DiasExMachina 4ED Update

Amethyst - Foundations has gone to the printers.
REPEAT. Amethyst - Foundations has gone to the printers.
It will be in stores either late April or early May. It will be out by the Ennie cut off and will be submitted for recognition. Thanks to everyone who has support us.

We always brag about what's in Amethyst (classes, races, etc), but what's NOT in Amethyst?

Well from a setting perspective, and if we are talking strictly canon, no outside civilized races other than ones we endorse. So no elves or dwarves other than our elves and dwarves. No eladrin or tieflings. No gods, period, which leads into the reason why we don't have paladins or clerics in this setting. Divinity is still a matter of faith without proof. When someone asks if a party is unbalanced without such heavy healers, I look to my current Amethyst group. They seem to do just fine without them (we have some lifepaths which should help for those really desperate for some healing feeling). Of course, this has not stopped playtesters from ignoring these guidelines, which is fine. I know one guy running an Amethyst game with a tiefling in the party.

What else? Since we messed around with wizards, all other spellcasters are out. That's pretty much it for PHB. As for monsters, if they are based on mythology, they are in Amethyst as long as we HAVEN'T replaced them already. So there are no goblins, bugbears, or orcs, because we have boggs, skeggs, and pagus. No kobolds...puggs. We have our own dragons as well. However, we didn't replace trolls or gargoyles. The idea being that if the monster is in anyway social (they form communities, regardless of their stability), they won't be seen here unless we create them.

But the real meat of the post is what the actual book lacks. We keep our monsters around Heroic tier so you will find few to none in paragon and epic. Although we have full classes (1-30) and we have paragon paths, we do not have epic destinies. These were all written but eventually removed because of space concerns (I could remove artwork or story fluff...but I really didn't want to do that). Certain races not often seen in Canam have also been omitted. We mention the tenenbri a lot in the game but don't offer them as a race option. The same goes for pagus or half-pagus races--listed as monsters but not as an available race.

Another interesting omission is evil. Yes, we took out evil. Originally, we had numerous lifepaths, races, and paragon paths for those wishing to take the dark path of Ixindar. These were also omitted but not on any ethical reason. It was logical to remove them all as they could still find themselves bundled together with an expansion supplement later.

One strange side effect of these deleted items is that they are propping up in other places. Issue 3 of Level Up Magazine features the tenenbri race, along with unique lifepaths, paragon paths, and a monster based off their lineage. If memory recalls, issue 4 will also feature content for Amethyst not available in the Foundations core book.

So you can expect to still see these concepts and rules eventually. Once again, it's all hinging on the success of the first book.

Well, obviously I don't need to mention Neuroglyph and his review of Amethyst. Part 1 is up now; part 2 should be up by the time most people read this. It is, however, not the only review of Amethyst which has hit the net. Matt Staggs over at Realms of Fantasy (yes, THE Realms of Fantasy) has reviewed Amethyst for their May/June issue, but you can read it now here.

Watch out for extensive coverage with Gnome's Stew this month as well.

In other news, our swag package for pre-orders is getting larger. Now, for those not noticing, all our press releases (as well as our flyer) advertise over 100+ megs of files in our DLC package for those that pre-order Amethyst through your FLGS or through Goodman's site, but Goodman's main page accidentally indicated it was 300+ megs. Well thankfully, that typo became reality. Because we are switching to a private downloading site, we are able to make this DLC package larger, close to if not exceeding the 300+ meg promise thrown down by Goodman's page. I will offer up more detail as I nail down the specifics. So...more free stuff. That's good, right?

In Neuroglyph's praise of Amethyst, he did voice some criticisms I would like to address.

The first, and I placed it there for a reason (thanks Justified) deals with the character roles we assigned our techan classes. We eventually decided to double title our classes (Defender/Controller, Defender/Leader, etc). Now, Mike stated that the Grounder is a strange Defender because he doesn't have an at-will ability to mark targets. Now, he DOES have some marking abilities (about three or four if I recall through the class) but the reason we assigned the Defender position (beyond the fact that marking is not specifically mentioned as being a requirement) was the fact that the Grounder has the capacity to defend his position and prevent enemy advancement. Area Denial allows you to shoot enemies that get too close. Meat Shield allows you to hold up in a defense position as well. He is also a controller as he can lay down area affects to multiple enemies.

The Marshall is a Defender/Leader and he totally fills that as he DOES have an at-will which marks and he does alter the combat field by moving both allies and enemies around the combat field. He does have some healing but it is insignificant to the Warlord equivalent. The Operator is labeled Leader/Striker. Massive healing means leader but Striker? Strikers inflict heavy damage to single targets. Well, the Operator has one of the most powerful at-will's you will ever find, Weapon Savant. He also has other powerful single target abilities like Pattern Recognition, Weak Spot, Disruption Blast--in fact most of this attack powers involve single target attacks with some inflicting condition. Now that being said, the Stalker is listed as being a Defender/Striker....yup, that's wrong. He's a Controller/Striker. Oh well. Mistakes do occasionally occur.

Now, as for the Non-AC bonuses, if you take a real close look at the techan classes, you'll notice their Will Saves don't get much better with time compared to fantasy characters. Other than drugs and a few implants, it was hard to create items which can boost these. So we wrote in a fluff piece indicating that techans were especially resistant to enchantment and offered them all a +2 bonus to Will Defense. That was basically it.

Additionally, Mike brings up the common issue people have--the removal of divine classes. Firstly, from a crunch point of view, the alteration of these classes to confine into Amethyst's view of "non-gods" may be interpreted as redefining--something the GSL states clearly we cannot do. Second, canon Amethyst has wizards and magical items (both natural and forged). It even has alchemy and although a few people exhibit some natural powers, there is nothing in the setting which allows someone to bond with a gate.

The mentality being that I don't see clerics in Middle Earth. I don't see clerics in Harry Potter. Do I sacrifice setting integrity for crunch or do I follow the canon and simply say, no clerics? I just felt spinning the rules around to find an excuse for Warlocks and Clerics was just that...an excuse. Amethyst is intended to be a medium to low magic setting, and if there are all these power casters walking around, the entire setting falls into the absurd...in my opinion. Spellcasters in Amethyst are intended to be rare. Many people try, but not a lot of them succeed. As one character says in the novel...

"If everyone could wave a wand, there'd be anarchy."

Something which has been brought up a lot recently deals with canon and non-canon classes and races from later WOTC publications. We state with the first PHB which classes are canon and which are not--the guide being that divine classes are all out and the only arcane class is Wizard. This actually extends to further publications as well. Amethyst has always been a low-to-medium magic setting. There is powerful magic but it's rare. So there should only be one arcane character per group.

As for races, the same rule applies--no races other than our own...so let's go back to classes.

Let's look first at Player's Handbook 2:

Avenger: A divine class so no.

Barbarian: This is the tricky one. While there is nothing to really prevent someone from choosing barbarian, it's something you would never see in my personal Amethyst game...at least if my players were good guys. Many of the nations in Amethyst are too civilized to really have them. Still, I won't say they are non-canon. If anything, I would avoid making these human. Chaparrans, pagus, sure.

Bards: If these guys were charismatic leaders with the power to sway the masses with their words (like the way we altered them for Amethyst 3.5 or how Goodman presented them in their book last year), I wouldn't mind...but PHB2 makes them spellcasters...so they're out.

Druid: Druids were present in the 3.5 Amethyst and we have lifepaths which emulate some of their powers. This is another tough one. I would definitely see them with the condition that they are rarer than wizards and nearly always non-human (once again, chaparrans being the best suggestion).

Invoker: This is another divine class so they are out.

Shaman: Another primal class and like Barbarians, would be well suited to the wilder races (chaparrans, pagus). This is another rarity but not against canon.

Sorcerer: Nope.

Warden: This one's good but still another common sight with wilder races.

So in conclusion, we can see how this is going. Arcane and Divine classes are always out. Primal classes are optional on the condition the fluff matches. I recommend connecting them to wilder race in Amethyst like Pagus, Half Pagus, and Chaparrans and some humans. You would never see a primal class with Damaskans, Laudenians, or humans from a kingdom or free house.

Now to Players Handbook 3:

Here is a shock...I could see allowing Minotaur. It is a mythological creature based on real legends...so I could see allowing it in canon.

Now PHB3 introduces Psionic classes. It should be noted that psionics don't technically break canon, but we don't explain why. For now, let me say that they are not a common sight and would be the rarest class in the game.

Ardent: As stated, we would allow Ardent...though we cannot say why yet.

Battlemind: Same as above...

Monk: Despite being called psionics, Monks are good.

Psion: Kinda pushing it, this one. Just saying. I would avoid it and keep with the other three.

Runepriest: Divine...waaait. Not necessarily. If you homebrew a rule swapping divine runs for Pleroma...I could see allowing it. This would be really rare and I would only allow it if a player was really begging.

Seeker: Returning to the Primal conversation with PHB2, this can be included, though it would be rare and more accustomed to wilder races.

So PHB3 spices things up a bit. For one, we make an exception for Runepriest and give a provisional tolerance to the psionic classes on the condition they be allowed sparingly.

After all is said in done, of the 14 classes in between PHB2 and 3, ten are good to go, though some are more well suited than others. Personally, I would allow any primal classes if the player wanted to play chaparran. But beyond that, I would recommend my player group stick with the staples.

In a strange sense of irony, it should be noted that (with the exception of the necromancer), the classes in both Forgotten Heroes: Scythe and Shroud and Forgotten Heroes: Fang, Fist, and Song are all allowed. And it's not just because they are also published by Goodman.

Nice! I'll start saving up some scratch for this


great news, i love my seed upgrade.


Any one?


To be continued....

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Couple little points, all of them big.

Firstly, Gnomes Stew has an article where they thoroughly cover the first four chapters of Foundations. They'll be doing a full review in a couple weeks but this is a great article about the character generation in Amethyst.

Amethyst Sneak Peek: First Four Chapters - Gnome Stew, the Game Mastering Blog...

Second, the Pre-Order package has increased yet again. We have created four high-res wallpapers which are being included in the DLC. You can see them below. They won't be available to regular download for some time after the release. They come to us from our resident master painter, Nick Greenwood. I think these are fantastic.

Two things today:

1) I can happily announce that the PDF of Amethyst will have a small difference from its print version. Just to remind, the PDF is being released AFTER the print version, not at the same time (to support local game stores). However, the PDF will be partially in color. That's right, color. The powers are color-coded. The character sheet is in color. The world maps are in color. Even a few images in the book are in color. Not only that, but we are also offering it as a low-ink PDF which reduces strain on inkjet toner. This version has no background imagery, though it does have art.

2) Completely unrelated. From advice from friends, I have joined Webook (Book Publishing Companies - Publishing Books - WEbook Online Company). I have posted two "first-pages" so far. One is Amethyst - Aiden's Way (based on game), and the second is a fairy-tale called House of Skye. If any of you are signed up (or plan on signing up), and if you happen to come across any of these, I hope you will give it a favorable score (Amethyst currently has a 62% approval which is REALLY high for that site and for the number of hits I have).

Even though "I" haven't gotten my copy of Amethyst 4.0 yet. Several other people have. This is real fast, since most stores don't even have their stock yet.

One customer sent me a photo...

Amethyst Foundations has JUST squeezed into the deadline for the ENNIES.

PHEW!

That was close. It was tight, I will admit. I know our subtle and reserved Biohazard Zombie Apocalypse mini-module was submitted as well as our Artist Video Podcast. We are up against some stiff competition JUST to be nominated. Just for starters, there's Fantasy Flight's Dark Heresy and Green Ronin's Song of Ice & Fire and a little product from Paizo called Pathfinder. I know I can place Nick Greenwood's art against anyone anywhere, but I also know some people turn a blind eye to B+W artwork, thinking color is the only way to go. I also hope those not playing 4E can still take the written material on its face value. I am very proud of the final result, extremely proud. I will say that if nominated, I will make every effort to personally attend GENCON, disregarding its vast distance from my home town. Those with a good memory (huh?) will remember that Amethyst 3.5, despite having no major distribution, was still acknowledged with an honorable mention.

For Cartography, we have Jeremy Simmons, a real veteran. Along with Nick, I think we have a real chance at interior and exterior art. I am really hoping for a cover nod. Nick deserves all the attention he can get.

One of the funnier questions on the GENCON application regards what song we would like to be played if we were to win an award. Conan and I were given this question in 2008 when it was a possibility we could get nominated. Taking this very seriously, Conan immediately offered this: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntlQpNRfst4&feature=related"]Underwater Music from Super Mario Bros.[/ame]

Yes that one. We finally settled on a decision which we repeated in our application this year. This time we REALLY took it seriously. We finally settled on this one... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COYRxf13tIg"]You Got the Touch from Stan Bush[/ame].

We do take the ENNIES seriously and I really really want to win...but that doesn't mean we can't poke a little fun at ourselves.