Well, I'm going to be introducing my new Kobold character to the rest of the Pathfinder group tomorrow.
I've narrowed it down to two choices, and I've already built them both for the current level (6) with gear and everything!
The first option is the Ninja, which looks really thematically pleasing and quite versatile.
The other is a Beastmorph/Vivisectionist Alchemist, with a big focus on melee combat. I went near-full munchkin on this one, and worked out that with the right spell buffs (that he can provide himself) and items (10K gold starting gear) I can wind up with 2 claws, 1 bite and a tail attack at something like +14 attack, +7 damage with 3d6 sneak attacks. Also 30 AC. It's... Actually quite ridiculous.
Yay kobolds! Both of those sound pretty sweet. I don't know where beast morph alchemist has been hiding whenever I look at making alchemists... everything they get is crazy powerful O_O.
The Ninja seems like the more enjoyable play style and character- lots of sneaking around and going invisible and careful positioning and teamwork to pull of their decent damage output. Scales pretty well with gear, too. It's just really rough since it has no way to boost its own ability scores, and suffers badly from the -4str -2con that Kobolds have since it uses quite a few stats.
But the Alchemist is just straight up super strong without any external influences (except for helping get the sneak attacks). The only hitch is that a lot of the buffs he uses only last for 6 minutes (at level 6) so it'll only be that powerful for one, maybe two, fights without buffs from other party members as well. It also doesn't feel as interesting out of combat, and the combat tactics are basically going to be get close -> full round attack -> try to flank -> full round attack, which is a bit dry.
I can't speak to your playstyle, but I'll take a more interesting or versatile build or a more powerful one every day. Being underpowered sometimes can be frustrating, but being overpowered always is just boring.
I have mixed feelings about the whole 'Kobolds will probably die' thing.
It's funny and cute, but only if you're playing the character as a joke or, like, a party of mostly Kobolds or other silly races like goblins and ratfolk.
But when you're trying to fit a Kobold into a regular party their inbuilt nerf compared to the other races irks me quite a bit.
Well, I went with the Ninja. Do not regret it one bit.
Our DM decided to have a bit of an event to introduce my character to the party, since it's Kingmaker and the party are the leaders of a little fiefdom we're setting up. Our General, the Cavalier, has had a bounty on his head for some time due to ~backstory~.
My character, having heard that this fiefdom contains a city where Kobolds live alongside the 'tallfolk' passed through the Cavalier's home country and heard about the bounty (since such things are party of his trade after all). After doing a bit of digging around he found out that there was a mole in the fiefdom's leadership (the current NPC spymaster!) was planning to get the bounty, and decided that a good way to get in the good books of the fiefdom's leadership would be to save the Cavalier's life.
So one night the spymaster kidnaps the Cavalier, whisking him away in a wagon, but I had managed to waylay him and get the drugged Cavalier back to town. I dropped him off, then shadowed him as he went around town alerting other various leaders before eventually returning to his own quarters to try and get some rest.
Unsurprisingly the Spymaster returned to the town, snuck in, and climbed in through the roof of the building. I followed him, however, careful not to be seen. I get to the trapdoor in the roof he had opened (turns out he had this secretly installed for this very night) and see him poised over the Cavalier's bed, dagger drawn.
So I do what comes naturally, unfurl my gliding wings and batman the fuck out of him. I fly down and land on his shoulders, and stab him with one of my swords, hit, and do a decent bit of damage before using vanishing trick to go invisible. The Cavalier wakes up, grabs his sword from his bedside and slashes at the Spymaster (to no avail).
When I first built the character I wasn't expecting to have excellent damage output, because the Ninja's attack bonus isn't huge, has no bonus weapon damage because of low strength, and requires careful tactics to make use of sneak attack, but I did a full round attack with the invisible bonus and (now) the flanking bonus...
One hit. One critical threat, and confirmed! Then a Ki point for another attack... Another critical! One tail attack.... Another hit!
So that's like 6d4 damage and another 12d6 sneak attack damage. Ended up doing something like 68 damage and cut him to ribbons then and there.
Then he did a little bow to the shocked Cavalier, and vanished again.
Fuckin' no-one is gonna mess with this little bastard.
Anzekay on
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gavindelThe reason all your softwareis brokenRegistered Userregular
My player who is a wizard had the bright idea to cast "speak with object" on the suspicious magical objects worn by the enspelled governor with the black dragon for a new wife. I decided on the spot that a magical amulet of Charm Person is the biggest hippie on the planet.
"What's it say?"
"Love. Loooove. LooooooOOoooOOOOove. I love you. Looooooove."
I also decided on a whim that the leader of the Ranger Corps would be a gnome. Except when they met his secretary, they assumed it was him. So I decided it WAS him...with a hat.
"We need to see the Ranger leader."
"I'm sorry, he's not in the office right now."
"Can you get him?"
"If I must."
Gnome hops down out of sight, the hat bobbing along the counter. Reaches up on a peg, swaps hats, gets back up on the stool.
"Welcome to the Ranger Corps! You look like a rough sort! Ever thought about joining up?!"
On subsequent visits, the gnome has been revealed to also be the ranger chef and the ranger wizard (complete with beard and pipe measuring contest).
Absolutely no one else outside of the party will comment on the fact that half the NPCs in the city are a gnome changing hats.
Awhile ago the party found the source of the Elves' ability to force a bond with elementals. It was some sort of gem that was able to channel or summon them at will. They defeated the sorcerer that was experimenting it and the genasi (originally a half elf sorcerer that gained his earth element powers by bonding with an elemental) tried to pick up the gem and it felt like it was tearing him apart.
They kept it away from him by putting it in the fighter's pack. Cut to this weekend and they're fighting the big bad who is also a powerful magician. He's split himself into four entities that are basically doppelgangers of the party for the fight. In the beginning of the tussle, Shin-Fighter grabs onto Fighter while two others teleported behind him, go through his pack and the Nega-Elementalist pulls out a gem.
Table-wise there's a confused silence for a little bit as they don't remember the significance of it right away. The Fighter says that he didn't put a gem in his pack, and Sorc and Warpriest kinda look sheepish as they remember putting it in his pack and tell him as much. At first the party do the typical, pair off against their evil self and have a hard time. The Sorc was launching his elental bolt at Shin-Sorc, but for some reason the gem was sucking the bolts into itself and having some sort of reaction deep inside that seemed tumultuous.
Eventually the gem is overloaded after one too many elemental bolts and detonates, filling the Genasi with shards of the gem. It feels like he's being torn apart and fused together at the same time and different voices whispering in his head, freezing and on fire, and just all sorts of fucked up. Whenever he would use his elemental bolt for the rest of the session, he would roll to attack and then before rolling damage I would have him roll a d6 to determine what kind of elemental bolt he shot out. The end game for this is that for the next few sessions he'll roll at the end to determine his genasi soul type (which elemental from the gem takes over) and because in game lore his powers come from what elemental he's bonded with, his Elementalist powers will also change. After a few sessions he'll be able to change at will but the first few times it will be random as he struggles to get used to the new power.
This fight took place in an ancient temple of Bahamut and last time these evil elves killed themselves on channels around a large Dragon emblazoned capstone with little gutters around the edge. During the fight the big bad has referenced drowning The Bahamut in the blood of those he's wronged; with the help of rhythmic pencil tapping the guys noticed, and the information that the large volcanic chamber they're in seems to be flashing at the same rhythm, they picked up that there was a heartbeat of sorts. By the end of the fight, it was growing weaker. They tries pouring healing potions down the gutters which helped briefly but nothing seemed to do the trick. Eventually the warpriest communed with the Raven Queen who let him know by text "One life must be exchanged for another."
I looooved that moment because he read it and was like "Oh, man, I don't even want to tell you guys what she just told me" and was genuinely troubled by the revelation.
The Fighter, who'd been having visions of a dragon since protecting the weak and was blessed with a fiery sword and resistance to flame, prepared himself and sacrificed himself on the capstone, his blood spreading out and draining down the gutters.
Well, I went with the Ninja. Do not regret it one bit.
Our DM decided to have a bit of an event to introduce my character to the party, since it's Kingmaker and the party are the leaders of a little fiefdom we're setting up. Our General, the Cavalier, has had a bounty on his head for some time due to ~backstory~.
My character, having heard that this fiefdom contains a city where Kobolds live alongside the 'tallfolk' passed through the Cavalier's home country and heard about the bounty (since such things are party of his trade after all). After doing a bit of digging around he found out that there was a mole in the fiefdom's leadership (the current NPC spymaster!) was planning to get the bounty, and decided that a good way to get in the good books of the fiefdom's leadership would be to save the Cavalier's life.
So one night the spymaster kidnaps the Cavalier, whisking him away in a wagon, but I had managed to waylay him and get the drugged Cavalier back to town. I dropped him off, then shadowed him as he went around town alerting other various leaders before eventually returning to his own quarters to try and get some rest.
Unsurprisingly the Spymaster returned to the town, snuck in, and climbed in through the roof of the building. I followed him, however, careful not to be seen. I get to the trapdoor in the roof he had opened (turns out he had this secretly installed for this very night) and see him poised over the Cavalier's bed, dagger drawn.
So I do what comes naturally, unfurl my gliding wings and batman the fuck out of him. I fly down and land on his shoulders, and stab him with one of my swords, hit, and do a decent bit of damage before using vanishing trick to go invisible. The Cavalier wakes up, grabs his sword from his bedside and slashes at the Spymaster (to no avail).
When I first built the character I wasn't expecting to have excellent damage output, because the Ninja's attack bonus isn't huge, has no bonus weapon damage because of low strength, and requires careful tactics to make use of sneak attack, but I did a full round attack with the invisible bonus and (now) the flanking bonus...
One hit. One critical threat, and confirmed! Then a Ki point for another attack... Another critical! One tail attack.... Another hit!
So that's like 6d4 damage and another 12d6 sneak attack damage. Ended up doing something like 68 damage and cut him to ribbons then and there.
Then he did a little bow to the shocked Cavalier, and vanished again.
Fuckin' no-one is gonna mess with this little bastard.
This warms my black heart
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Since the Fighter willingly sacrificed himself to protect the defenseless, I gave him three options after the game in private for how next week starts.
1. Stay Human, and be granted boons by the Bahamut.
2. Having given his blood to cleanse the Bahamut, it returns the favor and shares a bit of its blood to save the Fighter, creating the first Dragonborn they've seen since a flashback that took place a couple centuries ago (at the same temple they were fighting at)
3. Nobly sacrifice his character and create a new character with repurcussions from the act appearing later in the story.
I've been having some fun getting into character with the Kobold, too. Change my voice a little, drop some grammar from the way he speaks, refer to himself in the third person. I think everyone is pretty enamoured with the little guy so far, and they even gave him some loot they'd had sitting around that was useful to him (Dex belt!)
It was also noted that none of the party (or the DM!) know what gender the Kobold is, and some of them are quite confused by this. I'm defaulting to 'he' whenever I talk about him elsewhere, because it's easier to use my own gender there, but the party is so far using 'they' or just his name the entire time.
I mean, Kobolds don't have boobs- they're reptilian! And he's wrapped up in a big cloak and all his Ninja garb, so how can you even tell? And there's no reason for the character to mention 'oh I'm a boy by the way' so, well, that's that. It's just an extra layer of amusement for me.
Anzekay on
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JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
I think I want to dip my toe into DMing a thing for my buddies, but I have no idea what system to use. So many options.
Maybe Deadlands? Said buddies have been enjoying Doomtown, so it might be a natural extension.
what genres are your players interested in playing in, and what are you interested in running? and what kind of mechanics are you looking to run, and what kind of mechanics do you think they would be up for? I know these are super obvious questions but so many prospective players and DMs don't even seem to ask them
I think I want to dip my toe into DMing a thing for my buddies, but I have no idea what system to use. So many options.
Maybe Deadlands? Said buddies have been enjoying Doomtown, so it might be a natural extension.
what genres are your players interested in playing in, and what are you interested in running? and what kind of mechanics are you looking to run, and what kind of mechanics do you think they would be up for? I know these are super obvious questions but so many prospective players and DMs don't even seem to ask them
They aren't particularly interested in fantasy, which nixes a lot of options. We should probably steer clear of anything that necessitates seriousness, since we're all neophytes, but something that could grow to be a little more serious would be welcome. That's why I'm leaning something like Deadlands or Shadowrun, setting-wise - stuff that can adapt to various tones, and plays with recognizable genres while still being their own thing.
Mechanically, I genuinely have no idea. Like, at all. I don't know what I'd like, or what they'd like, or anything. I think we'll want to skew more story-based over crunchiness, but we all have so little experience that I really don't know. We've played some Fiasco, and had a lot of fun with it, but that sometimes got a little TOO loose. Which was fine for one-offs, but wouldn't be tenable in the long term.
Seriousness is all about how the players interact with each other. Once did an entirely serious Ninja Burger Delivery game set in Charles Xavier's Home for Gifted Children.
sometimes when I hear about kobolds they're reptilian and sometimes they're more like rats or dogs, what's their origin?
Going right back to the origin in Germanic mythology they were usually very small humanlike beings, though they could shapeshift into an animal or candle as well if they wanted.
The sort of common fantasy setting Kobolds you see today only share certain traits with the original ones, though virtually every incarnation lives underground and likes shiny gems and ores. World of Warcraft Kobolds wear candles, likely a reference to their candle form in the Germanic mythology, whereas D&D Kobolds share a bit more with the fiery kobolds of some legends where their name was closely associated with drake.
They're pretty fascinating little critters, along with gnomes and goblins, in old folklore. Well worth a reading into if you're curious for more details.
sometimes when I hear about kobolds they're reptilian and sometimes they're more like rats or dogs, what's their origin?
Going right back to the origin in Germanic mythology they were usually very small humanlike beings, though they could shapeshift into an animal or candle as well if they wanted.
The sort of common fantasy setting Kobolds you see today only share certain traits with the original ones, though virtually every incarnation lives underground and likes shiny gems and ores. World of Warcraft Kobolds wear candles, likely a reference to their candle form in the Germanic mythology, whereas D&D Kobolds share a bit more with the fiery kobolds of some legends where their name was closely associated with drake.
They're pretty fascinating little critters, along with gnomes and goblins, in old folklore. Well worth a reading into if you're curious for more details.
Whoa, where the fuck are my candles-that-are-secretly-kobolds modules
I'll play that system, fuck all this "research" bullshit
Well they were basically little spirits that appeared in various forms depending on what line of folklore your region had
So they would appear as flames or little fires sometimes, and that of course led to tales of seeing a candle appearing in the darkness of a house on its own, and people would think it was a kobold
"You're in a dark room."
"I light a candle."
"Roll a d20."
"Six."
"That candle is a kobold."
"Shit! Okay, I light a different candle."
"Roll a d20."
"Twenty. Critical!"
"That candle is also a kobold."
"GodDAMMIT."
"You're in a dark room."
"I light a candle."
"Roll a d20."
"Six."
"That candle is a kobold."
"Shit! Okay, I light a different candle."
"Roll a d20."
"Twenty. Critical!"
"That candle is also a kobold."
"GodDAMMIT."
"I hide in a nearby closet."
You can hear the GM roll dice behind their screen. They frown slightly, then nod.
The GM looks you dead in the eyes and says, "The closet is a kobold, too."
Reading the wikipedia entry for the German Kobolds, now I wanna play one. Of course, good luck getting a GM to let you play a race that's basically a high level druid (Fire elemental form, Animal forms) and Invisibility before you even tack on a class.
Of course, I could probably cheat it up by just playing Halfling or Gnome druid and telling people I'm a real Kobold. I can't see any problems playing a character like that.
How about Star Wars? The new stuff is very good, I hear
Yeah, Edge of the Empire looks super cool.
How does the current Star Wars RPG compare to the previous one? Not that I've had a chance to try either mind you but the previous RPG looked what with it's five classes and all.
I think I want to dip my toe into DMing a thing for my buddies, but I have no idea what system to use. So many options.
Maybe Deadlands? Said buddies have been enjoying Doomtown, so it might be a natural extension.
what genres are your players interested in playing in, and what are you interested in running? and what kind of mechanics are you looking to run, and what kind of mechanics do you think they would be up for? I know these are super obvious questions but so many prospective players and DMs don't even seem to ask them
They aren't particularly interested in fantasy, which nixes a lot of options. We should probably steer clear of anything that necessitates seriousness, since we're all neophytes, but something that could grow to be a little more serious would be welcome. That's why I'm leaning something like Deadlands or Shadowrun, setting-wise - stuff that can adapt to various tones, and plays with recognizable genres while still being their own thing.
Mechanically, I genuinely have no idea. Like, at all. I don't know what I'd like, or what they'd like, or anything. I think we'll want to skew more story-based over crunchiness, but we all have so little experience that I really don't know. We've played some Fiasco, and had a lot of fun with it, but that sometimes got a little TOO loose. Which was fine for one-offs, but wouldn't be tenable in the long term.
Re: seriousness -
Getting the most out of roleplaying as an activity means exercising both the analytical/math faculties and the creative, social, expressive ones and it really does feel like the number one hurdle for new players is getting them to dip their toe into the mode of thinking that's alien to them. "This is so dorky," thinks the dyscalculic drama major as someone tries to explain to them how getting on the other side of the bad guy will make them more likely to hit the bad guy with their sword. "This is so dorky," thinks the leet hardcorez Dew-slamming video gamerz dude as the game master asks him to describe what his character thinks about something. Faced with this feeling, I think a lot of people's first reaction is to snap into comedy mode to make sure everyone knows they aren't some kind of tryhard.
If you as the GM can kind of talk to folks and give these people permission to not feel like dorks - we're all dorks here together - while at the same time kind of recognizing what their particular speed bump is and helping them to overcome it, it's possible that you can get a table of players who are ready for just about anything. Have players who are good at math and charop help players who aren't interested in that stuff get the most bang for their character-creation buck, and have the creative types work with the more left-brained dudes to try and breathe life into their characters (one of the most effective ways I've ever seen to turn Joe Math Guy's generic optimized fighter #3 into a beloved character that he actually wants to roleplay is to have an artist sit down with him and draw that shit. It works wonders.)
I mean, it's not guaranteed. Some people really just aren't interested in engaging with RPGs much beyond the level of "I hit it with my sword." In real life groups, that's often the person who's there for the socialization and would be just as happy with a board game or video game or whatever. And that's fine. (By the same token, though, if a group is specifically assembling for the specific purpose of playing RPGs I think it's fair for GMs and players to expect a higher level of buy-in than "well, I was here anyway and you guys had beer.")
Re: mechanics -
Some people get really fucking evangelical about mechanics and what is or is not best. I think that it really just has to do with what setting you're playing in and what genre you're trying to emulate. Like, trying to tell a scary horror story in a game that lets you make characters who feel invincible and unstoppable might detract from the experience - often times in subtle ways that are hard to point to.
Something else to note is that in the age of the internet, setting and system are more divorced than ever. If you want to play in the Eberron setting, or Shadowrun, or whatever, don't feel obligated to use D&D or the Shadowurn rulesets if you don't want to.
Generally good questions to ask when considering a system:
- What seems to be the expected mode of play? Is tactical combat a core element or an afterthought? Is socializing central to the experience or just a way to grab missions and turn in quests for xp? Are players encouraged to work together to achieve goals or to connive against one another?
- What is the reward structure? Further customization of a character? In-game power? Gear porn? Out-of-game power over the narrative (eg, FATE-style points that you can turn in to cause things that you want to happen)?
- What is the expected duration of the game? Is it based around shorter stories or big campaigns? Do the rules reward players with interesting mechanical progression forsticking with the game for a long time?
- How lethal is the system? Does the lethality match what you'd expect from the fiction? If characters die a lot, is it relatively easy to roll up new dudes, or is it a giant pain in the ass?
Obviously as someone who hasn't played the system you're not going to know the answers to those, but they're great questions to pose to someone who is recommending a system to you. I think too often RPG discussion basically boils down to HOLY SHIT TRY THIS GUYS, IT'S GOT SPACESHIPS and like...that can get you Star Wars or Eclipse Phase or GURPS, you know?
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I've narrowed it down to two choices, and I've already built them both for the current level (6) with gear and everything!
The first option is the Ninja, which looks really thematically pleasing and quite versatile.
The other is a Beastmorph/Vivisectionist Alchemist, with a big focus on melee combat. I went near-full munchkin on this one, and worked out that with the right spell buffs (that he can provide himself) and items (10K gold starting gear) I can wind up with 2 claws, 1 bite and a tail attack at something like +14 attack, +7 damage with 3d6 sneak attacks. Also 30 AC. It's... Actually quite ridiculous.
But the Alchemist is just straight up super strong without any external influences (except for helping get the sneak attacks). The only hitch is that a lot of the buffs he uses only last for 6 minutes (at level 6) so it'll only be that powerful for one, maybe two, fights without buffs from other party members as well. It also doesn't feel as interesting out of combat, and the combat tactics are basically going to be get close -> full round attack -> try to flank -> full round attack, which is a bit dry.
Solar: Wrong on dwarves. Wrong on Kobolds.
Wrong for America.
Why I fear the ocean.
because they will probably die and that's okay
It's funny and cute, but only if you're playing the character as a joke or, like, a party of mostly Kobolds or other silly races like goblins and ratfolk.
But when you're trying to fit a Kobold into a regular party their inbuilt nerf compared to the other races irks me quite a bit.
Our DM decided to have a bit of an event to introduce my character to the party, since it's Kingmaker and the party are the leaders of a little fiefdom we're setting up. Our General, the Cavalier, has had a bounty on his head for some time due to ~backstory~.
My character, having heard that this fiefdom contains a city where Kobolds live alongside the 'tallfolk' passed through the Cavalier's home country and heard about the bounty (since such things are party of his trade after all). After doing a bit of digging around he found out that there was a mole in the fiefdom's leadership (the current NPC spymaster!) was planning to get the bounty, and decided that a good way to get in the good books of the fiefdom's leadership would be to save the Cavalier's life.
So one night the spymaster kidnaps the Cavalier, whisking him away in a wagon, but I had managed to waylay him and get the drugged Cavalier back to town. I dropped him off, then shadowed him as he went around town alerting other various leaders before eventually returning to his own quarters to try and get some rest.
Unsurprisingly the Spymaster returned to the town, snuck in, and climbed in through the roof of the building. I followed him, however, careful not to be seen. I get to the trapdoor in the roof he had opened (turns out he had this secretly installed for this very night) and see him poised over the Cavalier's bed, dagger drawn.
So I do what comes naturally, unfurl my gliding wings and batman the fuck out of him. I fly down and land on his shoulders, and stab him with one of my swords, hit, and do a decent bit of damage before using vanishing trick to go invisible. The Cavalier wakes up, grabs his sword from his bedside and slashes at the Spymaster (to no avail).
When I first built the character I wasn't expecting to have excellent damage output, because the Ninja's attack bonus isn't huge, has no bonus weapon damage because of low strength, and requires careful tactics to make use of sneak attack, but I did a full round attack with the invisible bonus and (now) the flanking bonus...
One hit. One critical threat, and confirmed! Then a Ki point for another attack... Another critical! One tail attack.... Another hit!
So that's like 6d4 damage and another 12d6 sneak attack damage. Ended up doing something like 68 damage and cut him to ribbons then and there.
Then he did a little bow to the shocked Cavalier, and vanished again.
Fuckin' no-one is gonna mess with this little bastard.
"What's it say?"
"Love. Loooove. LooooooOOoooOOOOove. I love you. Looooooove."
I also decided on a whim that the leader of the Ranger Corps would be a gnome. Except when they met his secretary, they assumed it was him. So I decided it WAS him...with a hat.
"We need to see the Ranger leader."
"I'm sorry, he's not in the office right now."
"Can you get him?"
"If I must."
Gnome hops down out of sight, the hat bobbing along the counter. Reaches up on a peg, swaps hats, gets back up on the stool.
"Welcome to the Ranger Corps! You look like a rough sort! Ever thought about joining up?!"
On subsequent visits, the gnome has been revealed to also be the ranger chef and the ranger wizard (complete with beard and pipe measuring contest).
Absolutely no one else outside of the party will comment on the fact that half the NPCs in the city are a gnome changing hats.
They kept it away from him by putting it in the fighter's pack. Cut to this weekend and they're fighting the big bad who is also a powerful magician. He's split himself into four entities that are basically doppelgangers of the party for the fight. In the beginning of the tussle, Shin-Fighter grabs onto Fighter while two others teleported behind him, go through his pack and the Nega-Elementalist pulls out a gem.
Table-wise there's a confused silence for a little bit as they don't remember the significance of it right away. The Fighter says that he didn't put a gem in his pack, and Sorc and Warpriest kinda look sheepish as they remember putting it in his pack and tell him as much. At first the party do the typical, pair off against their evil self and have a hard time. The Sorc was launching his elental bolt at Shin-Sorc, but for some reason the gem was sucking the bolts into itself and having some sort of reaction deep inside that seemed tumultuous.
Eventually the gem is overloaded after one too many elemental bolts and detonates, filling the Genasi with shards of the gem. It feels like he's being torn apart and fused together at the same time and different voices whispering in his head, freezing and on fire, and just all sorts of fucked up. Whenever he would use his elemental bolt for the rest of the session, he would roll to attack and then before rolling damage I would have him roll a d6 to determine what kind of elemental bolt he shot out. The end game for this is that for the next few sessions he'll roll at the end to determine his genasi soul type (which elemental from the gem takes over) and because in game lore his powers come from what elemental he's bonded with, his Elementalist powers will also change. After a few sessions he'll be able to change at will but the first few times it will be random as he struggles to get used to the new power.
This fight took place in an ancient temple of Bahamut and last time these evil elves killed themselves on channels around a large Dragon emblazoned capstone with little gutters around the edge. During the fight the big bad has referenced drowning The Bahamut in the blood of those he's wronged; with the help of rhythmic pencil tapping the guys noticed, and the information that the large volcanic chamber they're in seems to be flashing at the same rhythm, they picked up that there was a heartbeat of sorts. By the end of the fight, it was growing weaker. They tries pouring healing potions down the gutters which helped briefly but nothing seemed to do the trick. Eventually the warpriest communed with the Raven Queen who let him know by text "One life must be exchanged for another."
I looooved that moment because he read it and was like "Oh, man, I don't even want to tell you guys what she just told me" and was genuinely troubled by the revelation.
The Fighter, who'd been having visions of a dragon since protecting the weak and was blessed with a fiery sword and resistance to flame, prepared himself and sacrificed himself on the capstone, his blood spreading out and draining down the gutters.
That's where the session ended.
This warms my black heart
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Maybe Deadlands? Said buddies have been enjoying Doomtown, so it might be a natural extension.
Pathfinder's fun.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
1. Stay Human, and be granted boons by the Bahamut.
2. Having given his blood to cleanse the Bahamut, it returns the favor and shares a bit of its blood to save the Fighter, creating the first Dragonborn they've seen since a flashback that took place a couple centuries ago (at the same temple they were fighting at)
3. Nobly sacrifice his character and create a new character with repurcussions from the act appearing later in the story.
He chose option 2
It was also noted that none of the party (or the DM!) know what gender the Kobold is, and some of them are quite confused by this. I'm defaulting to 'he' whenever I talk about him elsewhere, because it's easier to use my own gender there, but the party is so far using 'they' or just his name the entire time.
I mean, Kobolds don't have boobs- they're reptilian! And he's wrapped up in a big cloak and all his Ninja garb, so how can you even tell? And there's no reason for the character to mention 'oh I'm a boy by the way' so, well, that's that. It's just an extra layer of amusement for me.
what genres are your players interested in playing in, and what are you interested in running? and what kind of mechanics are you looking to run, and what kind of mechanics do you think they would be up for? I know these are super obvious questions but so many prospective players and DMs don't even seem to ask them
First time I saw reptilian kobolds was playing D&D second edition
First time I saw canine kobolds was playing Everquest.
They aren't particularly interested in fantasy, which nixes a lot of options. We should probably steer clear of anything that necessitates seriousness, since we're all neophytes, but something that could grow to be a little more serious would be welcome. That's why I'm leaning something like Deadlands or Shadowrun, setting-wise - stuff that can adapt to various tones, and plays with recognizable genres while still being their own thing.
Mechanically, I genuinely have no idea. Like, at all. I don't know what I'd like, or what they'd like, or anything. I think we'll want to skew more story-based over crunchiness, but we all have so little experience that I really don't know. We've played some Fiasco, and had a lot of fun with it, but that sometimes got a little TOO loose. Which was fine for one-offs, but wouldn't be tenable in the long term.
Yeah, Edge of the Empire looks super cool.
You could also check out FATE Core, since the base rule book is pay-what-you-want, I believe.
We've already done two Roll For Your Lives adventures with it.
http://www.mtwinterstar.com/100m/
Shit, I've been meaning to listen to Roll For Your Lives anyway - this seems a perfect excuse to check it out and let y'all do the sampling for me
(Also, the preview link on the [%] site is broken, as a heads up to whomever it might concern)
@DE?AD
Also, I apologize in advance for any shitty audio quality you will encounter.
Going right back to the origin in Germanic mythology they were usually very small humanlike beings, though they could shapeshift into an animal or candle as well if they wanted.
The sort of common fantasy setting Kobolds you see today only share certain traits with the original ones, though virtually every incarnation lives underground and likes shiny gems and ores. World of Warcraft Kobolds wear candles, likely a reference to their candle form in the Germanic mythology, whereas D&D Kobolds share a bit more with the fiery kobolds of some legends where their name was closely associated with drake.
They're pretty fascinating little critters, along with gnomes and goblins, in old folklore. Well worth a reading into if you're curious for more details.
Whoa, where the fuck are my candles-that-are-secretly-kobolds modules
I'll play that system, fuck all this "research" bullshit
So they would appear as flames or little fires sometimes, and that of course led to tales of seeing a candle appearing in the darkness of a house on its own, and people would think it was a kobold
"I light a candle."
"Roll a d20."
"Six."
"That candle is a kobold."
"Shit! Okay, I light a different candle."
"Roll a d20."
"Twenty. Critical!"
"That candle is also a kobold."
"GodDAMMIT."
"I hide in a nearby closet."
You can hear the GM roll dice behind their screen. They frown slightly, then nod.
The GM looks you dead in the eyes and says, "The closet is a kobold, too."
I will let you guys know what I think
Of course, I could probably cheat it up by just playing Halfling or Gnome druid and telling people I'm a real Kobold. I can't see any problems playing a character like that.
How does the current Star Wars RPG compare to the previous one? Not that I've had a chance to try either mind you but the previous RPG looked what with it's five classes and all.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Everything is a flat packed kobold.
Satans..... hints.....
Re: seriousness -
Getting the most out of roleplaying as an activity means exercising both the analytical/math faculties and the creative, social, expressive ones and it really does feel like the number one hurdle for new players is getting them to dip their toe into the mode of thinking that's alien to them. "This is so dorky," thinks the dyscalculic drama major as someone tries to explain to them how getting on the other side of the bad guy will make them more likely to hit the bad guy with their sword. "This is so dorky," thinks the leet hardcorez Dew-slamming video gamerz dude as the game master asks him to describe what his character thinks about something. Faced with this feeling, I think a lot of people's first reaction is to snap into comedy mode to make sure everyone knows they aren't some kind of tryhard.
If you as the GM can kind of talk to folks and give these people permission to not feel like dorks - we're all dorks here together - while at the same time kind of recognizing what their particular speed bump is and helping them to overcome it, it's possible that you can get a table of players who are ready for just about anything. Have players who are good at math and charop help players who aren't interested in that stuff get the most bang for their character-creation buck, and have the creative types work with the more left-brained dudes to try and breathe life into their characters (one of the most effective ways I've ever seen to turn Joe Math Guy's generic optimized fighter #3 into a beloved character that he actually wants to roleplay is to have an artist sit down with him and draw that shit. It works wonders.)
I mean, it's not guaranteed. Some people really just aren't interested in engaging with RPGs much beyond the level of "I hit it with my sword." In real life groups, that's often the person who's there for the socialization and would be just as happy with a board game or video game or whatever. And that's fine. (By the same token, though, if a group is specifically assembling for the specific purpose of playing RPGs I think it's fair for GMs and players to expect a higher level of buy-in than "well, I was here anyway and you guys had beer.")
Re: mechanics -
Some people get really fucking evangelical about mechanics and what is or is not best. I think that it really just has to do with what setting you're playing in and what genre you're trying to emulate. Like, trying to tell a scary horror story in a game that lets you make characters who feel invincible and unstoppable might detract from the experience - often times in subtle ways that are hard to point to.
Something else to note is that in the age of the internet, setting and system are more divorced than ever. If you want to play in the Eberron setting, or Shadowrun, or whatever, don't feel obligated to use D&D or the Shadowurn rulesets if you don't want to.
Generally good questions to ask when considering a system:
- What seems to be the expected mode of play? Is tactical combat a core element or an afterthought? Is socializing central to the experience or just a way to grab missions and turn in quests for xp? Are players encouraged to work together to achieve goals or to connive against one another?
- What is the reward structure? Further customization of a character? In-game power? Gear porn? Out-of-game power over the narrative (eg, FATE-style points that you can turn in to cause things that you want to happen)?
- What is the expected duration of the game? Is it based around shorter stories or big campaigns? Do the rules reward players with interesting mechanical progression forsticking with the game for a long time?
- How lethal is the system? Does the lethality match what you'd expect from the fiction? If characters die a lot, is it relatively easy to roll up new dudes, or is it a giant pain in the ass?
Obviously as someone who hasn't played the system you're not going to know the answers to those, but they're great questions to pose to someone who is recommending a system to you. I think too often RPG discussion basically boils down to HOLY SHIT TRY THIS GUYS, IT'S GOT SPACESHIPS and like...that can get you Star Wars or Eclipse Phase or GURPS, you know?
@Poorochondriac