| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Dargoth |
Posted - 30 Oct 2006 : 14:44:52
Dragon magazine is to have an FR article in every issue as of late 2006 this thread is to keep track of the articles
349
The Hordelands
by Edward Bonny, Brian Cortijo, and Laszlo Koller
Unleash one of the greatest threats ever to rage across the Forgotten Realms: The Horde. From the bleak steppes of the Endless Wastes to the barbarian city of Kourmira, discover the history, treasures, creatures, and ways of war of the brutal Hordelands. Here is a sample
Web Supplement
http://paizo.com/dragonissues/349/DR349_Supplement.pdf
350
Legacy of the Ancients
by Eric L. Boyd
More planetouched races inhabit the forgotten realms than just aasimar, tieflings, and the elemental genasi. Four new planar-blooded races: the azerblood, celadrin, d'hin'ni, and worghest
351
Forgotten realms thrones
352
Forgotten realms undead
353
From Beyond the Realms, we get an which features six new outsiders from the Forgotten Realms' unique comsology
|
| 28 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Asgetrion |
Posted - 17 Jan 2007 : 12:39:29
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
The conversion were fine, I'm not even saying I wouldn't use the creatures at some point. Its just I was hoping for something that had a little more Realmslore relevance in this column, and I hope the amount of information in the article to tie it to the setting goes up.
One of my campaigns featured an Inquisitor, that ended up torturing my players out of their wits. Eventually they killed it, but said that it was an evil and disgusting monster, and they would NEVER want to meet another again!  
So I'm glad that the good ol' Inquisitor is back! |
| Garen Thal |
Posted - 14 Jan 2007 : 21:23:42
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Thanks for chiming in, and I hope you don't take umbrage at my comment, or the fact that I wrote the letter. I understand that the article was supposed to be relatively short, and that with monsters in 3.5 that this takes up a lot of space. I also figure there wasn't much wiggle room to give up a page or two for more in depth Realmslore given the amount of space they had already given to the China Mieville material.
From what I understand, the Volo's Guide series in general is going to be relatively short articles, with the possibility of feature-length "non-Volo" articles if a topic warrants deeper coverage.
quote:
I don't have a problem with the monsters per se, and as I said in the letter and here, I think you did a fine job converting these guys over for 3.5. I guess my main point is that I don't want you to feel that I'm not happy with the work that you have done, because I have really enjoyed your work in the past. I'm also grateful that you shed some light on the editorial process behind the creation of the article.
I understand perfectly. No Realms fan is ever really satisfied with the level of coverage and depth of lore in an article. 4 pages could very easily be 8, 12 could just as simply been 16, etc. Realms fans are always going to clamor for longer, lore-packed articles in every issue of Dragon. And I'll be among the teeming throngs that want such articles. Realistically, though, I think the Volo's series is designed to give us all a monthly "fix" in between the big, juicy articles.
That isn't to say that we have to like every article that says it's from the Realms, or that I expect every reader to like everything I ever have or will write. Heck, I don't even like everything I've ever written.
I don't expect Candlekeep scribes to be anything less than honest with their opinions of the Volo's series. If something I write is poor, I expect to hear about it (hopefully politely). I may not like that a reader doesn't appreciate my work, but I'm of the same school as Ed in this regard: this is a service industry, and the readers are the ultimate customer. If your customers aren't happy, it's best to know why.
quote:
If I may ask, am I right in assuming that part of the quick turnaround has to do with the fact that they are still getting the Volo's Guide up and running, so they scambling a bit to get everything lined up for a monthly article? I also imagine that the fact that this was a heavily themed article played into the quick turnaround.
Honestly, I don't know, and probably couldn't say if I could. I'm not involved in any articles that don't have my name on them, nor do I have any real say in how long things take or when they're printed once the article leaves my hands. The Volo's series (in its newest incarnation) is very new, though, and there isn't a "slush pile" of backup articles to throw into the column if something isn't handed in on time or WotC rejects an article. If something goes wrong, there's no stockpile to depend on; someone's got to write it, and it's got to be written now.
I don't think the theme of the issue played any part in the turnaround, but again, I'm not on that side of the magazine at all. I just write what they ask me to, and hope that it's good enough to be asked back to write something else.
quote:
I appreciate the Realmslore that you have been a part of, and I look forward to more article by you. I just hope you get a bit more wiggle room even for a few more paragraphs to expand on some lore that hasn't been seen before.
Always my goal as well. I haven't yet developed an Ed- or Eric-like ability to cram lore into every cranny imaginable, but I'm still working on that. ;) |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Jan 2007 : 20:47:22
quote:
Originally posted by Garen Thal
As the author of the article in question, I can probably illuminate (a bit) as to why the piece turned out as it did.
The initial article I was submitting for issue #352 was going to be a lore-heavy one, but was nixed fairly close to its due date because of upcoming product concerns (no, I won't say more). That having been scrapped, and time being short, the editors asked me to write an article converting 3 undead creatures: the skuz and inquisitor from 2E, and one to be named and crafted from an art piece submitted later--that one became the charnel custodian. The entire article had an extremely brief turnaround period--most are usually in the editors' hands for a number of months between acceptance and publication. The entire process, from the initial request on this article to its printing, was, at the outside eight weeks.
It's absolutely valid to criticize the article for not being packed to the gills with Realmslore. Please bear in mind, however, that this is a monster article, and such articles have an inordinate amount of their wordcount eaten up by stat blocks (in this case, a little more than half of the turnover). Realmslore takes not only care and knowledge to craft, but the time to do it and space on the page. Items and characters are inherently more lore-packed than monsters... especially undead monsters with no memory of their former selves.
That said, I am sorry if readers don't or won't enjoy the article because of its lore-light content. No one would have liked it more than I if this was a twelve-page opus with only the last few devoted to the monsters. There was neither the time nor the room to craft such an article, though, and that is (if I may be permitted a pun about monster articles) the nature of the beast.
-BC
Thanks for chiming in, and I hope you don't take umbrage at my comment, or the fact that I wrote the letter. I understand that the article was supposed to be relatively short, and that with monsters in 3.5 that this takes up a lot of space. I also figure there wasn't much wiggle room to give up a page or two for more in depth Realmslore given the amount of space they had already given to the China Mieville material.
I don't have a problem with the monsters per se, and as I said in the letter and here, I think you did a fine job converting these guys over for 3.5. I guess my main point is that I don't want you to feel that I'm not happy with the work that you have done, because I have really enjoyed your work in the past. I'm also grateful that you shed some light on the editorial process behind the creation of the article.
If I may ask, am I right in assuming that part of the quick turnaround has to do with the fact that they are still getting the Volo's Guide up and running, so they scambling a bit to get everything lined up for a monthly article? I also imagine that the fact that this was a heavily themed article played into the quick turnaround.
I appreciate the Realmslore that you have been a part of, and I look forward to more article by you. I just hope you get a bit more wiggle room even for a few more paragraphs to expand on some lore that hasn't been seen before.
Thanks. |
| Garen Thal |
Posted - 14 Jan 2007 : 20:29:23
As the author of the article in question, I can probably illuminate (a bit) as to why the piece turned out as it did.
The initial article I was submitting for issue #352 was going to be a lore-heavy one, but was nixed fairly close to its due date because of upcoming product concerns (no, I won't say more). That having been scrapped, and time being short, the editors asked me to write an article converting 3 undead creatures: the skuz and inquisitor from 2E, and one to be named and crafted from an art piece submitted later--that one became the charnel custodian. The entire article had an extremely brief turnaround period--most are usually in the editors' hands for a number of months between acceptance and publication. The entire process, from the initial request on this article to its printing, was, at the outside eight weeks.
It's absolutely valid to criticize the article for not being packed to the gills with Realmslore. Please bear in mind, however, that this is a monster article, and such articles have an inordinate amount of their wordcount eaten up by stat blocks (in this case, a little more than half of the turnover). Realmslore takes not only care and knowledge to craft, but the time to do it and space on the page. Items and characters are inherently more lore-packed than monsters... especially undead monsters with no memory of their former selves.
That said, I am sorry if readers don't or won't enjoy the article because of its lore-light content. No one would have liked it more than I if this was a twelve-page opus with only the last few devoted to the monsters. There was neither the time nor the room to craft such an article, though, and that is (if I may be permitted a pun about monster articles) the nature of the beast.
-BC |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Jan 2007 : 16:50:10
Charnel Hound, Monster Manual III, made up of a bunch of corpses, looks like a dog.
Boneyard, Libris Mortis, made up of a bunch of corpses, looks like a serpent.
So a humanoid shaped one is different . . . sort of. |
| Kajehase |
Posted - 14 Jan 2007 : 16:28:37
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
According to a guy over at Enworld 352 is Undead of Faerun and features
New monsters:
"Charnel Custodian (huge ugly thing made up of the entire contents of a graveyard)
Inquisitor (exists to torture victims and extract information)
Skuz (drowned undead, tries to drag victims underwater)"
*sigh* Not only is that not new material, it's more undead... 
Those 3 havent been converted to 3ed though have they?
I don't think so, but at least the Charnel Custodian sounds a lot like one of the monsters in either Complete Arcane, Heroes of Battle, or Miniature's Handbook (can't remember which). |
| The Sage |
Posted - 14 Jan 2007 : 08:34:17
So you've got #352 Knight?
Neat. If you don't mind, could you spare a few moments to tell me about the New Crobuzon material? Since it's not Realms-related, you may want to shift this to PMs...
|
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Jan 2007 : 06:39:13
I sent a letter to Dragon about this article, not because it was horrible, but because it was a bit close to what I worried these Realms and Eberron articles might become: Generic articles that you could just throw a few Realms names into and say it "counted" as your Realms content.
I realize that 2/3 of the creatures had appeared in a 2nd edition FR Monstrous Compendium, but I can't recall them even showing up in any major book or adventure or sourcebook after their initial appearance. As I said in the letter, I'm not entirely against undead, but they have to be pretty special to get my attention now that there are so many of them (and a lot of them the only difference is that they have been geared toward a certain CR, not that they have a good reason for existing).
I also stressed in it, and will stress here, that I'm not disparaging Brian Cortijo in any way. The conversion were fine, I'm not even saying I wouldn't use the creatures at some point. Its just I was hoping for something that had a little more Realmslore relevance in this column, and I hope the amount of information in the article to tie it to the setting goes up. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 17:14:37
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
According to a guy over at Enworld 352 is Undead of Faerun and features
New monsters:
"Charnel Custodian (huge ugly thing made up of the entire contents of a graveyard)
Inquisitor (exists to torture victims and extract information)
Skuz (drowned undead, tries to drag victims underwater)"
*sigh* Not only is that not new material, it's more undead...
Those 3 havent been converted to 3ed though have they?
I honestly don't know... But I was hoping that the Realmslore articles would explore previously unexplored parts of the setting, like the Toppled Thrones article did. And I've long been weary of undead monsters in Dragon, because there have been so dang many of them. |
| Dargoth |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 11:18:44
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
According to a guy over at Enworld 352 is Undead of Faerun and features
New monsters:
"Charnel Custodian (huge ugly thing made up of the entire contents of a graveyard)
Inquisitor (exists to torture victims and extract information)
Skuz (drowned undead, tries to drag victims underwater)"
*sigh* Not only is that not new material, it's more undead...
Those 3 havent been converted to 3ed though have they? |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 11:14:56
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
According to a guy over at Enworld 352 is Undead of Faerun and features
New monsters:
"Charnel Custodian (huge ugly thing made up of the entire contents of a graveyard)
Inquisitor (exists to torture victims and extract information)
Skuz (drowned undead, tries to drag victims underwater)"
*sigh* Not only is that not new material, it's more undead... |
| Mace Hammerhand |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 09:47:43
What is it with all them planar creatures? Not that I'm complaining, just wondering |
| Dargoth |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 09:13:21
quote:
Originally posted by Mace Hammerhand
I thought the Volo's stuff was to become a regular feature.
They havent plugged the Volos stuff in the previews for previous issues so im assuming ine of 2 things
1) Theyve changed there policy and the Putsider article falls under Volo
or
2) Where getting 2 FR articles in 353 Volos and the 6 planar creatures articl |
| Mace Hammerhand |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 09:02:54
I thought the Volo's stuff was to become a regular feature. |
| Dargoth |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 06:47:26
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Hmm, I wonder what the FR article in #352 will be ... anyone have the lowdown?
-- George Krashos
Do now
According to a guy over at Enworld 352 is Undead of Faerun and features
New monsters:
"Charnel Custodian (huge ugly thing made up of the entire contents of a graveyard)
Inquisitor (exists to torture victims and extract information)
Skuz (drowned undead, tries to drag victims underwater)"
Next month (353) we get an article called From Beyond the Realms
which features six new outsiders from the Forgotten Realms' unique comsology
I wonder if we'll get a Volos article in 353 as well......
|
| George Krashos |
Posted - 23 Dec 2006 : 12:40:08
Hmm, I wonder what the FR article in #352 will be ... anyone have the lowdown?
-- George Krashos
|
| khorne |
Posted - 23 Dec 2006 : 11:52:47
I really liked the Hordelands stuff. It looks like the legacy of Yamun khahan endures. |
| MerrikCale |
Posted - 17 Dec 2006 : 12:32:55
quote:
Originally posted by Snotlord
Both the Hordelands and Impultur was very good articles, and potentially very useful.
They were very good. Hopefully, this will keep up now that we're getting regular Realms articales. |
| VonRaventheDaring |
Posted - 15 Dec 2006 : 15:47:09
Rejoice Rejoice for FR has montly atricle in the Dragon magazine now!!!
plus i got my comment published in the 351 as well in (Kevin Romine)haha |
| George Krashos |
Posted - 15 Dec 2006 : 01:50:35
The FR article in #351 is by Eric Boyd (he's a legend this man ...  ) and on the World Serpent Inn in Arabel.
-- George Krashos
|
| Ardashir |
Posted - 14 Dec 2006 : 15:53:35
quote:
Originally posted by Maruluthu Mistrivvin
Yes, except worghests (+2)
Wait -- worghests? Those are the half-barghest things that live in the Mines of Tethyamar, right?
I may have to get this one. |
| Xysma |
Posted - 28 Nov 2006 : 20:15:42
Paul said that his story "Confession" is neither a Cale story nor a Realms story. |
| Snotlord |
Posted - 28 Nov 2006 : 19:57:11
Both the Hordelands and Impultur was very good articles, and potentially very useful. |
| Marc |
Posted - 28 Nov 2006 : 19:11:20
Yes, except worghests (+2) |
| Chosen of Moradin |
Posted - 28 Nov 2006 : 15:57:53
They are in tune (LA +1) with the planetoucheds of the FRCS? |
| MerrikCale |
Posted - 28 Nov 2006 : 02:27:02
quote:
Originally posted by Chosen of Moradin
The Hordelands article is exceptional. I´m waiting the coming of Dragon #350 here in Brazil, to see the planetouched of Eric. 
I liked it although some others didn't. |
| Chosen of Moradin |
Posted - 27 Nov 2006 : 14:49:06
The Hordelands article is exceptional. I´m waiting the coming of Dragon #350 here in Brazil, to see the planetouched of Eric. |
| MerrikCale |
Posted - 27 Nov 2006 : 02:41:14
I liked both of the FR articles so far. In particular, the Hordelands update was well done. |
|
|
