Just got Dragon 315 - Campaign Classics

[Greyhawk_DM]

The Eberron preview made the setting look like someone attempted to replicate the look and feel of a Final Fantasy game (especially from FFIV through to the present) while keeping it firmly within the rubrick of D&D.

This gives me hope.

From what I have read about the setting so far...it looks kinda cool.
But I guess after 20+ years of gaming just about anything that is different would look cool. LOL

 

[Olive]

Thanks Erratic K, sounds good!

 

[TeaBee]

Fate has been conspiring against me, and I haven't had a chance to look at the issue yet.

It sounds like I'll absolutly love it, however. It sounds like what I would want every issue to be like. From the thread, it sounds like most people would like Dragon to be like this more often, if not all the time.

1) To the readers of Dragon: Would you like issues like this one all the time / most of the time / every other issue?

2) To Mr. Mona / Paizo: If the demand was there, could you do something like this all the time, or were there special hoops to jump through (to have all those settings in the mag) that would prevent this.

To me, setting specific stuff makes it feel like official official D&D.

On a seperate note, while I'm kind of de-lurking, I'd like to express my wish that the wonderful people responsible for Dungeon / Polyhedron would stop being embarrased about printing Greyhawk adventures. It annoys me to no end that the bubble in the corner says, "ANY SETTING", for some adventures, and then the first couple sentances say something like, "Although this adventure is set in the GREYHAWK campaign setting..."

 

[Welverin]

I guess it has to do with one's influences, because my impressuion of the setting, based on that preview, is different. It had a very cinematic feel, and evoked, in my opinion, the feel of books like Zelazny's "Amber" or "Jack of Shadows," a bit of Vance's "Dying Earth," and even a hint of Wolfe's "New Sun" series. Othe game settings it reminded of in bits 'n' pieces are Jorune and Tekumel. I have to admit, though, that all these things are only evoked in part. The setting seems to have a feel of its own. I'm actually curious to see it.

Well, as mentioned in the article, Keith described it as "Lord of the Rings meets Raiders of the Lost Arc and Maltese Falcon."

So the general impression I get from the article is that of an action-adventure movie in a medieval fantasy setting.

The article has me a lot more interested in the setting than I had been.

 

[jasper]

I was very disappointed with their version of our good Count.In I6 he was vamp with wizard level of 10.
His spells were 1st comprehend Languages, hold portal, protection from good, sleep.
2nd invisiblity, locate objects, mirror image and esp
3rd FIREBALL, gust of wind, suggestion
4 polymorph self and other
5th animate dead and distance distortion.

IMC a fireball appearing in the group's mist was the sign the good count was coming to say hello. Also I have a wand of fireballs listed with his treasure. Can't remember whether it was in his castle somewhere, stolen from the party, or swapped out with another magic item.
Imc I also had the group sleeping during the day and vamp hunting at night. Why? they burn most of spells off at night and stayed awake to prevent attacks.

 

[Silveras]

One thing I didn't quite understand about the Al-Qadim section was the part regarding the gen fetching spells...more specifically, the time it takes for getting each spell. Why include that? Most groups just tend to skip that part anyway, saying it was memorized.

The only thing I can think of was if the sha'ir decides not to memorize all his spells at once for more versatility, and so sends his gen off later, in the middle of the adventure, for appropriate spells.

The original Sha'Ir had no spellcasting ability of his/her own; all spells were fetched from the planes by the gen familiar. The time required was to limit the Sha'Ir from fetching a Wish every time. By making the time longer as the level increased, and for fetching a "thematically inappropriate" (i.e., divine) spell, this curbed some abuses.

This 3E Sha'Ir is similar to the original, in that s/he can send for spells that are "thematically inappropriate" at a longer cost in time. It is worth noting that, like the 2E Shar'Ir, this Sha'Ir neither prepares nor spontaneously casts spells himself/herself. All spells are fetched by the gen; the known spells are just the ones that the Sha'Ir knows enough about to make the trip shorter/easier. Once fetched, the spells are temporarily "stored" as if prepared, but they still have to be fetched. It is an interesting mechanic, a distinct combination of the spontaneous and prepared mechanics that gives the Sha'Ir a different flavor.

Personally, I see the Sha'Ir as a better candidate for a Prestige Class, requiring Improved Familiar and some ranks in skills providing insight into Genie-kind. The PrC would offer +1 caster level / PrC level, as many caster-oriented PrCs do, but the main special ability would be that your familiar can "trade" spells for you. You 'pack up' a spell you want to offer for trade, and tell your gen familiar what you want. The gen wanders the planes seeking to make such a trade (and maybe winds up taking extra time in a multi-step trade), returning with the desired spell or the original (as in, no one would trade). The main reason for this is that I just can't see it being practical for an adventuring mage to have to wait 5 rounds while his/her familiar gets a magic missile spell.

 

[Erik Mona]

Tea Bee said:
>>>
2) To Mr. Mona / Paizo: If the demand was there, could you do something like this all the time, or were there special hoops to jump through (to have all those settings in the mag) that would prevent this.
>>>

I doubt that a regular magazine like this would sell in the numbers required to keep a magazine afloat (in the tens of thousands). I think there's a very good chance the Dragon staff might end up doing this more frequently, however. Be sure to send letters of support to scalemail@paizo.com and let them know you'd like more of this stuff. I think as long as the support's there, you'll see it more often.

>>>
On a seperate note, while I'm kind of de-lurking, I'd like to express my wish that the wonderful people responsible for Dungeon / Polyhedron would stop being embarrased about printing Greyhawk adventures. It annoys me to no end that the bubble in the corner says, "ANY SETTING", for some adventures, and then the first couple sentances say something like, "Although this adventure is set in the GREYHAWK campaign setting..."
>>>

Embarrased? Never! For adventures that have a LOT to do with Greyhawk continuity, we'll put a "Greyhawk" tag on it (see "Tammeraut's Fate," issue #106). "Racing the Snake," in issue #105, should have had that tag, too. Sometimes, if the adventure is about as "Greyhawk" as the "Sunless Citadel" or any of the other WotC adventure path adventures, we might put "Any Setting" so as not to scare off people who worry about having to do a lot of conversion.

Honestly, though, most of the adventures in Dungeon ought to be adaptable to just about any campaign. At least, that's the goal.

We've got _lots_ of exciting Greyhawk stuff coming up. Lots of exciting stuff in general, but I've got two "major" projects in the hopper that I think Greyhawk fans will be talking about for a long, long time (assuming they both go off without a hitch).

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon Magazine

 

[Olive]

We've got _lots_ of exciting Greyhawk stuff coming up. Lots of exciting stuff in general, but I've got two "major" projects in the hopper that I think Greyhawk fans will be talking about for a long, long time (assuming they both go off without a hitch).

Hey Erik,

any chance of getting an Al-Quadim minigame in Poly any time soon?

 

[dlane001]

I've finally got this issue!

My one problem with the focus on the gen and spell fetching mechanic is that the sha'ir isn't supposed to be a big spellcaster. That is not his role. This is why (in terms of game balance) the sha'ir needs to wait for the gen to return. Otherwise, he'd just be a spell machine, calling and casting spells in combat like there's no tomorrow!

There should have been add'l changes to the special abilities to focus him more on his special talent: negotiation with genies. High level sha'irs are formidable because they have the ear of the genie races. They have servitor genies in rings, or bottles, or some other receptacle.

Their diplomacy, bluff and intimidate skills should be their best friends. Not spells.

The sha'ir is about allies in high places, not firepower. This conversion was a good opportunity to make that plain. As it is, this sha'ir remains a spellcaster with bizarre limitations.

-Derek

The original Sha'Ir had no spellcasting ability of his/her own; all spells were fetched from the planes by the gen familiar. The time required was to limit the Sha'Ir from fetching a Wish every time. By making the time longer as the level increased, and for fetching a "thematically inappropriate" (i.e., divine) spell, this curbed some abuses.

This 3E Sha'Ir is similar to the original, in that s/he can send for spells that are "thematically inappropriate" at a longer cost in time. It is worth noting that, like the 2E Shar'Ir, this Sha'Ir neither prepares nor spontaneously casts spells himself/herself. All spells are fetched by the gen; the known spells are just the ones that the Sha'Ir knows enough about to make the trip shorter/easier. Once fetched, the spells are temporarily "stored" as if prepared, but they still have to be fetched. It is an interesting mechanic, a distinct combination of the spontaneous and prepared mechanics that gives the Sha'Ir a different flavor.

Personally, I see the Sha'Ir as a better candidate for a Prestige Class, requiring Improved Familiar and some ranks in skills providing insight into Genie-kind. The PrC would offer +1 caster level / PrC level, as many caster-oriented PrCs do, but the main special ability would be that your familiar can "trade" spells for you. You 'pack up' a spell you want to offer for trade, and tell your gen familiar what you want. The gen wanders the planes seeking to make such a trade (and maybe winds up taking extra time in a multi-step trade), returning with the desired spell or the original (as in, no one would trade). The main reason for this is that I just can't see it being practical for an adventuring mage to have to wait 5 rounds while his/her familiar gets a magic missile spell.

 

[dlane001]

Hey Erik,

any chance of getting an Al-Quadim minigame in Poly any time soon?

HEAR HEAR! Al-Qadim adventures and/or minigame!

-Derek