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Messages - Zhofe
1
« on: November 19, 2007, 09:29:18 pm »
I like how everyone is applying an arbitrary meaning to Charisma, without mentioning the mechanics on which ability scores work in D&D.
In D&D, you have ability scores, which represent natural talents and abilities, and skills, which represent acquired talents and abilities, and then a dice roll, which assumes a level of randomness. The average of a D20 roll is a 10, and D&D rolls often allow a person to "take 10" on a roll. I will be using that average in comparison to DCs for rolls to make a point here.
Lets first assume the case of the person with a Charisma of 6. A charisma of 6 gives a -2 modifier to all charisma based skills, such as Diplomacy, Bluff, Handle Animal, etc. Assuming the DC for a task is a 10 (meaning the average joe can do it half the time) a person with a Charisma of 6 cannot take 10 on his roll and succeed (instead garnering an 8 ) Assuming the task is "influencing a commoner" a person with a charisma of 6 will more often than not fail. A person with a charisma of 10 or better will succeed.
Now, let us take into account skill points. I will use diplomacy in this case. Assuming it is a class skill, you can put 4 skill points into diplomacy at first level. Otherwise, only 2. In the first case, a character with a charisma of 6, now gets a total of 12 when he takes the average roll on a d20. More than enough to influence a commoner.
To compare, on ability scores alone, another character would need a 14 in order to attain the same score of 12 on average.
Lets be more critical though, lets make these characters a bit more solid shall we?
Character A: Charisma 6, Diplomacy as class skill, maxing it out. Not increasing Charisma
Character B: Charisma 18, no points in diplomacy. Increasing charisma every 4 levels.
Level 1:
Character A: Diplomacy = +2
Character B: Diplomacy = +4
Level 4:
Character A: Diplomacy = +5
Character B: Diplomacy = +4
Level 8:
Character A: Diplomacy = +9
Character B: Diplomacy = +5
Level 12:
Character A: Diplomacy = +13
Character B: Diplomacy = +5
Level 16:
Character A: Diplomacy = +17
Character B: Diplomacy = +6
Level 20:
Character A: Diplomacy = +21
Character B: Diplomacy = +6
As you can see, D&D rewards personal training and change more than natural talent. Even a person with a low charisma, can become a diplomatic force. Perhaps he has a stutter, perhaps he is ugly, perhaps he just doesn't hold a floor. The point is, when it comes down to it, he is better equiped than the most personable of people who neglect proper training. It should be noted, of course, that a character would lag 8 skill points behind a person maxing out Diplomacy, with an 18 charisma. It is not that ability scores are unimportant, it is just that they can be overruled by other things.
In conclusion, if you are putting skill points into Diplomacy, (or Persuade as it is in NWN) and then being polite, likeable, and further, liked, then you are doing it absolutely right. There is nothing in the rules that says a person with a 6 charisma is not likable. Infact, I believe I just proved the rules say just the opposite.
2
« on: February 02, 2007, 12:22:18 am »
Funny .... I thought the biggest mistake in the crafting system was that "malting" not only required skill .... but also happened instantly.
*shrugs* And people were complaining about non-poisonous berries?
3
« on: January 30, 2007, 08:20:51 pm »
Completly different. A fireball is big and glowy and kinda hard to miss, whereas someone can come up behind you while you are distracted by the soup and slap you no problem. People do it in real life all the time. But really, a fireball is ALOT easier to dodge than a fist. It is alot bigger and brighter and noticable. Did I say those? I guess I did ... quite a while ago. Agreed, attempting at an action is better RPed than doing it. Disagreed that emoting in this sense should ever evoke more toward the other player (or character) than a friendly reminder, and an avoiding emote. Agreed, emoting thoughts is silly, but the words "as if" can clue others into what your physical cluse point to. i.e. *Looks downward, as if remembering some sadness in his past* is better, and more effective than either *Looks downward* or *Remembers that time his pants fell down at Mage Academy, and all the kids called him Mr. Pink Boxers* Disagreed that the fireball is only guano til it gets where it is going. That would limit the spell to the distance you can chuck bat-poo. The guano is a material component, and becomes a ball of flame, via magic, before it ever leaves your hands. Therefore, one could see a fireball before it came hurdling towards them. Being able to dodge it is why spells have saving throws. Agreed that soup has distracted me quite a many times, but that my experiences of being slapped while consuming soup do not apply to D&D
4
« on: January 30, 2007, 08:01:45 pm »
What? But ... but ..... I came back because .... XP here is brutally hard to come by, and ... because gold has value.
Why Leanthar!? Why!?
*sigh* Oh well, I guess I will just have go ahead and play, and keep the dirty, filthy bonus XP .... keep all that dirty filthy bonus XP that I will spend much time focusing on getting ...
Keep it indeed ...
5
« on: January 30, 2007, 07:41:59 pm »
On luring: Is it against the rules for a group of people to lure a group of enemies to a safer fighting spot, so as to not continue to spawn more enemies as the fight rages deeper into the area?
On Dragging: Is it alright to run around in circles area from entrances and exits in the hopes that some friendly PC will come and save you?
Not questioning the authority of the rules, but rather if these situations are violations. The first I think is a rather reasonable, (and RPable) tactic, but that is subject to the DM team.
The second is a bit of an abuse of the NWN engine ... but is a much better alternative to standing and dieing, or luring the enemies to places where other people could be endangered.
6
« on: January 29, 2007, 04:22:02 am »
I find an effective way to prevent enemies from charging the Archers, is to have fighters charge the enemies first. That way they are too busy to worry about the 1500 arrows the back-line is plunking into them.
7
« on: January 29, 2007, 04:18:56 am »
8-bit! I was mentioning how, with how often I leave for random periods of time and then come back, that you must have been a bad influence on me.
But yeah, I am back-ish, but I may be a bit busy in the following weeks so I might not have as free of a playing shedule as I usually would. Hope to see you in game sometime.
8
« on: January 25, 2007, 11:23:54 pm »
Perhaps a way to add the old "follow" command, that would only apply to the horse and rider, and then change the phenotype of the follower to a sitting one? Or a carriage or something?
9
« on: January 25, 2007, 08:56:22 pm »
Thanks Dorgie-poo ... err .... Dorganath that is .... I think you threatened me with something icky last time I called you Dorgie-poo.
10
« on: January 25, 2007, 08:22:06 pm »
On a different NWN server, ages ago, I played a ranger named Norris. Norris was once a soldier, but his regiment was destroyed, so he ran away and hid in the woods for a few years.
So, he sounds like the regular hunter-bowman ranger already, but wait.
He was a soldier, not an archer. He wasn't ever trained with a bow, so when it came time to hunt, he hunted with a sword.
Well, eventually he came out of the woods, as the server was not particulary well forested (and the in-game forests were deadly) And began hunting other prey. Orcs, goblins, bandits ... basically anything that was nasty and mean. There was even a point where he hunted drow ... but that was much later, and mostly because they gave good XP, and power-gaming wasn't as frowned on as it is here.
So what became of Norris? Well, his soldierly honor led him into a group of would-be samurai. And Norris became a longsword-weilding ninja. He would sneak up on enemies, then use his massive attack bonus to offset the fact that Rangers don't get sneak attack
A shame the server tied prestige classes to religion, or he would have made a fun shadowdancer.
So basically, I see rangers as fighters who have had to learn to think and survive. Ayup.
11
« on: January 25, 2007, 08:02:25 pm »
Final Fantasy 3 on the NES was my absolutely favorite final fantasy EVAR. A close second was FF4. When I played the GBA version of FF4, I was absolutely amazed at how different the little changes they added made the game so much more ... epic.
When I first started FF3, my first thought was, "Oh my god ... it is exactly the same, but more 3d!"
I haven't finished the game (because Portrait of Ruin came out shortly thereafter) but I love the DS version
Oh .... you wanted my friend code? Well ... umm ... see. My router is secures with WPA encryption, rather than WEP encryption, and so my stupid DS can't connect at home.
12
« on: January 23, 2007, 01:41:40 pm »
Huzzah for quick responses!
And yes, I knew it was all somewhere, but if there was something like "The Big Thread of Things That Have Changed in the Past Year" and I missed it, I would have to beat myself up or something. (Atleast I would send me nasty emails.)
Anyway, it all sounds good, and I will read up on WLDQs more. Thanks a bundle.
13
« on: January 18, 2006, 03:59:38 am »
Delays in putting armor on is a great idea in PnP ... but Layo is not PnP.
Because of the way NWN handles combat, there would be no real strategy in this. It wouldn't provoke thought, it would just hold people up, and cause frustration and death.
It is a wonderful concept, I just do not think with the NWN environment it would work well.
14
« on: December 20, 2005, 05:24:00 pm »
Well, I guess I missed most of this in my quasi-absence ....
What makes me sick ... is the number. Nine people.
A single bad egg is easy to get over. Even two or three are not that hard. Nine people is something entirly different
To be honest, for the longest time there was something stale to me on Layo, and I am not sure if it was these people, or something else. I do know however that this is a step in the right direction.
Sorry to Kahna that she won't get to hear any more of Quin's stories. Sorry to the community for having these people in the Leilon Arms. Sorry to Leanthar and the GMs for having to deal with this tomfoolery.
15
« on: December 10, 2005, 09:03:00 pm »
The only reason we are successful is because we have an excellent staff, and players who come and enjoy themselves. It's rough running a 4-6 hour event, but hearing the people talk about it is very much worth it. We could not have done this if not for the dedication to RP here on Layo.
16
« on: December 10, 2005, 11:17:00 am »
I'm okay though ... could be worse
17
« on: December 10, 2005, 08:07:00 am »
*watching as timed explosion trapsare going off*
I think I can make it through.
18
« on: December 08, 2005, 07:42:00 pm »
Silent letters require telegraph messengers too be mimes. *nods*
19
« on: December 07, 2005, 03:00:00 pm »
Sounds like what happened to me a while back ...
Take some time, do a few of those things on that "Things I have always wanted to do" list, get back to talking to some of your old friends, and if you feel like you're alright, come back.
Take it easy pal.
20
« on: December 07, 2005, 01:59:00 pm »
I would not be so sick at what KIDS eat ... because my GRANDFATHER eats peanutbutter onion and mayonaise sandwiches, pork chops with orange marmalade, and .... well ... pretty much anything or any combination of anything you put infront of him ...
But won't drink Vanilla Coke .... so I avoid THAT stuff like the plague ...
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