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CY 577 7th day of Flocktime. The Overking is gone. He has been gone for several months now. The joy of overthrowing his iron rule was shortlived. Nyrond and other Iron League nations invaded the Great Kingdom, seeking payback for all the depradations they faced for the many decades of rule by the House of Naelax. Count Dunstan of Knurl faces a dangerous situation. Emboldened by the chaos in the south, the humanoid tribes of the Bone March boldly march into the Blemu Hills, seeking to sack the town. Desperate to save his hardy little hold, the Count opened the gates to adventurers, some unsavory, to help stave off the tide of certain doom. You are all gathered in the "Gnoll's Head Inn" in Knurl, along with a crowd of many rough and tumble sell swords, cut purses and spell slingers, ready to hear the Count's announcement tonight. Ale flows freely and rumors of events to the south and the north are thrown about as haphazardly as the darts being played by the trio of drunken dwarves in the corner.
This first post is a summary of almost 20 years of role-playing, covering four seperate Star Trek campaigns, three of which were GMed by a friend of mine. I had the pleasure to play in them. We used the FASA Star Trek system, which is still the best. However, my affection for the True20 system and the desire to restart this fun long-standing role-playing tradition in my gaming group caused me to dust off all the old FASA sourcebooks and bring back a Klingon based Star Trek campaign, to be played at irregular intervals, with most of the original gamers. Here is a summary of events so far--remember this is all based on FASA's Star Trek universe, which was built on what we knew of Star Trek as of 1985-86 or so. Paramount rewrote most of Star Trek canon, but I like ours better. Stardate Event
I had a moment of panic hearing of 4th edition's release--then I realized that when my current GH campaign wraps up, my seven member gaming group still has two full Lvl 1-20 campaigns pending--Age of Worms and Ptolus, which will both be run using 3.5 by DMs other than me!......so I have plenty of time to digest 4th edtion and make an informed decision for my next full length campaign. My 3.5 books won't be obsolete for at least another 3 years!!! Whew....!!!! Maybe 4.5 will even come out before we give up 3.5....
I’m going to try a different approach to a campaign log with this one. I’m not sure it will work out as well as the narrative approach, but it’ll be quicker to write and serve the purpose of reminding the players and DM of past events as the campaign progresses. I'm offering my players one action point per game session if they post here to fill in some of the detail that my post may lack Sypheros 13, 997 YK
Sypheros 15, 997 YK
Sypheros 16-17, 997 YK
Rain and Geldren Holdfast are the children of Berrik Zerifarn, a renowned bandit lord and mercenary company leader who founded a rogue town on the eastern banks of the Delimbyr near the Far Forest. For years he led attacks and raids on whomever he pleased, forging and breaking alliances with humanoid bands, other bandits and even small communities. He acquired great riches and within a few years had several hundred able warriors, wizards and rogues under his command. He played off Hellgate Keep even, sometimes hiring his troops out to the devils ruling the place until Hellgate Keep was sacked and pacified by Turlang the treant and his forces is DR1368. Berrik Zerifarn's bandit-town, known as the "Holdfast" by his followers, avoided the same fate mainly because it was on the other side of the Delimbiyr river and the treants of the High Forest were loath to cross the waters. King Obould Many Arrows, the orcish barbarian chieftain, became Berrik's newest ally in 1370. Berrik's human raiders often went on missions where orcs couldn't go, deep into the Lords' Alliance territory. During one raid, Berrik and his son Geldren and daughter Rain went along. Geldren and Rain were Berrik's lieutenants and helped run the warband. Usually one of them stayed back in the Holdfast, but this raid was a major expedition to punish enemies of the orcs near Llorkh. Obould used the opportunity to sack the Holdfast and loot it of its riches. He then set up an ambush and destroyed Berrik's warband when it returned. Rain and Geldren barely escaped with a few followers, who drifted off or died off in their escape attempt, chased by Obould's assassins. Rain and Geldren made it to Waterdeep, determined to gather wealth and more followers and exact revenge on Obould and his orcs. They met Liandrin and Daedalus and were hired into their group of adventurers. Both Rain and Geldren thought it was a perfect way to acquire wealth and make contacts. Rain and Geldren changed their last name to Holdfast to reflect their burning desire for vengeance.
Admittedly, I am not a computer game fan. I never got into WoW, Everquest...there are very few computer games I really like. I enjoyed Neverwinter Nights during a time when my paper & pen gaming was on hiatus. I picked up Neverwinter Nights II with breathless anticipation and dived into it. About two weeks later, after trying to play about an hour a day to unwind with a glass of scotch....I no longer play. It's not even mental masturbation like Solitaire or Minesweeper. It's just boring! The stupid quests...the railroading inherent to all computer RPGs....I guess the visuals just don't affect me very much. I haven't played in weeks and every time I start I get frustrated after about 5 minutes because I'm searching some stupid cavern endlessly for some stupid plot necessary thing or person I missed and I can't proceed unless I find that one thing. Graphics? Nice, but baaaahhh humbug!!! I think I'm through with computer RPGs permanently until the next "generation of virtual reality" arrives....anyone else feel this way?
As my very first 3.5 campaign draws to a close in a few months (characters are now 16th level and the game prep and combat has slowed down to the point of virtual unfun) I'm plotting my next campaign. I won't actually DM my next campaign for at least a year, as I'm handing off the DMing reigns to a friend who's going to run Ptolus and our other game is going to switch to Age of Worms when it has run its course. Back on topic--I want to run my next campaign story heavy and magic items lite. Very lite....very lite....I anticpate the PCs maybe having one or two magic items between them by 7th level kind of stuff. Is there a quick and dirty way to adjust CRs for NPCs/Monsters who are stripped of almost all magic? Any advice on converting published adventures to an almost non-existent magic item setting? Why no magic? I'm tired of the math. I'm tired of having to deck out NPCs like Christmas trees just to challenge the PCs. I'm tired of the PCs walking into town with 43 suits of +2 studded leather they took off the dungeon residents, stuffed into a portable hole. All the frickin' calculations....let's just play!!!! Last game we lost almost 3 hours of game time to "shopping, selling and converting magic items." I could say that they can't do any converting, but I'm so sick and tired of the magic item logistics, I just don't give a sh*t. I haven't posted much lately due to work constraints, but I'd sure love some feedback from you guys. PS: I have Iron Heroes and while I like it, my players aren't ready for it yet and the token system annoys me, so that option is out, although I might stripmine it for some features such as the armor system.
Jeremy, I got your e-mail asking me about my manuscript that was due December 1st. I e-mailed it to you on November 28th, but since it may have been eaten, I just resent it to both your e-mail address and to the gatekeeper address, just in case. I just wanted to let you know here on the boards in case there's something blocking my e-mail. I use gmail and never had trouble before sending stuff to you guys. Let me know if you received it, either here or by replying to my e-mail. I'm currently visiting family and they don't have a very good internet connection, but I'll check tomorrow. Thank you! F2K (farewell2kings (at) gmail (dot) com)
I haven't read the whole adventure yet, as I just got the magazine today, but I love the way the NPCs are presented in "The Sea Wyvern's Wake." A very attractive and useful layout, with the NPC in its own different color sidebar with a little portrait on the bottom of a page. I hope that becomes a regular feature in future magazines. It's eye-pleasing and functional. Thanks!!!
They told me I was born there, but came to the Uthgard as a small child, abandoned by city folk who had lost their way in the wildernis. Now I am to return, to report back to the tribes about the foul alliance of city dwellers calling themselves the "Lords Alliance." Curse them and their stinking walls, blackened soot, tanneries and other foul alchemical perversions that encroach upon the wild lands of my people. I am Largo Deathfell, druid in the service of the Wild Hunt of Malar, god of beasts and the raw, savage power of nature. Now that my mission--to spy upon the enemies of my people--has been revealed to me, I understand why I was taught to read and write like a scribe when I was young. I resented it then, but see the usefulness of it now. The spies the tribes have normally sent have all fallen. Some have died trying to uncover the secrets of the city, but others fell victim to their own weakness. They have laid down with the harlots of civilization: whores, wine, lotus...they are the swine of the Earth and I shall wreak clawed, bloody vengeance upon them. My loyalty to the Hunt is well known to the tribal elders, who asked me to find out if it is true that the Lords' Alliance plans a spring war upon my people to cleanse the roads between them and Citadel Adbar, the gaping cleft of dwarven mining and a tear in the heart of Malar's mother herself. "The Uthgard disrupt trade. Their warriors demand tribute from us and steal our horses," say the fat city merchants, whose pockets are lined with blood-crusted gold, crusted with the blood of the Uthgard and the blood of many animals of the forests. Oh, they shall see more blood, when Malar himself tears their bowels from the inside! After saving my animal companion Barggh, a 12' tall prehistoric feeding machine from certain death at the hands of elves and humans who had hunted it into a corner (they screamed and wet themselves when I changed into dire lion form and shredded their soft bodies) I ventured to the the city called Waterdeep from Shining White, flying as a majestic eagle, running as a boar and tearing the throat out of a young logger who cursed Malar's name as he swung his axe into a birch tree. Barrggh, my reptilian friend ran alongside. It seemed the very trees parted at his savage anger. We came to the City several days ago. I left Barggh behind in a nearby copse of trees, to hunt and roam and claim a new turf, while I approached the open, dripping, stinking canker sore that is Waterdeep, the City of 'Splendors.' I call it Waterdeep, the city of odors. By Malar's tusks, the odor of so many people huddled together behind stone walls, trembling in the night, fearing the death that would await them should they venture forth into the gloriously dark forests around them, the odor...it is offensive. The Chief of the Griffin tribe sent me here. His tribe tolerates the Malar disciples. I will report back to him and what I find. On my last report, he told me that his tribe needed a permanent agent in the City and he asked me if I would do it. I would have said no, but a remarkable thing happened to me. One night, I swam in shark form into the grotto beneath Waterdeep to find another city beneath the one on the surface. Called "Skullport", this seedy nest of thieves was the literal underbelly of the city. I changed into my normal form and climbed into the underground city to find wondrous creatures of legend walking side by side with humans, elves, dwarves and other demi-humans. I saw mind flayers, dark elves tainted with the power of their foul spider goddess Lolth, githyanki warriors carrying greatswords across their nearly skeletal backs. Long cave passages stretched towards a place called Undermountain. This was the most alien place I had ever been to. The rock above my head and the lack of light made me feel dizzy and I ducked into a tavern to get a drink. Sitting at this bar was a person who would change my life forever--my previously unknown to me twin brother Xendrik (Xen). I thought at first he was a doppleganger but we spoke and it was obvious we were brothers and twins. He didn't look exactly like me, as he wore only a light moustache and I sported the full beard and head of hair befitting a disciple of the Hunt, but I knew who he was. He was a priest in the service of Mask, the goddess of trickery and thieves and was working with a organization run by an unscrupulous but fair trader lord who was building a network of agents himself. We ventured back to the surface through a hole in the floor of a bar called "The Yawning Portal" and spent the next few days talking day and night it seemed about our respective lives and childhoods. I revealed to him my mission from the Uthgard and he said he had no problem with seeing the towns and cities of the North burn, for Mask would find her shadows no matter how the dice of warfare were cast. We met his contact working for this trade organization (I'm thinking newly emerging thieves' guild), a human woman named Liandrin. She was very young, but had obviously seen much in her few years, for she carried herself and her shortswords with a deadly competence that simmered just below a smiling visage of a woman. She said she was putting together a team of associates who would work together to accomplish jobs and mission for her patron. She said the rewards would be great, but that we would also learn much about the nature and structure of the human dwellings in the North. While coin is always welcome for the things it can provide, the information and contacts I might make convinced me to agree to this association. Liandrin said my abilities as a shape-changer and caster of nature magic would be a welcome addition to her group. I met my associates a few times before we actually got commissioned to perform a job. Liandrin was our chief contact with our patron, although she said that we were all equals and were not bound to the jobs we were to perform. Her skill at moving unseen in darkness and striking suddenly with her deadly blades indicates to me that she is some sort of assassin or deadly scout. My brother Xendrik Voll, a warrior priest of the city goddess of Mask I've already mentioned as well. Our group was rounded out by a female of most agreeable appearance, Brehnna Stormwind. She was a sorceress, a beguiling female of prime breeding status, but she carried a greatsword slung across her back. Were it not for her habits of scented soaps and perfumed ointments, she would make an Uthgard warrior a fine wife, although he'd have to fight every day to keep her. The most curious member of our band was a most intriguing woman named Myia. She was a sun soul monk, a hunter of the undead (I agree with that quest most heartily, as undead are as foul an affront to nature as ever created by the arcane) but her obsession with right and order were most upsetting to me, as she seemed to advocate that man could, through law and reason, gain power over nature and thus thrive. I'll have to watch her closely to ensure she doesn't become a threat to me. She wields two sais (a short bladed weapon of curious manufacture) and is strangely silent and stoic. She also appears to be a complete master of her body and very disciplined, so while her philosopies may offend me, it appears she would make a deadly enemy. Deepwinter, Year 1373, Month of Hammer, 1st day:
We quickly learned that Sedakis Crane was imprisoned in Blackmaw prison, near the town of Dramis, about 50 miles north of Waterdeep along the road to Neverwinter. Brehnna gathered information by using her female charms upon bar patrons (but she ended up losing her coin purse, as some pickpocket snatched it from her unawares while she told sob stories to loosen the drink buying grips of the males seeking to mate with her). Liandrin and Myia went off to check their sources while my brother and I tried to learn what we could. I did what I do best. I took action. I changed into eagle form and flew north, reaching Dramis and the lit up Blackmaw prison by early morning. Lit up like a holiday feast, the prison sat in the hills a few miles east of Dramis. I settled into a tree and watched. A U shaped building surrounded by four guard towers sat near a dark hole in the ground that appeared to be the entrance to the prison. I waited for guards to come back from their debaucheries in town along the road, but no one ever came. Near dawn, I flew back to Waterdeep. While in flight, I saw a young adult red dragon hunting in the forest below. Nature most glorious...the order of things as it should be. Hammer 2 1373
By evening, I had caught up with my companions and we compared notes about what we had learned. Sedakis was definitely in the prison, caught with some fanfare a few years ago by a group of law-enforcing monks called the "Sentinels." More answers we would find in Dramis, hopefully. Even though they had met Barrghh before, my companions still didn't appear quite comfortable about bedding down while a 24' long, 12' tall killing machine scratched his back on the bark of a tree nearby. Nevertheless, we arranged a watch schedule and after a quick dinner of road rations, we bedded down. Near midnight, Myia awoke us, stating that four large flying creatures were approaching at low altitude. Midnight hunters....we were the hunted!! Glorious! A test of natural selection was to follow. We all awoke and readied our weapons. I cast "bear's endurance" upon me and Barggh so we could boost our health prior to the fight. I recognized the four hunters approaching as chimera, unfortunate arcane experiments gone awry. Squat bodies, goat head, dragon head, lion head, the experiment had managed to gain acceptance by mother nature and now breeds true. Four male hunter chimeras were approaching. Barrghh roared a challenge into the night and concealed himself as best he could, ready to pounce. Brehnna fired off a "fireball" spell at the first chimera, scorching it. I followed that up with a "flame strike" spell, bringing the creature down. I thank Malar for giving me this power, to match the chimera's fire breath ability with boons of my own. Then they were upon us, claws and fire breath and ice breath and butting goat horns, rending claws, hunting as they would. My companions, soft city dwellers as they were, acquitted themselves well. Myia lept like a gazelle, slashing and kicking with an artist's display of martial prowess I had never seen. Brehnna readied her greatsword but kept firing spells into the hunters. My brother fortified us all with a spell that gave us great heart and courage and Liandrin came out of the shadows to gut one of the beasts with her lightning-fast bladework. I changed into wyvern form after preparing a spell to enhance my natural form selection and flew into battle. I grappled with a chimera and stung it with my poison tail, but it resisted the poison and clawed and bit me in defense, causing some injury. Soon we had won the battle. Barrghh was slightly injured so I called upon the power of Malar to heal him. My brother healed the wounds of the others while I cast a cure moderate wounds spell upon myself to close my cuts and claw punctures. Hammer 3 1373
Hammer 4 1373
Top ten things if a gamer became President of the U.S. (not a political thread) (Non-U.S.--feel free to insert your own head of state) 10. The Oval Game Room 9. Security at GenCon would be a b%&+% if the Prez ran a table 8. LARPing on the White House Lawn 7. Someone would write an expose' on the influence and hidden agenda of the nerd lobby 6. White House Press Corps would have to roll up characters if they ever wanted a chance to get picked during the press conferences...'cuz the President only calls you by your character name!! 5. "must not giggle and ask how many ranks they have in sense motive when they ask me if I'm bluffing" 4. Intelligence briefings would have to be boiled down to stat blocks 3. Taxpayers would pick up a subscription to Dungeon and Dragon magazine for every ship, squadron or company in the U.S. military 2. President would get all of his dad's 1st edition buddies into his cabinet ;p 1. Monte Cook would give advice on how to handle a difficult congress
I wanted to take a minute to complement Jonathan Drain and Dragon for this short, but very useful article. I've always had trouble with coming up with balanced curse effects, particularly on the fly in the middle of a gaming session. This article helps a lot with this problem and is really useful for me, as a time-harried DM, to help judge curses on the fly. The greater bestow curse is a cool spell as well. I hope that the trend of short, useful articles that detail various niches in the game continues. I don't know if the intent was to write an article that is useful to DMs who are short on time, but I hope the trend continues.
I managed to find a phone number and spoke with his significant other and she told me that he's very busy and going to school and hasn't had much time for anything else. That's what I had initially thought had happened, but then his continued lack of communication got me a bit paranoid. I'm very relieved and decided to post this in a new thread so all those who care about Chris can notice it more readily. I'll apologize to Chris about the intrusion but we love 'ya, man!!! Hopefully I won't end up a victim of "Wingclipper's Revenge."
I had "active shooter" training today. We use simunition wax bullets to practice taking out Columbine style attackers in coordinated building entry and dynamic tactical scenarios. Lot's a fun, lot's of bruises, good training. During one of the scenarios I was supposed to play the part of a hostage who was supposed to run out of a room, screaming, begging for help and then running down a long corridor. I was having fun, so I got into it...let forth some blood curdling screams, begging for help and running down the hallway while shrieking hysterically. The SWAT guys running the training told me "hey, you're a good role-player." What do they know, huh?
My GH campaign is nearing a massive war. I want to do the following: Several of my players also play strategy games. I want to use a modified strategy/board game to "play out" a war in Greyhawk, at about regimental or battalion level. I want to play out the battles in this game over the Internet, between gaming sessions. I would use the 30 mile hex maps from the original GH set to resolve this war, keeping track of all unit locations at my house, with me feeding the players intelligence via e-mail and allowing them to deploy their troops, make their moves the same way, thus creating a nice fog of war. I'm quite willing to modify an existing medieval combat wargame system to fit my needs...but my question is--what game system would you guys recommend? I vaguely remember playing a medieval tabletop wargame with hexes and counters back in the early 80's, but for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. I don't want to get into tactical nitty gritty too much. I'm thinking one turn = 1 day....something like that. Any ideas or feedback?
I seem to recall a 3.5 spell that allowed wizards to read their spellbooks from a remote location, a divination of spell of some sort that allowed spellbooks to stay in a secure location, yet still be read via a sensor like a scrying sensor....can someone help me out? I searched and flipped pages, but can't seem to find it. Thanks in advance.
Yesterday I was running my players through the first test of the Smoking Eye--the test of Judgment at the blinking in and out of Celestia cathedral. They went down the stairs to find the mummy lord behind his desk. I read out the narrative portion of his statement. I tried to do a raspy, undead type narrative voice. My players wouldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes and asked me to repeat the narrative a few times, just for extra giggles. "What the hell is so funny?" I asked. "How can he say bebilith like that if he doesn't have a tongue?" Lesson--don't try to do voices. Go read that narrative block and try to do it with what you think a mummy lord would sound like...it is pretty darn funny.
Chris, The were_cabbages are getting a bit worried about you. No one has heard from you since mid May and you haven't been posting here. You're probably busy with school and work down in Galveston, but your utter and very sudden disappearance from all electronic communication has us a bit worried...just drop us a line and let us know you're okay--post here or over at the were_cabbage site. If we've pissed you off and you've stopped corresponding with us or you've finally joined the Peace Corps, that's cool too-just let us know so we don't continue to worry. It's just like you dropped off the face of the Earth (which you have every right to do, but we do get worried when a friend suddenly stops communicating) (We were worried about Ashavan too for a while, but he finally dropped us a line a few weeks ago--real world stuff can sometimes suck the bag)
I'm considering increasing the damage that crossbows do as a house rule. Composite bows can become strength bows because, presumably, a strong person could draw a bow with more draw weight, thus increasing the velocity and stopping power of an arrow. Some medieval heavy crossbows had a draw weight of around 300 lbs, while traditional bows topped out around 150 lbs at most. My only practical experience comes from deer hunting with a Barnett Demon Crossbow with a 200 # draw weight that used to put bolts halfway through a tree while the composite bow I had could never accomplish that feat (maybe because I was a girlie man, who knows?) Why would a crossbow with 300 # draw weight not get a bonus to damage if a composite longbow with a heavy draw weight can give the user strength bonus damage, not to mention multiple shots per round? So, I'm thinking that heavy crossbows should be eligible for the same strength damage bonuses that composite bows can get, for the same cost. The fact that they are a simple weapon would be balanced out by the fact that they take a full round action to reload. Thoughts? Disagreement by those of you with more historical knowledge than me?
I really have to compliment Paizo on the awesome Maps of Mystery included in recent issues of Dungeon. The "Cinderforge" in #137 is really nice and "The Forsaken Rift" in #136 was very unique and inspirational. I noticed the maps are related (Cinderforge & Forsaken Rift, that is--nice touch!) I've already used "Vault of the Deathlord" from #131 in my GH campaign as the lair of a Suel lich. Keep it up, those maps make excellent gateways for little mini-adventures or for stocking my campaign world with pre-mapped locations. Great time saver and very attractive maps--I love the sideviews and 3-D maps particularly. I'm assuming Christopher West is doing these maps, as the compass rose is his signature, yes? Great stuff....
Since Paizo carries PDFs from Silven--will you guys also distribute this PDF when it comes out later this month? I love backdrops and I had the honor to have a ringside seat at the creation of this product and I will order the finished version as soon as it is available..hopefully others from the Paizo boards will as well. It will be very, very cool.
I leafed through some old issues of Dragon on my lunch break the other day (issues from the early 80's) and there used to be a lot of non D&D stuff included in the magazine. I understand that Dragon is an "official" support vehicle of WotC's D&D line, but I would really like to see non D&D Wizards D20 products supported (even non Wizards stuff, maybe Wizards/Paizo could get a deal with Green Ronin, Kenser, et al.) Why? Even if you play only D&D, D20 products for other settings can be a great source of ideas. I was really bummed when "Polyhedron" left the pages of Dragon, then Dungeon. I loved that stuff...great variety and inspirational material--the Iron Lords of Jupiter d20 mini-game was just incredible, for example. In the old days, there were "Top Secret" adventures and articles in Dragon, as well as Star Frontiers and even an occasional article supporting a non-TSR game or setting. Even if Dragon just expanded to include an occasional d20 modern article, I would be thrilled. It would add some real nice variety and more spice to the magazine. Most of the d20 modern stuff I've found on the internet is dubious quality at best and I would really love to see some other d20 stuff covered with Paizo's high standards. ...a "class act" style feature to add some spice to the d20 modern base classes would be a really cool thing, for example. I know that there are many third party publishers of d20 modern material out there, but I'd rather get printed copies of high quality stuff every few months from a magazine I already subscribe to than try to hunt down, research and download stuff off the 'net' in PDF format.
I got #345 yesterday and after Oots, I read the Kostchtchie demonicon article and it is very, very cool. I could think of a campaign where the players have to face thralls of Kostchtchie and aspects of Kostchtchie and all this great background data was included. Awesome article!!! The rest of the issue was really good too...I definitely got my $8 worth (oh wait, I subscribe, I definitely got my $3.50 something's worth) The Were_platypus' equipment array class act is a really good idea. I've been kind of doing something similar for several years, but he put more thought and detail into it and it's one of those articles that's instantly useful in any game. The Sea serpent article is something I've been waiting for a long time without knowing it. It would be cool if some of them made an appearance in Savage Tide, but they're really good for any seaborne campaign. Overall, there wasn't any weak area in this magazine. I'm not a hopeless fanboy all the time as I've questioned some things Dragon does before, but this issue is just stuffed with useful material.
Anyone else excited about True Sorcery from Green Ronin, which is pending release? I dislike the predictability of D&D spells and this book appears promising to provide a possible alternative for some more free form style spell casting.
How many of you use or have used Crown Royal bags to store your dice? Are they a cheap cop out to a real dice bag or a gaming staple? I love them...I have a big one for my regular dice and a small one for a spare set to keep with my d20 modern stuff. I'm not much of a whiskey fan, but I personally believe the Crown Royal bag has had an informal but significant presence in the kit of gamers around the world, as I know I can't be the only one using them. In the past I've used commercial dice bags (kept coming open), a well made leather German coin purse (lost it, don't know what happened to it) and suede lined wooden boxes to store my dice, but I always seem to gravitate back to the Crown Royal bag, roomy, tough, light and you can tie it shut securely or loop the string around the top for easy opening. Is it cheesy or classic? What do you guys think?
My first 3.5 campaign has finally reached high level (13+). The party is a meatgrinder. There is only one +5 item in the party, a suit of +5 chainmail and the most powerful weapon is a +3 keen greatsword, so I don't think the magic is too much. ....I'm probably missing something and somebody can point it out to me please, but this high level play...well....it's a bookeeping nightmare. To present a decent challenge, I have to run complex monsters, CR appropriate NPC's with buff spells prepared, magic items, spells to keep track of, damage resistance, spell resistance, etc. etc. etc....the party hasn't seen an orc since 6th level and when they fight...I doze off by the time each one of them has gone through their retinue of full round attacks, each one of which involves 3-4 rolls, then rolls for damage, then adding it all up, keeping track of who got hit, who has what buff spell up, invisibility, blink, the list goes on and on and on.... Sure, the story is fun, but the combats are just a major pain in the ass. If I take shortcuts and try to throw some generic CR appropriate monsters at them, they walk through them like Grant took Richmond. I'm spending a couple of hours of game prep just on studying the stat blocks from Dungeon magazine or preparing my own stat blocks, making cheat sheets to keep track of all the magical effects and enhancements. I love the consistency and the clean mechanics of 3.5, but I don't remember the high level stuff being this much of a pain in the butt when I played 1e/2e...sure, it was complex, but there were no full page stat blocks that I recall. Also, the power curve is intensely different than in AD&D. In AD&D, I could throw 8-12 4th level fighters at a 10th level party and it would be a pretty tough fight with some real risk, but tonight I threw four CR9 supported by eight CR10 creatures at five player characters of 13th level and they hardly broke a sweat. Random encounter tables? I don't want 'em anymore. I can't even imagine trying to run a decent random encounter for a high level party (excuse for me about an hour guys while I study these stat blocks and take notes....screw it, "YOU GUYS ENCOUNTER A DRAGON" flip, flip, flip....here it is in the Monster Manual, all prepared and ready to go--instead of challenging them with good tactics, I'll just keep claw/breathe/bite routine for 3d6+24 pts of damage up. I enjoyed tonight's game for the story and the RP, but I cancelled the final combat encounter and knocked off early because I looked at the stat blocks of the creatures and just got a headache. I tried to adopt some timesaver mechanics, such as duplicating creatures and re-using stat blocks, but the players sense this and make snide comments like "hey, isn't this the barbarian prince from yesterday with a different color helmet? Let me guess, he has barkskin up...yep, he does, it is the same guy!" Anyone have any ideas for remedies for the high level blahs? I don't want to adopt a bunch of variant rules, as I'd like to keep things pretty close to standard 3.5. I
I'm not very fond of the standard d20 modern base classes--they're colorless and bland in my opinion. The prestige classes are generally okay. Are there other sources of d20 modern base classes out there that you have tried and might be able to recommend as an alternative? I'm thinking about making some slight alterations to some of the D&D base classes and using those instead, or allowing players to gestalt d20 modern base classes. I'm either going to run a freewheeling Dark continent exploration game set in the late Victorian era or a gritty sci-fi game of some sort, with d20 modern as the base system.
I've noticed that in all of the 3 D&D campaigns I run or play in, there is only one character (seventeen total) that wears heavy armor. No one wants those armor check penalties and speed reduction. Is this a common phenomenon? Could it be that just about everyone that I game with is obsessed with high dexterity scores? It really came to my attention when the party found a suit of +3 plate armor recently and no one wanted it. It doesn't help that there's only one true fighter and one true cleric among the bunch--everyone else is a barbarian/ranger/rogue something or other. Has your experience with this differed or been the same or have you not noticed this?
How about Paizo publish no campaign world specific conversion notes for the Savage Tide adventure path? Instead, Paizo has a contest among Dungeon readers for FR, Eberron and GH conversion notes, say 3000 words for each setting. Announce the contest early in the AP, so that DMs can ready their campaign specific conversions for the contest. Publish conversion notes guidelines on the website. The most entertaining, as judged by the editors, for each setting, gets published in the hardcover. The winner gets the standard writer's publication renumeration and credit. I think that might be fun and generate additional buzz about the product.
SPOILERS FOR #131 HATEFUL LEGACY Tonight was one of those classic D&D moments that will be remembered by my players for decades to come. I was running my bi-weekly GH game and running the party through "Hateful Legacy" from Dungeon #131. The party was trying to free a noble captured by the big bad evil guys, Kazgorva and Urgush (sp?). Anyway, this noble was strapped to a windmill behind the mud pits hiding the undead bad guys and was being dipped into the boiling waters of the lake behind him every minute, with a curse on him that kept regenerating him just enough so he'd feel the pain of being roasted alive every minute. The party was so freaked out by this scene, they used a wand of fly to fly up the wheel en masse to untie the noble and rescue him. Only one person was watching the shoreline--the barbarian/cleric. Kazgorva stepped out of his position of hiding and cast a flamestrike on the party, nearly killing the sorceror and wounding about half of them. Our hero, the barbarian 4/cleric 8 of Pelor flew towards the mummy monster, unlimbering his greatsword. Kazgorva cast "baleful polymorph" and turned the barbarian into a toad. Undeterred, our hero "raged" and "enlarged" (even though I know that he couldn't really use his domain and barbarian powers, but he was so into it, I didn't have the heart to tell him no) and declared that he was going to "bull rush" in flying toad form, hoping to distract the creature from casting any more spells. Unfortunately, he didn't know that the BBEG had an anti-life shell on him. The poor toad impacted the barrier and slid down to the ground with a sickening thwock....... ...oh, the poor player is going to have to endure months of toad jokes from the others. They ended up winning the battle (barely), but the flying kamikaze toad barbarian is already being talked about as a possible prestige class :)
Wouldn't that be cool? I haven't read the AoW because I'm going to get a chance to play in it. I would like a HC so our gaming group can give it to our DM because I don't want to lend him my magazines for that long. There are many adventures in those particular issues that I am running or going to run and I don't want to lend them out. So, for purely selfish and self-centered reasons, an AOW HC would be an immediate purchase for our group.
I would query this to Dragon if I had the mind and energy to do it. Since I don't, maybe one of you stat block masters might try. I think this would be an awesome timesaver for the harried DM who needs to suddenly expand an NPC's detail from Joe, Fighter 3, to Joe Mercenary, Fighter 3 with 28 hp, +3 Intimidate, Two weapon fighting feat, etc. I would like a Dragon feature article with partial stat blocks. What do I mean? Similar to the NPC tables on page 112 of the DMG, but with a tad more detail such as maybe three or four variations for each class, based on feats, with skill bundles based on the NPC package. How can I explain this better? Break down each class by 3 or 4 subtypes, based on descriptors (mercenary, thug, investigator, burglar, card shark, etc). Then assign standard feat and skill package bundles to each subtype. A DM could then use the class and subtype in his or her campaign notes to describe NPCs without having to type up a full stat block, but knowing that with the Dragon article, he or she could expand the NPC's detail when needed so that critical statistics are quickly available. NPC's are either just given a name class and level or a full blown half-page stat block. I want something in between, something where I can label NPC's quickly and be able to figure out their attacks, saves and most important skills in a hurry when necessary. Anyone else think this is a good idea? I don't care for stat blocks all that much, except of course when I need them NOW....maybe this could be a class act feature as well, expanding the availability of quick NPC stats to the classes from all the non PH sources.... For my campaign, this would be perfect for all the NPCs that have been given names and roles in the campaign, but for whom a full stat block isn't necessarily needed. However, aren't there a lot of occasions in your game where suddenly you might want to figure out (within a +/- margin of error) what an NPC's skill bonus is in a particular skill? What if there's a quick combat or something....quick labels associated with partially pregenerated stat blocks would kick butt, IMO.
What did you guys think of this series? I thought it was okay, certainly better than the D&D movies, although the acting was still pretty lame. The story had a lot of potential, but it seemed a little mishandled. I liked the late Roman/Dark Ages backdrop with mild sorcery...nice longship scenes and okay battle sequences. The actor for the main character, the blacksmith dragon slayer, was in my opinion, the low point of the series. I also didn't care for the implied "social" lesson in how wealth and power corrupts, but perhaps I'm just being too harsh. Max von Sydow was the high point....the queen of Iceland was okay too, but the king and the stereotypical scarred evil advisor were just a bit too cliche'. For a Sci-Fi channel miniseries, it was pretty good overall, IMO. Not as good as Dune, but watchable (once).
I just noticed something and wanted to start this totally off the wall thread about it--well, because there could be some theory there. All my gaming friends carry some sort of "preparedness" accoutrement. I have a swiss army knife on my key chain, for example. Others in my circle of gaming friends carry, Leatherman tools, Fairbairn combat knives, Gerber utility knives, other swiss army knives and similar things. By carry---I mean, they have these things with them no matter what.... Most of my friends who are not RPG gamers do not carry such things... Are we gamers secretly fascinated with the multi-purpose tools that don't increase our encumbrance category and allow us to tackle those little things in life that need to be tackled with the right little tool at hand? Is the Swiss Army Knife our secret set of thieves' tools? What do you guys routinely carry with you or in your vehicle? Is this just an aberration of statistics or am I on to something? Here's what's in my truck at all times: .357 revolver with spare ammo(I'm legal in all 50 states)
I'm not a survivalist or subscriber to "Bomb Shelter Monthly" but I've come to realize that for the last 20 years, I've always filled up the empty spaces in my vehicle and pockets with things that are handy to have "just in case." Has playing RPG's, where lots of time is spent on preparedness inventories for characters, predisposed my brain to think like I need to be ready to go "adventure" at the drop of a hat--totally subconsciously? Am I just a big weirdo? Probably.....
I'm considering picking up the Thieves World D20 books from Green Ronin to use for my next campaign. Are they any good? I loved the short stories and am getting ready to read the novel that came out a few years ago. I'm also thinking of placing Sanctuary in Greyhawk. I was thinking on the Wild Coast ca. CY580 before the Greyhawk Wars, about where Fax is now....make Greyhawk be the "kingdom" that Sanctuary is located in. I know it'll take some shoehorning. Any other locations for Sanctuary in GH that might be suitable? I don't recall there being a lot of detail of the area around the city...just a map of a peninsula and a few locations scattered about. I don't seem to remember that it would have been too difficult, terrain wise, to drop into an existing campaign, but like I said--I haven't read the D20 book on Thieves' World. I like the idea of putting Sanctuary close to the City of Greyhawk as kind of its dirty rival and the orc hordes of the Pomarj stirring to the south....plus the slavers are nearby....I really think it might be cool. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and feedback...
I'm pretty easy-going, especially on criticism of Paizo, but really: "Bow down before Baphomet, Demon Prince of Beasts" Hmmmm.....I'm a parent taking my teenager to the FLGS because they've been bugging me to buy them some D&D stuff. I'm a little nervous because I'm not in a traditional store, there's some weird stuff floating around....but it seems okay until......I read the cover of Dragon 341. Hmmmmm....I'm a parent going through my teenager's room looking for condoms or pot, stumble across his or her D&D collection and then......I read the cover of Dragon 341. Do we really have to make it that easy to make the ignorant attack our hobby? If you think I'm off base here, I welcome and want to hear your counteropinion. I know that someone might buy the magazine just because of the "in your face" article title, but are the additional sales that might generate worth the unwarranted and "off-the cuff" dismissive criticism? Maybe it is, please tell me if you know. I recently brought two high school kids into the hobby. The only reason they were allowed to play is because the parents know me and trust me and I gave them the whole "it's just a game sales pitch." This magazine, had they seen it at that time, would have probably ruined that.
I'm currently reading two books: The Triumph of the Sun by Wilbur Smith (Fall of Khartoum, 1885 in the Sudan, fictional heroic adventure novel set with the Mahdist-British war as a background) Day of Infamy by Harry Turtledove, what if alternate history book about what would have happened had the Japanese followed up the Pearl Harbor attack with a seaborne invasion of Hawaii.
Since I know zilch about publishing gaming magazines, editing gaming magazines, printing costs of gaming magazines, and most of all MARKETING gaming magazines, but I do know what I like...I'm curious how others feel and what the Paizo staff have to say. Dungeon used to be published in black and white, with a color cover. Maps were B&W, artwork was B&W, etc. If Dungeon went back to this format, but threw in a 4th adventure each issue, would anyone else support this? Would it be that much cheaper to print the magazine? I don't know...seems like it would be. Artwork and color maps are nice, but I don't need them. I'd much rather get a 4th adventure or some premium online content. Would doing that save enough money for Paizo to hire more editorial staff, or would sales just tank because the magazine isn't pretty enough for the impulse buyer in the FLGS? A lot of us Dungeon readers appear to be old school gamers...do we really need all that fancy color? The adventures are awesome--I want more of them--does the average DM really need to be impressed by the beautiful color of the map or does he just need a crisp B&W map that he can use to accurately run the adventure?
I just read Hateful Legacy in #131 and I really think it's a potentially great adventure. I loved the setting--very unique. The bad guys are pretty memorable, too. I actually plan on using it in about 3-4 weeks, maybe sooner, depending on the events of my next gaming session. However, I plan to change the setting of the valley to the Southern Hestmark Highlands that border the Vast Swamp. I will use an alternative adventure hook that ties into my own campaign instead of linking this adventure to the Hateful Wars. I don't anticipate that this will be a problem, but if any of you Greyhawk afficionados have an opinion, I'd appreciate the feedback.
What trips have you taken or what places have you visited that really got your creative thoughts flowing? What places in the real world made you think of how cool a place like this would be for D&D? I'll start-- Schloss Windeck near my old hometown in Germany..it's a ruined castle that's not on most tourist maps. When I visited there with my family in 2000, there was no one else around and the castle was fog shrouded. We parked our car at the base of the hill that the castle sat on, in the town of Windeck near Eitorf/Siegburg about 35km from Cologne, Germany. My wife, daughter and I climbed up to the castle through the cold, clammy fog and spent over an hour climbing around the ruins, discovering medieval graffiti carvings, 500 year old scorch damage and thinking about D&D a lot!!! From what I remember, the Archbishop of Cologne had a whole series of castles and strongholds that used to communicate via light flashes and could get messages around the whole region within a few minutes using that system. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Probably the most awesome D&D inspirational location I have been to. Descend straight downwards via switchback trails...go when few other tourists are around and half-close your eyes and imagine drow peeking around the stalactites. Smell the bat guano and sit outside the main cavern entrance at dusk when the bats take flight. Think about what it would be like to have to climb down into the cavern with just a rope, a torch and your sword to keep you company....faint dripping of water, distant hollow voices, fantastic natural scenery...one of my favorite places in the world. Four Corners area--Shiprock, Mesa Verde, San Juan Mountains--you go from a "Dark Sun" stark desert with monumental vistas and rock formations up into pine-forest mountains. Cliff-dwellings, primeval forests. The Durango-Silverton railroad trip made me think of the Misty Mountains and stone-hurling giants (maybe because it was thundering at the time.) Tangier, Morocco--I didn't play D&D yet when I visited there with my family when I was a little kid, but the narrow streets, street vendors, stalls, white washed buildings, camels, throngs of humanity, the exotic smells, the yelling hagglers, the snake charmers and sword swallowers sent to entertain the gawking European visitors, the harbor...I still remember it clearly. The "Hexenbaum" in the Nutscheid Forest on a ridge overlooking my old hometown of Waldbroel, Germany--an ancient oak tree rumored to have been used to hang witches back in the 17th century (probably not true, but scary enough for a 10 year old). My friends and I used to bicycle up there just around dusk...to stand there and touch the witch's tree as the sun disappeared and the dark forest got even darker...to ride home as fast as our legs could with only our little bicycle dynamo powered lights...the shadows playing tricks on your mind and imagining wart covered hags chasing us all the way back home.....
Does the protection from evil spell and similar effects only provide protection against creatures with the evil subtype (such as evil outsiders, etc), blackguards and evil clerics or does it work against any creature with an evil alignment? I searched the core books and couldn't find a clear rule on this. Can anyone tell me where the rule is or enlighten me? Thanks in advance!
I'm a bit stressed for time and could use a little suggestion or pointer. I have all Dungeon issues from #83 on and I need an idea for a good swamp adventure for 10th level characters. My party is getting ready to hit the Vast Swamp south of the County of Sunndi and I want to have something on the back burner in case they turn in an unexpected direction.
This may have been requested before, but here it goes: Since Paizo can publish non-OGL material and WotC proprietary material , how about comprehensive encounter tables including creatures from Dragon, Dragon compendiums and all the WotC proprietary monster manuals included in a future issue or series of issues? THAT would totally kick ass, because encounter tables that incorporate non-OGL material now are severely lacking. I really enjoyed the d8/d12 system by terrain type and climate that was presented in 1st edition MMII.
Since some of you have delved into asking very personal questions such as income, age, education level and (egads!) shoe size.....I think an even greater insight into the reader of Dungeon magazine may be what other magazines they read...so this thread may be the most revealing of all. Smithsonian
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