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Hoondatha
Great Reader

USA
2449 Posts

Posted - 26 Jan 2011 :  03:15:43  Show Profile  Visit Hoondatha's Homepage Send Hoondatha a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I never used the level caps either, and, though I remain a 2e partisan, consider them one of the edition's stupider concepts. But that doesn't mean Realms products didn't have to take them into account, and that's what high magic (much though I love it) originally started as. It turned into something else even before 3e came along. Actually, I think 3e diminished it significantly.

Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well.
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader

USA
3750 Posts

Posted - 26 Jan 2011 :  03:52:13  Show Profile Send Alystra Illianniis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Agreed. I liked the way it was presented in Cormanthyr, and was sorely disappointed by the way 3.5 presented it. The PrC for High Mages was just kind of weak, IMO.

The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.

"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491

"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs

Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469

My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188

Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u
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althen artren
Senior Scribe

USA
780 Posts

Posted - 26 Jan 2011 :  04:06:16  Show Profile Send althen artren a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There was an alternative class that was at Dicefreaks (before they disappeared and returned) for Elven High Mage that was much better, and is the one I adopted for my games.
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader

USA
3750 Posts

Posted - 26 Jan 2011 :  04:07:46  Show Profile Send Alystra Illianniis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Do you have a link for that? Or perhaps you could post it?

The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.

"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491

"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs

Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469

My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188

Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u
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althen artren
Senior Scribe

USA
780 Posts

Posted - 27 Jan 2011 :  21:37:30  Show Profile Send althen artren a Private Message  Reply with Quote
It might take some time. I think the build was
lost when Dicefreaks lost their last website.
I'll try and type it up on a Forum in the near
future.
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althen artren
Senior Scribe

USA
780 Posts

Posted - 30 Jan 2011 :  04:12:11  Show Profile Send althen artren a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Sorry, Alystra, I was wrong.
I am using the variant Netherese Archwizard prestige class.
The high mage one I used was from the Elven Notebook.
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader

USA
3750 Posts

Posted - 30 Jan 2011 :  04:40:07  Show Profile Send Alystra Illianniis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ah, where is that? I keep seeing references to it, and have not myself had a look at it.

The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.

"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491

"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs

Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469

My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188

Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u
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Zireael
Master of Realmslore

Poland
1190 Posts

Posted - 30 Jan 2011 :  09:25:50  Show Profile  Visit Zireael's Homepage Send Zireael a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Elven Netbook - http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19848926/Elven_Netbook?pg=221
Or at LordKarsus's Deviant Art profile (that's in one of the finished volumes)

SiNafay Vrinn, the daughter of Lloth, from Ched Nasad!

http://zireael07.wordpress.com/
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader

USA
3750 Posts

Posted - 31 Jan 2011 :  18:25:15  Show Profile Send Alystra Illianniis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Danke, Zirael!

The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.

"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491

"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs

Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469

My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188

Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7968 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2011 :  02:09:09  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think a number of "important" Elven High Mages are briefly active in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy. They (and a bunch of Mystra's Chosen) defend the mythal at Evereska from phaerimm assault. Their "total" numbers and approximate strengths are also mentioned. Many of them die since they aren't the best choice for blasting. I can't recall any of their names.

[/Ayrik]
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore

1965 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2011 :  02:29:21  Show Profile Send Fellfire a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Is it just the 3 Volumes on Lord Karsus' page?

Misanthorpe

Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.

"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises

Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out

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Zireael
Master of Realmslore

Poland
1190 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2011 :  08:42:05  Show Profile  Visit Zireael's Homepage Send Zireael a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Fellfire

Is it just the 3 Volumes on Lord Karsus' page?



Yes, only those three were finished.

But the rest of the materials can be found at the other link I supplied.

SiNafay Vrinn, the daughter of Lloth, from Ched Nasad!

http://zireael07.wordpress.com/
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore

1965 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2011 :  11:42:01  Show Profile Send Fellfire a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Where exactly, Zireael? that link brought me to 220 pages of posts and replies. has this not been compiled by anybody?

Misanthorpe

Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.

"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises

Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out

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Zireael
Master of Realmslore

Poland
1190 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2011 :  14:52:05  Show Profile  Visit Zireael's Homepage Send Zireael a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Try looking at the first page of the thread, it ought to have the index.

If not, you can always search 'In This Thread' the name of the place/person you're looking for.

SiNafay Vrinn, the daughter of Lloth, from Ched Nasad!

http://zireael07.wordpress.com/
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7968 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2011 :  15:12:39  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yes, the first post is the index, and the subsequent 12-13 posts link to the indexed contents. These links lead all over the bloody place, most to other threads on the forum, many to dead ends, a few to convenient downloads. Some parts of this library appear to be forever lost to the shifting planes, it might be prudent to copy what lore remains before it disappears entirely.

I note that Candlekeep's own learned MarkusTay is credited as one of the authors, he might perhaps possess copies of (or links to) lore which is no longer intact in the main archive.

[/Ayrik]

Edited by - Ayrik on 01 Feb 2011 15:15:01
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore

1965 Posts

Posted - 01 Feb 2011 :  23:42:37  Show Profile Send Fellfire a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'm having serious issues over at WotC. For the last two weeks I can't even navigate there without difficulty. I keep getting "Run Time Application Error" messages. For a while I could get in with Chrome, but now that IE and Firefox are all blotto. I don't know what the problem is, I've tried clearing my cookies and temps. Does anybody have the Elven Netbooks that aren't on Lord Karsus' page? Markus? Anybody?

Especially Elven Organizations and Houses, lots of dead links there. Magical Items! 9 Hells, I want it all. Please share if you've got it this lore is too good to be lost to the ravages of time.

Misanthorpe

Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.

"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises

Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out


Edited by - Fellfire on 02 Feb 2011 00:18:38
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7968 Posts

Posted - 02 Feb 2011 :  02:41:41  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Fellfire — the same error/problem across multiple browsers could indicate fault anywhere in the OS or even in the hardware. Most likely bad browser settings or even malware. You might have luck uninstalling your browser, restarting, reinstalling, restarting again (don't skip the restarts). Have it fixed by a nerd or start here. The problem might not get worse over time but it almost certainly won't get better.

I can't find this material archived anywhere else online. This appears to be the only source, no matter how cumbersome. At least it's not as ugly as Realms-L.

[/Ayrik]
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Barastir
Master of Realmslore

Brazil
1600 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2015 :  13:19:08  Show Profile Send Barastir a Private Message  Reply with Quote
A great THREAD I missed when first published, I'm somehow thankful for MichaelLon's inadequate post. Administrators?

EDIT: Wrong word now corrected, and thank you Wooly.

"Goodness is not a natural state, but must be
fought for to be attained and maintained.
Lead by example.
Let your deeds speak your intentions.
Goodness radiated from the heart."

The Paladin's Virtues, excerpt from the "Quentin's Monograph"
(by Ed Greenwood)

Edited by - Barastir on 15 Jun 2015 14:07:05
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2015 :  13:21:43  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Barastir

A great posty I missed when first published, I'm somehow thankful for MichaelLon's inadequate post. Administrators?



What post?

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
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TBeholder
Great Reader

2382 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2015 :  18:02:42  Show Profile Send TBeholder a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha

Part of the problem is that what exactly constitutes a "high mage" changed over the course of Second Edition.

Doesn't look this way.
quote:
Remember, Elves of Evermeet significantly predates the Cormanthyr supplement that gave high mages their 2e game mechanics, and their lore background. (EoE came out in 1994, Cor was published in 1998)
What Elves of Evermeet considers a "high mage" is simply any elf that advanced past the elven racial class level limit.

No.
HM rituals were not the same as usual arcane magic and required separate study from the start.
The necessary options (Slow Advancement and Prime Requisite Bonus) are from DMG, so if they are used, no reason why there won't be other wizards (and not only) who exceed "caps".
quote:
And then she's an "apprentice" of the tower, in that she's an apprentice in high magic, even though she's already at or near archmagehood in normal wizard terms.

But it's the whole point, no? That "apprentices" of advanced forms of magic are masters of conventional techniques.

People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch

Edited by - TBeholder on 12 Jun 2015 22:18:20
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Hoondatha
Great Reader

USA
2449 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2015 :  20:33:29  Show Profile  Visit Hoondatha's Homepage Send Hoondatha a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'm not sure why we're arguing over a four year old scroll, but okay.

quote:
Elves of Evermeet, page 62

A High Mage is an elven sorcerer who has exceeded the normal racial limit for elves.


Says so in the very first sentence about high mages. In comparison, Cormanthyr doesn't have hard and fast level limits at all, instead it depends on race and intelligence, with even green elves being able to reach level 18.

Elves of Evermeet's "high magic" were just 8th and 9th level spells with a table of drawbacks. Cormanthyr's high magic was a system of rituals, completely separate from the normal level 1-9 system. Not to mention a completely different mode of entry (requiring 100 years of work), and side benefits that are totally absent from Elves of Evermeet.

By any standard, they are two separate things.

As for Amlaruil, going back and rereading that part of Evermeet, I've changed my mind. Based on what's written there, there's no way she's an archmage or even an experienced mage. She's repeatedly referred to as a girl, and her youth is emphasized. When she says apprentice, it's clear she means she's just starting her magical studies.

Looking at it now, my feeling is that the Tower of the Sun and Moon would seek out magical savants in the general populace and do their training in-house. They wouldn't actually learn high magic until centuries later, but the tower would want to make sure there are as many potential high mages in the pipeline as possible.

Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2015 :  22:29:22  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha

I'm not sure why we're arguing over a four year old scroll, but okay.



A now-banned spammer brought this scroll back to the top of the pile.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
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Hoondatha
Great Reader

USA
2449 Posts

Posted - 12 Jun 2015 :  22:37:57  Show Profile  Visit Hoondatha's Homepage Send Hoondatha a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Aha, that would explain the "what post" earlier. Since I wasn't quick enough to see the now-gone post, I was a bit lost.

Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well.
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Barastir
Master of Realmslore

Brazil
1600 Posts

Posted - 15 Jun 2015 :  14:04:59  Show Profile Send Barastir a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hoondatha, although Amlaruil looked like a girl, as far as I remember she was indeed a High Mage. If I recall correctly, her apparent age was magically preserved, even to elven standards, by divine intervention.

The sword allowed her to use High magic without the risks normally associated to its invocation. And even if the text in Elves of Evermeet says that High Mages were elves that surpassed the level limits, it also said that this was an old and powerful elven style of magic (hence the risk of casting it). Cormanthyr revised it and made it an entirely new system, that is true, and I think it was an evolution.

"Goodness is not a natural state, but must be
fought for to be attained and maintained.
Lead by example.
Let your deeds speak your intentions.
Goodness radiated from the heart."

The Paladin's Virtues, excerpt from the "Quentin's Monograph"
(by Ed Greenwood)
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TBeholder
Great Reader

2382 Posts

Posted - 19 Jun 2015 :  22:07:39  Show Profile Send TBeholder a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha

I'm not sure why we're arguing over a four year old scroll, but okay.
quote:
Elves of Evermeet, page 62

A High Mage is an elven sorcerer who has exceeded the normal racial limit for elves.
Says so in the very first sentence about high mages.

And the first sentence about rangers in AD&D2 PHB says "the ranger is a skilled woodsman..." - which doesn't mean ignoring everything beyond this phrase would be anything but either lack of reading comprehension or laughably straw-grasping level of lawyerism.

quote:
In comparison, Cormanthyr doesn't have hard and fast level limits at all, instead it depends on race and intelligence, with even green elves being able to reach level 18.

Again, no. It doesn't just quietly drop the rule, it states that such a campaign have to use Slow Advancement and Prime Requisite Bonus from DMG.
quote:
Elves of Evermeet's "high magic" were just 8th and 9th level spells with a table of drawbacks.

Yes, but the same is true for wild magic. This doesn't mean that everyone who meets the prerequisites automatically can use it.
quote:
Not to mention a completely different mode of entry (requiring 100 years of work)

And the rest of the world is not teeming with them because?..
quote:
As for Amlaruil [...] Based on what's written there, there's no way she's an archmage or even an experienced mage. She's repeatedly referred to as a girl, and her youth is emphasized. When she says apprentice, it's clear she means she's just starting her magical studies.

1) Not all human archmages are decrepit. There always is some fast-climbing prodigy or ten. To become an archmage while still fairly young, she didn't need to advance faster than humans - just faster than most elves.
2) After she was blessed by the Seldarine, all bets are off - she is likely to have advantages in this matter and could advance faster than normal specifically in safe access to HM. Just like those Chosen of Mystra have advantages in all spellcasting available to them and were able to overcome not only wild magic zones, but also magical chaos during ToT.

People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch
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