Baruch, Vampire Lord's page

I can't decide. 4.0 seems like it will be great, but I think I'll approach it as an entirely different game. Who knows where I'll be next year. I just finished a 1st edition game and am working on a d20 Modern game. Before the first edition, we played Dark Ages: Mage. Long story short, if 4.0 is good it will be high on the list of what games we choose from when we end campaigns (we go through campaigns like tissues). If it sucks, it will sit there like my Dark Ages: Inquisitor book. Lonely and forgotten.

About a month ago I received a copy of "Zogonia" and a copy of "Dragon Monster Ecologies," and in the box was a pack of "item cards" from your game mastery line. Is this a promotional freebie, or do I need to send it back. If I do need to send it back, what address do I send them to?

Wait, when paizo stops producing new issues, do they lose rights to the issues they have already published? In other words, will you no longer be able to make PDFs of existing issues or sell back issues? And how does this bode for books like the "Art of Dragon" or "Dragon Compendium"? I am a bit more worried than I already was...

Core deities - ha! Fraggin wimps! BANJO is the one true faith! All praise to the Puppet God, Lord of All That is Stringed and Manipulated!

I am shamed! I forgot the lord Banjo when casting my vote for Boccob! I must go perform pennance by singing catchy/annoying tunes to all my friends!

Dude Looks Like a Lady (Elf)

Almost every role-playing gamer has met one: a person who plays a transvirtual character; in other words, a character whose sex is not the same as its player’s (Jacobs 8). From massive multiplayer online role-playing games to small pen and paper groups with only two or three people, transvirtual characters are everywhere. There are many people who play transvirtual characters. Some people do it for the role-playing, others do it for mechanical benefits, and some just plain prefer characters of the opposite sex.
About 30% of those who play transvirtual characters do so for the role-playing experience (Roberts 532). Most role-playing games are about escapism: leaving work and troubles behind for three hours and taking up a fake persona to save the universe. In that spirit, many gamers try to be completely different from their real selves. Some do this by playing maniacal axe-wielding minotaurs, others by playing characters who are gender neutral or of the opposite sex (Jacobs 8). We have all been told at one point or another that if everyone were the same that the world would be boring. The same goes for role-playing games.
As part of escapism, some games are set in historical Europe or in a world with similar social settings. During those times, women did not have many of the rights they have today. They were treated as if they were inferior at best. A man may enjoy playing a woman in that era to get a feel for how bad it really was, and a woman may play a man to avoid the situation entirely (Bridges 229-230).
I have a friend named Ken who used to play Diablo 2 religiously, almost always as a sorceress. Why did he play a female character? There was no male equivalent of the sorceress in Diablo 2. In some games, people play transvirtual characters because certain options are only available to the opposite sex. Perhaps there are prestige classes or skills accessible only to certain genders, or maybe the option for a same sex character is simply not there (Jacobs 8). In Diablo 2, for example, all necromancers are male and all amazons are female, simple as that. A game may also be set in a world with species that have only one playable sex because the other is non-intelligent, such as the insect-like khepri (Baur 44-45). Besides, in a third-person video game where there are no statistical differences between the sexes, wouldn’t a male gamer prefer to look at a female character’s backside all day (Olivas)?
Just as people like to eat different things, gamers prefer to play different kinds of characters. Every slot machine in Las Vegas shows us that even a small infrequent pay-off can cause a repeated behavior (Coon 176-177). If a person’s same sex characters die quickly and tragically several times in a row, and then his transvirtual characters survive a series of difficult adventures, it is likely a person will prefer playing ‘luckier’ transvirtual characters (Jacobs 8).
Instead of relying on past experience, some people prefer to create characters based on a concept. They go out, see a movie or read a book they really enjoy, and decide that their character will be the next Awesome McCoolperson. Maybe they see a painting and think, “Wow! That looks awesome! I want my character to look like that!” Depending on the player, they may copy the sex of the character as well as the look, creating opposite sexed characters (Decker 12).
Keeping on the concept idea, someone may try to create a concept from a type of person, not just an individual seen in a movie or painting. Be it the sly seductress, the thick-skulled barbarian, or the intelligent prince, they will create their character with that goal in mind, and it’s difficult to play a male seductress (Decker 12).
In looking at this situation, some people may say that those who prefer transvirtual characters are expressing homosexuality or using their character as a form of cross-dressing. In fact, though, only about five percent of gamers who play transvirtuals actually took their sexual preferences into account when creating their characters (Roberts 532).
With its presence acknowledged and often played upon in advertising (Fantasy), few can deny the existence of transvirtual characters in the broad universe of gaming. What would drive a person to create such a character? The answers are simple. Some like the role-playing and mechanical advantages, others prefer transvirtuals for a myriad of personal reasons. The one answer that supersedes them all, however, is that they enjoy it.

Works Cited
Baur, Wolfgang. “People of Bas-Lag.” Dragon. February 2007: 42-49.
Bridges, Bill, et al. Dark Ages: Mage. Stone Mountain: White Wolf Publishing, Inc., 2002.
Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology: Exploration and Application. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: West Publishing Company, 1980.
Decker, Jesse, et al. Dungeon Master’s Guide II. Renton: Wizards of the Coast, 2005.
Diablo 2. Computer Game. Vers. 1.03. Blizzard Entertainment, 2000.
Fantasy Grounds 2. Advertisement. Dungeon. March 2007: 99.
Jacobs, James. “Girls are Luckier.” Dungeon. March 2007: 8.
Roberts, Lynne, and Malcolm Parks. “The Social Geography of Gender-Switching in Virtual Environments on the Internet.” Information, Communication & Society 2:4 (1999): 521-540.

Well, here's the paper. It got a 90%. Thanks for the Ideas.

Dude Looks Like a Lady (Elf)

Almost every role-playing gamer has met one: a person who plays a transvirtual character; in other words, a character whose sex is not the same as its player’s (Jacobs 8). From massive multiplayer online role-playing games to small pen and paper groups with only two or three people, transvirtual characters are everywhere. There are many people who play transvirtual characters. Some people do it for the role-playing, others do it for mechanical benefits, and some just plain prefer characters of the opposite sex.
About 30% of those who play transvirtual characters do so for the role-playing experience (Roberts 532). Most role-playing games are about escapism: leaving work and troubles behind for three hours and taking up a fake persona to save the universe. In that spirit, many gamers try to be completely different from their real selves. Some do this by playing maniacal axe-wielding minotaurs, others by playing characters who are gender neutral or of the opposite sex (Jacobs 8). We have all been told at one point or another that if everyone were the same that the world would be boring. The same goes for role-playing games.
As part of escapism, some games are set in historical Europe or in a world with similar social settings. During those times, women did not have many of the rights they have today. They were treated as if they were inferior at best. A man may enjoy playing a woman in that era to get a feel for how bad it really was, and a woman may play a man to avoid the situation entirely (Bridges 229-230).
I have a friend named Ken who used to play Diablo 2 religiously, almost always as a sorceress. Why did he play a female character? There was no male equivalent of the sorceress in Diablo 2. In some games, people play transvirtual characters because certain options are only available to the opposite sex. Perhaps there are prestige classes or skills accessible only to certain genders, or maybe the option for a same sex character is simply not there (Jacobs 8). In Diablo 2, for example, all necromancers are male and all amazons are female, simple as that. A game may also be set in a world with species that have only one playable sex because the other is non-intelligent, such as the insect-like khepri (Baur 44-45). Besides, in a third-person video game where there are no statistical differences between the sexes, wouldn’t a male gamer prefer to look at a female character’s backside all day (Olivas)?
Just as people like to eat different things, gamers prefer to play different kinds of characters. Every slot machine in Las Vegas shows us that even a small infrequent pay-off can cause a repeated behavior (Coon 176-177). If a person’s same sex characters die quickly and tragically several times in a row, and then his transvirtual characters survive a series of difficult adventures, it is likely a person will prefer playing ‘luckier’ transvirtual characters (Jacobs 8).
Instead of relying on past experience, some people prefer to create characters based on a concept. They go out, see a movie or read a book they really enjoy, and decide that their character will be the next Awesome McCoolperson. Maybe they see a painting and think, “Wow! That looks awesome! I want my character to look like that!” Depending on the player, they may copy the sex of the character as well as the look, creating opposite sexed characters (Decker 12).
Keeping on the concept idea, someone may try to create a concept from a type of person, not just an individual seen in a movie or painting. Be it the sly seductress, the thick-skulled barbarian, or the intelligent prince, they will create their character with that goal in mind, and it’s difficult to play a male seductress (Decker 12).
In looking at this situation, some people may say that those who prefer transvirtual characters are expressing homosexuality or using their character as a form of cross-dressing. In fact, though, only about five percent of gamers who play transvirtuals actually took their sexual preferences into account when creating their characters (Roberts 532).
With its presence acknowledged and often played upon in advertising (Fantasy), few can deny the existence of transvirtual characters in the broad universe of gaming. What would drive a person to create such a character? The answers are simple. Some like the role-playing and mechanical advantages, others prefer transvirtuals for a myriad of personal reasons. The one answer that supersedes them all, however, is that they enjoy it.

Works Cited
Baur, Wolfgang. “People of Bas-Lag.” Dragon. February 2007: 42-49.
Bridges, Bill, et al. Dark Ages: Mage. Stone Mountain: White Wolf Publishing, Inc., 2002.
Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology: Exploration and Application. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: West Publishing Company, 1980.
Decker, Jesse, et al. Dungeon Master’s Guide II. Renton: Wizards of the Coast, 2005.
Diablo 2. Computer Game. Vers. 1.03. Blizzard Entertainment, 2000.
Fantasy Grounds 2. Advertisement. Dungeon. March 2007: 99.
Jacobs, James. “Girls are Luckier.” Dungeon. March 2007: 8.
Roberts, Lynne, and Malcolm Parks. “The Social Geography of Gender-Switching in Virtual Environments on the Internet.” Information, Communication & Society 2:4 (1999): 521-540.

Well, here's the paper. It got a 90%. Thanks for the Ideas.

It is here and fantabulous. That is a great issue, glad I didn't miss out. That would have been a shame, because it is great.

We have two of the same thread discussions floating around out there.

I posted this in both the "D&D" and the "Other RPGs" forums so that I could pick up hits from people that only visit either forum. Sorry for the confusion.

Hello. I am writing a paper for my Writing 122 class with a topic of "speculating on a cause." I have decided that I will write on why people sometimes play a character of the opposite gender when they play roleplaying games, and I thought that the best way to gather information on that topic is to simply ask other people why they do it, whether its for the challenge, change of pace, etcetera. Any reply would be helpful.

Thanks!

Hello. I am writing a paper for my Writing 122 class with a topic of "speculating on a cause." I have decided that I will write on why people sometimes play a character of the opposite gender when they play roleplaying games, and I thought that the best way to gather information on that topic is to simply ask other people why they do it, whether its for the challenge, change of pace, etcetera. Any reply would be helpful.

Thanks!

Mad postal workers aside, I still have not received my copy of 351. 352 is here alive and well, but 351 is still MIA. I would appreciate a replacement or something.

I haven't recieved my copy either. Normally you guys are excellent about getting it here on time, so I'm relieved/sorry that other people are having the same problem. I thought it was just me. I was really looking forward to it, to. Ravenloft is one of my favorite settings and I was looking forward for the info.

Should I use the advancement rules in the Fiendish Codex For the archomentals, or the rules in the MOnster Manual. Just wondering, because it seems like these things should evolve more like demon princes.

Does anybody here know how to advance the Archomentals in issue 347? Should I just use the system they use in the Fiendish Codex: Hordes of the Abyss? These guys seem more like demon Princes then elementals.

I think I responded to this thread in a different forum, but if not...

Check out the AD&D Complete Wizards Guide. It has a section on underwater spellcasting.

Or summon a demon to eat his soul if he opens the pack.

I like that one.

I really want to see the old Baba Yaga adventure (something like "The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga") That was so awesome. It combined features from almost every campaign setting, and gave me the most inspiring demiplanes ever!

I keep seeing Baba Yaga's name more and more in new stuff, its only time until they've got to have her in an adventure, so why don't they upadate that one?

Anyone here have the AD&D complete Wizards? They had an entire section about it, complete with a list of non-castable spells.

I don't think rust monsters are tools. There are lots of stupid animals that eat weird things, so it would make sense that there is one that eats metal.

What is stupid is putting a rust monster in a mostly stone dungeon. Why in heck would a creature that eats metal live in a stone dungeon? Put the rust monster in an iron mine or on a metal plane, and it is a reasonable creature. It only becomes a tool when you place it in unlikely places.

The feat from CA for wands is wandstrike.

Yeah, that's the one.

Yeah, as great as the system is, sometimes CR just doesn't take into effect how easily a creature with moserate HP goes down when you've got tank characters chasing it. (The size of my party doesn't help either, it's pretty big.)

Good point, I never considered the restrictions the add companies themselves placed.

Maybe the first issue a subscriber gets should come with a razor to remove the non-perforated cardstock.(joking)

;P

You have to touch them in some way. The Complete Arcane actually has a feat about attacking with a wand.

I used to have players who...

Okay, this term is not in my lexicon. Is it "were munchkins" or "munchkinized"? Noun or Verb? Anyway...

I must admit my arguments against where weak, but as DM, I believe that it is my power to say yes and no. Even on things as simple as filling out spellbooks, the players must ask if the spell is available. I'm pretty loose with the items I allow, but some of the more unwieldly items are only given as quest items, and some classes are given prerequisites. A racial restriction usually is enough to turn people away, especially those who are die-hard (insert race here). I have a person who always wanted to be a specific class, but all I had to say was "in my campaign, drow can't be that."

Problem solved.(He was obsessed with Drizz't)

Really. If anybody from Paizo is listening, I normally go through, read the magazine, choose the usable adventures, read the comics, take out any information I want, read the ads, consider purchasing. I have looked at fewer ads in this last issue because I hate the ad in the middle of the adventure. Please, <i>please</i> never print on cardstock in the middle of the adventures. Or on normal pages in the adventure either. Trust me, the adds will still be read if they are a sidebar or in between adventures.

Maybe put Mt. Zogon on the same page as an ad?

Okay, now that the praise has flown in, I guess that I do have one thing I really didn't like.

The end fight was a little bit anticlimactic for me. My players loved it, and all of them were wondering whether the actor playing the king in yellow was a wizard or just a normal actor, and one player was confused and slow the whole time, and another was suggested right into a chair to watch the whole fight, but I thought they got off a bit easy and that the King's Players were a bit too easy to kill.

Still excellent, and the fact that my players were severely impeded made it seem hard for them, but actually looking at the numbers, it was a bit... well I guess I already said it.

Just a suggestion for the future, they had a harder time in the first two encounters than the last one, may want to beef up the last fight.

Pretty much. Potions of fireball are a bad idea to get back to a thieving character. It could explode with you in range. Cursed potions, potions of inflict wounds instead of cure wounds, a little bit of poison in the potion, exploding runes on the label of a bottle of an explosive/napalm, stabbing him in the back while he sleeps, etc.

One of the Forgotten Realms books. I'm thinking races of Faerun, but I'm not sure. It's a prestige class, and I don't own the book. One of my players does.

During the last battle, remember to take into the effet the balcony! I had some big problems with spell areas, you may want to write some notes ahead of time. Also, using true strike in the first round worked! One of my players, who is as experienced as me, was caught completely by surprise, especially since I was making crappy rolls and still hitting.

"A six?! How the H--- does a deformed peasant with a pitchfork hit an AC of 21 with a six?!!"

Priceless.

Why not just use a touch attack fire spell? If a suitable one doesn't exist, create it!

They got him. The battler rager had made "friends" with him (You should have seen the look on his face when he realized who had death attacked him!) and so they brough him up on the elevator. They were still on the elevator when the attack happened, but the battle rager made short work of his hitpoints, and he "failed a tumble check"(aka succeded to look like he tried to tumble) and "accidentaly fell down the elevator shaft." Remember, feather fall was one of his spells. The bard rolled a 36 on his sense motive check and noticed that he had done it on purpose. They figured he could turn invisible due to some evidence they pieced together, so the bard cast glitterdust down the shaft to prevent him from doing so. The druid, incensed at his being in a cell the whole time, realized he was the only one who could get to the bottom of the shaft before the spell wore off. He used his Wings of the Eagle feet, using one wild shape to grow wings, flew down, and ten feet above the ground used another wild shape to lose the wings and turn into a bear. Then, after taking a sneak attack to his already weakened form and a few quick rounds of combat, mauled Corrin, becoming the new (and unwitting) leader of the Covenent of the Knife. The yells of the prisoners quited for a few seconds after the triumphant roar of Nature-Friend Dak, the Githzerai Driud.

I agree that that sort of information would be helpful in the supplements-perhaps they should receive their own page at the end?

Baruch, Vampire Lord wrote:

While I admit I did not warn him per se, I did mention that he may want to lie, and so did everyone else at the table.

Famous PC last words number 23:
"My character wouldn't do that!"

(#1 is:"I mean, how high can a dragon's spot check be?")

HA! That's awesome! Did the other characters try to spring him or just leave him hung out to dry?

When the mini stone giant went into the cell did you have the reducuction effect go off and him get stuck in the steel doorframe, that would have been funny.

Did anyone survive the adventure? Did Karl? Just curious.

They tried to help, but none had enough skill points or strength. They were nuetral, so they intended to steal the keys of the dead warden. How the warden died they didn't care, but they were considering releasing the former warden because they knew he wanted to kill Rao by busting down the door to his cell, than break out the druid in the chaos using keys or otherwise.(They turned around real quick after the golems started moving.)

Nah, I figured the permanance of the effect wouldn't be removed by a simple antimagic field. Everyone survived, but the monk following the giant took some damage when he gave up on climbing down and jumped (When the druid's hawk told the monk he was gettin monkey stomper.)

Karl got poisened, fell off the elevator(two people jumped after him. The monk caught and tumbled to safety, the Battle Rager fell into the depths, almost dying from the 15d6 damage) got pimp slapped by DeVries with a spiked chain in the forge, and then was sneak attacked by Corrin (Corrin wasted his death attack on the battle rager, whose hit points had been recovered by the party's bard).

Karl spent more time in negative hit points than not. It is entirely by luck that he lived through the encounter.

This encounter has given me new respect for the battle rager prestige class. With no levels in monk, he almost killed the inmate who pushed Corrin with one full unarmed attack. In fact, he put the guy at negative 20 subdual damage and we had to check and see if that killed him anyway (I think it just put him in a coma.)

I agree that ads are better printed on normal page and not on cardstock. The cardstock makes the magazaine always open to that page, and I hate that.

While I admit I did not warn him per se, I did mention that he may want to lie, and so did everyone else at the table.

Famous PC last words number 23:
"My character wouldn't do that!"

(#1 is:"I mean, how high can a dragon's spot check be?")

I just ran the Chains of Blackmaw campaign, and the Githzerai druid of one of my players got stuck in the Maximum security cells. He didn't escape until the spellcaster-hating miniturized stone giant decided to come down, rip the door of his cell, and beat him almost to death. Anybody else have any characters stuck in the Max cells?

(He made good buddies with Sedakas Crane. After two minutes of role-playing, Sedakas threatened to use his skull as a chalice if he kept talking.)

Ooops, must have read it wrong.
Boy is my face red.
Thanks.

Hello? Is anyone listening?

An answer would be appreciated.

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong board, but is the 8,000gp item at the end of this adventure mean each character gets an 8,000gp item, or each player gets an item and the grand total comes up to 8,000gp? I was doing some last minute preparations, and I realized I didn't know. Not that I don't want to hand out mass items to my players, but they're overpowered already.

I would say My biggest time saver as DM is to make all 'standard' weak characters with the same initiative score go at the same time. Also, since I am too cheap to by miniatures and still just use dice, I assign a number to the weak monsters so I know which stats belong to which creature.

I like settings where the PC's are commisioned by a higher power, particularly if the higher power has many ulterior motives the PC's don't know about. In fact, little do the players in my homebrewed 'Dragonslayer' campaign realize that the kingdom of Agloria and the Church are actually towards the end of their millenia long companionship and that they both are preparing to separate during an inevitable war with the P.H.T. (People of High Technology). The beauty part is it forces them to choose allegience eventually, and they could possibly reunite the two powers. Also, it allows them to fight in any clime, because a country with its hand in many different efforts is sure to be in different climes. In fact, they are in the process of making their way to the frozen north, passing through great mountains and ancient forests. I like settings that bring in minor features, while leaving many questions to the minds of the players.

Also, I have been having trouble finding 3rd Edition Spelljammer rules. Does a source rulebook exist?

Once upon a time, in a small village where St. Cuthbert was worshipped and the law was obeyed, A Hill giant named Ug Beat up the beautiful forest giant Loriella. Loriella was badly injured, and asked the help of a scout, a sorceror, a paladin/kensai, a cleric, and a psion to help take down the giant. The scout went out and surveyed the Giant's habits. (Much to the dismay of I, the DM) and discovered when the giant normally was occupied by toporific slumber. He then went back to town and gathered his friends, and proceeded to purchase several large barrels of oil.(This campaign took place in a steam age campaign.)
They then proceeded to position themselves around the cave in the wee hours of the morning, accompanied by the giant's snore. The scout positioned himself with the oil above the cave as the other adventurers hid, except the bait... I mean, psion.
The psion walked in and tried to awaken the sleeping off with a rock, which was quickly batted aside like a fly. The psion went outside, metamorphasized himself into a hill giant, grabbed a boulder, and tried again, with better results. An enraged giant ran out of the cave, club at the ready, smelly hides girt about him. Right into an oil bath.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the sorceror happened to cast scortching ray. The enflamed (and now naked, seeing how its clothes had burned away,)giant, was about to let out a howl when the paladin/kensai hit him with his flaming maul. This was added to by a searing light spell from the cleric. And as the coup de grace, the scout shot an ice arrow into the crotch of the giant(he is still obstinate he did not receive a thank you.)
The giant, who had recently batted away the flames, apoligized for his brash mannerisms and agreed to negotioate.
Thus, my first time using a real giant as a DM lasted one turn and sent a naked, singed, eunich Hill giant on to new lands, never again to bother the town of Myrtle Grove.