The Gaming Den

Bugrom have bug wings, garudas have bird wings, so the next step is bat wings, which means demons or dragons.[br][br]A race of redeemed demons would have a fairly obvious curse -- major dharma violation -- but we already have the garuda for our angsty "fallen" types and tiefligns for our b...

Did we ever set a specific length a combat round needs to take? If not, can we make it arbitrary?[br][br]I imagine "epic" as a variant ruleset with the following[br][br]-- abstract position, something like phonelobsters' big squares[br][br]-- rounds take a really long time -- from a minute...

So, I take it the Garuda and Bugrom write-ups all to me? I'll post them here for vetting.[br][br]My current thoughts:[br][br]Bugrom need to be sexy. That way it's tragic that they're all dead. I mean, if they were scary, ugly mofos to begin with, being undead wouldn't matter. A Bugrom character has ...

Actually, wizards have a huge summoning advantage over non-neutral clerics. A Good cleric, for instance, can't summon evil creatures, while a Good wizard can and will. [br][br]And, personally, I've very rarely seen a neutral cleric. [br][br]Summon Monster 1 does suck. SM 2 is occasionally useful, bu...

There is only one mechanical reason to have armor: so that characters can *change* armor. It should be possible to own full plate, a mithral shirt, spidersilk armor, and bone armor and have each of these be an appropriate thing to wear in some circumtances.[br][br]Therefore, armor probably needs to ...

I actually liked the old "disabled" mechanic, and think that you should usually go to 0 HP before going down. Give a save or something.

Okay, how about this: You have an "armor" slot, in which you can put equipment that gives bonuses. WHat it looks like is just flavor.[br][br]So you might typically have [br][br]Magic Plate (+2 DR)[br][br]and [br][br]Wizard Robes (+2 to hit with spells)[br][br]but you can also have[br][br]E...

Why can't they be a horrible scaly menace of the deep, and the kobold caves are also a demonic temple built around a hellmouth?

So, Koumei, your argument is that kobolds aren't cool if you don't let them do anything cool?

[br]1. Have you ever had a character be killed (or be level-drained or imprisoned or something equally heninous) that partly destroyed your ideas about where the character was going?[br][br]Not really. I did feel sad when my level one monk died, but I ended up loving the ranger I rolled after it. [b...

But even if you rejigger the abilitiesw to generate custom powers for the demons in your campaign, it's extremely important that the players *know what those powers are*

1201721986[/unixtime]]Ok, I don't want to know.[br][br] [br][br]I couldn't agree less.[br][br] [br][br]Seriously, I don't want to know that every Pit Fiend has Fireball . I don't want to know that Caucasian elves all know how to use longswords, and I don't want to know that the secret ruler of Inse...

It's not just about flight though --

Align Weapon; See Invisibility; Fly; Freedom of Movement:

This guy is way *less* dependent than other warriors on item/caster support.

Well, at level 10+ he can do fly as a swift actions, right?

How is flying that big of a deal? You Barbarian, Fighter, Samurai, and Knight are all lacking substantial mobility -- and even monks only have it if they invest in it.

Nitpicking...[br][br] 1200842585[/unixtime]][br][br] Chapter 2: Species [br][br]Notable races include Humans (who are always awesome), Cereans (+2 overall to stats, but they're all mental and -2 physical; also they get to REROLL ANY INITIATIVE IF THEY FEEL LIKE IT), Duros (for sucking), Kel Dor (the...

No.

You don't get ANY skills for level-up unlessyou burn feats on it.

And for most skills (computer, mechanics, treat injury, Knowledge) once you have about 2 PCs with it, there's no real incentive for anyone else to pick it up.

Can we have multiple level entries for one critter?

As in,

Ogre -- Level 2 Boss, Level 4 Closet Troll, Level 7 Mook?

Look, PL's system is pretty damn reasonable. Admittedly, having NO social system is also reasonable. If you just want the DM to control the NPC and tell the story how he likes, you can do that. [br][br]The only reason to introduce social combat at all is to give the PCs more input in the story.[br][...

Yes and no. [br][br]First of all, if you play from levels 1 to 10, then you have force powers confined to a more resonable slice of the RNG. [br][br]In Oberoni territory, you could also change the default target number. [br][br]Force powers remain useful for pwning mooks even at higher levels -- For...

Read the errata -- stormtroper autofire is actually practicaly worthless, at least at level 1 -- they have to hit AC 10 to do any damage at all, meaning it would probably be easier to just shoot the PCs normally.[br][br]Re: Classes[br][br]Soldier has several good talents besides the armor ones. Stun...

So I'm running a longer campaign set in the Skylord's Tears setting. Most of the players have played before, but none are optimizers. I'm still banging out some mechanical stuff I'd appreciate help on, plus willing to discuss flavor/tell stories.[br][br]The Party:[br][br]Hobgoblin Samurai 1/Fighter ...

1200280168[/unixtime]]Maybe I can find a chick that goes moist over smart guys, I'm smarter than most people in the world. [br][br]This is not a terrible plan. It just might work; being smart is a big advantage. I wouldn't rest on your laurels though. You may be smart, but the competition includes ...

Well, I think balance in videogames and tabletop games really are very diferent concepts.[br][br]To take an extreme example, in a 1-player videogame RPG, there's no particular reason you would want all classes to be equally good. The player is'nt being compared to anyone else, so some characters may...

They have to be pretty, ro at least not scary/gross in appearance.[br][br]Their transformation to rotting undead should be really tragic and disturbing, which doesn't work if they were already ugly. [br][br]Hive structure is alright, if the castes are few in number and loose. Make sure they're not d...