Psion said:
So, is Nightfall sick or something?
No just too much of the following:
Too much lack of sleep
Too much RL crap
TOO much time spent on stuff that isn't SL related.
And now off to the races!
Sado said:
Tell me everything. For some reason I never paid much attention to this setting, and now I understand it's been discontinued and I want to find out all I can before it's too late.
First, tell me about the setting in general. What's the story of gthe Scarred Lands?
Gee this is Tall order...
While I thank my kind associates, the Sage will now take over.
In times long past, before there was anything, there were... the Titans. Beings of immense power, primal forces that could shape and mold life when it suited them. Of course this is what is known NOW. The World of Scarn, (now called the Scarred Lands) came into being by these creatures. Why? No one can say for sure, and in which order since much like the growth of a mountain, few can say "This pebble was the corner stone on which it started." What IS known is they did come, and with them, life, and the Cycle, the death and rebirth which is a part of all things, came to be. Eventually, one of their number, Gormoth, known to some as the Life Giver, stumbled onto the secret of creating not mere animals and beasts, but TRUE sentient creatures. The first of which, gave their alligence to him. This greatly pleased the vain and arrogant primal thing called Gormoth. But soon his fellow titans, especially his estwhile mate, Mormo, the Lady of Serpents, tried hard to pry the secret of sentience from him. Mormo proved the most successful, after poisoning her mate and making him reveal the secret in exchange for the anitode to the toxin which caused him great pain. Soon the other titans made other races, other creatures in certain ways. Golthagga, with his keen insights into shaping and reshaping, took various beasts, infused them with sentience and indeed with each other, forming the likes of the mighty griffons, pegasi, and even the dread manticore. Mesos took those that had sentience, and with his mighty insights into the unseen, gifted them with sorcery. Mormo turned her favored creature, serpents into the race known today as the Assatthi. Hrrinruuk, in an effort find better prey, imbued monsters with greater intellect to keep him occupied. And so it was for a time, as the Titans not only created sentient life, but also some times, on boredom and whims, destroyed it as well. Indeed much is known of the rage of Kadum against those that thought any thing could ever last or stand as mighty and tall as he. But even the mighty can grow beyond their reach, and try to extend themselves too far. Thus fate proves that even those that think themselves beyond consequences can be proven wrong. For if the titans are merely grand spirits of great power tied to the natural order and being of the world of Scarn, the Gods are indeed tied to the spirits, minds and souls of ALL beings. Thus conflict would rise, as the first of the gods, the most primal, vengeful, and possibly most deranged of all, Vangal, the Reaver, was born. A union unplanned, but still because of his birth, the Gods came and the world of Scarn was forever altered by their coming. For as stated before, the gods live and die by the worship and souls of their faithful. The titans couldn't care about much beyond their own petty cycles of destruction and rebirth. Thus it was, the Titanswar, the Divine War, came to be. To describe such an event, one must be able to imagine the most horrific things, as the stars burnt and fell like leaves in a dry autumn night, as even time itself shattered, stretched and warped into things most vile and deadly. For in that span of time, where few accurate records could be kept, (you try keeping track of the day when the sun and moon both appear and dissappear at near whim), the Gods and Titans fought, as followers on each side took and gave no quarter. But even Titans can be dispatched. Ripped assunder, as the gods used magics of faith and skill against their primal and untrained might of their parents, until at last only one Titan, called the Traitoress for her love of the natural world over that of her kin, remained.
This is the world of the Scarred Lands, bitter and hollowed out at times, but striving towards a future unknown. It is written by the victors, and that can change in a heartbeat given the right amount of magic and luck. It is here that both followers of the Dark Gods, Chardun the Slaver, Belsameth the Slayer, and Vangal the Reaver, fight along side at times with their idealogically opposed brethren clerics against the heretical remnants of the titanspawn armies. But that is not to say they will always due so, for they evil to their core. They and their followers. But even while the gods are active, the titans still linger. To kill a tree is one thing. To kill a mountain, a living fire or even hurriance, quite another thing entirely. For that is what the titans are, a necessary part of the essence of Scarn now called the Scarred Lands. It is here you carve your legends, with wit, skill of both blade and spell. So swords high folks, and keep your friends close. Because you never know where the dagger will come from, or who will wield it.
Hope that helps.
Is there a "core" Scarred Lands book?
Sadly they did try but the SLCS merely covered the continent of Ghelspad, not the entire world.
Gazetteer/Campaign Setting Books
What are they about (Ghelspad, Termana)?
Ghelspad is kind of the "Default" Scarred Lands continent where bands of titanspawn and remnants of the scars from the Divine War still hold sway. All the while pockets of civilization try hard to push back and grow strong against these incursions.
Termana, I consider slightly similiar to Xendrick, only with less "african" stuff. Mostly its home to two major non-titan worship/non divine powers. The Jack of Tears and the Ghoul King. Coupled that with the homeland of the Charduni, a race of dwarves that make the dueguar and other evil dwarves look childish by comparison, and you've got Termana nailed. (Oh and the Forsaken elves.)
Are the continents? Regions? What?
Continents. There are a total of four major continents. Ghelspad, (default), Termana, Asherak (homeland to the gods as well as a vast monk life style), and Fenrilik, the icy lands of which many titanspawn reside. There's also the Dragon Lands, an archepelgo where dragons and ONLY dragons hold sway.
See above.
And what's the difference in the gazetteer books and the campaign setting books?
Gazeteers are kind of primers for both DMs and players alike. The Setting books are more detailed and tend to have better maps, along with plenty of stuff DMs and some times players can enjoy.
What about the city books (Mithril, Hollowfaust, etc)
I assume these are guides to various cities within the setting?
Mithril, Shelzar, Hollowfaust are all city states that are indeepent regions/places within the continent of Ghelspad.
Anything special about them?
Mithril, is the home base and spiritual center of the Adamantine Church, the greatest collection of LG goodness around, espeically if you wish to be a member of the elite Order of Mithril, one of Four major orders of Corean. Mithril Knights dedicate themselves to the ideals of Courage and compassion, as esposed by Corean.
Hollowfaust is THE city of Necromancers. There might be dark reflections in its sister city, Glivid Autel, but for a city that has survived FIVE different sieges in the past 150 odd years, Hollowfaust has proven its worth. The citizen is very well off, the guards are mostly alive. They use zombies and skeleton, refraining from any intelligent undead as they see them as more trouble than they are worth. The City of Hollowfaust is a city of law and also the spiritual HQ for Nemorga, the Lord of the Dead, the Gray King.
Shelzar, is my home town! (Blayne Nightfall!
) It is the city of decedence, and while Hollowfaust has some very lively entertainments, Shelzar is the home town for all things. Unlike the more "good two shoes" type of Waterdeep, Shelzar is a place where you can find ANYTHING. It's also one of the few other port cities around on Ghelspad that has regular travelers to and from the continent of Termana. Believe me, the City of Sin is not for all but its certainly for a lot of us!
And what about the other books that appear to be region guides (Blood Bayou, Blood Sea, Hornsaw, etc)?
The Hornsaw is THE Mirkwood for Scarred Lands. Home for the site where the titaness Mormo expired, Hornsaw is also home to numerous titanspawn AND the home base of many hags and followers of the titaness. It's also the home of the necromancers of Glivid Autel, renagages from the city of Hollowfaust and polite society.
The Blood Bayou is home to the Jack of Tears. The Jack is probably one of the scariest native outsiders around. He is what the Joker would be without alot of the contiunity problems as well as just plain ass scary. He rules the Carnival of Shadows, a collection of people drawn in by the waters and strength of personality of the Jack, who often takes in runaways, outcasts and other denegerates. Why is the Jack this powerful...
The Blood Sea, the site of Kadum, the Father of Monsters resting spot. He bleeds endless ichor, which is infused with his hate, his near death state and mostly his own warped ideals. Here, many things can happen as well as being home to many a particular dastardly lot of pirates.
Player's Guide To... Books ("Fighter and Barbarians", "Monks and Paladins", "Rangers and Rogues", etc
Are these just option books forthe different character classes?
Somewhat. They are also ways in which to explore how to more fully intergrate the classes into the Scarred Lands.
Are the classes different than in regular D&D?
Thematically, yes. Druids aren't clerics and clerics aren't druids. Mechanic wise, not really.
Can these books be used for non-Scarred Lands Games?
Yes. They most certainly are.
Other Books
There are other books that I can't really tell what they are at first glance. Like "The Penumbral Pentagon", "The Faithful and the Forsaken", "Calastia" to name a few. Can anyone tell me about those?
Penumbral Pentagon is about the organization of wizards, sorcerers and others that can use and ultizate shadow magics. They are pretty much a bad lot, and I don't remmend this book if you want insights into the group.
The Faithful and Forsaken deal with the Charduni, the "Chosen" of Chardun and the Forsaken, the Forsaken Elves. Of course people reverse this around since *gack* the Forsaken elves god returned from the dead.
Calastia is the center of the Calastian Hegemony. This ruleship is particularly ruthless and blessed by Chardun, as many of his followers are both nobility and member of the military. It's a great book AND a nice look at an LE country.
I realize all these books have blurbs on the S&S site, but that would require individually opening up 40 or so separate books on a slow computer-we could be talking hours here. So instead I'm going to sit back and let the experts tell what they know (and what the official site may not tell me).
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I hope I was helpful.
