While I've been crossposting to ENWorld and my Blogger Account, I have just been accepted into the Comment Luv testing of the new WP software. So, if you've enjoyed my posts in the past, or just want to assist in the updating of this killer app, please check out the link provided above and here so that they can see additional numbers on traffic.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Okay... to prevent spoilers from occurring I'm just going to post this short blurb for now.

I got to go see Terminator Salvation as part of a pre-screening sort of event... and I have to say I'd give it a 7/10.

The movie is a good popcorn film... but there's a reason why it is being released in May rather than during the swing of the Summer Blockbuster season . In comparison to the last film? Much better.

However, it misses a lot of the oomph of Terminator 1 & 2.

I will say that the saving grace of the film is the ridiculous dialogue and some of the forced use of references to the earlier films... You are going to LOVE Christian Bale as Bruce Connor .

Great FX, cheesy acting... good times.

Probably going to get to see plenty of other pre-screenings due to a friend always looking for a +1... so when able I will post here .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Cross-posted to Good Gaming Blog

To those who are unawares of the Blog Carnival, it is a great exposure device. This month's Carnival is all about Resolutions

I have attempted to write this blog post several times without coming off as snooty. Perhaps it is the sickness which has curtailed most of my writing efforts for the past weeks, or perhaps it is just the cloudiness of the medications which are getting me through said sickness, but I find it difficult to deliver this piece of flotsam advice in a manner becoming of the true gist of the whole piece. Mostly this came from sitting in bed discussing gaming with a friend across the world online at the moment when 2008 drew to a close.

I was bedridden (and remained so until yesterday) and miserable, and they were fighting off a considerable amount of alcoholic bliss to continue the discussion. We discussed the GG Blog, a couple of other pieces, the newest things in various editions and rulesets... then we began to discuss a horrific DM experience which my friend had had in his travels. We'll not discuss the horrors of said experience too deep . . . suffice to say, it was bad enough that I became woozy and ill-at-ease from laughing too hard at 1 in the morning. We both wondered why DMs suck so badly these days, and why there are so few 'good gamers' out in the hinterlands with the spread of the Internet and its bounty of information.

The next day I had my resolution; I will convert a group of players to competent DMs in the next year. I will take a group of players who seem to be the worst, most despicable 'Bad News Bears' group of ne'r-do-wells in the history of gaming and I will turn at least half of the group into solid DMs.

And here's why it will never work . . .

Learning to be a good DM doesn't start in a vacuum. It doesn't start with your first game, and it doesn't start with someone telling you all of the secrets of the process. I could write a hundred articles on this blog and have it be more popular than Google . . . yet I cannot make any individual reader a better DM than they themselves want to be. I feel I lucked out in my gaming experience, as I would guess most allegedly good DMs would attest, and had a perfect storm of good, reliable players, great DMs, and a location which was fit for play at the worst of times and amazingly suited for gaming at the best.

Environment can produce great DMs, but it also takes a lot of work. For every good session I run I had probably ten horrific, pre-teen nightmare wish fulfillment games that I either played in or (to my horror in admittance) DM'ed in my younger days. For every good artifact or backstory I've probably burned through a hundred poor, ill-fitting, or just silly ideas. I utilize tropes, backwards concepts, archaic gaming jargon and styles . . .

but I learned at the heels of giants. Guys who were unrepentant destroyers of PCs, whose various story arcs could inspire madness just in their labyrinthine twistings and turnings. I had the luck of spending a couple of years with a safety net, a couple of campaigns of being a co-DM to some of the worst PC beatdowns I have seen to this day.

And that doesn't really exist anymore. In this gaming culture there are too many players, DMs, and writers who believe that everything just comes together. Decades of experience behind me, I can tell you that if that were the case most of the bloggers on RPG topics would be sitting on gold-plated thrones dispensing wisdom via ruby-keyed laptops while sipping the finest colas from chalices shaped like d12s.

I own none of these things, and it saddens me.

My Resolution is to form a new group, bringing in some of the best players and DMs I can find, and then indoctrinating some of these new players into the ways of the old. And then, maybe, showing these snowflakes a little of how it's done.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Step 2: Effects, the Artist and Pygmalia.

Objects – Most Knacks produce Effects. Effects are the output of any use of a Knack, and they remain for the duration. At any point, a character may have a number of Effects powered equal to triple his Breath rating. This does not mean that a character need have only that many Effects in play; an Artist, for example, may produce multiple Pygmalia for different purposes, or use Aesthetic to improve multiple effects. However, only so many Effects may be currently 'powered' at any point. Effects close to the character must be powered up first; thus, a Hobo may have hundreds of Signs spread around the country, but most likely only the Signs found in his current locale are active at the current time.

An Effect may be granted a more Permanent effect for the cost of Experience. Such an Effect becomes known as an Object. An Object may be passed on to others, granted as a tool, but it comes with a price.

While an Effect serves only to benefit, an Object comes with both a Boon and a Bane. The Boon (the Effect) remains the same; the Bane, however, is an effect determined by the Talespinner (DM) which links the Object to its Effect, its creator, or the substance it is made from. An Object comes at the cost of the Effect's Power * 15.

A Hobo Sign (Pennies from Heaven) allows for a Hobo to have access to enough money to get by as long as the Hobo keeps the effect active. The Hobo wishes to grant this effect to another; he makes a small leather satchel, marks it with the Sign on the interior, and binds the Effect to the Object (with an expenditure of experience. This magic wallet comes with a price however; others don't trust such a suspiciously well-heeled gentleman. Any social interactions the wallet's bearer has with the public suffer a -3 penalty to their dice pool. This item costs 30 XP to produce (as Pennies from Heaven is a 2nd Level Hobo Sign).

Example of Notation of Knacks Effects:

Name (Knack Level) (Tied to: [Attribute] + [Skill]) [Controlled by [Attribute, Skill, or Knack +/- (Difficulty Alteration)]

Name: The Knack itself. If there is a (Knack Level), this is an ability which the Knack allows a character to produce. A character must have this rating to perform this specific use of the Knack.

(Tied to: [Attribute] + [Skill]) These are the Attribute and Skill which are combined in a roll to perform the Knack.

[Controlled by [Attribute, Skill, or Knack +/- (Difficulty Alteration) This is the Attribute, Skill, or Knack which determines the amount of Successes required for the Knack to succeed. Knacks are balanced against other talents.


The Artist -



“I am that which I create . . . I am a swirl of color, the dash of pen, the markings upon my body. I am the cut which rends, the seal which binds, and the forge which burns.”
Arnold Pith, Artist.

Those born on Saturday must make their ways in life, but the Artist learns to draw, carve, or paint his way to eternity. With his masteries of Inspiration, Creation, and his unique Aesthetic, an Artist can separate the essence of being into a quantifiable item. While Builders forge using Craft, Artists use a combination of their skills to produce Pygmalia, living embodiments of their spirit. Passionate, calculating, or simply through chance, the Artist uses their talent to make the world they live in a place which reflects their own design.

Tied Abilities: Breath, Bearing, Bile. Artists have strong whims; whether the Artist is in control of them or vice versa is up to the player. Most enjoy the company of the Artist, and his unique ability to place his soul within his works separates the Artist from most other Knacks.


–
Unique Ability: Aesthetic (Tied to: Breath + Creativity [Controlled by Appropriate Skill]) -

An artist may use Aesthetic to make something better than it once was. Through the use of Aesthetic, the Artist alters his own or another's Object, in effect making the Object more than it once was.

Usage: An Artist expends a single point of Destiny and focuses on an Object. Using tools appropriate to the Object, the Artist grants an additional Boon or Bane to the object if he passes an Aesthetic Test equal to the Object's Power. An Artist may only attempt an Aesthetic check on an Object if his Aesthetic rating is at the same level as the Object's Power – 1, and his rating in the appropriate Skill tied to the Object is equal to the Object's Power. The Boon or Bane granted is equal

Example: An Artist with a Breath of 3, Creativity and Craft ranks of 2, and an Aesthetic of 3 comes across a Hobo Sign (Pennies from Heaven). The magic wallet is useful, but its bane has become difficult to deal with for the Artist. Pennies from Heaven is a Level 2 Hobo Sign, and thus the Artist must have at least one point of Aesthetic. The Artist makes a roll of 5 dice, making two successes (enough to beat both the Craft and Knack requirements). The Artist succeeds in improving the wallet, reducing the effect of the Bane (to -2). If this were a definable Boon effect, the Artist could improve the Boon's power by a factor appropriate to the item.

An Artist's Aesthetic fades with time and opinion; each time the Artist applies Aesthetic to another item, he must make a Breath check against the closest enhanced item's Power. If this roll fails, the previous Aesthetic effect is lost.

Aesthetic may not be applied to the same item twice, save to replace an older version of the Aesthetic, or by a more power Artist affecting a more powerful Change.
–

Pygmalia (Skill) – (Creation 2, Tied to: Breath + Craft [Controlled by Relevant Skill + 2]). Cost: 10*(Relevant skill Rank) XP.

“A work of art is fine, but I prefer something more. . . practical.”
-Melinda Carlisle, Artist.

Pygmalia, also known as Servitors, are pieces of art made reality. The ultimate achievement of the Artist, Pygmalia are created via a ritual which can take hours or days to complete. An Artist must be focused on the creation exclusively.

A Pygmalia is akin to a Spirit made into an objet d'art. Pygmalia are the artist's will made flesh, and they provide benefits to rolls made while the Artist is in a Pygmalia's presence.

Usage: The Artist expends a Destiny point, and makes the check. Each set of rolls takes one day.

Success: If the Pygmalia is a success, the Artist has a boon companion. The creature is a homunculus with a personality similar to the Artist, but a mind-expanding knowledge of a specific skill. A Pygmalia starts with a Power of 1, and grants a bonus equal to its Power to the Artist in the relevant skill. In effect, the Pygmalia is a beneficial 'boost' Effect which can allow for a boost in a skill far and above what an individual can gain from the particular skill. A Pygmalia's maximum power is equal to the Artist's rank in the appropriate skill at creation +1.

Example: Melinda, wishing to improve her Firearms skill, creates a small cowboy figurine to serve as a Pygmalia. The Artist has a Breath of 3, Craft of 3, and Firearms of 3. The figurine will require at least 5 Successes to produce such an object, but it will have a potential to increase its power to a Power 4 Pygmalia. Each set of rolls represents one day; After four sets of rolls (unlucky Melinda) the 5 required successes are achieved. After four days the breath of life enters, and the small figurine is ready for Melinda's keychain.

Boost: A Pygmalia follows the same rules for creation, but XP costs are halved. A Pygmalia is easier to boost than create, and serves well for its creator.

–

Here's the rough for the Artist; the Hobo will hopefully be aligned. I really want this game to be very fluid; imagination is extremely important, and all powers will be considered 'guidelines'. Balance is something which the group determines, not the book. I will most likely produce the basic Knacks, a couple of Uniques, and then go from there. I am also trying to figure out a good balance for the creation of Pygmalia which operate as creatures . . . right now, it's in the head but not in the hands. All notations welcome .

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

In the last installment we discussed Bruiser, Abused, and Defender minions. Today we will discuss some of the more interesting minion types. However, 'minion' is a loaded term these days. Let us rather define Minion as 'leverage units'. Really, an enemy is an enemy, but a minion provides leverage for the Big Bad. Each minion should provide this leverage, and nothing else... no need for 1 HP, just serve as your own little unit of HP, AC, and effect.

Now, onto the three minions to discuss here:

-Aiding: These minions are the healers and squealers. Defenders protect the Bad, Aides give some assistance to help the Bad protect itself. The negative-essenced undead which provide an aura of negative-energy healing for their lich? A mage who gives some buffs to the royal villain? Aides. Aides are usually 'quiet targets'; they can be some distance away, and their skills usually lend to being less-than-stellar warriors.

-Arcane Threat: Magic Bruisers, Arcane Threats lay down a nice fat line of elemental (or other) damage. Not usually mages themselves, an Arcane Threat will break skull totems, UMD a wand, or just break open a sweet can of magic energy to cover. Arcane Threats are even weaker than Bruisers, big ol' Glass Cannons.

-Suicidal: Kamikaze threats. Think of Bombs from Final Fantasy; while an Abused provides by being damaged by others, Suicidals are walking effects waiting to trigger themselves. Exploding poisonous constructs? Check. Suicidal creatures work well with manipulative masters, serving as fanatics which can be thrown about to do damage (or other negative effects) without PC targeting.

Completion of base types... next, we'll give some hard examples.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Cross-posted on The Good Gaming Blog

As discussed in the previous article, our goal in this Lazy DMing discussion is to create a strongly flavorful, well-remembered group of mooks which will put your players and their characters in stitches. The following steps, when applied in moderation, should do just that . . .


Step 1: Make the mook's initial appearance memorable. There's a lot of jokes around the Net and in the gaming community at-large that if a character has a name and talks to the PCs that this character must be important. I find this type of metagame thinking to be untrue in most of the games I've played in because DMs and players followed this bit of advice. Minions are pe... well, they're creatures too, and they deserve to be treated as such. Minions who have good descriptive phrasing in their first reveal will stick in player's minds much more readily than just another orc with axe in chain shirt combination.

Step 2: Make Minions Disposable Wingmen. Minions are the wingmen of the PC/NPC relationship. Minions get the boss introduced to the players, check out their strengths and weaknesses, and see how best to fit their master into the plans of the PCs. Low-grade thugs work to soften up the party, expend resources, and make the villain's life easier.

Step 3: Minions Are Two-Trick Ponies. A mook should never be limited to one option in battle, but as stated previously . . . these guys are disposable. They'll be in mind for awhile, but their whole purpose is to advance a storyline and provide delicious window dressing for the player's immersion.

In essence, think of minions as interview subjects for a job. Does the minion bring something that is lacking to the company? Does the minion serve a purpose which is in-line with the goals of the company? Does the minion fit in with the general 'culture' of the company?

If these three questions can be answered yes, then you have a perfect minion. That enraged minotaur kept as a 'pet' by the dwarven merchant lord who has sent assassins against the PCs serves a purpose; it is a powerfully strong bully minion, and works great as a counterpart to the cerebral merchant lord. The minotaur serves a purpose in-line with the goals of the villain (keeping the villain alive), and fits in with the culture (minotaurs are seen as less than humanoid and are kept as slaves by those who break their will.)

A crazed, half-starved minotaur which springs from the shadows onto the PCs will be remembered for the sheer shock value, and the high percentage of such a creature, if calmed, being able to tell more about his master's plans and possibly fighting the good fight alongside the PCs cannot be ignored as motivation.

Minions are small highlights to the story. They should never be the main attraction, though they should also never be so far in the background as to just be a statblock. Without a well-planned, well-executed series of minions, the villain becomes an obelisk for PC targeting. Every story needs a good support cast, and a well thought out series of minions can serve you for sessions (or even arcs) to come with fodder for stories.

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Cross-posted with more material on The Good Gaming Blog:

But you don't get to go. Sweet computer friends... you must remain behind. Here, I give you things to read:

A Divine Wind: If you're not reading it, you should.

Tomb and Tome Lame name, starting out, but good stuff.

Chatty DM: Classic work and good times.

World in a Handful of Dice: Nitessine's blog, good stuff.

Just a few to tide you over til daddy gets home.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Good Gaming Goes Groucho,

Cross-posted on The Good Gaming Blog

I am really starting to understand the classic Marx quote (stolen from another source, so this will be fourth-rate thievery) of “I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member”. After looking at months upon months of arguments in the D&D community about Fourth Edition, I’ll go with what I’ve been thinking in this blog as concisely as possible. I know, wackiness and ‘up-to-date’ are not up to my repertoire; however, I wanted to really form a cohesive idea on what 4e does and doesn’t do ‘right’ in my eyes.

4e hit some great notes . . . the whole issue is that a lot of these things weren’t exactly new. Creature-based XP, minions, ‘bigger, better’ solo and ‘elite’ monsters, a collapsing of the rococo skill system . . . well, this has been done. House rules on these things have existed for a good period of time, and I think that they’re great house rules. Hell, they’re great concepts! They belong in D&D no matter what the stripe because they help to take some solid ideas from house rules and early iterations of D&D and place them into the limelight again.

4e also did some really bad turns. Destruction of the cosmology by major shifts, the so-called ‘spell plague’, and the direct establishment of the four roles (defender, striker, etc.) . . . it feels wrong. The problem I have with these flaws is their introduction into the main; yes, a lot of people say ‘well, you can take it or leave it’, and I agree wholeheartedly that in most situations you could do this. In the core system, however, creating all sorts of strange armors, changing the armor choices, and introducing a setting which is antithetical to the settings presented before which were well-received . . . well, it just doesn’t ring well with me.

I really hope that 4e gets nice third-party support, and that WotC gets up off of its behind to develop some good materials from older settings and maybe even a ‘non-fantasy’ version of 4e. 4e feels to me like a great interpretation in combat of wargaming, and in all honesty I think that that style has some great purposes. Hell, the setting itself could do some really good things for people . . .

But it ain’t my bag. And there should be nothing wrong with that. Whenever I bring up these points in conversation with 4e diehards I get the same thing; well, it’s only a bug to you, that really you should do this instead . . . and I get irritated. 3e and 4e have their places in the community; and as long as the OGL keeps producing good solid 3rd party materials which I can adapt to my settings 3e will be my choice. However, in specific ways (as an introduction game, as a game to emulate a world similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, etc.) I could see myself using 4e.

But I don’t want to be part of the 3e or the 4e community. I don’t want to be a grognard, or a fatbeard wannabe, or a deep fanboy for any edition. I want to be a Gamer, and bring you Good Gaming. This is why I will try to keep things very setting unspecific, so as to allow you conversion. When material was done in 3e it will be presented as such with the least amount of frills.

But don’t call me a grogger… I’m a gamer. And gaming shouldn't require a membership.

Good Gaming,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Cross-posted at The Good Gaming Blog:

As discussed in the previous entry I really wanted to give the Ostari some ‘special’ style. Their magic would still follow many of the paradigm set by classic D&D, but be presented in a unique way. Thus, I wanted to come up with specific and different paths to solutions which I saw were not present in your average D&D game. Spellcasters, overall, get a lot of nifty little tweaks and talents because of their ability to cast spells . . . however, it is the rare setting where magic isn’t seen as something which is not above the average, a power which shouldn’t be trifled with. Even in this setup it is a rarity when magic ‘rises up’ above what is presented by your average crunch and fluff configuration. A lot of people want Merlins walking around their setting . . . I usually prefer more of a scientific approach. To me, magicians of all types (divine, arcane, what have you) are utilizing energy in a way which gives power through clever efficiency. In his series The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher asks which is more impressive (and I paraphrase): a large truck which steams and throws exhaust to move a load, or a small car which does the same with only a couple of AA batteries?

I think that creative and effective use of magic relies on getting the most ‘bang for your buck’, and understanding that because magic is an energy there will always be some sort of buffer, a resistance which can be fought against (and waste energy) or given into and went with to produce smaller but effective results.

It is through this reasoning that the Grey Ways, Councilor Birds, and magebanes became integral parts of the campaign setting in which the Ostari Imperial State is derived.
I’ve enjoyed the concept of each type of magic being different. I think that psi and arcane/divine spells should be treated as two separate entities, and that resistance should not necessarily apply retroactively to each other except for at a base level. Basic Spell Resistance applies to Psychic Resistance at half-rate; a psychic can penetrate a mage’s defenses and vice versa unless each takes measures to prevent the other from gaining the upper hand. On the other side, mages would split their resources and thus require outside assistance to boost their abilities to defend against their own kind. A clever ornithologist (a talented awakener) began working on a creature which could do just this. That creature is known as a councilor bird.

Councilors look like large Kingfishers (around the size of an owl or similar) with bright blue or purple plumage. Mages take on councilors as familiars and cohorts; though unable to speak in human tongues councilors have the ability to communicate in a piercing shrill and, as mages and others who obtain them as familiars will denote, they have a very intelligent and observant way of thinking and can understand common tongues. A councilor bird’s greatest talent, however, is its sweet song. In effect, councilor birds can perform countersong as a bard of half of their master’s level. Some councilors, who are usually known as Imperial councilors, gain rudimentary spellcasting abilities. These birds usually are trained as adepts, and serve as fine henchmen to mages or others who may need a boost up against those who would attempt to charm or cajole them through the use of sonic magic.

Councilors live as long as Grey parrots, but only Imperial councilors may gain class levels, and there are a handful of these birds who actually become talented mages or bards (though do to their size they rarely use material components unless they have an aid who can present them with the materials to use).

The Grey Ways is more difficult, and derives from good ol’ fashioned spell resistance. Remember the types of spell resistance when even good effects were stopped? Yeah . . . good times. The Grey Ways and their practitioners have culled these abilities in new and frightening ways. The first skill that Grey Walkers master is the ability to protect their charges; like shield guardians (or d20 Modern Bodyguards) Grey Walkers can absorb some of the damage that their superiors would normally take (we kept with the Shield Other level of half damage). The greater talent lies in the Grey Walkers ability to manipulate its spell resistance.

Grey Walkers are required to have some form of spell resistance. Most take it through a basic route (they are treated as Hagborn) but they can impart their resistance towards a target. At first they learn to shield their master; then they learn to channel that resistance through their weapons, actually reducing a rival’s spell resistance. Next, they learn to ‘disrupt’ spells (similar to the mage slayer feat against magical concealment and AC) with focused dispelling abilities. Their greatest ability, however, is suppression of the magic items which are carried by their enemies. In all, Grey Walkers are an excellent NPC Class for the guardian of a mage, which by level 13-15 should be able to cause major problems for someone who enjoys using their Staff of Power and Robes of Awesomeness.

At some point I will present the effects presented by different Grey Walkers, and give a Level appropriate ‘replacement’ slot for the ability. Grey Walkers are never mages; rather, they serve as warriors (or, in the very rare case of a failed Sucuran initiate, psychic warriors or Book of Nine Swords styled warriors).

These are just here as concepts . . . mix and match as you will. I’m going to step away from the Ostari in the next few posts, and focus on more advice blogs and shorter posts. If you have any comments please leave those . . . I always enjoy hearing good feedback .

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Cross-posted from The Good Gaming Blog:

The Ostari: Discussions of Magic and Psionics in the Imperial States

When initially coming to terms with Ostar and its inhabitants I had a couple of key foci. The first and largest was a meritocracy built around service to the Empire and the development of the Imperial state as something greater than any other nation-state. I wanted a nation based around transhumanist ideals; to create a humanity which was greater by the establishment of cells of superhuman individuals who would serve the Imperial State and develop their own unique traits.

This vision, of course, was biting off more than I could chew . . .

However, I think that I really was able to get a lot of the ‘taste’ into the material. The Ostari court has survived uprisings, great crises, and economic collapse. The Imperial line, almost deific in its clean succession, would serve as the ideal form of this constant growth of the human condition. Science fiction (from the works of Herbert and Card) left a very heavy imprint on the surface of things . . . in a fantasy situation the Ostari would not need a finite physical resource to build their empire.
Rather than the spice they would use magic, that endless source of fancy and cool which any high fantasy uses to make the best out of the world presented. The magic involved would be something rarely seen, and the image of the robed wizard would be something out of the norm.

Most Ostari spellcasters are ‘unorthodox’ casters; warmages, beguilers, hexblades, and even the occasional Book of Nine Swords styled warrior would serve as the magocratic elite. Bards serve as attaché and ambassadors, minor nobles and the ‘court’ magicians of various fringe elements of the society. Psychics serve as an interesting element, used by those who understand psionics as a complexity (while other societies have developed a large pool of psionically inclined mystics, only the Children of Sucur serve as a group of psychics in the Imperial State). The complex mixture of mental and arcane magic helped give rise to many of the interesting objects in the Imperial; the Sucuran Guard, the breeding of the Councilor Birds, and one of the most feared talents of the Justices of Ostar; disrobing.

Disrobing is… well, it’s a scary thing for a magic-using character. The setting has checks against mages; magebane artifice, the use of Qishi and other narcotics and neural agents . . . but disrobing is a fierce thing. In essence, Justices may create an object which is inserted behind the eye of a mage and, through channeling of low levels of energy, robs a mage of his ability to cast spells. This is manifested by a low psychic ‘pulse’ and a curse effect which cannot be removed save by high level spellcasters. Mechanically, the process reduces mental scores to 9. The threat of disrobing is a nasty little bug and an excellent deterrent to PC and NPC breaking of the laws of spellcraft.

Some may say it is inappropriate to do such a horrible thing to a PC; however, the ability to retrain and earn back the breaking of the process is always presented. Many talented fighters were once disrobed, and it is possible for one to ‘beat the system’ by using Intelligence-boosting items or another’s spellcraft in the setting. It is also appropriate for PCs to have an option of capture and assured dismissal of a dangerous NPC caster rather than murder (a big no-no in such a strongly mage-friendly society).

Our next writeup will cover some of the more unique applications of this magic including Councilor Birds, and the use of the Grey.

Good Gaming,
Slainte,
-Loonook.

Loonook

Hey guys,

Since I know that there are some who are enjoying this blog I figured I would post this here before doing too much . . .

I have decided to start cross-posting Good Gaming Blog to a Blogspot account to give a little more cross-board support. I post at some other locations and would like to have a more supported community for the blog...

I will not be leaving ENWorld to the dogs. I will still post in forums, still use this area as a starting point, and include some additionals. However, Good Gaming Blog will be mostly 'new' from the blogspot account.

This blog will be cross-posted for the blogspot entries, along with including specific issues which I feel are more appropriate to the ENWorld crowd.

Hope this won't cause too much loveloss... please check out either, and if you want to Follow either way I'll be happy .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook

Ahh... really a lot of stuff happening right now, but with Good Gaming out of the way on the forums, I figured I would just start writing in the good ol' blog on things pertaining to the writeups. Now that we're getting a game up and running (19th century Mythic Earth d20 Past hodgepodge... should be fun) I'll be able to start adding pertinent articles and throw them out to my players as I see fit. With that, welcome to the blog, and I hope you have a decent read when I put things up.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook