James,
Just curious why you chose the domains you did for Dagon? Did you consider giving him access to the Blackwater or Ocean domains from Stormwrack, at least for those who have access to that source?
To serve as a strawman, I might have picked Blackwater (SW), Entropy (FC1), Ocean (SW), and Water.
Just curious,
--Eric
Creative Director
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I gave him Chaos and Evil because all demon lords grant those two domains, leaving me 2 more to give him without breaking the unspoken rule that demon lords grant no more than 4 domains. He gets the Entropy domain because that domain's tied to the dawning of the multiverse and Dagon was there to see it, and he gets the Water domain becasue he's associated with water.
Ocean'd be a fine domain to give him in place of water. Blackwater might work too... but if I recall correctly, there's a lot of undead stuff associated with that domain? Dagon's not as heavy into the undead scene, even if they are aquaitc.
Anyway, giving him more than one water-themed domain short-changes his other roles, I think.
Another domain one might give him in place of Entropy could be divinaiton, or prophecy, or something like that.
What's wrong with a deity (or demon lord in this case) granting all the domains that would make sense for it anyway (other than Deities & Demigods statistics)?
I gave him Chaos and Evil because all demon lords grant those two domains, leaving me 2 more to give him without breaking the unspoken rule that demon lords grant no more than 4 domains. He gets the Entropy domain because that domain's tied to the dawning of the multiverse and Dagon was there to see it, and he gets the Water domain becasue he's associated with water.
Ocean'd be a fine domain to give him in place of water. Blackwater might work too... but if I recall correctly, there's a lot of undead stuff associated with that domain? Dagon's not as heavy into the undead scene, even if they are aquaitc.
Anyway, giving him more than one water-themed domain short-changes his other roles, I think.
Another domain one might give him in place of Entropy could be divinaiton, or prophecy, or something like that.
Interesting. Thanks. I figured you had some unwritten rules, which I was trying to figure out. ;-)
Blackwater is a "darkened depths" / "undead" related domain. The former aspect of the domain definitely applies. The latter is a much weaker tie. However, I figured that Dagon probably taught Demogorgon the secret of creating death knights, so that might suggest a small undeath tie.
--Eric
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Creative Director
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What's wrong with a deity (or demon lord in this case) granting all the domains that would make sense for it anyway (other than Deities & Demigods statistics)?
Nothing, really, just that it makes for a long and possibly overwhelming list for some deities. Also, by keeping a deity's list of domains narrow, you can justify more deities in your pantheon and each one will be different than the other. Granting deities a lot of domains tends to blur the lines between them, robbing them of their unique flavor.
Nothing, really, just that it makes for a long and possibly overwhelming list for some deities. Also, by keeping a deity's list of domains narrow, you can justify more deities in your pantheon and each one will be different than the other. Granting deities a lot of domains tends to blur the lines between them, robbing them of their unique flavor.
That's the way I always saw it. As for robbing them of their flavor, there is nothing like a 22 lb. buttsteak carved from Set's rump. You can taste the Egypt!
Is there a Madness domain in any of the books? If so, which book, and what does it entail?
(Yes, yes, I'm hopelessly bound to my Lovecraftian roots. I'm still clinging desperately to the notion that anyone in my campaign who even learns the name "Dagon" should suffer some mild form of insanity, like finding all food repulsive except fish chowder. Anyone who plunges deeper into Dagon's lore should, of course, end up as a briny, slavering, bug-eyed, homicidally insane sea creature who's rarely invited to afternoon tea anymore.)
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Creative Director
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Yes; Madness was introduced in "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" as a domain, I believe, and has since been reprinted several times. It's in "Lords of Madness," for sure... and anyone who's into Lovecraftian D&D should certainly check out "Lords of Madness" (end shameless plug).
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Interesting. Thanks. I figured you had some unwritten rules, which I was trying to figure out. ;-)Blackwater is a "darkened depths" / "undead" related domain. The former aspect of the domain definitely applies. The latter is a much weaker tie. However, I figured that Dagon probably taught Demogorgon the secret of creating death knights, so that might suggest a small undeath tie.
--Eric
Interesting, indeed!
So far I thought that there was some top secret document at Paizo/ WotC stating by which rules some not yet reveiled D&D things like "Creation of Demon Lords" work.I wasn't aware of the fact that even WotC authours don't have access to all the information! Or is that top secret document about demon lord creation just on your mind, James? ;-)
Greetings,
Günther
Interesting, indeed!
So far I thought that there was some top secret document at Paizo/ WotC stating by which rules some not yet reveiled D&D things like "Creation of Demon Lords" work.I wasn't aware of the fact that even WotC authours don't have access to all the information! Or is that top secret document about demon lord creation just on your mind, James? ;-)
Greetings,
Günther
A big part of designing is reverse engineering design philosophies and applying them to a new location. Likewise, it's important to know the breadth of rules well enough to see opportunities to reuse existing rules rather than create new ones.
--Eric
Yes; Madness was introduced in "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" as a domain, I believe, and has since been reprinted several times. It's in "Lords of Madness," for sure... and anyone who's into Lovecraftian D&D should certainly check out "Lords of Madness" (end shameless plug).
Excellent! I've tip-toed up to the edge of "Lords of Madness" several times but never stepped over. Time to snag a copy. (The allure of "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft" has faded given its omission of the full castle-interior map, so I'll use the cash I'd set aside for that).
D&D's handling of madness has always disappointed me, at least with respect to spells. The confusion and insanity spells are practical for combat but offer little to the roleplaying experience. I'm intrigued by the notion that "Unearthed Arcana" imports sanity points from CoC. But it seems there should be a broader way to incorporate madness, even (or perhaps especially) magical madness, into the game, one with gradual, long-term effects of many different kinds and severities. I hope "Lords of Madness" fills this hole!