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Topics - Acacea
81
« on: September 09, 2007, 08:57:19 pm »
Though a few travelers enjoying their slightly heavier purses likely try to keep the source to themselves, it becomes more known that the colorful halfling at the Shack near the crossroads has and continues to offer small sums of gold or what food/drink she can provide for rumors, songs, and stories. It doesn't seem to matter if she's already heard them, for several offer that she paid them all the same even if she seemed to know their bits already, or if a piece of information seemed to matter little in the grand scheme of things.
In fact, what exactly is told or from whom it came seemed to matter not at all, so long as something was shared, though apparently higher quality would net a higher gain. Occasionally, by request, a story is paid with another story.
[SIZE=10]((Level of experience matters little, nor does it matter whether it is quest related or not. Particularly good for lower level characters that are starving and poor and are willing to gossip or spin a tale, as what is a good sum to an NPC or level 1 character is pennies to the rich well traveled adventurer. Lengthy info not required. Will be occurring on and off over the week or so, will post when she's around. Today starts: now, for the next few hours, even if no one is around.))[/SIZE]
82
« on: July 26, 2007, 06:53:24 am »
Though the chill wind is biting in the snowy port of Leringard, and at times in its years the living have been outnumbered by the dead (or undead, as it were), a fire is kept burning through a window at the Leringard Arms; often in recent years the inn's lanterns, when lit, have been lights in the gloomy dark ages.
Now bright on the door of the Arms is a sign bordered with four colorful swathes of fabric, none sharing a pattern or color scheme. It reads shortly, but somewhat ambiguously; heavy ink is dried with a sand that leaves a slight shimmer to the words.
Let All Remember What Was, and Imagine What Will Be.
-Janra 26-
-All Are Welcome-
[/B] [SIZE=10] ((/August 2nd. Doors open at 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern, and 11pm GMT, but often starts fashionably late once people have started arriving. Open for as long as there is interest in sharing entertainment and news about what's going on in the world.
Word of Mouth and Calendar Event - Check here for your time in case above is wrong.\\))[/SIZE]
83
« on: July 25, 2007, 10:52:37 pm »
A tale has been spreading from the streets of Leringard... it is a small one, and most say, a silly one, yet bit by bit it is retold with varying details of actors and voices. Many preface it in the usual manner of stating from where they heard it - from a sailor between ships...who heard it passed from a beggar...who among others was given it and a brightly colored scarf by a halfling gypsy lass with a big dog near the docks, who was absurdly telling the young man accompanying her that no, it would not be better to simply write it on a big sign, for then the story would not be free, "whatever that meant," many might add. Yet those who do not throw away the passed-on story or the varying sparks of color in fabric (for there are always those who do not receive such things well, and end the chain then and there) share it willingly, handing over the scarf that inevitably came with it as well, though for many different reasons - some for the touch of magic in her voice, and some for the simple joy of telling, and still more feeling foolish solely for the hope of being fed. For it seems that all versions lead back to Leringard and a halfling, who gave a touch of color to all who would hear her, to pass on and on and on to all who would hear them in turn, and be returned in a month's time with stories of their own. "Warm meals promised from what they can scrounge for all those what share a tale or a tune," tellers swear, though with most not quite understanding the request to pass along the cheery scarves (which she seems to have a never-ending supply of) until the day came to return them in a few months and tell her where they had traveled. Though the accents, words, and attitudes of the tellers differ greatly, the premise of the story remains similar through all its different versions. [SIZE=16][SIZE=18]Once there was, and once there was not,[/SIZE] a flame that flickered among seven times seven dying embers that had consumed elven forests of ancient oak near a shallow woven ocean underfoot.
The fire had grown petulant among its sleeping brethren, and began to resent the comings and goings of the giants that fed it only scraps of numbers and muttered conversation.
It complained aloud one day, in a voice like the hissing of a sleeping dragon's breath, or the sigh of the bellows before the forge, "Where have they gone, who rode on swirling leaves and crests of sea-foam, the windows to other worlds, the walkers of many ages?"
Remnants of coals wheezed together, coughing soot in a whisper as fleeting and feeble as an old man's words at the end of his life, "Our bed grows cold, and they live in eternal winter."
Silence reigned over its ever-present demesne of nothing, and everything, until the fire snapped again to life in a sound like the spark of iron to flint, or the heady rush of a candle wick taking to flame. "Let them sit before me with gifts of life and laughter, and we shall warm them while they drink mightily of things that were and were not, that are and are not, and that might and will not be."
Nine coals, plus twenty and minus three, glowed warm at the thought and then dim again, like an expanse of marigolds blooming and fading to a short and early summer. "Wind cannot fill their bellies, which are gnawed endlessly by hunger, and spirits cannot make living the dead."
As a great wyrm of heat, it uncoiled and drew itself up to recite, an emperor on a throne of ashes, "Body without soul will wither and die, while bodiless soul will soar free and fly."
In the ever-shifting temper of the very young or very old, it added with the consoling warmth of a mother soothing children, "Give them to eat the sea maid's scaled children, and the deep earth's blind herd, and they will slake their thirst with fallen empires, and wily tricksters, and dreams that walked the world, until all have wept in sorrow, and all have laughed in merriment. Let all remember what was, and imagine what will be."
Elemental roses bloomed in the faces of its bedmates, and then the petals fell from their eyes in mourning and wisped into nothingness below. "We no more leave this hall than a mountain leaves the earth; they will not hear, they will not come."
Though it paced, and though it pondered, and though it wished with all its might, a solution to their final obstacle did not present itself. Its rages went unheard, its genius unwitnessed, its soul unfed, until it too began to at last admit defeat, sinking back into the drowsing simmer that it had woken from.
Then, a great creaking echoed in the distance, like that of a ship pulling ponderously into the harbor of a kingdom in the sky, or the heavy lid of a chest being slowly lifted for all to see its dubious treasures.
A thousand-tongued creature stirred within the room, announcing its coming with the slamming of thunder clapping open every door within the heavens, and its voice was the sound of centuries of secrets it had heard but never told as it sang without rhyme or verse. "I will bring them, who hears all things and travels all lands! I will bring them to you."
They heard, those sleeping brothers in their frozen bed, and remembered, and they roared to life, joining together and leaping to catch the beast as it whirled through their domain, but it merrily evaded the grasp of the flames as it had countless times before, for its body was the taste of sea chanteys and the wistful sighs of harp strains, and its breath was the whisper that gives all things voice.
"I am the king of the court of embers," the flames remembered, and understood, "and the hand of change that creates and destroys in equal measure; the sparks of imagination of all peoples live within my eyes, and my cloak is the chaotic frenzy of the world's core. I am all that burns!" With a last shout of the inferno that levels the forest, they leaped again for the tail of the laughing traveler in a shower of belligerent sparks, rebelling against their confinement as the memory of wildfire returned.
The wanderer sped unhindered back through the cold world it had come from, but a mote of passion clung to the beard of a mountain clan's mining tune, and drama to the claw of the mongrelman under the bed; sparks of joy and creativity were carried astride gossip from across the seas and elegies for forgotten eras. "Come with us!" they cried to all who would hear as the wind carried them over the streets of giants paved with the storm witch's frozen get.
"How will we know them?" asked one, sheltering its precious heat with the warmth of a lullaby that cloaked its life securely.
The rich laughter of the man a boy had not yet become rang loudly with the unrestrained giggling of a dozen children that have grown and passed plucking stolen apples from someone else's trees. "Every sailor has a mate whose gaffer was lost on the pirate Gale, and every fisherman has a lass that swam away. Every mother feeds her children the visions of her mother's mother's mother. There is not a secret that does not yearn to be told, nor a weight that is not lighter the more that carry it, nor a man with a treasure that doesn't long to boast. They will hear, and they will come... One or one hundred, someone will come..."
Their calling was whispered to the storytellers that hide in the hearts of all that draw breath, to feed their bellies, their souls, and tale-starved regnant that lives in the torches lit at the borders between land and sea, the candle at the bedside, the heart of the forge, and the waiting hearth of the Leringard Arms.
You have heard, but will you come?
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I]
84
« on: June 21, 2007, 03:39:41 am »
5/20/07 - Converses with Jharl and Jennara, and meets Ketil, Drogo, Ferrit, and Canius in passing. Jennara helps her in the sewers, where she almost dies repeatedly, and Jharl gave her a few healing supplies for the trip. All the strangers that bother to speak to her seem overly nice to her, and it makes her jumpy. Made level 2 and learned to deflect those missile weapons instead of being thumped with crossbow bolts. Lost in city several times, homesick. (And I would kill for weapon finesse.) Has not bound her soul, will refuse if they are explained to her (no respawn). Makes me jumpy, too.5/22/07 - Goes back to sewer with a new attack plan and slings everything to death, triumphs in epic battle with ooze all the way back to the streets. Makes level 3, weapon finesse (yay), encounters Maple, Ron, Alleina, Oma, Seth, and Dareth at mixed points. Both relieved and unhappy to find out Maple is from the tribes; a comfort and a bad reminder and embarrassment. Realizes Ron is a treehugger, uncomfortable. Dareth gave her a headache with all his talk of gold and liches. Offended Seth by talking to Maple in halfling instead of Common so everyone could understand. Agreed to aid Maple in looking for her brothers in the woods for some food, leave at first light.5/23/07- Fights with a log waiting for late-sleeper to wake up in meeting place. Accompanies Maple to the Gloom Woods as agreed to help look for information on her missing family members. Maple deals with dark elf and Shadowfang, to her disgust, helping out Riam in hopes of finding out more; doesn't get much. Impressed by Maple's blessings from Prunilla, however, both on friends and against enemies. Level 4, but refuses to use the Shadowfang's 'gift.'Pig QuestsCaravan banditsCoastal caves, sewers with Naldin
85
« on: May 15, 2007, 06:35:48 pm »
I have read of people still going on this quest, so I assume she's still there... but the word also was that after all the drama with Selian, she had gone into hiding? Is the fact that she remains in her house greeting everyone who walks in and handing them a quest intentional, or an oversight? If the latter, I suggest she be removed and have another quest in its place somewhere else, as it kind of takes a bit of the drama away to hear, "oh no, she had to leave! Oh wait, there she is."  If I have confused her with another, then ignore me (again), but I thought I would ask to get some clarification on if something never happened. Feel free to expose my ignorance!
86
« on: May 02, 2007, 04:59:26 pm »
While I'm not against similarities in names, it seems passing strange and more than a little redundant to see that Northern Mistone kingdom is named for the Whitehorn forest which dominates it, named for its lore - and Northern Belinara is dominated by this historical Great Forest in a last bastion of nature kind of way, in which the Great Oak is found and all sorts of crazy stuff, and its just called the Horn Kingdom, named for a Fort Horn which is a bit away from another Whitehorn. I'm not sure what exactly the suggestion is, it just seems like the name was picked a bit randomly despite that it does sort of make it look like it's just copied from Mistone's, you know? I kind of doubt it was intentional, but suppose that if everyone is against changing it something could be written to account for the strangeness. Altering names isn't as hard as writing things around stuff though, so I thought I would mention it hopefully.
87
« on: April 26, 2007, 09:18:37 am »
Currently the World Leader page here - LORE: World Leaders Index - lists only links to character pages, not really to anything remotely related to what role they fill. I suggest instead of linking to the character pages, ones for their roles be made instead. In some cases I doubt the name would even be known, but the 'title' or reputation name would be. For instance, instead of linking to Lalaith's character page, the link would read "The Veil" and the page would speak of rumors and shadows, and to whom they would apply...her role deserves to be known in some circles; should who exactly she is be a mystery to more 'common' people who hear of it? Eldárwen's would read "Beloved of Lucinda," and explain the role as sort of the face of magic, a diplomat of the Weave, so to speak, and likely some rumor or another of how it came to be. Likewise with the Bird Lord, the Shining Hand, one of Mist's Tides, etc. It doesn't have to be the full writeup - why would that be known, anyway? Just a summary of the common knowledge and in which circles it applies. My point is that having a World Leader list is a good resource if these characters are supposed to have had some impact on the world, but the common knowledge of them is not going to be their age/race/class/domains, etc. These people aren't known for their stats but rather the responsibilities they have taken up, so the list would likely be better served reflecting that.
88
« on: April 14, 2007, 01:31:19 am »
Bards are supposedly THE jacks-of-all-trades. Moreso than rogue, even - after all, what are bards but a bit of rogue with a bit of sorc with a dash of healing, right?
They definitely have the class skills to show it.
Appraise, Bluff, Concentration, Listen, Lore, Perform, Persuade, Pick Pocket, Spellcraft, Taunt, Tumble, Use Magic Device, plus the three standard Craft skills, one of which is Gather Information in Layo. Did I forget anything? Doesn't matter...clearly they have many. Jacks of all trades!
But they only have 4 skill points + INT modifier. Woo... less than rangers, even.
It's been suggested several times that this be bumped up to the 3.5 version of 6 skill points and I've not seen it meet any resistance... It's a tiny 2da edit and requires no rebuilds for existing characters - they just wouldn't have the benefit of the extra points. Is it possible that this could be considered again?
89
« on: April 13, 2007, 07:12:51 pm »
I was sort of hoping these would quietly disappear in the transfer to V3, but since they are still up to their wacky antics, could we either yank them (they serve no purpose whatsoever, not even as barmaids), or adjust them to ditch the name token and just use a generic greeting instead? This has been mentioned and made fun of for time on end, I think. It's a really simple tweak, surely?
Alternatively, they could be actually given a purpose, such as adding a small conversation about the city and work to be done around it, but obviously that would mean actually adding conversations to them, which means they are no longer smile plastered generic hostesses but rather individually functioning NPCs which sort of makes the topic moot, hehe.
90
« on: April 13, 2007, 06:06:30 pm »
Before V3b went in, we had a message upon logging in that informed players of the state of the world. Once it went in, we had a READ THE FORUMS!! message, and now a simple "Welcome to Layonara."
Could we get another such message regarding the Dark Ages and the basic state of the world/nature? Perhaps even a reminder that what is in game is not necessarily a direct representation of the state of Layonara?
While I understand how annoying for both team and players it would be to say, reduce natural CNR by 80% (*coughs*) and replace the food in taverns with things more appropriate, there is not much point in doing a "Dark Ages" without it. Right now most people 'know' that we're in some kind of dark age, but many might as well think it's just because it's a bit shady out. Of course, this affects the unseen NPC population a great deal, starving the masses, breeding resentment, and so on, but the people actually playing here are affected not at all. Areas are still added with bright blooming meadows and healthy CNR, areas are tweaked to add ponds with gracefully lovely flowers and green grass surrounding it, birds chirp in the morning...
The 'adventurers' live in a completely different world than the common people, and while sometimes that is the case for IC reasons, in this one it is just ignorance of how it is supposed to be, because of a lack of representation. It's really awkward to roleplay when everyone has a different view of the situation, the most common being the general knowledge that a lot of people are hungry, but not understanding why - so we have all these charities, for instance, that will collect all this food from all these adventurers, who bring in their pies and steaks and food magically grown somewhere to donate...when the problem is the scarcity of such things.
I'm not actually asking for CNR to be reduced, I understand the amount of work that it would take to make Layonara actually look like it's in the Dark Ages and the fact that most players would probably hate it (well who loves the Dark Ages?). I do think there needs to be some obvious and immediate stand on it for those outside of quests, or who do not read year-old announcements or dig through old posts in the forums. What we have now to represent it is the world itself. Hence the request for another log-in message. Or something in the Eye of the Storm. I don't know. State of the world stuff needs to be immediately apparent upon logging in.
91
« on: March 31, 2007, 08:24:07 pm »
I realize there are WL/GM tools that reduce the getting-stuck problems somewhat - if you are traveling with one or they are available to come to you - but it would seem a good building practice to, when creating an area that will have a portion of walkable but inaccessible space (such as an area behind a wall with no exit), include a climb to get a character out of it. I was thinking about this when considering a tileset problem that would likely lag a character into a huge amount of walkable/inaccessible space and thought, "we could just put jumps there..." I think I mentioned it before, but it was shortly before the inclusion of the WL jump stuff. They're not always around though, any more than GMs are.
I realize that "trapped" problems are less common than "stuck" problems, but the former can be alleviated completely by including a means to get out of such locations. For a true stuck situation, the best you can hope for is a DM/WL jump, a campfire prayer, or a `makesafe.
92
« on: March 27, 2007, 07:52:33 pm »
The structure of Lucinda's church (and other churches, for that matter, but this is the one that I noticed) is something that any cleric trained in a temple or by a formal member of the clergy would know by heart. That has to be almost all of the clerics submitted for her. It really should be available more immediately than the non-mandatory handbook, I think, for someone submitting a character, because at level one, they are already at the lowest rank in their field of training. But many don't even know what that is, because they either cannot download/read the handbook, or choose not to.
I suggest simply tweaking her domain list on LORE to something like the following -
Magic: Akh'faern Gis, or the Mageward, the largest ward, specializing in the core of the faith to seek out magic of all kinds.
Knowledge: Uvaer Gis, the Loreward, specializing in and recording all forms of knowledge.
Healing: Fallan Gis, the Healward, focused on ailments both mundane and magical.
Good: Ardhon Gis, or the Planeward, the smallest of the standard wards, dealing with the planes and the creatures from beyond.
Trickery: Restricted to the Guardians of the Weave, see the handbook. Requires an extended submission and a CDQ before using domain powers or spells.
All clerics trained in the ways of the church start the game as assumed to have gone through the Rites of Affirmation and be at the lowest rank in their wards of choice, which are simply fields of expertise. More information on the church of Lucinda is available in the handbook.
93
« on: March 25, 2007, 06:57:21 pm »
One of the biggest complaints I have seen on IRC and on the forums is that the old locations for CNR gathering are too hard now for characters that are of the ideal level range to use it. This is true.
It's also true that it's not intended for them, and that there are other spots more appropriate to their level range.
This has been stated several times, but I still see complaints about Haven being a death trap for a poor crafter trying to get iron, or the Red Lights for a newbie to get his precious copper.
Whether or not these spawns need to be adjusted (I'm sure they will be looked at either way), I'm wondering if its better to just rip all of their CNR out completely, to get across the point of looking elsewhere. Miners should IC know to look elsewhere, but many players just think "this is where I always get it," see that there is still some present, and completely shut out other places.
This is not about whether spawns are too hard (whether in an old CNR place or the new appropriate ones), simply suggesting that perhaps if few people can get past that they've always gotten something in a certain place, it be taken out completely. As of now there is no doubt an overabundance of a few resources that are now considered a death trap to gather, because they are present in a) a new place b) the old place, and perhaps c) a smattering in some other place.
It's not that I want to get rid of it, it just seems like its presence is seriously confusing some people. Maybe scale them back and make them more quest dungeons instead of CNR dungeons to make it understood.
94
« on: March 25, 2007, 12:42:38 am »
I'm familiar with the concept of 'ambushes,' where the builders set things to jump right out at a character, presumably to use a creature's sneaking abilities, or terrain advantages. That makes sense, and I don't mind them at all. My main issue is the mentality that the monsters have abilities, but the PCs don't. I love ambushes! They're great! But how much sense does it really make for a scout with practically supernatural senses to be surprised in such a way by creatures that are as loud as a titan in comparison? To clarify, I'm not proposing to change these spawns in any way, not even touching them. So mechanically, they would still spring out in the same manner and location. I was thinking more of a skill check that is a bit distant from the trigger itself, that rolled a hidden listen/spot check and returned observations if successful. Perhaps a one-time-only minor XP reward for the skill usage for some scout love, but that's not really the point. The spawn would still ambush, but a cautious party with a set of good eyes and ears would know about it ahead of time. The unwary would simply trample right over the signs and into it, anyway. An example would be checks rolled a bit southwest of the actual spawn trigger. A successful listen for an ambush of spiders might be something describing the rustling of leaves in the trees to northeast, or the occasional strange chittering sound or whatever in the world gigantic spiders sound like. A spot check for a group of starving bandits may be something as simple as the light glinting off of metal in the middle of the forest. Maybe for things that would still ambush with no chance of detection could have some message sent in the area emoting where exactly they're coming from, like springing from the lava to come up behind you, or the dead rising directly from the earth. There are cases where roleplay becomes awkward after such an ambush, because no one is exactly sure how something happens, leading to someone inevitably saying, "you'd think we would have heard something that big coming!" while someone else says, "the earth is truly sickened, if such creatures spring from it," while the last guy goes, "I hate when things drop from the ceiling!" or some similar situation.  I just think it would help out the groups that bother sending someone forward to check things out ahead of time, and take away the frustration of maxing out these skills and still getting magically ambushed by things half your level. There are still some roleplaying weirdnesses with it, if people wanted to be picky, but it would seem like a large improvement if possible.
95
« on: December 03, 2006, 02:47:42 am »
I imagine there will be a lot of players suggesting things for implementation into Version 3 of Layonara, and that's always a good thing and can get some fun things going on. I think there are a few things worth mentioning when making one though, so I figured I'd point them out, even though I'm not the one having to go through them. 1) Don't be afraid to think of something new. The spells and feats resources from D&D or the ones from NWN2 are great for ideas and in some cases even direct use, but ultimately we are not in PnP and we don’t have the same mechanics as NWN2, and with the V3 announcement saying we are moving from D&D (changes in the planes etc), there is no reason to take only from handbooks when the only reason we still have versions of their spells is because we're playing through the Neverwinter Nights medium. Some of them are great and could be adapted, others are fun but are mechanically impossible to reproduce in this setting, and still others were fun there but are not at all how things work in Layonara even if we could swing it. When looking at a spell from there, think, "will we need to change this so much that it completely loses the purpose and origin of it?" because really you might as well link the entire spells list--everyone's going to be pulling from there anyway. They're good because obviously the stats and mechanical functions are already in place, but chances are they will need to be changed anyway. If you're adding new things, you get to think of where it came from, how it's done, the places it's prevalent. Or change what is already borrowed so that it has firm roots in this world instead of another. Let's have the primary motivation behind a suggestion be Layonara, not "let's take this from here and that from there." There's a lot of this and that to include yeah, but Layo could use its own stuff, too. 2) Shoot down your own ideas first. Yep... Be your own wet blanket and save everyone else the trouble. "Wouldn't it be super cool if we could blow up a lot of stuff by blinking like Jeannie? Prolly won't happen but I thought I'd mention it." If it starts like that, you're probably right. Much like when filling out Grievances, if you've read before that it's not going to happen and you know there are a thousand reasons that it won't but you just really want it, don't just post hoping you get lucky; you won't. It'll just add to the pile of things to read. The more you dissect your own suggestion, the more specific about it you can be, and the less work someone else has to do, the less likely it is to be passed up immediately because it's unclear with obvious problems among many other suggestions. This isn't a request to not post ideas, merely to try and find the problems with them ahead of time. It'll help flesh it out, or if nothing else help you toss an unworkable idea before posting it and find a better answer. 3) When doing so, think beyond your character. There's nothing wrong with suggesting things for the class or race you play--that's what you're most familiar with, of course (for the people, by the people?). When you get suggestions from people in each class they're familiar with, you can get a general feel of what's lacking in each or what would be a cool RP toy for them. But if it's a really specific change or addition, try making it something that would either affect more people, or spread some specific changes and additions around in other places too. It's a small thing, but this with the "wet blanket filter" is often the difference between adding a request for a bracelet or obscure spell for a character and suggesting an array of specific pieces to fit several niches, for more than a single person. Which sounds more likely? A whole class tweak still affects a lot of people, but "I want this for my character" usually does not. There's also a tendency for someone who feels that they have been wronged by something specific, to request that this one thing be changed for everyone. When something like that has to go official, no one likes the result--often not even the one suggesting it. Like I said, this isn't an official post or anything because I'm neither an official voice nor the one whose job it is to do these things, but the few minutes taken to think about something can make a world of difference in how favorably it is looked upon. It still might not (in fact I would venture to say 'probably' not) be in as you envisioned it or even at all, but if nothing else it's easier to deal with.
96
« on: October 15, 2006, 12:51:58 am »
1394
Dozens of heroes and a large military invasion were successful in defeating a large contingent of Bloods forces. This was his first significant loss in history and with this the tides of war have changed. 1395
After several missions into the Islands that once made up the Kingdom of Roldem, Blood's forces suffer a major defeat by a large group of adventurers and allied military forces. Freedom is won, and the rebuilding of the ravaged islands begins. I think the large forces that were defeated in the first entry were the ones occupying Roldem in the second. I also believe the second date is the correct one, and the first leaves out what exactly was the great victory, so maybe the second was meant to be a correction? If it was just a fondness for the wording of the first, you could just tweak the second a little to say something like, "The tides of war are changed, as after several missions into the Islands that once made up the Kingdom of Roldem, Blood's forces suffer their first major defeat in history by a large group of adventurers and allied military forces. Freedom is won, and the rebuilding of the ravaged islands begins."
97
« on: October 05, 2006, 08:06:13 pm »
The LORE pages for the Champion classes are incorrect and missing required information. All Champions and Unholy Champions must be the same alignment as their deities. This is CE for Corath and Pyrtechon, LG for Vorax and Toran, as opposed to "Any evil" and "Any non-evil." All Champions and Unholy Champions must have Weapon Focus in their deities' favored weapons. Toran: Longsword. Vorax: Battleaxe, Dwarven Waraxe or Greataxe. Corath: Shortsword. Pyrtechron: Greatsword. I think the classes themselves could use some customization and tweaking, but these are the current requirements as is, and they are missing from LORE. Thanks. (Edited for Pietechon)
98
« on: August 29, 2006, 02:41:44 pm »
Is out! You can check out the patch details here, but don't update until it's announced here, otherwise you will not be able to play on Layo's servers. If you have updated, don't freak or anything, just revert to 1.67.
99
« on: August 22, 2006, 09:21:44 am »
I wanted to comment again on this topic, without also hijacking the previous thread again. There were questions that appeared valid with no answers given, and while I understand that reasons are hard to give in that sort of situation ("what do you mean why? It just is!"), asking "You mean you don't know?" is not an acceptable response.
The question posed was essentially, if the bindstones are truly an in-character system that saves someone from death repeatedly, why is committing suicide to get out of dire circumstances so unacceptable for a character willing to do it? This gets horror from a lot of people because it's not cool, but why?
The bindstones are not solely an out-of-character system, and thus characters will have IC opinions of them drawn from experiences. Do people respect death far less than they should? Yes. Is that an in-character opinion for some people? Also yes.
On the surface, it is not actually that big of a leap for some characters to go, "I've come back a thousand times already, and getting out of this situation is worth it."
It's hard for many people to respond to this line of thought, because ...wait, it has happened a thousand times. All they know is that it's poor taste and really just plain not cool. And it's not. But why isn't it?
Consider what the bindstones actually do for your character. When in danger and fighting (for your life? For your cause?), your soul is saved at the moment of your death--with cost to it--and with it you are reformed at where you were bound.
What is the difference with suicide? It is knowingly, consciously, deliberately ending your own life and welcoming death. It is a choice.
For someone who makes that choice, there should be no respawn, and probably no raising. In game terms this would be an insta-perm, no matter how little respect for death a character might have. Charging brashly into overwhelming odds still usually has a purpose, and almost all situations leading to death serve some reason, involve at least some protection and care for one's life--suicide is a blatant "take me" to the Soul Mother.
And so she will, or should. One could argue a lot about this I'm sure, but the fact remains that using the bindstone express as a suicide route is not a good thing, and the blatant difference between being killed by circumstances and actually choosing death seems to speak for itself.
Apologies for creating a new thread just for this branch of another, but I don't like seeing questions go by without at least some attempt at an answer. I am not a GM and do not speak for the team or Leanthar--I'm sharing my own observations that seem clear to me but will not necessarily be shared by others. Hope they made sense to somebody.
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« on: August 04, 2006, 06:57:02 am »
[SIZE=32]Under-advertised Party at the Arms! [SIZE=16]Looking for bards of all styles to perform for prizes at the next opening, whether with jokes, stories, instruments, or lyrics, or for all we know, a dancing monkey with a flaming tail and amusing hat. [SIZE=16]Who frets overly much about entry fees and categorizations?[/SIZE] [SIZE=18]Show up when the doors open and give a name and what you're doing and you can have your chance to entertain and spread your name...[SIZE=13]No slight-rhyme intended[/SIZE][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE] This is mostly to have some fun and hear performances from people who don't often have the opportunity, and everyone likes to be entertained! To encourage contestants, there will be a few prizes awarded, even though I surely can't afford it! A few thousand gold, simple oak instruments, or a personal favorite, free food... or a belt by Triba that is rather on the practical side but is still made exceptionally well. Maybe a lion bag. Really... depends on if anyone shows![/i] If enough competition is offered, there will be better prizes to choose from for the victor, namely a rather graceful pair of gloves needed in any performer's wardrobe, stylish enough to make Freldo groan with envy. Derrick, the owner of the inn, was given them by Ozymandias to in turn give to a bard in competition. Handed to and worn by Acacea for several years, they've still been kept in performing condition and are, let's face it, a classic, fitting all but half-orcs and dwarves, for whom they are probably a stretch and would look silly on, anyway. (...And brownies, who could probably wear one as a dress. (Altered on request!)) If there are only one or two performers (or none, again!), we will hold onto them rather than give them away to a default winner. [SIZE=16]If nothing else, halflings should come for pie, because who doesn't like the 10-day birthday parties? [SIZE=10]PS, it's not short notice, this was here the whole time...really! [/SIZE][/SIZE] [SIZE=10]((Start: [/i]4pm PDT, 7pm EDT (whenever doors open..) Ends: 7pmPDT, 10pm EDT (well, you can still perform, I just won't be there.) ))[/SIZE]
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