Where about in NY are you headed?
So, after we do a little bit of getting-to-know-you chat now that you're all in the same room for the first time in months, what are everyone's plans for the day -- or the morning, at least? I've got Braddon and Malkith heading for the ferry, Publican House, and Windward to follow up on last night's information, Phil going to visit the carpenter with Larur and possibly meet Ethel for lunch, and Tendal doing some schmoozing with wealthy clients as Saul deals with returning the stolen jewelry and then maybe going to visit Liry? That sound right? Anything else?
Phil is indeed following in Larur's footsteps to the carpenter, and if possible off to see Ethel for luncheon afterwards. If he's got some time inbetween then he might try to squeeze in something else as well - see a man about some more coffee, swing past the Arena, or perhaps even a cloth shop.
Will have a reply to the newcomer after I've managed a mite of sleep.
Gris intends some study, and collegial collaboration if Sam is of a similar mind. There was a great room in need of cleaning, yes? I believe Gris had suggested magic as a most-rapid method.
If it's decided Gris is to be a declared tenant, he'll also settle in. The room on the map with all the furs looks comfy.
Where about in NY are you headed?
We were going to wander round Manhattan and look at all the tall things.
My wife and I are assuming that, like London and Paris, one can walk from monument to monument to monument throughout the day/s.By coincidence we'll be there a few days around the 4th of July. Which should be... interesting. :-)
Our current plans read-
Day 1- Drive to city
Day 2- Drive to next city
Day 3- Look around
Day 4- Drive to next city.
We're not very thorough planners. :-D
(On a game note, Joana, Braddon agrees with your plans :-)
That seems about right for Tendal Joana.
Btw, I escaped from Dhaka before the cyclone hit the country. Loooooong flight back. Nothing like 30 hours of travel to make you appreciate home.
Our current plans read-
Day 1- Drive to city
Day 2- Drive to next city
Day 3- Look around
Day 4- Drive to next city.
So what are you going to do between, say, Denver and Chicago? Or do Lincoln and Topeka and Sioux Falls count as cities that need looking around at?
The middle of the country's a really monotonous drive. There's not a lot but flat between the Rockies and the Appalachians.
California coastline's a beautiful drive, though. Be sure to see Hearst Castle.
EDIT: Didn't realize you'd been away from home all that time, Zeta. I guess the internet was decent in Dhaka. :)
Ooh, Hearst Castle looks nice. We're doing Big Sur and all that so it'll be on the way.
Maybe rename it Hurst Castle after that famous Pathfinder, Braddon. ;-)
The Lincoln way seems a few hours shorter so we'll probably take that path, but the long boring drive through nothing will be mostly that. We're used to that though- we're Australians. Same size country, 10 times the deserts and one tenth the population. :-)
Of course, all suggestions from people who actually know America are greatly appreciated. :-)
Depending on how much time you have, I'd really suggest taking the northern route and going through Yellowstone and by Mount Rushmore. Go from LA up the coast, then cut through Yosemite National Park and up to Yellowstone. They'll both be crowded in June, but if you don't intend to come back, it'd be a shame to miss them. Yellowstone in particular is amazing. Then go through Montana and see Mount Rushmore. That cuts your nothing-to-see-but-flat to the drive through South Dakota, instead of going through Nevada, Utah, and Nebraska. You can hit Chicago; then I'd go down to DC, cut through Philadelphia to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, and end in NYC. Mapquest link.
Mapquest looks AWESOME. My wife and I can play with that all weekend. So many thanks for that.
Heading north and catching Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore looks great but may add another day or two to our already tight schedule- especially if we actually stop there. :-) I did want to do Yellowstone though.
And we were intending to go north to Niagra Falls first, then come down through NY and finish in Washington.
I am pleased that our plans look something like your suggestion- we may yet survive this. Thanks again. :-D
A lot of the stuff in Yellowstone requires you to park your car and take a short hike off the road somewhere to really appreciate it: Old Faithful, Upper and Lower Falls, etc. It would definitely take some time. Only driving through on the main road, you'd miss a lot. (Also, in June, traffic will likely be bad through the park as well and slow you down.) Just the countryside around it -- Jackson Hole, the Grand Tetons, etc. -- is really beautiful, though.
The good thing about Mount Rushmore is that it doesn't take a lot of time, from what I understand. You get to the viewpoint, oh look there it is, take a picture, and you're on your way. It's pretty much just there and once you've seen it, you've seen it.
I'll be in the states come July as well... though a little bit further West than New York... like Hawaii west :)
Finally getting a big overseas holiday after our last one was back in 2007 to the Rugby World Cup in France. Looking forward to it oh so much... 20 hour plane flight with a 4 year old and 1 year old... not so much...
Thanks. This is way too much fun.
We were gonna do around California and across the the Grand Canyon too. Thus the whole 'too much to do'.
Though cutting out Mexico, the Redwoods and Kings Canyon save us 1000 miles...
Right... I'm going to stop this now. Thanks for letting me hijack your game thread.
:-D
What? Hey, look over there! ;D
If you're just going to take 10, I might as well just tell you without bothering with a spoiler. At a table, I'd just say 'roll Knowledge (local)' without giving a DC, and you'd have to decide if you thought you'd be safe taking 10 or if you should risk a roll; gatewayed spoilers tend to give away the game (not to mention being extremely frustrating in that you know you've missed something and it's just sitting there smugly in its box taunting you!).
That said, you'll get the information soon enough. Someone will tell you. Maybe Samaritha, if you talk to her about what's been going on around the Goblin the last couple of days....
Mhm. There's certainly nothing more pressing.
Mark, I can't think of a thing clever for Saul to say to Phillip so feel free to move him downstairs to meet up with Larur or stick around upstairs to continue to listen in on what's left of the conversation at your leisure, whichever you prefer.
... By the time he closes his book, however, he has become aware of one piercing voice which tests the limits of his discipline. Insistent, almost strident, while he is able to shut out the sense of its words, he cannot ignore its intrusion...
I LOLed... :-D
Is the smell from the handkerchief anything like the one at the apartment of Ananda Mescher?Absolutely. But if you don't mind me having a bit of fun with Braddon's low Int score, it might take him a while to put two and two together? ;)
No problem at all. Everyone should have fun with Braddon. :-)
You have stumbled upon my issue playing a low Int, highish Wis character, however. I am, like you have said, trying to have him take a while to put things together. Thus his false conclusions. However, with his decent Perception, he does tend to pick up on things a lot. So I have him forgetting names and not reading spoilers, but still noticing footprints and doing 'smart' tracking and hunting type things. And I have to keep rereading his quotes and dumb down the language he uses too. He's a surprising amount of effort for such a simple character. But so much fun. :-)
Downloaded Ultimate Campaign today and am somewhat daunted by the fact that the Downtime chapter runs more than 50 pages, including a "Downtime Tracking Sheet," a glossary of Downtime Terminology, and a 4-phase system to cover each day of Downtime, consisting of 16 separate "steps" and 17 pages of random generation tables. Paizo subsystems seem to me to have an unfortunate tendency to take something that ought to be fun and creative and turn it into advanced math. :P
I'll take another look when I get the physical book in hand next week. I'll probably borrow some concepts, but I can't see keeping up with that whole checklist of rolling and earning capital and subtracting upkeep and determining capital attrition (which I'm totally not making up, by the way; it's like doing your taxes) every single day. And, yeah, I know, thus far our days have lasted months of real-time (although it took us 952 posts to get through the first 24 hours and only 711 to get through the second so we're obviously gathering dangerous momentum); that's just a level of granularity too granular for me.
That does indeed seem to be the annoying 'sand' sort of granularity.
Sounds almost as though they've exported the system they intend to use for their MMO.
Oof - aye, I second the sentiment re: not using the 'Downtime' rules if that's the case. I'll be picking up my PDF tomorrow when it goes live and shall similarly cast an eye across it.
Yes, take a look at it when you get a chance, Mark, and tell me if you think I'm overreacting. The sheer amount of Page-Downing I had to do when I thought I was just going to take a quick look to get a feel for the system was alarming all by itself, but it's possible that it's not actually as complicated as they've made it appear.
By tomorrow I unfortunately seem to be temporally shifted by seven days and it shall actually be next week. Once I get it though I'll give a thought to what I think might be workable.
I think the problem may have been that they've tried to make it fully quantitative... rather than letting a few line balls and assumptions strip back alot of the detail.
Joana - I edited it into the thread, so you might have missed it:
Joana, how's the rest of the book looking? I'm debating whether or not it's work the cash to pick up. The downtime, at least, sounds like it's far too involved to be worth it.
Yeah, Mark, I missed the edit hiding behind the little spoiler box. Ultimate Equipment is no help for pricing furniture, and the building rules in Ultimate Campaign only include furniture as part of the cost of building a whole room from the ground up. So I can tell you what it would cost if you wanted to build a stand-alone bedroom in an empty lot and furnish it but not just what the furniture costs. :P Stand by for a wild stab in the dark.
For the book, it's just under 70 pages on generating character background, just under 60 on downtime, and 56 on kingdom-building and mass combat rules. The most interesting part looks to be chapter 3, 64 pages covering alignment (slightly longer write-ups on the classic 9 than the CRB and a 9-point alignment-tracking chart), bargaining rules (kind of over-complicated looking), companions (GM controls animal companions and player controls cohorts and familiars, in a stunning reversal from some of the arguments I've seen on the boards), NPC contacts (also looks rather over-complicated to me), hex-based exploration and random map generation, an optional "honor points" tracking system, rates of return on investments, lineage (dealing with PCs' family members), an expanded discussion of magic item creation, relationship rules (the bane of Jade Regent: force someone to love you by giving them gifts! :P Also weird: a parent is given as an example relationship -- so you have to start your relationship with a parent at "association" ("You and the NPC know each other but not well enough to have a significant bond") and "grow" it from there through compliments and gifts?), reputation (earning and spending prestige points), retiring a character, retraining rules (somehow you can retrain your bloodline as a sorcerer??), taxation rules (for when the GM has given out too much treasure, I guess), and rules on young characters (ability score adjustments, only NPC classes which can be retrained per the new retraining rules, and random starting age chart).
I'd say if you have a campaign focused on kingdom building or mass combat or if you have a hard time coming up with character backgrounds or are willing to roll your character's personality and motivations up randomly, it'd be a worthwhile buy. The Story Feats (part of the character generation chapter) sounded interesting from the previews, but it turns out there's only 28 stories in the naked city: It rubs me the wrong way that every PC who finds a long-lost family member ends up with the same boring old +1 on saving throws. :P
Overall, I'd say it left me kind of flat. If you're looking for rules for a specific niche in your campaign, it ought to be very useful, but it doesn't look as interesting as I'd hoped it would be at a first perusal.
Good, god.
You guys were insanely prolific with the posting!
Sorry that I was slow for the last few days, I just finished all my paperwork to separate from the Air Force, so I didn't have the time at work that I usually do. As for what I will do in the near future, I will be attending medical school in Michigan starting on 5 August...
So I am freaking out a bit.
But I will be on leave starting tomorrow, so I imagine that I will be a bit more diligent with my posting!
Good luck with the transition, Zeta. Hawaii to Michigan is going to be a pretty big change, both climate- and culture-wise, no? But if you've been in the Air Force, you're probably used to living in lots of different places. A couple of childhood friends married Air Force men, and they've been in Hawaii and England and Germany and Texas and all over the place.
I have a family wedding this weekend so am like to be scarcer than usual for a few days. Rehearsal dinner tomorrow; wedding Saturday night; recovering on Sunday. :)
Have fun!
"Fancypants was talking to Lil when he came into the Publican. He should know if it's her. If he was paying attention. What sort of idiot takes half a handkerchief and doesn't smell it to see if they recognise it until every one is gone?" complains Braddon ignoring his identical behaviour.
Ooooh Burn!
Hey...wait...he is talking about me, isn't he?
I think by Skull & Shackles rules he's already dead. But he gets a nice Charisma bonus! Because everyone knows how much more articulate and compelling people are when they're drunk.
EDIT: By Gamemastery Guide rules, he can have 5 drinks before being sickened an hour and "might eventually" develop an addiction. They don't specify a time period, though: 5 drinks in an hour, in a day, in a lifetime?
Tendal has just settled himself in his chair with aplomb when Thuvalia appears in the doorway and glances around the room. "Oh, it's you," she says flatly. "There's a half-elf downstairs wants someone to carry a carpet for him." She looks at him expectantly.
AHAHAHAHAHA!
"What sort of idiot takes half a handkerchief and doesn't smell it to see if they recognise it until every one is gone?" complains Braddon ignoring his identical behaviour.Ooooh Burn!
Hey...wait...he is talking about me, isn't he?
Braddon does indeed think he's talking about Tendal. The rest of us know better. ;-)
I think by Skull & Shackles rules he's already dead. But he gets a nice Charisma bonus! Because everyone knows how much more articulate and compelling people are when they're drunk.
To be fair to Skull and Shackles, their rules only apply to the toxic rum carried on the Wormwood
Finally, Braddon won't be posting much this week. I'm in Darwin for a family emergency. Until I return to Brisbane I can't guarantee regular posts. Additionally, June 11 is fast approaching. Expect even less posting then. DMPC him where needed. Thanks all for your patience.
Hope everything works itself out, Dave. We'll let Malkith take the lead for the pair of you for a while.
Joana - I've looked over Ultimate Campaign now... and yeah, not much I'd recommend using here. About the only bit 'might' be if we wanted to use the building rules on page 90+ to mock up what the Gold Goblin functionally consists of... but even then it wouldn't really 'add' much.
Strong chance for Phillip to suffer first slap upside the head incoming in 3...2...1...
Somehow Anton's post didn't show up until after I posted...how prophetic Malkith's comment was.
We'll go by the dimensions of the Arena flipmat so 110 ft by 80 ft, it looks like. Will update the gameplay thread shortly.
Musings beside a carpet, with apologies to Flipron's 'Big Baboon' (which, if you are not acquainted of, you might thank me later).
If there was knotwood
In the Gold Goblin
What with the carpet,
You just couldn't tell
And I was similarly wooden
Yet concealed
At the gates to casino's shell
I needed five guys
To conclude the carter's portion
I needed the rest of the guys in the room
I had gone, thwarting a tangle
What I found...
... I would find out soon.
You know, sometimes when you dance with the muse, you throw your back out.
When I initially chose Litany of Sloth as one of Phillip's spells I honestly didn't think I'd get a chance to use it in anger. I'm suitably amused and pleased that I have managed to find a use for it :)
Phillip's theme song :-D
I agree... though Phil probably think's he's more like this.
Such a bold play by Braddon. Although it would not surprise me if this plot were that tangled. ( And it shouldn't susprise YOU, Braddon... :) )
re: Theme Song: How did I know it would be Yakety Sax? And Phil, that clip was great. Thanks for that.
Tony Jaa kicks arse - his early work is all non-wire as well.
Great clips. I've always been a Jacki Chan fan. Eastern action scenes are so much better done. And without huge special effects and CGI, they showcase real talent.
As for Braddon, I didn't realise when I swapped that skill point into bluff that he was going to become a borderline pathological liar... :-)
Gris will emerge from his room soon, but in case he was to be summarily ejected for not damaging the carpeting, I thought it proper to wait a tick.
Short of other interjection, he'll head for the kitchen, and prepare a tray for Larur and himself, aiming high in case there's others present.
He also brews some tea, magicking it hot with the help of the stove and cool with the help of the ice. He makes a pitcherful, but doesn't bring glasses, expecting to find such at the bar if needed.
The kitchen is magically cleaned before he leaves it.
Congrats, Filif, on lasting that long. I expect your friend might be imagining he's killed you.
And thus his grand dreams of being a gladiator are cut short... here's hoping the gladiators pay up and nothing too lasting comes from his less than subtle spell-cheaty behaviour on the sand ;)
Bugger... just remembered he might be late for his appointment with the carpenter as well!
Where are Braddon and Malkith heading? To the Krumps'?
Where are Braddon and Malkith heading? To the Krumps'?
Before moving on towards the tanner's residence...
Yup. AFAIK. :-)
Sorry; missed that prepositional phrase. :)
So you're about to be off after the weekend, huh, Dave? Have you said how long you'll be travelling? Just going to point out that if you stay in basic motels off the interstates as opposed to hotels with bellhops and convention space, they virtually all have free wi-fi. Don't know how Australian gadgetry interfaces with American infrastructure, though. Do you have those big weird plugs like they do in England?