The Gaming Den

I like adding it to the current total - of damage or nonlethal - because that way it actually stacks with stabbing, so you casting that actually helps (and has synergy with) your friend who is using an axe. I prefer it too, but it's not necessary for the spells in question to actually do non-lethal...

I'm with Ceilingcat and Koumei for the "nonlethal damage" option for spells that do [Other] to an opponent. In fact, most spells wouldn't even have to *do* the damage as such. If you didn't want them to inflict nonlethal damage, they could have an amount of "damage-equivalent" as...

That was... utterly hilarious. I'm just sorry I got to the party so late. I've seriously seen the math of Skill Challenges written out the long way, a dozen times or more, in such a comprehensive manner that a complete idiot could understand it. And yet, it's somehow a matter of opinion that Skill C...

I've actually done this, and quite successfully too, albeit back in 2nd Edition days. Myself and a friend ran a campaign in a similarly-sized group to yours which involved us each responsible for a different Crime Lord (TM). In fact, the scene was set in a city where two powerful and ancient vampire...

I'm just loving how far this thread has mutated ;) The hurling of acid flasks has been a time-honoured tradition in more-or-less every campaign I've been running over the last too-many years, although nobody has ever tried taking it to the max as described here and I thus didn't cotton on to what wa...

Hey, don't put yourself down... I'm pretty good at character concepts myself (although my visual imagination is poor compared to others) but I couldn't have come up with a way to make a Hafling sound scary

I think Avoraciopoctules was somewhat ironically pointing out that *any* argument can, in fact, be made; whether or not it makes sense!

Thanks again folks, this is the sort of discussion I was hoping for to get me thinking the right way again :D And Judging_Eagle, I very much appreciate that. Consider the Hobbits expunged from my brain and something approximating Chucky from Child's Play put into their place. Oh yeah! And even milki...

Heh - we've been using the PrC house rule for years and it hasn't upset anything. It just lets people do their concept thing a level (or rarely two) earlier than they otherwise could. I'm interested that the consensus seems to be that playing a Beguiler is even better than plain old "being a Wi...

Mirror Image et al are great, for sure... but what's the domain feat in question? Is that the Complete Divine one that lets arcane casters add cleric domain spells to their "known" list?

Protection from Evil is highly abuseable: http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?p=55572

Koumei wrote:Also, if you care about dealing damage note: things immune to SA are immune to this), you can spam Whelm, Whelming Burst, Mass Whelm, Overwhelm etc. And that's Will 1/2, just to make Rogues sad.

Um, aren't the Whelm spells Will Negates?

Thanks for the advice guys, although I'm not sure I can overcome my deep-seated revulsion at the very existence of halflings well enough to actually play one. Three feet tall? Nooooooo! It's really difficult to imagine yourself as a stone-cold killer when you've got a horrible mental picture of a pi...

@Ceilingcat: adding sneak damage isn't hard with the extra feats due to the crazy-assed rules on Martial Study / Martial Stance. When you take those feats, your initiator level doesn't matter which means you can pick up Assassin's Stance for 2d6 sneak damage and qualify for prestige classes that req...

Hiya folks, long time no see! It has been the longest time coming, but after nearly 6 years of drought, I'm actually getting to play in a role-playing game rather than running one and I'm very much looking forward to it. Trouble is, I've pretty much forgotten how to create a useful character that's ...

I don't see the point either, without making a lot of other changes. Baleful Polymorph is a good example, and what have they done about stuff like Hold Monster and Dominate Whatever? There are too many effects that amount to a save-or-die regardless of what it says on the tin and it just wouldn't ma...

Bigode: you're quite right; the intention was for the VK to use only the "active attack" part of the "gaze attack" special ability and not the passive area effect. I quite literally just forgot to specify that when writing the description; I will fix it. I am planning on giving h...

I think +7 Charisma is a bit unlikely at 5th level, particularly for a melee character, but I do agree that the saves are a bit high. DC = 10 + half character level + Chr, perhaps? Maybe chuck in Ability Focus for free at 7th or 9th level? 1) You're right about Wizards not handing out the same level...

I was extremely tired when I threw the class out so I'm actually pretty pleased it didn't get torn into tinier pieces than that in the first instance! Totally agreed that several of the abilities need reworking. I was always going to fill up the dead levels, which I will do tomorrow (would do it ton...

I guess in this case, I'm really... not exactly wasting my time, but as the point was made, evil and/or antiheroic characters are generally solo adventurer types. Really, this all came up because I was like, "I want to make an anti-paladin, who will fit into standard adventures, and kills othe...

Hang on... creatures can't be used as cover? Let me... just... turn that around... OW! AAARGH! OO! The pain... THE PAIN!!! *wince* OK, I've got that to fit. Creatures can't be used as cover. That makes perfect sense now. And I've had a brilliant idea: I'm going off to play straight Paladin for 20 le...

I've said it before, but if they can't keep a relatively simple set of forums up and running, I'm not inclined to spend money on a subscription to a service they can't guarantee I'll be able to use when I need it. There's also the small point that they seem to do their scheduled maintenance in a way...

Huh... as is more often than not the case, I can't actually see it because of "I've fallen and I can't get u...", I mean, "Extended Unplanned Maintenance". *sigh*

As has been so well detailed by Frank and K, you can't even start to come up with an anti-hero concept until you've got agreement around the gaming table as to how Evil is going to be handled. My preferred anti-hero concept within D&D is the Batman-like character who has only one or two things t...

The problem with this is that Robin Hood and Aragorn are not ranged controllers. As cool an idea as it is, it is an idea for a character class that has nothing to do with any literary ranger I am aware of. You're right about Aragorn; he never did squat worth mentioning with a bow. On the other hand...