Annoying Game Questions You Want Answered

Pedantic · Post by **Pedantic** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:08 am

Is there any official justification for the 4e warlock's power? They make some sort of agreement with some sort of big power and apparently get free magic powers without any obligation?

Every time I bring it up anywhere, all I get are "I've amusing refluffed the power this way" but the premise itself is never justified. Does 4e do this somewhere or has someone come up with some explanation that makes sense?

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:32 am

Well, two thirds of the Warlock power sources are actually linked to playable races in the PHB. There are like seventeen playable races of elf*, and one of them has stats that work acceptably for the Feylock (the Half-Elf, IIRC). Tieflings are specifically part-demon, so Fiendlock, bam.

The justification is now this: your power is your allowance from your supernatural parent. You get more power if you please them by getting good gradesgaining levels. Fortunately you can't be cut off.

I don't know if a splatbook released a playable race that ties you in with Starlocks.

*Okay, fine, three. In a game that can't be fucked including Orcs (half or full) and Gnomes.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:35 am

If it's anything like 3.5's, no. The "deal with thea Devilfiend" thing is just fluff like the Sorcerer's "Maybe descended from dragons" or the Druid's "gets power from nature (but literally nothing happens if the character burns down a forest, only if they use the wrong weapon or armour). It's a bit of backstory that doesn't actually affect the character unless the DM is feeling dickish (/looking for plot ideas).

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 3:45 am

If people were going to play a "Monsters in High School" game, would they expect to have the full suite of powers for their splat, just the basics (like the Core Discipline for AS), or the basics and limited, erratic use of the rest of their splat's suite of powers?

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 4:02 am

It really depends on what you're doing. You could make an argument for giving them the whole bundle and then making the game be about "learning to control your powers that you have/learning to disguise yourself" (Rosario to Vampire, the X-Men movies and possibly Mutant Academy?), you could also make an argument for having them start off weaker and then needing to "grow into" their racial powersets or learn how to actually use them at full power (Harry Potter).

Having trolls learn how to regenerate is weird, but you could also make that a thing that happens when you hit senior year because it's a puberty thing. Mind control powers on the other hand really easily looks like the type of thing you need to teach people to do.

momothefiddler · Post by **momothefiddler** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 4:42 am

I'd rather have some powers still be erratic/unskilled. I suppose it doesn't matter too much how many or which ones, as long as it makes sense.

It's important to note that this focuses the game on the powers - if you don't want that, have them be either there or not.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 5:09 am

Well, I'm going back to working on a "campaign style" for After Sundown I started working on when I was working at Toys R Us as a stocker and realized that every single one of the character from Mattel's Monster High could easily be represented in After Sundown (since they draw on the same old movies and myths, just for different audiences).

So maybe something that works like a modified version of the Character Creation Levels?

The New Kid(s): you've just been made supernatural, and know nothing about it other than that you've got weird new physical attributes, and people showed up saying you had to move away from your hometown, your friends, your family (yeah, turns out you actually miss the people who "don't understand you"), and your school, to attend a new school you've never heard of before and can't find anything about online.
- Magical Transformation You have the Core Discipline powers and one Basic power of your splat. You do not have any personally developed or cult powers. Ex.-- A young werewolf has Beast Form and Tongue of Beasts, and could have Revive the Flesh. They will gain more powers as the game progresses.
The Hardest Thing to Learn is Control: Just because the quickest way to power is to have some weird stranger bite you in the neck and survive, that doesn't mean you know how to use your powers.
- You have all the power of your splat. Extreme stress (for a teenager's frame of reference, so tests they didn't study for would count) can cause your powers to activate. Under such circumstances, roll Willpower and Survival, controlling your powers is a Professional test. Failure indicates that a power of the MC's choice activates. You do not have any personally developed or cult powers.

Aryxbez · Post by **Aryxbez** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:17 am

Once more, my ability to find a certain post/message alludes me it seems. It's taken longer than I'd like to find a fairly recent post (probably no more than 1-2 months old I'd think) that described how going into high levels in D&D requires you to first discuss your group of how to proceed. Whether it was like embracing the craziness of it all, reigning in to how were playing prior, and I think some third option I don't remember. Wondering to anyone who has an idea what I'm talking about if they could alleviate this query?

Closest I've got was this post, but I do believe there was some other post prior to that one which described it in more detail (My guess is it was said by Koumei, or ubernoob for some raisin). This matters to me mostly, as it was something I wish would've been informed BEFORE I brought back my old campaign at 13th level, using [Tome] material those months ago, and now it's a quote I want to track down for posterity and share with my group.

Cyberzombie · Post by **Cyberzombie** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:26 am

Here's a question: How does this spell work?

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ulti ... dLink.html

It says that somehow you "both" get the bonus, but to do so you have to attack the same creature, only the first person to attack will have made his roll before the second guy even makes his attack.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:56 am

Cyberzombie wrote:Here's a question: How does this spell work?

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ulti ... dLink.html

It says that somehow you "both" get the bonus, but to do so you have to attack the same creature, only the first person to attack will have made his roll before the second guy even makes his attack.

Whomever attacks/casts first acts in a quantum state of full of shit, but after one of you does, then the other does, all subsequent attacks work with the bonus. I imagine if you just delay to the same init count as your ally you cast it on, the doing of the spells can be done at the same time, and most DMs would just let it apply since you are acting without enemy acting inbetween.

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 4:26 am

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 6:15 am

Oh yeah, happy birthday, Uber.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:31 am

Yeah, I think I said something about all being on the same page for high-level games (and honestly, for all games that's worth doing, high-level just has the biggest opportunity to explode in your face).

icyshadowlord · Post by **icyshadowlord** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:23 am

Did anyone make some kind of variant rule on how Craft Trapmaking works that doesn't suck a bag of rotten cocks for Tome? I've been meaning to try out a Kobold character who actually does things you'd expect from a Kobold, like mine for ore, take levels of Sorcerer and set traps for anyone who'd try to kill him for EXP.

tussock · Post by **tussock** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:21 am

I cut the cost of traps by a thousand times. So you can just dig a small hole in a day, rather than a year or two, even though it's a trap.

You can also cut spells by about ten times, and poisons a hundred fold. A bunch of stuff is priced so as to keep it out of the game without literally banning it, so just fix that. The craft rules still suck, but at least an army can dig a trench now.

icyshadowlord · Post by **icyshadowlord** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:21 pm

So the player only needs to pay some 1-10 gold to build a trap?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 7:29 pm

That's actually not unreasonable...

...You Lost Me · Post by **...You Lost Me** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 7:36 pm

Try the favored soul of kurtulman

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:22 am

I seem to recall the one PrC in Dungeonscape being okay for traps. Was all about making and de-activating booby traps and magical spells.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 7:33 am

Other than the Red Wizard, are there any Prestige Classes that require Specialist Wizards to ban even more schools? I figure a Focused Specialist (CMag) Red Wizard can ban four schools, I just want to see how stupidly overfocused they can do it.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 7:38 am

I'm sure there are ACFs, traits or flaws that would help with that. Maybe substitution levels too...

Edit: Changeling Wizard has Dual Specialization (spec. in Illusion and Transmutation, give up three others)

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:15 am

Koumei wrote:Other than the Red Wizard, are there any Prestige Classes that require Specialist Wizards to ban even more schools? I figure a Focused Specialist (CMag) Red Wizard can ban four schools, I just want to see how stupidly overfocused they can do it.

Incantatrix does in at least some of the writeups.

-Username17

icyshadowlord · Post by **icyshadowlord** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:29 am

How many different write-ups are there for Incantatrix, anyway?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:49 am

There's also Wizard of High Sorcery Dragonlance CS Enhanced Specialization, available schools depend on alignment, and the benefit is +1 Caster Level and +1 on saves against their chosen school. Prohibited school must be chosen from the Specialization options of the other alignments.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:57 am

One of the biggest problems I have finishing stuff is not knowing what I need to produce.

Specifically, I'm thinking about Sunset Academy and Dead Man's Hand. What do I need to produce, content-wise, if I'm working on an After Sundown supplement, or a game which uses it's core system?