Sissyl's page

Saw this yesterday. Loved it. Even if it isn't a fantasy/SF movie.

Okay, there was a discussion about this series in the RPG Superstar forum thread Feminine wiles. I think it would be a better idea to discuss the books in question here. Considering the nature of the series, again, a dedicated thread is a better idea.

My personal view is pretty simple: It's not the first literary description of an utterly failed BDSM relationship to make high profile. I am talking about The Story of O, of course. 50SoG can't do much to warp the view of BDSM that O didn't already do.

To be honest, though, the writing is abysmal, and my interest is pretty much nil.

As a place to consider threads that are no longer with us, I would like to dedicate this thread to the illustrious history of these boards. The rules are simple: Post a link to a thread you enjoyed, whether you were in it or not, that has not been written in for at least a year. The sub-forum it appeared in is of no consequence.

I will start with What's your current favourite word?.

I have been thinking about this on and off for some time. The fact is that the spell lists of Dungeons & Dragons, and by extension all descendants of those games, are riddled with old, faithful spells that have become the "expected core" of the magic system in every setting for the games. Magic missile, fireball, lightning bolt, invisibility, fly, haste, hold person, charm person, detect magic, know alignment, featherfall, protection from evil, mirror image, mage armor, shield are some of the more classic offenders. I can understand why, they give you a feel of familiarity.

However, sometimes, that's not what you want after a long time playing. I have had thoughts about making a setting where the elements matter far more than they usually do... and I run into magic missile, mage armor and shield. Force spells remain a staple of every low-level wizard's repertoire.

Another consideration is that these spells are often badly written due to not being seriously updated since the dawn of time.

So... what can be done? What happens if I just exclude them? What other spells will take up the slack? Is it okay to do this? Will the price in added confusion be worth the contribution it can make to a setting? Will removing a few, generally low-level, spells change the power level of the various spellcasting classes, and is this a bad idea?

I hope this is in the right forum, and I apologize for the coming wall of text.

I am, if I say so myself, a pretty experienced game master. I have been running campaigns on and off for a very long time now. Last few years, I have done Shackled city, Rise of the runelords and Curse of the crimson throne, with breaks due to work and family taking too much time. I have also been playing in others' campaigns, a variety of RPGs including Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire slayer, GURPS, d20 Modern, Dark heresy, and some others. I have also run a number of shorter games... but all of them published adventures.

Now, I have felt somewhat burnt out on D&D-like games. We stopped Curse of the crimson throne after episode 2, because I felt I couldn't play it as it deserved. I have played, which has been good.

I set my sights on Exalted. I wanted to make a somewhat simple campaign, start as heroic mortals, then only solars, in the western direction. I freed up time, I read... and something happens. Writer's block, perhaps. I feel like all my ideas are pointless. Most of the time, it feels like there are NO ideas. There is a lot of text involved in the setting, and I am no slouch at plowing through text, but right now it feels like I can't make sense of it.

At this point I don't know what to think. I haven't created for a game for years... but I so want to.

Please, paizonians... do you have any suggestions? I apologize if this is too rambling or personal, but I suspect there are others out there who have dealt with this.

Well this is a fine mess I got myself into. We played the end of Edge of Anarchy, and the heroes were mystified when the queen held an execution - because they had the executionee in their custody. Having hidden Trinia away, they still went to the execution and found that the queen sent another woman to be executed. Cue Blackjack and one dramatic rescue, and the heroes have now ended up with two young women on their hands: Trinia, and another, feebleminded, woman who nobody knows who it is.

Feeblemind is a brutal spell. It is permanent and not removable without at least a level 6 spell (Heal), something that only three clerics in Korvosa would be able to deal with. None of those clerics (high priests of Asmodeus, Abadar and Pharasma) are people the PCs want to talk to about this, considering the delicate situation.

Thus, they sent the women off into the countryside, but one day they will solve the issue by casting that spell, and I will be faced with a woman the queen found in the dungeons of the castle. Anyone have a suggestion as to who this might be? Any way to tie this woman to the plotline?

I win!

This was a major let-down. The whole game is excessively short, and while I can't fault the actual game play, almost everything else about it feels shoddy and forced: It's often not clear where you can go, the graphics are somewhat wonky, breakage has been simplified compared to SW:TFU1, there are rather few enemy types.

What's your opinion?

I have been the DM of a campaign running the module series set in Falcon's Hollow, namely Hollow's Last Hope, Crown of the Kobold King, Carnival of Tears, Revenge of the Kobold King, and Hungry are the Dead.

Spoilers will follow, so if you don't want to see those, turn back now.
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