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Hmm...I knew the name sounded familiar, and I found a reference to a "Vocar the Obedient" in Domains of Dread, p. 115, as a 16th-level priest and the secret leader of Vecna's cult in Kas's domain of Tovag. Any connection?
Yep. That's the guy. Later he is promoted to Exarch, but has since lost that status. However, being an ex-exarch (can't believe I just wrote that) of the god of secret, makes him very interesting to quite a few people.
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Originally Posted by TarionzCousin
Speaking of the Abyss, is there any mention of Red Shroud and/or Broken Reach?
Didn't catch any.
__________________
360 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 22nd level Musings of an Epic Virgin
Pretty much the same as it was previously detailed in RttToH and Dragon, except for saying they turned to Pelor. That's a bit odd. And they stuck it in the Shadowfell, whereas previously it was a demiplane on the edge of (and slowly being subsumed into?) the Negative Energy Plane.
While it has been a long time since I read RttToH wasnt Moil cursed by Orcus because they started worshipping a sun god?
My question is how does the book treat fey desmenes and the domains of dread?
Fey demenes are areas (some small, some large) that attune themselves to the most powerful creature living in that area. Likewise with domains, except they have the twist that you cannot just exit them, without slaying the dark lord (or breaking his curse etc)who has a lot of control over them, as opposed to fey demenes, who “act” independently. Cool stuff IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TarionzCousin
There are nine pages on the Nine Hells. Can you give us an overview?
The Nine Hells is a dominion floating in the Astral Sea. It’s also a planet, so when you breach the veil from the Astral Sea, you plummet to the surface, unless you enter at the correct spot. Then it describes the Nine Hells and their Lords. Pretty standard stuff, following the prior editions as far as I can tell.
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Likewise, I would like a summary of the City of Brass, the Abyss, and the Astral plane stuff.
City of Brass was pretty much covered in the excerpt.
The Abyss is made of layers, floating pieces of terrain caught in a downward spiral. The Abyss is full of demons (surprise!) and powerful demons can get take control of a layer (or parts thereof) and bend it to its will.
We get a paragraph about The Plain of a Thousand Portals (top layer), the Abysm (Demogorgon’s layer), Azzagrat (Graz’zt’s 3 layers), The Demonweb (Lolth’s layer), Thanatos (Orcus’ layer), Twelvetrees (a place where some angels got tricked) and the Endless Maze (Baphomet’s layer)
The Astral Sea is a space-sea that binds the dominions together. I am not quite sure what you want to know, any chance you could be more specific? I believe the preview had a list of the dominions, so that would be a waste to type them all out again. It has been one of the battlegrounds of the bloodwar, and githyanki are one of the races living here.
Quote:
Is Gloomwrought actually gloomy?
Despite its name, Gloomwrought is described as one of the brightest spots in the Shadowfell.
__________________
360 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 22nd level Musings of an Epic Virgin
Demon Web: Does the adventure feel particularly Paragon-y? Is there RP potential, or is it dungeoncrawl-tastic? How does it hold up vs. the others? Is it as good as Trollhaunt?
Having read it cover to cover, I must say that it rocks. As I say in my blog's mini-reviews, it's by far the best adventure ever produced by WotC. Included blog for people who do not like to click on links in sig.
short review of DQE (spoilers)
The heroes find themselves (depending on which hook you use) heading to a drow settlement in the Underdark in order to stop a greater evil brewing. An rebellious drow has been lured to the dark side (as if Lolth doesn’t qualify as the dark side already) by Orcus. The drow, now a vampire, has taken over a domain in the Shadowfell which used to be ruled by an exarch of Orcus. From there, it has launched an attack on the drow settlement, breaching it defences.
So when the players arrive, they find a town-battlefield, infested by undead and demons. And drows, of course. The goal might be to stop the nefarious plans of the Orcus worshipping vampire-drow, but how do you do that. Do you ally with the lone drow necromancer, with the failed drow commander that thinks of himself as dead man walking, or do you see out the matron mother in the temple of Lolth, and strike a deal with the most unholy of all. Or maybe you just plow through everything. That would of course be a pity. Once an alliance has formed, how do you proceed to enter the realm of Orcus? There is also a personification of the plane that has its own agenda, and an artefact that doesn’t quite want what everyone assumes it wants.
The adventure is choking full of interesting encounters, awesome settings, meaningful choices, cool application of skill challenges and interesting NPC’s.
DQE (P2) is by miles the best adventure WotC has ever produced. In fact, I will go so far as to say that it is probably one of the best adventures made for D&D in many years. Buy now!
Rating:******
It definitely feels paragon-ly - much more than Trollhaunt.
Spoiler:
Seriously, if you run this well, your players will never trust any NPC in your campaigns again. (if they still do )
__________________
360 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 22nd level Musings of an Epic Virgin
Fey demenes are areas (some small, some large) that attune themselves to the most powerful creature living in that area. Likewise with domains, except they have the twist that you cannot just exit them, without slaying the dark lord (or breaking his curse etc)who has a lot of control over them, as opposed to fey demenes, who “act” independently. Cool stuff IMO.
Does the book given some example desmenes and domains? If so, could you provide a brief description?
__________________ Veronica: Where's your brother?
Dick: I think he took Ghost World up to his room. They're probably up there making love. Or playing Dungeons and Dragons. Or both, at the same time. They're both, like, 12th-level dorks. I'm just sayin'
Having read it cover to cover, I must say that it rocks. As I say in my blog's mini-reviews, it's by far the best adventure ever produced by WotC. Included blog for people who do not like to click on links in sig.
short review of DQE (spoilers)
The heroes find themselves (depending on which hook you use) heading to a drow settlement in the Underdark in order to stop a greater evil brewing. An rebellious drow has been lured to the dark side (as if Lolth doesn’t qualify as the dark side already) by Orcus. The drow, now a vampire, has taken over a domain in the Shadowfell which used to be ruled by an exarch of Orcus. From there, it has launched an attack on the drow settlement, breaching it defences.
So when the players arrive, they find a town-battlefield, infested by undead and demons. And drows, of course. The goal might be to stop the nefarious plans of the Orcus worshipping vampire-drow, but how do you do that. Do you ally with the lone drow necromancer, with the failed drow commander that thinks of himself as dead man walking, or do you see out the matron mother in the temple of Lolth, and strike a deal with the most unholy of all. Or maybe you just plow through everything. That would of course be a pity. Once an alliance has formed, how do you proceed to enter the realm of Orcus? There is also a personification of the plane that has its own agenda, and an artefact that doesn’t quite want what everyone assumes it wants.
The adventure is choking full of interesting encounters, awesome settings, meaningful choices, cool application of skill challenges and interesting NPC’s.
DQE (P2) is by miles the best adventure WotC has ever produced. In fact, I will go so far as to say that it is probably one of the best adventures made for D&D in many years. Buy now!
Rating:******
It definitely feels paragon-ly - much more than Trollhaunt.
Spoiler:
Seriously, if you run this well, your players will never trust any NPC in your campaigns again. (if they still do )
Wow, I'm so stoked for this adventure, and I loved H2, H3, and P1!
__________________ Veronica: Where's your brother?
Dick: I think he took Ghost World up to his room. They're probably up there making love. Or playing Dungeons and Dragons. Or both, at the same time. They're both, like, 12th-level dorks. I'm just sayin'
P1 was the first 4e module I wanted to run wholesale (rather than farm for encounters/monsters/maps) so wow, that's a good vote of confidence!
Although, I think an Orcus/Lolth schism plot would be more intriguing than that. An issue of "Pick the lesser evil" like in Return to Castle Ravenloft.
Does the book given some example desmenes and domains? If so, could you provide a brief description?
Not really. They mention that desmenes usually happen where ley lines cross. They mention it could be as small as hut or a tower, or it could be the area around the eladrin king's castle, causing storm clouds to appear when he is in a foul mood.
No real examples of Domains, but there is one described in Dragon, but I suspect that you are very well aware of that
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Although, I think an Orcus/Lolth schism plot would be more intriguing than that. An issue of "Pick the lesser evil" like in Return to Castle Ravenloft.
I agree. It's just pretty much a given, which is the lesser evil in this case.
__________________
360 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 22nd level Musings of an Epic Virgin
(snip) Enter the drow city that is under assault of an army of undead coming from a realm in the shadowfell, then enter said realm to stop the soon to be newest exarch of Orcus, while risking to actually make him exarch? (snip)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rechan
(snip)Although, I think an Orcus/Lolth schism plot would be more intriguing than that. (snip)
It really does read a bit too much like 3E's City of the Spider Queen. Perhaps a little more creative effort should have been expended to get past a conflict between the spider drow and the undead drow? I just hope it reads and plays better that CotSQ.
Well I'll applaud them on this one note: they actually read some of the source material then beyond the 3e PlHB subchapter on Sigil, because Alluvius is a bit outside of the norm. Vocar the Disobedient seems to be new. That's an interesting mixture (if quirky since they're not the most powerful by any means, but they're interesting ones certainly).
Heh. Well, since it's Sunday and I'm procrastinating on the work I've got to do today: Those are four characters I suggested to James for the Sigil writeup. Shemeshka, Rule-of-Three, and Alluvius are personal favorites. I also thought it'd be interesting to include an ex-exarch of Vecna, and James was the one who remembered Vocar and adapted him perfectly. If we'd had more space, I would've liked to have seen Estavan, Zadara, and a half-dozen more old friends.
__________________ Michele Carter, RPG Senior Editor, Wizards of the Coast
Well... Michele, you could always introduce those old friends if I don't know Sigil got expanded, perhaps as part of some manner of setting. Maybe go by the name Planescape, hint, hint *nudge, nudge*
Heh. Well, since it's Sunday and I'm procrastinating on the work I've got to do today: Those are four characters I suggested to James for the Sigil writeup. Shemeshka, Rule-of-Three, and Alluvius are personal favorites. I also thought it'd be interesting to include an ex-exarch of Vecna, and James was the one who remembered Vocar and adapted him perfectly. If we'd had more space, I would've liked to have seen Estavan, Zadara, and a half-dozen more old friends.
You're awesome Michelle.
__________________ "I can just see the 4e adventure anthology "Tale from the Limited Staircase"." - Ken Marable
The Astral Sea is a space-sea that binds the dominions together. I am not quite sure what you want to know, any chance you could be more specific? I believe the preview had a list of the dominions, so that would be a waste to type them all out again. It has been one of the battlegrounds of the bloodwar, and githyanki are one of the races living here.
Can you describe the Astral Sea as a "space-sea." Exactly how does that work. Do you sail through some parts and fly through others, or is it a sea with dominions hovering over it, etc. Also, how exactly has the Bloodwar been characterized in 4e?
__________________ Veronica: Where's your brother?
Dick: I think he took Ghost World up to his room. They're probably up there making love. Or playing Dungeons and Dragons. Or both, at the same time. They're both, like, 12th-level dorks. I'm just sayin'
Since the book apparently lists my namesake the Marauder in the list of notable people in Sigil, how do they actually list her? Do they give a species listing or class etc like the little abbreviated stats they had next to names during 3.x? I ask mostly because well, yugoloths don't really exist in 4e, and she was an arcanaloth. I'm just wondering how they're going to work that in.
__________________ "I can just see the 4e adventure anthology "Tale from the Limited Staircase"." - Ken Marable
Since the book apparently lists my namesake the Marauder in the list of notable people in Sigil, how do they actually list her? Do they give a species listing or class etc like the little abbreviated stats they had next to names during 3.x? I ask mostly because well, yugoloths don't really exist in 4e, and she was an arcanaloth. I'm just wondering how they're going to work that in.
You've undergone a racial change
__________________
360 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 22nd level Musings of an Epic Virgin
Since the book apparently lists my namesake the Marauder in the list of notable people in Sigil, how do they actually list her? Do they give a species listing or class etc like the little abbreviated stats they had next to names during 3.x? I ask mostly because well, yugoloths don't really exist in 4e, and she was an arcanaloth. I'm just wondering how they're going to work that in.
)
You're awesome Michelle.
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