I know I said I wouldn't be buying the Demonomicon but I haz it. - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

I know I said I wouldn't be buying the Demonomicon but I haz it.

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
LordofKhyber
Jul 27, 2010 11:35:14
I couldn't help it. I was just passing by the shop saw that they had it in and I was already buying some Paizo fold out maps and the local shop has a discount card that if you buy a certain amount of stuff you get a 50% discount off of a book so I got it. I'll just have to hide it from my parents.

It really is a great book. It has tons of new monsters, traps, hazards, and interesting locales. I wasn't impressed with MoTP, Astral Sea, or Khyber books, but this one is one of the none MM monster books I have bought. I think I'm going to refluff a lot of the demons so that they are monsters of the wastes in Athas, but other than that I'm going to use the heck out of this book.

Does anyone who doesn't have the book have any questions about it?
#2
mellored
Jul 27, 2010 12:58:32 I'm curious about the traps. There needs to be alot more of them.
#3
Duskweaver
Jul 28, 2010 8:35:17 Did you spot the sneaky Dragonlance reference yet? ;)
#4
Duke5150
Jul 28, 2010 22:52:50
Did you spot the sneaky Dragonlance reference yet? ;)

What page? I'v not had time to read it word for word, but there are plenty of things in the book that could be a nod to dragonlance, especially when you're look for one. Don't have to spoil it, but you could provide a page number for the one you found.
#5
Duskweaver
Jul 29, 2010 2:51:28
Don't have to spoil it, but you could provide a page number for the one you found.

74

It's the context I find interesting. Waterdeep>Sharn>Palanthas. FR>Eberron>DL. If they'd put an Athasian city between Sharn and Palanthas, I'd be even more intrigued.

Maybe it means something. Maybe it doesn't. Raised an eyebrow with me, though.

On a similar note, there's quite a bit of Getting Crap Past The Radar in this book. Iggwilv musing idly on how some time spent in the Forest of Living Tongues would change Graz'zt for the better (since demons adapt to their surroundings) actually made me laugh out loud.

(If you don't get it, here's a clue. Graz'zt's a pretty sneaky sort. So much so, you could say that his cunning lingers long after he himself has left.)
#6
Duke5150
Jul 29, 2010 6:16:18 Yeah, the Palanthas mention lends further support to the possibility of a 4e dragonlance, as does cyan bloodbane, draconians and a few other little tidbits I'v found but forget. Dragonlance would make wotc money, regardless of how many people on this forum don't like it, there are a ton of fans who would support any new material released. Plenty of people hate darksun and eberron, yet that didn't stop those settings from becoming a reality in 4th edition. With essentials, some dragonlance fans feel it (essentials) fits very nicely with the setting and with themes, dragonlance is more than possible without the need of new (reskinned) classes.

The question I ask isn't "if", but "when", we will see 4th edition dragonlance.

As for the Graz'zt innuendo, yeah, I don't think it's possible not to get it.

Back to the topic though, the Barrens offers a seriously awesome creative outlet for DMs of "ANY" setting. You could form some very unique and incredibly fun adventures all within that single layer of the abyss. This is the one place beyond sigil where you can pull off setting cross overs.
#7
Drammattex
Jul 29, 2010 10:44:34
Back to the topic though, the Barrens offers a seriously awesome creative outlet for DMs of "ANY" setting. You could form some very unique and incredibly fun adventures all within that single layer of the abyss. This is the one place beyond sigil where you can pull off setting cross overs.

That was the idea. To make it at once both distinct and infinitely customizable (which is why there's no map). To clear up confusion, Palanthas was noted because while mentioning that the Barrens contains the ruined remnants of all cities, I wanted to include examples of three model metropolises. I grew up on DragonLance, so I chose Palanthas as one of those. Perhaps I was also guessing that this summer's campaign setting release would be DragonLance (I can't recall), but if so, I ended up being wrong, as it turned out to be Dark Sun. There's no Athasian city mentioned simply because it goes under the "all cities" umbrella. And once you go beyond three specific examples, you'd have to pay tribute to them all, mentioning something Greyhawk, something Birthright, something Mystara, something Spelljammer, something Ravenloft, and so on. As it stands, the only distinction is "not Sigil." However, speaking of Athas, one could easily run the entire Dark Sun campaign setting in the Barrens if you wanted, as a post-apocalyptic version of the campaign world. That's one possibility.

At any rate, the choice to include Palanthas was intended as an homage as opposed to a hint. Now, the fact that it remains in the final printed version of Demonomicon--I suppose one could speculate upon that if one wished...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 LordofKhyber Jul 27, 2010 11:35:14	I couldn't help it. I was just passing by the shop saw that they had it in and I was already buying some Paizo fold out maps and the local shop has a discount card that if you buy a certain amount of stuff you get a 50% discount off of a book so I got it. I'll just have to hide it from my parents. It really is a great book. It has tons of new monsters, traps, hazards, and interesting locales. I wasn't impressed with MoTP, Astral Sea, or Khyber books, but this one is one of the none MM monster books I have bought. I think I'm going to refluff a lot of the demons so that they are monsters of the wastes in Athas, but other than that I'm going to use the heck out of this book. Does anyone who doesn't have the book have any questions about it?
#2 mellored Jul 27, 2010 12:58:32	I'm curious about the traps. There needs to be alot more of them.
#3 Duskweaver Jul 28, 2010 8:35:17	Did you spot the sneaky Dragonlance reference yet? ;)
#4 Duke5150 Jul 28, 2010 22:52:50	Did you spot the sneaky Dragonlance reference yet? ;) What page? I'v not had time to read it word for word, but there are plenty of things in the book that could be a nod to dragonlance, especially when you're look for one. Don't have to spoil it, but you could provide a page number for the one you found.
#5 Duskweaver Jul 29, 2010 2:51:28	Don't have to spoil it, but you could provide a page number for the one you found. 74 It's the context I find interesting. Waterdeep>Sharn>Palanthas. FR>Eberron>DL. If they'd put an Athasian city between Sharn and Palanthas, I'd be even more intrigued. Maybe it means something. Maybe it doesn't. Raised an eyebrow with me, though. On a similar note, there's quite a bit of Getting Crap Past The Radar in this book. Iggwilv musing idly on how some time spent in the Forest of Living Tongues would change Graz'zt for the better (since demons adapt to their surroundings) actually made me laugh out loud. (If you don't get it, here's a clue. Graz'zt's a pretty sneaky sort. So much so, you could say that his cunning lingers long after he himself has left.)
#6 Duke5150 Jul 29, 2010 6:16:18	Yeah, the Palanthas mention lends further support to the possibility of a 4e dragonlance, as does cyan bloodbane, draconians and a few other little tidbits I'v found but forget. Dragonlance would make wotc money, regardless of how many people on this forum don't like it, there are a ton of fans who would support any new material released. Plenty of people hate darksun and eberron, yet that didn't stop those settings from becoming a reality in 4th edition. With essentials, some dragonlance fans feel it (essentials) fits very nicely with the setting and with themes, dragonlance is more than possible without the need of new (reskinned) classes. The question I ask isn't "if", but "when", we will see 4th edition dragonlance. As for the Graz'zt innuendo, yeah, I don't think it's possible not to get it. Back to the topic though, the Barrens offers a seriously awesome creative outlet for DMs of "ANY" setting. You could form some very unique and incredibly fun adventures all within that single layer of the abyss. This is the one place beyond sigil where you can pull off setting cross overs.
#7 Drammattex Jul 29, 2010 10:44:34	Back to the topic though, the Barrens offers a seriously awesome creative outlet for DMs of "ANY" setting. You could form some very unique and incredibly fun adventures all within that single layer of the abyss. This is the one place beyond sigil where you can pull off setting cross overs. That was the idea. To make it at once both distinct and infinitely customizable (which is why there's no map). To clear up confusion, Palanthas was noted because while mentioning that the Barrens contains the ruined remnants of all cities, I wanted to include examples of three model metropolises. I grew up on DragonLance, so I chose Palanthas as one of those. Perhaps I was also guessing that this summer's campaign setting release would be DragonLance (I can't recall), but if so, I ended up being wrong, as it turned out to be Dark Sun. There's no Athasian city mentioned simply because it goes under the "all cities" umbrella. And once you go beyond three specific examples, you'd have to pay tribute to them all, mentioning something Greyhawk, something Birthright, something Mystara, something Spelljammer, something Ravenloft, and so on. As it stands, the only distinction is "not Sigil." However, speaking of Athas, one could easily run the entire Dark Sun campaign setting in the Barrens if you wanted, as a post-apocalyptic version of the campaign world. That's one possibility. At any rate, the choice to include Palanthas was intended as an homage as opposed to a hint. Now, the fact that it remains in the final printed version of Demonomicon--I suppose one could speculate upon that if one wished...