Player's Option: Heroes of the Far Realm - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Player's Option: Heroes of the Far Realm

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Gallard
Nov 13, 2011 1:56:16 Anyone else as excited for this book as I am ? Tons of great info on the Far Realm, the Living Gate, and those crazy but cute Obyriths. Essentialized psionic subclasses, new psionic options, and more feats of mental acuity and power. New races like the foulspawn, half-Illithid, one-third Neogi, and one-quarter Beholder.

New themes like 'Crazy' and 'Insane' add much-needed mechanical distinction to anyone wanting a bit of Far Realm flavor to thier PCs, and associated backgrounds provide exceptional fluff to help ground the characters in reality.

I truly cannot wait for this book to come out!

Heroes of Shadow
Heroes of the Feywild
Heroes of the Elemental Chaos
Heroes of the Astral Sea (...probably)

Dear Wizards ... Complete the Quintfecta !!!

...as a side note, has anyone drawn a parallel between these Player's Option books and the heretofore-cancelled 'X Power' book line ?
#2
eljonno
Nov 13, 2011 5:56:15
I refuse to support any product that so thoroughly butchers the point of my favorite cosmological element.

Mind sharing what you mean? I'm not well versed in the Far Realm and am looking foward to this book. In fact I wish they would make more books about the Far Realm.
#3
drnick
Nov 13, 2011 6:09:29 I can't speak for erachima but saying your character from the far realm is like saying your character is from R'lyeh or something. It's odd. Especially since The Far Realm works best when it's kind of an unquantified "other". Still, I don't think it's that big a deal. Also 1/4 beholder? Is that a real thing that's coming?
#4
pluisjen
Nov 13, 2011 6:22:03 Yeah, the whole concept of the Far Realm is "this place is so alien that to merely gaze upon it means you go insane instantly".

Making characters that come from it, or going adventuring in it, basically destroys that entire concept. Anything that seeks to define the Far Realm is going to butcher it's concept, because "It cannot be defined" is basically what it is.
#5
crowscape
Nov 13, 2011 7:04:21 Yeah no. Would much rather see something in the way of a Demonomicon for the Far Realm (Could you actually call it the Necronomicon without legal trouble...?), with a few play options included, rather than something player focused.
#6
EnglishLanguage
Nov 13, 2011 7:16:37 The worst thing you can do with the unexplainable things like the Far Realm is explain it.
#7
Arithezoo
Nov 13, 2011 7:46:10 I think books about the Far Realm (both for DM and Players) would be great. The book would have to stress that it isn't a full map of the Far Realm, but rather contains information on a tiny fraction of that mysterious realm. It would be akin to buying a book on Earth that gives some info about a city in America, a jungle somewhere, and a deep sea trench. There is still a lot out there, but now you have some ideas to build off.
That is the key point: it is all very well and good to say, "The Far Realm is a mysterious and unknown land", but some DMs will actually want to have quests take place there (one of the recent DM experience articles had the party go into the Far Realm I think), and many DMs need ideas for inspiration (if they didn't, there wouldn't be any books at all geared toward them). Put these together and I feel it would be great to have a book containing example Far Realm locales.

I am pretty creative, but I would never claim that I don't enjoy getting inspiration from other sources.
#8
Zelkon
Nov 13, 2011 7:54:22 Yes, Please!
Its what I'm waiting for!
#9
frothsof
Nov 13, 2011 8:57:52 the far realm should remain completely alien, to give detailed information about it completely betrays the point of it. all of the wonder and horror of it would be gone in one swoop
#10
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek
Nov 13, 2011 11:21:43 Lovecraft is no longer alive and he is the only one I would actually allow to write about the Far Realm.

Heroes of the Far Realm may be alright if it deals with heroes that are maybe Half-Far Spawn, or maybe the failed attempt at being made into a Mind Flayer etc.. Pretty much, have Far Realm creatures come to the prime and interact with PC's there instead of PC's going there.

I just hope and pray they don't come up with some "god" that is at the center of the Far Realm and PC's have the chance to kill it.
#11
crowscape
Nov 13, 2011 11:34:12
Lovecraft is no longer alive and he is the only one I would actually allow to write about the Far Realm.

That's interesting, because Lovecraft allowed and encouraged quite a few others to write about Cthulhu and the Cthulhu mythos. So, I guess we're just lucky you aren't in a position of authority on that issue.
#12
Style75
Nov 13, 2011 11:38:27 Is this book really happening or is this just wild conjecture? If its real, where is the announcement? Please link.
#13
XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek
Nov 13, 2011 11:54:20
Lovecraft is no longer alive and he is the only one I would actually allow to write about the Far Realm.

That's interesting, because Lovecraft allowed and encouraged quite a few others to write about Cthulhu and the Cthulhu mythos. So, I guess we're just lucky you aren't in a position of authority on that issue.

This has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote but I will go into it further regarding the above.

I have all the Cthulhu stuff written by other authors such as Brian Lumley for example and none of them are as good as Lovecraft. Now what I was saying was that I would rather have the best write about the Far Realm than anyone else because it wouldn't be as good.

That's fine if Lovecraft encouraged others to write his stuff but I would rather read what he wrote. If I want to read Stephen King's work then I will read Stephen King. I wouldn't want anyone else messing with the Dark Tower series.
#14
calronmoonflower
Nov 13, 2011 12:01:04 You really wouldn't need to describe the Far Realm to make such a book, but rather you could describe some of the history like the opening and shattering of the gate and the impact that it has had when the Far Realm touched the multiverse in the past.

Here's some other things that it could include/

History are organization of far spawn including illithids.

Optional rules for mental and physical taint.

Options for player to embrace otherness, like say star locks.

Options for those that fight the otherness.
#15
warfteiner
Nov 13, 2011 12:09:19 If a book of this sort came out and included a chapter for each of the major published (ie: published in hardcover format in most current edition) campaign settings, I'd buy it. And probably urge the DMs at my store to do the same.

I'd love to see how differently Athas, Eberron and Faerun were affected, and if it had a few pages on the impact upon Krynn and Barovia (and the surrounding Islands).

This type of book most certainly does need to be a guide TO the Far Realm itself, but would serve far better as a guide to the impact of the Far Realm on the concept of reality.

I still spend a lot of quality time with the 3.5 Lords of Madness book. Dee-licious.
#16
The_Jester
Nov 13, 2011 13:39:20 I can imagine the book focusing on the effects and influence of the Far Realms more than actually visiting the Far Realms. Places where madness has bled over into the World. And the terrain and lairs of aberrants and creatures from the Far Realms.

I can also imagine themes based around tainted creatues, those raised by or near aberrants (Illithid thralls/ cattle). The book could focus on heroes that use corruption and dark energies of the Far Realms. Fighting fire with fire.

Sanity mechanics might be interesting.
#17
Shasarak
Nov 13, 2011 15:18:50 WotC actually have already completed Player's Option: Heroes of the Far Realm.

They wrote it in classic Mind Flayer and no one has heard from the editor now for 3 months.

Probably they should check up on him, but everytime I mention it the staff all look confused about who the editor was.

.

.

.

.

.

Wait, what were we talking about again?
#18
reaper_93
Nov 13, 2011 17:08:48
IIRC WotC mentioned they weren't going to do "essentialized Psionic subclasses" because the Psionic power source is designed specifically for advanced players, which would sort of be self-defeating if they essentialized them.
#19
ShinQuickMan
Nov 13, 2011 17:20:41
I can imagine the book focusing on the effects and influence of the Far Realms more than actually visiting the Far Realms. Places where madness has bled over into the World. And the terrain and lairs of aberrants and creatures from the Far Realms.

I vaguely remember a 3.5 Dragon article having mechanics for just that.

From what I remember, certain creatures, spells, and objects had a chance to taint a locale with a minor corruption from the Far Realm. A location so influenced would force those who sleep within it to have a recurring nightmare in which the creature tries to escape from a likeness of the Far Realm. Those whom failed at escaping would take physical damage, while those who succeed are "rewarded" with a magical graft, spell components, or some other magic item. And if an area is corrupted for too long, a temporary rift to the Far Realm is opened, bringing in a bunch of nasties as it does.

I wouldn't mind seeing an article such as that in Dungeon.
#20
The_Jester
Nov 13, 2011 19:32:33
The appropriate location splat for aberrant-associated content would be Heroes of the Underdark, not Far Realm.

Except Heroes of the Underdark would contain fey (drow) and many humanoids (duergar, deep gnomes, etc) in addition to aberrations. There are lots of aberrations elsewhere, including the Astral Sea if you consider Spelljammer elements.
#21
mboss77
Nov 13, 2011 22:45:04 Has this book actually been announced or is this just speculation?
#22
ViolenceJack
Nov 13, 2011 23:46:09
Has this book actually been announced or is this just speculation?

No.

What?

Why are you looking at me like that?

OP is having us on. 1/4 Beholder? 1/3 (whatever it was)? How does that even work? So no. It is not speculation, and it has not been anounced. It is a joke.
#23
Gallard
Nov 14, 2011 1:34:37 tongue planted firmly in cheek.

someone would actually want to be 1/4 Beholder ?
non-politically correct theme names (while referencing reality) ??
did noone notice 'cute Obyriths' ???

I'm a little flattered that it spawned some look-alike threads. but some people need to fine tune thier sarcasm radars.

but mostly i wanted to get the community's opinion on the last point: the paralells between the former 'X Power' series of splat books, and the current 'Player's Option' series. and the past chatter about how sequels to the former books were cancelled for supposed 'poor sales', yet many wanted them. is this new product line intended to fill that void, and is that a good thing ?
#24
crowscape
Nov 14, 2011 8:55:20
tongue planted firmly in cheek.

someone would actually want to be 1/4 Beholder ?
non-politically correct theme names (while referencing reality) ??
did noone notice 'cute Obyriths' ???

Ineffible horrors can be cute.
#25
tbok1992
Nov 23, 2011 12:43:59 Funnily enough, community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758..." title="community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...">I actually made a similar topic albeit with less trolling. I think that if it should describe the Far Realm, it should be written in such a way to reveal just enough to terrify but little enough that it raises a lot of disturbing questions. Otherwise, they should just stick to describing areas tainted by the Far Real, places where sometimes holes appear in the fabric of space and time, where fetal monsters rain from the sky, where people are changed itno abominable things, and where songs of madness drift through the breeze. That sort of thing.
#26
Chiba_Monkey
Nov 23, 2011 14:41:37
Yeah no. Would much rather see something in the way of a Demonomicon for the Far Realm (Could you actually call it the Necronomicon without legal trouble...?), with a few play options included, rather than something player focused.

For a title, I would suggest using the original planned title for 3.5e's Lords of Madness:

Codex Anethma

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Gallard Nov 13, 2011 1:56:16	Anyone else as excited for this book as I am ? Tons of great info on the Far Realm, the Living Gate, and those crazy but cute Obyriths. Essentialized psionic subclasses, new psionic options, and more feats of mental acuity and power. New races like the foulspawn, half-Illithid, one-third Neogi, and one-quarter Beholder. New themes like 'Crazy' and 'Insane' add much-needed mechanical distinction to anyone wanting a bit of Far Realm flavor to thier PCs, and associated backgrounds provide exceptional fluff to help ground the characters in reality. I truly cannot wait for this book to come out! Heroes of Shadow Heroes of the Feywild Heroes of the Elemental Chaos Heroes of the Astral Sea (...probably) Dear Wizards ... Complete the Quintfecta !!! ...as a side note, has anyone drawn a parallel between these Player's Option books and the heretofore-cancelled 'X Power' book line ?
#2 eljonno Nov 13, 2011 5:56:15	I refuse to support any product that so thoroughly butchers the point of my favorite cosmological element. Mind sharing what you mean? I'm not well versed in the Far Realm and am looking foward to this book. In fact I wish they would make more books about the Far Realm.
#3 drnick Nov 13, 2011 6:09:29	I can't speak for erachima but saying your character from the far realm is like saying your character is from R'lyeh or something. It's odd. Especially since The Far Realm works best when it's kind of an unquantified "other". Still, I don't think it's that big a deal. Also 1/4 beholder? Is that a real thing that's coming?
#4 pluisjen Nov 13, 2011 6:22:03	Yeah, the whole concept of the Far Realm is "this place is so alien that to merely gaze upon it means you go insane instantly". Making characters that come from it, or going adventuring in it, basically destroys that entire concept. Anything that seeks to define the Far Realm is going to butcher it's concept, because "It cannot be defined" is basically what it is.
#5 crowscape Nov 13, 2011 7:04:21	Yeah no. Would much rather see something in the way of a Demonomicon for the Far Realm (Could you actually call it the Necronomicon without legal trouble...?), with a few play options included, rather than something player focused.
#6 EnglishLanguage Nov 13, 2011 7:16:37	The worst thing you can do with the unexplainable things like the Far Realm is explain it.
#7 Arithezoo Nov 13, 2011 7:46:10	I think books about the Far Realm (both for DM and Players) would be great. The book would have to stress that it isn't a full map of the Far Realm, but rather contains information on a tiny fraction of that mysterious realm. It would be akin to buying a book on Earth that gives some info about a city in America, a jungle somewhere, and a deep sea trench. There is still a lot out there, but now you have some ideas to build off. That is the key point: it is all very well and good to say, "The Far Realm is a mysterious and unknown land", but some DMs will actually want to have quests take place there (one of the recent DM experience articles had the party go into the Far Realm I think), and many DMs need ideas for inspiration (if they didn't, there wouldn't be any books at all geared toward them). Put these together and I feel it would be great to have a book containing example Far Realm locales. I am pretty creative, but I would never claim that I don't enjoy getting inspiration from other sources.
#8 Zelkon Nov 13, 2011 7:54:22	Yes, Please! Its what I'm waiting for!
#9 frothsof Nov 13, 2011 8:57:52	the far realm should remain completely alien, to give detailed information about it completely betrays the point of it. all of the wonder and horror of it would be gone in one swoop
#10 XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek Nov 13, 2011 11:21:43	Lovecraft is no longer alive and he is the only one I would actually allow to write about the Far Realm. Heroes of the Far Realm may be alright if it deals with heroes that are maybe Half-Far Spawn, or maybe the failed attempt at being made into a Mind Flayer etc.. Pretty much, have Far Realm creatures come to the prime and interact with PC's there instead of PC's going there. I just hope and pray they don't come up with some "god" that is at the center of the Far Realm and PC's have the chance to kill it.
#11 crowscape Nov 13, 2011 11:34:12	Lovecraft is no longer alive and he is the only one I would actually allow to write about the Far Realm. That's interesting, because Lovecraft allowed and encouraged quite a few others to write about Cthulhu and the Cthulhu mythos. So, I guess we're just lucky you aren't in a position of authority on that issue.
#12 Style75 Nov 13, 2011 11:38:27	Is this book really happening or is this just wild conjecture? If its real, where is the announcement? Please link.
#13 XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek Nov 13, 2011 11:54:20	Lovecraft is no longer alive and he is the only one I would actually allow to write about the Far Realm. That's interesting, because Lovecraft allowed and encouraged quite a few others to write about Cthulhu and the Cthulhu mythos. So, I guess we're just lucky you aren't in a position of authority on that issue. This has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote but I will go into it further regarding the above. I have all the Cthulhu stuff written by other authors such as Brian Lumley for example and none of them are as good as Lovecraft. Now what I was saying was that I would rather have the best write about the Far Realm than anyone else because it wouldn't be as good. That's fine if Lovecraft encouraged others to write his stuff but I would rather read what he wrote. If I want to read Stephen King's work then I will read Stephen King. I wouldn't want anyone else messing with the Dark Tower series.
#14 calronmoonflower Nov 13, 2011 12:01:04	You really wouldn't need to describe the Far Realm to make such a book, but rather you could describe some of the history like the opening and shattering of the gate and the impact that it has had when the Far Realm touched the multiverse in the past. Here's some other things that it could include/ History are organization of far spawn including illithids. Optional rules for mental and physical taint. Options for player to embrace otherness, like say star locks. Options for those that fight the otherness.
#15 warfteiner Nov 13, 2011 12:09:19	If a book of this sort came out and included a chapter for each of the major published (ie: published in hardcover format in most current edition) campaign settings, I'd buy it. And probably urge the DMs at my store to do the same. I'd love to see how differently Athas, Eberron and Faerun were affected, and if it had a few pages on the impact upon Krynn and Barovia (and the surrounding Islands). This type of book most certainly does need to be a guide TO the Far Realm itself, but would serve far better as a guide to the impact of the Far Realm on the concept of reality. I still spend a lot of quality time with the 3.5 Lords of Madness book. Dee-licious.
#16 The_Jester Nov 13, 2011 13:39:20	I can imagine the book focusing on the effects and influence of the Far Realms more than actually visiting the Far Realms. Places where madness has bled over into the World. And the terrain and lairs of aberrants and creatures from the Far Realms. I can also imagine themes based around tainted creatues, those raised by or near aberrants (Illithid thralls/ cattle). The book could focus on heroes that use corruption and dark energies of the Far Realms. Fighting fire with fire. Sanity mechanics might be interesting.
#17 Shasarak Nov 13, 2011 15:18:50	WotC actually have already completed Player's Option: Heroes of the Far Realm. They wrote it in classic Mind Flayer and no one has heard from the editor now for 3 months. Probably they should check up on him, but everytime I mention it the staff all look confused about who the editor was. . . . . . Wait, what were we talking about again?
#18 reaper_93 Nov 13, 2011 17:08:48	IIRC WotC mentioned they weren't going to do "essentialized Psionic subclasses" because the Psionic power source is designed specifically for advanced players, which would sort of be self-defeating if they essentialized them.
#19 ShinQuickMan Nov 13, 2011 17:20:41	I can imagine the book focusing on the effects and influence of the Far Realms more than actually visiting the Far Realms. Places where madness has bled over into the World. And the terrain and lairs of aberrants and creatures from the Far Realms. I vaguely remember a 3.5 Dragon article having mechanics for just that. From what I remember, certain creatures, spells, and objects had a chance to taint a locale with a minor corruption from the Far Realm. A location so influenced would force those who sleep within it to have a recurring nightmare in which the creature tries to escape from a likeness of the Far Realm. Those whom failed at escaping would take physical damage, while those who succeed are "rewarded" with a magical graft, spell components, or some other magic item. And if an area is corrupted for too long, a temporary rift to the Far Realm is opened, bringing in a bunch of nasties as it does. I wouldn't mind seeing an article such as that in Dungeon.
#20 The_Jester Nov 13, 2011 19:32:33	The appropriate location splat for aberrant-associated content would be Heroes of the Underdark, not Far Realm. Except Heroes of the Underdark would contain fey (drow) and many humanoids (duergar, deep gnomes, etc) in addition to aberrations. There are lots of aberrations elsewhere, including the Astral Sea if you consider Spelljammer elements.
#21 mboss77 Nov 13, 2011 22:45:04	Has this book actually been announced or is this just speculation?
#22 ViolenceJack Nov 13, 2011 23:46:09	Has this book actually been announced or is this just speculation? No. What? Why are you looking at me like that? OP is having us on. 1/4 Beholder? 1/3 (whatever it was)? How does that even work? So no. It is not speculation, and it has not been anounced. It is a joke.
#23 Gallard Nov 14, 2011 1:34:37	tongue planted firmly in cheek. someone would actually want to be 1/4 Beholder ? non-politically correct theme names (while referencing reality) ?? did noone notice 'cute Obyriths' ??? I'm a little flattered that it spawned some look-alike threads. but some people need to fine tune thier sarcasm radars. but mostly i wanted to get the community's opinion on the last point: the paralells between the former 'X Power' series of splat books, and the current 'Player's Option' series. and the past chatter about how sequels to the former books were cancelled for supposed 'poor sales', yet many wanted them. is this new product line intended to fill that void, and is that a good thing ?
#24 crowscape Nov 14, 2011 8:55:20	tongue planted firmly in cheek. someone would actually want to be 1/4 Beholder ? non-politically correct theme names (while referencing reality) ?? did noone notice 'cute Obyriths' ??? Ineffible horrors can be cute.
#25 tbok1992 Nov 23, 2011 12:43:59	Funnily enough, community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758..." title="community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...">I actually made a similar topic albeit with less trolling. I think that if it should describe the Far Realm, it should be written in such a way to reveal just enough to terrify but little enough that it raises a lot of disturbing questions. Otherwise, they should just stick to describing areas tainted by the Far Real, places where sometimes holes appear in the fabric of space and time, where fetal monsters rain from the sky, where people are changed itno abominable things, and where songs of madness drift through the breeze. That sort of thing.
#26 Chiba_Monkey Nov 23, 2011 14:41:37	Yeah no. Would much rather see something in the way of a Demonomicon for the Far Realm (Could you actually call it the Necronomicon without legal trouble...?), with a few play options included, rather than something player focused. For a title, I would suggest using the original planned title for 3.5e's Lords of Madness: Codex Anethma