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I do not feel welcome in the paizo community. As with all other forms of social media it is filled with internet cyber bullies. As a result I have not felt comfortable posting due to continous aggressive attack responses to my posts. Ive addressed this with paizo staff on the messageboard in the past and was ignored. As a result I have left the community and will not return. Please delete my account.
I was reading some old forums about Top Secret/S.I. and someone called it a task system which they hated. Is this a term for skill based games?
Are there any modern miniature lines out there? I'm looking for miniatures that would work with the Top Secret RPG.
The Kickstarter for Top Secret New World Order has started. Top Secret New World Order Kickstarter The box set comes with everything you need to play.
TOP SECRET: NEW WORLD ORDER uses an all-new system designed for modern espionage role-playing. To see if your character succeeds at a task, three dice of varying size are rolled, and they must always add up to 13 or better for success. It’s that target number of 13 that has led to the new game engine’s name, the “Lucky 13 system.” Simple mechanics for the action don’t mean there aren’t plenty of charts in the book, from modern weaponry to vehicles to a list of specialized skills that include cryptography, handwriting analysis, drone piloting, blackhat hacking, even nuclear engineering. Players can bring their own style to the game, making it as gritty or as cinematic as they wish. TOP SECRET: NEW WORLD ORDER rules cover armed and unarmed combat, car chases, specialized skills, languages, surveillance, tradecraft, and of course lots of gadgets, weapons, and more. Pledges begin at $10 and go up as high as $5,000. Naturally with each tier of pledge you get more game product, beginning with PDfs of the rule book and module, to the box set, to adding original Top Secret Miniatures from 1982, to a hardcover rulebook, to game convention events and all the way up to having Merle (The Administrator) Rasmussen come to your home personally and run a game with a unique module written solely for you. Please support this kickstarter with as little or as much as you wish to pledge. Lets make the kickstarter a huge success and with hopes of getting this game product in stores in the near future. This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Thu, JULY 27 2017 11:42 AM CDT.
I have some basic questions about crossbows. I'm re-writing my Top Secret/S.I. game and find the MODERN crossbow data in the game to be incomplete or inaccurate. I realize that the bow, its pull and the bolt are all factors that would realistically affect answers but I'm looking for a generalization for an answer. 1. What would the short (+10 to hit), Medium (+0 to hit) and Long (-40 to hit) ranges be for most MODERN crossbows? 2. What would the short (+10 to hit), Medium (+0 to hit) and Long (-40 to hit) ranges be for most MODERN HAND crossbows? 3. How many seconds does it take to load a regular crossbow and a had crossbow? 4. What accessories are used with crossbows and hand crossbows for loading? 5. How about cost in US dollars for the crossbow and hand crossbow?
I have a collection of modern miniatures, spies, thugs, soldiers, etc. from the late 1980s and early 1990s. The craftsmanship isnt very good. Anyone know where I can buy newer ones that look better?
Perhaps youve heard....at Garycon 2017 the new TSR company unveilled a new Top Secret game. You can check it out by googling Garycon 2017 Top Secret 2017.
So when measuring distance with a hexagon map the distance of side-to-side, height and diagonally are all different. I can use a online calculator to determine the differences. What I don't understand is why they look the same. On my maps the side-to-side measurement I have always assumed measurements are made at the far center joints of the hexagon is 48 miles but I suspect this is incorrect. According to the online calculate the height is 83.13844 miles and diagonally equals 96 miles. The distance all look about the same. When I measure a hexagon with a ruler I get nothing even close to what the online calculator tells me. Why the difference? Please keep your answer as simple as possible, if you incorporate a bunch of math calculations I won't understand it anyway. Also I was wondering with this hexagon scale issue, what the miles were for my world.
I'm interested in establishing a set of epic NPCs for my game world, similar to Mordenkainen, Bigby, etc. Most of these NPCs I would like to place in the past history of the world rather than the current time. I'm more interested in lore than game stats. Each hero or villain should have some sort of epic story (or two or three) surrounding them, though I'm not looking for over the top things like the 12 labors of Hercules but instead things that are more believable and yet important enough that they would have been written down, told at the campfire, etc. I think a handful of about 8-12 heroes would be nice that I could scatter throughout the world's history and another 8-10 villains. Any 5th edition race is open to use, any 5th edition monsters as well. The idea is to entrench the individuals into the history of the world. It is these NPC's that would be involved in the creation or use of famous artifacts, great dungeons of horrific reputation (like Tomb of Horrors), epic wars, world altering events, the worlds first cleric, first wizard, etc. rulers of long lost kingdoms, that sort of thing. I'm hoping people will be kind enough to add their favorite ideas to this thread so that I may sort through it and select the best ideas that fit into the world. Write as much or as little as you like.
I have various world topics that need to be discussed in my campaign world book. Each section is short and isn't deserving of its own chapter. I'm in need of a suitable chapter title and simply put, nothing comes to mind. Topics which will be included are: Climate/Weather
Anyone have any suggestions?
My world of Darknoth is centered on the worship of the most powerful Demons and Devils in the game, ex. Asmodeus, Demogorgon, Mammon, etc. I'm having a problem making this functional in the game. I've read through the descriptions and there really doesn't seem to be much of a difference between them. I've consulted Tyrants of the Nine Hells and Hordes of the Abyss from 3.5 edition as well. To match the tone and feel of the world I wanted to push standard Deity worship to the side and replace most gods with cults of demons and devils. I would like some of these cults to be out in the open while others are more hidden and secretive than others. I expect these cults to oppose one another as well, competing for worship. I see some of these cults purposely attracting worshippers of neutral and good alignments using fear and manipulation to acquire them. To also match the world, both Bahamut and Tiamat would be elevated to worship as well. I'm also adding few of my own deities to fill in gaps. To match 5th edition Cleric rules, I need to assign at least one (or more) domains to each deity. With homemade deities selecting domains is simple, it doesn't present a problem. With demons and devils its an issue. I have thought about rewriting each demon or devil to give it a unique spin in the world to solve some of these problems. I want to make the list more complete yet streamlined, eliminate unnecessary ones, add needed deities, and tweak the existing ones so they are better. I'm open to adding or subtracting domains, changing worshippers, and alignments. Here's what I have so far.... Greater Gods are worshipped in the larger more populated areas of the world. These are the primary deities of the campaign. Asmodeus: God of Tyranny, Knowledge and Evil (LE), Worshippers: Neutral and Evil Humans, Humanoids, Domains: Knowledge. Bahamut: God of Dragons, Good, Justice and Nobility (LG), Worshippers: Good and neutral Dragons and Dragonborn, humans, demi-humans. Domains: Life and War. Darknoth: God of the Cosmos and Magic, (N), Worshippers: Dragons, Dragonborn, Kobolds, Humans, Demi-humans, Domains: Light, Nature Glaysa: Goddess of Beauty, (LE), Worshippers: Humans, Domains: Trickery Magog: God of Murder, Torture (CE), Worshippers: Evil Humans, Humanoids, Domains: Trickery, War Mephistopheles: God of Fire and Magic, (LE), Worshippers: Neutral and Evil Humans, Humanoids, Domains: Tempest and Trickery Orcus: God of the Undead, Blood (CE), Worshippers: Neutral and Evil Humans, Giants, Domains: Trickery, War Tiamat: Goddess of Dragons, Tyranny, Evil (CE), Worshippers: Evil Dragons, Evil Dragonborn, Kobolds, Domains: Trickery, War Lesser Gods. The Lesser Deities receive some worship but not a lot and are losing favor with people and have been pushed to more select areas of the world. Baphomet: God of Savagery, Destruction (CE), Worshippers: Humanoids, Monsters of the Underdark, Domains: War Belial/Fierna: God & Goddess of Secrets, Domination, Seduction (LE), Worshippers: Neutral and Evil Humans, Humanoids, Domains: Trickery Carnage: God of War and Destruction, (CN), Worshippers: Humans, Giants, Humanoids, Domains: War Demogorgon: God of Fear, Hate, (CE), Worshippers: Evil Humans, Lizardfolk, Troglodytes, Yuan-Ti, Domains: Tempest Dispater: God of War,(LE), Worshippers: Neutral and Evil Humans, Domains: War Entropy: Cod of Chaos, (CN), Worshippers: Humans, Domains: Trickery Hospice: Goddess of Health & Healing, (LG), Worshippers: Good Humans, Demi-humans, Domains: Light Lolth: Goddess of the Drow, Spiders, (CE), Worshippers: Drow Elves, Domains: Trickery Maelstrom: God of Weather and Storms (CN), Worshippers: Humans, Domains:Tempest Malcanthet: Goddess of Lust and Seduction, (CE), Worshippers: Neutral and Evil Humans, Domains: Trickery Mammon: God of Greed and Lust (LE), Worshippers: Neutral and Evil Humans, Humanoids, Domains: Trickery Oracle: Goddess of Divination and Fate, (N), Worshippers: Humans, Elves, Domains: Knowledge, Light Pacifiss: God of Peace, Serenity, and Reason, (LG), Worshippers: Monks, Domains: Knowledge, Light Shemayn: Goddess of Nature and Agriculture, (N), Worshippers: Humans, Druids, Elves, Halflings, Domains: Nature Yeenoghu: God of the Gnolls, (CE), Worshippers: Gnolls, Domains: War Quasi Deities (These deities are dead but could return to life if they start to regain worshippers in great enough numbers) Commercius: God of Money, Trade, Barter, (N), Worshippers: Humans, Demi-humans, Domains: ? Oceanus: God of the Oceans, Lakes and Rivers, (N), Worshippers: Humans, Domains: ? Raven: Goddess of Skies, Birds (N), Worshippers: ?, Domains? Songstress: Goddess of Music and Beauty, (LN), Worshippers: Humans, Elves, Domains: Light, Nature
A d20 that has a 20 on every side.
I have read the warlock class and am confused on how things work when dealing with spells. If I understand the chart on page 106 in the Players Handbook correctly the warlock knows 2 first level spells at first level. They have one spell slot and its got to be a first level spell. As the character advances in level they have 2 spell slots at level two though level 10. So for the next 9 levels they can only cast 1 more spell than they did at first level. By the time the warlock reaches 11th level they have 3 spells they can cast and at level 17 they can cast 4 spells. The number of spells they can cast before a short or long rest seems ridicolous, too few spells. Now the slot level shows what level the spell is cast at. For example as a 10th level warlock casting a spell, it would be cast as if the character were 5th level not 10th level and at 20th level the same spell is still cast as if the character were 5th level. Thus a warlock with The Fiend Patron casting fireball would receive 5d6 damage regardless of whether they are 10th level or 20th level, the damage is unchanged. This seems wrong too. Now if the highest level spell a warlock can obtain is 5th level according to the spell slot entry on the chart....how does the warlock eventually obtain 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells? I have read this over and over and cannot find anything explaining how a warlock obtains 6th through 9th level warlock spells. Also it seems to me the numberbof spells they can cast is horribly low before having to rest. Can someone tell me what I am misunderstanding?
As mentioned before I am creating my own world. The world map is complete and framed. I am doing several enlargement maps of the kingdoms and not sure how to display and use them. 1. I will have the maps on the computer but I hate using a computer when I game, so I know I want to take the map to the printers and have them on my desk when I play. 2. I can laminate the enlargement maps and then also write on them using a wet erase pen. 3. Having them laminated would require having a edge of about a 1/2 inch all the way around, plus with the added weight I'm not sure how well they would sit in the frame...they might be just fine. 4. Having them laminated means I need to print them smaller than the frame size to accommodate the lamination edge. I would rather have the maps as large as possible which is 24 x 36 inches. 5. If I laminate the maps but do not put them in frames they are still protected but now I will have several (10-15) maps rolled up or lying around creating a mess. 6. If I don't laminate the maps they can be framed like the world map but then I can't have them on my desk when I play because they will get ruined. Does anyone have any cost effective ideas of how to display the maps on the wall or elsewhere in the gaming room that will look nice? They need to be protected and I would like them to be displayed if possible. A lot of money is going into these maps and I hate to have them just sit there, rolled up, etc. How can I use them on the desk, display them when not in use and still keep them protected?
I was reading through the different NPC entries in Volo's Guide to Monsters and noticed that NPC entries which are based off a character class are not the same as the class themselves. Now I didn't pour through both books with a fine-toothed comb but I can cite one example to show my point and I suspect there are others as well if one did the comparison. It may also be the same case with the MM NPCs and the character classes. In the Players Handbook we have the Bard Class and its abilities. In Volo's Guide to Monsters we also have a Bard entry which is intended to serve as a quick needed NPC. The abilities of the two different entries are not the same. In the Volo's Guide Bard stats, they list an ability called "Taunt" which reads as follows: "The bard can use a bonus action on its turn to target one creature within 30 feet of it. If the target can hear the bard, the target must succeed on a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or have disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws until the start of the bard's next turn." After reviewing the Bard character class I cannot find anything similar to the "Taunt" ability. Also the Bard character class lists other abilities that the Volo's version does not. Now I'm not disputing the character class at all, I'm questioning how YOU would use the NPC in Volo's Guide to Monsters. Would you consider the Bard NPC in Volo's Guide to be someone who perhaps started the profession of bard but didn't complete their training prior to level 1, thus they never unlocked all of their potential? Why would the Volo's Bard have an ability that the Character Class version does not? Do you treat these as two different types of bards, one with more training and the other with less experience yet still capable of attaining levels (in the Volos's entry they list the bard as challenge rating 2, fourth level spellcaster)? How do you explain the differences?
I was reading through the dragon entries for 5th edition. As I read it, the sidebar on page 86 of the Monster Manual indicates that dragons of young adult and older can cast spells. It lists the number of spells as 1/3 its challenge rating (rounded down) plus its Cha modifier. It makes no mention of what kind of spells or what levels the spells would be. On the same page, under the heading "Queen of the Evil Dragons" it states that Tiamat can grant spells to her worshippers but makes no mention of what kind of spells. On page 103 under the heading "King of Good Dragons" it mentions that Bahamut is capable of granting divine spells. On page 10 under the heading "Innate Spellcasting" it states that the spells cannot be swapped out for others. In 3.5 edition, it states that dragons cast arcane spells. So the question remains...in 5th edition, what kind of spells do they cast and of what levels? The text is pretty vague. My inclination is to allow dragons to cast from both the arcane and divine spell lists. For example, if a dragon could cast 4 spells then some of these spells could be arcane while others divine. Since the spells cannot be swapped out for others these spells do not change. Now in regards to the level of spells it can cast, the Monster Manual states that the spell cannot be more than 1/3 the dragons challenge rating (rounded down). If an Ancient Black Dragon casted spells it would have available four spells based on its Cha modifier. It's challenge rating is 21 which grants access to 7th level spells. Could the dragon cast four 7th level spells? Could it cast only four 1st level spells? How about a mixture of spell levels? How does the DM determine which spell levels?
When I was 18 I started a D&D world and only developed a couple of kingdoms and even those were not highly developed. I then dropped it and went on to use Greyhawk and played other games. Now I have decided to re-create the world and actually finish it. I hired a cartographer and she has gotten ahead of me on my world map. We have worked together through emails and Skyping to produce a world with three large continents, each with one or more kingdoms on them. All the major terrain types (mountains, hills, forests, swamps, deserts) are all on the map as well as all the major towns and cities and now its time for labels. My job is to name each major town and cities, each terrain type, bays, oceans, etc. Needless to say I am at a loss for words. So I'm looking for some help naming things. I prefer what I consider fairly normal and easy to pronounce names, such as The Fierce Clansmen of the Bitter North; Realm of the Ice Witch Queen, Addenshire, Bloodlet River, Elvish Tears River, etc. as opposed to near unpronounceable ramblings. So if your interested in helping me name places in my world please leave a post. Even better, a name and brief description along with what makes it different than other locales in the world. The sooner I get this done, the faster I play and have a beautiful world map printed out and posted up on my wall. Here is a list of what I have so far and what needs names. In addition to what's below, all the cities and towns and rivers need cool names. Main Continent
East Continent
South Continent
A significant piece of history seems to be missing in my lore. In a nut shell, dragons brought magic to the world and helped the humans and other races develop civilization. Only the dragons possessed magic (which was far beyond the Players Handbook spells) and used it to help control greater aspects of the world such as raising food, building monuments, controlling the weather, and so forth. Then the humans got jealous and wanted magic for themselves. They acquired the magic but were not able to comprehend its difficult nature and thus the only thing they could get out of it was the paltry spells we find in our D&D games today. The only problem is HOW did the humans steal the magic from dragons? I'm looking for ideas.
I commissioned a cartographer to make a world map for me based on my initial vision of the world. All is going well but I have yet to come up with ideas for the kingdoms that need to be inserted. I do not plan on having wall to wall countries in the world but rather 2-3 in close proximity then bands of wilderness before another one is encountered. The history of the world provides backup details for having the world this way. Each kingdom should be unique with its own set of problems and terrain specific to it. I want the players to remember each kingdom they explore and travel to and make them unique enough that they would not be confused with one another. Please post any unique kingdom ideas that I could consider. Provide as much or as little detail as you feel necessary to convey your ideas. I hope to sort through the posts and select the ones that appeal to me the most and use the ideas or garner inspiration from them. Here are the ideas I have so far. Empire of Saulania
A Withering Forest and Lake: These two terrains are cursed lands which essentially have withered in appearance. The trees are bent, are dark, heavily covered with moss and patches of low lying waters. The wildlife in the area is aggressive and chirping song birds are the last thing you would see or hear. The wilderness is not filled with lush green grasses but rather stretches of dead looking areas. It is not uncommon to cone across dead animals rotting in the forest. The lake is dingy and a dark green in color, filled with algae and has a scummy looking surface. The dead fish occasionally wash up to shore is large numbers. Underground City: There is a large underground city (which was the worlds first human city). It isn't that far from the Withering Lake and a long tunnel takes its citizens to the surface. In this city the wealthy and privileged live. It is considered to be a place where the elite take advantage of the common citizens. From outsiders point of view the city is sort of a "Den of Thieves". Demonic Forces in Government: The government is actually led by devils that were once summoned to the world during a great war. This is detailed in the history and I won't bother you with all the details. Powerful devils are actually in control of the human elites and the common person of the streets. This is a well known and documented fact that the citizens of the country are well aware of. Demonic Forces in the Military: The military is ultimately governed by the devils as well. Humans serve as the troops but the leaders are primarily devils or Tieflings. This is a commonly known fact and such creatures are commonly seen throughout the kingdom. Elvish Kingdom
Addenshire
Dragon Kingdom
Each color of dragon has its own territory based on its color. Each territory is part of a larger Dragon Kingdom ruled by a Council of Great Wyrms which is represented by all colors of dragons. In the beginning, all dragons were good aligned. When the demonic invasion set it throughout the world individual colors began to change their demeanor and some of them slowly turned evil. This was more of a magical demonic change. Despite having differences in philosophy, dragonkind maintained their kingdom (though this became more difficult because of alignment differences). Now internal strife causes conflict within their kingdoms. The demonic forces aligned with humans and races of the underdark fought with the demi-humans aligned with the dragons in a great war centuries ago. Eventually the demonic forces found ways to threated and destabilize the dragon kingdom making the draconics exit the war to prevent their own kingdom from collapsing. Now after several centuries, the dragons have replenished themselves, they have their dragonborn armies ready to march and they are dealing with the internal dragon conflicts as best as possible. The dragons are getting ready for war number 2 with the demonic forces and underground races. This time part of the goal is to free humanity from the enslavement they brought upon themselves in the first war by summoning the demonic forces in the first place. Giant Kingdom
Yuan-ti Kingdom
Please help me come up with new unique ideas and maybe help add some flavor/fluff to the Giant Kingdom, Elvish Kingdom, Yuan-Ti and new human Kingdoms.
Using the chart below, one rolls d% to calculate a random character level. If a result of 01-90 is achieved the character is level 1-4 as shown on the chart. If a 91-00 is acquired then the character level increases to 5-8 and a second d% roll is made to determine the level. If that result is also 91-00 another roll is made moving on to levels 9-12, and so on. Note the levels end at level 20 and that if you get a final result of "Re-roll on this chart" you simply re-roll again on the level 17th-20th level chart. My question is this mathematically speaking, what are the odds of rolling a character of 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th,19th and 20th level? 01-30 1st
01-30 5th
01-30 9th
01-30 13th
01-30 17th
I haven't bought any because of the heavy Realms detail. I was using Greyhawk but now I have switched over to making my own world. Of the WOTC 5th edition modules what are the basic plotlines? How heavy are they into the Forgotten Realms? Are their any other modules you recommend that are not WOTC? I prefer drop in and play modules as they are more map friendly as opposed to those that assist in detailing out major portions of a world.
So after Dragon Magazine went out of print I stopped playing D&D until this year. With 5th edition, what is the current status with what use to be called Dragon Magazine and WOTC plans to have some sort of electronic oriented gamer subscription? Is anything available? If so what is it, what do you get and how much?
I'm needing to develop a calendar for my home world. I would like a year to be close to what we have in real life so that it doesn't play to much havoc with aging of characters. I'm looking at 10 or 12 months for the calendar and would be wanting 24 hour days. One of the requirements I would need it to have is once a year, on the 6th month, both moons of the world are full in order to affect the lycanthropes of a particular swamp with an increased aggression. I would like this to fall only once per year, which is why I specify the 6th month. I would like the math to be sound for my calendar. Is there someone that is knowledgeable about lunar and solar eclipses and determining when they would occur? Can a calendar be realistically designed in a way that the same days each month would work for eclipses each year? Are there other considerations that should be taken into account when developing a calendar, other than naming the months?
I have terrible luck trying to glue metal or plastic miniatures that come in more than one piece. Regardless of what I do, nothing holds in place and dries. Can someone tutor me in making gluing miniatures more successful? What kind of glue should I use for metal Miniatures? How about plastic ones? What is the best way to get the glue to take hold and dry? Is it better to paint the pieces separately or after they are glued together? Really, any advice would be appreciated.
How hell hath be empty
Written by Allichimias,
This poem somehow appeared on the back cover of my home brew world book. Its a descriptor of the campaign setting. I have no idea how it got there.
I play Top Secret/S.I., D&D 5th edition and Legion of Superheroes. I'm an experienced game master looking for players. If your interested in a game master let's talk.
Just typed this up because I really couldn't find the right type of background for a character I was putting together. Avenger of Greyhawk
You come from a land that has suffered from the hands of tyrannical rulers, invaders of a foreign nation, or hordes of great monsters coming out of the wilderness, slaughtering the people and stealing their goods. The despair, horror and death you have seen is overwhelming. It is these images in your mind that will never give you the peace you seek and so you realize that someone must stand up to the face of tyranny, invasion and injustice. When selecting this background, explore the lands of the Flanaess which have suffered from the hands of oppressors and invaders, selecting that which you feel most akin to call home. How did the injustices of the land affect you and your family? Was your home and land taken away from an evil lord bent on greed deriving pleasure watching others suffer? Were you or your family imprisoned, thrown into the dungeon to be forgotten? What monsters invaded your land, resulting in the exodus of its people? Was it a single monster such as a great dragon that burned the fields and villages? Was your land invaded by giants coming across the deserts of the far west? Did you live in a frontier town which was overrun by humanoids? Skill Proficiencies: History, Survival
DEFINING EVENT
d10 Defining Event
FEATURE: My defining event has caused me to realize that one person can make a difference. With this strength I am able to rally others, bringing them together and instilling courage within so that they may help me fight the good fight. Others see me as a leader and a hero. They grant me shelter and hiding when necessary. SUGGESTED CHARACTERISTICS
d10 Personality Trait
d6 Ideal
d6 Bond
d6 Flaw
Several years ago, my first character, a human paladin and one that followed shortly afterwards, a human wizard were created in separate campaigns and under the 1st edition rules. The DM was my brother when I was a kid. Neither character had any kind of personality or background developed, as back in the early 80's these concepts were not introduced or encouraged by the DM. Over the years I have developed into a very big role player and strong character backgrounds. Currently I am DMing a 5th edition campaign where we have an 11th level cleric and 11th level ranger going through Castle Greyhawk. The dungeon is starting to get tough (we are on the 3rd level of the War Tower) and much of this is due to the way 5th edition plays as a system. We have two people, myself, and one player. We are adding an 11th level barbarian to the group shortly (the other player will tackle this character). To further increase the party size and for sentimental reasons, I would like to recreate my Paladin and Wizard from many years ago. I still have original character sheets and therefore had no problem stating the characters up using the 5th edition rules. The problem is that neither character had any kind of personality or background and for the past several days I have been unsuccessful at coming up with any interesting ideas for either character. In fact all the games we played sort of meshed together because back then we did a few modules and otherwise fought giants because that was the choice of the DM's best friend and group leader. The DM has since died and I have lost touch with the other players. What I can recall is this: Paladin: My Paladin played second fiddle to a group of rangers (because that's all the other players would play). Eventually the group settled on the Paladin, the Ranger and a Monk. The main player hated dungeons so we only got to experience a little bit. I recall going through The Ghost Tower of Inverness, White Plume Mountain, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and Tomb of Horrors. Other than that, about the only thing that we did was fight giants because that's what the one player always wanted to do. One of the last things we did was go through a couple of dungeons the DM made, one of which we fought a dragon at the end. The details of the dungeon were rather poor and my memory even worse. Wizard: Here we had the same players and the same motivation....go kill giants and heaven forbid do not go through a dungeon because the one player did not like them and the DM catered to him solely. So this is all I can really remember. The only personality I can recall is attempting to manipulate other characters to steal some Pegasus eggs, a task at which we failed. The wizard never really got any respect from the other players and characters because of the d4 hit die. At one point we encountered a group of ogres and the ranger decided there were to many of them for us to defeat. I got tired of being second fiddle and disrespected so I stated that I alone would defeat the ogres. After preparing the appropriate spells, the combat ensued and I succeeded in my goal while the other characters stood idly by expecting my demise. This is about all I can recall after so many years. I am reconstructing the characters as mentioned above and would like some help in regards to personality and background development. The Game world is Greyhawk and I like to immerse my character's into the background of the game world. I not only need to come up with unique personalities but also pre-adventuring background plus fill in the level gaps ranging from level 1-11. I'm looking for helpful ideas on which direction to develop these characters to make them as complete as possible and part of the World of Greyhawk. I am not interested in rolling up different characters as my motivations are mentioned above. The player I have is my real-life partner and supportive of these characters. So what would you suggest?
I'm curious as to what 3rd party fantasy game worlds are available for 5th edition D&D. If I pick up a different game world other than Greyhawk what would you recommend? The requirements of such a game world for me would be as follows: Generic enough to be used with 5th edition without having to change much. A world that is very complete. This could be one super massive world under one cover, or one that is supported through a series of world books detailing out different kingdoms of regions of the world. Current support is very nice especially if it isn't one that has tons of material already available for it. Very elegant maps and well detailed maps, preferably ones you can also find online in order to download and be able to add your own detail. Any recommendations? Please link material I can check out if you can.
Please help a damsel in distress! I have a friend who has these very small dice for gaming, they seem to measure about 9mm across for the d6. My standard d6 measures about 15 mm across. They are about the size of a pinky fingernail. She would like more but I cannot find anyone online that sells very small dice. Recommendations anyone?
Does anybody know how many printing runs they have done for the core 5th edition books? The reason I am wondering is because after 3 games pages of my MM are falling out. I have been extremely careful with the book as well. I did a check online and discovered that the Players Handbook was falling apart and that there had been numerous complaints. I plan to ship the book back to WOTC with a letter to see if they assist me in this matter. If there have been more than one print run of the books does anyone know if they have corrected this glue problem? Sadly both TSR and WOTC have had this problem in the past. When you look at the binding of all three books the glue can hardly be seen its so thin. Now I'm concerned that the other two books will fall apart. At $50.00 a book this is very disheartening. The glue on my 3.5 books is vastly superior. Signed...disappointed customer
For the past 27 years or so I have used large square wet erase gaming mats. I started using them with Top Secret/S.I. in about 1988 and eventually started using them for D&D as well. Over the past few years I have been collecting these D&D boxed sets of terrain tiles. I'm not sure if that is the actual name of them but each box is themed, such as a dungeon, outdoors, city, etc. Basically they are some sort of heavy cardstock with a slick glossy finish on them and they are double sided. Can these be written on using a wet erase pen without damaging the product? I'm considering gluing the larger pieces on some sort of background such as cardboard in order to keep them together as one piece. Of coarse doing so would ruin the less desirable side. Has anyone tried to scan these pieces and then laminate them in order to increase the number of pieces you have available? I really haven't used them at all primary because I either didn't think I had enough or because they looked "different" then the dungeon I was using. Now I'm looking at being more flexible in how the module reads and what the room looks like and thus I can see me using these tiles for my dungeons. I've also purchased some 3-d terrain. I don't have a lot and used it just to place miniatures around for decoration rather than utilize it in the game. I've also bought 3-D terrain items for fish tanks. These seem to mesh well for miniatures too. So I would like to hear is what other people use for miniatures. Do you use these terrain tiles in your game? What company do you buy them from? What did they look like? Was the purchase worth it? How well do they work for generic dungeon use? I find generic plain looking ones the most useful as opposed to those that include stairs, skeletons, treasure, debris or other objects on them. Can you recommend any?
I'm in search of Greyhawk Ruins in PDF format. I have the module but really would like it on my computer so I can read it better and highlight without ruining my book. Who sells it along with other TSR and WOTC adventures and supplements in PDF form?
Skill Specialization House Rule
For example: Nature includes: Recall lore about terrain, plants and animals, the weather, and natural cycles. By specializing, the character would not have knowledge of all of these topics but rather select only one of them they are familiar with. The character would double their proficiency bonus in that one area. The other areas they would be clueless about as if they did not have the skill. Skilled Feat House Rule
So I pulled out my D&D stuff for the first time since they made 4th edition. Thought I would give 5th edition a try, so its been a lot of years since I have played. I reached into my desk drawer and pulled out my 11th level Cleric's dice. They are black with gold numbering and they so carefully lie in a true tan, leather dice bag. A single bag for these special dice, dice specifically bought for just that character. Much to my horror when I opened the bag...my d20 was missing! Now what do I do? I plan to turn the entire gaming room upside down in an effort to find it. I've tons of boxes of D&D and other stuff to go through. I've checked the desk drawers and its no where to be found. The worst possible scenario here is that I lost the die when I got divorced and moved out. Did the die even make to my new house? What if my ex got a hold of it? Is it at the bottom of the river wearing cement shoes? "Oh where Oh where has my little dice gone, Oh where or where can she be!" I've got insurance with my job and can get counseling in case the die is never found. Meanwhile I'm going on vacation around Christmas time and plan on playing D&D for the first time in several years. MY LIFE SUCKS! HOPE YOUR HAVING A BETTER DAY!
In the 3rd, 3.5, 4th and 5th editions of D&D they drastically changed the amount of experience points required for advancement. I would be what you consider old school, I started playing D&D in 9th grade with AD&D. With much different XP progression tables it took far longer for a character to advance in levels. I always preferred this because once you finally created the "Perfect" character for yourself, the one you love to play month after month, year after year, they would last for years. These days the XP progression is much faster. I'm assuming that this is to please a younger audience that is use to faster gratification due to playing video games. I might be completely wrong about "WHY" XP tables were changed so drastically and I'm curious to see why others feel the reason(s) were. I've found my solution to slowing down the XP system....If you changed it, how did you do it?
I'm venturing into playing 5th edition and I'm certain to have some questions so I'm starting this thread. I will be converting 3.5 characters (11th level) over to the 5th edition rules. My first questions pertain to character creation. Question #1: On page 31 of the Players Guide it indicates that humans receive a ability score improvement of +1 for each statistic at character creation. This seems overly generous. Also it states in the footnote bar that: If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from Chapter 6, your Dungeon Master might allow these variants traits, all of which replace the human's Ability Score Increase Trait. I don't fully understand this statement. Does this mean that the player can select a feat in replace of each ability score they do not want to increase at character creation? If so this would range from 1-6 feats at character creation. It goes on to say: Ability Score Increase: Two different ability scores of your choice is increased by +1. This means that when you achieve a ability score increase at levels 4,8, 12, etc. that you get a +1 to the score of your choice, same as 3.5 edition. Skills: You gain 1 skill of your choice. This means at character creation you start with 1 skill correct? Feat: You gain one feat of your choice. This means at character creation you start with 1 skill correct? This is in addition to any feats acquired by not selecting an ability improvement at character creation as well as at levels 4, 8, 12, etc. So if a human didn't improve any of their ability scores at character creation, they would acquire 6 feat for not taking any, plus 1 additional feat at character creation. Correct? Am I correct on all of these issues or am I interpreting something wrong.
Couldn't sleep well lately because I have had a 4 day headache and D&D on my mind. I've got the 5th edition DMG and MM which I bought when they came out. I never purchased the Players Handbook but am finally getting around to considering it. Having flipped through its pages a few times I was never overwhelmed by what I saw. I haven't played 5th edition before but had run a very successful 3.5 campaign using Greyhawk several years ago. Lately I have been playing around with my CC3 map making program considering making a world for 5th edition. Still undecided if I'm going there. So as I lie awake, I think about what kind of homebrew world I would make. So far this is where I sit. By the powers that be, the world would be broken down into three tiers, the Surface World, the Underworld and the Deep underworld. The background on how the world came to be this way is not fully determined. The Surface World would essentially be filled with the rich, the poor, and the military. The rich control the military and the poor suffer very bleak livings. This is a general atmosphere and not the rule in every kingdom. Needless to say its a harsh world economically. Those in the Surface World are as a rule, aware of the Underworld but choose to avoid it. They are completely unaware of the Deep Underworld. Magic as D&D players know it essentially does not exist in the Surface World. Even the rich do not possess it, in fact most citizens are unaware of its existence. In the surface world there are no wizards, sorcerers, clerics, or monsters with heavy magical abilities. The Surface Kingdom possess an array of kingdoms some which work together, others which are isolated, and a few that are oppressed by other kingdoms. Much of the Surface World is vast wilderness with remnants of a long since destroyed civilization that once was far larger than what now exists. Ruins abound throughout the Surface World though few know where they came from or to whom they once belonged too. The Underworld is a composite of both the Surface World and the Deep Underworld. Minor and medium magic items exist, with the exception of the ultra powerful devices. Magic based classes thrive, so we have wizards, clerics and the sort. Monsters with light to medium magical abilities thrive in the Underworld. More civilized kingdoms abound in the Underworld. As with most worlds, their relation to one another varies. The Underworld would be the most common to a typical D&D setting (except that its below ground). Characters starting out in the Underworld or eventually residing in it are free to come and go as they please to the Surface World and with express permission, the Deep Underworld. Natural (or unnatural) pockets of light exist in both the Underworld and possibly in the Deep Underworld. Other geological and nature oriented rarities would also exist to replace some of the conveniences that a normal D&D world would have on their surface world, such as occasional forest, plains, etc. How they survive underground has yet to be determined. The Deep Underworld is where the most powerful magical items, NPCs, and magical monsters can be found. They rarely make any appearance in the surface world and when they do so are required by the powers to be to hide their magical abilities. When they enter the Underworld these beings remain unchanged. As with other D&D worlds, the PCs and NPCs are free to adventure back and forth from one tier to the other. Exactly whom the powers that be has yet to be determined, though I know I would like Demons and Devils to be at war with one another (they generally reside in the Deep Underground). They battle for control over the entire planet. These beings are responsible for spells given to clerics, wizards and sorcerers. These creatures manipulate spellcasters to do their bidding as frequently as possible. Good spellcasters also exist and they utilize the magic demons and devils have given to them, they simply use that magic for beneficial or neutral purposes. Such individuals are often sought out by the demonic forces and hunted down for abusing the magic. The demons and devils do not control magic to the point of being able to take it away from people.
In the DC Heroes Role Playing game Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 1 Sourcebook they list Wildfire and Pulsar Stargrave as having a power called Starbolt. I cannot find a description of this power anywhere and I'm wondering if anyone here can provide it.
I decided to check out the Obsidian Portal website and try using it as a place to store campaign notes and a journal. This part was pretty easy. As I looked at other websites though I got the impression the site did a lot more than just that. Does anyone have experience with Obsidian Portal. I'd like to talk to someone who maybe has a campaign on there because I'm wondering what all the site offers to do. Is it a site pretty much intended to keep campaign notes and player invites to bring to you game at home? Are you somehow able to play your game on their site? What are the primary purposes of the site?
I'm looking for someone that is talented in dice etching, engraving or has the capacity to make full color dice stickers. I am aware that there are a few companies out there (I've checked them out) that can do relatively low production runs of such items, however, they are not quite what I'm looking for. So is there anybody here on the boards that possesses the talent to perform any of these service? I realize that some time and effort may be involved and would be willing to discuss a fee. I'm looking at having 3 different symbols made, each appearing twice on d6. I would like to have anywhere from 2-5 dice made, depending upon how much time is involved and what compensation we agree upon. I would send samples of the artwork to you by email and we could discuss the possibilities from there.
I would like to make a special die for my Legion role playing game. It would be a d6 with different Legion symbols on it. What I've done is bought a blank dice (no pips or pictures on it) and copied the desired image on photo paper, then glued it to the dice. The photo paper was then covered up with good tape to prevent scratching. It works but.... I'd like to find a way to make a more professional looking die. Anyone have any ideas on how to do this?
Other than Roll 20, what are some good web sites to find players where you can conduct a RPG online using realtime? By realtime, I mean voice and video activated where you can speak to and even see the other players.
Anybody game that is from the SW portion of Minnesota?
Does anyone know where I can buy miniatures of various sizes that are more aligned with a space or alien type of genre? I'm not looking for D&D or Pathfinder type monster miniatures which are easily recognizable as such. I prefer plastic and painted, random or select individuals are fine.
With the rolling out of 5th edition, I have decided to forgo my previous campaign world of Greyhawk and go back to my roots...creating a world of my own. I do not know for certain if I will use 5th edition or retain 3.5, but nonetheless, the campaign world can be developed under either rule set. Its been many years since I created a game world and now that I am older I would like to give it another go, this time going all out on details of the world. Here is a sketchy idea of what I have thought of so far. Please read it, feel free to make comments and please introduce your ideas on what you would do to make this a more exciting and viable world. Here's my initial thought... Darknoth is a world spewing of an ancient evil history that goes back for thousands of years. The world recycles itself by being purged by the Abyss and Nine Hells. There are hidden wells throughout the world which serve as portals for these vile creatures to come forth. These wells are often hidden in deep and dangerous dungeons from long ago which served as ancient temples to the creatures of evil. Every time this purging takes place, the world is reduced to a much more primitive state than its previous form. The knowledge of magic and technology are reduced to mere ashes requiring the races to begin again anew. During this purge, kingdoms fall into a state of decay, most of which simply collapse and become long forgotten. Stories abound of these portal wells and all of mankind (all dominant races upon the planet) is aware of the demonic creatures usurping their world. Each purge requires the evil forces to work together in order to achieve complete domination and annihilation of the world. The governing beings of both the demons and devils work together to achieve the overall goal but at the same time undermine one another. Each purging is orchestrated differently by these rulers of the hells and abyss by playing an elaborate game of chess with the World of Darknoth being the prize. Should one side ever find a way to take over the world, the game becomes checkmate and comes to an end, with Darknoth becoming a new level or Hell or layer of the Abyss. Each purging allots the evil creatures a limited amount of time to complete their work before an unknown force (or law of physics/magic) sends them returning to the Abyss and Hells, leaving Darknoth left in ruin. The goal of the campaign is for the PCs to attempt to do their best to prevent the next purge from arising or at best slow it down, its possible that they could stop the purge which would end the vicious cycle the world finds itself in. First question that comes to mind...how advanced has the world become since the last purge? I will tell you right now, I'm not adding firearms or similar higher levels of technology to the world simply because it is not my cup of tea nor my vision of the spirit of D&D.
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