W E Ray's page

It's not a problem.

It's certainly not ignored.

It's working just fine.

I'm a big Alignment guy and as such I argue that the Player determines what makes Alignment for HIS PC. The DM gets the monsters and the NPCs but each Player gets his and her OWN interpretation of what the Alignments mean.

So I have a specific agenda of what CE means for my PC. And my buddy has his specific agenda for what LG means for his PC. And we make sure, for metagame reasons that we don't conflict -- or at least, when we do conflict, we make sure that it doesn't adversely affect the game -- that it only adds to the fun/ dynamic of the roleplay.

In an odd twist, it was actually the other Player that had to come up with a reason why his LG Paladin of Iomedae would join my party. Usually the "odd" or contrary Alignment has to come up with a reason to join the party, why/ how it would work. But I've been evil since day one -- my PC is a racist, prejudiced, slavery/ caste-system believer who enjoys torturing evil monsters before we kill them.

But since I've been here from the start and have become the spokesman for the party (uber-awesome Diplomacy and I like that role anyway), the new PC has to think of a reason to join us.

It'll all work out just fine. We're all experienced and mature gamers and we're not gonna let some silly interpretation of Alignment disrupt having fun in our precious free time.

Yeah, in our campaign tonight a Player had just built a Paladin (9th Lvl) to replace his killed Fighter. He entered a Fear aura and his mount, a Large lion, was unable to enter due to a failed Will Save (despite the +4 ally bonus).

It didn't affect my PC (a CE Ranger/ Anti Paladin) but it did make me question why a Paladin's mount wouldn't be equally immune to Fear. I couldn't find anything to support my opinion in the RAW so I didn't mention it in the game. But I wanted to ask the Lords of the Boards.

Just in case.

(I think I'll Houserule that a Paladin Mount gets the Pally's Immunities.)

Absalom.
Pure urban adventure -- and since everyone else wants it -- throw in points in The Spire of Nex Mega-Dungeon for 1/3 of the Adventure Path.

Cheliax and Andoran.
Something where the PCs are mostly playing in Cheliax but have to go in & out of Andoran, too -- dealing with a conflict between the two. Or, actually, not specifically dealing with THE problem but dealing with repercussions of The Problem. We can get a real 64 book on Cheliax, too, not that joke of a product "Companion to Cheliax."

Vudra (and Holomog).
Maybe the first volume enters the Matriarchal empire in southern Garund and runs there a bit before sailing to Vudra, to be run in Vudra for the last 4 volumes.

Taldor.
With a Qadiran threat looming in the background but still, all Taldor and everything that implies (Urban intrigue, decadent NPCs, deteriorating economy & society, ancient traditions and architecture, etc.)

Azlant.
With a volume, maybe and another 1/3 volume, in Arcadia

5 Kings Mountains.
With some good Darklands and maybe a bit of Kyonin.

I know there have had to have been tons of these by now but,...

Where in Golarion would be a good place for Zobeck?

Ptolus?

The Diamond Throne?

Yes, but the info I got from the first 90 pages of the novel is obviously a considerable amount more than Canonfire.
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BTW, thanks for posting, Erik. I like the name, Maelfesh, and I really like the freedom of adding a Fluff story for him without stepping on GH toes. I like to respect the canon whenever I can, but as much as a GH aficionado as I am, there are TONS of GH folks who know much more than I.

So, respectfully to Mona, if I can add (create) some great GH material to my game -- especially with Iuz, Graz'zt, and Iggwilv -- adding a powerful Demon Lord that GH masters don't know more about but still is canon -- without contradicting canon,...!

It's a Catbird seat.

(Perhaps what I can do is not unlike what Mona and Jacobs did in Expedition to Greyhawk in 3.5 where they created great new canon with a sidebar that explains away the publishing blunder of Robilar's betrayals.

There's nothing I can find in the RAW but it seems like a Paladin's mount would share it's immunity to Fear and later, Enchantments.

Does the RAW support this at all?

(Should it?)

Thanks Howie.
Thanks everyone.

Well, I know he was once Iuz the Old's "boss" and I know he has demonic interest in the Wolf Nomads and the rulers of Exag -- that's what I read from a novel. I guess the rest is up to me.

I think I'll carve out a large Abyssal piece (or entire layer) for him not too far from Azzagrat and say that at one point Iuz "left the family" to serve Maelfesh but after Graz'zt and Iggwilv finished their latest round of their I-imprison-you//you-imprison-me foreplay, Graz'zt smacked Maelfesh down and Iuz became totally independent.

I can have Maelfesh as an enemy of Graz'zt with long-term plans of usurping Layers 45,46,47.

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Today in class, in honor of this Thread (but mostly because my students have been exhaustively working and are ahead of my expectations) we played a game I called "Carroll Words," where the students made up Lewis Carroll-sounding nonsense words, wrote them down with definitions, and then named the word aloud. The rest of the class had to guess at what the Carroll word means and we competed at who could guess the closest meanings based on the sounds of the students' Carroll word.

Thomas Long 175 wrote:

Artanthos wrote:

Synthesist + Kensai.

You're never going to beat me on initiative and never going to hit my AC.

For extra fun, drop 3 levels of synthesist for 1 level of MOMS and 2 levels of Paladin.

Thomas Long 175 wrote:

Barbarian Druid. Because who doesn't love someone whose rocking a +16 to strength before items in combat almost constantly.

Only a +16 ...... {snicker}

If you want I can do better. I can reach 60 Strength without gestalt :P

2 alchemist
4 barbarian
1 bard
5 draconic disciple
8 druid

with eldritch heritage for abyssal bloodline :P. there you go. start with 20 put 5 leveling bonuses in it. 60 strength.

Synthesist gets into the 50's without dipping or gestalt.

PunPun still wins -- level 3 Kobold with a Divine Rank 1. My Ability Scores go to infinity. You're not beating that initiative.

And when you let PunPun Gestalt,...

I don'y know, like I said, there is a guild of civilized troll information brokers. They get by fairly well without being scum and villainy.

Sure -- like I said, it's probably just me.

The point I tried to make, though, is that while it would be easier for, say, a troll to be able to be something other than the stereotype, it would be nigh impossible for the Kobold. Kaer Maga seems to me to be a place where Tom, Dick and Harry, when they hear a troll say, "I'm an information broker," everyone agrees, "Why, yes you sure are." But if a little Kobold says "I'm a medical examiner," everyone would tell him to go get his shine box and slap him around for good measure.

That's how I see Kaer Maga.

So,... I can just make PunPun and add another Class as Gestalt?

Okay,: PunPun / Summoner

It's probably just me but I don't see Kobolds in Kaer Maga except as slaves and bantha fodder.

I see Kaer Maga a a retched hive of scum and villainy where dumb brute force advances more than the curious craftiness and intelligence of, say, a future medical examiner -- and where a physically weak stature would condemn you to a miserable life, despite your intellectual acumen. If a Kobold grew up in Kaer Maga it would be nigh impossible to grow into anything other than a wimpy slave (the expectation forced on him) or a really bad ass fighter (like a boy named Sue who learns to fight). If your concept were more of a Kobold Barbarian or Fighter, yes, Kaer Maga would be a good choice, but, for your concept I'd choose Katapesh.

In Katapesh I could see a Kobold being able to use his curiosity and intellect to advance and have a chance at a medical examiner.

Welcome,
Any relation to Willie Loomis?

I've recently become interested in the Demon Lord, Maelfesh and his brief history as Iuz's "Liege Lord." I read about 90 pages of the GH novel with Maelfesh by Rose Estes, but, as Erik Mona has said publicly, to paraphrase, it's unreadable offal and is best forgotten.

So, I'm hoping to get some info on Maelfesh without reading any more Rose Estes. Specifically, is there any info on his Layer in the Abyss?; any info on his past relationship with Iuz the Old?; Any other info on his looks, past, background, other relationships?

When I started looking I found Erik Mona had talked bad about him and the novels, so I'm hoping at least he, and some others, can at least give me some info. I really don't want to read the whole novel or any of Rose Estes' other books. It was pretty painful reading the first 90 pages of the one book.

Anyway, thanks for any info you can give me on Maelfesh -- I think he's got tons of potential in my homebrew. I'd just like to know the canon before I start playing with it.

What all do we know about the Fiend Sage that advises Lord Drax in Rel Astra?

All I know is that he corresponds with Iggwilv occasionally in the Demonomicon about Demon stuff, the Abyss and CE Clerics & such. But what all do we know about him?

Which Dragon mags with Demonomicon articles have info not merely written by him to Iggwilv, but actually have info on him? Or other sources in GH or elsewhere?

Thanks.

Greyhawk / Demonomicon of Iggwilv question from Dragon:

Where can I find some good info on Lord Drax's Fiend Sage in Rel Astra? I remember some of the Demonomicons were letters between him and Iggwilv but I want info on the Fiend Sage, personally.

Thanks for your recollections!

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Yeah, Rynjin is right, it's a made up word with no meaning.

Just like "vorpal": a made up word from the poem "Jaberwocky" with no meaning. Taking any one of Lewis Carroll's made up words that don't have any meaning and putting them in D&D is silly.

Who would accept "vorpal" as a useful word anyway?

Or "Jaberwock."

Or "Tulgey."

Or "Bandersnatch."

Or "Jub Jub."

For that matter, any made up word with no meaning -- even those that Lewis Carroll didn't create for his wacky writing -- such as "Demogorgon" and "Fraz Urb Lu" and "Aroden" -- has no business in D&D.

EDIT:

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When the speaker of Carroll's poem "Jaberwocky" takes his vorpal sword to slay the Jaberwock it isn't a plain old, run-of-the-mill Jaberwock, per say; Carroll says it's a "Manxome foe."

So, where in the Bestiary is the Manxome Template?

Come on Paizo designers and Lords of the Boards, I wanna throw a Manxome Lamia and its two Manxome Bandersnatches against some PCs.

Here's hoping a Manxome Template can be designed quickly enough to be included in a volume of Reign of Winter.

3E sounds right, especially in LG or something -- there's sooo much LG stuff out there that I don't know about/ have, it makes sense that I wouldn't be aware of it.

That's FR where they're all 21st level and up -- not that GH is too far behind FR.
;)

@ Hugo, what GH source are you getting that from, I'm awfully curious.

Razmiran may be a good place to look. He's 19th level and successfully masquerades as a god.

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I think we can also posit that more than one "Golarion" can exist.

The Core Book has three different XP Level progression tables -- this dramatically affects how often characters, NPC or PC, will level up. Couldn't this imply multiple Core worlds, some with more high level characters -- with faster progressions -- than others. There's also, of course, different point-buy options for Ability Scores. Not to mention availability of magic items (which are needed to defeat higher CRs).

Essentially none of you will play in my Pathfinder world where higher level NPCs are more common but PCs have slow level progression. There Razmiran is considerably more than 19th level and Ability Scores are very high all around.

But that's not your Pathfinder world.

So I argue there's more than one.
And one interpretation is insufficient.

They'd be prone at their new location though, I'm guessing.

Ah, but after the Surprise Skirmish the character is likely out of AoO range and can use the rest of his Move Action to stand up.

Thus the point of my starting the Thread.

From a prone position can a Ranger: Skirmisher use a Surprise Shift-5' Step without provoking an Opportunity Attack according to RAW?

Ridge is talking about the Strix -- a monster race also found in the Inner Sea Guide but illustrated remarkably well in the second half of the Pathfinder novel, Nightglass.

Based on the culture, society and personality of the Strix in Nightglass, they are decidedly not Scots with wings.

Not that you need to care about the Pathfinder novels.

Thanks guys!

These were exactly the posts I was hoping for.

I really like 13 Chains tall.
But I'm gonna have to play with perfect numbers, too.

Thanks Serisan,

In my Homebrew the Wall itself is a Metaphysical concept more than anything else. It extends metaphysically to infinity up and to infinity down. (This is more a hindrance to Gods and Archdevils and such doing Plane-altering megamagic than mere PCs casting 8th & 9 Level spells.) The physical wall, however, manifests as a Cold Iron wall around the City of Dis.

For the past 10 years or so I've imagined it very much like that wall, but now, for the first time, I actually need to specify the height for game-mechanics. I need a number.

So I'm thinking I want the number to have symbolic meaning; I don't want to randomly pick 300 feet (for example). And I figured I'd ask the other Lords of the Boards for some possible symbolic numbers.

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(BTW, Kthulhu: Not sure if you're interested (looking at your Avatar) but one of my gaming buddies is starting a Play-By-Post game, Pathfinder, RAW -- taking place on Earth: Florida, where Cthulhu has come -- it's a post-apocalypse, Modern Fantasy Cthulhu game using Pathfinder rules.)

In Dante's book, the city of Dis is the beginning of the 6th Circle of Hell, separated from the 5th by a wall. In D&D this wall, and Dis, are the 2nd Circle, but it's the same idea: a big wall around Dis.

Here's what I'm looking for -- if you were to put that wall in your Homebrew game, how tall would you make it?

I want the number (in feet) to have symbolic meaning, but I also want it to be a good size.

666 is a number for the Abyss (in D&D) and for "The Beast" -- Nero -- in the Biblical Dogma. 13 is a good option but a 13' wall seems kinda small, doesn't it? What are some other symbolic numbers I could use for the height of the Wall of Dis?

Thanks for the ideas.

Who gave the Sellen River its name? (I assume Taldor a gazillion years ago?)

More importantly, WHY did that society name it "Sellen"? What is the etymology?

Was it the name of a tribe of indigenous people, the name of the Taldoran who discovered just how big it is, the first Taldoran merchant lord to take advantage of it?... Or was it perhaps named by ancient Numerian Kellids? Or maybe it was named from ancient Pre-Taldoran Verduran peoples?...

From where did the name come?

Who gave the Sellen River its name? (I assume Taldor a gazillion years ago?)

More importantly, WHY did that society name it "Sellen"? What is the etymology? Was it the name of a tribe of indigenous people, the name of the Taldoran who discovered just how big it is, the first Taldoran merchant lord to take advantage of it?... Or was it perhaps named by ancient Numerian Kellids? Where did the name come from?

Thinking seriously about it -- I guess time commitment and campaign Fluff are my concerns.

To the OP, will the Fluff be more traditional D&D, high fantasy swords & sorcery or more Cthulhu/ dark modern-world fantasy?

I've been pronouncing "Dhampir" with the "D" but I just saw, in the Pathfinder Society "Additional Resources" doc., "an dhampir" indicating a silent "d." Is the "d" silent?

BUMP

Well, I'm getting ready to start using the PC as intended -- I started fighting dirty last session, although I still Provoke AoOs, and will start spending money to improve my CMB and such with my rapier and the Dirty Trick.

I'm currently Rog/1--Inq/4.

Any new advice?

I'll get him to read this Thread and check out the text y'all point out and let him go from there.

THANKS!

Yeah, he came to the Boards once or twice a couple months ago to lurk -- that was about all he had time for and, despite my encouragement, well, it's hard enough for him to plan for our one-on-one sessions.

He's enjoying gaming quite well but he's not likely to ever be a serious gamer (I'm just planting the seeds, you know.)

When I told him of my plans I think the inside of his head exploded -- but, without knowing much about vol 6 I can't say if his reaction was because of Irovetti's design and how vol 5 plays out in print (my assumption) or if vol 6 is so radically different and assumes I'm ruling Pitax completely and Irovetti is looong gone.

How 'bout this question instead:

Knowing what you know about Irovetti's personality from the text, combined with you personal preference, what do you think some possible reactions would be of Irovetti after he's rooted out from his palace, defeated, and then given the chance to live and keep his rule -- just through signing a treaty and paying restitution?

How may he handle it? He'd want to live and continue his reign, yes? Even with restitution?

I'd love some suggestions that I could pass to my DM so he can make his decision and feel more comfortable with it.

PS:
A few years ago I read big chunks of the AP and know that there's some powerful evil Fey pulling strings or planning something horrible -- since it hasn't happened yet I assume it has to happen in vol 6.

Also, on 3 occassions during vols 2 & 4 I encountered what made me think (possibly metagame-wise) that there was an evil Fey somewhere in the woods planning stuff.

So it's not as if I'm clueless on spoilers. (Though discretion is appreciated so I can enjoy the surprises as much as possible.)

THANKS!

Sheriff Hemlock in AP #1 is black and a Varisian in Sandpoint.

That's pretty early.

Here's what I'm facing.

Irovetti is losing this war (middle of Vol. 5) -- he knows it, I (PC) know it.

But I really don't want to rule Pitax. My plan is to defeat him in his palace (subdual-damage if he plans suicide or fighting-to-the-death) and force him to sign a treaty granting that he stays in power but....

He keeps two of my guys on as Councilmen or Advisers or whatever;

He pays restitution equal to 100 BP;

He disarms the rest of his eastern-front military and I inspect his holdings for armaments etc.

. . . .

That's the plan I told my DM so he could prepare for the end of vol 5 & finishing with vol 6. (I'm getting ready to lay siege to his palace next session.)

This game is a one-on-one Campaign where I'm running the sole PC with a gamer who has extremely limited gaming experience and no DMing experience. I'm helping him learn the basics of D&D while he's running the campaign.

Without giving spoilers to whatever is thrown in vol 6, can you give my DM (through me) advice on how to handle what the PC (I) is trying?

Thanks.

reference dotting

Regarding Pre-Paid Visa Cards (at least, my prepaid Visa) -- the only thing I can NOT purchase with it (that I know of) is a Rental Car. Everything else that I can get with a Visa I can get, but no rental car.

(As a matter of fact, I JUST got my prepaid Visa 24 hours ago after a month-long and pretty serious, ultimately unresolvable conflict of interest with my bank of the last 5 years and just renewed my 3 Paizo Subscriptions with my new Visa yesterday -- so the "dos & don'ts" of the prepaid Visa are pretty fresh in my head.)

What are the various ways one can pay for a subscription?

Voted
(Friday afternoon)

Voted for whoever has the best chance of beating the Republicans.

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BUMP

- Molech

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I remembered to mention this once in passing but I'm not sure if Will remembers; something else always seems to jump in the way and then I forget,...

When we get up from the bowels under this graveyard, after taking out this Necromancer, Carnivean is going to try to make contact with a Hell-Knight "recruiter" here in Korvosa.

Again, I mentioned he was going to do that already during one of the segued days but I don't know if anything came of it. But when Carnivean meets a recruiter or whatever, and gets some info, he'll become interested in pursuing the Hell-Knight Order of the Gate. (At this time he doesn't likely know anything about any of the Orders but he can learn.)

Now, since the Order of the Gate does not operate anywhere in Varisia he may not get very far, but I would like Carnivean to meet with someone about it.

I would saw LN or LE. With occasional LG tendencies.

LOL

One of the funniest posts I've seen in a while

Will, if you're really curious, the best way to find out is probably by asking in the Ask James Jacobs Thread.

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It sounds LN to me, using traditional views of Alignment.

But anything will work -- that's the fun of Alignment. One can be Evil and still want to "destroy evil." Any Good will work, too. A Player can say that his LG Player has been given authority (by Pharasma perhaps, or Sarenrae) to be "judge, jury and executioner." One could easily define giving "no quarter" as an attribute of Lawful or Chaotic, depending on how one views the concept of "no quarter." I think the only real stretch is Neutral, True Neutral.

But LN makes the most obvious sense to me.

- - - -

If you want to rethink Alignment so that it actually makes sense in a "one size fits all" guidelines set, (as opposed to the way it has always been designed where every Player has his and her own opinions about it) separate Alignment into two categories, moral views and personality: Evil/ Good is one's moral view; Lawful/ Chaotic is one's personality.

In this way you don't have people stupidly arguing that CG means "believes in freedom" as if LG & NG don't believe in freedom. Or people stupidly arguing that LG means "has to act like Sturm Brightblade" as if LG is some dumbass straight-jacket of stupidity.

And you avoid people stupidly thinking you can never tell a lie if you're LG cuz it's not "Lawful" (as if lying were a Chaos "thing" instead of a good-vs-evil "thing" -- dumbasses).

All kinds of problems are solved when you separate Good-vs-Evil from Lawful-vs-Chaotic.

For me, most of the "gods" are just powerful, epic level NPCs. Most are CR 26-30, but some are in the low 30s.

If you've ever read the FR novel, Finder's Bane, that book is the inspiration for how I see deities' powers. However, only a small handful of deities actually care anything about their mortal followers, unlike the book, so only a few PCs could even "call on" their deity. (Why would Cayden or Desna or Pharasma care anything about you?!?) I figure, if I'm Sarenrae and you're a Cleric of Sarenrae, you're my bi+ch; do whatever I say; you're nothing without me giving you spells. Nothing. Of course, that's considerably different from the traditional Fluff of a Cleric.

I'm not a fan of having a Deity answer those kinds of deux ex machina calls in a session -- unless you got a Miracle] spell.

What about this, since Dirty Tricks only affects a Creature for one round (I think), what about the cost of adding an enhancement that makes it last two rounds: of blindness, nausea, dazed, frightened, whatever?...

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I don't necessarily need 100 ways to leave town but I wouldn't mind 50 ways to leave your lover!