AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

In FR setting, Druids are better thought of as specialty priests. In other settings where they get powers from directly worshiping and "being at one" with nature, they're something all to their own. But such is not the case in FR. They're just clerics with different spells and a magical servant.

My own question:

I think it was Champions of Valor or Complete Divine that spoke about items of martyrs. Like an axe used to execute an holy hero could become holy and whatnot. Are we to assume that such much also be the case in the inverse? Weapons used to kill demons and evil people, I mean.

Another question is the innate nature of the materials of the body parts of outsiders, specifically angels and fiends/demons. It's easy to assume that clothing or items made out of the body or skin of a demon are innately evil in nature. But what of the body parts of angels? I imagine since angels are immortal(longevity speaking), it does speak questionably of a person to have an angel's skull. (How the heck did you get one, if you or someone didn't kill it?) But would such an item be innately good as well?

I can think of one or two items on Amia said to be made out of a celestial, and both of them are evil. But I'm suspecting that's via the process they were acquired or made. Is it possible that a celestial's body part could be treated as a relic, in the Catholic sense of the word? Chiefly, I'm wondering if your generic paladin could get away with carrying around a part of a celestial without someone of their clergy going "Ew! You're carrying a dead angel! Heretic!".

I know the Book of Exalted Deeds spoke of items from Martyrs..

Query: NwN's Epic Spell: Greater Ruin

Does anyone know the fluff on it or is it pretty much just the spell description?

I am pretty much wanting to double check if there is a set fluff to it or if it is left to player discretion as I think of a few fun ones for it considering my Warlock will more than likely be utilizing it.

It's a gigantic blast of untyped energy (in NWN it's positive) to the foe. If the foe dies from it, they are Disintegrated into a fine dust. by PnP anyways.

I always heard there was some Amian fluff about it being the caster "hitting the target with a strand of the pure Weave." Or something.

But from PnP, IIRC, it's just a destruction subcategory epic spell and does like Tormy said. Pretty much a high grade Disintegrate with no save.

That was Kung's idea and.... well, if you cant say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

Well the main difference is that if it was the "pure weave" it would be unavoidable magical damage. Possibly pseudo-divine in some manner or another.

But I prefer to think of it as it is what it is. Positive energy. It's rather ironic in the sense you're using the energy of creation for destructive purposes. You're pumping a target so full of energy that it ultimately destroys itself. Or at least partially. Such is what happens when organic life enters the Positive Energy Plane. It holds true to the old adage "to much of a good thing will kill you."

When you think about it, the same people that flip their wig over the "balance" and natural cycle might have a thought or two about Greater Ruin. I mean, at least Negative energy's purpose in the whole universe is to actually destroy. It's not like it's doing something that it doesn't when it naturally occurs. Using positive energy to the same effect, destroying things, seems a bit perverse under some lights.

If it's taboo to create life through negative energy, might it also be taboo to destroy it through positive? I'm asking rhetorically of course. It's definitely food for thought.

That's entirely subjective. Greater Ruin isn't alignmentally classed. none of the positive energy spells are.

Well of course, that was my whole point.

Yes, axially in the cosmic alignments, negative based life is Evil, but from an IC standpoint, not knowing all of that as an absolute, it's a lot more interesting to consider the meaning of using Positive to destroy.

hellball is in the epic level handbook. it is a stupid spell in my opinion due to the way it is written. the book simply introduces the spell without any limitations or lore behind it other than "the survivors of such call it a hellball because the ruin in leaves looks like hell on earth" blahblahblah. hate that spell, but regardless in pnp it does fire negative and acid dmg. it isnt devine even a little bit. it is simply an epic level spell able to be cast only by casters with a lvl 10 slot and high enough spell craft. the posistive dmg on amia is just a mechanical fix i guess. whenever anyone uses the spell, i just leave... annoying to deal with.

Hellball != Greater Ruin?

Hellball does do positive damage though on Amia.

Nor does the spell do negative in PnP.

A hellball deals 10d6 points of acid damage, 10d6 points of fire damage, 10d6 points of electricity damage, and 10d6 points of sonic damage to all creatures within the area. Unattended objects also take this damage. The character takes 10d6 points of damage upon casting (in addition to burning 200 XP). The character points his or her finger and determine the range (distance and height) at which the hellball is to detonate. A sun-bright, fist-sized globe of energy streaks forth and, unless it impacts a material body or solid barrier prior to attaining the indicated range, expands into its full area.

Does the world we play in have two continents, or just one big? Because i get a hunch that if you go enough East, you'll end up in kara tur... This right?

Big map
Is this accurate in any way?

Oh also, Any good books to read about the human Subraces?

map looks pretty accurate to me.

Problem is that the sources i'm checking can't decide whether it's Toril on those maps, or Abeir-Toril.

the names are pretty interchangeable.

...to clarify:

Abeir-Toril is the archaic name for the planet. Its translation means "cradle of life".

Over the centuries, it's been shortened down to just Toril.

Both names are correct.

Right .... But what about that 4:e nonsense with "Returned abeir" ?

4th edition. 'nuff said.....unless I've completely missed something (which may be the case).

Not missing anything, Khy. Abeir is still the hell where it is in our timeline.

And -.- to you too, missy!

Yep, the names are interchangeable and yes, those maps are maps of Toril. Toril has multiple continents, not just one or two. It's actually set up very closely to look like our world if you take a careful look.

Very_Svensk wrote:

Oh also, Any good books to read about the human Subraces?

Races of Faerun is your friend. Then there are also the more country specific books to get an even bigger picture of the particular humans of the area. For example, The Jungles of Chult for Chultans, Moonshae for Ffolk and Old Empires for Mulans.

o0GuNz_N_RoSeZ0o wrote:

Yep, the names are interchangeable and yes, those maps are maps of Toril. Toril has multiple continents, not just one or two. It's actually set up very closely to look like our world if you take a careful look.

Very_Svensk wrote:

Oh also, Any good books to read about the human Subraces?

Races of Faerun is your friend. Then there are also the more country specific books to get an even bigger picture of the particular humans of the area. For example, The Jungles of Chult for Chultans, Moonshae for Ffolk and Old Empires for Mulans.

Anything for tuigans? I'm curious of how and what they are really, not interested in making a new char though.

The Horde is the basic setting. There's also Horde Campaign which follows the Tuigan Wars.

Tuigan wars? Warlike bunch of guys eh? I like them allready

It was the biggest military campaign in recent history. They poured into Kara-Tur and Faerûn from the Endless Wastes and butchered everything in their path, and someone as faraway as the king of Cormyr had to lead a crusade to stop them and liberate Thesk and Rashemen (IIRC, anyway). They're basically mongols, if that wasn't obvious from the geography, culture and the name Hordelands.

Omfg. GENGHIS KHAN ALL OVER!

I approve of the Tuigans.
And i shall read moar about them now!

Very_Svensk wrote:

Omfg. GENGHIS KHAN ALL OVER!

I approve of the Tuigans.
And i shall read moar about them now!

Point of fact, Tyrus, my main char, is Tuigan :3
But yeah, interesting race. Though the most I have read on them is from the FR wiki and also some from a FR book. Can't remember if it was Races of Faerun or not, though.

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I also have a lore question on potions.

1) Do potions have to be drank to be used? Or can a potion be absorbed through the skin? Or even injected?

2) Can a potion be put into something else and consumed? Like can you put a Bull's Strength into an ale and have it still work? Or possibly even food of some sort?

Potions are ingested as is, no more mixing. No exceptions, as far as potions go.

In PnP, there's a thing called a "magical oil," which is very like a potion except that it's applied by smearing it onto the person/object to be magicked. But yeah, a potion is defined by its means of delivery: if it's not drunk to be activated, then it's not a potion.

It should be noted that there are likely multiple ways to make any given potion, though. I don't imagine a Job system herbalist or druid makes a potion of Heal the same way a Cleric does, for example.

As a crafter, I don't see why you couldn't figure out a way to vaguely make your potions taste like something else(who wants to drink nasty stuff on an hourly basis?). But as for as for an impromptu mixing of a potion and something else, like pouring a potion into someone's beer when they're not looking, yeah that probably doesn't work. The proportions would be diluted or out of whack or something.

Potion making in most cases is a pretty exact art. It's not just throwing all of the ingredients in a bowl, it's also the method and order they are added.
Hopefully that serves as enough of an IC explanation of why it doesn't work like that. Else you would have people asking to "mix" multiple potions into a flask, and just chug their way to full buff in 6 seconds. <_<

What exactly happens to a potion that's mixed with something else, such as a beer or a loaf of bread? It seems a cop-out to say that "that doesn't happen" - maybe it doesn't work if not imbibed as-is, but something's still got to happen to it. Does it turn to water? Disappear? Remain the same physical liquid upon being removed from its container, but lose its magical properties?

I'd say your last guess is right. It doesn't disappear or anything or transmute into some other substance like water.

The magic of potions is their ingredients in their proportions and order. Maybe think of it like "magic resonance." When you have the exact about of bull's dung, with just the exact pinch of salt peter, and 2 parts water from the back of an ox, you get a Potion of Bull Strength. Anything else or anything extra messes up the magic that is created when all things are in unison. That's how the magic of potions works.

That's really how magic really works in a lot of different cases. When a mage holds a ball of bat guano and sulfur and says the correct words in unison with hand motions, a Fireball is made. It's not any of the individual components that have the magic. It's how they're used in tandem. This is how the metaphysical system known as "Magic" works. You're pretty much exploiting the set of laws governed by the Weave. If you don't do it in one of the many correct ways, you're just standing there holding some odd bits and ends in your hand.

So you pour a potion of Bull's into a drink, well then it's just bits of bull poo and other weird things floating around in it.

Awesome good stuff to know.
I had figured it wouldn't end up working very well if at all.

Thanks!

When a race has a 'Favoured class', Does it mean that there's generally quite a lot of [Insert class] in their society?

Well, it's important to keep in mind what you mean by "a lot", Svensk.

A good amount of the adventuring class, as in non-commoner, would be the favored class. IIRC, 1 our of every 5000 common person has the potential to become an adventurer, or something. So it's not like every Moon Elf in an elven city is a wizard, for instance. Just out of the group that are "more that average", they favor that class.

Thanks. That made much more sense

RE: potions

Dark Immolation is spot on, and how any such thing will be interpreted by me as a DM. The precise combination of ingredients prepares an essential "pattern" and if that pattern is thrown off, so is the inherent magic.

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

Right, any other mention of the Gur than this? My Google scrolling skills bore no fruit.

?

I looked for a while, but I couldn't find any more information than was in the FRwiki article. Good news is all three sources it sites are pre-4th edition, so it should be legit in our own time, what little it is.

Logicality wrote:

What exactly happens to a potion that's mixed with something else, such as a beer or a loaf of bread? It seems a cop-out to say that "that doesn't happen" - maybe it doesn't work if not imbibed as-is, but something's still got to happen to it. Does it turn to water? Disappear? Remain the same physical liquid upon being removed from its container, but lose its magical properties?

There was a 'Potion Miscibility' table in the original DMG, no doubt included because high level characters, being the idiots that they are, would have fun drinking different potions just to see what happens. There was a 1% chance of one of the potions becoming permanent.

Yossarin wrote:

Dark Immolation is spot on, and how any such thing will be interpreted by me as a DM. The precise combination of ingredients prepares an essential "pattern" and if that pattern is thrown off, so is the inherent magic.

However, the Yoss has spoken, and so mote it be.

Seeing the post by Mahtan Tasadur in this topic: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=55605 made me wonder, just how/if a Paladin and Shadow Dancer would work in RP sense. Is there a particular order that they would fall under or would they be kind of like inquisitors or what? Basically looking for an explanation / good reason behind the two classes fusing together and if something viable comes up may move this question over to the builds advice mark 5987649 or whatever it is by now.

Unlikely, but feasible in churches like that of Baravar Cloakshadow (Knights of the Shadowy Cloak) whose emphasis is on stealth, deception and mischief as ways to protect the gnomish people. There's nothing metaphysically contradictory or iffy about a paladin/shadowdancer, but few would opt to pursue such a path I guess.

Xaviera wrote:

There was a 'Potion Miscibility' table in the original DMG, no doubt included because high level characters, being the idiots that they are, would have fun drinking different potions just to see what happens. There was a 1% chance of one of the potions becoming permanent.

...and, as I recall, a rather higher chance of the character exploding....

Ahh, the good old days!

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20060401b

Chart at bottom of the page. The chances are hugely biased towards it not working as planned.

And just to say, if potions worked like they did in PnP, a lot of Amians would be boned. "Mixing" potions counts as taking a potion while under the effects of another. Meaning you take more than one potion before the other wares off, you have a high chance of going boom or something else.

Healing.
could spells of divinity cure things like tumors, if so which. or would we need to operate doctor?

do they even exsist in Dnd?

Interesting question. When we think of healing in D&D, we think of healing damage, or restoring organs and whatnot. Regrowing. But essentially a tumor is a growth itself...

It's fine to assume they exist. There are human(oids) in the realms, so humanoid conditions naturally exist.

I'm going to guess that a tumor could be cured, but not by an outright healing spell. There's no "damage" to heal. No cuts, no missing parts, or anything like that. However, tumors are more often caused by a diseases, like leukemia or cancer....

In the case that tumors are the symptom of a disease, I'd expect a Cure Disease spell could heal them. Perhaps not physically removing it from the patient, but certainly stopping it from growing. In which case, it might also be expected that the cells would eventually die(like all cells do) causing them to decrease in size over time. But that's getting into biology I'm not particularly familiar with.

Greater Restoration would probably deal with it, but I don't think Remove Disease will. If we're speaking of cancer, it's not a disease you catch from bacteria or viruses, and those seem to be the target audience for the spell. You can't cure coronary disease with the spell either, I bet. "Disease" is just a general word that could even mean mental and social problems, but in the context of the spell it's surely more specific.

You could even say that positive energy would only enhance the growth of the cancer cells, making healing spells quite deadly.

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