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I used Irony Games' on-line map makers for years in the late 1990's then stopped gaming for a few years while I graduated from college and sought employment. Now, it appears irony.com is no longer being maintained.... I miss their 1,000,001 city maps to choose from....tavern maker....cavern maker....dungeon maker.... Anyone know what happened?
I have to say, I was in a bad mood until I ran into Vomit Guy....and I laughed so hard I choked on my own drool, and dry heaved a little bit. Brightened my day, but stained my shirt...
I've done these before while DM'ing, and I think it is a fair way to get back at role (roll) play abusers/cheaters. • Have critical failures/hits happen on purpose. Works best if you roll in secret. Not all the time, but say on an easy skill check (climb, balance) or opposed rolls. Critical fumbles against lone kobolds may seem cruel and unusual, but it shouldn't kill the character. It may wisen up the player to not to assume anything. • Make small tweeks in the module. Swap locations if a player 'knows' the map. If a player knows where the untrapped secret door is, add a trap. (Make it an area effect trap to get the other players/characters to reel that player back). • Give XP bonus points for players who use effective skill checks in investigation opportunities where needed. That might curtail meta-gaming (knowing what the players know, but not the characters). Or state that you are giving role-playing XP bonuses and that obviously excludes players that know everything. • Make the character a target for thieves, or maybe the first one an angry bear attacks, or always double-teamed when against orcs, or raise the DC of the skill checks by 1 or 2, or etc. etc. I think randomness makes the game more enjoyable. And it cuts down on the meta-gaming that may creep up intentionally or unintentionally. I have had players intentionally attempt to de-rail a game. They either left, or I moved on. Some may say these actions are not 'fair' to the player, but really, that offending player is not being fair to the DM or the other players.
Just curious. I just purchased the PDF REALLY cheap here at the Paizo store and glancing through it, I kinda like it. Has anyone else played or have any opinions on it?
All this talk of jerking and porn....I'll be back in 7 minutes
Will I get hopelessly confused? That book is THE best book in the world. Now and forever.
No way is this a complete thought since it is late.... But I only heard part of Palin's interview and it seemed to me a lot of the talking she did about foreign policy seemed to resemble a lot of thinking some countries had right before WWI. "If they attack our allies, we attack them." is not a complete quote but pretty close when she was talking of NATO and Russia invading Georgia. And it sounded to me she was trying to equate Russia's proximity to Alaska as her 'experience' in foreign relations. I probably would've voted for McCain if not for her. Bad choice.
Meh. WOTC burnt their bridge to me a long time ago. Time to move on.
First Knight Richard Gere as a knight for crying out loud. I guess Sean Connery and Julia Ormond (i think) as well as a killer soundtrack make up for it.
Where's a healing surge when you need one! Seriously - get well soon.
WOTC is probably crying about it now.....and we keep trolling to keep things going... Damn - now I'm guilty too!!! NERDRAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree to disagree. Seriously, this 'my messageboard is better than your messageboard' argument is out-right nerdrage. Or better yet, people who get offended when they read from a stranger from across the country 'I think 4E is better because BLAH BLAH BLAH' and then they get so angry that they feel like they have to argue back: '3.x (or anything other than 4E) is better because it is BLAH BLAH BLAH.' The common poster is NOT going to sneak into your house and steal all of your gaming material nor will they buy out your rpg company of choice. If you feel that you have been 'slighted' then you really need to get a grip on reality. Step away from the computer. Talk to a person of the opposite sex who is not your family....think of SOMETHING to lower your nerdrage. Like how drastically different the length of the necklace that holds the ring around Frodo's neck is from scene to scene in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or how Picard was better than Kirk (unless you want the priceline negotiator). I would love to see if someone's opinion was SOLELY changed or formed on which edition is better WITHOUT actually playing and/or reading through the book. "I read it on-line....it has to be true!" I'm still waiting for my lottery winnings from Zambia.
And if they just released free pdf, how long do you think paizo would last?It's free because it's just a playtest. The final version PDF won't be free. I see what you're getting at. I think they will have all of their major changes planned for the final release. Then use a full 12 months to play-test the major changes discussed with the tweeks in the Beta release. They don't want people using the free Beta PDF with the Final changes written in the margins. Not saying people are dishonorable, but hearing stories of pirated 4th Edition PDFs, I can see why Paizo MAY want a totally 'new' final release, not a final version with Beta and a few minor changes.
....it means that in the short run we won't see adventures with quite the level of combined quality as if we had WotC's mechanical expertise and Paizo's storytelling chops. But if both companies hold out they'll each become more proficient at filling in the gaps, and this will drive innovation down the line. This is the probably the smartest thing you or anyone else has said in regards to the license dispute. Very rational. And I think what this industry needs is variety in not only flavor, (which we all have been getting) but mechanics, too. One person's Wii to another's PS3/XBox preference.
chuck chuck beau buck, banana-fana-faux f..... I forget the rest.....CHUCK!
I wonder how much it would cost to buy the IP and brand name of D&D?I'm sure that Hasbro would probably not let that one go. For any price. I don't know - with the botched PR and online launch of 4E, the brand might not be turning a profit, (I have no proof) they might be willing to sell that just to dump it. D&D doesn't seem to be a high point of interest to the Hasbro. I did remember seeing a post on this board that said that at the latest stockholder meeting for Hasbro, no mention at all to 4E or D&D at all. Kind of surprising considering how dominant the brand is overall to the industry and how revolutionary 4E was supposed to be/is (depending on your point of view)
I wonder how much it would cost to buy the IP and brand name of D&D?
It's not shocking at all, because I was buying 3.x WotC stuff as soon as it came out - but there are no 3PP stuff where I am at. (BFE Ohio)And as a semi-casual gamer trying to get back into the swing of things, I am not about to order, through the internet, unproven or unknown 3PP material without looking at it/flipping through the pages first. Neither is anyone else in the west/central part of Ohio because the only option is WotC/D&D. It gets tons of press because it is the only press...without stumbling across a 3PP on a message board. It is clear from what is available locally for me is that WotC is the 500 lb. gorilla with most of the toys on the block (namely the rights and IP of the D&D name). If Paizo (or anyone else) owned the D&D brand, they would be 500 lb. gorilla. Granted, they wouldn't have the $$$ backing of Hasbro behind them. EDIT: More like 350 lb. gorilla.
According to WotC the game has already run through its first two print runs and is now on its third. We don't have exact numbers yet, but yes, it was on Amazon's bestseller list (in the top 5, if I recall correctly). It's also safe to assume that it was roughly as high on Barnes & Noble's list. This bodes very well for it, as role-playing games are driven strongly by word-of-mouth. If the game continues to sell well two months into its release, it's getting some excellent press. I have no local hobby store, just a Walden Books in the mall. The ONLY thing they sell RPG-wise is WotC. No White Wolf, no Pathfinder, NOTHING. So of course they will be selling a lot of books and getting excellent press, because that is all that is out there. The delayed licenses pretty much pushed Paizo to develop PFRPG on their own just to stay afloat and to fill a niche market (one I don't mind belonging to). Other companies have not at all been able to publish their 4E stuff yet. So success for WotC now has been bad for everyone else now, since NO ONE has been able to publish 4E materials due to a restrictive (and very late) license, and will continue to put 3PP in a stranglehold until the new license is released, which will probably be late. I doubt many 3PP can stay afloat if another 3-4 month delay happens with the license.
Nice zoological reference. I'll NEVER leave FR!!! (but i'm jumping to pathfinder because what FR has become) That setting is what got me into this hobby! The gold series computer games got me hooked (pool of radiance, etc.)
I wonder if other people/designers have experienced problems with this..... I enjoyed running a level 1 dungeon crawl (3.0 converted to 3.5 and again to 3.P) where nobody died the first few days due to hp loss, but we became a lot less useful as the ability damage from dire rats and the shadow we fought really made us useless as we approached the mid-point to ending. We had to run back to town to heal up. Was it overpowered? Well, our cleric used all 4 healing bursts in the first three battles: (our party: elf wizard, human cleric, dwarf fighter, halfling rouge) Battle 1.)vs. undead - pretty easy fight. It cured the fighter completely (he was missing only one hp) and halved the hp of the skeletons. The rouge didn't have a bludgeoning weapon, so she was useless in the battle. Battle 2.)vs. kobolds - roughly 8 of them, some firing javelins, others in melee. After the ambush, the clerics used a burst to save the wizard (who was really zinging the kobolds with her evocation school power). But it healed a couple of wounded kobolds. Another burst was used to close the distance between the ranged fighters with out dropping to 0 hp. Battle 3.)vs. goblins (one was an evil cleric, 4 warriors) and a bugbear. At this point, we had used some spells prepared rather than convert them into healing spells. We took out the goblin warriors and had flanked the evil cleric before the negative energy started to flow. That really changed the dynamics of the battle. One positive flow against 3 of the goblin's negative dropped the rogue. The bugbear was caught in one of the negative attacks, but was caught in a reactionary positive one too. As for a gameworld setting, we have yet to encounter anything like that. We went back to town healed of hp, but the ability damage was what we needed healing. But, my statements will probably be deemed useless and untrue... ;-)
But I think it is somewhat overstepping your bounds to try and push that upon others who aren't looking forward - especially when, in doing so, you actively take away the elements they had been enjoying about the game. Isn't it up to the DM to run the game? Now if every single scythe in the known universe fell down that pit, I'd be upset, or maybe if it was a unique artifact that fell down, ok, be mad. If I know that module, the rope bridge is early in the dungeon, and a 2 day round trip to buy a new one weapon (maybe get a masterwork scythe) is a gentle reminder of the player to be more careful. If the DM doesn't include the risk of dying or doing a critical fumble - then where is the challenge? I think the DM in this situation gave a suitable challenge. I personally would've restocked the orc lair to include a scythe or give the ogre leader a magical one to allow the player to 'restock'. I hate running back to town to restock when players (or myself) forget a piece of equipment.
Thank you for demonstrating the predicitbility of the younger generation. If I had actually bet my friend here when you would respond to my bait, I could have made some cash. I told him it would take you only a few minutes to respond, and you did. THAT'S the difference in generations; you're easy to predict. Remember that scene from the Princess Bride? Right before the short guy gets poisoned... "Never trust a Sicilian when death is on the line....HA HA HA HA..." *falls over dead*
her husband was
I absolutely love 3.5, but the layout of the PHB and the new official rules being added in the splatbooks really messed up my casual gaming sense of the rules. Thank Torm for the Rules Compendium!
To add to the above discussion about level sweet spots... Does anybody actually begin their character and say, "I can't wait until I reach the highest level humanly (or gnomingly, orcishly) possible so i can start a new one and wash, rinse, repeat." I've always played and DMed until:
I personally have a 'hall of fame/shame' of characters that have done awesome/horrible things dating back to 2ed. Like the forest gnome ranger who got deformed by the Far Realm (Gates of Firestorm Peak)with a tentacle growth that shot a 1st level magic missile 1/day (happened 6th level). He retired after saving his old home from an invasion of monstrous spiders lead by an evil druid. Or the super high powered Barb 5/Fighter 6 that got turned to stone by a medusea then bullrushed off a 30 foot balcony (my own fault). I don't think the game is meant to be power gamed - min/maxed, yes - but the game was not meant to played from fetus level until the character reaches deity status.
You mean to tell me that the movie 1 Million B.C. was not based on historical fact? You notice how good their teeth looked? Lots of flouride in the water and mastadon meat.
Converting mostly to Pathfinder RPG once the Beta comes out. I love DMing 3.5, but IMO PRPG feels like balanced house rules (although major house rules) - I just really like them. Those I talked to that I game with seemed pretty excited once things are more set.
I hope this is the right forum.... I just downloaded the character sheets from Paizo and converted a bunch of characters to Pathfinder. Works good IMO. BUT a few flaws in the sheets... Under skills, Spellcraft is listed as a Dex based skill, rather than an INT skill. Also under skills, could you indicate which skills cannot be used unless trained in them? I don't have them memorized, and I like looking quickly to know a PC cannot use that skill. Maybe add a 'weight' box in the weapons section. Top of the first page, do we really need the climb/burrow/swim/fly speed boxes? I have some other ideas for skills and such, but this is not the right forum. Thanks!
IMO - if racial penalties are eliminated and only racial bonuses are given, you really diminish a lot of character and flavor of that particular race. There is a reason Dwarves have a Charisma penalty - most are gruff and reserved. It suits that particular race. Does that remove the chance of that dwarf from becoming a powerful paladin or sorcerer - maybe, but you can naturally increase stats over time. And depending on your DM, you can apply a higher stat to Charisma so you can run that mighty dwarven sorcerer (or allow more points at character creation). Not all dwarves are mean or have no personal magnetism - you could role-play a dwarf who was friendly and had a lot of personality - but it is his racial trait that knocks it a bit lower. Similar (in some ways) to the Strength score of a halfling vs. human. The halfling, based on size, are naturally not as strong as humans. Can you have super strong halflings? Sure. But generally speaking, most are not. It feels like 4E wants the character creation to be very bland. We all get this blank mannequin, and we all get the same stats and powers. The other racial and class characteristics and backgrounds are just window dressings - clothes on the mannequin. I personally do not plan on buying 4E - since I ran into Pathfinder and my rather large collection of 3E & 3.5E. I hope I did not come across as a 'flamer' against 4E. I didn't mean to - I just don't like what I have seen - kinda like reading a bad review or reviews on a movie you are kinda on the fence on. |
