Gildersleeve's page

...While you might meet a pretty charming orc, he's an exception who has learned to behave in a manner that other races find socially acceptable...

One such example of note can be found in "The Orb of Xoriat" by Edward Bolme (Eberron setting). Although a hired thug, Jeffers (not his real name) is eloquent, diplomatic, well-mannered, impeccably dressed, and...a half-orc.

The 3 half-orcs in our AoW campaign each had INT scores of 12 or 13, and one had a CHA of 14 (with a STR of 12). Definitely not the norm, but fun to role-play.

LG

I was just curious as to what point buy amount other DMs out there used for running Dungeon adventures.

If I could convince my AoW group to go for it, the point buy plan I'd implement is 24 pts. + d10 (rolled once) for a range of 25-34 points per character (so everyone's not the same). We currently us 4d6 x7 rolls, which has produced some very strong characters thus far (although reckless play has led to a few character deaths too, despite high scores). GGG has a point that it would be kind of difficult to make a viable paladin or monk with the point buy, but I think it could be done in the 30 pt.+ range. Me? I'd be perfectly happy building a 25 point human or half-elf character and multi-classing (13,12,12,12,12,12). Remember the AD&D half elf Cleric/Fighter/Magic-User? Never got to play one (sighs).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

LG

moldy box of

...female and male are pointless on the message boards too, but what can you do...?

Assume incorrectly at times, apologize if offense was given, and blame it on the glare from the SUPERNOVA.

LG

Oh yeah, I know its only one avatar among the rest, but the new bald iconic sorcerer is pretty cool. AND I wouldn't want to mess with the wizard that graces the front of The Complete Arcane...what about an avatar for him?

But nobody takes the Plant domain :)

But,

Verdant Soul (Su): You have a deep connection with plants that allows you to share their resiliency. Activating this ability is a free action. When using this ability you receive a +4 racial bonus on saves versus paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, and stunning effects. In addition, when using this ability there is a 50% chance that any critical hit rolled against you is negated and damage is instead rolled normally. You may use this ability 1 round per day per cleric level you possess. These rounds need not be consecutive.

How about now?

LG

uncovered the otyugh's

However, its grin

oger-sized nipple

androgynous trouser furniture.

...our party wizard is a necromancer and I got a bad feeling I may have to 'take him out' later on when the undead stuff starts piling up)...

Um, you're going to eliminate a member of your party... mayhap? How will that work with your group and DM? Not that I'm overly fond of the (true) necromancer types/ aka Filge (ask GGG & JJ), but what will that player in your group think?

Oh, and when I play, I am the cleric.

LG

My group is about to delve into the 3FoE module...

Mine, as well.

I noted that my copy of the magazine does not have the number of Hextorite cultists mentioned in the stat block...

Me too.

Is the number of cultists to be decided by the DM, based on the level of the party etc...

Sounds good to me (cannon fodder, and all that).

LG

Glad I could settle this dispute

Appreciate it...but, actually, it was settled back on Sept 7th, '05 at around, oh, let's say 0840, when I said I was a dolt...must've failed a will save or something. Happens to the best of us.

LG

Strength and Honor

WOTC also got into the weird name business. Anyone here remember Gleep Wurp the eyebiter and Fonkin Hoddypeaks? Ugh!

Goin' from memory here...

Weren't they in the same group as Beek Gwenders of Croodle, Flerd Trantle, Redmod Dumple, and Frush (Fresh? Frash?) O'Suggle?

At least the giants had cooler names.

LG

...Neogi Slavers...

Cool.

LG

Unfortunately, the disco

to Nimbletoad, his

cross-eyed cyclops

jaded svirfneblin's secret

drow-scalp frittatas.

Can someone clue me in to the game mechanics for drinking? What effect does one non-magical alcoholic beverage have on a character - what about two..six...a dozen?

Page 32 of the Arms and Equipment Guide addresses this issue.

Basically(almost word for word), every time a character consumes an entire alcoholic beverage (glass of wine, tankard of ale, jigger of any spirit), make a fortitude save at no penalty, with the DC determined by the type of alcohol (Common wine-DC 11, Dwarven ale-DC 13, dangerously strong spirits-DC 15; etc.).

The 1st drink an hour imposes no penalty on the fortitude save (you're trying not to get drunk). The second drink consumed imposes a -1 penalty, the 3rd, -2, the 4th, -4, and so on.

If you fail a save, you take 1d2 points of temporary wisdom and dexterity damage. A character who reaches 0 wisdom passes out. A character who reaches 0 dexterity collapses into a drunken wreck but remains in a blurry state of consciousness.

If both scores reach 0, the character could suffer the effects of alcohol poisoning. This requires a fortitude save with the DC for the type of beverage consumed. On a failure, the character takes 1 point of temporary Constition damage every 10 minutes until death occurs, unless you, well, puke. Either that, or have a kind soul cast neutralize poison (though the sage says this doesn't help with the hangover).

Hope it helps,

LG

Meanwhile, fifteen feytouched

thong-toting grandmother.

I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed Elaine Cunningham's "Game of Chance"

As previously stated, I, for another...

The day that D&D completely divorces itself from its fiction roots is the day the hobby is doomed. It is a game of making up stories, and we all benefit from reading some well-written ones.

I agree. And no offense to the undeadDM, who is both articulate and well-read. I've been clinging to this game since '79 and love the fiction that's grown around it. It may not be around 500 years hence, but it's certainly entertaining now. I hope we can agree to disagree.

LG

Hey, I did read Ivanhoe...twice!

HAHAHA Actually, I am pretty sure The Jade is a man...

Hmmm, how to put this delicatly:

Pinkgirl: 1

Gildersleeve (the dolt): 0

Got thrown off with that "sneezing a girl pregnant" line...blast! Keep laughing.

LG

grandmother's heavily pierced

Gildersleeve - you liked Game of Chance. Does that mean you want to see more fiction in Dragon, less fiction, or only fiction you like? You do realize that fiction is hit or miss - you might like some and might hate others. Did you like the Eberron fiction from a few issues back?

The amount of fiction doesn't bother me. I doubt they'll put more in, and if they put less in, I can live with that too. Reading these stories makes me think about the game, though. I suppose that makes it "game content" for me. And yes, I enjoyed the Eberron fiction.

LG

orcish lounge singer's

Yes, why? Unless I misunderstood who was writting what, and then I would feel really stupid :)

No need to feel stupid...I'm not actually a million percent sure myself-but hey! There's a fifty-fifty chance that I'm right. If you gotta' know, and if you were initially refering to the post that mentioned crapping supernovas (LOL), I believe there was a personal e-mail address at the beginning. If you do contact her (!?!), tell her to be careful when dealing with dread slavers from the undercity. PUT THE SUPERNOVA DOWN! STEP AWAY FROM THE SUPERNOVA!

LG

However, its phylactary

BTW, I just got 124 and 125...

Good for you.

(I) am in the middle of reading through Whispering Cairn...this excellent adventure!!

Told ya.

LG

I have picked up the first 3 of the series and am really happy with what I have seen so far. Im incorperating it into my campaign, but am having a bit of a problem. I have 7-8 players (!) and the party level average is currently 4.

Run with it. I've got a party of 7-8 players with an average level of 3, and things are working well so far in the Whispering Cairn. Since there're not Diamond Lake natives, they've already taken a couple of sessions getting acquainted with the locale (there were actually no dice rolls in the last session-pure role playing...wow). I've beefed things up a bit, but there's still plenty of interesting things in the 1st installment to merit including it despite your party's higher level.

LG

headless. Heedlessly, he

... you are an artist who uses the English language as his medium. Bravo!

His?

LG

sinister-schooled lefty

Elaine Cunningham's "A Game of Chance" in Dragon 335 was a great read. I may not call him Elaith Craulnober, but this elf might make an appearance in one of my future Greyhawk setting games. If not, it was still a great read...

LG

Thanks. Sorry to keep asking more questions, but is the Shards of Eberron Campaign Arc any good? Do you think it is on par with the Vampires of Waterdeep Arc? (126,127,128)

Thanks again,
WaterdhavianFlapjack

Although I'm not running my campaing in Eberron or Forgotten Realms (sorry, Greyhawk fan), I'd say it is on par. Neat twist on the drow. Nasty, but different.

Strength and Honor...

LG

What non-AoW stuff do they have in those two issues?
What about the Backdrop of Diamond Lake? Is this useful/interesting?
WaterdhavianFlapjack

For starters, the backdrop of Diamond Lake is fabulous. Kind of one part Dodge City/Boot Hill, and another part Mos Eisley Spaceport (minus the Stormtroopers). As I posted elsewhere, "...never shall we find a more wretched hive of scum and villiany. We must be cautious."

As to the non-AoW stuff, there's more Maure (Castle, that is--get the first, full-issue installment...I think it was #112), part 2 & 3 of the Shards of Eberron Capmaign Arc (Temple of the Scorpion God/Pit of the Fire Lord), and a nasty 15th level adventure called The Seekers of the Silver Forge (githyanki, sahaguin, airy water, violent confrontations with enormous sharks, steaming bowls of porridge, etc.). Of course, there's Downer, Mt. Zogon, and Dungeoncraft (majordomos, seneschals, smells of the city, guides, & beakers of endless potions). And for the 2 of you out there who care, the last Wil Save.

Okay, so I made that stuff about the porridge up. The rest is there.

LG

Unfortunately, the shambling

Hello, All! My first issue of Dungeon was 126, so I was wondering if Dungeon 124 and 125 were good enough to warrant a purchase. Mainly, I am considering 124 for the Diamond Lake Backdrop, but anything that people found interesting in these issues would be nice to know. Thanks,

WaterdhavianFlapjack

Ummm, well...first, there's The Whispering Cairn...and then there's the Three Faces of Evil. I definitely found them interesting. Running the first one now: Syringe-toting necromancers, Wind Dukes, miniature ghosties, oh, my! Yeah, probably worth $14.

LG

despite numerous failed

sang soothing spells.

I'd be interested in knowing how people are using this map in their game. What do you do with it? How do you show it to the players (in what context, etc.)?

I traced/drew the whole thing over again...my oldest daughter (5) helped color it.

I'm going to pin it to the wall when we play. The reason being, half the party is born and bred in DL and hence knows the terrain, while the other half has been around long enough to get a rough idea of what's where. So the characters know where they are, but the players don't. Besides, none of the locations marked are done obviously enough to attract interest, IMO.

I couldn't do this. None of my party's from the Cairn Hills area. Didn't want the numbers on the map to give anything away.

LG

diamond-studded harnesses.

worms age slowly.

Posted.

LG

Odin's stern displeasure.

sacriligiously profaning absolutely

... opinions are opinions ...

Great! Here's mine: Loved 3FoE when I first read it. Objections in this post are noted (I caught the heavy flail/shield whoops right away), but have not convinced me to change my mind. Posted errata fix-its will probably be used to one extent or another when I run the game...what DM has not made changes/adjustments to a premade adventure? Overall, nice job, MM.

LG

Okay, how 'bout this? I know Filge can animate dead with scrolls, seeing as how he's too low-level to cast that as an arcane spell...but just how many scrolls did he have handy?

He seems to have quite a few beasties either running around and/or waiting in the wings. Not that I have a problem with AOW. I was just wondering how a 3rd level necromancer pulled off creating and controlling so many undead. Is there such a thing as a wand of create lesser undead? Why not? Perhaps it could be presented with an amulet of command undead, or some whatchimahoozitz like that. Doesn't matter. Filge WILL tell all before the end...

LG

The syringe doesn't bother me, especially since the one in the picture looks like something for Herr-Doktor Frankenstien's laboratory.

Fax machines, electric toothbrushes, lawn mowers, T-34s...definitely out of the question. Well, except for the T-34. Wasn't there one in Baba Yaga's Hut?

LG