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 Please tell me more of Mummy Game.
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Aug 15, 2020 04:18
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Falconier111 posted:
No, I might chime in at points if there are points where the system breaks down that I feel you missed. On the other hand you may run into enough of the bad that you don't want to continue. One of the good things I can say about that group was that we weren't going to let anyone take that complication. Falconier111 posted:...I just found a complication that mechanically obliges player characters to sexually assault people they are attracted to if they fail a roll. The average starting character will fail that roll 2/3rds of the time. Yeah, Airship Pirates is sort of the nadir of bad nineties game design, in a game the came out in 2011. Plus there is Roberts' burning hatred of Environmentalism that you can already see spilling through. If you read the tie-in novel it was really apparent, though. Servetus fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Aug 15, 2020 |
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Aug 15, 2020 04:21
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. Is there anything you’d like me to cover or avoid?
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Everyone posted:I assume that since everything except Soth is basically an illusion, there are no lasting effects. Like, you can't get the "Kingpriest" to use his Exaction to call down something that can turn Ticklemop back into a normal Kender. Just like death is irrelevant, so his resurrection/empowerment. However, if you do somehow beat/kill Soth in the illusion, you can jack his poo poo. So, instead of having a "+5 Holy Avenger" he has a regular sword now. The book is a bit vague on this because he's definitely evil, but his stat line has "lawful good" with the quote marks on it so I'd rule it's up to the DM. As DM I'd say that because Soth is real and not an illusion Oathmaker is certainly able to function against him because the real Soth is Chaotic Evil. As for getting help from the Kingpriest, assuming that he would be willing to help you (maybe? you look like his attendants after all) then he can cast spells on you. However, the adventure notes that if you even try to step near the Kingpriest before he's ready to give his speech he reacts hostilely, which is a bit of a cop out. I guess the author really doesn't you to push the limits here. The Kingpriest is a fairly weak opponent unless Holy Word one shots the party, but I don't know if 2nd edition Holy Word can actually do that. Whether healing magic works permanently is never addressed, only combat stuff. So, once again, DM's call. Stealing Soth's sword works and actually won't even reset from what I can tell so that's one way of depowering him. Soth really isn't that dangerous given that he's a regular fighter in most ways, but the sword really pumps him up with 50% magic resistance and +5 to everything. Just to note, every fantasy is explicitly capable of being completed by killing Soth, but that's not as easy as it sounds. I'll go into this more tomorrow when I finish the mirrors and wrap things up, but the last mirror is a bit of a challenge.
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Aug 15, 2020 04:47
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 Conclusion Falconier111 posted:...I just found a complication that mechanically obliges player characters to sexually assault people they are attracted to if they fail a roll. The average starting character will fail that roll 2/3rds of the time. Good ol’ Lecherousness. Have to roll not to assault passers-by and get five skill points! There’s more I could say about this thing, but gently caress that. I’ve been seeing warning bells all over the place in this book, but this is less a warning bell and more the Mongols burning the town hall down. You know, just earlier today, even before I found that little gem, I was thinking, “I still like this book, but looking at it critically I keep finding troubling stuff and covering for it is making me tired and sad.” Well, now I don’t have to worry about that any more! There are good things hiding in this book, but gently caress me if I’m going to bother digging through it now. I will bring one up that I found before I really looked at Lecherousness: the skill description for seduction posted:Used when you want to persuade somebody to fall in love with you, or to lust after you, or both. A seduction skill that not only passes Jef’s Seduction Test, but makes a clear distinction between romantic and sexual attraction? Be still, my heart! Too bad it’s saddled with... well, that. Time to drag this one out back and put a bullet in its Table of Contents. Following the rules established at the start of this thread, I declare this review abandoned and available for others to continue! I guess. If you really want to. I might edit this post in the morning to expand it, but I doubt it. Thank you and good night.
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Aug 15, 2020 04:48
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That is certainly horrifying and is an extremely valid reason to stop reviewing a book.
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Aug 15, 2020 05:16
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Falconier111 posted:
Fantasy Adventure to Adult Lechery. And Friends.
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Aug 15, 2020 05:37
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Ithle01 posted:
I'm pretty sure in 2nd edition, Holy Word only affects evil creatures. Extraplanar creatures are banished, and evil creatures with under 4 HD are killed (other, less bad stuff happens to higher level creatures). Also, in regards to the Kingpriest's hostility to anybody who comes near him, remember, at this point, the Kingpriest hasn't slept in forever, is paranoid, and is convinced the forces of darkness are going to try to assassinate him before he can call down Paladine's mighty host in a holy crusade to drive out evil from Krynn. So, he's probably not his best self at this point.
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Aug 15, 2020 06:39
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Aw, I wanted to know what happens when you make Steampunk KGB Mutant Shocktrooper. Not taking up the review since DEGENESIS NEVER STOPS, and I have other ideas for when it does (some seemingly fun stuff out of itch, a wargame made entirely by dudes in trenchcoats, etc.), but I'll be reading it if someone else does (and pokes more fun at victorians)
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Aug 15, 2020 07:39
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Epicurius posted:I'm pretty sure in 2nd edition, Holy Word only affects evil creatures. Extraplanar creatures are banished, and evil creatures with under 4 HD are killed (other, less bad stuff happens to higher level creatures). Holy Word has had a few changes over the years so I wasn't sure it would work. It's probably for the best that this fight isn't a save or die. The Kingpriest's spells are actually mostly about healing and barring wall of fire or flame strike he'svery easy to defeat for his level. This the Kingpriest as Soth imagined him, which is actually all that matters. This will become clearer tomorrow with the other memory mirrors, one of which is ficticous.
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Aug 15, 2020 08:56
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Ithle01 posted:The book is a bit vague on this because he's definitely evil, but his stat line has "lawful good" with the quote marks on it so I'd rule it's up to the DM. As DM I'd say that because Soth is real and not an illusion Oathmaker is certainly able to function against him because the real Soth is Chaotic Evil. Holy Word affects evil opponents while Unholy Word affects good opponents. Presumably neither affects neutral opponents. Unless some of the PCs are actually evil, the Kingpriest's Holy Word won't affect them. It likely won't affect Soth, either because Soth is "Lawful Good" in this fantasy - which is, of course his own fantasy. Assuming Ticklemop somehow joins the PCs in this dream quest, she's 4 (+3) HD so it either kills her (booting her from the mirror) or paralyzes her for several turns (or until she gets booted from the mirror). For my part, unless the PCs use there own items/powers, I'd rule that nothing an NPC/illusion items/etc does have any affect on them in the real world unless otherwise noted (getting ripped apart by the Kingpriest's mob provokes a Fear check). So, if a PC had 28/36 HP going into a mirror and the Kingpriest cast a cure spell that fully healed him (after he helped fight Soth), the guy would still have 28/36 HP upon leaving that mirror. Now, if he drank his own Potion of Extra Healing, it would be gone but he'd likely be fully healed in the real world because the potion he used was real.
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Aug 15, 2020 12:29
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juggalo baby coffin posted:degenesis seems like it suffers from having a whole shitload of ideas that it does nothing with. theres really cool poo poo like the palers and a bunch of the backstory, but they're underdeveloped mechanically because they're sharing space with dogshit like the apocalyptics. I don't understand why. if it was focused on the palers you could have a really neat game that was a combo of fallout and paranoia with weird psychic alien fungus stuff to fight. It feels like it was written in a single sitting by a sugar'd-up 14 year old. Who then got a great artist to illustrate it... honestly the production is far more interesting than the RPG - if you check their website they even have some a full trailer/short film thing now. It feels a bit like some wealthy young Krupp heir decided to throw money at pursuing his RPG passion project
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Aug 15, 2020 14:51
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Falconier111 posted:Good ol’ Lecherousness. Have to roll not to assault passers-by and get five skill points! There’s more I could say about this thing, but gently caress that. I’ve been seeing warning bells all over the place in this book, but this is less a warning bell and more the Mongols burning the town hall down. This kind of thing is always, always terrible when it shows up. 'Lecherous' as a disadvantage is always a huge warning flag, but this sounds like the worst possible way to do something that was already a tremendously bad idea.
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Aug 15, 2020 14:59
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Age of Sigmar Lore Chat: Kharadron Overlords Steelbeard  Barak-Urbaz is the Market City, the most efficient of the six great sky-ports and by far the most obsessed with profit. The Admirals of Barak-Urbaz tend to be highly familiar with the details of the Kharadron Code, not least because they are some of the best at finding imprecisions or loopholes to exploit in the cause of making money. The Aether-Khemists of the city are known to be the finest in the Realms, having developed specialized and innovative methods to extract the maximum potential from every bit of aether-gold. Their reserves are perhaps not so great as those of Barak-Nar or Barak-Zilfin, but their ability to negotiate a winning deal has led to them being the most frequent contributors of amendments to the Code. The city is easily the most cosmopolitan of the sky-ports, despite the infamous treacherousness of its citizens. It has claims on several key cloudbanks rich in fish, making it a premier hub for food trading, and it brings in additional income by ferrying passengers and cargo around the Realms. Its cornering the market on shipping is largely due to the secret Realmgates that the Admirals Council controls, allowing them to take faster routes between worlds. However, this control of shipping isn't always a good thing for anyone else. During and after the Necroquake, many captains made a killing on transporting refugees from ruined cities by massively increasing their travel rates. This cynical price-gouging even led to what is now remembered as the Seven-Day War, in which the Freeguild of Hammerhal Aqsha attacked the fleet of Admiral Ubb Kengaz after the Kengaz abandoned several thousand passengers in Chaos-controlled territory when they ran out of money.  Barak-Mhornar, the City of Shadow, is somewhat infamous for its tolerance of piracy and smuggling. The cunning of its Admirals and their skill in ambush has won them many battles, and they're not above any tactic that gives them an advantage - even if it means flying false flags, launching preemptive attacks without formal declarations of war or mining trade routes. That even other Kharadron call them treacherous and underhanded barely matters, because they always find ways to justify their actions via the Code, or at least argue that their actions are not mentioned in it. (Many amendments came about to stop the activities of more enterprising Barak-Mhornar privateers.) Their ruthlessness has made up for their relatively small armada, and even the mightiest forces have to treat them with caution. The technical prowess of Barak-Mhornar is undeniable, however. There are many tales of their special optical arrays that can alter the color of their ships or even call down clouds of unnatural darkness. Their recent abandonment of Chamon has been the cause of much dismay and fear by the other sky-ports. All that was found in the area where it used to be was a portal of shadow magic, and to reach Barak-Mhornar now requires traveling through this gate into an archipelago of mist and floating islands. Traders are given access to the city's markets (frequently for technically illegal trading), but must be escorted through the islands by Barak-Mhornar ships. The city's actual location is guarded closely even from the Geldraad...which is probably a good idea, as both Barak-Nar and Barak-Zon have some rather pointed questions they'd like to ask, possibly after sieging the place.  Barak-Zilfin, the Windswept City, is famous for its navigators' skill in anticipating the air and aether currents of the sky. Its inhabitants wear the nickname Windmasters proudly, bragging about their fleets' ability to outmaneuver and outspeed other Kharadron to secure aether-gold before anyone else. Their crew consider their ships to be almost alive, and certainly more valuable than themselves - most Barak-Zilfin crews will start repairs on battle damage to the vessel before they even consider tending their own wounds. The shipwrights of the city agree - their work is of the highest quality, with every detail taken into account. Their construction cannot proceed at the same scale or speed as BArak-Nar, but they make up for it in quality. Each ship is a custom-made piece, a marvel of advanced endrineering with a streamlined hull and high-speed thrusters. With a good pilot and a good captain, they're practically impossible to catch in the sky. This does mean they get a lot of jealousy from other Kharadron, of course. Some say that 'Windmaster' is more about how the duardin of Barak-Zilfin never stop talking - or farting. The locals consider this hilariously obvious envy, due in no small part to their rapid growth to the second most powerful of the sky-ports on the Geldraad. They have benefited more than anyone else in the wake of the Necroquake, stealing a seat of power from Barak-Zon and avoiding major damage from the storms caused by the event due to their expert Aetheric Navigators' successful prediction of the aetheric flows.  Barak-Thryng is the City of the Ancestors, because they are the most conservative and traditional of the Kharadron. Where most of the other ports gave up the old ways of the duardin, Barak-Thryng never did. While all duardin still maintain a tendency to keep grudges, the Kharadron in large part abandoned the tradition of the Book of Grudges when they gave up worship of their ancestor-gods. Barak-Thryng maintains their Books still, keeping track of centuries worth of insults to be repaid. They are ferocious in battle and many claim their forces perform so well because they're simply too stubborn to die without taking an enemy with them. At the center of the city is the Grudgehall, where every crime or offense against Barak-Thryng by outsiders is carved on a rune-slate and added to a distict-sized library made entirely from Books of Grudges. The military is encouraged to settle these grudges whenever they can, and many carry tablets listing the worst grudges into battle with them, to ensure they do so. This is said to please the ancestor-gods, though even Barak-Thryng maintains their worship more out of tradition than faith. The ultraconservative nature of Barak-Thryng's people extends even to their view of the Kharadron Code, which they argue should never have been altered from its original form. Many refuse to recognize more recent amendments, which has earned the city a reputation for being difficult to trade with, especially given how easily they tend to take offense. They are gruff even by the standards of the Kharadron, and while they only have one delegate on the Geldraad, no member of it can remember a session in which Admiral Grymm Sternbok did not voice many, many complaints at very high volume. Their upkeep of the traditions of their people has proved a benefit to them following the Necroquake. Their aether-gold mines relied on archaic endrin-bellows, which extract the gas steadily and slowly compared to the more recent designs, but which suffer significantly less loss from waste. This allowed the city to build up a shockingly large reserve of aether-gold for emergencies, and that reserve saw them through the worst of the Necroquake with significantly less harm than might be expected. The elders of the city now take extreme joy in reminding their more wasteful cousins of this at every chance they get.  Barak-Zon, City of the Sun, is most aggressive and warlike port according to Kharadron definitions, and many outsiders disparage them as more concerned with earning medals and drilling their troops than they are with profit. The duardin of Barak-Zon counter this by saying that aggressive negotiations earn the greatest rewards and point to the city's wealth as proof. All citizens are required to train in marksmanship daily, and their Musterpress traditions are extremely rigorous and demanding, ensuring that only the strongest and most ferocious recruits join the Arkanaut companies. Despite this, they don't focus on raw power in combat. Instead, their calling card is accuracy of fire and heavy infantry support. Aerial deployment of their soldiers right onto enemy forces minimizes damage to their ships and allows their guns to be used to maximum effect. The greatest honor they bestow is the Ironstar, a medal granted only for acts of distinctive valor. Given the bravery expected from Barak-Zon infantry, it takes a lot to earn an Ironstar. Barak-Zon is the oldest sky-port, and its name comes from the fact that Hysh's light causes it to glow red when seen at a distance due to the metals used in its construction. It has fourteen triumphal arches celebrating its military victories, and the locals love to celebrate their fallen heroes - the greatest of which is Admiral Nelriksson, champion of the Battle of Tungsten Peaks. In addition to their mining efforts, the fleets of Barak-Zon are happy to hire out as mercenaries, facing down ghosts and daemons in exchange for trade agreements or mining rights. Other sky-ports look down on them for this, but it's proven quite profitable. The 37th Expeditionary Sky-fleet recently sailed under Admiral Caber Rasmus to assist the Freeguild at the Siege of Fort Talburnia, launching a counterattack against the Spiderfang tribes of the grot Zigtik Seven-legs. Of the two hundred Grundstok Thunderers sent on the mission, only eighteen servived, but each was granted an Ironstar for their service.  Barak-Nar, the City of the First Sunrise, remains the wealthiest and most politically powerful of the sky-ports, but it has suffered greatly after the Necroquake. It maintains its power now by funneling its great wealth into a massive expeditionary drive, seeking out ever greater veins of aether-gold. Its power comes from the simple fact that it has been on the cutting edge of aethermatic development and scientific progress for decades, especially when it comes to mining and weapons development. They love using new weaponry and innovative techniques to overwhelm and baffle rivals and enemies alike, and have recently put a lot of funding behind anti-magic research. They have found that precise application of highly refined aether-gold fired from their cannons can render a spell inert, and they're very happy to take advantage of it. The people of Barak-Nar are very practical sorts and have no time for superstition. They were the first to open trade with non-duardin, and their aggressive pursuit of that trade led them to great wealth along well-defended trade routes. They even mark their trade routes with zonbeks, lighthouse-forts that maintain a permanent guard, rather than relying solely on patrol ships. Their great losses in the Necroquake may have cost them a seat on the Geldraad, but that has just led to even more trade deals being made and more efforts to push into the unexplored reaches of Chamon to find new routes, new veins and new opportunities. Next time: A top hat with a literal stove pipe.
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Aug 15, 2020 15:19
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I would tell you a story, if you would listen. Once upon a time, humans came to a world called the Saturnyn on a bridge made of lightning. They spread across the world to many places, but many settled on a continent called Morden and claimed their own lands: sophisticated Manreia, home of thinkers and traders; Steppengrad, the mighty empire of the cold north; Hebron, with its scholars and artists; Hyphrates, its deserts broken by mighty rivers; Caer Kainen, its mountain clans proud and free; and Valkenholm, where forests grew strong and men grew stronger. In time, they formed new kingdoms in the islands beyond the coast and the Outlands along the Darkwall Peaks, which no one had ever crossed, and when Steppegrad shattered Remus, a peaceful nation of philosophers and athletes, the Enochian Church emerged to bind them together and through its gospel of peace and knowledge to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. They fought and feuded and bickered and hated, but for all that their lands remained strong. And one day the Witches came over the Darkwall Peaks, bringing nightmare armies with them. Until then, magic had been a myth and witches a product of superstition, and yet their army ravaged the Outlands until nothing was left and laid siege to the nations of the interior. The nations drew up all their armies and marched to war, but found themselves foiled at every turn, and so determined to the mysterious Fae; the malicious and strange Unseelie ignored their efforts, but the less hostile Seelie, who wept at the ruins the Witches made of nature, offered their aid. The allied Fae lured a Witch at the head of a mighty army into their otherrealm, the Summerlands, before revealing the collected armies of Morden and their true colors. And something happened and the Summerlands vanished, taking all those armies with it. The leaders of Morden’s war effort were gone, as were the bulk of their armies. The survivors lacked the force to resist. The Witches had won. But the Djinn, the Witch at the head of that army, had vanished too. Before then no Witches had even suffered injuries in combat; now one of their number may as well have died. The war won, their invincibility no longer assured, those Witches not assigned to rule a conquered nation returned across the mountains and left their colleagues to dissolve their army. The Banes, the bulk of it, products of foul magic and weapons of war, remained in service as servants of their dark masters; the mercenaries they hired, men from the distant lands of Nordheim and the Sakurada Shogunate promised silver, blood, and land, were demobilized and either returned home or turned to banditry. But the Accursed, their generals and elite soldiers, humans made monsters and bound to the wills of their Witches, found their masters’ attentions slipping. A few broke free and left, hoping to find at least a chance of freedom. What remained of the Enochian Church (suppressed in most lands at the order of the Witches) created the Order of the Penitent for those Accursed who wish to fight back. While they offer little aside from shelter, organization, and some cursory support, they impose no limits of type or history or even creed; all they ask is a commitment to protecting what remains of society from the ravages of the Witches. Only you can say why you joined the Order. Maybe you wish to strike back; maybe, having found no succor among friends and family who no longer recognize you, you hope to find acceptance; maybe you wish to search for a way to become human again, or a way to fully master your curse. Maybe you had nothing better to do, or nowhere else to go. But you know that siding with them is the only way forward for one of the… 
Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Aug 16, 2020 |
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Aug 15, 2020 16:09
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Night10194 posted:This kind of thing is always, always terrible when it shows up. 'Lecherous' as a disadvantage is always a huge warning flag, but this sounds like the worst possible way to do something that was already a tremendously bad idea. It's a warning flag but to me more of a "use carefully as intended" warning. The dude (and it's almost always a dude) who lets his dick talk him into trouble is a pretty standard adventure trope. It doesn't mean "license/requirement to rape." Played correctly it should give somebody the same general difficulty as something like "Greed." You're Greedy. You like getting money. That can distract in difficult situations or give an NPC a way to manipulate you tht they otherwise wouldn't have. That doesn't (or shouldn't) mean you're committing robbery-homicide all over the place. Honestly, with stuff like this, I'd take a page from Dave Morris running GURPS and just disallow mental disadvantages except as role-playing quirks. Either that or do what I really liked about the NWoD 1.0 Flaws. They didn't give points at character creation. Instead, if one of them came up in a significant way (and the GM decided how significant something was) during an RPG session you got an extra XP for having to deal with it. I F-loved that as a GM because that took the onus off me to remember to inflict various flaws on the PCs and put on them to decide when and if the problem showed up.
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Aug 15, 2020 16:29
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Yeah. No. In practice this kind of demerit is almost always used as an excuse for a player to creep on the DM's NPCs or other players, or a DM uses it to force the player into unwanted and awkward scenarios instead of letting the player decide when to engage with it. Can someone play it responsibly? Yes, but we're talking about the tabletop gaming community - which does not have a good track record for this.
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Aug 15, 2020 16:38
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Robindaybird posted:Yeah. No. Agreed. These kinds of flaws never result in good situations, and it's best to just leave them out.
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Aug 15, 2020 16:39
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Wasn't Accursed co-developed by forumsgoer Croatian Alzheimers?
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Aug 15, 2020 18:09
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Make a Tracking check to see if you pick up the trail of The Deck of Encounters Set Two Part 37: The Deck of Griffons and Gynophobia 187: Horse Thief The PCs are camped in a hilly area, and a Ranger can make an INT-8 check to determine that the ground has been grazed upon recently. Not the Animal Handling NWP, not the Teamster Secondary Skill, not being a Druid - only an incredibly difficult INT check from a Ranger. #AD&DSkillSystem Anyway, they see a rider in the distance who turns and rides off. Later they meet more riders bearing the local Baron’s coat of arms. The leader places the PC under arrest for stealing the king’s horses. I guess they’re supposed to be hauled in front of the Baron himself, who has heard of the PCs and is inclined to trust them, but also says he’ll arrest them unless they find the true culprits because ???? Then the card jumps to the crime scene, which has no description at all. “A ranger, or someone with proficiency in tracking,” (aside: Rangers get proficiency in Tracking for free, so you don’t actually have to specify the ranger part) can see signs of a struggle and follow a light blood trail up to a nest of 10 griffons in the nearby rocky hills. So… an unspecified number of the king’s horses were being kept somewhere or other but not being watched by anybody, and were snatched by a flying predator famous for eating horses, and the baron doesn’t keep a ranger-type on the payroll, and the military is pretty sure the horses were stolen by travelling murderhobos with good reputations who do not have the horses with them, or maybe the Baron is just trying to get them to do dirty work on his behalf? That last idea is cute, but not actually implied in the slightest. And if you ran with it, all you’ve really done is created a state of war between the party and this random Baron. Pass. 188: A Taste for Horse Meat There’s some flavor text here with elves (with their elf-ears) hearing distant wings and stuff, but basically twelve griffons dive down to eat the PCs’ horses while they’re camped out. They really don’t pay any attention to the humanoids unless they’re attacked, in which case, well, twelve angry griffons are bad news. I mean, it’s slightly jerky on the part of the DM, but I like that letting the griffons eat the horses is a perfectly valid option - I would even expect that most or all of the equipment could be salvaged, because griffons only care about horseflesh. And heroic intervention or quick thinking on the part of the PCs might be able to avert disaster. Keep. 189: Never Trust Your Eyes “The PCs are searching for a witch who lives in the swamp, who can give them the next clue to locating the treasure they seek.” Yes, I’m sure that will be EXACTLY the case when I draw the card out of the deck. They find a rundown shack inhabited by a The hag will drop her disguise and ambush the representative when they come in. You fool, trusting a beautiful woman in a Deck of Encounters card! Oh, and because of the premise, this card isn’t usable as a random encounter. So pass for my purposes anyway. 190: Beware of the Song The PCs are on a ship going down the coast. A storm is brewing, so they’re sticking closer to the coast than usual in case they need to beech it. Then they pass by some cliffs, get hit by harpy song, and the crew turn the ship to crash into the reef unless they’re stopped. Once the ship sinks in the (rather shallow) water, the eight harpies come and try to swoop down and pick off survivors. If you’re cool with harpies (and I understand if you’re not because they’re an entire species of evil, unattractive women with a charm effect and uh yeah), this is a straightforward use of them. Myself, I might make harpies less gendered in my game but keep the general encounter. . 191: Walk Along the Beach The PCs see some sunken ships off a cliff-y coastline. “Further along the beach is a sea cave,” with bones and an odor. Eight harpies live inside - if the PCs ignore the cave the harpies will eventually come after them, but if they leave their animals behind and sneak in they can catch the harpies off-guard and keep them from flying away. Keep if I’m prepared to roll up some random treasure for those sunken ships. And if I’m still cool with harpies. P.S. Eight harpies again? Exactly eight?
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Aug 15, 2020 18:50
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Not answered is why on Earth a ranger would be... checking a patch of grass to see if it's been grazed recently??
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Aug 15, 2020 19:01
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Age of Sigmar Lore Chat: Kharadron Overlords British Capitalism Dwarf  Lord-Magnate Brokk Grungsson is the shining star of the Kharadron privateer - self-made, proud of it, and both daring and vicious in pursuit of wealth. Brokk is a Lord-Magnate and Admiral of Barak-Nar, and thus far the only Admiral to successfully lead a fleet around the Horn of Chamon, a feat of airmanship that would terrify any duardin less bold. He won at the Battle of Stratis Skull, where he led the united fleets of the Kharadron as High Admural in breaking the siege of Barak-Zon. He was born to a pair of dockworkers, but his ambitions led him to enroll in the academies of the Arkanauts, and his bold strategies, tactical expertise and ruthlessness helped him climb the ranks easily. He became a Captain within a mere decade, and his victory over Orruk pirates at Madralta raised him to Lord-Magnate. He's used his fame to acquire a truly massive fortune of aether-gold shares. Brokk's money has fueled the creation of his custom dirigible suit, hand-crafted by Master Endrineer Durek Coghammer, one of the top craftsmen of Barak-Zilfin. It is a powerful exo-suit that lets Brokk fly and is also armed with a number of highly advanced weapons. He has moustache-mounted aetherblasters, a multi-barrel rotating gun named the Magnet's Charter and the huge cannon Grungsson's Boast. Brokk is not a timid man, and in battle he loves taking to the air himself to take on the greatest threat among the enemy at the head of his Skyriggers. He tends to leave general orders with his ships beforehand to enact his plans as he fights personally. Other Arkanaut Admirals lead their fleets from a chosen flagship, though that'll still have its own captain taking the helm. Becoming an Admiral takes great success in business and battle, and pretty much every Admiral is a skilled veteran of war, boarding actions and aerial bombing runs. Most Admirals begin their careers as newly recruited Arkanauts and must work their way up through the ranks, building a wide knowledge of the jobs needed to keep a ship running - from janitorial work to aeronautic piloting. To rise from Captain to Admiral, they must also pass an exam that covers both theoretical and practical tests and ends with a final hearing before their home port's Admirals Council. If the council agrees by majority vote, the new Admiral is confirmed as an expert on the Kharadron Code, aerial tactics and ships. Arkanaut Admirals are always skilled leaders, able tacticians and quite at home in a planning room...but many are still forward leaders, because you don't get respect from the Kharadron by cowardice. They do use their vast wealth to get themselves extremely well-made Arkanaut armor and powerful generators to fuel their aethermatic skalfhammers, which strike hard enough to smash boulders. They also usually carry a sidearm like a multi-barreled pistol. Below the Admirals are the warrant officers of the fleet. Endrinmasters are proven technicians and masters of aetherochemical weapons. They are senior members of the Endrineers Guild, tasked to maintain entire skyships. They are quite proud of their work, and tend to be very eager to demonstrate how good the ships they care for are. They're very good at even complex field repair, and they also have to learn to use their tools to fight. Many are armed with aethermight hammers, weapons so large and heavy that they can be lifted only with a strength-boosting endrinharness incorporated into their armor. Others favor fine manipulators and drills they can use to perform precise repairs or tear enemies to bits, or wield heavy aethercannons. All of them, though, have a God's Eye, a set of lenses incorporated into their helmets that shoot lasers. Most fleets have an Endrinmasters on their flagship, but others may also join a fleet to oversee the rest of the ships. They often use dirigible harnesses to fly around and make field repairs in battle, heading around on their single-user endrins at speed.  The Aetheric Navigators make atmospheric maps, chart courses and read wind currents. They serve as the guides for an entirely fleet, and no Admiral will take their advice lightly. Only the stupidest, most foolhardy fleet would set off into hostile territory without a skilled Navigator to help their trip. The Navigators' suits are equipped with an immense number of multispectral lenses attuned to the winds of magic, allowing them to visualise the normally invisible aetheric flows. They also have barometric pressure readers and other such tools to help them plot out courses between aetheric hazards safely. They can even use their machinery to influence the motion of the winds, speeding up their ships or slowing foes by repurposing the gales. They can also tap into the aether to disrupt magic. Aetheric Navigators are not wizards and have no magical power, but they understand the science of aetheric flow and how to disrupt the winds of magic, putting out spells before they can manifest. This is very useful in battle, and to make sure they get a chance to do it, they also carry heavy pistols. Aether-Khemists are vital to any prospector fleet, thanks to their ability to trace hidden veins of aether-gold in the clouds. Their armor includes many devices to aid this quest, such as the quadbreather (which also protects them from gas attacks). They may be primarily researchers and prospectors, but they're also ready to go to war alongside their fleets, because there's always a chance for battle to claim a vein. Their suits are able to draw in gases to help harvest and assess the air around them...but that can also be turned to sucking air from enemy lungs or spraying clouds of stored poisonous chemicals. (This is also followed by a defeaning boom, earning the weapon the name of the Roar of Grungni.) Their equipment's also pretty handy for hitting people with. That said, the Aether-Khemists tend to prefer having Arkanauts around to help them clear out enemies. Their atomisers support these bodyguards, able to fire special chemical clouds that enhance the blasts of other Kharadron weapons, granting them additonal abilit to pierce armor. Next time: Ships.
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Aug 15, 2020 19:02
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I wasn't aware catbirds operated primarily in swarms.
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Aug 15, 2020 19:17
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BinaryDoubts posted:Not answered is why on Earth a ranger would be... checking a patch of grass to see if it's been grazed recently?? I'm assuming that the ranger isn't really checking it and the INT-8 check reflects that this is just something he/she happens to notice. Presumably anyone specifically check if various patches of grass have been grazed upon would be able to fall back their various professions/secondary skills/being a Druid/etc. Night10194 posted:I wasn't aware catbirds operated primarily in swarms. As I understand it, they do so at the directive of their queen, who rules from a throne called "The Catbird Seat." I am a terrible human being. You should know this.
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Aug 15, 2020 19:25
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Everyone posted:It's a warning flag but to me more of a "use carefully as intended" warning. The dude (and it's almost always a dude) who lets his dick talk him into trouble is a pretty standard adventure trope. It doesn't mean "license/requirement to rape." Played correctly it should give somebody the same general difficulty as something like "Greed." You're Greedy. You like getting money. That can distract in difficult situations or give an NPC a way to manipulate you tht they otherwise wouldn't have. That doesn't (or shouldn't) mean you're committing robbery-homicide all over the place. Sexual harassment is not actually a fun character quirk and I really wish you would stop excusing people including it in their games.
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Aug 15, 2020 19:54
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Leraika posted:Sexual harassment is not actually a fun character quirk and I really wish you would stop excusing people including it in their games. Wish granted because I never actually started doing that. There is a difference between desire/want and action. A person with the Lechery Flaw is not required to manifest it as sexual harassment. It's much the same way that someone with the Greedy Flaw need not manifest it via theft or fraud. For my own part, I tend to follow the Dave Morris example of disallowing most mental/psychological flaws in terms of giving character creation points. Really I've become disinclined to run most games with Flaws give extra build points because it just makes work for me. If a GM wants to include Lecherous, there's a way to do it responsibly, but it's probably not worth the trouble/work/possible grossness in terms of the role-playing value it gives. For any game I run or play in, Rule #1 should be "Have fun." Players or GMs being uncomfortable very much detracts from fun.
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Aug 15, 2020 20:20
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Everyone posted:Wish granted because I never actually started doing that. There is a difference between desire/want and action. A person with the Lechery Flaw is not required to manifest it as sexual harassment. It's much the same way that someone with the Greedy Flaw need not manifest it via theft or fraud. Here’s the quote from Airship Pirates (with links to definitions to maximize clarity): Lecherous description posted:You harass somebody you find attractive – when you’re not trying to outright grope them, you still can’t resist making lewd and inappropriate comments. Make 1 success on an Average Resolve roll to resist succumbing to such urges. While the wording implies a character with this complication should preferably attempt to commit sexual assault on a failed roll, it states that on a failure a character cannot resist sexually harassing the person who triggers the roll. Also, while it is possible to interpret this complication as only occurring occasionally if you want to be generous with the wording, the writing on complications elsewhere in this chapter consistently tells us complications should always be in effect, no matter the circumstances. In other words, PCs with this complication must at least sexually harass characters they find attractive if they fail the roll. That isn’t terribly ambiguous 
Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Aug 15, 2020 |
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Aug 15, 2020 22:01
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Night10194 posted:I wasn't aware catbirds operated primarily in swarms. "Clowderflocks," technically.
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Aug 15, 2020 23:06
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Falconier111 posted:Good ol’ Lecherousness. Have to roll not to assault passers-by and get five skill points! There’s more I could say about this thing, but gently caress that. I’ve been seeing warning bells all over the place in this book, but this is less a warning bell and more the Mongols burning the town hall down. You know, just earlier today, even before I found that little gem, I was thinking, “I still like this book, but looking at it critically I keep finding troubling stuff and covering for it is making me tired and sad.” Well, now I don’t have to worry about that any more! Not singling you out in particular, just an in general thing: if a thing is doing bad poo poo, you don't have to, and shouldn't cover for it. Just be honest, say there are bits you like and what those are and why, while also pointing out the really bad poo poo. It's fine to think a game has one really neat idea in and sharing that with everybody while pointing out that everything else about it is a terrible mess. It's fine to think a game is almost good, except for all the bad poo poo. It's also fine to stop reviewing a thing if it has something you really don't want to talk about!
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Aug 15, 2020 23:20
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Falconier111 posted:Here’s the quote from Airship Pirates (with links to definitions to maximize clarity): Well, gently caress that noise with a rusty chainsaw. I despise Flaws/etc. that abrogate free will - especially ones that abrogates one's will to choose to, well, not be a lovely person. For my part, I wasn't talking about the specific flaw of Lechery from the Airship Pirates game so much as that kind of Flaw in multiple games. As a GM I'd either remove it or heavily modify it (or just not run that game in the first place). As a player, I wouldn't take that Flaw and also discourage others from taking it. If nothing else, I'd just leave the game because I wouldn't want one of my team mates to sexually harass people. For me a Flaw (or Merit) should mostly modify a character's ability to act as they choose. So, for me, a take on Lechery would be something like "take a penalty on all actions while the "hot person" is in the area - including checks to seduce said hot person because obvious Horndogs are kinda gross." With Phobias it'd be pretty much the same thing. The point is that the "compelling situation" doesn't force you to run (or rape). It should just screw with your ability to deal with other stuff while you're in its presence. Everyone fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Aug 15, 2020 |
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Aug 15, 2020 23:38
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Everyone posted:Well, gently caress that noise with a rusty chainsaw. I despise Flaws/etc. that abrogate free will - especially ones that abrogates one's will to choose to, well, not be a lovely person. I was thinking about how to do this like a Fate-style trait, like a character receives bennies or fate points or what have you if they flirt or hit on someone and maybe get a bonus if the target character actually reciprocates.
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Aug 16, 2020 00:05
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When Black Roses Bloom, part four, the end. Okay, last time I covered the rules for the mirror fantasies and the first three mirrors. This will be the last of the three mirrors and also the conclusion to the module. Unfortunately, the adventure doesn't really have a great ending and things just sort of peter out after you wake Soth up. I can't think of anything else to say here - I don't think I missed anything - so let's get started. Mirror Four: The Conquest of Palanthas This fantasy actually occurred well after Soth died and was part of the Dragonlance novels. In this fantasy Soth is storming the city of Palanthas with the dragon armies, he will fight and defeat Tanis Half-Elven, and from Tanis's corpse claim the crown of power. Flying castles and dragons float overhead while the streets are filled with battles between draconians and the defenders of Palanthas, it's a pretty cool setup and the PCs take on the roles of defenders of Palanthas. Shortly after you arrive you meet Tanis who summons you to his side and requests you help him in the battle. Not long after that, Soth shows up with some draconians, challenges Tanis to single combat, kills him, and seizes the crown. The crown of power worn by Tanis ought to grant him great power, but he refuses to use it because it's evil or some dumb nonsense. Soth is not so handicapped and will make full use of it, but here's the thing: Soth doesn't actually know what the crown does because he never got to wear it in Dragonlance. So, instead, it works based on how Soth imagines it should. This means it gives some protection from low level spells because it projects a constant globe of invulnerability and you can cast a couple weaker offensive spells like magic missile, ray of enfeeblement, or shout. I don't know what the original crown did because the last time I read this was over twenty five years ago. I think it saved Tanis from getting finger of death'd by Soth. The weirdest part of this fantasy is that in it Soth is both alive and looking like his idealized mustachioed & fabulous blond haired self. Another thing I feel like I should mention here is that it is very likely that the PCs will end up fighting some draconians at some point and as everyone who played Dragonlance knows, draconians usually have some sort of gently caress-you death effect. In this fantasy we're fighting Kapak-brand draconians that have paralytic poison saliva which they can coat their blades with and also they dissolve in acid when they die. Remember how I said damage inflicted to PCs in the mirrors is erased, but their gear isn't so lucky? Well, guess what, when these assholes die the acid pools they leave behind destroy any gear that lands in it like in Aliens. Spoilers: You need to keep Soth from both killing Tanis and capturing the crown of power. Tanis can be talked out of fighting Soth or he can be kidnapped and hidden if you want, but you have to keep him safe 1 hour. This is a totally arbitrary time limit given what I've said previously about mirror fantasies being weird with time. For some reason the game assumes you'll do the 'nice' thing. I have no idea if killing Tanis yourself spoils the fantasy, but it probably should because this is actually a matter of honor for Soth given that Tanis is banging Soth's crush. Speaking of which, Kitiara doesn't show up here except as an off-hand remark that Tanis delivers when he says he fights for her love (this is totally out of the blue, Soth hasn't even shown up yet to hear this so he literally created an illusionary Tanis talking to himself). In the event you interfere in Soth's fantasy he'll stop fighting fair and start cheating, like bringing his draconian goons into the duel with Tanis. In the event a PC ends up wearing the crown it takes a few rounds to adjust to you, but you can freely use its powers. Overall, I'm not really a fan of this, the setup is cool but I don't think there's much to do here. Maybe someone more creative than I can come up with some shenanigans though. Mirror Five: Kitiara's Contest Unlike the other five mirrors this mirrors is a total work of fiction. In this mirror Kitiara is very visible and present in her role as high dragon lord of the blue dragon flight. Kitiara has just emerged victorious from the Dragon Wars and is holding a contest to determine whom she will marry while she rules over her newly conquered lands. Naturally, Soth will emerge the victor and claim the prize. When the PCs arrive they take on the forms of knightly challengers in full kit (as I said before, this is an illusion and your gear is whatever you brought in). As you head towards the pavilions the contest is being brought to a close. Soth is battling the last challenger, the unremarkable lord Pal, who Soth dispatches with a sneak attack when Pal turns his head to acknowledge Kitiara's declaration that the winner of this match will win her hand in marriage. Right after this moment Soth is getting ready to declare himself the winner, but Kitiara points to the PCs and informs Soth that new challengers have arrived. Soth is pissed because he just wants to get to the fun part of the marriage in Kitiara's bed and will try to fight each PC (one at a time) as quickly and under-handedly as possible. If you refuse to fight you get pelted with rotten fruit by the squires in attendance, but that's all. If you try to gang up on Soth then Kitiara joins in and she's a 14th level fight, but her stats do not reflect this and you can take her down. However, once Kitiara joins so does her dragon Skie. Skie is a blue dragon and will gently caress you up. Do not fight Skie. That being said, the book notes that you can talk to Skie if you get a chance and he actually knows some things about Soth and Krynn, just nothing negative about Soth because Soth made sure to edit those details out. Skie is also lazy and stuffed with dead knights so he prefers not to fight unless he has to or you attack Kitiara. Spoilers: Defeat Soth in single combat (possible, you can wear him down), kill Kitiara (also possible, she only has 42hp, but she has AC 0 and 14th level fighter saving throws). You can also 'cheat' to help lord Pal win against Soth if you show up early enough. How you do so is up to you, but Pal is outmatched and will need real help. Other than that this fantasy has very little going on because it's a complete work of fiction and is the most like a holodeck type adventure. Once you leave the four pavilions of the contest there's just flat emptiness and if you keep going it ejects you from the mirror. As written this is probably my least favorite because it's a bit too one-dimensional and I feel like if it was expanded to a whole day long tournament with stuff going on it would be more fun. or maybe if you just didn't arrive at literally the last second of the tournament. However, that's a lot to put in to one adventure so I understand why the authors would keep it short. I could get a lot of mileage out of this if my players were so inclined to enjoy it. One thing I found amusing is that it if you kill Kitiara Soth and Skie go full rage mode and the book talks about PCs booking it as fast as possible to the exit three thousand feet away. But! This is a mirror fantasy. You can just let them kill you. It doesn't matter. Mirror Six: Soul Search Soth is re-enacting the events where his squire traveled to Takhisis's domain in the Outer Planes and captured her soul in the gem where it currently resides. However, Soth is replacing his squire / traitorous seneschal Caradoc (you might remember him from mirror #2) with himself in this fantasy. Apparently, there's some confusion about where Takhisis's domain actually is. It's not in The Abyss, but rather the first layer of Baator. I could give less than a poo poo about this nerd slap fight nonsense over fake D&D canon, but I guess it's here for people who are really concerned about where we are pretending to pretending to be. The fantasy encompasses one room filled with, and surrounded by, damned souls. Our PCs will take on the appearance of the tormented dead when they enter which means you all look like indistinguishable globs. Unfortunately, this is really inconvenient because you are totally incorporeal (Soth is not) and cannot actually physically interact with anything. So, I guess that means a fight is likely out of the question, barring killing Soth exclusively with spells. Once again, despite being dead for centuries Soth appears as a knightly adonis. Unlike the other mirrors this fantasy is really quick to resolve. Soth walks in by ascending to your location via some stairs, calls out to Kitiara's ghost, traps it in the black gem, and then leaves. The gem is embedded in the medallion that Tickelmop shows you - assuming you don't just pry it from her cold dead hands after dispatching the blood-sucking parasite. This whole thing resolves itself in a total of 3d4 rounds. Ready. Set. Go! Spoilers: Soth doesn't capture Kitiara's ghost in the medallion or he doesn't leave with it. If you destroy it, steal it, or throw the medallion over the edge of the platform you're on then you win. However, remember, you are totally incorporeal and basically need a magic user with the exact spell setup to get this done. gently caress you thieves! Should have played a wizard. No specific words are written saying that you can let yourself be captured instead of Kitiara's spirit, but it's heavily implied. In theory this ought to work in if your PC can act convincingly like her (or at least her ghost) given that in this realm all spirits appear as indistinguishable blobs of ectoplasm and Soth can't tell you apart. The End? Almost. Now that you've tarnished all six of his memory mirrors Soth wakes up and hol-ee poo poo he is pissed. If you or your potential helpers, Azrael or Tickelmop, point out the conditions outside the Nedraagard Keep then Soth doesn't immediately kill you. Instead he just yells at you for waking him up, (correctly) points out that Sithicus is a poo poo hole designed to torment him, and then calls for his guards to give you the bum's rush so you can "die with the rest of Sithicus". There are two ways you can avoid this. One, convince him that there is a portal to Krynn in Sithicus. This is technically true and related to Magda's prophecy. More on that later. Two, Kitiara. Soth's obsession with her means that he cares if his domain falls apart and as we all know the best way to break a nerd's video game addiction is to convince him he'll get laid if he leaves his basement. Showing Soth Tickelmop's medallion is a sure way to get his attention and we'll skip past all the other options to move onto that one because that's clearly how you're supposed to resolve this (the other options can be summarized as 'dick around, do nothing' or 'get conscripted and search for Kitiara's ghost'). Kitiara's ghost is stuck in the soul gem buried in wolf poo poo in a cave near Kendralind which is a small village of twenty five kender vampires. Because they're vampires the kender-vamps are immune to the mind fugue affecting everyone else, but have no idea where to search for what you're looking for. This is because the wolf lair with the gem is in the middle of a large shimmerweed patch and kender vampires are allergic to shimmerweed. In other words, the kender are totally useless in this scenario, slaughter them at your whim. In the event you decide to cleanse these abominations from existence kender vampires are worth a measly 120xp each meaning that even in their death they manage to rob you of your rightfully earned experience points. Actually, let me check my Ravenloft MM's, maybe one of them has more info (edit: I'll add this in later). Now that Soth is out the memory mirrors the elves of this land are starting to remember who they are again, so if you want you can also interrogate the elves you met at the start of the adventure, the ones who were being tortured and murdered by Azrael (part one). One of these elves will know the rough location of the cave or if they're all dead one of their siblings will show up and drop this hint on you. However you get to the wolves' lair it doesn't matter. There are five wolves and after a short and totally unnecessary fight you clear them out. A search of the cave turns up the black sapphire with Kitiara's spirit trapped inside. Enter Soth. Once you find the gem Soth materializes, he's been following you with shadow walk, and promises to reward you for your effort. If you try to bargain with him for the gem he threatens to kill you and the Vistani woman Magda, who he has brought here along with his skeleton warriors. I'm not sure why Soth thinks of her as leverage and she is only here so she say some dumb stuff about her prophecy. If you give it to Soth he's actually grateful, but any reward is going to be cut short by what happens next. In the event you are dumb enough to fight Soth he will make short work of the party because he's a death knight and this is an adventure for levels 4-6. However, as long as he's winning he'll fight honorably and won't focus on downed combatants so there's a chance you can live, just badly wounded. Once Soth has the gem it unfurls like a rose bloom and shatters into petal-like fragments, releasing Kitiara. Kitiara is exactly the woman we're all expecting and she immediately rejects Soth. Hard. She goes on to say that although she's trapped here with him Soth will never have her and at that moment a flock of birds arrive (they're heavily foreshadowed, I've been failing to mention this), snatch the fragments, and fly in all directions. The prophecy-birds start shrieking "Through Dark Lord" (this is also foreshadowed, in the mirror fantasies) and your party is given the hint that Soth's armor, now glowing red, has become a portal from Sithicus to Krynn. As I said, there is a portal to Krynn in Ravenloft, it's Soth himself. If Tickelmop is alive she charges through it in case the players are really dense. Good luck in Krynn Tickelmop! I'm sure being a vampire there will be so much better than being a vampire in Ravenloft. Soth tries to snatch as many fragments of the gem as he can, but fails. After this he falls apart (emotionally) and slumps down into the glade weeping for the next 24 hours. This is your cue to get the gently caress out of Sithicus if you haven't already escaped. Magda is already doing so and she plans on gathering her tribe and getting out of the land. Anyone who escaped to Krynn winds up in the real Draagard Keep. I think it's infested with undead so out of the frying pan and into the fire. Anyone still in Ravenloft should think about leaving Sithicus and never coming back because now Soth is obsessed with collecting the gem fragments all over his realm so he can get revenge on / be with his ex-girlfriend. Soth will never use the memory mirrors again for fear that part of Sithicus will dissolve and he'll lose a gem fragment. Congratulations, that's it. Okay, so, the ending is a bit weak. There's very little room for players to interact, which is fairly normal for every part of this on the rails adventure that isn't inside Nedraagard Keep or a memory mirror. At this point you either move on to the original quest that dragged you into Soth's drama or you're on Krynn and this is supposedly an upgrade? Honestly, Dragonlance sounds like a real bad place to be these days and this adventure was written before the weird Chaos Gem poo poo that ended the setting. You're probably safer in Ravenloft all told. parting thoughts: The rewards from this adventure are way higher than they should be if you're ganking banshees and stealing their stashes. Xp-wise this is also true. Some monsters give very little to no reward, the mirrors give explicitly none, but banshees are worth a truck load (4000xp each) and if you can fight them in the day when they can't wail then you can make a tidy sum. Skeleton warriors are worth 3,000xp each and if you fight them in one at a time or in small groups that's a good reward vs. risk. Material rewards also include a sizeable amount of cash from the temple of Paladine and the Soth's vault in addition to the other rewards. Ithle01 fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Aug 16, 2020 |
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Aug 16, 2020 00:24
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EthanSteele posted:Not singling you out in particular, just an in general thing: if a thing is doing bad poo poo, you don't have to, and shouldn't cover for it. Just be honest, say there are bits you like and what those are and why, while also pointing out the really bad poo poo. It's fine to think a game has one really neat idea in and sharing that with everybody while pointing out that everything else about it is a terrible mess. It's fine to think a game is almost good, except for all the bad poo poo. I pointed out the messed up stuff I encountered in the thread. That was hyperbole  That said, you bring up an important point: when analyzing a game (or anything, really), it’s possible for good things to coexist with bad things seamlessly. Trying to be completely objective is a fool’s errand because human brains don’t work that way, but it’s important not to let your opinions on the game overall taint your ability to evaluate it. Like, I really appreciated how that seduction skill was downright progressive, but I’m not going digging for other gems after that.
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Aug 16, 2020 01:01
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In Pendragon if you fail your roll to act chaste/not filled with lust you are forced to act in a lustful and unchaste manner. Pendragon deliberately points out that it doesn't (and shouldn't) require sexual assault, your knight reaching out to touch someone's cheek or even just imagining holding their hand counts, it doesn't matter what happens, it's just immediately obvious to everyone that you are acting in an unchaste manner for your character. Also when Romance gets invented touching the inside of someone's elbow twice is a very serious step in a relationship its so good.Falconier111 posted:I pointed out the messed up stuff I encountered in the thread. That was hyperbole Yeah, that's why it wasn't aimed at you in particular, you done good.
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Aug 16, 2020 02:12
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Ithle01 posted:When Black Roses Bloom, part four, the end. Yeah, the mirror realms start going downhill from here. Figure the Globe of Invulnerability is helpful because at least then Soth can't just nuke the lot of you with a 20 HD Fireball. At least this one has the option of talking "Tanis" out of a futile fight with a jealous Death Knight. As for blonde, hot Death Knight Soth, these mirror realm are pretty much self-insert fan-fiction of the worst kind. Why wouldn't you expect stuff like that. Ithle01 posted:Mirror Five: Kitiara's Contest Yeah, this is some bull-poo poo here. The scenario suggests maybe helping the jabronie knight out, but kind of how? Maybe letting him use Oathmaker (and talking to Oathmaker first about the importance of beating Soth). As far as casting spells, exactly which spells of levels 1 - 3 will Clerics/Wizards/etc have that will make a difference here and but subtle enough to not attract notice? I guess fighting him one at a time might work. Eventually. But God. drat. Will that be a slog. Ithle01 posted:Mirror Six: Soul Search Yeah, this one... just... really? There's no real time limit for Soth. If you steal the medallion (and you're incorporeal and 4th-6th level and Unseen Servant probably won't cut it), Soth just grabs it back and starts over. If there any 1st - 3rd level memorized spell that can realistically swipe or destroy this medallion - especially while Soth is holding it. I can't really think about. And the spell has to be memorized. It can't be on a scroll or stored in a ring or used from a rod/staff/wand because those are physical objects that the PCs can't use in their current state. The only thing I can think is if somebody, somehow has the Psionic power, Disintegrate - likely through a really lucky wild talent roll. For the record, this scenario is way worse than the previous because by its nature it pretty well cuts most of the other PCs out of participating in it. In the previous one, spell-casters and even thieves could use their powers (or sneakiness) to help the folks fighting Soth cheat. Here, unless you have some appropriate spell or power, you're a spectator. Ithle01 posted:The End? Almost. Really the best way to get the Banshee loot is to wait until midnight and loot their lairs while they're doing their nightly serenade. Assuming there is any Banshee loot. On Table D, while it's unlikely, you could end up rolling jack and poo poo for all categories 13 times. Honestly, in some ways that would make sense. If the Skeleton Warriors' treasure is back on Krynn, the banshee's treasure should also be back there - probably in the real version of their rooms. In which case going to Krynn is the only way to get the actual treasure. Plus, figure that the person keeping a lot of the undead around Dragaard Keep was Lord Soth. With him gone a lot of them are likely gone as well. If you actually want to play on Krynn nows your chance. Otherwise figure it's easy enough to say that Priests and Mages have been watching the place and once they see that you're not with Soth and also alive, they'll likely Plane Shift your rear end back to your normal world. Consider that Lord Soth was supposed to be to AD&D (or at least Dragonlance) version of Darth Vader. Scary, powerful, armored mother-fucker that you got away from before you got dead. And this module turned him into a whiny, emo gently caress like Anakin from the Star Wars Prequel trilogy. Oh, the bit with Kitiara's ghost? It gets even better because the real Kitiara isn't in Ravenloft. That ghost thing at end? Just another trick from the Dark Powers to gently caress with Soth. I can actually see a slightly more interesting ending where the PCs use their knowledge of Soth's inner life to sway him to let people go and start acting like a real lord who is concerned for his people. And gently caress over the Dark Powers that way.
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Aug 16, 2020 02:13
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Dallbun posted:The demonic stone idol clutches What's this thing supposed to be anyway; an efreet?
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Aug 16, 2020 04:01
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What happens if you obtain the gem before dealing with the throne room and wave it in Soth's face inside the dreamworld?
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Aug 16, 2020 04:06
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NGDBSS posted:Wasn't Accursed co-developed by forumsgoer Croatian Alzheimers? What, seriously? Huh. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I had a contributor pop up in this thread to offer commentary (ps thanks StephenIs) and I'd love to see it again. How do we summon them? Like, send a PM?
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Aug 16, 2020 04:12
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PoontifexMacksimus posted:What's this thing supposed to be anyway; an efreet? Think so.
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Aug 16, 2020 04:35
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Falconier111 posted:What, seriously? Huh. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I had a contributor pop up in this thread to offer commentary (ps thanks StephenIs) and I'd love to see it again. How do we summon them? Like, send a PM? That’s the most reliable way if they have PMs.
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Aug 16, 2020 06:34
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Ithle01 posted:When Black Roses Bloom, part four, the end. I liked it. It's pretty much a Star Trek Holodeck adventure, though having some context to who Lord Soth was would probably be helpful, as these days it's very possible none of then players or GM have ever read the books. It would make an amusing comic to read too I think, particularity hearing Kitiari telling Soth off that spending years covered in wolf poo poo was a better experience than being his girl friend.
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Aug 16, 2020 07:24
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