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rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I like the cut of that Grimsby fellow's jib.

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rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



That loving shirt is going to own.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Yeah, I've been excited about the Castle Ravenloft boardgame since they announced it. I don't play many boardgames, but I'm sure as gently caress playing this one.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I own a pipe but I've never managed to get the hang of it. I'll just stick to cigars. Also, christ, I'm older than The General.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I like how if you're one of the finalists, you have to pay your own way to Ohio and then pay another fee. I'm just glad no one I know is a fan of it.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Well at least they do Background Checks because otherwise... um...

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



gently caress that, Flumphs are 100% original and not at all ridiculous.

Edit: They are way ridiculous.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Elminster's Hideout makes me sad. Sad for Ed Greenwood. Sad for humanity. I mean, loving hell, who writes poo poo like that?

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Turing sex machine posted:

Is this a joke that my non-Americans self don't get? Like a brand of air conditioners?

Presumably Frigidaire, which I tend to associate more with refrigerators than AC units.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



"German beer" covers a lot of loving territory from sublime to swill.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Drox posted:

Invigorating gives a fighter with the right talent THP. I think rattling lets rogues with the right talent give an attack penalty, I can't remember.

All you need is to be a Fighter trained in Endurance for Invigorating and Rattling uses Intimidate is Fighter and Rogue and gives a -2 attack penalty.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Drox posted:

I'd have to go with what's already been posted, though, whether it's a feat or a houserule. Something like "once per encounter when you are reduced to 0 hp or below, you remain conscious until your next turn, when you can take one action before falling unconscious" as opposed to having to be exactly at 0.

edit: hell, make it a skill power for Endurance, granting you one last MBA before you go down.

There was an indie game called "Cold Steel Reign" (which sadly did not last beyond one book) that had a rule kind of like that. You could make a roll to get a last stand if you were killed (and you often were in a brutal setting with a brutal system), you were able to live for another round or so, just enough time to squeeze off another shot and after which you were irrevocably dead. When I played a demo game of it at Origins many years ago, my friend actually managed to crit that roll after taking a shotgun blast to the face at basically point-blank range. It was a truly bad-rear end moment.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Countblanc posted:

I really just don't get the "negative stats = roleplay superstore". Like where did this poo poo get started and how can they stick to it so adamantly (or do people just not correct them)

Dragonlance. It's all Raistlin's fault. I'm not really joking either.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I'm going to build a loving tree fort for my RPG collection.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



One of the best games I ever played was a Hong Kong action game sort of thing, we all made characters, and by made characters I mean we described what archetype we were. I was the Hong Kong detective, we had a young, British educated martial artist, a Buddhist monk, a taxi driver/Tong weapons dealer, and so on. When ever we wanted to do something, we described our intent and the GM rolled a single d10. If he rolled high, it worked, if he rolled low it didn't. It was pure narrative and so much fun, even when it looked bad for us. I was running up to the roof of the building and took a full barrage of bullets from the villain's gunship helicopter but it was alright because that was when I discovered that I had been wearing a bullet-proof vest under my shirt.

tl;dr gently caress YOU GROGNARDS.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Hey, mock jousting all you want but it is the official state sport of Maryland. Now mock Maryland. Also a few Ren Faires are cool if you're at one that has a good comedy combat act, or at least the comedy combat shows are good. The rest is less so.

Now the Port Washington Pirate Fest on the other hand...

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I love my friends who work for WW/CCP, I really do, but I just don't get these pranks of WW's.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



This whole exchange makes me very happy that I gave up Magic back in like '97.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Evil Mastermind posted:

You gotta know all your moves, pay attention, strategize which move you use when

Oh man, that furry is right, 4e has been making me pay attention all this time. Here I thought I was just having a lot of fun with my friends but I've actually been using my brain and D&D should have none of that.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I've started playing LFR somewhat regularly, so I decided to pick up the 4e Forgotten Realms Player's Guide which I finished reading today. It is one of the most oppressively dull settings I've ever encountered. I remember trying to read the 3rd Edition FR book and being overwhelmed by the 25 years of lovely novels that one had to know in order to make heads or tails of the loving setting. Now that all that has mercifully been excised one is left to ponder the setting at it's most bare and unadorned, which exposes the fact that the Forgotten Realms is the very apex of generic mediocrity. Eberron rocks hard, it's well thought-out and incredible versatile in terms of what sort of stories work well in the setting. I generally like the Points of Light setting, but I wish it was a little more concrete than it's been thus far though I understand the reasoning behind it.

I am a settingrognard.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



drugs and paint posted:

shardminds.



At least there's a reasonable justification for it, since shardminds don't have genders they just look around and assemble their piles of rocks into a humanoid shape and some of them shape themselves like girls because some humanoids are girls.

Christ, I'm defending stonetits on the internet.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



BetterWeirdthanDead posted:

That was a solid counter-point to what I said about D&D video games.

You guys with decent PCs were spoiled, I tell you. I had a Mac, and things weren't so pretty on the console side of things.

I miss the Capcom games. I almost imported the Sega Saturn double pack, but it only allows for two players. No one in my current group gets it when I say, "welcome to the D&D world!"

Also, this was my first encounter (get it? :v: ) with Dungeons & Dragons:


D&D Heroes was a loving sweet hack-n-slasher for Xbox. It's not part of the ACTION ARCADE SERIES but it was awesome anyway.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Mikan posted:

Earthdawn straight up owns

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Tolan posted:

Has anyone checked out the third edition? Worth getting?

Two different companies had the license for a while (and maybe still do) and basically just reprinted what was already written with a little bit of new stuff I think. Someone is working on an Earthdawn 4e but I don't remember if that was official or a fan project and I'm phone posting. I think it's a legit company project which I hope owns.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Tolan posted:

Nah, Red Brick just released "Third Edition" through Mongoose's Flaming Cobra line, and it's the official current version. Looks legit, I'll probably pick up the PDFs. Was just curious if anyone had an opinion.

They were also working on Age of Legends which was supposed to be Earthdawn with the 4e rules but it's on indefinite hiatus.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I'd like it more if they had the T'skrang because they were awesome.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Maddman posted:

The dragon dice are neat as poo poo. Instead of having to worry about taking Skill Focus: loving the Dog or whatever, everyone can do cool poo poo. You roll 3d6 with one differently colored - the Dragon Die. The total 3d6+mod determines success or failure, with the dragon die determining the quality of success/failure. If you roll doubles anywhere, you get the Dragon Die in stunt points, which let you do poo poo like hit another target, do extra damage, push people back, disarm them, etc.

I miss the Force Die from West End Games' Star Wars.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



The only problem with AC is that the expansion never works on my computer.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



RagnarokAngel posted:

Guys don't be ironic those are horrible.

Iron Heroes is a manly game of being completely awesome.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



FMguru posted:

Trinity was a superb game that was undone by its metaplot.

I loved Trinity's metaplot because it extended into Aberrant and Adventure. I don't think the metaplot killed it, it seemed to me (at the time at least) that the lines just weren't doing well enough.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Mikan posted:

This is an awesome topic for grognards.txt and I'm sure will in no way result in really creepy posts and eventual probations/bans

I find it genuinely interesting though admittedly off-topic.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Mikan posted:

How long do you think a topic about this kind of thing will stay on the rails and away from the really creepy stuff
in an rpg forum

I should be more clear, the specific Lewis Carrol stuff is interesting here, the Victorian interest in nudes of various ages could well be but not here.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Fencing is the wrong sword discipline to compare D&D with since fencing is and always was a sport. Stage combat is the way to go since we get to use all manner of swords! I've already had my grognard moment in regards to double weapons which annoy me because they violate the internal logic of the setting. Also they are dumb. Two-weapon gets a pass because it's awesome.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Dominion posted:

The double sword exists solely because of Darth Maul. The other double weapons are just extrapolated from that, with varying degrees of stupidity. I mean, come on, the double flail? I can't even visualize how you would fight with that without killing yourself.

If I recall correctly, a photograph of an actual double-flail was posted when I went on my previous rant. hosed if I know how the drat thing worked, it looks like an implement of self-concussion. I have softened a little on the double-sword after seeing Kick-rear end since Hit-Girl uses essentially a double short-sword. Yes, it's fictional but the thing is mostly haft which is what you'd need to get the velocity needed to inflict damage.

(:goonsay:)

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Benjamin Black posted:

The big problem is the flail gets the brunt of its damage from the momentum of swinging the chain with the thing at the end around, and unless you're using a double flail like a band marcher uses a baton they both won't be going at once (and when one side hits, that other side is going to go the same direction and likely hit your hand). It would take just as much effort to get one side of the flail going than the other, so why bother?

There is one way I can see it kind of working, and that's if the user in question was constantly twirling himself about and striking primarily horizontally. Which is at least, good enough for me.

Broadswords are almost entirely momentum-based. They aren't that sharp, it's the force of the impact with the small impact area. You'd hone the edge but that was as much to avoid notches which could cause the blade to snap. Axes work the same way. It's not sharpness, you don't get that until after the broadsword became the estoc and then the rapier. For a double sword to be feasible you'd have essentially create a double-glaive. Double scimitars vaguely make more sense because they really only have one 'sharp' edge and in theory you could just whirl it around. You'd look like a tool before you were parried and stabbed though. Double axes are comical, they'd be like pugil sticks but less effective.

GRRRRRRROOOOOGNNNNAAAAARRRRRRRD!

Edit: also the better analogy for Shakespeare would be (sadly) Family Guy. He was a populist writer, who wrote for his era and never ever passed up a good sex joke. Some of his stuff is not as magnificent as others but "Much Ado About Nothing" is exquisite and Richard III is possibly the greatest villain in fiction

rantmo fucked around with this message at 02:33 on May 28, 2010

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Benjamin Black posted:

Except you can stab with a double sword. :rolleyes:

Furthermore you took me way too literally when I said 'momentum.' The point was you have to get the flails in the proper swinging motion to even land a decent blow, so I imagine it'd be quite difficult to utilize both ends of a double flail with any sort of effectiveness.

It's true, you can stab with a double sword but broadswords really are hacking weapons. I agree with you about the double-flail, it's the same basic principle but even moreso.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Fuego Fish posted:

Depends on the setting, but having more than seven or eight basic languages in your setting is generally a bad idea. Which is why I think only Forgotten Realms has more.

I think Eberron has one or two extras but they are hugely inconsequential to the larger game.

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Fuego Fish posted:

Chekhov's plane. If you create a location in a setting, people have to be able to adventure there by the third act.

Theatre major?

rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



Fuego Fish posted:

No.

Well a damned fine reference in any case.

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rantmo
Jul 30, 2003

A smile better suits a hero



I'm going to build a setting in the Elemental Plane of Surprise.