Open Design - Kobold: Behind the Spells

Kobold: Behind the Spells

Nov. 30th, 2008 at 10:47 AM

We're kicking off a new series on Kobold Quarterly today: Behind the Spells, a look at where various classic D&D spells come from plus variants and spell secrets, as told by the folks at Tricky Owlbear.

The first installment is on color spray. Let me know what you think!

Comments

( Leave a comment )

montecook wrote:

Nov. 30th, 2008 09:18 pm (UTC)

It's pretty cool. It's not what I was expecting, though. I thought it would include information about who (as in game designer) created the spell, and why. I know there are a lot of fun stories behind the spells (Nystul's Magic Aura and Tenser's Floating Disk come to mind) and it would be cool if this feature covered that kind of real world info as well.

Link | Reply | Thread

open_design wrote:

Nov. 30th, 2008 09:52 pm (UTC)

That is an extremely cool suggestion. I'll see if Bret can do a sidebar along those lines, at least.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

napftor wrote:

Dec. 1st, 2008 02:52 am (UTC)

I'd be more than happy to have a sidebar of the real life background to certain spells. Not sure if such histories could be integrated into the fiction but there's no reason we can't nod to them in some fashion. For my own take on "named" spells, see the issue on Acid Arrow.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

avidreader514 wrote:

Nov. 30th, 2008 09:27 pm (UTC)

That's great news! Congrats Tricky Owlbear!

Link | Reply | Thread

ditheringfool wrote:

Nov. 30th, 2008 11:46 pm (UTC)

This is a great addition! Congratulations to KQ & TO

Link | Reply | Thread

mark_gedak wrote:

Dec. 1st, 2008 12:37 am (UTC)

Now if you could get Phil to do a treasure column, KQ would be unstoppable.

Link | Reply | Thread

open_design wrote:

Dec. 1st, 2008 05:26 pm (UTC)

It would be great to have "Traps & Treasures" on Tuesdays, rather than only traps...

But I suspect Phil is too busy.

Link | Reply | Parent | Thread

halo_ov_fire wrote:

Dec. 1st, 2008 06:29 am (UTC)

KQ's formula for success keeps getting stronger and stronger.

Link | Reply | Thread

thecoremechanic.blogspot.com wrote:

Dec. 1st, 2008 10:01 pm (UTC)

Class / Race histories as well

I would be very interested in seeing the development history of other elements of the game, such as class or races. I recently did something like this for the Cleric (http://thecoremechanic.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-cleric-is-old-cleric-part-5.html) class, going through all the editions of D&D (shameless plug); similar write ups would add depth that is lacking from "official" channels. The spells history is spot on - a sidebar providing "real world" background would make the series a must-read.

Link | Reply | Thread