Quoth the Raven 12

Discussions on the Fraternity netbooks

What was your favourite article?

Races of the Mist; Dwarves
12
52%
Fear and Frostbites
0
No votes
War of the Mace
1
4%
Evening by the Fire
2
9%
Grim tales
3
13%
Growls in the Night
0
No votes
Misty Divine
1
4%
Black Opal Guild
1
4%
Races of the Mist: Halflings
1
4%
Registry of Monsters
2
9%
Tower of Silana
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 23

User avatar
ScS of the Fraternity
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2409
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 10:46 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Quoth the Raven 12

Post by ScS of the Fraternity »

Greetings esteemed members,

The much anticipated issue of Quoth the Raven is now available. I think all of our contributors deserve a great big applause for their work.

There have been a considerable number of changes made to the document. The submissions were open for about four months, and we did not incorporate a theme. There's a lot of changes to the layout, and a great deal more graphics in the book.

We need your feedback to continue to improve our netbooks, and our writers need your comments to continue submitting their high quality articles.

So please, post your thoughts, feelings and opinions right here!
Evil Reigns!!!!
User avatar
alhoon
Invisible Menace
Invisible Menace
Posts: 8804
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2003 6:46 pm
Location: Chania or Athens // Greece

Post by alhoon »

As I promised:
A very usefull and good Netzine IMC. First thing first:
The layout and the design was breath-taking!

I voted for the dwarves. I loved their new twist and the way the 2nd edition books were incorporated.

The halflings are my 2nd choice, for the same reason. Oh, how I love their wishing ability! Gives my ever-present Halfling NPC rogue a kick! Not to mention that makes great villains! Halfling villains!

The rules-heavy articles like the Misty divine and Frostbite are very good and useful too. I don't have complete divine, but I do have Frostburn! THey come 3rd in my choice. 3rd in such a good netzine isn't bad at all, mind you! The rules are good and well written and IMO someone should have done the job! Well done.

I also liked the fey presented somewhere but I can't recall the article and I also liked the monster's art! I wish I could have been more useful when I was asked for help, and I hope I'll be in the future.

About my submissions (ahem) I personaly liked the Tower most and then the Visitor in the night, but I'll let others talk about them.

A great "thank you" to the Frat and the authors! ! ! Excelent work. I bet the Kargatane will be proud that you keep up the good work!
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
User avatar
Jester of the FoS
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Posts: 4536
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:19 am
Location: A Canadian from Canadia

Post by Jester of the FoS »

*blush*

The Races of the Mists were something I'd wanted to do for a long, long time and spend a while preparing for. I just hope the rest don't dissapoint.

Glad someone like the wishing ability. It was something I agonized and debated over and thought really worked with their theme. Joel was also hesitent and that only made me agonize more. *relief*
User avatar
Jakob
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 472
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 3:43 am
Gender: Male
Location: Near Milano, Italy.
Contact:

Post by Jakob »

Boys... GREAT WORK! :shock:

It was, in layout and contents, one of the single best QtR EVER published!

I can't wait to translate #12... Can I jump directly from #1 to # 12? :lol:
I coloni rovinavano la foresta costruendo il capolavoro dell'uomo civilizzato: il deserto.
- Luis Sepúlveda
User avatar
Igor the Henchman
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 789
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2003 6:50 pm

Post by Igor the Henchman »

I voted for Evening by the Fire as my favorite article in this one (I hesitated between it and the Wolf). The villain is nothing if not memorable, the curse is fitting, and I loved the way the Visitor is incorporated into the domain's folklore.

I admit that I haven't really read Fear Frosbites and Misty Divine, since I don't own the respective WotC books.

Other than that, I think the two race articles by David Gibson are both brilliant work. Really, maybe the best thing in this entire issue - but unfortunately, not my favorite. I seriously loved everything in the article... up to the Game Mechanics section. The part where the "should-'n-should'nt's" have begun, I believe. Call it a quirk, but every time I read a text trying to explain me what players and DMs "should" or "should'nt" do with the presented material, I am only tempted to try and do the opposite.

Also, the author seemed to be under the assumption that Ravenloft is full of folks who don't believe in magic or the existence of demihumans. I have issues with that. Let's just say that I see Ravenloft as a D&D setting with a Gothic Horror flavor, not the other way around. Also, with Darkonians being logically (in my mind) accustomed to meet live halflings, like, maybe almost every day, I'd figured they'd know whether they wear shoes or not.

Still, great job on all the feats, and I loved the folkloric dwarves. Well done!
User avatar
Jester of the FoS
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Posts: 4536
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:19 am
Location: A Canadian from Canadia

Post by Jester of the FoS »

Fair points Igor, as always. I chaff at strict rules and tried to present the DM/ player section as advice, but really, some things are so hard to pull off without breaking the mood or constructed reality that it is simply easier not to try them. If you can pull them off then bravo, but for the rest of us we'll just make do with alternatives.

As for emphasising the realism and disbelief in magic, I went under the assumption that the setting was a low-magic one; the common man never sees magic and dies within twenty miles of where they were born. Thats where the setting needs the most work adapting demihumans.
If Ravenloft is just being played as D&D with a gothic flair (not that I have any problems with that) it is a far simpler matter to simply adapt previously published material such as Races of Stone. They're there and just need a change in tone, not twenty-pages of background material. Races of the Mist was written for those people who just don't feel comfortable with the demihumans and avoid Darkon because they have a hard time reconciling the rest of the human-centric setting with the frantasy of that land.
User avatar
alhoon
Invisible Menace
Invisible Menace
Posts: 8804
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2003 6:46 pm
Location: Chania or Athens // Greece

Post by alhoon »

I respectfully disagree David. I'll use the Races of the mists and I also use Ravenloft like Igor. :)
No, I like the 20 pages background, although I disagree with the parts that people don't know about demihumans. On the other hand, a man from Hazlan wouldn't know if halflings wear shoes, so there is meaning in the "people don't know about this". In fact, I'm not feeling constrained by the article. I'll use/change the rules (as I see fit) and for people that don't know about demi-humans I'll use the feeling you propose.

They are great additions IMO not because of the hard rules, but because they propose great ideas that put my imagination to work and spark my creativity.

PS Igor: Thanks for the kind words Igor. Although part of the compliments should go to ScS for doing an excelent job in editing and Evee for the original idea.
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
User avatar
Jester of the FoS
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Posts: 4536
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:19 am
Location: A Canadian from Canadia

Post by Jester of the FoS »

I'm sorry alhoon but you're simply wrong. And for disagreeing with me I'm banning your ISP from the site and deleting all your past posts effective immediately.

Actually, I’m rather tired at the moment. Doing some graveyard shifts for a couple weeks and that just reeks of extra work. I guess I’ll just have to be a bigger man and take the criticism.

Honestly, I don’t care if someone hates 99% of the Races of the Mist as long as they find that 1% they enjoy, that once line or sentence that makes them go “hey, that gives me a neat idea.” I’d like it if everyone loved 99% of it, but you can’t please everyone. And if I tried to I’d never finish anything and tear my hair out in the process.

And criticism is always a good thing. No one improves without being told what they need to improve on. Sure I get an icky feeling when someone doesn’t like something, but, as Calvin’s dad would say, that builds character.
User avatar
Shoon VII
Criminal Mastermind
Criminal Mastermind
Posts: 114
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:51 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Post by Shoon VII »

maybe a follow up to the Drawves article can be done ... a gazeteer maybe noting other significant dwarvish settlements beyond the two in darkon. the dwarves and misty divine were my personal favorites.
Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves.
User avatar
Jakob
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 472
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 3:43 am
Gender: Male
Location: Near Milano, Italy.
Contact:

Post by Jakob »

I dare to ask... Will there be articles on elves, half-elves and gnomes?
I coloni rovinavano la foresta costruendo il capolavoro dell'uomo civilizzato: il deserto.
- Luis Sepúlveda
User avatar
Jester of the FoS
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Posts: 4536
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:19 am
Location: A Canadian from Canadia

Post by Jester of the FoS »

Jakob wrote:I dare to ask... Will there be articles on elves, half-elves and gnomes?
Yes.
Compiling my notes for the eventual release of the elf book (Races of the Mists III: the Fey) at the moment, mostly at the brainstorming phase. After that I'll work on the troublesome gnomes (Races of the Mists IV: the Gnomish, still working on that title...).
The final one will be Races of the Mists V: the Mongrels detailing Calibans, Half-elves and Half-Vistani. I need a lot less space in that one for culture and lifestyle and the like as it's dependant on who raises them.

Later, when they're all finished, I may compile them into a single volume and re-edit the work to be more cohesive. Unite the game text and the like and maybe throw in some 'web enhancements' such as sample communities and an NPC or two.
Haven't decided yet and depends on my free time. When I'm done I may be so sick of demihumans I may not want to do it. ;)
User avatar
alhoon
Invisible Menace
Invisible Menace
Posts: 8804
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2003 6:46 pm
Location: Chania or Athens // Greece

Post by alhoon »

David of the FoS wrote: Honestly, I don’t care if someone hates 99% of the Races of the Mist as long as they find that 1% they enjoy
Just a quick question: Where did you got the feeling that I hated the 99% of the Races of mists?
alhoon wrote:
I voted for the dwarves. I loved their new twist and the way the 2nd edition books were incorporated.

The halflings are my 2nd choice, for the same reason. Oh, how I love their wishing ability! Gives my ever-present Halfling NPC rogue a kick! Not to mention that makes great villains! Halfling villains!
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
User avatar
Jester of the FoS
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Jester of the Dark Comedy
Posts: 4536
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:19 am
Location: A Canadian from Canadia

Post by Jester of the FoS »

It was just a generic comment.

There probably is someone out there who hates dwarves and hates my take on dwarves and demihumans and I just hope that there's something in there that still strikes their fancy.
I was just philosophizing on writing in general. Every writer hopes that their worst critic still finds something of value in their work.
User avatar
maraudar
Criminal Mastermind
Criminal Mastermind
Posts: 129
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:44 pm
Location: California

Post by maraudar »

Thought I would add my comments on how thought of the current issue. It was great and a real joy to read... Great enough to inspire me to write some things that I hope to pass on when they are finished. Now mind you I write like the cop I am and I adore adjectives and minute details so be warned anything I write is verra heavy in that direction. Looking forward to the gazetter when its done as well. Great work everyone.


Maraudar
Blade, fire, pistol or stake it matters not.. Even the undead can become true dead.
User avatar
alhoon
Invisible Menace
Invisible Menace
Posts: 8804
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2003 6:46 pm
Location: Chania or Athens // Greece

Post by alhoon »

By far the most liked article is the dwarves David :)
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
My DMGuild work!
Post Reply