Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

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Depths of Homolust said:
That's because White Wolf has always been a retarded company with a seeming inability to design a functioning tabletop game.
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As much as you have to unlearn a lot systematically for Deviant, the fluff is actually at lot better than usual,
 
MT Foxtrot said:
As much as you have to unlearn a lot systematically for Deviant, the fluff is actually at lot better than usual,
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Strike that, reverse it. The crunch for Deviants is genuinely good, and not that big a deal trying to reremember. The fluff I find to be an issue due to there being a lot of repetition.
 
tiefling said:
I was thinking a bit more about how tieflings are hated by the commoners. Wouldn’t the aasimar be treated the opposite since they’re celestial by nature and not considered horned freaks?
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Generally respectful fear, the average commoner would not have any reason to hate them ny default but the whole child of the divine would be a bit daunting.
 
z0mb0 said:
Generally respectful fear, the average commoner would not have any reason to hate them ny default but the whole child of the divine would be a bit daunting.
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Don’t forget envy. Sooner or later, some member of the same sex is gonna be jealous of his high charisma and try to gank him. And superstitious townspeople who try to ask for their toenail clippings to cure their erectile dysfunction or something. Also slavers, because could you imagine how much an aasimar slave would sell for?
 
Gingervitis said:
Don’t forget envy. Sooner or later, some member of the same sex is gonna be jealous of his high charisma and try to gank him. And superstitious townspeople who try to ask for their toenail clippings to cure their erectile dysfunction or something. Also slavers, because could you imagine how much an aasimar slave would sell for?
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Yeah but I had always imagined there is a level of "is their divine parent paying attention to this one? Am I literally making an enemy in the heavens" colored the commoner and the envy, manipulation and such would come from more...in the loop for lack of a better word npc
 
z0mb0 said:
Yeah but I had always imagined there is a level of "is their divine parent paying attention to this one? Am I literally making an enemy in the heavens" colored the commoner and the envy, manipulation and such would come from more...in the loop for lack of a better word npc
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Angering the gods never stopped greedy people. If it did, monasteries, temples and priests would never get robbed.

All you need is one evil/unscrupulous guy in the village tipping off the local band of slavers for a bag of coin, and there's your adventure hook for when the Aasimar player doesn't show up for the session.
 
Corn Flakes said:
This shit is like being captured by Illithids and the player being ecstatic about his character having a tadpole implanted in his skull. Or having your character killed and looking forward to playing their animated skeleton. What the fuck.
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Now that you mention it, isn't there a way to play my character's skeleton? I mean, one that doesn't require the GM to have a coronary and makes my character a mary sue. Any crunch penalty is ok, it'd be for lore reasons and maybe some jokes.
MT Foxtrot said:
>7 year old niece staying over for the afternoon
>Need to find something family friendly to have on TV in living room
>Find an old Ultraman collection DVD, put it on for background while I watch her and she helps me with some housework.
>She's...into it. Really into it.
>Get idea; dig out old Monsterpocalypse figures, tell her about them
>Little girl's eyes light up, especially since Shadow Sun Syndicate is basically the Ultraman faction
>Wants me to show her how to play with them next time she comes up.
>Corruption towards gaming Stage 1 complete....
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One of us!
Gingervitis said:
I have a dumb question that was probably asked already. Pre-5e ruining everything, what would you guys consider your favorite “official” D&D settings?

For me, it was always Ravenloft. That being said, Mystara is growing on me thanks to Mr Welch’s videos.
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Thanks to Capcom, Mystara. After I grew up, i added Al-Qadim.
 
Dang Woodchucks! said:
Now that you mention it, isn't there a way to play my character's skeleton? I mean, one that doesn't require the GM to have a coronary and makes my character a mary sue. Any crunch penalty is ok, it'd be for lore reasons and maybe some jokes.
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Honestly, just talk to your GM. Everything can be homebrewed. Even the basic Skeleton statblock isn't a bad start. Immunity to Exhaustion and Poisoning and the perks of being undead (no need to breathe or eat) are definitely powerful, but Bludgeoning is a very common damage type and taking double damage from it is a big downside. Maybe throw a -2 Charisma penalty due to most inspiring leaders through the ages being known for having flesh, after all, and there's the basics for your homebrew.

If the GM is onboard with it and you can pull some fun gags with it (get practicing your Skeletor voice), nothing is stopping you. Here's a bit of advice, though: invest in some disguises. Or at least a bag of holding the others can you smuggle you inside.
 
Corn Flakes said:
If the GM is onboard with it and you can pull some fun gags with it (get practicing your Skeletor voice), nothing is stopping you. Here's a bit of advice, though: invest in some disguises. Or at least a bag of holding the others can you smuggle you inside.
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In the campaign my group just finished we had two parties we'd play, one of which was a band of undead bounty hunters and this is exactly what the skeleton paladin of redemption would do, especially the skeletor voice.
 
Adamska said:
Still more memorable than half-elves, which have the same statblocks as humans but without the bonus skill points and free feat which are always useful. And elves, which have all the other things listed but better.

A half-orc would be more useful statistically just from having better STR than a half-elf. At least you'd have more bang as a dumb martial character anyway with half-orcs, doing on average 3 points more damage per hit. Half-elves are the spork of the DnD setting, useless compared to its parents.

Only better than fear spells and basically worthless given how early on they become trivial.

Shittiest spell group in the game outside of illusions.

Yeah you don't get to try to justify this after poo'ing over darkvision dude. Don't even kid.

+1 extra skill per level as human, better bonus as an elf.

Yeah no. Diplomacy is so easy to cheese it's not even funny.

I'm sorry, but Half-elves just fill a pointless niche for me.
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Make up your mind. Either you're arguing mechanically, or flavor. I have no objection to flavor, but mechanically, again: unless you are using turbo autist rolling methods, the points or rolls are going to be fungible. And a half-orc is going to start effectively with 2 less attribute points. Period.

I agree the half-elf is pretty much the bland porridge, but give me a fuckin' break. The poor half-orc gets fucked in 3E. The +2 Str is not worth the double stat loss in Int and Cha, and it effectively pigeonholes you as a martial character.

(Incidentially, none of this applies to Pathfinder. Paizo actually made half-orcs a hell of a lot more viable, with a +2 wildcard attribute buff, darkvision, an intimidate bonus, weapon proficiency in greataxe and falchion (who expects the sorcerer to whip out a greataxe and hit you with it?), and orc ferocity, aka 'fuck you I am NOT falling over yet.)
 
Corn Flakes said:
Honestly, just talk to your GM. Everything can be homebrewed. Even the basic Skeleton statblock isn't a bad start. Immunity to Exhaustion and Poisoning and the perks of being undead (no need to breathe or eat) are definitely powerful, but Bludgeoning is a very common damage type and taking double damage from it is a big downside. Maybe throw a -2 Charisma penalty due to most inspiring leaders through the ages being known for having flesh, after all, and there's the basics for your homebrew.

If the GM is onboard with it and you can pull some fun gags with it (get practicing your Skeletor voice), nothing is stopping you. Here's a bit of advice, though: invest in some disguises. Or at least a bag of holding the others can you smuggle you inside.
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Also don't forget you die as a skelly you die permanently since you can't come back from that too. They also would likely have issues with lifting.

It'd be fun.
40 Year Old Boomer said:
In the campaign my group just finished we had two parties we'd play, one of which was a band of undead bounty hunters and this is exactly what the skeleton paladin of redemption would do, especially the skeletor voice.
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Evil campaign I was in was heavily undead focused. We had a necropolitan and two fucking liches by the end of it.
 
Dang Woodchucks! said:
Thanks to Capcom, Mystara. After I grew up, i added Al-Qadim.
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One thing I wondered about is why the Shadow Elves were so drow-like in the Capcom games. I mean, both elves live underground, and the Drow make better enemies for beat em ups, but the Shadow Elves are so much cooler, even if that’s only through lack of exposure.

There are several differences between the drow and the Mystaran shadow elves
  • Drow are purple with white hair, while shadow elves (living underground) are extremely pale, with light hair colors.
  • Drow are famously known for being cocksleeves (even the men), while shadow elves are extremely repressed and modest, to the point where strong emotions and PDA are frowned upon. Yes, handholding is seen as lewd.
  • The Shadow Elf god, Rafiel, comes off as very harsh. Since surviving underground tends to not leave a lot of resources to go around, he has them leave the elderly shadow elves and the deformed infants to die in the large underground cave system. However, he’s actually a standup guy. He sends both of them to live either with the monstrous humanoids or with the cultures in Mystara’s Hollow Earth (long story). He ultimately has his people’s best interests at heart. Lolth, by contrast, is Lolth.
  • The conflict with the elves of the kingdom of Alfheim (the normal elves) is much more morally grey, and has a more realistic cause. The shadow elves just want to live on the surface, and would be more than happy to settle anywhere even marginally more survivable than the underground, with it’s giant spiders, it’s monstrous humanoids, and their Aztec ex-patron deity trying to murder them. It’s their king that wants to settle in Alfheim through any means, and he’s convinced the lay shadow elves that the elves of the kingdom of Alfheim are preventing them from living in the surface. This is despite Alfheim being unable to support the shadow elves and still support their own people. The hatred of elves is caused by a guy in power lying to his people, like real life.
  • Nobody really hates the Shadow Elves like other settings do with Drow. The king of Alfheim and their higher ups just see them as a nuisance instead of a real threat, while the rest of the world doesn’t know about them. It helps that the biggest difference between the elves is that the Shadow Elves have slightly longer ears and higher pitched voices. Also, Shadow Elves aren’t bad people at all. Just very reserved.
  • Instead of hating the surface, shadow elves are huge surfaceaboos. Even simple things like surface boots are seen as an awesome luxury.
 
Gingervitis said:
One thing I wondered about is why the Shadow Elves were so drow-like in the Capcom games. I mean, both elves live underground, and the Drow make better enemies for beat em ups, but the Shadow Elves are so much cooler, even if that’s only through lack of exposure.

There are several differences between the drow and the Mystaran shadow elves
  • Drow are purple with white hair, while shadow elves (living underground) are extremely pale, with light hair colors.
  • Drow are famously known for being cocksleeves (even the men), while shadow elves are extremely repressed and modest, to the point where strong emotions and PDA are frowned upon. Yes, handholding is seen as lewd.
  • The Shadow Elf god, Rafiel, comes off as very harsh. Since surviving underground tends to not leave a lot of resources to go around, he has them leave the elderly shadow elves and the deformed infants to die in the large underground cave system. However, he’s actually a standup guy. He sends both of them to live either with the monstrous humanoids or with the cultures in Mystara’s Hollow Earth (long story). He ultimately has his people’s best interests at heart. Lolth, by contrast, is Lolth.
  • The conflict with the elves of the kingdom of Alfheim (the normal elves) is much more morally grey, and has a more realistic cause. The shadow elves just want to live on the surface, and would be more than happy to settle anywhere even marginally more survivable than the underground, with it’s giant spiders, it’s monstrous humanoids, and their Aztec ex-patron deity trying to murder them. It’s their king that wants to settle in Alfheim through any means, and he’s convinced the lay shadow elves that the elves of the kingdom of Alfheim are preventing them from living in the surface. This is despite Alfheim being unable to support the shadow elves and still support their own people. The hatred of elves is caused by a guy in power lying to his people, like real life.
  • Nobody really hates the Shadow Elves like other settings do with Drow. The king of Alfheim and their higher ups just see them as a nuisance instead of a real threat, while the rest of the world doesn’t know about them. It helps that the biggest difference between the elves is that the Shadow Elves have slightly longer ears and higher pitched voices. Also, Shadow Elves aren’t bad people at all. Just very reserved.
  • Instead of hating the surface, shadow elves are huge surfaceaboos. Even simple things like surface boots are seen as an awesome luxury.
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Hell yea. Mystara is awesome. Shadow elves are awesome. Rafiel is awesome. In the lore he was a nuclear physicist in Blackmoor (nuclear power plant) who got dr manhattaned into an immortal when it blew up. He also looks like a dad from the 50s.
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What is it with players and newer DMs being willing to write enemies off because of low CRs?
 
tiefling said:
What is it with players and newer DMs being willing to write enemies off because of low CRs?
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You're gonna have to be more specific here dude.

If it's writing off stuff that has a noticeable CR difference, some of it is due to difficulty. A level 6 or 7 party can mulch pretty casually a warband of goblins even if outnumbered 6:1 and with worg support. A big batch of CR 1/3s is still 1/3s, even if the GM tries to be a rat-bastard with them. Some of it is due to action economy too, because big fights grind; they can genuinely take hours, especially if the dice are being cunts with to hit or with damage output. This is with people who know the rules.

If it's writing off lower level monsters but not too low, that is a little stupider, since it really does depend on what kind of party and what type of monster you fight. Chaos Beasts for example are far nastier than their CR 7 nature implies, as are Giant Crabs. Conversely, there are some beefy monsters that are more shit than you think. Factor in party style and strength and it gets messy.
 
Adamska said:
You're gonna have to be more specific here dude.

If it's writing off stuff that has a noticeable CR difference, some of it is due to difficulty. A level 6 or 7 party can mulch pretty casually a warband of goblins even if outnumbered 6:1 and with worg support. A big batch of CR 1/3s is still 1/3s, even if the GM tries to be a rat-bastard with them. Some of it is due to action economy too, because big fights grind; they can genuinely take hours, especially if the dice are being cunts with to hit or with damage output. This is with people who know the rules.

If it's writing off lower level monsters but not too low, that is a little stupider, since it really does depend on what kind of party and what type of monster you fight. Chaos Beasts for example are far nastier than their CR 7 nature implies, as are Giant Crabs. Conversely, there are some beefy monsters that are more shit than you think. Factor in party style and strength and it gets messy.
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I usually see the opposite problem. GMs and even players insisting the death of every single blind one-legged kobold with a learning disability be rolled for.

My GM has a bit in most of his LGS one-shots where the party finds a small group of enemies and the description just moves on. Something like: "inside the house are three zombies, the unfortunate inhabitants barricaded inside when the plague struck. You quickly bring their tortured souls their final peace as they lunge towards you, then move on to quickly search their dwelling for clues". And whenever he hits that spot, there's a 1-in-3 chance that someone wants to roll for fighting the zombies. And then I (as the GM's assistant) have to explain that combat encounters are supposed to be challenging in some way. If enemies are trivial, they are basically at the mercy of players.

It can take a while to wean people off the mindset that everything, no matter how irrelevant or easy, must be rolled.
 
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Lower CR cannon fodder is just that; it's cannon fodder. It's meant to be used to give your higher-CR foes tactical advantages, and to fill up the remaining XP budget for an encounter.
 
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