Take that, Delta.
I thought Genasi were literally beings born from man and elemental, not these 4 theories that were said.
edit: BRIAN JAMES MUST BE STOPPED!!
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080909
Take that, Delta.
I thought Genasi were literally beings born from man and elemental, not these 4 theories that were said.
edit: BRIAN JAMES MUST BE STOPPED!!
You beat him, but I had links up, both here and on Running the Realms already...
edit...
my bad, you beat me, I just hadn't seen your thread when I posted.
That said apart from scholarly interest Genasi seem to be seriously mercurial, changeable... downright unpredictable. Even those who value law rather than chaos. I can imagine Rulers and Commanders seeing a Genasi coming and rolling their eyes to the heavens in a silent plea for strength and patience.
I would have liked to have seen a collected pictorial view of the different Genasi types... and perhaps the inclusion of some of the more well known szuldar patterns/groupings that might suggest lineages to be detailed (for your own purposes) in the setting.
And is it just me... or do we have here a race with 5 sub-races that breed true and have mechanical differences as well as cultural ones?
Where have I seen this before?
Overall I found this article pretty illuminating... although I could have done without the "Imagine for a moment" introduction. It felt like a "B" movie trailer intro.
That said apart from scholarly interest Genasi seem to be seriously mercurial, changeable... downright unpredictable. Even those who value law rather than chaos. I can imagine Rulers and Commanders seeing a Genasi coming and rolling their eyes to the heavens in a silent plea for strength and patience.
I would have liked to have seen a collected pictorial view of the different Genasi types... and perhaps the inclusion of some of the more well known szuldar patterns/groupings that might suggest lineages to be detailed (for your own purposes) in the setting.
And is it just me... or do we have here a race with 5 sub-races that breed true and have mechanical differences as well as cultural ones?
Where have I seen this before?
First I wanted to say: " I have no Idea", but then I remembered elves..... but there are way more than 5 subjaces out there:
Sun Elves
Moon Elves
Wild Elves
Wood Elves
Drow
Half-Drow
Half-Elves
Sea Elves
Avariel
Santas Elves
....and of course elves on other settings like Dark Sun and Dragonlance. And you may have to count Eladrin too depending on your edition.
Elves : Sun/Moon/Wild/Wood/Drow
(/Sea/Avariel/Star/Lythari.. not listed in the original FRCS)
Half-Elves: See above but with (Half in front of them)
Santa's
That gives me 5 original actual Elven subraces expanded to 9 (I think) over time. Collapsed to 2...
Now we have old Genasi : Fire/Earth/Air/Water (FRCS)
Versus new Genasi : Firesoul/Earthsoul/Windsoul/Stormsoul/Watersoul
So I am intrigued as to why the Elves got collapsed (9 to 2) while Genasi got expanded (4 to 5). Or am I missing something here?
[EDIT: Yes, obviously I was.]
Well, the difference here is that 1) There're far more differerences between Earth and Fire Genasi than there are between Moon Elves and Sun Elves
And Moon Elves vs. Sea Elves or Sun Elves vs. Avariel? Those seem like pretty profound differences to me.
2) They just use up one racial entry, as opposed to five. One entry for five more varied subraces looks like an improvement to me.
Ok, this I just plain don't understand. Any chance you could rephrase taking into account it is 2am and I am a moron? :D
*confused eyebrow twitch* ...Actually the entire article is a generic 4e PoL pseudo-setting thing. Talk about a bait and switch.
-So, I read the article...And, I'm looking for the Forgotten Realms flavor. Not much, not much. Why bother making this a Forgotten Realms article? Make it generic, and call it a day.
Thats 'cause there is no such thing as FR flavor anymore
And Moon Elves vs. Sea Elves or Sun Elves vs. Avariel? Those seem like pretty profound differences to me.
Yeah, but when people complain about redundant elven subraces, they don't refer to the more unusual Avariels and Aquatic Elves. They refer to Grey Elves, High Elves, Wild Elves, and Wood Elves, all of which are pretty similar.
Ok, this I just plain don't understand. Any chance you could rephrase taking into account it is 2am and I am a moron? :D
Genasi have one racial write-up period. They don't have five.
-So, I read the article...And, I'm looking for the Forgotten Realms flavor. Not much, not much. Why bother making this a Forgotten Realms article? Make it generic, and call it a day.
I agree and I don't understand why they have to make all Genasi share the same physical traits. What's with these glowing tattoo's? I hate the fact that they just change things and expect us to believe that this is how it always was. I liked the old genasi where their appearances varied from slight to obvious. It made for better role-playing when someone knew you were different but couldn't tell why. Now you are one big walking neon sign screaming "HEY, HERE'S A GENAI!!". Just another poorly thought out decision by the Designers.
Please give us our Realms back.
Retroactive changes to FR's planar history (to put it in line with the 4e PoL core) make me sad. That or sticking an FR tag on the story was an editing mistake, because there's no real mention of anything specifically Torillian in the article, but references to Kord, Malora, etc...
*confused eyebrow twitch* ...Actually the entire article is a generic 4e PoL pseudo-setting thing. Talk about a bait and switch.
Don't worry!
It's not just you. It was intended as a generic article:The genasi have a long history in D&D, but now, in the new Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide, they’re a prime choice as a PC race. If you’re at all curious about this new 4th Edition race, jump into the "Ecology of the Genasi." This setting-neutral article will provide you with all sorts of information covering how to incorporate the genasi into any D&D game. (emphasis added)
Don't worry!
"Setting neutral" they say. It's filled to the brim with exclusively 4e PoL setting fluff that's not exactly easy to port over to any setting not also using the same cosmology, history, and gods.
At least this time around there won't be question of why all genasi are descendent from humans, guess that's something.
Yeah, but when people complain about redundant elven subraces, they don't refer to the more unusual Avariels and Aquatic Elves. They refer to Grey Elves, High Elves, Wild Elves, and Wood Elves, all of which are pretty similar.
Indeed. But I wasn't referring to people's complaints. I was referring to the specific consequence of there having been five (nine) subraces and there now being two. When, even by your description there should have be three (and I would suggest 4, keeping in line with the new designs: Eladrin/Elves/Aquatic/Avariel with the subraces handled through genetics, culture and region).
I say there seem to be two because I haven't seen anything in the FRCG or DDI articles that leads me to believe (a passing reference to Star Elves really doesn't count) that the other subraces have been retained, even as fluff.
Contrast this with the Genasi who not only have five well defined types but seem to have five mechanically different types... odd, no?
Genasi have one racial write-up period. They don't have five.
Where? At the moment I can't find a specific Genasi writeup (in the PHB, DMG, MM and FRCG). There is one coming in the FRPG and I will hold off on my final decision on this matter until I see what the state of play is there. I hope like heck that I am wrong because I will be seriously disappointed if I am not.
:coolcthul :88E: :thumbsdow
Where? At the moment I can't find a specific Genasi writeup (in the PHB, DMG, MM and FRCG). There is one coming in the FRPG and I will hold off on my final decision on this matter until I see what the state of play is there. I hope like heck that I am wrong because I will be seriously disappointed if I am not.
Living Forgotten Realms preview which includes the Genasi.
Living Forgotten Realms preview which includes the Genasi.
Thanks Ranadiel. I had forgotten about this. Still a little on the short side though. I would be mildly surprised if the Genasi entry in the FRPG came down to what looks like less than 2 full pages in the 160 it is supposed to have. I am still hold off on a final judgement of this one I think.
I also notice that the publish date for the FRPG in the preview and the one provided to me by An Online Store have now drifted apart by 9 days (16th in the Preview and 25th at the Store).
This article makes me want to play a genasi that is for sure. I like the Water souls personally. I like their new look. If I ever pick up my old FR game I can toy with the one PC becoming a Tempest. He always thought he just had Windsoul heritage but perhaps he has a bit of Stormsoul as well. When the game ended the parties main enemy (a cleric of Talos) got away and he was able to make it so the people in the area did not think he was the BBEG. The players knew the truth but could not prove it. Perhaps the air genasi PC has more in common with his arch-enemy than he thought. ;)
First I wanted to say: " I have no Idea", but then I remembered elves..... but there are way more than 5 subjaces out there:
Sun Elves
Moon Elves
Wild Elves
Wood Elves
Drow
Half-Drow
Half-Elves
Sea Elves
Avariel
Santas Elves
....and of course elves on other settings like Dark Sun and Dragonlance. And you may have to count Eladrin too depending on your edition.
+rockseer, mist, ancient ones, snow..
Oh and there are atleast two aquatic elf types, one sticking to the shore and the other going deep :P
the word ''genasi'' is mentioned 307 times in the article
:coolcthul :88E: :thumbsdow
-...Good to know.
+rockseer, mist, ancient ones, snow..
Oh and there are atleast two aquatic elf types, one sticking to the shore and the other going deep :P
-Rockseer, Mist, and Ancient Elves, there's no evidence of them being in the setting. Snow Elves, there is.
I agree and I don't understand why they have to make all Genasi share the same physical traits. What's with these glowing tattoo's? I hate the fact that they just change things and expect us to believe that this is how it always was. I liked the old genasi where their appearances varied from slight to obvious. It made for better role-playing when someone knew you were different but couldn't tell why. Now you are one big walking neon sign screaming "HEY, HERE'S A GENAI!!". Just another poorly thought out decision by the Designers.
Please give us our Realms back.
They didn't "change things and expect you to believe that's how it always was", they created a brand new edition which draws upon elements from past editions.
No one can give you your Realms back, because no one ever took it away.
I read through most of the article and it does a good job of explaining what the genasi can be in 4E. It reads like a core article with a Forgotten Realms tag on it because that is what it is. It seems like a good teaser for people that heard about a new race that will appear in the FR Player Guide but did not know much more about it. This article can be used to fit any campaign. I figure for more FR info we will have to pick up the Forgotten Realms Players Guide.
This article makes me want to play a genasi that is for sure. I like the Water souls personally. I like their new look. If I ever pick up my old FR game I can toy with the one PC becoming a Tempest. He always thought he just had Windsoul heritage but perhaps he has a bit of Stormsoul as well. When the game ended the parties main enemy (a cleric of Talos) got away and he was able to make it so the people in the area did not think he was the BBEG. The players knew the truth but could not prove it. Perhaps the air genasi PC has more in common with his arch-enemy than he thought. ;)
I would guess it's a FRs article because this race is not a base race in the core 4E world but can be adapted, while it is a core part of FRs.
Just my guess.
*confused eyebrow twitch* ...Actually the entire article is a generic 4e PoL pseudo-setting thing. Talk about a bait and switch.
Yes, I was puzzled by the FR logo, myself. The article is obviously not setting specific, and mentions the core deities rather than any FR deities.
As for it; this is obviously geared to the core setting. The FRPG is probably going to elaborate more on their Torillian presence, and possibly give them something that sets them apart, like the Dragonborn got.