Jail House Rock's page

Actually think EN World now has better layout and user-flow than paizo.com. I used to think the opposite!

Bring back the old interface(s) please.

http://www.enworld.org

I had this dream last night about USA government supers fighting Vietcong government supers during the Vietnam War. I believe it was using Savage Worlds. I have no idea if I want to do something with it.

This is a great idea. I'm going to write up a short story and then copyright it. Do you have any other ideas?

I gathered this from the Chicago Tribune:New 'Star Wars' lightsabers have some technical problems, experts say

Jesse Kulla is an instructor with the Chicago Swordplay Guild in Ravenswood, a group of fencers who teach "Game of Thrones" nerds like me and my friend Old School how to properly handle swords in theatrical combat. "The biggest problem with it is when you're swinging the sword around is you have the tendency to actually touch that part of the sword (the cross-guard)," Kulla said. "And when you make some of those bigger swinging motions with a metal sword and a cross-guard brushes against you, it really doesn't matter … when you're doing some of those fancy moves, that cross-guard is going to come back against the arm of the person using it."

Maybe Midi-chlorians prevent loss-of-arms?

This is good evidence a cross-guard on a light saber is a poor choice.

Watching the 2013 America Finals it struck me having a cross-guard makes binding easier, and transferring into jiu jistu, rolling on the ground situations more likely. Rolling around with a light saber seems more accident prone than not especially when you have laser cutting cross-guards.

Jail House Rock wrote:

Steve Geddes wrote:

The odds are identical for all players.

Perhaps one way to understand it is to play without looking at your draw. Everyone draws a straw in any old order, then simultaneously look at what they've picked - there's no advantage there whether you happened to be first, last or anything in between.

Not sure this sheds new light as the drawing sequence is the same as before. The guy picking last still appears to have the advantage of the situation, even if everyone waits till the end before looking.

Nope. Imagine there are four players:

Player one gets the short straw 1/4 of the time.

Player two only gets the short straw if P1 didn't AND if P2 chooses the short straw out of the remaining three. The probability of two events occurring in this situation is the probability of the first multiplied by the probability of the second.
This chance is 3/4 (chance of the first player drawing a long straw) x 1/3 (chance of the second player drawing the short straw given that P1 didn't)= 3/12 = 1/4

Player three gets the short straw if P1 didn't take it (out of the initial four straws), P2 didn't take it (out of the remaining three straws) and then P3 chooses it out of the remaining two. This chance is 3/4 x 2/3 x 1/2 = 6/24 = 1/4

Player four gets the short straw if P1, P2 and P3 all avoided it. This chance is 3/4 x2/3 x 1/2 = 6/24 = 1/4

The same calculations hold true for any number of players - it just takes longer. I suspect you're thinking of it as "the player at the end of the queue has more and more chances for someone else to get it" this is balanced out perfectly by the fact that the players at the end of the queue are choosing from far fewer straws. Thus, if nobody has picked it they are at ever increasing risk of being the loser.

Hey, this makes sense. I think you have done it.

The odds are identical for all players.

Perhaps one way to understand it is to play without looking at your draw. Everyone draws a straw in any old order, then simultaneously look at what they've picked - there's no advantage there whether you happened to be first, last or anything in between.

Not sure this sheds new light as the drawing sequence is the same as before. The guy picking last still appears to have the advantage of the situation, even if everyone waits till the end before looking.

Jail House Rock wrote:

BigNorseWolf wrote:

LazarX wrote:

At that point I use my leverage to get your fingers chopped off by your own crossguard. The thing is crossguards weren't monofilament daggers that could effortless go through the hands gripping the hilt, they were solid round pieces simply designed to stop a blade.

That doesn't make any sense. The fingers are in a fixed position relative to the crossguard no matter how you try to turn it.

But what about your forearms if you spin it really fast, like Jedi's do.

I can do that with a claymore without hitting myself, and I'm a clutz.

Are you saying you can stand there all alone and do this? Or are you saying you do this when an enemy is pressuring you with trying to chop your head off? Because those situations are drastically different.

Crayon wrote:

It shouldn't matter. The first person drawing does, in theory, have less chance of drawing the short straw

No. the odds are the same.

Maybe and maybe not. It seems the guy going last always has best chance of winning.

The 2014 Longsword Finals make the cross-guard look too dangerous to the sword owner.

2014 Longsword Finals in New York.

Bokken vs. Longsword

It appears having the cross-guard is unnecessary, and because of the power of light sabers the cross-guard may pose a stronger risk to the wielder's own arms, as he spins the sword, than any defensive bonus they offer.

LazarX wrote:

At that point I use my leverage to get your fingers chopped off by your own crossguard. The thing is crossguards weren't monofilament daggers that could effortless go through the hands gripping the hilt, they were solid round pieces simply designed to stop a blade.

That doesn't make any sense. The fingers are in a fixed position relative to the crossguard no matter how you try to turn it.

But what about your forearms if you spin it really fast, like Jedi's do.

Mattastrophic wrote:

I would say that the whole cross-guard thing takes away from the original concept of lightsabers as an homage to the katana. A cross-guard seems very Western and out of place.

-Matt

So wait, not only accross an entire planet but accross an entire GALAXY there's only one design for a light saber?

No way. that thing looked awesome. If only western sword fighting styles get some love... (though i think count douku was getting some fencing on)

Well, we have to remember Lucas captured the Star Wars idea from a Japanese move. I think it was called The Hidden Fortress, or something like that. So, the asian influence on the original movies is strong. But, other influence can be inferred, like The Force can be viewed as Christianity. With this influence, pulling in western cross-guards makes sense. There could be a whole undiscovered sect of Jedi Templar Knights, and they get in fights the asian Jedi Knights. Then the Jedi Jihad Knights get involved, and it becomes a giant battle of light sabre designs.

The odds are the same either way, 1 in x number of whatevers. Go first and get it over with.

I would go last. Because by that time the short straw is already gone.

Jail House Rock wrote:

Are we only talking about net worth?

What else?

I mean you could make a lot of cash but spend it right away so you don't end up owning anything, but you spent over a million dollars a day.

Are we only talking about net worth?

MMCJawa wrote:

Guys, can we dial back the edition warring, and accept that some people actually like 3E and Pathfinder, just like some people actually like 5E, 4E, 2E, 1E, etc.

Right now we are flying towards a thread lock...

I second that opinion.

And I do like them all but liking something and having it be marketable are two things that don't always run together.

<tangent>
I have a friend who's been writing since we were in grade school. He's written more, as a kid, than many a "best selling" author I'm sure. But I would gamble a whole lot of money that he won't ever hit the big time as an author. His style is too quirky.
</tangent>

Pulling this together. 4E was too quirky to sustain a long term ROI.

That's exactly what Quark Blast is trying to do -- get this thread locked.

EDIT: I have flagged him.

Yes, I agree a new version is already being designed by Paizo Publishing. They are good at this.

The new Pathfinder 2e rules will also be designed to attract new players. In order for the industry to grow, it has to attract new players.
So, this will be *one* of the design goals of Pathfinder 2e among many.

Anguish wrote:

Hiram_McDaniels wrote:

That chassis is a clunky old beater and it needs to be retired.

That chassis is a reliable and adaptable platform and it needs to be preserved.

See? It's easy to just say things and pretend their true, or at least universally true. The only word in your post that is factually accurate is "old". If old is a bad thing, feel free to let us know when you're done digging the new Grand Canyon, then we'll look at a new PF edition.

The 3E system is an unwieldy, bureaucratic mess that punishes newer and more casual gamers, and rewards obsessive, antisocial deckbuilders...by design. This is why my group(s) are happily dropping PF in favor of D&D 5E, and we're not the only ones.

It's not that 3E/PF is "old" exactly, it's that the game is getting obsolete. Bloated, rules-heavy games are a relic of the 90's. People want fast, streamlined and user-friendly rules rather than burying themselves in esoteric minutiae (and let me cut off your inevitable 4E comparison right here; 4E is by no means a "rules lite" game; it merely took much of 3E's complexity and moved it somewhere else). What Pathfinder needs, is a revision to take it into the direction of the beginner's box while fixing 3E's problems, which have been well documented at this point.

Let's not look to the past, let us look to the future.

jorunkun wrote:

Well - what I'd like to see is a cleaned-up core rules book. Reduce complexity, cut bloat, add the most popular options from later books. A sort of compendium / best-of approach.

Would buy. :)

The new Pathfinder 2e rules will also be designed to attract new players. In order for the industry to grow it has to attract new players.

So, this will be *one* of the design goals of Pathfinder 2e.

SIGH

So I repeat - Isn't that what Piazo did here (UNCHAINED) ?
Just what you want, right? A good way to introduce new players.

No. "Unchained" is paizo testing the water with a not-backward-compatible rules system before deciding to publish the new Pathfinder 2e. If it catches on, they'll begin targeting content to that not-backward-compatible rules system. See what they did there?

Thus, it is only a matter of time before Pathfinder 2e is given the green light. Because, as you said, it is a good way to introduce new players to the game -- which is one goal of the new Pathfinder 2e rules.

Coming sooner, rather than later to a retail store near you.

example Bravo:

2. The US Invasion of Afghanistan 2001
Called by retired Lt. General [REDACTED] as the “greatest strategic disaster in United States history", the invasion of Afghanistan continues to be a long, drawn out occupation that has expanded into Pakistan. Started by George W. Bush and continued by President Barack Obama, occupation continues to be about as much fun as paying a guy to kick you in the nads every five minutes....

Example Bravo 2 is solidified.

YES YES YES. It is awesome, but it should be better. Please start a second version and publish it ASAP.

Also, can you break the WotC connection? It seems you have enough proprietary material to let Pathfinder RPG run on its own (and finally bury WotC once and for all.)

Edit: Can a purely Paizo IP version of Pathfinder RPG put WotC down for the count? If so, publish it now.

I would prefer to be Alive as dungeonmaster; and I would like to play D&D 5e with those three guys from USA Top Gear.

example Alpha:

1. Napoleon Invades Russia 1812
Napoleon was a great general, but even a great general has an off day. The little Frenchman must have been really off his nut when he decided to invade Russia in the dead of winter. Although Napoleon took Moscow with many losses, he lost more men on the frozen march back to France. In total, half a million soldiers were killed during the entire debacle and many were forced to eat substandard cheese and wine. Napoleon regretted this and his appearance in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Fortunately, no one would be stupid enough to ever repeat this mistake.

2. Hitler Invades Russia 1941
Adolf Hitler, never a good student of history, decided to exactly what Napoleon did, only more evil. In a plan called Operation Barbarossa, Hitler betrayed his former ally, Stalin, and invaded with 4.5 million troops. Things actually went worse for Hitler, as he attempted to occupy Russia. That was kind of like sending four cops to occupy all of South Central L.A. Overstretched and pounded by winter, the Nazis were killed, captured or routed by the Commies. Hitler and Stalin never spoke again.

example Bravo:

1. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979
Also known as the “Soviet's Vietnam" or the “Big Russian Suck", Leonid Brezhnev got the bright idea to invade Afghanistan one day. After ten years of letting Osama Bin Laden kill their troops, the Russians wised up and left just in time for their entire country to collapse. America won the Cold War shortly thereafter and no one would be stupid enough to ever repeat this mistake again!

2. The US Invasion of Afghanistan 2001
Called by retired Lt. General [REDACTED] as the “greatest strategic disaster in United States history", the invasion of Afghanistan continues to be a long, drawn out occupation that has expanded into Pakistan. Started by George W. Bush and continued by President Barack Obama, occupation continues to be about as much fun as paying a guy to kick you in the nads every five minutes.

(HOWEVER, atleast we got dibs on the Lithium mines. Ha ha Russia.)

The Jade wrote:

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

Reapers are like a drug. For example, my friend Pat has about seventy Reaper minis, all unpainted. But he just keeps on buying more... He doesn't even use the damn things.

I so suffer. Although I've been good of late, I own enough unpainted lead make a bullet that would kill the sun.

Haha.. exactly. After the next war with Mexico (which will be backed by Iran) you can keep your ammo from being confiscated by first casting it as iron miniatures.

"That is not a 15-round clip, Officer, that is a stand from my Reaper miniatures. Here have a Dr. Pepper."

Ya know, 6 years ago, I was completely joking about a war with Mexico and Mexico being backed by Iran. But today, I kinda think that could happen.

Using my Reaper minis, I'm playing out scenarios for this war now.

Jail House Rock wrote:

The Jade wrote:

Truth be told, I'd pay money to game with the Paizo staff.

I am sure you would have to have a lawyer to negotiate copyrights for such a wild romp with the staff. They do this stuff for money.

I on the other hand make money to support my gaming. You are all invited to my compound for a marvelous weekend where all of your wildest dreams will come true!

Reading on, you'll see I suggested a price in the hundreds.

And as for attending one of your compound game tournies... I'd love to, Jail House Rock, but I guess my wildrest dream would be to have you sing the entire campaign in School House Rock parody.

Will we get a commemorative T-shirt?

Yes, a T-shirt is always included. Always.

Let me start off by saying this is one of the Best Threads ever.

-----

Do we have to use them only for animal ancestry?

I've never heard of Cladograms and I'm learning from reading wiki right now. It seems that we can use them to track the way the rules of D&D have evolved too.

( Someone smarter than me must start a new thread and use Cladograms to log the D&D rules' divisions over the last 30 years? )

Here is one.

Hi Kobold Cleaver,

Hey, can I borrow some money from you, like $500, I'll pay you back next week. This is just a short term thing.

I promise to have good excuses if I can't pay you back however, or ever.

Your the best,
<Problem Player>

Again, you seem to be making assumptions based upon what you want to be and not what is. Research mission on the international space station and you will learn that swinging a wrench (with significant mass) in a zero g environment is as lethal as swinging it anywhere else. The lack of a gravitational "pull" (remember gravity isn't a "thing" it is an effect), does not imply that things like mass, and inertia stop being what they are. Objects do not "bounce" around just because there is not a localized field of gravity.

Basically, with no localized gravitational pull (a property of a very large mass) objects will still behave under (for simplicity sake) the three laws of motion.

1 - an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force

2 - the acceleration of a body is proportional to the force applied to it and inversely proportional to its mass

3 - for every action force there is a re action force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction

Your ultracrepidarianism has done you in this time.

Jail House Rock wrote:

Orthos wrote:

Actually those are the same runes on the cover of every book... they're the word "MATRIX", converted into Japanese characters, then mirrored.

No they are not. They are Cantonese and spell out fire.

You don't spell fire. It is a basic pictograph like this:

Huo

That's the exact symbol representing the light radiating from and heat associated with something like a camp fire, or maybe a small bond fire.

Harry's staff uses a sequence of symbols to represent azz-crackling, hyper-energy combat fire. I thought that was obvious.

I'm having coffee with Jim Butcher right now.

Actually those are the same runes on the cover of every book... they're the word "MATRIX", converted into Japanese characters, then mirrored.

No they are not. They are Cantonese and spell out fire.

A nerd with a Staff.

Can someone tell me which book it was when Harry was playing D&D (Arcanos) with the Alphas and made reference to casting a Fire Ball in a dungeon; and made his comment about laws of physics & magic??

Jail House Rock wrote:

ShadowcatX wrote:

Because I prefer imaging science fiction to imaging a religion.

Quote:

You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.

Speaking of religions, you could steal an RPG game and rebrand it as your own.

If you're trying to make a dig at Paizo, I don't appreciate it. Beyond that, I seriously doubt anyone has gotten rich off the RPG business. (And there's no need to add the word game after RPG, just as there's no need to add the word number after PIN.)

I was actually thinking of Hasbro's purchase of WotC and the release of <voldemort>.

And, I for one, am glad you are not a millionaire.

Because I prefer imaging science fiction to imaging a religion.

Quote:

You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.

Speaking of religions, you could steal an RPG game and rebrand it as your own.

My dog peed in your drink.

The offered Queen sacrifice was jaw-dropping awesomeness.

Brass & Steal.

My party was TPKed'ed by a night ambush. Damn. Apparently, the snores of our Paladin were not enough to scare away the wild things in the darkness lusting for our blood. I don't understand the whole, "Ok. We take 2 hour watches" thing. That's dumb, because we get ambushed anyways.

How do you build an encampment Security Program that is understandable by both DM and Party, and is... useful? (let's add in 'fun' too)

CalebTGordan wrote:

Lord Snow wrote:

male stripper.

I am pretty sure that robots can replace that profession. They may even be better at it too.

As a gay guy, I'd have to disagree. Unless they're extremely humanoid, like Arnold in Terminator. Of course that comes with a whole slew of other problems, but yea.

sexy robotz vid:2636845

?v=kUr_gdKQ8j4

WOOOWWW!!! WOOOOT.

Brilliant? Lucky? Pure Pysch-out of opponent?? I'm going with #3.

Perhaps the robots could use him as furniture?

My 12-year-old wants to know what career would prevent him from being replace by a robot.

I'm thinking Game designer.

What is the square root of a $million dollars? Maybe I am that.

EVERYBODY GET NAKED!

3

2

1

!

Here is me on my birthday

birthday

The Shadow Government has not let me.

How many arguments/discussions have you had around the table about America's weakening (failed) middle class, and how many about Jar Jar Binks?

I'm pretty sure the downward spiral of Star Wars and America is linked.
The Shadow Government invented Jar Jar Binks to draw our attention away from wealth redistribution.

Eh? eh? See. That's how the Shadow Government gets you.

(Blanket) 'I don't know. Why?'