It's back! Nightfall's "Ask the Sage" Scarred Lands Q&A

[Nightfall]

*thinks this counts as six*

Anyway back to what I made this thread for, ANSWERING questions.

Timmundo,

She's borrowing something that Alba had off the rack in one of her movies. Not the FF ones, but the ones before that. Hey she's a goddess! It can fit!


Grump,

Thanks for the help.

Freyar,

What makes the Scarred Lands cool is the fact the gods REALLY do answer. There is a mechanic basis for them "acting" on their porfolio. You pray for a round and you can get a bonus to a certain skill, attack bonus, even overcoming DR. But understand it's a GM thing AND a God thing. Pray to often, they might start thinking you need them too much. It's one thing to be beholden to a god. It's another to make them their slaves. Also, and always a personal favorite of mine, DRUIDS AREN'T NATURE CLERICS. By that mean, the gods can die, the races can change, beliefs can alter, but in the end, the druid source, Scarn itself, (if it's still there), remains. Much like the Earthmother and the Titans.

Oh and paladins are cooler in the Scarred Lands.

What the Scarred Lands is primal, it is a world in flux, always waiting for the next shoe to drop. The Divine War might pass on in to myth and legend, but the effects it has, the changes it wrought, all of that stay with the setting. The arcane heat, the geographical changes, the fact the gods distrust arcane magics unless it's wholly under their purview; these aspects of tension coupled with the fact that as Grump mentioned, the Titans could and probably might indeed return, makes for a lot of unease in some of the more future oriented minded. Especially the future oriented minded minions and armies that served the Titans. And some times those outnumber the "divine spawn."

Mitch,

The first one, Ghelspad deals primarily with that main continent. It's kind of the "default" view of the Scarred Lands. Termana, much like Xen'drik in Eberron, is a wild untamed land, full of "heathen" titan worshippers and of course two great powers (The Jack of Tears and the Ghoul King) who are beholden to no god or titan. If you mean something else, please let me know.


Tharen,

EXCELLENT question. Orcus isn't a god unfortunately. That doesn't mean the other Archfiends have no influence, merely they are very cautious about treading into the Dark Gods (Vangel, Belsameth and Chardun's) turf. For a demon like Orcus, it means he merely plays it safe by having deep cover agents within small necromantic cults devoted to a god like Otossel the Bone Maker or Nemorga, Lord of the Dead. Some people believe (thanks to finding Orcus followers) that Orcus and Otossel are the same. With those two, Orcus tends to play a game of "cat and mouse." So far he's been the better cat at keeping to the shadows and gaining footholds. He believes he can ascend. The gods allow for it in the Pact. Indeed clerics of Orcus can and do exist, though they either channel the power of the Pestilanent Abyss (Vangel's home) or their own belief in Orcus (which grants them a little less power but still makes them no less dangerous). Orcus makes sure people know he's a Demon Prince and is a player on the Material Plane. Unlike the Great Wheel, Orcus doesn't fight devils, albeit overtly. Devils and Demons don't get along but they acknowledge that their respective gods do some times. Thus their plays are often done in a more Cold War style than a normal Blood War. (Plus there's no Lower Plane equivilant of Gehenna or Hades. Belsameth's realm is either the Moon or the Dark Forest)

Scarred Lands material IS available via PDFs. However it might be cheaper to order them from WW. They have them at severely reduced prices. I would caution staying away from Penumbral Pentagonal. It's not a very well written book in my mind.

Ry,

Rakshakas? Huh. Never much considered them. I guess if you mean "Did the side with the gods or the Titans?" I'd probably say they were a neutral element but probably thought the Titans would be victors. They probably didn't do much other than spy and occasionally impersonate people. Otherwise they pretty much stayed isolated while figuring out their place in the world. If you want an SL version of their backstory...something I might consider doing soon.

Biggie,

Relics and Rituals and Creature Collections (albeit no names used for spells, magic items, or creatures) are open source. They are about the only "Scarred Lands" material I'm currently aware of. There might be some in the Player's Guides, but otherwise I'm pretty sure it's not.

Victory,

1) There are no other stats that I'm aware of that exist officially. But hey doesn't mean you can't make your own!

2) Lesser Named? Basically to my knowledge there were only 13 Titans period. Now if you mean Titans in the D&D books (IE epic Handbook and Monster Manual) those might have been sealed some where but otherwise they probably died in the many battles against the gods. There are no "akin to the gods" titans. There was Titans...and everyone else (except if you were a god.)

3) Some days I like to think I am. Who can honestly say? With the Divine War leveling the playing field, there might be dragons that are great wyrms but exist in such small numbers, it's not easy to believe they want to let humans hunt them again. Outside the Material Plane, sure there might be powerful epic level monstrosities. But then again they are usually guarded and kept away from general knowledge. Then of course there's the Tarrasque. But it's asleep and no one really wants to wake him right?

4. Leader? I don't recall any true leader but I do think they probably had a guy that acted as spokesman. They generally are god minds anyway, the Slacerians, and thus their "physical" forms are merely for interaction while they are stuck on the Prime Material.

5. You should read Edge of Infinity: Planes of the Scarred Lands. It has great detail. I am planning to revise it slightly (such as give Belsameth back her home on the Moon), to reflect a slightly more Great Wheelish type world. But I do plan on not bringing in the Blood War. It's unnecessary for the Scarred Lands, and the Archfiends have their hands full placating their own "masters." If by cosmology in the sky, there's a few constellations that got returned and two moons. Otherwise I'm not aware of any significant astrological or astronomical bodies in the heavens.

6. Well not like "dead gods" or anything but I suppose you COULD have binders for the Scarred Lands Titans themselves. That or a few dead gods. I'm not aware of any "beyond normal existence" vestiges in the Scarred Lands. That said, no reason you can't create your own. Hell that's why I like the Scarred Lands. ROOM to add your own stuff for your own enjoyment.

 

[Ry]

Can I suggest a connection between the rakshasas and the plane of shadow? They are consummate deceivers.

The backwards hand is ever treacherous.

 

[catsclaw227]

Nightfall,

What are your favorite 10 adventure seeds, or even 1 paragraph adventure ideas (by level)?

Wanna define a 20 level AP for the SL?

Catsclaw

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

In 25 words or less, what are the Scarred Lands and what are so cool about them?

 

[Nightfall]

*seven*

25 words? I can barely do it in 50! The Scarred Lands are the coolest because they are about the things that make adventurers adventurers. They aren't just some random posse sitting around drinking beers and deciding maybe to save this princess or that. They are heroes and villians, terrible foes and grand allies to the forces they serve. They can be as important as the mountains or as little a footnote if they don't do well. In the end, the Scarred Lands are about making this world your own as well accepting the fact there are forces out there with their own agendas. It's up to you if oppose them or align with them.

I'm pretty sure that's more than 50 words.

Rycanda,

Mm well perhaps the plane of Shadow connection could also be used in conjunction with the Slarecians. (I can never spell that right. )


Cats,

20 adventure seeds? Gee. well I suppose we could go like this:

1) Party is hired to find the bones of a powerful monster for a necromantic project for Hollowfaust.
2) Someone in the mountain city of Burok Torn has betrayed the dwarves. Just who is it, is up to you..
3) The politics of the Calastian Hegemony break down as Queen Geleeda's heritage is finally revealed. It's also when three of these factions, Geleeda's, the Dark Duke Travik, and the remaining jaded nobles centered in New Venir all start to wage a three pronged war to see who truly will control the fate of the once mighty Hegemony.
4) Dragons appear in the skies above the Bridged City. Rumors of a great dragon weapon being forged by Penumbral Pentagon to enslave their shadows brought them here...can the PCs save the city before it become rubble?
5) The Blood Sea just got a lot more interesting now that a band of blood thirsty pirate calling themselves the Sons of Gith arrive. They wage war on all that stand against them. Just who are they and where they came from can be more than any sage might bargain for?
6) A strange mist has engulfed the city Glivid Autel. Some of their former living and many mindless undead have been taken in these mists and returned changed into amalgamations of living and undead. Is this some new hideous weapon? Or something worse as some of these new zombies scream the name "Stradh!" as they feast on the living.
7) Time after time, the Knights of Mithril have struggled to control their borders and indeed improve relations with the orc tribes. Now finally it appears a sign from Corean might indeed herald such a union. Born of a ritual joining that united the purity of the fire of Corean, the might of human spirit and the physical strengths of orcs, Sajin, the Flame Son, has come to unite all under his banner. But some believe this to be another trick. A few even think he is truly a Chardunite in sheep's clothing. Is it true? Who knows? What is known is if this isn't resolved, the Plains of Lede will run red once more.
8) Goblins of all stripes have always prayed for a strong leader, for some way to show that they are more than weak little creatures that prey on the strong when caught unawares. Now with a new breeding program, the Assatthi plan on making the goblins of the deserts into their own private army to wage war in the Ukrudan Desert. What will this army do? Who leads it? And most of all, what purpose will it serve in joining to once disjointed factions of Assatthi?
9) The Sons of Mormo are on the rise once more. With the Brotherhood's new goal of creating the person snake humanoid hybrid, they plan on using this to once again infiltrate and kill all those that had hand in the death of the Serpent Mother. Indeed they also plan a ritual that will cede the power of the Gods themselves to raise the Crimson Temple to a height as to challenge the power of the Gods for all times.
10) The time of the change has come. The passing of an Epoch has arrived. The signs are there as murmurs of a new god, one born to destroy his brothers and sisters and remake the world in the image of the Worm are nigh. The Age of Worms comes, and with it, no one, god or titan is safe from what is to come...

#10 is my best idea for an adventure path as it stands...

 

[Nightfall]

*eight possibly*

So NF has a question for the SL fandom, what would YOU like to see if ole NF ever finishes his Scarred Lands Revised Campaign Setting?

alternate class features for the core classes? New core classes? *is considering making a shaman class and then altering druid class a little to make it more Titan-sque* New monsters?
Feats perhaps? Revised versions of existing spells and magic items?

Guidelines for magic item pricing in the Scarred Lands?

Removal of certain aspects such as arcane heat? Keeping Jandevos aka That Which Abides dead?

A player's Guide to the Scarred Lands perhaps as well?

 

[Ry]

I don't need new rules; what I wish I could see would be a stronger web of NPCs and factions in the setting. The Scarred Lands does a great job of relating the origins of things to the gods, but beyond favorite god/titan & alignment the NPCs often seem disjoined from one another.

 

[Nightfall]

*thinks this might be two if not three then*

Strong webbing eh? Well I can certainly work on that. I had plan on developing some aspects such as the relationship of the Scaled and the factions of the Cult of the Ancients in terms of how they might work.

The NPCs, unless they are TRULY prominent, (like perhaps King Virduk and the whole Adamantine Church), I planned on keeping separate.

Unless you meant something else...?

 

[Ry]

I mean like:

Wizard A hates Paladin B because of past-event C.
Paladin B distrusts Cleric D but has to work with him because of Faction E.
Cleric D needs an item that Wizard A had, but Wizard A spitefully sold it to Faction F.

I often find when I'm reading scarred lands material that each region is very separate from the others. There's a sense of "Hey, this is a very dangerous hex. It has great history leading back to the gods, and lots of dangerous creatures and dangerous situations. Please proceed to clear the hex."

 

[Hstio]

Nightfall,

Is there a good repository of fan created material for the scarred lands? I've been to scarn.com. but there's not much there. For a major setting, there is surprisingly little fan material on the web. I'm thinking there was more when the setting was "hot" but most of that is now lost.

Hstio