| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| scererar |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 01:39:57
This is interesting article on the 4E Genasi. Quite a bit different from the 3e versions.
http://www.wizards.com/files/367_Ecology_Genasi.pdf |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Fillow |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 20:23:56
Thanks a lot Wooly. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 20:15:51
quote:
Originally posted by Fillow
What confused me was the fact that I was surprised by this sentence in the article :
quote:
from Ecology of the Genasi
A thin mist might precede a watersoul genasi as she enters a room where she fears danger might wait, and a slight breeze could accompany the righteous wrath of a windsoul genasi cleric who rebukes the forces of evil
Then I wondered "Why do they write she enters and she fears"
Yeah, that was an awkward attempt at being gender-neutral. |
| Fillow |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 20:10:16
What confused me was the fact that I was surprised by this sentence in the article :
quote:
from Ecology of the Genasi
A thin mist might precede a watersoul genasi as she enters a room where she fears danger might wait, and a slight breeze could accompany the righteous wrath of a windsoul genasi cleric who rebukes the forces of evil
Then I wondered "Why do they write she enters and she fears" |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 18:56:37
quote:
Originally posted by Fillow
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
While I applaud the idea of avoiding the male-centric viewpoint, the way they do it seems clumsy, to me.
I totally agree with you Wooly.
euh... another question...  , I did not understand that :
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'm not sure what the exact verbiage is that's throwing you...
I meant that I didn't know what the exact sentence was that confused you.  |
| Fillow |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 17:25:12
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
While I applaud the idea of avoiding the male-centric viewpoint, the way they do it seems clumsy, to me.
I totally agree with you Wooly.
euh... another question... , I did not understand that :
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'm not sure what the exact verbiage is that's throwing you...
|
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 16:36:11
quote:
Originally posted by Fillow
EDIT : I've another question.
The English language uses the she-gender to speak about a genasi ?
Even if a genasi is a male ?
There are very few things in English, other than creatures, that are assumed to have a gender. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is ships, which are usually female.
I'm not sure what the exact verbiage is that's throwing you... But WotC, in an attempt to appear gender-neutral, occasionally chooses to describe a female critter rather than a male critter. While I applaud the idea of avoiding the male-centric viewpoint, the way they do it seems clumsy, to me. |
| Fillow |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 15:05:44
Allright.
However surprising.
Thank you very much Sage.
EDIT : I've another question.
The English language uses the she-gender to speak about a genasi ?
Even if a genasi is a male ? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 May 2009 : 01:47:44
quote:
Originally posted by Fillow
Hi fellow scribes,
re-reading this article in order to reference data for the 4E index project, I wondered about two things :
- I reread in this article that "a brave band of human warriors, their names and identities long lost in the annals of time, who traveled to the Elemental Chaos to steal the primordials’ power" and "Their names have become common names in genasi society".
Did their names "canonly" established or not ?
- In the knowledge of the genasi sidebar, deities as Pelor, Moradin, Kord and Melora are quoted. I've no problems with the first three ones but who is Melora in the Realms ?
Thanks a lot
Melora is a goddess of the wilds and oceans. She's referenced in the 4e PHB and DMG.
I think she's a new 4e deity, as I've not seen her mentioned in any of the previous deity-related D&D material. And given that Kord, Pelor, and Moradin are also mentioned alongside with Melora in that sidebar, I'd say the information there, relates to the core D&D pantheon. |
| Kuje |
Posted - 25 May 2009 : 22:55:25
quote:
Originally posted by Fillow
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
Not sure who Melora is.... He/she sounds like a deity created for 4e.... the name doesn't sounds familiar in any of the old material.
Hi Kuje, nice to read you again. It's a long time !
There is no mention of Melora in the 4E sourcebooks. That's why I'm surprised to read about him/her in this 4E article.
Hmm.. odd. Are you sure that it's a FR article then? Maybe he/she's a deity from the core material? I dunno....
Edit: Yea, guess it is a FR article. So, I have no clue. |
| Fillow |
Posted - 25 May 2009 : 21:31:22
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
Not sure who Melora is.... He/she sounds like a deity created for 4e.... the name doesn't sounds familiar in any of the old material.
Hi Kuje, nice to read you again. It's a long time !
There is no mention of Melora in the 4E sourcebooks. That's why I'm surprised to read about him/her in this 4E article. |
| Kuje |
Posted - 25 May 2009 : 21:23:55
quote:
Originally posted by Fillow
- In the knowledge of the genasi sidebar, deities as Pelor, Moradin, Kord and Melora are quoted. I've no problems with the first three ones but who is Melora in the Realms ?
Thanks a lot
Not sure who Melora is.... He/she sounds like a deity created for 4e.... the name doesn't sounds familiar in any of the old material. |
| Fillow |
Posted - 25 May 2009 : 21:14:12
Hi fellow scribes,
re-reading this article in order to reference data for the 4E index project, I wondered about two things :
- I reread in this article that "a brave band of human warriors, their names and identities long lost in the annals of time, who traveled to the Elemental Chaos to steal the primordials’ power" and "Their names have become common names in genasi society".
Did their names "canonly" established or not ?
- In the knowledge of the genasi sidebar, deities as Pelor, Moradin, Kord and Melora are quoted. I've no problems with the first three ones but who is Melora in the Realms ?
Thanks a lot |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 20 Sep 2008 : 03:54:18
quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
It appears that WoTC is catering to the core fans rather than FR fans, and in retrospect this puts the "need" to remove the "burden" of history and details from FR in a new light... 
If it's any consolation, I assure you that Ecology of the Sharn will be simply brimming with esoteric Realmslore; which will hold little or no interest for core fans. 
Huzzah!!!!
Brian to the rescue again! |
| scererar |
Posted - 11 Sep 2008 : 03:29:27
quote:
now you have fixed characteristics in their appearance that have to be there.
Who says? last time I checked this was all make pretend  ohh, and you forgot to include my cheesy face in the last "quote" you chose from my post. |
| Asgetrion |
Posted - 11 Sep 2008 : 00:28:16
quote:
Originally posted by Shemmy
quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
It appears that WoTC is catering to the core fans rather than FR fans, and in retrospect this puts the "need" to remove the "burden" of history and details from FR in a new light...
If it's any consolation, I assure you that Ecology of the Sharn will be simply brimming with esoteric Realmslore; which will hold little or no interest for core fans.
And I approve and can't wait to see what you come up with. :)
I just hope it stays as you wrote it and doesn't end up retouched so to speak by your editors.
I'm fairly convinced that Brian will be surprised to find out that in the published article, the Sharn are actually spawn of... yes, you guessed it... THARIZDUN!   |
| Shemmy |
Posted - 11 Sep 2008 : 00:08:43
quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
It appears that WoTC is catering to the core fans rather than FR fans, and in retrospect this puts the "need" to remove the "burden" of history and details from FR in a new light...
If it's any consolation, I assure you that Ecology of the Sharn will be simply brimming with esoteric Realmslore; which will hold little or no interest for core fans.
And I approve and can't wait to see what you come up with. :)
I just hope it stays as you wrote it and doesn't end up retouched so to speak by your editors. |
| Brian R. James |
Posted - 11 Sep 2008 : 00:04:36
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
It appears that WoTC is catering to the core fans rather than FR fans, and in retrospect this puts the "need" to remove the "burden" of history and details from FR in a new light...
If it's any consolation, I assure you that Ecology of the Sharn will be simply brimming with esoteric Realmslore; which will hold little or no interest for core fans. |
| Asgetrion |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 23:44:24
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Thanks for the link. By the way, this actually seems to be a core article (at first glance), not explicitly an FR article.
EDIT: OK, I see the FR logo. That said, the text on the download page says it's a setting-neutral article, and it reads that way too (it mentions Kord, who is a "core" deity, not an FR deity).
It appears that WoTC is catering to the core fans rather than FR fans, and in retrospect this puts the "need" to remove the "burden" of history and details from FR in a new light... |
| arry |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 15:33:11
They are, however, deemed 'kewl' which is the most important of all characteristics. 
Meaning, relevance and logic are now passe, kewlness is all!  |
| Pandora |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 08:28:06
quote:
Originally posted by scererar
quote:
Originally posted by Daviot
quote:
Originally posted by Shemmy
And now, just like 4e tieflings, 4e genasi all share a monolithic group of traits and a monolithic physical appearance. What the heck... 
Seconded. I always thought both groups were unique because their individuals were; no two air genasi would look alike, nor would two aasimar, and definitely not two tieflings.
And in 4th Edition, they're identical, independent, true-breeding races. 
they are identical in the aspect that they have 2 arms, 2 legs, and one head.
They are identical in the "elemental lines" too and that makes them "look identical" in the same way our skin color makes us look as belonging to one race or the other. Before they became a race you could customize that look, now you have fixed characteristics in their appearance that have to be there.
That "monolithic appearance" is really making them look ugly and like comic creatures. Would an elemental creature need features like "stuff that looks like hair"? Not really, so the appearance doesnt really make sense. Nature doesnt have "excess", if a creature type does not need an appendage (like the tail which apes had but we dont have anymore) it looses it. So there has to be a reason why it is there, because the "elemental parent" certainly didnt have hair. You could argue that these genasi are simply "humans transformed into elements", but that is a bit too simple for me like simply painting the outer appearance differently and not coming up with something truly new. Transformation doesnt seem to fit with the "being born" process, which a true race needs. |
| scererar |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 05:03:17
quote:
Originally posted by Daviot
quote:
Originally posted by Shemmy
And now, just like 4e tieflings, 4e genasi all share a monolithic group of traits and a monolithic physical appearance. What the heck...
Seconded. I always thought both groups were unique because their individuals were; no two air genasi would look alike, nor would two aasimar, and definitely not two tieflings.
And in 4th Edition, they're identical, independent, true-breeding races.
they are identical in the aspect that they have 2 arms, 2 legs, and one head. 
in part
"Genasi resemble humans in many ways, but they have strong elemental features tied to their manifestation. Every genasi has a series of elemental lines etched into the skin from birth, and these lines glow with a color associated with the element they manifest. These energy lines, called szuldar in primordial, are unique to each genasi."
Still, very different from their 3E version. |
| Daviot |
Posted - 10 Sep 2008 : 04:22:50
quote:
Originally posted by Shemmy
And now, just like 4e tieflings, 4e genasi all share a monolithic group of traits and a monolithic physical appearance. What the heck...
Seconded. I always thought both groups were unique because their individuals were; no two air genasi would look alike, nor would two aasimar, and definitely not two tieflings.
And in 4th Edition, they're identical, independent, true-breeding races. |
| arry |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 22:30:46
quote:
Originally posted by HawkinstheDM
Yes, I prefer my subraces aplenty that I have in 3.5. I also found it intriguing that they dived air genasi into two new types: stormsoul genasi and windsoul genasi.
Are the latter flatulent? |
| Hawkins |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 22:02:08
Yes, I prefer my subraces aplenty that I have in 3.5. I also found it intriguing that they dived air genasi into two new types: stormsoul genasi and windsoul genasi. |
| Quale |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 21:25:00
speaking of tieflings I read the new Kobold Quarterly today, it has an article on tieflings by Zeb Cook, might interest you ...
they had flaming hair before, maybe it's like the burning bush |
| Shemmy |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 20:09:46
And now, just like 4e tieflings, 4e genasi all share a monolithic group of traits and a monolithic physical appearance. What the heck... |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 16:51:12
Thanks for the link. By the way, this actually seems to be a core article (at first glance), not explicitly an FR article.
EDIT: OK, I see the FR logo. That said, the text on the download page says it's a setting-neutral article, and it reads that way too (it mentions Kord, who is a "core" deity, not an FR deity). |
| Pandora |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 11:54:12
quote:
Originally posted by arry
Oh dear
@Pandora. No, no. Flaming hair looks kewl!
Right, sorry, my mistake.  |
| arry |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 11:33:02
Oh dear
@Pandora. No, no. Flaming hair looks kewl! |
| Pandora |
Posted - 09 Sep 2008 : 09:43:21
quote:
Originally posted by scererar
Quite a bit different from the 3e versions.
It is the first 4e excerpt which could have impressed me with its attention to detail ... if they hadnt added that junk about Tharizdun. I also think the pictures look too much like X-men-comic/computer game graphics (too unrealistic for my style (*1)) and the "human ancestry" cant really be seen anymore in them. But that is just my sense of style and others might prefer a different one.
(*1) Did any designer / artist ever consider the impracticality of having really burning hair (as shown in some of the pictures)? They would torch something every time they lie down to sleep or do they come with asbestos bedsheets? Flaming hair looks "cool", but is completely impractical but details like these always get overlooked. |
