SPECTRE666
Adventurer
http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=14824484&postcount=2354
[SBLOCK]Whew! That's quite a list, Asgetrion. I think I've got decent answers for most of those, so I'll take a crack at it. Might not get to all of them right away, though.
Forgive me for snipping your post down:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asgetrion
Hi Rich!
1) The Spellplague. Originally describes as a “sickness afflicting magic-users and killing or driving them insane” (or something like that) now seems to be more like “Time of Troubles on steroids”. As MarkusTay already mused on another thread: “What, exactly, is the definition of "The Spellplague"? Its certainly NOT a disease, or even a magical illness, so the word 'plague' is a misnomer. What the Spellplague IS is a 'poetic' descriptor for a period of time (not a tangible 'thing') when Mystra was killed, and the Weave disappeared.”
I might not have struck the right tone in the article. Spellplague isn't just a term for "the second Time of Troubles"; it's an actual phenomenon, a manifestation of magic that often appears as an aura of blue fire. You could bottle up a bit of Spellplague, take it somewhere, and let it go. It's like some sort of nanovirus whose eruptions/outbreaks appeared in many different places over the course of ten years or so, and still continue in a few very unlucky spots.
Quote:
2) When Mystra died the last time, how come the Weave didn’t dissolve then, and why did the Spellplague not take place? And if Mystryl was able to “recreate” herself as Mystra -– in an instant –- why did not Mystra do it when Cyric and Shar assaulted Dweomerheart?
Not to give a pat answer here, but I'd simply say that Shar, having observed the deaths of Mystryl and Mystra, realized that she needed to follow a very specific process when she arranged Midnight's murder, or else the goddess of magic would simply re-create herself. So Shar chose a method that hadn't been tried before and prevented such a rebirth.
Quote:
3) I may be wrong, but since Mystra died and the Weave “dissolved”, how come not *all* “Epic” or “High Magic” Spells and “Mythal-like Magics” were affected?
I'd say because mythals and such things have a special self-sustaining, "looped" nature. They're described as living magics in many ways. They have a lifeforce (of sorts) all their own, and I'd say that's what sustained them. But I don't know if we've specifically decided that is the reason, I'm just offering some speculation.
Quote:
4) Along the same lines –- when the Shadow Weave dissolved, too, why did the Shade not lose their spellcasting abilities or were not driven insane? Why did the City of Shade not crash to ground? Just because it had a “Mythallar”? I point to my previous concern –- wasn’t this Mythallar part of the Weave?
Because the Shadow Weave isn't the Weave, and does not actually rely on the Weave's existence. It's an alternate "interface," and was not directly damaged by Mystra's death. Although I think it's fair to guess that there might have been "blowback" Shar didn't expect, and the Spellplague didn't necessarily respect Shadow Weave users caught in its path.
Quote:
7) I also seem to recall that the Weave upholds all life on Toril and all living things are connected to the Weave (I may remember incorrectly, but this might be something Ed has said on Candlekeep?) and if it collapses, *all life* on Toril should *perish*. I’m not sure if I remember correctly, but if I do, is there any particular reason why this should not have happened?
Because total planetary death wouldn't be very useful to us? As far as I know, nothing about Realms says that the Weave *has* to be present for life to exist. If we ever said something like that before, I think we were wrong to do so, or else we've been portraying antimagic zones and dead magic zones all wrong for years.
Quote:
8) So why did the Walking Statues go on a “rampage”, if by my logic either Waterdeep should have been *fully* protected *or* the rest of the Sword Coast (BG included) should have been utterly wiped out?
Even if the Spellplague did not directly impinge in the area of ancient wards, powerful individuals driven mad or infected outside such wards sometimes walked into the protected places and then blew stuff up. Or so I would guess. Maybe the "animate the walking statues" idea was the work of a mighty archmage who had a really bad idea before adventurers stopped his plan.
Quote:
10) Thymanther. I thought the Dragonborn were *already* introduced into Realmslore in ‘Dragons of Faerûn’ as children of Bahamut and Tiamat?
That's an unfortunate coincidence; when naming the new PC race developed for 4e, our developers settled on the best available name from 3e. The dragonborn from Races of the Dragon introduced in Dragons of Faerun aren't necessarily the dragonborn of 4e.
Quote:
12) Were Bards affected by the Spellplague, too? And what are you going to do with them (as FR has traditionally always had many bard NPCs) if there is no Bard class in PHB? And yet –- did the Spellplague affect Sorcerers, Arcane Archers, Bladesingers, Assassins, et al. or just the Wizards?
Any Weave users, I'd say. But don't worry, bards are around in 4e. If they're not in the Player's Handbook we'll have them available soon after online or in another sourcebook. You can assume bards are still around.
Sorry you're disappointed, Asgetrion, but I hope I've convinced you that there is at least some small chance we might not be completely inept. Thanks for your thoughtful post, and I hope you'll reserve final judgment until you see all the pieces together in one place.
__________________
Rich Baker
Senior Designer
Roleplaying R&D
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.[/SBLOCK]
[SBLOCK]Whew! That's quite a list, Asgetrion. I think I've got decent answers for most of those, so I'll take a crack at it. Might not get to all of them right away, though.
Forgive me for snipping your post down:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asgetrion
Hi Rich!
1) The Spellplague. Originally describes as a “sickness afflicting magic-users and killing or driving them insane” (or something like that) now seems to be more like “Time of Troubles on steroids”. As MarkusTay already mused on another thread: “What, exactly, is the definition of "The Spellplague"? Its certainly NOT a disease, or even a magical illness, so the word 'plague' is a misnomer. What the Spellplague IS is a 'poetic' descriptor for a period of time (not a tangible 'thing') when Mystra was killed, and the Weave disappeared.”
I might not have struck the right tone in the article. Spellplague isn't just a term for "the second Time of Troubles"; it's an actual phenomenon, a manifestation of magic that often appears as an aura of blue fire. You could bottle up a bit of Spellplague, take it somewhere, and let it go. It's like some sort of nanovirus whose eruptions/outbreaks appeared in many different places over the course of ten years or so, and still continue in a few very unlucky spots.
Quote:
2) When Mystra died the last time, how come the Weave didn’t dissolve then, and why did the Spellplague not take place? And if Mystryl was able to “recreate” herself as Mystra -– in an instant –- why did not Mystra do it when Cyric and Shar assaulted Dweomerheart?
Not to give a pat answer here, but I'd simply say that Shar, having observed the deaths of Mystryl and Mystra, realized that she needed to follow a very specific process when she arranged Midnight's murder, or else the goddess of magic would simply re-create herself. So Shar chose a method that hadn't been tried before and prevented such a rebirth.
Quote:
3) I may be wrong, but since Mystra died and the Weave “dissolved”, how come not *all* “Epic” or “High Magic” Spells and “Mythal-like Magics” were affected?
I'd say because mythals and such things have a special self-sustaining, "looped" nature. They're described as living magics in many ways. They have a lifeforce (of sorts) all their own, and I'd say that's what sustained them. But I don't know if we've specifically decided that is the reason, I'm just offering some speculation.
Quote:
4) Along the same lines –- when the Shadow Weave dissolved, too, why did the Shade not lose their spellcasting abilities or were not driven insane? Why did the City of Shade not crash to ground? Just because it had a “Mythallar”? I point to my previous concern –- wasn’t this Mythallar part of the Weave?
Because the Shadow Weave isn't the Weave, and does not actually rely on the Weave's existence. It's an alternate "interface," and was not directly damaged by Mystra's death. Although I think it's fair to guess that there might have been "blowback" Shar didn't expect, and the Spellplague didn't necessarily respect Shadow Weave users caught in its path.
Quote:
7) I also seem to recall that the Weave upholds all life on Toril and all living things are connected to the Weave (I may remember incorrectly, but this might be something Ed has said on Candlekeep?) and if it collapses, *all life* on Toril should *perish*. I’m not sure if I remember correctly, but if I do, is there any particular reason why this should not have happened?
Because total planetary death wouldn't be very useful to us? As far as I know, nothing about Realms says that the Weave *has* to be present for life to exist. If we ever said something like that before, I think we were wrong to do so, or else we've been portraying antimagic zones and dead magic zones all wrong for years.
Quote:
8) So why did the Walking Statues go on a “rampage”, if by my logic either Waterdeep should have been *fully* protected *or* the rest of the Sword Coast (BG included) should have been utterly wiped out?
Even if the Spellplague did not directly impinge in the area of ancient wards, powerful individuals driven mad or infected outside such wards sometimes walked into the protected places and then blew stuff up. Or so I would guess. Maybe the "animate the walking statues" idea was the work of a mighty archmage who had a really bad idea before adventurers stopped his plan.
Quote:
10) Thymanther. I thought the Dragonborn were *already* introduced into Realmslore in ‘Dragons of Faerûn’ as children of Bahamut and Tiamat?
That's an unfortunate coincidence; when naming the new PC race developed for 4e, our developers settled on the best available name from 3e. The dragonborn from Races of the Dragon introduced in Dragons of Faerun aren't necessarily the dragonborn of 4e.
Quote:
12) Were Bards affected by the Spellplague, too? And what are you going to do with them (as FR has traditionally always had many bard NPCs) if there is no Bard class in PHB? And yet –- did the Spellplague affect Sorcerers, Arcane Archers, Bladesingers, Assassins, et al. or just the Wizards?
Any Weave users, I'd say. But don't worry, bards are around in 4e. If they're not in the Player's Handbook we'll have them available soon after online or in another sourcebook. You can assume bards are still around.
Sorry you're disappointed, Asgetrion, but I hope I've convinced you that there is at least some small chance we might not be completely inept. Thanks for your thoughtful post, and I hope you'll reserve final judgment until you see all the pieces together in one place.
__________________
Rich Baker
Senior Designer
Roleplaying R&D
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.[/SBLOCK]
