TheAuldGrump Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, BlazingTornado said: I try and approach it in Star Trek terms... It's less that they're evil and more so that their culture developed different and thus they don't hold to the same ideals as humans do. Orcs, for example, value strength, especially physical. They see a lot of the comforts of civilization as signs of weakness. They're outlanders, raiders, nomads... never making much more than crude villages for bare necessities, and fight for the rest, as the strong are meant to do. Megan has told me that my orcs are STNG Klingons.... When I started working on the Starjammer campaign, I realized that, really, in that campaign at least, they are the Maori - a lot of their warlike culture is posturing and physical braggadocio. (Coming soon! Italian orcs! (Irish orcs get drunk, then weep for the good old days.)) Even in my Beyond the Borderlands game, the Barbarian in the party gained status with the second tribe by beating their chief in a wrestling match. (But, since the chief really was chaotic evil, he cheated. Being GM means that you can have your cake, and eat theirs too.) The Auld Grump Edited October 19, 2017 by TheAuldGrump 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazingTornado Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 I take SOME inspiration from Klingons in my orcs but they're definitely not as focused on this whole "honor" deal. That's more of a dwarf thing to me. Honor and hard work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuldGrump Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 (edited) 19 minutes ago, BlazingTornado said: I take SOME inspiration from Klingons in my orcs but they're definitely not as focused on this whole "honor" deal. That's more of a dwarf thing to me. Honor and hard work. The Dwarfs in Norse mythology... were not all that honorable - that was more of a Tolkien thing. (That said - I go with the Tolkien version too... it just seems to fit. ) As far as I am concerned - this is the quintessential D&D song - And has been since more than a decade before D&D was even written.... *EDIT* Gods, I am so tempted to revive the Dwarf campaign for the kids game - they have not yet encountered the DRAGON... that gives the PCs a lecture on the nature of economics. The Auld Grump Edited October 19, 2017 by TheAuldGrump 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazingTornado Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 3 minutes ago, TheAuldGrump said: The Dwarfs in Norse mythology... were not all that honorable - that was more of a Tolkien thing. Yeah well if we're working off norse mythology alone I'm pretty sure none of the elves would be particularly fun to hang around with either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuldGrump Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 On 10/9/2017 at 7:15 PM, Mad Jack said: That's like, a real cinema classic, eh? In an unrelated matter, I had a dream last night that I was DMing a party through an adventure, and they encountered a happy-go-lucky girlblin druid who joined them. Later on, when the girlblin miscast an Entangle spell so that it caught some of the party, she muttered something in goblin - which I informed the party translated into Common as, "Oh... pants!" Apparently, "pants" is a mild profanity in Goblin in my dreamworld, lol. I am totally incorporating this into a game someday. Having a dream about adventuring with a halfling was how I realized that I was falling in love with Megan. (In the dream, I was an ogre paladin, and she was a nekkid halfling rogue/witch. Despite copious nekkid halfling, the dream was pretty much rated G. I have a weird subconscious.) The Auld Grump 3 minutes ago, BlazingTornado said: Yeah well if we're working off norse mythology alone I'm pretty sure none of the elves would be particularly fun to hang around with either. For my homebrew, I pretty much do go with the Norse alfar, with some elements of the Celtic sidhe. But, hey, at least the elves are having fun, right? The Auld Grump - great, now I have Cindi Lauper with pointed ears stuck in my head.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazingTornado Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, TheAuldGrump said: For my homebrew, I pretty much do go with the Norse alfar, with some elements of the Celtic sidhe. I'm fascinated. Ellaborate. I have kind of a problem figuring elf culture. You see them in stuff like Tolkien and they always look quite the snooty, organized bunch, but in nine-alignment D&D they tend more towards chaotic... I'm really not sure how to make them more than "pretty humans who live long". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PingosHusband Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) 14 hours ago, BlazingTornado said: I'm fascinated. Ellaborate. I have kind of a problem figuring elf culture. You see them in stuff like Tolkien and they always look quite the snooty, organized bunch, but in nine-alignment D&D they tend more towards chaotic... I'm really not sure how to make them more than "pretty humans who live long". There are too many different variants of elves in the cultures that have them for a coherent culture to be created. Even Tolkien's elves have a wide variety of cultures and they are as susceptible to jerkiness as his humans. They even have elf to elf prejudice depending on whether they went to Valinor or not and among the three groups that went to Valinor there was prejudice. This may be a failure of imagination on Tolkien's part, growing up as he did in a very prejudiced culture. Terry Pratchett's elves exist as a counterpoint to Tolkien's. Pratchett's elves are complete jerks, but as shown in his last book, it is possible for them to learn better. Michael Moorcock put elf variants into several of his Eternal Champion books including the Melniboneans, the Eldren the Vadhagh, and the Sidhe. There are many cultures there mostly based on being really old and having seen a lot of stuff over the millennia. Elves as phenomena of Celtic cultures depend on the religions and myths of those cultures. They do not form a consistent narrative because mythologies do not form consistent narratives (that's not what they're for). D&D elves started out as explicitly lifted from Tolkien, but they've mutated and diversified over the decades given the many writers and GMs who have worked on them. Edited October 20, 2017 by PingosHusband 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuldGrump Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I pretty much steal my elves from Poul Anderson's Broken Sword. Elves are self centered - the best that you can hope for is enlightened self interest. For me, that is the difference between Seelie and Unseelie - Seelie will want (not need, just want) a reason to do something horrible to you. Don't give them a reason, call them Lord and Lady, and you should be fine. Do not turn down any gift they offer, but do not use it, either. For the Unseelie, they need no better reason than 'I wanted to'. Turning a group of girls who are dancing, into a circle of standing stones? Why not? It'll be funny. For the Spelljammer setting, elves are descended from humans - that the fey played with. The fey themselves... bad, bad news. The Auld Grump 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuldGrump Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 On 10/13/2017 at 6:25 PM, TheAuldGrump said: *EDIT* They are also getting her Campaign Cartographer... I hope she can climb the learning curve.... On 10/13/2017 at 6:34 PM, Doug Sundseth said: She sounds incredibly bright, and if she can handle that, she should be set up for a job as an engineer running a CAD package. But oh my.... ETA: I'd probably try something like Inkscape to start with instead if it were me. Much easier learning curve and the price is right. But then I use Illustrator all the time at work, so perhaps it just seems easier to me. I completely missed the point of why they are getting Sam CC3+ - they are getting the program for her for the exact same reason a daddy gets their kid Lego blocks or a train set.... It gives them an excuse to play with it. I forgot - they are nerds that are raising a nerd girl. The Auld Grump 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuldGrump Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Music to a GM's ears - 'Is there a reason you are painting a purple worm? ' The Auld Grump 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sundseth Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 3 hours ago, TheAuldGrump said: Music to a GM's ears - 'Is there a reason you are painting a purple worm? ' The Auld Grump "No special reason. When's the last time you read the rules on being swallowed whole?" 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PingosHusband Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 15 hours ago, TheAuldGrump said: Music to a GM's ears - 'Is there a reason you are painting a purple worm? ' The Auld Grump Also, "Why are you rereading that sourcebook?" 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuldGrump Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 (edited) 4 hours ago, PingosHusband said: Also, "Why are you rereading that sourcebook?" And 'Did you know Paizo has published a battlemap for a Purple Worm's intestinal tract?' (And they have! ) The Auld Grump - I think it was released on April 1st, but it really was released. (Not using the battle map - but Jon is right about my painting Goremaw for a reason....) Edited October 21, 2017 by TheAuldGrump 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaganMegan Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 5 hours ago, TheAuldGrump said: And 'Did you know Paizo has published a battlemap for a Purple Worm's intestinal tract?' (And they have! ) The Auld Grump - I think it was released on April 1st, but it really was released. (Not using the battle map - but Jon is right about my painting Goremaw for a reason....) You might need it. JON'S in the party. (If anyone gets eaten, it's gonna be him.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazingTornado Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 Ho-lee crap things did not end in a TPK. Little Miss Chaotic woke up and read the note but then saw the creepy-doll-in-cleric's-body and decided to play interrogation... unfortunately she failed to react appropriately to the mind blasts and after three attempts, was also drained of intelligence. MEANWHILE the two active players aren't doing too well... especially after a hit on the ranger finally triggers his blood rage. But when his allies are slain, the evil adept casts calm emotions to quell the ranger's rage and tries to talk his way into survival (all the while the creepy-doll-in-cleric's body makes his/her/its way there as Little Miss Chaotic's interrogation game involved a lot of spilling acid that ultimately weakened the rope bonds) but the bard just casts sleep... putting the evil doll cleric thing and the ranger to sleep, but not the adept. At this point I'm thinking "game over"... the adept has more hit points than the bard, though their AC is equal... So I'm like "This is looking like a no-win guys... you want to skip the inevitable?" but my bard, defiant to the core... "No! No, I got something brewing" and heals herself quickly with a healing word and then wakes up the ranger, which I'd forgotten suffices to dispose of the blood rage, and the battle begins anew... the adept is quickly disposed of and they hide the bodies, rush off with the adept and the doll-cleric and all the stuff. Long story short with the help of priests of Pelor (and a generous 700gp donation to their church) the bard and cleric are now (so far ineffectially) interrogating the captive adept while the ranger tries to get Little Miss Chaotic to stop being such a disruptive fool. Moments of the game: - The cleric, trapped in the doll's body, trying Remove Curse to switch bodies back, before realizing a dispel spell is probably better. - The bard killing the creepy doll by keeping it pushed down a burning brazier with Mage Hand. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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