Post/Author/DateTime	Post
WizO_Dabus 11-22-03, 08:22 PM	The following is the transcript for the Draconomicon chat held on 20 November 2003 in the Wizards Presents room on the Wizards of the Coast chat site. Guest speakers were Andy Collins and Skip Williams. The transcript has been edited for clarity and to maintain train of thought. WizO_Dabus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WizO_Dabus says, "Thanks everyone for coming. Allow me to run through the rules for protocol and give our guests a chance to make some opening statements, then we'll open up the floor for questions." WizO_Dabus says, "Welcome to our Draconomicon chat with Skip Williams and Andy Collins. Protocol is in effect. If you have a question or a comment to make, type a ? or a ! to the screen so you can be added to the queue." WizO_Dabus says, "Please have your question or comment already typed out and ready to enter when called upon to help the session run more smoothly. At the end of your question or comment, please type /ga so we know you are done with your statement." WizO_Dabus says, "Please do not post anything to the screen until called upon. No matter how many times you type a ? or a ! to the screen, you will only be put in the queue once until your name has reached the top of the queue." WizO_Dabus says, "Please be respectful of others. If you have anything to say to anybody in the room, please use a private message. Thanks and have fun tonight!" WizO_Dabus says, "Andy and Skip, we'll let you two jockey it out for who speaks when and what for...would either of you like to make an opening statement about this much anticipated release?" wotc_andy says, "I really enjoyed working with Skip and James (Wyatt) on this book. I think we managed to put together a pretty darn fine product (with the help of our editors, artists, cartographers, et al), and we're all pleased as punch at the positive reception it's been getting." thesage says, "I'll second that, Andy. We really pulled out all the stops on this book, and I think it shows. /ga" wotc_andy says, "Indeed. On with the questions! /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "I know I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it!" WizO_Dabus says, "Shemeska, you yugoloth you, you have the first question!" shemeska grins shemeska says, "Just out of curiosity, and thank you for putting the Faerie Dragon back into 3e DnD, why was the cute little thing's wish ability removed, as well as mention of their affinity for apple pie? Sorry, it had to be asked. And wonderful book, you all did a great job." shemeska says, "and oh /ga" thesage says, "Hmmm... for some reason, I thought it was cherry pie.... Andy? /ga" wotc_andy says, "I tried to create a monster that retained the original's flavor, but worked well within the 3rd Edition game system. If you want it to have an affinity for dessert, that's fine with me. :) /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Arathil, your question please." arathil says, "I just have one brief question, more of a curiosity... There's a PrC or two which seem particularly geared towards the Monk and the Paladin, but there's no mention of freedom of multiclassing. While the classes certainly involve a shift in focus, they are so closely tied to the aforementioned basics that it seems freedom of multiclassing wouldn't be all that inappropriate. Was this left out intentionally, and if so, was there a particular reason?/ga" wotc_andy says, "Sounds like an oversight on my part (I wrote most of the PrCs). I'd say the DM should feel free to incorporate that into the classes--it's not unbalancing." warrior_poet1786 says, "First of all, I'm star stuck ! I was looking through the artwork and noticed that the wrymling drawing all had exceptionally large heads, I thought it looked rather silly…any comments on that? Also, I thought the hide craved dragons looked incredible and from what I've read they sound even kooler (if that is a word)! Is there some ritual involved in the carving of the hide? Or do they appear magically (the carvings)? /ga" wotc_andy says, "Most young mammals have oversized heads, and I'd guess that the artists drew on that to create the younger dragons." thesage says, "Mostly, the wyrmlings look they way they do because that’s what the artists thought baby dragons ought to look like. The "higher" creatures tend toward oversized heads when young. /ga" thesage says, "Big brain, big head, at least until the body catches up. /ga" wotc_andy says, "The book's silent on the cause of the hidecarvings. I'd encourage a DM who used this class to come up with a cool, flavorful method of engraving the mystical symbology. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Willie_the_Duck, please ask your question." willie_the_duck says, "Thanks Dabus. While a lot of DMs like using dragons and PCs like playing dragon hunters or (hopefully good) dragon worshippers, a lot of us also like playing dragons or dragonlike things. While the book did expand on this, it still did not make any real playable dragons or dragon creatures below level9 or so, was this deliberate?" wotc_andy says, "Certainly, there are any number of half-dragon combos that are playable at low levels." wotc_andy says, "I wouldn't say that was a conscious choice, but rather an overall realization that dragon = powerful, and creating a bunch of really weak dragons for play as low-level PCs would seem counterintuitive. /ga" thesage says, "To a certain degree, yes. For one thing, Savaged Species is the book you use for playing monster PCs. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Shemeska, Ask away!" shemeska says, "Io, as far as I remember, had generally been considered to be either an overgod of the draconic pantheon, or a greater power from what I'd read. Now dragon lore in DnD isn't my specialty and I may lack some of the history that might have been in the Council of Wyrms setting, etc. But I noted that Io had been reduced to an intermediate power in Draconomicon. Any particular reason?" shemeska tips razorvine crown shemeska says, "oops, again /ga" thesage says, "Indeed, Andy. From the start we decide to present dragons as the top monster of the game, other considerations were secondary. /ga" wotc_andy says, "While we often re-use names for sentimental purposes, it's important to remember that each version of the game presents its own versions of characters with those names." wotc_andy says, "These won't always match up perfectly with older versions of the characters, for a wide variety of reasons." wotc_andy says, "Io's still the "highest-ranking" deity of the dragons, but he's not as powerful as the most potent human gods." wotc_andy says, "To me, that matches the reduced influence of dragons in the world (as compared to some quasi-mythological past era, when dragons may or may not have ruled the world)." thesage says, "I don't have much to add to that. Io is still a "power." /ga" wotc_andy says, "Even as "top-dog" dragon deity, Io doesn't have the influence of Pelor, Corellon Larethian, etc. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Arathil, please ask your question." arathil says, "I'm absolutely floored by the completeness of this book. It covers everything I've ever wondered about, and then some, where dragons are concerned, and it's redoubled their involvement in my own campaigns (my players, conversely, have mixed feelings, since I'm particularly fond of red and black dragons ). My question is, is there anything you'd have liked to include in the book, or even had slated for it, which was cut out for one reason or another? Also, along a similar vein, are there any additional dragon-related supplements on the drawing board, that you're aware of... particularly of an epic nature?/ga" wotc_andy says, "I don't remember any topic that didn't get the coverage we were hoping for." wotc_andy says, "At one point, we had hoped to get some more lairs and adventure hooks in, so I guess that's one (minor) regret." thesage says, "From my point of view, we managed to squeeze in everything we had planned to do. There were some sample dragons and dragon encounters that got cut, but you'll see those in the web enhancement. /ga" wotc_andy says, "I don't think we'll be revisiting dragons any time soon, though I understand that they play a significant role of some sort (perhaps legendarily more than physically) in next year's Eberron campaign setting. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "aeolius>Ask your question please! " aeolius says, "Sorry I'm late. I was somewhat disappointed to see Draconomicon's division between "true" and "lesser" dragons, as I had previously placed a half-dragon turtle scrag and a half-fiend sea drake in my undersea campaign. Would it be unreasonable to expect a future web-enhancement to include age categories for select "lesser" dragons and information regarding their half-dragon offspring? /ga" wotc_andy says, "I don't anticipate any such thing, but if you asked nicely on my message boards (www.andycollins.net) I might be swayed to write up something unofficial (though there's no way I'd try to be definitive--there's just too much there!)." wotc_andy says, "That said, there's nothing wrong with including such creatures in your game, even if we haven't included them here. We couldn't hope to address every half-dragon variation--hopefully, the ones in here will help guide you to create others! /ga" thesage says, "Aeolius> There's no more. I'm not planning anything like that. I consider age categories something of an unpleasant necessity when dealing with dragons. Still, it wouldn't be too hard to introduce something like that yourself. Just assume that the MM ...." thesage says, "Sorry, just can’t stay connected tonight!/ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Arathil>Your comment, please." arathil says, "Regarding undersea campaigns, specifically... I believe half-lung varieties are present. I'm not very well-read on the D&D Oriental Adventures supplement where Lungs are described, but in traditional Oriental mythology I believe they have a strong affinity with water." aeolius says, "Arathil began to address this, somewhat. I noticed several half-dragons of Oriental Adventures descent. While their presence in Draconomicon gave me some ideas, regarding granting select half-topaz and/or half-black dragons the water breathing Special Ability, I was curious as to the motivation for their inclusion. /ga" wotc_andy says, "I included them for two reasons: 1) they're not obvious, since their powers aren't standard; 2) it's nice support for Oriental Adventures, a well-crafted campaign setting in its own right. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Damarkos>Please ask your question." damarkos says, "Hi I was just wondering if the book and info on dragon alchemy, like what you can get from different parts of different dragons i.e. blood, teeth, eyes and so on. I haven't got the book yet because my local bookstore is sold out. I just want to know this because that's one of the major things I do with dragons." wotc_andy says, "Absolutely yes! I've long thought that to be an underused part of dragon lore, and while I'm not a fan of turning every monster in the game into a walking grocery store of components, I think that the occasional dragontooth dagger or dragonsblood elixir to be a fine thing. /ga" thesage says, "There are loads of neato things you can make if you have access to dragon parts. The book, however, does not make a dragon into a flying magic shop. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Garenthal>You're up! Ask away!" garenthal says, "Regarding the Oriental dragons: is it safe to assume that the current half-Lung dragons are a reversal from the older editions' stance that a half-dragon of one of the lung types was a spirit folk?" wotc_andy says, "There's no "reversal" needed--either or both can be true depending on the DM. There weren't rules for half-dragons in previous editions; now there are. /ga" wotc_andy says, "Designers aren't beholden to previous editions of the game. While many of us have sentimental attachments to older products, and try to work in Easter eggs for them from time to time, it's hardly a job requirement. /ga" thesage says, "If spirit folk were ever explained as half-dragons, that would be news to me. /ga" thesage says, "In any case, it's news to me that spirit folk were ever described as half dragons./ga" WizO_Dabus says, "It was stated as such in the original Oriental Adventures." thesage says, "Silly /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Willie_the_Duck>Ask your question, please." willie_the_duck says, "This may be choppy, I'm having trouble..." willie_the_duck says, "On the subject of half-dragons, The template seems to imply that the most telling attributes of dragons are their breath weapons and their awesome strength. While they clearly have these, I don't consider them their main focus. Do you agree/disagree?" wotc_andy says, "I think that a dragon's breath weapon and awesome strength are absolutely two of the creature's most iconic attributes." wotc_andy says, "Ask any person--particularly a non-gamer--what they think of when you say "dragon," and I'm pretty sure that their response will include "big" and "fire-breathing." : ) /ga" thesage says, "What the template implies is a personal matter. Certainly the breath weapon, natural armor, and formidable physical stats are what dragons are all about, gamewise, /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Aeolius, you're up! Ask away!" aeolius says, "In your opinion, how rare would planar dragons, such as the Oceanus and Styx, be in a campaign placed on the Prime Material Plane? Would the half-planar dragons be extremely rare, on the PMP? Or should they be reserved as purely planar creatures? /ga" wotc_andy says, "In a default D&D campaign, I'd say they'd be pretty rare--certainly rarer than the standard dragons (red, blue, etc.)." wotc_andy says, "That said, every campaign is unique--a campaign with lots of interplanar travel would probably feature more of them, and one with limited travel between planes might easily restrict them to appearing only on their home planes." wotc_andy says, "Personally, I'd err toward the "very rare on the Material Plane" side, but that's me. /ga" thesage says, "As rare as you want them to be, or as common as your would will tolerate. In my own world, for example, you don’t encounter planar creatures just walking around. .ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Goblinslavemaster>Ask your question, please." goblinslavemaster says, "Did you give as much description to the ''lesser'' dragons as you did with the ''True'' Dragons? Will you be showing pictures of the ''lesser'' at each age and describing the abilities of the Half-dragons? /ga" wotc_andy says, "There aren't age categories for dragons other than true dragons, so there aren't any other ages to show." wotc_andy says, "We didn't do half-dragon versions of the non-true dragons (there are too many, and most aren't "equipped" to mate with as wide a variety of creatures as the true dragons tend to be...)." wotc_andy says, "That said, every new creature in the book has a full-color illo--we didn't skimp just because a dragon wasn't "true." /ga" goblinslavemaster says, "I mean, like for the shadow and fang dragons presented in Forgotten Realms, will there be pictures of them at each age and will there be stats for their '''half'' version? /ga" wotc_andy says, "We don't have "sets" of pictures for the dragons that aren't from the MM--we don't have the art budget for that!" thesage says, "The book concentrates on the 10 subtypes in the core game. Believe me, that's plenty of material. /ga" wotc_andy says, "There are half-dragon versions of all the true dragons from this book, Monsters of Faerun, MM2, and OA. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "quintessence>Your comment, please." quintessence says, "I'd just like to thank the designers for remaking the Draconomicon into such a beautiful 'prestige' book. The original Draconomicon was the first D&D book I bought many years ago and is the reason I got into role-playing. Buying the new edition was like a" quintessence says, "home-coming for me. Thanks." wotc_andy says, "You're welcome, quintessence. I also remember that book fondly (and still have a copy on my shelf). /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Shemeska>Ask away, oh King-of-the-Crosstrade!" shemeska says, "With as well as the Draconomicon appears to be selling (my local stores literally can't keep the book in stock) might this persuade WotC to consider doing more monster ecology books? I loved for example the 2e Illithiad and the 'I Tyrant' Beholder ecology book, despite not getting into DnD till 3rd edition actually, and it would be wonderful to see some more monster related fluff in 3e if there's such a demand for the 3e Draconomicon for example. /ga" wotc_andy says, "WotC is very open to repeating this format of book. While I can't discuss future schedules, I think you'll be pleased with what's to come... /ga" thesage says, "'Nuf said. .ga" shemeska grins a toothy grin WizO_Dabus says, "Damarkos>You're up! What's your question?" damarkos says, "Is their info on the Gem Dragons in the book? And info on the Gem Dragons gods?" wotc_andy says, "The gem dragons are in MM2, and we decided it would be inappropriate to spend the amount of space required to reprint them. Thus, we also didn't feel comfortable spending time discussing them (since we try to limit references to non-core rulebook products). That said, we included half-dragon versions of the gems in here. /ga" wotc_andy says, "(Note that this was one of the toughest calls we made on the book--it wasn't a no-brainer.) /ga" thesage says, "I have nothing to add here, either. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Aeolius>Ask your question, please." aeolius says, "In my undersea campaign, I added coral, pearl, and abalone sea dragons. What advice would you offer to other DMs who wish to add new dragons of their own? /ga" wotc_andy says, "I'd say first, make sure you have a clear environmental niche for them. If you have six different kinds of dragons that all live in cold mountains, that's probably too many." thesage says, "Take a look at the detailed write ups of the 10 MM subspecies, that will give you a pretty good idea of what "makes" a dragon./ga" wotc_andy says, "From a mechanical standpoint, I'd advise using existing dragon stats as a skeleton from which to build your new dragon. Make sure it feels different in a few key ways--it shouldn't just feel like a green dragon with a different breath weapon, but an entirely *different* monster." thesage says, "Consider your touch – compare it to the other dragons – what are the new dragon's quirks? Consider some kind of underlying theme for the breath weapon and spell-like abilities. /ga" wotc_andy says, "And finally, give it a personality quirk – savage, talkative, curious, long-winded, etc. That'll help players remember it and differentiate it from others. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Goblinslavemaster, you have the last question of the evening. Ask away!" goblinslavemaster says, "What kind of class and/or prestige class will there be for non-draconic characters? Also, When is the release date in Canada? /ga" wotc_andy says, "I have no idea how (if at all) the Canadian release date would differ. In general, Wizards release dates are just the approximate ship date to distributors. I'd assume that, barring shipping delays, the book should be pretty much everywhere." wotc_andy says, "If by "non-draconic" characters you mean elves, dwarves, humans, and other races that aren't dragons, the book has 10 prestige classes for such characters." wotc_andy says, "These range from the thieving Hoardstealer to the noble Platinum Knight, and from the crafty Dragonstalker to the cruel Talon of Tiamat. /ga" thesage says, "First, remember that the book is already on the shelves. There is plenty material in it for dragon hunters and other PCs. That includes prestige classes and feats. Plus tips for dealing with dragons. /ga" WizO_Dabus says, "Arathil>Your comment, please." arathil says, "I'd just like to say that I enormously appreciated the division between draconic material for Dragons (primarily, presumably, geared towards DMs) and that for the player's perspective, such as the division of magical spells, feats, and PrCs." arathil says, "I for one would greatly appreciate seeing such an organized and clear division in future works." arathil says, "/ga" wotc_andy says, "Thanks! I think the format works well, and hope to repeat it in similar projects in the future...not that we're necessarily doing any similar projects, ahem!" WizO_Dabus says, "hehehe" WizO_Dabus says, "Okay, Andy has to hit the road promptly at 6 p.m. PT, so I'd like to give him a chance to make any closing remarks now. Any tidbits you can give us, Andy? Can you say what you're working on now?" wotc_andy says, "Unfortunately, I live so far in the future (as far as project release schedules are concerned) that I can't discuss specifics of such products. I did some design work on Complete Warrior, which hits the streets pretty soon, and my "baby," Unearthed Arcana, is out early next year." wotc_andy says, "After that, I only have one other design project (which I finished up a couple months ago, and is due out next fall IIRC) coming." wotc_andy says, "I'm not leaving--I've just moved from the Design Team to Development, so I'll have my fingers in a whole lot of other projects over the coming months." WizO_Dabus says, "Aeolius>Your comment, please." aeolius says, "Andy, if you want to publish a 256-page hardback about hags, you have at least one buyer " wotc_andy says, "Thanks, Aeolius." quintessence says, "I like hags..." wotc_andy says, "I appreciate everybody coming out and asking questions about Draconomicon. I'm really psyched that people are enjoying it so much--it was a pretty ambitious project, and it's great to see it going over well." wotc_andy says, "But now it's time for me to hit the road. If you have other Draconomicon questions, you can always post them to my message boards (once again, that's www.andycollins.net)!" WizO_Dabus says, "Skip, care to make any final comments? Do you have any projects in the near future, either for Wizards or freelance you'd care to mention?" thesage says, "For me, the greatest accomplishment for the whole Draconomicon team was gathering up all that was "known" about D&D dragons and compiling it under one cover (I wrote a whole chapter just from background tidbits leftover from the 3.0 Monster Manual). This *is" thesage says, "the definitive work on D&D Dragons." thesage says, "I’m afraid I’m even more constrained than Andy when it comes to talking about future projects. Watch out, however, for my new Web column -- right here on the WotC site. We haven't quite settled on a title, but it debuts in January. /ja" wizo_randal says, "thank you so much for taking the time Skip and Andy" WizO_Dabus says, "Yes, thank you both for joining us!" WizO_Dabus says, "And thank everyone for attending this chat."
Joe Gold 11-23-03, 02:28 AM	Now if only we could get the transcript for the BoED chat...
Tenzhi 11-23-03, 03:22 AM	:rolleyes: I like how he says they didn't put gem dragons in because they try to limit their references to non-core material, yet many of the dragons in the book beyond the basic 10 weren't core material. Given the Gems' natural place in the Chromatic/Metallic scheme they should have had the same growth charts and detail... :behold:
LizardRider 11-24-03, 11:27 PM	It's easy to change the Gem Dragon's from 3e to 3.5. But it would be nice to see some in depth detail on them like in the Draconimicon (don't own it; just guessing).