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Create (greater) undead. :Dnaw, true ressurrection, not animate dead ;)I was also impressed with the Urgathoa mythos. I have an NPC (Melinoe the Dead Peacock Priestess) who is(was?) in a love/hate relationship with Urgathoa. Idolizing the goddesses ability to ASCEND TO GODHOOD BY PURE WILLPOWER! And hating her own weak stupid mortal flesh that is incapable of doing the same thing...You must love yourself. It was the Pallid Princess' undying love for herself that freed her from the bondage of death. If you love others as you love yourself then all wounds will be healed. He who believes in she shall have but one death and then everlasting life, but those who do not will die and be dead forever. Won't you join us and help spread the good word and everlasting life?
This sounds remarkably familiar...then again, I technically worship a zombie.
You're right. True rez heals the holes ;)
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Tar Baphon for example was chillin' in Ustalav for a good long time and without even openly trying to conquer the world, in come other big fishes to wage a massive war with him. Now pretend that instead of just ruling some orc armies on some other side of the planet, Tar Baphon was actually trying to do something insane like set the world on fire, or turn it into an icecube, or cut it off from the positive energy plane, or do some other world-altering everyone-affecting shenanigans and see how fast every big fish in the sea plus a few deities are knocking on his door. Oh wait, Tar Baphon got almost as much with far less.Which brings me to gripe number 2....
Why the hell do the gods, with such events going on REGULARLY in Golarion... Only ever threaten the PCs with Achakek? Sure, it's mentioned he's only supposed to go after anything that might pose a challenge to the gods... But he leaves every other level 20+ character alone for the most part (Runelords, I'm looking at you).... But I recall mention somewhere that if PCs get up to level 20 and start getting mythic power, they're on Achakek's s*!* list. And IF Achakek actually listens to some tribunal of gods as is hinted at... Why hasn't he been sent to ROFLSTOMP the World Wound?
Seriously. Reign of Winter (and a few other APs I've read the premises for) sound like I'd be expecting Achakek to come stomping through before it becomes a huge freaking problem. Why the hell wasn't Achakek thrown out against Tar Baphon, for example?
I often wonder if the different writers just have different viewpoints (or if they have a single writer for Golarion lore, then the writer is indecisive), because you get a lot of mixed info about things. Some suggest the gods are super active and are prone to doing things themselves that are actually very petty (like Urgathoa herself dropping boils on someone as art) while also having this "oooh the gods, they don't interfere" stuff going on, while statting out some gods while being like "oooh the gods, they are beyond stats" elsewhere.
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You're right. True rez heals the holes ;)Create (greater) undead. :Dnaw, true ressurrection, not animate dead ;)I was also impressed with the Urgathoa mythos. I have an NPC (Melinoe the Dead Peacock Priestess) who is(was?) in a love/hate relationship with Urgathoa. Idolizing the goddesses ability to ASCEND TO GODHOOD BY PURE WILLPOWER! And hating her own weak stupid mortal flesh that is incapable of doing the same thing...You must love yourself. It was the Pallid Princess' undying love for herself that freed her from the bondage of death. If you love others as you love yourself then all wounds will be healed. He who believes in she shall have but one death and then everlasting life, but those who do not will die and be dead forever. Won't you join us and help spread the good word and everlasting life?
This sounds remarkably familiar...then again, I technically worship a zombie.
Yeah. Humorously, the undead thing is really the only option for everlasting life aside from druids, supreme wizardry, and supreme alchemy. All the other rez spells don't save you from going past your expiration date.
Now why Pharasma isn't super pissed at all the druids escaping her judgment with reincarnate spells, or all the immortal wizards and alchemists is anyone's guess (I have a few choice thoughts on the matter but they aren't for polite company :3).
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I often wonder if the different writers just have different viewpoints (or if they have a single writer for Golarion lore, then the writer is indecisive), because you get a lot of mixed info about things. Some suggest the gods are super active and are prone to doing things themselves that are actually very petty (like Urgathoa herself dropping boils on someone as art) while also having this "oooh the gods, they don't interfere" stuff going on, while...Tar Baphon for example was chillin' in Ustalav for a good long time and without even openly trying to conquer the world, in come other big fishes to wage a massive war with him. Now pretend that instead of just ruling some orc armies on some other side of the planet, Tar Baphon was actually trying to do something insane like set the world on fire, or turn it into an icecube, or cut it off from the positive energy plane, or do some other world-altering everyone-affecting shenanigans and see how fast every big fish in the sea plus a few deities are knocking on his door. Oh wait, Tar Baphon got almost as much with far less.Which brings me to gripe number 2....
Why the hell do the gods, with such events going on REGULARLY in Golarion... Only ever threaten the PCs with Achakek? Sure, it's mentioned he's only supposed to go after anything that might pose a challenge to the gods... But he leaves every other level 20+ character alone for the most part (Runelords, I'm looking at you).... But I recall mention somewhere that if PCs get up to level 20 and start getting mythic power, they're on Achakek's s*!* list. And IF Achakek actually listens to some tribunal of gods as is hinted at... Why hasn't he been sent to ROFLSTOMP the World Wound?
Seriously. Reign of Winter (and a few other APs I've read the premises for) sound like I'd be expecting Achakek to come stomping through before it becomes a huge freaking problem. Why the hell wasn't Achakek thrown out against Tar Baphon, for example?
On Achekek, his lore is that he only goes after beings who has the intention to, or slim capability of, destabilizing the status quo of the Gods.
Achekek is not the muscle arm of the Gods to solve problems, so he would never go after Tar Baphon, or the World Wound because neither one of those scenarios are threatening the current Gods.
I don't know about Achekek putting Mythic mortals on his 'hit list', but it's a possibility if they select the Divine Source powers as the PC is now capable of granting spells to followers. This might be seen as a threat to a God (especially if the PC isn't a servant of a god) and Achekek may then target you for execution, I don't know.
But, basically, if you want to draw Achekek's wrath, all you have to do is try to become a God through some method outside the control of the Gods.
As for the Gods dropping blessings/curses on people; my understanding is those are supposed to apply to their followers, or to those who have committed particular blasphemy against a God. So if you are a follower of Calistria and do something she doesn't like, you may find yourself being attacked by wasps or bees to show her ire, or if you do something to desecrate her temple as a non-follower, you may be punished by her.
But that's about the extent of of their limits to direct interference. Most any time a God goes farther beyond that limit, something bad happens. Like when Desna got pissed at an Arch Demon, stormed into the Abyss and killed the little wretch, she nearly caused the all of the Arch Demons to go on a rampage destroying as much of creation as they could in revenge but Shelyn managed to talk them down.
...I often wonder if the different writers just have different viewpoints (or if they have a single writer for Golarion lore, then the writer is indecisive), because you get a lot of mixed info about things. Some suggest the gods are super active and are prone to doing things themselves that are actually very petty (like Urgathoa herself dropping boils on someone as art) while also having this "oooh the gods, they don't interfere"Tar Baphon for example was chillin' in Ustalav for a good long time and without even openly trying to conquer the world, in come other big fishes to wage a massive war with him. Now pretend that instead of just ruling some orc armies on some other side of the planet, Tar Baphon was actually trying to do something insane like set the world on fire, or turn it into an icecube, or cut it off from the positive energy plane, or do some other world-altering everyone-affecting shenanigans and see how fast every big fish in the sea plus a few deities are knocking on his door. Oh wait, Tar Baphon got almost as much with far less.Which brings me to gripe number 2....
Why the hell do the gods, with such events going on REGULARLY in Golarion... Only ever threaten the PCs with Achakek? Sure, it's mentioned he's only supposed to go after anything that might pose a challenge to the gods... But he leaves every other level 20+ character alone for the most part (Runelords, I'm looking at you).... But I recall mention somewhere that if PCs get up to level 20 and start getting mythic power, they're on Achakek's s*!* list. And IF Achakek actually listens to some tribunal of gods as is hinted at... Why hasn't he been sent to ROFLSTOMP the World Wound?
Seriously. Reign of Winter (and a few other APs I've read the premises for) sound like I'd be expecting Achakek to come stomping through before it becomes a huge freaking problem. Why the hell wasn't Achakek thrown out against Tar Baphon, for example?
On Achakek: Wouldn't freezing the whole world screw with the status quo of the gods? Namely: Mass genocide of many of their followers? Or, say, their little pet creation Golarion?..... I would think Asmodeus would start sending Malebranche and their legions to beatface the World Wound if it started getting too large. And I'm pretty sure Pharasma would be pretty pissed if pretty much everyone kicked the bucket, what with that deal with Groetus going on and what not. Not to mention I would imagine most of those souls flooding Styx and turning into all sorts of outsider food, plus a boom in Daemon population.
On Godly Interference: One name. Zon-Kuthon. He goes above and beyond in messing with the status quo, but he's also a god so Achakek can't affect him. I mean, when he got back from The Beyond (or whatever it was called), he turned his & Shelyn's father, a god himself, into his personal play thing. When light came back to Golarion, and per contract he had to pull back a bit... He still has his followers practically wage all-out guerrilla warfare against all the other faiths except Shelyn's... Which makes me wonder if he has a thing for his sister.
On another random thought: So, the Red Mantis Assassins can't kill royalty and monarchs... And while it is a logical extension... I don't recall any lore saying they couldn't kill gods themselves, lol.
Another thought: What happens if the World Wound spreads to Rovagug's prison? Would gods interfere then?
Edit: And in the original lore, why wouldn't Achakek go after the ones who would have passed the Starstone? Or Iori? Or Nethys for that matter? No one can tell me the gods didn't sense that stuff coming. And if so, they just openly accepted them, which makes me wonder why. If a PC suddenly just becomes a deity instantly, they'll be accepted with open arms?
Don't try and sell me that Starstone mythic sponsorship crap... That was the worst retcon since Lucas put Hayden Christensen as Vader's force-ghost/HAN SHOT FIRST!.... There was no way they had that in mind when they wrote the Starstone originally, and the vast majority of the years of lore. Because, as I recall, they stated they never planned on making it an adventure path nor a module.
...I often wonder if the different writers just have different viewpoints (or if they have a single writer for Golarion lore, then the writer is indecisive), because you get a lot of mixed info about things. Some suggest the gods are super active and are prone to doing things themselves that are actually very petty (like Urgathoa herself dropping boils on someone as art) while also having this "oooh the gods,Tar Baphon for example was chillin' in Ustalav for a good long time and without even openly trying to conquer the world, in come other big fishes to wage a massive war with him. Now pretend that instead of just ruling some orc armies on some other side of the planet, Tar Baphon was actually trying to do something insane like set the world on fire, or turn it into an icecube, or cut it off from the positive energy plane, or do some other world-altering everyone-affecting shenanigans and see how fast every big fish in the sea plus a few deities are knocking on his door. Oh wait, Tar Baphon got almost as much with far less.Which brings me to gripe number 2....
Why the hell do the gods, with such events going on REGULARLY in Golarion... Only ever threaten the PCs with Achakek? Sure, it's mentioned he's only supposed to go after anything that might pose a challenge to the gods... But he leaves every other level 20+ character alone for the most part (Runelords, I'm looking at you).... But I recall mention somewhere that if PCs get up to level 20 and start getting mythic power, they're on Achakek's s*!* list. And IF Achakek actually listens to some tribunal of gods as is hinted at... Why hasn't he been sent to ROFLSTOMP the World Wound?
Seriously. Reign of Winter (and a few other APs I've read the premises for) sound like I'd be expecting Achakek to come stomping through before it becomes a huge freaking problem. Why the hell wasn't Achakek thrown out against Tar Baphon, for example?
Perhaps you should start reading the lore before getting pissy with it?
Achaekek was created, by the gods, to prevent any more mortals from attaining godhood. He was created after Aroden, Cayden, Iomedae and Norgorber had already become gods.
When the darkness left the world, mortals rebuilt their civilizations, aided by Erastil, Torag, and others. The most remarkable event of this period was the elevation of Aroden
to a living god through the power of the Starstone. The existing gods took no action to prevent this usurpation of their divine prerogative with mortal magic. The following millennia recorded the ascension of Norgorber, Cayden, and Iomedae with the help of the Starstone. Aroden made Arazni his herald, champion, and a goddess in her own right. Irori became a god without external help. The older gods revealed nothing of their thoughts on this trend of mortals becoming living gods, even evil gods.Late in this age, mortals and deities alike were shocked when the Whispering Tyrant (technically a mortal undead and certainly not a god) killed Arazni. Never before had a god been slain by mortal hand, and the gods realized they were more vulnerable than evey they had feared. Many drew together to create the mantis god Achaekek to protect them from such threats, but for most deities, the solution was more simple—they chose to only act through emissaries thereafter, limiting their appearances to visions and images rather than actual manifestation.
Achaekek was created because the gods were scared. Mortals were capable of doing things they didn't understand or know was possible. Six mortals were able to ascend to the level of deity, forever shifting the balance of the gods. Even worse, mortals were able to kill demi-gods, a demi-gods was capable of killing a true deity (Lamashtu) and Dou-Bral was warped and changed by some alien power and he returned to butcher his own father.
Gods were shown that they weren't the truly omnipotent beings they had thought they were and created Achaekek as their hit man to stop any further ascensions from happening. Since Achaekek's creation, there haven't been any other ascensions.
Achaekek's sole duty is kill those who seek to become a God. That's it.
You also seem to think that the Gods of Golarion draw their power from their followers on Golarion. This is not true. Golarion Gods are not dependent on their followers for strength. So if all of the living beings on Golarion were wiped out, the Gods would not be affected. Perhaps they may be sad, but they would not be affected.
As for interfering with Rovagug? That's one of those things that is universally amongst the divine beings as, "No, don't go there."
Rovagug is a more powerful being than all of the current divine beings combined, at least according to James Jacobs. There were more powerful Gods and demigods in the past and they only barely succeeded in locking him away. You had all of the forces of Heaven, Hell and the Abyss working together to seal him away, so it's unlikely any of those forces would seek to free him.
Besides, just because the Gods are prevented from interfering due to Mutually Assured War, doesn't mean they can't interfere when one of them is challenged. If you step into the Godly realm, you subject yourself to the power of the Gods. If you interfere with Rovagug's prison, the Gods can intervene. They built the prison and they protect it and once you try and break it, you are no longer protected.
As for the seeming retcon? You don't know if Paizo had that in mind in the beginning at all. And you likely will never know because Paizo has done a pretty good job of showing a united front on most things.
I will say this though, in the early days of the company you had a bunch of people writing things with only James Jacobs to look over it while also developing modules, the adventure paths, writing lore books and campaign setting books at the same time. That's how mistakes and stuff slipped through with things like Elves not needing to sleep in the Elves of Golarion book.
It may be a retcon, but it also may be what they intended all along. Hell, nothing that's been printed, to my knowledge, has really been retconned from the 'sponsorship' aspect of the Starstone anyway.
It's still a rock that can turn you into a god, just not directly.
Honestly though, why do you even read the lore of the setting if you hate Golarion so much? The more I see you complaining about aspects of Golarion, the more I wonder how familiar you are with other settings. I mean, you claim to hate the fact there are super powered beings all over Golarion (despite there really not being that many) who can't be bothered to solve all of the planet's problems before they get out of hand, yet you're okay with Forgotten Realms and other settings. You seem to hate the retcons of Golarion, and yet you're okay with the Forgotten Realms and other settings who've done way worse and crazier things than retcon the Starstone.
I mean, you claim the retcon of the Starstone is the worst retcon since Star Wars, and yet over here in the world of Faerun, we've been told, "Oh yeah, all of these gods you worshipped? Those were all actually just Correllon Larethian under a different name."
I can't imagine what it's like for you to be reading Marvel or DC comics.
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Honestly though, why do you even read the lore of the setting if you hate Golarion so much? The more I see you complaining about aspects of Golarion, the more I wonder how familiar you are with other settings. I mean, you claim to hate the fact there are super powered beings all over Golarion (despite there really not being that many) who can't be bothered to solve all of the planet's problems before they get out of hand, yet you're okay with Forgotten Realms and other settings. You seem to hate the retcons of Golarion, and yet you're okay with the Forgotten Realms and other settings who've done way worse and crazier things than retcon the Starstone.
I thought I'd interject into the conversation here because this made something spring to mind for me. If someone has less overall coverage of a setting, they'll naturally base their opinions on what they have been led to believe thus far. For example, my first encounters with the Forgotten Realms were in fact the Baldur's Gate series of games for the PC. That's where I first began to fall in love with the setting, yet the funny thing about it is that those games paint a very different picture of the realms from what most of the tabletop community knows of it.
I've oft-heard the jokes that you can't throw a rock in Faerun with hitting an archmage, or drizzt, or something like that and later on I found out why those jokes existed. Even then, it often felt a bit strange since all the examples of Faerun I'd ever really experienced first hand made it feel like the big guys were pretty few and far, with the only major player in Baldur's Gate being Eliminster who occasionally seems to trying to deduce how the fate of the protagonist is going to unfold (but doesn't directly intervene because there's actually a pretty real reason to be concerned about accidentally screwing something important up).
So in the Faerun I initially explored, a +2 sword was like the most epic thing ever and the world was covered in commoners, bandit swarms, wyverns were big and bad, ankhegs and sirens were scary, arrows of biting were known as Imoen's Bane (or should have been :P), and you might maybe see a cameo of someone who's big and awesome. Of course this is not everyone's Forgotten Realms. :P
So a large part of how we think of things is strongly shaped by our experiences and what initially allured and spoke to us about the setting - any setting - which would shape our appreciations of them.
I mean, you claim the retcon of the Starstone is the worst retcon since Star Wars, and yet over here in the world of Faerun, we've been told, "Oh yeah, all of these gods you worshipped? Those were all actually just Correllon Larethian under a different name."
Oh boy, what a Fiasco. D:
I can't imagine what it's like for you to be reading Marvel or DC comics.
I know this isn't directed at me, but as a comic book fan I find myself really appreciating comics like Saga, Death Vigil and Rat Queens for a lot of these reasons. Often it feels like when I try to read about comics I always loved from Marvel (I was a Marvel whore :P) I don't recognize anyone anymore. The costumes are usually the same but they're just not the characters from my old books, so I usually end up re-reading the older stuff from the point where I enjoyed them.
For a long time, the nerd rage was strong with me over these things but I've learned to let it go and have attained nerdvanna. :3
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My initial exposure to the Forgotten Realms was via Neverwinter Nights. I spent 2 months staying with my best friend over the summer and I got to play his Neverwrinter game and I had a blast. Then, I went home and later that year, I found a book in my collection that mentioned Menzoberanzzen and Drow and I thought, "This is totally stealing from Neverwrinter Nights!"
So I read the book, and enjoyed it immensely and that's how I discovered who Drizzt was (the book was Homeland).
Then I played my first D&D game and I started getting more books in the setting and delving deeper and deeper into the lore. That's when I started finding uber-arch mages all over the place. Especially Elminster.
Elminster and Dumbledore from Harry Potter remind me a lot of each other. Both immensely powerful wizards capable of fighting off, basically, all the worlds' evils, and yet doesn't do it. Rarely do they actually wield the incredible power they hold to solve worldly problems and instead empower champions to do it.
I like Golarion, as a setting and it's lore, though some things bug me. So it really is like nails on a chalkboard when someone criticizes the setting for a problem other settings they play in have as well.
It's especially frustrating to criticize any sort of setting for having powerful players in the field who aren't solving the worlds problems.
Stop and look at most story settings in the world and you'll find they all have this exact issue. Every setting usually has some ultra powerful beings that are capable of solving the problems at hand... and yet don't. Especially if you're a fan of Anime. How many times has an anime had some "Master" who made his disciple solve his own problems? Even if those problems threaten the world or the lives of people around him, the Master doesn't step in and handle it.
Super Hero comic books are no better. I mentioned Superman before as a guy who has all the power in the world but never solves the worlds problems. But you've also got Thor, who is the protector of Earth and yet there's an awful lot of things going on that Thor never stops even if he's in the universe.
The only type of setting that doesn't have some super powerful ally who could save the day are the ones where people don't have any power at all. I mean, no one is capable of swooping in and saving the day in Game of Thrones, or Walking Dead, because everyone there is, more or less, on equal footing.
You don't have some super powerful wizard like Gildarts from Fairy Tail who could crush all of your enemies and prevent the world from being annihilated with relative ease in these types of settings. So it would stand to reason these are the only types of settings that could make people who hate inactive superpowers happy.
But they also tend to be very boring settings as well.
If you want to play a hero or an adventurer in a setting with dragons and magic and spells and demons and wizards, you're just going to have to accept that the problems you face can't be solved by someone doing it for you. What makes your character the hero is that you saved the day, not because you sent up a red flare and Elminster came over and closed the portal to the 9 levels of Hell in your stead.
You don't get to be the hero without doing heroic things.
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My initial exposure to the Forgotten Realms was via Neverwinter Nights. I spent 2 months staying with my best friend over the summer and I got to play his Neverwrinter game and I had a blast. Then, I went home and later that year, I found a book in my collection that mentioned Menzoberanzzen and Drow and I thought, "This is totally stealing from Neverwrinter Nights!"
So I read the book, and enjoyed it immensely and that's how I discovered who Drizzt was (the book was Homeland).
Homeland is the only book in the Drizzt line I've read but I read it in a single night without putting it down and loved it. :D
I like Golarion, as a setting and it's lore, though some things bug me. So it really is like nails on a chalkboard when someone criticizes the setting for a problem other settings they play in have as well.
It's pretty natural if they criticize those other settings for the same things though. I've heard a lot of people who are fans of and play in Faerun but criticize the archmage thing. :o
It's especially frustrating to criticize any sort of setting for having powerful players in the field who aren't solving the worlds problems.
Stop and look at most story settings in the world and you'll find they all have this exact issue. Every setting usually has some ultra powerful beings that are capable of solving the problems at hand... and yet don't. Especially if you're a fan of Anime. How many times has an anime had some "Master" who made his disciple solve his own problems? Even if those problems threaten the world or the lives of people around him, the Master doesn't step in and handle it.
I think it's mostly because at some point it becomes an issue of verisimilitude. It stops being very believable even in the context that it's being sold in. Harry Potter, for example, isn't beyond people noticing a lot of the logical flaws that pop up throughout the series. Especially by the fans of Harry Potter because they've read it enough to notice them. :)
Super Hero comic books are no better. I mentioned Superman before as a guy who has all the power in the world but never solves the worlds problems. But you've also got Thor, who is the protector of Earth and yet there's an awful lot of things going on that Thor never stops even if he's in the universe.
That's part of the reason that super powerful characters didn't usually appeal to me. I much preferred the sort that had a few super powers that gave them a way to do stuff but were still vulnerable to catching a cold and being late for class. :P
But they also tend to be very boring settings as well.
Well, you mentioned game of thrones and the walking dead and I must say I'm no expert on either (having only seen the first few episodes of each series) but they didn't seem particularly boring (especially game of thrones). I'm now a bit concerned as to what to expect when I do finally get around to watching deeper into the series.
If you want to play a hero or an adventurer in a setting with dragons and magic and spells and demons and wizards, you're just going to have to accept that the problems you face can't be solved by someone doing it for you. What makes your character the hero is that you saved the day, not because you sent up a red flare and Elminster came over and closed the portal to the 9 levels of Hell in your stead.
You don't get to be the hero without doing heroic things.
Yeah, but you need to have reasons to feel like you're being a hero other than just because you're playing a game. Still, in Reign of Winter, we'd all have much rather stayed in Irrisen and just whittled away her power structure and eventually stop her ourselves (much better than a goofy fetch quest mixed with going to get a bigger fish), but even going around and gathering allies to help aid against a super threat while fending off the queen's assassins and agents would have been pretty awesome.
Ashiel pretty much hits the nail on the head for the most part.
1) I don't read comic books. Very few heroes actually interest me, but I actually don't read the comics since I'm dirt-freaking-poor. Among the ones I've been able to read about/watch: Batman, X-Men (except for you, Scarlet Witch, you Mary Sue Godmode [EXPLETIVE DELETED]), Deadpool, Deathstroke, some of the Teen Titans/Young Justice deal, and Lobo. Granted, a few of them are basically god mode (lookin' at you Lobo), but they're more entertaining.
2) I haven't actually bought a Golarion-centric source book in a very, very long time. I haven't actually bought a pathfinder book in about 6 months now. I actually had to sell ALL of my books. Being dirt-freaking poor, my info on Golarion was limited to: Inner Sea World Guide, adventure path write ups (ROTRL Anniversary, #1&2 shattered star, #1 jade regent, #1&2 Crimson Throne, Emerald Spire), conversations and information spoilers on the forums, whatever lore is on Archives of Nethys, Pathfinder wikis, and very few player companions (bastards of golarion, belkzen, inner sea magic, book of the damned vol 2).
3) I never actually did mention how I felt about FR did I? I should point out that the FR I played in was pre-Time of Troubles. Post ToT was.... Interesting, but workable. Once I heard the BS going on with FR in 4E, I washed my hands of it. That crap was just.... Just crap. I did note, however, that my preferred setting was Dragonlance. A very low-magic world, with the only uber-powered beings you were ever really likely to meet being Paladine wandering around as Fizban. I only played in FR because those were the games available at the time (being an adolescent at the time, I couldn't exactly convince my folks to let me go find a group, so I got stuck in my parent's group). What's this about Corellion now?
Mainly my issue is, with the information I've been provided, I actually quite enjoyed Golarion. Still do, actually. Great thing about RPGs is you can chop out the bits you don't like and keep the bits you do. But in the world as-is, the internal logic just broke for me. While you technically can, you can't really cut out everything and still be playing in the same setting.
The whole mythic thing was pretty much what borked it to me. Particularly the star stone, because I cannot find the sense behind Cayden Calien (my favorite deity and I'd worship him in the real world if I could), and all the write ups of him I'd read and heard of on his legend of becoming a god. I can figure out Iomedae (Aroden's herald, around his divinity for so long, basically rose instantly cause of God Residue). While I can't figure out who would "sponsor" Norgorber, I can see some entity thinking it'd be good for a laugh, since no one knows how long it took after the test for him to fully ascend. Cayden though? He came out in, what was it, 3 days? Full fledged god. Far as I read anyways (unless they 'expanded' that in a later write up).
Don't get me wrong, I actually love the whole melting pot of Golarion. Sci-fi western wuxia samurai pirate medieval adventure? Oh hell yes. But everyone's got a right to their opinion of not liking something, don't knock me just 'cause I have two or three glaring blemishes I find hard to ignore.
Age of exploration and a bunch of other adventurers? Where? (While I can't speak for PFS as I have never nor shall ever play it, you'd expect it to be a lot more prevalent in-world).
Starstone. I've made my stand point on that one.
Non-Evil undead & the Juju Oracle.... Do I even need to get into this? So, what about people who get forcibly turned undead and don't want to be? They're still ALWAYS COMPLETELY EVIL?
.... Drow and Always Chaotic Evil, and turning good turns you into... Not drow, complete with skin tone color swap. I don't know if they smudged that one out of existence, but when I was looking it up a while back it was a thing that was going on. Not entirely convinced it was a total Golarion thing or a developer thing, but it disturbed me nonetheless.
I'll save the mechanics annoyances for a later point in time (archetype system; extreme proliferation of class abilities to other classes; not needing to be anything other than a mage now since mages can cover everything with spells)...
Meh. At least it's not as bad as a locally made game that was just... Just so horrible... Comeliness stat of 2 or less and villagers and the WORLD ITSELF (Plants, animals, weather) will try and kill you every waking moment of your life while 5 or less gets villagers start attacking you? *shudder* Ugh. And the world itself was full of lolis in the guise of faeries, nymphs, dryands, and other fey... Who the creator liked to try and seduce.
..... Damn it, now I need to go take a shower.
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My avatar is one of my favorite characters I've ever played. Yes, he is a Drizzt clone. I don't even care. I read Homeland, and asked the DM if I could play a similar character. He told me the RP would be difficult, and he probably would be shunned everywhere he went until he became a hero. I didn't mind and said "bring it!". He almost did not survive introduction to the party (party leader at the time was a High Elf Bladesinger. Who knew they didn't like drow?). Many times he was not welcome where the rest of the party was, even refused training by other rangers they met along the way. He wasn't kidding, it was rough.
It took us years to finish the entire campaign (just one facet of the game was the entire Night Below boxed set in 2nd Ed). We made 14th level. World saved a few times over, the intrepid heroes retired. Kryzbyn was granted lands and titles by the king, and became the Baron of the Blackforest. He retired with his human wife, Cinders and their twin half elf daughters. He became a husband, father, a lord, and a swordsman of repute.
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My avatar is one of my favorite characters I've ever played. Yes, he is a Drizzt clone. I don't even care. I read Homeland, and asked the DM if I could play a similar character. He told me the RP would be difficult, and he probably would be shunned everywhere he went until he became a hero. I didn't mind and said "bring it!". He almost did not survive introduction to the party (party leader at the time was a High Elf Bladesinger. Who knew they didn't like drow?). Many times he was not welcome where the rest of the party was, even refused training by other rangers they met along the way. He wasn't kidding, it was rough.
It took us years to finish the entire campaign (just one facet of the game was the entire Night Below boxed set in 2nd Ed). We made 14th level. World saved a few times over, the intrepid heroes retired. Kryzbyn was granted lands and titles by the king, and became the Baron of the Blackforest. He retired with his human wife, Cinders and their twin half elf daughters. He became a husband, father, a lord, and a swordsman of repute.
More than can be said for Drizzt.
Basically, if at any point in time Drizzt might become happy, Salvatore has to make him unhappy because happy protagonists don't create lots of drama. It's worked well for Marvel and DC for the last 70 years, so it'll probably work for Salvatore as well. Granted, there's probably more than a little meddling being done by WotC, just like they did with Wulfgar, but I am uncertain how much or if at all.
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Yeah, I stopped reading them.
That's ok for a trivial character, but she wasn't a trivial character.
Now he's hooked up with a chaotic mess of a half elf.
No thanks.
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Well, you mentioned game of thrones and the walking dead and I must say I'm no expert on either (having only seen the first few episodes of each series) but they didn't seem particularly boring (especially game of thrones). I'm now a bit concerned as to what to expect when I do finally get around to watching deeper into the series.
Don't be concerned. I'm sure the setting is quite fascinating, but the issue with the setting is that, at any point in time, if you are gaining any sort of power, someone is going to come along and kill you. I'm no historian, but I do have a passing interests in history, and the murders and assassinations that go on in Game of Thrones aren't nearly as common as people think they are.
I've never actually read or watched Game of Thrones (I have this policy of not partaking of media where an infidelity is a major aspect of the media), so I honestly can't tell you much. However, I am a gamer and I've had to listen to other gamers go on and on about the GoT setting for years (long before the TV show even).
I've never read or watched Walking Dead (for a related reason to GoT). But again, I've had the setting and show talked about around me for years. My issue with the setting is that, it's rather boring because the zombies in Walking Dead are so pathetically easy to beat, which makes you wonder how they overcame humanity in the first place.
I mean, they're classic shambling zombies who stumble around and attack people in hordes. They can't really climb, they can't innovate, they can't solve problems.
Any sort of military response against these things should have utterly crushed them. Especially since we know tanks were used at some point. How the f+$* does a horde of zombies defeat an M1-Abrams? The blasted tank can just drive over them! It should have left a swath of zombie bodies behind it as it plowed through the horde. The M1's only weakness is a need for fuel. But you do something like attach a slaughter bar (big ol'rack you put on the front of trucks to protect against roadkill) on a tank and just plow through 'em!
Anyway, I just can't, for the life of me, get into the Walking Dead setting because the Zombies in it are so easy to neutralize with any amount of sense. Simple things like destroying stairs and using ladders and moving across building tops with collapsible bridges if necessary would make a city an easy place to survive in.
So the only real drama comes from interactions with other 'survivor'. Which makes no g!%~~#ned sense because as soon as people see that one person has worked out how to defeat or neutralize the zombies, they're going to want to work together to survive.
Ugh, I could probably rant for awhile on the Walking Dead setting. It just doesn't make any sense as a setting because the zombies aren't a big enough threat to have actually taken over in the first place. And since they aren't a big enough threat, it should be easy to restore order even if they, magically, destroyed society in the first place.
You know, I intended this to be a lot shorter response to this quote than it turned out to be :P
@Artemis: I actually find the things with Norgorber and Cayden relatively easy to believe in. They are the only three to have actually survived making it to the Starstone and were Sponsored by Aroden himself. At least, that's how I see it working. I don't recall anything specific being mentioned over who sponsored the gods, but I figure that, Aroden, as the God of Humanity, would probably have sponsored any humans who made it to the Starstone, regardless of alignment or creed.
Cayden still managed to make his way through the Cathedral alive while he was drunk, so, props for that. Remember, he had to go through a series of tests specifically designed to challenge him and prove his worth; a test designed by the gods. After he completed his test, he had to petition the gods to accept him.
Sure it's not the "instand God button" people thought it was, but it still functions exactly as advertised in previous products.
Azure Bonds...
My introduction to FR. Drizzt came second. Aahh... I miss that book. Unfortunately when my old man moved out, he took Azure Bonds with him.
Still think Alias is one hot red head.
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So: archmages.
I had to answer this question today. (Sort of.)
I statted up (in a very hand-wavy way, i.e. "your level, race, INT score, and specialty, sir, enjoy and good day") a "wizard" capable of handling reparations for a magical blade.
He was, distinctly, a non-adventurer.
I noted him as being gregarious, nice (though he wears a robe that radiates evil, 'cause reasons), fun-loving, highly interested in various "protagonists", and fully capable of going out and changing the world (despite being an "illusionist").
What does he do with it? He sits in Maheto, watching, like, half-a-dozen people he's interested in following. He uses his magic legend lore machine that follows their events and later compiles the information, distills it into an interesting series of scenes to watch, informs him and projects them via mirage arcana and persistent image, recreating these scenes for his enjoyment. So inspired was he by all of this, that he uses that machine to project and imitate (in a loose sort of way) adventures for himself, loosely based on the exploits of the "protagonists" of the various stories (the device uses greater shadow conjuration, and shadow evocation to create the environments, and he voluntarily fails his saves).
The player naturally wondered: why didn't he just go on adventures for real? So the PC asked him.
The answer was interesting, and evolved as part of the conversation with the guy.
- Why doesn't the PC go after arcane magic? Sure, she can't handle wizardry, but why not sorcery? Why go the brute force route?
- Why doesn't the PC decide to settle down, stay in one place?
- If the wizard went on adventures and fixed the world, who'd be here to fix the PC's sword?
Beyond that, the guy explained: while, yeah, his "danger room" was, in fact, dangerous, it's a "danger" that he chose for himself, and, whenever he wants, he can call it quits, end the simulation, and go home (which he's already in), soak in a pool, and have his servants give him treats and massages. Why go on a real adventure? To him (borrowing from The Hobbit) adventures were "Nasty, disturbing, and uncomfortable things."
And they are! In a "real" adventure, he "really" puts his life and soul at risk with every decision he makes. His closest friends and allies are on the line, and might die - maybe even in a way that doesn't and can't ever get better. They're dirty. Sometimes leaving you hungry. They're painful - and you can't quit, no matter how painful or hard they get, which can be really demotivating.
Compare that to an ever-ready bath, plenty of servants to tend to his whim, and plenty of work and money. Those he specifically and strongly cares about aren't directly threatened (though he doesn't want his favorite protagonists to fail, he has a non-interference policy that he bends when he can do it "secretly" - they aren't his good friends, just people he watches on occasion), and he has a good life and a good business.
And, sure, he's gone on adventures on occasion... but they're relatively few, and most such "adventures" are similar to what we have in our world, only with his magic as an extra safety net: go find and see something he's heard about, and head back.
(He's also acquired, like, five ancient magic items he can't buy, and fought off four assassination attempts by would-be rival mages. He doesn't like those.)
Now, of course, he's 13th level, and lacks access to some of the mightiest spells, but that really doesn't matter for the point: he's got a ton of reasons not to go be an adventurer.
And even if they do, one of the things that is vastly overrated in settings with high powered lore is the automatic presumption that there isn't anyone or anything else that keeps them busy for whatsoever reason.
In part, I've got to say: being a father has taught me something that I really didn't get before I was a father.
"Things take time."
This comic actually sums it up pretty well. The thing is, children don't have to be like that girl to take that much time. Good children can also take way too much time. I tend to think I have fantastic kids who obey me well, and work at making their Mommy and I happy (at least the oldest does - the youngest can't even crawl, yet XD). It still takes a comparatively long time to get everything "right" to get things done (for me: some families are different).
Being a high-level anything (but especially mages) do this.
Are spells quick and efficient? Yes. Very much so.
But that's only one side of the story.
There's also all the other people, the silly parts like eating, sleeping, and making sure everything is running in the correct direction is a very time-consuming task.
Hordes of limitless simulacra may well be an "I win" button... but you're by no means the only one with that. Effectively, the simulicrum solution devolves into an infinite arms race, but that's okay, because there's such a vast omniverse out there that something or someone else has already thought of it and has taken steps to prevent it (unless the GM doesn't have anything like that prepared or can't think of it, in which case the PC gets away with it).
The thing is: there's always bigger fish. Somewhere.
If the question is, "Why aren't the major NPCs involved?" the answer is "They're busy." and that is extremely valid.
This often doesn't satisfy many due to the perceived ability to go and do anything easily and quickly - you know: magic. And the hand-waive side of mechanics and "clean" nature of spells (not to mention the inability of most real-world humans to think through every detail) makes it seem like "Bam: done!"
But the thing is, reality - even "in-game" reality, unless otherwise noted - isn't quite so "clean". People, as it turns out, are complicated. Life is busy, and people (despite not necessarily taking mechanical penalties) get tired.
Beyond that, there are lots of other people to handle it.
Sure a high-level wizard can, if he knows of something, pop in somewhere, handle a situation, and pop back. But the problem is there's always something happening. If you don't stop and rest, you're doing it wrong.
I mean commune should pick it up.
Will the entire world be drastically altered in way that I do not like in the next year?
Two possibilities:
1) The answer is always "yes".
2) The commune checks to see if there are heroes coming (the actual intent of the question), and answers "no" (if they will definitely win) or "maybe" (if they may or may not).
In case number one, the caster has the option of playing 20 questions until they literally run out of time/mind-control-or-destroy everyone in the world, which is boring and awful.
In case number two, the caster either doesn't care ("no"), or once again plays 20 questions.
And here's the thing. In a universe as large and dangerous as Golarion's there is always, always, always an epic threat that can very readily lead to super-bad things.
Follow-up question: "Is there someone else that will save the world?"
Again: "Yes" or "No" or "Maybe" and the caster acts accordingly.
Of course, the best question to ask: "Should I take care of it?"
The answer is almost inevitably "No." or, at best, "Irrelevant." for any number of reasons. Does the GM know them? Probably not. It doesn't matter.
Jesus took time away from those He could go healing.
He ate, drank, and slept - the latter on one notable occasion when His followers were convinced they were going to be killed.
Heck. Lay down some Luke on some OT limited miracles. Reasons given? Few to none.
People need rest. And food. And just general downtime.
And there are often times it's better to allow disasters to happen - to allow others to take care of there own situations - instead of stepping in and forcing people to rely on you alone.
And sometimes there are reasons that are never given... but exist.
Does that mean a "collect the super-powers" plot is bad? No - not even close. It does mean, however, that there are lots of reasons that they don't constantly do so.
These reasons apply solidly to FR just as much as they do to Golarion, and other high-power settings.
Anyway, it's almost three and I need sleep. :D
G'night!
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I have a multitude of thoughts in response to what you just posted.
Anecdotes about various gaming history, my homebrew world, etc.
Suffice to say I agree with most, if not all of your post.
In as much as the specific scenario calls for inaction, or knowing the locals can indeed handle what ever has arisen.
Elminster in FR was boom is a box, as well as the chosen of Mystra, the sisters, etc. They often worked together, but only to keep known world ending threats in check. They did not "stoop" to taking out kobold raids for a village. Could not be bothered with it, because other big picture things were going on.
I always felt that, in a world like Toril, the adventuring party fills the role of doing what the arch-NPCs are too busy to worry about. The nas they level and increase in power, they eventually graduate from JV to Varsity, and join the ranks of the Arch-NPCs in aiding with world level events, passing the torch to other low level adventurers.
It's a cycle.
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I am making a new character for our Final Fantasy campaign and one this I noticed as I was building her is that she gets LOTS of benefits from targeting flat footed enemies.
She already has an INSANE initiative score so going first is probably going to be her thing from the get go.
I don't have access to invisibility (sadly- or rather I HAVE access to it, but it is expensive and not my go to)
Do you guys know of any other way that we can deny dex to my enemies?
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Feint (though it kind of sucks).
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I am making a new character for our Final Fantasy campaign and one this I noticed as I was building her is that she gets LOTS of benefits from targeting flat footed enemies.
She already has an INSANE initiative score so going first is probably going to be her thing from the get go.
I don't have access to invisibility (sadly- or rather I HAVE access to it, but it is expensive and not my go to)Do you guys know of any other way that we can deny dex to my enemies?
Dazzling Display + Shatter Defenses is often the go-to option people use.
Rogue (Scout) is another one for Scout's Charge.7 branched sword can be used to make an enemy flat-footed as opposed to tripping them an a trip attempt.
These are usually the top 3 choices people have. Remember, this is very important there is a very slight, but crucial difference between being flat footed and someone being denied dexterity.
If your character relies on the enemy being flat-footed, you're pretty much limited to the above 3 options. There aren't very many options to make an enemy be treated as flat-footed once combat has begun. Even invisibility doesn't make an enemy flat-footed, nor does flanking or using the feint tree.
If all you need is to deny the enemies dexterity, picking up a low-level wand of Vanish might help. So too would picking up an item like the Goz Mask or Fogcutting Lenses and then an item like the Eversmoking Bottle. Release the smoke, and now you've got total concealment which you can see through but enemies can't, allowing you to make stealth checks (as long as your GM is reasonable and not a total asshat about the stealth rules). This is my favorite method as it really makes players paranoid when an enemy plunges the battlefield into smokiness and starts playing "Ninja in the Mist" ganking them one by one.
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Remember, this is very important there is a very slight, but crucial difference between being flat footed and someone being denied dexterity.
This is very true. As I never enforce this (it's never been found "fun" by any of my players), I always have a difficult time remembering this. Thanks! :)
Remember, this is very important there is a very slight, but crucial difference between being flat footed and someone being denied dexterity.This is very true. As I never enforce this (it's never been found "fun" by any of my players), I always have a difficult time remembering this. Thanks! :)
The issue is that there are actually some very nuanced differences. For example, if you treat bening denied dexterity and being flat-footed as the same, then a Barbarian can never be denied his dexterity bonus, because he can never be caught flat-footed.
Or if someone is denied their dexterity against your attacks, that person can't make attacks of opportunity without Combat Reflexes because you can't make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed without Combat Reflexes.
Also, there are a few abilities in the game that trigger off being flat-footed and are intended to, mostly, be used during a surprise round. Being able to use them all the time makes them very strong choices.
Sap Adept/Master is the most common example of this being used in conjunction with either the Scout archetype for the Rogue or Dazzling Display+Shatter Defenses. Mainly because it outright doubles sneak attack dice, which doubles anything that triggers off sneak attack dice... like Offensive Defense. +10 dodge bonus to AC in nearly every fight, ever, at 10th level? Yes please!
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Sure.
What I was saying, however, is that it doesn't matter that much in any of the games that I've played, to the point that I've started hand-waiving it.
Especially as I've now adopted a variant of Sneak Attack that just doesn't care.
But that goes back to the extreme system mastery held by some on these boards and how that differs for some of my own experiences.
I have no trouble admitting that I'm not perfect on all the rules. :D
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I am making a new character for our Final Fantasy campaign and one this I noticed as I was building her is that she gets LOTS of benefits from targeting flat footed enemies.
She already has an INSANE initiative score so going first is probably going to be her thing from the get go.
I don't have access to invisibility (sadly- or rather I HAVE access to it, but it is expensive and not my go to)Do you guys know of any other way that we can deny dex to my enemies?
Pretty much all of the advice that Tels, Tacticslion, and TriOmegaZero gave is good stuff.
Since I'm also assuming you mean denied-Dex as opposed to completely flat-footed (which is something that is hard to cause more than once), I think this might be a great time to get some teamwork going, especially during the early levels.
When you are invisible to your foe, you not only deny them Dex to AC but you get a +2 bonus to hit them. Because of this, making your opponents unable to see you is a big deal and is one of the primary reasons to create situations where you can use your Stealth skill in combat (it also lets you make AoOs against withdrawing foes).
The spell blur grants you concealment for 10 rounds / level, so even at low levels, if you have you wizard buddy cast this on you, you can stealth around like the Predator with a stealth suite. Once you have concealment, Stealth is used as part of movement, so just attempt to hide every time you move at all. This makes your enemies retaliating difficult and it also makes it harder to defend against you. It might even be worth it for you to fund the wizard for some extra 2nd level pearls of power for this purpose (honestly, the whole party should consider funding their wizards and clerics for buffs that save them money, such as blur, greater magic weapon, magic vestment, resist energy, etc).
If you're stuck without a caster to blur you, at high levels you might seek a lesser cloak of displacement which gives 20% concealment 24/7. Alternatively, Hellcat Stealth is borderline broken for Stealth based characters (the skill focus prerequisite makes it only an effective -7 and later -4 penalty compared to raw ranks) and isn't a magical ability which makes it near impossible to counter via magical means other that hitting you with glitterdust. Meanwhile, an elixir of hiding grants a +10 bonus to Stealth for 1 hour, for only 250 gp. :)
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I am making a new character for our Final Fantasy campaign and one this I noticed as I was building her is that she gets LOTS of benefits from targeting flat footed enemies.
She already has an INSANE initiative score so going first is probably going to be her thing from the get go.
I don't have access to invisibility (sadly- or rather I HAVE access to it, but it is expensive and not my go to)Do you guys know of any other way that we can deny dex to my enemies?
Pretty much all of the advice that Tels, Tacticslion, and TriOmegaZero gave is good stuff.
Since I'm also assuming you mean denied-Dex as opposed to completely flat-footed (which is something that is hard to cause more than once), I think this might be a great time to get some teamwork going, especially during the early levels.
When you are invisible to your foe, you not only deny them Dex to AC but you get a +2 bonus to hit them. Because of this, making your opponents unable to see you is a big deal and is one of the primary reasons to create situations where you can use your Stealth skill in combat (it also lets you make AoOs against withdrawing foes).
The spell blur grants you concealment for 10 rounds / level, so even at low levels, if you have you wizard buddy cast this on you, you can stealth around like the Predator with a stealth suite. Once you have concealment, Stealth is used as part of movement, so just attempt to hide every time you move at all. This makes your enemies retaliating difficult and it also makes it harder to defend against you. It might even be worth it for you to fund the wizard for some extra 2nd level pearls of power for this purpose (honestly, the whole party should consider funding their wizards and clerics for buffs that save them money, such as blur, greater magic weapon, magic vestment, resist energy, etc).
If you're stuck without a caster to blur you, at high levels you might seek a lesser cloak of displacement...
A penalty to do something that is otherwise impossible to do without magic? That's what feats should be for.
Got any tips for gaming over Skype? Last night my cousin wanted me to try Skyping into his game. I feel luck that I'm playing more of a support Witch than some sort of martial, because I very much so found myself not being as 'tactically' aware of the battlefield as I would be in person. Normally, I often step into the role of 'general' directing players around the battlefield or giving them advice. This time, I found myself having a harder time seeing the battlefield (especially trying to tell unpainted minis apart over a webcam).
If this game with my cousin continues, got any tips for running playing a neutral evil character interested in the study and manipulation of the energies of life and death? Eventually (after discussing a method with my GM/cousin) she'll be capturing the souls of her slain foes as soul gems (create soul gem a 3rd level witch spell) and then modifying the gem so she can tattoo the energy of the soul onto her body (sacrificing a feat for this).
I've played NE NPCs in the past, but since they were all on the short term, it was easy to play them off. But playing NE over a longer term will be more difficult, I think.
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Got any tips for gaming over Skype? Last night my cousin wanted me to try Skyping into his game. I feel luck that I'm playing more of a support Witch than some sort of martial, because I very much so found myself not being as 'tactically' aware of the battlefield as I would be in person. Normally, I often step into the role of 'general' directing players around the battlefield or giving them advice. This time, I found myself having a harder time seeing the battlefield (especially trying to tell unpainted minis apart over a webcam).
Well, I've never combined tabletop + online gaming before in the same session, though I have used virtual tabletops in person (see below about that). I'm not sure how practical it is for your cousin but using a system like MapTools or Roll20 or something might help to include you as everything would be virtual allowing you a more acute view of the game.
If this game with my cousin continues, got any tips for running playing a neutral evil character interested in the study and manipulation of the energies of life and death? Eventually (after discussing a method with my GM/cousin) she'll be capturing the souls of her slain foes as soul gems (create soul gem a 3rd level witch spell) and then modifying the gem so she can tattoo the energy of the soul onto her body (sacrificing a feat for this).
Well that's an interesting ability. :o
It would be kind of interesting if you could use the soul gems to power something like animated objects (golems already do this in their lore). Alternatively, since the soul gems have value according to the soul chart, you could use them in the creation of magical items Elder Scrolls style. :)I've played NE NPCs in the past, but since they were all on the short term, it was easy to play them off. But playing NE over a longer term will be more difficult, I think.
When I play evil characters, I try to think of them as people first and evil second. It helps a lot. :D
About Tabletop w/ Virtual Tabletops
A while back when I was running a tabletop, we made tokens of everyone's characters via tokentool and then I used the TV in my room (connected to my computer) to display MapTools to everyone, so the table was for all of our stuff (dice, food, beverages, etc) while all the tactical movement and such was handled on screen and I just moved them around as desired. At least two of the other players had laptops so they also just connected to the game with those maptops and would aid in moving stuff around.
It can be pretty cool and can save a lot of space. It's also pretty sweet for quickly switching between maps or dynamically increasing the size of a map (since maptools doesn't run out of paper space, the map just keeps getting bigger as RAM allows).
We got a board game: Arcadia Quest and it uses unpainted minis with colored plastic bottoms that can be changed depending on the party. So instead of seeing Maia I see the blue one...
You could do something similar to this using tape and colored construction paper the Witch being... idk, yours seems evil so I am inclined to say black or green, and other party members having a different color. You could also just use white paper that you color in with markers or map pencils or highlighters (whatever is handy)
It makes for an easy visual reference. if you are trying to see the map layout via cam.
Got any tips for gaming over Skype? Last night my cousin wanted me to try Skyping into his game. I feel luck that I'm playing more of a support Witch than some sort of martial, because I very much so found myself not being as 'tactically' aware of the battlefield as I would be in person. Normally, I often step into the role of 'general' directing players around the battlefield or giving them advice. This time, I found myself having a harder time seeing the battlefield (especially trying to tell unpainted minis apart over a webcam).Well, I've never combined tabletop + online gaming before in the same session, though I have used virtual tabletops in person (see below about that). I'm not sure how practical it is for your cousin but using a system like MapTools or Roll20 or something might help to include you as everything would be virtual allowing you a more acute view of the game.
MapTool + Skype is how my group plays. It works out really well for us.
After watching the Xbox showcase at E3, I look forward to the day when one can combine VTT with HoloLens.
I like the idea of multicolored bases so I can tell them apart. I'll have to talk to them about possibly using something like MapTools. Guess I should at least download the program to see how hard it would be to use the basic functions of simply tokens + battleboard or something.
Most of them brought a computer to the table, so that shouldn't be too hard...
I like the idea of multicolored bases so I can tell them apart. I'll have to talk to them about possibly using something like MapTools. Guess I should at least download the program to see how hard it would be to use the basic functions of simply tokens + battleboard or something.
That's all we use, and it's fairly simple to manage. There's the macros and other more complicated stuff but I've never bothered to learn how to use it as it's never been necessary.
Aratrok is really great at making macros for it (I've been lazy and haven't learned much about it) but you can do both simple things like just making buttons to roll attacks and such quickly (which is great for full attacking monsters and druids and stuff).
Or if you're Aratrok, hit a button that will allow you to input circumstantial modifiers to your routine, then roll your routines, automatically detect critical confirmations, roll confirmations, output results, and even hide the modifiers for the rolls while giving the die roll.
Aratrok's macros are the shiznite. :3
The thing is, we don't use the in-MapTool dice roller. We just all have physical dice we roll. So the need for macros to do that sort of thing just isn't there.
The thing is, we don't use the in-MapTool dice roller. We just all have physical dice we roll. So the need for macros to do that sort of thing just isn't there.
Yeah, there's not much need when you're at the table with everyone and using it as a colorful grid-map. Though if you ever delve into the actual tools of MapTools it can be pretty amazing. Also, Aratrok's macros are worth giving a shoutout. :P
Ashiel: What do you think of the new occult adventures stuff? (not as an alternative to Psionics- just as is) and specifically about the Iconic Occultist (I see his Meet Me stuff was released recently)?
The thread has been vacant since Wednesday, so... you know... any topic will do.
Side note: Recently got Elder Scrolls online for my PS4. I like it, but... I am frustrated by the lack of resources (specifically alchemical reagents) and I don't think it would have been game breaking to have those available at a merchant. Also- WHO SPENDS 150 gold on an apple?!?!?! Provisioning (cooking) DOES have a merchant that sells wares... but... THAT is the price. SINGLE apple. 150 gold!
Also if anyone knows where the nearest Fence is for the Dragon...ummm... Dragon-something- alliance I would be most appreciative... I have stolen some VERY expensive things that I would like to convert into monies :)
Ummm... Hypothetically... Like if you are NOT a guard then that is the question. If you are a guard that is the question that some horribly unscrupulous person asked and I told my imp to taunt them.
Ashiel: What do you think of the new occult adventures stuff? (not as an alternative to Psionics- just as is) and specifically about the Iconic Occultist (I see his Meet Me stuff was released recently)?
I honestly haven't really looked into them very much. Been too busy with other things. ^-^"
The thread has been vacant since Wednesday, so... you know... any topic will do.
Indeed. I'm open for suggestions. :P
Side note: Recently got Elder Scrolls online for my PS4. I like it, but... I am frustrated by the lack of resources (specifically alchemical reagents) and I don't think it would have been game breaking to have those available at a merchant. Also- WHO SPENDS 150 gold on an apple?!?!?! Provisioning (cooking) DOES have a merchant that sells wares... but... THAT is the price. SINGLE apple. 150 gold!
I've heard virtually nothing but bad things about ESO. In fact, I think you're the first (maybe 2nd) person I've heard say they like it. :o
Maybe I should give it a shot.
Also if anyone knows where the nearest Fence is for the Dragon...ummm... Dragon-something- alliance I would be most appreciative... I have stolen some VERY expensive things that I would like to convert into monies :)
Ummm... Hypothetically... Like if you are NOT a guard then that is the question. If you are a guard that is the question that some horribly unscrupulous person asked and I told my imp to taunt them.
Naughty. :P
You should give Guild Wars 2 a shot...
It's mechanics are interesting...
And I'd like your take on how you'd re-create a Mesmer in PF ;)
Mmmmmmmm... Calistria...
Mmmmmmmm... Sexy elf boys...
Mmmmmmmm... Stabbing...
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I've heard virtually nothing but bad things about ESO. In fact, I think you're the first (maybe 2nd) person I've heard say they like it. :o
Maybe I should give it a shot.
You are welcome to come over and play any day :) I think it is just like a 14 hr drive... Ummm... I think the invested travel time may cloud your appreciation for the game. Lol
... Does Pathfinder need more sexy man art?
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Are you excited for fallout 4?
Extremely!
Are you excited for mass effect andromeda?
I only recently started Mass Effect #1. ^.^"
What do you think of Matthew vines?
Who?
Why do you dislike Pharasma?
I dislike Pharasma's entire concept as an omniscient judge that knows everything before it happens just just casually waits to pass judgments. I also see her as highly hypocritical as she supposedly is anti-undead because it overcomes the inevitability of death and her judgment, yet you never hear about Pharasmites going around murdering wizards and druids and alchemists who can all live forever. I also see her as kind of a putz because Urgathoa was literally in the bone yard, Pharasma's domain, during the time when she was still supposedly an all seeing goddess of prophecy and stuff and yet Urgathoa just casually takes a different option. Either Pharasma is a colossal failure as a deity making her unworthy for her position or she is in fact to blame for everything that Urgathoa is and her persecution of undead and her followers is incredibly hypocritical and malevolent (because who really allows a thing to be created just so they can go kill it and still qualifies as anything but an insane monster?).
Logical problems aside, I also find her portfolio and followers to be boring and I really don't see why people would worship her. Her entire existence as a deity is sending people to other planes and when she's not killing whippoorwills and making people bleed under their fingers because she's a passive aggressive *****, she apparently is content to do a whole lot of nothing since she doesn't care what your morality is and doesn't care what you do to yourself or others or to the world and just sits around in a chair waiting to tell you where you're going after the fact. Since in her super-duper-impartiality (except when she's murdering small animals and passing out grave-dirt chewing gum) worshiping her doesn't get you any special perks in the afterlife and she likewise has nothing worth providing for actually living your life, I just feel like you should probably be able to count the number of her followers on the left hand of an accident-prone butcher.
What do you think of Calistria?
I think she's kind of odd. She strikes me as the patron god of mean girls. Overall I think she's kind of boring. I think there are far more interesting gods surrounding sex, and her inability to build a bridge and get over slights is more a mark of an immature child rather than someone you'd like to worship. I imagine the sacred brothels bring a lot of converts though.
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Mmmmmmmm... Calistria...
Mmmmmmmm... Sexy elf boys...
Mmmmmmmm... Stabbing...
One of these things seems like a good thing. Hmmm... :P
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... Does Pathfinder need more sexy man art?
Everything needs more sexy man art. That said, I strongly support an increase in sexy art overall. Because I like sexy. But it's no secret that the ratio of sexy man art vs sexy lady art is really slanted. I'm also inclined to think it's not a sexist thing either (as I've noticed that even among my peers who are sexually interested in hot mans, they are also super interested in sexy lady art, because sexy). Regardless of the reason, we need more dude-lovin' when it comes to expressing our love for sexy.
So in a roundabout way I'd say that we need to buff the man art, keep the lady art, get more sexy other art (aberrations and monstrous humanoids are sadly under represented, especially when compared to animals).
If I win the lottery, I'll commission a wall-sized poster of not one but three sexy men (a barbarian, brawler, and sorcerer) riding atop the back of a sexy lamia, as they do battle with a sexy golem, while dodging the dazing black tentacles brought about by the cultists of sexy-thulu. Art by Ganassa. I will then donate it to Paizo to be the inspiration for their next adventure path.