The Shadar-kai are NEVER going to be the next drow

[SSquirrel]

They have been re-concepted as some who work for the Raven Queen (or whatever she is) in the Shadowfell. Not entirely like their 3E incarnation, what I saw seemed pretty neat so far, I'm willing to give them a chance. A good story and some good art makes them beg to be used.

As far as leaving out a specific giant or dragon, so what we already have craploads of them from over the years. I'm sure there are multiple giants found in the MM already and w/the recent change to how they're approaching giants to not just be a big humanoid, it should be interesting

 

[Khur]

These descriptions of the shadar-kai remind me a bit of the Qullan, also from the original FF. They were freaky, tattooed berserkers who got off on pain and scarification. They also had a permanent Chaos field around them. Me, I'd like to see these guys come back.

OK. How does a June 6th comeback work for you? New name okay? Hope so, because the MM is printing now, and those presses ain't stopping to save that name.

Oh, and nobody's trying to make shadar-kai the next drow. Maybe back in the 3e Fiend Folio, when Jesse Decker created them, that was a strategy. That was 5 years ago by a couple weeks. That make the issue a little dated, doesn't it?

In fact, we did a lot of work to make them distinct from drow. They seemed like an obvious choice for a low-level threat/potential PC race from the Shadowfell in the new cosmology. Seems like every plane has one or more of those these days. I take that as a good thing.

As far as I know, R&D likes all the monsters that are in the MM. If someone considers shadar-kai a pet project (be polite about it), I'm not aware of it. We picked them for the Dungeon article just to showcase another creature that made a transition into 4e, but that could also be used in 3e games, in the RvR column. We picked them in a group meeting.

And for the win, terror bird. I blame the academics, really. I mean, come on. But if it's good enough for Robert E. Howard, isn't it good enough for D&D? I think so. I mean, look at my sig.

Now, I might be the only one in R&D who likes grunge . . . and Queensryche (not grunge, if you ask me) . . . and a little Hendrix (also not). Or maybe it's just Queensryche. Probably an umlaut problem.

 

[Hussar]

George RR Martin was publishing in the mid-late '70s? Githyanki first appeared in White Dwarf magazine around 1978 AIR, before being collated in Fiend Folio years later.

Yup. Wiki to the rescue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Githyanki

The githyanki were created by Charles Stross for his Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign. It was first published in White Dwarf in the late 1970s, and in 1981 in the Fiend Folio. Stross borrowed from a fictional race created by George R. R. Martin in his 1977 science fiction novel Dying of the Light. George R. R. Martin himself was not aware of the name being borrowed until the 2000s. The githyanki/ illithid relationship was inspired by Larry Niven's World of Ptavvs.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Ya know, I had a weird inkling that "Terror Bird" may have been a proper scientific name. There ya go.

Oh I like the idea of having a rich cosmology with potential foes that work for varied levels. Gotta be good for adventuring. Not that I'm gonna be getting into 4th ED anytime soon, quite happy with 3rd (toned down a bit) and HERO. Of course I may well steal, er, borrow ideas from it to integrate into any games I run. Never say no to a potential well of inspiration.

 

[haakon1]

Now, I might be the only one in R&D who likes grunge . . . and Queensryche (not grunge, if you ask me) . . . and a little Hendrix (also not). Or maybe it's just Queensryche. Probably an umlaut problem.

For the record, I was raising an eyebrow on snarky comedy when I said if being from Seattle makes a band grunge, then Hendrix and Queensryche must be grunge. I don't disagree with the idea that being early 1990s Seattle = grunge. And I don't think Jimi or Queensryche are grunge.

I'm a moderate Hendrix fan (have the best of CD and a few other odds and ends like the BBC sessions). The latest chapter of my PBEM is called "All Along the Watchtower". I'm enough of a fan to know he didn't write it, Dylan did, but I also don't care because Jimi did it best.

Queensryche is OK, but I never bought any of their stuff. I'm a Floyd fan, and I figure they are in the Floyd tradition.

That means Hendrix is classic blues-rock with guitar rending power, represented by the troll since he's from Seattle, while Queensryche is art rock, represented by the dryad.

And further for the record, I wore flannel since the early 1980s, and I still do more often than anyone but a lumberjack should.

 

[LordVyreth]

True neutral shape shifting outsiders (?)

Those were the Rilmari, right? I think they actually predate 3rd Ed. From what I heard from fans, the modern incarnation is not very well-liked. This was the book that brought back the Dark Ones as well, didn't it? Again, that's not a new design, but arguably attempt to make an old design "cool."

 

[Korgoth]

Is it really true, as alluded to upthread, that Shadar-Kai will "shudder with pleasure" when you spear them, and otherwise get off on being chopped up in combat? Because if so that's totally disgusting.

 

[SSquirrel]

They'll shudder and grind into the weapon and taunt you to hurt them more. Shadar-kai will make great use of the Book of Erotic Fantasy I'll bet

 

[hamishspence]

terror bird

translation of scientific name phorusrachos. Largest member of the family (Titanis) was over 2 metres tall. And yes, wasn't a very good illustration.

 

[Khur]

For the record, I was raising an eyebrow on snarky comedy when I said if being from Seattle makes a band grunge, then Hendrix and Queensryche must be grunge. I don't disagree with the idea that being early 1990s Seattle = grunge. And I don't think Jimi or Queensryche are grunge.

Well, honestly, I don't know enough about music (academically speaking) to really say anything at all about its history or classification, probably even in jest. That's what I was doing too, though.

Now Queensryche in flannel . . . no, I'll just stop.