Ian Morris 321's page

DM: If you use both shouldn't it be switched?

Think about the other Professions, they are people with specialized skill and expertise in a specific field. Craft is about mass producing a narrow range of related items.

The crafter may make a variety of items but they don't necessarily need to know anything about the way in which they work, to continue your analogy.

The craft: food can feed an army by churning out chili mac but the Profession: Chef understands how to elevate chili mac to an art fit for even the most discerning earl.

-Ian

I always imagined the distinction was service vs. good.

Craft is for goods because you create an object of some permanence.

Profession is for the service, in this case mixing sometimes mundane ingredients to please tastes.

Fun Fact: US law has difficulty classifying cooking/meals as well, because of course the difference between goods and services would mean different rule-sets.

win

Oceanshieldwolf – Good point about not always having something to do, and ultimately that is what the game is about the ‘team’ effort. I have been really critical of one sided design since playing a 3.5 Warlock and am really happy with the Pathfinder/3.75 improvements so far so I have some personal bias. LBM is on the right track, making them more akin to domains and having the skill customization come from that character choice.

LBM – I actually like the moment of greatness. It is a bigger deal for the weapon user but both styles can feel useful with this one.
I really like the Provenances, it sets up more customization and opens the door for the non-weapon caliber. The only suggestion I have is to make the Special Abilities suggestions instead of automatic selections, simply because these abilities might be useless for a magic ring that is the source of your power.

Evoke is problematic. I don’t think it should scale with level, spell level perhaps but not user level. Instead of the 1-4 levels perhaps a lesser, greatest, grand scale would be better. Folding in some of Player Killer’s tempers as greatest and grand versions would be an interesting ability for the character.

Player Killer – I like the tempers and perhaps it’s the fondness I have for Heroes Unlimited but it all really reminds me of the hodgepodge of weirdness and fun of that entire system. That in mind, this is always going to be an issue of balance. Right now they remind me discoveries.

In re the role: As it appears now, the Electus is a tank character (with or without spells) that derives power from a personalized artifact through which they manifest spell like abilities and domain style powers. I can’t wait to roll one and play.
-Ian

Love this thread guys. Three points;

1) The calibur should be at least as had to reconstruct as the edilon is to re-summon. To me it makes sense because the bulk of the class abilities are based on a single 'trick' that is likely to be exploited by enemies. The catch is that the Summoner has alot more to do without an edilon, which brings me to my second point.

2) I think they should have higher than average skill points. This would give them something to do outside of combat for the giant sword guy, and it would also allow for a more diverse character.

3) I think the pact magic system from 3.5 Tome of Magic, might be a good system to model. This would allow for more options beside the weapon user calibur and frankly the material is ripe for mining. The Binder was a secondary or tertiary supporting role but they COULD do any of them given the situation and proper vestige. I would favor a mechanic that limited the roles (perhaps the Electus picks 3 of the 5 major roles) but also allowed the character to tank.

Extra point) I think the role is best as a tank with support abilities, specifically I think they should remain spell less and have supernatural abilities. IMHO this seems truer to the source and allows more customization.

-Ian

I think it was a knock on public school, not the compulsory participants. I have no problems with it and I went to public school, public university and private law school. My intelligence comes from genetics mostly but I have learned through reading on my own, parental involvement, reading on my own and parental involvement.

For the OP:

One of my mentors helped me with challenging myself and helped me put in perspective. Sometimes the differences in the very smart and the brilliant is being able to admit that your wrong and submit to logic and reason that was previously counter to your own assumptions. Challenge yourself, accept defeat and learn from it.

You know Howard was a big part of welcoming me to the area and the gaming community here. He is a crusty old dude with a big heart and personality to match.

I think Games HQ is doing well. I have visited on three weeknights so far, and each night had a crowd, I know crowd does not always equal success in FLGS but it might be an indicator. If anything, it reaffirms my conclusion that Charlotte is a gaming town.

Dread, Sunday night isn't perfect for me but Ill let you know what I find and if you would do likewise I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

-Ian

I just left Games HQ in Charlotte looking for players. I have been looking for a game (really any game at this point) for some time.

It is good to see that Charlotte does have a good scene, hopefully Ill be able to find a home soon.

If any of you are still looking, Im a law school student with limited free time and a family, therefore I prefer to play weeknights. I live in Plaza Midwood but have a vehicle and have no problem driving for my hobby.

Take care,
Ian

I just thought of a good premise. Two nations (A&B until I can think of better names), both on the prime have come to a standstill. They are both ridiculously fortified (though the party can learn this first hand if it's more fun). As such the nations travel the planes looking for something to tip the balance.

Sound good so far? I may have to build this campaign. ;-)

How about a planar or planetary cold war? Where A and B automatically nuke (figuratively) any threats and have battled into perpetual stalemate. But a chance discovery of C has led both sides to compete in a far away land through direct and indirect conflict (think American foreign policy over the past 60 years for some cool examples).

Cue up D, the ancient evil or primordial protector of C that will destroy A and B if the heroes don't find a way to stop it.

I watched the Apache vs. Gladiator and am not really sold on the show. It was cool don't get me wrong but the whole contrived drama between the 'teams' was really lame. My wife was really rolling her eyes through most of it and I was cringing. It was bad but not bad enough to change the TV.

I second the Sombreros, this is an underused piece of headgear in many fantasy settings.
-Ian

Great quote. I must have missed this one.

Good luck with the project. I am a beginning SEO, if the content increases let me know I would love the practice.

Take care,
Ian

I've discussed how he pulled it off with him. I see where I went wrong, and technically one could argue that sacrificing one's life force could indeed be used via the Vow of Poverty but it certainly should have, at least not in the fashion it was. My memory of the event is fuzzy given that it was a couple months ago, thankfully he keeps good notes.

I haven't played in RoTRL but I can positively say that the major breaking factor for VoP is when the 'other' members of the party are not given treasure respective to their level.

This addition of the game assumes it and the VoP feat was designed with this in mind.

Maybe some powerful class specific items would help the rest of the party feel useful.

I dont have my books with me but the invocation adds endure elements to the target and the real boon is the last line that says something to the tune of 'makes the target immune to the effects of your breath weapon'.

Ok here it is from the coboardwiki entry;

Endure Exposure (5): This is one of the very best Least invocations. Not only can you use this to make your whole party comfortable in extreme environments (it’s the equivalent of an endure elements spell), but it also makes them immune to your breath weapon This allows you to breathe freely without worrying about hurting your allies, which is hugely important. A must-have.

I am a victim of my liberal character creation policy. I like giving the players choices and this particular player actually surprised me by creating an interesting back story. I was under the impression that it was just a dragon themed Warlock, which is reasonable. When he shows up with a Dragonfire Adept I was amused but after a day of play I am exhausted. I have reviewed the rules and they are vague at best.

He has taken the invocation that makes targets (the other players) immune to the ‘effects’ of his breath weapons. Does this include the damage and the other silly ‘breath effect’ he can add to the breath weapon.

He also used a (IMHO broken) constant detect magic ability that he could dismiss to cast identify. I am not a huge fan of the identify tax of 100 gp but completely circumventing this at a low level (5th) seems wrong.

I don’t have a problem with the constant elemental based damage and in my opinion the class is very one dimensional and frankly boring. My question is how do I interpret the two above abilities and does anyone have experience dealing with the Dragonfire Adept?

Thanks again,
Ian

Thanks I must have missed this one.

Searching Ebay now...

Great read. Thanks for sharing

What video game is this?

I cannot remember if the critics liked it or it was just popular with my friends at the time but I really regret seeing the three hour ordeal Alexander. I get it, he was into dudes too. Lets move on to the interesting things like conquest of the known world.

Oliver Stone is the Ray Lewis of directors. He is anything but subtle and likes to paint the entire movie with a broad brush. During the unreasonably long ordeal of watching one of his movies I constantly feel as if his intent was to relentlessly bash me in the face with some obscure point.

After the three our epic homoerotic ordeal of Alexander I have swore off Oliver Stone movies for good. Of course I also swore him off after Any Given Sunday, so we will see when Escobar comes out next year.

Of course a dire wolf is better than an enlarged wolf, but each to his own I guess.

Also if an animal entry says it maxes out its advancement, how does this apply to taking more HD from being an animal companion? If the size details apply then shouldn't the HD cap also? There is something wrong with picking and choosing which details apply and don't.

From the SRD

I was assuming the MM entry for size relative to HD was just that, a comparison of a monster's HD based on its size. Is it a cap? That doesn't really go well with the above statement in the SRD.

If a creature can advance in size and class (I am sure there are better examples but an awakened tiger) are the HD gained from class level limited by the advancement entry?

Nevermind, page 7 of the 3.5 MM in the advancement entry, "This is not an absolute limit, but exceptions are extremely rare."

Exactly,
That was going to be my reasoning.
Take a large wolf later as an Animal Companion and as long as the new HD are similar to a creature you could also select I didn't see any problems.

Thanks everyone.

I like the idea of letting the animal companion get bigger so that it can stay effective in combat and the druid doesn't have to 'trade' up to a lion later on.

Thanks again,
Ian

Both are right. The animal does not advance as listed in the MM, because its getting its benefits from being with the Druid. Think of it as the creature taking Animal Companion as a class.

That said, many DMs are willing to allow a player to trade these "levels" of Animal Companion for hitdice in creature advancement. Your creature's advancement typically means you lose out on the features of higher level Animal Companions.

Ok. Thanks for the reply. So if I understand correctly, the animal gets the bonus HD, STR/DEX, and NA from 'companion' levels. The animal is then adjusted in BAB, skills, and feats based on the new HD. The animal just does not get a larger size and the massive benefits that provides.

This seems kind of lame to me. I would rather have a druid PC with a giant wolf than a brown bear. It seems like these rules benefit the druids that 'trade' in their best friends every so many levels.

Does anyone have experience with letting an animal advance in size? Will this break the already powerful 3.5 druid?

It is definitely not role playing but the new FPS, Left 4 Dead, has the best co-op playing I have ever seen.

You assume characters in a 'movie' and try and escape a zombie holocaust. If you get tired of that you can play a zombie against a real human opponent.

The game is really well done and the replay factor is limitless due to the human vs. human aspect.

I was looking over the SRD and it does not say if the additional HD from being an animal companion lead to a size increase, as detailed in the animal's advancement entry in the MM.

It does directly mention the extra HD means more feats, BAB, and saves.

I am also confused because the Druid Guide (from Dragon Magazine) says that animal companions do not advance as normal and as presented in the MM. I would interpret this to mean more feats, BAB, and saves.

SRD > Dragon article, so I can safely assume that the extra HD increased feats, BAB, and saves. What about size? Was this omitted on purpose?

Scott B. for the win...

Turin is right.
I have always had a problem with the dragonspawn. It would seem to me that the vanity of dragons would prevent them from allowing such relatively weak offspring to exist. It has been a while since I have looked at MM4 but isn't the reasoning that the dragonspawn are gestated and birthed at a faster rate allowing armies to be raised faster?

Why would Tiamat not just dominate a nation of ogres and start a selective breeding program? Building an army of half dragon ogres would be quicker than true dragons and no true dragons would be lost to the process.

I've also added several side adventures. The first time I ran Red Hand, the party brainstormed things they could do to stop an invading army: buy mercenaries (side trek to find and recover a hoard of trasure, which the party donated to buy more dwarves), find a powerful item useful for defense (side trek, a race to recover the long-fabled "Crown of the Earthlords" before the hubgoblin's team can do so).

I really like this idea. After I ran STAP one of my players' favorite part was the running rivarly with the Jade Ravens. This could be a more anatagonistic group of evil NPCs hired by the Red Hand that would compete againt them on the various other side quests you mentioned. I think I will take this one and run with it for now.

I have only briefly read it once but how does the whole horde end up as a feint?

Thanks for the great advice so far guys, I am feeling much better about the potential of the adventure now.
-Ian

As a gamer I should be ashamed. Not only have I heard nothing but glowing praise for the game, I have owned it since it came out. I bought the orange box on the day it came out. Unfortunately TF2 has eclipsed all my gaming time since then with only slight relapses back into CoD4.
Shame on me,
Ian

I forgot to mention that I am inheriting this campaign from the current DM who will be PCsing soon (that is the sad part about gaming in the military). The only new characters I have helped introduce with background are ones lost in our last adventure, two humans from Brindol with military and magic (Immerstol the Red) connections. Right now the party is almost 4th level and I will not be running the game until the DM leaves in December. I just get the feeling from the other players that they could care less about the area and the increasing aggressiveness of the humanoids in the area.

I absolutely loved Speaker in Dreams, what a great adventure to get people involved in a town and set up things. I bet your PCs loved it, I know mine have always loved the fight in the bell tower with the warerats.

Thanks,
Ian

I have been hearing great things about this adventure for a while now and after my initial read through I wasn't very impressed. I really liked some of the tactical battles but this strength is also what I have a problem with. The adventure as written appears to play out like a series of battle mats, one after another.

Does anyone have advice for adding some more role-playing in the adventure?

I have started by including at least one PC as a former Lion of Brindol, and the majority of the PCs are somewhat local as well.

I like the encounter with the Areana spy and I have decided to change the Ghostlord portion of the encounter. I like the Ghostlord but I wanted to make him a more tragic figure that appears as a more reluctant agent of the Red Hand. Right now I am thinking of ways to make one of the early (pre published material levels) adventures where the PCs are responsible for delivering the phylactery to agents of the Red Hand and more sympathetic to the Ghostlord later.

I am also confused how easily the PCs will get the connection with Old Warklegnaw and the ruined keep. I can see some good RP here but I can also see the PCs just slaying the old giant outright.

What encounters did you change to add a little more RP for your/your DM's Red Hand of Doom?

What encounters can I safely omit, to cut some of the tedious complaints I have heard about the campaign?

Thanks in advance,
Ian

Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 might be more what you are looking for. NWN 1 especially offers tons of user generated content ranging from fantastic modules recreated from classics to original adventures.

PW or persistant world servers offer a MMORPG like gameplay with rich communities and evolving storylines.

I may be dumb for saying this but why did he agree with their aims?
And who's Rev. Wright?

He is another radical anti American friend of Obama that was thrown under the bus early during the campaign season.