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TitanG posted:So, uh No matter where you go in fantasy worlds, trolls are always Serious Business™. I have no idea when they went from a warty monster under a bridge to hulking badasses, but here we are. MonsterEnvy posted:Heightened aggression and anger are even stated as being of the side effects of becoming an everlasting one. sounds like u mad 
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Oct 24, 2019 15:13
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Chokes McGee posted:No matter where you go in fantasy worlds, trolls are always Serious Business™. I have no idea when they went from a warty monster under a bridge to hulking badasses, but here we are. Hey, that warty monster needed a goat to kill it. How many adventurers travel with a fully armed and operational battle goat?
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Oct 24, 2019 15:18
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Chokes McGee posted:No matter where you go in fantasy worlds, trolls are always Serious Business™. I have no idea when they went from a warty monster under a bridge to hulking badasses, but here we are. Tolkein, of course.
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Oct 24, 2019 15:28
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Randalor posted:Hey, that warty monster needed a goat to kill it. How many adventurers travel with a fully armed and operational battle goat? You would be surprised, you really would.
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Oct 24, 2019 15:40
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Randalor posted:Hey, that warty monster needed a goat to kill it. How many adventurers travel with a fully armed and operational battle goat? Clearly you've never unleashed a flock of live chickens into a dungeon to spring the traps before. Also: I notice the stupid newbie default avatar is back. What brought that on?
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Oct 24, 2019 20:01
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Sacks of agitated chickens are different than goats.
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Oct 24, 2019 21:30
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Randalor posted:How many adventurers travel with a fully armed and operational battle goat? *smash cut to the Tomb of Horrors*
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Oct 24, 2019 22:23
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Chokes McGee posted:*smash cut to the Tomb of Horrors* Or to the third Peter Jackson Hobbit movie. It worked for the dwarfs well enough.
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Oct 24, 2019 23:56
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Another obscure trick for the troll fight: at least on the PC version, dunno if this is true for Amiga, but if you keep a character standing on the space the troll died, they can't revive.
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Oct 26, 2019 07:26
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Randalor posted:How many adventurers travel with a fully armed and operational battle goat? Thanks for my next Beast Master Ranger!
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Oct 26, 2019 21:32
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Pool of Radiance, Chapter 7: Slobgoblins Today on the Gold Box series, we'll be taking on a ~special commission~. But first, let's hit the gym!    Extra fighter levels means extra HP, which means more non-squishy things to shove in front of the mage. Also, lower THAC0 or something idk. Sternn's running rings around everyone level-wise and neither magic user has enough experience to level up, so that's all for now. Next stop: the city hall!   Oh good. You're just in time. ? I strongly urge you to speak to him directly and not to me. Don't think I didn't see what you did there.  ... I can't stop looking at his head. Like, seriously. It's totally freaking me out. Yeah. It's like frickin' E.T. over there. E.T.? Whazzat? It's a movie from Earth. Real popular one. Movie? Whazzat? Hoo boy. Byeeeeeee, Sasha  ... You're seriously tellin' me you've never seen a movie before? Relax, big guy. I'm just messin' with ya. Will someone please tell me what a "movie" is? Anyone? Hello? They're the latest rage! Tell you what: for 5 plat, I'll get you a front row seat to the best one ever made. Hmm. "Manos, Hands of Fate." Should we stop him? Naw. Just sit back and watch a master at work.And just like that, we're off to the Cadorna Textile House!  Located to the west of Podal Plaza, this area is famous in Old Phlan for... um... *checks notes* "textiles." So, if you want some "textiles," this was the place to be. As you can see from the map, most of the action is taking place in the south. However, just this once, our guys aren't going to be morons and rush in headfirst. Let's poke around the perimeter and see what we can find.   What's the point of having a secret base if you have a sign telling everyone where it is? ...quote:
Personally, I think it's worth investigating. Someone went through a lot of trouble to exclude this area from non-thieves. We should send someone down there to take a look. Time to earn that paycheck, Sternn! Captain Sternn. Always good to meet a fellow man of the trade. Likewise. Are you a real captain? Are you? Well played. Sounds good to me. We'll need a rope. My bag man's up there with the rest of the suckers. You mean friends. Right, like I said. Excuse me? I am not wearing that. Sorry. We've got trade secrets to protect. Hey, aren't you John C. Riley? ...who? Huh. Looks like they actually delivered. And I'm only missing half my gold! Win/win!The thing about the missing gold is a joke for LP purposes. Oddly enough, these are some of the most trustworthy characters you'll meet in the entire Gold Box series. I guess there really is honor amongst thieves. Granted, we also had someone of their craft vouching for us. I'm pretty sure faceplanting at the bottom of the well after failing a climb roll would've gotten us a very different reaction. Anyway, we've breached the perimeter of the textile house. Let's take this opportunity to poke around without raising alarms.    Ron Howard: They raised some alarms.  It appears that hobgoblins have taken over the textile house. You'll note this group's leader is Grishnak. Remember rumors about her from the Plaza? Whoever Mace is, we're about to make their day. Grishnak is a goblin cleric with Hold Person and too many hit dice to Sleep, so she needs to be taken care of immédiatement. There are several methods to keep magic users from casting spells in AD&D, but the most direct one is to punch them in the face. Seriously. Any mage or cleric who takes damage during a round will be unable to cast spells for the rest of it. Some spells will take more than a turn or two to cast, so at higher levels, you'll find yourself racing to plink a magic user before they can get their spell off and really screw up your day.  Goddammit it, Sternn   Happily, Grishnak counts a humanoid, which means she can be Held like any other humanoid monster.  The rest is more or less academic.  looooooooooooot Omigod. That necklace is so the perfect accessory. Look! A key! And where there's a key, there's a lock! Brilliant. And where there's a lock, there's something valuable!  Never gonna argue with magic user scrolls, especially this early in the game. The necklace goes into Heather's inventory and is immediately forgotten about because I have the attention span of a gnat. The key may not be magical, but Sternn's right: anything that requires a special key in this game is worth investigating. Finally, the stone statue is just some goblin idol or something. It's utterly worthless on multiple levels. Moving on!  Woof. That fight really took the wind out of me. Me too. Give me a second to get my spells back, and I'll heal everyone up. Um... is it a good idea to rest in some goblin's temple after we slaughtered all their worshippers? When has that ever stopped us? See? Everything's fine!  Oh. Whatever Sternn has, it's spreading. It's called... charisma.  Poison frogs are... well, they're frogs, and they're mildly poisonous.  Poison is real bad in AD&D, but these things sticking it on you is a one in a million shot, so I'm not particularly worried about them.Also they do this.   blehSo that's fun. Not seen on camera is a fight with six ghouls and a motherfucking wight that was the result of trying to rest again to top off Shanna's spells. We had to reset afterwards, so I don't recommend resting in random places around here.   Grody. This door is barred. It must be a prison cell. Hanover, can you— HRGH *crunch* ...so yes, then. *scribbles*Journal Entry 47 posted:"Hobgoblins transferred out of Valjevo Castle. Now replaced by giants and trolls. Sounds very tough. Hmm. Sounds tough. Ehn. *clears throat* Oh. Right. Hmm. I was hoping for more "treasure chest" and less "barrel chest." Wow. I thought you were totally dead. Naw. I was, like, totally killin' all these hobgoblins and junk. It was gnarly.   Skullcrusher? That's a rad name. I know! My brahs gave it to me for totally crushing this one wave. With my skull. Skullcrusher here does not have weapons or a shirt, but he does have 39 hit points, which can help soak up damage we don't want to deal with.  Me: Rezen is running low on HP, we can probably get away with resting real quick.   Also me: Hurr durr I am Chokes and I do not learn lessons Giant scorpians are a problem, because while the poison frogs were laughable, these things have a respectable THAC0 and much stronger poison.   Sleep still works on them, as does Hanover punting them in the skull, so we manage to get away from this fight without any issues. Still, this could've gone real bad wrong. Poison is not something to screw around in AD&D, because if you contract a case of it, you're dead. Instantly. Okay, that's not 100% true: because the Gold Box engine is wonky as hell, you're actually a special kind of dead-by-poison. You go down instantly and are flagged as "Dead," but if you cast or buy Cure Poison instead of Raise Dead, your guy pops back to their feet without any of the Constitution penalties of Raise Dead. Still, until your cleric actually learns Cure Poison, it's a really good idea to give these fuckers a wide bearth.  Of course, I immediately rest again so we can heal up, because I give no fucks    Duuude. Is it, like, a good idea to go out there? Relax, we snuck in through the back. It should be fine! Bogus. Totally. This scripted fight is particularly annoying, because we have to wait for about 12 hobgoblins to run 20 squares to meet us so they can get utterly destroyed. We could be shooting arrows at them the entire time, but what's the point? Most of them would miss. A better option is to pick (G)uard so the next hostile enemy that pulls up beside you immediately gets smacked in the face.  Eventually, they make it over here, and we can get on with it.  We also pick up a sword for Skullcrusher afterwards. Note that he has a disgusting 18(81) strength, an incredibly low INT and WIS, and a portrait that doesn't even come close to matching what he looked like when we met him. This is just the kind of quality attention to detail you can expect from the SSI Gold Box series.   Good gods. It smelled like they took something decayed and then fermented it and then let that decay. Righteous! Are we sure they're not from the same place? Not really, no.  Oh. My God. Hobgoblins? More like slobgoblins. Noice. Oh, don't you start.  And you're sure about this? Shyeah! This door is a total secret. Like, they'll never see it coming.  Ron Howard: They saw it coming.  That's about 25 hobgoblins and an ogre. Not exactly overwhelming odds.  One thing Skullcrusher's secret door does buy us is an instant choke point. That keeps us from being bumrushed by everyone.   Unfortunately, that also means we get riddled with arrows   No big surprises there. Note how we slide Rezen left, out of line of sight from the archers, to prevent a similar fate. It also preserves her spellcasting abilities.  That decision pays off a round or two later when Rezen pops out and puts all the archers to sleep. It does expose her to an attack, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.  Huh. I wouldn't think that'd work. I know, right?We also fire off Stinking Cloud. I mean, we've got it, might as well use it.  Hanover goes down, and now I'm starting to get concerned.  Justine finally takes out the ogre, though, and the rest of the enemies on the field are Helpless. That's ballgame.  gkk Watch that first step. It's a doozy!Whoops! Turns out that one wasn't Helpless after all.   Heather cleans up my mess, and now we're done. Zero noteworthy loot, but...  Well now. We'll just be taking this with us. Boss, we're busted up pretty bad. We need to get out of here. Most certainly. Back to the Plaza! And then to city hall? Oh, Justine. Poor, sweet, naive Justine. What are we doing back at the well? Hup! *climbs* Sternn! Get back here! It seems like he has some sort of plan. Yeah. I'm just worried about whether or not it includes us. Hello again, Restal! Hello yourself, Cap'n. Whatcha got there? It's the family treasure of the Cadorna family. You? Just my lunch. Bowl of lemon curry. ...lemon curry? It's a regional specialty. Disgusting. Anyway, I'd love to take a peek inside this box, but it seems to be sealed. Don't worry. I've got... an angle.  40%. 60%. 50%. Well played.   (no, I'm not fixing that battery notification that creeped in, deal) Good news, everyone! You can fly?! Even better! I have the Cadorna Family Treasure! What? And it only cost 25% of the money inside! Uh, Sternn? I'm not gonna tell you how to do your job or anything, but isn't it a bad idea to discuss this in front of Cadorna's hairy manservant? *massive bong rip* Yeah okay, never mind. here's your cut, Hanover thanks bossThe Cadorna family treasure is mostly cheap gold stuff you can hawk—including that staff, which does nothing but look pretty. The one that isn't a cheap trinket is the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and they are a big goddamn deal. Wearing them instantly increases someone's strength to the max of 18(00). (Yes, I know 23 is a thing for giants. But, that's not on the table right now, so shut your hash  ) With great power comes even greater THAC0 bonuses, and that's the thing I really care about. Our weapons are magic. They can do damage just fine on their own. Hitting with the goddamn things is another story.And who do we give the gauntlets to? *puts on gauntlets* Well? Anything? *blows pitch pipe* mememe ? HANGING'S TOO GOOD FOR HIM! BURNING'S TOO GOOD FOR HIM! HE SHOULD BE CHOPPED INTO ITTY BITTY PIECES AND BURIED ALIVE  If you can't be big, be big at it! That's what I always say. Or something like it. The point is, Hanover's back to old self and ready to stomp a mudhole in the opposition. Now, I know what some of you might be saying right now: Chokes, isn't it weird how we're talking in text form in the middle of your LP? And yes, that is weird. Stop it. On an unrelated note, you may also be wondering if Cadorna could possibly be stupid enough to reward us without checking on his treasure first.  I assure you that he is. If you just opened the box and handed it back, you still get the contents. But, he chews you out when you show up, and you don't get a reward. See how having Sternn in the party pays off? Also, Skullcrusher just kind of fucks off once you make it back to town hall. You could theoretically keep him in the party by never walking by the entrance until you absolutely have to, but why? He's not exactly a top tier character, and Gold Box NPCs are by and large brain dead when it comes to AI.  Here's something good: Rez hits Level 4 and gets to pick a new spell! We'll choose Knock, because there are doors in this game that are an absolute nightmare to force open, even with 18(00) Strength. We've already got Stinking Cloud, and Knock always works, so Knock it is. This is in no way related to knowing what commission we're going to be working on next. No sir. Just a purely strategic choice.  Oh, Sternn levels up too, I guess  And that's the Cadorna Textile House! You'll note we are opting to not clear that block, as there are some inexplicably unbalanced encounters in there, including ghouls and wights. Wights are bad. Don't fight wights unless you absolutely have to. Do, however, tune in next time, where you'll hear Heather say: DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHNext Time: NerdQuest
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Oct 30, 2019 06:24
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(Hideout of Captain Lincoln F. Sternn & Co.)
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Looking ever so paranoingly forwards to the next bit! Also whomever knew that thieves and NPC's could be helpful!
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Oct 30, 2019 08:49
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I had no idea there were undead in the textile house. I suppose you'll talk more about them in the future. There are many types of undead in D&D, just about all have some BS about them. 
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Oct 30, 2019 10:23
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wedgekree posted:Looking ever so paranoingly forwards to the next bit! Also whomever knew that thieves and NPC's could be helpful! Next update is the one I talked about a few weeks ago where the lp starts coming together. It’s got a moment where we go from “a bunch of guys from choke’s lps over the years” to an actual cohesive team. E: well. When I say “cohesive”... E2: "Whoever." Whom is an indirect pronoun 
Chokes McGee fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Oct 30, 2019 |
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Oct 30, 2019 16:37
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Chokes, loving your work, as always. This month has been a slog, and your LPs (had to go read the ones I missed to understand Rezen and Heather) have been a bright point. Please give a holler if you write another book, too.
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Oct 31, 2019 05:55
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Kacie posted:Chokes, loving your work, as always. I’m planning on releasing Corrupted sometime between now and the Big Crunch that restarts the known universe
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Oct 31, 2019 07:20
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Chokes McGee posted:
 technically the 10 Edit: corrected my "normal" range dbcooper fucked around with this message at 01:28 on Nov 1, 2019 |
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Oct 31, 2019 09:31
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Chokes McGee posted:Next update is the one I talked about a few weeks ago where the lp starts coming together. It’s got a moment where we go from “a bunch of guys from choke’s lps over the years” to an actual cohesive team. Why, does Rezen actually pay her band of ne'er-do-wells?
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Oct 31, 2019 14:02
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I think Cadorna's appearance is different in the Amiga version compared to the others. The PC version has him younger and with a beard IIRC.
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Oct 31, 2019 14:04
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Randalor posted:Why, does Rezen actually pay her band of ne'er-do-wells? I mean, they get a cut off the treasure. It’s kind of the same thing. Seyser Koze posted:I think Cadorna's appearance is different in the Amiga version compared to the others. The PC version has him younger and with a beard IIRC. That head tho 
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Oct 31, 2019 15:13
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If I recall correctly, weights drain levels on hit, no save. You will never willingly fight undead in AD&D.
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Oct 31, 2019 16:56
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:If I recall correctly, weights drain levels on hit, no save. oh my yes wait until next update though, there's even worse
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Oct 31, 2019 17:28
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I think Skullcrusher's menu portrait matches the one when you first meet him in the DOS version
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Oct 31, 2019 18:19
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dbcooper posted:
My gaming group one time had a party where the average Int was so high that a 12-14 was considered dumb. One of the characters was so arrogant and elitist about Int scores that he'd mercilessly mock anyone below 16-18. I shudder to think what would have happened if we'd had a party member with actually sub-par intellect. TheGreatEvilKing posted:If I recall correctly, weights drain levels on hit, no save.
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Oct 31, 2019 20:28
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Commander Keene posted:10 is definitely completely normal human average in all versions of D&D. My AD&D is a bit rusty, but I thought an 8 was slightly below average even there, and average was more like 9 to 11. 8 Int is a bit slow, but not colossally stupid or anything. You're right. I [briefly] checked the AD&D DMG briefly this morning. I couldn't find a definite guideline to all attribute scores. However, they specifically mention that 10 Str is normal for average adult human male with a physically demanding [medieval] lifestyle and Int is roughly correlated to IQ. If Int 10 = 100 IQ that would imply population average. I didn't see any analogy for wisdom but it seems reasonable to assume an attribute score of 10 is [civilized?] population median. Looking at an IQ clarification scale they seem to start calling people dull at 90, so I was being too generous with my "normal" range.
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Nov 1, 2019 00:40
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10-11 is the most common roll on a 3d6 so yeah it's the average remember Faerun is full of complete dipshits tho
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Nov 1, 2019 00:54
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Of course there's a save for losing levels from getting hit by a wight. Trouble is, when your levels are as low as they are in this game, your odds of making that save are pretty bad.
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Nov 1, 2019 04:45
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Hobologist posted:Of course there's a save for losing levels from getting hit by a wight. That save must have been added in later editions of D&D, because in the D&D I played and read back when this game came out I don't recall a save for level drain from the wight or any of its undead cousins that also drain levels (wraith, specter, vampire, energy drain casting lich). A ghoul's paralyzing touch, yes, but not the level-draining touch of a wight.
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Nov 1, 2019 04:48
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I'd absolutely believe that there's no save on level drain in some edition of D&D, because the older editions are full of bullshit like that. There are a few "just die, no save" effects in older D&D editions, IIRC. 3e has it so that stuff that would cause you to lose a level in older editions instead gave you a "negative level", which applied a penalty to most things you tried to do (basically any d20 roll), and could be removed by a successful saving throw 24 hours later, failure on that saving throw being the point where you actually lose the character level. So the wight still inflicted negative levels without giving you a saving throw up front, but you weren't suddenly one level behind everyone else just because the enemy hit you, and you could still get a Restoration or Greater Restoration cast to clear it at any point before you actually lost the level. Pathfinder does away with the "lose a level", making negative levels (the aforementioned penalty to rolls) potentially permanent if you fail the save (but still curable with the proper spells). 4th Edition D&D does away with that kind of crap entirely; there are no level-draining or negative level effects in the game, AFAIK. Wights steal healing surges instead.
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Nov 1, 2019 05:16
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Chokes McGee posted:I’m planning on releasing Corrupted sometime between now and the Big Crunch that restarts the known universe I'll hope for the early side, then. 
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Nov 1, 2019 06:17
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Commander Keene posted:I'd absolutely believe that there's no save on level drain in some edition of D&D, because the older editions are full of bullshit like that. There are a few "just die, no save" effects in older D&D editions, IIRC. 5th edition has them lower your maximum hp, though it does get a save. If your max hp gets lowered to 0 you die and come back as a zombie 24 hours later. You can remove the effect by taking a long rest, along with the usual Restoration spells.
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Nov 1, 2019 08:22
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I think the Gold Box series straddles 1st and 2nd edition rules then. What I thought was cool was that some items from the 2nd edition calculated your AC only from dexterity bonuses and the pluses of your armor. I'm surprised they didn't make that mandatory for specters and wraiths and things. But I thought the best bullshit undead from the 2nd edition were ghosts, which age you 10 years if you look at them and 10-40 years on a successful hit. An angry DM could just make your entire party die of old age.
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Nov 1, 2019 18:05
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Hobologist posted:I think the Gold Box series straddles 1st and 2nd edition rules then. AD&D 2nd edition wasn't published until 1989. Pool of Radiance came out in '88. I don't know at what point, if any, the gold box engine was updated to work with the 2E ruleset, but there's definitely engine updates and differences between games.
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Nov 1, 2019 18:41
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It's like how Baldur's Gate II has classes from 3rd Edition D&D, which was released about the same time, but still runs on 2nd Edition rules.
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Nov 1, 2019 18:58
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Commander Keene posted:It's like how Baldur's Gate II has classes from 3rd Edition D&D, which was released about the same time, but still runs on 2nd Edition rules. 
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Nov 1, 2019 20:15
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All Gold Box games in the Forgotten Realms (including the Savage Frontier series and Unlimited Adventures) and Krynn use 1E rules. A lot of things in 2E stayed basically the same, but there are some relevant class changes. Rangers in particular are very different between editions.
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Nov 1, 2019 20:29
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I feel inclined to forgive BioWare because it seems more like a case of simultaneous development than any laziness on their part. BG2 released in September 2000, and the best info I could get on 3E is "Fall 2000", which matches up with my recollections of reading playtest docs and the SRD back in Graphic Design class my senior year of high school. They literally came out within a month or two of each other.
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Nov 1, 2019 22:18
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After the jump between the Icewind Dale games I’m glad they didn’t switch systems for Baldur’s Gate in mid series tbh
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Nov 1, 2019 22:51
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It's not just the rigid adherence to the sadism of AD&D First Edition that makes this game so punishing. If you climb down that well with anyone other than a thief, there's an almost guaranteed chance they'll fall and die (as in, haul them back to the temple for a Raise Dead spell). Unless I've imagined the whole thing I'm pretty sure that's happened to me.
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Nov 2, 2019 22:12
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| # ? Jun 12, 2024 03:09 |
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 Uh... hello? Oh, hi everybody. So, Chokes is dealing with a rough week for him, so he sent me to let you know the LP will probably skip its update this week. He's very excited about this next part, and he'll be on schedule as soon as he can be. In the meantime, just hang tight, and everything'll be fine. ... ... is anyone looking nope DROP THE BEAT baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMUEFZXkmDA
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Nov 4, 2019 21:46
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