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Spotlight Interview: John Rogers on the Manual of the Planes


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TarionzCousin

Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
I'm certainly looking forward to the chapter on Feywild, it sounds quite interesting. I felt there was always room for the Court of Stars to expand ever since it's introduction to D&D back in 2e when the Eladrin first appeared.

I obviously assume that now they're not all playing nice together under Queen Morwel, and that they're closer to aristocratic houses plotting against each other. I just hope that it's nothing as simple as Seelie=Good and Unseelie=Evil.
Me, too.

Jonrog1, what non-spoilers can you tell us about the Court of Stars? Is it in MotP?

I read the excerpt and I like it. The concept of a place as a setting for conflict is not revolutionary, but it is wonderful to see it explicitly described as such.
 

TarionzCousin

Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
Sadly, I do not know nor care who Jim Butcher is or what his opinion on the matter is. Especially considering what I can tell he is some sci-fi author and Jedi don't belong in D&D. :erm:

I saw his name mentioned in the interview and the mention of sci-fi and just skipped it hoping it to be a bad joke.

obryn said:
Please tell me you're joking.

Honestly, the Dresden Files are one of the better modern fantasy series out there. I haven't read his traditional fantasy series yet, but it's also not sci-fi.
Yeah, what obryn said.

Proclaiming your ignorance and then criticizing based on wrong assumptions is only going to incite the masses. If you don't know something, your opinion of it is worthless.
 


Echohawk

Shirokinukatsukami fan
Proclaiming your ignorance and then criticizing based on wrong assumptions is only going to incite the masses. If you don't know something, your opinion of it is worthless.

Especially if you do it twice in one thread, the second time after a mod has suggested that you don't post in that thread again. :erm:

I loved both the interview and the Feywild extract, and I think WotC deserves kudos for so cunningly tapping into jonrog1's talents. It really sucks that so many good WotC employees have been recently laid-off, but if that means that they are going to be be outsourcing future projects to talented writers like jonrog1, hopefully we won't see a drop in the quality of 4ed material.
 

Staffan

Legend
Sadly, I do not know nor care who Jim Butcher is or what his opinion on the matter is. Especially considering what I can tell he is some sci-fi author and Jedi don't belong in D&D. :erm:
Dude, get thee to a library or bookstore and check out the Dresden Files series of books by Butcher. It is among the most awesome stuff I've seen. It's like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Philip Marlowe.

It's set in more-or-less the modern world, but with semi-hidden magic going on. Not that there's a big conspiracy to hide magic (like in the WoD), it's just that it's pretty rare and most people who get tangentially involved with it tend to rationalize it away. The main character is Harry Dresden, a wizard/private investigator, who occasionally does work for the Special Investigations department of the Chicago PD. Other mostly helpful people who show up in the books are:

  • Karren Murphy, detective in charge of the SI department and doing a good job of it (unlike most of her predecessors).
  • Bob the Skull, a spirit of Air who's basically the Junior Woodchuck manual for magical stuff. He gets paid with trashy romance novels. He lives in/is bound to a skull, hence the name.
  • Susan Rodriguez, reporter for the Midwest Arcane, and sort-of Harry's girlfriend. The Arcane is a tabloid along the lines of the National Enquirer, but with a more mystical bent.
  • Michael Carpenter, the Fist of God, as well as an actual carpenter. One of three Knights of the Sword, wielders of holy swords.
  • Donald Morgan, Warden of the White Council (an organization of wizards), which means he's basically a cop. Severely mistrusts Harry because of background stuff, and is just waiting for Harry to slip up so he can be given his rightful punishment.
  • Thomas Raith, vampire of the White Court (which feeds on emotions rather than blood, basically making them succubi/incubi), but mostly a good guy anyway.
Antagonists that show up in the books are evil wizards, vampires (three kinds: Black, Red, and White court - a fourth type is mentioned but hasn't been seen yet), werewolves, fairies, ghosts, necromancers (who seem to be at least somewhat distinct from regular evil wizards), demons, fallen angels (not the same thing), mobsters, and assorted other things.

If you need more persuasion, consider this: one of the books in the series starts with Harry running through a library that's on fire, carrying a crate full of puppies, and trying to avoid the flaming poo that's being flung at him by winged demon monkeys. And that's just the first chapter.
 





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