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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 3:48PM
#4201
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Thanks, Markus! I'd like to do more of them, but I'm so crazy-busy with the novel trilogy my Realmslore bits are going to be few and far between for a while.
Anyhow, I think if anyone can write an article that would make me still pay for the DDi, it would be either Rich or Brian. Despite comments I have made in the past, I stll think Rich's Realmslore articles were among the best ever.
Looking forward to Cormyr, then. :)
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 3:50PM
#4202
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The wizard does have a few self-buffs -- for example, the shield spell -- but there isn't really much overlap between the swordmage power list and the wizard power list. Multiclassing into swordmage is pretty easy for a wizard (and vice versa), so I wouldn't be surprised to see some cross-training there.
Rich, the Swordmage has buff spells that work on just him correct? Will the Wizard have these spells or something similar or do I need to multiclass into SM to get those slefbuff spells?
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 3:56PM
#4203
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No, the Ethereal Plane isn't around anymore. Here's how we look at it: etherealness is a status or condition you might achieve, not a plane of existence. It's like being out of phase with the world. Critters that used to have abilities tied to being ethereal (ghosts, for instance) can be covered with "insubstantial" and "phasing" just as well. As a transitive plane, the Ethereal served to connect the inner planes to the material plane. Our cosmology doesn't really *need* transitive planes. What we considered a transitive plane before, we now look at as an infinite medium--it's a level of existence in which other distinct locales can exist. So the Astral Sea is the infinite media in which the various godly domains exist, and the Elemental Chaos is the infinite media in which various locales like the City of Brass or the Abyss exist. Demiplanes are still around as their own extradimensional locales, though.
I don't have the 4e rule books yet, but I understand that some people do.
Question:
Is the Ethereal Plane still around?
(If someone else knows the definitive answer - no guesses! - then feel free to answer this - I care not from which source my knowledge stems.)
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 4:02PM
#4204
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Demiplanes are still around as their own extradimensional locales, though.
How very interesting...
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 4:02PM
#4205
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A little bit of each of those reasons. The Player's Handbook is packed, and a large number of destinies aren't as important as some other things in the book. Plus, there are a lot of big, challenging concepts in some of our epic destiny designs. Making sure we did the right ones the right way proved trickier than we would have thought. The good news is that there are some FR epic destinies on the way in a future DDi article I wrote up a couple of weeks ago. I'm not at liberty to say what they are yet, sorry.
:D
Hey Rich, I have yet another question. I don't have the 4E books yet, but I've heard that there were only 4 Epic Destinies published so far, and the Eternal Hero (which was mentioned in the preview material and in a 3.5E article) wasn't even one of them. Truth be told, I was sad about that, because that was an aspect of the new game that I was really interested in. I know there are probably going to be more EDs down the line, but hey, I like instant gratification.
My question is, why only four? Was it due to lack of space? Was it assumed that EDs wouldn't be needed right away? Were they just not all completed yet?
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 4:04PM
#4206
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The good news is that there are some FR epic destinies on the way in a future DDi article I wrote up a couple of weeks ago. I'm not at liberty to say what they are yet, sorry.
Are you at liberty to say when we can expect to see them, at least? :)
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 4:23PM
#4207
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Are you at liberty to say when we can expect to see them, at least? :)
Ditto.
And Rich, thanks for answering my question.
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 4:24PM
#4208
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So this may be a stupid question but im running a fr game based on the fact they have to recover 12 divine swords for the gods. In my game im going to be having the city of shade find a lost netherse scroll and bring back the empire of Nethril. Now just a quick question but what excatley is the netherse scroll? did it just let them do high magic? Did it let them make the citys float? im kinda lost on that part.
anything would be helpful thanks.
akiir
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 5:16PM
#4209
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So this may be a stupid question but im running a fr game based on the fact they have to recover 12 divine swords for the gods. In my game im going to be having the city of shade find a lost netherse scroll and bring back the empire of Nethril. Now just a quick question but what excatley is the netherse scroll? did it just let them do high magic? Did it let them make the citys float? im kinda lost on that part.
anything would be helpful thanks.
akiir
The Nether Scrolls were Artifacts of incredible power because they instructed the reader in the fundamentals of Magic. From casting mundane spells to crafting artifacts, to performing Realms Shaking Spells (turning mountain tops into levitating platforms for building the cities of Netheril).
They were as follows:
Arcanus Fundare - Basics of spellcasting
Magicus Creare - Creation of mundane magic items
Major Creare - Creation of magical constructs and living wards
Planus Mechanicus - Details planar mechanics including magic interactions on the planes and demi-planes
Ars Factum - Details creation of Artifacts
There were 2 full sets in existence at one point. One set stolen by the Elves and the other was destroyed IIRC or lost at the very least. In essence once the mages of Netheril studied and mastered most of the Scrolls, they didn't feel they needed instruction from the Elves who had originally instructed them in magic.
Hope that helps :)
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1 year ago ::
Jun 02, 2008 - 7:38PM
#4210
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Thank you for your answers.
I'm sort of ambivalent about this particular development - even though I feel the Ethereal has been a part of D&D for a long time, I'd have to agree with your assessment. I remember when I first looked at the Great Wheel (back when it was more of a 'Great Rectangle') and the D&D cosmology, I had a hard time reconcoling the existance of both as seperate entities. It's grown on me through the years, so it will take a little getting used to, but at least now I won't wonder why anyone bothers with the Astral (those silver cords were just plain weird - I hope they are gone as well).
I still like the concept of the 'border Ethereal', but in the new cosmology that could just be a condition that something enters before entering another plane, like the Feywild, Astral, or Shadowfell. Sort of like in Star Trek, when someone is in the process of 'beaming' between two points, and they are not quite in phase with either (at least thats how I will keep the concept alive, anyway). And, of course, that works perfectly with what you just said about ghosts and such (half in this world, half in the next).
I can definately live with that.
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