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My twenty-first was on a weekday at the start of my senior year. I kept calling around to my friends asking if they wanted to go out for a bit that night, and everyone thought I was nuts and not taking school seriously. So I sat alone in my dorm room with a cup of tea and a book.
The next day, when someone asked over lunch, "So what was with you yesterday?" I said, "It was my birthday," and they said, "Well why didn't you SAY so?" and I said that I wanted them to hang out with me because they wanted to and not out of a sense of obligation.
EDIT: Nudity might have been an added incentive, but I was, and am, currently clothed.
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My "bachelor" party was amazingly similar.
The Portuguese Hurricane kicked me out of my house so she could throw GothBard a "proper" bachelorette party complete with strippers and tons of booze. Not being a particularly "party" individual, I booked a Motel 6 a couple of blocks away and went there.
Since it was the night before the wedding, one of my groomsmen called to find out what I was doing. I told him. He insisted that this was NOT OK, grabbed my brothers, and drove out. My older brother, always one to celebrate in horrific style, picked up a bottle of Cold Duck sparkling burgundy.
So my "bachelor party" was hanging out with my two brothers and one of my groomsmen in a Motel 6, eating Taco Bell food and dumping a bottle of Cold Duck down the bathroom sink (even my older brother, who prided himself on his ability to drink anything, couldn't stomach it), while watching whatever happened to be on HBO.
Good times.
EDIT: And yes, I'm pretty sure I've posted this one before, but it's a doozy.
I didn't have a bachelor party.
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Today, ALL (DE), Sonic, Shanna and I went to the park to meet one of ALL (DE)'s pals. We had a picnic; there was also a sort of inflatable fun fair for the kids to amuse themselves on, and an ice cream van, so a good time was had by all, despite some initial whinging because the boy wanted to play 'Hello Neighbour' instead.
ALL (DE)'s friend's family is Somali, and she told us that she can trace her ancestry back 500 years to an Egyptian man who travelled south and married a local lady, which is a heck of a proper old thing.
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Yeah, my wife and I don't buy into the whole wedding or traditional sort of materialistic lifestyle most of the time so we opted for an impromptu cosplay wedding at GenCon many years ago pulling most of our groomsmen and bridesmaids from the crowd who were dressed up for the costume parade. No bachelor party, no honeymoon, no venue at all, all that strikes us as needlessly wasteful and incredibly vain.
Our celebrations WERE the convention, the events, and the bars surrounding it. The whole thing took I think about 20 minutes or so from setup, finding awesome and outgoing cosplayers to participate, ceremony, and completion, everyone had a blast and I wouldn't change a thing about it.
I'd like to think that even if we weren't "poors" we wouldn't have done it any differently except for maybe spending more at dinner that evening. Spending 5-30k USD on a wedding, to me, is the biggest and most frivolous nonsense I had been repeatedly exposed to as a child and through my youth and I wasn't about to throw away months or years of savings just so people can throw away RSVP'd chicken or salad in a banquet hall and stumble back to their car with a DD 8 hours after the actual ceremony.
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Dust storm ripped through last night, scattering yard equipment and tearing off branches and trees. The palo verde out front snapped in half, thankfully missing our neighbors house and roommate's Kia. The pool is a damn mess now, going to try to clean it up a bit over my lunch break.
Yeah, my wife and I don't buy into the whole wedding or traditional sort of materialistic lifestyle most of the time so we opted for an impromptu cosplay wedding at GenCon many years ago pulling most of our groomsmen and bridesmaids from the crowd who were dressed up for the costume parade. No bachelor party, no honeymoon, no venue at all, all that strikes us as needlessly wasteful and incredibly vain.
Our celebrations WERE the convention, the events, and the bars surrounding it. The whole thing took I think about 20 minutes or so from setup, finding awesome and outgoing cosplayers to participate, ceremony, and completion, everyone had a blast and I wouldn't change a thing about it.
I'd like to think that even if we weren't "poors" we wouldn't have done it any differently except for maybe spending more at dinner that evening. Spending 5-30k USD on a wedding, to me, is the biggest and most frivolous nonsense I had been repeatedly exposed to as a child and through my youth and I wasn't about to throw away months or years of savings just so people can throw away RSVP'd chicken or salad in a banquet hall and stumble back to their car with a DD 8 hours after the actual ceremony.
That sounds like a blast!
What were you both cosplaying as?
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HOLY POOPOO THAT IS SO FREAKING EPICWe each hand-made our costumes (as tradition requires), I was Rincewind, and my wife dressed as Feiya the PF iconic.That sounds like a blast!
What were you both cosplaying as?
RIGHT?!?
I hope, for the sake of narrative causality, that the post-wedding dinner included mashed potatoes for Rincewind.
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HOLY POOPOO THAT IS SO FREAKING EPICWe each hand-made our costumes (as tradition requires), I was Rincewind, and my wife dressed as Feiya the PF iconic.That sounds like a blast!
What were you both cosplaying as?RIGHT?!?
I hope, for the sake of narrative causality, that the post-wedding dinner included mashed potatoes for Rincewind.
Such an obscure reference from such a delight of a series.
RIP Sir Terry.
My twenty-first was on a weekday at the start of my senior year. I kept calling around to my friends asking if they wanted to go out for a bit that night, and everyone thought I was nuts and not taking school seriously. So I sat alone in my dorm room with a cup of tea and a book.
The next day, when someone asked over lunch, "So what was with you yesterday?" I said, "It was my birthday," and they said, "Well why didn't you SAY so?" and I said that I wanted them to hang out with me because they wanted to and not out of a sense of obligation.
EDIT: Nudity might have been an added incentive, but I was, and am, currently clothed.
...but it was your birthday.
We each hand-made our costumes (as tradition requires), I was Rincewind, and my wife dressed as Feiya the PF iconic.That sounds like a blast!
What were you both cosplaying as?
cooooooooooool
And I have finally finished Wildlands. Bolivia is beautiful, music is excellent, the story is not terribly innovative, but some of the scenes are quite brilliant.
The game play is terribly uneven, though, good parts feel good, others are, as NobodysHome's friends can attest, are frustrating.
Oh, and I finished the game with 100% destabilization and still got the bad ending...
It's a known bug.
The bugs weren't a big part of the frustration, though.
Funny thing is, I like the "bad" ending more than the "good", though it's a shame you have no input into the ending scene because it would end somehow differently if I was able to act.
Good Ending: You take him to USA and he helps dismantle many smuggling operations while Kate notes that he is simply removing competition and will be back to crime as soon as he is no longer used by CIA.
Bad Ending: Kate shots him in the back and got sentenced for murder.
The issue?
Before Kate can tell the Ghosts that El Sueno made the deal, he already stands up and lowers his hands - in that moment trained operatives should shot him for making a threatening moves when his hands reaches toward his chest.
I finally figured out how to play The Outer Worlds, it's been a lot of fun so far.
You can definitely tell it was made by the same people that did Fallout New Vegas.
So far I've managed to become friends with all the factions (whoever they are).
And I found a shrink ray just lying around at the end of my last game, which I can't wait to use.
And yes, Parvati is a ray of sunshine but I've found I really like having Vicar Max in my party as he's not even trying to put on airs anymore and is in it strictly for the booze and strippers since joining my crew.
Also I'm about 2/3 of the way through Biomutant, which is a ton of fun!
I still haven't given Mass Effect Legendary Edition proper play time.
And I need to give Cyberpunk 2077 a bit more play time, but it's summer so my video game time is infrequent and incredibly unfocused as there is a plethora of other things to keep me busy.
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Here's a pertinent RP question that's come up in multiple campaigns: Do your bad guys target the good guys' ioun stones?
To me, it seems like a no-brainer: One hit of an AC 24 item and the PC is out thousands of gold pieces and a current bonus. Sundering a weapon is hard. Even a plain +1 one-handed sword is hardness 12, hit points 15, and you have to beat the wielder's CMD. Breaking an ioun stone takes hitting AC 24 for hardness 5, hit points 10. By the time the PCs can afford ioun stones, bad guys can easily target and one-shot them.
How do other people deal with them?
Or Spinosis Normanii, to give it its Latin name (I can't speak Latin)
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I don't sunder anything, but then I live with the people I play with and very much like not having to worry about getting murdered in my sleep.
Also, not to be That Guy but how do bad guys know how much Ioun stones cost? Is there a catalog for that? Do they know a guy? Deliberately breaking magic items that people save up and purchase seems like a dick move to me, irregardless of logic.
Edit: My two major things I never do as a GM 1) sunder magic items, 2) mind control party members vs other party members.
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Sundering items in a game you are running is a bit like telling kids "because I said so". You can do it, but once you go there there is no going back for either party.
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I finally figured out how to play The Outer Worlds, it's been a lot of fun so far.
You can definitely tell it was made by the same people that did Fallout New Vegas.
So far I've managed to become friends with all the factions (whoever they are).
And I found a shrink ray just lying around at the end of my last game, which I can't wait to use.
And yes, Parvati is a ray of sunshine but I've found I really like having Vicar Max in my party as he's not even trying to put on airs anymore and is in it strictly for the booze and strippers since joining my crew.
If you need another game to play after that one (and of course your do) I've been enjoying "prey" feels very bioshock but with different setting.
I will look for that, thanks!
The AC is broken again.
Can't wait to move out of this place.
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The AC is broken again.
Can't wait to move out of this place.
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The AC is broken again.
Can't wait to move out of this place.
You imbecile. You forgot the grapes.
ooof rooky mistake.
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Regarding sunder. Generally speaking, I don't do it. But. Once in a while I have a tendency to remind my players that various options in the rules exist.
So yeah, about once every three or four campaigns they'll run into a sunder specialist. It's about the same rate they'll run into a disarm specialist, extremely good thief, or some more esoteric creature/build options.
Now if there is a particularly intelligent and/or ruthless adversary, I will take the gloves off.
I also make it clear with my group that such tactics may be employed once in a while and they're ok with the generally low risk.
Regarding ioun stones specifically, I don't feel like an opponent needs to know what it is to know it might be a good idea to get rid of it, but it's not like I'm going to allow a random goblin to have that thought.
Sunder can be fun as a player when your GM forgets about it. Or if you're a mage - shatter.
Shatter and the cleric's holy symbol or the mage's spell component pouch are a fun combo. No saving throw. Broken non-magical item (it's used FOR magic, but not itself enchanted).
I feel like sunder and most combat maneuvers vary based on the kind of campaign. if it is going to be mostly monster fights it may come up quite a bit less. Hmm is it still an option in PF2?
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I actually haven't looked into sundering in PF2 . . . . Hmmmm. Gimme a bit, I'll get back with y'all on that.
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Aaaaahhhhhh.....Nothing like coming in to work to see that no one touched the laundry all day. If I don't do it, there won't be any for the housekeepers to use tomorrow. If that happens, I'll give you three guesses as to who will get the blame, but the first two won't count.
I have another interview coming up.. A lot of places be hiring right now.
I don't sunder anything, but then I live with the people I play with and very much like not having to worry about getting murdered in my sleep.
Also, not to be That Guy but how do bad guys know how much Ioun stones cost? Is there a catalog for that? Do they know a guy? Deliberately breaking magic items that people save up and purchase seems like a dick move to me, irregardless of logic.
Edit: My two major things I never do as a GM 1) sunder magic items, 2) mind control party members vs other party members.
When Sundering of player equipment happens, players stop role-playing (based on my experience) and immediately shift to roll-playing (including paladins justifying Murder/Death/Kill on anyone attempting such tactics as they are attacks on the divine nature of their bonds, etc).
It leads to bad feelings from the players, much like in space opera *always capturing their ship* when they land in 'x' spaceport does.
Even if the players have taken EXCESSIVE means to safeguard the ship.
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Well, Vid, I've been trying to do that digging on PF2 sundering . . . .
In the 10 or so months that our group has been playing, I can only recall one enemy having a particularly nasty sunder-style attack. It specifically targeted armor, and I *think* had to be "set up" by a successful bite attack with a grab effect . . . .
But items have hardness, hit points, and "break/broken thresholds", so sundering is certainly built-in to the options one can perform, at least technically.
Our adventuring party is level 12, presently, and we have a couple of characters utilizing shields for their protection. You typically use one of your three actions per round to execute the 'Raise Shield' action, which grants an AC bonus (yeah, shield AC bonuses aren't "always on" in PF2) and allows the use of the 'Shield Block' reaction. Shield Block basically sacrifices a shield's integrity (calculating hardness and hp as normal) against the damage dealt by an incoming attack in order to reduce the damage your character takes from the successful hit.
Sidebar: that damage absorption even applies to the shield cantrip -- the caster gets the AC bonus for casting it, but if you use the Shield Block reaction to absorb a blow, you lose the ability to cast the spell for 10 minutes!
But as near as I can tell, it appears that only a dedicated barbarian build has anything like the potential for a true "sunder build". And, even then, the true mechanical benefits don't seem to kick in until you're beyond level 10 with the character.
DISCLAIMER: But let me make something perfectly clear -- despite the fact that I've been playing this system for almost a full calendar year, I make no claim that I've tracked down all the relevant information. This rulebook is a data miner's wet dream of cross-referencing -- I doubt I will ever get to the point that I will know its workings well.
Well, Vid, I've been trying to do that digging on PF2 sundering . . . .
In the 10 or so months that our group has been playing, I can only recall one enemy having a particularly nasty sunder-style attack. It specifically targeted armor, and I *think* had to be "set up" by a successful bite attack with a grab effect . . . .
But items have hardness, hit points, and "break/broken thresholds", so sundering is certainly built-in to the options one can perform, at least technically.
Our adventuring party is level 12, presently, and we have a couple of characters utilizing shields for their protection. You typically use one of your three actions per round to execute the 'Raise Shield' action, which grants an AC bonus (yeah, shield AC bonuses aren't "always on" in PF2) and allows the use of the 'Shield Block' reaction. Shield Block basically sacrifices a shield's integrity (calculating hardness and hp as normal) against the damage dealt by an incoming attack in order to reduce the damage your character takes from the successful hit.
Sidebar: that damage absorption even applies to the shield cantrip -- the caster gets the AC bonus for casting it, but if you use the Shield Block reaction to absorb a blow, you lose the ability to cast the spell for 10 minutes!
But as near as I can tell, it appears that only a dedicated barbarian build has anything like the potential for a true "sunder build". And, even then, the true mechanical benefits don't seem to kick in until you're beyond level 10 with the character.
DISCLAIMER: But let me make something perfectly clear -- despite the fact that I've been playing this system for almost a full calendar year, I make no claim that I've tracked down all the relevant information. This rulebook is a data miner's wet dream of cross-referencing -- I doubt I will ever get to the point that I will know its workings well.
That is very interesting. I wonder if all combat maneuvers are reduced in frequency and effectiveness. I'm not even sure it's a bad thing if they are. A lot of the time your just better off doing the damage it seems. The one exception would be grapple. That one does come up a bit. I could also see trip builds with the right party to back it up.
Sundering a major magic item might work if you could then embark on an epic quest to get it repaired (and/or improved?)
As far as I can tell, trip, disarm, shove, and grapple have more support than sunder.
Also: Hey, John!!
Yeah I feel like some tactics are just better used against the party then by the party. You as a player gets your +5 weapon sundered it really hurts and is a huge problem for you. While as a DM if the player sunders my weapon. yeah it sucks but the next NPC will have a +5 weapon if I want him too.
Kind of the problem with the assassin prestige class too. killing a foe and making it really hard to resurect sounds good if your the DM but as a player the DM can just make another NPC that is exactly the same.
The brawler however I would say is probably the one that can get away with using a lot of combat maneuvers.
Or a Friar, for that matter.
Or a briar or with a lyre, don't even ask about the tire.
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♫ Oh, you can't bake potatoes in a fryer. ♫
♫ Don't even try to do it sire. ♫
♫ You'll just end up a lonely crier. ♫
♫ And your wife will sleep with the postman. ♫
Well, Vid, I've been trying to do that digging on PF2 sundering . . . .
In the 10 or so months that our group has been playing, I can only recall one enemy having a particularly nasty sunder-style attack. It specifically targeted armor, and I *think* had to be "set up" by a successful bite attack with a grab effect . . . .
But items have hardness, hit points, and "break/broken thresholds", so sundering is certainly built-in to the options one can perform, at least technically.
Our adventuring party is level 12, presently, and we have a couple of characters utilizing shields for their protection. You typically use one of your three actions per round to execute the 'Raise Shield' action, which grants an AC bonus (yeah, shield AC bonuses aren't "always on" in PF2) and allows the use of the 'Shield Block' reaction. Shield Block basically sacrifices a shield's integrity (calculating hardness and hp as normal) against the damage dealt by an incoming attack in order to reduce the damage your character takes from the successful hit.
Sidebar: that damage absorption even applies to the shield cantrip -- the caster gets the AC bonus for casting it, but if you use the Shield Block reaction to absorb a blow, you lose the ability to cast the spell for 10 minutes!
But as near as I can tell, it appears that only a dedicated barbarian build has anything like the potential for a true "sunder build". And, even then, the true mechanical benefits don't seem to kick in until you're beyond level 10 with the character.
DISCLAIMER: But let me make something perfectly clear -- despite the fact that I've been playing this system for almost a full calendar year, I make no claim that I've tracked down all the relevant information. This rulebook is a data miner's wet dream of cross-referencing -- I doubt I will ever get to the point that I will know its workings well.
I thought 2e was supposed to be easier.
Thanks for the feedback.
The issue at hand is a little better communicated with the players. The AP has been giving ioun stones out like candy. I've spent 5 books telling the players, "Any half-intelligent bad guy who sees a glowing stone floating around you and who swings at and misses you five times in a row is going to hit that glowy stone, figuring it's got to be doing something to help you. So use a Wayfinder and otherwise don't use ioun stones."
They've been very careful to avoid using them as a result...
...and now they've been joined by an NPC who has FIVE of the things floating around her.
So it'd be sundering an NPC's ioun stones after months of warning the players that ioun stones are sunder bait.