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That Old Tree posted:Do I need to roll high or low to avoid uncontrollably masturbating over an unconscious little-girl clone of my mother? What feat allows me to realize doing so is an indictment by the author of my over-developed attachment to my character and not a cool and good thing? *Unconscious traumatized friend
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Jan 9, 2018 05:21
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:I mean you do you but frankly Evangelion is a better base for a game than Lovecraft is
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Jan 9, 2018 05:24
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Good thing I invested in all of those Flesh To Tang wands, gonna get a good caster workout today.
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Jan 9, 2018 05:25
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Terrible Opinions posted:Well the objectively superior rebuild movies yes, but the original series would be a pretty terrible game. nah it's literally half monster-of-the-week encounters and half character development, and manages to strike a balance between cosmic horror and still giving virtually all agency to characters who could be PCs
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Jan 9, 2018 05:27
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 THE DREAMLANDS EXPRESS – PART SEVEN It's Been A While! No pictures for this update, sorry it looks like poo poo! If you'll remember, last time we left off in the Dreamlands the dreamers lost a cat friend and solved a murder. The banquet that takes place on the leg of the journey between Zar and Aphorat takes on a decidedly morose tone. Zsusza decides to lighten the atmosphere by performing a dance, one that shows her mourning over not only Blackjack but her dreams of dancing. Meanwhile, the Sarnathians are impressed by the skills of the dreamers and decide to ask for their aid in negotiating with the Beings of Ib. They will tell their side of the story and ask them to find out what the Beings want. The Beings are happy to explain their side of the story (AKA 'the truth') and the terms they're looking for. They want straightforward war reparations: 10 000 rubies and sapphires to rebuild Ib, a letter of apology from the king of Sarnath, and the holy statue of Bokrug the Water Lizard returned to them. Otherwise, the Sarnathians will meet their DOOM. Persuade or Law can get them to relent on the money and the apology, but not the statue. As you might expect, the Sarnathians don't want to give an inch if they can avoid it. They'll need to be persuaded otherwise. They will eventually agree on the rubies and sapphires, since they're so rich that it's nothing for them. They will eventually agree on a shoddy and extremely vague apology. They will refuse to give up the statue on the basis that an annual desecration ritual has brought the Sarnathians prosperity the last thousand years. The closest they'll agree to is a promise to maybe return the statue at a future time and place to be decided later. The whole time, Karakov tries to sell weapons to both sides. He gets nowhere with the Beings, who are serenely confident in the power of their DOOM, but he's this close to a lucrative deal with the Sarnathians. He tries to rope the investigators into helping him set up shop in the Dreamlands. An entire world without guns? An untapped market! Think of the profits! Thalarion Thalarion is the City of a Thousand Wonders, a real Anor Londo-looking piece of work with spires that stretch beyond vision. However, much like Anor Londo the place is full of demons and paved with the bones of people who did not come back after seeing the eidolon Lathi. Henri advises not to disembark here, as it's another place that he stops at only to pick up lost dreamers. At Thalarion, the Sorcerer tries to board. He looks like nothing less than a skeleton with burning red eyes and he glides onto the platform with a clacking of bones. Henri refuses to let him on board. Not because he's a spooky scary skeleton, mind you, but purely because the Sorcerer has already ridden the Express to the Gulf of Nodens. He cast off his dream artefact, in this case his humanity, and in accordance with the deal with Nodens he can no longer ride the Express. Henri explains all this to the Sorcerer with unfaltering politeness. Dreamers who are watching this will notice Madame Bruja watching as well, a wicked smile on her face. She darts away when the Sorcerer looks in her direction. At this point, the Sorcerer hypnotises Henri. Henri's eyes take on a red glow and his arms drop to his sides as he lets the Sorcerer past. He can be slapped out of his trance or Persuaded to stop the Sorcerer from boarding. Otherwise, any attack drives the Sorcerer away. If no-one does anything, the eidolon Lathi descends from Thalarion to stop him. She is the dream of a woman who has yet to be and who hopes to become real in the eyes of a dreamer. She descends with fluttering silks and piping music, causing the Sorcerer to flee in terror. Henri now owes her another favour. Any dreamer who sees Lathi must roll their POW versus her Appearance or fall hopelessly in love with her. If they fail, they'll need to be physically restrained lest they pursue her back in Thalarion to be with her. If this does happen, Lathi's agreement with Henri means she must return any dreamers to the train. But the dreamer never forgets her dark eyes and inhuman loveliness. Xura Xura is the Land of Pleasures Unattained. It is a country of picturesque beauty from which laughing voices can be heard, but anyone who gets too close will find this to be an illusion. It's a land that reeks of abattoir and is filled with things no longer human. Henri draws all the curtains shut and burns candles and oils to hide the smell. Dreamers might be tempted to view the charnel gardens regardless of the danger, but doing so risks falling prey to its enchantments – only the tentacles of the trainbeasts stop a bewitched dreamer from walking off the train to their death. The Ghoul That Was Guillaume tries to board in Xura. This might actually be the second time the dreamers have met Guillaume! He first appears as an optional encounter in Paris, should the dreamers visit the Catacombs and step off the beaten track. Really, he's just down there. Guillaume became a ghoul centuries ago during the Great Famine and has survived underground ever since. He's not dangerous and mostly just wants to be left alone. When he encounters the investigators in the Waking World, he tries to play off his condition with a certain savoir-faire, but he deeply regrets his degeneration into monstrosity. Meeting the investigators drives him to board the Dreamlands Express that he might reclaim his humanity. He holds a well-chewed scrap of ticket and is lugging around his dream artefact, his own rotting carcass. Henri is not having this, viewing him as a potential danger to other passengers. He'll need to be convinced otherwise, or else the dreamers will have to sneak Guillaume on later. Once aboard, Guillaume stays in the Baggage or Padded Compartment. He promises he'll try very hard not to eat anyone. If the dreamers think to ask, Guillaume has actually met Comte Fenalik! Back in Poissy, it amused him to feed the leftovers of his victims to the ghouls. One night, Guillaume found Fenalik embracing the statue he kept in his cellar like a lover. He told the ghoul that if anything ever happened to the statue, he would hunt the thief from beyond death itself. The look he gave Guillaume at that moment was so terrible that he fled and never returned. Next time: more diplomacy! Cat funeral!
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Jan 9, 2018 06:31
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I kind of can't see why you'd run Horrient without the Dreamlands.
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Jan 9, 2018 06:52
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How practical is it for the investigators to massively murder the Sorcerer for what he did to poor Blackjack?
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Jan 9, 2018 06:58
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The Lone Badger posted:How practical is it for the investigators to massively murder the Sorcerer for what he did to poor Blackjack? Ehhh, he's pretty tough. Not like insurmountably so but he's still 'alive' even if reduced to 0 HP. I assume he like, falls apart and puts himself back together later. You kind of want him to survive this encounter for his role in the big finale so if the whole team bursts onto the platform with hate in their eyes I'd have him just turn and run immediately.
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Jan 9, 2018 07:17
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Down With People posted:Ehhh, he's pretty tough. Not like insurmountably so but he's still 'alive' even if reduced to 0 HP. I assume he like, falls apart and puts himself back together later. You kind of want him to survive this encounter for his role in the big finale so if the whole team bursts onto the platform with hate in their eyes I'd have him just turn and run immediately. I'm imagining him leading them on a scooby doo chase sequence through the city now. In somewhat of a reversal of the usual formula, the spooky skeleton is the one hauling rear end.
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Jan 9, 2018 07:27
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I can't see any party letting a cat murderer be, hell - I can think of some players that'd riot at Blackjack's death.
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Jan 9, 2018 07:36
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Kavak posted:*Unconscious traumatized friend The joke really works either way.
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Jan 9, 2018 07:38
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My one memory of exalted is picking up the Lunars book because I'm a sucker for Werewolves and other such things, and then just kind of falling into a fugue state trying to figure out how the shapeshifting and familiar charm trees worked before I stumbled into the section telling me about how to set up my breeding program in the wilds to create my army of half-animal children. I just wanted to be a cool werewolf man with a giant flaming axe. Terrible Opinions posted:Well the objectively superior rebuild movies yes, but the original series would be a pretty terrible game. The rebuild movies are better, yes, but 3.0 still just kind of dumped a bunch of stuff on you without explaining it. The giant timeskip, Tabris being demoted, Unit-02 being a sabertooth tiger suddenly, then another loving Impact happens and the world makes even less sense.
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Jan 9, 2018 07:39
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I can't see myself ever running Horrient but realtalk I would probably just definitely tone down what happens to Blackjack as being like "someone hurt Blackjack!" because yeah I would 100% expect the players to absolutely riot at bad things happening to a cat friend.
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Jan 9, 2018 07:42
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Hostile V posted:I can't see myself ever running Horrient but realtalk I would probably just definitely tone down what happens to Blackjack as being like "someone hurt Blackjack!" because yeah I would 100% expect the players to absolutely riot at bad things happening to a cat friend. Every single person I have ever run a game for or played a game with would have responded to a friendly talking kitten getting murdered with one of two reactions 1) punch the storyteller in the mouth and demand a retcon/change to the scenario, and if this is not possible, 2) settle with grinding the entire plot to a halt until they find the kitten's killer and shove them crotch first through a running bandsaw.
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Jan 9, 2018 09:35
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Daeren posted:2) settle with grinding the entire plot to a halt until they find the kitten's killer and shove them crotch first through a running bandsaw. They even convienently provide you with a bandsaw! The engine of the train runs on flesh cut from the 'coal car' and isn't particularly picky about what it eats. There you go.
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Jan 9, 2018 12:51
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The Sorcerer doesn't have any flesh though.
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Jan 9, 2018 12:57
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Is the rear end in a top hat even mortal? Because if not it's time to rendition him to some sadistic god of the Dreamlands.
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Jan 9, 2018 13:06
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Deities rise and fall in power based on the capricious whims of The Deck of Encounters Set One Part 73:The Deck of Avatars, Clones, and Dentists 404: Polling (Avatar Series) It says this a high-level encounter, but really it doesn’t matter. The PCs are on a busy road, lots of people going to and fro, and they run into… basically a traffic jam, except everybody is lined up very peacefully and can’t explain why. It’s the avatar of a neutral god who is conducting a poll on who mortals worship, why, and how they express their devotion. “It is gathering information for its god to draw more adherents.” It’s surprised the PCs weren’t affected by the “peacemaking” effect, but all that really means is that they’re able to cut in line. It’ll still poll them if they’re willing. And the card says they get 5,000 xp for answering questions, soooo. This is dumb, but it’s the kind of dumb that follows logically from the cosmology of the game, just like how rulers in Mystara get experience points from collecting taxes. Also, I like the gods going out and doing stuff, even if it’s… polling. I’ll keep it. 405: Hear Our Prayers (Avatar Series) So, it’s a large town or small city, and there are riots in the streets. Things are on fire. The avatar of an evil god has come to the city to answer the prayers of what must be some particularly devoted followers. They’ve asked for “powers of destruction,” and the avatar granted them, but only for one night. “There are at least 200 people running around the town, with spell effects [...] usable once per turn,” fourth-level max. Presumably they’re hunting down everyone who ever wronged them and taking violent revenge. Meanwhile, the avatar is floating around the center of town in a prismatic sphere, enjoying the spectacle. Haha, now this is an awesome high-level random encounter. I imagine that somewhere, the last surviving member of a lower-level party who lost their “Enemy WIthin”-style campaign is still wandering around, wounded and insane. Probably in the sewers. This would be super cool in a city the PCs have spent a lot of time in, so you can cause some property damage that has long-lasting effects, or so the PCs can try to protect places or NPCs they’re invested in. Keep. 406: Provincials (Avatar Series) Another high-level city encounter. It’s a very well-walled city-state apparently; the walls even encompass the fields. As the PCs get near, the avatar of the city’s neutral patron god personally appears before them to explain that it’s the last city where they’re worshipped, it’s a theocracy, and they’ll not put up with any priests or paladins entering, or with anybody other visitors talking religion in the city. But it will still let them enter, for some reason. If I was the god, I’d be turning these high-level adventurers away entirely! These kinds of visitors bring nothing but chaos. It’s a fine setup, but it’s only setup. I’m thinking, “okay… and then what?” There’s nothing described that would make a visit to this city interesting unless the PCs are actively trying to pick a fight. I would have to come up with all kinds of stuff to flesh out the scenario, which I don’t want to do if I’m just drawing random encounter cards. I think I’m passing on this one. 407: A Wizard and His Clone There’s a simmering, destructive battle going on between a wizard and his clone in a posh area of the city. (He created the clone when in a feud with the assassins’ guild, and forgot to destroy it before it emerged after the issue was resolved.) They’re 15th level. The city would very much like someone to deal with the issue. Keep. 408: The Dentist The PCs are nearing a typical hamlet with a little covered bridge over a ravine just outside of it. An angry crowd is gathered around the ravine, throwing rocks at an old man and driving him back into the ravine, where he will soon fall to his death. The man is a dentist (which is definitely an occupation that exists in this vaguely middle-ages milieu), and he was working on the mayor of the town, but when he pulled a tooth, the mayor screamed and fainted. “Peasants rushed to the door and saw the dentist with bloody tools next to the old man and assumed the worst.” So it’s all a misunderstanding, the mayor can back up the story, and the dentist will give them 100 gp for saving his life. Well, the PCs’ role in this is not super interesting. I’m tempted to keep, but make the dentist an Orin Scrivello expy. I don’t always make the best choices. Dallbun fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jan 9, 2018 |
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Jan 9, 2018 14:27
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That rampaging people with temporary powers would work great in any high powered fantasy campaign. Just read bitter internet comments for a long list of mostly imaginary grievances to occupy the minds in question.
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Jan 9, 2018 14:43
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The Nameless Lair of Ma-Ha-Suchi got published because people heard it was cut and kept asking for it. Regrettably, they learned too late that it was cut for a reason.
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Jan 9, 2018 15:02
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:Is the rear end in a top hat even mortal? Call in a nightgaunt and have them drop him off with the gugs as a chew toy.
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Jan 9, 2018 16:57
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:"My game about piloting a giant robot against alien starspawn would be fine if not for the, ugh, anime" Tuxedo Catfish posted:I mean you do you but frankly Evangelion is a better base for a game than Lovecraft is So how about this: Rei is undead and if her cockpit isn't kept at below freezing temperatures, she'll melt
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Jan 9, 2018 17:21
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The neutral god of Sensible Centrism would like your paladins and clerics to say outside his city... ok, you may enter, whatever. It's kinda weird listening about your player groups being metagaming murderhobos as well as passionate cat adventures. By the way, what power keeps the cat city unmolested and would it be interesting in slaying a cat-killer?
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Jan 9, 2018 17:21
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Cthulhutech is "we fight the mythos, but with tanks now" but instead of lighting up Deep Ones with APC-mounted chainguns, you have endless anime ripoffs and rape, lots of rape.
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Jan 9, 2018 17:24
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I love the POLLING GOD, that seems like the sort of bizarre encounter that would absolutely fit into a high-magic D&D setting.
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Jan 9, 2018 17:39
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JcDent posted:The neutral god of Sensible Centrism would like your paladins and clerics to say outside his city... ok, you may enter, whatever. I'm not even sure the cats need someone looking out for them don't gently caress with the cats. Which I believe should nicely answer the second question, don't gently caress with the cats.
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Jan 9, 2018 17:45
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I have unpublished the Mystic Empyrean writeup on request of the forums poster who wrote it up.
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Jan 9, 2018 18:01
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Feinne posted:I'm not even sure the cats need someone looking out for them don't gently caress with the cats. Which I believe should nicely answer the second question, don't gently caress with the cats. It's a short read, and probably the best explanation for why you don't gently caress with cats in Ulthar. http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cu.aspx They'll loving team up and eat you, that's why.
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Jan 9, 2018 18:21
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PurpleXVI posted:I love the POLLING GOD, that seems like the sort of bizarre encounter that would absolutely fit into a high-magic D&D setting. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR CURRENT DIVINE SPELL PROVIDER? IF NOT, ALLOW ME TO EXTEND TO YOU THIS LIMITED-TIME OFFER OF SALVATION AND BLESSINGS, YOURS FOR ONLY £19.99 PER MONTH FOR 24 MONTHS
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Jan 9, 2018 18:36
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JcDent posted:It's kinda weird listening about your player groups being metagaming murderhobos as well as passionate cat adventures. With my usual gaming group, it's not that odd. When off the clock, they're a bunch of harmless do-gooder adventurers who like to talk things out and are partial to, I believe the phrase another poster coined was "quaint lesbian domesticity." Put them in an actual scene of combat or a suspicious looking situation, though, and they turn into a well-oiled machine of metagaming murderhobos with a predilection for heavy weapons and explosives.
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Jan 9, 2018 18:42
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Cat-avenging metagaming lesbian murderhobos doesn't make it less weird.
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Jan 9, 2018 18:47
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Cythereal posted:With my usual gaming group, it's not that odd. When off the clock, they're a bunch of harmless do-gooder adventurers who like to talk things out and are partial to, I believe the phrase another poster coined was "quaint lesbian domesticity." My dream party.
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Jan 9, 2018 19:12
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Yeah that's basically the line item description of the optimal D&D experience.
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Jan 9, 2018 19:24
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"We're not an adventuring company, per se. We're more of a sapphic sellsword co-operative."
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Jan 9, 2018 19:34
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Halloween Jack posted:So how about this: Rei is undead and if her cockpit isn't kept at below freezing temperatures, she'll melt  "you could try smiling"
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Jan 9, 2018 19:39
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:
"You might experience some momentary discomfort." was a way better Freeze one-liner.
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Jan 9, 2018 19:41
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Down With People posted:Won't protect them from the Dark Young around the clearing, and if Grandmother gets the jump on them they're hosed. She's got some nasty spells. Yeah, but how much sanity has the average investigator lost by this point? Seems to me that they'd be at least unhinged enough to not care about the furtive glances bring cast their way as they do what it takes to survive. Were I gm'ing the grandmother encounter, I would have given the players the option of recruiting some Romani WW1 vets who just so happen to be able to drive that tank you paid a war museum guard a hefty bribe to for the keys.
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Jan 9, 2018 19:50
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Feinne posted:I'm not even sure the cats need someone looking out for them don't gently caress with the cats. Which I believe should nicely answer the second question, don't gently caress with the cats. Yeah, in Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, the cats are entirely capable of reaching the loving Moon and also destroying armies of Moon Beasts entirely on their own. The cats of Ulthar may just be cats, but they're hundreds of thousands of sapient and intelligent cats, they're most likely able to mob and claw anything to death if they don't like the face of it.
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Jan 9, 2018 19:54
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Lol if you think that either Serbians or AH had enough tanks to put a Romani in (or had a tank at all). A Maxim gun or French 75, now that's something.
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Jan 9, 2018 19:56
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Halloween Jack posted:I have nothing against anime; gently caress I watched Blame! last night and it got me thinking about how cool and good it is when the entire setting is a megadungeon. Cyberdungeon as a genre is virtually unknown in the West, but large chunks of Japanese gaming and fiction is based around it: from The Screamer ("Dehumanize yourself and face the bloodshed") to Megami Tensei to the dreadful Metal Dungeon as well as Blame! and GunHED.
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Jan 9, 2018 20:25
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