Scarred Lands: Ask the Sage [Version 3.65729 with Upgrades!]

[Nightfall]

db,

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Spoiler

I'm insomantic tonight. Thus the reason for my response.

In terms of hags, it depends on the type you're considering. D&D hags generally aren't templates, but the ones in CC Revised/CC 1 are. Mostly I'd let the women be able to cast a few spells but repel or cause people to fear them. Perhaps even give them unnatural urges to eat babies. (my favorite for hags. ) It also depends on if you want just a normal hag, an Annis, a swamp hag, or some other variety.


Mormo is kind like Kali, in terms of she focus on destruction, and testing the faithful through poison. Her spawn tend to react in kind. Basically anything snake worshipping that's in other worlds, works well with Mormo. Yuan-ti are also a popular way to go, though most live in Termana. So maybe use them as well. Asaatthi are less lizard folk than serpents and more oriented towards Oriental idealogy (though less lawful). High gorgons are inflitrators, spies, sabators and certainly willing to cause mayhem where-ever possible. That's just some of what Mormo's progeny is about. Of course that's neglecting her druids, her sorcerers, wizards, and even rangers. You might also want to consider using Cult of the Serpent Ascendent in a modest role, especially with Brother of the Crimson Temple as possible enemies/newly made Allies. The Red Witches tend to curry favor with the Hags. The hags themselves are haughty and most believe themselves to be the penulimate of Mormo's power and favor.

I hope that was helpful.

 

[HonJull]

So have you picked up Edge of Infinity yet? How is it? I'm dying to get it but my local retailer only gets shipments on Wednesday and Friday.

 

[blindrage]

I got it today. Just had a chance to glance at it. They are using the tree scheme for the planes and there is big deal about the seal on the City of Brass. Looking good so far. A big step up from the last book (the psi bad guys of Scarn).

 

[Nightfall]

HonJull,

It's not in my local gaming shop yet (no big suprise there.)

Blind,

Do us a favor and give us a table of contents look-see. Please!?

 

[Nightfall]

From another SL fanatic, some insights into Edge of Infinity:

Finally, a Scarred Lands supplement out on time... sitting right
there on the shelf not just during the weeek of May 10th but on the
10th itself... wow. So I pick it up, buy it, read it last night, and
am reasonably happy...

EoI is a pretty nice little book, finally giving the definitive
ordering of the planes of Scarn. Mostly what I would have guessed, I
suppose, but nice to have it all specified. Broken down into
Fundamental planes of fire, water, earth and air, which are presumed
to be the supplementary building materials of the other planes and
Scarn itself, along with Eternal Void (negative energy) and Highest
Radiance (positive energy); the Occult planes (read transitive) of
the typical astral, etheral and shadow molds supplemented nicely by a
Plane of Dreams overseen by Erias; the Divine Planes (alignment
based) of the Eight Victors (no neutral plane/Outlands equivalent?
maybe presumed to be Scarn itself...); and the nifty demiplanes of
the sixteen powers of the Zodiac.
...also tossed in are some nifty feats based on planar energies or
backgrounds, prestige classes (most seeming like Players Guide
holdovers, with the nifty seeming Occultist [planar spellcaster]
slightly broken by poor clarification of abilities) and some nice
monster/creature entries.

Winning Points -- the new spin on everything trumps all! The Eternal
Void and Highest Radiance, while mechanically identical to core rules
Pos/Neg Energy planes, are given new life by the descriptions of
activity therein. Not just some toss-off "these are planes of pure
energy of a sort inimical/supportive of life as we know it." Actually
makes visiting (if you can survive, which isn't made any easier)
something worth doing. The other Fundamental planes (the elemental
ones) don't seem quite as fresh, though the return of the genies as
their citadels are unsealed (some new piece of canon I missed, I
guess) is rife with campaign opportunities. The tweaking of the genie-
clans from the norm is also a nice change, as the dao are no longer
all evil, the djinn no longer all good (kinda pissed actually) etc
etc.
The Zodiacal Planes are the other strong winner; 16 demiplanes ruled
by the gods-appointed ruler of that month of the Zodiac. All the
rules can dispense advice/aid on matters pertaining to their natures,
though the cost may be steep. Also nice are the details of the
rituals (certain times and actions) to transport to the Zodiac
planes, without the standard and somewhat boring plane shift
(officially, these planes can only be reached during the months of
their astrological ascendency, though that seems a little limiting
for game play, I'd allow the boring ol' plane shift to work the other
15 months of the year).

the Somewhat Good -- the Divine Realms are well done, though one gets
a bit bogged down in repetitious prose about the nature of the planes
(necesary, though one quickly gets the idea that the Iron Hells are
lawful evil, and Enikili's Howling Limbo is chaotic neutral). Seems
pretty obvious from a gamer's standpoint what the realms of the Big
Eight will be like... however, little details shine through --
Goran's obsessive zeal in eradicating the followers of Nalthalos
putting him at odds with the Coreanic followers of the Mithril
Heavens, the slow change of Tanil's Eternal Glade from summer to
autumn following the departure of Idra (with the
concurrent "autumnixation" or maturation of follower's feelings and
appearances, including even those of Trelu's artists, as he dwells in
the Glade as well). Madriel's Aolib under occasional attack by
Thulkas' fierien, attacking from the sun itself through the
Madrielite outpost monitering Thulkas' imprisonment (BTY- is this new
or something in CC3 or another newish supplement I don't have?). More
goodies like that, very Planescape-ish in dotting planes with
personalities and plots beyond the "the souls engage in their reward"
aspect.

the Confusing -- the usual mish-mash likely resulting from multiple
authors. Not as contradictory as other SL books though. However, as
seems proper, Drendari is mentioned as dwelling in (I wouldn't say
ruling) the Plane of Shadows, though also (chapters the next) in
Enkili's Holwing Limbo. Ditto for Erias in the Plane of Dreams and
then Tanil's Eternal Glade. Not really a big deal, but would be nice
(and I'll make it so for my games) if the demigods of dreams and
shadows dwelt only on those planes. Then of course, the entry for the
demigod's abodes in the Holwing Limbo are completly left out, which
leads me to...

... the Disappointing -- yes, it would be good to have left the info
on the CN demigods (Fraehlia, Manawe, Idra and another on Drendari, I
guess) in the Howling Limbo section (looks to me like the section was
truncated, not that these things were ingore). The prestige classes
have the usual balance problems (getting a DR of 8/- seems outta line
no matter what the level) and focus (more Chardunite blackguard-esque
classes? Another Corean-based forge worshipper?). The nifty (and
necesary, given the book's focus) occultist needs some major
clarfications (spells automatically heightened is fine, but to what
level? and do they really have good Reflex saves as opposed to
Will?). And why, after nearly a year, can't the 3.0 references (to
Intuit Direction and Wilderness Lore) just be fixed?
... okay, now I'm just nitpicking, but as an ex-copy editor I'll do
that (the "quarry" for "query" thing actually made me throw the book
across the room in disgust). End result -- very nice. Excellent
ideas, good execution. Above par for the Scarred Lands (which I
always enjoy) but still with a few mechanical problems. I (or any
other experienced DM) can fix those easily enough, but it's the ideas
that are important, and Edge of Infinity has a great deal of those.

 

[strongbow]

Whew, after reading 22 pages of threads, my eyes are tired. Some questions for all to ponder:

1) Who are the posters that are also authors? Will of course, but what others, if any, have contributed to the Scarred Land books? Btw, thank you Will for posting. I appreciate an author who is willing to help and is not afraid of a little criticism.

2) Where is this new continent going to be in relation to Ghelspad & Termania? Also, can someone with a good grasp of geography determine the size of Scarn with the information that we know?

I'm going to repost this last topic of magic items in a seperate thread called Realism In-game: How to handle Magic Items?. Please post there.

3) I am going to start a Scarred Lands campaign soon. My players (and I to some extent) are used to a mid to high magic setting. Since magic & magic items are a large part of D&D, might I receive more suggestions on how to handle magic items? (If you need to know what SL books I won: R&R, R&R II, Ghelspad, Termania, Penumbral Pentagon, Hornsaw, Mithril, Faithful & Forsaken, Calastia, Vigil Watch Assanthi, Hollowfaust, Player's Guide to Fighters, Barbs, Clerics, Druids, Wizards & Sorcerors). I saw the suggestions in R&R I and on the two SL threads and I was taken aback. With all the spells and rituals, magic items cost up to three times as much and are that hard to find? It seems unlikely to me, but given there is an increased need for contacts and organizations for magic items.

I guess the problem is, my last campaign turned into more of a magic item shoppe, partly because the players were working for an organization that could realistically provide a wealth of magic items. I didn't allow players to waltz in with piles of cash and buy what they wanted at any old store, but enforced a measure of control with requiring the higher end items (over 4,000) to be bought from organizations as opposed to a local shoppe. The problem is this: What is to prevent a character (and player for that matter) from doing some research into magic items and making the bargain buys? I found myself having to approve/disapprove specific magic items all the time.

I have learned this much, which is to allow magic items from certain books only this time around, so as to prevent the combing of D20 material for various magic items. But I still have to ask the question, since limiting a campaign to WOTC material doesn't mean anything anymore, of why wouldn't a character seek the most efficient use of his money for magic items.

There are some items which are clearly better for their gold piece value price, such as a cube of force. So when my players come to me and ask if they can buy/craft a cube of force, what is to keep them from doing so besides my whim?

Before the flames start to fly, let me say that you should take the issues of 1)high powered campaigns 2)"powergaming" and 3) The actual in game tendency to spend wealth in an efficient matter separately. Certainly a high powered campaign contributes to powergaming and vice versa, but does not necesarily make it so.

I'm going to repost this last topic of magic items in a separate thread called Realism In-game: How to handle Magic Items? I would appreciate comments there. I posted here because the campaign will be a Scarred Lands one, but I do not wish to hijack this thread. I would like the names of the various author/posters, however. Thanks.

 

[Nightfall]

Whew, after reading 22 pages of threads, my eyes are tired. Some questions for all to ponder:

1) Who are the posters that are also authors? Will of course, but what others, if any, have contributed to the Scarred Land books? Btw, thank you Will for posting. I appreciate an author who is willing to help and is not afraid of a little criticism.

Well besides Will Timms, there's Mike Gill, Ari Marmell, Joe Carriker (though he's kind of off and on), Dave Brohman, Werner Hager, Jeff Tabrum, Ethan Skemp, and Bruce Baugh.

2) Where is this new continent going to be in relation to Ghelspad & Termana? Also, can someone with a good grasp of geography determine the size of Scarn with the information that we know?

Asherak, the third continent is off the eastern shore where Mithril lies. I believe generally easterly from there. From Termana, again east but northeasterly.

I'm going to repost this last topic of magic items in a seperate thread called Realism In-game: How to handle Magic Items?. Please post there.

3) I am going to start a Scarred Lands campaign soon. My players (and I to some extent) are used to a mid to high magic setting. Since magic & magic items are a large part of D&D, might I receive more suggestions on how to handle magic items? (If you need to know what SL books I won: R&R, R&R II, Ghelspad, Termania, Penumbral Pentagon, Hornsaw, Mithril, Faithful & Forsaken, Calastia, Vigil Watch Assanthi, Hollowfaust, Player's Guide to Fighters, Barbs, Clerics, Druids, Wizards & Sorcerors). I saw the suggestions in R&R I and on the two SL threads and I was taken aback. With all the spells and rituals, magic items cost up to three times as much and are that hard to find?

Yes they do. It's a low magic item count world. Why? Because when you have large scale battles that encompass a world, much resources are used and lots of magic items and their processes to make them get lost. True it's over 152 years but still that's a while to get back some things that have been lost over time. Plus most wizards, sorcerers and druids are very, very careful not to just hand over items wholesale. Survival is the key, and even the most insignificant item can make or break things.

It seems unlikely to me, but given there is an increased need for contacts and organizations for magic items.

Even so most organations, even the goodly ones, aren't just going to give out an item IF they believe it can be better served by some one other than the party. Proving your worth in the Scarred Lands goes a long way to proving you deserve certain items. Crafting them yourself is something that SL people usually do because it's part of surviving. Does that help?

 

[Nightfall]

Bump along for more SL info...(might yet have to close soon.)

 

[Nightfall]

Last call before I close shop.