Tsulis's page

I'm interested, but my schedule generally sucks.

Has anyone out here tried Knighthood on facebook? It looks intriguing. You gain power by inviting or convincing your contacts to download the application. It could be fun but I dont want to pester all my non-gamer with requests to sign up.

have any of you played? Does it suck? Would you all be my vassals (no cost and minimal effort) and help me take over the game-world?

This is not a paid ad or anything and I apologize if it seems inappropriate recruiting people for this kind of game.

I am 40 and recently moved to Portland Oregon where I seem to be the only person without a tatoo. Do gamers usually have less tatoos, or is it just me?

A little different from the usual fantasy book, but interesting.
Also, did any one else read the Short Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao ?
It mentions DnD alot.

I just read the Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. It's about a Dominican DnD geek. Anyone else hear about it or read it?

I think that the paladin is a questing class.

Like Don Quixote the Paladin should be able to declare/establish that he is on a quest and get quest bonuses.

Maybe at first level he needs 24 hours to prepare, but then he can declare a quest and get bonuses for himself. At a higher level he does not need as long to prepare. At another level he is able to get bonuses for the whole party for the duration of a quest.

This gives the DM a chance to add flavor to the campaign, because the paladin may learn during his meditation/preparation that there are certain rules he must follow for the duration of the quest, and they could be fairly creative.

Maybe at early levels the quest can only last for a day or a week, at higher levels he could declare a quest that may last for the rest of his life, such as following Lavinia's trail into the abyss and not stopping until she is rescued.

What should the quest bonuses be? Maybe will saves, saves against fear, maybe damage reduction. I don't know...but we should have some game mechanic that honors the questing aspect of the paladin and helps fill out the dead levels, and gives players who play paladins more incentive to interact with their God, to swear oaths, dedicate themselves to quests, etc.

Excuse the repetitive post but I am sort of thinking out loud.

This will make playing a paladin more fun, and not complicate things too much.

It would be nice to see a rogue talent or two that has something to do with diplomacy or pulling a con.
He can already take Charm Person as a spell like ability so that is pretty good, but there is room for more.

Overall, I think it is great.

Maybe a rogue talent for gathering info and/or tailing someone in a city or town.

I did not take time to read all the prior comments, but want to say that this is the first thing I read that made me want to stick with 3.5. No spells at all? Forget it.

I'm going to but this.

I just read this while vacationing at the my mother in laws house for several days. It's really good, if you like cyber punk.

The hard part is that I am the tactical planner type in the party. So I have to switch back and forth between practical tactical guy and guy who is going slowly mad. Again, it is iok since we only play once in a while.

Thanks guys. I would not have asked for the whole class, but it seemed the one level would be ok. We only play when I am in NYC, so that one level could last me for a few years. Who knows. Anyway, it is kind of wierd to role play as it is not my style at all, but again, since we almost never play, it is fine.

My DM in a game I play once every several months volunteered my character to become an Alienist, which is fine. But I am not going to go out and buy the book and I have not been able to find it on a shelf. Can anyone just tell me what happens at first level.

I think my familiar changes and stops advancing, and that all ,y summoned monsters get the alien characteristics. Am I missing anything?

Do the alient mosters I summon also get teh bonuses from augmented summoning?

Thanks.

Tsulis wrote:

Do you think there might be something wrong with a game that is so complicated that when you think about teaching it to three or four people the idea seems totally impractical, and then when you ask people about it they all suggest other games instead?

I will check out the basic set though. That might be perfect.

Thanks all. I'll let you know how it works out.

Well, you did load the question by asking about simplified rulesets. People are just letting you know they do exist and which ones to try.

I suppose you're right. But you know I read the archive of the chat with the woman from Paizo, I think she is the CEO, and when she mentioned that the market is getting smaller, I thought, it was no wonder. The game is too complicated.

I just want to point out that Pygon is a genius.

Do you think there might be something wrong with a game that is so complicated that when you think about teaching it to three or four people the idea seems totally impractical, and then when you ask people about it they all suggest other games instead?

I will check out the basic set though. That might be perfect.

Thanks all. I'll let you know how it works out.

Tsulis was the name of a wizard I was playing. Ilike names with wierd spellings and silent letters.

I really want to play a halfling rogue named Fpuck.

I'm toying with the idea of starting a game for some of the kids in my neighborhood and maybe some of their fathers. Does anyone have experience with this? I don't want to have to ask them to learn the whole PHB in the beginning. Is anyone writing simple but good adventures for kids around 13 years old? Also, are there simplified rules sets out there?

I'm thinking this might actually be an important product line for you game developers if we old farts are going to pass on the game to our kids and their friends.

Thanks,

I had a dream the other night that my old friend was eating a big chepa looking peperoni pizza, and one of the pepperoni flipped over, and a mouth came up out of the pizza and said "Momma".

Thank you for the many awesome replies.

As a guy who never plays 1/2 orcs, and is always willing to play the cleric, and who likes to write non-combat related encounters, I have to agree with the sensitive clan a little. Doing nice suprising things is good. But in this case...I dont feel it.

The pragmatic school has a point too. Going to a boring baby shower might get me laid, or win me time to get away and maybe game a little. Our marriage is not on the rocks, so I don't have to worry about dire consequences if I don't go, thankfully. I still think it will be too boring to be worth the likely pay off.

The point about the communication break down is a good one. It might be that my wife just doesnt want to drive, and that is why she wants me to go. So I could drive her there and then go study somewhere until it is over.

But Fake Healer is the Marriage Counseling Superstar! Boom chick a boom, baby! I think what I will do is offer to drive her there and back if she makes herself my willing slave for 1d12 x 5 minutes.

Does anyone know where I can a die with all 12's?

&0?Hell yes I'm in. Then I can go back to playing ling marathons in the nursing home. That is when I will probably get to finally play through AOW or Savage Tide.

Ladies and Gentlemen gamers,
please support me in that there is no way I am going to another baby shower. I went to one, (my wife's) and I hated it. Why do women continually insist on dragging men to their baby showers?My wife tells me that all the guys are going. Well, we just moved here; I don't know all the guys, and I dont believe they really are going.
Can't men and women be a little different?

I know you will back me up here, so thanks.

Tsulis

Physical therapist in a chronic pain center; the best job in the world.

Angels byDenis Johnson, great novel.
Also: clinical neurodynamics by Micheal Shackloc

Classics: The Iliad- Homer- translatd by Martin Fagles
Don Quixote-Cervantes
Crime and Punishment- Dostoyevsky
I think alot of the guys on these boards would like Huck Finn by Twain and I loved it.
Pride and Prejudice-Austin, it killed me
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire- Hume. You dont have to read the whole thing. Just dip in anywhere.
Ivanhoe is a great book too, by Sir Walter Scott
Also, there is a great one out there called something like "Two Years Before the Mast" I can't remember who read it.

More recent: The Hours- Micheal Cunningham
For Whom the Bell Tolls-Hemingway

Also, Vox. Not a classic, but it has lots of wierd sex and I really enjoyed it. As far as I know, there isn't another novel out there like Vox. If there is. please tell me.

The robin hood parts are my favorite parts. Actually, the part where king richard comes upon Friar tuck in the woods was really really great and funny. Friar Tuck stole the show in my opinion.
All in all I thin the book was better in the beginning and middle than the end, but it was a geaet read.

I finally finished it.
The story of Athelsane coming back from the grave was good. My wife calls. Gotta go!

I am glad someone else loves this book. It is really great. I tried to finish it friday night after reading your post but I must have been tired because I fell asleep after a few pages. Maybe tonight.

Any of you guys ever read Ivanhoe, by Walter Scott. What a great book! It's got Robiun hood and Friar Tuck in it for good measure.

Dont' tell me how it ends cause I am only half way through.

How far is Olympia from Portland?

Seeing as I am about to move across the country and leave my awesome group behind, 4E looks pretty good. We will be able to play over the internet. Did they say how much the monthly subscriber fee would be? If it is under $20 per month I'll do it.

The new rules are interesting but lets see how they play out.

It sounds like Tristan did great. He burned an enemy 5th level spell with a fourth level spell of his won. He cast Haste on the party and gave the fighter extra attacks. He dipelled several spells. What was he supposed to do, kill them all sinlge handidly? A summon spell summoning multiple flying creatures might have gone through a few of those mirror images or forced the sorcerer to cast another dismissal instead of scorching the fighter and cohort.

I played a summoner in Red Hand of Doom and had a lot of good results from Web, Baleful tansposition, and summoning Lantern Archons. I also think your spell book is pretty good, for the record.

Another idea, sorry that I dont have the magazines in front of me. I remember thinking that the hook leading the players to fight the dragon turtle and discover the way down to Goligsmara was pretty weak. Maybe you could have the dragon help the playersin the battle of farshore, but be arrogant and overbearing about it, and show how powerful he really is, then a few months or weeks after the fight, he comes back to town with his tail between his legs! He just got his ass kicked by evil dudes with Dragon bane weapons and he needs the party's help now. They get ot gloat over the dragon as well as be scared of what there is down there that could do this to the dragon.

Then you get a better hook into the next adventure and good roleplaying opportunities.

By the way, I'm thinking of changing my tag to "DM Without a Game". Sorry if I'm giving too much advice.

Think about this: the end game in this campaign involves making deals with evil monsters and gaining them as allies. If you penalize the players for doing it now, or make them feel like there was no chance it would work no mater what they did, they may be extra reluctant to do it later.

You can definitely role play lots of good debate about aligning with such a creature if your players like roleplaying. In the end, I dont think you should have the dragon arbitrarily betray them just because he's evil, but I'm not sure exactly how it should end. It will be interesting to see how the end of the alliance with Orcus is treated in the next issue of dungeon.

Thanks for thte reply. This is a great journal.

This looks cool. Why stop at 6 instead of 8 or 10?

What does the class Disciple of the Green Lady do? What book is it in?
Thanks

Any one out there with room in their game? I am 40, have played off and on since first edition, usually shower before I play, and chew with my mouth closed.

I plan to arrive in Portland in September, but it could be as late as December.

Dude, that sucks. It sounds to me like you can try speaking with them out of game and if they really dont like the adventure, and refuse to go along with it a little, then you will have to find another place to play. On the other hand, maybe one of them would like to DM for a while, and you can sit back and play.

my two cents.

TS

Not many I guess. I thought there would be some. Lilith, thanks, but he should really tell people himself, even if it is clearly stated elsewhere on these boards.

Just curious.

Arctaris wrote:

Feel free to start a tactical discussion here on the boards. I love them. Theres nothing like spending large quantities of time thinking about how someone else might get out of a situation to get the mind going (I'm not being snarky here).

I would suggest just letting it lie. If they don't want to discuss tactics then thats their loss.

And his if they get him killed.

Not to pry too much, but would there happen to be a worm theme in this campaign you're talking about?

No worm theme in thisgame. I really really dont want to get too detailed about that until May 21st.

Someone else had a great idea about using electricity spells in the water. Is there a rule about shocking grasp spells if the target is in the water. Do magic missle spells hit a target that is visible but underwater if the shooter is not?

Also,
I was hoping some of the friends I was describing would read my post and approach me, and they did, so the post worked. How's that for tactics?

I am playing a game with three old friends and two new friends. We are in the middle of a huge cliff hanger, possibly leading to a TPK. Retreat is not an option, as we are on a kind of island in the middle of a lake, and cannot really fly or swim. Our next game is not scheduled until May 20th.

Our group consists of a fighter, a barbarian, a fighter/ranger/rogue, a wizard, a sorcerer, and a cleric, so we have a lot of options. I'm purposley not going into too much detail because I dont want someone to recognize the adventure and inadvertantly spoil it.

My question is this: I am a tactical player, and think about different approaches to this battle we are in all day long. I want to trade emails with other players about it, but without either telling them what they should do next game, or even appearing to be trying to tell them what they should do. I especially dont want to alienate the new players, who dont know what a mellow, easy going guy I am when it comes to DnD (a little sarcasm there).

So I sent out a group mail: do any of you want to discuss tactics? Am I the only one who obsesses about this game? and none of them replied except the DM, who is one of the old friends.

So, what do i do? Just let it lie, right? At least I can obsess with you guys.

By the way, I haven't commented on the liscencing thing yet. WOC stinks! Long live Paizo.

Dont forget extend spell, also invisibility and silenced summoning spells are a good combo.

I'm playing a conjurer in RHoD right now so I have given this alot of thought.

I am playing a conjurer. Can I summon some celestial giant bees and have them attack an enemy spellcaster, or do I have to take toungues and spend a round casting it and telling them what I want them to do.

Giant bees can hover and have poison that does con damage so three of them may be able to nuetralize a spell caster pretty well.

Also, when do you choose where you want the summoned monster to appear? Is it at the beginning of the casting or at the end? So if the enemy caster moves while I am casting, can I change where the bees appear, so they still appear right next to my target.

I know the final ruling is up to the DM of our game, but I am trying to work out my own opinion and I'm curious what you all have to say. Honestly, my reading is that the summoner has to find some means to communicate in order to give his monsters specific instructions beyond attacking the nearest evil creature in a way that makes sense to it, but that seems to cumbersome, and sucky.

Thanks.

I had a player who was a total coward. And he was a Paladin. At first I tried publicly humiliating him in the middle of the game and in a restuarant with some friends. Ok, so that wasnt the right approach. Then I had the npc's do my talking for me, and reacting to his behavior from their point of view instead of my own. That worked much better.

I'm not really a rules guy but I was just reading somewhere that while flying you can charge but not run.It might have been in the fly spell, or in the DMG fly rules.

Chuck Monson wrote:

Hmm, Golden Age. That would be the 70's, before the hard bound copy. And that would include the few pages in the Chainmail rules which kickstarted Arneson and Gygax on the fantasy tabletop game idea. I played in Arneson's group in St. Paul. Being there was quite an experience.

Any tales to share with us Chuck?

Hear hear, what was it like?

My wife says she could whip him.

We play in Lefferts Gardens this week. It is on the Q train, very easy to get to. For RHof Doom the good DM will be running and we may play at his place, the location of which is hard for me to describe, but it also in brooklyn. I think he is on the F train. If you have a car it is all easy.
My email is billrubine@hotmail.com