I am still waiting for 148.
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WotC has shut down the Boycott thread on its messageboards citing a breach of the Code of Conduct.
I've also noticed the lack of responses by the WOTC staff.
I'm too young to drink but that has never stopped my age group.
I'm not usually one for this, but this seems like the ideal time to suggest a letter writing campaign to Watts to express our outrage! I agree with your idea. However, if Watts actually checks the WotC boards then we might not need to take out the stationary.
I hope that the people on the WotC boards got the news that it was all Wizards fault. How dare those select few who blame Paizo.
U guys should check out the WotC boards. All hell is breaking loose and their decision actually has some supporters!
This just sucks. On a lighter note: are there any rich dudes out there who want to buy the D&D franchise from WotC? It would be most appreciated.
Awesome Hey, just for reference, what time is it right now in Ireland. It's 11:40pm at the time of this post.
Hey Firbolg, ya live in Ireland as I understand it. Would you recommend it for say... a two year stay, because I'm thinking about transfering there. I have some relatives in Dublin but when I see them it's because they came to California and not visa versa.
Dr Phil can kiss my ass. If he wants to drive to my house in his undeserved limo, then I'll even shave and powder my hairy dwarven tushy for him. I'm a gamer and I have no desire to ever shoot up some school and all the gamers I know think the same thing. Even if we are deranged sociopaths we still wouldn't spend the energy to get our fat asses off of our couches to kill somebody! Does Dr Phil even game? Because if he did he would understand how they are not at all "kill simulators". And since he has no experience with video games or the players, I see no reason why I should pay attention to him on this issue!
Has Samurai Jack been mentioned yet?
Okay the killer has been identified: AOL News- BLACKSBURG, Va. (April 17) -- The gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was identified Tuesday as an English major whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service. News reports also said that he may have been taking medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus. Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior, arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., officials said. He was living on campus in a different dorm from the one where Monday's bloodbath began. Police and university officials offered no clues as to exactly what set him off on the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. There is more, but its mostly on how he was a disturbed looser
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
ya, I can see how this law can be taken both ways.
Don't feel so bad Lord Vile I still haven't received mine.
Guys, come on, let Casca continue. He is a wonderful source of amusement for me and my friends and we could use as many laughs as possible these days. Oh yeah, check out CRL's profile, it's hillarious.
When it comes to the commandments we can't forget the fact that there is a major loophole that will keep you from burning in hell. A sincere apology to god will get you forgiveness and being forgiven means that you get your slate wiped clean. I believe that this exists so a person who is a devout christian can make a mistake and not get spanked by the devil when he dies. And being free willed does mean that you are going to make a mistake. It's okay, everyone does it once in a while.
hmmm...none One encounter per day speeds up the game and if it's one good fight then no one will complain. The only exceptions are dungeon crawls and other site based adventures.
Whoa, sounds like a hard-ass. Any good human gods out there?
Since the human race has no overgod like the Dwarves or the Orcs in DnD, I am considering making the christian god the deity of the entire human race. The other more humanistic gods like Pelor and Cuthbert would be his most powerful servants in the same way that the lesser Dwarf gods answer to Moradin. It allows the Christian god to be brought into the game and still include the traditional deities.
Still waiting for 146 in CA
I like Fatespinners option, it is a good go-between for all my players
HELL NO! I've had to deal with an uber-NPC (DM's pet character) that was a blind swordsman and he dictated the game for us. I will never allow or make a blind swordsman/axeman/spearman/blunt-object-man, period!
... I lost track
We're Like Simon and Garfunkel, Except "Hot". Little wierd to say that about you and your brother.
Cannabalism should be defined by the eater and not the eaten. If a troll (sentient) eats a pesky adventurer it means a full belly for the troll, and the troll may or may not get any kind of sadistic glee from it depending on whether or not it was attacked by said adventurer. Whereas a sadistic cultist who eats elven children would certainly know what he is doing is cannabalism and loves it. A farmer goes hunting and kills a wild turkey. No one in his family is going to whine about how that turkey had one hell of a good life, and the turkey can't complain either, but the druid of the nearby woods may object with violence calling it cannabalism of a fellow living thing. A paladin eats his dead and frozen friend to survive. Is that a bad thing? No, the paladin is being smart. If he survives he may be able to res his buddy and continue fighting the good fight. Does the friend care if he is being eaten? Again, the answer is no, because he's dead. We can assume that the act of cannabalism is not an inherently bad or good thing, it depends on the reason for commiting the act. A culture that eats their dead ancestors to gain their wisdom is doing a good thing in their own opinion while outsiders may look at this act with disdain. The people of this culture may not even know that this is normaly defined as cannabalism elsewhere. The cultists mentioned above knows that he is doing an evil deed and will continue to do so. It's all opinion.
I'm in.
The monk class got an amazing overhaul from 3.0 to 3.5. Sorry I don't actually have a 3.0 book so I lack the specifics. I dont have the 3.0 book on me but I do know that the monk no longer has the Leap of the Clouds ability because they overhauled the Jump skill to be more dependent on you exact role and not a persons height. The monk can now choose between two feats at 1st, 2nd or 6th level.The ambidexterity feat is gone. The ranger now has D8 HP and a ton of new abilities. Better Reflex saves too. Bards also got a kick in the ass and a new picture. The spell Time Stop will allow for spells to be cast with an area effect but no specific targets other than oneself. The modifiers for cover and concealment are extremely vague in 3.5 and that just pisses me off. That is all I can come up with for now.
Sorry man, but the books have nothing about these unknowns. I only have five of the Eberron books and they have nothing. I think that the reason for there being so little info on the daelkyr is that they are leaving it up to the DM to fill in the blanks. I have also read the Dreaming Dark series by Keith Baker and the Lost Mark series and they both have the same problem, especially in the Dreaming Dark series and that was written by the creator of Eberron. You might be able to get better answers from the WoTC Eberron blogs because I know that Keith will answer the questions posted... sometimes.
I cant place any specific template to him, if I had to guess I would choose half fire elemental What was with all the oily herons? (What "ability" is that?) Gift from his daelkyr master. What was it with Dah'mir's limited polymorphing? For Dah'mir's failure the Daelkyr granted him another shard but took away his full polymorphing ability as punishment (book 2, pg 126). What was the dominating power that Dah'mir seemed to have over the Kalashtar? I have no idea but it was linked to his gifted madness as everyone but kalashter only saw how insane he was. Besides, the Copper dragon has green eyes anyways. What did the embedded dragonshards do for Dah'mir anyway? Granted him extra power and abilities. Partially explained on page 124 in book 2.
Anything else I might try to answer?
I am allergic to peanuts. It's pretty bad too. When I was younger I could never eat a peanut (licking included) without barfing and swelling up like that violet girl from Willie Wonka, it was bad. My parents eventually took me to the doctor and discovered that on a scale of 0-6000, I was a 5800. It sucked. If I ate any more than an entire peanut I was risking a very ghastly and excruciating death. Well, this lead to an extra cautious attitude toward whatever I ate. Brownies, muffins, donuts, asian food, babies, everything was now a suspect. I once ate a california roll that had touched some peanut oil and I ran outside and threw up all over the side walk in downtown Santa Barbara. I blame my parents.
Couldn't find the princess bride one. Could I have the link, pretty please.
Sometimes there are worse things than death for a character. I played a campaign for six months once, and it had such a terrible ending that the group chose to not play the sequal the dm had. It started with us waking up at a military school (1st level) and its grad day. We played for six months and reached 22nd level and had two divine ranks. Every player created characters that remain their favorites to this day. The reason we stopped, after destroying the cult of Tiamat and stopping her army from taking over the world we WOKE THE F!*K UP IN THE SAME F#&%ING PLACE WE STARTED. Every level, every divine rank, every artifact and special ability we had acquiired was gone! It was all a dream! Not only that but throughout the campaign we had to deal with those uber NPCs of doom, DR 1,500/- my @ss!, and massive dice fugding by the DM. I would have rather let my character die early on if I had known what all my hard work was going to add up to.
Knowing Stefan's posting style for quite some time now, I'd say not a chance. Then again, maybe he's gone wild, flashing his boobs on the beach and what not, being rude to other posters, going outside without a necktie. Happens to the best of us. Thanks dude.
I hope that you are not refering to me in your first paragraph.
yep, I also get my ideas elsewhere. Mostly in my math class or when people I don't like are talking to me. It's nice to day dream about things that I actually care about.
I think a gm who hasn't scripted out his adventure is just a bad gm.... The vast majority of campaigns that I have DMed were mostly unscripted. I would make a broad outline of what I plan on doing and then I would let things just take there course. I find it easier to incorporate late plans into the game and I dont have to worry about the characters getting way off track. My players have a habit of changing characters often and I usually allow this because I can still bring them into the game one way or another (and I do it too when I play). It also allows greater flexibility in game design and character design. For example: my munchkin players have been lagging when it comes to role playing as they just assume a kill-all attitude for every situation. So I present them with a situation where diplomacy wins full XP and killing only gets them half XP. One way or another they get XP and they get the hint that I would like them to be a little more character oriented. I only started using scripted campaigns when I got my fist Dungeon Mag about three months ago. Now I am considering reading the adventures through once, then DMing them. Meanwhile I will only refer to the mag for monsters, overall plotline and maps. I think this might work better because I won't feel any pressure to keep my players in character or in line and I don't have to worry about the threat of having them level too fast or too slow. Freelance DMing is a good way to test your own ability to create a viable story, memorable NPCs, cool villians and a new world all on the go.
The DM is supposed to DM for the other players. A DM gives up his own player ambition for the creative freedom of bringing the game world to life. If he's DMing for himself, then he turns the PCs into NPCs. If you ask me that is cheating the players out of there gaming experience. Who wants to play a character under the control of the whims of the Dm, just supporting cast for the DMs script. I couldn't tell whether or not you are agreeing with my quote or not but I do agree with yours. To clarify my post I only meant that the DM cannot cheat when it comes to rule making, not game playing. A DM who robs his players of their freewill by any means is an @ss and should be immediatly raplaced by a DM who wants everyone at the table to have fun. A game that is not fun, is not worth my time or money.
Yeah, I forgot to mention the GM that makes up a character who is more or less their avatar in the game under some guise of an npc so this guy has the gms RL personae and is more or less him in dreamland; you cant kill him or do anything to him ever and you practically become a demigod if you think he is cool and hang out with him and just ignore that he is a normal human that can pick up and shake a maxed out greater treant in one fist and tell him off. yep; gm abuse like that is cheating in my book; but, really just wanted to say it goes both ways and that players are not the only ones that abuse the rules and the game; just trying to make a point since so many people seem to be so hostile about this whole thing. I agree that the DM can seriously stretch the rules to the point where the game is almost unrecognizable to the experienced player, but I still believe that the DM cannot cheat. I have dealt with those NPCs that are average on the outside but a god once in combat and I hate them with a passion. A DM who does not consider how the players might feel in a situation he created is only DMing for himself.
I started playing Eberron about half a year after it came out and I have not regretted it at all. As some people have pointed out, Eberron lacks the high level NPC, but it makes up for it with a high level continent: Xen'drik. And if you feel like going epic ,use Argonnesson. I own five Eberron books and soon to have six once I buy Secrets of Sarlona (once I have that book and the Magic Item Compendium I own 33 D&D source books, scary, isn't it). I might not be the best person to listen to however since my experience is extremely limited when it comes to campaign settings.
Ya, I did this too. But when I realized that players were coming to relie on my "DM initiative" to keep them alive, I began to not mess with the dice rolls. It also makes my players focus a little more on tactics and roleplaying which they sorely lack. On the other hand, having your red dragon go down so easily is a problem so I allow myself some leniancy when it comes to important fights or other critical moments in the campaign.
I've had other people watch a suspected cheater for me and all I ever got from them was "I think that he might be cheating but I'm not 100% sure." The most useful way I found to catch someone redhanded was to be a player and sit next to them and just watch. Of course I was not in any position to really call him out on it because of the fact that our other DM wouldn't do anything about it. But it was a good way to see how he cheats and under what situations.
I try to make it a two-way street. The players don't cheat and therefore I trust them, and in return they can trust that I won't screw around with important roles or monster stats.
The #1 cheater in my group is actually a pretty cool guy outside of D&D but he is completely addicted to the game. He has alredy been asking to play with our group after we kicked him out, such a shame. Thankfully he has a girlfriend that he is getting pretty serious with which is a nice break for the rest of us. I will probably give myself some time to simmer and then let him back in, I can't stay mad forever. And when it comes to an extra DM I have one guy who is actually qualified and willing. I usually reward him with the same XP and treasure as everyone else received for lightening the load. It's just that the guy is there maybe one in ten play sessions and one guy refuses, another is way too new and the last guy just isn't any good at DMing in any way. I am testing a new format out for myself where I have the players write down their saves, # of spells, HP, AC and stats. So far so good. A little complaining and a little extra work. I figure if this goes well then I can bring back the other guy and use this to keep and eye on him from afar. Unfortunatly, he is the only one who desrerves this ankle bracelet but I have found it useful for catching mistakes too.
Going over the DM Kill Board thread again, I noticed that you managed to take the cheating player's character out with a paralysis/fireball combo, ZeroCharisma, so kudos on that! Hey Cosmo, Itook your advice to heart. I have thought about booting him for a long time but recent events made it possible. We have always played at his place because it was the perfect location and it had an entire game room. With no where else to play, all of us excluding Jay were always eyeballing alternatives and something came up. My friends cousin is going to be coming up from LA every weekend now and he wants to play. That same friend is moving closer to town. Overall, everythings fixed, we have a new player and a new place to play. And all within four hours! A very memerable day. We'll see how the new guy shapes up. If anyone's interested check out DM Kill Board for one event that is memerable in my group. And ya, you can guess who took the hoof to the head. And just for reference my new Profile is Atlas
Is it just me, or has Daisho not yet given any details? Mr. Tequila Sunrise, you are totally right. I have been way to neglectful to check up on my thread and for that I apologize. Details: There is one key person in my group who is the problem, I will call him Jay. We play around a pool table and the man always finds a way to sit at the polar opposite of my end which does not allow me to see his roles (hence the big-@ss D20). I don't want him to always snuggle up next to me because it would be a little creepy (you would understand if you saw him :( ) and I don't want to abuse my power. I have made him DM a few time but he sucks at it so that is out of the question. No matter who DM's the guy never roles anything below a 15 unless it truly does not matter and I am the only DM who will call him on it. The cup-o-dice is a good idea but our gameplay style is as fast as possible. For example, I will be managing a large battle with many momsters and NPCs. I cannot watch every person individually so I have to trust them. Most of the players are responsible and I have faith in them. Jay, however, roles quickly, belts out the result (a 19 about 60% of the time which is bull crap) and continues to role. I would love it if he slowed down but I know the other players will get frustrated at a long lag time between turns. When another person DMs it only gets worse because he know that I no longer have any authority over him and our other mane DM is a wussy. When Jay roles so high all the time it creates a power vacuum which forces our other DM to compensate by super powering the NPCs and monsters thereby making it harder for the honest players. I guess that I am coming to this: I need a way to slow gameplay down without making it less interesting to the players and I need a way to toughen up the other DM so we can provide a united front. To adress other issues: Yes, the mega D20s hurt like nothing else. I've split a knuckle on it when it fell off a shelf onto my hand. I have respected it ever since. The idea to use a computer to role the dice would be useful but my players are to used to having a large amount of control over thier characters. As evidenced by a game room riot when another DM claimed that he would be would be rolling for us. When it comes to switching characters I allow it. I design my campaigns around areas and interests not race. However, I would very much enjoy it if my players always used the same characters as it would make things easier for me and I believe that I can have a different style campaign for once. P.S. I haven't really eaten any character sheets but I have torn two apart. They were so corrupted that erasing them would have ruined the paper anyway. I merely pointed out the problems, tore up the characters and told them to make new ones. Example: A guy was knowingly paying for magic items using the cost to create and not the market price which had been affecting his character for 12 levels, he was effectively 15th level by my estimates.
I despise cheaters. The problem is that my group of players is small so I can not find replacements. I have killed PCs, taken players outside for a talks and even eaten two character sheets just to prove how much I hate cheating. I have added a D20 the size of a baseball so I can see the roles suspected cheaters are making, and still it occurs! DM's, what are your stories of idiot players and how do you handle them?
Name: Derkar
Death: I was getting very pissed off at a player who cheats constantly and hates dying, so I promised myself I would take care of the problem the next time we played. I started them off in Droaam (a nation ruled by monsters) and at a small nameless village. Derkar walked into a bar, killed the bartender and proceeded to ask the patrons what they want. When I had two Ogre's ask for drinks he wanted them to pay! They got into a fight and I knew that Derkar was cheating from the massively high rolls he was getting even after I had warned him. The town police showed up (4 ogres, 1 minotaur, 1 medusa) and a long chase ensued. I finally got him to play dead in a field after I caught him cheating on his HP. I then rolled to see if any of the creatures were fooled. The minotaur was not and it proceeded to stomp on his head killing him.
I've been tossing this idea around in my head for a while: America joins the European Union. I know that a name change would be necessary and there will be other problems to deal with, but I see the union of America's military and economic might coupled with Europes science and economic standards as a positive thing. Care to comment? |