Annoying Game Questions You Want Answered

rasmuswagner · Post by **rasmuswagner** » Thu May 09, 2013 4:56 am

I suggest NOT having a "melee" skill. In a gunfight, you use Stealth or Running to stab a guy.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun May 12, 2013 5:24 am

Ok, so I want opinions.

I'm working on a tarot deck specifically for After Sundown because I can, it could make some money, it'll be cool, and a lot of my friends are "whooda whooda" new age types who could potentially react unfavorably to my using a normal deck for a game (but also might buy the one I design).

I'm not sure what to do for suits. There's no actual reason to keep the standard four, other than the book specifically talking about those four. A booklet could easily be included specifying the equivalences. They're not even the original suits. I've got a few ideas:

representing the worlds: Shards (Limbo), Snowflakes (Mictlan), Pitchers or Toadstools or Leaves (Maya), Arms (mortal world)

representing the syndicates: Fleur de Lis (Communes), Coins (WCL), Candles or Scepters (Covenent), I got nothing for the Makhzen

Bones: Fingers (swords), spinal discs (pentacles/coins), skulls (cups), femurs (wands)

Horror themed standards: boning knives/scalpels (swords), Inverted Pentacles (pentacles/coins), etc.

What do people think? The major arcana are a lot easier, the fool has green man tones in standard tarot and works well as a dryad stepping off a skyscraper. The Magician could easily be a Khaibit standing behind an autopsy or surgical table, etc.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun May 12, 2013 10:17 am

If I were going to do the Tarot deck with symbols flavored after the syndicates, I'd probably go for clay tablets for the Makhzen. Like on the cards in Seven Wonders:

Other than that, the Covenant would still be Cups (grailish cups, baptismal fonts full of blood, etc.), the World Crime League would still be Swords (piratish swords), and the Cauchemar would get Flags.

-Username17

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Sun May 12, 2013 12:35 pm

What's a good prestige class that advances any of (arcane spellcasting, divine spellcasting, or warlock invocations) and has good class abilities, but does not require spellcasting or invocations to enter into?

erik · Post by **erik** » Sun May 12, 2013 1:31 pm

Grek wrote:What's a good prestige class that advances any of (arcane spellcasting, divine spellcasting, or warlock invocations) and has good class abilities, but does not require spellcasting or invocations to enter into?

They kind of have it hard-written in. If you are going to advance spellcasting then you require spellcasting to enter into it.

Even if you found one without a pre-req like Cloaked Dancer from Complete Scoundrel, you still hace the ability text which says "you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level." So you're screwed there anyway.

So you're pretty much gonna need a prestige class with its own casting progression.

Now, Divine Crusader can getcha 9th level spell at 16th level... but it's kind of awful. And of course Ur-Priest.

Unless this is for some min-max challenge, you are better off writing your own prestige class.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sun May 12, 2013 7:01 pm

FrankTrollman wrote:If I were going to do the Tarot deck with symbols flavored after the syndicates, I'd probably go for clay tablets for the Makhzen. Like on the cards in Seven Wonders:

Other than that, the Covenant would still be Cups (grailish cups, baptismal fonts full of blood, etc.), the World Crime League would still be Swords (piratish swords), and the Cauchemar would get Flags.

-Username17

All good clay tablets need cuneiform, but any designs would have to be simple, may I suggest the Sumerian sky/god symbol?

Magaz-en (slaughtering bench lord):

Magaz-en (slaughtering bench incantation):

mah-kazazak-zena (great locust weapon):

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Mon May 13, 2013 10:47 am

erik wrote:Unless this is for some min-max challenge, you are better off writing your own prestige class.

It's for a homebrew truenamer class that I'm playing in an online game which has the special rule where if you take a prestige class that advances spellcasting, you can trade in the PrC's spellcasting progression for truenaming progression. You still have to meet the qualifications for the prestige class, though, which is why I need one that advances, but does not require spellcasting.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue May 28, 2013 8:04 am

Anyone have any idea what potatoes should cost in a typical D&D economy? I've got a wizard who runs a food wagon and I want to sell fries with my shaved troll or smoked dire wolf sandwiches.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Tue May 28, 2013 8:13 am

The typical D&D economy is absolutely bonkers and therefore costs are pretty much arbitrary. Potatoes are a staple food, though, so saying they cost the same pound for pound as wheat would be an easy solution, and is about as reasonable as possible in a world that makes as much sense economically as Who does architecturally.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue May 28, 2013 8:45 am

Thanks Cham. Maybe I'll see about selling tea with the sandwiches in your honor.

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Tue May 28, 2013 12:31 pm

I know, but there are no potatoes in medieval Europe, they're a new world plant. The sandwich is also yet to be used, and tea costs more than gold, like all the spices.

Medieval folk would most likely enjoy some steak on a big slab of bread, with a think pea and bean soup poured on it for sauce. Carrots, parsnip, turnips, and swede in the winter, mostly still called "neeps". Some nice porridge. Maybe some cheese. Yesterday's beer if you're feeling lucky.

Or, you know, maybe with some corn chips and hot sauce. Whatever. New world food's cool too.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Tue May 28, 2013 12:42 pm

You're handwaving away wightpocalypse, shadows destroying the world, dragons destroying homesteads from the sky, but not what crops happen to have evolved in that particular climate? That's where you draw the line?

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Tue May 28, 2013 3:02 pm

I know. I can't help it, it's like an itch I just gotta scratch. In public. I also use period-appropriate dress and name conventions. Ethelwick of Handleford, bastard son of the Duke of Westfields (or so says he). With the extra-pointy shoes. Beware his Flynnish steel sword and blasphemous tongue. "To the hells with you all!", his infamous battle cry. Apologies to the gentlefolk reading that same.

I used to be able to write a bit of middle English too, but I'm out of practice.

And, also, I know, but the whole undead apocalypse thing doesn't work.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue May 28, 2013 9:02 pm

Not to mention I'm selling shaved troll sandwiches....

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Wed May 29, 2013 12:11 pm

Yes. Troll. I know. It still itches.

Just don't leave them sitting out too long, eh. Ah for the old gold-box D&D games, where downed trolls would regenerate all the way to full hit points off-screen and then reappear behind the party and murder all your casters. Such fun.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed May 29, 2013 9:45 pm

We have it in a jar. When I go to sell sandwiches, I just open the jar, and let it regenerate, shaving it off in thin slices. Apparently, only the largest segment of a troll regrows, so the meat just hits the grill, the heat cooks it, and even if I leave slices of troll sitting out, they don't grow because the largest segment is in the jar.

We started out the campaign in the typical "you all were captured and wake up in a jail without your stuff" scenario. Which really sucks for, you know, a wizard. Basically I got a crossbow and tried to not shoot my party in the back, and started butchering our kills for the meat because we had no supplies. When we leveled up the first time, I put ranks into cooking and butchering so that I didn't have to stick to the arms and legs (to avoid tainting the meat by cutting into the bowels in the torso). We have a huge stockpile of smoked goblin, gnoll, some dire wolf, and a wyvern.

Oh, and we just killed a couple salamanders which I have cooking in beer and vinegar. Because it's not like I could cook them with heat.

Voss · Post by **Voss** » Wed May 29, 2013 9:50 pm

Ah, the 'slay and fillet' school of adventuring.

Most people tend to draw the line before cooking and eating other sapients, however. Purple worm is a tasty treat, but goblin is a bit squicky. Particularly with how filthy and disease ridden the little vermin are.

Actually, given that the DM was willing to pull the 'wizard with no spellbook stunt,' I'm surprised there weren't hidden disease checks and random ghoulifications going on with that.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed May 29, 2013 10:19 pm

More surprising to me is that the paladin actually has no problem with eating sapients so long as they were killed in self defense.

Aryxbez · Post by **Aryxbez** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 1:22 am

Assuming this thread is about as its title-namer says, I wish inquire about the 4th edition Bane Guard class: http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Bane_Guard_(4e_Class)

In that respective link, it lists the weapons: Bane Pike, War Spindle, and Skip Rocks under proficiencies. Due to wiki pointing to a dead index, I don't know what those weapons do exactly, I can only guess the Bane Pike is reach weapon for Small characters.

Also, Bane Guards main Marking Mechanism "Tide of Battle", wouldn't it work better if it was just a trigger-no action, opposed to being a Minor action? That way, the Baneguard could possibly mark more than one target in a turn, additionally wouldn't be eating up into their action economy. Though, I guess that is in part the intention, so a PC has to "set-up" a marking first, before slamming down multiple attacks on a foe?

2nd Daily Utility "Natural Leader", I know this is a dumb question but, says Action type:1 hour, meaning takes an hour to acquire the minions yes? I had mistook it to mean, that you only get the minions for an hour, otherwise not clear how long they last (most dailies in 4th edition are 5 minutes or till end of encounter/scene,so it'd be kinda underwhelming if only 5 minutes).

This is relevant to me, as I'm playing said class in a short-term game (might get revisited later if game goes well enough), though guessing Frank might be only one able to answer, felt worth to ask here all the same.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:39 pm

I seem to fail at forum searching. I seem to remember reading a discussion that laid out all the costs of making a supplement, along with another that did the same for publishing. Trying to figure out how much of a budget I'd be needing.

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 11:23 pm

were you looking for this?
http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=53977

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:12 am

That was one of the results I did find, but I don't think it was what I was remembering.

Other semi-related links:
http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=53539
http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=51286

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:59 am

You might be thinking of this one.

-Username17

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:04 am

Yup, that would be it. Thanks, Frank.

EDIT:
Jeez, so I'm looking at 20k for a product? That'll be a bit of a stretch to raise...

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:29 pm

Well, you might be able to get away a bit cheaper (and riskier) if you only fund the writing/art, then kickstart the actual printing.