GothBard's page

...it should have run away. But they're always written to stay and fight for at least a round or two, and melee combat isn't their forte.

They run away when reduced to 20 HP or less. Dual-wielding ranger with mega-buffs typically does 40-50 HP per round. Good luck with that.

*sulky face* ;)

As a skilled chef you could get any result you wanted from filet mignon to burnt to a crisp.

Not super related, but tangentially related, her's a video of a trained women's muay thai fighter going into a gym and punking the trainers there by acting like she doesn't know how to fight. It's not hard to act like you don't know what you're doing, as long as you can keep the smug look off of your face:

Here's how I see it: To deliberately fail if you have a skill, make a skill check. You're rolling to see whether you can get the results you want, whether what you want is a perfectly cooked Beef Wellington or a soggy, overdressed mass of wilted greens with delusions of saladhood.

If nobody's watching, you're golden.

If someone is watching, succeeding in an opposed skill check of the same skill could tell them if you know what you're doing, and Sense Motive could tell them if you're trying to hide your glee at your deception (or your fear of being consigned to the kitchen). That's where the Bluffing would come in.

If nobody's watching, but you're questioned about it later, then Bluff vs. Sense Motive.

If Nobodys Home is watching... well you're on your own there.

The ultimate halfling mount is... the dire corgi!

Favorite moments, hmm? Well, first, I’d like to say that my favorite moments have all been due to my amazing fellow players and our outstanding GM! I am lucky to be a part of such a great group! Playing Rae’Sheleth was such a rich experience; she was conflicted about so many things and yet managed to become an exemplary paladin blessed with the best allies anyone could wish. I feel truly privileged to have gotten to play such a paladin with the kind of players who would not only allow, but encourage me to play her to the hilt!

Also, thanks so much to everyone who’s commented here! Knowing that others were reading our adventures was just an incredible surprise and honor! Thanks for making me feel like a stony-faced, drow rockstar!

Ok… on to favorite moments.

1) Our opening stories. Having the characters already played and in the world prior to the campaign starting was just so immersive. The impact of this can’t be overstated. It was epic.
2) Raesh’s first-ever smite evil. She still carries the black silk hankie made from Erylium’s tiny dress.
3) Shiro eating the lich fungus. At the time it was horrifying, yet also hilarious. It was a defining moment of Shiro’s character and entirely to his player’s credit the way he rolled with it!
4) Yippie the bunyip.
5) Building alliances with the giants at Jorgenfist and leading them into battle against the evil factions. It was so rewarding to create a lasting peace in the region.
6) Every single time Raesh managed to redeem someone instead of killing them. It never got old and always felt like a triumph.
7) Our party’s overall diplomatic approach and the way NobodysHome played the world with it. We were able to fabricate many alliances and treaties and almost always left a region feeling that we had made it better in ways that would last for generations.
8) Rescuing Ayruzi. Raesh was willing to lay down her life to not kill the angel and betting that Hi and Shiro would be able to figure out a way to save them both. She won that bet.
9) All the NPCs everywhere. Our GM plays such an amazing world and all the people in it!

Least favorites? There weren’t many of these. Overall, Rae’Sheleth learned and grew from pretty much everything that happened to her, the bad as well as the good. There were a few moments, though, that are worth pointing out:

1) My absolute least favorite thing our GM did… and one of his favorites. Making all the clones in the wing of pride take identical actions. The notion of “take the damage from seven damage spells and try to survive” or “save seven times vs. feeblemind and hope you don’t roll a 1 on any of those” just felt cheap, not compelling.
2) The execution of Orik Vencaskerkin. Poor Raesh tried so hard to do the right thing, and she took such pains to turn Orik over to the proper authorities so they wouldn’t have to execute him. Finding out he was unjustly executed by what should have been the proper authorities was greatly disillusioning for her. She’s still quite peeved at the government of Magnimar for allowing it to happen.

Hi all! I'm chiming in as a noobish GM (running my first campaign, Second Darkness: Side note... don't make an SRD your first... TONS of extra work with the conversions!) and one of NobodysHome's players. One of the best things I can possibly recommend if you're GMing a new group is to do the "Pre-module" character meet session/s. These can be in person or written. The intro sessions that NobodysHome ran really gave the three of us PCs a handle on our characters' motivations and personalities before we had to start responding to the AP, so we really hit the ground running and had a few character connections as well. Sooo much better than the old "You all meet in a tavern... gonna randomly join up?" kind of thing! Additionally, you'll get to see how they respond to things in advance!

These sessions don't have to be long, they can even just be a matter of asking your players for character backgrounds and then weaving them together and sending them back. A little extra work on your part, but worth it IMO!

Greetings, appreciated readers!

As the GM of this venture, I thought I should pipe up... NobodysHome and UsePlanB both put me to utter shame as a poster! ;)

Second Darkness is my first foray into GMing Pathfinder, so hopefully things will not go too far astray, although so far so good if I do say so myself!

I know we have some very prolific posters in our party, and we also have some PCs who you will probably never see post! With that in mind, I thought a brief intro to our cast of heroes would be in order (and yes, there's a lot of them)!

Alderaan: Elf wizard; While classically trained in the art of magic, he utterly neglected the art of social skills. He knows for a fact that he is the only one smart enough to figure out the mystery of the Blot.

Aneurin: Half-elf fighter; not much is known about this mysterious fellow, save that he wields a blade with great skill and enthusiasm.

Carmen: Varisian rogue; Carmen has been working in Riddleport gambling halls for years, only recently employed at the Gold Goblin (now known as the Glorious Goblin). She is a fast-talking, tough-as-nails rake who will take your money and have you thanking her for doing so.

Leilani Silverfalls: Aasimar life oracle; raised on the Celestial Plane she is quite new to the Material Plane. Quite outspoken, she is frequently mistaken for an angel due to the large, beautiful wings she inherited from her mother. Sadly, they do not appear to function on this plane...

Lian: Half-elf rogue/bard; Lian is somewhat quiet and shy, although his recently acquired bardic skills have brought him out of his shell. He and Taleck have a history of working together.

Sansquah: Barbarian; Although Shoanti by culture, not much else is known of this mysterious character. He is by turns fierce, taciturn, and occasionally awkward. His visage and form are always hidden by a mask and a cloak. He has a new hammer.

Taleck: Shoanti barbarian; the younger brother of a barbarian from another campaign, he has a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. Having taken on the role of Leilani's bodyguard, he performs this duty with stern resolve. He usually works with Lian, watching out for him like a little brother of his own.

Vorne Gallowcast: Varisian wizard; Vorne was educated here and there, wandering at will, and yet, much to Alderaan's dismay, has picked up just as much facility with magic as a more formally-schooled mage. He has a propensity for spending gold with little care and is fascinated by the riddle of the Cyphergate and the Blot.

Zokrim: Fetchling ranger; Truly neutral at heart, Zokrim acts only according to his own whims. He is as mysterious as he is bloodthirsty, but seems of a mind to stay with the party... at least for now.

Ok, I like Skitterdark or Stirge. For a slightly more irreverent reference, how about Hypnotoad?

Scarwallllll!!

NobodysHome wrote:

But (and I'll let her pipe up if she disagrees) I think she'd be flattered if you took the idea and ran with it...

I've been tinkering with a build the last couple hours. The only problem I've run into has been with the drow's "Poison Use" ability. Doesn't really fit a drow character that has been raised amongst another race (let alone Sarenrae worshipers). Been trying to come up with something to replace it.

So glad you like Rae'Sheleth! I'm having a blast playing her! :)

When I created her, I didn't take Poison Use specifically because I figured that was cultural rather than an inborn talent. Drow seem to get enough racial bonuses anyway, so I didn't feel like I needed a replacement trait. Maybe your GM would let you take Blade of Mercy instead of Poison Use? Seems like a reasonable trade to me... I gave her Common and Celestial rather than Elven and Undercommon as starting languages to reflect her having been raised by humans in a temple setting (hence her having to learn Elven from Shalelu now). I should also mention that, as NobodysHome mentioned, we are not powergamers, so my build is for maximized roleplaying rather than combat advantage.

Good luck! I hope you have as much fun as I have been! Oh, and if you need more inspiration, check out some of the paladin threads, especially the ones involving babies of evil races... that's where I got the idea for Raesh in the first place -- what *does* happen to one of those babies if you save it? ;)

DJ-Bogie is banned for secretly shilling for Visine.

Thank you for sharing these stories with all of us, they are lovely tales and inspiring role-play! I hope to see more!

GothBard wrote:

Personally I prefer that people do not try to predict or generalize my behaviors and preferences based on one point of belief/disbelief.

I don't believe anyone was.

*Apologies* I certainly wasn't meaning to imply that anyone on this board had been doing so, I was thinking more along the lines of social generalities. I did NOT get that impression from anyone here, I was merely trying to contribute my opinion in a general sense.

I also did not mean to imply that community=hive mind. I simply trying, apparently poorly, to state why I felt that defining atheism as religion was not accurate, not trying claim that shared religion is a form of mind control. I stand by my statement, it may be stating the obvious, but I do not think it is "nonsense."

I'll just duck right out of this thread now....

I've skimmed through this thread, so forgive me if I restate or have missed something pertinent!

My objection to defining atheism as a religion is that it essentially states that because atheists have in common a disbelief in a God or gods, that they necessarily have all sorts of other beliefs in common. Just because people share a single belief (or disbelief), that certainly does not mean they share others.

A large part of any given religion is not just the theology, but then what everyone does about it. They are united not just in a belief in a deity/pantheon/what-have-you, but they have an agreed-upon canon stating how they will worship/respect as well as some basic tenets to define the group as a community. Not just "X exists," but "X exists and here's what we do about it or because of it."

Some atheists choose to use this commonality to form a community with others, but many do not. Personally I prefer that people do not try to predict or generalize my behaviors and preferences based on one point of belief/disbelief.

Examine carefully what you're giving up for the cool stuff in them. Inspire Courage and Versatile Performance are both really good, and both often removed. As is Bardic Knowledge if you wish to actually be a master of knowledge skills.

+1 ^^

@Deadmanwalking: I am loving all your points, you have some awesome insight on Bards! :)

Overall, I started playing a Bard as a plot device, and have ended up loving it! I have been absolutely essential to our party in non-combat situations. Performing for free lodging, having random knowledge skills, cadging informations from NPC's, raising the party's overall reputation... all things a Bard excells at!

In combat, the buffs, while not unique to Bards, amp up the party and free up other spell casters for their more specialized roles. I've found that I can fill the role of darting around a combat, organizing tactics, throwing buffs or the odd healing spell, and then interpose myself between a baddie and our Wizard when necessary. It's a great situation to be able to size up how a combat is going, and then shore up whichever role needs support at that particular moment!

In terms of performances, I started with Oratory and an Instrument skill (for the +2 masterwork instrument bonus), but the advantage to Dance (or another physical-based skill) is that it allows Bardic Performance when silenced. Overall, the only reason to have a Bard who is a capering fool is if you want to play him/her that way!

Oh yeah, Bards absolutely have Haste. By 7th it's better if your Wizard (or whoever else has it) casts it instead of you, so your first round can be Bardic Performance (Move Action at 7th) + Good Hope (which is phenomenal), but if you don't have anyone else to cast it, it's probably a better first round buff than Good Hope.

Oh yes, oh yes, a thousand times yes!

A bard was the first PF character I ever played, so admittedly I was pretty ignorant about what they could and could not do as well as the overall game rules. I thought for a long time that bardic performance precluded attacking! In spite of my noob-ness, by the time I was casting Haste and Good Hope and then inspiring courage, I was handing out more damage through buffing than if I was actually fighting! Of course *then* I learned that I could actually attack too! :P

Tirri Djavasti - NG Half-Elf Bard - CotCT

Tirri is a fairly devout follower of Shelyn, but I was originally drawn to the concept of Shelyn presented in this Golariopedia entry. It incorporates some expansion on the Goddess' character taken from a fabulous messageboard thread that wasn't covered in Gods and Magic. Tirri is a die-hard optimist and she embraces the notion of sharing beauty with the rest of the world, as well as the implication that anyone can be redeemed. Her faith has led to some wonderfully complex RP with the Zon-Kuthonite NPC's!

Jahlenn Ne'Zareck - NG Kellid, haunted Oracle of Battle - Kingmaker

A brand, spankin' new character, Jahlenn has not been extensively play-tested yet. She has been claimed by Gorum and tasked with destroying the demon that slaughtered her entire tribe. Gorum is not a kind god, and Jahlenn is tormented by the angry spirits of her tribe who howl for vengeance and release. She is very bitter that Gorum failed to help her tribe until the last member (save for her) had been struck down, and she refers to him as "our rat-bastard Lord in Iron". Gorum laughs at her and is entertained by her outrage and (so-far) feeble attempts to gain enough battle prowess to go back and avenge her tribe. If she ever does, I suspect she will turn to another deity (probably Sarenrae as the goddess of redemption) and attempt to serve a greater good in a different capacity.

Valssha - CN Tiefling Fighter - CoT

Valssha is a follower of Calistria, but pretty much in name only. She is utterly non-devout and essentially follows a deity in order to have some colorful swearing options. ;)

Overall, I like to choose a deity that gives a given character extra depth to an already existent personality. Having a given canon to follow also allows for enrichment in RP when a PC's opinion can collide with that of a given religion. Level of devotion can vary greatly, and can change according to many factors, thereby allowing for some epic RP sub-plots and richer storytelling!

Important notes:

3. Personally, I'd advise something that forces a Save or something bad happens, like Grease or Sleep over Silent Image at this level, grabbing Silent Image a bit later. Still, I suppose either way works.

+1

I don't play the most melee-heavy bard in the game, but grease is one of the best spells out there! Good for slipping, relieving baddies of their weapons and giving a buddy a hand out of a grapple, it's all good! I seriously have found this to be one of the best spells ever!

And yeah, lose the heavy shield.

Otherwise, looks pretty solid to me! Good luck and have fun!

Ambrosia Slaad is banned for taking filial devotion to extremes.

10 years old seems a little young for this sort of film IMO, but I'm so glad your son and his friends came away with the right message and were mature enough to handle it.

Gotta say, I thought 10-11 was a little young as well (having read the books), which was most of the reason I wanted to be there when they saw it (of course getting to see the movie myself was a plus!). I too was impressed by the kids' maturity, they were really great!

I saw the movie after reading the books, I really enjoyed the books and felt that the movie was much richer for my having the background knowledge and character insight. I highly recommend books then movie!

I also want to mention that I saw this movie with my 10 year old son and a group of about 7-9 other 5th grade boys (ages 10-11) after a slumber party (the birthday boy was a fan of the books and chose this movie). After the movie, I casually eavesdropped on their conversation, overall their reaction was "I can't believe they made kids kill kids! That was so terrible!" So then wandered over and said "Wow! That was a pretty intense movie, what did you think?"

The point of the books (and the movie) was exactly to show that the Hunger Games were an atrocity, and that's what these boys seemed to take away with them.

I would use discretion in allowing younger kids to see this movie, but callousness and violence are not traits imposed upon kids by movies. They arise when parents (primarily) or other adults do not talk about these issues with them and therefore allow mass media to form their impressions for them.

Oh, and I have to agree that the first 20 or so minutes of the film represent the most egregious use of hand-held camera I have ever had to suffer through! :P

I would tend to portray a WIS 1 NPC as completely credulous. they'd believe anything that anyone told them, and be unable to distinguish friend from foe as long as the foe didn't openly attack them. At the same time they would be completely distraction prone, I'm thinking *squirrel!*...

...of Doug the Dog from "Up."

I also agree with gnrrrg that the default behavior would reflect the character's class/personality, only with a total lack of ability to self-check.

Ziesstra T'sarran is banned for having something against lutes

Gotta put in a vote for Bard! A good set of buffs will catapult your crew to fame and fortune... and then you can sing about it! ;)

Last session I gave a rousing speech and defied an avatar of Zon-Kuthon, then critted my save vs its contagion attack. Party proceeded to destroy it.

And it was glorious.

Hy husband recently started GMing my kids (ages 7 and 10) and I. We started with an old D & D module and quickly moved to CoCT. We have a Wizard, a Warlord (from Tome of Secrets) and a Bard -- funny story, I originally intended to play a pop-in/pop-out character, but I got sooooo hooked into this campaign!
To round out the party and help protect the kids, my husband plays an NPC paladin and rogue (having played D & D, I refused to adventure without a rogue in the party :P). I'd say the rogue is icing, but the pally really helps in those tight spots and the extra healing is huge (not to mention that the periodic alignment clashes add RP spice). For kids, I feel like the NPCs really contribute to their experience, and having the extra backup gives them a little more freedom to explore without fearing death. I recommend it!

Re the nat 20 issue: perhaps on hitting so soundly, he would do some damage to the statue, but then a second roll would be in order to see whether the staff is damaged.

Good luck in your campaign, and congrats on helping the kids learn to love gaming! :)

DJEternalDarkness is banned because he's never met me.

Turns out this subject was pretty well addressed here.

Thanks for inspiring me to look it up, seems like I've been underutilizing my own versatility!

EDIT: Nuts, my link didn't work, here's the cut & paste:

http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz2sgk?Bardic-Performance-and-potions#11

To continue the effects of the performance, take the Lingering Performance feat:

Lingering Performance

The effects of your bardic performance carry on, even if you have stopped performing.

Prerequisite: Bardic performance class feature.

Benefit: The bonuses and penalties from your bardic performance continue for 2 rounds after you cease performing. Any other requirement, such as range or specific conditions, must still be met for the effect to continue. If you begin a new bardic performance during this time, the effects of the previous performance immediately cease.

(From the Advance Player's Guide)

Hope that helps!

Gladiators wait
Their shiny axes set off
Metal detectors

Gruumash is banned for ninjaing and having intimidating posting skillz.

Gruumash is banned for assuming that one CAN use too much eyeliner.

NobodysHome is banned for missing an apostrophe.

Darksmokepuncher is banned for being a McNinja!

Also, Nobody's Home is banned preemptively for having not yet posted on this thread!

Now someone make like a Vietnamese sandwich shop and banh mi!