Aramil Naïlo's page

Actually if you dumped the lake into the lava that would cause an immediate and very violent explosion...water and molten material do not play nice...

Are you saying open a door going from in the water to in the lava? That is a possibility I hadn't thought of...now I feel stupid...

And this is the area where the wall of rock is thinnest, about 20ft at the most according to my DM.

I'm not home, so I don't have access to the books to properly help. However, I can offer an interesting concept. Cleric/Monk. There are spells that require you to touch the target. Why not punch them? I like being able to deck someone and cast a mean spell (like inflict wounds) on them. I would suggest gesalt, though. Multiclassing doesn't do it enough justice in my opinion. You should check with your DM and make sure it'll be okay. +1 ECL, but it's well worth it and you can pay to have the ECL adjustment removed later. You could do Monk/Wizard or Monk/Sorceror instead, equally effective. But then you don't get the satisfaction of decking the annoying party member as hard when you heal him. Wizards and sorcerors don't share primary ability scores, though, and that'll make creating it harder. The gesalt class option should be in Unearthed Arcana according to my co-. Just remember to ask your DM, since I don't know what your allowed to use.

I don't have to much of a problem playing clerics, but I prefer other classes. It's just not my thing. I do have a couple players that regularily play clerics though. I do have a cleric that I enjoy playing, however. Ever thought of how fun it would be to deck someone when casting those nifty spells that require you to touch the target? Cleric/monk is an awesome combination.

What if I dimension door the lava to either
A) Where the water is pouring into the small lake?
-or-
B) Where the water is flowing out?

I'm thinking the lava would plug the tunnel out (atleast after cooling and turning to rock) and cause the water to overflow. Or, if I stop the flow in then what water is in there will either drain or turn to steam. Eventually the lava would take care of the rock and it would explode or simply overlow into th tunnels and eventually out of the volcano.

Any thoughts?

Or I could continue to systematically flood the tunnels with boiling water...but I don't think my character would have the patience for that...

Agreed, there. There is a difference between law and order, but on the note of order-it backs up the arguement that there is little if any difference between the different good alignments. All three have some form of order, being chaotic doesn't mean you don't know the meaning of the word, and it doesn't mean that you don't impliment it. On the line of a palladin entering a land where the law is as such, he would have to do his best free the land from the obviously evil government. A palladin doesn't have to follow laws that are evil, but he can't break ones that aren't evil just because they aren't good or he doesn't like them.

I would like to take a moment to state that my co-dm, who happens to be my counterpart since he normally plays a lawful good palladin, is also reading this thread. I am running most of what I say by him before posting. He helps keep my chaotic nature and strong distaste for law in check during such arguments, and we make sure that each post is as unbiased as possible. Although he didn't come in fully until the last couple posts.

No offense taken. Before I continue, I will post the alignment descriprions as stated in the 3.0 PHB (I don't have the 3.5 handy at the moment). I would also like to state that I have taken the alignment test. Althuogh I realise it isn't the most thorough test in the world, I always get chaotic good.

Lawful Good, "Crusader"- A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. She combines a commiment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. She tells the truth, keeps her word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Alhandra, a paladin who fightes evil without mercy and who protects the innocent without hesitation, is lawful good.

Neutral Good, "Benefactor"- A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Jozan, a cleric who helps other according to their needs, is neutral good.

Chaotic Good, "Rebel"-A chaotic good character acts has his conscience directs him with little regard for others expect of him. He makes his own way, but is kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has use for laws and regulations. He hates when people try to intimidate and others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society. Soveliss, a ranger who waylays the evil baron's tax collectors, is chaotic good.

I would now like to state that when you look deep, none of the three are really different from each other. All the arguements over the differences between good alignments are moot. For the sake of arguement, however, I will continue.

What makes one chaotic, I suppose, would be the willingness to work directly against the law. That, alone, is what would make the difference. A neutral good character would attempt to reach some medium before acting with the law or against it if necesarry. A chaotic good character would act as his moral compass deemed correct, wether or not it was agaisnt the law. A lawful good character would act as law dictated, so long as the laws were for the greater good.

As far as Batman's alignment, that doesn't prove he's lawful. I haven't seen Begins, but I have seen the Dark Knight recently. He acted against the law, even going so far as to beat the crud out of Joker in the interogation room. Tell me, how is that lawful? He even went so far as to jam the door so the police couldn't stop him, aswell as using excessive force. His unwillingness to kill Joker doesn't make him lawful, it gives him a conscience. Batman doesn't have the open support of the local government, he is to be arrested on sight. In fact, the only way that they aid him is by not arresting him. While he does have the support secretly, he does not openly work with them and actively works against them when the law isn't enough or is to restrictive. Yes, he does attempt to hand the city back. Everyone deserves a little RnR, and where does it say that a chaotic character can't retire from his profession?

On the subject of Batman, I think the most we can hope to agree on is neutral good as far as alignment is concerned.

I'm not counting on the alchemist's fire or any of the other things I'm throwing down there to do the job. I'm counting on the concusive force from the explosions, which would be achieved by the items changing form while in their containers and causing to much pressure. Did you know that it is possible to boil water in a paper cup? As far as whole cauldron thing, from the looks of the map that is what it seems to be. If I could find a map online, I'd show you. From what my DM says, the water has been keeping the rock cool much like boiling water in a paper cup. If I can get rid of the water or create a weakness in the rock, the pressure from the lava underneath (which does seem to be pushing up, from the map) should melt or destroy the rock within a matter a minutes at the most. I know about explosions, chemicals, the laws of physics, among other things, so I kinda know what I'm doing. I don't want to simply drain the water via dimmension door, like I have been, because if it blows right away (like my DM says it will) I won't have enough time to teleport out.

My DM isn't requiring the use of proficiencies in his campaigns, but that doesn't mean that we aren't allowed to use them if we want to. Don't know if that'll help at all.

I have been trying to find ingredients that I know have a decent boom when pressurized, been thus far I have not been succesful. Apparently very few people, if any, have found a way to contain oxygen, CO2, or hydrogen at this point in time.

A neutral good character would be more apt to FOLLOW the law than a chaotic good character. Neutral good will follow the law and likely work with the guards until the law can't handle the situation. Chaotic good will do what is right. If they see someone putting down another, or just being a bully, they aer apt to knock that person down a few pegs (or more). Chaotic good sees law as a burden, while neutral good looks at breaking the law as something of a last resort. Most super heroes you find in comic books are vigilantes, such as batman, and are chaotic good. Spider-man is more apt to work with the local PD until the situation demands otherwise, and thus is more neutral good. An example of a lawful good superhero would be Captain America, who refuses to break the law (ever notice that lawful good is more likely to kill someone without trying to subdue them).

The Neutral Good guy is the one who would be willing to sacrifice his own freedoms to help others (which a Chaotic Good person would find anathema) or break an unjust law or personal code to help others (which a Lawful Good person might be unwilling to do).

Depends on what freedoms you refer to. A chaotic good character does what is right without regard for the law. He doesn't care what the law says about it, if it's what's right it's what's right. Would he actually be willing to sacrifice his freedom? I'd say it depends on how good the cause. Would he do something that would get him arrested, even though it's for the greater good? Of course. He would try his best to avoid being arrested. How violent or fatal being at his discression, and possibly resulting in an alignment change depending on exactly how far he went to ensure he didn't get arrested (such as seeking out and killing the town gaurds, which I would see as evil and immediatly change his alignment to Chaotic Neutral).

Atleast most seem to be assuming that the palladin can't get out without the help of the evil character. The NPC knowing how to get out doesn't mean it would be impossible for the palladin to get out on his own, it just means it'll be easier (maybe a lot, maybe not). The choice isn't exactly join or die, there is no blade to his throat after all. And when you look at it, either one has a better possibility of survival (since there is a chance that the NPC will, in fact, try to kill him in his sleep). As has been said previously, palladins aren't stupid. Is he smart enough to be able to maybe find his own way out?

Remember, the simplest and most innocent hings can be twisted (such as poodles, children, and don't forget the dreaded chihuahua). You can also up the horror factor on specific characters. Dementia and delusions tend to work decently, and it builds tension between party members. I had an interesting experience in the World's Largest Dungeon. I cam across a dark room, the walls were covered in spikes that held up the impaled and decayed bodies of various creatures and races, including drow (my DM made sure to throw that in there, since I was playing a drow). I kept hearing giggling and chains rattling, and I'd see red eyes darting about. It freaked me out to the point where it drove me nuts. I got to the point where I wasted my alchemists fire just to set the room ablaze and find the lurking creature. When I didn't I went and hid at a dead end until my party found me later. Not only was my character scared shitless, it had my heart racing at about 60 miles an hour aswell.

I realise this post will be asking for help in a second addition adventure, but I didn't see a board during my scan for second edition.

I am currently in a party for a second edition Return to White Plume Mountain adventure. I've come up with a way to cut the adventure short, but I need some help. I am going to cause the volcano to erupt, killing everything living in it and anything caught in the radius of the eruption. I will do so by utilizing the dimension door power to drain an amount of the water in area 35-The Boiling Lake, to another part of the volcano. I will then drop 100-200 flasks of alchemists fire and roughly 600 gallons of tar, oil, and pure alcohol combined (in containers) into the lake. The resulting explosions, caused by increased pressure within the containers, should cause enough structural damage to the bottom of the lake to cause the volcano to erupt (lava flows underneath the lake). However, I want to evacuate Ringland (the nearby town) before doing so. If I don't, it'll simply be mass murder and the group paladin will spread the word after I take off and I'll have half the world after me for it. I will not include the details, so any who will help can do so in an educated manner (without guessing or suggesting a route I have already managed to deny...unless I forget to add it here).

If you are wondering why I want to blow the volcano, here are four reasons-
1) Because it sounds like fun.
2) Because I've never done it before.
3) To cause chaos.
4) To kill the false Keraptus' and their minions (which appears to be the goal of the adventure).

I am a level 10 chaotic neutral psionicist traveling with a lvl 12 palladin, two lvl 12 fighter/priests, and a level 11 fighter/mage. Thus far I HAVE maintained a decent balance with my actions and reasoning for my actions (although I am pushing chaotic evil, with lawful evil close behind).

The DM decided to use a plot hook that had a mage hiring us to find and return a weapon that was stolen from him, which is a weapon that is part of the adventure. As a reward, he offered us a 10,000,000 GP diamond (he finds the weapon to be worth more, apparently). The diamond happened to have the constant attention of the local thieves guild, who try to steal it about once a month. The party decided to wait until the thieves attacked again and capture a few, to see if they new anything of the stolen weapon. I had not met up with the party yet, however, and did not know this. Before meeting the party, I met the thieves, who hired me to help steal the diamond (which I did so very effectively, but that comes later). We agreed on 10,000 gold for my services, and at this point I knew nothing of the actual size or value of the diamond. Afterwards, I met up with the party, learned what was going on and the plans to capture the thieves if and when they struck. The next night, when gaurding the diamond, I used time shift and a magical black horse statue that turns into a horse and can go ethereal to steal the diamond by tieing a rope around it and dragging it through the ethereal plane. After arriving at the warehouse to meet the thieves, I forced them to up my patment to 100,000 gold before giving them the diamond. I then went back to the party and the diamonds owner and told them where to find the thieves. I did, however, manage to aquire the weapon he wanted later and return it to him. That got the city gaurd off my back. I then took the diamond and gave it to the thieves, which got them to stop trying to kill me. Yes, I did that without the party knowing.

That was to explain that I am not well trusted. The person who hired us also happens to be the cities mayor and a high level mage.

The city is three weeks away from Ringland (DM says it should be out of the blast radius of the volcano). I need to come up with a good, plausible arguement as to why the cities mayor (the guy I stole the diamond from for the thieves) should believe me when I tell him that the volcano is going to erupt within a week or two, so he will do what he can to get the town (ringland) evacuated. I can't get help from my party because when I told them what I was going to do, the mage teleported them halfway across the globe without telling me where they were going.

The only other option I can think of is gnolls. When travelling through another area, the Plague Fields, outside the volcano I befriended a tribe of gnolls by teaching them how to breed cattle (my original intention for this was to help them become a world power). If I do this, I need to come up with a way to convince the gnolls to raid Ringland. Since they no longer need to attack towns for food, how would I do this? I already know what I'll tell the palladin when I see him again, though: "I made sure that the town was empty before causing the volcano to erupt."

I do not have clairaudience/clairvoyence, and therefor no way to dicern the parties current location. Any thoughts? I'll check back once in awhile incase I remember a piece of information I forgot to include.

Set wrote:

actually he was called Aramil Nailo... which make me ask my myself... Samuel, is that you?

Nope, not Samuel. When I play 3/3.5 I'm an elven (drow if I'm allowed) Chaotic Good (or Chaotic Neutral depending) ranger.

Thank you all. You have given me alot to go over, and caused me to change the way the paladin class is in my world. Aside from that, there is no law outside a towns borders unless there is an overuling power that governs the entire country.

A few things to think about before posting again.

1) At least most of you are assuming that they are imprisoned. Not that there is no reason for you not to, I did say dungeon. However, I meant more like say...hmmm...Ah!! If anyone reads Salvatore you should recognize this reference. The paladin and his group were fighting an evil party in a tunnel, and it collapsed, leaving the paladin and one member of the opposing party trapped with each other and separated from the rest.

2) The paladin does have the choice to try to get out on his own. Does he do that, or ally with this evil person whom he should be attempting to kill.

3) There is no greater cause. The whole point is to survive and escape the tunnels.

I can understand taking the specific deity that the paladin worship and adding it to the equation. It would, after all, make sense for a paladin who follows Pelor or Yondolla to be accepting of a mutual agreement for survival than a paladin of Heironeous or St. Cuthbert...hold that thought, new question.

Paladin's are self-sacrificing. Why would the paladin ally himself with an evil character to survive, when they would not run from a battle that they knew they could not loose? Another thing to take into consideration would be the "help" part of the paladins code.

Code of Conduct: A paladin must be of lawful good alignment
and loses all class abilities if she ever willingly commits an evil act.
Additionally, a paladin’s code requires that she respect legitimate
authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison,
and so forth), help those in need (provided they do not use the help
for evil or chaotic ends), and punish those who harm or threaten
innocents.

How far into the future do you need to look to determine if the help was for an evil of chaotic end? The primary goal at the time is survival, sure, but if the evil character survives then the paladin just help him to continue about his work...in a way.

There was more I wanted to say here, but my time was just cut abruptly short. I will add it next time I'm on.

A paladin cannot knowingly and willingly associate with an evil character. If a paladin is trapped in a dungeon with an evil character. The evil character knows how to get out, but needs the paladins muscle. Paladin has the muscle, but needs the evil character's know-how. Could they work together to get out? My co- says that the paladin wouldn't break his code as long as he was trying to convert said evil character the entire time they were together. I disagree, saying that the paladin would be able to give the evil character one chance to turn away from his life of evil. If the evil character refused then the paladin would have to either head out on his own(if he is allowed to let the evil character live, which I don't think he can), or strike down the evil character immediately.

Could we get some input on this, please?

Any other situations that leave anyone unsure of wether or not a paladin would lose his paladinhood?

Kelreilynon Un'linoth, lawful evil male drow fighter/rogue 10, rogue/assassin 5, fighter/dread fang 5, fighter/assasin 5, rogue/dread fang 5. He killed the party of 6 by himself. My players still haven't found a way to kill him...

This is just one, and I'm to tired to dig up sheets and puts down full stories for him and everyone else.

I am under no circumstances allowed to play a wizard who specializes in evocation in 2nd edition.

I am under no circumstances allowed to play a psionic pixie in 2nd edition.

I am under no circumstances allowed to play a telepathic psionic in 2nd edition.

Saying that the new female halfling in the group is naked because she forgot to put clothes on her character sheet is inappropriate.

Calling said halfling female Strumpet instead of her characters actual name is also inappropriate.

Having your human wizard/alchemist ask the halfling how much it would cost to go "around the world" is even more inappropriate.

Calling said female halflings player Strumpet from that point forth in real life is also inappropriate.

Asking the halflings player how much it would cost to go "around the world" is grounds to get yourself slapped and kicked between the legs.

Having your female human necromancer cuddle to the dead male paladin because he was the first person to not chase her out of town is inappropriate.

Having said necromancer "raise" the dead paladin is probably not a good idea when a resurrection spell is available back in town.

Stripping the two dead males and having them hold each other is probably not a good idea when you plan on raising them. Especially if they are both fighters. Definitely if you are a wizard who has run out of spells for that day.

Having your drow ranger kill the party's kender rogue is unacceptable. Even though he treats you like a servant constantly, refuses to listen to your advice on monsters, and doesn't appreciate you getting covered by every rat swarm the party comes across just to keep the rest of the party from getting to badly injured.

Having your drow ranger kill the party's kender rogue is still unacceptable even though the rogue can't seem to tell the difference between a live dark mantle and a dead one that fell on you. It doesn't matter whether or not the rogue stabbed you in the eye while attacking the dark mantle.

It is a bad idea to charge past the ogre.

No, you do not find a new room in the dungeon because the ogre did four times your hit points in damage with his attack of opportunity.

Actually, I would agree with the extra uses of rage for the half-orc, but not so many. I know I enjoy dropping my PCs in battle after battle. You could, however, make the part based off of how the PC makes the character. Say they want there character to have grown up in human lands, they could instead gain feats (slower than the human). Or, if they grew up with orcs, they could rage (decrease the number of times per day, give the orc race same ability at a slightly increased rate?). They could instead get certain feats like power attack, cleave, and great cleave at certain levels (showing there bloodlust and brute strength, I would make sure that orcs get these benefits, too, possibly a couple more).

Actually, you could give such options to other races as well. The half-elf could get the feats (at the same rate as the half-orc) along with a couple other things that come with the territory, or get some (or all, at a decreased rate) of the elves abilities.

An elf could get the spell abilities granted by there race, or if they grew up studying more swordplay the could get certain feats like weapon finesse, combat relexes, and another or two that I can't think of off the top of my head. Since elves love both magic and swordplay, it would make sense.

Gnomes could get abilities similar to the druid, or more potent spell-casting abilities along the lines of an illusionist.

Halflings...could get the same options as half-breeds as far as feats go (at a decreased level) with some pure halfling abilities, or they could simply gain a few feats and increased skill bonus that deal with being sneaky and getting places they shouldn't.

I like the way the dwarf was done, and I'm kinda trying to make things similar (more to make sure things are even than anything). However, I like the idea of have more options during character creation.

Racial spells could go off their own list. Elves could get spells from the druid or ranger list, with some from other classes to spice it up, or get spells as a druid or ranger at a lower level. Gnomes could get spells from the druid list and illusion school.

Using Speak with Animals, one can effectively use diplomacy with the animal, since they are speaking with each other. If it's not in the books, that's my ruling. It makes sense.

No thanks necesarry. Seeing my input put to use in the books would be thanks enough. I've always wanted to do this. :P

I have to leave soon, so I have to cut myself short. I will, however, get back on as often as possible to give updated ideas. You're most welcome.

Uneartherd Arcana (I believe) has a section all about gesalts (explaining everything), and gives a few suggestions. The +1 ECL is there.

Have you considered playing a rogue? I have an awesome rogue.. Only problem you would have with being able to play him is that he is a drow. Not sure your DM would allow that. There are racial levels for the drow to keep it at the same level as base race PCs. With my settup, one only needs a brilliant energy weapon and they'd just have to roll against an AC of 10 doing 15-20d6 sneak attack damage. Rather nice:P

And I agree about gesalts being more powerful than +1 ECL, but the book says it. I don't know exactly where, but my co-DM does.

Aramil Naïlo wrote:

My suggestion would be a Rogue/Ranger, Fighter/Ranger, or Sorceror/Ranger gesalt. If you go S/R, then I'd suggest prestige to Arcane Archer/Ranger gesalt.

Elf ranger 11-arcane archer 9/wizard 15-spellsword 1-archmage 4

Elf Ranger 1/Elf Wizard 1; Substitution levels from RotW, Animal Companion instead of Familiar (UA/SRD), Flaw: Non-combatant (UA/SRD), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Ranger 2/Wizard 2; Combat Style (Rapid Shot)
Ranger 3/Wizard 3; Weapon Focus (Composite Longbow)
Elf Ranger 4/Wizard 4; Substitution level from RotW
Ranger 5/Wizard 5; Craft Wand
Ranger 6/Wizard 6; Improved Combat Style (Manyshot), Skill Focus (Spellcraft)
Arcane Archer 3/Wizard 9; Armor Proficiency (Heavy)
Ranger 7/Spellsword 1
Arcane Archer 4/Wizard 10; Widen Spell
Arcane Archer 5/Wizard 11; Spell Focus (Evocation)
Arcane Archer 8/Wizard 14; Spell Focus (Conjuration)
Ranger 9/Archmage 2
Elf Ranger 10/Archmage 3; Substitution level from RotW, Empower Spell
Arcane Archer 9/Wizard 15; Quicken Spell
Ranger 11/Archmage 4; Combat Style Mastery (Improved Precise Shot)

Full BAB and spellcasting, all arrows fired are treated as magical, unrestricted arcane spell access, and archmage High Arcana. The most useful High Arcana choices are: Arcane Fire, Mastery of Counterspelling, Mastery of Elements, and Mastery of Shaping.

Not quite sure what that has to do with what I said, but nice. A gesalt class takes the best parts of two classes and puts them in one, estentially leveling to classes at once. However, you don't get the stacked bonuses like you would if you simply multiclassed. You take the best bonus, best hit die, best base attack, best skill points. You get all the skills as class skills and all the other specs for each class.

I would suggest improved skill pluses on the halfling as it goes up, decrease the max uses of that luck ability to...3 maybe.

The rages for the Half-Orc could stack with the barbs, if they didn't already. I agree with the +4 str bonus.

My biggest suggestion is that, since a few races seem so keyed to specific classes, would be to focus more on that. The human would make an excellent fighter (aside from granting fast meta-magic feats to spell casters!!), as would the dwarf, and the half-orc would make a good barbarian.

What I like most about this is that with these changes, alot of ECLs for other races could be dropped, like for the Drow (unless you do the drow racial levels instead of taking everything at level one).

I'm sure myself and my co-DM can come up with more suggestions. In fact, I'm sure he'll be making his before to long.

After reading over several times, I do see something about the Gnome. I would drop the Speak with Animals, or atleast limit it's uses, and/or the animal companion, and/or the wild empathy, and/or the pass without trace. I would most deffinately drop the pass without trace, and any other combination of the three before. Why would one need wild empathy when they can talk to the animals? I doubt a gnome cluster would have as many animals as it does gnomes. I would instead add the animal companion as a sub-level to each class for the gnome, possibly along with wild empathy or speak with animals.

Apologies, but one thing I always ask when making a character, dungeon, or anything in DnD, is "why?". The second question is "how would that work?". Question number three is "is it logical?". Once things pass all three questions, I think they are good for insertion into my world. I have even added restrictions and bonus to certain classes simply because I thought they worked and didn't off-set the game to much.

Honostly, I will allow any characters. I'm even letting someone play a rogue that started out with a 45 intelligence. The thing I love most about DMing is killing my PCs (although sometimes it's funner to see them overcome the challenges I put in front of them), and it's all the sweeter when they think that they are so uber I won't be able to stop them. There is always a bigger fish. If all else fails, I still have my Dread Fang to fall back on...my good ol' Dread Fang...

I don't know of any, but I've read those books enough to be able to make him myself. If you would like so, I would gladly do so. Can't garuntee it'll be the same as any official stats that might be out, or what Salvatore thought when he first made the character, but it'll do quite well.

I would suggest improved skill pluses on the halfling as it goes up, decrease the max uses of that luck ability to...3 maybe.

The rages for the Half-Orc could stack with the barbs, if they didn't already. I agree with the +4 str bonus.

My biggest suggestion is that, since a few races seem so keyed to specific classes, would be to focus more on that. The human would make an excellent fighter (aside from granting fast meta-magic feats to spell casters!!), as would the dwarf, and the half-orc would make a good barbarian.

What I like most about this is that with these changes, alot of ECLs for other races could be dropped, like for the Drow (unless you do the drow racial levels instead of taking everything at level one).

I'm sure myself and my co-DM can come up with more suggestions. In fact, I'm sure he'll be making his before to long.

My suggestion would be a Rogue/Ranger, Fighter/Ranger, or Sorceror/Ranger gesalt. If you go S/R, then I'd suggest prestige to Arcane Archer/Ranger gesalt. I'm not much of a bow person, so I don't know any other ranged classes off hand. However, I am good at making chars...especially high-powered ones. D*** do I love my Dread Fang... I think he's the best I've ever done.

Gesalting give you a +1 ECL, and you take the best of both classes. You can't gesalt multiple prestige classes, but you can do a prestige and a main class together.

I'm sure others here can explain it. Otherwise myself or my co-DM can explain it to you...and maybe help you be a little ahead of the rest of the party!:P

However, you could go with another gesalt we've thought of. A Cleric/Monk or Sorceror/Monk. What's better than punching someone while casting detrimental touch spells on them at the same time?

As I can't think of any usful feats or classes/variants/prestiges other than the stated (I'm more the guy who loves to make over-powered villains using the Book of Vile Darkness, Libris Mortis, and Heroes of Horror (among other sources that are generally for evil N/PCs)). My co-DM might get on some time and throw out some useful things.

Thanks alot. If you ever have anything I might be able to help with, let me know.

Thanks, but that only solves half the problem. We still need the specs for PC vrill. While it was mentioned in the book, the specs aren't there.

I have a player who wants to play a Vrill PC, but we can't find the stats for it. I have searched Drow of the Underdark from cover to cover several times and it has given me nothing. The stats for Vrill aren't where they are supposed to be. Nor are the specs for their abilities. Can someone help me with this?

Heathansson wrote:

Hey, man. At least McDonald's doesn't make a filet-o-scorpion sandwich. Being a pisces is hell, man.

Try growing up a male virgo - the only zodiac sign that is by definition a human female. I always wanted to be a Leo.

And with the Dragon egg thing (see, I can be on topic sometimes), unless the PC is an elf won't he/she, you know, be a decrepit oldster/dead of old age by the time the dragon is old enough to say it's first word? Or are they planning to dose it up with potions of Speed Growth or something equally morally dubious? I thought Dragons grew over millenia. It's not going to be any use in the PC's lifetime.

Actually, even a young dragon can be useful. And look at the long-term advantages:The dragon can be a companion to your PCs kids, grandkids, and even great-great grandkids before taking off.

That said, if ever good aligned red dragons are for sale, tell me when, where, and how much!

Actually, I do have someone (with the help of a little magic), but he's in my world.

Another thing that should be thought about is, going along the line of a atleast a medium army, a couple monsters? It's always good to have a monster traveling with a patrol group who might be able to things they can't.

So...are their any new undead or dragon kin?

Hey, man. At least McDonald's doesn't make a filet-o-scorpion sandwich. Being a pisces is hell, man.

Hey!! I take offense to that, my gf is a pisces. Interesting combo, actually, seeing as I'm a leo. Wait...SPAM!! ...oops...

My biggest interest is undead, second being dragons, drakes, and thier ilk.

Am I the only one who likes to pop opposing spellcasters with an extended Melf's Acid Arrow? It eats away at their puny hit points and forces them to make concentration checks while I'm free to do other unpleasant things to them. Not a bad combination, I think.

I love the Melf's Acid Arrow spell, and use it quite frequently.

I am running a militant paladin/cleric of St.Cuthbert who is focusing on demon hunting. I need some help with a prestige class and the feats list first-twenty. I am also going to ask our DM if I can have a Legacy Holy avenger.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read this was an example in the PHB about class customization. You might be better off combing the Paladin class with the Ranger class and create a custom Demon Slayer class. If you are interested in taking this route I would gladly do all the work for you.

I feel like the BOVD's greatest utility is as psychological warfare. You pull that out and start thumbing through it and people HAVE to get worried. You can get diseases, man!

The BoVD is prolly my favorite book, second only to Libris Mortis. Got some evil spell and fea combos in those. Evil...

Where are they located? I've checked every book I have access to and I can't seem to find them. Can someone help me please? While I'm asking questions, what are the rules on level adjusments? How do they effect exp and such? Joral and I can't find that either and it's become a constant arguement between us.

Just a quick note before I indulge myself in another expensive dinner party: The budget is 1.129.000,- gold pieces. I've spent around 560.000 so far on the keep, that'll probably go up a bit but as far as I'm aware I have around half a million gold pieces to spend on military staff, which apart from having to guard my Keep also have to secure the surrounding countryside.

Working together with my DM on finding a good income source. But I like the advice so far, gives me a frame to work with. Oh and merry christmass, before I forget again.

Merry Christmas to you too. If you send me a blueprint (aramilnailochoda@yahoo.com), I can set up a good, strategical defense and figure out patrols for securing the countryside. I can complete it with half-a-mil, just remember that the gaurd has to be paid regularily so let me know any changes in income. Look for a natural income in the surrounding land (ie wood, mining, fishing) and see if you can't secure some territory on a heavy trade route.

Oh, firewall!! Can't forget firewall!! I roasted an entire yeti tribe in 2ed with firewall. Firewall and Burning Hands, which I used to accidently kill another PC in the fight. Damn blizzards...

Contrary to the subject title, I'm not talking about good-aligned NPCs, but rather good enemies. I'm running out of NPCs, and I can't keep blaming everything on Dervious or my Necro. However, I tend to be pretty mean when designing NPCs and my players are getting kinda sick of having to run for their lives when I start grinning. So, with that said, I figured we could share some good villains. I just got outta jail and people were moving my stuff around, so I gotta find my papers, but I'll have some of my own up here before sundown tomorrow. In that thought, I think I'm gonna include some NPCs that aren't necesarrily enemies.

Since your building a simple stronghold, not a school, I'll have to change my thoughts a little, but I can help. I'm gonna break this down like this.

1 Captain (lvl 13 fighter), oversees the commanders and answers to you.
3 Commanders (lvl 8-11 fighter), 1 for each shift (3x8 hours)
84 Soldier (lvl 5-7 warrior), 28 per shift
21 Elite (lvl 6-7 fighter), 7 per shift
3 Healers (lvl 5-7 cleric), 1 per shift
6 Medics (lvl 5-7 expert), 2 per shift
3 Runners (lvl 5-7 warrior, expert, or rogue), 1 ready per shift

I total 121 men. I usually design things for more wealthy adventurers, or people with a steady source of income. I'll get Joral's (my blighter and "co-DM") advice for this too. He should be able to help, he IS running the defenses of an entire town. Maybe my setup is to expensive for you.

Edit: Oh, I forgot.

1 Mage (lvl 12-14 wizard or sorcerer), A higher lvl arcanist available when needed.

3 Arcanist (lvl 5-9 adept), 1 per shift to give your defense a little magical boost if needed, but not so dire as to call out the mage.

This would give you a total guard of 125, although the arcanists aren't necesarry. Again, my designs tend to be a bit more expensive. Have you considered investments for a steady income outside of adventuring?

My player's have fallen to magic missle and fireball use. I however, am slightly different. WHile fireball is good for leveling the playing, I like to use Melf's Acid Arrow, and a couple other spells from the Book of Vile Darkness that I can't remember.

I don't see it as completely one-sided, just mostly one-sided. Every dragon egg raised by gnomes becomes a good dragon? Not in my campaign. D&D doesn't use weakly statted commoners as PCs. PCs tend to be the stronger (physically or mentally) exceptions of their kind. Thus, a Drizzt can happen, but all drow raised by good folk are not Drizzt. He's the exception-to-the-rule legend. As a near mythic rarity, he gets to do his own thing, even fight in drag if he wants to.

If we cohabitate with a cannibal ghost for ten years can we get it to see that haunting and eating children is wrong? I'm just asking for a mention of Casper, aren't I? You might say dragons are smarter than ghosts but I don't see intelligence as being the same as moral awareness and soulful pliability. Brilliant people don't necessarily have more choice over how they're going to act around others. Most of the hardcore geniuses I've ever known are so socially inept they can't help but to insult people during a first meeting. Shouldn't a smart person be able to get over their bad wiring and hang out with everyone fraternally? You'd think so, wouldn't you?

I said it was a great rarity, not an impossibility. I think with little effort we can ascertain that monsters with a description that suggests an inherently evil alignment are likely to be inherently evil. Not that this is the source of my argument, but I'll bring it up again: That's why the BOED says that getting an evil dragon to become good is a very difficult, near impossible thing to do. If a bunch of head pets and a good education were all that was required to turn that bad boy around, I don't think a special prestige class would be needed to redeem wicked creatures.

Think about it, it's like saying that better school system and softer sweaters would have orcs behaving politely and acting just like the decent folk of Happyshire. The same way criminalism and aggression can pass from a father to the son he's never met... so passes evil. This isn't the real...

I'm not trying to say that nurture always wins, and I apologise if it seems that I am. Before I continue I apologise if my post seems all over the place. No, intelligence does not make one more aware. It does, however, seem to make a one more aware. Maybe I'm just an exception in this world if what I'm saying isn't true. Sometimes ones nature is stronger than their nurture, and vice versa. If you want you could base it off of their willpower, maybe use the averaged value of int and wis. Of coarse, just because someone is a genius that doesn't mean they are completly aware of what's going on, which is prolly where wisdom (common sense and logic) comes in. I comepletely understand. And, saying this while hoping that my players aren't reading it, in my campaign dragons are the bases for magic. If dragons were to be eradicated magic would dissapeer (someone please give me the correct spelling for that!). Which also means that deities would only be people who were so great they deserve recognition. Tendencies, however, are mostly bred into a race, which means that they could possibly be bred out of atleast a group of that race. And if a good party travels with a cannibalistic ghost then yes, he could eventually see that what he's doing is wrong. Then again, just like everything else, right and wrong are all based on point of view.

I think I'm done. Jade, I kinda like you. This is fun.

They still exist. So I guess there is an "archive." I guess it just isn't "browseable." There isn't an index for it, but you can dig up things via the search function.

Yes, out of boredom I took the advice anyways and found one of the threads I was looking for. Unfortunately for me I have a bad memory and generaly find what I'm looking for by recognition. The rest of the threads are likely lost to me. I could check my posts... Anyways, thanks!!

Not anymore it doesn't. Your best bet is to put keywords into the search function over there that might prove peculiar to the threads you're searching for.

Pointless if the threads no longer exsist. Oh well, if he didn't get the info for us before they were deleted we might end up posting again.

Fizzban wrote:

I think that question is the same as are people born good or evil, or do we learn to be good or evil? Who knows, but we don't have solid proof of our creator in DnD, dragons do.

Fizz

This gets into nature versus nurture (of which I personally think it's 80/20) combined with a D&D universe evil as actual force.

The Book of Exalted Deeds covers redeeming an evil dragon. Now was that dragon evil from birth? I truly believe so. It's not that a good character's harsh environment can't teach him evil and brutality (Conan's formative years just plain sucked), and an evil creature being raised lovingly will certainly cause it do its darndest to behave and not murder wantonly. But I see that as being an extreme case. Most evil creatures raised by good are like wild deers being raised in cabin. One day, about a year or two in, the call of wild will have that stag running right through you to get outside and never return come. Nothing personal, they are acting as they are made to.
Evil creatures are thus made to act evil. So a red dragon being raised by goodly adoptive parents staying good is, IMO, an exceptional case and worthy of legend.

I see a red dragon can be raised by tinker gnomes but when orc scouts attack the gnome's village and knock his aunt to the ground he isn't just going to attack to defend, he's going to torture and devour the insurgent orcs then fly off to slaughter their entire supply line all the way to their soon to be broiled chief.

The gnomes will be happy to know that their boy handled their business so well but something will never be the same... Raxis has tasted the blood of enemies and his gleaming predatory eyes reflect a leash snapped. That which tethered Raxis to the good conduct of his diminutive adoptive clan has been rendered ash with his first vengeful blast of fire.

While I agree, I don't think it's so one sided. You must remember that the only real animal in the dragon family is the white dragon (and dragon turtle, if you include it). Reds, blacks, and the rest are all sentient, with an intelligence surpassing any mortal and (possibly) most libraries. I must also present a scenario that purhaps you did not see. A gold raised by orcs? Nature vs. Nurture, but the other way around. If the gold did separate himself, she would likely still be battling against how she was raised. Not to bring my life into this, but being raised through brute force and yet doing your best not to deck someone when they do something that you don't like or agree with is also a big battle. Their is also the Do'Urden scenario. Possibly someone is just born different, their nature is against thier background and stands even agaisnt the way they are raised. Na vs. Nu is a complicated situation. Then again, maybe I just make it that way.

Looking at the life-span of a dragon... I don't see why that wouldn't be possible. I can't see, however, a dragon staying along after reaching young adult. Not that the PCs are likely to see that, but that's not my point.

Which actually brings up somthing else I thought of to solve this problem. Since dragons possess powers beyond that of any mortal, and a fair amount of immortals, are sentient and smarter than almost anything else, and are direct decendents of a god (I've been in since 2nd and still use Io), you could say that obtaining and raising a dragon as a companion would be impossible. Of coarse other things would have to be taken into account... I suggest my dragon farm idea ;)!!

I'm considering running ROTRL in Fate Accelerated (FAE), with Killershrike's house rules that kinda-sorta emulate PF1 in some respects. The game would be over email, and I already have a spot saved for 3 players, but I'd like to know if anyone here would be interested in one of the last 3 slots?

What I'm looking for:

• - People preferably not too familiar with ROTRL already, though this is negotiable for people whose writing style I really enjoy.
  
• - People with excellent writing skills, as we'll be leaning heavily on the narrative.
  
• - Adults who know how to amp up the drama.
  
• - People who know how to work with everyone else to make a compelling story, and not just attempt to play someone invulnerable (or otherwise cheese a narrative game), or ignore the tone of the scene or what other players write, or otherwise not get into the spirit of things.
  
• - People who recognize that ghosting a game instead of explaining that you're dropping out is an a$$#ole move.
  

None of us are all that familiar with FAE yet, so system mastery is a plus, but absolutely not required. All that's really non-negotiable is that you be an adult who can spell, has a decent vocabulary, uses punctuation - and are fun to be around/game with.

About me:
I'm primarily a GM who has focused heavily on PF1 since it came out, 3.5 DnD before that, and been a player for a chunk of the 2e DnD era as well. I tried a bit of PF2, but I'm looking for something with less crunch and more meat now. My GM'd games have almost exclusively been PBEM - to reiterate, this game would also be a pbem, NOT a pbp.

Like pbp, the pace is slow - and it's slower as everyone already slotted for it, including me, have real life and jobs going on. My posting requirement is minimum once a week, but preferably more often - and if you wait too long, and I have time to post, you forfeit your action. I generally only guarantee you one day to reply - after that, it's fair game (but I'm reasonable about life happening).

If you're interested, drop a comment and a link to your favorite post or game that you're writing in (or were writing in). I don't mind some character concepts, either - nothing fully built to FAE, though, as I give no guarantees. Just the idea and some sense of your writing style and expectations, or maybe also the High Concept and an Aspect (just one, make it count).

Any questions, feel free to ask. And in case this is read far into the future - you can DM me regardless. I don't always hang around the boards but I do pop in from time to time when not recruiting. Patience IS a key ingredient in text games, after all. ;)

Hello! I’m planning to run Kingmaker 2e in a pbem (play by email) format, and I’m going to need one new player, but with a possible need for one or two more, depending on my existing players’ availability. I’m looking for friendly, well-adjusted, and creative writers-who-are-gamers who haven’t played Kingmaker in any shape or form before (though I’ll make an exception if your character really wows me).

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I hope to make a selection within a week, or two at the most.

Hello!

I'm planning to run a pbem in Eberron, using the PF1e rules, some of these conversions, and some house rules. I have a character generation rules page I can link you to in a PM if you're interested, as well as a Discord chat about it, if you're chosen. The game will be run out of groups.io, and an account there is free. You can add your character picture to your handle there. I'll also post your chosen character picture on the cast page of our support site, along with a few details of who they are for the other players.

I'm looking for 2-3 more players. The other players currently include:

- a sylph wandslinger (a houseruled swashbuckler archetype)
- a human (d'Cannith) artificer
- an aasimar "halfling" sorceror
- possibly a warforged brawler (might not join)

We'll be starting in Sharn. So far, everyone in the party has been a member of the Keen Company, under Garson Keen, who died on the Day of Mourning, getting his company out of Cyre. They escaped with the fog right on their heels.

Now, two years after the war has ended, they've received a letter... from Garson Keen. He has invited them to Sharn to help solve the mystery of what really happened on the Day of Mourning?

I'm looking for people who enjoy writing more than one-line replies. If you have a cool concept, a great backstory, a love of writing, and team spirit, this game is for you!

I'm not posting the character generation rules here, because at this point I'd mainly like to get a feel for your writing style and concepts. If you absolutely need a framework to start with, start with a 15-point ability buy (this has the potential to be altered later, according to my house rules), no evil alignments, and know that 3pp isn't out of the question if it's in my library or on d20pfsrd.

I'll let this recruitment run on several forums until I get the desired number of players - it's definitely NOT "first come, first served," but the sooner you reply, the better. I'll try to answer any questions you may have quickly, but I do work days and can usually only reply on my lunch break or in the evenings.

I'm at GMT+1, and expect you to post at least once during the week (and you're very welcome to post more often!); I make wrapup posts as quickly as possible, but usually once a week on weekends, to allow those of us who are busy a chance to respond.

I hope you'll join us!

I'm thinking of running an Eberron campaign, beginning with The Forgotten Forge. I would use PF 1e rules, and the conversions found here.

The game would begin in Sharn, and I would expect the party to already have links to each other in their backgrounds, and a reason to be together as the game began. I'm thinking of running it as a pbem rather than a pbp, just because I like the format better, and also I've never run a game on the boards before (though I've run plenty of pbems). I would put up a campaign site with things like house rules, setting details, a cast page with pictures of the party members, and a collected archive of posts so that you could read them like a book, instead of trawling through hundreds of posts to follow the game.

Would anyone be interested in such a game? If so, what would your character concept (not crunch) be?

When I hit the RSS feed buttons, all I get is a page of code, instead of the feed subscription page. I'm using Chrome on Windows 10.

In the steaming jungles of Chult, on the wild and rocky coast where pirates prey on the unlucky - even in the very heart of the tropical city of Tashluta, where the air is redolent with exotic spices and the streets are packed with exotic peoples; everywhere in the sweltering heat, something wicked grows in the hearts of humanity. A tide rises, and all the world will be washed away before it... unless some brave souls were to take a stand against it.

To beat back the savage tide.

I'm starting a Savage Tide Pathfinder campaign set in the Forgotten Realms near Chult, with 3pp considered if it's in my library or on d20pfsrd... though, with certain caveats (for example, I restrict psionics to a custom race, the thri-kreen, for flavor reasons). We'll also be testing some of the alternate rules, like armor as DR and the vigor/wound rules. Posting rate will be 3-4 times weekly, should daily be too strenuous a schedule to keep, but I expect more than a one-line response. The characters begin the game in Tashluta, capital of the Tashalar, in the middle of the Chultan peninsula, on the 1st of Mirtul, 1375 DR. It's 15-20 point buy (explained on the support site), min.7 after racial mods, max.18 before racial mods. The catch is that it will be a pbem based out of Yahoo Groups, rather than a pbp. Here's the support site, which shows the rules we'll be using and the four characters already chosen.

I'm looking for two more players. Would anyone be interested?

Recruitment will run for a week or two.

The wind howled down from the crags like wolves, ravenous and sharp-toothed, stirring the deep mist between the trees, and in the valley below, the villagers shuddered. "An ill wind," the whispers said. What foul tidings blew down from high above, where Castle Ravenloft perched upon the mountain, ominous and dark? No one in Barovia had to ask.

The devil Strahd stirred.

I'm running Curse of Strahd in 5e as a PBEM (NOT PBP) based out of Yahoo Groups, and we're still early in the mod. I'm looking for a replacement player, as we're down to 3. Ex-PCs can be taken over, or a new PC can have been lured from the Forgotten Realms into Barovia by the Vistani. (We had a Vistani PC once, but I think it would be best to stay away from that in the future.)

The ex-PCs are:
Ascal Weaver, human wizard 3
Grey Jatan, tiefling monk 3
Dante Hatalithil, half-elf paladin of devotion (Torm) 3

If you do pick an ex-PC to take over, you'll need to familiarize yourself with their personality; other changes that don't dramatically alter the character are acceptable.

The current PCs are:
Perdita Imogen, half-elf rogue 1 paladin (Lathander) 2
Brother Attero Dominatus, human cleric of war (Torm) 3
Lissa, human barbarian 1 druid 2

Fair warning: My work has ramped up, so this isn't currently a fast game, but it chugs along. The party is currently in the town of Vallaki.

I'll let the recruitment run for a few weeks, since it seems hard to get people interested in non-pbp games.

Hi guys,

I'm running a group in a few hours, and one of the monsters (a greater barghest) has the Change Shape special quality. I don't see anywhere what type it is (Su, Sp or Ex), so I'm assuming Sp for now (even though it isn't listed under the monster's other spell-like abilities), but is that right? I want to know for the purpose of determining if using it provokes an AOO. Is there some other rule that covers special qualities that I haven't found?

(I'm also assuming it takes the same time as the spell it mimics, though I'm not sure if that's right.)

Thanks!

You know what would be cool? An [init] tag that sorted all the dice rolls inside it according to the results of the rolls, highest to lowest. :D

That, and I agree with another poster that somehow marking spoilered text, like with an indent or color field or something, would be really nice.

Cheers!

Make your rolls in this thread. Always ID your character and mention what you're rolling for.

Welcome to your DOOM.

...At least, if it's up to the devil Strahd. Is it?

Let's find out.

This thread is for dice rolling. Please ID your character every time you roll dice, as well as mentioning what you're rolling for.

I'm planning to run The Sunless Citadel, The Forge of Fury, and Red Hand of Doom (converted to Pathfinder) as a campaign, all set in the Shaar of the Forgotten Realms, 1279 DR. The game will be a PBEM (NOT PBP) based out of Yahoo Groups, with a support website for things like character portraits and a collected archive of the story.

OK, that's all I can think of to add for now. Feel free to ask questions!

The wind howled down from the crags like wolves, ravenous and sharp-toothed, stirring the deep mist between the trees, and in the valley below, the villagers shuddered. "An ill wind," the whispers said. What foul tidings blew down from high above, where Castle Ravenloft perched upon the mountain, ominous and dark? No one in Barovia had to ask.

The devil Strahd stirred.

I'm planning to run Curse of Strahd in 5e as a PBEM (NOT PBP) based out of Yahoo Groups, with a support website for things like character portraits and a running story-format archive of the game. I'm running a number of other PBEMs with Pathfinder, but this will be my first 5e game. We'll start the game in the Forgotten Realms, on the Sword Coast, in Daggerford.

NOTE: It's a sandboxy kind of adventure, so there's a good chance of running into things not tailored to your level!

I'll let the recruitment run until the end of the month, or thereabout. Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm not really familiar with 5e, but I love the old Ravenloft stuff from 2e. I understand Curse of Strahd is like an update of that older stuff. Has anyone out there converted the module to Pathfinder rules? Alternatively, are there good conversion guidelines out there somewhere? I've found some that go the other way, but they aren't official or anything.

So, my players didn't finish off all the critters on the Hambley farm, and that means more farmers will succumb until there's a raid on Sandpoint. Does anyone have suggestions for how I can stagger the raiders into manageable chunks in interesting ways? Or, perhaps, know of a module I could substitute for the event?

The party isn't that attached to Sandpoint thanks to their ongoing feud with Vinder, and some other... interesting diplomatic moments they've had. I'm also trying to think of ways to get them more friendly with the locals.

Thanks!

Does anyone know if the spellblade abilities are actually feats, or abilities with the same name as feats that stack with the same feats?

Thanks!

Like many others, I got the Humble Bundle, but my question isn't about downloading. Rather, I was wondering if it would be possible to swap out the Hell's Rebels adventures for Kingmaker ones? I realize I'm already getting a really good deal, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. :)

I'm trying to buy some pdfs, but it won't let me until I enter a shipping address, and when I click on Manage Addresses there's nowhere to enter a new one. Hitting Edit just loads the same screen that says I have no addresses, with nowhere to add an address.

When trying to pay, it allows me to enter a new address - but the popup is so small that I can't get to the bottom, and I can't scroll down, so I can't enter it there, either.

I've tried to enter an address in Chrome and IE (I can't use Firefox because it keeps crashing lately). Neither works. I'm using a Win7 machine.

I'm thinking of starting another PBEM campaign on Yahoo Groups. It suits the format of writing-focused roleplaying, and I handle most of the mechanics of the game behind the scenes to save time. I usually have 6 PCs to encourage posting to keep the game moving, and I'm planning on experimenting with 3pp (that I have access to) on a case-by-case basis.

The campaigns I'm considering are:
1) Kingmaker
2) Throne of Night
3) Serpent's Skull

Would this be of any interest, and if so, which campaign?

Does anyone have suggestions for published adventures/modules to run as a prelude to Red Hand of Doom? I'm thinking of starting the game at level 1. Refluffing isn't a problem.

Make your rolls here if you like - just note which character it's for, since I don't know all your aliases.

When I go to look at The Order of the Stick comics, I keep getting bounced back to this page: http://paizo.com/store/booksMagazines/comics. Is Paizo no longer selling these, or is there some other problem?

Because of reasons.

Artists take note!

I'm wondering if a glitterdust spell continues to affect anyone who walks into it after it has been cast, or if it only affects those caught in its radius when it is cast?

My friend is saying that only emanations have an effect that continues to affect those within its area after it has been cast, and glitterdust is a spread, not an emanation. Does this hold water?

I once read this article about how characters who had suffered a brush with death (i.e. been raised) could be eligible for new feats that played off that connection to the dead. I cannot for the life of me remember what issue it was in, or find it anywhere. Please help!

I'm running Burnt Offerings for play-by-email on Yahoo Groups, and player dropout has left some openings. I'm looking for one or two people either willing to take over an existing character (female half-elf rogue or female half-elf barbarian) or to create a new character using only core races/classes, who has been captured by the goblins of Thistletop and will be released shortly by the party.

Again, this is for pbem, NOT pbp.

Preference will be given to players who can spell and punctuate correctly. If you're interested in one of the existing characters I can tell you more. If you want to make a new one, right now I'm just looking for a short background/concept - don't go to all the trouble of making a whole sheet.

The current composition of the party is:
male half-orc wizard (evoker)
female human paladin (Sarenrae)
male gnome cleric (Desna)
male human fighter (possible the player may drop out)

female half-elf rogue (up for grabs)
female half-elf barbarian (up for grabs)

I've been playing on and off in a long-lasting solo game. In the beginning the DM said, "make your character anything, any level," so I came up with a munchkin character and for a while we had a blast. We didn't use the rules (2nd Ed. back then) as anything but a stepstone for ideas, and though the plots were cheesy, the DM was really good at NPC characterization and we had a lot of fun.

Within the last few years, though, his tendency to take away the control of my character, have him do something bad, then say something like, "Suddenly you're back in control of your body" and have me deal with whatever shit situation he's come up with has increased to the point where half the time I'm not responsible for anything the character does. On top of being held responsible for it anyway, his NPCs have taken to insulting my character on a regular basis, my character can't deal with anything above a lvl.5 challenge (I either get my ass handed to me by DM fiat or told that my solution flat out won't work - only for his DMPCs to come in and say/do something similar that saves the day), he never gives me enough information to act on without me having to pull it out of him like I'm pulling his teeth (but if I do something wrong because I didn't know what my character should be able to see, LOL SRY TOO BAD), and he's completely screwed over my character's backstory with his current plot. He also penalizes my character for my own lack of charisma/tactical knowledge/whatever.

I'm starting to feel like an unwelcome extra in his DMPC-focused story extravaganza. The problem is that he's really touchy, and any criticism can set off a tantrum where he threatens to take his ball and go home. He views himself as a great DM (and he really used to be one!), though has never actually played IN a game, so I don't think he understands how frustrating this shit is. I offered to de-munchkinize my character in case it was getting too hard to deal with, but I immediately regained all my powers by his doing. He seems willing enough to play the game on the occasions we meet, and I try hard to go with the flow of the story even when it's borking my character up, so the vibe I'm getting is that he thinks it's fun to do this - not for me, but for him.

At this point I'm really attached to the characters and invested in the story, but playing is a gorram frustration. I can't discuss it with him frankly because he'll blow his top, but I don't want to give up on the game. Maybe someone with better charisma than me can explain how to let the DM know he's not being as great a DM as he thinks?

My DM is running us through the War of the Burning Sky AP, and I have a greatsword-wielding fighter that just hit 2nd level. His feats are Cavalry Errant (a background feat from WotBS), Dodge, Weapon focus: greatsword, Mobility and Power Attack. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what feats I should take through lvl.20? Obviously I'll be taking the weapon specialization and focus tree, and I'd like to take improved critical and weapon supremacy (from PHB2), but other than that I don't know. The DM said I probably won't need the mounted feats.

Any 'official' source is probably OK.

I need some new players for our RotR play by email campaign. The group is still in the beginning of the first module (just entered the Glassworks), and currently consists of a human half-Varisian cleric of Shelyn, a human Ulfen ranger, and a halfling bard.

I'd like to recruit people who can write well (so we'll have a fun story to read when it's all done) and who can post at least daily.

We're using the Pathfinder rules, but only Core races and classes (archetypes are probably OK, but please check first). You get two traits, and in addition one of the feats from the Player's Guide if you're a Varisian native. 25-point buy for abilities.

You don't need to post any crunch here, just a concept and character background. If you get picked, there's an RTF sheet to fill out on our Yahoo group under Files. Our website is here.

I'd like to run the Freeport adventures in Golarion with the Pathfinder rules, and I want to offer some cool campaign traits. I'm aware that KQ has some, but they appear to mostly presuppose that the PCs are from Freeport, while the adventure states that the PCs should just have arrived from elsewhere. I'm an uncreative lump at the moment, so tell me: what do you think would make good campaign traits for newcomers to Freeport?

Yesterday I made a post about this that got shunted into Suggestions/Homebrew/Whatever for some reason, never to see the light of day again, so this time I'll keep it short and sweet.

I need advice/ideas on how to challenge a low-level party that has to climb the tallest mountain(s) in the world (infested with rocs) and then travel through a forest full of über-dire wolves. I don't want to TPK them, but challenge them with these foes (and possibly some abberations) - preferably in a way that doesn't need to lead to combat. Puzzles of some sort would be nice, and ideas of how to make the trip fun and memorable.

Suggestions on aberrations to use are also welcome.

Some facts:

• The PCs will start at lvl.1 having to climb the mountain and go through the forest
  
• They will have no wizards, rogues or paladins, but possibly oracles or summoners.
  
• The PCs are flavored as Neanderthals, with Neanderthal equipment
  

In any case, I'd like to start my very first fully-homebrew game with an all-human Neanderthal Epic 6 story. I'm not doing anything mechanically to differentiate Neanderthals from regular humans; instead I plan to alter the Cro-Magnon a little. But that's a tangent, sorry.

I've been brainstorming all day, and I've come up with a story that seems okay, I think... but now comes the part where I have to translate it into actual scenarios with opponents and game mechanics. Yech. Which finally brings me to my point: is anyone interested in helping me come up with a fun scenario for the first adventure?

The gist of the first adventure is: The Bird of Thunder clan has seen something strange far to the north, where the frost never touches. Having journeyed to the top of the tallest Sky Mountain to see this for themselves, the party must go there through the forest of the Ur-Wolves.

I want the challenge to have something to do with the rocs that live on the Sky Mountains and of course the Ur-Wolves in their forest, but I'm drawing a blank as to a fun thing to do with them. I don't want it to be just some hackfest, but to maybe have a puzzle or something. Maybe the Ur-Wolves are semi-intelligent, and let the PCs pass if they save a pup in trouble, or something. Any ideas, anyone?

It says Spark can light unattended Fine objects... but it seems odd that it couldn't light a torch, which is meant to be lit, though it isn't Fine. In fact, it seems odd that it could only (potentially) light torches or lanterns that are unattended. Could someone clarify? Thanks!

I'm running a homebrew where one of the PCs is looking for her long-lost sister. I decided to make the sister one of the minor BBEGs in the campaign, which is about a fey invasion. The PC will have a chance to 'convert' the sister, or they'll have a showdown and (I expect) the sister will die, perhaps whispering a few clues for later and setting the PCs against the evil fey. In the meantime, I've set it up so that all the cannon fodder for the evil fey army (goblinoids mostly) are terrified of her, and due to how she's been talking up her sister the PC, they're afraid of the PC too.

The sister has been abducted by the fey to their realm for a while, where a lot of time has passed, allowing her to become more powerful than the PC(s). I've decided that this was because of her mixed human and fey blood making her a good go-between for minor villains used by the main BBEG. That's why I'm thinking she should be a feyblooded sorceror, circa level 10 (the PCs are currently level 6).

I could use some advice on her build - feats and spells, mostly. I want to emphasize how badass she is to scare the cannon fodder like that, preferably with fey-themed abilities (dreams, shadows, animals, phantasms, etc.). Or if someone has alternate class/prestige class ideas, I'd like to hear about them, too.

If anyone has any bright ideas about how I could extend the fey blood theme to the PC somehow, that'd be great too. I thought about offering her a bonus fey feat, but thought that'd be unfair to the other PCs. I also thought about making a special prestige class to offer her, but I have no experience doing that, so it'd probably end up unbalanced.

So... halp?

I'll say it up front: I suck at tactics.

The party has just cleared the thistle maze and more or less all resistance on the first level of Thistletop, capturing Ripnugget (they captured Gogmurt too, but let him go). They haven't yet discovered the dungeon levels, but when they do, I think they'll turn back to Sandpoint to restock and recover.

My question is: with the goblins wiped out, what would Nualia & Co.'s response be? Surely she wouldn't just keep on researching as though nothing had happened? How would they set up a defense of the fort without the goblins if they have a day or more to prepare?

Where would they set up to cause the most grief to trespassers? Any specific tactics they might use would be welcome.

If it helps, the party has just hit 3rd level. One of them is a paladin of Sarenrae who used to know Nualia. I imagine a chance for her to redeem Nualia if she plays her cards right.

Anyone who enjoys writing interested in joining an ongoing Rise of the Runelords pbem played on Yahoo Groups? We're still early in the first adventure. Only core classes and races, though.

A barbarian in my game is trying to use a Knockback bull rush against the mount of a mounted opponent with the Mounted Combat feat. Since you can negate a hit on your mount with this feat, does it function against combat maneuvers?

If a Handy Haversack is sized for a Small character (we don't use magical item resizing), is the capacity smaller, or does the fact that it's a magic item overrule that?

I've joined a campaign that has gotten to 16th level, which is by FAR the highest level I've ever played. At first I built a camel-riding paladin, but the setting and general uselessness of the paladin (can't even convert anyone, that's taken care of by the cleric) has convinced me to switch characters.

Now I'd like to try an elven rogue in the hope of actually being useful for a change. Elven due to campaign concerns, rogue because we already have a fighter and a ranger and I'm nervous about remembering all the options at this level for other classes. But I've never really run a high-level character besides the fiasco that was the paladin, so I could really use some advice on an awesome build, from stats to feats to magical equipment. OR an alternate class build if the rogue turns out to be a bad choice.

Can anyone help me out? Most splatbooks are acceptable I think, assuming either I or our gaming club have them (which is likely). The new adventure starts on Monday. Piles of internet cookies for everyone who helps! :)

We've lost the player of our dwarf ranger, and we need a replacement. I'd prefer that someone just take over the dwarf ranger, but I'll consider interesting new concepts, too.

The group is currently assaulting Thistletop, so any new character will be found there, probably as a captive of the goblins. Everyone is lvl.2, core classes and races only. Concepts please, not stats.

If you'd like to take over the existing dwarf ranger (yay!), here's some info on him:

• He came to the town of Sandpoint during the Swallowtail Festival specifically to find a half-elf (one of the PCs) that he's infatuated with (whom he knew would be attending), but she's recently changed into a terse killer and his affection is unrequited.
  
• He lost his father's battleaxe under Sandpoint (shattered) and now uses a fancy handaxe he found on a mutated goblin-thing.
  
• His name contains the rare-in-Dwarven "th" sound.
  
• He doesn't believe in bathing, but believes his 'natural scent' hides him from predators.
  
• His favored enemies are goblins.
  
• Anything else you want to know about him, ask.
  

The rest of the party consists of:

• A half-orc evoker
  
• A human paladin of Sarenrae
  
• A gnome cleric of Desna
  
• A half-elf, half-Shoanti Shadde-Quah barbarian
  
• A half-elf rogue (the dwarf's interest)
  

I'll wait a week or so for volunteers before choosing. Cheers!

Our RotR pbem game stagnated due to lack of posting, and now we're looking for people committed to frequent posting and entertaining writing. You can take over one of the old characters (a Shoanti druid, gnome frost sorceror or halfling rogue) or make a new character that has a reason to go adventuring with the Heroes of Sandpoint.

The party is 1st level and has just defeated a goblin raid on the town of Sandpoint the day before yesterday. Now they're investigating a goblin lair, where they might find the new party member(s). 25-pt buy, no evil characters, core material only for class and race (though I'll usually accept archetypes). The current party includes an Ulfen ranger, a Shoanti monk and a cleric of Shelyn; we could use a rogue or arcane caster. I'd like to see some basic concepts here before you go to the work of statting out a character.

Our group on Yahoo Groups is rotrdk, with a link to our website on it.

Can anyone recommend a 1st-lvl adventure where there's little combat and mostly roleplaying? It can also be 3.5 and even something from Dungeon; I'm planning on running a pbem game for total RPG newbies, and I find it best to restrict combat severely. However, I feel too shaky as a DM to design an adventure myself, so any recommendations are really, really welcome.

The pregen characters at the back of WBG includes an alchemist, but I'm a little uncertain about the extracts he has. Specifically their number. As far as I can tell, he should only have 4 at lvl.1(2+2 for Int), but he has 6. What have I overlooked? Could someone please explain this discrepancy to me?

In the pbp game I'm in, when I post as my alias Patch Cullen, I get the message that I can only post 10 times before the name becomes permanent, which I never got with my other aliases. The only other time I've seen it is when I first posted on the boards. Is there something weird going on here, or does that message show for all aliases now? I'd rather not change my original alias to Patch Cullen!

I've got a non-optimized 15th level desert paladin (complete with divine warcamel mount) that has proven to be far too squishy, mainly because I didn't outfit her very well. Now I've been encouraged to cheese her up equipmentwise (within the means of a 15th level character), and I need some advice.

Due to her desert background she's leery of metal armor, so she has bracers of armor and some homebrew "spidersilk" armor that stacks with them, but her AC still sucks. I'd like a non-plate armor method of beefing up her AC. Losing the spidersilk is not a problem.

She's specialized in using a glaive or, at closer quarters, a falchion. However, the ones she has aren't magical and basically suck. She deals something like an eighth of the damage of the other combat characters in her party. Somehow I don't think her god is impressed with her nearly dying every fight she's in.

I can probably argue for anything found in an official 3.5 splatbook, and possibly even non-official splatbooks, but I've never played such a high-level character before and just don't know HOW to cheese her up. Any advice is appreciated!

Hi there,

I'm doing a bachelor project on gaming (game literacy and social ties that bridge the digital divide), and it would really help me out if as many online roleplayers as possible would answer a few questions for me within the next few days. I've made a short questionnaire with just 10 questions here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FF8WYHB

If you have any questions, post them here and I'll do my best to answer. Thanks in advance for your help! :D