DungeonmasterCal's page

I am not trolling here and don't want to see any negative comments. It is a simple question, are any of you out there just happy with Pathfinder. I know I am, but it seems like all I see is negative thoughts on this game mechanic or that class is over powered or whatever. I just think it would be nice to have one thread out there where people take time to say something nice about Pathfinder, the game, we know the Paizo people are amazing. I see that all over the messageboards and have experienced it myself.

I will start.
I love the class archetypes, I was horrible about multi-classing in 3.5 and never was able to build what I wanted. The archetypes have saved me some serious headaches. Racial substitutions are awesome too, no two (state your race here) need be the same.

I love Pathfinder. Along with most of my gaming group, we've decided this is the last iteration of the Dungeons and Dragons game we'll ever purchase. The few things we don't like we houserule.

Man, I hope you're not anyone's boss. So the shipments will be a day or two late.

Let them have their play day. I say they've earned it.

Heh...Reminds me of this, which allegedly appeared in a Maryland craigslist ad.

I have major clinical depression and my motivation, while being very low the last 6 years, does ebb and flow. The last several months have been very, very low. I have a zabillion great ideas, but can't even force myself to lift a pen to write down the notes sometimes. I'm still looking for a motivating factor.

Ah...ya know, if I'd have thought about it for another minute I would have probably realized that. When my brother was in the navy, his MOS was originally slated to be a flagman on an aircraft carrier. At the last minute someone finally looked at his medical records (after he had told them repeatedly to do so)and they realized he was both color blind and dyslexic. That could have been tragically silly.

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Cal, you're pretty strong to live with all of that. I whine about my bum knees, but I know I'm lucky to be as whole and healthy as I am at thirty with twelve years of military service. Keep fighting the good fight.

Mos

Mos? I don't know what that is... except the first half of the name of a spaceport on Tattooine.

@Hama--

Ok, I'm rolling on the floor and screaming in sympathetic fear and pain for your godfather...

@TOZ and Nym, thanks for the good vibes!

My obsession with "classless" games makes me want to mix and match these talents between rogues and fighters. More talented classes will make it worse. So please, make more talented classes.

I got a papercut just the other day. I whined about that more than my leg for most of that day... lol

But there are still very generous folks out there. They sometimes show up when you least expect them.

My first experience with AD&D 1e was in a homebrew setting where the Egyptian pantheon dominated the religion. But before that I was always more interested in, as you put it, "cradle of civilization" cultures. My current homebrew is a mishmash of religions, but at an early Renaissance stage of technology, but I take most of the names and such from those cultures. In fact, the world my campaigns are set in is called Nibiru.

I would love to see more material on a fantasy Persian or Indian setting, Eastern European and Slavic cultures, along with the Mesopotamian ones. In my opinion, which is worth whatever one deems fit, the medieval and Renaissance civilizations based on Western Europe and the Chinese, Japanese, etc cultures have been done to death.

Guys, thanks for the kind wishes and thoughts, but this thread wasn't about getting cash or free goods. I was just ranting. Everyone I know in real life had gotten tired of hearing it so I thought I would inflict it on others! LOL

Numbers 6, 4, and 3 on this list sound pretty interesting.

Creatures from Scandinavian Folklore

Several on this next list might be interesting. #1 is actually kinda silly, but it'd still be a formidable creature if statted up right. Take a look at numbers 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, and 1.

10 More Bizarre Mythical Creatures

Well, there a few different things. The first being a back injury I suffered working in a soybean bagging plant in early 1994, that eventually worsened to the point that I was unable to walk due to sciatica and had to have surgery. Then I was in a really bad auto accident in January 2005 and that partially separated my pectoral muscles from my sternum and rib cage and broke my left leg in two places. I have rods and plates in it now, and spent nearly 11 months learning to walk on it again because the pain in my chest made it almost impossible to bear my weight on crutches. Both it and my back are constantly in pain to a lesser or greater degree. It varies. The surgeries on my leg have also caused permanent neuropathy in that leg and foot, so my nerve endings send mixed signals when I walk, so I stumble and fall like a drunk because my foot tells my brain one thing and then does its own thing.

The wreck led to PTSD, which led to major anxiety and treatment resistant clinical depression. I was fired from my last job in February 2007 because I was unable to perform adequately due to those. My behavior became pretty erratic and my emotional state became very unpredictable. I'm on a battery of meds that really do very little to keep my depression and anxiety under control, but it's better with them than without. I'm also showing signs of becoming increasingly agoraphobic, at least that's what my therapist has tells me.

So, there ya go! And for the record, I don't mind if people ask me about these things. They're part of who I am now, and in the anonymous world of the innawebz, I'll likely never run into anyone here and they won't be afraid to strike up a conversation with a crazy person! LOL

I don't think too much research can ever be achieved. The hard part is choosing how much of that research you allow in your games as either DM, player, or both. I'm constantly scouring the 'net for interesting bits about wildlife (both living and extinct), ancient mythologies and civilizations, as well as watching a lot of shows on channels like National Geographic, Animal Planet, The History Channel, or Discovery. Well, I did when I had cable and before those channels lost all credibility with the crap they now offer.

I guess my point is research, sift, sort, and modify as much as you can to make your setting both interesting for the folks on both sides of the GM's screen. Cheers!

I realize this thread is about the Talented Rogue, but something occurred to me while statting up a Hellion for my game this coming weekend. For GMs in a hurry, what are the chances that with the release of new classes examples of them at say, levels 5, 10, and 15 be included along with them?Just a thought. And Nyquil-induced rambling.

Thanks, Eric. That's a good idea. I'll send out some feelers on that. I think I'll write up one on Dread Fox's Swordmaster first.

It'll be next week before I get the review up. Real life just kicked in my door without a warrant and dragged me screaming into the street. But as a "preview", this is a great class!

My guys say I'm a pretty good DM. Tough but fair, challenging but fun. But one thing I've noticed among my players is that there is seldom a clear cut leader, and on the rare instances when I get to actually play I tend to try to take that role and run with it. I also tend to attempt much more daring stunts and actions than they do, and I think they have a somewhat negative feeling about that, feeling like I'm trying to upstage them.

No! NO NO NO! (flips empty wallet).

Seriously... I gotta have this.

"By Set's brass balls!"

"A bathrobe hides a multitude of sins."

"The Nazis! We're saved!"

"Don't put that in your mouth."

"That's right, bucko! Kickin' evil in the jimmy since 1947!"

Thanks, Eric. That's a good idea. I'll send out some feelers on that. I think I'll write up one on Dread Fox's Swordmaster first.

What do you have on your list?

Pathfinder Society scenarios are a whopping $4!

More than half are 3PP products averaging about $3.99 each. Prices go up from there. The most expensive thing on the list now is the upcoming "Ultimate Campaign" book.

I live on a tiny fixed disability income. Hell, I sometimes feel guilty for buying a "Bullet Points" .pdf at a $1 apiece.

I just added up everything in my shopping cart and wishlist and it totaled over $500 US. Knowing that some months I can't even afford one thing on the list really, really sucks.

And then, depression set in.

I'm too old, too fat, and too unstable mentally and emotionally for the Corps. So please 'splain.

I tend to be very graphic in my descriptions of gore and death, so much so I've made a player ill before. As far as sexual situations in the games, I've learned after 25+ years with the same group that the more "mature" the subject matter is, the less mature they're going to act. And I've seen this in the few groups I've played in outside my own. I finally had to look one of my long time players in the eye once and tell him that if he asked me to describe in detail the genitalia of the prostitute he bought one more time I'd ask him to leave the group. Granted, to my knowledge the guy has only ever been with one woman one time in his 44 years on Earth, but it's not my place to let him live that particular part of fantasy gaming vicariously.

I once explained to a friend and former gamer/now writer of adult themed fantasy why I'm opposed to reading or writing about detailed sexual encounters in books and games. I told him, "I've had sex. I've never slain a dragon. I don't need someone to write about sex or describe it to me in a game. Now, tell me about the dragon."

I had to leave a game once because of an emergency phone call. They all thought it was a set up for me to leave if I didn't like the game and never asked me back. I actually wasn't enjoy the game at all, but it really was an emergency.

I've never had anyone walk out on me, but had a few who stopped showing up without so much as a "Thanks, but this ain't for me" email for phone call. Granted, a couple of them were not really missed for different reasons, but sometimes it happens and you want to know why.

I have one for PF that a fellow board member created--Kirth Gersen, I think is his handle. It uses XP gained through adventuring to purchase abilities, hit points, etc. I'd love to switch to it, but my group doesn't want to.

DungeonmasterCal wrote:

People are offended because they allow themselves to be.

No, its not a switch you just throw off.

I agree that for the great majority of the world, you're correct. I just have a different view of things. Not a better one, mind you, and not a worse one (I hope). Just different.

People are offended because they allow themselves to be.

Very nice. And of course, there can be only one.

(hangs head in shame and wanders away).

Everything is overpowered.
Everything has been nerfed.
There are too many feats (options in general).
There aren't enough feats (options in general).
Paizo is succumbing to bloat.
Paizo needs to produce more sourcebooks.
Paizo is sneaking power creep into the game.
Paizo isn't doing enough to make characters viable.
Paizo is just another corporate bloodsucking monstrosity preying on gamers.
Paizo is a fine business turning out quality products for fans who really love them.

There. I think that covers most of it.

159. The Hidden Malediction

I just stole this.

Thanks in heaps!

Is there a linkification to "Secrets of Forgotten Magic Items"?

Because it's a venture into primate private enterprise: Monkey Business.

Having only a desktop PC with which to read .pdfs, I have to say I wish I had every one of my Pathfinder, both core and 3pp, in book form. You hear me, Super Genius Games? :)

I reiterate: So. Many. Things.

sigh...

Me? I'm a lover. Not a fighter.

But what if someone loves to fight?

@DungeonmasterCal: Here's a black-eyed brownie which resembles a creepy human child.

I love it. Thanks for the work up!

I find names for my characters and NPCs from pantheon.org's listings of Mesopotamian names.

My God! It's full of shoes!

Besides Vin Diesel...is there a single muscular/in-shape guy that is known to play DnD?

Is there a single MMA/UFC fighter out there that admits he plays DnD? It doesn't count if it was when he was a kid. Many UFC fighters train and learn to become fighters from getting their ass kicked as a kid.

One of my players is an amateur MMA fighter. I'm not joking.. lol.. he really is. He's won most of the fights he's been in, I believe. But he's the only one of us who'd stand a chance in a real fight.. lol

DungeonmasterCal wrote:

Thank you for jumping in with that!

Yeah, if you want something a bit more lighthearted but still potentially creepy:

SCP-1196 - The Chairopractors

Brilliant! I could drop this into a really serious, suspense filled game and throw my group completely off.

With a 13 year old? Would you even know what goes where?

You didn't know some of the 13 year olds I knew growing up...lol

Thanks, KG!

For someone who doesn't have the two publications the OP listed, can someone tell me who/what the Vault Builders/Keepers are?

And I just got a new slow cooker to make this in! Huzzah!

I saw a line and got in it just to see what was going on. I realized only too late what the terms "press gang" and "shanghai'd" meant.

My brother played for several years a flamboyantly gay dwarf assassin named "Pebbles". Just remembered that one.

This went from an interesting Eldritch Horror to Grimderp Rape story...

...come on guys, this was much more fun when discussing SCP-899 and the OP's urban legend.

Thank you for jumping in with that!