RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8. RPG Superstar 6 Season Star Voter, 7 Season Star Voter, 8 Season Star Voter. 9,783 posts (21,868 including aliases). 6 reviews. 9 lists. 1 wishlist. 34 aliases.
I am not interested, but I did do a massive conversion of Against the Cult to PF1 for fun in my spare time. (Which I may run someday, but not now.)
I found it took a lot of adjustment and a lot of generation of NPC stats (if you need them) to make it work for PF mechanics. Even stuff like how the "Reptile God" works needs finessing in PF. If you're interested in any of the statblocks I generated for characters let me know (though in many cases I just grabbed appropriately leveled NPC stats for things like "guards" and "constables" from the GMG and NPC Codex).
It's a potentially quite long module to play out, and what the PCs do can dramatically affect how things pan out. I hope your time with it is fun and fruitful!
Had an additional thought: for combat specifically, I think one of the challenges to me is less about to hit and more about damage. Folks who know how to stack bonuses can easily issue hundreds of HP of damage at high levels in one blow. Which means you either need them to miss or monsters need to have ungodly levels of HP, both of which are unsatisfying solutions.
I don't really mind folks that hit--I think it's more satisfying to everyone when you do SOMETHING than whiff every round. It's the one-shot-kill (which can also kill PCs much too quickly) that's the problem, and that's not a result of hitting, per se, it's how damage calculates out. Which suggests the thing that may need to be changed is damage output--whether that's by limiting damage dice or installing a damage maximum or instilling more effective damage soaking mechanisms (e.g., instead of DR, just have an ability that halves all damage or whatever) at high levels.
I appreciate the idea, but as a comparatively numbers-stupid person who found THAC0 obnoxious, this is well out of my comfort zone of fiddly level of mechanics to deal with. It might work (though people with a better head for numbers than I have are seeming to suggest it won't), but as a GM or player, I am no way, no how doing that much subtractive arithmetic or consulting a table every time someone rolls a die to see if they hit. Especially not at high levels, where folks are regularly rolling multiple attacks per round with a ridiculous bevy of bonuses and penalties to account for already. (ETA: if it does work for you, great. I'm just noting a key issue here is audience buy in.)
I think an inherent core problem of the d20 system is the d20--with an equal chance of generating any number, it's just too swingy. And the only way to change that is change the dice being rolled. But I don't know how much success folks have had with that as most are not willing to use a multi die system as that always means you are more likely to roll average and that in the end guarantees success more frequently which is apparently a problem, or so I've been told. I do think the advantage/disadvantage system in D&D is an interesting approach, tho then the issue becomes people.trying to maximize advantage constantly.
I think the other thing at least PF1 could benefit from--I can't remember how much of a problem this is in PF2 as I've barely played it--is to have a harder cap on bonuses, so you're not dealing with everything in high level to be DC 40 to 50 for it to even maybe be a challenge. Make a hard cap of +15 or something and make higher levels more about additional abilities or flexibility rather than higher.
I'm running a high level game right now and in the meantime I find it key just to lean into extreme triumph or disaster aspects. In the end the PCs are going to usually succeed at what they set out to so so it's more about just seeing what the consequences of that godlike power is and whose attention it draws and what else becomes possible. Let the successes--or failures--themselves drive the story and create avenues for ever scaling shenanigans.
I've heard from Trer's player, who has been quite ill. I'm hoping they can rejoin us soon. As this is a good place for Trer to meet back up with you (after slaying a purple worm offscreen) I'll hold off on advancing for a day or so, but certainly continue to chat and prep in the meantime.
Ah that sucks. Hope another opportunity comes along. Speaking as someone who just finished paying my student loans last July from my MA 20 years ago, and that was when tuition was much cheaper, I truly hope you get what you need to pursue this.
My advice is no more than six games, fewer if you are GMing. More than that and I notice most folks start phoning it in, and/or they keep up till disaster strikes and then flake on nearly a dozen groups at once because they can't prioritize. Fewer games allows for flexibility when IRL hits the fan.
Wow, I'm glad this thread was necromancied even if by undesired means, as I missed this post two years ago and Game to Grow sounds phenomenal. I also work with social and behavior change practitioners who explore gamification as an approach to exploring complex health issues and concerns. If they're still around I might point this out to my colleagues.
Yeah, my entire first weekend was basically a wash because I helped invade the druid grove and didn't find out that that would shut off Karlach until Sunday.
The famous one glorious moment of drow sex versus Spend a satisfying rest of the game with Karlach conundrum.
I will note that you can still recruit and romance Minthara (it involves knocking her unconscious) doing a good run and keep Karlach. You just miss That One Scene.
Yeah, my entire first weekend was basically a wash because I helped invade the druid grove and didn't find out that that would shut off Karlach until Sunday.
The famous one glorious moment of drow sex versus Spend a satisfying rest of the game with Karlach conundrum.
Karlach is best girl, but I feel like I need to see what happens once going the other route. Especially since there are ways a good character can sort of accidentally annoy the druids and/or tieflings. (Like in a new play through, Zevlor attacked me.... For reasons I wasn't expecting him to attack me for.)
I started a Shadowheart origin play through and that's interesting. Some dialogues and extra content related to her being a Sharran show up.
Now I'm just hoping against hope to see some cameos from the games relevant to how the series ended... I know they want to focus on the show's characters, and they should, but it would be cool to see some more familiar faces...
I don't think they have officially greenlit it, they just leaked that the show had been talking to California's government about a big tax break if they moved Season 2 there.
However, it's been Amazon's #1 show for a week and it picked up serious buzz and positive reviews. I suspect Season 2 will be greenlit, especially as the tax break basically means they get two episodes for free.
Yeah, I didn't check it myself but they've clearly set up for another season and given how well it's doing I will be shocked if they don't make another season.
As for your last point:
Spoilers for Show:
I didn't immediately pick up on House while watching (I was focused on something else when the scene played) but saw discussions of it since that confirmed it. Yep, definitely House, and the other guy he's talking to in the scene is Sinclair, the guy who built the Sierra Madre (setting of New Vegas's Dead Money DLC) and, in that scene, business representative for Big MT (setting of Old World Blues). The woman who is the Repconn rep I think is also referenced in New Vegas.
Given they should these New Vegas-related characters there, and we see Kyle going to New Vegas at the end of the show, I am assuming that Kyle is looking for House or something of Mr. House's.
A lot of fans seem to be assuming New Vegas as having been destroyed (I think a side effect of pausing and examining an image that was designed to be shown for a literal second) but that's not how I am taking the final shots. New Vegas looks pretty much as it does in the distance from the hills in the game, and the other shots suggest the aftermath of the battle for Hoover Dam. I would think if New Vegas had been attacked and destroyed, the Lucky 30 would have collapsed.
As an aside, I flew into Las Vegas airport on my way somewhere not long ago, it was cool seeing the Stratosphere from the airplane window. :) Oddly enough the Mojave... looks like the Mojave. I think some people shocked at how wastelandy the area around Vegas looked in that shot don't realize... uh, that's just the desert. That's what desert looks like.
I want to clarify and support that you can and should run a game Core only if you want.
My opinion, however, is that Wrath of the Righteous specifically is a non-ideal AP to select for that route, and you may be creating a headache for yourself as the AP itself makes use of non-Core rules, races, classes, and subsystems.
I personally would app into many PBPs if Core only was a restriction, and depending, might even find that attractive. This is not one of them. I am saying this all not as a criticism, but as advice and to respond to the interest check in a way that I hope is informative.
Is there any particular reason Mythic Tiers would not work with core characters? Asking honestly because I am not THAT experienced with Mythic PF, only used it once or twice as a character myself.
I was merely pointing out that Mythic rules themselves are non-core, but Sir Longears has made a much better explanation.
Sir Longears wrote:
Like DeathQuaker mentioned, I believe the idea of Core only works much better with the first 3-4 APs. For WotR, I'd suggest you not limiting so much, perhaps the following:
Hardcover Books: Core, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Equipment, Mythic Adventures - (this would exclude the hybrid and occult classes, as well as the vigilante)
Softcover: Allow all of them, but limit to 1 single source for each player.
IMO I would add the APG to this (very useful things in the APG like archetypes, alternate racial traits, and additional combat maneuvers that the Adventure Path is likely to use), and the Unchained classes, because they explicitly fix some balance and functionality issues with core. You could however restrict races and classes to core only however, and just use the spells and feats, etc. from the other books.
I would eliminate softcovers entirely, but that's my bias as I tend to mostly ban them for my online games anyway. I find them too full of stuff that's either broken or way too circumstantial.
An intriguing concept, but I think it would work better for an older AP that was designed when more players would be playing core only. Wrath of the Righteous, above many other APs, IIRC was really designed bearing in mind certain subsystems and allowing for a variety of player options. My two cents.
Capn, have you gone to Moonrise first (after having been to Last Light)? If not, leave the tests of Shar. You don't want to get to the end of that dungeon until after you go to Moonrise once. (You will go back to Moonrise later).
I don't want to spoil anything, but this is an area where everyone telling you, "Go to this Quest Place" DOES NOT mean "do all other quests first before going to this place," as it often does in computer RPGs. In this case, you know how all the NPCs keep saying, "Hey, you should really go to Moonrise"? It actually means "Go to Moonrise right f@!@ing now."
Larian's area design is extremely horrible in terms of its relationship to plotting/pacing, and often you end up not heading toward the places where you should be going and/or even outright avoiding the one place you should be. I've been (re)playing DOS2 and it's the same problem... the plot and encounter designers very clearly want you to do certain things in a particular order, but the world designers apparently got an incorrect memo they were building an open world. (And meanwhile the sidequest designers are just f&+~ing a~&*%$$s and/or 13. Main quest: "The world is ending RIGHT NOW." Sidequest: "Please resolve this argument between a dog and a cat.")
As for stealth, IIRC the shift key will show you the vision cones without actually sneaking so you can get a sense of creatures' movement/line of sight. (If you are on console, I have no idea what button it is. While I've played with the controller (I play on SteamDeck), it is harder to figure out how all the commands map.)
Also, I believe for many of the tests, only one person needs to do them, you don't need to drag everyone through. So for example for the stealthy one, just have your stealthiest/can turn invisible party member do it.
The Aesthetics were amazing. First few episodes were amazing, but seemed to slow down for no reason in the middle/end.
I think that's in part because they dug a little too hard in the characters, especially Lucy, constantly hitting setbacks without a victory to provide a counterpoint. I think the actual progression of the narrative is about the right speed, but there's a point in the middle where the bastards just keep winning where I think it fatigues the viewer. Oddly looking to the game design would help: even if you want the players to feel in over their heads, you need to let them have a few small wins so they want to keep going.
JoelF847 wrote:
It was officially renewed for season 2 on Monday or Tuesday, a few days before it released.
Yay!
Now I'm just hoping against hope to see some cameos from the games relevant to how the series ended... I know they want to focus on the show's characters, and they should, but it would be cool to see some more familiar faces...
Fortunately it's just a spectator, not a full on beholder. But yeah... that's a little underleveled for that area.
One of my criticisms of Larian's world design (not just BG3 but the DOS games as well) is that they often design the world in a way that makes it look like you can explore anywhere you like, open world style, but in reality the world has monster walls you can very accidentally walk into and get torn to shreds. They either need to adjust their style or level adjustment for encounter design, or make more linear worlds where you're not going to wander somewhere you shouldn't before it's time.
Your story about Karlach (who is Best Girl, who my PC may have abandoned her love interest for at the end...) leads to another lesson:
9. If in doubt, Shove the m%~&#&&&~+!%s.
10. Unless you want to loot them. Then pickpocket, then shove them.
3. The more your companions whine about resting too often, the more you should rest. (Okay, this isn't really a life lesson per se, but make sure you rest a lot in Act I. Of course resting irl is always good...)
4. There are surprisingly many problems you can solve by having a barbarian throw something at it. You know, like a spear or a gnome.
So I've already binged the whole dang thing. (What? I had work to do today to keep me glued to the couch anyway.)
I'll have to watch again more slowly later.
Not going to spoil anything yet but...
- Overall I thought it was very good. Very good acting, good dialogue, good weaving of past and present, and holy f#$* the production values.
- My main complaint is it's a little TOO gorey and depressing at times (some of the gore is actually really way too much for me, and yes, I have played the games at length). While they balance Fallout's dark humor with its very dire messages about corporatism and the military-industrial complex very well, sometimes it dives a little more into misery porn than it should. The characters needed a few more wins along the way rather than what started to feel in the middle like endless setbacks. (You need setbacks, but if that's all you have, you start getting numb to them.)
- I found it very very lore-friendly/close to the original lore. If you find something doesn't seem right, bear in mind it takes place well after Fallout New Vegas and 4 so stuff has happened between then and now.
- They drop one major plot/lore revelation I and many others often suspected based on past hints in the game, but the show hard core confirms it.
- The very end hints to another season and in a way I find very exciting!
- Yes, they say the thing. :)
I am very late to this, but as a grumpy dwarven editor, I just want to share for the record that I did not give my permission to have my character sheet shared in public, thank you very much.
Funeral potatoes are IIRC tots or hash browns, cheese, sour cream, cream of chicken, and onion, topped with corn flakes or potato chips.
Disclaimer: I am a filthy east coaster and only eaten each of these dishes once. But I had the funeral potatoes at a potluck bbq in Wichita and fell deeply in love.
Eta: Amby, no idea on a doner glaze, but my dad just tops his meatloaf with cheese and it is delicious.
Heh. Nothing special tonight: ham steak and lima beans. I should have roasted some potatoes too, but I was too hungry. :-)
That sounds utterly delicious. Love a good ham steak. They can get weirdly pricey around here sometimes though.
I had a friend keep my company so I would focus on cleaning and got my living room really well cleaned up so we celebrated with a cocktail and a lamb sandwich at the local gin joint. Not low key or cheap, but I'm going to say well deserved for once.
As a 47 year old who is three months away from being 48, I take objection to this statement.
It may be true, but I nonetheless object.
Quote:
And the health complications that are in both sides of my family are waiting for me around each birthday candle. I already had a bad scare/ incident a few weeks ago with my blood pressure and fluid collecting in my legs. I now have new medication that's helping a GREAT deal- but it can't all be medication. Beets are excellent for heart health and circulation, and I drink a beet tea(with green tea and ginger tea mixed in) most mornings to help me...well, live. I want to avoid future scares and a bitter cup in the morning helps that.
Sorry you had some scary venous thrombosis and other things. Compression socks are good things for that as well (as always no one thing is a panacea). I know you've been working hard to take care of yourself and good for you for sticking with it.
Looking it up, interesting to see the info on beets and blood pressure. Would be interesting to dive into those studies. They are certainly good for you, high in lots of vitamins, fiber, etc. (I just wish they didn't take so long to cook. Can be eaten raw if grated but then you have to peel them raw...)
Quelle coincidence, Limey, last night I made my mom's beet soup recipe, which is mainly stock, beets (grated or sliced), potatoes, and sour cream. I was using veggie stock that can be a little bland so I added some onion as well, and I added some dill because I had some and dill is delicious with beets.
I usually boil the beets first and then peel them, as the peels usually slide right off after boiling (although last night they were being problematic but I think it's because (a) the beets were old and (b) I didn't shock them adequately in cold water after cooking). Then I grate them and add them to the potatoes simmering in the stock when the potatoes are cooked.
Today I made other side of the family's recipe, New England boiled dinner, since Wegman's was selling lots of corned beef for St. Patrick's day, and I could find one of a reasonable size for me and dad. So boiled the corned beef, adding cabbage, turnip, onion, and carrot the last 45 minutes. I was supposed to add potato too and forgot so cooked those separately. I know it sounds very plain but it is super yummy. The fat and salt from the meat seasons the veggies and the meat gets super tender.
Well, I made the best dang roast chicken I ever made last night.
I had made preserved lemons about a month ago. This simply involves almost quartering them (leaving them held together at the stem end), squeezing a bit of the juice into a mason jar, rubbing kosher salt into the middle, and then squishing them into the jar in between layers of more salt. Refrigerate and let sit, turning over the jar occasionally, for at least two weeks. (I tried googling a recipe to share and they're all those kind where they go 12 pages into the history of lemons and salt and jars before they say "just shove lemons and salt in a jar" at the very end, so I thought I'd spare you.)
I wanted to use the lemons to make chicken tagine and brought them to my dad's to make, but he was sick and I decided to make a roast chicken instead, as it would involve less prep time for me (so I could spend more time with him) and be, for him, more comfort food-like.
So I cut carrots, onions, and potatoes into wedges/3-4 inch length bits and put them at the bottom of a baking pan. Tossed them with salt, pepper, and a tad bit of olive oil (not a lot).
I took one of the preserved lemons and rubbed it all over the outside of the chicken, and then shoved half, pith side down, under the skin of each breast. I then rubbed the outside of the chicken with a bit more salt (which I'd skip next time), a tad bit of red pepper, and fresh thyme. I put an onion and another preserved lemon into the cavity. Laid the chicken on top of the vegetables.
Roasted for 20 minutes at 400 and then turned it down to 350 for another 80 minutes (it was a 5 lb bird, so 20 min a lb).
Skin was crisp, and the lemon juice and salt somehow extracted juices from the bird making the chicken's own gravy in the bottom, and yet the meat was still very tender and moist. The juices cooked the veggies perfectly, which also picked up a lot of the lemon flavor.
The only issue is it was slightly too salty, as I'd underestimated how much of the salt from the preserved lemons got into the chicken. So I think next time I'd skip salting it separately from rubbing it with the lemons and putting one in the cavity. The thyme was also largely unnecessary (though it didn't hurt it any).
Super easy (it takes a little time to make the preserved lemons but that in itself is easy and they're handy to have on hand). And it was entirely a one pan meal with very easy cleanup.
They're not bad, but I'm going to have to go ahead and say that they don't quite match up to Herr's ketchup chips. Utz extra dark pretzels are fantastic, though.
I still don't understand the appeal of ketchup and all-dressed chips. I suspect it's a Me thing, as I rarely have ketchup with fries either.
Considering I grew up here, it might be a cultural proximity thing...
Not sure I'm getting the reference. I thought tomato ketchup was popularized in Pittsburgh and Herr's is in southeastern PA?
Careful, Icarus. </CraigyFerg> Say it twice more and you might accidentally summon the eldritch horror Mr Good Eats himself.
Is he one of the Masters of the Bazaar? Like Mr. Wines?
(Someone may have discovered Fallen London...)
Maybe? I'm not sure what unearthly powers Alton Brown may possess, but the mere mention of his name seems to make Freehold's eye twitch, much like Inspector Dreyfus hearing "Clouseau."
I wouldn't be surprised at all if Alton Brown is a actually space bat in service of the Elder Ones.
DeathQuaker wrote:
It is a small mercy upon this blighted world we live in that those who live further south and west of me now are able to know the love that is an Utz potato chip.
They make a darn tasty chip, but I must confess that my overriding thought in the store was "I'm not going to spend nearly five bucks for a regular-sized bag of Ruffles or Lays." Utz, Wise, storebrand, I ain't that picky about chips. I like Zapps flavors, but I'm adverse to the texture of kettle-cooked chips. The Utz were only $2.79 a bag.
That is a perfectly good reason to get them, and one thing I've been glad as they've become a more national brand is they have yet to be all "look artisanal chips from eastern Pennsylvania, only $8,000!"
But I find them tastier than Lays anyway (not that I will turn away a freely offered bag of Lays). They're less greasy or something.
David M Mallon wrote:
They're not bad, but I'm going to have to go ahead and say that they don't quite match up to Herr's ketchup chips. Utz extra dark pretzels are fantastic, though.
I still don't understand the appeal of ketchup and all-dressed chips. I suspect it's a Me thing, as I rarely have ketchup with fries either.
Those extra dark pretzels are frikkin' amazing. I got my dad addicted to them.
I have not tried the ketchup Herr's but I like Herr's as a brand too, so I expect it wouldn't be bad. But if I want a plain chip I like Utz's the best. I don't know if it's the cottonseed oil or what.
I have too many cooking ambitions this week but I am hoping to make two out of four of these: chicken tagine, four-bean chili, beet soup, and beer-braised bratwurst with mashed potatoes.
I just was accepted to a game I honestly wasn't expecting to get into, so I think I will pull out of this recruitment to be sure I manage my time well. Good luck and have fun!
Careful, Icarus. </CraigyFerg> Say it twice more and you might accidentally summon the eldritch horror Mr Good Eats himself.
Is he one of the Masters of the Bazaar? Like Mr. Wines?
(Someone may have discovered Fallen London...)
Quote:
Dinner last night was just fried chicken patties (Aldi's "red bag") baked in the oven with sliced bolillo rolls and sliced tomato, sliced sweet onion, shredded lettuce, and sliced provolone for sandwiches, plus Utz potato chips.
It is a small mercy upon this blighted world we live in that those who live further south and west of me now are able to know the love that is an Utz potato chip.
Baking powder is a premixed combination of an acid and a base (IIRC baking soda + cream of tartar), that activates when wet. The saltiness comes iirc from the ensuing reaction producing sodium chloride as a byproduct.
PS I accidentally implied a backwards assignment of chemical quality. Baking soda is the base and cream of tartar is the acid (IIRC it is also known as tartaric acid).
In completely other news I want to try making You Suck At Cooking's chicken tinga sometime. I need to get chipotle in adobo first though (ran out of what I had on hand).
Baking powder is a premixed combination of an acid and a base (IIRC baking soda + cream of tartar), that activates when wet. The saltiness comes iirc from the ensuing reaction producing sodium chloride as a byproduct.
Baking soda is generally the ingredient added to soften beans.
Please note the aforementioned is from a person with an advanced degree in English literature and she may be making all of these things up.
I am glad the chili was nonetheless salvaged. You got this, Amby!
(No autocorrect. While indeed, I Am Bi, "Am Bi" was not what I was trying to say.)
I stir fried the cabbage with carrot, onions, mushroom medley, garlic, scallions, and a little bok choy (for some darker green) and some bean thread noodles, using a sauce made of rice vinegar, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, sambal oelek, water, a bit of chicken bouillon, and corn starch. Turned out super yummy. It was a lot of chopping but used up all the cabbage as well as the mushrooms that needed to be used up.
Here's my rough draft character sheet. I decided to throw random gen into the background and appearance, though tweaked for narrative flow and sensibility. SOmehow even with randomly generated background features, I still made the backstory too long.
Crunch:
Shanava
NG Tiefling Bard 1
Str 10 Dex 12 Con 9 Int 13 Wis 8 Cha 15
(Rolled stats, tiefling +1 to Wis and +2 to Cha)
Honor: 10
==COMBAT==
Init +1; Darkvision 60 ft.
HP 7/7
AC 12
Resistance to Fire Damage
Speed 30 ft
Melee Rapier +3 1d6
==PROFICIENCIES==
Bonus +2
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma
Skills: Arcana (B), History (B), Investigation (C), Persuasion (C), Religion (C)
Weapons: simple, hand crossbow, longsword, rapier, shortsword
Armor: Light armor
Tools: Drum, flute, lyre
==OTHER ADVENTURING ABILITIES==
Bardic Inspiration: As a bonus action, choose one creature (not self) within 60 feet who can hear me. That creature receives a d6 inspiration die. Once within the next 10 minutes the creature can choose to add the inspiration die to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. They may choose to spend the inspiration after rolling the d20, but it must be before the DM announces the result.
Languages: Common, Infernal
==BACKGROUND==
Sage; Specialty: Scribe
Feature: Researcher: When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.
==SPELLCASTING==
Spell save DC: 12
Attack Bonus: +4
==EQUIPMENT==
Weapons: Dagger, Rapier
Armor: Leather
Other: Diplomat’s pack (chest, 2 scroll cases, set of fine clothes, bottle of ink, ink pen, lamp, 2 flasks of oil, 5 sheets of paper, vial of perfume, sealing wax, and soap).
Lyre, Bottle of black ink, quill, small knife, letter from dead colleague posing a question I have not yet been able to answer, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp
==CHARACTERISTICS==
Trait: I use polysyllabic words that convey the impression of great erudition.
Ideal: Beauty. What is beautiful points us beyond itself toward what is true.
Bond: I've been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question.
Flaw: I overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones.
==FLUFF==
Backstory:
Shanava grew up far to the north in the Blackmoor. He remembers very little of his childhood before he was about five years old, when his parents were slaughtered by unthinking barbarians who mistook them for being true devils. A half-orc hunter named Grathak rescued him and and his brothers (Imarn, older, and Devith, younger) protected them from the same fate. Grathak took the three young tieflings home with him and raised them alongside his two daughters, Nessa and Kirell (their mother was Grathak's human wife who died when Kirell was born). In addition to being a hunter and trapper, Grathak was a tanner and leatherworker and sold everything from pelts to finely made leather hauberks and embossed pouches and belts. Most of his siblings learned some aspect of Grathak's trade, be it becoming a fine hunter as Imarn did, or a skilled craftsperson like Nessa, but Shanava never quite found his niche--always game to try something new and dabble a bit, but never stick with it long enough to master anything. He particularly loved the artistic side of his family's work, but he wasn't very good at it and couldn't seem to be patient with himself enough to improve with practice--he thought he pursuit of beauty was one of the most worthwhile things there could be, yet he struggled with expressing it.
The other thing Shanava found beautiful was words. Words and language and stories truly nourished him. He went to the taverns from his youth to hear the bards swap tales, and they showed him the basics of playing a few of their instruments. He also wrote down everything in a journal, however mundane, including recording gossip and tales he picked up on, hoping it would help him inform his own storytelling one day. The information gathered he realized, however, could be useful, or lead him to opportunity. At one point he heard rumors about the mayor's daughter and, looking into them, learned she'd been seeing a man behind her parents' back. He tried to blackmail her, threatening to reveal the secret to the mayor, hoping he could bring his family some money to help support them, but it backfired horribly as the daughter went to her mother the mayor, told all and was forgiven, and he earned the ire of the town and his own family for meddling in affairs he shouldn't. He regretted it deeply--he'd been too obsessed with proving his worth he hadn't thought how the consequences would have hurt her or others, and it took the consequences hurting him to realize it. He resolved not to do that again, but he'd earned unpleasant reputation for being a useless gossip he struggled to escape. Fortunately, a traveling scholar named Magnus took pity on him gave him an out, and hired Shanava to come with him as a scribe. Leaving home and finding his own way was best for all concerned.
Shanava traveled for a bit with Magnus, until they came to Hommlet. There he fell in love with a half-elven ranger named Alessa, and he left the traveling life in hopes of settling down with her. He got a job as a scribe with a local magistrate. However, Alessa recently, tragically, was killed by a dire wolf while she was out hunting, and he is left grieving. He holds on to a letter she had written him when they first met, which amid flirtatious banter, included the much more serious question: "Can the heart grow only if we are willing to have it broken?" Her answer at the time was that one must risk vulnerability to love. Feeling the grief of her loss, he is not so sure, and rather than explore questions of love and beauty, he wants to find something else to lose himself in. Perhaps adventure will do.
Deity: Shanava primarily worships Ioun, goddess of knowledge.
Appearance:
Shanava is still a young man, aged 21, and stands at 5'9" and weighs 175 lbs. He has an unremarkable build with a bit of a slouch. He has red skin and lightly wavy, platinum blonde hair, which he keeps short, to his shoulders. He also has a thick mustache. On the sides of his head are thick, blunt horns that curve back and down around his ears. He often paints them. His tail is very short and thicker with a ridge of spines all the way down the back.
As a side note You do not have to take Quirks and Flaws even if you rolled them. It is all or None though.
Unless it cripples your character idea too much
Hmmm, given the first quirk could be borderline offensive as it's mimicking a rather difficult real-life personality disorder usually spawned by serious trauma, and the other two are "it's what my character would do!" nightmares to the other players, I'll skip the quirks.
I'm working on a bard with the sage background. I know these aren't required but since we're already random genning...
Scholastic Specialty:1d8 ⇒ 8
Scribe
Personality Trait:1d8 ⇒ 1
Ideal:1d6 ⇒ 2
Bond:1d6 ⇒ 5
Flaw:1d6 ⇒ 4
Trait: I use polysyllabic words that convey the impression of great erudition.
Ideal: Beauty. What is beautiful points us beyond itself toward what is true.
Bond: I've been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question.
Flaw: I overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones.
Great, if only I could play a space bat, then I could be Mr. Pages from Fallen London.
seasons DeathQuaker subtly, quietly, procures fresh butter for Amby
Honestly, dude, I know you're just messing around, but this is kind of creeping me out. Seriously.
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Cooked or raw?
It is currently raw.
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If raw, a stir fry is the best way to go especially if the cabbage is looking old. Make sure there's a loooooot of spices to put in that stir fry, as this is cabbage we are talking about. And you'll need a good, hearty meat to go along with that stir fry, I recommend ground pork or similar. Don't trust yourself with spices overall? Cabbage absorbs liquids quite well, you can add soy sauce or similar to your stir fry.
Cooked? Clean your cabbage, pat it dry, and use it to wrap fingers of (well seasoned) cooked ground beef, and then stick them in the oven for a bit. If you have a lot of ground beef, make several fingers and wrap them all up in cabbage and add some kind of sauce on top- like leftover marinara sauce or something similar.
Thank you, these are excellent suggestions!
I had considered stir fry but miniature/quick gołąbki had not occurred to me. Even though I love gołąbki. (I've sometimes thought about making something similar but rather than do stuffed cabbage rolls, parboil the cabbage and use it like lasagna noodles and layer it and beef and rice and sauce.)
Stir fry is more likely as I do not have any ground beef on hand but do have some nice mushrooms I can use up. Maybe I should go to the market and get some hoisin and make some homemade moo shu-esque something.
takes another bite it snowed again last night! We also are expecting even more snow roughly a week from today.
eyes DeathQuaker speculatively
I don't recommend it. You might just get foul wind and little else.
Anyway, sorry I missed thread update but not sorry because I was away on a post promotion celebration by getting a massage at a spa and staying at a fancy hotel.
When I got home I made lamb stew (meat was available at the local store for a decent price for lamb) with mirepoix and a bourbon-barrel aged stout I bought at a local brewery awhile ago. It was phenomenal.
And then for the rest of the week when I wasn't eating stew I was mainly eating hotdogs, cole slaw, and toast and peanut butter (not all in one sitting), so.
Well shucks. That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me on the Internet. Thank you.
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I'll be checking the game out after yours and so many other rave reviews, despite thinking the demo plotline years back was dumb as a bag of bricks.
FWIW what I saw of the early access (which is the tutorial area on the mind flayer ship) I was completely turned off too. I didn't like the body horror at all (and still don't), and it looked confusing, slow, and clunky.
The clunk on the ship is improved, and it is so, so so much better once it gets going. Also, while at first it seems like the main thing is the mind flayer plot (and it is intensely relevant/plot-related throughout the game), there are other entities and themes that appear that make this very definitely a sequel to Baldur's Gate 2.
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But I'll still wait to hear what if any DLC comes for it.
While many are expecting DLC--and it's reasonable to anticipate a GOTY edition--and it would make sense for them to do it because millions of people around the world are ready to throw money at them, Larian has announced nothing, nor even hinted at DLC as of yet. So I (a) think if there is going to be any DLC it is not going to be anytime soon and (b) my guess is it is likely to be additional adventures rather than add-ons to the main storyline. This is entirely speculation on my part so obviously grains of salt, etc.
Just noting that if you "decide to wait for the DLC" it is probably at least going to be (again, my speculation/guess) not till end of this year at the very earliest, and there is a chance, no matter how some may not think it is going to be, that it may never happen.
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Maybe soon the final Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous DLC will come out and I can play that waiting for BG3 DLC.
Oh wow I just got that (there was a significant sale on it recently) so nice to know there's more yet coming for it.
Well I just finished the game last night, well past my bedtime. It was F~+&ING AMAZING. I am obsessed with this game and its characters in a way I haven't been for a piece of media in YEARS. I think specifically the last video game I felt this way about was probably Neverwinter Nights 2, and prior indeed Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate 2.
There are absolutely things I can quibble with, and the UI needs some serious organizing (I played on Steamdeck so I've seen both the PC and controller interfaces and both have... issues). Fights with many enemies take too g*$%%~n long. There is one (only one that stands out) ridiculous moment of stupidly rigid railroad plot at an inopportune time just before Act III (which subsequently gets a completely unfair callback to in dialogue for a choice the game literally refuses to let you make). There's a BG2 character who deserved just slightly more justice (not the one discussed in this thread)... well, not justice, but a little more... explanation? And I'm mad there are no references to Imoen outside of a sentence in a book.
But even the moments that stand out as frustrating only do so because the rest is SO GOOD. So good. The gameplay is good. I wouldn't play it if it wasn't fun to explore and solve puzzles and find ways to beat monsters. I thought 5e rules applied to Larian's engine worked super well. But for me 90% of this game is story and it's most worth playing if what you want is the story and the characters.
I'm an English lit nerd and professional wordsmith (for other people's words, not my own, I am well aware of what my own babbling ramble looks like, thank you). Stories feed my soul. Video games allow us to interact and be part of a story in a way a book or film cannot, so I am fascinated by what you can do with the medium to build and make a story come to life. The storytelling, nitpicks aside, is some of the best I've seen in a long time. I think this game had the most character growth I've ever seen in a game like this, and that's saying something. I felt like my own custom main character grew and saw the companions I traveled with grew. The story has so many satisfying moments. I've made new pixel-friends I'll never forget, and got, to my delight, spent some time with old friends I never thought I would see again. There are scenes that made me double over in real tears of pathos and despair. There are so, so many scenes that made me laugh out loud, or punch the air in victory. And moments where I could look at a character and say, "Wow, I'm proud of you."
And I very much doubt Larian reads the Paizo boards, but I don't post in most other media sites I lurk in, so just in case, Larian, Wow, I'm proud of you. I was absolutely utterly of the belief that Baldur's Gate needed no sequel, and when I heard Larian got the job... well, I thought their stuff was fine, you know? But I'd never even gotten around to finishing DOS2. Could they really take on this franchise, so beloved by those who played it, and truly add to the existing themes and story while appealing to a new player base?
And they did. They did it. Wow. (Oh and PS, if you haven't played it yet or haven't played it in awhile, Patch 6 is out and between it and Patch 5, tons of content has been added and tweaked, and many bugs fixed and QOL improvements made.)
As I sit recently being utterly absorbed by Baldur's Gate III, I have also been reflecting recently on how much the earlier Baldur's Gates (especially 2) and Planescape Torment really hit me hard as well. While the gameplay in all is... fine? the story, characters, and themes carry them head and shoulders above a lot of stuff I've played.
And yet I've also been recently spending hours again in Planet Coaster mindlessly building scenery, so I have complex game needs.
ETA: Upon listening to the Suikoden V soundtrack, I randomly decided to look up Suikoden as I'd vaguely recalled something of a spiritual successor was coming out and wanted to look up the game. And learned that just today, the creator of Suikoden died: Yoshitaka Murayama. May he rest in peace. That was a truly phenomenal series of games.
(That "spiritual successor" is slated to come out in April on Nintendo and is called Eiyden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.)
