Cato Novus's page

The thing I like most about this place is the smart undead Zombies. As long they eat, when I had the group of school children "wanting to save them" only to start to eat them. There is a novel with the same type of zombie called Wet Works.

That's kinda like these "two-stage" zombies I created a while back. They were caused by a supernatural disease created accidentily by a cursed carrion gauntlet.

A regular carrion gauntlet simply allows the wearer to cast Vampiric Touch. The cursed version let characters cast it 3 times with no ill effects. Afterwards, it sunk needles into the wearer's arm, and would randomly make the wearer take increasingly difficult will saves to resist the urge to use Vampiric touch on people.

We never got into the explaination as to how it happened, but the last wearer managed to gnaw his own arm off to rid himself of the gauntlet, but it was too late, as the damage was already done. He had basically became half-zombie(and since my friend and I refered to him as "Frank", this particular breed became known as "Frank Zombies"), most of the time he was fine, but at least once each day he would have to make a will save or go and eat the flesh of the living.

He then went on to try and kill someone, they fought back, and survived. Frank was captured by his town and sealed away in an old underground wine cellar. This is the point where he "removed" the gauntlet. However, since the curse was not lifted, it stayed with him. Since he could not cast Vampiric Touch, he would have to eat. Somehow, he bit someone and passed this supernatural curse that way, kinda like lycanthropy. More people got sealed away in the wine cellar.

Frank Zombies were not dead, so they could move somewhat fast, though not as fast as a regular human. They were capable of sustaining non-lethal damage, and in their hungered state, could still show signs of logic and reason, but their hunger would control them(so they may run through fire, even though it hurt, if they only available prey was on the other side). They also became supernaturally strong when hungered, but not too much. When they were not hungry, they were just like any other person, and they were aware of their actions. Finally, Frank Zombies were left to turn into regular zombies when killed(1d6+1 rounds later) if they were not beheaded or completely destroyed(which is why they're "two-stage" zombies).

My players both hated and liked them.

WotC doesn't allow Paizo to sell 3e PDFs for some strange reason...

Because then they'd have trouble offloading all their books.

I agree with the two of them. Figure out Who is behind everything, the Why for his actions, What he's doing, and the Where; then all the rest just kinda falls into place.

Think of the whole thing like the D&D equivilient of MadLibs, albeit less random. Okay, so MadLibs is a bad analogy. A better one would be a puzzle. Most people work to find the corner pieces first, then fill in from there.

Unlike a housecat, my catfolk character is not rendered pleasantly incapacitated as long as his ears are rubbed.

My catfolk cannot go around asking others to rub his ears for a while.

My catfolk cannot go around offering to pay people to rub his ears for a while.

The Dwarf does not have fleas in his beard.

The Halfling does not have fleas on her feet.

That Dryad we met does not have termites.

I must stop trying to hook up the Paladin with random men. Especially when the Paladin is a man.

I can't take the time machine back a week just so I can race against myself in the past time machine. Especially when I am supposed to lose, due to having won as my past self, and somehow manage to win this time around as well.

Using the time machine for practical jokes is expressly forbidden.

I can't deal non-lethal damage against the Drider, if my sole purpose is to later befriend and train him, so that I might become the world's first known Drider-Rider. Even if it would be incredibly awesome.

My half-giant's introductions shouldn't include "Wanna see which half of me is giant?".

My god, Cato. you sound like you belong at out table. the majority of the things you listed would have been fine with me DMing. especially the bard things.

Oh, I'm lucky and have a fairly easy going group of friends to play games with, but I definitely pull these gags to try their patience. In all fairness, they occassionally pull some crazy stuff too, though not as much as I. I dunno what I would do if I had the kind of tight-assed group some people end up with.

Majuba wrote:

LMPjr007 wrote:

Well I can tell you this, the D&D races are not ANYWEHRE near balanced. All you have to do is compare Half-Orcs to Elves and that is apparent.

Quite true, Half-Orcs are incredibly stronger.

Yeah, +2 Stronger! ;-)

I think half-orcs are just kind of boring. +2 Str, -2 Int & Cha, Darkvision 60 feet, and orcblood (which is pretty much useless--are there any OGL orc-blooded magical items?).

Compared to the dwarf, the orc is super-boring. Maybe give them a bonus on Intimidate checks, Bullrush and Sunder attempts, saves vs fear, something!!!!

*clears throat*

Because of their low intelligence scores(as compared to other races), half-orcs forget their own wounds; therefore, they have an innate ability to ignore pain, granting them a natural Damage Reduction 3/-. This ability is called "Too Stupid to Die".

If you really want it to be everyone, then I suggest a slight alteration which allows the caster, and 1 character per caster level touched to view. Plus, it lets you give "evidence" to people you may have to report to. This allows for private viewings by just the caster, and party viewings.

Whichever way you go with this, I must echo the sentiment that you keep it consistent, changing the rules back and forth can become aggravating fast.

Patrick Curtin wrote:

Auxmaulous wrote:

...

As far as the PSH Purist are concerned you could always have as sinister PSH geneticist who is trying to improve upon the GST change which made humans as tough as they are. He could be trying to convert mutants into humans by stripping out their mutations via surgery or drugs producing horrific monsters, or also the same scientist working for the Purist could also be modifying humans and thus turning them into super human/mutants or the rejects could be abominations (think Hills have eyes/Texas chainsaw massacre). The cast off failures could be kept interred or used as weapons guardians for their base. Or they could escape and be hiding in the mountains - maybe even the Purist don't know everything this nut case is creating right under their noses and would kill him if they found out.

just a few ideas...been running GW since 1980

Excellent Ideas! I like the whole mad scientist under the radar of the powers that be angle. The Wreckers (the PSH culture) do have 'camps' for mutants, and an enterprising maniac could get away with a lot. He'd have to watch out for the rest of his culture though, for although they are mean racist thugs, but they also have a horror of 'abomination science'. Something like modification of sentients would probably drive them into a frenzy. Thanks Auxmaulous!

No problem, I love talking about GW or helping anyone else who plays.

One more hook to help out your Wreckers...while they could be very anti-tech (limited to WWII), why not have them either modify existing TIII groundcars (more or less hybrid/turbine cars) or make their own type of armored cars- in the likeness of Panzers, Armored sd.Kfz.222's etc. I love lower tech badguys, but they always need a hook....a group of bad guys who excel at making armor (even it is nothing compared to a real pre-fall tank) would be a major threat to all outlying communities.

One thing to do with this concept is that the Purists use the mutants by first having them "pacified". Basically put, they lobotomize them, then put them to work in various fields that they wouldn't do themselves. Or, alternatively, pump them full of drugs and loose them upon enemies as a first wave assault. This is followed by the Purist Soldiers who kill the enemy as well as their own first strike meatshields.

the Stick wrote:

Let me know your email, and I can mail you the files (in Word format).

Hey, I'd love that list:

email: hotaru1301@hotmail.com

title it : reincarnation list

please? and thank you!

warms up the ebombs...

:P

That's just, neat.

I brought my map to our D&D session last night, and one complaint was that it looked like a chicklet, or was too boxy and square. I don't think they understood it was meant to fit on 1 map mat for ease of use.

Yeah, that's the main trouble I had with getting everything placed on it. One thing would be to say to them that its just the inside of the ship, and that the outer shape is not taken into consideration. Only the places they can move to without going outside.

Great map Cato,

Thanks.

Done.

Map Legend:

White squares- open air
Orange squares- Catwalk
Lavender squares- Stairwells
Light Grey squares- Solid floor
Dark Grey squares- Inaccessible from this deck

BR- Bridge
Q- Captain's/Pilot's Quarters
SQ- Smaller Quarters
BA- Barracks
H- Hydroponics
L- Lounge

SA- Starboard Airlock
PA- Port Airlock
MA- Main Airlock

MS- Machine Shop
E- Engine Room
LE- Lower Engine
LI- Lab/Infirmiry
CH- Cargo Hold

Each bedroom was setup with the idea of a standing shower and a combination Toilet/Sink system in the wall like the episode where we all see Mal taking a leak in his cabin.

The Smaller Quarters have the beds folding up into the wall below the window in order to save space.

The Barracks have double bunks and a little extra room, including curtains around both the sink/toilet combo and shower instead of just shower.

The Lower Engine Room is where the mechanic works on the engine from below, the only access is from the actual engine room. Similarly, the Machine Shop opens to the engine room itself instead of the main portion of the ship(most things worked on would likely go there).

Not counting the bridge, the Lounge has the greatest number of windows per room.

The Main Airlock is set up as two large hydraulic doors(the front doubling as a loading ramp), with regular hatches in the middle, in case you just need to walk in and out, or take cargo back and forth. The two "rooms" by the Main Airlock are mostly machinery for the hydraulics, perhaps landing gear folds up into them(could potentially have some open nooks to hide stuff). The Port and Starboard Airlocks are set up with sliding hatches. In retrospect, they should have been moved up closer to the front with Hydroponics to the aft.

The Cargo Hold looks smaller than it actually is, the space it works into takes some out of the Hydroponics. The 5x15 storage closets by Hydroponics are marked as inaccessible because they're probably filled with equipment. The Water Reclaimation and Sewage Pumps are on the opposite sides of Hydroponics.

The Bridge has a seat for the pilot, his console, and two consoles behind him to his sides for anyone standing.

The Galley/Mess/Larder should be fairly obvious.

Three unlabeled rooms: 2-15x15, 1-15x25.

The entire map is set up with the consideration of 10 vertical feet for five square feet.

Cato Novus wrote:

Oh, it was already mapped out?

Heh, I just finished color coding the copy I made on the computer. :?

D'oh!

Well, I'd still like to see it... :-)

Okay, I'll finish up the fine details.

I'm trying to figure out a way to convert pencil and paper to an electronic form without a scanner.

There's a little freeware program I used called Interactive Dungeon, its not the best, but it doesn't cost. Once I got the basic layout, I used Print Screen and pasted into MS Paint, and did stuff like diagonal lines, and so forth, which I couldn't do with Interactive Dungeon.

Oh, it was already mapped out?

Heh, I just finished color coding the copy I made on the computer. :?

D'oh!

Cato Novus wrote:

I'll keep you up to date with how it goes untill I get it all sorted out.

You simply MUST share the finished product :-)

NO! ALL FOR CATO!! Oh, and some for Dan, I guess. :P

Sure, no problem.

Okay, I've been doing some preliminary work with the rooms you gave me, and their positions on graph paper, it seems like I may have to place a few rooms in between the main airlock(on the bottom) and the bridge(up top). I've placed the secondary airlocks to the aft, over the engine room, and the hydroponics room is directly above the cargo hold. I had a little "spare" room up top around the hydroponics to work with, but not enough to put people into, so I made a couple storage closets, then placed a small pair of water reclaimation plant and waste storage facility(Why by hydroponics? Fertilizer. :) ). I'll keep you up to date with how it goes untill I get it all sorted out.

As a side note, I'm making all the doors/hatches open to the inside of rooms so that incase of decompression, its easier to close from the inside and let air pressure hold it shut.

It has 3 "levels" but I want them all to fit on 1 mat for ease of use. Any "extra" space (like above/below the main level) is going to be filled with tanks and machinery and stuff you can't run around and fight in anyways.

So the hold is 3 stories high, the bridge & quarters are on the top story, the rest of the rooms and catwalk are on the 2nd story, and the floor of the hold is on the 1st story.

Okay, this sounds like the same basic design as Serenity, but instead of crew quarters along a "neck" coridoor, there's one large room with several bunks in it(assumption based on your stating that there was a barracks and then seperate quarters for the Captain and Pilot) and more available rooms.

Don't worry, I'm not going to ask if this is primarily used in space or an atmosphere. :P

Intelligent weapons depends on the kind of campaign you're running. If a very serious campaign, great care must be taken with thinking them up. Do you want one that is going to try to possess the wielder, work toward a common goal with them and split once complete, or is granted as a servant by a higher power.

If you're playing a more comedic campaign, then I'd suggest something like a sword that picks its wielders by doing things like barking at people it doesn't want or singing annoying songs untill it rids itself of that person.

The cleric of Saranrae can first buy some land and build a crude shrine (the player was planning that anyway). Then she will pray over the Human Bane axe, and Saranrae will answer by transforming it into a Undead bane Scimitar (the player wants one anyway).

Not bad.

The paladin will clean up the existing temple to Iomedae, begin investigation into the murder of the old priestess, and pray over the Grasp Of Droskar. [The cleric will cast Remove Curse first, to get it off the ranger.] Iomedae will transform the gauntlet into something more of her image, including the color turning golden and Iomedae's runes covering it. Most of the powers will remain the same (however, it won't be painful when the fist is formed), except for the Stone Shape 1/day. That will change into something else 1/day (don't know yet).

I'm not too familiar with the Pathfinder deities, but perhaps something like Stone to Flesh, or a corner-case immunity to petrification while worn?

Finally the Heartripper dagger will be destroyed in a ritual by the sorceress character. I have yet to think of a reward for this. I was thinking of a Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds, and something else.

How about a curse placed by the dagger upon the Sorceress, which while semi-negative, can be used as a power, perhaps allowing some Su touch attack(similar to Vampiric Touch) usable Charisma Modifier times a day. The downside is that it must be used at least once a day, maybe just once a week, or that character is Fatigued untill it is used. You could even say that the curse was placed by the dagger before its destruction in an attempt to scare the Sorceress off, but then she stuck it out and Fate stepped in, making it so the curse was not completely malevolent.

And finally, each of these characters should get some experience points for their work.

Try taking a Rogue, add the Monk's unarmed damage and armor bonus as he levels, the Bard's spell progression(although with more appropriately themed spells) with the spells based off either INT or WIS, and a mix of weapons you find most appropriate.

Made any of my players cry? Not yet, but I'm young. I have come close to making DMs cry. And Molech has personally excommunicated me from any of his games as a precautionary measure after seeing my suggestions for a Bard's use of the spell Unseen Servent.

Crying? There is no crying in D&D!!

Kinda like baseball?

IconoclasticScream wrote:

I tried warning the kids I'd catch them if they tried cheating.

I had one teacher who said that if somebody cheated and got away with it, their semester average would automatically be a 100%. But if they got caught, they got a zero for the class. Apparently, nobody's tried.

Nice Catch-22 your teacher had there. :D

Callous Jack wrote:

Molech wrote:

... most show little remorse, they're almost mad they got caught.

From a student's perspective, I have never understood this. I have seen it since gradeschool right through to the present in my junior year. You know the rules. You know you broke them. You got caught. How in the world is this the professor's fault?

I'm also always amused by the way my peers evaluate good and bad intructors. Good ones are the people who never ask you to do anything; i.e., don't actually teach. The ones that give assignments and commit the horrid sin of trying to shove some knowledge into said peers' thick skulls are mean, nasty people out for blood!

Yeah, I've always thought that was odd. I mean, I did hate homework, but as long as the teacher could make the subject interesting, I felt the class was worthwhile. I had one chemistry teacher my senior year in high school who felt it necessary to take the class to a lab every day, which itself isn't bad, but our "experiments", to use the term as loosely as humanly possible, were little more than boiling water to observe its boiling point(and even was that one day). She treated the students like a bunch of kindergarteners.

Molech wrote:

Saern wrote:

You know the rules. You know you broke them. You got caught. How in the world is this the professor's fault?

Ah ha, see, it's not my fault; It's not my fault!

(psst, Saern, can I quote this?)

Only if you give me a proper citation!

Paraphrased from either Han Solo or Lando Calrissian in Empire Strikes Back. :)

Well, since we're talking about a spaceship design, I have to ask what is the vertical space of the rooms in question, as well as how many decks there are.

The way this sounds is that there are three, with the hold potentially taking up at least 2.5 decks of vertical space if not all 3.

If you can give me that, I may be able to spare some time to help with your floor plans.

Oh, one of those rooms you can't figure out what to do with, how about an armory?

I have been assured that there is no need for me to invest points in the skill Perform(Marriage).

I have been assured that there is no need for me to invest points in the skill Perform(Eulogy).

I may not use my facility with languages to perform said skills on unwitting people.

Nor I may not perform said skills on unwilling people.

Even if the carnival we've found ourselves in is sick and twisted, it is still considered in poor taste if I drop trou and poke my ass into the Kissing Booth.

And in even worse taste to brag about it when a random roll for its current worker came up as a seductress.

While funny, when in that situation, I should not immediately make and then place a sign on the front of the booth stating "Will be back in 30 minutes."

When the party comes up to a locked door, and looks to me, they expect me to pick the lock.

When the party comes up to a locked door, and looks to me, they expect me to check for traps after I pick the lock.

When the party comes up to a locked door, and looks to me, it would be appreciated once I pick the lock, that I also disarm the trap I know is there.

While laughing at the party member who tripped the trap isn't forbidden, I should keep in mind that it isn't wise, either.

Just because I'm immortal, and can survive an explosion, doesn't mean the rest of the party can.

The Theocracy can pay me for my services in many ways. "Whores" isn't one of them.

Wearing a gimp suit does not grant me a bonus to my intimidate check.

Neither does playing a dominatrix.

"Texan" is not a language.

No character of mine is allowed to sound like Pee Wee Herman.

No character of mine is allowed to look like Pee Wee Herman.

No character of mine is allowed a cohort who looks/sounds like Pee Wee Herman.

I should not pick the pocket of the Paladin and take the key to his room, just so I can "deliver" it to the princess and tell her he wants to speak with her after the party.

I also shouldn't warn the royal guard that I heard that something bad was going to happen in the Paladin's room after the party.

And I really shouldn't inebriate the Paladin, then spike his drink with a powerful aphrodesiac shortly before the party ends.

Finally, I shouldn't "record" the events I put in motion through scrying to show everyone.

I am not allowed to use any weapon I can't lift without help.

Buffs are considered help.

From the looks of things, there are a few things in a similar thread of mine you may find useful. I won't paste it all here, because there's a lot, but feel free to steal what you like.

Okay, I've been rethinking the background or "tag" skills. Instead of a flat number bonus to apply to one or two skills, I could make it increase as the character levels. If the player chooses one tag skill, they grant their full ECL as a bonus to the skill; if two tag skills, then they grant half their ECL as a bonus to the skill. These skills would still remain as Class skills no matter what class they take.

This way, the bonus to their tag skills increases as they level. I may make it just half the ECL to keep the spellcasters from using it to get a +14 to their spellcraft checks later on in the game, however. After all, I don't want to make certain tasks ridiculously easy.

My group doesn't like walkovers all the time. However they do like them occasionally. It's a tricky thing. I try to throw in one easy game for every two tough ones. Gives em a sense of achievement and power but still keeps em excited.

Yeah, that's what I call the "Cleave Factor", obviously named for the feat. Every now and then, the party has to come across a situation which is beyond the locals, but something that they can just stomp on. Most of the enemies in this are Cleave fodder for the warriors, and low-save targets for for the spellcasters' area effect powers.

Kinda like taking on a full bandit camp with 5 level 15 characters. These bandits may only be an average of level 4 or 5 Warriors, and while no strain to the players, they are a blight upon this poor farming village. You never know, they may try solving this dilemma through more political means, sheer intimidation("Don't you know who we are?!"), or take over the bandit camp if they're an evil party.

It makes them feel big and mighty. Which is good. And if you're lucky, while they're on that little power high, they might get reckless in the next major plot point and you can turn things around on them.

If they are confused, just respond "Hey, even Superman plucked kittens out of trees in between battling super-villains. Not every problem is an epic challenge. Sometimes its just a choice of doing the right or wrong things, even if it is small."

Plus, helping some little poh-duhnk farming community or commandeering an entire bandit camp may give them a place to hide later down the line that their enemies don't know about. Small inconveniences that take a little time for them may become great boons to them further in the campaign, and its always good to give them the opportunity, whether or not they take it.

Too true. Its hard to run fast and free when you don't know your players. When you don't know them it becomes so much harder to find things which motivate them to action.

An example would be that most non-roleplayers get tired of talking magical items.

Most powergamers don't want to loot a bag of 50 Quall's Feather Tree Tokens.

And so forth.

Oh yeah, I just remembered. There were some articles in Dungeon mag close to the end that were all about winging it. Including the basics of making stats up on the fly. I don't remember which ones but if I can find them I'll post you the issue numbers and see if you can't get hold of them somehow.

Also, one thing I've learned. Story is always more important than rules. Bend them or even break them if you have to. My players love the story elements, even if they don't realise the rules were bent slightly to make it work. I mostly use this for magical effects or keeping recurring villains alive. I had one NPC wizard in the AoW campaign I mentioned earlier become a major villain. My players had to kill him three times in different sessions because I just kept bringing him back, even though he really didn't have the resources for it. Made it great when they finally brought him down for good. They still talk about it nearly every game session since.

If it makes the story sound or feel better, then do it. Worry about how it happened afterwords, it may even lead to new plot hooks.

I agree with this, in some respects. I like to plan major points, and wing the rest. For instance, when putting together an NPC villain to pit the players against, plan them out, but don't nail down every last detail.

Say we're talking about a spellcaster, I'd suggest having only 75% of his spells prepared/known. This way, you have the basic theme for what he's capable of figured out, while still leaving some availability for something the party wouldn't expect. Or maybe a non-spellcaster, put together most of the gear she would have, but leave a couple item slots occupied, but unnamed. That Barbarian Lieutenant may be wearing some kind of magic ring, but why pin it down as a Ring of Featherfall when the party manages to confront her at the edge of a lava flow.

This has actually spawned an idea. What if you start a new campaign where the party is actually the replacement for another party who had been killed? Much of the beginning is spent following their path to try and figure out what happened and what went wrong.

I don't see any big problem with them, but I'll have to echo the sentiment that houserules really depend on the players, not just the DM.

The party was holed up in an abandoned inn durring an attack by a wave of zombies. Near the end of the assault a party member went down the stairs to clear out the remaining zombies.

Well, the knight coming down the stairs is hacking away at the zombies when he suddenly sees a man in the main room begin to hold a holy symbol up and say some words. To the knight, this guy was apparently a necromancer leading the zombies. He was half right, this was a necromancer, but he was to be a new party member, and was trying to help clear out the zombies.

The spiked plate-clad warrior knocks a zombie off the stairs and charges the Necromancer, they fall to the ground, grappling. Somehow, this small Necromancer picks this seven foot tall armored knight up off of him and tosses him aside.

This is funny and amazing in and of itself; but then the Necro-player's wife pipes up and says: "That's a surprise, normally he can't touch anything on top of him."

And much fun was had that night at his expense.

Inara Red Cloak wrote:

Adding on to the same thought process... Why don't you look into the Monster Manual and get the Multiattack feat.

Add that with Roundabout Kick in the complete Warrior (I think that's where it is). And improved crital on one of your limbs.

Tasty Damage!

Technically, unarmed strike counts as a light weapon, not a natural attack, and so Multiattack and Improved Natural Weapon do not improve it.

Yeah, Unarmed is kinda funky, 'cause its one of those things that counts as a manufactured weapon in some cases, a natural weapon in others, and then both in yet others(namely as the target of spells like Magic Weapon and Magic Fang).

"WOOHOOOOO! LOCK UP THE WOMEN AND HIDE THE FRIED CHICKEN!"

What cool fantasy realm words/phrases do you use for hello/goodbye or general greetings?

Background
I've recently come off a two-year Forgotten Realms campaign. As a DM, I now seem to have been hardwired to want say "Well Met!" (a common greeting for hello/goodbye in the realms)! Perhaps your ideas will break me from this FR habit.

Here's three to start you off with.

Hail!

Greetings! (Whether or not you request that they "stay a while and listen" is up to you.)

Welcome, travelers!

Cato Novus wrote:

So, replace "walking across a narrow wall" with "picking a lock".

Well, this may be one of those "YMMV" things, but Concentration seems to me like the appropriate skill to be used in that situation. The lock isn't any harder to pick because you got hit with a rock; it's just harder for you to keep your attention focused on the job of picking it.

In contrast, taking damage while balancing would actually throw your balance off, so having to make another Balance check seems reasonable.

Okay, let's take the damage aspect out of the picture. My character is trying to pick a lock in a howlingly windy hailstorm with a barbarian behind him continuously poking him in the back shouting "Hurry up!" over and over.

Cato, you will always have a place at my table. That is some of the funniest stuff I ever heard...

Heh, you should have heard my explanation to the DM and everyone else as to why I should be allowed to speak those languages.

"Yeah, you guys may laugh now, but just wait until we actually face a Beholder, and I surprise the hell out of him by greeting him in his native language! Wouldn't you rather we end up with a social encounter than having to save vs. disintegration?"

Edit: By the way, thanks. I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever in your neck of the woods... whereever your neck of the woods happens to be, that is.

I found this site while I should have been getting ready for work and thought you guys might like to see some of these things. They look like they could be awesome.

Even though human bonus languages are listed as "Any", a brand-new character starting at first level has no reason to be capable of speaking Beholder.

When informed of the previous statement, my immediate response should not be "Okay, I guess I'll go with Mindflayer..."

Nor can I create a character who just thinks he speaks those languages, if he goes around "proving" his grasp of them.

I cannot use the God of Law's own words to disprove his existence, causing him to disappear in a puff of logic, just so I can play with all of his stuff.

After doing so, causing his Primarchs to descend upon me, I cannot disprove their existence by saying "If he created you, and he doesn't exist, how do you exist?".

Further more, I am not allowed to ask how much experience I gained by "killing" the God of Law and all of his Primarchs.

Lastly, when the God of Chaos comes up to congratulate me on having done the previous actions, I cannot begin an existential debate on balance in the universe, and conclude it by asking that "Since there is no God of Law, how can a God of Chaos exist in such a universe?".

Here I thought this thread was going to be a big joke about Rules Lawyers...

Cato Novus wrote:

Concentration checks are both needless and silly. If my character is walking across the top of a narrow wall, and is suddenly hit by a thrown rock, I have to roll a check based on the Concentration skill instead of rolling a new Balance check?

PHB, page 67: "If you take damage while balancing, you must make another Balance check against the same DC to remain standing."

Okay, so Balance wasn't the best of examples, but...

You must make a Concentration check whenever you might potentially be distracted (by taking damage, by harsh weather, and so on) while engaged in some action that requires your full attention. Such actions include casting a spell, concentrating on an active spell, directing a spell, using a spell-like ability, or using a skill that would provoke an attack of opportunity.

Concentration Checks

So, replace "walking across a narrow wall" with "picking a lock".

If you can get people to accept it, I use the diagram example from the D20 Modern rulebook. I believe that demonstrates intent quite clearly. A number of people I have discussed this with violently reject that as a relevant source.

They violently reject the source material? Have you tried violently introducing them to it?

Edit: Sorry, I misread the post originally. I somehow missed the part where you stated being adjacent to the creature. I'll leave my statement in because of the funny image evokes, though. :)

Samuel Weiss wrote:

... you can functionally charge if you have a reach weapon by moving away from a target, since the only factor there is getting to the first square you can attack the opponent from.

Interesting, could you give a better description as to what you mean? Because most reach weapons have 10' of reach. If you are adjacent to a creature you would have to take a 5' step away to attack, I don't see how you could charge in that case (you need to move at least 10' to charge).

Well, since this is a charge, the mose logical place to attack would be 10' to the sides in front of you, as having your mount stop, hop back 5', attack, then continue the charge would just be silly and look weird.

Dread wrote:

prior to 3.0, each class had their own experience track...ie how many points you needed to rise a level. When you multiclassed, you gained everything from both classes....except you halved (or divided into 3rds) your hit points rolled....and had to divide your experience gained among the classes you multi classed into.
<snikt>

Oh! I should have mentioned I did play 1E. So 2E carried that over? Or were there changes? I remember reading somewhere about "kits" in 2E.

Kits, simply put, were 2E's version of Prestige Classes, but more like seperate paths a member of a particular class could specialize in. For example, Bards could could become Swashbucklers, if I remember correctly.

I agree with the Concentration checks, Turning checks, and Alchemy skill. All are needlessly complicated or just silly.

Turning checks get complicated fast, plus all you normally do is simply make the undead run away(unless you roll so high you outright destroy it).

Alchemy only being available to spellcasters doesn't make sense, unless you're talking about the alchemical mixtures which have actual magical effects.

Concentration checks are both needless and silly. If my character is walking across the top of a narrow wall, and is suddenly hit by a thrown rock, I have to roll a check based on the Concentration skill instead of rolling a new Balance check? I have no problem with this being refered to as a Concentration check, as long as it is still based on the actual skill that's being used.

Kain Darkwind wrote:

Cato Novus wrote:

Time for me to chime in on this. I don't see Necromancy as inherently evil. Think about this, the various Cure Wounds are part of the Necromancy discipline of magic, and those channele Positive energy.

No they aren't. They are part of Conjuration.

Cure Light Wounds

Which, btw, I think is stupid. If Necromancy could return to the manipulation of Positive and Negative energies, I'd be a very happy person. So I'd like things to be as you describe them...I'm just pointing out that they aren't.

That's odd. I seem to remember something that had Cure and Inflict spells as Necromancy, which makes a lot more sense to me.

Great, now I'm going crazy trying to figure out where I saw that, because its not in any of the books I have with me.

Cato Novus wrote:

Alright, I'm needing some opinions here. On two things. First, I'm thinking of a different name for this world. The more I say "Tyrra", the less I like it, but I've had trouble finding something else that I thought sounds good, untill now. Tegara.

Pronounced Tee-gar-ah, Tee-ja-rah or Tee-ya-rah? 'Cause Tee-ya-rah sounds too much like tiara...

Teh-gar-ah.

I haven't looked at the other elemental movement types, but it seems fine. Perhaps having the uses / day based on Level or Attribute modifier might work better than a flat number of uses per day.

Well, I thought about that, but since the Elemental Movement feature isn't gained until fifteenth level, it seems useless to do so, unless I set up each elemental movement to upgrade itself at level twenty. Plus, this would be the only one of the movement types which has a use limit on it. But I do like the idea of making it based upon an attribute mod, Charisma, since we're talking Sorcerers.

Okay, here's the Green Dragon I've been working on, don't have much yet, but I wanna get the basics down first. As a note, I've used the elite array to build its ability score.

Forest Eye, Green Dragon Druid

Size: Huge, Age: 224(Mature Adult); Lawful Neutral
Move: Ground-40 ft, Swim-40 ft, Fly-150 ft(Average)
HD: 16d12+8d8+100 = 267 hp; 24 HD= 7 Feats
Abilities: Str-27 Con-23 Dex-10 Int-15 Wis-16 Cha-14
BAB: +18/+13 AC: 30; Touch 8(Size -2), Flat-Footed 30, Natural 22
Feats: Rend, Improved Maneuverability(for Flight), Hover, Power Attack, Humanoid Shape(allows use of Wild Shape to become any humanoid/monstrous humanoid), Snatch, Combat Casting

Spells: 7th Tier Arcane, 4th Tier Druid
Special Abilities: DR 10/Magic, Suggestion, Immunity to Acid, Water Breathing, Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Wild Empathy, Woodland Stride, Trackless Step, Resist Nature's Lure, Wild Shape
Languages: Draconic, Druidic, Grelish, Sylvan

History: Caesinsauriv(Forest Eye), the scourge of a small logging town located by a forest over fifteen decades ago, untill the timely arrival of a band of heroes who would go on to be known as Les Cinq Lances. Hired by the mayor, they went out to put a stop to this dragon's deeds. Caesin, however, had heard of this prior and set up a trap. They fought bravely, and were almost defeated, until druid of the group stepped forward and accomplished what seemed impossible.

While his comrades lay wounded, he picked up his staff and charged Caesin, fighting the dragon himself. In a hard-fought duel of magics and might, the warrior of nature defeated the scaled beast, but showed him mercy, for he saw a kindred spirit in the dragon. Caesin saw the forest as his home, and was acting as he was to protect it. The druid brought the mayor before the dragon and brokered an agreement between the two. The town would lessen its logging to less devastating levels and the dragon would not harm the town.

Caesinsauriv began to travel with the warriors for a time, learning from the druid the arts of nature, and little by little, he changed. After many years, he returned to his forest home, no longer as an owner, but as a guardian. Every time a new mayor is chosen for the town, the contract is renegotiated, and Caesin always uses this time to assure each new mayor while he will always abide by a just agreement, but will not hesitate to grant swift retribution for one's broken word. Failures to do as stated are exceedingly rare.

I don't think it is amateur at all.

I've never thought about it, but here is my take:

Yes, you can attempt to strike with an unarmed strike as an off-hand weapon (this could be a kick, headbutt, etc). You incur all the normal penalties for fighting with two weapons (including dealing 1/2 your Str bonus on damage with your off-hand unarmed strike), and you deal nonlethal damage unless you have the Improved Unarmed Strike ability. Unless specified, the Two-Weapon Fighting feats grant their normal benefits in this situation.

Alternatively, you can use an unarmed strike as your primary weapon, and another weapon (including an unarmed strike) as your off-hand weapon. Hello flurry of blows for 1st-level fighters!

Unarmed Strike offers no benefit in two-weapon defense because you cannot block with your body (excepting a few feats).

In retrospect, it is a pretty decent idea. I have an unarmed fighter now with a shield. This encourages me to get him into shield-fighting.

Yet another notch in the belt as to why I like fighters more than monks!

Heh, I had a friend who was using a shield-wielding fighter inspired by Captain America; going to the point of picking up the feats from Complete Warrior which allowed him more combat options using his shield: Shield Charge, Shield Slam, Throw Anything, and even having a shield made with the Returning quality.

If you have guns, you can put 20 of them on tables in an arena, one of which is loaded, and let two guys scramble for them.

Hah, that reminds me of the scene in Desperado where Banderas and a bad guy run out of ammo and they're the only two left alive in a bar. They start scrambling for a gun and can't seem to find a loaded weapon for the longest time.

Cato Novus wrote:

Time for me to chime in on this. I don't see Necromancy as inherently evil. Think about this, the various Cure Wounds are part of the Necromancy discipline of magic, and those channele Positive energy.

No they aren't. They are part of Conjuration.

Cure Light Wounds

Which, btw, I think is stupid. If Necromancy could return to the manipulation of Positive and Negative energies, I'd be a very happy person. So I'd like things to be as you describe them...I'm just pointing out that they aren't.

That's odd. I seem to remember something that had Cure and Inflict spells as Necromancy, which makes a lot more sense to me.

Time for me to chime in on this. I don't see Necromancy as inherently evil. Think about this, the various Cure Wounds are part of the Necromancy discipline of magic, and those channele Positive energy.

Here's another thought for some of you. In the campaign I'm currently playing in, the party's wizard is a Chaotic Neutral Necromancer with Necrophobia. Yes, this character is a practicioner of magic dealing with the very same thing he is afraid of. The player's reasoning behind this is the character sees the undead(Good and Evil alike) as abominations, and uses the power of Necromancy against them. He doesn't do it for the greater good, or to rid himself of an enemy, he just freakin' hates the dead. Its an awesome character concept... that is, when he actually uses magic; and not when he decides to pull out a longbow and accidentally shooting me instead of one of the ghouls we're trying to destroy.