Archived threads in /tg/ - Traditional Games - 1511. page
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Hey /tg/, I remembered an old idea I saw posted on here years ago and wanted to chat about it. Not sure if it's been used in anything or was just one guys homebrew concept, but it seemed neat.
Magic as a form of life. Not alive in the same way plants or animals are, but a parallel path, like Virii. The very first primal spells developed alongside living creatures, and through convergent evolution have been developing alongside life as we know it throughout history.
A spell is a set of actions or ideas which creates an effect, a memetic entity which exists...
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Natural spells are those which never unified with a species and remained free magical patterns. From local rituals to hedge magic, natural spells are very common, but only a few among them are truly notable. For every million lesser charms of healing or fertility, there is one mountain where a great natural spell lies dormant, ready to create a mighty earthquake when it is roused. Lesser natural spells are widespread and commonplace, but the greater sort are rare and powerful, often extremely hard to reproduce outside of a specific set of conditions.
Shaped spells are the result of active cultivation by sentient species, blending any local natural magic with symbiotes of their species or nearby animals to create uniquely flexible forms of magic. Shaped spells often lack the raw power of natural magic in some regard, but are much more responsive to fine tuning and finesse.
A common practice with Shaped Spells is a form of 'sterilisation'. Given Magic's desire to spread, a newly developed spell can be like a wildfire, blazing across the world and being learned by everyone capable of it in the blink of an eye. To counteract this and to ensure that magical guilds and colleges can still maintain their power and authority, many have certain rituals, rites or locations within which their magic must exist to be successfully passed on. Outside of these, their spells can still be used, but they lack a certain essence that would allow them to be reproduced by those who witness the spell or its effects.
Almost all sentient creatures, many animals and even some plants have access to magic, whether from symbiotic spells or the basic natural magics they learn in the course of life. True mages, however, generally practice one or more schools of Shaped Spells. New spells can be produced through selective combination of existing spells, and by seeking out new natural spells. The act of trying to replicate a great natural spell can be very dangerous, and Wild Mages who try to do so have a fraught and dangerous reputation.
There are also unique cases of individuals who gain...
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Runes and other physical symbols of magic could be another path of evolution, magic finding an anchor in objects that makes the spells easy to renew and recast. I guess the limitation could be that they're even more inflexible than symbiotic spells? A spell imprinted on an object can only do a single specific thing.
What's your biggest "I fucked up" moment in tabletop gaming /tg/? Plans you didn't realise had a terrible flaw until they were too late, terrible sequences of bothced rolls, things that you've done with horrific consequences, etc.
I rolled three Critical failures in a single roll of 3d20 while listeing into an empty room. Apparently the resounding silence burst my eardrums.
Blood Bowl.
2 out of 3 games are this.
>>43737235
So, there we were, confronting the BBEG and his minions.
The fight took place on a dozen of flying carpets, constatnly shifting and rearranging their position, miles in the air.
As we find ourselves on the opposite side of the formation from the BBEG mage, he begins to cast some powerful spell. The skies darken, an orb of eldrich energy appears between his hands...
One player grabs the artifact he found a while ago - a short staff with a single charge... and the power to disspell all magic in...
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So, I have a new campaign coming that consists of a veteran GM, bunch of first timers and me.
I have played few campaigns but I hate character creation, I usually tell the GM to make me a character that fits him the best.
9 decides what my next character will be.
>It has to be level 4
Elf
>>43737202
What System? Pathfinder, 3.5e, 5e? Something completely different?
dice 1d6
Also Gnome Druid.
What system/edition?
What does /hist/ think of backgammon as a game of strategy? How does it compare to other games like Chess, go and Reversi and certain card games? I think its the perfect gauge of strategy if you play it right (match of numerous games over just one) because there is just enough of an element of chance as there needs to be. Chance and uncertainty is a fundamental aspect of life and war.
>>43737103
general abstract strategy game thread
Objectively the best board game ever developed
>http://www.lutanho.net/play/hnefatafl.html
>>43737104
Help me design next year's PF campaign, /tg/
Ran a traditional ongoing story campaign this year. Party enjoyed it but in the end stated that they really need sessions to be shorter (2-4 hours) and they need allowance for players not being able to make every single session.
How do I design a campaign within those limitations? Previously they were happy with just running PFS scenarios each week, but that's no way to uplift my players (they're generally newbs).
Players not showing up repeatedly ruins a group. Don't make allowances for it. Yeah, if it happens once or twice, it's salvageable, but if certain players are missing more than a third of your sessions, you're better off just not including them at all.
>>43736233
>2-4 hours
Sadly, I've had to adapt to much shorter sessions as well. I used to consider anything under 6 hours disappointing, but in recent years 3 1/2 to 4 hours has been the average. 2 hours is bullshit though. Maybe it'd be tolerable for one session in the middle of a bunch of longer ones, but generally speaking, I hardly think of a session of less than three hours as worth playing.
Anyway, one of my ideas for addressing the problem of inconsistency of players...
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>>43736338
It's definitely a problem if the campaign requries them to show up always/regularly. I'm just asking if there's a campaign structure that would cope with players irregularly showing up.
They ain't missing sessions because they're busy scoffing Doritos and playing Haloz, they're missing sessions because they're uni students and have commitments and things that come up and shit.
Games Workshop wants You to write the fluff for the upcoming Warhammer 50.000.
So tell me about this new fluff!
>>43736219
Hard mode:
>"Anon, we're quite busy right now, so it's up to you what'll happen with the Golden Throne and the Emperor himself. What? No, we have no idea! Do what you want!"
>>43736219
>>43736231
bring on the star child
Let's make a random character /tg/ using Central Casting Heroes of Legend.
I need someone to roll 1d20 to start us off for what race our new adventurer is.
Let's do this.
>>43736114
So is it a boy or a girl ?
Rolled 8 (1d20)
>>43736135
I forgot to roll
Stat me
Size/Type: Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 5d10+25 (52 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +5 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+14
Attack: Claw +9 melee (1d6+5)
Full Attack: 2 claws +9 melee (1d6+5) and bite +4 melee (1d8+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab
Special Qualities: Scent
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 21, Dex 12, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Listen +8, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Track
Environment: Temperate...
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>>43736020
Fast - Much
Strong - Some
Smart - Few
Fireblast - Very
Sex - None
Scout
The youngest of eight boys from the south side of Boston, the Scout learned early how to solve problems with his fists. With seven older brothers on his side, fights tended to end before the runt of the litter could maneuver into punching distance, so the Scout trained himself to run. He ran everywhere, all the time, until he could beat his pack of mad dog siblings to the fray.
>Aspects
High Concept: Rapid Recovery Merc
Trouble: Gotta Keep The Ego High
"Eat my dust!"
"Major League!"
"I'm not...
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How does yall at /tg/ feel about settings that are very surreal in nature and present an alien world for your PCs?
>>43735991
I'm all about that shit. My ideal setting is a mix of Lovecraft's Dreamworld and Lieber's Lankhmar, with the weirdness cranked all the way up.
I also made a random generator for surreal location descriptions. Check 'em:
>liminal vault below slumbering jungle
>phosphorescent cenotaph amid sacred crags
>resplendent tomb beneath petrified crags
>prismatic shrine hidden...
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>>43735991
>How does yall at /tg/ feel about settings that are very surreal in nature and present an alien world for your PCs?
Enjoyment is the combination of familiarity and novelty.
I would love a surreal and bizarre setting, but the more surreal it was, the more normal I would want my character to be.
I want to be John Crichton lost among the alien setting.
On the flipside, if the setting is near modern day, I want my character to be as special as is reasonably possible: alien,...
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>>43735991
You gain Brouzouf
How does your character maintain their mundane life in the face of the pull of the supernatural? Who--or what--are their Touchstones? Do they even have ties to normalcy, or are they straight up saying "fuck it" and going full time wizard?
And I'd love to hear from people not playing one of the big three. What are your Beasts and Changelings doing on their day off? What are their dayjobs?
For all WoD books
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php
Onyx Path Schedule
http://theonyxpath.com/schedule/
Custom Character sheets
http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/
Character-portraits...
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My Mage works as a bartender on weekends. It pays the bills.
How would you handle Lifepaths in WoD?
I mean, I know how I'd mechanically do it. Divide everything up into about 350xp (nWoD2e) and separate things into little packages of about 20xp each, each "level" of life being worth the same experience. Start out with giving a basic array of Attributes (not quite 5/4/3), then through three or four life events give out Skills, Merits, and Specialties.
It's just that I don't really know how to structure a lifepath, and I don't know what events to use, since WoD characters are generally regular...
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>>43736111
I can understand bartending as a hobby or cause he likes that particular bar or something, but your mage either lacks power or imagination if he needs to work to pay the bills.
Pathfinder General /pfg/
If you are asking for build advice, please mention which third-party books are allowed. If you do not say anything, we will assume DSP/SoP is allowed.
Unified /pfg/ link repository:
http://pastebin.com/HwxEjiKW
Previous thread >>43726902
What murderhobo acts have you or your party committed recently?
/pfg/, what's the best way to deal with constructs without being a 9th level caster? Also preferably without magic.
>>43735042
This image would be better if we replaced all the location names with the word 'loot'
Also, new pastebin.
http://pastebin.com/BuSCnkyy
I'm looking for ideas for items with a catch: not necessarily a "cursed item", more like an object with an intended drawback so that I can give something fun to low level players without having to skimp on usual treasures. As it stands, I already had an idea for a thorn-based dagger: when first unsheathed, it periodically deals 1 damage to the wielder. Once it's fed with blood however (either through a crit or killing blow) it stops doing this, and as you feed it more in a short period it starts to grow more and give little bonuses such as being very difficult...
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A lot of the bog-standard drawbacks listed in the DM's guide are definitely worth looking through.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/cursedItems.htm
I like the idea of cursed items that kind of fuck everyone over equally.
For example, a cursed dagger which if touched makes it impossible to be ressurected. This includes the user, but also the guy he stabs. So your rogue may not be able to come back but neither will the BBEG.
I also like the Sword of Olympus from God of War. It has all the powers of a God but you get your power taken when you use it. Obviously a weaker mortal version will work better for most parties.
>>43734917
I'm not sure I'm a fan of the whole "permanent curse" thing, and frankly I don't think resurrection prevention would hurt anyone at this level except party members, but it's a good idea. Maybe something along the lines of it stealing a stat at random when you take it out, and it steals it from enemies too.
What would a daemon of Gork or Mork look like?
Like an Orc.
>>43734599
Like a Warbuggy that keeps working, even when it shouldn't.
>>43734660
Sooooooo.... basically any Warbuggy?
>mfw like three people in my group bought this book
>adventure league rules only recognizes a few of the additions
this is pretty bad as far as gameplay goes
>>43734236
Everything in the book is Adventure League legal except for flying tieflings and rare elf subraces.
>Doing the Adventure League
you chose your future.
>>43734236
Meh, the book should have been like $10 to be honest.
Nothing really neat added except for monks pulling off hadokens and shit now. That is pretty bad ass.
The land of Aeons, a beautiful land full of mystery, magic and adventure. A place were great heroes are at a constant battle with the forces of evil, great monsters and demons alike. Wizards and Clerics are common place, along with creatures such as ogres and dragons. A land where adventurers travel in search of wealth, fame and power.
Kings and queens, under the protection of these well payed and respected men and woman rule with absolute authority, bringing glory to their allies and death to their enemies. It is truly a wonderful and dangerous place, and to be a adventurer...
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>>43734131
Here we go. Farmer time.
>>43734131
It is a combination of the heat of the morning sun and Eustice's licks on your face that wake you up from an awful sleep. You brush off the dirt and bugs that had covered you in the night and stand up, nearly hitting your head against the low dirt ceiling above you. As you slowly bring yourself outside, you are greeted with the distinct smell of a rotting dog's corpse (although along with your own smell, it almost seems mild). It seems that something had tried to dig it out, but only managed the leg. Looking...
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>>43734330
>>Continue down the road, towards the forest.
Maybe hit up the shack for info about a good path to take.
