There's lots of Louis XIV-era (swashbuckler/pirate) fantasy and Steam-punk/Victorian-age fantasy, but the in-between Habsbourg/Napoleonic era with Eastern-Europe theme is often left out despite its great potential.
I long for a Girl Genius type setting, or some of the not-quite-Victorian Final Fantasy settings in RPGs.
that is indeed nonsense....but it could lead to an interesting sidequest where one rebels against heaven itself.
That's main campaign material!
Quit the DM, recuperate his/her plot and the series of events that led to the trial, start a new campaign on the basis that celestials are just as douche-y as fiends, except that they won the war on propaganda...
Part of me likes vikings in horned helmets and roman emperor going to battle with their nipple-and-belly-button breastplates.
Another part of me enjoys the more realistically-accurate/practical depictions or armour in fantasy, based on a specific era and geography.
Both parts of me think that a woman can be very beautiful and sexy in a boob-less/cleavage-lees armour and for that matter, that not all fantasy women need to be beautiful nor sexy in order to become strong and memorable characters.
In short, we can argue all we want but in the end is a matter of taste, as it has been said before. I don't think horned helmets and boob-plates are bad taste, I don't think medieval accuracy is snobbish. Fantasy can afford to be fantastic when it wants too, or impose realities similar to our own. I prefer when the campaign proposes strong guideline toward one or the other and tries to stay coherent, but that's just me.
I feel right at home with Ciretose, Mikaze and Aranna
36 here. I remember colour TV and remote controls being luxurious items, spinning a round-dial telephone and the beeping/scratching of dial-up internet, although none of the above really define my childhood; I'm more defined by technological changes that happened and are still happening.
Started with 2ed. I'm well over my "DM = absolute master" era but don't like inconsequential computer-like gaming. I like game with identifiable, themes, strong narrative lines and when players are able to actively participate in the narrative plot.
Mostly, I learned what I enjoy most in a game, how I can enjoy it with others, find players that compatible with my tastes and not to needlessly rush this hobby anymore.
... and I'm slowly warming up to this MLP:fim pony thing thanks to my little girl...
Make sure you have a cover if you live in a community with outdoor cats.
And a shovel and pail. Can't forget the shovel and pail.
While these two posts were meant as a joke; I find these two elements (well, three if you count shovel and pale as two items) are all you really need... metaphorically.
Cat-proof cover: You need to lay your bases (together) with the players, set your themes and advertise them. That's your cover making sure no player come-in to "poop" in your game mistaking your playground for something else.
Shovel and Pale: Gather the tools that will allow you to construct fun elements for the game. Some GM will be satisfied with a simple shovel and pale, some like to gather a few rocks and bits of bark. Some will purchase sandcastle forms and bring out an assortment of seashells collected during last vacation. At this point it's up to personal tastes.
The rest is imagination, skills and willingness to have fun with friends...
Hopefully, this thread will be followed by the "Development of Compelling Male Characters in Games".
As far as I'm concerned, a shallow Macho Woman with Guns isn't worst than a shallow Macho Man with Guns, and a pretty face with big boobs and an insanely slender waist is no better than a bad-ass face with sculpted abs and humongous biceps... Men are objectified for different reasons and with different means, but this is not less damageable for society IMO.
All are idealised models, and while this shouldn't stop the cause of feminism, I long for a broader, more inclusive cause.
That being said, I'm glad that these outcries of sexism against females are being heard (well, by some anyways). I'm hopeful that more women in the industry both as consumers and designers/producers will slowly change these abuse in its content.
I'm also hopeful that the (relatively) new acceptance of women modern "adventurers" as business women, doctors, journalists, autonomous workers etc, will prompt an acceptance and interest for female adventurers in fantasy worlds. Our society in only just getting ripe for this; it need time and I do believe we're getteing there just now. We are still living with the ghosts of the 20th century, but the fact that we're discussing this with a different approach than 20 years ago fills me with hope.
My generation has a lot to change, if only in how I raise my kids for a fairer 21st century. Sexism is only one of the so many inequalities we need to face, but its a battle we'll have to fight on many fronts. Its quite baffling actually; I hope I'll be able to raise my daughter with the feeling that she can feel and be feminine without denying the femininity of those who are different, and that while there nothing wrong with being the princess, there's also nothing wrong with not being the princess. I hope I'll manage to raise my boys knowing that one can enjoy cooking classes AND watch football with the boys (or Hockey here; I'm Canadian eh), and that they can be heroes without huge biceps and a six-pack of death.
Dick DMs, like dick players, can be insufferable. What can I say, dicks be dicks...
As for 1) through 4), I generally agree. 1) Is mostly subject to interpretation, sanity isn't always a game designer's forte either...
As for 5) a game doesn't have to use ALL published material to be complete. Core is enough to play a complete game and some. The reason to use splat are just as valid as reasons not to use splat. And yes, there is such a thing as too many options, even if all options are equally valid, fitting and pertinent (which in 3.5 was unfortunately not the case).
The way I see it, each "cruch" supplement is a set of published houserules, which brings us back to point 1)
Thus you may like it or dislike it, but IMO, there's nothing "dick-y" about restricting a game to to core, or one supplement, or some supplements, or all but one supplement. For that matter, there's nothing "dick-y" to play E6, even if that leaves 75% of the material out (well not exactly, but you get the point). Whether you enjoy E6 or not is a totally different matter.
Right, Gotcha, I was just saying that the guy who provides a distraction while everyone else escapes is a buffoon so much as a hero.
Right you are, Radagast being a bit of a buffoon (in the movie) makes him no less of a hero. Closer to the script of Tolkien himself, Pippin from LotR can be a bit of a buffoon, and he remains one of my favourite characters. As Gangalf would say: a fool, but an honest one. But he didn't need to smoke pot in his pipe nor have bird crap on his jacket to make him so.
Similarly, Peter Jackson's "buffoonery" about Denethor makes him no less of a villain, and Faramir no less of a... well, I'm not sure how I should see Faramir from RotK, but it isn't the less proud but more clearsighted brother of Boromir that he should have been. Again, I digress...
As for the werebear, he's still only supposed to show-up in the next chapter :)
You could also houserule that Evocation magic isn't subject to SR, which seems to be your principal issue.
I thinks you could defend this houserule easily at any case. Resisting dominatation, paralyisis or polymorph is one thing, resisting magcal fire when you are not resistant to natural fire is another...
:) Gotta love it when the party's critters are smarter than the PCs themselves.
hah! Indeed.
tangent:
I had an elven thief-mage back in 2e AD&D, intelligent in book-smarts/street-smarts ways but not known for its common sense or attention to its surrounding. I used to forget my horse in virtually every town (usually having to exit by the back door rather quickly!)
When after two or three games we'd realize "oh crap, where's my horse!", the DM ruled that he'd somehow found its way back to me (didn't wanted to go into the inconvenience of my character being on foot I guess). After that happened three or four time in the campaign, it became "institutionalized"; the horse was intelligent (unbeknownst to me character of course), could find its way back, picked-up after my character who presumably would also forget half its gear after camp etc.
In retrospect that whole campaign could be turned into a Disney movie quite easily, princesses and all...
A friend of mine pushed that concept further playing a "paladin" in a high-level game. The "paladin" was an undercover celestial horse, while the "human" simply used the stats of the special mount.
So, that's what I ended up with when I did the 5 d100 results:
d100 Vegepygmy
d100 Girtablilu (centauroids with a scorpion-like lower half + claws)
d100 Construct-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
d100 Aasimar (humanoids with celestial ancestry)
d100 Sprite
So sit back and feast your eyes as I present to you..
Dark Woods campaign setting
In a continental-wide forest inhabited by good and evil sprites, clockwork-loving aasimars and their automaton servants survive in the wake of their ancestor’s war. Half-scorpion females known a girtabilius form an amazon fringe society, completed with the vegepygmys as the ambassadors of the forest. In the north a new evil awakes, and the fragile balance is threatened once again.
Overview:
Overview and History
The Dark Woods is the name of the vast forest covering the whole continent from one ocean to the other. A small sea intrudes in the south-east part of the continent, flooding into wetlands and bogs on most of that inland sea’s shore. The tallest mountains are on the western part of the continent, but only its highest peaks are devoid of trees. Even there, deep and narrow valleys exhibit the most treacherous vegetation. Far into the North, incredibly tall evergreens give immediately to the glaciers. Everywhere around, an endless sea awaits. The only clearings are those that one makes.
The continental forest ranges from subtropical to boreal climates but remains thick, dark and ominous looking wherever one goes. The Dark Woods are not only inhabited with sentient spirits and creatures, it is believed to have a will of its own. The vegepygmys believe they speak for it with their clicking and rhythmic beats.
The Dark Woods witnessed the arrival of the Aasimars and their automaton servants, their rise to power, their sophistication leading to decadence and their fall into folly and war. This later era is better known as the Woodland Wars, where many aasimars abandoned their former gods for the more sinister powers of the Dark Woods. The war grew on a continental scale, involving virtually every species, often on both sides of the battlefields. Even though the celestial-worshiping aasimars ultimately won, they are now a stagnant and traditional people living in their only city of Excelsior. The rest of the continent is littered with the overgrown ruins of their former cities and the rusting carcasses of their clockwork soldiers and goliaths. Also harkening to those times, the girtabilius curse still affect many aasimar babies to this day, killing their mother and cursing their existence into exile with their scorpion sisters. Also since this era, the Dark Woods seems completely sealed from planar travel. While clerics still receive spell and communion, the gods won’t tell if this is their doing or that of the Will of the Dark Woods.
For the most part since the Woodland Wars, the Dark Woods lived on a fragile harmony between most races, but this balance is about to put to the test. A new evil is rising in the north and the west which has still to be clearly identified and understood. Whole cabals of cannibalistic sprites are on the run, and some vegepygmy tribes are committing darker deeds than their usual. Undead creatures rise before the Woods claims them, and the girtabilius sees foreshadowing of ancient prophecies…
Player Character Races
Dark Woods setting offers a choice of five playable races at character creations: the traditional and clockwork-loving aasimar, the rational and crafty half-machine half-magical creature automatons, the amazon-like half-aasimar half-scorpion girtabilius, the wild and playful sprite and the forest-communing, plant warrior vegepygmy.
Aasimars These supernaturally beautiful men and women look human, yet emanate a strange sense of calm and benevolence.
more on aasimar:
Some millennia ago, the aasimars fell from the sky in a large arch of celestial make. Unable to go back to the planes whence they came from, the aasimar made new their home in the Dark Woods, raising a great civilization with the help of their automaton workers and soldiers.
Stranded in this world without ways of traveling back to their home, the aasimars remember the plains of Arcadia and the slopes of Mount Celestia in songs only. Still, they haven’t forgotten their old celestial patrons and their statues and idols ornate the streets and homes of their great city: Excelsior. But tough it seems that their gods have not forgotten them either, the aasimars remain still and ever a people in exile.
The aasimar form the elite of their society, with most menial and dangerous tasks performed by their automaton servants. Despite restricting them to the lower class, the aasimars proud themselves in being good masters and esteem their automatons as much as their own children.
Aasimar love clockworks of all sorts. From toys to practical devices, their city of Excelsior is a pleasant mix of woodland architecture and clockwork devices. Aasimar warriors are also known for their clockwork weaponry.
Automatons (humanoid-based construct wild card) These humanoid-looking constructs are animated with a combination of magic and engineering. The sound of the internal churning and turning of thousands of intricate springs, screws and gears follows wherever they go.
more on automatons:
Created by the aasimars to carry out their work and wars, automatons are sentient clockwork beings. Human-like more than in appearance, the ancient aasimars pleaded for their gods to breathe life into them. Automatons are assembled by the finest aasimar craftsmen and then animated by ancient rituals, giving them an intellect to think and a soul to live.
Automatons form the working caste of the Aasimar society. Although they are technically free, most automatons are content with the life of toil and war they were made for. Some individuals sometimes aspire to more freedom and space to express themselves, and seek a life for their own. Most become craftsmen, mercenary or lone peddler or trader, but some evolve as poets and sculptor. Such individual become heroes among their own kin but are perceived with mixed feelings of pride and bitterness by aasimars for unlike their masters, automatons can function without the need of food or sleep and can truly dedicate their life to their craft, generating envy and resentment.
Girtablilus The body of a spear-wielding woman rises from the front of this monstrously huge scorpion
more on girtabiliu:
The Girtablilus (used to name the organization, its members and the curse that affects them) is a group of deformed female Aasimars, born with the lower body of a large scorpion instead of humanoid legs. These women live deep in the Dark Woods in a secret kingdom of their own, honing their skills with bow and spear like the fabled amazons of Elysium.
The girtabilius curse harkens back to the Woodland Wars of the Aasimars, and although their enemies have been vanquished, their handiwork remains. Roughly one female Aasimar in ten is born with the girtabilius curse, whereas eight arachnoid legs, a large abdomen and a poisonous sting replace her legs (the forward legs develop into pincers during childhood). In most cases, the mother doesn’t survive the birth, killed by the poison of her monstrous offspring during labor. In older days, these monstrous women were abandoned at birth but a few were raised in secret. Over times, these monstrous offspring were given to girtabilius survivors until they formed a society of their own.
Today, the girtabilius form a group of amazons and rangers, interacting with the fringe of the aasimar society and protecting their land from the dangers of the Dark Woods. In return, the aasimar pay them a small tribute and hand them their scorpion-legged children. After all, the girtabilius are their daughters…
Sprites This lithe, diminutive creature looks like a humanoid with wispy, mothlike wings and long, thin ears.
more on the sprites:
Sprites claim that they were the sole and original inhabitants of the Dark Woods, and such may very well be true. As a race, the sprites are both light and darkness, but each tribe exhibits a clear affinity for either one or the other. Most still live the feral, primitive lifestyle they had before the coming of the aasimars, but some have become civilized under the influence of their new celestial neighbors. Small villages mimic the city and settlements of the aasimars, and their inhabitants aspire to a similar lifestyle with well-intentioned but clumsy results.
If some regions of the Dark Woods are plagued with cannibalistic sprites of shadows, some other parts are blessed with songs and music rivaling with the Celestial Choirs of Bytopia. Both feral and civilized sprites live in remarkable harmony with the Dark Woods.
Sprites venerate the Dark Woods in its many aspects, but the Painter of Life and Sprout Singer are favorites among brighter tribes. Tribes venerating the Eater of Flesh and the Endless Sea of Worms are usually the most sinister and better be avoided…
Vegepygmys Short, thin, and green, this small humanoid wields a spear. Tendrils of fungus dangle from its arms, midsection, and legs.
more on vegepygmys:
The dreaded russet mold stands as one of the chief dangers of the Dark Woods. Its spores can infect and kill a full grown creature in less than a day and whose corpse will be used as an incubator for creatures known as vegepygmys. Animals avoid russet mold areas at all cost, and most sentient creatures acknowledge the russet mold as one of the most malicious curse of the Dark Woods.
The vegepygmys do not see it this way however. For them, the mold is a blessing and the manifestation of the Will of the Dark Woods. Even more than the sprites, the vegepygmys venerate the Dark Woods as a single nameless, sentient entity. They claim to speak for it and act on its behalf. Vegepygmys cannot speak—they communicate via a crude language of rhythmic taps, beats, and clicks.
Whenever a creature is slain by russet mold, the dead body bursts to release up to six fully grown vegepygmys a day later. Typically, a veg pygmy keeps no relation to the body from which it emerges, but most retain a strange sort of reverence for its “birth corpse” and carry grisly mementos such as bones, teeth and jewelry. Approximately 1 in 20 vegepygmys are born as “chieftains” retaining some of the memories, personality traits and of its birth corpse. These often become leaders of vegepygmy tribes or adventuring loners. Some adventurers turned vegepygmy have been known to display affection for their former fellow adventurers, adopting the party as its tribe.
Campaign Guidelines:
Dark Woods Campaign Guidelines:
In the Dark Woods campaign setting, planar travel beyond this world is not possible. This means that conjuration (calling) spells, astral projections, extra dimensional spaces and other similar effects automatically fail. Creatures hailing from the material planes (such as most creatures from the summon nature’s ally series) and elemental creatures can be summoned normally. Teleportation spells and effects within the Dark Woods world function normally. Divination spells allowing seeing the outer planes or to commune with an outer plane being are also unaffected.
The five player races as described above are the most important sentient creatures of the Dark Woods setting. Other intelligent creatures are either considered rare and solitary, disinterested in civilization, completely out of reach of player control or particularly feral and uncivilized. In comparison, even the primitive vegepygmys should feel particularly apt to interact with civilization…
... so that's a start. I'll post more as I get more time to work on this. This has been fun! Thanks Mikaze!
The feat is called "Heavy Armor Proficiency". However, it is indexed as "Armor Proficiency (heavy)" so that it stand (alphabetically) next to the other armor proficiency feats.
Similarly, one cast a mass suggestion spell, even if it indexed and referenced as suggestion (mass) in the spell list (again for easy reference reasons).
There were talk of publishing a GG game under Steve Jackson's Games (GURPS I would assume), but I haven't heard anything about that project for a long time now...
also, I would love something in a world similar to Skyland; I love that type of fantasy...
But at the same time, if the gm spent a crap-ton of time creating a holy rollers righteous paladin setting, don't create a party of chaotically incline evil b@st@rds.
IMO, it is still the responsibility of the GM to assess what his players want BEFORE spending a lot of time and effort in creating the story.
To do otherwise, then blame the players for ruining the story, is unfair.
I'll meet you guys halfway.
While I agree that it's part of a GM's job to make sure that his/her group's interests are met, I'd rather have player that ca say "you know what, I don't feel like a goody-two-shoes game" instead of going "heroes sound like fun" and than make a bunch of Dirty Harry character...
Respect and responsibility for an enjoyable game goes both ways.
As a personal opinion, I find the lack of interest in doing the right thing rather deplorable, both in RPG and in real life.
I don't mind a troubled hero, a reformed villain or a good-hearted scoundrel once in a while, but the "Han Solo shot first" thing is only relevant insofar as he came back to save the rebellion in the end. Otherwise, he's just another random scoundrel...
Power corrupts. Player characters have a lot of power, and act as if they have even more because they think they're immune to the consequences of their actions.
Thankfully, that part of the equation i fixed a long time ago with a simple house rule. There is always someone stronger.
I find the thoughts roleplaying evil acts as an enjoyable hobby... disturbing.
I know the paladin is going to kill his enemies with his sword and that the Masterchief is out to massacre countless covenant aliens, but I walk away when violence become gratuitous and when videogames make you kill innocents for thrill/points.
I understand that violence is pretty engrained in RPGs and popular culture, but I'd rather watch a movie about how the detective finds the murderer than about how the murderer eviscerates its victim.
62) You inherit a two-handed battle axe from your mother's brother, an adventurer of renown. It's nice and magical and all, but why did he gave it to you, his wizard nephew? He wouldn't want you to just sell it, but he wasn't stupid either. There must be something else you don't get just yet...
63) You inherit the custody of your cousin, and the regency of her late parent's estate until she comes of age in a bit less than a year from now. You dearly loved your aunt and uncle, but by the gods did you ever hate their little brat daughter! She never missed a chance to ridicule you, and you suspect that half your belongings are in her room somewhere. It's been 5 years since you've seen her and hope she changed with age, because otherwise it going to be a long winter...
64) Your brother, reputed forester and hunter of orcs and giants, gods have his soul, has left you his old dog companion. The old wolfhound seems happy in your company, but you feel that if you invest yourself you could develop a deep relationship. Buy the Leadership feat and gain an animal companion as if you were a ranger of your level.
65) The town's old hermit has given you a single golden key. This is rather surprising as you met the old man exactly twice in your life, and never you though you made any impression on him...
66) The old baron has elected you has his heir, you that has fought for him, defended his peasants and saved them from the undead scourge. Everything as been made official, co-signed by the king's messenger, the grand hierophant's first templar and the high priestess herself. Now that the old man is on his death bed, his three sons are showing up and they aren't pleased with the succession...
59) You've inherited your family's small fiefdom. As the youngest of four sons, you've never actually though of becoming lord and never paid attention to the family's estate.
As it turns out, your father's charismatic rule has been the balancing point of a very fragile peace among neighboring fiefs; one false move on your part and this part of the kingdom topples into war.
Suspicious that your father and all three older brothers had to die in the same carriage accident...
60) You've inherited an administrator genie from your uncle, a reputed senechal. Rub that lamp and one of the best accountant of the genie's grant caliphate pops out to administer your estate! That seems to be the only task the genie can do - no wishes unfortunately...
Nevertheless, the exemplary administration of your land has attracted the congratulating attention of the king himself. Only, the genie has created a bureaucratic nightmare recently and your estate is all but paralyzed. Could you have offended the genie? Are your taxes sabotaged? Will you seriously have to hang your sword and battleaxe for an exercise of accounting?
61) You've somehow inherited your mother deep hope in life. Whenever you fail a saving throw against fear or despair (magical or otherwise), she can make a save for you to negate the effect. Regardless of the DC, your mother's hope saves on a 11+.
I'd also like to segue in a slightly different direction: Roleplay is about more than just description. It's really more about making choices based on your character's motivations and personality. Or that's how I see it anyway. How do you do that in combat? How much should you do it, especially if those choices aren't tactically optimal?
This,
Roleplaying combat isn't about describing the effects of your attacks; that's the DM's job.
For some groups, RPing combat simply means speaking in-character during combat, avoiding metagaming terms such as hit points, # points of damage, name of class and abilities etc.
Some go further and react in-character according to the narrative description of their DM and the psychology of their character, reacting to fear, hatred or confidence without saving throws and other game mechanics.
Some like to describe their attempts (attacks or movements), with the DM adjusting the DC based on how the description is "fitting" or not.
For groups who do like to incorporate RP in their combat, I heartily recommend trying Paizo member Evil Lincoln's Strain-Injury variant rule
In a nutshell, E-L's Strain-Injury makes the difference between blows that a character has evaded/parried and blows that were absorbed/withstood, and how those are recuperated.
In other words, its a great narrative tool for combat, while keeping hp abstract (somewhere in between RaW and Vitality/Wound) and with no adjustment on monsters/NPCs whatsoever.
38) You've inherited a foul-mouthed parrot. Your uncle always told you it really was a polymorphed wizard, but your uncle was also known for his sense of humour...
39) You've inherited an artistic-looking jar. Under the right lighting condition, you can see the silhouette of a bound humanoid creature in minumus containment.
40) You've inherited a magical sea-shell. It used to be paired with another as a communication device but its sister-shell has been destroyed. Now it only picks-up random sounds.
41) You've inherited a shop full of old artifacts and curios. If put for sell, the stuff sells well and earns much to your character. Only then will you learn that everything in the shop is cursed and kills their owner.
42) You've inherited your grand-father's sword and are expected to bear it proudly on your adventures. Unfortunately, it isn't a very good sword...
43) You've inherited your late father's griffon. You remember how terrified you were of that thing when you were young, and it seems to remember that too!
I probably shouldn't post to this... but I have to ask:
Can you guys really give a girl "utmost respect" while she is performing any job topless in front of you (GMing in particular)?
While I get what you mean, respectfulness does not = clothes. Some cultures are more puritan than others, different culture have different approaches to clothes and sexuality.
In some countries, you could ask "Can you guys really give a girl "utmost respect" while she is performing any job while showing her ankles in front of you". My wife's European and on hot summer days, she does goes around topless, and she does have my utmost respect.
I understand that this particular example is set in a particular context; that of a bachelor party. In this case, the "topless element" is meant as a sexual/enticing act but still, I'm positive that I can give respect to a women that tries to seduce me; the fact that some men seem incapable of doing so is another matter.
I enjoyed the movie but felt the time travel stuff made about as much sense as that in the Back to the Future movies. Definitely entertaining, but does not hold up to logic.
that's because you're not thinking fourth-dimensionally!
Though most surface ghouls live primitively, rumors speak of ghoul cities deep underground led by priests who worship ancient cruel gods or strange demon lords of hunger. These “civilized” ghouls are no less horrific in their eating habits, and in fact the concept of a well-laid ghoul banquet table is perhaps even more horrifying than the concept of taking a meal fresh from the coffin.
So, they apparently live their "primitive life", which I would suspect mainly consist in scavenging for food and hiding of... predators? I would assume some remnants of their previous civilized life, such as somes means of distraction/amusement/game and a basic hierarchy or pack structure (with the typical challenges etc).
Don't move or I'll shoot! AKA One false move and the elf gets it.
Think of all the movies where one character holds a blade to another chacter's throat, or where one group is held at gun/arrow point.
Dramatic dialogue & intense pressure ensues.
Good one!
Too many times has the lone player told me "nah, I'm at full health; I'll take my chance against the 12 crossbowmen. 42 points of damage? That's alright, I still have enough to escape by jumping out the 10th floor's window..."
*sigh*
Strain!
oh yeah!
strain/wounds is IMO the perfect platform to launch many houserules/variants/alterations AND an excellent narrative tool to treat most of these subjects before they even become an issue.
Nevertheless, it never fails to disappoint me when players nonchalantly waltz out of an "I've got you now!" situation by mere benefits of hit points. Similarly, my players are usually upset (with reasons!) when my villains escape their otherwise well-conceived trap just because the villain has enough hp to soak the attacks and run. With years, I have learn to dramatize the situation (while keeping the same result) both for player escapes and NPC escapes, but it remains a straining DMing exercise (no pun intended).
I'm not sure if it's the PCs' nature to always deny defeat or the DM's expectations to recreate Hollywood-style situations that is to blame, but these (potentially cool) opportunities for roleplay are usually lost.
Incecto-morphism (in which I would personally include spiders, millipedes and other "bugs") are indeed rarer but not nonexistent. In addition to to the formians and thri-kreen mentioned above, consider faeries and pixies with butterfly wings or dragonfly wings, the cricket-legged grig (or whatever is was called), the human-faced larvae of the lower planes, the hook-horror and umber hulk. It seems that most of D&D insectoid monsters were not made open content however, and not many were player-oriented...
The wizard only becomes a first level wizard AFTER years of training to master those few basic spells he knows: he's basically done high school and going on to university.
According to the random starting age table in the Pathfinder rules, this seems to be true not only for the wizard but also for the cleric, the druid and the monk.
It takes an average of 7 years after adulthood for a cleric/druid/monk/wizard to achieve 1st level (whether their training started before 15 years old is another matter altogether).
Comparatively, bards, fighters, paladins and rangers "graduate" in an average of 3.5 years after maturity, while it takes 2.5 years for barbarians, rogues and sorcerers to acquire their 1st level certificate.
And the instant you do that you are faced with population limits and the need for agricultural yields. Firewood supply, and rules governing the distribution of agricultural produce and other resources.
You mean game where towns are not excessively large and where heroes have to repel monsters raiding the townfolk's food supplies, or free the town from its winter-curse because its reserves of firewood will not last? Sounds like it can make up a good game.
A game doesn't need to keep up with economics minutiae, it only needs to portray themes that are coherent with the realities of its setting.
In order the dissociate spell level with character level, I'm looking for another word to replace the "level" of spells, even if spells remain organized in increasing levels of power and difficulty.
Ideally, I'm looking for a term that can be used both in character and out-of-character in game mechanics' descriptions for all classes and pseudo-european spellcasting traditions.
There has been other treads on this subject before, and words such as "degree", "circle", "orbitals" have been mentioned.
While the word "mana" does not directly apply, I'm open to Latin, Greek or foreign words describing "level of powers" betting than English.
... that being said, as far as houserules are concerned, I did add another weapon quality call armour piercing. In effect, armour piercing weapon gain a +2 circumstantial bonus against armoured opponents (both natural or manufactured).
Not all piercing and bludgeoning weapons get that quality, but hammers, picks, lances, longbows and crossbows do get it. Other weapons can acquire it as a +1 magical quality.
Personally, I always thought that people playing dwarves like Scottish drunken fools did so in order to move away from Tolkien's dwarves, until Peter Jackson had Gimli played like a drunken Scottish fool that is... Damn you Peter Jackson!
Well, drunken Welshman, but you get the picture...
err, meant no disrespect for Welchmen... or Scots... or dwarves really.
I've been re-reading The Hobbit for the kids at bedtime lately. We haven't reached the Lonely Mountain yet, but so far there aren't many mentioning of axes and armours and crossbows. It's all swords and bows and hooded cloaks!
Personally, I always thought that people playing dwarves like Scottish drunken fools did so in order to move away from Tolkien's dwarves, until Peter Jackson had Gimli played like a drunken Scottish fool that is... Damn you Peter Jackson!
There's nothing new with norse craftsmen dwarves, but I agree that the drunken Scot stereotype is getting old...
I kind of liked the Persian feel of Warhammer RPG's old chaos dwarves: dark haired with curly square beards and pointy Persian helms. I could see a Japanese/samurai/bushido dwarven society as well, living on concept of honour above personal importance.
Forever tinkering with rules and whatnots, here's this week's redesign: the longbow.
As far as these rules are concerned, there are only two kinds of bow: short and long. Both allows tension to be adjusted to user's strength to get Str bonus to damage.
- Short bow (simply called "bow") should be quick and unobtrusive, usable from horseback.
- Longbow should be more powerful but cumbersome and unwieldy.
Base damage difference is 1 point in average. I'm not sure if that's "enough".
Range increments have been standardized and simplified for ease of play, so the longbow's superior range isn't going to be a mechanical advantage. I've thought of giving it an "extreme" range, but I'm not sure if this is going to contribute to an adventurer's life as the long range already virtually covers the whole tactical map even on a large-ish table...
Longbow could benefit from increased Str bonus similar to how 2-handed weapons increase one's contribution to damage?
If the longbow becomes far superior, it could become an exotic weapon. This wouldn't be far from an historical perceptive. However, I'm also trying to write the exotic category off my games. I don't want to work at cross-purpose.
Crossbows, hammers and military maces already have an ability called "armour penetration", whereas these grant a circumstantial +2 bonus on attack rolls against armoured opponents (manufactured or natural). Longbow could possess this ability as well? ...or allow arrows with this ability?
Then there's the question of speed and wieldy-ness. I don't have speed factors ( and don't want them) but the short bow could grant a free attack on the first round of battle, or during surprise round? Is the high encumbrance of the longbow enough as a balancing factor?
Except, that thread did more or less lead to a prospective change in the stealth rules.
In a roundabout way. His initial scenario was ludicrous, because he's talking about trying to Stealth his way past opponents in broad daylight without cover. Trying to say the rules are broken by placing them in a scenario where they're least likely to work doesn't seem very helpful. I'm still of the opinion that the argument should have been about the lack of facing rules and that by the rules, everyone with eyes has a 360 degree field of vision, hence the reason the Stealth skill is hampered.
If only it were a ludicrously unrealistic scenario. I had so many things stolen in broad daylight with no 'concealed' or 'covered' area leading to the things I lost...
[edit] That being said, I do agree with you insofar as the tread could have take a whole different direction, such as 'facing' or codifying how someone could be busy or distracted enough not to be considered looking, even casually.
Every rule has its limit both in their interpretation and in the execution. I'm only vocal against them when something quintessential about the subject of the rule cannot be recreated with the rule itself. A bit like how stating that sneak attack can not be performed if your target has concealment. A sensible rule in most cases, but one that meant that adventurers where safer to lurk in dark alleys than on well-lit streets because darkness would grant them protection against rogues, thugs, cut-throats and other characters based on the sneak attack ability to deal significant amount of damage.
I don't mind people saying something is broken with the intention of trying to find a way to fix it. Particularly in the context of "This is a made up world".
no, no, I was speaking literally. I literally broke the core rules (at least my copy of it). It is a sad looking thing as it stands. ;)
Still agree with everything you have said so far. :)
I dropped one of my book in the washing machine once. Found it the next morning. I manged to salvage it but it's about 3 inches thicker than it used to be and literally bursting out of its seems. Now that's what I call rule bloat!
@ deathquaker
There's a fifth type of poster:
5) The people who just found something witty to say and want to share what they think is a brilliant joke, but an otherwise impertinent post (like this one).
I'm seeing an aversion to texting in general, which is just weird in this day and age.
You'd be surprised how many people just can't stand texting.
Disliking texting is one of the tamer of the "weird in this day and age" things that I do.
+1
texting is just as rude, if less intrusive, as having a conversation on the phone, or watching TV, or reading a comic book etc while you are with another person. I agree that it can be part of the expected interaction (such as reading the newspaper at the restaurant with friends or coworker) or part of the social event altogether (like going to the pub to watch the hockey game) but it most situations, it's just obnoxious and rude.
The sad part about this age is that because we can easily be in contact with others at distance, be forget to be respectful to those that are immediately around us :( What is done massively by users isn't necessarily ethical.
Back on the subject, technology can be both a tool and a distraction, there's no denying of it. It's not different from phones, TVs, comic books, i-pods etc. It even bothers me when someone is browsing RPG books for cool new feats or nice pics during the game; I prefer when this is done before the game or when we take a break. Same goes for texting, sending e-mails, browsing forums and making phone calls. I don't mind taking breaks if it means a better attention from all during the game...
My personal experience with a laptop has been non-conclusive. I can find info in physical book rather easily and when I can't (because of crappy index or something), launching a word or subject search isn't necessarily much faster either. I can pass the book around the table easier than my laptop, but I feel that this is going to change with tablets or readers. The laptop's biggest advantage is that I don't have to carry so many physical books, and having multiple windows open is marginally easier to navigate than having multiple markers in the monster manual. All in all, the laptop has been practical but not indispensable.
I have a felling that tablets and readers (as I have none atm) will change my mind about tech at the table.
Well if academics cannot agree why do we hope to do so in this thread? 8)
I think that as a fantasy game we can take some "artistic liberties". The game is by definition anachronistic already; we can afford some historical incoherencies.
So all we need to agree is on how we want the game to play...
As far as I'm concerned, animated movies have produced the best, most original and most fantastic stories that Hollywood came-up with in over a decade. There are a few really good films, but very few came to the level of Wall-e. The Incredibles was a better love-letter to american comics than the new Marvel movies, Hiccups in How to Train your Dragon was a more believable hero than in most fantasy flicks.
Apart from Pixar and Dreamworks, Studio Ghibly gave us wonderful things (god I love Spirited Away), Dragon Hunters from Futurikon simply mesmerized me the first time I saw it. Tintin was simply superb, regardless of what some people say.
I'm a BIG fan of animated movies, and Brave is definitely showing great promise. I'll go see it for sure! In the meantime, I'm trying not too get my hopes to high but with Pixar's portfolio, its gonna be hard...
