Dawnforge vs. Morningstar

[Woas]

And Dawnforge gnomes are just perfect.
Nell.

Could you explain this further? Watts so special about 'em?

 

[Nellisir]

Could you explain this further? Watts so special about 'em?

They're not brushed off as little dwarves. There's no "tinker" aspect. Elves & gnomes both came from Itheria (Faerie), but gnomes retain much stronger ties than the elves (who were a bit traumatized by the whole affair).
From Age of Legend:

"Men dismiss gnomes due to their small size. Giants, however fear them; as an ancient race themselves, the tall ones recognize the power the gnomes represent. Gnomes, moreso than any other race, have tapped into the continuing process of creation. They do not simply wield magic or speak to spirits. Rather, they are magic. They touch the spirit world with the deft hands of natives.

However, gnomes could not be less interested in using this power for dominion. The fear that mars the other fey never found much purchase in the gnomish soul. They regard their newfound mortality as a gift, not a curse. Only thing that die can truly understand the natural world. Only things that die can create, because only they can know the bittersweet joy that comes from knowing the end. Each generation of gnomes teaches this solemn truth to the next, successively deepening their connection with mysteries the other fey have either forgotten, or perhaps never learned."

Elves are still "fey", and strange, and masters of magic, but gnomes are magic and mystery in a suitably inconspicious way. They don't need to eat or drink, for example, though they enjoy doing so. It all fits very well with my conception of gnomes.

All the races in Dawnforge are, IMO, very "iconic".

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Oberyn]

I personally love the dawnforge setting. Despite what people have said you can do about anything you want. My old DM did a game centered around the brewing night elf (drow) wars... We worked our way up in levels and finally took out the cult of lollith (lolth) and stopped the wars. So in the NEW forgotten realms drow and sun elves will live together in peace the sun elves making music and the drow being thier craftsmen... So now who was it who said that its not very new?

 

[Turjan]

... So now who was it who said that its not very new?

That must have been me ! You still have your Drow, your Sun Elves and your Lolth. And, of course, you have your Cormanthor. The main difference to the FR is that you are told that you are allowed to change history. I don't know how it is at your gaming table, but we managed to get rid of the WotC policeman in the corner who forced us to follow the official history .

As I said, Dawnforge is a very good setting for adventuring. But that does not change anything with the fact that you only need it if you cannot get rid of your mental ties that prevent you from going your own way in the FR (or Greyhawk, or Dragonlance). It's very close to several standard settings. The funny thing is that it has even its own metaplot, although it pretends the opposite ; just look at page 13 .

 

[Nellisir]

Morningstar's Canticle idea is very cool.

Just thought I'd throw that in.
Nell.

 

[Arkhandus]

Nellisir, your description of Dawnforge gnomes has alone convinced me to buy the book. :^D

Hurrah for gnomes done right!

RSKennan: Morningstar intrigued me too, but nothing I'd seen in the preview material nor the vague description on the Goodman Games site was particularly thrilling to me, so I'd definately like to see a more polished version in the future, maybe with more interesting/insightful preview material or descriptions of what exactly's in the setting. Might pick up the existing Morningstar bookat some point if I ever get a chance to peruse a copy before purchase, but no such opportunities in my area as yet.

 

[Oberyn]

Hmmm well actually we managed to get the other immortals to banish lolth... true there are still the two races but they are simply not enemys at all... actually about 800 years later we came upon the first twilight elves. the children of the night and dawn elves

 

[Mystery Man]

Crap, now I have to get the Dawnforge book. Looks cool.

 

[Tetsubo]

Crap, now I have to get the Dawnforge book. Looks cool.

Yeah. This thread finally convinced me to pick up a copy. Mine is in the mail. I bought it from a used dealer through Amazon.

 

[Nellisir]

As I said, Dawnforge is a very good setting for adventuring. ...you only need it if you cannot get rid of your mental ties that prevent you from going your own way in the FR (or Greyhawk, or Dragonlance). It's very close to several standard settings.

You say that likes it's a bad thing....

Dawnforge, IMO, does a very good job of portraying a "classic" or "iconic" dawn of time campaign setting, and that's alot of its appeal. It's immediately familiar to readers and players -- the giants are mostly evil, the elves are mostly good, the dragons are hungry, etc, etc. It's similar to GH and FR and DL because it draws on the same western european fantasy iconography, but in most cases remains even closer to the fundamental ideals (IMO) than any of those settings.

And you certainly can "go your own way" with FR and do your own dawn of time campaign without the Dawnforge book, but you lose out on all the nifty stuff the FFG people put into Dawnforge (talents, transformations, and trueborn...those are some of my favorite things....) Buy it, rip out the rules, and plug them into Faerun. It's all good.

Cheers
Nell.
Who does not work for FFG and did not write anything for Dawnforge, and so gets nothing out of this, really, except maybe an upswing in sales that results in new Dawnforge material?