Dave Young 992's page

Benghazi!

They have axes, too.

Can't help it. Boomer cracks me up.

The "Christmas" show was great! Malcolm McDowell was brilliant. What a great spoof!

You'll notice I'm not as critical of TV, because it's TV. I want some laughs, and this show still delivers.

Seems touchy. Arr.

A highly regarded expert wrote:

That person turned around and gave us Snowball.

I don't complaining about someone who can't see or hear you is needed in this conversation.

I feel better...

We didnt call that Spartan Madball...

I cant even say what it was called in my neighborhood.

When I was a kid, we called it "smear the queer," which, if you think about it, may have some historical veracity. It's apparently what the Spartans did. :)

I hope the kids are calling it something a little more groovy these days, like "tackle the perfectly accepted person, whatever their sexual orientation, and take the ball, yo."

I added "yo" to make it the "shiznit," yo.

PFS sits down a group of adventurers of disparate levels, and asks them, without any consideration of what they can actually do, to go and handle a task.

Bonus if they do it, no cookie if they don't. It's supposed to take about 4 hours.

PFS isn't PF. It's built to accommodate random characters through one episode of action/adventure, not write a trilogy.

Did someone already say ranger/wizard? Full BAB, all good saves, lots of skills and skill points, solid combat, an animal companion, some divine spells, and amazing cosmic powers.

Does S&S go all the way to 20? Will you ever know?

Sorry, missed this earlier. I don't think the AP goes to 20th, but the GM says he'll go as long as we want. Personally, I'm enjoying it a lot, so I hope we do.

20th level pirates! Arrr!

Addictive haiku
It is truly a great thing
Let it flow through you

ciretose wrote:

TOZ wrote:

ciretose wrote:

I am constantly amazed how many people on here don't seem to care if the story that is being told through the game makes any sense or not.

Story don't matter if you ain't having fun.

For me, I ain't having fun when the story doesn't matter.

That doesn't invalidate my statement.

Nor his.

"It works for my build" is an honest answer, but it's fine for the GM to want a little explanation. Some players may be making a bad choice based on some impulse.

Or, maybe, it's a good idea you'll want to discuss a bit. Sharing your visions for your characters at level-up is a great time for the party.

When the GM announces that everyone's leveled, it's good to discuss things before you reconvene. Leveling changes the mechanics. Talking about it makes the characters feel more real, IMO.

Sure there are a lot of scumbags, but in my experience, for each one of those there are ten who made it the right way.

Of the non-millionaires I know, who far outnumber any millionaires I know, There are few who "made it" at all.

Pensions are shattered, factory jobs are gone. Lots of them tried to play by the rules, but the rules changed.

Worker bees are a dime a dozen. Their needs are not a part of the global equation.

Your statistics are bad and you should feel bad.

*Slinks off with a bottle of scotch and hides in a closet, sobbing uncontrollably.*

Like everyone else in the world that isn't a millionaire, my long series of bad choices began with picking the wrong parents. That one alone virtually ensures you will never become a millionaire, or for that matter even seriously upgrade from the class into which you were born. I compounded that error by being born in one of the most income immobile, stratified societies in the developed world in a period when such inequalities and lack of mobility were on the upswing, and then, not quite satisfied yet, I further chose to be born in a mostly-empty hinterland of said nation thereby depriving me of the numerous advantages I could have accrued from simply being born in an upscale school district or somewhere with access to several very good universities.

Some, trying to duck their personal responsibility for their lot in lives, will say that all of that stuff is luck or not really choices. But we know differently. That's just a story losers tell to console themselves. The truth is that if we really deserved it, we would have picked the correct parents to start with. Entirely our fault for not reading the pamphlets thoroughly.

It's also possible to be born with the natural ability to become an outstanding A-list athlete, entertainer, or become well-known from a Youtube video, and capitalize on your 15 minutes that way. I'm willing to bet that George Zimmerman has at least a million in his defense fund.

99.9% of the world are not, and never will be so rich. Most people work hard just to stay fed, if they can get food.

A Snooty Gnome wrote:

2) never made enough money to become one

.

Why can't you make enough money?

.

I'm comfortable. Is there some reason I need to be a millionaire?

1) wasn't born to one
2) never made enough money to become one

Wow. Their taxes returned to the earlier level because the tax cut sunsetted as it should have, and a teeny tiny number of them want to leave the country? Good riddance. Have fun in Somalia.

The language of the Evocation school is really inconsistent with the rules: "Creates something out of nothing." But not in the (creation) sort of way. A different kind of "create." Why can't Evocation also (create) a snowball to chuck at somebody by tapping into the plane of snowballs and pulling it here? This rule about only Conj being able to get 'SR:No' spells is completely arbitrary. The difference between conj and evocation should be that conj focuses on creating things and evocation creates forces. This would allow evocation some 'SR:no' spells, which would help it not suck quite as much.

Why are you all comparing this spell to grease? It's not about what's the best level 1 spell. It's about what's the best levle 1 blast. If you're building a blaster, you can now go conjuration, and get all the benefits that entails, but also be doing more damage than the evoker (unless the evoker chooses to use snowball too, in which case why is he an evoker?)

Here's the crux of the biscuit. Evokers were the blasters until someone at WOTC decided that conjurers should be better blasters than evokers, because God knows, that school just wasn't strong enough.

Treantmonk even rated PF evocation as green (a good choice) in his seminal guide. It does more than blast, though he may have missed how darkness got nerfed.

Saying "blasting sucks anyway, so just play a conjurer" doesn't address this discrepancy. It's just saying that evokers can't have nice things, so to hell with them.

There's probably no way to have perfect balance between all the schools, but there shouldn't be one that so outclasses the others that it's the only one you see played. Evocation shouldn't create monsters made out of force, and conjuration shouldn't have a better first level blast than anything evocation can do.

I think the universalist wizard could use some kind of boost, too.

Sorry, I'd probably still pick grease over 3.5-17.5 average damage vs 1 target and a save vs staggered.

Maybe it's just me, but spells like grease and glitterdust rarely seem to work as advertised when I try to use them. In fact, my 4th level wizard (21 int) has yet to blind anyone, or slow them down enough to matter.

He's absolutely slaughtered with magic missile and scorching ray, though. YMMV.

You might be trying to do the right thing and would simply like help if it is out there but i am so tired of hearing it from so many college kids. I mean half of the occupy movement was whiny kids wanting out of the bills they chose to rack up for themselves. That said, you are working and ex military so you are an example of folks that do deserve some help and that maybe the cost of education is too damn high

Thanks for the opinion, Rush. You truly are a fountain.

James Jacobs wrote:

And as long as the vast majority of the things we publish ARE "balanced" and well designed, that reputation can continue. I like to think we're good enough at Pathfinder to be afforded a few mis-steps now and then.

Whether the snowball spell is indeed a misstep... we're still in the knee-jerk reaction phase, so until it's been in play for a while I can't say.

You're absolutely allowed a few mis-steps now and then (and have made a few), and I've never posted a thread bashing a particular misstep. I only question the philosophy of using published material for testing new material.

I'm not sure we can call this 'knee-jerk' phase. How is this spell going to function any differently in PF than it did in 3.5? It is now the best low-level blast in the game (and holds up til mid-level for a dedicated blaster), but it's conjuration. This seems fundamentally at odds with the pains you took to make each school most effective in their own sphere.

Yep. Evokers can't add a few more points of damage to it, and it's better than any evocation they can add that piddly bonus to.

Vestrial is right. It's the best 1st level blast in the game, now. Do I outlaw that particular spell, or the whole book?

Please, Paizo, let's not go down the hellish road that was the Spell Compendium. We count on you to know spells are balanced before you publish them, and this one is pure splat. Conjuration is good enough without ANY blast spells, even acid.

If I have to go over every little thing players want to cheese, PF is no better than 3.5.

I WANT to let players use the books, and find little tricks that make things fun. I DON'T want to take the players' books for a week and pore over them, rooting out obviously imbalanced exploits.

Rynjin wrote:

"A GOOD gamer can make a Commoner into Jesus!"

It's pretty easy, all you need is a few ranks in Perform (Miracles).

You should check out the Savior prestige class. It's divine.

Hmm, Not sure if this has been mentioned, but Sleepless Detective from Paths of Prestige might just be the new way of getting that extra d6 of sneak attack. Not only does it give a d6 at first level, it also lets you add your INT score to Perception checks and Sense Motive checks. A solid bump for Wizard based Arcane Tricksters. It does require Alertness and some pesky skills though. If you want to avoid (or have to avoid) the evil route, it's a nice option. IMO the idea of a magical detective/ trickster is cooler than assassin, but YMMV ;)

Another option which requires 2 levels is Halfling Opportunist. I like it because you snag a nice bonus to saves and trap-spotter which is my favorite rogue talent.

Interesting. Looks like I gotta update!

Please, my gay brethren and sistren, don't think that because there are inevitably some neanderthals among the sapiens, that we straight folk all think that way.

Some of us know and love gay and lesbian people in our own lives, and your personal sexual identity doesn't mean diddly at my table.

mearrin69 is right. Fortunately, I honestly think that the vast majority of gamers understand what it is to be a little different, and hold no grudges in that regard.

Get Cheetos dust on my books, though, and your @$$ is out the door!

Dwarves are perfectly happy just the way they are.

This is all based in our current society with the trophies for 3rd place, anti-bullying, etc. These days its almost a crime to have a situation where someone might "lose"

LOL!

1: The Olympics give medals for 3rd. 2:Bullying is A-OK in your book? 3: Sounds like you listen to too much Rush Limbaugh.

All hail Leafar!

Witches don't need an uber spell list. Their hexes are vicious, and work very well. The witch in my PbP is 8th level right now, and pwns enemies regularly.

It almost takes the fun out of it. BOOM! Roll twice and take the lowest! Adios.

He rarely bothers to cast spells.

I could not, would not, be a rogue.
I could not, would not be a Pogue.
I'd mix the class, and end up richer.
I'd much prefer an Arcane Trickster.

How does the Surprise Spells class feature of the Arcane Trickster prestige class work with spells like magic missile and fireball?

The Surprise Spells class feature allows the Arcane Trickster to add his sneak attack dice to spells that deal damage that target flat-footed foes. This damage is only applied once per spell. In the case of fireball this means it affects all targets in the area, with each getting a save to halve the damage (including the sneak attack damage). In the case of magic missile, the extra damage is only added once to one missile, chosen by the caster when the spell is cast.

Me pirates be mostly swashbucklers, or so they say. Some o' 'em like to flank, some o' 'em not so much.

We got a priest o' Besmara, but she buckles a bit o' swash, too.

The other caster be sayin' she's a sea witch. She does magic wi' the sea, somehow.

They look like pirates ta me. T'is confusin' a' times. Arr.

I do think, though, that there probably would have been more Islamic democracies if British, French and US imperialism didn't have the nasty habit of overthrowing governments everytime they decided to increase the living standards of their people at the expense of international petrochemical corporations.

Smedley Butler told us this was the deal.

Obviously some sort of splinter group.

The paladin in my current campaign detects evil all the time. Even if there are no NPCs.

"OK, time to make camp.
"I detect evil in every direction all around the camp."

"You see an old wagon rumbling down the road with a load of cow manure."
"I detect evil on the wagon, the driver the horses and the cow manure."

The obvious answer is that the wagon is OK, but the gazebo right next to it is evil as hell.

Freehold DM wrote:

This does raise an interesting question re: what PCs do with the money they earn. Do they become merchant lords or blow it all on coke and whores? This thread is going in interesting directions.

From another game:

Quote:

Carouse

When you return triumphant and throw a big party, spend 100 coin and roll + extra 100s of coin spent. On a 10+ choose 3. On a 7–9 choose 1. On a miss, you still choose one, but things get really out of hand.
• You befriend a useful NPC
• You hear rumors of an opportunity
• You gain useful information
• You are not entangled, ensorcelled, or tricked

The base roll is 2d6. So, hookers and blow in other words.

That's neat. Back in the day, many people played characters that never partied in town or hired hookers, etc. They were as celibate and sober as ascetics because they just knew that if they let their hair down, they'd wake up the next morning and all their stuff would be gone.

A cleric casting see invisibility on various allies can slow that down, or a suspicious caster using glitterdust or just bags of flour.

My opinion is the only right one, in my opinion. I say Firefly is the best, so it is.

I like my favorite class because it's so good at what it does. No class does it all well, but my favorite class is of solid benefit to a well-rounded party.

That's why I like it so much.

All these people are lying. RPGs, and PF in particular, are Satan's tools for dragging souls to hell.

They'll sit there and tell you it's just a harmless game, maybe even good for developing your imagination, but it is a ruse. You think Satan would just tell you straight up that this game will damn your soul to the lake of fire?

Of course not! That's the trick, you see. The Devil is slick. He makes it seem like just a little innocent fun, but soon, at first without your knowledge, but later with great willingness, even eagerness, you are enslaved.

If you value your eternal soul, you will avoid this game and all who would deceive you into playing it.

I interpreted his "Double Standard of Circumcision" in that link list to mean:

"Everyone always decries how horrid it is that girls are involuntarily circumcised in misogynist countries, but we circumcise boys all the time and nobody cares!"

This implies a fundamental misunderstanding about what it is to remove the foreskin vs. what it is to remove the clitoris.

Ask your girlfriend.

QFT. Comparing male and female circumcision is apples and oranges. Male circumcision doesn't remove a man's main sexual pleasure center. Female does.

It's a barbaric way of removing much of a woman's capacity for pleasure, since, as we all know, a woman who enjoys sex can't be trusted, and will be a wanton slut with any man who walks by... [/sarcasm]

Following 2004 there was an investigation into voting machine shenanigans, along with some lawsuits.

There was a company that ran the servers that tabulated the results for the Secretary of State's office. The data stream was not secure, and results could easily have been manipulated.

The man who ran the company died in a plane crash in 2008 just before he was supposed to testify.

Michael Connell.

Green bean casserole is traditional around here. Easy to make, too. I much prefer it with thin-sliced green beans.

For many children, puberty is a trying time, filled with conflicting impulses.

Get him a greatsword when you can. 2d6+3 damage is nice at low levels. You may not want to do melee, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

Aaron Bitman wrote:

Ashiel wrote:

I will happily admit to being a power gamer. I'm proud of it. I'd wear it on a button or badge if I had one.

Mad Badger offers fine quality button badges that speak for you...

I found mine.

Hey! Don't be hatin'!

No reason...

And Elvis was 6'0".

Another fun game. If everybody's laughing, you're doing it right. Yeah, Rastaf did a number on the undead. He was in his element, happy to be a force for good. Luckie was great, too, with her mad skillz. A good rogue makes things a lot easier. She breezed through the chests like it was nothing.

Rob, if you want Amzu to know Rastaf somehow, that's cool. He didn't find much acceptance, either, until he started in with those clerics and those Pathfinder types. I'll think about his backstory, and write something up later.

Lack o' spelling annoys me too, arr. Surely, someone in tha party will play a spellcaster o' some sort. T'is just too much a part o' the game to have no spelling. Arr.

This is just the pre-rally for a R$ win. He's a Mormon, and if we are to believe he holds Israel in the highest regard that most Mormons do, the result is inevitable.

If R$ wins, we will bomb Iran. Maybe nukes. Bibi wants a war, and Obama's against it, at least for now.

The sad part of that scenario is that Iran is teeming with young people who are sick of their theocratic, oligarchic dictatorship. They'd change things all by themselves in the next decade.

The whole "Iran's working on nukes. Preemptive strike!" BS is the same war drum that had most of our country slavering for war with Iraq.

Conservatives have yet to acknowledge that they were suckers for that propaganda.

I got my cleric ready to go!