Brian Adams's page

This isn't a 'fought in WWII' JSA setting. Best guess, the JSA in the rebooted Arrowverse was active in the mid-80s to early 21st century, with Stargirl being contemporary with the main Arrowverse. Pre-Crisis, there was a JSA in Earth-1 active during the WWII Era (but including a Stargirl/Merlin) seen first in LoT s2E2.

With one possible exception, I am inclined to agree with you on Junior.

Could anyone make out the header on the email that Mom got after performing the galaxy's stupidest web search on a company computer?

Crisis would provide a chance to reboot Jesse, possibly on Stargirl's Earth (the new Earth 2?). It would be interesting to see what happens with a double legacy.

Speaking of double legacies, anyone think the ending tonight was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Unless she's operating under her mother's ID.

I'm pretty sure he's planned to show up, and pick up the most dangerous item in the collection.

I wouldn't mind Jade. And she would be in the legacy theme.

I was specifically referring to the Shining Knight, while leaving out the members shared with the JSA. I hadn't been sure they would bring up the rest of the team when the janitor suddenly manifested a sword a couple of weeks ago, or if they were just going to use him without all of the extra history.

For Semi-unplayable, I don't think that anything can really beat an unpatched copy of Daggerfall (not a big problem any more). I think I put in about 30 hours on my first character before I decided to start on the main quest line, only to find out that the first dungeon hadn't generated.

Well, that's one question I asked myself two weeks ago answered. They are bringing in the 7 Soldiers of Victory, at least as history and one member who is still around.

RJ tried to be 'artistic' and push his own agenda and meaning in one movie of a nine movie saga. And it's not an agenda that doesn't deserve pushing, it's just horribly out of tune with the Skywalker Saga. Not Star Wars, but the corner of the Star Wars universe that is the Skywalker Saga. It's been done with the story of a young woman trying to find her father.

That said, if you think that slow, daisy-chaining tactics, poor logistical planning, and a chase scene at a pace that makes glaciers look like pod-racers, as well as a leader who isn't willing to take the minimal steps to avoid gross misunderstandings, are marvelous Star Wars material, then I feel a little sorry for you. There are parts of TLJ that were worth keeping, and parts that actually foreshadowed some of the events of RoS, but overall, it felt like half a Star Wars movie, and half a ham-fisted attempt to wrest an entire saga to his will. RoS feels like Star Wars, all the way through. And yes, there were callbacks to a heck of a lot things from prior films, but that seemed appropriate for the finale of the entire saga.

Saw it yesterday, and after a night of restlessness trying to consider the implications of the events, I can definitely recommend this movie. While saying there is no CGI Leia is not entirely accurate, the only place it was used would have been CGI even if Carrie had been alive, and is mostly obvious because of lighting issues in the scene.

I wasn’t aware there were Stellifera boons floating around (pun intended). They look pretty interesting.

They're on a chronicle sheet. Three guesses as to which one.

I foresee more species of uplifted animals in future Archives.

*crosses fingers for uplifted raccoons*

Possibly with special rules that give them a bonus to strength to determine whether or not they can use heavy weapons?

The reasoning is in part that having played through the scenario, you know what is coming, so have an advantage over the other players. This is one reason I make it clear to the GM that I have run, but not played, a scenario, and then let the other players make most if not all of the choices (if I make a knowledge roll or perception roll that would allow my character to have the information I already know, I will act on that information, otherwise, I let the other players walk me right into that trap...)

Nefreet wrote:

I assume you no longer have the Chronicle Sheets for your first character?

I just found the two Sheets from my friends game. One was a "we are Goblins" game, the other I was a pre-gen 7th level character.

I was not really playing a character of my own developing. So, while I now have an XXXX-2 character with 1 XP, I am guessing that these other sheets mean very little (except I enjoyed the games a lot).

Actually, those two sheets mean you have a -1 character that you can build as you like, apply the Welcome to Pathfinder Boon, and then apply the chronicles to that character either at first level (giving you 0, 1 or 2 xp) or at the appropriate level for the chronicle (meaning the 7th level pregen would come online when you hit 7th level). Since that -1 hasn't been played at second level or above, you have complete freedom to design any legal character.

Can you ready marshmallows? I'm pretty sure that is more than a standard action.

I would certainly expect to see a second edition version of the ARG and ACG, since the crunch would need to be brought up to the new standards, and there will be a significant demand for more races and classes once people figure out what the system plays like. There may not be as many class options as in PF1, since some of them seem to have been at least partially folded together, and class feats might make hybrid classes obsolete.

It's not so much 'don't use the survival knife to cut the cheesecake' as it is 'don't use the table knife to try and hack through that armor'.

Brian Adams wrote:

I think that part of what you are missing here is that SFS exists to support Starfinder, not the other way around.

What makes you think I'm missing that?

Sorry, not you, the OP.

Edris "TOME" Rook wrote:

Some people have learning/Cognative disabilities

So when a Publishing Company (who, IMO should know better) writes its rules in an obtuse way, (Rules by Omission) it’s extreemly frustrating and difficult.
Poor customer service to say the least.

Can you suggest a more clear way to phrase which races are always available?

Starfinder Roleplaying Guild Guide wrote:

Select your character’s race. The choices offered in Chapter 3 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook are always available. Additional races may be available if they are listed in the Additional Resources document, provided you own a copy of the appropriate source book. Other races are available as campaign boons

I think that part of what you are missing here is that SFS exists to support Starfinder, not the other way around. SFS is one of literally countless possible campaigns for the Starfinder system. As a long-time GM, I'm not going to say (especially given the number of third party books out there), 'I am allowing everything but X, Y and Z.'

Instead, I am going to say, 'I am allowing A, B, and C. As a single GM who is balancing one table, rather than trying to make a coherent set of rules for worldwide play under many GMs, if you want to do Q, discuss it with me.' Obviously, everything after that first sentence is not possible for SFS. So the guide says that the main Core races are allowed, plus anything in the Additional Resources, which is how they make things not in the Core book available, plus anything for which you have an official boon.

Without boons, NO.

Any additional allowable races will be called out in the additional resources document. At the moment, no races are listed in that document.

Brian Adams wrote:

Misquoting 'possible' as 'probable' doesn't help you make an argument.

I didn't apologize to make an argument. I apologized because Mark corrected me and obviously thought that made a difference in what he was saying.

Quote:

No one, not even a very gifted game designer, is going to be able to run through every possible combination, so the best possible approach is to challenge others (who think differently than the designer) to find flaws and exploits in playtest.

There's a categorical difference between not being able to find an exploit and a priori recognizing a specific design decision is ripe for one.

Quote:

Years ago, I was fairly heavily involved in a game where the designers thought they had things worked out, the limited test group came up with results matching the expected outcomes... and within a month of the official publication, tactics outside what the designers had anticipated required scrapping the entire system and reworking it. And these were designers, and playtesters, who had been working on that system for DECADES.

Hence my post, Brian. Mark already acknowledged a problem could result and it's just a function of someone finding a spell progression??? Are we crossing our fingers that no one will find it? We know how that worked out for the Death Star(s).

Congratulations on misquoting and misinterpreting once again. I wasn't quoting your apology, but rather your original argument (in the sense of making a case for a position).

If you want to avoid the possibilities for exploits, the game design is very simple. The game will consist of a blank piece of paper. Pretty much anything more complex than that leaves room for rules exploits. And eventually, someone will find them. The BEST possible way to handle that, since everyone has blind spots, is to make sure that as many eyes as possible are put on it BEFORE it becomes official rules.

Mark Seifter wrote:

It is still possible that some kind of carefully prepared 9-7-5-3-1 chain of prebuffs could allow you to gain a problematically big advantage....

Probably? How about guaranteed that a couple of months after this class is out, maybe even weeks, people will have figured out these optimal casting chains. If it's "probable" you should take it as a given when designing the class and not hope that most people don't figure it out (even if they won't).

Quote:

so if you're willing to test a really high level generalist and challenge the player to break this feat, I will be grateful.

I wouldn't rely on play testing to figure these things out. Why not make sure it can't be broken rather than hope it isn't?

Misquoting 'possible' as 'probable' doesn't help you make an argument. No one, not even a very gifted game designer, is going to be able to run through every possible combination, so the best possible approach is to challenge others (who think differently than the designer) to find flaws and exploits in playtest.

Years ago, I was fairly heavily involved in a game where the designers thought they had things worked out, the limited test group came up with results matching the expected outcomes... and within a month of the official publication, tactics outside what the designers had anticipated required scrapping the entire system and reworking it. And these were designers, and playtesters, who had been working on that system for DECADES.

Brian Adams wrote:

Since the portion that is not the AP scenario is pretty clearly differentiated from the scenario itself, it isn't that hard to just not read the scenario, while still reading the planet, equipment and race writeups.

Sure, but do you really want to spend $23 for a book, 2/3 of which you won't read?

34 pages of the 68 page pdf for part 1 are scenario or summary. Another 5 pages are covers, ads and table of contents. That's significantly less than 2/3.

Since the portion that is not the AP scenario is pretty clearly differentiated from the scenario itself, it isn't that hard to just not read the scenario, while still reading the planet, equipment and race writeups.

Greetings all!

I have a few boons here and am interested in trading for Pathfinder Race Boons.

*Have*
Starfinder

-Legacy Race Boon

Pathfinder
-Aasimar

*Want*
-Aquatic Elf

Thanks!

Edit: Had a couple of responses within the edit time frame so I adjusted the post to reflect this.

PM sent

FormerFiend wrote:

118: It's still there, right where it was. Someone just cast a mythic invisibility spell on it.

119: It's still there, right where it was. Someone has just put a Someone Else's problem Field around it.

It was covered in rainbow sparklies before the field was set up. Unfortunately no followers of Shelyn have been able to get regular enough contact with her to reach the levels where they could see through it. That might even be the real reason she is so hard to contact.

And how much Infamy?

Remote outposts would most likely be constructed on site from modular components by dedicated construction/transport vessels.

'In proper orbit' is not the same as geosynchronous. If the station being over a single point is your goal, then it WOULD be placed at geosynchronous orbit. Otherwise, it moves relative to the planet surface at a rate dictated by its orbital height. As long as you aren't putting it within the significant part of the planet's atmosphere (where Xenocrat's atmospheric drag would come into play), the station keeping would be handled by fairly infrequent bursts from the equivalent of maneuvering thrusters. To a pilot, calling those 'drives' would be about the same as calling a go-kart a sports car.

Lau, how much do you know about orbital mechanics? I'm guessing from your statement that it is 'almost nothing'. Space stations in an orbit do not need propulsion to keep moving, any more than the Earth needs engines to keep going around the sun.

Did you do it before or after the Starship Combat errata? My group didn't have too much trouble with it, nothing like 1-03.

Want: Legacy Race Boon

Have: PFS Aquatic Elf Boon

I would suggest a modified option 2, alongside option 3. The modified option 2 would allow you to choose one character per faction to be able to play faction related scenarios. As a relative latecomer I find myself filling out tables with a level appropriate character, but thinking I would much rather create a more coherent narrative with a faction appropriate character. This then means I need to run the scenario to get the faction Chronicle, without the enjoyment of seeing how the character would actually perform in the scenario.

Offer:
Aquatic Elf/Gillman/Merfolk

Want:
Samsaran or Aasimar

As of Birthright, it was official. It may have happened earlier, but it definitely was in place at that one.

Interested. I'll put something together on my day off.

Name: Sabha
Race: Peri-born Aasimar with Scion of Humanity alternate trait.
Class: Flamedancer Bard 3/Life Oracle 1
Role: Support/Healer

Sabha had been living quietly in Bloodcove with her family for many years. Her affinity with fire magics was generally taken as a sign of her family's devotion to Sarenrae, though she did not appear to be particularly devout. She had been troubled by occasional nightmares since childhood, but thought that was normal for children.

And then Sarenrae chose her. Suddenly gifted with healing abilities, but finding herself only speaking and comprehending Ignan in moments of stress, she now seeks to leave Bloodcove, and track down someone who can tell her why the nightmares have become more numerous, and even darker, or at least get away from this place before she hurts someone...

New to pbp and interested, but it might take a day to get something together. If that's too long, then so be it.

It may be that they overlooked the first part, and left it in for the second part.

Actually, are the TIEs effective, or is it just Kylo? He's the one that took out the fighter bay, and the only other significant contributions came from his wingmen.

I'm one to add to the throng to keep Scarab Sages around. I have a PC that I've played for almost six years from Lantern Lodge to Osirion to Scarab Sages and I enjoy the faction. Others may disagree, but I don't see a problem with keeping the faction around and only plugging in boons on Chronicle sheets when the stars just happen to align. That is, you can keep the faction around you just don't have to write stories around it. Is that really so hard? If we know that's the case and we choose to stay, so what? Who does it hurt? Don't add a faction journal card in 2018, that's OK - just let us keep using the 2017 version.

I guess I just don't get why you have to kill it. You don't need to support it, but there is still a lot of fun to be played with the old scenarios for years to come.

Just My Thoughts

This is nearly exactly the solution I arrived at. For my Magus, the next best faction fit would be the Dataphiles, but she's not allowed to play in that sandbox.

This announcement nearly caused me to drop out of a session tonight. There is no good faction for the character I'm playing to go to. She is an historian and archaeologist who finds the Scarab Sages a perfect fit. There really does need to be a faction for students of history, even if the Scarab Sages themselves are no longer part of the Society.

Except that one time when you end up needing to play a pre-gen, pick something, and the circumstances of the scenario mean that it really would have been a lot more convenient if you had a crossbow...

Okay, does anyone have an acid flask or alchemist's fire?

The BIG difference from video games is that a tabletop rpg is designed to satisfy 4-7 people at the same time, rather than stroke the ego of a single individual. The real life social interactions are the benefit for agreeing to abide by restrictions that make it possible for everyone to be on roughly the same level. So if you don't feel that is something you can agree to, go back to your heavily modded Skyrim game that lets you do everything that you want. Don't insist that the majority of payers (as indicated by the posts in all of the threads you spew out) change to satisfy you. Because that isn't democracy, that's tyranny of the minority.

The name of this Blog is dread-full.

I believe you actually meant to say Dredd-full

The Runeguard prestige class was opened up by a chronicle sheet. Note that while there is the note in the AR about it substituting a prerequisite feat, the class itself is NOT listed as being legal for play in the AR.

The Drunken Dragon wrote:

I actually created an NPC pair who were a ysoki and half-elf. Since one was a physician-mage and the other a biochemical engineer, they combined transmutation magic and gene therapy that allowed them to successfully have a kid. Said kid is a half-elf like his mother...but manfiests natural lycanthropy and becomes a wererat as a teenager.

It's tough for him, but hey, at least his mom got to publish a paper about the possible origins of lycanthropy.

I Was a Teenage Were-Ysoki was the 3rd highest grossing trideo sim of 314 AG among the Pact Worlds. It was perceived as a horror flick in elven society on Castrovel and as a comedy in ysoki culture on Akiton.

EC Gamer Guy wrote:

MagicA wrote:

So, how would a vesk and human have a child? Do vesk even give live birth or do they lay eggs? I

Probably eggs. It's a trait of reptiles. Even Dragons who are canonically warm-blooded lay eggs.

Didn't Burroughs' Barsoomian Red Martians lay eggs? Did Dejah Thoris and John Carter have kids? (Edit: Google says they had two children but doesn't turn up whether they were live births or hatched.)

Carthoris was definitely hatched from an egg (see the end of the book A Princess of Mars). There's no mention of Tara of Helium's birth in the source material but it was almost certainly the same

Get a follower with a Summon spell for them. Run through the portculli, and then summon them. Problem solved.