Legends book previews

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

zombiegleemax

Dec 24, 2005 22:54:29
I like the whole showing previews thing, but i had a question. it's pretty obvious a LOT of people are clamoring for raistlin's stats from the book. so why not reveal his stats as one of the previews? or at least the kingpriest's?
#2

cam_banks

Dec 24, 2005 23:12:19
I like the whole showing previews thing, but i had a question. it's pretty obvious a LOT of people are clamoring for raistlin's stats from the book. so why not reveal his stats as one of the previews? or at least the kingpriest's?

It's usually best to leave the major goodies for the book itself.

Cheers,
Cam
#3

zombiegleemax

Dec 24, 2005 23:47:08
Here here
#4

iltharanos

Dec 25, 2005 12:51:35
I like the whole showing previews thing, but i had a question. it's pretty obvious a LOT of people are clamoring for raistlin's stats from the book. so why not reveal his stats as one of the previews? or at least the kingpriest's?

Why buy the cow if you've already sampled the milk?
#5

jonesy

Dec 25, 2005 19:09:02
Why buy the cow if you've already sampled the milk?

That analogy has such a bad limp that it must be a grizzled war veteran. See, when in the act of purchasing a cow for milking purposes, the wise buyer will always sample the milk first. :D

[/he said with the experience of a son of a son of a farmer]
#6

zombiegleemax

Dec 25, 2005 20:28:33
Or, in a modern referrendum, one might say that it's not sensible to purchase a car without having test driven it while playing with it's best features.

Basically: If the best parts are going to be grievously disappointing, people won't want to purchase it. I, however, will probably purchase it either way.
#7

iltharanos

Dec 25, 2005 21:09:40
That analogy has such a bad limp that it must be a grizzled war veteran. See, when in the act of purchasing a cow for milking purposes, the wise buyer will always sample the milk first. :D

[/he said with the experience of a son of a son of a farmer]

How about this: Why buy the cow if you've already partaken of its flesh AND sampled the milk? ;)
#8

cam_banks

Dec 25, 2005 21:17:47
Web previews should be teasers. Putting up Raistlin's stats for free wouldn't be teasing.

Cheers,
Cam
#9

zombiegleemax

Dec 25, 2005 22:19:03
It would also be giving away the best part.
#10

zombiegleemax

Dec 25, 2005 23:38:49
ok, lemme get this staight . . . you guys think a single stat block is the single most important thing in a book? don't get me wrong, wasting man's stats will be neat to have, but there's a whoooole lot more to a book than that. hopefully anyway. i, for one, wouldn't fork over that much money just to get a single charcter's stats. i'm especially looking forward to the whole changing the timeline stuff. his stats shouldnt be the best part of the book, it should just whet your appetite for how awesome the rest of the book would be. anyway i guess i'm in the minority here.

by t he way, it's monday afternoon where i am. why cant the rest of the world hurry and catch up to me so i can get more preview?!
#11

zombiegleemax

Dec 26, 2005 0:46:41
ok, lemme get this staight . . . you guys think a single stat block is the single most important thing in a book? don't get me wrong, wasting man's stats will be neat to have, but there's a whoooole lot more to a book than that. hopefully anyway. i, for one, wouldn't fork over that much money just to get a single charcter's stats. i'm especially looking forward to the whole changing the timeline stuff. his stats shouldnt be the best part of the book, it should just whet your appetite for how awesome the rest of the book would be. anyway i guess i'm in the minority here.

by t he way, it's monday afternoon where i am. why cant the rest of the world hurry and catch up to me so i can get more preview?!

Indeed I am eagerly excited about the entire book, however widely differing oppinions about Raistlins stats have me very curious about the way the staff went. A week after the book is out I wager most every other aspect of the book will be more widely used(quite in fact I don't intend to use his stats at all), and more interesting. However right now I gotta know and it just killing me. But no, it's not the most important thing about the book.
#12

zombiegleemax

Dec 26, 2005 1:20:35
And after the official stats are released for Raist, everyone will be posting their complaints saying that "this is how that should be," "he should have this instead of this," etc. Can't do nothing about the stats once they're cannon, unless you prefer your own home version and then keep him where he belongs: at home.
#13

talinthas

Dec 26, 2005 5:44:38
ok, lemme get this staight . . . you guys think a single stat block is the single most important thing in a book? don't get me wrong, wasting man's stats will be neat to have, but there's a whoooole lot more to a book than that. hopefully anyway. i, for one, wouldn't fork over that much money just to get a single charcter's stats. i'm especially looking forward to the whole changing the timeline stuff. his stats shouldnt be the best part of the book, it should just whet your appetite for how awesome the rest of the book would be. anyway i guess i'm in the minority here.

by t he way, it's monday afternoon where i am. why cant the rest of the world hurry and catch up to me so i can get more preview?!

Didn't you say yourself that a lot of people are clamoring for the raist stats? I'd probably go even farther and say that many folks willl _only_ buy the book for those stats. (frankly, as far as i'm concerned, statting out raist is as useful as statting the gods--that is to say, totally unnecessary. He's powered by plot.)

giving them out for free would be the dumbest business decision they could make =)
#14

cam_banks

Dec 26, 2005 8:11:46
And after the official stats are released for Raist, everyone will be posting their complaints saying that "this is how that should be," "he should have this instead of this," etc. Can't do nothing about the stats once they're cannon, unless you prefer your own home version and then keep him where he belongs: at home.

Oh, certainly. Jamie once said that I'm going to be reviled by many fans for how Raistlin turned out, but I really don't think there's anything I can do about that.

If I don't have somebody present me with a point by point analysis about how he can't possible have X because of page Y in book Z, I will be surprised.

Cheers,
Cam "why isn't his Intelligence 356?????!!" Banks
#15

talinthas

Dec 26, 2005 10:54:00
honestly cam, how does it feel to be in charge of so many dragonlance things that people are deeply devoted to? I mean, you've had a rather heavy hand in all of SP's books, and have been responsible for pretty much every major statblock, penning beloved figures for the first time in this generation. Do you go in with a sense of trying to capture the character as the fans see them, or as you think would be best served by the rules? What is your motivation, your goal with them?

I point notably towards Ariakas, and his controversial levels as a KoT. What was your internal justification for that?
#16

cam_banks

Dec 26, 2005 14:56:20
honestly cam, how does it feel to be in charge of so many dragonlance things that people are deeply devoted to? I mean, you've had a rather heavy hand in all of SP's books, and have been responsible for pretty much every major statblock, penning beloved figures for the first time in this generation. Do you go in with a sense of trying to capture the character as the fans see them, or as you think would be best served by the rules? What is your motivation, your goal with them?

It's pretty humbling. As I said, some people are always going to be upset by the choices that are made in the game materials when they're supposed to represent something like a novel character. As for what guides this process, it's all done with an eye towards capturing the character best using the rules we have available and making sure things all fit together properly. Margaret is a constant presence in all of these decisions and nothing gets done without her and without Jamie. Even before WOTC sees a product, it's passed by Sovereign Press and approved first. I stay as true to Margaret and Tracy's vision of Dragonlance as I can, while trying also to remain conversant with current design trends.

I point notably towards Ariakas, and his controversial levels as a KoT. What was your internal justification for that?

Tying it all together. It became obvious that retconning him as a proto-Thorn Knight made perfect sense, it fit his abilities, and it explained his interpretation as both a wizard and a cleric in conflicting sources. It also gave Ariakan something to go by when he founded the Knights of the Thorn years and years later. When this idea came to us it seemed like such a great solution we really had to go with it, and I think it worked.

Cheers,
Cam
#17

zombiegleemax

Dec 26, 2005 17:21:20
Does anyone know whether the book has gone to print yet?
#18

cam_banks

Dec 26, 2005 17:42:14
Does anyone know whether the book has gone to print yet?

You'll find out when everybody else does.

Cheers,
Cam
#19

zombiegleemax

Dec 27, 2005 23:26:45
I for one do not want to see if Raistlins stats will be in a preview. That is not the best place for them but rather we need to be a tad patient for the good stuff. Any idea if they will put Cathan or even Ladonna or Par-Salian or Justarius stats out instead?
#20

zombiegleemax

Dec 28, 2005 15:37:36
Margaret is a constant presence in all of these decisions and nothing gets done without her and without Jamie. Even before WOTC sees a product, it's passed by Sovereign Press and approved first. I stay as true to Margaret and Tracy's vision of Dragonlance as I can, while trying also to remain conversant with current design trends.

So eh out of curiosity, how much D&D does Margaret play (specifically 3rd edition Dragonlance, but also mention any other campaigns like Forgotten Realms or what not) and what does she think of Raistlin's stats :P