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Angela Christine posted:Ehhhh, the crazy difficult that forces all your mans to walk in single file and never take any risks is totally optional. Play on Normal and you can have a much more fast paced, balls out game because every misstep isn't automatically fatal. Personally I find Normal more fun than the harder settings. A useful tip for XCom is that aliens won't move into overwatch willingly. So leaving some of your troops out of overwatch (but in cover) can be a good way to get them to come out so's you can shoot at them. quote:I've always wanted to take some people through the Tomb of Horrors. Playing 1st Edition straight so it's all needlessly complex. It's actually incredibly rules light; which is a good thing because Gygax wrote terrible, terrible rules so you're better off ignoring them. When I ran it I looked up the saving throw tables a few times and the combat tables, and that was it. The bulk of play is just knowing the module backwards (very important, it's compactly written and you really need to grok the way the routes fit together) and adjudicating actions. Most of the really horrible death traps are avoidable and they're nearly all kind of witty. Famously one of the original convention parties beat Acererak, in one round, by using an item they picked up in the dungeon.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:34
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sebmojo posted:It's actually incredibly rules light; which is a good thing because Gygax wrote terrible, terrible rules so you're better off ignoring them. I've always wanted to know... What is on page 38 of the AD&D First Edition Player's Handbook?
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Nov 25, 2013 21:43
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sebmojo posted:It's actually incredibly rules light; which is a good thing because Gygax wrote terrible, terrible rules so you're better off ignoring them. When I ran it I looked up the saving throw tables a few times and the combat tables, and that was it. You must have been a seriously generous DM to have to look up the saving throw tables. sebmojo posted:Famously one of the original convention parties beat Acererak, in one round, by using an item they picked up in the dungeon. Was that using the module-provided Macguffin (the one that also has a 50% chance to KYWNST*) or something clever like pulling down the sphere of annihilation statue and carrying it around with them? *Kill You With No Saving Throw. Abbreviating it saves a lot of time when discussing ToH.
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Nov 25, 2013 22:03
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DoctorTristan posted:You must have been a seriously generous DM to have to look up the saving throw tables. Yeah; I typed that but then I was trying to remember what I did it for and there might only have been one time. quote:Was that using the module-provided Macguffin (the one that also has a 50% chance to KYWNST*) or something clever like pulling down the sphere of annihilation statue and carrying it around with them? It was the crown. If you touch it with the wrong end of the sceptre it disintegrates you (so maybe what you were talking about) Another theoretical option is to grab acererak, eat the soul stealing and run him to the sphere of annihilation. While we're on ToH chat (come on, it's better than Goblins) there's a lot of cleverness in there that you don't expect. It's far from a brainless meatgrinder. quote:chart That's actually Second Edition.  My two favourite Gygax rules are (1) the elaborate adjustments for Weapon vs Armour Type that are completely unusable because AC denotes how hard you are to hit, not what your armour is made of and (2) the throwaway line on page mumblymumble of the DMG that 1 blow in 3 will be directed at the AC 10 head (so every combat roll should actually be a d20 and a d6). Looking back with my grown-rear end eyes, the Basic D&D that we all looked down on when we were 12 really is a much better game, endless lists of magic items aside.
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Nov 25, 2013 22:53
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Cat Mattress posted:I've always wanted to know... What is on page 38 of the AD&D First Edition Player's Handbook? It's the full-page table that lists length, speed factor, space required, and to-hit adjustment for every Armor Class from 2 to 10 for every weapon in the game, that Sebmojo mentions above. edited to be less snarky-sounding. maltesh fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Nov 25, 2013 |
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Nov 25, 2013 23:13
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maltesh posted:It's the full-page table that lists length, speed factor, space required, and to-hit adjustment for every Armor Class from 2 to 10 for every weapon in the game, that Sebmojo mentions above. The weird thing is that chart is potentially awesome, he just never bothered to make it usable. Rolemaster took that idea and made probably the best combat system ever with it (most of the deranged complexity in that game comes from character creation, the combat and skill use bits are actually excellent).
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Nov 26, 2013 00:00
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Angela Christine posted:Ehhhh, the crazy difficult that forces all your mans to walk in single file and never take any risks is totally optional. Play on Normal and you can have a much more fast paced, balls out game because every misstep isn't automatically fatal. Personally I find Normal more fun than the harder settings. Or Classic. Classic is totally fair. It's Impossible that's...well, a load of poo poo.
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Nov 26, 2013 00:45
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Ooooh, holiday merchandise on the website now. Always fun to look at, even if I can't justify spending money to become a walking billboard for a webcomic, that while famous in webcomic/fantasy circles, is still obscure and dorky as hell in public. The calendar's tempting though if only because one of the images references Start of Darkness.
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Nov 27, 2013 04:31
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I hope Rich is OK.
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Nov 28, 2013 13:05
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Valid, because on twitter two days ago he said he would probably have an update yesterday.
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Nov 28, 2013 14:22
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He said he "probably" would, it's not time to start panicking just yet.
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Nov 28, 2013 14:58
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I, for one, believe he should not have any thanksgiving dinner unless he updates his world wide web comic strip.
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Nov 28, 2013 15:04
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greatn posted:I, for one, believe he should not have any thanksgiving dinner unless he updates his world wide web comic strip. Well I would surely love to gobble up the next comic strip but perhaps we should just be thankful for what we've got in the first place.
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Nov 28, 2013 16:51
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No.
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Nov 28, 2013 16:53
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Speedball posted:gobble up Too close to saying "Goblins". Let's just not go down that road.
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Nov 28, 2013 16:58
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C'mon, guys, let's not baste around the bush here.
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Nov 28, 2013 17:00
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I'd imagine the reason poo poo is running behind is because of all the 2014 holiday merchandise he posted on the front page of the site a day or two ago.
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Nov 28, 2013 17:09
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What a CORPORATE SELLOUT. 
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Nov 28, 2013 18:18
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I cranberry contain my anticipation for the next comic! 
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Nov 28, 2013 18:20
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While we're waiting, we might as well read the forums to pass the time!quote:I wanted to get some feedback on this idea, I'm co-GM/PCing with a friend on a party of 7 total and I made this suggestion to the other GM, and have to make a table to show my players.
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Nov 28, 2013 18:24
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What the heck is "supernal"?
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Nov 28, 2013 18:30
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The opposite of infernal.
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Nov 28, 2013 18:43
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If we got a new comic soon, that would be just gravy.
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Nov 28, 2013 19:06
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PFlats posted:The opposite of infernal. Literally, it's basically 4E's "language of the Gods/the Planes". I don't remember if there was an equivalent in 3E.
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Nov 28, 2013 19:13
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Wasn't that called Celestial before? 
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Nov 28, 2013 19:14
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Shugojin posted:Wasn't that called Celestial before? Yeah, it's the same thing. When a god or angel speaks in 4e simplified the whole language system down to ten: Draconian (dragons), Elven, Dwarven, Giant, Goblin, Common, Deep Speech (aberrant creatures like beholders and mind flayers), Primordial (elementals), Abyssal (demons and creatures like gnolls and sahuagin), and Supernal (gods, angels, and devils). razorrozar fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Nov 28, 2013 |
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Nov 28, 2013 19:19
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Edit: ^Oh, okay. PFlats posted:The opposite of infernal. I thought that was Celestial. (Or did I just get wooshed?)
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Nov 28, 2013 19:20
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quote:When a god or angel speaks in Supestrial, the listener hears it as whatever language they're most fluent in. I am really curious about the implementation details of this language. Is it like Java? It sounds like Java.
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Nov 28, 2013 21:22
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Triple Elation posted:I am really curious about the implementation details of this language. Is it like Java? It sounds like Java.
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Nov 28, 2013 21:23
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If I could think of a less esoteric, yet still concise way to say "that's not only patently impossible, but patently impossible in an interesting way" and get across the gist of what's so interesting here, I would have used that instead.
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Nov 28, 2013 21:39
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Triple Elation posted:If I could think of a less esoteric, yet still concise way to say "that's not only patently impossible, but patently impossible in an interesting way" and get across the gist of what's so interesting here, I would have used that instead. It's magic, they ain't gotta explain poo poo.
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Nov 28, 2013 21:55
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If it was magic why isn't it just "it's a language that everyone understands" except because terrible nerds.
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Nov 28, 2013 21:56
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My Lovely Horse posted:If it was magic why isn't it just "it's a language that everyone understands" except because terrible nerds. If everyone understood it then everyone would have a way to communicate with every other thing that exists.
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Nov 28, 2013 21:58
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My Lovely Horse posted:If it was magic why isn't it just "it's a language that everyone understands" except because terrible nerds. It specifically states in the rulebook that it only has that effect when gods or angels speak it. PCs can learn and speak Supernal but it sounds like Supernal. Don't ask me where they learned what it sounds like.
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Nov 28, 2013 22:01
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I SURE HOPE NOTHING HAS HAPPENED TO RICH 
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Nov 28, 2013 22:03
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razorrozar posted:It specifically states in the rulebook that it only has that effect when gods or angels speak it. PCs can learn and speak Supernal but it sounds like Supernal. It's actually just gibberish somebody created as a joke.
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Nov 28, 2013 22:05
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3E just said "Angels have a permanent tongues effect (the universal translation spell) active at all times", end of story. I guess if you look hard enough you can find stuff that 4E made weirder.
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Nov 29, 2013 00:37
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NihilCredo posted:3E just said "Angels have a permanent tongues effect (the universal translation spell) active at all times", end of story. To be fair, calling monsters abilities by spells you have to go and look up to figure out what they do is a bit weirder than just saying "They speak Angelspeak which everyone can understand"
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Nov 29, 2013 02:27
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It's similar to the whole thing in the Christian mythology where after Pentecost the apostles who were blessed by God wandered out in front of crowds to speak and everyone could understand them no matter their country of origin and native tongue. Similarly, angels could roll up in full "glory of God" mode and communicate with everyone.
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Nov 29, 2013 05:09
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LightWarden posted:It's similar to the whole thing in the Christian mythology where after Pentecost the apostles who were blessed by God wandered out in front of crowds to speak and everyone could understand them no matter their country of origin and native tongue. Similarly, angels could roll up in full "glory of God" mode and communicate with everyone. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the inspiration.
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Nov 29, 2013 06:38
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