| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Rhewtani |
Posted - 31 Mar 2009 : 19:26:20
Been running Ruins of Adventure with Pathfinder rules. I do my best to substitute monsters and treasure as I can, but I came across something I've never heard of: Keoghtum’s Ointment.
Is this stone salve? It's in the library with the basilisk and it's usually true to form for designers to stick anti-stone stuff in with stone-turning monsters.
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| 17 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 04 Apr 2009 : 02:41:58
quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
Agreed, o furry one! If there's one thing that I don't like about the SRD it's that they generalized the spells when the Spell Compendium came out. No Melf's Acid Arrow, no Bigby's Crushing Hand, not even Tenser's Transformation. Very blah. But fortunately, *I* remember the names and I've kept to them in my personalized SRD.
And let's not forget Bigby's Crushing Tactical Nuke!  |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 03 Apr 2009 : 18:06:02
I'm with Faraer--I find Greyhawk's nomenclature to be charming, at least most of the time. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 03 Apr 2009 : 14:36:10
Agreed, o furry one! If there's one thing that I don't like about the SRD it's that they generalized the spells when the Spell Compendium came out. No Melf's Acid Arrow, no Bigby's Crushing Hand, not even Tenser's Transformation. Very blah. But fortunately, *I* remember the names and I've kept to them in my personalized SRD. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 Apr 2009 : 07:25:49
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I love both.
When I ran GH in my younger days, I lived for puns - my favorite series at that time was Xanth, and I ran my world accordingly. The whole thing was avery long running joke that never quite made it to the punchline.
When I began running the Realms for a 'serious' (and yet MUCH younger) group of players, I had to drop a lot of the 'gags', which was a shame, because I felt a part of the fun had gone out of it (at least, for me).
I've never been a Greyhawk fan, myself. I read the novels, back in the day, but what little was in them felt kinda patchwork, and that didn't appeal to me.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I still love all of those old names Gary came up with, though, and I refuse to use any of the setting-neutral ones that came out later. Sometimes a spell-name has a long and complicated history behind it, and thats part of the fun (such as 'Tasha').
On this, I totally agree! Having names on the spells just adds to the flavor, thinks I. Caligarde's Claw, for example, is a lot more of an interesting name than force claw. Given no information other than the name, if I had to choose between Caligarde's Claw and force claw, I'd choose the former. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 03 Apr 2009 : 05:10:16
I love both.
When I ran GH in my younger days, I lived for puns - my favorite series at that time was Xanth, and I ran my world accordingly. The whole thing was avery long running joke that never quite made it to the punchline.
When I began running the Realms for a 'serious' (and yet MUCH younger) group of players, I had to drop a lot of the 'gags', which was a shame, because I felt a part of the fun had gone out of it (at least, for me).
I still love all of those old names Gary came up with, though, and I refuse to use any of the setting-neutral ones that came out later. Sometimes a spell-name has a long and complicated history behind it, and thats part of the fun (such as 'Tasha'). |
| Faraer |
Posted - 02 Apr 2009 : 20:53:12
In terms of the Earth analogues, the original D&D and the World of Greyhawk (which, as we know, was a somewhat indistinct assumed setting based on the map of North America before it acquired its now-familiar geography) is only two removes, via Chainmail, from historical wargaming; and one of the pillars of Gary's worldbuilding was a sort of medievalist/Renaissance recreationism. Kind of a two-at-one-blow thing -- his article on the Swiss Confederation in Dragon #22 is good source material, for instance, for Perrenland. He postulated Oerth as the most magical of a series of parallel Earths (Ærth, Yarth, Uerth), and even then -- and I think this is a very interesting counterpoint -- his assumption was that most monsters came to Oerth from elsewhere, whereas Faerûn is where monsters known in Earth's mythology come from!
Of course, people's tastes in naming and belief-suspension vary wildly; there are certainly those who aren't fond of Faerûnian 'gibberish'. I guess I'm lucky to be able to enjoy such a range of aesthetics! |
| crazedventurers |
Posted - 02 Apr 2009 : 18:15:06
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
Well, Gary's naming wasn't always wholly serious, but that's no bad thing:
I agree, play should be fun, with laughs galore as well as nail biting moments of tension - thats why we play games .
Consistency is a key ingrediant in FRPG, as is the suspension of disbelief. When things 'wake you up' out of the game world into the real world the game loses its momentum (at least for a short while).
Personally I prefer not to hear real world names for characters in the game I play and run. That is one of the good things about the Realms, consistency in fantasy naming of NPC's and something I endeavour to do in my game. People from a certain region/background tend to have similar names and name conventions, hopefully it adds some realism to the Realms as the PC's say "Oh, he must be from abc with a name like that"
Cheers
Damian |
| Faraer |
Posted - 02 Apr 2009 : 17:45:04
Well, Gary's naming wasn't always wholly serious, but that's no bad thing: his players certainly didn't cringe, except when he wanted them to. Rob Kuntz has recently discussed the important element of humour in the Lake Geneva campaign. Just as lightness and all-out creativity were stripped out of the post-Gary TSR Greyhawk (when it wasn't crudely lampooned), the Realms' own different lightness has been crowded out of much latterday Realms stuff by cod-heroic solemnity, making a setting that's wonderfully wry and supple look brittle, flat and shrill. |
| crazedventurers |
Posted - 02 Apr 2009 : 12:45:50
quote:
Originally posted by capnvan
As for Arnd, I believe that was the "Invulnerable Coat of Arnd," or something to that effect. A number of the 1E artifacts (and gods) derived from players in Gygax's circle, as I recall.
Indeed, another in-joke in the Gygax/Kuntz camapaign. Don was always scared of his character getting hurt/killed and never took risks, hence why the Coat was invulnerable.
Gary told a wonderful story about Bucknards Everfull Purse and how it got its name.
More 'puns' here . The nomenclature in Greyhawk always seemed to be somewhat poor IMHO, one of the reasons I never bothered running there, it never had any consistentency and was often too 'jokey' (like Derek Desleigh an assassin from T1).
I think that FRP is about creating a sense of wonder, not having players cringe at another poorly named NPC, it justs seems to break the mood somewhat?
Cheers
Damian
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 01 Apr 2009 : 15:30:15
quote:
Originally posted by capnvan
Melf ("Male Elf"), Drawmij, Yrag, Arnd of Tdon (Don Arndt), etc.
I think there was a 1E artifact named after that last guy, too.
I always hated the name "Melf". A couple of the names work well, though, despite simply being reversals of existing names. I never really noticed that trick until the Spellfire game came out -- one of my fave cards was Gib Htimsen. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 01 Apr 2009 : 07:28:56
quote:
Originally posted by crazedventurers
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
It's been in D&D at least since 2E.
Actually as early as the game itself. - its a play on the name Tom Keogh. Tom was one of Gary Gygax's best friends (from school onwards) and died before the D&D became popular.
Cheers
Damian
I figured it was something like that. I know a lot of the named stuff comes from little bits like that. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 01 Apr 2009 : 02:08:15
Considering who he was and what the Ointment does, sometimes D&D's history can be quite beautiful.
Cheers Gary |
| Faraer |
Posted - 01 Apr 2009 : 00:33:54
And Keoghtom is a quasi-deity of Oerth, detailed in the 1983 World of Greyhawk set and featuring in Gary Gygax's Gord novels as Lord Keogh. |
| crazedventurers |
Posted - 01 Apr 2009 : 00:01:18
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
It's been in D&D at least since 2E.
Actually as early as the game itself. - its a play on the name Tom Keogh. Tom was one of Gary Gygax's best friends (from school onwards) and died before the D&D became popular.
Cheers
Damian |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 31 Mar 2009 : 21:32:28
It's been in D&D at least since 2E. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 31 Mar 2009 : 20:52:52
Actually, here's the SRD information (it's renamed Restorative Ointment for SRD purposes )
A jar of this unguent is 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch deep and contains five applications. Placed upon a poisoned wound or swallowed, the ointment detoxifies any poison (as neutralize poison). Applied to a diseased area, it removes disease (as remove disease). Rubbed on a wound, the ointment cures 1d8+5 points of damage (as cure light wounds).
Faint conjuration; CL 5th;Craft Wondrous Item, cure light wounds, neutralize poison, remove disease; Price 4,000 gp; Weight ½ lb. |
| Arion Elenim |
Posted - 31 Mar 2009 : 19:30:25
From: http://home.comcast.net/~tpcarpent/bard/items/KeoghtumsOintment.html
Keoghtum’s Ointment: This sovereign salve is useful for drawing poison, curing disease, or healing wounds. A jar of the unguent is small—perhaps three inches in diameter and one inch deep—but contains five applications. Placed upon a poisoned wound (or swallowed), it detoxifies any poison or disease. Rubbed on the body, the ointment heals 1d4+8 points of damage. |
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