Cranky Bastard's page

Coming back to this after a long period of being unable to access, and reading up on all the content, only furthers my desire to do an Akashic-heavy campaign setting of Genies and Gemstones, as an alternative take on Al-Qadim. Something genie-centric, but also inspired by the forthcoming Remastered lore changes from 2e. The Advanced Players and Class Guide(s) classes would have a presence too, but the Akashic classes would be the true stars of the setting.

A concept I'd been playing with was a world with all kinds of magics and powers, but certain types are more analogous and appropriate to certain cultures. Akasha is seen as a more 'primitive' magic to many, and some cultures don't deign to recognize it as actual magic at all! Though I considered a few instances of where the name is also a filter of sorts, with a particularly advanced society that utilizes it referring to it by the Incarnum nomenclature.

One particular project that I kept starting on, but failed to fully realize, was a specific setting piece with regards to a quasi-mideastern Al-Qadim-alike of not-quite 'Genies and Janissaries' where a key part of the background lore is about Geniekind specifically, with as much focus and detail as the Titular Dragons of D&D. The underlying conceit is that Genies are Special, of course, but the universe partially conspires against them after they accidentally came into being. True Genies (excluding Jann)cannot breed true - the quirk of their original spontaneous manifestation is not readily reproduced, either. The Jann are the result of a LOT of experimentation (and no small amount of chagrin) and the nomadic lifestyle is a feature as much as a bug. So what's a series of races with phenomenal cosmic power to do with themselves when they can't breed? Why, unravel the secrets of magic in pursuit of an answer, of course! And the net result is that Geniekind, comprised of a mix of pure element and raw magic, learned to shape raw magicstuff of themselves and ambient available into veils, only unlike lesser beings theirs take actual physical form, even if not bound. In fact, all genie magics - arcane, divine, and otherwise - are essentially woven veils, contributing to the perception of Geniekind as being fond of overly gaudy accessorizing and ostentatious materialism; they're frequently loaded to the proverbial gills with magic to use that won't pull from their own being. And this became their secret leverage for reproduction - when people seek genies to learn their secrets and become sha'ir they think they are simply performing an exhausting, fatiguing ritual to earn a gen to serve them. What's actually happening is that they're unwittingly carving off a potion of their own soulstuff for their future patron to shape into a gen, implant with a false memory and history, and send to be partner to their 'master', learning and growing and, hopefully, in the end, eventually transcending their limitations to ascend to fellow True Geniedom.

Thus, gen can retrieve spells of all kinds, but it takes time to create these spell 'tokens'...and my writeup of a sha'ir as a sort of veilweaving summoner was to allow for storing spells as veils to an extent, but I never finished it.

All lives matter. Not a slogan and not empty words of allegiance to any ideology.

Wouldn't it be so refreshing to keep the poison of politics out of our gaming experience.

(A rhetorical question and clearly a forlorn hope.)

If you are shot in the guts at point blank range, and the person next to you is pistol whipped, even if a tooth is dislodged you don't presume that both injuries are equal.

Same applies to your deliberate misconstrued understanding of why we say Black Lives Matter.

Dylan Roof was brought in alive after murder. George Floyd was publicly executed on the SUSPICION of passing a counterfeit $20.

I can spell it out 'til I'm blue in the face, but it speaks more of a willful failure to comprehend than a failure to expend the emotional labor go educate.

Combining Starfinder with DSPs Ultimate Psionics to revive my old DragonStar campaign, as well as start new games in the continuity. The trickiest part is converting some closed content to keep the original dynamics even as the new classes are made available alongside all of the additional content that's become available.

It's not the most valuable playtest feedback, but...

I like this. I like it a lot.

I must be blind, because I can't find the email for the alpha Nexus.

EDIT: mystery solved, went to the wrong email.

Late to the party, haven't looked at the entire thread, but I want a "mimic" class that doesn't do exactly what other classes do, functioning more inverse bards that draw power and inspiration from the rest of the party. Fight alongside the Fighter, assist the skillmonkeys, awaken unexpected magical abilities...

Something not unlike the Final Fantasy Mime/Mimic class.

Eff it, pledged for Akashic goodness.

No place like the present to note that the only good thing that's come of this clusterf-bomb is that my new nickname for Coultergeist is Baba Maga.

Other than that, I really need a dimensional shift.

I may be parsing this differently, but I think what is being requested is not simply analogs of existing items with an Asian Polish, but for specifically themed items of a magical nature that are contextually culturally apt.

Some things, like incense and pearls of power and other things of a miscellaneous nature are certainly appropriate, but going outside of that box gets trickier when one is not completely versed in the cultural more sand particular nuances that give the feel of what one wants to convey.

I am by no means an expert, so making the comparison of the spoon that produces what is described as porridge with the taste and consistency of wet cardboard might be refluffed as a bowl and mallet that can multiply a unit of rice into enough to feed a group, by pounding it into multiplied mochi cakes. If you're running a game where there will be lots of spirits and outsiders, you would be remiss in leaving out ofuda or shimeware if you are planning to include some variation on Shinto. Origami charms are a given, and cultural miscellany abounds from daruma to figurines of power that aren't necessarily combat-related.

Of course, this is assuming that you are focusing in a more Japanese direction. You could end up pulling from Thai lore, Korean, the wealth of Chinese history, take it in a more Vietnamese direction...

I'd really advise hitting up the Dragon Empires books/content, since a lot of the inspiration-drawing has been done for you. And then looking at the materials and cultures from which they were sourced, because there's a ton more to mine.

But that's assuming that such is what you're after, the way I sorta looked for things more akin to how Nyambé handled African-themed materials, items, and props for that style of adventure.

confession: I kind of want to place a beholder in my pathfinder game

and name it either Paizo or OGL

If you do not name it OGLE I WILL DISINTEGRATE ALL YOU HOLD DEAR.

Quantity? Quality? Meh.

Tone is a valid cause for complaint.

Of course, there's a substantial deficiency of thickness of skin, by my own likely unpopular opinion, but I don't run the joint. I may be able to take as well as I give, but it ain't my house, so if they want to tell me to curb it, until I start running my own place to discuss things I can't really make a big stink about it.

I'll call it like I see it, but accept that the House calls the shots.

Some guy somewhere said that in Pathfinder a 90 year old with a cane can kill an ancient Red Dragon, now it's my go to alias for being cranky and old :-)

Now get off my lawn before I sick my Owlbear on ya!

Damn kids! Don't know when to shut up! Why, back in my day...

...the Hell are you? *squints redundantly*

5=Shi Tzu, 6=Frack, 7=Firetruck, 8=Eyes-holes, 9=Muddy Pluckers, 10=Dram it, cause alchemy (or alcohol) solve everything...

93. 101 ways to turn the Prophecy into an entertaining mistranslated Shaggy Dog Story ("What the Nether do you mean the items foretold to prevent the Demon Mother's awakening are the materials for building an oscillating pillar?")

That you like cranking s%~+ :-)

And this is why you are Captain Yesterday, not Obvious. >:D

What the hell do you think?

I write smut that is often themed around power perversion potential from Pathfinder and 3PP. And not only am I not ashamed, I'd love to do unofficial novels...yet I've not put anything up on fansites or writing boards.

...Nocturnal?

...nefarious?

Need more Rogue, Investigator, Brawler and things like Urban Ranger.

Plus multitudes of eyes watching from the alleys and shadows.

87. 101 side effects of 'False Life'
88. 101 ways to give your adventure a Retro 80s feel
89. 101 alternate timeline deviation points for your campaign-world
90. 101 ways to torment characters with hot weather

80. 101 shocking monster crushes to inflict on your players
81. 101 monster-class combinations for all occasions
82. 101 explanations for why the villain has a pet that is itching to kill them yet they heap affection and love and food upon it knowing full well that the heroes will unleash it on them

Guys, guys, guys.

Guys.

Seriously.

Succubus kineticist.

GEOkineticist.

Stone shaping, forming nonmagical 'implements' more or less at will.

Crafting spontaneously grappling stone hands.

Occult Adventures cannot arrive soon enough.

Pardon my pedantic observation, but I think the problem is less realism and where some peoples' verisimilitude is compromised.

Because verisimilitude is tied to peoples' paradigms of what 'fits' and what doesn't.

Which is highly subjective, to be fair, but also subject the strident not-racism that is 'no wuxia/Eastern style action', when they are just fine with, say, the principles of alchemy that touch on Eastern mysticism, or magic based on said region, but not the martial mythos that is just as integral.

While I disagree vehemently with that view, I at least understand it in the same way I understand people being unwilling to parse Gunslingers in their high fantasy.

Going to throw this out as a point of consideration.

Anyone here experimented with FantasyCraft?

They kinda get martials right, IMNSHO.

I'd like to crib from their methodology.

OK heres a question....

How long has the disparity been around. Is it more of a recent thing or has it been around all along?

It's always been there, but became markedly egregious with 3rd Edition and the removal of the traditional followers and holdings rewards, on top of the miscellaneous quality of life improvements that by and large removed what little restrictions on the cssters were in place and shifted things further with the increase of save or die/save or sick and the more aggressive shift away from blaster casters to Schroedinger's Wizard with the Quantum Spellbook of Inconspicuous Convenience.

Also CoDzilla.

Cranky Bastard wrote:

I stand by my supposition that too much of the ingrained martial/caster disparity is revenge-fantasy for nerds. And I say that AS a bloody nerd for Zod's sake.

And I establish a new supposition that that's completely absurd. I'm not after a revenge fantasy—I really like martials. I like a martial who gets by without "cartoonish" stunts, is all. I really dig characters like Boromir and Boba Fett—"ordinary" warriors thrust into battles with magic-users. The fact that both of those characters died quickly notwithstanding.

That's not to say martials should stay as they are, of course. Most of your suggestions are fine by me. But most people talking about "mundanity" are actually not trying to enforce the disparity. The people trying to "enforce disparity" (and while I call it that, I'm aware that they generally see it as enforcing a current state of equality) don't care about mundanity—when they post in threads like this, it's purely on a meta "This thread is unnecessary" level.

Contrary to my moniker, I'm not going to say 'YER WRONG YOU SCALY THREADLOCK-SUMMONING BASTICH', in part because I, much as you did with my post, agree and disagree on yours.

I too like martials, rather much so in fact! However, the dismissive attitude of most people who come in to kibitz about the disparity threads are not after balance or parity. They are specifically of the mindset that magic is justified as an explanation for Batwizards and Shazamorcerers and the mandate that without magic, martials are nothing. Never mind that with RAW dice rolls, rather than being condemned to the limitations of non-heroic beings, martials should be well and truly capable of pulling off every martial hero of myth and lore's multitudes of abilities, from Cú Chulainn to any of the more fantastic exploits of any of the Authorian knights through even Herakles. And yes, that's even before the approach of Eastern Philosophy and the extrapolations that lead to wuxia.

But people call that cartoony while at the same defending caster shenanigans, which is why I am so very much my name about the matter.

It's not a case of thinking all the threads are necessary either out of an attempt to persuade - it's because there is a literal mental block that people have, a blind spot to the hypocrisy that makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills at their inability to see the juxtaposition of those two ideas and the non-cromulence that accompanies!

I had more to say, but I'll save it for when I get home from the commute.

If people just stopped forcing mundanity on them they'd be just fine.

Even where my tastes aren't everyone else's, it does not require cartoonish, animated, or Oriental methodology to simply let martials, in an already fantastic setting, stop being constrained by the concerns of less exuberant, 'mere' mortals. The sort of things martials survive and endure should have more than just bicep-bulging results. Action hero glint should be in their eyes. Mission Impossible levels of stealthiness and cleverness should exude from the rogue. Monks should NEVER be mundane, from the most Shaolin-expy to the brewers of sacred wine as part of a theological pursuit of enlightenment to the Siddhartha Gautama would-be.

I stand by my supposition that too much of the ingrained martial/caster disparity is revenge-fantasy for nerds. And I say that AS a bloody nerd for Zod's sake.

That being said, give fighters options on the narrative related to feats of either strength or renown, without being constrained to bull-excrement 'realism'. Ditto feats of skill and guile for rogues, while allowing for acts of spontaneous amazingness from the monks. Stop trying to shoehorn them into some box of designated meat targets because you can't keep your RAW-interpretation free of Enforced Mundanity. If you can imagine Casters getting away with all manners of horse manure 'because magic', you should have trouble imagining what it looks like when a martial of suitable heroic stature gives the caster their comeuppance, unless you are that emotionally invested in 'lol caster wins always'.

Though I think a big part is that where people encounter Auto Success with magic, it's treated as the best of all possible results, and I personally think that magic should be the equivalent of taking 10 or 20, while the martial should always be able to get comparable to better results through effort. Magic can certainly work in general for ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE, but I hold that magic works best in tandem with the results of actual physical labor. Thus why masterwork crafting as the chassis for enchanted arms and equipment, and why artisans at their craft are highly sought after for such craftings.

Time for a breakfast break - disintegrate isn't gonna just restock itself.

69. 101 inevitable number innuendo

FFS.

Martial != Mundane.

Cut that out.

Laid eyes upon spam threads, disintegrated same.

Cranky Bastard wrote:

So aside from a succubus with mesmerist levels, now we have talk of Esoteric Planes, not the least of which is the Plane of Dreams.

Does this mean that a psychic succubus in a grapple can take you into the deepest parts of the Dream World while in direct contact?

The wet part.

Which is specifically awash with the potential for juicily detailed RP, never mind the combat implications.

Cranky Bastard wrote:

So aside from a succubus with mesmerist levels, now we have talk of Esoteric Planes, not the least of which is the Plane of Dreams.

Does this mean that a psychic succubus in a grapple can take you into the deepest parts of the Dream World while in direct contact? Or would the experience be wholly in the victim's mind?

Based on a certain succubus-heavy AP, they don't even need to be psychic. ^_^

See, part of me is okay with this, but the pedant in me says 'Look, the Dream World is supposed to be a Psychic thing, if I'm going to get into these head games I want it to be accurate.' If succubus head games can happen without being psychic, why, I'm not even sure if takings things in an occult direction would be worthwhile anymore...

Eh, I'll live.

So aside from a succubus with mesmerist levels, now we have talk of Esoteric Planes, not the least of which is the Plane of Dreams.

Does this mean that a psychic succubus in a grapple can take you into the deepest parts of the Dream World while in direct contact? Or would the experience be wholly in the victim's mind?

That was weird - suddenly, zerg rush...

O_o
/ /======================
| FIRING MAH LAZER
\_\======================

When I'm not flagging and fragging...

Cranky Bastard wrote:

People are disrespectful over anything on which they don't see eye to eye.

I'm not saying...just beholdin '.

Does that mean that you're always disrespectful...or never?

I plead the Sturgeon. Even in regards to my observation!

Though in full disclosure, this is usually the alias I go to for disagreement and/or snark. I try not to personally have such a pessimistic view of people in general, but also acknowledge that we are discussing this on the Internet, and that lends itself to a certain flavor of narcissistic absolutism.

Which is why I plead the Sturgeon.

On topic, I am encouraged by this thread and can only agree with the first proposed idea, with myself some forms of "yes it's a game and not the internet, play like you are actually friends" type thing.

People are disrespectful over anything on which they don't see eye to eye.

I'm not saying...just beholdin '.

For all the realism fetishism going on regarding martials, and farmers who became monsters of power from 'just' swinging a sword...

What the hell do you call those men who basically went to WW2 green Midwestern boys and came back heroes?

Does the process of becoming, say, SEAL team worthy not constitute a prime example of substantial increase of badassery?

FFS, we can abstract hit points but it's too much if a stretch for people to overcome mundaneness by amazing physical effort?

How utterly joyless and beyond pedantic.

There is an expectation of a punchline involving an immovable rod and a *clang*

This really tempts me to invoke Adam Savage.

Need...backup...

*smokes from ALL THE EYES*

Gonna need Visine after this...

Oh, sure, now we get lock-free civil debate.

Confession du moment: I have always treated the acronym of SMH as 'so much hate".

With SMDH being, naturally, a more emphatically profane variant.

I'm just annoyed with people who want to play BatWizard getting pissy because they want people who want to play HerculesFighter held to differing standards of 'realism'.

I like Leadership but prefer to use it for Suikoden and Disgaea and other tactical style scenarios to make people more effective at getting their team of underlings to succeed.

*EYEBEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!*

I hate the Forgotten Realms Setting.

Funny, I like everywhere but the main campaign area. Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim, Maztica....