Question to the Designers from Edena_of_Neith

[Edena_of_Neith]

Hey there, greetings to WOTC. Edena_of_Neith here. A friendly greeting to all ... and this is meant as a friendly letter!

Got a question.

Let's say it's about 2 years before the death of Mystra and the beginning of the Spellstorm.
I have a Chronomancer, who can enter Temporal Prime and travel up and down it (as per the 2nd edition Chronomancer supplement ... or the wizards of Ironfang Keep, I think ...)
Or say, I have a cleric with powerful Divination spells.

Is it possible to know this future is coming?
I mean, as in: 'oh nuts, the outlaws are riding this way. Let's get out of town, right now!' (followed by a Worldwalk or Gate.)

Is it possible for PCs to escape that way? For NPCs?
I am guessing the answer is No, since the deities themselves (even Mystra) do not seem to be able to perceive this future, but I just wanted to make sure.

I mean, after all, what your PC doesn't know, CAN hurt him! (And by the time he or she does not, the Spellstorm has arrived, Worldwalk and Gate do not work, and there is no escape for the wicked. )

So, is the future a sudden surprise, or can the wise/cowardly/whatever PC hit the road and get out of Realmspace before the Big Event arrives?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

No.

 

[hopeless]

Hmm...

Hey there, greetings to WOTC. Edena_of_Neith here. A friendly greeting to all ... and this is meant as a friendly letter!

Got a question.

Let's say it's about 2 years before the death of Mystra and the beginning of the Spellstorm.
I have a Chronomancer, who can enter Temporal Prime and travel up and down it (as per the 2nd edition Chronomancer supplement ... or the wizards of Ironfang Keep, I think ...)
Or say, I have a cleric with powerful Divination spells.

Is it possible to know this future is coming?
I mean, as in: 'oh nuts, the outlaws are riding this way. Let's get out of town, right now!' (followed by a Worldwalk or Gate.)

Is it possible for PCs to escape that way? For NPCs?
I am guessing the answer is No, since the deities themselves (even Mystra) do not seem to be able to perceive this future, but I just wanted to make sure.

I mean, after all, what your PC doesn't know, CAN hurt him! (And by the time he or she does not, the Spellstorm has arrived, Worldwalk and Gate do not work, and there is no escape for the wicked. )

So, is the future a sudden surprise, or can the wise/cowardly/whatever PC hit the road and get out of Realmspace before the Big Event arrives?

There are two possible answers to this.

One involves Dragonlance specifically a certain kender and the other involves a non-d20 product namely the Hercules tv series.

The first is fine except you're stuffed if say some evil goddess decides to abscond with the entire world without the rest of the gods realising using the chaos wars as an excuse which is mildly better than say having Helm die in a duel with Tyr over the affections of a chaotic good goddess of good fortune for no apparent reason even though Sune the Goddess of Love is now decidedly evil in outlook.

However the second states the gods cannot use time travel so you would be safe there after all Hercules has corrected the timeline several times by that method and he's a demi-god so its really up to you which way you want to go but I suspect option 1 might be more viable simply because it has happened and has good grounds to get past safely...

 

[monboesen]

In your game, at your table, with you as the DM anything is possible regardless of what the official books state.

That IMO is one of the (if not the) most important facts to remember about rpg games. They are what you want them to be, not what some books tells you they should be.

 

[Sound of Azure]

No good, Edena. Mystra is doomed.

 

[Drkfathr1]

In your game, at your table, with you as the DM anything is possible regardless of what the official books state.

That IMO is one of, if not the, the most important facts to remember about rpg games. They are what you want them to be, not what some books tells you they should be.

Exactly. At your game table, do it how you WANT to. That's the joy of an RPG.

 

[Flynn]

It could be that the gods do, indeed, know that this is coming, but are bound by Laws beyond Mortal Understanding that prevents them from changing Divine matters. If so, Mystra knows what's coming, knows She cannot change it, and perhaps even knows that She cannot pass that information on to Her mortal followers. That doesn't mean She might not create quests for some of Her followers that will ultimately lessen the blow for those that honor Her in name and deed.

This could create some very interesting campaign ideas, if you want to pursue the thought further.

Just a thought,
Flynn

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Thanks. These responses do answer my question.

It should be obvious why I asked.

James Bond doesn't stand out in the open and firefight with his opponents (usually ...) He'd get hit by enemy fire if he did.
If Something Big and Awful is coming, most people try to get out of the way. The tarrasque cometh? Time to abandon the village (town, or even city.) The enemy army approaches? Stay and fight, or run, your choice and the consequences be upon you. A cataclysmic event approaches? Stay in the city or run to the rural shelter, you choose.

But in this case, nobody knows the event is coming. If the deities know, they are not telling. So PCs and NPCs alike have no way of knowing before the Event happens ... and then, it is too late to flee, and they must deal with it (except the psionic illithid, but they always have the best of worlds. )

 

[(contact)]

So, is the future a sudden surprise, or can the wise/cowardly/whatever PC hit the road and get out of Realmspace before the Big Event arrives?

I would prefer not, myself, because as my greatest character Dark Drakelance caused the catastrophe*, every high-level NPC that escapes is just less XPs for me.

------
* Khelben Blackstaff, the Council of Elder Wyrms and the Seven Sisters helped, but Drake was "the vision guy."

 

[William Ronald]

Hey there, greetings to WOTC. Edena_of_Neith here. A friendly greeting to all ... and this is meant as a friendly letter!

Got a question.

Let's say it's about 2 years before the death of Mystra and the beginning of the Spellstorm.
I have a Chronomancer, who can enter Temporal Prime and travel up and down it (as per the 2nd edition Chronomancer supplement ... or the wizards of Ironfang Keep, I think ...)
Or say, I have a cleric with powerful Divination spells.

Is it possible to know this future is coming?
I mean, as in: 'oh nuts, the outlaws are riding this way. Let's get out of town, right now!' (followed by a Worldwalk or Gate.)

Is it possible for PCs to escape that way? For NPCs?
I am guessing the answer is No, since the deities themselves (even Mystra) do not seem to be able to perceive this future, but I just wanted to make sure.

I mean, after all, what your PC doesn't know, CAN hurt him! (And by the time he or she does not, the Spellstorm has arrived, Worldwalk and Gate do not work, and there is no escape for the wicked. )

So, is the future a sudden surprise, or can the wise/cowardly/whatever PC hit the road and get out of Realmspace before the Big Event arrives?

Edena, I doubt that the a player character can save himself from the Spell Plague if gods, include Mystra, and Savras, the deity of divination magic, are either unaware of what will happen or cannot save themselves. There are limits to what mortals can accomplish.

The idea that Flynn brought up is intriguing. Also, it is possible that some deities and mortals may have an idea of trouble coming based on past prophecies but may not know the true nature of the disaster. Thus, if Alaundo's prophecies foretell of hard times, some may prepare for it and be perhaps better prepared for what actually transpires than their neighbors.

Perhaps one thing that the new FR setting will allow is people to play through the various events. Often, the best test of character (or of characters) is the response to challenging times.