Ring of the Champion Aura Moderate Enchantment; CL 9th
Slot Ring; Price 15,400 gp; Weight -
Description
This simple Elysian Bronze ring, originally forged for Nyle the Champion from the blade of a Titan he slew, is a testament to the warrior spirit. It grants its wearer a constant +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and against fear affects. While the wearer of this ring is subject to an enemy's Challenge ability (such as by a Cavalier) he gains a +3 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls against this opponent; this bonus replaces and does not stack with the constant morale bonus to attack rolls that the ring grants. Similarly, if the wearer himself uses the Challenge ability, he may add this bonus against the target of his challenge. In addition, once per day the wearer may as an immediate action double all morale bonuses effecting him for a single roll, save, or check. However, all of this power comes with a cost; the wearer may never flee from battle nor take a withdraw action in melee. If he does so, he immediately incurs the penalties of the Lesser Geas spell (-2 to all ability scores) as if 24 hours had passed. This penalty increases by 2 every 24 hours (to a maximum penalty of -8) until: he fights the enemy he fled from; he attacks another foe whose hit dice are greater than or equal to his own; or until one week passes, whichever comes first. If the Ring of the Champion is removed while the penalty for fleeing is incurred, the penalty remains for one week but does not increase.
Construction Requirements Forge Ring, Bless, Wrath, Moment of Greatness, Lesser Geas; Cost 7,700 gp
I've been playing an archivist bard archetype in a current campaign as a rationalist natural science-philosopher skeptic to great and awesome fun. He uses a combination of wands, social engineering, wealth, and his ever-present sharp wit to avoid being slaughtered by murderhobos and their ilk.
Mostly this is because it's a high fantasy semi-urban adventure, but it's also because if you roleplay a rationalist your single best weapon is his/your mind.
Also, carrying out experiments at the table, in character, is a ton of fun. Besides, it lets me break down all kinds of preconceptions and wander into trouble constantly. Also, this character makes a fantastic face for the party. Probably less so if your GM isn't cool with you using a combination of perception, diplomacy, and knowledges to manipulate people.
[[And HPMOR > OGHP, by a landslide victory. Quirrelmort == best villain]]
I am glad to see a prettier, shinier version of this up. Hopefully, this will be easier for people new to us to parse through, rather than the old thread.
I know I have been terribly, horribly inactive, but I promise I wasn't eaten by displacer beasts or anything. I am back, and along with several other founders (Aggra, Leo, Cal, etc) we should be much more active.
I do apologize and must congratulate Cougar, Nymerias, Lorhayden, Hark, ChaiGuy, and all for doing more than their fair share to keep everything running.
Besides, maybe putting the half-orc in charge was a bad idea in the first place. ;)
I'd like to extend a friendly and diplomatic hand on behalf of The Keepers of The Circle generally, our Ring of Light specifically, and the militant arm of the Ring of Light (Philosophy of War, made up of paladins, war clerics, and other Good aligned holy warriors) very specifically.
We look forward to seeing you in The River Kingdoms and working with you to drive out evil and make these lands safe for travel and trade.
Very Respectfully,
~Dictated by Hroderich Gottfrei, Warden of Gold and Steel, to Gromovoii Malchikh, Keeper of Crystal.
Welcome aboard, Rlkyn, Lorhayden - we have great need for your skills, talents, and enthusiasm. We look forward to seeing you on the boards and elsewhere and hope to get you involved in all of our decision making immediately.
Also, as you're both still within the Founding 25 limit, yes: you are both Wardens.
Welcome, Wardens!
~Dictated by Hroderich Gottfrei, Warden of Steel and Gold, to Gromovoii Malchikh, Keeper of Crystal.
Consider that a hex is about 1.2Km/.75mi across. A good rough estimate is 16-20 city blocks/mile, or about 12-16 blocks in a hex (across the widest point in a straight line). Each block would be roughly 2.5-1.6 Acres (10,117sq m/6475sq m). Going for the middle estimate (14/blocks across) that's about 1.98 acres/8013 square meters. If we assume a density of 1 person/100 square meters (1076sq ft), that's 80 people/block (these are closer to rural population densities than metropolitan, obviously). The area of each hex (if we envision it inscribed within a circle where the diameter of the circle [which is the longest distance between two corners of the hexagon]is twice the length of each side, iirc my math correctly) is about 3,741,229.74 square meters.
If a settlement can take up 1/2 a hex (1870614.87sqm) or 1/4 a hex (935307.435sqm), that's about 233 or 117 blocks. Assuming 50% of that area is for residential, then you're looking at a potential population of
9,353 to 4,677. If you drop population density to 1/250sqm, that's 3741 to 1871. A yet more reasonable population density would put it at 1:500sqm, yielding 1871-935 people in the settlement.
That seems fairly reasonable to me.
@Jameow/Nihimon: I was under the impression you would walk across the hex at fifteen minutes but if you're fast traveling you'll pass through at four minutes? Did I misunderstand?
Strongly second the idea to be able to have customizable and visible heraldry - If I'm leading a Warband into conflict, I want my troops and brothers in arms to feel like a unit, not like a bunch of guys who decided to get together and wreck things because, hey, Tuesday.
At least shields. The Keepers of The Circle's training unit (The Greenshields) don't need anything overly complicated, but goodness gracious do I want to paint their (and other units) shields. Uniforms go a long, long way to encouraging unit behavior and they make it much, much easier in formation warfare to understand what the heck is going on.
On the flip side, I can't say I wouldn't be giddy if I could be a master armor smith whose full plate is very distinctive - I'd want to be able (at least) to institute my proof or mark on the armor so you would know where it came from.
My preferred weapon (and next acquisition): Info and image.
I've got a lot in the way of muscle and my favored sparring methods involve a lot of moving around and being very aggressive. It suits me. Heavy, yes, but still quite wield-y - and the strength of a backsword for chopping is nice. Dependable, durable, brutal. I don't have the reflex speed I'd like to (though I'm working on it), but this suits me and is what I plan on working with the most.
Plus, Sharpe used one, and he's awesome. Cool Factor > Physics, right?
We'd be glad to have you within our ranks. Welcome, Warden! (I've sent you a PM, and our forums are here - feel free to make an account and join in on the myriad conversations and chatboard!)
I look forward to hearing from you.
Very Respectfully,
Hroderich Gottfrei.
~Dictated by Hroderich Gottfrei, Warden of Steel and Gold, to Gromovoii Malchikh, Keeper of Crystal.
Rangers/Druids/Wizards from core get familiars/companions as an option. From advanced/ultimate magic, witches get one standard and alchemists/magi have the option to take one. I think there's an option for a Rogue to have one too, but I could be wrong.
Since it's classless, you may very well be able to get a pet no matter what class you have - I'd love to be a fighter with a trusty mastiff to back me up. Several classes get mounts instead of pets (Paladin, Samurai, Cavalier off the top of my head).
Will you be able to have the undead hord following you around or will it be limited to just one undead at a time?
Will the guards in cities automatically attack your undead minions as undead in the Pathfinder universe are inherantly evil?
Like I said above, you'll probably start with 1-2 skeletons and expand from there (or have fewer more powerful pets). I imagine performing necromancy will tilt you towards evil and that Good/Neutral aligned settlements will be hostile, but you might be alright in Evil settlements (provided they don't care about necromancy either). Actually, I see a lot of value in a necromancy nation. That would be very, very interesting.
You'd also (depending on how close things are in this to PFRPG) be able to get animal/elemental pets and more temporary summoned creatures. I suspect leveling in those skills will let them stick around longer/be stronger.
I doubt you'll be able to raise/maintain infinite hordes of undead forever (1:4 ratio for your HD in PFRPG), but I definitely see the appeal of having a bunch of pets.
NOTE: The Ring of Steel is focused more on unit warfare than skirmishing. We will have skirmish units, but the majority of the strength of the Ring of Steel lies in our ability to form disciplined units.
How each Ring will train their members is entirely up to them, from no training to intense structured training like the Ring of Steel.
Keepers of Steel are also responsible for a large portion of the smaller-scale combat as well - for hunting down bandits/assassins/griefers, for guarding caravans, etc. Our training will cover those missions as well - but I don't expect us to be the be-all end-all of training. There's a ton of information and techniques to be learned and we can hardly teach them all. I imagine if a unit were formed within the Ring of Steel that focused on countering bandit raids, they would go to the Ring of Wood for a scout, training, or other help.
TL;DR: If I made it sound like the Rings are very separate entities, I'm sorry. They're all interlocking and will have quite a bit of overlap. Ring of Steel will NOT be the sole purveyors of combat training, it will just be a core focus of what they do. Not being "Combat Certified" by the Keepers of Steel will not make you any less effective/worthwhile, it just means you haven't trained with us in unit/formation combat.
Training Unit: Greenshields
Warlord: Hroderich Gottfrei (Temporary)
Files: Eagle, Wolf, Bear, Boar, Lion
Lieutenants: Open
File Leaders: Open
Each file will be led by an experienced soldier who will take the time to train his five recruits in warfare, to help them with missions, and to direct their growth as warriors in the Ring of Steel. Each week will follow a different training regimen with goals set for each recruit by his File Leader. The files, separated by the badges their File Leader wears, will over time grow to represent different skillsets (though all will share the basics) - as each file leader is responsible and has a great deal of discretion for the training of his recruits, these will naturally produce different results.
Upon graduation from training, each recruit will be given the Ring of Steel, a crafted in-game item that will provide some small bonus and denote that they are a full-fledged member of the Ring and may join a full-time unit.
Experienced Wardens of Steel may petition to join the Greenshields as a File Leader. With the agreement of the Warlord of the Greenshields and the other File Leaders, it will be so.
CHARTER: RING OF STEEL
PURPOSE: ORGANIZING THE RING
Section I: Hierarchy
A: The Ring of Steel is Commanded by the Guardian of Steel, known within the Ring as the Master/Mistress of Steel. Beneath the Mistress/Master of Steel are the Captains of each Company, referred to colloquially as Warlords. The Master/Mistress of Steel is a first among equals, but his or her word carries the weight of law in a time of war.
B: Each Warlord will be responsible for leading units of up to 25 Keepers/Wardens with two Lieutenants and two File Leaders. Together, a File Leader and a Lieutenant will be responsible for overseeing 10 Keepers/Wardens and delegating tasks (as given to them by their Warlord). Each Warlord will operate independently of the others and answer to the Master/Mistress of Steel.
C: One Warlord, designated by the Master/Mistress of Steel, will be responsible for raising and maintaining the Training Band - a band of 25 recruits with an experienced File Leader for every five recruits and two Lieutenants. These smaller groups will be trained and given a multitude of missions to strengthen their skills, knowledge, and comraderie within the Ring. Recruits will spend five (5) weeks in training, following their File Leader and growing into a unit. Upon graduation from training, the recruits will have the choice to join any established company, pending acceptance by that company (the methods of which may be left to each company).
D: Experienced Wardens of Steel may elect to found a new company of Keepers, but must obtain permission from the Master/Mistress of steel and the endorsement of 3/4 of the standing Warlords.
II: Other Rings
A: The Ring of Light will provide, at their own discretion, a number of healers and holy warriors to the Ring of Steel. These Keepers and Wardens alike will pass through the same five week training as members of the Ring of Steel and be passed on to a unit of their (or their Ring's) choice. Keepers of Light will be requested to follow advanced training relating to combat healing, abjuration, and countering specific threats within their purview.
B: The Ring of Crystal will provide battlemages at their own discretion for training within the ring of steel, following a five week training course and then being assigned to a unit at their own discretion. Like Keepers of Light, they will be requested to fulfill advanced training with Keepers of Steel to better hone the organization's efficacy across multiple Rings.
C: Other rings, at their discretion, may send Keepers to advance through the training regimen and become combat certified.
III: Missions
A: Peacekeeping - Keepers of Steel will often be issued writs of Adjudication, sending them to clear an area of hostile creatures and people as well as to fulfill the judgments of local courts and of the Circle when necessary.
B: Escorting - Keepers of Steel will be requested to escort emissaries, traders, foragers, and others - both within and without The Circle - for a time. These missions will often serve to grow The Circle's power or to establish positive relationships with outside groups. Many of these missions will be for-profit, with the money spread amongst the warband by each Warlord.
C: Raiding - Keepers of Steel may be called upon from time to time to raid enemy supply lines and strongholds to harry them and diminish their ability to effectively war against The Circle.
D: War - The main mission of the Keepers of Steel is to prepare for and against the inevitability of war with other factions. In times of war, Keepers of Steel answer directly to their Warlords and will be directed as such.
I'm curious about the use of the work "shanking." Did Marc really say that, or is this a transcription error for "ganking?"
I think I remember him saying shanking when I listened to it earlier. I can't listen again at work, but I'm 70/30 on it.
Shanking (at least here) refers to criminal stabbings, a makeshift implement for said stabbings being called a shank. But I live right by a demon pit of crime where we hear about them not infrequently.
I read in another thread about someone wanting to pillage their enemies town and drink their ale. As good as that sounds in your head and imagination, few games have reached that kind of detail. It would be nice if this sort of thing could really have some sort of implementation, and not just "we win, you loose" after a 3 week long siege, with some exchange of coin maybe.
Chances are, that was me. MAN do I want to drink the booze of my conquered enemies, preferably while having them shine my boots and serve me. But only if they started the fight, I'm a good guy. ;)
Because, for the first time, I can engage in really, truly meaningful MMO roleplaying - because I get to finally put myself in the boots of one of my favorite tabletop pen and paper character concepts and play out his story in ways not conducive to the tabletop - now I can get shoulder to shoulder in a shield wall and shatter my enemies shields, burn their halls, and drink their ale. I can build a reputation by my actions and "life" in a way not possible IRL (not many shield walls to break or arm rings to give your followers).
Also, this virtual economy is about the greatest thing I have heard of in an online game ever, and I am beyond excited to run an alt who focuses on that instead of on being Big Bad Muscles Skullbasher. Or, even better, transitioning BBMS into an old angry farmer with his beloved swords up on the mantel, dispensing wisdom and living a simple life now that he's too old to charge headlong into enemy spears.
The politics are intriguing, the possibilities nearly limitless. I'm excited to explore this world - and a couple hundred bucks doesn't seem like too much investment for months and months of game time. =]
Nymerias, while if you wish not to take a Warden position that is perfectly fine, the main difference between Wardens and Keepers is that Wardens will have a direct vote in Circle matters and be able to stand for election. We value your input - and as the game itself is a year and a half from early enrollment, you retain as much right as anyone for voting and input.
Note: The first 25 Wardenships are automatic - after that, it will require the sponsorship of a standing Warden and a vote from the body of Wardens. In all likelihood, this will not be a terribly stringent process, at least for the near future, while our numbers remain relatively low.
In my experience, the best leaders do four things:
Find the most competent people for what is necessary, and bring them in.
Motivate them
Stay the hell out of their way (but rein them in when necessary)
Protect them when they need it.
Yes, there are other duties and responsibilities, but most of it is keeping your followers productive and in line with your vision - while making them feel autonomous, valued, and happy.
Lincoln, for all of his vaults, was one of the single best leaders in that sense. FDR/Churchill/etc also exhibit those hallmarks, as did Carnegie.
You and yours will of course be welcome to set up shops within KoTC territory and to conduct voluntary transactions with any member at any time. We look forward to engaging you in fulfilling and profitable economic activity!
Dictated by Hroderich Gottfrei, Warden of Steel and Gold, to Gromovoii Malchikh, Keeper of Crystal.
I grew up USAF, work with soldiers/sailors/marines - we all see service rivalry as fun, never serious. It'd be like hating your cousins because they're redheads or something, if we really meant it. Mostly, everyone teases each other. I've noticed most people in the organizations I've been with have pretty thick skins and don't take teasing seriously, but I've learned to tone it down when I'm not positive how well it will be received.
Hroderich is more inclined to duel you when you're being obstinate. As a not-so-well educated glory-hound (he's still very young), he takes affronts to his personal honor a little seriously still. And if winning the duel means you have to give a little more in the way of negotiations, even better. ;)
Hopefully, they'll mostly leave the markets alone and let it work itself out. Actually, that's one of the things that has me most excited for this game (and for KoTC) - I'd really, really like to show that a group of individuals acting in their own self interest and holding by the non-aggression principle is viable and desirable - and if it succeeds in a system like PFO where risk is way mitigated for being a murderhobo (I don't permanently die when I aggress and get taken down for it), that's just a more ringing endorsement of it in general. I seriously hope that they don't attempt to enforce Keynesian or other modes of thought onto the game but leave it entirely (or as much so as possible, given resources have to come from somewhere) in the hands of the players.
Definitely second the ability to do spell research. That's an entirely viable and desirable mechanic for discovering spells vs just finding spell books and breaking them down. It also fits, I think, with the general tone of this game (player content/action vs getting everything from the environment).
I see the use of the exile mechanic outside of settlements less for verbal abuse than for cases where Bob the Annoying is jumping up and down and keeping is avatar in front of everything I'm trying to do. But you're right, there's reporting for that - so maybe claiming territory outside of your settlement makes less sense than I thought, given the mechanics and GMs.
I do, however, strongly endorse the option to non-violently exile people from settlements for breaking rules other than being a thief/murderer - it's private property (ideally) but at least property that isn't yours, and the owner(s) have the right to remove you from their property if they feel you're violating the terms of free passing on it.
Absent the ability to remove you without violence or non-lethal damage, I'd be upset if I got tagged as a murderhobo for enforcing rules on my own property.
My Austrian-Economics leanings are pretty readily apparent everywhere I go, so I'm definitely in favor of placing zero restrictions on trade between consenting players.
I'd love to see the ability to manage my skills when I'm out of game implemented. The same goes for the OPs desire to see newspapers/etc and Psyblade's mention of the territory map. Those would all be incredible.
I'd like to be able to access economic info as well - Iron ore is trading at XX coins/lb in settlement A and YY coins/lb in settlement B, etc. That might not make as much sense with the limited means of communication we have in-world, but we do have magic... I'd be interested (as a magic user) in maintaining a regional comm network. Magical SA? ^_^
1. Make company management skills tied to certain in-game actions. For instance the ability to get NPCs to advertise your company, or management tasks you can't just give permissions to another untrained character to do. Or making company management and formation leadership skills linked.
2. (My favorite) Tie company management skills to the company instead of the leader. Make the organization have it's own list of skills it can train to give various benefits to the company. I would base what skills it is capable of training on how many members who are actively skill training belong to that group. So say 6+ for company skills 20+ for settlement 100+ for kingdom.
3. Don't have company management skills. I would prefer 1 or 2 or a mix of 1 & 2 but this would be better than the way EVE did it. At least I won't have to sit there and do nothing for a few months while I get the skills needed to run TEO.
I highly prefer a combination of one and two. The idea of companies growing in skill over time appeals to me (and manages turnover a bit better), but excellent leaders who take the time to perfect leadership in and out of game would be well served to be able to provide bonuses to their followers/citizens.
Ummm... I don't know what to tell mac people who think it's unfair that games only come out for the PC.
The entire PC gaming scene is dead, dead, dead as well. Generally the end date for this is set to between 2006 and 2008.
Games today are made for consoles. PC versions are only considered if the console games become or are expected to be absolutely huge. The games that remain are MMORPGs, games from certain companies (Blizzard et al), and some very few games that aim for very high graphics prestanda. The rest is indie games that reach general distribution.
Except for strategy games and a number of other excellent RPGs. Consoles are very specific computers with a limited input device. I expect to see the differences shrinking further with each successive generation of consoles. PC gaming isn't dead, it's just changing. PC gaming has "died" four or five times so far, and it's still kicking along. It may not be king anymore, but that's okay. I dislike using a controller over a mouse/keyboard, but I don't rail against console players either. Of course I try to convert them because I want more people playing PC with me, but it's not that big of a deal.
I'd rather see PFO available on all platforms - my Lady owns and uses a Mac as her main computer - but if the middleware doesn't support it (but was/is the best combination of price, flexibility, and power) then I'll live with it. I'd love to see this as a stretch goal, but I am aware that there are probably some significant technical hurdles. Torchlight II hasn't launched their Mac version yet, so if we saw Macs sometime around/after release, I wouldn't be terribly surprised.
I'm a Warden of Gold and Steel for The Keepers of The Circle and our de facto Ambassador and head of military operations (a very strange combination of purviews, but I'll take it). I'm also technically acting as the head of our economic trade arm, so I'd like to extend our open [greedy, grasping ;)] hands to you. We encourage free trade and look forward to having your merchants operating in our territory and would like to offer our services to you.
May your days be long, your nights pleasant, and your profits vast.
If you're interested in a working relationship, PM me, post on the link above, or find us on our forums.
EDIT: Highly recommend Andius and TEO as trade partners and generally excellent members of the community. Nihimon and The Seventh Veil too, since he'll shortly be here to greet you, I think. He's fast.
Specifying that it is only items in your inventory is a cop out. Even bunches of little stuff that you have to spend time on is an annoying loss for the casual gamer that makes up most of the community.
Of course at this point those that enjoy griefing will step in and say ... hey it's not that bad. Yeah, it kinda is, it's just a complete time waste for the casual gamer. Enjoy your small game with a dedicated few.
Sigh, and I was really looking forward to this game.
I encourage you to look into The Empyrean Order, The Keepers of the Circle (of which I am am a member), and Peace Through Vigilance - all of which will be actively taking the fight to griefers and protecting casual and other players from their predations to the best of their abilities. TEO is the largest (and one of the best organized) groups around and they are staunchly anti-griefing - Andius in particular has been actively advocating this in his posts.
Aside from the groups actively working to get in the way of griefers, the bounty system, GMs and community will be working towards building a game everyone can enjoy and mitigating the downsides of open PVP. Yes, like EVE, there will be significant risks in many places. But there will also be literally miles and miles of game world that will NOT be lawless and filled with murderhobos. No one is advocating that behavior.
We are advocating the right (and desirability) of players to play characters that are bandits, outlaws, and thieves. There's a world of difference between the bandit who demands a toll and threatens force and the murderhobo who kills everything that comes near him.
Keep in mind that the power-scaling will be much, much more shallow than other fantasy MMORPGs and unless you're traveling alone in the most dangerous areas, you're not likely to get killed over and over ad nauseum. There are players, mechanics, and GMs on your side. Everyone wants to have fun.
I will personally escort you and interdict murderhobos if it comes to that. I don't like murderhobos, you don't like murderhobos, and Hroderich wants to make a name for himself. How better to do that (outside of the shield wall) than to go around slaughtering guys with high kill counts - and doing it legitimately? :P
I do not want this. My mezzo-soprano bard should not have my baritone.
I'll trade you voices. I'm 6'2" and built like a tank, but I still sound like a fifteen-year old. >.>;; Except when I'm angry, but when you growl your voice naturally alters. :P
I hear Tony's is a great place to go, relieve stress about caused by awful people being awful to you, and leave feeling full and content. Mmmm, baggels.
I hope playing a CE character remains fun - playing an evil character and being an griefer aren't the same, and I would hate to see a player punished severely for being IC. Outlaws naturally tend to group together because they're outside traditional society. That's how gangs happen, very often. Even the most ruthless bandits know they can't steal everything they need - it would behoove them to behave in at least a few settlements.
Kakafika wrote:
This is why I have suggested that bounties be applicable only in hexes immediately adjacent to a settlement with laws against murder.
I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, committing murder near a settlement should obviously label you a criminal and (depending on how much the settlement cares) leave you open to their law enforcement hunting you down. Bounties for crimes committed within that area are more likely to be fulfilled by those LEOs. Out in the wilderness though, I see bounties more as a "Hey guys, Bob the Murderhobo assaulted me. Here's 5K to whoever brings me his head." I think that's a good mechanic to keep (since we don't perma-die when we're killed IG), but I am slightly worried about the mechanic and it either being not-useful or abusive. But that's a worry with every game mechanic, I think.
On the other hand, I don't think you should get a criminal flag if you're in a lawless area - and I think that your actions should shift you towards Evil/Good out there more than Lawful/Chaotic. Thoughts?
Do you like writing stories and/or role-playing? (Probably so, if you are on these message boards.)
Do you like online strategy & simulation games?
Do you like professional basketball?
Still there? Well then, I'd like to tell you about something you might be interested in. It's called the Online Basketball World League (www.theobwl.com) and it's a high quality fictional fantasy basketball league. In the OBWL you assume the role of General Manager of a professional basketball team. The simulation is very detailed and complete. We do it all: scout, draft, trade, sign free agents, simulate entire regular seasons and playoffs until we crown a new champion every season.
The rules are based on the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement prior to 2012. Each team has complete finances, a budget, and must navigate the ins and outs of the salary cap to assemble a potential winner.
In addition, general managers write team press releases and cover stories published on our web site publicizing the league, its teams, and its players. YOU can create a persona for yourself (the GM) or your superstar player. Want to write articles about controversial star modeled after a Kobe Bryant or a lovable loud mouth like Charles Barkley? In the OBWL, you can! And unlike your regular fantasy basketball rotisserie league, you will be rewarded for your creativity with participation bonuses that help improve your team on the court as well!
And just to be clear, this is an entirely FICTIONAL league. The teams and players are NOT the ones you find in the NBA. We strive to create as realistic a league as possible without resorting to "copying" from real life. The team would be YOURS and yours alone. The players, their exploits, and their personalities are YOURS to determine. That's the real fun of it... why stand on the glory of the Celtics or Lakers or Michael Jordan when you can create your OWN legends?
The OBWL runs off the venerable yet fun Jumpshot Basketball text-based sim software (http://shotsports.com). This is NOT an online console or PC gaming league. This is a full-fledged strategy game more from the perspective of the General Manager or the head coach. You control the roster. You control the game plans. You make the trades and draft the rookies to try to build a potential dynasty.
We're currently looking for active, imaginative potential GMs who love basketball and love the unique role-play aspect our league encourages. that's why I'm reaching out to the Paizo community. As an avid Pathfinder player and RPGer, I know there are other guys and gals out there like us who would love to combine our love of hoops with our love of games and writing.
So if you are interested, please send me a private message. We currently have one opening for a GM, and would like to add a few people to our waiting list if you are interested. Check us out and join the fun!
(Apologies if I have posted in the "wrong" forum, but none of the other ones seemed quite appropriate for recruiting players for a text-based sports sim league...)
I was going to post this in the critique thread but decided maybe it would be best to start a seperate thread in case others wanted to post similiar reflections or to discuss other people's observations. This started out as a thank you to Neil for his feedback then snowballed into a self-reflection. I'd be curious to see what other "lessons" some of the participants learned from their experience in designing, submitting, and recieiving feedback for the open call.
Neil's Feedback:
Crowface wrote:
Penumbral Ligatures
Kind of an ominous sounding name. Some big words in there. Not sure it was the most thought-provoking, intriguing name that would resonate with everyone. But it wasn't run-of-the-mill either.
Aura and CL seem about right for project image and shadow conjuration. Slot and weight make sense for an iron crossbar, I suppose. Price feels a little low for the uber-range abilities and surrogate spellcasting this enables.
Crowface wrote:
Description
This hand-held apparatus is a cold iron crossbar ringed by a circle of carved ivory. From one side extend five ghostly cords that hang taut before fading into nothingness. As a standard action, the wielder can make a ranged touch attack against a single humanoid target within 100 feet. On a successful attack, the target gains the entangled condition as shadowy ligatures lash out and coil themselves around the creature’s neck, wrists, and ankles. The wielder can then force the target to act as his spell-casting surrogate.
That's a very powerful effect. It pretty much lets a wizard or sorcerer (or any spellcaster really) stand back and 100 feet in a position of relative safety and let someone else take the brunt of every bit of front line fighting, while hurling spells through them. It's pretty much stacking a high-level caster on top of a front-line fighter's body.
Crowface wrote:
Entangled creatures cannot move more than 100 feet from the wielder; removing or severing all five ligatures ends this restriction and the entangled condition. An entangled creature may burst or escape from a single ligature by making a DC 20 Strength or Escape Artist check. Any amount of slashing damage severs a ligature; each ligature is AC 20. The ligatures are made of shadow-stuff and if severed simply reform when the apparatus is used again to ensnare. The wielder can release an ensnared creature as a standard action.
So, a single ranged touch attack establishes five separate entangle-imposing conditions on someone? Very powerful. Too powerful, considering that the entangling ligatures keep letting you channel automatic touch attack spells straight into someone.
Crowface wrote:
The ligatures can ensnare a willing target. All the conditions above apply fully however, and opponents may attempt to target and sever the ligatures normally.
If the wielder chooses, any spell he casts with a range of touch or greater can be channeled through the ligatures. Melee touch spells cast in this manner always target the “surrogate” and do not require an attack roll. Spells of greater range (including ranged touch attacks) originate from the surrogate as if he were the caster, affecting targets normally. A maximum of 20 total spell levels may be channeled each day.
And then we go into the uber-range sock-puppet proxy spellcaster ability, which fires the power level of this item up even that much more. Granted, the 20 total spell levels per day is a restriction...of sorts. But it refreshes every day. So, you could make it though several encounters before that restriction would ever truly mean anything.
Crowface wrote:
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, project image, shadow conjuration; Cost 49,000 gp
You chose the right spells for the construction requirements, except, I might have suggested black tentacles be in there, too. Still, it's underpriced. It's game-breaking. And it's over-the-top.
Summary:
Ominous name (neither good, nor bad)
Interesting idea (an entangling, spell-channeling rod could be interesting)
Mechanically broken (just way too open to abuse for both abilities)
Good flavor/writing
Excellent presentation (near-perfect execution of the template)
Thank You and Reflection:
Thank you so much for the in-depth feedback Neil, it is greatly appreciated. I was expecting a summary of judge's comments and not such individualized attention so that was an awesome surprise. I feel like I got a surprise visit from one of those celebrity fitness trainers and you ran my out of shape butt ragged! :) That's a good thing, of course, it shows me how far I need to go.
Wanted to post some reflections on the process here. I want to be clear that I agree with Neil 100%. This is not a rebuttal or an argument... I hate it when people try to explain or defend their designs too much because to me if an item is Superstar then it doesn;t need explanation or clarification. My item is definitely not Superstar and I see that. What I want to do is share the faulty assumptions I made during the design process, so that I (and maybe anyone else who reads this) can learn from the mistakes. Also, I'd like to really just say I didn't *intend* to create a munchkiny, game-breaking item. Honest. :)
I think the first poor assumption I made was underestimating the entangle effect. It was intended to be more of a nuisance that harrassed the target while it took a round or two to free itself. I think I got tunnel vision and assumed this item (because of its caster level and pricing) would mostly see high level play, and made another bad assumption that most targets would have iterative attacks or allies that could free them in a short time frame. I went with the 5 seperate entangles because I wanted it to take time for a creature with 3+ attacks to break loose from. I didn't go for a typical arrangment of AC and hit points to break out of the entangle because I was trying to avoid a sitaution where a giant or some other size Large or bigger creature could just shrug their way out of it on Strength bonus alone before a caster could even channel a spell through it. I failed to think out what would happen to a tough critter with only one attack such as a T-Rex might have to suffer through... let alone what would happen to some poor chump under the effect of a slow spell. Yikes. Open to abuse indeed.
Lesson Learned: Just because your item "slots" into a certain level of play, don't make assumptions about the conditions under which it will be used or the creatures it will be used against. If I had simply stopped to think out what it might do to someone less powerful than anticipated, I should have easily made that next jump to the potential abuses ahead.
Second, I think I made a big mistake in comparing the item too closely to project image which is the spell that more or less inspirted it. Project image is a seventh level spell that basically creates a hologram that lets you blast people with spells. I actually thought since this item's effect was tied to a physical target rather than a hologram that it was more limited than the spell. But as Neil pointed out that is just stacking a spell caster on top of a front line fighter... again, I think part of that horrible decision stemmed from underestimating the difficulty in severing the connection/ending the entangle. I figured "Sure, the party wizard can hook up to the barbarian and then send him into room raging and shooting scorching rays out of his eyes. But then the baddies will slice through those 'any amount of slashing damage' ligatures and that's that. Didn't think what happens if there is a single bad guy with only one or two attacks and he has to spend 4 or 5 rounds just trying to pull the plug on Exploding Barbarian. Ugh. Broken.
Lesson Learned: Sometimes you can be adding an element that you think is a limiter or a twist on an existing game mechanic and it backfires. Just because it works as a spell doesn't it will be balanced as an item. Those are different types of resources and care must be taken in translating from one "medium" to another.
Also, project image might be a little more overpowered or open to abuse than some of the other spells in the Core Rulebook. Maybe.
Anyway, my point of all that rambling was that I set out to create a cool item that had value mostly as a harrassing/suprise tactic against an enemy ("Bob the Fighter is entangled! Holy Crap, why is there a burning hands spell coming out of him?!? Why, Bob, why?") or as a utility item to aid your allies (a cleric channleing cure spells or buffs through it to the party front liner). Instead it got out of control and was game breaking. But I'm learning so it's not a waste.
Sorry for going on so long, really just talking out loud and processing the feedback. And additonal comments or feedback (from the judges or ANYONE else) would be appreciated. Thanks!
