Ptolus - D&D, AE, or hybrid?

[Desdichado]

It's sort of pointless to quibble about nonsensical etymology of words in a fantasy setting, isn't it?

As a (former) kid who's interest in linguistics was primarily sparked by how prominently they were featured in the fantasy setting of J.R.R. Tolkien, I don't think so, no. But I do (and already did) admit to the possibility that it's more important to me than it is to anyone else.

How would you get past the fact that Ptolus uses the English alphabet? It's not possible for it to make sense.

Same way Tolkien does. By saying that the representations of the English alphabet isn't "truly" what's going on in Ptolus, it's just a translation for the convenience of his audience.

There are other explanations too that aren't nonsensical; that's just probably the easiest one. Of course, this explanation also presumes that if you're going to transliterate the "real" Ptolian alphabet into the English alphabet that the Pt initial consonent cluster was there for a reason. That's the reason that I'd strongly prefer that if you're going to spell a word Ptolus, you pronounce it like Ptolus, not like Tolus. The conditions under which pt as an initial consonant cluster entered the English language are very specific; it only came (as far as I know) from certain Greek loanwords. The idea of putting a silent P in front of a T just to give it a false exotic "fantasy" feel is actually jarring, at least to me.

 

[Psion]

/me idly casts aside the nitpickery.

Ptolus will merely be a major port stop in my River of Worlds game. As such, it will use my game rules, which are predominantly D&D. I do use a load of variants in my game, including the unfettered (which is a better swashbuckler than swashbuckler), but I don't think it's anywhere near accurate to suggest it is an AE hybrid.

 

[Desdichado]

Considering that Ptolus is built almost completely on the presumption of the D&D rules, and any hints of AE material are at best vague or peripheral, I'd actually be curious as to how the setting would have to be adapted to use the AE ruleset anyway. It seems like a lot of work.

 

[Siobharek]

Considering that Ptolus is built almost completely on the presumption of the D&D rules, and any hints of AE material are at best vague or peripheral, I'd actually be curious as to how the setting would have to be adapted to use the AE ruleset anyway. It seems like a lot of work.

Fortunately, much of the work has been done for you (by yours truly) in the 35-page AE conversion document on the CD in the back of the book.

 

[Ruland]

Fortunately, much of the work has been done for you (by yours truly) in the 35-page AE conversion document on the CD in the back of the book.

Awesome! Now I am even more eager to get my hands on the preordered copy of Ptolus!

Still a week ahead, sigh!

 

[Kanegrundar]

Hybrid all the way.

 

[SSquirrel]

Pure AE is my plan. I may allow a few certain Prestige Classes from the various complete books, but I've been considering skipping even that. AE is much more the game I want to play in or run than core D&D is anymore.

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

I'll admit to a little disappointment that the conversion doc mentioned above gives more information on incorporating the city of Ptolus into the lands of the Diamond Throne than it does on incorporating the AE rules into the city of Ptolus. Monte's Ptolus campaigns are clearly hybrid, and I honestly don't care about the Diamond Throne. Giantish and other new PC races' cultures are interesting, but the setting as a whole just never grabbed me - I just love the AE rules set.