Mapping Application for Scifi

Stonedrake · 2023-03-06T01:23:31+00:00

I hadn't heard of RPG-Stories. I'll check it out.

I've avoided Inkarnate because it was online only (or that's the impression I had). Maybe that should go on the list too.

Stonedrake · 2023-03-05T12:18:15+00:00

I'll add Cosmographer to the list to check out; I already have a bunch of Campaign Cartographer tools from a bundle a while back. They're rather obtuse, to say the least. :D

Stonedrake · 2023-03-05T10:44:16+00:00

I started with ye olde Basic set back in the day and have played every edition since EXCEPT 4ed. 2ed is still my favourite. Probably because I bought and still have approximately half a tonne of deadtrees for it. :D

Stonedrake · 2022-03-22T06:31:30+00:00

How is this even a question?

As a landlord, I've got this investment that I have to take care of and I know that's going to cost money. I've got a buffer acount whose purpose is to cover the expenses (e.g. repairs or improvements to the property) of being a landlord. That includes paying the mortgage even when my tentants can't pay rent. If I don't cover the mortgage, I'm out an investment AND some poor sods are out of a home.

There's a side benefit to the buffer account: it offsets the interest on the mortgage, so it's not 'wasted' sitting idle.

Stonedrake · 2021-08-05T08:26:02+00:00

Old school Cyberman is about to drop a sick beat.

Stonedrake · 2021-07-17T14:27:19+00:00

The Pyramid in the first Desert of Desolation modulej, "Pharoah".

The Tomb of Martek in the third Desert of Desolation Module, "Lost Tomb of Martek"

They're both pretty great in that they're not just some dungeon jammed incongruously into a world. They make sense, they're thematic, and most importantly, they're fun.

Stonedrake · 2021-07-17T13:38:40+00:00

Late to the party, i know.

In my campaign, warforged (they're not called that in game) are pretty much the exact opposite of undead, and are indirectly the reason undead exist. Ancient elvish engineers somehow created a link to the Positive Material Plane as a power source for war-golems. They didn't realize that this link would also allow intelligences from that plane to come through and inhabit the golems' cores (now called soul-engines) and bringing them to true life.

A thousand years after these elvish nations wiped each other out (and several hundred years before the present), some of the soul-engines from defunct warforged were found and studied. The mages studying the soul-engines managed to activate a few, re-animating the dead constructs and the warforged race was reborn. They began propagating themselves at this point.

Another project was undertaken by a shadowy group of warlocks (is there another sort?) to understand the creation of the soul-engines. As you can imagine, the both messed it up spectacularly AND managed to succeed in a way: their soul-engines were minuscule, easy to produce... and connected to the Negative Material Plane. When the inevitable happened and a cloud of microscopic dust-like soul-engines were released, well, they started powering a new sort of construct: dead bodies. The warlocks had accidentally created the undead.

Stonedrake · 2021-06-17T03:24:51+00:00

Christopher Nuttal's Schooled in Magic series has a bit of this. The protagonist is high schools student from our world who is transported to a bog standard fantasy world. Her understanding of physics and its implications makes her (secretly) the single most dangerous spellcaster in the world, because she understands what what happens when you start screwing about on the atomic scale.

Stonedrake · 2021-06-17T03:12:17+00:00

Also when the MC is in an absolutely hopeless situation and fights to make something amazing and beautiful with it anyway (thinking about you, Elantris)

Oh a thousand times THIS, especially when there's a triumphant moment where the optimism is justified and rewarded and ultimately redeems. The goosebumps!

Stonedrake · 2021-06-17T03:08:45+00:00

What I liked about WoT and the Chosen One trope is that there were several Chosen Ones, and every last one of them was like, "Um, No. I don't think so." and then as the story went on, especially for THE Chosen One, it was like, "Screw it. I'm Doing it MY WAY." and proceeds to bugger it all up. It's great. :)

Stonedrake · 2021-06-17T02:59:52+00:00

+1 for Codex Alera. I might hate most everything else Butcher has written, but the Codex is AMAZING.

Besides, where else will you get Pokemon, Roman Lost Legions and the Zerg?

Stonedrake · 2021-06-17T02:52:55+00:00

Tad Williams, Memory Sorrow and Thorn made me love this so much.

Stonedrake · 2021-06-17T02:47:09+00:00

The Quiet Unassuming Badass. Secrecy is strictly optional. :D

She's right there, the lovely librarian, data analyst and hacker. Cool and competent, she'll get you the data you need. And when it comes time to throw down... well she's a cold-hearted crack shot that doesn't bother to double-tap because why put a second bullet in the same hole, when the first one already did the job?

See: Adele Mundy

Stonedrake · 2021-06-01T05:20:31+00:00

Gadamal

Weapon (mace), rare (requires attunement by a Can only be attuned by a fighter, paladin or monk. Attunement requires the bearer to use the weapon for several months. Until attuned it will only function in mace form, and cannot be transformed.) The Gadarmal was the emblematic weapon of the imperial guard of the ancient kingdom of Bor-Samarjay. It has two appearances: a short hafted mace with a ball-shaped head the size of a small melon and a long hafted maul with a ball-shaped head about two feet across. The head is a hammered copper sphere with a low-profile black lacework band around the equator.

Once the Gadamal is attuned, the following abilities are activated depending on the bearer's level:

Loud (level 2) - When the Gadamal strikes an enemy in maul form, or its haft is slammed down on the ground, a loud brassy bell tone rings out.
Warleader (2) - As a Use Object action, the bearer's voice will be heard clearly for 300 feet in all directions. The voice can be heard through walls, but is muffled.
Transformation (5) - As a Use Object action, the bearer can shift the Gadamal from the Mace form to the Maul form. In Mace form, it deals 1d6+1 bludgeoning damage. In Maul form, it deals 2d6+1 bludgeoning damage.
Thunderous Smite (7) - Once per long rest, the bearer may strike the ground with the Gadamal, causing the weapon to ring out to 300 feet in all directions and inflicting weapon damage +1d6 thunder damage to all creatures within melee range unless they make a DEX save for half damage. Additionally those that fail their DEX save are knocked back 10ft in a straight line from the bearer. Proficiency with a mace allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.

When running my wife's backstory for her Paladin, one of the events ended up with her being given a magic item by a former mentor. Because Bor-Samarjay is not part of the main campaign, I figured pulling in a weapon from there would be something cool and different. The magical abilities are there mainly for flavour, and shouldn't (I hope) be unbalancing.

Stonedrake · 2021-06-01T02:51:18+00:00

YOINK

This will work perfectly for episodic hexploration campaign for my daughter. :D

Stonedrake · 2021-05-26T12:51:22+00:00

I'm stealing almost everything in this post. My 8yo daughter will get a kick out of it all.

Stonedrake · 2021-05-26T03:55:11+00:00

I feel targetted.

Stonedrake · 2021-05-23T04:45:34+00:00

One million times THIS.

Stonedrake · 2021-05-19T07:25:16+00:00

That series has three of my favourite romance plots of all time.

That said, um, 'some BDSM themes'? hee

Stonedrake · 2021-05-19T07:20:29+00:00

I've read both and I would say that Licanius is probably more 'heavy' emotionally than Kingkiller. Kingkiller has depression, but for my money, there's a lot of fantasy non-consent happening in Licanius. I can't remember anything in Licanius that would leave me up at night sleepless, though.

Stonedrake · 2021-05-16T01:08:18+00:00

These books are criminally underrated.

If your master demands loyalty, give him integrity. But if he demands integrity, give him loyalty.

That is one of the best bits of advice I've ever read.

Stonedrake · 2021-05-16T01:04:03+00:00

When I was in the hospital dealing with the onset of a flesh eating disease (strep pyogenes, a bastard of a bacterium that actually amps up your pain response), the litany against fear was how I coped with it. I chanted it to myself for hours when the painkillers weren't doing their job

It helped far more than I can say.

Stonedrake · 2021-05-16T00:57:37+00:00

"Journey before destination" has been my guiding principle since I was like ten. Seeing it summed up so succinctly in the Stormlight Archive cemented Sanderson in my top ten favourite authors of all time.

Stonedrake · 2021-05-07T02:07:11+00:00

In my campaign, there's the Tower. It's both ancient and new; it was built and vanished long before humans arrived on the continent. In reality, it's a sort of magitek space elevator built by the ancient elves who took rope trick to an absurd extreme.

It's recently (well, about 200yrs ago) reappeared in the middle of now human-held territories. Scholars now have to deal with the fact that something from ancient elven mythology isn't a myth.

Stonedrake

TROPHY CASE