Deep 6 FaWtL

[Freehold DM]

DAMMIT

[Freehold DM]

GODDAMMIT!! puts clothes back on

[captain yesterday]

I need to find a better, more exuberant avatar for my spring fever other than (Man) Tina (because he looks like a male version of Tina from Bob's Burgers).

[Ninja Cap'n Yesterday]

Freehold DM wrote:

Please let it be snowing by Cy. Please.

Does a merry spring dance in Freehold's flower boxes. *smoke bomb* *backflip* *jump*

[Cap'n Yesterday's Spring Fever]

IT'S FIFTY DEGREES!!!!!

[Evil Overlord]

~begins to prep the ANTI WEATHER DOMINATOR!!! for an all out assault on Freehold DM~

[John Napier 698]

Freehold,

Cap's warm weather should hit Pittsburgh tomorrow. I hate to tell you this, but it looks like this high pressure area is heading straight for you.

[Cap'n Yesterday's Spring Fever]

I'm walking on sunshine, it makes me feel good!

[Terrigan of the Frostfell]

assassinates Punxsutawney Phil for being a bigger liar than [redacted]

[NewXToa]

Hmm wrote:

My interview date with Know Direction Podcast has been announced. I'll be talking about Play by Post! They'll be interviewing me at 8:30 EST. If any of you want to tune in and make encouraging noises or ask good questions in chat, please do.

Hmm

I just got around to listening to the recording of this, and it was good! Some of it was new to me, some of it wasn't, but it was worth listening to. Hmm had some interesting things to say!

[Freehold DM]

John Napier 698 wrote:

Freehold,

Cap's warm weather should hit Pittsburgh tomorrow. I hate to tell you this, but it looks like this high pressure area is heading straight for you.

Damn.

Prepare the allergy meds.

[captain yesterday]

I can smell for the first time in months, personally.

The Kids are naturally going crazy.

[Rawr!]

Hmm wrote:

The Recording of the Know Direction PBP Interview is up!

Oh neat! That was you. I enjoyed the interview.

[Rawr!]

And now like the elusive Brigadoonian Badger, I must depart. First, though, stats for a squirrel! (It's a really cool squirrel)

[Trinam]

Best squirrel I've seen all day.

[Cap'n Yesterday's Spring Fever]

I guess so, if it scared everyone off.

Me, I've seen so many squirrels the last couple of day, I don't know which ones to ex- squirrel!?!- claim at!

[Bill, Brain Collector]

Rawr! wrote:

And now like the elusive Brigadoonian Badger, I must depart. First, though, stats for a squirrel! (It's a really cool squirrel)

Do they fit in a Fleshnet Cannon? If so, I'll take twenty! I have a small human infestation and I think this will provide just the psychological damage it needs to really ripen their brains.

[Drejk]

I just made a comment about brain rot on internet, come here and what I see? Talk about ripening human brains...

[Drejk]

It took me longer to get myself to press the launch button than planned but finally it is here:

Drejk Goes To Patreon!

[TriOmegaZero]

Intermission at Newsies. Loving it so far.

[captain yesterday]

Wasn't that a Disney musical.

[captain yesterday]

Had a great day! Got sand for the sandbox and stayed outside pretty much all day.

[TriOmegaZero]

Yes.

[Sissyl]

My mother has been to the doctor now. They aren't going to operate. Which means these next few months are going to be miserable ones.

[Cuddly Hugs Cap'n Yesterday]

So Chemo then?

*big giant pastel bunny hugs!*

[Sissyl]

Chemo will make it easier, but will not cure her. It is about as awful as it can get. At least she will not be in pain much.

*stuff definitely not appropriate for the forums*

I dunno how to deal with this. It feels monstrous.

*takes a pastel hug*

[NobodysHome]

Sissyl wrote:

My mother has been to the doctor now. They aren't going to operate. Which means these next few months are going to be miserable ones.

Words cannot express my sympathy.

My stepfather-in-law went through the same process two years ago. To his credit, he handled it with far more dignity and kindness than those of us around him could muster.

It's not easy, and nothing I can say will make it any easier.

So... /huge hugs

[thegreenteagamer]

Tolkien's wizards choosing their colors:

"Okay, I call white."

"Dangit Sauromon, I wanted white. Okay, I call Grey."

"I want Brown."

"Nice Radagast, nice."

"Okay Pallando, how about you?"

"Blue."

"Fair enough. Alatar?"

"Blue!"

"Pallando has blue. You can't both be blue."

"Well I called it first. There are other colors. He can pick another."

"Um...Blue."

"GDI guys, there are other colors. Orange, yellow, green, pink, black..."

"But I like blue."

"Me too."

"F--+ you guys. You're out of the book."

[NobodysHome]

On a totally-separate topic, at the end of it all, I'm going to have to give Jade Regent a big fat thumbs-down in my oh-so-important opinion.

Major, AP-wide Jade Regent spoilers abound:

Book 1: This was a perfectly fine start to the AP. The fact that I remember very little of it indicates that it wasn't a fantastic book, but it wasn't so terrible as to leave bad feelings in my brain. So considering the rest of this AP, that's a win. There were memorable moments, and Spivey was a HUGE win, but overall, I don't remember THAT much of it. OK... except the creepy skeletal guardian in the cave. HE was cool!

The Caravan Rules: Of all the clunky, half-thought-out, annoying game-within-a-game rulesets Paizo has foisted on us over the years, caravan rules rank near the bottom of the dung heap. Virtually every GM just read them over and then threw them out. I was no exception.

Book 2: This is where the wheels really fell off. "I'm going to write a murder mystery, but instead of doing it properly (The Misgivings, anyone?), I'm going to have every bad guy's head explode if you try to question him!"
I swear, we have over 100 years of gaming between the three of us, and all three of agree that it was the worst trope we've seen since we were trying to game with 12-year-old GMs. "I don't want you to learn anything! Nyah nyah nyah!" Add to that an utterly linear plotline in a murder mystery whereby if you went to the wrong place (which my PCs did) you would encounter a way-too-high-of-a-CR-for-you encounter (which my PCs did), and then everyone's heart would explode so you couldn't even figure out why you'd been attacked. It was ham-handed, ill-conceived, and left both the GM and the players bitter.
And then, the ninja castle just outside of the viking town to end the book. One of my players out-and-out quit at that point, saying, "There's suspension of disbelief, and then there's this writer."
We *hated* Book 2 with a passion.

Book 3: Oh, man, speaking of false choices: "You can take path 1, or you can take path 2. Oh, you chose path 2? The average CR on this path is 2 higher than on path 1. You can take the mountains, the tunnel, or the pass. Oh, you chose the mountains? Well, that wasn't really a choice. Go back and choose again. And this time choose correctly." After Book 2's punitive, "You cannot do anything other than what I think you should do next, and if you don't do it I'm going to punish you," Book 3 was awful. On its own, it was bad. After Book 2, it was terrible.

Book 4: Oh, what a welcome relief this book was! From King Koo Koo to the krazy kami to the insanity of the house, this book was an utter delight to run, and saved the AP for us. Good job, Mr. Pett, you prevented us from abandoning the AP entirely!

Book 5: This book had some amazing content: The Pearls of Sakakabe remains one of my favorite sections in the AP, with just the right combinations of clues, possible allies, possible enemies, and a deep, motivating story. Unfortunately, it was the only really well-done section of the book, and the rest of the book was a railroad of, "Go here, check this checkbox. Now go here and check the next checkbox."
It was a perfectly good book. Better than 1, but nowhere near as good as 4.

Book 6: Aaaaaand... we're back to punishing the players for things over which they have no control. "All the noble daughters are locked in the heart of the castle, and you lose 1 Rebellion Point a day until you resolve this. But until you've finished all the other tasks, you aren't a high enough level to get in there." The start of the AP basically says, "Jiro and the PCs’ other allies will follow with the rebel army, intending to draw the majority of the Jade Regent’s forces away from the city so the PCs and Ameiko and can strike the final blow against the usurper." This implies WAITING. But every day that you wait, you lose points. Nice, Mr. Spicer. Give them the impression they're supposed to take their time, then punish them if they do.
Then comes the actual trip to the shrine. Area C2: Suicide Compulsion. A save-or-die on everyone. Area G8: An invisible assassin. Save-or-die on the targeted PC. Maybe I'm a softy GM, but I *despise* out-of-the-blue save-or-die effects. If there were some kind of warning, like an NPC who says, "Ahead is the grave a a brave samurai so overcome by grief that she committed ritual suicide, and it is said that she haunts these grounds to this day," then the PCs would have some chance of preparing. Instead it's, "Oh, by the way, roll a die. Oh, you rolled low? You're dead!"
The worst kind of GM'ing, in my mind. If you can't kill the PCs fair and square because they use bad tactics or don't take hints, you shouldn't be killing them at all. (Compare my kids' game (somewhere around 15 deaths) to my JR game (I think one 'PC' death), and it's all about tactics and planning, NOT about, "Rocks fall. You die.")

OK. I've said it. I feel better.

[Sissyl]

NH, thank you.

[Rawr!]

Sissyl wrote:

My mother has been to the doctor now. They aren't going to operate. Which means these next few months are going to be miserable ones.

*Offers badger hugs*

[Drejk]

Squipion, a squid/scorpion hybdrid.

[Sissyl]

Gandalf: Hey, why am I the Pink?

Tolkien: Because you're a faggot.

Gandalf: Why can't we pick our own colors?

Tolkien: No way, no way. Tried it once, doesn't work. You got four guys all fighting over who's gonna be the Black, but they don't know each other, so nobody wants to back down. No way. I pick. You're the Pink. Be thankful you're not the Yellow.

Radagast: Yeah, but the Brown is a little too close to the Shit.

Gandalf: the Pink sounds like the Pussy. How 'bout if I'm the Purple? That sounds good to me. I'll be the Purple.

Tolkien: You're not the Purple. Some guy in some other book is the Purple. You're the PINK.

Saruman: Who cares what your name is?

Gandalf: Yeah, that's easy for your to say, you're the White. You have a cool-sounding name. Alright look, if it's no big deal to be the Pink, you wanna trade?

Tolkien: Hey! NOBODY'S trading with ANYBODY. This ain't a goddamn, f&##ing village council meeting, you know. Now listen up, the Pink. There's two ways you can go on this job: my way or the highway. Now what's it gonna be, the Pink?

Gandalf: Jesus Christ, John, f&%*ing forget about it. It's beneath me. I'm the Pink. Let's move on.

Tolkien: I'll move on when I feel like it... All you guys got the goddamn message?... I'm so goddamn mad, hollering at you guys I can hardly talk. Pssh. Let's go to work.

[John Napier 698]

*Hugs Sissyl* I'm so sorry to hear that. And you're right. Cancer is monstrous. A person's own body tries to kill itself, and the only recourse is injecting poison, using radiation that weakens the Immune System, or cutting out parts of the body. Or any combination of the three. And even then, there are no guarantees. I'll pray for your family, if you want.

[Trinam]

My JR group frequently lampshades things like that, so we wound up making books 2 and 3 into a giant string of comedy bits somehow.

Book 4 was amazing (they convinced the spider guy that they were hallucinations that he was seeing that were nonetheless capable of solving his problems. Once he's done being high on opium he's going to be so mad.), and book 5 is amusing thus far, though my wife has decided that she's going to assume from now on that everyone needs us to clear out some fortress to the west somewhere before they'll help us.

[Trinam]

Sissyl wrote:

My mother has been to the doctor now. They aren't going to operate. Which means these next few months are going to be miserable ones.

Sending good vibes your way, because you can use more than a few right about now.

[Sissyl]

Thank you, everyone. Every positive thought is appreciated.

[Syrus Terrigan]

All my best, Sissyl. And free hugs, anytime! :) Much love.

[Trinam]

I got to the barbarian boss at the end of part 1 of book 5 of jade regent, and I am literally frothing at the mouth.

They gave a barbarian Great Fortitude.

I just. I have no words. There are not words to express my displeasure right now, that is just plain an epic level of fail. And that's overlooking the thing where he's using a falchion with a shield, rather than just two-handing the thing. The +2AC isn't going to help when you're rocking a 25 total at a time when the PCs are level 12!

He still manged to deal some damage, but that's just because Barbarians are already freaking great.

[gran rey de los mono]

Trinam wrote:

...

They gave a barbarian Great Fortitude.
...

Is it possible it was a prerequisite for some other feat?

[Trinam]

Nope. He had a bunch of mounted archery feats (which did nothing, but were flavor for how he USUALLY rolls so I can get that).

[gran rey de los mono]

Oh, then yeah that makes no sense.

[TriOmegaZero]

Not even Improved Great Fortitude? Such a waste.

[gran rey de los mono]

I got a postcard from my real estate agent the other day. I know it was a mass mailing to everyone in their database, but it was about how "now is a great time to call and let us help you get your house ready to be listed come spring and get it sold!" And I thought, "I just bought this house in December and you want me to sell it already! WTF!"

[Vidmaster7]

Flipping houses is a great way to make money or so I'm told on the radio like 500 times in a 2 minute period.

My question is how do you build up that kind of core strength... Houses aren't light all i'm saying.

[gran rey de los mono]

Start with Barbie Dream Houses and work your way up, I guess?

[Vidmaster7]

Hmm solid advice solid. This is why they are sending you postcards.

[John Napier 698]

Would house flipping require "rage flipping" as a prerequisite? Or no?

[captain yesterday]

Yay for warm weather, when it doesn't take ten minutes to put on twenty pounds of layers just to take Tiny T-Rex to school. :-)

[John Napier 698]

captain yesterday wrote:

Yay for warm weather, when it doesn't take ten minutes to put on twenty pounds of layers just to take Tiny T-Rex to school. :-)

Warm weather is always good. It's always a good day when your finger joints don't hurt.