For great television about nerds and social misfits, though, I prefer I, Claudius to both BBT and Community.
(Complete with strangely chosen music)
You know, Doodlebug? Whenever I see Derek Jacobi I expect him to have a stutter. All because of I, Claudius. Yes, I know he was acting but I was youngish when I saw it!
Bigdaddyjug, it's up to you. It would take months to read all the previous 13 books. Can you wait that long? ;-) I cut straight to the last book, without rereading the others, and I was fine.
As for your other question, ask at a local bookshop.
If so, what's Threat Vector like?
The last book of his I bought was The Teeth of the Tiger, and I found it disappointing.
Also, the following info from his Wikipedia page:
Spoiler:
Red Rabbit (2002)In the early 1980s, CIA analyst Ryan aids in the defection of a Soviet officer who knows of a plan to assassinate Pope John Paul II.The Teeth of the Tiger (2003)Jack Ryan's son, Jack Ryan, Jr., becomes an intelligence analyst, and then a field consultant, for The Campus, an off-the-books intelligence agency with the freedom to discreetly assassinate individuals "who threaten national security", following the end of the Jack Ryan Sr. presidential administration. This book of the Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy introduces Ryan's son and two nephews as heirs to his spook-legacy.Dead or Alive (2010, with Grant Blackwood)The story picks up where The Teeth of the Tiger left off with Jack Ryan, Jr. and The Campus trying to catch a terrorist known as "The Emir".Against All Enemies (2011, with Peter Telep)A terrorist bombing in Pakistan wipes out Max Moore’s entire CIA team. As the only survivor, the former Navy SEAL plunges deeper into the treacherous tribal lands to find the terrorist cell, but what he discovers there leads him to a much darker conspiracy in an unexpected part of the globe — the United States/Mexico border.Locked On (Dec 2011, with Mark Greaney)While Jack Ryan Jr. trains to become a field operative within The Campus, his father campaigns for re-election as President of the United States. A devout enemy of Jack Sr. launches a privately funded vendetta to discredit him, while a corrupt Pakistani general has entered into a deadly pact with a fanatical terrorist to procure nuclear warheads.Search and Destroy (July 2012, with Peter Telep) (Cancelled)Threat Vector (Dec 2012, with Mark Greaney)Jack Ryan has only just moved back into the Oval Office when he is faced with a new international threat. An aborted coup in the People's Republic of China has left President Wei Zhen Lin with no choice but to agree with the expansionist policies of General Su Ke Quiang. They have declared the South China Sea a protectorate and are planning an invasion of Taiwan. The Ryan administration is determined to thwart China’s ambitions, but the stakes are dangerously high as a new breed of powerful Chinese anti-ship missiles endanger the US Navy's plans to protect the island. Meanwhile, Chinese cyber warfare experts have launched a devastating attack on American infrastructure.
Indicated that several of his last few books were co-written. Has he been unwell or something?
If it's found, then arguably it's randomly generated. So 5% is fine, or whatever percentage you prefer.
Say you roll 40 items. Two of them should be cursed. You could pick the two that seem the most fun, or roll randomly for which two are cursed.
Quoted here:
"Cursed Items
"Some items are cursed—incorrectly made, or corrupted by outside forces. Cursed items might be particularly dangerous to the user, or they might be normal items with a minor flaw, an inconvenient requirement, or an unpredictable nature. Randomly generated items are cursed 5% of the time."
So 5%, or 1 in 20.
Of course, you can make them as frequent or not as you like!
If it's in a shop, the curse effect might be known, for example, if it makes the temperature around it colder, or makes your skin turn blue when used. Some curse effects might not be known, and that's more likely for one-shot items.
If a curse effect is known it might affect the market value or not. Ie, if it requires certain skill ranks, race, class etc the market value is generally reduced (see "Other Considerations" on page 549 of the Core Rulebook).
It seems like this Andy just isn't interested in the game at all. The extra loot is a side issue. I don't think he'll be interested in playing through the campaign. Your best solution is to boot him, and maybe invite him back if you plan to run a more free-form game. You don't want him to drag down your and the other players' fun, do you?
That's interesting, Kalshane. Maybe that explains why (in the UK), Channel 4/E4 shows the first ten or so episodes of a new series of The Big Bang Theory, then has a break and shows the remaining episodes a few months later!
The rogue doesn't need to bother with the wizard's spell pouch. Just give him some oil of silence, which he then applies to a pebble, his belt, or whatever!
The Bestiary page 196 says, for lycanthropes
"Melee: A lycanthrope gains natural attacks in animal and hybrid forms according to the base animal."
The stats for a wereboar in Bestiary 2 has the wereboar with a bite attack as well as a gore attack. Boars and dire boars don't have bite attacks. So why would a wereboar get one? The quoted line doesn't mention it either. It's late where I am so pardon me if I missed something!
Dire boar mount for an orc cavalier 3
N Large animal
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +7, Sense Motive +1
Speed 40 ft.; ACP -0
AC 20, touch 9, flat-footed 20; CMD 20
(-1 size, +3 armour [mwk studded leather], +8 natural)
Defensive Abilities ferocity
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +2
hp 25 (3 HD)
Space 10 ft.; Base Atk +2; CMB +10
Melee gore (reach 5 ft.) +8 (2d6+10)
Abilities Str 24, Dex 11, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 8
SQ combat trained, link
Feats Armour Training (light)B, Improved Initiative, Toughness
So, just to gather people's thoughts, how happy would players be to see dire boar-riding orcs (that are cavalier 1s) as enemies? Using the general druid animal companion stats, but still large and otherwise using the dire boar's stats? So they'd have 2 HD, and so on. Is that how it would work?
Perhaps I should stat something up for you all to see...
Thanks for the great advice!
I just remembered the Beast Rider archetype from Ultimate Combat.
Here are some excepts:
Small-sized beast riders can choose a pony or wolf mount at 1st level. At 4th level, a Small beast rider can also choose an allosaurus, ankylosaurus, arsinoitherium, aurochs, bison, boar, brachiosaurus, elephant, glyptodon, hippopotamus, mastodon, megaloceros, riding dog, giant snapping turtle, triceratops, or tyrannosaurus. At 7th level, he can also choose a dinosaur (deinonychus or velociraptor).
Medium beast riders can choose a camel or horse mount at 1st level. At 4th level, a Medium beast rider can also choose an allosaurus, ankylosaurus, arsinoitherium, aurochs, bison, brachiosaurus, elephant, glyptodon, hippopotamus, lion, mastodon, megaloceros, giant snapping turtle, tiger, triceratops, or tyrannosaurus as his mount. Additional mounts might be available with GM approval.
So, still a horse below level 4.
I was considering the question from the point of view of bad guys, not as a PC. T-rexes might be going a bit far for most, but an unusual leader might have one as you say.
Alzrius, thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it overall. Just to address a few points:
The reason the succubus has greater teleport (teleport without error was just old terminology slipping through, sorry about that), is because it is the arcane bloodline bonus spell gained at 15th-level. The school power (enchantment) line shouldn’t have been there; when or if the book is updated, that should be corrected.
There are spells from the APG, UC, and UM included in the spell lists. For example, the CR 20 nymph druid uses stormbolts and winds of vengeance from the APG, and blood mist and polar midnight from UM
The halfling’s domains are listed, in the Cleric Spells Prepared line; that’s the Raging Swan style.
What are the correct CRs of the following:
Human fighter 10 skeletal champion-
(a) CR 7 (12 skeleton HD= CR 6, +1 for template), or
(b) CR 12 (2 skeleton HD = CR 1, +1 for template, +10 associated levels)
Human wizard 10 skeletal champion-
(a) CR 7 (12 skeleton HD= CR 6, +1 for template), or
(b) CR 11 (2 skeleton HD = CR 1, +1 for template, +2 nonassociated levels = CR +1, +8 associated levels)
Nymph wizard 10 zombie lord-
(a) CR 8 (20 zombie HD= CR 7, +1 for template), or
(b) CR 10 (10 zombie HD = CR 4, +1 for template, +10 nonassociated levels = CR +5)
