So, Monte Cook - a man generally regarded as a pretty fine gentleman. For those of you who don't know him (and can't be arsed reading the Wikipedia link), he was responsible for quite a bit of the ideas and design for the Planescape campaign setting, was one of the main writers for 3rd Edition D&D, and is the guy behind Ptolus, one of the best-regarded fantasy city books around.
He's just been announced as coming on to work on D&D4e for Wizards of The Coast, presumably to help shore up flagging sales by bringing older players back into the fray through nostalgia and name recognition.
And he's just posted his first article up on the WotC site, regarding an idea for a new mechanic for 4e he calls "passive perception" - as an example, your perception is ranked, and certain objects/obstacles (like secret doors) are similarly ranked - if your Passive Perception is a higher rank than the door, you automatically succeed at finding it (if you choose to look).
Now.
Those of you who've ever played 4e will know, this is not new - it's in fact part of the core rules. It's even called your "Passive Perception Score". Rules which came out 4 years ago. Which he's here to "fix", and apparently hasn't even read through, or if he has, hasn't payed any attention to whatsoever.
Hoooooo boy, this is gonna be a long winter...
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Quasi-Elemental Genasi Part II: This Time It's Personal
So, now we get to some of my favourites - the Negative Quasi-Elemental Planes. All of them are touched by entropy, darkness or death - thus making them perfect fodder for inexperienced adventurers!
"Oooh, the Plane of Ash sounds exotic... uuuurgh*hackcoughsplutterdead*"
Speaking of Ash, the Scions of the Dying Embers (as they call themselves) are a quiet, solitary race. Where possible, they carve out their own little lives on Ash, away from everyone (or rarely, in small groups). Those rare few who head to the Planes do so to really get away from everyone - mostly hermits, or lone farmers. Not particularly conductive to long-term PC play, but good as very rare NPCs.
Dust Genasi are my favourite. On Dust, everything fades - buildings crumble, people desiccate, and items rust. Nothing lasts bar memories and history - and those are a Dust Genasi's bread and butter. Many who take to wandering the Planes do so to hunt out interesting histories - whether its magic items (their creation, ownership, uses in certain battles, etc.), places (many choose a nice ruin or other ancient structure and spend their time researching, investigating, and generally spending a few years settled down into the task), or even people (immortal races and individual creatures can be a fountain of interesting information). Many will travel with other adventurers, and can even be quite social (if a little somber).
Salt Genasi are explorers of rivers and great lakes. While many Planes have their own bodies of water (or, are made of water), they actually prefer the Prime worlds - there, rivers are more changeable, they interact more with their settings, and they can look at the cultures that each river supports - all in all, they're more interesting. As they are quite likely to be visiting a Prime at any given point, they make a great way to introduce players on single-world settings to the wonders of the Multiverse. Kinda dull for PC use, but great if you want to do a specific concept.
And, finally, Vacuum Genasi - Air, with all the life (and everything else) sucked out. While you might expect this to make them dull nihilists (as D&D4e made the "Voidsoul" Genasi), they are in fact simply ridiculously naive about how the universe works. After all, when you come from a Plane where literally nothing happens, you're just as likely to stand in fear of a swooping dragon as you are to marvel at the wonders of a dog peeing in the street. I mean, you thought the Clueless were bad? They've got nothing on these guys. Weirdly, a very handy race to hand to a first-time player - just give them the direction "Everything is new" and watch them go! Also make for interesting NPCs, but only in small doses (and part of the fun is watching them "learn" about the rest of the Multiverse, one experience at a time.
So - final thoughts time. There's a lot of Genasi, and other Planetouched and for the most part? They're pretty cool. They add a lot of flavour and consistency to a campaign, but be careful not to overuse them - after all, a dude made of pure elemental Salt is pretty awesome, but when every other character is Planetouched, it starts to lose some of its effect. Of course, you can use this to really hammer a point home about just how weird the Planes are when players head home (if they ever do) - after all, most people will be the usual races, and it might seem drab and boring to see so many baseline humans all in one place. Just be careful with their use, and Genasi can add a lot to your game.
"Oooh, the Plane of Ash sounds exotic... uuuurgh*hackcoughsplutterdead*"
Speaking of Ash, the Scions of the Dying Embers (as they call themselves) are a quiet, solitary race. Where possible, they carve out their own little lives on Ash, away from everyone (or rarely, in small groups). Those rare few who head to the Planes do so to really get away from everyone - mostly hermits, or lone farmers. Not particularly conductive to long-term PC play, but good as very rare NPCs.
Dust Genasi are my favourite. On Dust, everything fades - buildings crumble, people desiccate, and items rust. Nothing lasts bar memories and history - and those are a Dust Genasi's bread and butter. Many who take to wandering the Planes do so to hunt out interesting histories - whether its magic items (their creation, ownership, uses in certain battles, etc.), places (many choose a nice ruin or other ancient structure and spend their time researching, investigating, and generally spending a few years settled down into the task), or even people (immortal races and individual creatures can be a fountain of interesting information). Many will travel with other adventurers, and can even be quite social (if a little somber).
Salt Genasi are explorers of rivers and great lakes. While many Planes have their own bodies of water (or, are made of water), they actually prefer the Prime worlds - there, rivers are more changeable, they interact more with their settings, and they can look at the cultures that each river supports - all in all, they're more interesting. As they are quite likely to be visiting a Prime at any given point, they make a great way to introduce players on single-world settings to the wonders of the Multiverse. Kinda dull for PC use, but great if you want to do a specific concept.
And, finally, Vacuum Genasi - Air, with all the life (and everything else) sucked out. While you might expect this to make them dull nihilists (as D&D4e made the "Voidsoul" Genasi), they are in fact simply ridiculously naive about how the universe works. After all, when you come from a Plane where literally nothing happens, you're just as likely to stand in fear of a swooping dragon as you are to marvel at the wonders of a dog peeing in the street. I mean, you thought the Clueless were bad? They've got nothing on these guys. Weirdly, a very handy race to hand to a first-time player - just give them the direction "Everything is new" and watch them go! Also make for interesting NPCs, but only in small doses (and part of the fun is watching them "learn" about the rest of the Multiverse, one experience at a time.
So - final thoughts time. There's a lot of Genasi, and other Planetouched and for the most part? They're pretty cool. They add a lot of flavour and consistency to a campaign, but be careful not to overuse them - after all, a dude made of pure elemental Salt is pretty awesome, but when every other character is Planetouched, it starts to lose some of its effect. Of course, you can use this to really hammer a point home about just how weird the Planes are when players head home (if they ever do) - after all, most people will be the usual races, and it might seem drab and boring to see so many baseline humans all in one place. Just be careful with their use, and Genasi can add a lot to your game.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Quasi-Elemental Planetouched Part 1 - Bwah?
So, to further expand on the Planes and their inhabitants, I bring you the Quasi-Elemental Genasi.
Quasi-Elemental Planes exist where the Elemental Planes meet the Positive and Negative Energy Planes (go check out the map in the last post). These are the Light and Dark sides of the relatively Neutral Elements - let's start with the Positives (mainly because the Negatives are far more interesting).
The Radiance Genasi are what happens when Fire gets Positively charged - bright, happy, shiny people. Their Plane is a place of colour and beauty, and they tend to find the Multiverse... a little underwhelming. Many take to the arts in an attempt to bring some of the brilliance of their home to the rest of the Planes - but when you are used to unlimited shades and colours that don't even exist outside of Radiance, it's kinda hard. Being very positive in their outlook, few are deterred by this.
Mineral is Positive/Earth - The Earth takes on qualities of beauty and radiance, becoming precious gemstones. The Mineral Genasi are kind, generous people, who just so happen to be huge, walking collections of gemstones and crystals. Pretty cool NPCs, especially as traders, salesmen and maybe hireable miners or appraisers (who would know gemstones better than a gemstone?). They are also known for their generous nature - when you live amongst gemstones, they lose some of their value, and money holds little appeal to them. You might see one working in a free clinic, healing the less fortunate, or otherwise helping the needy.
Steam are described as "The Lanterns in The Mists" - and are a race determined to get to the bottom of things. Skilled in deductive reasoning and grunt work, they make for perfect private eyes. I feel that this is too focused for a race - a single character, fine, but a whole race of detectives? Meh.
Lightning Genasi come from a Plane of storms, static and energy. When Air gets supercharged with energy, it starts sparking - and Lightning comes with it. For a cool twist, Lightning Genasi are obsessed with a particular facet of the Multiverse - Gods and Powers. The reasoning being, well, your Gods of Water love to go for a swim, Gods of Fire enjoy an inferno, but Powers of Thunder, Storms, and Lightning tend to really revel in the joys of a good storm - so why not go visit The Storm? Many Lightning Genasi have encountered a Power on the Plane, and they find them fascinating. Many who then go on to become Planewalkers will then spend their time investigating other religions, mythologies, and Powers to see what they do. Many even simply travel from temple to temple, learning as much as they can about Gods of all stripes. Make good Clerics, obviously, but I can also see a cool "Religious polymath" - one who knows a million and one little prayers or holy symbols to help out in a specific situation. Picture the party being faced with some very specific Undead: the Gensasi holding up holy symbol after holy symbol, reciting words of Power, hymns and litanies, until finding just the right one to dispatch the terror. Very cool.
Next, The Negative Quasi-Elemental Genasi. Confused yet? I am.
Quasi-Elemental Planes exist where the Elemental Planes meet the Positive and Negative Energy Planes (go check out the map in the last post). These are the Light and Dark sides of the relatively Neutral Elements - let's start with the Positives (mainly because the Negatives are far more interesting).
The Radiance Genasi are what happens when Fire gets Positively charged - bright, happy, shiny people. Their Plane is a place of colour and beauty, and they tend to find the Multiverse... a little underwhelming. Many take to the arts in an attempt to bring some of the brilliance of their home to the rest of the Planes - but when you are used to unlimited shades and colours that don't even exist outside of Radiance, it's kinda hard. Being very positive in their outlook, few are deterred by this.
Mineral is Positive/Earth - The Earth takes on qualities of beauty and radiance, becoming precious gemstones. The Mineral Genasi are kind, generous people, who just so happen to be huge, walking collections of gemstones and crystals. Pretty cool NPCs, especially as traders, salesmen and maybe hireable miners or appraisers (who would know gemstones better than a gemstone?). They are also known for their generous nature - when you live amongst gemstones, they lose some of their value, and money holds little appeal to them. You might see one working in a free clinic, healing the less fortunate, or otherwise helping the needy.
Steam are described as "The Lanterns in The Mists" - and are a race determined to get to the bottom of things. Skilled in deductive reasoning and grunt work, they make for perfect private eyes. I feel that this is too focused for a race - a single character, fine, but a whole race of detectives? Meh.
Lightning Genasi come from a Plane of storms, static and energy. When Air gets supercharged with energy, it starts sparking - and Lightning comes with it. For a cool twist, Lightning Genasi are obsessed with a particular facet of the Multiverse - Gods and Powers. The reasoning being, well, your Gods of Water love to go for a swim, Gods of Fire enjoy an inferno, but Powers of Thunder, Storms, and Lightning tend to really revel in the joys of a good storm - so why not go visit The Storm? Many Lightning Genasi have encountered a Power on the Plane, and they find them fascinating. Many who then go on to become Planewalkers will then spend their time investigating other religions, mythologies, and Powers to see what they do. Many even simply travel from temple to temple, learning as much as they can about Gods of all stripes. Make good Clerics, obviously, but I can also see a cool "Religious polymath" - one who knows a million and one little prayers or holy symbols to help out in a specific situation. Picture the party being faced with some very specific Undead: the Gensasi holding up holy symbol after holy symbol, reciting words of Power, hymns and litanies, until finding just the right one to dispatch the terror. Very cool.
Next, The Negative Quasi-Elemental Genasi. Confused yet? I am.
Friday, 23 September 2011
Saanar's Miscellany - Expanded
As you walk through the ancient, faded door, the first thing that hits you is the smoke.
Thick, choking clouds float through out from the shop, above which a distressed sign reads;
Saanar's Miscellany
Curiosities and Oddities
of The Great Wheel
The mixed scents of cinnamon, camphor and mint are... pleasing, even through the smoke. Not acrid or hot, just scented. As your eyes begin to adjust to the slight stinging sensation, you see a darkened figure sitting on a cushion, shisha pipe between his lips. His skin is dark, almost pearlescent, and his clothes speak of the finer things in life.
Though his features are too dark to see it you can hear the smile in his voice.
"Heh, welcome, stranger."
Saanar's Miscellany is one of the many shops sprung up on the Merchant Quarter of Sigil. What makes it different is its owner - Saanar himself. A Smoke Genasi, Saanar is happiest when surrounded by people and the bustle of the city - so where better to come to see people of all stripes, and to feel naught but bustle all day and night?
Originally, he decided to see the Planes, possessed with the usual Genasi wanderlust. Now, he's decided to settle down and begin selling off the wonderful things he's located and sourced on his travels. Even if you're not trading, Saanar's naturally chatty disposition makes him a great contact, full of interesting tid-bits about the Planes, and will happily share some information for a story in return.
The store itself is halfway between a market stall and an opium den - throws and cushions decorate the floor, there's always incense burning or a hookah waiting to be fired up, and most of the "stock" is casually displayed on racks and tables. From ornate ceremonial weapons, to charms and amulets, to odd sculptures and weird reagents, Saanar has a wide variety of goods for perusal. Mostly, it's stuff he finds interesting - and will offer over the odds for unique and interesting items to sell or admire. If you can find something to his tastes, you might even sell it for his private collection...
A few of the items available for perusal;
Originally, he decided to see the Planes, possessed with the usual Genasi wanderlust. Now, he's decided to settle down and begin selling off the wonderful things he's located and sourced on his travels. Even if you're not trading, Saanar's naturally chatty disposition makes him a great contact, full of interesting tid-bits about the Planes, and will happily share some information for a story in return.
The store itself is halfway between a market stall and an opium den - throws and cushions decorate the floor, there's always incense burning or a hookah waiting to be fired up, and most of the "stock" is casually displayed on racks and tables. From ornate ceremonial weapons, to charms and amulets, to odd sculptures and weird reagents, Saanar has a wide variety of goods for perusal. Mostly, it's stuff he finds interesting - and will offer over the odds for unique and interesting items to sell or admire. If you can find something to his tastes, you might even sell it for his private collection...
A few of the items available for perusal;
Nowhere near as impressive as it sounds, the dagger Godslayer was forged by an Athar for use in a failed political assassination against one of Moradrin's proxies. Pure Abyssal steel, its dark, greasy surface never seems to catch the light at all. When used against anyone wielding the power of the Divine, it can cut off their connection to their Power for a few seconds at a time - useful when fighting Clerics! Problem was, even without the power of the Dwarf God, the proxy was still a Dwarven warriorsmith of great renown, and promptly headbutted the poor Athar to death.
A set of armour, allegedly the stripped and tanned skin of a Troll, that seems to grow over any wounds made in it - self-repairing, if you will. Makes you pretty tough, and is very useful on long-hauls without an armourer nearby. However, if a blow should pierce the armour and break the skin of the wearer, it will grow into the wound, permanently bonding itself to the poor sod inside. You don't want to know how they got it off the last cutter to wear it...
A perfectly cylindrical rod, with a handle and pommel much like a sword. While most people would see it used as a perfectly functional bludgeon, give it to a Modron and see what it really is - a blade, forged on Mechanus by the Moigno - sentient equations and formulae, who exist to help keep the Big Cog turning. One of the Moigno represented a formula for pure sharpness - and bonded that formula into this bar. When wielded by a Modron (or any succificently Lawful cutter), this pole can cut through adamantine like it was butter. Very useful, but quite specific. Now, if you can convince one of those Cans to fight for you, well...
A Slaad Feather. While most of the Slaad take reptilian and frog-like forms, their sheer chaotic nature means they can sport some... odd variences. This Feather was allegedly taken from a Death Slaad - it's pure black, in such a way that it seems to suck in light around it. Could be used in any number of Chaotic, Death or Darkness-related spells. Saanar likes this one, so it'd take a lot for him to part with it.
Numerous "lucky charms" - like cogs from a Modron, blessed body parts allegedly from famous Paladins, etc. Each of these can provide a small boost to an action that it relates to - so, those cogs would be good when fighting Chaotic creatures, or sorting something into order, or working out a puzzle, while the Paladin Bits are good when dealing with Undead, blessing something/someone, or dealing with a specific enemy the Paladin had in life. Mechanically, it's a one-use Lucky Shot/Questing Dice - when the charm would seem appropriate, you can use it up for a single extra die. Both the player and the GM need to agree the item is appropriate, or one simply has to shout louder than the other.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
More Planetouched: The Weird and Wonderful Genasi
The Inner Planes are the basic forces of the Multiverse - primal building blocks of Fire, Earth, Water and Air. You also have the Positive and Negative Energy Planes - the forces of Creation and Destruction, Life and Entropy, etc.
Each Elemental Plane is technically infinite, but there are some conterminous points - sections where they touch. But not all of them - it's like a 4-part ring arrangement. It's... pretty fucking complicated, truth be told. Look:
...yeah, something like that...
You can probably make out the touching points - like between Earth and Fire, you have Magma, or Dust between Earth and Negative.
Each of these Para-Elemental (between the elements) or Quasi-Elemental (between the elements and Positive/Negative planes) Planes has its own inhabitants - including more Genasi! I'll stick with the Para-Elementals for now - 4 in all.
Again, some are pretty cool, some are kinda weak. Smoke are pretty cool - Air meets Fire, passion and though combining into a cultured appreciation of all things, and a love of enclosed spaces. Due to the fact that beings from both Air and Fire can easily live here, it's a pretty busy place - in fact, when they come to the Prime Material, they tend towards bustling cities, and are a fairly common sight in Sigil. Very cool as NPCs - the hacking, continually raspy voiced merchant, selling curios and oddities from his back-room, continually giving off the scent of burnt cinnamon and opium...
Ice Genasi are surprisingly sensitive and emotional - a far cry from Ice's usual "cold and uncaring" demeanor. While the other inhabitants of Ice are somewhat "muted", the human side of Ice Genasi yearns for some show of emotion - and those who get themselves out onto the Planes are eager to make up for lost time. Quite cool as PCs - their emotional "edginess" leads them to be prime adventuring material.
Magma Genasi are explorers at heart - very curious about the Planes, and mostly travel to see the Multiverse. A bit weak (all Para-Elemental Genasi share the curiosity angle), but cool for their looks and the possibility of combining the solid, unshakable nature of Earth with the wild, passionate fury of Fire. Would make for a pretty good PC race, maybe a bit too generic as NPCs.
Ooze are the rejects of the pile. Being between Water and Earth, they're pretty much Mud Elementals. Not very well received, all things considered. But they're eager to shrug off this disrespect by being the best they can be - super-competitive, friendly to everyone they can be, the works. They're also commonly found
as Paladins and protectors, attempting to "out-hero" everyone else. Quite cool, good as a pretty much pre-built PC backstory, or good as an NPC/Cohort or Hireling.
As you might guess, "opposing" elements don't touch - so no Fire/Water plane, or Earth/Air. Which is a good thing, really - some of the concepts are stretched thin as is, and I can't imagine much about them beyond "conflicted and confused".
Next, the Quasi-Elementals - beings formed of the union of an Element and Positive or Negative Energy.
Each Elemental Plane is technically infinite, but there are some conterminous points - sections where they touch. But not all of them - it's like a 4-part ring arrangement. It's... pretty fucking complicated, truth be told. Look:
...yeah, something like that...
You can probably make out the touching points - like between Earth and Fire, you have Magma, or Dust between Earth and Negative.
Each of these Para-Elemental (between the elements) or Quasi-Elemental (between the elements and Positive/Negative planes) Planes has its own inhabitants - including more Genasi! I'll stick with the Para-Elementals for now - 4 in all.
Again, some are pretty cool, some are kinda weak. Smoke are pretty cool - Air meets Fire, passion and though combining into a cultured appreciation of all things, and a love of enclosed spaces. Due to the fact that beings from both Air and Fire can easily live here, it's a pretty busy place - in fact, when they come to the Prime Material, they tend towards bustling cities, and are a fairly common sight in Sigil. Very cool as NPCs - the hacking, continually raspy voiced merchant, selling curios and oddities from his back-room, continually giving off the scent of burnt cinnamon and opium...
Ice Genasi are surprisingly sensitive and emotional - a far cry from Ice's usual "cold and uncaring" demeanor. While the other inhabitants of Ice are somewhat "muted", the human side of Ice Genasi yearns for some show of emotion - and those who get themselves out onto the Planes are eager to make up for lost time. Quite cool as PCs - their emotional "edginess" leads them to be prime adventuring material.
Magma Genasi are explorers at heart - very curious about the Planes, and mostly travel to see the Multiverse. A bit weak (all Para-Elemental Genasi share the curiosity angle), but cool for their looks and the possibility of combining the solid, unshakable nature of Earth with the wild, passionate fury of Fire. Would make for a pretty good PC race, maybe a bit too generic as NPCs.
Ooze are the rejects of the pile. Being between Water and Earth, they're pretty much Mud Elementals. Not very well received, all things considered. But they're eager to shrug off this disrespect by being the best they can be - super-competitive, friendly to everyone they can be, the works. They're also commonly found
as Paladins and protectors, attempting to "out-hero" everyone else. Quite cool, good as a pretty much pre-built PC backstory, or good as an NPC/Cohort or Hireling.
As you might guess, "opposing" elements don't touch - so no Fire/Water plane, or Earth/Air. Which is a good thing, really - some of the concepts are stretched thin as is, and I can't imagine much about them beyond "conflicted and confused".
Next, the Quasi-Elementals - beings formed of the union of an Element and Positive or Negative Energy.
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