Sufestra

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Heather 540 wrote:
Bwang wrote:
7.Dragon descended races have certain feats that allow them to emulate Dragons in flight, armor, saves and other abilities. By L20, specializing, you still make a crummy Dragon. Don't give up the Day job.
I'm not trying to make a dragon though. I'm making a dragon person.

Just trying to bleed out as much of what we did as you mighte be able to use.


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I got one of the dailies, and splurged on a few I wouldn't have tested otherwise. A great holiday!


The only two handed throwing weapon I can think of is the Olympic hammer.


Ridiculon wrote:
Bwang wrote:
I still classify them as vermin.
If opossums could keep me from getting stabbed several times in my sleep i'd keep em around

Point taken and I'd agree. But they're vermin, too.


Our flying races all get nailed by the wings cocking up armor use and some magic items.

1.Only Ggekar aren't affected by heavy armor, but think levitating Dwarves for a start. Then again, they rarely need a climb skill.
2.The several flying Elf races aren't really able to wear heavy (and sometimes medium) armor.
3.All 'winged' types have issues with size and how much room is needed. Except a few, mostly with tiny 'cosmetic' wings.
4.Several gain flight by character level and none start at the npc's ability.
5.Several are under-sized, Elves being the only exception I can think of.
6.There are feats that allow certain Aasimar to 'manifest' wings. They do not get them 'free'.
7.Dragon descended races have certain feats that allow them to emulate Dragons in flight, armor, saves and other abilities. By L20, specializing, you still make a crummy Dragon. Don't give up the Day job.


I figure every people around a dragon will call it different things and since my cultures use real languages and naming conventions, I use translation programs and botch the results. I stopped color coding Dragons in '76, so the actual legends about dragons get important.

The relevant Dragons are Feria Ackgurinc (soft on last c, an armored monster with caustic breath and bite) and Narcisius Forin Descanin (Watre based with a 'drying' aura and powerful presence). Or to paraphrase a player: The A10 and the Sirocco on uppers.


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I still classify them as vermin.


Warhammer has Drachebfells, an interesting 'rebirth'!


This came up years ago, with the step moving into the earth/soil, but requiring an actual move to enter stone/rock. Neither removed you from combat as your relative position has not changed per the rules. Actual rulings do not exist that I know of.


woof! Our group would have to retire to Waffle House to debate this one.


Elegos wrote:
Recommend you stat her up with some buff spells, in my experience, if the players have to escort an NPC, they prefer one that carries their weight in combat but doesn't steal the show.

Agreed with hesitancy.

In 4 decades, I have yet to see this work long term. The rare times are for small tables 3 or less players. Even then, spot light thieves and Mary Sues are to be avoided.


Our 'Fey Forms' list is wonked, allowing several sizes more. Due to a curse, I occasionally became a Fey hill, requiring me to focus upon my actual (Eberron Changeling) form for days. Having my Type switch to 'terrain feature' got old the first time!

As with anything added to an ongoing campaign, the GM and players should work this out. Anytime a spell shows it can be abused, the GM should step in (fabricate and mend). Our crew has a list of several dozen Fey to choose from, but each has the form and not all the fun stuff. The 'girls' of our group created Fey femme fatales far beyond nixies and dryads. Because they vote as a block and always have their husbands' proxies, we wound up with Fey of Undead subtype (Banshees and such) and Undead with the Fey subtype (Barrowmaids and our game's Valkyries). It really tears holes in the MM.


Mystic_Snowfang wrote:
Get a dog, not an animal companion dog. Just an ordinary breed that was bred for watching. It should set up a racket.

You have finally found a use for small, yappy dogs like Chihuahuas! A dozen or so should run close to a +20, easy!


TVTropes sez:"...a motivating element in a story that is used to drive the plot. It serves no further purpose."

Having played in a number of games with one and (poorly) written a few storys and campaign threads (one awesome due to players running wild), I see anything 'active' as a 'NOT-MacGuffin'. The Ring is the malignant cancer, always acting unseen, that drives LotR. A 'NOT-MacGuffin'. Technically, we never even SEE the real Maltese Falcon, making it the classic 'MacGuffin'. In the way some games play out, a MacGuffin might create itself. The same GM may 'NOT-MacGuffin' an actual MacGuffin to torque the plot. This was done to our little group to put the kibosh on over reliance on Divination magics (The future can only be writ in the moment.).

The MacGuffin comes in many forms:
Freedom
Independence
A defiant gesture
A futile gesture of last resort for honor, loyalty, etc. Read Japanese history for a number of deaths that were brought about in service to MacGuffins.
A bejeweled statue
An owned farm
A child born, that changes things (no, I'm thinking Willow!)
A final vow fulfilled.
Free Range
and for my grand finale!:
The Pacific Ocean {Central American history geeks will appreciate that one.)


Melkiador wrote:
How is a human not a machine programmed and designed to function like a human?

But nothing says they have to be 'humane'.


Xenocrat wrote:
Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
** spoiler omitted **
An android is a human appearing robot. A robot is a machine that is programmed and designed to function like a human in form or activity. Replicants are biological machines designed to appear human and subject to programmed constraints. Therefore, replicants are androids. See also the title of the original source material.

Electric Sheep!


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Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:

...downtime was so scarce that the 1 hour/spell level to copy new spells into a spellbook was hard to come by, let alone the time and money to create scrolls. Nothing like getting to 10th level and realizing it's only been a week in game.

We did not realize how precious a few hours of downtime would be. And yes, by the end of an adventuring day our martial types would be going into battle starting at 12 hp out of 80 or so. No wands or potions, divine caster out of spells, and we have to keep going or else the bad guys win.

This has been my experience pretty much every time I try to play a 9th level caster.

This once got so bad that the three casters 'rebelled' and went on vacation! Let the princess be burned as a witch! I need to reload. Starting every day at half spells got tedious...fast!


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Having had several players over 40+ years decide to scuttle my campaigns, My solution has always been the boulder from the sky. And that player does not get a seat again. Wrecking a world for the pure maliciousness is not merely attacking me as GM, but every other player at the table. And I run the 'boulder' a number of ways, from villains that just happen to involve a super's weaknesses to a cult of 'soul thieves'!

I am too old, ugly and ornery to put up with someone who just wants to be a jackass. Often, I have only had a single night every week or so and I don't babysit donkeys. If a player decides he is superior, he can run the game. I have too many other things to do to put up with another 'CN' twit with delusions of adequacy.


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One pool of RPG gamers I play in is 5 gays, 2 Lesbians, at least 1 bi and 2 of us lonely straights. Diversity is a joke at our table.


All good things come to those who wait.

I hope the Simulacrums get at least a passing comment. They are a part of our game, but we run a 1-4 progression like the Summon spells, the kicker is that we Wizards must learn the lower level versions first and Sorcerers replace lower level versions with the higher, but retain the use of them. They really need something and I know they aren't real constructs.


37. Bowling Alley
Actually a simulation hologram with but a single 'real' alley. settings can simulate hundreds to either side and create other bowlers of any race known. The balls and other tactile sensations are about the only things 'real'. The alley is only a few feet deep and everything is as close to real as possible. Military ships use the same unit as a simulated shooting range and hand to hand mat. Other programs exist, but the higher grade military specs are controlled. Details can be changed by a competent technician. Hacking such a system has been done so often that levels of security are high.

Despite the hopes of some, the recreational aspects are tame. Safeties work hard to prevent any real harm, except in some military training sims. Some units are 'collapsible' to save space. Ritterfeld Simulators are one of the biggest producers and will customize to other racial specs. Why is bowling so popular on starships?


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A battle of Avatars!

Our campaign uses a similar 'class', only available to Eberron Changeling Wizards, that allows taking the form of creatures based on CR (broken). Using Evolutions will work better in my opinion, as they were at least meant for this modification. You might add features or feats to allow faster or partial changes, perhaps based on the points value or theme (flight is flight). Our class will break in a level or two when the CR really becomes 'game-able.


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Nice work so far, I did my 'version' as part mtn goat. By fixing the Str as +2, it helps justify the Climb skill, a trick I used based on split hooves. Reading your post, I can no longer justify their horns being too small to count.

Keep it going! It is a niche to fill.


Interesting. I tried this with the Summoner 'specializing' in one type: Fey, Devils, etc., but our group banned Summoners due to abuse by a player so I never finished it. Yours looks interesting.


Ask your GM. Anywhere but the base campaign, GMs might have a different set of languages (I do).


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We had a 'quest giver' that kept sending us on progressively more dangerous missions (higher CRs) and feeding each of us outright lies to cause distrust, very successfully I might add. Think a final boss fight where no one helps anyone else.


Berti Blackfoot wrote:
I agree, spreading desert is one thing, but "dust" , whenever we think of dust problems it's always a result of human activity...

Not quite, Dust is always out there in the air. Several natural phenomena generate dust, the dust storms of Texas to CA are one, but the Sahara has righteous storms that reach up miles and the Gobi desert is notorious for the mud turning to huge clouds in the dry season. An acquaintance was there for Historical research and got trapped in the records center for three days. Gorgeous sun rises and sun sets.


RAW, no. Other sources are not CORE, therefor not a part of the game.

In practice, most GMs filter spells by campaign. Ours has a number of Druid orders and all have their own lists (mostly the same, but...). A Druid cannot cast any spell that destroys nature...except for the Black Rose (various 'blight' spells and abilities). Taking any of the 'nature domains' also limits and grants spell choice. Elemental focused Druids are really good for such spells, but see a number of others 'slighted' (a la school specialization). It is all a part of her world and gives the texture we can really get into. YMMV.


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A book just appeared in your toys as a child. It was illegible to any but you and you found it fascinating. As you grew, you realized everyone else seemed to ignore the book and it always turned up. On the day you first cast a cantrip, the book vanished, gone looking for a new student.

This is a thing in my campaign world, a number of 'artifact' primers making magic more common and preventing powerful Wizards from hogging it.


amyhart420 wrote:
That's really cool I hadn't thought of vampiric spirits. Gonna have to start thinking on that now.

Vampiric creatures are rife in mythology, though they don't always work as Bela Lugosi knock offs. Lost Boys shook my view in the way they were handled and as long as you don't go sparkly, you will find some 'killer' examples out there, especially if you blend them in with outsiders.

Our game also has a guy 'cursed' with no real powers, think Renfield without a master. He's not dead and will never be a real vampire, but has several nasty disadvantages. He's our contact with the undead.


I play an Eberron Changeling and have to actually study a living example to be able to fake it, by campaign rules. This functions much as learning spells and I am limited on how many I can have 'ready' (level number). Being a Wizard, its not my schtick, but a Rogue would put a lot more into it and get far more than my primarily passive disguises.


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Sounds like fun! count me in.


When playing a Fighter, I tend to acquire a lot of tools and weapons are very much tools of the trade of arms. I even have a silver dagger (not just plated) because the GM said there were no 'weres' in the game. So far none have shown, so I claim they're afraid. Turns out a lot of her nasty outsiders aren't happy with silver either. I carry a club of 'holy oak', hoping it will come in handy one day (Mistletoe turned out to have effects on outsiders, so...?). I also carry a few gallons of water for several reasons, but I've use it mostly to put out burning party members. I carry a padded greatcloak to protect my armor when fighting rust monsters, salt for slugs, etc.

Call me a Boy Scout, I try my best to be prepared. The character's background is that he's one of a retired adventurer's youngest kids and has little inheritance coming, but he listened to a lot of tales growing up.


Playing in a campaign with an array of vampiric creatures, it can be revealing. Our current GM gave them all an 'evil outsider/vampiric' Type so that she can use a host of versions from around the world. The last one we met was an African spirit that was able to go incorporeal like the amorphous blood sucker in original Star Trek. It was said to attack sleeping homes, the victims all being dead with no marks, the life sucked from them. Very unsettling and creative on her part!


Must read...later.


Ouch! Good luck! Your players may attempt bodily harm if you do it right.


This may fall into the 'too stupid to comment' range, but:

What is the RAW/RAI ruling/view on the difference between shapechange and shapeshift? How does you group view any difference, if any.


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Every rule in our 'tome' has to have the Reason behind it, the GM 'at the time's take and has room for discussions. In a nearly 40 year old group, there are a host of left overs from earlier incarnations. At one point, a Wizard could cast ANY spell she knew, just limited in spell count. They didn't see that as a problem (no wizard players) until I helped them move to 3.0. Foolish of me as I play the main Wizard currently.

House Rules should be talked about, but the GM should have veto power over his game. I disallow a lot of 'time' magic due to it hurting my head to keep up with. After our last experience, we ruled that 'he who wanted it' could run it: just volunteer! It has been 8-9 years and no one dares.

Are GMs weak for banning things? Not if it makes them not want to run! They should make it known and have better reasons than just 'no'. One of our GMs effectively banned naval adventures because she didn't Grok the rules! She ran a sky pirates series a few years back, having finally understanding a 3pp set of rules. Growth is good.


Our group gets real picky on spells and there are specific differences between shapechange, Shape shift, Illusion, trans-formative and others; spelling out a number of changes and what does not change. It has been hammered out over decades and actually works quite well. All players and GMs have input, which makes it a lot less imposed.


I make sure that at least one 'World Truth' gets hit every game. A twist, exception or outright debunking, the players actually started a tome of things to remember! Today, they'd have it on the web.


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Valandil Ancalime wrote:
Anything is edible, if you put enough Ketchup on it.

Purify food 1/2! Material component: a bottle of Ketchup

30yro joke from Dragon. RIP


My system is graded by CR. There is a bunt of the caster's level to prevent a spell book of a first level being the high end wizard's only, plus a bump to more/bigger books at higher levels. I am 40yrs out of programming, but your doing good work!


Very nice! Are you planning any further details? Cover, Page material, Safeguards?


Has anyone created an Arcane Trickster archetype?


One GM has Dwarves not being allowed to have beards until recognized as adults. The coming of age ceremony includes a lot of roughhousing, boasting and ribbing the new adult before the oaths to home, etc.

Females are invited to sit with the adults at mail 'knitting' or some other 'adult only' thing.

After proving ones self in battle generally rates the ceremony.


Many 'named' do not (silver bells), others require constant up keep (live spiders). Our group tracks component for the role playing rewards. After an acid 'bath, our Fighter handed me an contingency pouch he bought.

Pouches start with a full compliment for level 1 spells, with reload 'costing' d6 cp for helpers to find or 5 cp. Thia can lead to interesting adventures. Level 2 pouches run about a SP tops and up it goes. At my level, few make 5 to stock shelves and that pouch is filled by scavenging of former opponents.

In our game, you can still cast without components, at -2 DC, and minus the spell's level for each component skipped. My caster does this when DC is hopefully doesn't matter. Hopefully.


No, my PC is suffering too. I figure the Golem is about to go nuts!


Having a more magic rich campaign, I have component costs unless the caster has a special feat which allows them to literally make components out of dust.

Spell components are required for all spells unless specified. Special items are usually sold at the same shops. Pouches hold enough for 100 spell levels and have other sizes. Cost is included for level 1 spells, a silver or so for level 2, etc.The pouch is rated to the highest level you can cast from it. And it is the third item casters search for, minimal at best treasure.


With some sleep, I enjoyed the feedback above. The guide is frustrating in that it is a work in progress and incomplete, yet I see interest, hope and promise in it.

BTW, thanks for the lists of familiars and stats. In the game, I have to 'learn' each familiar before mine can change into it. Without the skill K: arcana, regular folks know of maybe one type of familiar, something you might add. Our GM has a list of the various obscurity familiars and more than you have here, both homespun and 3pp. Because of my familiar's versatility, each feat is +2 on the level required. I have to 'attend' a Wizard school or such to pick up the feat.That and I am hurting for new spells. I'm due a feat and Imp Familiar is looking like it.


Enjoying my Eberron Changeling familiar, it does them all!

Seriously, you need to expand this to include the other choices for Arcane Bond.

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