John
11-30-1996, 12:00 AM
> Hello Again,
>
> Exactly how do you describe how a halfling's shadow walk and
> dimension door work. One of my players asked, and asked what the
> functional difference between the spells was, and I had an awful
> time trying to come up with a meaningful difference. Any help out
> there?
>
> Jonathan
I had a bit of trouble with this one to start with. I decided that
the way the thing's described in the novels was the best basis, not
the spells, since the only real difference is the distance you can
travel, when you apply them to the concept of Shadow World travel.
When a halfling wanted to use his ability, I'd have him make the roll
to get into the SW (depending on the circumstances etc.), once there
he could walk around as normal - time working differently meant that
when he returned to normality, the effect would seem instantaneous.
This meant that he had to face the inherent risks of Visceral
Beasties From Beyond The Dawn Of Time roaming his patch of the SW.
Once at his destination - which he could choose by using his halfing
ability to see into the SW - while in the SW I had it work in reverse
and he could see into the real world - and make another roll to drop
out again. He could not be trapped there, as the 'duration' effects
from the original spell description were applied, as he would
automatically drop back out once he had spent a certain amount of
time there. It worked OK in the end and didn't unbalance things too
much.
Hope it helps,
John.
"Once I was a lamb, playing in a green field. Then
the wolves came. Now I am an eagle and I fly in a
different universe."
"And now you kill the lambs," whispered Dardalion.
"No, priest. No one pays for lambs."
- David Gemmel, Waylander
>
> Exactly how do you describe how a halfling's shadow walk and
> dimension door work. One of my players asked, and asked what the
> functional difference between the spells was, and I had an awful
> time trying to come up with a meaningful difference. Any help out
> there?
>
> Jonathan
I had a bit of trouble with this one to start with. I decided that
the way the thing's described in the novels was the best basis, not
the spells, since the only real difference is the distance you can
travel, when you apply them to the concept of Shadow World travel.
When a halfling wanted to use his ability, I'd have him make the roll
to get into the SW (depending on the circumstances etc.), once there
he could walk around as normal - time working differently meant that
when he returned to normality, the effect would seem instantaneous.
This meant that he had to face the inherent risks of Visceral
Beasties From Beyond The Dawn Of Time roaming his patch of the SW.
Once at his destination - which he could choose by using his halfing
ability to see into the SW - while in the SW I had it work in reverse
and he could see into the real world - and make another roll to drop
out again. He could not be trapped there, as the 'duration' effects
from the original spell description were applied, as he would
automatically drop back out once he had spent a certain amount of
time there. It worked OK in the end and didn't unbalance things too
much.
Hope it helps,
John.
"Once I was a lamb, playing in a green field. Then
the wolves came. Now I am an eagle and I fly in a
different universe."
"And now you kill the lambs," whispered Dardalion.
"No, priest. No one pays for lambs."
- David Gemmel, Waylander