Jump to:
Here's where we can start to post our forum threads and stay in touch with everybody. For now this will suffice as our general topic forum and we will just keep commenting on this post as a way to stay current with what everyone is doing. Please, everyone create a character so I can invite you into the campaign. Once your character pages are up, please create a journal Wiki page and link it to your character sheet. As the campaign progresses I will be adding NPC's, Maps and background information on the towns and cities we find along the way. You are all welcome to edit in your own thoughts on these subjects as they come up, but please let everyone know who added what. And let me know if anyone has issues with the House Rules that I've posted so far. It will no doubt grow, but hopefully not much as we continue to learn the system.!
Comments
July 10, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Only one caveat to the house rules about surprise round: someone who gets combat advantage vs. enemies who have not yet acted in the encounter should still have CA after surprise round ends, so long as they’re ahead of their target in initiative order. I’m pretty sure your interpretation of surprise is actually the standard rule.
July 10, 2008 at 02:02 PM
Thats the thing I was trying to say when we fought those goblins
July 10, 2008 at 02:17 PM
UMMM, what your explaining for critting on weapons is exactly what “high crit” weapons do! Thats Why I chose a “high crit” weapon! When I crit (according to d&d 4e handbook) i do max weapon dmg+str 12+4 and then get to role an extra d12 because I have a very sharp, very heavy GREATaxe, as opposed to other people that might only have GOODaxes or worse yet MEDIOCREaxes. If you insist on having this crit rule I would like my weapon to crit on a 15-20 and deal and extra 2d12. Just kidding but I would like something extra ;)
However, I am against the whole every weapon is high crit, because statistically the DM get more rolls than the pc’s, so statistically you will get more “high” crits, so statistically the chances of someone from the party going down are great the increase. I’m going to run the number and the deviation in SPSS and see how they turn out but I am very sure it with be quite disastrous.
Also, with 4e the amount of healing I can do is greatly limited as opposed to 3 or 3.5, part of the flip side to this that R&D at wizards did to balance is out is there are no longer ways for the PC’s to get weapons that have super crit ratio’s, like weapons that crit 15-20. And it’s not like I can or statistically would crit (when necessary) on a healing role.
Hope there is some middle ground.
July 10, 2008 at 08:23 PM
Yea, very true about the high crit stuff. It might be game breaking. I’d seriously re-evaluate that mechanic because it can lead to some serious balance issues. Not that I don’t like the idea of doing more damage, but the idea of receiving more scares me.
The way Surprise and Combat advantage is laid out in the PHB is as follows: 1) Everyone who acts in the surprise round gets CA vs. enemies NOT acting in the surprise round. 2) Anyone who has First Strike or something similar, receives an additional round of CA vs. enemies who are below them in initiative order. 3) The surprise round is not a regular full round for those acting, it allows ONE action either standard move or minor but not ALL.
This is good though, we are learning things and looking at this stuff now is better than trying to sort them out during a meeting.
July 10, 2008 at 08:26 PM
Ugh meant to edit my comment but couldn’t and double posted. Meant to add #4 up there only lol
July 10, 2008 at 09:31 PM
So the analogy I was using about throwing a dagger… running… and hitting enemy before he can notice transfers over to 4e as well. In game (surprise round is won by ransom… he throws a dagger and scores a sneak because you have CA from surprise round… Roll initiative… Ransom gets a 19 and Mr. Goblin get an 8… Ransom charges and hit and get sneak attack because his “first strike” capability allows him to get CA as opposed to regular people who would not normally get it.
adds up to 1d4+2d8+3 + 1d6+2d8+3 = 30 damage
July 11, 2008 at 12:01 AM
That is correct. I think what we were confused about @ the meeting was (atleast me anyways) we thought you meant everyone, when you just meant the rogue.
July 11, 2008 at 01:50 AM
OK, Obviously I thought you were suggesting that everyone gets CA against enemies before they move again, not just Ransom who gets it before a target attacks in combat. I forgot you know everyones abilities as well as your own. I guess my problem with the way crits are in 4E is that they are just not fun enough. Remember the days when you rolled a 20 and it was like “Holy Shit. Critical hit! double damage, woot woot” getting max weapon damage doesn’t feel enough for me. Also, I was reading the way High Crit weapons work in the PHB way wrong. I thought they only kicked in extra damage once you hit the paragon tier. So I’m going to float this out to the group and we’ll choose the house rule we like as a group the best. Crits can either be played exactly as they are in the 4E phb, or you can roll weapon damage twice before adding any modifies. How does that sound. there’s a chance you’ll actually get less than maximum damage, and a chance you’ll do way more damage. Any takers? High crit weapons would remain the same. So when you hit, you got maximum and role an extra, which is statistically better than rolling twice because you’re guaranteed a top role with one of those roles. And high crit weapons get more and more bad ass as you gain new tiers. At the paragon tier where someone with a high crit weapon got maximum and rolled two more times. someone with a normal weapon would still be rolling twice. Also, as a note, I never meant for the house rules to be unyielding, carved in stone commandments, and you guys responded correctly. As Devon said its a good way to hash out stuff before we sit down to play. Once we all agree on rules we can post the final versions of what will be our house rules.
July 11, 2008 at 01:53 AM
Oh and I didn’t hear any complaints about my fumble rules. That’s something I feel pretty strongly about. I don’t think you should be able to do any type of damaging effect with a natural 1.
July 11, 2008 at 01:54 AM
And where’s Osko’s character sheet brother!
July 11, 2008 at 02:30 AM
I just got really worried about how I am going to heal a person that gets hit for 30 point of damage on a consistent basis… Threw some number into SPSS and over the course of 100 roles, stating that the DM roles 2.5 times more likely to role a 20 (had to do it this way vs 250/100) with various weapons used… Some at high crit all weapons and some with the 4e rules, the difference between the two standard deviations was 7.34 which is a fudge ton!
I know this are not the hardest statistics since I didn’t give great thought to what i put in, nor am I even a good statistician (I really suck at statistics actually… school-wise) but with the idea that the GM gets to role 2.5x more d20 that have the possibility to crit… It spells… B.A.D. for the PC’s.
However I am not opposed to play testing it.
As far as the fumble rules, I’m not going to say anything that could endanger the lives of Osko or any of his new found allies but its always been flavorful when someone does fumble. In our campaigns we play that if you role a 1… then you choose 4 numbers (1-20 or a 20% chance on top of a 5% chance) then if you role one of those “bad” numbers you “FUMBLE” and the mal-effect is up to the DM… SO BE NICE TO THE DM!
As far as character sheet goes, just haven’t felt the urge. No one else is on the boards to check out my character. :(
REALLY Lets get some people on here!
July 11, 2008 at 03:58 AM
Where is Aaron? Hes usually all over this stuff. Anyways we’re here and I don’t know if Rebecca has signed up but things like rules discussion is NOT her thing. Im pretty sure shes checked some stuff out. Also incase anyone was wondering I updated Will’s travel log and the two dating systems are RoT (Rule of Thander, as in the 2nd year of his rule) and ASP (anno secundum penetrallis, which means years after passing through).
July 11, 2008 at 04:01 AM
Also I think the idea of critical failures or fumbles makes things more interesting, as long as it goes both ways. I say we leave it up to Josh to decide if he adds spicy things. Rules as written in the PHB josh, they say a 1 always misses so your rule once again closely matches the intended rule ;) Critical failures might be a little more fun and add flavor to combat. Next time we play I’m going to really try to get into character and roleplay more, so i hope we get some opportunities to do that :D
July 11, 2008 at 02:06 PM
I always make my PC’s easy for me to get into… My character is a tactician… I am a tactician (of sorts). But yea I feel like we can discuss this further in person or on the table-top.
I’m going home this weekend so I prolly wont be posting much, but I will be back strong this next week!
July 11, 2008 at 02:57 PM
Devon. Yeah, the only thing I’m changing in my critical fumble rule is that if you have a power that still does damage on a miss, you don’t get it on a natural 1. I thought more about this last night and decided that if a power damages and enemy AND benefits a party member on a miss, the beneficial effect would still take effect, but no damaging effect versus its target.
The next adventure will start out action packed, but there will definitely be lots of opportunity for roleplaying.
July 11, 2008 at 04:28 PM
Sounds like it will be a blast… I will def have my back story up by then. JoJa, I will send my draft of my backstory to you and if there is something that will fit into your campaign (ex changing name of guild that kill ur master) then let me know. The more attached I am to my PC the more fun I have!
Also, just as a side note: The new 4e doesn’t really have the cool things for PC to do like 3.5 did. Like in 3.5 I have a wizards who is an alchemist, trapmaker & poisonmaker. He makes his own device aids that can be used in combat. He prepares for battle in spells, scrolls, traps, battlefield knowledges, poisons, and alchemic devices; when all put together it makes for fun, new and interesting combats! EX> when I drew the bugbears into the hallway my wizard might have a trap set up to drop 2 Alchemist’s Fire on him on top of us getting to attack him. Sneaking as a party is easier in 4e but, things like that don’t seem possible in 4e. If you ever get the time or desire small things like this are really what make the game for me (especially since I’m playing a tactician). Expendable items in 4e are few and far between but its was just a nice idea I had.
July 11, 2008 at 04:48 PM
Mike, one thing I wanted to talk to you about is your choice of 2nd level feat. But’ll send you an e-mail, because I have a way to work it into the campaign, but you can’t have it essentially until after the first battle if we do it the way I want to do it. If we do it my way though, there is a great built in hook.
July 11, 2008 at 06:09 PM
Hey guys, sorry about the MIA but my computer was having internet issues, so this is the first I’ve been able to get online. Never been on one of this types of sites before so I’m not really sure how to do anything. Tried to post my character sheet and journal entries, but… do i enter code text? I have no idea what I’m doing.
July 11, 2008 at 07:53 PM
As for the Crit damage…. yeah, I’ve only ever rolled a Natural 20 once. “IF” I ever do it again, I’d like to do a lot of damage. I don’t really care how it goes about happening. I’m just glad they got rid of that “2nd chance to see if you actually hit crit” bullshit. Also, since I don’t have a “crit weapon” like our mighty Cleric, I don’t really see how it makes much difference how I take off the baddie’s head, just so long as I see it rolling on down the hallway. You pickin’ up what I’m throwin’ down? Biatch!
July 14, 2008 at 08:05 PM
Hey Joja this is Hayden. Add me please
July 14, 2008 at 08:07 PM
hook sounds like a great plan for my character… the more I am ingrained in the story the more I like it, so that is fine about the 2nd level feats thing.
Aaron… its… on… like donkey kong!
ps- I brought my 3 mats form cinci. 2 regular sized and 1 super mat. + I brought my minis up, don’t have a lot but its some.
July 14, 2008 at 08:19 PM
Oh, hey, yeah Mike, yeah… uh.. what? Anyway, I was out looking for minis while I was in the Columbus area since Urbana has jackshit for hobby shops, and I stopped at a place called The Guardhouse. They had plenty of minis and other D&D stuff, but all the minis that I saw were blank grey in color. Do I have to paint all my minis? I… can’t do that. lol. That requires a gentle hand that I just don’t have. Imagine if Gravendarr decided he wanted to paint. ... yeah, just like that. I don’t do delicate. If you want delicate, ask the Rogue. or the Wizard for that matter (I hear he prances!!!) On the other hand, if you want someone’s head caved in… I’m the Dragon for the job.
July 14, 2008 at 08:35 PM
Oh and Hayden, welcome to the group. Do you know what you’re playing yet? We could use a number of things including a Rogue, seeing as how our last one went and got himself killed. Stupid Rat Prince bastard…. But anyway, just wondering if I’ll have some help on the frontlines, or if I’m gonna have another Squishy to look after. Whatever you pick is fine, I just want to make plans accordingly. Also (and this is for everyone!) hurry up and post your character sheets and journal books so I can have something more to look at during my boring, lonely days waiting for the next session.
July 14, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Hello and welcome Hayden. What Aaron said, we could use a striker, I think i remember reading you wanted to play a ranger so that would be cool.
Aaron, were you at the guardtower? Thats not far from where we live, and they have walls and walls of unpainted minis. Unless you want plain metal minis, yes you have to paint them. The other alternative is D&D Miniatures, made by WotC, they sell them in boxes of like 8 or 10 random minis or in starter packs you can see what your getting. But i bought all mine online, you can select individual minis for like 20cents to a dollar apiece.
July 15, 2008 at 12:06 AM
Oh, well the guardtower I went to had walls and walls of unpainted ones. I probably went to a different one than by you. Cuz you live on the west side right? Well I was by my friend’s place near center/eastern side, about 10 mins away from the City BBQ. What site did you go to to buy yours? I tried looking online but I kept finding ones that were for much more than cents each.
July 15, 2008 at 01:04 AM
I got mine here http://gamerocket.net/
July 15, 2008 at 01:31 AM
Who is Mak? Does anyone know?
July 15, 2008 at 02:55 AM
Sorry team, I was introducing our new cat to his new home. Kitten I should say. I think we’ll call him Gravendarr… lol. Mak is my wife’s character. She’s a halfling badass. Actually she’s a warlord, which is freakin’ awesome. Who would see that coming? She totally came up with that herself. So no matter what Hayden does Dar will get some frontline support, as well as buffs all around. And Hayden, a Ranger with thievery would round out the group very well, but do whatever you like.
And Aaron you can try this place out for minis too: http://www.miniaturemarket.com/d_d_painted_minis?gclid=CJHqlMPwwJQCFRRhnAod2nRWUQ
The trick is to look at the Dungeons of Dread set and the Against the Giants set. Those are the newest releases, and because Wizards set it up as a collectible game in addition to being usable in D&D, the older, or rarer, a set of miniatures is the more expensive it is. Like magic the gathering cards.
I really, really want to post a bunch of the NPCs and more about the game world, but it has to wait until we have our first adventure. So please, please hang in there y’all. I’ll try to check in again at work tomorrow.
July 15, 2008 at 03:21 AM
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! help with healing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ps- hayden is going to play a rogue, think… it’s Shake & Rogue, I helped!
July 15, 2008 at 04:55 AM
Sigh, I cant wait to play!
July 15, 2008 at 05:58 PM
Okay, a few things: 1.) remind me again what a Warlord does? 2.) a halfing ANYTHING is badass 3.) Please, PLEASE tell me you’re serious about naming it Gravendarr. Cuz that would be fucking tits! 4.) Can I not say “tits” now that we have two women? 5.) Thanks for the sites for minis. Not sure how many/how quickly I’ll get some cuz I’ve spent a lot of money this month on shit, but I plan on getting some as soon as I can. My luck, though, if I buy booster packs or what not, I’ll probably get twenty-million of the same damn thing. “Uh, Josh, I hope we’re going to be fighting insert random baddy name here because I have like four dozen of them.” 6.) Mike, you’re “hints” hurt my head. 7.) Josh, I’ve been trying to work up some backstory for Gravendarr. It’s not all together as of right now, but you might want to keep an eye on my Bio in case you want to use some of it in our adventure. No biggie if you don’t, but I figured it’s only fair that I make a backstory seeing as everyone else has too. 8.) These next few weeks had better hurry up! I. Want. Smash.
July 15, 2008 at 07:35 PM
Yeah, I’m gonna have problems I can tell. I went to the site Devon recommended and just started browsing. I focused on the cheaper items around .20 to .50 or so. I would “add to cart” things I thought looked interesting and/or that we could use in our campaign. Like I said, I was just browsing to get a feel for them all. I ended up with over thirty dollars worth in my cart. lol. I… didn’t get them. :^( lol. Goddamn kid in a candy store, I am. How do you guys do it? sigh
July 15, 2008 at 09:08 PM
OK, so… i have decided on the rogue class, but the race is what i’m having the problem with. While reading through the rogue descriptions trying to get inspired i came across the “adrenaline-junkie” idea and that sparked interest. Not the rogue that sits in the corner of the bar acting all shady, but the one that gets in ur face. Loyal to his friends, but if you arent one, then u prob think hes an asshole.
So clearly 1st thought of a race is halfling. the typical rogue. unfortunately hes not intimidating, hes not an ass hole.
Second thought, elf. hes not down and dirty, hes somewhat refined. thats a no-go.
At this point looking through the monster manual at additional races (mike showed me) and then i come across Drow. Perfect for this character idea. Unfortunately they r so damn evil. Was really trying to find a way to make this idea work, but i couldn’t even convince myself (in an effort to come up with sumthing outside of the rebel drow/Drizzt idea)
So now i’m thinking go with the elf, but classify it as a wild-elf? maybe they could b more down and dirty in your face? idk i need ideas.
But just to ease all of your consciences, i’m not like this in person, and will still play the rogue part as far as adventuring goes. I just thought in the side stuff this could b fun to play.
Tell me wut u think…
July 15, 2008 at 09:19 PM
Hayden Uh, yeah, Drow is definitely out. Sorry. You’ll see why in like 12 levels. If you read the Spellblade campaign primer (it’s the post under this one and the handout Mike should have given you) You’ll see that in my campaign Elves are Wild elves and what is now called Eladrin in 4E are High (or more traditional) elves. If your looking at something in between, a half elf is always a good choice, and I think would make a decent rogue, especially of the type you’re considering. As a half-elf, your background can include some of that “an outcast of both races” ala Tanis from Dragonlance, which is a good excuse to be a feisty cutthroat who doesn’t take anyone’s shiite. My Elves are a lot like the Kaganesti, or Wild elves from Dragonlance, but with about 1,000 years more of civilization. Still they are more barbaric/tribal, and if you cross them “in your face” so both would be good choices.
July 15, 2008 at 09:20 PM
Aaron re: buying minis. Lol that’s exactly what happened to me when I went mini shopping. My cart got up to like $40 and the wife said I don’t think so. I think we’ll be ok for a few more levels with the minis we have, but I encourage everyone to look for an individual mini for their character if it helps them get/stay in character better.
July 15, 2008 at 10:01 PM
Yeah, as I was browsing I kept going “oh! A cleric with an axe! That’s Mike, go get it, it’s only .49!” and then I’d see some badass knight dude and go, man, I gotta have that but no, wait, its 13.69! fuck that shit. So I’d get a guard looking dude for .59. but then I figure, well, there’s gonna be more than one guard at a place, so I figure why not 5? but that’s like 3 bucks. so I go to three. then after I get a few more guards or knights or what not I go back and chagne it to one cuz i figure while they’re all guards, you (josh) should have the option of picking what you like. shrugs i don’t know. I was basically just adding every cheap piece I liked that looked cool and that’s basically like… EVERYTHING. I even had a 1.89 piece that was of a big, wicked looking dude that I just HAD to have. but in the end, it’s 30 bucks. sigh It’s like crack. Delicious, delicous crack. and to get all the shit you need, you have to go out and murder little old ladies for their bingo money. “here ms. daisy. here, kitty kitty. I just want to walk you across the street” WHAM! BAM! THWACK! Mmm… brain matter.
July 15, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Oh, and Hayden, dont’ worry about being… odd. they put up with me, so you’re and easy in.
July 16, 2008 at 01:02 AM
I havent bought anymore since my initial shopping spree and i spent about 25 then, but that included an expensive one that the wife really liked. Anyways, i stuck to the very cheapest i could find, i figured it was better to have a bunch of decent standins than having nothing and using dice. Josh, since your the one who knows what we’ll be fighting, i would be happy to kick in a few bucks for some representative minis.
July 16, 2008 at 01:34 AM
But then I would be giving away what we’re fighting! lol. I just got the 2006 Basic boxed set off Amazon(to go with the 2004 box I brought to our first session with That Other Guy) Basically I use them to hold dice and my books and such, but it came with 12 pretty good minis, which brings my total up to 28, which is a good start. For the first few levels probably the only thing we’ll be fighting in multiples will be your basic humanoids and creatures of my own creation, so lets not worry too much about minis yet. I might get a few dungeons of dread booster packs along the way just to see what I get. We can talk more about mini acquisition come game day. The 2006 basic set comes with a great human rogue figure though that looks so much better as a ranger, but maybe Hayden can use it – as long as he uses a bow.
July 16, 2008 at 02:13 AM
Everyone can click on the NPC tab to get some closure from the last game. I might post more and some maps this weekend, unless everyone wants to be surprised on game day.
July 16, 2008 at 02:25 AM
!!! Yea if anyone buys mini online… Let me know or just go ahead and buy 1 “axe soldier” and 1 “skullsplitter”. Can’t remember off the top of my head what sets they are from, but it shouldn’t matter.
I’ll try to get my character sheet up this week, I have more time this week.
I think that my character is going to keep a journal now too. But not like everyone else’s, just doesn’t fit with my character ideas. It will be more of a tactical journal, something like a guy from the CIA might keep… You know, name, places, events, strength, weaknesses, kind of like the Bingo book if we have any Naruto Fans +battle tactics that work and don’t work. But it will still catalog our “daily” life.
OH Joja let me know bout backstory, like I said no worries bout missing my 2nd lvl feat for the first encounter.
PS- I like the Castro pic you got going :)
July 16, 2008 at 04:44 PM
About backstory: Josh, I think I’ve finally figured out Gravendarr’s, so if you want to read over that and let me know you have any questions or would like to know more. You don’t really have to do anythign with my character if you dont’ want, I’m just happy to smash in a face or two. or three.
July 16, 2008 at 11:12 PM
Yeah, I broke down and bought some minis. sigh total with shipping is around 45 bucks. ugh. But I just got that Gov’t check so I figured they gave it to me to spend, so why not spend it on pretty pretty shinies? Plus, it beats tracking down little old ladies, right? Now I just need a case, but the one I want/need is 45 bucks by itself. Big Sigh I… don’t think I’m ready for that just yet. Mike, I couldn’t get those two you were looking for since a lot from what I had picked out yesterday was already sold out. Damn greedy bastards! Anyway, my “shiny object” disorder should be satisfied for a while now, at least until I get the minis and then I’ll be craving more. I should probably start looking for my second job now. That, or Bingo games….
July 17, 2008 at 01:02 AM
hahaha… ... bingo
July 17, 2008 at 02:06 AM
Aaron. I went to the Comicplus place in Newark today on lunch and came inches from buying a few Dungeons of Dread booster packs. Lol I know the feeling. Again, I think we’ll be fine for minis for a while, but you guys can get whatever you like. Now we’ll have to figure out a way to keep everyone’s minis separate. Anyway I’ll take a good look at Gravendarr’s backstory and let you know what I think. I’ll try to find a way to work everybody’s back story into the game somehow. Speaking of which, it would be awesome if everybody had their characters online by the end of this weekend, just so I can remember what’s what before we play again in 10 days.
And mike, as far as Osko’s backstory, the hook i’m thinking off will take place in the present and have something to do with the plot of the adventure. you’ll see. So it won’t be backstory per se, until the next adventure I suppose.
July 17, 2008 at 02:37 AM
Must… Play… D&D…
July 17, 2008 at 04:44 AM
This is how bad my friends want to play:
REENACTMENT, over phone yeseterday:
Me: Hey Chris that was a good game on Saturday right man!
Chris: Yea I think I’m getting way better as a DM, OH by the way were playing Eric’s game this weekend you should come down.
Me: I wish I could bro, but its just too much money to drive down… its like 40 bucks back and forth.
Chris: That sucks, oh jon wants to talk to here he is.
Jon: Hey man u gotta come down this weekend and play
Me: yea it’s too much money, I can’t this weekend too, I was just there.
Jon: Well what if we payed for your gas!
Me: Well… then I would come down, but that won’t happen you all are too cheap.
Jon (to the room): Hey guys will you chip in 5 bucks so we can get Michael down here this weekend?
Chris: Yea, Eric: I guess, Greg: Ok, Brandon: Fuck that!, Jon: Brandon chip in, I don’t care if you don’t have a job, Brandon: fine :(
Jon: See, told ya.
Me: alright I’ll see you on friday
Jon: SWEET! ps- we are working out friday… ... then destroying our bodies with alcohol :)
Me: Alright fine!
July 17, 2008 at 05:52 PM
Oi, Mike! How/where did you get your character pic? I keep trying to post one of Gravendarr, but it keeps saying “error” so I’m assuming its too big. sigh I always have problems with being too big…. lol.
July 17, 2008 at 08:36 PM
Probably, just try resizing it with windows paint or something. Anyways we’re, what, 10 days away? bounce bounce
July 17, 2008 at 11:27 PM
bounce bounce bounce….
yea it could be the resize but IDK what there max pixel rating is. BTW thats not all how my character looks, but is a good representation… minus the red hair.
July 17, 2008 at 11:59 PM
Yeah, I thought that was wierd. Plus, he wasn’t showing us his beach ball, so I knew you didn’t make that one representatively. I keep wanting to use that Dragonborn pic from the book of the Dragonborn in red scale mail, holding the maul. In my mind, that’s what Gravendarr looks like. I even tried to just post his face but even that didnt’ work. i’ll have to browse the internet and see if I can find me a good Dragonborn pic that I can use. Gotta be some good Gravendarr action around here someplace. Oh, and if I wasn’t the big, fat moose of a man that I was, I’d be bouncing too. Mighty excited about the game coming up. I hope my minis come before then… should be good to paw through them like Christmas. Oh, and you guys need to get Hayden and Mak (what IS your wife’s name, Josh?) to post their shit so I can get prepped for gamethyme. I check this site about a dozen times a day seeing if you guys have posted anything new. You need to keep up on the ball in order to keep my and my endless hunger for goodies satisfied.
July 18, 2008 at 12:51 AM
Hayden and I are working on his sheet right now… I think h’ll ave it dune by tanight lads
July 18, 2008 at 01:05 AM
5 STAR MY CHARACTER… I haven’t even written the backstory and I already have a page written + a sweet pic!
July 18, 2008 at 01:31 AM
Hey guys! I’m going to try to get Mak’s (I mean Kara, my wife’s name is Kara, got to remember that…) character yet tonight. But first I’m going to be a super friend and post the picture of Gravendarr that he wants out of the PHB, because yes I am that good. P.S. we are all booked up for the 27th and the 3rd at CBQ and we can play again the 17th, but labor day weekend is a problem, unless you guys can play on Labor day itself. Like most the world, I have Monday off, but I volunteered to cover someone’s shift that weekend like a dumbass. Let me know who can play Labor Day!
July 18, 2008 at 01:49 AM
Thank for setting everything up Castro… We appreciate it!
July 18, 2008 at 01:52 AM
I am supreme ruler of this island. There will be no religion and no TVs!
lol. OK Aaron, check out Gravendarr’s page. And always remember who your daddy is…
July 18, 2008 at 02:03 AM
hey joja and aaron i sent u both messages so make sure u check them, mainly joja…
July 18, 2008 at 02:33 AM
Oooh happenings. Just got back from Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D, 3d part gave me a bit of a headache but fun nonetheless. So you’ve booked the room both days Josh? Thats awesome, I was just about to ask about it and make the reservations myself. Aaron, if you ordered from gamerocket, i know it took about 6 days for mine to come (ordered Sunday, came the next Saturday). Also its funny about Gar, my friend was going through the PHB himself and saw that picture of the dragonborn in red armor and was like ooooh i wanna be hiiim. Pretty cool image, that.
July 18, 2008 at 02:38 AM
You’re all set Hayden, and Devon: I’m waiting for the Mummy III myself. Can’t watch too much Brandon Frasier in one Summer haha.
July 18, 2008 at 06:03 AM
Character officially posted, no backstory yet though
July 18, 2008 at 02:31 PM
LOL, I too am waiting for Mummy 3 but goin to see Dark Knight today :DDDD Hayden, Cool character, also I love warlords so this should be tons of fun!
July 18, 2008 at 04:42 PM
game ideas from movies…. Yeah!!!
July 18, 2008 at 06:09 PM
Sweet!
July 18, 2008 at 08:15 PM
Why so serious? Wow that was easily the best movie of the summer and I think the best superhero movie ever – holy cow.
July 18, 2008 at 08:21 PM
Hey Josh, tell your wife Mak… err.. Kara, that her character pic is HOT. lol. Mmm… halflings….
July 18, 2008 at 11:19 PM
I just noticed the updated Ransom Journal and zomg Brass city? :D Reminds me of the glass city from Loom… Did anyone else play that?
July 19, 2008 at 04:42 AM
in.. laws… must keep cool…. only 7 days till game day;) happy thoughts
July 19, 2008 at 12:47 PM
hahahah. loser. lol.
July 19, 2008 at 07:23 PM
Background posted. More or less the beginning of a journall, but that kept it interesting. check it out and tell me what you think
July 20, 2008 at 03:27 AM
hey what time are we meeting on this next sunday? i work until 2 so i should be able to make at least some of it, but i wasnt sure when it started…
July 20, 2008 at 04:13 AM
We usually meet at Noon, so Im assuming that plan will hold constant.
July 21, 2008 at 01:08 AM
Yeah, Devon, Batman is… wicked. I am just… stunned with it. I’lll have to go see it again soon.
July 21, 2008 at 05:38 PM
Hey back from my weekend W/O inter-web! So yea didn’t get to see any movie but I hope to see batman soon. Heard the chick in the movie wasn’t a very good actress?
PS- same City BBQ right???
July 21, 2008 at 06:07 PM
She was ok, not a really big role. Katie Holmes was definitely better (and cuter)
July 21, 2008 at 09:58 PM
Hey Josh, how do you give out XP? Do you simply give out an equal lump to everyone who plays or can/does it vary depending on each person’s decisions? Also, is there a way we can earn “bonus” XP? I mean, if we do side character-building “missions” such as a character researching spells or rituals, or if they get “advanced”
July 21, 2008 at 10:08 PM
(GOD DAMN TOUCHY BUTTON AND NO “EDIT” KEY!!! FIX THIS! lol) ...or if they get “advanced” training from the guards or leaders of the town they’re in at the time. I mean, if William studies with a town magi, can he permanantly learn a special skill/spell? or if I train with the town militia can I get a new move? Short of this (cuz I can understand you not wanting to open this up since we’re greedy fuckers and would keep training/studying to get like a gagillion skills and what not) but could we get like a +1 increase to something, either permanant or say, only when I fight goblins because I trained with soldiers that were specialized in fighting goblins and therefore picked up some goblin-fighting tricks of their trade. Just an idea; I’ve had DMs before who gave XP out for different various reasons, such as if we do something “outside the box” to help the group, we might get bonus GROUP XP, and if I took the time to do extra mace fighting training, I’d get an extra point to my mace fighting skill (this example was in a game where you actually got/had to use weapon fighting points, the more you had the more hits/damage you got/did) Again, just an idea I had because in our three week hiatus I’ve had a lot of time to think on what Gravendarr would do if/when they got to an actual sizable town who didn’t have a king that locked them in the castle.
July 21, 2008 at 11:12 PM
Hey Aaron. Hang in there man, I’ve got a couple answers for you, but in the meantime I brought home some work that I have to finish up first. Just wanted to let you know I’m not ignoring you guys.
July 22, 2008 at 12:18 AM
It is not wise to anger a Dragonborn. You have been warned.
lol.
July 22, 2008 at 12:22 AM
Oh, and have we reserved the BBQ yet for both weeks? I’d hate to wait all this time only to find out we didn’t get the room saved. Cuz that would… suck. Also, I just got my minis in so I’m gonna be pawing through them tomorrow and giggling like a little girl. Do you guys have any suggestions on how I should mark them so we dont’ get them confused during gameplay?
July 22, 2008 at 12:37 AM
hmmm marking is a good idea, maybe ill put a big D on the bottom of my minis
Speaking of minis do you guys play anything else? like TCGs, miniature games, etc? I ask cause I have a fleet of Pirates minis and I just got a bunch of star wars pocketmodel cards/ships and they’re super awesome…. I love building things so im a sucker for these things.
July 22, 2008 at 03:34 AM
Aaron. Yes the City BBQ has been reserved for both Sunday’s and this Sunday I will reserve it for whatever the group decides is the next date after the 3rd. I don’t have time to answer your other questions tonight because I just spent 5 hours recording and editing a podcast for work and on the last edit Audacity crashed and wiped out everything I had done. FIVE HOURS! So I’m a little pissed off right now and I don’t want to inadvertently take my anger out on you guys. The short answer to your question is yes and no. Part of your normal character advancement is the assumed training you do during and between adventures. How else do you explain how a character all of a sudden knows an extra feat or power? I’m willing to entertain ideas for any specialized skill you want to learn and train at, but it will have to come at the expense of some other skill. For instance, say you train with a bunch of Goblin hating Dwarven tunnel guards who train you to be especially proficient in killing goblins. In exchange for picking a Feat out of the book at 4th level, we could design a feat that gives you +2 to hit against all goblinoid creatures. You wouldn’t get two feats, just one, and it would have to scale with whatever powers/feats are available. For example, I’d never let you have a 4th level feat that allowed you to never be surprised by any goblinoid, gave you a +6 to hit and roll an extra dice damage against them. I have no problem working with you guys to customize the skills and feats in the PHB to make the character you really want to create, because I know 4E is a little limiting that way. But, if I see it start to be taken advantage of, I will either A) disallow any more customization, or B) start throwing much tougher opponents at you as a way to keep it balanced (If you really want to fight a Tarasque at 7th level I’ll do it) and that’s not really a good solution.
July 22, 2008 at 03:58 AM
Sorry about your software issues Josh :((( I hope you get things working in time. I do like that solution to customization. The problem with having special bonuses and things like that is it really unbalances the game. If you think about it, levels are the foundation on which everything gets balanced and the rules tightly dictate what improvements you get, and when. If we start getting bonuses outside of what was designed for the game, you’d be amazed out how quickly everything else falls apart and then Josh has an even harder time putting together adventures and encounters that are a proper challenge which is counter to the entire point of 4th edition to begin with: to make planning and setting up for a gaming session easier and faster. So that means we can customize within the bounds of the game and that means working with Josh to make sure whatever special, non-core customizations you make are going to be in-line with what the rules expect.
July 22, 2008 at 02:04 PM
Yea that sucks bout the job, and it would have been way out of Castro’s personality to take his aggression out on his citizens :)
Aaron, I would like to make the game more in-depth as you are suggesting, but I have no doubt that it will happen with time… Lets just get skill challenges down for now.
PS- Don’t forget if anyone orders minis let me know!
July 22, 2008 at 04:44 PM
Oh hey Mike, you mentioned at the last game that you were going to tell me how to “properly” use my intimidate skill.
July 22, 2008 at 05:36 PM
oh… I will send you a msg!
^ ^ Read my previous post
Also, I just noticed were going to do my healing trick… 3 queries 1)Is it a minor action or free action 2) Will you use the White,Green,Yellow,Orange,Red,Black scale or some other scale for determining health? 3)Is is going to be 1 action for the entire allied team (that I can see) and 1 action for 1 enemy.
Ex- I roll heal designating visual allies = I get heal values of all visual allies Ex- I have to roll against one specific enemy, and cannot get the value of more than one per action = I get the health value of that enemy
July 22, 2008 at 07:11 PM
Because I know you care so much, my minis:
1.) Anvil of Thunder (Dwarf) 2.) Cleric of Garl Glittergold 3.) Gnoll Skeleton 4.) Sage 5.) Bugbear Lancebreaker 6.) Goblin Runner 7.) Hobgoblin Guard 8.) Half-Elf Assassin 9.) Eladrin Pyromancer 10.) Harmonium Gard 11.) Gnome Trickster 12.) Hero of Valhalla 13.) Mercykiller 14.) Fiendish Snake 15.) Skeletal Reaper 16.) Animated Statue 17.) Militia Archer 18.) Cliffwalk Archer 19.) Halfling Enchanter 20.) Halfling Rogue 21.) Tiefling Cleric 22.) Drow Blademaster 23.) Snaketongue Cultist 24.) Dwarf Artificer 25.) Skeletal Dwarf 26.) Halfling Paladin 27.) Warrior Wight 28.) Gnoll Marauder 29.) Bugbear Headreaver 30.) Kobold Archer 31.) Warforged Infiltrator 32.) Gnome Recruit 33.) Half-Orc Paladin 34.) Royal Guard 35.) Halfling Sneak 36.) Mercenary Sergeant 37.) Cormyrean War Wizard 38.) Devotee of the Silver Flame 39.) Knight of the Chalice 40.) Phalanx Soldier 41.) Changeling Rogue 42.) Halfling Brawler 43.) High Inquisitor (Aben!!!) 44.) Bugbear Gang Leader 45.) Tiefling Warlock
July 22, 2008 at 10:20 PM
Hey Devon, is Rebecca still playing? I know she doesn’t go in for rules discussions and so on, but she still hasn’t created a character on the site. Just trying to make sure I’m scaling this week’s encounters for the right number of players.
July 22, 2008 at 11:30 PM
if she doesn’t play this weekend we can just give her EXP to me… Then everyone wins!
July 22, 2008 at 11:51 PM
Josh, yes, as far as I know she is still playing. I’ll see if I can’t get her to sign up on this site and to stop being such a spoil sport.
July 23, 2008 at 12:09 AM
lol. is she still having… issues with leaving the kids alone for so long?
July 23, 2008 at 12:55 AM
I’m here… playing this weekend :)
July 23, 2008 at 02:18 AM
Woo Hoo We have a full PartaY
July 23, 2008 at 06:44 PM
vote each others characters
July 23, 2008 at 07:55 PM
lol. you just want points for your beachball-flexing, non-backstory-writting cleric. lol
July 23, 2008 at 07:58 PM
I have it written, just need to tweak it!
July 23, 2008 at 08:12 PM
Mike, replied to your message. Also, for the healing trick it will be 1) minor action 2) red/orange/yellow/green. 3)separate check and roll for each individual enemy. You’re taking a long hard look at the way an enemy is holding themselves/breathing etc. in addition to more physical symptoms such as bloody wounds etc, etc.
July 23, 2008 at 09:20 PM
thats exactly how we play it… And as for the allies it would be one role? Right?
July 23, 2008 at 10:16 PM
You know how I check to see how my enemies’ health is? I keep hitting them until they fall down. Then, when they’re lying broken on the ground, I simply ask them, “How’s that feel, bitch?”
July 24, 2008 at 04:05 AM
And Oskilar appreciates that you believe that
ps- 99th POST!
July 24, 2008 at 03:19 PM
Just a flavor suggestion for heal checks, 4 terms being Fresh, Harried, Bloodied, Crippled.
July 24, 2008 at 07:02 PM
What, versus mine of: Alive, Dead. lol
July 24, 2008 at 07:37 PM
69 hours till game time!
July 24, 2008 at 07:49 PM
I’m getting antsy!!! I want to play SO bad. lol. Watch Josh not show up… bastard. lol.
July 24, 2008 at 08:22 PM
Yea omg… It’ll be like last game all over again… We’ll sit around talking for the first hour and a half waiting for his car to pull in, then we’ll call him repeatedly and he won’t answer… Except this time I’ll drive all the way to his house and bang on his door shouting and screaming.
July 24, 2008 at 08:24 PM
On a lighter note, we went to Kings Island all day yesterday and I’m freaking exhausted. I went on every ride I wanted to except Son of Beast, just ran out of time/energy but had a good time anyways. Even got to go on the new one, Firehawk, it was pretty sweet.
July 24, 2008 at 08:32 PM
Yea I grew up in Cincinnati I love KINGS ISLAND, I must of went there 150 times in my life… yea that place and and I have some good memories… yep
July 24, 2008 at 10:18 PM
When I was living up near Sandusky, I went to Cedar Point with some of my friends up there and I had some trouble fitting into those damn safety seats they have. Now, I’m a big guy, but I’m not THAT big, but for some reason I couldn’t get into those damn things and still have room to both buckle up and get that knee guard thing down. I ended up not being about to go on some of the really fast ones (the one I really wanted to go on!) Those rides just aren’t built for bigger guys. I’m not talking about big ol’ fatties like Devon ( ;^P ) but taller, “built like a brick shithouse” big guys like me. I could buckle up, but then my knees were too high up for the knee thing to come down. If I did the knee thing first, I couldn’t buckle up because the belt wasnt’ long enough. sigh You know how embarassing it is for you to be asked to leave on of those rides with 30-40 people watching you, “You can sit here, sir, that guy is too big to fit the seat.” Yeah… fun times.
July 24, 2008 at 10:55 PM
If I wasn’t going to show up, first I would get there super early and install wireless cameras, and then sit in front of my computer and just laugh, and laugh. Are you Kidding Me! after all the work I put into plotting your characters doom, uh I mean next adventure.
July 24, 2008 at 11:11 PM
well a good DM abuses the PC
the players themselves~
July 24, 2008 at 11:12 PM
well a good DM abuses the PC’s and the players themselves~
edit: My computer abused me just now^
July 25, 2008 at 12:01 AM
yeah, I was wondering what was up with that red X. Did anybody else besides me buy any minis?
July 25, 2008 at 01:11 AM
I didn’t but I think the next time I’m home i’ll go to my local shop, Yottaquest
July 25, 2008 at 01:17 AM
Aaron I DO know what that feels like… it is the most embarrassing thing ever when you have waited in line… get in the ride and don’t fit. I hate when this happens to me. :(
July 25, 2008 at 01:20 AM
I have 45 minis as well. 16 from the original 2004 Basic boxed set, 12 from the 2006 basic boxed set and two Dungeons of Dread booster packs plus a free demo mini from Against the Giants. Its a pretty good mix of monsters but few multiples except a couple bugbears and gnolls, and a small kobold set. 2 dragons though…he he he yeah, Dragons.
July 25, 2008 at 01:20 AM
P.S. mike I replied to your e-mail finally.
July 25, 2008 at 01:34 AM
Dev has a bunch of kobolds if needed.
July 25, 2008 at 03:31 PM
Cool. Gotta keep it on the low down, can’t let the common-folk know I’m conspiring with the Dictator.
Also, I’ll be bringing my:
Mini’s – many of which I have double and triples of, so you can use them for same type of monster.
Play-mats & Markers – I guess I’ll just bring them all, I have two play-mats and a super map
Computer – My books are on my computer, and if anyone wants me to download something before I come just let me know (ex. sourcebooks, music, pictures of supermodels)
Cans – I will be bringing one, possibly two cans of whoopass, that should help us out.
July 25, 2008 at 03:48 PM
Just to double and triple check, Sunday, noon, be there or be square?
Also, three weeks is waaaaaaay too long be