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Topics - brujon

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1
Play By Post / Any games vacant? Thinking of getting back into PBP...
« on: November 19, 2019, 10:54:36 PM »
Title says it all!

Lemme know if you have a spot for me in your game!

2
Play By Post / A Radical New Idea
« on: September 17, 2018, 06:04:10 AM »
For a while, i've been thinking of building up a world from scratch. Every time i do so, the challenge seems daunting, herculean. Most of the times i've tried, i end up taking so long that new inspiration takes over, and i'm unable to finish. Every idea i've had before seems inadequate, as i keep on reading, dreaming and changing it until parts of it don't work together.

But then, one night, i thought... How did the world, our world, evolve? It evolved by the actions of ourselves, of nature. Time gave it substance, and made it deep and rich. Then, i had an idea. A radical new idea.

What if i didn't have to do it alone? What if i wasn't the one in charge? What if i was only one of the many that could contribute, but then, everyone in this living, breathing world, could help shape it into something else?

Something unpredictable. Maybe greater than the sum of its parts. Completely wacky or something that made sense. No boundaries. Only a few rules, to help form a cohesive whole.

And then i came up with this:


This would be the world map.

Some of you may be familiar with it. It's one rendition of a Terraformed Mars, with some landmarks to help guide us, as we try and build this into something, together.

To help get things going, i'll lay down some background, but try and leave most of the story intentionally vague and open, so that we can all embark in this together.

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The Background:


The Barrier was always there, and the City is all that there is. All attempts to breach it, all attempts to take it down failed, no matter how hard, no matter the attempt.  The City is all that there is, and it is all that anyone has ever known. 80km in diameter and roughly circular, it's packed up to capacity.

No one knows exactly when the city started, but some have theories. There are many religions in the city, too many to count. Some popular, some not. Land is a valuable resource, so we've built up.

Food is tightly controlled by the elites, who divide up the city. Every attempt at unification has failed so far, and The City's history is filled with short-lived would-be Monarchs and Emperors. There were those who tried to make it about the people. They were also unsuccessful. The City respects no one, and everyday survival is a struggle.

But every time anyone tried to rule the city, or change the way it works, when they fall, it all ended up being the same. The Streets seem to have a mind of their own, and eventually, it all comes back to the rule of the Streets.

Some Streets are more powerful than other Streets. It all comes back to basic survival, in the end. The city is ready to burst, and the wall is as ominous as ever. Those who control the Streets are called the Landowners.

In the past we've had our fair share of culls. Eventually, the City gets filled to capacity. There's bounding to be one coming soon, and the Landowners are slowly realizing it and getting over their petty squabbles about control. There's a Cull coming, and everyone's getting restless. The Landowner's enforcers are getting more and more brutal by the day, and the bleak atmosphere of The City is getting thicker and thicker by the day, you can almost feel it.

And then, everything changes. Throughout the whole city, tremors are felt. Massive winds take over, as a sunny day suddenly becomes cloudy and heavy with rain. Roofs and crops are razed, buildings topple and the shimmering glow of the everlasting barrier seems to fade, and fade, and fade, until it is no more.

Riots and fire break over, the Streets are wrestling to keep control. Faithful gather to celebrate both the End and Salvation. Mouths are agape, or screaming. Those sleeping are forcefully roused from rest. Something that has never before, has happened.

It isn't long before the first brave ones go to the edge, and try and do the impossible. But, they come back bearing different news.

The barrier has fallen. It is no more, and whatever power the Streets held is quickly fading as the news spread across the city. After that, there was no need for a cull. The streets ran red with blood, as more fell than ever before. Complete Anarchy spread. Even though the barrier fell, few were able to leave The City, as there were many eager to stop anyone from leaving.

There were many who believed that we couldn't leave The City because something terrible would happen. But then there were those that wanted to leave no matter what, and eventually they won out in the end, and drove the losers out into hiding. Out of pure need, they cast their differences aside, and swept up power in the vacuum left by the bloodiest Street War that has ever happened in the history of The City.


Finally, any who wanted to leave was free to do so. There were exceptions, of course. The United Church of the Holy City, as the religious coalition now called themselves, restricted travel of all those they deemed "essential" for the continuing well-being of the city. That meant that all the farmers, animal herders, medics and scholars, among other such important folk, were prohibited to leave the boundaries of The City. But all others, were free to finally explore the unknown.


You all are among those who dared to have hope, who dared to venture beyond the unknown, and become a part of The Age of Exploration.

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About The City:

- Technology level as of the beggining of The Age of Exploration is early-industrial. That means steam is already being used, but not large scale.

- Firearms weren't developed due to lack of resources and the extremely close quarters nature of every fight in the city.

- No magic in the past... But some may have felt something stir within as the barrier fell.

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About the Campaign and Setting:


The primer above is meant only as a starting point. The whole world is unknown, and every character oblivious to it. Everyone starts out at level 1, and classes/equipment are, at first, limited to PHB/DMG/MM1, D&D 3.5 and D20 Modern to begin with, observing the "no magic" restriction above.

How stats are going to be assigned will be subject to a poll where all participants will be able to cast their vote and decide.

Everything is left intentionally vague, both past, future and present, because this is meant as much as a campaign, as it is a world building exercise, and to that end, here's the radical idea that i've come up with:

Everyone gets to be both DM and player. Even the first DM will be selected from all participants.

But brujon, won't that end up turning into an unmanageable mess? Maybe it will, but maybe it will turn out being something awesome.

How do i plan carrying it out?

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 The Rules for the Campaign:

- There will be eight players, including myself, all starting at level one with the restrictions placed above.

- Every week, each Sunday, a random player will be selected to act as DM for the week, and he is removed from running in the next week as the next player is selected for DM.

- The acting DM for the week cannot control his own character, and instead, relinquishes control of his character to the DM of the previous week, who will be controlling both characters until next DM takes over.

- The acting DM has broad freedom to introduce lore, new enemies, new mechanics, terrain features, quests and pretty much just act like a normal DM would in a regular campaign.

- However, any player may call out an OBJECTION! and put up the challenged decision up to a vote by all players as well as suggest something else. Both are put up to a vote by all players and whoever wins, wins. A tie is decided in favor of the acting DM.

- Sourcebook and other restrictions on Level Up are decided upon by the Acting DM.

- Retcons can be made, but must be approved by a 2/3 majority of all participant players.

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What do you all think? Any ideas?

3
Off Topic Fun / Does anyone have any experience fasting?
« on: January 30, 2018, 06:53:59 PM »
I'm trying a 10-day fast, finishing my second day today and going into my third tomorrow. As i've read and watched, hunger seems to slowly subside and while energy seemed low today, it seems to be coming back to me now.

So i question y'all, have you tried fasting? How did it go? Would you recommend it? Also, has anyone had bad experiences with longer fasting?

4
Off Topic Fun / Fallout 4 General
« on: December 30, 2015, 08:02:15 AM »
Seeing as there's enough of an interest in Fallout 4, i think it's time a proper thread for the game was made so as to not derail threads any further in discussing this awesome game!

Quote from: MrWolfe
Intersting. Hadn't heard that about being able to hit 12 with the book and a bobblehead. I'm assuming that means you have to wait until the stat is at 10 before getting either?

I could see the "power armor sets your strength to 11" thing making sense from the perspective that you're using the armor's servos, rather than your own muscle power.

Hmm, probably should start selling off those ammo types I don't use. I have several types in the thousands, and only just hit lvl 20. Only really use 10mm, shotgun rounds, fusion cells, and .45 (now that I've started doing the Silver Shroud quests) but since ammo weighs nothing I've been lugging all of it around with me.

Haven't really been buying or selling much of anything actually--everything either goes into crafting or gets hoarded for later. Mainly hoarded for later, since I haven't bothered to do much settlement stuff.

If you start with it at 10, or raise it to 10 through Intense Training, then get book + bobblehead, it doesn't matter - either way it can go to 12 base. It's almost never worth it, though. In fact, i'd wager no stat over 10 is worth it, really...

Yeah, ammo you don't use is better turned into caps. Being weightless they're just as good as caps, and by the time you start stockpiling any serious amount of ammo, you probably figured out which kinds of ammo you use the most and so are in no risk of selling ammo you actually will want to use in the future. Vendors in this game are expensive as HELL but they have some nice pieces of equipment to help survivability, especially armor IMO.


5
Off Topic Fun / Thank you
« on: September 16, 2015, 08:14:30 PM »
I just wanted to create a topic to thank all of the community for, well, being an amazing community all around. You all have seen me go through some rough shit, some tough times, and come back up again. You had a part in it. It always soothes me somewhat that i can come over here and vent a little bit, and everyone will listen and chime in. I consider you all my friends, and everything you have said has made a major impact on my life.

This is not just a gaming community, it's more of a community than that. It's a bunch of guys and girls that happen to share some of the same hobbies, with a lot of very different ways of looking at the world, very different ways of saying things, and arguing things, and i think that is awesome.

So i guess, thank you for being a part of my life for god knows how many years, since i've lost track since the big board change. And keep it going the way you always have, you all rock, and you're all awesome, never forget that.

EDIT: I went and looked at when i joined, it was 2011-07-19, so it's been a little more than 4 years since i joined! It also makes me cringe whenever i look at how dumb i was when i first started posting. I should've lurked moar.

6
General D&D Discussion / Popularity of 3.5E/PF over 4E/5E
« on: August 12, 2015, 05:09:13 AM »
Not trying to start a flame war, just honestly curious, am i biased to think that 3.5E/PF is still more popular than 4E/5E?

It just seems to me that, regardless of two new editions coming out, it seems that 3.5E/PF is still considered "de facto" D&D by most, while the newer editions cater to a much smaller percentage of PnP gamers.

I don't know if this is a thing because i frequent this forum, which is very heavy on 3.5E/PF, or if this is a general trend, and most people are sincerely and honestly unhappy with the new editions, or unwilling to make the change.

Not looking to discuss the merits/demerits of each edition - i know very little of 5E, not enough to have formed an opinion yet, and only enough about 4E to know that i dislike it.

7
So, if all of you are anything like me, then you all have a little bit of difficulty coming up with interesting, thought-provoking ideas for your societies, cultures, religions & cities within your game world.

Sometimes, it just seems like all the good ideas have already been used somewhere, and nothing you can think for yourself seems like it would work well inside your gameworld. Or, sometimes you just get a writers block. You can't really think of anything, and end up resorting to all the common tropes, leading to a bland, uninteresting and one-dimensional gameworld.

Then i had an idea.

What if the community, as a whole, contributed their ideas, without fleshing them out as much, so that everyone could come to the thread, and get a ****ton of interesting ideas that they themselves could flesh out later in their game world?

The idea is this:

If you have an interesting idea for a race, class, culture, religion, society, city or even a magical item, write it here.

Keep it short, keep it simple:

One short paragraph. Don't try to flesh it out, don't go into too many specifics. Just an idea.

The format is this -

SUBJECT: -> Use this to label what your idea is. Is it for a city? A kingdom? A continent? Society? Something else?
NAME: -> If you have thought out a name for your idea, and if it's applicable, put it here.
THE IDEA: -> Your short paragraph about your idea.

By doing this, we can, eventually, have a repository of very, very interesting ideas to flesh out later for our campaign worlds, our adventures, or even our homebrew.

Let's try and keep the thread clean, and only post our ideas here, to avoid cluttering the page with discussions about specific ideas, and allow for easy browsing of many different ideas. Depending on the success of this thread, we may even end up categorizing and archiving the ideas on this OP for easier access to specific kinds of ideas.

I'll start:

CULTURE/CITY/SOCIETY
Evil (B)Witch Empire
THE IDEA: Men are more logic than women, and due to this fact, they're more inclined to be wizards, while women, due to the fact that they are more emotionally tuned, are more inclined to be sorceresses. Since sorcery is something you're either born with or not, and wizardry requires extensive teaching and knowledge, sorceresses end up holding more power than Wizards, eventually outlawing and banning the practice of Wizardry, in a magical matriarchal dictatorship of evil (b)witches.

8
Off Topic Fun / Writing a story, please, help evaluate and critique!
« on: April 04, 2015, 10:33:35 PM »
First of all, the reason i'm posting this in the "off topic" section is because it doesn't directly relate to RPG's, but it's rather a fiction story, inspired by http://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/31f3rf/wp_after_a_treacherous_upbringing_of_dodging_the/ in r/writingprompts.

I'll post the first two three parts, because they're already finished, and you let me know if you liked it, if you didn't, and wheter you want to see more of it later. I plan on continuing it until i think it's done (something i've never done before).


Without further ado, here it is, no title as of yet:

It all started on a cold winter night in December. I was too young to remember it - a newborn, in fact. My mother was taking me to see Santa, buying the presents for me and my family. My father was there, too, my mother said, with a smile that went ear to ear, practically skipping as he walked, proud of his newborn daughter. They thought that they never would have a child, but as it so happened, i was born, seemingly against all odds. A little bundle of joy, their little miracle. They named me Hope.

I laugh when i think about it. Hope. I didn't know it at the time, but all hope of me having a *normal* life ended right then and there, on that night at the mall.

The way the story was told to me, they were there, smiles all around, on the line to see Santa. When the time finally came for Santa to hold me, my Father caught a glimpse of him pulling a knife from under his sleeve. He pulled me back and Santa jumped him, trying to wrestle me from his arm. Security came fast, but not fast enough. My father had collapsed on the ground, blood pooled all around him. Santa got up, and as he lunged towards my defenseless little body, the big christmas tree fell right on top of him, killing him instantly.

The next time it happened, i was 4 years old. I had just had my birthday, and my mother took me to the circus, just like i had pestered her for months to do. I remember most of it vividly. There were clowns and clown cars, dancers and sword swallowers, tigers and elephants. I was having the time of my life. Then, they started calling children to volunteer for the next number. We would be a part of the next act with the clowns. I was picked right away. I was ecstatic. I was making my way down there, and the knife juggler simply took a knife and hurled it towards me. It would have hit me square in the chest, but someone had tripped and fell right between me and the blade, taking the knife that was meant for me in their back instead. The entire circus was shocked and erupted into a panic. The animal handlers couldn't control the tiger as he freaked out from the sudden influx of people, and he beast - now untamed - made a beeline straight for the knife juggler as he headed straight to me, mauling him.

After that incident, my mom started to get suspicious. She couldn't for her life figure out why someone would want to end her daughter's life, but she couldn't find any other explanation why someone would try to kill me right after i was born, and then 4 years later the same thing happens again. Her former husband - my father - was as clean as they come, and she had no reason to suspect it was about something she did, either. After all, she was just a lousy typewriter in a law firm. She neither knew or did anything that could warrant such attention. And as for me? I was just a little kid, no one could've possibly have any reason to come after me, right?

Better be safe than sorry, she thought, as she moved to another city, cut contact with all relatives, all friends, all acquaintances. She couldn't get a name change or change her papers - even though she tried to get the government on her side. No one had believed her, thought she was just grief stricken, paranoid, crazy, hysteric. She started taking self-defense lessons, learned how to shoot. As soon as i was six years old, she thought i was old enough to start learning it too - even though nothing had happened for two years now.

We moved to a farm, far removed from the confines of civilization, around an old nuclear missile silo. Completely self-sufficient. I guess it was a kind of fortunate coincidence that she was awarded a lot of money from the Circus because of the incident. Her former employer had spearheaded the lawsuit *pro bono*, and she used that money to build her own idea of what a safe place for me would be. We treated our own water, generated our own electricity, grew and bred our own food. We tried to limit contact with other people as much as possible. But, children will be children, and my mother hadn't gone so far down paranoia road as to prevent her daughter from talking to everybody.

And so, we spent the next two years having our blissful existence in our own idyllic paradise. We still trained, we still prepared, but, mostly, i was enjoying being an 8 year old girl, and my mother was enjoying being a farmer. And so, for my 8 year old birthday, she decided to let me go to the town's winter festival. When i arrived there, people were dumbfounded to see me here. Sure, most of the townfolk had seen and even talked to me, but never more than a few sentences, and they knew i didn't go to school with the other kids. Nevertheless, everyone was extremely nice to me, and really tried their hardest to make me fit in, get to know everybody.

My mother was really enjoying this kind of social interaction, something she had abstained from for years now, and, of course, was laughing and drinking and getting to know some of the men the town had to offer - although this is something i only figured out after she plainly told me years later. As for me, i was sitting around a campfire, hearing ghost stories from the other kids & teenagers around a campfire.

That's when it happened again. One of the farmers approached us, drew a revolver, pointed at me, and fired. Click. I reached for my own pistol, a .22 that no one had known i had. I lifted it, pointed at him, and just as i was about to pull the trigger, he tried to shoot again, and the gun exploded in his hand. I froze for a second, unable to pull the trigger, despite all of my training. He stumbled back, holding his bloody hand, and then backed into a tree, where one of the branches fell and impaled him through the mouth.

The adults were quick to rush in, and when my mother arrived, she instantly knew what had happened, before anyone had said more than "Someone just tried to kill our kids!". I knew, then and there, that it was probably the last time i was ever going to go outside or even meet people again. I'd be stuck in our paradise of a farm for the rest of my life now, and i was bitter and angry about it. That's when i thought, for the first time, how i hated being called Hope.

From that day forward, my mother went from being paranoid to being a complete nutcase conspiracy theorist. She amped our training regimen and started indoctrinating me into all the ways that she was *sure* that it could only be the government that is after me. What she couldn't figure out, though, is why this seemed to only happen every four years. Surely, the government had the resources and manpower to make sure that if they wanted someone to disappear, they would keep trying until they succeeded, right? They wouldn't stop to think and plan for four years before making the next attempt. But when i shared with her my concerns, she dismissed them offhand and told me that i should focus or i'd be dead.

I read all that i could. It was my only escape valve from the hell that i found myself in. It was my release, my escape. Not only fiction, though. Four years... That thought didn't leave my head. I searched, far and wide, for an explanation. Why would someone - or something as i was really grasping at that point for an explanation - try to kill me only every four years? And why does it seem that they always fail, even though i didn't directly took action to cause it?

But those thoughts quickly vanished, and instead, all i had was hatred. I hated my mother, i hated my life, i hated my name. I hated the world. I was growing into a beautiful girl, i was fast approaching my twelfth birthday, and i was starting to become a woman. But none of that mattered, because i would never have a boyfriend, i would never have a normal life.

9
Off Topic Fun / PS3/PC Games for Babies
« on: March 28, 2015, 02:54:57 PM »
I've been wanting to give my son a little more of an interactive entertainment option. He's currently 2 years and 3 months old. He loves playing with Lego Blocks and simple toys.

All of the children games i've seen so far have been target mainly to kids, that are 6+. I haven't found a single game that didn't require complex mechanics & coordination, such as timed jumps, fast reaction times, etc...

Really what i'm looking for is a game that's simple enough that my son could have fun just by button mashing, which, i wager, is what he'll most likely do and i don't expect anything more than that.

Do any of you have any recommendations?

10
Gaming Advice / What is a good number of gods for a setting?
« on: December 05, 2014, 06:49:25 PM »
I've always wanted to make my very own campaign setting. However, i can never seem to decide on how i want to tackle the issue of Gods.

A world where there's only one god can still be a very fun and interesting place, and there's many ways of going about it...

The Yin Yang or Good vs. Evil approach of having two gods is also very interesting, as is the prospect of having multiple deities, or even an infinite amount of deities that individually aren't very powerful.

What's your take on this?

11
Off Topic Fun / Real money trading of online game accounts
« on: September 23, 2014, 05:06:54 PM »
I'm writing my final course thesis on the legal issues surrounding real money trading of online game accounts. I'm wondering if any of you had a position on the subject:

Do you condone or condemn the practice? Why?

Do you, personally, believe that a user should be or is the owner of his/her account on an online game, and therefore is free to trade with it as they see fit?

Do you believe that the practice can negatively influence the game's developer in any way, financially or otherwise?

Feel free to share your opinions on the subject. I'm looking for new directions to take this piece on, and i'm sorely in need of some discussion on the matter.

12
Off Topic Fun / Males and Females in RPG's: Different Stats?
« on: September 05, 2014, 07:52:50 PM »
We all know our biology, and it's a given that males and females in real life are physically different. It's easy to see that in nearly every sport, the world records are dominated by males, and it's because of inherent physical differences: Males have generally superior strength and fitness overall, while woman have generally superior social skills. And there's other differences, of course.

Now as to my question: Is it worth it to try and replicate this basic truth into RPG's? The first thing that comes to my mind is that some feminists might become aggravated, and the other is that i'm not really sure how to balance such things in terms of stats. To facilitate the discussion, how would you implement this in D&D, while keeping in mind that +2/-2 stats are generally used to denote the superior qualities of a RACE? Is +1/-1 meaningful enough? Would a penalty to certain checks be more appropriate? Am i being mysoginistic and denoting male superiority and tripping on a male power fantasy?

13
Off Topic Fun / The Perfect RPG
« on: August 21, 2014, 06:40:50 PM »
So, in your opinion, what would the perfect RPG system hope to accomplish? What would YOU like to see in a new roleplaying game system?

14
Off Topic Fun / Webcomics Discussion Thread
« on: July 14, 2014, 01:45:19 AM »
Title says it all.

Currently reading:

- Order of the Stick
- Erfworld
- Goblins
- Girl Genius
- Manly Guys do Manly Things
- Platinum Black*
- Crossed*
- MenageA3

*Last 3 are pretty mature though so i'd advise agaisnt too much exposition if we discuss it here.

Sorely disappointed and sad goblins is suffering from a months long lack of updates due to a nervous breakdown from the author that's downright sad, and no one is allowed to seriously discuss any of it over there or get a ban - if it isn't praise or "get better soon" posts, discussion is stifled.

Sigh. These things depresses me.

Also, Erfworld is progressing on a depressingly slow pace even with the text updates... I don't even recall the main story so well anymore, and they keep spreading arcs and arcs all over... Sometimes i hate myself for being someone who sticks to things till the bitter end even if i don't quite enjoy it anymore.

How bout you guys, what about those webcomics, and what more can you recommend? Discuss away.

15
Off Topic Fun / Metal Appreciation Thread
« on: July 04, 2014, 02:59:00 AM »
I'm noticing we are sorely lacking a metal appreciation thread, i aim to change that:

All kinds are welcome... Death, Black, Doom, Melodic, Progressive, Thrash, Gothic... This is by no means a comprehensive list, every kind of metal is welcome - from the most extreme to the tamest. Rock is also fine, but try and keep it more or less metal centric.

I'd like to establish some groundrules for this thread:

- We post a metal song that has been in our heads recently, and talk about how that makes us feel.

- Feel free to recommend other songs from the same band, from similar bands, or even from completely different bands, but try and focus on that one song you feel is worth talking about.

- The aim of the thread is to appreciate and discuss metal bands in a lighthearted and friendly manner, no need to diss on other person's taste in metal just because you disagree, but feel free to recommend other stuff that's in line with your taste.

- Mainstream stuff is fine, but if possible try to promote bands you think is likely others have not heard about, so we can all expand our repertoire as much as possible, this way, everyone benefits and the thread gets richer.

- Let's try and keep discussion not overly long so as to not create band-war and discourage fanboyism. Though, i sincerely doubt this will be a problem since 99,999% of the people i've seen here are extremely mature and healthy individuals and i've yet to see a serious argument explode on the boards, even though it's been quite some years since i've been here (and a few more that i've lurked).

Here, i'll start:

In Flames - Dialogue with the stars

By the gods, this music makes me go places. I close my eyes and it's like i'm suddenly at peace with anything and everything in the world. Highly recommend In Flames for anyone, even those who don't normally listen to metal because they don't like the screaming. This is an instrumental music, and In Flames has a lot of those. They're all beautiful, melodic, easy on the ears, but their heavier stuff is good too. I'd also recommend checking out Wayfarer, Jester's Dance and Man Made God - godly songs, all from In Flames.

Now, you go.

16
Off Topic Fun / Neverwinter MMO: Min/Max Edition
« on: December 10, 2013, 04:49:17 PM »
So, started the game today! Got to level 12. So far, my impressions:

- They did a really amazing number on the cutscenes, they are really good.

- The voice actors are also really good. So far, the bit about the game being fully voiced does not seem like it's a lie. Literally every quest i did so far had all of it's dialogue voiced over.

- The Foundry is AMAZING. Like, seriously. The idea of having player-made content just like it was possible with Neverwinter Nights but in an MMO is groundbreaking. So far i only did 1 Foundry quest, but it was pretty OK. I mean, the game launched December 5, what could i expect less than a week later, even if they did make the map making tools available before launch? The only gripe i have with it so far, is that, for balance reasons, the mapmakers cannot control the content of chests and enemy drops (unless it's a quest item that does nothing).

- There are a TON of events, and a TON of things to do. I'm thinking it may take a while before i get bored with this game.

- I picked for my character a Control Wizard, and so far, it seems to be able to hold off on it's own against all the beasts the game has thrown at me, which is great. I have not reached yet a point where i have experienced the really tough bosses or did co-op play, but i plan to (half the point of this thread). The profession mechanic seems interesting, but i haven't delved deep into it yet, but there are a ton of professions, and they all add something to the capabilities of your character (so far, mainly acquiring gear without relying on RNG or the Auction House).


So, how many of you have tried it out? How are your impressions? Would you join me in defending the city of Neverwinter against the siege of the undead?

17
Off Topic Fun / My recent absence
« on: October 16, 2013, 08:16:41 PM »
As some of you may have noticed, especially everyone i've been pbp'ing with, i have been strangely absent for quite some time now. I shall have you know, whatever has happened is in the past, and i'm going to be back in black here in these boards with a bang. Every pbp i play/DM is going to be updated shortly, just not right now. I'm coming back monday after i've sorted *everything* in my personal life, so my absence is just for a couple more days.

I hope everyone is still here when i come back! Cheers!

*I have done very well in my exams. Aces all across the board.

18
Hell is cold and unforgiving.

You don't remember much... You remember your name... Who you were, and what you did. Most of all, you remember dying.

The only vivid memory: your last breath... And what came after.

Cold running up your spine, chills deep inside your chest... You wanted to move, but your body wouldn't respond. You thought about drawing breath, but your chest wouldn't move... Every sound seemed to last forever, it felt like you had water on your ears, and it seemed to echo faintly. Time slowed down to a crawl. You didn't hear your heart beat anymore. You couldn't see, or feel anything. The pain was gone, but so was touch, so was hearing, smelling, seeing... so was your sense of self. Thoughts were becoming harder and harder to form, and you couldn't even think anything anymore... You went into slumber, drifting away in that place, out of sight, out of mind.

You hear a lyre...

You were in a pyre, burning, around you were thunderstorms black as peat, a bloody red sky and thousands, nay, millions upon millions of screams. A battlefield, an orgy of violence, rape, torture and murder of all kinds. People wearing skinned faces as masks, using severed limbs as crude clubs to beat eachother with it, cutting themselves and others up, and eating one another in a real and figurative sense all at the same time. Crosses all around with grinning madmen being tortured and shouting vile profanities while literally cumming from the whole experience... It was a menagerie of all that is insane, chaotic and violent about humans... PURE, unadultered evil, with no sense or purpose to it, just the joy of being completely and utter opposite of anything good.

You blacked out...

A thud and a crack.

Now you were on a rack. And it stretched and pulled and your limbs were torn apart. Again. And again. And again. And everytime it was as real and as long as the last, like a million years, all in the blink of an eye. You saw everyone you ever loved or cared about... They were your torturers, and they grinned and laughed as they caused you immeasurable and insufferable pain, they spoke the opposite of everything they ever told you about... They wanted to break you, emotionally and physically.

And countless times you drifted, to fates worse and worse, through what it seemed like forever, until...

You felt cold. You felt like you could breathe again... There was no more pain, only a burning sensation on the center of your chest, and the rhytmic beat of your heart, that you thought would never beat again... It was pitch black, and you could sense chains around your wrists, ankles and neck, but you were already used to that.

You couldn't see, but you could smell... Sulfur, brimstone, exotic spices and herbs, all manners of odd smells, and above all, the smell of blood... A lot of blood. You knew that smell. You already drowned countless times in an ocean of blood, piss and faeces, deeper than any ocean of the earth, with shores of bone and sinew, where unspeakable bone-things and meat-horrors awaited to feast on the flesh of the human-fish.

You then, heard a voice...

BEHOLD. For i have opened the gates that God himself had sewn shut. From the fires of hell, Seven return. The Seven who will carry vengeance. God once spoke that he who killed Cain, would suffer vengeance sevenfold.

God never forgives those that usurp His words and His teachings and who go against His commandments. He saith that Cain would not be killed, and that whoever did so, would suffer seven times for that crime. YOU, my friends, will each take revenge against this Church that took your life SEVEN TIMES, and in doing so, will bring upon them revenge SEVEN upon SEVEN times, and each time SEVEN times worse than the last, so that by the end, not even Lamech would have been avenged more times.

Even if you don't believe it, feel in your chest, the marks that brand you as one of the chosen. Evil, wielded to do evil, for good, for justice. Complete this task, and be forgiven. God has not forsaken, but chosen you.

You will complete this task, and bring about the end of this unsightly thing this Church has become.

For that, you will be provided with adequate equipment.

Do not think that you can stray from this path you were set on. You are still claimed by Hell, and this mark in your chest, that bounds you to this quest, is all that stops Hell from claiming you all back. Say that you accept this quest, and you shall be relieved of your bonds. For once, make your evil do some good. God will forgive you, if you complete this task.



The voice is coarse, and it sounds old... Almost ancient. You can't help but feel you have heard a similar voice once before, but you know not where. It is familiar, but there is no face to tie the voice to. The room is pitch black, and the only sound now is that of the chains that bind you.

Who is this man? What exactly does he want, and is all this really real?

But in the back of your head, the memory of Hell and Death is all too clear...

19
Off Topic Fun / Sasha Grey does D&D
« on: July 26, 2013, 12:00:00 PM »
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/i-hit-it-with-my-axe/1533-Episode-One-Meet-the-Party

SFW as long as headphones are on. Dude. I'm mindblown.

Going to watch this whole series now hahaha

20
[D&D 3.5] Avenging Sevenfold / Campaign World Information
« on: July 23, 2013, 12:59:06 AM »
Sandbox, Medieval, Low-Mid Fantasy, Gothic, Magic is Witchcraft, Theological society, Non-Intervening God (Single), Humans are Xenophobic - Think 1000's Europe at the height of Christian power.

It's an evolving setting, which i'll be constructing along with the campaign. Starting area is more or less like England, physically, but more in line with Spain during the Inquisition, politically.


THE SETTING:

In a nutshell, it's our world, if magic existed in it. The places and locations remain the same. The game will be taking place in England, in the (fictional) kingdom of Astaria.

The government is a Monarchy, but in name only. The Church is the one that holds true power, having a monopoly on who gets to practice magic or not. They are divided in different sections:

Order of the Contemplative Mind: Psionic ability is seen as a gift from God, and most children who exhibit the Gift are taken to the various monasteries of the Order of the Contemplative Mind for training, where they can hone their skills as psions, wilders or psychic warriors. They also employ the services of Swordsages, combat monks that didn't have psionic ability, but wished to serve them as well, who are then trained mostly in the Diamond Mind and Setting Sun schools. They are the second most powerful organization, having people infiltrated deep into the government, as well as every section of the Church.

Order of the Sacred Scriptures: The most influential section, spearheaded by high-level Clerics and Archivists, they are the ones that hold the most sway. They control the various churches, and are tied closely with the Order of the Holy Knight Crusaders, who answers to them.

Order of the Divine Choir: An organization that is headed by bards, it is responsible for propaganda, as well as espionage and subterfuge. They don't have much influence themselves, but know enough that they are nearly untouchable. They make dealings with pirates, nobles and rich men from everywhere, and are the order least concerned about the true purpose of the scriptures, but, ironically enough, are the ones responsible for spreading the religion to everywhere.

Order of the Holy Knight Crusaders are the church's army, composed of crusaders, knights, psychic warriors, as well as combat inclined clerics, psions, and divine bards. Many aristocrat sons who couldn't make it to anywhere else in life are thrown in here, to be used by the church to hunt down infidels. They have the most members out of every order, and thus the most power, but different factions fighting from within prevent them from becoming more influent.

There's also secret orders within the church... Who you will have to find out during the game!

Other than the church, there's the Monarchic government, ruled by one King, with 10 different regions divided amongst several nobles of varying influence. The king's army is small and pitiful compared to the Church's army, and so the King decreed his army was to become support for the Church's army, and gave high-ranking bishops the power of generals.

Regions of Astaria:

They are much as they were many hundreds years ago. Particulars around each region will be developed in-game.

London

Bristol

Portsmouth

Northampton

Norwich

Nottingham

Birmingham

York

Manchester

Blackburn

The locations are on the same map as they are on the current modern day map of the UK. Use this map for reference: http://www.mapsofworld.com/united-kingdom/
There are no clear cut-and dry borders around the kingdom, as it is constantly warring against neighboring states.
The area between Plymouth and Portsmouth is populated by Celts – Elves, of druidic tradition, who hold their land through their mastery of the land, impeding the advance of any great army, and through the superior fighting prowess of it's beast-warriors.
The region of Wales is populated by Dwarves, who live in and around the Cambrian Mountains, which provide a natural terrain advantage and prevents them from being conquered by the much larger kingdom of Astaria.
North of York is home to many Saxon and Anglo-Saxon tribes, of varying tradition, that don't have a really concise government or rules. Some are employed as puppet states for Astaria, while others band together to fight the oppression of Astaria. Many Orcs, Half-Orcs and less savory breeds live here, warring for land and glory.
Ireland is an inhospitable and mysterious land, where few dare to enter. It is said to be the home of Fey and creatures of wild imagination.
Between Scotland and the Grampian mountains lives a different breed of Dwarf, less war-like and more erudite, and they are in good terms with the Halflings from the Scottish highlands.
The Scottish highlands are home for many of the Halflings, who try to leave peacefully. Provoked by any others, however, they are a fierce opponent, having many Sorcerers amongst them, as well as the fearless Halfling Outriders.
From France, many weird and different races and people enter England, and war with French states and governments is not uncommon.

THE PREMISE:

You are all criminals. Whatever crimes you have committed, or were accused of committing, got you arrested. They were something really bad, punishable with death in the kingdom of Astaria - treason, murder, arson, kidnapping, racketeering, piracy, repeated armed robbery, aggravated assault of a noble, drug dealing, blasphemy, witchcraft, heresy, prostitution... It may have been any of them, or more than one, coupled with more minor offenses, and it doesn't matter if you were innocent, you were judged, tried, convicted and executed. ON THE SPOT. And, no matter the innocence of the crime you were convicted of...

You were sinners.

Buried in a shallow mass grave, along with all the other recently convicted...

But it didn't end there. You all awoke screaming, naked, searing pain burning through your skin... Hot irons sizzling in your chest. Burning hellfire all around you... Thousands of others, all the same...

Was this hell?

You felt cold, and blacked out.

When you awoke again, you were in chains. Neck, hands and arms bound. The room was pitch black, and a grave, otherwordly voice said:

"BEHOLD, for i have brought you back from the fires of hell itself, and i will give you the opportunity to avenge your deaths."

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