AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
Acrobactics is balance, running across very narrow surfaces and similar tricks. Athletics is long distance running, brute force tasks and things like wrestling. Some things can be either or though, as the disciplines do have considerable overlap in places.
Yea, aside from balancing and reducing falling most of it tends to be "Ask the DM" but I can already see the fact that since Athletics exists and covers some of those areas will be used to say they aren't Acrobatics.
Yea, aside from balancing and reducing falling most of it tends to be "Ask the DM" but I can already see the fact that since Athletics exists and covers some of those areas will be used to say they aren't Acrobatics.
Blah. They always have this problem.
There's a PP in Psionic Power that lets you use Acrobatics instead of Athletics to Jump or Climb.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds.2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
Acrobatics and Athletics are also used against grabs: Acrobatics vs. Reflex (being nimble) and Athletics vs. Fortitude (Brute Strength). I've actually made monsters that penalize one or the other attempt to (some penalize acrobatics as opposed to athletics and vice versa). Nobody escapes my tentacles.
Anybody ever played around with making a semi-coherent PoL world that incorporates the various settings? I'm bored and like the idea of joining up the various desert settings and areas and kinda working out from there.
And of having Sigil be a neutral city in the center of this wartorn world. I think fitting Birthright in is the most difficult, though I guess having a god blow up isn't that hard to establish. Gods in general are kinda funky in this world.
smeej on
IT'S A SAD THING THAT YOUR ADVENTURES HAVE ENDED HERE!!
Man, Gygax must have been one of those DMs you wanted to stab after every session.
There's a monster in here called the Ear Seeker. It's a bug, "about 1/2 inch long". It flies up to PCs in a swarm and tries to lay eggs in their ears. If it succeeds, they hatch 4d6 hours later and eat them from the inside. 90% chance of host death.
Anybody ever played around with making a semi-coherent PoL world that incorporates the various settings? I'm bored and like the idea of joining up the various desert settings and areas and kinda working out from there.
And of having Sigil be a neutral city in the center of this wartorn world. I think fitting Birthright in is the most difficult, though I guess having a god blow up isn't that hard to establish. Gods in general are kinda funky in this world.
This is basically what I am doing to my group of all-D&D newbies. The setting is basically PoL but I have homebrewed a large portion of it and thrown in stuff from Ebberon (magitech steampunk robots was their first enemies, with the ability to get magic tattoos based on dragonmarks), Forgotten Realms (lots of swordmage stuff plus earthmotes) and Dark Sun (elemental powers prevalent, lots of psionic orders and the ability to defile the land using necrotic enegry). The whole setting is also inspired by Star Wars, as they are all huge Star Wars fans. So they are running around trying to rebuild the Order of the Shepherd Knights and the Order of the Consular Sages that once protected the great Republic that fell apart four thousand years ago. I am going to bring in Sigil I think as a massive, real-world city that used to be Coruscant.
Bonuses to longsword and lance, can use their "good" alignment to justify any action. ("That starving orphan could have been an evil lich lord in disguise, so I had no choice BUT to disembowel him with my Holy Avenger +5! It's the only way to be sure!")
OR: ("He had to have been evil; otherwise I wouldn't have killed him!")
I'm lovin' it. Except for the lance part, is that a catch-all for all spears?
Man, Gygax must have been one of those DMs you wanted to stab after every session.
There's a monster in here called the Ear Seeker. It's a bug, "about 1/2 inch long". It flies up to PCs in a swarm and tries to lay eggs in their ears. If it succeeds, they hatch 4d6 hours later and eat them from the inside. 90% chance of host death.
Goddamn brutal.
Yeah a buddy of mine has a bunch of the old books. Half of the monsters above level 6 have a 'save of you die' attack or (potentially worse) a permanent stat drain.
After playing for a year with the same character it is like 'and you get hit by needle from some lizard, fail your poison save, and die.
I am wanting to introduce themes into my loose PoL/homebrew-setting for my IRL group. I am reflavoring all the Dark Sun themes to fit my setting but I'd like to add one or two more for some specific backgrounds I'd like to introduce. Anyone have any good themes they've seen or advice on crafting one or two?
Optimus, I went to bed last night thinking of themes for your Corporate Hell campaign.
I've done a little brainstorming on that myself.
Independent Operator, Freelance Muscle, Security Officer, Corporate Climber, etc.
For a hostile takeover, can you fly in through the windows and carve a bloody path to the CEO's office?
Well, I kind of envision the "corporations" as being collections of various entities with the ones at the top being the most badass. So I guess that could work.
But the stuff PCs would mostly be doing would be corporate espionage, skirmishes for territory on border islands and exploration of the far reaches to search for natural resources and ancient artifacts that would then be used by their supporting Corps to accrue power. For groups that were multi-corp, I would have them working as a multi-lateral expeditionary force into the depths of the astral plane or as a peace-keeping/enforcement wing of some sort of inter-corp tribunal body.
The themes I came up with were similar, but with sillier names.
Consultant, Hired Goon, Rent-a-Cop, Intern. I was gonna go with Magnificent Bastard, but Corporate Climber works better for that one.
The whole thing was inspired by Borderlands, so the original them names were things like Corporate Drone, Hired Meathead, Crazy Propsector, Tech Support Dude, etc.
I made a conscious decision to tone down the silliness a little bit. Not one that couldn't be undone, though.
Trading Favors CC Utility 2
Your penchant for corporate maneuvering helps you and your ally take down an enemy.
Daily Martial
Standard Action
Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can make an attack with an At Will attack power as a Free action. If that attack hits, you gain a bonus Action Point that must be spent before the end of the encounter. If that attack misses, this power is not expended.
Too much? Not enough? I'm having a really hard time gauging the power level on this one.
Trading Favors CC Utility 2
Your penchant for corporate maneuvering helps you and your ally take down an enemy.
Daily Martial
Standard Action
Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can make an attack with an At Will attack power as a Free action. If that attack hits, you gain a bonus Action Point that must be spent before the end of the encounter. If that attack misses, this power is not expended.
Too much? Not enough? I'm having a really hard time gauging the power level on this one.
Utility powers tend not to give extra attacks, but as a daily attack power I think it's fine.
Guess who just bought a '92 Spelljammer adventure? It's the oldest D&D product I own. I got it because there were a lot of planetoids described that could fit in the Astral Sea and Elemental Chaos.
Man, Gygax must have been one of those DMs you wanted to stab after every session.
There's a monster in here called the Ear Seeker. It's a bug, "about 1/2 inch long". It flies up to PCs in a swarm and tries to lay eggs in their ears. If it succeeds, they hatch 4d6 hours later and eat them from the inside. 90% chance of host death.
Goddamn brutal.
From what I've gathered I don't know if I'd enjoy playing with Gary Gygax. I'm grateful that he helped create RPGs, but everything I've heard about him makes him sound very opinionated and unpleasant.
Classes and builds to be included in Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms are the druid (sentinel, a leader), the paladin (cavalier, a defender), two builds of ranger (hunter, a controller and scout, a striker), and warlock (hexblade, a striker).
Wait, isn't there a class called the Hexblade in the upcoming Heroes of Shadow supplement?
Guess who just bought a '92 Spelljammer adventure? It's the oldest D&D product I own. I got it because there were a lot of planetoids described that could fit in the Astral Sea and Elemental Chaos.
Man, Gygax must have been one of those DMs you wanted to stab after every session.
There's a monster in here called the Ear Seeker. It's a bug, "about 1/2 inch long". It flies up to PCs in a swarm and tries to lay eggs in their ears. If it succeeds, they hatch 4d6 hours later and eat them from the inside. 90% chance of host death.
Goddamn brutal.
From what I've gathered I don't know if I'd enjoy playing with Gary Gygax. I'm grateful that he helped create RPGs, but everything I've heard about him makes him sound very opinionated and unpleasant.
I've got a ton of stuff back at my... *cough* parents' house.
Red box + advanced rules, a couple complete set of old pre AD&D core books. A first edition rules cyclopedia. A couple of old MMs. Tons of 2nd edition stuff. Etc. And that's just my D&D stuff. My collection is actually embarassingly large.
It takes an act of will for me to pass a used book store without going in.
Trading Favors CC Utility 2
Your penchant for corporate maneuvering helps you and your ally take down an enemy.
Daily Martial
Standard Action
Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can make an attack with an At Will attack power as a Free action. If that attack hits, you gain a bonus Action Point that must be spent before the end of the encounter. If that attack misses, this power is not expended.
Too much? Not enough? I'm having a really hard time gauging the power level on this one.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much.
Utility powers should never grant attacks. Essentially, this should be a daily leader attack power, probably of level 5, something like:
Effect: an ally makes one standard action immediately as a free action. If that ally makes an attack, it gains the following additional effect on a hit:
Hit: one ally adjacent to the target may make a melee basic attack against the same opponent.
delroland on
EVE: Online - the most fun you will ever have not playing a game.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Trading Favors CC Utility 2
Your penchant for corporate maneuvering helps you and your ally take down an enemy.
Daily Martial
Standard Action
Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can make an attack with an At Will attack power as a Free action. If that attack hits, you gain a bonus Action Point that must be spent before the end of the encounter. If that attack misses, this power is not expended.
Too much? Not enough? I'm having a really hard time gauging the power level on this one.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much.
Utility powers should never grant attacks. Essentially, this should be a daily leader attack power, probably of level 5, something like:
Effect: an ally gains a standard action. If that ally makes an attack, it gains the following additional effect on a hit:
Hit: one ally adjacent to the target may make a melee basic attack against the same opponent.
I've reworked it a bit
Trading Favors CC Attack 5
Your penchant for corporate maneuvering helps you and your ally take down an enemy.
Daily Martial
Standard Action
Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can make an attack with an At Will attack power as a Free action. If that attack hits, you gain a bonus Action Point that must be spent before the end of the encounter. If that attack misses, this power is not expended.
Level 11: Your ally's attack is made with a +2 power bonus to the attack roll and deals +1d8 additional damage on a hit.
Level 22: Your ally's attack is made with a +4 power bonus to the attack roll and deals +2d8 additional damage on a hit.
Classes and builds to be included in Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms are the druid (sentinel, a leader), the paladin (cavalier, a defender), two builds of ranger (hunter, a controller and scout, a striker), and warlock (hexblade, a striker).
Wait, isn't there a class called the Hexblade in the upcoming Heroes of Shadow supplement?
Yeah... I wonder if it's suppose to be Duskblade or something similar...
I don't think this should be reliable. As a daily attack power, it should allow the ally to take any action he or she wants. Also, from a balance perspective, what's to prevent the character who activated the Trading Favors power from spending that action point immediately? By using my version, instead of the target using an at-will, and then the "caster" making a daily or encounter attack, instead the target makes a daily or encounter attack (as a bonus, effectively mirroring the spending of an action point), and if it hits, the caster gets to make the attack that they "gave up" in order to activate the ability.
Daily powers should not improve as the character levels, either. Low level powers are intended to be replaced by higher level powers as the character gains levels.
Edit: I'm just arguing from a balance perspective, as relative to baseline 4E. There's nothing wrong with having "broken" or "overpowered" powers as long as you make sure that all the characters have access to powers as cool.
delroland on
EVE: Online - the most fun you will ever have not playing a game.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
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HachfaceNot the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking ofDammit, Shepard!Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
My oldest gaming book is a 1st edition Fiend Folio.
The binding on old D&D hardcovers is of surprisingly high quality.
I don't think this should be reliable. As a daily attack power, it should allow the ally to take any action he or she wants. Also, from a balance perspective, what's to prevent the character who activated the Trading Favors power from spending that action point immediately? By using my version, instead of the target using an at-will, and then the "caster" making a daily or encounter attack, instead the target makes a daily or encounter attack (as a bonus, effectively mirroring the spending of an action point), and if it hits, the caster gets to make the attack that they "gave up" in order to activate the ability.
Daily powers should not improve as the character levels, either. Low level powers are intended to be replaced by higher level powers as the character gains levels.
Edit: I'm just arguing from a balance perspective, as relative to baseline 4E. There's nothing wrong with having "broken" or "overpowered" powers as long as you make sure that all the characters have access to powers as cool.
There's nothing to stop them from spending the action point immediately, but they're basically just getting their standard action back if they do that.
I'd rather keep it an At Will so I don't run into effect shenanigans down the road.
Daily Theme powers scale so they can be taken at later levels. They are unlike traditional class powers in that way.
It's effectively reliable because I can't see anyone blowing a Standard Action and a daily slot on something that "might" happen. This way they can keep trying.
That seems pretty fine, Optimus. Looks to be in line with the other theme powers of that level.
This theme is really throwing me. Its entire schtick is a combination of "I never attack, my boys do" and coming out better on the deal than everyone else.
Posts
It seems very dependent upon what the DM wants to allow when you contrast it with something like Athletics.
Blah. They always have this problem.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
And of having Sigil be a neutral city in the center of this wartorn world. I think fitting Birthright in is the most difficult, though I guess having a god blow up isn't that hard to establish. Gods in general are kinda funky in this world.
There's a monster in here called the Ear Seeker. It's a bug, "about 1/2 inch long". It flies up to PCs in a swarm and tries to lay eggs in their ears. If it succeeds, they hatch 4d6 hours later and eat them from the inside. 90% chance of host death.
Goddamn brutal.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
This is basically what I am doing to my group of all-D&D newbies. The setting is basically PoL but I have homebrewed a large portion of it and thrown in stuff from Ebberon (magitech steampunk robots was their first enemies, with the ability to get magic tattoos based on dragonmarks), Forgotten Realms (lots of swordmage stuff plus earthmotes) and Dark Sun (elemental powers prevalent, lots of psionic orders and the ability to defile the land using necrotic enegry). The whole setting is also inspired by Star Wars, as they are all huge Star Wars fans. So they are running around trying to rebuild the Order of the Shepherd Knights and the Order of the Consular Sages that once protected the great Republic that fell apart four thousand years ago. I am going to bring in Sigil I think as a massive, real-world city that used to be Coruscant.
They are loving it.
I'm lovin' it. Except for the lance part, is that a catch-all for all spears?
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Yeah a buddy of mine has a bunch of the old books. Half of the monsters above level 6 have a 'save of you die' attack or (potentially worse) a permanent stat drain.
After playing for a year with the same character it is like 'and you get hit by needle from some lizard, fail your poison save, and die.
- Blog: http://bnunes.wordpress.com -Twitter: @Nimrod108 -Wave bnunes@googlewave.com
I am wanting to introduce themes into my loose PoL/homebrew-setting for my IRL group. I am reflavoring all the Dark Sun themes to fit my setting but I'd like to add one or two more for some specific backgrounds I'd like to introduce. Anyone have any good themes they've seen or advice on crafting one or two?
I really wish there were a set of generic themes. Knight, Scout, Cloistered Monk, Noble, etc. It's a really interesting mechanic.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Independent Operator, Freelance Muscle, Security Officer, Corporate Climber, etc.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
For a hostile takeover, can you fly in through the windows and carve a bloody path to the CEO's office?
But the stuff PCs would mostly be doing would be corporate espionage, skirmishes for territory on border islands and exploration of the far reaches to search for natural resources and ancient artifacts that would then be used by their supporting Corps to accrue power. For groups that were multi-corp, I would have them working as a multi-lateral expeditionary force into the depths of the astral plane or as a peace-keeping/enforcement wing of some sort of inter-corp tribunal body.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Like the Crimson Permanent Assurance?
The themes I came up with were similar, but with sillier names.
Consultant, Hired Goon, Rent-a-Cop, Intern. I was gonna go with Magnificent Bastard, but Corporate Climber works better for that one.
I made a conscious decision to tone down the silliness a little bit. Not one that couldn't be undone, though.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Your penchant for corporate maneuvering helps you and your ally take down an enemy.
Daily Martial
Standard Action
Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can make an attack with an At Will attack power as a Free action. If that attack hits, you gain a bonus Action Point that must be spent before the end of the encounter. If that attack misses, this power is not expended.
Too much? Not enough? I'm having a really hard time gauging the power level on this one.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Daily Power: The Cressbeckler Stance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlJdsX181QU
Utility powers tend not to give extra attacks, but as a daily attack power I think it's fine.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
From what I've gathered I don't know if I'd enjoy playing with Gary Gygax. I'm grateful that he helped create RPGs, but everything I've heard about him makes him sound very opinionated and unpleasant.
Wait, isn't there a class called the Hexblade in the upcoming Heroes of Shadow supplement?
Red box + advanced rules, a couple complete set of old pre AD&D core books. A first edition rules cyclopedia. A couple of old MMs. Tons of 2nd edition stuff. Etc. And that's just my D&D stuff. My collection is actually embarassingly large.
It takes an act of will for me to pass a used book store without going in.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much.
Utility powers should never grant attacks. Essentially, this should be a daily leader attack power, probably of level 5, something like:
Effect: an ally makes one standard action immediately as a free action. If that ally makes an attack, it gains the following additional effect on a hit:
Hit: one ally adjacent to the target may make a melee basic attack against the same opponent.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
I've reworked it a bit
Trading Favors CC Attack 5
Your penchant for corporate maneuvering helps you and your ally take down an enemy.
Daily Martial
Standard Action
Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can make an attack with an At Will attack power as a Free action. If that attack hits, you gain a bonus Action Point that must be spent before the end of the encounter. If that attack misses, this power is not expended.
Level 11: Your ally's attack is made with a +2 power bonus to the attack roll and deals +1d8 additional damage on a hit.
Level 22: Your ally's attack is made with a +4 power bonus to the attack roll and deals +2d8 additional damage on a hit.
Notice that it's a level 5 attack now.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Yeah... I wonder if it's suppose to be Duskblade or something similar...
Daily powers should not improve as the character levels, either. Low level powers are intended to be replaced by higher level powers as the character gains levels.
Edit: I'm just arguing from a balance perspective, as relative to baseline 4E. There's nothing wrong with having "broken" or "overpowered" powers as long as you make sure that all the characters have access to powers as cool.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
The binding on old D&D hardcovers is of surprisingly high quality.
I'd rather keep it an At Will so I don't run into effect shenanigans down the road.
Daily Theme powers scale so they can be taken at later levels. They are unlike traditional class powers in that way.
It's effectively reliable because I can't see anyone blowing a Standard Action and a daily slot on something that "might" happen. This way they can keep trying.
This theme is really throwing me. Its entire schtick is a combination of "I never attack, my boys do" and coming out better on the deal than everyone else.
It's a tough thing to actually build for.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Here's my first relatively fully fleshed out shot at creating my own theme. (PDF) Any and all thoughts appreciated.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.