Geekabilly wrote: ↑Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:20 pm
I'm about half way through and I've skimmed the rest, but am I right in thinking there is no mention of the Passions' Harbingers in this book? I was hoping we'd get a write up on how each of the Passions creates their Harbingers and how they punish Questors that have transgressed against the Passions' ideals.
Also nothing about Passions manifesting in the form of Namegiver Avatars like Crarites from Throal?
No. Ultimately, that sort of thing ended up outside the scope of the book. We might revisit harbingers at a later date, but I didn't feel like trying to shoehorn them into the material here.
As for avatars/manifestations... I spent a lot of time as this book was working its way through development meditating on the nature of the Passions. In the end, it came back around to the matter of focus -- I wanted to look at things from the perspective of those who follow the Passions.
I came to the conclusion that it was better to leave the Passions mysterious, and not limit them with stat blocks, powers, or the like, and drew attention away from the book's core focus. Again, it's possible some of those aspects you mention might come up in the future (if we can find a good place for them), but I didn't feel that they fit here.
I understand the book is called Questors and not Passions, but I was hoping for more information on the Passions too. So far it seems like Questors adds a lot new game mechanics (50 pages of Devotions) but doesn't add a whole lot to the setting.
I'm sorry you're disappointed.
I think the book adds quite a bit to the setting -- in the same way as
The Adept's Way. It provides in-character perspectives, ideas that can serve as inspiration or a starting point for your own ideas. It floats various (and sometimes conflicting) theories about the Passions as they are understood (or not, as the case may be) in the setting. It's a map that gives a high-level overview of an area that hasn't really been explored in the game, but doesn't nail down every last rock and tree. It's saying, "Look at all this terrain -- now go and explore!"
It's not for everyone (but that's true of
any supplemental book), but it's the book I wanted to see made.
