Sect's page

I scanned all four pages of this thread, and I can't tell if they are still looking for ideas or not.

If not, disregard. If so...

I've long had this idea of a city square with a HUGE hourglass set in some fancy bronze statue-like fixture. The hourglass takes 80 years to drain (or 60 years, etc.), to represent the average lifespan of a human. I think there's something depressing yet poetic about that. Compared to the longer lived races, time is our greatest enemy, and yet, our short life span explains our ambitious nature. Anyway, every 80 years (or 60, whatever), when the last of the sand drains, the people of the town gather and there's a big celebration in the square as gears or pulleys or something turn the hourglass over and it begins again. Maybe children born during this year are thought of as special. I don't know.

Also, I like the idea of a city with an underworld that is a *literal* underworld. Maybe above the sewers or below the sewers, but definitely below the street level. Old stone and brick passageways create a labrynth and another, darker, city exists below the real city. This is where the thieves' guild has its headquarters. Maybe the city was built on the ruins of a former city, once largely destroyed in a war, but the remains of old buildings underground remain. There are numerous hidden entrances in various old cellars all over town. All manner of sinister deals take place here. Whatever you're dealing in can be had here for the right price--if you're allowed to leave again, that is. And I like the idea that it is run by a roguish Guildmaster who refers to himself as "The Lord Below" (as opposed to the "Lord Above", i.e. the true Lord of the city above. Or maybe even "The King Below.") He has a "throne room" of sorts, with a wooden chair that has been painted gold and encrusted with cheap costume jewels. He's a petty tyrant with delusions of grandeur, but he's also a ruthless cut-throat who holds the title of Guildmaster for a reason.

Anywho, just some ideas...

As they already have a map, they're probably done taking such grandiose ideas for the city of Magnimar, but that doesn't mean they can't use it for other places.

Sect wrote:

Eyebite wrote:

Sect wrote:

Azzy wrote:

Kruelaid wrote:

I mean, and archaeologist doesn't need to play an instrument, does he?

No, but neither does the bard. With Perform (oratory), you can recite epic poems of myth, legend and history for your bardic "music" class ability. :)

Because, you know, you totally can't use Perform (sing). ^_^

Or, gods forbid, Perform (whistle), and whistle various John WIlliams themes.

That would quite possibly be the most annoying bard ever.

He just . . . whistles. And magic happens. Yup, from whistling.

I'm also seeing him as kind of like the guy from Police Academy who makes a bunch of sound effects. Maybe he doesn't even speak. He just whistles.

That bard would get attacked first in any game I DMed. ;D

... Uh... you missed the part about "John Williams themes". You know, like "Indiana Jones"? The topic that started the thing about bards... oh, forget it.

OOOOH This is so cool, you guys have me totally working on a bard character now. I just realized that perform oratory doesn't even have to be recite poems, it could just be a lecture. I've always wanted to play a character who was a irritating professor. (except I suppose that weird stuff happens when he lectures...)

...

... Okay, Eyebite, go at it.

Hey, guys? Brett already told 'em that it's not Greyhawk.

Anyways, thought: anyone seen the world map of Greyhawk? I mean the ENTIRE worldmap. That's right; the known parts of the world are TINY. Not even a tenth of the world.

Therefore... I'm not saying that anyone should do this (considering that this is kindof a new campaign setting), but, potentially, you COULD have this AP in the "Greyhawk" world, but in a completely seperate part of it. Kinda like Maztica and Faerun, yanno?

Sect wrote:

Azzy wrote:

Kruelaid wrote:

I mean, and archaeologist doesn't need to play an instrument, does he?

No, but neither does the bard. With Perform (oratory), you can recite epic poems of myth, legend and history for your bardic "music" class ability. :)

Because, you know, you totally can't use Perform (sing). ^_^

Or, gods forbid, Perform (whistle), and whistle various John WIlliams themes.

That would quite possibly be the most annoying bard ever.

He just . . . whistles. And magic happens. Yup, from whistling.

I'm also seeing him as kind of like the guy from Police Academy who makes a bunch of sound effects. Maybe he doesn't even speak. He just whistles.

That bard would get attacked first in any game I DMed. ;D

... Uh... you missed the part about "John Williams themes". You know, like "Indiana Jones"? The topic that started the thing about bards... oh, forget it.

Just wondering how you number your GameMastery Modules, D0, D1, W1, E1, etc., etc.? I apologize if this info is elsewhere and I'm rehashing an old question, but how do they relate to one another and what is the significance of the system?

Don't feel bad; I nearly asked yesterday, myself.

Mercenary=redshirt.

Watch Jurassic Park and Predator for inspiration.

Mutinous mercenaries try to steal the Sea Wyvern to get the hell off the island.

Dude, that would be AWESOME as a side event! Led by some of those pirates who survived, who had agreed to be "reformed" until they realized just how much stuff was going down...

Or something like that.

Now they can start selling those zero-G tequila squeeze packs at the National Air and Space Museum that we've all been waiting for. Label: "Genuine Astronaut Nourishment Packs".

Complete with space worm.

James Jacobs wrote:

Having written a few of them myself and having seen the final article... you'll get a little bit of both. In some cases, mysteries are just that; mysteries. In others, though, the TRUTH IS TOLD!!!

At least, as far as we can tell it's the truth.

Ah, so it's finally going to come out that the Lady of Pain is actually those three ratatosks wearing a robe and a mask with a ring of levitation? ;)

Fostering mysteries is fun, pinning them down and defining them usually isn't unless you bring in more mysteries and unanswered questions at the same time. :) And some mysteries are sacred cows with flaying shadows. :D

Maybe it's about why the heck there are EXPLODING COWS in Neverwinter Nights...?

Or maybe it's about that one guy from... Ironkeep? The half-dwarf and/or gold dragon guy?

Sect wrote:

On the other hand, Eberron is, by design, much harder to define. You have political intrigue up the wazoo, the creatures known for evil are not so much known for it now, and black and white is so blurred that you can't tell that there's something that's NOT grey.

As long as detect evil still works, yes you can.

You can set up the campaign so that there isn't overt, mandatory, immediate combat between creatures of different alignments, and you can encourage a theme where paladins don't wander around detecting and smiting evil at will, but that doesn't change the absolute nature of said alignments.
Even Eberron has to acknowledge this, with a special section addressing that conflict in Secrets of Sarlona.

As I said, it is inherent in the game system. You can mask it, but you can't eliminate it without mucking with the system, and if you go too far, you are not working with the core rules any more.
And before anyone starts ranting, I'm not saying that is good or bad, merely that you hit a point where you are really playing a different game system. As long as Paizo is using the OGL, the alignment system is going to be there.

Point taken. I was just referring to the more overt signs of evil and good. But your point is well taken.

Kruelaid wrote:

I mean, and archaeologist doesn't need to play an instrument, does he?

No, but neither does the bard. With Perform (oratory), you can recite epic poems of myth, legend and history for your bardic "music" class ability. :)

Because, you know, you totally can't use Perform (sing). ^_^

Or, gods forbid, Perform (whistle), and whistle various John WIlliams themes.

Kruelaid wrote:

I don't understand where this "D&D morality is black and white" stuff is coming from.

From the fact that each alignment has a plane assigned to it, with a very specific outlook.

"Good," "Evil," "Law," "Chaos," and "Neutral" have quantifiable values that can be attached to them, and have direct physical and metaphysical consequences, unlike in the real world.
There does remain considerable wiggle room, but at a certain point, you hit those absolutes hardwired into the core rules. So while you can modify their impact on your game, just like saying you play with different classes or levels, past a certain point, you are functionally not playing the core D&D game any more. That doesn't mean you can't, it is just a simple analysis of the system.

Also, I think he's referring to how evil (and good) is portrayed. Take, for instance, Forgotten Realms and Eberron. In Forgotten Realms, it's relatively easy to identify someone or something as evil; the Thayans are evil, Manshoon is evil, chromatic dragons are evil, Drow are evil (except those Eilistraee upstarts and the horde of rebel drow that began with Drizzt), and so on and so forth. No real shades of grey, or at least not until recently.

On the other hand, Eberron is, by design, much harder to define. You have political intrigue up the wazoo, the creatures known for evil are not so much known for it now, and black and white is so blurred that you can't tell that there's something that's NOT grey.

Alright, I may be reading into this one a bit much -

But the major thoroughfares visible on the Magnimar map almost look like they form symbols - kind of like crop circles.

Any significance to this?

I wouldn't worry about it; there are different ways that towns end up developing, at least initially. It can be designed in grids, wagon-wheel like, or, in D.C.'s case, eff'd up beyond all belief (to confuse invaders, was the reason. Not that it helped in 1812).

EDIT- Though... looking at it, notice one or two things. There's two standing stone lookin' things in the circles (one north of the two gate entrance, one near #14), and the area 15 is darker than the rest... hm...

DitheringFool wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

It is indeed a bridge.

Even if the realm was once ruled by giants...do see the flippin' size of that bridge?!?

Growing up in Magnimar I think I would be an archivist...and I would drink heavily.

Pathfinder #2 actaully has a prety cool illustration of Magnimar, as seen from the sea. And the bridge is even bigger than it looks on the map. Even cooler is the reason why the locals stopped quarrying stone from the bridge and decided to A) leave it alone and B) not build anything on top of it.

The district of the city under the bridge though, the disrict that almost never gets much in the way of direct sunlight? That place is pretty scary.

Ah, yes... where bulbous monstrosities, their once clean garments of wool now stained with strange yellow green liquids and covered in orange powder, huddle around tables and plot distruction with eachother, throwing strange multicolored stones and speaking strange words... before their mothers pound on the ceiling and demand that they come upstairs and do the dishes.

So, what horrible things that can only be whispered lie beneath that bridge? Slums ruled by evil, disease ridden princes of filth? Creatures that no man should ever have to witness? Barbara Streisand? We demand to know!

Actually, not really. With any luck, it's ONLY a pit that's a one way ticket to Asmodeus' parlor, though, knowing you guys...

One of the rules of my world is that some of the humaoid races - specfically orcs, ogres, goblins, hobgoblins and kobolds - are not true races. They are normal people of various races who have been transformed - corrupted - by magic into these new forms to serve the Nameless One. What I need is a spell that would do this. Of course only those of evil alignment would use such a spell.

I have found two similar spells which could be useful to base it on: Create Darkenbeast and Create Chosen One. Both are 5th level spells. Would my Corrupt spell be 5th level or should I make it higher? And what about a Mass Corruption which the evil ones could use to transform more than one at a time?

I'd love to hear your opinions on this.

I guess it would depend on the specifics of the spell. Does it alter their mental state as well as physical? Is it permanent?

Where's "Create Darkenbeast" and "Create Chosen One" from?

It is indeed a bridge.

Varisia is far from the first civilization in the region... the folk who lived in the area Many MANY years ago were pretty fond of building monstrously large structures. The bridge (the Irespan) in Magnimar's one of them.

They built them because they were egomaniacs with a lot of spare time on their hands, or because they WERE monstrously large...?

Awesome... getting our characters in one spot to interact is like herding cats... who are armed with knives and swords.

Hi, all.

Where in Greyhawk is Redshore? I have a couple of Greyhawk maps, but I can't find it on either of them. The characters I judge STAP for insist that they visit Redshore. I ordered Dungeon 92, but it's not here yet. But, perhaps I can at least point it out on a map. Maybe that shall satisfy their curiosity a bit.

Thanks,
Don Kenneth Brown
West Jordan, Utah

Redshore... doesn't ring a bell. Do your players play Living Greyhawk? It might be connected to whatever region Utah is.

Can you imagine drunk astronauts in space?

"Hold on, The Cheat! We're flying this baby to the mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!"

Honestly, I don't know what the big deal is. There's no white lines, what are they gonna hit?

Well, aside from Falcon's Hollow (which is built on the ruins of Falcon's Hallow) is about as far from Varisia as they have gotten around to describing yet...

Oh well. Gotta use what they deal you, I guess.

I took a quick glance at the background of the city, so I know a bit about the COnsortium and whatnot, and I figure that Geddoe, though lacking in wisdom, could see pretty quickly the signs of corruption. If you think that I'm presuming too much, then, please, reign me back.

Are there any inns near the docks (possibly the best place for my character to lay low in) that have cheap rooms AND a bath? Geddoe has gotten quite used to a higher standard of living, despite his lowly beginnings.

Sect wrote:

By the way, what are the common languages that a street rat, who spent several years jumping from town to town, would know? All I got is Common and Elven (considering the Forlorn, or whatever the street elves are called...).

Shrug... halfling? I don't know the setting well enough to hazard a guess

I'll leave it blank, then, 'til the Guide comes out. I was planning for either a thieves' cant or some sort of Varisian language, considering that they're considered a sort of Gypsy race.

By the way, what are the common languages that a street rat, who spent several years jumping from town to town, would know? All I got is Common and Elven (considering the Forlorn, or whatever the street elves are called...).

Hammith DM wrote:

Well, Human is the obvious choice, but pretty much any will do. Dwarf would be a good one, and elves could look pretty spiffy in bone armor. If you're looking for something a bit more exotic I'm somewhat at a loss as to anything that would really fit.

Also, if you have the Eberron book "Five Nations", I'd be willing to let you use the Bone Knight out of it since it fits your concept so very nicely. It would require you to take at least one level of cleric, though.

Hm... don't feel like playing Dwarves... might end up either Human or Elf.

Don't have Five Nations... I think... Nope.

Hm... Elf sounds better and better, though.

Update. Elf knight. Can we use traits from Unearthed Arcana? If so, then I'd like Relentless. +2 to checks to continue tiring activities, but skip straight from fatigue to exhaust whenever it happens.

Well, Human is the obvious choice, but pretty much any will do. Dwarf would be a good one, and elves could look pretty spiffy in bone armor. If you're looking for something a bit more exotic I'm somewhat at a loss as to anything that would really fit.

Also, if you have the Eberron book "Five Nations", I'd be willing to let you use the Bone Knight out of it since it fits your concept so very nicely. It would require you to take at least one level of cleric, though.

Hm... don't feel like playing Dwarves... might end up either Human or Elf.

Don't have Five Nations... I think... Nope.

Hm... Elf sounds better and better, though.

Sect, if you're indicating you want to join, all fine by me, just post a concept and what not. Take your time though, I won't be starting until we've got 4-5 players.

Here's me prelim:

(Insert name here) is a knight in the service of a kingdom/lord that is devoted to death, whether be the mere concept or the God. His order of knights is known for their grim personalities and their fearlessness, and sport bone white armor (still steel).

Upon completion of their tenure as a squire, the newly christened knight must undergo a five year journey, to examine death in the lands.

... Yes, I'm making this up off the top of my head. I'll clean it up.

Anyways, obviously, I'm going with the Knight class, though I'm interested in the Death Delver prestige class. Being a Knight, he's going to be a tank. LN alignment. Haven't decided on a race. Any suggestions? (Kinda tired of Humans right now...)

El raising of the hand like a school boy.

I'll go for it.

By the way, just for future reference, my time zone is GMT + 3, and I'm usually on from 2000 to 0500 in my time zone.

We... might be in trouble here.

We got a damn smart party, with four 13 and over in INT, and one average... but...

We got no common sense! Three of our people (the rogue, the wizard, and the bard, the three most troublesome!) have negative modifiers in WIS! Thanks for small favors, that we have a cleric with us...

^_^ This should be fun.

Sect wrote:

What's SRD for gold? Average or max?

Can't access the SRD right now...

I don't think the SRD lists starting gold.

PHB says: 5d4 x 10 (125gp)

So... uh... max gold, then?

What's SRD for gold? Average or max?

Can't access the SRD right now...

James Jacobs wrote:

Since the PHB allows clerics who don't worship gods to still function as clerics (see the second paragraph under "religion" on page 30), it's easy for there to be heretics in D&D. A heretic isn't recieving spells from his deity, but from the power of his heretical convictions. Which makes him all the more dangerous to that faith; he's living proof that you don't need to worship that god to function in many ways identically to those who do.

Which I kind of like, to be honest. It's more interesting to me if a cleric worships a deity because of faith, rather than just because he HAS to in order to cast spells. Puts worship of deities back into the faith category a bit...

Ah, but if you're doing real Greyhawk (as opposed to mock-Hawk like the PH gods), that is in fact not possible. But Greyhawk lore is filled with clerics being granted spells by gods other than the ones the cleric thinks is granting the spells, and in many cases clerics have worshipped gods that don't exist at all.

So... 8-Bit Theater's atheist Cleric who works "freelance" IS feasible in Greyhawk...?

Monte isn't complete disappearing from the gaming world, however. He is one of the people listed as being on the Gleemax Advisory Board.

"Gleemax Advisory Board"? What is that? Is it delicous?

Santito the Great Deductor wrote:

Karui Kage wrote:

I've heard of DMs (myself included in a couple campaigns) allowing player's to substitute a domain of the clerics to spontaneously cast from, instead of cure/inflicts. So a cleric of Wee Jas could spontaneously cast Death domain spells (if he took the domain) instead of cure/inflicts, etc.

Yeah, I know it's not the most original invention since the sliced bread in the supermarket, but, hey, it would be nice to see something like that in an official, professional product...

I believe that is in the Player's Handbook II.

Actually, I'm fairly certain that it's in Complete Divine as a feat...