Shiny Doom Forum

Trool · Good Karma Joined: 12 Sep 2003 Posts: 1486

I'm pro that as well. Should be a good start.
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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

HyperFerret · Horrible Luck Joined: 08 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

Hmm that is an interesting idea about mementos. it would only make sense that Naomi have a pic of her son with her.

As far as her recognizing Kale the idea I have can also tie in with the above.

Naomi and her husband both had matching lockets with each other's and their son's picture in them. The locket is like the equivalent of a wedding ring-very high sentimental value and not ever taken off kinda thing. When Kaiden was killed the crimson talons took his locket as proof and gave it to Kale as a trophy.

If Naomi saw it on him, that could be how she recognizes him. Also, I'm assuming her husband told her about his father so she might know some physical attributes from that. Say, for instance, that Kaiden looked a great deal like him.

Does this idea work?

Jastermereel · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject:

Sounds good.

What sort of picture? I ask not as a gameplay function (roll 2d4 to find out the quality and the medium used!) but out of curiosity. Picture lockets, especially sans photos, seem a bit of a luxury for a merc.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

HyperFerret · Horrible Luck Joined: 08 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

I haden't thought about that. What mediums are there in this world? Are photos used or is it painted portraits?

I more or less picked a photo so that the other party members could learn what her son looked like, in case they see him.

As far as her getting the locket set the shifter clan could have stolen them. Or perhaps Naomi and Kaiden got them as a wedding gift from a wealthy ally?

This was just one idea. If having a photo doesn't work I'll think of something else. Just let me know.

Jastermereel · Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:10 pm Post subject:

Jastermereel · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:01 pm Post subject:

To those whom I've been discussing character sheets with...I'm actually not sure now why we can't go on using the same ones we've been using. I know I had a reason, but I can't figure it out now.

So to that duo, thanks for the alternative ideas! - One free "enemy misses you" for ya' both.

But, to that duo, why couldn't you argue me out of the need to find alternatives? - One free "enemy hits you!" for ya' both!

That said, is it possible to export the sheets from Numbers to a Windows readable format? Even as a PDF or some such? I'd rather not print out a second set for reference if possible.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Trool · Good Karma Joined: 12 Sep 2003 Posts: 1486

It can output to pdf fine, just not excel. It tries to, but can't figure out how to position all of the table cells correctly and, while the final sheet does work, it doesn't really look like anything one could use.
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

Jastermereel · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:36 pm Post subject:

I shouldn't have need to edit the sheets, so PDFs should be just fine.

Edit: Also, while I plan on using printed initiative cards, would this be of any use to Mogri in the other game? http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123772
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

HyperFerret · Horrible Luck Joined: 08 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

I know you are going to think this is silly but can I knock down Naomi's weight to about 160?
As things stand now she is a bit overweight for a stealth based char. Not that shedding pounds will magically affect my dice rolls.

That would be sweet. : P

Jastermereel · Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject:

Jastermereel · Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:36 pm Post subject:

Can each of the players submit a character image? I'm looking for a head-shot to serve as an icon on a battle map. Ennostiel's image from the profile posting should work. If you don't want to make one, I can easily grab one of the images from the handbooks, but I thought I'd suggest a personalized option first.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

HyperFerret · Horrible Luck Joined: 08 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

I have some sketches. They aren't very good though. I'm bad at coloring on the pc.

Jastermereel · Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:18 pm Post subject:

In addition to the standing image request (no hurry for those without; I've got stand-ins), I'd like players to keep in mind what sort of enhancements they'd like to get as loot starts to appear.

We've not really played much with assorted armor/weapon/tools before, but I'm starting to transcribe the loot for the next few steps of the adventure and would like to know what people might be interested in.

I realize it may be too early for people to really get a sense of how they want to play their character, so I'm not asking for a list of ideas or anything like that; just keep the idea in mind when playing and give me some feedback.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Jastermereel · Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:57 pm Post subject:

Re: Naomi

I found where the idea of getting two shifter traits appears (the page after the one we were looking at) and, after consulting an outside source, I'm inclined to give you the other one. Remind me on Saturday and we can revise your sheet.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

HyperFerret · Horrible Luck Joined: 08 Jan 2006 Posts: 10

Sweeet!!!

Trool · Good Karma Joined: 12 Sep 2003 Posts: 1486

Just encoded and uploaded to an FTP server what we recorded of the game last night. Got the file down to 86.4M for a little over 3 hours. Hit me up on AIM or ask me next week for all the login info.

The quality is not terrible and you can mostly make out what everyone is saying, including some bits from Tyler's group. Though that's my impression from the first few minutes.
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

Jastermereel · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:44 pm Post subject:

Re The Loot:

Again, just a standing question...how would you prefer to handle loot:

A. exclusively as a "this is what you find/are rewarded with" setup where I try to pick a mix of items relevant to your builds and tangential to expand you options...

or

B. A mix of option A and you actively requesting either a specific item (for those with the relevant books) or a kind of item ("I'd like a bonus to doing X").

Again, no hurry, as the immediate loot will likely be along the lines of A exclusively, but as we progress, I'd like to know what, if any, B-type loot might be of interest.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Jastermereel · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:33 pm Post subject:

Again Re: the Loot

This time around, I handed out the cards with all the information about the item on them. What could have been an odd silver scarab was instead an "odd silver scarab that, if thrown would yadayadayada". The rules would suggest you might need to get the bard to cast Identify in the future (when away from some merchants who likely already know what they're carrying).
We can discuss that matter more later, but it's a distinct possibility that you may not necessarily know what it is you've picked up in the future.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Jastermereel · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:52 am Post subject:

Ok. So we've been at it for a while now. I'm renewing the call for feedback.

We've been through a few different types of encounters, both social and combat, and in a small variety of settings. As the next chapter is still in flux, I'm open to requests. I've got a general idea of what I'm going to throw at you and pile of notes, but if there's anything you've particularly enjoyed, now's the time for requests.

Also, how did people feel about the shopping? I'm thinking next time (provided I funnel you more wealth to make it feasible), I'm going to have a fairly decent stock of items and just let you browse through'em. This time I put something specific into your hands as it seemed a bit better than your plans and wouldn't just get drained like a set of potions would, but are there other interests? Specific items? Heck, has anyone browsed the Magic Item Compendium?

Are there any issues you'd like to address? Problems with the style thus far? I'm not a fan of flying blind. Feedback, people! Let's have some!
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Trool · Good Karma Joined: 12 Sep 2003 Posts: 1486

I've personally liked the pace so far. I especially enjoyed the calzone monster thing because it made us change up tacktics a bit. I thought the kobols were kind of easy, but I liked how the terrain played a factor in how hard they were to hit. This will sound a bit suicidal, but I think what would have made that encounter better would have been if the ones hiding in the other room would have come out in the middle of the battle and tried to flank us while miranda and anna were engaged across the room. It would have forced interesting bedlam I think.

I'd like to see more sneaking missions where my facinate and luluby things may be useful. Also it could be fun to face something we have to be more cautious and runaway/avoid instead of facing head on.

You've started to hint at it already, but it may be about time to show what the merchants we are traveling with are really about. I'm assuming it isn't something as simple as they've said so far.

Other than that I'd like to see more out of combat stuff, but that's mostly because my character is geared toward those things better, but I have enjoyed combat so far so that's not a huge deal on my end.

As for stuff to get I'm always more pro the weird things. I like the belt I have and I'm pro more things that would make niss a better support character. Other than that I don't see him trying very hard to upgrade his weapons or armor, he doesn't really think that far, just more shiny stuff

Hope that all helps.
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

Jastermereel · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:34 am Post subject:

Jastermereel · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:02 am Post subject:

Two quick questions for all in my group:

Question 1
Level Adjustment generally isn't worth it. Even the best LA+1 races become a bit of a handicap as you get into the higher levels. Being level 3 (2+1 for some) this isn't really a problem yet, but I thought I'd suggest a solution if the problem arose.

If playing strictly by the rules (and using calculated XP totals to level), those that have LA can use a "buy-off" system and remove a single level adjustment every three levels; that is, at level 3, a player with a +1 LA, could give up some of their XP and drop the penalty, count as a lower level character (level 3, instead of 3+1) and level slightly faster so as to eventually catch up to those without any LA at all.

Since we're not playing with XP totals, I was wondering how people felt about an alternate system. Some time in the future, say around level five or later, we could drop the LA and just have that duo rise to the same level as everyone else instead of being 1 behind. To compensate for the boost, the other duo could have their pick of a DM approved feat or specialized magical item.

We've got plenty of time to discuss if this would be necessary, a good idea, or at all useful; I just figured it would make sense to start talking about it before we needed to talk about it.

Thoughts? Opinions? Angry rebuttals?

Question 2

Action Points

Eberron, one of the alternate settings in the worlds of D&D introduced a new mechanic to the game and I was curious if people wanted to try it out.

Essentially, at each level you have a pool of "Action Points". You have a set small number to use (6 at level 3, for example) that, in a pinch, you could use too add a boost to a die roll you make. Essentially it's the power of being the hero of the narrative. There are various rules as to when/how you use them, but most of the time it happens by adding a single d6 to a d20 roll before you find out the result.

Say Adrian was swinging the Large Great Sword around and gets, with the BAB added in, an 18 to hit a rather menacing foe. Worried that it could delivering a killing blow if it lives, and unsure if the 18 hits, M could spend an action point, roll a d6 and add the result to the 18 before I say whether it hits or misses to help ensure that the monster dies before slaying a party member.

The rules don't look that complicated but it's another thing to keep track of, even if it's only done by granting each player a small handful of Mancala stones when they level. Does this sound at all interesting to anyone or just another nuisance to deal with?

P.S. Unlike most other rule mechanics, this one is only for PCs. Everywhere else, anything you can do as a PC, I can do as a DM, but I am barred (more or less) from using the tactic to enhance those you fight.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Jastermereel · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:21 pm Post subject:

The questions still stand, but in the unfortunate event that anyone's character should die, I found a few more background guides:

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19713850/The_Ten-Minute_Background--Post_your_characters!
http://hubpages.com/hub/Better-Roleplaying-through-DD-Character-Background-Creation
http://www.roleplayingpro.com/2009/04/01/class-based-character-backgrounds-for-dd/
http://www.roleplayingpro.com/2009/07/22/building-memorable-dd-characters-backgrounds/

If anyone does end up dead, we'll likely need to collaborate on the history more as the world becomes more defined. Hopefully we won't lose anyone in the next few sessions (though next weekend looks to be a little dangerous, what with you entering a local lord's base of operations).

In any case, I'd love to hear responses to the two questions and should see you all in nine days or so.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Jastermereel · Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 1:27 pm Post subject:

Since people seemed interested, or at least, not against the idea of Action Points, we can use them next time. You lot are in a bit of a tough spot and a slight edge might not be unwarranted. The rules are simple, and I'll try to have a way to keep track of them. Among other things, you can use them to get an extra use of some class features...including rage.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

Jastermereel · Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:55 pm Post subject:

Two things:

Marisol, could you post your character information here (as much as seems reasonable at present)?

I thought I'd also use this space for the level 5 shopping spree. I'll probably pester you individually through email and IM, but it might be good to keep track of it publicly.

Niss, you're largely settled with what you've got, are you? Naomi, you'd wanted a pack of 10 standard bolts and a healing belt like Niss has? Adrian and Marisol, what are your plans?

The DMG suggests that at level 5 you've got around 9000 of treasure. I think some of the random rolls on Saturday threw some of that out of whack a bit...so we'll see how that goes. It also suggests as follows:

Trool · Good Karma Joined: 12 Sep 2003 Posts: 1486

Yep, I'm good for now.
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

fate · Uber-Karma Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1178

Posting as requested, spell list also below. Will post picture eventually.

Marisol

1) Occupation and History -- Marisol was sold to a forced labor group by her god parents after her parents were killed in a land grab. The group largely travels between towns, hiring out the kids for labor and/or sending them out to steal and beg. She escaped from the group when she was 12 and has been surviving by begging/stealing since and odd jobs.
2) Physical description -- Short for her age, but with long wavy hair usually worn in two pigtails. She has four arms.
3) Attributes and skills (exceptional ones only) -- Can usually talk herself to a meal and a bed with various childish tall tales and lies.
4) Values and motivations -- She's mostly trying to survive and get better at her sorcerer abilities. She strives to never be helpless again.
5) Interactions with others -- She can become quite familiar with strangers in a short time. Sometimes this is service of a ulterior motive and sometimes it is genuine. She's usually energetic and has a hard time keeping to a topic of conversation. She tends to reflexively project an innocent child-like personality as a defense mechanism and can be prone to crying.
6) Useful knowledge -- Has been to a lot of towns and has some knowledge of the criminal elements relating to forced labor because of her past.
7) Distinguishing feature -- has 4 arms

Spells chosen so far:

Lvl 0
-------
Message
Prestidigitation
Mage Hand
Light
Ghost Sound
Dancing Lights

Lvl 1
-------
Mage Armor
Mount
Summon Monster I
Unseen Servant
Orb of Acid, Lesser
Orb of Electricity, Lesser
Orb of Cold, Lesser

Lvl 2
-------
Summon Monster II
Scorching Ray
False Life
Tasha's Hideous Laughter
Bear's Endurance
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People's whole lives do pass before their eyes before they die. The process is called living.

Most of the time its easier to get along with people before you get to know them.