Tell me about Arcanis

[SamhainIA]

Darn

Trumped by the stat monkey! Hats off to you Pedro.

 

[sidonunspa]

and here I thought I would get some kind of responce...

I wounder, how many people out there are playing an Arcanis Home Game


Peter B

 

[SamhainIA]

its odd

couple things are odd, about these forums its seems to me that few people know or deal with rpga games, and they dont understand the amazing fun that living arcanis is.
I know that (hopefully getting tickets to, darn miscatagorized events) into the lavender way and the arcanis interactive are going to be the highlights of my gencon experience

 

[Crazy 'Scaper]

Nothing I've read so far has put me off and Arcanis is looking better and better to me.

Just to make sure that I've read everything correctly. Am I right in thinking that, in summary:

Most races are very similar to the way they are presented in the PHB. Humans are humans, dwarfs still look and act like dwarfs despite their campaign-specific background. Gnomes are ugly (no change there, then) and there are no halfling. Elves are tweaked a bit but no more so than in, for example, Blackmoor.

None spellcasting classes are pretty much by-the-book and the devine classes are closely linked and customised to their patron deities (as I think they should be). There's some extra flavour for arcane spell-slingers but basically they still use Vancian "fire-and-forget" spells.

Blackpowder weapons exist but are pretty rare.

One of the human empires is essentially Rome with the serial numbers filed off so any player who thinks that they have a passing familiarity with Rome (by which I mean they've seen Gladiator or Ben Hur) will be able to get a handle on the culture pretty quickly. This is a very important selling point for me.

I think that I'm going to give it a shot. I'll try to find out whether or not my FLGS deserves the "F" when I see if they'll let me crack open the shrink-wrap on the Player's Guide first but if not I'll probably still buy it. I assume that the Codex and the Player's Guide are pretty essential, but are there any other books that I should probably start thinking about picking up if I do like the setting?

The idea of the free Living Arcanis adventures sounds interesting but I assume that I'd have to join the RPGA for that and if I'm not mistaken you have to go to a Con to do that. There aren't that many in the North of England (where I'm based at the moment) and, much as I'd like to go down to GenConUK, there's no way I'm going to travel the length of the country to hang around a tent at Butlins.

 

[kenobi65]

Most races are very similar to the way they are presented in the PHB. Humans are humans, dwarfs still look and act like dwarfs despite their campaign-specific background. Gnomes are ugly (no change there, then) and there are no halfling. Elves are tweaked a bit but no more so than in, for example, Blackmoor.

Eh, yes and no. Superficially, you're not too far off, but the backgrounds of the races make their outlooks considerably different from "stock" D&D.

None spellcasting classes are pretty much by-the-book and the devine classes are closely linked and customised to their patron deities (as I think they should be). There's some extra flavour for arcane spell-slingers but basically they still use Vancian "fire-and-forget" spells.

Yes, mechancially, magic isn't different.

Blackpowder weapons exist but are pretty rare.

Depends on what sorts of characters you're playing. If you've got Vals, or Altherians, or nobles, you might have flintlocks like crazy. I play a Val cleric in Living Arcanis, and I've been in modules where 4 of the 6 PCs had flintlocks.

One of the human empires is essentially Rome with the serial numbers filed off so any player who thinks that they have a passing familiarity with Rome (by which I mean they've seen Gladiator or Ben Hur) will be able to get a handle on the culture pretty quickly. This is a very important selling point for me.

Yup, that'd be Coryan. Milandir is a lot like medieval Germany, the Hinterlands are a lot like Eastern Asia (Mongolia, maybe)...so there's some hooks there for you.

The idea of the free Living Arcanis adventures sounds interesting but I assume that I'd have to join the RPGA for that and if I'm not mistaken you have to go to a Con to do that.

You can also join the RPGA by passing the Herald-Level GM test on the RPGA web site. Doing that will also make you eligible to order adventures.

 

[SamhainIA]

Yup, that'd be Coryan. Milandir is a lot like medieval Germany, the Hinterlands are a lot like Eastern Asia (Mongolia, maybe)...so there's some hooks there for you.

i dont know i always had a feel of Milandir as more of old Russia, i think they even have hussars (sp) there is also a celt feeling to the League of princes and the Kio in specific. And if i took a stab at it i would say the the Khitani are very feudal japan in nature, but i havent had much dealing with them.

one thing to note that there are NO half elves either, the elorii and humans can not interbreed.

 

[Paradigm]

I think that I'm going to give it a shot. I'll try to find out whether or not my FLGS deserves the "F" when I see if they'll let me crack open the shrink-wrap on the Player's Guide first but if not I'll probably still buy it. I assume that the Codex and the Player's Guide are pretty essential, but are there any other books that I should probably start thinking about picking up if I do like the setting?

The idea of the free Living Arcanis adventures sounds interesting but I assume that I'd have to join the RPGA for that and if I'm not mistaken you have to go to a Con to do that. There aren't that many in the North of England (where I'm based at the moment) and, much as I'd like to go down to GenConUK, there's no way I'm going to travel the length of the country to hang around a tent at Butlins.

Our books are not sent shrink-wrapped, so your FLGS probably shrinkwrapped it to begin with. They should be able to put it back in shrink wrap if they so desire.

The following are PCI products for v 3.5 available in stores:

In the Shadow of the Devil - Adventure
Slaves of the Moon (not Arcanis)
City of Secrets - City Sourcebook and Adventure
Player's Guide to Arcanis - The guide to playing a PC from Arcanis
Ssethregore: In the Coils of the Serpent Empire - An in-depth look at the ancient reptilian empire that ruled Onara in the past and still remains in the south
Legacy of Damnation (look for it this week) - An in-depth look at infernal-blooded characters and the area north of the Wall of the Gods

Non 3.0 books to think about:

Codex Arcanis - This is the setting. The rules material is 3.0 but has been reproduced for 3.5 in the Player's Guide. The overwhelming majority of this book is story and setting so the 3.0 material shouldn't be a concern. This one is the primary book to get ahold of.

Forged in Magic - This book has more than 400 magic items and also new weapon abilities, spells, pclasses and more. Even if you don't do Arcanis, this is a good book to have. It spent months on the top 20 here on EnWorld. If you do Arcanis, each item has a little history and some details of Arcanis are revealed in ways that can also serve as adventure hooks.

Carnival of Swords - An adventure and City Sourcebook.

Freeport: City of Adventure - Green Ronin Publishing. There is a conversion document on our yahoo group that sands the corners to make it fit into Arcanis. Freeport's history was tied into the Codex Arcanis, to the point that we even hired Bill Simoni, author of Freeport adventures to write the Pirate Isles chapter.

To join the RPGA, just visit www.wizards.com/rpga. To order adventures, you will need to pass the Herald-Level GM test, it is an open book exam, so just have your 3 core books near at hand. If you mess up, just start over. There are about 60 currently available. Some are already retired, but the best of them will see print as mini campaign in the near future.

 

[Paradigm]

i dont know i always had a feel of Milandir as more of old Russia, i think they even have hussars (sp) there is also a celt feeling to the League of princes and the Kio in specific. And if i took a stab at it i would say the the Khitani are very feudal japan in nature, but i havent had much dealing with them.

one thing to note that there are NO half elves either, the elorii and humans can not interbreed.

Milandir was designed as a fusion of high medieval Switzerland, early rennaisance Germany and Poland, and 30 years war Sweden. Russia also had strong influences from those last three cultures.

The League of Princes combines celtic and fantastical japanese influences. It is unique among any area that I have seen in FRPG product.

Khitan is a fusion of various Asian cultures: China, Khmer, Siam, India, Indonesia and others. When the Khitani Empire sees print, there will not be anything quite like it.

 

[SamhainIA]

Some are already retired, but the best of them will see print as mini campaign in the near future.

any more information about this Eric?

 

[talien]

Nothing I've read so far has put me off and Arcanis is looking better and better to me.

Good! Another convert!

Most races are very similar to the way they are presented in the PHB. Humans are humans, dwarfs still look and act like dwarfs despite their campaign-specific background. Gnomes are ugly (no change there, then) and there are no halfling. Elves are tweaked a bit but no more so than in, for example, Blackmoor.

Yes, that's about right.

None spellcasting classes are pretty much by-the-book and the devine classes are closely linked and customised to their patron deities (as I think they should be). There's some extra flavour for arcane spell-slingers but basically they still use Vancian "fire-and-forget" spells.

Right.

Blackpowder weapons exist but are pretty rare.

In theory, anyway. You'll find Freeport overflowing with them. Perhaps I should quantify my original statement...firearms are regulated by various governing bodies, including certain membership requirements. In other words, you have to have the right credentials (papers, noble birth, etc.) to legally carry/own one. Since Freeport isn't exactly a place of law and order, the guns are all over the place.

One of the human empires is essentially Rome with the serial numbers filed off so any player who thinks that they have a passing familiarity with Rome (by which I mean they've seen Gladiator or Ben Hur) will be able to get a handle on the culture pretty quickly. This is a very important selling point for me.

Yep! You'll note my ridiculously over-the-top character in my story hour, Quintus Aurelius Ignatius, a legionnaire. He's a mish mash of Gladiator and Ben Hur, basically.

I think that I'm going to give it a shot. I'll try to find out whether or not my FLGS deserves the "F" when I see if they'll let me crack open the shrink-wrap on the Player's Guide first but if not I'll probably still buy it. I assume that the Codex and the Player's Guide are pretty essential, but are there any other books that I should probably start thinking about picking up if I do like the setting?

Think of the Codex as the flavor info (sort of the World Guide) and the Player's Guide as the rules for gaming. From there, it depends on the player types. For example, if you play a ss'ressen (like my brother does), the Ssethregore book is a must.

The idea of the free Living Arcanis adventures sounds interesting but I assume that I'd have to join the RPGA for that and if I'm not mistaken you have to go to a Con to do that. There aren't that many in the North of England (where I'm based at the moment) and, much as I'd like to go down to GenConUK, there's no way I'm going to travel the length of the country to hang around a tent at Butlins.

As others have said, this isn't the case at all. To reiterate: it's free. You pass a test and download the adventures off the web. You do NOT have to go to a con at all.

Hope that helps. You've now got the developers' attention, so they can answer any questions far better than I can.