Thanks in advance for sharing your endless wisdom/trivia with me!
I have the real huge hint for you to look into the 4th Ed. FRCS once it's out. ;)
Never...
I just want to know how they justified ruining psionics, again.
From what I have heard the Weave is no more in Faerun, along with Mystra (again). I believe this was done to explain the change in the Magic system. However, I recently read a post on these forums claiming that in Faerun each psionic creature basically makes his own personal little weave, so how are they explaining the complete revamp of the Psionics system?
We've yet to see - FR will be going through some pretty massive retcons to be 4E compatible - but so far I don't think it will make that much of a difference what happens to the Weave. The Character class and Mind's Eye articles basically claimed that while psionic and magic effects are equivalent for spells and effects like dispel or antimagic fields, psionics is not impacted by the presence/absence of the Weave. The only problem may be restatting psionic NPCs, most of which are duergar/illithid/yuan-ti anyway.
The real issue, of course, is why you'd want to play in FR at all. It's the very definition of cruft, and here it's being hit in the nuts with a Cosmic Retcon. These two things together amount to Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!, so really, brace for impact.
Never...
I just want to know how they justified ruining psionics, again.
There's no guarantee yet that they've ruined it.
There's no guarantee yet that they've ruined it.
Yes but unfortunately WotC view of psionics is
much...
Like...
This.
Read right to left.
From what I've seen, the "magic system" is the same as the martial arts system used by warrior classes (who improve their art in similar methods to psionics -- practice, theory, innovation, and understanding their own limits), implying psionics works the same way. Even in 3e, psionics used the Weave (at least to influence more than the manifester's own body). Putting these two together shows that whatever they use to describe how magic changed, it'll inherit to psionics without a problem.
The real issue, of course, is why you'd want to play in FR at all. It's the very definition of cruft, and here it's being hit in the nuts with a Cosmic Retcon. These two things together amount to Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!, so really, brace for impact.
Come on, wouldn't killing Drizzt be fun sometime? Plus, Buldar's Gate PC Game was in that world.
Come on, wouldn't killing Drizzt be fun sometime?
I've done it more than once, as a player. I'm most certainly going to do it as a DM if I pick up 4e FR.
Plus, Buldar's Gate PC Game was in that world.
The fact that BioWare made PLANESCAPE worth looking at shows that their miracle talents don't depend on the quality of the setting.
(On an unrelated note, I live about 8km away from their longtime HQ.)
Anyway. T_S, where did you see that psionics in FR used the Weave? From what I read each psionicist was supposedly his own power source - psionics and magic just worked along the same mechanics, not with the same source.
As I understaind, a psionicist can affect himself alone with his powers without any outside help, but if he wants to affect anyone or anything else, he needs to "hang" his effects on the outside Weave.
Wut? That makes Psionics nothing but another form of Magic.
Well, that would explain why Mystra saved the god of psionics, and why she seemed to care so much about psionics "suffering such a blow".
From what I've seen, the "magic system" is the same as the martial arts system used by warrior classes (who improve their art in similar methods to psionics -- practice, theory, innovation, and understanding their own limits), implying psionics works the same way. Even in 3e, psionics used the Weave (at least to influence more than the manifester's own body). Putting these two together shows that whatever they use to describe how magic changed, it'll inherit to psionics without a problem.
The real issue, of course, is why you'd want to play in FR at all. It's the very definition of cruft, and here it's being hit in the nuts with a Cosmic Retcon. These two things together amount to Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!, so really, brace for impact.
# The Forgotten Realms campaign setting for Dungeons And Dragons accommodated the shift to that game's 2nd edition rule revisions via the Time of Troubles, when all the gods are kicked out of their respective planes and made to walk on Toril, and the Weave is thrown into disarray. The upcoming shift to 4th Edition is similarly being set up by the assassination of Mystra, goddess of magic.
* Similarly, the Dragonlance campaign setting had the gods leave due to Chaos, leading into the Dragonlance: The Fifth Age game (a showcase of Wizards of the Coast's card-based SAGA system).
You updated that article didn't you? :D
And yeah, not only do I hate when they do that in a work of fiction I spent so much time falling in love with (not referring to Faerun here), but the fact that WotC keeps repeating it in the same setting is what amazes me. Sort of like Infinite Crises #whatever. Oh the lack of originality.
I honestly never want to play in Faerun again, even in another 3.5 game. I just wanted to know the answer to this question. Sort of like looking back to see the car accident and dead bodies. You do not really want to see it and remember the tragedy, but human curiosity just makes you look.
Wut? That makes Psionics nothing but another form of Magic.
As far as FR is concerned, yes, it is. And yes, it does work as CrimsonDeath summarized -- see the FRCS and the PGtF.
You updated that article didn't you? :D
I've never edited Wikipedia, oddly. Though I do know about behind-the-scenes wiki editing stunts through contacts of mine. (That's just one random example you probably didn't know about.)
Whoever edited that has NO idea what Saga actually plays like. It's hardly card-based, any more than a 3e wizard is card-based.
And yeah, not only do I hate when they do that in a work of fiction I spent so much time falling in love with (not referring to Faerun here), but the fact that WotC keeps repeating it in the same setting is what amazes me. Sort of like Infinite Crises #whatever. Oh the lack of originality.
I honestly never want to play in Faerun again, even in another 3.5 game. I just wanted to know the answer to this question. Sort of like looking back to see the car accident and dead bodies. You do not really want to see it and remember the tragedy, but human curiosity just makes you look.
I gave up on Faerun shortly after actually reading the campaign setting. I gave it a second shot by picking up the older editions on it, and it only reaffirmed my distaste of it. There's numerous essays I could write on why I dislike it, but I'll be brief: It tries to be everything, and ends up being too full for the PCs. (You literally can't go above "fight rats in the basement" *anywhere* in the world without asking "Well, why can't X Mary Sue character do it?". Try having anything world-threatening happen there and see how many hoops you need to jump through so the PCs get to be involved. Explaining away Elminster alone is a workout, and he's only one of many.)
Whoever edited that has NO idea what Saga actually plays like. It's hardly card-based, any more than a 3e wizard is card-based.
You could use cards for Force powers in theory. Use Card of Force Stun. Put it away. Use Force Point get it back.
But that would be more work than neccesary.
I gave up on Faerun shortly after actually reading the campaign setting. I gave it a second shot by picking up the older editions on it, and it only reaffirmed my distaste of it. There's numerous essays I could write on why I dislike it, but I'll be brief: It tries to be everything, and ends up being too full for the PCs. (You literally can't go above "fight rats in the basement" *anywhere* in the world without asking "Well, why can't X Mary Sue character do it?". Try having anything world-threatening happen there and see how many hoops you need to jump through so the PCs get to be involved. Explaining away Elminster alone is a workout, and he's only one of many.)
To be fair, in 4th, Elimister lost most of his power but survived the spellplague somehow (while most high level magics died at the time).
When they say 'the SAGA system', they don't mean 'Star Wars Saga Edition'. The SAGA rules actually did use cards (called the Fate deck), instead of dice, for task resolution. If any of you remember WotC's Marvel Superheroes Adventure Game, it used a very similar, if not identical, system.
So, yeah, card-based.
Clarification/Threadjack:
When they say 'the SAGA system', they don't mean 'Star Wars Saga Edition'. The SAGA rules actually did use cards (called the Fate deck), instead of dice, for task resolution. If any of you remember WotC's Marvel Superheroes Adventure Game, it used a very similar, if not identical, system.
So, yeah, card-based.
Ah, thanks for the correction. I hadn't heard of SAGA and assumed it meant Saga. Objection withdrawn!
TheCobra: The FRCS says that psionics work in dead magic zones (and similar) provided they only target the psionicist himself. Furthermore, if an antimagic field (uses the Weave to flatten/undo the Weave) stops psionic powers (which it does in 3.5 under transparency), then psionics use the Weave.
I'm pretty sure it has to do with antimagic/null magic fields and the weave in the original 3.0 campaign setting. Psionicists can only use personal powers in such a place; they can't affect anything outside of themselves where Mystra's Weave is damaged.
Interesting. I don't see that in the FRCS. As far as I can tell, it only has a very brief section on psionics. PGtF says psionic characters don't need the Weave at all, which suggests they could use powers inside a dead magic zone.
The FRCS says that psionics work in dead magic zones (and similar) provided they only target the psionicist himself.
I can't find this. Which page?
Furthermore, if an antimagic field (uses the Weave to flatten/undo the Weave) stops psionic powers (which it does in 3.5 under transparency), then psionics use the Weave.
But PGtF explicitly states psionics don't require the Weave to function.
Ah, thanks for the correction. I hadn't heard of SAGA and assumed it meant Saga. Objection withdrawn!
Quite welcome.
Elminster's a cakewalk. I mean, what halfway decent caster multiclasses with rogue and DOESN'T have a pastiche PrC involved somewhere?
It's the cleric levels I can't forgive him for. Surely he could have squeezed in Mystic theurge by now!?