Jon O'Guin's page

Well, I guess that as long as everyone else is Christian, I can come out saying I'm Satanist without it being stereotypical. I hate that idea.
The rest of my group is agnostics and atheists, though a few are more toward nondenominational Christianity.

PHB3.5 Pg 155, third paragraph under the picture.
"If you are able to take only a standard action or a move action on you turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of double you speed). You can't use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a standard action or a move option on your turn (such as during a surprise round).
So yeah, that's still viable. I can't wait until my party gets this far. Unfortunately, we only got as far as looting the Blue Nixie before our schedules imploded. ONE DAY!

God, I wish our party had had Krarn...
We had to really get on the Sentinels' good sides in mine. Warlock stabbed a man, and gave no sign of being magical, so when he said he was a talented chef(I love random professions!), they assigned him to the kitchen.
Then the dwarven knight was mining, and when the delver attacked, he yelled at it in Terran, and it fled(Lucky timing, but it impressed the guards, he was assigned to watch the mines, got his gear.)
We got in a brawl with the thugs in the dining hall, luckily the warlock didn't have to do anything obviously magical. No one got sent down to iso, thought the sentinels were a little pissed.
We wound up using Crane's sword when the time came, which made his defeat rather simple. But the fight with the giant was a back-and-forth slugfest that almost killed our knight.
Then Midnight had the uncanny ability to feint our warlock into massive internal hemorrhaging, thogh he pulled through. The old man almost killed us. But all in all, we wished we had had someone to take out that damn giant.

On of my players had a Six-Armed Half-Red Dragon Minotaur Barbarian 2. Total ECL=16. It was fun to watch him use 6 +1 keen adamantine katanas on one guy. He ripped people apart.
Another fun character concept: My 16th level Elf Mystic Theurge. The Dm wasn't quite as bright as me, so I was able to persuade him to allow me to purchase a golden apple of immortality. Using this, I was then able to demonstrate the power of an immortal being to cheaply build a castle (Built by my hands and my magic, over the course of 400 years. Cuts down on labor and materials. All enchantments done by myself.) and gain near-infinite wealth.(For game balance, I actually had very little, as it was all tied up in investments and the upkeep of the world's first hotel/casino. Why else would an immortal being build a castle?)
One character no one in my party can ever forget is the inappropriately named "Lucky", who was the victim of more fumbles, random encounters, and general bad luck than all the other characers I've ever played combined. "I swing at the camel." "Natural 1, fumble roll...You hit Lucky." "WHY!?" "Lucky, as you walk down the city street,(rolls, consults table, sighs) a board falls off a nearby house being constructed and hits you in the head. You're unconscious." All randomly rolled.

I'll support the Midnight campaign setting suggestion. I have often wanted to run it, but as my group tends to play evil characters, placing them in a setting where evil has already succeeded somehow doesn't sound wise...

In all, I think that the integral role magic plays in D&D is hard to remove, and you should try to seek a different setting.

I know bumping doesn't quite work in this setting, but I figured that it's worth a try for this thread...

I feel that at worst the paladin should lecture his comrades on the importance of honoring challenges. The actions of his allies were against a known evil target, and in truth the frenzied berserker had no choice. This was merely fate turning on the evil knight. Though I would have the knight argue with the gnome. The FB has an excuse. The gnome doesn't.

I would like to say that I am currently 18, and have been playing D&D for 7 years. Now, upon seeing the words the OP uses to show the esoteric and confounding vocabulary within the text, I was flabbergasted.
Enough lip. I knew all three of those words, however, I also read books at a speed most people associate with magazines. So I took a quick check on...sigh...MySpace. Of the responders, 5 in total, who were aged between 16 and 18, 4 knew marzipan, 3 knew proboscis, and one knew tureen.
So these aren't exactly the toughest cookies.

As a quick answer to the previous post, you polymorph into a small, weak animal, and then use magic jar to swap souls with a strong opponent, trapping him in your toad body, and now you're the enemies' ex-main fighter. Stab, and attack your foes with their allies. Great assassin technique too.
But, Saern, have you looked at complete mage? They treat his concept with the same efficiency they analyze a blaster mage. A list of spells from 0-9 you should take, feats you should take, feats you should avoid, etc. No, on the downside they focus on he concept of polymorphing into better forms to fight with, but the concept's the same. If Wizard w/ bull's strength, mage armor, and scythe=good, then OGRE w/ bull's strength, mage armor, and scythe=better.

I can see how the character justified his choice. I think he should have paid more of the raise cost, as it was his decision, but he accepted the deaths of his friends, which to his level is really a temporary problem, and resisted empowering an evil foe. The only real thing i would have asked of him is that he had tried to stop the slayings. Perhaps assaulting the rogue when he tries to coup de grace, but really, he did what he thought was necessary. Even ignoring the question of trusting a goblin, he was willing to make sacrifices to stop evil. not good's self-sacrifice, but sacrifices none the less.
Uncomprimising, but willing to make sacrifices=LN.

Or, if you want to take the character down, have a wolf investigate the ogres' scent, and find a tasty elf.
The elf will take the wolf down, but now the ogres know where he is, at least generally.

I'm not familiar with Dallah Thaun- can you post a little more info?

In Races of the Wild, it discusses how Yondalla made halflings by stealing small portions of the other races(orc's bravery, elves'free spirits and grace,etc.) The other gods became quite upset and forced her to 'exorcise' her wicked. thieving side. Thus Dallah Thaun was born from Yondalla's darkness. CN Goddess of Luck and Trickery.

Kansas City Shuffle. One of my favorite movie bits of all time.
And, to pretend I had a point: No DR does not help against vicious.

No, I haven't seen that one.
Though thinking about it I remembered the guy from The Brothers Grimm who clearly threw a +1 returning hand-axe.
But I want to say whatever movie it was in, the people wound up trapping it somehow, like a chest or something.

Some low-key, but very menacing actions:

Holding bloody falchion, tip down in one hand, troll points at PC.

Man starts chuckling with his mouth closed (try it), and progressively gets slighlty out of control, until he is laughing, coughing and growling at the same time, then stops suddenly.

"Duty is heavy as a mountain, death as light as a feather."

Adapted from Godfather the game:
(softly) There are people in this world who go about demanding to be killed. You must have noticed them. They quarrel in gambling games. They humiliate and bully people whose capabilities they do not know. These are people who wander through the world shouting, "kill me". I have heard you, and I will oblige you.

Almost any threat, when whispered into an enemy's ear, takes on a sudden depth.

(holds out blade)Consider this: A fine piece of craftsmenship that took many days of labor to create. Every line, every groove speaks of the dedication of its maker. It is a work of art, devised to end life in the most expedient way possible. Even when it kills, it is beauty. The blood flows on it, following grooves and making striking patterns. However, you will not see that.

I don't remember what it was, but I know I saw a movie in which a thrown ax or sword tried to hunt down the people in the room in was thrown into. That is almost exactly how I see the Bloodstorm thing going down.

However, the end is still a concern for the paladin. I would suggest having the paladin go off and try to convince some powerful forces of good to help while the rest of the party tried the demon princes, and then not ask them who they got to help them. This would in no way violate a paladin's oath.
I got the idea from a bbook, where a race of people was incapable of causing others harm, and grew slightly ill even considering the idea. They helped in a war by carrying sealed envelopes to various people, while refusing to hear what they contained, so they would be able to deliver battle plans.

and the Meravanchis.

Damn,I don't know what this guy's problem is! (One of my players, upon seeing a picture of Vanthus, said he wanted to look like 'that guy'. He also wanted to have a small noble house... on Parrot Island. Now, I was considering removing the Meravanchis to put him there...)

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

my groups know that anyone with that profession HAS to be of evil alignment though, so he woud be attacked on principle by the good clerics....

That could make sailing anywhere difficult, needing the profession(sailor) skill to operate a boat.

Have faith my young apprentice. The gods weave as the gods will. Other generic fantasy rips. God will watch out for them.

Something I would like to point out: while sentient, in most cases an elemental can be considered sociopathic at best. The purpose of a fire elemental's existence is to burn. It doesn't care what it burns, so long as it burns. With proper application, it will burn things in a constructive and useful manner, but it can just as easily burn down an orphanage. This is the most drastic example, but at no point does any book say elementals care about humanity.
And, while I may be wrong, I thought what drove Rabbi Loew's golem berserk was trying to understand and mimic humans.
And the Eberron issue has an interesting background. Elemental binding was first discovered by giants, the same race that sacrificed elven slaves to gain power, and considered wreaking a cataclysm upon Eberron to preserve their civilization. The only thing that stopped them was the dragons burning down their cities to prevent it. Then, it was used by the drow, stolen from them by the gnomes, and was then used to construct weapons of war for profit. The history alone, if known by anyone, would spark several riots. However, as I pointed out earlier, most elementals aren't exactly friendly, and wouldn't exactly thank any saviors who freed them, unless by "thank" we mean "show them the glory of pure flame".
A fitting example is in Howl's Moving Castle. The castle is powered by a "fire demon" called Calcifer, who plays a form of comic relief, constantly complaining about his use as little better than a steam engine, then later in the movie, when asked to save the breaking castle, he says he needs something of the girl's. She gives him her hair, and he then grows 3 times his original size. When she compliments his new strength, his response is: "Imagine what I could have done with your eyes, or even your heart!" He is driven to make deals by his nature, which sufficently alien to our own as to render questions of morality moot, as I feel they do with elementals.
Now, making a deal with an elemental to power a construct I feel would not be an evil act, forcing one to might be.

I'd even debated (for my own campaign) having Demogorgon be a Lord of Dust, and his twinned personalities being the result of his being inhabited by an extremely powerful spirit from Dal Quor. Of course, there's no telling at this moment if this would make any sense in the campaign as written, but I'm optimistic.

I had the same idea, except split in two.(Demogorgon Lord of Dust, then a different campaign featuring a daelkyr inhabited by a Quori) My thoughts on a new Demogorgon concept for eberron emphasized his insanity and connection with savagery(sp?): A Kraken whose two longest tentacles end in a giant tiger's head and a giant wolf's head, who constantly attck each other. Their only known case of unity was during the Demon Wars, where many dragons were afraid to fly across the ocean, because he would drag them to the depths. Since his imprisionment, the two heads have blamed each other for their current problems.

Fatespinner wrote:

Monks cross-classed with just about any arcane spellcasting class make for a really nasty combination, imo.

Do most of you all use house rules with regard to Monks.

I ask because they have some pretty clear rules about multiclassing.

I'm going for Arcane Fist, a monk/arcane PrC from Complete Arcane, that allows you to multiclass with arcane. (You take monk levels first, then arcane, then Arcane Fist, round out with a little more monk & arcane)

Monks cross-classed with just about any arcane spellcasting class make for a really nasty combination, imo. Wizards who can lay the smackdown in melee? Hell yeah. Tenser's Transformation and flurry of blows?!? OH NO!

Heck, just first level spells that are insane with monks:

I think it would be a good fit. Especially a warblade. (note: Warblades = master combatants who care solely for glory.)
"I don't think I'm interested."
"You would be renowned as the man who slew Demogorgon..."
"TO THE ABYSS, MEN!!! CAPS FOR ALL!!";)

c) This is completely wrong: ...and did 96 damage to the receiving slaughter wight and 8 damage to the thrown(I believed him when he said it'd be the weight of the thrown subject plus strength modifier and whatever it was for the thrown subject). It makes no sense at all. At best, throwing someone is a large improvised object-- you're talking a d6+Str, maybe. (See the equipment chapter of the PHB.)

If what he's saying was the case, tossing a gallon of milk at someone (8 lbs), would kill any commoner, most rogues, rangers, and the like.

It...

I agree that the damage is absurdly high, but I would also say that the weight of the object has an effect on the damage. Not to the extent he suggested, but at least a d10+Str mod. I think dragon had an article that discussed this a while back, as part of a "cinematic" action piece.

Yes! Thank you.

since the rest of the group are all playing LA 1 races, they're all level 2 characters)

Plus, if I'm reading the OP right, we're talking about a difference of one level here. Not likely to set the world on fire.

Actually, they're ECL 1 from what I've been reading. Meaning level+LA=1, so they aren't LA +1, they're just first level characters.

I'm pretty sure they pull the iconics from their playtest group for the AP. So whatever they play is what will show up.

Livewood is an especially vivacious wood that remains alive after being cut down, it just grows veeeeeerrrry slowly. In all ways it is treated as being a live tree still. In the Eberron campaign setting, it even mentions the possibility of a dryad being bound to a ship or chair or house made from her tree.

Where everyone talked about how they depicted what happened if the Champion's Games went wrong?
I looked through these threads but didn't see it.

Razz,
When you add class levels to a monster, you have to know if the class is associated or non-associated to find the new CR.
e.g: Hill Giant barbarian, much more difficult than normal Hill Giant, associated. Hill Giant Wizard, not that much better, non-associated.

I think the key at this point is that I must convince my DM that negative and positive energy are neutral.

You could bring up the fact that a creature that stays too long on the Positive Energy Plane explodes. (Too many temporary hit points for its meager frame.) Same thing happens to undead in the Neg Plane, I think.

My idea was to have Demogorgon be a rajah.
(Cheesy name alert) Demog-Orgon looks like a giant kraken, but the two large tentacles end in heads, One a wolf, the other a lion. Bound in an extradimensional space at the bottom of the Dark Sea.

Black John Kidd
Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!
Aye, Avast!
(Uncomfortable silence)
Just gi' me the loot!

My party killed him through trickery.
We had activated the zombies at the dinner table, so when we saw him our party's LIAR said: " Wait, are you Filge? We're from the Guild of Wizardry, we were sent to ask you to come back."
Bluff check succeeds, but still suspicious. Party's mage rattles off complex magic formulae to convince him. Success.
He follows us down to his room, we talk and find out all the interrogation info.(Subtle prodding from liar)
As we step outside, liar points, "What is that?!"
Filge turns, fighter's hammer takes him in back of head, game, set, match.

At the Grimlock Archer Section of 3FoE, the dragonwrought kobold had leaped out to fight the archers, everyone used the following lines:
(Barbarian): I walk down the tunnel.
(Fighter): I walk down the tunnel.
(Rogue): I walk down the tunnel.
(Druid): I walk down the tunnel.
(Cleric): I wait for him to lose, and fall, then I'll heal him.
(Kobold): Why is heroism always rewarded by desertion?
Earlier
(Rogue): Our heroism is based solely on lies and murder!

Tysdaddy wrote:

I had a player who liked to animate anything he came across. The best was when he tried to animate a keg. He wanted it to walk around behind his character and provide needed sustenance. I gave him a blank stare, waited a beat, and moved on. It was a classic moment.

What is wrong with this? Maestro, I say right on!

no, but seriously, why shouldn't this work?

My first thought is the lack of anything that resembles legs.

Demons so powerful that they can smite balors to dust, and bring cities to ruin.
And are more threatening than Demogorgon.
Seriously, In the Fiendish Codex, Big D is CR 23; and in the Fiend Folio, a Klurichir is CR 25.
But, in a table listing demons by CR in the back of the Codex, a Klurichir is CR 15.
So is the Fiend Folio wrong, or is the Fiendish Codex?

Does anyone know which Dragon's Class Acts had the Sidewinder Monk? Want to make NPC Rogue/Sidewinder/Invisible Blade called "Viper".

I had a similar idea, but my system was slightly different.
I took the spell-like abilities of Aberrent Dragonmark and turned them into 'trees' like the normal 'mark system, but with higher powered spells, and had the bearers drain either Wisdom or Con to access top powers. (1 drain of Wis per mark per mark (-1 for aberrent, -2 for 'lesser Khyber mark'aka twisted, -3 for 'greater Khyber mark' aka warped, and -4 for 'Siberys Khyber mark' aka Abomination, for a total of -10 Wis or -2 Con per mark)
For example, I had Burning Hands-Fireball-Inferno-Follow The Flame (Rokugan, you control all fire spells that pass within 100' of you, can change targets, direction, and various other characteristics)

Brothers! Harken to my words! Let us take a pancake, dip it in the batter of egg and vanilla and spice, and lay it within the waffle iron! And lo, the Beast is cometh: French Pannaffle, with a flavor that will force kings to their knees, and cause cities to crumble.
However, it would need bacon and OJ to be truly complete. That's OJ Simpson, which is another recipe entirely.

K wrote:

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:

K wrote:

Here is the Necromancer Handbook that I wrote. It should have everything you'll ever need.

I found your line that 'the Mystic Thuerge is a dog with fleas' interesting. I take it you don't like that class.

Considering the profound lack of synergy between arcane and divine magic, and the fact that being a MT means that other people have cohorts who are better than you.....yeh, it bites.

And the greatest irony is that everyone thinks the class is overpowered and for munchkins only.

I completely agree. The MT is not a good prestige class.

I am plotting your demise as we speak, with the help of both commune and greater scrying. I also plan to have several ironic cleric/wizard spell combos ready.;) Although, my char is pretty much known solely as 'the spell guy' and the other party members only have a druid for magic. The rest of the party is mucle and cunning. The half-dragon minotaur serves only as a wall of flesh between me and pain. Although the amount of party healing I have to do because he wants to play 'got your FACE' is cutting into my ultimate power.

I seem to recall at several points in various adventures that Dungeon said time really wasn't an issue for The AoW and that the players could take breaks.

My group JUST finished Whispering Cairn,and consists of:
A doppelganger (level 3), working to full 'ganger abilities.
A War Troll (Level 3), the brute worker, founded nickname of next char.
"Rat Thing" Dragonwrought Kobold Monk 2/Sorc 1 (I love being Crazy)
A Tibbet(were-cat, basically) Druid/Urban Druid (Cities+Trees=Good?)
A human spellthief 3, (if he ever really does anything except know stuff, the others will have a collective heart attack.)
Two chars want to join:
Half-Ogre Barbarian 1 (wants to become frenzied berserker)
Human Psion 3 (Am trying to sway to become unbodied instead to help 'the party's diversity')

In maybe a more helpful statement, Dragon released a pair of articles just at the start of 3.5 detailing "paladins" for every alignment. Something like #310 and 312. I think.

[A prime example is Lawful Good; I know/have known many people who, I believe, would fit this category...modest, humble, selfless people who give their time, effort and money to help complete strangers with no thought of reward. In other words, people far better than me (I make no such claims for myself). Yet, I invariably encounter DMs/players, who INSIST that a LG character (especially a paladin) HAS to be played as a loud-mouthed, opinionated, obnoxious, racist, religious bigot, slapping peasants who fail to grovel to his divine radiance... etc. Any attempt to play other than this frankly, childish stereotype is met with railroading, punishments and sarcasm.

The character will be faced with sneering NPCs, humiliating 'accidents', and lose/lose scenarios, such as the 'evil prisoners' dilemma (kill them, and you LOSE YOUR POWERS, SUCKER!!!; let them live and they escape to do more evil....and you LOSE YOUR POWERS, SUCKER!!!!).

I would like to say that whoever forced that opinion forth really should have thought more carefully. As you said it's a childish, unrealistic view of an alignment. Also, the punishment involving the above situation should only be placed, at least to me, if the character didn't think about his actions before killing the prisoners. (I would never actually penalize a person for mercy. It may come back to bite them, or it may aid them, but mercy in and of itself is always a good act.)

Personally, I had nothing behind it, but that was because the kobold monk in the party had already envisioned an underground complex spreading out from under the building to serve as a sanctuary and training ground. He's going to be pissed when the town gets destroyed

In regards to the recharging problem, just have it also function as a rod of absorbtion-esque item, and have it gain back charges based on the levels of spells it absorbs. Obviously not 1-for-1, probably something like 8 or 9-for-1.

Tambryn wrote:

I would adjust the breeding cycle of the giant vermin to make it more mammalesque. If the giant version of the vermin reproduced at the same rate as their small counterparts, I would worry about armies of giant ants setting up new anthills in civilized lands and quickly overrunning the countryside.

Tam

I agree, maybe as a side-effect of the Gods intervention to give them an intelligence.

That vaguely reminds me of a race from the works of Raymond E. Feist. Though I can't remember their name, the basic theme was intelligent ants/praying mantises who hired themselves out to fight in human wars. They also were the only source of silk in that setting, and were therefore a powerful force. However, due to a pact they had been forced to make years ago, they could not breed their mages, and could not invade men's lands. They had to follow the pact because once these people made an agreement, they could not back out. The result would be total and complete mental breakdown of the hive.(This was I presume, a part of Ant's inability to work without a queen. Imagine if an uber-lawful npc was forced to break not only the law, but his own code.) Also, they didn't care for the wealth they obtained, because they had no need for it. Money was useful for obtaining food, but there was little point to it beyond that.

What does the criminal codes (or equivalent) say about the varous forms of magic-use in different countrys?

So far as I know something as basic as whether casting Charm Person is a crime is rarely covered - and if it is covered and it is a crime then its often not explained what the punishment for the crime is. I guess what I'm saying is that I have yet to really see a world were all the ramifications of magic are truely covered well, I'll give kudo's to Eberron for at least attempting to address the subject.

Now, I don't know if Jeremy is referencing this, but Eberron actually does have laws regarding magic use.

On another note, a quick glance reveals that Jaela Daren is actually only 11, and maintains her power throughout the capital city.