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Thanks, you two are very helpful.

Read most of the link, think I will finish it a bit later, alot to take in.

And yeah, Dwagin I am interested. past two, maybe three days been looking up on Mulhorand and Set, planning out a Bio and description, for a new Cleric I am going to be making, to follow him.

If I made a character with 1 Ranger level and I had a summon reskinned into a Flesh Golem, should I be slammed?

Uncle-Opustus wrote:

If I made a character with 1 Ranger level and I had a summon reskinned into a Flesh Golem, should I be slammed?

I assume the summon is coming from a different class since you don't have your spells or Animal Companion until later lvls? And to answer your question: yes. Yes you should. ::nod nod nod::

It would be a reskinned Mummy Dust. Not sure if Flesh Golems have any trouble with the balance, so that's basically why I'm asking. My common sense isn't working.

I don't see what the issue is, unless you RP being a ranger in the church of a god who opposes.. flesh golems. I can't think of any.

Uncle-Opustus wrote:

It would be a reskinned Mummy Dust. Not sure if Flesh Golems have any trouble with the balance, so that's basically why I'm asking. My common sense isn't working.

Ah, gotcha. Yes they do. They're animated parts of the dead so it's the same effect as undead for a protector. All Golems are a bit of a poor choice for protectors to be honest. But as long as it's not a flesh Golem, you're good.

Well, I wouldn't compare them with undead, but they're certainly not socially acceptable. They're stitched together from several dead bodyparts, and animated with an evil spell. Depends on the ranger, though.

Honestly, I don't think they have too big a trouble with the Balance. Sure, they don't turn into mould when they should, but w/e. There aren't any souls strapped with those Frankensteins, right?

I would. At face value, it's pretty much the same thing. Undead is animated dead. A flesh golem is animated dead except it's random body parts from different humanoids. He's asking about protectors so I assume this character is a protector which makes it a very bad choice. You'll have The protectors and the Kellies trying to hunt you down like mad.

Uncle-Opustus wrote:

Honestly, I don't think they have too big a trouble with the Balance. Sure, they don't turn into mould when they should, but w/e. There aren't any souls strapped with those Frankensteins, right?

That's the funny part actually. A lot of undead is just animated, no soul is there. Golems on the other hand -all- have souls in them. They have the soul of an elemental from the plane of earth.

Well, I knew that, but I meant that: "They don't have a soul of a mortal, ripped from the Fugue Plane, right?"

Uncle-Opustus wrote:

Well, I knew that, but I meant that: "They don't have a soul of a mortal, ripped from the Fugue Plane, right?"

Nope.

Nope, and you can't create any undead like that, anyhow. All undead with souls have become undead willingly/spontaneously or whatever.

It's a really vague and theoretical question without specifics. Would the ranger's patron care? Probably not, unless he was a devoted figure in the church of a fanatic pro-nature god (acting as a priest of Silvanus, for example), but most people would still think you're a criminal freak and should be hunted down.

IronAngel wrote:

Nope, and you can't create any undead like that, anyhow. All undead with souls have become undead willingly/spontaneously or whatever.

It's a really vague and theoretical question without specifics. Would the ranger's patron care? Probably not, unless he was a devoted figure in the church of a fanatic pro-nature god (acting as a priest of Silvanus, for example), but most people would still think you're a criminal freak and should be hunted down.

Indeed. Hence, if you're a protector, bad choice. If you're a ranger of like... Shaundakul or something and not a protector, go for it. But yeah, don't be surprised when Kellies and Protectors start hunting you down.

Yarp, I have played a Kelly myself for quite some time, so I know what to expect. Right'o, it'll be all fit RP-wise, then. Thank you for your responses!

I'm hunting for Kara-Tur religious lore. More specifically, I'm looking for any and all religious lore I can find regarding Wa and Kozakura. To be even more specific, I'm looking for some lore on gods, spirits, etc. that are worshiped. I have some, I want more!! More I say!!! ::ahem:: Please?

Can someone help me find information on Mylocks?

I know this is lazy but a quick google isn't helpful in this case.

On mylocks, I think that's research you ought to do in game. Not much of it is public yet, as far as I know. Suffice to say, it's public knowledge that they've been there as long as locals can remember, and they look like cows.

Kozakura has Eight Million Gods (shinto) and the Way of Enlightenment (Buddhism);

Quote:

This ancient religion is a collection of beliefs and rituals
that relate to various nature deities. There is no
great teacher or book for the Eight Million Gods, nor
uniform rituals of worship. Observances vary from
deity to deity and shrine to shrine.
Shrines dedicated to the Eight Million Gods fall into
two categories—first shrines and normal shrines.
First shrines have been officially recognized and supported
by the emperor and other nobles for centuries.
They are often located in the old districts of cities
and provincial capitals, and are larger and more powerful
than other shrines. Many establish branches in
other provinces to promote their particular beliefs
and acquire a larger economic base of support.
Normal shrines are often built and supported by
local peasantry. They may commemorate past events,
ensure good harvests, ward off evil influences, or
even appease powerful evil beings. Local nobility also
support shrines, particularly in towns or villages near
their homes.
Regardless of the type, most shrines are independent
and unrelated to others. They are usually associated
with a site of natural beauty or legendary
significance, and may be found on the slopes of major
mountains, along river banks, by the sea, or hidden
away in forests. Many important shrines are dedicated
to the sun goddess and the emperor, who is
believed to be of divine ancestry.
Worship at these places often consists of ritual purification,
offerings of food or donations of money, and
prayers. At least once a year major shrines have more
elaborate festivals, involving sacred dances, bonfires,
and processions through the streets.

There's a specific goddess mentioned, Neutral Evil Chirasu. Patron of ninjas, yakuza and stealth.

Quote:

The Way of Enlightenment was brought to Kozakura
by Shou Lung priests in the year 462, during the
reign of the Emperor Shotoken in the Eighth Cycle,
and is almost identical to the Path of Enlightenment
practiced in Shou Lung. This well-organized religion
draws lessons from the life and speeches of its great
teacher in an effort to guide men to spiritual perfection.
This religion is divided into three main schools of
belief in Kozakura.
Toro-dai is the most popular school. To attain spiritual
elevation under these teachings, a believer need
only repeat a single verse over and over. The power of
the mystical chant eventually bestows enlightenment.
Torodai is very popular with common folk, since it is
an easy teaching to follow.
Kanchai reveals to its followers an elaborate structure
of invisible spirit creatures, some good and some
evil. These creatures seek to help or harm, according
to their natures. Worshipers hope to gain the favor of
good spirits and avoid the wrath of evil ones. The Kanchai
school draws freely upon the ideas and beliefs of
the Eight Million Gods, sharing many of the same deities,
spirits, and fantastic creatures.
Konjo is the highly esoteric third school of the Way
of Enlightenment. This school uses the strict methods
of meditation and contemplation to show that material
things are only passing illusions that will change
and decay. What matters is the strength of the person
’s spirit. This school is very popular with samurai
and the ruling lords, much of whose thinking is influenced
by the Knojo school. Of all schools, it is the most
difficult to follow and most true to the original intention
of the Way of Enlightenment.
Temples. Each school is a nation-wide organization,
encouraging worship in temples built to venerate
a specific deity or group of deities. A temple is
almost always associated with a particular school, and
is often built on a site which has special religious significance
to that school. If a site has meaning to several
schools, there may be several different temples
clustered around it. It is acceptable for the same deity
to appear in two different temples, sponsored by different
schools of the Way of Enlightenment.
The temples of Kozakura and the schools which
sponsor them represent a powerful political force.
The main temple of each school, located in the capital
of Dojyu, ensures that the sect is represented in the
affairs of the court. Provincial temples representing
that school are branches of the one in the capital, contributing
taxes to the order and giving the main temp
l e a b r o a d p o w e r b a s e . S m a l l e r s o - c a l l e d
“subscription” temples represent the interests of the
provincial temple throughout a province, collecting
donations in their turn and providing sohei when
called upon for support.
Monasteries. Monasteries are also associated with
each school. Generally built in secluded places, they
are centers of training and religious instruction.
Many are merely meditative centers, while others
incorporate harsh training in the martial arts, producing
the monk character class. Where a monastery is
located in more peaceful surroundings, emperors,
nobles, noble widows, and samurai find it fashionable
to retire to monasteries when they grow tired of the
physical world. This retirement may be permanent,
but many a retired warrior or statesman has returned
to the world when needed by family, emperor, or
cause.

This is on Wa. The Path of Enlightenment is the same as the Way of Enlightenment: the latter is a misspelling, because "the Way" is another religion altogether, namely Taoism.

Quote:

Although Wa has no official state religion, only the
Path of Enlightenment is formally sanctioned. Other
religions are tolerated at best, actively suppressed at
worst. There are over 75,000 shrines and temples in
Wa, the vast majority of them dedicated to the Path.
There are a number of sects who openly worship
the Eight Million Gods. While not openly encouraged,
it is accepted as a non-corrupting religion. The Nine
Travelers, the oldest faith of Wa and practiced by
many of the lower classes, is also tolerated, though
the Nine Travelers precept that any man can rise to
become emperor is considered offensive by the upper
class.
Worship of Chantea is strictly prohibited and punishable
by death. Originally introduced by a strange
race from the west, the Chantea faith was officially
eradicated after the Juzimura rebellion of 1755. However,
it is suspected that Chantea worshippers still
practice the forbidden faith in isolated areas of the
country.
Four spirits are believed to guard the land. Jikoku is
the Guardian of the east. Zocho, the Watch of the
Lands, guards the south. Komoku the Wide Gazing
guards the west, and Bishamon the Wide Hearing
guards the north. Of all, Bishamon is the most
beloved. All appear as mighty warriors dressed in
golden armor. They carry swords and spears and ride
demonic steeds.

This is the Nine Travellers stuff mentioned:

Quote:

The Nine Travelers is probably the oldest faith in
Shou Lung; popular among the lower classes. Yet, for
all of this, it is probably the weakest, having almost no
temples or organized priesthood. It’s power comes
from the fact that it is extremely popular among the
mandarinate, for its basic tenet is that even the lowliest
commoner can become a ruler of men. As the
mandarinate became the ruling party of the bureaucracy,
this faith was promoted to establish their position
of rulership, so that by the mid Kao Dynasty, a
great deal of work had been written on the subject.
This was opposed somewhat by the nobility, who recognized
a political threat when they observed one.
The Nine Travelers faith considers the Nine to be
immensely powerful beings of the Celestial Bureaucracy,
and in this, they may have approached closer to
the truth than any other religion. They consider Heaven
to be a vast mirror of the Empire below, with a
Celestial Government, Bureaucracy, and Emperor (all
of which is true, actually). They err in arguing which
of the Nine is the leader, but in all other things, they
are quite correct.
One way in which the mandarinate has reinforced
its claims upon the bureaucracy is by legitimizing the
Book of Heaven. This four-volume work is heavily
based upon the concepts of the Path, but refers to
these within the context of the Nine Travelers’ reigns.
The mandarinate has made knowledge of the Book of
Heaven an important part of the civil service examination.
Often, miraculous events (such as the appearances
of the Chu Jen Yin, or Giants in Gray) are attributed to
actions of the Nine. Because the mandarinate has a
vested interest in the promotion of this faith, they
immediately call out a Board of Inquiry for each
event, compiling vast scrolls of information and “not
proven” and “possible” verdicts. It is somewhat ironic
that this “faith of clerks” may well be the most accurate
depiction of the Celestial Empire man has ever
devised, yet suffers from disbelief simply because it is
so mundane in aspect

IronAngel wrote:

On mylocks, I think that's research you ought to do in game. Not much of it is public yet, as far as I know. Suffice to say, it's public knowledge that they've been there as long as locals can remember, and they look like cows.

Oh they're Amia only creatures? Cool.

Sweet! Thanks.

ticket wrote:

IronAngel wrote:

On mylocks, I think that's research you ought to do in game. Not much of it is public yet, as far as I know. Suffice to say, it's public knowledge that they've been there as long as locals can remember, and they look like cows.

Oh they're Amia only creatures? Cool.

They don't literally look like cows. -.- They resemble a sort of cross between Gnolls and Minotaurs, and are heavily armored, which is why they use the minogon model.

TormakSaber wrote:

ticket wrote:

IronAngel wrote:

On mylocks, I think that's research you ought to do in game. Not much of it is public yet, as far as I know. Suffice to say, it's public knowledge that they've been there as long as locals can remember, and they look like cows.

Oh they're Amia only creatures? Cool.

They don't literally look like cows. -.- They resemble a sort of cross between Gnolls and Minotaurs, and are heavily armored, which is why they use the minogon model.

Well it doesn't help that the entire area "moo's".

TormakSaber wrote:

ticket wrote:

IronAngel wrote:

On mylocks, I think that's research you ought to do in game. Not much of it is public yet, as far as I know. Suffice to say, it's public knowledge that they've been there as long as locals can remember, and they look like cows.

Oh they're Amia only creatures? Cool.

They don't literally look like cows. -.- They resemble a sort of cross between Gnolls and Minotaurs, and are heavily armored, which is why they use the minogon model.

No, it's not heavy armor that they wear, they have armor-like skin.

Quote:

The native Myrats, a race of iron-skinned giants, are enslaved and forced to build a dark temple to focus the power of the creators in the valley of the Skull Crags. The temple is then used to create a race of twisted, violent hybrides from the peaceful Myrats called Mylocks. This also costs the Myrats the lifes of the females of their race, dooming them to slow extinction. The temple is also used to spawn other slaves, horrid beastmen and yetis, to name a few things spawned by its dark magic.

o0GuNz_N_RoSeZ0o wrote:

TormakSaber wrote:

ticket wrote:

IronAngel wrote:

On mylocks, I think that's research you ought to do in game. Not much of it is public yet, as far as I know. Suffice to say, it's public knowledge that they've been there as long as locals can remember, and they look like cows.

Oh they're Amia only creatures? Cool.

They don't literally look like cows. -.- They resemble a sort of cross between Gnolls and Minotaurs, and are heavily armored, which is why they use the minogon model.

No, it's not heavy armor that they wear, they have armor-like skin.

Quote:

The native Myrats, a race of iron-skinned giants, are enslaved and forced to build a dark temple to focus the power of the creators in the valley of the Skull Crags. The temple is then used to create a race of twisted, violent hybrides from the peaceful Myrats called Mylocks. This also costs the Myrats the lifes of the females of their race, dooming them to slow extinction. The temple is also used to spawn other slaves, horrid beastmen and yetis, to name a few things spawned by its dark magic.

Quibble. An Armadillo is heavily armoured. An Ankhylazysaurus is heavily armoured.

PepsiSaber never mentioned nothing about heavy armour.

You FAIL druidic gun.

Think about what armour is derived from.

MoshingChris wrote:

Quibble. An Armadillo is heavily armoured. An Ankhylazysaurus is heavily armoured.

PepsiSaber never mentioned nothing about heavy armour.

You FAIL druidic gun.

Think about what armour is derived from.

Touche, but it's still good to point out that their armor is iron-like skin and not armor they put on.

And it's armor, not armour. So -you- fail, sir! You fail! Muahahahaha! Muahahahaha! ::chokes on fail cookie::

:cry:

Quote:

Also, especially British, armour.

Dictionary.com supports my spelling!

Taken from French thus -our!

And Tormak said armoured, not wearing armour

Anyway, mute point.

MoshingChris wrote:

Quote:

Also, especially British, armour.

Dictionary.com supports my spelling!

I hate you! :cry:

Quote:

The native Myrats, a race of iron-skinned giants, are enslaved and forced to build a dark temple to focus the power of the creators in the valley of the Skull Crags. The temple is then used to create a race of twisted, violent hybrides from the peaceful Myrats called Mylocks. This also costs the Myrats the lifes of the females of their race, dooming them to slow extinction. The temple is also used to spawn other slaves, horrid beastmen and yetis, to name a few things spawned by its dark magic.

Ummm... where did you find this? >.>

Its on the Amia wiki. In the history. Third bullet.

http://amiawiki.shatuga.com/index.php/Amia_Timeline

I've never read that, ever, but it does explain why the skull crags was always a terrible motley assortment of monsters, and the stupidity of having 3 and 4 green dragons in a spawn all with white dragon breath.

That said: No sir, I don't like it.

Yurell wrote:

Anyway, mute point.

That would be a 'moot' point.

Xaviera wrote:

Yurell wrote:

Anyway, mute point.

That would be a 'moot' point.

Yeah! Damn Aussies and their weirdo spelling!

I got few questions about Paush
Is he a demon prince like Graz'zt or just extremely powerfull demon?
Does he rule entire layer of Abyss or his influecence limited only to Zanshibon?
What of Tanar'ri in the wastelands ? Are they rebels or troops of rival demon prince or something entirely different and why are they in war with Paush/Zanshibon?
Could Paush grant spells like demon princes, can a blackguard recieve a "dark blessing" from Paush ?

Are the Shadows summoned by the Shadow Variant spells and Shades trully Undead or Outsiders?

In Amia, it says race is Undead on the stat sheet, but from what I remember of the PnP spell it says character uses the material of the Shadow Plane to create the spells.

Kirri wrote:

I got few questions about Paush
Is he a demon prince like Graz'zt or just extremely powerfull demon?
Does he rule entire layer of Abyss or his influecence limited only to Zanshibon?
What of Tanar'ri in the wastelands ? Are they rebels or troops of rival demon prince or something entirely different and why are they in war with Paush/Zanshibon?
Could Paush grant spells like demon princes, can a blackguard recieve a "dark blessing" from Paush ?

those questions IMO are best left to being asked ICly.

Shadows are undead that live on the Plane of Negative Energy. Unless there's yet another variant of those creatures that I don't know about, a creature called "Shadow" is a normal undead thing.

Don't confuse them with the Amia homebrew SD summons: PnP-wise, they're the usual undead Shadows too, but Amia has some lore to make them "undead-like but not actually": that is, they're created from some stuff of the Plane of Shadow and animated by negative energy like undead, but they've never been alive and aren't persons, therefore the typical blasphemous bit doesn't apply.

EDIT: Monster Manual 3.5, page 221.

Another weird question:

Can anyone tell me the magical properties of slaad tongues? >_>

I know, random bit of lore, but I remember in the OC, there is is a wand, I think arcane disjunction, that you use I think fire bettle's belly and slaad tongue in to make it.

Along with that, any other random body parts of magical creatures with specific properties? Like fire bettles belly and Amia's demon's eyes I guess.

o0GuNz_N_RoSeZ0o wrote:

Xaviera wrote:

Yurell wrote:

Anyway, mute point. :P

That would be a 'moot' point. :P

Yeah! Damn Aussies and their weirdo spelling! :x

That one's just me.

Dark Immolation wrote:

Another weird question:

Can anyone tell me the magical properties of slaad tongues? >_>

I know, random bit of lore, but I remember in the OC, there is is a wand, I think arcane disjunction, that you use I think fire bettle's belly and slaad tongue in to make it.

Along with that, any other random body parts of magical creatures with specific properties? Like fire bettles belly and Amia's demon's eyes I guess.

I would say find out ICly go to the Mystra tower and find a few mages to help great way to spend a couple hours.

Charles1810 wrote:

Dark Immolation wrote:

Another weird question:

Can anyone tell me the magical properties of slaad tongues? >_>

I know, random bit of lore, but I remember in the OC, there is is a wand, I think arcane disjunction, that you use I think fire bettle's belly and slaad tongue in to make it.

Along with that, any other random body parts of magical creatures with specific properties? Like fire bettles belly and Amia's demon's eyes I guess.

I would say find out ICly go to the Mystra tower and find a few mages to help great way to spend a couple hours.

Slaadi tongues make excellent chewing gum.

Is there any official lore behind the plants, herbs and mushrooms found on Amia? Mostly pertaining to their use and effects, how and where they grow etc.

The grove has old notes for the herbology classes but they are mostly centered around the now nonexistent crafting system and they are missing some herbs and most underdark ingredients.

I'm pretty sure someone just made it up. I guess you could Google them, and if you find anything FR-related elsewhere there's a good chance they came from an outside source.

Zante wrote:

Is there any official lore behind the plants, herbs and mushrooms found on Amia? Mostly pertaining to their use and effects, how and where they grow etc.

The grove has old notes for the herbology classes but they are mostly centered around the now nonexistent crafting system and they are missing some herbs and most underdark ingredients.

Disco actually incorporated most of those notes into the new system, but yes, added new ones.

TormakSaber wrote:

Zante wrote:

Is there any official lore behind the plants, herbs and mushrooms found on Amia? Mostly pertaining to their use and effects, how and where they grow etc.

The grove has old notes for the herbology classes but they are mostly centered around the now nonexistent crafting system and they are missing some herbs and most underdark ingredients.

Disco actually incorporated most of those notes into the new system, but yes, added new ones.

Is that in the job description thing? I know he posted it on the forums though. I'll find it and slap on to the Grove board.

Is there some monky thing that forbids monks from using alcohol? Are monks really immune to getting pissed with that Immunity to Poison ability? Does Perfect Self mean that the monk becomes immortal?

Treat alcohol as you wish. It's quite certainly not an intended feature of the ability, but I suppose you could assume it means you won't get drunk.

There's no "monky thing" or monk code. There are no ethics or rules monks share universally. It depends on the monk and tradition/master/monaster/whatever his skills and way of life are based on.

Perfect Self has nothing to do with immortality or longevity. It gives you DR and the Outsider creature type. If you mean Timeless Body, it means you do not take ability penalties from aging and you cannot be magically aged. You die of old age like everyone else, though.

I'd take a look at some actual monastic orders for inspiration. Fantasy monks are really shallow and stereotypical. Christian and Buddhist orders are pretty interesting. Especially the early Christian desert guys in Egypt are good stuff.

IronAngel wrote:

If you mean Timeless Body, it means you do not take ability penalties from aging and you cannot be magically aged. You die of old age like everyone else, though.

Yarp, that's what I meant. And that's exactly what I was hoping to hear.

IronAngel wrote:

I'd take a look at some actual monastic orders for inspiration. Fantasy monks are really shallow and stereotypical. Christian and Buddhist orders are pretty interesting. Especially the early Christian desert guys in Egypt are good stuff.

Will do, cheers! Also, if you know a link for a better source of knowledge than wikipedia, which is getting terribly boring, do share.

Well, I've mostly read books. Not a subject I know terribly much about

These two sites offer links and material on a lot of religions, if you want to do some more research. Wikipedia isn't bad to get you started, but it doesn't really communicate much of the flavour that you'd be after for RP inspiration.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/
http://virtualreligion.net/vri/

I guess this site has some interesting stuff, but it's not easy to browse:
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/i ... stmon.html

Wikipedia has the gist of the most important Western Christian monastic rule:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_St_Benedict

Eh, I don't really know much about this subject, so I can't be very helpful.

Helpful enough, thanks.

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