Curaigh's page

Saying an ability is USELESS is OK in my opinion. Telling them what would be USEFUL is a little bit different, but still not bad. This is an adventure path and a character can be level 20 before the end, so they need to expect something more difficult than goblins. Besides if they read the covers of Dungeon (whichever issue you happen to be holding) they will likely see something to the effect of Pirates, Demons, Zombie Pirates, and Dinosaurs (and that T-rex on the cover is a good giveaway. :) I will probably discourage my cleric from beefing up her turning undead too.

My rule is that all gear (other than special quest items) on the dead character is lost and the new character comes in one level lower.

This seems important to me, as my players always loot the body of their comrade. I was tempted to make a glass jaw wandmaker (spend one level worth of XP to stretch the starting money twice as far), and follow it up with a rogue or bard maxxed out in the use magic device skill. I am not a metagamer, so I didn't, but the thought crossed my mind.

I like the potential possesion on raise dead mentioned above (am stealing that :).

Replacement characters can not be of the same race or class (Abe another tumbling rogue?) and I do not let prestige classes to start (play at least one level of the standard classes). Monster classes are popular replacements, but I only allow starting gold for the actual class levels not the ECLs.

No one has died since I thought of a new rule, so not sure how it would work: roll 1d4, 1=two levels below party average, 2=1 level below party average, 3=party average, 4=one level above party average. I figure a party gaining some notieriety might just attract an already famous lead singer. (without having to go through American Idols wannabes :).

I also submitted an article to dungeon that was not accepted. It was a half-dozen or so ideas to introduce a replacement character when the tavern is not around. I just hate finding a table full of gear next to a tied-up captive. If anyone wants to see it, let me know.

My favorite encounter in Gateway (MUD if you remember what those were) was the dragonturtle in Callis. My own turtle is named after the dragonturtle in the FR book Ring of Winter. As I get turtle collectables for every gift giving event I am sure I have one of every size :) Beanie babies are probably huge creatures and Ral Partha does have a turtle dragon (though I cannae find the link).

Dungeon used to have (or so I am told) counters for many of their adventures, but this is now the niche of the 'minis'. I thought about asking for a sidebar on each of the adventures that might show which minis fit best for which figures. Something like:
Dragotha=Dracolich, War of the Dragon Queen,
wyverns (6)= wyvern, Underdark (or whichever set).
Lizard men (4), whichever set.

just my two coppers O:)

Did somebody say tequila? What would you like me to write? :D

--John

How about an Ecology of the Worm? the tiny, drunken cousin to the purple worm? Tequila I think.

Maybe gang up on one character at a time? If the stalkers took out the paladin the rest of the party will (at least my folks will :) gasp and reassess the situation. Then the stalkers start beating on the cleric, etc.

I am assuming the PCs are the right level for the adventure but even if they are, the players might not be (especially if they think the heroes always live :). Keep the 'scaling this adventure' sidebar handy and drop an encounter down an EL or two. PCs will advance less quickly, but they will still advance and if they players get bored, they may start playing smarter to get to something more challenging. You will not have to do this for every encounter, especially a simple combat encounter, but you can scale enough to encourage them.

Keep in mind that a true hero is willing to die if that is what it takes, so killing a few can make them martyrs.

You are basing the effect on "reality" but defining reality in a very narrow way (water destroys fire) that does not match up to phyiscs, personal experience nor the game mechanics

I agree that there is no way a magical 0 level spell, can harm a magical creature made of magical fire even if the magical power behind the magical spell is divinely granted by a divine immortal with omniscient knowledge and might have granted his/her/its faithful the magical tools he/she/it needed. Next thing I expect to hear is that she did not really cast the spell, but that she just rolled some randomizing piece of plastic based on some ink markings.... chuckle I love it when discussions this fervant get generated like this O:)

Alas, the tokens won't be coming back. That niche is now pretty much the domain of D&D Minis.

So has dungone thought about dungeon adventure minis? It might be diffucult with the rares & uncommons, but...

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/general/customerService/dnDMiniEncount erPacksForDungeonAdventures

if dogs can blink why not gnomes?
if beasts can displace why not humans?
if wolves can winter why not elves?
if bears can owl why not orcs?
if gangers can dopple why not dwarves?

[p]

I better win again next week or Orko gets it....

please don't win please don't win please don't win...

the PHBII is pretty good at showing how personality A-G, goes with Class 1-12, with feat chain alph-omega, in party red-violet, etc.

Don't forget that the ph has a good 40 feats in it. While all that fancy stuff from the other books is cool, if you are not very experienced with it, it can be just fancy stuff. I have rarely seen any character (at least since the 'completes' started) finsih a single feat chain just from the ph. imho there is nothing boring in those feat chains even if the new books are fancier. I have a similar feeling about all the new prestige classes where no one plays the DMG which are good (playable and fun) pcs.

I actually wanted to get elves out of my homebrew. Well the elves that mimic Elrond anyway. I did keep elves, but more in the Elfquest (cynics would say Keebler/North Pole :) vain (read: small). Which means they ended up being pretty close to halflings. I also think the dino-riding halflings of Eberron are done well. And a small creature is the only one who can ride a mount in most dungeons (due to size). (My first 3e was a gnome druid with all the riding feats and a medium sized owl.) So I guess there is an advantage/reason. (and almost everyone wants to play a Belkar if even for just a short while). My alternative might was to keep halflings but treat them as (pre-Tolkein) fey of the woods.

Somewhere, in a lost realm that history forgot, a lone figure stood on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a mist-filled valley. The shadows of the surrounding trees engulfed him and the shriek of an occasional woodland creature would pierce the silence from time to time. Shivering in the morning breeze, the figure slowly started to make his way on the narrow path that etched its way down the cliff side. "The sun will be up soon...", he said to himself as he noticed the faint tint of red on the horizon "... and I may never see another night."

"91 left!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Well, I bought a sword once while on vacation in Spain. The store packed in a long flat box and I carried it out like that. Of course I had to check that piece of luggage on the flight back home. Definitely not a carry-on.

Sounds like an episode of Highlander I never got to write. You know whenever you fly and your luggage ends up on the wrong plane? I figured I must be sitting next to an Immortal and the second Immortal hanging out with the luggage folks could not tell which of us was setting her immy-sense a-tingling. To be safe, she misplaces both luggages. Since I never rode the plane home with the same person, I figured the ploy must have worked. *grin*

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5

“Sometimes a rusty nail is just a rusty nail,” said the dwarf sniffing at the tiny puncture in Orjan’s foot. He dropped the appendage and a yellow puss splashed onto the table. Orjan winced but the dwarf ignored it pulling the heavy axe from his belt. “Other times, it is your death.” The dwarf dropped the axe before Orjan could even register that he’d raised it. The blade cut cleanly through the bone and muscle ending Orjan’s leg just below the knee. “Here, this will help to save the rest of it.” The dwarf slipped a yellow rock into his unconcious patient’s palm. Orjan’s eyes had rolled up into his head and he fell back against the table, unconscious.

Orjan was not the first to create the gems that bore his name, but he was free with the ones he did create as he roamed about the country side, healing the sick or the wounded. Orjan’s Amber--as it came to be known--always has some part of a blood sucking insect inside. When worn, the amber draws diseases, infection and other destructive mediums from the wearer’s blood granting a +4 luck bonus to resist disease, infection, and poison. After successfully preventing such an infection, Orjan’s Amber takes on a slightly red hue and loses this ability. Removing the jewelry for a week returns its original color and restores its ability.

Orjan was fond of placing the gems in jewelry that was tarnished as a reminder. “An ounce of prevention,” he would say tapping his cane against the wooden stick where his leg once was, “is worth a pound of cures.”

Moderate conjuration (healing); Caster Level 7th; Craft Wondrous Item; remove disease, neutralize poison; Price 7500 gp.

IRS auditor is pretty spooky. Lawyers can be pretty bad as well. I like the idea of dressing in a typical suite and just adding the appropriate accessory (scales for lawyer (fill one with money) telescope for astronomer, complete works of Shakespeare for Thespian, and bull and bear (stuffed?) for wall street, etc.) This weeks student paper had some easy ones.
NBA player: business casual, do not show bling.
Pro-soccer player: dress as you want no-one will notice.

I have been wanting to get a bunch of those plastic spiders, and then wrapping myself in every computer chord I could find. go as the www. hmmmm still working on how to make a lurker version...

Freaks and Geeks may not be pop culture, but I only recently saw it (yeah for DVD). At one point they are comparing the breasts of different goddesses in the Deities and Demigods, and later they are actually playing the game. I had seen a couple of others recently, but am at a blank now that you asked.

[...is high on our list (right behind about five other things high on our list). Maybe we'll get the guidelines fixed in aught-seven...?

hmmm I just had an idea. I think I shall submit a query for an article titled 'Updated Submission Guidelines' hmmm... 'ecology of the guidelines' 'Core Beleifs: submissions'

She will be writing her congressman.

--Fang

I am more impressed that your congressman might have recognized the change than that your husky can write O:)

Does the new classification mean that Pluto, Ceres, and Eris get to wear heavy armor without affecting their orbital rate?

Scott & Le Lord of...

Waittaminute! Scott & Le?? Why will my avatar not change to something more lordly?

a homemade vegetarian-friendly pseudo-twinkie! (no, not a pseudonatural twinkie!)

I guess a were-twinkie would have animal byparts, so it would have to be plane-touched....

*MMMMMmmmmmm* half-celestial angel food cake *arhahrhrhr*

of course it would still be susceptible to a craft: cuisine intimidate check *wink*

Pumpkins already have stalks, just get some extras. If you want some inexpensive costume ideas I have been collecting them for a while in my annual Scary Scott's Two Dollar, Twenty Minute Halloween Costume Contest. Take a look, (only the last years are still up: hmmm need to get that fixed. :) www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~sjanke/2$20min.html

Draconomicon has Dragoncraft items (players section) and Dragon 332 has an article called Cutting up the Dragon, by Andrew Cole. I figure getting the parts out requires masterwork level skills DC 25 of craft: cutlery or knowledge: culinary :)

Wow that is a lot of stuff in a short amount of time, where to respond...

work story: At our weekly managers meeting we have a permanent agenda item: Kudos. When I got my first (to date only) check for a publication my boss announced it as a kudos to me. There were a few odd looks (you waste your time writing that?) but mostly it was cool (you have time to write?!). I have a lot of dragons in my office so when I meet with students, the gamers come out. hmmm maybe I should start a safezone for geeks and create an official 'safe to speak geek here' poster (like the pink triangle on the wall) Maybe McFarlanes dragons should be the poster (need more dragons :)

power players: At a workshop (last summer's Origins) I thought the speaker said he has gamed in the white house basement-I need to verify that of course...

social stigma: dad called during my regular game night and when I returned the call "DnD? isn't that silly high school stuff?" 'dad, 30 years and some $60k a year industry is not silly hs stuff. my friend's dad refers to it as mental masturbation, but I will let him tell that story...

anti-religous: my only experience (other then we are -fighting- demons already mentioned) when someone was told that pretending to be someone you are not is sacriligious. The kid who told me this lost all credibility when he buzzed really loudly and hit me with his lightsaber (aka broom handle :)

We give xp rewards for backgrounds, but found some too complicated to work into the game (why your character has three eyes is not as important as why she hates mind flayers from the perspective of running the game). I would also award bonus xp to the character who fights near water because that is in their background too. Imagine the rest of the party complaints then *grin*

For a shortcut use an outline or timeline. It will be a 10 minutes worth or work and you can flesh out the 'hours' stuff later if the DM wants/enjoys/uses/rewards it.

...Race, Class, and Constitution.

What do you think?
Tam

Since some races get a bonus or penalty to con, you would be rewarding this twice. IMO race is figured into con already.

...this issue didn't have anybody jumping up from their seats with excitement.

J

I did--at the cover anyway. O:) Thought maybe it should be turned into a poster size pic. If not, maybe centerfold size, in which case I would back it and use it as a counter. Imagine the dragon-fear dropping that onto the battle mat would inspire *grin*

craft (scapbooking)--class skill for everyone (even trolls :)

I think the absense of love is largely because littel time is spent (at least in the fiction I've read - which is far from exhaustive) in dwarven lands, the mines of Moria is the only example that come readily to mind and those were no longer a living dwarven community.

Aye there's the rub--or at least half of it. (Though the whole journey to return the king under the mountain is too good to ignore). Since Tolkein decided they were grumpy bearded folk who do not have enough children to maintain the race, they do not get the attention, as say warm scholars whose eyes contain the universe. (remember Gimli explaining the myth of no dwarven women?:) The other half of it is sex.

Face it sex sells (even when the currency is gp). Which would you rather put on the cover of Vogue: a stocky bearded (male or female :) dwarf in armor or a lithe, effeminate (male or female :) elf in scantily flowing robes? And since you get paid more when your story is on the cover which will you write about?

* If you bring goodies for the rest of the group roll d% and add that number to your XP. O:)
*unusual stunts that fail earn you (or your next char) 2d% xp (unusual stunts that succeed have their own reward :)
*describing your spell's special effects (instead of saying I cast magic missile) will give random bonus metamagic feats (1 on a d8 rolled by me). (this has the added house rule giving the descriptions to the DM before you say "a tiny bat-a-rang of force shoots from my fingers to strike unerringly at my foe")
*really bad puns earns you a punch on the arm (you would be surprised how many dancing jokes need to be endured at 3rd, 6th, 9th level...
*getting the DM to squirt Dr. Pepper from his nose is worth d% xp.
*TRYING to get the DM to squirt Dr. Pepper through his nose singles you out for the troll bouncers (see below).
*replacement characters must be of different class and race then the poor char who just died. (no more avenging brothers...)
*deciding your action on your turn is a move equivelant action
*1/2 orcs get bonus skill focus intimdate feat
*1/2 elves get bonus feat (though must be a skill feat like persuasion.
*min/maxers can expect to find personal combat with my half-red trolls (and if necessary their cohorts and followers).
*oh yeah and the salty oatmeal rule...

According to the box office sales, there is going to be a X-Men 4. Marvel is too greedy to let go.

Let's hope Singer is back. I think most of the problems came down to directing and the fact that the director wanted to drop as much X-lore as possible into the mix. Example: Angel's wings bursting out of harness and throwing the orderlies back is a cool frame in a comic book. But on film it does not work with a 90 lb kid. Also his only other point was to catch his dad--so why have him? Same with most of the other (new) characters, (and the bridge ack.) There was no plot advancement just eye-candy and eye candy can only go so far.

Is it ironic that you both chose the pre-painted, lightweight plastic minis as your avatars? Not as inexpensive (nor creative) an option as yours, but takes care of you other concerns well enough. *grin*

Dryder wrote:

I think the loss of 10 speed is what makes heavier armor unattractive, ... IMO the speed loss is more important.

FH

I thought about the move limitations and almost skipped the heavy armor on account of it. Then I realized we always have a halfling, dwarf, or gnome so it was not a big deal. I was not slowing the party down, and I did not want to reach the big baddies alone. If I need the heavier armor 'gainst a foe, I plan to bring someone with me *grin*. You can throw more flat-footed attacks at them though, that may balance the armor out (or at least your party's perceptions of it.

No, you can get a lot of information on Paris in Kentucky. ... You can see all of Europe in one state! Sorry, I found this funny.

*chuckle* Living in Moscow, I think you can make a K: local to find that Paris (ID) is about an 8-10 hour drive. But it would take a gather info to know that we do not grow potatoes and that it is pronounced /mos COE/ not /mos COW/ (rhymes with bow as in 'bow & arrow', not 'take a bow' *grin*

(its like trying to pronounce 'drow' to Drizzt fans :)

I am a bit biased, but direkobolddotcom lets you choose the character level (campaign level, magic level, etc.) and will scale the adventures for you. There is a free adventure to try out the scaling system too. One of the best ideas in using computers for gamers, but like I said, I am biased O:)

*grin* I struggled with this one myself for a while. The pcs enter some 500 feet above area one. They start at the top of the cliff, the map starts at the bottom and the rope connects the two. But yes a boat would also work. O:)

Yeah! Wow my pcs sure underuse their familiars!

I had often wondered if 9 lives would be an advantage against undead O:)

hmm one character right? Do you get two initiative rolls? If not I think this would answer many of the questions (as might my reading of the actual race, which I havenae done). A companion, cohort or even a summoned monster can act independantly and could even roll their own initiaive if the PC was say... unconcious. This would not be the case for a single character with two bodies anymore than if you had a dancing sword. (You have to concentrate to change its targets right?)

That being said can you "threaten" if you do not have an initaive? No? No flanking bonus/no sneak attacks. Without an initiative the player would have to decide which body acts each round.

Reminds me of memorable character I had in high school. Remember the assissin/cleric from AD&D? One half of me was 'assassin' and the other half 'cleric' The hp were in a common pool so one character could get to 0 and they would both drop. hmmm I wonder if Talon ever taught HS chemistry...?

*ack* other survivors are too cliche, but since one of your pcs was in a cage, perhaps someone else also was. If not a pc then maybe a cleric with raise dead spells who will trade the spell for an escape (that's a two-for-one). Or perhaps the two are ghosts. A disembodied voice that only one of the other PCs can hear. They can not attack, defend, cast spells or anything, but can make spot and listen checks to help whichever of the groups they were fleeing with. I like the idea of an intelligent sword, perhaps hanging out in the sewers is such a blade. When in combat use the dead pc stats, when not in combat use the living pc stats. Lest this overpower the party, when the sword accomplishes its goal the "intelligence" will leave, leaving only a masterwork weapon. The goal could even be the slaying of the giant. This brings your party back to where they were before all the deaths O:)

A magically outfitted ship!

Have ya read the Liveship Traders trilogy? I never wanted to start a pirate campaign so badly.

Ack two MUD references in the same day...

Most parties would purchase a "Bag of Banking". Like a bag of holding but the money goes directly to a safety deposit box via the interdimensional space. Of course the bank would take their 10% and there was a really cool (somewhat random) descriptor such as "a shining white angel takes your bag and flies..."

...Sol, for example, is a female sun goddess (Amaterasu being the only other female sun goddess I can remember off the top of my head...)

Back in the days of MUD I was a Cleric of Cianna, goddess of the dawn. In research for the guild's webpage I discovered a bunch of other 'mythology' sources of feminine sun dieties, rather than bore you with the whole page...

...Cianna has been called by many names in many lands including Eos, Aurora, Mater Matuta, Ushas, Thesan, Sengen and Urwendi. She has been connected to the Phoenix, Garunda, the Kladde, and Ama Terasu. In most cultures she is the goddess whose rosy fingers open the gates of heaven to the Chariot of the Sun. She is sometimes the driver of the Chariot.

Ha My first character was a dwarf, so I do not lean to a particular class but rather the bearded folk.

One of my earliest character also had a familiar that made him memorable much to the detriment of the rest of the party. It was a rock. Being a magic user he was osterecized by most dwarves and became a hermit living in a cave. Thus his best friend and companion was a pet rock. He thought it was a dragon, and talked to it, carried it and loved it. He would avoid taking his rock/dragon into danger. My dwarf would often scout ahead using his stonewalk ability and once found a huge cavern of deadly ghouls.

Not wanting to leave the ghouls unwatched, but wanting to warn the party of the danger, he says:
"Sam go warn them not to open the door they are trying to break right now." Sam wandered off (in his mind). The party (brave non-metagamers that they were) never saw the rock and hence wandered into the ghouls...

All of my herps are named after dragons from Forgotten Realms novels:
Mergandevinisander (Merg) Salvatore's Sojourn
Arameg (GamerA spelled backward?) Lowder's Ring of Winter
Curaigh Turcai (Turc) the gaelic translation of the 'untranslatable-in-the-human-tongue' Dragonbait Grubb and Novak's Azure Bonds And yes they are names that get remembered O:)

I agree, it would be nice to see an article on these alternate magic types. With a limited budget I have to prioritize my purchases and an article explaining some of the basics of each new system would help me there. I suppose you could do an article on eldritch, another article on incarnum, a third on psions etc. An article was done on binding(?) magic which was good.

However I think something like the campaign classics articles would be nice. One article that touches on psions, warlocks etc. Touts strengths weaknesses, differences etc. The races from spelljammer article a bit ago is a good example. As you said a sample organization or character for each would also help. These can be dropped into an existing campaign for playtesting.

I Sir Litmus, smite thee and thine green glowing gem...

.......set in an old mine.....throw in some "American Gladiator" based combat challenges....

Add some of the True dungeon skill tests with elimination rounds and it might work. If you really wanted a celebrity game show though how about split screen or flashbacks. 1st, participants roll the d20 for the jump across the chasm of lava, the reflex save against the kobold's fireball, attack against the Goblin King etc. A 2nd filming later of the contestests having to jump a pit (filled by Nickleodon), dodge the kobold's (played by W Wheaton) fireball (played by ILM), then swing a sword at the goblin King (played by Vin Deisel).

The roll could be translated into the size of the pit so each contestant has their own to cross. It is not entriely d20 dependent, but it will affect the outcome. Celebs only have to show up to play their part and it would have more of movie feel with the special effects.