| Frostie |
Garen Thal wrote:The collected Sage Advice responses are already available online in PDF format. They are collectively known as the D&D FAQ, and can be found at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20030221aOnly about one out of every four (really rough estimate) Sage Advice questions or answers makes it into the FAQ. As DM, I tend to use about 90% of the Sage Advice in my game, so the FAQ omits about 75% of what I would find useful.
There are two sets of questions being mixed here.
1. Can The Sage operate a message board to answer questions?
2. Can Paizo release a compilation of all Sage Advice Q&A?Time is a factor in the first.
Money / marketability is a factor in the second.
To respond generally, to this thread......
Wizards of the Coast, have collated all the Sage Advice into several "FAQ" files, which can be located by following the links to the rules of the game section, you can also find errata for several of the manuals there too.
The FAQ's are divided between 3.0 and 3.5 rule systems, most of the 3.0 rules are relivant to 3.5, but the system has changed somewhat so it does make it confusing as there may be cases where something was relevant under 3.0 and is no longer relivant under 3.5.
It would be nice if all the FAQs were updated to 3.5, as the questions are still as relevant now as when they were asked although it is ulikely the same question and with the same answer will republished and make it into the official 3.5 FAQ.
As to the fact of 75% of the questions asked of the sage not being published, it is likely far more than that, a majority of the questions are likely to have a simple answer if you read the books, previous FAQ etc.
A lot of the questions are likely to be the same or deal with very uncommon circumstanses. Both of these would cancel themselves out of the equasion, as simular questions are usually answered in one answer on sage advice and those circumstances that either would affect 1 in a million characters or never in reality come up are not worthy of a published answer.
So the term FAQ is a good one as it means, frequently asked questions.
I'm suprised there isn't a permanent "Sage Advice" thread here, there are or must be quite a few rules discussion groups, Living Greyhawk has a Yahoo group dedicated just to discussing rules called Infinate Monkeys which I am a meber of. Although we seldom agree on any one ruling where the rules trully are vague or ambigious, a majority of the questions can be found answers.
One factor that frustrates me with such unofficial lists is the reluctance of some people to see others points of view and to seek a difinitive ruling from a higher authority such as the sage, where differences of opinion exist.
Such a thread would be a great sounding board and filter for questions for the sage, "first ask your peers here", kind of approach, if they can't answer your questions or give conflicting answers, post your questions to the sage with or without the answers already given.
For example on Infinate Monkies, we have debated several of these questions to no firm solution.
What size is an Ebony Fly, small like a pony or large like a hippogryph?
What happens when you cast Brambles onto a Shilaghled club?
Does ability reduction stack? Such as from Blasphemy or ray of enfeeblement. Does it stack from multiple castings of each spell, and/or with each other.
It's worth noting here that Blasphemy is an instantanious duration spell, that gives lasting penalties, so should stack with it's self and its effects should not be dispellable, while ray has a duration and could be the opposite.
Some of these treads were killed as the argument went on too long or just got to heated.
Regards Frostie................