tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post7378428017152750638..comments2024-03-28T20:36:33.364-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: The Sage's CurseJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-22877236828706006502011-02-14T09:24:04.638-05:002011-02-14T09:24:04.638-05:00I have to wonder about the genesis of this rule an...<i>I have to wonder about the genesis of this rule and why it came about.</i><br /><br />I think (if we can assume that the rules in Supplement II come from actual play) that it means that some player in the original campaigns were an annoying twit who angered his DM one time too many. :)AndreasDavourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17170806742393291962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28504271390269818262011-02-14T05:51:05.657-05:002011-02-14T05:51:05.657-05:00Incidentally, there's a PC scholar class in Fi...Incidentally, there's a PC scholar class in Fight On! number 5. I guess they'd be Indiana Jones types.anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-3563150772143390012011-02-14T03:22:14.194-05:002011-02-14T03:22:14.194-05:00Thanks for the information bombasticus. It looks l...Thanks for the information bombasticus. It looks like a really useful way to build disposable antagonists.J.R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06486343927258998646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-18711549544497168942011-02-14T01:31:21.323-05:002011-02-14T01:31:21.323-05:00J.R. and bombasticus: Yeah, I see that I misread t...J.R. and bombasticus: Yeah, I see that I misread the entry. There it is, the statement that they are "philosophers (or clerics)". I'd still read that as meaning "clerics", but that's an interesting bit of history I'd never known.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-79421901603662041212011-02-13T22:19:36.474-05:002011-02-13T22:19:36.474-05:00Steve Marsh on the "philosopher" class: ...Steve Marsh on the "philosopher" class: http://dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10718&p=928878&#p928878bombasticushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09570356997079883076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4290311212148393892011-02-13T22:00:51.716-05:002011-02-13T22:00:51.716-05:00J.R.: I suspect that is an artifact of a mistakenl...J.R.: I suspect that is an artifact of a mistakenly capital 'P'. The Ixitxachitl are Chaotic Clerical philosophers.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-57986570354215975942011-02-13T19:50:13.873-05:002011-02-13T19:50:13.873-05:00Or the death curse of the royal family of Amber.Or the death curse of the royal family of Amber.Revenanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374515200055384226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-52864683991659739332011-02-13T19:11:46.141-05:002011-02-13T19:11:46.141-05:00Reminds me of the Wizard's Death Curse of the ...Reminds me of the Wizard's Death Curse of the <i>Dresden Files.</i><br /><br />Of course it predates Dresden by 25-30 years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-50502672933818932972011-02-13T17:44:05.241-05:002011-02-13T17:44:05.241-05:00My DM made Sage a playable subclass of magic-user ...My DM made Sage a playable subclass of magic-user in his homebrew campaign (with various benefits depending on the fields of study). They have the Death Curse ability, but it's only really usable if you're killed by an unprovoked attack. If you're out adventuring, killing giants, and a giant kills you back, you don't get to do the Curse.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08725862005855716777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-75014373183140140322011-02-13T16:05:25.814-05:002011-02-13T16:05:25.814-05:00I think this rule is less about the implied settin...I think this rule is less about the implied setting, and more about the assumed playstyle back in the day. In the Blackmoor rules, sages are not mysterious figures living off in ruined towers somewhere. They are presented as a piece of equipment you buy for your castle. The organization you buy them from, the sages guild, enforces a strict “no refunds, no exchanges” policy. This way, if you roll low, and get a barely competent sage, you are stuck with him. <br /><br />Of course, in a situation like this, clever players will just poison their sage, tell the guild he “mysteriously died” and request a new one. Hence all these rules about alignment changes and curses. <br /><br />What really strikes me as weird about Blackmoor is not the sage rules, but the apparent reference to a “philosopher” class in the Ixitxachitl entry. . .J.R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06486343927258998646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-86095015072287403172011-02-13T15:35:42.851-05:002011-02-13T15:35:42.851-05:00I love the brutal 'never make another saving t...I love the brutal 'never make another saving throw' curse. An excellent punishment for a player who has really stepped in it, while at the same time it presents a kind of epic challenge that I think some players (like me) would relish.Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00352968793565091524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-84122777353705663612011-02-13T14:42:21.634-05:002011-02-13T14:42:21.634-05:00What a weird rule! It has almost a Lovecraftian fe...What a weird rule! It has almost a Lovecraftian feel to me, that sages know forbidden things that they would never use themselves, except in extremis.<br /><br />On a more prosaic note, I, like you, wonder how this ever came about. Was TSR getting reports of "kill everything and take its stuff" campaigns?Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01254215329246851683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-681833032371896442011-02-13T14:30:27.497-05:002011-02-13T14:30:27.497-05:00That explicitly suggests that Sages are more than ...That explicitly suggests that Sages are more than simply some learned academic. More like the wise men from movies and literature, mysterious, elusive and enigmatic. Rather than going to your local library and consulting the librarian, you are travelling to some ruined tower that magically transforms itself into the same tower, aeons in the past, complete with cowled and inscrutible wise man.Aaron E. Steelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789462075611254929noreply@blogger.com