Malhavoc Press

Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed Chat Transcript

August 14, 2003 -- 5 p.m. PST

I was pleased to welcome almost 40 of you to our very own chat room last week to answer your questions about Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed and more. Thanks to everyone who attended! We appreciated how everyone hung in there with us even though our regular moderator was trapped in the blackout that hit the eastern part of North America and Sue had to pinch hit. And thanks to Miko for sending us this transcript*.

<Galhavoc> Welcome to Monte Cook's first post-release Arcana Unearthed chat. I'm afraid I don't have the protocols to turn off all of your ability to speak, so we're going to ask you to "play mute" for the sake of order during the chat. If you have a question for Monte, please IM it to me, and I will put you in the queue. Please be patient with me, as this is not my normal gig. Monte, any opening remarks while I take the first questions?

<Monte> We're thrilled that so many of you could make it here, despite power outages and time zone differences, in order to chat with us a while about Arcana Unearthed. It's the biggest product we've ever done at Malhavoc, and in a way, it's the product that Malhavoc was sort of created to do (although don't think that that means that we're done -- we've had a couple of new ideas here and there ;) ) Tonight, I'd like to answer any questions you have or hear comments or comment on something you want me to comment on. For the next hour or so, I'll discuss whatever you want.

<Galhavoc> I have a question from Alexander West: Arcana Unearthed is notably not a d20 product. As a game designer I am curious why you were able to use so many d20 mechanics without any legal difficulty.

<Monte> Well, it's all open content. You have to understand that there are really TWO licenses when it comes to Open Gaming. There's the d20 license and there's the general Open Game License. The OGL is not as strict as the d20 license, and allows you to use character creation rules, for example. But you don't get the benefit of the d20 logo.

<Dragmorian> I know Arcana Unearthed is not "what you would do with the Player's Handbook given the chance," BUT is there any part of Arcana Unearthed, either in design or philosophy, that you would like to see eventually incorporated into D&D?

<Monte> A couple of things. I like the opposed rolls and different ways of handling skill checks in Arcana Unearthed (Intimidate, Tumble, Concentration). I like, as I'm sure many of you know, the flexibility Arcana Unearthed gives to DMs. I like that some things that spells do almost too well in D&D are reined in in Arcana Unearthed -- lIke bringing back the dead, healing, and so forth.

<yangnome> Is there any chance that we might get to see a Ptolus sourcebook in the next year or two?

<Monte> In some form or another, there's a good chance that you will, yes.

<Malhavoc-Guest750> There has been a lot of discussion about multiclassing mage blades lately. Do they incur a penalty to spellcasting with an athame or not? I mean while wearing armor.

<Monte> Mage blades do not face spell failure in armor with their athame.

<TiQuinn> How do you use Arcana Unearthed in your own game? i.e., Any house rules or deviations from the handbook?

<Monte> Currently, I'm using it in a combo Arcana Unearthed/D&D game. I ran a straight-up Arcana Unearthed game for a long time before its release to playtest. Any house rules I came up with went straight into the book as a result of playtesting.

<alexander_west> I am curious about the decision to allow characters to start with two feats. How does this balance with 3rd Edition? Or, more fundamentally, how many feats and skills do you think a character should have at 1st level? Is it the same across all systems, or is it important only that a system (like Arcana Unearthed, or d20 Modern) be balanced against itself?

<Monte> Well, that's a couple of different issues. First and foremost, balance within Arcana Unearthed itself is primary. However, you'll notice that a lot of Arcana Unearthed characters don't start out with a flash-bang ability at 1st level. In other words, they're not too front-loaded. This balances with D&D a bit more, where classes are slightly front-loaded. At least, that's the intent. However, on reflection, in my own cross-game campaign AU/D&D, I decided to go ahead and give all characters the bonus ceremony feat or talent, and that seems to have worked out okay.

<JediSoth> What was the philosophy behind not letting races have their exotic weapons as free proficiencies, and do you see any difficulty in adding that to racial levels as a "perk?"

<Monte> In Arcana Unearthed, you don't get individual exotic proficiencies. I suppose you could add that in to the racial levels. It probably wouldn't wreck the game or anything. Personally,I don't think the races that would get it necessarily need any boost. And to be honest, some weapons, like the sprytebow, are named more for their size than for any kind of racial attachment.

<SlappinJOe> How and when did you realize you had enough ideas to make a variant player's handbook, and how much work was Arcana Unearthed after that?

<Monte> The idea to do a whole variant player's handbook came a long, long time ago. I've slowly been collecting ideas over the years with this concept in mind. I settled on all the "pieces" about a year and a half ago. Then, it was a matter of making them all work together in a context as well as mechanically. The magic system came last. Originally, I wasn't going to have a system that was so different. But it seemed like something a lot of people would like. I'm happy it worked out the way it did.

<cetiken> How is the Bite feat supposed to work? Should there be a penalty to all attacks or not?

<Monte> Yes. -2 to the bite and another attack if used that way, and -4 to the bite and two other attacks if used with two weapons.

<corduroy> Malhavoc has been putting out a steady stream of products. What kind of breakdown can we expect in the future between Arcana Unearthed material and other d20 material?

<Monte> We plan on continuing to do both. We're also hoping to put an "Arcana Unearthed appendix" in at least some, if not all, of our regular d20 stuff to give guidelines on how you could use that product with Arcana Unearthed.

<Jeff> The adventures Plague of Dreams and Siege on Ebonring Keep have obviously been designed with a certain level of collaboration between Mystic Eye and Fiery Dragon. Can we expect similar tie-ins from the modules we'll be seeing from Necromancer as well?

<Monte> Yes. Fortunately, the people at these companies are all gamers and great guys to work with. They're happy to work together. You probably won't see as much direct linkage in the Necro products, because they are going to be dealing with areas farther away. However, a great deal of their (and my) effort will be to keep a consistent line of communication and continuity between all these products.

<juanjose> Any chance of a Modern Arcana Unearthed, or other alterations such as the Oriental Arcana mentioned at the boards?

<Monte> Well, there's a chance, but if it happens it probably won't be a Malhavoc product (we just don't have the time or space on our schedule). We're pretty open with our new license mentioned in the Arcana Unearthed book, though, for people who want to create products like that.

<Dragmorian> Several of the witchery word powers, like freezing word and word of repair, do not have listed ranges. Is the range suppose to be LOS? What's the range?

<Monte> Good question. I'd say that they should probably have a range equivalent to a spell's close range, That is to say, 25 feet + 5 feet/2 levels. The word aspect implies (or is supposed to imply) a closeness.

<alexander_west> Before I ask my third question, I just want to say that I think Arcana Unearthed is great. In particular, I love the flexibility of the magic system, and the concept of adding templates is just plain brilliant. I am curious if you think it was a good idea to describe the only race with a Wisdom bonus (the verrik) as not liking to be greenbonds. It seems most players mindful of "player advantage" would seek to put the verrik together with any Wisdom-based spellcaster class.

<Monte> I kind of did stuff like that for a reason. People can min-max, and that's cool. Or, people can play focusing more on the flavor, and that becomes obvious to the DM. Then the DM can reward that player for good roleplaying. Either way, the player gets something good. It bothers me a little bit that the way the d20 System works, there are only certain choices you should make and any other choice is poor. Sometimes, in the real world, people play against type. I don't think I'm explaining this very well. Maybe this deserves a Design Diary.

<alexander_west> That would be great! =)

<Malhavoc-Guest750> Will you be releasing more variations on the witch class or guidelines to create our own?

<Monte> I might, although I have no specific plans right now. There are 30 different manifestations as it is. That seems to me to be a lot to play around with already. But maybe in the future, who knows?

<Miko> What types of complications could you see arising from attempting to incorporate the 3.5 DR rules into Arcana Unearthed?

<Monte> Actually, it would be really easy. Without alignments, you can forget all the 10/chaotic stuff and basically just use 10/magic or 10/silver as needed. Whenever in Arcana Unearthed you see 10/+2 you can just use 10/magic. In coming products, when DR comes up, I plan on providing stats for both the Arcana Unearthed way and the 3.5 way.

<juanjose> Another question: Will future d20 Malhavoc products include sections on how to adapt/introduce them to Arcana Unearthed, or are you going to keep them separate lines (i.e., Arcana Unearthed products will be "Arcana Unearthed only products" and d20 products will be "d20 only")?

<Monte> Like I said earlier, I plan on having an appendix in many of our d20 products that will provide guidelines for using it with Arcana Unearthed (and The Diamond Throne). We'll also have some Arcana Unearthed products, and if need be we'll put conversion notes in them as well, although honestly I don't think conversions really all that hard.

<Galhavoc> Elsin had to leave but wanted me to ask this: Thanks, Malhavoc, for creating and supporting such a great community for roleplayers. Any future "community" plans?

<Monte> Interesting question. We plan on continuing support for the great diamondthrone.com site and the Council of Magisters. We'll probably also be revamping the montecook.com site in the future, and focus as heavily if not more heavily on our message boards. We'd like to further create more of a presence (particularly for Arcana Unearthed) at cons and at game stores. If you're interested in running a demo at a store or con, contact the Council of Magisters.

<Ezrael> I'm about to run Arcana Unearthed for the first time this Saturday, and I'm still pretty nervous about the magic system. Any advice on how to use laden spells, how to properly use weaving of spell slots, any advice on how to run it organically?

<Monte> Are you going to have 1st-level characters?

<Ezrael> Yes. But we'll probably play 3rd as well.

<Monte> Then it shouldn't be that much of a problem. At 1st level, the characters really can't do that much with the various options. Both the DM and the players will have time to get used to the new system before they start worrying about a lot of the options. Overall, I'd say my advice is to play the game as straightforward as possible at first, and don't worry about ladening and diminishing and weaving until you've really got the hang of it. When I run NPCs in Arcana Unearthed as the DM, I try to plan what spells they will cast (and how they will cast them using the options) ahead of time, so as not to slow things down.

<Miko> I was hoping you could clarify two-weapon fighting for me,,, What motivated you to go for the -0/-0 end result? And also, why penalize a bite attack further if you are making two-weapon fighting easier (in a sense)?

<Monte> Really, it's the same as 3.5, except I've added the "new" feat, Ambidexterity which further improves it. The reason why is that the talent can only be taken at 1st level. You have to really be dedicated to that option, spending your only talent and a feat in order to pull it off.

<Malhavoc-Guest> I'm interested in conversion issues. What about the XP table? Should a multiclass fighter/magister use your XP table or the Player's Handbook XP table? Also, What about standard Player's Handbook spells? How do I decide what's simple, complex, etc.?

<Monte> Well, there's a discussion about assigning spells from D&D in the Player's Guide (in the DM's Screen product). As far as the XP table goes, if you're allowing Player's Handbook/Arcana Unearthed multiclass, I'd use the less favorable Arcana Unearthed version. Really, though,there's only a 10% difference.

<Ezrael> Were the event books like When The Sky Falls ever thought of as being designed to make it easier for a GM to convert his campaign to one based on Arcana Unearthed? Since they seem admirably suited to that purpose, I was wondering if it was intentional.

<Monte> Hmm. I'd love to say it was, but really, it wasn't.

<corduroy> Can we expect to see a mega adventure (like The Banewarrens) written by you for The Diamond Throne setting any time soon? Please?

<Monte> I would very much like to do something like that. It probably won't happen "soon," but it's something I'd love to do. I think when it comes right down to it, adventures are still my favorite thing to write.

<alexander_west> The Eldritch template (p.176) increases DC by +1. In lading the spell, it adds a "further" +2. Is this really for a total of +3?

<Monte> No, it's +2 when ladened. Sorry for the confusion.

<yangnome> At the ENnies, you mentioned that you are starting to see Malhavoc as more than just an imprint now. Any plans to increase your list of authors/editors and such in the near future? It seems that in supporting both d20 and Arcana Unearthed, your workload is increasing quite a bit. Any further new products coming from those who are currently working for Malhavoc press (Skip, Sean, Bruce?)

<Monte> Well, there's Sean's Anger of Angels product coming this fall, and Bruce is already working on a project for us for next year. Skip might be as well. We're also going to be working with at least one other author next year. I'm sorry, but at this stage I have to be a little vague. Don't be surprised to see big things from us in the future in more ways than one.

<cetiken> Will The Diamond Throne include Arcana Unearthed-ised versons of the tables to roll on for random magic weapons/armors/shields?

<Monte> No, it just talks about modifying the one that's in the DMG, basically.

<JediSoth> There's been a couple of discussions on the message boards as to whether or not mage blades can cast touch spells through their athames (and whether or not the athame does its normal damage as well). Is this pretty much intended to be a DM discretion issue?

<Monte> If a DM wants a mage blade to cast a touch spell with his athame, I guess that's okay, but it's not intended.

<Galhavoc> Ezrael asks: Are you aware of how insanely cool the totem warrior is?

<Monte> :) Keith Strohm, a player in my game who's got a litorian bear totem warrior, agrees with you. Another player in the playtest game ran a hawk totem warrior and was very pleased. I'm glad you like them too.

<raleel-laptop> is Malhavoc going to continue the practice of releasing PDFs of things? Personally, Ithink it's forward thinking and like it a lot.

<Monte> Yes. It's something we really like and it works for us.

<Dragmorian> Will there be a Diamond Throne preview containing some world maps? If so, when?

<Monte> Hmmm.... well, how about... tomorrow morning? ;)

<Dragmorian> You rule
<yangnome> fantastic!
<Tiburon> LOL
<JediSoth> Hoody Hoo!
<raleel-laptop> yippee :)
<corduroy> YAY!

<Monte> Seriously, probably tomorrow morning we'll do an update that will have not only a map but some material to help you start a Diamond Throne campaign.

<TiQuinn> Sweeeeet
* Miko does his uber happy turbo dance
<yangnome> cool
<raleel-laptop> in the nick of time :)
<Tiburon> heh
<Rhyx> at last a DT primer
<corduroy> yay again!!

<Galhavoc> Well, looks like we've got to wrap things up now. After a rocky start, we had a great time! Thanks for being patient with my clumsy moderating! We sure appreciate you all coming out!

* Transcript edited for style and clarity.