Wands are incredibly silly looking.
I've seen illustrations of fairly stately looking wands that Druids were supposed to have carried historically but I think in game terms those would be rods.
Wands in DnD/PF are Tinkerbell status.I'd like to know what you came up with. Anything I can think of right now would either use a slot, or would seem to be a wondrous item.
I often do not stick to the classic form of magical items, even a boring wand becomes more interesting when it is infact not a wand but a ring that doesn't take up a ring slot.. how cool is that ?
The players rarely realize the truth of it.
How about bandages of CLW's? A spoon of restoration? An aspergillum of disrupt undead, or create water? I'm not sure I love any of these.
Bandages and salves are indeed the magic charged items I encourage in my campaign. Though I let AnBuraid the Ardwright get away with something like a defibrillator... he's the thematic exception, being the world's last sentient magic robot artificer.
Good point. You do have more fingers then ring slots.
Well in a campaign with robots you could get really crazy. A tuning fork of lightning bolt, garden hose of hydraulic push, etc.
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I view Ashiel kind of like the Ayn Rand or Karl Marx of the message board. They write a lot of stuff that people who just started thinking about the topics being find fascinating and even brilliant, even to the point of obtaining occasional cult like admiration.
But the more you read, and the more you think about it…much like a impressionist painting, the holes begin to show. The sum is less than it’s parts.
All three are very intelligent, all three have interesting things to say and make excellent points on specific issues.
But all three are trying to make an argument to support a held belief that doesn’t really hold up well in application, particularly when you actually try and apply all of the ideas they propose.
There is value to be gleaned. These are all intelligent people who have put a lot of time and thought into something they are passionate about. And you can pick and choosing the good ideas and discard the bad ideas. It isn’t like they are rambling idiots like some other authors/posters.
But eventually, you outgrow them as you move on to more nuanced arguments made by more moderate voices. You realize they are thought experiments which consistently fail in application because they ignore the context in favor of ideology.
On several occasions, former “followers” have posted disillusioned posts when they realize that as you dig into the weeds, the game she proposes is a bit off the rails for their tastes and they see the agenda of player entitlement over GM rule that is the baseline of pretty much all her posts, and that while each idea in context can be defended, the whole is less than the sum of the parts.
@Abraham Spaulding, keep playing that music! We all need something to rif off!
Funny you say that cirerose, I rented Atlas Shrugged last night, haven't watched it yet. Karl Marx is a prick.
It's hard to imagine Ashiel having an agenda to push an ideology of player entitlement over GM "rule" though. I guess there is such a thing as gamer politics, but there isn't that much at stake relatively speaking. I don't see Ashiel as a charismatic cult leader or communist agitator conspiring to overthrow GM's everywhere, especially since Ashiel apparently GM's most of the time.
Calling Ashiel's ideas thought experiments doesn't belittle them at all in my view, in fact that's high praise. Thought experiments have intrinsic value by their own right, and as to whether they hold up well in application... They have in my games so far.
I view Ashiel kind of like the Ayn Rand or Karl Marx of the message board. They write a lot of stuff that people who just started thinking about the topics being find fascinating and even brilliant, even to the point of obtaining occasional cult like admiration.
On several occasions, former “followers” have posted disillusioned posts when they realize that as you dig into the weeds...
Speaking as the guy that's been doing a good lot (or more than likely all) of the unabashed gushing after some particularly awesome, new or well thought out posts (which I've been like to do over Abraham too, glad to see he's still around), it's pretty funny see this become a "cult" in just three pages. Is this what happens when you and Loyalist are in the same thread?
... and while I can't attest to being a decorated red-box veteran myself, who are you to make judgements about the system-mastery of total strangers?
I'm not here to sling mud, though. I just have one question. Ashiel, you're totally a she, right?
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IIRC Ashiel specifically doesn't answer the question of gender. Ashiel prefers to leave it up in the air as 'not mattering' since this is the great wide gender neutral internets. I believe Ashiel does use people's inferences as a means of understanding the other person better however.
I believe Ashiel does use people's inferences as a means of understanding the other person better however.
... huh. Go figure. What does the magic-gender-ball have to say about me, I wonder?
Well Twigs, we are making a judgement about another's system mastery too, when we say it's awesome. He's just as entitled to an opinion as we are.
Also he didn't really bash Ashiel's system mastery, I think everyone is pretty much acknowledging that ( except maybe whoever it was on the last page that had a problem with partial wands o.0 ).
Anyway welcome to the thread, I'm glad I'm not the only crazed cultist around.
IIRC Ashiel specifically doesn't answer the question of gender. Ashiel prefers to leave it up in the air as 'not mattering' since this is the great wide gender neutral internets. I believe Ashiel does use people's inferences as a means of understanding the other person better however.
PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE (WO?)MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
I believe Ashiel does use people's inferences as a means of understanding the other person better however.... huh. Go figure. What does the magic-gender-ball have to say about me, I wonder?
About me, it probably says that I'm the type of guy who uses the last pronoun I saw used by another poster.
Failing that, I will contort my language to avoid pronouns, I think. But I probably just default to male more than I'd like. Dreadful habit.
Henceforth, all posters shall be "it".
Frankenfurter?
Heh, that's fair, Grimmy.
I suppose noone has to tell other reasoned grownups that there's a line between a compliment and proclaiming her queen of the internet, too, but internet tennis is too much fun. I apologise for the troll bait. :P
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Regardless of how excellently (or poorly) a person may contribute to the board, I'm a little uncomfortable with threads that discuss other posters like this. They encourage a scrutiny of people who are, despite the ostensible atmosphere of familiarity that the Internet creates, still essentially strangers to us; not to mention, it smacks of a general rudeness of talking about someone as if they are not there (and on a public message board, you have to assume they are "there" even if the person in question is not responding).
*sigh* I don't know if I am expressing this very well. I have no problem with folks exchanging compliments with one another. It's one thing if in the middle of a discussion someone says something amazing and you say "Wow, that was really insightful, thanks!" or "I always appreciate your posts" but this seems a bit... much. I know if someone did this with me as the subject, I'd feel very uncomfortable, even if it were intended to be complimentary.
Of course Ashiel can speak for herself on this specific thread if she wishes, I just feel the need to point this out on the idea of the subject in general. I know this thread was not started with poor intentions in mind, just something to think about.
You are expressing it fine and you are correct.
I tend to assume people look exactly like their forum avatars. Even when the avatar is of a monster.
What's that? I can't understand you through the tentacular writhing!
I do the same Kthulhu. Mandy Morbid and Izzy from dndwithpornstars did a podcast recently in which they talked about the same issue in MMO's. I know this is a message board, not a game, but still.
Thanks Gary, the title of the thread was meant to be tongue in cheek and the poor job I did of getting that across was compounded by its being in the wrong section.
DQ,
The last time I really participated actively on a message board was a Drum n Bass producer forum from 2001-2003. "Appreciation" threads were very common, and not considered bad etiquette. When I started this I never envisioned people coming into an appreciation thread to express their lack of appreciation, I never envisioned a debate about whether Ashiel was or wasn't a cult leader with hollow teachings advancing an agenda that threatens the very way we game, and all that we hold dear. I guess I did kind of realize gender speculation would come up, I will admit that.
I thought the nomination was real. Well I did not think it was official, but I thought you were serious. As to the cult leader issue, I have not read all the post, and I hope that was not a serious statement by whoever made it.
With that said the question remains, what is Ashiel's gender? :)
I don't blame you, the post reads like its completely serious, especially since I put it where I did. I'm just back-peddling now because DQ made me feel bad :)
Some people have even said they think the idea of an imaginary nomination has merit.
But I guess the thing is, with something like RPG Superstar, those people have decided to participate. So it's fair to scrutinize their work. Not so much someone who just tries to give advice on a message board and isn't even here.
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To be clear, I don't think there is a cult of Ashiel. I think a lot of people who first see her posts are very impressed and stand up with her and for her in various threads where she charges forward with her ideas and view of how to play the game.
Then as time passes they see more posts and realize she advocates allowing players to create Genie Simulacrum who can cast wish, having diplomacy improved your appearance, etc...and they start to look at the big picture and re-think things a bit.
Some on here have great reputations established over years of posting high quality, well thought out posts and guides. Treantmonk comes immediately to mind, but Evil Lincoln, and Abraham Spaulding on here are also solid examples of people that those of us with over a couple thousand posts view as straight shooters with well thought out arguments who even if you disagree you stop and thing "if they are saying this, I may be wrong..."
Ashiel says a lot of things. Some are good, some are...well you can read the post history and judge for yourself. Comparison was made because the trend tends to be people new to the board "discover" her posts, fall in love with them, then as time passes and they see more posts...well the more fringe views come out.
Saying someone who is so controversial should be a rules consultant is something I disagree with. I also shouldn't be a rules consultant, as although I personally believe I am always right, YMMV.
TOZ (or TriOmegaZero) says why argue, I say I am not letting this kind of post go without response, lest someone take it seriously.
If you want to make an appreciation thread, awesome, I'll stay out of it. There was one a few months ago, they pop up periodically as new people come in.
But rules consultant...no.
I'm pretty sure Ashiel is male.
There was a thread a while ago where he was statting out character concepts that other people came up with. In that thread he corrected someone who referred to him as a she.
Fair enough cirerose. If I hadn't framed it as a fictional contest we wouldn't be having any issues. I should have called it Ashiel Appreciation and put it in the right forum.
Since some people liked the fictional contest idea maybe it would be cool to make another thread, and posters could enter the "contest". This way they would be fair game, and we would be evaluating people who actually want feedback. Maybe we could all learn something about what the community wants to see in a designer.
Or maybe this is another inflammatory concept and I should go back to lurking :(
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I think AMiB and Ciretose both need to give each other a little space for a while.
Agreed. Back to your corners boys.
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I tend to assume people look exactly like their forum avatars. Even when the avatar is of a monster.
What! Lies! Abominable lies!
Grimmy, no worries. And by all means I hope you don't run back to lurk mode, please continue to contribute. :)
I tend to assume people look exactly like their forum avatars. Even when the avatar is of a monster.What! Lies! Abominable lies!
Is that really you? If so how did you get to be an avatar? :)
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Um, wow. I'm not sure what to say guys. This is really sweet. Thanks Grimmy and everyone else (even those who don't appear to be in my corner, thanks for saying what bugs you about me. It can be valuable knowing where something isn't when trying to find it). I really do appreciate the vote of confidence, and this has brightened my day considerably.
Also, I miss Cartigan too. He was funny most of the time (I might just be thick skinned though, but I always found him quite colorful). Also, Gorbacz is a great thread derailer, and made me laugh when he succeeded. :P
I also wanted to say that while there are many, many posts in this thread I'd like to acknowledge, I would like to give a little shout out to Abraham Spalding's post here, because I think he hits on some really good stuff. Specifically, a willingness to play with the rules is a good thing for people, I think. It helps us get a better grasp on them, and understand where to begin tweaking things.
For example, Ciretose likes to bring up my acknowledgement of possible simulacrum tactics that many would consider abuse but are legal within the rules. Or the idea of planar binding efreeti for wishes. I'm comfortable with these things because I'm familiar with what they can do and the limits of them. However, not everyone will be comfortable with this. Wraithstrike mentioned that the spell could be cleaned up, so I offered an alternate spell for him to try (or anyone for that matter).
School illusion (shadow); Level sorcerer/wizard 7
Casting Time 12 hours
Components V, S, M (sculpture of the target plus powdered rubies worth 500 gp per HD of the simulacrum)
Range 0 ft.
Effect one duplicate creature
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance noSimulacrum creates an illusory duplicate of any creature. The duplicate creature is partially real and formed from clay, ice, mud, sand, snow, or stone. It appears to be the same as the original, but it has only half of the real creature's levels or HD (and the appropriate hit points, BAB, saving throws, feats, skill ranks, and special abilities for a creature of that level or HD). You can't create a simulacrum of a creature whose HD or levels exceed twice your caster level. A creature familiar with the original might detect the ruse with a successful Perception or Sense Motive check (DC 10 + caster level of the simulacrum spell).
If a creature casts spells as a class (such as a dragon casting spells as a sorcerer), then the duplicate casts spells at half that level (so a duplicate of a creature with 12 HD who casts spells as an 8th level sorcerer would have 6 HD and cast as a 4th level sorcerer). If the creature has spell-like abilities, the duplicate's caster level with those abilities is halved. In addition, the duplicate cannot use any spell-like abilities that mimic spells that wouldn't be available to a spellcaster with caster level equal to the duplicate's HD x 1.5 (so a duplicate with 10 HD loses access to any spell-like ability that mimics a spell requiring a 16th or higher level caster). If the original creature possessed Spell Resistance, the duplicate's spell resistance is reduced for each HD fewer than the original (so a 10 HD duplicate of a creature with 20 HD would have spell resistance equal to the original creature -10).
The duplicate creature retains gross physical characteristics of the original creature, including natural attacks, natural armor, size, ability scores, and traits based on its type (such as construct or undead traits). If the original creature possessed any of the following special abilities or attacks, the duplicate does too: Ability Damage or Drain, Amphibious, Bleed, Blindsense, Blightsight, Breath Weapon (halve any damage dice, to a minimum of 1 die; i.e. 6d6 becomes 3d6), Burn, Change Shape, Channel Resistance, Constrict, Curse, Damage Reduction, Disease, Distraction, Energy Drain, Fast Healing (equal to original's fast healing or 1/2 the duplicate's HD, whichever is less), Fear, Flight, Frightful Presence, Gaze, Immunity, Light Blindness, Light Sensitivity, Paralysis, Plant Traits, Poison, Pounce, Powerful Charge, Pull, Push, Rake, Regeneration (a duplicate instead gains Fast Healing as noted above), Rend, Resistance, Rock Catching, Rock Throwing, Scent, Spell-like abilities, Spell Resistance, Stench, Summon, Swallow Whole, Telepathy, Trample, Tremorsense, Trip, Vulnerabilities, Web, and Whirlwind.
At all times, the simulacrum remains under your absolute command. No special telepathic link exists, so command must be exercised in some other manner (but a simulacrum will not harm you). A simulacrum has no ability to become more powerful. It cannot increase its level or abilities. If reduced to 0 hit points or otherwise destroyed, it reverts to clay, ice, mud, sand, snow, or stone and melts instantly into nothingness. A complex process requiring at least 24 hours, 10 gp per hit point, and a fully equipped magical laboratory can repair damage to a simulacrum. Spells that heal damage are only half as effective on a simulacrum. A limited wish spell may be used to heal the simulacrum of 10 hit points per caster level.
I looked at what was problematic for most people concerning simulacrum. For one, it was a bit vague (rules should not be vague). Second, if read logically without bias, the spell allows for quite a few things that can seem very overpowered (wish granting djinn for example), and the ability to make use of abilities not typically available by level. So the revised version keeps the spirit of the original, but prevents you from producing solars who cast 9th level cleric spells, and limits spell-like abilities, and so forth. This was my proposed "fix" for it. I've never stopped acknowledging that the core simulacrum is quite powerful though, and I offer this one to folks who are having trouble with it.
Ciretose also likes to reference a post I made once concerning Rangers and Stealth. I mentioned that at low levels Stealth is not easy to rely on, and everyone is squishy. Instead of going down a dark hallway and trying to scout alone (possibly getting yourself in big trouble) I would prefer to chuck a rock with light cast on it down the hallway, revealing the presence of anything lurking in the darkness; under the assumption that if we alert something we'll have tactical advantage since it would have to come through the hallway (so numbers are less meaningful) and at least all our numbers together (whereas the party sneak could make their way down the tunnel and get killed before the rest of the party could even react). The reason I said this was because as the light passes anything in the hallway that is lurking about loses their concealment and thus is visible for a moment regardless of their Stealth, and it acknowledges the rules of the environment (using terrain) and weighs pros vs cons of risk vs reward. At higher levels, we'd have access to things like elixers of hiding which would provide a +10 competence bonus to Stealth, more ranks, more dex, masterwork or mithral armor, and other things that will tip the Stealth bet in our favor. He loves to claim that I said "throwing glowing rocks down hallways is stealthy" but I've given up trying to correct him.
Wands are incredibly silly looking.
I've seen illustrations of fairly stately looking wands that Druids were supposed to have carried historically but I think in game terms those would be rods.
Wands in DnD/PF are Tinkerbell status.I'd like to know what you came up with. Anything I can think of right now would either use a slot, or would seem to be a wondrous item.
If it helps your game, you can refluff your consumables to have a different flair. For example, you could make magic fruit which are for all purposes just potions that activate when you take the first bite. Kind of like the apple in Snow White. The so-called "poisoned" apple which seems awfully magical. :)
In much the same way, you might refluff wands. An ancient tablet etched with glowing runes. Perhaps the runes slowly fade as the wand runs out of charges, until the text on it is no longer visible and the magic is spent.
If you could explain in a bit more detail, I'd love to try and help you figure out something that works for you and your group. ^-^
I think AMiB and Ciretose both need to give each other a little space for a while.Hey, comparing anyone to Ayn Rand is dirty pool and I'm not going to stand for it.
I want to let you know that I appreciate you and your posts very much. :3
Is that really you? If so how did you get to be an avatar? :)I tend to assume people look exactly like their forum avatars. Even when the avatar is of a monster.What! Lies! Abominable lies!
First they put you in this weird box...
I want to let you know that I appreciate you and your posts very much. :3I think AMiB and Ciretose both need to give each other a little space for a while.Hey, comparing anyone to Ayn Rand is dirty pool and I'm not going to stand for it.
For the record, I appreciate AMiB's posts too, but Ciretose just seems to push his buttons without really trying. I'd rather see AMiB spend some time on more intellectual problems than picking apart Ciretose, since it would be more fun to read.
I think they should both post, but take some time off from posting responses to each other. Of course, that's not up to me. But I just want everyone to be happy.
Is that really you? If so how did you get to be an avatar? :)I tend to assume people look exactly like their forum avatars. Even when the avatar is of a monster.What! Lies! Abominable lies!
The photograph is me, but the resemblance between grumpy-me and Marm is coincidental. Or perhaps there's a fantasy artist out there with a grudge... ;)
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Ashiel likes non-evil undead and monks so she's cool.
Multiple thread-spanning poster-on-poster grudges are lame.
Now I'm even more curious about whatever the hell has Deathquaker's avatar character looking so pissed off all the time.
If poster RL appearance = avatar, then Wraithsrike = OH GOD
Also, I don't have any sort of grudge against ciretose or anything, I just happened upon him making bad posts that needed calling out twice in quick succession. I'm not sitting in my lair, scheming about how I'll make ciretose pay for his transgressions.
Now the healing can begin. :)
I'm not sitting in my lair, scheming about how I'll make ciretose pay for his transgressions.
Surely you don't mean to imply that you do not possess a lair?
I'm not sitting in my lair, scheming about how I'll make ciretose pay for his transgressions.Surely you don't mean to imply that you do not possess a lair?
I think not Good Sir! Surely you know that when speaking with Men in Black, it is what's not said, not what is said, that is important! AMiB said he is not sitting in his lair plotting Ciretose's downfall. This implies he is in a location other than his lair, which he admitted to having! However! There is nothing to prevent him from ensconcing himself in his lair, at a later time, to plot Ciretose's downfall.
I'm on to you AMiB!
I approve, by the way. :)