D&D 5E Whatever "lore" is, it isn't "rules."

[pemerton]

If DMs use lore as a cudgel to keep players off-balance - either by pulling out superior knowledge of it to short-circuit player actions, or secretly changing it just for the sake of pulling the rug out - that is really, really sucky DMing

My own personal preference is that a GM's "secret backstory" should not be a factor in resolution. (It might be a factor in framing.)

I also take the view (and think of it as a corollary) that there should be no failure offscreen.

 

[ProgBard]

My own personal preference is that a GM's "secret backstory" should not be a factor in resolution. (It might be a factor in framing.)

I also take the view (and think of it as a corollary) that there should be no failure offscreen.

That strikes me as a fine distinction with a lot of fuzziness, even though I agree it's a good principle. It all kind of depends on how it comes up in play.

"Aha! But your plans have failed, because what you don't know is that the Duke of Geoff is a werewolf, and has betrayed you to his master Iuz!" might be a moment of exciting dramatic revelation, or egregious DM wangroddery, and the context it occurs in makes all the difference.

 

[Imaro]

But by your standards, the third moon is an addition, not a change. It doesn't change anything about the two existing moons, or the other astronomical/astrological elements of the setting.

Ok... I never said the moon was or wasn't... I actually asked for the folio information as it was presented so that I could see if the two moons were stated definitively but no one has actually posted what is in the folio... only descriptions of what is in it.

 

[Imaro]

The canon material establishes that a sage wrote a treatise talking about three moons. It doesn't establish that there isn't a third moon of which that sage is unaware.

But what exactly does it say...

Secret cults with occult power sources are a dime a dozen in the S&S genre!

So are they the WoH or have they been morphed into a secret cult you added (because the WoH weren't secret and hunted all wizards who weren't part of their order)? Also they (or is it one faction?) draw power from a moon they can't see and are unaware of... ok, I guess. These examples seem to change and contort as the conversation progresses...

 

[Imaro]

I'm not sure why you're taking issue with my use of compatible. In the terms you've set forth here, an addition is something compatible with established canon while a change is not compatible, thus requiring a change to (or more properly, disregard of) established canon to implement. Again, under this rubric, three moons is an addition because it is not contradicted by the canon established by the folio.

If the folio states there are 2 moons... then it is.

It doesn't. It establishes only that there are at least two moons.

Why is it so hard to post exactly what the folio states about the moons of Oerth?

 

[Nagol]

Ok... I never said the moon was or wasn't... I actually asked for the folio information as it was presented so that I could see if the two moons were stated definitively but no one has actually posted what is in the folio... only descriptions of what is in it.

Oh, for the love of...

Here's the freaking thing in its entirety. I'm not sure how its going to any more helpful than a one line description!

Eastern Oerik in Relation to the Whole Oerth and the Heavenly Bodies

As is obvious, the Oerik Continent is the major center of the world, and the eastern portion, the Flanaess, is the center of enlightened humanity. Oerth has four great continents, countless islands, and four great oceans and countless seas which surround these bodies of land. Little is known abut the lands of the western portion of Oerik, less still about the savage inhabitants of the other continents, but such knowledge is, of course, of little use anyway and of no importance to humanity.

The heavens are far more interesting. We must study the stars, those which wander and those which are fixed, to properly understand Astrology. The sun travels once around Oerth in 360 days, visiting the 12 Lairs of the Zodiac in an appointed round that never varies. The Great Moon (Luna) waxes and wanes in fixed cycles of 28 days each, upon which our months are based, while the Handmaiden (Celene, the small aquamarine satellite) follows a path which shows Her in full beauty but four times each year thus showing us the time of or Festivals. When both Mistress and Handmaiden are full, things of great portent are likely to occur, depending upon the positions of the five wandering stars in the Lairs, naturally. For complete details of Astrology, we recommend the reader to such texts as Selvor the Elder's SECRETS REVEALED or Yestro Blinigd's ASTROLOGY, DIVINTY, and MANKIND.

 

[Shasarak]

FWIW, "canonical" GH (1983 folio) specifically states that additional astrological information can be found in additional non-existent texts, specifically opening up the possibility of other things (including "wandering stars," which may, or may not, be moons).

You could check out the Greyspace supplement for additional astrological information.

 

[TwoSix]

Oh, for the love of...

Here's the freaking thing in its entirety. I'm not sure how its going to any more helpful than a one line description!

So it never actually uses the phrase "two moons" at all...LOL.

 

[Nagol]

No, it simply describes what the astrologer knows is in the heavens: a sun, fixed stars split into a 12-part Zodiac, 5 wandering stars, a large white moon and a small aquamarine moon.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*