Vote Up A Campaign Setting 2 (Now in Open Discussion)

[DracoDei]

The grikko were planned before the thread ever got to GIANTFROG.

Ah, I see. I THINK I had figured that out. In any case, what I meant to imply was that smallfrog would hardly have been a bad direction to adapt requests for highly chaotic GIANTFROG.

Also, I do things just to be tremendously horrid.

Which reminds me, I should clarify. When I was making analogies about drill instructors and such, I didn't mean that I was picking things because they were difficult per se, I meant that I was picking what I thought would make a good campaign setting (including, but not limited to, having a high content of "pure awesome"), and not letting the difficulty level of producing whatever I was describing stop me from proposing any given thing.
In other words, to expand the analogy, this is not comparable to "Scrub the basketball court with toothbrushes after being rousted out of bed at midnight." so much as it is to something more like "In this tactical exercise the mission will be to take a fortified position defended by 100 heavily armed opponents in no more than the next 2 weeks... you each get minimal clothing and 1 week worth of rations plus 1 combat knife between the 5 of you."

[Mercenary Pen]

Taste testing suggests at least trace presence of spite.

I suppose you would know the taste of spite when you came across it.

[afroakuma]

Ah, I see. I THINK I had figured that out. In any case, what I meant to imply was that smallfrog would hardly have been a bad direction to adapt requests for highly chaotic GIANTFROG.

I dunno, I personally think that smallfrog is an apt depiction of extremely chaotic GIANTFROG.

On a less fun note, it has come to my attention that one of my Build Team members is *ahem* no longer with us. Veyr will still be contributing from outside via our other channels of communication.

In deference to the wonderful uses of having another hand around here to swat things with, I'm going to be looking into filling his spot at least from a board sense. I have an outside agent, Northwest, who I'm trying to convince to join GiantITP (I've been trying for a year, really, he's just bloody stubborn) who will be a real asset if I can convince him that signing up for a forum is not the Devil. If you see a pixie joining the ranks, that'll be him. If not, we're not going to call it a major surprise, he's exceedingly stubborn.

If I can't get Northwest to join up, then I may fish around for a new human flyswatter and contributor, or else let the chair vanish from the boards.

[DracoDei]

I dunno, I personally think that smallfrog is an apt depiction of extremely chaotic GIANTFROG.

A valid point...

In deference to the wonderful uses of having another hand around here to swat things with, I'm going to be looking into filling his spot at least from a board sense. I have an outside agent, Northwest, who I'm trying to convince to join GiantITP (I've been trying for a year, really, he's just bloody stubborn) who will be a real asset if I can convince him that signing up for a forum is not the Devil. If you see a pixie joining the ranks, that'll be him. If not, we're not going to call it a major surprise, he's exceedingly stubborn.

Afraid of getting spammed to death if he gives out his e-mail address?

[afroakuma]

Afraid of getting spammed to death if he gives out his e-mail address?

Thinks he'll clash with the moderation due to his... rather vocal views on several D&D-related issues.

[Qaera]

Couldn't he avoid the DnD Fora?

~ ♅

[DracoDei]

Couldn't he avoid the DnD Fora?

That would rather spoil the point.

[Qaera]

I mean, there are entire other areas. If he is only interested in DnD, then he could... Um... Read the rules... And follow them? You are allowed to express your opinion here. Can't hurt to give it a shot.

~ ♅

[Doc Roc]

If you need my axe, I can help a bit. And yes, Pen, I'm something of an expert on that particular bit of gastronomy.

[Zeta Kai]

If you need my axe, I can help a bit. And yes, Pen, I'm something of an expert on that particular bit of gastronomy.

This project could do much worse than having you join, to be sure. I would endorse it.

[Doc Roc]

This project could do much worse than having you join, to be sure. I would endorse it.

I might not end up contributing as much as a normal build member, but since I'd effectively be filling just half a seat, it'd probably be okay.

[afroakuma]

I mean, there are entire other areas. If he is only interested in DnD, then he could... Um... Read the rules... And follow them? You are allowed to express your opinion here. Can't hurt to give it a shot.

Yeah, but you're not allowed to express your opinion about others' opinions... which is what would get him.

Anyway, enough about him, let's talk about the next add-in race! Those following the Twitter feed know this one already, and I'm sure you'll recognize...

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Those marvelous fellows.

[Eldan]

You know, I never before realized just how much they don't look like Sharkmen.

[Othniel Edden]

It looks like we have a large and colorful amount of races, which I feel fits the setting. A bright colorful place that kills you, rather than a grim dark place that kills you. (<--nicknaming this the Sahaugin smilie)

What are the qualifications you are looking for in build team members Afro?

[Morph Bark]

You know, I never before realized just how much they don't look like Sharkmen.

More like duck-like dinosaur men ammirite?

[Eldan]

I was thinking newts, really.

[Morph Bark]

I was thinking newts, really.

Ahuh. I was always confused by the whole "eye of newt" thing and actually thought they were fictional creatures this whole time.

[Eldan]

Nope. Related to salamanders.

[The Witch-King]

Ahuh. I was always confused by the whole "eye of newt" thing and actually thought they were fictional creatures this whole time.

Actually "eye of newt," "toe of frog," "wool of bat" and all the rest of the contents of the witches' cauldron in Shakespeare refer to common folk nicknames for various herbs and not parts of animals at all. I did a quick websearch and found a source that says "eye of newt" refers to the seeds of the wild mustard plant, which resembles the eyes of newts.

Now that I think of it--what a great thing to spring on some unsuspecting players--they are given a magical recipe by a witch asking for Griffon's Wing and Fire Salamander Scale and all that and then after they obtain all these components and bring them back are told the witch was referring to herbs and that she just meant for them to go buy them from the herbalist down the street...

[zyborg]

Actually "eye of newt," "toe of frog," "wool of bat" and all the rest of the contents of the witches' cauldron in Shakespeare refer to common folk nicknames for various herbs and not parts of animals at all. I did a quick websearch and found a source that says "eye of newt" refers to the seeds of the wild mustard plant, which resembles the eyes of newts.

Now that I think of it--what a great thing to spring on some unsuspecting players--they are given a magical recipe by a witch asking for Griffon's Wing and Fire Salamander Scale and all that and then after they obtain all these components and bring them back are told the witch was referring to herbs and that she just meant for them to go buy them from the herbalist down the street...

Man, that is so evil. I approve.

[afroakuma]

What are the qualifications you are looking for in build team members Afro?

Established homebrew cred, inventiveness, good game sense, regeneration also a plus.

[Eldan]

Also, Race:Human or mostly human and the IRC skill from d20 modern. Though a masterwork PM is sufficient for that one (it gives a +2 tool bonus).

[Mercenary Pen]

Established homebrew cred, inventiveness, good game sense, regeneration also a plus.

Being sane may be a disadvantage considering the public relations side of the job, but qualifying for epic spells is pretty essential.

[AquilaRift]

Yay! I'm glad the Sahuagin got in.

[Recherché]

Going along on the theme of soul shards, what if the undead were simply a body reanimated with someone else's shard? They are truly unnatural things borne of dead flesh and stolen souls trapped together in anguish. The stolen soul and the new body do not truly meld due to the twisted magics used to join them instead remaining at odds.

Low level undead have only a single stolen soul shard reanimating them while higher level and free willed undead are composed of hundreds of disparate fragments joined together into a semblance of a self by necromancy.

Necromancers themselves are truly interesting.during their lives they steal the bits and pieces of the souls of the dead thus gaining their experience and knowledge. However this power comes at a price; the soul thief takes on more and more characteristics of the undead.

When a powerful necromancer finally does die they resurrect as an undead immediately, because of all the souls trapped within their body. Sometimes they are fairly weak undead but the most powerful of the undead including Lichs are the result of a necromancer dying but their accumulated mass of souls carrying on like nothing was missing.

[Fable Wright]

Going along on the theme of soul shards, what if the undead were simply a body reanimated with someone else's shard? They are truly unnatural things borne of dead flesh and stolen souls trapped together in anguish. The stolen soul and the new body do not truly meld due to the twisted magics used to join them instead remaining at odds.

Low level undead have only a single stolen soul shard reanimating them while higher level and free willed undead are composed of hundreds of disparate fragments joined together into a semblance of a self by necromancy.

Necromancers themselves are truly interesting.during their lives they steal the bits and pieces of the souls of the dead thus gaining their experience and knowledge. However this power comes at a price; the soul thief takes on more and more characteristics of the undead.

When a powerful necromancer finally does die they resurrect as an undead immediately, because of all the souls trapped within their body. Sometimes they are fairly weak undead but the most powerful of the undead including Lichs are the result of a necromancer dying but their accumulated mass of souls carrying on like nothing was missing.

Hm...then, how would you explain negative energy effects? Taking small parts of soul shards? Or with necromancers who don't kill people for material components, and just stick with tried & true black onyx? Or Liches, for that matter, who still remain relatively who they were? A different theory of mine is below.

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The root of this theory is negative energy- namely, that it is the siphoning of energy. When you use a Harm spell, or Inflict X Wounds, you are stealing energy from the people you are hitting with that spell. Where does the energy go? Not to the necromancer in most cases (except for Vampiric attacks, and those aren't generally considered "true" necromancy), but to something else. Possibly a dead god, or a greedy nature spirit- one way or another, the power is flowing into another being. Possibly to keep them alive, if they are devoid of prayer energy, possibly because they just wanted more power. Clerics channel energy to their gods, one of the reasons that the dark gods are generally seen as "powerful", and the light gods "weak"- the dark gods have more power at their disposal, and the light gods just keep on giving their energy away to clerics in the form of cure spells. On the other hand, the good gods get more prayers = more energy. It's roughly balanced. Wizards/Sorcerers channel the drained energy to the being that created the spell- if it was derived from an old cleric, it goes to the cleric's god. If it's from another wizard taught by another wizard (and so on) taught by some nature spirit, that's where the energy goes to. Undead, by this theory, are more or less beings whose "soul shards" are forcefully ripped from other creatures using Onyx to summon them (it being inherently attuned to aborbing energy (like light)), and then draining the energy from those shards to get the undead. The spirit is left behind, devoid of life energy, and trapped in a body that it can manipulate with relative ease- it's own. Trapped in the bone, it hungers for the energy lost from it- once it has that energy, it can leave the form and continue in the circle of life. Attacking it and disrupting the flesh of the undead causes more of it to be exposed to the energy around it, getting the spirit closer and closer to it's goal. It goes after living things for this reason- it wants their energy, and is used to ingesting things for energy. It generally doesn't work, though. Negative energy siphons the energy that they stored up in them to whatever being that gave the necromancer their skills in the first place. Positive energy makes them much closer to the amount of energy that they need to pass on, and is very efficient at it. More powerful undead are a conglomerate of souls, drawn in by more onyx and more powerful energy, and are generally built with a matrix to absorb and siphon energy to the tutor being- when energy exposes itself, the shards from the undead draw energy into them, triggering the matrix, siphoning energy from both the undead and the living being they strike. They can't absorb energy from other undead, and thus can't activate the energy drain mechanism, because the undead's energy is self-contained within the being, not all over the body as is the case with living beings.

As for the spirits/gods who take the energy- they generally get a lot more powerful, but at a cost. The energy of others tends to liken itself to a certain form. While this doesn't normally do much to affect the appearance of another, too much can warp or disfigure a being into grotesque shapes, causing them to hide their visage so as to obtain more followers. As followers leave, they become more dependent on the people actually giving them energy- their necromancers. They entice prospective necromancer with whatever they can to obtain more energy for themselves, tempting them with dark promises that they generally follow up on. (A good reputation is important.) Thus, funded necromancers. The spirits, regardless of how they got into the mess, constantly demand energy from their necromancers- even draining the necromancers themselves, bluffing that they will take all of the necromancers energy if they try to break out of the spirit's services. Thus, necromancers and the spirits are trapped in a decaying loop- the spirit gets more disfigured, and eventually loses it's sense of self with the new energy far exceeding it's original energy, and the only thing that all of the bits agree on is the need to survive- and the need to get more energy to do so. The gods themselves can't get this energy- they are out of the general circle of life- they don't, and can't, eat living beings for energy, and so the only means they can get energy is either from necromancers or prayers (people devoting their energy to their gods- it has to go somewhere, right?), and with less and less prayers flowing with their grotesque forms and increasingly erratic demands, they depend on the necromancers for their very existence. The necromancers can't leave the cycle, and wind up indoctrinating new people to take some of the pressure off of themselves, keeping the cycle going and going and going, with the spirit growing more deformed and powerful, the necromancers bringing more and more people into the fold, until a necromancer has a change of heart and begins to starve the spirit of the energy it would have gained off him.

[Zeta Kai]

Cool stuff.

I have to say that I really like this. If the Build Team doesn't put the soul shard idea into their setting (& it's never been said that they will), then I'll be appropriating the concept for myself.

[afroakuma]

So here's a fun one for you all.

Those following the Twitter know this already, but I'm going to expand on even what they've already seen: the Build Team is confirmed on no fewer than five add-in races. These races will form a "second tier" of PC choices, better suited than Monster Manual options and more complex than subraces, but less in-depth and central than those voted-in - the first tier.

[Timeless Error]

I'm going to expand on even what they've already seen: the Build Team is confirmed on no fewer than five add-in races.

Are they already decided on, or are you still considering which races will make it?

Vari vari vari vari vari vari vari vari.

[afroakuma]

Are they already decided on, or are you still considering which races will make it?

Already decided.