word on which regional books to expect next (you may have noticed the popular thread on this very subject in this very forum) and on when said regional books would be released? I know you guys cant write and design books at lightspeed, but we just have so few regional books in 3e and we had so many for 2e! Second, why is it that the release dates for the books in the War of the Spider Queen saga keep getting pushed back, with every new book, the following few books were pushed back by a few months? Lastly, this debate is going on in another FR forum, but apparently, someone has you on record saying the events from the baldurs gate novels and games were not canon, if this is true, why was such an excellent story omitted from all the current forgotten realms products? Thanks for your time, and thank you for answering all of our silly questions. I think I can speak for all when I say we truly appreciate it.
WotC_RichBaker 06-26-03, 08:06 PM	Underdark will be out in November of this year. The Player's Guide to Faerun will be out relatively early next year. Unfortunately, that's as much as I can say right now. It's our company's policy not to discuss details of products that haven't yet appeared in a catalog, and it'll be a couple of months yet before I can talk about 2nd trimester 2004 products. I couldn't tell you specific answers about Spider Queen release dates, because I work down in RPG R&D -- I just write for the Book Department. I know that Condemnation was pushed back because we simply had an editorial train wreck with so many big manuscripts coming in all at the same time. Phil Athans (the series editor) was going nuts trying to keep it all on track. As far as I know, the publication dates that appear in the front matter of Condemnation are still correct. Lastly, about canon/not-canon... it's a complicated question. If I tell you that Baldur's Gate isn't canon, the licensor is certainly within their rights to wonder why we're cutting the legs out from under them by withholding our support for their product. On the other hand, the computer/console game products simply have different needs than the RPG products and the novels, and it's not realistic to expect that everybody can tell the same story the same way. Because of this, I've avoided saying much about Baldur's Gate story developments and events (like the bhaalspawn, say) in our RPG products. My personal answer on this question is, It's a big world, and we have to allow licensors (or authors, for that matter) some artistic license to tell the stories they want to tell, as long as they stay true to the "big picture" of the FR intellectual property. If we fail to accommodate the people we want to work with, we're not going to be able to *get* authors and licensors who are willing to work with us. I know that's not a satisfying answer for everyone, but that's the best we can do. So, there you go -- 0 for 3 on that round, sorry. Originally posted by Swordwraith I have a few questions for you, Rich. First off, where can we get a schedule of new products planned to come out for the FR game setting? It is fairly common knowledge that a regional book for the underdark and the players guide to FR are coming out, but any word on which regional books to expect next (you may have noticed the popular thread on this very subject in this very forum) and on when said regional books would be released? I know you guys cant write and design books at lightspeed, but we just have so few regional books in 3e and we had so many for 2e! Second, why is it that the release dates for the books in the War of the Spider Queen saga keep getting pushed back, with every new book, the following few books were pushed back by a few months? Lastly, this debate is going on in another FR forum, but apparently, someone has you on record saying the events from the baldurs gate novels and games were not canon, if this is true, why was such an excellent story omitted from all the current forgotten realms products? Thanks for your time, and thank you for answering all of our silly questions. I think I can speak for all when I say we truly appreciate it.
Kuje31 06-26-03, 08:07 PM	Originally posted by Swordwraith I have a few questions for you, Rich. First off, where can we get a schedule of new products planned to come out for the FR game setting? It is fairly common knowledge that a regional book for the underdark and the players guide to FR are coming out, but any word on which regional books to expect next (you may have noticed the popular thread on this very subject in this very forum) and on when said regional books would be released? I know you guys cant write and design books at lightspeed, but we just have so few regional books in 3e and we had so many for 2e! Second, why is it that the release dates for the books in the War of the Spider Queen saga keep getting pushed back, with every new book, the following few books were pushed back by a few months? Lastly, this debate is going on in another FR forum, but apparently, someone has you on record saying the events from the baldurs gate novels and games were not canon, if this is true, why was such an excellent story omitted from all the current forgotten realms products? Thanks for your time, and thank you for answering all of our silly questions. I think I can speak for all when I say we truly appreciate it. If you mean me. I keep saying they are canon and that is what Rich had said officially. It's his personal opinion (and only his) that they are not, because every one has there own version of canon in FR, because as soon as you play in FR your game is different from what WOTC produces, however, professionally they are canon.
Dargoth 06-26-03, 09:14 PM	Rich 3 Questions While I know you cant tell us about unannounced books.. but 1) Have you already decided what regions will be covered in 2004s regional accessorys? (im assuming we'll see 2 regional supplements next year) 2) Will we see 3 or 4 FR books next year? 3) What are the chances of a non spell casting "Assasin" PrC appearing in PGFR? Maybe call it the Guild Assassin
Swordwraith 06-26-03, 10:51 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I couldn't tell you specific answers about Spider Queen release dates, because I work down in RPG R&D -- I just write for the Book Department. So, there you go -- 0 for 3 on that round, sorry. [/B] First off, thank you for answering my questions so promptly (sort of) I actually did not mean for you to discuss unnamed products, I am with Dargoth, in that I am very curious as to what regions, and how many books we will see.(sorry I guess i wasnt clear enough) In the thread a few forums over in FRCS/classes and races/BG characters, your answer to my post was qouted in a debate before I even knew you answered it(which was weird, because I was wondering how I had missed such a qoute) If you have time to check that thread out, there is a pretty heated debate going on, which you may be able to clear up. does that "I just write for them" have a hidden meaning sort of like the "I just work here?" I see your point and agree with it as far as allowing authors leeway and artistic liscence. Thanks again for your time.
Kuje31 06-27-03, 04:14 AM	Quick question. Just to clear up what was being debated about the characters in the BG Novels. Are characters that are stat'd in Dragon Magazine considered the same as official stat's in say sourcebooks? Or even other articles that are not stats but are "fluff" articles, say for instance the Palace of Silverymoon was printed up in one of the Annuals. Or the map of Eilistraee's temple, was printed up so many years ago but has never been in a "official" sourcebook, or any of the other articles Ed or other game designers who write for FR, have printed in old and new issues of dragon. For instance the four characters from the BG Novels, or the characters from the Pool of Radiance:Attack on Myth Drannor novel, or even if you like the Sembia or War of Spider Queen characters. The Senior Editor of Dragon has said every thing in Dragon is considered official and as I have said, it is even printed on the cover that the magazine is a offical WOTC product. However, a few posters disagree with that still and so I was asking again your thoughts on it Rich. Thank you, Kuje.
Swordwraith 06-27-03, 12:01 PM	Im confused, this thread should be at the top of the board, not here in the middle, I guess I'll just bump it back up there.:smirk:
WotC_RichBaker 06-27-03, 12:25 PM	1. Yes. It's someplace we haven't been to in a long time, and we'll be covering some territory we've never covered before. 2. I *think* it will be four. We currently have three 2004 projects in various states of design (not counting Underdark), and I believe we'll have a fourth at the end of the year. We've waffled on that point numerous times, though. 3. We didn't have any plans for it. I'll suggest it to the authors, but that might be better off as a core D&D class if all you really want is a no-spells assassin. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich 3 Questions While I know you cant tell us about unannounced books.. but 1) Have you already decided what regions will be covered in 2004s regional accessorys? (im assuming we'll see 2 regional supplements next year) 2) Will we see 3 or 4 FR books next year? 3) What are the chances of a non spell casting "Assasin" PrC appearing in PGFR? Maybe call it the Guild Assassin
WotC_RichBaker 06-27-03, 12:27 PM	Sorry, but I decline to officially settle the argument. It's my *opinion* that canon in your game should be whatever you decide fits. Originally posted by Kuje31 Quick question. Just to clear up what was being debated about the characters in the BG Novels. Are characters that are stat'd in Dragon Magazine considered the same as official stat's in say sourcebooks? Or even other articles that are not stats but are "fluff" articles, say for instance the Palace of Silverymoon was printed up in one of the Annuals. Or the map of Eilistraee's temple, was printed up so many years ago but has never been in a "official" sourcebook, or any of the other articles Ed or other game designers who write for FR, have printed in old and new issues of dragon. For instance the four characters from the BG Novels, or the characters from the Pool of Radiance:Attack on Myth Drannor novel, or even if you like the Sembia or War of Spider Queen characters. The Senior Editor of Dragon has said every thing in Dragon is considered official and as I have said, it is even printed on the cover that the magazine is a offical WOTC product. However, a few posters disagree with that still and so I was asking again your thoughts on it Rich. Thank you, Kuje.
Faraer 06-27-03, 12:44 PM	As far as the Realms published by Wizards, as distinguished from the Realms of Ed Greenwood, I understand "canon" to have a simple practical meaning: the body of lore that future material will not in theory contradict (except in the case of a deliberate retcon). Wizards is in the business of publishing, not telling you what's true. In this regard, there's never been any policy that any one medium is canon and another medium isn't. As a matter of professionalism, Wizards is unlikely to publish in a sourcebook novel character writeups that are totally different from those written by its own employees or freelancers in Dragon. The idea of a "canonical Forgotten Realms" is notional except as a policy for the future since no one knows all its details or can write in all its styles. Despite the abandonment of sourcebook unreliable narrators, it's implicit that no novel or game product can give the complete view of the places and events it depicts.
Telagaunt 06-27-03, 06:18 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I've asked Julia Martin about this, and her response is, "Sorry, we don't take unsolicited submissions." That sounds pretty hard, but it's not unusual--Julia would be swamped if she took everything that folks sent at her. I've asked her what it would take for her to consider putting someone on her "solicit-able" list. I'll let you know what she says about that. [EDIT] She wants to see professional writers. Your best way to break in is to get yourself published in a magazine like DRAGON, DUNGEON, or POLYHEDRON. Check out Paizo publishing's website for information on how to get yourself published in the magazines. I know that's a lot of work, but our web producers want to work with writers who have a proven track record. Would there be any way for a fan to send you something without embarrassing themselves on the boards :rolleyes: :D
Dargoth 06-27-03, 09:38 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker 1. Yes. It's someplace we haven't been to in a long time, and we'll be covering some territory we've never covered before. 2. I *think* it will be four. We currently have three 2004 projects in various states of design (not counting Underdark), and I believe we'll have a fourth at the end of the year. We've waffled on that point numerous times, though. 3. We didn't have any plans for it. I'll suggest it to the authors, but that might be better off as a core D&D class if all you really want is a no-spells assassin. Hmm you havent done Old Empires in a while or The Bloodstone lands..... and look at it this way if you did Cold Lands and old Empires then you will have done most of the eastern edge of the realms (makes it nice and symetrical) :D By non magical Assasin I meant one closer to the 1ed Assassin class and the 2ed Assassin kit neither of which had spell casting. After all weve got an Arcane Assassin (The Assassin PrC) a Divine Assassin (Blackflame Zealot). Personally Id like to see a more Physical Asssassin ie like Enteri from RAS novels. IIf you wanted to give it a realms background Id assciate it with the Monks of the Longdeath or if you wanted to make it more widely used, make it a "Guild Assassin" to complement the Guild thief PrC found in the FRC
PhilCW 06-27-03, 11:18 PM	Will the FR team continue to produce adventure supplements for publication? Many of the other settings produced copendiums of adventures (Legends of the Hero-kings for Birthright for example). Will there be something along those lines or publications similar to that say of Four From Cormyr or City of the Spider Queen?
Dargoth 06-28-03, 12:07 AM	Originally posted by PhilCW Will the FR team continue to produce adventure supplements for publication? Many of the other settings produced copendiums of adventures (Legends of the Hero-kings for Birthright for example). Will there be something along those lines or publications similar to that say of Four From Cormyr or City of the Spider Queen? nope WOTC arent in the module making business anymore, although a few employees write for Dungeon magazine.
Dargoth 06-28-03, 08:59 PM	Dargoth said Question 3 In the PGFR will all the monk and Paladin orders get write ups like those found on pages 25-26 in the FRC? If yes can you give the locations of the Monastrarys/Chapters houses in the write ups? Rich Said No, we don't have plans for that, although that would be a good idea. (The book's getting pretty darned full, to tell the truth, and there are bigger fish to fry with the space we've got.) [/B] I just found Ed Greenwood posting on a message board so ive asked him whether he'd be willing to do it as part of his Realms Lore Articles
Herr Doktor 06-28-03, 09:37 PM	Dargoth, where is this message board? Tell me so I can support your idea! :D
Dargoth 06-29-03, 01:07 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth I just found Ed Greenwood posting on a message board so ive asked him whether he'd be willing to do it as part of his Realms Lore Articles Eds Response "I will certainly try to get to that topic in my web articles, however: Julia Martin approves all topics, and has been leaning towards 'little chunks' that can be wrapped up in either 4 or 8 column sequences, so that may be a little long (perhaps one faith at a time), and...Julia is sitting on more than a year's worth of columns right now, so it may be a long time before you seen those monasteries, etc. Yet consider it noted, and added to the (ever-longer) "To Do" List. Ed" So we may see them eventually
Kuje31 06-29-03, 01:34 AM	Originally posted by Herr Doktor Dargoth, where is this message board? Tell me so I can support your idea! :D R.A's board's. Ed and company have been hanging out there when they get time to reply.
Dargoth 06-29-03, 02:30 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 R.A's board's. Ed and company have been hanging out there when they get time to reply. *cringe* I really wish you hadnt done that Im not sure he'll appreciate if all of a sudden his board becomes the ask Ed Greenwood boards I was going to leave it up to RAS if he wanted to advertise Eds precence on the boards
Ahriman Tenebris 06-29-03, 02:47 AM	I'm playing an illusionist in an upcoming campaign, and having recently read in races of Faerun about how the land of the flying hunt is populated by Halruaans whom venerated Leira and defected. I believe this to be an interesting home region for my pc but I have a few questions that would really help with his background. 1. Is anything known about the current state of religion in Nimbral? 2. Has shadow magic made inroads in Nimbral to the extent it has in Halruaa, or given their disposotion to illusionism perhaps more so?? 3. How coes the organization of Niumbral (gov't/economy etc) differ from Halruaa? Any insight that can be given here would be appreciated.
cwslyclgh 06-30-03, 04:30 AM	Hey Rich, what're the chances of seeing a sourcebook similar to Lords of Darkness for good organizations in the realms in the future?
WotC_RichBaker 06-30-03, 12:47 PM	No immediate plans for that, although we've kicked around the idea more than once. (We also like the notion of a "Hordes of Darkness" that would focus on the orcs, goblins, trolls, etc., of the Realms. But we don't have immediate plans for that, either.) Originally posted by cwslyclgh Hey Rich, what're the chances of seeing a sourcebook similar to Lords of Darkness for good organizations in the realms in the future?
SirUrza 06-30-03, 01:52 PM	It's more of a request then a question, but Rich, could you guys PLEASE put a general (any class) character sheet and spell sheets in the Player's Guide to Forgotten Realms designed specifically for the Realms? PLEEEEEASE. :)
Dargoth 06-30-03, 10:15 PM	Rich: Will you be announcing any new FR stuff at Gencon? ie similar to your Unapproachable east "announcement" Go on! You know you want to! :angel:
WotC_RichBaker 07-01-03, 12:43 PM	We'll see. My thunder's been stolen this year, since you guys already know about the FR Player's Guide. But I might be able to drop a hint or two about other products. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich: Will you be announcing any new FR stuff at Gencon? ie similar to your Unapproachable east "announcement" Go on! You know you want to! :angel:
BobROE 07-01-03, 01:47 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We'll see. My thunder's been stolen this year, since you guys already know about the FR Player's Guide. But I might be able to drop a hint or two about other products. You'll just have to start announcing things sooner. :D
Swordwraith 07-01-03, 07:23 PM	Just one tiny question this time. Why werent the cowled wizards included in Lords of Darkness? They are a very neat organization. Is there any chance (1-2%) they might be included in a web enhancement? Also, I agree that the Hordes of Darkness, and the good aligned sourcebook are excellent ideas. (Please hint towards all sorts of goodies at GenCon)
Dargoth 07-01-03, 08:26 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We'll see. My thunder's been stolen this year, since you guys already know about the FR Player's Guide. But I might be able to drop a hint or two about other products. well you did say there where 3 confirmed FR products (including PGFR) so theres still 2 books you can spill the beans on at Gencon..
Herr Doktor 07-01-03, 10:24 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth well you did say there where 3 confirmed FR products (including PGFR) so theres still 2 books you can spill the beans on at Gencon.. Heck yea! Spill dem beans, spill 'em good!
Dargoth 07-02-03, 09:37 AM	Ed Greenwood on another message board and quoted by Gaming Report siad this "Please share this with the folks on the Realms list, because I'm so flamingly busy right now (with, yes, a future Realms game product" So Eds working on another FR gaming product Rich: Is this unamed gaming product the PGFR or is it one of the other 2 FR titles that your working on for next year?
WotC_RichBaker 07-02-03, 12:53 PM	Ed's working on one of FR titles we haven't told you guys about yet. (But it might be the case that a hint about it could surface at the GenCon Realms seminar.) Sometimes I'm careless that way. Originally posted by Dargoth Ed Greenwood on another message board and quoted by Gaming Report siad this "Please share this with the folks on the Realms list, because I'm so flamingly busy right now (with, yes, a future Realms game product" So Eds working on another FR gaming product Rich: Is this unamed gaming product the PGFR or is it one of the other 2 FR titles that your working on for next year?
PhilCW 07-02-03, 02:25 PM	The Cloaked wizards aren't an "evil" powergroup. They are an assembly of wizards operating in amn that come together to exchange spells, lore, research and the like without the stigma (or worse) of amnish society. Well that is as per the Lands of Intrigue. Baldur's Gate 2 made them something else entirely.
Dungeon_Master 07-02-03, 06:07 PM	Why do you say the Baldurs Gate novels are canon? The games are canon, but the books messed the storyline up so bad. Anyone who played the games can tell you that. Also, if it is canon, why can't I find anything about it in my sourcebooks?
Kuje31 07-02-03, 06:43 PM	Originally posted by Dungeon_Master Why do you say the Baldurs Gate novels are canon? The games are canon, but the books messed the storyline up so bad. Anyone who played the games can tell you that. Also, if it is canon, why can't I find anything about it in my sourcebooks? I am staying out of this, this time. :). But let's leave it, Novels are officical canon sources. Dragon articles are official canon sources. There was also a sourcebook tied into the books called Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate 2. The novel is also listed on the official timeline on the wotc web site.
Dargoth 07-02-03, 08:31 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Ed's working on one of FR titles we haven't told you guys about yet. (But it might be the case that a hint about it could surface at the GenCon Realms seminar.) Sometimes I'm careless that way. *Arranges for Realmsprotector to follow you around with a tape recorder* :D
Dargoth 07-02-03, 10:27 PM	Rich: Will we see a complete FR spell list in the PGFR? For example several 3ed FR products feature spells for the core class and PrCs. Will we see a complete list of spells for the Blackguard ie including Blackguard spells from the PHB, Magic pof Faerun etc? A compiled spell list would b quite handy
Dungeon_Master 07-04-03, 04:13 PM	Hmmmm.. I hate this new interface. My followup got put on the "Most powerful spellcaster" thread when I tried to change pages. My apoligies!!
cwslyclgh 07-06-03, 11:38 PM	:::BUMP:::
Dargoth 07-07-03, 10:06 PM	Rich B or James Wyatt if hes around Any chance we'll see an update to COSQ module (ie a Web enchanement or a Dungeon/Dragon mag article) so it includes content from the Underdark book?
WotC_RichBaker 07-08-03, 01:00 PM	No plans for that right now, but to be honest, you wouldn't really need to do much retrofitting to City of the Spider Queen. I'll forward the suggestion to James, though. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich B or James Wyatt if hes around Any chance we'll see an update to COSQ module (ie a Web enchanement or a Dungeon/Dragon mag article) so it includes content from the Underdark book?
Nightwasp2 07-08-03, 05:46 PM	This got lost I think: In the FRA hardback there was a large section devoted to cities. The format was superb for both on the fly visiting a city and as a springboard for further adventuring. The format I am refering to was: Who Rules Who Really Rules Population Adventurers Points of Interest etc. With the new city stats from the DMG, and the need to know what price of items you can get in town, why do we not see this excellent treatment of cities in current products combined with the new needed info? Was I the only one that found those writeups useful (from FRA)? I mean less than two pages plus map of each major city in the Heartlands was a wealth of info at my DM fingertips. My question is: Will we see a return of this useful format for cities?
Masakado 07-08-03, 09:15 PM	To Rich: Firebringer - 1 Aasimar Paladin - Zip Just finished up Prison of the Firebringer & it was a heckuva ride. For laughs we ran an impromptu fight against the BBEG (no spoilers) and he whooped on all of us big time. Keep those FR Dungeon adventures coming!
WotC_RichBaker 07-09-03, 12:39 PM	Great, glad you liked it! Moskogg got the human paladin in my playtest group once. Then the paladin had a fomorian "trample" him by vaulting over the roof of the guard tower and crushing both him and his horse. (I figured with fast healing 5, a fomorian might not care about taking 20 or 30 points of damage from a fall the same way a human would.) After that, I seemed to have a hard time getting that player to show up again--go figure. Originally posted by Masakado To Rich: Firebringer - 1 Aasimar Paladin - Zip Just finished up Prison of the Firebringer & it was a heckuva ride. For laughs we ran an impromptu fight against the BBEG (no spoilers) and he whooped on all of us big time. Keep those FR Dungeon adventures coming!
WotC_RichBaker 07-09-03, 12:42 PM	We're actually trying out a different "city stat block" format in the upcoming Underdark book. Basically, it omits the "Ftr7, Clr6, Com5 (4)" style entry, except for the city guards/major factions that you might wind up fighting. It also provides a little more text on key NPCs you might interact with, too. Of course, we've still got population, GP Limit, assets, etc., etc. When you see it, let me know what you think. Originally posted by Nightwasp2 This got lost I think: In the FRA hardback there was a large section devoted to cities. The format was superb for both on the fly visiting a city and as a springboard for further adventuring. The format I am refering to was: Who Rules Who Really Rules Population Adventurers Points of Interest etc. With the new city stats from the DMG, and the need to know what price of items you can get in town, why do we not see this excellent treatment of cities in current products combined with the new needed info? Was I the only one that found those writeups useful (from FRA)? I mean less than two pages plus map of each major city in the Heartlands was a wealth of info at my DM fingertips. My question is: Will we see a return of this useful format for cities?
Dargoth 07-12-03, 10:37 PM	bump!
BobROE 07-12-03, 10:55 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We're actually trying out a different "city stat block" format in the upcoming Underdark book. Basically, it omits the "Ftr7, Clr6, Com5 (4)" style entry, except for the city guards/major factions that you might wind up fighting. It also provides a little more text on key NPCs you might interact with, too. Of course, we've still got population, GP Limit, assets, etc., etc. When you see it, let me know what you think. Could you include either a) more important characters or b) just the highest level of each class?
Zanan 07-13-03, 08:34 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Rich B or James Wyatt if hes around Any chance we'll see an update to COSQ module (ie a Web enchanement or a Dungeon/Dragon mag article) so it includes content from the Underdark book? Dargoth, AnotherGnome and myself are creating a Menzoberranzan-box-like add-on to the adventure (well, not exactly) right now. The main temple of Kiaransalee's faiths is located at the Acropolis of Thanatos in the ruined Drow city V'elddrinnsshar. We are currently working on this place, as I said much like the Menzo box, with infrastructure, houses, folks and the like. It will take a few months till it is finished, I guess, but we may hand it in to the Wizards once it is finished.
Sovellios Darkshine 07-14-03, 07:40 AM	Any chance we will see a 3rd edition version of the Hereos or Villians Lorebook. So many NPC's detailed in the FR setting, it would be nice to see some of them fully written up. Is the Forgotten Realms Players Guide going to have 3.5 and epic updates for the previous books, such as prestige classes out of the Magic of Faerun, or feats from the Races of Faerun ?
WotC_RichBaker 07-14-03, 12:40 PM	RE: the Villain's Lorebook or Heroes' Lorebook, we don't have immediate plans for it. It's a tough product, really. We're not sure how useful a Heroes' Lorebook is to most DMs, and the villains of the novels have a tremendous tendency to end up dead. The FR Player's Guide is primarily a 3.5 update to many of the things we deemed most in need of updating. Of course, we have to pick and choose what elements from older books are either the most iconic or most in need of updating, because we don't have the space to redo each and every one. We will include epic updates on a fair amount of previously published materials, though. Originally posted by Sovellios Darkshine Any chance we will see a 3rd edition version of the Hereos or Villians Lorebook. So many NPC's detailed in the FR setting, it would be nice to see some of them fully written up. Is the Forgotten Realms Players Guide going to have 3.5 and epic updates for the previous books, such as prestige classes out of the Magic of Faerun, or feats from the Races of Faerun ?
sanishiver 07-14-03, 02:27 PM	Rich, Not so much a question as a big GOOD JOB on Prison of the Firebringer! My campaign is pretty much mapped out, so I won't be able to run the adventure as written, but I know for certain I'll make use of the very nasty BBEG in some fashion. (He's just to mean not to use!) Maybe sick a whole heard of 'em on my PC's once they go Epic... Anyway, his creature abilities are like nothing I've ever seen before, not even counting the abilities provided by his unique "anatomy". Hey, this leads me to a question after all: are any of the BBEG's (new) abilities now considered standard for bad guys of this particular creature type (such that we will see new rules in the 3.5 MM)? Sorry to be so cryptic, I just don't want to give anything away! :cool:
WotC_RichBaker 07-14-03, 03:06 PM	Glad you liked it. I based Bazim-Gorag on the demon princes and archdevils from Book of Vile Darkness, in that I examined their entries for an idea of the sort of unique powers I could give to him. The DR is pretty much on track for a high-CR chaotic being in D&D 3.5, though. I don't have my book in front of me, so I couldn't say for sure about the other abilities. Originally posted by sanishiver Rich, Not so much a question as a big GOOD JOB on Prison of the Firebringer! My campaign is pretty much mapped out, so I won't be able to run the adventure as written, but I know for certain I'll make use of the very nasty BBEG in some fashion. (He's just to mean not to use!) Maybe sick a whole heard of 'em on my PC's once they go Epic... Anyway, his creature abilities are like nothing I've ever seen before, not even counting the abilities provided by his unique "anatomy". Hey, this leads me to a question after all: are any of the BBEG's (new) abilities now considered standard for bad guys of this particular creature type (such that we will see new rules in the 3.5 MM)? Sorry to be so cryptic, I just don't want to give anything away! :cool:
Elereth_Berantor 07-14-03, 05:41 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We're actually trying out a different "city stat block" format in the upcoming Underdark book. Basically, it omits the "Ftr7, Clr6, Com5 (4)" style entry, except for the city guards/major factions that you might wind up fighting. That's good to hear. As a DM I've never had any use for that large block of info--the simple breakdowns in racial population were quite enough.
sanishiver 07-14-03, 06:03 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Glad you liked it. I based Bazim-Gorag on the demon princes and archdevils from Book of Vile Darkness.. Ah... I shall have a look at that book then. Thanks for the quick reply! :D Oh, one more thing: were you consulted at all on the Incursion scenario featured in both Dragon and Dungeon magazines? And if so, could you share any wild, outlandish and or deadly (to PC's, that is :smirk: ) ideas on how to include it in the Forgotten Realms setting? Inquiring minds want to know (the better to squish, roast and otherwise impale our players! BWAHAHAHA)! Erm.. sorry, didn't mean to let that slip. Anyway, any ideas would be appreciated! :cool:
Dargoth 07-16-03, 11:51 PM	Rich B Any idea what issue the 2nd installment of WOSQ characters will appear in Dragon magazine? They apparently didnt make it in to Dragon 310
Dargoth 07-17-03, 03:10 AM	Rich Also is there do the Mines of Tethyamar get a write up in Underdark? Also are the anymore drow cities under the Dalelands other than the 2 that are destroyed in COSQ?
Solo of Erevan 07-17-03, 12:26 PM	Rich I remember you speaking of a manual about the planes in the Realms. Am I corret about this? Can you tell us something?
WotC_RichBaker 07-17-03, 12:46 PM	I just spoke with Jesse Decker (former editor at Dragon, he's just moved over to work in RPG R&D here at Wizards), and it turns out the article slipped from #310. It'll probably appear in #311, maybe #312. (I've had it done for quite a while, Paizo just ran out of editing capacity to make it into #310.) So, it'll be soon. Sorry for the delay. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich B Any idea what issue the 2nd installment of WOSQ characters will appear in Dragon magazine? They apparently didnt make it in to Dragon 310
WotC_RichBaker 07-17-03, 12:47 PM	No, it's not really a Manual of the Planes for the Realms. It's the Player's Guide to Faerun, coming out early next year. That book has a nice long chapter with more information on the Realms cosmology and provides a few more answers about what bad guys come from where, as well as basic info on each of the Realms planes. Originally posted by Solo of Erevan Rich I remember you speaking of a manual about the planes in the Realms. Am I corret about this? Can you tell us something?
WotC_RichBaker 07-17-03, 12:52 PM	Unfortunately, no. I would have liked to say more about Tethyamar, but it looks like we ran out of room. Telling you more about Tethyamar than what we said in the FRCS would have taken at least a full column, and doing Tethyamar "right" would have taken a couple of pages and a map--and we just didn't have the space. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Also is there do the Mines of Tethyamar get a write up in Underdark? Also are the anymore drow cities under the Dalelands other than the 2 that are destroyed in COSQ?
Dargoth 07-17-03, 11:20 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Unfortunately, no. I would have liked to say more about Tethyamar, but it looks like we ran out of room. Telling you more about Tethyamar than what we said in the FRCS would have taken at least a full column, and doing Tethyamar "right" would have taken a couple of pages and a map--and we just didn't have the space. Web Enchancement? :devil: or something you'll save for a Dalelands supplement?
Darkmore 07-18-03, 02:00 PM	A single question about the upcoming FR player's guide (well if you 'can' answer this): Considering the fact that the 3.5 druid chooses his/her animal compagnion in a specific list (as the Sor/Wiz choose his familiar): Will there be realm-specific compagnions (much as there are realm specific familiars) ?
Azzadar 07-18-03, 02:49 PM	Hello Richard, Do you think you could do a Mines of Tethyamar web enhancement for the Underdark book?
WotC_RichBaker 07-18-03, 03:31 PM	Good idea. Would have been nice to make the red tiger, snow cat, etc., available. Unfortunately, we're wrapped up with the design work and moving into development and editing now, so we probably won't do that unless we find the time and space to do so. I'll keep my eyes peeled for future products that idea might work well in. Originally posted by Darkmore A single question about the upcoming FR player's guide (well if you 'can' answer this): Considering the fact that the 3.5 druid chooses his/her animal compagnion in a specific list (as the Sor/Wiz choose his familiar): Will there be realm-specific compagnions (much as there are realm specific familiars) ?
WotC_RichBaker 07-18-03, 03:32 PM	Me, personally? No, I'm afraid I just don't have the time right now. However, Bruce Cordell or Gwen Kestrel might--I'll ask them if they're interested. Originally posted by Azzadar Hello Richard, Do you think you could do a Mines of Tethyamar web enhancement for the Underdark book?
Klyden 07-18-03, 06:40 PM	Dear Richard Baker, Hi. I was just wondering if you knew if Wizards of the Coast was going to add a monster similar to Moro from Princess Mononoke in the Forbidden East part of the Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms Book? I think Moro was a spirit wolf (as evidence by her two tails, ability to talk, good intelligence and wisdom, and huge size). Frankly I kinda surpised Wizards of the Coast hasn't added giant, talking, wolves yet already into a Monster Manual yet.
WotC_RichBaker 07-18-03, 08:13 PM	Very cool movie -- I liked it a lot. Wouldn't the "telthor" template from Unapproachable East, slapped onto an awakened dire wolf, get you pretty close to a giant, talking spirit wolf? Originally posted by Klyden Dear Richard Baker, Hi. I was just wondering if you knew if Wizards of the Coast was going to add a monster similar to Moro from Princess Mononoke in the Forbidden East part of the Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms Book? I think Moro was a spirit wolf (as evidence by her two tails, ability to talk, good intelligence and wisdom, and huge size). Frankly I kinda surpised Wizards of the Coast hasn't added giant, talking, wolves yet already into a Monster Manual yet.
Thrask the Gnoll 07-18-03, 10:55 PM	Ah, the magic of templates. Gotta love 'em!
Dargoth 07-19-03, 01:23 AM	Rich What new material will we be seeing in the FRPG Will there be new PrCs, Spells and feats? If your really feeling generous can you post the contents for the FRPG?
Dargoth 07-19-03, 08:49 PM	Rich Will Underdark feature write ups for monster gods such as Blibdoolpoolp, Ilsensine and Ilxendren?
ericlboyd 07-20-03, 07:00 PM	<<< Oh, one more thing: were you consulted at all on the Incursion scenario featured in both Dragon and Dungeon magazines? And if so, could you share any wild, outlandish and or deadly (to PC's, that is ) ideas on how to include it in the Forgotten Realms setting? >>> I'm not Rich, but here's a quick answer: If you have Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark (or the upcoming Underdark book), I would suggest checking out the ruined subkingdoms of Shanatar. One of them (up by the Shining Plains) is inhabited by a bunch of githyanki and red dragons. IMO, that's the perfect place to start an "Incursion". --Eric
Dargoth 07-20-03, 09:08 PM	Originally posted by ericlboyd <<< Oh, one more thing: were you consulted at all on the Incursion scenario featured in both Dragon and Dungeon magazines? And if so, could you share any wild, outlandish and or deadly (to PC's, that is ) ideas on how to include it in the Forgotten Realms setting? >>> I'm not Rich, but here's a quick answer: If you have Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark (or the upcoming Underdark book), I would suggest checking out the ruined subkingdoms of Shanatar. One of them (up by the Shining Plains) is inhabited by a bunch of githyanki and red dragons. IMO, that's the perfect place to start an "Incursion". --Eric Torglor page 86 of DDGTTU Rich: on the map provided with Drizzts guide to the Underdark theres a couple of cities that arent detailed in the book Phuglotllart (Under Sembia) Zanhoriloch (Under Battledale) Glanderultok (North of the Citedal of the Ravan) Which races live in those 3 cities and are they detailed in Underdark?
Klyden 07-20-03, 09:43 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Very cool movie -- I liked it a lot. Wouldn't the "telthor" template from Unapproachable East, slapped onto an awakened dire wolf, get you pretty close to a giant, talking spirit wolf? Yes but sadly not close enough. Moro and her kin were Spirit Wolves, larger, more powerful, and able to speak telepathically with ANY being that had a language and a mind that was understandable. The Telthor template does not allow the awakened dire wolf to telepathically back to the person who "awakened" it as far as I know. You might want to inform Wizards that they might want to make a Spirit Wolf Monster (Neutral in alignment).
WotC_RichBaker 07-21-03, 03:43 PM	Yes, you'll see new prestige classes, spells, and feats--and monsters, too. But you'll also see 3.5 updates on more of these things. One of the big features of the book is what I refer to as the "Grand Unified Theory" of character regions, which hopefully will serve to provide a better, more detailed and more user-friendly way to make use of the regions. Not quite ready to post the ToC yet, but maybe after GenCon. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich What new material will we be seeing in the FRPG Will there be new PrCs, Spells and feats? If your really feeling generous can you post the contents for the FRPG?
WotC_RichBaker 07-21-03, 03:44 PM	No, not specifically (but darn it, that would have been a really good idea). Wish we'd made room for that. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Will Underdark feature write ups for monster gods such as Blibdoolpoolp, Ilsensine and Ilxendren?
WotC_RichBaker 07-21-03, 03:47 PM	I tried to make sure that as many of the cities and places identified on the poster map from DDGttUD were mentioned in the text of Underdark, but I was definitely constrained by the size of the map available. I used a 2-page spread to show all of Faerun, so many of the smaller features in the Drizzt Guide map just couldn't fit. So, I don't have a good answer for you on those cities--maybe Eric can offer some insight. Originally posted by Dargoth Torglor page 86 of DDGTTU Rich: on the map provided with Drizzts guide to the Underdark theres a couple of cities that arent detailed in the book Phuglotllart (Under Sembia) Zanhoriloch (Under Battledale) Glanderultok (North of the Citedal of the Ravan) Which races live in those 3 cities and are they detailed in Underdark?
karma28536 07-21-03, 04:55 PM	What exactly is Incursion? Originally posted by sanishiver Ah... I shall have a look at that book then. Thanks for the quick reply! :D Oh, one more thing: were you consulted at all on the Incursion scenario featured in both Dragon and Dungeon magazines? And if so, could you share any wild, outlandish and or deadly (to PC's, that is :smirk: ) ideas on how to include it in the Forgotten Realms setting? Inquiring minds want to know (the better to squish, roast and otherwise impale our players! BWAHAHAHA)! Erm.. sorry, didn't mean to let that slip. Anyway, any ideas would be appreciated! :cool:
Darkmore 07-21-03, 05:47 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Good idea. Would have been nice to make the red tiger, snow cat, etc., available. Unfortunately, we're wrapped up with the design work and moving into development and editing now, ...Damn ... too late :sad: So I suppose it's also too late to include a clarification about Druids and their relationship with deities (to pray for spells or not to pray: that is the question)... *sigh* :rolleyes:
GoodOlWillickers 07-21-03, 06:13 PM	I know spelljammer is no longer supported, but do you have any plans to make all the words like Faerun, Oerth and Krynn (since I hear you're bringing that back to life) on the same Prime with some means of travel between the "Crystal spheres?" I think it would be a major improvement, since it makes the subtlties of other worlds that wound up on Faerun more believable with spelljammer crews and all. Is there some reason why you completely dropped the entirity of the spelljammer setting? Because, it seems like it was a great concept even if it didn't have market value. Peace -Will http://www.angelfire.com/md2/willspalace
Dargoth 07-21-03, 07:47 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker No, not specifically (but darn it, that would have been a really good idea). Wish we'd made room for that. I think we need to "persuade" whoevers responsiable for setting the length of the FR books into giving you an extra 20-40 pages for all future FR books.
Dargoth 07-21-03, 07:51 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I tried to make sure that as many of the cities and places identified on the poster map from DDGttUD were mentioned in the text of Underdark, but I was definitely constrained by the size of the map available. I used a 2-page spread to show all of Faerun, so many of the smaller features in the Drizzt Guide map just couldn't fit. So, I don't have a good answer for you on those cities--maybe Eric can offer some insight. Hmm I think that would have been a good reason for using poster map in Underdark instead of internal maps.
Dargoth 07-21-03, 07:56 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Yes, you'll see new prestige classes, spells, and feats--and monsters, too. But you'll also see 3.5 updates on more of these things. One of the big features of the book is what I refer to as the "Grand Unified Theory" of character regions, which hopefully will serve to provide a better, more detailed and more user-friendly way to make use of the regions. Not quite ready to post the ToC yet, but maybe after GenCon. The problem with Unitifying all the character regions is that as soon as the next Regional supplement comes out it will be out of date again (New Character Regions where added in the Unapproachable east and Underdark and I assume more will be added in future Regional supplements)
BobROE 07-21-03, 09:49 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Yes, you'll see new prestige classes, spells, and feats--and monsters, too. But you'll also see 3.5 updates on more of these things. One of the big features of the book is what I refer to as the "Grand Unified Theory" of character regions, which hopefully will serve to provide a better, more detailed and more user-friendly way to make use of the regions. Not quite ready to post the ToC yet, but maybe after GenCon. Without revealing what's being changed (or with revealing), what was deemed to be wrong with the way regions are handled now?
Stormtalon 07-21-03, 09:50 PM	Originally posted by karma28536 What exactly is Incursion? Incursion is a campaign plot presented in Dragon 309 & Dungeon 100. It details a massive Githyanki invasion of [insert campaign world here]. One of the articles gave some basic guidelines for how to run Incursion in the Realms, which basically can be summed up as follows: "Get the Chosen out of the picture, permanently (if you so desire) or in other ways, depending on how dramatically you want to alter the political geography." Stormtalon
Dargoth 07-21-03, 10:02 PM	*Added the Underdark Contents page to post 1 of this thread
Dargoth 07-21-03, 11:37 PM	The first post in this thread now contains all the questions, and Richs answers from the thread on the Old board I may sort them into topics latter so its more readable
Kuje31 07-22-03, 02:36 AM	Rich, Need a clarification on some thing if you will. It is said in the FRCS, that only divine casters have to take a patron deity. However, the Sage has said in the WOTC faq for FR, that all characters, no matter if they are divine casters or not, have to take a patron deity. (I tend to think it's all characters, but that's my opinion). However a few people are saying that the Faq is wrong and only the info in the FRCS is right. So is it all characters must have a patron or is it only divine casters?
Dargoth 07-22-03, 03:36 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 Rich, Need a clarification on some thing if you will. It is said in the FRCS, that only divine casters have to take a patron deity. However, the Sage has said in the WOTC faq for FR, that all characters, no matter if they are divine casters or not, have to take a patron deity. (I tend to think it's all characters, but that's my opinion). However a few people are saying that the Faq is wrong and only the info in the FRCS is right. So is it all characters must have a patron or is it only divine casters? Well a patron deity is very important infact id go so far as to say its absolutely vital. After all if you dont have patron deity and your characters dies, its exstremely difficult to Raise them (ie Kelemvor puts them in Mykruls wall)
Kuje31 07-22-03, 03:46 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Well a patron deity is very important infact id go so far as to say its absolutely vital. After all if you dont have patron deity and your characters dies, its exstremely difficult to Raise them (ie Kelemvor puts them in Mykruls wall) This is what I have been saying, at least argueing from a "official" stand point. But I am still looking to see if Rich will clarify between what the Sage has said in the Realm's faq, and what the FRCS says on page 39.
Zanan 07-22-03, 04:56 AM	Re faithless ... well you simply could have atheistic chaps in your group and go by what is written in the FRCS (don't know about the FAQ or errata of this book though). Yet, once death comes by and takes such a chap, go by the rules as well and leave the soul stuck into the wall of the City of the Dead. I'd guess the next character is a firm believer in at least one deity ...
Serinde 07-22-03, 11:36 AM	Originally posted by karma28536 What exactly is Incursion? "Githyanki Invade Your World, Big-Time. Film at 11, If Anyone's Left to Film It."
WotC_RichBaker 07-22-03, 11:55 AM	I wouldn't say that we've explicitly dropped it. We just haven't talked about it much. The FRCS discussion on "the Sea of Night" with its off-handed mention of flying ships and other worlds of is intended to refer to Realmspace. Originally posted by GoodOlWillickers I know spelljammer is no longer supported, but do you have any plans to make all the words like Faerun, Oerth and Krynn (since I hear you're bringing that back to life) on the same Prime with some means of travel between the "Crystal spheres?" I think it would be a major improvement, since it makes the subtlties of other worlds that wound up on Faerun more believable with spelljammer crews and all. Is there some reason why you completely dropped the entirity of the spelljammer setting? Because, it seems like it was a great concept even if it didn't have market value. Peace -Will http://www.angelfire.com/md2/willspalace
WotC_RichBaker 07-22-03, 11:57 AM	Exactly. So we've made an effort to "work ahead" and make sure that all the immediate possibilities have been addressed. The Player's Guide increases the number of regions by at least 20 or 30 (I forget the exact number). Originally posted by Dargoth The problem with Unitifying all the character regions is that as soon as the next Regional supplement comes out it will be out of date again (New Character Regions where added in the Unapproachable east and Underdark and I assume more will be added in future Regional supplements)
WotC_RichBaker 07-22-03, 12:06 PM	We felt the system was complex and difficult to access. The interaction of race, favored class, classes preferred in each region, etc., just confused a lot of people. To sum up the major changes... 1. The regions are broken up by race. We don't have a "sun elf" region anymore; instead, we looked at where sun elves came from (Evermeet, Evereska) and made those into regions. (Yes, Evermeet was a region before.) This also makes the tables much easier to use, since you know to start looking at your choices by finding the table appropriate for your character race. 2. We ditched the notion of preferred class. You pick a region off your racial list, it's yours, you get the benefits. This was an ease of use issue. 3. A number of regional feats were picked up by the Player's Handbook v.3.5 (for example, Stealthy), which meant that regions that provided those feats as regional feat options needed help. So we had to create a number of new feats to "replace" those choices brought into the core game. 4. To make sure (3) doesn't happen again, we've identified regional feats as somewhat better than run-of-the-mill feats, and added a feat type -- [regional] -- to indicate feats that can only be selected under certain conditions in your career, like when you're 1st level and just starting out. We're still developing the Player's Guide, so I can't say too much more about how this concept will be implemented; it's still in the works. Originally posted by BobROE Without revealing what's being changed (or with revealing), what was deemed to be wrong with the way regions are handled now?
WotC_RichBaker 07-22-03, 12:08 PM	Without looking at the FAQ, my gut feeling is that the FRCS is right. Divine casters need patrons to get their spells. Other than that, any character is free to have a patron or not, as he or she chooses. It's just remarkably stupid to *not* have a patron, given the workings of death and the afterlife in Faerun. Originally posted by Kuje31 Rich, Need a clarification on some thing if you will. It is said in the FRCS, that only divine casters have to take a patron deity. However, the Sage has said in the WOTC faq for FR, that all characters, no matter if they are divine casters or not, have to take a patron deity. (I tend to think it's all characters, but that's my opinion). However a few people are saying that the Faq is wrong and only the info in the FRCS is right. So is it all characters must have a patron or is it only divine casters?
BobROE 07-22-03, 12:27 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We felt the system was complex and difficult to access. The interaction of race, favored class, classes preferred in each region, etc., just confused a lot of people. To sum up the major changes... 1. The regions are broken up by race. We don't have a "sun elf" region anymore; instead, we looked at where sun elves came from (Evermeet, Evereska) and made those into regions. (Yes, Evermeet was a region before.) This also makes the tables much easier to use, since you know to start looking at your choices by finding the table appropriate for your character race. 2. We ditched the notion of preferred class. You pick a region off your racial list, it's yours, you get the benefits. This was an ease of use issue. 3. A number of regional feats were picked up by the Player's Handbook v.3.5 (for example, Stealthy), which meant that regions that provided those feats as regional feat options needed help. So we had to create a number of new feats to "replace" those choices brought into the core game. 4. To make sure (3) doesn't happen again, we've identified regional feats as somewhat better than run-of-the-mill feats, and added a feat type -- [regional] -- to indicate feats that can only be selected under certain conditions in your career, like when you're 1st level and just starting out. We're still developing the Player's Guide, so I can't say too much more about how this concept will be implemented; it's still in the works. Will the regions be broken up according to lists of common regions for each race in RoF? And will Aasimar, Tiefling, etc be given regions?
Dargoth 07-23-03, 07:48 AM	Hey Rich will the Orog cities be described in The Underdark?
Savras 07-23-03, 06:47 PM	I have a question. I am terribly sorry if it was already asked, ever. So here goes nothing: As far as I know, Jergal looks like a huge praying mantis; always had, always will. Is that correct? Assuming it is correct, how come his favoured weapon is a "White Glove"? How can a praying mantis use a glove? {And does white go well with praying-mantis-green?} Thanks! Savras
BobROE 07-23-03, 07:01 PM	Originally posted by Savras I have a question. I am terribly sorry if it was already asked, ever. So here goes nothing: As far as I know, Jergal looks like a huge praying mantis; always had, always will. Is that correct? Assuming it is correct, how come his favoured weapon is a "White Glove"? How can a praying mantis use a glove? {And does white go well with praying-mantis-green?} Thanks! Savras According to Powers & Pantheons (2E) "His white gloves cover elongated, claw-like hands and forearms." So he seems to be at least partly humanoid. Hope that helps.
Savras 07-23-03, 07:18 PM	No, it doesn't help! My beutiful idea of showing another inconsistency in the books gone... snif... :P (or j\k, whichever is more appropriate). Well, that does explain things. They could've mentioned that, couldn't they? Savras, Whose Question Has Been Answered Thanks To :bow:BobROE:bow:
BobROE 07-23-03, 10:31 PM	They could have, but that would have involved discribing him (and stating him out), it would have added many pages to the book (cause they then would have had to discribe and stat out all the minor and non-faerunian dieites), which wouldn't have been a bad thing I guess, but if they were going to add more the F&P I would have prefered more church discriptions or stuff about the churches themselves (like for Bane or Shar in LoD)
Dargoth 07-24-03, 02:27 AM	Id say Rich has probably departed for Gencon so we wont get any questions answered until he gets back. Hopefully more FR stuff will be nannounced (Rich hinted that he might leak another FR title at Gencon)
Savras 07-25-03, 09:36 AM	Another question: How come I am only a Demigod? So someone'll say, you can't be of a higher status, 'cause your portfolio overlaps Azuth's. But it ain't so- his is "Wizards, mages, spellcasters in general" and mine is "Divination"- not even "Diviners", which could mayhap conflict. So they'll say, wait, you don't get enough prayers to warrant a higher status. But that's wrong, too- an entire *nation*, Tashalar, prays to me at least once per day (for their Tarot reading). So they'll say, well, portfolio still determine a bit, yours just ain't good enough. But that ain't correct, either- I have Divination, which is a whole school of magic, I've got Truth, and that seems rather large and cool, and I've got Fate, which seems to be the ultimate portfolio. So how come I'm a god-forsaken Demigod??? Savras
qstor 07-25-03, 10:05 AM	Rich, thanks for answering all of our questions! Can't wait for the next CotSQ series novel. Loved Condemnation! Question: being the lazy DM I am..I'd love to see a map of the Shade City from Nethril..any suggestions on what to use? Anyone else. thanks! Mike
biomante 07-25-03, 12:18 PM	Hey Rich Are the light related penalties (for Drow, Orcs, etc) going to be changed in the FR Player's guide? (Or at leat the Daylight Adaptation Feat will be more interesting?) Thanks
Klyden 07-25-03, 01:08 PM	Dear Richard, Does Wizards of the Coast have any plans on making a complete Barbarian, Druid and Ranger Book as well as a Complete Fighter and Monk Book (assuming that the Complete Warrior Sourcebook is a book of new material to Fighters and Monks)? Will we ever see new artwork and 3.5 revisions for the following Prestige Classes: Hospitaler Undead Hunter Ooze Master King/Queen of the Wild Geomancer Red Avenger Drunken Master Cavalier Master of Chains Ninja of the Cresent Moon Also, does Wizards have anything planned for the Complete Warrior that resembles a Princess of the Wolves Prestige Class (with artwork of a female human barbarian in furs and riding a Dire Wolf)? I think that would be as awsome as God is omni-potent! I would also like to ask again (since I kinda never got an answer to this question fully) if Wizards of the Coast is going to make a Spirit Wolf monster?
Klyden 07-26-03, 10:26 PM	Ummm...hello?
Purple Dragon Knight 07-26-03, 10:30 PM	Originally posted by Klyden Ummm...hello? G-E-N-C-O-N.... give the man a break will ya? :nonono:
Herr Doktor 07-26-03, 10:44 PM	Klyden, you've mentioned this Princess Mononoke stuff before and I'd like to give you some advice: Make this stuff yourself! There are rules available for creating your own Monsters, Prestige Classes, et cetera... use them and make your own. There are probably not enough people who want to see things of that nature in a D&D product, what with the limited space and books released yearly. Make it yourself, then post it on the appropriate boards and share your creations. Or find someone who'd be willing to help you design those things.
GoodOlWillickers 07-26-03, 10:55 PM	Originally posted by Savras Another question: How come I am only a Demigod? So someone'll say, you can't be of a higher status, 'cause your portfolio overlaps Azuth's. But it ain't so- his is "Wizards, mages, spellcasters in general" and mine is "Divination"- not even "Diviners", which could mayhap conflict. So they'll say, wait, you don't get enough prayers to warrant a higher status. But that's wrong, too- an entire *nation*, Tashalar, prays to me at least once per day (for their Tarot reading). So they'll say, well, portfolio still determine a bit, yours just ain't good enough. But that ain't correct, either- I have Divination, which is a whole school of magic, I've got Truth, and that seems rather large and cool, and I've got Fate, which seems to be the ultimate portfolio. So how come I'm a god-forsaken Demigod??? Savras Because Ao hates you. Peace -Will http://www.angelfire.com/md2/willspalace
Dargoth 07-27-03, 07:45 PM	No ones reported of Rich letting the cat out of the bag for net years FR line
Dargoth 07-28-03, 07:29 PM	So Rich how was your flight? and... What can you tell us about Serpent lands?
Klyden 07-28-03, 08:15 PM	Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight G-E-N-C-O-N.... give the man a break will ya? :nonono: Sorry...didn't know...I forgot about Gencon...stupid me...
WotC_RichBaker 07-29-03, 02:31 PM	Sorry, folks -- I've been away at GenCon for the better part of a week. Also, I'm planning on taking some much-needed vacation next week, so don't get upset if it takes me a while to respond to this thread. I'd like to post the ToC for Serpent Kingdoms, but I think it's a little early for that. Ditto for Mystery Product #1, which is an Unapproachable East-style supplement scheduled for 2004 that we're just starting work on. (How long until I see that remark on gamingreport.com, I wonder?) Anyway, I'll have to wait a couple of months.
AskaniSage 07-29-03, 05:54 PM	Thanks Richard for coming on the boards & talking to us. I appreciate you taking time answering our questions & keeping us informed. Thanks again!! :D
Dargoth 07-29-03, 07:21 PM	Posted by Eric B in Realsm L archive --OK, not speaking on behalf of Wizards, but, as this was discussed at GenCon 2003 ... A new FR release planned for next year (date unspecified) will be "Serpent Kingdoms" dealing with all things reptilian in the Realms. Written by Ed Greenwood, Darrin Drader, and myself, it focuses on the yuan-ti and includes geography chapters focused on areas heretofore largely untouched in previously released Realms products (1e, 2e, or 3e). Some of the place names rattled off include Tashalar, Thindol, Samarach, Serpentes, Lapaliiya, Okoth, Isstosseffifil, and Najara ... you'll have to be a true Realms scholar to dig up some of those references <evil grin> ... So weve got The FR players guide Serpent Kingdoms and a mystery regional supplement (hopefully Old Empires!)
Klyden 07-29-03, 09:44 PM	Whoops. Please delete mods.
Durgo Dunweather 07-30-03, 01:47 AM	Rich, I went to Gen Con this year and really appreciated the time that you, Ed, Eric Boyd and company devoted to answering questions and highlighting the future of the Realms. It's really great to know that our beloved world is in good hands. I have a few thoughts and questions I'd like to shoot your way: 1) There seem to be quite a large number of people that would be interested in a Map Only product for the Realms. At the Realms Forum at Gen Con almost everyone that was there indicated that they would buy it (I was sitting next to the guy that said he is a "consumer *****" and will buy anything). As a striking contrast almost everyone on the panel seemed quite convinced that this product can't happen. I do think that's a shame, but I'd like to at least to bring up some examples of other companies that have done a similar product: First and foremost the Middle Earth maps boxset is out there: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1582369607/qid=1059542860/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-5917766-5364808?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Also, Necromancer games is planning to release a boxset containing 18 maps for the Wilderlands/Judges Guild setting: http://www.judgesguild.com/ I feel that if these guys can do it mighty Hasbro ought to be able to do it. I'd pay $100 for these maps in a heartbeat. 2) Would WotC ever consider sponsoring an area at GenCon (like a room or just a single table) for Forgotten Realms adventures? I'm referring to the way other companies have registered events wherein they run adventures in their settings (Freeport for Green Ronin, Iron Kingdoms for Privateer Press). I'd love for WotC to encourage independent DMs to volunteer to fill a table throughout the convention. I ran an FR adventure this year, but I didn't see any others in the list of events. They may have been there, but I wasn't able to find them. I think it would be a great way to get people excited about the setting. Taken a step further, it would be great to see a regular schedule of people like yourself, Eric Boyd or Ed running adventures in this area (specifically set in the Forgotten Realms, though I think areas for Greyhawk and Dragonlance would be great too). I am aware of the RPGA presence at Gen Con, but in my experience those adventures are run by someone trying to get a free badge who doesn't care about the adventure he or she is running (role-playing without feeling is a waste of time). 3) I think the quality of the Realms products for 3E has been spectacular. You guys are doing a great job. Silver Marches, Lords of Darkness and the FRCS each were up there with the best of FR material. In closing I just want you guys to remember to fight to keep the quality of the Realms products high. Maps may be expensive, but DMs badly want maps. You may not sell as many maps as you will Prestige classes, but if you get one DM really fired up, you will reach players (customers) in a way you won't with by any other means. Thanks for the great work. I look forward to your novel.
cwslyclgh 07-30-03, 02:13 AM	I feel that if these guys can do it mighty Hasbro ought to be able to do it. I'd pay $100 for these maps in a heartbeat you would likely be the only one... while I would love a book of maps, or even a boxed set of maps I would be unlikly to pay more then 25-30 dollars for it. maybe 40 if it had a lot of maps, perhaps including some of the realms more famous dungeons. But no more then that, at a hundred dollar price tag I would simply send WotC an email containing :rofl:
Azzadar 07-30-03, 06:43 AM	A set of maps similar to the one that came with Silver Marches would be great. This is a product I would like to see one day.
Faraer 07-30-03, 08:42 AM	Rich, I just posted my thoughts on the idea of a volume of Realms history in this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70644). I wonder if you have any thoughts on such a prospect.
WotC_RichBaker 07-30-03, 02:09 PM	Hey, thanks for coming to the show. We're doing our best. The map book is tough--sometimes big companies have a harder time breaking format than smaller companies. We know you guys want a map book, though. We'll see what we can do. RE: GenCon, the RPGA is going to be our principal means for arranging lots of FR play. You're always welcome to organize and submit events of your own, too. Maybe the Realms List would be a good place to drum up some support for that. As for my time, Ed's time, etc., I'd love to pitch in a GMing tour, but I've got a lot of duties at GenCon, so I can't promise anything up front. Glad you're enjoying the FR products. You'll love the Underdark and the Player's Guide. The Underdark has some great new realmslore in it. And I hope you like the book! Originally posted by Durgo Dunweather Rich, I went to Gen Con this year and really appreciated the time that you, Ed, Eric Boyd and company devoted to answering questions and highlighting the future of the Realms. It's really great to know that our beloved world is in good hands. I have a few thoughts and questions I'd like to shoot your way: 1) There seem to be quite a large number of people that would be interested in a Map Only product for the Realms. [snipped] I feel that if these guys can do it mighty Hasbro ought to be able to do it. I'd pay $100 for these maps in a heartbeat. 2) Would WotC ever consider sponsoring an area at GenCon (like a room or just a single table) for Forgotten Realms adventures? [snipped] 3) I think the quality of the Realms products for 3E has been spectacular. You guys are doing a great job. Silver Marches, Lords of Darkness and the FRCS each were up there with the best of FR material. In closing I just want you guys to remember to fight to keep the quality of the Realms products high. Maps may be expensive, but DMs badly want maps. You may not sell as many maps as you will Prestige classes, but if you get one DM really fired up, you will reach players (customers) in a way you won't with by any other means. Thanks for the great work. I look forward to your novel.
Purple Dragon Knight 07-30-03, 02:17 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker RE: GenCon, the RPGA is going to be our principal means for arranging lots of FR play. You're always welcome to organize and submit events of your own, too. Maybe the Realms List would be a good place to drum up some support for that. As for my time, Ed's time, etc., I'd love to pitch in a GMing tour, but I've got a lot of duties at GenCon, so I can't promise anything up front. If you do it within an RPGA framework, I recommend you set this up as a bunch of RPGA Classic events (standalones, not part of any Living Campaign). You hand out pregenerated PCs at the beginning of each module: it then becomes a real roleplay exercise for the players, and you reduce your chance to end up with a bunch cert grubbers by about 90%...
Ivy 07-30-03, 02:17 PM	Hi Rich, I've been following this thread for some time now and I wanted to thank you very much for your presence here. In a similar vein to the map book, I wonder if a book such as "Dungeons of Faerûn" or "Ruins of Faerûn" or something similar might be more feasible. It could detail a variety of sites around the Realms that are good possible adventure locations with histories, maps, particular guardians/creatures/inhabitants, specific treasure, etc. I'd be extremely interested in something like that. Keep up the great work! :)
Erimthar 07-30-03, 02:32 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker The map book is tough--sometimes big companies have a harder time breaking format than smaller companies. We know you guys want a map book, though. We'll see what we can do. I'd be very happy to have an updated version of the old (paper) Forgotten Realms Atlas. If you did a book the same size as that one, eliminated all the novel-specific maps and used that space to add more detailed maps of the Realms in general, it would be awesome. I still usually just grab that Atlas when I need to see where something is, rather than shuffling through my 15 years worth of Realms products looking for the right poster map.
Dargoth 07-31-03, 04:44 AM	Rich Why not Mind Flayers in The Underdark source book? Someone just pointed this out in another thread While theres a PrCs, Feats and a template theres no sections for Mind flayers in Races of the Underdark or the Regions section of the book. Seems strange to me Duegar, Drow and Svirfneblin all got write ups in Races of Faerun anfd are also getting write ups in Underdark but Mindflayers arent getting a mention in either book
WotC_RichBaker 07-31-03, 02:43 PM	No problem, I like talking with you guys (most of the time). We've talked about a ruins-themed or dungeon-themed book, and they're both on our short list of things we'd like to do. Just not sure when specifically we'll be able to schedule them. Originally posted by Ivy Hi Rich, I've been following this thread for some time now and I wanted to thank you very much for your presence here. In a similar vein to the map book, I wonder if a book such as "Dungeons of Faerûn" or "Ruins of Faerûn" or something similar might be more feasible. It could detail a variety of sites around the Realms that are good possible adventure locations with histories, maps, particular guardians/creatures/inhabitants, specific treasure, etc. I'd be extremely interested in something like that. Keep up the great work! :)
WotC_RichBaker 07-31-03, 02:45 PM	They're discussed principally as villains, which is why they don't appear in the races chapter (except for a passing mention). A mind flayer is ECL 15 without class levels; that's pretty brutal. But trust me, plenty of sinister illithid badness appears in Underdark. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Why not Mind Flayers in The Underdark source book? Someone just pointed this out in another thread While theres a PrCs, Feats and a template theres no sections for Mind flayers in Races of the Underdark or the Regions section of the book. Seems strange to me Duegar, Drow and Svirfneblin all got write ups in Races of Faerun anfd are also getting write ups in Underdark but Mindflayers arent getting a mention in either book
Savras 07-31-03, 06:37 PM	Savras Update: In the thread about it (the "How Come Savras Is A Demigod? (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67637)"), many options\ideas came, and I thought throwing them in might be helpful: A. Mayhap a part of my power is still in the Scepter of Savras, which is invisible to Divine spells. How lame is it that the god of Divination can't find a bloody scepter that has a bit of him in it? B. Someone thinks Fate and Truth aren't big portfolios. Are they or aren't they? C. Is it part of my agreement with Azuth that I remain a Demigod? (Please say "no") D. Does "Divination" overlaps "Magic"? Ias that the reason I am a Demigod? If so, how come Cyric (Illusion) and his predecessor as Illusion goddess, Leira, are above (she was Lesser, he is Greater)? Any chance of me becoming a Greate... Lesser God?http://www.geocities.com/sarlis4fr/3eye_grin.txt Thanks! Savras
AskaniSage 08-01-03, 06:45 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker A mind flayer is ECL 15 without class levels 15!!!! Ack!!!
Dargoth 08-01-03, 06:56 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker They're discussed principally as villains, which is why they don't appear in the races chapter (except for a passing mention). A mind flayer is ECL 15 without class levels; that's pretty brutal. But trust me, plenty of sinister illithid badness appears in Underdark. Do Mind Flayer cities get a write up?
Warmonger 08-01-03, 11:13 AM	Question for Mr. Baker or any other knowledgable Realms fan. Why is it called the "Forgotten" realms? I mean a new product comes out practically every month, it has its own huge message board, on which staff regualry answer questions about it, and IRC more gamers play on it than any other campaign setting. You ask me, Greyhawk is the "forgotten" realm. Seriously though, why was it named "forgotten"? Was it something to do with Toril's seperation from the Great Wheel? :D
Faraer 08-01-03, 11:28 AM	This is explained in the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting:The "Forgotten Realms" derive their name from the fictitious fact upon which play in my campaign is based: that a multiverse exists, of countless parallel co-existing Prime Material Planes (including the world presented herein, our own modern "Earth," and any other fantasy settings a DM may wish to incorporate in play), all related to the Known Planes of Existence presented in the AD&D system. Travel betwixt these planes was once far more common than is the case now (when few know the means of reaching other worlds, or even believe in the existence of such fanciful places); hence, the Realms have been "forgotten" by beings of Earth. Our legends of dragons, vampires, and of other fearsome creatures and magic are due to this formerly widespread contact between the worlds; most have of course become confused and distorted with the passage of time and many retellings.Ed has also said:Why include 'real world' gods in the Realms at all? Well, that's the "Forgotten" part of the name. I envisioned a multiverse of many, many parallel worlds (alternate, side-by-side Prime Material Planes, if you prefer), with Middle-Earth, Narnia, and many other favorite fantasy settings among them, all linked together with gates. There was once much travel between them (hence our own world's legends of dragons, etc., from before the links to other places became 'forgotten'), including huge migrations...until, inevitably, power groups of sinister and formidable beings fought to control access to/use of the gates. High-level campaign play in the 'original' Realms centered on PCs (unwittingly, at first) running afoul of some of these power groups, getting caught in the ongoing wars between them, and ending up as one such power group themselves. In the end, this Zelazny's Amber/Farmer's World of Tiers scope of play was handled differently by TSR (as Planescape).So your suggestion was along the right track, except that the Realms was created 10 years before the AD&D planar structure and 25+ years before Planescape called it the Great Wheel.
Warmonger 08-01-03, 11:50 AM	Thanks Farear, and double thanks for the quick reply. :)
Klyden 08-01-03, 01:29 PM	Originally posted by Herr Doktor Klyden, you've mentioned this Princess Mononoke stuff before and I'd like to give you some advice: Make this stuff yourself! There are rules available for creating your own Monsters, Prestige Classes, et cetera... use them and make your own. There are probably not enough people who want to see things of that nature in a D&D product, what with the limited space and books released yearly. Make it yourself, then post it on the appropriate boards and share your creations. Or find someone who'd be willing to help you design those things. I already have...thats not the point though of my questions relating to the Princess Mononoke Anime. I was wondering if good ol Rich could give me any info on wheather or not Wizards of the coast will ever have plans on creating a Princess of the Wolves prestige class (with WotC's usual top of the line artwork included). I am just interested in seeing if Wizards of the Coast would like or has any plans to do this (or something similar to this). I also asked a bunch of questions about the D&D Class Accessory Books and if they will be updated to 3.5 Edition (including the Prestige Classes) so I'm not totally focused on Anime related stuff for D&D. Anyways, I gotta get back to work now...later...
WotC_RichBaker 08-01-03, 07:37 PM	I'm going on vacation until Tuesday the 12th, and I won't be checking the message board. So, don't get mad at me if I don't respond for a week or so. Talk amongst yourselves!
Gadodel 08-01-03, 07:49 PM	See that folks, Richard is taking us all on vacation!!! Yay! *laffs* No, seriously; thanks for participating herein. I lurk and read, but have been enjoying myself.
Iakhovas 08-01-03, 08:12 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I'm going on vacation until Tuesday the 12th, and I won't be checking the message board. So, don't get mad at me if I don't respond for a week or so. Talk amongst yourselves! Send James Wyatt over here while your gone Rich. No need to be shy James. We don't bite. :angel:
Dargoth 08-01-03, 09:35 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I'm going on vacation until Tuesday the 12th, and I won't be checking the message board. So, don't get mad at me if I don't respond for a week or so. Talk amongst yourselves! Enjoy your break Rich Well all be here when you get back :devil: You could always draft Eric Boyd of James Wyatt to take your place while your away :D
realmprotector 08-03-03, 02:41 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker (How long until I see that remark on gamingreport.com, I wonder?) Never...
Klyden 08-03-03, 10:48 PM	Originally posted by Gadodel See that folks, Richard is taking us all on vacation!!! Yay! *laffs* No, seriously; thanks for participating herein. I lurk and read, but have been enjoying myself. :rofl:
Dargoth 08-10-03, 10:44 PM	As Rich will be back soon...BUMP!
Dargoth 08-11-03, 11:08 PM	By the way Rich I was just looking at James Wyatts site and on it he mentions that Veshann his LG Sorcerer tried to convert the Slaad lord in Return of the Flamebringer to Good. What happaned after that? :D
Dargoth 08-13-03, 12:49 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I just spoke with Jesse Decker (former editor at Dragon, he's just moved over to work in RPG R&D here at Wizards), and it turns out the article slipped from #310. It'll probably appear in #311, maybe #312. (I've had it done for quite a while, Paizo just ran out of editing capacity to make it into #310.) So, it'll be soon. Sorry for the delay. Hmm it didnt make it into 311 or 312 either http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59892
Darkmore 08-14-03, 08:43 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth As Rich will be back soon...BUMP! I suppose it's about time to raise that "Druid thing" again :D :smirk: :D
Dargoth 08-17-03, 05:24 AM	We know your out there Rich :angel:
cwslyclgh 08-17-03, 09:36 PM	perhaps his vacation was so much fun that he forgot us, t he little guys....
Dargoth 08-17-03, 09:43 PM	Originally posted by cwslyclgh perhaps his vacation was so much fun that he forgot us, t he little guys.... we could remind him by poking him with a stick :D *Poke* *poke*
Azzadar 08-18-03, 12:20 AM	Poke him with a ten foot pole. hehehe...
WotC_RichBaker 08-18-03, 03:57 PM	I'm back. What's up?
Darkmore 08-18-03, 04:57 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I'm back. What's up? According to those guys we're now in 1373 : http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83834 And still no party?? no champagne ?? Shame on you ! :rolleyes:
Wullenwever 08-18-03, 05:38 PM	Greetings Mr. Baker, hope your vacation was relaxing. On to my questions.. 1.: I recently skimmed the 3.5 MM and found the entries of some of the FR Player races to be different from the FRCS (the wood elf missing the -2 Cha modification, the duergar having ECL +1, the aasimar having daylight as a spell-like ability instead of light , drow changed weapon proficiencies). Is it safe to assume that these changes will appear in the Player's Guide next year, or are the statistics on these races found in the FRCS and RoF still valid? 2.: I asked around the time of the UE release if it would be possible to present NPC write-ups of some the characters presented there as a web article/enhancement and if there was a chance to see the chosen of Talona template for the Rotting Man. Any news on this, if at all? 3.: It was said that after Monsters of Faerun goes oop, the monsters presented therein would find their way into future products. As there is no data available that updates (most of) the creatures to 3.5, I would like to know, when they will start to reappear. Thanx for your time.
cwslyclgh 08-18-03, 06:06 PM	3.: It was said that after Monsters of Faerun goes oop, the monsters presented therein would find their way into future products. As there is no data available that updates (most of) the creatures to 3.5, I would like to know, when they will start to reappear. some of them already have... the unaproachable east has a new revised dread warrior in it.
Savras 08-18-03, 06:16 PM	Can I get an answer to my Savras question I posted twice (the second is also an update)? Thanks! Savras
Dargoth 08-18-03, 07:51 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I'm back. What's up? Did you enjoy your break Rich? There are a couple of questions between todays post and the post you made before going on holidays
WotC_RichBaker 08-18-03, 08:44 PM	Bring it here again, I don't see it anywhere. Originally posted by Savras Can I get an answer to my Savras question I posted twice (the second is also an update)? Thanks! Savras
WotC_RichBaker 08-18-03, 08:55 PM	Yep, it was pretty cool. Saw Crater Lake and the California redwoods. Some answers: 1. The Monster Manual 3.5 is correct. 2. I agree that it would be great to get some U-East character writeups, but I'm just swamped--I can't do it, and don't know when I would be able to. Someone else will have to do it. 3. The Player's Guide to Faerun will include redesigned versions of a number of Monsters of Faerun creatures, plus "short-form" conversions of all the other MoF monsters that aren't specifically redone for 3.5 (so, for example, you'll get a new DR entry for anything with DR that is not specifically redone). Originally posted by Wullenwever Greetings Mr. Baker, hope your vacation was relaxing. On to my questions.. 1.: I recently skimmed the 3.5 MM and found the entries of some of the FR Player races to be different from the FRCS (the wood elf missing the -2 Cha modification, the duergar having ECL +1, the aasimar having daylight as a spell-like ability instead of light , drow changed weapon proficiencies). Is it safe to assume that these changes will appear in the Player's Guide next year, or are the statistics on these races found in the FRCS and RoF still valid? 2.: I asked around the time of the UE release if it would be possible to present NPC write-ups of some the characters presented there as a web article/enhancement and if there was a chance to see the chosen of Talona template for the Rotting Man. Any news on this, if at all? 3.: It was said that after Monsters of Faerun goes oop, the monsters presented therein would find their way into future products. As there is no data available that updates (most of) the creatures to 3.5, I would like to know, when they will start to reappear. Thanx for your time.
Dargoth 08-18-03, 09:20 PM	Hey Rich will the Bane/Xvim creatures be getting a new write up as MOF is out of date. Will we find out where the Baneliches fit into Banes church now that hes returned
Mr. Wilson 08-18-03, 11:55 PM	Posted for Savras, as per Mr. Baker's request: How come I(meaning Savras, editor's note) am only a Demigod? So someone'll say, you can't be of a higher status, 'cause your portfolio overlaps Azuth's. But it ain't so- his is "Wizards, mages, spellcasters in general" and mine is "Divination"- not even "Diviners", which could mayhap conflict. So they'll say, wait, you don't get enough prayers to warrant a higher status. But that's wrong, too- an entire *nation*, Tashalar, prays to me at least once per day (for their Tarot reading). So they'll say, well, portfolio still determine a bit, yours just ain't good enough. But that ain't correct, either- I have Divination, which is a whole school of magic, I've got Truth, and that seems rather large and cool, and I've got Fate, which seems to be the ultimate portfolio. So how come I'm a god-forsaken Demigod??? Savras Savras Update: In the thread about it (the "How Come Savras Is A Demigod?"), many options\ideas came, and I thought throwing them in might be helpful: A. Mayhap a part of my power is still in the Scepter of Savras, which is invisible to Divine spells. How lame is it that the god of Divination can't find a bloody scepter that has a bit of him in it? B. Someone thinks Fate and Truth aren't big portfolios. Are they or aren't they? C. Is it part of my agreement with Azuth that I remain a Demigod? (Please say "no") D. Does "Divination" overlaps "Magic"? Ias that the reason I am a Demigod? If so, how come Cyric (Illusion) and his predecessor as Illusion goddess, Leira, are above (she was Lesser, he is Greater)? Any chance of me becoming a Greate... Lesser God? Thanks! Savras Hope this helps.
WotC_RichBaker 08-19-03, 03:39 PM	The creature of Xvim doesn't get a specific new entry in the Player's Guide to Faerun, but I'm pretty sure it's included in the conversion notes section of the book. Enlighten me on baneliches -- what's the question? Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich will the Bane/Xvim creatures be getting a new write up as MOF is out of date. Will we find out where the Baneliches fit into Banes church now that hes returned
WotC_RichBaker 08-19-03, 03:45 PM	Ummm, I guess I'm not sure what exactly to tell you. If it really bugs you that Savras is a demigod, well, you can certainly Rule 0 that in your game. I would suppose that the answer to the question "Why is he a demigod instead of a lesser god?" is simply, Savras was in a stick for a long, long time. (I also suppose that, in Faerun as in the real world, Truth might sometimes be overvalued. And if Fate is simply "you're the god of knowing what's going to happen but being completely unable to alter it because the universe has doomed you to impotence," maybe it's not such a great portfolio either.) Originally posted by Mr. Wilson Posted for Savras, as per Mr. Baker's request: How come I(meaning Savras, editor's note) am only a Demigod? So someone'll say, you can't be of a higher status, 'cause your portfolio overlaps Azuth's. But it ain't so- his is "Wizards, mages, spellcasters in general" and mine is "Divination"- not even "Diviners", which could mayhap conflict. So they'll say, wait, you don't get enough prayers to warrant a higher status. But that's wrong, too- an entire *nation*, Tashalar, prays to me at least once per day (for their Tarot reading). So they'll say, well, portfolio still determine a bit, yours just ain't good enough. But that ain't correct, either- I have Divination, which is a whole school of magic, I've got Truth, and that seems rather large and cool, and I've got Fate, which seems to be the ultimate portfolio. So how come I'm a god-forsaken Demigod??? Savras Savras Update: In the thread about it (the "How Come Savras Is A Demigod?"), many options\ideas came, and I thought throwing them in might be helpful: A. Mayhap a part of my power is still in the Scepter of Savras, which is invisible to Divine spells. How lame is it that the god of Divination can't find a bloody scepter that has a bit of him in it? B. Someone thinks Fate and Truth aren't big portfolios. Are they or aren't they? C. Is it part of my agreement with Azuth that I remain a Demigod? (Please say "no") D. Does "Divination" overlaps "Magic"? Ias that the reason I am a Demigod? If so, how come Cyric (Illusion) and his predecessor as Illusion goddess, Leira, are above (she was Lesser, he is Greater)? Any chance of me becoming a Greate... Lesser God? Thanks! Savras Hope this helps.
Mirtek 08-19-03, 04:12 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker The creature of Xvim doesn't get a specific new entry in the Player's Guide to Faerun, but I'm pretty sure it's included in the conversion notes section of the book. Enlighten me on baneliches -- what's the question? Since MoF has creatures of Xvim and baneliches, any chance that Cyric's burnbones will make it into the Player's Guide? PS: Also anychance that the Player's Guide will again give proper credit to the inventors of the Dire Guard (the church of Cyirc)
Wullenwever 08-19-03, 04:44 PM	Rich, After reading your answers on my questions, new arose... 1.: Will the Player's Guide feature write-ups for the FR races or only the changes made to them? If so, all or only those that have changed? And furthermore, if the 4 races (aasimar, wood elf, duergar, drow) have been changed, how many of the other races have changed? Do these changes make RoF rather useless in 3.5 in terms of rules for races? 2.: What about previously published PrCs for FR. Does the PG contain revised write-ups of FR PrCs? If so, which of the 50 or so classes are featured in the book? Or will we find a collection of changes, in the style of the D&D v.3.5 Update Booklet or at least comparable, to be made to the PrCs in order to be suitable for 3.5-play? Furthermore, will there be new PrCs included? 3.: A question concerning "Underdark": As it has been decided, that the Monsters of Faerun creatures would be reprinted in appropriate future books, then why does this particular book not included any FR underground monsters, like the tomb tapper, the phaerimm, the sharn and many others that were presented in MoF? Those would fit perfectly in, it seems. So, was it to late to include them or planned the way it will happen? As you can see, alot concerning the contents of the PG. So, is it possible to shed some light on the ToC for the book at this moment, or is it still to early? Anyway, thanx for taking the time to review this thread and answering all those questions for us...
Cunning Linguist 08-19-03, 04:59 PM	This about Baneliches: Where do they stand in the Black Hand Hierarchy? Seeing being a Banelich is given to those “chosen” by Bane, why should they follow Fzoul who is just another chosen, and not as strong as the most powerfull Banelich? Do they follow the Orthodox Banites who owe there allegiance to the High Imperceptor of Bane in Mulmaster? Or to the follow the new reformed church lead by Fzoul? Or do they follow this Dark Druid whom I have heard about on these boards? Does Bane still give out the formula for this Lich transformation, or has he started giving out Chosen templates instead? And for the beasts of Xvim: Are they now Beasts of Bane? Does Bane also send out these beasts to spread terror? Does he control the beasts of Xvim somehow? Or do they just roam free now? Or did they die with the death of Xvim and rebirth of Bane?
Savras 08-19-03, 07:47 PM	First, I'd like to apologize to Mr. Baker, for sending him fishing for two post in this huge thread. Also, I'd like to thank Mr. Wilson (http://www.geocities.com/edymnionii/ThreeLove.txt) for his diligent search and kind help. Have a :cookie:. I would also like to thank Mr. Baker for answering my question, and affirming my belief it was merely an oversight, a mistake. Savras was in a stick for a long, long time. How eloquently put :P Savras P.S.: A question: Will the forthcoming Serpent Kingdoms speak of Tashalar as UE spoke of Aglarond and Thay, or will it only speak of it from the Yaun-Ti prespective? Thanks!
Dargoth 08-20-03, 12:41 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker The creature of Xvim doesn't get a specific new entry in the Player's Guide to Faerun, but I'm pretty sure it's included in the conversion notes section of the book. Enlighten me on baneliches -- what's the question? Under the Bane Lich entry it says the following "Those that remain have varying agendas some are in hiding, while others are actively moving against Xvim and is chosen, Fzoul Chembryl" Now clearly MOF was written before WOTC decided Bane was going to make a come back. What Id like to see is how these Banelichs fit into the Church of Bane (this probably should have got a mention in Lords of Darkness under the Church of Bane entry) maybe an updated "In the realms entry" for them possably including which Baneliches are still alive where they are and what their doing
Another Gnome 08-20-03, 06:42 AM	Mr. Baker, your answer to an ages-old argument on these boards would be appreciated: Do psionic abilities use the Weave as a medium in the Realms unless they're tied to Shadow Weave (as in the "Subpsionics" Mind's Eye article) or is there a third, psionic weave for psionics? Furthermore, do all spell-like and supernatural effects use the Weave as a medium unless they use the Shadow Weave? For the latest opinions for and against Weave-tied psionics and other non-spell effects, feel free to have a look at this thread: link (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84046) Thank you in advance. (I hope! :D ) * * * Actually, one more thing: will there be any word on psionics (regarding mind flayers for example) in the Underdark book?
WotC_RichBaker 08-21-03, 03:11 PM	My opinion: Psionics are independent of the Weave. The source of power for psionic abilities is internal, not external. There isn't really a psionic weave, even; each psion is his own weave. We haven't formalized this anywhere that I know of yet, so until we write about and make a firm statement, it's just my opinion. Originally posted by Another Gnome Mr. Baker, your answer to an ages-old argument on these boards would be appreciated: Do psionic abilities use the Weave as a medium in the Realms unless they're tied to Shadow Weave (as in the "Subpsionics" Mind's Eye article) or is there a third, psionic weave for psionics? Furthermore, do all spell-like and supernatural effects use the Weave as a medium unless they use the Shadow Weave? For the latest opinions for and against Weave-tied psionics and other non-spell effects, feel free to have a look at this thread: link (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84046) Thank you in advance. (I hope! :D ) * * * Actually, one more thing: will there be any word on psionics (regarding mind flayers for example) in the Underdark book?
WotC_RichBaker 08-21-03, 03:28 PM	OK, the answers below... 1. The PG to F recaps the races. It includes the 3.5 updates to the aasimar, wood elf, duergar, and drow (in other words, the Monster Manual v. 3.5 has the right entries for these guys in 3.5). Most of these are really pretty minor. None of the other races changed at all. Races of Faerun is still fine for everything except the four races identified above, and even then, there's still lots of very useful info there--such as feats and items that drow, wood elves, etc., may be interested in taking. 2. The PG to F specifically addresses each prestige class from the FRCS, and also includes a number of new prestige classes. It also addresses a couple of problematic prestige classes from other sources (like the Incantatrix from Magic of Faerun). 3. Boy, that would have been a great idea for Underdark. Wish we'd thought of it earlier. Way too late now. The good news is, the tomb tapper and phaerimm are specifically updated in the PG to Faerun. I can't give you guys the ToC yet, because we haven't edited the ToC to reflect the final changes in the book's contents. If I post it, it'd be wrong. Originally posted by Wullenwever Rich, After reading your answers on my questions, new arose... 1.: Will the Player's Guide feature write-ups for the FR races or only the changes made to them? If so, all or only those that have changed? And furthermore, if the 4 races (aasimar, wood elf, duergar, drow) have been changed, how many of the other races have changed? Do these changes make RoF rather useless in 3.5 in terms of rules for races? 2.: What about previously published PrCs for FR. Does the PG contain revised write-ups of FR PrCs? If so, which of the 50 or so classes are featured in the book? Or will we find a collection of changes, in the style of the D&D v.3.5 Update Booklet or at least comparable, to be made to the PrCs in order to be suitable for 3.5-play? Furthermore, will there be new PrCs included? 3.: A question concerning "Underdark": As it has been decided, that the Monsters of Faerun creatures would be reprinted in appropriate future books, then why does this particular book not included any FR underground monsters, like the tomb tapper, the phaerimm, the sharn and many others that were presented in MoF? Those would fit perfectly in, it seems. So, was it to late to include them or planned the way it will happen? As you can see, alot concerning the contents of the PG. So, is it possible to shed some light on the ToC for the book at this moment, or is it still to early? Anyway, thanx for taking the time to review this thread and answering all those questions for us...
WotC_RichBaker 08-21-03, 03:33 PM	No plans to add the burnbones to the Player's Guide. Would have been nice to. Maybe we'll find another place for the burnbones soon. Originally posted by Mirtek Since MoF has creatures of Xvim and baneliches, any chance that Cyric's burnbones will make it into the Player's Guide? PS: Also anychance that the Player's Guide will again give proper credit to the inventors of the Dire Guard (the church of Cyirc)
WotC_RichBaker 08-21-03, 03:40 PM	OK, just a matter of opinion here... It's still in Bane's interest to encourage the creation of baneliches. Having powerful spellcasters who owe their very existence to you sure seems like a smart way to accumulate magical muscle. As far as the exact relationship of baneliches to the rest of the church--I don't know. We haven't written the 3rd Edition product that really dissects the Church of Bane yet (although Lords of Darkness or Faiths & Pantheons would have been the right place to do something like that), so I simply haven't thought it out yet. Arrange it however you want it in your campaign, I don't think we'll be addressing it until 2005 at the earliest. I suppose I could see that the baneliches would not like Fzoul's ascendance at all, but if Bane says, "This is my guy, you listen to him," I think they don't go real far in expressing their disobedience. Bane's church is LE, not CE, so you don't always advance by hunting down your superiors and killing them. You simply do your best to demonstrate that you're the most competent evil guy around, and trust that the Big Man at the head of the whole thing will take notice and promote you accordingly. Originally posted by Cunning Linguist This about Baneliches: Where do they stand in the Black Hand Hierarchy? Seeing being a Banelich is given to those “chosen” by Bane, why should they follow Fzoul who is just another chosen, and not as strong as the most powerfull Banelich? Do they follow the Orthodox Banites who owe there allegiance to the High Imperceptor of Bane in Mulmaster? Or to the follow the new reformed church lead by Fzoul? Or do they follow this Dark Druid whom I have heard about on these boards? Does Bane still give out the formula for this Lich transformation, or has he started giving out Chosen templates instead? And for the beasts of Xvim: Are they now Beasts of Bane? Does Bane also send out these beasts to spread terror? Does he control the beasts of Xvim somehow? Or do they just roam free now? Or did they die with the death of Xvim and rebirth of Bane?
Raistlin84 08-21-03, 04:10 PM	I have a question for you Mr. Baker about mythallars and enclaves, sorry if has been asked before. I was wondering if a mythallar could still be created if someone found the knowledge to do one. It would probably be epic to create one, but it should be possible. If elves can still create mythals and work on them, then someone that discover the secrets of mythallars should be able to create one, because a mythal is to my knowledge, more powerful than a mythallar. I want to know this, because Netheril is what really fascinates me about Forgotten Realms and I'm sure it's the same for a lot of people. I say this because it would be really awesome if a new Netheril would be born from a country of powerful mages, like Halruaa or Thay. Shade is cool, but it would be better if there was a whole country, not a lone enclave.
cdrradar 08-21-03, 04:18 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker My opinion: Psionics are independent of the Weave. The source of power for psionic abilities is internal, not external. There isn't really a psionic weave, even; each psion is his own weave. We haven't formalized this anywhere that I know of yet, so until we write about and make a firm statement, it's just my opinion. An interesting opinion on the subject. (I just so happen to disagree - I just posted my opinion in the above-mentioned thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1120236#post1120236).) Is there someplace where we can send our opinions to those who would formalize this argument? Or are they already laughing at us reading these threads? (The blanket ruling on p290 of the FRCS is not enough for many people, including myself, it seems. Justification would be needed.)
)v(ethos 08-21-03, 05:38 PM	I dont know exatly what is required to create Mythallars, but im pretty sure its eighter high level magic and/or knowlege of minor or major artifacts (which according to the dungeon masters guide, has been lost to time). And in either case its impossible, 'cause those high level spells cant be accessed and the knowledge for the creation of artifacts is eigher non-existant or EXTREMELY hard to find (and maybe high-level magic is a prerequisite for artifact creation, and a Mythallar is an artifact i think). Also, there is a huge difference between artifacts created by 'conventional' means & magic, and high magic effects, which surely you know. So, i dont think its ok to say, "if i can create mythals, i can also create mythallars". But ok, maybe i overlooked something.
The_Sleeper 08-21-03, 05:46 PM	Actually i can think of a few individuals that could create a mythallar under the right circumstances. its covered somewhere in the "Magic Section" of these boards. Alas though, a conventional weave mythallar is IMHO impossible to create because of the current restrictions of the weave. Shadow Mythallars on the other hand have been created in the kinda recent past and could probably still be created. The hard part is comming across how to actually make one, as the very few people who know how to make one would probably not like to share that information.;)
Dargoth 08-22-03, 08:50 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I can't give you guys the ToC yet, because we haven't edited the ToC to reflect the final changes in the book's contents. If I post it, it'd be wrong. Can you give us the spells from F&A, P&P DhD that youve converted into 3ed in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide to Faerun? Also how about a Monsters of Faerun Volume 2? (This time a big hardcover like Fiend Folio)
)v(ethos 08-22-03, 02:09 PM	Quote: Shadow Mythallars on the other hand have been created in the kinda recent past and could probably still be created. Hmmm, Shade's Mythallar is about 2000 years old. And thats not what i would call 'in the kinda recent past'. And i dont know any Shadow Mythallar (or mythallar for that matter) created after the fall of Netheril. So why do you think it should be possible for these to be created? They are basically the same as Mythallars, only that they use another source of magic to gain power from.
The_Sleeper 08-22-03, 02:46 PM	Shades is much younger than that... at least by 300 years. Their Shadow Mythallar was created after they were in the Shadow Plane for a few minutes. Personally, my thoughts on the matter is that their Mythallar simply started drawing on the Shadow Weave instead of Mystryls when it entered the Shadow Plane. Possibly the Shadovar converted it, but this is just my speculations.
WotC_RichBaker 08-22-03, 05:37 PM	My opinion: Yes, you could make one, and yes, it would be an epic spell (ritual variety) of some sort. When the original Mystra died and reincarnated, and changed magic immediately thereafter, I think what she did is get rid of 10th level spells -- not epic spells achieved through the epic system, but a theoretical continuing spell progression for wizards that would have given them 10th level spells at 19th level, 11th level at 21st, and 12th level at 23rd. I think the magic change resulting from Netheril's fall resulted in the current wizard and sorcerer spell progressions. Originally posted by Raistlin84 I have a question for you Mr. Baker about mythallars and enclaves, sorry if has been asked before. I was wondering if a mythallar could still be created if someone found the knowledge to do one. It would probably be epic to create one, but it should be possible. If elves can still create mythals and work on them, then someone that discover the secrets of mythallars should be able to create one, because a mythal is to my knowledge, more powerful than a mythallar. I want to know this, because Netheril is what really fascinates me about Forgotten Realms and I'm sure it's the same for a lot of people. I say this because it would be really awesome if a new Netheril would be born from a country of powerful mages, like Halruaa or Thay. Shade is cool, but it would be better if there was a whole country, not a lone enclave.
Mr. Wilson 08-23-03, 12:55 AM	Regarding your above post Mr. Baker, I just want to clarify something. If I understand this statement correctly, Mystra does not have a problem with Epic Level spells, and thus they can be researched and casted with no hinderance from her, correct? Originally posted by Richard Baker When the original Mystra died and reincarnated, and changed magic immediately thereafter, I think what she did is get rid of 10th level spells -- not epic spells achieved through the epic system, but a theoretical continuing spell progression for wizards that would have given them 10th level spells at 19th level, 11th level at 21st, and 12th level at 23rd. I think the magic change resulting from Netheril's fall resulted in the current wizard and sorcerer spell progressions. If this is the case, then why doesn't spell casters like El, Khelbon, Szass Tam, and the Simbul have access to spells like ****ball, to say nothing of creatures like the Creeping Death, or even Lorlach. This seems particularly strange given the fact that three of the above mentioned are Chosen of Mystra, with access to vast magical knowledges and the fact that at least in El's case, he planeswalked and visited other mage's. Forgive me if this has been explained, but it seems an odd event.
cwslyclgh 08-23-03, 03:40 AM	the simbul has the epic spellcasting feat, but it doesn't say what epic spells she knows in her description in the ELH... Larloch hasn't been updated to ELH stats, so we don't know if he has epic spellcasting or not. Iyraclea the ice queen's write up in the ELH gives her epic spellcasting, and several unique epic spells of her own design. finaly not every epic spell caster takes the epic spellcasting feat, the spells created thus are often too expensive in gold and XP to worth it unless you are very, very high level. for example with his +40 spellcraft modifier Elminster could never even dream of casting "Heck"ball, as the spellcraft check DC to cast it is 90... the best he'd beable to do of the spells in the ELH would be Create Living Vault... and even then he would only get it off 5% of the time.
Dargoth 08-23-03, 03:49 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Can you give us the spells from F&A, P&P DhD that youve converted into 3ed in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide to Faerun? Also how about a Monsters of Faerun Volume 2? (This time a big hardcover like Fiend Folio) because inquiring minds want to know :D
Zanan 08-23-03, 06:36 AM	Vendui! There's a list of suitable deities for druids with the Realms, yet those for the Underdark - formerly known as gray druids - have apparently been left out. There is a Drow druid in the web-enhancement of City of the Spider Queen as well, yet no hint has been given to what deity looks after her spells. Thus, is the Animal and Plant portfolio within the deities' stats the only available option for druids to chose? Or more precisely, Shar, Selvetarm and Lolth have things like Cavern, Underdark, Spiders in their portfolios which are all part of "nature" as well. (I mean, if deserts are ...)
Savras 08-23-03, 08:37 AM	Just a small question: What's "Vendui"? Savras
Sarelle 08-23-03, 08:39 AM	Originally posted by Savras Just a small question: What's "Vendui"? Savras Lol. I can answer that for you, Sav - but I thought being the almight Savras that you could simply reach into Zanan's mind and instantly know the meaning. Well, always willing to help a god - whatever his Divine Rank :D : Vendui is 'Drow' for 'Hi'. (Sorry - had to tease you, all-knowledgeable Savras. No offense intended! :) )
Zanan 08-23-03, 10:01 AM	Almost Sarelle ;) ... "Vendui" means "I greet you" (singular, plural would be "Vendui jal!" - "I greet you all!") and is genuine Drow. (You can find it inn the old FR grey box as well as The Drow of the Underdark. The corresponding good-bye is "Aluve", which means "I leave you" and addresses both one person or more.
Savras 08-23-03, 03:45 PM	Thanks!http://www.geocities.com/sirgrimsage/Smilies/savras.txt And it's OK Sarelle, at least you didn't say I'm a Gandalf Rip-Off :P :P Savras
Darkmore 08-23-03, 04:44 PM	Originally posted by Zanan There's a list of suitable deities for druids with the Realms, yet those for the Underdark - formerly known as gray druids - have apparently been left out. There is a Drow druid in the web-enhancement of City of the Spider Queen as well, yet no hint has been given to what deity looks after her spells.Here we go again with the "druid thing" and for once I'm not the one asking ... ThanX Zanan :D Now as I've said countless times they are many "godless" druids here and there, in Web enhancements as much as in regular supplements (which is great for me ). Nothing as been clearly said about druids and gods and RoF even has different versions in the same book ... that's why I'm asking for a druid errata :D Now personnal toughts... if you keep the "nature deity needed" thing you must admit that whatever domains they have, gods like Shar, Selvetarm and Lolth just don't give a d*** about nature itselves. Even lolth sees spiders as "choosen" not as living beeings. Anyway a cleric is a much better choice here as you can rebuke/command spiders. Ghaunadaur might be (just maybe) an additional choice for drow druids ans specially oozmasters. About the CotSQ enhancement you must admit that Malar is a logical choice... that very druid is supposed to be an outcast and thus she isn't worry about chosing a non-drow god ... and most of all she's an evil shapechanger ! Drow druids could also follow grumbar (caves and earth) and Talona (poisons diseases and therefor rodents, fungi and vermins) or Auril (for those living in the north) and the other gods of fury.
Carafahd 08-24-03, 12:58 AM	I had posted this in another thread and was told to try it over here: Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone has any information on the above mentioned city of Tlethtyrr located in the Underdark. I know that it is a Drow elf city where Lolth and Vhaeraun are both worshipped in the same city limits. Any help on this matter would be appreciated. Carafahd
Zanan 08-24-03, 06:47 AM	Vendui Darkmore ... About the CotSQ enhancement you must admit that Malar is a logical choice... that very druid is supposed to be an outcast and thus she isn't worry about chosing a non-drow god ... and most of all she's an evil shapechanger ! Drow druids could also follow grumbar (caves and earth) and Talona (poisons diseases and therefor rodents, fungi and vermins) or Auril (for those living in the north) and the other gods of fury. Drow druids should ... due to their heritage (as in: usually monotheistic societies with almost no information about other gods) keep to the faiths they know and, what is more important: will deities care about drow worshippers? Going by the rules, demihumans are not that likely to follow non-demihuman deities and vice versa (human tend not to follow demi-human deities). There might be exceptions but in thise case an official answer might be good. When Ibrandul was slain, some of his grey druid worshippers were taken over by Lolth (Demihuman Deities, most probably his half-drow ones), others by Shar. Those - according to the rules now would serve some other deities instead just because of 3E? Having said this, drow usually did not have any druids in AD&D. But this question is not about drow druids, but Underdark / grey druids in general. With regards to Grumbar ... he would be a decent choice but then again he's not listed among the druids either. If he was allowed into it, so too would be Shar (Underdark) ...
)v(ethos 08-24-03, 07:24 AM	I my opinion Epic magic and high-level magic (10th, 11th, 12th lvl) is exatly the same, or should be. The mere idea of anyone here mentioning they are two different things makes me gasp in outright horror. We certainly need no more magic systems to further confuse things between magic in 2nd edition and 3rd edition or the way magic functions in general. We need no more theories as how the two things function seperately. Fs, keep it real & straight forward. If i was the main desitionmaker about FR magic i would, with the creation of the 3rd ed. epic lvl handbook, a long time ago have said "ok, we find a way to make 2nd edition's 10+ lvl magic and 3rd edition's epic magic merge into one, as epic magic in 3rd ed. is what 10, 11, 12 lvl was in second edition". It should take only minimal effort and imagination to make it work. But no one in charge does anything. The ones in charge should sit down together and discuss the workings of magic and then post an official document (or book maybe) at wizards FR homepage about it. A solution to the epic-magic system vs old high magic system could for example be: one could say that the Spellcraft DC of an epic spell decides the final level of that spell. Like Spellcraft DC 50 and below makes for a 10th level spell, while 11th level is for DC between 51-100, and the 12th level Karsus's Avatar is DC 101+. Something similar could also be done with high magic and their 3 different types of rituals. Also, one could say that Additional Participants in an epic spell is only possible for High Magic. You see, with a little imagination the ones in charge could out of the epic magic system thereby create a High magic system and a high level magic system. But i guess none of qhat ive just said will ever come to pass as no one has the presence of mind to make it so. There are a lot of things about magic in FR that needs 'cleaning up'..... Yes i know, i can make my campaign the way i want it to, but i want it to be official. Well, i guess there will a book that discusses some of this in the future, but i would hate the wait till 2005+ to just get some of the discrepancies/dilemmas out of the way. But i will prolly have to keep dreaming about an official, and in my eyes, acceptable solution to the magic dilemmas we see today.
Darkmore 08-24-03, 11:12 AM	Originally posted by Zanan With regards to Grumbar ... he would be a decent choice but then again he's not listed among the druids either. If he was allowed into it, so too would be Shar (Underdark) ... I can't find where but Sean K Reynolds said once (on this board) that elemental gods had been somehow "forgotten" but should be included in the list. Remember that the druid spirituallity is based on nature, life, death but also the four elements !! Thus Grumbar sounds logical to me ... while Shar just have (as you said) the "cavern" domain because she took it from Ibrandul, she doesn't really care about caves, earth, or anything but darkness. Druids of Ibrandul have not turned their worship to Shar: Shar has fooled them ... and I'd say they are now ex-druids as much as Llolth worshippers. I keep saying that Ghaunadaur is THE god that should be worshipped by drow druids ... he's said to be a loner and an outcast and really care for those things living (creeping) down there (i-e mostly oozes but also fungi).... drow druids are rare indeed and if they choose this peculiar way of life, most likely they'll choose a "peculiar" god (was Ibrandul a drow god ?) Now I must admitt that I don't know much about drows, but The Silver Marches has a ranger following Auril... thus the other gods are still an option (Talona seems just great to me) But anyway I Keep saying that Malar (Once Llolth' sally) is a descent choice for the CotSQ Web Enh. ... because of the "shapechanger" stuff most of all.
Purple Dragon Knight 08-24-03, 05:50 PM	Originally posted by Darkmore I can't find where but Sean K Reynolds said once (on this board) that elemental gods had been somehow "forgotten" but should be included in the list. Remember that the druid spirituallity is based on nature, life, death but also the four elements !! Yes, SKR confirmed this omission on his message boards. I've compiled a complete list of druid and ranger deities here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68546). Enjoy!
Carafahd 08-24-03, 09:56 PM	Let's ask this again shall we?? "I had posted this in another thread and was told to try it over here: Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone has any information on the above mentioned city of Tlethtyrr located in the Underdark. I know that it is a Drow elf city where Lolth and Vhaeraun are both worshipped in the same city limits. Any help on this matter would be appreciated." Carafahd
Dargoth 08-24-03, 10:29 PM	Originally posted by Carafahd Let's ask this again shall we?? "I had posted this in another thread and was told to try it over here: Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone has any information on the above mentioned city of Tlethtyrr located in the Underdark. I know that it is a Drow elf city where Lolth and Vhaeraun are both worshipped in the same city limits. Any help on this matter would be appreciated." Carafahd Relax Its a weekend in the US Rich doesnt always check the boards on the weekends
ElGrecoETAC 08-25-03, 04:07 AM	Yeah, that lazy Richard Baker... Slacking off at home, and spending all his work hours surfing the net and keeping up the illusion that he's hard-working by posting on this board every once and a while... ;) We're on to you, Rich!
Darkmore 08-25-03, 10:00 AM	Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Yes, SKR confirmed this omission on his message boards. I've compiled a complete list of druid and ranger deities here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68546). Enjoy! Cool ... I've done something similar but only for druids. :) Find it here : http://darkmor.free.fr/druid/deities.htm Now another question rises : Why Uthgar isn't officialy in the list :confused:
Purple Dragon Knight 08-25-03, 12:57 PM	Originally posted by Darkmore Cool ... I've done something similar but only for druids. :) Find it here : http://darkmor.free.fr/druid/deities.htm Now another question rises : Why Uthgar isn't officialy in the list :confused: Uthgar is on the list that I have compiled. I don't know why he didn't make it officially on p.90 of F&P. The Uthgar entry on p.85, second paragraph, clearly states that Uthgar clerics often multiclass as barbarians, rangers or druids.
Kuje31 08-25-03, 01:08 PM	Rich, There's a conflict between the various 3e books. I know you have said in the past that the only canon is what you use for your games. However, some of us use only what is written by TSR/WOTC, especially when debating rules and flavor text. So my question is, its always been said in the past and in the present 3e books that the gods are thier portfolios, for example, Mystra is the Weave, Chauntea is Toril, etc. (It even say this in the FRCS and Magic of Faerun, for Mystra and that is why she has the portfolio of "The Weave.") However, Faiths and Pantheons changed the wording on what was written in the FRCS and Magic of Faerun, and if she is the Weave itself or not. So which is true, is she the Weave, just like Chauntea is Toril, and Selune is the moon. Are the rest of the gods, thier portfolios or are they seperate beings from thier portfolios?
Sarelle 08-25-03, 01:19 PM	Kuje - I had always been under the impression that except in the case of deities such as Kossuth in FR and Helios in Greek Mythology, deities were simply beings of enormous power that mortals and others prayed to because they had powers connected to, and dominion over, certain aspects of life/things. In Greek Mythology Apollo was God of the Sun, but Helios was the ACTUAL sun. But it is an interesting question.
Alac Luin 08-25-03, 01:38 PM	Just a few ideas…. Mytra is The Weave Chauntea is the world, the Planet of Toril (as other gods of the land such as Maztica are the land of that area itself) Selune is the light of the moon, but not the moon itself Shar is the darkness As for most other, they just have some power over area, Kelvemore rules over the recently dead, but he is not all the dead.
Kuje31 08-25-03, 01:47 PM	Originally posted by Sarelle Kuje - I had always been under the impression that except in the case of deities such as Kossuth in FR and Helios in Greek Mythology, deities were simply beings of enormous power that mortals and others prayed to because they had powers connected to, and dominion over, certain aspects of life/things. In Greek Mythology Apollo was God of the Sun, but Helios was the ACTUAL sun. But it is an interesting question. Well the problem with this is that some of the 3e books say some god/dess are thier portfolios and some say they are not. So it's confusing. Most of the 3e books say Mystra is the Weave and magic, Chauntea is Toril, Selune is the moon (that's one of the reason's the moon is called, well Selune. :)).
Iakhovas 08-25-03, 07:18 PM	Selune is the moon (that's one of the reason's the moon is called, well SeluneExcept that the residents of the moon call it Leira, not Selune. IMHO the whole Mystra = Weave, Chauntea = Toril thing is silly. It leaves absolutely no room for other pantheons.
Kuje31 08-25-03, 07:27 PM	Originally posted by Iakhovas Except that the residents of the moon call it Leira, not Selune. IMHO the whole Mystra = Weave, Chauntea = Toril thing is silly. It leaves absolutely no room for other pantheons. Except they dont. They worship Leira, but they don't call the moon Leira, they still call it Selune. But there is a landing area called Leira's Tradecenter. At least according to the Realmspace sourcebook.
Iakhovas 08-26-03, 01:55 PM	Quoted from Realmspace, p.25-26 Crews may be surprised when the inhabitants welcome them to Leira, and not Selune. The people feel a closer bond to this goddess and thus named their world after her.Not much more than I can add to that quote.
Kuje31 08-26-03, 02:31 PM	Originally posted by Iakhovas Not much more than I can add to that quote. As I said, that is talking about the Trading Center not the moon itself. Add the rest of the paragraph and the paragraph before it. "The fifty some ports are all located at the Leira Trading Center which is on the equatorial line in the center of the moon. From here, the Selunians (notice it doesn't say the Leirians), cannot see Toril, but more importantly, Toril cannot see them. Selune's (again see not Leira's!) natives are paranoid of the planet's inhabinants, and usually look toward Toril visitors as spies. It is not uncommon for Torilan merchants and adventurers to be denied access to the rest of the moon from the Leira Trading Center." The part you left off. "When on first enters the docking ports of Selune, one is immediately greeted by almost a dozen dock hands hired to assist the ship into port. These are dedicated men and women, striving to assuse that not a speck of paint on any ship gets scratched. Crews may be surprised when the inhabinents welcome them to Leira (Again the writter here is talking about the Trading Center, and is not calling the moon Leira), and not Selune. Besides, Leira is dead now, so that is probably been changed since none of her followers and clerics will receive spells. Also then the people on the moon would not be called Selunian's they would be called Leirian's. Just like I am a New Yorker, but also an a American. They are Leirians of the Leira Trade Center but they still call the moon Selune.
Darkmore 08-26-03, 02:32 PM	Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Uthgar is on the list that I have compiled. I don't know why he didn't make it officially on p.90 of F&P. The Uthgar entry on p.85, second paragraph, clearly states that Uthgar clerics often multiclass as barbarians, rangers or druids. I've just noticed that LoD as much as this Web Article (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20021127a) speak about drow druids of ghaunadaur. That's another forgotten god in the forgotten realms :rolleyes:
Sarelle 08-26-03, 03:26 PM	Kuje- Well, it is certainly true that Chauntea is considered the embodiment of Toril, and that Selûne is often thought of as the embodiment of the moon. However if all deities were their portfolios things would be very strange. For example - Velsharoon would be 'evil liches'. I don't see how he could be a lich, when a lich is a lich. Similarly Tiamat would be 'evil dragons' and Uluitiu would be 'arctic dwellers'. However what I would find strangest would be that Tymora would be 'victory'.
WotC_RichBaker 08-26-03, 03:46 PM	Yep, that is certainly what I meant. Regarding the question of why some of our epic FR spellcasters don't have many epic spells -- well, I think we haven't quite got their epic interpretation down yet. Part of that is the problem of parallel development (we work on multiple projects at the same time). Are the Chosen of Mystra broken because they don't advantage of this feature? No. Would we specifically call it out as errata and try to implement a change? No. Did we miss the opportunity to make use of the best possible rules options? Yes -- but that doesn't mean the game doesn't work. Originally posted by Mr. Wilson Regarding your above post Mr. Baker, I just want to clarify something. If I understand this statement correctly, Mystra does not have a problem with Epic Level spells, and thus they can be researched and casted with no hinderance from her, correct? If this is the case, then why doesn't spell casters like El, Khelbon, Szass Tam, and the Simbul have access to spells like ****ball, to say nothing of creatures like the Creeping Death, or even Lorlach. This seems particularly strange given the fact that three of the above mentioned are Chosen of Mystra, with access to vast magical knowledges and the fact that at least in El's case, he planeswalked and visited other mage's. Forgive me if this has been explained, but it seems an odd event.
Zanan 08-26-03, 03:47 PM	Folks, even though I didn't exactly follow what I am about to write next ... please ... keep some space for Richard Baker to answer and talk about your own opinions in another thread. (You see, we all have opinions and all that, but if he has to scan all the articles to look for something he's asked about, he may loose his patience and just invent some more nasty stuff for the FR rather than replying to us here ;) ) O.O now that's a surprise .. he's on right now!
WotC_RichBaker 08-26-03, 03:51 PM	Dude, I check this thread on my lunch break! Originally posted by ElGrecoETAC Yeah, that lazy Richard Baker... Slacking off at home, and spending all his work hours surfing the net and keeping up the illusion that he's hard-working by posting on this board every once and a while... ;) We're on to you, Rich!
WotC_RichBaker 08-26-03, 03:58 PM	Like some other folks have said, I hesitate to follow that statement to its logical conclusion. It makes the existence of multiple pantheons difficult to reconcile, at best. I'm going to take the Rule 0 dodge on this -- make it work the way that seems best in your campaign. (In other words, this is a big complicated question that I just don't have time to sort out today, and it isn't affecting many campaigns out there, so I'm not likely to tackle it soon. Gosh, guys, throw me some easy ones!) Originally posted by Kuje31 Rich, There's a conflict between the various 3e books. I know you have said in the past that the only canon is what you use for your games. However, some of us use only what is written by TSR/WOTC, especially when debating rules and flavor text. So my question is, its always been said in the past and in the present 3e books that the gods are thier portfolios, for example, Mystra is the Weave, Chauntea is Toril, etc. (It even say this in the FRCS and Magic of Faerun, for Mystra and that is why she has the portfolio of "The Weave.") However, Faiths and Pantheons changed the wording on what was written in the FRCS and Magic of Faerun, and if she is the Weave itself or not. So which is true, is she the Weave, just like Chauntea is Toril, and Selune is the moon. Are the rest of the gods, thier portfolios or are they seperate beings from thier portfolios?
Kuje31 08-26-03, 04:07 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Like some other folks have said, I hesitate to follow that statement to its logical conclusion. It makes the existence of multiple pantheons difficult to reconcile, at best. I'm going to take the Rule 0 dodge on this -- make it work the way that seems best in your campaign. (In other words, this is a big complicated question that I just don't have time to sort out today, and it isn't affecting many campaigns out there, so I'm not likely to tackle it soon. Gosh, guys, throw me some easy ones!) All right. :). Thanks any how then. Grin seems to be a great way to evade the question. :angel:
Dargoth 08-26-03, 07:02 PM	Rich: Can you give us the spells from F&A, P&P DhD that youve converted into 3ed in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide to Faerun? Also how about a Monsters of Faerun Volume 2? (This time a big hardcover like Fiend Folio)
Iakhovas 08-26-03, 07:19 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 (Again the writter here is talking about the Trading Center, and is not calling the moon Leira)I guess we'll have to take this discussion offline in order to not hijack this thread. But again I'd like to point you to the following quote: "The people feel a closer bond to this goddess and thus named their world after her". I don't see how this could be taken out of context. This paragraph clearly says that they named their world Leira.
Kuje31 08-26-03, 07:43 PM	Originally posted by Iakhovas I guess we'll have to take this discussion offline in order to not hijack this thread. But again I'd like to point you to the following quote: "The people feel a closer bond to this goddess and thus named their world after her". I don't see how this could be taken out of context. This paragraph clearly says that they named their world Leira. And as I pointed out thier "world" is the Leira Trading Center, which is on Selune. The moon is still called Selune (again other wise they would not be called Selunians) but the "world" they live in is the Leira Trading Center on the moon "world" of Selune. I understand what you are saying but the way the wording is taken it is not meant to be that the people on Selune call her Leira, the author of the book is again talking about the Trade Center, hence thier "world." is the Trade Center. However, if you want to keep this discussion going, then either email me or post a seperate thread. :)
Dargoth 08-26-03, 08:45 PM	By the way Rich Any word on what issue of Dragon the 2nd installment of the WOSQ characters is going to appear? (There apparantly not in 311 or 312)
Fieldketchun 08-26-03, 11:34 PM	Not sure if this has been asked. Will the old CD of the AD&D Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas be reissued/updated for 3/3.5? It is a great item to keep on a laptop. I have not really used it as much as I did with 2E since there are some serious changes. If not, is the updated map out there on the internet?
WotC_RichBaker 08-27-03, 03:08 PM	Sorry, we're not quite close enough for me to do that (the book's just starting editing, and things might change). The MoF volume 2 is a good idea. We ducked the question for now by providing re-dos and conversions in the FR Player's Guide, but it would be nice to redo them all and go ferret out all the monsters that didn't make it in the first time. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich: Can you give us the spells from F&A, P&P DhD that youve converted into 3ed in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide to Faerun? Also how about a Monsters of Faerun Volume 2? (This time a big hardcover like Fiend Folio)
WotC_RichBaker 08-27-03, 03:09 PM	Last I heard from the Paizo folks, it was supposed to be issue 312. I haven't heard any differently yet. The article's been done for months; I think they just ran into a shortage of editing resources, which is why they haven't got it into print yet. Originally posted by Dargoth By the way Rich Any word on what issue of Dragon the 2nd installment of the WOSQ characters is going to appear? (There apparantly not in 311 or 312)
WotC_RichBaker 08-27-03, 03:12 PM	No, we don't have any plans to do that. We just don't have the internal resources, and no outside company has approached us about doing this project (not that I've heard, anyway). Ultimately, the FR atlas CD just didn't sell enough copies for us to justify trying to assemble the technical resouces to do another one ourselves. The people who bought it liked it just fine, there just weren't enough people who bought it. Originally posted by Fieldketchun Not sure if this has been asked. Will the old CD of the AD&D Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas be reissued/updated for 3/3.5? It is a great item to keep on a laptop. I have not really used it as much as I did with 2E since there are some serious changes. If not, is the updated map out there on the internet?
Carafahd 08-27-03, 03:16 PM	What about the following question Richard? "I had posted this in another thread and was told to try it over here: Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone has any information on the above mentioned city of Tlethtyrr located in the Underdark. I know that it is a Drow elf city where Lolth and Vhaeraun are both worshipped in the same city limits. Any help on this matter would be appreciated." Carafahd
Dargoth 08-27-03, 07:47 PM	Rich Regarding Serpent Kingdoms The Draconomican comes out at the end of the year, but its core only and thus will lack realms flavour, will Serpent Kingdoms have material on FR Dragons? If so will it link with material in the 3.5 material in Draconomican? Also will you put F&P style write ups for the gods of those races described in serpent Kingdoms?
Dargoth 08-28-03, 03:04 AM	Another question What are the chances of us seeing a 3.5 conversion guide for the FR. For example what FR spells youve changed due to 3.5 and of cause new spell lists for domains that have been affected by their spells changng level. I know you guys want to do this in the Player Guide but theres a big gap between now and when you release the guide next year. Perhaps you could do it as teaser for the PGFR
Savras 08-28-03, 08:24 AM	O, o, I've got one! In the upcoming Serpent Kingdoms, what is the amount of information will be given on countries? For instance, is Tashalar (home to many Yaun-Ti) get a section (not unlike Thay in the Unapproachable East), or will it get a "This is how Yaun-Ti view Tashalar" section? Thanks! Savras
WotC_RichBaker 08-28-03, 12:27 PM	Tlethtyrr doesn't ring a bell. However, the city of Eryndlyn (described in Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, and mentioned in our upcoming Underdark book) fits the description of a drow city where both Lolth and Vhaeraun are venerated. Originally posted by Carafahd What about the following question Richard? "I had posted this in another thread and was told to try it over here: Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone has any information on the above mentioned city of Tlethtyrr located in the Underdark. I know that it is a Drow elf city where Lolth and Vhaeraun are both worshipped in the same city limits. Any help on this matter would be appreciated." Carafahd
WotC_RichBaker 08-28-03, 12:29 PM	There's some honest "geography" in Serpent Kingdoms. Places like Tashalar, Thindol, Samarach, and other realms inhabited by/important to the serpent folk are described, much in the same format that Thay or Thesk are discussed in Unapproachable East. Originally posted by Savras O, o, I've got one! In the upcoming Serpent Kingdoms, what is the amount of information will be given on countries? For instance, is Tashalar (home to many Yaun-Ti) get a section (not unlike Thay in the Unapproachable East), or will it get a "This is how Yaun-Ti view Tashalar" section? Thanks! Savras
Faraer 08-28-03, 12:44 PM	I don't think Tlethtyrr is referred to except once in Menzoberranzan.
Dargoth 08-28-03, 07:03 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Regarding Serpent Kingdoms The Draconomican comes out at the end of the year, but its core only and thus will lack realms flavour, will Serpent Kingdoms have material on FR Dragons? If so will it link with material in the 3.5 material in Draconomican? Also will you put F&P style write ups for the gods of those races described in serpent Kingdoms? See above
Dargoth 08-28-03, 07:04 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Another question What are the chances of us seeing a 3.5 conversion guide for the FR. For example what FR spells youve changed due to 3.5 and of cause new spell lists for domains that have been affected by their spells changng level. I know you guys want to do this in the Player Guide but theres a big gap between now and when you release the guide next year. Perhaps you could do it as teaser for the PGFR See above
Carafahd 08-28-03, 10:05 PM	Originally from Faraer: I don't think Tlethtyrr is referred to except once in Menzoberranzan. So it looks like someone else has heard of the city. Maybe there could be a little more reference on this city??? Carafahd
Dargoth 08-30-03, 09:10 PM	Players guide to Faerun is now in WOTC product libary http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/fracc/886470000
Dargoth 09-01-03, 10:31 AM	bump!
ElGrecoETAC 09-01-03, 12:24 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Dude, I check this thread on my lunch break! Lies, ALL LIES!!! Just kidding, of course. And, hey... in case folks are too busy testing your Realms-lore and general D&D knowledge... THANKS, for the time you take out of your own busy schedule to help out the fans with their questions. :)
mightymouse 09-01-03, 01:48 PM	Hello Rich, In regards to psionics and the Realms, will we have a more clearer definition as to how psionics truly works on Toril? The argument that has been brought up again and again is that is we make and psionics 'different' than nothing could keep a balance check on psionics. I remember from the 1st and 2nd edition core books, that to have a psionic character you had to roll for it and it was extremely hard to get it. Could we return to that for FR? Secondly, I agree with you opinion that psionics should be different and that the psionicist is his own personal Weave and shouldn't need to tap into either the Weave or the Shadow Weave otherwise what's the point of keeping track of your psionics points you have used for the day. Ohterwise we are just turning a psionic character into a debased form of the Sorcerer class (it comes from within but doesn't need spell components) If a psionic character does use the Weave or Shadow Weave then there is no use for the Psionic Point to be calculated for FR because the limitless supply comes from either of the Weaves. How would we say then how much psionic spell vairants he could use since you then can't use what's in the progression table from the Psionic Handbook correctly if you follow the FR version that psionics are spell like abilities now could you? There used to be spells that protected against psionics, Myth Drannor has it in many places, so why not bring that back in 3E rules? That way psionics would balance Arcane Magic whether Weave or Shadow Weave, and Divine and Psionics could also be a balancing for to it in return. And dead magic zones should not have any restrictions either on the psionic character. Bruce Donohue
mightymouse 09-01-03, 01:58 PM	For all Realms lore fans out their including the biggest one of the all Ed Greenwood, could we ever see a book dedicate to more fluff in the form of superstitions and Folklore ? I think since you are also a member of the Realms-List that you know that many of us, including DMs would love to see a companion book dedicated to just that. Superstitions and folklore for various regions of Toril. It would bring a lot of atmosphere to various games that we could use, not to mention many, many spins offs for story lines.
mightymouse 09-01-03, 02:11 PM	bump
mightymouse 09-01-03, 11:34 PM	bump
Herr Doktor 09-01-03, 11:47 PM	There's no reason for all this bumpin' people are always checking this thread, no matter it's position. Rich won't be answering in the middle of the night either. He answers these queries on his lunch break supposedly. You'll just have to be patient.
WotC_RichBaker 09-03-03, 03:41 PM	We were planning on incorporating some of this into the Player's Guide to Faerun, but we wound up using more of the book on cosmology issues than anticipated. So, psionics in FR doesn't work any differently than it does in any other D&D game that you choose to introduce psionics to. As I've stated before, I'd handle psionics as Weave-independent magic -- in other words, "antimagic shell" kills psionics as well as arcane and divine magic. Originally posted by mightymouse Hello Rich, In regards to psionics and the Realms, will we have a more clearer definition as to how psionics truly works on Toril? The argument that has been brought up again and again is that is we make and psionics 'different' than nothing could keep a balance check on psionics. I remember from the 1st and 2nd edition core books, that to have a psionic character you had to roll for it and it was extremely hard to get it. Could we return to that for FR? Bruce Donohue
WotC_RichBaker 09-03-03, 04:14 PM	I'll amend that last statement. I've just examined the file as it left development (after I worked on it), and it looks like we do have a little bit of psionic material, including a psionic prestige class. I'm making sure that we state positively what the psionics-Weave interaction is.
AskaniSage 09-03-03, 05:30 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I'll amend that last statement. I've just examined the file as it left development (after I worked on it), and it looks like we do have a little bit of psionic material, including a psionic prestige class. I'm making sure that we state positively what the psionics-Weave interaction is. Wow!! Great! Finally Psionics are gonna get some more respect. With the amount of psions in just the FR books, Psions should be more recognized in the FR game material. This is GREAT news!! Thanks Rich!
Dargoth 09-03-03, 09:50 PM	Hey Rich a while ago I asked you how many FR books WOTC where planning on publishing each year and how many would be regional source books and how many would be Generalist books. To which I believe your response was 4 books a year 2 general and 2 regional. So my question is this, Obviously the Players guide to Faerun is a general book, but what about Serpent Kingdoms Is serpent Kingdoms the 2nd General book or the first Regional book for 2004?
WotC_RichBaker 09-04-03, 03:10 PM	We consider Serpent Kingdoms a general book, not a regional book. Although it really blurs the line between the two. We are working on a regional book for later in 2004, but it's too early for me to say much about that. Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich a while ago I asked you how many FR books WOTC where planning on publishing each year and how many would be regional source books and how many would be Generalist books. To which I believe your response was 4 books a year 2 general and 2 regional. So my question is this, Obviously the Players guide to Faerun is a general book, but what about Serpent Kingdoms Is serpent Kingdoms the 2nd General book or the first Regional book for 2004?
Faraer 09-04-03, 03:22 PM	I hope Rich and the PGtF developers don't forget that in the Realms psionics is called the Invisible Art.
Faraer 09-04-03, 03:35 PM	Rich, So, we know the current Realms game products are pretty rules-focused, in part to sell them to people who don't play in the Realms. Logically, this is a little disadvantageous to everyone who likes the Realms, and especially to those of us who love the Realms for its strengths -- a roleplaying-over-rules world with enormous detail. It's unfortunate that Ed has these millions of words of Realmslore which have no outlet except an 18,000-words-a-year web column and a Dragon column which seems to be on hiatus. This bottleneck could be broken -- honouring Ed as the Great Sage -- if it was possible to license a third party to publish the Realmslore books that don't fit the publishing plan and could be very profitable for a smaller company. This is, inevitably -- because what else would be? -- the material that actually motivates people to play in the Realms rather than some other world, other than out of habit or for the quantity of material or its flashy advertising and looks. Otherwise the role of recruiting Realms fans falls more and more to the novels. The function of the lore seems analogous to that of adventure modules in that its influence in keeping a setting healthy is out of proportion to its own sales. Presumably this has been considered and rejected. But would you comment on the possibility?
WotC_RichBaker 09-05-03, 03:43 PM	That's an interesting idea. To my knowledge, we haven't approached anybody (or been approached by anybody) serious about it. It would have to be a good deal for WotC and a good deal for the other party too, of course. I really can't say more than that. Originally posted by Faraer Rich, So, we know the current Realms game products are pretty rules-focused, in part to sell them to people who don't play in the Realms. Logically, this is a little disadvantageous to everyone who likes the Realms, and especially to those of us who love the Realms for its strengths -- a roleplaying-over-rules world with enormous detail. It's unfortunate that Ed has these millions of words of Realmslore which have no outlet except an 18,000-words-a-year web column and a Dragon column which seems to be on hiatus. This bottleneck could be broken -- honouring Ed as the Great Sage -- if it was possible to license a third party to publish the Realmslore books that don't fit the publishing plan and could be very profitable for a smaller company. This is, inevitably -- because what else would be? -- the material that actually motivates people to play in the Realms rather than some other world, other than out of habit or for the quantity of material or its flashy advertising and looks. Otherwise the role of recruiting Realms fans falls more and more to the novels. The function of the lore seems analogous to that of adventure modules in that its influence in keeping a setting healthy is out of proportion to its own sales. Presumably this has been considered and rejected. But would you comment on the possibility?
Zanan 09-05-03, 04:33 PM	Vendui! No news about the Underdark's Drow druids then? Well, I was preparing some encounter with a few orogs when I stumbled over the following ... Races of Faerun, p. 72: Language and Literacy Orogs speak Orc and Undercommon. Those few who have a knack for languages learn another tongue common in the Underdark, such as Dwarven or the drow dialect of Elven. .. which is somewhat contradictive to previous statements that Undercommon is in fact the language of the Drow. The Drow entry says ... (p. 36): Most drow speak Elven, Undercommon, and a language appropriate to their native region. Let's adjust this with the new 3RE rules where it says ... (SRD): Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Aquan, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, Goblin. This trait replaces the high elf ’s automatic and bonus languages. F&P goes on to say that Duergar speak Undercommon as well as Dwarven, yet some may also learn Elven (Drow dialect). Well ... the easiest thing would have been that Drow remained a seperate language (as it was in AD&D, e.g. Ed Greenwood's The Drow of the Underdark). As it is now, there are some options which need to be clarified by someone official: 1 - As SKR said, Undercommon IS the Drow's language and has become the trading language of the Underdark as well. 2 - Drow speak "Elven", but their own dialect. 3 - something in the middle. This question has been asked before, when the debate went along the lines that surface Elven and Drow, after some ten thousand years of separation should be quite different languages, and thus, by default, surface Elves would not understand Drow speaking to each other (and vice versa, for that matter). Can we assume that the "native" tongue of the Drow is Undercommon then, or is it still Elven, but the Drow's dialect ( which seems to be the more often cited version)?
Dargoth 09-06-03, 06:34 AM	Hey Rich will Moander (or his worshipers) put in an appearance in your Last mythal novel series? He seems like the perfect god for the Daemonfey, hes got history of trying to corrupt the elves and you cant get much more corrupt behvaiour than breeding with Demons
Zanan 09-06-03, 08:02 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich will Moander (or his worshipers) put in an appearance in your Last mythal novel series? He seems like the perfect god for the Daemonfey, hes got history of trying to corrupt the elves and you cant get much more corrupt behvaiour than breeding with Demons Well, as I already said in your other thread, he's even more dead than most of the other "dead" gods, since most if not all of his portfolios have been taken up by Finder and Lolth. Maybe this "Silence" stuff is linked to this as well ...
Dargoth 09-06-03, 08:17 AM	Originally posted by Zanan Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich will Moander (or his worshipers) put in an appearance in your Last mythal novel series? He seems like the perfect god for the Daemonfey, hes got history of trying to corrupt the elves and you cant get much more corrupt behvaiour than breeding with Demons Well, as I already said in your other thread, he's even more dead than most of the other "dead" gods, since most if not all of his portfolios have been taken up by Finder and Lolth. Maybe this "Silence" stuff is linked to this as well ... Richs books are aparently set in the past ie just after the fall of Myth Drannor they also involve Fey'ri so Moander being dead now isnt a problem
Sirius_Black 09-06-03, 11:25 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Richs books are aparently set in the past ie just after the fall of Myth Drannor they also involve Fey'ri so Moander being dead now isnt a problem They are? Can you please post a link or point of reference for where you received that information? Thank you.
Sirius_Black 09-06-03, 11:27 AM	Mr. Baker: Apologies if this has been asked before, I've kept up with this thread and don't recall it being put forth previously. Will the Player's Guide to Faerun feature an updated timeline for events that have taken place since the FRCS came out? Someone on another messageboard was asking and I thought you might be able to shed some light on the matter. Thank you in advance for any assistance here.
zerodegreeskelvan 09-06-03, 04:27 PM	What exactly does a Spellsinger's (from Races of Faerun) spellsong ability do? It would seem to be useless to any class that does not prepare arcane spells in advance, i.e. bards, for whom this PrC seems intended. Does it allow a bard to use, say, a 3rd level spell slot to cast a 2nd level spell that he may not himself know but is part of the Bard class spell list ("to cast any arcane enchantment. . . that is on their spell list)? Specifically, to what does "their" refer to? The individual character's spell list, or the arcane casting class (i.e. bard) as a whole? I'll leave it at that for the moment, though the save DC formula seems to make little sense either. Thanks in advance for the help!
Dargoth 09-06-03, 10:07 PM	Originally posted by Sirius_Black They are? Can you please post a link or point of reference for where you received that information? Thank you. It comes from a post Ed Greenwood made on RA Salvatores board Someone asked Ed if he was going to write anymore books set in myth Drannor. Ed response was that he had no plans but a certain author still on WOTC staff would be writting a novel involving Myth Drannor I reckon this "Certain author" is Richard Baker 1) There arent many authors still working as staff members (I can think of 2 Richard Baker and Phil Athans, to the best of my knowledge the only thing Phil Anthans is writting is a novel in WOSQ series) 2) Rich Bakers novle series is called "THE LAST MYTHAL" :D
Cassius Harkanor 09-06-03, 11:38 PM	Richard 1. Will there be any epic prestige classes in the Players Guide (and not just epic progressions) ? 2. Will the Players Guide take a better look at the available regions of Faerun since multiple books have described new regions and some regions seem to be missing (such as the Underdark, Great Glacier and Skullport). Will we see regions for areas not on Faerun, such as a Kara-Tur regions ? 3. Will we see a errata for the NPC's detailed in the Un East. Most of these people don't have a list of their patron deity, specifiec race or for some of the dragons, their age category. 4. There is a Random Planar Destination table in the DMG. Will we see something similar in the Players Guide.
Dargoth 09-07-03, 12:47 AM	Originally posted by Cassius Harkanor Richard 1. Will there be any epic prestige classes in the Players Guide (and not just epic progressions) ? 2. Will the Players Guide take a better look at the available regions of Faerun since multiple books have described new regions and some regions seem to be missing (such as the Underdark, Great Glacier and Skullport). Will we see regions for areas not on Faerun, such as a Kara-Tur regions ? 3. Will we see a errata for the NPC's detailed in the Un East. Most of these people don't have a list of their patron deity, specifiec race or for some of the dragons, their age category. 4. There is a Random Planar Destination table in the DMG. Will we see something similar in the Players Guide. Im not Rich but several of your questions have been put to Rich 1) There aprantly werent when I asked him but Rich said he pass it on to James Wyatt (i origionally asked him if the PG would feature Epic level progression for existing PrCs) 2) The Players guide will have a new take on regions and will cover regions that have not been included in Underdar, Silver Marches and The Un approachable East. 3) Unknown personally Im hoping that Rich does a write up for Rotting Man and template for Talonas chosen 4) The PG will feature section detailing the FR Cosmology
Sirius_Black 09-07-03, 01:24 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth It comes from a post Ed Greenwood made on RA Salvatores board Someone asked Ed if he was going to write anymore books set in myth Drannor. Ed response was that he had no plans but a certain author still on WOTC staff would be writting a novel involving Myth Drannor I reckon this "Certain author" is Richard Baker 1) There arent many authors still working as staff members (I can think of 2 Richard Baker and Phil Athans, to the best of my knowledge the only thing Phil Anthans is writting is a novel in WOSQ series) 2) Rich Bakers novle series is called "THE LAST MYTHAL" :D Thanks for the information about Mr. Greenwood's post. However, can you help me out on the connection with what you've posted above and your belief that the upcoming Baker novel series will take place just after the fall of Myth Drannor. I do not know the information by heart, but wasn't House Dlardrageth already imprisoned by then? I haven't seen anything indicating that the Baker series will be set in the past. Thus, again, where are you making that connection?
Dargoth 09-07-03, 01:50 AM	Back on the old boardsI recall Rich said the Last Mythal would feature Fey'ri
Sirius_Black 09-07-03, 10:40 AM	Thanks for the replies Dargoth and the reference to Mr. Greenwood's statement on R.A. Salvatore's boards. I was able to look it up earlier today and saw the exact reply. I also looked up the Fey'ri history in the Cloak and Dagger supplement. The absence of any mention of the Fey'ri being involved in the immediate aftermath of Myth Drannor's fall, really makes me hope you are wrong although the ED posting definitely seems to make your conclusion logical. I state that hope because, the most recent mention, before their release in current time, of the Fey'ri is 882 DR in the area of Ascalhorn well away time and distance from Myth Drannor. Thus, any new development of the Fey'ri being involved in aftermath of Myth Drannor would, while not an altering, be a big wedge never explained or hinted at before that would now be shoved into a timeline. I much rather see the Fey'ri in current FR time be addressed. <Shrug> Oh well, still looking forward to the books, just not as much, if your beliefs are true. Perhaps in time Mr. Baker will officially shed some more light on the timeframe his series will be set in. Thanks again for the responses.
WotC_RichBaker 09-08-03, 03:22 PM	Keep in mind, elven generations may be much slower than human generations. You'll play the "telephone" game with your native tongue much less frequently if some of the speakers remain alive for 500 or 600 years. Maybe that's really more like 1,000 years of human language drift. Some languages drift a lot in 1,000 years (English, for example, which was changed dramatically by the Norman invasion). Other languages don't drift so much. Originally posted by Zanan Vendui! This question has been asked before, when the debate went along the lines that surface Elven and Drow, after some ten thousand years of separation should be quite different languages, and thus, by default, surface Elves would not understand Drow speaking to each other (and vice versa, for that matter). Can we assume that the "native" tongue of the Drow is Undercommon then, or is it still Elven, but the Drow's dialect ( which seems to be the more often cited version)?
WotC_RichBaker 09-08-03, 03:23 PM	I've got no real plans to do anything with Moander. I've got some other villains I want to feature. Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich will Moander (or his worshipers) put in an appearance in your Last mythal novel series? He seems like the perfect god for the Daemonfey, hes got history of trying to corrupt the elves and you cant get much more corrupt behvaiour than breeding with Demons
WotC_RichBaker 09-08-03, 03:26 PM	I'm not sure where you heard that, but it isn't right. "The Forsaken House" begins in midwinter 1374 or 1375 (we'll nail it down when we decide just how much timeline advance we need). There are a couple of flashback scenes, but they're very minor. Originally posted by Dargoth Richs books are aparently set in the past ie just after the fall of Myth Drannor they also involve Fey'ri so Moander being dead now isnt a problem
WotC_RichBaker 09-08-03, 03:28 PM	Yes, there's a good discussion of the principal events in Return of the Archwizards and the opening books of War of the Spider Queen, plus some other updates. We would have liked to make it more comprehensive, but space turned out to be a real limitation in the book. Originally posted by Sirius_Black Mr. Baker: Apologies if this has been asked before, I've kept up with this thread and don't recall it being put forth previously. Will the Player's Guide to Faerun feature an updated timeline for events that have taken place since the FRCS came out? Someone on another messageboard was asking and I thought you might be able to shed some light on the matter. Thank you in advance for any assistance here.
WotC_RichBaker 09-08-03, 03:32 PM	Reading it literally, I'd say just that -- you can cast lower-level enchantments that you don't know (as a Spell Known) but happen to be on your class spell list, which is kind of nice for bards and sorcerers who are constrained by their spell choices. Also, I'm pretty sure that the save DC formula is supposed to start with a "10", which would mean you get +2 DC on the spell you cast with spellsong -- again, a pretty nice benefit. Originally posted by zerodegreeskelvan What exactly does a Spellsinger's (from Races of Faerun) spellsong ability do? It would seem to be useless to any class that does not prepare arcane spells in advance, i.e. bards, for whom this PrC seems intended. Does it allow a bard to use, say, a 3rd level spell slot to cast a 2nd level spell that he may not himself know but is part of the Bard class spell list ("to cast any arcane enchantment. . . that is on their spell list)? Specifically, to what does "their" refer to? The individual character's spell list, or the arcane casting class (i.e. bard) as a whole? I'll leave it at that for the moment, though the save DC formula seems to make little sense either. Thanks in advance for the help!
WotC_RichBaker 09-08-03, 03:36 PM	Hey, this is an easy one. 1. Yes (the Netherese arcanist, for one). 2. Yes, we have the Grand Unified Theory of regions in the FRPG. Nothing on non-Faerun, though. 3. Not in the FRPG, but you're right that we ought to put that together. Let me know what's missing. 4. Yes, we've got that in the FRPG. Originally posted by Cassius Harkanor Richard 1. Will there be any epic prestige classes in the Players Guide (and not just epic progressions) ? 2. Will the Players Guide take a better look at the available regions of Faerun since multiple books have described new regions and some regions seem to be missing (such as the Underdark, Great Glacier and Skullport). Will we see regions for areas not on Faerun, such as a Kara-Tur regions ? 3. Will we see a errata for the NPC's detailed in the Un East. Most of these people don't have a list of their patron deity, specifiec race or for some of the dragons, their age category. 4. There is a Random Planar Destination table in the DMG. Will we see something similar in the Players Guide.
Herr Doktor 09-08-03, 03:57 PM	Rich Baker: Will the Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms contain any additional information on the various speical paladin orders and monastic orders of Faerûn? Most specifically I am looking for information on monks of the Old Order. The FRCS says that they strictly follow a philosophy espoused from some dead or non-existent deity but says nothing about the teachings at all. I am currently running a solo-campaign focused around a monk of the Old Order. So for myself atleast it is a pretty big chunk of highly useful information that I can't find anywhere in the book.
Zanan 09-08-03, 05:50 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Keep in mind, elven generations may be much slower than human generations. You'll play the "telephone" game with your native tongue much less frequently if some of the speakers remain alive for 500 or 600 years. Maybe that's really more like 1,000 years of human language drift. Some languages drift a lot in 1,000 years (English, for example, which was changed dramatically by the Norman invasion). Other languages don't drift so much. Yes, and that was the answer to a similar question as well. Yet, the question remains whether drow speak Elven as their native tongue or Undercommon. I assume that it is Elven, but the drow dialect of it? With regards to your reply about ages and centuries. That is true enough, but, being a linguist myself, I know that even 500 years can make languages of the same pedigree very different indeed - and this despite almost nonstop contact. (e.g., West Germanic dialects in what is now Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands were very similar around 500 CE, yet almost not intelligible to one another 500 years later. Drow lived in isolation from the Elves for much longer than that and their language might not have lost its Elven touch, but, much like those Germanic dialects, have moved on and become something more modern. Same goes for the surface dialects of the elves. ... The main question which needs answering is thus quite simple: will Elves understand the Drow dialect without being taught or not? Same goes for Drow listening to some Elves. I would vote for a no.
Cunning Linguist 09-08-03, 06:09 PM	I would like to put the last question in a bit more hard fact type of way. In CotSQ, some letters are written in, Elven, the Drow dialect. Is this under common or is it something else? If its something else, can a elf read it, if he knows elven?
cwslyclgh 09-08-03, 07:35 PM	I would like to put the last question in a bit more hard fact type of way. In CotSQ, some letters are written in, Elven, the Drow dialect. Is this under common or is it something else? If its something else, can a elf read it, if he knows elven? persoanly I would say No it is not undercommon any more then say Chondathan is common... and I would give an elf (or anybody that reads elvish) the same chance of reading it as I would give a person who speaks orc or giant understanding what an ettin was saying to him (that is a DC 15 intelligence check).
Rassitar 09-09-03, 12:15 AM	Why is one of the upcoming races for the underdark book censored? What makes it so special?
Sirius_Black 09-09-03, 12:38 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I'm not sure where you heard that, but it isn't right. "The Forsaken House" begins in midwinter 1374 or 1375 (we'll nail it down when we decide just how much timeline advance we need). There are a couple of flashback scenes, but they're very minor. That's what I long thought from everything I had heard. Thank you for clarifying it. Excited about the new novel series?
Sirius_Black 09-09-03, 12:54 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Yes, there's a good discussion of the principal events in Return of the Archwizards and the opening books of War of the Spider Queen, plus some other updates. We would have liked to make it more comprehensive, but space turned out to be a real limitation in the book. Thank you Mr. Baker for replying to my question. Space limitations again in an FR books? You know the solution to that don't you? Just put out a few more of them. ;) Thanks again.
Dargoth 09-09-03, 05:32 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I'm not sure where you heard that, but it isn't right. "The Forsaken House" begins in midwinter 1374 or 1375 (we'll nail it down when we decide just how much timeline advance we need). There are a couple of flashback scenes, but they're very minor. DOH! :embarrass
Israfel666 09-09-03, 06:54 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker 1. Yes (the Netherese arcanist, for one). Will this PrC be meant only for Netherese-age campaigns or also for modern times? In the former case, does that mean that Netherese mages have to progress as modern-day wizards for 20+ levels before earning the right to be called "arcanists"? In the latter case, does the PrC require that you are taught by a real Arcanist (AFAIK there are only three in existence, none of which appears very likely to accept apprentices) or can you "rediscover" the Netherese methods on your own? TYFYA (Thank You For Your Answers)
kedi 09-09-03, 08:18 AM	Mr Baker: is there any plan about 3.5 FRCS? if so, is that going to be open game content just like the Core rule books? If not, there should be since this is the rogue dragons year (maybe im wrong) and something must have changed. thx for yer time
Sarelle 09-09-03, 12:24 PM	Kedi - the Player's Guide to Faerûn - the upcoming FR book Rich is highly involved in, is principally about updating the FRCS to 3.5 and explaining the 3.0/3.5 FR cosmology. Rich - I would also be interested to hear a difinitive answer to the Drow - independent language/Elven dialect/Undercommon arguement, however I suspect it is not your to give? Please prove me wrong. Personally I am surprised it has not been made an independant language, supposedly incorporating Elven and Undercommon. I mean Aluvé isn't Elvish as far as i know, nor are words like Darthiir, Yochlol, Zhaun and Ssinssrigg. There is an entire unofficial Drow dictionary on the net. But then again that sort of makes Drow Sign Language near-pointless.
kedi 09-09-03, 12:30 PM	sarelle thx and: there is drowish in 2ed but not in 3ed, nor in 3.5, but the thing about the sign language is that you can speak silently when planing to trap sb or etc,
Faraer 09-09-03, 12:45 PM	The drow language question looks like one of those 'simplifications' that makes things more complicated. There's a whole official drow dictionary in FOR2. Assuming Wizards isn't retconning it entirely -- which thankfully isn't the style so far: the question is then, is this an elven dialect -- which makes no sense as it has nothing in common -- or is Undercommon 'now' the same language as that? For your own campaign, and for the Greenwoodian as opposed to WotC Realms, easier by far not to make this pointless change.
Sarelle 09-09-03, 12:50 PM	I agree Faraer. The problem for me is that it has nothing in common with Elvish, as you said - save for a similar flowing style. And if it is Undercommon then I am really annoyed - because I cannot imagine Duergar saying words like 'Aluvé'!
WotC_RichBaker 09-09-03, 03:39 PM	Nothing right now, although we're contemplating a sourcebook that might explore those at greater length. Originally posted by Herr Doktor Rich Baker: Will the Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms contain any additional information on the various speical paladin orders and monastic orders of Faerûn? Most specifically I am looking for information on monks of the Old Order. The FRCS says that they strictly follow a philosophy espoused from some dead or non-existent deity but says nothing about the teachings at all. I am currently running a solo-campaign focused around a monk of the Old Order. So for myself atleast it is a pretty big chunk of highly useful information that I can't find anywhere in the book.
WotC_RichBaker 09-09-03, 03:41 PM	Just wanted to keep at least one surprise for you folks. That's all. Originally posted by Rassitar Why is one of the upcoming races for the underdark book censored? What makes it so special?
WotC_RichBaker 09-09-03, 03:43 PM	Not sure; I didn't work on it personally. I'd favor the option of "rediscovering" the Netherese methods in the current day campaign, myself. It's also good for the shades. Originally posted by Israfel666 Will this PrC be meant only for Netherese-age campaigns or also for modern times? In the former case, does that mean that Netherese mages have to progress as modern-day wizards for 20+ levels before earning the right to be called "arcanists"? In the latter case, does the PrC require that you are taught by a real Arcanist (AFAIK there are only three in existence, none of which appears very likely to accept apprentices) or can you "rediscover" the Netherese methods on your own? TYFYA (Thank You For Your Answers)
WotC_RichBaker 09-09-03, 03:48 PM	Well, I thought I'd given the answer, and you guys just didn't like it. In the context of 3rd Edition, drowish = elven, except there's a thick dialect difference. Imagine a Jamaican and a Scotsman trying to hold a conversation. Trying to quickly discuss something complicated is probably very hard, but a day or two of casual contact and they'll get an "ear" for what the other guy is saying. Yes, this retcons FOR2. And yes, most of the drow names and terms don't seem to "look" Elven. If it bugs you, Rule 0 it. Originally posted by Sarelle Rich - I would also be interested to hear a difinitive answer to the Drow - independent language/Elven dialect/Undercommon arguement, however I suspect it is not your to give? Please prove me wrong. Personally I am surprised it has not been made an independant language, supposedly incorporating Elven and Undercommon. I mean Aluvé isn't Elvish as far as i know, nor are words like Darthiir, Yochlol, Zhaun and Ssinssrigg. There is an entire unofficial Drow dictionary on the net. But then again that sort of makes Drow Sign Language near-pointless.
BobROE 09-09-03, 05:06 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Nothing right now, although we're contemplating a sourcebook that might explore those at greater length. Would this be a sourcebook about the churches themselves (rather than the gods, ie F&P)? (A man can hope).
Kuje31 09-09-03, 09:25 PM	Hey Dargoth, You'll be happy to know (if you didn't already) that the new stats for the War of the Spider Queen characters are in the new issue of Dragon #312.
Dargoth 09-10-03, 02:07 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 Hey Dargoth, You'll be happy to know (if you didn't already) that the new stats for the War of the Spider Queen characters are in the new issue of Dragon #312. WOHOOOOO! When did 312 come out?
Kuje31 09-10-03, 03:01 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth WOHOOOOO! When did 312 come out? This past week for some people, mine still hasn't arrived, but the general break down of the issue was posted on ENworld's message boards a day or two ago, and made the front page on the site yesterday (Tuesday).
Dargoth 09-10-03, 03:12 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 This past week for some people, mine still hasn't arrived, but the general break down of the issue was posted on ENworld's message boards a day or two ago, and made the front page on the site yesterday (Tuesday). Im actually suprised When they posted the "Next issue index" for Dragon 311 on Enworld there was no mention of the WOSQ charcters
Kuje31 09-10-03, 04:24 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Im actually suprised When they posted the "Next issue index" for Dragon 311 on Enworld there was no mention of the WOSQ charcters Yea, I don't recall them saying they were going to be printed in the new issue, but they are. :). Just wanted to let you know, because you have asked about them a few times. :)
Dargoth 09-10-03, 04:25 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 Yea, I don't recall them saying they were going to be printed in the new issue, but they are. :). Just wanted to let you know, because you have asked about them a few times. :) Thanks! Ive got Forest of Blood and the 2nd Installment of the WOSQ characters to look forward to!
Kuje31 09-10-03, 01:19 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Thanks! Ive got Forest of Blood and the 2nd Installment of the WOSQ characters to look forward to! :bounce:
Zanan 09-11-03, 04:09 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Well, I thought I'd given the answer, and you guys just didn't like it. In the context of 3rd Edition, drowish = elven, except there's a thick dialect difference. Thanks for the answer and Sorry for pestering you that much.
Dargoth 09-11-03, 06:33 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 :bounce: Im actually thinking of a Silver MArshes campaign Im thinking of repalcing Cult of Bazim Gorag in Prison of the Flamebringer with Followers of Malar. Malars followers offer to release the Sladd lord if the Slaad Lord will raze the cities of the Silver MArches when hes released.
Kuje31 09-11-03, 12:29 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Im actually thinking of a Silver MArshes campaign Im thinking of repalcing Cult of Bazim Gorag in Prison of the Flamebringer with Followers of Malar. Malars followers offer to release the Sladd lord if the Slaad Lord will raze the cities of the Silver MArches when hes released. Very cool. Seems like a interesting campaign. I haven't read that adventure in Dungeon yet but again seems like a good idea.
ericlboyd 09-11-03, 02:50 PM	Rich wrote: <<< Keep in mind, elven generations may be much slower than human generations. You'll play the "telephone" game with your native tongue much less frequently if some of the speakers remain alive for 500 or 600 years. Maybe that's really more like 1,000 years of human language drift. >>> Although I'm not a linguist, I actually think "language stagnation" would be exponentially more stable in long-lived races. First, speakers living longer means more resistance to change. Second, long-lived races have a greater number of overlapped generations (i.e. elves might have 10 or more generations alive at the same time). This would certainly reinforce language rigidity. Third, I think most language change comes from the young, and the percentage of time spent as an "adult" seems to be greater in the long-lived races. (I'd have to doublecheck the age tables to be sure.) As such, there's probably less pressure to modify the language given the relative paucity of energetic teenagers making up new forms of speech. --Eric
Dargoth 09-11-03, 10:23 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Nothing right now, although we're contemplating a sourcebook that might explore those at greater length. Sounds like a good idea after all while the Generic Complete Fighters handbook will be useful a Generic book on Monks/Paladins and Clerics wont be of any use to FR fans as the generic books would use Greyhawk gods and orders Is this new book likely to be A 3.5 Prayers of the Faithful?
Zanan 09-12-03, 04:05 AM	Originally posted by ericlboyd Rich wrote: <<< Keep in mind, elven generations may be much slower than human generations. You'll play the "telephone" game with your native tongue much less frequently if some of the speakers remain alive for 500 or 600 years. Maybe that's really more like 1,000 years of human language drift. >>> Although I'm not a linguist, I actually think "language stagnation" would be exponentially more stable in long-lived races. First, speakers living longer means more resistance to change. Second, long-lived races have a greater number of overlapped generations (i.e. elves might have 10 or more generations alive at the same time). This would certainly reinforce language rigidity. Third, I think most language change comes from the young, and the percentage of time spent as an "adult" seems to be greater in the long-lived races. (I'd have to doublecheck the age tables to be sure.) As such, there's probably less pressure to modify the language given the relative paucity of energetic teenagers making up new forms of speech. --Eric True enough. This would lead to the suggestion that Drow (i.e. the Drow dialect of Elven) as we know it from the books of Arch Wizard Ed Greenwood is in fact a reflection of the kind of Elven spoken before the decent, as the drow themselves saw little contact to other races during their banishment and kept their language somewhat more archaic. On the other hand, Elves, due to continuous contact to other races ever since the descent (maybe not lately though) might have influx of other words or the like. Anyway, I think it can be safely assumed that (if we have the same thing with humans of different nations) the dark elves of the south did speak their own dialect of Elven even before the descent, which might have remained intelligible to other Elves back then. As the contact between the drow and the elves are restricted to killing each other on sight for the last 10.000 years, I think it can also be safely assumed that not that many elves will understand the drow dialect by default these days, as long as it is not taught somehow. As Mr. Baker said, they may understand what the other is talking about after a few days of interaction and conversation, but that's hardly likely to happen, is it?
WotC_RichBaker 09-12-03, 12:29 PM	Hi, folks -- I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be on vacation for the next three weeks, and won't be checking this forum while I'm gone. I've got a bunch of vacation time saved up, and darn it, I'm going to use it. So, look for me to return sometime during the week of Monday, October 6th.
cwslyclgh 09-12-03, 02:50 PM	have fun Rich
AskaniSage 09-12-03, 06:58 PM	Have a great vacation Rich!!
Wil_Upchurch 09-18-03, 08:45 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 Hey Dargoth, You'll be happy to know (if you didn't already) that the new stats for the War of the Spider Queen characters are in the new issue of Dragon #312. Whoever was asking for non-spellcasting assassin variants should be happy with 312 as well. :)
Dargoth 09-18-03, 08:47 PM	Originally posted by Wil_Upchurch Whoever was asking for non-spellcasting assassin variants should be happy with 312 as well. :) That would be me to :D
Maskanodel 09-19-03, 08:33 AM	Will Valas Hune be in the upcoming Dragon? I love that guy.
Chronic Alcoholic 09-19-03, 02:39 PM	Originally posted by Herr Doktor Rich Baker: Will the Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms contain any additional information on the various speical paladin orders and monastic orders of Faerûn? Most specifically I am looking for information on monks of the Old Order. The FRCS says that they strictly follow a philosophy espoused from some dead or non-existent deity but says nothing about the teachings at all. I am currently running a solo-campaign focused around a monk of the Old Order. So for myself atleast it is a pretty big chunk of highly useful information that I can't find anywhere in the book. The Web Enhenchment for Faiths & Pantheons included some info for the Monk and Paladins orders, though I seriously doubt that it includes any info on a godless order.
Sariel Rahab 09-28-03, 07:35 AM	Just to keep this bump'ed for people to read while Rich is away. (Oh, and I found the non-spellcasting assassins a disapointment, the necromancers weren't that cool either, but I actually do like the Anti-paladin and his cronies though. ... but I stray of topic.)
Dargoth 09-28-03, 09:21 AM	I went to a RPGA event today and found out theres what 3 of the PrCs in The Players Guide to Faerun are Justicar of Tyr Morninglord of Lathander Monk of the Long Death If where lucky maybe Rich will bless us with the Contents page for the PGTF :D
Darkmore 09-28-03, 10:31 AM	Mmmhm a few more speciality priests PrC's... that sounds just great to me :) Amorphites anyone ? :smirk: Now about that druid problem ... na just kidding
TheDarkestOfAngels 09-28-03, 03:43 PM	Druid problem? I wouldn't mind some PrC's directed at druids for the more wild dieties, like Malar, Chauntea, and Mielikki, and a few others. That'd be pretty cool, actually. Specialty druids.
Kuje31 09-28-03, 04:22 PM	Originally posted by TheDarkestOfAngels Druid problem? He means the "problem" that druids in FR have to have a patron deity while in the core rules they don't (even though the core rules are used for Greyhawk and not all of them are used in FR).
Darkmore 09-28-03, 05:10 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 He means the "problem" that druids in FR have to have a patron deity while in the core rules they don't (even though the core rules are used for Greyhawk and not all of them are used in FR). My words exactly ;) :D But a few druid PrC's would be great too ... actually I can't remember a good Druidic PrC in the realms ... not even an Archdruid to forget that bad naughty hierophant (yerk yerk) ;)
Dargoth 10-01-03, 02:27 AM	Happy Birthday Rich!
Savras 10-01-03, 10:35 AM	Originally posted by Darkmore My words exactly ;) :D But a few druid PrC's would be great too ... actually I can't remember a good Druidic PrC in the realms ... not even an Archdruid to forget that bad naughty hierophant (yerk yerk) ;) What about the Forest Master? Savras
Israfel666 10-01-03, 10:49 AM	Originally posted by Savras What about the Forest Master? What about those who don't worship that boring Silvanus, but rather Chauntea, Eldath, Gwaeron Windstrom, Lurue, Malar, Mielikki, Nobanion, Shialla, Talos, Ubtao, Ulutiu, Umberlee, Anhur, Isis, Osiris, Sebek, Set, Thard Harr, Aerdrie Faenya, Angharradh, Deep Sashelas, Rillifane Rallathil, Baervan Wildwanderer, Segojan Earthcaller or Cyrrollalee? ;)
Darkmore 10-01-03, 12:38 PM	Originally posted by Savras What about the Forest Master? Savras A great PrC for a cleric with the plant domain. Grants nature sense (druids already have it) and improves rebuke/control plant creatures (druids gain it but will never be as powerfull as a cleric ... cleric level stacks wit FM level). A few interesting stuff indeed (oak might and the like) ... is it enough to get rid of wildshape and to loose a few skill points... And most of all you need a patron deity... something that I juste hate when talking about druids ;)
Savras 10-01-03, 01:43 PM	Whoa, I said one sentence and I feel so attacked... *sniff* First, Cyrrollalee is *not* a Nature goddess, Sheela is. Second, a druid *can* take that class, and in 3.0 it was rather nice. Third, someone said "actually I can't remember a good Druidic PrC in the realms", so I said, there is one- the Forest Master. I never said there were enough, or that this was the best. But it is. Oh, and I love the way all divine spells originate from divine entities, I find that logical. Savras
Darkmore 10-01-03, 02:03 PM	Originally posted by Savras Whoa, I said one sentence and I feel so attacked... *sniff*C'mon I used a smillie after all... here's another one just for you: :D <-- don't worry be happy. Yep druid *can* take the FM Prc (After all : didn't I explained what happened to druids taking this prc ?) What I say is that it's much better with a cleric ... so it doesn't make a "good" druidic PrC for me. Just a personnal tought sorry... Oh and I hate to see druids as cleric camos but that's endless ;) <-- see I'm quite cool actually !
WotC_RichBaker 10-06-03, 02:24 PM	All right, now I'm creeped out -- how did you know it was my birthday? Oh, and I'm back, by the way. Originally posted by Dargoth Happy Birthday Rich!
The_Sleeper 10-06-03, 03:15 PM	LOL:rofl:
Dargoth 10-06-03, 07:50 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker All right, now I'm creeped out -- how did you know it was my birthday? Oh, and I'm back, by the way. Extensive usue of Wire tapping, round the clock video Surveillance, hidden Microphones in your house and work place and the fact your name was on the Birthdays list on the the WOTC Forum :D
Herr Doktor 10-06-03, 07:55 PM	Sneaky Dargoth! Don't scare poor Rich like that again! Now then... *AHEM* Rich, why don't you relay to me any and all information that you've got on future realms related products? Even things only muttered about between designers as being "a good idea" or "we could do that...". I'll take it all. I mean... Since we're such good friends now... You wouldn't keep secrets from a friend... Would ya? :weep:
Savras 10-06-03, 07:56 PM	Originally posted by Darkmore C'mon I used a smillie after all... here's another one just for you: :D <-- don't worry be happy. Yep druid *can* take the FM Prc (After all : didn't I explained what happened to druids taking this prc ?) What I say is that it's much better with a cleric ... so it doesn't make a "good" druidic PrC for me. Just a personnal tought sorry... Oh and I hate to see druids as cleric camos but that's endless ;) <-- see I'm quite cool actually ! Err... the "*sniff*" was meant to shoe I am half kidding. And I guess we can agree it works better for a cleric... No "cleric camos", they are speciality priests of Nature deities! Abd OK, you are cool... But so am I! Savras, http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/savrascool.TXT
Dargoth 10-07-03, 03:43 AM	Hey Rich Any chance you can give us the Contents for The Players guide to Faerun?
Herr Doktor 10-07-03, 11:03 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich Any chance you can give us the Contents for The Players guide to Faerun? That'd be most highly appreciated. ;)
WotC_RichBaker 10-07-03, 12:08 PM	All right, I'll check today and see if I can post the ToC. I probably won't get it posted until tomorrow, though.
WotC_RichBaker 10-07-03, 01:40 PM	I'm such a nice guy, darn it. You guys are lucky; the editor actually listed out each specific feat and spell in the ToC. No such luck with the magic items, but I figure this will give you plenty to talk about! Player's Guide to Faerun TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction How to Use This Book in Your Campaign xx What You Need to Play xx Sidebar: What’s This Book For? xx Previous Forgotten Realms Products xx Chapter 1: Races Humans xx Human Ethnicites xx Dwarves xx Gold Dwarves xx Gray Dwarves xx Shield Dwarves xx Elves xx Drow xx Moon Elves xx Sun Elves xx Wild Elves xx Wood Elves xx Gnomes xx Deep Gnomes xx Rock Gnomes xx Halfbreeds xx Half-Elves xx Half-Orcs xx Halflings xx Ghostwise Halflings xx Lightfoot Halflings xx Strongheart Halflings xx Planetouched xx Aasimar xx Air Genasi xx Earth Genasi xx Fire Genasi xx Tiefling xx Water Genasi xx Vital Statistics xx Sidebar: Variants: Races with Level Adjustments xx Powerful Races at 1st Level xx Lesser Versions xx Chapter 2: Regions and Feats xx Character Region xx Sidebar: Why Regions Changed xx How to Choose a Region xx Region Benefits xx Regions and Skills xx Region Definitions xx Feats xx Regional Feats xx Sidebar: Regional Feats and Previously Published Material xx Arcane Preparation xx Arcane Schooling xx Artist xx Axethrower xx Blooded xx Bloodline of Fire xx Bullheaded xx Cosmopolitan xx Dauntless xx Daylight Adaptation xx Delay Spell xx Discipline xx Dreadful Wrath xx Education xx Ethran xx Fearless xx Fleet of Foot xx Foe Hunter xx Forester xx Forgeheart xx Furious Charge xx Horse Nomad xx Improved Familiar xx Innate Spell xx Inscribe Rune xx Insidious Magic xx Knifefighter xx Luck of Heroes xx Magic in the Blood xx Magical Artisan xx Magical Training xx Mercantile Background xx Militia xx Mind over Body xx Otherworldly xx Pernicious Magic xx Persistant Spell xx Portal Master xx Reactive Counterspell xx Resist Poison xx Saddleback xx Shadow Weave Magic xx Signature Spell xx Silver Palm xx Smooth Talk xx Snake Blood xx Spell Thematics xx Spellcasting Prodigy xx Spellwise xx Stormheart xx Street Smart xx Strong Soul xx Surefooted xx Survivor xx Swift and Silent xx Tattoo Focus xx Tenacious Magic xx Thug xx Thunder Twin xx Tireless xx Treetopper xx Twin Spell xx Twin Sword Style xx Sidebar: Changes to Feats from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting xx Chapter 3: Prestige Classes xx Prestige Classes for Faerûnian Characters xx Sidebar: What’s Changed in v.3.5? xx Sidebar: Behind the Curtain: Revised Prestige Classes xx Arcane Devotee xx Divine Champion xx Divine Disciple xx Divine Seeker xx Evereskan Tomb Guardian xx Eye of Horus-Re xx Hammer of Moradin xx Harper Agent xx Hathran xx Incantatrix xx Justiciar of Tyr xx Master Transmogrifist xx Monk of the Long Death xx Morninglord of Lathander xx Purple Dragon Knight xx Runecaster xx Shadow Adept xx Shadow Thief of Amn xx Shaaryan Hunter xx Spellguard of Silverymoon xx Zhentarim Spy xx Chapter 4: Domains and Spells xx Deity-Specific Spells and Initiate Feats xx Initiate of Bane xx Initiate of Cyric xx Initiate of Gond xx Initiate of Helm xx Initiate of Ilmater xx Initiate of Lathander xx Initaite of Malar xx Initiate of Mystra xx Initaite of Nature xx Initiate of Selûne xx Initaite of Tyr xx Comprehensive Spell Lists xx Assassin Spells xx Bard Spells xx Blackguard Spells xx Celebrant of Sharess Spells1xx Cleric Spells xx Cleric Domains xx Initiate Spells xx Druid Spells xx Fire Knife Assassin Spells xx Hathran Spells xx Paladin Spells xx Ranger Spells xx Sorcerer and Wizard Spells xx Spells xx Acid Storm xx Animate Dread Warrior xx Ball Lightning xx Battletide xx Black Talon xx Blinding Spittle xx Blindsight xx Bombardment xx Briartangle xx Caligarde’s Claw xx Claws of the Beast xx Cloud of Bewilderment xx Create Magic Tattoo xx Dread Blast xx Elminster’s Effulgent Epuration xx Eye of Power xx Favor of Ilmater xx Fiendform xx Fireward xx Fleshshiver xx Forceward xx Gedlee’s Electric Loop xx Glory of the Martyr xx General of Undeath xx Handfire xx Harmony xx Holy Star xx Howling Chain xx Icelance xx Inferno xx Lawful Sword xx Lightning Ring xx Lively Step xx Mace of Odo xx Manyjaws xx Mold Touch xx Moonweb xx Mystic Lash xx Mystra’s Miasma xx Nature’s Balance xx Nybor’s Gentle Reminder xx Nybor’s Mild Admonishment xx Nybor’s Stern Reproof xx Nchaser’s Glowing Orb xx Obedient Avalanche xx Pact of Martyrdom xx Possess Animal xx Presper’s Moonbow xx Prismatic Eye xx ‘ Rosemantle xx Ruby Ray of Reversal xx Shield of Lathander xx Shield of Lathander, Greater xx Shroud of Flame xx Simbul’s Spell Matrix xx Simbul’s Spell Sequencer xx Simbul’s Spell Trigger xx Skull of Secrets xx Skull Eyes xx Skull Watch xx Spectral Stag xx Spell Enhancer xx Spellmantle xx Spell Phylactery xx Spell Shield xx Stone Body xx Stone Walk xx Strength of the Beast xx Summon Undead I xx Summon Undead II xx Summon Undead III xx Summon Undead IV xx Summon Undead V xx Sunrise xx Surelife xx Sword and Hammer xx Sword and Hammerm, Greater xx Thorn Spray xx Tree Healing xx Transcribe Symbol xx Triple Mask xx Undeath after Death xx Undead Bane Weapon xx Undeath’s Eternal Foe xx Understand Device xx Vipergout xx Wall of Moonlight xx Wall of Sand xx Warning xx Wieldskill xx Chapter 5: Magic Items xx Armor Special Abilities xx Magic Armor and Shields xx Weapon Special Abilities xx Magic Weapons xx Rings xx Rods xx Staffs xx Wondrous Items xx Unique Magic Weapons xx Minor Artifacts xx Chapter 6: Monsters of Faerûn xx Baneguard xx Direguard xx Crawling Claw xx Deepspawn xx Demon, Ghour xx Dread xx Dread Warrior xx Flameskull xx Foulwing xx Giant Arachnids xx Giant Whip Scorpion xx Giant Whip Spider xx Giant Sun Spider xx Gorynych xx Helmed Horror xx Helmed Horror xx Battle Horror xx Ixzan xx Lycanthrope xx Lycanthrope, Drow Werebat xx Lycanthrope, Werecat xx Lycanthrope, Werecrocodile xx Lycanthrope, Wereshark xx Metalmaster xx Nightshade, Nighthaunt xx Nishruu xx Phaerimm xx Tomb Tapper xx Tressym xx Velvet Worm, Giant xx Chapter 7: Epic Levels in Faerûn xx Epic Prestige Classes xx Epic Eye of Horus-Re xx Epic Hammer of Moradin xx Epic Hathran xx Epic Incantatrix xx Epic Justiciar of Tyr xx Epic Master Transmogrifist xx Epic Monk of the Long Death xx Epic Morninglord of Lathander xx Epic Runecaster xx Epic Shaaryan Hunter xx Epic Shadow Adept xx Netherese Arcanist xx Spellfire Hierophant xx New Epic Feats xx Axiomatic Strike xx Chosen Weapon Specialization xx Divine Spell Penetration xx Enhance Effect xx Epic Counterspell xx Epic Devotion xx Epic Spellfire Wielder xx Improved Cooperative Metamagic xx Improved Snatch Spell xx Improved Spellpool Access xx Inscribe Eipc Rune xx New Epic Spells xx Gift of Alliance xx Glorious Light of Renewal xx Horrible Army of the Dead xx Karsus’s Avatar xx Proctiv’s Move Mountain xx Song of Enevahr xx Starshine upon the People xx Tolodine’s Killing Wind xx Chapter 8: The Cosmology of Toril xx Planar Traits xx Traveling the Planes xx Cross-Planar Features xx Random Planar Destinations xx Plane Descriptions xx The Abyss xx Arvandor xx The Barrens of Doom and Despair xx Blood Rift xx Brightwater xx Clangor xx Cynosure xx Deep Caverns xx The Demonweb Pits xx Dragon Eyrie xx Dwarfhome xx Dweomerheart xx Fated Depths xx The Fugue Plane xx Fury’s Heart xx The Gates of the Moon xx Golden Hills xx Green Fields xx Hammergrim xx Heliopolis xx The House of Knowledge xx The House of Nature xx The House of the Triad xx Jotunheim xx The Nine Hells xx Nishrek xx Shadow xx The Supreme Throne xx Warrior’s Rest xx Other Planes xx Chapter 9: Campaign Journal xx Using the Storyline in Your Game xx Recent Events xx Return of the Archwizards xx The War of the Spider Queen xx Timeline xx Plots and Rumors xx Chapter 10: Psionics, Exalted Deeds, and Vile Darkness xx Psionics in Faerûn xx Psionics and the Weave xx Psionic Organizations xx Psionic Prestige Classes xx Cognition Thief xx Exalted Deeds and Vile Darkness xx Feats xx Blessed of the Seven Sisters xx Favored of the Zulkirs xx Gift of Discernment xx Lliira’s Blessing xx Spider Bite xx Touch of Hate xx Sidebar: Vasharans and Jerrens in Faerûn xx Vile and Exalted Prestige Classes xx Black Blood Hunter xx Celebrant of Sharess xx Fire Knife Assassin xx Harper Paragon xx Maiden of Pain xx Martyred Champion of Ilmater xx Slime Lord xx Yathrinshee xx Sidebar: City of the Spider Queen and Book of Vile Darkness xx Vile and Exalted Deities xx Archfiends and Paragons xx Appendix: Monster Update xx FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting Monsters xx Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn Monsters xx List of Tables Table 1–1: Racial Ability Adjustments xx Table 1–2: Random Starting Ages xx Table 1–3: Aging Effects xx Table 1–4: Random Height and Weight xx Table 2–1: Knowledge Regions xx Table 2–2: Dwarf Regions xx Table 2–3: Elf Regions xx Table 2–4: Gnome Regions xx Table 2–5: Half-elf Regions xx Table 2–6: Halfling Regions xx Table 2–7: Human Regions xx Table 2–8: Orc and Half-Orc Regions xx Table 2–9: Planetouched Regions xx Table 2–10: Regions for Other Races xx Table 2–11: Feats xx Table 3–1: Prestige Classes for Faerûnian Characters xx Table 3–2: The Arcane Devotee xx Table 3–3: The Divine Champion xx Table 3–4: The Divine Disciple xx Table 3–5: The Divine Seeker xx Table 3–6: The Evereskan Tomb Guardian xx Table 3–7: The Eye of Horus-Re xx Table 3–8: The Hammer of Moradin xx Table 3–9: The Harper Agent xx Table 3–10: The Hathran xx Table 3–11: The Incantatrix xx Table 3–12: The Justiciar of Tyr xx Table 3–13: The Master Transmogrifist xx Table 3–14: The Monk of the Long Death xx Table 3–15: The Morninglord of Lathander xx Table 3–16: The Purple Dragon Knight xx Table 3–17: The Runecaster xx Table 3–18: The Shaaryan Hunter xx Table 3–19: The Shadow Adept xx Table 3–20: The Shadow Thief of Amn xx Table 3–21: The Spellguard of Silverymoon xx Table 3–22: The Zhentarim Spy xx Table 7–1: The Epic Eye of Horus-Re xx Table 7–2: The Epic Hammer of Moradin xx Table 7–3: The Epic Hathran xx Table 7–4: The Epic Incantatrix xx Table 7–5: The Epic Justiciar of Tyr xx Table 7–6: The Epic Master Transmogrifist xx Table 7–7: The Epic Monk of the Long Death xx Table 7–8: The Epic Morninglord of Lathander xx Table 7–9: The Epic Runecaster xx Table 7–10: The Epic Shaaryan Hunter xx Table 7–11: The Epic Shadow Adept xx Table 7–12: The Netherese Arcanist xx Table 7–13: The Spellfire Hierophant xx Table 8–1: Random Planar Destinations xx Table 10–1: The Cognition Thief xx Table 10–2: The Black Blood Hunter xx Table 10–3: The Celebrant of Sharess xx Table 10–4: Celebrant of Sharess Spells Known xx Table 10–5: The Fire Knife Assassin xx Table 10–6: Fire Knife Assassin Spells Known xx Table 10–7: The Harper Paragon xx Table 10–8: The Maiden of Pain xx Table 10–9: The Martyred Champion of Ilmater xx Table 10–10: The Slime Lord xx Table 10–11: The Yathrinshee xx Table 10–12: Vile and Exalted Domains xx
Cunning Linguist 10-07-03, 02:47 PM	Holy Flying Pigeons Batman! Karsus Avatar is coming out as a Epic Spell? who would have funked it? Also, Proctiv’s Move Mountain, but no create Mythal spell.. strange. But still WOW, I’m so getting this book, and forcing my players to do the same.. now I just have to sit back and wait..
Israfel666 10-07-03, 03:36 PM	:drool: Gah, mr. Baker, there's a king's ransom of stuff you are going to put into the PGtF!! I'm going to go sell some blood just so I can afford it!! Okay, here comes the first volley of questions!! - How many pages approx. will the book be long? - Any chance of revised (ie revamped) Genasi? - Any chance of revised (ie nerfed) Spellcasting Prodigy? - Any monsters with LA and rules for PC use? (I'm thinking of the Lycanthropes and Phaerimm specifically)? - Will the book be "adults only" given the inclusion of BoVD/BoED stuff?
TheDarkestOfAngels 10-07-03, 03:40 PM	Holy Flying Geezers! That looks sweet. This looks like a compendulum for all the previous books, plus a mini-toril manuel of the planes, plus all the previous books, aside from the campaign setting. I assume it was intended to upgrade everything from the previous books to 3.5 that needed to be upgraded. I hope they didn't neuter the prestige classes or some of the spells from the previous editions.
DreadStar 10-07-03, 04:47 PM	Rich With "Deity-Specific Spells and Initiate Feats" you limited it to only a few gods and there are no Elf or Gnome gods on the list. Is there any plan to release an update for FR gods?
Dargoth 10-07-03, 05:26 PM	Thanks Rich! How longs the section on the FR planes? Are Fire Knife Assassin, Harper Paragon, Maiden of Pain, Martyred Champion of Ilmater, Slime Lord and Yathrinshee reworked BOVD/BOED Prcs? Also what exactly are Intiates?
Ryltar Swordsong 10-07-03, 06:03 PM	If Karsus' Avatar has anything more than what is in Netheril: Empire of Magic, I will do something drastic like join a monastery. And I'm an athiest. I might even give up FR and concentrate on my homebrew. *shudders*
The White Sorcerer 10-07-03, 07:15 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Are Fire Knife Assassin, Harper Paragon, Maiden of Pain, Martyred Champion of Ilmater, Slime Lord and Yathrinshee reworked BOVD/BOED Prcs? What do you mean by "reworked"?
Ivy 10-07-03, 09:06 PM	Wow, thanks Rich! I'm looking forward to PGtF. I especially like how various other books are being integrated, even if it's just with a short sidebar like in Fiend Folio. Looks like it'll be more extensive than that though. Good stuff!
AskaniSage 10-07-03, 09:36 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Chapter 10: Psionics, Exalted Deeds, and Vile Darkness xx Psionics in Faerûn xx Psionics and the Weave xx Psionic Organizations xx Psionic Prestige Classes xx Cognition Thief xx YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Acknowledgement of Psionics in the Realms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This totally makes me soooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! I so can't wait!!! <jumps for joy>
Dargoth 10-07-03, 09:54 PM	Originally posted by The White Sorcerer What do you mean by "reworked"? Generic BOVD PrCs renamed and altered so they have a "Realms Feel"
TheDarkestOfAngels 10-08-03, 01:14 AM	Originally posted by AskaniSage YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Acknowledgement of Psionics in the Realms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This totally makes me soooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! I so can't wait!!! <jumps for joy> Look in the mind's eye compendulum. Most of the NPC's listed are in the realms. Thus, this doesn't confirm what has already been confirmed. This is only more obvious of a statement that they are, indeed, in the realms.
Scion of Vyshaan 10-08-03, 01:19 AM	Hello Mr. Baker, and thank you for all the great information on the thread. Being as you mentioned the Incantatrix by name before, is there any chance you could give us a head's up about the changes? Although I understand we have to wait for the book to come out and that this might be more specific than you can tell us, any information would be valuable. Again, thanks, and any information would be greatly appreciated.
Joneleth Talshara 10-08-03, 05:44 AM	Mr. Baker - This might simply be baseless paranoia and probably is, but I can't resist. If Karsus' avatar is made freely available to PCs, this would throw off the campaign setting in many, many ways, to say the least. Would it be possible for you to clarify whether it's in there to illustrate a point, as in Netheril: Empire of Magic, or as an actual, castable spell?
Garnet Hardeon 10-08-03, 05:48 AM	Hopefully this new book would answer the whole "Epic Spell and Mystra's Ban" question that's been flying through the boards for ages now. But even so...Karsus' Avatar. Yiiiiiiiiiiiiikes. You know, evil thought: What if Midnight teaches Karsus' Avatar to select individuals...only modified to deal with other gods' divinity either than hers? Bwahahahahaahh. I am so going to buy the Player's Guide! Plot lines a churning. Thanks Mr. Baker!
Zanan 10-08-03, 06:32 AM	Vendui! Thanks Rich! That's a nice birthday treat ... I mean that info about the Yathrinshee being back in the Realms. :bow: (I just hope they look similiar to the nasty PrC I invented a wee while back ;) )
AskaniSage 10-08-03, 06:42 AM	Originally posted by TheDarkestOfAngels Look in the mind's eye compendulum. Most of the NPC's listed are in the realms. Thus, this doesn't confirm what has already been confirmed. This is only more obvious of a statement that they are, indeed, in the realms. Yes I know but it is another step showing that Psionics will be more integrated with the base D&D rules in 3.5 then they were in 3.0.
Gez 10-08-03, 07:07 AM	The first thing I noticed: They bring in human ethnicities, but left out the other addenda of Races of Faerûn. No forest gnome, no aquatic elves, etc. There's a typo in one of the feats! Inscribe Eipc Rune! The tressyms are redone, maybe as a magical beast this time (that's what would have been the most faithful to the 2e tressym).
Arakon the Grey 10-08-03, 09:14 AM	OK here is my question Will there be a sourcebook on Halruaa and Nimbral, as both nations are steeped in history, but nothing to go with it. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks Rich You 'da man
chengarino 10-08-03, 11:02 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Chapter 10: Psionics, Exalted Deeds, and Vile Darkness xx Psionics in Faerûn xx Psionics and the Weave xx Psionic Organizations xx Psionic Prestige Classes xx Cognition Thief xx I wasn't going to buy this book ... but now, I may very well. This is the 1st book to recognize psionics by wotc outside of the psionics handbook. I just hope it won't need revision once the revised 'expanded psionics handbook' comes out.
warrior-poet 10-08-03, 11:10 AM	This looks like a good book to have regardless of your campaign setting. Hope it is no more than $40.
Crust 10-08-03, 11:16 AM	Originally posted by Arakon the Grey OK here is my question Will there be a sourcebook on Halruaa and Nimbral, as both nations are steeped in history, but nothing to go with it. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks Rich You 'da man There definitely needs to be a supplement on Halruaa. Since the Counselors and Kings series, I've been aching for some Halruaan information. I'd love to run a campaign there, where epic magic seems to be the norm. It amazes me that there hasn't been a supplement on Halruaa yet. I mean, come on! How much do we have on the Underdark already??
The White Sorcerer 10-08-03, 11:27 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Generic BOVD PrCs renamed and altered so they have a "Realms Feel" I doubt it. None of those PrCs sound anything like any of the BoVD PrCs. They're just Realms PrCs with an Exalted/Vile flavor.
Finglas Leaflock 10-08-03, 11:34 AM	I just went from, "yeah, I guess I'll pick it up" to "I wish it was coming out tomorrow!" after reading the TOC. My questions are about the Harper Agent and the spell lists--I noticed that there isn't any "Harper x" list: Is the Harper Agent going to be a big change from Harper Scout? Will they get any spellcasting? (BTW, I understand if the answer is "can't tell you that right now," since the book is still about 5 months away. :) )
chris7476 10-08-03, 12:15 PM	This book looks awesome. Sounds like there is a TON of stuff in it. By the way, what can we expect from the 3.5 version of Spellcasting Prodigy?
Faraer 10-08-03, 12:30 PM	A ton of stuff, but a modest amount of Realms content, and some DM-only material; though I see why Forgotten Realms Rules Update, Even More Rules Bits and Some Other Stuff wasn't the chosen title. It'll go on my 'buy this some day I'm feeling rich' list. And a 3E Halruaa sourcebook would focus on Haruaan mage PCs, which would be ugly.
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 12:43 PM	No current plans for such a product. I don't want to commit to eventually creating an "Initiate of..." feat for every single deity in the FR cosmos. The idea behind the "Initiate of..." feats is that we can use these to restore the deity-only spells to clerics of specific deities, which runs counter to the interpretation we took in Magic of Faerun. But, darn it, ebon lash should be a Banite spell, not a spell any cleric can learn. The Initiate feats address that. Originally posted by DreadStar Rich With "Deity-Specific Spells and Initiate Feats" you limited it to only a few gods and there are no Elf or Gnome gods on the list. Is there any plan to release an update for FR gods?
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 12:50 PM	The Player's Guide is 192 pages long. No changes to the genasi. It's rough to have them at LA +1, but they didn't strictly need to be changed. Yes, we nerfed Spellcasting Prodigy. You just get the bonus spells now, not the DC boost. That's a pretty nasty nerf, because there are many levels at which it won't do anything for you (but at high levels you'll always like it, because at ability scores 20+ you'll always get some benefit). No PC monsters here. It's not "adult only," we were easy on the mature stuff. We just wanted to extend some of the content themes of Book of Vile Darkness with specific FR examples. Originally posted by Israfel666 :drool: Gah, mr. Baker, there's a king's ransom of stuff you are going to put into the PGtF!! I'm going to go sell some blood just so I can afford it!! Okay, here comes the first volley of questions!! - How many pages approx. will the book be long? - Any chance of revised (ie revamped) Genasi? - Any chance of revised (ie nerfed) Spellcasting Prodigy? - Any monsters with LA and rules for PC use? (I'm thinking of the Lycanthropes and Phaerimm specifically)? - Will the book be "adults only" given the inclusion of BoVD/BoED stuff?
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 12:51 PM	No, they're brand-new for the Player's Guide. Originally posted by Dargoth Thanks Rich! How longs the section on the FR planes? Are Fire Knife Assassin, Harper Paragon, Maiden of Pain, Martyred Champion of Ilmater, Slime Lord and Yathrinshee reworked BOVD/BOED Prcs? Also what exactly are Intiates?
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 12:56 PM	Basically, we didn't like the way the Magic of Faerun incantatrix had to pick up an extra barred school and become a super-abjurer. The 3.5 rebalancing of spell schools made that notion difficult to implement. And we also wanted to make sure that the incantatrix was first and foremost the spellcaster who intuited/manipulated other folks' magic. Originally posted by Scion of Vyshaan Hello Mr. Baker, and thank you for all the great information on the thread. Being as you mentioned the Incantatrix by name before, is there any chance you could give us a head's up about the changes? Although I understand we have to wait for the book to come out and that this might be more specific than you can tell us, any information would be valuable. Again, thanks, and any information would be greatly appreciated.
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 01:02 PM	In my opinion, it's really there to illustrate the point. The Spellcraft DC is 240, so you're not going to throw it as soon as you crack 21st level. Also, the casting time is 6 hours, and the targeted deity becomes aware of the attempt as soon as you start and is free to interrupt you by any means at his/her disposal. So, you're going to have to earn it. I suppose we could have put a sentence in saying "If you go after Mystra, you'll kill all magic throughout the world for some short period of time" just to be clear, but I think it's in the book simply because it is an example of an epic spell that has been cast in Faerun before. It would seem a little, well, incomplete to not define it. Originally posted by Joneleth Talshara Mr. Baker - This might simply be baseless paranoia and probably is, but I can't resist. If Karsus' avatar is made freely available to PCs, this would throw off the campaign setting in many, many ways, to say the least. Would it be possible for you to clarify whether it's in there to illustrate a point, as in Netheril: Empire of Magic, or as an actual, castable spell?
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 01:05 PM	The Harper agent is rewritten to get "+1 level per" spellcasting, but there is a dead level of spellcasting advancement in a 5-level prestige class. Originally posted by Finglas Leaflock I just went from, "yeah, I guess I'll pick it up" to "I wish it was coming out tomorrow!" after reading the TOC. My questions are about the Harper Agent and the spell lists--I noticed that there isn't any "Harper x" list: Is the Harper Agent going to be a big change from Harper Scout? Will they get any spellcasting? (BTW, I understand if the answer is "can't tell you that right now," since the book is still about 5 months away. :) )
Kuje31 10-08-03, 01:17 PM	Originally posted by Crust There definitely needs to be a supplement on Halruaa. Since the Counselors and Kings series, I've been aching for some Halruaan information. I'd love to run a campaign there, where epic magic seems to be the norm. It amazes me that there hasn't been a supplement on Halruaa yet. I mean, come on! How much do we have on the Underdark already?? For people who want info on Halruaa, you could try to find the old Shining South sourcebook........
Aaron L 10-08-03, 01:26 PM	Wow, this book looks rad. I'm looking forward to it
Faraer 10-08-03, 01:34 PM	Halruaa: The very middling FR16 The Shining South (http://store.yahoo.com/svgames-store/tsr9388esd.html) is right here. See also Secrets of the Sages (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/fx20010131c).
The_Sleeper 10-08-03, 02:02 PM	Hehe, as am i. im gonna buy it the day it arrives at my local bookstore:cool:
The_Sleeper 10-08-03, 02:09 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker In my opinion, it's really there to illustrate the point. The Spellcraft DC is 240, so you're not going to throw it as soon as you crack 21st level. Also, the casting time is 6 hours, and the targeted deity becomes aware of the attempt as soon as you start and is free to interrupt you by any means at his/her disposal. So, you're going to have to earn it. Not to mention, you need ALOT of heavy magic to fuel the spell, if i remember correctly Karsus was practically bathing in it when he cast the spell. Not to mention, you would need all of the components for the spell to work, which are hard to come by to say the least.
Wullenwever 10-08-03, 02:13 PM	Rich, a few questions for you... 1.: Concerning the Underdark Web Enhancement (if you might be one who can answer these). There are a few issues that strike me as odd, perhaps you could lighten things up a bit. First, there are a few characters that list a part of their class breakdown as Harper x. Does this refer to the Harper Scout/Agent PrC or some other Prc. Second, on p. 7, a Clr7/Divine Disciple7 is described. Now, I wonder, has this PrC been changed to a 10 level class, perhaps in the PGtF? Third, the WE addresses Svirfneblin having slaves. Does this mean, that the race, as a whole, got changed to slavers, or is there any other explanation? 2.:Concerning PrC from older Realms products, such as LoD, MoF, or F&P, that aren't specifically revised in the PGtF. Is there anything in the Player's Guide that will allow to revise these or are they addressed in the text of the book? If not, will they see print again in other products? 3.: Is the Shadow Thief a new PrC or is it a new version of the former guid thief from the FRCS? 4.: Will there be a special update on the monsters presented in MoF, LoD, SM? They aren't listed and there is no mention of creatures from these volumes in the Appendix, according to the ToC. Well, thanks for sharing that and advance thanx for answering, if possible, of course.
fidelio 10-08-03, 02:23 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker No changes to the genasi. It's rough to have them at LA +1, but they didn't strictly need to be changed. As they stand, the genasi really suck. Remove the LA+1 and the only one I would consider playing is Earth. Genasi ability modifiers balance out (except for Earth Genasi, considering that a Str boost is usually considered "stronger" than other boosts) and their special abilities mostly suck. Water and Fire Genasi are especially bad. Can produce water once per day? Can make amusing effects with a camp-fire once per day? "Woah, mama, get out of my way, I can produce water!" If those abilities were enough to warrant a +1LA, gnomes should have LA+1 as well. Even if Fire Genasi had no level adjustment, I would still consider it weaker than most core races and would only play one for role-playing reasons. Just compare them with the Aasimar... That is something else. Even a cursory glance at the entry shows why this race has a LA. Both the ability boosts and the special abilities are much, much better than those of core races or any Genasi. Just an opinion. Cheers, Fidelio
Israfel666 10-08-03, 02:38 PM	1) Many, many, many, many, many thanks to Rich for all the answers he's given & how quick he's been in providing them! :bow: 2) Though I'm glad to see the Spellcasting Prodigy nerf and the Incantatrix rework, since the genasi aren't getting any balancing tip, I advice all those interested in elemental-blooded characters to take a look here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53878&highlight=Revamping+Genasi) for an alternate version.
sanishiver 10-08-03, 03:32 PM	Mr. Baker, Thanks very much for posting the ToC for the Player's Guide. You just netted a guaranteed purchase from me! Now to change gears, a question: Bazim Gorag is a pretty nasty BBEG. If he were on the Astral Plane, would it be unbalancing -in your opinion- for him to gain the extra free action for spellcasting granted by the Plane, given that he already has a bonus standard action anyway? Also, because of his unique anatomy, would two free actions be reasonable? Thanks again! :whatsthis
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 04:06 PM	The web enhancement is made up of stuff that was in the raw design draft. It didn't get developed or edited in RPG R&D. I hate to suggest that it's not really "official," but I know that I never really set my eyes on it, so I can't really speak for its accuracy. Regarding prestige classes from older products, if we didn't specifically revise it for the PG to F, you can still use the old version. Ditto spells, feats, etc. The Shadow Thief is a more specific version of the guild thief from the FRCS. The guild thief was really generalized, and we should have grounded him specifically in the setting by making him the Shadow Thief of Amn. We might have missed the MoF, SM, and LoD monsters in that appendix. If we have room, I'll try to get them included. Originally posted by Wullenwever Rich, a few questions for you... 1.: Concerning the Underdark Web Enhancement (if you might be one who can answer these). There are a few issues that strike me as odd, perhaps you could lighten things up a bit. First, there are a few characters that list a part of their class breakdown as Harper x. Does this refer to the Harper Scout/Agent PrC or some other Prc. Second, on p. 7, a Clr7/Divine Disciple7 is described. Now, I wonder, has this PrC been changed to a 10 level class, perhaps in the PGtF? Third, the WE addresses Svirfneblin having slaves. Does this mean, that the race, as a whole, got changed to slavers, or is there any other explanation? 2.:Concerning PrC from older Realms products, such as LoD, MoF, or F&P, that aren't specifically revised in the PGtF. Is there anything in the Player's Guide that will allow to revise these or are they addressed in the text of the book? If not, will they see print again in other products? 3.: Is the Shadow Thief a new PrC or is it a new version of the former guid thief from the FRCS? 4.: Will there be a special update on the monsters presented in MoF, LoD, SM? They aren't listed and there is no mention of creatures from these volumes in the Appendix, according to the ToC. Well, thanks for sharing that and advance thanx for answering, if possible, of course.
WotC_RichBaker 10-08-03, 04:09 PM	Myself, I would give him the single free action, just like anybody else would get. It would be pretty wicked, but *any* spellcaster on the Astral is pretty wicked. Regarding balance, well, that's hard to say. Is Demogorgon balanced on the Astral Plane? I didn't design Bazim-Gorag with an eye to how he would play on the Astral, to be honest. Originally posted by sanishiver Mr. Baker, Thanks very much for posting the ToC for the Player's Guide. You just netted a guaranteed purchase from me! Now to change gears, a question: Bazim Gorag is a pretty nasty BBEG. If he were on the Astral Plane, would it be unbalancing -in your opinion- for him to gain the extra free action for spellcasting granted by the Plane, given that he already has a bonus standard action anyway? Also, because of his unique anatomy, would two free actions be reasonable? Thanks again! :whatsthis
Selvarin 10-08-03, 04:45 PM	Originally posted by Zanan Vendui! Thanks Rich! That's a nice birthday treat ... I mean that info about the Yathrinshee being back in the Realms. :bow: (I just hope they look similiar to the nasty PrC I invented a wee while back ;) ) I read the blurb farther back and thought of your PrC, bet it's a bit close
Arakon the Grey 10-08-03, 04:48 PM	Hey Rich Will we see anything in the future for Halruaa and Nimbral???? Thanks Brian
Gez 10-08-03, 04:54 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We might have missed the MoF, SM, and LoD monsters in that appendix. If we have room, I'll try to get them included. So if it's not too late for change, maybe you may fix the "Craft Eipc Rune" typo... :D
Ryltar Swordsong 10-08-03, 05:02 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker In my opinion, it's really there to illustrate the point. The Spellcraft DC is 240, so you're not going to throw it as soon as you crack 21st level. Also, the casting time is 6 hours, and the targeted deity becomes aware of the attempt as soon as you start and is free to interrupt you by any means at his/her disposal. So, you're going to have to earn it. I suppose we could have put a sentence in saying "If you go after Mystra, you'll kill all magic throughout the world for some short period of time" just to be clear, but I think it's in the book simply because it is an example of an epic spell that has been cast in Faerun before. It would seem a little, well, incomplete to not define it. I am going to barf.
Tormtar 10-08-03, 05:15 PM	Rich, How should the sure striking enhancement work in v3.5? I haven't seen any word on this other than in the Living Greyhawk v3.5 Conversion document, and it's wrong there: From page 24: Q: How does the 'sure strike' ability work in the core rules v3.5? A: Exactly as it did in 3rd edition. It makes the weapon +5 for purposes of bypassing damage reduction. This means it will not bypass DR's such as silver, adamantine, holy, etc. in core rules v3.5. Um, no. Making the weapon count as +5, as it did in 3.0, would be utterly worthless as any "plussed" weapon bypasses DR X/magic in v3.5. The +1 enhancement bonus required to make the weapon magical takes care of DR X/magic, so sure striking becomes redundant and worthless.
AskaniSage 10-08-03, 05:57 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker No current plans for such a product. I don't want to commit to eventually creating an "Initiate of..." feat for every single deity in the FR cosmos. The idea behind the "Initiate of..." feats is that we can use these to restore the deity-only spells to clerics of specific deities, which runs counter to the interpretation we took in Magic of Faerun. But, darn it, ebon lash should be a Banite spell, not a spell any cleric can learn. The Initiate feats address that. I TOTALLY agree that each god should have certain spells that are their's ONLY. If not EVERY god with the fire domain will have the SAME spells. Makes the individual gods lose their flavor. For example, Lolth (she is my favorite so gonna use her as an example :D ) should have unique spider like spells & only Bane priests should get the Ebon Lash spell. Are there also rules in the book to make other initiates of other gods? Or are they all basically the same except for a list of unique spells for each diety? I also would LOVE to see a book daling with Nimbral & Halruaa.
Kershek 10-08-03, 06:39 PM	Mr. Baker, How much change can we expect WRT spells? For instance, are there several spells that change level or school? Since we have already converted to 3.5 and are still using 3.0 FR material, do you forsee a difficult second transition once this book is released to convert to 3.5 FR?
Dr_Draco 10-08-03, 07:19 PM	Mr. Baker, I've noticed that there is a psionics section in the new Player's Guide. My question is will the psionic material be in sync with the Expanded Psionics Handbook? I'm just curious, as the Player's Guide is set to be released 1 month earlier than the Expanded Psionics book... Thanks. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D
Savras 10-08-03, 07:37 PM	I am truely sorry, but if I remember correctly the Ebon Lash is a magical item (made by Red Wizards; see LoD 180). The spell is called Mystic Lash (MoF 109). Just nitpicky. Other than that- that is one cool book! A few questions: A. What is a "Yathrinshee"? B. What is the Expanded Psionic Handbook? Thanks! Savras
Dr_Draco 10-08-03, 08:37 PM	Originally posted by Savras B. What is the Expanded Psionic Handbook?That's what the 3.5 Psionics Handbook is going to be called http://www.geocities.com/customsmiliesbyswordmaster/beholdbiggrin.txt. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D
Dargoth 10-08-03, 08:38 PM	Questions and Comments Hey Rich how come the FR Half Dragon races didnt make it into either the Monster or Player race section? The only place write ups for those races are found is COSQ Whats the Vital Statistics section in the Races Chapter? Can you give us an Example from PGTF of how the new Region System works? Helmed Horror in is in the Index twice in the Monsters chapter How long is entry for the Gods Planes? Why did you fragment the Book? PrCs and feats appear in 3 seperate chapters
Ryltar Swordsong 10-08-03, 08:47 PM	Originally posted by Savras What is a "Yathrinshee"? A Yathrinshee is a specialty priest of Kiaransalee.
Savras 10-08-03, 09:22 PM	Thanks, Dr. Draco and Ryltar Swordsong! Savras
The Stormwalker 10-08-03, 09:31 PM	Mr Baker, the upcoming Player's Guide sounds really exciting. I was wondering if there was any chance of seeing some 3.5 versions of the racial feats from RoF? In my opnion, racial feats were an excellent idea, better than higher ECL's or racial levles and I would love to see them in 3.5
Gez 10-08-03, 09:33 PM	For an all-seeing god, you sure ask lots of questions! :D
Dr_Draco 10-08-03, 10:01 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Why did you fragment the Book? PrCs and feats appear in 3 seperate chapters I can't speak for the authors, but this is my thought of it: They have three chapters so those people that don't use the Epic rules or Psionics and "Mature" rules don't have to syphon through those PrCs. While most people that buy the book will be using the regular ones, not everyone uses the "optional" rules. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D
Dargoth 10-08-03, 10:06 PM	Originally posted by Dr_Draco I can't speak for the authors, but this is my thought of it: They have three chapters so those people that don't use the Epic rules or Psionics and "Mature" rules don't have to syphon through those PrCs. While most people that buy the book will be using the regular ones, not everyone uses the "optional" rules. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D I can understand why the Epic PrCs and Feats have there own chapter but I dont know why theyve dispersed the others. It would be far easier to just put some sort of note under the Feat if comes from Psionics, Exalted Deeds or the BOVD
Saasiel 10-08-03, 10:44 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Yep, it was pretty cool. Saw Crater Lake and the California redwoods. Some answers: 2. I agree that it would be great to get some U-East character writeups, but I'm just swamped--I can't do it, and don't know when I would be able to. Someone else will have to do it. Uh... get ES to do them? :D
Saasiel 10-08-03, 10:46 PM	Dear Mr. Baker Will the impending Players Guide to Faerun feature 3.5e updates of Realms Personalities?
sanishiver 10-09-03, 02:15 AM	Originally posted by Ryltar Swordsong I am going to barf. Just so long as you don't do it on this thread. We like it nice and clean here. ;) [Q] Rich: I noticed there isn't a Create Mythal listed in the Player's Guide. Was this ever under consideration? Perhaps something we might see as a web enhancement? As always, thanks for taking the time to reply! :whatsthis
Dargoth 10-09-03, 03:39 AM	Any chanced you can tell us the Release "Week" for Underdark, Exalted Deeds and the Draconomicon? Thanks in Advance
Selvarin 10-09-03, 04:48 AM	Originally posted by Saasiel Dear Mr. Baker Will the impending Players Guide to Faerun feature 3.5e updates of Realms Personalities? The book sounds pretty packed as it is, I doubt they have a magic shoehorn that'll help them jam much more in there. *scrunch scrunch*
Selvarin 10-09-03, 04:49 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Any chanced you can tell us the Release "Week" for Underdark, Exalted Deeds and the Draconomicon? Thanks in Advance yep, I'm wondering as well. Was hoping Underdark would've shipped by now but the local store said "Nope!"...
Keldir 10-09-03, 12:07 PM	Can we expect any adventures/modules from third party gaming companies for the Realms or Dragonlance or any other WOTC campaign world?
WotC_RichBaker 10-09-03, 12:25 PM	Sure striking now lets your weapon hit any alignment-based DR. Doesn't help with material-based DR. It's a +1 property. Originally posted by Tormtar Rich, How should the sure striking enhancement work in v3.5? I haven't seen any word on this other than in the Living Greyhawk v3.5 Conversion document, and it's wrong there: From page 24: Q: How does the 'sure strike' ability work in the core rules v3.5? A: Exactly as it did in 3rd edition. It makes the weapon +5 for purposes of bypassing damage reduction. This means it will not bypass DR's such as silver, adamantine, holy, etc. in core rules v3.5. Um, no. Making the weapon count as +5, as it did in 3.0, would be utterly worthless as any "plussed" weapon bypasses DR X/magic in v3.5. The +1 enhancement bonus required to make the weapon magical takes care of DR X/magic, so sure striking becomes redundant and worthless.
WotC_RichBaker 10-09-03, 12:30 PM	We didn't change level or school on many of the spells (I don't recall doing that to any of the FR spells updated, in fact). Most of the work we did on the spells involved clarifying/fixing the actual effects. I don't think the transition will be difficult, but every player is going to want to take advantage of the new regional feats. Any player should be able to tweak their character in half an hour or less. (I guess a sorcerer using FR prestige classes and many FR spells will need to reconsider some of his spell choices, which might take a while.) Originally posted by Kershek Mr. Baker, How much change can we expect WRT spells? For instance, are there several spells that change level or school? Since we have already converted to 3.5 and are still using 3.0 FR material, do you forsee a difficult second transition once this book is released to convert to 3.5 FR?
WotC_RichBaker 10-09-03, 12:31 PM	Yes, we were careful about that. It should be fine. Originally posted by Dr_Draco Mr. Baker, I've noticed that there is a psionics section in the new Player's Guide. My question is will the psionic material be in sync with the Expanded Psionics Handbook? I'm just curious, as the Player's Guide is set to be released 1 month earlier than the Expanded Psionics book... Thanks. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D
WotC_RichBaker 10-09-03, 12:36 PM	The FR dragons are in the Draconomicon, an upcoming core D&D product. I'm pretty sure their half-dragon versions are covered there too. Vital statistics is simply height, weight, age characteristics. The new region system eliminates the "middle" step in the FRCS of picking a class "favored" in a region. It also divides out regions into a number of tables, each based on race. So you won't have dwarves sharing the same region as humans, because dwarves and humans both live in the same geographic area. Instead, you'll get the dwarf region for that spot of the map, and the human region for that spot of the map. Overall, we think this is easier to use and more complete. Don't worry too much about nit-picky editing comments. The book isn't finished yet, we still have our managing editor time on the book. We fragmented the book because we wanted appropriate topics to be dealt with together. For those of you who use everything in your campaign, I can see that would be a little annoying. Sorry, but there it is. Originally posted by Dargoth Questions and Comments Hey Rich how come the FR Half Dragon races didnt make it into either the Monster or Player race section? The only place write ups for those races are found is COSQ Whats the Vital Statistics section in the Races Chapter? Can you give us an Example from PGTF of how the new Region System works? Helmed Horror in is in the Index twice in the Monsters chapter How long is entry for the Gods Planes? Why did you fragment the Book? PrCs and feats appear in 3 seperate chapters
WotC_RichBaker 10-09-03, 12:38 PM	Generally, we feel that Races of Faerun is solid for 3.5. Since the book is only a few months old, we didn't want to completely re-do a bunch of material we just sold to you guys. If we started picking up *some* of those feats in Player's Guide, we'd want to pick 'em all up, and that's too much. Originally posted by The Stormwalker Mr Baker, the upcoming Player's Guide sounds really exciting. I was wondering if there was any chance of seeing some 3.5 versions of the racial feats from RoF? In my opnion, racial feats were an excellent idea, better than higher ECL's or racial levles and I would love to see them in 3.5
WotC_RichBaker 10-09-03, 12:46 PM	I just spoke to James Wyatt, the guy who wrote the Epic portions of the book, and his answer is kind of interesting: Each mythal you make should be its own epic spell, independently researched. Since every mythal has its own unique set of powers, they're really not all that similar to each other, except in basic concept (I'm going to make a permanent magical field here). That said, we could've provided a sample "Create Mythal", or perhaps given you the chassis you can add options on to, but hey, the book's overflowing, and we'll have something to do tomorrow. Originally posted by sanishiver [Q] Rich: I noticed there isn't a Create Mythal listed in the Player's Guide. Was this ever under consideration? Perhaps something we might see as a web enhancement? As always, thanks for taking the time to reply! :whatsthis [/B]
WotC_RichBaker 10-09-03, 12:47 PM	No plans for that for the Realms. However, Sovereign Press is publishing more Dragonlance material based on the Dragonlance hardcover we printed earlier this year. Originally posted by Keldir Can we expect any adventures/modules from third party gaming companies for the Realms or Dragonlance or any other WOTC campaign world?
sanishiver 10-09-03, 12:59 PM	Thanks Rich! :whatsthis
TheDarkestOfAngels 10-09-03, 01:51 PM	What kind of changes to the prestige classes that I've known from Magic of Faerun should I expect? I have a powerful sorceress in the realms that's an incantrix and I'd hate to see her 10 levels in the class suddenly become unviable for her. Same with many of the spells from that book. It looks sort of like the player's guide is redoing a lot of what was done in Magic of Farun.
The_Sleeper 10-09-03, 02:29 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker I just spoke to James Wyatt, the guy who wrote the Epic portions of the book, and his answer is kind of interesting: Each mythal you make should be its own epic spell, independently researched. Since every mythal has its own unique set of powers, they're really not all that similar to each other, except in basic concept (I'm going to make a permanent magical field here). That said, we could've provided a sample "Create Mythal", or perhaps given you the chassis you can add options on to, but hey, the book's overflowing, and we'll have something to do tomorrow. So all'n'all Rich, is Mystra's ban been lifted outta curiosity? I mean, Arcanist is being brought back, Netherese spells are suddenly working again that never used to.:mymy:
Dr_Draco 10-09-03, 02:35 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Yes, we were careful about that. It should be fine. Yeah http://www.geocities.com/customsmiliesbyswordmaster/beholdbiggrin.txt! Thanks for the info. I'm really looking forward to this release. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D
heirodule 10-09-03, 03:43 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Sure striking now lets your weapon hit any alignment-based DR. Doesn't help with material-based DR. It's a +1 property. What publication will have this update printed in it? Is this going to be in the Player's Guide, or some other product (Complete Warrior?) Paul
DreadStar 10-10-03, 06:05 AM	Rich How much info on the The War of the Spider Queen are you going to print; the series will still be going on when Player's Guide to Faerun comes out?
Dargoth 10-10-03, 06:39 AM	Originally posted by DreadStar Rich How much info on the The War of the Spider Queen are you going to print; the series will still be going on when Player's Guide to Faerun comes out? I guess it will depend on whether Rich and the PGTF has seen the Extinction draft (Which comes out in january) otherwise it will only cover events up to Condemnation
Gez 10-10-03, 06:56 AM	Originally posted by The_Sleeper So all'n'all Rich, is Mystra's ban been lifted outta curiosity? I mean, Arcanist is being brought back, Netherese spells are suddenly working again that never used to.:mymy: It must be part of the changes that were caused my Mystra's death. She's now Ariel "Midnight" Manx elevated to divinity. It's not the same Mystra as before. Mystra banned the magic that killed Mystryl, but Midnight hadn't that old axe to grind. Besides, there were lots of discussion on whether the Shadow Weave allowed epic spells, assuming Mystra's ban prevented them using the normal weave. It would have been bad politics, now that the Shadow Weave is expanding so much it's no longer a secret, to basically say to go join the enemy if you wanted to become really powerful. Finally, with the return to proeminance of Phaerimms, Nethereses, and Imaskari, it's not like the situation that led Karsus to his good-killing madness could repeat itself... http://www.nutkinland.com/images/smilies/smiles/mischief.gif
WotC_RichBaker 10-10-03, 12:21 PM	It's in the FR Player's Guide. Originally posted by heirodule What publication will have this update printed in it? Is this going to be in the Player's Guide, or some other product (Complete Warrior?) Paul
WotC_RichBaker 10-10-03, 12:23 PM	It's pretty accurate through Condemnation. I actually didn't write that section; Travis Stout did. You guys might not have heard of Travis before--this is his first appearance in a FR product. But I was very impressed by his timeline and summary of the Return of the Archwizards and the War of the Spider Queen so far, they're very nicely done. Originally posted by DreadStar Rich How much info on the The War of the Spider Queen are you going to print; the series will still be going on when Player's Guide to Faerun comes out?
WotC_RichBaker 10-10-03, 12:40 PM	It seems I keep answering this question over and over again... 1. Mystra's Ban is still in effect. There are no 10th-level spells. 2. Metamagicking 9th-level and lower spells doesn't make a true "10th-level spell." 3. Epic spellcasting does not create 10th-level spells. 4. You're thinking way too hard about this, since the game changed editions. The notion of an epic spellcasting did not exist when Arcane Age materials were written back in the day of 2nd Edition. Originally posted by The_Sleeper So all'n'all Rich, is Mystra's ban been lifted outta curiosity? I mean, Arcanist is being brought back, Netherese spells are suddenly working again that never used to.:mymy:
Kuje31 10-10-03, 01:09 PM	Never mind, I got my answer. :)
KaeYoss 10-10-03, 07:20 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Any chanced you can tell us the Release "Week" for Underdark, Exalted Deeds and the Draconomicon? Thanks in Advance This is what i got for Underdark and BoED: Yes. These will be available for sale on Oct. 17th. **Please quote this e-mail in any reply.** **************************************** ************************** Darrin Wizards of the Coast - Customer Service Website: http://www.wizards.com Game Support Phone: 1-800-324-6496 Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 7 PM PST Corporate Phone: (425) 226-6500 **************************************** **************************
ssvegeta555 10-10-03, 07:29 PM	This question has probably already been answered in this thread but I have no time to read all the posts to find out. So, what is The Forgotten realms players guide?
KaeYoss 10-10-03, 07:39 PM	Hm... will the update of the storyline incorporate any changes to deities? In the City of the Spider Queen Web Enhancement, we say that Kiaransalee advanced drom Demideity to lesser Deity because of the influx of worshippers. Surely other drow deities grew in power as well - especially Vhaeraun, who has probably many more male drow worshippers in the underdark, cause they don't fear the spiderkissers any more. Any changes about that?
Kuje31 10-10-03, 07:42 PM	Originally posted by ssvegeta555 This question has probably already been answered in this thread but I have no time to read all the posts to find out. So, what is The Forgotten realms players guide? It's the book that comes out in March, that updates FR to 3.5, which is the short answer. :)
ssvegeta555 10-10-03, 07:59 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 It's the book that comes out in March, that updates FR to 3.5, which is the short answer. :) I thought they decided not to revise FR.
Kuje31 10-10-03, 08:06 PM	Originally posted by ssvegeta555 I thought they decided not to revise FR. Why wouldnt they? Unapproachable East is 3.5 complient...... They are not going to update the FRCS, but the rules are still going to be changed to 3.5, which is what the Player's Guide does......
KaeYoss 10-10-03, 08:39 PM	Originally posted by ssvegeta555 I thought they decided not to revise FR. The book will also update the Realms with the info from several Storylines (War of the Spider Queen and Return of the Archwizards, for example), talk about Psionics and Epic Levels in the realms, and offer some all new material. And, of course, the material from several FR books (several spells, feats, monsters from the FRCS, Magic of Faerûn, Monsters of Faerûn....) will be updated to 3.5, and some FR rules get revised as well (like the home region system) [edit] You might also note that they don't release a revised FRCS, MoF and the rest, but put it all in one, separate book.
ssvegeta555 10-10-03, 10:15 PM	Originally posted by KaeYoss The book will also update the Realms with the info from several Storylines (War of the Spider Queen and Return of the Archwizards, for example), talk about Psionics and Epic Levels in the realms, and offer some all new material. And, of course, the material from several FR books (several spells, feats, monsters from the FRCS, Magic of Faerûn, Monsters of Faerûn....) will be updated to 3.5, and some FR rules get revised as well (like the home region system) [edit] You might also note that they don't release a revised FRCS, MoF and the rest, but put it all in one, separate book. Sweet, I must get this book now. Too bad it wont be out for a while.
Dargoth 10-10-03, 10:28 PM	Originally posted by KaeYoss This is what i got for Underdark and BoED: Im mainly interested in the Draconomican as the date of its release will depend on whether I buy it. Ive Currently got Exalted deeds Lone Drow Underdark In my Amazon basket Now if Draconomican comes out early november then ill hold off processing the order, however if its going to be late november I wont bother getting Draconomican
Gez 10-11-03, 02:56 AM	Originally posted by ssvegeta555 I thought they decided not to revise FR. They aren't. They aren't publishing FRCS Revised, Magic of Faerûn Revised, Monsters of Faerûn revised, etc. What they are publishing is a book that contains the updates to the previous FR products. There's no need to re-publish the maps or the old background. So, they aren't revising the FRCS, MoF, LoD, etc.; just updating them with a book. A question for Richard: Since the revised edition has changed the favored class of gnomes, and since in Races of Faerûn (that was supposed to be revision-compliant) their favored class is still illusionist; will FR gnomes keep the old favored class of illusionist instead of the new of bard? (Personally, I think they should. But I also thought forest gnomes should have druid as a favored class, so...)
Zanan 10-11-03, 01:40 PM	i]Originally posted by KaeYoss [/i] Surely other drow deities grew in power as well - especially Vhaeraun, who has probably many more male drow worshippers in the underdark, cause they don't fear the spiderkissers any more. As a sidenote: people do not simply loose their faith over a day or a month or what have you. Most drow in a monotheistic city won't even know that the other gods stilll have their spellpowers. Mages and males are not automatically Vhaeraun followers by default. Divine magic alone does not win wars and even if Lolth remains silent, do you expect males or female non-Lolthite-spellcasters switch alliances straight away (you see, this could still be some mean test by Lolth carried out on her faithfull)? Hardly likely. It will be more likely a case of gaining power and keeping it. Vhaeraunian priests do little to help this cause in a magocracy like that of Sshamath for example. They will be viewed with suspicion, for they too only want power and most drow won't share their "new freedom" that easily ... Just as food for thought.
WotC_RichBaker 10-13-03, 12:32 PM	Our bad, we missed that. The rock gnome's favored class should be bard, just like the "standard" gnome from the PH. Originally posted by Gez A question for Richard: Since the revised edition has changed the favored class of gnomes, and since in Races of Faerûn (that was supposed to be revision-compliant) their favored class is still illusionist; will FR gnomes keep the old favored class of illusionist instead of the new of bard? (Personally, I think they should. But I also thought forest gnomes should have druid as a favored class, so...)
Purple Dragon Knight 10-13-03, 12:53 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Our bad, we missed that. The rock gnome's favored class should be bard, just like the "standard" gnome from the PH. Oh no! I thought this was a deliberate FR adaptation: I've been going on that premise in my campaign. Keeping the Rock Gnomes' favored class to illusionist would be cool actually...
Israfel666 10-13-03, 02:14 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Our bad, we missed that. The rock gnome's favored class should be bard, just like the "standard" gnome from the PH. I never thought I would find myself rejoicing of a printing mistake :D
Zanan 10-13-03, 02:48 PM	Dear Rich! There have been some discussions all over the boards recently with various topics about how things should be or how they were. Taking this rock gnome mishap as a hook, is there any chance that any "correction" given by you in this thread (and its predecessor) can be collected and placed as some sort of FAQ or "errata" on the official site. People otherwise steadfastly refuse to accept it as canon or at least some official errata. While it may sound strange to you, people like me would like to see e.g. the History of the Crown Wars and the dark elven part ... or rather non-partition ... in the Dark Disaster returned to the Cormanthor timeline (you said previously that it might have been your bad that the history was changed in RoF). Why were the errata / FAQs for those books (F&P, RoF for example) on the main site actually stopped? Thanks in advance.
Selvarin 10-13-03, 02:51 PM	Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Oh no! I thought this was a deliberate FR adaptation: I've been going on that premise in my campaign. Keeping the Rock Gnomes' favored class to illusionist would be cool actually... Then give the gnomes in your campaign dual 'favored classes', or just keep chugging along in your campaign as if it didn't matter.
Purple Dragon Knight 10-13-03, 05:33 PM	Hi Rich, I just recently got involved in a Birthright PBeM campaign, and I play Queen Liliene Swordwraith, the ruler of Aerenwe. One of the major NPCs residing in the Ebannien forest is High Mage Aelies, and I understand from your Birthright d20 Campaign Setting Forward that this wizard was the main character of a book you wrote in 1998 called The Shadow Stone (which got adapted to FR I believe). :tiphat: My problem is that I cannot find anything about the Shadow Stone on WotC's website, nor on Amazon or eBay. I understand this book is out of print... I would be extremely grateful if you could forward any amount information on High Mage Aelies, Aerenwe, Queen Liliene or the Ebanien forest. A thousand thanks!! :) :bow:
The White Sorcerer 10-13-03, 06:37 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Our bad, we missed that. The rock gnome's favored class should be bard, just like the "standard" gnome from the PH. And what about the forest gnome? If I remember correctly, the MM forest gnome has favored class: bard and LA +0, while the RoF forest gnome has favored class: illusionist and LA +1. Which one is correct?
Mr. Wilson 10-13-03, 08:05 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker It seems I keep answering this question over and over again... 1. Mystra's Ban is still in effect. There are no 10th-level spells. 2. Metamagicking 9th-level and lower spells doesn't make a true "10th-level spell." 3. Epic spellcasting does not create 10th-level spells. 4. You're thinking way too hard about this, since the game changed editions. The notion of an epic spellcasting did not exist when Arcane Age materials were written back in the day of 2nd Edition. Mr. Baker, may I be so bold as to offer a suggestion here? If the question keeps being asked on the website, it logically means that gamers are still confused about the issue (and I can speak from personal exp. here, as I also asked you this question awhile ago). Now, if we're confused on the matter on the website where we have access to your answers, it would seem logical that others who don't visit the board are equally confused. Maybe a brief paragraph or something like that could be devoted in an upcoming book to explaining this fact to the those gamers who don't visit the website, or read this long thread, or stilll can't seem to wrap their minds around what it is you're saying. Thanks again for answering our questions, Mr. Wilson.
Alagundrin 10-14-03, 03:23 AM	Sorry if my question seems (or maybe IS :D ) quite stupid, but in a 20-level-based campaign (no use of Epic Level Rules) does a drow can reach level 20? I would say no, because of the Level Adjustment, but I'd like to have an official opinion. Thanks :)
Zanan 10-14-03, 03:57 AM	Alagundrin ... ECL or LA mean that you have to get more XP to reach a class level. "Drow" as such is no class level, thus you simply follow the guidelines as given in RoF - a drow chara needs more XP than other races to gain class levels. Once he reaches ECL 22, he is a character with 20 class levels. After that he becomes officially "Epic". This may differ with races which have "monster levels" (extra HD) though.
Alzrius 10-14-03, 04:04 AM	Originally posted by Zanan a drow chara needs more XP than other races to gain class levels. Once he reaches ECL 22, he is a character with 20 class levels. After that he becomes officially "Epic". This may differ with races which have "monster levels" (extra HD) though. Actually, according to page 209 in the 3.5E DMG, you count a monster's level adjustment when counting what makes a creature "Epic". A drow elf, having no racial hit dice and a +2 LA, would be considered to have hit the Epic levels once he got 19 class levels, since 19 + 2 = 21, and Epic levels are levels 21 and above.
Alagundrin 10-14-03, 04:08 AM	Thanks for the prompt replies... So, if I'm correct, if I don't want my players to achieve epic levels, human/elf/dwarf players should reach lev20, while drow, duergar, etc... should only reach lev18, is this correct?
Alzrius 10-14-03, 04:21 AM	Originally posted by Alagundrin Thanks for the prompt replies... So, if I'm correct, if I don't want my players to achieve epic levels, human/elf/dwarf players should reach lev20, while drow, duergar, etc... should only reach lev18, is this correct? In terms of how many class levels they gain, yes. Humans, elves, dwarves, etc. have no natural hit dice and no level adjustment. They can gain 20 class levels (Fighter, Monk, etc) before they hit Epic levels at level 21. Duergar have no natural hit dice, and +1 level adjustment. They can gain 19 class levels before they hit Epic levels at level 20. Drow have no natural hit dice, and a +2 level adjustment. They can gain 18 class levels before they hit Epic levels at level 19. Don't forget that templates virtually always add additional level adjustments (and, very rarely, more natural hit dice).
Alagundrin 10-14-03, 04:25 AM	Thanks a lot! ;)
Zanan 10-14-03, 04:27 AM	We should move to another thread though, as it is off-topic.
Alagundrin 10-14-03, 04:33 AM	I posted to have an answer from Mr. Baker, if I have to tell the truth :D
Zanan 10-14-03, 04:41 AM	Originally posted by Alagundrin I posted to have an answer from Mr. Baker, if I have to tell the truth :D Indeed ;) Even though his reply would be: check RoF and it will tell you that Alzrius is correct :D.
Alagundrin 10-14-03, 04:44 AM	I still have to purchase RoF :angel: Well, enough spam. Thanks
jasamcarl 10-14-03, 09:24 AM	Originally posted by Alzrius In terms of how many class levels they gain, yes. Humans, elves, dwarves, etc. have no natural hit dice and no level adjustment. They can gain 20 class levels (Fighter, Monk, etc) before they hit Epic levels at level 21. Duergar have no natural hit dice, and +1 level adjustment. They can gain 19 class levels before they hit Epic levels at level 20. Drow have no natural hit dice, and a +2 level adjustment. They can gain 18 class levels before they hit Epic levels at level 19. Don't forget that templates virtually always add additional level adjustments (and, very rarely, more natural hit dice). This is only half-correct. The most relevant aspect of epic play is epic advancement, i.e. Epic BAB and Epic save advancement as well as the ability to take Epic feats. This only comes with a character level (not effective character level) of 21+, and character level is defined as having 20 or more hit die/class levels. There is a misprinting in both the DMG 3.5 and the ELH which has since been clarified by the relevant FAQs. A Duegar or drow who surpasses a 20 ECL would recieve xp and maybe treasure as a result of his effective epic status, but otherwise will advance as a non-epic character.
Alagundrin 10-14-03, 09:42 AM	Of course, BAB, saving throws and so on would not undergo the epic level rules until the drow has achieved 20 levels in one class, but if we have an xp-cap of 190000 (that is what happens if we play in a Neverwinternights server, actually) and the humans, elves, dwarves,... don't gain anything in increasing their xp, do you think the drow should stop at 190000xp (lev18) too, or not?
Israfel666 10-14-03, 10:10 AM	Mr. Baker, any chance of insights into the mysterious Dawn Cataclysm in some future products? I think that event is one of the least covered parts of FR history...
jasamcarl 10-14-03, 10:36 AM	Originally posted by Alagundrin Of course, BAB, saving throws and so on would not undergo the epic level rules until the drow has achieved 20 levels in one class, but if we have an xp-cap of 190000 (that is what happens if we play in a Neverwinternights server, actually) and the humans, elves, dwarves,... don't gain anything in increasing their xp, do you think the drow should stop at 190000xp (lev18) too, or not? Oh yeah. If a drow hit your xp cap, its perfectly understandable and balanced (for the most part) to stop him there. ECL is suppossed to approximate equal CL in terms of power. Btw, epic bab, saving throws, etc. kick in regardless of whether you multiclassed or not, as long as you have a total of 21+ hit dies...The only thing that you will miss out on until you have 20 levels in a single class are the class abilities/benefits; bonus epic feats mostly, though you can still take epic feats along the normal iteration.
WotC_RichBaker 10-14-03, 03:24 PM	That's kind of a tough request. The best info I could suggest would be the Birthright Campaign Setting, the Player's Secrets to Aerenwe (I think we did one of those), and, of course, the Shadow Stone itself. Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Hi Rich, I would be extremely grateful if you could forward any amount information on High Mage Aelies, Aerenwe, Queen Liliene or the Ebanien forest. A thousand thanks!! :) :bow:
WotC_RichBaker 10-14-03, 03:28 PM	No current plans. Originally posted by Israfel666 Mr. Baker, any chance of insights into the mysterious Dawn Cataclysm in some future products? I think that event is one of the least covered parts of FR history...
TheDarkestOfAngels 10-14-03, 03:39 PM	hey rich, what kind of changes could I expect in the new FR Players guide to the prestige classes that are being rereleased from the older FR products, like Magic of Farun. Many thanks.
Dargoth 10-14-03, 07:51 PM	Hey Rich Is there any chance we can see a "Dracoling" race in Serpent Kingdoms? A Dracoling would be a Aasamir/Tiefling equievalnt for Dragons/Half Dragons Link to Dracoling discussion http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1579058#post1579058
Laszlo Koller 10-14-03, 08:25 PM	Mr. Baker, (As my inaugural post to this thread, I'd like to say: "Keep up the great work, Mr. Baker. Thanks for all of your effort in clearing things up for us." Now on to my post...) Recently, I asked WotC Customer Service a question regarding the Forgotten Realms cosmology. I was a bit puzzled by the response that I got. The questions I asked (and I'm para-phrasing now) were: Standard D&D cosmology puts the Githzerai in Limbo, but the Realms doesn't have such a plane. (1) What plane of existence do the Githzerai inhabit? (2) Also, on what plane (in the Forgotten Realms cosmology) do Yugoloths live? For question #1, the answer was: Limbo For question #2, the answer was: That is completely up to the DM. As I mentioned earlier, I was a bit... um... perplexed by these answers. Perhaps you could help clear this up. Thanks.
cwslyclgh 10-14-03, 09:35 PM	the planes listed in the FRCS are not the only planes in the FR cosmology, they just listed the ones where the gods lived and where the most common outsider enemies (Demons and Devils) come from... I believe I read someplace that Limbo indeed exists in the realms cosmology (don't remember where of the top of my head... maybe in Rich's big dungeon adventure about the slaad lord trapped in faerun). we are supposed to learn more about the FR cosmology in the players guide to FR
Purple Dragon Knight 10-14-03, 11:04 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker That's kind of a tough request. The best info I could suggest would be the Birthright Campaign Setting, the Player's Secrets to Aerenwe (I think we did one of those), and, of course, the Shadow Stone itself. Do you have any WotC link where I could find ordering/descriptive info on the Shadow Stone? (there used to be some kind of WotC online catalogue with "add to basket" type of feature but I can't seem to locate anything on the Shadow Stone on WotC's website). Amazon lists The Shadow Stone as "out of print". I found one Shadow Stone novel on eBay... but it's part of a set of 24 novels, 18 of which I already own! (I know that bundling is a good economic enhancer, but geez...) What was the "FR name" of High Mage Aelies? is he a famous FR NPC that would at least provide me with some insight into the character? I know this is a tough one, but believe me when I say that I've been trying to get anything on these characters for a while now... :(
Alzrius 10-14-03, 11:23 PM	Originally posted by jasamcarl This is only half-correct. The most relevant aspect of epic play is epic advancement, i.e. Epic BAB and Epic save advancement as well as the ability to take Epic feats. This only comes with a character level (not effective character level) of 21+, and character level is defined as having 20 or more hit die/class levels. There is a misprinting in both the DMG 3.5 and the ELH which has since been clarified by the relevant FAQs. Much to my surprise, this is actually correct (despite what the panel at GenCon said when this question was brought before them). The FAQ, in this instance, is nothing more than the reprinting of Sage Advice columns, including the part from Dragon 310 where the Sage says only hit dice and class levels count towards Epic levels. Seeking further clarity, I emailed the Sage himself, asking him which was correct, his ruling for Sage Advice, reprinted in the FAQ, or what it says in the DMG. His response: The DMG is incorrect. You'll eventually see that in a DMG errata file (provided that WotC doesn't change its mind between now and then). Unless Mr. Baker says that Skip is incorrect here, and that the 3.5E DMG is not wrong as-is on this issue...I guess thats that.
Dr_Draco 10-14-03, 11:28 PM	Mr. Baker, What types of psionic prestige classes can we expect to see in the new book? Will the Shadow Mind PrC from the Mind's Eye make it into the book? Are you allowed to give any of that info? Just curious, since the other PrCs are listed. Thanks http://www.geocities.com/customsmiliesbyswordmaster/beholdsmile.txt. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D
The White Sorcerer 10-15-03, 12:59 AM	Originally posted by Dr_Draco What types of psionic prestige classes can we expect to see in the new book? From the Table of Contents: Cognition Thief I think that's a PrC. It's the only one listed under Psionic Prestige Classes.
Dr_Draco 10-15-03, 01:49 AM	Whoa, I saw that, and it didn't even register... Hehe. Well, I hope that's not the only one (it does say Psionic Prestige Classes after all). If it is, no biggie, though. http://www.geocities.com/flammabledragon/psion.TXT Dr. D
Selvarin 10-15-03, 02:04 AM	Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Do you have any WotC link where I could find ordering/descriptive info on the Shadow Stone? (there used to be some kind of WotC online catalogue with "add to basket" type of feature but I can't seem to locate anything on the Shadow Stone on WotC's website). Amazon lists The Shadow Stone as "out of print". I found one Shadow Stone novel on eBay... but it's part of a set of 24 novels, 18 of which I already own! (I know that bundling is a good economic enhancer, but geez...) What was the "FR name" of High Mage Aelies? is he a famous FR NPC that would at least provide me with some insight into the character? I know this is a tough one, but believe me when I say that I've been trying to get anything on these characters for a while now... :( Ever consider looking at Half.com? http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=1578290&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1 $1.99, lowest price, although most offered are priced slightly higher than that.
jasamcarl 10-15-03, 03:49 PM	Originally posted by Alzrius Much to my surprise, this is actually correct (despite what the panel at GenCon said when this question was brought before them). The FAQ, in this instance, is nothing more than the reprinting of Sage Advice columns, including the part from Dragon 310 where the Sage says only hit dice and class levels count towards Epic levels. Seeking further clarity, I emailed the Sage himself, asking him which was correct, his ruling for Sage Advice, reprinted in the FAQ, or what it says in the DMG. His response: Unless Mr. Baker says that Skip is incorrect here, and that the 3.5E DMG is not wrong as-is on this issue...I guess thats that. This is really the only way that makes any type of sense. It was my interpretation when i initially skimmed through the ELH and I'm glad it was adopted in the FAQ.
Alisair Longreach II 10-16-03, 01:33 PM	I have a question about the Serpent Kingdoms supplement. Will the Spittle Spray and Blessing of the Snake Mother divine spells from Ghostwalk appear in Serpent Kingdoms ? What about the Yuan-Ti Anathema from Fiend Folio ?
Finglas Leaflock 10-16-03, 01:33 PM	First of all, thanks for taking the time to answer so many questions, this thread has been a great source of info for awhile now. My question is, are there any plans to develop lythari as a race? Right now there's just enough info to make a character stats-wise, but not much about the race beyond that they're CG wood elves with a werewolf template. Just wondering, from some of the novels and older sourcebooks it seems like they could be very interesting. Thanks again!
WotC_RichBaker 10-16-03, 01:41 PM	Generally, it's a matter of squaring them up with 3.5. For example, 3.5 balances out the schools of magic differently than 3.0, so the incantatrix needed some retooling. Similarly, we've identified too-high save DCs as a systemic issue for the game, so we're looking at any prestige class that formerly granted spell power and reworking them. I think the the incantatrix is the only Magic of Faerun class being redone. Originally posted by TheDarkestOfAngels hey rich, what kind of changes could I expect in the new FR Players guide to the prestige classes that are being rereleased from the older FR products, like Magic of Farun. Many thanks.
WotC_RichBaker 10-16-03, 01:42 PM	Interesting notion, and interesting analogy. Unfortunately, Serpent Kingdoms is a little far down the tracks to get a new PC race added. But it's a good idea. Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich Is there any chance we can see a "Dracoling" race in Serpent Kingdoms? A Dracoling would be a Aasamir/Tiefling equievalnt for Dragons/Half Dragons Link to Dracoling discussion http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1579058#post1579058
WotC_RichBaker 10-16-03, 01:48 PM	Check out the FRCS, page 53. Aeron Morieth = Aelies. Page 183 gives his line as (N male half elf Wiz13/Sha3). "The Shadow Stone" was set in the beginning of Aelies' career, a hundred years or more before the current date in the Birthright timeline. It's an origin story, really. So, as far as what he would look like or be like in Birthright's current day, the FR stuff is not a good snapshot. Wish I knew where to tell you to look for a copy of the book. If you've got a good used book store in your locale, try putting in an order for one. Some of 'em will do that. Or, if you just want to read it once, try the library system. That won't help you with owning one, but it's better than nothing. Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Do you have any WotC link where I could find ordering/descriptive info on the Shadow Stone? (there used to be some kind of WotC online catalogue with "add to basket" type of feature but I can't seem to locate anything on the Shadow Stone on WotC's website). Amazon lists The Shadow Stone as "out of print". I found one Shadow Stone novel on eBay... but it's part of a set of 24 novels, 18 of which I already own! (I know that bundling is a good economic enhancer, but geez...) What was the "FR name" of High Mage Aelies? is he a famous FR NPC that would at least provide me with some insight into the character? I know this is a tough one, but believe me when I say that I've been trying to get anything on these characters for a while now... :(
WotC_RichBaker 10-16-03, 01:49 PM	I'm pretty sure that the yuan-ti anathema is included. Don't recall seeing the feats picked up, though. Originally posted by Alisair Longreach II I have a question about the Serpent Kingdoms supplement. Will the Spittle Spray and Blessing of the Snake Mother divine spells from Ghostwalk appear in Serpent Kingdoms ? What about the Yuan-Ti Anathema from Fiend Folio ?
WotC_RichBaker 10-16-03, 01:51 PM	Sorry, no plans at the moment to go into more detail. Races of Faerun would have been our best shot at that for a while. Originally posted by Finglas Leaflock First of all, thanks for taking the time to answer so many questions, this thread has been a great source of info for awhile now. My question is, are there any plans to develop lythari as a race? Right now there's just enough info to make a character stats-wise, but not much about the race beyond that they're CG wood elves with a werewolf template. Just wondering, from some of the novels and older sourcebooks it seems like they could be very interesting. Thanks again!
Dargoth 10-16-03, 07:52 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Interesting notion, and interesting analogy. Unfortunately, Serpent Kingdoms is a little far down the tracks to get a new PC race added. But it's a good idea. Web Enhancement for SK? :D
Sirius_Black 10-16-03, 11:55 PM	Mr. Baker: A poster on another thread noted that: read somewhere that they were going to really kick the Yaun-ti up a notch. Have them become a more powerful evil presence in the Realm with much more influence. I can't for the life of me remember where I read it Any validity to the statement?
Dargoth 10-17-03, 01:32 AM	Hey Rich seeing as how PGTF will come out in March will its write up on the War of spider queen include events that Occur in Book 4: Extinction?
WotC_RichBaker 10-17-03, 12:07 PM	Well, they're the villainous stars of "Serpent Kingdoms." If you don't get some great ideas for featuring yuan-ti as the prime mover villains in your FR games from that book, you're just not trying. You'd be surprised to find out just how far their influence extends... Originally posted by Sirius_Black Mr. Baker: A poster on another thread noted that: Any validity to the statement?
WotC_RichBaker 10-17-03, 12:09 PM	No, it's only current through the end of "Condemnation." Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich seeing as how PGTF will come out in March will its write up on the War of spider queen include events that Occur in Book 4: Extinction?
Laszlo Koller 10-17-03, 07:27 PM	Rich, I re-post my question, since it seems to have be "left behind". Anyway, on to it... Recently, I asked WotC Customer Service a question regarding the Forgotten Realms cosmology. I was a bit puzzled by the response that I got. The questions I asked (and I'm para-phrasing now) were: Standard D&D cosmology puts the Githzerai in Limbo, but the Realms doesn't have such a plane. (1) What plane of existence do the Githzerai inhabit? (2) Also, on what plane (in the Forgotten Realms cosmology) do Yugoloths live? For question #1, the answer was: Limbo For question #2, the answer was: That is completely up to the DM. As I mentioned earlier, I was a bit... um... perplexed by these answers. Perhaps you could help clear this up. (I understand that each DM is in control of his/her game, but personally I try to adhere to what's printed. There's still plenty of material for me to come up with in my version of the Realms.) Anyway, thanks for answering our questions. --LK
ManinDarkness 10-17-03, 11:02 PM	Originally posted by Laszlo Koller Rich, For question #1, the answer was: Limbo For question #2, the answer was: That is completely up to the DM. --LK My guess is that they are saying that: #1 Githzerai are not part of Realmspace oficially. #2 Yugoloth are, but as they are non-Core, DM must place them when they see fit. (I would say they live both on the Abyss and the Nine Hells)
Garen Thal 10-18-03, 12:08 AM	Standard D&D cosmology puts the Githzerai in Limbo, but the Realms doesn't have such a plane. (1) What plane of existence do the Githzerai inhabit? (2) Also, on what plane (in the Forgotten Realms cosmology) do Yugoloths live?The Customer Service response to these questions is based on one simple truth: There is no published, official answer yet. Part of the reason the FR cosmology is being examined in greater detail is to provide home planes for the various planar creatures within that cosmology. Placing baatezu devils and tanar'ri demons in the cosmology is relatively easy (since Hell and the Abyss also exist in the Realms), but neutral evil outsiders don't have a home plane. Beyond that, maybe some devil types actually come from the Barrens of Doom and Despair (the major LE plane for deities). Perhaps lammasu and shedu reside in the House of the Triad. It could be that the yugoloths don't have a home plane at all, seeing as there is no predominantly NE plane (Shar and Mask live on the Plane of Shadow, and Auril and Velsharoon both share planes with deities of other alignments). Given that FR doesn't place the sort of emphasis on interplanar conflict that a Planescape campaign might, the lack of yugoloths is no great loss to a Forgotten Realms campaign that doesn't occur on the planes themselves, and only slightly less so for one that ventures onto the planes while retaining the Forgotten Realms cosmology.
Straploknight 10-18-03, 08:05 PM	Hey whats with the intelligence prereq for drow spell-like abilities?? In UD drow need a 13 or better int in order to use spell-like abilities? Not really a complaint, but what would the effect be on ECL if you've got a "stupid" drow? That said, the prereq itself makes for some interesting thoughts? Like noble born drow who can't access thier abilities? Are they disposed of (sacrificed, canibalized, enslaved, ousted?) What about the non-nobles, are the regarded as inferior to drow able to access thier spell-like powers? Does this mean there won't be any more PC drow with less than a 13 int?? Is the prereq a slip-up in editing or is the new official word on dorw in the realms?
Selvarin 10-18-03, 10:00 PM	Originally posted by Straploknight Hey whats with the intelligence prereq for drow spell-like abilities?? In UD drow need a 13 or better int in order to use spell-like abilities? Not really a complaint, but what would the effect be on ECL if you've got a "stupid" drow? That said, the prereq itself makes for some interesting thoughts? Like noble born drow who can't access thier abilities? Are they disposed of (sacrificed, canibalized, enslaved, ousted?) What about the non-nobles, are the regarded as inferior to drow able to access thier spell-like powers? Does this mean there won't be any more PC drow with less than a 13 int?? Is the prereq a slip-up in editing or is the new official word on dorw in the realms? That definitely doesn't sound right. The Int prereq isn't included in either the FRCS nor the (3.5'd) Monster Manual, therefore its inclusion in UD sounds like a slip-up. *shrug*
Cassius Harkanor 10-18-03, 10:50 PM	The City of the Spider Queen mentions that they yugoloth come from the Barrens of Doom and Despair. I can't remeber the exact page, but it is in the archmage tower area.
Cassius Harkanor 10-18-03, 11:13 PM	Dear Richard Will the Forgotten Realms Players Guide be a core rulebook (such as the FRCS) or will it be an optional book (such as Races of Faerun).
Dargoth 10-19-03, 04:40 AM	Rich I dont know if youve had a look my thread asking for bigger FR books http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113178 The Crux of my arguement is Id like to see bigger regional supplements ie 240-260 pages. and I just discovered this The Draconomican which comes out later this year will have 288 pages and at Amazon will cost $28 USD Underdark has 192 pages and costs $23 USD So for 5 American dollars you can get almost 100 extra pages I dont know about you guys but Im more than willing to hand over an extra 5 Bucks to see an FR sup with 50% more detail! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now an even bigger question is why is the Players guide to Faerun only 192 when the Draconomican is 288? The PGTF is going to be a far more popular book than the Draconomican The Draconomican is going to be primarily a DMs book while the Players guide to Faerun is designed primarily for PCs. So seeing as WOTC are willing to make bigger books on a limited topic, is there any chance we will see a 260-288 page regional source book next year. As noted above Im more than willing to spend an extra 5 bucks for 50% more content
Herr Doktor 10-20-03, 02:44 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth As noted above Im more than willing to spend an extra 5 bucks for 50% more content As I'm sure all of us are.
ArthurQ 10-20-03, 03:38 AM	Hi Rich, Arthur Borko here. We met at Gencon during the first FR Confrence. If you remember we spoke a lot about an FR magazine and you dispelled our wishes by explaining why it wont happen. Now that you remember me....heeh. I'd like to run another ForgottenRealms chat if you happen to have the time, sometime soon. I'd like to focus on Underdark and the FRPG (stuff mentioned here and anything new you'd be able to release). I'll be contacting Gwen shortly, as i need to find a time good for all 3 of us. Would you be intrested?
WotC_RichBaker 10-20-03, 12:45 PM	Githzerai live in Warrior's Rest. Yugoloths live in a plane called the Blood Rift. This'll be explained in Player's Guide to Faerun. Originally posted by Laszlo Koller Rich, I re-post my question, since it seems to have be "left behind". Anyway, on to it... Recently, I asked WotC Customer Service a question regarding the Forgotten Realms cosmology. I was a bit puzzled by the response that I got. The questions I asked (and I'm para-phrasing now) were: For question #1, the answer was: Limbo For question #2, the answer was: That is completely up to the DM. As I mentioned earlier, I was a bit... um... perplexed by these answers. Perhaps you could help clear this up. (I understand that each DM is in control of his/her game, but personally I try to adhere to what's printed. There's still plenty of material for me to come up with in my version of the Realms.) Anyway, thanks for answering our questions. --LK
WotC_RichBaker 10-20-03, 12:56 PM	We regard it as "core" for future FR products. In other words, we're going to assume in future product that you're building your characters using the feats, spells, magic items, etc. in the Player's Guide. After it's published, we're going to expect that folks are building their shadow adepts with the Player's Guide version, not the FRCS version. That said, I don't know if it's strictly a "must-buy." A future product like Unapproachable East or Underdark would not have been greatly affected by whether you have the Player's Guide or not. As always, your mileage may vary. Originally posted by Cassius Harkanor Dear Richard Will the Forgotten Realms Players Guide be a core rulebook (such as the FRCS) or will it be an optional book (such as Races of Faerun).
WotC_RichBaker 10-20-03, 12:57 PM	Sure, just let me know when. Originally posted by ArthurQ Hi Rich, Arthur Borko here. We met at Gencon during the first FR Confrence. If you remember we spoke a lot about an FR magazine and you dispelled our wishes by explaining why it wont happen. Now that you remember me....heeh. I'd like to run another ForgottenRealms chat if you happen to have the time, sometime soon. I'd like to focus on Underdark and the FRPG (stuff mentioned here and anything new you'd be able to release). I'll be contacting Gwen shortly, as i need to find a time good for all 3 of us. Would you be intrested?
ArthurQ 10-20-03, 03:15 PM	How about this Friday at 9pm EST (6pm Pacific). I'll contact gwen tonight via her addy at her husbands site (unless you know a faster way). If she's not available for that time then perhaps next Monday at 9pm. I work till midnight and its usually after 7 or 8 that I have no customers, thus i'll be able to concentrate on the chat and moderate it.
ArthurQ 10-20-03, 03:20 PM	Oh, while im here FRPG question! In another thread someone asks about the Chosen of Mystra template. Will this and any other templates be reprinted in the FRPG? Will we get a Level Adustment this time around? (Yes, i know its not ment for PC's but its just a nice thing to have for NPC's should i deem to go there. This comment for the possible flamers. :-P) Additionally can we get an estimated Month that Serpent Kingdoms will be out? This is for the benefit of the Enworld WOTC Release Date catalog. Would April be a safe assumption?
Garen Thal 10-20-03, 04:53 PM	I may be mistaken about the intention of the original poster, but many people are curious about whether or not future sourcebooks will be permitted to make use of the material in PGtF. Currently, everything that's published assumes only the 3 core rulebooks and FRCS, so one book can't make use of a spell, magic item, or feat from, say, Magic of Faerûn without reprinting that material. Will this same design philosophy hold for future books? For example, will a later regional supplement be able to make reference to a new prestige class or feat from PGtF without reprinting that class or feat? I'm certain no one really wants to see the sort of expansive "go and look it up" statements that plagued earlier editions, but I think that it would save some small amount of space- and vastly increase design opportunities- to permit future designers the freedom to use PGtF material as freely as they do the stuff from FRCS. Originally posted by Richard Baker We regard it as "core" for future FR products. In other words, we're going to assume in future product that you're building your characters using the feats, spells, magic items, etc. in the Player's Guide. After it's published, we're going to expect that folks are building their shadow adepts with the Player's Guide version, not the FRCS version. That said, I don't know if it's strictly a "must-buy." A future product like Unapproachable East or Underdark would not have been greatly affected by whether you have the Player's Guide or not. As always, your mileage may vary.
Laszlo Koller 10-20-03, 06:25 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Githzerai live in Warrior's Rest. Yugoloths live in a plane called the Blood Rift. This'll be explained in Player's Guide to Faerun. Blood Rift, huh? Sounds like a fun place. Anyway, I look forward to adding this book to my collection come March. Thanks again for helping us all out.
ArthurQ 10-20-03, 06:45 PM	Perhaps the FRPG is replacing the FRCS as THE book that everything else refers to. Considering its the update book for the setting I dont think thats a bad idea. Originally posted by Garen Thal I may be mistaken about the intention of the original poster, but many people are curious about whether or not future sourcebooks will be permitted to make use of the material in PGtF. Currently, everything that's published assumes only the 3 core rulebooks and FRCS, so one book can't make use of a spell, magic item, or feat from, say, Magic of Faerûn without reprinting that material. Will this same design philosophy hold for future books? For example, will a later regional supplement be able to make reference to a new prestige class or feat from PGtF without reprinting that class or feat? I'm certain no one really wants to see the sort of expansive "go and look it up" statements that plagued earlier editions, but I think that it would save some small amount of space- and vastly increase design opportunities- to permit future designers the freedom to use PGtF material as freely as they do the stuff from FRCS.
Laszlo Koller 10-20-03, 07:32 PM	Rich, Will the upcoming Player's Guide cover, if even briefly, the home planes of all the gods (including the monster gods covered in Faiths and Pantheons)? Thanks. LK
ArthurQ 10-20-03, 07:47 PM	If you look at the table of contents i belive the answer is yes.
TechnoLurker 10-21-03, 01:59 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We regard it (Player's Guide to Faerun) as "core" for future FR products. In other words, we're going to assume in future product that you're building your characters using the feats, spells, magic items, etc. in the Player's Guide. After it's published, we're going to expect that folks are building their shadow adepts with the Player's Guide version, not the FRCS version. Any chances we'll get a hint of the changes to the Shadow Adept? Pretty please?
DreadStar 10-21-03, 04:26 AM	Rich Will the Player's Guide to Faerun reprint any of the cleric Domains from Book of Exalted Deeds? If not will you at least list what FR gods get the Domains from BoED?
Another Gnome 10-21-03, 04:37 AM	A bit of friendly advice for those with questions about what's in the book: See the Player's Guide table of contents posted on page 13 of this thread.
Selvarin 10-21-03, 04:49 AM	Hmm, it does look like a replacement for the FRCS.
The White Sorcerer 10-21-03, 07:09 AM	Originally posted by Selvarin Hmm, it does look like a replacement for the FRCS. Not quite, since it has no geography or other fluff.
Selvarin 10-21-03, 03:30 PM	Good point.
jasamcarl 10-21-03, 05:05 PM	Rich, quick question about the intent of the drowcraft weapon property. Is it intended that drowcraft weapons be vulnurable to certain light producing spells such as daylight or sunbeam? Thanks in advance...
Selvarin 10-21-03, 05:15 PM	Originally posted by jasamcarl Rich, quick question about the intent of the drowcraft weapon property. Is it intended that drowcraft weapons be vulnurable to certain light producing spells such as daylight or sunbeam? Thanks in advance... Why would Daylight have an effect? When (1E/2E) drow weapons and armor originally had the vulnerability to sunlight they weren't affected by Light or Continual Light spells. In this instance, the Daylight spell is not the exact equivalent of true sunlight. Sunbeam could have an effect because it approximates sunlight by generating ultraviolet light as well as standard light. The same goes for Sunburst . According to the Drowcraft description, exposure to sunlight forces the item to make a DC 8 Fort save and a new save for each additional day of exposure. To me it sounds like it forces a Fort save upon initial exposure, thus the spells I mentioned would qualify for that. No wonder drowcraft items are out of fashion in some drow cities.
WotC_RichBaker 10-21-03, 07:28 PM	I think I agree with Selvarin. Sunbeam and sunburst explicitly state that they damage creatures harmed by sunlight, while daylight doesn't say that. I'd agree that drowcraft weapons are forced to make the save if their bearer gets zapped by a sunbeam or caught in a sunburst. Note that there is a reason for drowcraft weapons, above and beyond the you-don't-get-my-treasure shtick. Because they confer a luck bonus, not an enhancement bonus, they stack *very* well with greater magic weapon. A drow who plans to spend a lot of time in his native faerzress doesn't really pay any attack or damage bonus to acquire the drowcraft property, and gets the ability to make his sword super-good with a greater magic weapon spell. Originally posted by jasamcarl Rich, quick question about the intent of the drowcraft weapon property. Is it intended that drowcraft weapons be vulnurable to certain light producing spells such as daylight or sunbeam? Thanks in advance...
Laszlo Koller 10-21-03, 08:35 PM	Rich, Just a quick comment that I'd like to make regarding the various regional supplements for future releases; take this as a requested feature by one of your customers. Would it be possible to include coinage (specifically names of such) used in the specific region? I know it's a small thing, but for a DM (like me) these are the small "brush strokes" that help us paint the big picture for our players. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for listening.
Savras 10-22-03, 04:15 AM	Originally posted by Laszlo Koller Rich, Just a quick comment that I'd like to make regarding the various regional supplements for future releases; take this as a requested feature by one of your customers. Would it be possible to include coinage (specifically names of such) used in the specific region? I know it's a small thing, but for a DM (like me) these are the small "brush strokes" that help us paint the big picture for our players. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for listening. I second that! Savras
DreadStar 10-22-03, 12:42 PM	Rich After re-reading the ToC you posted for Player's Guide to Faerun I wonder are there any new or changed Cleric Domains or are there only new Domains for Initiates? Also how much of the book is new and how much is from other sources like UE, BoED, Dragon magazine and so on? Thanks :)
AskaniSage 10-22-03, 05:46 PM	Rich, I got an "official" question I wondered if you could answer since there seems to be 2 opinions about it. According to Faiths & Pantheons, a druid of Mielikki can use the simple/martial weapons & same armor as a Ranger (which is only light now because of 3.5 changes). Some people say that it gives the druid the proficiencies to use Simple/martial weapons & light armors. Others say that is DOESN'T give the proficiencies, it only allows them not to lose their druid abilities as it did in 3.0. Since druids can use any weapon now in 3.5 without affecting their druid abilities (they still suffer the -4 for non-proficiency), what is the "official" word on what druids of Mielikki can do?? Thanks for any help you can give. I am currently making a druid of Mielikki and need to know the "official" decision on this matter. Much thanks!! :D
Darkmore 10-22-03, 05:55 PM	An additional question (again) Please rich ! I'm BEGGING you ! give us an official and truly COMPLETE nature deity list ... web article, web enhancement or anything like that ... please please please :embarrass :embarrass :embarrass AskaniSage : F&P (p90) also says that a druid can use her deity's favored weapon (without oath violation) but DOESN'T gain additional proficiency ... thus with druids of Mielliki: no proficiency either... nothing official though :embarrass
Katowice 10-22-03, 06:01 PM	Has anybody compiled this thread into a FAQ? I know somebody did that over at the d20 Modern and Star Wars RPG boards.
Dargoth 10-22-03, 07:46 PM	Rich Do you intend introducing new Classes in future FR products? WOTC seem to think there arent enough core class ie Both the Minis hand Book and Complete fighter will have more core classes. Personally Im against more Core Classes, the only exception being "paladins" for the other 8 alignments as seen in Dragon issues 310 and 312
Selvarin 10-22-03, 09:00 PM	Good points regarding drowcraft items, Rich. As for new core classes, Dargoth, it seems more like they're listening to those who've been asking for new core classes. Also, they fill up a book rather nicely. Just another means to an end, as with prestige classes, although I suspect it'll be more like a rash--all over the place for a while and then gone away. Not that I know what a rash is like, mind you, chicken pox was bad enough. :turkey: *substitute chicken stand-in, only tastier*
biomante 10-23-03, 01:46 PM	Hi Rich I just got a few days ago the Underdark book..., it is great!, really cool, congrats to the authors. I would like to know if there are plans to show more about Sshamath (the coolest Drow city around) in any upcoming product (web enhancement, etc.). I also have Drizzt's guide to the Underdark, and the info is basically the same (well, a bit more detailed in Drizzt's guide); so I was just wondering about new info. Thanks
ArthurQ 10-23-03, 02:18 PM	Hey folks! Rich has emailed me and Confirmed he'll attend tommrows chat on IRC. The guests of honor are Rich Baker and Gwen Kestrel. The chat starts at 9pm EST/6pm PST. It will be held on chat.psionics.net in #ForgottenRealms everyone is welcome to come ask questions and have them answered in real time!
ArthurQ 10-23-03, 02:53 PM	Originally posted by ArthurQ Hey folks! Rich has emailed me and Confirmed he'll attend tommrows chat on IRC. The guests of honor are Rich Baker and Gwen Kestrel. The chat starts at 9pm EST/6pm PST. It will be held on chat.psionics.net in #ForgottenRealms everyone is welcome to come ask questions and have them answered in real time! Gwen has emailed and confirmed as well!
WotC_RichBaker 10-23-03, 07:28 PM	Thanks, glad you liked it! RE: Sshamath, no specific plans. It'll likely be a while before we're back there, so feel free to detail it to your heart's content for your own game. Originally posted by biomante Hi Rich I just got a few days ago the Underdark book..., it is great!, really cool, congrats to the authors. I would like to know if there are plans to show more about Sshamath (the coolest Drow city around) in any upcoming product (web enhancement, etc.). I also have Drizzt's guide to the Underdark, and the info is basically the same (well, a bit more detailed in Drizzt's guide); so I was just wondering about new info. Thanks
WotC_RichBaker 10-23-03, 07:30 PM	I don't know of any specific plans to introduce FR-specific classes (as opposed to FR-specific prestige classes). Originally posted by Dargoth Rich Do you intend introducing new Classes in future FR products? WOTC seem to think there arent enough core class ie Both the Minis hand Book and Complete fighter will have more core classes. Personally Im against more Core Classes, the only exception being "paladins" for the other 8 alignments as seen in Dragon issues 310 and 312
Dargoth 10-23-03, 07:35 PM	Ah ok By he way I got Underdark yesterday and theres a side bar (Page 76) that makes mention of 2 Groups "The Gleaners, Planar Cartographic society and a Chosen of Shar" but I can find no other reference to those 3 groups in Underdark.
Selvarin 10-23-03, 07:44 PM	'Chosen of Shar' isn't a group, per se. I've only seen one or two instances prior to this where a Chosen of Shar was mentioned. (One, at least, was mentioned on page 173 of Faiths & Pantheons and even then it was neither a group nor an actual template, just a high-level Sharran who was given Divine Rank 0 and went mad). As for the Gleaners and Planar Cartographic Society, look at the title of the sidebar: The Underdark, maps, and the Epic Level Handbook . There's where you'll find info on 'em, I suspect.
WotC_RichBaker 10-23-03, 07:49 PM	Just to warn you all... we've had to cut a lot out of the Player's Guide since I posted the ToC, because the book was 70 pages long. The chief changes are that we are condensing the race chapter and region chapter together, and dropping some material about races that didn't tell you anything new; we cut the monster chapter in its entirety (but we'll put that chapter into another Realms product coming out late in 2004 or early in 2005); and we dropped the appendix of monster conversions, which we'll try to post on our website. Sorry about that--that's why I'm hesitant to give you guys the book ToCs too early, because sometimes reality intervenes. There are some selective bits taken out of other chapters, a prestige class here and there, that sort of thing. (And, before you ask, no, it is simply not possible to make the book longer. There are business reasons for that decision, and I can't change 'em.) Now, to answer the quoted question below: We've added the Cold and Repose domains, which shuffle domains for a handful of deities. James Wyatt did the work on that section, so I don't know off the top of my head how much tweaking he did to domains. Initiates don't get domains per se -- you spend the feat, and you get the ability to use deity-specific spells that aren't in any domain. As far as how much of the book is new... Chapter 1/2: Most of the regional feats are substantially redesigned. We've had a change of thinking about them. Chapter 3: Prestige Classes: 10 revised, 9 new. Chapter 4: Domains and Spells: Most revised (lots of Magic of Faerun and FRCS spells revised), but a good hunk of new (at least 50 spells). Chapter 5: Magic Items: About half and half. Most of the revised items from Magic of Faerun. Chapter 7: Epic. All new. Chapter 8: Cosmology. All new. Chapter 9: Campaign Journal: All new. Chapter 10: Psionics, Exalted, Vile. All new. Originally posted by DreadStar Rich After re-reading the ToC you posted for Player's Guide to Faerun I wonder are there any new or changed Cleric Domains or are there only new Domains for Initiates? Also how much of the book is new and how much is from other sources like UE, BoED, Dragon magazine and so on? Thanks :)
Dargoth 10-23-03, 07:49 PM	Originally posted by Selvarin 'Chosen of Shar' isn't a group, per se. I've only seen one or two instances prior to this where a Chosen of Shar was mentioned. (One, at least, was mentioned on page 173 of Faiths & Pantheons) and even then it was neither a group nor an actual template, just a high-level Sharran who was given Divine Rank 0 and went mad). As for the Gleaners and Planar Cartographic Society, look at the title of the sidebar: The Underdark, maps, and the Epic Level Handbook . There's where you'll find info on 'em, I suspect. Ah, I dont have the Epic Level handbook. Id still be interested in seeing a Template for the Chosen of Shar
Dargoth 10-23-03, 07:54 PM	RE PGTF changes Im actually happy with that, Im glad you removed monster stats from a book designed for the Players. Regarding Domains Have you added the Domains from the Books of Vile Darkness and Book of Exalted deeds to the FR gods domain list?
Selvarin 10-23-03, 09:34 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Ah, I dont have the Epic Level handbook. Id still be interested in seeing a Template for the Chosen of Shar Personally I'm inclined to treat any NPC/PCwith 5 levels of Divine Disciple (or Divine Champion) as a 'Chosen of'. (The example in F&P was a Cleric 7/Shadow Adept 8/Divine Disciple 5 with the shade template from the FRCS, which made him a CR 22 not counting the DR 0 issue.) Doubtless one of the incessant tinker types on the message boards has created a 'Chosen of Shar' template, so several versions are likely available.
DreadStar 10-24-03, 12:49 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth RE PGTF changes Regarding Domains Have you added the Domains from the Books of Vile Darkness and Book of Exalted deeds to the FR gods domain list? Hey, I asked the same question earlier in the thread but, never got an answer :(
Selvarin 10-24-03, 02:23 AM	Considering that the BoVD and BoED is being dealt with in the book, it probably is. not too hard to say deities x/y/z have access to a specific BoVD/BoED domain. It could just as easily be made into a web enhancement if space is a concern.
Another Gnome 10-24-03, 03:35 AM	Dargoth and DreadStar: Table 10–12: Vile and Exalted Domains I would guess that's referring to how those domains apply to FR deities and not simply reprinting a list of what's in two non-related books..? ;) Well, assuming the ToC is still accurate in that respect.
Kuje31 10-24-03, 03:52 AM	Rich, Do newer sourcebooks, still overwrite older 3e sourcebooks, like the FRCS, or Faiths & Pantheons, etc. I know you said the Player's Guide does this, but I was curious if the other books, that came out since the FRCS, does this also.
The White Sorcerer 10-24-03, 11:24 AM	Dear Rich, Which PrCs were cut from the PGtF? Thanks.
ScarLip 10-24-03, 12:31 PM	Rich Does the PGtFR change any of the Core races like making Forest Gnomes different than Rock Gnomes? I mean why have 2 types of Gnome if their both the same in every way? Also adding some new traits to Half-Orcs would be a good idea :mage:
WotC_RichBaker 10-24-03, 12:36 PM	Yes, there's a table that shows that information by domain. Originally posted by Dargoth Regarding Domains Have you added the Domains from the Books of Vile Darkness and Book of Exalted deeds to the FR gods domain list? [/B]
WotC_RichBaker 10-24-03, 12:39 PM	Generally, yes they do. For example, if we printed version 1 of a spell in Magic of Faerun, and then printed version 2 in Unapproachable East, it's our intent that version 2 specifically replaces version 1. We usually try to flag these sorts of changes by saying that the older version is being replaced. Originally posted by Kuje31 Rich, Do newer sourcebooks, still overwrite older 3e sourcebooks, like the FRCS, or Faiths & Pantheons, etc. I know you said the Player's Guide does this, but I was curious if the other books, that came out since the FRCS, does this also.
WotC_RichBaker 10-24-03, 12:42 PM	At this point, I'm not even going to hazard a guess until I know the book's been sent off to the printer. I don't want to get it wrong again--it gets you guys riled, and makes me look dumb. I might try to post an amended ToC in a month or so. Originally posted by The White Sorcerer Dear Rich, Which PrCs were cut from the PGtF? Thanks.
WotC_RichBaker 10-24-03, 12:48 PM	Nope, the only change to the races that we really needed to make was to change the duergar level adjustment from +2 to +1, to follow the Monster Manual 3.5. The Player's Guide also adds some of the info about human ethnicities that debuted in Races of Faerun. Other than that, races unchanged. Your best info for PC races is still Races of Faerun. Flip through a copy at your FLGS and see if it looks at all interesting to you. (Among other things, it clearly spells out the differences between forest gnomes and rock gnomes!) Originally posted by ScarLip Rich Does the PGtFR change any of the Core races like making Forest Gnomes different than Rock Gnomes? I mean why have 2 types of Gnome if their both the same in every way? Also adding some new traits to Half-Orcs would be a good idea :mage:
Archade 10-24-03, 01:17 PM	Hey Rich, How do we aspiring authors contact Julia Martin? I have about five things I'm willing to submit to the FR website. Blair / Archade
Savras 10-24-03, 01:41 PM	Originally posted by Archade Hey Rich, How do we aspiring authors contact Julia Martin? I have about five things I'm willing to submit to the FR website. Blair / Archade Hmmm?? We can submit? I wanna! I wanna! Where? To whom? When? How? Tell me!!!!! Savras, Who Has About... Sixteen Things To Submit
Herr Doktor 10-24-03, 02:23 PM	I remember this coming up before... I believe it turned out that you can NOT submit things to Julia Martin as if she asked for fan submissions she'd be crushed in an avalanche of infinite email, or some similar reason.
loki87 10-24-03, 02:37 PM	Yeah, I remember seeing a SOP for submissions somewhere on the site, so you may want to do a search for it. I'm pretty sure that you don't e-mail anyone directly about this, like Herr Doktor said.
cwslyclgh 10-24-03, 02:47 PM	the only thing that they have for submissions on the web site are a writers guidleine for fiction authors (to submit samples for the book department)... and a page on submitting new games, which states that WotC doesn't except unsolicitted games. this has come up before and I believe the answer was that the WotC website only presents solicited material.
Selvarin 10-24-03, 02:48 PM	Mr. Baker is too kind, answering every question: Gamer: Will there be a title on the book? Rich: Yes. Gamer: What's the title of the Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms? Will it have page numbers? Rich: --------- ??? (no words, just the sound of Richard beating his head against the wall in inaudible disbelief) :D Archade, interesting Q. But usually when they hear 'aspiring writer' they'll point you to Dragon or Dungeon magazine instead. On the other, I wouldn't mind doing the same thing myself.
cwslyclgh 10-24-03, 04:32 PM	Dragon is a viable option if you want to get world specific D&D related stuff published, they recently accepted one of my articles (set in Greyhawk, but generic enough for use anywhere), although it hasn't been printed yet.
The_Sleeper 10-24-03, 04:47 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker At this point, I'm not even going to hazard a guess until I know the book's been sent off to the printer. I don't want to get it wrong again--it gets you guys riled, and makes me look dumb. I might try to post an amended ToC in a month or so. Hehe, just as long as Arcanist is in ill be happy;)
Kuje31 10-24-03, 07:36 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Generally, yes they do. For example, if we printed version 1 of a spell in Magic of Faerun, and then printed version 2 in Unapproachable East, it's our intent that version 2 specifically replaces version 1. We usually try to flag these sorts of changes by saying that the older version is being replaced. Sigh, does this include changes in history or other flavor text also?
cwslyclgh 10-24-03, 07:48 PM	he wants to know if Eshodow is a dead deity that ahs had his portfolio subsummed by Shar or if he has realy just been an aspect of Shar all along, F&P and FRCS do not agree on this point... personly I would go with the first idea, since in 2e eshodow was still alive and his history was detailed in Powers and Pantheons, where he was the shadow of Ubtao (this agrees with what F&P says)... however in the FRCS the only place Eshodow is mentioned is in the chult statblock where he is listed as: Eshodow (an aspect of Shar).
Aldarc 10-25-03, 01:41 AM	Here are some questions. We know that Yuan-ti and I believe Lizardfolk were mentioned for being in Serpent Kingdoms, but will there be anything about the much loved Kobolds? or will they gain their own Race/Supplement Book? or do you know if they are simply an honorable mention in the Draconomicon?
Selvarin 10-25-03, 04:25 AM	Kobolds were cuddlier in 1st Edition AD&D, they looked like scaly puppy dogs with horns. Whoa, what strange thoughts to have on such an early Saturday morning. :whatsthis
Zanan 10-25-03, 05:09 AM	Vendui Rich! (And, before you ask, no, it is simply not possible to make the book longer. There are business reasons for that decision, and I can't change 'em.) Well, unless business plans intervene or another book is on the way, why not place the left-out-stuff in one or two web-enhancements? If the changes are only meant to update old stuff to 3RE, this would be an easy way to do it, though not as profitable as another book. As for left-out-stuff themselves, as long as the Yathrinshee is still there among the PrC, I'll be happy enough. ;)
Savras 10-25-03, 10:08 AM	Hmmm. O mighty Rich Baker, great and wise, smite me not for the continuos derailment of this thread, but this I must know: How do I submit to Dragon\Dungeon? Thanks people! Savras
Gez 10-25-03, 12:10 PM	Originally posted by Savras Hmmm. O mighty Rich Baker, great and wise, smite me not for the continuos derailment of this thread, but this I must know: How do I submit to Dragon\Dungeon? Thanks people! Savras Frankly, this is not Rich's job. He's a designer for Wizards. WotC don't publish Dragon (nor Dungeon, Polyhedron, and co) anymore. I would advise you to look at Paizo (http://www.paizo.com/). Here's for Dragon: http://paizo.com/writersguidelines/dragon.html Here's for Dungeon/Polyhedron: (PDF) http://paizo.com/writersguidelines/dungeon_writer_guidelines.pdf
ZebRaderJedi 10-25-03, 12:26 PM	Hi Rich, Any chance of a regional supplement for Kara-Tur in 2004 or 2005? If not, how about just a web-update about what has been happening in recent years. i.e.: Who's in charge? How are different nations faring? etc, etc... Crossing my fingers! Zeb
Faraer 10-25-03, 12:36 PM	According to paizopublishing.com, Dragon's current editor-in-chief is Chris Thomasson (chris.thomasson@paizo.com), but that may not be up to date. Dragon doesn't seem to be interested enough in specific-world material* to publish Ed's "Elminster's Guide to the Realms" articles or George Krashos's recently submitted, lore-heavy Impilturan swords article. I don't know whether Rich wants to or is in a position to encourage Dragon to support the Realms a bit better. "Elminster's Guide" is a sad loss for the setting. *Named worlds, that is; many of its articles are set in specific settings that just don't have names or contexts and are different each time. Let me know if that policy makes sense.
cwslyclgh 10-25-03, 12:46 PM	Dragon doesn't seem to be interested enough in specific-world material* to publish Ed's "Elminster's Guide to the Realms" articles or George Krashos's recently submitted, lore-heavy Impilturan swords article. I think it is more that they don't want atrticle that are mostly fluf with a tiny bit of crunch left in. the article of mine that they recently accepted was maybe 1/4 fluf and 3/4 crunch... so if you want to do an article about the ecology of the Shaar, I agree that Dragon isn't for you (Unless you are planning on adding 5-7 new monsters with the material or something). Savrass... you can find a copy of Dragon Magazines writers guidelines >>>HERE<<< (http://paizo.com/writersguidelines/dragon.html)
Selvarin 10-25-03, 02:42 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 Sigh, does this include changes in history or other flavor text also? Kuje, sometimes it *is* necessary. Look at the history-related errata that has yet to be 'updated' (fixed). Stuff happens. And Zeb, in WotC's view there already is an D20 Oriental campaign on store shelves (Rokugan). They have no need or interest in redeveloping Kara Tur when it'll compete directly with it. For all we know, the licensing agreement made with AEG may have a "Don't step on our toes by publishing another Oriental setting" clause, or something which accomplishes the same thing.
Kuje31 10-25-03, 02:53 PM	Originally posted by Selvarin Kuje, sometimes it *is* necessary. Look at the history-related errata that has yet to be 'updated' (fixed). Stuff happens. I know that, but tell that to the posters who don't agree with Rich's statement that new books rewrite old books, because he only gave an example of crunch, not fluff text. So I was trying to get a more specific answer of "does his statement also include history or other fluff text."
Selvarin 10-25-03, 03:06 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 I know that, but tell that to the posters who don't agree with Rich's statement that new books rewrite old books, because he only gave an example of crunch, not fluff text. So I was trying to get a more specific answer of "does his state also include history or other fluff text." Fair enough. It makes sense, though, that if new stuff comes out it'll take precedense over the old stuff (fluff or crunch), no? There will be times when it's inconvenient to keep with what went before (in which case they may well overwrite it), but not in wholesale manner. Just my observation.
Savras 10-25-03, 03:09 PM	Thanks, Gez and cwslyclgh! Savras
Kuje31 10-25-03, 03:36 PM	Originally posted by Selvarin Fair enough. It makes sense, though, that if new stuff comes out it'll take precedense over the old stuff (fluff or crunch), no? There will be times when it's inconvenient to keep with what went before (in which case they may well overwrite it), but not in wholesale manner. Just my observation. You would think so, but some people don't want to hear logic and common sense. :)
Herr Doktor 10-25-03, 04:34 PM	Rich, I know a lot of people want to see the timeline updated as frequently as was mentioned in the FRCS. I also understand why this has not occured (the laying offs and what not). May I suggest that someone create a running web article (like Ed Greenwood's Realmslore article) that is released every five months and updates the Forgotten Realms timeline by 2 months as per the original plans. In theory this seems highly manageable (with the 5 months between each update). Do you see this as being possible? I think it's a great idea and if you could mention it to the right people perhaps it could actually happen?
Iakhovas 10-26-03, 09:37 AM	Logic and common sense was certainly not present when Mr. Baker decided to rearrange the geography of the Realms so it could fit on a poster map... Similarly, there is seldom a *good* reason to change fluffy realms content or history. Change/remove one event, and inevitably you have broken several others that tie to the source. This is seen most prominently in the change to the outer planes. Originally posted by Kuje31 You would think so, but some people don't want to hear logic and common sense. :)
Laszlo Koller 10-26-03, 05:53 PM	Rich, First of all, I finally got my copy of Underdark. From what I've read so far it's a great product; keep up the great work. Second, I am a big fan of the three column layout in the spell section, please keep this format in all future releases. Finally, a quick comment that I'd like to make regarding the various regional supplements for future releases; take this as a requested feature by one of your customers. Would it be possible for future authors of regional supplements to include coinage (specifically names and values of such) used in the specific region? I know it's a small thing, but for a DM (like me) these are the small "brush strokes" that help us paint the big picture for our players. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for listening.
Selvarin 10-26-03, 08:00 PM	Just curious, in the case of Underdark would it have been good enough if they had included a listing of accepted types of currency, as opposed to specific currencies? With each Underdark city an independent state unto itself, listing each local currency would've been redundant. However, a listing of accepted forms of payment in general (rare shells used by the kuo-toans, platinum trade bars for drow merchant house, etc.) would've helped 'paint the picture', as it were. Only x number of countries in the Realms have distinct coinage systems, if it isn't recognized then they go back to whether a gold piece is a gold piece, a silver's a silver...Oh well, there's the file from Forgotten Realms Adventures that dealt with currencies. It should still prove useful.
PhilCW 10-26-03, 09:18 PM	With the great importance on commerce in the Realms, as well as the many power groups (Iron Throne, Rundeen, Zhentarim, etc) involved in mercantile activities, can we expect to see more information regarding the various merchant houses and so forth, as well as activities throughout Faerun published in future products? I recall in the old Forgotten Realms Adventures book, that many currencies were discussed. Furthermore the old Campaign Boxed Set for 2nd edition briefly touched upon some merchant houses. Although the interest in commerce of the Realms might not be high in potential customers for such a supplement, perhaps having a chapter appear in some other book could be of interest. A future book on Amn, Sembia or Waterdeep could do well to include such a tie in considering the importance of trade for said powers.
Dargoth 10-26-03, 10:08 PM	Players Guide to Faerun question Will Seans revised moster deity list appear in PGTF? ie Seans extended version of the Monster Deities Appendix in Faithes and Pantheons? Seeing as how Races of Faerun and 3.5 have opened up those gods followers as PC races, that table would be quite useful in PGTF
Selvarin 10-26-03, 10:12 PM	Hmm, didn't SKR also advocate getting rid of the Kuo-Toan goddess and replacing her with Umberlee? If the monster deity appendix doesn't include such a revision then I'd go for it as well.
Alzrius 10-27-03, 03:31 AM	Rich, I just saw the new article over in the Books part of the WotC site that detailed several of Drizzt Do'Urden's companions: http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/lonedrowstats One of the things this article touts is that it has updated 3.5E stats for Guenhwyvar. However, reading over her stats...somewhere in that transition, she went from being Neutral (in the FRCS) to Neutral Evil! How did that happen?! That is an error, right? Would if be possible to have someone (probably Mark A. Jindra) go and change that? I know WotC usually doesn't mess with pages after putting them up, but in this case removing that one little letter would get rid of a lot of unnecessary fuss.
Selvarin 10-27-03, 06:04 AM	Also, Regis is a 7th-level Rogue with a CR 8. Likewise Catti-Brie is a Ftr 7 but with a CR 8. Am I missing something here? But anyhow...It's good seeing these stats.
Dargoth 10-27-03, 06:55 AM	Rich abit of a Geography question for you Im looking for where the Netherese Unity Enclave came down when Karsus had his little accident Now using the Netheril: Empire of Magic maps, Unity aprently floated above a Far horns forest which no longer exists. Now on the Netherese map there is the following The Far Horns forest The Purple Mountains which run North-south and are located east of Far horn forest The Moss, this is a swamp or marsh to the West of the Far Horns Now on the modern Faerun map that came with the FRC there is an area that could be that area on the Netheril map The Far forest, the nameless forest between the Lonely moor and Fallen lands and the Forogtten Forest where once all joined together as the Far Horn Forest. The Lonely Moor is The Moss from the Netheril map and the Greypeak Hills are the Purple Mountains from the Netheril Map Would I be correct in placing the ruins of Unity Enclave some where in the are of The Lonely Moor/Greypeak Hills?
DreadStar 10-27-03, 07:39 AM	Rich Is the PGtFR going to fix some of the strange restrictions placed on Clerics in F&P? Here is just 2 examples Clerics of Grumbar F&P p96 1)Grumbarryn faithful swear an Oath of Landwalking never to travel through Air or across Water unless their life depends upon it. That meaning his Clerics could never cast Air Walk, Wind Walk, Water Breathing, Water Walk or even use a boat. 2)Under Kossuth it specifically talking about adventuring Clerics F&P p36 Adherents on the lowest terraces deny themselves all worldly goods and pleasures, donating to the higher terraces all but, the minimun needed to remain alive. In the case of adventuring Clerics the minimun includes armor, weapons and magic items. That would mean they must give all their gold to the church. Now I know I could just ignore or Rule 0 any rule I dislike but, I like to play by the rules. So, Rich is PGtFR going to try and fix some of these restrictions?
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:15 PM	Sorry, our web producers are not accepting unsolicited submissions at this time. You'll have to take it up with Julia, it's not my call. Originally posted by Archade Hey Rich, How do we aspiring authors contact Julia Martin? I have about five things I'm willing to submit to the FR website. Blair / Archade
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:16 PM	No, we would only specifically flag something that was a game mechanic change. Originally posted by Kuje31 Sigh, does this include changes in history or other flavor text also?
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:19 PM	They only get a passing mention in Serpent Kingdoms, I'm afraid. Kobolds are few and far between in Realmslore, really. Originally posted by Aldarc Here are some questions. We know that Yuan-ti and I believe Lizardfolk were mentioned for being in Serpent Kingdoms, but will there be anything about the much loved Kobolds? or will they gain their own Race/Supplement Book? or do you know if they are simply an honorable mention in the Draconomicon?
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:21 PM	In fact, you're very likely to see most of the cut material as a web enhancement, except the missing Monsters chapter. We've identified an upcoming Realms product where that chapter fits very nicely, so you'll just have to wait a little longer on the full monster writeups. (We will try to post the monster conversion appendix as soon as practicable, though.) Originally posted by Zanan Vendui Rich! (And, before you ask, no, it is simply not possible to make the book longer. There are business reasons for that decision, and I can't change 'em.) Well, unless business plans intervene or another book is on the way, why not place the left-out-stuff in one or two web-enhancements? If the changes are only meant to update old stuff to 3RE, this would be an easy way to do it, though not as profitable as another book. As for left-out-stuff themselves, as long as the Yathrinshee is still there among the PrC, I'll be happy enough. ;)
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:23 PM	Sorry, no plans for now. I'd love to get back to Kara-Tur, but there are still places in Faerun that we haven't really explored. RE: a web update, that would be a neat idea, but I can't write it now (novels kicking my butt). Originally posted by ZebRaderJedi Hi Rich, Any chance of a regional supplement for Kara-Tur in 2004 or 2005? If not, how about just a web-update about what has been happening in recent years. i.e.: Who's in charge? How are different nations faring? etc, etc... Crossing my fingers! Zeb
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:31 PM	I agree that that would be a pretty cool article, but here's what worries me from the creative side: the continuous creation of a large body of material that we would feel beholden to in future product. Unfortunately, there isn't really a central clearing house where we carefully inventory and inspect each bit of Realmslore before it gets published. No one person could possibly have the time to function as that hypothetical Realms Controller, even if I could persuade our business folks that such a job would be a good idea. So, what this means is that I can't count on freelance game designer X (or heck, even myself) having access to or familiarity with this novel that was written 10 years ago, or that series of Poly articles, or something Ed told some folks at GenCon last year. In that climate, I'm very hesitant to encourage the generation of a brand-new mass of Realmslore someplace where I'm not going to see or review it before it becomes official. Much as I would like to oblige, I just don't want to do something like that until I think we can do it right. Originally posted by Herr Doktor Rich, I know a lot of people want to see the timeline updated as frequently as was mentioned in the FRCS. I also understand why this has not occured (the laying offs and what not). May I suggest that someone create a running web article (like Ed Greenwood's Realmslore article) that is released every five months and updates the Forgotten Realms timeline by 2 months as per the original plans. In theory this seems highly manageable (with the 5 months between each update). Do you see this as being possible? I think it's a great idea and if you could mention it to the right people perhaps it could actually happen?
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:33 PM	All right, request noted. I'll see if we can squeeze that into the next one we're working on. Originally posted by Laszlo Koller Rich, First of all, I finally got my copy of Underdark. From what I've read so far it's a great product; keep up the great work. Second, I am a big fan of the three column layout in the spell section, please keep this format in all future releases. Finally, a quick comment that I'd like to make regarding the various regional supplements for future releases; take this as a requested feature by one of your customers. Would it be possible for future authors of regional supplements to include coinage (specifically names and values of such) used in the specific region? I know it's a small thing, but for a DM (like me) these are the small "brush strokes" that help us paint the big picture for our players. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for listening.
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:34 PM	We've discussed a product like this before, but we don't have immediate plans to do it. Originally posted by PhilCW With the great importance on commerce in the Realms, as well as the many power groups (Iron Throne, Rundeen, Zhentarim, etc) involved in mercantile activities, can we expect to see more information regarding the various merchant houses and so forth, as well as activities throughout Faerun published in future products? I recall in the old Forgotten Realms Adventures book, that many currencies were discussed. Furthermore the old Campaign Boxed Set for 2nd edition briefly touched upon some merchant houses. Although the interest in commerce of the Realms might not be high in potential customers for such a supplement, perhaps having a chapter appear in some other book could be of interest. A future book on Amn, Sembia or Waterdeep could do well to include such a tie in considering the importance of trade for said powers.
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:36 PM	I don't think that's in the Player's Guide. Originally posted by Dargoth Players Guide to Faerun question Will Seans revised moster deity list appear in PGTF? ie Seans extended version of the Monster Deities Appendix in Faithes and Pantheons? Seeing as how Races of Faerun and 3.5 have opened up those gods followers as PC races, that table would be quite useful in PGTF
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:37 PM	I'll forward this to Julia. All I can say is, it wasn't me! Originally posted by Alzrius Rich, I just saw the new article over in the Books part of the WotC site that detailed several of Drizzt Do'Urden's companions: http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/lonedrowstats One of the things this article touts is that it has updated 3.5E stats for Guenhwyvar. However, reading over her stats...somewhere in that transition, she went from being Neutral (in the FRCS) to Neutral Evil! How did that happen?! That is an error, right? Would if be possible to have someone (probably Mark A. Jindra) go and change that? I know WotC usually doesn't mess with pages after putting them up, but in this case removing that one little letter would get rid of a lot of unnecessary fuss.
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:40 PM	Off the top of my head, I have no idea. I don't know the Netheril set well enough to give you an informed answer without researching it some, and it sounds like you've already done that. I don't think your reasoning is off, though. Originally posted by Dargoth Rich abit of a Geography question for you Im looking for where the Netherese Unity Enclave came down when Karsus had his little accident Now using the Netheril: Empire of Magic maps, Unity aprently floated above a Far horns forest which no longer exists. Now on the Netherese map there is the following The Far Horns forest The Purple Mountains which run North-south and are located east of Far horn forest The Moss, this is a swamp or marsh to the West of the Far Horns Now on the modern Faerun map that came with the FRC there is an area that could be that area on the Netheril map The Far forest, the nameless forest between the Lonely moor and Fallen lands and the Forogtten Forest where once all joined together as the Far Horn Forest. The Lonely Moor is The Moss from the Netheril map and the Greypeak Hills are the Purple Mountains from the Netheril Map Would I be correct in placing the ruins of Unity Enclave some where in the are of The Lonely Moor/Greypeak Hills?
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 01:43 PM	No, the Player's Guide doesn't address these. To be honest, they're really roleplaying restrictions, not mechanical restrictions. In the first case, you can ignore it if you think you need to. In the second, there's nothing stopping you from buying up all the magic items you want, and then just donating the change to your superiors. I think that any of these sort of comments about how clerics do and don't act are intended as guidelines, not unbreakable restrictions. Originally posted by DreadStar Rich Is the PGtFR going to fix some of the strange restrictions placed on Clerics in F&P? Here is just 2 examples Clerics of Grumbar F&P p96 1)Grumbarryn faithful swear an Oath of Landwalking never to travel through Air or across Water unless their life depends upon it. That meaning his Clerics could never cast Air Walk, Wind Walk, Water Breathing, Water Walk or even use a boat. 2)Under Kossuth it specifically talking about adventuring Clerics F&P p36 Adherents on the lowest terraces deny themselves all worldly goods and pleasures, donating to the higher terraces all but, the minimun needed to remain alive. In the case of adventuring Clerics the minimun includes armor, weapons and magic items. That would mean they must give all their gold to the church. Now I know I could just ignore or Rule 0 any rule I dislike but, I like to play by the rules. So, Rich is PGtFR going to try and fix some of these restrictions?
Another Gnome 10-27-03, 01:44 PM	However, reading over her stats...somewhere in that transition, she went from being Neutral (in the FRCS) to Neutral Evil! It says Neutral Good, not Neutral Evil.
Alisair Longreach II 10-27-03, 02:36 PM	Is there a Cold/Frost/Winter clerical Domain in the Player's Guide?
Ill 10-27-03, 03:52 PM	Originally posted by Alisair Longreach II Is there a Cold/Frost/Winter clerical Domain in the Player's Guide? IIRC, yes.
Gez 10-27-03, 06:11 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker They only get a passing mention in Serpent Kingdoms, I'm afraid. Kobolds are few and far between in Realmslore, really. I think there was a kobold legion that took a city somewhere in the Vilhon Reach, before being chased off by yuan-ti... I'm downloading the Vilhon Reach (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/downloads) to check this.
Gez 10-27-03, 06:19 PM	There: 527 DR -- Hlondeth Attacked As the rhetoric of the druids increased and the Lords of Turmish bickered among themselves, the city of Hlondeth came under attack from an unexpected source -- kobolds from the Tattered Cloth Legion. The Legion had always been a source of trouble for the traders in the area, but no one knew that they had amassed such numbers until they invaded through the sewer system at dusk during the Spring of 527. More than 1,000 people died at the hands of the kobolds in the first few hours of the attack. Burning wagons blocked the roads, and the palace of the governor burned like a beacon in the night. By dawn, the entire quarter of the city that housed the social elite lay in ruin, with the exception of the emerald-hued walls of Lord Shevron Extaminos (LG hm Pal12). All who ran to his gates were allowed in, from the simple peasants to the most powerful aristocrat. Ever since he was a child, Shevron Extaminos had a particular affinity with reptiles. His compound included thousands of snakes that he kept in a secluded garden. When he desired quiet and peaceful contemplation, he went to his garden with his snakes. By the end of the first week of the siege of the kobolds, Shevron was wondering how much longer he could hold out. The battle was waged according to the terms of the kobolds. All he did is sat in his walled compound and repel the attacks. He needed something drastic to drive them away. He prayed for hours to Ilmater, his patron, for inspiration and guidance. He found it in the snakes that slithered all around him. As he emerged from his sanctuary, a teeming mass of snakes slithered behind him. As the kobolds rushed forward, Shevron ordered the gates opened and he charged them. Kobolds died at all sides of him as the snakes surged forward into the assembled host of evil creatures. The defenders of House Extaminos charged in behind the snakes. The governing quarter of Hlondeth was freed from kobold control that night, but Shevron himself was killed in the battle. The snakes disappeared as well, but no defender of the house was reportedly killed by the serpents. Within days, the remainder of Hlondeth was cleared of kobolds. The survivors of Hlondeth learned that the kobolds had been led by dark elves, the evil denizens of the deep earth. Their leader, Shilaris Shemwith, had reportedly hidden the treasury of Hlondeth below in the sewers and took the rest with her on her return trip below the earth. Neither the dark elf leader nor the treasure has ever been found. The survivors of the kobold attack held a great hatred of Chondath for the lack of support during the raid. While the first few attempts to claim independence failed, Hlondeth finally claimed its independence in 614. Well, it wasn't yuan-ti, after all. (Although this Shevron fellow was probably serpent-blooded.)
Faraer 10-27-03, 06:35 PM	Rich, thanks for actually using the term 'Realmslore'.
Dargoth 10-27-03, 07:24 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Off the top of my head, I have no idea. I don't know the Netheril set well enough to give you an informed answer without researching it some, and it sounds like you've already done that. I don't think your reasoning is off, though. ok thanks By the way if you do eventualy do a Anauroch regional sup how about including a map of Netheril before the fall?
Scimitar'sEdge 10-27-03, 07:37 PM	ok, Richard, first i would like to say i am a huge fan. continueing, i would be interested to know what the Geildirion of Cimbar does in terms of the roleplaying game using 3.5th edition rules. Incase you dont remember what it is (which i doubt), i will refresh your memory. It is the magical tome that the characters from WotSQ had to fetch from Myth Drannor for Tzirik and Jezz. The one that the Beholder was guarding...
Arkenian 10-27-03, 07:57 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker (We will try to post the monster conversion appendix as soon as practicable, though.) Dare one hope that this means "As in, before March"? *sniffles* Am I allowed to register a general complaint that it seems like no sooner do I decide what my campaign is going to do next, than I discover that the FR supplement that is perfect for the campaign will be published . . . shortly after I've finished the project in question? Its a depressing trend. Please, however, pass on my admiration and thanks for the awesome work done in Underdark, particularly that truly lovely map. -Arkenian the Golden
loki87 10-27-03, 08:08 PM	Please, however, pass on my admiration and thanks for the awesome work done in Underdark, particularly that truly lovely map. Though it would have been even nicer as a pull-out map! ;)
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 08:18 PM	Thanks, glad you liked it! RE: The Geildirion, it was my notion that it was one of those unique spellbooks like those described in Pages from the Mages (if you remember that 2nd Ed. FR product). It's loaded with a number of miscellaneous useful spells, much like a normal spellbook, but then it also contains a couple of unique spells found nowhere else, which is why the Jaelres were really interested in it. What exactly those unique spells are--gosh, I never thought that far ahead. If Pharaun had had a chance to look at it before Jezz cut out, I suppose I would have had to think of something cool. But since Jezz blinks out once he's got the book, I never had to specify it more than that. That's what us authors sometimes refer to as a "MacGuffin" -- something that exists in your book because your characters need something to go do. It's a pretty common device, even if it is a little lazy. Originally posted by Scimitar'sEdge ok, Richard, first i would like to say i am a huge fan. continueing, i would be interested to know what the Geildirion of Cimbar does in terms of the roleplaying game using 3.5th edition rules. Incase you dont remember what it is (which i doubt), i will refresh your memory. It is the magical tome that the characters from WotSQ had to fetch from Myth Drannor for Tzirik and Jezz. The one that the Beholder was guarding...
WotC_RichBaker 10-27-03, 08:19 PM	We might be able to sneak something like that into another product we have in mind, which is too far away for me to say much about right now. I'll have to wait a couple of months before I can start really dropping hints about Product X. Originally posted by Dargoth ok thanks By the way if you do eventualy do a Anauroch regional sup how about including a map of Netheril before the fall?
Dargoth 10-27-03, 09:11 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker We might be able to sneak something like that into another product we have in mind, which is too far away for me to say much about right now. I'll have to wait a couple of months before I can start really dropping hints about Product X. Intriging...... By the way are the remaining 2 unannounced FR products for release in 2004 Regional Supplements? Also I spoted something in Underdark Underdark says the Mines of Tethyrmar where overun by Demons/Tannar'ri while its 2ed equivelant Drizzt guide to the Underdark makes reference to Baatezu.
Alzrius 10-27-03, 11:14 PM	Originally posted by Another Gnome It says Neutral Good, not Neutral Evil. It says that now. Seems that mention I made to Rich (which he passed along to Julia) did the trick! Thanks Rich!
Israfel666 10-28-03, 09:26 AM	Originally posted by Selvarin Also, Regis is a 7th-level Rogue with a CR 8. Likewise Catti-Brie is a Ftr 7 but with a CR 8. Am I missing something here? Their CR has been increased due to their unbalanced equipment (which is far more powerful than what 7th-level character should get)
Another Gnome 10-28-03, 12:17 PM	Okay, this is probably not the right place to bring this up, but since apparently it took about five minutes to fix those stats for Companions of the Hall, I would really appreciate it if finally corrections were made to Liriel Baenre's stats (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/fr/baenre2) as well. I hate whining, but those corrections have been literally asked and awaited for several months now. Would it help if a set of 3.5 revised stats were included in the errata to sweeten the deal..? Seriously. Many of us worked for weeks to make sure no rules were broken in those stats if at all possible, and then seeing something as trivial as Liriel's speed being given as 40 ft. on the website was rather disappointing (that among other things; Elaine Cunningham likely has the list of suggested corrections).
Selvarin 10-28-03, 02:50 PM	Originally posted by Israfel666 Their CR has been increased due to their unbalanced equipment (which is far more powerful than what 7th-level character should get) Wtf? This is getting really lame. A PC of x level can only have X amount of goods/magic, an NPC can only have...My feeling is "So what?" Does it need a special note? Some of these 3e mechanisms should just be used as guidelines . What do they have to say about a 3rd-level aristocrat who inherits 1/4 the finances of a noble family whose net worth is 8 million gold pieces? *shakes head* This is yet another instance where (IMO) D&D has become ninny-nanny. Some characters will have more than others, NPC or otherwise. Just like in real life. And more to the point, I've seen more than a few characters whose total wealth is in line with the numbers provided but who are probably a little more dangerous than their character level/CR would suggest. Should their character level/CR be readjusted as well? Thanks for letting me know, Israfel, in any case. AG, you're better off posting the corrected stats on a website of your own. Correcting Liriel's stats isn't a priority--or it won't be until the paperback edition of Windwalker comes out.
Scimitar'sEdge 10-28-03, 03:29 PM	hey rich, i dont suppose you could put out Pharaun's stats on this thread. I know he was in some dragon mag issue but i didnt have my subscription until almost 3 or 4 months after that issue came out and i really want to know his game statistics... thnx
Thane Goldstone IV 10-28-03, 03:44 PM	I was looking through the feat section and saw the "Caver" feat. Cool, thinks I! I wonder what it does? Answer: It's Self-Sufficent (from the PHB) but only works while in the Underdark. +2 Heal, +2 Survival, only in Underdark. [sarcasm on] Ah, of course. We all know Heal and Survival are the two most uber skills in Underdark play. It was not enough for me to take Skill Focus: Heal, Skill Focus: Survival and Self-Sufficient, no, +5/+5 was not enough! I needed another +2/+2 that only works in the Underdark! [sarcasm off] Rich, is this what the feat was supposed to be? Maybe it was meant to be a couple of other skills, or +3/+3? This is not a good precedent to set... (That is, making a feat that is lower-power than a +2/+2 skill feat, of which, only the Alertness feat comes close to being more than flavor. I do give props to Skill Focus: Disable Device though. I narrowly made both Disable checks last game session because of the feat.)
Israfel666 10-28-03, 03:51 PM	Originally posted by Selvarin Wtf? This is getting really lame. A PC of x level can only have X amount of goods/magic, an NPC can only have...My feeling is "So what?" Does it need a special note? Some of these 3e mechanisms should just be used as guidelines . What do they have to say about a 3rd-level aristocrat who inherits 1/4 the finances of a noble family whose net worth is 8 million gold pieces? (I don't want to derail this thread any further, so if you, Selvarin, want to continue the discussion, I'd like you to just PM me) Since the Challenge Rating is a measurer of the threat a creature poses to foes, it is obvious that giving her more powerful equipment than it deserves should up her CR. I believe the DMG covers this fact, and if it doesn't, it should. Just think about it for a moment: shouldn't your characters receive more XP for defeating a 5th-level fighter with a +5 keen flaming burst disarming bastard sword and a +5 full plate mail of heavy fortification than a 5th-level fighter with standard equipment? I say they should. Therefore, the first opponent should have a CR higher than the second opponent's CR 5, since he is effectively a tougher challenge.
WotC_RichBaker 10-28-03, 04:27 PM	Sorry, I don't have the edited files. I believe you'll find it in issue #302--Pharaun was one of the first batch of WotSQ characters to get published. Originally posted by Scimitar'sEdge hey rich, i dont suppose you could put out Pharaun's stats on this thread. I know he was in some dragon mag issue but i didnt have my subscription until almost 3 or 4 months after that issue came out and i really want to know his game statistics... thnx
WotC_RichBaker 10-28-03, 04:30 PM	You're right, it's lame. Its only virtue is that it stacks with Self-Sufficient, if you want to bury two feats into Survival and Heal checks (not that anyone would). I don't know how it got through, but my guess would be that Underdark was being written while the 3.5 Player's Handbook was finishing up, and I just missed the fact that it duplicated Self-Sufficient. Our bad. Originally posted by Thane Goldstone IV I was looking through the feat section and saw the "Caver" feat. Cool, thinks I! I wonder what it does? Answer: It's Self-Sufficent (from the PHB) but only works while in the Underdark. +2 Heal, +2 Survival, only in Underdark. [sarcasm on] Ah, of course. We all know Heal and Survival are the two most uber skills in Underdark play. It was not enough for me to take Skill Focus: Heal, Skill Focus: Survival and Self-Sufficient, no, +5/+5 was not enough! I needed another +2/+2 that only works in the Underdark! [sarcasm off] Rich, is this what the feat was supposed to be? Maybe it was meant to be a couple of other skills, or +3/+3? This is not a good precedent to set... (That is, making a feat that is lower-power than a +2/+2 skill feat, of which, only the Alertness feat comes close to being more than flavor. I do give props to Skill Focus: Disable Device though. I narrowly made both Disable checks last game session because of the feat.)
Another Gnome 10-28-03, 05:00 PM	Selvarin: AG, you're better off posting the corrected stats on a website of your own. Correcting Liriel's stats isn't a priority--or it won't be until the paperback edition of Windwalker comes out. True enough, but just to be clear, those corrections are about rules and math, not an alternate version of Liriel more to my liking. And since the stats are WotC property, they can't be simply posted on another website - one of the reasons the stats were submitted to WotC approval for the official site instead of uploading them somewhere else to begin with. Regardless, It seems I'm sounding more negative than I intend to, so I'll just withdraw the question...
Kershek 10-28-03, 06:57 PM	Originally posted by Arkenian Dare one hope that this means "As in, before March"? *sniffles* Am I allowed to register a general complaint that it seems like no sooner do I decide what my campaign is going to do next, than I discover that the FR supplement that is perfect for the campaign will be published . . . shortly after I've finished the project in question? Its a depressing trend. Sounds familiar. We had a huge orc battle two weeks before Harbinger came out. Now we have the miniatures we would have needed. We don't game often enough to miss an opportunity to play. Now we're doing something resembling "Night of the Living Dead," but the undead are too expensive to grab as singles right now. I'm sure in a couple of months it will be a different story. Sigh.
Scimitar'sEdge 10-28-03, 06:59 PM	just as a question from a fellow writer, which book or dnd suppliment do you pride yourself most in Rich?
Selvarin 10-28-03, 09:59 PM	Originally posted by Israfel666 (I don't want to derail this thread any further, so if you, Selvarin, want to continue the discussion, I'd like you to just PM me) Since the Challenge Rating is a measurer of the threat a creature poses to foes, it is obvious that giving her more powerful equipment than it deserves should up her CR. I believe the DMG covers this fact, and if it doesn't, it should. Just think about it for a moment: shouldn't your characters receive more XP for defeating a 5th-level fighter with a +5 keen flaming burst disarming bastard sword and a +5 full plate mail of heavy fortification than a 5th-level fighter with standard equipment? I say they should. Therefore, the first opponent should have a CR higher than the second opponent's CR 5, since he is effectively a tougher challenge. You have a point, but if I'm not mistaken this is the very same game wherein XP isn't awarded for defeating creatures which have been summoned by another creature/NPC on the basis that it's 'already been factored in' for the creature/NPC in question. Sometimes it makes no difference (the summoned beasties wouldn't provide much XP anyway), at other times it would seem to be a rip-off. Of course I may have been reading what's in the DMG incorrectly. In my case the real point was about the listing for how much goods/money a PC, NPC, or creature should have based upon their level is being used a bit too rigidly. However, this is defintely off-topic in this thread... AG, fair enough if you mean the official stats (which you clearly do mean). Thanks for bringing that up. In any case some of the flavor was sucked out of Liriel's stats after it was combed over prior to official posting on the website. One thing that should definitely be changed is Liriel's alignment. In the original write-up I left it as 'CN or NG', the NG portion was included because I was under the impression that she would gravitate towards taking a level of Hathran by the end of Windwalker . It's clear that she didn't, so the logical choice would've been CN (pre-WW) and then CG (by the end of the book). Whoops, back to being on-topic. *thinks of something Rich Baker-ish to ask/duscuss*
Alzrius 10-28-03, 11:58 PM	Rich, In the magic armors section of Underdark, the Xorn Movement armor quality says it grants the wearer use of the Xorn Movement spell...and says to see chapter 4 of that book for that spell. However, there is no such spell in chapter 4! The last spell in the book is Word of Balance. Can you help us out here?
Kuje31 10-29-03, 12:34 AM	Originally posted by Alzrius Rich, In the magic armors section of Underdark, the Xorn Movement armor quality says it grants the wearer use of the Xorn Movement spell...and says to see chapter 4 of that book for that spell. However, there is no such spell in chapter 4! The last spell in the book is Word of Balance. Can you help us out here? It's in the Manual of the Planes..... At least that is what some one posted in my Errata thread, which has fallen down the board, since not many people found errors.
Alzrius 10-29-03, 02:28 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 It's in the Manual of the Planes..... At least that is what some one posted in my Errata thread, which has fallen down the board, since not many people found errors. Ah...well, that clears that up then. Thanks Kuje!
WotC_RichBaker 10-29-03, 12:56 PM	Jeeze, that's hard... I think my favorite novel is City of Ravens. I think my favorite 3E RPG is Unapproachable East, maybe Monster Manual 3.5. My favorite 2E product... Birthright? Spells and Magic? The Will and the Way? Planescape MC II? Heck, I don't know. Originally posted by Scimitar'sEdge just as a question from a fellow writer, which book or dnd suppliment do you pride yourself most in Rich?
ScarLip 10-29-03, 02:03 PM	Rich Any new info on Complete Warrior like the name and number of feats and PrCs or maybe you could post the ToC? :D
jasamcarl 10-29-03, 02:12 PM	Originally posted by Selvarin You have a point, but if I'm not mistaken this is the very same game wherein XP isn't awarded for defeating creatures which have been summoned by another creature/NPC on the basis that it's 'already been factored in' for the creature/NPC in question. Sometimes it makes no difference (the summoned beasties wouldn't provide much XP anyway), at other times it would seem to be a rip-off. Of course I may have been reading what's in the DMG incorrectly. In my case the real point was about the listing for how much goods/money a PC, NPC, or creature should have based upon their level is being used a bit too rigidly. However, this is defintely off-topic in this thread... AG, fair enough if you mean the official stats (which you clearly do mean). Thanks for bringing that up. In any case some of the flavor was sucked out of Liriel's stats after it was combed over prior to official posting on the website. One thing that should definitely be changed is Liriel's alignment. In the original write-up I left it as 'CN or NG', the NG portion was included because I was under the impression that she would gravitate towards taking a level of Hathran by the end of Windwalker . It's clear that she didn't, so the logical choice would've been CN (pre-WW) and then CG (by the end of the book). Whoops, back to being on-topic. *thinks of something Rich Baker-ish to ask/duscuss* I'm having trouble seeing the logic in your position. You think the link between treasure and level fails to model certain characters. This author has taken a more flexible approach? So you object to..what, a more accurate CR? You apparently have one of those metagamey notions of what constitues flavorful npcs...these are real heroes, so whenever a dm puts them up against their pcs, they (the pcs) HAVE to have thier asses handed to them and MUST get less xp for doing so? Is that right? A wee bit irrational are we?
Arkenian 10-29-03, 02:16 PM	Hmmmm.. Since we covered spellcasting prodigy, what about that other FR feat that everyone thinks should be nerfed, Persistent Spell? Any changes there? Also, while I appreciate that the FRPG isn't designed to replace the FRCS, what level of commitment would you say you've got to keeping the non-included elements (esp. the geography) in print and "Available"?
cwslyclgh 10-29-03, 02:30 PM	Hmmmm.. Since we covered spellcasting prodigy, what about that other FR feat that everyone thinks should be nerfed, Persistent Spell? Any changes there? Persistant Spell isn't just a FR feat, it is in Tome and Blood also, and it doesn't realy need fixing (Other then to perhaps clairify what spells they meant to beable to be persisted).
Arkenian 10-29-03, 02:56 PM	Originally posted by cwslyclgh Persistant Spell isn't just a FR feat, it is in Tome and Blood also, and it doesn't realy need fixing (Other then to perhaps clairify what spells they meant to beable to be persisted). Well there's clarification is in the FRCS errata. I don't necessarily think it needs fixing either, but I know a lot of people do :cool:
Selvarin 10-29-03, 03:46 PM	Jas, dear, I like keeping things simple. I've just been noticing how much more we have to keep track of things these days, from ECL's, LA's, etc.... my rant (logical or illogical) in this case is more on how wealth to CL/CR ratio seems to be adhered to too tightly. I'm looking farther down the road, wondering if we'll be adjusting everyone's equivalent level because they have more than they should at x level. Whether Regis hands your players' rumps to them on a platter is immaterial to me (although if 'Rumblebelly' can do so more power to 'im, he could use the exercise). There are many ways in which characters can be more powerful than their character level would indicate, not just magic items greater than the typical x-level character may have, and I wonder if/when it'll progress to the point where a human fighter with exceptional strength and killer feats will be given an ECL in some future revision of D&D because he can devastate foes better than the 'average' fighter of his level. Now do you see where I might be going with some of this? If not, no big deal.
WotC_RichBaker 10-29-03, 04:15 PM	Sorry, don't have it here at my desk. Yesterday I had a chance to thumb through an early press copy we've got here in the office; I believe there's something like 35 prestige classes? A number are revisions to Sword and Fist classes, but a pile are brand new. Originally posted by ScarLip Rich Any new info on Complete Warrior like the name and number of feats and PrCs or maybe you could post the ToC? :D
Kieran Bloodthorne 10-29-03, 04:17 PM	Rich, Is there any chance of changing your mind on how to revise Spellcasting Prodigy? Many of the people that have problems with the feat are keen to compare it to 3.5's version of spell focus, as it gives an equal bonus to DCs in all schools. Andy Collins, however, had stated both here and on his messageboards that it would be balanced to use Spell Focus at +2 if GSF were banned- the only reason both Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus were made +1 is that R&D didn't feel that it could retroactively remove GSF. So if Spell Focus at +2 was balanced, it would be somewhat underpowered at +1, and not entirely suited for use as a benchmark feat. Instead of comparing Spellcasting Prodigy to the Spell Focus feats, my thought is that it is a better analogy to compare it to the Sun Elf Racial adjustments. Sun Elves get a +2 to Int and a -2 to Con along with the standard elven bonuses that simulate the Alertness feat, give weapon proficiencies, grant Low-light vision, grant immunity to Sleep, and give bonuses vs enchantment/charm. In comparison, humans get a bonus feat at 1st level and an extra skill point every level. Spellcasting prodigy effectively gives you the benefits of that one Sun Elf benefit at the expense of the human's extra feat and bonus skill points per level (Spellcasting Prodigy doesn't grant the extra skill point that a +2 bump to INT normally would, but you already have the extra +1 pt per level because of your human heritage- it's essentially a wash). Other demihumans that take the feat effectively have a skill point deficit (if only a virtual one), and use up their only feat at first level. It's certainly a good feat, but not one that I would consider to be broken when viewed in context. Things definitely needed to be reined in from 3.0, as it was too easy to get the perfect mix of feats and class abilites (Spell Power!) to boost DCs into the mid 40's. I'm just worried that the pendulum may be swinging too far in the other direction, making it too difficult for spellcasters to affect people at high levels(when they are supposed to be coming into their own after languishing at low levels). If a group (like mine) focuses on saving throws, it becomes even harder. I guess I'm just concerned that the baby doesn't get thrown out with the bathwater :) :tiphat: Thanks for answering all these questions, btw. I'm trying not to drool over the Player's Guide :D
WotC_RichBaker 10-29-03, 04:19 PM	Basically, we were thinking of scaling Persistent Spell by the duration of the spell you were making persistent: 1 hour/level = +1 spell level 10 min/level = +2 spell level 1 min/level = +4 spell level 1 minute = +6 spell level 1 round/level = +6 spell level However, I don't have the developed text for Player's Guide here, so I don't know exactly how that ended up. Originally posted by Arkenian Hmmmm.. Since we covered spellcasting prodigy, what about that other FR feat that everyone thinks should be nerfed, Persistent Spell? Any changes there? Also, while I appreciate that the FRPG isn't designed to replace the FRCS, what level of commitment would you say you've got to keeping the non-included elements (esp. the geography) in print and "Available"?
WotC_RichBaker 10-29-03, 04:24 PM	You draw a good analogy, but we're pretty sure we need to fix it. The problem with save DCs is a problem of accumulating +1's and +2's from many different places. Heck, even the sun elf would likely not fly through our development process these days--that's how badly we want to keep DCs in the range of the reasonable. The only reason we're not revising the sun elf is game inertia. Originally posted by Kieran Bloodthorne Rich, Is there any chance of changing your mind on how to revise Spellcasting Prodigy? Many of the people that have problems with the feat are keen to compare it to 3.5's version of spell focus, as it gives an equal bonus to DCs in all schools. Andy Collins, however, had stated both here and on his messageboards that it would be balanced to use Spell Focus at +2 if GSF were banned- the only reason both Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus were made +1 is that R&D didn't feel that it could retroactively remove GSF. So if Spell Focus at +2 was balanced, it would be somewhat underpowered at +1, and not entirely suited for use as a benchmark feat. Instead of comparing Spellcasting Prodigy to the Spell Focus feats, my thought is that it is a better analogy to compare it to the Sun Elf Racial adjustments. Sun Elves get a +2 to Int and a -2 to Con along with the standard elven bonuses that simulate the Alertness feat, give weapon proficiencies, grant Low-light vision, grant immunity to Sleep, and give bonuses vs enchantment/charm. In comparison, humans get a bonus feat at 1st level and an extra skill point every level. Spellcasting prodigy effectively gives you the benefits of that one Sun Elf benefit at the expense of the human's extra feat and bonus skill points per level (Spellcasting Prodigy doesn't grant the extra skill point that a +2 bump to INT normally would, but you already have the extra +1 pt per level because of your human heritage- it's essentially a wash). Other demihumans that take the feat effectively have a skill point deficit (if only a virtual one), and use up their only feat at first level. It's certainly a good feat, but not one that I would consider to be broken when viewed in context. Things definitely needed to be reined in from 3.0, as it was too easy to get the perfect mix of feats and class abilites (Spell Power!) to boost DCs into the mid 40's. I'm just worried that the pendulum may be swinging too far in the other direction, making it too difficult for spellcasters to affect people at high levels(when they are supposed to be coming into their own after languishing at low levels). If a group (like mine) focuses on saving throws, it becomes even harder. I guess I'm just concerned that the baby doesn't get thrown out with the bathwater :) :tiphat: Thanks for answering all these questions, btw. I'm trying not to drool over the Player's Guide :D
Gez 10-29-03, 05:02 PM	Originally posted by Alzrius Rich, In the magic armors section of Underdark, the Xorn Movement armor quality says it grants the wearer use of the Xorn Movement spell...and says to see chapter 4 of that book for that spell. If I'm allowed to post it here as an errata for those who have Underdark but not the MotP: Targets may swim through earth as do a xorn. Manual of the Planes School: Transmutation Level: Sor/Wiz 5 Components: V, S, F Casting Time: 1 action Range: Touch Target: Creature touched Duration: 1 round/level or see text Saving Throws: Will negates (harmless) Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless) The target of this spell may move through natural, solid material such as earth and stone such as a xorn, burrowing through the earth but leaving behind no tunnel or sign of passage. The target cannot move through worked stone, brick, or metal. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a creature using xorn movement will fling the target back 30 feet and stun it for 1 round (a successful Fortitude save negates the stunning). The target of xorn movement is able to breathe normally while entombed in earth and natural rock. The xorn movement spell lasts a minimum of 1 round/level. If the target has not emerged into a significant volume of open air (a space large enough to contain the target comfortably) for the entire duration of the spell, xorn movement remains in effect until the target does move into such an area. In this fashion, characters who find themselves deep in the Elemental Plane of Earth can find their way to safety. Focus: A scale from a xorn's hide.
orinbalenovic 10-29-03, 05:35 PM	Hey Rich, I was just wondering with all those new books coming out, could you shed some light on who did the artwork? Personally, I'd very much like to see stuff done by Lockwood, Wood, Reynolds and/or Sasso. And there is the other thing I was wondering about…how are Two-Weapon Defense and Twin sword fighting style intended to work together? Is one just a conversion of the other (because they do seem pretty similar)? Thanks
jasamcarl 10-29-03, 05:42 PM	Originally posted by Selvarin Jas, dear, I like keeping things simple. I've just been noticing how much more we have to keep track of things these days, from ECL's, LA's, etc.... my rant (logical or illogical) in this case is more on how wealth to CL/CR ratio seems to be adhered to too tightly. I'm looking farther down the road, wondering if we'll be adjusting everyone's equivalent level because they have more than they should at x level. Whether Regis hands your players' rumps to them on a platter is immaterial to me (although if 'Rumblebelly' can do so more power to 'im, he could use the exercise). There are many ways in which characters can be more powerful than their character level would indicate, not just magic items greater than the typical x-level character may have, and I wonder if/when it'll progress to the point where a human fighter with exceptional strength and killer feats will be given an ECL in some future revision of D&D because he can devastate foes better than the 'average' fighter of his level. Now do you see where I might be going with some of this? If not, no big deal. Ummm..yeah, there should be some way of keeping track of ecl so as to allow for appropriate encounters. In the case of an optimal/subobtimal fighter, i would say some rebalancing should be done, but in leu of that some guidlines on adjusting LA would be great. Thus you could have flexibility and balance. Or do you simply see a problem with balance as a concept? I find this example an odd one. The player kept the npcs to a certain level, but gave them better gear than the dmg allows for. Now here, the link between level/gp was broken, so what's your problem? That he gave a more accurate CR? It doesn't limit player or dm options or so what? What is especially wierd is that you were the one who brought up the incongruity between level and CR, so you place some emphasis on the rules. Would you rather it be simple in all cases and be ignorant of balance conscerns? Still not getting it...
Purple Dragon Knight 10-30-03, 03:55 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Basically, we were thinking of scaling Persistent Spell by the duration of the spell you were making persistent: 1 hour/level = +1 spell level 10 min/level = +2 spell level 1 min/level = +4 spell level 1 minute = +6 spell level 1 round/level = +6 spell level However, I don't have the developed text for Player's Guide here, so I don't know exactly how that ended up. Hmm... considering the prerequisite, Extend Spell, which doubles the duration already, this nerfed version seems awfully anemic. I'd be more inclined to blow a feat on Persistent Spell if it would do something like "Quadruples the duration for two extra levels." I don't think you can use the same Metamagic feat twice on the same spell in 3.5 (dunno if we ever could, never got that far with a character...), so Persistent quadrupling for two levels, as opposed to Extend doubling for one level cost, would seem pretty fair to me. Otherwise, a complicated +something level jambalaya will make me look away from the feat and stay satisfied with the simplicity of Extend Spell. Besides, most combats last less than 5 rounds, so rounds per level spells are useless past their normal duration. The strength of Persistent lied in the fact that at high level, you don't need to bother casting the same damn insignificant spells all the time... only once with Persistent and you were good for 24 hours. And even then I was seriously considering not taking it (hard choice around 10th level, when you could spend your rare feats on Spell Penetration instead, when all monsters have it at that time...) Edit: please don't make 15+ level mages blow their first round to cast an already nerfed Shield spell when everyone with an armor can strut around with at least AC 30... Persistent is a good way to explain why archmages have all those force fields on 24/7.
Selvarin 10-30-03, 04:27 AM	Originally posted by jasamcarl Ummm..yeah, there should be some way of keeping track of ecl so as to allow for appropriate encounters. In the case of an optimal/subobtimal fighter, i would say some rebalancing should be done, but in leu of that some guidlines on adjusting LA would be great. Thus you could have flexibility and balance. Or do you simply see a problem with balance as a concept? I find this example an odd one. The player kept the npcs to a certain level, but gave them better gear than the dmg allows for. Now here, the link between level/gp was broken, so what's your problem? That he gave a more accurate CR? It doesn't limit player or dm options or so what? What is especially wierd is that you were the one who brought up the incongruity between level and CR, so you place some emphasis on the rules. Would you rather it be simple in all cases and be ignorant of balance conscerns? Still not getting it... Before responding, I decided to re-read the updated entries for Cattie-brie and Regis a few more times. There is a difference between my recollection and what's actually written, and I can now say there is some justification for the extra CR. ( +3 force keen elven longbow? Ouch.) I was focused more on the general idea of CR/ECL adjustments being adjusted due to having X-more wealth/equipment than on the specifics. Therefore a 'mea culpa' is in order. As for for balance in general, no. Sometimes it just seems like it adds up to a lot more book keeping than before in order to keep that 'balance'. What this brought to mind for me was the idea that if one felt justified in raising the CR of a monster or NPC based on some higher-powered items, perhaps we might see this as a new game mechanic (wayyyy) down the road that's used to affect player character XP awards via ECL. Perhaps. And I'm not sure whether or not it'll be a good thing-- in general.
Dargoth 10-30-03, 07:35 AM	Rich In the FRC under the Cleric region section Cyric is listed as having the Moonsea as a favoured region, now given that most of Cyrics followers where killed in Xvims Tyrant fog this seems rather strange, the moonsea entry also has him listed as major deity in the region. The entry for Zhentil Keep even says all the surviving Cyricist in Zhentil Keep fled to Amn. given this, it is likely that Cyric would be barely able to marshal a 1,000 worshipers in he Moonseas region which certainly would qualify the Moonsea as one of Cyrics favoured regions
Garen Thal 10-30-03, 08:21 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth In the FRC under the Cleric region section Cyric is listed as having the Moonsea as a favoured region, now given that most of Cyrics followers where killed in Xvims Tyrant fog this seems rather strange, the moonsea entry also has him listed as major deity in the region. While I agree that this is probably an inconsistency that needs to be fixed, the game effect will be minimal in a few months. Remember that with the release of PGtF, regional selection won't be impacted by character class. This has the side effect of making it irrelevant whether your character worships a deity favored in the region he's from, because that's a direct effect of selecting the cleric class.
Arkenian 10-30-03, 10:16 AM	Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight Hmm... considering the prerequisite, Extend Spell, which doubles the duration already, this nerfed version seems awfully anemic. I'd be more inclined to blow a feat on Persistent Spell if it would do something like "Quadruples the duration for two extra levels." I don't think you can use the same Metamagic feat twice on the same spell in 3.5 (dunno if we ever could, never got that far with a character...), so Persistent quadrupling for two levels, as opposed to Extend doubling for one level cost, would seem pretty fair to me. Otherwise, a complicated +something level jambalaya will make me look away from the feat and stay satisfied with the simplicity of Extend Spell. Besides, most combats last less than 5 rounds, so rounds per level spells are useless past their normal duration. The strength of Persistent lied in the fact that at high level, you don't need to bother casting the same damn insignificant spells all the time... only once with Persistent and you were good for 24 hours. And even then I was seriously considering not taking it (hard choice around 10th level, when you could spend your rare feats on Spell Penetration instead, when all monsters have it at that time...) Edit: please don't make 15+ level mages blow their first round to cast an already nerfed Shield spell when everyone with an armor can strut around with at least AC 30... Persistent is a good way to explain why archmages have all those force fields on 24/7. That doesn't make much sense if you think about it. Persisting a 1 round/level spell means that: a.) You only need to cast it once during the day, and it works over multiple combats. And b.) You do not need to expend the far more valuable 1 round opportunity cost on a buff. If you think about it, it makes good sense that making a 10 minute/level spell (which already lasts 8 hours extended) be a lot cheaper than a 1 round/level spell (which, as you say, essentially never lasts more than one combat) What rich was saying is that a persistent shield (lasting 24 hours) would be a level 7 spell, whereas a persistent version of a 1 minute/level buff would be a level 5 spell, a 10 min/level would be a level 3 spell, and a 1 hour/level would be a level 2 spell. Whether the 1 round/level spells should be +5 or +6, given that quickening is only +4, is another question. -Arkenian the Golden
Arkenian 10-30-03, 10:18 AM	Double Post
Fealokril 10-30-03, 12:22 PM	Richard, I have to ask you a big favour... my pg (a paladin/cleric lev 3/3 of Tyr) is is going to get his 7th level... I see that in the Player's Guide to Faerun there will be the Justiciar of Tyr PrC... could you kindly post at least the class requirements?:sad:
DreadStar 10-30-03, 01:55 PM	Rich 3 questions 1) Whats the reason for putting Hard Covers on books that are under 200 pages? The HC raises the price of the book without really adding more protection. 2) When I bought RoF I found the cover was warped so, I posted to ask other people about it. Most people had the same problem. It seems like the book is to small to properly support the weight of the Hard Cover and it gets bent. Have you seen this problem before? 3)Is there anything you can do about the HC's to prevent this problem in furture FR books? Thanks :)
Herr Doktor 10-30-03, 02:53 PM	Originally posted by DreadStar 2) When I bought RoF I found the cover was warped so, I posted to ask other people about it. Most people had the same problem. It seems like the book is to small to properly support the weight of the Hard Cover and it gets bent. Have you seen this problem before? Hmn, that IS odd. I use my copy quite frequently and it isn't warped in the slightest. Mine is from the first printing, what about yours?
Endur_Stonehelm 10-30-03, 02:55 PM	Let me understand this correctly. Ivan and Pikel are 8th level. Regis and Catti-brie are 7th level???? How many novels have Regis and Catti-Brie been in? 10? I would think Regis and Catti-Brie would be level 10 or 15 by now. They've fought creatures Ivan and Pikel would have trouble comprehending.
Selvarin 10-30-03, 03:44 PM	Originally posted by DreadStar Rich 3 questions 1) Whats the reason for putting Hard Covers on books that are under 200 pages? The HC raises the price of the book without really adding more protection. 2) When I bought RoF I found the cover was warped so, I posted to ask other people about it. Most people had the same problem. It seems like the book is to small to properly support the weight of the Hard Cover and it gets bent. Have you seen this problem before? 3)Is there anything you can do about the HC's to prevent this problem in furture FR books? Thanks :) Dread, I beg to differ somewhat with 1) . It isn't a question of 'protection', per se, but of ease of use/storage. With a hardcover it's easier for me to put them altogether on a bookshelf next to my desk without much worry as to the books (cover and all) warping into curved shapes, or the spines separating from the cover. In some ways it provides a little more durability, also, as I said, they're easier to stack. And from what other publishers have mentioned, they seem to sell better despite being more expesive. (If you really want protection, I'd suggest laminating your SC's and HC's with clear Con-Tac.) And considering that gamers already pay a premium on FR books, I'd rather pay a little more for a book that'll hold together and is easier to pull off my shelf. Regarding 2), how did this occur? Was it warped when you got it? if not, how do you store it? Some HC's will warp if you leave them in awkward angles. My copy's still straight, likewise all my other HC's are straight. The only 'warped' books I have happen to be the softcovers, although they regained their shape after being placed in the middle of the HC's.
cwslyclgh 10-30-03, 04:04 PM	as far as I can tell the covers of most copies of the first printing of Savage Species and Races of Faerun were warped (at least the ones shipped to western Washington).... My copies of both books were warped... however less the 48hrs sitting under the my other D&D books (ie at the bottom ofa stack) cured the problem with no residual affects.
Selvarin 10-30-03, 04:09 PM	Originally posted by Endur_Stonehelm Let me understand this correctly. Ivan and Pikel are 8th level. Regis and Catti-brie are 7th level???? How many novels have Regis and Catti-Brie been in? 10? I would think Regis and Catti-Brie would be level 10 or 15 by now. They've fought creatures Ivan and Pikel would have trouble comprehending. Endur, how often have Regis and Catti fought creatures worth the XP without Wulfgar, Bruenor, or Drizzt backing them up? A few times, but all on their own for long periods of time? Of course they're book characters so it's a little harder to guage some of this but...This is just another instance where the FR novel world doesn't necessarily meet with the D&D version. In this instance try comparing the two against the big shots of the group--Wulfgar, Bruenor, and Drizzt. Since she's most definitely not in the league of the latter two, Bruenor becomes the test comparison. Then comes the question about what's the worst opponent she's defeated on her own. Using that and other methods, it becomes easier to guage her capability. From what I've seen of Catti-Brie in the books, 7th seems to be a fair guage of who she is. As for Regis, eh. 7th level works for him, could be slightly higher.
Selvarin 10-30-03, 04:14 PM	Originally posted by cwslyclgh as far as I can tell the covers of most copies of the first printing of Savage Species and Races of Faerun were warped (at least the ones shipped to western Washington).... My copies of both books were warped... however less the 48hrs sitting under the my other D&D books (ie at the bottom ofa stack) cured the problem with no residual affects. Warped at the store or warped at home? Do you have high humidity there or something? Are the books usually stored vertically without other books pressing into the middle...? That's very puzzling.
WotC_RichBaker 10-30-03, 04:17 PM	Unfortunately, I don't have that info handy, and I can't get it today. Are you interested in covers or interiors? And for which books? RE: The two-weapon feats--the Player's Guide version of Twin Sword Style grants a shield bonus, not an armor bonus, so it won't stack with Two-Weapon Defense. Originally posted by orinbalenovic Hey Rich, I was just wondering with all those new books coming out, could you shed some light on who did the artwork? Personally, I'd very much like to see stuff done by Lockwood, Wood, Reynolds and/or Sasso. And there is the other thing I was wondering about…how are Two-Weapon Defense and Twin sword fighting style intended to work together? Is one just a conversion of the other (because they do seem pretty similar)? Thanks
WotC_RichBaker 10-30-03, 04:20 PM	Lawful good. Base attack +5. Diplomacy 7 ranks, Knowledge (local-any) 4 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 6 ranks. Cast 2nd-level divine spells. Patron: Tyr. There you go. Originally posted by Fealokril Richard, I have to ask you a big favour... my pg (a paladin/cleric lev 3/3 of Tyr) is is going to get his 7th level... I see that in the Player's Guide to Faerun there will be the Justiciar of Tyr PrC... could you kindly post at least the class requirements?:sad:
WotC_RichBaker 10-30-03, 04:22 PM	1. It's a business decision that I don't really have much of a say on. We do it because we've got evidence that more consumers prefer hardbacks to softcovers. 2. That's weird, I haven't heard of that before. I'll see what our production people say. 3. Until I find out more, I have no idea. Originally posted by DreadStar Rich 3 questions 1) Whats the reason for putting Hard Covers on books that are under 200 pages? The HC raises the price of the book without really adding more protection. 2) When I bought RoF I found the cover was warped so, I posted to ask other people about it. Most people had the same problem. It seems like the book is to small to properly support the weight of the Hard Cover and it gets bent. Have you seen this problem before? 3)Is there anything you can do about the HC's to prevent this problem in furture FR books? Thanks :)
cwslyclgh 10-30-03, 04:24 PM	Warped at the store or warped at home? Do you have high humidity there or something? Are the books usually stored vertically without other books pressing into the middle...? That's very puzzling. Nope, no high humidity here... all the water in out atmosphere falls as rain here in the Pacific North West. Warped both at the store, and when you took it home ;) this came up alot on the old boards when the books first came out... I believe somebody from WoTC said it was a problem with the paper on the covers being stretched too tightly... Like I said, simply placing it under a few poundsof weight corrected it quickly.
orinbalenovic 10-30-03, 06:00 PM	[QUOTE]Originally posted by Richard Baker [B]Unfortunately, I don't have that info handy, and I can't get it today. Are you interested in covers or interiors? And for which books? I am interested in interior (cover art has been pretty good so far). And which books? Player's guide to FR, Expanded Psionics HB, and anything else you'd like to share :D
Mirtek 10-30-03, 06:14 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Rich In the FRC under the Cleric region section Cyric is listed as having the Moonsea as a favoured region, now given that most of Cyrics followers where killed in Xvims Tyrant fog this seems rather strange, the moonsea entry also has him listed as major deity in the region. The entry for Zhentil Keep even says all the surviving Cyricist in Zhentil Keep fled to Amn. given this, it is likely that Cyric would be barely able to marshal a 1,000 worshipers in he Moonseas region which certainly would qualify the Moonsea as one of Cyrics favoured regions Like is said in the other thread: IMO it's only logical that the Cyricists returned to this area after the fog was gone, returned in great numbers: a) The dead of all Cyricists in this are left a void Whoever is among the first to fill this void can expect a fast rise in power b) The Banites are there, the Banites are our archenemies, we can't fight them directly from Amn c) To give up this area would be to admit defeat, that can't be For a Cyricist it's certainly more promising to try to find his luck at the Moonsea then trying to find some place in the strongly fought over hierarchy of the other strongholds Last but not least: Cyricist crusades all but extinguished all worshippers of Bane in Amn. And yet Bane is listed as having Amn as a favored region. And: Cyric's church is very strong in Thay (stronger than in many other places), Thay has an officialy sponsored guild of Assassins worshipping Cyric and even two legions of Thay's army are named after Cyric or consist of priestresses of Cyric and still Thay isn't listed as a favorite region of Cyric
Gez 10-30-03, 06:23 PM	Re: Warped Covers: It's a problem I've constated with the Fiend Folio, Book of Vile Darkness and Races of Faerûn. The warp was slightly minor, but if the book was left laying on a table, it gradually increased. Funny. And yeah, piling them under lots of other heavy books solved the problem progressively. Nothing like my copy of the White Wolfish Book of Shadows for Mage that rolls itself when nothing is put on -- regardless of how much time it spent under several pounds of books (I've had it for years, and the problem isn't solved). So, between warped hardcover and warped softcovers, I prefer HC. At least, the issue is fixable.
Endur_Stonehelm 10-30-03, 09:15 PM	You raise a good point about the novel/game translation. For instance, the Silver Marches pegs Bruenor as being a 13th level Fighter. While Bruenor should be less in level than Drizzt, both Bruenor and Drizzt have to be over 16th level to be true to the novels. Drizzt is the best warrior in the Forgotten Realms, which means he is obviously going to be higher than 16th. On the other hand, Bruenor is the creator of Aegis Fang, and he needs 7-9 caster levels to create Aegis Fang in addition to his fighter levels. My interpretation of levels based on the novels is that Bruenor is level 20. 13th level fighter with 7 caster levels. Drizzt is epic level. Wulfgar, Regis, and Catti-brie are somewhere below Bruenor. But the weakest of them has far more combat experience than Ivan and Pikel. Drizzt defeated a Balor in one on one combat in his very first novel. Drizzt is tough. Originally posted by Selvarin Endur, how often have Regis and Catti fought creatures worth the XP without Wulfgar, Bruenor, or Drizzt backing them up? A few times, but all on their own for long periods of time? Of course they're book characters so it's a little harder to guage some of this but...This is just another instance where the FR novel world doesn't necessarily meet with the D&D version. In this instance try comparing the two against the big shots of the group--Wulfgar, Bruenor, and Drizzt. Since she's most definitely not in the league of the latter two, Bruenor becomes the test comparison. Then comes the question about what's the worst opponent she's defeated on her own. Using that and other methods, it becomes easier to guage her capability. From what I've seen of Catti-Brie in the books, 7th seems to be a fair guage of who she is. As for Regis, eh. 7th level works for him, could be slightly higher.
Mirtek 10-30-03, 09:31 PM	Originally posted by Endur_Stonehelm Drizzt is the best warrior in the Forgotten Realms, Says who? Originally posted by Endur_Stonehelm which means he is obviously going to be higher than 16th. Even if we assume that he's indeed the best, that could easily make him the only 11th level guy among 2nd level warriors and to occasional 2nd level fighter Originally posted by Endur_Stonehelm My interpretation of levels based on the novels is that Bruenor is level 20. 13th level fighter with 7 caster levels. Drizzt is epic level. Wulfgar, Regis, and Catti-brie are somewhere below Bruenor. Never. They are quite high as they are, they could be even a few levels lower. Originally posted by Endur_Stonehelm But the weakest of them has far more combat experience than Ivan and Pikel. Do we know what these two did outside of the novels? Originally posted by Endur_Stonehelm Drizzt defeated a Balor in one on one combat in his very first novel. Drizzt is tough. Which was way back in 1st Edition, not to be compared to a CR 20 3.5e balor
Kieran Bloodthorne 10-30-03, 10:05 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker You draw a good analogy, but we're pretty sure we need to fix it. The problem with save DCs is a problem of accumulating +1's and +2's from many different places. Heck, even the sun elf would likely not fly through our development process these days--that's how badly we want to keep DCs in the range of the reasonable. The only reason we're not revising the sun elf is game inertia. Mostly I'm worried about symmetry between save boosters and DC boosters. WOTC eliminated the problem of "power creep" in save DC boosters, but has done nothing to lessen the availability of saving throw boosters. On the contrary, Unapproachable East gave us one of the best defensive spells I've seen in Ilykur's Mantle, a spell that can grant up to a +5 stackable bonus to saves. Let's take a Wizard and assume that he does everything possible to boost his DCs, no matter the cost or XP consequences. So we have something like this: 18 INT (+4 to DCs) to start +4 to INT through stat bonuses by 16th lvl gives you a 22 INT (+6 to DCs) A +6 Int booster gives you a 28 INT (+9 to DCs) Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus cumulatively grant an extra 2 to spells in your chosen school (+11 in favored school, +9 in others) Spellcasting Prodigy grants an additional +1 to DCs (+12 in favored school, +10 in others) So a 20th lvl Wizard that rolled an 18 or spent alot of point buy points, invested in every feat possible to increase spell DCs, and maximized his INT in every way possible would be able to come up with a max DC of 31 for a 9th lvl spell. If he spends his final ability boost at 20th lvl and 25, 000 XP on wishes (thus costing him enough XP to be behind his comrades by 1 level) or 137,000+ GP on a Tome, his INT score would rise to 34, granting him a DC of 34 for a 9th lvl spell in his favored school. By comparison, let’s take a 20th lvl cleric and try to go to the other extreme. We’ll assume that he put an 18 into his spellcasting stat and advanced it with items and Miracles, just like the Wizard did. The Wizard put 1 item and 3 feats into his saving throws, so we’ll start there. Let’s assume we have fairly mediocre CON and DEX scores, say a 14 and a 12, respectively. Most characters do manage to pickup a +6 CON boosting item as well (even if they have to have it custom made in a different slot). That gives us look at a typical 20th level cleric’s saves: Base Cleric saves grant +12 +6 +12 Cloak of Resistance +5 +17 +11 +17 Stat bonuses +19 +12 +26 +6 WIS booster +19 +12 +29 +6 CON booster +22 +12 +29 Lightning Reflexes Feat +22 +14 +29 Luck of Heroes +23 +15 +30 Strong Soul +24* +15 +31 *(Fort +25 vs Energy Drain or Death) His chance of resisting a low (3rd) level spell is 80%, 40%, or 95% His chance of resisting a mid (6th) level spell is 70%, 25%, or 95% His chance of resisting a high (9th) level spell is 50%, 10%, or 90% Now if your group is anything like mine, you may have demanded that the party wizard cast Protection from Spells on the group when a battle starts. That would add another +3 onto all saves (due to overlap with the cloak) and give us: Prot from Spells +27 +18 +34 His chance of resisting a low (3rd) level spell is now 95%, 50%, or 95% His chance of resisting a mid (6th) level spell is now 85%, 40%, or 95% His chance of resisting a high (9th) level spell is now 70%, 25%, or 95% That’s not too bad. Even if the Wizard throws his highest level spell at the cleric (and those don’t grow on trees), I’ve got a pretty good chance of saving, except on the Reflex save. Reflex is obviously the Cleric’s weak spot, but I purposely ignored DEX in this example, and the Cleric has access to Heal to take care of hit point damage. At this point, the cleric still has save boosting feats and abilities available to him to boost his saves even higher if he wishes, but the Wizard has no other place to go. A high DEX Archer Cleric, would be in an even better position. The numbers below reflect what would happen if the base DEX is raised to a 16, and a +6 DEX booster is added. We’ll reduce the CON booster to +4 to save a little money. The result is now: Without Prot from spells: +23 +20 +31 His chance of resisting a low (3rd) level spell is now 80%, 65%, or 95% His chance of resisting a mid (6th) level spell is now 65%, 50%, or 95% His chance of resisting a high (9th) level spell is now 50%, 25%, or 90% With Prot from spells: +26 +23 +34 His chance of resisting a low (3rd) level spell is now 95%, 80%, or 95% His chance of resisting a mid (6th) level spell is now 80%, 65%, or 95% His chance of resisting a high (9th) level spell is now 65%, 40%, or 95% If we are buffed for combat, the cleric most likely also has SR 32 from Spell Resistance, as well. The percentages, of course, get even better if the spell is from any non-favored school. Epic level, with its fast save progressions and inequity of feats (+4 boosters, with only a +2 for Epic Spell Focus) only makes the situation worse. I could come up with an even more powerful example if I statted out a sorceror or a wizard due to stacking between Loremaster save bonuses, feats like Lightning Reflexes, and save bonuses from familiars. After buffing, he would almost never fail a save.
Selvarin 10-30-03, 10:11 PM	Originally posted by cwslyclgh Nope, no high humidity here... all the water in out atmosphere falls as rain here in the Pacific North West. Warped both at the store, and when you took it home ;) this came up alot on the old boards when the books first came out... I believe somebody from WoTC said it was a problem with the paper on the covers being stretched too tightly... Like I said, simply placing it under a few poundsof weight corrected it quickly. Oh okay, makes sense now. I did get one or two non-WotC books get a little funky like that but it was a long time ago. Guess I've been lucky so far with the rest of the books. *knocks on wood, or particle board as the case may be*
Selvarin 10-30-03, 10:40 PM	Originally posted by Endur_Stonehelm You raise a good point about the novel/game translation. For instance, the Silver Marches pegs Bruenor as being a 13th level Fighter. While Bruenor should be less in level than Drizzt, both Bruenor and Drizzt have to be over 16th level to be true to the novels. Drizzt is the best warrior in the Forgotten Realms, which means he is obviously going to be higher than 16th. On the other hand, Bruenor is the creator of Aegis Fang, and he needs 7-9 caster levels to create Aegis Fang in addition to his fighter levels. My interpretation of levels based on the novels is that Bruenor is level 20. 13th level fighter with 7 caster levels. Drizzt is epic level. Wulfgar, Regis, and Catti-brie are somewhere below Bruenor. But the weakest of them has far more combat experience than Ivan and Pikel. Drizzt defeated a Balor in one on one combat in his very first novel. Drizzt is tough. I decided to take this thread elsewhere, my response can be found here. (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124600)
Kieran Bloodthorne 10-30-03, 10:49 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker 1. It's a business decision that I don't really have much of a say on. We do it because we've got evidence that more consumers prefer hardbacks to softcovers. I definitely prefer my books in hardcover. I only wish Magic of Faerun was a hardcover- It's been used to the point that the front cover is starting to tear.
Herr Doktor 10-30-03, 11:23 PM	Originally posted by Kieran Bloodthorne I definitely prefer my books in hardcover. I only wish Magic of Faerun was a hardcover- It's been used to the point that the front cover is starting to tear. So is mine, though I use Lords of Darkness and the Silver Marches sourcebook just as much, if not more so and they are both fine.
Fealokril 10-31-03, 03:08 AM	Thanks!!! :angel: Originally posted by Richard Baker Lawful good. Base attack +5. Diplomacy 7 ranks, Knowledge (local-any) 4 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 6 ranks. Cast 2nd-level divine spells. Patron: Tyr. There you go.
Thysl 10-31-03, 04:02 AM	Dear Mr. Baker, For the above post: you're a HAAS! Excuse me, this is a D&D forum... correction: you're an UBER-HAAS! In all seriousness, that was very cool!:D
WotC_RichBaker 10-31-03, 01:33 PM	What's a HAAS? Should I take offense??? Originally posted by Thysl Dear Mr. Baker, For the above post: you're a HAAS! Excuse me, this is a D&D forum... correction: you're an UBER-HAAS! In all seriousness, that was very cool!:D
Thysl 10-31-03, 02:39 PM	Bonanza, Mr. Baker, Bonanza! You remember Haas Cartwright; steadfast, heart-o-gold, all around great guy... Anyhow, Happy Holloween!:behold:
Amaranthine 10-31-03, 03:05 PM	Endur, how often have Regis and Catti fought creatures worth the XP without Wulfgar, Bruenor, or Drizzt backing them up?Well, Catti 'defeated' a Clay Golem, Entreri, the Luskan mage and the Luskan soldier by turning them against each other and escaping, braining the mage on the way out and bringing a mountain down on the Golem. What kind of XP is that worth?
Selvarin 10-31-03, 04:20 PM	Did she defeat the golem in hand-to-hand combat? Did she beat them down, so to speak? No. She was clever--and that would worth some XP--but my point about this regarded her demonstrated ability as a fighter in the novels to be used to gauge what her D&D level would be. According to FR 7 Hall of Heroes she was a Ftr 3 (around the time of TCS/SoS). In the Heroes' Lorebook she was a Ftr 6. For the most part she (like Regis) has been a support character. If she took the golem head-on, even at 7th level, she'd be pulp. Again, they aren't the same as true D&D characters. These are interpretations of the charaters in novels based upon what one can definitively say they've done, and how they did it. It's like looking in The Hobbit and trying to figure out what Bilbo was. Was Bilbo a high-level rogue? Some might say so, but there's nothing to suggest it in the slightest. He managed to outwit a dragon long enough not to become a meat pastry, doesn't mean he deserved boku XP as if he slashed its jugular during the thick of battle. But if you wish to debate it further, however, you can do so here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124600) .
Kershek 10-31-03, 06:30 PM	I found much less complimentary definitions of that word: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=haas
ssvegeta555 10-31-03, 07:19 PM	Originally posted by cwslyclgh as far as I can tell the covers of most copies of the first printing of Savage Species and Races of Faerun were warped (at least the ones shipped to western Washington).... My copies of both books were warped... however less the 48hrs sitting under the my other D&D books (ie at the bottom ofa stack) cured the problem with no residual affects. They also happened in western Oregon. When I got my copy of Savage Species, Arms and eguipment guide, and Players handbook(3.0) they were warped. I hated seeing the cover stick up when left alone. I left my arms and eguipment guide at the bottom of my pile of D&D for about a month or so and it was fixed. I'm glad. :D
Darius the Barbarian 10-31-03, 07:32 PM	Guys, I really suggest you stop arguing about the game mechanics of novel heroes. It simply doesn't make too much sense, IMHO. FR Novels and D&D are two different worlds. 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition are three different worlds. Zaknafein was almost completely immune to magic in 2E, now every half-decent spellcaster of appropriate level beats the corresponding drow's SR with ease (especially with GSP) - no wonder, SR doesn't even include ECL. Drizzt could summon globes of actual darkness (not the awkward creation called "shadowy illumination") pretty much at will in RAS's novels, not once per day. However, he could possibly get killed by one single strike or shot fired by the lowliest orc which is flat out impossible in terms of game mechanics. It's really difficult to determine what level is Drizzt, Catti or any other character. It's quite abstract, I guess you could find valid arguments for level estimations between 15 and 25 in case of Drizzt, perhaps even a bit higher or... a bit lower. It's all a matter of preference. IMC, I want iconic heroes to shine and impress my PCs so I made Drizzt pretty tough. It doesn't mean my way is the best way though. The only thing that I really dislike in official WotC writeups is the fact that our dear Wizards often forget stat boosts at level 4/8/12/and so on, and they also ignore properties of items or nerf them altogether just to remain below the illogical and awful NPC wealth cap. The WotSQ char stats in Dragon 302/312 are a nice exception because they feature really juicy items. Thanks to them, the NPCs depicted there are not paper tigers and their CRs are appropriate, on the contrary to CRs of numerous heroes "statted" by WotC in D&D sourcebooks. On the other hand, if we followed the "Dragon path", we would probably see Drizzt with Strength over 20, just because a belt of giant strength +6 is suitable for a fighter of Drizzt's caliber - and affordable, too. Some people accept it as increasing combat efficiency, others just can't stand it when Drizzt can lift a few hundred pounds almost as easily as his onyx figurine because of Str eclipsing a standard ogre. Concluding my lengthy post, it's your game, folks. I revised my favorite chars for my own needs and adjusted them to the profile of my campaign. I suggest you do the same if you don't like the official writeups. I must admit I rarely like them. Sorry for the O/T.
Selvarin 10-31-03, 07:49 PM	Which was why I suggested further discussion about it be brought here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124600) instead. You do make valid points, especially about the nerfing.
Ill 11-01-03, 06:23 AM	Rich, I have a problem with the metalline property from Underdark. It's not with the price or how powerful it is, as such. The problem I have with it is that it specifically contradicts the statement in the DMG, in the "Behind the Curtain: Special Weapons Materials" Sidebar: "You'll also notice that cold ironsheen is not mentioned. This is intentional. Cold iron's core attribute is its resistance to magic. Making a magic item that mimics this attribute undermines its concept." So is it meant not to include cold iron within it's list of metals, or does the first '3.5E' FR book completely disregard a new core specific completely. Thanks in advance, Jamie Swinbourne.
Thysl 11-01-03, 02:42 PM	I found much less complimentary definitions of that word: Oops...lol, well that wasn't the definition I had in mind, lol.
Dargoth 11-01-03, 07:18 PM	Hey Rich Will the favoured weapons for some of the FR deties be changed in PGTF? For example Currently Tyr has a Longsword as his favoured weapon but his Holy Symbol has a war Hammer on it Tempus currenlt uses a Battle Axe but has a Bastard sword on his Holy Symbol It would seem to me that if your god has a specfic weapon as part of his Holy Symbol then that would be his favoured weapon
AskaniSage 11-01-03, 07:39 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich Will the favoured weapons for some of the FR deties be changed in PGTF? The one that always bothered me, was that in Faerun Lolth's favored weapon is a dagger. But in Greyhawk it is a whip. The whip makes much more sense since all her priestesses use whips & never daggers except maybe at altar sacrifices. I really hope the FR Lolth gets favored weapon of whip like she should have.
ScarLip 11-03-03, 11:39 AM	Rich Any idea when the 3.5 DMG Errata is coming out? I also need an Official answer, do 3.5 PrC cause an XP penalty? In 3E there was No XP penalty but, the 3.5 DMG seems to say otherwise? NOTE this is the Ask Rich Baker thread so, Please take all discussions someplace else. Thank You ;)
WotC_RichBaker 11-03-03, 12:53 PM	Here are the interior artists for Player's Guide to Faerun: Beet Ben Thompson Carl Frank Jeremy Jarvis Joel Thomas Jim Pavelec Rafa Garres Raven Mimura Rick Sardinha Steve Prescott Wayne England That's all I've got for now. Originally posted by orinbalenovic [QUOTE]Originally posted by Richard Baker [B]Unfortunately, I don't have that info handy, and I can't get it today. Are you interested in covers or interiors? And for which books? I am interested in interior (cover art has been pretty good so far). And which books? Player's guide to FR, Expanded Psionics HB, and anything else you'd like to share :D
WotC_RichBaker 11-03-03, 01:07 PM	In truth, it's a deliberate sop to the folks who think they absolutely, positively, can't stand DR in 3.5. We don't think it's necessary or even a good idea, but we know that someone's going to insist on putting something like that in their game, and so we figured we'd better do some "pre-emptive" design and find a way to cost and present it appropriately. Originally posted by Ill Rich, I have a problem with the metalline property from Underdark. It's not with the price or how powerful it is, as such. The problem I have with it is that it specifically contradicts the statement in the DMG, in the "Behind the Curtain: Special Weapons Materials" Sidebar: "You'll also notice that cold ironsheen is not mentioned. This is intentional. Cold iron's core attribute is its resistance to magic. Making a magic item that mimics this attribute undermines its concept." So is it meant not to include cold iron within it's list of metals, or does the first '3.5E' FR book completely disregard a new core specific completely. Thanks in advance, Jamie Swinbourne.
WotC_RichBaker 11-03-03, 01:10 PM	Let me think on that one. RE: Lolth and the whip, the whip is just a beating of a weapon choice. We probably wouldn't change it. Maybe scourge, though. Originally posted by Dargoth Hey Rich Will the favoured weapons for some of the FR deties be changed in PGTF? For example Currently Tyr has a Longsword as his favoured weapon but his Holy Symbol has a war Hammer on it Tempus currenlt uses a Battle Axe but has a Bastard sword on his Holy Symbol It would seem to me that if your god has a specfic weapon as part of his Holy Symbol then that would be his favoured weapon
WotC_RichBaker 11-03-03, 01:11 PM	I don't know when the DMG errata will be ready, but I can answer your second question -- prestige classes never cause an XP hit. Originally posted by ScarLip Rich Any idea when the 3.5 DMG Errata is coming out? I also need an Official answer, do 3.5 PrC cause an XP penalty? In 3E there was No XP penalty but, the 3.5 DMG seems to say otherwise? NOTE this is the Ask Rich Baker thread so, Please take all discussions someplace else. Thank You ;)
Ill 11-03-03, 01:18 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker In truth, it's a deliberate sop to the folks who think they absolutely, positively, can't stand DR in 3.5. We don't think it's necessary or even a good idea, but we know that someone's going to insist on putting something like that in their game, and so we figured we'd better do some "pre-emptive" design and find a way to cost and present it appropriately. Oh okay. But you still haven't answer my question in a direct fashion, and if it does allow cold iron... Would the price change if it didn't..? JS.
DreadStar 11-03-03, 01:21 PM	Is Complete Warrior just the 3.5 S&F or will it have new rules for combat? Are the Feats just for Fighter types or will there be a good number of defense Feats for Wizards and such? A Feat list would be cool :cool:
Dargoth 11-03-03, 11:58 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Let me think on that one. RE: Lolth and the whip, the whip is just a beating of a weapon choice. We probably wouldn't change it. Maybe scourge, though. Speaking of Clerics favoured weapons Will it be possiable for a character whose a member of a religious order ie a Monk, Cleric or Paladin to choose a MW version of there deitys favoured weapon as regional starting equipment?
TheDarkestOfAngels 11-04-03, 12:02 AM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Let me think on that one. RE: Lolth and the whip, the whip is just a beating of a weapon choice. We probably wouldn't change it. Maybe scourge, though. Maybe FR could go halfway and use the whip-dagger that I think comes from Masters of the Wild. Heh.
Selvarin 11-04-03, 01:36 AM	Dreadstar, I found this blurb on it: The most detailed D&D sourcebook on combat ever released. Complete Warrior provides D&D players with an in-depth look at combat and provides detailed information on how to prepare a character for confrontation. This title was not only compiled from various D&D sources, but contains new features as well, including new battle-oriented classes, combat maneuvers, feats, and equipment. The prestige classes included have been revised and updated based on player feedback, and there are rules for unusual combat situations. The tips and data provided will assist all class types including those classes not typically associated with melee combat. 75% of the material in this title is entirely new and has never been previously released. The previously published information in this title was compiled from various D&D class books, campaign setting products, and Dragon magazine. --------------- That should help.
Savras 11-04-03, 03:51 AM	Originally posted by TheDarkestOfAngels Maybe FR could go halfway and use the whip-dagger that I think comes from Masters of the Wild. Heh. Whip-dagger: Sword and Fist. Nagaika: Masters of the Wild. Savras
Play di Gemini 11-04-03, 06:59 AM	First, sorry for my bad english, i'm italian :) I don't understand one thing about PGtF. I look the ToC and i only see that the revised stuffv (PrC, spells and feats) are only take from the manuals FR Settings, Magic of Faerun and Lord of Darkness. For the other PrC, feats and spells found in other FR manuals like Silver Marches, Unapproachable East, Faith & Pantheons, etc. is planned a revision or they can be 3.5 compliant without a revision so we can play that now without waiting a revision? I hope u can understand my bad english :) Thanks
ScarLip 11-04-03, 12:23 PM	Rich In the Chat Rich Redman said there would be a Waterdeep sourcebook, can you tell us anything about it? :D
WotC_RichBaker 11-04-03, 12:53 PM	RE: metalline weapons... Sure, if you specifically disallowed cold iron, that would make the property much less useful. You'd probably leave it "set" on adamantine and switch to silver only when necessary. I'd house rule that a +1 property, if you knocked out cold iron. Originally posted by Ill Oh okay. But you still haven't answer my question in a direct fashion, and if it does allow cold iron... Would the price change if it didn't..? JS.
WotC_RichBaker 11-04-03, 12:57 PM	Your English is certainly better than my Italian (in that I don't speak Italian at all!) Unapproachable East anticipated many of the 3.5 changes, and so we don't feel that it needs much revision. As far as the other books go: Yes, it would be nice to specifically address each item and revise or not revise it, but we didn't have the space to do that in the Player's Guide. If we don't address something, we're saying that you can continue to use the 3.0 versions of those items. The only place I think this really causes trouble is with damage reduction. We hope to get a web article posted soon that states the new 3.5 DR for all the existing monsters. Originally posted by Play di Gemini First, sorry for my bad english, i'm italian :) I don't understand one thing about PGtF. I look the ToC and i only see that the revised stuffv (PrC, spells and feats) are only take from the manuals FR Settings, Magic of Faerun and Lord of Darkness. For the other PrC, feats and spells found in other FR manuals like Silver Marches, Unapproachable East, Faith & Pantheons, etc. is planned a revision or they can be 3.5 compliant without a revision so we can play that now without waiting a revision? I hope u can understand my bad english :) Thanks
WotC_RichBaker 11-04-03, 12:59 PM	Short answer: Yes, we're planning it. No, we're not working on it yet. And no, I really can't say more than that. Originally posted by ScarLip Rich In the Chat Rich Redman said there would be a Waterdeep sourcebook, can you tell us anything about it? :D
DreadStar 11-04-03, 01:19 PM	Rich Forgot to address this to you last time :( Is Complete Warrior just the 3.5 S&F or will it have new rules for combat? Are the Feats just for Fighter types or will there be a good number of defense Feats for Wizards and such? A Feat list would be cool
Dargoth 11-04-03, 06:37 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Short answer: Yes, we're planning it. No, we're not working on it yet. And no, I really can't say more than that. Is the Waterdeep book going to slated for release along side Eds and Elaines novel (also set in Waterdeep)
WotC_RichBaker 11-04-03, 06:57 PM	A big part of it is the 3.5 Sword and Fist, but there's also many more warrior-ish prestige classes. Part of the concept is, let's show folks material suitable for characters of any class who want to improve their martial skills. Rules for combat, not so sure, but there is a big chapter on fantasy warfare which includes guidelines on jousts, archery contests, gladiatorial matches, etc. There are a bunch of feats, I'm not going to scoop them here. Originally posted by DreadStar Rich Forgot to address this to you last time :( Is Complete Warrior just the 3.5 S&F or will it have new rules for combat? Are the Feats just for Fighter types or will there be a good number of defense Feats for Wizards and such? A Feat list would be cool
WotC_RichBaker 11-04-03, 06:58 PM	Yes, we intent to coordinate the two titles. QUOTE]Originally posted by Dargoth Is the Waterdeep book going to slated for release along side Eds and Elaines novel (also set in Waterdeep) [/QUOTE]
Dargoth 11-04-03, 07:10 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker Yes, we intent to coordinate the two titles. QUOTE]Originally posted by Dargoth Is the Waterdeep book going to slated for release along side Eds and Elaines novel (also set in Waterdeep) [/QUOTE] I seem to recall Ed and ECs new book wont be out till 2005 That being the case does this mean youve already completed all the FR books slated for 2004? (Assumably 4 including the PGTF and SK)
ArthurQ 11-04-03, 08:04 PM	Hey, just a small note folks. I was misquoted at Enworld. I never said Rich Redman mentioned Waterdeep.. I simply said Rich, i ment Mr Baker here. The person who quoted me inserted Baker in brackets, he assumed the wrong Rich. I just want to clarify that what I posted at Enworld was my personal opinion based on what Rich told us. (thanks to some carefully worded questions hehe).. I dont want anyone to think that Mr Redman is leaking out informaiton he shouldnt be. Carry On. PS. Rich, thanks a lot for attending the chat. I look forward to having you at the next FR product chat. Maybe we can even do a contest and give away a free book (if the PR dept agrees to it!) I'm looking for someone who logged the chat so we can post the log for everyone to enjoy. THANKS AGAIN! PSS: For those intrested in other chats, Garen and I are in the process of arranging chats with other D&D Authors for other books released and being released in the past few months. Keep an eye on Enworld for announcments. You can always find me and Garen, Nitissine and others at the Forgotten Realms irc chatroom.
Sirius_Black 11-04-03, 11:49 PM	Originally posted by ArthurQ I was misquoted at Enworld. Misquoted at ENWorld? Color me stunned. :rolleyes: Told you the two Waterdeep books would coincide. :cool: Now if I can only put on my Karnac hat and correctly predict the future of the drow once Mamma L comes out of hibernation.
Cassius Harkanor 11-05-03, 06:33 AM	Hey Richard, just some questions. 1. The Fall of Myth Drannor mentions a wizard named Tulrun the Tent. Is this the same wizard mentioned in the Silver marches ? 2. The Volo's Guide To All Things Magical mentions that a priestess called The Ice Queen used the Gatekeeper Crystal to shatter a mythal. Is this the same Ice Queen as Iryaclea (page 110 in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting). 3. I notice that the Create Portal feat was missing from the contents page on the FRPG. Is this feat now non-existant ? 4. Will the expanded timeline in the FRPG just cover the events in the Return of the Archwizard and the War of the Spider Queen or will it alos cover the events in the Councilors and Kings, the Erevis Cale trilogy, the Sembia series and the Rogues series ? 5. Could you provide me with the classes and levels of Erevis Cale and Matteo. I would like to write these guys up. 6. Will the FRPG finally give people proof that Orcus is dead, with the explaination of the planar lords.
Cassius Harkanor 11-05-03, 06:35 AM	Hey Richard, just some questions. 1. The Fall of Myth Drannor mentions a wizard named Tulrun the Tent. Is this the same wizard mentioned in the Silver marches ? 2. The Volo's Guide To All Things Magical mentions that a priestess called The Ice Queen used the Gatekeeper Crystal to shatter a mythal. Is this the same Ice Queen as Iryaclea (page 110 in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting). 3. I notice that the Create Portal feat was missing from the contents page on the FRPG. Is this feat now non-existant ? 4. Will the expanded timeline in the FRPG just cover the events in the Return of the Archwizard and the War of the Spider Queen or will it alos cover the events in the Councilors and Kings, the Erevis Cale trilogy, the Sembia series and the Rogues series ? 5. Could you provide me with the classes and levels of Erevis Cale and Matteo. I would like to write these guys up. 6. Will the FRPG finally give people proof that Orcus is dead, with the explaination of the planar lords.
Play di Gemini 11-05-03, 06:37 AM	really thanks Mr Baker for the reply
Cassius Harkanor 11-05-03, 06:37 AM	Hey Richard, just some questions. 1. The Fall of Myth Drannor mentions a wizard named Tulrun the Tent. Is this the same wizard mentioned in the Silver marches ? 2. The Volo's Guide To All Things Magical mentions that a priestess called The Ice Queen used the Gatekeeper Crystal to shatter a mythal. Is this the same Ice Queen as Iryaclea (page 110 in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting). 3. I notice that the Create Portal feat was missing from the contents page on the FRPG. Is this feat now non-existant ? 4. Will the expanded timeline in the FRPG just cover the events in the Return of the Archwizard and the War of the Spider Queen or will it alos cover the events in the Councilors and Kings, the Erevis Cale trilogy, the Sembia series and the Rogues series ? 5. Could you provide me with the classes and levels of Erevis Cale and Matteo. I would like to write these guys up. 6. Will the FRPG finally give people proof that Orcus is dead, with the explaination of the planar lords.
ericlboyd 11-05-03, 08:38 AM	I can answer these two. <<< 1. The Fall of Myth Drannor mentions a wizard named Tulrun the Tent. Is this the same wizard mentioned in the Silver marches ? >>> Yes. I wrote up a Polyhedron article (don't remember the issue) detailing the history of Tulrun that gives history and abilities, that stretches from the North to Myth Drannor and back to the North. It'll take a little bit of squaring up to reconcile it with Silver Marches, but it is possible. <<< 2. The Volo's Guide To All Things Magical mentions that a priestess called The Ice Queen used the Gatekeeper Crystal to shatter a mythal. Is this the same Ice Queen as Iryaclea (page 110 in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting). >>> Yes. She also shows up in the Epic Level Handbook, IIRC. --Eric
gutz 11-05-03, 01:24 PM	I don't know when the DMG errata will be ready, but I can answer your second question -- prestige classes never cause an XP hit. Rich, this really needs to get into the official ereata. 3.0 specifically excluded PrC from XP hits. What the 3.5 DMG says is "The rules for level advancement (see page 58 of the PHB) apply to this system..." on page 176. Page 58-60 of the PHB detail going up levels and multiclassing. I gave my 3.0 DMG away, but there was a specific reference in it to PrC not having penalties, which is gone in 3.5. Why was this specific exception to multiclassing and XP pentalites taken out of the 3.5 rulebooks?
ArthurQ 11-05-03, 01:26 PM	Originally posted by gutz Rich, this really needs to get into the official ereata. 3.0 specifically excluded PrC from XP hits. What the 3.5 DMG says is "The rules for level advancement (see page 58 of the PHB) apply to this system..." on page 176. Page 58-60 of the PHB detail going up levels and multiclassing. I gave my 3.0 DMG away, but there was a specific reference in it to PrC not having penalties, which is gone in 3.5. Why was this specific exception to multiclassing and XP pentalites taken out of the 3.5 rulebooks? It was accidentially omited.
Razz 11-05-03, 01:33 PM	I have several questions, Mr. Baker: The first is the fact on Kara-Tur being completely ignored for such a long period of time simply because of bad sales almost more than a generation ago (funny how something that had bad sales has tons of people still seeking the OA 1E material for their games...). No offense on the authors of 3E OA, but it really was horrible. I was as excited about it as much as everyone else, but the more I open it up to look things up, the more horrified I got. Half the book was Rokugan, nearly unsuable in any other campaign despite the advice given (no advice was given in including Oni and other Rokugan monsters into other campaigns at all). I have noticed more and more people are realizing the wrong moves the authors made on 3E OA and it has become nothing but a Rokugan product since the only real usage from it was from people who played Rokugan. To make matters worse, OA hasn't been updated with enw material, nothing OA related has yet been released, and it hasn't even been updated to 3.5! My opinion is simple. I think the FR team should consider a Kara-Tur sourcebook, hardcover, 300+ pages that is not only a 3.5 update to OA, but can detail Kara-Tur the way it deserves and make plenty of fans happy to have an East and West in their FR campaigns. Why is it that the FR staff have such a repulsion from doing a Kara-Tur book, pushing it only more and more further into the years ahead when other products should be pushed aside to allow room for Kara-Tur? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monster write-ups were taken out of PGtF, along with the MoF conversions to 3.5 Personally, I hope the conversions of MoF are released soon. They shoulda been when 3.5 was released. I find it rather wrong that those of us that bought 3.0 products have to buy 3.5 products to get things updated when they should be given right away on the website for free. We might as well be buying an entirely NEW edition of D&D if every update and conversion to 3.5 were things we had to buy. Any idea when the MoF conversions to 3.5 will be up? Trying to figure out if things like the Ghour Demon should have DR 10/cold iron or good or DR 10/good or DR/cold iron or the Nishruu getting 10/cold iron because it eats magic or is it 10/magic and cold iron gets annoying at times. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In relation to how DR is handled in 3.5, I think it was horrible. The fact that DR magic is the easiest to bypass and the lowered numbers makes it not worth the change. I have PCs doing way over 15 points of damage on one hit, so much that DR doesn't matter anymore. The numbers should have stayed at 25 and 40. As for the spell save DCs, why is that WotC thinks they're too high? They were low in 3.0 and now they're even lower in 3.5 I say they're low because I have PCs that have saving throws already +15 and up by the time they're over 10th-level. With DCs for spells set at a fixed number like 20...what's the point? A paladin/fighter/cavalier in my games has a +24 Fortitude save at 13th-level, the 13th-level aasimar monk has all his saves at +15 and up, the moon elven 13th-level psychic warrior has Fortitude +16...I hardly ever have spellcasters even bother trying to cast spells requiring Fortitude or Will saves at them, since they'll pass on a 2 or higher thanks to the low spell save DCs. Only Reflex saves work (and even still, they take half damage). The only thing that has ever proved useful in my games were the Spell Save DC ROLL variant rule in the DMG. Where you roll a d20, add spell level and ability modifier and that was the save DC. THanks to that, I've managed to have DCs in the 30s that can actually cause my players to cringe just a little, finally. With the fixed spell save DC the game has out now....the spell save DC roll is a MUST.
Kuje31 11-05-03, 01:37 PM	Originally posted by Cassius Harkanor 6. Will the FRPG finally give people proof that Orcus is dead, with the explaination of the planar lords. Well he cant be dead, since he also has a cleric (and a fairly high to middle one at that) in Unapproachable East.... If they decide NOW he's dead, then that is another error in the books......
jasamcarl 11-05-03, 03:50 PM	Originally posted by Razz I have several questions, Mr. Baker: The first is the fact on Kara-Tur being completely ignored for such a long period of time simply because of bad sales almost more than a generation ago (funny how something that had bad sales has tons of people still seeking the OA 1E material for their games...). No offense on the authors of 3E OA, but it really was horrible. I was as excited about it as much as everyone else, but the more I open it up to look things up, the more horrified I got. Half the book was Rokugan, nearly unsuable in any other campaign despite the advice given (no advice was given in including Oni and other Rokugan monsters into other campaigns at all). I have noticed more and more people are realizing the wrong moves the authors made on 3E OA and it has become nothing but a Rokugan product since the only real usage from it was from people who played Rokugan. To make matters worse, OA hasn't been updated with enw material, nothing OA related has yet been released, and it hasn't even been updated to 3.5! My opinion is simple. I think the FR team should consider a Kara-Tur sourcebook, hardcover, 300+ pages that is not only a 3.5 update to OA, but can detail Kara-Tur the way it deserves and make plenty of fans happy to have an East and West in their FR campaigns. Why is it that the FR staff have such a repulsion from doing a Kara-Tur book, pushing it only more and more further into the years ahead when other products should be pushed aside to allow room for Kara-Tur? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monster write-ups were taken out of PGtF, along with the MoF conversions to 3.5 Personally, I hope the conversions of MoF are released soon. They shoulda been when 3.5 was released. I find it rather wrong that those of us that bought 3.0 products have to buy 3.5 products to get things updated when they should be given right away on the website for free. We might as well be buying an entirely NEW edition of D&D if every update and conversion to 3.5 were things we had to buy. Any idea when the MoF conversions to 3.5 will be up? Trying to figure out if things like the Ghour Demon should have DR 10/cold iron or good or DR 10/good or DR/cold iron or the Nishruu getting 10/cold iron because it eats magic or is it 10/magic and cold iron gets annoying at times. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In relation to how DR is handled in 3.5, I think it was horrible. The fact that DR magic is the easiest to bypass and the lowered numbers makes it not worth the change. I have PCs doing way over 15 points of damage on one hit, so much that DR doesn't matter anymore. The numbers should have stayed at 25 and 40. As for the spell save DCs, why is that WotC thinks they're too high? They were low in 3.0 and now they're even lower in 3.5 I say they're low because I have PCs that have saving throws already +15 and up by the time they're over 10th-level. With DCs for spells set at a fixed number like 20...what's the point? A paladin/fighter/cavalier in my games has a +24 Fortitude save at 13th-level, the 13th-level aasimar monk has all his saves at +15 and up, the moon elven 13th-level psychic warrior has Fortitude +16...I hardly ever have spellcasters even bother trying to cast spells requiring Fortitude or Will saves at them, since they'll pass on a 2 or higher thanks to the low spell save DCs. Only Reflex saves work (and even still, they take half damage). The only thing that has ever proved useful in my games were the Spell Save DC ROLL variant rule in the DMG. Where you roll a d20, add spell level and ability modifier and that was the save DC. THanks to that, I've managed to have DCs in the 30s that can actually cause my players to cringe just a little, finally. With the fixed spell save DC the game has out now....the spell save DC roll is a MUST. I have one question Mr Razz..Where did you obtain your degree in whiny, belligerent posts? :)
Israfel666 11-05-03, 04:01 PM	Originally posted by jasamcarl I have one question Mr Razz..Where did you obtain your degree in whiny, belligerent posts? :) He has a couple of points, though (I agree however that his writing style isn't exactly the most diplomatic or charming I've ever seen). Kara-Tur lacks so much material that I've replaced it with Rokugan in my Toril, and spells DC are so hard to bump (especially at high or epic levels) as compared to saving throws that the next sor/wiz I create is going to be a summoner.
PhilCW 11-05-03, 05:21 PM	Double post
PhilCW 11-05-03, 05:21 PM	OA was made to be a book to introduce Rokugan partly due to L5R being formerly a Wizards property and then later transferred mostly back to Alderac. Seriously OA 3e is head and shoulders above Rokugan book in terms of setting and culture. (Hell it is head and shoulders over anything else that Rich Wulf tries to write apart from parodies).
Arkenian 11-05-03, 06:43 PM	Originally posted by Richard Baker In truth, it's a deliberate sop to the folks who think they absolutely, positively, can't stand DR in 3.5. We don't think it's necessary or even a good idea, but we know that someone's going to insist on putting something like that in their game, and so we figured we'd better do some "pre-emptive" design and find a way to cost and present it appropriately. While the existence of this, and the upcoming sure-striking, has certainly quieted the most anti-3.5 member of my group (the other DM, no less) I would also like to point out that if you "don't think it's a good idea" publishing it less than 6 months after you issue 3.5, and not attaching any sort of 'official' explanation pretty much undermines the 'moral justification' of the new DR in the first place -- as long as you stuck to the official line of 'cold iron can't be reproduced' it was much more persuasive. (Sorry. This gripe is a result of what I had to listen to when said member saw it ;> Although, I suppose the fact that, in the end, it will probably convince him to run his next campaign in 3.5, it might be worth it) -Arkenian the Golden
Dargoth 11-05-03, 07:58 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 Well he cant be dead, since he also has a cleric (and a fairly high to middle one at that) in Unapproachable East.... If they decide NOW he's dead, then that is another error in the books...... not so Kiranshee could be granting the priest in UE spells in Orcus name much in the same way Cyric was granting Bane,Bhaals and Mykruls clerics spells in those gods names after the ToT
Kuje31 11-05-03, 08:23 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth not so Kiranshee could be granting the priest in UE spells in Orcus name much in the same way Cyric was granting Bane,Bhaals and Mykruls clerics spells in those gods names after the ToT This could be true, except he's also listed as alive in Faiths & Pantheons. :) So between him being alive in Faiths & Pantheons, and his cleric in Unapproachable East (and they probably would have said, some one else is granted spells in his name, if that was the case) he is alive. I quote Faiths & Pantheons, page 220 "Any deities not listed on the chart on the next page or in Chapter 5 of the FRCS do not exist in FR." Orcus DOES exist on the chart on page 221 in Faith & Pantheons, SO again between his cleric in UE and F&P he does exist and is alive..... Didn't me and Nightfall just have this discussion and "proved" he was alive?.
Dargoth 11-05-03, 08:38 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 This could be true, except he's also listed as alive in Faiths & Pantheons. :) So between him being alive in Faiths & Pantheons, and his cleric in Unapproachable East (and they probably would have said, some one else is granted spells in his name, if that was the case) he is alive. I quote Faiths & Pantheons, page 220 "Any deities not listed on the chart on the next page or in Chapter 5 of the FRCS do not exist in FR." Orcus DOES exist on the chart on page 221 in Faith & Pantheons, SO again between his cleric in UE and F&P he does exist and is alive..... Didn't me and Nightfall just have this discussion and "proved" he was alive?. "Any deities not listed on the chart on the next page or in Chapter 5 of the FRCS do not exist in FR." Well this is clearly no longer true For one thing SKR had a table on his website with Extra gods that didnt make it but SHOULD OF WOTC have since taken that Table from Sean and are going to post it on the WOTC website at some point So no I dont see the table on page 221 of the F&P being accurate or up to date
Kuje31 11-05-03, 08:46 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth [BSo no I dont see the table on page 221 of the F&P being accurate or up to date [/B] The table might not be up to date, but Unapproachable East is. So again, because of the two sources for 3/3.5 Orcus is alive.
Dargoth 11-05-03, 09:05 PM	Originally posted by Kuje31 The table might not be up to date, but Unapproachable East is. So again, because of the two sources for 3/3.5 Orcus is alive. Im not going to accept that until WOTC officially publishs Orcus is back and address how he came back, we at least got a limited explaination of how Bane came back. Orcus should remain dead hes not needed The FR already has 2 gods of Undeath and 1 was involved in Orcus death The planescape modules that address orcus rebirth arent valid in the FR as the Planescape cosmology isnt even used in the FR anymore. I imagine this isnt going to be addressed until a Cold Lands sup is done unless Rich but something in the PGTF. Did you Rich?
Kuje31 11-05-03, 09:14 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth Im not going to accept that until WOTC officially publishs Orcus is back and address how he came back, we at least got a limited explaination of how Bane came back. Orcus should remain dead hes not needed Which is fine, it's your right to not accept that. Just like it's my right to not accept any thing that is in 3/3.5 books or any other material I don't care to use. But since he officially has a cleric in UE, and he is officially listed in the chart in F&P. That is more then enough for me to see he is officially alive. I don't care what SKR has said, or about SKR's chart, since WOTC has told him to take it down and they have not yet put it back up on thier site. So until then, UE and F&P are the sources where it is listed he is alive. Now when and if WOTC adds that chart and he isn't on there, that is different.
Arkenian 11-05-03, 09:39 PM	Hmms. Rich, On the subject of DCs . . . is the spell spell enhancer changed at all? -Arkenian the Golden
Selvarin 11-05-03, 09:58 PM	Wanting and getting are two entirely different mattersl. The Cubs will win before we see a Kara Tur sourcebook. Kuje, it may well be that Orcus has a few in the Realms still. At the same time I've seen a number of clerics who believed they were following a particular deity (or other extraplanar being) who were actually recieving their power from a different deity. It's pretty common, especially at the cult level. As for SKR's table, I still have a copy of it--and I hope that Blibdoolpoolp doesn't get 'replaced' or made an alias of Umberlee just because there's "already a CE deity of evil water creatures." Some of the attempts at deific consolidation drain the color from the various pantheons. (Blibdoolpoolp should, however, be switched back to NE but that's another story entirely.) Just another pet peeve of mine.
Kuje31 11-05-03, 10:05 PM	Originally posted by Selvarin Kuje, it may well be that Orcus has a few in the Realms still. At the same time I've seen a number of clerics who believed they were following a particular deity (or other extraplanar being) who were actually recieving their power from a different deity. It's pretty common, especially at the cult level. As for SKR's table, I still have a copy of it--and I hope that Blibdoolpoolp doesn't get 'replaced' or made an alias of Umberlee just because there's "already a CE deity of evil water creatures." Some of the attempts at deific consolidation drain the color from the various pantheons. (Blibdoolpoolp should, however, be switched back to NE but that's another story entirely.) And as I said the cleric deal might be true, except for what was printed in F&A where it again, shows Orcus as a lesser deity. And usually when a NPC is getting spells from a different deity it says "So and so deity is giving the spells in so and so's deites name." I mean really it says "Ghur-Tha the Cleaver (CE male human 4th level barbarian/ 9th level cleric of Orcus) who delights in capturing enemies alive and sacrificing them to his demonic patron. Also Blibdoolpoolp shouldn't get replaced, since she has clerics in the Underdark sourcebook. :)
Dargoth 11-05-03, 11:17 PM	The big crunch for whether Orcus is alive or not will be if hes listed in the Gods Table in The players guide to Faerun That Table will supercede all other 3.0 info So Ill consider the PGTF to be the final word on the subject But this stage I see no reason for allowing him back in. Infact allowing him back in causes more problems for the Realms cosmology especially if they use stuff from those Planescape modules ORCUS IS NOT NEEDED IN THE FR
TheDarkestOfAngels 11-05-03, 11:31 PM	Why would Orcus be listed among the Gods? Indeed he might grant spells to clerics, but according to the BoVD, it allows any demonic (or angellic) superpower, like asmodeus and grazzt to grant spells w/o divine ranks. Well... asmodeous might have divine ranks, but he essentially doesn't until he reverts to his natural form or something. But anyway, I don't think Orcus would be listed among the Gods of FR because he isn't one. But that's just me. But I suppose the moral of the story is that you don't need divine ranks to grant spells, you just need to be a really powerful and heavily worshipped outsider. Maybe.
Kuje31 11-05-03, 11:52 PM	Originally posted by Dargoth The big crunch for whether Orcus is alive or not will be if hes listed in the Gods Table in The players guide to Faerun That Table will supercede all other 3.0 info So Ill consider the PGTF to be the final word on the subject But this stage I see no reason for allowing him back in. Infact allowing him back in causes more problems for the Realms cosmology especially if they use stuff from those Planescape modules ORCUS IS NOT NEEDED IN THE FR That Orcus is not needed, is your opinion. And sure granted Players Guide will superced F&A and Unapproachable East, because it is the newer book. However according to Rich a few days back, new books do not always surperced stuff when it comes to fluff, only crunch.
Kuje31 11-05-03, 11:55 PM	Originally posted by TheDarkestOfAngels Why would Orcus be listed among the Gods? Indeed he might grant spells to clerics, but according to the BoVD, it allows any demonic (or angellic) superpower, like asmodeus and grazzt to grant spells w/o divine ranks. Well... asmodeous might have divine ranks, but he essentially doesn't until he reverts to his natural form or something. But anyway, I don't think Orcus would be listed among the Gods of FR because he isn't one. But that's just me. But I suppose the moral of the story is that you don't need divine ranks to grant spells, you just need to be a really powerful and heavily worshipped outsider. Maybe. BOVD isn't FR specific. In FR he is a lesser deity. Faiths & Pantheons says so. And so in FR Orcus is a deity, how he came to be one, is not explained, but the truth as far as 3/3.5 Realms sourcebooks are concerned he is a deity. Guy's or girl's (have to be PC there. :)) if we are going to continue to debate this, let's take it to a seperate thread also.
Nighttfall 11-06-03, 01:27 AM	And it wouldn't be much of a debate IF I wasn't involved. ;) Oh and Dagoth, I doubt Kiaraselee or some other god would get involved with a barbaric human in the Bloodstone/Lands of Nar. Believe that.
Nighttfall 11-06-03, 01:28 AM	Also I'd like to point out Orcus was VERY active in the Realms history thanks the Bloodstone Modules. He may have lost some power because of it, but didn't mean he WAS dead. Thirdly, just because you DON'T like having that god there because you feel "he's filling in a niche already taken" doesn't mean it can't happen. We have plenty of instances where a LOT of gods have clashing portifolios of nearly identicial beliefs. Plus while some might view them as unnecessary, it's how this world goes.
Nighttfall 11-06-03, 01:40 AM	Originally posted by Cassius Harkanor 6. Will the FRPG finally give people proof that Orcus is dead, with the explaination of the planar lords. Orcus isn't dead. Though I'm sure at least some more people will die.
Nighttfall 11-06-03, 01:41 AM	Originally posted by Kuje31 Didn't me and Nightfall just have this discussion and "proved" he was alive?. Yes we did. But it seems we are the minority for some reason that I can't fathom.
Nighttfall 11-06-03, 01:43 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth ORCUS IS NOT NEEDED IN THE FR Same could be said for about 1/4 the demihuman panethons, and 1/3 of the human/faerunian ones. Just because you don't THINK it's necessary, doesn't make it so.
Dargoth 11-06-03, 03:51 AM	Originally posted by Nighttfall And it wouldn't be much of a debate IF I wasn't involved. ;) Oh and Dagoth, I doubt Kiaraselee or some other god would get involved with a barbaric human in the Bloodstone/Lands of Nar. Believe that. both Velshoon and Kiranshee are greedy deitys and remeber every worshiper counts in the FR
Dargoth 11-06-03, 04:02 AM	Originally posted by Nighttfall Same could be said for about 1/4 the demihuman panethons, and 1/3 of the human/faerunian ones. Just because you don't THINK it's necessary, doesn't make it so. those deities didnt die Orcus did
gutz 11-06-03, 10:40 AM	The existence of Orcus is a very good subject for its own thread. I come here to see about new products and to read what tidbits of realmslore Rich wants to toss out (hint, hint Rich)
Mirtek 11-06-03, 11:40 AM	Originally posted by Dargoth Im not going to accept that until WOTC officially publishs Orcus is back and address how he came back, The planescape modules that address orcus rebirth arent valid in the FR as the Planescape cosmology isnt even used in the FR anymore. But the PS cosmology was used back in 2e and that was when Orcus did return. There's no need to explain his return in 3e, since it's no new 3e thing but already happend back in 2e and was explained back in 2e Originally posted by TheDarkestOfAngels Why would Orcus be listed among the Gods? [...]But anyway, I don't think Orcus would be listed among the Gods of FR because he isn't one. [...] But I suppose the moral of the story is that you don't need divine ranks to grant spells, you just need to be a really powerful and heavily worshipped outsider. Maybe. 2e: Orcus was a true deity (as were many of the archfiends now listed in the BoVD as non-divine beings) 3e: The D&D multiverse has been destroyed, all game worlds now exist in their own universe, seperated from each other 3e: Orcus (and most other archfiends) are stripped of their godhood in standard D&D 3e: Orcus kept his divinity in the FR universe, which is possible since the cosmologies are now strictly seperated Don't see where the problem is Originally posted by Kuje31 However according to Rich a few days back, new books do not always surperced stuff when it comes to fluff, only crunch. Yes, but he also said that the PG is specifically meant to overwrite all older books and bring everything to a single official level. Fazit: Until the PG tells us otherwise, Orcus is not only alive in the FR, he's also a lesser god. That's what official sourcebooks told us and anything else doesn't matter, as long as WotC doesn't print anything different (in the PG or in the long overdue F&P errata)
Razz 11-06-03, 11:57 AM	I apologize for what people seemed to have deemed an outburst of complaints. I always complain, no matter how persuasive my subjects are, I end up placing in at least one complaint. I usually don't sugar-coat my feelings. They're hard, right-in-your-face opinions and suggestions. Sugar-coating words is for wussies who can't bear to hear the plain, cold, truth. (Unless one prefers it that way, then that's one's choice) Besides, I don't have any ranks in Diplomacy for myself (they're mostly in Bluff :D )
ScarLip 11-07-03, 01:02 PM	Rich EN World posted a small list of whats in Complete Warrior and it looks like mostly old stuff. How much is new and how much is recycled?
honestiago 02-26-04, 06:55 PM	What are the updates to the Divine Chapion in the PGtF?
Dargoth 02-26-04, 06:58 PM	Originally posted by honestiago What are the updates to the Divine Chapion in the PGtF? this is the old thread and no longer in use
Aulnil 03-24-04, 10:07 PM	Mr. Baker, I've just finished your installation to the War of the Spider Queen series, and it was by far the best yet. I am running my own Forgotten Realms campaign but attempt to use as much published material as possible. As my campaign is deeply rooted in the Moonsea and Dales region much of these books, along with the City of the Spider Queen adventure, tie directly into my campaign. I've asked the general FR message board, as well as the Ask RA Salvatore message board, in which he referred me to the FR message board, is there a specific timeline of events for atleast the novel and possibly the adventure supplement as well, pertaining to start dates and major event dates? Any info. would be gratefully appreciated. Thanx, Aulnil
Wooly Rupert 03-25-04, 12:32 AM	Friend Aulnil, this thread is no longer active. You may wish to redirect your query to this thread: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=129535
Aluroon 11-29-04, 08:53 PM	Richard Baker, as you may or may not know, I am currently working on an Elven High Mage Prestige class that fits more with the flavor of the 2nd edition High Mage. My major question here is why was there such a departure between the 2nd edition high mage and the 3rd edition high mage. Furthermore can we expect a 3.5 update, I'd like to see how it matchs up vs the current ideas were throwing around. One other question, though I'm not sure if its over the line, regards Forsaken House. Are there any plans currently in place to write up stats for the main characters? If not where would you place them as level wise? I'm currius for a current campaign, and if Wizards doesnt write them up I'll have to go from scrach, something I would rather not do if you have any ideas bounching around in your own head. Thanks Aluroon
Kuje31 11-29-04, 09:14 PM	Aluroon. I'd repost this in the sticky'd thread at the top of this board. :)
Aluroon 11-30-04, 03:11 PM	Aluroon. I'd repost this in the sticky'd thread at the top of this board. :) ? whopse
Gamma_Radiation 11-13-06, 10:42 AM	hello i was wondering can you aviod the magic section of the game by some way or another:confused: is this possible if so what are the Consequences of playing like this.
longarm 11-13-06, 11:00 AM	hello i was wondering can you aviod the magic section of the game by some way or another:confused: is this possible if so what are the Consequences of playing like this. You should ask in the stickied thread, you're the first person to post in this thread in almost 2 years...and I can't really figure out what you're asking so you might want to reformulate the question to be more clear. -Longarm
Selvarin 11-13-06, 05:55 PM	I think he's asking whether it's possible to play a low-magic (or no-magic) version of the Realms, and how to go about it.