Amal Ulric's page

Of the four submissions, this one grabbed me and screamed 'This is COOL! BUY ME!!' It has an almost Shakespearean feel to it, and the dwarven Valkyries are just too awesome.

I did like Mr. Boomer's submision, but not as much as Ms. Schneider's. Further, I don't feel that Mr. Boomer conformed to the submission guidelines, and that's a big strike for me.

My vote goes to Clash of the Kingslayers.

Dashing down the tube.
In an bone orc-crafted sleigh
Over heroes bodies go
Growling all the way
Leader on fiendish wings
Makes a scary sight.
Look here they come to a cliff
Oh how they wish they'd flight!
whoops! wrong turn
Watch them burn
Sizzling flesh horray!
Watching all the pinkskins burn
Love adventurer flambe!

Impartial Tribunal is a great encounter, and I loved the cursed inevitable as the 'bad guy.' Kudos for that... The map is excellent, and I'd love to see it rendered by a professional cartographer.

Chase on Charred Ground is one of the coolest encounters I've ever seen. I tried to run a run-away wagon chase once when I first started playing and I'd have killed for an encounter like this to fall back on.

These two get my vote for the next round.

No wonder Amal, you're a stuck up paladin on a horse ;-) Lidda has always been hot.

I've got to go with Mitra the Shaper - especially the Wayne Reynolds illustration where she's blasting some undead...

Is it just me or is the tatooed and pierced version of Lidda in the Class Acts:Adventurer totally hawt or what?

I'll have to get my wife to post her Guinness chocolate cake recipe. Oh my god is it gooooooood....

Right now, i'm listening to the Best of Bond... James Bond; it's a collection of all of the movie title themes and a few other soundtrack highlights.

The problem is pricing. For a small-circulation 'zine, printing and shipping alone costs more than $12, never mind the art and writing costs. I can offer it as an option on top of a regular subscription, with a cost will be at least double the PDF-only cost for US addresses (possibly more).

Is there an audience for a $25 or $30/year quarterly? I have no idea.

Hmmm... Sounds interesting. I wondered if anyone would try to step into Dragon's shoes.

Here's an analogy:

D20/OGL = Windows
Hasbro/WotC = Microsoft (they hope)

Feel free to discuss.

Lathander's light shines upon you all. If you can bask in it without flinching, then we're cool (gotta love NG)... if not then let the smiting begin!

That's great! Thank you very much.

The traditional Warhammer term is 'beardy.' I think 'cheesy' is the American version thereof. Warhammer and 40K have improved somewhat in recent versions and they are now less open to exploitation by players; most of the loopholes have been closed. Yet some inequalities still exist. 250 points of vanilla guardsmen will never take down a Bloodthirster in close combat, regardless of how many dice you're rolling. I think that's realistic enough; bad planning should never be rewarded and that's why the game is competitive.

Is it possible to configure an order to ship items to multiple delivery addresses? For example, say I'm placing an order and I see an item that a friend of mine would appreciate for his upcoming birthday. I'd like to be able to purchase all of the merchandise at one time, but have his item(s) shipped directly to him. Even better would be a 'gift' shipping option in which there's no dollar amount printed on the packing slip.

Demons versus devils? I hear yugoloths laughing all the way to the bank...

Just a couple of suggestions... I like the title 'Redeeming the Dead' better than 'Undeath to Life.' The second one is bit misleading, as it brings to mind resurrection-like connotations. Additionally, I'm a bit confused about the duration. The information block reads "1 min/level (Permanent)." After reading the flavor text, I believe that it should read "Instantaneous/1 round per level" or "1 round/level (Instantaneous)" if you prefer. Either way, the undead destruction is an instantaneous effect. Undead that succeed on the saving throw are stunned for 1 round/level. Undead that fail, but aren't instantly destroyed you want to turn against their creator to the tune of 1 minute/level (if I'm reading this right). That's all well and good, but now you have one spell creating three different effects of varying duration. That makes the spell's 'stat block' hard to read. Maybe the 'turn-against-your-maker' effect could have an unlimited duration, but be countered by a cleric's rebuke undead ability? Just my thoughts...

As a native Michigander, I'd like to say this: Heikki Lunta is coming! Say 'yah' to da UP, eh?

For flavor, I prefer the scout. A rogue is a better 'jack-of-all trades,' but the scout does better in melee combat. Rogues' poor combat abilities have always been a bit of a turn-off for me, so I think the scout provides a much-needed combat multiplier for an adventuring party. If you take a few levels in the Dread Commando PrC, then you have a character that can move fast and silent in armor, fight capably, and still has skill points to burn. Can you do the same with a rogue? Maybe, with a human and/or a careful build, but the skirmish vs. sneak attack still favors the scout, I think.

I passed the new infomation on to Phil, but I doubt he's had time to do anything with it yet.

-Vic.
.

How do you deal with players in this situation and how do you convince them not to camp in stupid places short of shouting this is a stupid place to camp?

I must confess that I'm a little disappointed... The title of your thread led me to envision questions pertaining to ales, meads, and beers merrily bubbling away in a carboy in the basement!

*bump*
Any luck, or should I just let this die a quiet death?

Awesome! To anyone that likes this period of history, or this particular battle and subsequent campaign, I'd strongly recommend Stephen Pressfield's most excellent novel Gates of Fire. This is truly one of the best stories about the Spartans that I've ever read (and I've read a lot).

Well, if everything from my physical is good then I should be starting the police academy at the beginning of November but I can still devote some time to this.

Paizo is Greek, right? So you get a Paizo logo centered, and below that "I Play!" Whaddaya tink?

Not really.
FH

hmm; not for me either; too many peeps wouldnt know what it means; I wouldnt want anyone to mistake me for a Playa so to speak a moraly challenged individual as I am married and want to stay that way. Not enought caption or gaming referance imho. If it had a d20 and an I play it would be better but not interesting enough to purchase.

Wouldn't buy it.

The AAFES online site has undergone a makeover, and is now slighlty easier to navigate. I'd suggest trying here: http://www.aafes.com/pa/selling/internet.htm
as well as here: http://www.aafes.com/pa/selling/index.html. There's plenty of contact info on these pages to help point you in the right direction. I hope this helps.

I apologize in advance, 'cause I'm at work and don't have my books in front of me. As a result, I could be completely wrong here...
During the character creation/level-up timeline, doesn't the player select a class before selecting feats? If you follow this part of the RaW, then casters would all have to be multi-classed. Is that your intention, Kyr? Also, what is the effect of your variant rules on humanoid races with a caster as a favored class? I like what you're trying to do, I'm just trying to understand it better.

What's the proposed release date? I enjoyed NWN (and both expansions), so I'll probably get it. I tend more toward solo play than online, so I'll see how much campaign gameplay is included in the initial release. I might end up waiting 'til the first expansion comes out and some of the bugs are patched.

So, yes, we could offer issues with slightly cheaper postage, and significantly slower shipping, and it would complicate our fulfillment process. Does anybody out there still think it's worth it?

-Vic.

In the Complete Arcane (which, regrettably, I don't have in front of me) there's an elementalist PrC that you might loot for ideas. If I'm understanding you correctly, you want this elemental shard to take the place of a phylactery, right? An elemental shard seems difficult to conceal... you'd get weird effects in its vicinity (similar to portal leakage). Maybe you should grant a more powerful ability to compensate? One other question... would this template be available to divine casters as well as arcane? Clerics of an elemental deity would seem to fit right in, and druids might too, if you subscribe to the Shannara flavor of druid.

Also, the reasoning presented in the book makes enough sense for someone never having worn any armor. Though you may now have, Sexi Golem (oh, how I envy you!), post people continue to never have done so, and for them, the explanation is quite sound.

where foul energies pulsed and

I don't have my DMG with me, but eleven CR 15 critters (Marc's party) has to be somewhere in the 18-20 encounter level, right? Isn't the experience/CR scale kinda broken with this party? I'd think that a CR 15 encounter would be a cakewalk, and a challenging encounter would net big experience (even if its divided 11 ways). Pretty soon, they're going to have to start epic-level challenges just to keep entertained. That, or start killing each other...

I also wouldn't mind seeing shirts with each of the nine alignment designations, either.

Allowing the Sorcerer and Wizard to pick up Armored Mage as a feat would probably work just fine, if you weren't worried about it conflicting with the general "flavor" of the spellcaster, and it would help to make the Eldritch Knight a more attractive class.

I think it wouldn't even be unreasonable flavor-wise if you went with the traditional "Light Armor only" allowance. Light armor is portrayed in D&D as being basically a protective jacket and maybe a pair of pants, without even gloves. Heck, the Chain Shirt doesn't even have sleeves in the PHB's illustration. Making smooth gestures in a really stiff jacket would be difficult, but you could probably do it with practice.

As I read it, a character can build a +2 holy, unholy, frost, flaming spork as long as they can meet the prerequisites and/or pay for it. Diametrically opposed descriptors seems hinky to me, though. Holy and unholy I would not allow... frost and flaming, I might allow given a characterful reason. Flaming/corrosive and electric/frost actually sound pretty cool...
And I pronounce it "door-hee."

Although I admit, it is mystifying as to why "wise" classes don't get Sense Motive as a class skill ...

How about "Gamer Geek" or a similar saying? I agree that the "Lord of the Boards" idea is somewhat misleading to the uninitiated. Here's my best suggestion: Paizo is Greek, right? So you get a Paizo logo cenetered, and below that "I Play!" Whaddaya tink?

Maybe we should differentiate between interactive skills (those made as an opposed roll) and straight try-to-beat-the-DC type skills. Boosting a character's ranks in the former seems less dangerous, if you will, than the latter. A couple of extra ranks in a social skill is useful, and the discretionary points suggested elsewhere on this thread would seem to work well for that. On the other hand, boosting a burglar-type's already maxed-out Open Locks skill is just asking for trouble. The DM has to set DCs astronomically high, or just assume that the PCs will just be able to open practically any lock. Either way, it moves from fun into the realm of mathematics. Then again, what do I know? I failed calculus the first time I took it...

...if you've ever paid for something using only Sacagawea dollars pulled from a pouch or coinpurse.

...if you've ever called someone to task for using snaps, hooks, studs, and other such modern contrivances.

...if you've ever spent more time/effort/research on your next Renn costume or purchase than you did on your term paper/homework.

...if you've ever attempted to convince your significant other that it's bad form not to ogle the wenches.

Weak, I know, but it's the best I could come up with on short notice.

Excellent thread, I defenitely plan on implementing some of the suggestions here.
One thing I'd like to contribute is making any skill that a particular race receives a natural bonus in, a class skill for that race (this does not include bonuses due to size).

For example, diplomacy, gather info, etc. would be class skills for half-evles regardless of their class. I think this makes sense, reflecting the race's natural knack for certain abilities.

I also really like the idea of getting rid of the one point buys half a rank rule, one point should equal one rank, and keeping the cross class cap.

I can say with authority that it takes a good deal more than 6 seconds to load any muzzle-loading firearm (except, perhaps, a blunderbuss). For a long-arm (rifle or musket) flintlock, 2 aimed shots per minute is considered excellent. A pistol might be slighty faster, but not by much. Keep in mind that the loader must have both hands free.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, and I'm the first to admit that D&D is not particularly compatible with real-world physics and historical accuracy. I'd just like to point out that some of the proposed reload times on this post seem a bit... inaccurate. A matchlock might load a bit faster, but is much more susceptible to the vagaries of weather. Percussion caps are pretty far outside the capabilities of a medieval-flavored society. BTW, cannons often took several minutes to reload after firing.

A favorite of mine has always been the bladesinger from FR fiction. The PrC from (I think) Races of Faerun was pretty good... It had limited spell casting from a small list of spells that couldn't be expanded on. The caster level sucked, but a bladesinger would get access to spells at comparable or advantageous character level. The 3.5 update in Complete Warrior nerfed the class, though. The salient abilities are still there, but the spell progression is now pathetic - one advancement every other class level. In this style, the bladesinger won't cast as well as a mage of his character level, will fight almost as well as a fighter of the same level, but will get clobbered more often due to lousy AC and hit points. A better build might use a warmage from Complete Arcane, but the bladesinger class abilities I think require no armor.

One thing you might try is this: leave the cross-class skill lists as is, but reduce all skill costs to one point/rank. Your max number of ranks in a cross-class skill remains the same, it's just cheaper for your character to get there. A couple of feats in Heroes of Battle do this: Guerrilla Scout and Guerilla Warrior. They modify Spot/Listen and Hide/Move Silently (respectively) in the manner I just described. In a skill-intensive campaign, I might apply the same process to the whole skill list, or maybe develop a similar feat that affected more skills.

You can use the werewolf PC class from the WOTC site:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a

Except you need to remember that lythari don't have a hybrid form, and, as mentioned above, they are CG instead of CE.

And Tolkien himself based much of elven language on Welsh, and Dwarven on Hebrew, mainly because he didn't want the two languages to show any common origins.

I'd normally support your suggestion, but I'd like to play Devil's Advocate for a moment. Most of the Ecology articles are submitted by freelance writers, which is to say average D&D players like you and I. If you and I don't know where a particular monster came from, then the author of a given article probably doesn't either. This means that Dragon must either reject a submission because the author doesn't know enough about the creature's origins, or the staff must undertake the research themselves to track down the necessary information. In either case, that seems to be a lot of effort for a 2- or 3-paragraph sidebar. I don't mean to sound harsh, I just want to provide another viewpoint.

Now, out of curiosity, what languages do you think the core races of Dungeons and Dragons would speak?

In my personal opinion;
Dwarves- Russian or German
Elves- French or Italian
Humans-English or Esperanto (it's Common for a reason!)
I'm not sure about the others.
What do you guys think?

-Thor

I don't recall one that does exactly that, no. That's a potentially powerful effect, so it would have to be expensive if you're thinking of writing your own version. On the other hand, there's Intensify Spell (all variable numeric effects are maximized, then doubled) and Enhance Spell (damage cap raises by 10 dice for certain spells, 5 dice for others). You can find both of those in the Epic Level Handbook. I don't think what you're asking for is quite on the "epic" level, but I see a lot of potential for abuse. I don't think I'd allow such a thing IMC.