Gavgoyle's page

Great topic, ASEO.

I love it when the game forces my players to look at their characters and how they are relating to each other and the world at large. Happily, I have two great games going on in that respect in play by post games elsewhere.

I'm running Temple of Elemental Evil (2nd Ed) and the party includes a CN elven Smuggler, a LG 1/2 elf Falconer, a CG(N) gnome jester, his very disciplined Breechgnome aunt who doesn't approve of his idiocy, a NG Elementalist from Zief who doesn't agree with much that these easterners do, and a very timid NG M-U/Cleric of Boccob. The smuggler has just been recently exposed as a drug runner...he makes his living running illegal drugs into the very principled Veluna. The drug he's running, Malachite Dream, is a hallucenogenic somewhere on the spectrum between pot and peyote I terms of effect and concequence, so there are much worse drugs he could be running. The falconer is completely opposed to it, what makes it the more interesting is that the falconer and the smuggler had been relatively tight until it was exposed that he wasn't just your garden variety rogue. Add to that the interaction between the manic and chaotic jester, his tricks and jokes on the party, and his Aunt trying to reign him in; how to deal with prisoners who are just going to be hung back in town anyway, and the absolute assurity the mage has that any way the easterners do things is just wrong. I have to give major props to my players, they are doing a marvelous job of reacting as characters and not over-reacting as players. I think we are all having a great time with it.

My other game is a Deadlands campaign. For those unfamiliar, Deadlands is a sort of horror/light sci-fi/steampunk game set in the Old West. The players are a pretty tight group, only relatively minor differences in outlook, and the current villian is clear-cut evil, but it's all of the NPC's that help add the shades of grey. The Civil War rages on and the players (all Northern sympathizers or former Union Soldiers) are in the violently divided Kansas Territory. The town they are based out of is run by a Southerner who ultimately backs the Confederate States of America because he belives in states rights, but he's also strongly opposed to slavery. Various towns folk embrase the full spectrum of world-views...ideas on slavery, individual rights, sex, justice, bigotry, etc. I'm glad the HBO show Deadwood started after I started this campaign or I might have been accused of lifting bits right out of it.

I love the bad guy though, "Juarez" Tommy Nix, the leader of a band of outlaws called the Noose Dancers. He survived a haning down in Mexcio, but still wears the burns. To gain entry into the Dancers, a petitioner has to tie his own noose and be hung and bear the marks of the experience. You find out if you pass if they cut you down. He's just a delightfully degenerate character to play. Sometimes having no questions of moral ambiguity can be a helluva lot of fun, too.

Oh.. now using photoshop is just going too far.. besides.. I was just keeping it warm.

Well, it's not like I spent the effort to make it a good photoshop ;-) It took the longest to find a decent picture of a raven's egg.

I was not doing the chicken dance...

Ohh.. you'll pay for this McArtor.. YOU WILL PAY!!!

It's true...He wasn't doing the chicken dance, but the truth is more disturbing. I have it on good authority that he was actually

watching over Chuko's Love Child

Douglas Adams... The trilogy of four, and has been a good read so far! (Okay, I'm only into the first one so far, but I have been told by countless people that it is an awesome book

Actually a trilogy in 5 parts. The fifth book of the series is "Mostly Harmless". And yes, it is a wonderful series.

Robert Head wrote:

Delglath wrote:

I'm curious as to how you go about pricing the singles?

3d6 * 1d20 * 10 cents

It wasn't a stupid question and therefore did not deserve a stupid answer...

Geez, Mr. Cranky-pants, lighten up a little. I found Robert's response rather amusing, not stupid at all.

I would assume that pricing for them is similar to any other collectable game. Availability from the production run and demand for the individual item drive the cost. Rares/limited production runs are going to be significantly more expensive than the common/uncommon figures.

I've just got to say to Marc and 'the crew', that this is one of the most enjoyable campaign journals that I've ever read. The mature way you approach your evil characters is wonderful and especially big props to Sizul...You are the first really character driven half-dragon character I think I've seen. Every other one seems like a naked power-grab, but you put some real style to it.

This is a great read, Marc. Thank you!

In no particular order...

A Clockwork Orange
any and all Monty Python movies
Brazil
Time Bandits
Adventures of Baron Munchausen
12 Monkeys (yes, I like Terry Gilliam. Why do you ask?)
The Producers
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles
History of the World (Hitler on Ice!)
This is Spinal Tap
Princess Bride
The Dunwitch Horror
Re-Animator
In the Mouth of Maddness (best Lovecraftian themed movie of all time)
Office Space
Clerks
Mallrats
Dogma
Raising Arizona
Fargo
The Big Lebowski
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Evil Dead Trilogy
Hellboy
Once Were Warriors
Hang 'Em High
Fist Full of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More/The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
High Plains Drifter (I had a half-orc ranger I patterend after Clint Eastwood in this one. He was wonderfully fun to play)
The Man with the Golden Gun

after last night, Sin City is pretty high on the list...

Unlike St. Grant Morrisson, I do not take acid and have conversations with my characters. I make most of it up during drunken bar fights.

Ah, so more the Garth Ennis/John McCrea school, then.

In general, the cartoony style doesn't bother me. I would like to see a bit more variation between adventures just to set them appart from each other. My reading diet is heavy in comic books anyway, and I don't mind 'cartoony". In particular, I thought the brain eating scene with the alien utensils and the Illithid head totem were stand-outs!

I also don't mind the Iconics. I think it would be a good idea to bring in some more to keep things mixing, though. Having the same band of four popping up in each adventure kinda deadens the impact. You're going to pop up to 7 soon and that is good, but having about 10 characters to choose from would probably help relive some of the "enough already" critisisms. Need a thief in the art? Sometimes you can use our two-weapon wielding Scarlet Sneak, and sometimes a gadgety gnome trap-devouring type (just as a 'fer instance).

The cover was a thing of beauty! Great action, great colors, superb lighting! It's the action scenes play out in my mind. Awesome job, Dan Scott!!

Kyle, you are a madman...and I mean that in the most complimentary way! I love your art and your maps kick ass, too.

My favorite 'find' in the art, though, was how Ramon Perez used the Aztec goddess Coatlique on the spread for the "Ring of Storms". Knowing it was an Eberron article, I was not that jazzed about it. But I had to laugh as my first reaction was 'Yeah, monkeys, skull-lined path, overgrown damaged stat...wait...I know THAT necklace." Very nice!

- If they can beat encounters 3 CRs higher than they normally would with these maxed skills, simply increase the encounter CRs by SIX...

THAT'S the Chicago way!

I've been on both sides of the screen and seen this type of powergaming going on. And, yeah, nothing makes me want to toss the dice back in the bag and get out quicker. A lot of the suggestions that are being given here are really good, you just have to find the ones that strikes the right balance for your group. Personally, I don't mind a little bit of railroading or shoe-horning if it keeps things on track. Much like in life, sometimes the choices just get taken away. But Amber is right, if it starts happening too much, you're just there to be a dice roller and not a player.

Not yet... but in a couple of days a 3E source will, once Lords of Madness comes out.

Oh, goodie!

/wipes drool away from chin

I don't know if any 3ED+ sources cover it, but in the 2ED suppliment 'I Tyrant'it dissucsses the ability at some length.

The answer is no, it's not a magical means of levitation/flight. Beholder's produce a lighter-than-air gas called tiusium within their shell. Air ducts connect their lung (singular) with the small chambers in thier skin where the gas is produced and it can force/focus the gas to propell the beholder in any direction. They can exert contious control over the gases, but it's largely automatic/reflexive.

My first name is Gavin, I like gargoyles...

As in most cases, 'B' follows 'A'

1) Starting next year, we'll be kicking off a new tradition, by bringing back the popular Campaign Classics theme. The issue will highlight the campaign settings of the past.

2) Maztica and especially The Horde deserve some love. Call me crazy, but I would love to go National Geographic on the lands of the Tuigan. That's rich territory for both Forgotten Realms fans and for readers interested in trying something different or filling in the borders of their own campaign world.

1) Thank you VERY much. I think that it's a great way to be inclusive of those of us who have tastes outside the mainstream worlds.

2)I could kiss ya, man. I know a fair amount is probably my bias as an archaeologist (so you really probably couldn’t get too National Geog for my tastes), but I love the Maztica setting. Plus, Maz, the Horde, and Al-Qadim have good broad applicability to geographical regions regardless of the campaign world being used. In the Greyhawk setting, elements of Maztica can be very easily applied to the Olman, parts of The Horde are perfect for using with the Tiger Nomads, and themes in Al-Qadim can be used anywhere west of Bissel. I’m sure if I had any interest in the FR settings, I would be able to give examples for there, too. Mostly they offer a detailed look at cultures and cultural adaptation in regions that some DMs and players may not be familiar with and can be exploited. I also think that including Kara Tur in OA would be a good outlet for those fans. So in answer to your question…I would prefer option B.

Lankhmar…sigh, I know, but still…sigh.

If it is the one I am thinking of, it would be Dragon's Beastiary article in Dragon #268. Lizard men from crocodile, gecko, iguana, and komodo dragon/monitor lizard species. I really liked that submission and used it with very nice success in flavoring up a jungle game.

Yeah, I've blended Star Frontiers and D&D back in the day.

Nothing beat the look on a party's faces when they thought the smoke they were following was a raided caravan out on the savanna and they see what they assume to be a few mutated thri-kreen. They get ready to smack some bug heads together, very cocky...and suddenly the bugs break out the tec weapons and go to town. TarkTarsus (okay, so I was young and heavily influenced by E.R. Burroughs)the Vrusk, and his clanmen clamed several trophies that day. It wasn't quite a TPK, but it was a total party pimpslap, which can be even more satisfying.

Honestly, I don't mind a little bit of hardcore sci-fi sneaking into the fantasy stuff, and sometimes it can be done very well, but I don't like it to be a huge influence. Expecially with some of the more advanced abberations, a sort of forgepunk or alchemypunk vibe can be struck up pretty nicely, but it tends to be overdone too quickly by many DMs I've seen try it (and I would include myself in that number)

I love Call of Cthulu, I like the GURPS system pretty well, a group I played with had a helluva lot of fun playing a game called TimeLords where there were subjective and objective tests that let you use yourself as a character in time/dimension travel adventures.

I must say, however, my favorite non-D&D game is Deadlands! Kinda like the old Reeces Peanut Butter Cup comercials...'You got you sci-fi/horror in my western!' 'No, you got your western in my sci-fi/horror!' I have a deep love of history and the Southwest and so Deadlands naturally speaks to me. The fact that you use dice, a deck of playing cards, and poker chips during play, while a bit of a novelty, is a novelty that works and adds to the Old West flavor. Admittedly, if you have someone who likes to talk like Gabby Hayes, it 'ken git a li'l hokie after'a spell', but the amount of well studied history and Southwestern lore that they pack into their great sourcebooks are enough to make you keep me coming back. Wether you're a undead gunfighter, a spell/card-slinging Huxter, or a mad scientist listening to the whispered beconings of spirits beyond mortal ken, the Wierd West that Deadlands provides is addictive.

I would love to see some more Mazteca content. I've been working on some ideas involving the Olman down into the Amedio Jungles and other parts even more remote and the Mazteca stuff can easily be implemented there (Thank you ever so much Greg Vaughn and Gary Holian for getting those bugs burrowing under my skin via Dungeon #114).

Gotta catch 'em all!!!

Poke-Dungeon...you're sick! I love it!

I know this is somewhat sideline, but I've been having lots of fun with the Chaos Mage (out of Mongoose Press). The setting we are in is a Bronze Age type world and there are only limited wizard colleges, so classes like sorcerers and chaos mages fit in nicely. I know part of my love of the class comes from years of reading Shade the Changing Man comics from DC. I love the potentiality of spellweaves and the knowledge that by chance it could litterally blow up in your face and the Powers of Chaos could care less.

Yes. We wouldn't want to... deceive our readers.

--Erik

I Luu-ve it! Erik drops the clue.

...unless of course, that's a deception. How abyssmal.

I think Richard and Greg should each hold one leg of a rubber chicken while they duel. :-)

-Amber S.

Gav the Thri Kreen snaps out rhythem with all four hands. As Greg and Richard circle around the rubber hen and jab at each other with pencils, he intones the mantra...

"When you're a DM, your a DM all the way
From you very first Crit, till it's 3AM and you have to stop play..."

3. What are in the chests in 21? Was this room opened by the Fingers, or had it been previously opened?

Might be a good location for one or two of the Useless Items.

All that said, I do have a 2 year old, and she does see mags and game materials I leave around the house. The only one she's ever noticed is Dungeon #116, to which she said, "That's scary."

My 2 1/2 year old is obvilously the daughter of a gamer geek...Most of the time when she sees the covers to the mags she thinks they are either pretty or funny. The last three issues of Dungeon (well, issues 118-120) all got cute comments.

#118 (the Frost Giant getting ready to pummel the paladin (and that's not a euphamism)) "He is VERY rude!"

#119 (the Drow/Displacer Beast cover) laughing "She have a naughty kitty."

and probably my favorite...
#120 (Demogorgon) "Bad Monkey!!" and if that ain't worth working into the adventure in some way, I don't know what is.

We also use e-mail to do a lot of roleplaying and stuff that aren't that dice intensive, so the actual session length is probably longer.

Yeah, internet supplimenting can be helpful. It has its drawbacks, but if you're having trouble with schedule pinches and are at a more interactive than reactive portion of the game, it can help keep the plot rolling a little bit better than a cold start at the next gaming session.

Alright, I have a question on locations as well... Where is the town(?) of Ferd (as in Furnock of Ferd in Temple of Elemental Evil) located? I've never seen it on any map or refered to in any other way. I seached at Canonfire and came up blank, so I didn't know if this was a throw-away or if it was an actual location.

The trailers for the H2G2 movie are starting to trickle in and I couldn't be more excited! It looks absolutely beautiful and like it should be pretty pitch perfect. Alan Rickman sounds like he was meant to be the voice of Marvin, the Paranoid Android. The Vogons look properly repulsive. It looks like they've solved the whole Zaphod's second head thing in an interesting manner. I can't wait for opening night (April 29th)!!

A very nicely cut trailer can be viewed here...

http://www.skymovies.com/skymovies/trailers/0,,80009-0-0-0-0-3,00.html

and a similar one here...

http://home.gotland.com/roligt/internettrailer.rm

Share and Enjoy!

I play online at Shadowrealms ( www.shadowrealms.hyperboards.com ). It's a very nice play by message board community, with lots of friendly folks. Very few power gamers or rules lawyers (my pet peeve as I'm the most Chaotic of CGs). It offers a decent range of games in mostly 2nd or 3/3.5 editions. That said, it suffers from the same thing that most online sites suffer from...sometimes real life just gets in the way and the game lags up (just as at every other non-table top site I've seen). When they are running smoothly, pbMessage Board is a great gaming outlet!

--In the intrests of full disclosure, I was recently made an administrator at Shadowrealms. Since this was the topic of the thread, I'm assuming this wasn't too much of an advertisement...

also, there are three other futurama episodes with overt D&D references. can anyone out there guess? a no-prize will be winging it's way to the first person to do so. (i will also accept a general rememberence of what happened in the episode if you can't remember the name)

it's a little off-topic i know, but i couldn't resist.

There are more than 3, I can think of 4 off the top of my head...

1) Most obviously, "Anthology of Interest" which featured Gary Gygax, wacky little odd-shaped dice, and the original Monster Manual

2) "How Hermes Requesitioned His Groove Back" the group has to pass a sleeping Beholder to get into the Central Bureacracy (sp?, I don't really do spelling)

3) "I Second that Emotion" when Leela, Fry, and Bender take Nibbler to the vet's office after he breaks his fang, there is a robot with a rust monster in the waiting room.

4) "A Clone of My Own" shows a young Hubie Farnsworth wearing a shirt that reads "Dungeon Master"...whatta geek ;)

Probably more I can't think of, but I never got to see much after season 2... Still, one of the best shows ever on!

Haven't heard about swanmays yet.

But somehow i've got the vision of lycanthrop-like maidens transforming into swans...
Is this somehow right?

Swanmays are somewhat different than lycanthropes... they are human females who can assume a swan form (no hybrid form) with the use of some kind of token. None of their gear or clothing changes so they have to secret that away. The powers of a swanmay are more 'mechanical' (via the token) and not derived from a curse.

I 2 tangental questions about creatures I like...

1) Have Swanmays made an appearence in 3/3.5 ed yet? If no, is there any real reason why not?

2) What ever happened to Obliviax... does anyone else remember the 'Memory Moss' from 1st ed Monster Manual II? I loved that stuff! That was another one of the 'recurring critters' that found its way into my campaigns.

"And that's not a euphemism"-Something that if added to a phrase almost automatically turns it into a double entendre.

(sounds weird I know, but try it sometime)

Yep! And I'm usually the wiseguy who forces the statement to be made. One of my favorites so far has been using it a ranger who said something about 'Hunting the Dark Creeper". "Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

Year (and years and years) ago I was in a group and a subplot was an assassination attempt against a characters loved one. The assassin was a gnoll archer (you can probably see where this is going...). The first time he tried anything he was camoflauged with a leaves and vines and other plant matter. He took his shot (and missed) and someone NPC called out "The shot was fired from that grassy gnoll!" The DM, a Xanth fan of dangerous proportions always worked it so the gnoll got away to take a potshot another day. The shot was also fires be a gassy gnoll, brassy gnoll, glassy gnoll, with an appropriately horrid set-up to each event. It still makes me shudder.

Not in any particular order...

1) Troglodytes
I agree completely. It's simple but effective way to really jeapordize those low level characters.

2) Grells
A big brain with octopus tentacles? Sign me up! I have used the occasional grell as the mastermind villian to some devastating effects.

3) Derro
Deviant little buggers to the last one! There is no perversity or depravation that can't simply be explained away by saying "Well, they're Derro...what do you expect?"

4) Umber Hulks
I've always loved the big confusing bettle-guys! I don't need any other reason.

5) Ragomoffyn/Tatterdemalion
There's a pile or rags in the corner? Obviously the DM's hiding something under there... Oh, what's the worst it can be, a giant centepede or something? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!

If Lady Death can get her own animated movie, I think it's not asking too much for a Milk & Cheese animation project. The only concern I would have about such a project would be whether audiences could buy Billy West as the voice of both Milk and Cheese.

In a New York minute! Billy is an amazing voice talent! Ren, Stimpy, Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zoidberg and Zap Branagan? Oh, yeah! He could do the Dairy Products Gone Bad!

Okay, Billy... the line is "It's okay to beat up hippies...they don't fight back! The FOOLS!!"

neat topic! Hmmmm....

Terry Pratchett: Small Gods (there are better Diskworld books (like 'Reaper Man' or 'Feet Of Clay'), but this is the one I recommend to my friends to get them hooked on the series)
Carl Hiaason: Tourist Season
Harlan Ellison: I No Mouth and I Must Scream
Christopher Moore: Lamb; the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Bill Fitzhugh: Pest Control
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere (although American Gods was beyond excellent, as well)
Douglas Adams: the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (almost goes without saying)
Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars
H. Rider Haggard: King Solomon's Mines
Paul Kidd: White Plume Mountain
Tony Hillerman: Dance Hall of the Dead
Sherman Alexi: Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven

No, i haven't...

About half way through season one i moved away from "cable-wonderland"...:(
Is it the one with Gygax?

No, Gary is in the episode "Anthology of Intrest" from Season 2. Pazuzu (Pazuzu, Pazuzu) was in "Teenage Leela's Mutant Hurdles" from Season 5. Pazuzu is the name of Prof Farnsworth's gargoyle.

Futurama is one of the best shows ever, and truly a friend to gamers.

(I'm assuming this is okay....sorry if it's not... You can see a couple of pics from the episode here: http://www.mecha.com/~conkle/evilphotos/pazuzu/why.html)

Yeah, at the risk of being sycophantic about it, I think that the art direction has been absolutely wonderful and it continues to improve! Although, I have to say the Githyanki love-fest from Dungeon #100 and the sister issue of Dragon may be just about my favorite of all time!

I have really been pretty blamed happy with the whole magazine for the last several issues! I think Paizo is doing an exceedingly good job.

Cool site, Tony!

I Zogonia/Mt. Zagon are always my first stops in the mags and absolutely love your art style. The acme (out of several that great jokes you've pulled off that I can think of) has to be Kev launching himself at 'his ex-fiance'/zombie shouting "Who's the brain-eater now?"

When I finally had enough breath back in my lungs to read it to my wife she shook her head and said "At least there are other people out there with the same sick sense of humor. It makes me a little less scared of being alone with you."

Thank you for your sick sense of humor and for sharing it!

...the Demonomicon will be an irregular feature. Maybe every few months or so. I haven't heard of any plans for a similar arch-devil feature, but that doesn't mean the idea hasn't been bandied about.

First of all, let me just thank you guys! I absolutely loved your treatment of Pazuzu and am REALLY looking forward to future intallments of the Demonomicon. Pazuzu has been one of my favorites (well, one of the tops of my 'Love to Hate' list) since 1st Ed. and I though the article was wonderfully thought out. And adding the Ecology of the Kenku was just the cherry on top. I'm hoping that we see Kostchchie and Baphomet in the near future, but I find the anticipation delicious, so I won't beg for what I know you won't tell me anyway.

Second, I think that the look at the demon princes deserves the strong treatment it's getting since the Devils were pretty strongly covered in Book of Vile Darkness. And really, the very nature of demons make them perfect for this kind of article...there is almost infinite variability in them and you know you can get at least 666 or so articles out of 'em ;)

Anyway, I was exceedingly happy with the mag and just wanted to thank you for an outstanding work.