I’ve Got Reach's page

The drow priest in the Istivin arc--he was totally creepy and very memorable, though I can't remember his name now for some reason.

Derkoshan (or something like that)

He was awesome. He had no qualms with the PCs in our game - in fact, he treated them as guests: fed them fresh food and offered them what comforts he could; while wearing a mask of elf flesh. Oh, and the masachism thing? Imagine being the guests of honor at Hannibal Lector's house - you have Derkoshan.

My list in order:
1-Lashonna (She may be bad, but she feels good!)
2-Theldrik (Get ready to root for the bad guy!)
3-Derkoshan (Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah, getting creepy with it....)
4-Mr Dory (Your skins falling off of your face, Mr. Dory.)
5-Ominous Fabler (Ha ha ha ha ha !!! .... Shut Up!!!)
6-Darl Quethos (A lot of potential with this cat.)
7-Filge (Something tells me this guy isn't a licensed profesional.)
8-War Duke (Only the baddest man on the planet.)

Lashonna was just awesome. Heres someone that had executed a plan that took over three hundred years to coordinate, using the PCs as pawns the whole way. She's Lex Luther with power. You want kiss her and kill her at the same time.

I was just about to echo Peruhain's sentiments about 9th level spells qualifying as "under estimated".

Belker Claws.

"They had a lot of trouble with the traps in the WC due to there lack of rouge."

I wouldn't worry about your PCs not having the requisite amount of cherry-colored blush before heading into TFoE.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Better me breaking it to you that its 'Rogue' than FH lambasting you for it! :)

There is a market for D&D, and there will always be a market for D&D.

I would never argue otherwise. However, to be fiscaly viable, the said market and its associated revenue must justify the investment. Because paper and pencil has been played since the mid '70s by no means gaurantees its survival in the future.

"Today the internet is where people go to get this kind of information," said Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, Wizards of the Coast.

Not true. Up until issue #150, I went to my mail box or local gaming store.

What Scott WANTED to say was "The internet is where we want people to go to get this kind of information - and we want you to pay us directly for the access."

Yeah, i'd agree with fire on that statement.

I see nothing wrong with speculating about the future. Like most, I think the future of paper & pencil is integrated into our laptops. I'm sure you've fantasized about each player having a laptop LAN together for maping purposes, while the DMs laptop has the master map and current positions and conditions of all players PC. Example: player 1 is dwarf, player 2 is half-elf, and player 3 is human. In our game, the dwarf is the only PC with the vision benefit; our gaming table does not distinguish between low-light and regular vision - doubling the distance for one player slows the game down and is typically forgotten by the DM anyways. With the laptop and maping tools, this feature is integrated into the half-elfs character, and his map shows double the torchlight distance. Viola! Half-elfs are playable again! This would also do wonders for vision-imparing spells darkness, invisibility, obscuring mist, and the like.

If something like this already exists, by all means, fill me in. As for as having all adventures in pdf format - I'm not so keen on that due to superior convienince of paper. That said, searchable pdf core rule books should be supplies with all books sold.

Dear ex-wife.

You’ve said before that you loved me and, given the chance, would be with me until the end of time. But that was before Biff came along and stole you from me with his big muscles and pockets bulging with crisp dollar bills. If he left you, would you come back to me?

Your question is a hypothetical one that they probably can’t answer. They simply aren’t in a position to answer it. I can’t think of an example when a company reneged on a statement they made in a press release. I’m sure its happened, but its verrrry rare.

Sorry, but the magazines are gone.

Speaking of the arbitrary d20 game mechanic, I'm not too fond of the use of the d20. I don't like that a roll of 20 is just as likely as a roll of 10. I like the bell-curve distribution of probability associated with either multiple d10's or multiple d6's.

A d20 minimizes the impact of skills and abilities.

But thats just my preference.

Maybe Paizo should realize that they have a lot of very good writers at their disposal and go out on their own and create the equivelant of "The World's Most Popular Roleplaying Game": 4.0.

Stated differently, create their own fantasy roleplaying game with their own core books written by the writers we love.

I guess WOTC thinks they can go the way of Star Wars "Hyperspace" where people will just blindly fork over money hoping for content to justify the monthly recurring charges.

Yeah, I don't think so.

I don't think Pathfinder is the right product for me. I am only a casual D&D fan and the price point for Dungeon was right, considering I'll likely never run a game of D&D again. Pathfinder, while I love Paizo and its staff and contributors (and message board family), is simply more than I'm willing to pay. Its more product than I need, as well.

But I'm holding out that Paizo will publish other genres: I'd be willing to entertain contributing content for super-hero or sci-fi games.

What if I told you folks at Paizo that our local gaming group has been playing a fully developed in-house RPG where robots turn into vehicles and vice-versa, and that it might be available for adoption?

Some time ago (its been a few years), I sent an email to WOTC proposing a Transformer roleplaying game, since they (Hasbro) owned the rights. They politely declined and I still have that email.

Not a big deal - we still have our game.

Vic Wertz has already stated on these message boards that they are focusing on fantasy, but if the work were already done, would this be enticing?

I'm at a crossroads, Paizo staff. I'm pretty much done with running "The World's Most Popular Roleplaying Game". LOL

And as much as I love the work of Vaughn, Logue, Jacobs, Pett and Greer, that means no Pathfinder adventures for me. And it looks like Gamemastery adventures are out of the picture too.

I love Star Wars (I have my Saga Edition preordered) and I am a sci-fi and superhero genre fan, and I look forward to running those genres in the future.

Are there any products that fill this niche at Paizo?

I love Dungeon's writers, but OGL monsters suck. I hope the writers can work their magic with monsters as well as they have the adventures.

:(

...nor do I want to have his viewing area somehow magically protected.

Ever gone to a car race such as NASCAR and sat in the bleachers where there was no net between you and the cars? How about a hockey game where there was no plexi-glass between fans and the rink? What about a baseball game without a new behind home plate? No. Its too dangerous. Thats why we dont sit IN the ring with Mike Tyson as he's biting Evander's ear.

Remeber that show "Robot Battles" (something like that) on Discovery channel, where dudes built their own bots to fight. Spinning razor blades, pnuematic drills, etc were features of the battle room. Operators and fans watched from beyond plexiglass. Now add machineguns, flamethrowers and high-explosive missles (well, then we'd have modern UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and the fans and operators wouldn't even be in the same Zip Code as these robots!

My point is, even in a fantasy game, protection from errant fireballs, ice storms, crossbow bolts, blade barriers, and the like is not only sensible, but could be expected at a gladitorial game featuring all of the above.

As for Raknian, yeah, he's "liked" in the city, but so are a lot of organized crime lords. Don't you think a guy that employs an assassin, with his motivations, might have enemies. Raknian knows this, and no doubt has made preperations in these events.

In fact, as he might tell any upstart PC that tries to confront him: "Thats why I'm not already dead."

[I'll buy this but its not required. My AC escalation is pure core books. My players are buying stuff almost exclusively out of the DMG (though they have many other books that they are allowed to use). Except for the Ninja their all core clasess as well though a couple of them are monstrous races from the Monster Manual.

You may say that expansion books have not affected your game, but if you play with the most current rule set, they have.

You know, many might interpret my assessment that by expansion books I mean new spells, feats, abilities, etc, and those people would be partially right. The "power-gamer" friend I referred to before made the comment last week that it was so easy to find different spells with AC bonuses that stack. True, but I pointed out that THATS not the problem. The problem is pacing.

By pacing I mean two things:
1) How many spells are active before initiative is dropped (persistant, contingent, extended, and permanent spells)
2) How many spells can a PC cast per round (because since these expansion books came out, with the exception of Time Stop, the number went from 1 to at least 2)

Rational: My cleric with 3.0 core rules had a difficult decision to make round 1. He has no buffs on, so does he buff, or does he attack? To totally buff the AC could take several rounds.
Today, my friends cleric attacks first round. Why? Her buffs are pre-cast, and typically she can cast multiple spells in a round thanks to immediate and swift actions.

With core rule books, one might never consider "extending" a Shield spell (see Sebastians thread involving this spell). But persisting it is a no brainer, and it only costs turn checks, which incidentaly is never used for turning at our game table anymore.

I'm thinking Ronald Reagan. Switch the Int with the Wis and you'd have Bill Clinton. Switch the Int with the Cha and you'd have Richard Nixon.

Excellent take, Heath.

Anyone else notice this at their table?

Yep. Thank the expansion books such as Complete This and Compendium That.

NOW I see where your getting at. Your problem is with the balance (or lack thereof) between the two spells.

I'll agree with you that for the most part, mage armor is the superior spell, but to steal an addage from a fellow power-gamer of mine, not all spells (he inserts feats here) are created equally.

If Sebastian were a game designed working for WOTC designing 4.0, you'd soon learn there is a steep slippery slope: after you've fixed this inequity, another will surface. Many of these inequities are real or imagined (play style nerfs the value of many abilities - look at the racial abilities of a half-elf as an example), and I submit :) that there are many more important inequities to tackle before the shield vs. mage armor showdown.

Interestingly, I was reminiscing on the way to work that when 3.0 came out, I hated the idea that you could "tumble" through an opponents threatened areas with a DC 15 check. This was true even against a CR20 enemy. I wanted to house rule it....maybe make the Tumble check opposed by some arbitrary number like the enemy's attack roll (or something like that).

I don't even worry about that anymore - there is about 50 other things I have issues with and Tumble is last on the list now; thanks to the numerous expansion books.

I'm not sure I follow, Sebastion? Your saying that stacking with Mage Armor is a problem? Or did you mean that it doesn't stack?

I don't get how the Shield spell is under-powered. When I get home I'll check the 3.0 book versus 3.5. I was under the impression that Shield offered a +4 shield bonus to AC that was a force effect.

KoTR is one of a few that I think gets short changed because of the word count. A lot of really cool role-playing opportinies can be explored (particularly between the PCs and the different Giant factions) and some of the best fights can be had in this module. Its strange, but for as much as is going on in this war, there seems to be so much more Greg "V for Violence" Vaughn wanted to include but couldn't.

Its fair to say our gaming group hasn't gotten to the nity-gritty of our crew makeup for the Sea Wyvern in our game. As PCs, we generally just stand around and watch other people do stuff. Its like being on a cruise. Except that at the end of the cruise we know we're going to war.

We lost our regular "Captain" (a dread pirate player), so now our newly restored Sea Wyvern was lacking a Captain. We got into a fight with the Scarlet Fleet (something like that), and I hoped that there would be a derelict boat that I coould take as my own. Im no captain; I cant sail or anything, but a man can dream right?

My fellow party members gave me the Sea Wyvern. Since I leveled, I took a class that gave me profession (I took Sailor) and now I'm a new captain.

I've always found as a player that I could have cool weapons, jewelry, armor and all that jazz, but to have title to land, a castle, keep, a sea-capable ship....heck, even a small hovel to call my own....thats always the most rewarding treasure to me.

That's an interesting idea. It's what I actually strive to do with the D&D/d20 Modern game I run. I use the d20 Modern elements for the run-of-the-mill real-world stuff and the D&D elements for the "okay, you're special, here's how" stuff. It actually works out really well. :)

Low level stuff might work for low level heroes (Power Man, Iron Fist, Daredevil, etc.). In my opinion, D&D at high levels (say, level 15+) is already virtually super-hero designed. D&D characters fly, teleport, fire laser beams, etc. usually at will. These advetures would work for medium to high powered super heroes.

The biggest problem (and not the only problem) are D&D adventures typicaly invlove Dungeons. The Avengers don't usually spend a week in a dungeon.....

After I stat out the creatures and Decepticons, I will run this short adventure sometime next month. Its really straight forward so that our new players will get to learn the system. Input and plot twist ideas are recomended. Thanks for reading!

Into the Core

Synopsis

Autobots are on a routine patrol when they happen upon what appears to be a derelict spacecraft. [DM Note: To pull off this seemingly innocuous encounter, random encounter tables and miscellaneous treasure tables must be made. This derelict ship must appear to be a product of the table...]
The large ship, of course, is far from derelict; in fact it is the giant-sized Decepticon named Oppressor, camouflaged by way of the power 'holograms'. And in its transformed mode (a battle-cruiser), carries a squad of deadly Decepticons. When the Autobots prepare to board the seemingly empty ship, Oppressor drops its hologram and in a spectacular blast from its cannon, disables the Autobots ship's engine. The other Decepticons open fire with other Mains and Secondary cannons, attempting to deal as much damage as possible. When the Autobots ship appears severely disabled, the Decepticons pour out of Oppressor to board the Autobot ship. It gets worse as Oppressor transforms into its robot mode. Autobot morale breaks and the order is issued to abandon ship. Autobots (particularly the PCs) load into escape shuttles. Only the PCs escape the attack.

Through luck and skill, the shuttle escapes the Decepticons temporarily. According to navigational maps, the Autobots best option (perhaps the shuttle is damaged and can't travel farther) is the planet Freeze – an ice cold world that crystaline creatures (called Zirconics) the size (and shape) of transformers inhabit. The Zirconics, generally friendly to Autobots, have a base and resources to re-equip the Autobots.

The shuttle must land some distance from Crystal City (I don't know why...its just a cartoon!) Along the way, the Autobots are attacked by various ice creatures native to the planet: Tundra Crawlers (think roaches the size of a two-story house), Frostys (TF sized snowmen), and even an Ice Worm.

Getting to Crystal City, the Zirconic leader offers the Autobots a ship if they can retrieve their greatest leader's spark (the soul/essence of a transformer....Zirconics apparently have them too) and return it to them. The problem is that it was lost eons ago in a great war with the subterranean Infernites (molten beings that live deep underground) when the leader fell in battle.

Access to the infernites lair is only possible via a large active volcano known as Smoke Stack. The PCs must venture back across the frozen wastelands and scale the mountain. Unless the PCs are careful or lucky, they are sure to encounter some of the dangerous arctic predators that roam the planet freely. Once inside the volcano, the PCs navigate a dangerous cavern rife with dangers such as:
Pits
Pits that are concealed (the ground underneath them fail)
narrow ledges, and slippery slopes that will test their mobility

Worse, these abilities will be tested under extreme conditions (such as lava pools – body-part flame damage) and even while being attacked by subterranean monsters such as:
Magma Hydra
Flame Salamanders
Fire Elementals
Infernite warriors

Ultimately they encounter infernites, either before or after they secure the spark they came to free. The infernites, as the PCs will find out, are the xenophobic hate mongers the Zirconics described. Only PCs with the ability to wield and manipulate flame have a chance at negotiations. Fortunately they are only really dangerous in mass and none-too-bright.

The leader’s spark is guarded by real infernite guards. Within the flaming chamber, the spark is surrounded by innately hostile infernite sparks preventing an escape. When the PCs enter the room, the hostile infernite sparks mindlessly attempt to penetrate and dominate TFs. Upon their destruction, the PCs may secure the spark and return it to the Zirconics.

Upon successful completion of the mission, the Autobots get a cool crystalline ship (named 'Shard'), and leave Freeze for greener pastures. Unless they decide to return for ship upgrades!

Other notes:

Autobot ship in the beginning is to be named by the players. They have a crew (in addition to the PCs) of 6 (to be named by the players); one of the NPCs are the commander who inevitably gives the bail out command.

Decepticon Roster:
LDR Concertus
Parabela
Swing-Wing
Turbine
Oppressor
and others as necessary...

And of course I have a lot of statting out to do.

Melee Weapons (d20)

1) Blow it. Roll twice and add 1 to the rolls on this table, re-rolling duplicate effects.
2 – 3) Stumble. Balance check DC15 or fall prone in your area on this attack action. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 11.
4) Fall. Randomly determine an open adjacent area to fall prone into on this attack action. This movement does not draw an Attack of Opportunity. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 13.
5) Fall and injure foot/leg or other movement appendage. Randomly determine an open adjacent area to fall prone into on this attack action. This movement does not draw an Attack of Opportunity. Fortitude Save DC15 or suffer from Hampered Movement (half movement) until the encounter ends, a successful Heal check DC15, or any “Cure” spell is cast upon you. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 13.
6 – 7) Potential weapon breakage. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
8) Drop your guard. All threatening enemies may take an immediate Attack of Opportunity on you if possible. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
9 – 10) No opening found. Loss this attack/action and the remaining attacks/actions for the round.
11) Distracted. Concentration check DC15 or suffer -2 AC penalty for 1 round. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
12) Lose grip and drop weapon. Weapon is dropped to the ground on this attack as a free action in your area. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
13) Vision (or other sensory functions) impaired. All targets are considered to have concealment (20% miss chance) from you for the rest of the encounter or until a full round action is made to correct the situation (this provokes an Attack of Opportunity). You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
14 - 15) Hesitate. Lose this attack action and all other attacks/actions for the round.
16) Hit head. Fortitude Save DC15 or suffer from Dazed for 1 round. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
17) Armor fails. Make a breakage roll on a random armor item (typically a shield or worn armor) using standard breakage rules. Broken armor is useless until repaired. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no armor, then as for 11.
18) Toss weapon. Toss your weapon a random direction (per scatter) and distance (10ft. Plus 1ft. per current Strength score). The thrown weapon has no chance of striking any creature for damage. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
19) Armor or clothing/gear binds. Suffer -1 to AC for the rest of the encounter or until a full round action is made to correct the situation (this provokes an Attack of Opportunity). You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no armor or clothing/gear, then as for 13.
20 - 21) Strike at nearest ally. Determine a random ally within reach and make a new attack roll on this victim. This attack roll does not count toward the normal number of attacks/actions you may make and is considered a free action. If no ally, then as for 6 - 7.

Ranged Weapons (d20)

1) Blow it. Roll twice and add 1 to the rolls on this table, re-rolling duplicate effects.
2 – 3) Stumble. Balance check DC15 or fall prone in your area on this attack action. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 11.
4) Fall. Randomly determine an open adjacent area to fall prone into on this attack action. This movement does not draw an Attack of Opportunity. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 13.
5) Fall and injure foot/leg or other movement appendage. Randomly determine an open adjacent area to fall prone into on this attack action. This movement does not draw an Attack of Opportunity. Fortitude Save DC15 or suffer from Hampered Movement (half movement) until the encounter ends, a successful Heal check DC15, or any “Cure” spell is cast upon you. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 13.
6 - 7) Potential weapon breakage. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no weapon, then as for 2 – 3.
8) Drop your guard. All threatening enemies may take an immediate Attack of Opportunity on you if possible. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
9 – 10) No opening found. Loss this attack/action and the remaining attacks/actions for the round.
11) Distracted. Concentration check DC15 or suffer -2 AC penalty for 1 round. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
12) Lose grip and drop weapon. Weapon is dropped to the ground on this attack as a free action in your area. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no weapon, then as for 13.
13) Vision (or other sensory functions) impaired. All targets are considered to have concealment (20% miss chance) from you for the rest of the encounter or until a full round action is made to correct the situation (this provokes an Attack of Opportunity). You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
14 - 15) Hesitate. Lose this attack action and all other attacks/actions for the round.
16) Hit head. Fortitude Save DC15 or suffer from Dazed for 1 round. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
17) Armor fails. Make a breakage roll on a random armor item (typically a shield or worn armor) using standard breakage rules. Broken armor is useless until repaired. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no armor, then as for 11.
18) Drop Ammo. If no ammo, then as for 14 – 15.
19) Armor or clothing/gear binds. Suffer -1 to AC for the rest of the encounter or until a full round action is made to correct the situation (this provokes an Attack of Opportunity). You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no armor or clothing/gear, then as for 13.
20 - 21) Strike ally. Determine the closest ally to the original target (randomize ties) and make a new attack roll on this victim. This attack roll does not count toward the normal number of attacks/actions you may make and is considered a free action (and should be considered the original recipient of the attack). If no ally, then as for 16.

Unarmed/Natural Weapons (d20)

1) Blow it. Roll twice and add 1 to the rolls on this table, re-rolling duplicate effects.
2 – 3) Stumble. Balance check DC15 or fall prone in your area on this attack action. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 11 - 12.
4 – 5) Fall. Randomly determine an open adjacent area to fall prone into on this attack action. This movement does not draw an Attack of Opportunity. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 13.
6 – 7) Fall and injure foot/leg or other movement appendage. Randomly determine an open adjacent area to fall prone into on this attack action. This movement does not draw an Attack of Opportunity. Fortitude Save DC15 or suffer from Hampered Movement (half movement) until the encounter ends, a successful Heal check DC15, or any “Cure” spell is cast upon you. Continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If already prone, then as for 13.
8) Drop your guard. All threatening enemies may take an immediate Attack of Opportunity on you if possible. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
9 – 10) No opening found. Loss this attack/action and the remaining attacks/actions for the round.
11 – 12) Distracted. Concentration check DC15 or suffer -2 AC penalty for 1 round. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
13) Vision (or other sensory functions) impaired. All targets are considered to have concealment (20% miss chance) from you for the rest of the encounter or until a full round action is made to correct the situation (this provokes an Attack of Opportunity). You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
14 - 15) Hesitate. Lose this attack action and all other attacks/actions for the round.
16) Hit head. Fortitude Save DC15 or suffer from Dazed for 1 round. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible.
17 - 18) Armor fails. Make a breakage roll on a random armor item (typically a shield or worn armor) using standard breakage rules. Broken armor is useless until repaired. You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no armor, then as for 11 - 12.
19) Armor or clothing/gear binds. Suffer -1 to AC for the rest of the encounter or until a full round action is made to correct the situation (this provokes an Attack of Opportunity). You miss with this botched attack but may continue with remaining attacks/actions if possible. If no armor or clothing/gear, then as for 14 - 15.
20 - 21) Strike at nearest ally. Determine a random ally within reach and make a new attack roll on this victim. This attack roll does not count toward the normal number of attacks/actions you may make and is considered a free action. If no ally, then as for 16.

I don't know if I ever posted these or not, but I thought I would share. There are three tables to choose from, depending on the situation. Enjoy.

My spelling could be improved, no doubt. I've been called out for "Rouge" - and promptly corrected.

Maybe my most embarrassing grammar error occurred last week in inter-office email. I passed along a message to a fellow employee that “Our Director wanted me to tell you 'High'”.

Ouch.

*Anyone else remember the old Marvel feature that used to run monthly in Dragon during the TSR days?

Remember the Marvel features? I used to make monthly trips to the local library with a pocket full of dimes to photo copy every page in all its glory.

I still have those photo copies today.

A showdown does have kind of a Marvel Secret War ring to it. :)

Point buying huh? No dice rolling for stats huh? I don't like it, sounds odd. How can it be roleplaying if you don't roll the dice?

Until I read this post, there was only one way I could justify rolling PCs abilities: People are NOT created equally in real life, so why should fantasy be any different.

With your post, now there are two compelling arguments to rolling stats. But I still would not allow it. Why? Because in my experience, players will abuse it.

Cone of Acid.

LSD, that is...

LOL thats why I chose "line of acid".

I find it funny that a lot of the posters argue that point buy creates cookie cutter characters. ..... but other than that I've found its just as fun and a lot faster and balanced (for the DM and fellow players) for everyone to use point buy.

I couldn't agree more.

The operative word here is "balanced". Exactly how high does your strength and intelligence need to be to be heroic?

DMing is more art than science; its a skill that over time can be improved on. On the same token, I've also seen DMs story-telling abilities degenerate. Give yourself time - you won't be perfect out-the-box, and you'll never be perfect at your prime. But you don't have to be perfect to have a fun game.

Speaking of fun - this should be objective number 1. If your not having fun, reevaluate why and remedy as needed.

"Darl uses his ranged spells and quickened defensive spells as appropriate." -p. 82 is not really up to the standard I expect from this mag. (But man this is a great adventure.)

I think that sentance reads exactly as it needs to read. Being that he is a cleric, he could potentially have any spell mix available to him at his disposal. Given his abilities and disposition, and that he is arguably Vecna's greatest mortal champion, he should be tailer-made to kill the PCs in short order. Throw in his powerful allies and you have a recipe for TPK stew.

I intended on pulling no punches. I, the DM, knew their strategies and their weaknesses; as an extension, so did Darl. I tailered his spells to counter their tactics.

Game night came, and here I am looking at 2 players. The other 3 were no-shows! :( The two insisted we play: "We can handle that chump!" Yeah, right. I decided to go Bruce Lee on the party - you know, one bad guy rushes the party at a time, and the next jumps in right before the last gets ko'd.

Needless to say the encounter did not go the way I planned, but it was fun none the less, and Darl is still one of my all-time favorites with Lashonna, Theldrik, and Derkoshan (Istivin Arc bad-guy).

Low to mid 90s here in Vegas. Its gonna be a long hot one....

Tiamat (Dungeon & Dragons cartoon series)
Lashonna (Age of Worms – Dawn of a New Age)
Chronepsis (Draconomicon)
Asiroxus (Istivin Campaign Arc)
Xyzanth (Age of Worms – Kings of the Rift)

and of course

BRUCE LEROY THE LAST DRAGON!!!

I may be stating the obvious but in my experiences, there are two important factors that determine the outcome of equal level class vs. class fights:
1) Circumstance - the environment, encounter range, and other miscellaneous are critical
2) Luck - obvious, but bares mentioning especially when considering damage, attack, and save-or-die rolls.

All things being equal, I think the cleric is the most powerful class bar none.

I know players like that as well; I tell them to find another game. I wish I could put a positive spin on it, but I can't.

Thats horrible news. I hope he can buck those odds - and I hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

Who can resist biting the head off of a chocolate easter bunny? Look at it as your chance to "swallow whole" an entire chocolate creature! :)

No, not really.

April Fools!

:)

P.S. - Shiver me timbers you scally-wags!

Chronepsis wrote:

The whole site is work safe, nothing over the top. No worries! It's mostly for video games, but there's a tabletop board as well. The main page is right here: GayGamer.net.

Heh, thanks. I wasn't so much worried about NSFW, just if one of the dear old ladies I work with looked over my shoulder and saw what I was reading. I wasn't looking forward to explaining to the whole office what gaming is, and why I was reading a site for gay gamers when everyone at work knows I have a girlfriend. "Yeah boss, I just really needed to know the top 10 gayest RPG characters, y'know?"

So I looked anyway and... Jarlaxle's gay? I thought he was just flamboyant ;)

I wan't to click the link....but I'm not going to!!! :)

Interesting catch, Jay. I automaticly assumed that you couldn't exceed you BAB using your reasoning (e.g. a 9 BAB had to be split up between P.A. and C.E.), but as Fate pointed out, I might have assumed incorrectly.

It doesn't surprise me that these campaigns are running slow. If I had more time and was a full-time DM, I would have added tons of additional material.

I agree with others in the view that as long as the game is fun, I wouldn't worry about long-winded campaigns.

On the other hand, if you and your players want to speed things up a bit, then there might be some consessions to be made by everyone to make it happen.

Axis & Allies

Yeah, TFs is a homebrew game. If youve seen the animated Transformer movie, then you get the flavor for the game (much darker than the cartoon series).

I plan on moving out of my parents home, but theres a few things that I need to resolve before I can afford my own place.

First, I need to finish my plate mail armor I will need to become a knight in the SCA regional group. Without the armor, I only rank as a squire.

Occasionaly our Star Trek chapter meets for various functions. I am a currently an ensign, but will one day make the rank of general. To be a general, you must possess knowledge of Star Trek trivia that would make Gene Rodenberry blush.

Also, our weekly Vampire LARP games take up much of my night hours between actual game time, networking, archiving, prop creation, and plot hooks.

All of these activities prevent me from working or going to school. I have a license, so usually my parents let me borrow the car, or sometimes I just call them to pick me up when my friends cant give me a ride. Also, these many cool things make hard to find a girlfriend outside of our gaming groups. But I'm working on some leads....

:)

After running AoW for nearly two years to completion and now being a player in Savage Tide and Shackled City, my burn-out level for d20 is sky-high. After a feeble encounter in which my 7th level fighter couldn't win a grapple with a pirate, I've now decided to call d20 DnD the "You Can't Do That" game.

I'm thinking about a haitus from gaming ... or ...

hunting down a few of our old players whom hate DnD for some alternative gaming.

To address your question, we haven't created a non-d20 fantasy homebrew game system. We used to play Avalon Hill's Powers & Perils roleplaying game, but this was replaced by the original 3.0 D&D. P&P suffered from lack of support, unfinished rule sets, and an extremely limited magic system. That said, it was still superior (and still is, in our opinion) to 2nd Edition.

As for non-d20 homebrew games and my burn-out troubles, maybe its time for us to dust off our Transformers: The Roleplaying Game rule books.