What do people think of Oathbound?
- Thread starter megamania
- Start date
Wow, on looking at the sample for Oathbound from the website I'm quite impressed, and already thinking of ways to incorporate it into my campaign.
I'm especially looking forward to surprising my players with a well developed 'off world' setting that they know nothing about. After all the PC's should probably have no idea what's in store for them if they're wisked off to some distant plane, but my players know entirely to much about most of them (one of them worked on ps:t).
I'm especially looking forward to surprising my players with a well developed 'off world' setting that they know nothing about. After all the PC's should probably have no idea what's in store for them if they're wisked off to some distant plane, but my players know entirely to much about most of them (one of them worked on ps:t).
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Me likey!
Oathbound is compared to Planescape because of the similar anything-goes, catch-all kind of style, but it certainly has a take on it that is new, and a lot of really cool native stuff that a PS campaign wouldn't handle as well as the setting alone handles it.
I've been waiting with bated breath for Plains of Pennance, and I'm glad there's more planned....hell, if they need writers, I'd apply myself.
I love the setting. There's not much more to it than that.
And it's really hard choosing between that and Planescape (so far the settting I've liked the best), and Oathbound (which could become a new favorite)....PS wins for now because of more stuff, but Oathbound could supplant that when they actually get out...y'know...products.
Oathbound is compared to Planescape because of the similar anything-goes, catch-all kind of style, but it certainly has a take on it that is new, and a lot of really cool native stuff that a PS campaign wouldn't handle as well as the setting alone handles it.
I've been waiting with bated breath for Plains of Pennance, and I'm glad there's more planned....hell, if they need writers, I'd apply myself.
I love the setting. There's not much more to it than that.
And it's really hard choosing between that and Planescape (so far the settting I've liked the best), and Oathbound (which could become a new favorite)....PS wins for now because of more stuff, but Oathbound could supplant that when they actually get out...y'know...products.
Darrin Drader
Explorer
megamania said:
That's a question I really can't answer. My day job is actually working for WotC handling certain aspects of customer service (so if you write in, please give me the benefit of the doubt since we're all friends here...). I'm also freelancing for upcoming D&D projects (I cannot mention - don't even ask) as well. My relationship with Bastion Press started close to a year ago when, well, WotC got rid of me and I needed some cash so I offered to do some freelancing for them (I'm lucky and got to come back to WotC a month and a half later).
Anyway, even though Bastion Press lists me on their company page, my role there is somewhat akin to regular R&D staff that isn't required to stick around after a particular project is done (although I have no plans of bailing any time soon). Greg Dent is the lead developer and Jim Butler, formerly a TSR employee and the former worlds brand manager of WotC R&D, is the company's president. To make an art submission, contact Todd at toddmorasch@bastionpress.com
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BigFreekinGoblinoid
First Post
Bought it. Haven't "used" it. **Spoilers**
I also really dig the prestige races concept. Definitely my favorite part of the book. The next Dragon Mag will feature prestige races from the blurb I saw in the current one. Hopefully it will be something different from what is in Oathbound. ( I believe the Dragon article is being done by Brannon H, an Oathbound contributor )
I'm still... learning to appreciate Todd Morasch's art.
Spoilers alert....
I have to admit that I was hoping that the Feathered Fowl (FF)would be more prominantly featured, their abodes, minions and machinations etc...
The whole reason the FF bring PC's & other creatures to the domains is that they are hoping to be killed by the PC's and released from their duty/imprisonment. Each domain holds a key to a dark god's prison that the FF must protect unless/until someone more powerful than them takes their place.
But nobody knows this, and they can't tell anybody. And there is really no way to find this out. But even if the PC's did want to kill one...
There does not seem to be any way to permanently defeat one. The one FF with stats in the book has an "Avatar" that is CR 30 ( and other deity SA's ), that will, of course, reform unless the "real body" can be found.
And, oh yeah: each citadel of the FF is protected by a miles & miles long pathway ( yes - the only way in ) featuring HUNDREDS of Golems with DR 40/+3.
Ok - so what kind of motivation will it take for your PC's to come up with the the idea to take on a FF? I can't imagine. Maybe Bastion will produce an Epic Module with some loopholes sometime in the future.
So - what are the PC's to do once they are here? ( The book focuses heavily on the political machinations of various factions in the city of Penance)
Maybe I'm missing the whole point of Oathbound, as a neat new place to explore, but as a DM, I'm having problems conceptualizing PC motivations for adventuring.
What I really like about Planescape ( which Oathbound is often compared to ) was that PC's adventured into the planes as means to an end. They travelled to different places for a purpose.
Although I never ran or played a game in the setting, I imagine Oathbound being more similar in concept ( with less undead
)
to Ravenloft than anything else.
Whew. I'm getting wordy here...
Any Oathbound journeymen here wanna offer some motivations/plot hooks etc.. for those of us who have it but are not using it, or for those considering buying it?
edit: a glaring spelling error or two
Sir Osis of Liver said:
I also really dig the prestige races concept. Definitely my favorite part of the book. The next Dragon Mag will feature prestige races from the blurb I saw in the current one. Hopefully it will be something different from what is in Oathbound. ( I believe the Dragon article is being done by Brannon H, an Oathbound contributor )
I'm still... learning to appreciate Todd Morasch's art.
Spoilers alert....
I have to admit that I was hoping that the Feathered Fowl (FF)would be more prominantly featured, their abodes, minions and machinations etc...
The whole reason the FF bring PC's & other creatures to the domains is that they are hoping to be killed by the PC's and released from their duty/imprisonment. Each domain holds a key to a dark god's prison that the FF must protect unless/until someone more powerful than them takes their place.
But nobody knows this, and they can't tell anybody. And there is really no way to find this out. But even if the PC's did want to kill one...
There does not seem to be any way to permanently defeat one. The one FF with stats in the book has an "Avatar" that is CR 30 ( and other deity SA's ), that will, of course, reform unless the "real body" can be found.
And, oh yeah: each citadel of the FF is protected by a miles & miles long pathway ( yes - the only way in ) featuring HUNDREDS of Golems with DR 40/+3.
Ok - so what kind of motivation will it take for your PC's to come up with the the idea to take on a FF? I can't imagine. Maybe Bastion will produce an Epic Module with some loopholes sometime in the future.
So - what are the PC's to do once they are here? ( The book focuses heavily on the political machinations of various factions in the city of Penance)
Maybe I'm missing the whole point of Oathbound, as a neat new place to explore, but as a DM, I'm having problems conceptualizing PC motivations for adventuring.
What I really like about Planescape ( which Oathbound is often compared to ) was that PC's adventured into the planes as means to an end. They travelled to different places for a purpose.
Although I never ran or played a game in the setting, I imagine Oathbound being more similar in concept ( with less undead
)to Ravenloft than anything else.
Whew. I'm getting wordy here...
Any Oathbound journeymen here wanna offer some motivations/plot hooks etc.. for those of us who have it but are not using it, or for those considering buying it?
edit: a glaring spelling error or two
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Darrin Drader
Explorer
Re: Bought it. Haven't "used" it. **Spoilers**
1. A change from the ordinary campaign. You can go try something a bit edgier, kick some tail, and then comeback and go through withdrawals for a while.
2. The centre cannot hold... The power structure isn't static and someone's making a play for power, and that someone isn't very nice to their citizens or the people it conquers. Better foil the plan before you have to do the zeig Heil! every morning after stepping out the door on the way to work.
3. Take control of a canton yourself. That's right, you can become the leader of a thousand people, and all you have to do is overthrow the guy running the show there now. Of course once you have it, are you strong enough to hold on to it?
4. Get involved with the politics of the bloodlords. You aren't a leader, but you are a message carrier and a spy. Your job is to diplomatically extract information, and of course survive any combat encounters your DM throws at you along the way.
5. Take part in an ongoing war. There are numerous cantons where the bloodlord in charge is being contested and there are troops fighting one another for control. You can get involved and either try to take it for yourself or help secure it for another bloodlord.
6. Join the rafters and go spelunking beneath the city to find some of the many treasures that lie beneath.
Those are just a few off the top of my head. I think you get the idea.
BigFreekinGoblinoid said:
1. A change from the ordinary campaign. You can go try something a bit edgier, kick some tail, and then comeback and go through withdrawals for a while.
2. The centre cannot hold... The power structure isn't static and someone's making a play for power, and that someone isn't very nice to their citizens or the people it conquers. Better foil the plan before you have to do the zeig Heil! every morning after stepping out the door on the way to work.
3. Take control of a canton yourself. That's right, you can become the leader of a thousand people, and all you have to do is overthrow the guy running the show there now. Of course once you have it, are you strong enough to hold on to it?
4. Get involved with the politics of the bloodlords. You aren't a leader, but you are a message carrier and a spy. Your job is to diplomatically extract information, and of course survive any combat encounters your DM throws at you along the way.
5. Take part in an ongoing war. There are numerous cantons where the bloodlord in charge is being contested and there are troops fighting one another for control. You can get involved and either try to take it for yourself or help secure it for another bloodlord.
6. Join the rafters and go spelunking beneath the city to find some of the many treasures that lie beneath.
Those are just a few off the top of my head. I think you get the idea.
Nightfall
Sage of the Scarred Lands
I've decided that if I EVER get a Slitheren, I'm getting one to send to Penance where he can make other bloodlords look like they are standing still with his knowledge of the arcane ways of Mesos and/or having his own tribe supply him with spells like "Essential Blade" and "Bloodied Blade" for starters.
I think part of the problem, BFG, is that they could only fit so much into the campaign book, so some aspects didn't get as much detail as one would like (I feel your pain). Hopefully, when the various domain books come out (remember, Plains of Penance in Feb!) they will detail the FF and their homes more. I think part of the holdup is also that the Epic Level Handbook isn't in the SRD yet, and the FF would absolutely be epic.
So far, the setting is top notch. The adventure in the book is very good (where's Ashy, I'm sucking up here!) and the free adventure on Bastion's site is also very good (yeah Darrin!). Personally, I love 80% of the art, though the scrawny sinewy warrior motif is wearing really thin. If you haven't seen the art preview for PoP yet, go see. The cityscapes are AMAZING.
EDIT: Oh, and my group playtested the adventure in PoP, which is really really cool. I think Darrin wrote that too (?)
So far, the setting is top notch. The adventure in the book is very good (where's Ashy, I'm sucking up here!) and the free adventure on Bastion's site is also very good (yeah Darrin!). Personally, I love 80% of the art, though the scrawny sinewy warrior motif is wearing really thin. If you haven't seen the art preview for PoP yet, go see. The cityscapes are AMAZING.
EDIT: Oh, and my group playtested the adventure in PoP, which is really really cool. I think Darrin wrote that too (?)
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Darrin Drader
Explorer
Teneb said:
I did. Thanks for the compliment
Kobold Avenger
Legend
I liked Oathbound, it reminds a lot of Planescape. And in some ways is similar to a world I originally thought of before I heard of Oathbound.
But anyways I really liked the Prestige Races, which were a good original concept. I liked the scale in which everything seemed to be with a lot of citadels being described as miles in height.
I thought the whole thing on the climate, and rotation of the suns was quite well-done. I felt it was ingenius making the change in seasons different from our world where every week is a different season.
The PC races were all interesting in their own ways, with the Ceptu, Haze, and Silvers standing out.
The politics of the City of Penance were quite well done. I actually liked the idea that with a massive metropolis you would effectively have multiple warring city-states within it. Containing vast areas of unpopulated urban wreckage, with all of the city stacked on buildings below. In some ways it's how I wanted Sigil to be written as.
As for the art, I'm not big on all the drawings with the sinewy look to most of the characters, the same one through out all of Minions. The one who did the individual race pictures did some of the best pictures in that book.
Though the book is riddled with a bunch of editing problems through out. Whether it be grammar, map descriptions, or some stats such as how that gnoll sovereign has psionic powers without having any class, template or prestige race that gives such abilities.
Now there are some complications when using Oathbound with some campaigns such as Planescape, where the situation is much like many sci-fi TV shows. Visit a world, mess around with it and leave for the next world. Though somehow I feel the Forge probably is more than many other worlds and does need a few repeat extended visits. Getting out is sort of complicated. I would have the key, remain as a whole and be reusable once that person leaves.
And guess it's something I could potentially use with my campaign world which I thought of before. Which is a "planar-dumping ground" a gas giant which randomly pulls in land (and other terrain) masses, many of them populated, from other worlds and makes it into floating islands in the planet's atmosphere.
But anyways I really liked the Prestige Races, which were a good original concept. I liked the scale in which everything seemed to be with a lot of citadels being described as miles in height.
I thought the whole thing on the climate, and rotation of the suns was quite well-done. I felt it was ingenius making the change in seasons different from our world where every week is a different season.
The PC races were all interesting in their own ways, with the Ceptu, Haze, and Silvers standing out.
The politics of the City of Penance were quite well done. I actually liked the idea that with a massive metropolis you would effectively have multiple warring city-states within it. Containing vast areas of unpopulated urban wreckage, with all of the city stacked on buildings below. In some ways it's how I wanted Sigil to be written as.
As for the art, I'm not big on all the drawings with the sinewy look to most of the characters, the same one through out all of Minions. The one who did the individual race pictures did some of the best pictures in that book.
Though the book is riddled with a bunch of editing problems through out. Whether it be grammar, map descriptions, or some stats such as how that gnoll sovereign has psionic powers without having any class, template or prestige race that gives such abilities.
Now there are some complications when using Oathbound with some campaigns such as Planescape, where the situation is much like many sci-fi TV shows. Visit a world, mess around with it and leave for the next world. Though somehow I feel the Forge probably is more than many other worlds and does need a few repeat extended visits. Getting out is sort of complicated. I would have the key, remain as a whole and be reusable once that person leaves.
And guess it's something I could potentially use with my campaign world which I thought of before. Which is a "planar-dumping ground" a gas giant which randomly pulls in land (and other terrain) masses, many of them populated, from other worlds and makes it into floating islands in the planet's atmosphere.
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