MetalBard's page

Not so, according to the 3.5 SRD, the Druid's ability functions as "alternate form", which has the following stipulation:

"Except as described elsewhere, the creature retains all other game statistics of its original form, including (but not necessarily limited to) HD, hit points, skill ranks, feats, base attack bonus, and base save bonuses."

Cool, I'll have to check it out when I get a chance. The upcoming Adventure Path may get me to re-up my subscription.

What source material is the Apparatus of Kwalish in?

Oops, forgot to add my little list of RPGs:

Wasteland (played in on the Apple IIe)
Assorted Gold Box games (Pool of Radiance is top, but my memories of it are probably scattered over a whole range of titles)
Ultima Underworld and Ultimas 6, 7 and 8
Elder Scrolls (Arena & Daggerfall, Morrowind was too glum for me)
Baldur's Gate
Knight of the Old Republic is cool, but I want to see an evolution from that and Jade Empire. I feel like Bioware is on the cusp of a great new CRPG format with those games. Let's hope that they arrive at that greatness in their next iteration of games.

Baramay wrote:

Anyone anticipating the March 21 release of Morrowind: Oblivion for the Xbox 360?

Being one of the 80* or so Xbox 360 owners in the US, yes I am. :)

* This number is an approximation and might be too high. ;D

Hehe, add me to the list of Xbox 360 owners anticipating Elder Scrolls IV. I pre-ordered the collector's edition. That coin's going in my die bag as my d2.

I think I'd just make them all drinking buddies who had grown up together. As youth, they are not so much interested in having to actually go through any effort to find better work. Diamond Lake is all they know, and while they loath the place, it is home, and they've slipped into jobs that give them some spending cash. Take a look at the kids in any real life small town.. Lots are there because it is simply to much effort to leave...now if they could just get rich quick...

Sitting in the bar one night they hear the other adventurers talking about the Stirgenest Cairn.
In a drunken stuper one mumbles,

"Dath wud we aaad'u do ::belch::...We cud be adven...advent...heroes... 'Member dat plathe we use'ta ::hick:: go on da dareth? I bet ith full'o trea..tre..treasu...gold. Leth go get it ::Thud of head hitting table::".

The next morning they all find themselves decked out as best the could in the midst of the night in their drunken stupor...why is the fighter's armor on backwards?... lying in the grass infront of the Whispering Cairn with the taste of vomit still in their mouths.

"What the hell we doing here?...Is your armor on backwards?..." "Hell since we are here we might as well check it out, 'sides, my Pa's gunn'a beat me if I go home and he finds I blew all my pay last night."

This could also explain why they are being accompanied by escaped circus midgets, hookers, or any other character outside their cilque.

ASEO out

Priceless... if I ever get around to running this, I can see myself using a variation of this.

greyhawk is the best of all the campaign settings, those who don't think so are usually those obsessed with forgotten realms

Sigh... I'm a Forgotten Realms fan, but only when I DM it. It is a really good setting, but like Greyhawk, it's just a setting. When I play, I want to play in a different setting. I do have the Living Greyhawk Gazetter (as well as the Dungeon maps) and I think the setting looks really fun. I'll probably try to run the Age of Worms in Greyhawk when I get some time.

If there was a campaign setting that I was ever "obsessed" with, it would be Planescape. THAT was an awesome setting. The only setting I have a mild dislike for is Dragonlance, but I just finished playing a year long Dragonlance campaign that was fun because the DM had some good adventures for us. Sometimes I think settings in D&D campaigns just end up being window dressing once you get a really fun group of players in a campaign full of really exciting adventures. That's why I like Dungeon. It's all about the adventures (and being able to adapt them to other settings).

Great idea and good work! Unfortunately my players never give the villains time to monologue, ever.

What D&D city *doesn't* have a little Ankh-Morpork in it? :)

Diamond Lake could be some Carnivale with a little Discworld, but the Free City could definitely go with full-on Ankh-Morpork.

MetalBard wrote:

blackotter wrote:

Totally bummed that Carnivale got cancelled. Incredible characters and great writing.

Wait? When did that happen? After the season finale and the cliff-hanger they decided to CANCEL IT? That was my favorite TV show... sigh. Any links to the news of the cancellation?

http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/news/index.shtml

5.11.2005 | Carnivale Comes to a Close:

After a two-season (24 episode) run, HBO has decided not to renew its Emmy®-winning Depression-era drama, Carnivale . As Carolyn Strauss said, "We have decided not to renew Carnivale. We feel the two seasons we had on the air told the story very well and we're proud of what everyone associated with the show has accomplished."

Garnering widespread critical praise, Carnivale contributed to HBO's 32 Primetime Emmy® Award wins in 2004, landing 5 awards out of 7 nominations. The wins include trophies for Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, ending the series on a high note.

Its too bad. Daniel Knauf (the creator of the show) signed up with Showtime for a new series though... not sure what it will be.

Pardon me while I do a Vader - NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Ah well, that show was the inspiration for a Mutants & Masterminds campaign as well as more than a few D&D scenarios. Sigh, and this was when Samson had just beat out Tyrion Lannister for the "Coolest Small-Person Ever Award."

To get back onto the topic of this thread - There are a couple of things I got inspiration from in the Emerald Isle for D&D. One of them was New Grange, a very cool cairn/underground stonehenge of sorts and Glendalough, a monastic valley with very fantasy looking scenery - ruined towers and abbeys surrounding a placid lake in an idyllic valley, complete with sheep.

Some example photos:

Glendalough - http://www.avelin.hitsplc.com/IMAGES/Glendalough%20general.JPG

New Grange - http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm

Totally bummed that Carnivale got cancelled. Incredible characters and great writing.

Wait? When did that happen? After the season finale and the cliff-hanger they decided to CANCEL IT? That was my favorite TV show... sigh. Any links to the news of the cancellation?

Column Title - Total Party Kill (TPK)
Concept - This column will monthly feature descriptions featuring, singly and in combination, traps, monsters (w/ tactics), NPCs (w/tactics) and environments designed to challenge even the most tricked out 3.5 Edition god-PCs and achieve the ultimate - the Total Party Kill. The emphasis will be on clever design, misdirection and catching the unwary up by their heels - not brute force. Regular columnists will alternate, as possible, with reader submissions. Descriptions can be (usually) specific or (if its good enough) narrative.

I really like this idea. It looks like the sort of column to go to when you're really stumped on how to challenge your PCs in a new and deadly way. I could've used this a couple of times in a long-term campaign I had a few years back. Useful for not necessarily killing everyone, but presenting a challenge that is dangerous enough that the players really are worried about everyone getting killed. I see that subtle difference making or breaking the usefulness of the article.

I think it's going to be tough for me NOT to run AP2 while in grad school. We'll see if I can resist. I've been off from DMing since I started grad school and have been enjoying playing, but AP2 might just throw a wrench in those plans.

Also, I look forward to seeing what sort of SOMETHING Dungeon will be doing with that cover art. I certainly hope "something" includes making it available as a desktop wallpaper...

Oh, sorry, one other thing... just how "over-sized" will this issue be?

Holy Cow! That cover art is some of the best I've ever seen! I am in awe of the sky ripping apart in the background and the sheer size and force of movement conveyed!!!

Is there any way this cover art could be made availabe as a desktop wallpaper or some sort of hi-res image? It'd be a great way to promote the inaugural issue of Dungeon's second adventure path.

By the way, who did that piece?

True enough. That was one of those ideas you have before thinking of the logistical hurdles.

I also really liked this adventure. I'm looking at running it as a follow-up to Box of Flumph. I like the idea of the box because it represents the merchant trying to jump start his business again.

I think a great alternative "treasure" that the PCs can gain in this adventure is becoming business partners with Aubrek (sp?) and shareholders in the business that he starts up with the funds from selling off the magic items in the box. The gains could start out small, but as the characters have a greater stake in the profits, Aubrek could become a really good recurring adventure hook NPC.

Just some of my thoughts on another really great adventure in Dungeon.

I think it would be cool to have an adventure using two different WotC settings as alternate primes of each other or possibly a campaign arc that did all three (The Realms, Greyhawk and Eberron). It might be kind of fun to see how a plot could weave its way through all three gameworlds. If not, just using two would be cool as well. It wouldn't necessarily have to be world-shattering. It might be more fun to have the campaign arc represent a little blip in the continuity of the different primes involved.

I wouldn't think it would encourage "fudging" anymore than running a mega-module like Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil would.

Sounds great! I definitely want to get it when it comes out, since I have none of the adventure path Dungeon issues. Adaptation notes for Forgotten Realms and Eberron would be very useful. I would probably run it in FR somewhere around Chult, Tashalar and the Lake of Steam, judging by what I've seen of the Shackled City adventure path, but if adaptation notes showed better support for other regions and deities in FR, I might go with those instead.

Great! Now to find a way to print out such nice mini-friendly "battle sheets."

Is my little joke about doppelgangers being far from unrepresented in the Waterdeep sources.

Ah, gotcha. I was too focused on the greater/regular doppelganger discrepancy to notice the sarcasm.

Currently my PC's (10th level party) are searching for a Dungeon to loot in the Western Heartlands. Sick of saving towns for little to no hard cash they're looking for something BIG.

Now seeing as they're based out of Berdusk and frequent the Reaching wood (two PC's are associated with they Fey druid circle there) I figured the Crypt of the Wondermakers below Scornubel would work perfectly. The entrance is a Portal so I don't have to worry about the upper level of Maure castle!

So the Party Wizard, assisted by the Bard is researching the Crypt and I'm trying to figure what kind of Background info to give him. I'm thinking of replacing Mordenkainen and Bigby with Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun and Malchor Harpell. Keeping the 1,000 year timeline I figure the Maure's are a house from the Shoon Imperium.

Thankfully due to the previous adventures of the party (namely Witch of Serpents Bridge and Beast of Burden) the party is the sour graces of Yeenoghu -- which is lovely when they run into Yug-Anark...

I would have the castle's history rooted in Narfell. Maybe the wizard on the cover (can't remember his name) could be a Nar Demonbinder trying to bring back the trade.

As for the famous wizards, Khelben's a good choice, but I'd replace Malchor with Khelben's consort, Laeral Silverhand.

I guess the Wondermakers could be a fallen noble family who used to be involved in innovative creations (perhaps a rival to Lantan itself). Then they could have been drawn to the infernal realms and the ways of the Nar Demonbinders in order to get an edge on the competition (either through demonic innovation or business practices).

Hope that was somewhat helpful...

Eric Boyd wrote:

The adventures will revolve around why there are so few of a particular monster type in the City of Splendors...

Must be doppelgangers.

Really? Might be so, but I know that my City of Splendors boxed set has greater doppelgangers as a new monster (for 2nd ed. of course) and they appear in different places throughout the text. What sources have talked about doppelgangers not being in Waterdeep?

Will there be an online supplement to Dungeon 121? They are really useful for having the maps ready for game sessions and I was wondering when or if the current issue's supplement would be available. I really hope the online supplements haven't been suspended.

Well, it would be cool that in the issue that the city map came in, the City of Greyhawk would be featured as an in-depth backdrop. For those of us with only the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer's info to go on, it would be a very popular issue (the Gazetteer is great though, I love reading through it and discovering the world of Greyhawk).

That's too funny. I'm tempted to order the thing.

So how about it, Dungeon? Any chance of a rewrite of this one for v.3.5?

I remember seeing the mid-90s one and being very disappointed. If there was a re-write of an older, better version that would be great. I've always liked Baba-Yaga.

I don't think there ever was one. I would be very interested in getting it if it did become available.

Hey all, thanks for the kind words and I certainly hope I can live up to your expectations. ;-) Since Erik Mona talked about this, I guess I can too. The adventures will revolve around why there are so few of a particular monster type in the City of Splendors, a balance of power that's being upset, and involve adventuring in the city proper and below.

--Eric

Eric - Serpent Kingdoms was awesome and I'm really looking forward to Waterdeep. I am eagerly awaiting issue #126. It looks like both will coincide quite nicely around the end of July :)

MetalBard wrote:

To some people, it seems that Cormyr was left hanging, but that's probably a good thing adventure-wise.

Have you read "Elminsters Daughter"? It continues the timeline, and I believe Cormyr has stabilized somewhat.

I've been eyeing it for a little while. I'd like to get it when it's out in paperback. Is it any good? I just picked up Silverfall, since that's out in paperback and I'm looking forward to reading it.

I just started DMing this campaign arc on Sundays and so far it's been amazingly fun. Kudos!

But...tigers? As random encounters? I'm from Canada and was picturing a northern Alberta farmland/plains/praries sort of climate...the tigers took me by surprise. Which is bad, cause then they can pounce. Ow!

-Amber S.

Think SIBERIAN tigers... <grin>

I too would love to see a campaign back-drop set in the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar. It could contain some interesting post-Azoun Cormyr lore and plots, given the location. To some people, it seems that Cormyr was left hanging, but that's probably a good thing adventure-wise. It would be interesting to see how Cormyr's new situation would affect Eveningstar.

Does Eric L. Boyd do an appropriate amount of research for his projects?

Do you like Waterdeep?

Are you willing to buy three consecutive issues of Dungeon just for the FR content?

Just wondering.

--Erik

I would extend my subscription in a heart beat if Eric L. Boyd was doing a campaign arc in Waterdeep. It has been very well developed, so there is a lot that can be done with the city, especially with the locales of Skullport and Undermountain added in to all the great locations throughout Waterdeep (Can't forget the Yawning Portal Inn!).

Waterdeep is probably my favorite place in the realms and a campaign arc focused on it (and only peripherally on undermountain and skullport) would be awesome.

Actually, I have a deal for you. If that sort of campaign arc is ever announced I will extend my subscription as soon as possible to ensure that this sort of "response to the fans" content gets the treatment it deserves that someone like Eric L. Boyd could give to it.

I think I've sprung situations 1, 2 and 4 on my players at various points of a rather long campaign. It would be interesting to see some moral "gray" areas in Dungeon adventures. Some of those situations may be a bit much for Dungeon, but some could make the occaisional adventure just a little more intriguing.

The 3e FR books have been very good, but has sadly not supplied much ready-to-go material, like the very cool Marsember adventure a couple of issues back. A region sourcebook can explain what the setting is like, but a well written adventure can show you what the setting is like, and the recent FR books has done little of the later.

For example, "Woe to Mistledale" is a very cool FR adventure because its strong ties to the setting, so I'm really looking forward to the new Skip Williams adventure.

The 3e Shining South, Underdark and the Serpent Kingdoms included a couple of mini adventures, but it has not been nearly enough, so increased support in Dungeon would be great. Another "problem" was that the Shining South and Underdark adventures was fairly generic and thus added little to the setting.

So, a mini campaign like the Istvin arc would be great!

I whole-heartedly agree. While the sourcebooks are great, the mini adventures are really just encounters.

Maybe something like a campaign arc could be a helpful sales tool for a recently published Forgotten Realms sourcebook. You have the back-drop and then cite the new realms book as a source of all the new coolness in the adventure setting as well as a good resource for expanding the arc into a larger campaign.

Forgive my ignorance, but is the city of Cauldron from the adventure path the very same city called Cauldron on the Greyhawk map across the sea to the south of Keoland?

How have you guys typically structured or worded a submission proposal? How much of the adventure is fleshed out? Also what sort of outline format have you been able to use successfully?

Yes, I realize there are FR setting sourcebooks coming out several times a year. I was thinking on a more micro-level. An odd town or village name on a map not really mentioned anywhere and using some distinctly Realmsian power groups in the plot.

Yes, a mini-campaign would be awesome. I love the Istivin - City of Shadows campaign, and I would love to see that sort of treatment for someplace in FR that hasn't really been detailed at all or for a very long time.

I really like the Campaign Workbook section on bridges in #117 and I also liked the sounds of the underworld bit in #119

Great! I'll be looking forward to issue #121. Thanks for such a great D&D magazine!

I realize that there are probably many here that do not appreciate the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. I have been picking up Dungeon on the newstands the past couple of months and I should be getting my first subscription issue soon, but I was wondering if there were any more Forgotten Realms adventures in upcoming Dungeon issues. I have been enjoying the Greyhawk and Eberron ones (as well as the generic), but are there other people on these boards who would enjoy a little FR specific adventuring and what particular settings/elements within FR would they enjoy?

MetalBard wrote:

Could anyone here give a general over-view of what the dungeon's like?

I've read the adventure a few times, and my general overview is that it is an extremely difficult and fun dungeon crawl, in the vein of older, "classic" D&D modules. The best way for you to get a feel is to read the other "Maure Castle" stream in this forum. ASEO has kept a cool journal there of his experience running it.

Just looked through it... wow, this seems pretty cool... especially for $7. I may just have to order it tonight.

I flipped through that issue a while ago and I've gotten a subscription to Dungeon because of the new direction, but I started buying them around issue 117. I'm thinking of ordering the Maure Castle issue and if I did, having .pdfs of the maps would be great.

Could anyone here give a general over-view of what the dungeon's like? I just want to see if it's the type of thing that my group would enjoy and I can't find it on any store shelves now to give it a good second look. It seemed exciting the first time I looked through it, but it was real cursory (quick stop in a store on the way somewhere else, you know how it is). It'd be great to get a second impression.

Thanks!