AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

Yea, this is word for word from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. Cheers, Maias

I was looking for some similar information myself, as well as some additional tidbits.

Is there any kind of current conflict in Luiren, internally or externally? Pressing threats, etc.? Or in the last 20 years?

What are the military conflicts going on in general in the world? Or in a similar time frame as above.

I have a hin that had military service somewhere (either in his home or as a mercenary) in his background.

Also, what areas of the world are more hin-friendly, and what areas have functioning prison systems? heh.

brooksthegreat wrote:

Also, what areas of the world are more hin-friendly, and what areas have functioning prison systems? heh.

Hin are excepted almost everywhere, especially in human cities and such. They're... nomadic like that

Ouch, that's a difficult set of questions. I've been trying to work on a recent timeline for Amia, so that we can maybe place the end of canon history a few years back from Amia's current state, and fill in the necessary gaps ourselves. Not much progress with that project, though. >_>

I don't know about Luiren's current state. There's no recent entry in the original A Grand History of the Realms, but the published version might have something. Too bad I can't use the search command on actual paper. *grumbles, and starts shifting through pages*

Waterdeep has plenty of hin. Sahuagin and other water stuff attacked it and other places recently, in the Twelfth Serôs War. There's been minor conflicts pretty much everwhere, recently. Mercenaries would have had opportunity to engage in a dozen conflicts in the past few years. Luskan vs. Ruathym, goblins vs. Arabel, the Tuigan horde (which gathered many, many people), Rashemen vs. Thay, Zhentarim vs. the Dales, Kingdom of Many-Arrows vs. Silver Marches, Reclamation Wars of Tethyr. Elven stuff, phaerimm vs. Evereska and various evil vs. Evermeet. Recently, the Last Mythal stuff, which I'd say we're in the middle of. That'll have to be clarified in the aforementioned timeline. Rage of Dragons. The list goes on.

hmm. i will have to do more research. Where would be the best places to hunt down information on these conflicts?

and more obscure questions: what sorts of crops are cultivated in luiren? Is it known for any in particular? Are there any sorts of wildflowers particularly common? What are their drinking preferences?

And completely unrelated: what is known about the undead pirates under cordor? Where did they come from? Who were they before their undeath? How did they come to be under the city? Why are they undead? And so on and so forth..

edit: also do the hin do much mercenary work? particularly from luiren. are there any known or well-known hin mercenary troups or companies?

Uh, you could find more information in.. pretty much everything from regional source books and adventure modules to online articles, timelines and novels.

You do have a habit of asking difficult questions! Luiren info can be found in both the Shining South books, 2e and 3e. Luiren's been calm as of late, at least in the 2e timeline. Don't know of anything happening in the few years since.

I will PM you info on commerce, which also includes some info on crops and more on other food exports.

Sronghearts might do some mercenary work, though they're usually interested in protecting their homes. Lightfoots are likely mercenaries, too. There's at least one adventurer/mercenary company running around the wilds of Vaasa. Don't recall the name, though. Gold and Glory has info on some mercenary groups, but nothing on hin.

If a spell has only a verbal component (the Power Words come to mind), can you technically cast it while shackled or in any other way restrained?

Yes. You can do that with any spell that lacks a somatic component. Preparing a spell with Still Spell metamagic also removes the somatic component.

I would like to know some lore on fey, specifically pixies. I have read up on a lot of cycle info and would like to know more about their history and what would be a good cynosure for one on Amia.

any help?

I'm curious in what book or where could I find official templates for Chosen. Only ones I could find where on the net, and of course, homebrewn.

Are there even official templates or a place to get info about how specific deities go about choosing and their relationship with them?

General Chosen are an abomination, a total misunderstanding of the original concept. The only real Chosen are Mystra's, and they get various powers from Silver fire to extended lifespans and immunity to some spells. You can see many examples in The Seven Sisters.

There is a template for Chosen of Bane in Faiths and Pantheons. It's pretty stupid, though. Fzoul's the Chosen Tyrant of Bane, and there can be no other, especially not a PC. There was never a need to create a template, it's just a poor decision from WotC, yet again.

I'd call the favoured servants of various deities something else than Chosen, but I don't really have another name that would be widely understood. There's no need for templates, because these people are individuals with individual powers. Sometimes, they might not even manifest any particular powers or be aware of their special favour.

How'd you prove your point, Mystra's Chosen being the only real chosen? I mean, I've come across this quite frequently:

In extremely rare circumstances, single-classed delvesonns who are particularly favored by the Silent Keeper are selected as the Chosen of Dumathoin and may continue to advance beyond 14th level without having to earn triple normal experience points. (These normally become NPCs under the control of the DM.) After 14th level is exceeded, the delvesonns physical body begins to calcify slowly. When the petrification process is complete (usually within a decade), the Chosen of Dumathoin is composed entirely of rock, with skin of light gray hue, a heard composed of a cluster of stalactites, and normal eyes—except for the irises, which sparkle like deep green emeralds. Thereafter, the Chosen of Dumathoin is considered to be a priestly archlich, with all the attendant abilities and restrictions. Despite the strictures of the new form, the delvesonn retains full mobility and moves, sounds, and acts like a normal dwarven priest.

A long-sealed temple of Dumathoin, the Vault of Hidden Silences, still exists on the Lost Level in the depths of Undermountain beneath the city of Waterdeep. A single priest, Bandaerl Dumatheir, son of Rykos, blood of Melair, High Old One of Dumathoin, and protector of Melairbode's essence (an archlich specialty priest), guards the temple and adjoining crypts of Clan Melairkyn from unwanted interlopers and Halaster's mischief. (Further details of this temple may be found in Undermountain: The Lost Level.)

High Old One meaning Chosen, I reckons.

Anyway, I did have a real question, too. Just need to bring out Dwarves whenever I can. In which book does it describe a monk prestige class that was something about tapping into/channeling the space between planes/Far Realm? I can't remember the name of the class, and can't be arsed to scour through EVERY D&D book I have.

Well, the word and concept of Chosen specifically referred to Mystra's Chosen. Not just whatever favoured mortal servants of the deities, heads of their churches or their powerful puppets. The task of the Chosen is to preserve a portion of Mystra's power within them, to act as a power reserve and safety net should something happen to the goddess herself. (Another 4e thing that makes no sense: the Chosen exist for the very purpose of avoiding the kind of cataclysm the death of Mystra caused during the Spellplague.) They're not Mystra's servants, pawns or necessarily even allies. They may very well have their own agendas. Mystra created them, at a great cost to her own power, because of her unique nature as part of the Weave. This is something no other god has need to do. Sure, they may empower some chosen mortals to advance their cause, but they don't invest their very essence into Chosen to act as emergency batteries.

If every deity must have their special favoured servant, they can go ahead. I just don't like them being called Chosen, because they're nothing like Mystra's Chosen, the original Chosen.

I agree in part with Iron here. Chosens shouldn't be "standardised" they never were anything ordinary so there shouldn't be procedues as to how one become chosen of a certain deity.

Eg. Both Fzoul and his counterpart Malik were both chosen out of merit and specific conditions that meant their deities rewarded them.

About the names.. well I think the obvious answer is that Wotc didn't bother making a special title for each and every chosen there is of the different deities. Some of them have special titles some of the them don't.

I don't really see a problem in calling them all chosen of their paticular deity. Most people make the connection with the everyday meaning of the word rather than its realm meaning. Which would be the chosen of Mystra whom I assume to be the best known all around.

Can you remember anything lore related about the class Infernal? Can't really recall anything like that.

Finally to Blackvswhite question... I nudged Grave so he'd write you an reply. He's one of the Fey people, so I am sure he will write something smart:p

Everything I say is smart
Anyway!

blackvswhite wrote:

I would like to know some lore on fey, specifically pixies. I have read up on a lot of cycle info and would like to know more about their history and what would be a good cynosure for one on Amia.

any help?

Cynosures can be hard on Amia, as it's a persistant roleplaying place. pick a forest or a tree, anyone can go and harm it and you'd have to crux or so. Pick a person, same thing.. person leaves and you're buggered.

It's why I pick Ideals with my fey. easier to RP and gives more wiggle room to change over time and adapt to RP.

As for the type of fey to choose, you're not only limited to pixie, but it's as good a choice as any I guess.

I got one Pixie and one I won't say what is, because that'd be telling. But Nasrudin's a pixie at least.

As for history there's not much history that is written down and up for a read on fey, although there is some general "history" for fey on events that's happened and such around Amia. If you grab my fey Arro or Nas ingame, they're always happy to share.

4th edition fixed the chosen problem by calling them Exarchs

It wouldn't be a problem if, you know, the Chosen of Mystra and the other so-called "Chosen" had anything to do with eachother. But they really, uh, don't. A Chosen (of Mystra) isn't some special superpower favorite pawn of the goddess. He or she is a chosen vessel for divine power, containing a little bit of Mystra's essence and the Weave so that magic wouldn't unravel when Mystra dies. It was a difficult decision for Mystra, and every Chosen she creates takes away a part of herself. Were it for personal gain, she wouldn't do it, because it weakens her, it doesn't make her more powerful.

Therefore, the idea of every god and their mother having special favoured mortals is silly. It requires (or should require) heavy investment and sacrifice to bestow extraordinary powers on mortals, and few would profit enough to do it. Creating a true Chosen should be akin to sending an Avatar, not something you do merely to lead your church or fight the infidels. Nothing keeps a god from granting a cleric special favour without giving him part of the god's divine essence.

In short: it's lame-lame-lame! The so-called Chosen of the whole pantheon are just watered down versions of the original idea, superhero clerics with no signifigance to the divine entity itself.

Tethtoril is the Chosen of Oghma - Just try killing him on BG - He'll thundersmite you with his Chosen powers faster than you can say 'Gimp in a redrobe'

Maias227 wrote:

Can you remember anything lore related about the class Infernal? Can't really recall anything like that.

Not really, hence why I'm asking. If I'm not terribly wrong, I did come across it when browsing my .pdf collection of D&D books. It was Void Disciple or something. As far as I remember, it had something to do with the person communing or becoming one with the obscure place between Planes, drawing power from it. Included lots of meditation.

EDIT: Found Void Disciple, it's close but doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for, unless my memory fails me.

Second EDIT: It was Void Disciple. Complete Divine just explains it better than Wiki. Hurray!

anybody know any durpari lore? there isn't anything on the subraces sheet...

Short, dark skinned folk. Live in Durpar, Estagund, Veldorn and Var the Golden. Look up lore on those nations. They worship the Adama, a group of gods thought to be intertwined and also a philosophy on the oneness of all things. Think Hinduism. The deities are Selûne, Oghma, Torm, Gond and Waukeen, though they all have different names. They also worship other deities and tolerate pretty much every god apart from Mask.

Quote:

Since all deities are considered aspects of the
Adama, there are many with large followings in
the Shining Lands. The largest are the sects of
Lucha, she who guides; Curna, goddess of wisdom;
Zionil, patron of inventors, craftsmen and
creators; and Torm, the god of duty. Waukeen,
god of trade, used to have a significant following.
With the uncertainty of the god’s fate in the Time
of Troubles, most worshippers and even some
priests have been accepted in Lucha’s temples.

Obviously, Lucha is Selûne, Curna is Oghma and Zionil is Gond.

This is a bit from The Shining south, on social customs:

Quote:

Durparians are very enamored of wealth, but
this is tempered by the teachings of the Adama.
Durparians believe that showing off wealth that
one does not possess is inappropriate, as is hiding
one’s wealth. Therefore, both men and
women are fond of wearing the richest clothes,
gems, and accessories that they can afford.
Parties are frequent, lavish affairs which are
generally just a front for more business. At these
parties a shrewd trader can pick up a tip that
could make him a huge profit later. Every sizable
merchant chaka has at least two or three such
festivals every year. Entertainments tend to be
lavish, since they are an indication of how well
the merchant chaka is doing. In day to day business,
however, the feeling is a bit different. “A
comfortable customer is ready to buy” is another
maxim of the great Jeradeem. Durparian merchants
go far to make their customers comfortable.
Many merchants either have some illusion
abilities, or employ someone who does, to present
an atmosphere likeable to the customer. It
would be an extreme offense against both the
law, and the Adama, to use illusions to misrepresent
the actual items for sale. A merchant that
makes his customers comfortable by way of
magic is following accepted and expected business
practices. A drow who comes into a rich
merchant shop may end up doing his business
in a darkened room, with illusions of drow
sculptures all about. A dwarf would be led to a
room appearing to be a beautiful cave, gemstones
gleaming from the walls. Whatever a merchant
can do to make his customer more pliable
will be done.
The basic social unit of the Shining Lands is
the chaka. A chaka consists of a single extended
family. The larger chakas, however, may have
dozens of different families allied to them. The
leader of the chaka, whether male or female, is
usually the eldest family member. The best
traders are usually out on business. If a younger
sibling heads the chaka, it is because the older,
more experienced sibling is usually off trying to
make a huge deal for an immense profit.
Durparians show respect for each other by
bowing. Indeed, who bows first and how deeply
is a fine art in Durpar. According to strict social
custom, the one closer to the Adama, or the richest,
should bow first and more shallowly. The
poorer, or most unenlightened, should bow last
and deeper. The Adama requires respect when a
Durparian meets a stranger. At these times, the
average Durparian will wait to allow the stranger
to bow first. This custom is not used by Durparians
outside the Shining Lands. When traveling, a
successful Durparian merchant will adopt the
common form of greeting for the customer he is
dealing with. “No man pays well a stranger, a
friend is trusted. Greet all as friends, and you’ll
soon be on your way home with your pockets
full,” is a maxim attributed to Jeradeem.
It is seen as a spirit-raising gesture to donate to
the truly poor. A few vellims given to the needy,
however, may cost the chaka a seat on the Council
of Merchants, so most chakas do not give
money. Instead, chakas take in at least one or
two destitute people each year, and attempt to
find productive work for them. This custom
helps reduce the number of slums and homeless
in the Shining Lands. A surprisingly high number
of such unfortunates become productive
family members. All are accorded the status of a
regular chaka member. An old beggar woman
adopted into a chaka won’t become head of the
chaka, but she may be put in charge of the household.
Another maxim of Jeradeem reads “A thief
leaves you with nothing to sell. Be prepared to
defend your wares, for there are many who covet
them.” Most Durparians can defend themselves
if need be. The average Durparian merchant
away from the Shining Lands is, at least, a 4thlevel
fighter, a 6th-level thief (trader kit-see
“Adventurers in the Shining Lands”), or a 5thlevel
mage. Most mages from the Shining Lands
are illusion specialists. Not only is illusion magic
quite effective, it is seen as a lesser offense
against the Adama to slay someone with illusion
magic, rather than with destructive magic. Victims
of illusionary magic do not really die from
the spell effect. Rather, they die from their belief
in the effect (see PHB p. 82). If a victim dies, that
is fate. The Durparian merchant lays claim to all
the goods of his attacker, and leaves him lying in
the dirt. Such is the way of Adama, to let those
who harm others take their own chances.

There's a lot more, but I guess you need to pick a nation first. I'm not gonna quote the whole book for you, though.

Is time travel possible in dnd?

Really complicated question which I belive to entirely depend on setting and gm(dm).

If you mean in the Forgotten Realms setting I do not think it has happened before and not very likely to happen. Though if meant for a p&p roleplay session I suppose the game master could make a setup for it happened under very controlled circumstances.

In general D&d virtually only your imaginiation sets the boundaries, at least that is largely how I have always interpreted it.

A way for it to happen could be extremely powerful wizards possibly aided by gods to mingle around with the epic spell Safe Time as it already deals with the aspect of moving in and out of time.

If it is meant for amia I then I would say it entirely depends on what DMs think about the idea though it is certainly an extraordinaire feat of the really big kind.

There was a timetravel quest in the nwn1 OC. Dun remember how it worked though.. something with a strange plant.

Zante wrote:

Is time travel possible in dnd?

99.99999999%: No.

That remaining hundred thousandth of a percent is going to be very specifically DM monitored: Phanes are capable of low level Time Travel.

That said, there is a very special type of Inevitable ((IIRC)) that exists solely to deal with anyone who'd meddle with the timestream. In pop culture terms, think the Dahaka from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.

Technically, I mean, anything is possible... is it bad that this post coincides with a whimsical chat between me and Robert over how one might run a real time travel plot?

Probably...

and... *meeps in thought at something and just shuts up*

The Arcane Age product, Netheril: Empire of Magic, discusses time travel and how it has changed. The book is a free download on Wizards' site, so no reason not to take a look yourself. Technically, it's possible with a 9th level spell Time Conduit, and only with that specific spell, but the spell is all but unknown. Larloch would know, and Halaster, possibly the Chosen of Mystra, but not many others.

Forgotten Realms Wiki wrote:

Alternatively he can possess any creature who is being tortured, provided that the torture contravenes local laws.

A few questions about this.

1) Is it true, true for 3-3.5e?
2) Is well known is that Ilmater accepts torture if it's part of local law?

Kjetta wrote:

Forgotten Realms Wiki wrote:

Alternatively he can possess any creature who is being tortured, provided that the torture contravenes local laws.

A few questions about this.

1) Is it true, true for 3-3.5e?
2) Is well known is that Ilmater accepts torture if it's part of local law?

The fact that he can't possess such creatures doesn't mean he "accepts" it, does it? It just means it's a limit on his magical abilities.

If it said "he can possess creatures being tortured even if the law allows it, but chooses not to" I think that would give a better argument for it.

I doubt whoever wrote it gave it much though, tbh. Anyways, would be interesting if anyone could elaborate on it. What sort of dirtiness does poor Ilmater have to put up with as part of the Triad. Tyr's pushing him to accept lawful torture and slavery, mm?

fjook wrote:

Who are the creator races?

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Creator_races

If you want more direct sources try take a peek in the non 4'th edition books that are refered to at the bottom of the article.

What can people tell me about DnD Demon-Summoning Rituals, as well as Lamias and Graz'zt in general?

TormakSaber wrote:

Zante wrote:

Is time travel possible in dnd?

99.99999999%: No.

That remaining hundred thousandth of a percent is going to be very specifically DM monitored: Phanes are capable of low level Time Travel.

That said, there is a very special type of Inevitable ((IIRC)) that exists solely to deal with anyone who'd meddle with the timestream. In pop culture terms, think the Dahaka from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.

Technically, I mean, anything is possible... is it bad that this post coincides with a whimsical chat between me and Robert over how one might run a real time travel plot?

There's a certain book series (A rather good one) where Mask pops somewhere a hundred years into the future.

As another note: Inevitables are amazing.

Graz'zt;

Page 130-133 in Book of Vile Darkness

Dragon Magazine 121, Fiend's Embrace

Lamias

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia_(Dungeons_&_Dragons)

You can follow the references at the bottom to the sources and look for more about those.

Should you not have the book or the magazine please shoot me a pm on "how" to find those books.

As deamon summoning rituals I am honestly not sure to look but can't the spell gate be used to summon one? Or are you looking for more info on an evil pentargram and creepy candle kind of summoning?

All that candle stuff is just fluff. It's best done via improvisation. The bare-bones version is that you cast Gate or, more commonly, one of the Planar Binding spells. Clerics cast Planar Ally, I suppose.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gate.htm
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planar ... lesser.htm
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarallylesser.htm

If you are looking for demon info, you might want to take a look at the old planescape book, faces of evil: The Fiends. It is one of the best books on demons, and devils, youglolths and other lower planner races, I know of.

I have info on Graz'zt, in some of my source books. He was featured in a FR adventure back in 2nd edition, and is IMO one of the coolest demon lords.

If you need any specific info, just hit me up on MSN.

Awesome! Wow, great responses, guys - this information is really helpful and useful. I didn't know what would be required/necessary to summon specific demons, but I'm guessing that the Planar series of spell (or even Gate for that matter) could be Roleplayed to do it.

Also, all information on Graz'zt is appreciated. I have the Book of Vile Darkness, and I'll check it out.

Thanks again, guys!

Another good place for information on demons is the Fiendish Codex I, a 3.5 book.

For devils, it's the Fiendish Codex II, both of which are pretty good reads.

Knowing a specific demon's name is generally required to summon it. Alternately, if you've made a pact with said demon, you could have agreed on some special signal, possibly a magic item the demon gave you to call him when you cast Gate. Gate's probably better for dealing with a willing servant, because it seems to grant more freedom to handling stuff.

IronAngel wrote:

Knowing a specific demon's name is generally required to summon it. Alternately, if you've made a pact with said demon, you could have agreed on some special signal, possibly a magic item the demon gave you to call him when you cast Gate. Gate's probably better for dealing with a willing servant, because it seems to grant more freedom to handling stuff.

And, following this lore, what would be the requirement to have a DC items that cast the Gate visual and was permissible to use as a Roleplay-Only sort of open-channel for me to communicate with a certain demon?

That, or am I simply allowed to roleplay a demon I can already summon as a messenger for a larger, bigger, badder demon daddy?

Why not? As long as you don't claim to have personal connections to Demogorgon, Orcus or another named NPC/demon prince, I think it's fine.

IronAngel wrote:

Why not? As long as you don't claim to have personal connections to Demogorgon, Orcus or another named NPC/demon prince, I think it's fine.

That was sortof what I was getting at. Having a summon of mine being a messenger between myself and, say, Graz'zt. I'm guessing that would be a 'no', though.

Yeah. You'd need a DM to RP Graz'zt and his responses. The same deal as with clerical divinations. The idea is sound, though. Using Gate for that is fine, if you only ask a DM to help you.

IronAngel wrote:

Yeah. You'd need a DM to RP Graz'zt and his responses. The same deal as with clerical divinations. The idea is sound, though. Using Gate for that is fine, if you only ask a DM to help you.

Awesome. Thanks for the information!

Greetings to the masters of Lore.

I'm thinking of making a male half-drow Vhaeraun cleric 'slash' spy-assassin. I'd like to see him as part of the Ultrinnan drow, joining a house maybe or getting a position in the melee-magthere, will this work?

I understand that drow kills the freakish members of their society, so would a half-drow be able to grow up in their midst? Maybe he could be kept as a slave?

Reading around the net, they don't seem to mention half-drows much in drow society, can I assume they are able to be a part of their society?

Not as equals to Drow, no. It's possible, if unlikely, for them to ascend to a respectable position if their efforts are good enough. They would always be ridiculed for their lineage behind their backs, I suppose. And they'd probably need to explain how they came to be. (Being born to a human slave, merchant or other scoundrel living in Underport or Ultrinnan would be rather plausible, I guess.)

He would have to have joined later in life. They would kill him if he was born among them. I wouldn't say the part about the priest if I were you. To keep people from metagaming that. I'm assuming you're planning to keep that secrete? If you're not, it won't at all.

IronAngel wrote:

And they'd probably need to explain how they came to be. (Being born to a human slave, merchant or other scoundrel living in Underport or Ultrinnan would be rather plausible, I guess.)

I was thinking he would be born to a half-drow slave.

o0GuNz_N_RoSeZ0o wrote:

He would have to have joined later in life. They would kill him if he was born among them. I wouldn't say the part about the priest if I were you. To keep people from metagaming that. I'm assuming you're planning to keep that secrete? If you're not, it won't at all.

=/ What's wrong with being a priest? Is it because he's a male, wrong deity, half-drow, or all of the above?

All of the above. Vhaeraunians are sworn enemies of Lolthites, and the only reason one would be found in a Lolthite city willingly would be to secretly infiltrate the city and gather information, mess with Lolthite plans and/or convert new males to the faith.

IronAngel wrote:

All of the above. Vhaeraunians are sworn enemies of Lolthites, and the only reason one would be found in a Lolthite city willingly would be to secretly infiltrate the city and gather information, mess with Lolthite plans and/or convert new males to the faith.

Should have read the whole page about Vhaeraun. Sounds peferct though.

Thanks!

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