Oathbound - an overlooked setting?

[Steverooo]

Does anyone else get the impression that Oathbound is a setting of "False Promise"? By that I mean, supposedly, the setting exists to force the development of hero(in)es who are capable of defeating the feathered flock, yet comparing the gifts/prestige racial levels available, it is obvious that no combination of them allows this?

For example: All the FF have AT LEAST +15 Natural Armour. Several Prestige Races will give you +2, or so, but none anywhere near +15! The same is true for SR, and a host of other qualities the FF have...

Does anyone else see this as "False Promise", or am I the only one?

 

[Crothian]

Don't a lot of Dragons have +15 natural armor bonuses? They tend to get defeated. Now, if the flock were easily defeated then the setting ouldn't be anymore. So, I'm really glad the flock is tough, it needs to be. Its a lot better then the settings with the high powered things that the text claims are near invincible, yet a 10th level party can take them out. Oathbound backs up the text with stats.

 

[Steverooo]

Don't a lot of Dragons have +15 natural armor bonuses? They tend to get defeated. Now, if the flock were easily defeated then the setting ouldn't be anymore.

Hence, my question. So you're agreeing with me?

Oathbound purports to be a setting made (literally!) to develop hero(in)es to unbind Boundy, killing a FFling along the way... In truth, it is not. Killing the FF and/or making Boundy Unboundy is the last thing anyone wants... Hence, "False Promise".

Or is it just me?

 

[Romnipotent]

You dont read between the godly given powers well... Becoming a FF means you start sifting stuff off seeds you force in to the lava or ocean... these things are obsorbed by your essence. After all, now you're a quasi deity.
the promise isn't false
the FF want freedom, and the god to be free. the Promise isn't allowed to be divulged. Other Gods dont want the Boundy/UnBoundy stuff to happen, the FF found a loop hole for a reason!

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Hence, my question. So you're agreeing with me?

Oathbound purports to be a setting made (literally!) to develop hero(in)es to unbind Boundy, killing a FFling along the way... In truth, it is not. Killing the FF and/or making Boundy Unboundy is the last thing anyone wants... Hence, "False Promise".

Or is it just me?

Well, playing the laws of averages, its probably not just you, but its definitly not me. It isn't a false promise, because I don't believe there is anything in the books saying or implying "the long term goal of every seed/PC is to free the Bound God and/or ascend to feathered fowl status." That is the long term goal of the Feathered Fowl, and it underlies the construction of the world and the game. The goals of the PCs and the promise given to the PCs are very real, and often attainable. Don't mistake the setting for the game. The fact that something is possible and the long term goal of imortal beings doesn't make it the goal, much less the promise of the game.

In stargate sg1, characters are capable of ascending to a higher plane of being. Is it a game of false promise if its not going to happen to every, or even any of the PCs in a group?

 

[Psion]

Does anyone else get the impression that Oathbound is a setting of "False Promise"?

Not false promise. Maybe false premise.

One of the central premises of the setting is that the feathered fowl are almost engineering their own escape from the world. They certainly may be struggling in vain, but the premise does still explain why the world is the way that it is.

I didn't really look at Oathbound as the game of "slaying the feathered fowl" like some super-boss. I do look at it as a setting where the inhabitants are thrown into feirce competition in the hopes to perfect and improve things. Sort of like Lolth supposedly sees the Drow applied to the whole world.

 

[Ghostwind]

Bastion Press to attend Gen Con with Studio 2 Publishing

This is a heads up for Wildwood fans who are coming to Gen Con...


Join Bastion Press at Gen Con at booth #1147. The booth is located near the center concessions stand in the Exhibit Hall but nearer to the back wall. This year we are partnering with Studio 2 Publishing and will be offering the full range of Bastion Press products including the popular hardcover version of Arms & Armor v3.5 and our newest release, Wildwood.

Bastion Press will be continuing a trend established last year by offering a special Gen Con version of one title. This year we are presenting Wildwood in two distinct print formats that will not be available in retail stores. We will have a 254–page prestige format hardcover containing 32 pages of full-color art that will sell for $50.00 and a 254-page deluxe leatherette green foil-stamped hardcover that also contains 32 pages of full-color art. The deluxe version will be available for $75.00 each. Gamers who are unable to attend Gen Con may order the version with a leatherette cover directly from the Bastion Press online store after the convention has concluded.

Gen Con will also be the ideal opportunity to grab copies of Bastion Press books that will soon be out of print and no longer available. We currently have less than 100 copies of Arms & Armor v3.5, Doom Striders, and the 2004 Gen Con Silver ENnie award winning Torn Asunder: Critical Hits. Bastion fans will recall that last year, Oathbound: Mysteries of Arena sold out within 30 days of its release at Gen Con and is now only available from local gaming stores who still have a copy left in stock.

Be sure to visit us at booth #1147 at Gen Con and grab copies of our newest release and take advantage of other great deals we are offering including discounts on some of our older titles. We will also have an exclusive sneak preview of Ed Greenwood’s Castlemorn, which will be released later this Fall by Studio 2 Publishing, at the booth. See you all at the show.

 

[Steverooo]

You dont read between the godly given powers well...

Whatever that means...

Becoming a FF means you start sifting stuff off seeds you force in to the lava or ocean... these things are obsorbed by your essence. After all, now you're a quasi deity.

Where are you getting this, and how are you applying it? The Sifter lets them remove items from the inventory of incoming characters, and they then have them in their possession. Nowhere have I yet seen mention of adding it to "your essence". Even if it works that way, it applies to the FF, not the PCs... So how does that re-make the "False Premise" real?

the promise isn't false the FF want freedom, and the god to be free. the Promise isn't allowed to be divulged. Other Gods dont want the Boundy/UnBoundy stuff to happen, the FF found a loop hole for a reason!

I understood all of that, except the first part; "the promise isn't false". Different perceptions for different folks, I guess. False Promise/False Premise, the FF created/built The Forge to forge heroes/heroines capable of freeing them, yet their "gifts" are pretty paltry, and the one person to ever defeat one of them was a low level thief (Annoxus) who succeeded only through weakness, and Israfel's help!

Honestly, I don't see how the workings of the Sifter have anything to do with it. The PCs certainly don't have access to one of those!

 

[DMH]

I find that the bern write up is ironic- playing one is like playing an illithid in that the whole race is reviled for its carnivorous tendencies. I know it can work with effort, but the number of powerful beings on the Forge with pointy weapons that kill monsters must make adventuring berns life very difficult.

I also found it odd that Wildwood, land of killer monsters and plants, has a single killer plant in the monster section. Are we going to see some more in Legacies?

When should we see Legacies 2?

 

[Ghostwind]

Legacies 2 is in edit now but is on temporary hold due to us finishing Castlemorn.