Bling Bling's page

Greetings. I'm a 3.5 player, but after seeing a few of the changes in Pathfinder, I'm thinking about converting. My question is, how does Pathfinder compare to 3.5 in terms of Powergaming? I've seen that there's been some much-needed balancing of classes and races, but at the same time, it looks like the power-level of characters in general has risen. One thing I don't like about 3.5 are all the splatbooks which encourage min/maxing and optimizing at the expense of roleplaying. In your opinions, is the Pathfinder system less prone to 'overdoing it' than 3.5? Thanks for the replies.

I feel rather petty asking about this FPS mini-game from the most recent Call of Duty while others are talking about great classic RPGs. However, it's an addictive mini-game, so I'll ask anyway. I play this co-op with one friend, so there's just the two of us against the horde. Sadly, we don't make it very far, so we don't get to explore much of the maps. What I'm wondering is... Does the game adjust for the number of players? Is there any way to reduce the difficulty? I see no settings in the xbox version to do this. If not, any tips for surviving (without cheating) would be appreciated. Thanks!

That’s Korean pop music. Thanks to a Korean co-worker who introduced me to it, I’ve started to like it. There are plenty of cutesy, popsy groups, but my favorite (at the moment) is a slightly less generic group called W&Whale. They’re an electronic band with a variety of styles and a great singer. Here's the first single I heard from them that made me want more. If anyone else is familiar with K-pop, I’m looking for more from W&Whale (not already on youtube) plus suggestions for other groups to check out. Gamsa!

Hey compadres. I humbly request your banking/broker advice. I've had my modest savings with Merrill Lynch for a long time, and although they've never overtly screwed me, I'm miffed that they won't provide me with a complete list of ALL the fees they charge me for a debit card, checking, a basic deposit account and minimal investing. I can't help but wonder why. So I'm looking for other options. I've avoided traditional banks up to know just because their return rates are so low. At least I get higher returns with a broker, but I wonder how much of those returns are going into their pockets instead of mine through fees. Who do you all use? I need to start shopping around. Thanks for the advice! Really, thanks!

Hi all. My director has asked me for suggestions as to a good scary book. I do work in a library, but amazingly enough I don't read much. So, I need your help. He doesn't like guts & gore scary. He likes eerie scary, like Edgar Allen Poe, although he's read all of his stories, including that new Poe Shadow novel. He wants 'my' suggestions by the time he leave...tonight! Help! Thanks!!!

Have you ever wonderered how 'sinful' your city ranks compared to other US cities? Well, statistics have been gathered and numbers crunched in order to provide the following maps of sin. In the words of Mr Spock... "Fascinating"

I've heard about people doing stoooopid things, but I hadn't actually seen this particular demonstration of mental inacuity until today. A lady in her SUV (and on her cellphone) turned left...from the right-hand turn lane, cutting across four lanes of moving traffic to do so. How she avoided causing a major accident is beyond the realm of physical laws to explain, so I must assume some sort of divine intervention. What in blazes goes through someone's mind to make them think that's a reasonable thing to do???

My psych teacher gave his class a test once consisting of one question, one word - Why - to which interpretations and answers varied widely among his students. I wonder how Paizonians would respond to that question...if at all?

Sorry this is such a hideously boring question. It doesn't get much more off-topic than this, but I'd appreciate some advice. I currently have my very modest nest egg with Merrill Lynch, which has now unfortunately been bought by Bank of America. I don't like Bank of America, so I'd like to transfer what little I have to another broker. Any suggestions? Who do you think is best/most reliable as far as not nickel-and-diming you with lame fees and charges? I don't do much buying/trading, per se, but competent financial advisors who aren't pushy about their own products are always nice as are free checking and a credit/debit card. Any advice at all? As borig as it is, this is important stuff, you know. Thanks.

I've just started the latest edition of GURPS, and I already miss that concise one-page list of skills, advantages & disadvantages that came with the previous edition. That one-pager made creating new characters fairly quick and easy. I found a multi-page list of skill 'categories' on the web, but I haven't yet found a list of advantages and disadvantages. The GURPS website'll allow me to print a list, but point values are not shown. Does anyone know where I can download a list with the values included for easy reference? Thanks.

As these boards are so incredibly gracious when it comes to helpful replies, I thought I'd throw out this question (for one of my classes) to see if anyone's interested...

What is the term (if there is one) for the act of rationalizing, refusing to accept or even denying known wrongs because of a desire (conscious or unconscious) to avoid uncomfortable truths? The example I use is the family who protects a relative known to have committed some violent crime, rationalizing it as self-defense or blaming the victim, because they want to believe that their relative couldn't do such a thing (despite evidence to the contrary). Any ideas? Thanks.

Am I the only one who thinks there must be someone else on the planet more deserving of this honor that Al Gore? Don't get me wrong, I agree with the dire importance of the global warming issue, but I think Gore's a hypocrite, not to mention a politician using the issue for his own benefit. Gore's actions contradict his supposed passion for this issue anyway. Remember the story about his home energy use...20 times the average? Sounds a bit suspicious to me, but maybe I'm the only one.

As distasteful as it is, what's so evil about creating undead (mindless undead only, that is) to serve as canon fodder in combat as opposed to summoning living creatures which will die in combat as a result of your summoning? I mean, if the creature's aleady deceased, it doesn't feel pain or fear, and it's more of an animated object than a creature anyway, whereas a summoned creature does feel pain and stress if not fear. It seems more evil to put a living creature through that than simply to use the lifeless remains of, let's say, an animal, so we can avoid the sentient-being argument. Why do the gods gripe about using a souless husk to combat an evil foe, for example, but they don't mind you summoning a living creature to die for you at your whim?

Is the alchemical reaction that causes a sunrod to glow hot enough to set something aflame? Could, for example, the tip be thrust into a belt pouch to quickly restrict the light so as not to alert approaching baddies that pcs are in the house without risking causing a fire or nasty burns? Is this type of alchemical reaction as vulnerable to water or low oxygen as a standard flame? Just wondering. Thanks!

For those who play druids, from someone who hasn't, is it a completely daft idea to select a druid because you want to be a powerful spell-user without the physical puniness that typically goes along with that? I know clerics are better armored, but I'm more interested in spell power. Are druid spells and spell-selection really any better than a cleric's offensively speaking? Are druids powerful enough spell-wise to hold their own against arcane users in a natural setting? What appeals to me about their magic is the elementalist theme, shaping the raw forces of nature and all that, plus having broad spell access without a spellbook to worry about. Are druids the best compromise, in your opinion, between offensive spell power and non-puniness? Thanks!

As everybody knows, masterwork armors have a reduced armor check penalty, and armor check penalties have a direct relationship with the chance for arcane spell failure (i.e. they increase or decrease together). So, although my PHB doesn't say so, I'm wondering if masterwork armors also reduce the chance for arcane spell failure, and if not, why? Thanks!

A friend of mine has been searching for years for a mini-series he saw on pbs when he was a kid in the early-mid 80s. He tells me he called pbs, but they couldn't help. So, if anyone here has any ideas, I'll gratefully pass them one. Now, he described this series as taking place in feudal Japan and centering around a tragic hero. There was some sort of magic in this series or mental powers more like psionics. He distinctly remembers a scene of the hero charging through shield walls then being surrounded by pikemen. He also remembers that the dialog was in english, not japanese, and the actors did not have english(british) accents. I know this isn't much to go on, but it should be a nice challenge then, right? Thanks!

In case you missed this one, a DC lawyer/judge is suing his dry cleaner for $65 Million for a pair of lost pants. Why? You won't believe this...or maybe you will...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR200704250 2763.html

What next?

So I'm watching the news this morning, and they're telling a story about a teen somewhere who broke into the same jewelry store four times in one month and was caught on video surveillance every time (althought the store's alarm system failed every time). Anyway, during the entire story while they're showing the surveillance video of this punk smashing glass cases and grabbing jewelry, he's constantly referred to as 'the suspect'. Suspect??? I thought a suspect was someone who MIGHT have done something wrong, but if that someone IS doing something wrong right there in front of the camera for everyone to see, he's no longer a suspect but instead a perpetrator. Right? This is confusing.

I work in a university, and I guess y'all know that many universities pride themselves on being ultra politically correct. For example, the Easter holiday is upon us, but after my making signs to alert students that offices would be closed that day, I was asked to remake the signs replacing the words 'Easter Holiday' with 'Spring Holiday' so as not to offend those who, I suppose, consider fluffy bunnies and colored eggs to be some kind of religious persecution. Ok, so Easter officially has roots in religious ritual, but it's tradition here, and I think for many it's just a harmless holiday for the kids. So what's the big deal?

Here's the task. You're getting ready to start a new campaign with four other players plus the DM. Assuming everyone is an experienced player and you're in for a serious campaign, what kind of party would you and the other players 'design' to be ready for anything...hopefully?

I have only the PHB, but from that I'd choose:
Dwarven Barbarian
Human Bard
Dwarven Cleric
Halfling Thief
Elven Wizard

Not too original, but not too bad. The DM also will provide one npc to fill in gaps if needed, so I expect this group may need a man-at-arms type. What would you choose?

I've noticed an annoying trend in my fair city... Those few drivers who signal before they turn don't actually do so until they're already in the turn lane and stopped at the light waiting to turn. Well what good does it do anyone by then? Isn't the whole point to let those behind you know you're going to turn BEFORE you change lanes? I'm wondering if that's what they're teaching in drivers ed now. Anyone know for sure?

Greetings. I'm an experienced roleplayer looking to start (or join) a GURPS Fantasy group. That's the idea, but I'm having trouble finding mature players, especially a GM. I'm more interested in roleplaying through a good story with serious players than I am hacking my way through a dungeon crawl with casual players. Maybe that's the problem? I'm not sure, but if you're a serious player interested in starting a group (or having me in yours), please reply to this post, and I'll get right back to you. Thanks.

Sigh... Another rich old guy falls victim to a much younger gold-digging biyach. He didn't even have a pre-nup. What was he thinking? I've read that his new ex is seeking $19K/day living expenses, and she'll probably get it. Couldn't McCartney also seek support from her? Fair is fair. Are there any lawyers here who can explain why ex-spouses are legally entitled to their former's wealth? I don't get it. Once the relationship is over, why should they get anything at all? Child-support, certainly, but spousal support?

I have these for my 2nd ed books, and I just tried to buy more for my 3.5ed books, but apparently they're not being made anymore. What, if anything, do y'all use to cover your books now?

I'm sure these are really stupid questions, but...

I'm trying to create my first 3.5 character. This'll be a first-level character. I don't have many of the books yet, but I know there are several core ways to customize characters beyond what's listed in the PHB. I'm not talking about feats, skills or classes, but rather different races, half-races, templates, bloodlines, etc. What I'm wondering is...As a first level character, how many different races, templates, bloodlines, etc can my character start with? Can different half-races be combined as desired, any two half-races I choose? What's the difference between a half-race(race) and a crossbreed(template)? Can they be combined as desired? If templates are allowed for first-level characters, do they need to be related to the character's race(s)? Same question for bloodlines. I haven't played since 2nd edition, and all I worried about then was which kit to choose, so this is all a little confusing. Thanks for the replies!