Auxmaulous's page

Morning BlackBlood.

I'm pretty new to the forums, so it was wonderful spending 10 minutes reading through the second page. Absolutely no new information was posted and no new opinions were voiced. It was great, it felt like I was reliving the first page over again. I think I love this place!

There appear to be three stances, One: The Animal companion is an NonPC as directly implied in Handle Animal and the class skill, and therefore can only be commanded by the Character with tricks taught, not the Player.

Two: The Animal Companion is a slave-bot meant only to be used by the player. Any Infringement on this is equivalent to death itself.

Three: It's a game for friends and people should compromise about sometimes having it as GM controlled so that it can have meaningful back-and-forth communique; and sometimes having it be a combat slave who does relatively what you want.

pretty much.. I choose 1.. and 3 :)

Why should those that stuck with 3.5 in the form of Pathfinder even care?

I can only speak for myself but as much as I love Pathfinder as a game and Paizo as a company, there's still the fact that I have had a 20-year long D&D history before 4E put an end to my customer relationship with D&D. So while I certainly won't stop supporting Paizo/PF, there's still the wish that D&D Next will be a form of D&D I also will care about.

What's funny is that in 2007/2008 the then-current WotC customer base went ballistic when lack of backcomp was mentioned. The current WotC customer base didn't. So either they're not caring about 5E at all or are actually looking forward to switching. What's funny is how horribly did WotC fumble the edition switch then, as opposed to now.

(I still have that strange feeling it has more to do with the fact that 4E was so poorly adopted by the customer base that everybody is just relieved to see it go and sees 5E as what 4E was supposed to be to begin with, but I'm sure I'll have memorax and Scott running after me with flaming chainsaws for this comment. Sorry, couldn't resist!)

I'd also affirm the comment made by theneofish in the other thread. I'm a collector as well as a player - I have no need for any further RPG material for the rest of many lives. At 3-4 hours per week (if I'm lucky) I'm still plugging away through my first AP. I have another nine Paizo APs and maybe thirty unplayed modules from them - then I have a whole bunch of other adventures, supplements and sourcebooks waiting to be used if the mood takes me.

I dont buy RPGs because I'm buying information. I enjoy reading them to relax and like browsing my bookshelves for a bedtime book - clicking through a menu just isnt the same thing, in my case.

Crimson Jester wrote:

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

The NPC wrote:

Marriage is a state issue not federal.

Ahem (thanks to a Facebook friend for the link).

Disagree it is neither.

unions recognized by the state/nation are secular, and marriages are religious.

Nail hit head.

Just because a majority says that something should be done this way does not always make it right. Same thing with the minority. A filibuster is a legal weapon used BY BOTH SIDES and it is in the system for a reason. Can it be abused? YES!!! So can anything else that is in the legal system. If you do not like it, then either vote in someone that supports your views or run for government and change it yourself. ~shrugs~ Nothing in life is perfect. I would much rather have the filibuster rule in there so when it is needed to stop something that is detrimental, then it is there, than not have it there and let something go through that could have been prevented. Also, just remember, government is run by PEOPLE. Inperfect, flawed, opionionated, foolish, ignorant people. The problem is that you want PEOPLE to change and they will not.

cranewings wrote:

Just because a minority is preventing bills that you like doesn't mean their aren't minorities stopping bills you hate.

Doesn't matter if I hate the bill or not. THey should have no right. Period.

Yet they do, and the system was set up that way for a reason. deal with it or run for congress and change it.

Crimson Jester wrote:

You say you want a revolution...

Who here's got Chairman Mao pictures?

Probably only you. That was not my point. I actually had a long winded rant that went into it more deeply but honestly why bother. People are entrenched in their beliefs. When the system gets them what they want or feel is their rights, even if they did not exist in the first place that person calls it a "Win" and when it doesn't well the excuse is that the system is broke and they are the only ones smart enough to see it, or rather those that agree with them are. So it needs to be changed. I just see that as silly. Since no one here really cares about my opinions anyway, why bother. For if I share I will hurt someones precious feelings or be attacking them while in truth I am merely being honest.

Until the shoe's on the other foot, and sweeping anti-(whateve you're for) legislation looks to win by a majority. Then you'll wish you had a filibuster option.
They work both ways.

Click here for Mitt Romney -->

First of all, media has portrayed both guys in different lights - there's not one way, either bad or good. So I've seen some with Zimmerman in an orange jumpsuit, others when he's in regular clothing, Trayvon with a closed smile, one that highlighted his gold-capped lower teeth - that's just the media being a*#+~*%s and trying to sell papers/page clicks.

As far as what happened, here's my take, which is probably pretty close, based on all the testimony that's been garnered.

Both guys are/were probably cool/decent guys. Trayvon lived the life of a teenager with some hiccups, Zimmerman was hoping he'd get into law enforcement somehow/eventually.

Zimmerman saw Trayvon, not as a race, but as a guy in his neighborhood that he didn't know, face hidden by his hoodie - and determined that was suspicious. He called it in (seemed he had a penchant for calling stuff in), and even though told he didn't have to follow, decided to.

Trayvon probably noticed someone was following him, ducked into cover (stealth check), and when he saw the guy going back to his SUV, confronted him.

Something like "Is there a problem? Well there is now" was tossed in there, and Trayvon punched Zimmerman, then started slamming his head into the ground.

My guess is Trayvon probably thought this guy wanted to jump him/steal/ who knows, and figured the safest play was to go head on. Would he have killed Zimmerman? I doubt it, giving his history. But I'm sure he wanted to teach this guy a lesson about following him. There is however the possibility that he saw that Zimmerman was strapped and felt that something more definite was in order.

Zimmerman meanwhile is getting his head slammed into the ground/road, has a bloody nose, is probably dazed and confused as hell, and goes to pure survival mode, pulls the gun out and fires a single shot. Pushes Trayvon off of him, stands up trying to figure out what happens, nudging the body some and realizing what has actually happened.

Note that several witnesses have come forth, hearing and witnessing the commotion, and police were on their way. They show up, check the injuries Zimmerman has, make note of it, and have medical personnel clean him up. They then cuff Zimmerman for questioning, and take him in. Trayvon's body is handled as is the norm for a homicide.

In the video from the garage/entrance to the police station (it's being bandied around everywhere), Zimmerman seems undamaged. Remember that he was cleaned up by the medical personnel on scene, and a little bit of time has passed. He gets questioned/procedured, and gets checked out the next day at a hospital.

Now with a legal overview - and remember I ain't no lawyer :) But don't listen to anyone talking about the "Stand Your Ground" - that really doesn't apply here. That was a statute mainly created to help homeowners protect their possessions after the hurricanes swept through Florida. Its intent was to allow people to defend their home or car from an attacker (aka armed looter), without having to consider the option of retreat. Many people believe it still is a solid statute, and a necessary one for the protection of family/household.

But this is more of a defense - self defense at that. So what Zimmerman will need to do is convince a jury that there was a reasonable belief that his life was in jeopardy, and that the only choice was to kill or be killed. It's hard to do that when you define someone as a kid with a pack of skittles, easier if you define him as someone beating your head against the ground with no end in sight. Trayvon was definitely the first, but who knows if circumstances had turned him into the second.

And this is all assuming that the incident is taken to a judicial venue. It is quite possible that, despite all the public outcry, officials will decide that this is a definite case of self-defense and decline to prosecute.

My guess is that the officials will side with caution and allow a jury to interpret the facts. Then I would expect Zimmerman will take a lesser plea, and probably relocate far away.

TLDR? Probably two decent guys got in a fight, and two lives were destroyed by it.

Hey there, here is a conversion of B4 The Lost City (Moldvay, Tom. TSR, 1982). Note: This is a re-imagined version, rather than a straight conversion.

Here is the file -> B4 The Lost City [67.75MB]

I recommend you right click the link and select "save as" to get the file; Otherwise, your browser may display a cached version.

Tried to capture the flavor of the original, after finding just how popular the adventure was. I never played it, but having gone deeply into the story, it was a real miss because it was a great concept with lots of hooks for a long term campaign. I had fun trying to re-imagne why the listed creatures were placed where they were. I also got great ideas from the sundry web sites devoted to the module - A lot of folks have trodden this road before me and looks like they had as much fun.

Release Notes: Never enough time to do quality assurance or even play testing; Anyone trying this out, please give feedback. I can come in an correct it every so often as needed. I was going to add pregens but time was getting tight and I wanted to get this posted. If someone else wants to post some pregens, that would be cool. I changed some of the maps (Tier 5 mostly) so that movement between tiers made more sense - the idea came from one of the web sites. I also created some basic bookmarks so navigation is a little easier.

Enjoy!

~D

Other Conversions:

X2 Castle Amber [74.25MB]
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity [40.00MB]
G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl [23.41MB]
I2 Tomb of the Lizard King [43.75MB]
A Paladin in Hell [67.69MB] - (unfinished)

Been kicking around in my head for a while and with the re-release of the books, I thought I post. 1E is full of nostalgia for me (not a proper grognard, I know).

What would it look like if Paizo re-wrote the rules? I don't mean "changed" them, but re-wrote them for ease of use. Of course, some ease of use, could be construed as "changed" (or converted, which is why I post here) - but the math and the results of the die roll remain the same.

Here is a sample (simplistic one I know) but gives a flavor for it. All I did was convert THAC0 to "Hit AC 20" (which means the same thing generally) and I took the 0-level saves and made them the "Base DC" and converted the rest of the saves to "pluses". Same math, same rolls needed. Easier to use.

Thoughts? Just a fan's nostalgia trip, but interesting how far you could go with this. The 1E rules are just all over the place but with a simple re-ordering and re-structuring, how close could you get to today's game? - While still retaining the nerdy coolness of 1E? (maybe I'm the only one that feels this way - I understand there's some serious unhappiness with 1E out there).

Example 1: The Fighter

Cheers,

~D

Magic items for animal companions, Eidolons and familiars.

Alchemical catalysts to add metamagic effects to elixirs and bombs.

Magic weapon properties that add "riders" to, or modify sneak attack, cavaliers challenges, paladin smites etc.

I was a big fan of "Weapons of Legacy" back in the 3.5e era. If you can include mechanics that allow a character's magical weapon to grow as the character levels, that would be great. I've always thought it rather cheap that players acquire that +1 longsword at an early level, but discard it as soon as the next "bright and shinny" shows up. If a way existed for the item to increase in power as the character levels, that makes the character's bond with the weapon that much greater, and adds a deeper sense of RP and ownership within the game.

As we speak, Raging Swan Press is getting ready to release Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands, our second year anniversary module next month. I've had a number of requests for some insights into the design process behind the Shadowed Keep's design and so I've started a short series of blog posts on the subjects.

The first two instalments are up:
Part 1: Why I Love the Moathouse So Much

Part 2: Pre-Design Process

So if you are interested in the adventure, head over and take a read!

Instead of Osirion mummies why not have them be from some bronze or iron age Ustalavian culture that predates the Age of Darkness?

You could have an expedition climbing a peak in the Hungry Mountains that no one in recorded history has surmounted. On a barren, cold, windswept ledge near the top they discover rows of ancient mummified Kings set to watch over the once-fertile valley they ruled millenia ago.

Or, if you're determined to have something like a pyramid, make it more of a ziggurat, or ancient hill fort ruled by a bog mummies. Again, the Hungry Mountains are apparently filled with bogs that are difficult to get to in the first place, much less navigating them once you get there.

Heck, Ustlav isn't that far from Thassilon. One of the Runelords could have set up a base anywhere in Ustlav for whatever reason your campaign requires.

Snorter, my problem with THAC0 is, when they dumbed down the game with 2e, dumber players started playing. :-)

This isn't the worst player I've ever met, but probably the worst team player.

About a decade ago, we were in a homebrew campaign by my college roommate put together. It was a post-apocalyptic world, where sentient computers tried to wipe out mankind with super-advanced mecha. We played as agents of the corporation that developed human-piloted mecha and ended the war some ten years ago. The campaign focused on reestablishing contact with lost human settlements, hunting down remaining pockets of AIs, and building a new nation. The PCs included (among many awesome concepts) Joe, playing a gun-nut soldier, and myself, playing a scientist and daughter of our corporate CEO. Unbeknownst to my character, she was actually a gynoid duplicate of the original daughter, who died several years earlier.

On a mission to aid and diplomatically woo a technophobic city-state, we had to make due without most of our gear. The town council demanded we turn over everything more advanced than WW2-era diesel-tech, which they stored in city hall protected by a electromagnetic field that shut down anything run by computers. Being a diplomatic envoy (with power armor) we complied and had a really fun, noir-style adventure on the city streets with nothing but our wits and revolvers.

Joe became more and more frustrated without his advanced weapons and explosives, though, and he eagerly volunteered to retrieve all our things from city hall when we concluded our adventures and prepared to leave. I went along because Joe usually caused problems when left unsupervised, and it was already late enough that we expected the building to be closed and didn't want him breaking in.

My character walks through the front door, into the EM field, and immediately shuts down. From the outsider perspective, I had just passed out. The security guard rushed over, and immediately proclaims "Your friend! She's not breathing!"

Joe thinks about this for a minute, before declaring "I put the guard in a chokehold!"

The entire table was silent for a good thirty seconds.

The GM asks if he's sure, because Crystal's character is unconscious and apparently not breathing. And Joe responds "Yeah! I put him in a headlock until he passes out. Are my guns behind his desk?"

After discovering the guard did not have his weapons, Joe proceeded to leave my apparently-dead body next to the newly-unconscious guard as he searched the building (at 10pm, mind you), putting janitors and interns in choke holds, until he finally found all his gear stored in the basement. After destroying the EM generator and donning his power suit, he loaded up all our gear and my body, marched out the front door, and proudly informed us "I left my five kilos of semtex in the building. I detonate it as I leave."

The game comes to a complete halt. We'd just spent three sessions trying to get on the good side of this city-state, and this action just came completely out of nowhere."

The GM groans, grabs her forehead, and says "Joe... WHY did you destroy the building?"

And Joe's answer, which still lives in infamy: "I had to blow it up. I was LEAVNG it."

2) Bring the casters down to the level of the martials. I don't think anyone wants this, nor has anyone I know of tried.

You don't need to bring the casters down. All you need to do is readdress the spells.

The Vancian system as this advantage: change the spell list and you have a thematically different caster. In this case, the thematic can remain untouched but the spells can be redesigned and/or rummaged around.

My preference would be an alternate book of spells; including all the same spells at the same levels (so that backward compatibility is preserved) but re-written so that they don't outstage martial characters.

It would be quite an endeavor, but it would be a perfectly remove-and-replace fix with few or no impact outside the magic system.

'findel

1. No, distract a wizard for one round and you can smash his face in pretty well. They have crap for AC and always will.

2. Don't forget you need 8 hours of uninterrupted rest as well. That means no playing night watchman. That means any raids on your camp and your normal routine is ruined and your rest counter restarts from zero. Tons of ways to mess with this.
3. What cantrip "breaks" the game? They're pretty weak.

1. I would assume any wizard of 9th level or above would have overland flight active at minimum, which means you can't reach him to hit him in the face unless you've spent 54,000 gp on wings of flying just to keep up... and you're only expected to have 46,000 gp worth of gear at that level. Oops.

2. Again, your game is already distorted at 7th level, when the wizard is casting an extended rope trick to rest in, and breaks completely at 13th, when he sleeps in a magnificent mansion.
3. At-will detect magic sort of makes the rogue (or other trapfinder) obsolete, insofar as the nonmagic traps are pretty lame for their CR (and thus can be ignored by mid-level or so), so the only traps you worry about are the magic ones. Granted, that doesn't break the game at all if you hate rogues and don't want anyone to play one. Just as overland flight is no problem if you hate non-casters and don't want them to be able to keep up.

This is a common theme here, Kelsey -- when starting any kind of mechanical tinkering thread in the Suggestions/House Rules/Homebrew section, you get mobbed with Rule 0 invocations and a litany of "everything is fine in my game so therefore nothing needs to be fixed the rules are perfect how dare you want to change anything." It's less bad now than it was a short time ago when, out of sheer frustration, I started a thread entitled something like "Thread Only For People Who Think Everything Isn't Fine -- Rule Zero Keep Out!"

The Malicious Former President raises an important caveat, though: if your players are in the "the worst rules in the world are Prefectly Fine because it's the DM's job to fix all the problems during play" camp, then by agreeing to DM for them, you're agreeing to assume that responsibility without any visible tinkering with the rules.

If your group shares your viewpoint, however, then house rule away!

I fixed it by not allowing concentration checks, and requiring both the 5' step away and the withdraw action to require a CMB roll unless the enemy you are withdrawing from is threatened by an ally.

The REAL fix would be to return to the 1e spells per day in addition to my rules, but few players have the discipline for that.

The other thing is to help people playing fighters do a better job of making good choices. A switch hitting quick draw fighter with iron will and an ok wisdom is a much better character than smasher the dumb smasher.

Maybe weapons themselves could be reworked. Certain weapons are more effective against different targets, and this is represented by DR being bypassed by certain types of attacks. This works, but they could also be done as inherent functions of the weapon. For example, blunt weapons are good against armor since they are about concussive force. All blunt weapons could ignore X points of armor bonus AC, and maybe some would be better than others. Hammers and picks tore up armor. Piercing weapons could inherently cause bleed damage, as such a deep wound is harder to close off than a cut, and slashing weapons could deal additional damage to naked opponents or those denied their dexterity mod, to represent either slashing bare flesh or hitting a gap in the armor.

This would promote selecting weapons that suited the encounter, carrying different weapons for different occasions, switching weapons mid combat as certain enemies call for it, and give melee characters something to manage like spellcasters manage spellbooks.

Actually, change my post somewhat, give the fighter additional skills based on a concept, kind of like the Cavalier's orders.

I'd give rogues/ninjas +1 hit/1d6 of sneak attack and they'd gain half of this (so on non-flanking/flat-footed/surprised strikes they would get +1hit/+1d6 damage at first level, +2hit/+2d6 at 5th and so on) when not actually qualifying for sneak attack. I'd give them a floating good save.

I'd give fighters more skill points and a large skill list. I'd give them a good will save (I'm aware this makes them incredibly durable against fear, the paladin is immune to fear, so hush).

I think the barbarian is fine.

The Cavalier would have a floating good save and the ability to ride a mount indoors.

I'd give all of the non-magical classes access to skill-based tricks (the rogue would get all, the rest would gain access to a number equal to a mental stat of their choice) that would scale up with level.

I'd give the aforementioned classes access to spell-like abilities (the fighter would get the largest selection, with the rogue coming up second, and everyone else gets a smaller number) that would also scale up with level.

I think the ideal solution is to nerf the casters a bit. I don't mean significantly nerfing spells, but making the spellcasting a bit harder to do, easier to interrupt, a bit easier to resist. Basically, I'd push back toward making magic a bit more what it was back in the 1e/2e days.

I'll say right out that I like cyclical initiative in the way it makes managing the table easier. But it, combined with standard action spellcasting, are very easy on the caster compared to previous editions. I'd probably be interested in seeing more casting times that significantly slow the caster down to nothing more than 5 foot steps or even 1 round casting times as a higher proportion of spells than now. I'd raise the DCs on maintaining concentration for being hit. And I'd put all saves on a 1/2 level footing instead of the strong ones on 1/2, weak on 1/3.

I think those measures would help substantially and do so without significantly nerfing the scope of the spells being cast. Magic would still be reality warping, but the wizards and other major casters would have a harder time bringing it to bear.

This about to get stupidly technical, considering we're discussing Star Wars, but the rebellion weren't terrorists. Enemy military personnel die in military actions.

If you're equating terrorism with actions against civilians, the population of Alderaan would like a word with you about about the Empire's tactics.

You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: *Where* is the rebel base?

Background for funny story:

So, my friend Omar is an organizer with the United Electrical Workers. For the past half-dozen years or so, he's been living in Philadelphia where he was able to amass quite an arsenal--AK-47, AR-15, you know, the good stuff. Anyway, he finally got UE to transfer him up to Boston where the gun laws are much stricter.

So, he calls me up and asks if he can keep his guns at either my compound or my parents' house. (My parents have quite a few guns, too.) So, I start dutifully doing the legwork and ask my mom if Omar can keep his guns at their house. She says "Sure."

I wait a few minutes and then say, "You know, Mom, in this post-Patriot Act world, when your communist son asks if his Arab terrorist friend can keep his guns at your house, you should at least think about it for a few minutes before you agree."

She looks surprised, and, after a moment or two, says, "Ask your father."

My parents, ladies and gentlemen.

I wasn't going to weigh in on this because I come from a school of gaming where the players are expected to be good sports and participate in the game as presented by the GM who went out of his way to create a campaign. But I can't help myself. I have to say this.

Do what ever you want. You're the GM. It's your game.

You don't need rule 0, published or otherwise. Don't let people on an anonymous message board tell you how to run your campaign.

Talk to your players if it's bothering you. I'd be willing to bet they'll tell you what I just told you.

Consider me extremely interested, in both a personal and professional capacity. I would love to lend my cartography skills to the endeavor if needed. :)

I guess I don't get this. Why are public sector unions a bad idea? Why do people not deserve to have their wellbeing looked out for because they work for the government?

Ignoring the red herring that this is about the presence or absence of fundamental "well-being"....

There is a HUGE difference between public and private sector.

When a private sector union negotiates with its employer it has an obvious understanding that driving the employer out of business is destructive for everyone, including the union. Public sector unions have no such check. The drive to find a "fair" deal is off the table and it is all about seeing just how much you can get.

A lot of the rhetoric I hear on your side of the argument comes down to downplaying the good that public sector workers do. There are monkey jobs that have to be done (street sweeping, civil engineers, etc.) which are more and more being outsourced to private companies. Then there are professionals, like those that work in the DNR or DATCP, and there are school teachers. Right now in my state there's this push by our governor to cut wages across the board for public workers. Most of the professional level employees work in the public sector because they believe in what they're doing and could easily make double if not ten times their salary working for private corps. When you make it difficult to live on what a public sector job pays then you will have a lack of qualified candidates to work there. Again though, this doesn't apply to non-professional or unskilled public sector jobs, so we need to establish a dichotomy here.

This is a false argument.

Government is a critical part of society and, as a whole, does WONDERFUL things.

But, that completely notwithstanding, over and over it is TRIVIALLY easy to point at bloated do-nothing vote buying jobs. No one is complaining about "street sweepers" who actually DO something. I've known a government employee whose job was to sign for UPS and Fed shipments. And, yes, I'm talking about once in the morning and once in the evening.

You can easily point to examples of short staffed government positions. But for every one of those there are a dozen bloated staffs pushing papers.

And your claims about salary are completely out of touch with reality. Again, you can point to examples that suggest you are right when you compare straight $/hr to $/hr for an 8 hour working day. But when you start looking at things like paid time off, benefits, and retirement schedules and pay-outs, not to mention job security, not working beyond 8-4 in most cases, etc..., the value of the average public sector easily exceeds the value of the equivalent private job.

Who are public unions collectively bargaining against? Not an evil corporation looking to fleece it's workers, but fellow tax paying citizens. Citizens that can not reasonably do without the service provided (police, firemen, teachers, etc). Citizens that have no say other than every 4 years in any contract for said services.

The fire union donates money to the mayor, the mayor reciprocates by renewing a contract with hella nice pension plans and healthcare WAY above and beyond what the average citizen in the city gets. Oh, and it's locked in for 4 years. Who cares if the city can't afford it? It's tax money, it falls from the sky. Police Union donated, so they get "cared for" too, and the teacher's union...where does it end?
The next guy running for office has to pretty much offer an even sweeter deal to get these union's support, or why would they support him? Police and Fireman support is a big deal come election time...

How is this any better than the corporate stuff OWS is against?

Quote:

You can lead a horse to water...

But if its purple, tastes remotely like grape, and has a giant animated pitcher in it going "Oh yeah! Drink up" we're going to conclude that its koolaid.

You're assuming we haven't seen these before. There's good reason we still disagree with you. Fox news has less credibility than alien abductees as far as I'm concerned. A call for a probe into something is NOT evidence that that something exists. (project bluebook anyone?)

That a group of liberal community organizers would get involved in the organization of a community after their umbrella organization went belly up is neither surprising nor sinister. You're trying to treat acorn like some leftist evil twin with the same level of power and influence as the oil lobby. This isn't remotely the case.

Union members BELONG in occupy wallstreet. What on earth makes you think they don't? Its not like unions are for some ultra elite independently wealthy tycoons, they're for hard working trades people. If decent wages, survivable working conditions and health benefits have become an unacceptable sign of affluence thats exactly WHY things need to change. Corporates are out to screw them too.

And whats wrong with communists? If you don't want communism to look like an appealing alternative then you should be as willing to end crony capitalism as the wallstreeters. If you believe in capitalism you should be with the protestors because wallstreet is smearing your name.

"And whats wrong with communists?"

Seriously?!?!?! This tells me that I am wasting any time even discussing this with you. Nothing that I say will take hold with someone like you.

My family are first generations from countries that were heavily socialist and even communist. They remember all too well whats wrong with communist and socialist countries.

Quote:

This attitude tends to be what kills any sympathy protests like this could possibly generate. Hurting people who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck really shows those fat cats!

So do you have another solution or are you going to be mad at me for being a realist/pessimist/ correct ?

March on Washington. Go to the source. Government workers get paid regardless, so less collateral damage. And it's where the problem needs to be solved.

Don't you need to approve the new character before it comes in? You're the GM here, tell them no new characters unless theirs is dead. Make them work to undo whatever other stuff is going on (find someone to cast restoration or whatever).

And if they do die and make a new character, put them at a lower level so they have to catch up.

Make dying a bad thing.

Or, don't. It came up in another thread, and merits a thoughtful, informed discussion.

IMO, this is not an astroturf movement (unions are starting to get involved only now) like the Teaparty demonstrations, but a genuine organic movement; a reaction to the overreaching of entrenched power and the rigged game they've created. The police reactions to these demonstrations as opposed to the astroturfed ones gives further weight to my assertion, not less.

Occupy Wall Street has some demands. They're not entirely finalized, and your input is invited, should you wish to comment or vote.

This is so laughably backwords as to be almost a parody. OCW was created by big groups and financiers (like Soros) so it is most definitely "astroturf", complete with advertising for paid "protesters".

As to their demands, They want to impose a "maximum wage". On their list they have the highest annaul salary at $35,000. Another of their demands is that the minimum wage should be raised to $20/hr (which works out to $41,600/yr). So not only are they crazy, but they're bad at math too :)

We need to meet the enemy on his home ground, and move him off his
seat of comfort. Only then will he understand our threat.

He knows how to make money, so we'll learn how to make him poor!

.

How To Effectively Investigate A Stock

As elementary as it sounds, many investors know what a share of stock
is, but often ignore what it means.

.

Investing 101: Introduction

Have you ever wondered how the rich got their wealth and then kept it
growing? Do you dream of retiring early (or of being able to retire at
all)? Do you know that you should invest, but don't know where to
start?

.

Into the Breach once more dear Friend!

So wall street can only make money via loopholes?

I find that idea suspect. I also find it interesting that all involved have different ideas regarding whose responsibility it is to create jobs/hire people.

Yeah, I wouldn't say they need loopholes, but I would say they are working under the current conditions of the system. Suggesting that people should shoot themselves in the foot (not use the system as it is now, despite their competition doing so) for some moralistic ideal, that might not even be feasible, it a bit silly.

You see this kind of thinking in the gaming community. You have these folks complain that the other player is a "munchkin" for using the rules in play to make an optimized character, while they purposefully gimp themselves thinking it proves they are good roleplayers. If you have a problem with the system, then fix the system, but don't complain when others use the system as designed and you feel some moral obligation to gimp yourself.

Be glad that we have as much capitalism as we do. Without a system where people can make "useless crap that doesn't advance the greater good" and other people can decide to buy it, we wouldn't have roleplaying games.

Thank you, you are correct. Promote means provide AND forward as an idea. Synonyms being sponsor, subsidize, encourage, advance.

Who do you imagine is going to provide for the general welfare if not the government? The private sector? Laughable. Privatizing social security, unemployment, etc. would subject it to the same practices that the mortgage-backed securities were subject to--high-risk-no-consequences speculation. Goodbye social security, straight into the hands of the ultra wealthy.

This isn't directed at you personally, but I wish in general people would stop reposting the preamble with their boldfaced strawmen. I bolded "welfare" because it's the part people like to pretend isn't there, as this and many other discussions prove. No one ever argues that defense, for instance, isn't part of the role of government. The preamble is all of what it says, not any one thing.

I didn't take it personally, and I've seen people actually change the word to "provide" in discussions and hope people don't notice.

I think the authors of the preamble chose their words carefully. If they wanted to say provide, and all that it entails, they would have bloody well used that word.

... 99% chance that you're sadly overestimating your own abilities.

That must be the 99% he is talking for.

I'm sure the interviewee knew that anything not conforming to the predetermined portrayal Fox demands would not be aired.

So he choose to act exactly like this "predetermined portrayal" and gave a moronic response with out suggesting any actual solutions to the problems he believes exist.

...In the original version, the spirit naga antagonist afflicts villagers with a permanent charm effect that is only broken when the naga is killed... If I make the naga's charm spell permanent, the players will definitely want to know where she got that ability.

What I'd do is replace the "muddy caverns" of the lower level with text descriptions of ancient serpent statues half-buried in the slime, columns with bizarre hieroglyphs, and archways in the shape of great reptilian mouths: you can make the builders Pathfinder's serpentfolk or even a long-gone advanced civilization of lizardfolk or troglodytes. By the time they get to Explictica's lair, they shouldn't be surprised to see a great stone egg, or an altar wound with serpentine shapes - some big, immobile item which augments her abilities. This would also explain, btw, why she didn't just set up shop in somebody's basement.

As far as nerfing - I'd definitely reduce the number of lizardfolk encountered. And be sure to give the PCs Knowledge checks to realize that the lizardfolk are acting very oddly for their species - recognizing that they too are under her influence will give the PCs some non-fatal options for dealing with the creatures.

It shouldn't be the task of Frog God Games or Paizo or any other RPG publisher to create collector's items first and useful RPG supplements second. The fact that the Tome of Horrors Complete was originally planned to be just a small print run was not based in collectability but in pure business reasons of simply being able to create it at all in the first place. If an RPG supplement becomes a collector's item through a small print run for what ever reason, that - in my eyes - is not good for the game. People should have access to these supplements, and not just a select few. Creating collector's items on purpose only benefits the eBay sellers anyway, gamers are left in the dust and/or have to pay through their noses.

I am a customer of Frog God Games for the first edition of this book, and I don't mind at all that this book is being made available in a bigger printing. The whole issue of this book is making the material available again. Enforcing the scarcity of the first printing defeats this purpose. Paizo will be making use of the book in their adventures, and it is good that the book continues to be available.

If you want collectible stuff for the sake of it being collectible, go to Franklin Mint or whatever. A living game should not be subjected to the mechanics of a collectors' aftermarket, especially not on purpose.

I agree, thejeff. The introduction of nonweapon proficiencies and then a robust skill system to the game is certainly a factor.

The details are subsumed into the skill rolls.

Not that I'm saying this is any better a way to run a game. I admit that I like figuring out what magic rings do, and mapping, and discussing the way that my character goes about disarming potential traps. (In Robrt Plamodon's 1982 book, through Dungeons Deep, he explains how his characters "open" chests. First, they shoot arrows at the chests from another room. Then poke them with spears. Then lasso them and drag them into the hallway. Then tip them on their front sides, and open them from the bottom with a crowbar. Then scoop out the treasure with a trowel and heavy gloves, into triple-thick bags. After they get outside, they put the coins over a fire, to cook off any contact poisons.)

See, that sounds like more fun to me than rolling a Disable Device check.

Wait....

Truth-Out.org? REally?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ok, let me link to World Net Daily for some equally fair and balanced commentary about the Democrat party.

Or Al Jezera for fair and balanced commentary about Israel.

To me the entire thing smack of inflammatory rhetoric, using extreme examples to jump to conclusions that are far from accurate. He also seems to be pigeonholing not just the republican party but any voter who may claim affiliation to the republican party as a holder of these extreme views and attitudes. I do not have the time, nor the wherewithal to go point to point on this long, and in my opinion idiot tirade, I just have to say that if you believe even a tenth of what is written by this person as move than just a twisted distortion of what most people, let alone republicans feel, I am the one who is worried.

People need to stop confusing opinions and facts.

I think a lot of this comes from whether or not people actually want to play through those plots. The journey through the desert, struggling from water hole to water hole makes for a good novel, or movie in many cases, but does it make for a good game? Do people want to play through that sort of thing? I think spells like create food and water came about because many people dont care for such scenarios.

I know that I am rarely having fun when I have to sit there and roll 20 survival checks in a row. It might make for compelling story telling, but we should never forget the game part of roleplaying game. I think the inclusion of those spells are there so people can handwave that if they so choose, so they can move on to other plotlines. I too think that is why things like teleport came about, eventually people get bored with such plotlines, and many of us have been playing for a LONG time.

I think that may be why I never really thought about utility spells as a negative thing until this thread popped up. I have long since tired of the 'lost in the woods' plotline. I would much rather as both a dm and a player have that solved by a few spells, so we can move on to the 'bigger' plotlines then spend 2 hours of actual game time (of which I seem to have precious little of nowadays) rolling skill checks to get...

The problem with this line of reasoning, is that it's easy enough to "fast-forward" through the parts that a particular group of gamers may want to gloss over. By having so many classic tropes invalidated at low levels by magic, it's obvious that little or no consideration was given to the impact on the campaign world. While many players care only about the gamist aspect of kicking butt, many players also love RPGs for the immersion in the campaign it can bring.

As almost any GM or publisher will tell you, it's far easier to increase the level of magic in a game or setting than it is to decrease it. Many of the spells that were designed in the original D&D game were assigned their level based on their utility in overcoming dungeon-based challenges rather than the potential impact on setting or playstyles other than dungeon crawls. The vast majority of play transpired before "Name Level" (or whatever it was called back then).

There's something to be said for tradition, but just because Fly was a 3rd-level spell or Raise Dead was a 5th-level spell in AD&D doesn't mean it has to stay that way. I understand why Pathfinder didn't change that, with the goal of backwards compatability, but for a game so heavily invested in it's setting and adventures, increasing the level at which those spells became available certainly wouldn't have broken anything, either.

Also, my experience with players is that the more "grounded" the heroics, the more heroic & exciting it feels. It's more relateable. No more realistic, but more relateable.

In the comic-world, for example, it's a widely-held opinion that Batman is more popular than Superman because he's a highly-trained mortal rather than an alien paragon/demigod. And Batman ain't low-level in RPG terms.

I think Pathfinder is the best incarnation of FRPG I've ever seen or played. I do, however, worry that by only catering to the high-fantasy side of things, it limits itself.

And if nobody wants to play the epic journey, survival, and wilderness aspects of the fantasy genre then I'm really confused as to why we have Kingmaker, Jade Regent, and the upcoming Skull & Shackles APs.