Big Bang Burger Bar

As a special for Morghana of this parish I present a  solo session though the other players are more than welcome to attend and watch the fun. Pop corn not provided.


 >:DGinger  

What? I hope this is really good to make up for the lack of other peoples' participation. I expect her char to perform a monologue musical extravaganza (programs £2). :D

Think of it in terms of being a prisoner forced to watch an execution and you will get the idea :)

besides who is to say that you arnt the next?

 >:DGinger

eh, what? When, where, how, who?

who     is you or rather your character
when   Next Sunday
Where The festering pit of evil where in I dwell

will be worth 500xp plus encounter xp for the  encounters plus all the nice toys you are after.....

provided your character survives that is ...


 >:DGinger

Ah...right. Is there a very specific reason those who have characters dont get to play as well? I feel somewhat guilty with it just being me who gets all those shiny things, assuming I survive...

I like victimising players this is just your turn under the interrogation lamp and every one else gets to help me GM & or encourage me to greater heights of evilness.

 >:DGinger

I'm fine with the idea. Will be interesting to watch.

Ahaha. Ok, sure, why not. Lets all watch really really bad things happen to me -_- I really hope you scale whatever encounters you have in mind so that one striker with an armor class of 15 can actually survive them ಠ_ಠ

Not that I'm complaining. I'm capable of playing smartly and hiding a lot...So I guess we'll see when we see. +:whdat=+::whdat:

Hahaha *snort*  +:laughing2=+::laughing2:

Exactly what has tickled you so, Mr. Dat? What about my previous statement have you derived so much merriment from? Clearly you are filled with mirth about something. Pray, spill the beans.

1 your defiantly next squirrel I am just getting the ammunition for my Gatling .410 shotgun organized. Supper squirrel gun DAKKA DAKKA.....

2 ? is this thing called scaling? is it the word I can only think of in the context of up?

 >:DGinger

Ahahaha. Haha.

EvilGinger: You will never get me, i am the squirrely-roadrunner to your Wile E. Coyote.
Morgalahan: Heeheehoohoohaha :P

I'mma make a prediction.

(http://driftline.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/wild-grey-squirrel-onto-i-001.jpg)

0_o


erm, yeah....

like the idea of Squirrel pie nice one Tiki & think your likely to be correct in your prediction

I now have the solo finished for next Sunday  and am working on one for DAT suitably evil suggestions welcome.


 >:DGinger

So, uh, is there anything I need to do to prepare for this.....adventure?

Have you upset Evilginger by any chance morgalahan as I have heard about his solo adventures and well they tend to be a bit intense and very hard work by all accounts. I got this information from some of his WoD players. I don't want to worry you he might have mellowed a bit since then

Um, not that I know of... I think he might just be taking the opportunity to mess with me and my character a bit. However, I can play it smart when I have to, so we'll have to see how it goes.

Oh dear lord, the **** I've stepped into... The vampire heritage feat (bloodline feat) is interesting, but it's not all that relevant to the situation I now find my poor character in. Don't get me wrong, I love vampires, I'm just in sulking mode because there's nothing particularly cool about the kind of vampire she seems to be at the moment. I can't eat food anymore (which was something she enjoyed especially as a prelude to other things), seem chained to the lich's basement, have no pulse which indicates undead (and possible unpleasant side effects relating to blood flow) yet seem to have none of the fun side effects of being undead. I know I sound like I'm complaining an awful lot, my headache is making me feel somewhat grumpy.

Questions: Do I need to breathe? Am I immune to the relevant things which effect blood flow relating to a beating heart? Considering my sucky strength, how am I supposed to grab people to bite them? Use sex appeal and pretend I want to kiss them? (that being the most PC of things I could try) Which would only work once, if at all :(

Oh feck it, my headache is just getting worse at the moment, I need to go drink a large glass of water and possibly some tablets. Here's the Dhampyr's heritage feat, just for the hell of it.

Vampiric Heritage [Vampire Bloodline]
Prerequisite: Living humanoid race
Benefit: You gain blood drain as an encounter power. Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus to Perception and Insight checks to sense and recognize dhampyrs and undead.
Special: You are considered a vampire for the purpose of effects that relate to vampires.

Blood Drain
Vigor rushes through your body as you drain life energy from your victim
Encounter ✦ Healing
Standard Action Melee touch
Target: One living creature you have grabbed
Attack: Strength +2 vs. Fortitude, Constitution +2 vs. Fortitude, or Dexterity +2 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d4 + Constitution modifier damage, and you can spend a healing surge.
Increase to +4 bonus and 2d4 + Constitution modifier damage at 11th level; +6 bonus and 3d4 + Constitution modifier damage at 21st level.
Special: When you select the Vampiric Heritage feat, you determine whether you use Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity to attack with this power.

A rare crossbreed with several of the powers of a vampire and none of the weaknesses, a dhampyr is thought to be born of the union of a vampire male and a mortal female. The truth is that such hybrids are far more common than many folk think. A dhampyr can result from a vampire biting a pregnant female, as well as through more mundane means. Some offspring carry the spark of immortality in their veins for years, until the kindling of fate gives the spark a place to catch.

[note - Warning, TV Tropes link. If you have other things to do, DO NOT CLICK (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife).]

Dark Gift not what you hoped for? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlessedWithSuck)

Mmm, never knew anything like TV tropes existed. I didnt read all the examples listed, because frankly there is no need. I got the concept from the explanation, without needing the examples. And yeah, well, Simon still has to clarify what I can actually do and what it means to be a diluted vampire thingy. I just dont want to loose this character to NPC status, since I like her and have invested some time into her. I'd like her to be a full vampire or close to it, but that requires me to use all my upcoming feats on gaining vampire coolness. I wanted movement mode feats so that I could use my wings *sigh* The alternative is to somehow get her 'cured' which goes against my nature as a vampire lover. If I have to, and it turns out that there's no alternative (i.e. I can't escape the lich and his hold on my 'resting place' which I need to return to a certain length of time every day, not to mention end up in if I 'die'. I Return to the Spire, find out that the lich told the truth and I CAN'T get in, and resume my place at my priestess's side with odd dietary needs and sensitivity to holy things) Then, well, there goes that potential coolness.

I'm happily willing to do certain things, like make my character more like a hybrid class character than a pure warlock, to gain vampire abilities. i.e. swap out at-will/encounter/daily powers out for 'vampire' powers. I'm even sort of willing, while being sorrowful about it, to loose my familiar to NPC status to retro actively take the vampire heritage feat. Or something that more closely resembles a multi-class feat than a bloodline feat. I can't swap out my Stealth Training, since I'd end up being very very useless then.

It's just that I currently see lots of roleplaying and game mechanics downsides, and very few upsides at the moment. Only one really. And one that ties me to the lich as if with a steel chain, as shown by my inability to carry a 1 ton stone coffin around.

*sigh* I'll modify my character as much as is needed, swapping out powers, abilities, feats, special abilities, whatever. I just want something to show for all this really vampire stuff :)

Tv Tropes is a dragons hoard of cool. Problem is, the Dragon is guarding it, and he will steal your hours if he catches you looking.

Also, yeah. You are not yet as unto a Dark God. I don't think Simon is quite vindictive enough as to insist on retraining, but we'll find out at some point, I'm sure.

Funny that, though, about the downsides. I'd say for a dead girl, she's not doing badly. ;)

I don't mind retraining, or power swapping. I don't want to loose my imp, but if it means that I actually get something cool out of this then I will.

She's not doing too badly? Are you referring to her 'immortal' status? It's not the greatest upside for me, since I tend not to allow my character's to die if I can at all help it any way. I don't intend to drop to the point where I'm making death saving thows again.

Currently I'm tasked with rousing more hobgoblins to the lich and his 'friend's cause. Which means I have to present a plan in detailed essay form for doing this. I'm in no way a commander or at all good at tactics. I blast things. If the lich catches me disobeying him then he takes away the teleportation runes and I'm stuck in a solid stone tomb. I have to eat people all the time, can't enjoy a aphrodisiac morsel of food any more. To say nothing of possible problems in the bedroom department. My sister is likely to turn me on sight at the moment, I don't think I'll be able to get into the Spire anymore, I've been humiliated and subjugated by an undead HUMAN....yeah, from my character's point of view, things are really not so hot at the moment.

Yes, I'm assuming things. My character has a VERY average wisdom score and at best an average intelligence. Her insight sucks. She believes the lich has no reason to lie to her, because he's already done the worst thing to her. She plans to try and escape, but the leash she's on has very little give. She has no idea what to do in this situation. She wants to escape and try to make her way back to the Spire, but doesnt have a clue where it is in relation to her current location. She's not sure she'll be allowed to even try considering how powerful this lich is and how easily he caught her the first time. At the worst she has to go along with his plan and rouse some hobgoblins to his cause. No clue how to do that. She wasnt trained to lead. Her backstory is that she was created specifically for House Vae'thaun as a weapon to use for the glory of Lolth. She was trained to kill things, messily and quickly. Not sneakily. She wasnt tained to be an effective leader but to take orders and obey, as much as any drow can.

I'm limiting myself in many ways with this, but this is her backstory, and her personality is a touch pessimistic, while laughing in the face of the certain doom she knows will come. I'm trying to roleplay this character as much as I can. She's not my cleric, who would have better chances in the situations Larai'el's been in.

Actually I mostly meant in the sense of her still being around for any of that to be an issue. ;)

Ah, right. Well, in the sense that I'm lucky to be alive at all, I guess you're right :)

But my above comments still stand.

I see EvilGingers done it again, I did warn you he would given half a chance  :(

Hard Rain

me  never I am totally innocent of whatever you are accusing me of :o :o :o. 

As you know players always fall on there own swords and I never do anything to make them do that.


morgalahan
I am still working out what your being a vampire does as I don't think the vampire stats in the Monster Manual are quite what I want.

I do know

1 You haven't lost any abillitys
2 Its something unique as its a Necromantic ritual Yarael the Litch invented
3 It will be balanced
4 4E & 3/3.5E games are different very different so don't fret because it was a particular way in 3/3.5E
5 that said I find your fretting very amusing  >:D almost as much as DAT's assorted sqirmings

 >:DGinger

oh my dear god

Morgy: Come to the spire, doomed characters like mine are welcome and given professional counciling - or torture, one of the two.  ::)

At the very least I'm part drow, so I should have a greater chance at avoiding the torture, or postponing it somewhat. At least you're not undead...if the lich had made you undead AS WELL as all the rest there's no chance that those at the Spire would have given you a chance to explain yourself. You would have been destroyed. It's a bit of a pickle really, since my cleric would be inclined to turn first and ask questions later. I'm assuming that she wouldnt be able to auto-detect that my tiefling was now a vampire, so it's possible for Larai'el to try and explain herself first...but yeah...At least if you were with the Lich you'd be treated like an equal.

Watching a high-paragon tier style Undead Wizard treat Rapple Dapple Dabble, a level 3 (slightly cowardly?) Hobgoblin fighter as an Equal was, I will admit, one of the funniest things I have ever, ever encountered.

Indeed, I do not think our erstwhile hobgoblin warlord quite knew how to take it.

...and why would he know how to take it. He's been under peoples thumbs for so long that having someone treat him as an equal let alone a friend (from another life) was something else. This was and is why it is so hard for my fighter to betray such an aquaintance.

As for being cowardly, what kind of coward walks into a drow fortress and announces that their enemy wants him to help capture the place and that he was his friend? What kind of coward says to a drows face that he's still considering turning traitor? - My coward.  :P

Cowardice is not to be confused with stupidity my friend. Admitting to a drow priestess of Lolth who enjoys torture as her hobby, and a ruthless drow commander that you are still considering betraying them might be classified as stupidity as opposed to bravery. It's nothing personal, but you currently present yourself as a potential threat. You should probably be a bit more discreet and play up the fact that you look to your superior for instruction in all things and did not want to risk endangering the Spire by giving a definite yes or no to the Lich. Not yet at least. There is also the possibility of being a double agent.

His actions were not stupidity because he thought he would be valuable to the drow alive. He also doesn't want to betray them.

My char has no plans to go anywhere, he knows he's at the complete mercy of the drow, but he also thinks he's valuable to them because of his relationship with the liche. He has no plans to directly betray either side, but will do as the drow tell him because he wishes to live. So yes i do look to my superior (grudgingly).

lol, by double agent I meant that he could work for the drow, and pretend he was working for the lich. As the lich's trusted equal and former adventuring companion from another life, it has no reason to suspect you of duplicity, right? ;)

But yeah, I suppose my attitude is linked to my character's attitude, and that of drow in general. She thinks you're hobgoblin is an idiot for not TAKING the lich's offer, and for returning to the Spire and more or less telling us outright that you're still thinking of working with the lich. That's stupidity. You need to be a bit more clear on your intentions ;)

To be fair, Dude, up until the moment Rapple left the spire on that last mission, there were only, oh, Three people in the entire place who officially outranked him. Everyone else was either at least an equal, or obliged to look up to and obey him. I don't think he's quite so subjugated as you seem to think. :)

And if he's come up through the Hobgoblin ranks, he'd have literally squads full of friends, given the closeness of military types and the idolising of comradery. That guy who you tried to leave behind facing the goblins, after the cave-in? Probably grew up with you, knew you since you were a pup. You and he excelled in life, and made it to the rank of Seargent, but you'd have likely been close to everyone in your old squad, and it's quite reasonable to expect you are still frequently in touch with any that weren't stationed in the Spire.

If they were stationed in the spire, then any such friends are Dead. Directly because of the Lich.

And why else would a Hobgoblin consider turning traitor at all, except because of an unmanly fear of death? To desert ones colleagues in the face of unsurmountable odds is to take a knife to their backs!

THIS IS A FILM ABOUT HOBGOBLINS. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RQm37K-clg)

OMG Dave! How could you die in a pool of your own puke after eating rage drake?!! *sobs* *blows hankerchief*

You give an essentially evil race so much credit Mr. Tiki. I doubt it's quite like you describe. All my experience of hobgoblins indicates militaristic, but still self serving. They would probably have a 'the weak die, the strong survive' attitude. I don't think Rapple would be too inclined to care about his deceased companion, he died because he was not strong enough to survive. They both at the rage drake, Rapple survived and is therefore strong and deserving of life. The other one died and was therefore weak and beneath notice. Honour and militaristic attitudes aside, the hobgoblin race is still generally evil in their outlook. You may get a few Drizzt like individuals who break the mold, but they'd be so few and far between that they wouldnt figure much.

if you know any thing about "Spartans" then both evil and stupid fit very well

 >:DGinger

 

Alignment is meaningless.

I so want to burn the alignment pages on my 3.5 Players handbook right now. - Does that make me a 'malefactor' or a 'destroyer'?  ;)

'Honour and militaristic attitudes aside, the hobgoblin race is still generally evil in their outlook. You may get a few Drizzt like individuals who break the mold, but they'd be so few and far between that they wouldn't figure much.'

It's not about alignment. So, according to you the drow are a happy fluffy race who just like being bad? Alignment is a game mechanic. An evil outlook is not lawful evil, neutral evil and chaotic evil, it's the way they think and act. They are NOT good. They wouldn't be inclined to save puppies, pay their taxes, follow the rules, help little old ladies across the street. The hobgoblins are similar, but they may be more inclined to obey rules. They WOULD possibly save a puppy, but only if ordered to do so by a superior. Never on their own. The problem is that you base too much of your argument on 'alignment' and less on what the race would actually be like. Reading the books paints these races in the light of the realistic. If you want me to pull up real world references, Ginger's spartans are a good one, they were NOT nice people. The mongolians under Genghis Khan, the romans under Julius Caeser, the Persians unde Xerxes, the Nazis under Hitler. Now, if you want to get esoteric on me, and say 'evil is a point of view' then perhaps you should interview the dwarven survivers of the latest hobgoblin raid.


Did I once, at any time, type the word 'alignment'?

Evil, as a major descriptor of the behaviour of a race or individual is an unhelpful, limiting and frankly unrealistic term.


Hobgoblins are a Cruel, expansionistic military society that brutalises and subjugates Non-Hobgoblins and neighboring settlements/civilisations as a way of life. Hobgoblins are however, highly ordered and work well together.

Drow are a Matriarchal society that has firmly embraced the 'Dead Mans Shoes' form of advancement. They are decadent and corrupt, and scheming. Loyalty is primarily to the self, but closely thereafter to their House. If Drow society is put under enough external pressure, they are quite capable of working together to destroy the external factor. Despite a tendancy to treachery, there are many checks and balances built into Drow society that have prevented it from collapsing.

To my mind, such descriptions are much more useful and balanced than throwing around alignment terms.

I never claimed that anyone would be volunteering down at the Homeless shelter, or knitting a jumper for granny (who does get sooo cold) in their spare time. I did, quite rightly, point out that even hobgoblins are capable of adult social interactions and being 'evil' does not mean you can't have friends.

I don't see the problem.

A thing to remember, also, in relation to the above; The topic starts with Rapple claiming never to have had a friend. I pointed out that he's part of a close-nit military society (That has, through drow manipulation, had the self-importance and the holiness of expansionism a little scaled back). If he's capable of forming or appreciating friendships, he would already have done so.

Do you actually disagree with this?

Don't forget that we're playing in a fantasy setting where evil is a very real thing, and may even be personified in some cases. By describing the outlook of a race as evil, it's simply a description any elf, dwarf, human, halfling etc would use in this instance. I know that generalizing something as 'evil' doesnt do justice to the many complexities of existence, but I gave descriptions of what I meant.

What annoyed me was that you ignored what I said and simply said 'alignments are meaningless' which in general terms I do agree with. The thing is, alignments are guidelines, much as Barbosa said. They indicate the general behavior and attitude of a race, creature or person. They are not gospel. I would classify the Drow as a chaotic evil race, and the Hobgoblins as a lawful evil race. Just as my own personal way of categorizing. Not as a game mechanic. It felt like you were simply dismissing my words as irrelevant because you thought I was arguing alignment, which I was not.

I agree with your descriptions of both races, and yes just because you're evil doesn't mean you can't make friends. I'm sure Sauron had regular bookclub meetings over wine and cheese.  ::)

The way I see it is that the terms 'good', 'neutral' and 'evil' are merely indications of likely behavior and general outlook. It's likely that you'd find tolkien-esque elves ignoring the plight of homeless and starving humans simply because they are trespassing in forests guarded by elves. You might also find a goblin who's rescued a kitten and now cares for it and loves it. But I would still describe the goblins as evil and the elves as good, as a race, simply because the goblin is likely to leave the kitten at home to go off and raid a halfling village, killing everyone and looting their corpses, while the elves are likely to go off and fight an army of orcs attacking human settlements.

Also, as a rule, Drow have been corrupted by Lolth to the degree that they do not consider themselves to be evil, they consider the surface elves to be. Hobgoblins also would probably not consider themselves to be evil, and are quite capable of justifying their actions, even when killing newborns. That doesnt mean anyone else wouldnt consider them to be evil.

At any rate, I agree that Rapple could have made a friend in his sergeant, but would probably not care about him dying. You do get a certain mindset that simply does not understand how to care about others. I think Chris' portrayal of Rapple is rather accurate in his nonchalance over his underling's death. Friendship in this instance would mean 'what you can do for me, and what I can do for you', not love and trust.

I really like it when, in neverwinter nights 2, how you play your character and what choices you make effect your alignment, not the other way around. In this regard, I really like the alignment rules.

You'll have to excuse me, but I've really lost track of what you're actually disagreeing with me about?

Oh, and wether or not Rapple would care, is entirely up to Chris. Given that from ONE MEETING with the Lich, he feels even remotely unhappy about fighting him due to the implied ancient bonds of friendship (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlewbt6s033), well. :)

meh, I'm disagreeing with you dismissing alignments and the picture you paint of hobgoblins in general.

Whatever, I was just upset with the way you ignored my words and saw only 'alignment'. I really don't like being ignored.

And also with this:

'And if he's come up through the Hobgoblin ranks, he'd have literally squads full of friends, given the closeness of military types and the idolising of comradery. That guy who you tried to leave behind facing the goblins, after the cave-in? Probably grew up with you, knew you since you were a pup. You and he excelled in life, and made it to the rank of Seargent, but you'd have likely been close to everyone in your old squad, and it's quite reasonable to expect you are still frequently in touch with any that weren't stationed in the Spire.

If they were stationed in the spire, then any such friends are Dead. Directly because of the Lich.

And why else would a Hobgoblin consider turning traitor at all, except because of an unmanly fear of death? To desert ones colleagues in the face of unsurmountable odds is to take a knife to their backs!'

Your idea that the hobgoblins would never consider disobeying the drow in order to gain personal power. I don't consider that to be true at all.

But it's more of a debate actually, about fantasy races and values. The thing is that I personally believe in good and evil. Not the blind versions. I don't really want to go more in depth about that, but my beliefs are detailed above in my previous posts.

My knee jerk reactions to your 'alignments are meaningless' post was annoyance and frankly hurt, that you seemed to dismiss my words so easily. *shrug* I'm not trying to provoke fights, but your current attitude feels hostile to me, probably due the fact that text has no personality and you can't judge tone of voice. Just ignore it, I don't consider online arguments to have any impact on how I would treat you when next I see you. There will be no arguments. I enjoy debating this sort of thing.

Bottom line is, I believe in good and evil and I like the alignment system. :)

OK can we stop getting angry or even mildly irritated about a GAME and as such has no significance what so ever in the greater scheme of things. Thank you /mod

apart form that I feel that we are getting a bit off topic going into a discussion about DAT's character and his actions and broadening it into a discussion of alignment in D&D a subject which has had far too much ink spilt in vain IMO and one of my reasons for quite liking the current 4e alignment system.

feel free to start separate threads about both a discussion is good on a forum, but I would like to bring this one back on to topic or let it fade away.


 >:D

Fursuit Cthulhu approves.

(http://fc09.deviantart.com/fs29/f/2008/150/4/9/Fursuit_Cthulhu_by_ursulav.jpg)
(Bunny Shoggoth would probably approve, but is clearly distracted by something.)