Just got Midnight

[Balgus]

I actually picked up the book and realised the color pages also. But if you read through it, the color pages are the history of the world, and the B/W is everything else. I guess they just wanted to catch your attention.

The book is actually very good, but useless for people who play DND with any kind of magic. The MCS is designed for low/no magic use. That is why they beefed up all the races. Weaker races would not be able to surviv in a world where nothing dies.

*review*
The Gods tried to banish an evil God and in so doing tore the bond between the material plane and every other plane. The evil God is now stuck on earth, while the others cannot touch it. On top of that, because of the tear, no one that dies can move onto another plane of existence. Rather, their spirits ferment on earth, and they rise as undead a couple days after being slain.

Classes are redone to remove all magic- wiz and Druid are PrC, all other caster classes are eliminated, channeler is only real caster class.

Races are beefed up, more bonuses and more super and extra abilities.

4 Night Kings- They try to introduce four new iconics with extrememly interesting back stories- fighter, cleric, sorc, and dragon.

New- On top of beefing up the races, a character must also choose a "heroic path" which is like the cleric's domain powers. As the char levels up, the path powers get stronger.

Personally, I think that this campaign would be very fun to play in, but not in the long run. It puts too much pressure in staying alive (no resurrect spells) and there really cannot be any long term goal. In FRCS, you can tell a story of great heroics, and your name is uttered for ages to come. In MCS, everyone is dead, you can only do things for the sake of doing it. You receive no real reward for anything- money and magic items are very rare. Just not my thing.

 

[Dreeble]

Energy Drain?

Heya:

Just a real quick question: How does Energy Drain work if the Sundering prevents all external planar access? I'd think the Negative and Positive Materal Planes (um, assuming those still exist in 3E) would be barred, also.

Thanks,
Dreeble

 

[muhcashin]

Energy drain works. I'd say that energy drain doesn't necessarily have to do with the Positive or Negative planes, per se. Energy drain doesn't really open a conduit to those planes. Another explanation would be that the evil god who resides in that world is the source of negative energy.

The only mention of energy drain is near the end of the book, where the writers explain how overcome certain problems, such as the lack of curative magic. They remedy energy drain by making it only temporary.

 

[Greybar]

Balgus said:

It puts too much pressure in staying alive (no resurrect spells) and there really cannot be any long term goal.

But he also said:

The Gods tried to banish an evil God and in so doing tore the bond between the material plane and every other plane.

What, you mean your hero-brain didn't immediately scream: "We must restore the Divine Bond!"

Sounds like a great mega-arc, with lots of potentially for little arcs driving home similar points.

John

 

[Yeoman]

I wish I knew how everyone was getting this book already. 4 local gaming stores and none of them have it Man, they've even got it in Canada already. Damn Canadians stealing my book.

I hear ya. No stores up here have it either. Everyone up here gives me the blank stare or says it's all sold out at the store.

 

[Paka]

Personally, I think that this campaign would be very fun to play in, but not in the long run. It puts too much pressure in staying alive (no resurrect spells) and there really cannot be any long term goal. In FRCS, you can tell a story of great heroics, and your name is uttered for ages to come. In MCS, everyone is dead, you can only do things for the sake of doing it. You receive no real reward for anything- money and magic items are very rare. Just not my thing.

Wouldn't that kind of desperate struggle make the game all the more fun to play in?

Should being a hero have a tangible reward?

I like that it takes standard D&D heroism and turns it on its ear.

Money is useless in a broken barter economy.

Death is frightening in a world without easy magical resurrection.

These are all things I like, parts of playing D&D that were bothering me as the levels got higher.

I read Midnight cover to cover and really dug it.

 

[Jeremy Crawford]

What's the deal with the first 10 pages being color and the rest in lousy B&W? I mean, if you're going to put colour, make every single page color. Not half, not 3%, THE WHOLE FREAKING THING!

I actually prefer the black-and-white pages. Perhaps they convey the dark mood well for me.

Originally posted by Balgus
The book is actually very good, but useless for people who play DND with any kind of magic. The MCS is designed for low/no magic use.

I'm almost done reading the book, and to use its terms, I'd call the world a rare magic world, rather than a low or no magic world. Magic items are definitely hard to come by, but magic use is another story.

There is one dedicated spellcasting class in Midnight, the channeler. Given its flexibility, it can be used to create many different kinds of spellcasters.

Channelers each choose a magic tradition. The traditions determine which ability is used for a channeler's spells, and each comes with a special ability. There are three traditions:

• Hermetic (Intelligence)
• Spiritual (Wisdom)
• Charismatic (Charisma)

The wizard prestige class is a part of the hermetic tradition, and the druid prestige class is a part of the spiritual tradition.

Magic use in general is dangerous in Midnight because the minions of the Shadow hunt down its practitioners, but for those willing to accept this danger, the ability to wield spells is more widely available than in core-book D&D. Any character, from any class, has access to feats that confer spellcasting ability. Channelers are the most powerful spellcasters, but anyone can have magic tricks up his or her sleeve.

Also, many of the heroic paths confer spell-like abilities, and the world itself is suffused with magic. A PC will most likely not be able to buy a magic item from a local vendor, but he might have magic in his veins.

 

[Paka]

Re: Re: Just got Midnight

A PC will most likely not be able to buy a magic item from a local vendor, but he might have magic in his veins.

Well said.