Jack Vance, Dying Earth, and the Primer of Practical Magic

[Drifter Bob]

I've got it. I'm quite impressed by it.

Ah, do tell! I don't suppose you care to expand on your impressions?

DB

 

[Starglim]

Passing over the cover image, which I found fairly pointless and generic, I was impressed by the contents of the Primer of Practical Magic . The d20 rules design is nicely done, and the range of spells and items chosen to convert gives a strong sense of the Dying Earth as well as rich flavour for any campaign. May I say that I'm constantly impressed by the faithfulness and detail of the Dying Earth RPG in bringing Jack Vance's setting to life? The Primer is a worthy addition to this body of work.

The Codicilliary is an important fix and expansion to two of the neatest and most flavourful parts of the Primer, vat creatures and Arch-Magicians, that raises this work from merely a good-quality spells and magic items book to a strong sourcebook leading into this remarkable setting. They're also two important topics for anyone campaigning in Jack Vance's Lyonesse, which is a setting that I'd really like to see.

edit: I had a chuckle at the requirement for the would-be Arch-Magician to gate in to the plane of the chugs (Lawful Neutral) and then the plane of sandestins (Chaotic Neutral).


Any chance of a dual-stat release of Ascolais and the Land of the Falling Wall ? The adventures and material in this sourcebook are well suited to the More Blood Less Drollery campaign model and thus to d20, and Ed Greenwood's article was an eye-opener for me to how the fickle and murderous folk of the Dying Earth could interact with other campaign worlds.

 

[Drifter Bob]

Passing over the cover image, which I found fairly pointless and generic, I was impressed by the contents of the Primer of Practical Magic . The d20 rules design is nicely done, and the range of spells and items chosen to convert gives a strong sense of the Dying Earth as well as rich flavour for any campaign. May I say that I'm constantly impressed by the faithfulness and detail of the Dying Earth RPG in bringing Jack Vance's setting to life? The Primer is a worthy addition to this body of work.

The Codicilliary is an important fix and expansion to two of the neatest and most flavourful parts of the Primer, vat creatures and Arch-Magicians, that raises this work from merely a good-quality spells and magic items book to a strong sourcebook leading into this remarkable setting. They're also two important topics for anyone campaigning in Jack Vance's Lyonesse, which is a setting that I'd really like to see.

edit: I had a chuckle at the requirement for the would-be Arch-Magician to gate in to the plane of the chugs (Lawful Neutral) and then the plane of sandestins (Chaotic Neutral).


Any chance of a dual-stat release of Ascolais and the Land of the Falling Wall ? The adventures and material in this sourcebook are well suited to the More Blood Less Drollery campaign model and thus to d20, and Ed Greenwood's article was an eye-opener for me to how the fickle and murderous folk of the Dying Earth could interact with other campaign worlds.

Wow! I wish you would write a review on Enworld or RPG.net!

DB

 

[Drifter Bob]

Starglim,

Regarding the point you raised about the Gate spell. You may be more conversant with the subtleties of Arcane magic than I, so bear with me. I realise that casting the spell to summon a Lawful Neutral creature makes it in theory a Lawful Neutral spell, and using it to summon a Chaotic Neutral creature makes it a Chaotic Neutral spell, but is there any reason why, say, a (true) Neutral Wizard couldn't cast the spell both ways? For that matter, can't an Evil cleric cast cure spells? Perhaps you could elaborate on the nature of spellcasting and alignment for Wizards in particular. If we have made an error with regard to this in the Codicilliary I'll be quick to correct it.

DB

 

[Drifter Bob]

Any chance of a dual-stat release of Ascolais and the Land of the Falling Wall ? The adventures and material in this sourcebook are well suited to the More Blood Less Drollery campaign model and thus to d20, and Ed Greenwood's article was an eye-opener for me to how the fickle and murderous folk of the Dying Earth could interact with other campaign worlds.

I have forwarded your query to the Arch-Publishers at Pelgrane Press. I know they are working on some other projects which will have dual stats, though I am not directly involved in them so I can't give you any more details. I think Ian Thompson, who wrote the Demon Realms DERPG suppliment, is working on something, but I believe a lot hinges on how well the Primer is ultimately recieved by the D20 community.

DB

 

[Starglim]

Starglim,

Regarding the point you raised about the Gate spell. You may be more conversant with the subtleties of Arcane magic than I, so bear with me. I realise that casting the spell to summon a Lawful Neutral creature makes it in theory a Lawful Neutral spell, and using it to summon a Chaotic Neutral creature makes it a Chaotic Neutral spell, but is there any reason why, say, a (true) Neutral Wizard couldn't cast the spell both ways? For that matter, can't an Evil cleric cast cure spells? Perhaps you could elaborate on the nature of spellcasting and alignment for Wizards in particular. If we have made an error with regard to this in the Codicilliary I'll be quick to correct it.

(checks behind him for the person knowledgeable about the rules who might have spoken up earlier)
I certainly didn't mean to imply that you'd made any error, just that the alignments that were assigned to chugs and sandestins struck me as singularly appropriate.

I'll have a try at it. A gate spell cast to summon a lawful outsider is a Lawful spell, and likewise for a chaotic outsider is a Chaotic spell, as you said.

A wizard is not restricted by his alignment in casting spells. A wizard of any alignment could summon both a lawful and a chaotic creature without penalty. There could be special effects of casting spells of certain descriptors, such as a lingering aura of law or chaos, and a wizard's alignment might well shift over time if he favours spells of a certain alignment, but the text under gate regarding alignment is mostly for the benefit of clerics.

A cure spell doesn't have an alignment descriptor, so an evil cleric can cast it. For that matter, an undead cleric can cast a cure spell, even though it would harm him if cast on himself. However, clerics (not wizards) can't cast spells with an actual alignment descriptor stated in the spell's stat block or description that is opposite to their own or to their deity's.

 

[Drifter Bob]

DnD rules

Ah, all is as I suspected then, a temporary relief!
When discussing rules technicalities I always get this feeling like Cugel waking up mornings on the Aventura, wondering why the worms are tired and the sea looks so familiar... writing a D20 suppliment is something akin to playing DnD before a tv audience, with a party consisting of the worlds most insidious rules lawyers and min-maxers. Nay, the best min-maxers from the Abyss and the worst rules lawyers from the nine hells! You have to check, double check, and check again every single possible detail or you are sunk. It really helps you appreciate how complex DnD really is now!

DB

 

[Drifter Bob]

Passing over the cover image, which I found fairly pointless and generic, I was impressed by the contents of the Primer of Practical Magic . The d20 rules design is nicely done, and the range of spells and items chosen to convert gives a strong sense of the Dying Earth as well as rich flavour for any campaign. May I say that I'm constantly impressed by the faithfulness and detail of the Dying Earth RPG in bringing Jack Vance's setting to life? The Primer is a worthy addition to this body of work.

The Codicilliary is an important fix and expansion to two of the neatest and most flavourful parts of the Primer, vat creatures and Arch-Magicians, that raises this work from merely a good-quality spells and magic items book to a strong sourcebook leading into this remarkable setting. They're also two important topics for anyone campaigning in Jack Vance's Lyonesse, which is a setting that I'd really like to see.

edit: I had a chuckle at the requirement for the would-be Arch-Magician to gate in to the plane of the chugs (Lawful Neutral) and then the plane of sandestins (Chaotic Neutral).


Any chance of a dual-stat release of Ascolais and the Land of the Falling Wall ? The adventures and material in this sourcebook are well suited to the More Blood Less Drollery campaign model and thus to d20, and Ed Greenwood's article was an eye-opener for me to how the fickle and murderous folk of the Dying Earth could interact with other campaign worlds.

Is there anything else you would like to see us do in terms of Web enhancement?


DB

 

[Drifter Bob]

There is a new review of the primer up

There is a New review of the Primer up

http://www.AtFantasy.com/view/435

 

[Ikdyby hobily]

Cool, let me check it out.