If your options are tread water or "here hold this anchor" ... you tread water.
There is waaaaaaay too much doom monegring and hyperbole regarding Donald Trump and what will happen if he gets in.... its all a tad childish IMO
If he was this complete basket case with his finger just itching to wipe us all off the face of the planet... how on earth has he come to be in his position today?
The fact is he has made a success in life OUTSIDE politics which is a damn sight more than can be said for 95% of politicians.
HC has gone her entire life trying 100% just to be beige, safe in the knowledge that most people are deep down sheep like creatures and will go for the "safe and sensible" vote...... she sknew that if she hang around long enough in Washington and said middle of the road things, that she would get given a go.
Has Donald Trump said things in his life that have come back to haunt him?.... ABSOLUTELY.
But then lets not pretend that various presidents over the years have been paragons of virtue shall we?
LOL..... BC spent most of his time in office trying to get laid for gods sake!
The great and "can do no wrong" JFK only got into office cos he was in bed with the mob!!!
Trump might make a mess if he gets in (extremely unlikely).... but I tell you this with complete certainty, he is also 20x more likely to achieve something of real worth than HC, who will achieve nothing.
This is a microcosm of the entire election.
"He's good at X"
"Heres a bunch of evidence that he's not good at X"
"He's good at X and she's horrible about Y"
"Actually here's a bunch of evidence she's not horrible about Y"
"Well she's still bad and he's so good at X I think it won't matter."
If you follow the post line upwards, you will see to what I am referring. You may haved joined in at the end of that topic and missed it.
Regarding your topic
Trump has displayed the ability to run a sizable company, so yes.
Considering he has been bought out of almost every company he's ever had a Board Position on so that the board could accept the losses he'd forced on them and move forward to actually making money...
Not so much.
He's a conman, a shyster. He's been gaming every system for so long he's forgotten it's not a game for the people he ruins.
I can't speak for anyone else but I hated Witcher 2 after only an hour or two, while I was hooked on 3 by Hour 1 and have put over 150 hours into it and loved damn near all of it. The games a masterpiece.
The inclusion of both ability scores and modifiers is one of the only things that I don't like about Dungeon World. It's completely pointless and confuses many new players.
That... Is feminist Rynjin. Shows that treat women as normal people without making them eye candy or having them fall into boring overdone tropes. Pandering to feminists and actually being feminist are two different things.
Marvels Jessica Jones is a gloriously feminist show about women making their own choices and owning those choices while fighting back against bullshit misogyny and social pressures, with a villain perfectly encapsulating how people can be controlled by their abusers with manipulation and fear without needing physical force. It's f$++ing great.
Shotgunned ten episodes today. Not proud of that but holy hell is this show good.
Also makes me excited for a Luke Cage series. The actor is nailing the part and I love the cold stoicism for an unbreakable man.
Oh look, someone thinks a good DM fixes every problem. Clearly that means problems don't actually exist.
Things I haven't seen in my games:
1) Gunslinger damage issues, the one gunslinger played at my tables felt perfectly all right in damage, though very swingy. He was terrifying at very close range but wasn't very tough to take a counterattack.
2) Paladin woes: the DM occasionally says "are you really sure you want to do that?" When alignment starts getting murky. This causes paladin players to think, and explain their reasoning. Sometimes they do it, sometimes they don't. The one fall we've had was something he claimed to be reasonably certain he would fall for and chose to anyway.
Forum issues I have seen in my games:
1) Rogues are awful, and lose the ability to meaningfully contribute very early compared to other, similar classes. I have one player who starts every new character with "ugh... I wish rogues were better" before rolling up a satisfying slayer, alchemist, investigator, Inquisitor or ranger.
2) Monks are awful etc, etc. One of my high optimization players made the best character I've ever seen who was a monk. This made a less optimizing player decide they were awesome and try one. He was extremely disappointed. Turns out that if you don't make every choice very carefully, the monk is a pile of crap.
3) Summoner Problems: We had a master summoner. Together, the dm and player decided it was too powerful, had the character die dramatically, and banned the archetype. We had a synthesist, same story. Against our policy one player got very excited about synthesist and we allowed it again, only to ban it once more after 3 sessions. The base class is not yet banned but its on shaky ground.
4) Caster/Martial Disparity: see it all the time.
5) Skills invalidated by spells: Actual quote to new player "Don't waste too many skill points on climb or swim. Well all be flying by level 7 or so. Throw one into it for emergency situations but it'll be useless later"
Christ Scott I will never understand why you find it so hard to believe people didn't like the ending of ME 3. It was depressingly one note with no real influence from everything you'd done to that point. We've seen better, even from bioware themselves.
Course I didn't care much because I spent the entire time in the main story of ME2 going "this is stupid, every character is acting against established character and motivation and even against reason itself." until I got to the laughably idiotic FINAL BOSS and realized the fame had abandoned what made it even half decentin the first place.
I got two hours into ME3 before realizing it was dumbed down even further and that the story was even worse so... No real horse in this race beyond "not a fan of blindly defending things."
This is another of the many, many threads that boil down to "someone in my group is being a real Dick, whether intentionally or accidentally." To which I must give a simple and clear response.
Talk to them, privately and outside the game, and inform them that their behavior is making you question if you'd like to continue playing with them. Hope they change their tune, and if they don't then remove yourself or them from the group.
I am... not at all surprised that there's not more discussion. This show is a train wreck. I hated it. Kublai Kahn was the only interesting character. I tuned in hoping for an interesting historical drama a la Borgias or Tudors and got bad fantasy that was too scared to make the white character a side character even when said character is literally more an observer than anything else. But no... we need him to learn kung-fu... from a blind monk... because reasons.
I actually liked the blind monk character as long as they kept him in the castle. I could pretend that he was only such a badass because he was so familiar with his surroundings that he could feel changes in the air currents, scents, etc. Then they had him become a secret agent. Who is somehow still extremely effective... I can't talk about this anymore.
Because Create Water is way too useful for an orison, so it kinda balances out. Seriously, I pissed off a GM in Skull and Shackles book 1 by avoiding an entire island derail by saying "We don't need to stop for fresh water." "It needs to be enough for the whole ship." "So? I can do this all day, man, and it's gallons at a time." "Look, it's the rest of book 1, can you just work with me?"
This is why create water is a second level spell in my game. Some priests make a town spring up around their temple purely because they can get fresh water where no one else can.
So I'm starting to DM a game in the Giantslayer AP with a fairly new group in the next couple days. The one veteran in the group is playing a Cavalier since the Player's Guide suggests this might be a better AP for mounts than usual.
However, since I've never played or Dmed for a primarily mounted character and I'm wondering if anyone has any commonly overlooked/forgotten rules for mounted combat to help me out a bit. I'm reading up on it myself but I figured the forums are always a nice place to put out feelers for help.
165) Step into a corridor, covering the floor are scrawled messages to turn back and "don't you dare". There are tens of these messages left from many others that have come this way over the years.
To a lesser extent that is a criticism that can be leveled against most portrayals of relationships in media though. Drama free healthy relationships don't make for good entertainment.
Hopefully younger people are mapping their healthy relationships off of real people around them, like their parents or older peers. If they don't have that in their life at all a positive media representation prolly isn't going to help much anymore than a negative one will hurt.
There's nothing wrong with portraying bad relationships. It's the "glorifying an abusive relationship" part that's problematic.
Sure, but that's nothing new. Media has always glorified s#~#ty relationships, remember Romeo and Juliet? That's talked about like one of the greatest romances of all time and it's about a pair of dumb ass kids that barely know each other killing themselves. I wish that a&~*~!~ Shakespeare would stop glorifying this s$*#.
But anyway, I agree that it can help set the default for expectations on what is considered acceptable and desireworthy, which isn't good, but once again hopefully they have some positive real life influences that are more present, parents, peers and the like.
Mote that Romeo and Juliet was never considered by Shakespeare or the people of the time to be a hugely romantic story. That's a more modern interpretation. The real read of the play comes out more like "look at these dumb f#@&ing kids. Christ kids are dumb. Don't do stupid stuff for a pretty girl dudes. Ladies, the guy wants to bone you, just know that now." Which remains a pretty good message today.
There's a difference between entertainment In watching something negative and that negative being treated as something to want and aspire to. Negative relationships are all over media but are most often called out as negative. Fifty shades attempts to pass off stalking, abuse and (in the book, no knowledge of the movie) at one point a literal rape as a relationship every woman should want. I quite honestly find that not just discomforting but frightening. Not because its there, there's always some media claiming up is down and wrong is right, but because so many women and girls seem to agree. That's damn terrifying.
Since there seemed to be ample interest in this, I'll go ahead and post a full on recruitment. This will be a call for three to five individuals to enjoy an adventure on the island Nation State of Cemeas, a homebrew world where the players will have a lot more say than usual in the creation of. The game will be using a slightly modified version of the Fate Core rules.
World Stuff
Cemeas Geography:
Cemeas is divided into Five Quarters, with a bit of land around the city before you reach the sea. Most of this land is farmland, though there are a few small, usually unnamed villages on the north and east sides.
The Palatial Quarter situated in the west part of the city, is also called the Noble's Quarter, set up against the cliffs over the sea, and contains most nobles Palatial Mansions, including the Palace itself. Most noble families in Cemeas are fairly new, averaging one or two generations from wealth, though a few are long-time nobles from other nations, most prominently the Tremadogian Empire. Wide lawns, imported white marble and fine plazas are the norm here. Guards are very prominent but not very visible here.
The Merchant's Quarter in the northeast, is where most big business goes on, and while some people who are unable to afford these wares or unwilling to travel to the Quarter do their shopping elsewhere, most people know to shop around the Merchant's Quarter for all the best deals. There is always a lot of foot and wagon traffic between the Waterfront Quarter to the south and the Merchant's Quarter. The Merchant's Quarter features wide streets often filled with wagons (sometimes even horseless carriages), a strong presence of rifle carrying guards and flashy storefronts on every side.
The Waterfront Quarter in the south abutts the water. A badly planned pile of warehouses, docks, storage areas and trading houses, filled with sailors from every corner of the world. Always crowded, always busy, always half-flooded and never boring. The guards are here, with rifles and side swords. The streets are straight but the alleys are twisted and cramped.
The Channeler's Quarter in the northwest is an area of the city carefully split into six sections for each of the Houses of Titans. There is little traffic in this quarter of towers and fine lawns. There's little to see here unless you happen to be a channeler, and even then it's easy to get to the tower you wish to be in. There's not too much cross traffic between towers either. There are few guards here, as with battle Channelers nearby every day, it's hardly needed.
The Foreign Quarter in the southeast is a winding, twisty rats nest of alleys and sidestreets. Guard presence is near nil, and most of the buildings are held up by glues and hopes. The poor and disenfranchised live in this Quarter, as well as foreigners and many dockworkers from the Waterfront. The only exception is the Canak Enclave (considered a tiny piece of sovereign territory), which is ordered, efficient, well fortified and adequately guarded. The Canak run a tight ship and are brutal with lawbreakers.
Channeling (Magic System):
Channeling is based on seven incredibly powerful semi-divine entities known as The Titans. Each one controls a single element, in balance with the others, except The Stranger. These entities have been worshipped by many different cultures and places in many different forms. Those that use the powers of the Titans are called the Marked, Channelers, or after the Titan they follow (Builders, Hunters, Destroyers, etc.). The Houses of the Titans in Cereas embrace this diversity claiming that being beyond mortal ken, the Titans may be represented in whatever form chosen by the individual. The Seven Titans are as follows.
The Builder is the Titan of Earth. Builders tend to be calm, centered and considered. They rarely move to action without long planning and intense deliberation. Their channeling can be used to throw and move earth, to incite or calm lust in people, draw great strength from the earth and to move extremely quickly overland.
The Hunter is the Titan of Wood. Hunters tend to be solitary, humble and flexible, but personable. They often avoid recognition and fame, wishing instead to simply ensure that things are handled quickly, quietly and without fuss. Their channeling can be used to hide themselves in wooded environments or move and shape wood. Their wood senses tend to make them excellent archers.
The Destroyer is the Titan of Fire. Destroyers tend to be direct, stylish, angry and charismatic. They are often glory hounds, tend to have explosive tempers and often move ahead without a plan. Their channeling can be used to create and throw fire, inspire fear or pride in people, and keep things warm or cooled.
The Messenger is the Titan of Wind. Messengers tend to be flighty, impulsive, and a bit scattered. They find comfort in other people, be passionate in the extreme and find joy in simple things. Their channeling can be used to manipulate the wind, speed up their own perceptions, and in particularly powerful cases; fly.
The Smith is the Titan of Metal. Smiths tend to be cold, aloof and practical. They enjoy the intricacy of precise machines or cold steel armor and weaponry. They tend to make excellent swordsmen and engineers. Their channeling can be used to enhance the strength or sharpness of metal they touch, bend, shape or move metals, and to ignore pain or impediment.
The Mariner is the Titan of Water. Mariners tend to be thoughtful, introspective and empathetic. They tend to be excellent readers of people, avoid large crowds and enjoy sailing the rivers or sea. Their channeling can be used to read others emotions, move and shape water, and make sailing or swimming easier and smoother.
The Stranger is the newest Titan. Strangers seem to share no particular traits, though the wish to change things seems to be slightly more popular among them. Strangers are able to use their channeling for any of the purposes the others have, including almost anything their imaginations can come up with if they have power enough. The Stranger is the only Titan who sometimes steals Channelers from other Titans. Often ruining their lives in the process. Being marked by the Stranger is, in Cemeas, a sentence to either death or lifelong imprisonment.
The players in this game will all be Channelers of the Stranger (Strangers as they're commonly called). They will all have been caught by the authorities and en route to Blackstone Penal Institution. Channeling will be a required skill by all characters, though it may be at any level between Average (+1) to Great (+4).
A Brief History of The Island Nation-State of Cemeas:
The Nation State of Cemeas was originally founded slightly under 400 years ago by the Nementian Confederacy (The Founding Year is year -223C, where 0C is the year of independence.) A walled fortress of a city sitting firmly within far catapult (and later cannon) range of three very profitable trading channels, the city grew and became prosperous quite quickly, the influx of trading taxes causing Five major districts separated by their own interior walls to spring up within the first 100 years, even when military action in -134C caused the city to come under the thumb of the Tremadogian Empire, who heavily taxed the cities trade profits. Ruled originally by a council of natives, then a governor installed by the far off Empire, the city lived uncomfortably under the yoke of colonialism for 134 years until Maera Kilyn, an elven woman and consort of the governor, worked with a small group of local Channelers led a violent coup on the Tremadogians. Surprisingly, many of the Tremadogian and mercenary guards turned on their masters and employers. Historians blame this in part on the locals more common acceptance of other races than the mostly Elf- and Humano-centric Empire, as well as the locals tolerance and respect for technological advancement making the lives better for the working class, and not least on the fact that due to travel being too expensive for the common soldier, many of them had strong relationships to those in Cemeas itself.
After the coup, the royal line began with Queen Maera I of the Kilyn line. The City established the Houses of the Titans the following year, appointing the Heads of Houses to the newly created Council of Seven, consisting of the Queen and each Head of House. Those without the ability to Channel were given no representation within the Council, leading them to be disenfranchised and unhappy. Things progressed much as they had for the populace, as Noble Houses cropped up in the wake of political and merchant power gained in the absence of the Empire's taxes, more common merchants hawked their wares both near and far, dockworkers traded their backs for some coins and beggars who'd lost even their strong backs traded anything they had for another day.
In the year 38C came The Stranger, a new Titan, without a House and seemingly without a limit to his power. The Titan chose very few people compared to the other Titans, and there seemed to be no pattern to those chosen by The Stranger. Where many could tell by certain talents or temperaments if someone would be chosen by The Smith or The Hunter, The Stranger seemed to decide on his Channelers with an eye only toward those who would shake things up, making the underdog the only reasonable pattern. (Though not every underdog, The Stranger chose far less Channelers than most). In addition, those marked by The Stranger were initially imperceptible, unlike other Channelers. This led to a big shakeup in power structure, with many people who were completely powerless and quite resentful about it finding themselves with the amount of power normally reserved only for those who had trained for years or decades. Robbings, vigilantism, fires, murders and destruction came to the powerful with the merchants, soldiers and poor dying in the crossfire. It took 5 years before those marked by The Stranger were declared enemies of Cemeas. A new prison facility was built by Channelers of The Builder. An imposing monstrosity of a prison towering over the Foreign Quarter known as Blackstone Penal Institution. The walls of the institution are laced with blackglass (obsidian), the only known grounding agent to The Strangers. Soon being a Channeler for The Stranger was punished only by death or a one-way trip to Blackstone.
In the year 71C, the city was hit by a plague the city called The Spellblight. While a dark time for the general populace, who suffered around 25% losses (slightly higher among non-human races), it was absolutely devestating to the cities Channelers, who suffered an infection rate of almost 90%, with well over three fifths of cases being fatal. With the numbers of Channelers cut by almost half and trade with the world outside the island cut off entirely, more people starved and everyone suffered. The discovery that Strangers seemed to be immune to the Spellblight caused a mass panic, making massive witch hunts among the angry and scared populace for those they blamed for causing the plague. Dozens were killed in lynchings and kangaroo courts, finally ending with the accusation and execution of Queen Marae I by her half-elven son and heir King Lyrant I. Whether the accusations against the First Queen were true has never been chosen, but that doesn't stop rumors and King Lyrant I's popular nickname, The Traitorous Prince.
The reconstruction efforts after the plague and purges lasted almost 2 decades. One of the major changes was the reconstruction of the Council, since the Channeler's numbers were to a small percentage of what they had been, the angry populace promoted Guilds into the Council under threat of riots and rebellion. The Guilds consisting of Merchants, Sailors, Farmers, and Soldiers promoted their Heads to the Council, quickly followed by The Representatives for each quarter, making the final and current Council of Fifteen.
In the year 96C a warship full of Canak (A violent, tyranical, short-lived race of spiked, snowy white humanoids from the north) crashed on the rocks of the isle containing Cemeas. Declared heretical by their own people for pollution of outside ideas, the Canak survivors eventually found themselves moved into a ghetto within the Foreign Quarter and largely forgotten. Attempting to recreate their homeland they spread their strange religion in the ghetto and beyond, where it took root in much of the disenfranchised workers who lacked a guild or other representation, including those marked by the Stranger. The Canak philosophy preached a system of knowing your place and conforming to your role, and protected converts as though they were born to it, including those who were criminals or outcasts in their own lands. In the intervening hundred years the philosophy has gained strength in the poor districts, but found few converts in the nobles and tradesmen. One of these converts was quite important, that being Princess Atrius, heir to the throne, who cast away her title to join the Canak ghetto in 105C. When the King discovered that his daughter had defected from his court with the help of her mother, he divorced her, and scandalized the court by taking an Ork, Queen Nicoult as a second wife and having a new heir, the half-ork, quarter-human, quarter-elf Prince Nikolas and his younger brother by 15 years Prince Lyrant II.
After a series of short trade wars (consisting of little more than occasional naval skirmishes) with neighbors, assassins from the Nementian Confederacy, Strangers all, killed King Lyrant and his Queen in their bed in the year 131C, causing the coronation of King Nikolas I, the first Non-Channeling King of Cemeas. A small faction within The Houses of the Titans, including the head of The House of The Destroyer, worried about losing their power and favor in the City, conspired to kidnap Prince Lyrant II and placed him under guard. Many lies and half-truths were used to convince Lyrant that his brother was an ineffectual and foolish ruler, and that the young Lyrant would be a better fit for the throne. Eventually the conspiracy used Lyrant as a figurehead to launch a civil war against King Nikolas. The Brother's War was long and bloody, lasting for 12 years, but luckily for history, King Nikolas was gracious in victory. The conspiracy was rooted out (mostly) and it's leaders put to death. Prince Lyrant II remains at the Palace, a prisoner in name only who has accepted that his brother is a fine ruler and has avoided entangling himself in politics. The King's treatment of his brother and his traitorous supporters and soldiers has earned him the moniker "The King in Grace".
This will be very steampunky. Lots of swords and cutlasses, matchlock rifles common with flintlocks for the rich and maybe even a couple of wheellocks floating around, but most violence is still done the old fashioned way. Cannons are used in defense of the island and on a few advanced ironsides. Gentry but no feudalism.
This information will be up in the Campaign Info tab at all times. Lots of it is background, feel free to skim it, and consider very little set in stone.
I will be intending to run an origin story adventure, which means that all that is necessary for your character to get consideration is the following 4 things:
A High Concept
A Trouble
A short, simple history
A writing sample, in character, detailing how the character was captured by the Guard (at least a paragraph, doesn't have to be too ridiculous, just something to get me a feel for your writing)
The rest of your character may be filled in through the origin story, including aspects, skills and stunts (though if you'd prefer to do a full character before even starting feel free, I have no intentions of stopping you.)
These characters should have had some form of a life before being Marked (It never happens before about age 14) and depending on how street-smart, tough, resourceful or clever they are may have avoided capture for many years, but now they are captured and on their way to prison in one of the Guards' wagons.
are you saying that it can't be done efficiently with hand crossbows? I was trying not to go for the rogue/dagger ranger type build here.
Ill save you time, nothing can be done effeciently using crossbows. Unfortunate truth of pathfinder. I'd agree that two daggers (and an eventual blinkback belt) is a good choice.
Yeah, none of you are going to be able to convince me the 'bloodline' aspect of sorcerers isn't absurd.
"You're wrong, I'm right. I'm taking my ball and going home."
Sheesh. If you wanna discuss it, then do so, if you just wanna keep bashing a class because you don't like the flavor of someone learning to use an inborn power instead of learning it from someone else then why are you even still whining about it?
The point I made inside the spoiler (of which the quote above is a poorly worded summary, my apologies) is that when you download a game, in most cases the EULA is displayed and must be accepted before the installation will occur.
As a result, unless you can prove that you did not accept a EULA before the installation, then a court will rule that the EULA has been accepted during the installation process, as evidenced by the installed software.
Yeah, in EU it works differently, because our laws actually try to protect people, not companies.
Just to point out, his reasoning isn't true in the US either. No EULA is legally binding, a fact which the supreme court has ruled the same way several different times.
Most hilarious teamwork situation (in my opinion):
Entire team takes Outflank, Gang Up and Combat Reflexes. Preferably, they all get keen rapiers.
PC1: Approach enemy, ready to attack when PC4 attacks.
PC2: Approach enemy, ready to attack when PC4 attacks.
PC3: Approach enemy, ready to attack when PC4 attacks.
PC4: Approach enemy and attack. The other three PCs' readied actions go off, for a total of four attacks.
Statistically speaking, at least one of them should crit (confirming shouldn't be hard, given the +4 flanking bonus). When they do, the other three PCs get AoOs.
That's 3 more attacks.
If one crits (not terrible odds), then there's another 3 attacks.
Repeat until either no one crits, or the enemy has taken somewhere around 28 attacks.
Swashbuckler: With all due respect to paizo, Super Genius Games' Ultimate Options: Grit & Gunslingers beat you to the punch, and did a better job at it too.
Did you get the playtest? Since that's the only way you know the other company did a better job. Ooohhh send it to me. Send it to me!
Warhammer online had a goblin caster that did that. You worshipped 2 gods and when you used blasty gods spells quite a bit without swapping then Healy god would get jealous so your next Healy spell would be supercharged and vice versa. It was quite fun.
All right then folks. Here's one I've wanted to run for a long, long time. The one, the only, the first, Rise of The Runelords. And now that I hold the beautifully remastered version in my hands I'm opening recruitment to all those with sound bodies or minds and adventure in their souls to save the village of Sandpoint, and eventually, perhaps the world.
Houserules:
Banned List:(Note that this is not a comprehensive list, and some other things may be banned. I reserve my DM right to ban any item I choose at any time I choose.)
Wild Rager Archetype
Rage Cycling (Barbarians, even those immune to fatigue, must wait twice as long as they were in rage to enter it again)
Synthesist Archetype*
Master Summoner Archetype
Antagonize Feat
Clustered Shots Feat
Falcata
* This one is more (The cheese that usually goes with Synthesist. Show me one that isn't complete and utter powergaming (i.e. One that doesn't drop every physical stat to dirt, or jump towards pounce as fast as he can) and I'll probably quite like it.
Combat should be dynamic and flowing, thus you may move up to half your speed and still make a full attack.
Power Attack, Combat Expertise and Lunge are combat options. Anyone with STR 13 or higher may Power Attack. Anyone with DEX or INT 13 or higher may use CE. Anyone with a BAB of more than 6 may make Lunge attacks.
Combat Maneuvers provoke Attacks of Opportunity only with a failure, not with the attempt.
Vital Strike is a single feat that scales.
Weapon Finesse/Agile Manuevers are Options of Finessable Weapons and no longer feats.
Dervish Dance is replaced by Expert Strikes. Expert Strikes is a feat requiring a BAB of +4 which allows you to add your DEX bonus instead of STR bonus to damage for Finessable Weapons.
Weapon Proficiency is a trait. Using a Feat on Weapon Proficiency gains you Proficiency in 2 weapons.
Vital Strike is an attack action which can be combined with any other such action (i.e. Charging, Spring Attack, Cleave).
Lances Do not deal double damage on a charge, only +5 damage.
Characters gains 1 point buy every level, replacing the one attribute point every 4 levels. Points beyond 18 cost an amount of points equal to the resulting modifier (19 = 4, 20-21=5, 22-23=6 etc.)
Paladins not required to be Lawful, only Good. Still held to code though.
Character Requirements:
15 Point Buy
3 Traits (1 Campaign)
All Core Paizo Material Allowed (CRB, APG, UM, UC)
Most Paizo Splatbooks Allowed (___ of Golarion, Adventurer's Armory, Others with DM Approval)
Third Party Material subject to DM Approval. (Super Genius is generally balanced and creative.)
1 Backstory
1 Reason for being in Sandpoint during the Swallowtail Festival (Chance, Local, Religious Leanings, etc.)
1 Description of Your Character as seen by a stranger.
No Evil Alignments (I want Heroes. Even if they aren't the best of heroes.)
Recruitment will stay open for 2 weeks. 5 Characters will be chosen. Those who get a character approved may begin to roleplay the day of the Swallowtail Festival in Sandpoint. Roleplaying does not guarantee a spot by any means but it generally increases your chances as it will give me a better insight into your playstyle.
Notes on Style:
I don't particularly like characters with terrible drama ridden backstories. Bad things happen to people and it can be interesting to be a terror magnet but it's overplayed. Mix some happy in with your sad.
Don't be a lone wolf who's going to ask why he/she is with the party. If I can't see you getting along you won't be chosen. The party doesn't have to agree on everything but compromise is essential.
I prefer longer, more in-depth and descriptive or interesting posts less often than one tiny post every day, therefore my only posting limit will be at least twice a week. I'd like more posting than that but I will value quality way over quantity.
My campaigns tend to focus on character and party interactions. Conversations will happen and sometimes a bit of time may go by without combat or skills and just with roleplaying and conversations. If that doesn't sound like any fun to you then keep moving along.
I like cinematic combats and interesting descriptions. If you miss the goblin, don't just say you missed. Describe your arrow sailing near and thunking into the water barrel. Or your hammer arcing over your head but being off center because you were out of breath from the slash you took earlier. Just be a little interesting. It makes things better.
All right boys and girls, let the submissions roll in.
The best part of what you're talking about? Whedon does it with everything he's apart of. Buffy, Angel, and Firefly all have similar "party" dynamics that make you understand the characters and how they interact. Probably why nerdy folks like us love Joss so much
After finding the Kirthfinder ruleset, I've been intrigued. I really like the added emphasis on versatility and the fresh new ideas within the rules, but have been having difficulty getting my head around it without bringing in too many preconceptions of Pathfinder.
Well I've always found that simply playing a ruleset gets you much more into the system much faster and helps you learn at a prodigious pace, I've decided to start a PbP game set in the world of Aviona, using the Kirthfinder rulesets. I believe that PbP is the optimal area for this as when rules come up I am unsure of I will be able to check them out without slowing the game to a crawl in the process. I would prefer other people without too much experience at Kirthfinder, though not necessarily all newbies.
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So for character submissions I would like:
Level 1 Characters, made using the races and classes of the Kirthfinder rules.
Attributes are either 4d6 drop the lowest, or Heroic Array. Include Comeliness and Social Class, which are rolled even if the character is using the Heroic Array.
Background of the character (Feel free to do a little character building here, as I'm not incredibly familiar with Aviona as written and we will very likely be going far, far off the beaten path into homebrew world territory.) Your character has joined or been drafted into a military expeditionary force and send to Fenrift Keep (Chap. 1 Pg. 14) for service.
A paragraph of physical description, as written from someone seeing them for the first time.
A short outline of where you plan to take the character.
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All right, let's see what interest we can drum up here.
I'm thinking misguided copper dragon wiping out villages to convince the local king to bring in adventurers to hunt down a cult who's killing people for a ritual to bring the spirit of a demon lord which will give him lots of power. Dragon doesn't believe the king will react quickly enough to a warning, so he starts slaughtering villages, "for the greater good".
Interesting, if somewhat deranged for a good dragon. If it were me, I'd likely have the dragon target the hidden cult members along with their secret allies instead. The king could ask the adventurers to investigate the mysterious deaths of seemingly random individuals throughout the realm, including some of his most trusted advisers! As the PCs plunge ever deeper into the mystery and start uncovering secret ties between the victims and the details of the conspiracy to summon the demon lord, the dragon might erroneously begin suspecting the PCs of being cultists as well and erroneously target them for death. Only by possessing a party member and secretly spending time observing the group does the dragon learn that they may in fact be unwitting allies of his. He could then feed them information and so steer them against the lead cultists while maintaining a position as their mysterious but beneficent patron/mentor; perhaps only revealing himself near the end to team up with them for the epic end battle.
Ryuko wrote:
Go Ambrus!
Go me!
I thank you. You have entirely written my new adventure. Now I wish I had enough time to run another game. Perhaps after Kingmaker.
"Aye! Wake up ye damn rats and on yer feet!" The voice is followed by the crack of a whip and the harsh light of a lantern on your sore eyes. "Still abed with the sun over the yardarm, boys? Get up ya filthy swabs! Get up on the deck and report for duty before Cap'n Harrigan flays your flesh to sausage-skins and has Fishguts fry ye up for breakfast!"
You all remember the night before--the ringing laughter of the bar, the heady joy of excess, the scents of rich stewed meat and perfume that lingered in the nostrils. Your current surroundings are not near as nice, the sickly taste of cheap wine, the hard floor you lie upon, the feeling of the room swaying as if you had too much. And above it all... a pounding, painful headache. The room you're in holds several hammocks stretched between the inner rails of what must be a ship.
The man before you holds an expression that could be mistaken for pain but after a moment you realize is an attempt at a smile. The man's beard is braided and his mouth is full of golden teeth. He's tall and thin, and even the long coat and heavy boots he wears fail to give him any impression of strength or bulk. Six rough looking fellows stand behind him with saps in their hands, obviously ready for violence from the new priso--crew.
Taking quick stock you find yourself stripped of valuables. The pirates were surprisingly thorough, and you lack even any nicer clothes, though they've not left you naked.
The man's whip cracks again and he shouts, "Move now, bilge rats or I'll start with the beatings before the captains even seen his new swabbies."
Maybe Simon could foolishly try to confront Zoe's demon, or maybe get attacked by it during a dream-exploration of Zoe's memories regarding the night her father died.
My God this is a great idea. A wonderful, terrible idea. I'm gonna ask that if you do this you do it sometime during play because I would not want to miss it.
That said... just so you know... Simon is nowhere near a match for Zoe's demon. If that is what it is *DunDUNDUN!!*
So i managed a run-through of the demo and... I'm not buying it. I just don't get the feeling of "epic space opera that really explores deep questions and interesting viewpoints" since everything now is "Shepard, Spacemarine Badass and savior or the galaxy". I was very disappointed at the direction of the last game and didn't want to see this game continue it, but since they have I will be voting with my wallet and sadly walking away from the adventures of Zeke Shepard, redheaded renegade vanguard.
The third day of Pharast was not the nicest day to begin an adventure. Near dawn, the sky, fat and pregnant for days with huge dark clouds, had finally opened up, spilling a light rain which steadily grew towards torrential as the day wore on. By now, near dusk, anyone travelling has been thoroughly soaked and those without careful steps have had their legs covered in mud. As you round a hill you can see before you a light, which slowly forms into a clearer shape of a gate, standing within the wall of what looks like a light keep. The gate is made of worn old oak and the wall is half-crumbling, no determent to a truly eager foe. The light comes from a single lantern hanging from a hook outside the gate, miraculously not yet doused by the torrent.
Each of you realizes after a moment that this must be your destination, Oleg's Trading Post, the last southern port of Brevoy before The Stolen Lands beyond, and the only amount of civilized shelter for a week's travel in most directions. As you trudge toward the gate you each remember the day you recieved your charters, now tightly wound within a (luckily) waterproof scroll case on your person.
The Charter:
Be it so known that the bearer of this charter has been charged by the Swordlords of Restov, acting upon the greater good and authority vested within them by the office of the Regent of the Dragonscale Throne, has granted the right of exploration and travel within the wilderness region known as the Greenbelt. Exploration should be limited to an area no further than thirty-six miles east and west and sixty miles south of Oleg’s Trading Post. The carrier of this charter should also strive against banditry and other unlawful behavior to be encountered. The punishment for unrepentant banditry remains, as always, execution by sword or rope. So witnessed on this 24th day of Calistril, under watchful eye of the Lordship of Restov and authority granted by Lord Noleski Surtova, current Regent of the Dragonscale Throne.
With the shelter before you, you hurry to get out of the wet cold.
Each of you feel free to describe your character and how they received the charter
Hello eveyone, your friendly DM Ryuko here, finding himself with enough time for one more game so who wants to play some Kingmaker?
Character Creation:
All Core Paizo Material Allowed (CRB, APG, UM, UC)
Most Paizo Splatbooks Allowed (___ of Golarion, Adventurer's Armory, Others with DM Approval)
Third Party Material subject to DM Approval. (Super Genius is pretty good if you wanna check them out.)
20 Point Buy
4 Characters
2 Traits (1 Campaign)
1 Backstory
2 Plot Hooks for Later
1 Reason your character absolutely can't or won't go home
1 Extra Noncombat Feat (Any +2 to two skills feats, Endurance, DMs call on Noncombat Feats)
Banned:
(Note that this is not a comprehensive list, and some things may be banned. I apologize for being unable to list all, but I'll list what I can.)
Wild Rager Archetype
Pounce Allows One Attack Per Limb
Rage Cycling (Barbarians, even those immune to fatigue, must wait twice as long as they were in rage to enter it again)
Synthesist Archetype
Master Summoner Archetype
Antagonize Feat
Clustered Shots
Falcata
Notable Houserules:
Power Attack, Combat Expertise and Lunge are combat options. Anyone with STR 13 or higher may Power Attack. Anyone with DEX or INT 13 or higher may use CE. Anyone with a BAB of more than 6 may make Lunge attacks.
Combat Maneuvers provoke Attacks of Opportunity only with a failure, not with the attempt.
Vital Strike is a single feat that scales.
Weapon Finesse/Agile Manuevers are Options of Finessable Weapons and no longer feats.
Dervish Dance is replaced by Expert Strikes. Expert Strikes is a feat requiring a BAB of +4 which allows you to add your DEX bonus instead of STR bonus to damage for Finessable Weapons.
Weapon Proficiency is a trait. Using a Feat on Weapon Proficiency gains you Proficiency in 2 weapons.
And that's all. If that doesn't scare you off, then submit a character. I will be closing submissions Wednesday night at 10 PM Central Time (~51 hours from now) and will choose four heroes then.
The planet of Maelstrom is still forming. Pools of magma and water form and change constantly. Maps are inconstant, as the landscape can change year by year. The elements are in constant conflict, with the earth opening and crashing together into new, dark mountain ranges as the plates shift, the wind whistling and storming as the lightning crashes to the earth, the waters shifting and the oceans moving in decades rather than millennia and the volcanoes and harsh sun throwing fire into and from the sky. Each of the races holds a connection to these ancient elements of Maelstrom.
Kobolds are the little dragons. A race of fire-loving and living creatures, they believe that the planet is truly one great fire dragon, held imprisoned by the other elements. They worship this 'Life Dragon' as their god, and believe that those elevated enough by its power will become Dragons themselves, a goal every kobold strives for. They also believe that the sun, which hurts them so much, is the 'Dark Dragon' and that it's rays are pure hatred, burning down on the Life Dragon, who forgives his brother. Kobolds tend to think of every action for a long time, trying to decide if it would bring pride to the Life Dragon, making them a very conservative and careful people. Kobold adventurers tend to be the voice of reason and caution in a group and gravitate toward mystic pursuits.
Sasquatch are the earth peoples, given the power of the land in their very bones. They are often brash and impulsive, always happy to share a tale or a tankard of mushroom spirits (Weak but flavorful). The Sasquatches are not a warlike people, though they are fierce in martial battle when provoked and their earth shamans can change the battlefield to suit them. Living within the stone houses or caves in large family clans of hundreds, the Sasquatch families are fiercely protective of home and clan. Sasquatch adventurers tend to be chaotic to the point of confusion, and tend toward martial classes.
Samsaran are the intelligent and dour people of the skies. Worshipping the wind as 'the souls of those not yet reborn', the Samsaran remember snippets of their past lives, giving them a far better grasp of the intricate arts of sorcery than many of the other races, and far less fear of death. The Samsaran give no thought to creating things to outlast them, as they know that their seers will still have memories from the ancestors, meaning that creating a mark on the world is as easy as living in it. The blue people are naturally communal, helping all their neighbors with anything they can. Samsaran adventurers are often arcane or divine casters, though they have a decent warrior tradition which focuses more on defence than offence.
Uden are the shifting people of the seas. With a fluid, shifting form and attitude, they are alike in only one aspect. A distrust for solid beings. The Uden fight constantly among themselves and the territories of each tribe shift constantly. Xenophobic and high strung, the Uden avoid more than passing contact with the other races on average, though some tribes use members to train under outsiders or with them to gain new techniques. Uden who touch mingle into a very 'intimate' melding. This means that all members avoid physical contact unless absolutely necessary. The most legendary of Uden weapons are created from the substance of their honored dead, and passed down through families, who unlock their secrets as they grow in power. The water people favor great numbers in combat, using little strategy beyond raw force. The Uden have no genders. They have small amounts of natural born magic users but very very little in the way of training for using magic. Uden adventurers are likely learning to become great in their own tribe or to help crush others, or rebel against their elders ideas that outsiders cannot be trusted.
Lizardmen are an anomaly. Tied to no element, the Lizardmen have instead thrown their lot behind their vast intelligence, building clever and powerful machines to subjugate small sections of Maelstrom enough to build stable cities. The Lizardmen live a life of constant work, each citizen pitching in to keep the city from falling apart in the face of the elemental fury of their planet. This fosters a constant life of sacrifice and struggle. Each Lizardman would give his life so that two others could survive, only to ensure that their species survives. The Lizardmen fight with more advanced weaponry than the other races, even using their technology to augment their own bodies. Lizardmen adventures are often on a quest given by the Council of their cities to help it survive, or attempting to learn from the other races to keep themselves together. The rarest of times an adventurer may manage to bring together like-minded others and start a new city.
I ran Varn as a super friendly man's man, (like Elaine's boss from Seinfeld). The players liked him.
That was pretty much exactly my plan as well. Also congratulations and thank you for your amazing work on RRR and VV. I'm already planning on using both conversions. Absolutely great work.
My party just finished Stolen Lands and I've had the Brevic government invite them to a gala in their honor, along with the other groups sent to explore the Stolen Lands. They'll be receiving their second charter, the one asking them to establish a barony (again with Barons Drelev and Varn receiving their own at the same time). My goals with this are to establish many of the future characters that will be important later in the AP and establishing relations with them both as future characters and current neighbors. I want to make sure they have a good relationship with the Varning Host so they have more reason to investigate in the next book, as well as introducing the Numesti family, giving far more reason to rescue Lord Terrion and his elder daughter (who I hope to set up as a love interest for one of the PCs), as setup for the 4th book.
The guest list so far includes:
Jamandi Aldori-who I plan to play as a beer drinking, badass, just-one-of-the-guys sort of girl (kind of intending someone to get a crush on her)
Maegar Varn-A saintly, knightly Cavalier fresh from exploring and clearing out the Nomen Heights. Once they're given their charters, Varn will challenge the PCs to a friendly tournament in a years time. I'm using DM DudeMeisters excellent Monster Kingdom idea and Varn will provide an extra army when it's needed. Essentially I want the PCs to love the Varnlings.
Caspar Morgarion-Varnling Elven Cleric of Erastil. A drinker and fun, may drag a PC off to get into a bit of trouble just for fun.
Willas Gunderson-A lithe, graceful Ulfen Ranger who only speaks Skald.
Jubilost Narthopple-The gnome cartographer from slightly later in RRR
Hannis Drelev-The leader and now Baron of another adventuring party, slightly older and easily offended. He may challenge an offensive party member to a duel and teach him some manners. (My PCs have issues withmouthing off to the wrong people.)
Imeckus Stroon-A member of Drelev's party. A quiet and unassuming wizard.
Pavetta Stroon-An annoying, overly perfumed, overly makeupped, slightly overweight woman with an annoying lapdog. The sister of Imeckus, she is soon to be married to Drelev, who is marrying her purely for the money.
Quintessa Maray-A member of Drelevs party. A beautiful and quite young human bard who is secretly a spy for Daggermark. She will grow to be Drelevs mistress soon after the marriage and already he pays her a bit more attention than an affianced man should.
Lord Terrion Numesti-A courtly older Knight destined to get into trouble in book 4. The PCs should like him, while still giving him a sense of dignity.
Kisandra Numesti-A slightly plain 16 year old daughter of Terrion. Will help the PCs as a messenger of Drelevs wrongdoing later.
Tamaray Numesti-An older and very shy daughter of Terrion. I intend her to start an extremely slow romance with one PC, which will hopefully grow closer but culminate when she is captured by Barbarians later.
So Paizoains, what can you give me to help? Who have I left off the guest list that I really shouls introduce? How can I make this a memorable night for all the party members? What can I add to make the various characters more interesting? What ways can I accomplish the goals I've set for this party?
It's a dumb fighting style. Ever tried to dual wield weapons IRL? It requires you to be able to concentrate very closely on two different things at the same time, and that just isn't happening in combat. You won't hit a thing. All TWF is is saying "I don't know how to fight, come kill me!".
I'll have to tell my Sifu (martial arts teacher) this, apparently he's been doing it for years.
In all seriousness I have weilded two weapons in real life (I've trained with tonfa and a little with kama) and though it is difficult to learn and does require a lot more thought, it is far from idiotic. I can hit plenty in sparring matches, even against multiple people, and I am by no means a master. Two Weapon Fighting requires a retraining of your brain to focus in two areas and after more than a year of training I still have times in a match where I miss something because I wasn't remembering both weapons, but I don't strike myself without meaning to anymore, so it takes Dexterity and training (hey, looks like you need Dex for the feat and feats represent training) but it's frankly ludicrous to dismiss an entire viable combat style as "dumb"
DM's ruling: No Swift Actions in Surprise rounds, and I'd assume Florin drew his weapon before you opened the door, when Rohan told you all that there were goblins aboot.
Similar to the tying trees to arrows before, I had an archer who managed several times to make holes in enemy ships in a nautical campaign by using this tactic. It's pretty easy to hit the broad side of a warship, and then suddenly there's a warship inside your warship and that's bad.
Yo dawg, I heard you like to sail so I put a warship in your warship so you can sail while you sail.
While I don't have anything to simplify things or help much I just want to say:
BEST. TEACHER. EVER.
I would have been so excited by such things if my teachers had done them, well done. And the math teacher down the hall will love you for making them work with numbers in a fun way. I swear half the reason I'm so good at math is RPGs.
Currently there is a debate going on about why sword canes were added if they were not mechanically better than X.
There was a huge thread about the Monk vow of poverty, and how horrible it was.
To which I slam my head repeatedly into my desk.
Crazy thought here, maybe every build isn't an optimal build.
Maybe, and I know I'm going to get a little nuts here but stay with me, maybe some people think flavor is more important that power because maybe they actually play the game to create a story with the DM, and they want to play an interesting character in that story.
Maybe, and this could just be crazy talk, some people think that your huge eideolon with 15 attacks would probably not be allowed in most major cities, or your Svirfneblin or Dhampir may cause some interaction problems in well lit rooms.
Maybe some DM actually ask the question "What do these characters look like when they walk in a room, and how would people react to them"
Maybe a sword cane is less conspicuous and that has value. Maybe as a player you want the challenge of trying to build a monk character without significant gear.
Maybe some of us are less worried that the new splat book didn't give you the broken option you were hoping for so you could show all your friends how awesome your broken combo is in a made up world for a little while until the Devs realize a mistake and errata it.
Maybe...just maybe...some of us like having more options, while still allowing old options to have value and not be obsolete.
Crazy, I know...
Thank you... I've been feeling this for the last few days quite a bit. Someone talking crazy talk is refreshing. I enjoyed my Barbarian/Rogue Greatblade, who fought with a large sized longsword, javelins and a cestus made from the bones of his enemies... because he was amazingly flavorful and fun. He was so far from optimal it was almost painful, but God was he fun.
