
Sharoth |

Elminster, Rockstar of Wizardry wrote:throws things STOP GOING THROUGH OUR GARBAGE FOR IDEAS FOR YOUR CAMPAIGN SETTING!Great!
Now there's competition!
No, no. Let him have it. ~hands Elminster some garbage~ I even included Freehold DM's least favorite show. The one where Joss Whedon get beaten up every episode. You are welcome to toss that piece of junk out.

Freehold DM |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

I have hit upon an idea for my campaign setting. As my world is a non-european one, I have had an issue with explaining how different types of swords from different terrestrial cultures came about in the setting. Considering that dragons in the setting are perhaps the most important creature among all races, I thought about comparing sword shape and to an extent type(piercing, slashing, and piercing/slashing) to the age category of a dragon that would most likely have that type of claw or tooth. I'm thinking a lot of the smaller and straighter blades would be associated with draconic youth, while older ones would be associated with larger, heavier or curved/sinuous blades.
Upon examination, the names of dragonic ages are a bit...boring, but maybe it can be spiced up a bit. Hm. I don't know. Just thinking out loud.

Aranna |

Which civilizations did golarion use? I apparently mistakenly thought they used original material.
Sid Meyer didn't include fictional ones... And since it was a video game it had some very odd physics.
Speaking of Civ V I had a great time with one game I played in LAN.
I was playing the Egyptians and my start city was located on a bay tucked onto the end of a peninsula surrounded by mountains with two passes out. One leading to a very angry Asian person who kept trying to send land forces through the pass, and the other to a very friendly city state that showered me with cool combat units. The other way out was through the bay and around a sandbar where the Spanish Armada awaited my poor ships. So I was never able to found more than one city. But WOW what a perfect place that was. I had hills , mountains, rivers, some jungle, and a sandbar that were encrusted with a vast array of resources. I was able to build literally every wonder while the free combat units bombarded. One of my boyfriend's buddies took pity on me and became my ally. I was in constant combat from the ancient age till I developed nukes (that got the Spanish to back off) and advanced bombers which hit our Asian friend so hard he had to break off his assaults. I ended up winning on a cultural victory, Totally awesome!

Orthos |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Which civilizations did golarion use? I apparently mistakenly thought they used original material.
Varisians are very strongly based on the Romani.
Cheliax is basically an (openly) evil Roman Empire.
Taldor is Europe during the decline of the nobility, most strongly Britain, France, and Germany (I think, correct me if I'm wrong).
Galt is Revolutionary-era France.
Andoran is early United States viewed through a slightly stereotypical lens.
Lands of the Linnorm Kings are Scandinavia by way of Norse Mythology.
Most of the Tian Xia countries have direct analogues in IRL Asia - Japan, China, Mongolia, Korea, Taiwan, and so forth.
Osirion is Egypt, and even uses an echo of their pantheon.
Qadira is the Middle East through the lens of Arabian Nights/1000 Tales of Scheherazade.
There's more but those are the obvious ones off the top of my head.

Sharoth |

Which civilizations did golarion use? I apparently mistakenly thought they used original material.
Sid Meyer didn't include fictional ones... And since it was a video game it had some very odd physics.
Speaking of Civ V I had a great time with one game I played in LAN.
I was playing the Egyptians and my start city was located on a bay tucked onto the end of a peninsula surrounded by mountains with two passes out. One leading to a very angry Asian person who kept trying to send land forces through the pass, and the other to a very friendly city state that showered me with cool combat units. The other way out was through the bay and around a sandbar where the Spanish Armada awaited my poor ships. So I was never able to found more than one city. But WOW what a perfect place that was. I had hills , mountains, rivers, some jungle, and a sandbar that were encrusted with a vast array of resources. I was able to build literally every wonder while the free combat units bombarded. One of my boyfriend's buddies took pity on me and became my ally. I was in constant combat from the ancient age till I developed nukes (that got the Spanish to back off) and advanced bombers which hit our Asian friend so hard he had to break off his assaults. I ended up winning on a cultural victory, Totally awesome!
That sounds AWESOME!!! Civ V is on my to pick up next time Gamersgate or Steam Games has a sale. I need to work my way through Civ III and IV first. Have you played Beyond Earth yet? I may start a playthrough on that this weekend.

Aranna |

Aranna wrote:That sounds AWESOME!!! Civ V is on my to pick up next time Gamersgate or Steam Games has a sale. I need to work my way through Civ III and IV first. Have you played Beyond Earth yet? I may start a playthrough on that this weekend.Which civilizations did golarion use? I apparently mistakenly thought they used original material.
Sid Meyer didn't include fictional ones... And since it was a video game it had some very odd physics.
Speaking of Civ V I had a great time with one game I played in LAN.
I was playing the Egyptians and my start city was located on a bay tucked onto the end of a peninsula surrounded by mountains with two passes out. One leading to a very angry Asian person who kept trying to send land forces through the pass, and the other to a very friendly city state that showered me with cool combat units. The other way out was through the bay and around a sandbar where the Spanish Armada awaited my poor ships. So I was never able to found more than one city. But WOW what a perfect place that was. I had hills , mountains, rivers, some jungle, and a sandbar that were encrusted with a vast array of resources. I was able to build literally every wonder while the free combat units bombarded. One of my boyfriend's buddies took pity on me and became my ally. I was in constant combat from the ancient age till I developed nukes (that got the Spanish to back off) and advanced bombers which hit our Asian friend so hard he had to break off his assaults. I ended up winning on a cultural victory, Totally awesome!
I have played a little Beyond Earth... But since I am alone it isn't as fun. The Civ V LAN parties are a lot funnier than single player.

NobodysHome |

WE HAVE BEEN BREACHED!!!!
So, we wandered off to Games of Berkeley over lunch, got a couple of Eldritch Horror extension packs, NobodysWife got a lamb wrap and some tabuli (from Bongo Burger, NOT Games of Berkeley) and I got her leftovers (nearly half). Then she asked, "Ummm... where did you put the Halloween candy?"
Out came 120 full-sized bars and 21.2 pounds of minis. She opened two bags of minis (I got two kinds, one in 5.6-pound bags and one in 5-pound bags), filled our (rather large) candy tub, and grabbed one or two choice morsels for herself.
And here I thought that hiding the candy in the garage 'til Halloween would work...

Drejk |

Sir Limey De Longears |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

I would pistol whip you myself, but I already owe you a smack with a morningstar.
Borroweth thou mine!
However, please to not get blood all over the Rainbow Brite decals and if I could hath it back after your smackething, that would be appreciated. I need it to belt Rhodoks with.

David M Mallon |

Getting near ME2 end game. The tension is palpable.
- Will I be able to find enough platinum and E0 to finish my upgrades?
- And what about iridium? What about iridium?
- There's no fuel depot in this system. Will I be able to deplete it with only - oh no! - 11 probes left?
Oh, the drama.
If you strip-mine 10 or 20 planets from Rich to Poor near the beginning of the game, it'll give you enough minerals to get through the entire game. In addition, importing a ME1 save gives you a bonus 100,000+ of each mineral right off the bat.
To save on resources, don't bother researching the med-bay upgrades. If you're playing Paragon, your scars will be gone by the time you get the resources to research it anyway. Also, it makes Shepard look like a jerk because she doesn't give Garrus the option to use it.

David M Mallon |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

Treppa wrote:I absolutely love that aspect of the game. It's what I would so for a living in the universe.Getting near ME2 end game. The tension is palpable.
- Will I be able to find enough platinum and E0 to finish my upgrades?
- And what about iridium? What about iridium?
- There's no fuel depot in this system. Will I be able to deplete it with only - oh no! - 11 probes left?
Oh, the drama.
You're a madman. A g*%#@+ned maniac.

Freebird DM |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Freehold DM wrote:You're a madman. A g$!$+*ned maniac.Treppa wrote:I absolutely love that aspect of the game. It's what I would so for a living in the universe.Getting near ME2 end game. The tension is palpable.
- Will I be able to find enough platinum and E0 to finish my upgrades?
- And what about iridium? What about iridium?
- There's no fuel depot in this system. Will I be able to deplete it with only - oh no! - 11 probes left?
Oh, the drama.
You know what I love even more? Managing my inventory in ME1. Also, have I ever mentioned that I love bikes?

David M Mallon |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

There's more but those are the obvious ones off the top of my head.
Irrisen = Russia (by way of mythology)
Brevoy = also Russia (this time from the Middle Ages)Arcadia = pre-Colonial America
Realm of the Mammoth Lords = Neolithic Europe (by way of Robert E. Howard)
Mwangi Expanse = sub-Saharan Africa
Ustalav = north-eastern and eastern Europe with a Gothic theme
Mendev = the Crusader States (albeit in a different climate)
Even the shape of the continents are roughly analogous to Earth. This basically sums it all up.
When creating my own as-yet-unfinished campaign setting, I decided to go the Robert E. Howard route and do everything but bash you over the head with a stick labeled "THIS IS EARTH WITH THE PLACE NAMES CHANGED."

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Celestial Healer wrote:How is the Inquisition going, Dave? Killing some dragons? Romancing anybody cool?I'm 40+ hours in, have killed precisely one dragon, and have gotten about 1/3 of the main quest done. I feel like I haven't accomplished anything...
Oh. Well, get to it then. Did you side with Mages or Templars?

David M Mallon |

David M Mallon wrote:Oh. Well, get to it then. Did you side with Mages or Templars?Celestial Healer wrote:How is the Inquisition going, Dave? Killing some dragons? Romancing anybody cool?I'm 40+ hours in, have killed precisely one dragon, and have gotten about 1/3 of the main quest done. I feel like I haven't accomplished anything...
Saved the Tower in DA1, but made peace with Templars; sided with Mages in DA2; saved Mages in DA3, but conscripted them rather than bringing them on as allies. Nobody likes the Templars. Not even Cassandra.

David M Mallon |

The mages quests are better than the Templars, so good choice.
I'm getting the strong impression that after DA1, Bioware just said "f+!* it" and just started writing the Templar Order as if they were the default villains of the story. There was some real moral ambiguity in DA1, which turned into forced-but-not-actually moral ambiguity in DA2*, finishing with straight-up black-and-light-gray morality in DA3**.

David M Mallon |

It seems with each passing year, the more regional food items from my home territory trickle into Syracuse. First it was Magic Hat #9. Then they built a Stewart's. Now I come to find that they've got real Canadian ketchup chips at the local corner store. Next thing you know, they'll be serving Michigan dogs, sweet fries with jam sauce, and poutine at every local diner...

Aranna |

Did you kill the Hinterlands dragon at around 20 hours? I always do.
You should be around 12th level before attempting it or it could be done earlier.
On David's advice I restarted with my dragonkeep loaded... only I have no idea which characters I had loaded in at the time. I guess I will figure it out when I get as far as Skyhold again. This time I went Qunari Mage and will be chasing after "The Iron Bull" as he seems quirky and moldable. Still I hope I don't just end up another notch on his bedpost, that would be disappointing.