Lady Firedove's page

Hi, all! Thanks for the birthday wishes. Yes, I still exist, just haven't been on the forums in quite a while. Also, Happy Birthday, Captain Y! 'Tis a good day. Except that I still can't download my new Starfinder PDF on my iPad even though I have GoodReader. Not sure what's up with that. Anyway, warm greetings to those of you I remember fondly and cheerful greetings to those of you I haven't met yet. Have fun with the riddles and aliases and shades of grey. Peace! :)

@Klara re. Classes:
I often play casters, but not always.
Currently I'm playing a vigilante, fighter, & druid trio of PC characters.
I fairly recently played an inquisitor & alchemist pair of characters.
I've solo PC played a paladin dragonslayer, a psion shapeshifter, an archaeologist bard, a bard/rogue gestalt, a sorceress/monk succabus, and several others, if I recall correctly.
Good times! :)

A few more points:

If you're playing a one PC game, give the PC a 25pt buy or higher ability score spread, with no stat below 10... For a standard AP or module, in a party of one, you have to handle all the key roles yourself. You can't afford a dump stat. (...another reason extra skill points are invaluable...)

Magic like charm, suggestion, invisibility, etc. can also be used to bypass combats.

Most of the time we play standard fantasy adventure stories. Sometimes we play science fiction adventure stories. However, when our four-year-old son is involved, we play Bolt puppy adventures, or Cars car races, or Mario/Bowser/Princess Peach stories. Very few dice rolls or combats are involved. Recently, Mario taught Bad Bowser how to be Nice Bowser, and he joined Mario and Princess Peach on a picnic with cupcakes. RPGing can stretch across generations in delightful ways. :)

@Sage re. Dice Substitution Method: Great minds... :)

That is an interesting perspective on the game. I can certainly see how it would influence the design decisions-combats would be a lot more one-sided, for one.

What sort of stories do you usually tell? Since there is only one PC, I imagine they would be quite different from the ones seen in Adventure Paths and such.

Not as different as you might think. About half the time we run adventure paths or modules, and the other half we invent original stories. About 3/4 of the time Tac is GM, and about 1/4 of the time I am (usually during the summer when I have more prep time).

When we run preprinted APs or modules, Tac as GM might cut a few enemies or entire combats, but more often he gives my character (or characters if I run more than one) additional abilities (feats, skill points, spells per day, etc.) to help make the challenges surmountable. Also, I often like to make characters big on diplomacy and/or bluff who can talk their way out of what would otherwise be combat situations. And, yes, we do a lot of talking in character. Sometimes entire enthralling game sessions pass with nothing but talking in character. It's fun! :)

Tac says he just posted in this thread, so he probably ninja'd me on several points.
I'll stop there.

When playing in the car, whichever of us is not driving, whether GM or player, usually keeps the folder of character sheets, maps, and other pertinent info handy, though we do tend to memorize our most commonly used modifiers so we don't have to check them too often.
As for combat, even when we play at home, we don't generally use a tactical map. That's just us. For me, the story, characters, and conversations are the most interesting parts of gameplay, so we try to speed up combat, whether at home or on the car. It helps to have an experienced and fair GM who can clearly communicate, improvise, guesstimate, and wing it a bit, and a player or players who are willing to trust the GM and accept his or her rulings as to what is or is not possible.
So, for example, when my character is traveling in the forest, Tac might ask for a d20 roll for my perception check, and we get a number based on the system I described in my previous post, then add my modifier. Based on the result, Tac will decide whether I notice the two Bugbears hiding in the bushes, ready to atttack me. If I do, we roll initiative. If not, they get a surprise round to attack, then we roll initiative. Either way, when it's my turn, I just ask Tac how far away they are from me, he makes up a distance, and I choose my action accordingly.
Whoever is not driving keeps track of hp damage on both PC and enemies.
It works well for us. :)

Hi, Klara. Wife of Tacticslion here.
I haven't been on these boards for a while (busy life!) but Tac is driving and we wanted to answer your question.
Want to play your favorite RPG in the car where dice are impractical?
Try our dice-less RPG system!
It might seem confusing or complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's simple and fun!
It requires the player(s) to trust the GM ... but that should be true anyway.
For whatever needs rolling, whether PC, NPC, or enemy, the GM says "Give me a d20" (or d6 or whatever) as the GM simultaneously mentally picks a number 1-20 (or 1-6 or whatever), let's say, for example, the number three.
The player chooses a number out loud from 1-20 (or 1-6 or whatever), let's say
"Six!"
The GM then adds three and six to get a total of nine for that d20 roll.
Easy, right? And random because neither player nor GM knows what number the other will pick.
Now, wait, you may say, what happens if the numbers total more than twenty?
Simple. It 'wraps around.'
For example, say the GM asks for a d20 and thinks of the number ten. Then the player chooses the number thirteen. The total is twenty-three, which is the same as a dice roll of three.
Is that clear?
We have various tricks for simplifying gameplay for car rides, but that's probably the most significant.
Game on! :)

Whoa! I just saw this in my e-mail. I almost missed it since this is such a crazy-busy time of year for us Florida teachers who have just started up our classes again and are trying to get everything going well. With the RPGSS schedule shift and the short notice, I doubt I'll be able to enter this year. I don't have much extra head space right now. However, I love the contest, I love seeing all the familiar friendly avatars posting here, I like most of the contest rule changes, and I'm looking forward to cheering everyone on when I have the time. I encourage anyone who's uncertain to give it a try. Go, RPGSS! :)

Which particular gaming sessions or moments stand out in your mind as some of the most fun, and why?

So, does that make them part of canon now? :)

Lady Firedove wrote:

Trinam wrote:

I'm just still kind of amazed that people still remembered me after what, two years?

You start a meme one time and suddenly it's with you forever.

Hi! I'm honored to meet you.

I've heard so much about you and your am barbarian-y ways! :)

OH GOD, PEOPLE HAVE HEARD OF ME!!

Erm--i mean, hi! I hope the reality doesn't harm the legend.

LOL

I'm Tac's wife.

Am Barbarian and Am Whateverelse are recurring jokes for us in life. :)

I'm just still kind of amazed that people still remembered me after what, two years?

You start a meme one time and suddenly it's with you forever.

Hi! I'm honored to meet you.

In general, I love Disney movies!
I'm especially a fan of the Hunchback/Lion King/Aladdin era.
Gambitbear, I honestly think you might be pleasantly surprised if you ever get to see Maleficent. I liked it a whole lot, which was a whole lot more than I was expecting to like it. The movie (and morals) are good enough that you might be glad you gave it a chance.

You totally threw me with that avatar pic. I was reading your post thinking, what the heck, my hubby never works Saturday nights. :)

SomethingsomethingCaracal wrote:

Also happy Meowthers Day Lady Firedove:-)

+1

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Huzzah!

I don't know what you guys are talking ab... Squirrel!

Tacticslion wrote:

Orthos wrote:

Congratz =) So you're a Completionist type, huh?

NO.

...

...

...

... yes.

I married one of those.

*States the Obvious* Me, too! :)

... There.

We're friendly. We won't bite. :)

Odd useless observation for tonight:

Of the six members of your squad in Mass Effect 1 (each corresponding to one of the six character classes), the three female characters are all specialists (Ashley: Soldier (combat); Liara: Adept (biotics); and Tali: Engineer (tech)), while the three male characters are all hybrid classes (Kaidan: Sentinel (biotics/tech); Wrex: Vanguard (biotics/combat); and Garrus: Infiltrator (tech/combat)).

You know, I think I remember noticing that, too...and also being kind of annoyed because I wanted to put the guy characters in my party to see the romance dialogue options, but they were never as good at doing stuff as the specialist girls would be.

Of course, I could be remembering that wrong. It was back when the game was pretty new, I think...

Giving tacos to our 6-month-old wouldn't have been a good idea either.

:)

Also... babies have tiny toes. :)

Now is the time to order pizza.

Giving Pizza to our 6-month-old wouldn't have been a good idea...

*Walks in wearing a powersuit*

Ahem. Mr... *looks at clipboard* Tacticslion, is it? Yes, yes. My client-of whom I am a clone of in case this sort of... situation ever were to arise, has been driven insane.

The cause of the insanity is that when she sat down to GM a PFS table, a player walked in and via RAW shenanigans and bribing the VC with a plethora of cookies, triple wielded Bowchucks, Chucknorrischucks, and Scythechucks. Yo. After trying to visualize how such a thing was even possible, her mind broke down.

As you are the original creator of these Lovecraftian horrors strange weapons, I am suing you on her behalf for... *checks clipboard* Favorites. And lots of them.

Yes! You can join the club! Doom is definitely a cunning plan!

And, also...

I had a hamster once. Named it Timothy. Man, I'd totally forgotten about that by now. Thing kept biting me. Fun times.

0.o

We named our baby after a mean hampster I never knew you had?
Go figure...

You do know Strategytiger isn't his real name, it's thegreengorgegamer :-)

I actually thought it was thegreenteagamer ... and, yes, but I figure, in this thread, his VP name is Strategytiger. :)

See now I am wondering what is wrong with my posts that Tacticslion does not favorite. I mean the bar seems so low...are they that bad?

As best I can tell, he favorites things he reads that make him laugh, that he agrees with, or that he disagrees with but thinks are particularly well-argued nonetheless.

However, if he's reading a thread while holding the baby in one arm and the bottle in the other, he might not favorite your post simply due to the difficulty of doing so, so don't feel bad if you think you've been overlooked. ;)

Basically, Tac likes a lot of people and ideas and enthusiastically supports all those people and ideas he likes. And, I don't just mean here on the boards. This is true to the extent that my filmmaker brother, when inventing several spoof superheroes, was inspired by Tac to design the amazing Positive-Reinforcement Man! :)

(Sadly, that footage is not available online, as the project was not completed ... but the idea fits perfectly with the premise of this thread, no?)

Personally, I'm blessed/lucky/thrilled to have such a supportive hubby, and I'm glad so many online friends can enjoy his support and positive reinforcement as well. :)

So, wait. Wait. Hold on, TL... Seriously, is that your IRL wife then?

My bad, Lady. I meant he favorites so much stuff, he can't be real picky with, you know, stuff he favorites.

I can see how that might be a zing at you if you're the Lion's...you know...lioness.

Although if that's the case, how you're not Tacticslioness is beyond me.

LOL! No worries, Strategytiger. You're cool. :)

Yes, He-Who-Favorites-Many-Things and I are married IRL.
(When you proclaimed me First Lady Firedove, I figured you knew.)
We're coming up on ten years in June, and we've got two little lion cubs (or maybe dovelings?) to show for it.
Hey, the family that plays together...

As for the name, I started posting here in 2011, well after we were married in 2005, but I brought the screen name with me from some other old online sites, like Livejournal, I think, and I honestly never thought about renaming myself Tacticslioness ... although, that could make a fun alias...

Well, I suppose being Joe Biden is better than being Bob from Fight Club.

Tacticslion 2016! Strategytiger the useless do nothing VP! With Secretary of State Gambitbear. Leroyjenkinsbat clearly the obvious Secretary of Defense, because if he wants to burn all the things, he fits the job (it worked for Rumsfeld). Sign up now for your cabinet positions!

You may be wondering how I can just make these declarations without consulting TL. It worked for Cheney...

EDIT -
Dare I say it...First Lady Firedove? (I'm still not convinced "fire" is a tactic synonym, but He Who Liketh All gave you the okay.

...and we all know how picky he is. Booya! Zinged the man!)

I feel zinged ... but I'm over it already b/c being First Lady Firedove is so awesome. :)

How goes the chef campaign?

Quite well! Thanks for asking!

Feel free to read along, if you're interested. :)

Leeroyjenkinsbat wrote:

TACTICSLION FOR PRESIDENT 2016!!!!!!!!!!!

That... that would likely end in fire. For everyone.

*Gasp!*

What a cunning plan!

(You'd definitely galvanize the goblinoid, fiend, and adventurer demographics!)

Lady Firedove wrote:

Tacticslion wrote:

No, I don't favorite everything. I favorite lots of things! That's a BIG difference! There's a lot more to "everything" than there is to "lots of things"! I have some discriminatory practices! It's only things I like! :D

Of course, I distinctly remember someone saying, "Tacticslion likes all the things."

:)

Was it this post?

That was the post! Well said. :)

Seriously. Check out my Celestial Summons PbP. Fire was a very cunning plan! :)

Ooh, ooh! Can I be a member of the Cunningplanimal Club?
I mean, fire counts as a cunning plan, right?

I ♥ you, too!

(What is this, Shelyn's Day?)

I ♥ this thread. :)

No, I don't favorite everything. I favorite lots of things! That's a BIG difference! There's a lot more to "everything" than there is to "lots of things"! I have some discriminatory practices! It's only things I like! :D

Of course, I distinctly remember someone saying, "Tacticslion likes all the things."

:)

I suspect he's really Brad Pitt, or possibly Tiger Woods, Brett Favre maybe......

He's way hotter. ;)

Looks fun! Can't guarantee I'll have the time to write up the setting here, but very curious what I'll get:
Race 1: 1d100 ⇒ 22 Catfolk
Race 2: 1d100 ⇒ 96 Thri-Kreen (four-armed Psionic insectoids)
Race 3: 1d100 ⇒ 37 Wayang (gnome-like with shadow-plane origins)
Race 4: 1d100 ⇒ 62 Cecaelia (like merfolk but octopus tentacle bottoms)
Race 5: 1d100 ⇒ 73 Mongrel Man
...Interesting...

I am intrigued by this game and am currently designing Joan Porter, a CN two-faced freebooter trapper ranger porter with the convincing liar and world traveler traits. :)

Huzzah! Congratulations, Monica! Well done!

I can't wait to see your Axebringer map (and Rep's spiroskeks and Kalervo's dread gluttons) printed up in this awesome adventure of yours! :)

And the exit poll concludes its streak of perfection this year!

Congrats, Monica! :)

I chose Down the Blighted path. I really want to get that adventure in my hands!

However, the Hollowheart Conquest is great, too, and I'd enjoy that one as well!

Cheers! :)

Nice job! I like this adventure, and it would be fun to play. I'm already imagining how my character might engage/redeem the crystal dragon sisters, and I really like the idea of keeping Kleimholt as a base of operations.

That being said, I do think this adventure would be challenging to develop smoothly in a single module, and I'm afraid I want to play Down the Blighted Path even more than The Hollowhart Conquest.

However, this is exciting work, and if it wins, I'm sure I'll enjoy playing (or GMing) it!

If a GM pulls the first encounter's trick of kidnapping a PC for the rest of the party to rescue, and I'm the kidnapped PC's player, it's nap time. That's a potential death knell of fun for that player anywhere in an adventure, but at the beginning while establishing the story? That's hard to rebound from. On the other hand, if the kidnapping attempt doesn't takes the PC out of the fight, why include the option?

Garrett, if the skeletons go after a PC, I think we can presume the PCs will fight fiercely to stop it from happening. Unless the skeletons are TPK difficulty-level, you don't have to worry about sitting out the rest of the adventure.

As for why one would include the option if it doesn't end in a successful kidnapping ... Well, wouldn't your character be even more likely to investigate this whole thing if he was one of the intended victims? I think it's a cool hook!

Great job, Monica! I love it!
Well-developed and satisfying story, nice use of sinister dark fey, fun inclusion of spiroskeks and dread gluttons, clever building off your previous map and encounter, nifty underground village addition, interesting characters, cool stalactite villain lair, and aerial combat over the endless gulf ... Awesome!
I would love to own this adventure in print. I hope I will! :)

Ha ha! Glad to see this had a happy ending! Congrats on the Paizo Editor job. :)

I'm a huge fan of Logue's module Hangman's Noose. I GM'd it for my husband. We sat at the kitchen table after our son was asleep at night, with all the other lights in the house off. It was creepy cool as all get out! :)

Congratulations! :)

Woo-hoo! Glad to hear it! Congrats! :)

I third (fourth? fifth?) the nomination for Curaigh!
The only shame is that Superstar season is almost over for this year, so he wouldn't get the benefit for long.
Maybe he should be the honoree for next season, and next season he nominates someone else. :)