Stone Giant

Herbo's page

529 posts. Alias of Jess Emerson.


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I do a fair bit of computer/tablet fondling when I run games to present maps, handouts and pictures (I am remote, webcasting to a group of players sitting in the same room). A couple of my players update google documents during play for party loot, notes, etc. It is easier for them to do it that way than to keep stacks of paper notes handy.

On the GM note taking/making side of things I use a Rocketbook Everlast notebook. It uses erasable Pilot FriXion pens, has a quick-scan smartphone/tablet app (should something I randomly doodle need to be saved or sent to the group), and you can wipe the pages clean when the book is full. I find that it's a cool mid-step between scratch paper and constantly using tech, for me.


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I have been away from Pathfinder for a few years now and this was my return to GM'ing for a resurrected group of mine. We kicked off War for the Crown over a long weekend of face-to-face sessions in our home town this past weekend. They got all the way through the escape room and collected the pay-to-live nobles under the senate (aka our d-----bags of holding).

It was a weekend of laughs and GREAT roleplay. Intro-ing an adventure path with heavy social interactions and a really fun escape room scenario is brilliant and needs to be a model ... just sayin. Under the Senate, the animate hair was BY FAR the most fun I've had in a long time running an encounter. My players were all SO freaked out by the thought of a creepy little hermit crab-like hair ooze living in a wig. They slashed the bajeezus out of that poor Wig of Disguise while the off-action players all chanted "KILL IT KILL IT OMG KILL IT!" and are hoping to employ a good enchanter/wig-maker when they escape because they were SO excited to find a wig of disguise and then the fighter pulled it on his head without so much as a question and ... whispering murder commands.

Thank you Crystal and Thurston. Such a great romp!


I built mine in MS Publisher. I've done others in AutoCAD. The front sheet doesn't have skills associated with it, but I think you are unlikely to find exactly what you want. I'd recommend making it yourself. Still, here's mine fwiw.

Herbo's Sheet

Feel free to PM me and I can send you my publisher file, in case that might help you.


further time vortex mind fudging

Spoiler:
My take on it was similar to Peter Stewart's. The Omega would also have been dead on its original impact since it occupied all time streams from its original insertion to its death under the Louvre.

It just so happens that Cage was randomly sent back to his helicopter arrival in London (likely because he doesn't have anything like the control that the Omega did). So in his final time stream, the original attacks and invasion have still happened. If he had jumped further back, he might have still been in his marketing firm. However, from a Hollywood ending standpoint, his final reset point also means that he has a legit chance at catching back up with Rita since she will already have suffered and recovered from her run-in with an Alpha. Thus she'd be cognizant and maybe amenable to Cage's knowing her in the future. Another tip of my cap to the ending of the movie, is that we don't know.


Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day

What's not to love? It's also well put together, engaging (if a tad longish for what it offers), and worth the price of admission. AND ... it's not a bloody remake, offshoot or reboot of an existing franchise.

Whether or not it's Tom Cruise's best work is entirely irrelevant. He's good in it, it's a fun movie. Go check it out at some point, imo.


Gregg Helmberger wrote:
13th Age certainly sounds interesting. Is the system inextricably tied to the setting?

I wouldn't say "inextricably." The Icons can be unhooked and painted over. Here is one short discussion that may point you in the right direction, Gregg. As always, YMMV.

https://www.pelgranepress.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1561

Hope you find a system that makes for some summer gaming dungeon romping fun!


Another recommendation for 13th Age as a change of pace without requiring a whole new learning curve. If 4E had been more like 13th Age, I may have stuck around. Here is a decent review of the game on RPG.net:

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15892.phtml


The Iron Kingdoms is definitely wargame-y. That will either be a bug or a feature, but you can't get away from that pink elephant in the room. If crunchy tactical combat isn't a turnoff it's pretty fun as far as those types of games go. Personally, I tend to enjoy more handwavey theater of the mind games as a rule. But...I do get an itch for measuring tape and facing rules from time to time. It is a dark secret desire that I try to keep locked away. *Aherghm* BOOO minis!. Also, if you find yourself running IK online (as I do) it is easy, since you can just use Vassal with the Warmachine module to run online combats. The rest can take place in Skype or G+ or whatever means of communications you might use to squawk at your friends. On the downside, the oft mentioned flaw holds true, there are no real endeavors on behalf of the designers to inject social dynamics and associated resolution systems into Iron Kingdoms. Still, I've had no trouble just winging it and looking at stats and skills a bit differently (my brother refers to it as "using your arse to sway the crowd"). At least there aren't dump stats :-) that everyone inflicts upon social skills in other games anyway. Imo, the setting is good, and they've managed to distinguish it by merging other types of settings and filing off a few edges here and there and packaging it up nicely as their own thing. To me, it seems kind of like the illigitimate love child of Eberron, and Warhammer Fantasy with some illustrative styling that is a bit more comic-booky and WoW-y than either. If you are looking at a wildly different experience than the high fantasy of Pathfinder it might not be different enough. But, gobbers and trollbloods seem to have wormed their way into my black heart ... despite all my attempts to deride them as orcs and goblins with silly names.

Song of Ice and Fire accomplishes its intent of creating a roleplaying experience in Westeros. It is much less over the top, and far less kitchen sink than other settings due to it being an emulated IP. The rules are goodish (I have no real complaints). I haven't been able to get a SoIaF game off the ground (neither Green Ronin's or the d20 version) but that lands on me. It's an IP that I dearly love, and I think it gets all up in my way as a result.

Shadows of Esteren...I really can't add anything beyond what the kickstarter video could give you. It's one of those games that I thought looked pretty cool, but I have so many little-used books on my shelves these days I had to cut back by the time this little ditty came 'round.


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@CapeCodRPGer, As far as the custom dice being a barrier to entry.

I've found that with WFRP 3rd Edition and also with EotE (beta book + the iPad app for the dice) new players have a lot less of the pointless "ewwwww custom dice different from my other custom dice" baggage. I have a long time gamer pal that refuses to even have FFG's new Star Wars game mentioned in his pressence. Meanwhile I've nabbed two entirely new gamers that took to the dice as easily as anyone can while learning a game. They have more hangups now about branching out into d20 or numeric dice-pool games like Cortex Plus because of the binary pass-fail result.


I am currently infesting Bull Mountain/Tigard which is a stones throw from Beaverton. My free time is a bit shredded during construction season in Oregon, but keep me in mind :-) I tend to do more gaming in the cruddy months, and I seem to always need another player or two to fill out the group.

If you live in Beaverton, check out Rainy Day Games in Aloha. They have regular pick-up game nights there, as well as a decent selection of all kinds of gaming "stuff". That, and the owners/employees are genuinely decent.


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  • Use it to re-assemble clues in an investigation, or the shattered macguffin items in an item hunt.
  • Fix a door as it is being battered down by an unfriendly type individual, whilst the other characters do "something®" that needs doin'.
  • Sneak weapons into a restricted place in non-descript broken pieces and then re-assemble them...huzzah have at you!
  • Annoy a caster of Shatter with your renewable 0-Level spell.
  • Heroicly strike the chains off a bunch of captives...and then repair those chains on the previous captors.
  • Plug a hole in a sinking ship, or mend the hole in the bucket...dear Liza dear Liza.
  • Put a really cool model ship inside a now-seamless glass bauble...impress your friends!
  • Make a habit of getting really inebriated (in character) and repeatedly (like all night) throw your wine glass down and shout OPA, cast mending...rinse repeat.
  • Hit the flea markets, buy up some broke-arse trash and go Antiques Roadshow on it.
  • Repair that old rickety bridge abutment, after heroicly using your Knowledge (Engineering) check to identify the structural defects that would have resulted in your party going for a drop and sudden stop.
  • Remember that letter that you weren't supposed to read with the now-broken sealing wax? Hurray for snooping...cast mending.


  • James Jacobs wrote:
    Check out Hellboy 2.

    Yeeeeesssss!!!


    Odraude wrote:
    I'm confused. Where are people seeing tooth faeries up there?

    They are listed in the linked Bestiary 4 product page:

    Product Description wrote:
    The mightiest monsters and foulest foes of nightmare and legend rampage into your game with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4. This collection of creatures shatters all past thresholds of danger and destructiveness with phenomenally powerful beings like demon lords, kaiju, juggernauts, and Great Old Ones—including invincible Cthulhu! Terrors like nosferatu vampires, clockwork dragons, twisted fleshwarps, and sadistic tooth fairies number among the more than 250 monsters collected to challenge heroes of every level of play—from first-level novices to mythic champions. New familiars, player-friendly races, and other allies also rise to aid characters in combating this host of horrors, while new templates—like mummified and fungal creatures—breathe fearsome new menace into your existing monstrous arsenal. Strike fear in the hearts of the mightiest heroes and shake the foundations of your campaign with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4.


    So, the tooth fairies...are they going to be inspired in any way by the swarming tooth and bone consuming monsters from Hellboy II? Because something akin to that version would be awesome to uncork on an unsuspecting party of adventurers in a crowded tavern tap-room :-). Then again I generally have an evil fondness for swarms of all kinds in my games.


    How about, the "MidGUIDE" ?


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    Re: Cthulhu

    Liz Courts wrote:
    Honestly, I'm going to be looking for the "Consumes 1dX investigators/adventurers per round" line in its statblock

    This. The rest of the stat block should just be gibberish, lunatic ravings, and random mashing of the keyboard (which will probably end up being Polish so Gorbacz will become the official translator of forbidden stats).


    You could also let Knowledge (Nature) checks fly for finding dry firewood in the soggy wilds.

    This is by no means "official" but, getting along in the wild is a DC10. Depending on the terrain I'll start tacking on modifiers.

    DC Modifiers

    Weather:

  • Perfect Weather...the kind of thing you paint, write poetry about and tell your grandchildren of fifty years later: -4
  • Ideal Weather...the last days of spring, final days of summer: -2
  • Just Another Day on Planet [Fill In Your Favorite]: +0
  • Bad Weather...a day where you wish you could just stay inside next to cozy fire, or live in a airy palace soaking in a cool pool, but you can continue on with your day uncomfortably: +2
  • You've Got to be Kidding Me...you could smelt iron in the heat, it's been so wet for so long that you wish you had gills, you can't even remember what warmth felt like...+4

    Terrain:

  • Cursed, Blighted, Magically Altered, War-ravaged: +4
  • Barren...Bare Mountains, Deserts, Snow Fields: +4
  • Open...Savannas, Plains, Tundras, Seas: +2
  • Covered...Forests, Jungles, Taiga: +0

    So if you are in a cursed jungle where it has been humid, hot, life-sapping weather? I'd apply a +6 modifier to the DC (+4 supernatural, +0 for a jungle, +2 for weather being crummy).

    For a crew of four adventurers being taken care of by the party ranger in a magically altered chilly Taiga forest in Irisen?

    Tending the Others (2pts per person): +6
    Magically Altered Terrain: +4
    Taiga Forest: +0
    Crap Weather: +2

    SO...DC22 to live it up in a wild forest of Irisen. Though, I generally allow every character to roll an assist. Even better if there are some Unseen Servants around and helpful animal companions around.

    It works for me, but of course YMMV

    ----------------------

    If you want to drill down into the minutia of finding firewood, that's fine too. In general I just apply a tool bonus of +2 for having firewood on hand. Maybe allow the Survival checker to gather some extra firewood for every 2pts by which they succeed? Double that for unlikely terrain, or rough weather.

    So in the above example if the resulting check was a 26 they could make sure everyone was fed and tended in the party, and with the extra 4pts they could gather extra firewood for a day (I'd say magical perma-winter counts as rough weather).


  • I'd second Shattered Star.
    1) You already own it.
    2)There is some decent wiggle room in the over-arching meta plot that could allow for insertion/deletion of various [nouns] without taking a bat to the skull of the overall AP.
    3)It might even be a savvy way to maintain the Pathfinder angle if your PCs aren't into being involved with that organization. The rival group could be a Pathfinder crew acting as the PCs' Belloq.

    However, my line of suggestion isn't based on a thorough read of the AP. So, I apologize in advance if I missed any fun-blocking idea killers lurking within the pages of Shattered Star that would puppy-coffin any of the above :-)


    I'd probably use Grapple and/or combat maneuvers like Drag, Reposition, etc.


    61) Harvey the Rabbit


    Burning Wheel and Burning Empires by association are as good as you make them. The group has to bring a lot to the table, and the GM has to be comfortable with a lot less micromanaging since they are more like "first amongst equals" instead of an autocratic authoritative position. It's a hard game system to just "up and play" on a rainy Saturday, for me. But it's one of those game systems where my friends will go 'man I have a real hankerin' for some Burning Wheel Jess' and then we scamper off to have mass fun and hijinks. Or sometimes I'll get a cool idea of something I want to hack into Burning Wheel and then I sell it to my groupmates and we go scampering off to have mass fun and hijinks. But in both cases it requires buy-in and the intent for group story telling. Not everyone's cup of tea, but a worthy experience if you can dig it.

    If you guys are stoked about the Iron Empires setting then that goes a long way toward enjoyment. If you haven't snagged them yet I'd recommend checking out the source material by Christopher Moeller Faith Conquers & Sheva's War available in PDF from DriveThruComics and in print from various sources)


    I cut my cable tv service last month after about a year and a half of me using it less and less. Lately, I mostly watch network tv which is available over the old-fashioned air. And I'm lucky enough to be close enough to the transmission towers that a simple indoor antenna gets me HD quality picture over the air.

    That being said I have an AppleTV for recording shows, and my TV is internet ready so I use that for watching Netflix/Amazon Instant Video. Comcast still gets their five pounds of flesh out of me for internet service though.

    I didn't go cable-less for any other reason than I was paying for a service that I rarely utilized. So I decided to close up the waste gap. I may get cable again in the future, but for the time being I'm pretty happy with the set up as it relates to my current living conditions & creature comfort desires.


    44. Tickle monster...probably ties into #29 in unsettling ways
    45. Readily available high five partner if Barnabas Stinson is nowhere in sight.
    *46. Aid Another for Skills usable untrained. This one is probably off the RAW path a bit since you technically can't take 10 on an Aid Another action, and US's don't have any generally applicable skill modifiers, though they could achieve a DC 10 Aid Another result since it falls within their limit of no more than a DC 10. I'll put an asterisk on it for anyone that calls shenanigans.
    47. Duping rubes into thinking you are a more powerful wizard/sorcerer/whatever-er than you really are.


    Chevalier wrote:
    I don't know if there was a full-on RPG, but I think Dragon might have devoted an issue to this in the late 90s or early 00s.

    Issue #286 to be exact :-). Do note that some of the content was likely cut from what the print edition held (likely some art, and some of the other items that would not be legit due to licensing, etc).

    And, I personally don't know of a dedicated RPG for the Shannara franchise but my radar is not all sweeping and all detecting...yet.


    The description of the Azgenzak is really great. Whoever wrote that wins a little piece of my heart.*

    *Herbo actually has no heart, nor does he claim to have any hearts in stock from which to carve tiny slices


    In the case of the Demodands, I like to think it's their innate divine spark that keeps them or their creators from overtly overrunning the material...yet. So, they spend their time foiling divine plots and kicking in the wheels and bumpers of all that they love to hate about divinity and foolish mortal/immortal servants there-of (even though they are bound by their broken creators with a similar ironic chain that drives them on to further insanity, despair and rage...all the good chunks of the abyss). They are a great little pack of legitimate evil anarchists. I'm sure all/most deities hate to see demodands running about mocking the very fundamental nature of the divine as well. Even the thanatotic titans have to look askance at each other over the obvious mistake that the demodands are, and the constant reminder that they aren't true deities at all.

    All that being said...I'm sure the demodands would LOVE to conquer the material plane. They just need all the gods to be taken out back and puppy-coffined first. And the best way to do that is by corrupting mortals and the various servants of all the deities :-)


    Kudaku wrote:
    A scooby-doo version of Carrion Crown might be untapped gold, but it'd require a fair bit of prepwork. Still... Scooby!

    This made my morning. Thanks! Off I go to Hero Lab to create a gawky and socially awkward summoner with an eidolon named Scooby.


    You could work with your GM as Mikaze suggested to research an alternate form of Flesh to Stone if they are not down with a house rule like Cyrad's (ftr, I do a similar deal where the caster chooses the rigid inanimate material their Flesh to Stone spell will emulate when they acquire the spell since a simple material shift doesn't really warrant a whole round of spell design, to me. I don't allow precious gem stone or gold, etc.).

    As far as turning the resulting statue into the parts for a golem? That certainly sounds awesome, but again it's probably more of a case-by-case or table-by-table thing. You could cast Animate Objects on the statue, and then Permanency it. Turning the thing into a golem doesn't really seem too far off the road at this juncture in terms of concepts vs rules. Though, it may be kind of cheesy to get around the gp cost of building the body through zapping some poor sap into statue form...but that's really between a GM and a golem constructor, or for the GM to do behind the scenes with an NPC ;-) I'd probably throw a special non-raw condition on a flesh to (whatever) constructed golem that a stone to flesh spell cast on it would turn it into a Flesh or Carrion Golem (and do away with the transmuted critter in the process).


    Bellona wrote:
    I think that you mean Archon (must be LG) there, not Angel (can be any flavour of Good).

    Ah criminy! Thanks for the kick, that's embarrassing.

    Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
    ...No, an Inevitable and a Protean have absolutely nothing in common; Azatas and Angels (edit: Archons?) are both good.

    My mistake, nothing to see here. Sorry bro!

    I swear I will get my goggles of anti-ineptitude on the next time...

    (•_•)
    ( •_•)<⌐-
    (⌐_)


    There might be something to turning a few of his servants against him TwiceGreat. Or, perhaps the PCs supplant Karzoug with another Runelord of Greed (lesser of two evils type thing in return for some heavy handed advantage in the final show-down in the PCs favor). Or maybe one of their own attempts to become the new Runelord of Abundance.

    I think there may be something to redeeming or working with the position Karzoug occupies, without having to do more than scoop his disintegrated dusty remains aside after a sweet battle ;-)


    I think exploring the various shades of LG and good in general is worth several volumes Doc. I like where you're coming from, and others in this thread. For my part, I'd like to see some vehement disagreements portrayed between CG and LG outsiders. It's always kind of bugged me that the good guys pretty much always get along. SURE, I get that they are devoted to the welfare and uplifting of goodly forces in the multiverse. But an Azata is as diametrically wired from an Angel as an Inevitable is from a Protean. There HAS to be some kind of friction worth delving into there.

    It's probably well beyond the scope of this particular book, but it might be nice to at least see one lawful good Empyreal Lord having a mention made about how they have a deep and abiding disagreement running with a chaotic good Empyreal Lord. Taking a nod from An Unexpected Journey: "...Do not speak to me of Radagast the Brown. He is a foolish fellow..."


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    It's interesting how "omg dumbzorz" people get about anything south of 10. Is it the (-) modifier? Sure they aren't the brightest candle in the window at 7, but they are a far cry from people coming from miles around to gawk, or Hodor levels of cognitive deficiency. They are diminished at 7, though. Enough that an average intelligence individual would quickly realize that "oh, that's why you work at the quarry smashing big rocks into little rocks."

    :Edit: And what Mr. Hunter wrote. Though I'd put Homer above Peter in the intelligence race :-)


    If you wanted to rewrite Karzoug to have a more redeemable air about him, who's to stop you?

    But if you go with Karzoug as he's presented in the AP, yeah I'd go along with Misroi and wspatterson's take on the Claimer. He's on par with Palpatine in terms of chances of any kind of twist-ending-redemption. That being said, if the PCs are willing to be his complete and total slaves and perform any and all actions according to his will from now unto eternity? Yeah he'd probably treat with some Contract Devils to make everything nice and binding and then let the PCs live.

    One of the main meta-plot issues to making Karzoug redeemable is that you take the teeth out of some of the villains throughout the AP. So what if they resurrect the guy? It'll all pretty much work itself out. -or- Now the PCs are taking on the role of sacrificing greedy souls in order to resurrect Karzoug...at which point...who's redeeming and who's falling here?


    Coridan wrote:
    It's not "these days" it's "all days". Thirteen is an adult physically if not culturally. Thirteen year olds would go to war (and still do in some places). When me and my friends were 8 or so our favorite movies were Aliens, Predator and Terminator. Even hook mountain massacre, arguably the most gruesome AP module is perfectly fine for a well adjusted kid.

    Very true. But it is hard to make recommendations without knowing the particulars of the people involved. I personally remember watching Silver Bullet, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Terminator by 9 or 10. I happen to think I turned out okay(ish). But I wouldn't recommend those movies to a stranger to show to their kids. To me, the same kind of thing is going on here. Yeah some kids are gonna do just fine with the excised content dealing with the Grauls. I personally feel like I'd be somewhat culpable if I didn't flag some "adult" material. I certainly can't speak for anyone else though.


    phatbac wrote:
    I am big fan of Ragathiel. The general of heaven whose father is an archdevil? awesome! I am also a big fan of his domains and favored weapon.(Bastard Sword). In one of my current games i am playing a Paladin of him...

    Preach battle brother! He deserves at least one post per page :-)


    James Jacobs wrote:

    That only happens if you fail at whatever purpose your life and soul had before it.

    An atheist who succeeds at life (something that Pharasma determines) does NOT get gloomy eternity of loneliness. That soul instead transcends life and the beyond, becoming a free-spirited entity that travels the reaches of reality and metareality beyond, essentially becoming a free-roaming philosopher spirit who can't interact with existence but can observe it all and learn lots.

    Still, one heck of a gamble :-) Boneyard and Groetus chow...or...Watcher from Marvel.


    Congrats Gary! Very much looking forward to this one.


    If you aren't swallowed by a creature that requires it's own internal map? Well that's just a slap in the face right there :-)


    I'd second the suggestion to just start out with a combat trained dog and...*reads RainyDayNinja's post link*...well bust my buttons. There ya go.


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    magnuskn wrote:
    Jedi, Sith and the Force are an essential part of Star Wars. Without them, it's just another generic science fiction universe and not even a particularly interesting one. One could just as well watch Andromeda.

    To you (and many many others), but the Star Wars fanbase is larger than the population of most countries. So there's going to be a lot of "what is Star Wars to you" agreement and disagreement on any front.

    For my tastes, I like the iconic aliens, worlds, space ships and droids, the amalgamation of a lot of well worn stories, and serial media styling more than anything force related (not that I mind lightsabers and force lightning by any stretch). But my preferences are bonkers to anyone that holds a legitimate 180º view to mine about Star Wars, and that's cool to me. That being said, 1313 would have appealed to a lot of people (enough to matter at least), BUT I doubt Lucas Arts of 2013 had the chops to actually make a good game of it.

    So I'd rather it was taken out back and puppy-coffined by Disney, than allowed to arrive way over budget and...kinda suck. I'd personally be over the moons excited if they put out an LA Noire investigation game set in the Star Wars universe. But for the time being I'll happily accept that lightsabers are more popular on consoles and bide my time slashing away until someone decides to make a game targeted at my heart.


    Diego Rossi wrote:
    Read my post, not only Grick cut and paste.

    Sorry for coming out of left field in the midst of your discussion with Grick. That was impolite and indelicate of me. But there's no need to assume I am incapable of reading just because I don't share your interpretation. I'll leave you to it. Cheers.


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    If the base DC was 0 wouldn't you eventually hit negative DCs? The description of Invisibility shows the base DC to be 20 pretty plainly, imo. Then you tack on +20 to pinpoint, and/or adjust based on the table. It looks like Grick has the right of it to me.


    Lord Snow wrote:
    Not to undermine your intentions, but some people will tell you that "the human centipede" is a tale about human nature. Well I say it's a tale that shouldn't have been told :P

    That is not even close to the same type of comparison. Swing and a miss I'm affraid. Human centipede was intended to be grotesque to no other purpose. It is Carnography, not a metaphor for working together. Hans my Hedgehog is a story about trust, and keeping one's word...not a hedgehog boning a princess. I suppose everyone is free to look at anything they want anyway they want. But labeling your discussion topic with the term "theme" and then proceeding to deny anything besides a literal dictionary dissection of a fictional story...is misleading. Anyway, I'm out. Happy gaming to you, and best wishes!


    If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought nah forget it. Yo homes to Bel Aire! ...and also the meter has been running since last Friday so you owe me $12,530

    The next poster does in fact believe that the hokey pokey is what it is all about, and are going to be publishing their religion's holy text via Kickstarter with unique backer tiers.


    Pretty much every culture on Earth has anthropomorphized animals in some fashion, or deified them to a certain extent (from Tangent101's mentioning of Egypt and Greece to various aboriginal cultures and even modern Anime Cat Girls). I personally don't think there is some concerted conceptualization of pure animal on human ee-er-ee-er-eeeeeee-errrrr-ee-er-ee-er...this goes on for a bit...ee-er. Rather, I think it comes from a part of human conscience that spawns appreciation for dissonance in music, abstraction in art, and other non-linear associations we make with our higher brain functions. Those images, be they satyrs or Hindu gods like Ganesha, are a way to transfer or meld recognizable archetypes from the natural world upon the human condition. So whether you are representing promiscuity with a recognizable image from the animal world (ie. goats can get really busy, so a man with goat legs represents the lustful unrestrained aspect of humanity), or the calm wisdom some perceive in an Elephant's eyes...it's not about "oh man that Elephant man must have crazy elephant man secszorz let's all bone elephants and goats!!!!!!" It's about exaggerating the abhuman to refocus the human.

    Think of it like this. I can tell you that you are strong as a bear, wise as an owl, graceful as a cat. You read the words and get all blushy...or file a restraining order. But in a world where mastery of the written language was focused into a small privileged subset of humanity (when these types of images and stories were introduced)...you would just see $^&#@*$^#4(#47. But if I drew a picture of a bear-man and pointed at you...it'd be my illiterate attempt to capture my thoughts about you in more than spoken words. I wouldn't be suggesting that your mom was a bear and your dad was a sexual deviant.

    So to me...the squick factor just isn't there. To look at fairy tales where a princess is a swan, or a boy is a hedgehog, or a prince is a frog as "ewwwwww bestiality!!!" is immature and missing the point behind it all. Themes of love conquering adversity, honoring one's word, respecting the personhood of others despite their appearance...these are things that are worth representing in stories and roleplay.

    My 50cents anyway.


    You could also look at southern Taldor as having a slight Austro-Hungarian Empire thing going on which could help spackle over the disparity in geography by giving a basis for common themes. Also, Taldor has been in contact with the north longer than any other extant polity in the southern Inner Sea. Ample time for situations like Turin mentioned just above to occur with some cross pollination of cultures, etc. Not a perfect analogue, but were in high falootin' fantasy land anyhow.


    Do not doubt that all instances of Herbo are indeed the same being, despite my many glaring plot holes! For I dwell in Hypertime and so do I and me and I and also me! Fear not mortals, for I will be retcon'ed because hypertime is a terrible idea and it gave me crabs

    The next poster does not believe in capital letters, spaces nor punctuation.


    Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:
    Now, now: that spell doesn't do anything more than gather information the target knew. It imparts no volition or consent.

    Maybe the offender just wants to have a simple chat while they cross some serious moral lines? Afterall, being able to find out that Pharaoh Humpotep liked the color blue, and never liked Rush...that's a conversation starter.


    It was either that or go window to window selling windows. I get less black eyes from startled clients in various states of undress this way.

    The next poster believes that new is ALWAYS better.


    10 people marked this as a favorite.

    It's because of me. When I stop playing 3.X and its various mutations and offspring, the entire thing will come to an apocalyptic end.

    You're welcome planet Earth!

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