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Topics - X-Codes

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1
While I did play in a 2e game, and said 2e game is probably the second-longest running game I was ever part of, I was a wee lil' one when that happened and I had nowhere near the level of system mastery I can claim in 3e.  That said, I *also* play video games, and of course that means I've played Baldur's Gate, so I'm well aware of the concept of Dual Classing and how it makes Humans a super cool race even though they can't get that kinda silly broken 19 Strength that Half-Orcs can from the beginning.  Furthermore, there is another thing from older editions that clearly didn't make it into later editions: class-specific experience tables.  I can imagine that class-specific experience tables was a bit of a bookkeeping addition, but in retrospect it actually seems like it went a long way towards giving some help to classes that kinda need it (Thieves) and putting off the slow march towards Wizards conquering the world.

So what I'd like to know is... How did Dual Classing break 2e? Were there any particularly disruptive abuses of the system? Did anyone play with any Dual Classing Houserules, and how did they turn out for you?

Similar idea for experience tables, except... I just kinda want to know why they went away in favor of uniform tables.  I guess it wouldn't have made sense to have them since, mathematically, it would likely cause problems a la the 'Experience is a River' concept, but then they went and put in Item Creation feats...

2
EDIT: Nevermind, I was misled by the handbook index. I already ported this over a long time ago!  It's here: http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=419.0

3
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / High ground rules.
« on: July 07, 2014, 10:47:50 PM »
I had a nice little browse through DnD Tools looking for a reason to take the Spring Attack feat when I found this:

http://dndtools.eu/feats/drow-of-the-underdark--93/shiquos-school--3460/

I came to the conclusion that this is a nice feat.  Then I saw the "high ground" requirement, which got me thinking about ways to get higher ground against enemies.  That made me think of the Elocater's ability to float off the ground constantly, which I thought was cool, but also got me thinking, is that enough?  That made me head to the SRD to look for a game rules definition of being on higher ground, which apparently does not exist.

So are there rules for this somewhere other than the SRD?

4
I just had the greatest fucking idea ever, but I need one final piece to close a loophole and secure it -- a specific divination spell to be exact.

The spell I'm looking for allows you to analyze an item in your possession and reveals information about it's previous owners.  I'm almost certain it's on the Bard list, but I'm not sure it's exclusive.  It's not terribly high level, maybe 3rd or 4th.

Just looking for name and source.

5
Min/Max 3.x / [PF] Ranger Trophy Hunter
« on: May 26, 2014, 02:09:33 AM »
For a variety of reasons, I've found myself as a player in a Pathfinder game.  We're not using the Pathfinder setting, though, but rather the Eberron setting.

The DM is somewhat knowledgeable, but not quite up to the level of CO as all of us here from what we've talked about.  As such, I've decided to impose upon myself the restriction of playing a Half-Orc Ranger with the Trophy Hunter Archetype (replacing my bonus Combat feats and Animal Companion with some Gunslinger features).  The GM had a stat generation system that was slightly more favorable than 4d6 drop lowest, but with the help of that system I had some ridiculous rolls.

Even though the rules are PF-based, the setting will be Eberron.  My character will be a member of House Tharashk, so I'll have some nice, silly SLA's related to that and hopefully work as something of a Bounty Hunter.

I'm posting here because most everything I want to do is already in the Class/Archetype combo I've put together, with few exceptions.  Feats-wise, my top priority will be the Dragonmark feats.  Second will be Gunsmithing, because while the DM is allowing them, they're going to be 99% my thing, that few people (if anyone) else have.  After that will be Power Attack and Deadly Aim.  I might also get Favored In House, but who knows.  Tharashk is a small house and we might not even stick around in the Shadow Marches or Droaam where they have the most influence.  For the last few feats, I've been thinking of just going for Critical feats since they're kinda OP with the PF Ranger's Quarry ability (as far as feats are concerned), but I decided to check-in here and see if anyone thinks I'm missing something.

6
Off Topic Fun / Freelancer.com
« on: February 17, 2014, 11:27:09 AM »
Curious if anyone has had any experience with this site.  It seems really scummy to me.

7
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Random things people should know exist.
« on: January 13, 2014, 09:59:41 PM »
I'll probably post a few things here.  I finally got around to filling in my platinum spell compendium, and have almost finished all the 2007 sourcebooks and adventures (everything post-Spell Compendium).  While doing so, I dug up a couple sidebars in City of Stormreach with interesting stuff I figured should be shared.

On page 95 is a sidebar with a feat.  It requires Iron Will and gives Skill Mastery with one skill (including Use Magic Device).

On page 119 is another feat.  It requires a Warforged spontaneous arcane spellcaster (including Wizards with Spontaneous Divination or some such nonsense) or Warforged Artificier, and lets you blow arcane spells or infusions to activate wands instead of using the wand's own charges.  It also boosts the CL of spells cast from wands when you use this method of activation by 1/5 your arcane caster level/infusion caster level.  Probably kinda OP.

8
Creations & Ephemera / YouTube Self-Plug
« on: October 26, 2013, 01:30:05 AM »
www.youtube.com/XCodes

I'm working on a channel, testing out stuff, and hopefully at some point I can make better stuff and earn a little extra money.  Channel is still VERY early in it's lifespan and I'm still trying to figure out what works for me, what doesn't work for me, and what I can do to fix the stuff that doesn't work.

For now it's just a few Terraria videos.  I will do more of that.  I tried to do some Path of Exile videos, but my computer isn't quite beefy enough to handle recording that game.  I also know that I can record LoL, so I might do some of that when Preseason 4 starts.  The new Vision and Support itemization options are interesting, to say the least.  Finally, if I manage to get into the Steam Machine beta, you know damn well I'll be figuring out how to get some video out of it.

9
Gaming Advice / Tryhards vs. Casuals
« on: September 10, 2013, 09:43:34 PM »
I figured this would be the best place to post this.  You may not know this, but I'm a bit of a tryhard when it comes to competitive games.  Some combination of genes and upbringing is to blame, most likely.  In any case, I just got out of a rather typical game of LoL.  It wasn't a hyper-violent smackdown, just an OK-fought game that my team wound up winning on the murderbridge.  We lost maybe 1 tower, had a pretty notable K/D lead, and the other team just never got a great push into our territory.

As these games tend to go, someone on the other team slowly boiled over as the game dragged on, complaining about a teammate being bad.  Honestly?  He was bad.  He had a strong murderbridge champ with very high effective range and, but his item picks and strategy were very sub-optimal.  He did very little damage over the course of the game, but managed to get enough last-hits on champions to justify to himself that he did fine because his K/D ratio was positive (he had very few assists, though, which is again because he really didn't fight with his team and did very little damage).  Like these things tend to go, the argument spilled over into the after-game with lots of swearing and BM, and I tried to offer the guy some advice on playing better.  His response was along the lines of "I'm not looking for feedback.  I don't care and I wasn't really paying attention to the game."  At that point I told the guy that he shouldn't bother playing games he doesn't care about, at which point he complained that he wasn't wrong, everything he was doing was fine, etc. etc.

I think the problem here is that we're essentially playing two different games.  I'm looking for a competitive experience, while he wants to fuck around.  The thing is, his team was handicapped by this player (I'm not going to say they lost because of him, they were kinda screwed by the random champ selection, but they definitely could have done better), and we had kind of a mediocre win as a result.  At what point, if any, do we just cut off these people who don't give a shit?

10
Handbooks / Casting Deus Ex Machina -- The Platinum Spell Compendium
« on: August 21, 2013, 06:06:52 PM »
"A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved, with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object." -- Wikipedia

All the more fitting, then, that we refer to deus ex machina when we talk about a spellcaster's capabilities in D&D 3.5e.  In this game, there is no problem that cannot be effectively resolved without the tactical application of the one perfect spell printed somewhere in the vast sea of 3.5e's supplements -- not even a problem caused by multiple spells.  As such, the very simple goal of this spellbook is to go out, find the best of the best, and organize it here for the use of potential future spellcasters.

Table of Contents -
  • Platinum Spells by Source
    • Core and SRD
    • Spell Compendium
    • Other Non-Setting Sources
    • Forgotten Realms Sources
    • Other Setting-Specific Sources
  • Platinum Spells by Class List
    • Bard
    • Cleric
    • Druid
    • Sorcerer/Wizard
    • Assassin and Blackguard
    • Paladin and Ranger
  • Platinum Spells... Sometimes
    • Spells for Scrolls and Wands
    • Spells for Strongholds
    • Spells for Mundane Tasks
    • Spells for Existing (As Opposed to Casting)

Spell Format
  • Spell Name Source {School (Subschool) [Descriptor(s)]; Class(es) and Level(s); At-a-Glance Features}
    The basic format for spells will include the information above, plus a short description of the spell's effects and what it's good for here.
  • Spell Name Source {School (Subschool) [Descriptor(s)]; Class(es) and Level(s); At-a-Glance Features}
    Spells in the first and second sections will be further distinguished by added coloration to the names.  Black names indicate a spell that just does the job, is only a great spell for a limited time, or maybe needs a nudge from metamagic in order to function at it's full potential.  Blue names mean that the spell is a generally good spell to have, and can be amazing in the hands of a specialist.  Purple names are for spells that are simply fantastic, and should likely be in your repertoire if you have even the slightest excuse to put it there in the first place.
    Note that spells in the final section will not be rated on this system.  By their nature, they're not really meant to be competing against one another or the spells in the first two sections for your spell slots on days where it matters.
  • Spell Name Source {School (Subschool) [Descriptor(s)*]; Class(es) and Level(s); At-a-Glance Features}
    Some spells are old, and not all 3.5e books are well-edited.  As a result, you sometimes get spells that deal Electricity damage without the Electricity descriptor, or a Divination spell that views a remote area but lacks the Scrying subschool.  Such inconsistencies can cause some nonsense to happen when combined with the rules, so I've taken the opportunity to stick in any Subschools or Descriptors that are not RAW and add them to the descriptions of the spells here, denoted by asterisks (*).  Consider these suggestions as opposed to rules.
  • Spell Name Source {School (Subschool) [Descriptor(s)]; Class(es) and Level(s); At-a-Glance Features}
    At the end of each spell will sometimes be 1-4 icons to quickly note some common spell features.  They are explained here:
    • Persistable - The spell can be altered by the Persistent Spell feat.
    • Touch - Many effects are specific to touch spells.  Also, non-instantaneous touch spells can be made Persistable with abilities like the Archmage's Arcane Reach.
    • Ray - Rays are often a preferred form of targeting spells since their failure state is a ranged touch attack roll, which is generally somewhat easier to optimize than a Save DC and also allows these spells to apply secondary effects typically reserved for attacks such as Sneak Attack.
    • Moderate Duration - Spells with moderate duration are often good subjects for Extend Spell, which can then result in you keeping them active for as long as the Party is active.
    • Long Duration - Spells with long durations tend to not need Extending past very low levels or Persisting ever.  Preparing these spells generally means you can rely on having their effect around for the entire day.
    • 48+ Hour Duration - Spells that last multiple days, or are sometimes even permanent.  These are spells that you can have around when it counts, even if you don't prepare them that day.
    • Short Casting Time - Spells that are Quickened for free.  Sometimes they are even cast as Immediate actions.
    • Long Casting Time - Spells with a casting time greater than a full-round action.  These spells cannot be Quickened, and sometimes might not even be spells meant to be cast in battle.

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Other RPGs / The Dark Eye
« on: August 18, 2013, 02:21:11 PM »
Anyone have any experience with this game?  It strikes me as an intriguing system, mostly because it just seems to be so different from Warhammer and D&D.

12
Creations & Ephemera / A leveling system for a 3.5e-like game.
« on: August 11, 2013, 03:57:29 AM »
Just something that's been stuck in my head.  2e's multiclassing system got stuck in my head, first, and then the Experience as a River idea came up soon after.  Then the two ideas got awkward in my brain and something strange came out that I kinda want to share, mostly because I'm interested in the potential consequences.

Let's make an assumption, first, that all classes can potentially result in T2 characters iff you have complete mastery of the system and leverage it to full effect, T3 for more typical optimization, T4 if you really don't optimize at all, and T5 if you are either really bad or actively trying to make your character terrible.  T1 and T6 characters are generally not possible.  For example, there aren't really Wizards in the game, but there are Beguilers, and Beguilers can potentially expand their versatility much easier than they can as written and might find a devastating spell combo that there is nearly impossible to defend against.  It's not that the game doesn't reward system mastery, it's that there are no absolute trap options baked into the classes (much less are any of the classes themselves inherent trap options like, say, the CW Samurai).

Say we have character classes primarily work to provide a chassis similar to how they do in 3.5e (HD, class skills, etc), possibly with Talents like those in d20 Modern (selectable, feat-like bonuses that are exclusive to one particular class).  However, experience rewards don't translate into levels, they translate into skill points, and the number of ranks in your highest-ranked skills determines your level.  Specifically, if you make a fresh level 1 character, you can max out skills at 4 ranks each at start like you might expect, but you can increase the rank any skill to 5 after the game starts, 1 rank higher than the normal max.  Once you have, say, 4 skills at rank 5, you go up to level 2 (increasing your HP, number of talents, number of feats, and other stuff).  This would be standard across the board as opposed to one class leveling up after 3 skills and another leveling up after 5 or something like that.

You don't have to just power those 4 skills, though, you can broaden your range and pick up as many skills as you want.  As a result, a party can be expected to be slightly uneven in terms of level, and experience distribution will be adjusted as a result: a higher-level character will receive less experience and lower-level ones will receive more.  Eventually the idea is that the characters balance out in that you've got some that are very versatile and some that dominate in their specialized area.

13
Gaming Advice / Marked Object vs. Pass Without Trace
« on: August 03, 2013, 04:49:15 AM »
Marked Object's Text:

"Upon casting this spell, you become attuned to the specific creature that owns the spell’s focus item. (A creature is considered to own an item if it was the last creature to carry the item on its person for 24 hours or more. You do not count when considering what creature was last to carry an item.) This attunement grants you a +10 bonus on Search and Survival checks made to track the item’s owner or find evidence of the owner’s passage. This spell does not give you insight into who or what the creature you are attuned to is or where that creature ultimately might be. Also, the spell does not provide a trail that is not already there nor provide you with the benefit of the Track feat."

Pass Without Trace's Text:

"The subject or subjects can move through any type of terrain and leave neither footprints nor scent. Tracking the subjects is impossible by nonmagical means."

I guess the best way to ask the question is if Marked Object is magical enough to let you track a target under the effect of Pass Without Trace?

14
Gaming Advice / Plant Control
« on: July 31, 2013, 10:51:43 PM »
From the obscure corners of the SRD comes another oddly compelling feat: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#plantControl

So, say a Ranger or Druid or something grabs these feats, what kind of plants could be worthwhile to Command?  Also, note that these feats are based off your Caster Level, not some class level.

15
Gaming Advice / Versatile Craftsman?
« on: July 30, 2013, 05:40:22 PM »
Is there a Craft analogue for Versatile Performer?

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General D&D Discussion / Has anyone tried salvaging Truenaming?
« on: July 29, 2013, 06:28:12 PM »
I was flipping through Faiths and Pantheons trying to pick a deity for a character that I'm rolling up, and I learned that Namers (Clerics of Oghma) are told their Truename at a very young age, and I thought... Hey! That might be neat hook to make use of or expand my character in an interesting way.  I know Truenaming is kinda bad, but if I just make it a secondary feature of my character it's fine, yeah?

...Then I went back to Tome of Magic, and was just... Disappointment doesn't really begin to describe it. Like, Word of Genesis is cool, and there's a few lower-level spells that are kinda nice, but pretty much nothing is justified by that failure state inherent to Truename magic: that damn Truespeak check.

17
Gaming Advice / Artist Regional Feat
« on: July 28, 2013, 07:12:37 AM »
I'm making an application for a campaign where I get this for free. I'm trying to decide what Craft skill I get a +2 bonus on. The feat requires that it be some kind of artistic skill, so utilitarian stuff like Poisonmaking, Alchemy, Weaponsmithing, or Armorsmithing is right out. Calligraphy or Painting are semi-interesting because there are feats and spells and stuff that require them, but don't necessarily require any sort of challenging skill check. I think the most interesting Craft skill would be something like String Intruments, but that'd be kind of a weird skill to have and not terribly practical, but that seems to be kinda the point -- it's a +2 bonus to a non-practical Craft skill.  Is there anything that gives new mechanics for these sorts of craft skills to make them more interesting?

On a slightly related note, what are your opinions on Tattoo Magic?  It actually looks like a pretty versatile feat, but has a pretty steep cost (maybe too expensive for the benefit?).  Is there something similar that is better in practice? I suppose I should just get it, and then if party members want a tattoo then they can come to me and ask for one and provide the necessary gold.  I'm not concerned about spending XP on the basis that small XP expenses will never put me that far behind the party, anyway.

18
Min/Max 3.x / Duergar "Psychic Rogue"
« on: July 26, 2013, 09:38:52 AM »
This is a character I put together for a PbP a while back that, sadly, didn't go anywhere.  If memory serves, I was some manner of non-manifester going into Psychic Assassin and then something like Elocater or Slayer.  I wanted to make use of crossbows and Crossbow Sniper so that I could sneak attack out to 60', but honestly that's not really conducive to the main thing I wanted to take advantage of: 120' Darkvision.

60' Darkvision is common, 120' Darkvision is actually pretty damn rare.  Between that and Darkstalker, I can effectively play at being naturally and permanently invisible between 60' and 120' until True Seeing comes into play.  Add in a Ring of the Darkhidden and the Control Light power and a very low-investment combination of effects starts thwarting quite a lot of higher-end abilities.  Even against the occasional creatures with True Sight, any sort of enhancement to my Darkvision will open up a range beyond their True Sight that I can be invisible within, regardless of pretty much all of their senses.

Now the trick, this character is an assassin-styled character. I know of some ways to apply Sneak Attack to targets in the 60'-180' range, but they're generally not all that action-efficient (usually something like 1 shot per 2 rounds or something).  I would like to avoid resorting to something like Crystal Shard to deal damage at range, although I've never done much study of relative effectiveness of bow- or crossbow-users at this range, even though I have seen the occasional max range crossbow build.

19
Unlike my other, recent thread, I'll get right to the point, here: I want to put a Rune Circle (Races of Stone) on the bottom of an Enveloping Pit. Would it work?

Yes, I'm aware that just making a stationary magic item with Craft Wondrous/Universal Item would be better, but there's a sort of intangible awesomeness to Rune Circles.

20
Trying to come up with an optimization idea with regards to item creation. I want to make a character that is completely incapable of spellcasting, and yet still makes magical items. Completely means Completely -- no Chameleon.  Warlock is a no-go mostly because it takes 12 levels to get it, and I really want to be able to pull this off at much lower levels.  For the same reason, Midgard Dwarf is also out, but I can bet that somehow hacking Master Smith onto something else is going to be the way this gets done.

Side Note on the Master Smith thing: Has errata or FAQ clarified if that could be applied to Constructs?  If so, does the Midgard Dwarf need to take Craft Construct to... craft constructs?

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