Post by keolander on Oct 11, 2020 0:38:31 GMT -6
I guess I have to admit I've been utterly annoyed that WotC has for the last 13 years not bothered to actually follow any of the actual lore concerning Iggwilv as established early in D&D. Instead of having 3 separate female Mages of some power they went with baffling idea they were all the same person. That would, of course, be impossible:
- Iggwilv's Demonomicon included Cleric spells, including Exaction and Henley's Digit of Disruption which is are 7th lvl, meaning she had to be at least a 16th lvl Cleric on top of being a Mage. On top of this, given Iggwilv is called Louhi elsewhere and the latter is very reminiscent of Baba Yaga, she's basically Baba Yaga.
- Natasha the Dark was a 7th lvl Illusionist, 15th lvl Mage, meaning she cannot BE the same person as Iggwilv. Being the adopted daughter of Baba Yaga (Iggwilv) perhaps she's the one that Tenser said got "laid low" in WG6 Isle of the Ape? That would make for an interesting take (or maybe Elena the Fair got whacked instead?)
- Tasha of the Hideous Laughter is at least 12th lvl since her spell book Lore of Subtle Communication included the 6th lvl spell Legend Lore. Natasha the Dark doesn't have the spell Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter listed, meaning the connection between her and Tasha was nowhere to be found (otherwise it would have been specified in the adventure The Dancing Hut).
Instead of having these 3 separate, powerful female casters, they make them all the same person. Then they try and make Iggwilv an apprentice to Zagig....which makes no sense. She would have had to have already been a Quasi-Deity or even Hero-Deity by the time Zagig was born (especially if she gave birth to Iuz the Old and he ascended as she did to Demigod status). The timelines don't match unless there is serious time travel going on, and that's an even lazier approach in my opinion.
All of this is bad enough....but its now worse. About the upcoming Tasha's Cauldron of Everything...
In a call with media several weeks ago, lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford pushed back on the idea that Tasha could be described by a single type of alignment, stating that her alignment was whatever suited her current plans best. That's a definite change from her previous depiction as a 'chaotic evil' sort of character, and reflects a further development of her character beyond that of the oftentimes stereotypical scheming seductress that Iggwilv was portrayed as in past adventures" In another interview, Crawford said that "Tasha is a person who is unfazed by beings of many sorts—in addition to having consorted with darker beings, she also has consorted with, you know, beings of the upper plains. Basically, Tasha, in her brilliant curiosity, is untroubled by the various moral variations in the planes of existence. If there is knowledge to be learned and to power to possibly be gained, Tasha is unafraid to face it. [...] Tasha is whatever alignment suits her for the day, so I guess in that sense she is true neutral
No. NO! Iggwilv isn't "True Neutral". She's freaking CHAOTIC EVIL! This completely upends the very idea of Alignment as being an actual definable force within the Multiverse.
And lastly, the outrage mob of drooling morons on Twitter aren't to be outdone. While the original tweet didn't necessarily throw Gary under the bus, the bandwagon was joined by plenty who did....
DM Steve@DeeEmSteve
Just remembered now that Tasha is named after the little girl who sent Gygax a letter (in crayon) asking for a spell involving laughter... and then was written to be this evil seductress trope. D&D, y'all.
........................................
DM Steve@DeeEmSteve
FWIW there's no way to know that spell-Tasha (named after a child) and seductress-Tasha are the same. It's likely coincidence - albeit one with gross implications on first glance (hence the traction this gets).
Hire diverse designers; they'll smell stuff like this early.
Of course they're not the same. Its cause someone couldn't be bothered to actually study the canon of published Greyhawk....not to mention Iggwilv was said to have blonde hair in the Gord the Rogue novels while Natasha the Dark had "smoky dark" hair according to The Dancing Hut.
Instead of having these 3 separate, powerful female casters, they make them all the same person. Then they try and make Iggwilv an apprentice to Zagig....which makes no sense. She would have had to have already been a Quasi-Deity or even Hero-Deity by the time Zagig was born (especially if she gave birth to Iuz the Old and he ascended as she did to Demigod status). The timelines don't match unless there is serious time travel going on, and that's an even lazier approach in my opinion.
All of this is bad enough....but its now worse. About the upcoming Tasha's Cauldron of Everything...
In a call with media several weeks ago, lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford pushed back on the idea that Tasha could be described by a single type of alignment, stating that her alignment was whatever suited her current plans best. That's a definite change from her previous depiction as a 'chaotic evil' sort of character, and reflects a further development of her character beyond that of the oftentimes stereotypical scheming seductress that Iggwilv was portrayed as in past adventures" In another interview, Crawford said that "Tasha is a person who is unfazed by beings of many sorts—in addition to having consorted with darker beings, she also has consorted with, you know, beings of the upper plains. Basically, Tasha, in her brilliant curiosity, is untroubled by the various moral variations in the planes of existence. If there is knowledge to be learned and to power to possibly be gained, Tasha is unafraid to face it. [...] Tasha is whatever alignment suits her for the day, so I guess in that sense she is true neutral
No. NO! Iggwilv isn't "True Neutral". She's freaking CHAOTIC EVIL! This completely upends the very idea of Alignment as being an actual definable force within the Multiverse.
And lastly, the outrage mob of drooling morons on Twitter aren't to be outdone. While the original tweet didn't necessarily throw Gary under the bus, the bandwagon was joined by plenty who did....
DM Steve@DeeEmSteve
Just remembered now that Tasha is named after the little girl who sent Gygax a letter (in crayon) asking for a spell involving laughter... and then was written to be this evil seductress trope. D&D, y'all.
........................................
DM Steve@DeeEmSteve
FWIW there's no way to know that spell-Tasha (named after a child) and seductress-Tasha are the same. It's likely coincidence - albeit one with gross implications on first glance (hence the traction this gets).
Hire diverse designers; they'll smell stuff like this early.
Of course they're not the same. Its cause someone couldn't be bothered to actually study the canon of published Greyhawk....not to mention Iggwilv was said to have blonde hair in the Gord the Rogue novels while Natasha the Dark had "smoky dark" hair according to The Dancing Hut.
