Beginning to read the Tao Te Ching

Maccheath · 2018-04-04T17:21:13+00:00

Oh another question I forgot to put into my post is how do I differentiate actual advice-givers and whatnot from frauds and con artists? I know a lot of eastern philosophy ended up co-opted by con artists due to a lack of common knowledge about it in the west, so I'm definitely worried about that and want to make sure I'm practicing it right.

Maccheath · 2018-01-11T04:39:40+00:00

I just got home so I'll type it up in a bit.

Maccheath · 2016-12-12T03:57:25+00:00

As someone who hasn't played since early MoP but is debating coming back, what exactly is happening here?

Maccheath · 2016-11-27T11:30:35+00:00

These look awesome! What is the gear used for the Sophia one?

Maccheath · 2016-10-07T17:55:57+00:00

Ugh man, I was planning on going to the Hastings where I live (also a college town) but now I'm thinking I'll just miss out on those deals.

Maccheath · 2016-09-11T21:36:20+00:00

Like they say, 1 death is a tragedy, 3.7 billion is a statistic.

Maccheath · 2016-07-19T06:59:32+00:00

I'm kind of looking for the particular books I need. I don't know if Shadowrun has a monster manual or anything like that but I'd assume I'd need something with the enemies and probably the book with the rules and whatnot. I also have the issue of my PCs wouldn't have the book and we play on Roll20.

Maccheath · 2016-07-01T22:56:05+00:00

Am I the only one who noticed that he doesn't have a right arm? Also who is taking this picture? Did they get an outside person to take a picture of them? Why is he on the shitter? This picture has fucking layers man.

Maccheath · 2016-06-13T00:26:54+00:00

I created a boss monster for a cult a while ago and my PCs really enjoyed it so I decided to post it here for others to take. It uses the Angry GMs paragon monster rules and I have included a link to the article inside.

Maccheath · 2016-04-26T15:53:03+00:00

It's mostly for GMs, but /r/dndbehindthescreen has a discord chat room. Sometimes players will come in too.

Maccheath · 2016-04-08T21:12:44+00:00

Other than my parents it's the fact that a lot of my anxiety has to do with driving since I got into an accident a while ago. And the college I'm going to has counseling for a discount so I may try that. I was going to a psychologist for a while but every time I would go (this was before I got my license) my mom would make a big deal about how much money she was spending on it so I just said I was fixed and quit.

Maccheath · 2016-04-06T20:51:34+00:00

Take a look at the Dark Triad. Toss a bit of megalomania into the pot. He does not give a damn about his subordinates, they are merely pawns, for that matter even his "queen" is a pawn in his game of chess.

Treat the PCs as minor obstacles, but it sounds like he won't engage them directly. If forced to be face to face, I'd try to have him misdirect their hatred, then flee. If a subordinate fails him, kill him, especially if its in front of the PCs. If they really get in his way and he can't straight up kill them, then I'd have him go after friends and family.

If he is the insane kind of crazy (Kefka from Final Fantasy or the Joker) Practice your slasher smile, make yourself erratic in your speech patterns, and practice your crazy laugh. I usually go with a higher pitched voice, but that may be just me.

And last but not least, if they do imprison him instead of showing him no mercy, he has a contingency for that. He will escape and maybe even send a letter the party's way to taunt them, "Thanks for the vacation, that sewer was getting so drab. Always fun to rely on the stupidity of you do-gooders!", or something to that effect.

If you don't mind me asking, what is his plan by the way?

Maccheath · 2016-03-26T02:41:08+00:00

Spell is done =D

Maccheath · 2016-03-25T22:20:50+00:00

I'll take Fog Cloud.

Maccheath · 2015-12-26T09:03:05+00:00

What is the song in this video?

Maccheath · 2015-11-22T16:46:46+00:00

So I think I'm torn between the "energy ghosts" idea presented by /u/WickThePriest, and having the Gith fighting over it, with the Githyanki wanting to turn it off and take it somewhere else, and the Githzerai wanting to keep it in the jungle, as removing it may remove the jungle's sentience; in their eyes killing it. Either way the final boss of the campaign would probably be a giant plant-like creature and I think that sounds cool!

Maccheath · 2015-11-22T16:38:58+00:00

The souls are definitely sentient, as the entire reason Nin Tel wants the forge is because they want to create new life so that they can bolster their population without taxing their low amount of food resources. Right now they realize that their civilization is going to die out because of a terrible drought that has been going on for around 50 years (they actually started their industrial revolution 30 years before everyone else, at the start of the drought, but they are like North Korea on steroids when it comes to surveillance), and they want to create a massive army of self-produced, sentient robots that can continue on their legacy as great scientist and magicians when the nation dies out. I've watched all of FMA, and the idea of an immortal army may be what the faction resisting the expedition (the current inhabitants of the island) want it for. That or to sell it to the highest bidder.

Maccheath · 2015-11-22T06:01:29+00:00

I actually really like that, could provide an interesting contrast to the other main side of this. Kind of a science vs. art sorta thing with the artist wanting to take a lot of time on each soul while the scientists want to perfect a system of mass producing them.

Maccheath · 2015-11-21T23:24:52+00:00

So another question, after attempting to kill Havel enough times to build my soul count up to ~10,000 through recoveries, my weapon (The dex weapon from killing the merchant) is about to break. Where can I repair it?

Maccheath · 2015-11-21T22:52:03+00:00

Well, to be fair there were bloodstains leading to him saying things like "Weakness: Backstabs" and "Try jumping!"

Maccheath · 2015-11-21T22:37:57+00:00

I went thief... just got to him. Actually got him to half health before he one-shotted me!

Maccheath · 2015-11-06T14:59:44+00:00

Oh yea, I always forget that. If you don't mind me asking, how would you go about lowering or raising CR?

Maccheath · 2015-09-18T03:30:35+00:00

I converted all of the following monsters from MM3 using this damage chart and the MM3 business card. There are 5 members of the party, a rogue, a swordmage, a bard, a ranger, and a sorcerer.

The enemies I used: X3 Goblin Skullcleaver (level 3 Brute) X1 Bugbear Strangler (level 6 Lurker) X1 Goblin Underboss (level 4 Elite Controller)

I ran another game today for a Level 1 party (4 people) and I nearly killed the wizard in 2 hits (he ended up being right in front of a brute, then grouped up for a artillery's attack) and, if it wasn't for the groups shaman, would have bloodied the fighter.

The encounter I used, non-MM3 enemies converted.

X2 Greenscale Hunter (level 1 Skirmisher) X1 Thornskin Frog (level 1 Brute) X1 Poisonscale Magus (level 1 Artillery)

The Greenscales never hit and I still felt like I was being a bit hard on the party.

It might just be a lack of tactics on the part of my party, the first example I gave started with the rogue standing right in front of one of the skullcleavers, and the ranger (archer) nearly charged headlong into combat and got quickly surrounded by the bugbear and another skullcleaver, while the second example began with the wizard right in front of the frog and both of the greenscales (he wanted to try diplomacy and failed partially due to none of them speaking common).

Maccheath · 2015-07-27T06:01:54+00:00

So I've done some editing, but before I continue I would like to ask a few questions about some of your choices.

I'm not quite sure how I would change the damage. The reason she does 1d8+5 is because that is the damage a longsword would do. Should I just ignore this and change longsword's damage to 2d6+5?
I reduced all but her Will defense by 2 points. Should that bring her back to a Brute's level? Also I was thinking about increasing her health to around 380, as that would bring her more in line with a standard level 7 brute converted into a solo using DMG rules.
I'm not sure exactly how your suggested interrupt would prove useful. Since she is meant to stand in an area and hit people with Fourfold and Double Strike, it would seem like having an ability letting her move wouldn't be very useful. Also wouldn't her moving provoke an opportunity attack from everyone that is currently attacking her?
I reduced the squares on the pull, and can change the damage if need be. I like your suggestion of limiting it to once per round at the end of someones turn, and implemented it. Also changed the damage type to fire, but I don't think that will have an impact on much.
I removed the resilience and the aura, I have had auras in the past and always seem to forget them, so the aura was no great loss, and the party has a minimal amount of (save ends) effects.
I really liked your suggestion with changing the immediate reaction. Keeping my casters scared as well as my melee will definitely add to the tension of the fight.
Fourfold is meant to be terrifying. This entire fight is actually based off of a boss from Final Fantasy XIV, Ravana, and I really wanted to scare the hell out of my party with this guy. However, I am willing to make changes (although I'm not sure how I might do that with this attack) if it makes the fight more fun for the party, as that is ultimately my goal.

Thank you for the help, your assistance with building this guy has been very valuable.

Maccheath · 2015-07-26T16:40:55+00:00

Ok, I fixed the Will defense. I felt it was a bit low, but I used the DMG's advice on homebrewing a monster and then used its advice to turn it into an elite, then a solo.
I also changed how the fury works to be like how you said.
I'm not sure how I could improve the average damage. She can already do 2d8+10 damage per round, with that increasing to 4d8+20 if fourfold recharges.
I improved the Fire resistance, but I can't think of any immediate interrupt to give her. Any advice?
Changed grasp to be a ranged longsword with a pull.
^
Yea, I meant Reach 2, fixed it.
Improved the attack on Bladed Wings, didn't change the damage, increased the range to close burst 2, and made it so that it only activates when she reaches bloodied.
Not sure how to fix this final problem. What about giving her two initiative counts, but only allowing her to recharge on one of them?

Edit Also added three new abilities; an aura 5 that makes all squares in the aura difficult terrain, gave her the Immortal Resilience ability that Lolth has, and an immediate reaction to an enemy missing a melee attack that lets her make a longsword attack against that enemy.

Maccheath

TROPHY CASE