New Confessions: The Down & Under Adventurer

[Tewligan]

What did you not like about the sunrod? That it was alchemical, or that it had 30' bright and 30' shadowy illumination, which is slightly better than a Light spell (and the same as a hooded lantern)?

For me, I don't like the sunrod because it just doesn't have the D&D feel that I like, honestly. Cost doesn't really matter (except that it makes them so damn available), or how much light it puts out - what bugs me is that, instead of using magic or the the old-fashioned torch or lantern, the adventureres just bust out an alchemical flashlight, and they're good to go. No worrying about gusts of wind, dropping it, getting too close to flammable things, etc. It's just a way of handwaving away any inconveniences associated with the need for light, in a way that's very jarring for me. I realize that a lot of people like that style, but I guess that's just one of the ways that I'm kind of stuck in the old-school style!

 

[Scott_Rouse]

Its not my job to write articles for the mainstream fans of the most popular pnp rpg on the market. If it was though, I would certainly take it more seriously and write things the audience wants, things which would be informative, and which would ultimately aid in increasing sales of the upcoming new product.

One Sitara does not an audience make.

 

[TerraDave]

not hong...but not bad...

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

I don't see that having a two handed weapon adding an AC bonus is going to significantly violate that principle?

Well, at 20th level, does a Staff of Ultimate Defense have +5 AC?

Can you also get a Cloak of Ultimate Defense that (in addition to the bonus to defenses) gives another +5 AC?

Can a defender get a Longsword of Defense with an AC bonus, on top of his extra AC from a shield? If so, at level 20, he has an AC of 10 (base) + 10 (level) + 8 (armor) + 2 (dex) + 5 (armor enchant) + 5 (weapon enchant) + 5 (cloak enchant) + 2 (shield) = 47. He gets 15 points of AC just from enchantments.

This IS in fact a kind of important deviation from the principle that your ONLY permanent magic bonus to AC comes from your armor. It would make it a lot harder to figure out the baseline for a low-magic game.

Of course, this may be overblown conjecture, and the "of defense" might not scale up at all and/or only be available on staves and/or not stack with shields, making it far less of an issue. But it's still strange.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Y
This one upgraded her to "Four Beers" status.

http://xkcd.com/322/

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I just want to make an official linguistic note:

"Mate" is only pluralised when you are actually talking about your friends. "These are me mates", for instance.

You cannot pluralise it as a form of address! Quit getting your idea of Australian slang from Outback Steakhouse menus! (They do the same thing.)

I'm just saying.

 

[frankthedm]

Hippogriff eggs are worth 2,000 gp apiece on the open market, while young are worth 3,000 gp each. Professional trainers charge 1,000 gp to rear or train a hippogriff.

Hmm at least a 75% reduction in the cost of a flying mount. Verrry interesting. We may see a lot more mounted aerial combat this edition. I’m non to thrilled about PCs having that pillow made of ½ their hp as a negative HP parachute, but at least they will be up there..

 

[Ktulu]

One Sitara does not an audience make.

Amen to the Rouse! I, for one, love her articles. They're very light-hearted and it really feels like she loves what she's doing and enjoys writing about what she loves.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Lackhand]

http://xkcd.com/322/

You're welcome.

 

[The Little Raven]

If, as you claim, you can easily produce material of significantly higher quality and relevance than Ms. Mazzanoble I feel I need to ask the following questions:

• Why is your original and secondary post on the matter not chock full of fun to read and wittily rendered relevant criticisms of the material?
• Why are you not already writing columns for WotC? Presumably they would pay you more than they are currently paying Shelly for her talent.
• Why have you not yet provided clear examples of your greater capability and talent with the written word?

Exactly. The people that claim they can do better, but don't actually demonstrate it, are all talk and no game. Sure, you can claim to write better than people who actually get things published, but until you actually produce something of substance that supports your claim, you're just blowing hot air.

I see this all the time in the video game industry. Fans and amateurs claim to be able to make better games than professional developers, and also claim to be able to overcome problems that no professional developer has overcome to date, and yet the vast majority of them don't even have a basic portfolio of work to show when asked (despite the vast amount of free development kits and software).