New Dragon Article: Ecology of the Fire Archon

[kennew142]

There is the ErfWorld reference, the use of the word Archon in Starcraft is quite similar (transcendent exalted being), the MMORPG Shadowbane calls all angelic beings Archons, etc. It is common enough that it can be used as the basis of a joke in a webcomic. Angelic creatures may not be the first thing someone thinks of when they hear the word "archon", but no one would think such a name is unusual or poorly fitting. Certainly, it is more common than using the word Archon to represent "elemental soldier".

The real question (considering the influence of D&D on videogames and the fantasy genre) is how many people will hear the word archon and think of elemental warriors a few years after D&D 4e?

 

[kennew142]

anyone catch this bit: "Given life, the archons could reproduce themselves, building armies faster than giants could be born or angels ordained."

Ordained huh?

Wonder if we'll see something related to that... Like maybe your PC can become an Angel?

This is cool.

Ordaining angels is something even I can use, and there are no gods in my homebrew.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

Did you mean einherjar or einheriar?

Yes - Planescape version, adapted. Would be cool I think.

 

[Banshee16]

I'd like to point out that we have no confirmation that the "blackwoods dryad" is representative of all dryads in the game. It is entirely possible that what that mini represents is a "corrupted and evil" dryad. I mention this because "black woods" sounds pretty ominous to me.

What if there's a more "traditional" dryad as well as one that's become more of a crazed forest enforcer who takes on a plantlike exterior in combat? Or do you have a specific problem with the dryad being a physically capable opponent?

That's okay if you do. I'm just trying to understand.

I don't mind the idea of a Blackwoods Dryad, if there's also a regular dryad. I guess, given my own preferences, it's something I can envision as a corrupted dryad, a member of the nightmare or unseelie court, or whatever it's called.

My favourite books on the Fey have largely been non-D&D ones.....I really liked the Sidhe Book of Nightmares for the Swashbuckling Adventures setting, as well as Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey, and Castle Falkenstein. I think back to novels like Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist, where the White Ladies existed. They were heartachingly beautiful, but that beauty hid a terrible inhumanity, and they were pretty horrifying to mortals who actually encountered them. It's not like they were ugly, but the book left the implicit understanding that they might look really pretty, but they had some kind of power that made them lethal to mortals. That can be done through Supernatural Abilities and spellcasting, rather than turning into a tree creature.

Now that's a departure from the mythological roots which I've already brought up, and I'll acknowledge that. I think I'll have a big sigh of relief if the Blackwoods dryads are the dangerous, corrupted versions of normal dryads. I guess we're going to see if that's the case.

In many of those books I referenced, Fey weren't really physically powerful....they were magically so. They typically had extra powers that made them dangerous to mortals, even if they weren't tough in a toe to toe fight. In Feist's novel, they manifested an aura that basically was almost like a "confusion disease"....mortals would get confused, feverish, and wake up in a circle of mushrooms somewhere, if they survived. It had the Wild Hunt, the White Ladies, Puck the trickster, Thomas the Rhymer.......yet there were still pixies and sprites and such. They might be friendly to humans, but they could be dangerous simply by not realizing that a mortal can't get up if you break his legs. They might toss him off a cliff, because hearing him scream is neat music, figuring that he'll just get up, because, well, they can, since they're energy beings. A nereid charms a man into the water, thinking he's so handsome, and wanting to play with him, and just takes it for granted that he should be able to breath underwater, not realizing that she's drowning him.....and now that he's all blue, why won't he get back up after she lets him out of the water? They don't realize they're causing harm, because their frame of reference is so different.

If WotC did something like this with the Fey, I think that would be very cool. That's my personal opinion of course. If they were going to depart more typical depictions of Fey, that's the kind of thing I'd love to see.

Banshee

 

[TwinBahamut]

The real question (considering the influence of D&D on videogames and the fantasy genre) is how many people will hear the word archon and think of elemental warriors a few years after D&D 4e?

Not many, I bet.

D&D was the most important influence on videogames, and other popular conceptions of fantasy, more than a decade ago, and that influence has greatly waned over the years. In more recent years, videogames and anime and such have become far more self-referential and self-propagating, and more original creative talent is driving their progress. Most D&D influence on fantasy is a carry-over from a time from 12-20 years ago, and is not based on anything D&D has done recently. These days, few videogames and anime are even in the same High fantasy/Swords and Sorcery fantasy genre that D&D portrays. The influence of D&D on popular fantasy will probably reduce even further because WotC is more concerned with protection of IP than TSR ever was, and would be less willing for D&D to be directly copied.

D&D just isn't the biggest name in fantasy anymore, and it isn't being copied by everyone anymore. Those days are over.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Gee, the ten dozen fire themed monsters we have already aren't enough huh?

*sigh*

 

[Lurks-no-More]

Gee, the ten dozen fire themed monsters we have already aren't enough huh?

We might see a reduction, or at least streamlinging of many of the redundant critters in the new edition. They've started with celestials, as we saw.

 

[Mirtek]

We might see a reduction, or at least streamlinging of many of the redundant critters in the new edition. They've started with celestials, as we saw.

Followed by the unavoidable proliferation once they need something to fill MM2, MM3, MM4, ...

 

[Just Another User]

There's also a half-Dryad in David Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean (the chief heroine, in fact), so I agree that they're not exactly obscure.

However, I have no problem with Dryads, who are nature spirits, having a "combat form" in D&D. Make a nod to the original myth by saying they often appear to be "nymphs, elf-maids, or beautiful human women." And then mention that, when provoked, they can turn nasty.

That would certainly work.

You make a good point but there is a problem with it, the attitude that say that every monster is supposed to be a "combat monster" i.e that if you meet a monster the player know how it is going to end, "rolling initiative", it also show a certain laziness from the game designer part in a way, because it is like if they say "I have no clear idea how to deal with unusual monsters (dryads) so I just turn them in a standard monster that the player just fight out as usual." Why don't turn the dryad into a non-fightining monster, something that the pc can't or don't want to fight or least not into a straight fight rather than turn her into a she-treant?

 

[Anthtriel]

You make a good point but there is a problem with it, the attitude that say that every monster is supposed to be a "combat monster" i.e that if you meet a monster the player know how it is going to end, "rolling initiative", it also show a certain laziness from the game designer part in a way, because it is like if they say "I have no clear idea how to deal with unusual monsters (dryads) so I just turn them in a standard monster that the player just fight out as usual." Why don't turn the dryad into a non-fightining monster, something that the pc can't or don't want to fight or least not into a straight fight rather than turn her into a she-treant?

Because Hack&Slay is a valid and supported playstyle, and non-combat monsters are wasted space for that group. Why make a monster that only works outside of combat if you can make it work for both sides?

Plus, non-combat monsters don't really need any combat stats.