Morning Discussion: Wash the Day Away

Good morning all, and welcome to Wedne...errrr... Thursday! There's an entire day ahead of us, just dripping with potential--who know what goodness and surprises are in store?

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
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    June 25, 2009 7:14 AM

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      June 25, 2009 7:20 AM

      Troubleshooting - Character Death... WTF is this weak ass shit?

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        June 25, 2009 7:22 AM

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          June 25, 2009 7:24 AM

          it should read; REVEL IN THEIR MISERY...

          • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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            June 25, 2009 8:00 AM

            then kick them out of the game and train the remaining players in witchcraft

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          June 25, 2009 7:24 AM

          If only all DMs took its advice to heart...

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            June 25, 2009 7:25 AM

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              June 25, 2009 10:05 AM

              I was going to say that this was an awesome and timely quote - it applied to both the fact taht we had "deaths" the previous session AND that we have a new character who just started and I'm not keeping her a level behind.

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      June 25, 2009 7:23 AM

      STRAGGLERS You'll come for the adventure, but you'll stay for the knobby hobgoblin knobs.

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        June 25, 2009 7:59 AM

        Hey guys, let's get those level 3 character sheets posted in the Session 4 thread please. Assuming you're using the demo, this is your last chance to sneak in changes do it yourself before you hit level 4 and I'm in control.

        mwahahahahahahahaha

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          June 25, 2009 2:40 PM

          I upgraded my builder subscription last night but it's not giving me what I paid for-- what the fuck this company's assets blow >:[

          "you have reached the maximum number of installs" oh GOOD, you mean ZERO???

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      June 25, 2009 7:25 AM

      This reminds me that I would like to see a hilarious parody of a paper based RPG of a sports game like football or basketball. I can just imagine the dramatic descriptions as people are driving the lane, going for an assist, setting a pick...

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        June 25, 2009 7:33 AM

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          June 25, 2009 7:38 AM

          Argh, I meant to say a short movie about it. Oops

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            June 25, 2009 7:40 AM

            Wow, I fail at explaining myself. A short film where a bunch of overly macho dudes are getting all excited playing a a paper based RPG style basketball or football game.

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      June 25, 2009 8:02 AM

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      June 25, 2009 8:03 AM

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        June 25, 2009 8:09 AM

        Don't be scared off by saucystalagtites, most of us are OK people!

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      June 25, 2009 8:08 AM

      WEST

      Fun session last night. Here are some highlights

      -Got a new party member (DianeoftheMoon)
      -Killed a dragon while taking 0 damage
      -Got 2 magic weapons.

      We were only able to get 1 encounter in because we started late for a variety of reasons. Audio and FRAPs will be posted on the forums soon tm.

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        June 25, 2009 8:40 AM

        Forgot the best part, we all are now level 2.

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          June 25, 2009 8:56 AM

          you forgot to mention me riding the dragon ala Slim Pickins in Dr. Strangelove!

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            June 25, 2009 9:00 AM

            I was leaving that for you.

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              June 25, 2009 10:01 AM

              thanks! I got to whoop and holler riding a dragon ,as I decided to use my Handspring Assault to charge the dragon flying up the hole in the ground, and land on his back (with no way to get back up!). Then I rode him around like [fry] at the 'manhole' and all the while I continued to stabby stabbed him in the neck. It was glorious.

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                June 25, 2009 10:04 AM

                If there was ever a night to get a constant stream of amazing rolls, it was last night! That was really awesome :D

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                June 25, 2009 10:47 AM

                Sounds like something straight out of SotC

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          June 25, 2009 10:31 AM

          [deleted]

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            June 25, 2009 10:43 AM

            It was probably a Young Dragon, so yeah. They don't want you to have to wait too long to find out why the game is called Dungeons & Dragons. =D

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            June 25, 2009 10:44 AM

            It was a young dragon. Which is still pretty damn dangerous for level 1s! However, it was in the middle of a big fight with a band of orcs during which it sustained significant wounds. They waited until all of the orcs were dead or gone before engaging the dragon. Furthermore the fight with the orcs gave them a chance to set up a choke point and a trap so as to get a big tactical advantage, which they used to great effect.

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              June 25, 2009 10:45 AM

              I'm kind of disappointed that we didn't get to see the rope do anything.

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                June 25, 2009 10:50 AM

                It was subtle but it did help. I had the dragon snap at the rope instead of one of you when it was flying up out of the hole. It essentially saved you from one attack. Had Kai not bonked it down 3 squares it would have snapped the rope with its teeth.

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                  June 25, 2009 5:09 PM

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                    June 25, 2009 5:11 PM

                    Yeah. I could have just had him fly right through it and realistically it wouldn't have caused much problem but D&D is a game where creativity and improvisation should be rewarded :D

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              June 25, 2009 10:51 AM

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                June 25, 2009 10:53 AM

                It was a young black dragon.

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                  June 25, 2009 10:59 AM

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                    June 25, 2009 11:05 AM

                    Not exactly. First of all this one was scaled down to level 4. And as I said at full strength they lost the fight. :)

                    Also you're a little off about what it's "designed" for though: A level 4 solo lurker means that a party of five level 4 characters will have a fairly easy time beating it. It means that encounter would be "normal difficulty." Level 1s in the same fight would mean it's a "very hard" fight, but since it was actually level 3 it is classified as a "hard" fight. Characters are by no means supposed to only fight guys of their own level. Usually it's guys from their own level up to their level + 5. You can also go down on the scale but it's not nearly as common.

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              June 25, 2009 10:52 AM

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            June 25, 2009 10:57 AM

            Oh and it's worthwhile to note that this is the second time they took on this dragon. The first time they most definitely did not win.

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              June 25, 2009 10:59 AM

              Hehehe, yeah.

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              June 25, 2009 12:54 PM

              We got it bloodied the first time while also being attacked by kobolds. I consider it a moral victory.

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        June 25, 2009 10:30 AM

        I still can't get over the fact that you guys took no hits. The dragon even has an ability that allows him to make an immediate reaction attack against anyone that misses it with a melee attack, but you guys never missed. That was excellent tactics all around :)

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          June 25, 2009 10:44 AM

          To be fair, I think only hirez got multiple attacks, and Blackcat got 2 spells off.

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        June 25, 2009 1:46 PM

        We fucked that dragon up. Also, I took a feat that lets me roll my first attack in each encounter twice, so hopefully I can now consistently start encounters by smashing faces.

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          June 25, 2009 1:51 PM

          I replaced furious smash with rousing assault. Goodbye rarely used hit/dmg bonus, hello +charisma bonus for every heal. Also took an ability that gives me another heal and one that gives me +charisma bonus to inspiring words.

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            June 25, 2009 2:35 PM

            Sweet. I think healing is the one area we definitely were lacking in (especially in that first dragon fight)

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              June 25, 2009 2:43 PM

              Yeah, I am going to get some more sweet abilities, including a daily AOE heal (stand the fallen) at level 5. I am pretty much taking feats that either give a heal or a saving throw from now until 10.

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          June 25, 2009 1:56 PM

          That's an excellent feat. Basically means you always want to blow one of your encounter powers first thing, as that feat more than doubles your chance to hit! Always a nice bonus to have during an encounter or daily power. :)

          The one downside to that strategy is that in the first round you might not always be aware of all enemy combatants and may find in a round or two that you would rather have used that power on a more powerful enemy.

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        June 25, 2009 5:11 PM

        [deleted]

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          June 25, 2009 5:13 PM

          Yeah, solos like dragons are very likely to save because they only need to roll a 5. However, hitting in the first place and slowing him was extremely valuable; it prevented him from reaching the top and making two attacks that round!

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      June 25, 2009 10:56 AM

      Bah, the new reverant article is up, and I can log into insider, but the system doesn't then show the insider links.

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        June 25, 2009 11:44 AM

        When are they posting the assassin?

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      June 25, 2009 1:31 PM

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        June 25, 2009 1:33 PM

        Yeah I've been brainstorming ideas like this to make an iPhone app. :(

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          June 25, 2009 1:36 PM

          [deleted]

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            June 25, 2009 1:43 PM

            I think it would require some very clever design. As you said, the metric will be "is it easier and/or quicker than using pen and paper" and the problem is using pen and paper is pretty damn easy and quick. My main idea was to have a tool that shows you what powers you have available. Color coded in a nice list, and you can click to "use" them and ones that are used up to go the bottom. Something like that.

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              June 25, 2009 2:31 PM

              An enemy stat tracker could be useful. That way could you don't have to recall how pts it took to get it bloodied for example.

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                June 25, 2009 3:46 PM

                Eh, that's a level of power gaming that I don't enjoy so I wouldn't do that

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        June 25, 2009 1:39 PM

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      June 25, 2009 4:48 PM

      Guys I like reading people talking about D&D so please keep posting okay

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        June 25, 2009 4:54 PM

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          June 25, 2009 4:55 PM

          I am STILL considering doing something like this, even though I could never publicly release it. However, you would lose all role-playing elements so I feel like my time would better be spent doing a different tactical game like WoW minis or something.

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            June 25, 2009 4:56 PM

            Hmmm this could be a great way to play with AIR...

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            June 25, 2009 4:57 PM

            [deleted]

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              June 25, 2009 4:59 PM

              Well see all I am talking about doing is just a skirmish thing. Obviously if I were doing my own little project it wouldn't be something like BG or NWN.

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                June 25, 2009 5:37 PM

                I WOULD PLAY THE FUCK OUT OF THIS.

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                  June 25, 2009 5:41 PM

                  I really like WoW minis though and I think this would also be a fucking fun thing to have a computer version of. I'm not sure which I should do. :(

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                    June 25, 2009 5:50 PM

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                      June 25, 2009 5:57 PM

                      I'm not sure what you mean. One of my favorite things about it is that people don't typically get in an "advantage" spot that they can't be dethroned from. The games I have played have been good back and forth and so far usually come down to the very last turn.

                      Of course, I am talking about Battleground mode (which the whole game was designed around) because Arena mode is shit.

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                        June 25, 2009 6:00 PM

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                          June 25, 2009 6:05 PM

                          Arena is single life per character, fight to the death. When you say "who ends up on a capture point" you seem to be saying that that is just based on luck! That's one of the biggest elements of the game and what ALL of your timing should be planned around! Getting those two or three points per scoring tick is very important. Denying your enemy from getting them is just as important.

                          And then of course 50% of the game is the deck building. That is one of the best parts.

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                            June 25, 2009 6:09 PM

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                              June 25, 2009 6:15 PM

                              But there are many ways to get people out of a dug-in spot. You can toss a DoT on them and just stand back, or use one of the powers that move an enemy. I feel like if you get yourself in to a position where you are just throwing your guys at the enemy then you're not using them effectively.

                              Of course, if you only have a few guys from a freebie at Blizzcon, I assume you don't have very many actionbar cards? If so then that is probably severely limiting the tactical depth of the game.

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