Man with a Pickaxe

J.A.Kempton's page

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as I understand it "Ancient" refers to the fact that it is from a technology far different/advanced from our own so this weapon cant be salvaged from the robot and used. Don't ask where i found that, because I don't remember, however I am pretty sure that's what it means, and yes, "integrated" means it cant be disarmed.


Rednal wrote:

Trump's history is stepping all over other people to get what he wants. Not just once or twice - over and over and over, stiffing people even when they gave him exactly what he wanted, usually just to help pad his own pocketbook. I don't think he's going to champion anyone but himself.

I would be delighted to be wrong on this, by the way, and no small part of me hopes I am. Unfortunately, decades of abuse suggest otherwise.

Unfortunately I agree, I hope I am wrong,as well. But the evidence of how he got here and what he has said and done, make me dread what he will do with the power he just got. his track record does not bode well for any of us.


wow....that is a BUNCH of text. It is telling that we live in a society that seems to either totally objectify sexuality , or brutally deny it altogether. We are messed up about this. Neither extreme is healthy. NEXT TOPIC PLEASE.


while I completely understand the need to ignore a troll, or just a small minded idiot, you guys do realize that getting on "ignore" lists, is why most of the trolls do what they do, the object is to sow chaos, and push peoples buttons.


listening to Louie C.K.


this is what you get when you cross Sleipnir with a polar bear


rather than weigh in on athiests, ill try to stick to the origional thread. I believe that in a duel, there is a degree of merit about not using stealth, but a duel is not combat, per se, it is a formalized contest, that may or may not be leathal, but follows a strict set of rules. Real combat is nothing like that, and real combat against evil is going to be 95% of what most paladins deal with. In real combat a Paladin must strike out against evil using every tool available to him/her. The only guide lines here should be the alignment of the Paladin , and the code that the paladin's god, seeks to advance.


I have a Paladin in the jade reagent adventure path, and it seems to me that as long as you are following the LG alignment and the tennents of your god, it doesnt really matter what tactics you use. There are, of course, exceptions (poison, or torture, for instance) but I have always found assigning morals to tactics is mostly a matter of perspective. Using invisibility in a tactical way when fighting against evil is perfectly acceptable. My Paladin follows the idea that you use any tool you can against evil, except those tools that turn you into what you are fighting against. You dont break laws or your oath (because you are lawful) and you don't commit evil acts (because you are good) you strive to further the tennants of the god you serve. I see no reason why Serenrae would strip a paladin of his/her powers for using Invisibility, unless the paladin were using the spell to commit an evil or unlawfull act.


sure , give us a link, I followed "the Lidu Diaries" for several years on this site, it was wonderfull. It was set in "savage tide" and was well put together.


how about this? He succomed to the mosquito/fly bites and died from the ghoul feaver, once a ghoul, he stumbled into a spring trap that he had set himself, in life (he had to sleep sometime, after all). He dangles in this state till a juicy morsel comes into reach, because he doesnt have the mental capacity to get out of the trap. Basically, the only thing you remove is the suicide aspect.


I agree, but, I assume I wouldnt make a very good samurai


as to the situation, whats wrong with making him attack anything that comes in the pallasade? Remember, he has been fending off attacks from literally everything , for a number of years, just to live. He couldnt sleep, he couldnt rest, he couldnt stop. I would treat it as the ultimate paranoia, because, well, everything IS out to get him. no need to incorporate anything about the suicide. He hides. When anything comes in , he attacks/grapples it and fights to the death. That has become his life.


well, gluttony, I can tell you that the theory behind the samurai suicide thing stems from the following belief : A Samurai's whole reason for living is to protect and serve his/her lord. Death in service of one's lord (preferibly in battle) is the ultimate honor one can attain for one's name, which lives on after you and is passed to your children, your job is to do nothing to dishonor this name while you wear it. This begs the question, what happens if your lord orders you to do something that dishonors you. Catch-22? No, ritual suicide is the honorable way to inform your lord that you will neither stain your honor by disobeying him, nor will you commit a dishonorable act. You have to understand that to many eastern societies, the individual isn't important, the group, family,or society is. Now, I am no proponant of suicide in any form, but that is the reasoning behind it, at least to my understanding.


absolutely, change the scene if its going to upset your players. One thing though, a single individual all alone against an Island full of undead, and aberations for god knows how long? Ivy is most probly going to be whacked out of his mind, nuts at this point. Think Tom Hanks in Castaway, and he didn't have to contend with flesh eating ghouls, It's perfectly reasonable to say that Arron Ivy survived (he has a fresh water source, which is the only crucial survival point, really) but I cant imagine his mind has.


I think the earlier idea of using the "savage creature" template from savage tide would be best. It is on page 47 of DUNGEON issue 140. (I know because it is sitting open on my desk at the moment) It is perfect for incorporating reavers into Skull & Shackles, and I say that as a proud Browncoat. Add that template to even a low level barbarian and you get a chillingly vicious combatent that can move base 50' (in light armor) , has an infectious bite, can rage, and explodes (and bites) when killed. If a shipload of those doesnt make your PC's soil themselves, then I dont know what will.


Weables is right, mindbender prestige class is what you are looking for, it takes charm to a new level, you completely dominate someone, but you can only control one creature at a time this way.It's on P:54 of "Complete Arcane" the power that duplicates the "confessor effect" is Eternal Charm , it's permanant and you get at the fourth level of the prestige class.


I am playing a ninja and I am multiclassing him with monk for 4 levels using MARTIAL ARTIST variant from Ult. Combat, there are some form feats in that book (mantis or snake jump to mind) that mesh well with ninja


OK , wow that was worth the wait, Keep them coming guy this is wonderful!


Isn't this like Buffy fans calling for a new movie, when the whole thing started from a movie anyway? As I remember Paizo started in the pages of Dungeon and Dragon Magazines. KQ and Wayfinder are doing what you are asking for. Have you looked into them?


I don't know about the rest of you, but I myself am a fan of breasts (my wife's in particular, however I enjoy most of those I see on women.)


wonderfull entry, guy. Its great the way Tristan overthinks everything (comes from being a wizard I suppose). Have you thought of publishing the Lidu Diaries? I've been reading for the better part of a year now, and I think the writing is excellent. I suppose there would be difficulties publishing fiction that is based on an intillectual property that is copywritten. Especially since WOTC , of late, doesn't have a stellar record of sharing. Anyway it's good stuff , please keep it coming!


Requirements
To qualify to become a Dawnflower Dervish, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Perform (Dance) 3 ranks, Tumble 3 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks.
Feats: Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Focus (Scimitar).
Deity: Sarenrae.
Special: Ability to Channel Positive Energy.
Class Skills
The Dawnflower Dervish’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Escape Artist (Dex), Perception (Wis), and Perform (Cha).

as I understand it , Tumble is now a part of the Acrobatics skill , so 3 ranks in acrobatics should be the requirement


I run a D&D class at a summer camp, and last summer I ran Legacy of Fire for a group of ninth, and tenth graders. The parth was: Halfling rogue, Human Barbarian , Human cleric, Elven sorcerer, and Human Paladin. These kids had taken my class for a couple of summers , so they were experienced gamers. They hated the Pugs , but all was fine till they got to the great hall in the temple. First mistake was letting several of the pugs escape while in the ruined church, so the ones in the great hall had time to get ready. The one change that I made was that I gave the pugs several flasks of Alchemist's fire in a box sitting up in the rafters. I play my Pugwampis like the gremlins from the 80's movie, tiny giggling terrors with a taste for destruction and mayhem. Well when the rogue poked her head in the door , she failed her stealth check (how unlucky!) and caught flaming death in the face. The party tried throwing grappling hooks into the rafters to either climb up the ropes, or pull down the whole roof. Unfortunately the pugs kept shattering the hooks, leading to some very funny Roadrunner/Coyote moments. Finally the(healed)rogue managed to get to the rafters and began meleeing the pugs. Due to her small size she was the only one who could get up there without risking a beam shattering under her. Those who could were using missle weapons (until they too were shattered) however the rogue was duking it out for 3 back to back sittings. It took all of the groups brains, spells, and healing potions. but at the end of three sessions they TRULY hated Pugwampis as much , if not more than the gnolls did. It was one of the funniest, most violent, messiest encounters I have ever run as a Dungeon Master. My hat is off to the pathfinder staff for such a wonderfully hated creature.


Congrats Misslemiz, and welcome to pathfinder! The advice these guys and gals are giving you is excellent. I won't overload you by adding more about your druid. Just some general information. First, have fun, it's a game, that's what it's there for. Don't let the gamer guys intimidate you. I have been playing with the same crew since college, and I can tell you guys will happily overload you with info, rather quickly. Stay calm, take what ideas seem interesting to you, and enjoy. Dont let anything pressure you. In the end this character is for you to enjoy. As long as you are having fun , there is no right or wrong way. Your GM should always be there to answer your questions, about the rules, its part of his job , after all. If I know the guys , and having played this game for years and years , I bet I do, they are just happy to have you there. Relax and have fun!


oops, sorry ... I never claimed not to be old.


The infravision effecting one is now "deeper darkness" (p.265, 3rd level cleric spell)


catch them flatfooted , or flanked within 30' as I understand it and it qualifies , as I understand it. Of course, flanking with a ranged weapon is almost impossible without special crunch from a PrC or a feat.


While I do agree Zeugma, you have every right to be offended if a guy offers to "tap" you (lord knows our society horribly warps the ideals of feminine beauty) but, understand that this is today's language. I'm a middle school teacher and I hear these phrases being used all the time. The girls are almost all flattered by it, they incourage it. I'm in my late 30's and i'm sure the words I would use to let a woman know that I liked her would seem odd today. I would also like to say that I consider myself a liberal , and I like brunettes, however any attraction Mrs. Palin could ever have caused, is chillingly ruined when she opens her mouth. Try to understand that men are very grounded in the physical (young men especially) its not that it is all that we care about. Thats just usually our starting point. While modern slang may be a bit ... direct, I honestly think its an expression of the society rather than the individual.


I don't think its a matter of making new lists. Simply adding spells to the bonus spell lists that are already present works fine. These spells should come from any, and all lists (druid would be fine) so long as they follow the theme that the character is built around. As I see it Oracles are intended to be a expression of a single concept/element , so long as the spells follow that concept they can be drawn from any list. This increases the spell choices without altering the concept of the class. Two or three choices at each level would give the needed depth in spells without overpowering the class. This would also allow for continued customization, which is almost always a good thing. Leave it at one choice per level for bonus spell, that is fine. Just give more spells to choose from. Thats what you need. Not a completely new set of spell lists. Doing this takes some pressure of the choices on the divine list, and makes the fact that Oracles dont have access to the entire divine list, like clerics do, not as big a deal.


Shifty wrote:
pres man wrote:
No doubt people reducing a woman down to being nothing but meat that they would like to jump on like a fat kid, brought that particular example foremost to my mind.

Right, and women don't oggle Firemen either... uhuh... suuuuuure.

Because expressing any sort of sexual attraction immediately makes one some kind of predatory monster forcing themselves upon the unwilling at the first opportunity.

Are you either:

A) A member of the Taliban?

or

B) Living in the Victorian era?

Both regiemes espoused your point of view as a cornerstone of their beliefs, and allowed unchecked, have been attrocious in the abuses against women in order to 'preserve moral decency'.

Well said shifty, well said.


Ok , perhaps chosen by a force of nature would have been more accurate, or by an element


My group is starting it , we have our second session tomorrow, and so far i'm enjoying it greatly, I'm not the DM so I cant speak to future content.


As I have said on other threads I think the problem would be solved by adding to the bonus spells attached to the focus , and starting the list at 1st instead of 3rd level. You wouldn't have to expand a new spell list, keep the divine list, however ,draw spells from ALL lists for the bonus spells. The bonus spells can come from druid, arcane, ranger, whichever, so long as they stay true to the Focus you have chosen, this way, you expand the choice of spells without altering the Oracle's core concept as a "Divine sorcerer chosen by the gods". While boosting the classes spellcasting ability (which everyone seems to agree is needed).


Patience is a virtue, my child!

:: returns to sitting in the lotus position two feet off the floor with a ham and bacon sandwich in one hand and pathfinder core rulebook in the other ::


See, I still stand by my origional post. Drop the focus spells by 2 levels , so they start at 1st instead of 3rd. Add to THIS list those spells that would fit the Oracle's focus, thus beefing up his/her spell selection, AND preserving the flavor of the class. The divine list spells can then be used for cure spells, support spells, whatever you want, thus allowing the Oracle to maintain it's uniqueness, while still serving the divine caster role, at whatever extent the party needs. The Oracle won't be able to do everything a cleric does, however you arn't playing a cleric , so that's fine. The Oracle can do things a cleric can't.


Abraham spalding wrote:
Ice Titan wrote:

If you have divine spells, the party expects you to heal.

If there's more than one divine caster, the party expects one of you to heal.

The oracle is best suited to being the one div caster who doesn't heal, but when he needs to heal, he feels rather stymied at low levels. Basically, until level 7 or 11, a cleric can do anything the oracle can do better, including heal, self-buff and party buff.

It basically comes down to asking yourself why you'd play an oracle if you could play a cleric.

Um why would he be stymed at healing magic? He has more slots than the cleric does. Now when it comes to other options of healing he has less... currently but we haven't seen if there will be a focus of life or healing yet which would probably be as good if not better than the cleric at healing.

In my mind, it's the same reason for playing a sorcerer instead of a wizard. Raw Power. The Oracle trades versitility for power. Just like the Sorcerer does. Its less evident because, when you are talking "cure" spells, a cleric's spontaneous casting ability closes the gap. That's why people keep saying a "healing" Oracle needs extra pop, because of the clerics spontaneous casting ability makes all good clerics approach Oracles with numbers of healing spells.


My group is made up of my friends from my collage days (yes, i'm really old). We have been playing together for the better part of 20 years now. I have played D&D for almost 30 years, since 1st edition. My group and I stayed true through all the incarnations until 4th, and, im sorry, but in my opinion, Gygax and Arneson's vision was dropped by WotC with 4th Edition. Thankfully Paizo managed to salvage my beloved game. I was introduced to them in the pages of the late Dungeon and Dragon magazines, and I now am a loyal pathfinder buyer. Thank you Paizo, for keeping an old gamer's hobby alive!


Well, I will agree that the divine list is somewhat , limited. The solution however is in the bonus focus spells, they can be used to bolster the Oracle's spell choices, and, so long as they follow the focus, they stay true to the character concept. Perhaps in boosting the focus spells, the class will be givin the spellcasting chops, that everyone seems to feel they need. As long as it isnt overdone.


See, I thought the incentive to playing the Oracle was exceedingly interesting. I saw it as sort of a divine sorcerer, which I thought was cool. I made a Suli (from the Qadira Companion) flame oracle, and I cant wait to playtest it. I like the mix of melee and spells all centered around a single concept. The curse folds in well for roleplaying (I took the speech curse, and will be speaking Ignan) challenging, but not detracting from the game itself. Moving the bonus spells down two levels would be fine , but I like the spell progression, I dont think it will be an issue.