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Yes please :) Okay, first post of the Season is up. :)
Well, shall we get started?
Perhaps when we see how things develop. Not all Jedi have the charisma to lead. Or nobles. Hmm . . . Well, everyone is at level 1, so as things develop we can see who will come out on top.
btw Elton, I'm wondering if you'll allow the same practice rules for starship maneuvers as you have with lightsaber powers? It wouldn't be fair if I didn't, right?
Well, there is an inner source of power in Indian myth - it's called tapas (heat) - and is the origin of the magic powers of the Yogis. It's also supposed to be very hard to attain, and tends to attract the unwanted attentions of the Gods, specifically Indra, who regulates access to magic, because sufficient tapas makes one autonomous from the Devas' authority. The Asuras are said to seek tapas specifically to overthrow the gods. Interesting. The Great Sage was kicked out of India for preaching to the Vayshas and the Untouchables the truth about the Brahmins. This was probably one of the things that the Brahmins recognized as a threat to their power since that is simply not true. How very interesting.
Oh, yeah, I need a party leader. :) Who is going to be the party leader?
Sounds like the kind of in-game crap a psion might spout to justify his method of achieving power to be the 'true way' in the way that each of the the caster classes does that to some extent. I did my best to present a one hour lecture on the Universal Laws of Life into one post and to make as simple to understand. If you don't like it, perhaps I'm not the right one for you to convey this. Perhaps some mass media would work better for you? Perhaps the film Down the Rabbit Hole or What the Bleep Do We Know?
I must admit, I'm looking forward to my first fight using the wuxa rules. The imagery should be spectacular >:P Well the same rules work for GL's space battle choreography. You just need to watch the first trilogy and RotS. Focus on the Battle of Yavin, The Millennium Falcon's escape from the Empire in ESB, and the Battle of Endor. In RotS, you just need to watch the first few minutes of the film. Also, the Star Trek films and other films with space battles are helpful. Movies to avoid:
I can't tell if you're serious or just... Well, let me just ask: What you mean by "our capabilities" in the first sentence? Also, where exactly is this scientific research you mention? It's so simple, a child could grasp it. We are vibrational beings. We vibrate at certain frequencies. The Universe also vibrates at certain frequencies. To govern how our vibrations interact with outside vibrations, a Law was put in place by Nature that governs our vibrations. Secondly, Nature grants us whatever we desire or ask for. The net result is that we are capable of Anything you can imagine. What begins is a simple thought, a vibration, sent to Nature which works to make this real and actual. This process is manifestation. When it is made manifest it is made physical so we can experience it with our five senses. This process is done entirely without a spell book. Thirdly, we are Infinite Beings. What that means is that there are an infinite number of ourselves experiencing an infinite number of possibilities. According to the infamous double slit experiment matter exists as both energy waves and particles. This is because anything we do not directly observe is Energy, and what we do observe as matter. How this works is that we collapse the Quantum Wave function of Energy into Matter we can directly observe either consciously or unconsciously. In effect, we are creating our life experience in a real way. The trick is to learn how to do it Consciously and not do it unconsciously. So, what does this have to do with magic? Sorcerers, Clerics, Wizards, and Psions fulfill a fantasy of being directly in control of our reality. The difference between the three former ones and the Psion are these: All four essentially has the same source of power; and they work through the same rules; but what differs is the method of how they get their work done. The sad part is the Cleric, the Sorcerer, and the Wizard all limit themselves to spell components, ritual, incantations, and vocalizations. The Psion has no limit on his potential, no intermediary between him and Nature. it's just him imposing his will on Nature and Nature directly granting him what he wants. The sickening thing about this reality is that we can interfere with our own manifestations. While the fantasy Psion has no time to interfere, his subconscious has been trained to be so acute and alacritous that most of what the character desires comes into being immediately. That answers your first question. To answer your second question, part of the Science you are looking for is Quantum Mechanics, especially the Many Worlds interpretation. The other part of the Science you want is Doctor Wilhelm Reich's work on Orgone Energy. Now mind you, the double slit experiment has been done a number of times, and there has been no experiment that refutes Wilhelm Reich's work; and several of his experiments have been repeated by others.
Buffy would be number one if she was allowed to meet Edward Cullen and then kill him.
They should have kept Darth Maul through out the whole series, that is the right thing to do. However, they should have developed Anakin's and Obi-Wan's relationship with each other in the second prequel a little deeper so that they would regard each other as brothers. The 1st Prequel didn't need to be changed in relationship to Qui-Gon Jinn. He was the main character. However, the second and third prequel could have had Qui-Gon Jinn's Force Ghost to help guide Obi-Wan through the other two prequels. That would have referenced Obi-Wan's force ghost giving Luke Guidance. Having watched The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, my favorite movies in the whole saga are 1, 3, and 5. Darth Vader evolves from a simple Contagonist in the first film to something we care about in the second, the Empire Strikes Back. He becomes the main character in the 5th since everything Luke did was in reaction to his Father. His father chases him to Hoth, and then works to capture his daughter and Han Solo and proceeds to do terrible things to them in order to get Luke back. What would make RotS better is that the cheeky dialogue would have been written; and that of course Hayden Christensen could have been directed to act much better. He should have been in shock when Padme Amidala told him that she was pregnant. However, don't change the battle between the Emperor and Yoda; nor the battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. Darth Sidious' and Yoda's battle was epic. It actually set firmly how mad the Emperor is and it brought the Emperor from RotJ out. -------- But you have to remember the movies are made after the style of the Pulp Serials of the 40s and 50s. They were never meant to be oscar worthy all by themselves. I think they bridge the gap with the original trilogy just fine with a few holes in the plot between the two. The relationship between Owen Lars and Anakin could have been established and explored much deeper, for instance. Of course they can be made better. That's the point. However, what kills Star Wars are the fans and their treatment of George Lucas. What you don't realize that the story of Star Wars has grown beyond the films. And it would be awesome if George Lucas would just let it go, since the films did their jobs and they can stand on their own two feet. And I mean, package them with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. If any franchise deserves to be let go of it's creator, it's Star Wars. It's bigger than him. :)
Okay, you can kick me. :) In modern Storytelling theory, there are eight different archetypical characters. You can write any story with these archetypes. In fact, Star Wars IV: A New Hope has all the Archetypes in perfection. They are cliches, but they are cliches that work. A cookie cutter character, however, is a walk-on character. He is bland, and is just there for fun and profit. They are cliches too, but they don't work.
Good. Now that everyone has checked in, I can make the series outline for the first season. Episodes The episodes are divided into three types. Stand alone, Continuity, and change-of-pace. Stand alone episodes are further divided into Ensemble and character focus episodes. Ensemble shows follows the group. In RPG game speak, this explemifies the formula and can represent the various Flashpoints of the MMO, or a Spacebattle. The flashpoint The Esseles represents this kind of Ensemble programming. A character focus episode concentrates on one or two of you. For instance, a character focus show focusing on the resident Jedi will have to do with her being a Jedi, while a character focus show dealing with Kaath Adak has to do with his character background. My advice? Be the least cookie cutter as possible. I'm not talking about being like a stock character (i.e. Darth Vader, or Don John from Much Ado About Nothing). Continuity episodes advance the over all storyline. Since the storyline is about Vigilance against Tyranny (of the Sith Empire from your point of view); you will be dealing with plots adapted from Cold War thrillers -- mostly. :P Change of Pace episodes We do something different to keep the series fresh. Time Travel, Change of Milieu, doing something comical, or something really obscure like "Star Wars: the Holiday Special." (okay, you can all gag at that. GL should have learned his lesson and understood that T.V. is an entirely different medium than the Silver Screen. Although the Droids animated series worked). ------ Each episode is divided into:
--------------- Note though, we will be running at your collective pace. :) The Editing job that GL and Ben Burt do is way too precise for us to replicate. :)
Actually, Jeff, if Vudra's psionic system is going to be Vancian based, I have several alternative systems to make it more in line to what Quantum Physicists and Life Coaches are discovering about our capabilities. Of the many different types, Star Wars SAGA and it's system of handling the Force is clearly the most acceptable to all. If it takes a skill called "Use the Force" as a basis, then so be it. To me, the different system is acceptable for the precise reason that it works the closest. If people don't like it, they don't have too. If you want to use the Vancian system, do so if you must. But make sure it's what the people wants and it's not because it's out of tradition. As for myself, if it's going to be that radical, I'll use the Force rules. I can't predict how my players would react, but at least the rules for the Force is more inline with how the Law of Attraction works than Vancian casting. Especially when the Force has been scientifically established since the 1920s, when it was discovered by Doctor Wilhelm Reich when he was investigating the Libido. He called it Orgone Energy. At least ways, I suggest you make a study of the Law Attraction and how it can work for you if you're doing anything with Psionics. Just know the whole side of how it works and make market research as to the best way to proceed.
I'm here. Just hit an unexpected rough patch at work. Iona's plan works fine for me. I understand. :) Rough patches are something we all encounter. :)
The thing is, I'm waiting on Eberron 5th ed. :) What I want from D&D Next is the core rules, the psionics addition, and Eberon 5th ed.
Hmm. March 2nd.
Well, looks like we will have a lot of people waiting with baited breath. :) To reiterate, I applied with a Vudrani in a Breath of Fire campaign. He has the Latent Psi background, so yes I suspect that there is a substantial community of psions in Vudra. Who ever writes it, I hope there aren't any plotholes. I'll be disappointed.
Oh, and not to mention my city of Psions which I located in Qadira. :)
Ioseph eyed the card shuffling dubiously. "I...suppose." he concluded. "I'd prefer a Seer from the Academy tell us what the night would bring, but it can't hurt."
Kaath hasn't checked in yet. I may have to drop him if he doesn't check in tomorrow. :( But yeah. It makes sense.
Ioseph eyed the card shuffling dubiously. "I...suppose." he concluded. "I'd prefer a Seer from the Academy tell us what the night would bring, but it can't hurt." I love this! :)
, but I'm not interested in wading through all the lawyerese to get the major record...Piracy increased instead of decreased since their decision to pull PDFs...Citation, please. Question Copyright dot org. :) Look up History of Copyright. In fact, watch this video.
Not a problem.
Man, was this hard. Okay, all of you produced good characters. But eight characters is too much. Eventually, if I kept all eight, you would have to be split into two separate campaigns. and i'm not running 3 at the same time. :) Those of you who aren't selected, save your characters for another time. Perhaps another game master will be inspired to run with the same Idea I have. Please note, the choices I've made had nothing to do with science.
Those players who had their characters cast for the audition should move the discussion to the Discussion thread for this campaign.
Nute Gunray thought he was a survivor.
Yeah, tomorrow I'll compile them all. :) --- And I'll be working on further production design. :)
That's a good start. Have you decided on a destiny or background yet?
As for myself, I love to write it. But I've only watched the Ramayana t.v. series. Which, while considered to be the Ramayana -- which is strange -- is only one part of many different interpretations. :) Even though I have experience with the Psionics system that Bruce and Jeremy came up with. And since I'll be involved in something big that has nothing to do with Roleplaying but with the Auto Industry, I don't have the time to write something really good. :) So, the managing editor is right. It will be a while. I put up the thread to see if there was interest beyond two or three people.
Not really interested in it myself. Psionics don't really thrill me, but more than that, I'm not too fond of attempts at mythic India so far. Perhaps Paizo can surprise me, but if that surprise is going to be based on it being "psionics land" then they shouldn't bother. "Psionics Land?" Just because there is a substantial psionics community in Vudra doesn't mean it's a Psiarchy. Give them some credit. Paizo may have plans for Vudra that does not mean that it's ruled by psions. Just so that there is enough that a good number of Vudrani have latent psionic abilities. Vudra would have to come out of research. The man or woman writing the Gazetteer would have to at least read the Ramayana. Then there is the Rig Vedas, the Mahrabarata, and many other cycles -- all translated into English. Then there is Polytheism as expressed by Hinduism (which is an Indo-European religion). Buddhism, and Jainism will also be researched along with many other metaphysical systems. Then there is the Caste System, which is probably the worst way you can control a human being outside of downright slavery. There is Hanuman, Rama, the Vanaras, and a lot more to look at; just to get a basis. Then he or she will sit down to work, building off what Paizo had said about the land already. They may base it on a good number of Indian epochs and empires; even during their Warring States period. There could be any number of kingdoms. Many of them an actual kingdom rather than a psiarchy.
Who wants to see a Vudra product? In Legacy of Fire, there is a happy little background called Latent Psion. This means Vudra has a substantial psionics community. So, who wants to see a Vudra product?
Checking in with my Alias.
An epic music track begins for a movie serial Then some text scrolls up the screen in the fashion of Star Wars. -- CURSE OF THE CRIMSON THRONE -- EPISODE I: EDGE OF ANARCHY It is a glorious time for the City of Alalea. A refuge for Psions who escape persecution from mages from among the nations of Avestan, the people are celebrating their recent victory against an invasion of Cheliaxian warrior mages. However, not all is what it seems. For corruption and filth breed in the Levantine Quarter's and Hellenistic Quarter's docks. Ghazi ibn Al-Salah has been escaping the city guard for a very, very long time. He has taken many of the youth's orphans and forced them to support his petty thievery. However he has wronged too many people too many times. Even now, the Universe plots his downfall of his lifestyle. For one of the people he has wronged is even now looking for allies among his enemies in order to take him down and bring him to justice.
Alias should now be good to go. Mind if I dot in the gameplay thread so that it shows up in my campaigns? I don't mind at all, let me get the scrolling text up first, though. Edit: Okay, you may all dot in the 'Elton's Curse of the Crimson Throne' campaign thread. Although I haven't officially started. I'm waiting for jhpace to check in with Ioseph Dalen. :)
That's okay. If you have to bow out, you have to bow out. Thanks for your interest.
Since our campaign recruitments started in about the same time, I think "I'll watch yours if you watch mine" is appropriate. In any case, I'll follow the progress of your game, GM Squawk. Apologies to every one if I interrupted.
Congratulations for those auditioned and made it! So, in a few short days, you will embark on a journey that takes place in the Republic City of Alalea. You will be stopping riots and crime, and rescue political prisoners. Check in with your aliases here. If you wish to expand and intertwine your character backgrounds, this is the thread to do it. So, it's time for further Production Design. But before we do that, lets get some things straight. The rules for playing on the boards are as follows. Use bolded text in quotation marks for dialogue
note:
Spoilers are used for private messaging. Use it discretely. [occ]Out of character commentary as well as quotes from your stat blocks will be tagged as out of character[/occ] PRODUCTION DESIGN The purpose of Production Design is to help you get the milieu. In Alalea, the feel is of one of the Orient -- as in Middle East or Near East instead of the Far East. Unlike the land of Varisia, which is geographically close to Casmar, Alalea is a mixture of at least four different cultures: Persian, European, Levantine, and Indian. There are three major sources to go to in order to get yourself in the zone of playing your characters. They are: Moving Picture Media, Paintings, and Still Shots. The Lay of the Land Alalea is built around a Cataract Waterfall. Since in Real Life no city is built around a waterfall, the building of a city around a waterfall is really unprecedented and mysterious. The question is: Why would anyone in the right mind build a huge city around a waterfall? A mystery that can be discovered later in the campaign. I was impressed by Iguazu Falls, the grand waterfall between Brazil and Argentina. There are at least ten falls, and I imagined great idol statues of Zeus and Buddha carved in between them. In Pathfinder, I believe Iomedae and a Vudran deity would be appropriate. Orientalism
From Wikipedia: Orientalism is a term used especially in art for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists. In particular, Orientalist painting, depicting more specifically "the Middle East and North Africa", was one of the many specialisms of 19th century Academic art. Since the publication of Edward Said's Orientalism, the term has arguably acquired a negative connotation. The Khorasani and Levantine Districts are represented by these paintings and Photos: -- The Reception of Ambassadors -- A Street Scene in Cairo; The Lantern-Maker's Courtship, 1854-61 -- Luis Richardo Falero's The Enchantress (NSW). -- Mehdi Yasamin's photo of the nterior architecture of the Nasir al-Mulk mosque. -- A painting of my ancestor wooing the Elamite Princess Thamar (NSW). The Epic Slave Market. (NSW) The Hellenic Quarter Another big inspiration for Alalea is the Hellenic Age -- or the age of the Greek Empires that Alexander the Great carved out of the Persian Empire. As their famous Mythological cycles tell, the Greeks loved Adventurism. However, rather than force you to watch a movie about Alexander the Great -- because my brother didn't want to watch it -- it's probably better to refer you to Hercules: the Legendary Journeys and to a lesser extent, Xena: Warrior Princess. -- the fan club has probably the best collection of photos from the T.V. show. I envision the Hellenic Quarter as pseudo-Greek. Not exactly Greek as in costuming and so forth. The Vedic Quarter The last big inspiration. The real cradle of Oriental Culture is in India, while the cradle of European Culture is in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt. I already gave you a link to the Ramayana -- Bollywood goes way far out with their productions. Costuming can range from the barely there to fully covered and arrayed in resplendent robes or Chitons and Himatons. Adventuring clothes, however, should be practical and allow you a lot of movement. You don't have to go around like Hercules in the myths wearing a lion skin, but then few Roman Senators in History actually did any adventuring. Your characters should be dressed for the climate. Finally, for the Psychic powers of the whole city. The best anyone can really do is to ask you to watch Star Wars. Especially Episode I: The Phantom Menace and to watch Star Wars: the Old Republic LPs on Youtube. Episodes IV-VI don't really get into the whole "What Jedi can do." I think that's it. Anyone have any questions?
Okay, time to choose. Unlike GM Squawk, I think it's easier for me to choose. The players will be:
I'll leave space open for one more in case someone wants to join mid-way through our "movie" cycle. All discussion of this topic should move to Elton's Curse of the Crimson Throne thread in the Discussion boards. Lets some fun!
A face shot is all that is needed.
Besides the movies: Pictures say it in a thousand words. And I'm too tired right now to write 300 pages. :) British Orientalist painting of the look of the city I'm getting at. Work safe Harem painting Painting of an oriental marketplace. Girls at a well (Not Safe for Work).
Here is some movies to watch while your in the mood: ------ The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (watch) Star Wars Episode 3 Trailer (watch)
Star Wars: The Old Republic -- first 20 minutes of the Jedi Consular storyline ()watch) The Ramayana (watch) -- if you can stand Indian Bollywood movies. Hercules Unchained (watch) -- This movie is in the "it's so bad it's good" category (makes the Star Wars prequels look good).
We have a few hours left, so make the best of it. :) I think I know which ones will be on the team.
It's time to show off your creativity a bit more in this forum. Tell us how you handle race backgrounds in your homebrew or changed things a bit in Golarion to fit your vision of the planet? What I did: Probably the best thing about integrating the Psi Races from PSIONICS UNLEASHED and the XPH is that they aren't integrated in Golarion in any way. So I turned to my campaign's standard of explaining how they are wandering Avistan. -- Elans are part of a secret society since the psionic process of their creation is similar to a psionic lich's. In both If Thoughts Could Kill and Hyperconscious, a Psionic Lich is the result of altering a body with psionics instead of magic -- the necrotic flesh is powered by psychic energy instead of negative energy (although I'm sure the universe doesn't know the difference). For an Elan, your transformed in much the same way, except you are still living. -- Maenads are the direct descendants of the survivors of the Explosion in Azlant. They have crystalline formations in their skin as a reminder of that explosion. They have different physiologies that allow for crystallization of various substances on their skin -- say sugar or certain human pheromones and hormones. As for Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Gnomes, Half-orcs, Half-elves, and Halflings; I stuck to the regular explanations in my Golarion campaign. On my world, though, Halflings and Gnomes inhabited the islands, the Dwarves reside in mountains, and the Elves in forests. Although I admit that I'm exploring racism between elves because of a historical thing happened many years in the past that caused the elves to split.
Yes, in the Persian or Arabian Nights quarter.
Done. A-la-le-a is correct.
Well, you know that wizards and clerics are versatile in their classes. A wizard can throw away his spell book library and start again. A cleric gets all the spells after he prays (honestly, I have a problem with that). The Psion has a set number of powers, so to be as versatile, he needs Psychic Reformation.
Use this thread to discuss the campaign. Everyone, feel free to discuss everything about it: from my GMing style to suggestions to the setting to what you think is going to happen.
Okay, we have so far:
That's six so far.
I don't have the book, so a couple quick questions: How many spells would a caster have access to? All (or potentially all) like a cleric or wizard? Or just a few like a sorcerer? The Wizard gets an unlimited number of spell slots. They can learn all the spells you make available to them. The Sorcerer gets 80 points of spell slots -- 4 every level. Clerics (and Druids) can either learn prayers in a certain number of spell slots, or they can get all Divine spells that are available. Rangers and Paladins get a limited number of spell slots. They know all the spells that are available to them. Other classes like the Alchemist and Summoner would get 80 spell slots, like the Sorcerer. The Magus would be like Rangers and Paladins, they would get 40 or 50 spell slots.
I love Call Item! Okay, I checked your background and stuff, very good work for a character to play. He doesn't seem to terribly over the top. I didn't read what feats you have, but I expect you have an item creation feat, yes?
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