Question for Upper Krust

[Amen-Zulu]

Greetings,

I was wondering what your thoughts of the Primal Order are now that you have a copy.

Thanks

 

[Upper_Krust]

Greetings,

Hi there!

...almost missed this thread.

I was wondering what your thoughts of the Primal Order are now that you have a copy.

Well I have had the Pawns supplement for about a year; I have the Knights supplement about six months and I have had the Primal Order since July this year.

It was just over a year ago that someone here (Vaxalon if I remember correctly) on these boards mentioned the Primal Order to me. So obviously I was very interested in checking it out and seeing how it compared to my own ideas.

The book itself I really enjoyed reading; the layout was a bit of a treekiller though.

As for the rules themselves the main difference of opinion I would have is the factor of interaction. If primal defeats everything except more primal then you are really limiting your options with regards viable challenges. Personally I think its always better to expand horizons rather than limiting them.

Also I would have prefered more information on the relationship between the divine and the mundane - though I suppose that was never the books intention.

The whole divine ascension rules seemed a bit limited and spartan.

I guess without having played it; giving an accurate overall impression is going to be difficult. Was there anything specific you want me to comment on? (I actually have to go out now - hence the brevity of this missive)

 

[Amen-Zulu]

Greetings,


I recently bought The Book Of The Righteous by Green Ronin(which is excellent by the way), and thought it odd that they made a minor deal about not including stats. Whereas, Knights had a decent church write-up about each god and included stats.
Don't understand why books can't include both. Ialso use The Primal Oder a lot and will use your book as well when it comes out. What' s the status on D&DG being released as open game content.

Thanks for responding

 

[Upper_Krust]

Greetings,

Hi Amen-Zulu mate!

I recently bought The Book Of The Righteous by Green Ronin(which is excellent by the way),

Yes I got to take a look at the Book of the Righteous at GenconUK - it looks fantastic; I'll definately be picking it up when its released here (I still haven't seen it here in Northern Ireland)

and thought it odd that they made a minor deal about not including stats.

Yes. I read Aaron Loebs comments on the Green Ronin site. Hes right in that most campaigns probably will never use such stats. This was compounded by the fact that Deities & Demigods makes such a mess of divine stats as to probably put a lot of people off; far too cluttered and repetitious.

However, I think there is certainly a place for stats; done correctly they can be useful.

So really you probably want about 75% Religion/25% Deity Stats when detailing individual deities (D&Dg probably has that the other way round).

While I'm guessing at this stage; I would imagine the Book of Vile Darkness has something akin to the 75% Followers/25% Arch-Villain Stats within the framework for such beings as Demogorgon and Asmodeus.

Whereas, Knights had a decent church write-up about each god and included stats. Don't understand why books can't include both.

Absolutely!

I also use The Primal Order a lot and will use your book as well when it comes out.

Hey thanks!

What's the status on D&DG being released as open game content.

I honestly don't know. I am going to email Anthony Valterra sometime this week - he should be able to give me a rough idea (I doubt a firm date will be forthcoming?) of when to expect it.

Thanks for responding

No problem mate!

 

[S'mon]

Yes. I read Aaron Loebs comments on the Green Ronin site. Hes right in that most campaigns probably will never use such stats. This was compounded by the fact that Deities & Demigods makes such a mess of divine stats as to probably put a lot of people off; far too cluttered and repetitious.

However, I think there is certainly a place for stats; done correctly they can be useful.

So really you probably want about 75% Religion/25% Deity Stats when detailing individual deities (D&Dg probably has that the other way round).

Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. Even if deities never appear in your game, statting them well gives the DM a good idea of their relative power and brings them firmly to life - particularly important in personalised pantheons like the Norse and Greek. Conversely, even if you run a deity-level game where PC and NPC gods can battle, 99% of the time what matters most about a deity though is who they are and what their agenda is, not how much damage they do. Ergo a roughly 75/25 breakdown in favour of description over stats is the way to go.