# Vote for a preview! -- PRESTIGE WINS!



## Morrus (Jun 14, 2011)

Which preview would you like to see tomorrow?

(Scroll down to see the Prestige preview).


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## Riastlin (Jun 14, 2011)

Hrrmmmm, the "All of the above" button wouldn't show up for me.


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## Morrus (Jun 14, 2011)

Riastlin said:


> Hrrmmmm, the "All of the above" button wouldn't show up for me.




I only have time to make one, I'm afraid.  So pick the one you'd prefer!


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## Riastlin (Jun 14, 2011)

Heh, that's what I figured and was just giving you a hard time is all.


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## Redbadge (Jun 14, 2011)

I voted prestige because I figured it would help me plan my character some more.


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## Morrus (Jun 14, 2011)

Redbadge said:


> I voted prestige because I figured it would help me plan my character some more.




It doesn't affect character creation; it tracks your relationships with various groups based on your actions, and the favours you can call in from them.


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## Redbadge (Jun 14, 2011)

Morrus said:


> It doesn't affect character creation; it tracks your relationships with various groups based on your actions, and the favours you can call in from them.




I didn't mean from a strictly mechanical perspective. I meant background/flavor, as well as from a progression standpoint, since I couldn't wait and have already plotted my character out into paragon tier (feats, items, and powers, but all subject to change of course). I thought that I may see something in the prestige preview that may change my plans, but I may be wrong. I will almost certainly make a bunch more tweaks once the full Player's Guide comes out.


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## Colmarr (Jun 14, 2011)

I voted Prestige, but only because I was lucky enough to be one of the proofreaders for adventure 1. Otherwise it would definitely have been dramatis personnae.


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## Morrus (Jun 15, 2011)

Prestige wins with a landslide!


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## Colmarr (Jun 15, 2011)

Very interesting, particularly that Prestige is a measure of 'visibility' rather than friendship.

Is this a preview from the player's primer or the DM's primer? Ie. should I be circulating this among my players? I'm half inclined to keep it to myself.


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## Morrus (Jun 15, 2011)

Colmarr said:


> Is this a preview from the player's primer or the DM's primer?




There's a clue in this very thread!


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## Riastlin (Jun 15, 2011)

I like it, looks like it should work fairly well and be a very good way of helping with roleplay and story elements, etc.


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## Morrus (Jun 15, 2011)

You lucky, lucky people! This is the Dramatis Personae from_ Island at the Axis of the World_.

WARNING. ONLY LOOK AT THIS IS YOU ARE PLANNING TO RUN THE ADVENTURE AS THE DM. IF YOU'RE A PLAYER, YOU WILL SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!


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## Riastlin (Jun 15, 2011)

Nice to see a little good-natured ribbing pays off every now and then. 

Thanks for the preview. Even without the full intro packs and such, its clear that there should be some very interesting intrigue and the like. Kudos to all the people who have put in so much work to bringing this about.

Though seriously, did you really have to make one of the NPCs Shatner?


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## Morrus (Jun 15, 2011)

Riastlin said:


> Though seriously, did you really have to make one of the NPCs Shatner?




Is that the only one you spotted?  I see William Riker, Grand Moff Tarkin, and others, too.  Perhaps [MENTION=63]RangerWickett[/MENTION] will tell us who inspired each (if nothing, that makes for fantastic roleplaying tips).


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## Riastlin (Jun 15, 2011)

Yeah saw those too, though they were more an artwork inspiration in my mind whereas the Shatner reference was more to the mannerisms.  Of course Shatner would also be the easiest . . . for a DM . . . to emulate.  

In addition to the ones you mentioned I also got a sense of Maya Angelou, which seems pretty cool in an odd sort of way given the brief description, etc.


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## Redbadge (Jun 15, 2011)

Morrus said:


> You lucky, lucky people! This is the Dramatis Personae from_ Island at the Axis of the World_.
> 
> WARNING. ONLY LOOK AT THIS IS YOU ARE PLANNING TO RUN THE ADVENTURE AS THE DM. IF YOU'RE A PLAYER, YOU WILL SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!




Thanks for the warning. Seeing as this is one of my only chances to actually play as a player, and I definitely don't want any spoilers, I will reluctantly have to opt out of this preview. I will get my DM to look at it though. Hopefully it will get him even more excited about DMing.

I guess I'll also have to stop lurking around the EN Publishing forum, as the other DMs are likely to spoil things once the adventures start coming out.


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## RangerWickett (Jun 15, 2011)

I like Star Trek. 

I like Firefly/Battlestar Galactica/Supernatural.

I like Wrath of Khan.

I like Highlander.

I'm not actually a fan of Che Guevara, but he would look fantastic with a beard.

Maya Angelou has not been in any sci-fi movies, but I like her too.

One of my friends like Bollywood films.

Devas can survive being shot from the grassy knoll.

I really liked The Wire and Treme, though I'm not sure Claudio (the artist) has seen them.

Um . . . I like France? I dunno. It's a tradition to have heads of state appear as random NPCs. (In WotBS, the bearded devil was president of Brazil, and the head of Seaquen was the president of the U.S.).

I like Goodfellas.

I didn't actually like Die Hard 4, nor am I a fan of Macs.

That friend I mentioned before? She _really_ likes Bollywood.

And the final 4: Transporter, I don't recall, I don't recall, and I bet you'll never guess.



I work in a medical library, and our Public Health students love thesis titles just as long as "Field Study of Melee Effectiveness and Foe Debilitation through Focused Limb Severance Techniques Contrasted with Mainstream Opportunistic Techniques."


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## Colmarr (Jun 16, 2011)

Morrus said:


> There's a clue in this very thread!




Doh! 



Morrus said:


> You lucky, lucky people! This is the Dramatis Personae from_ Island at the Axis of the World_.




Ooh, I did not pick the appearance of the rulers of Risur. It's a nice surprise.

Which reminds me: How exactly is Aodhan intended to be pronounced? Various sources on the net give pronunciation as A-den and A-yawn.



RangerWickett said:


> I work in a medical library, and our Public Health students love thesis titles just as long as "Field Study of Melee Effectiveness and Foe Debilitation through Focused Limb Severance Techniques Contrasted with Mainstream Opportunistic Techniques."




I must admit that the name of the thesis did make me smile. I know a lot of health PHD students 

And another question, trying very hard not to spoil anything: Do eladrin have glowing, pupiless eyes in Zeitgeist (which I believe is the 4e default)?


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## Morrus (Jun 16, 2011)

Colmarr said:


> Which reminds me: How exactly is Aodhan intended to be pronounced? Various sources on the net give pronunciation as A-den and A-yawn.




See, we knew you'd say that. Which is why the PG includes a pronunciation guide.

Damn, are we good at this AP stuff or what?


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## Colmarr (Jun 16, 2011)

One of my players (who is taking the Yerasol Veteran theme), just sent me this email:



> _"I'd say it would be an idea to have some Level 2 Soldiers ready as we will be (with a [Hard DC] Diplomacy roll) able to call in 12 lvl 2 Soldiers within a few hrs and I'm a big fan of backup "_



Is there anything to stop my players from going into every "slow" encounter (ie. ones where there's no time pressure to start the encounter quickly) backed up by 4 (or 12!) members of Risur's military?

Ordinarily I assume this would be accounted for by the PCs receiving less xp for the encounter (a la mounts), but I'm not planning on awarding xp; just levelling the PCs as they reach the appropriate adventure.

If the answer is "DM prerogative", I'm fine with that. And yes, I realise this will really only be relevant for the first 5 levels or so. After that, those level 2 soldiers are more set dressing than anything else.


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## Morrus (Jun 16, 2011)

Colmarr said:


> Is there anything to stop my players from going into every "slow" encounter (ie. ones where there's no time pressure to start the encounter quickly) backed up by 4 (or 12!) members of Risur's military?




A plot.


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## RangerWickett (Jun 16, 2011)

You can't use prestige for anything in the first adventure. By the second adventure, there are a handful of situations where you could plan to bring along a squad with you for an event that takes place the next day. Indeed, if you do well enough on some of the investigation to know about events that far in advance, you get rewarded by having more people on your side.

Usually, though, at low level you might get one or two guys as back-up in a fight. At higher level you might get a bunch of guys to be look-outs as you go do the heavy lifting.

Plus, you tend to be disliked if you keep bringing guys to situations you could handle yourself, or if you keep getting innocent coworkers killed by dragging them in harm's way.


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## Riastlin (Jun 16, 2011)

RangerWickett said:


> Plus, you tend to be disliked if you keep bringing guys to situations you could handle yourself, or if you keep getting innocent coworkers killed by dragging them in harm's way.




As a mostly DM, I never consider the party's "co-workers" to be innocent.  

That being said, I think like many things that could potentially become cheesy without too much effort, this is one of those things where you simply tell your players "Don't abuse the privelege."  My players at least are pretty good with that but obviously every group is different.


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