Dark Terrors is now available. Options

[Jaid]

Not quite public, but probably known to Jackpointers. From Tir Tairngire:
The Fourth World ties into a theory that's been knocking around for a decade or so now. Supposedly, the theory sprang from a private lecture Ehran the Scribe gave to a group of young elves technologists [not capitalized, strangely enough] some time back. Someone pirated the trideo and it's been making the covert rounds. Ehran tried to have it squashed, with minimal success.

But "HMHVV has been said to have existed in the Fourth Age by those few creatures known to have existed then" implies IEs or dragons going on record saying "yep, it's all true, now ask me anything". And letting slip actual details about the past, let alone certain "problems" coming up, have always been a big no-no...knowledge only is power as long as you have it exclusively, so even Big D had to keep his maw shut.

from what i can tell, ehran *literally* wrote the book when it comes to cycles of mana. now, i don't imagine he ever said "by the way, i'm thousands of years old and i've lived long enough to see mana cycles in action", but the concept is public knowledge.

now, details about the previous mana cycle, those aren't widely known. but that there was one? it may not be proven conclusively to the satisfaction of all, but it isn't some sort of secret.

[Sengir]

The short story "Wyrm Talk" discusses the issue of Dunkelzahn oversharing.

Thanks, that's the one I was thinking of.

"Dunklezahn, you and I have always at least been cordial," Harlequin began.
"Very true."
"But I warn you, there are some of my kind, and your kind, who think you have told too much already."
"Oh?"
"Your comments about great dragons and dracoforms, for one thing."
The dragon nodded. "Yes, I received some...grief for that."
"Should you start to speak of other things..."

[binarywraith]

A Player Insect-Spirit . . really now?

I think someone else just had my reaction to player Infected. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Nath]

now, i don't imagine he ever said "by the way, i'm thousands of years old and i've lived long enough to see mana cycles in action", but the concept is public knowledge.

Humans and the Cycle of Magic
Speech given by Keynote speaker, Ehran “The Scribe” at the YET (Young Elven Technologists) dinner.
[...] When I advised The Pharaoh in creating the Egyptian calendar, I thought I had been as precise as possible, yet my calendar missed the Threshold date by over two years.

[Jaid]

to clarify, i meant he didn't say that in the book he wrote for public consumption (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Beta]

How are people liking the book overall? How would you rate it on game utility, metaplot info, and simple enjoyment to read?

[Prime Mover]

Some SR fluff books in the past have read like textbooks and could be a slog to digest even for a rabid die hard.
Dark Terrors writing is very well done, engaging and the topics are on point without feeling like someone was just trying to pad a word count.

Bugs, a great call back and always a good antagonist to throw at players. Tons of great info and plot stuff here.

Shedim, again another great call back and update for these creeping corpses.

Black Lodge, didn't give away secrets but this section did pull back the curtain on its organization.

CFD, this one desperately needed an update and possible conclusion, good stuff.

Fae, some great mission seeds here for anyone wanting to explore the "court".

Elder Gods, Ohh I wish there was some stat crunch in this section like we got for bugs,infected and shedim.

Foundation, great to have an explanation for that null node, oh and so much more here I'm stealing for a game.

Ghouls, a peek behind the ghoul nation curtain and a pile of infected info...shiver.

Metaplanes, some strange choices for planes and nothing really stands out as must use. Also some info that seems to contradict the rules regarding astral travel.

[Beta]

Thanks Prime Mover -- sounds worth hinting the pdf as a Christmas present.

[Wakshaani]

Re: Elder Gods... any crunch in particular that you really want?

[Mulcarn]

The Suffering gets my vote.

[Sengir]

How are people liking the book overall? How would you rate it on game utility, metaplot info, and simple enjoyment to read?

It's a Threats-style book, accordingly it contains a lot of info on metaplots and things which might become metaplots, but few things which ordinary PCs would find useful. For simply reading up on the plot, it's a bit of a mixed bag: The info is good, but in a book about sinister things lurking in the dark the omniscient and often entirely unexited characters hurt even more than usual.

[Wakshaani]

The Suffering gets my vote.

Noted!

[Mulcarn]

One question that has been bugging me is why was there a Dark Magic Tradition added to the game when it's mechanically and nearly thematically the same as Black Magic? Was there meant to be a set of spirits or metamagics unique to it? Was it meant for NPC only? Was its Drain formula meant to be Willpower + Intuition?

[Glyph]

One question that has been bugging me is why was there a Dark Magic Tradition added to the game when it's mechanically and nearly thematically the same as Black Magic? Was there meant to be a set of spirits or metamagics unique to it? Was it meant for NPC only? Was its Drain formula meant to be Willpower + Intuition?

What I have heard here is that the SR5 write-up departed from the SR4 fluff (dissed it, even), so Dark Magic is another writer bringing back the original SR4-style fluff.

[Mulcarn]

Interesting, and pointless sadly.

[SpellBinder]

Yeah, I had initially wondered about that too, especially when Black Magic was also referred to as the Dark Arts, and then there's this "Dark Magic" tradition.

A second glance now seems that someone was trying to make Dark Magic to Black Magic (and maybe Hermetic, too) as Toxic is to Shaman.

[Mulcarn]

A kinda weird and nuanced way of going about that when the Elder God tradition does a better job at being the 'Toxic' variant of Black Magic and Hermeticism. Also there's Necro Magic too if you wanted a form of dark/blackened hermeticism but it's mechanically unusable RAW so I guess we can ignore that one. This remind me of when Shadow Spells came out and the Norse tradition introduced in the book was literally the same as the Islamic tradition introduced in Street Grimoire.

[DragginSPADE]

Metaplanes, some strange choices for planes and nothing really stands out as must use. Also some info that seems to contradict the rules regarding astral travel.

WHAT rules for Astral travel? I'm still waiting for any kind of Metaplanar quest/travel rules.