Icyshadow's page

Oh god, I wonder how the players would react to a Gnoll version of Cyrus the Great, aside from maybe a strong objection from one player who insists on Always Chaotic Evil Gnolls. And yeah, that sounds pretty awesome. Are the genies also prevalent in your setting in the deserts, or are they elsewhere? I wonder if we should PM one another about these plans. We have done that before, right?

352. Broken Boundaries
Though you have heard many tales of other realms and even distant worlds,
none of these have ever been a concern to you and your ragtag group of fellow adventurers.

However, in the span of the last two years, something has changed all of that. Proteans had suddenly started appearing in Heaven, Devils were standing in the middle of the Maelstrom and Aximoites have been raining down on the Material Plane followed by a legions of enraged Demons and other outsiders. Someone or something has weakened the boundaries of reality to the point where planar travel is only half as hard as it used to be, but this has also led to widespread havoc across all worlds. Will you try to bring balance to the planes, or do you plan to simply endure and wait to see what kind of existence would you have if these boundaries were broken for good and the planes were unified?

I prefer 3.5e to Pathfinder, and we're having a game of the former this week.

With that said, I do like Golarion as a setting. I love Eberron and Forgotten Realms too.

Icy is simply doing these things to avoid a complete breakdown due to tomorrow's exam. Kind of sad, really.

You cannot compare sports (which are based off physical performance) to writing up a set of rules (which is based off mental factors), Ciretose. That's not even comparing apples to oranges. It's more like comparing apples to freaking grenades. Also, name some examples of those incompetent people shouting about their poorly planned out ideas instead of just stating something with nothing to back it up. Because really, I have seen people who do a better job than Paizo ever has and who never got paid for it (or have their works ignored because it's 3PP), Kirth being one of them, while you are here claiming these people are a myth.

Monks should be proficient with all Monk weapons if you ask me about it.

Unarmed Fighter? He's not a Monk, why give him Monk weapon proficiencies?!

Some instances might call for a Bluff check.

The target might be entitled to a Sense Motive check.

And lastly, a spellcaster who doesn't trust you would roll Spellcraft.

Something tells me that Marthkus isn't going to be convinced, even after you post said build.

Either way, good luck!

I agree with Ciretose, if only on the basis that there are people who think some classes are of higher (or lower) tier than they actually are. The tiers would get argued over till the thread gets locked, and even I tire of flame wars after seeing enough many go down.

BBQ party got cancelled, but Kingmaker tomorrow!!

I'm not seeing mistakes, so the blame must be somewhere else, dear wuxia fans. I have 2 Monks in my games for the last 3 years, and I'm yet to hear any complaints about somebody being redundant or too weak. Yeah, I know, real-life experience is biased, polluted and basically useless in a serious armchair theorycraft discussion, but hey.

Next thing you tell me is that the economic decline here in Europe is also the fault of rampant wuxia and anime fans.

You see, you're trying to prove a point with anecdotal evidence when everyone else has more definitive proof like calculations and statistics.

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

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

Alright, got a Kingmaker session to run.

And next week, people want me to DM a 3.5e game for them.

I'll probably go with Legacy of Fire, because my own setting isn't ready.

Dr. Who > Cthulhu when it comes to Geek Club Membership.

Alright, fixed my previous post.

I'd say that's up for debate, but really, a party of Mythic heroes is MUCH worse than a mere steamship.

Just seems more logical. And I really would want to hear about something else than just how awesome/pathetic Cthulhu is.

James Jacobs wrote:

Axial wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

Axial wrote:

Does Cthulhu eat 1d4 player characters per round?

Kinda, yeah. You'll see.

Uh oh...

In terms of general gameplay mechanics, how much worse is is he compared to the CR 20 Star-Spawn from Wake of the Watcher? If a non-mythic party tries to go up against him, do they end up like PCs from Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu?

Worse enough that a 20th level party will get crushed, driven insane, ruined, and killed. Not necessarily in that order.

Meh. Sorry, but the source material just does not support Cthulhu being that strong. Being able to terrorize a boatload of low-level NPC classed characters does not necessarily equate to being able to do the same to a party of near-demigods like a high level Pathfinder party.

Yeah, I'd rather stay loyal to the source material myself.

Anyway, all these Cthulhu debaters are derailing the topic a little bit.

We should focus on the other cool stuff that's gonna be in this Bestiary as well!

Norgorber, from what I see, seems to embrace the inner corruption of humanoids. Kind of similar to what you speak of when it comes to Lamashtu, but not exactly the same. The "ideal" for a Norgorberite seems to be knowing better and being quicker than others, all so you can step on them, preferably in a way from which they can't retaliate. And really, that just sounds like how capitalism works nowadays.

*Rimshot*

I blame Cosmo for Kobolds of Golarion not being out yet.

Oh, and I also blame him for the lack of Kobold deities in Golarion.

I wonder if I should start hiding threads as well.

I love it how a properly formed refutation of another person's argument leads to more hyperbole as well as personal insults.

And I agree with Steve Geddes. If the players are okay with how Shallow runs his game, then what say do we even have in that?

Kingmaker's improvised run went surprisingly well (friend's laptop and War of the River Kings PDF saved the day), we just cleared the Rushlight Tournament in one session. The catfolk Ranger took part in all four events, getting first place in the first, second and fourth while pissing off Villamor Koth by outdoing him in the first two without any spells.

When heading back to Numas (the group's country), Chief Sootscale informed that the scouts had seen enemy troops approach.

Probably the latter. Some things are to be left unknown, like how Aroden died.

Not like anyone cares, humans are the lowest of the humanoid races an- *Speciest rant interrupted*

I'll actually give Ciretose's first post the fave it deserves.

DQ also gets one. That post right there is made of pure win, and brings back memories both good and bad.

Actually, might as well inform that I met former DM a few days ago, and we reconciled the past s***storms after a long talk about the whole thing. I won't expect to play my homebrew races in his games, but we can still run games for one another once we gather up the player groups. He wants me to run a Kingmaker before he'll run one for my current group, and I'm pretty sure that I'll enjoy DMing for a more RP-focused group for once since he'll gather players from his current party.

Icyshadow wrote:

Agreed with MrSin. I'm kinda fed up with the humanocentric nature of Golarion, and I see that the PFS players share this sentiment to an extent.

I'll have you know I'm backed by the "Full Votes for Half-Men Society(of Golarion)". Sadly they never get there way because of the lack of democracy in Golarion, but at least they represent.

Can't help the Golarion base setting being human centric. We can however help with balance to get more people to play other races instead of human. I'm slightly biased towards my own solution of course.

I'm solving the problem with two of my own methods.

1. My own homebrew setting, which is not humanocentric.

2. Highlighting how lame humans are in Golarion when I am the DM.

Come on, Azlant was full of evil jerks, same with Thassilon. One of the few humans to do good was Jatembe, and Aroden wasn't even Lawful Good. The former disappeared, while the latter kicked the bucket without warning. If I had my way, I'd replace some nations of humans with Elves and Dwarves.

Agreed with MrSin. I'm kinda fed up with the humanocentric nature of Golarion, and I see that the PFS players share this sentiment to an extent.

So, presenting evidence is the same as moving goalposts?

That's a rather interesting opinion you've got there on the matter.

...I am pretty sure I have said it before, but I will say it again.

Mikaze, you are full of win, and I wish you were my DM.

I'm leaving a chocolate bar for that cute girl at work. Now I'm just worried if she'll like it,
or if the police are gonna show up at my door and tell me I'm being accused of sexual harassement. >_>

Icyshadow wrote:

I do not advocate anarchy, but I do love it when I get chances to point out how much we fail as a sentient race.

Fail comparing to whom? Humans are the most successful sentient race we know. Humans are the worst sentient race we know.

Fail comparing to the ideal human being.

You know, that well of endless philosophical debates?

That fleeting, non-existent being that undestands world peace?

Not only that, but would realize that we do not need to split between rich and poor, black or white, male or female, and other such things? But hey, those are apparently just pipe dreams and wishful thinking. We're a pathetic bunch of maggots, pretending to be something special while feeding off the planet and each other like the parasites that we are just because our brains grew bigger than those of other animals. We can't even get along with our own species, damn it!!

Being able to come up with a number of concepts is actually demonstrating creativity. Coming up with one concept you think is creative, but others dislike enough to not even want in the game...not such a demonstration of creativity.

1. Going with the assumption that there's only one concept, again.

2. Going with the assumption that the players also don't like it, instead of just the GM doing so.

I believe we were already in this situation a few pages ago. I'm also quite sure someone pointed out the flaws in your statement.

I was just wondering why PFO could not break from the traditional character races and add more, particularly the Goblinoid and half-Giant races to the mix?

Because it's already badwrongfun to play outside the Core Races in the TTRPG.

Letting this heresy spread to PFO would be double badwrongfun, and that's just terrible! D:

Alright, time to head off to party with my friends.

See ya'll later. Try not to get attacked by entitled players or DMs while I am gone!

I bet Asmodeus eventually trumps whatever plan Nyarlathotep had, then laughs in his formless face about it before leaving back to Hell.

Rynjin wrote:

If a Kitsune Ninja automatically throws your campaign off the rails you might want to think about getting better rails, just my 2 cents.

If my rock breaks your window, obviously it's your fault for having bad windows.

And if you are ready to use such heavy metaphors for a thing that can be talked out with the players as a justification for heavy-handed smiting, you're probably better off writing down your own story with pre-determined NPCs instead of trying to weave interactive gaming at a table with people who you obviously cannot co-operate with since even one deviation from your perfect blueprints is going to drive you to a murderous rampage.

Egyptian mythology is really weird.

All the more reason to love it, I say!

The Outer Gods (aka Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurat, etc.) are indeed actual deities akin to powers like Sarenrae or Pharasma or Iomedae or Torag.

The Great Old Ones are on the same power scale as demigods—like demon lords or Achaekek or arch devils.

Glad to hear that this is the "default" for Golarion.

People have the right to laugh at things they find funny*.

At least until the thought police becomes a legitimate thing and all.

* = There are exceptions to this, but I personally find trolling attempts and nerd rage funny.

Kick them out of my group for playing something I don't agree with.

...what? It's what a few people I know on these boards would do in this situation.

I hope the DM accepts it, since it does sound good on paper.

Seen enough cool ideas get thrown aside just because they're homebrew.

We are doing a weird race campaign, I've been going over it with him.

...give me your DM!!

Background: A recently developed race seen as a cousin of sorts to the Aasimar, the Calimar are the descendants of Aasimar and Kitsune, mixing divine power with natural charm. Regardless of their exact heritage, they all possess the claws and teeth of a kitsune and the wings of a majestic celestial. Calimar use their naturally prehensile tails to pick up items and aid them in their daily activities, leaving their hands free for other tasks. Most Calimar have green or blue eyes with orange, brown, gray, or white hair. Their hometown is Calico, a mysterious and enchanted village surrounded by mist and fog. Located deep in the forests of blessed Tianjing, the village has been kept well hidden from most outsiders.

I didn't wanna change too much from the original, so I mostly just tweaked your version a bit.

Just recently turned 23! Started with Baldur's Gate and Planescape, got incredibly confused because 3E had just recently came out and the only D&D rules I had a copy of (thanks to my father) was 1E, so basically nothing made sense and I knew nobody that could explain it to me. In the end I only started playing when 3.5E was out, via an online game over IRC where I'd update and upload the map every single round on photobucket. We also jury-rigged our own dice rolling bot. Virtual tabletops have come so far.

I like to play 4e but I don't like to run it. Looking back at 1E/2E I find the rules absolutely nonsense and impenetrable for the newbie. Also THAC0 (thack-oh!) sucks. I never, EVER understood why putting on better armor in Baldur's Gate made the number worse. :) Tome of Battle was amazing (although not without its problems) and it makes me sad how hard I have to work to make my Fighters do well in Pathfinder.

Ginormous anime fan to the extent that I went and majored in Japanese and am now reasonably fluent in it. (And unlike many other anime fans who learn Japanese... I actually topped my class and came to enjoy the language for more than just otaku stuff.) Touhou is awesome, but I suck at the games; I like the (Japanese) community that creates so much for it. Also a big JRPG fan. I used to read more fantasy novels than I do now, but my favourites are probably Anne McCaffrey and David Eddings.

Also I like sex themes and LGBT themes and grimdark and MLP level of happiness and whatever is in between. And normal races and furry races and crazy out-there races with tentacles for legs!

Twilight is the best no returns!

...you are full of win, especially for those parts that I highlighted.

I'd never tamper with the backgrounds of my players, and I'd never let a DM tamper with the background of my character.

Asking me to change something and discussing it with me is okay. Demanding a change or deciding for me is usually unacceptable.

Nah, let's just detonate all the nukes and hope we all die.

Problem solved!

Big Lemon, the OP and his player already talked it out.

The solution you presented was not used, and that is a good thing.

As to why, Dire Elf's post on page 4 should be able to explain it quite well.

Icyshadow wrote:

Heyo! What did I miss?

Me slipping farther and farther away from sanity. How's tricks Icy?

Tricky!

I love the Aasimar and Tiefling trait threads and their contributors.

Keep up the good work, people <3

So, since everyone else is sharing...

...currently 20 (21 in July), surprisingly varied in my tastes (from silly harem anime like Zero no Tsukaima to dark stuff like Berserk and Elfen Lied) and have read everything from Tolkien to Gaiman and Ursula Le Guin, but never liked the Harry Potter series. I was 15 when I started out with 3.5e, as my friend called me and my childhood friend to a group of his. Now I've known the guy for a long time, and I had known him quite well. Oddly enough, he was a completely different person on the DM seat than he usually was outside it.

He abruptly switched from 3.5e to Pathfinder, during the time when I thought this was a good thing, though he didn't ask me nor anyone else if we were okay with this. I gamed with him till I started getting fed up with his tyrannical, egomaniacal and just plain mean-spirited behaviour (which led me to ragequitting once), and around the times of high school I met up my second group to be. We tried out 4e, which was disappointing but not the worst thing ever. We later on also tried GURPS (which is better than most claim), 2e (decent but has its flaws) as well as Dark Heresy (others like it, I don't think it is that good).

Second group was under the belief that Pathfinder is a better 3.5e, and by the time I was there to tell otherwise, they had already bought all the books and they had all abandoned 2e and 3.5e. A few of the players have wanted me to run a 3.5e campaign for them now, and I am happy to oblige once I get my Kingmaker finished and my homebrew campaign setting into a good condition. If that won't cut it, my backup plan is just running Legacy of Fire for them. The former DM is considering continuing the Council of Thieves game my friends had walked out from, but I am having second thoughts considering past experiences.

Pathfinder is at best a poor set of 3.5e houserules, which I am forced to work with because of the groups insisting on it. Caster/Martial disparity is a fixable problem people are overlooking despite evidence, I rarely agree with SKR, Tome of Battle was a decent book regardless of theme, and most grimdark I see goes to grimderp and is more worthy of a "meh" rather than any acknowledgement as a masterful piece of art. The good DM knows what compromise means, knows how to work with a group instead of forcing a group to do his bidding, is willing to make some adjustments for the sake of fun, but is also ultimately having the final say in a given situation.

Both as a player and DM, I enjoy both roleplay and rollplay. Also, the more diversity the better, especially when it comes to playable races if you ask me about it!