Copyright infringement aka piracy is an upheld and enforceable law, in the courts and on these forums.
Modification of software on your computer and binding of user agreements? Not so much.
The problem is, I guess, where the modding blurs the line into copyright infringement by adding copyrighted data.
E.G. when somebody creates a data file for, say, adding the Executioner assassin class.
Copyright infringement aka piracy is an upheld and enforceable law, in the courts and on these forums.
Modification of software on your computer and binding of user agreements? Not so much.
The problem is, I guess, where the modding blurs the line into copyright infringement by adding copyrighted data.
E.G. when somebody creates a data file for, say, adding the Executioner assassin class.
It is not copyright infringement for personal use, that is fair use.
Distributing copyrighted material is another matter.
Yea, it is pretty irrelevant what their EULA states, it may well state that Wizards owns your soul in perpetutity.
The real problem would be what the DMCA states, as that is the most likely source of illegality in what has been done to the offline character builder. Well, the files you load into the CB are almost certainly illegal to distribute due to copyright. If you did it yourself from a legally owned book...it is somewhat more questionable.
Though I see entertaining parallels with the PS3's recent hacking. Both were fine because nobody who could really had an incentive to crack it beyond illegal activities. Both were cracked because of a loss of functionality to end users.
Alright, it is now officially time to cancel my DDI sub and attempt to get the CBLoader shit all working. That will be my project this weekend. Dumb question of the day is will there *ever* be a way to get the "fully updated" offline CB working on my PC, .rar or .zip it somehow and let my players pull it off an ftp and have it fully operational out of the box? In other words, two of my players are even more computarded than I am and I want to make getting a functional CB as easy as possible.
I'm no expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I was in the same situation as you, and simply installed the cbloader on my friends computer for them. However, the core concept of how cbloader works is that it merges new .part files created by the community into the files in the default offline character builder to add support for new products. I believe I read somewhere that if people's .net framework is updated, a drag and drop approach, simply dumping the entire character builder file onto a new computer, will work. If this is true, I don't see why dumping your already merged part files directly onto their computer won't save them that step and be about as close to drag and drop and done as is possible. Hope everything works out for you, cbloader is amazing, it and dnd combat manager saved dungeons and dragons for my group.
Edit: Wrote this without reading page 8. My group has an active ddi insider account, despite not being impressed by wotc's work, and I feel that gives us a right to put anything into the old character builder that is going in their current, crappy character builder. We also split the account amongst five of us, and only us five use the cbloader/builder/etc. We are operating as much as we can within their old framework, but actually using a third party product that works rather than their new product that doesn't. If my post is still inappropriate, take it down I guess.
Speaking of this, how do I back up my offline CB so I can continue to use it in the future? Getting a new computer...
Simply archive the folder. Make a copy, zip it up, etc.
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HachfaceNot the Minister Farrakhan you're thinking ofDammit, Shepard!Registered Userregular
edited January 2011
I need to get my Dark Sun game back on rails. It's been on hiatus since the holidays. And the last session ended so well! (Stealth challenge through the templar district of Tyr. The "stealth" part didn't really pan out. Now Tyr is under martial law following the PCs' slaughter of many many templars. WOOO)
Yea, it is pretty irrelevant what their EULA states, it may well state that Wizards owns your soul in perpetutity.
How is that irrelevant?
Allow me to point out it's an End User Licence Agreement. You pay for a licence, not for a product. Compare to WoW: Blizzard sells you a licence to play, and they retain the right to determine how you can play - ergo, no bots etc. If the CB EULA is anything like it - and I don't see why it wouldn't be - WotC retains the right to tell you how you can or can't use the software. Copyright issues, if any, are in addition to that, they're certainly not the only thing that applies here.
Yea, it is pretty irrelevant what their EULA states, it may well state that Wizards owns your soul in perpetutity.
How is that irrelevant?
Allow me to point out it's an End User Licence Agreement. You pay for a licence, not for a product. Compare to WoW: Blizzard sells you a licence to play, and they retain the right to determine how you can play - ergo, no bots etc. If the CB EULA is anything like it - and I don't see why it wouldn't be - WotC retains the right to tell you how you can or can't use the software. Copyright issues, if any, are in addition to that, they're certainly not the only thing that applies here.
EULA's are notorious for claiming everything under the sun, even many things that are illegal in contract law on the face of them.
There is a large difference between a continuing service and a software license. Blizzard doesn't sue you for breach of contract for using a bot, they discontinue the service they offer you and walk away.
As I mentioned, EULA's are pretty much as good as the paper they are printed on. (i.e. virtual in existence)
The courts do not support EULA.
That's not exactly correct. The courts do see a EULA as a contract, and not abiding by a EULA as a breach of contract. However this is viewed as a very minor infraction, especially of the money involved is nothing substantial.
IOW, something illegal being too much of a trifle for the courts to bother with doesn't make it legal. It just means you're more than likely going to get away with it.
As I mentioned, EULA's are pretty much as good as the paper they are printed on. (i.e. virtual in existence)
The courts do not support EULA.
That's not exactly correct. The courts do see a EULA as a contract, and not abiding by a EULA as a breach of contract. However this is viewed as a very minor infraction, especially of the money involved is nothing substantial.
IOW, something illegal being too much of a trifle for the courts to bother with doesn't make it legal. It just means you're more than likely going to get away with it.
There is a pretty large difference between what is typically termed "Illegal" and violating a contract. Contracts are a civil matter and violating them isn't a crime.
What's the cheapest way I can get a good range of tokens and a battlemap?
If I did want to get tiles, probably for a Dark Sun semi-urban game, which sets or compilation boxes would be best?
I'll be either buying these from amazon.co.jp or shipping to Japan, so the more famous the better.
Does the Monster Vault have tokens? Is it worth getting?
Thanks
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
Cheapest way of getting tiles and tokens are the dungeon tiles and buy the monster vault. Have plenty to work with between both of them and the dungeon tile sets are pretty decent IMO. The monster vault has lots of tokens and you can always sub a token for something else when needed. Between both gamma world sets and MV I have quite a collection now.
Edit: For a Dark Sun game, get the dungeon set (which can be used for any underground region), the cavern set (Lost Cisterns, underground Oasis are good adventure sites in DS), the Deserts of Athas set and the City Set. That will give you plenty to work with in Dungeon tiles.
I have also finished writing and will now start mapping out my Gamma World scenarios.
Trouble on Starforce One: When the horribly failed results to clone famous US presidents decide they don't want to get flushed out the airlock and instead escape from the ship, the automated security system is none too happy. Hilarity abounds as life support systems are turned off and deadly neurotoxins flood the ship! Not to mention that one of the presidents has become a secret communist!
Mir Trouble in Space!: Starforce Ones engines failing, the listless ship smashes into the Russian orbital battlestation Mir. Built in orbit by Nikolai Tesla after his victorious robots conquered the US and then the entire world, it became the shining beacon of communist power in the skies above the world. Now since the great mistake it's just a rusting junkyard in space - albeit with an entire arsenal of nuclear and photon warheads.
Cheapest way of getting tiles and tokens are the dungeon tiles and buy the monster vault. Have plenty to work with between both of them and the dungeon tile sets are pretty decent IMO. The monster vault has lots of tokens and you can always sub a token for something else when needed. Between both gamma world sets and MV I have quite a collection now.
Cool. Thanks.
What about a battle-map if I can't afford lots of tiles? I've looked at Troll and Toad, and the range is too bewildering. I don't even know whether dry-erase is better than wet.
What would you consider the core tilesets if I can? (Edit: beaten by Edit)
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
I tend to hand draw all my maps now, but I do recommend a dry-erase or similar map for when you get caught short or need something quickly.
I tend to hand draw all my maps now, but I do recommend a dry-erase or similar map for when you get caught short or need something quickly.
Can you recommend a particular one? I'll probably have to ship it from the US, so it will end up more expensive than you imagine.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
No sadly as I used to have a white board handy for such moments, but as all of my DnD recently has been online I haven't really thought to invest in a good one recently.
No sadly as I used to have a white board handy for such moments, but as all of my DnD recently has been online I haven't really thought to invest in a good one recently.
Hmm I think the 100-yen shops here (super-cheap shops) have small whiteboards. That might be a better idea.
No sadly as I used to have a white board handy for such moments, but as all of my DnD recently has been online I haven't really thought to invest in a good one recently.
Hmm I think the 100-yen shops here (super-cheap shops) have small whiteboards. That might be a better idea.
Flip-Mat. Probably cheaper than a comparatively sized white board and comes with a grid already on it for you. Also, it shouldn't be too bad to ship since it folds up into a letter sized package. Amazon stocks them even.
Also, Dry Erase is about a thousand times better than Wet. Wet uses overhead markers which are a bit harder to find than white board markers and are much more expensive. More importantly Wet erase markers will stain the hell out of your hands if they get on them. Combine this with the mats being made of vinyl and requiring a fair amount of care if you're not going to screw them up and the Flip Mats win hands down.
No sadly as I used to have a white board handy for such moments, but as all of my DnD recently has been online I haven't really thought to invest in a good one recently.
Hmm I think the 100-yen shops here (super-cheap shops) have small whiteboards. That might be a better idea.
Flip-Mat. Probably cheaper than a comparatively sized white board and comes with a grid already on it for you. Also, it shouldn't be too bad to ship since it folds up into a letter sized package. Amazon stocks them even.
Also, Dry Erase is about a thousand times better than Wet. Wet uses overhead markers which are a bit harder to find than white board markers and are much more expensive. More importantly Wet erase markers will stain the hell out of your hands if they get on them. Combine this with the mats being made of vinyl and requiring a fair amount of care if you're not going to screw them up and the Flip Mats win hands down.
for about 1000 yen (a starbucks latte costs about 400 yen, for reference).
And the 4e tilesets seem to be only 900ish yen, which is much less than I expected.
But so far I haven't found the Monster Vault for sale in Japan.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
More session notes from the land of the dark sun that is actually really bright.
Dark Sun: Builder's Cry
Once again I was faced with the challenge of designing encounters for a party that lacked a leader, due to my new player not having internet yet. This is always a challenge, because if monsters front load too much damage or have a bit of luck go their way it can make life very awkward. Additionally PCs cannot use their healing surges in a very efficient manner and so burn through them faster. With these challenges in mind, I shifted around encounters so some of the more rolepaying orientated encounters came earlier so to give the PCs longer breaks between combats.
Firstly came some clean up from the end of the last game session. The Crodlu was still sinking beneath the silt and with it all 24 (!) of its remaining survival days of rations. This was not a situation that the PCs wanted to be in, as survival days will be gold at a later stage in the campaign. After some debate, the wizard started to pull some of the weight of the struggling beast and the other PCs pushed some of the large bones into the silt. With sufficient purchase the Crodlu was heroically rescued and they earned themselves a new pet! After a moment to name him, eventually they decided upon simply "Bob" they rejoined the caravan.
Unfortunately not all was well in caravan land since the dust storm. The sun was getting even hotter and brighter, literally boiling the unfortunate members of the caravan alive making travel extremely difficult. I started to require the PCs to make endurance checks even when supplied to avoid the suns especially intense heat. If you're familiar with Dark Sun as a setting, you can totally guess what might be in store soon creature wise! None the less the intense heat was also causing other problems.
The dust storm combined with the rapid raid on the caravans supply beasts had reduced the amount of water they had considerably. The PCs soon found themselves on half the normal water ration because of the vastly reduced stocks! Techulan admitted that they would not make it all the way with their current water supply. He had diverted the caravan further west than intended so he could potentially raid a nearby oasis for more water. Unfortunately the scouts he had sent there didn't report back and he suspected the worst. Realizing the PCs were the sort who got things done and best of all quietly, he enlisted their aid.
During this I wanted to put some hints as to things coming up in the game and also show just how powerful the seering stone Techulan was using is. While conversing with the PCs, Techulan examined his dusty orb and was looking at the images within it. One of the PCs risked a look and couldn't quite handle the influx of psychic information that rushed in with it. He took some damage and picked up a couple of strange, distorted images. One of an army of ssurran's led by a familiar figure and the other of a broken city, with five tall towers stretching up all the way to the burning sun above.
Under the cover of darkness the PCs left the caravan to go and secure the oasis, so some of Techulan's men waiting nearby could gather enough extra water. Here is where I wanted to show that even at night Athas is a brutal and horrible place. While the PCs will burn during the day the night offers no solace as it becomes freezing. Traveling at night requires a more difficult endurance check due to the sub zero temperatures and exposure (while the PCs have items, like Sun Balm that can make travel under the sun easier). The PCs pretty easily succeeded in the end, but it was a quiet reminder that Athas' environment does not let up regardless of day or night.
Eventually the PCs arrived at the oasis and quickly found that it actually was almost luminous. Strange energy permeated the cliff, plants and the strangely glowing water. Approaching carefully at first, the PCs could see nothing among the rocks but neither could they see any sign of the missing scouts. Only upon reaching the oasis proper did the PCs find the reason for the scouts disappearance. The oasis rapidly revealed itself to be a shifting piece of terrain appearing partially in Athas from it's dying feywild. The eladrin guardians rapidly made their presence known and demanded the PCs leave or die. The characters of course attempted to reason with the eladrin but they had no interest in what the filthy "defilers" wanted. Battle rapidly begun.
This is actually a crossing into Athas' dying feywild, where the eladrin have shifted from the feywild into Athas to defend the spring. Several water elementals animated by primal spirits summoned by the magic of the spring also rose up in its defense.
The eladrin started by pounding into the PCs and the snipers jumped out from hiding, trying to drag the PCs down with their thrown chatkcha. Most of the snipers threw pretty poorly and so the PCs avoided most of the extra damage from hidden sniper. They were then blown off the cliff by use of the mages scorching burst. The executioner front loaded pretty much everything into the eladrin veiled warrior to nearly down him round 1 (10 HP, only 1 HP from death attack ). The eladrin and elementals though did not give up and assaulted the PCs to deal some damage. But things looked firmly in control.
With only a single elemental left on the field and just the mirage adept left on the top of the cliff, the battle had been mostly won.
Despite the losing position the mirage adept continued to fight to the death. Never giving in whatsoever to the "Defilers" and vowing their deaths to her final breath. Impressively her last few turns were considerably productive as she dealt some considerable damage to the PCs. Although a critical hit from an arrow to the thigh almost killed her, it was another amusing case where the assassin failed to get a death attack by 1 HP (she was left on 11 HP). She stood tall on her rock until the very bitter end.
A satisfying resolution to the combat. Without a leader the party could have been prone to a very swingy fight, but as it was I damaged the party enough to be challenging without anything feeling unfair or that dice could kill them any minute.
As the PCs checked out the water, which fresh from the spring had some mild healing properties (restoring a couple of surges, though the party wasn't too bad off pleasingly). They suddenly found they had another guest who had been watching them. An elven woman - incidentally rule #1 of Dark Sun is never trust an elf - approached the party and commented how pleased she was they had cleared away the eladrin. Introducing herself a Variya, she offered the PCs a bit of an interesting proposition. Some of the caravan's inix's were carrying valuable weapons and other supplies. If one of them would get "waylaid" and end up in the desert unguarded, she would see to it disappearing. Then the PCs would be able to gain a reward - equally as mysteriously you understand.
This provoked a lot of back and forth from Variya, who was more than happy to talk the PCs heads off and run circles around them with words. After a somewhat involved conversation the PCs somewhat agreed to the terms she set. I'm not entirely sure what they are planning to do, but one of the weapon laden inix's with the caravan is actually serving the contingent of templars sent with the traveling party by Nibenay. It does not appear that the PCs would be at all upset if one of their inix's was to suddenly go mysteriously missing. Though how exactly they plan to carry out this nefarious deed will remain to be seen!
Also - almost as a casual afterthought - Variya mentioned that while talking to the PCs they had "borrowed" a couple of the Crodlus that the other soldiers waiting nearby had. She then promptly vanished into the sands of the desert as mysteriously as she arrived, leaving the PCs with quite the interesting choice. There is where we left it but you had better believe the sheer magnitude of backstabbing available here is going to be immense. I'm not done setting up backstabs and counter backstab options for the PCs just yet, many of whom will have very long term ramifications...
As I mentioned, EULA's are pretty much as good as the paper they are printed on. (i.e. virtual in existence)
The courts do not support EULA.
That's not exactly correct. The courts do see a EULA as a contract, and not abiding by a EULA as a breach of contract. However this is viewed as a very minor infraction, especially of the money involved is nothing substantial.
IOW, something illegal being too much of a trifle for the courts to bother with doesn't make it legal. It just means you're more than likely going to get away with it.
There is a pretty large difference between what is typically termed "Illegal" and violating a contract. Contracts are a civil matter and violating them isn't a crime.
I didn't say a breach of contract is a crime. Contracts are however legally binding and it's possible to make a case in court when infractions occur. It's just usually not worth the bother (or pointless, if there is no argument about the breach).
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
Oh Gamma World, where have you been all my life?
Part of a Skill Challenge in Mir Trouble in Space I am writing at the moment: [Science skill DC 18] The missiles guidance mechanism is completely stuffed and won't function correctly ever again. There is now only one logical solution to this problem: You or one of your companions must ride on the nuclear warhead and pull on the guidance wires manually to steer it to safety (or into somewhere you particularly dislike). Unfortunately they shall be vaporized in the process, but on the bright side it's going to be - well - pretty bright!
Part of a Skill Challenge in Mir Trouble in Space I am writing at the moment: [Science skill DC 18] The missiles guidance mechanism is completely stuffed and won't function correctly ever again. There is now only one logical solution to this problem: You or one of your companions must ride on the nuclear warhead and pull on the guidance wires manually to steer it to safety (or into somewhere you particularly dislike). Unfortunately they shall be vaporized in the process, but on the bright side it's going to be - well - pretty bright!
Writing a romp through our local zoo, the characters will run into a herd of Unicorns they'll have to kill.
Just normal fluffy, rainbows and sunshine Unicorns. Because I'm that kind of person.
Ordered that battlemap for small change, then went to Rakuten (the main japanese online shop) and found the Monster Vault, and also discovered that I have so many points, probably from ordering baby-gear, that I could get it for free!
And I still have a bunch of points left
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Ross MillsMr.California, USARegistered Userregular
We really appreciate you taking the time to provide this extremely comprehensive feedback about our 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons product line.
We're very sorry that you are disappointed with the direction that Dungeons & Dragons has gone.
We place great value in the feedback, ideas, and suggestions of our customers. I assure you that Game Support meets with teams around the company on a regular basis, and we make it a priority that your voice is heard. While we cannot guarantee a direct response, we can promise that your thoughts and concerns are being passed along to the right people.
Again, we're very sorry for any disappointment or frustration these changes may have caused.
Which is all I can really ask for in the end. Just have to see how the next few months are panning out.
Dear [User],
[Thank them for contacting us]
[Suggest that you actually read what they said]
[Suggest that you will do something with it, but state that you will never actually reply]
[Apologise]
[Try to initiate hope]
...Man, from someone who used to do CS, that looks familiar...
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I got so robbed last night in that Dark Sun game. Two huge hits, two powerful enemies left at 11 HP? Arglebargle.
It was just so funny. Most of the time it's due to the fact 90% of monsters in Dark Sun seem to have extra con in general (it's even recommended when converting monsters to DS to boost con). That 1-2 extra HP really seems to pay off.
Writing a romp through our local zoo, the characters will run into a herd of Unicorns they'll have to kill.
Just normal fluffy, rainbows and sunshine Unicorns. Because I'm that kind of person.
Here's an idea I had regarding the possible origins of some critters:
Zoo and park attendance at the end of the Ancients' civilization were at all time lows. In an effort to generate renewed interest, genetically-engineered designer creatures were produced and introduced for the sight-seeing public. Each location commissioned unique creatures that would be exclusive to their institution. Unfortunately, some of these genetically-engineered organisms possessed dangerous traits that their creators were ignorant of.
Aegeri, how did you do that stepped elevation in that map? Seems like every time I tried to do something that looked like elevation it just looked like garbage.
(Then again, building the maps isn't exactly a fun activity for me.)
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
I don't make those maps, I take them from other talented mappers and then use them. The best thing about maptools is that I can use anyone's fantastic cartography in it. One of the advantages over having an IRL game IMO. That map I think was found from RPGmapshare, it's not my own work.
Annoyingly, I cannot for the life of me find where I got that map. I sort of save things. I think it was from Cartographer's Guild.
I have some Amazon $$ I can spend, and am looking at both the Eberron Player's Guide and Dark Sun Campaign Setting. I already own PHB and PHB2. I don't have an interest in FR. Are there any other books you'd (the collective you) would recommend for a player?
I have some Amazon $$ I can spend, and am looking at both the Eberron Player's Guide and Dark Sun Campaign Setting. I already own PHB and PHB2. I don't have an interest in FR. Are there any other books you'd (the collective you) would recommend for a player?
I'm thinking about trying to run a D&D campaign. My idea is that the party is a group of knights; being knights, I was thinking about making a squire for each knight that the player could play like a companion.
I haven't DMed before and I'm still fairly new to the game itself, so I was wondering how I should make them so they aren't too strong. I was planning on them only having basic attacks and depending on what kind of knight the squire was training to be he would offer bonuses of a similar nature. If a squire was training to be a cleric, he might boost the number of healing surges and surge value. If the squire was training to be an officer he might give a bonus to initiative, or attack rolls. A squire training to be the Order's record keeper might boost history and religion checks.
I was just wondering if this sounded feasible, and what an appropriate bonus would be that the squire confers to his knight. I have a lot of ideas for this, and I'm probably kinda shotgunning them up here, so I apologize if this sounds scatterbrained
Posts
E.G. when somebody creates a data file for, say, adding the Executioner assassin class.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
It is not copyright infringement for personal use, that is fair use.
Distributing copyrighted material is another matter.
The real problem would be what the DMCA states, as that is the most likely source of illegality in what has been done to the offline character builder. Well, the files you load into the CB are almost certainly illegal to distribute due to copyright. If you did it yourself from a legally owned book...it is somewhat more questionable.
Though I see entertaining parallels with the PS3's recent hacking. Both were fine because nobody who could really had an incentive to crack it beyond illegal activities. Both were cracked because of a loss of functionality to end users.
I'm no expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I was in the same situation as you, and simply installed the cbloader on my friends computer for them. However, the core concept of how cbloader works is that it merges new .part files created by the community into the files in the default offline character builder to add support for new products. I believe I read somewhere that if people's .net framework is updated, a drag and drop approach, simply dumping the entire character builder file onto a new computer, will work. If this is true, I don't see why dumping your already merged part files directly onto their computer won't save them that step and be about as close to drag and drop and done as is possible. Hope everything works out for you, cbloader is amazing, it and dnd combat manager saved dungeons and dragons for my group.
Edit: Wrote this without reading page 8. My group has an active ddi insider account, despite not being impressed by wotc's work, and I feel that gives us a right to put anything into the old character builder that is going in their current, crappy character builder. We also split the account amongst five of us, and only us five use the cbloader/builder/etc. We are operating as much as we can within their old framework, but actually using a third party product that works rather than their new product that doesn't. If my post is still inappropriate, take it down I guess.
Zithra Melitch in Star Wars: An Empire's End
Jellica in In the Shadow of Zeus
Simply archive the folder. Make a copy, zip it up, etc.
Allow me to point out it's an End User Licence Agreement. You pay for a licence, not for a product. Compare to WoW: Blizzard sells you a licence to play, and they retain the right to determine how you can play - ergo, no bots etc. If the CB EULA is anything like it - and I don't see why it wouldn't be - WotC retains the right to tell you how you can or can't use the software. Copyright issues, if any, are in addition to that, they're certainly not the only thing that applies here.
EULA's are notorious for claiming everything under the sun, even many things that are illegal in contract law on the face of them.
There is a large difference between a continuing service and a software license. Blizzard doesn't sue you for breach of contract for using a bot, they discontinue the service they offer you and walk away.
The courts do not support EULA.
IOW, something illegal being too much of a trifle for the courts to bother with doesn't make it legal. It just means you're more than likely going to get away with it.
There is a pretty large difference between what is typically termed "Illegal" and violating a contract. Contracts are a civil matter and violating them isn't a crime.
Back playing 4e after hell-caused hiatus.
I need tokens and some battlemaps or tiles.
What's the cheapest way I can get a good range of tokens and a battlemap?
If I did want to get tiles, probably for a Dark Sun semi-urban game, which sets or compilation boxes would be best?
I'll be either buying these from amazon.co.jp or shipping to Japan, so the more famous the better.
Does the Monster Vault have tokens? Is it worth getting?
Thanks
Edit: For a Dark Sun game, get the dungeon set (which can be used for any underground region), the cavern set (Lost Cisterns, underground Oasis are good adventure sites in DS), the Deserts of Athas set and the City Set. That will give you plenty to work with in Dungeon tiles.
I have also finished writing and will now start mapping out my Gamma World scenarios.
Trouble on Starforce One: When the horribly failed results to clone famous US presidents decide they don't want to get flushed out the airlock and instead escape from the ship, the automated security system is none too happy. Hilarity abounds as life support systems are turned off and deadly neurotoxins flood the ship! Not to mention that one of the presidents has become a secret communist!
Mir Trouble in Space!: Starforce Ones engines failing, the listless ship smashes into the Russian orbital battlestation Mir. Built in orbit by Nikolai Tesla after his victorious robots conquered the US and then the entire world, it became the shining beacon of communist power in the skies above the world. Now since the great mistake it's just a rusting junkyard in space - albeit with an entire arsenal of nuclear and photon warheads.
Cool. Thanks.
What about a battle-map if I can't afford lots of tiles? I've looked at Troll and Toad, and the range is too bewildering. I don't even know whether dry-erase is better than wet.
What would you consider the core tilesets if I can? (Edit: beaten by Edit)
Can you recommend a particular one? I'll probably have to ship it from the US, so it will end up more expensive than you imagine.
Hmm I think the 100-yen shops here (super-cheap shops) have small whiteboards. That might be a better idea.
Flip-Mat. Probably cheaper than a comparatively sized white board and comes with a grid already on it for you. Also, it shouldn't be too bad to ship since it folds up into a letter sized package. Amazon stocks them even.
Also, Dry Erase is about a thousand times better than Wet. Wet uses overhead markers which are a bit harder to find than white board markers and are much more expensive. More importantly Wet erase markers will stain the hell out of your hands if they get on them. Combine this with the mats being made of vinyl and requiring a fair amount of care if you're not going to screw them up and the Flip Mats win hands down.
Thanks lots. I found this:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/1601251556/ref=pd_luc_mri?ie=UTF8&m=AN1VRQENFRJN5
for about 1000 yen (a starbucks latte costs about 400 yen, for reference).
And the 4e tilesets seem to be only 900ish yen, which is much less than I expected.
But so far I haven't found the Monster Vault for sale in Japan.
Once again I was faced with the challenge of designing encounters for a party that lacked a leader, due to my new player not having internet yet. This is always a challenge, because if monsters front load too much damage or have a bit of luck go their way it can make life very awkward. Additionally PCs cannot use their healing surges in a very efficient manner and so burn through them faster. With these challenges in mind, I shifted around encounters so some of the more rolepaying orientated encounters came earlier so to give the PCs longer breaks between combats.
Firstly came some clean up from the end of the last game session. The Crodlu was still sinking beneath the silt and with it all 24 (!) of its remaining survival days of rations. This was not a situation that the PCs wanted to be in, as survival days will be gold at a later stage in the campaign. After some debate, the wizard started to pull some of the weight of the struggling beast and the other PCs pushed some of the large bones into the silt. With sufficient purchase the Crodlu was heroically rescued and they earned themselves a new pet! After a moment to name him, eventually they decided upon simply "Bob" they rejoined the caravan.
Unfortunately not all was well in caravan land since the dust storm. The sun was getting even hotter and brighter, literally boiling the unfortunate members of the caravan alive making travel extremely difficult. I started to require the PCs to make endurance checks even when supplied to avoid the suns especially intense heat. If you're familiar with Dark Sun as a setting, you can totally guess what might be in store soon creature wise! None the less the intense heat was also causing other problems.
The dust storm combined with the rapid raid on the caravans supply beasts had reduced the amount of water they had considerably. The PCs soon found themselves on half the normal water ration because of the vastly reduced stocks! Techulan admitted that they would not make it all the way with their current water supply. He had diverted the caravan further west than intended so he could potentially raid a nearby oasis for more water. Unfortunately the scouts he had sent there didn't report back and he suspected the worst. Realizing the PCs were the sort who got things done and best of all quietly, he enlisted their aid.
During this I wanted to put some hints as to things coming up in the game and also show just how powerful the seering stone Techulan was using is. While conversing with the PCs, Techulan examined his dusty orb and was looking at the images within it. One of the PCs risked a look and couldn't quite handle the influx of psychic information that rushed in with it. He took some damage and picked up a couple of strange, distorted images. One of an army of ssurran's led by a familiar figure and the other of a broken city, with five tall towers stretching up all the way to the burning sun above.
Under the cover of darkness the PCs left the caravan to go and secure the oasis, so some of Techulan's men waiting nearby could gather enough extra water. Here is where I wanted to show that even at night Athas is a brutal and horrible place. While the PCs will burn during the day the night offers no solace as it becomes freezing. Traveling at night requires a more difficult endurance check due to the sub zero temperatures and exposure (while the PCs have items, like Sun Balm that can make travel under the sun easier). The PCs pretty easily succeeded in the end, but it was a quiet reminder that Athas' environment does not let up regardless of day or night.
Eventually the PCs arrived at the oasis and quickly found that it actually was almost luminous. Strange energy permeated the cliff, plants and the strangely glowing water. Approaching carefully at first, the PCs could see nothing among the rocks but neither could they see any sign of the missing scouts. Only upon reaching the oasis proper did the PCs find the reason for the scouts disappearance. The oasis rapidly revealed itself to be a shifting piece of terrain appearing partially in Athas from it's dying feywild. The eladrin guardians rapidly made their presence known and demanded the PCs leave or die. The characters of course attempted to reason with the eladrin but they had no interest in what the filthy "defilers" wanted. Battle rapidly begun.
This is actually a crossing into Athas' dying feywild, where the eladrin have shifted from the feywild into Athas to defend the spring. Several water elementals animated by primal spirits summoned by the magic of the spring also rose up in its defense.
The eladrin started by pounding into the PCs and the snipers jumped out from hiding, trying to drag the PCs down with their thrown chatkcha. Most of the snipers threw pretty poorly and so the PCs avoided most of the extra damage from hidden sniper. They were then blown off the cliff by use of the mages scorching burst. The executioner front loaded pretty much everything into the eladrin veiled warrior to nearly down him round 1 (10 HP, only 1 HP from death attack ). The eladrin and elementals though did not give up and assaulted the PCs to deal some damage. But things looked firmly in control.
With only a single elemental left on the field and just the mirage adept left on the top of the cliff, the battle had been mostly won.
Despite the losing position the mirage adept continued to fight to the death. Never giving in whatsoever to the "Defilers" and vowing their deaths to her final breath. Impressively her last few turns were considerably productive as she dealt some considerable damage to the PCs. Although a critical hit from an arrow to the thigh almost killed her, it was another amusing case where the assassin failed to get a death attack by 1 HP (she was left on 11 HP). She stood tall on her rock until the very bitter end.
A satisfying resolution to the combat. Without a leader the party could have been prone to a very swingy fight, but as it was I damaged the party enough to be challenging without anything feeling unfair or that dice could kill them any minute.
As the PCs checked out the water, which fresh from the spring had some mild healing properties (restoring a couple of surges, though the party wasn't too bad off pleasingly). They suddenly found they had another guest who had been watching them. An elven woman - incidentally rule #1 of Dark Sun is never trust an elf - approached the party and commented how pleased she was they had cleared away the eladrin. Introducing herself a Variya, she offered the PCs a bit of an interesting proposition. Some of the caravan's inix's were carrying valuable weapons and other supplies. If one of them would get "waylaid" and end up in the desert unguarded, she would see to it disappearing. Then the PCs would be able to gain a reward - equally as mysteriously you understand.
This provoked a lot of back and forth from Variya, who was more than happy to talk the PCs heads off and run circles around them with words. After a somewhat involved conversation the PCs somewhat agreed to the terms she set. I'm not entirely sure what they are planning to do, but one of the weapon laden inix's with the caravan is actually serving the contingent of templars sent with the traveling party by Nibenay. It does not appear that the PCs would be at all upset if one of their inix's was to suddenly go mysteriously missing. Though how exactly they plan to carry out this nefarious deed will remain to be seen!
Also - almost as a casual afterthought - Variya mentioned that while talking to the PCs they had "borrowed" a couple of the Crodlus that the other soldiers waiting nearby had. She then promptly vanished into the sands of the desert as mysteriously as she arrived, leaving the PCs with quite the interesting choice. There is where we left it but you had better believe the sheer magnitude of backstabbing available here is going to be immense. I'm not done setting up backstabs and counter backstab options for the PCs just yet, many of whom will have very long term ramifications...
Part of a Skill Challenge in Mir Trouble in Space I am writing at the moment: [Science skill DC 18] The missiles guidance mechanism is completely stuffed and won't function correctly ever again. There is now only one logical solution to this problem: You or one of your companions must ride on the nuclear warhead and pull on the guidance wires manually to steer it to safety (or into somewhere you particularly dislike). Unfortunately they shall be vaporized in the process, but on the bright side it's going to be - well - pretty bright!
Writing a romp through our local zoo, the characters will run into a herd of Unicorns they'll have to kill.
Just normal fluffy, rainbows and sunshine Unicorns. Because I'm that kind of person.
Always priceless.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Ordered that battlemap for small change, then went to Rakuten (the main japanese online shop) and found the Monster Vault, and also discovered that I have so many points, probably from ordering baby-gear, that I could get it for free!
And I still have a bunch of points left
Dear [User],
[Thank them for contacting us]
[Suggest that you actually read what they said]
[Suggest that you will do something with it, but state that you will never actually reply]
[Apologise]
[Try to initiate hope]
...Man, from someone who used to do CS, that looks familiar...
It was just so funny. Most of the time it's due to the fact 90% of monsters in Dark Sun seem to have extra con in general (it's even recommended when converting monsters to DS to boost con). That 1-2 extra HP really seems to pay off.
Here's an idea I had regarding the possible origins of some critters:
Zoo and park attendance at the end of the Ancients' civilization were at all time lows. In an effort to generate renewed interest, genetically-engineered designer creatures were produced and introduced for the sight-seeing public. Each location commissioned unique creatures that would be exclusive to their institution. Unfortunately, some of these genetically-engineered organisms possessed dangerous traits that their creators were ignorant of.
(Then again, building the maps isn't exactly a fun activity for me.)
Annoyingly, I cannot for the life of me find where I got that map. I sort of save things. I think it was from Cartographer's Guild.
Edit: Found it.
Rules Compendium
I haven't DMed before and I'm still fairly new to the game itself, so I was wondering how I should make them so they aren't too strong. I was planning on them only having basic attacks and depending on what kind of knight the squire was training to be he would offer bonuses of a similar nature. If a squire was training to be a cleric, he might boost the number of healing surges and surge value. If the squire was training to be an officer he might give a bonus to initiative, or attack rolls. A squire training to be the Order's record keeper might boost history and religion checks.
I was just wondering if this sounded feasible, and what an appropriate bonus would be that the squire confers to his knight. I have a lot of ideas for this, and I'm probably kinda shotgunning them up here, so I apologize if this sounds scatterbrained