Argon's page

Placed an order back on August 5th for some back issues of Dragon magazine. The order is still pending,and I feel waiting twenty days for a yes or no response for a product listed in stock is down right ridiculous. I have friend's trying to lure me to order paizo products. However, regardless of how well written a product is, the service on this site needs to improve. Otherwise this will be my final order with paizo.

P.S. If the order cannot be placed by August 27th cancel it. I feel I have entertained this ordeal far longer then necessary.

Disappointed customer in the works.

The Oerth Journal is back and looking for submissions! New leadership and a new staff means we are hungry for material (literally - we don’t feed our editorial xvarts unless they work!).

What is The Oerth Journal and what are we looking for?

The Oerth Journal is a long-running and distinguished online periodical first published in 1995. Devoted to the World of Greyhawk Campaign Setting, The Oerth Journal explores facets of Greyhawk untouched by “official” development, from the mundane to the macabre, including adventures, gazetteers, esoterica, and “alternate” Greyhawks, as well as NPCs, deities, adventure sites, and simple lore.

The Oerth Journal is always looking for submissions for our regular departments and features: Denizens of the Flanaess; Of Oerth and Altar; Rogues Gallery; Tales from the Green Dragon Inn; and With Boccob’s Blessing, among others. (Summaries of all the regular features can be found in the guidelines document.) These features give many authors an easy “entry point”, but we welcome articles of any nature related to the World of Greyhawk. We also accept any rules edition or game system, including (but not limited to!) Basic D&D, OSR systems, AD&D, 3e, 4e, and Pathfinder. In addition, we welcome fantasy art and Greyhawk fan-fiction submissions!

All inquiries and proposals can be emailed to oerthjournal@gmail.com , and will be answered promptly.

Submission guidelines are available at http://oerthjournal.blogspot.com/p/guidelines-for-submission.html

Submission guidelines and stat block templates are available at http://www.canonfire.com/cfhtml/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdow nload&cid=13&min=20&orderby=titleA&show=10 (scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “The Oerth Journal Submission Guidelines and Templates” to open or download the document). D&D 3.5 is used in the stat block format example at the end of the guidelines to show the proper font sizes/types, header color, use of bold and italic text, etc. It is not required that an article include stat blocks, but they may be included at the author’s discretion.

Authorship and Plagiarism

Determining true authorship over the internet in the era of e-mail, mailing lists, and "cut-n'-paste" is effectively impossible for The Oerth Journal. As such, we rely upon the honor system - that the person submitting the article is either the author or has the consent of the author. If the article draws heavily upon or quotes material from another source (be it an official Wizards of the Coast product, a Dragon magazine article, an online file, a popular fiction book, or whatever), we expect the source and author (if known and applicable) to be listed as a source. If an article is found to be blatantly plagiarized from another source, it will be rejected and we will not accept further submissions from that person. Articles that update earlier material are considered separately.

Ownership Rights & Regulations

Dungeons & Dragons, AD&D, Dragon Magazine, Greyhawk, and the World Of Greyhawk are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast/ Hasbro. All characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Unless otherwise noted, all individual contributions are copyright their respective authors.

Origins of The Oerth Journal

The Oerth Journal has gone through many incarnations but began from tender roots with the Council of Greyhawk, an informal organization of gamers dedicated to keeping the World of Greyhawk a viable campaign world. At present, the Council has expanded to include many fans that now meet online at Canonfire! to discuss matters of the actual campaign world. The site also maintains the Greytalk mailing list.

I played a Bard for the first time yesterday and had fun! He was introduced to the party as a fighter type but then the table was in shock to discover that a Bard was in their ranks! There has been much Bard hate and I'm on the fence. What do you all think of the class? The APG has some pretty cool new spells and variants.

I have been playing a bard by the name of Aoric in a play by post Spine Castle Campaign on Cannonfire. He is know as the Chanter of Spirits the bard who speaks for the dead. Follow the link to the forum.

http://www.canonfire.com/cfhtml//modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum &f=48

The other link is his story.
http://www.canonfire.com/cfhtml//modules.php?name=News&file=article& ;sid=1001

Check it out let me know what you think.

I was just messing around on Hero Labs, when i noticed that since a Ranger's combat style allows him to take a feat without Prerequisites. He could just skip Cleave, for "Two-Handed Weapon", to Great Cleave or the same with Vital Strike. The House Rule/RAI is obvious i just wondered what other people thought.

What you could say or do for that matter is limit when a feat. Also remember a ranger loses two weapon style when in armor heavier than studded leather or I may be thinking of D&D ranger.

What you could do is make it a class feature that you may gain feats you do not have the ability score for by penalizing what level it can be attained at so lets say a second level ranger chooses two weapon style but has a 13 dexterity he does not gain the feat until achieving 4th level even though his class allows for the style this represents the time he spent practicing with two weapons to make up for his short comings. However he cannot use two weapon defense without gaining two weapon first then he must wait at least two more levels practicing defensive two weapon style. so in this instance he would need to wait to level six before attaining two weapon defense.

The ruler was core to me once i read that i was in this thing to the end. I like all the story lines surrounding his submission. Many nations don't include some great druidic interactions. A god who wants to die and his own follwers who don't want to let it happen. Reminds me of a comic called fallen angel. God wants to quit retire leave his creations to be. He causes famine hurricanes tornados, and all sorts of natural disaters to try and get mortal man to stop calling on him. Instead the opposite happens each plague more people call upon him. Gods on the verge of ending human existance. This fallen angel is trying to help him retire. Its a nice take on how religions can be misconstrued by a gods actions.

Good submission keep'em coming.

I liked the names but really have a hard time biting on this one. The basis for the wandering nation is a map. I thought a nation that moves by normal means much like indian tribes who followed the path of bisons. Your nations could of travelled to places where your help was needed or to influence other civilizations.

It seems like you started well but dropped the ball and can't find the place to pick it back up. I didn't enjoy this one.

Good luck!

I thought you came up with some good creatures and socities that may exist in the kingdom. Though I don't know what to make of this entry once you got to toppling the former goverment it just seemed like you forgot the enviroment and continued with a story about five brothers. Loaded with good ideas but lacking any real foundation.

Good luck!

First let me say I am not a fan of elves especially sea elves and winged elves. However you put together a nation with a feasible reason for a race of sea elves to exist. I will say not much is done on nautical type of scenarios that garners much attention. I was impressed with the level of detail on the races and how all interact with each other. I also like the fact that instead of making it a rich nation with little reliance on trade, you made it one that could not exist without it. Can't wait to explore the ruins of this nation and prevent the Trident of Levithan from entering sahuagin web hands again.

If you use this submission as a basis I would really like to see your villian submission.

Well what can I say a good arifact submission. This really doesn't see to be a nation as much as it is part of one. This would of been a good side note of Dm section. Though I think your time would have been better spent on developing the nation that developed the actually colony it self. Reminds me of a little of a through the looking glass type of adventure synopsis. Better luck next time.

Good luck in your villiany submission in round 3.

When I first starting reading your entry I was almost ready to bail. Though I found myself getting drawn in to the text. Evil nation or misunderstood nation. Sort of a grundy like tradition as presented by DC comics. Instead of just utilizing undead as a form of defense they are also the slave labor.
While it appears to many readers that there is little setbacks I see many. After all it might seem like the living members of this society are well treated, what happens when one of their loved ones passes on. My wife passed away three years ago and instead of having an eternal rest she is now indebted her entire afterlife to serve the nations needs. The Freeholds undead population is also boosted during times of war as fallen opponents are given citizenship upon their death and will serve Karistynia for the afterlife. Many Freeholders probably seek a more favorable versions of undeath to prevent themselves from attaining a servitude status as skeletal or zombified members of society. The nation without graves, yeah very strong entry to me.

I just wonder how the zombie lust for flesh is appeased, perhaps not everyone makes it into undeath. I could see flesh trading to ensure the zombie workforce does not attack the living citizens of Karistynia.

I look forward to your next entry in round 3.

I would have to say alot of good ideas are hidden in your submission. However I never really got a sense we where talking about a country. This kind of ran more like an ecclesiastical barrage of info without, any sense of a solid foundation. I can take pieces of your submission and make them work in a campaign setting. Though I don't see enough in its context that would really make me want to elaborate on this any longer.

Overall less is more sometimes taking a step back will move you two places further. As far as the naming aspect I really was not bothered by it. I feel maybe a little bit of nickpicking was done on Kull (similar to Krull) by the judges. At least alot of different characteristics appeared in the naming process. I also thought the names gelled well together but your presentation of the material was lacking in this one.

Good luck in your future endeavors.

James you really hit a grand slam on this one. I really enjoyed this submission the most. This is easily a very suitable nation which I think can be adaptable to players with modern and fantasy styles.

I would really like to see this in a gazeteer. Heck this nation can get its own box set. Its hard edgy and keeps conventional themes while altering the way they are approached.

I want to know what a villian from this nation is like because even the every day folk send shivers down the spines of outsiders to these lands.

Good luck in the future rounds.

Here's my take on your submission. Well written and I always like an out of the box idea. Do I think its a difficult sell hell yes. However if something like this nation where to be used in a roleplay setting. It fits more in line with a planar setting view. In D&D I can see this nation used in the Happy Hunting grounds. A nation not so happy however I think its use is limited and probably the biggest reason for the negative feedback.

As a one shot adventure for players interested in planar travels, I think this nation could work. However part of a long standing campaign with mutiple scenarios it falls short. If I was a judge you would get a pass on this round because of your ability to create something interesting and not part of conventional thinking. I would say go for a happy medium between a more conventional approach and your style and I believe you will go far.

Good luck in future rounds.

Imagination is the key ability of the DM. Details of a campaign can spring forth just from the mere utterance of words. It is not what is said alone but how one says it. All of the books you are recommending are just guidelines including the PHB. Rules are only 10% of the game 70% of dming comes from good imagination ans storytelling. the other 20% comes from knowing what your players like.

While I am the first to admit information on different styles of play. As well as set guidelines will help the consistentcy of running a game. It's not the critical hits or the pluses your equipment has to combat. Its the adventures you've created and the experiences your players have that determine if your a good DM or not. Anyone can follow rules, but everyone cannot direct and manage a great game.

When I started playing back in 1st edition our Dm knew character creation very well and expressed that characters with a background make the game more pleasing for everyone. He was 100% correct now the players and even the world around them seemed more real. We had a purpose and a reason for doing what most people considered dangerous or unfathomable for any decent being. However one element was lacking while the characters we meet all seemed real and vivid we where merely going from dungeon crawl to dungeon crawl as if the world was built on top of a endless maze. Our second Dm took over after 4 sessions for a game and his idead of a good game was ice elemental and fire bat in every other room of a dungeon. Well that lasted one session and I came up with a premise let me try one game if you like I will concede the title back to the original DM. I drew up a map of a small town which was plagued by orc attacks, the Pc's would be enlisted in ending the orcish incursions which lead them to a dungeon (I left the dungeon in only because it was my first game and I needed to get the players attention by giving them something they where familiar with).

Well the pc's come across an orcish encampment in a short dungeon crawl only to find out that they where hired by someone. This leads the Pc's back to the town where a small theives guild decided to hire the orcs in order to make the populace believe the lord mayor was not capable of protecting them this guild was then going to pay off the orcs and get the incursions to stop in hopes of dupping the populace into a rebellion leaving the guild leader now in control of the town.
Then the orcs would be allowed to pick off the occasional caravan and the cities taxes would help make the guild and even the orcs richer. It was the first time they had a reason for a dungeon crawl besides just seeking treasure. The players enjoyed it and then the majority of my campaigns where above ground. Using politcal intrigue or pitting the pcs against rival factions. the best was when the assaisins guild from one city hired them to prevent a local thieves guild from moving in on their turf. The PC's never knew what was up until it was to late. Lets just say ther weren't very popular for a while. That lead the characters on many an adventure just to redeem themselves if not in the eyes of others but themselves as well. One of my campaigns where surrounded around a Pc being cursed by a weapon he has found on one of his adventures. The sword would make him go berzerk against friend and foe alike. that campaign lasted two years before the PC's found a way to not only get rid of the sword but also the cursed invoked from it.

Like I said imagination is key.