Madgael's page

Heya... Congrats on making the Top 32.

I have just been skimming so far and haven't made it through all the other items yet, but this is the first one to really catch my imagination.

I really like this item and can think of a number PCs I would love to go back a few years and retcon it into the hands of. (That made sense in my head.) Nice job.

Thank you sirs, may I have another?

Shackles of the Merciful Confessor
Aura faint enchantment and necromancy; CL 4th
Slot wrists; Price 25,250 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
Description
These masterwork manacles are crafted of highly polished steel inlaid with black and azure runes. When used to bind a creature of Small to Large size, their wearer receives a number of temporary hit points equal to its Constitution score and is warded from pain as if affected by a delay pain spell.

At any time, the binder (the individual who placed the shackles on the creature) may ask questions of the wearer. If the creature understands and is able to answer, it must do so truthfully, unless it resists by succeeding on a DC 13 Will save for each question asked. Success means the wearer may avoid answering that question entirely or may answer evasively as long as it remains within the boundaries of the truth, but it is also sickened for 2d4 rounds. Once the wearer resists a question, repeated inquiries demanding identical information do not require additional saves. However, a question altered to ask for a slightly different answer does require a new save to resist. This is a mind-affecting compulsion enchantment.

The temporary hit points and delay pain effect remain only as long as the shackles are worn on both wrists. On their removal, the creature reverts to the hit point total it had immediately prior to being bound (disregarding any healing received in the interim). If the wearer was dying prior to being bound, it remains staggered while wearing the shackles.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, confess, delay pain, false life; Cost 12,625 gp

(FWIW that's my last locally saved draft. I may have tweaked some wording once I was actually finalizing my entry...)

Maybe I need to come up with a magic item that aids in book burning, hmmm.

I think that would be the Mighty Greataxe Of Sundering The Sword Of Killing Hitler.

FWIW, the Greataxe can itself only be damaged/destroyed by striking it with a banned book (hardcover). Sort of a rock, paper, scissors thing when you think about it...

I can't speak for the others who got their RPG Superstar items published in KQ, but it was really awesome to see mine in print, credited to me, and complete with art. And much, much more valuable than the $10 or so a 300-word submission is "worth" at normal freelance rates.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Getting one of the items in KQ was probably the high point of my non-career to this point. The rush even helped me get over the typo in my item.

The Winklevii? That's a good example. The Winklevoss twins came up with a couple of the ideas, but Mark Zuckerberg is the one who did all the work coding Facebook and coming up with a viable business strategy. And the courts sided with Zuckerberg.

Hey, Spiderman helped too.

Thanks sir for all the encouragement here and elsewhere.

Even if my item gets ripped apart, I already feel like I improved from last year - when I foolishly remembered the deadline time wrong and failed to enter anything.

Feels good to get past that 12 months of self-flagellation, I tell ya...

"No Ruprecht... She is not our mother."

It would have been grand, we had Well Aren't We All Just Such Great Friends?, a pilgrims versus native americans RPG scheduled, but the game designer choked on an extremely dry falafel and is in surgery. The game takes place around that first feast in 1621 but brings in a Machievellian Houses of the Blooded type court intrigue. Poisoned turkey, backstabbing with corn cobs... alliances made in secret by burying rolled parchment notes in stuffing and cranberry sauce. this game has it all.

Expansion sets deal with the Spanish Thanksgiving and the Canadian Thanksgiving, both said to predate 1621.

Wow... That sounds fun. Sorry to hear this was squashed.

(Sigh.)

Yeah, I'm only a month and a half late. I know, I know...

"You've got the brain of a four year old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it."

And if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.

Hi,

I havent received this order. It states it was shipped July 29, so it appears to be in excess of the 4-8 business days estimate. Is there any chance this may have been returned for some reason?

Thanks

So I have recently moved to Eau Claire WI, and I was just wondering if there were any organized gaming groups in the area.

Graywulfe

Heya,

Not sure if you're still looking for a group, but I'm starting to recruit for a Homebrew PF Campaign in the EC area. If you're interested at all, drop me a line out at

Thanks

Ed you really don't have to do that. I told you I don't want you out of pocket and I don't blame you guys for it. :)

Seconded.

Ed Healy wrote:

If you don't have your books by then, or I don't have word from the publisher that they are in the mail, I'll personally buy them and get them to you.

You REALLY don't have to do that. Though, in my case, it's mostly a moot point: the Pact Magic books came in the mail today. Thanks!

Er... Thirded.

We broke into Shiny's compound that night... lots of explosions and broken glass. 80's metal played in the distance the entire time for some reason, almost like we had a soundtrack.

You're the best!

Around!
Nothin's gonna ever keep you down!
You're the best!
Around!
Nothin's gonna ever keep you down!
You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ow-own!

Thanks, Mairkurion. :)

And thanks to our ENnie prodders. Because of you... win, place, or lose, at least we managed to ENTER this year!

New Atomic Array in the works. If all goes well, it should release next Friday.

Yaaay.

Gotta go find my Thin Lizzy albums now...

How sad.

http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=418

Ah crap.

Fare thee well, Uncle Carl...

(sigh)

I don't remember being scarred by RotLA, but the thing that totally freaked me out as a kid was the "space vampire" episode of the old Buck Rogers tv show. I actually checked out some clips from the episode on youtube a few months back and it still got to me after all this time.

I do also have a vague recollection of having nightmares from some movie with an evil clown murdering people on a runaway train, but I'm not sure if that's a real memory or not...

flash_cxxi wrote:

Madgael wrote:

I would knife-fight a koala bear.

Dude you'd lose. Those things look all cute and cuddly, but get one riled up and they go all Wolverine on your Arse!

I knew a koala in prison who used to strut the halls in a sleeveless white T, black eyepatch and a bad attitude. His name was Ruckus Noruckew and he laid into newly arriving inmates straight away, setting the tone of their future time with a beat down and maybe worse. He had a thing for blondes and when that little bugger started buggering, it was impossible to shake him loose.

Reminds me of some stories I heard about Hitchcock...

Madgael wrote:

I would knife-fight a koala bear.

Dude you'd lose. Those things look all cute and cuddly, but get one riled up and they go all Wolverine on your Arse!

*sigh*

Ok. I would knife-fight a wallaby then.

Regarding spoiler #3: Balls getting bleeped would have ruined the perfect architecture of your set-up. I can't do that to high art. I just can't.

Pushin' the envelope... That's how I roll...

I would knife-fight a koala bear.

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

Japanese is an awesome language. Women say everything sweetly, men say everything as if they are passing a stone. May I be reincarnated in feudal Japan.

Very true.

And when men are talking to their wominz in private, they often take on yet another tone, almost an effeminate one to demonstrate tenderness

Projecting perhaps?

I accept that Rone is not a multiple personality of Ed's, but I was curious while listening if Danielle was a multiple personality of Rone's... Riffing on his Kazei 5 schoolgirl maybe.

Mairkurion's Loyal Mastiff wrote:

You make me wait for my favorite chew toy and then you talk of play?

Solly Cholly. <:) Believe you me, we're dining on stress sandwich for lunch today. This was the hardest thing we've ever encountered up 'til now. It was a remote interview and not only did our guest's audio not pick up (even after a audio test that sounded fine), but our secondary recording that records all three of us together didn't pick her voice up either despite us being able to hear her over the phone.

What a mess. We spent two hours trying to set this call up over two nights and it still didn't work. I agree with the Moonstew bigwigs. Oh poo.

You probably jinxed it by... you know... interviewing a girl.

Ed Healy wrote:

If knob turning ... turns you on: Anyone who would like to pay $1.99 per minute can watch Rone produce the show - live.

I'll even wear pasties.

AWESOME.

Gravy too please? Perhaps not for the purists, but yum, etc...

(Any yoopers in the hizzouse?)

So I already have the regular dvd of this movie, but just saw my local Blockbuster is selling the Director's Cut for $7. Has anyone seen this version? Has a lot been added? Worth the money to upgrade?

Alternate history scenario:

What if Ed and Rone were not the best of friends, but were in fact mortal enemies?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN LADIES!

Among other things, such as bringing attention to lesser known games, AA was a show put together to suit our own tastes - providing the type of entertainment we'd like to hear. Therefore, anyone who likes the show is probably a lot like us psychically. Terrifying, no?

Geez, way to go and ruin the whole thing for me...

Madgael wrote:

- Any plans for an upcoming episode on Gumshoe (apart from the blurb in the Gencon eps), or a recap of Colonial Gothic?

Madgael, perhaps our tastes are somewhat close. Many times, when E&R introduce another game system, I'm saying, "Dammit guys, I don't need no more steenking seestems!" But those two times in particular, I went all the way from disappointment to saying, "Okay, I need two more systems. Just two more, then, I'm done." Up Colonial Gothic, Up Gumshoe.

Amen. I just picked up a copy of CG about a week ago, so I am jonesing for more than the one ep really hard.

And I am reminded of how much there needs to be an episode on Gumshoe every time I call for a DC 10 Perception check to decide who spots the obvious and necessary clue to move on first, and then watch as the entire party promptly fails the roll.

Madgael wrote:

- I got a cd mix with a Barton-sized hole in it. (Now that's a phrase we all wish we had more excuses to use in everyday conversation...)

+1

I soooooo badly want the Open Design Theme Music (amongst others) to put onto one of my Flash Mixes...

If I +1 your +1, will we generate some sort of painful messageboard feedback?

::Prances through dewy meadows hand in hand with a swirling cloud of self-deceit.::

The best kind ever... I hate it when my self-deceipt settles.

And now a number of questions I always wanted to ask while in my car, but was too absent-minded to remember to type up later when I was actually in front a computer:

- "Blah de blah has arrived... Let's listen in."
Who? Forty-some episodes of trying and I still can't make this bastich out.

- Any plans for an upcoming episode on Gumshoe (apart from the blurb in the Gencon eps), or a recap of Colonial Gothic?

- Speaking of which, Ed's pick from the CG episode "Rabble In Arms" is the second book in that series according to Amazon. So start with that one or whichever one is the first?

- When is Samsara getting onto iTunes? I got a cd mix with a Barton-sized hole in it. (Now that's a phrase we all wish we had more excuses to use in everyday conversation...)

- Do you really want to hurt me? Do you really want to make me cry?

That's all I can remember just now.

Madgael wrote:

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

Also, Brian Hoffman is a dead man.

...no be cool...?

Look at the show note pages at atomicarray.com and you'll see how your entries garner some true admiration. Shiny was the last to comment aboutIn keeping how much he liked your work.

Thanks for the heads-up. I always forget to scroll down to the comments on the show pages until a few months after the fact. And thanks for the kudos and all. No pressure or anything for next time...

The Jade wrote:

In keeping with you passing the buck to him should your wife hear the entry, Shiny was clearly just getting a WWF fake blood feud going for a spot of extra entertainment.

That about sums it up.

No worries. I blame my silly Yoda voice for not coming through properly on my original post...

Also, Brian Hoffman is a dead man.

...no be cool...?

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

I had headphones on. :D

I was kind of surprised to hear b!~@*! But even if students had heard it, these are Community College kids.

RE the Scapegoat: HAHAHA! Still...

Yeah... sorry about that. I'm thankful I listened to the show and caught the error early.

I was wondering about that actually. You guys missed one in the previous show, so I wasn't sure if you just weren't doing bleeps anymore or if you just thought that one had enough artistic merit to leave it in.

Now that I know you guys are still paying attention to it though, I'll be able to unload for the next ep with a clear conscience...

Maybe.

What's the next stage up from Colossal?

Ginormous?

Congrats to all the Top 16!

Looking forward to seeing the next round...

Hi,

Can I cancel the Planet Stories part of my subscription? (At least until cashflow situations improve...)

Thanks muchly

One last huzzah for the Class of 2010 before our herd is brutally culled tomorrow...

SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULEZ!

Thanks again to everyone who's come to offer their thoughts and criticisms here on my monster and to those who have decided to give it their vote as well. Hopefully some of those who posted that they were on the fence couldn't get it out of their head for the next few days and felt compelled to come back and give it a big "yea"...

Hmm need a motto for the lahamu w/o giving it away...

Vote for lahamu, she bites?

Nope, still needs work.

Yeah, I've been pondering myself the potential lame-ness of:

The Spitfire Revenant - Hot enough for ya?

or

Vote Spitfire Revenant! He'll be pleased to meat you all in the next round!

Haven't read any of the other comments yet because I don't want to taint my impression.

The name kind of left me cold, I'm afraid, but beyond that I really like the basic concept of an evil light monster. And I could see PCs going into fits trying to figure out how to fight the thing, or a mystery-style campaign arc trying to piece together what happened to all it's victims after the fact.

Perhaps it would be cool if an ethereal creature like this were able to drain the mind by opening the rift directly inside the mind itself rather than just near the victim to distract them? But I guess it's a little unclear to me exactly how it does do it anyway...

Still... a pretty inventive idea here I am going to have to muse on for a bit more to get my head around. Nice one.

rational angles and humorless physics biting and grinding its very flesh, a liesinger cavorts around the underworld in a bitter rapture of madness.

Reminds me of my prom.

This is a really cool critter, Hydro. Sort of like a Magic Mouth gone insane and glam at the same time. Which is cool, cause it makes me respect that spell again in a way I haven't for a while.

It's already been said, but your backstory is really inventive, and while totally alien, I think maybe all of us as players can relate on some level to being cast aside by a twisted child-god. Or maybe that's just me and I'm projecting.

Lips simultaneously pitch-black and bleeding is a damn powerful image and one that I want to stop thinking about now. Cos it's good. And creepy. And I want to get to sleep tonight. Nice job w/ this one though...

That's a disappointment. I liked Saga, but I never got to play it more than one round at one con. Sigh.

Bill Dodds wrote:

Seth White wrote:

I'm looking to be at Gen-Con, but that's probably it this year, and that's really dependent on several factors. I don't think I can afford two cons in 2010.

I'm lucky in that I am friends with an older couple that have a double-sized retailer booth and often have extra passes. They know my love of rpgs and cons and have kindly offerred them to me severla years in a row. Last year was my first chance to go to GenCon since it was in Milwaukee. I usually take my nephew to Origins each year.

I haven't been to Gen-Con (or any rpg convention outside of Minneapolis/St Paul) since it was in Milwaukee, in 93 actually. I'm really hoping to be able to go this year.

I can really only get in one big con a year these days. (Have to save up my wife points.) GenCon will be the big one for us though this summer. I've only missed one in the last 10-11 years or so, a couple of years ago when my daughter was born. Indy is pretty cool though - you should give it a try (though Milwaukee sure had character, I'll admit).

Dennis Baker wrote:

FWIW after some deliberation I decided I would put a fairly brief critique of everyone's creature up. I'm slow though so I've only gotten to the first three so don't feel singled out if I haven't gotten to you or vise versa.

Thanks, Dennis. I am trying to do the same, but Real Life is kicking me pretty hard right now. Every bit of criticism is useful to a writer; it makes you see how others see your work. Hopefully, I will be able to put up my critiques before round 3 starts. Everyone involved should get as much feedback as possilbe, because that will make all of us better writers.

TM

Same here. Been kind of a rough week on the whole, and I'm feeling bad about not having posted much so far, especially on my compatriots' achievements this round. Hopefully I can get out there and get involved in the discussions a bit more this weekend (after a full night's sleep, et al). Oy.

Definite Silent Hill vibe here. That is a compliment.

Making this creature a fey was a jarring but brilliant choice. Obviously, I assumed it was an undead when I started reading, and finding out that it was actually a sentient nature spirit made it seem so much more horrible and.. wrong.

Possibly my favorite so far.

Thank you for this, Hydro. Seriously. It means a lot.

And for my money "jarring" and "wrong" are two words I am really, really getting a kick out of seeing in a positive review right now. Heh...

Thanks to all the judges and everyone here for taking the time to look at my beastie and shout out their opinions about it, be they loving or brutal. Hopefully you folks will see enough win there to give me one of your votes for this round.

Free venison jerky offered for every vote! (It's only slightly over-cooked...)

David Posener wrote:

Dennis Baker wrote:

I feel this way also, only problem is I don't know how fast you guys can run and it's not like I can trip you.

Wait...we're not supposed to be running towards the bear? Uh oh.

Only if you like its hugs.

Who doesn't like hugs?

Maybe it just seems familiar to me, it's possible from a movie or something. I certainly can't point to an item which does this.

I think the main bad guy had something similiar in the Legend of the Seeker TV series, though I have no idea if it was in the books too.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

Suspense

Kills!!!

Hmmm...

Note to self for next year...

Use Suspense Golem for monster round...

This item is just an awesome idea all over. And not just cause I have a cleric of Pharasma. This is total outside the box/body thinking.

There was something else I couldn't put my finger on at first. Thinking about it now, I wonder if such a cleric might not - when needing guidance, ask an ally to beat the crap out of him, then revive him a couple of rounds after he goes down, just to get some extra exposition out of a nearby spirit. Which is crazy, but I think a cleric of Pharasma is already usually half there anyway (crazy). And it also very much reminds me of that 80's movie Flatliners which I vaguely recall going to see originally just for Julia Roberts' bra, but which turned out to be a pretty neat creepy movie in the end. Need to revise my Netflix queue now...

Congrats, and I can't wait to see your monster...