Lazo's page

I accidentally placed the order twice. Please cancel one of the orders for 6 sets of Second Darkness dice.

Is it too late to cancel this order as well as my subscription? If not, I'd like to. If so, still cancel my subscription. Thanks.

Is it too late to swap the six copies of the the Inner Sea Primer I ordered for six copies of the Dragon Empire Primer? These are gifts for my game group, and there's a good chance I previously gave them the former.

I've updated my payment methods and should be good to go.

Hey, I want to buy my GM a PDF for GM's Day and it said I need your assistance. What the plan?

I'm trying desperately to finish a play through of Castlevania Lords of Shadow before the sequel releases (it has taken me 3 years to get around to it), and last night after finishing Baba Yaga's stage that happened. Patrick Stewart is kindly narrating in between chapters and yeah, he says he went and offed Baba when I left.

I thought I selected to ship ASAP, but after a couple weeks of "hey, where are those bases?", I checked it out and saw that they were waiting for the cards to be printed.

So, can I split the shipments and get those bases from order# 2925743?

As a player in this campaign, I'm trying to avoid seeing any spoilers, but my GM seems just as confounded about why are doing so poorly. My best guess is we were supposed to have more equipment, but we sucked past it or missed it otherwise.

Session one, we are press ganged. My AC focused fighter winds up as a cook and can't make a roll all night. No gear and constantly punished, I even lost the fist-fight. The session was fun and we all laughed, but I got no equipment back at all, although others got some.

Session two, I missed due to work, but they seem to have gotten access to some simple weapons and wound up gathering supplies on an island.

Session three, I'm back and gathering supplies. I have no gear except simple weapons (a spear and club). The wizard is using all his spells to mage armor, the Druid is using all his spells to heal us from the day before. Most days end after one encounter where the ranger and I almost die and the wizard uses invisibility to save us.

At this point we are 2nd and 3rd level. I think the ranger has a +1 short sword and the Druid has leather armor. I gain a masterwork dagger day 2.
Day one: we fight. 3 ghouls and get stomped. Wizard saves us from TPK.
Day two: We go back and kill the remaining 2 ghouls (yay!). We fight 3 medium crabs and get stomped, wizard and Druid save us from TPK. C'mon, CR 1s with AC:18 and 18 or so hit points.
Day three: we fight a ghast and two chokers and get stomped. This time the ranger and Druid die, and the wizard barely saves me. The ghast was even chained up to start.

Apparently the wizard and I are walking back to an ambush at the ship now (DM told us on ride home). Is this how it's supposed to be?

rewrite history

I just became an adventure path subscriber, and after the fact I was going to add the Shattered Star PDFs. So far, it doesn't look like the Pathfinder Advantage is being added in to the prices for SS. Do I have to wait for the first issue of my subscription to ship, or does it start immediately and I just didn't go far enough into the checkout process or something?

Thanks.

We finished up the Wells of Darkness tonight and I was astounded by the lack of threat Demogorgon's last contingency posed. I'm aware that high level encounters can be touch and go, but Mr. Boyd had the advantage of building Shami-Amourae and the last encounter. Details are spoilered just in case:

Four weeks ago my Wednesday group reconvened to start a new 4th edition Eberron campaign. I am the DM and here are the players.

• AJ - A brand new player, he has never played any version of D&D before, but he is very familiar with video RPG's like Final Fantasy. His character is Abyzal, a razorclaw shifter scout (ranger). In an effort to keep the pressure low, we only worked out a brief background for Abyzal, deciding he was a mercenary for Breland during the Last War.
• Bruce - Bruce has played D&D over the years and regularly since we met 9 years ago. He is playing Nevitash, a kalashtar templar (cleric) of Balinor. The background Bruce sent to me is in the spoiler
  Spoiler:

  Nevitash earliest memories involve being raised by the monks in the temple of Balinor. As he grew, he was told stories of how his parents had brought him there as they fled from agents of the Dreaming Dark. He learned that the Dreaming Dark hunted down and killed all Kalashtars for retribution for their flight from Dal Quor. Although that exodus occurred more than 1000 years ago, agents of the Dreaming Dark still sought the Kalashtars all across Eberron.

  In addition to the stories he heard, he learned the ways of Balinor. He was taught of the circle of life and how life leads to death which leads to life. He was also taught that those who are brave and courageous make their own luck. He learned the healing arts and how to channel his emotional side to calm and rational thought, although during times of stress, his anger rages out of him. Luckily, those times are few and far between.

  Recently, several monks have been reported missing. While no one will talk about it, Nevitash has heard whispers that the Dreaming Dark has come to this part of the world. As he walked with a fellow acolyte and friend, Aiden, they were attacked by a human. While the battle was touch and go, Nevitash and Aiden prevailed, but not without mortal injury to Aiden. Nevitash vowed never to allow another friend to perish at his expense. Despite his training about the circle of life, Nevitash determined that he would use his gifts to save those with injuries. He also vowed not to be cause of harm to his friends. Like many Kalashtars before him, Nevitash fled the temple to protect his friends and teachers from the clutches of the Dreaming Dark. He was given leave by the Abbot to go forth into the world and preach the teachings of Balinor. He was told never to serve in any one place for too long, as agents of the Dreaming Dark would eventually hone in on his location.

  Nevitash is a solidy-built individual, standing just over 6 feet tall. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes, and blends in well with most human populations. He is more serious than most humans and is often seen lost in thought. While most consider him to be contemplative of this faith, Nevitash actually considers the day he can be free to walk Eberron and make friends with no fear of the wrath of the Dreaming Dark.

• Chris - Chris has also regularly played D&D in some form with us for the last 9 years, and played before that. His character is Travok, the dwarf battlemind. Chris is super busy with a couple of kids and sent me minimal backstory. Travok displayed his psionic ability early in life and fled out of fear and shame. He wound up as a Brelish mercenary in the Last War.
• Earl - Earl introduced me to D&D about 20 years ago. Sadly he had a stroke a few years ago and he doesn't talk as much as he used to. He still plays, but he spends a lot of time in the background during roleplaying moments. He is playing Malus, a human avenger dedicated to the Silver Flame. I've spoilered the background he sent.
  Spoiler:

  He recalled it so well. The baying of the wolves that sent a chill down his spine. He had heard the tales that had been generated from mutilated sheep and imaginative villagers about the werewolves but a part of him had been hoping that the stories were untrue.

  His father had been a part of one of the search teams that went out there but no one heard from him in over a week. His mother, Maessa, died two years back when the sickness came leaving him with but his brother, Trent.

  Trent had been his elder by six years and as the baying grew louder it was he that had told him to stay put, to hide while he had a look. He begged his brother not to go as he drew the ancestral silvered blade Fenrir from the scabbard that he wore upon his hip insuring that everything would be ok.

  Down below he went into the hidden crawl space below the farm house. He could see out between the floor boards. He waited, nearly an hour with nothing happening until he heard his brother come in. Fenrir was stained in the crimson lifeblood of something. He had just been about to come out of the crawl space as his brother was reaching for a rag to clean the blood off of his blade when the door to the farm house splintered opened. He could see it there, that snarling mass off fur, claws and teeth.

  When the others found him in the morning he was cradling his brother's mangled corpse ...

  But all that was nearly ten years ago. Since then Malus grew up in the orphanage though it was the philosophies of the Silver Flame that reached him and inerested him the most. As a oung child he would sneak off to their churches and spy on their sermons through a window, as a young man he would go to them and listen in to their sermons when he was able to get away from the orphanage more and more.

  While he proved himself devoted, the priests learned of his past and his hatred towards lycanthrops in general. It was easy to spread that dislike to devils, demons and undead. One thing was certain Malus did not wish his fate to fall on another and thus excepted training from the clergy to hunt down the enemies of the order, fashioned as a tool of the order, though a willing one that has no qualms about his assignments as long as they lead him more often then not in dealing with the very beasts that were responsible in taking his life away.

• Jesse - I've know Jesse for almost as long as I've known Chris and Bruce, but have only been gaming with him the last few years. He probably has the most well-rounded RPG background, having experience with a litany of systems. He is playing Thurklish’ash d'Thaarashk, a half-orc scoundrel (rogue). Here is the back story he sent
  Spoiler:

  House Thaarashk long sought a foothold in the Demon Wastes of the north and sent many expeditions to that benighted land seeking dragonshards and the lost treasures of the Rakshasa. Many of the Finders sent to the Wastes never returned and were eventually given up for dead by Thaarashk. Timmins d’Tharashk was a member of such an expedition, and when his was caravan was overrun by demonspawn he fought bravely but was struck down and left for dead.

  Fate, however, seemed to have other plans for Timmins. A group of Ghaash’kala scouts had observed the fighting, rescued the sole survivor, and brought the half-orc back to their camp. Over the next few days, while Timmins fought fever and infection, the orcish priests leading the Ghaash’kala debated what to do with the outsider. While the orcs had a long policy of non-interference with the southlanders, they also prized the martial ability and bravery the scouts reported of Timmins. In the end, Timmins was given a choice between exile in the Wastes and swearing allegiance to the Ghaash’kala. As a trip across the Wastes to the Five Nations would be a death sentence, and as Timmins wanted little to do with the wars raging in the south, he swore allegiance to the Ghaash’kala and the Binding Flame, took a brand, and joined their tribe.

  Timmins earned his place among the clan, took a wife, and settled down amongst the Ghaash’kala. He had largely forgotten his old life until one day his eldest son, Thurklish’ash, showed Timmins a strange mark the boy had found on his body. Timmins instantly recognized it as the Mark of Finding, but thought little of it as the Last War was still raging and those of the Five Nations had little consideration for the Demon Wastes. Thurklish’ash’s mark proved useful for the Ghaash’kala, and he distinguished himself as a young warrior against the fiends of the Waste.

  Eventually, the Last War wound down and House Thaarashk again turned its attention to the northern Wastes. Scouting parties of Finders were seen on the edges of the Waste and the Five Moons reached out to them to determine their intentions. During a parley at the Five Moon camp, one of the Finders noticed the mark on Thurklish’ash and demanded his return to the House. The Ghaash’kala were loathe to surrender Thurklish’ash to the Thaarashk as he was a warrior born and bred of the wastes. Eventually, at the urging of Timmins, who kept his former house affiliation secret from the southlanders, the Ghaash’kala agreed to release Thurklish’ash to the Thaarashk in return for generous terms on artifact trades.

  Now Thurklish’ash heads into the alien Five Nations, a place of which he had only heard stories. His last charge from the priests of the Binding Flame that lead the Ghaash’kala was he represent their people with pride and demonstrate that not all people of the wastes are despicable carrion tribes. For their part, House Thaarashk was at a loss for what to do with their newly found scion on the one hand they were happy to have a member with the mark return to the fold, but they were also wary of his past with the Ghaash’kala. What’s more, a Finder with little knowledge of the Five Nations was less than ideal. As such, Thaarashk released Thurklish’ash on his own volition that he might learn more of the civilized nations and become a greater asset to his House.

  Thurklish’ash is a six foot tall half-orc with pale green skin and yellow eyes. He wears worn armor and clothes that have been stitched back together with care. He’s quiet and weighs situations carefully before he speaks, but when he does speak he has little concern for formality or procedure. He generally views southlanders as weaklings that wouldn’t last a day in the Waste, but respects those he feels are worthy. While he recognizes a kinship between the Silver Flame and the Binding Flame, he believes that the Silver Flame is but an upstart corruption of the true teachings of the Binding Flame.

I'm running a party through the Savage Tide adventure path and the 18th level Arcane Heirophant has been without an animal companion for some time and is looking to replace it. Unfortunately, they're on Gaping Maw, Demogorgon's level of the Abyss, and there are no regular animals to be found (they're all fiendish, making them magical beasts). The player has come up with a solution that looks good to me, but I wanted to check here to see if anybody knew a reason it didn't follow RAW.

His plan is to find some extremely weak inhabitant of the plane and cast baleful polymorph on it. Assuming it fails both saves, he's left with a normal dog, which he then intends to peform the ceremony

Like I said, it all looks clean to me, but with the heavy changes made to polymorph across 3.5 I thought I'd get some input. Thanks.

I'm looking for some comments from regular Metroid fans that have played this before I go buy it. I'm aware of the changes, but I want to know if they work. The critics seem split on the game, and while I'm not happy with Samus having to wait for permission to use her missiles, I might overlook it if the regular folks gave glowing praise.

The party has responded to a call from the Lightbringers, an organization devoted to destroying undead. One of their members, a paladin named Ashlyn, sent the Lightbringers a message asking for reinforcements. Her message said she was in a village known as Barovia, and the land was overrun with undead...

Roughly a days travel from the village of Barovia, the party comes upon the Weary Horse Inn, a roadside hostel whose common room hosts patrons from the sparsely populated countryside. You've stopped in for the night.

With the dying of the daylight, a fog creeps across the land, clutching everything in its clammy grasp. Inside the Weary Horse Inn, though, the fire is warm enough, and if the few patrons are sullen or stare at you a little boldly, at least the food and drink are good.

For an inn's common room, it's quiet. It holds no more than a handful of customers. They keep their voices low, and even the clink of their mugs seems subdued as the fog gathers outside. When the door swings open, every head turns to see who has arrived.

This new arrival loudly stamps the mud off his boots in the doorway, then strides confidently over, throwing a letter down in front of you.

"The village of Barovia is in need of heroes," he says in a thick accent. "You'll do as well as any." Without another word, he turns to leave.

The letter:

Welcome folks. This is the discussion thread for my trial run of the 4th edition conversion of EtCR.

Once your characters are ready do me a favor and roll 20 or so rolls of every type of die. In game we can use the paizo dice roller, but I'll keep these on hand for initiative rolls, blind rolls, opportunity attacks and granted attacks, and in case I have to DMPC your character. Which brings me to another point. I expect everyone to be able to post once a day and once during the weekend. If you've missed it for whatever reason, your character goes on delay and you can jump in at any point. If your turn comes up again, I'll DMPC your character only using at-wills and basic attacks (or skills if applicable). It goes without saying, but please notify me of any expected absence of more than a day or so.

I hope everybody has fun.

I'm working on a conversion of the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft to 4th edition and I'd like to playtest it here as a play by post. I expect at least one post a day, but weekends and such may be slower. I'm holding spots for Amelia and Rev Rosey, and I'll probably take 3 more players.

If you're interested post an idea for an 11th level character. Know that divine characters will do exceptionally well in this.

I have a good chunk of free time and I'm going to convert Expedition to Castle Ravenloft to 4e. A lot of the encounters feature multiple enemies and interesting terrain features, so it looks like some 4e design philosophy crept in already.

Has anybody here already attempted a conversion?

One of my big concerns is where to start. Should I use the published stats for Strahd and work backwards to find an appropriate starting level? I was figuring it would fit best in paragon tier, so my other option is to pick a level based around the intro monsters and adjust the higher stuff as I get to it.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I've got my 52" HD tv. I have my PS3 with blu-ray. Today, I was super excited to learn that the Lord of the Rings trilogy releases on blu-ray next week. Then I was disgusted to learn it would be the theatrical version, and not the extended cut. That might release next year. What the frick?

Link

I'm going to it up in a couple of hours. Does anybody already have it? I'm really excited about it. I've been playing Dante's Inferno, and while it's pretty good, even the demo of GoW3 feels way more epic.

I am about to buy a PS3 and I need some help.

I got a Wii as a wedding present a few months ago and it has helped get me back into video games. As happy as I am with the Nintendo frachise games (Mario, Zelda, Metroid) and the games my wife can enjoy with me (Guitar Hero, Wii Sports), I'm starting to look for a more hardcore experience. I think Silent Hill was the kicker because it didn't fulfill the SH experience I got from SH 1, 2, and 3.

Anyway, I've decided to get a PS3. I know what games I want and the Blu-Ray is bonus. So, what should I know before I buy one. What are the different hard drive sizes and costs vs. their worth. What are the pitfalls with a PS3 (does it die like 360's). Would it make more sense to buy on the secondary market (ebay or used) and what prices should I look for.

Any input would help, and thanks in advance.

So far, I've posted a bunch from Harbinger to Underdark and I hope to get more up there. I love my minis, but I'm getting married in 8 weeks and I totaled my fiance's car about a week ago. Help make sure this wedding still happens.

My minis

I need some cheap ideas for a huge-sized mini base. Round or square doesn't matter as long as it's about 3"x3". I need it for a Reaper Demonic Lasher that I plan on using for Demogorgon in my Savage Tide Campaign. Right now, my only option seems to be tearing a huge plastic mini off of its base.

I'm running a 4E Play by Post and need a replacement player. It would be great if you were willing to take over playing a 2nd level dwarf cleric of Kord. You could rebuild him to your liking or you can bring in a new character if you really want to.

The campaign is a homebrew set in the Nentir Vale (the setting in the back of the DMG). All books are allowed. Posting frequency is casual; I expect posts about once a day.

Hi, I worked on some 3.5 monster pdf's a long time ago and would like to give them away for free! There are 6:

• Ruins of the Pale Jungle
• Beyond the Campfire
• Tulenjord: Land of the Fallen One
• Along the Banks of the River Vaal
• Interlopers from the Blasted Realm
• Berk's Wasteland

Don't buy them! Email me for free pdf's

The party has responded to a call from the Lightbringers, an organization devoted to destroying undead. One of their members, a paladin named Ashlyn, sent them a message asking for reinforcements. Her message said she was in a village known as Barovia, and the land was overrun with undead...

Roughly a days travel from the village of Barovia, the party comes upon the Weary Horse Inn, a roadside hostel whose common room hosts patrons from the sparsely populated countryside. You've stopped in for the night.

With the dying of the daylight, a fog creeps across the land, clutching everything in its clammy grasp. Inside the Weary Horse Inn, though, the fire is warm enough, and if the few patrons are sullen or stare at you a little boldly, at least the food and drink are good.

For an inn's common room, it's quiet. It holds no more than a handful of customers. They keep their voices low, and even the clink of their mugs seems subdued as the fog gathers outside. When the door swings open, every head turns to see who has arrived.

This new arrival loudly stamps the mud off his boots in the doorway, then strides confidently over, throwing a letter down in front of you.

"The village of Barovia is in need of heroes," he says in a thick accent. "You'll do as well as any." Without another word, he turns to leave.

The letter:

Fair Warning: The adventure is tough, and it is undead heavy. There are encounters that don't involve undead, but there are more that do. Take this into account when you make a character. A rogue will be very useful in this adventure, but don't be upset if you don't find a way to deal with the undead (actually I have a class feature for any potential rogues).

My house rules: Any WotC book is allowed, as are most Dragon magazine articles.
The only classes not available are dread necromancer and warlock.
The warmage has a bard's spell progression.
Rogue's gain a free Search check for traps, just like elves do for secret doors.
Mass spells from outside of the PH have a level 4 higher than the base spell.
Heroes' Feast is one level higher.

You can make a 6th level character using the 32 point buy method and you have 13,000 gp in starting gold. Please talk to each other and try to build a cohesive party. Your characters will begin already knowing each other.

Some feats that may help:
ENDURING LIFE
You can ignore the effects of negative levels for a short time.
Benefit: Whenever you would gain a negative level you can ignore the penalties and other ill effects associated with that negative level for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution bonus (if any). You also gain a +4 on Fortitude saves to remove anegative level.

LASTING LIFE
You can shed negative levels with an act of will.
Prerequisites: Endurance, Enduring Life.
Benefit: Once per round, as a standard action, you can attempt to remove a negative level from yourself by attempting a Will save (DC 10 +1/2 attacker's HD + attacker's Cha modifier). If the saving throw succeeds, the negative level goes away. You make a seperate saving throw for each negative level you have gained. If the save fails, you retain the negative level, but you may try again next round to remove it.

And here is a prestige that you can plan for (you don't qualify until you meet a Knight of the Raven in the adventure).

As I mentioned above I will be offering some alternate class features to certain characters as well.

The pbp I was in tpk'd and I've volunteered to run something. I've chosen Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, an adventure I've had difficulting organizing into a successful f2f game.

I have 3 players already, and maybe a 4th. So, I need 2-3 players, which I'll choose at random from any volunteers. It's standard 3.5 rules with minimal house rules, which will be explained before we start.

Who's in?

The title says it all. Right now we're in the middle of the sample adventure from the DMG with plans to continue to Keep on the Shadowfell. We have 4 players currently:

human ranger
dragonborn paladin
eladrin wizard
human warlord

As you can see the 4 basic roles are filled, so it's open to anything.

Here is the campaign thread so you can get an idea of how play has been so far. Please be able to post at least once a day. Post here and in a day or so I will choose one to join, probably at random to be fair.

I have an opening in my 4e pbp, and Tieren, if you're here, you're my alternate.

Right now we're still playing the intro adventure from the DMG and intend to go into Keep on the Shadowfell.

Let me know.

Map of the Nentir Vale

A'loran, Brianna, Demon, Kava, and Madresh:

It's been a pleasant journey so far. The weather has been exceptionally warm and clear for this early in the spring. And despite popular opinion that the King's Road is dangerous, the most perilous thing encountered has been a bull moose. The meticulous defensive precautions of the dragonborn have begun to seem a bit overzealous.

Since entering the Nentir Vale you've passed through the Harkenwold, several small villages of farmers and woodworkers along the White River. After crossing the river, you passed along the edge of a forest (where said moose was promptly turned into dinner), and into the Moon Hills. After several days of journeying Fallcrest should be visible before sunset.

The five of you may now post any in character discussions that take place during the journey.

Anmuspi

I'm thinking of starting a 4E pbp, and I'm looking for interested players. I'm probably going to start with Keep on the Shadowfell. I've never done a pbp, but I've been going over other threads and I think I have a handle on it. I'll accept 5 players.

I'll be running a 4E adventure as part of D&D Game Day on June 7th at Rising Phoenix Games in Cherry Valley, MA.

Whether you are excited about 4E or think it's the worst thing since halflings with shoes, it's free so come down and check it out.

I just recently finished up my AoW campaign and now I have some time to enjoy being a player while I plan my next campaign. I was intending to do the STAP, but I also just recently purchased the Iron Heroes supplements from Malhavoc. For those of you that aren't familiar, Iron Heroes is an almost no-magic campaign option where the characters gain power according to their classes and not from spells or magic items.

So, before I start the work of converting the campaign, is there anyone familiar with the rule set and also with the STAP, who can let me know if this is going to be a fruitless effort? I'm mostly worried about any adventures that assume a heavy reliance on magic. For instance, the massive supply of level draining undead and save or die attacks from AoW make that campaign non-condusive to these rules, which don't provide easy means for the characters to remove negative levels or raise the dead.

Any and all input would be appreciated.
Thanks.

After over two and a half years my Age of Worms campaign has ended. The PC's were victorious, and though there were some close calls, there were no fatalities in the final fight. I'm taking a break from the DM's chair for a while (at least with this group) to enjoy some time as a player. And I'll be prepping my Iron Heroes version of the Savage Tide.

I'd like to thank the Paizo crew for supplying an astounding bunch of adventures. It was probably the single most cohesive campaign I"ve ever run. The experience has ensured that I'll continue to buy Paizo products, no matter what edition they support.

Thanks.

I am going to be playing a cleric in an upcoming game, and decided to focus on summon spells. As such I wanted the Summoning domain, which led me to the only deity with it, Trithereon. Thing is, I'm having difficulty finding any solid info on him. There is a tiny paragraph in Complete Divine and a google came up with similarly short results from places like Wikipedia. I have no experience in Greyhawk, and on none of the older edition sources. I really favor flavor over mechanics, so I want as information as I can get. I appreciate any help.

Rising Phoenix Games is participating in D&D Gameday on Saturday, Nov. 3rd. I'll be running adventures all day. Entry is free and newcomers are welcome. Sign up at the store.

Directions are on the site - www.risingphoenixgames.com

My friend is starting an arena style D&D Fight Club and I need the starting gold amounts for the monster classes, the red dragon class from Dragon #332 in particular.

Thanks for any help.

I'm sure everyone's familiar with the vigor spells. For a while now I've house ruled them to the transmutation school. The reason being they grant a special quality similar to darkvision. After Augment Healing Healing and an item from the magic item compendium that lets the user heal up as much as he healed someone else showed up I was glad I ruled as I did.

The feat is worded something like "whenever you cast a Conjuration (healing) spell it heals additional points" and the item is similar except "..you are also healed...". The spells are worded so that you aren't actually healing the target. You give the target the fast healing ability.

I was happy with my decision, but how are other DM's working this? Do this vigor spells end up running longer with augment healing? What about combined with extend spell? That seems like a lot of curing based on the spell level? And for the magic item, does it give the fast healing ability to the caster? Does my ruling seem fair, or am I overestimating the usefulness (I have seen characters die because they got a vigor instead of a cure)?

Thanks for tying up all of those story lines. I can see why they needed to extend the last season. They were trying to figure a really good way to show that NOTHING FRICKING HAPPENS!!!

I wish the show was still running, just so I could stop watching it.

Explain the gain for WotC? They were getting support, info they put into their books, and an ever increasing support source for new players. As far as I can tell they will produce some of the content on their site. If they charge for it they could gain that money, but won't they lose the Dungeon/Dragon faithful, and won't they now compete with a company that has supplied some of their best authors (I love Wolfgang's work on EttDP)? I've read the WotC post on this (which could have been informative, but was instead spin), and I still don't understand. What is the gain for WotC on this action?

I have to say I was surprised. They not only pulled off an hour and a half version of the show, but it kept up the ridiculous feel of the 15 minute program. I loved it. And if you go, make sure you're on time. You do not want to miss the opening sequence.

I'm currently running a 3.5 game every other Sunday that has two open seats. We do our share of roleplaying, but the emphasis seems to be on dungeon crawling. So if you're looking for a heavy political or intrigue campaign I'm sorry. The group is currently about halfway through Expedition to Castle Ravenloft set in Forgotten Realms, but there will be a campaign reset either when there's a TPK or when the adventure is finished.

I have an obscene number of Forgotten Realms resources so it only makes sense to run my games there. Most of the new adventures from WotC have little sidebars with suggestions on where to place them in the Realms. BotFK doesn't and I was just looking for some advise. Anybody?

My first experience with these feats was as a player when the wizard (a munchkin) in the party cast a shocking grasp with sudden maximize and then rolled and confirmed a critical hit. The damage was astounding and made me take a closer look at the feats. As a player, I know how difficult it can be to sacrifice those few high level spell slots for a lower level spell with a metamagic feat applied to it, and since they're usable once a day, they wouldn't stomp through every encounter with them. So I allowed them in my games.

Then I noticed that every spellcaster was grabbing up Sudden Maximize as soon as they could. Two guys had their cleric and warmage grab it at first level. The prerequisite is only one other metamagic feat. It still wasn't ruining the whole game, just the encounter where the feat was applied. The fact that the feat was becoming a mandatory choice told me something was wrong.

I found these problems:
A character can use a particular sudden metamagic feat only once. So what? How often will a character use the regular metamagic feat? Given that higher level spells tend to be better overall, they won't all get dropped for a plethora of still spells.

Then there is the factor of the higher level spell slot. They don't just make the feat application the sacrifice of a higher level slot. They make it impossible to apply a metamagic feat to the higher level spells. Don't expect a maximized meteor swarm anytime soon. But the sudden feats take that away.

The biggest issue I had was the "good for the gander" test. If I gave this feat to a creature what would happen. One party I DM for is 5th and 6th level. There is a 10th level adept (CR 5) in the adventure with access to lightning bolt, his highest level spell. At 10d6 it's dangerous to 5th level characters. If I switched his feats so that he had Sudden Maximize it's almost a definate TPK. Noe of the characters can take 60 points of damage, and half will drop if they save for 30.

While the adept fight would be a nice "in your face" moment, it wouldn't be fun for everbody. My solution has been to create a house rule. The feats work as written except:

A sudden metamagic feat can only be applied to a spell "x" levels lower than the highest level spell the character could cast. Where "x" is the modified level of the regular metamagic feat. For example, Maximize Spell requires a slot 3 levels higher. So a 7th level wizard could use Sudden Maximize on any 0 or 1st level spell, without using a higher level slot or with any increased casting time.

What do you guys think?

I've been reworking some of the classic 1st edition modules over to 3.5, and I finally got the party up to level to begin. First up is Dungeon Module A1. Slave Pits of the Undercity. A few things of note:

I'm running these in Forgotten Realms. I have too many Realms sourcebooks not to be using them. Most of the adventures will take place in the Moonsea region, and this one is set at the base of the Dragonspine Mountains. My party has some ties to the deity Helm, and just to add some tension I've made the slavers in this adventure a Lawful Evil cult of Helm. They are enslaving people and employing bands of orcs to better protect the innocents.

The characters:
Hernando - LN, Human, 5th lvl Cleric of Helm - Originally from Tethyr, Hernando was sent by his order to investigate rumors of slaves branded with the Ever Watchful Eye of Helm coming out of the region.

Tull - LN, Human, 4th lvl Dragon Shaman - Originally from the Shaar, Tull worked in a travelling menagerie as a roustabout and grifter. The carnival was disbanded after a run-in with the Red Plumes. The carnies were scattered, and Tull lost his family. Rumor and heresay have placed them in the hands of the slavers.

T'click Click - CG, Thri-kreen, 2nd lvl Psychic Warrior - Also from the Shaar, T'click Click worked as an exotic sideshow attraction. After the disbanding of the carnival he stayed with Tull for safety. His appearance has not made his life easy.

Orpheus - LN, Human, 4th lvl Warmage - Trained at a warmage academy in the Underdark (which he'll never remember), Orpheus sort of wandered out of a cavern in the mountains. Confused and lost, he was found by some villagers that brought him to the priest of Helm. His talent for destructive magic has made him a valuable tool in the service of Helm, but too many unanswered questions may change that.

Ferzth - LN, Elf, 4th lvl Monk - Originally a githzerai abandoned on this plane at a very young age, Ferzth was raised by a solitary monk living outside of Phlan. The monk was murdered by a serial killer and Ferth joined the group when they investigated the theft of the killer's corpse. While retrieving an evil magic item in the Thar, Ferzth was slain by a troll. A friendly druid reincarnated him as an elf.

Laverti - LG, human, 4th lvl Paladin of Helm - Laverti squired for his Lord Martellus out of Cormyr. As the Purple Knight approached old age he decided to see the world and set off with his squire for distant lands. They were able to help a group a carnival workers escape persecution, but the event has left Martellus bedridden with illness. Laverti has taken up his lord's sword and does what good he can.
(Laverti was absent from this meeting.)

I'll skip most of what has previously occured and leave you with the info relevant to A1.

After recovering the Fiend's Embrace, an evil magical cloak, from deep within the Thar (See Dungeon Magazine #121), the party made their way back to Phlan. As they crested a rise in the frozen swamp several members noticed what appeared to be a pair of ogres talking to a gnome in a small, overturned boat. The party had recently allowed an evil gnome to escape from Cold Stones Keep, and they correctly assumed this was that gnome. Some of them incorrectly assumed he was in league with the ogres, when he was actually frozen to death.

They ducked down behind a couple of stunted and barren trees to formulate a plan, but T'click Click is an insect of action and called out for the giants to unhand the gnome. The ogres took notice of the party and proceeded to advance while hucking javelins. Once the ogres closed into melee range and the group began dishing out some solid damage, the ogres cried out in their crude language and almost immediately a small white dragon came over a nearby hillock.

The fight proved difficult for both sides, but the party refused to give in to demands of treasure from the dragon. They even refused quarter when it became apparent that one of the ogres was with child and the dragon offered the lives of its prisoners in exchange for its "baby's mama's" safety. In fact, Tull, the dragon shaman, called the dragon a liar as he speared the pregnant ogre in the belly. Enraged the white dragon fought to the death.

Afterwards, they investigiated where the dragon appeared from and discovered an icy cave. Trapped inside where two sick and dishevelled humans. At first they rejoiced over the party's approach, until the Ever-Watchful Eye insignias on Laverti's and Hernando's armor became apparent. Hernando figured it out and explained the slavers he had been sent here to investigate were linked to Helm, and that was the likely cause of their apprehension. The former slaves' fears were eased and they told there tale of woe. They had heard of work at a camp surrounding a newly rebuilt temple. Once there life was strict and they wound up enslaved over a curfew violation. They escaped from the temple through a secret door, but two days later were captured by the ogres. The only things of interest that they seemed to know were the location of the secret door, the temple was formerly dedicated to a nature god, and that strange ant-men similar to the thri-kreen worked in the slave pits. Actually there was a slave inside that had mentioned working in a carnival alongside a bug-man.

The party escorted the two men back to Phlan and made preparations to seek out these slavers. There was much discussion over the fate of the Fiend's Embrace. Laverti had detected it as evil, and an identify had revealed its magical properties: +1 resistance bonus on saves, +4 enhancement bonus to Intelligence, and fire resistance 10. Orpheus actually tried it on, but immediately took it off. Hernando thought all this fear over an "evil cloak" was foolish and took the Fiend's Embrace for himself... to no apparent ill effect.

The trek to the temple was cold and difficult, but the cleric kept them safe from the elements with his magic and aside from a run-in with a gang of orcs, the trip was uneventful. Except for Hernando. Most nights he dreamt of a dark and beautiful woman and often awoke with a desire to seek her out, but he kept this to himself.

When they finally came within sight of the temple and camp it was determined that they should sneak in under the cover of darkness. The camp was much bigger than expected, and many orcs could be seen among its denizens. So that night they huddled beneath the walls, waiting for the guards on them to pass. They easily located the secret door and proceeded in. Ferzth took point inside a small corridor and opened what appeared to be the back of another secret door at the other end. A spiked bar struck him hard in the chest as he opened it. It seems that the slavers were also aware of the door.

A torch lit hallway extended to the left and right. With the thri-kreen now in the lead they headed left first, the party followed the twisting hall to a rubble filled room. Through the gaps in the door T'click Click could make out a couple of humanoid shapes on a ledge above the room, so they decided to go back the other way. This ended at an empty room that had recently undergone maintenance. What was once probably a doorway had been plastered over. The thri-kreen used his claws to tear away at the plaster and found that it left to a rubble strewn courtyard. After some discussion they went back to the room with the ledge, there was some concern over the shapes the bug saw.

T'click, Hernando, and Ferzth forced their way through the stuck door and into the room. The shapes tried to stay hidden, but T'click climbed up the walls to engage them. A pair of ghouls and a ghast moved to attack at that point, but proved little threat to the strength of Hernando's faith.

Through the door on the other side of the room, another hallway led to a collapsed room. The floor was completely gone except for a bit of ledge on either side. Rickety beams formed a wobbly gridge accross the thirty foot expanse. T'click tried to skirt the ledge on the left and nearly fell thirty feet to the basement below. After watching a good chunk smash against the stone, he cautiously inched over the beams. Once it was proven stable the others followed.

They continued down another hall stopping to examine some barrels in an alcove. Tearing the lid off of one revealed soured wine. Meanwhile Hernando moved into a small room with what looked like a pile of rags in it. Closer, he realized it was in fact a pile of vines. Undaunted he tried to move by it and the vines struk him, the sticky sap they exuded burning and entangling him. Hernando tore himself free and moved away only to have the vines follow. Through most of the fight Hernando was trying to free himself. Tull's longspear proved ineffective in damaging the creature, and the only thing stopping Hernando from becoming mulch was several volleys of magic missiles.

Beyond this room the hallway split into three and they chose to go left into the stable. This building is made of wood, sort of an addition to the main temple. Orpheus rushed into the room without caution and startled three half-orcs relaxing on some hay. They grabbed their weapons and one blew a sharp note on a horn. The party made short work of these guards when five orcs came in from outside. They gathered in the doorway and assessed the situation, beyond them several campfires could be seen, some quite close. Then Hernando very carefully and with much forethought called upon Helm and cast a sound burst just outside the doors...

Meanwhile, Orpheus climbed a ladder into the hayloft where he met an escaped slave in need of assistance. Orpheus promised help and led the way back down the ladder. In his haste the slave "accidentally" knocked Orpheus off the ladder.

...The sonic blast was enough to drop the orcs, and alert every orc within 500 yards. Tull released a horse from the stable and drew off a few orc. As the other orcs swarmed on the stable T'click Click threw alchemist fire into the loft. An impromptu retreat began, with Orpheus and the slave following Ferzth back down the hallway. Tull took down almost half of the orcs with his fiery breath weapon and T'click Click wielded a pair of polearms to great effect. A couple of orcs had made it to the loft and were throwing burning bales of hay onto Hernando's head.

Once it became apparent that the rest of the party was fighting the orcs Ferzth turned back, leaving Orpheus alone with the slave. When Orpheus tried to run by the slave to rejoin the others he found a short sword in his belly. The slave tried to push him back towards the thirty foot pit. Orpheus tried to use his magic, but in a panic he left himself open trying to throw a ray. The short sword left Orpheus laying in a pool of blood. The party rounded the corner just in time to see the slave cleaning blood off his sword. Outnumbered, the slave tried to flee. He crossed the planks with agility, but the crystal shards of the thri-kreen and the monk's stone bullets moved faster than he did. Once the objects ended his life his skin immediately turned gray and his head became large and bulbous.

That's the end of the first session. We play again this Sunday.

Can someone please explain to me why there are so many posts from people demanding more realism in a fantasy game? I could have sworn this game has flying dragons and underground metropolises. Yet there are posts all over the place complaining about things like the hit point system isn't realistic, or that levels aren't believable. I don't see anything saying "You know, a malevolent flying eyeball just doesn't sit right with me".

What's the problem?