| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Lord Rad |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 09:28:56
Some of these have caught my eye. I see we have two mini-adventures for a start  I'm also quite happy to see the Spell Compendium (still, I don't think the old AD&D 2nd ed Spell Compendiums can be beat!) as well as Heroes of Horror (if the quality of Heroes of Battle is anything to go by)
Spell Compendium
Hellspike Prison (Fantastic Locations series)
Heroes of Horror
Magic of Incarnum
Fane of the Drow (Fantastic Locations series)
Any thoughts? Anyone interested in any of these? |
| 22 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| warlockco |
Posted - 25 May 2005 : 09:29:20
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
I'm thinking that "Weapons of Legacy" may have lots of stuff that will sit well with the Realms.
Here's the link - http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/178620000
I actually think you might be right about that Krash. I'd originally dismissed this product because I thought that it would be solely a 'crunch-based' tome. But now I can see this tome which, if used in conjunction with LEoF, could produce some very intriguing results, as well as a host of adventure-generating material...
Now that is something I could sink my teeth into. More toys is always good. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 25 May 2005 : 07:14:21
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
I'm thinking that "Weapons of Legacy" may have lots of stuff that will sit well with the Realms.
Here's the link - http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/178620000
I actually think you might be right about that Krash. I'd originally dismissed this product because I thought that it would be solely a 'crunch-based' tome. But now I can see this tome which, if used in conjunction with LEoF, could produce some very intriguing results, as well as a host of adventure-generating material...
|
| George Krashos |
Posted - 25 May 2005 : 07:03:33
I'm thinking that "Weapons of Legacy" may have lots of stuff that will sit well with the Realms. It might even spark a DRAGON magazine article in me ... that "Forgotten Blades" article might just pass muster later in the year.
-- George Krashos
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| warlockco |
Posted - 25 May 2005 : 06:25:00
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Any particular reason why Heroes of Horror piqued your interest Warlockco?
More ways to mess with the minds of my players, is there any other reason?  |
| The Sage |
Posted - 25 May 2005 : 05:55:36
Any particular reason why Heroes of Horror piqued your interest Warlockco?
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| warlockco |
Posted - 25 May 2005 : 04:00:14
Heroes of Horror is the only thing there that seems like it might be vaguely interesting to me. But for the most part all of those are gonna be very very low on my list. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 24 May 2005 : 23:15:03
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
I do wonder how the Incarnum material will work in WOTC's new baby Eberron, since "everything in D&D is in Eberron" (I've heard that before somewhere . . . )
Better there than here.  |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 24 May 2005 : 19:42:16
I am interested in Heroes of Horror, as I think this would be fairly good to introduce into the Realms. Magic of Incarnum seems like it might be fine to tinker with in a "generic" setting, but I doubt I'll use it, even though I like "different" forms of magic (I actually quite liked Hexblades and Warlocks, for example). This just seems like a major retrofit, not just a "lost art" drop in sort of thing.
I do wonder how the Incarnum material will work in WOTC's new baby Eberron, since "everything in D&D is in Eberron" (I've heard that before somewhere . . . ) |
| Xysma |
Posted - 24 May 2005 : 19:20:17
Heroes of Horror (I just realized how close heroes and herpesis on the keyboard, glad I caught that, Herpes of Horror has a completely different connotation) sounds very interesting. The others I could likely do without, but I am sure I will pick them up anyway. Does it read that Hellspike Prison and Fane of the Drow are basically large maps with an adventure thrown in for good measure? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 20 May 2005 : 03:52:24
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
As to Sage's comment re how do we explain the lack of incarnum in the modern Realms, well quite simply we aren't talking about incarnum at all - we would just be adapting the game mechanics for our own partcular requirements. The question that should be asked is how do we explain the lack of heavy magic in the modern Realms?
There are a few in-game explanations for this, not the least of which was that it was the baby of Karsus and abandoned in terms of spell research by him. It's doubtful he would have shared his research or lore with other arcanists. We could resurrect heavy magic by finding one of Karsus' boltholes (like the one showcased in "The Temptation of Elminster") and finding his notes and maybe a sample of this stuff. Sounds like a good DRAGON magazine article to me.
That actually doesn't sound all that bad, now that I've thought about it.
I wouldn't imagine though, that any of the boltholes of Karsus that do remain untouched are going to be easy affairs to crack or endure for that matter. Karsus's secretive nature likely had a field day here in order to protect these secrets and his research. And in order to bring the element of 'heavy magic' back into the Realms, I would like to think that the character who wishes to find such notes, or even a sample, is going to need to make some pretty significant sacrifices in order to reach such material.
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| Kuje |
Posted - 20 May 2005 : 03:29:31
The most obvious reason we don't find it in modern realms is because Mystra destroyed all the lore about it and banned it. :) But that's cheap. |
| George Krashos |
Posted - 20 May 2005 : 03:25:35
quote:
Originally posted by tauster
perhaps Magic of Incarnum could be converted and then used in combination with the 2e arcane age adventures, when karsus discovered and experimented with heavy magic. otherwise, i see no use for it in a FR campaign. in a multiworld- campaign (spelljammer, planescape) as essential part on another world, perhaps...
Tauster, get out of my head! That's exactly what I thought when I read what Magic of Incarnum was all about. Karsus' 'heavy magic' has been a dangling, unexplored pain in the rear since the Netheril boxed set. I was thinking that the game mechanics in Magic of Incarnum could be used to detail and explain its use in the Realms.
As to Sage's comment re how do we explain the lack of incarnum in the modern Realms, well quite simply we aren't talking about incarnum at all - we would just be adapting the game mechanics for our own partcular requirements. The question that should be asked is how do we explain the lack of heavy magic in the modern Realms?
There are a few in-game explanations for this, not the least of which was that it was the baby of Karsus and abandoned in terms of spell research by him. It's doubtful he would have shared his research or lore with other arcanists. We could resurrect heavy magic by finding one of Karsus' boltholes (like the one showcased in "The Temptation of Elminster") and finding his notes and maybe a sample of this stuff. Sounds like a good DRAGON magazine article to me.
Not sure that purchasing the Magic of Incarnum book is worth it simply to bring heavy magic back into the Realms, but it's a good idea nonetheless. Nice one, Tauster!
-- George Krashos
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| The Sage |
Posted - 20 May 2005 : 01:44:23
quote:
Originally posted by tauster
perhaps Magic of Incarnum could be converted and then used in combination with the 2e arcane age adventures, when karsus discovered and experimented with heavy magic. otherwise, i see no use for it in a FR campaign. in a multiworld- campaign (spelljammer, planescape) as essential part on another world, perhaps...
How would you explain the lack of incarnum in the modern Realms?
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| Jindael |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 18:36:24
For me, Magic of Incarnum seems really interesting. I like the idea of a new way to cast magic. After reading this topic, I popped over to the WoTC forums, and, surprisingly, there were a few notes from designers about MoI, which I will quote here:
Andy Collins says:
quote:
I feel pretty confident in saying that D&D has never seen a system quite like the one presented in Magic of Incarnum.
Honestly, I've never seen a system quite like this one anywhere, though I fully admit that I've not read every game or supplement ever produced.
If you're looking for a form of magic that feels like neither traditional spellcasting nor psionics, you should give the book a try.
(And note that the product page doesn't say "use souls as fuel." That'd be a mischaracterization of what's going on here...but I'll not reveal more.) ;)
That last bit was people arguing about if the book is an evil spell casting system or not.
Then we have James Wyatt saying:
quote:
This book is pretty much my baby, and I am more proud of it than of anything else I've done in my career so far. For a couple of years, whenever we'd talk about what products we should do, I'd always pipe up with, "We should do something totally new, something that's never been done before." I mean, I think we needed 3E versions of the stuff that's been around in D&D forever—psionics, planes, Oriental Adventures, and so on—but I really wanted us to innovate beyond the things that have always been a part of the game.
So I finally put my money where my mouth was and came up with the idea for this book—and then I got to write it, with a lot of help from some brilliant designers and developers. In a nutshell, this is the same kind of book as the Expanded Psionics Handbook: A new system of magic-like stuff. But that description is where the resemblance to psionics ends.
The magic of incarnum is a form of magic that combines persistent effects with round-by-round resource management. It's a flexible system that you can use to create a lot of different effects. There are three standard classes that use this system, and then a bunch of prestige classes that let them (and characters from other backgrounds) use it in new and interesting ways.
We also tried very hard to provide ways to integrate the system into an ongoing game. There are feats and spells that allow existing characters to learn some techniques that use incarnum. There's a chapter on campaigns that includes three different adventure arcs that you can use to introduce incarnum into your game, whether you prefer to say that these techniques have always been around and kept hidden, or they've just been discovered.
Frank Brunner and Stephen Schubert (before we hired him as a developer) were the freelance designers on the book, and both of them brought an incredible amount of creativity to it. Andy Collins led a very rigorous development process that burned off the dross and produced a refined masterpiece, with a lot of additional design from Rich Baker. It's an awesome book, in my not-at-all-humble opinion, and I'm pretty sure that when it comes out, you will be as excited about it as I am.
After all that, It sounds very interesting to me. I think it will be the "Must Have" book out of the list above.
(The source thread is here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=427785 but it's mostly people saying "This book rocks!" or "This book is teh suck!" )
Hellspike Prison and Fane of the Drow sound interesting, but overpriced. Heroes of Horror will find it's way into my collection, no doubt, but just not right after it's released, I'm sure.
The Spell Compendium containes spells that are "the best, most iconic, most popular, and most frequently used." ...and the already printed. Meh, I will probably never own this book. |
| tauster |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 18:15:47
perhaps Magic of Incarnum could be converted and then used in combination with the 2e arcane age adventures, when karsus discovered and experimented with heavy magic. otherwise, i see no use for it in a FR campaign. in a multiworld- campaign (spelljammer, planescape) as essential part on another world, perhaps... |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 17:32:50
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Rad
Spell Compendium
As I never collected those particular 2E tomes, I'll likely grab this one -- but from eBay, because that cover price is rather high for my liking.
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Rad
Hellspike Prison (Fantastic Locations series)
This looks like a waste of money. At most, it should be priced $8-$10.
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Rad
Heroes of Horror
I might do the eBay thing for this one, too. It looks decent, and as Sage pointed out, could be useful for Ravenloft.
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Rad
Magic of Incarnum
I'm not touching this one. It doesn't grab me enough to even want to flip thru it.
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Rad
Fane of the Drow (Fantastic Locations series)
See Hellspike Prison.
Only FR products are guaranteed sells with me. |
| Lord Rad |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 17:01:23
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
The 'Fantastic Locations' series doesn't appeal to you Rad?
Yes i'll get both of these modules to give them a chance (plus i'm a D&D junkie and can't help myself). I like the flavour and look of both of these anyway. It's just a shame that they don't stretch to at least 32 pages and that they appear heavily geared towards miniature gaming rather than raw role-playing. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 14:36:39
The 'Fantastic Locations' series doesn't appeal to you Rad?
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| Lord Rad |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 12:57:05
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
Spell Compendium: If it was going to be a Complete book like its 4 2ed Predessors than Id snap it up but it looks like its going to be a "Best of D&D spells"
That's the downside. I would be much better if it was volume x of y like the old 2nd Ed volumes. WotC are assuming that certain spells are more popular here to collate them into this book.
However, I do like the bit about "This convenient reference introduces a new spell format that includes descriptive text". This is extrememly useful for less-imaginative DM's and those just starting out. Rather than "you cast fireball", i'd expect the descriptors to enhance the feel of the spells. |
| Dargoth |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 11:00:53
Magic of Incarnum: No thanks
Hellspike prison: Yee gods there almost charging a buck a page
Fane of the Drow: See Hellspike Prison!
Heros of Horror: maybe if I was ruiing a campaign in Westgate
Spell Compendium: If it was going to be a Complete book like its 4 2ed Predessors than Id snap it up but it looks like its going to be a "Best of D&D spells"
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| The Sage |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 09:40:35
Hmmm... Heroes of Horror looks to me like it may have some relevance for a long-term Ravenloft campaign.
It's probably the only one I'll bother picking up since, like Rad, I agree that the 2e spell compendiums are still tomes worth their collective weight. The 'Fantastic Locations' series doesn't pique my interest in the slightest, simply because they look to be geared toward crunchy material.
As for Magic of Incarnum, well... it almost sounds like the generic form of the Eberron dragonshard...
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| Snotlord |
Posted - 19 May 2005 : 09:39:38
The Spell Compendium is Trade Hardcover? I did't like the sound of that...  |
