[Scarred Lands] Got the Strange Lands book

[Mouseferatu]

And frankly, having a multi-page debate on how good a book may be due to one detail, whether or not it was a mistake is absolutely non-productive. It only comes across as making it seem as though people are looking for a reason to dislike the book. Judge the book as a whole, or don't judge it.

 

[Nightfall]

*thought he said that too.*

Personally Ari I liked this book BECAUSE it was a whole book. (Though three separate ones would have been sweet too.) In any event Ari, I judge the book a huge success and certainly a fitting way to pause the setting. Anyway, great book, nice stuff and don't worry what other people think. I love it Ari and as the Sage, that is what matters!

 

[Trickstergod]

Okay, guys, I've been trying to stay out of the whole alignment debate, but I'm getting a bit tired of seeing people disparage the efforts of writers and developers whom I respect a great deal. So I'm going to point something out.

The avatars presented in Strange Lands are, with the exception of Jandaveos, specific to Asherak. These are how the various demi-gods/lesser gods manifest on that continent.

Go back and look at Campaign Setting: Termana. It was in that book that we introduced the notion that the gods are worshipped differently--and even manifest/act differently--in different cultures. The same holds true of Asherak. In Ghelspad, Nemorga is a single deity. In Asheraki religion, "the Ne Morga" is a tri-partite entity, three related demigods. Otossal is one of them, and the Asheraki view of Otossal is chaotic.

Now, there we have an explanation rather then it just being random. Before it seemed as if Otossal's alignment change essentially existed in a vacuum, without explanation, beyond the comment about the Gray Man.

Will it still hold up after I give it a read through? Maybe not. But for now, I'll give it a rest.

 

[Gez]

I just got it (well, I got it Thursday, more precisely). Three copies, which was a nice surprise (I was expecting two, like for CC3). I'm the one responsible for the Dragavial and the Fireglare dragon, the latter of which was inspired by a campaign I play in a homebrew. (Interestingly, it is somewhat close to the Dragon Lands, as it is "oriental" in theme, with noble families each tied to an ancestral dragon -- a unique dragon. My character's ancestral dragon was the inspiration for the fireglare. It amuses me to see the resemblances between that campaign we thought was original, and other products that were published later, like the Dragon Samurai in Miniatures Handbook.)

I love the part on the familiars, there are several feats or spells that are just screaming to be yoinked. (Yum, familiar teleport.)

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah the familiar stuff is pretty sweet.

 

[Vrylakos]

Yeah, 'cause jeebus knows nobody's alignment ever shifts over time, or anything....

(oh--and I'm responsible for Gommog and the Diabolic Enforcer)

Sweet as hell! I'm in a book with Gareth M. Skarka!
I did the Stealer of Children, the laughing drake, the blood gardener, and the winter wraith.

Hm, my check from White Wolf has arrived while I was at GenCon SoCal, but no package of contributor copies. I live in Vegas... should I be worried?

Vrylakos

 

[Mouseferatu]

Hm, my check from White Wolf has arrived while I was at GenCon SoCal, but no package of contributor copies. I live in Vegas... should I be worried?

Vrylakos

Give it another week or so. If it still hasn't arrived, e-mail me (include your real name and mailing address, even though I've already got them, just to make sure I don't screw it up on my end), and I'll look into it.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Yeah the familiar stuff is pretty sweet.

Thank you.

I actually wrote some info on the history of the concept of the familiar in Scarn, but it had to be cut for space reasons. (It explained the origin of many of the abilities I wrote for familiars and their masters.) I'm still hoping to see it as a web enhancement.

 

[Gez]

The thing I find the book misses the most is a few more geographical descriptions. We've got maps, and that about stops there. I'd have hoped there would be a few lines of descriptions on the major features of each continent -- principally the great rift in the Dragon Lands. The way it is drawn on the map make it looks like a bottomless hole with the sea falling inside in a gigantic waterfall. If that's so, it's a breathtaking sight, but navigation around these lands would be nigh impossible because of the strong currents... Or is the rift totally submerged and filled?

 

[Gez]

Something else that annoys me -- the constant "horde" typo for "hoard"... I want to pillage the dragon's hoard without having to battle his horde, and not the reverse!

Was that a case of well-meaning automatic spellcheckers "thinking" it knows better than the writer? (See the "15-ft.-tall black salad" incident.)