Zyren's luxurious campfire... this time with marshmallows...


Play-by-Post Discussion

5,101 to 5,150 of 11,208 << first < prev | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | next > last >>

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Divine Gamemaster of the Abyss and below...

...by the spiked club of a wererat-ogre...:)


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Dungeon Master

Although I agree with most everything said here. I should also add that characters must be able to die, otherwise there is no suspense. If there were no consequences for actions, this would be a rather dull game. However, that being said, I do not think characters should die by something as simple as an unlucky roll. On a tabletop, I do believe in fudging the dice in the interest of creating a great story. Sometimes I fudge to favor the monsters and sometimes I fudge to favor the characters. In the case of Alchy, I think some fudging of the dice would have been appropriate, especially considering his absence. However, even if he was here, I do not think his death would have improved the story, especially considering how much his character adds to the game.

My players may give me a hard time for admitting this, but as a DM, if I need to fudge a dice roll, I sometimes add an extra perception check or some other skill check that will move the important dice roll down to something different.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Ultimately, it seems that most us are in agreement in one or another that the death of a character is needed to keep things fun and not seem like we just "Game Sharked" the thing for infinite lives. We also seem to agree that when you have a prolific poster like , Shifty, that he deserves to at lest be at the helm when his ship runs aground. Not that I believe that he would complain to discover he'd been offed, but there is always that question of would I be around if I had made the decision.

I have always been a fan of Crit Hit rules, but not everyone wants to chance losing an eye, or their whole freakin' head for that matter. I feel the same affinity for critical fumbles. Neither happens enough to be of the greatest concern, but when they do it so much fun. More so to me than yay I got another 2 points for that roll.

How do just the folks in that game feel about it? It would not shock me to find Perdition dead after not being around for 3 weeks, but it would to find Harl in the same state. Did Shifty's character take chances or play it safe? Unlucky rolls happen, less than they used to, but still they do. Play it as what you see as good for the game and for you.


Male Gnome Sorcerer/9 - (HP: 49/49 - AC20;FF17;T18 - F+5;R+6;W+7 - Init+9 - Per+11)

Not sure about Perdition, but so far he has been severely chastised by our alcoholic cleric and has gotten the party bard to attempt to trip him with anything that can be opened or closed.

--> It should be noted that we did drag Shifty's Harry onto a boat which might have been tougher had he been here since his last boat decided to go exploring the bottom of reefs.


Male Orc Expert 5

If it helps at all it should be noted that without the bite he would have dropped to -5 which is enough to drop him. Depending on the wererat ogre he might just 5ft shift over and thwack somethign else with that bite. No fudging necessary just that someone else has to get nibbled on.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Female Aasimar Cleric 10 hp 81/83; AC 22, FF 19, T 14; Channel Energy (5d6) [8/10]; Touch of Good [8/9];Agile Feet [9/9];Holy Lance [1/1] Fort: +12, Reflex +10, Will +17; Init +3, Diplomacy +19, Perception +17
Tirion wrote:
"Not sure about Perdition, but so far he has been severely chastised by our alcoholic cleric"

"Just because I worship Cayden Cailean and enjoy a glass of wine or a refreshing ale, does not make me an alcoholic! And in regards to dear Perdy, I still love him, despite his little pranks! I'm glad I sounded stern, because within I was nearly in tears from laughter!"


Divine Gamemaster of the Abyss and below...

The general attitude towards Alchy's death goes together with what I think. so I'll rulke in this special case that Alchy is downed to -5 (just like Karlan said).


Zyren Zemerys wrote:
The general attitude towards Alchy's death goes together with what I think. so I'll rulke in this special case that Alchy is downed to -5 (just like Karlan said).

I think that this is a suitable choice. You like it and they like it. On the ball rolls. Now the chance of death is still there if left unattended and your crazy monster got his bit of bashing in.


Dungeon Master

I agree. This seems like a good solution. However, we certainly are not in the clear yet!


Male Gnome Sorcerer/9 - (HP: 49/49 - AC20;FF17;T18 - F+5;R+6;W+7 - Init+9 - Per+11)

Obviously you need a tougher monster. I say next time make it an advanced vampiric half-fiend were-rat ogre. That should add sufficient bonuses.


Dungeon Master

Tirion, this is not the time for your input! We are having a hard enough time as it is!


Male Orc Expert 5
DM Harpwizard wrote:
Tirion, this is not the time for your input! We are having a hard enough time as it is!

If it me Vulturan would have been an archer. To make the back line sweat.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
VC - Sydney, Australia

Hi guys!

I am back, just resting up a bit and catching up on whats what... should pick up posting again in the next few days as I get to start returning to normal routine. Course went well and I was fortunate enough to pass... so I'm all set now for the final 35 day selection/assessment in July!

I see Alchy had a tough time, I appreciate the discussion and the outcome, and would have been a shame if he had have croaked in my absence, but like always, absence is no free ride from a casualty - though I appreciate the leniency :)

Cheers guys!

(I am so tired, and so smashed, that was a very hard 17 days... 12 hours missions, 8 hours of manual labour digging a defensive position each night, and 4 hours allocated to sleep, personal admin, and time to analyze and write orders. And during that 4 hours you also had piquets.


Divine Gamemaster of the Abyss and below...

Glad to have you back :)


VC - Sydney, Australia

Yeah so am I, a lot of posts to read though :)

But wow, just wow, what a hard fortnight that was. Roll on June/july now...

Grats BBB on your promotion too, hoping mine comes through in this mid year final selection/assessment.

Scarab Sages

male 1/4 Elf Lorekeeper???

Welcome back, Shifty. I hope you can take some time to relax, now.


VC - Sydney, Australia

Theres a mountain of paperwork waiting for me for the next 6 straight days I am working for, so I will finally have an actual day off (can't remember my last one now...!) to 'rest' next Sunday. I have to refurb all my equipment, and then go gear shopping for more kit.


Dungeon Master

Welcome back, Shifty! I'm glad to hear you are well! Good luck catching up with your paperwork and returning to normal life!


Shifty! Welcome back, brother. Man they really put on you guys out there. Thanks for the kind words. I hope all goes well for you too. Looking forward to seeing ya back around the joint. I head off to school in a couple of weeks and I may need the assistance of some of you math types on this one, haha. Any chance you'll ever be sent stateside for joint training?


Dungeon Master

Bilbo,

I am always glad to answer any math questions you have. When the time comes, please feel free to post them here.


VC - Sydney, Australia

Thanks guys :)

The purpose of this latest little endeavour is to basically cut the field right down, wasn't just about 'do you know your stuff' because to be there it was clear we had the goods, but 'can you do it when we relentlessly slam you?'.

45 of us rocked up, 24 didn't finish.

The good news was it highlighted a few areas for improvement for me to work on until June. If I make that I get my two pips.


@Harp Thanks, Harp. I have never been overly gifted with math so any help will be appreciated.

@Shifty How does rank work in your branch? Is that similar to a Captain in the US Army/Marines?


VC - Sydney, Australia

We have a similar system, sort of...

http://www.defence.gov.au/badges_of_rank.cfm

One pip - 2LT
Two pips - LT
Three - Captain
Crown - Major

When we head down this road, we all just become OCDT's - all former rank etc is rescinded.


Dungeon Master

Hey folks, I have a question, and I think the answer is yes, but I cannot find it in any of the books. I have a character with a hippogriff mount with a Fly move of 50 feet. Can I double this movement for a 'Double move', triple it for 'Run x3', or quadruple it for 'Run x4' just as I normally would with creatures that walk on the ground?


Male Gnome Sorcerer/9 - (HP: 49/49 - AC20;FF17;T18 - F+5;R+6;W+7 - Init+9 - Per+11)

Ok, I am probably prejudiced on this since I am the one who brought it up, but here is what I can find on the issue of "running" while flying.

It is not specifically disallowed --> Fly Running Messageboard Discussion.

Also, under the Fly description it references that while using the Fly spell, a character can Charge, but not Run.

Fly

Thus, under the theory of the inclusion of one indicates the exclusion of others, since they felt the need to expressly disallow running while using a Fly spell, versus never even referencing it in the other Fly related sections --> Flight Skill, Beastiary Flight section, etc. - I would say that you can Run dependent on how heavily loaded the flyer is. So with an armored Dwarf riding a hippogriff, probably 3x, or possibly 4x depending on how heavily loaded the hippogriff is.

Scarab Sages

male 1/4 Elf Lorekeeper???

Another 36+ hour sunmonday comes to a close and I am tired as hell, Good night everybody!


@Shifty Okay, well good job on completing the course. Good stuff.


VC - Sydney, Australia

Thanks BBB, looking forward to going back into the grinder to get the whole thing out of the way.

End of June it will either be 2 pips, or back at Christmas for my second chance. Otherwise its stripes on and back to enlisted ranks with the people actually having 'fun' :p


Dungeon Master

Zyren:
Your Faith of Sigmar came over the weekend and I just got it mailed off today. I sent it First Class Mail International Parcel which came to a price of $6.12. So the total I spent was as follows:

$6.95 +
$4.69 shipping to Vermont
$6.12 shipping to Germany

for a total of $17.76. They said that they could not guarantee how long it would take to deliver, but they anticipated about two weeks. I certainly could have sent it faster, but to send it Express would have cost about $38.00. I presumed that cheaper was a better in this case. If you want to wait until you get it before you pay me, that will be fine. By the way, I am still waiting for the shipment of minis to arrive from Germany. Did they say how long they would take?


M Golden God 13 Student / 8 Bard

Zyren:

Narumek der Unversöhnlich hat mir gesagt, dass er will auch in jeder Wettbewerb mitmachen. :)


Female Human Rogue-Knife Master/10 (Init: +4)

Feytharn, Zyren, and Shifty (or pretty much anyone not raised in the USA, or is within four generations of immigrating to the USA):
Wanna help me with another assignment? This one is asking me to discuss the different ways that someone who grew up in another culture than mine "learned to manage conflict and express affection". Specifically, what it is looking for are the ways your family handles these things, and how you see them as relating to your ethnicity/cultural heritage.


VC - Sydney, Australia

Sure I can help Bree.

Want to give us an indication of style/structure/volume so we can give a consistent layout of information?


Female Human Rogue-Knife Master/10 (Init: +4)

Shifty:
It's really rather an informal question on a small assignment, so it doesn't require very in depth answers. In effect, the assignment is based on understanding some of the stereotypes (while still acknowledging that stereotypes do not apply to all members of the group being typed) associated with the communication patterns of different ethnicities and/or cultural backgrounds, internally between members of a family and externally between the family and people outside of the family.

For example, we were given an article to read called Ethnicity and Families by M. McGoldrick, J. Girodano, and J. Pearce; in this article references are made to the different values different cultures place on verbal and non-verbal communication. Some of these references are:

"In Chinese culture, families may communicate many important issues through food rather than through words. They generally do not accept the dominant American idea of 'laying your cards on the table.'"

"In Sioux Indian culture, talking is actually proscribed in certain family relationships. A woman who has never exchanged a single word with her father-in-law may experience deep intimacy with him, a relationship that is almost inconceivable in our pragmatic world. The reduced emphasis on verbal expression seems to free Native American families for other kinds of experience of each other, of nature, and of the spiritual realm."

For the particular question, I'll need to apply some concepts that were previously discussed in earlier assignments as well, such as what constitutes a "family" in your culture? To you is a family the "nuclear" family, consisting of two generations, the parent(s) and their children. Is it an "extended" family, with three or more generations co-residing or actively involved in each other's lives. Is family pretty much anyone you have formed a bond with and choose to have in your family (i.e. god-parents, best friends, adopted children). Your answer need not be restricted to what I've mentioned here. Secondly, would you say that your particular view of family is average in your culture, and if not, what is the average view for your culture?

What kind of ways do you communicate with your family? Do you (or if you would prefer you may speak of your family of origin, that is the family you grew up in, the family that helped to shape you) make it a point to talk to those in your family about the personal details of their lives/your life? Do you avoid or encourage the expression of emotions? Is there an expectation for younger generations to be more open than older generations? Do you rely heavily on non-verbal communication, and if so of what sorts?

How is your family expected to communicate with the outside world? Are you expected to be open and friendly, or are you expected to keep personal things about you private so as to not reflect poorly on the family? What about sharing information about the family itself (i.e. if you mother was an alcoholic, would it be unheard of for you or your siblings to tell anyone about this, you needn't actually share anything personal in this regard, just whether or not it would be acceptable for you too)?

Again, these questions are examples of some of the things that the assignment is looking for, but the most important is to identify those communication patterns that you can look at and say, "I communicate this way because I was raised in an [insert ethnicity/cultural background here] family."


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Divine Gamemaster of the Abyss and below...

DMHW:

Thx for sending it! I'll send you the money asap, once you give me your Paypal email.
The shipping tracker of DHL has its last entry on the 28.1. with "shipping the package to target land". If we don't hear from it until end of February, I will have to investigate...Normally it should take about 3 weeks.

Tron:

Thought so :)

Bree:

Even though I have a rather big family (at least for German standards) - I have lots of cousins, but no siblings) I don't have much contact to anyone besides mother and father and before my grandparents died also to them. And yes, we do spend quite alot of time together, I see them like four times per week, I guess. With "problems" - should they ever occur :) we deal privately, but speak openly about them - I guess like it is done in most capitalistic western societies. I think Germany and America are pretty similar when it comes to such things. Sharing information about the family with others is a taboo.
In general I'd say that we communicate in an open way and we don't shy away from conflicts because we are always able to sort things out in the end. I don't think there is anything typically German about that, though.

Scarab Sages

1 person marked this as a favorite.
male 1/4 Elf Lorekeeper???

Bree

Spoiler:

I come from a large family as the youngest of seven siblings (by ten years, and my brothers and sisters have another mother). Our relation is close, but I am probably least close to my siblings.

What problems we have we resolve with talking, though the desire to talk varies by person(ality) and sometimes it takes a nudge from another family member to start talking.

While there is no outspoken taboo for talking about internal problems with friends (or even professionals) outside the family, in my family I am again sort of an exeption (as I know through conversation with my siblings especially in the time after my fathers death) as I have a small circle of friends that I consider as close, sometimes closer as any family member, while my siblings tend to turn to their partners or to each other when there are problems.

The student of educational science in me that worked on similar papers before wants to add, that while there seem to be no special cultural taboos compared to other western countrys in germany, the last years (as in the last statistics done for a paper in 2008) seemingly bring a change. The impact of the large number of students from immigrant families (large compared to the overall number of immigrant people in germany) especially from Russia, the Ukraine and Turky seems to be quite meaningful.
While the 'parental generation' often doesn't interact on a personal level, their children more often do and the sometimes stricter rules for family and friends found in their respective culture impact the 'non immigrant children' (no discrimination of either side intended, but I lack a better or proper term, sorry)as well as some children seem to actually prefer the more regelmented enviroment of their friends over the more casual enviroment that is common in german families).


Female Human Rogue-Knife Master/10 (Init: +4)

Zyren:
Oh I agree, in most cases there isn't a significant difference between many of the contemporary Western/European societies. Yet it is some of those smaller differences that I'm suppose to look for. You say you see your parents about 4 times a week. Would you say it is common for families in Germany (or at least where you are in specific) for adult children to see their parents as frequently as you do?

feytharn:
What would you say is the average family size where you are? You say you come from a large family with 7 children (I agree that it is large, my grandmother had 9 and that was/is very rare here, the average statistically is about 2 kids per household [under the age 18]. I would say that most people I know have a range of 1-3 kids, if any at all.)

Acculturation is very common, inescapable even, when two or more cultures have prolonged contact with each other. We also touched lightly on the ways that younger generations can and do change older generations. For instance, as you mentioned, it is not at all uncommon for the younger generations to be more open than the older generations but it is common for the openness (and perhaps the pushiness)of the younger generation to lead to a more open older generation.


Divine Gamemaster of the Abyss and below...

@ Fey:

Gibts bei der Erschaffung auch 2W6 Stabilität wenn man auf 90 kommt?

bree:

Yeah, I think that's quite normal if the children haven't moved away too far.

Scarab Sages

male 1/4 Elf Lorekeeper???

Bree

Spoiler:

As far as statistics go, the amount of families with one or two children is about equal, closely followed by families with three children (the latter number is actually increasing compared to the former numbers), but the number of families without children sizes almost equal.

Sadly, despite the fact that their children make up about 30% of the newborn in Germany, there is almost no usable statistic about the average family size of immigrant families (and no, even more sadly most statistics about family size take immigrant families into any account since many immigrants still have no German citizenship...but that is another, sad topic...)

One of the 'problems' with the younger and older generations influencing each other seems to be, that both generations seem to hunt for an always missed 'sweet spot'. Thus, children )or grandchildren) of stricter generations tend to gravitate toward mor openness and casuality, while children (or grandchildren) of more casual and open generations gravitate to stricter rules and life-models - but one can hope...

Zyren: Ich kenne die Regel überhaupt nicht! 2W6 Stabilität bei Charaktererschaffung? Wo hast du das gefunden?


Female Human Rogue-Knife Master/10 (Init: +4)

Zyren:
Thanks! I think that is one difference that I can use in the assignment. I see my mother about once a month, usually. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I see my father even more infrequently. I talk to my mother on the phone every couple of days for a few minutes at a time most weeks. I talk to my father on the phone about 3 times a month for 20 minutes or less at a time. It seems to be more common in the USA to have less parental contact as adults than it does in Germany, based off of what I have seen and what you have told me. It's not surprising, considering that individuality is prized in the USA, and we teach our kids that it is important to be self-reliant for almost everything, even to a fault. Of course we're not always aware of this, it is an unconscious part of our culture.

feytharn:
I absolutely agree with your ideas on the younger and older generations. The patterns you describe, as going back and forth from one generation to the next was discussed in this class as well. Basically the idea being that people either grow up to be "just like" their parents, or in an attempt to be better than their parents, they become opposite of their parents. It also explains why it is frequent to see a stronger bonding between alternate generations, such as grandmother and grand-daughter getting along better than mother and daughter ever did.

Thanks for you help!


Divine Gamemaster of the Abyss and below...

@ fey:

Wenn man eine Fähigkeit auf 90 steigert kriegt man doch +2w6 stabilität - ich wollte wissen, ob das auch bei der erschaffung so ist.

Scarab Sages

male 1/4 Elf Lorekeeper???

Ah, jetzt hat es 'klick' gemacht - soweit ich weiß (und es handhabe) nicht, aber expizit geben das die Regeln nicht vor.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Male Gnome Sorcerer/9 - (HP: 49/49 - AC20;FF17;T18 - F+5;R+6;W+7 - Init+9 - Per+11)

Ok all. I drove by a huge billboard today which proclaimed the whatever religious group had paid for the billboard would "Bring the bible to life."

How suprised do you think they would be if I helped them by casting Animate Object on their book?

Scarab Sages

male 1/4 Elf Lorekeeper???

Depending on the group - you might need a good escape plan ;-)


Female Human Rogue-Knife Master/10 (Init: +4)

When I see signs like that, I really just want to purchase the one right after it and say the same thing about The Satanic Bible. No, I'm not a Satanist, I'm just contrary and I really hate it when people try to shove their faith down my throat.

EDIT: Also, yes, I'm aware that Satanism is nothing like what the masses believe it to be, but it is the simple fact that the masses believe it to be something extraordinarily evil that provokes my desire to do this.


M Golden God 13 Student / 8 Bard

Zyren:
Ich warte jetzt bis jemand anderen postet, sodass sie mich nicht so einfach erkennen koennen...


1 person marked this as a favorite.
M Human Fighter 5 AC: 20 (22 2-wield) Touch: 13 (15 2-wield) FF 17 HP 24/50 Init: +4
Double Dagger Attack Routine:
[dice=Attack]d20+10[/dice] [dice=Damage]d4+8[/dice] [dice=Attack]d20+10[/dice] [dice=Damage]d4+7[/dice]

Bree, I'm with you 150%!!! There's this one obnoxious billboard I go by frequently that yells loudly, amidst flames of eternal damnation, "are you going to heaven, or HELL?!?!" grrrr I hate it. I wantto call their number on teh billboard and ask them if John Frum will come to bring me cargo. (look it up)

I am always reluctant to bring up my feelings abotu religion for fear of offending anyone . . .


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Male Pale Master

This is my favorite billboard.


Female Human Rogue-Knife Master/10 (Init: +4)

Vaughn, I tend to avoid religious debates because I really don't have any desire to convert anyone to my belief system and I'm not going to sit around while someone tries to convince me that if I don't convert to their's, bad things will happen to me. I don't have time for it, nor the patience for human arrogance. I looked up John Frum... interesting. As far as offending anyone, my general policy is that if you don't act offensively, than no one will be offended, and if they are, then it's there problem, not yours.

Stiehl9s, sweet. Now I want Vodka :P


Male Gnome Sorcerer/9 - (HP: 49/49 - AC20;FF17;T18 - F+5;R+6;W+7 - Init+9 - Per+11)

Bah - organized religion is for those without the intelligence to realize that you are just paying someone else for what you can get with a clean conscience and good ethics all by yourself.


Female Human Rogue-Knife Master/10 (Init: +4)

Lmfao, Tirion, that was what I meant by not acting offensively.

5,101 to 5,150 of 11,208 << first < prev | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Online Campaigns / Play-by-Post Discussion / Zyren's luxurious campfire... this time with marshmallows... All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.