This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Messages - Crunch
21
« on: January 31, 2008, 07:39:44 pm »
To continue the off topic topic... If someone is near death, I think that might reasonably be viewed as something like the person choking to death or hit by a car and leaking blood all over the sidewalk. In those cases, it seems reasonable to act first under the assumption that the individual wants to live.
I can see an alternative view, that near death is more like the person wallowing in the final stages of the "killer death flu" who might be happier to just drop dead, but is actually through the worst and about to get better all on his or her own.
From meta-gaming sense, we know that a person who has 1 of 232 HP left at the end of a fight won't drop dead (unless they do something that lowers constitution). However, if you saw someone that close to death on the street, you would likely call your local emergency services number.
22
« on: January 26, 2008, 02:11:19 am »
Actually in this case I am referring to my low/mid level fighter. He can go lots of places with his party with cleric and mage. Haste and heal go a long way, nep to stop crippling strike, and mind blank to stop the gaze. In the rift, if 2 giants tee off on a mid level character, they can do a couple hundred points of damage and kill him in one round. the rule of thumb I am working on for the rift is that if everyone is getting xp for the dire spiders, the party will die. Seems like a balanced mid level party that isn't an army should be able to take the place.
23
« on: January 25, 2008, 06:55:18 pm »
Mirror of true reflections is in there. If I remember right it is under a rather obscure heading. More inportantly it takes something like 3 or 4 rod 4's. Net result is that you will be spending a very long time digging sand in the desert for the occassional TS. Might be worth it to have an emergency source of TS in case you get stuck somewhere you're likely to get hit by Weird and your cleric gets killed, but I can't see relying on these mirrors for everyday adventuring.
If you just want to see those annoying giants in the desert before they scorch your fancy armor, the gnomish lenses provide See Invisibility for a short period that resets every rest period.
24
« on: January 24, 2008, 08:27:45 pm »
Are you allowed to take two prestige classes? I thought that was implicitly if not explicitly forbidden.
25
« on: January 24, 2008, 04:47:24 pm »
So how does the weapon enhancement / gmw work with precise strike against DR. e.g. If a golem has DR of 30/+5, will precise strike of +6 allow a copper rapier to overcome that DR or do you still need gmw from a 25th + level caster to overcome the DR?
26
« on: January 23, 2008, 01:02:36 am »
35,000 for the boots of hardiness +2
Bart
27
« on: January 01, 2008, 08:08:25 pm »
It's worth 60,000 to me.
Tim
28
« on: December 14, 2007, 11:21:46 pm »
I really don't think Rodlin has died of old age. He is an elf after all. I think he just wasn't being played so much in the last year or so. I suspect you'll see him again.
29
« on: November 28, 2007, 09:01:12 pm »
My axe work is still progressing and my hunger to improve it only increases. However, I found myself troubled recently when traveling with Ellis and some fellow dwarves. These guys were ardent followers of Vorax and it was apparent that they assumed I was as well. When they started singing his praises in battle it was hard to not follow along. It seems a conflict between blood and brain. I left all that behind when I left the mountains and really haven't missed it. It makes so much more sense to follow Lucinda, I know the weave has so much to offer. But the habits of my childhood threatened to grab me and carry me back. I didn't say anything either way to them. They probably assumed that was silent agreement. When they turned down Justa's spells, my brain told me that they were just being dumb, but habit told me that was the dwarven way. I must follow the path of rational thought not just habit. If I am to progress as a fighter, brains are every bit as important as brawn. I'll leave the religious philosiphizing to the clergy and just concentrate on my axework and my footwork.
For a scrawny little human wench Ellis is actually pretty handy in a fight. Although I wouldn't want to admit it to her, she hits hard and fast with that bow of hers. Recently I've also been running around with another human named Sy. His powers have been growing fast and with his spells my fighting gets a lot better. It's nice to have some other folks I can count on in a fight.
I traveled to this music place on Rilara with a whole pack of folks. They are gathering bits of an ancient soul and trying to beat this other guy to them. It was impressive to watch the bard Acacea perform to bring out this musical elemental. It evidently did carry another bit of this soul, but in bringing the elemental there the magical thingy they been using busted. Now we're trying to figure out how to fix it.
I really think I'm closing in on a new method to swing my axe better, but it's hard to commit to changing my style. I guess the way I swing right now may look a bit like choppin' wood to one of the masters, but I'm getting the knack of it. If I try to change my swing it seems like it's going to take a lot of practice before it ever becomes really effective. Can I survive the fights in the interim until the new style pays off?
30
« on: November 23, 2007, 03:05:54 pm »
My axe work continues to improve, but it still isn't up to standards. I am getting a little better at avoiding getting hit, and I can usually hit most foes most of the time, but I'm not hitting hard enough. I was watching the way Ellis swings that bitty little sword and noticed they she was finding the joints in the armor a lot more than I was. When I struck true my axe really did it's job, but I was usually just a hair off.
I ran into Lillian in Port Hampshire. I asked her how she got so good with her sword. She said practice, lots and lots of practice. She told me she has killed so many things that she can't even remember what she has killed. That made me feel a bit better because I'm certainly practicing a lot too. Guess my thick dwarven head just makes things sink in kinda slow.
31
« on: November 23, 2007, 02:21:58 pm »
Could the holy/unholy/nature symbols be changed so that they cast deity relations as a property? That way you wouldn't need to add an item, and fondling your holy symbol while evaluate someone's intentions seems natural enough.
32
« on: November 21, 2007, 02:51:20 pm »
I really love my axe. It takes care of me. Now if I can just get my brain anywhere near to as sharp as my axe. I helped some folks search for a ring recently. It was for what seemed to be a spoiled brat of a child, but everyone seemed to sense she was something more. Trouble was that no one else was willing to stand up to this little girl. I mean she hired a pack of mercenaries to do the job she had already offered to these folks and she was threatening them all.
This job took us down into a ruins I had never been to before. The rats down there were the size of small ponies and chock full of disease. Plus they had ogre friends driving everyone away from their doorstep. We battled our way through and kept running into these other mercernaries who tossed magic about without any regards to who they might burn. My buddy Bill traded some insults with them but everyone else seemed reluctant to stir things up with them. Their mage was extremely powerful and had one of those golems that seemed unstoppable. Remembering what I had learned at Spellguard about summons and mages I bided my time. When I got a good opportunity I sidled up to that mage and started whacking her as hard as I could with my axe. That golem started beating on me really good but I just kept hitting that mage. It was a near thing but she died before her golem could finish me off. As soon as she lost consciousness the golem fell apart. It made me feel pretty good about my axe, but I worry about how I will do next time.
I need to learn to kill those mages faster or I'm toast. I think if I refought that fight a dozen times I would lose 6 of those times and I don't like that bindstone. Makes me feel all hollow inside when I go through. That time in the darkness before it pulls me home is particularly unnerving. Speaking of which, I found something terrifying in that darkness recently. I was exploring the woods near Hlint and came across a beatle with particularly large jaws and a really hard shell. It was proving a good opponent. It bit hard enough to make me learn from mistakes and forced me to time my swings just right to catch the joints in its hard shell. I was having a goodtime and being a solid fellow not too worried about what it was doing, but then its friends showed up. I don't mind those dire spiders one at a time, but 4 is a lot and they all jumped on me. I felt the poison course through my veins and my strength melt away. I fought back desperately but didn't stand a chance. As I collapsed to the ground I thought "well at least the bindstone will save me." And it did, but during that time in the darkness I felt a malevolent presence grab at me with cold fingers and it was if a part of me were violently ripped from my soul. It took all the coins I had earned that day spent on ale before I could sleep that night. I've been a lot less willing to rely on the bindstone since then.
I gotta find someone to teach me the finer points of using my axe. I'm pretty good with it, and I've run out of tricks that most people can teach. I need to find an axe master to teach me how to really hit where it counts. This dancing around and letting other critters chew away at me has to end. One good whack from an axe should do for most critters and that way I won't be using that bindstone.
33
« on: November 15, 2007, 04:51:36 pm »
Lilly,
I can make that shaft for you. I'll look for you in prantz.
Tim
34
« on: May 23, 2007, 07:57:23 pm »
When I look at the feats you are proposing adding to +2 jewelry, I think a lot of people would wear those over emeralds much of the time. I like the idea in general, but I think this might be a bit too large a step up from diamonds.
35
« on: May 14, 2007, 11:55:37 pm »
I think the idea of coming up with creative ways of sucking more money out of wealthy pockets for RP reasons is a good one. We have that somewhat now with the various "Aid the ____" (you fill in the blank) type societies. But the only things that old time, rich characters tend to want are either made from rare components (emerald, mithril, titanium) or unique drop list items. The characters tend to be set on other things and routine expenses once you are equipped are low. So the early thrill of crafting is gone by then, the need for money is mostly gone, and you have to make arrangements to meet someone if you want to finalize the sales. It becomes to easy to be lazy as a crafter and expect someone else will make the sale.
I remember a time when bandages and potions were a recurring expense. However, the healer's hugs tend to replace bandages over time and you can't buy cure serious potions anymore. For a 20th level character a cure moderate wounds potion tends to make a barely visible change in the health bar. Maybe if the stronger healing potions were available but had a restrictive level limit on them and a hefty price tag that would help drain money from the top end of the economy.
36
« on: May 13, 2007, 02:35:56 am »
I have seen instances before where a shield dropped do to change equipment from say a mining pick, which can be wielded with a shield for a medium sized character, back to a standard sword and shield lineup. It seems that the game will sometimes, or maybe even always, try to unequip the shield during that transanction. If your inventory is full, the shield may pop back onto your arm, but still be coded by the cleanup script as dropped. Then when you cross the next transition, Whammo!!!!, as they say in the comics..... No more shield. The painful lesson most sword and shield types learn when mining is never to let your inventory get all the way full.
37
« on: May 10, 2007, 05:21:51 pm »
Congratulations. Now you can start learning how to play Layo one handed while holding a sleeping baby on your off shoulder with the other hand. Loads of fun. : )
38
« on: April 24, 2007, 04:39:30 pm »
Just like McMansions in real life. : )
39
« on: April 16, 2007, 03:22:30 pm »
You might also considering tweaking what is available from merchants and inns. For instance, make the chef's special not available some of the time at some inns because he can't get the secret ingredient. (dogs run fast in this hungry times)
40
« on: April 13, 2007, 07:48:03 pm »
I miss my time in Spellguard. The world is a hard place now. The only thing I really like is this bindstone thingy. I found myself in a fight way over my head soon after I arrived in Hlint. I had asked myself "what could a couple of skeletons with rusty old weapons do against a hardy, well trained dwarf like myself?" Unfortunately, by the time I learned the answer, I was doomed.
The first sword stroke was bad. It took me through the meaty part of the thigh, but I could still hold up my axe and my shield. There's lots of blood in a dwarf, I figured I could take it. But then the other skeleton, who I foolishly let behind me, slashed me across the kidneys. I could barely stay on my feet. My shield drooped down and his buddy punctured my lung. I fell to the ground, leaking blood everywhere and praying that the pain would stop and that somebody would show up and heal me. It was right in a busy little town. I had seen others visiting the crypts. Surely someone else would come by. A bandage and a trip to the healer would fix everything.
I don't know how long I lay there. At first the bloody pool I lay in seemed warmed, but then my whole body started feeling cold. I didn't even have the energy to moan and curse anymore. Then I became aware that I couldn't feel my body at all anymore. Suddenly with a wrenching pain I found my soul forced back into my body and my body materializing at the bind stone. I felt my wounds with amazement. They were gone!
My armor was still slashed and bloody, but I had time to clean and patch it as I thought of what went wrong. I felt so lucky to have a second chance. I resolved to become more careful. For a bit, I was. However, greed eventually got the better of me and again I pushed my luck to far and found myself back at the bindstone. About the time I started to get confident about the bindstone bringing me back, I found that my trips through the bindstone left me weakened. Even worse than the worst hangovers of my life. At the same time, I noticed that some presence in the void between death and rebearth was searching with a terrifying hunger. I asked around and learned about the soul mother. It seems that everytime I pass the bindstone, she is waiting to take a piece of me for her own. Since then I have resolved again to be more careful, and yet I have so much to learn and can only really learn the ways of battle through practice.
I love this axe of iron I was able to purchase. It is so much sturdier and sharper than my old copper axe. I have seen a few with even better weapons made of adamantium. I hear the mines for this are far off and even more dangerous than the redlight goblin cave. Some say they are even more dangerous than the haven mines. I have learned a lot so far about how to handle this axe to strike home against my opponent and to strike hard when I do. I've watched other fighters with lesser weapons and have noticed a few seem to really know exactly how and where to hit their opponents for the most devestating results. They have all told me that to do this requires many years of practice and training with special masters. I got some advice on the skills these masters require before they will even consider an apprentice and have been trying to learn these basics.
|
Forums
Show Posts