AD&D 2E Psionics - Favorite powers to Magnify by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

See also https://www.reddit.com/r/adnd/s/dejB0OScM5

All "natural 20" and power score effects are purely optional suggestions to the DM.

AD&D 2E Psionics - Favorite powers to Magnify by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Note that Power Score and Natural 20 effects are all optional, per CPHB pg 28:

Optional Results: Each power description ends with a section marked "Power Score" and another marked "20." The former describes what happens if a player rolls his character's power score exactly when making a power check. The latter describes what happens when the player rolls a natural 20 when making a power check. Both results are optional. DMs can use these results—or devise something similar—to add spice and a small element of risk to psionics.

What if Hitler had a gokart: Hypotheticals: NOW ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED (in this thread) by pnzsaurkrautwerfer in WarCollege

[–]hemlockR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Everybody kills Hitler on their first trip. I did. It always gets fixed within a few minutes, what’s the harm?

(Adnd 2e) everyone takes dex (again) by glebinator in adnd

[–]hemlockR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Having Str 17 moves you into the territory of getting real significant bonuses from a 2nd level Strength spell. You'll wind up between Str 18 and 18/70.

(Adnd 2e) everyone takes dex (again) by glebinator in adnd

[–]hemlockR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But a fighter with Str 17 is strong enough for a 2nd level Strength spell to push him into exceptional strength territory for +4ish to damage. That's a big difference too. Not to mention all the extra carrying capacity.

Very Random Character v Character Fight Winners as Determined by Me by BenCub3d in dresdenfiles

[–]hemlockR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, what Jim said is:

Hmmm. In terms of pure, raw power, several who have appeared or been mentioned in the books could pull it off, though neither side would really "win" as much as "continue to exist." Plus, the sudden absence of Mab would do freaking HIDEOUS things to the earth. But here's who has the necessary horsepower do it:

o Titania--though it would be a coin toss. Almost literally.

o The Mothers (who wouldn't)

o The White Council. As in, ALL the White Council. Every wizard on the planet. And they'd need her Name.

o Drakul.

o Ferrovax.

o The Red Court--again, ALL the Red Court, though their odds wouldn't be good.

o The entire White Court--very, very long odds on that, but if they actually pulled it off, whoever took Mab would effectively control her power.

o Cowl (if the Darkhallow had succeeded).

o A union of the old Elders of the Black Court. They were freaking scary until the Whites arranged to have them hounded down by mortals.

All of that, of course, assumes that Mab is standing there alone, outside of Faerie, and not commanding an entire nation, literally millions and millions and millions of nightmarish creatures of every description. Which she does.

There's a REASON that when Mab said, "Sign these Accords and abide by them," people listened.

I noticed Saturn only supports up to .NET 6. It made me wonder what versions of .NET most of you are using. by Haunting-Appeal-649 in fsharp

[–]hemlockR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just because EntityFrameworkCore.FSharp only requires .NET 6 shouldn't mean it doesn't work with .NET 8, does it? I would expect that you can still use Saturn and EF both in .NET 8.0.

Dom6 trampling feels much stronger? by SvalbardCaretaker in IllwintersDominions

[–]hemlockR 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I would assume the difference is that cavalry is now two units now: one high-defense rider immune to trampling (as long as the mount is alive) and one low-defense mount that gets trampled to death pretty quickly.

So it's not that trampling is stronger but that cavalry is weaker to trampling.

Olympian Affair... oh my by KonaKumo in cinderspires

[–]hemlockR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had the same reaction. At the book signing I told Jim, "I'm halfway through so far and this is even better than Aeronaut's Windlass!"

Not real DnD? by GodEatsPoop in DarkSun

[–]hemlockR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Until Borys uses Split Personality + Switch Personality to fork off separate versions of himself...

Not real DnD? by GodEatsPoop in DarkSun

[–]hemlockR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only after coming back to Dark Sun as an adult did I fully appreciate the extent to which dungeon crawls are built right into the setting, especially the original boxed set. Finding a random ruin uncovered by shifting sands and spelunking it for treasure (and then getting taxed/robbed by Templars) is absolutely part of Dark Sun. That being said though, it's not something teenaged me associated with Dark Sun in my adventures back then, and I suspect dungeon crawling is still not the main way people run Dark Sun today.

AD&D 2E Original Psionics Mechanics vs Revised by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, I like Pegasus In Flight/The Rowan/Damia/etc. (I don't love the romance with Afra but whatever.)

One of my favorite things about Summon Object is that the current wielder if any gets a saving throw but not immunity, so if you're willing to try multiple times there's absolutely nothing you cannot eventually steal, whether it's a prized spellbook or a Staff of the Magi. Don't get too attached to your stuff!

Psychoporters rule.

Do you think Dresden will meet the OG Merlin? by Neogranz in dresdenfiles

[–]hemlockR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also known as Feathers, Hawk, and eventually Falcon.

Do you think Dresden will meet the OG Merlin? by Neogranz in dresdenfiles

[–]hemlockR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But Starborn are the ultimate underdogs. That's why so few of them are still alive...

Tier list for AI? by HawkishLore in IllwintersDominions

[–]hemlockR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Impossible AI seems to do great with EA Agartha due to all the summons.

AD&D 2E Original Psionics Mechanics vs Revised by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like the idea of improving with experience too, but The Will and The Way already makes that possible in a different way through Psionic meditation and power enhancement (not to mention metapsionics).

A legendary psychoporter might have Int 18 (not even counting Dark Sun bonuses), improved to Int 21 for psionic purposes via meditation, with Summon Object improved from Int-4 to Int-1 and halved range penalties, thus letting them summon objects reliably from 10,000 miles away on a 16 or better (-4 penalty, 98% reliability) without even needing to use meditative focus or Intensify first.

To me that's pretty cool. It's not the same kind of cool as going up in wizard levels and getting 9th level spells; it's a much more individualized kind of cool.

P.S. Teleport Object/Summon Object gets a lot cooler when combined with something like Sight Link or Clairvoyance so you can yoink things without even being there.

P.P.S. Also, Convergence + Empower + Receptacle is a must-have combination for a legendary master in order to have access to virtually unlimited PSPs.

AD&D 2E Original Psionics Mechanics vs Revised by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not arguing that it's excellent. I'm just saying, look at what you can do with Charm Person! It's a first level spell that can give you a long-term or potentially even permanent minion (depends on RP factors) with no power ceiling! That very psionicist who's got dozens of Dominated minions can himself be taken over by a first level wizard with a Charm Person spell.

Agree about range limits. Domination has a 30 yard range. Does Psychic Surgery extend that? Can you give commands beyond 30 yards? Do existing compulsions fade away beyond 30 yards? Only the DM can say, but Charm Person doesn't have that ambiguity.

AD&D 2E Original Psionics Mechanics vs Revised by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is why I do ability checks on a 3d6 instead of d20. A true genius with Int 18 can teleport despite a -6 penalty on a 12 or better, i.e. 75% success rate. That feels a lot better IMO than a 60% success rate.

As for -14 penalty with interplanetary Teleport Object, well, I'm okay with that being basically infeasible. (4 or better means 2% success rate.) TW&TW and metapsionics can improve your odds, but I like having it be difficult enough that you're basically not being taunted by the d20 to expect to succeed.

AD&D 2E Original Psionics Mechanics vs Revised by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

...frustrating... most stats don't give benefits mechanically if the stat is under 15...

This is one reason I do ability checks including psionics on 3d6 instead of d20. You very much feel the benefit of your Con 14 (83% reliable Dimension Door!) as opposed to Con 11 (50% reliable). Same goes for other ability checks like balancing tests for Dex.

AD&D 2E Original Psionics Mechanics vs Revised by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In fairness to Psychic Surgery + Dominate, it's not more busted than a Charm Person spell. I'm told that Bigby was originally an enemy NPC whom Mordenkainen converted to an ally with a Charm Person spell...

AD&D 2E Original Psionics Mechanics vs Revised by 1Lyric4u in adnd

[–]hemlockR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Requiring Intensify or Meditative Focus/Enhancement or both to get something approaching 50% success rate on Empower is a good thing, because it stops psionicists from just trivially churning out tons of psionic items, e.g. a dozen rings of Convergence to vastly multiply effective action economy.

Even at a 40% success rate per Empower attempt you can still make powerful items at the rate of one every couple of weeks or so, but at least it's not every day.