I just assumed that anything about us and our backgrounds(besides spoilers) was discussed while traveling on the back of the cart for days.
Works for me
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Nevermind this is working out good! By the way I didn't see anywhere that we had introduced ourselves to one another yet. But from here on out I'll just assume Harmen knows what your names are" Unless Aramos wants to use an alias or something.
hey saern are we skipping past Harmens request that the party stick together? I realised the town didn't seem messed up when I made the post but Harmen has plans to associate himself with some heroic figures.
That would be just fine by me. Personally I'd be fine with you rolling saving throws as well or stuff like a tumble check to reduce damage after being knocked off of something. Seems like an easy way to speed things up if you handle reactions and we make all the concious decisions. I just get the feeling that any battle with multiple saves would take days longer if we all have to roll, post ,then wait just to resolve one action. Just a thought though and I'd be fine rolling my own saves still.
don't worry about my friend. He wants to do some more reading through the core books before he jumps in a pbp. Knowing his study habits he'll take his time on it. I'm not going to hold a spot someone else could enjoy while he studies. But thanks for giving me time to find out Saern.
Actually I might have someone interested in the role
At least you got to cast a spell. I'm just the frozen midgit paperboy.
Huh? Their is a place under the profile information set asside for languages, but it doesn't show up unless you are editing your profile. Well anyway I moved the info to someplace visible
Hey Saern. Whats the general behavior toward orcs in this region. How common/accepted are they in town. Any cultural dispositions toward them. For example, would a halfling caravans such as Harmens have been trading with orcs or getting raided by them.
good ta have you with us dude! Lets get this show on the road! <wicked excited>
Same here. That's why I never liked the idea of the bandoleer in the first place. I figured an easy to access place was assumed for all adventuring gear. It made as much sense to me as a book introducing the idea of sheathes and reducing the time it took to draw weapons
Cool Spoiler: Then my halfling will probably be in the guise of a human child as he gathers information. War ophans should be prevelant and easily overlooked and daggers are simple to conceal.
You know the region and political climate so I'll leave it to you to create the actual mision objective for my character.
There is a reason that halflings don't mind being manservants, cleaning boys, and waitresses. The small and the subsevient are practically invisible to the high and wealthy. The result is a halfling intelligence network that runs deep into every noble house and merchants guild. The halflings that don't share what they "stumble across" for the betterment of their own will gladly do some snooping for the gold their brothers and sisters are willing to share for their trouble. Normally these nuggets of information are innocuous. A caravan gets early warning of a hike in trade taxes, or knowldge that a wealthy merchant is in need of quick cash and might offer great prices to offers with up front coin. But the halfling community is nearing a braking point and may need to resort to something more drastic. A plan has been set to motion to weaken the estate of multiple lords and ladies that have been quite unkind to the caravans. While simultaiously vaunting the power of more kindly nobles. Many plans have been set in motion. Vassals bribed or extorted to change their alleigence. Family relics and important documents will be pilfered, forged, or altered. The harshest and most severe of the greedy nobles may be "delt with" and replaced by dopplegangers (either simple look alikes or perhaps the actual creature) under the halflings employ. A subtle coup is being planned. And my charaters role is to digg up information on a relatively (inactive, secretive,) noble house. And to (find some dirt or leverage, arrange a meeting, find a place to plant another halfling conspirator). He will certainly have the disguise skill and many information gathering abilities so you can probably inject him in any place you want for the party to meet. Any of that sound like it will work or is it too big?
No stats drawn up yet but I'm leaning very strongly towards a halfling bard. With the patchwork lines between nobles territories it seems like the area is perfect for the exploitation of mobile halfling caravans. Corrupt nobles enforcing levees and demanding fees to operate within their jurisdictions. So if that sounds like a good fit for what you have in mind. My bard would be acting as a spy to try and discover some means to improve the situation. Plus he could act as a link to whatever resources the halfling community could/is willing provide. (contraband, information, safe houses) whacha think?
What are the roles (political, economical, social) of demi humans in the region? I've had thoughts about a halfling monk, or perhaps bard character and the extra info would be most appreciated.
Hello, my hat is officially in the ring. Not sure what I'll play yet but I'll post as soon as I get a feel for it. And Saern the tagalong I'm bringing in has a chem final tonight but I'll get him posting soon.
I second (OR is it third?) the mountain ram. Come on! It's natures battering ram. Stoicly watching over its family and crashing violently through anything that threatens them. Nothing else seems to scream dwarf more to me.
I never really thought of paladins as underpowered. -Full Base attack bonus
In short, paladins are really tough. They are not as flash bang as the barbarians because that's all the barbarian does. I think if you give the paladin any more power you'll end up with some nasty results. Namely a paladin running around Smite/Spirited charging/Divine might/Scroll of Bulls str/probably some damage boosting thing from the CW/ on a mounted halfling. Using this tactic WAY more times per day then he should and at 4th lvl thanks to his bonus feats. (not related) Hey Saern? I just got my third error report on my email micahbabcock@yahoo.com drop me a quick line from your new e-mail and I'll try sending it again.
Well he's the one that asked to play a demon. One of the first things I explained to him was what a demon actually was. Pure representations of destruction and death incarnate. So if he wants to jump into Lucifers boots then I doubt he'll get all queasy when it comes to murder. The reason I still think this is a good introduction is precisely because I do not want him to be an incorporeal creature at all. He won't be able to do anything unless he is in a host body. And leaving a host body alive will cause complications as the surviving victim will know that something is up due to all the time they've lost track of, and killing his host is trickier still since it's the one of the few times he risks destruction. I want the campaign spent tying to puzzle out where it is he needs to go to find what he wants and then finding the body he'll need to aquire access to it. All the combat will be done using the bodies and skills of his victims. Meaning he will get a crash course on all of the classes hopefully in short order.
The host does not have to die. He can simply touch a new host and transfer instantly with no harm to the person he was occupying. But if he wants to aquire a host he cannot reach then he must kill the body he is in. I realize this was not statedclearly, I think I'm assuming that too many people have actually seen the movie.
I'm willing to homebrew everything involving his character and the corresponding abilities. In fact I prefer it tremendously to suppliments. I'm just not sure what they are yet. Here are a few of the things I've been thinking. No xp for combat. He will be improving through different means eventually, but for the forseeable future his power will be based around what hosts he can aquire. He can only travel 200 ft in his spectral form (all he can do in his spectral form is travel to a new host), and only after the host body has died. His normal means of transfer is through touch. (this is pretty much straight from the movie by the way). Host domination is instant and does not allow a saving throw. Clerics recieve a saving throw to resist and paladins get a save or die. The things I'm trying to figure out now. How will the host be altered by this malignant presence. Stat bonuses? Special abilities? What would be a good short term goal? What obstacles could drive the player toward an exciting way to overcome them?
I realize it's going to be a bit of work but I'd like to stay with D&D as a learning experience so that he gets exposed to the mechanics of the system for future campaigns (hopefully with more people) but still I appreciate the suggestion.
Okay I've got a challenge on my plate. I have a friend who has little to no D&D experience but is still pretty excited about playing. I asked him to think about a type of character that would be fun and he spits out "I'd be cool to play a manipulator, like a demon or something that controls people." So I've been batting around the idea of an intangible spirit like Azrael from the movie "The Fallen". He would have rules as to how far he could jump between bodies and what happens when his host dies. His main opponents in the game would obviously be clergy and other spellcasters, who will have (or stand the greatest chance of having) spells that can find/attack him directly. And I'm thinking an attempt to jump into a paladin kills the host rather than controls it I really like the idea since a single player campaign is about the only chance to play with an idea like this. Plus his spectral form has the advantage of being relatively easy to thwart, but very difficult to actually kill. So if he screws up it's usually gong to be a setback not a campaign ender. Plus if I can manage the campaign correctly I'll have a small stockpile of chracters for him to dominate. Exposing a newbie to a buttload of different class concepts and items while still having a uniform legitimate story. As far as the story I'm thinking I won't tell him about his character at all. I'll just give him the character sheet and backstory of Jeremy Bellhinder, a 15 year old 1st lvl rogue with a violent history and a small city that would rather hang him than wait for his first victim. The campaign will start with Jeremy cornering and attempting to mug an old woman in an alley. The old woman screams and in panic he slams his knife into her gut. He turns as he hears the sound of Steel being bared and behind him stands Sir Jhom. A paladin who has made a futile but earnest effort of steering Jeremy in the right path. He pleads with the boy to let him heal the old woman. That he will try and persuade the judges to let him take the boy as a student of the light rather than hung as a murderer. But Jeremy knows that Jhom won't lie for him, and this is just the thing the city council has been waiting for. The only way out of this alive is through Jhom and out of the city. This is not a fight he will win. As Jeremy dies he feels the strangest since of freedom as he floats above his ruined mortal shell. And he flood with pure exhilaration as his now formless conciousness slams into the paladin he has loathed since his early boyhood. He feels the purity of Jhoms soul rebel against his presence, trying to drive him out. But in this Battle darkness is triumphant and soon the paladin, vomiting bile and blood, lies dead in the alley next to the boy. Moments later the dying old woman's eyes open with purpose. A dark grin spreads to her old lips as she stands easily despite an obviously mortal wound. She walks out of the alley with no clear understanding of what she is. But knowing that she is far far more than Jeremy Bellhinder. The campaign will revolve around the PC trying to discover what he is and eventually to recover his memory and perhaps his purpose. In the meantime devils will attempt to collect him, demons will try to unleash him and every diviner in the material plane will know that a great evil has been loosed upon the world. As always I look to Paizo for help/troubleshooting/ideas So if you have anything to add I'd love to hear it! thanks in advance!
No need, you can charge up to your speed as a standard action. Stab away.
So far in our campaign the warlock seems pretty hard to kill. Not just because it's AC can get pretty high without too much trouble, or it gets damage reduction and resistances as a class feature, or becase it is majorly a ranged combatant, but mainly because it never presents itself as something worth attacking. The fighter is large and imposing and dishes out nice damage, The rogue is getting sneak attacks and providing flanking bonuses, and the wizard is throwing around spells that decimate the battlefield (and all the enemies can see that he isn't wearing armor). The weird guy in the back that keeps zapping people for a minor to moderate amount of damage? Well he's got a shiney chain shirt and is crawling all over the walls, uuummm he can wait. The intelligent monsters focus on the targets that are having the most impact, or the targets that look like easy kills, neither of which apply to the warlock so he is largely left alone in combat (unfortunatly for the wizard, he's usually both). The unintelligent monsters just crash into the front liners and the warlock isn't there to be attacked. Has anyone else noticed this trend? I don't mind warlocks so much anymore. But I still feel no urge to play one. They have this built in back story that plays them up. The warlock is a being filled with limitless feindish power. Even those not corrupted by the dark taint on their souls much constantly rail against the influence of the insidious power growing within them. Sounds like your standard super duper bad ass anti-hero like Spawn or The Punisher which turns into a bit of a let down once you realise the class plays a really bland role in the party.
I've noticed with Warlocks recently that the Use magic Device skill is more of a toolbox than an armory. Rogues that can't sneak attack and bards with no better actions to take end up using this skill to pull some neat tricks and make sure they still have an impact on the current scenario. Warlocks have a job to do though, and by the time you have enough dough for the really good spell scrolls the party is pretty dependant on the warlocks consistent damage. Rogues and bards seem to use this bility more often because the skill seems built to allow a nice backup plan. But warlocks rarely are in need of backup plans.
In my experiance (a freind I play with often enjoys the warlock class and has played several including our current game), the warlock is a nifty plan C. The rogue can't sneak attack it, the wizard is down and the fighter can't roll above a 3 to save his life (ironically that's exactly the situation). Enter plan C AKA the Warlock, he won't bring down the baddies very quickly, but if you stall long enough he will always get the job done. The fact that the warlock is such a one trick pony can be played as one of it's strengths too. Whearas the fighter eventually has to make room in the budget for that +3 weapon or armor, the warlock has no items that they will need. So buff your saves, up your con and make your already uber consistant impact on combat solid gold reliability. You probably won't get to brag about as many shining moments and massive kills as the other heroes, but you'll never have to wallow in pity after rolling three consecutive 4's for your attack. once you get past 5th lvl, that should still be a hit.
Hmmm...I thought there was just such a clause as well but I don't see it when looking at the SRD. Still if both me and SexiGolem think that something acts in a certain way there is probably some kind of basis for our misconception. Could be we are thinking of a feat or something.The charge itself doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity, leaving the space 10ft out from the large creature would. Basically since the creature presumably has reach more than 10ft, the pc would be leaving a threatened square before he reached the creature. I'm pretty sure that I had just gotten used to a bunch of combat manuvers specifically stating that they provoked attacks of opportunity. Saern had recently introduced a paladin to my game so I spent a great deal of time getting better aquianted with the overrun and charge combat options. I never saw any AoO mentioned in the charge rules themselves, so I assumed they were exempt. My bad.
I don't see the capacity for abuse here. I'm with the others, if the evil wizard wants to burn a spell to off a helpless party member then fine. The PC gets a more memorable death than a crossbow bolt in the eye socketand thats one less ray the wizard will shoot at the rest of us. Plus if you think your players will whine when they get lazered for a DC-68 fort save, imagine how annoying they'd get when you explain to them that they put beam of fire capeable of melting through steele right through a bad guys face and he's still kicking.
Seriously, please read Le Morte d'Arthur, The Idylls of the King, and The Once and Future King before you mischaracterize my prime example, Sir Galahad, any further. Read book three of The Fairie Queene. Read Gawain and the Green Knight, read anything, anything at all that will give you some sense of the literary tradition that comes with the concept of a paladin, a holy warrior who is virtuous not only in theory but in reality. These figures are nothing like the "stereotype" you describe, any more than they are like the paladin-lite, with all of the powers and none of the sacrifice, that has been described herein. I know nothing about sir Galahad. Which is why I was not talking about him, I know scattered facts about real medieval holy knights and was trying to draw parallels between their behavior and some traits that many people assosciate with D&D paladins. Such as the narrow minded-ness and zealotry. If Galahad was where the true holy knight idea came from, then cool thats fine, but when I see a thread compaining about a paladin PC that developes a god complex and forces the party and NPC's to constantly adhere to his standards I am reminded of real papal knights and crusaders (which I agree are certainly not the LG organizationes they claimed to be). This is why I brought them up. I'm sorry if my literary ignorance offended you but, again I was not pretending to know who he is or comment on his behavior (in fact none of my posts even mention him). Also I probably wouldn't give a damn about him or his example of paladinhood anyway. I would not look to real Xaolin monks to determin what the ideal of a D&D monk is either, I'd go with whatever sounds like the most fun to play within the rules and guidlines of the class. If paladin-lite is the only way to make the class playable and enjoyable outside of a LG party of divine casters then so be it. But I don't see how I'm bending the rules at all in my interpretation of the paladins code and alignment. I probably falls way short of Arthurs knights and their code but I don't see anything in the game itself that forces paladins into that small a corner.
If their was a chaotic good mummy and a paladin I played found it, destroying it would be important but not the first job on my list. The first thing to do is to find out what the mummy is there to protect. Whatever the job the mummy was given I'll try to take on the job myself if possible or get the church or some other trustworthy organization to handle it. Once I've eliminated the reason for the mummy to persist I would release it's soul to its final rest out of mercy. These actions don't violate the code, and are definately in keeping with the LG alignment. To me that is what a paladin is about, I like the roleplaying and I definately don't feel it cheapens the class. Paladins existed in the real world and were led by myopic and corrupt churches. The stereotypical "stick up the ass, kill anything the law or code tell me too, and everyone else are cowards or evil doers" paladins reek of the same pompous zealotry that made those historic "honored" knights the driving force of many atrocities. That was why I mentioned the historic holy knight. The paladin is a lot like them, except I expect paladins to actually BE good, not just say they are and kill anything they think isn't.
I think an important thing to remember is the difference between the classes in the game and the real world organizations from which they are drawn. In the objective world of D&D the church of Pelor could not go around performing "inquisitions" and killing non believers. Even though plently of tradgedies are commited in the name of benevolent gods in the real world, it doesn't seem right in D&D. D&D, while having a clearly middle ages theme, is usually held to a more modern standard of morals. I'm sure that any female PC would get pretty annoyed when her character was jailed for speaking at a public meeting without permission from a male, or having the local regent come down to "deflower" her to consecrate her wedding day. They were called the dark ages for a reason. While the knights templar and papal warriors might be the inspiration behind the paladins class, I don't think their attitudes and actions are a good example of benevolent behavior. The paladin is a holy warrior by the games definition. Making them a holy warrior by the historical definition is likely to cause lots and lots of pain and frustration for an entire party.
I recently purchased some monster tile combat tokens from ochogames.com and they just arrived yesterday. The tiles are an assortment of small ceramic squares with dipictions of different monsters and sized to perfectly fit a standard D&D battle map. I bought the tiles as an alternative to collecting more standard miniatures since I am years away from being able to afford a decent selection and I will never purchase those randon miniature packs out of basic principle. Although the art on the tiles is nice and they are indeed fairly durable, I have a problem with them that I can't seem to overcome. They grate together constantly. Both the noise and feel of rough stone scraping together sends chills up and down my back so I'm trying to find a way to stop it (otherwise thats $70 down the drain). I am trying to think of ways that I can clear coat the tiles so that they have a smooth surface without compromising the quality or visibility of the artwork. If anyone has any experience with sealing ceramics or advice I'm willing to listen to anything right now.
Not at all. However for this to work out and be fun for everyone I think it might be a good idea for the paladin and rogue's players to have a chat about what to expect when the paladin catches the rogue breaking the law. The code says "respecting legitimate authority" not "acting as sherrif of wherever you're at". The paladin does not have to turn a friend in for commiting a crime, although some paladins (and many friends) might feel that a few nights in jail might keep them from hanging from the gallows later. Any paladin I played would lead by example, not by shackling everyone else to his moral standards. Also any paladin aware of his sneaky compatriots activities would tell them up front that he WILL NOT lie for his friend should the law catch up to him. He would also try his hardest to curb and eventually erradicate the rogues more self destructive tendacies in whatever fashion he thinks might have a chance of success. Not because of the code but because he is concerned for a friend.
You're dealing with a cosmic personification of Evil, which will destroy you if it gets half a chance. However, you and it both have a tool in common, a tool you both know how to use. If it leaves itself open to an "attack" from that angle, then it's simply common sense and self-preservation to exploit that (just as you would a weakness in whatever armor a foe might be wearing; is it more "honorable" to attack the strongest part of a breastplate, or just dumb?). If a clever paladin can turn a devils trap against it then I see no problem, you're armor analogy makes sense (can't tell if I'm renigging here but, oh well). But the paladin cannot create those loopholes himself without violating the code. It seems very dishonorable to replace your foes armor with paper mache the day before your duel. If the Devil is the one laying down the rules, then the paladin is free to play the game like a master politician (so long as he does not violate the code as he does so), but this scenario seems uber unlikely for a variety of reasons. 1. Paladins do not want to play word games with evil outsiders, even if you deem their "encounter" as not technically associating, a paladin would probably understand that the devil is evil and any deal will likely screw him over, making him not want to make any deals. (In fact that thought would probably occur to many characters, even evil ones.) 2. Paladins do not have to be morons. Devils spend a lot of time gaining power through shifty deals, Paladins should understand this. Thus most paladins (again, most any character with a decent wisdom score) would not value their chances of success too highly in such deals and would avoid them. If I was forced to win a game of chess agianst Big Blue or be killed, I would sure as hell try to find a way to avoid playing that game. 3. What fun is it to play the holy smiter of darkness if you keep getting manhandled and backed into corners by your mortal enemies and forced to do as they ask? Does not seem like a fun campaign for a paladin to me. The code is not a straight jacket. You can have quirky, fun loving, jokester paladins all you want. The code never states "thou shalt follow the code and do nothing else". I don't see what is so limiting about the code. It isn't an obstacle your character has to overcome in every situation, it should be a part of your characters identity and something you want to adhere to. A paladins alignment is lawful good, not super lawful extra good and the code does not change that. But you have to be lawful, good AND follow the code to be a paladin. Roy could not be a paladin. If he was then the code would mandate that he do something about Belkar beyond occassionally stopping him from murdering something (actually "common sense" would mandate this anyway but lets hope Rich never decides to poison his fine work with any of that garbage).
I agree that Roy is an excellent example of LG. But he would not be a paladin because I doubt he would see wisdom in constraining his actions before he even knows what actions he might need to do the right thing. paladins devote their lives to being paladins, to me this must mean that they truely believe the code is the ine way they can do the most good. If you disregard the code of simply overlook it's intent when it is convienient then I don't think that person is suited for paladinhood. Paladins to me are not just people who smite evil. They are people who destroy evil and leave onlookers with no doubt that good will always prevail. They don't have to be stupid stubborn myopic jackasses. ANY character should be super hesitant to start making pacts with any demigods with chaotic evil alignments, I think that it is reasonible for a paladin to try and find another way. If they can't, then they have no choice and are far from willing in my opinion. If I were a paladin in savage tide I would have no problem pointing out that any power vaccum created by defeating demigorgon would just lead to a different demon lord to rise to power, this new demon lord coincedentally would also then likely have lots of dangerous information on the parties strengths and weaknesses and every reason to crush them before they gain any more power. Then the world would have avoided a current crisis but gained a new threat and likely lost it's most powerful defenders in the gambit. Dealing with evil is always a win lose for the cause of good, and evil creatures will always try to make sure you lose and they win. In this respect I agree fully with the paladins code. Dealing with evil beings is usually not smart, especially if you are an overall champion of good.
According to Webster's 11th Edition dictionary 'Engulfment' is indeed a word. oohhh BURN! nice
In my mind the paladin code exists for a good reason. And any paladin that devotes his life to serving his god and the cause of good I think should feel the same way. Paladins don't follow the code because it lets them keep their horse and their cool powers (although players might), they follow it because they truely believe that it is the best way to make a positive impact in the world. A paladin should exhaust every possible alternative before he accepts aid or a partnership from a known evil creature. Not because he is a stubborn ass, but because he has seen the deprvities of evil and would have no doubt that the deal or alliance would turn into a backstab. If the paladin has obviously no choice but to team up or face dire and immediate consecuences then he has no conflict with the code he is obviously not willing, as Saern said. Paladins are paragons of virtue and justice. One of the most important roles of a paladin is to show the world that good can stand alone in the fight against evil. You do not need deceit and dishonor. Honesty and valor have their own power and are superior tools against evil. Any paladin that makes deals with a forked tounge or alliences with evil creatures out of convenience is not only breaking the code, but is betraying the entire purpose behind the existance of Paladins itself. Just my opinions.
well, I think that when dealing with demons, a paladin is much more loosely bound to the spirit of the law. One of the finer points of being the paragon of Law is "consistency", the code does not "loosen". If they did then that allows wiggle room for any number of other circumstances and then you end up with a "Code of strict honor and virtue" becoming a set of loose guidlines and suggestions. Not very paladin like to me. Great for a LG fighter. Even better for a NG or CG. But paladins follow heavier guidelines to me. It's obvious that demons will stab you in the back the first chance they get Which is one of the reasons the code forbids dealings with them.
I see paladins as honest and true to their word. If a paladin is versed in loopholes then he better use that knowledge to avoid traps, not set his own. In games like the STAP I would definately allow a paladin to play along (if just to keep the game moving) although I would still require him to keep any promises he made, and not make any promises he cannot keep. However If a paladin was to go about gathering extraplanar allies he would probably start with Archons and Angels before he knocked on Orcus' door. Not to mention the fact that bringing a paladin into the house of Orcus seems like a insult worthy of unpleasent disembolment from the demon lord of undead. But that's one reason I don't use published adventures. (Which isn't to say that Savage Tide isn't amazing, it looks fantastic from what I've read and I'd likely steal some Ideas from it for my game if Saern wasn't so well versed in it himself.)
Jeremy you are exactly correct that none of the rules cover what happens when a ressurected character has his old body turned into undead. I am of the opinion that making undead tampers with the soul. So I would say either the undead can not be made from that corpse, or more likely I would say that an undead can be made. Justified by an aura of the soul that still persists in the old corpse (perhaps the level or constitution that gets left behind?), but the bond between the negative energy being and the positive energy being would be a terrible pain and burden on both of them. I'm getting a campaign idea that revolves around a powerful NPC beseeching the party to destroy his vampire counterpart. Perhaps his corpse was missing an arm and his new body has a withered arm as a result. On the undead are inherently evil argument. Guns don't kill people. Neither does Slay living, despite the fact that it was designed to end life it still requires a sentient being to actually cast the spell, thus the responsibility for any deaths lies solely on the caster. The spell, like a gun, is a tool. An mindless undead is also in many ways like a tool. Unlike a tool however the undead has it's own devices and, if left to them (say if the controlling caster dies or seperated from his flock), will spend it's time destoying all the life it comes across. A construct also has no devices, if given no instruction it will do nothing.
Howdy, I figured I might as well throw in my two coppers since I am the character playing the druid. #1 I do not see respecting the law as a lawful action. It annoys the hell out of me when this is the only parameter used to judge a law/chaos alignment (this is more of a side note, not actually casting any blame here). For example a paladin should have no alignment issues with the laws of an evil society. His own personal code trumps them and makes them irrelevant yet he is still lawful so long as his internal mechanizations are consistant. Respect for other peoples cultures, laws and customs is simple tolerance, which I see as neutral good, maybe with a hint of chaotic since free spirits tend to be more open minded and accepting. I think my druid has been tolerant so far. I believe the reason he seems chaotic is because he has had nothing but negative encounters with systems of order. The town guard were pathetic and corrupt. There was a cult of orcus that no one even knew about right under their noses. If you look at the town as an animal then natural selection is steering it towards oblivion. Rather than leave the town to its seemingly inevitable (natural) fate Hawl has tried to get them to understand their mistakes and better defend themselves. If Hawl is too cavalier in his wishes to wander, just let me know. If he has responsibilities to the grove then he won't simply leave them behind. But so far I actually don't know much about Hawls role in his circle. In fact the only reason I mentioned Hawl wanting to wander at all was to provide a storyline reason why Hawl was going to keep traveling with three people with no nature based backgrounds or goals. Which is why he mentioned to his leader that he had grown much closer to nature while with the party. Acheiving oneness with nature was the paramount goal to all druids so I figured it would atually be a very powerful reason why Hawl would choose to leave. Hawl has no hard and set system of personal rules (If he did I have a feeling the warlock would be minus one very peculiar book) and he has a very lighthearted attitude in all but the most dire situations, but he possesses loyalty, fairness, and a strong sense of justice and retribution (as determined by his interpretation of the natural order of things, not neccissarily any and all decrees that got the word LAW slapped on them). I haven't forgotten Hawls alignment. I've actively been trying to maintain it. But I'm used to playing chaotic characters and if I start leaning towards that then just point it out to me and I'll either adjust or politely point out why I disagree. My advice is not to worry about it though. Alignment is not something that gets changed for a few vaguely defined transgressions. We're only third level and I doubt a few months of activity, even if slightly chaotic, would be enough to alter ones place in the cosmos.
Saern as far as collecting quests in WOW. Consider why games make quests like this in the first place. They are extreamly easy to program and create compared to filling an entire dungeon out. They're just filler man. For hunting, you will need to ask for track. Or ask for a wilderness check to find a high traffic area for the critter and ask for our plan to draw said creature into our ambush. Hide checks, bluff checks, illusionary prey, traps and snares and pits, planety of fun to be had here. In almost any environment you could imagine a native creature will be able to outmanuver most of your party. Deer and wolves and such typically run much faster than humans. Small targets can go into thick brush, up trees, in small holes and generally are very close to a good escape route. Swamp dwellers can slip into mud and bogs, desert creatures burrow through sand or dart into cacti patches. If you want stuff like this to be fun then play up the tension that comes with springing the trap or ambush. After all, like hunting in real life, your first shot is usually what determines success or failure for you venture. If you want to make finding something like a rare plant a quest then do all the searching ahead of time. Don't sit their rolling a dice "nope you don't find it today", "or tommorrow", "or the next day". Make sure the party understands how much time it is likely to take, make sure they're comfortable with the maximum time wasted and then just say "for two and a half weeks you stumble through the harsh jungle, surviving the humid, poison riddled land only through the expert guidance of your ranger companion, who day ater day secures exotic nourishment and adequate shelter to sustain you in your quest for the Ghost Lotus Tree before your journey yeilds any results." You can make any job or quest exciting easily. If the item is valuable enough to attract PCs then it can attract others covetous forces as well. But these are likely encounters with NPC's. That is what will amke collection quests fun, as was mentioned above, picking flowers is boring.
This makes 2,317 for me. Hmmm.... my count is currently a little fuzzy. I've been posting here as long a Saern and I'd guess that my posts are somewhere probably a couple hundred shy of his. But, I've changed E-mail addresses lost my password and have made new profiles a few times so the number on my profile is way off.
I love clerics as NPC's for all the lovely reasons listed above and more. But when I get to play in Searns games I can never get into a cleric character. I always like some personality quirks and personally driven characters and I just can't get that long lasting feeling out of a cleric character. Probably due to the fact that clerics and paladins, as have been mentioned, are just secong class warriors with no special skills if not for a god lending them power. I love druids and monks (although I've never thought of monks as being religious either). I'm playing a halfling druid now in Saerns campaign and loving it. If you are noticing that clerics are in decline in you're campaigns I have something that might help. The next time you ask your players to come up with a new character watch what they do. If ,like my friends and myself, they crack open a PHB and start flipping through the second chapter for inspiration you may have a problem. With a clerics sppecial abilities space looking like this Turn of rebuke undead
It isn't exactly an eye grabber, despite the undeniable power and usefulness of the class. And Let's face it, Jozan could stand a makeover. Redgar, Ember, Krusk, and Soveliss (Q-tip arrows and all) look like their all ready and willing to lay a serious smack down. Vadania isn't entirely impressive by herself but she has a friggin WOLF, and a wolf pet has never had a single lapse in being awesome in the history of all awesome things. Jozan, on the other hand, looks like little Billy got into daddys big boy armor again. I like clerics, but they need to fire their PR department.
Why do christians advocate that Jesus' trials were so hard? The man was obviously more that human. If he did not want to suffer and feel pain (not that an avatar of god himself is expected to be terribly troubled by mortal pain) he wouldn't have too and the poor onlooking desciples would be non the wiser. What is pain to a being that can do anything? What is hardship. It always seems to me that christian faith means making a lot of assumptions that don't seem to gel with the idea of one omnipotent god. Jesus didn't even do that good of a job. Sure christianity is pretty big, but when you divide it into all the little splintered bickering groups (filled with people who often don't agree with everything in their church it's just "close enough") then how many people has Jesus actually saved? What good did he do when the people god so desperately wanted to offer a chance were so (by his design in fact) so ill equiped to understand his message. Not everyone is born equal. Some people are much more intelligent and fortunate. How are these factors controlled? Not by us. God either controls what tools you start out with personally, or he just invented the roullette wheel and lets it spin. Either way, how do christians justify people who are too unfortunate to be taught salvation, and those who are too dim to actually understand and acheive it? Is their fault somewhere in human hands or is the hand of God just giving them the dogmatic brid to keep us mortals afraid of random chance?
Hmmmm.... application. Teaching creationism alongside evolution in a classroom is idiotic. It shows a complete lack of understanding in the most basic concepts of science and an unwillingness to learn. Sorry Kansas. They took the the ten comandments out of my courthouse. Of course I didn't care about the comandments themselves but the etchings on the stone slabs were absolutely beautiful. How could something so pretty be offensive? Equal religious representation is a joke. I'm sorry but we have IN GOD WE TRUST stamped on our currency. Every time there is a car accident on a road a cross pops up as a memorial. If you are a hindu or shintoist in corydon indiana you are aware that their is not a large community of fellow believers here for you. If you have children it will be blindingly obvious that you need to explain to them their views are in the minority here and they can pray to vishnu in school all they want during pray time. I don't like the road blocks some churches set up to raise money. One church I know set up a childrens crusade-road block but only put the childrens crusade logo on about half the buckets. when I asked why a kinldy old lady said the plain buckets are to fix the church roof and wont be going to the crusade at all (all that was advertised on the signs was the crusade). Since I dropped 2 dollars in a white bucket unknowingly I asked that my donation be returned. Since the old lady refused I had the pleasure of personally getting my money returned from the good reverend. One of a handful of times I've come dangerously close to striking clergy. The one time I actually got to punch a priest was a day after I turned sixteen. Father Blank was one of the illustrious few from the catholic church that were quietly removed from service due to molestation charges. I had a great deal of respect for father Blank, his sermons were excellent and he was always very active in supporting the community. I would have taken a bullet for this man. Boy was I suprised when he was removed on charges of inapropriate actions to a little girl ten years ago. Shortly follwing the announcment was a reading of a letter he wrote to the church apologizing and addmiting that the charges were true and the church covered it up for him. I was lucky enough to be working after church on the air conditioner when father Blank showed up. Aparently he needed something he'd left in his office before he went to court. He walked up to me as if nothing at all had happened. Long story short he walked away with a bloody nose and tears that were not related to physical pain. I'm not too happy with most applications of anything religious. And I rarly see any of their finer doctrins applied.
No problem, actually your post pointed out what formula DC was using. I just hope your DM hasn't been pulling that in your games, good luck to any two weapon fighters.
Well maybe you read it wrong, here try again. How different would the thorns be from typical armor spikes?
All you guys hitting up elves for the ridiculous life span.... so cheap. I'd totally go gnome monk. A silent little ball of unarmed destruction pulling pranks with cantrips and any magical dodads I could afford. Plus If I made it to 20th before I hit middle age I'd get immunity to ageing penalties and I'd be an outsider, they don't age ha! I'd be causing youthful mischeif forever! 4ft tall and beating through mountains with no weapons or magical help. Now that is awesome!
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