Search Posts
Good afternoon, Just checking in with the forums here to see if anyone knows of a good gaming store in Washington, DC or might be looking to recruit for a game which is forming up. If anyone can think of good resources, or might be looking for people to join a game in progress in DC, feel free to reply here or email me at chaotral AT gmail dotcom
So, I recently had the distinct honor of having a TPK at Varnhold when my party (a Cavalier/Bard, an Inquisitor/Cleric, a Life Mystery Oracle and a Cleric/Ranger) tried a daring raid on Varnhold Keep. Lots of bad spoilery stuff happened and the party is dead. The Queen and sole ruler was in that party, along with the Grand Diplomat and the Royal Assassin. Irrecoverably-ish dead. My Beloved Spouse (Kobold Chorus: "We love you!") and I have tabled discussion of resuming this game because of the emotional impact that the TPK caused. The emotional investment was just too high. When we do, however, have that discussion, the ideas that have been posited (in descending order of preference) are: 1) The Cavalier's horse made it clear of the slaughter and returned to civilization to let people know that the party was dead. A rescue/recovery mission is put forth to recover their bodies for reincarnation (no one in the area is quite high level enough to Raise Dead or the like, but we have at least one Druid with Reincarnate. The FNG's come to the rescue, evac the bodies and we carry on. 2) We let the end be the end, retire the AP and move on to something else. 3) We fudge the TPK somehow. What have others done in this situation? 
Um, ok. On two separate computers, both running Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit, this particular issue has manifest. It happens regardless of browser (those tested are: IE8, Firefox 4.0 and Chrome 11). The behaviour: When entering the website as: www.paizo.com, we are immediately redirected to: http://paizo.com/paizoGames When entering the website as: paizo.com the page loads normally to paizo.com. This has been ongoing for several days and is... bewildering. Not sure if it's intentional, but I thought to bring it to the attention of the powers that be. Sincerely,
Alas, I only answer questions on this thread. I don't tell stories. I save most of that mojo for Pathfinder. So, with the tiny smidge of mojo you may or may not have left, any chance we could get that story here? If not, no big, but failing to ask would be lax of me.
By which I mean "Death of a character over 20th level" in a most embarrassing way. Most recently for me, I killed my Beloved Spouse's (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") 21st level Fighter/Thief/Society Mind by having a 20th level Druid cast Baleful Polymorph on him. <Alistair voice> Zap, lizard time. </Alistair> As he failed BOTH saves (fort, then will) he was lizafied without much further ado. And then, the party's medusa oracle ate him as he ran away from the Druid. Shortly after this, another character (non-epic, but still pretty high level) suffered a Baleful Polymorph as well. A little less ignominiously, he was merely gunned down by NPC's who were following "Shoot anything that isn't one of us" orders. *rubs hands together* I love Baleful Polymorph.
My Beloved Spouse (Kobold Chorus: "We love you!") and I have been gaming fairly often on my days off. As I get three in a row each week, this means we game about 2-3 days out of 7. Christmas was 4, New Years 4, then 3's again. Which is all a set up for explaining that since New Years, we have covered less than 48 hours in game time, despite putting in about 15-20 hours of real time. Most of this was spent with the crew of a starship docked at a space station making friendly with the locals. Meetings with people, time spent on the planet below recruiting new PC's, diplomatic flaming hoops, that sort of thing. It just went on, and on, and on. I had a chat with the spousal unit after the game-before-last and asked "Ok, as one GM to another, what would YOU do?" She replied that perhaps a bit of combat would help kick things back out of inertial damping. And so it was that this massive time dilation ended when a period of MAYBE 6 combat rounds took nearly 5 real hours (+/- 1 hour) to complete. It also ended with the deaths of 3 characters. All of which brings us to my question, dear readers. What's the longest amount of real time you've put into the shortest amount of game time? Why?
In which yours truly attempts to gather more information about the subject. The other night, when this happened I had to pause and take inventory. Five characters, all of whom I really enjoyed having in the group, snuffed it in a single combat round. Specifically, two of these characters were newcomers to the group and the adventure was really intended to highlight them and bring them on par with some of the more senior members. *pout* To simplify, and for my own sanity, I'll just use character names for this post. Aika Coppergate - Fighter/Astral Deva (hybridized from Savage Species)
Regardless, the group had a pair of wishes in the form of a luck blade and with great agonizing over the decision my player requested that two of the five be restored. And so Gnimish and Sheba are returned. Aika and Joshua were an item, and were shining paragons of their deity - in whom the deity had a personal investment after they pulled Her bacon out of the Abyss during the events of For Duty and Deity. Klavya was not integrating well with the group (He's a GITHYANKI!!) and that was that. I waffled and had a Bad GM, No Biscuit moment where I wanted to wave my hand and restore the party. But my Beloved Spouse (Kobold Chorus: "We love you!") - who is the player for Aika, Klavya, Gnimish and Sheba, told me to avoid the velvet glove and make death mean something. I knew the wishes were there, the party's captain knew the wishes were there and that there were only two. As the deity that Aika and Joshua both serve is a Prime Material based deity, they didn't have any transit time through the Astral and just appeared in the company of their Goddess without further ado. I played this as cut scenes, cutting between the main party, and Aika and Joshua. As the wishes were spent and Sheba and Gnimish restored, the Goddess smiled and advised Aika that her life's goal (to ascend from Aasimar to Angel) was accomplished. With a gesture, Aika ascended to a full Planetar. Joshua joined the ranks of petitioners and this was satisfactory. Klavya, well, nothing's really been done about him to this point, but I expect something might be Real Soon Now. Shortly after this, when the full impact of the deaths became full party knowledge, the team's master thief, Ismek Vanagas, decides to tamper further. He pulls his Deck of Many Things (yes, High Magic is the order of the day) and draws two cards. I granted a Key - a mace that was designed to go well into the rest of the adventure, and a Moon - with one wish. Time passed quickly as he realized he had ONE wish, not TWO and definitely not THREE. He couldn't bring everyone back. He wished that Aika and Joshua were returned. Now, as they'd gone to their Reward, this complicated. But, well, not too much. I ruled that Aika was "On Loan" from Goddess to the party (the next bit of the adventure is a real pain) and Joshua was brought back as a Risen Martyr using the class from Book of Exalted Deeds - his mission was to finish the adventure and then be returned to the court of Goddess. And so, most of the party is back. Some only for a 'farewell tour', others permanently. So, as a GM and as a player, how have you, my beloved audience, handled making death matter?
So, recently, in running the adventure "Under the City" by Gabor Lux - an EXCELLENT adventure, though with some minor puzzle issues that I had to improvise - I had a partial party wipe. The group's 'pocket archmage', an Illusionist/Rogue/Arcane Trickster of no small talent but with truly ludicrous arcane equipment (including a Staff of the Magi, which shall soon become relevent to this tale of woe) by the name of Gnimish was dominated. Additionally, the group's tertiary fighter acquired a +2 sword of berserking. As you might expect, this led to a genuine World Class Charlie Foxtrot. The group split at a staircase, with part of the group having set off a trap and then having to medic up while the rest proceeded forward to 'safety'. Instead, Gnimish set an ambush and as the berserking fighter started laying into the group's paladin the dominated wizard sprung his part of the fun. After using the Staff to summon a Nalfeshnee, Gnimish charged into the fray (now partially enveloped in an obscuring mist spell) and snapped the Staff of the Magi with a titter of mind-boogied anarchic glee. The party affected by this retributive strike were: The Paladin, The Secondary Fighter, The Tertiary Fighter, The Oracle and of course Gnimish. Everyone else saw the flash of light, but was well out of range. So, with this all said, what was YOUR favourite (or perhaps least favourite) instance of a retributive strike in game?
So, I have a character whom I adore very greatly. Akakino Chouko. She's a 4-tailed Kitsune, built using the Kitsunemore Campaign book and hybridized to PFRPG using the Bard class. She's multi-classed Bard/Nogitsune/Cleric/Gate Crasher (Can you tell we use a LOT of supplements?) and has max ranks in Bluff. Combining max ranks in Bluff with Skill Focus (Bluff), the kitsune Fox Magic Masterful Liar (+20 on next Bluff check), the spell Glibness and an ABSURD Charisma score... she defaults to a 70 before a d20 is thrown on Bluff checks. I've often joked with my Beloved Spouse (Kobold Chorus: "We love you!") that Chouko is going to try the Test of the Starstone the next time she's in Absalom and try and become the Goddess of Lies. My question to you, dear readers, is what's your best gaming story involving a Bluff check and a complete prevarication? What was the result of this fib?
Ok, so I just recently wrote up a Gnome language junkie. He's built using the APG rules, so he's taken that... um... thing where he swaps out a racial trait for the ability to learn languages BOGO. (One point in linguistics nets two languages learned) It REALLY fits the Gnome as written in Gnomes of Golarion, and I ADORE Gnomes. But, with max ranks in Linguistics at 13th level (meaning 13 ranks in linguistics) I ran out of languages in the core rules a while back. ... So, I added some that fit my homebrew game well. Planar Trade, Kitsune, Tengu. I'm still 3 short. So I ask... what more should I take to fill those 'slots'? Keeping in mind that the character in question is a planar traveler extraordinaire and is willing to go to ANY length to learn a new language. (He's been trying to find a Druid...but hasn't yet. Is about to resort to geas...)
Or, at least, modern-ish-izing. So, I've been working on fast-forwarding my homebrew campaign setting (not fully updated in a while) as a maybe/maybe-not one-shot wherein the main cast is taken roughly 14,000 years into the world's future. The main difference that I've come up with to this point is that with the rate of population growth, arcology living will almost certainly be essential. For what I mean by arcology, think Megacity One from Judge Dredd. Massive conapts, basically. I'm planning on keeping both divine and arcane magic, adding a thick coat of steam-punk science (Airships! Magnetic guns! SCIENCE!) and then sprinkling in bits of other elements of modern life. Gnomes have returned through PC action, and I expect that they'll play a pretty big part in the future of the world. Somewhere between Krynnish tinkers and the Gnome fighter-pilots from Top Ballista! Elves will probably have recovered a chunk of their antebellum lifespan. Humans will be a much larger part of the population. Dwarves will probably still be more of the agricultural hippyish sorts, bucking against modernization and wanting to maintain the balance of nature in a post-industrial era. Halflings will still want to trade people out of their pants. Orcs will still have a stick up their posteriors, though after mixing with their Spelljamming kin there will likely be a schism of those seeking to return to their Pre-Tinrisian roots. There will almost certainly be a massive population of 'non-native' species from Planar and Wildspace influx directly proceeding the current era of play. But really, what I'm looking for with this post is... what would really change in a fantasy world gone modern that still has active magic on which the Gods still routinely interact with the mortals in a direct fashion? Thoughts?
In which yours truly presents her current favorite "What a twist!" and asks for you fine folk to provide yours. After several months on hiatus, my homebrew game is starting back up. The crew of the spelljamming vessel Bright Star are once again in play, and we pick up with them on approach to Oerth. Upon arriving they set down for resupply in a large clearing in a sylvan part of the Flanaess, and as they are all tired of being cooped up in an enclosed ship after 60 days aboard, it's decided that the entire crew will camp out under the stars. Guards are posted, yet they sleep. And to sleep, dream. In dreaming, the captain finds himself awake in the foyer of Castle Amber - a place which he has visited on two previous occasions. The game freezes. My Beloved Spouse (Kobold Chorus: "We love you!") calls a time-out, as I had caught her completely off guard with this one. (This being quite intentional) And she remarks that: a) Castle Amber is on Glantri, which is on Mystara. Not Oerth. *facepalm*
We adjourn for a moment and I scramble to try and come up with another plan as I'm really in the zone to game. We agree that the party did actually dream about Castle Amber, and I make a large show of shuffling my notes. Specifically, the original copy of Beyond the Magic Mirror by E. Gary Gygax. I sigh, she smiles and we undertake a trip to a dreamworld of magic. In secret, what I actually shuffled was my copy of For Duty & Deity. The party cuts to full wakefulness as a High Priest of my homebrew world Tinris Gates in with a flash and a loud chime of planar transit. He'd been trying to find them for about 10 days, but been able to do so as scrying into the Phlogiston doesn't work. One of the world pantheon of Tinris had been abducted by the Demon Prince, Graz'zt and the High Priest was in a tizzy. The party amps up for a trip to the Abyss on the Infinite Staircase and as they're finishing prep, the captain of the ship takes a moment to invoke his magic mirror. In theory, the mirror (a homebrew magic item called the Intrigue Mirror) would make a temporary clone of the captain so that he could properly administer his duties in two places simultaneously. In actuality, the mirror flashes and he finds himself Beyond the Magic Mirror. This is another place the good captain has been before, one time not escaping with his life. The party followed and thus, instead of Castle Amber, instead of For Deity & Duty, we're running Classic Grognardian Gygax! Mwa ha ha!
Evening, Just noticed that on the page for Kingmaker 6, the link to the next AP installment is to Serpent's Skull 2, not Serpent's Skull 1. Thought I should mention it, though my Beloved Spouse (Kobold Chorus: "We love you!") points out that this seems to be a sliding slot issue and that when she last checked that the missing slot was Kingmaker 5. Cheers!
So, it's been a while since I last started a thread and I've decided to jump in with a favorite topic and an age old anecdote. I'd like to hear about how things have gone pear shaped in games you fine folks have run or played in. How a milk run turned into a Charlie Foxtrot. How the best laid plans of mice and GM's oft go astray. Etc, etc, etc.. Those epic moments when the players come out of left field to lay waste to a carefully arranged plan. I'll be back to share mine in a bit, though I'd love to hear all of yours. Cheers!
Could I please get an update on order 1379722? This was placed on Tuesday 9Mar10 to a gift card visa (thus I'm certain that it's been charged properly) and is still shown as pending. As this is a birthday present for a birthday on 23Mar10, it's important to me that it ship in time to arrive by that date. Thanks in advance!
And I do mean VERY, but it would bug me if I didn't say anything. On the blurb for congratulations, it reads: The Top 16 survivors of Round 2 are back with revised monster descriptions and complete Pathfinder Roleplaying Game statistics for their winning villains. Shouldn't it say "monsters"? And to further add to that, shouldn't it perhaps say "for their fellow competitors winning monsters"? Just my 2cp upon a wake and read.
Good evening, My newly arrived copy of AP #29 Mother Of Flies is damaged. The top corner appears to have suffered water damage, though the shipping envelope and other contents do not appear to have been damaged. The ink is damaged in places and some pages stick together to about one inch in. Additionally, I'm not certain if my last post regarding cancellation of subscriptions processed properly. Please accept this as a confirmation of my desire to cancel all subscriptions except for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game subscription and my Adventure Path subscription. Thanks in advance!
This is, I will now admit, a thought exercise in some ways and rules question in others. That said, a Sorcerer's powers comes from their bloodline. As such, if a Gnome Sorcerer with the Fey bloodline is reincarnated as a Human... would that person still have the Fey bloodline? My thoughts on this are two-fold. 1) No. With the new body comes the new blood, which is not the old blood, and therefore bye bye Sorcerer levels. 2) Yes. If the bloodline is powerful enough to grant magic in the first place, it would be strong enough to follow the Sorcerer to their new body. This is just me being curious and wanting the input of others on a very odd little rules hiccup.
So, it's been a little while since I've inquired of the boards at large on anything, so I feel jumping back in with both feet is probably best. Let's talk about favorites. I've gone on about a few of mine, but I'm going for the gusto now. 1) What's your favorite SINGLE supplement gaming book? For any system, any era of gaming, any single non-core (eg. PFRPG Core Rules, Players Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, etc) book. Campaign settings, splat books, etc. are all valid. Mine would have to be either Book of Exalted Deeds or Eberron Campaign Setting. Oh, and why is this your favorite book? Book of Exalted Deeds for the awesome Good vs Evil fluff and crunch, Eberron for all around awesome, innovative and superlative design. 2) What is your favorite Prestige Class/Advanced Career/etc? Why? Mine would have to be either Divine Crusader or Holy Liberator. I'll just say that I LOVE Paladins and both of these PrC's really capture the good stuff therein while either building on the Paladin or substituting a Chaotic Good variant. 3) What is your favorite base class/starting build? Why? Paladin. Lawful Good doesn't mean 'stick up the arse', and it's fun to explore the variations possible. And kicking tail for $DEITY never gets old, somehow. 4) Who is your favorite 'megacharacter'? What makes them 'mega' and why are they your favorite? Hildebraun Relicseeker. Several knighthoods, has a very 'been there, done that' background but can still be amazed at the good or bad within people. And, well, (s)he's heading for demi-godhood. Currently Paladin 10/Divine Crusader 10/??? 1. Has done truly epic things, and lived (and sometimes died and come back) to tell the story.
Throughout the boards, I will often name drop or reference a character I or my Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") are playing. As such, I felt perhaps a list might be warranted. QED, this post. Enjoy! Summary: A group of divinely charged heroes does good for its own sake.
Dame-Sir Hildebraun Relicseeker, Knight of the Chalice, Knight of Vorange, aka Hilde - Dwarven Paladin/Divine Crusader and aspiring demigod. Champion of Moradin. Born female, male by choice and divine fiat. Dame Vola Earthblood, Knight of the Chalice - Half-Orc Rogue/Ranger. Hildebraun's lover, confidante and often conscience. Also, incredibly sneaky and lethal. Corian of the Remeland - Human.. er... Half-Dragon draconic blood-sorcerer. One of Hilde's first traveling companions and best friends. Archmage. Sir Owen Alain Bannor - Human Paladin/Cleric. Another of Hildebraun's early companions, and the first to return from the dead, thus starting a tradition and earning the group their moniker. Summary: A multiplanar menagerie of the strange and cool.
Olias Blundeth Aetherflame - Elven Archmage at large. The leader of this little band and central point around which the group revolves. Native of pre-cataclysm Greyhawk whose spelljammer crashed on the main gameworld Elfspire. Gerfried Isidor - Dwarven Evoker, aka Gerfried Starmage. First recruit to the band. Dwarf raised by a Human Archmage, who died and thus orphaned Gerfried. Native of Elfspire. Clarice Brindlespot - Gnome Archivist and fey-blood sorceress. Gerfried's lover and the group's resident nerd. Native of Golarion who stepped through a planar gate. Tamlyn Pandoramicum - Alu Demon Abyssal-blood sorceress. Former slave in the Abyss, rescued by the above and spirited out of the Abyss. Intermittently Olias' lover. Native to the Abyss and a brothel called Rosenstrasse. Akakino Chouko - Kitsune Bard and trickster extraordinare. Native to the Honshonu Valley of the Kitsunemori Campaign Setting. Vash doe of Vara of the Dalerunners - Bariaur Planar Ranger, aka Vash the Stampede. Native to Ysgard, travelled the Infinite Staircase to meet Olias at his Biblioteca. Sophone Lightfoot - Halfling Rogue. Erstwhile Chelish slave, rescued by the Gatecrashers when they were on holiday in Absalom. Native to Golarion. G0-03-52-e8-c5-f0 Internal Structure Channel 11, aka "GO!" - (relocated to Tinris, Season One) - Rogue Modron. Native of Mechanus, exiled from Mechanus and 'rescued' by Olias and Vash when they were lost on the Infinite Staircase. Ismeck Vanagas (relocated to Tinris, Season One) - Human (Vistani) Psion. Native to Elfspire and rescued by the Gatecrashers when they were doing a hit and run rescue on some prisoners held by a local diabolist government. Qixi Silcrys - Tiefling Warlock pacted to the Goddess of Death. Former courier of the dark elves of Elfspire (not DROW) who escaped during the relocation crisis and was rescued by the Gatecrashers. Native of Elfspire. There are others in this group I can't recall right now. Specifically Chouko's Human boyfriend who was rescued at the same time as Ismeck. This rescue was intended to rescue a double of Olias' old Vistani girlfriend, who died in a far away place and time but apparently is back... or something. Summary: A band of mercenaries starts out at the Keep on the Borderlands and goes on to rule a fallen empire.
Diestel Bronzebrow (deceased) - Dwarven Monk/Wilder and founder of the Guild of Calamitous Intent. One of the two original members of the party. Died in action while breaking the siege on the Keep. Original Captain of the Guild. His Majesty, King Hauruck the First of The City League - Half-Orc Barbarian/Half-Orc Paragon/Fighter and second in command of the Guild. The second founder and Diestel's erstwhile Right Hand. Recently got Excalibur'ed into finding out that he's the descendant of a long-lost ruler named Llewelyn the Just. Drenthaliana Walks-The-Wood, aka "Dren" - Elven Druid and box-of-rocks extraordinare. Dren and her animal companion - a jaguar named Pony - joined shortly after the first run into the Caves of Chaos. The 'crunchy moral center' of the Guild. Nannette Longbottom (inactive), aka Nanny - Human Rogue. Fate's punching bag, Nannette was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. She left the party before they actually incorporated to a merc company and has been extradited for her crimes against the group and the Keep. Theodorata, aka T - Human.. er... Human.. er... Elven Fighter - T quickly endeared herself to the party during the first adventures with Dren and Nanny by proving incredibly competent. She has since been reincarnated twice, once to Human and then again by Dren to Elven. Through the use of improvised spell components, she is physically identical in appearance and statistics to Drenthaliana, though she's docked her hair to a military crop so they can be told apart. Sergeant of the Guild. Iveloss (missing in action), aka Ivy - Human Illusionist. T's half-brother, whom T recruited so the Guild would have an arcane caster. Responsible for casting the Color Spray that indirectly led to T's first death. Deuteri Bronzebrow (deceased) - Dwarven Cleric of Moradin. Diestel's sister and a second bit of the crunchy moral center for the group. Died in action breaking the siege on the Keep. Astenton Weaver (deceased) - Human Hexblade. Ivy's sometimes lover, recruited to the Guild by Deuteri. Died in action while breaking the siege on the Keep. Sister Dawntouched (deceased), aka Dawn - Aasimar Paladin of Bahamut. The only planar in the game, Dawn was sent by Bahamut Himself to help stabilize the region around the Keep. She died in action breaking the siege on the Keep, and thus has returned to Bahamut's side in Celestia. Deanna Tealeaf (deceased), aka Tiburath Rauhiss - Halfling.. er... Kobold Swashbuckler/Cleric of Bahamut. Reincarnated from Halfling female to Kobold male at the same time as T's first reincarnation. Originally a scion of a major trading family. Died in action breaking the siege on the Keep. Hulf of the Tealeaf (missing in action) - Gnome Barbarian. Deanna's lover, bodyguard and atache. Lost while returning to her family to notify them of her death. Mind-boogied by a set of cursed ceremonial gear found in the Caves of Chaos, he now resides in said caves guarding his precious. Jilandara Kilimati - Centaur Alchemist. Imperial trained alchemist working for one of Elfspire's premier BBEG/EHP types until she helped finish his transformation into a lich. Now a freelance alchemist attached to the Guild. Xandalan Draycen (missing in action), aka Xan - Elven Ranger. Attached to the ranger organization known as The Triad, Xan was lost in action when he made a deal with a troupe of pixies who had accosted the party. He was lost in time for 20 years and eventually attached to the Return to the Keep on the Borderlands game. Wilhemina Askari, aka Captain Will Askari - Human.. er... Serpentperson Fighter/Cleric. Former merchant marine and survivor of the Freeport Trilogy, Will served as Fate's punching bag for a very long time. Bearing a cursed saber, changed by the Jade Serpent of Yig into a serpent person, all her crew dead or run off. She was sent to her homeland by her deity, and ran into the Guild. Wilhelm Askari, aka Will Askari - Human Fighter (thug) / Wilderness rogue. Wilhemina's brother, whom she impersonated to save him from being drafted. Now a drifter and ne'er-do-well recently adopted by the Guild. Osgood Barksplitter, aka Oz - Halfling Ranger/Rogue. Right hand of Theodorata and marksman extraordinare. Recently promoted to co-sergeant when Hauruck self-promoted to Captain. Meleikka - Human Monk. From the same monastery as Diestel, this blustery Human female is one of the Guild's newest recruits. White Oliphant - Half-Ogre Monk. From the monastery of the Standing Stone, met Meleikka on the road to Hauruck's capital at Kingshome. Lawful Good, but wishy-washy. Rithari Elandris - Half-Elven Abjurer. An Imperial trained counter-magic specialist, Rithari is one of the newest recruits. Leonora Skyfallen - Halfing Aberrant-bloodline Sorceress. Scion of a Halfling-Dark Young union, Leonora's most visible abnormality is her eyes. Her goat-like, yellow eyes. Leolanthas Sparrowtail - Halfling Rogue. An interested party working for/with the Halfling Benevolent Association in Freeport, Leolanthas is a 'face'.
The Glorious Last Scion of the Tinrisian World Navy, Bright Star - Living Ship. The Bright Star and its compliment of organic functionaries operate as a pseudo gestalt mind, instantiating as individuals as necessary. The Bright Star is an autonomous and fully sentient vessel capable of long journey spelljamming. It is also capable of telepathic linkage with its designated crew, genesis of functionaries for repair and self-defense, synthesis of food for its crew and other basic amenities. Mozdanhorzon, aka Moz, Ozzy - Dwarven Fighter/Rogue/Psion. The Captain of the spelljammer Bright Star and leader of this motley crew. Contemporary and good friend to Olias Aetherflame. He left Gatecrasher Keep and took Ismeck and Go with him as they were the Gatecrashers 'odd little psychics' to train and go thrash on some mindflayers. Sidetracked when the Bright Star landed nearby and adopted them all. G0-03-52-e8-c5-f0 Internal Structure Channel 11, aka "GO!" - Rogue Modron Psion. See also Gatecrashers. Unofficial second-in-command of the Bright Star. Ismeck Vanagas - Human Psion. See also Gatecrashers. Along for the ride. Gnimish of Clan Uvalnoniz - Gnome Rogue/Illusionist. Grayhawk gnome picked up when the Bright Star stopped to refuel on Oerth. Has a weasely familiar named Bright (here's a tip, the Weasel is as smart as Drenthaliana. INT 6) Oh, and after an incident with a Rod of Wonder, Gnimish is now permanently blue. Quid Pro Quo, aka Q or QP (pronounced Cupie) - Pixie Flame Focus/Tongues curse Oracle and pest supreme. Named for the world laws of Tinris which state that a Gnome can not enter Tinris space without a Fae creature being free of contract, QPQ is the troublemaker of the Bright Star. Brother Joshua Haverson- Human Paladin of Barnatím. Accompanied the Captain during a rescue of the Ordocar order of Paladins (DCC Blackguard's Revenge... much love for the F. Wesley Schneider for an awesome time!!) and has provisionally joined the crew of the Bright Star.
Having just started a readover of The Devil Box in Dungeon #109, and having played a chunk of Sixfold Trial, I would like to get up on my soapbox *does so, with a natural 20 on the acrobatics check* and proclaim my adoration for this wonderfully twisted writer. Thank you, Mister Pett, for putting a smile on my face and a gnawing fear in the pit of the stomach of my Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") That is all.
Ok, so one of my favorite characters, Hauruk of the White Hand (Half Orc Barbarian 3/Half-Orc Paragon 3/Fighter 2) has just come into his destiny by way of a quest. He's just discovered he's a long lost scion of a famous ruler and has just been handed the proverbial sword in the stone. (Literally the king's shade came out and handed it to him, after running through the adventure "Eye of the Beholder") My Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") was really not expecting me to want to run with the "You're the last in the line for the crown" plot hook, let alone to dig in and start planning how to bring the country back from the brink of disaster. The country is called Hoehenaire (though I might be spelling that wrong) and the ancestor's name is Llewelyn the Just. A Half-elven guy who was actually pretty cool and united these provinces under the title of "The Bright Empire". He died, horrifically, when a Demon Prince cursed him with a plague and that plague went on to decimate the populace (literal definition for decimate, as in left 10% alive in its wake). Fast forward about 250 years. The Bright Empire has gone to civil war and ripped itself asunder. Plague was followed by war followed by famine followed by invasion and then more war. Oh, and then the eschaton arrives and devestates the rest of the continent, blights the dominant race of the world (Elves), a few Gods have died and in general all heck has broken loose. In the midst of this Hauruck gets the sword and decides to run with this whole "I'm the last and best hope for this region" schtick. His first real challenge was to verify a bit more about his lineage. Then he's going all whirlwind tour to drum up support for his reign. Then trying to smooth over diplomacy with the neighbors. Then establish his own line by having an heir. Then happily ever after. To this point, he's found out that he is, in fact, a scion of the Llewelyn by speaking with a Diviner. He went in search of an old war buddy, who turned out to be dead. In doing so, he found some refugees that were in dire straits and got to help them out AND smack down a bunch of local bandit raiders. Upon returning to the Keep on the Borderlands, our friendly party Druid had a visit with her crazy-insane-wonderful Auntie Baeren who is a high-ranking member of the Parliament of the Green. She brought her 'Apprentice' with direct and explicit instructions to confirm Hauruck as King with the full backing of the Parliament of the Green. She then wildshaped and flew off before we could get a word in edgewise. Next step? Take the refugees back to the capital, drop off refugees after plant growthing the snot out of the farmlands around the capital, and then hit the rest of the country at large to continue building support. Now that I've said all that, I'm curious what experience other players have had with empire building, country rulership and general landholding. What you've liked about it, what you thought needed improvement, and general feedback on this aspect of my favorite game. Cheers!
Ok, after combing through the archives and coming up with a lot of confusion, I thought I'd just ask.
What, in plain English for a person who's not full awake and has been pounding her head against the desk for a while trying to figure this out, does this MEAN? My interpretation and complications are as follows: 1) A single attack using a standard attack can, as often as possible just because *I say so* doubles the damage output. Example: 7th level human fighter, STR of 20 (+5 mod) swings a greatsword which he has weapon focus for and hits. This is his first iterative attack at full bonus (7+5+1). He decides to go Vital Strike, generating 4d6+5 damage. Now let's say he crits and confirms: That generates 6d6+5 damage, not 8d6+5 or 8d6+anything else as it doesn't multiply strength mod or vital strike damage. 2) Can the same fighter uses Vital Strike on second iterative? 3) Can the same fighter use Vital strike on the next round's first iterative? 4) If the fighter in question does NOT use Vital strike on his first iterative, can he instead use it on his second AT FULL BAB? These are the big questions I have right now, and I'm sorry if this has been answered elsethread. Cheers!
So, I'm finally about to hit the "Go" button on my campaign world. Which means inserting a character. My wife has offered up one of her long-standing favorite PC's in sort of a sacrifical lamb fashion. The character is a Dwarven Fighter/Rogue/Psion of fairly high level (Epic by any other name still kicks butt) So we've already wrangled a point of insertion involving a spelljamming vessel and some space travel mayhem. When Moz and company (Moz the Dwarf, Go the Modron and a Human Psion) reach Tinris I'd like to have Moz at a more reasonable power level. Suggestions to this point have involved: 1) Gamma world de-evolution powers. *slurp* Thank you for the levels!
We're very in negotiations over this, but I'm curious what otehr people might do in this situation. Things that are off the table. 1) Full memory wipe. We'd like to have continuity of the character's personality.
I know that saying "Keep it reasonable" is silly in this situation, so fire away! M
With all the "I miss" threads on here, I thought I'd express an opinion. Modern toys are CRAP. I'm happy as can be that My Little Pony came back, and then Hasbro has to go and make them 'trendy' and anorexic and stuff. They did that once, in the late 90's. It didn't work then, it's not working now. And seriously, what is WRONG with toy companies these days that don't understand that quality means making something that doesn't break in three play sessions? Back in my day....
Now the the influx of "But there's no monster PC rules in PFRPG Bestiary!!!!11oneeleventyone" posts have slowed a bit, I figured I might as well ask. What's your favorite 'monster' PC race? Why? Any favorite instances? Mine would be a tie between: The reincarnate Kobold Swashbuckler/Cleric of Bahamut that I played for Keep on the Borderlands. The Troll that I'm about to play with that same group long after they leave the keep. or possibly the Rogue Modron Psion I played in a Planar game.
In this installment, I ask my favorite bunch of gamers... What's your favorite rules set and/or system? Why? Being that this is the Paizo boards, I'd imagine a lot of support for Pathfinder RPG, but I know that a lot of us play other systems too. My favorite? I'll list my top five and call it even. 1) Pathfinder. It refines the best of what has come before, in my estimation, and while not perfect it's the best of show to date. The backwards compatibility goes a LONG way, as my Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") and I have a LOT of 3.x splat books. 2) AD&D 2e. This was where I cut my gamer teeth. Where I first rolled dice and created characters. This is where it began, and it will never be forgotten. Oh, and 2e was where a favorite setting (Spelljammer) got its start. 3) GURPS. Generic. Universal. Roleplaying. System. From such a humble name arises a great (to me) concept. The rules set and the setting are not intrinsically connected. And the splatbooks were INCREDIBLE. Some of them were so well written that I would have bought them even if I wasn't playing GURPS. 4) TORG. This was a very awesome game. The concepts rocked, the cosms were incredible. My only nitpick is that you HAD to buy worldbooks if you wanted to play that cosm. 5) Car Wars. Sure it requires significant math skills. Sure it took hours to build anything from scratch. But gorramit, it was FUN. Variable Fire Rocket Pod FTW.
Must be a day ending in 'y', as here I am with another thought provoking post. This one just in time for the holidays. In passing through my days, here in the beautiful state of California and the dual-seasoned SF Bay Area, it made me think. I grew up in south-central Pennsylvania, and it would be difficult for me to be further from there right now. Back East, feet of snow and airport closures. Here, it's not even RAINING and I'm walking about in a short sleeved shirt more often than not. But moreover, the weather made me think about holidays past. Growing up, I led a pretty sheltered and very rural life. Some winters found us completely cut off as we literally couldn't open a first-floor door to get out due to the snow. I lived with my maternal grandmother (my mother's adopted mother, specifically) and my mother. My grandmother was ... different and my mother suffered pretty severely from manic-depression. Yet during this time of year, we were family. I still remember when I was 6 and got my first My Little Pony toy, thus starting a love of small pastel plastic ponies that lasts from that day to this. I remember making pies, doughnuts and massive feasts around a table that could seat at least 12. I remember being allowed some glug (though I might be spelling that wrong, it's allegedly a Swedish seasonal alcohol) and sometimes wine. I remember the pine trees almost bending over under the weight of snow. Icecicles forming on the awnings and gutters of the house. These are the things that I most remember about holidays when I was little. What are some of yours?
So, I've been meaning to start this thread for a while and I always forget when I'm at a terminal. That said, I'd like to know more about the little rituals that other Paizo boarders have. I'll share one of mine as an example. On the dashboard of my car, I have a little stuffed pony with a squeeze-for-noise widget. Whenever I get in, or start the car, I squeeze the pony and nuzzle it. For me, it's a token gesture of faith but by this point it's become a ritual for ritual's sake. So what do you do as ritual/habit/just because?
So, my wife and I were laying about last night and she asked me something about her game world. Wanted my input on what to do with a group of fey creatures that had been under the heel of the Elves of her world for millenia. Now that they're free, some of them were bound to form a government and/or small (pun definitely intended) country. I started throwing out the idea of a meritocracy, given that these are chaotic creatures who really wouldn't band together for many reasons. And then I jokingly said "Well, it's not like they could form a communist republic..." and that's where it started. Now she's got a lot of it mapped out, including a red flag with a crossed wand (with glowy star at the tip) and dagger. She's got the secret police already assigned, and it's probably going to be not very long now before anarchic communist thugs are roaming the world causing trouble for "The long ones" Is it wrong that I like this? Yeah... probably just a bit.
Ok, so now that the Hellknight PrC is available I have a question about how others will be playing it. Specifically, how are people currently playing/planning to play a Paladin/Hellknight character. I know there are a number of them as NPC's in the Hellknight ranks, but that's NPC's. How does (for example) a Paladin of Iomedae, a champion of all that is Good, Lawful and Valorous justify working with an organization that styles itself after the ranks of Hell and employs within its membership a number of people who directly affiliate themselves with Things Infernal? I personally am completely willing to buy into the adage of "Evil can be brought back to the light, while Chaos is more difficult to redeem" but it really doesn't cover all cases. Thoughts?
But I felt this might amuse. (Possible spoilers for Sixfold Trial) Tonight, we got really underway for Council of Thieves, Sixfold Trial. After months of building my expectations for a wonderfully RP heavy read and play of the ... play, we quickly found that my sole player (and love of my life) did not want to actually play through the entire play. 10 pages of box text, basically, for one player. I had assumed she'd LOVE it. This was after a smaller assumption, namely that the party's Big Dumb Fighter would fit perfectly into the role of Tybain the bumbling Paladin. She wanted Big Dumb Fighter to play Drovalid, and that worked very well afterall. I had to recast Ilsandra to the party's female PC, a priestess of Pharasma, amusingly enough. So when said cleric cast cause fear on a random actress who was trying out, it was on the person who was written for Ilsandra, thus guaranteeing herself the spot. Thus, I found myself missing an actor to play Tybain. I read that if the party was short on actors for the roles, to just use the iconics from the back of the book. I chose Seelah, the iconic Paladin of Iomedae, to play Tybain. This is Very Amusing because the party is very anti-heroic at best and downright criminal at worst. My Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") has hinted that she'd like Seelah to stick around, join the Children of Westcrown and eventually become part of the party. This, my dear friends, is going to be a challenge. So, I've had to scrap the play and recast creatively. But I think I'm going to have fun, gosh darn it. Rule #1 of gaming. The plan never survives contact with the players.
Some questions after playtesting the Summoner. 1) Do Eidolons need to eat?
I apologize if these have been answered elsethread, but I couldn't find an answer.
So, now that I've got a good discussion going on people and characters of an alternative bent... I'm thinking it might be good to see how others deal with things of an adult bent. Obviously, I'd like this post and all responses to adhere to the policies of the boards. I know that might not be easy while talking about the sorts of things that might be discussed, but I'm absolutely positive that if any group of people can, it's the people on these boards. So, with that said. How do you fine folks deal with the more adult things that happen in games? By which I mean: Sex (sexuality is mentioned elsethread), drugs, long-term relationships, short-term relationships, inter-PC relationships, abuse (I'm not going to use the r*** word here, it's a bit close to the edge), etc. Obviously there's a lot of room for the scope of this discussion, and I've had my share of experiences in gaming. To give an example: Hildebraun (whom I am certain most are tired of hearing about) during her time during the playthrough of The Wizard's Amulet, had a bit of a run in with the BBEG. He ordered her brutalized, tortured and defiled. And it just made her stronger in her faith. And she, unlike almost any other Dwarf on the planet, gets along well with any Orc who's not trying to kill her on sight.
We're not into Beta, won't be releasing on time. Now that I've got that out of my system... I'm on Tinris v 0.4, and would like some feedback. I've still got some serious formatting to go, but it's just about to the point where I feel comfortable opening the floodgates and having a character generated. This is still very much Work In Progress material, but your input is greatly appreciated.
And for the non-Torchwood geeks out there, that means Retcon time. This has happened a couple times to me, recently, and I'm curious how others handle it. Retcon 1) I'm playing a Gnome Archivist who's worked with the Pathfinder Society before being accidentally gated to another world. Her life's dream was to be a Pathfinder. But this was before Seekers of Secrets came out, so we had no idea what becoming a Pathfinder would entail. So we did a bit of story on it and decided that after a trial-by-fire adventure she'd be welcomed in and allowed to buy a Wayfinder. Obviously, when we got the book it was a facepalm moment. Retcon 2) It was around this time that I decided it would be awesome for her to eventually go Mystic Theurge (it really fit her personality and thirst for knowledge at any price), so I took some Fey-bloodline Sorcerer levels. Shortly after this, Seekers of Secrets comes out and I find the *drumroll please* Pathfinder Savant. Which is a MUCH better fit for the character. *sigh* So, when you make a decision and it's later contradicted by canonical materials, what do you, my fine Paizoboardians, do? As this example is Golarion specific, but the overall question is not I felt this the best forum for the thread.
Fiendish Dire Ponies are sated... time to inquire. (Sorry Crystal!) So, I'm a BIG fan of settings. I've written my own homebrew worlds thrice, and I've played in every campaign setting I can. And upon reflection, I can't really decide which is my favorite. Golarion is totally super keen, I'm a MASSIVE dork for Krynn, Shadowrun had me hooked at the word go, TORG... I only wish I could afford more chosm source books, I adore Ravenloft (even though I never want to be the player in a Ravenloft game), I think that Dark Sun was totally the bomb... the list goes on. The point of this thread? What's your favorite game world/campaign setting/universe? Why? I'm always looking for more! I'm putting this here because I'm wanting to avoid limiting things to D&D/Pathfinder/d20... And away we go!
So, my wife and I decided to jump in on the APG base class testing. I rolled up 4 characters. Elven Cavalier of the Dragon
In the first game, at first level, versus the module involving the Straw Man from one of the magazines, we came up with the following feedback. Summoner bringing up an Eidolon is... rough at 1 minute summoning time. Walking around everywhere with an Obviously Supernatural Creature With A Glowing Rune On It That Matches One On The PC's Forehead is... a bit beyond the setting of my wife's homebrew world. The Summoner in question was a long way from home, and was unwilling to bring out the Eidolon just to have it there. The telegraphing of the adventure allowed me to have her start the summoning of the Eidolon, but she was not able to complete the summons until combat round 3. After that, though, the Eidolon was the savior of the party. Also, I might like to see a feat mechanic for "Summoning Swarm" or some such. With the ability to make Summon Monster spells last 1 min/level, I personally think it would be awesome if they could Summon more than one. Now I know that this scales to this mechanic by using (for example) Summon Monster II to Summon from the Summon Monster I list, but I just find the idea of a horde/swarm/flock of Summoned creatures flying/running/charging to the Summoners aid Very Nifty Indeed. Just my tuppence. Cavalier No real problems in combat, save for utterly crap dice rolls. (Seriously, the poor ponce couldn't hit the broad side of a barn..never rolled over 6) The mechanic that stuck in my craw here was the Oath of Greed mechanic that requires a 1st level character to acquire (somehow) 1Kgp to trigger the bonus. My input here, this Oath does not scale at low levels as well as any other Oath. Additionally, I (through RP) lost my Cavalier's Mount before the game 'started'. (Teleport mishaps SUCK, but it made for good fluffy story) So I can't currently speak to that mechanic. Of course, I the player gimped the character by taking Mounted Combat as a feat. Also, the GM and I both forgot to apply the extra 1d6 of precision damage on the few instances where the Cavalier did land a hit. Mea culpa Oracle Love the Oracle. It's the perfect new flavor, and the class feels VERY unique. It adds to the game dynamic significantly, and playing a haunted Halfling that can breathe lightning was AWESOME! Really looking forward to the level gain in the next few sessions. Witch The else-thread discussion of the missing Goat stat block aside, I love my Witch. She's taking the "I'm a good witch" route and is a skilled midwife and healer. The flavor is awesome, the mechanics are solid and well-conceived. The familiar mechanic is like unto other critter mechanics that have come before. Once the fecal matter impacts the HVAC unit, the familiar was completely forgotten. I can see how it could be useful for touch spells on some character concepts, but for the way I made my Witch, when combat started the Goat fell by the wayside. I'm making a note here, Huge Success. My wife's already cooking up the next 1st level test-run through a Dungeon Crawl Classic. Let's see if our intrepid explorers survive! Join us next time, on this channel, for more... Poncy Elven Theater *cue Elven poncy music*
Ok, so after catching about an hour of P.J's Fellowship of the Ring, I was inspired to do something that many have done before. I looked at my Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") and said "I want to write up the Fellowship as Pathfinder characters!" At first, her response was nonplussed. Then, as I got more into it, so did she. We decided to use the 9 as archetypes, but then rebuild their personalities to her homebrew campaign world. Ok, so classes. Aragorn... Um, Duh! Ranger, favored enemy ORCS! (I did not know that Aragorn was 78 at the start of the trilogy... I had thought him Human.. but I then learn he's got some Elf blood... *hums the tune for "The more you know!* Boromir... Fighter. Frodo... Fighter. Gandalf... *drumroll please* Bard. Why? Spell choices and knowledgability. Bards KNOW STUFF. Oh, and he cast light. Maybe a few cure spells. *shrugs* I'm building mostly towards the direction of the Loremaster PrC. No, definitely not a Wizard let alone an Archmage level Wizard. Merry... Rogue. Pippin... Rogue. Samwise... Fighter. (Was planning on either Commoner or Warrior, but needed to keep the power curve level) Gimli... Do I really need to say it? Fighter! Legolas... Fighter. Specializing in ranged weapons over melee, doesn't wear heavy armor. So, with that said, let's open the floodgates. I'm completely willing to state for the record that these are MY opinions. Yours are equally valid.
Um, I know I've seen it mentioned in threads, but I've not seen it addressed. I just rolled a Witch and before rolling I decided it would be Very Nifty Indeed if she had a Goat as a familiar. But there are no stats, anywhere that I'm able to find, for a Goat familiar. Goats are smaller than Ponies, larger than Dogs, and I can't really shoe horn them into an existing PF published statblock. Help me Paizoboard Kenobi, you're my only hope. Edit: Can't find pig either?
|
