alain_1970's page

Hi,

I can recommend the Captain Future series as I've read 'em all (though in German). They differ from the Japanese comics:

- nearly all episodes/books play in the Sol system;
- technical level is more Flash-Gordon-like (no PCs/CPUs, heavy use of atomic energy in weaponery and propulsion);
- all Sol system planets are inhabited;
- the slap-stick between Otho and Greg is tuned down to a more reasonable level;
- in general: the characters are better described (at least IMHO);
- last, but least: the series is more "American" than "Japanese".

Yours,
AdL

EDIT: ... and the tech-science-talk is less cryptic (camarilla-/insider-like) between the characters and the "educational off-voice" is not there either.

But, oh well! I guess I'm taking owls to Athens ...

IMHO, it is more interesting to know why a character/NPC (whether "straight" or BGLT+, whether kinda' vamp or kinda' maiden) is there and not only because she/he/it is "straight" or BGLT+ resp. vamp or maiden.

Sexuality/sexual orientation is a "facette" that a DM and the players' group may or may not include into their RPG. But not alone to fullfill "political correctness", it should be story-/character-related:

- a player is BGLT+ and wants to play a BGLT+ character? Why not? Give a background for your character, so I can use/implement it into the story/plot.

- a NPC is BGLT+? What is the role of that NPC? Is being a BGLT+ relevant for the story/plot or not?

- do the player want romance and/or sexual experiences while playing? Alright, make it part of the story/plot.

Yours,
alain_1970

P.S. English isn't my mothertongue.

Yup; Gorbacz is correct. Clerics of Aroden follow the rules for ex-clerics. Of course, it's been 100 years, so the number of actual REAL ex-clerics of Aroden left is incredibly small. Close to zero, I would dare say.

Characters who decided to take cleric levels from the start and worship Aroden are no more likely to gain spells than if they worship Razmir or Merisiel or a giant slug.

A question from a noob: why is Baron Utilius a cleric of Aroden then? And why did he decide to become an ex-cleric of a dead god instead of being a paladin of Aroden/Iomedae or an oracle (with a mystery having been part of Aroden's portfolio)?

Please do not see this as a critique, I'm just curious why it is as it is.

Yours,
A.S.

Hi, y'all!

Last week, I run my first session as DM/GM. And I had a lot of fun that I didn't have as a player.

Once upon a time, GMs would receive advise like this:

"The ultimate success of this adventure in your campaign rests upon you, the DM. It is your skill and knowledge, not only of the adventure and the AD&D@ rule system, but of your players as well, that determine how enjoyable your games with this adventure are. There is no “right” way to run any encounter. There is only your way of running encounters. You may add or delete from the story as you see fit. What is contained within is only a skeleton; it is your input that makes it a worthwhile adventure." (GDQ 1-7: Queen of the Spiders)

And that's exactly what I did: I've read a lot about Golarion, Sargava (the realm my group started), and added tons of homebrew material.

Now it seems to me that "player power" is pushing GMs into the simple roles of script-readers and dice-rollers.

Well, I prepared a lot. And needed only two pages of my own "script", as the players "forced" me to improvise after 5 minutes. After 45 minutes, I could go back to my script.

Being a littl' bit of a nitpicker myself, I prepared the possible dice-rolls in advance, e.g.: The boy is lying here (he already got a silver piece), and tries a BLUFF (1d20: 13 +6 =19). If a SENSE MOTIVE is successful, he grins: "... was worth a try. Ain't be angry, beautiful lady."

Are we in danger of moving D&D/Pathfinder into a game which is great to play but boring to GM?

Will we eventually end up with a game where the players read the module as well as all the other books and a GM is no longer needed?

I hope my adventures (maybe campaign) aren't (isn't) turning into that.

Has GM-creativity bitten the dust?

I guess, I'm one of those SM/GM / I'll be one of those SM/GM, that use the material as a base. And include their own ideas/alterations/supplements from where-ever-what-ever.

DMing/GMing opened a new facette of roleplaying to me, one that I like ...

Yours,
A.S.

Please, please, please, no, no, no.

Do not turn Golarion into some gawdawful mish-mash of generes.

[gently weeping]

Be all things to all people and you become nothing.

The campaign setting guide, at least the version I have, states that such technologies do exist. Though they seem to be based more on magic than technology.

But in the end, the DM/GM has the last word in how she/he wants to developp his setting. My question was about some more detailed "official" (or "canonical") information. If you don't like it, take it out of your setting.

Yours,
A.S.

Edit: I've just read a bit more of the discussions about gunpowder and two ideas sound like a good compromise:

1) NO detailed (or even NO) technology description (either gunpowder or whatever) in the new campaign setting book, and a more detailed aproach in a(n) Alkenstar/Man Wastes gazette/supplement/what-ever-you-call-it.

2) Magic and technology don't like each other. E.g.: your magic doesn't work well/not at all where tech works and the other way round.

As DM/GM: Sargava

As player: Ustalav, homebreed adventure of our DM/GM

Hi,

I'm new/unfamiliar to these boards (and furthermore English/American isn't my mothertongue) and I have a question about clerics of Aroden:

isn't Baron Utilius, Grand Custodian of Sargava a cleric of Aroden? IIRC, the sourcebook about Sargava says he is.

Well, I also have a more practical interest in asking this, as I started to DM a game in which my group starts out in Eleder (actually, I took over the game from our former DM). Furthermore, in Sargava, worshipping of Aroden is still strong, despite him being a dead deity. As far as I remember, Saragava is considered to be kinda Cheliax-like before the demons took it all over.

Now I wonder about the (ingame) practical consequences of worshipping a dead god: I guess, they still follow all the formal aspects of worshipping, but can they offer more than prayers and some mimicry of divine magic (via wands or staffs or rods; and who provides them)?

Thank you in advance for your answers,
yours A.S.

Seconded!

And maybe there could be some hints about the other "technologies" that apparently exist in Golarion (IIRC, kinda steam-engines and kinda electricity).

Yours,
A.S.