Amaril's page

Am I going out of my mind, or is Living Greyhawk Journal #2 really available now?

It doesn't say unavailable anymore, so I ordered myself a copy as well as copies of the three issues.

Edit: My order has shipped. It looks like it really is available!

I'm a 30-year-old man, not a 14-year-old boy. I like the overall style of the cover in question, but I think scantily clad women for covers of Dragon and Dungeon Magazines are too common to pass off as something more than just a ploy to get a sale from as many "boys" as possible. Truthfully, I find female drawings such as the cover with Iggwilv and Grazz't (#121) more attractive anyway.

I love the female form, but I don't think its something that should be trivialized as a device to sell a product. I also think it adds to the negative stigma that surrounds Dungeons & Dragons and its players.

Chatrilon Unosh, the cultist assassin hiding in Hommlet with Maridosen, Grune, Toridan, Vacra, and Master Dunrat in Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. A very dangerous foe for 4th-5th-level characters (who decide to not purchase keys to lock their inn doors at night).

I'm curious. After the Village set, we are going to publish a Graveyard set. After that, we have additional sets planned, but haven't yet decided the terrain and locales.

Any requests?

--Erik Mona

A ruined, war-torn city near a river and a bay (*cough*Chathold*cough*).

Actually, Eric, have you considered doing various Greyhawk locations (yet to be mapped) but keeping them generic as you did with "the Free City?"

I think I'd rather see a Dragon Compendium II: Legacies of Greyhawk (or whatever title they choose).

Cold Steel wrote:

Has'nt Paizo ever heard of proofreaders?

It always amuses me when posts like this contain grammatical errors.

Cold Steel's two for two, too.

I thought Stephanie Vergamini's piece on the Sidhe Scholar was particularly well done. It's a mystic-druid class build with a lot of potential.

I liked the concept a lot. It reminded me of Katrina Anne Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow.

Speaking o Astrology, will the articles on moons be based on the default setting's lunar cycle as presented in the D&D Gazetteer, in other words, GREYHAWK's two moons, Luna and Celene?

Has'nt Paizo ever heard of proofreaders?

Right, because the lack of proofreading just ruins all of the content altogether.

It's not like Paizo has a budget like Time Magazine's.

They sholud hire more proofreaders and less playtesters.

Oh, the irony... anyway...

I'd rather have balanced game mechanics than perfect editing it's not hard to fill in the gaps with minor errors that can be fixed with errata or even just taken as is. If you consider the repeated entries deliberate, the table still works.

In no particular order, I think these covers were perhaps my favorite in regards to artistic quality:

#329
#330
#331
#334
#337

So, Amaril, how'd you like the book overall? :)

The book is fantastic, I'm playing a diabolus sorcerer/force missile mage and having both the race and the pretige class in the same book is extremely handy.

The magic items section made me about as giddy as I was when I first obtained my copy of the Arms & Equipment Guide for 3e.

I was never a big fan of critical hit/miss tables until now. I plan on creating those tables in E-Tools for single-click resolution.

I also like having the update to the demonically fused elemental and the new elementals, both of which I plan on throwing into my RttToEE campaign. The bonespitter will find a home in there somewhere, too.

The design of the book is beautiful. Very rich in color with a clean layout. My only complaint is the slight damage on the corners and the top of the spine from loose packing for shipment.

This is by far the best D&D supplement I have purchased for 3e this year. I look forward to Dragon Compendium Vol. II: Legacies of Greyhawk (hint, hint!)

hey i was wondering, if any one had a 3/ 3.5 conversion for Vault of the drow, against the giants, Queen od Spiders etc...

Greg V.'s Istivin series in Dungeon Magazine 117-119 is a sort of sequel to the GDQ series.

Just curious as to why the Diabolus has been given an LA +1 in the Dragon Compendium when the original article had +0. I'm not arguing that it shouldn't be +1, just curious as to the reasoning behind the decision.

farewell2kings wrote:

How many people out there honestly say--"Oh, WotC no longer supports Greyhawk?"

I keep hearing people say that WotC is giving up on Greyhawk. Consider this, however. They have been revising classic dungeon crawls like Tomb of Horrors and White Plume Mountain and posting the revisions for download on their website. These old modules are in the Greyhawk setting (though I suppose they could be translated elsewhere), and the word is that they are going to do more of them. Okay, it isn't exactly new material, but at least it is something.

WotC has officially stated that there are no plans to produce new Greyhawk-specific supplements. Updating old modules is hardly producing new content. Additionally, the position that Greyhawk is the core setting for D&D has been toned down quite a bit in recent publications. It was much more obvious in 3.0 with direct references to geographic and political ties, which are only slightly present in the 3.5 Complete Series. Very rarely, other sources such as Weapons of Legacy give a nod to the Greyhawk setting, but usually only to the core pantheon.

A prime example of neglecting Greyhawk is the release of Underdark for Forgotten Realms. This could have easily been an environmental book for the "core" setting akin to Sandstorm, Stormwrack or Frostburn.

At least we had Saltmarsh in the DMGII

Amaril wrote:

Shield Maiden's Grace, which was originally printed in an LGJ that included info regarding paladins of Mayeheine, made it into Dragon Compendium.

Thanks for the info. Any more Greyhawk content ? I am quite sure that I have almost all information an Greyhawk published in Dragon and LGJ over the years, but it is often nice to meet old acquaintances (sp?) again :-)

Stefan

I'll have to dig through it, really. I'm not aware of anything that jumps out screaming. There's a pronunciation key with a few proper names from Greyhawk, though.

Immediately off the top of my head:

Dungeon Magazine
- The Styes
- Mad God's Key (City of Greyhawk)
- Istivin: City of Shadows
- Hardby: City of the Scorned

Since Charles Ryan is no longer the D&D Brand Manager at WotC is it possible that WotC might relax thier current attitudes some and let Erik start putting more explicit Greyhawk content in Dragon and Dungeon?

I for one hope so, in the long run at least.

Hmm, maybe they should let Erik Mona manage the "brand"? ;)

I noticed a few errors myself. One feat has a requirement of "Expertise." I also noticed the duom from the polearms article wasn't corrected and listed as an Exotic Weapon. Don't get me wrong, though, these mistakes don't prevent me from enjoying this as the best purchase I've made this year. :)

...the Living Greyhawk Journal, but this is equally unlikely, as WotC just won´t publish any Greyhawk material anytime soon, if at all.

Shield Maiden's Grace, which was originally printed in an LGJ that included info regarding paladins of Mayeheine, made it into Dragon Compendium.

Speaking of the Hateful Legacy, Greg, does this adventure include anything regarding the Knights of Luna? As I've mentioned in other threads, a PC in my game is the son of a Knight of Luna. He is currently absent from our game sessions (until he's done with this semester), and we're suggesting that he travelled to Enstad to inquire about the fate of his long missing father. Currently, the rest of the party is in the Lortmil Mountains (running Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil). If I'm able to use your adventure for the part of the campaign arc encompassing the investigation of the PC's father, that'd be great!

I don't think I'd buy a volume containing fantasy fiction only. I'd rather see campaign specific fiction added into a campaign specific volume.

So rumours get into existance. ;-)

I think Erik mentioned some time ago (and did again in the editorial of a recent Dragon issue), that he could imagine a Dragon Compendium issue specifically on the Greyhawk Setting.

That would be ROUGHLY comparable to a very big Oerth Journal issue... but rather a "Best of Dragon on Oerth". ;-)

Greetings,
Günther

Not at all. I think you are mistaking Oerth Journal for Living Greyhawk Journal.

Odd - those weren't on any lists or discs that they gave us. Thanks for letting me know they exist.

-Vic.
.

They are available at DriveThruRPG.com

Kvantum wrote:

Brett Hubbard wrote:

2. Is the Deck of Many Things included in the compendium? If not, are there plans to include it in a later volume?

No need for it to be included. You can just download a pdf of it from WotC's site and get it put onto cardstock.

[url]http://www.wizards.com/electronic/patches/Drmg148A.pdf[/url]

THANKS!

Too bad it's misaligned. I wish there was a real deck one could buy.

I had mine framed under glass. It was pretty pricy, but well worth it for the final product. It looks amazing!

How much did it cost? I was tempted to do this myself.

Bandit, did they do a good, trustworthy job of lining up the maps? How about yours, kikai? That's really my biggest concern.

Read the very first post of this thread. It's stated the preorders ship today. :)

I think I failed my spot check. :P

I guess I was still fixed on the December 6 date.

Ah, preorders are shipped today! I wonder which one of us pre-orders will get it first and gloat? :D

Where did you see that preorders shipped today?

Technically, the Illithid stick character could be featured on this site, and legally! You might want the lawyers from the spooky wizard to check in on it, though.

In honor of Order of the Stick now appearing in Dragon magazine, we have added the main characters to the available avatar images.

Enjoy!

- rob

It would be fun to have some of the others, too.

Has anyone had any luck laminating the 4-part maps as one poster properly aligned and overlapped. I have two copies, one laminated individually, the second still folded and safely put away. I was thinking of laminating the second maps as one large poster to hang on a wall and use the first for referencing at the table.

And a question for Paizo, will Paizo ever offer the Greyhawk Maps for sale as one large, single poster?

He is a minor Aerdy noble, though.

Interesting. *ponder*

I know that one of the Forgotten Realms supplements covered airships very briefly, but it really didn't go into detail on how to construct one. And are there any other worlds that use airships, and if so, how are they designed?

Magic of Eberron covers the "hows" regarding elementally bound Airships.

They're more like liches than anything else -- they get a few defenses and a few powers that augment their ability to dominate and abuse the people around them, but nothing gross like ghoul stength, no mindlessness like a zombie or skeleton, etc.

I wrote them up for 3.0 in the Living Greyhawk Journal, the article is my 3.5 conversion of them (and other creatures).

Sean, did you provide any sample characters such as some of the key NPCs associated with Ivid, Almor, the North Kingdom, or Ahlissa?

It's a shame there's no related adventure in Dungeon Magazine that's associated with this region. *hint hint*

What's that? another kind of demon or shapeshifter?

Believing--with good reason--that his generals conspired to mutiny, the Overking [Ivid] sought even greater control over them. The priests of Hextor, seeking favor in the eyes of the mad Overking, devised a solution to his problem. Through secret rituals, the priests revived each dead general as an animus--a being that, though dead, retained its intelligence and abilities. Perhaps the Overking believed such beings would serve him better or be more amenable to his will. In fact, Ivid was so taken with his animus generals that he broadened the program, first slaying and reviving those nobles who offended him and eventually working the death and revivification as a reward for all his favored courtiers.

Though Ivid's nobles were undeniably decadent, they were not mad: they considered Ivid's gift an unenviable "reward." Because winning the Overking's favor had become as deadly as incurring his wrath, most nobles sought refuge in mediocrity, obscurity, and anonymity. A few of the more courageous and less astute nobles attempted to dissuade Ivid from his insane schemes, but succeeded only in convincing Ivid to "reward" them on the spot. Fear gave way to defiance as the nobles plotted against their mad lord. Thus, Ivid's prediction of mutiny became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you want to read more about the Greyhawk Wars:

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/dreadwood/greyhawk/wars.htm

Is my mind playing tricks on me or did I read that the next issue of Dragon Magazine is going to include a v3.5 animus?

If I read correctly, AWESOME! What perfect timing!

After Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, my campaign is going to move to Old Almor, and I plan on touching on all of the history and current politics of that area post-Greyhawk Wars. Ivid's legacy of madness, death, and destruction continues!

I was hanging around the weekly gamer gathering, and one of the guys that runs D&D miniature events showed up with newly laminated battle maps.

He laminated several maps from the starter set, but also the Dragon's Hoard map, and one that I don't remember off hand.

It made me remember that I had planned on doing the same to my maps: the dragon's hoard map, the gladiator arena, the four-part map of Forgotten Realms, and some others.

But it also made me wonder...

What do any of you do with your inserts for Dragon and/or Dungeon?

This is really a fill-in-the-blank poll, but I imagine some options are:

Keep them in the magazine... keep the magazine "mint" condition!
Take them out, throw them away... don't want/need/use 'em!
Take them out, save them, but don't use them... can't stand throwing things away!
Take them out, use and abuse them... these inserts were made for using!
Take them out, prepare them for optimal re-use... there have been big steps in color copying and lamination techniques!

I save them all. I never know when I'm going to have the opportunity to use them.

Well its now November 17th, and no Dragon #337 or #338 despite the shipping dates. Am I just stuck in some miserable black hole in Canada's shipping system, is Dragon not sending things correctly, because I got the previous two issues without a problem. Or maybe some nit wit somewhere in the postal service couldn't figure out my address, or some punk is stealing my magazines, but some how I doubt that. Any advice folks?

email customer service.

perhaps you just need better players... players who have the ability to play in character and who do not use metagame knowledge to "cheat".

Exactly. In fact, the best players can use metagame knowledge to roleplay their characters more accurately. I have several players who do that. They take the metagame knowledge and are able to analyze how their characters would react to discovering the "unkown" since they have a better understanding of it as players.

I'm OK, thanks. :)

I'll give that a try. I imagined they would all come from the same place; that Amazon would simply be ordering from the same distributor. Either way.

Even if they do order from the same distributor, quantities stored in each company's warehouse will be drastically different. Additionally, the ones autographed and for sale by Paizo were a private collection that only Paizo offered since they were signed by Editor-in-Chief of Dungeon Magazine and Dragon Magazine, Erik Mona, who authored the book.

Well the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer is apparently no more with little chance of returning. Feh.

I'll look for it at an LGS, but I'm not holding my breath. Guess I'll be doing everything in Eberron for a while.

I think there's a rant here, but I don't have the energy right now.

Relax

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786917431/002-8362855-3677651?v=glance&am p;n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

The link you posted was for the autographed version.

Dragon released a second set of feats in #325

The upcoming Dragon Compendium includes Bloodline feats.

http://paizo.com/download/dragon/compendium/Chapter4Spread.pdf

My group is light on any kind of divination magic. I've been using an in game library as a way to provide them with a bonus to knowledge checks. So far, it's just been a standard +2 or +3 and 2-5 days of research. Does anybody have anything a little more detailed?

Stronghold Builder's Guidebook includes a small bit about libraries of different sizes and bonuses to Knowledge checks.

Plato's Nephew wrote:

WTF!? Dude, I just tried to download the PDF preview, and my computer says that it contains a virus!? Weak, dudes, very weak. I don't expect that from company sites like Paizo.

Although, I did finally get people to reply and react to something I posted on here. I guess being controversial is the way to get attention then, eh?

Only if you think negative attention is better than delayed attention due to hectic work schedules and deadlines.

I hope they do more!

http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=7641068&postcount=9

There is definately another revised classic secheduled ... but I don't wanna give away the suprise of which one and when ... so stay tuned ...

http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=7643149&postcount=20

The maps scheduled for map-a-week at the end of the month (11/29) are from the next revised adventure.... Sooooo ... sometime around the end of Nov I would say ... I don't have the adventure from production yet so I'm not sure of the exact date...

Ah, so, let's see here:

Volume X: Oriental Adventures
Volume X: Psionics
Volume X: The Planes

Not until we get our Volume II: Greyhawk! :P

Someone on the WotC boards noticed that it seems to be relatively nerfed compared to the original. My assumption is that now it's about right.

I just placed an order. This gets me the magazines, and does the rest of the interested parties a favor by taking another copy off the inventory so the PDF can be released sooner.

I did the same sometime back.

The delay on the Dragon Compendium is entirely Paizo's fault - we didn't get the finished files to the printer until last week.

Even more reason to give us a PDF! :P

Now, how cool is this?
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20051031a