Sir Jolt's page

Just to be pedantic, you need to add 1 year to the modern earth dates. When 1 BC ends, 1 AD begins. There is no year 0.

Sir Jolt wrote:

I was wondering how Androids perceive deities like Calistria (as the Goddess of Lust) or an incubus/succubus.

Consenting physical pleasure is still pleasure. As a race, androids seem to have less hang-ups about their bodies than humans. They still seem to pair off into couples (or possibly other poly units) even without a need for biological reproduction.

Experiencing love and feeling pleasure without any biological reproductive needs seems like a pretty good deal.

Edit:

Sir Jolt wrote:

An Android body is really just a frame for the soul as there's no actual distinction between male and female in a species that doesn't procreate.

We don't know that. We don't know yet whether androids have or don't have DNA, RNA, and epigenetics. We don't know if their bodies produce hormones, as a hormone wash during Renewal and/or throughout their life. In humans, all those things are vitally important, and they are the foundation for much more than male and female. (Even "male" and "female" isn't that simple.) If androids lack some or all of those building blocks, what replaces them?

I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say, "We don't know that." We know that they don't reproduce as that's mentioned multiple times. We know for a fact that they're immortal unless they choose to pass on as that is explicitly mentioned. We know that, unless destroyed, a body can end up housing multiple souls as that also is explicitly mentioned.

What we don't know is how a race that doesn't (and can't) reproduce sexually views physical pleasure. As a result, it becomes hard to classify how such a race perceives a Goddess of Lust (in the sexual sense) or how they would respond to beings, such as an Inucubus/Succubus, that play off sexual desires. Which is why I brought it up in the first place and said: "The whole Android fluff raises, for me, a whole host of questions that aren't answered and some of the implications seem contradictory or just don't make sense."

The easiest way around that is to say that they react the same as everyone else. For me though, that makes the least amount of sense and takes away what makes an android an android and not just a human with lights.

I'll take the +8 and not have to worry about AoO.

Well, the Negative Plane (where undead get their "power" from ) has almost always been portrayed as either/both utter destruction or some kind of corruptive influence. That's why free-willed undead are generally evil (I think Forgotten Realms tried to push some "good" undead at one point but I don't recall the idea ever catching on).

Until I see a change to how the Negative Plane and undead are presented they're always going to be the "bad guys". We're talking about cosmological constants not just appearance.

[EDIT] Also, I think the gods are just as important as they've ever been (if not more so). The difference is that there's no longer a Cleric or Paladin class mechanically tied to them.

Since they don't reproduce, the shape of an Androids body (chassis, frame, whatever) is no more relevant than the color of their hair; it's purely cosmetic.

The Androids are effectively immortal. If they aren't killed then they only expire if the soul decides to "pass on" as some do at about 100 years. And one body could potentially house many many souls over the "life" of the body. The whole point of "passing on" is to let a new soul into the body (according to RAW) so the Android body certainly isn't aging in any appreciable way.

The whole Android fluff raises, for me, a whole host of questions that aren't answered and some of the implications seem contradictory or just don't make sense.

Dropping the half-elf and half-orc. I'd rather see a system for merging any two races (within reason) rather than just a human elf and a human orc (I didn't like it in PF and I like it even less in a space setting).

Not a big fan of The Gap. It's too much like the death of Aroden - something that should be important but never detailed enough for players to care about it.

I'm going to wait to introduce new races until I see the Alien Archive.

Not a fan of Androids either. Kinda sorta a construct and kinda sorta not.

I had been thinking on similar lines but a different topic.

I was wondering how Androids perceive deities like Calistria (as the Goddess of Lust) or an incubus/succubus. I know that Androids can still feel emotion but it seems odd that a race that doesn't procreate would have the same reactions. Heck, over the course of a body's life there could be many Android souls. An Android body is really just a frame for the soul as there's no actual distinction between male and female in a species that doesn't procreate.

For the sake of simplicity, I'll probably just run it as-is but it strikes me as incredible bizarre.

Hmm, I agree that "center of worship" implies at least one (if not many more) major temples there. All I can think of is maybe there are certain areas (however small) where the Pharasma-ites have established sort of a beachhead to wage war on the 'unholy' hordes.

I don't do Society lay but I'm curious what it is about the legacy races that "breaks" Society play. They're obviously in the universe. Is there something about them that's OP?

I'd take exocortex over drone as I don't care for familiars and such things.

The death of Aroden was interesting the first time I read about but is completely pointless for me now.

There's very little in the setting to engage players to care about how Aroden died or why. Once it became clear that Paizo wasn't going to go anywhere with it my players lost interest. While it sounds like an important piece of background fluff it doesn't have any real impact on what players do.

While I could "make up" my reasons, if I'm going to do that level of cosmological change then I'll just run homebrew. The reason I play pre-made stuff is so I don't have to do that.

Gark the Goblin wrote:

I've seen a few users do this, and I've got a "boni" to pick. The traditional English plural of the noun "bonus" is "bonuses." What's up with the new spelling?

(prescriptivism mileage may vary)

A couple years ago I had this conversation with someone. In that particular case it was the result of English being a secondary language and some usage of grammar rules from their native language.

Edit: I'd normally be in a thread like this complaining about how proper grammar isn't much of a thing as there only really two rules for it.

1. Is it a native speaker of the language, or something a native speaker would say/write?

2. Are native speakers able to understand what is said/written without confusion?

If both are true it is grammatically correct. In this particular case it is an error made by a non-native speaker and can cause native speakers confusion without exposure so it fails on both tests for correct grammar.

I disagree with this (and the sentence that I put in bold is factually incorrect) because, as the Internet and social media have shown over the years, people have a terrible time understanding each other. When people aren't using the same rules, nor even making the same attempt to do so, you get miscommunication. The Internet and the various social medias are the poster children for miscommunication.

When speaking, we're often very sloppy with our language because meaning is often made clear from context. Context is less clear, if not absent entirely, when writing/printing. In such cases, clarity comes from adherence to a common set of rules. When those rules are ignored to the degree that most people can't even remember what they are, not only are you engaging in miscommunication but you're actively encouraging it (deliberately or otherwise). That you might still be understood doesn't change that fact.

No usage of irregardless is correct as irregardless is not a word (no more than kdbgxkjcflkds is a word). Adding a prefix or a suffix to a word does not necessarily create a new word; there's more to it than that.

Out of curiosity, does anyone give players a bonus to attack if they describe how they're attacking really well? Does anyone give players a penalty to attack for just saying, "I attack"?

One set in a place that hasn't been touched yet. I like to see Golarion revealed (even if not necessarily explored ). Pathfinder is very crunchy and that makes it hard to just handwave content for spaces on the map that we have nothing for but a name.

Orbots, unite!

I agree with all the advice given here. If the players super-optimize then the GM has to as well. This just creates a zero-sum benefit but everyone had to do more math.

It's nice to see Len Lakofka's name mentioned again. I still weep over the loss of the Wormy comic strip; the greatest strip to ever appear in a gaming mag. Don't imagine if we'll ever know why Dave Trampier went MIA; no point in asking his brother-in-law, Tom Wham (I've tried), the most info I ever got was "Illinois".

This is an alias of Sir Jolt. Durgan's a dwarven fighter who will likely switch to Stalwart Defender unless party composition dictates otherwise.

It is the DM / Module writer's responsibility to ensure that ANY ability is useful.

How many AP's/modules has Paizo written where Profession (Cobbler) was a useful skill to have? Is Skulls & Shackles a bad AP because the Ranger who chose Arctic as his favored terrain isn't provided with a chance to use it? Or his Profession (Shepherd)? How useful is any Profession skill? Or any Craft skill outside of magical item creation?

If the DM never includes anything hidden, then Perception is useless.

Unlike the 3.x division of Search/Spot/Listen, the Perception skill covers a far greater range than just what the DM has deliberately hidden. Unless you're running a game where nobody ever has to pay attention to anything, Perception will always be a useful skill.

I also don't set ridiculously low DC's just to force my players to roll some dice. I don't have my Varisian player make a roll to know that a Garund's native language is Osirian anymore than I make them roll to know that Orcs speak Orc; I just tell them and get on with the game. I can see little reason to enforce such rolls except to deliberately slow the pace of the game.

Atarlost ninja'd some of my points.

Sorin hesitates before responding to Setomi in a quiet voice. "Lisabett has revealed only a little of her past to me. What she has said is tragic but I don't think it's my place to repeat that tale; I'm sure there's more to it than what she's said so far in any case. Her anger, I think, comes from the frustration and guilt of the past. Perhaps also a world-weariness that has come upon someone too early in life but that is only a guess on my part. My fear is that she is coming to embrace what she hates and, in time, she will end up little different than this "Captain" who pursues her so fervently."

"She is wrong about one thing though, Gorum does not thrive on what these men do. He is not Rovagug who destroys for no reason, nor is he like Achaekek or Norgorber who strike from treachery and deceit nor even the giant god Urazra who delights in crushing the weak. And he most certainly is not Zon-Kuthon who revels in suffering for its own sake. The Lord in Iron meets strength with strength and is at the forefront of fighting. He detests deceit and trickery. His priests wear the heaviest armors they can. These men," Sorin indicates the bandit, "know nothing of battle as Gorum sees it. They are weak in his eyes and are no more favored by him than I am. Their only strength comes from attacking those they feel they can beat easily and only talk of true battle when they huddle themselves together and the ale flows freely. They are cowards and bullies and Gorum despises them."

He looks over at Kisabett. "As for how to "help" her, I am ashamed that I have not found a way past the anger. When we first met, I saw someone who seemed to loathe herself and thought I was making progress against that. Instead I lost my temper and made things worse. Now she either ignores me or belittles what I say and do. If you find a way to reach past that anger, I will be glad to see it. I've faile to even manage a normal conversation with her."

So I don't have to make a Job roll for today then, correct?

In lieu of his extra action, Sko will stay and talk with Fishgut more and make sure he understands whatever organizational chaos Fishgut uses to manage the kitchen. Should the Captain or one of his cronies ask where food is, he wants to make sure he knows where to get it.

Sorin jabs his glaive in the ground and moves forward to deprive the man of his weapons. "Please don't move," he says, "I truly have no desire to bludgeon you into submission."

I've never understood the aversion to low-point buy. My preference is 15, but to each his own.

I agree. I certainly don't mind 20 pt. builds when I'm playing but as a DM I like 15. For one, it's what the game considers "Standard Fantasy" and all the CR's are built around it. As much as we all might like otherwise, there's only so much time to devote to gaming :)

If I let the characters start twice as powerful then I have to adjust everything just to maintain balance and a decent challenge. That's a lot of work for what, to me, seems like a zero-sum benefit.

The amount of time I have to spend on games I would like to spend actually playing the game, not doing extra twinking. But if I'm running with a DM who doesn't mind doing that them more power to him.

Personally, I think both versions could use improving. "Old" turing was great when it worked and sucked rocks when it didn't. "New" turning feels more like 4E's Healing Surges (which I don't like) than actual turning.

On a side note, in 3.x, my players feared undead. In PF, they're just monster subtype #31.

I liked the 3.x way of handling it too. Not every katana (or any other oriental weapon for that matter) made was created to the exacting standards that a weapon made for a daimyo would have been. Historically, Japanese bandits had katanas and they were typically poorly made crap.

Pathfinder has simply gone the route of many fantasy games with the assumption that oriental=better.

No problems for me. I think, for PbP anyways, group XP is best.

As for magical crafting, I highly doubt it even though, as a wizard, I would be one of the most likely to do so. In part, ever since 3.0 I've never particularly cared for the rules dealing with crafting magic items. Also, and this is purely personal preference, I've always felt that mid to high level magic items should be something you're rewarded with, not something you crank out for yourelf in your spare time.

Sorin walks over to Gutwad and looks down on him for some time without speaking.

Finally, "Hate. Yes. And that's what has brought you to this current situation; a very bad one for you, isn't it. This is always the end for those who tread the road of hate. Always. The only difference is how much misery they spread along the way."

"You were gived a second chance and, instead of using it to do something great, you used it to be a flunky. A flunky who was sent to almost certain death. Are you sure your anger is not misplaced? Interesting how hate and understanding never go hand in hand."

"Well, I suspect you aren't really listening to me. You've spurned the gods I respect and follow while failing the ones you and those you became a lackey for follow. I do not envy the destination of your soul."

Sorin walsk back to whatever he was doing.

"Alkenstar...?"

Sorin's face shows weary exasperation at hearing Almar.

"So, just like the fireworks, we have another unusual item, far from where it should be, in the hands of creatures who should have no possibility of possessing such."

"Apart from the effort it must have taken just to get such items here, why give them to goblin-folk? They're certainly capable of causing a lot of havok with them but what long term gain is there in the spending the amount of money and time is must have taken to give it to them? There must be a plan or reason, with someone behind it more intelligent than goblins, but I admit I just can't see it. And what makes here and now so special?"

Sorin ponders a moment longer.

"I suppose it could just be a big distraction, " he suggests doubtfully, "but it's an extraordinarily complex one if so."

Something is usually "cheese" because someone has used the rules to combine/twist/misinterpret to create an effect that is usually vastly superior to things that it should have equivalency to. This can also happen because a writer doesn't do a good job or a developer fails to anticipate certain consequences. But since the rules as written don't specifically forbid the use people take it as a carte blance for all sorts of abuse and call it optimization (until an author or dev comes along and puts the kibosh on it which, even when everyone agrees an interpretation is borked as hell, sometimes never happens or happens really slowly).

Move to E6

Sorin is relieved to see Alazandru but Raziel's mention of possible undead makes it hard for Sorin to take his eyes away from the pit even though he has detected no evil.

These goblins are very patient. Maybe they've setup some kind of crossfire situation or a killing field. How far do we dare move forward without allowing that to happen? How can we draw them out to us?

Which is the hut that was burning; the orange-y one?

I'll start in G5; that keeps us in a diagonal line depending on where Raz wants to be.

Surprised at the evil coming off the halfling and a bit unnerved by Almar's declaration that it isn't even a halfling at all Sorin, perhaps, overreacts.

5' step to F6 and Smite Evil with the glaive

Attack 1d20 + 3 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 3 = 14
Damage 1d10 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 = 12 [+2 if outsider, dragon or undead]

My AC is now 18 vs. whatever it is and I'll get an AoO if it takes more than a 5' step

I'll just say this on the subject of Pathfinder 2nd ed....if it comes I hope it is not because they have ran out of ideas for Golarion....and use the edition change to relaunch a bunch of 'updates' to Golarion...or a new campaign setting. IE I hope 2nd ed is not tied to the campaign setting side of things.

Pshaw. I know you've been drooling waiting for "Golarion: the Time of Troubles" since beta. I've been writing it for the past few months now though so don't worry. It's very hush-hush though; so much so that even Paizo doesn't know about it. Probably explains why they wouldn't talk to me about money up front. In fact, they won't talk to me at all. Or return my calls. Or my emails. It may possibly explain that restraining order as well... ;)

SJ