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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore
USA
1695 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Jun 2006 : 01:46:04
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| I don't know why they had to make it a downloaded PDF in a ZIP. They should have just posted it. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jun 2006 : 01:53:25
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When I first saw Avatar of Elemental Evil, I thought it would have stats for Olhydra, Ogremoch, etc. but it doesn't look as if that is the case.
I usually try to be positive, but I have to say, a lot of this looks like monster NPCs with class levels. The ones that aren't I remember a lot of from D&D minis, and they aren't exactly monsters I have been clamoring for.
I'm a bit disappointed, but as always, I'll check it out when I get a chance to sit down with it for some quality time at my local Border's or the like. |
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore
USA
1103 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jun 2006 : 02:29:55
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| What's with all of the Drow crap? |
Planescape Fanatic
"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jun 2006 : 02:57:38
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quote:
Originally posted by GothicDan
What's with all of the Drow crap?
 Good question. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore
USA
1695 Posts |
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore
USA
1103 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jun 2006 : 03:15:09
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| I bet it'll be another 5 years before that happens. ;) |
Planescape Fanatic
"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jun 2006 : 17:01:13
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Hmm... seeing that I have many of those D&D minis, it will be nice I guess... but what bothers me is that I already have the stat cards for them, so...
One that I'm actually looking for is that 'dwarf ancestor' thing... but overall, yeah, whatever... Tiamat spawn??? come on... |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 17:45:26
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The next preview is up. It has a few sample monsters in it. The Avatars of Elemental Evil do have something to do with the Princes of Elemental Evil, as they are apparently really powerful evil elementals that serve as their "special forces." I kind of like that, since I have always liked the Princes of Elemental Evil.
I kind of like the idea of the defacer, but I loath the cutesy name. Still, I liked the Skullport angle that they worked into the Faerun example of the monster.
I liked the dwarf ancestors, but is it just me, or is it strange to introduce lawful good creatures that are suppose to defend dwarves, and they for the sample encounter use them in a way that will likely indicate to any PCs that meet them in this manner that they are not good things. Its seem strange to give a sample encounter that doesn't use the monster the way its "typically" seen.
The "bluespawn godslayer" is interesting, and easier for me to assimilate than some of the other Tiamat spawn, but I have a few strange logic questions. Why would something born to a dragon be a monstrous humanoid with the dragonblood subtype? I guess I also have a hard time with a full blooded dragon being thrilled with givng birth to a "spawn" creature, since its much weaker than a true dragon. Ah well, easy enough to ignore them, but they take up a large swath of the books.
Overall, it is starting to look more interesting, but I'll still have to sit down with the final product to make a decision on if its a "must have" book. Plus, Dragons of Faerun might aid me in wrapping my brain around the whole Spawn of Tiamat thing.
The link to the next preview is here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060704a |
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2067 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 18:12:12
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quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
The "bluespawn godslayer" is interesting, and easier for me to assimilate than some of the other Tiamat spawn, but I have a few strange logic questions. Why would something born to a dragon be a monstrous humanoid with the dragonblood subtype? I guess I also have a hard time with a full blooded dragon being thrilled with givng birth to a "spawn" creature, since its much weaker than a true dragon. Ah well, easy enough to ignore them, but they take up a large swath of the books.
Overall, it is starting to look more interesting, but I'll still have to sit down with the final product to make a decision on if its a "must have" book. Plus, Dragons of Faerun might aid me in wrapping my brain around the whole Spawn of Tiamat thing.
The link to the next preview is here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060704a
Dragons of Faerun does provide a rational for introducing spawn of Tiamat into the Realms. I'll leave it to the fans to decide if I succeeded (I was pretty happy with the explanation I came up with), but there is a published reason to do so.
--Eric |
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http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/ |
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Skeptic
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1273 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 18:13:19
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| Who did the "FR sidebars" in MM4 ? Is that you Eric ? |
Edited by - Skeptic on 04 Jul 2006 18:13:31 |
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Arkhaedun
Senior Scribe
869 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 18:13:55
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| Thanks Eric. Its good to know there will be an explanation, and you have a very good track record of making things that don't initially make sense work pretty well in the Realms. I look forward to it. |
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore
USA
1103 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 21:31:46
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I agree.
All hail Eric Boyd! |
Planescape Fanatic
"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 22:17:26
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quote:
Originally posted by warlockco
They are finally finishing up the Year of the Drow?
The Year of the Drow is for ever!quote:
Originally posted by warlockco
I don't know why they had to make it a downloaded PDF in a ZIP. They should have just posted it.
It's a riddle wrapped up in an enigma. |
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore
USA
1103 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 22:19:37
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Imagine what people think who log onto these boards, after loving hearting zomg'ing Drow/Drizzt for the past 5 years, and never having heard a disparaging word about them?
*laughs* |
Planescape Fanatic
"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 23:32:15
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quote:
Originally posted by GothicDan
Imagine what people think who log onto these boards, after loving hearting zomg'ing Drow/Drizzt for the past 5 years, and never having heard a disparaging word about them?
*laughs*
It must be a pretty frightening, life-changing experience. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore
USA
1103 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 00:33:26
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Good for them. Their life needs a change. ;)
Zomg, I'm so pretentious and narrow-minded and..! etc.
Yes, sometimes I am. |
Planescape Fanatic
"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD |
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Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore
Germany
1720 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 00:45:48
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I like the Dwarven Ancestor. I also like the listing of Summnable Monsters in ToC. Furthermore I like the introdacory part for each monster in the different settings. All in all - the MM improve from book to book.
Great work! |
"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht." |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 01:13:33
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| Seeing as how Tiamat less a Goddess of Evil Dragonkind and more a Goddess of the now defunct Untheran Pantheon, the only place that should have a history of SoT is Unther |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2067 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 03:06:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Skeptic
Who did the "FR sidebars" in MM4 ? Is that you Eric ?
I didn't write them, but I had a chance to review them (quickly) and suggest fixes. I may have missed a few things, but I caught the biggest problems.
--Eric |
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http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/ |
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Sanishiver
Senior Scribe
USA
476 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jul 2006 : 05:34:18
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Looking at the Table of Contents for this book leaves me less enthused than before. I see a lot of what look like advanced versions of basic races (drow, orgres, orcs) and I'm not keen on the Tiamat stuff...I'll have to have a look in my FLGS and see if it's worth it.
:shrug:
J. Grenemyer |
09/20/2008: Tiger Army at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. You wouldn’t believe how many females rode it out in the pit. Santa Cruz women are all of them beautiful. Now I know to add tough to that description.
6/27/2008: WALL-E is about the best damn movie Pixar has ever made. It had my heart racing and had me rooting for the good guy.
9/9/2006: Dave Mathews Band was off the hook at the Shoreline Amphitheater.
Never, ever read the game books too literally, or make such assumptions that what is omitted cannot be. Bad DM form, that.
And no matter how compelling a picture string theory paints, if it does not accurately describe our universe, it will be no more relevant than an elaborate game of Dungeons and Dragons. --paragraph 1, chapter 9, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene |
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Sanishiver
Senior Scribe
USA
476 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2006 : 07:05:02
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Getting more mileage out of this book than I thought I would.
A trip to Myth Drannor can do that, I guess.
Seriously though, I've upgraded my opinion of this book.
J. Grenemyer |
09/20/2008: Tiger Army at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. You wouldn’t believe how many females rode it out in the pit. Santa Cruz women are all of them beautiful. Now I know to add tough to that description.
6/27/2008: WALL-E is about the best damn movie Pixar has ever made. It had my heart racing and had me rooting for the good guy.
9/9/2006: Dave Mathews Band was off the hook at the Shoreline Amphitheater.
Never, ever read the game books too literally, or make such assumptions that what is omitted cannot be. Bad DM form, that.
And no matter how compelling a picture string theory paints, if it does not accurately describe our universe, it will be no more relevant than an elaborate game of Dungeons and Dragons. --paragraph 1, chapter 9, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene |
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Monster Manual 4 TOC
