Completing Projects

I need to and am beginning to like the idea of getting myself into the habit of completing projects and/or goals. I have been playing around with an idea for a small game in my head and have also been thinking I should keep my projects goals smaller and obtainable. It also occurred to me that by simple telling other people I intend to do something I am more motivated to actually do it.

So as a test for all this I have decided to announce a small game I intend to make. The name I have for it, for now, is "Super Princess Sisters: Queen of the World." The .001 version will contain the following.

• A level (possibly mimicking level 1 of classic super Mario)
• 3 unique objects
• The entire game world will be mine-able (think terraria, or minecraft)
• Monsters will have a new spawning method (an Idea I'm keeping secret for now)
• It will have at least 3 different block types
• There will be at least 4 enemies using two different types of AI
• The charactor will able to move and jump
• have at least 2 unique modes for the character too be in
• and at least 2 holdable items + a shovel or pick type item

So now I know exactly what I want to have ready for .001 and I will know to work on these and not to worry about much else. Once .001 is done I intend to make a title screen and maybe rework some of the art 

Haven and Hearth

I was looking for a game that had things such as Crafting and Building but with skills or levels as well. One I found is called Haven and Hearth. It's still in alpha (and free) but is decently playable with its biggest flaw being a sever lack in audio.

It also has a steep learning curve that pretty much requires the use of its wiki and yet is still confusing at times. It has a wide variety of skills. abilities and attributes which is pretty cool but picking the wrong skills in the beginning can be annoying.

Once you get the hang of though its a fun mix of crafting and building using both in game and real time measurements for various things. The way you gain learning points by discovering new items or studying curiosity is interesting but can be slow if you don't know what your doing. Also you increase your stats based on what kind of foods you eat.

One interesting aspect is death is permanent wether its starving to death or being ran over by a boar. If you like games like halo or anything on the xbox really, you might get bored way to quickly to ever figure this one out. But if your into games like runecraft and nethack and also like Terraria you might love this game.

I'm not completly sure if its being developed much anymore though. One thing I love about the game though is there is one massive server on which everyone plays, yet its also decently quiet, so you can find your self running into camps or even villages built by other players.

Maybe they come back and see you stole from them or maybe they died long ago. When you die and make a new character all that stuff you made is still out there somewhere. I honestly think if I got a few friend together  this game would be could be funner then minecraft (which I'm sadly bored of anyway).

My best Christmas Gift this year.

This was originally a comment to a question asked by Ayoub, but I decided I want to save it so I'm posting it here.

I took my five year old son and his sister to the mall earlier this month so they could play in the malls playland. We happened to notice the mall had a man dressed as Santa Claus.

So I took my son over to see him (while his sister stayed with their mom and we switched later) He was excited to see Santa and kept ending every sentence with Santa

Hi Santa, Yes Santa, Of course Santa.

When asked what he wanted for Christmas he said, "A Christmas Book Santa" Turns out They had free coloring books, so Santa Reaches behind his back and what do you know he Has A Christmas Book.

After Thanking him My son gets up looks at him With this Huge Grin and Says "I Love You Santa!"

It was the sweetest thing I ever saw. Despite my original intention of never teaching my kids to believe in him.

Review: Live Free or Die Hard

I recently watched all the diehard movies and then realized there was a fourth one I had never seen, Live Free or Die Hard. When it comes to movies I feel there is two different ways to approach them, either judge them on their own merit or compare them to what they are based off of.

On its own merit I'm not sure how strongly this movie stands, its an interesting mix of modern technology, terrorism and old school action movie with some really nice scenes, such as hitting a helicopter with a car. However its where the movie comes from that it really shines.

As a Bruce Willis fan I thought it was great movie, with all the classic Bruce Willis Features, estranged from his family and having a really bad day he kicks the crap out of everyone who pisses him off while still remaining the good guy.

As a Diehard movie it managed to continue the films nicely enough and bring it into the 21st century.

 I love watching John McCain as he fights terrorist from Diehard with a car phone in a limo and using a radio to talk to police outside the building, Diehard 2 where his wife brags about the 90'S having airphones and faxs, clear through to Live Free or Diehard where he teams up with, well a hacker, and if it weren't his computer skills John McCain might not have known what to do at all.

Now when I give stars here is how I do it.

1 star,  I hated this movie and wish I could give 0 stars but netflix doesn't have that option.
2 stars, for some reason I just dont want to watch this movie or probably any like it
3 stars, this movie was ok, tolerable, I might watch it but not love it
4 stars, I really like this movie and will probably like anything similar
5 stars, I loved this and want more, please please give me more.

I rarely ever give anything 5 stars,

Too be fair I gave this movie 4 stars, Its a good action movie, and a great sequel if you like Diehard Films. But since I look forward to any action movie with Bruce Willis in it I actually gave it 5 stars. I'm not saying that it breaks many, if any molds or barriers. And I'm not saying it redefines any genres.

I'm just saying I was not disappointed, I would watch this movie again and plan too in the future and cant wait for the next installment. Which I believe is in pre-production as, A Good Day to Diehard.

Someone Translate

So I was looking through my backlinks seeing where my traffic was coming from and I found a portuguese website that although I can't read a thing on it the blog looks fricken hilarious. I can only imagine that if someone would translate the pictures I'd only be laughing harder.

Here is one of them:

Removed from the RPGBA

I thought long and hard about this and I finally decided it is best I remove my blog from The RPGBA. I did this for two reasons, 1. I'm not currently blogging about RPG's  2. I'd like to continue blogging about whatever I want without making a separate blog site quite yet.

If anyone is reading this I can only assume you liked my rpg blogs and don't worry when I do play or decided to blog about an rpg I will. But now I will feel more free to blog about movies, video games and maybe even opinions once in awhile.

I want to thank Mystic Scholar for being very active on reading and commenting which has helped to keep me motivated. I also want to thank Ayoub and Nina both of whom helped teach me to value writing in a better way. Justin Alexander from The Alexandrian was my first look into reading rpg blogs and got me hooked so therfore was a main reason I began this blog in particular.

And Finally Thomas Avasol who's personal approach on spiritling taught me that staying active on a project is the only way I will ever get anything done.

So starting soon hopefully I plan to write about whatever inspires me, first off might be more about Terraria and then maybe about the Die Hard series. I doubt I will ever make money off this blog but I very much believe I will be posting for many years to come.

Also I might start a forum or website to help me manage my Terraria and or Minecraft servers better.

For Christmas I give to you The Snowman-ticore

Actual Photographic evidence of The Snowman-Ticore

Final Opinion on the Terraria 1.1 patch.

Turns out practically everything added in this patch was end game content, and by end game I mean after what use to be the end game. Might as well have been like a sequel, after you have the powerful equipment you use to be able to get and most likely have explored your whole map, then you can unlock all the new stuff by killing The Wall of Flesh.

Corrupt Bunnies Breaking In

The one thing that is new before then is the ability for your weapons and accessories to have enchantments (prefixes) that are randomly determined when the object is crafted (or generated to be found). This adds a whole new element to the game as you can have a character built the same way as before but with additional things on the same items.

Such as an Obsidian Skull with the Arcane prefix will grant an additional 20 mana.

Once you do reach the end game content the whole world gets harder and you have whole new reasons to go mining, hunting, exploring and probably even rebuilding after you relize you old house isn't so safe after all.

So far I have put in another approx. 48+ hours of playing (8 days at least 6+ hours a day). This patch alone bring me up to likely over 200 hours I have put into playing Terraria so whatever you do don't buy this game, hour hands will hurt and you'll forget to do the dishes.

(actualy the is likely a very low estimate I might be putting in 12+ hours a day but don't want to admit it, but that'd be like over another 100 hours of playability since this patch. I started from the beginning again of course)

Terraria Housing Glitch

In this Terraria screenshot you can clearly see my castle working just fine filled with npc's living in the rooms. Shortly after it was taken, and I'm not sure what caused it, every room in the castle started saying "This is not suitable housing" and all the npc's left.

I tried researching what could have caused it and it appears it has nothing to do with any of my recent changes.

So all though I hope someone has an answer to this bug, mostly I just wanted to say look at my awesome castle I built :).

Current Status.

Still playing Terraria, haven't touched minecraft since Terraria's 1.1 patch.

Looking for more people to add on steam who'd like to play on a small private Terraria Server I host.

Tomorrow is Laisa's Birthday so Far I got her an Xperia PLay, 5 sets of earrings and a new piercing and some Clothes. Thinking of baking a cake from scratch.

Still no dnd recently, I think I might try some hack and slash with my wife or maybe invite mike over for some ADD.

Tried to get back into writing then didn't write a single word (totaly missed NaNoWriMo or whatever it's called.)

I think forum based gaming would work best for me now.

Thinking of starting a new blog about how corporations suck and my attempts at breaking away from them.

Honestly I'm starting to think If I don't write more gaming content I shouldn't be in the RPGBA.

Imagine if Terraria had DMing tools like neverwinter nights DM mode that'd be awesome.

Conan The Barbarian (movie review)

I read some pretty bad reviews of this movie written by someone that had read the books and seen the original movie. I have to say I completely disagree with him.

I think if you are a fan of Fantasy Movies such as The Scorpion King you will love this movie. It has all things you hope for, Sorceress', thieves, slaves both freed and captured. Magic, Fighting, decapitated head trophies, ancient artifacts, shirtless barbarians, shirtless women, blood, honor, sex.

It might be too short of a movie to introduce the entire world that Conan lives in but hell that's why I hope for a sequel.

Were B is boring A is great and A+ is ground breaking, I give it an A in all categories. Except the necromancer blood line it gets a F in that category for having one person of a Pure Blood Line that just makes no sense, why didn't her parents and grandparents have more babies to preserve the blood line.

In summary, a great movie I will likely watch again, it fulfills its potential and doesn't try to hard to be ground breaking.

What your players are really thinking. (polymorph)

Polymorph (Shape Change)

Transmu-some school or another
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Components: Those thing that make everyone know I'm casting 
Casting Time: to damn slow to be like merlin
Range: Touch myself
Target: the person I'm touching
Duration: 1 min./level (Damn I wanted to spend hours stalking prey)

Saving Throw: Oh yeah I need a diffrent spell just to use this one on others.
Spell Resistance: (blah blah blah)


This spell functions like (Damn something more to look up), except that (it doesn't function like what I just looked up). The new form may be of the same type as the blah, blah, following types: aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze, plant, or vermin. (I'll just be anything the DM doesn't say no to)

The assumed form can’t have more Hit Dice than (Something about my levels or his) to a maximum of 15 HD at 15th level. (Why can't I be a 20th lvl guy at 20th lvl?)

You can’t cause a subject to assume a form smaller than Fine, nor can you cause a subject to assume an incorporeal or gaseous form. (More Restrictions, no being a fly or a ghost I guess, don't see why though)

The subject’s creature type and subtype change to match the new form.
(I want to become the creature not like the creature)

Upon changing, the subject regains some random amount of healing the DM will tell me. If slain, the subject reverts to its original form, though it remains dead (damn).

The subject gains the Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores of the new form but retains its own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. (So I can't be as smart as a dragon or owl or something?)

It also gains all extraordinary special attacks possessed by the form but does not gain the extraordinary (I get some abilities but not others, now I'm confused and also not a dragon)

Incorporeal or gaseous creatures are still reading this, ahhg to much info. Can't I just grab some monsters stats and say I'm this now.

Material Component
Spell Component Pouch.



OK so I need like silence spell, still spell, eschew materials, and quicken spell to cast this like merlin does in that cartoon, that will be what a 9th level spell by which point I will be over level 15 so this spell won't be so great and it never really makes me a dragon.

Terraria 1.1 Trailer

I greatly enjoyed Terraria 1.03 but each patch that came after actually lowered my enjoyment of the game more then adding to it. However the coming 1.1 patch, I believe on Dec 15th, sounds quite amazing to me.

It looks like it doubles the amount of game content and will finally make use of all the recent balance changes. Seeing as how frustrated I am with Minecraft, me and Laisa are likely to be playing alot of Terraria until Diablo 3 finally comes out.

Here is the trailer for 1.1 (Warning: spoils some boses)




As for table top gaming, I'm not sure whats going to be happening there. It's likely any future games will be a hack and slash mix of D&D and Sibra1 elements. I'm also thinking of finding one or two co-writers and allowing them to post articles on my blog. Mostly just because I like sharing and collaborating and it could bring more variety to the posts.

Minecraft and NHL Tickets.

So Minecraft is now officialy released and for the first time publicly I am going to state my opinions on its bugs, THEY ABSOLUTELY FUCKING SUCK! First of the game still crashes repeatedly and now might not let you back in for several mins. Animals still randomly flicker in different positions when attempting jumps they shouldn't be making but do, including jumping out of fences and chickens jumping out of 3-4 block deep pits.

Blocks still often appear able to be grabbed but are not or are inside another block but you can't tell. Also, maybe not so much a bug but a performance issue, you may sometimes get lag right as enemies rush you giving you little to no chance to escape.

I'm also irritated that if you try to shove an animal they simply push against you and eventually through or past and yet any creature can easily push you right off a cliff or into lava.

To sum it all up, your doing just fine and have a nice set of armor and equipment when suddenly a creeper rushes you and the game freeze's then it releases and bam your injured. You try to make it back to the house before night but the game crashes. Once your back in the server its night time already so you die on your way back.

Another crash and now all your stuff is gone, also all your farm animals jumped the fences and trampled your crops and half the currently loaded chunck is now completly see through, except far away lava.

Also boats and maps are still broken in alot of ways.


In other News:

I have been asked to check out Ticketamerica.com Seams like a pretty legit site,  They have concert tickets, theater tickets, sports tickets all sorts of stuff, I was also asked to mention specficly: Ticketamerica.com has tickets for the pittsburgh penguins tickets consol energy center and all other NHL tickets.

A New Death and Others

James Hutchings recently asked me to do a review on his book "A New Death and Others" I unfortunately haven't finished reading it yet, not because its a bad book, mind you. In fact I have enjoyed its fairy tale like aspects many of its stories have had so far. I do look forward to reading more of it, so expect a larger review to come.

The book is available for $0.99 for the kindle at Amazon where is has received an average of 3.5 stars from four reviews, and from Smashwords where it has received 5 stars from one review.

(note; even the lower star reviews spoke positively of the book.)

Free .pdfs for Halloween on rpgnow.com

rpgnow.com currently has little pumpkin pictures throughout its site that if you click on it will add a .pdf to your cart and discount it so it's free. So far I have found like 4 pumpkins. Two on the main page, one in my library and forget where I found the other one.


So I got Profane Miracles, Living in a Zombieland, All Flesh Must be Eaten Revised and Supernatural Adventures, all for free.

If you find any more pumpkins tell me where they are!

UPDATE:






I found this list at rpg.net




1) Event announcement.
2) Home page.
3) Wishlist.
4) Quickstart = Trick
5) FAQ = Trick
6) Contact us.
7) Newsletter
8) Free stuff
9) My Library
10) Orders updated since last download
11) Products awaiting review
12) Contact Options
13) Newletters

Darker Paths 2, The Witch is now available.

If your following The Greyhawk Grognard then your probably already aware that Darker Paths 2, The Witch has been released. If not, then now you know. 

The Witch is an evil character with abilities such as Poison brewing, Candle Magic, spells including Esbat and Sabbat rituals and of course the ability to gain a familiar (I hope I get the Cat).

Also, something I didn't even know was going to happen, you can pick up Both The Witch and Darker Paths 1, The Necromancer, together for only $8. (Normally $5 each). Joseph also said that if you have already bought The Necromancer then he will contact you with a way for you to take advantage of the discount.

Since these are both holiday themed or out in time for Halloween, I wonder if Joseph will make thanksgiving or Christmas classes, Maybe the next product will be Travelers Path 1, The Pilgrim.

Licking Cyclops, and Friends.

Actually my son said this is him and his sisters.

Two Weapon Fighting

I found an article that, despite being written for 3.0 back in 2001, I think explains very well how you can use two weapon fighting effectively. Assuming your not a wizard addicted munchkin.

It basically explains that having extra attacks when using something like a rouge's sneak attack or maybe great cleave with the proper feats can turn the tide of damage in your favor.

You can read the article here.

Awesome Find.

Turns out a local thrift store, where I live, carries old D&D books. It's been along time since I was able to browse a good selection of 3.x and earlier books and this store had a surprisingly good selection. Most of the books were in good condition to.

Today I picked up, Savage Species, Complete Adventurer, Monster Manual 2, Frost Burn, The 2nd edition players handbook and about 16 Dragon Magazines. All for about 86 bucks. Not amazingly priced but fair and I saved a ton in not needing to pay shipping.

Ah, I feel like celebrating.

About my early look at Darker Paths 2.

I wasn't completely satisfied with my post about Darker Paths 2. I kind of feel like I didn't give any information or much of an opinion that you couldn't figure out for self by reading the announcement on Joseph's blog.

The reason for this is I didn't want to name specific abilities or spells that are in the book without permission to do so. Which means really I wrote it too quickly and didn't take my time deciding what I wanted to mention specifically.

Despite that my opinion still stands that it's a great Witch class, and that's great news for me as several adventures I am planning will have something to do with witch's or witch craft.

I'm still going to be going through the spells looking for typo's or any other issues's and general play testing but I'm guessing it won't be long until you can grab it for yourself and make your own opinion.

Playing as kids, Post 1

Me and my players often like starting a campaign out as kids but I never fleshed out a complete set of rules on how I was going to handle the statistics, I usually just winged it.

After posting the Quick 0’lvl rules, I decided I could take that a step further and make essentially a Young, Young Adult and then commoner level. So, here is what I’ve got.

Making the character:

All stats start at 6, with 10 points to add via the point buy system.

Gain all racial features. (or maybe all non cultural, racial features.)

Start with no weapon or armor proficiencies

1 hp

Instead of getting your skill points times four you don’t multiply it so you’re basically getting ¼ of your first level skill point

No class features and no feats etc

+0 to BA and saves

Becoming a Young Adult:

Once the PC progress to the next stage he gains

Another 10 points for stats

Another 1 hp

Weapon and armor proficiencies

Another ¼ skill points

And if it’s a spell caster ½ of their 0’lvl spells

Then becoming a 0’lvl character or Adult:

Another set of points +10

    These can be adjusted to use the standard or elite array.
    Since they started at 6 then another 12 points are needed on top of the standard 15 so a total of 27.

    If they just got another 10 then they could have a total of 30 (18), which would a little above average.

Roll your actual classes hit die, if its higher than 2 use that

Another ¼ skill points

+1 to your good saves

The rest of your o’lvl spells

When you finally make it to level 1 you gain:

All class features

Your full saves and BA

Your first level feat

The final ¼ skill points

Max out your starting hit die

Quick 0'lvl rules.

I think next time I decided to play 3.5 but want to start at 0 level but mostly follow the core rules I am going to do this (after stats and race are determined):

• Pick a class
• Roll for hit die
• Give skill points at x2 not x4
• Max ranks 3
• No first level feat
• +0 to BA
• +1 to your good saves, not +2
• no class features or traits
• spell casters get 1/2 of their 0 level spells

Then when they hit level 1

• Max out first hit die
• give the rest of the skill points
• max ranks is now 4
• gain 1st level feat
• gain BA
• gain +1 to good save
• gain class features
• gain the rest of your level 1 spells

Although the classes wouldn't have their features martial classes would have access to better weapons and would have a potentially higher HP. skill based classes would still have more skills.

Creation Mythos

I wanted a base creation mythos for my new campaign, but I wanted it written as if by a prophet or mystic. So I came up with this.

It's purposely hard to read but if you really want to know what it says here it is:

Quidditas Primitus, shall ye learn,
neither of Harmony nor Discord, born,
thus from Gaia did all sojourn.

Confusion, Clarity, Life and Death,
that which is Kind and that which is Left,
Awareness free of Primal breadth.

The Hour and Compass mattered not,
foretold of doom and eternity sought,
thus a Trinity did now plot.

Primordial separated on sake of temperance,
strange Land egresses, framed of balance,
segregation of ethos, causes repentance.

All that was known, now floating about,
Shards of time fall in diverse amounts,
authority proclaimed but dominion without.

I used this site, to help ground my ideas, so there will be some similarity to Maldins creation mythos.

Early look at Darker Paths 2 (The Witch), by BRW Games.

The official announcement has been made that The Witch class for Adventures Dark and Deep will be available in time for Halloween. Again, I got the privilege of being one of the Proof Readers and again I am impressed by Joseph's work.

The class is just as well made as the Necromancer and is again designed with a specific archetype in mind. The Witch in this book is not a gentle herbalist or wizard with a special spell list, it is the kind of hag that grows ever more Ugly and ever more Vindictive against society.

One thing that Joseph is great at doing is showing a classes specific flavor in both the descriptive text and abilities. I can't say too much more without giving too much away, but this Witch's abilities are designed for causing pain or death.

0 to Thorpe in 8.7 months.

For one of my upcoming campaigns the PC's are going to be stranded with about 57 commoners. I wanted to know what kind of supplies they could expect from the commoners and when, assuming the commoners are able to get a Thorpe going. My math might not be perfect but I think it will be close enough and I'm open for corrections.

I figured about 1/3 of the 57 people would be busy gathering supplies, such as food, water, flint and other tool supplies and maybe even metal ores. And eventually working on most of the planting and farming once that is started, or doing whatever other jobs are necessary. so that leaves me with 38 people spending the majority of their time raising houses.

I decided to measure when the Thorpe is officially established will depend on housing, IE once they have houses they live there. But first, tools to build the houses.

Getting Tools

Lets assume one guy made his living either making tools or as a black smith and is familiar with tools. He could easily have 4 ranks + 3 from skill focus + 2 from a skill affinity and maybe another 1 or 2 from synergies that's 11 (or 9 if you don't know what I mean about skill affinity). I think I could make him above a +12 if I wanted but I'm thinking this guy is NOT a specialized tool making expert so I'm only going to give him +7.

He probably has an assistant (so that's 2 of the 38 people) giving him +2 for assistance.

 Starting with improvised tools (-2) and having nothing to start with, (-2 circumstance) I think can be made up by whatever this guy and his assistant had on them while traveling and the +2 circumstance bonus of knowing the whole village is dependent on them. Survival can be a good motivator.

We still have 7 skill and +2 for assistance. Master work tools have a DC of 20 so he needs to only roll an 11 to make 280 sp a week. It takes 2 weeks to make his first set of master work tools. (or if he needed to make some basic tools first he could have) That's 2 sets of masterwork tools a month, helping the remaining people build houses. They can always share tools until more are ready.


Building the Houses

I have 36 people left making the houses. I'm assuming most of them are not specialized in making houses so lets assume they have a total of +4 from relevant skills and synergies. Such as from Craft (Wood Working).

Even though each person will be doing work by themselves they also each have 35+ other people to ask questions and get some assistance. So that's +2 from assistance and another +2 from the masterwork tools being made. And considering they are all excited to make a new community and equaling afraid for their lives that's a +2 circumstance bonus. 4 + 2 +2 +2 = +10

I can assume an average roll of 10 so that's a total of 20 for their craft checks and I believe a house isn't typical DC10 nor is a log cabin a Complex DC 20 so I'm going with DC 15. 20 * 15 = 300 SP per week.

Now assuming 1/3 of the Thorpe is married to another third of the Thorpe at most you need only 38 house for the 57 people if that. Remember this isn't counting kids but they live the same households anyway. Each csimple house costs 10K silver so that's 380K

The 300 SP a week is 1200 SP a month per person so 43.2 K a month. 380000 / 43200 = 8.79 so about 9 months later a fully built Thorpe. Even if they spend more their time helping set up farms, I doubt they really need that many houses.

If you want to help me correct my math feel free but please don't trash talk 3.5 or my thinking just because you think crafting is broken. Anyone who thinks commoners cannot support themselves should read Justin Alexanders "D&D: Calibrating Your Expectations"

Also remember a single person specializing in survival can easily feed 5 other people. And 19 medieval frontiers man will feed the other 38 just fine.

Keep Your Eye on BRW Games!

With the Release of Darker Paths 1 and all three Adventures Dark and Deep books available for playtesting, I can't help but be excited to see what else Joseph will make.

 The second most anticipated book, for me, for any RPG is Joseph's Adventures Great and Glorious.,The first being Adventurer Conquer King by Autarch. Mostly for the different tiers/types of play. Colonies, domains, war, generations. I think it will likely be compatible in some degree with ADD as well.

Keep an eye on BRW Games this month though, there could be another product release before you know it.

Is it bad to judge people by their looks even a little.

This was Originally a post on google+ but since it was a long post and I think well thought out, I decided to archive it here. Later I will likely move the comments to here as well.

Is it bad to judge people by their looks even a little.

I hate to say it but sometimes I don't understand someone's post until after I have looked at their profile. When I can put a picture to the words of any topic I just feel like I get what they are saying better. On the other hand I have had times where something seams really interesting or funny but then when I see who is saying it, I'm thrown off a little.

I think everyone does it to a degree. Here is an example, +Ayoub Khote is an excellent author who occasionally writes about heaven/hell type themes. His writing is already excellent. But if I found out they were actually written by a 10 year old girl, I'd be even more impressed. Frankly I think the world would be astounded. But what does that have to do with his work.

I might like his writing less if he were only 17 and were from California I suppose that makes me prejudice but then aren't we all.

Suppose someone told me to Shut my Trap and spend sometime off my computer. I'd be rather offended and likely click on their profile. Then suppose I saw it was +Ila East (not that I'm saying should would say that) Well I'd likely realize she is right I spend way to much time on electronics. I'd probably go outside for awhile.

So does seeing what someone looks like actually matter? Does it somehow put the words into better context? Am I racist?

Can products be made for advanced players?

I feel as if any release rule set, if it could ever be seen as a good starting product to buy, would need to be written assuming the new player has no idea how to play an rpg. However I think that could double the size of the fluff in a book.

On the other hand releasing a product that assumes you already know alot about roleplaying games or a specific game runs its own risks. Such as being mis-interpreted or too hard to pick up and play without referring to other books.

I think that anyone could buy Arcana Evolved and learn to play it with no prior knowledge of 3e. That's a good thing of course. I just can't Imagine it being that impressive to buy a product and see the whole "What is a roleplaying game, and How to GM", sections, every time.

Maybe I'm just being lazy, I am thinking about releasing my Kurahast ruleset at some point. It could be a great set of rules for beginning and advanced players. I just can't imagine me trying to write, "how to role play and making adventures", sections, when odds are anyone who would see my ruleset already has access to tons of info on those subjects.

One Page Dungeon: Infected House

I finally have my Kurahast Ruleset (based on 3e) ready for me to begin playtesting, and so I quickly threw together a small adventure site for low level characters.

It's not necessarily a quality product or even balanced for that matter but I will place the jpeg of it below. I used hexs instead of squares because for now I'm using hexs for everything, I'm bored of squares, lol.

Basically its an old house that is now infected with various bugs and vermin. Some of them can be whole colonies. I also layed some out to possibly help each other, and the large mosquitoes and Bot flies should be able to wander around.

I haven't done treasure yet and the file is rough looking because I slapped it together for my own use. If you roll to see how many creatures are in each area it could end up being rather tough for 1st level characters if they don't play smart.

Edit: Like any one page dungeon you should be able to easily adapt this to the system of your choice, however the exact names of these vermin match were taken from d20pfsrd.com so if your playing 3e/pathfinder you can get all the stats you need from there.

Examples of proper skill use.

DM: You have arrived in town and slept at the Inn. You awake feeling refreshed in the morning.
Player: Can I buy some new weapons, I don't see the ability on my sheet do any of you have that ability.
DM: You just need to find a shop or visit the market district.
Player: Ok, I use balance to walk out of my room and then climb to get down the stairs. If I see anyone I will use Diplomacy to convince them to tell me where a shop is. And then balance or tumble my way to the shop. Then I will appraise the goods. Bluff the shop keeper, while using sense motive on him. And then role some knowledge checks on what I am buying.
DM: You forgot to roll a concentration check while leaving to remember to grab all your equipment. So, roll survival to see if you can live without it.
Player: Can I roll spot to try and notice it on the way out.

DM: Sure, you manage to spot some equipment laying around in your room.
Player: Ok, do I use an Int check to know who's it is or will Knowledge Local work.
DM: Knowledge Local, so you can tell if it's suppose to be there or if you brought it.
Player: Ok, I pick up all of my stuff.
DM: Roll a perform check.
Player: Perform?
DM: Yeah, Perform, Menial Task, also make a listen check to see if you hear your conscious remind you not to take what isn't yours. Also roll a Knowledge Humanoid check when you catch your own reflection in the mirror.
Player: Can I also roll a sense motive check to see what the person in the mirror wants.
DM: Your doing alot right now roll a concentration check.
Player: Ok, *rolls low
DM: You weren't concentrating on breathing and so you pass out. You hit your head on the dresser, which is a huge bludgeoning weapon that's 1d10 damage and 1d6 for the fall. You take 11 damage.
Player: As I am bleeding can I roll a spot check to notice my life slipping away.

Current Status.

My ADD group hasn't been showing up, unfortunately, but by next Tuesday I'll likely finish Castle Caldwell even if it is just me and my wife playing.

Still playing the Castle Ravenloft Board Game, off and on. Our last game was with just two heroes on adventure 4, I think. We lost twice in a row, lol.

And, so I have been spending most of my time revising my Kurahast rule set. I keep cutting things and remaking it to try and get it as concise as possible. Right now it basically a low level, low power set up. With some house rules I think will be nice and using L&L Combat stunts. The main thing most people would like is the Skill tree system I use. Literately, the class powers and feats are set up as a skill tree using inserted shapes in excel.

I couldn't possibly release the file yet, because 2 years ago I had it all set up and done then the whole thing got erased. So I'm remaking the skill tree completely, and this time doing even more confinement. It actually is becoming alot different from my last version of Kurahast.

Pathfinder Beginner Box

So far I don't have much of an interest in path finder, something about the feeling or tone just isn't for me. However the Pathfinder Beginner Box looks very well done and in my opinion looks like a good value. I believe is about $35. I think people would be willing to pay more for whats in the box.



I'm curious though if anyone else has the same problem I do. When I open up a pathfinder book and try to use it I fee like it is to cartoony or softened somehow. The art work and some of the monsters just seam childish or silly and sometimes even contrasting.

I tried to talk to someone at my local game store about how it just seamed to ruin the seiousness of my campaigns and his response was "You'll never get seriousness in a D&D game" I don't agree with that at all. I don't purposefully make my games mature or anything, but there is death and fighting and relationships and somehow throwing in a path finder goblin or even gnome and everything just suddenly feels like a comedy or cartoon and our suspension of belief is broken.

More on The Castle Ravenloft Board Game.

Yesterday, I bought the Castle Ravenloft board game and posted about some of the contents, at that time I hadn't yet played. Now I have played about two and half runs throughs and I have to say I'm loving it. The combination on the event cards and the different adventures has me never knowing what is going to happen yet.

We had a player randomly led deeper into the dungeon, encountering some spiders one of which ran even deeper alerting the main villain. There's blood mists and illusions and adventure specific artifacts. One of my favorite moments was drawing a card that revealed my ally was just and illusion and he was somewhere else in the dungeon. I thought I was fighting side by side with him but instead it was a swarm of rats about to jump me.

I recently read that the other D&D board game adds even more elements like chambers and villagers, and also a Legend of Drizzt game is coming out this month. This will be the first time in a while I have been waiting for a D&D product from Wizards of The Coast.

Today I am suppose to be running a Sibra1 campaign but I bet we will be pulling back out Castle Ravenloft again.

A Twist on Orcs

In my new Kurahast Campaign I am hoping to only introduce new or different monsters or takes on monsters. I am still in the planning phase of the campaign but I want to avoid goblins for now so I decided to mess with Orcs.

My idea I came up with randomly was to have an Orc race that was originally made like Homonuculus' and also add in some elements from animated objects, IE their hardness and ability to have different limbs.

I used the Legends and Labyrinths monster creation tool to start out with for the Stats. It has not been play tested but I tend to fix rules and costs and they come up in game.

So here it is.

Orc

Small Construct
CR 1/2
HD: 2d4 (4)
Hardness: 1
AC: 13 (10 +2 dex +1 Size)
Attack: Claw +2, Dmg 1d4
Fort: NA  Ref: +3 Will: +3
Size:  Small
Speed: 30 walking, crawling, or hopping,
Str 10, Dex 14, Con NA, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 8,
Climb +4

Flying Orc

Small Construct
CR 2
HD: 3d4 (6)
Hardness: 4
AC: 13 (10 +2 dex +1 Size)
Attack: Claw +4, Dmg 1d6+1
Fort: NA  Ref: +5 Will: +3
Size:  Small
Speed: 10 Fly 50
Str 10, Dex 14, Con NA, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 8,

Spot +5

An Orc is a pig or gargoyle faced construct shaped from a mixture of black clay, ashes, mandrake root, water, and one pint of the creator’s own blood. The materials cost 50 gp.  Creating the body requires a DC 12 Craft (sculpting) check or a DC 12 Craft (pottery) check.

After the body is sculpted, it is animated through an extended magical ritual that requires a specially prepared laboratory or workroom, similar to an alchemist’s laboratory and costing 500 gp to establish. If the creator is personally constructing the creature’s body, the building and ritual can be performed together.

An Orc with more than 2 Hit Dice can be created, but each additional Hit Die adds +2,000 gp to the cost to create.

Additional Limbs may be added for a cost of Y² x 1000 gp, Y equaling the number of Additional limbs. These limbs can add benefits like an extra attack or a bonus of +10 to speed.

The Creator of an Orc does not normally become its master as the ritual is intended to create a chaotic evil creature of destruction.  They can and will pick up weapons to use if they find them and work better than their claws.

Dungeons and Dragons Board Game.

Yesterday, I bought the Castle Ravenloft Board Game. I read through all the rules and punched out all the tokens and generally just rooted through the whole thing. I haven't played a complete game of it yet but I gone over it enough I think I could without referencing the rule book.

Since I had no idea what the game would be like when I bought it, I figured I might as well write a post about it. Maybe someone out there is thinking of buying it but wants more info.


Characters:

The characters look like 4th edition characters but they lack the base statistics as well as fort, ref and will. They only have HP AC and surge value. The party gets two healing surges to share, which are used when you are unconscious. The cleric also has healing capability.

If you are knocked out and not healed then on your turn you use a healing surge if you don't have any you die.  Damage is not random and is very low like 1dmg or 4 for a daily ability. So the HP is likewise lower then 4th edition with characters having around 8 or 10.

You start with some At-Will powers, one daily and one utility. Your can level up once if you roll a natural 20 and have killed a couple of monsters, you only need l 5xp. Becoming level 2 grants one more daily power and a bonus to AC and HP and that's about it. There are no levels beyond level 2.

The Monsters:

The monsters have HP and AC but also have tactics. Each player will end up controlling different monsters at the end of their turn, by following the monsters tactics. Interestingly if two players are moving the same kind of monster then those monsters both act on both of the players turns.

The Tiles:

The dungeon tiles in the game are different then the dungeon tiles you can buy separately. They are all exactly the same size except the start tile, and they interlock on all four sides. The pictures on them however, show you where walls and such are. The tiles are used similar to how cards are used, with their backs face up and you not knowing which tile is about to be placed.

The Miniatures:

You get alot of hard plastic and not painted miniatures. Which I actually like, to me they are more durable then the typical Mage Knight like miniatures. They will certainty hold up against my kids alot better. With the exception of the skeletons they are not very flexible. Also, I think they are color coded.

The Counters:

There are all sorts of counters, for things like conditions and traps, monsters, items. Personally I think there are too many counters and don't know which way to store them is best.

The Learning Curve:

I'd say the learning curve is small. I think I could teach four people how to play the game without even opening the rule book anymore beyond my first read through.

One more thing though, the game actually runs out of an adventure book and not everything in the adventures are random. However they are simple enough and can even be played one player. I think you could make up your own adventures if you wanted but the game in general is far simpler then even basic dnd.

I think War Hammer Quest is far more complex. I don't know weather to play ADD tonight or try out the board game. Maybe both.

Darker Paths 1 Is Now Available!

BRW Games has released Dark Paths 1, today. A Necromancer class for Adventures Dark and Deep or any game that is compatible with the 1st edition of the world's most popular roleplaying game.

You can get if from the BRW Games, store at RPGNow.com Where you can also download the play testing rules for Adventures Dark and Deep,

I'm very excited about this release but if you don't know much about it you can read it about it at the BRW Games Website or see my Early Look at Darker Paths 1. The announcement was made today on the authors blog Greyhawk Grognard.

Darker Paths, too be released soon.

It is October and that means  Darker Paths 1, for Adventures Dark and Deep, will be available sometime soon and I'm guessing earlier rather then later. Either way I will post here the second its available.

If you don't know what Adventures Dark and Deep is you can find out from the BRW Games website or from my earlier blog post. You can also check out my Early look at Darker Paths 1.

D&D Calander

Reading this blog post over at mythopoeic rambling, prompted me to have some ideas for month names I might use in my up coming Kurahast campaign. Probably with some tweeks. A few of my month names are derived from his, but his calendar is done with greyhawk and old school D&D in mind and is also probably better done then mine. I just kinda came up with some quick easy to say names that are somewhat derived from real month names.

I put in parenthesis how the name seams to have been come up with to me. Like I said some are derived from his calendar.

1. The Month of Djinn                          (jan, jin, djinn)
2. The Month of Phantoms                  (feb, fan, phantom)
3. The Month of Armies                      (march, armies march)
4. The Month of Spells                        (april, A spill, A spell)
5. The Month of Maidens                   (may, mai, maiden)
6. The Month of Sand                          (june, dune, sand)
7. The Month of Lies                           (july, ju lie, lie)
8. The Month of Winds                        (august, a gust, gusty wind)
9. The Month of Kings                        (september, scepter, kings scepter)
10. The Month of Orcs                          (october, orctober, orcs)
    ~ The Day When All is Hallow
11. The Month of Death                        (november, necro-vember, necro)
12. The Month of Delight                     (december, de, delight)
    ~ The Mass of Wishes                     (lol, wishmass)
13. 
    

I guess I just made his more generic, but this is the way I will probably be using it. With more holidays added most likely. Now I don't even need to come up with separate constellations as the star signs could match the months names. But I might anyway.

About the reviews I do.

I originally started this blog to post about various projects or ideas I come up with about D&D or various rpg's. Then I began occasionally including some of my flash fiction. But it also became a place I could talk about the games and products that I am checking out, rather then just ranting at my wife about them.

But I have noticed that I have a tendency to only post good reviews and opinions and bouncing from topic to topic. Such as talking about Legends and Labyrinths and Adventures Dark and Deep. I think the reason my reviews tend to be good is that if I don't particularly have an interest in a product then I have no motivation to write about it.

I'm sure that at some point I will write about something that didn't live up to my expectations but first I have to care enough to have some expectations.

Anyway I just wanted to mention that no one, not Justin or Joseph or any has specifically asked me to post a review or a good review. Anytime I give an opinion on a product it is my real honest opinion.

If ever I am asked to post a review such as my upcoming review on "The New Death and Others" Then I will post clearly on that page that I have been asked to review it, but my review will still be an honest one.

Age of Fable

I recently began playing Age of Fable and it is alot of fun. I think anyone who enjoy fantasy rpg's will like it. Especially if you want to play something like D&D but don't have any players or Dm's around or only have a short amount of time.

Basically its alot like a choose your own adventure but with stats and die rolls. So far I have saved a talking frog, visited a kingdom in the clouds and floated back down for two days. Become an apprentice to a creepy gypsy and gotten a raven familiar and lots of other interesting things. Its very fantasy based with occasional joking references to table top rpg's.

Its free browser based and you can save you game. Its made by James Hutchings of teleleli.blogspot.com/

You really need to check it out even if just for five mins to see what its like. I don't know if everyone will like it since its mostly just reading and choose actions but if your into table top rpgs and reading or writing blogs then I'm sure you'll enjoy this reading. It also has some great artwork to go along with it.

Soon I am going to be reading and reviewing James' book "The New death and Others" But if Age of Fable is any indication I think I am going to definitely enjoy his books.

ADD Campaign log 4

We left off with Eloum, Philip and Kolas exploring the corridor with the honey combed wall. By this time Einar had figured out the locking mechanism on the trap door had a time release. They got it open and everyone except Frey entered.

Einar did not realize that the time release would not let them open it from the inside until it was too late and Frey had been out outside with his horse so he didn't hear anything about the time release. Einar and the others followed the corridor after noticing there was an extra set of half-orc tracks.

Once they found the room with the laboratory they spent some time confused by the strange creature that seamed to be attacked by both Kolas and the others as well as the now dead men in robes. Eloum heard whispering come from that room and they backed away from the honey combs to check it out.

They all met back up now and Thayd also found a concealed drawer in some of the furniture. Containing a box  with two bottles of trolls blood and two bottles of acid. (I added this in a twist in healing potions if the player drinks the trolls blood but not the acid then bad results will commence)

Kol threw open the door and ran in full speed.
 Charging right inside the enveloping interior of a Gelatinous Cube

They continued on to the corridor and Kolas went ahead of them to look into the honeycombs and was quickly attacked by robber flies. The first one coming out met one of Thayd's darts and the Kol was bitten several times. One of flies flew past Kol and into the Halberd formation, but it still managed to land a bite or two on Eloum.

Alot of darts were thrown at the first two or three flies and then Lotus moved up with her claws and eventually killed one. But not before Kol managed to net one and then get bite by the other. He was near death now and Eloum just barely managed to get to Kol's pack and find the Healing Vial in time.

It took the whole party another 15 seconds just to kill the one in the net they kept wildly stabbing at it, which upset Kol when he woke up and found he didn't get to try and keep the fly to sell.

They moved on checking the corridors and various rooms finding little of anything until they passed through an antechamber and into a hall with three doors. They approached the first door with Einar listening intently. He told them heard a faint sound of two coins clicking together.

Kol threw open the door and ran in full speed. Charging right inside the enveloping interior of a Gelatinous Cube. The coins that faintly clicked just once were floating inside this Gel that was now acidicly eating at Kol and his belongings.

A few darts were thrown into it quickly having their wooden shafts destroyed and the cube attempted to force its way out of the door. Luckily the halberds quite simply tore the thing apart, spilling its insides onto the floor. Eloum used his water skin to wash Kol off as best he could and changed all of his acid soaked bandages and new bandages as well. Most likely Eloum no longer owns a robe.

And thats were we left off this time with Eloum trying to save Kol's life from his plunge into jelly.


System: Adventures Dark and Deep by Joseph Bloch
Module: B1-B9 In search of adventure
Players:
Laisa = (Thayd) High Elf, Mage/Mountebank
(Lotus) Dark Terran (drow) Assassin/Necromancer
Me = (Eloum) High Elf, Mystic/Fighter/Savant
Brandon = (Frey) Gray Elf, Mage
Justin = (Einar)Wild Elf, Fighter/Thief
Mike = Kolass (Half-Orc, Fighter/Assassin)

Hirelings of Note:
Philip 1sp Man-at-Arms

Early look at Darker Paths 1 (Necromancer), by BRW Games.

I got the privilege of being one of the proof readers for Darker Paths 1, by Joseph Bloch of BRW Games and The Greyhawk Grognard. It has been announced that it is going to be released in October just in time for Halloween.


As I mentioned in my previous post, Darker Paths 1 is a Necromancer Class for ADD and any game compatible with the 1st edition of the world's most popular roleplaying game. Now for the juicy information.

For a second I almost started writing about technical information like how many spells the book had or how many pages long it was. But what I want to talk about is what this class is, what it is not and what I like about it.

The class is a commander of the undead, with the ability to command and eventually raise massive armies of zombies, skeletons and other creatures. It is a magic user but can command undead similar to a cleric. It was originally made for human characters but there are rules for playing a Drow as well, which is part of what I am playtesting. The class has a spellbook with new macabre cantrips and has rules for making magic items.

The class is not a mage with a dabbling in necromancy it is fully devoted to it. It also is not a Dr, Frankestien or golem crafter. Also the book has a nice intro and descriptions but it is not a bunch of fluff it has well written mechanics, style and crunch in there. None of the pages are wasted.

What I like about this product is that for me this is exactly the kind of necromancer I have always imagined should exist, he isn't loosely based on commanding death and the undead, he does it. Although there are summoning spells available he is not just a summoner he can animate corpses and try to take control of another necromancers minions. It's not just another evil cleric or a negative energy mage, I know I keep repeating myself but it is a necromancer, for once.

I don't know what the price is going to be yet but I'm sure it will be worth it. Especially for an Adventures Dark and Deep game, it is a great expansion. As for the artwork right now it has some great black and white old school art. None of it is silly or weird it all fits the theme and seams dark and imaginative. However If I am remembering correctly some more art is being commissioned at least for the cover.


Update: Turns out there won't be an included adventure, but that's probably a good thing as that means more time to make sure the rest of class is a good as it can be.

Why I think races should be their own classes.

The following conversation went through my mind as I contemplated why races are an additional choice on top of classes. Especially by 3rd edition.

Designers: You can pick what race you are as you determine what your character is.
Consumer: What exactly is a race?
D: its like a species or what kind of creature you are like human, or elf. You pick your race and then class like fighter.
C: Alright what is an elf in the game.
D: Well they are good at using swords, bows and magic and they live in the forest.
C: So all elves are good are good with bows, swords and magic even if they are a fighter or wizard.
D: Well no as a wizard they can still use bows and swords but as a fighter they don't get magic.
C: So not all elves get magic but they are all good with swords not matter what?
D: Yeah its part of their culture.
C: Then what if an elf was raised by humans?
D: The DM could rule you don't get that ability then.
C: So its really just training not what elves are, would he get the human adaptability though?
D: not likely they get so many other things.
C: like what?
D: they can detect secret doors and are better at moving quietly.
C: So now they are rouge like to?
D: no its just part of their racial traits like seeing better in low light conditions.
C: I thought they live in forests, what are they part nocturnal?
D: No they are just good hunters that are in tune with nature and fairies and the trees.
C: ok now they sound like a druid and why do they use steel swords if they are fey like.
D: Well um.. They also have elven mithril but anyway your getting it all mixed up, now their favorit class is wizard.
C: What? Wizard so these elves that are in tune with nature but use steel swords are also spending large chunks of their lives inside libraries and towers studying dusty tomes.

D: That's just one option anyway you can also be a dwarf.
C: Great everyone knows what a dwarf is like, resistant to magic and like to drink right?
D: well that's not in their traits, they are good at fighting giants and working with gems
C: So they are naturally good at fighting giants?
D: Yeah because of their size.
C: So all smaller races are good at fighting giants?
D: Wait no that was changed it is because they train to fight giants and goblins to.
C: So its just training again, what if a human trained against giants.
D: Well there is no giant slaying class although a ranger could train against them.
C: Do dwarves make good rangers?
D: They are best as fighters.
C: So they get bonuses to fighting.
D: No they get a +2 to con that helps but also they are good at stone work.
C: You said gems earlier, so they are biologicaly good with gems and stones?
D: No they are racially good with stones but the gems thing is just part of their craft.
C: This all mostly still sounds like training, what other races are there?

D There is the halfling.
C: The what?
D: Halfling they look like human children and make good thieves, weak but quick.
C: Sounds deceptive and dangerous so I guess no one trusts them.
D: Well they are also diplomatic and friendly.
C: Diplomatic and friendly thieves? I guess they would run the thieves guilds.
D: They are good thieves but they don't have their of civilizations and don't really band together.
C: So they are small and quick and thats about it? what if one was a fighter with an 18 str
D: They could only carry 3.4 as much and would need some adjustments to grappling and hitting and have to pay special prices for armor and their weapons deal less damage.
C: So they can be whatever class but then get additional penalties and adjustments, ok well are they hobbits or something.
D: No there are no hobbits but there are Gnomes.

C: So are gnomes like hobbits?
D: No, but they do have hairy feet like hobbits.
C: and halflings don't then.
D: Well some do we have even go over subraces.
C: Subraces?
D: yeah not all halflings and dwarves are alike.
C: What about humans?
D: their is only one type of human, we don't want to get racist here.
C (I notice they are white by default to) ok wel tell me about the gnome.
D: They make good illusionists.
C: So if they are wizards they make good specialists.
D: Yes exactly, and they start with spells.
C: just like all other wizards.
D: No I mean all gnomes start with spells.
C: Really even a gnome fighter raised by humans?
D: Yep still starts with spells.
C: Ok so gnomes are a naturaly magic race.
D: and good inventors.
C: What?
D: They are mechanically inclined as well and have good smelling so they are better at alchemy.
C: Mechanically inclined magic users...
D: yep
C: What bonuses do they get for it?
D: none but they also train against goblins and giants.
C: ok um big nosed magic users do they get the scent ability.
D: no
C: So they have a great sense of smell and fight stinky goblins but dont have scent does it help them spot.
D: No, but they get a +2 to listen
C: Lets just move on

D: ok there is also the Half-Orc.
C: half-orc, do they get along with humans?
D: not really.
C: orcs?
D: nope they usualy get abandonded by their parents.
C: but live? ok well tell me about them.
D: They are very strong and brutish
C: sounds intimidating do they get a bonus to cha
D: no they are strong and ugly so we penalized their charisma
C: but its says cha is not just physical looks.
D: right.
C: and a big strong brutish half-orc is less intimidating then a human
D: right
C: So what do they get
D: orc blood and darkvision
C: is that it they are strong but not intimidating and see in the dark.
D: yep
C: do they learn to be diplomatic.
D: no being half of two races doesnt help them be diplomatic, but it does help the half elf.
C: So the helf elf fits in better.
D: not really the elves look down on half elves.
C: and I bet they get elven blood and not much else. So each of these races is defined by their cultural training and almost not all by their biology.
D: Well yeah each race is a culture.
C: but having more humans cultures in the core book would be bad?
D: right.
C: and their are no default rules for like a gnome raised by elves in their culture.
D nope
C: you know they all kind of seam like humans but with cultural templates that just change stats and training.
D: No not all elves for example live thousands of years longer then humans.
C: so they reach much higher levels?
D: no.
C: do they level up really slow in game.
D: no

C: How was all of this decided upon
D: no one knows for sure but some of it is from older editions, some from random stories and people just guessing and throwing things in, and also legal reasons most likely.
C: and it would be worse to have racial classes.
D: of course because then you couldnt play a halfling barbarian
C: which they still suck at anyway.
D: well they do have favored classes that reduce the multiclassing penalty.
C: but, what don't matter if you stay in one class.
D: exactly
C: what about an elven sorcerer with levels in cleric and warlock.
D: they would have an xp penalty.
C: Even thought they are good at magic
D: yep they are favored class wizard.
C: even though they live in forests
D: yep
C:this all sounds really complicated how long does character creation take?
D: 30 mins
C: really!?
D: yeah just get opn your computer and run a program.
C: oh...
D: otherwise it would take hours.

C: So what if a charactor dies.
D: on no a good DM will balance all encounters to make sure that doesn't happen.
C: then there is no challang or earning anything in the game.
D: a good DM makes it feal challenging.
C: give me an example.
D: ok skill challenges
C: like what
D: you need to convince the king to listen to you roll a d20 for a diplomacy skill check.
C: that's it 3 hours to make a character who will never die and the challenges are handled by skill checks.
There has to be a better way to do this.

Civilization V, a year later.

I finally bought civ 5 and played through a full game on default settings, except I used the earthlike map instead of Continents. I'm sure that most anyone who is interested in the game already knows alot about it but here was my impressions. The new cultural system was solid and I won a cultural victory by playing much the same way I always do but it was nice being able to spend the culture points on civics.

With that said though I miss the old civic system still and definitely miss having the religions. I had a few problems with civ 4's religion system but not having it at all still kinda sucks to me.

The new,  one unit per tile thing felt natural but actually made waging wars easier for me. The cities were kind of tough but not having 30 units stacked on a single city made it much easier to wage war and yet felt more real. Surrounding the city and wail on it with archers instead of moving a giant stack in all at once just to stand a chance.

The tech tree was the only thing that felt oddly simplified to me. Many other things like the interface were simpler but didn't feel dumbed down.

The city states seam like a nice addition except that the map felt more crowded. I actually never built a single settler I took about 3 cities from city states and never allied with any for long. I got another settler for free at one point so I had about 5-6 cities and kept them for the whole game.

I'd say that Civ 5 is a nice remake and good entry point into the Civilization games, but it doesn't add anything new for me. Also it seams to take a decent computer to run well and there some major screen resolution issues that I just can't belive they haven't fixed yet. I keep editing an .ini file to try and get the game to display properly.

Also it plays the intro movie while the game loads so for a while the into isn't skipable and that can get annoying. But once the game is running its a solid civ game and keeps you addicted like all the others.