| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 14 Mar 2016 : 17:06:52
Hi, folks.
In early April, I'll be starting work on a hybrid project for the DMG. My current thinking is that it will include the following:
- The origin and purpose of the moonblades
- A brief general history
- History of several specific blades; i.e, Arilyn's sword, the Craulnober moonblade, the King Sword
- The story of another house's moonblade, told in a serious of short stories depicting pivotal events in the life of each wielder
- Apocrypha--The telling and debunking of tavern tales and legends such as the Evil Starym Moonblade
- 5E stats for several blades that are still "out in the wild" and available for use in campaigns, as well as suggestions on how to incorporate invent-your-own moonblades into a campaign
If there's anything else you'd like to see included, or questions you'd like answered, please add your suggestions in comments.
EDITED TO ADD ANOTHER QUESTION:
I would be very interested to see what price point you would consider reasonable. At this point, I'm estimating a word count of 30-50k. |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 14 Dec 2020 : 01:37:33
quote:
Originally posted by Returnip
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Mrestos Khorvaen
I hope this would come soon!
Thanks for your post, but I have concluded, for a variety of reasons, I will not be pursuing any projects with the DMGuild.
Aw sorry to hear.
Loved your Evermeet-book btw, Elaine.
Thank you! |
| Returnip |
Posted - 13 Dec 2020 : 15:12:15
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
quote:
Originally posted by Mrestos Khorvaen
I hope this would come soon!
Thanks for your post, but I have concluded, for a variety of reasons, I will not be pursuing any projects with the DMGuild.
Aw sorry to hear.
Loved your Evermeet-book btw, Elaine. |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 13 Dec 2020 : 15:07:58
quote:
Originally posted by Mrestos Khorvaen
I hope this would come soon!
Thanks for your post, but I have concluded, for a variety of reasons, I will not be pursuing any projects with the DMGuild. |
| Mrestos Khorvaen |
Posted - 08 Aug 2020 : 08:41:09
I hope this would come soon! |
| Copper Elven Vampire |
Posted - 01 Jan 2020 : 21:29:29
quote:
Originally posted by TomCosta
I'm with Wooly. I know you love Erevan CEV (he's one of my favorite gods too), but he can't be everything and everywhere. To my mind, moonblades create too much permanence for him, not to mention set up possession ahd legacy, all things I think he cares little for.
Yes, I agree, I just wish somebody would write up some official Erevan stuff that explains his entire history, lore, adventures and misadventures, besides the fluff we have from 2ed and 3.5ed. I have written to TSR many times and submitted soooooo many of my writings, PrC's templates and such pertaining to Erevan Ilesere and I've not even received a single No thank you from anyone at TSR. Erik diBie was doing pretty good with some vague Erevan stuff, but it seems he went a different path and no longer is doing such anymore.
Like I want to know what Erevan was doing during the battles between the Seldarine and the Anti-seldarine. Was he actively in melee or spell combat, or was he aiding the pantheon with trickery and manipulation. Or was he drinking feywine and playing dice, wenching in his favorite tavern on some distant plane during those wars, lol.
If I could just have ONE single shot at writing about him in some significant way then I'd be such a happy camper. As a 45 year old married father of three daughters and 1 grandson, I have over 30 years and literally thousands of stories and adventures about him that I have written.
One of my favorites is when Erevan held a divine Midnight Gambol on Faerun before The Crown Wars in what is now The Winterwood, inviting all the trickster deities of all the pantheons, including the deities of thieves and stealth and deception and illusions. It was truly epic... legendary actually. Some notables that were at the Gambol included Vhaeraun, Baravar Cloakshadow, Garl Glittergold, Brandobaris, Vergadain, Leira, Mask, Abbathor, Alobal Lorfiril, Beshaba, Marthammar Duin, Sharess, Tymora, Avachel, and a handful of Arch-fey from the various courts. This story alone was 22 pages long. lol. |
| TomCosta |
Posted - 30 Dec 2019 : 23:46:21
I'm with Wooly. I know you love Erevan CEV (he's one of my favorite gods too), but he can't be everything and everywhere. To my mind, moonblades create too much permanence for him, not to mention set up possession ahd legacy, all things I think he cares little for. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 30 Dec 2019 : 14:46:32
I'd not have Erevan involved in the overall moonblade thing, but I can certainly see a family of Erevan's followers getting a blade or two, with powers keyed towards trickery and such. |
| Copper Elven Vampire |
Posted - 30 Dec 2019 : 06:08:00
quote:
Originally posted by CorellonsDevout
quote:
Originally posted by Copper Elven Vampire
Elaine Cunningham.... Even if you never write for FR anymore... Please try my idea of Erevan Ilesere and see what happens. Erick Scott Di bie wrote about Erevan and that's cannon.
Where did Erik write about Erevan? I feel like I am missing something important. I know his character Fox-At-Twilight mentions him at one point, but if Erik actually wrote something up for him...I want to read it LOL.
Him and Tom Costa wrote up The Trickster-Touched template several years ago. Besides... ESD mentioned Erevan a few times in his novels. Fox-At-Twilight is a unwilling subject of Erevan Ilesere. Fact and true. |
| CorellonsDevout |
Posted - 30 Dec 2019 : 03:30:06
quote:
Originally posted by Copper Elven Vampire
Elaine Cunningham.... Even if you never write for FR anymore... Please try my idea of Erevan Ilesere and see what happens. Erick Scott Di bie wrote about Erevan and that's cannon.
Where did Erik write about Erevan? I feel like I am missing something important. I know his character Fox-At-Twilight mentions him at one point, but if Erik actually wrote something up for him...I want to read it LOL.
|
| Copper Elven Vampire |
Posted - 30 Dec 2019 : 02:52:19
Maybe the elven god Erevan Ilesere had something to do with it all. Truly devoted to the Seldarine, but ultimately concerned with his own agenda. I can see a Moonblade error caused by Erevan depending on an elf who worships him. Maybe Elaith always heard the calling of Erevan but never understood the source.
With Erevan Ilesere.... you can do or write almost anything. Truly my favorite deity. Novels need more Erevan just to spice up whatever you want.
Maybe Amlaruil or Zoar was confronted by Erevan on Evermeet and made a special pact. Maybe Moonblades are more particular to Chaotic Neutral characters whom look at the world as something to do themselves, as opposed to being good and being righteous inherently. I don't know.
I just feel that the elven god Erevan Ilesere can play into any story line for any subject given. Especially the Moonblades. Or certain powerful Moonblades.
If Correlon Larethian is uber, ultra powerful, then why wouldn't a cannon mid-level elven god such as Erevan Ilesere do so much more in trickery and mischief in Faerun?
Elaine Cunningham.... Even if you never write for FR anymore... Please try my idea of Erevan Ilesere and see what happens. Erick Scott Di bie wrote about Erevan and that's cannon. |
| CorellonsDevout |
Posted - 30 Nov 2019 : 01:10:33
Lol I saw that and was like, "the hells?" but I figured the post wouldn't last. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 30 Nov 2019 : 00:53:15
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
What in the hells
It was spam, it's gone, and the banhammer will be dropped on that spammer in a moment. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 30 Nov 2019 : 00:51:34
What in the hells |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 23 Nov 2016 : 03:55:59
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Entrails
Elaine, do you have an expected release/publish date for this yet?
No, because 1) I've been working on other things, and 2) I've been having second thoughts about the DM's Guild.
|
| Lord Entrails |
Posted - 22 Nov 2016 : 22:30:44
Elaine, do you have an expected release/publish date for this yet? |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 06 Sep 2016 : 08:27:53
I knew i couldnt be the only one to see folly in the current god nonsense model.
Ive spent ages thinking about how to mortalise all events where "a god did it" has been the official explanation.
The only one that has given me any problem has been the time of troubles but i think i could solve that now.
|
| Cards77 |
Posted - 06 Sep 2016 : 01:47:12
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
There are many many reasons.
Just a few include:
In order for a settinh to work as a gaming world it has to allow for the suspension of disbelief. There have to be rules to the setting that are followed in order for players to understand and be immersed. Deities actually wandering around breaks that immersion. A deity operates through avatars, an avatar is usually powerful enough to disintegrate an opponent at a touch or glance. Just witnessing a gods appearance would probably be enough to kill a mortal yet it doesnt happen.
An avatar is usually immune to most forms of attack yet these gods wandering around seem to be as frail as paper.
If you had 9 or 10 avatars at your disposal why would you do anything in person and would it even be possible to occupy a 3 dimensional body and still keep track of all your other responsibilities (including up to 10 avatars for treater gods).
A gods appearance in person is yet another step on the ladder of 'escalating pew pew guns for coolness'. It began with chosen, then avatars, then gods in person and overgods. And now we are stuck with novels and supplements that involve a daily grind of the world being threatened by super beings and the mortals seem to have to clear it all up despite gods just wandering around interfering in their favourite toys and people and ignoring everything else.
Number 3 is that almost every event involving direct deific involvement has been spectacularly mishandled. The powers and abilities are way off, with gods being offed by mortals. Gods behaving in ways completely contrary to their supposed personality, and acting in ways that makes no sense for a god to act.
For instance lolths silence, lolth goes silent, lets most of her worshippers die, eilistraee acts schizophrenically bizarre. And in the end the whole line of events must have been so bad it was completely ignored by any future line of product.
Dont get me started on the events of 1385 when the deities involved suddenly turned into the Brady bunch.
In general anything involving a god acting in person usually portrays that god as incredibly stupid and short sighted (mielikki and all orcs are evil), such that i regard anything involving gods as a really bad episode of home and away.
And finally. Ed doesnt use the gods in this way. They are behind the scenes movers and shakers, manipulating events by proxy rather than turning up directly. If a god ever did turn up in his games i bet it would be an avatar and not the actual divinity.
I much prefer Eds original vision to the travesty that WoTC serves up.
If a god ever did turn up directly i imagine he would be in serious danger. While he is on the mortal realm who is looking after his divine realm, who is seeing to the affairs of his followers, who is furthering his divine plans, who is controlling his avatars and manifestations.
Furthermore if a god is killed on the mortal realm what happens. A demon or devil is banished for years (or destroyed depending on edition). At the least it would probably take a while for the shattered divinity to gather himself togethwr and retreat home. Meanwhile his enemies get to wreck his plans in his absence.
Thus if a god ever did come to the prime in person then every enemy god that hears of such an event would also turn up to try and kill him.
Thus its much safer to send an avatar.
It makes no sense as far as the rules are concerned and it makes no sense as far as the motivations of a super intelligent divine being is concerned to turn up in person.
Thats the short version. There is lots more. Am i the only one that dislikes the gods turning up in person and doing everything themselves (leaving nothing for PCs to do).
I have to agree. It stands out very well in the Gord novels the way Gary Gygax handled it. Direct intervention by the gods was unheard of.
The gods used mortals and powerful servants as pawns. Demons were IMMENSELY powerful and a deities power could not be imagined by a mortal.
For Rexfelis to even take in interest in Gord was almost unheard of in that world.
When gods are directly involved it cheapens the actions of the heros of the world. It also cheapens "destiny" and those paths that fate weaves for all mortals. Those are main components of a good fantasy setting/story. |
| The Masked Mage |
Posted - 04 Sep 2016 : 04:17:54
Back to the old scroll intent:
I am curious what you consider the extend of the Elfshadow power...
Just how much strength/vitality does calling forth the shadows drain from the bearer.
How much magic can the spellcaster souls within bring to bear? Etc. |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 02 Sep 2016 : 14:40:42
No worries--you guys can have the scroll. :)
I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist church, so an ardent debate about what god would or would not allow evokes the fabric of my childhood. Not as nostalgic as Orange Crush and wish-nik trolls, perhaps, but familiar territory nonetheless. ;) |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 02 Sep 2016 : 07:22:29
Ive seen more than a few good ideas ended abruptly when someone said "this god wouldnt allow that". So in response im asking how would he know and how would he stop it. I could also ask why they think he wouldnt allow it but that will be a conjectured argument.
Now lets give elaine her scroll back. |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 02 Sep 2016 : 07:07:20
Or you could provide me the point where it says that Corellon will not allow any evil involvement with his precious moonblades (rather than just inference and supposition of a quote) and i will stop arguin that actually its perfectly possible for evil to interfere in any scheme because corellon is not all powerful or all knowing and the lack of actions in the past at critical event for the elves backs up the idea that evil can influence anything just like good can.
It works both ways. I have only opinion that it can work my way and you have only opinion that it can work the other way. So why should i concede the point just because you prefer the other way. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 02 Sep 2016 : 03:53:49
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
But it doesn't follow the rules. If gods break the rules then the immersion is also broken. And a god that can do anything from anywhere seems pretty all powerful to me.
How? Where does it say a god has to be physically present to do something? Given me a direct quote from a sourcebook that says gods can't affect anything unless they are actually on scene.
Besides, if that was the case, gods wouldn't have divine realms, because they'd be popping around the Realms 24/10 just granting spells to their worshippers!
We have plenty of canon lore that shows gods influencing things and acting on the Prime without being there. Heck, the three deity books of 2E had a section for each deity explaining how they interact with the mortal world from afar!
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
As long as people stop telling me that god X wont allow Y to happen then I will stop pointing out the inconsistencies and deficiencies in the current deific model as touted by WoTC (Cyric stabs Mystra. The second sundering. Shar and Lolth in their umpteenth attempt to destroy the world.).
If someone wants to point out where something violates canon lore, they're free to do so.
The only inconsistency I've seen yet is that you seem to think gods are either all-powerful or absolutely powerless -- and that's inconsistent with just about every bit of Realmslore that has even mentioned deities.
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
The original argument was that I reckon I have a plausible way to make the Moonblades service evil (without actually changing anything about them). And the counter argument was that the gods wouldn't allow it. If they aren't all knowing and all powerful and can't find anything wrong with the whole thing (because it is the same as before; a series of blades designed to pick the best possible ruler for the elves) then how or why would they stop it short of just waiving their hands and instantly knowing that there was something wrong in the world.
But you are changing things about them. Saying a divine vision for a good cause was actually a scrap of paper from a fiend for evil purposes counts as changing things.
And gods don't have to be all-knowing to know what's going on with something they're interested in. Why is it so hard to imagine that they can actually focus their attention in a particular direction?
Again, it is canon Realmslore that deities are not all-knowing, but they are capable of paying attention to multiple things at once -- they operate on a scale far beyond the mortal mind.
By saying they can't know anything at all if they are not omniscient, you are willfully and deliberately ignoring damn near everything that's ever being written about the gods.
If that's how you want to do things in your own Realms, hey, more power to you. But stop trying to convince the rest of us that canon material is wrong simply because you don't like it. |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 23:12:51
I actually like that wrinkle Dazzler. I find it interesting that the Moonblades could have been born in corruption without the Elves ever knowing it. Whatever works in your Realms... |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 20:40:47
But it doesn't follow the rules. If gods break the rules then the immersion is also broken. And a god that can do anything from anywhere seems pretty all powerful to me.
As long as people stop telling me that god X wont allow Y to happen then I will stop pointing out the inconsistencies and deficiencies in the current deific model as touted by WoTC (Cyric stabs Mystra. The second sundering. Shar and Lolth in their umpteenth attempt to destroy the world.).
The original argument was that I reckon I have a plausible way to make the Moonblades service evil (without actually changing anything about them). And the counter argument was that the gods wouldn't allow it. If they aren't all knowing and all powerful and can't find anything wrong with the whole thing (because it is the same as before; a series of blades designed to pick the best possible ruler for the elves) then how or why would they stop it short of just waiving their hands and instantly knowing that there was something wrong in the world.
|
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 20:10:10
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
Unless of course gods are all powerful and can cast magic through planar boundaries.
They can obviously cast magic through planar boundaries without being all-powerful. Again, it's canon Realmslore. |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 18:20:59
Well if you are happy for gods to act by proxy and through intermediaries then we have no issue.
Unless of course gods are all powerful and can cast magic through planar boundaries. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 17:53:34
Two things:
1) Ed didn't create moonblades
2) No one -- not one person -- has even implied that Corellon showed up to personally do his thing. You're the only one who is making involvement in something be contingent on physical presence. And this is contrary to so much Realmslore that it's not funny.
So again, why is it so inconceivable that gods can't act unless they are present? |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 15:52:51
There are many many reasons.
Just a few include:
In order for a settinh to work as a gaming world it has to allow for the suspension of disbelief. There have to be rules to the setting that are followed in order for players to understand and be immersed. Deities actually wandering around breaks that immersion. A deity operates through avatars, an avatar is usually powerful enough to disintegrate an opponent at a touch or glance. Just witnessing a gods appearance would probably be enough to kill a mortal yet it doesnt happen.
An avatar is usually immune to most forms of attack yet these gods wandering around seem to be as frail as paper.
If you had 9 or 10 avatars at your disposal why would you do anything in person and would it even be possible to occupy a 3 dimensional body and still keep track of all your other responsibilities (including up to 10 avatars for treater gods).
A gods appearance in person is yet another step on the ladder of 'escalating pew pew guns for coolness'. It began with chosen, then avatars, then gods in person and overgods. And now we are stuck with novels and supplements that involve a daily grind of the world being threatened by super beings and the mortals seem to have to clear it all up despite gods just wandering around interfering in their favourite toys and people and ignoring everything else.
Number 3 is that almost every event involving direct deific involvement has been spectacularly mishandled. The powers and abilities are way off, with gods being offed by mortals. Gods behaving in ways completely contrary to their supposed personality, and acting in ways that makes no sense for a god to act.
For instance lolths silence, lolth goes silent, lets most of her worshippers die, eilistraee acts schizophrenically bizarre. And in the end the whole line of events must have been so bad it was completely ignored by any future line of product.
Dont get me started on the events of 1385 when the deities involved suddenly turned into the Brady bunch.
In general anything involving a god acting in person usually portrays that god as incredibly stupid and short sighted (mielikki and all orcs are evil), such that i regard anything involving gods as a really bad episode of home and away.
And finally. Ed doesnt use the gods in this way. They are behind the scenes movers and shakers, manipulating events by proxy rather than turning up directly. If a god ever did turn up in his games i bet it would be an avatar and not the actual divinity.
I much prefer Eds original vision to the travesty that WoTC serves up.
If a god ever did turn up directly i imagine he would be in serious danger. While he is on the mortal realm who is looking after his divine realm, who is seeing to the affairs of his followers, who is furthering his divine plans, who is controlling his avatars and manifestations.
Furthermore if a god is killed on the mortal realm what happens. A demon or devil is banished for years (or destroyed depending on edition). At the least it would probably take a while for the shattered divinity to gather himself togethwr and retreat home. Meanwhile his enemies get to wreck his plans in his absence.
Thus if a god ever did come to the prime in person then every enemy god that hears of such an event would also turn up to try and kill him.
Thus its much safer to send an avatar.
It makes no sense as far as the rules are concerned and it makes no sense as far as the motivations of a super intelligent divine being is concerned to turn up in person.
Thats the short version. There is lots more. Am i the only one that dislikes the gods turning up in person and doing everything themselves (leaving nothing for PCs to do). |
| The Masked Mage |
Posted - 01 Sep 2016 : 00:48:38
Why ask why? Try Bud Dry. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 31 Aug 2016 : 22:54:03
Why is it so inconceivable to you that gods can't act unless they are omniscient, omnipotent, and/or present? Especially given that Realmslore has established, repeatedly, that gods can take action without meeting any of those criteria? |
