[DnD] D&D Discussion & Enlistment (Save Ends)

So, couple of changes to announce.

First, with the Privateer FP we've officially added personal firearms to the campaign. When in a major port city, the items on the following chart are available as any other weapon.



The stinger is a small, cheap pistol, essentially a black powder Saturday Night Special. The privateer is a reliable midrange pistol, less prone to dangerous misfires than most. The dragon is the most powerful handgun in the world, and will blow your head clean off. The gorgon, harpy, and medusa are effectively a rifle, grenade launcher, and shotgun respectively. All firearms share two mechanics; reload only on a 5 or 6 on a d6, and a risk of misfire. Misfire only comes into play if you roll a natural one while firing, so there's no need to explain that in detail right away.

You can't BUY magic versions of these weapons, but you might find one. Also I should mention that these are all Exotic.

Second, I'm dropping the whole Achievements business. I've realized that I've missed a few occasions where some of you should have earned one, and the amount of stat tracking necessary for others... well. Plus, they're not really interesting. INSTEAD: Drama Cards!

If you do something awesome or achieve some personal milestone for your character or just make me laugh, you may get a Drama Card. Each card has a unique one-time ability that you can cash in at will. Some of them are just small bonuses, others straight-up allow you to seize narrative control of a scene. There are four tiers of these; I'm just straight-up rolling on a table so you're just as likely to get a Copper card as a Platinum. But even the Coppers can be worth saving for a rainy day.

I say "you" get them, but earned Drama Cards are actually the property of the entire active group; therefore no one will take unused cards to their grave. Whoever actually earned it maintains veto control over its use, however (so long as they remain in the active party).

Zephyrin, this is yours.



Third, packrat's not ready to play as it turns out so I'm movin' on down the list. News as it transpires.

Edit: and Soluzar's not been around in a week, so maybe get comfortable as a foursome for a few days while I hash this out

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

You know what, tracking ammo is annoying anyway. Let's Not Do That Anymore.

Everyone has effectively infinite *MUNDANE* ammo for their ranged weapons forever. You're welcome.

Just in time for Cal to retire soon ugh editing world's messiest inventory after every single attack

(I say "effectively" because if i say literally infinite ammo then some of you will just stand outside the enemy fort pelting arrows through the windows for weeks on end.)

The reload roll just offsets the kinda ridiculous damage on these things.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Agent Di Gun Him

Keep track of special ammo, at least.

Well yeah, that's worth the trouble since it actually costs more than 1 GP to fill a quiver with that shit.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I don't see why not.

How ya doing, buddy?

In my original encounter design the kraken was wielding a shotgun in each tentacle, but after some review this was determined to be a little too harsh what with Zerg's apparent expectation that he will be allowed to survive and all.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I guess that makes sense, sure. Just treat the tentacle as though it's occupying every space adjacent to someone being held.

(You can't flank the kraken via tentacle, though)

I was speaking idiomatically.

Yeah lemme zoom that out for you a lil' bit



What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

1 Die Roll hurf a durf

Dunno, none of you guys actually showed any interest in the item central to the goddamn adventure so let's just roll for it.

Edit: Glenn's got it. And when I think about it that makes the most sense he's the only one without a fake, yeah.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by wvlfpvp

If I was to use my sword burst, would I be able to hit the tentacle holding me multiple times?

Nah, despite some of the mechanical goofiness involved here it's still just one creature.

Quote:

Also, if I've aegis'd it, will I be able to teleport around to where it's hitting the other teammates?

Sort of. Aegis of Assault just says you can "teleport adjacent to the target"; the fact that you're already adjacent doesn't seem to factor into it. But unless they're also grabbed there won't be any enemy to hit when you get there, so you might teleport directly next to the physical bulk of the Kraken itself.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Of course the Kraken is taller than the ship, it's partially ABOARD the ship.

In a more general sense you'd need a goddamn castle to give this thing "cover", so don't even worry about that.

In an ideal world I'd do some shading to show how the boat is tilting but I'd have to constantly adjust it and ugh

Additional Spam:
GUYS I JUST LEARNED SOMETHING AMAZING.

The DMG2 Inherent Bonus system doesn't stack with item enhancement bonuses! This means I can give you neat items without having to worry about making sure everyone will stay roughly balanced! It means an item's actual properties are suddenly much more valuable than the +X it would grant! A "+1" sword that can burst into flame is suddenly more useful than a +3 sword that does nothing! CRAP, DUDE. There is no longer a good reason to wear +2 platemail instead of +1 scale! THE PLUSSES MEAN NOTHING. A NEW PARADIGM REVEALS ITSELF.

THIS IS HUGE and we are switching to it AS SOON AS THE ADVENTURE ENDS. I say "switching" but most of you won't actually see a change in your effectiveness WHICH IS WHY THIS IS A GREAT DISCOVERY. I AM UNREASONABLY EXCITED BY THIS. FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH

Oh ALSO taking a flying leap off a ship's bow is p. badass so here you go guys thanks to Zerg



Jam it back in, in the dark.

Weapons, armor, and neck items. You get inherent bonuses to attack, damage, AC, Ref, Fort, and Will.

If you think "free bonuses for free" is a stingy attitude well um . If anything you'll all have more money to spend on interesting things instead of just grinding stats.

As it happens, although inherent and magic enhancements don't STACK, higher ones do take precedent so anyone with a +2 or better armor/neck will be ahead of the curve until level 9 or so.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, it's like this. The game is designed around a lot of assumptions in some ways. For example, monster attacks and defenses assume that PCs have certain defenses and attacks at certain levels (within a given range, say). If you don't have something as good or better than the expected values, then you'll have a bitch of a time hitting anything and you'll get hit way more often than others do.

Which is all fine and good, but the way the game expects you to reach these given milestones is by buffing yourself with magic items. By 4th level, for example, you're expected to have a +1 or better weapon, a +1 armor, and a +1 neck item. At 9th level a +2 or better everything. And so on. Well, no big deal... but you only get so much money and a big chunk of that is expected to go toward filling in those slots. Which is lame, because if the money is already set aside for a given use it's not really yours.

The inherent system does away with this problem. Instead of saying "it's level 4, do you have all that shit?", instead it says "it's level 4, you now have +1 to all those categories, enjoy". Thus your money is now free to buy potions or rituals or goofy shoes or whatever, without having to worry about falling behind in usefulness.

And so, nobody ever has to sell off a sweet weapon just because some shitty one they found happens to be +2 ever again. For example, Garr found some short sword in a dungeon awhile back. He had a feat giving him bonuses using heavy blades. Short swords aren't heavy blades, but he equipped the short sword anyway because it had a +1 enhancement and his sword didn't. And that was sad.

And if someone specializes in some goofy-ass weapon like, say, a boomerang, as things are now I have to make sure enemies are occasionally carrying around fucking magic boomerangs so Captain Kangaroo can have his needed upgrades. So that weirdness is also avoided.

I should clarify: people can still CHOOSE to buy exorbitantly expensive weapons/armor to get ahead of the expected curve, but the curve will always catch up with them and it won't be possible for anyone to fall BEHIND. A PC could conceivably keep the same sword his entire career and be no less effective than his allies, and I think that's awesome for goofy-ass this was your father's lightsaber-type reasons.

How ya doing, buddy?

If he had a +3 craghammer, then the question of its being magic would become relevant. But the cheapest +3 weapons are 9,000/pop, so it's probably more fun to use that cash filling up EMPTY item slots.

And of course the PROPERTIES and crit bonuses and such on magic gear remain as relevant as ever. If you find a Flaming weapon, you'll probably still want it. But things like ki weapons or pact blades are no longer desirable strictly on the merits of their math.

And of course none of this will be relevant to either of you for months bwahahahahaha

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

Thus far no enemy has carried any enchanted longbows, crossbows, greatbows, or superior crossbows.

That's because enemies who stand in one place and shoot at you are boring. And then you charge and try to hit them back, and they run away, which is boring. Ranged combat is boring, Zerg. It's really boring.

Quote:

Also, I want to shoot those two-pound books (not throw - out of range) at the kraken. Will you allow me to do so, and how do we do this mechanically?

How exactly do you propose to fire two-pound ammunition? I don't see any catapults laying around, do you? I don't think your usual "glue it to an arrow" method is going to work here.

YOU HAVE A GUN FFS

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

Why, poke the arrowhead deep into the cover, and fire the whole thing at it!

Cal's retiring anyway. Who cares if the bowstring snaps after the battle.

Zerg, the issue isn't one of damage to the bow. The issue is... well, arrows are light and aerodynamic for a reason. You COULD fire a book-arrow, and then you could step forward three inches and pick it up, because that's how far it would go.

Quote:

What happens to Cal if it explodes on his hand?

Also, since it's not an official item, Character Builder can't be consulted. Do guns key off Strength or Dexterity?

Misfires only occur on a natural 1. Misfires that damage the pistoleer occur on 1-3 on the misfire table. That is, I believe, a 0.0075% chance of injurious misfire. And even then it just does its normal damage to you rather than the target, though this might be multiplied somewhat if used with a power allowing multiple shots or whatever.

Oh, and the gun is destroyed, which is probably the worst part

Non-thrown ranged weapons always key off Dex AFAIK.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Sup, here's the new Rules Compendium if anyone wants it.

Shitty scan but whatcha gonna do.

Packrat was too busy.

Soluzar wasn't too busy, and then, suddenly, he was.

Araes has been MIA for over a month.

MAYBE LURKER WANTS TO PLAY.

MAYBE SOMEBODY DOES

I WILL FIND THEM

Most amazing jew boots

MARIS WILL AGREE TO PLAY AND THEN HE WILL WANT TO BE A HUMAN FIGHTER

I JUST KNOW IT

VVVVV I WILL MAKE IT WORK IF I MUST

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I have extended my hand to Maris, and I did beseech him to join us in our travails. 'tis all that I alone can do. Let us pray.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

That's kind of — the tentacles are only "next to" him after he's already been grabbed, and by then he can't very well shift anywhere. Up until the moment the grab succeeds the Kraken is effectively just swinging a big whip at you.

Sorry

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Evidently you're just going to leave your post "pending" until I give you the go-ahead on this, so fine, you can Weave when Puyet gets grabbed. Geez.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

If Maris doesn't join up, Deni, you will be getting your swagger on IMMEDIATELY (though lurks declines to play right now, Zerg's DMing having temporarily soured her on the business). So I would recommend cobbling something together in the event that Maris doesn't understand how to answer PMs or doesn't even remember signing up or something equally likely.

In fact (I will say this for the third time), anyone who wants to play at any point should consider having a mostly-ready character in their pocket.

Oh god I would love to run a noir adventure so much and it dovetails neatly with my intentions for the guild

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

It's okay, little muchacho. Not everyone can be great like me.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm thinking that the "lazy warlord" gimmick would get kind of tired after the first time.

Most amazing jew boots

The CB update is supposedly scheduled for the 12th. No Monster Builder update this month, again. No Dark Sun OR Essentials material in the CB, again. Just stuff from Dragon which has been pretty goddamn scanty itself. Even if it takes a while for a cracked patch to come out you'll not be missing out on much.

FELIPE NO

A goblin? But... but there are so many puns to be had! Why not a ghoul? Or a gnoll? Or a golem?

"I don't pray. I'm incapable of kneeling as a consequence of my shoddy manufacture."

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

Will you be sticking to the new player gear and cash rule (level +2 item, level+1 item, level+0 item, cash equivalent to level-1 item) or will you have a separate budget calculation?

It's level-1 item, level+0 item, level+1 item. DMG pg. 143, #7. Unless when you say "new" you refer to some errata I'm not aware of.

But that ASIDE, valid question. With the inherent system the need for PCs to start with their "holy trinity" (+X weapon, +X armor, +X neck) is gone. Therefore players don't NEED to start with 3 magic items just to keep pace. You see where I'm going with this. I think it's more interesting for people to take their starting gold and spend it on a couple of items they find interesting than to waltz around with magic doodads practically spilling out of every pocket, and it makes the gold and items that they DO find all the more desirable.

I mean, the guidelines for the inherent system assume that you get magic items once in a blue moon or perhaps even never, so I don't feel that this is unfair.


EDIT: Not that these changes MATTER much, since maybe 1/4 of the character files I've ever received actually had their level-appropriate gear added by the player.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?