Musings on D&D, playing 4e, designing, and tidbits on upcoming products from Emerald Press PDF Publishing.
Back From the Dead - Part II
Posted 20th August 2009 at 09:39 PM by EP
The time has come once again to reveal a little more about Risen, that 4E book you’ve heard so much about from friends at Gencon. You remember it, right? It’s the one that’s all the rave right now, the much discussed splatbook bringing your favourite characters back from the dead with new powers and path features unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
This month’s preview offers something traditional and something way off the beaten path. The firebird draws its resurrection from the phoenix, a staple of regeneration in fantasy and mythology, while the chaostician uses the bizarre Far Realm to warp your character’s body at a genetic level.
Let’s begin.
Wrath of the Firebird
When a phoenix dies, it bursts into flames and a new body rises out of the ashes. This is not immortality by the truest definition of the word, but a defiance of death and its strangehold over all living creatures.
The idea for the firebird actually came from my girlfriend. I was trying to conceive a primal-based resurrection path merging a resurrected character with a legendary beast: unicorns, pegasus, even dragons. When she came into the office and asked what I was up to, I told what I was trying to come up. “Something really mythical, ya know?” “What about a phoenix?” she asked. “Don’t they come back from the dead?” And so our one fleeting moment of sharing D&D came… and went. (She’s not a roleplayer and I’ve given up all hope of even a drunken night of curiosity. Pobody’s nerfect.)
The phoenix wages a personal war against its primordial brothers and sisters, abhored by their desire to destroy the gods’ creation with vengeful rage. Firebirds carry on this quest in their honor. They seek out primordials scattered throughout the Known World and beyond to make sure they never rise again. Chosen for their dedication to the gods or merely fallen victim to a primordial’s wrath, the phoenix endows a fraction of its power to the firebird and returns him or her from the dead in a powerful new form.
There are three facets to a firebird’s powers: fire, healing, and flight. That’s right, flight. Beginning at 12th level, the firebird has a limited ability to hover and can eventually fly for a short period of time. Aside from a resistance to fire damage, the firebird distinguishes a unique mark across their chest of fiery wings growing in size as the character reaches higher levels and can provide healing surges to his allies in battle. Yet these were just physical features designed to mimic the spirit of the phoenix. When it comes down to it, it is the passionate defense of life that gives the firebird its drive and ambition to live once more. For a better tase of the firebird, check out the bonus preview in CA12.
The Many Forms of the Chaostician
This path was a last minute addition to the mix and I wanted to design something crazy. Something with powers and path features far beyond the norm that would make a player cry out “It does what?!!” Amazingly enough, the chaostician was the easiest resurrection path to build.
After dying on the Far Realm, the chaostician’s soul merges with the chaotic plane and takes on a new, improved body. More importantly, it assumes a morphing form capable of extending its reach, slipping through tight spaces by convering solid bone into transmutable goo, or phasing through walls as a ghost. Tossed in with powers to disrupt opponents with an upsetting aura and brief teleportations to the Far Realm, the chaostician thrives on breaking the mould of most heroes. I’ve always thought of him as the hero who looks like a villain.
My personal favourite is the extended reach and I’m hoping it’ll be a fan fave too. Picture your character standing just out of reach of a pit fiend. If you stand adjacent to the devil, you’re burned in the hellfire covering its body while the fiend has a reach of 2. No problem. With your sword still in hand, your arms instantly stretch out to twice their normal length and strike the pit friend across the temple. Better yet, picture the look on your GM’s face when he suddenly remembers you have that ability.
The real catch to the chaostician is the life quest: he or she has sworn an oath to use these bizarre powers to fend off the approach of the Far Realm. Many wizards and planewalkers theorize the plane is a sentient being, consciously seeking to claim the lawful, organized multiverse as we know it through unprotected portals and its minions, such as the infamous mind flayers. Witness to the horrors of the Realm, a chaostician will use everything in their disposal to prevent this armageddon.
For Our Last Installment…
Next month will feature my co-author, Shawn O’Leary, talking about his inspiration for two of his additions to Risen: the cuardach and the sword of heaven. These are rather unqiue spins on a more heroic translation of resurrection paths and the cuardach is one of my personal faves. We’ll have more previews, teasers, and other goodies coming throughout September and October until the official release in PDF and POD, so stay tuned.
Todd Crapper (that's right) is the Head Honcho for Emerald Press PDF Publishing and author of the upcoming 4e adventure, The Key of the Fey (releasing December 2009), and co-author of Risen: The Guide to Resurrected Characters (October 2009). He wrote this blog because there was no one around to stop him, not even those meddling kids and their mangy mutt.
This month’s preview offers something traditional and something way off the beaten path. The firebird draws its resurrection from the phoenix, a staple of regeneration in fantasy and mythology, while the chaostician uses the bizarre Far Realm to warp your character’s body at a genetic level.
Let’s begin.
Wrath of the Firebird
When a phoenix dies, it bursts into flames and a new body rises out of the ashes. This is not immortality by the truest definition of the word, but a defiance of death and its strangehold over all living creatures.
The idea for the firebird actually came from my girlfriend. I was trying to conceive a primal-based resurrection path merging a resurrected character with a legendary beast: unicorns, pegasus, even dragons. When she came into the office and asked what I was up to, I told what I was trying to come up. “Something really mythical, ya know?” “What about a phoenix?” she asked. “Don’t they come back from the dead?” And so our one fleeting moment of sharing D&D came… and went. (She’s not a roleplayer and I’ve given up all hope of even a drunken night of curiosity. Pobody’s nerfect.)
The phoenix wages a personal war against its primordial brothers and sisters, abhored by their desire to destroy the gods’ creation with vengeful rage. Firebirds carry on this quest in their honor. They seek out primordials scattered throughout the Known World and beyond to make sure they never rise again. Chosen for their dedication to the gods or merely fallen victim to a primordial’s wrath, the phoenix endows a fraction of its power to the firebird and returns him or her from the dead in a powerful new form.
There are three facets to a firebird’s powers: fire, healing, and flight. That’s right, flight. Beginning at 12th level, the firebird has a limited ability to hover and can eventually fly for a short period of time. Aside from a resistance to fire damage, the firebird distinguishes a unique mark across their chest of fiery wings growing in size as the character reaches higher levels and can provide healing surges to his allies in battle. Yet these were just physical features designed to mimic the spirit of the phoenix. When it comes down to it, it is the passionate defense of life that gives the firebird its drive and ambition to live once more. For a better tase of the firebird, check out the bonus preview in CA12.
The Many Forms of the Chaostician
This path was a last minute addition to the mix and I wanted to design something crazy. Something with powers and path features far beyond the norm that would make a player cry out “It does what?!!” Amazingly enough, the chaostician was the easiest resurrection path to build.
After dying on the Far Realm, the chaostician’s soul merges with the chaotic plane and takes on a new, improved body. More importantly, it assumes a morphing form capable of extending its reach, slipping through tight spaces by convering solid bone into transmutable goo, or phasing through walls as a ghost. Tossed in with powers to disrupt opponents with an upsetting aura and brief teleportations to the Far Realm, the chaostician thrives on breaking the mould of most heroes. I’ve always thought of him as the hero who looks like a villain.
My personal favourite is the extended reach and I’m hoping it’ll be a fan fave too. Picture your character standing just out of reach of a pit fiend. If you stand adjacent to the devil, you’re burned in the hellfire covering its body while the fiend has a reach of 2. No problem. With your sword still in hand, your arms instantly stretch out to twice their normal length and strike the pit friend across the temple. Better yet, picture the look on your GM’s face when he suddenly remembers you have that ability.
The real catch to the chaostician is the life quest: he or she has sworn an oath to use these bizarre powers to fend off the approach of the Far Realm. Many wizards and planewalkers theorize the plane is a sentient being, consciously seeking to claim the lawful, organized multiverse as we know it through unprotected portals and its minions, such as the infamous mind flayers. Witness to the horrors of the Realm, a chaostician will use everything in their disposal to prevent this armageddon.
For Our Last Installment…
Next month will feature my co-author, Shawn O’Leary, talking about his inspiration for two of his additions to Risen: the cuardach and the sword of heaven. These are rather unqiue spins on a more heroic translation of resurrection paths and the cuardach is one of my personal faves. We’ll have more previews, teasers, and other goodies coming throughout September and October until the official release in PDF and POD, so stay tuned.
Todd Crapper (that's right) is the Head Honcho for Emerald Press PDF Publishing and author of the upcoming 4e adventure, The Key of the Fey (releasing December 2009), and co-author of Risen: The Guide to Resurrected Characters (October 2009). He wrote this blog because there was no one around to stop him, not even those meddling kids and their mangy mutt.
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