Races and Classes--I has it!

[Plane Sailing]

In the human section a new god named Ioun is mentioned. At least it is new to me.

Originator of the Ioun stones, I guess? I was surprised that in the text they refer to Ioun as feminine though - I've always imagined Ioun as masculine (latterly influenced by Congenio Ioun from Piratecats storyhour, naturally)

 

[ruleslawyer]

So is this why Bibblioboop the goddess of the Kuo-toa has breasts? That's bugged me for a long while. (1st ed dieties & demigods artwork)

Well, the weirdness of that is that Blibdoolpoolp isn't represented as a kuo-toa; she's represented as a female human with the head of a lobster. I always assumed that was a remnant of the kuo-toa's human origins (aren't they a degenerate human "race" that moved first to the seas, then to the lightless waters of the Underdark?) or to some sort of "found art" (the kuo-toa based Blib's idol on a human statue they found; they just stuck a lobster head on it to make it more aquatic and thus comfortingly familiar).

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Originator of the Ioun stones, I guess? I was surprised that in the text they refer to Ioun as feminine though - I've always imagined Ioun as masculine (latterly influenced by Congenio Ioun from Piratecats storyhour, naturally)

Ioun is not a new invention, he was a Netherese Archmage and the inventor of Ioun stones or "Congenio's pebbles." If you have any of the 2e Arcane Age products that's where you'll find him. In the Netheril Age of Magic one I think.

 

[JohnRTroy]

Ioun should not be used since the IOUN stones are actually from Jack Vance's dying earth series. They should not try to ursurp the property of Vance by making their own backstory, IMO.

AFAIK, Vance gave implicit permission to use this from Gary Gygax or was flattered and didn't care about IP stuff at the time, so I think Wizards should respect that and not try to explain where the stones came from.

 

[Howndawg]

I picked it up yesterday and read through it. A few observations:

Dragonborn: Think Garr in Breath of Fire III without wings at first, but can grow them later, and you've got a good idea what they look like.

Humans: Stylistically a cross between classical and Dungeonpunk. Medievalpunk sounds like a good name.

Dwarven armor looks Kirbyesque. These guys would fit well in Asgard.

PHBII confirmed on page 10. Barbarians and druids mentioned as going into it.

Paragon paths mentioned: Vigilant Defender, Arcane Archer, Veiled Assassin, Weaponmaster, Mystic Theurge, Prince of Knaves, Cavalier, and Battle Captain. Not class specific but aimed primarily at two classes.

Gods mentioned (I hope I spell all these right): Bahamut, Tiamat, Moradin, Correllon, Sehanine, Obad Hai, Avandra, Asmodeus, Pelor, Kord, Bane, Vecna, Ioun, Erathis, The Raven Queen, and the god of night whose name starts with "Z" but I can't remember it right now.

There is a picture of an elf primal blaster in the back. What is a primal blaster? An upcoming class? If so I hope its a placesetter name. Looks like an arcane archer.

From hints in the book, looks like the Swashbuckler got mugged by the ranger and rogue.

The wizard section mentions illusionists and conjurers as possible upcoming classes or paragon paths.

The dwarf section mentions elementalists. Another possible class or just flavor text?

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[Nahat Anoj]

Gods mentioned (I hope I spell all these right): Bahamut, Tiamat, Moradin, Correllon, Sehanine, Obad Hai, Avandra, Asmodeus, Pelor, Kord, Bane, Vecna, Ioun, Erathis, The Raven Queen, and the god of night whose name starts with "Z" but I can't remember it right now.

Zehir. He was likened to Set in an early form of the Human creation story (which was dropped, but I'm not sure this means Zehir won't resemble Set).

 

[Wormwood]

Dwarven armor looks Kirbyesque. These guys would fit well in Asgard.

Y'all thought I was enthusiastic BEFORE?

You ain't seen NOTHING yet.

 

[Irda Ranger]

Y'all thought I was enthusiastic BEFORE?

You ain't seen NOTHING yet.

Careful there, buddy. The internet can only handle so much fanboyism and partisanship.

Wait, what am I saying? I think the internet has a pretty much unlimited capacity in that respect. Have at it.

 

[Dormammu]

The Ranger description mentions the ranger needs a defender best friend in combat to block for him and healing. Sounds like the ranger won't have many hit points.

Or that they are pushing archery over two-weapon fighting and archery still penalizes you when used within melee range of an enemy.

 

[Mighty Veil]

> Dragonborn: Think Garr in Breath of Fire III

Who?

> Humans: Stylistically a cross between classical and Dungeonpunk. Medievalpunk sounds like a good name.

Lame. Sick of "punk" garbage in RPG (and companies wonder why rpg lost its market)

> Dwarven armor looks Kirbyesque. These guys would fit well in Asgard.

Sounds cool.

> PHBII confirmed on page 10. Barbarians and druids mentioned as going into it.

No shocker.

> Gods mentioned

Raven Queen?? (lame name) Half the gods sound like good choices, other half....

> From hints in the book, looks like the Swashbuckler got mugged by the ranger and rogue.

Wish they hadn't done that, put swashbuckler flavor into both of these classes.

> The wizard section mentions illusionists and conjurers as possible upcoming classes or paragon paths.

Conjurer and Necromancer as a class would be good. Necro could have a "undeath" power source.