Oni said:
Ok, so as I understand it spellcasting in AU is somewhere between the wizard and sorcerer of dnd. They have spells that they ready at the beginning of the day and then from that selection they cast as though a sorcerer more or less. However what determines what spells they know and choose to ready from? That is to say how are new spells learned? Do they have to pick them up through play as the dnd wizard, learn them at a level as a sorcerer, or just have full access to the list as a cleric or is it something else entire?
It's more like the cleric, except that it's based on class and personal choices a bit as well. Everyone has access to the whole list of spells classified as simple. Some casters (magisters and those who take certain feats) have access to some or all complex spells. And those who take the exotic spell feat can ready exotic spell(s).
Mark said:
I'm not suggesting it could be a threat, but it is being marketed as an alternate Player's Book rather than as a supplement. GURPS, too, is an alternate and in no way threatens D&D, IMO, but it did/does have the ability to segregate players and fracture the fantasy RPG market. One read through on various boards online or a conversation in a FLGS shows how separatist-minded some folks can be with their systems.
Up until now most d20 material may have had some differences from Core material, but for the most part the material blended with rather than replaced other materials. Certainly not much was offered up as being a replacement for Core books though there have been some alternate classes and magic systems tossed around that have appealed to some part of the market.
OK. I didn't understand your point before. Now I do (sorry about that). You're actually bringing up one of the things I am most happy about Arcana Unearthed. While yes, it could be used as a "replacement," you'll find that the material can also just as easily be used as an addition to your existing game. You don't have to choose between AU and the D&D PH if you don't want to. It all works together. That's why I never even entertained any really wild ideas like making the game classless, less dependant on magic items, or using a spell point system. I wanted people to be able to use this
with D&D if they wanted.
Another thing confusing me is your suggestion that it could turn d20 on its ear. Is this, as is being suggested, going to be a d20 product or published under the OGL only? I guess my previous questions might seem foolish if it is d20 since it would still require the purchase of the D&D Core books to utilize. Anyway, sorry if I have missed the obvious but I don't get around to reading much on other boards these days due to some recent family commitments. I hope you can straighten me out on these finer points.
No, that's my fault. I mispoke. I meant "the general d20 buying/interested market" of which I think that OGL and d20 stuff can be sort of lumped together. But you are absolutely right. This is not a d20 product, it's an OGL product.
Agius_Mage said:
Alright, I missed the chat (church thing), but I had a question for Monte.
What steps do you generally go through when designing something like Arcana Unearthed or the Book of Hallowed Might?
Do you write out rules first, drafts, or general ideas? How often during development do you do playtesting?
I'm just curious, as an aspiring author, how one of the great minds of D&D works. 
Well, the first thing I do is just get every idea into a word file (or files). Usuually, this is the quickest part. The idea is to just get the ideas out, and nothing else. Then, I put it all together into a rough draft and playtest. After playtesting, I'll finish everything up and produce the final manuscript.
For something like AU, I basically did the last two steps twice (we did two rounds of playtesting--in fact, we're still finishing up the last round).
paulewaug said:
1. Any Chance this will be ready for release Early?!
2. Anything you can tell us about the Litorians, the Mojh, and the Verrick?
3. Do the Races have to "Max out" there Racial class before they can develope a Character class?
4. Can a "Champion" champion more than one cause?
(BTW I'm pretty excited so far about this book..)
1. Not too much of one. There's a chance that you might see it in stores in late July rather than early August. But really, expect it in August.
2. Litorians are bestial hunters who are very quick and agile. They look a lot like humanoid lions. Most don't care for "civilized" society and they have a complex system of personal honor and debt.
Mojh are reptillian--almost draconic. Mojh are particularly weird because they all start as humans who choose to give up their humanity and permanently alter themselves into this new race. Mojh are very magical.
Verrik look like humans but have dark red (almost purple) skin. Every verrik has some psychic talent, and are in control of their own bodies in ways that most humans can't understand (verrik can, for example, shut off any one of their senses on command).
3. No. Racial levels are entirely optional. You don't even have to take one if you don't want to.
4. Under specific circumstances described in the book, yes.
Tuerny said:
How compatible is Arcana Unearthed with previous Malhavoc Press books (the event books especially)? Are any additional conversion materials going to be presented especially for Malhavoc products?
Completely compatible. Just like with the core rules, and most D&D and d20 stuff you'll find. "Compatible, but complete on it's own" is sort of the mantra of AU.
That said, we'll probably take some of the few issues that will require a little work on the DM's part (like coming up with the heightened and diminished effects for spells) and do that work for you for some PH and Malhavoc spells, just as examples, and put them on the website. I don't know exactly yet, but we'll do something like that.
Also, I should note that in the setting portion of the follow-up book, the Diamond Throne, I'm specifically putting in places where the DM could put a dead god (or gods), a meteor, soul magic, and some other Malhavoc concepts.
Dark Psion said:
1) You mentioned that there are common spells and complex spells and that all spellcasters have access to the common spells. Is this like "see common spell, do common spell", like Harry Potter did with the Spider Slayer spell in the Chamber of Secrets (Saw it once and did it later), but get out the books for something complex?
If so, it kind of matches how we've seen magic portrayed in TV and Movies. On Buffy, Willow can use her locator spell to death, but needs research to close the ubbervamp seal.
2) You mentioned more descriptors on the spells, any chance we might see a list in an upcoming diary?
I started using a lot more with my psionic powers, since I needed to know which are Divination, Ectoplasmic based or a Gaze attack, and now I am adding them to my spellbook.
3) Let's see if I understand this; There is only one source of magic (neither Divine or Arcane), but there are different ways of accessing the power.
It is the character who defines the power, not the power defining the character. A Mind Witch is "using" psionics because SHE considers the power as such. A Magister sees it as a science, because he is "using the rules of magic" as he has defined them.
1. I'm not 100% sure I understand what you mean, but basically I think that's the idea. You'll have spells that you can cast over and over, but if you want something special, you need to go the extra mile.
2. Probably.
3. Yeah, that's basically it. How much the witch and magister are correct is up to the spin you as a DM want to give it.
) or fighters. I agree with you that there have been perhaps enough classbooks in general, but these classes have received less attention, IMO (particularly rogues).
