Common OOC thread

granted, but a whole lot of fun in the process. I guess it really depends on what you are trying to get out of a roleplaying experience. I love taking characters that aren't meant to work and trying to make them interesting and fun. I find taking a classic character to be incredibly mundane and unexciting. A half-orc barbarian? What's the point? It has been done a million times over. A halfling barbarian on the other hand is rare indeed. That stats are all against you, but the character can still be fashioned in such a way that is far from useless. Similarly a character who takes a lvl in every class is nothing more than an overly eccentric bard. The bard is not as good as a straight up fighter, can't cast spells against a full mage, and doesn't have nearly the thieving ability of a straight rogue, and yet, with their versatility they become useful in every respect, able to fight when the fighter is down in order to protect the mage, able to cast spells when the mage is incapacitated giving the fighter cover from archers on the wall top, and able to infiltrate an area or disarm a trap when the rogue falls from the tree and breaks his arm. They aren't as good as the others, but the fighter can't disarm the trap (most likely) the mage is going to be hardpressed to handle multiple melee attackers in close confines (read tunnels or the like). I am just proposing that a character who takes a lvl in every class is the most versatile bard ever made. He is even more dilute than the bard, but incorporates even more abilities. He can now stabilize an unconscious ally, fight without armor while not having to fear for his ac, cast minor spells to aid in a pinch, he will have the hp to cover the mage's retreat (I know your former argument, but add it up, he would avg a d8 which isn't bad). I think it would be incredibly fun to play, and if it was me doing it, I can't imagine jerry putting the kebash on it.

I've never been one to play something as orthodox as that myself. I've rarely played as a base race, and when I have I've usually been multiclassed. The part that bothers me the redundancies you run into, how overall caster level doesn't stack. I'm planning on playing a half fiend ninja/warlock right now, but I would never pick up a level in monk unless it was truly significant to fleshing out the character. Wis bonus to AC won't stack, I have no intention of fighting unarmed and actually have natural claw attacks anyways. I don't remember if someone said so or not, someone may have said that multiclassed character get lots of extra skillpoints because of all the first levels. Just to clarify, if someone did, they don't receive the 4x modifier when picking up the multiclassed levels, though having all those class skills is nice.

I definitely agree that the "cliche archetypes" have been rendered stale. However, that's more of a "majority of players" thing and less that those race/class combinations have been used. A great way to spice up what are otherwise overused cliches is by introducing quirks that would cause you to play them differently, things that many players just don't feel comfortable doing.

The Player's Handbook actually introduces a cool version of this concept in one of its token characters, the dwarven fighter Tordek. He is Lawful Good, but has a greedy streak. Another cool example is a human monk whose order calls for chastity and purity, who happens to be an alcoholic. Or even something less extreme, like a halfling rogue who always hiccups at the worst possible moments.

Those kinds of quirks make cliche characters much more interesting and enriching, but they often create too much compromise in the eyes of players who think that such qualities reduce their overall effectiveness. Therefore, they are not willing to make that kind of commitment.

But really, the issue of staleness isn't so much the overused race/class combination, but simply the lack of personality. Although, using a cliche race/class combo can definitely contribute greatly to that end, by mentally railroading the player into not giving the character due development ("I'm playing a half-orc barbarian, might as well just stick to the stereotype and not try to make him unique even though in real life, not all half-orc barbarians are the same anyway").

In any case, while I agree with all previous points, I feel that ideally, a player doesn't use his class/race to decide the character's personality as much as use it simply to influence such. Unfortunately, it seems that players typically allow the class and race to dictate their character's personality, which has some merit (after all, they chose their profession for a reason), but shouldn't be the deciding factor.

ttbek wrote:

... I don't remember if someone said so or not, someone may have said that multiclassed character get lots of extra skillpoints because of all the first levels. Just to clarify, if someone did, they don't receive the 4x modifier when picking up the multiclassed levels, though having all those class skills is nice.

One would have to consult the Player's Handbook just to make doubly sure, but multiclassing characters definitely do not gain all the benefits of being 1st level in their new class. Of note especially is the max Hit Die for first level, and the skill points (as mentioned). But there are also many other things multiclassing characters miss out on simply because the secondary class(es) aren't/weren't their first.

I can't seem to scroll in other people's char. sheets, is it supposed to be that way?

jerry - please check the class compendium you recently sent to us. it appears that the "Wu Jen" class has the Warmage abilities still in the tables. that or i'm on drugs and trippin balls.

MeNotHolgar wrote:

jerry - please check the class compendium you recently sent to us. it appears that the "Wu Jen" class has the Warmage abilities still in the tables.

The W. Jen spell list had indeed not been updated from the Warm.ge one. Good catch Alex. It should be fixed now. The link in the Announcements thread should yield the correct copy.

ttbek wrote:

I can't seem to scroll in other people's char. sheets, is it supposed to be that way?

Are you referring to the vertical scrollbars in the various fields of people's profile character sheets? I'm not sure what is happening, but sometimes the scrollbar may still be present even if there is no further information in a certain field to scroll down over. I noticed that when I tested it out on my own. However, so far things look to be normal for me. If you can let me know of any more specific details, it'll help me figure out what is going on and, hopefully, be able to fix it.

i'm assuming he means in the little boxes. for example, in my 'skills' box, i have too much info to fit in the space provided, so it put the scroll bar for that specific box.

i am unable to scroll in ttbek's char sheet individual boxes. though, it is also significantly wider because the information in the description is very long. the trick around this is to highlight and drag downwards (or up) in the smaller boxes. this will bypass the scroll bar and just highlight while scrolling. the font seems kinda weird in ttbek's char sheet as well. did you copy/paste or something? add shadow? i don't know, it seems weird though.

and not to keep bugging you about stuff, but is there a full description for Ruthven to go in the 'Adventuring Group' thread?

EDIT: I am able to scroll in the small boxes in my own, and everyone else's, character sheets on here. just not ttbek's.

Well, I can scroll on my own and on one other persons (I forget which one), but not on anyone elses. Yeah, I got around it at the time. I actually typed the background there originally, but then I copied it over to my character sheet to sent to Boomer, but then I deleted it by accident and had to copy paste it back the other way. There is not a full description at the moment, I'll probably write one after I finish my last math assignment (which will probably not be until Tuesday).

I checked a bit, and they work if I access the sheets from the groups section, but not when I go to someone's from the forum, like if I click on the Alex's Character link.

ttbek wrote:

I checked a bit, and they work if I access the sheets from the groups section, but not when I go to someone's from the forum, like if I click on the Alex's Character link.

Confirmed.

Jerry - thanks for the desc. updates!

sorry for my absence. I've been busy preparing for China. More to come later.

long story short, I get to beijing on June 11th, so I probably can't do anything substantial before then, 'cause of all the packing and stuff.

Sigh..... you noobelf. continue our story.

Attn: All

Please check the Announcements and Updates thread for some important information!

yessir!

Edit: If all elves do end up looking like chickens, you may see me in one of those noted dark alleyways

at least you'd be a dark chicken? wait... would that mean that sea-elves would become tuna? (chicken of the sea?!)

rofl! idk..... maybe dark chicken have some amazing abilities to....... taste bad. so nobody wants to eat or touch them. i'd be like i have a sanctuary spell cast on me 24/7! w00t!

don't we already have dark-meat and light-meat chicken? I mean, it all comes from the same chicken, but...who knows, on Novemterra maybe things work differently.

btw: i'll post in the storyline as soon as i have time -- right now i'm sleeping, working, eating, and repeating.

Note to all: I just distributed an XP report. Let me know if you did not get a PM!

2nd Note: The current XP number i gave you does not include any extra bonuses I gave you via previous PMs. Add those in to get your actual current total.

Hello Everyone, this is important!!!

(But apparently not important enough for me to use my bold, red color, larger size goodness I typically use. Kidding.)


News Items (in efficient bullet format)

• The Novemterra Race and Class revisions are well under way!
  
• Above said revisions do not just include cosmetic changes!
  
• In recent PMs to you guys I gave you XP info and some pre-cursory race revision info. That race revision info is now OUT OF DATE. Do not follow it!
  
• You will be asked to revise your character when the above revised material becomes available. This is a change from before when I said that you had the option of not revising your character if you did not want to. Sorry! Incentive will be granted upon completion of this request.
  
  
• Races: Six playable races will be available for Shells 1 through 8, providing 48 playable races! (sorry, Shell 9 will not be available in any Novemterra campaign)
  
• Classes: There is a total pool of 24 character classes. Each Shell (1-8) supports 10 of these 24! Racial favored classes have become part of the revision - it wouldn't make sense for a monster race to have a favored class not featured on its Shell, would it?
  
  
• Novemterra plane/dimension cosmology is also under development!
  
• Languages on Novemterra are also being revised!
  
  
• Play Testing: You all implicitly agree to be my guinea pi- play testers for this newly revised material. Subsequent revisions to these Race and Class compendiums will be only for noted game balance issues that you guys provide feedback for, and for cases in which typographical errors were made.
  

Fun times!

I have no problem scrolling in character sheets whether I link from the forum or from groups. Has this been fixed for everyone or am I unique in having no problems?

You are are unique..., I just clicked on the link to yours right here and couldn't scroll.

Well, I always knew I was special Guess my computer is just that much better. j/p What browser are you running that its giving you problems? I'm running Mozilla and I don't see a strange font for your sheet and I have no problems scrolling in anyone's sheet. Can't help ya cause I can't see the problem

lol cool! more work for me!

Firefox is basically the [!]. if you don't have it, get it now.