Ashtathlon's page

I played a CE barbarian , that viewed his fellows as his tribe/family..and had pretty violent mood swings..and a terrifying temper..but so long as I had wine, women and loot, I was a fairly easy fellow to get along with.

But I did burn down a small town that drugged and took my friends prisoner..(I was at a brothel when they came for the rest...saved by lust :) )
He was more Chaotic than evil..but I did some pretty creative executions for stuff we delt with along the way.

XP does nothing for the game.

Even this "little present" idea, is just the same as leveling, which can be handled without XP.

It's a false reward.

The real reward is leveling.

The game actually improves, as players have no concern about earning XP.

Progressing the story becomes the focus, as that's how you will level.

No boiling ant hills, or searching to fight everything nearby.

Less murderhobo, more roleplaying, better story.

we have exactly zero of those things happening in our campaign for exp..its a kingdom maker sandbox environment with no "story" other than the ones we are pursuing.

I love XP..its like a little christmas present between games, I enjoy the progress..and the expectation of a new level, and everyone I play with expresses the same.
And we do git slight variances on our earned exp based on rp and involvement..and journal entries ( I suspect the journal entry bonus is due to the GM enjoying reading them)

I have played in "level when the Gm says " games..and I found it lacking in this one simple pleasure for me as a player.

Our campaign has introduced several breeds of horses in four tiers of quality..base horses are barely broken or trained ones, tier 2 is the standard horse in game, tier 3 is a much more well defined breed, (race and nation based), and tier 4 are the absolute best of them.
They range all the way up to a CR5-6 top of the line warhorse...that costs 4-6k gp

and to further enhance the horse process, we also have 20 horse traits that are randomly generated when someone goes shopping for a mount, the tier of the horse is the maximum number of traits it can have.

The traits range in effect and will influence various stats and such..and even reflect a very spirited powerful horse is not for a unskilled rider.

all in all it has added alot of depth to our campaign, and the GM has gone to lengths to keep horses and such as vital to travel..(no overland flight spells..teleports etc)

Because I don't trust banks........

Sitting at a table, sharing it with the players that created them...meeting your creators like that....such a disappointment.

a miniature giant space hamster...

A honey badger...and have another honey badger as a buddy...two honey badgers is too much :)

Baring that a siberian tiger..with another tiger as a buddy..and get myself a act in vegas.

The Army...then Retirement...

Game-wise roll20 and VTT gaming..hated it at first now its great, have a campaign that has been going for over 10 months now.

Pugwampis..teamed up with any other monster that has save or have a bad day abilities...someone casting invisibility on a couple pugwampis..even worse.

Low level swamp witch with a couple this little fellows..makes for unhappy players. ( as a low level encounter.)

yup..work with your GM...return the book, and dig your own grave (just to be sure)
And stop being a murderhobo...lol

useful for some swarms...

Repellent, Vermin

Source Adventurer's Armory

This vile-smelling white paste keeps vermin at bay if spread on the skin. Normal-sized (Fine) vermin avoid you. Swarms of vermin must make a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw in order to enter your square. Once applied, vermin repellent remains effective for 4 hours or until you spend 1 round washing it off.

Create: Craft (alchemy) DC 20

I can fly...because gravity is terrified of me.

hmmm..herolab for me has been a godsend.. I am a retired combat vet with TBI and other various bad wireings..
And I have used RPGs that I played in my youth, as a therapy aid for resocialization and mental health recovery, But..the depth and extent of all the conflicting and options and such can be a bit much to track, and it would be very easy to miss something ..and have to start over again.
And as someone with not alot of patience for frivolous things (hobbies unfortunatly fall in that category now for me.)..the less hassle the easier to maintain enthusiasm and therefore participation.

I do endeavor to look stuff up when questions occur and extend my knowledge...but not everyone is a teen with a sponge brain anymore..some of us old soldiers kinda need our "crutches" as some have so indelicately described...but PFS games are obviously not were we may be welcomed..but no matter, I have a nice geekchic table..and buddies to sit around it..and A VTT on roll20 as well.

Godbless Herolab..it gave me back my rollplaying games as a viable hobby again.

SFC (ret) Dan L.

44) think the world revolves around them...and it does.

28) a group of low intelligence low wisdom people execute the most clever...devious schemes, of magical manipulation and or diplomacy...while usually having scores barely above cattle.....lol

36. Last player to link his/her Pc to another Pc by background conections..buys pizza for the group..and drinks.

a barrel of nautical monkeys...dressed in striped shirts and bandanas...act as a crew and the ship counts as fully crewed for 3d6 minutes..regardless of actual crew complement.
at conclusion of their duration all scurry back into their rum barrel.

Don't show up to play in a bloody clown costume......

the "perfect" adventuring party

Any 4+ players that can work together and have fun while playing the game.

specific character details be damned.

I guess "balance" is not something I have problems with in the games I run, in so far as stats are concerned. Especially starting ones.

I allow each player to decide to use a 20pt stat buy, or roll 4d6 drop the lowest arrange as preferred..what you roll is what you get, and if the point buyers whine that the dice rollers got lucky..oh well, they took the chance at getting less as well.

I have also found that a player that will grouse at another players stats will also grouse at items other players may find. Advantage they may accrue or even rewards for good game play and clever ideas...some players always covet what another has.

besides in the games I run the party works as a team..and not a bunch of ego measuring wannabe heros that have to all be exactly the same, from the get go.

I guess this goes back to my old school roots of gaming and the fact that I avoid "organized" play like a plague.

No one player (character) can do everything in game well, so if you find yourself feeling like a "sidekick" maybe you have only yourself to blame, find a niche and fill it and be useful..who knows you may shine even more than the lucky "rolled" pc..but that's a lot up to the player playing not some numbers on a sheet.

Best way not to be useless in combat..is try to be useful.

don't stare blankly at your charactersheet, don't get wrapped up in mechanics, try to do something..anything and you may be surprised by what a little out of the box thinking can do.

9. A large and in charge half-orc (pick gender) takes a active social interest in a character..much to the relief of his/her companion.

10. A bedraggled person comes storming into the tavern ranting about gold and treasure and some nasty thing trying to harm him..while demanding a drink.

11. your chair breaks.

12. the wobbly table shifts under the weight of all the drinks food and items and dumps it into a random player(s) lap/floor.

13. the door opens and all the lights in the room go out, and suddenly re-light after a round or two. Revealing a man slumped over the bar with a knife plunged in his back.

14. the Toilets get backed up.

15. someone casts swarm of monkeys into the bar.

16. someone casts swarm of flaming monkeys into the bar!

"Butthurt Wizard" needs to be a character class...

sounds like a Archetype..or prestige class.

You want the players (pcs) to have a money sink....make them get spouses.

The money will vanish.

You could always roll randomly to determine what point buy is used...

Personally I like the rolled stats, since for me its fun to see the possibilities, not just break out the shopping list.

A hall of mirrors that reflect only a dim reflection, and as each mirror is gazed at the refection becomes more and more distinct until revealing at the end of the hall, a much aged character in it..maybe with some wasting disease, perhaps its real, or just a illusion.

Various seemingly innocent children patrons of the carnival, but each after a time begins to exhibit a increasingly nasty temperament towards their parents or others..until the players view them eating them, or murdering the same in some horrible manner, revealing distinctly malevolent features to their appearance( wide sharptoothed grins, backwards legs..tails, etc).before darting off behind the scenes.

what are the player ages we are talking here, a fairly young age group it could just be acting out and such..if a much older player..well that's likely not going to be easily fixed.

But no neg experience..it comes off as a bit childish, and when dealing with tantrums and such, using those tactics will likely just spark another bout of the tantrums.

Talk to them, explain your concerns, and spell out the effects on the game and group enjoyment, then make a mature call on how to proceed..best thing maybe to part ways, before it gets worse.

Its easy to get PCs to hate NPCs, in my experience the hard one is to make them love a NPC.

But in order to make a truly hated and despised NPC in my games, I figure out what is a particular player or party hot button for annoyance/anger...and I push that button repeatedly.

money obsessed. Rob them.

Honor obsessed. Embarrass them.

power obsessed. Dethrone them or ostracize them.

Ability obsessed (this is a mean one), capture, and mutilate a couple of them, think game of thrones style here..but be ready for fountains of hate.

build up a NPC they DO love..and have the nasty one murder he/she, in some foul way..and frame/blame, or make cause of it the PCs.

steal their items, and replace them with cursed ones masked with illusions to make them look like the originals..plant them in a patsy lair and let the players murder some henchmen and recover them..then get cursed.

Just some quick kooky ideas to make players really dislike a NPC, without having the NPC just put a beatdown on them.

What happens if I steal a Paladin's bonded horse?

you piss off a horse, a paladin, and a god..generally in that order. :)

90%+ of this hobby is communication, player to GM, GM to player, people ask questions pertaining to what is important to them, and anytime a gap in this vital chain is broken, then stuff fails.

So don't make assumptions, and do ask questions, do so until certain of the answers, and omission is not permission..it will save a lot of heartache.

"Is there any incentive to sleep ON a bedroll"

Not when there's a bed available.

Honestly does every action a character make in a game have to give a +1...

40. scabbard of the squire's duty
Designed to fit a specific range of weapons, large blades, short blades, axes etc.
When a weapon is sheathed, the scabbard sharpens, oils and cleans it, restoring it to nearly new condition, this process takes 1 hour, and the scabbard must attune itself to a new weapon over a 24 hour period.
Broken condition weapons are also returned to nearly new condition, but the process takes 2 hours.

41.Dogcart of the weary Halfling
this dog-sized cart can hold the same amount that a standard sized wagon may carry, also the driver and draft doggie, benefit from endurance as the feat.

42.bullseye lantern of the sentry
this standard sized bull's-eye lantern consumes fuel at 1/2 the normal rate and emits light to a distance of 200', also at a command from its owner the lantern will shut or open, this has a range of up to 100'.

43.The Skillet of good starts
This medium sized cast iron skillet if left near a fire or placed flatly on a rocky surface will produce a hearty breakfast for up to 4 beings (consisting of eggs, sausages, and potatoes), the skillet will only do this once per day and within 1-3 hours of sunrise, any of the 4 beings dining on the fare, also will benefit from cure wounds effect of 12hp.

Anyplace where huge balls of yarn trample on the rights of the commonfolk.

You don't get to ancient age by playing mr.nice guy..let them melt.

My setting has no large cities, or large towns for that matter, no magic shops, and most will be semi-random magic item finds...its up to the players to find uses for them..I long ago stopped being Santa with players giving me a list of items they want.

But I do tend to make unique items that may incorporate a few abilities together, and will place some items somewhat intended for specific characters..but no entitled wish-lists.

yup, my new campaign (kicking off next Saturday) is pretty much just CRB with some very limited stuff from other books (mainly fitting archtypes etc.)
I even hesitated a bit on monks and paladins, due to the settings tone, but ultimately decided on working them in if a player decided they wanted one.

Its nice to have all the options, but sometimes less is more, keeps a tighter focus and establishes a cohesive setting.

I will also recommend any pathfinder GMs here that need players..try a VTT game on Roll20 , there are plenty of players there chomping at the bit for a game, I had 8 players plus a 10-12 extra within 2 days of advertising my pathfinder campaign.

Adamantine is the new black this season...

I think the most annoying aspect is that the spear is the most ancient and long lasting weapon in history (minus the rock), and most games just relegate it to a dagger on a stick or somesuch.

The spear needs more love..but its not as flashy as those other weapons..with shiny bits and stuff. :)

on a aside note..I do roll things secretly that the players have no way of observing..I also just randomly roll dice to make my players paranoid. :)

A Colossal dragon..thats not modeled sitting up like a begging dog.

Assegai (or Iklwa as the Zulu called it , for the sound it made as it was thrust into somebody) would best be represented as a shortspear, since you can throw one.

But the short spear is a pretty broad area, since it includes all 1 handed spears, even heavier Viking and greek styled ones.

It would have been nice to have a few other spear types, rather than a glut o swords :)

Actually he will, I am a "Normal"in a sense roleplayer, but I may prefer the term Traditional.
I theme a character and not build it, I only take classes in what is appropriate for the characters concept and not what will give it better bonuses..if that means I have a bad save , or a weakness here or there so be it.

Its just how I have slowly found I prefer to play, looking for rule exploits and crazy combos, just does not really interest me anymore.

Does that make my way of playing better than anyone elses..no, just how I have fun.

Everyone has fun in different ways..the key is to get a group that has fun in similar or complimentary ways and you have a great game. :)

The current campaign I have started on roll20, has no guns..no psionics..no advanced character classes..mostly just the core rulebook, a lot of races (monsterous and what not) and even a very distinctive restriction on equipment to match the setting..(late iron age, with a few variations)

and as to firearms in 1st ED ad&d...I remember a few Dragon magazine articles on it, and a few charts of alternate methods of implementation.

But there was never a class specializing in them, they were not even a speck on the radar of the game in those heady days of RPG, and Expedition to the barrier peaks did have laser weapons...and a handy flow chart to see if the player could figure them out..or shoot themselves.
Was a lot of fun.

No MMO talk jargon at or near or about the game..no builds, or tanks or DPs or any other new fangled silly talk. :)

Or

NO DICE! the guy to your left decides what you roll.

Knox drill and Sill AIT, but I was the only Drill Sgt. in my cadre with combat deployments, and I was kinda a softy on the guys..no reindeer games, unless they REALLY pissed me off, then it was smokehouse time, till 3 inches of sweat on the killzone. :)

Anyway battle..there are civilians watching....:)

Every player must pay me ten dollars.

A hour.

everything I type IS sarcasm...I was a Drill sgt (for a couple rotations), I can't get that out of my programming now. :)

Congrats on the book, look forward to seeing the final product.

And this will ensure a 500% increase in the number of female player of course... :) (can never have to many ladies playing games.)

I just make plenty of popcorn and enjoy the ride..