Diver

DungeonmasterCal's page

13,897 posts (13,973 including aliases). 7 reviews. 4 lists. 1 wishlist. 9 aliases.


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So a couple of my long time players missed the first game in the new campaign, but should make it for the next one, coming up in January. I asked what they had finally decided to play and one said, "A Wizard, of Human origins." Which prompted the other guy to say, "What, like Australopithecaster?"

I was slain.


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I just got back from my friend's all Goblin game. Imagine you're playing Pokemon Silver on your Gameboy from back in the day, but with Goblins. When we kill something, we hear a "ping!" in our heads and our "bank" is updated. If you attack a boss that has something you want, you can see it floating above its head. It's literally a classic Pokemon game with elements of "Delicious in Dungeon" and smatterings of other anime and manga things thrown in. Not my style of game, but I'll keep attending. It's only fair since he's playing in my new campaign and our friendship goes back over 30 years now. And I had a good time meeting his gaming crew. Everyone brought food LOL.


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That sounds suspiciously like a plan to me. Hmm.

Playing in a buddy's all Goblin campaign tomorrow. I've missed the first couple of games but I'll be caught up tomorrow. Wish me luck as Buck Damnitbuck makes his Druidic debut!


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TriOmegaZero wrote:
We had a Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett stop by.

That's fantastic!


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I'm a secret tree hugger so I don't rake my leaves as over a hundred species of tiny organisms winter under them.

And yes, each spring I battle them as they lay siege to my house.


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Andostre wrote:
Good luck with your game, Cal! And happy birthday!

Thank you very much!!

I just realized my game is completely ready to go. I planned on working past midnight. Now I'm not sure what to do!!!


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Good luck to all of those undertaking physical endeavors! I will not be one of them. HOWEVER, unless I jinx myself with this post tomorrow will be the launch of my new campaign, "The Bones of The World". I'm starting off with our traditional Halloween game AND it's the day before my 63rd revolution about the sun. The stars are right for this weird admixture of Appalachian, Korean, Japanese, and Central European folk-horrors into what I hope will be a creepy, dramatic game.

Ever get so caught up in a creative groove you end up making something that will likely never see actual use in the game but it makes it all better for you regardless? I did that this week. Waaaaaay back in 1988 I ran an all nighter type one shot game featuring a demi-goddess I'd created on the spot, Dath, Bastard Daughter of Lolth. It was a fantastic game with comedy and heroics that would bring a tear to the eye. S'anyway, a 3.5e race I'm going to incorporate into the setting are Ghost Elves, from Dragon Magazine #313. I tweaked a bit here and there and then suddenly Dath became their patron goddess and I was up way past sunrise creating her. I also dredged up the Whisper Gnomes from 3.5e's "Races of Stone" to further populate this new land they're exploring. I may take the fan-converted Birthright's Shadow Halflings and throw them into the pot, too. I have 27.5 hours to put the finishing touches on things (this is also the third utter rewrite of the inaugural game since I began feeling the familiar itch to take my place behind the GM screen again back in January).


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I completely forgot this part; after defeating the Cyclopes, a nosy old man kept harassing with questions about why were we there, why did we fight the monsters, how come this and how come that, and so on. Then he reveals himself to be Poseidon, magically fixes a boat and sends us on to the next part of the campaign.

Anyway, what's going on with everyone this weekend? I'm playing in a different friend's game on Sunday, which should be interesting. Sort of an all Goblins as PCs/anime style game. I am skeptical...LOL


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quibblemuch wrote:
How was the game, Cal?

It was fun! He has a bad habit of just pitting us against opponents in long, dragged out fights that literally take the entire five hour sessions to complete, but this one had a lot of roleplaying with only a random encounter fight at the end (5 seventh level players against eight

Cyclopes, with one of them being a Mighty Cyclops). I play a Fighter with the Two Weapon Warrior archetype so distance combat really isn't his forte. While most of the party hung back and lobbed arrows and spells, Sijjiin went tear-assin' (that's a southern phrase for running like hell, for those who don't know LOL) into the fray. I guess I'm just unable to simply say, "I move to hit the Cyclops". Instead, I get pretty descriptive with how he's moving and any special things he's doing in combat (that's what being a lifelong GM does to a person). He was knocked into the negative HP range three times but each time he was healed he went right back into the fracas. He killed one Cyclops outright and did the most damage to the Mighty Cyclops. And now they're calling him Leeroy Jenkins and I couldn't be happier LOL.


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Game tomorrow! Woot! It's my friend's campaign and I get to be a player. No responsibilities beyond rolling dice and killin' stuff!

How about you all?


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Limeylongears wrote:
It was the lad's birthday on Tuesday, so he has a party at a trampolining place with his pals tomorrow. Other than that, possibly galloping through the storm, brandishing my black runesword at the clouds and laughing maniacally.

In the distance, Deep Purple begins to play...


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And hiking requires zero effort? I'm all about economy of motion but I'm not seein' it.


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Godspeed, Erik.


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Oh my goodness. I followed his Kirthfinder project for a long time.


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Today, September 18, marks the 40th anniversary of the first AD&D game I ever played. I don't know why I remember this date more than many others, but I do LOL. Forty years ago I sat in on a game with an ex-player's character sheet and was told, "Just do what we tell you and you'll catch on." I ended up leading the party through a homebrew dungeon and becoming the first party to ever make it through to the end. I guess I did, indeed, "catch on".


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Drejk wrote:

Fantasy Monster: Ouroboozes

You can blame Mike for that one. Name of his (otherwise unrelated) monster inspired me.

I think this was me in college...


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What are everyone's plans this weekend? Saturday I put the helmet back on and begin DMing again after two and a half years. I figure I have 10-15 years left on this planet and I want to spend it doing what I love with people I can at least put up with! The debut adventure of the "The Bones of the World" campaign kicks off Saturday! Wish me luck!


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Not a lot going on this weekend here. My kid's band is playing in town and I might go see them, but the venue allows smoking and I really don't like being around that much smoke for three hours. I'll probably doing some household stuff and finishing up the inaugural adventure for the new campaign next Saturday.


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Andostre wrote:
Classic CoC this time, instead of Delta Green.

I have some friends who play Delta Green, but gimme that old time Lovecraftian religion at any time. I love classic CoC.


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In the ongoing saga of "What Ailment Does Cal Have This Week?" I have H1N1 influenza, also called Flu A or swine flu. It's not been a terrible bad case but enough to just knock me out of being at all useful to the world for a week or so. I think the worst of it's behind me but I still have some stubborn chest congestion and a mild sinus infection. I figure at my current rate I will have had nearly all diseases known by science by the end of the year.

In better news, my new campaign is on track for its debut game on August 31st. I have some small details to hammer out and then building them into a coherent adventure. But I haven't been excited about GMing in a long time and I have high hopes for the game and for myself.

What's everyone else got going on? Oh, and I echo Andostre's sentiment about Orthos finding a gaming group! That's great news!


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Howdy!

No game for me this weekend, but work on my upcoming campaign continues. A friend invited me to play in his new campaign (he'll be playing in mine) and their first game is the 16th but I have plans for that night already with my brother and a friend from college. But my tentative launch date is August 30th, so we'll see how it goes!

What about all youse other scallawags? Big plans this weekend?

OH! I almost forgot. Yesterday I got spend some time with one of my dearest friends over Guinness and pizza. We hadn't seen one another since 1983. Nothing like good times with a good friend to fortify one's soul.


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The blackberries here have already peaked and only the bushes remain. Growing up on a farm as a kid, we had a hilltop pasture that had nearly an acre of wild blackberries. We'd have an all day sort of berry picking and then my mom would can homemade blackberry jam.

...*sniff*... No, I'm not homesick or nuthin'...


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quibblemuch wrote:
I'm not gaming any more (long story)

Oh no! I hate to hear it!


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*de-beverages


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The leader of the rock band my son plays in has the last name deFrance (it's also the name of the band). I keep a list of their tour dates on my PC entitled "Tour deFrance". I kill me.

We're gaming tomorrow, the season finale of my friend's PF game. Then he'll probably take a break and I'll run the first game of my new campaign in August. I've got everything pretty much ready to go except for the writing and scribbling part.

What's everyone else doing?


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Limeylongears wrote:
Well, I'm borrowing a trawler and heading over to Boston harbour to try and get all that tea back out.

I saw Whitesnake in concert on Saturday, July 4th, 1987. They were opening for Mötley Crüe, so it was an insanely great party atmosphere with a packed auditorium. David Coverdale strode onstage and grabbed the mic, and in that unmistakable voice shouted, "Happy Birthday, you traitorous bastards!" Cue crazy happy concert mayhem.


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Drejk wrote:

Fantasy Monster: Grand Bookworm

Its a big bookworm, made of books...

Next, a tape worm made of...heh...


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Oh, this is great! Thank you!


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Me and this guy would not get along LOL


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It was fantastic. My son's band was really well received given that the average age of an audience member was probably 65 and every man there had a long grey ponytail and could play guitar (except me, on both counts). Pat Travers is 71 or so and didn't have a lot of energy when he addressed the audience but could still belt out a tune and play guitar as though it were a natural extension of his hands. He was funny and had a really good rapport with the audience, too. My son said he was one of the friendliest, most welcoming of the rock legends he'd ever met. Travers said he hoped to do more shows with them in the future.


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Well, it's humid, it stormed all night, and is likely to the rest of the day. I have a three hour car trip ahead of me, too. Still. Gonna go rock and roll! Born to me mild! Party hardly!


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Happy Friday the 13th! Roll those lucky dice!

Nothing happening today but making a three hour road trip to see my son's band open for the legendary Pat Travers Band, sort of a Father's Day thing.

What's everyone else up to?


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Andostre wrote:

I love that you're using this as an opportunity to get in touch with family, Orthos! Especially family that doesn't get much opportunity for that, it sounds like.

*********

I owe all of you an apology. When I mentioned above about all of the end of school year stuff going on, I forgot to mention that my in-laws were coming into town, and more importantly, I forgot to complain about it. And just now they've left, and I can finally relax again, but it's too late to complain about it. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to give you guys that.

It's also never too late to complain!


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quibblemuch wrote:
Only age keeps me out of regular trouble...

That and the statutes of limitations have run out on the feral youth who once lived in my body.


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quibblemuch wrote:

As for me, I'm spending the weekend digging myself out from a week out of town (just got back last night). My wife had a work trip to Dublin, so I tagged along because I'd never been to Ireland.

I'm extremely jealous of your journey and I would have had a hard time resisting that same urge (as someone who was banned for life from the zoo in Memphis, Tennessee I have a history of saying the wrong things at the wrong time).


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Orthos wrote:

ONLY THREE MORE DAYS until the flight to Chicago. We'll be spending the whole first week of June there. Some of two of the days will be spent at the Chinese embassy getting paperwork done for our visas, but the rest is all to ourselves.

Got in touch with an uncle I haven't seen in twenty years - a mutual black sheep of our family - and we'll be spending at least some of the week with him and his family, seeing the sights and getting toured around.

Go visit the Field Museum and see the life-size reconstruction of Sue the T. rex!


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I can't love this enough!! It's perfect for something I'd had in mind.


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Orthos wrote:

She went to her favorite pizza place - they allow dogs around the outdoor seating - and had a nice long walk around the city downtown.

Tomorrow we're going to "Toto's Tacos", an Oz-themed Mexican place here in town.

Please give Sophie lots of ear scritches from me.


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You spoil that pup rotten, y'hear?

I teared up every time I read your original post. I wish you strength and peace.


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Andostre wrote:
What's the most oddball aspect of your campaign world? Something that doesn't really fit with the rest of the world, but you've included anyway.

This happened probably around 2001 or so, the players traveled through a very small country populated by Yuan Ti who had adopted the philosophies and technology from World War II Nazis who'd fallen through a portal into the game world. It was the only time I ever allowed gunpowder weapons in the setting.


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Limeylongears wrote:
quibblemuch wrote:

Going to try again with the Tudor meatballs (my friend wasn't feeling good last Sunday so took a rain check). This is not a euphemism for something. Repeat, it is not a euphemism when I say 'my buddy's coming over and we're going to make Tudor meatballs.'

IIIII'm 'enery the minced thigh ham, thigh ham,

'Enery the minced thigh ham, etc.

Set damn you, I sang that.


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I grok do u wrote:

Old thread with various suggestions, although no 5e conversions.

Basic 5e rule is usually damage + status effect on failed save, half-damage and no status effect on success. General status effect is poisoned: disadvantage (roll twice, take lower) on attack rolls and ability checks.

If you want a quick conversion formula, do something like 1d6 HP damage for 1d2 ability damage and 1d8 for 1d3 ability damage, maybe double this for CON damage poisons.

Possible status effects in lieu of repeat ability damage: lesser poison/ greater poison or tiered failure (failure by more than 5 or 10, for example)
STR - fatigued/exhausted
DEX - staggered/paralyzed
CON - sickened/nauseous
INT - confused/stunned
WIS - dazzled/dazed
CHA - shaken/frightened/panicked

Of course, if you want to add the advantage/disadvantage system, you can simply have the 5e rule of disadvantaged rolls while poisoned.

Thank you very much. Your quick conversion idea is something I've been thinking about myself.


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Limeylongears wrote:
Enjoying being 45 for one last day, after which I become half a 92 year old.

Happy early birthday!


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What's on for the weekend, my droogs? Not much here, just hoping to visit my favorite Italian restaurant in town before they close on Sunday. They've been an amazing asset to the community, even providing free Thanksgiving dinners every year they've been in business. But the rising costs of everything is taking its toll on them. Plus the property owner more than doubled the rent on their lease so as much as they're loved in town they still can't maintain payroll and the quality of service and food they're known for. It's a sad weekend for lovers of Italian food here.


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"Banana Pants", coming this fall from Disney.


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Let me just start by saying I've never played D&D5e and no little about it. But I saw that their poisons just do Hitpoint Damage instead of Ability Damage, at least in the examples I saw. Are there any known homebrew docs out there with the PF1e poisons converted to that system? I prefer it to the Ability Damage system.


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Andostre wrote:

My son liked the first Matrix movie! And then he said he wanted to see the next one. I had to explain to him how the 2nd and 3rd movies disappointed a lot of people. There are great scenes in those sequels, and worth watching for those scenes, in my opinion, but the films got problems.

The 4th movie was just not great.

Some of the animated shorts weren't bad, as I recall.


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Andostre wrote:
I'm going to introduce him to The Matrix. I'm curious how he'll like it. It was such a groundbreaking movie when it came out, but so much of its style has been copied over and over. I'm wondering if he'll get any of the groundbreakiness out of it.

I was impressed by the VFX of "The Matrix". The movie itself just sort of left me with a profound "Meh" afterward. I think I'm one of three people on Earth who wasn't very impressed overall.


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Nothing gaming-wise happening here this weekend, aside from scribbling notes about a campaign that I hope to be able to run some day. The creative voices inside my head are becoming very insistent and the ideas are flowing like cheap sangria out of a punctured wine box.

Quibs likes to run, I like to run games. I'm hoping to get back in the saddle for them soon.


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quibblemuch wrote:
If I never post again, it killed me. Which, second only to knife-fighting a grizzly like Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall is how I want to go anyway.

You...run. For fun. I do not understand this place...

Seriously, have fun and be safe!! Dodge the lightning bolts! Make your saves!

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