TheMetal1's page

Thanks for making the links, well links!

The Chick Tracks and Arguements on the webpage are over 20 years old, the list of people whose lives were ruined is dated with the last entry in 1988.

Anyway, All Games Considered did a descent podcast on the subject with multiple perspectives. Here is the blurb and the link:

AGC 101 April 21 2009 (What Would Gamers Do?) (1:17:08)

With Mark Kinney, Carol, Mags, David Mattingly, and Chris from the Jesus Geeks podcast. Remembering Dave Arneson. The US Monopoly Championships. What the heck is a speed die? Oh, yeah, apparently there was some kind of minor news about pdfs as well. A glance through Goodman Games' Level Up. A look at Christian objections towards gaming, and religious games and themes in games. A little feedback, chatter on upcoming episodes, and Mark's talking about forum alternatives again. What are your favorite episode from the last year, because we might do this Ennies thing...

you can download it here:

[url]http://media.libsyn.com/media/tashkal/20090421AGC-64k.mp3[/url]

go to podcast site for yourself here:

[url]http://www.agcpodcast.info/[/url]

or go to a podfeed and look up Episode 101 (21 April 2009) here:
[url]http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/10296[/url]

Don't know where you're at for your deployment, but my most recent trip I did something similiar. I brought along with me the Imperial Guard boxed set, along with the uber-paint kit, and a plastic baneblade. I figured I've got plenty of time and I'll just paint. Well, I actually me some other folks and we ended up painting and gaming. About 1/2 didn't know how to play the game at all (there were about 4 to 5 of us).

We mostly ordered direct from GW of their online site, but I called back to my FLGS and did a big order just to funnel them some business as well. Everything arrived in great condition.

If I was you starting from scratch, what heck - get the new paint kit and brushes, a can of primer order the boxed rule set, the space marine Codex and an Army carrying box. That way, with the boxed rule set you have orks and space marines and you'll be able to run thru the scenario with some folks that are interested. As you finish up the models order more. It gives you something to bug the mailroom guy about anyway.

If you look at the 2nd Edition AD&D they had Halfling Whistler, which you might be able to talk with your DM about using.

Have you checked out Twilight 2013, it might give you some ideas since your already considering Twilight 2000. They have a tiered approach for various levels of realism in combat, etc. What T2000 version were you looking at 1, 2, or 2.2? (Twilight 2013 is the 3rd edition of T2000 just released in PDF last fall.)

I've got a couple of Super's Games. Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Edition (Green Ronin), Heroes Unlimited 2 (Palladium,and Silver Age Sentinels (Guardians of the Order). They're all pretty good, but play a bit differently.

Here is my 2 cents:

1. M&M - Format: d20 based, no levels, points/skills based increases.

Availability: Most of the books can be bought in PDF or Hardcover. You can get the Mutants and Masterminds Beginners Guide for a few bucks on PDF if you want to see the general mechanics of play. Has a lot of expansion as mentioned in other posts to include third party input from their M&M Superlink.

2. SAS - d20 based, Class based.

Availability: Company that made it is now out of business. But you can still get the stuff on PDF. The d20 Stingy Gamers Edition comes with the rules and is about the same price as M&M's Beginners guide in PDF. Obviously, with it being OOP, you probably won't see anything new, but your imagination can provide more than enought options for you.

3. HU2 - d20 based, uses Palladium's Megaversal System, class/level based.

Availability: Palladium has a magazine they publish that supports all their system including HU2. They have setting material like M&M and 3 powers books to expand upon and you can cross over easily into the many and varied worlds of Palladium's Megaverse (i.e Rifts, Palladium Fantasy, Ninjas and Superspies, Robotech, etc.) No starter rules.

If your able get all three, they're all bit different, but fun. For $40.00 you could get the M&M Beginners Guide PDF, SAS Stingy Gamers Edition PDF, and the HU2 Rulebook.

Hope this helps, God Bless.

Congratulations to all the finalist. God Bless you all in your writing for the next round. I'll be praying for you all!

Jacque’s Seed of Giant-kind (Cloud Giant)

The seed is a walnut with a whitish blue hue. One round after planting the seed in the ground, a large, leafy vine 20 feet in diameter, bursts forth from the soil reaching to its full height. There are numerous hand and footholds surrounding the vine’s stalk, allowing for easy Climbing (DC 10). The vine stretches up into the sky for 1,000 feet, disappearing into a cloud. Anyone caught within the 20 foot diameter of the stalk during the round it appears must make a reflex save (DC 20) or risk being snagged by the vine. Failure indicates the person is caught up by the vine as it grows and is elevated 1d10 x 100 feet along the stalk. Treat the cloud as the Cloud Island from page 155 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide with giant-sized fruit trees covering the surface. From the vine’s stalk will be a winding path through the trees to the castle of a Cloud Giant (see page 120 of the Monster Manual for encounter details on Cloud Giants).

Strong Evocation; CL 17th; Craft Wondrous Item, Plant Growth, Control Weather, Miracle; Price 66,150 gp; Cost 10,000 XP

After reading and reviewing the other posts/submission and having time to think about it here is my own brief after action review. I realized I violated the SRD requirements multiple times, didn't explain the control weather, left out details i.e. what if it was planted in the underdark; and it may be more of a plot device than something useful to the PCs. Enjoy.