Ephesos

Yay. Absolutely the last day it is possible for me! ...and the way things are going currently, I might have to bow out anyway. We will see, but for now, I will do my best to be there. This week has been kinda awful so far.

Er, correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't Kel specifically withhold permission for any of his scenarios to be posted to the CSR here or anywhere else?

Hunh... I need to start reading those. This is exciting news, to say the least. Obviously a fix of Blades is too much to hope for, but good news anyway.

Heh, I like hearing all this stuff... thanks, everyone. (And Harosh is a lacewing because the aloof and cryptic elements of that race fit the student of a long-dead master pretty much perfectly. The History bonus also helps a lot there.)

Harosh won't object if the book simply falls out of the sky into his hands. Though his perk certainly says otherwise. Yeah, I've got until the 16th.

Ka-bump! Seriously, beautiful day today. ...and hah, I see what you did there ES.

Originally Posted By: Triumph My question: was I over-thinking the whole situation? Probably, yeah. A few gold would've done it easily. That particular NPC would've been happy with pretty much anything. (even had it in my notes under "If Things Go South") Thing is, NPCs can bluff too, and that guy definitely knew his stuff.

I find it incredible that not too long ago, people with prosthetics would be laughed out of the stadium if they tried to compete in the Olympics. And now it's not fair to the other athletes? They've come a long way, apparently. I say let 'em compete. As long as they don't have rocket-legs or something, sure.

Originally Posted By: Dantius Honestly, I don't care for the opinions of random people on the internet (unless they're mine or people I internet-know). Yeah, but it's a person whose opinion is actually relevant to the discussion.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan Eva "Cursed with Krakens" Roe and Leitha "Too Cool for just one Martial Skill" Mondra Please tell me this is how Wybren will be addressing party members from now on.

EDIT: Mega-sniped. So, when social encounters go south, that's when I start actually asking for rolls (again, normally people start rolling long before that). It's when I feel that the characters need to do something more than just talk to smooth things over, which will now be a Composure roll in my campaigns. The encounter outside of Sarden was a good example. People kept telling contradictory stories, which was already pushing towards when I would've asked for rolls (if people hadn't already rolled and failed). Obviously, other players can swoop in and try to save face, and Lanrezac actually did: He gave a nice bit of dialogue and crit a Diplomacy roll, effectively saving the party from a total failure. Of course, then they elected to not bribe the guy when given the horribly obvious chance, so the fail went through anyway. The mob in Quera was a totally different story. In that case, Vitze succeeded at her goal... in fact, it was a bit of overkill. Then the rest of the party just kind of went with it, or gave middling responses backed by poor rolls. I believe it was Vitze fumbling a Bluff roll that pretty much sealed that encounter's fate... and even if the roll had gone better, she had just told the mob the exact opposite of the Bluff. So it would've taken magic dice anyway, or some incredible plan. ...so basically, feel free to leap in and cover for each other, just try to get your stories straight. Coincidentally, this is also when I crack down on out-of-character chatter/planning. As for untrained skills... well, I've been applying a -5 penalty most of the time to untrained skill rolls. This definitely changed a few things in the Blood Marsh finale (i.e. Sawbones being unable to spot the gaps in the army, while Kurex and Alexander could). It also affected Alexander's attempts to be good with a bow... basically, he had very little chance of hitting anything until he put some ranks in it. And even then, it wasn't enough to hit most things. My two cents: learning a new attack skill late in a campaign is a fairly bad idea most of the time. And when it comes to learning new skills, just be reasonable. If your character takes a rank in Composure, that's not a huge leap. History, sure. Crafting (Zeppelins), no. In-character justification is great, but not always necessary (though if you start pumping Composure while your character still acts impulsive and twitchy at every opportunity, I might call shenanigans).

Originally Posted By: Lilith yeah that whole conversation came about mostly because i'm a game design theory wonk Yeah, add in my aspirations to game designing and we were doomed to have that conversation from the start. And I apologize for conflating min-maxing and munchkin-ing. The former is fine, the latter is not. I like Composure, we'll see how it plays. But remember, all of this is just for what I think of as the core set of rules. Any DM is totally free to add house rules to their campaigns, even if it's something way beyond the core (which is why these changes won't affect Brigandage and Dust Bowl unless Nioca and Sarachim allow it). I know I've heard some people say they want to run a social combat system. And that would be totally fine, as long as you're up-front with your players about it.

Also, we have a new epilogue: Click to reveal.. (Sawbones's Epilogue) ]If there is one thing that Allen learned in the Blood Marsh, it is the utility of violence. Upon the goblin's return to Mekos, he returned to his work as a sawbones, skills only improved by his time adventuring. Still paying the elder Macterris' debts as best as could be managed, taking a beating now and again, but really only biding his time. The body of an innkeeper on the city council was found in the marsh, half-submerged in a standing pool and half-eaten by wildlife. He had disappeared some months ago, probably carried off by an eagle on the outskirts of the marsh. A month later, a the mayor's brother - a tanner - was found beaten to death in an alley, presumably for resisting a mugging. Some local thugs were arrested for the crime. A powerful local merchant was flat-out murdered the next week, her throat cut on her own doorstep. Whispers of debts unpaid and ties to crime crept through the town. And Sawbones simply left, leaving in the night for Risia with little more than boat fare, food, and his medical supplies. The temple to Phol-Phoram received a large, anonymous donation that night, and a small hovel on the outskirts of town burned down. Anyone that Allen was indebted to was either recently deceased, unable to follow him, or unwilling to do so. He hitched a ride on the first ship he could find that was going far away, buying a position as a rower, and disappearing across the cold seas to lands unknown, where there would of course be work for a sawbones. Or, failing that, an adventurer.

...oof. I forgot about the racial bonuses. Elves change Bluff to Composure, Dragonborn change Diplomacy to Composure, and Goblins change Intimidate to Perception. Gah, I will be seeking a better solution. Re: conversion - Case-by-case basis. And remember, for any Dust Bowl characters everything is subject to Sarachim's approval.

First, more epilogues please! Second, my site's updated, and the campaign pages got a nice makeover. Third, on the heels of a discussion we had after last night's Dust Bowl session, we're making a change to skills: Intimidate is no longer a skill. From now on, you roll with whatever you're actually doing the intimidating. Usually, that'll be Strength, Martial, or Magic. Bluff and Diplomacy no longer exist. They have been replaced by... Composure is the new social skill. It represents a character's ability to keep cool under pressure in negotiations, or in outright lying. This puts more importance on what you say, because you can't count on rolling a 20 on Diplomacy to smooth things over. Characters with Bluff/Diplomacy points at present will be able to swap 'em out for Composure, and Intimidate points will also be swapped. Pending DM approval for whatever campaign you're in, naturally.

Quote: Still, I know I should examine it and see if there's some way I can support a lower res. Not sure what the lowest should be? I would recommend 1024 x 768, since it's a very common non-widescreen format that isn't tiny. 1024 x 640 for widescreen.

...Hunh. Well, welcome to the boards, and I wish you luck in your endeavors. Releasing a game is tough, but I'm pretty sure you know that already. Quote: I hope Jeff doesn't read this. My big goal is to SURPRISE him!!! Posting it on his company forums is a bad plan. Quote: We got to keep the classic gender alive, and Spiderweb is the only ones making really good classic stuff! 1. I think you mean "genre". 2. I disagree, and it depends a lot on what you call "classic". Quote: It needs a res of 1680x1050 or higher - more about this later. I am very curious as to why this resolution was chosen. It seems fairly arbitrary, and it means I will never be able to play it. Which makes me much more likely to lock this thread for being a fairly straightforward ad.

*poof* Unlocked by request. Assumedly, there will be art.

A mac version is very easy to make thanks to Niemand's GraphicAdjuster, available here. All you need to make is the .cmg file... it's the only real difference between Mac/PC versions.

Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis *cough* I know you said you found the free version, but yeah. I'm quite happy to see gems like this being dragged along into this century. And Fractal, and distinguishing characteristics? Someone here might be able to help... epic stories can't begin if there's no prompt.

Originally Posted By: waterplant or Obama... Obvious troll is obvious.

Linkage A lengthy but truly intriguing tale, which resonated with me. Thought perhaps it might ring true for some other people here. What games have left that kind of echo in your mind?

Originally Posted By: Ephesos (Or we can come to some agreement about Harosh disappearing.) I do not want the campaign rushed on my account. It's only a legitimate course of action when the DM is the one who's disappearing.

...I mean, if we want to get technical, I could probably still be at sessions on Saturdays. Probably. Assuming I'm not just flat-out exhausted. But yes, I wouldn't mind a few more goes before I disappear. (Or we can come to some agreement about Harosh disappearing.)

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan In before the "WEATHER != CLIMATE" posts. I was gonna, but I don't feel like it. Too hot and humid here.