Place your mark on Magnamund!

[August]

All right, kids. You are all so filled with opinions and ideas, I'm going to give you the chance to help shape the Magnamund Magic sourcebook.

If you had to pick 10 magic using classes to get their own 12 page sections with character class, spells, items, and other lore, what would they be?

Choose your favorite ten, keeping in mind that as per my promise, Shianti Sorcerer is already spoken for and approved.

Take care,
-August

 

[Holmes]

Hello August:

Thanks for soliciting our feedback!

I can only think of 4, perhaps 5 iconic magic using professions I would like to see fleshed out, myself:

1. Vakeros
2. Order of Herbalish
3. Cener Druid
4. Nadzirinim (if not already in Darklands supplement)
5. Shadakine Wytch (folks like Mother Magri, Mother Kowloon, Tanith, etc.)

 

[Reginald de Curry]

Well, I'd certainly like to see how the Ziran and the Nadziranim are different (if they are at all in the RPG).

http://www.projectaon.org/xhtml/lw/10tdot/sect252.htm

 

[Madbiologist]

Holmes beat me to my recomandations.

I strongly second:
Vakeros (very strongly second that one)
Shadakine Wytch
Order of Herbalish
Cener Druid

Also I would include:
Sorcerer-warlords of Vassagonia
Herbwarden (if their is a difference between them and a member of the Order of Herbalish, I was never quite too sure)

I also agree that any Darkland magic user to be included if they are not already in the Darkland book, as I would like to see the Nadzirinim.

 

[Paido]

:shock: ... *reads again* ... :shock:

*hurriedly starts typing*

Hey, thanks for asking that, August! I'll gladly comply; here are the classes that I would love to see.


Let's start with my favourites:

• The Vakeros - naturally.
  
  The Shadakine Wytch. Tanith was my favourite Grey Star companion and a fascinating character!
  
  The Kundi Shaman. Cranky old Urik was also a great companion!
  
  The Cener Druid. Roark's summoning of Tagazin and the fact that The Prisoners of Time (paragraph 84) called Gardor Vezh (the Chief Druid of Malis Mound) a necromancer should nicely qualify them for a book on magic ...
  
  The Nadziran, should they in fact be considered playable characters. (Maybe a Minor Nadziran who can only transform into wee little dragons? :wink
  
  And, of course, the Shianti Wizard. (They were called "wizards" the gamebooks, weren't they? And that magical ability was called Sorcery? The German translation can be a bit confusing in that matter, as the name for that ability would retranslate as "Wizardry" ... :?)

Now for a few classes whose qualifications as capable of magic may be in doubt, though:

• 
  The Herbwarden of Bautar - were they the same as the Herbalish? I never was completely clear on that. If they weren't, both would be interesting ...
  
  The Magician, like Cyrilus from The Kingdoms of Terror, who claimed "no great understanding of the arcane" ... Maybe he really had no supernatural abilities at all, but then again, maybe he was just ... modest about his talents? :wink: I could easily imagine him as a kind of "charlatan" and "illusionist" who travels across the country to entertain people at fairs, be it alone or with troubadours like the Asajir Players. Of course his powers would be modest compared to the Brotherhood mages, but such subtle magics, probably based on enchantments, phantasms and a fortune-teller's craft, fuzzily bordering on mundane legerdemain, could be a lot of fun!
  
  The Astrologer or Sage, based mainly on Gwynian and his colleagues from Varetta's Brass Street. Gwynian was capable of magic, but maybe he was the exception to the rule?

And here's one which might not even have a raison d'être ...

• 
  The Kirlundin Wytch - maybe I'm on the wrong track, as Aieta Nematah was called the Wytch of the Kirlundin Isles (as in "the only one"; compare Prisoners of Time, paragraph 84, again), but somehow I like the ideas of witches on these isles ... Especially after tales I have heard of witches on the coasts of Scotland, cursing sailors and calling up storms ... :twisted:

*counts* Yep, that's ten.


[dreamily] ... their own 12 page sections ... [/dreamily]


Paido, already exited at the apparent prospect of seeing ten new classes ... :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Hi! what a good news...
Please make the Vakeros class... :lol:

 

[Holmes]

Based on the boardgame from the "Magnamund Companion", I would hazard the Herbwarden of Bautar is another name for a member of the Order of Herbalish.

Considering the background of the Herbwardens as being a splinter group of the Cener (whose purpose was to combat the diseases spread by the Cener), it may be logical that they might be two sides of the same coin, magically? :?:

 

[adgramaine]

And, of course, the Shianti Wizard. (They were called "wizards" the gamebooks, weren't they? And that magical ability was called Sorcery? The German translation can be a bit confusing in that matter, as the name for that ability would retranslate as "Wizardry" ... :?)

Yes, the were Shianti Wizards.
I'm just going to cast my vote to second Paido's response - it covers everything I can think of plus some.

 

[Nyxator]

First of all, thank you August for this topic.
Now to the classes:

Vakeros
Liganim
Ziran
The warrior-mage from Bhanar who appears in book 23, I don't remember
his name...
Cener Druid
Order of Herbalish
Kundi Shaman
Shadakine Wytch
Shadakine Shaman (Ulonga from book 22)

Nyxator

 

[Anonymous]

I would think the following would be great:

Vakeros (very strongly second that one)
Shadakine Wytch
Order of Herbalish
Cener Druid
Nadziram
Kundi Shaman
Astrologer


If you want ten, heck..i don't even think everyone has suggested 10...so you could do all of the ones suggested here! That would be wonderful! Not all need be player character classes, they can also be used as NPC classes for powerful villans to pit against the PC's.

I'd also suggest a large herb section, magical item section, and rules to create your own magical items. Also some more info on different racial types of magic would be great, like for the dwarves, giants, darkspawn, etc. An extensive monster section of magic weilding monsters would be a great asset as well.

And, i'd like to see more depth on the psychic combat! More options! Feats? Items, creatures, maybe even a psychic class!

 

[August]

Thanks for the alternate suggestions, sunwolf, but this is a Magic of Magnamund book. Psychics will have to wait for another time.

-August

 

[Ordovician]

Herbalish aren't the same as Herbwardens, I don't believe; Madin Rendalim was an Herbwarden, and I *think* he was from Durenor.

As to the Ziran/Nadziranim thing, I always got the impression based on the illustration that a Ziran was a Drakkarim with a few Nadziranim levels. A fighter/wizard, in DnD terms. Remember based on other illustrations the full Nadziranim are cowled, taloned, apparently skinny nonhuman things.

1. Vakeros
2. Nadziranim
3. Herbwarden
4. Cener Druid
5. Shadakine Wytch
6. Astrologer-Sage of Varetta
7. Necromancer (ie KoT-era Roark and Kezoor - I don't see them as the same as Ceners)
8. Kundi Shaman
9. Acolyte of Vashna (though that's perhaps covered by the Dark Cultist class from Darklands mentioned?)
10. Some sort of theocratic class from Valerion could be nice?

Seems like we're all pretty much in agreement on the first five.

 

[Golem2176]

#1 ) Vakeros
#2 ) Cener Druid
#3 ) Necromancy
#4 ) Herbwarden
#5 ) Astrologer
#6 ) Kundi Shaman
#7 ) Acolyte of Vashna
#8 ) Shianti Wizard
#9 ) Shakadine Witch
#10 ) Vassagonia Warlord-Sorcerer

 

[Eternalknight]

In order of preference:

1 - Herbwarden
2 - Vakeros Warrior
3 - Redeemer (if they used magic)
4 - Nadzirianim
5 - Cener Druid
6 - Shadakine Wytch
7 - Kundi Shaman
8 - ANy of the others already mentioned.

 

[Konig-Wolf]

I'd also suggest a large herb section, magical item section, and rules to create your own magical items. Also some more info on different racial types of magic would be great, like for the dwarves, giants, darkspawn, etc. An extensive monster section of magic weilding monsters would be a great asset as well.

I second this. A section specifically concerning the way magic influences the world of Magnamund and how ordanary people react to magic and magic users. More magic items, and magic wielding monsters...that can't hurt either. ^_^

 

[Methos]

so far many classes have been named and i can´t think of any special class with magic abilities i want to see which has not been mentioned so far

but maybe there is a chance to include magical beings in the book with their powers

like the ice demons or Allys

i love that girl

 

[Winter Wolf]

1. Vakeros
2. Nadziranim
3. Herbalish
4. Cener Druid
5. Kirlundin Sea Witch
6. Shadakine Wytch
7. Kundi Shaman
8. Sage of Varetta
9. Necromancer

Would really like to sea a class with specific sea, storm, weather magics, siren voices, ghostly illusions, mastery of water beasts, hence Kirlundin Sea Witch. Quite distinctive and a very useful side kick to the Buccaneer of Shadaki.

 

[Paido]

Err, just noticed that I may have misunderstood August somewhat: In case we were asked for ten classes apart from the Shianti Wizard, I'd like to second Reginald de Curry's post about the Ziran - a Drakkar Spellcaster might be fun! (As far as I know them - Dungeons of Torgar only - they seem somewhat like a dark reflection of the Vakeros, though there's most certainly no real relation between them.)

Shadakine Shaman (Ulonga from book 22)

:shock: They come as Shamans, too? ... Need these darned books!!

... Uh, sorry about that, tore itself loose ... :wink:

Necromancer (ie KoT-era Roark and Kezoor - I don't see them as the same as Ceners)

Well, about Kezoor's nature I'm not sure, but considering that Amory is that close to the Cener Mountains and that Roark later is a Cener Druid of no small water, I never doubted - though maybe wrongly? - that he was already one in Kingdoms of Terror ... (Else he would have learned and been promoted very fast, wouldn't he?)

There's another thing that seems to support my view of the Cener Druids having necromantic abilities, though: Didn't they regularly make use of zombies in Ruel and Mogaruith? ... Err, just remembered that this thread wasn't intended for discussions about such details. August and the others have better access than we to Cener lore, after all ...

[...] hence Kirlundin Sea Witch.

Very nice thoughts! I heartily second that!


Paido


edit: Removed an uncalled-for "h" ...

 

[Anonymous]

1) Nadzirinim
2) Cener Druids
3) Herbalish
4) Shadikine Wytches

I'm assuming the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star and the Elder Magi are spoken for right?

 

[Anonymous]

Well I for one am relieved the Shianti Sorceror is already spoken for. August, can you give some tidbits about it? Like does it get higher magiks after level 10?

Also, I agree with all choices here.

Dessi Battlemagi
-----------------
Cener Druids
Herbalish
---------------- These two should start off very similar at early levels...then their magiks should start diverging sharply. IMO anyways. , since the choice to practice good/evil druidry shoudl be a matter of personal choice of the practitioner, not because he/she was born with good/evil powers. Oh and please, if possible, do not duplicate the elementalism Elder Art Tree for any class other than for the Shianti Trained Sorc. The Elder Arts ought to remain unique.

Necromancer
Wytch
Revised NPC Adept (or just state a blurb that an NPC adept can learn the different forms of magik in this book)

Like someone here said, I do not think it would be a good idea to include
10 classes...around 5 would be good. Otherwise newcomers to LWd20 might get the impression magamund is as high a magikal world as faerun(which is not the case). The rest of the book could deal with herbs, items, traditions, alchemy, gamemastering magik, etc.

Lastly, don't make it too hard for pc's to get these (the non-evil aligned)classes. That is, a few blurbs in the gamemastering section (if any) could state that traditions like these, though rare, are suitable for heroic characters. Also, care ought to be taken to balance out these classes wrd to the magik using classes in the main rulebook. (the Shianti Trained Sorc should kick butt any day of the week however... )

Thanks again August, this is shaping up to be another winner. Kudoz.