| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| coastiemike |
Posted - 04 May 2008 : 01:41:59
Hi all. I used the article from Dragon 327 back in Feb 2005 and one of my bards in my home campaign got his hands on this unfinished symphony of Tvash-Prull. Now that the party has advanced to 14-15 level, he is on a quest to try to find more unfinished symphonies of Tvash-Prull and try to complete the symphony.
1) Did anyone use this in their home campaign, and if so, did you expand upon it? Can I get a copy of whatever you created?
2) Was there ever a follow-up article that included more info about Tvash-Prull or anymore of his compositions?
3) Anyone know if there has been some fan-created writings on the above?
4) Anyone have suggestions of spells from 3rd party publishers I might use to create other pieces of the unfinished symphony by Tvash-Prull?
Thanks in advance for any help or info. |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| monknwildcat |
Posted - 06 May 2008 : 16:03:38
Thanks, cm, for both explaining your logic and lore. I imagine your players will be equally impressed. 
You're welcome regarding the feat. We had a bard with the feat in our campaign, otherwise I'd have missed it myself.
If you're willing to keep posting, I'm definitely interested in how this play out.  |
| coastiemike |
Posted - 05 May 2008 : 23:10:56
I chose perform (oratory) for this particular one because it was based on the voice and speaking. I'm thinking all of the Librettos will be oratory based, the Recitatives may be playing an instrument, and Aria is singing, miming or some such. I basically was trying to tie-in skills to what made the most sense.
Thanks for the heads up on the Artist Feat. I think I will use that as I was unaware of it and it fits much better than negotiator. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 05 May 2008 : 17:56:17
quote:
Originally posted by monknwildcat
I'm really impressed, cm.
Same here. |
| monknwildcat |
Posted - 05 May 2008 : 16:50:53
I'm really impressed, cm.
I'm no games-mechanics afficionado, so view my next statements with that in mind. I don't know if region-based feats apply, but the FR Artist feat (PgtF?)) might make an interesting pre-req in place of Negotiator. Also, why did you choose Perform (oratory) over alternate perform skills as the other prereq?
Thanks for posting this, cm. |
| coastiemike |
Posted - 05 May 2008 : 13:49:37
With our next game on Tuesday, I came up with the following info that my bard/cleric of Milil will learn about Tvash-Prull:
Libretto of Tvash-Prull’s Symphony, Act 3:
This leather bound book is made of the softest leathers, most likely lamb skin. It is etched with the personal mark of Tavash-Prull, as well as another mark that is unidentified. From the prologue, the reader understands that it is the stanza of what appears to be Act 3 of Tvash-Prull’s Final Symphony. It does mention that there are at least seven other Acts that follow this one.
When a bard of renown uses Read Magic to decipher the script, he or she will find the following spells cleverly encoded into the work. The libretto was created with bardic spellcasters, specifically those specialized in oratory, in mind. Thus, the spells within are hidden and are only accessible to bards of proficient skill and ability.
[Pre-requisites to use these spells are Negotiator Feat and Perform (Oratory) rank 12].
As I mentioned, I am not very good at creating spells that are balanced. So, to offer up 5 new spells for my cleric/bard to use, I took the 5 "voice" spells from Mongoose Publishing's The Quintessential Bard: Silver Voice, Golden Voice, Iron Voice, Steel Voice and Mountain Voice. This will allow a way for him to obtain new spells, achieve a reward for pursuing his "life-long" quest, and is a neat way to build adventures around.
What I finally decided on was there would be 10 acts. Each act consisted of the following basic parts:
Libretto -- A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet;
Recitative -- (Italian: “recitativo”) is music which is telling a story quite quickly, as if it were being spoken. The word means: “to recite” i.e. to tell a story.
Aria -- An Aria means a song, usually a song in opera. It is an Italian word meaning “air” (i.e. a tune). The aria is a song for a solo singer, a setting of a lyric.
He, of course, has already found the Libretto from Act 3. The article that was in Dragon 328 I made into the Aria for Act 1. So, he has 28 more works to track down which allows me plenty of adventure ideas as a DM.
Once he collects all 30 works of Tavish-Prull, then he will be able to write the Overture himself. An overture is a piece of music for the orchestra to play at the beginning of an opera or ballet. The word comes from the French word for "opening" because it "opens" the show.
Overtures usually have tunes which are going to be heard during the opera or ballet. In this way it prepares the audience for what is to come.
Some ideas I had for future works include more spells out of the Quintessential Bard sourcebook. I also plan to incorporate parts of the Power Perfomance out of the Quintessential Bard II sourcebook. The Power Performance is broken up into styles: Songs of Inspiration, Dirges, Rhythm of the Heart, Songs of Despair, and Songs of the Wild. I figure to allow each style to cover two acts. Each act has 9 stages which allows me a wide latitude to incorporate these as rewards broken into either a Libretto, Recitative , or Aria.
He eventually wants to work toward the new Demi-god epic destiny presented by Wizards of the Coast found at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080428
Once he finishes collecting all 30 works of Tvash_prull's Symphony, he will be allowd to attempt to write the overture.If he is successful, it will be the final key for his ascension. Now, keep in mind, this is several years down the road. The party is currently 12-15 levels. I plan to take them into epic levels and allow them to achieve whatever epic destiny or goal they have. This is just the bards. I have a dwarf seeking info on what to do with the Fierce Axe (an artifact of dwarven legend), a wizard seeking to become the head of the University of Silverymoon, a halfling looking to become the best baker out there, etc.... So, I figure to intermingle all of their goals into the various adventures. But, that is another tale for another day.
Please feel free to provide any feedback or criticism you might have as this is all still a work in progress.
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| The Sage |
Posted - 05 May 2008 : 01:39:28
I wouldn't mind seeing what you come up with for the symphony itself. Now that you've drawn my attention to this specifically, my musically-inclined mind has already started attempting to find ways to incorporate it into my Realms. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 05 May 2008 : 01:24:46
I saw you ask this question on the WotC boards. I'm not familiar with this plot hook, but it sounds like a great idea to me--fun for a bard character. |
| coastiemike |
Posted - 04 May 2008 : 15:31:24
I plan on making this a long, several part quest over the life of the bard/cleric of Milil in my campaign.
I'd be more than happy to share history and descriptions of what I write-up if I could gather some spells. I've never been good at creating balanced spells. But, I do have a creative flair for coming up with histories and descriptions.
Anyone out there with a creative mind and good handle on 3.5 that come come up with some bard spells in line with the other 5 Tvash-Prull spells (found in Dragon 328 and in Champions of Ruin for Forgotten Realms)?
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| coastiemike |
Posted - 04 May 2008 : 04:28:13
Thanks. I had actually taken a look at that link but it didn't help me out much. I was actually hoping there is some fan-created stuff that would work with this. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 04 May 2008 : 02:23:39
I think you actually mean DRAGON #328. 
1 - I've never actually used this material in my campaigns. I've got enough bards/composers with "unfinished works" already established and scattered throughout the history of my Realms.
2 - No, the article in #328 was largely it.
3 - The only worthwhile source I've found, was over on the canonfire.com site here. Scroll down to the entry for "Tvash-Prull's Symphony."
4 - I'm afraid I can't be of much help here. Rules-related questions have never been my strong point. 
...
Having said that, I would recommend that you research the historical importance of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, as well as the unfinished works of other composers, and how some were later developed/completed by musicians after the deaths of the original composers who wrote them. It may help you to formulate your own possibilities for furthering the work of Tvash-Prull in your campaign.
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