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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 5409309" data-attributes="member: 2">So, this was a fun game. Some comments from my side of the screen:- Damn, that beholder (aka wizard golem) went down quickly. It never got to go between the time it was bloodied and the point it died, and it died just before the 21 pts of ongoing damage kicked in at the beginning of its turn. I love having four strikers in the party. Combats move quickly and it's just enough to get them in lots of trouble. - The "do something cool" cards remain a great way to remind heroes that they aren't limited to their powers. In this case, I decided that they could nullify the "beholder"'s central eye (aka Caducity's screams) by snapping the mithral chain that acted as the control mechanism and which bound the beholder/golem to the spot. I was already a little squiffy on a monster power that limits PCs to at-wills only, and this seemed like a good compromise. - I liked the idea of a dangerous ritual to let Logan change his class. He and I spoke about the class change ahead of time, and this both helps the player and does wonderful things to upcoming plot. A win-win. -I had two handouts which said the same thing, but I had my MD/Ph.D. friend Bandeeto re-write one of them. Believe it or not, the following says "divine magic items tend to be dedicated to a God, magical and psionic items tend to have their own personalities, but primal relics are blank slates that can be imprinted upon." He did such a good job that I had to provide an easier-to-understand translation because even I couldn't read it. [sblock=First handout]It has long been supposed that extranormal morphogeneic kinesthetic artifactual realizations (EMKAR) derive primary imprinting at coalescence. The basis for these conclusions derive primarily from the many manuscripts authored by D_, in which he claims to demonstrate ethocentric ego collapse via hyper-real psychoetheric analysis (HRPA). Unfortunately these arguments fail to recognize the crucial theist and planidirectional vectors inherent in the global philosomatrix, which render unstable the results of psychoetheric analysis. The field has been further obscured by E_'s ill-considered attempts at retrograde primary components analysis (RPCA), in which a non-representative sample of available EMKARs was undertaken, and uniformly demonstrated highly flexible philosomatrices experiencing proximity-based aura shifts. To avoid further obfuscation in this area, I have now analyzed the full spectrum of EMKAR primacy, using exhaustive multi-vector probes and verifying the conclusions with an independent, blinded panel of EMKARs isolated from proximity effects and deiplanar fields. These studies suggest a tripartite categegorical schema that may be used to classify EMKAR philosomatrices. EMKARs whose coalescence vectors are theodominant display a crystalline weave structure closely aligned to their unique deisphere. In contrast, thaumodominant vector influences lead, as a rule, to pseudo-random egowave collapse. The steady state thereby obtained exhibits remarkable philosomatriceal rigidity, albeit an order of magnitude removed from that observed in theodominant EMKARs. Finally, EMKARs coalescing with primal planidirectivity exhibit exclusively vitreous egoconduits which undergo thaumoquantum period realignment subject to individual proximity auras. This schema may be used to properly classify EMKAR philosomatriceal behavior in any environment, and constitutes a novel and comprehensive reworking of the current paradigm regarding this widely misunderstood topic.[/sblock]Yikes. That's an unusual handout as it's only there to show that Tanis Riverlimb was a big jerk who ripped pages out of books. And because it amused me! The second handout was more plot-relevant and full of important clues.[sblock=Second handout]While arcane construction tends to resist moral and ethical absorption through self-repairing ablative ego determination, divine and psychic artifacts tend towards self-determined principles that are integrated into their psycho-magical weave from initial creation. They seldom, as one might say in the vernacular, "change horses in mid-stream." Not so with self-aware primal relics. My research has shown that these have a high probability of becoming moral "sponges," as it were, that quickly absorb and respond to their bonded wielder's core sets of philosophical belief. As such, given a certain baseline level of raw power, it is possible to observe the degradation or self-improvement of a living experimental subject by remotely monitoring the emotional state of its primal accoutrements.Interestingly, it is possible and often desirable to strip such an item of its ongoing moral resonance and reset it, neutralize it, or realign it with a more suitable user. This should only be undertaken by a skilled alchemist with fast reflexes.To do so you will need two drams of entropic acid, three peryton tears, a dropper of stale roper bile, and a salve made from the pulverized heartroot of a shambling mound. Mix all ingredients except for the tears carefully and apply to the item. Use gloves. Place the item upon an otherwise bare altar in the middle of the divine wheel. Stand beside the altar, facing the shrine of the God whose portfolio the item's current personality most mirrors. Utter the Creator's Prayer for exactly 30 seconds, with two seconds of praise per God, rotating from each shrine to the next as the chant continues. Relics may experience minor physical change during this cleansing.At the end of the prayer apply the three peryton tears to the item. Manifestation of a  physical change is normal at this point, and shows that the ritual is proceeding as expected. Lift the object and quickly place upon the shrine of a God whose divine personality you wish the item to adopt. Pray for holy acceptance; approximately five seconds of prayer will clear an object's residual taint and leave it stripped clean of moral or ethical predilection, while twelve seconds will form a future connection between the primal relic and the principles espoused by the deity in question.Cleansing spoiled items can prove to be highly efficacious. Any existing tracking spells are inevitably born away and dispersed, and the item's links (if any) to previous owners are neutralized completely. [/sblock]The goal? To tell the PCs "Hey, you have a dangerous evil sword that the bad guys want! You can nullify it if you want to. C'mon, you want to. Honest." I had to bribe them with an extra action point to do it immediately, but I have kind and understanding players.I love handouts. Even when they're incidental to the plot, they're still fun.</blockquote>

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