Ravi's currently not feeling well, and we're still working on our new format for posting, which may include a change of schedule for us (but not for you, dear readers. We're still going to be Tuesday and Saturday.) Please be patient with us, and we'll return to your regularly scheduled nerdery soon.
Until then, happy rolling!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Pathfinder - D&D Powered Up
Hello readers! Since Ravi got to post on Tuesday when it was my turn, I'm taking over for this Saturday to even us out while the Random Topic table is completed!
I've mentioned in a few articles previously about the game DM and I have been playing with our friends Matt and Bryan. What I haven't said yet is that this game? It's not D&D. It looks like D&D, it plays like D&D, and for all intents and purposes, it IS D&D. But it's not quite. It's called Pathfinder.
Basically, Pathfinder was made by a group of people who found too many minor issues with D&D, how characters were made, and how it played in 3.5 rules and decided "We can do this." Well, maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but it certainly feels like it. Classes that were lacking a bit got boosted, techniques that were complicated got simplified (combat maneuvers like tripping, grappling, disarming and the like has become SO much easier to calculate). DM says in his opinion, one of the most important differences between D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder is that it encourages people to think hard between prestiging out or sticking with a single class for 20 levels due to all the improvements made to flesh out the core classes and make them more interesting and desirable, especially with melee classes. Magic has also been simplified without being weakened and casters can mesh better with the melee-ers without overstepping themselves. One of my favorite changes? Instead of applying only to the one opponent you designate per round, the feat Dodge applies as a flat AC bonus. No declaring who you're dodging, just +1 to your AC, which is amazing in large combats.
The great thing is that since Pathfinder is based strongly on 3.5 D&D, you can easily mold the two together when it does come to prestige classes. 3.5 certainly has a much larger variety to choose from. Pathfinder offers plenty of its own unique classes and prestiges though, especially in the Advanced Players Guide and their newest addition, Ultimate Magic. Bryan has taken the Alchemist base class with Master Chymist (I swear DM says that's how it's spelled. I have no idea) prestige for a test drive. They're basically casters who prepare all their spells as potions or bombs, and interestingly, they have a potion that turns them into a Mr. Hyde version of themself. We found it an interesting addition to a team (even though his Mr. Hyde version decided it was best to run off and start slaughtering enemies after the rest had run and the potion wasn't going to wear off. Matt decided that Mr. Hyde wasn't compatible with the rest of the group and made him make a new character.) Monsters have also been pumped up, and creatures that were once not so much a threat or not too intimidating at least LOOK as threatening as they should from their pictures. The art in the Pathfinder books is spectacular.
So if regular D&D is getting dull or you're frustrated with some of the pitfalls of the game, look into Pathfinder. It's D&D at a brand new level and definitely worth a try for your next campaign.
Happy rolling!
I've mentioned in a few articles previously about the game DM and I have been playing with our friends Matt and Bryan. What I haven't said yet is that this game? It's not D&D. It looks like D&D, it plays like D&D, and for all intents and purposes, it IS D&D. But it's not quite. It's called Pathfinder.
Basically, Pathfinder was made by a group of people who found too many minor issues with D&D, how characters were made, and how it played in 3.5 rules and decided "We can do this." Well, maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but it certainly feels like it. Classes that were lacking a bit got boosted, techniques that were complicated got simplified (combat maneuvers like tripping, grappling, disarming and the like has become SO much easier to calculate). DM says in his opinion, one of the most important differences between D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder is that it encourages people to think hard between prestiging out or sticking with a single class for 20 levels due to all the improvements made to flesh out the core classes and make them more interesting and desirable, especially with melee classes. Magic has also been simplified without being weakened and casters can mesh better with the melee-ers without overstepping themselves. One of my favorite changes? Instead of applying only to the one opponent you designate per round, the feat Dodge applies as a flat AC bonus. No declaring who you're dodging, just +1 to your AC, which is amazing in large combats.
The great thing is that since Pathfinder is based strongly on 3.5 D&D, you can easily mold the two together when it does come to prestige classes. 3.5 certainly has a much larger variety to choose from. Pathfinder offers plenty of its own unique classes and prestiges though, especially in the Advanced Players Guide and their newest addition, Ultimate Magic. Bryan has taken the Alchemist base class with Master Chymist (I swear DM says that's how it's spelled. I have no idea) prestige for a test drive. They're basically casters who prepare all their spells as potions or bombs, and interestingly, they have a potion that turns them into a Mr. Hyde version of themself. We found it an interesting addition to a team (even though his Mr. Hyde version decided it was best to run off and start slaughtering enemies after the rest had run and the potion wasn't going to wear off. Matt decided that Mr. Hyde wasn't compatible with the rest of the group and made him make a new character.) Monsters have also been pumped up, and creatures that were once not so much a threat or not too intimidating at least LOOK as threatening as they should from their pictures. The art in the Pathfinder books is spectacular.
So if regular D&D is getting dull or you're frustrated with some of the pitfalls of the game, look into Pathfinder. It's D&D at a brand new level and definitely worth a try for your next campaign.
Happy rolling!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Happy Late 50th Post and 51st Post Surprise!
Ravi here.
In honor of the 50th post/Tuesday, I present a cupcake cake.
Yes. That is a full-sized cake made to look like a cupcake. Yes, I used a pan. Yes it was delicious.
ON TO 51ST POST BUSINESS!!!
After much deliberation (read: we can't cook that fast and I was seriously considering making everything from ramenlicious, then we had a brilliant idea [Namely, not doing anything from ramenlicious]), we have decided to make Tuesday no longer food-exclusive. What we decided is much nerdier and much more epic.
INTRODUCING: Random Encounter Tuesdays
If you roll dice, this is fairly self-explanatory. I make a table of possible topics to write on, we roll a d100, and whatever that number is on the table... well, that's the topic for the day. I'm thinking we announce the topic the week before in order to give some time for us to find and/or write on our given subject matter. Indeah can confirm or deny. Well, we're basically the DMs of this blog, and only the DM knows what the random encounters are going to be before they happen (unless someone's side-eyeing the Monster Manual.) Let's keep this to ourselves until the day of.
I should have the tables ready to go for next time... expect fudged rolls until we work out the bugs (we love you guys!).
I kinda want to post the finished table on the site, but I will ask for sissy's blessing first, so don't kill me if I deny you access. I don't see why not. Knock yourself out :) Only we can know EVERYTHING, after all.
Happy Rolling!
In honor of the 50th post/Tuesday, I present a cupcake cake.
ON TO 51ST POST BUSINESS!!!
After much deliberation (read: we can't cook that fast and I was seriously considering making everything from ramenlicious, then we had a brilliant idea [Namely, not doing anything from ramenlicious]), we have decided to make Tuesday no longer food-exclusive. What we decided is much nerdier and much more epic.
INTRODUCING: Random Encounter Tuesdays
If you roll dice, this is fairly self-explanatory. I make a table of possible topics to write on, we roll a d100, and whatever that number is on the table... well, that's the topic for the day. I'm thinking we announce the topic the week before in order to give some time for us to find and/or write on our given subject matter. Indeah can confirm or deny. Well, we're basically the DMs of this blog, and only the DM knows what the random encounters are going to be before they happen (unless someone's side-eyeing the Monster Manual.) Let's keep this to ourselves until the day of.
I should have the tables ready to go for next time... expect fudged rolls until we work out the bugs (we love you guys!).
I kinda want to post the finished table on the site, but I will ask for sissy's blessing first, so don't kill me if I deny you access. I don't see why not. Knock yourself out :) Only we can know EVERYTHING, after all.
Happy Rolling!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
50 Ways You Know You Play Too Much DnD
It's really easy to get completely sucked into DnD and tabletop games. The basic game mechanics are simple, the stories and characters can be fun (with a good DM and other players), and if you're more advanced, you can do anything you want. Eventually, and I promise you it will happen, the games you play will begin to trickle into real life... In honor of our 50th post, Ravi and I give you...
50 Ways You Know You Play Too Much DnD!
1) You begin to wonder what popular characters or historical figures' abilities scores are. Ex: "Hey DM, what do you think the Hulk's strength score is? Who do you think has the higher one between the Hulk and the Thing?"
2) You begin to wonder what YOUR ability scores are.
*Bonus bonus points if you get depressed thinking about how low your own hit points are.
3) When you trip, can't open a jar, forget something, or are generally unlucky, you figure you just rolled a natural 1.
4) The same goes for doing something awesome, epic, or lucky. Obviously you just rolled a 20.
5) When you see someone believing someone who's obviously lying, you think "Someone just failed his Sense Motive." Or, if the lie is just that crazy and is still believed, "Well, in his defense, that guy's put a ton of skill points into Bluff."
* Bonus points if you think this while watching election footage.
6) When watching a fight sequence, you wonder how many hit points the participants have.
* Bonus points if you calculate how much damage the weapons do plus the wielder's assumed strength bonus versus how many obvious hits they take to figure out an estimated HP total. Extra bonus points if you can pinpoint a critical hit or sneak attack.
7) You can't see anything you think is cool without wondering how stating it out for DnD would work out. (I still want my pet Glyptodon, DM....)
*Bonus points if you actually got your DM to agree. Extra bonus points if you, as the DM, did it.
8) You count succeeding on a task as boosting your points in that skill. (Those s'mores cookies? Totally a point in Craft: Baked Goods.)
9) You wonder what the different potions taste like.
10) When you go to a bar, you look around for any shadowy figures alone at tables.
11) Road rage? No, they've just got a level in Barbarian.
12) When cooking or doing dishes, you wonder about the mechanical differences between cast iron and stainless steel. What's going to do more damage in event of invaders?
13) You want to learn how to pick a lock. You never know when you're going to need to make an Open Lock check.
14) You actually know what a Kender is.
15) You can't watch the Olympics anymore without thinking about all the checks the participants have to keep making.
16) You get into heated arguments over the alignment of the average person.
17) You know better than to hang out in graveyards. Undead ALWAYS attack when you're in a graveyard.
18) You find yourself frequently explaining to people that dice come in more varieties than 6 sided, or, in the case of being asked to bring some dice to an event, you bring your whole bag.
19) When you have an event to wear a costume, you have a hard time choosing what character of yours you want to dress up as.
20) In said costume, when someone asks you who you are, you end up telling someone your character's whole backstory.
*Bonus points if they didn't ask.
21) You think about who would star/voice your character and teammates in a live action/animated movie.
22) You feel sad that you don't have a Ye Olde Tavern nearby where you can get a mug of ale, a turkey leg, and tough, chewy bread. (And if you do, it's your favorite place to eat.)
23) When a friend suggests drinking games, you wonder how many Constitution checks you'll have to make.
24) You call your pet your familiar.
25) You think about what kind of Charisma bonus you'll get from a cute outfit in the store window.
26) You accidentally call a rock star a bard.
27) When someone asks what languages you speak, you answer "Common."
*Bonus points if you have it as a known language on Facebook.
28) When you get injured, you wish you had a potion or a cleric. Seriously, you'll just need a cure light. You don't have that many HP.
29) Ever since you learned that a Level 1 Commoner could be killed by a housecat, you're much more cautious around Mittens.
30) When most people are stuck in rush hour traffic, they long for jetpacks. You long for a Fly spell.
31) You've wondered what it would feel like to level up.
*Bonus points if you're pretty sure you've felt it.
32) You'd be much more open to flying if all planes came equipped with giant rings of Feather Fall.
33) When something interrupts your boredom, you consider it a plothook.
34) The best gift someone can give you is a new set of dice in your favorite colors.
35) Your alcohol of choice is Crown Royal, because there's no better booze than one that comes with a free dice bag.
36) You think of actions and movement in 6-second turns. Ex: How many turns will it take to cross the office hallway?
37) You wonder about the conversion rate between DnD gold and your local currency. How much would a belt of giant's strength really cost?
*Bonus points if you've actually determined a figure. (Well, if you just find how many GP make up a pound to find the weight of a single coin, then research the current value of gold...)
38) You know how to determine the grapple check for a thumb war or arm wrestling.
39) Instead of doing a haunted house for Halloween, you turn your home into a dungeon crawl.
40) You daydream of it being as easy as putting two skill points in Speak Language to completely learn a foreign language.
41) You'd have paid a lot more attention in class if you were learning Draconic, Celestial, Giant, Druidic...
42) You think a bag of holding would make vacations and moving house so much easier.
43) You can no longer call dice just dice for board games. You play Monopoly with 2d6. (Or 1d12, if you want to give it some love.)
44)You know there's no greater stress relief than making a character sheet of someone who's pissing you off, then sending it through the shredder.
45) You legitimately forgot that not all monks are martial arts masters.
46) You wonder what you took for the feat you got for being Human.
47) Many people hang fuzzy dice in their car. Your hanging plush d20 are not as common.
48) Your idea of a good evening alone is sitting down and rolling up a new character.
49) You've realized just how many of these apply to you.
*Bonus points if you're thought of more.
50) You read Girls Rolling 20s :)
Thanks for sticking around for 50 posts. Onward to 100!
Happy rolling!
50 Ways You Know You Play Too Much DnD!
1) You begin to wonder what popular characters or historical figures' abilities scores are. Ex: "Hey DM, what do you think the Hulk's strength score is? Who do you think has the higher one between the Hulk and the Thing?"
2) You begin to wonder what YOUR ability scores are.
*Bonus bonus points if you get depressed thinking about how low your own hit points are.
3) When you trip, can't open a jar, forget something, or are generally unlucky, you figure you just rolled a natural 1.
4) The same goes for doing something awesome, epic, or lucky. Obviously you just rolled a 20.
5) When you see someone believing someone who's obviously lying, you think "Someone just failed his Sense Motive." Or, if the lie is just that crazy and is still believed, "Well, in his defense, that guy's put a ton of skill points into Bluff."
* Bonus points if you think this while watching election footage.
6) When watching a fight sequence, you wonder how many hit points the participants have.
* Bonus points if you calculate how much damage the weapons do plus the wielder's assumed strength bonus versus how many obvious hits they take to figure out an estimated HP total. Extra bonus points if you can pinpoint a critical hit or sneak attack.
7) You can't see anything you think is cool without wondering how stating it out for DnD would work out. (I still want my pet Glyptodon, DM....)
*Bonus points if you actually got your DM to agree. Extra bonus points if you, as the DM, did it.
8) You count succeeding on a task as boosting your points in that skill. (Those s'mores cookies? Totally a point in Craft: Baked Goods.)
9) You wonder what the different potions taste like.
10) When you go to a bar, you look around for any shadowy figures alone at tables.
11) Road rage? No, they've just got a level in Barbarian.
12) When cooking or doing dishes, you wonder about the mechanical differences between cast iron and stainless steel. What's going to do more damage in event of invaders?
13) You want to learn how to pick a lock. You never know when you're going to need to make an Open Lock check.
14) You actually know what a Kender is.
15) You can't watch the Olympics anymore without thinking about all the checks the participants have to keep making.
16) You get into heated arguments over the alignment of the average person.
17) You know better than to hang out in graveyards. Undead ALWAYS attack when you're in a graveyard.
18) You find yourself frequently explaining to people that dice come in more varieties than 6 sided, or, in the case of being asked to bring some dice to an event, you bring your whole bag.
19) When you have an event to wear a costume, you have a hard time choosing what character of yours you want to dress up as.
20) In said costume, when someone asks you who you are, you end up telling someone your character's whole backstory.
*Bonus points if they didn't ask.
21) You think about who would star/voice your character and teammates in a live action/animated movie.
22) You feel sad that you don't have a Ye Olde Tavern nearby where you can get a mug of ale, a turkey leg, and tough, chewy bread. (And if you do, it's your favorite place to eat.)
23) When a friend suggests drinking games, you wonder how many Constitution checks you'll have to make.
24) You call your pet your familiar.
25) You think about what kind of Charisma bonus you'll get from a cute outfit in the store window.
26) You accidentally call a rock star a bard.
27) When someone asks what languages you speak, you answer "Common."
*Bonus points if you have it as a known language on Facebook.
28) When you get injured, you wish you had a potion or a cleric. Seriously, you'll just need a cure light. You don't have that many HP.
29) Ever since you learned that a Level 1 Commoner could be killed by a housecat, you're much more cautious around Mittens.
30) When most people are stuck in rush hour traffic, they long for jetpacks. You long for a Fly spell.
31) You've wondered what it would feel like to level up.
*Bonus points if you're pretty sure you've felt it.
32) You'd be much more open to flying if all planes came equipped with giant rings of Feather Fall.
33) When something interrupts your boredom, you consider it a plothook.
34) The best gift someone can give you is a new set of dice in your favorite colors.
35) Your alcohol of choice is Crown Royal, because there's no better booze than one that comes with a free dice bag.
36) You think of actions and movement in 6-second turns. Ex: How many turns will it take to cross the office hallway?
37) You wonder about the conversion rate between DnD gold and your local currency. How much would a belt of giant's strength really cost?
*Bonus points if you've actually determined a figure. (Well, if you just find how many GP make up a pound to find the weight of a single coin, then research the current value of gold...)
38) You know how to determine the grapple check for a thumb war or arm wrestling.
39) Instead of doing a haunted house for Halloween, you turn your home into a dungeon crawl.
40) You daydream of it being as easy as putting two skill points in Speak Language to completely learn a foreign language.
41) You'd have paid a lot more attention in class if you were learning Draconic, Celestial, Giant, Druidic...
42) You think a bag of holding would make vacations and moving house so much easier.
43) You can no longer call dice just dice for board games. You play Monopoly with 2d6. (Or 1d12, if you want to give it some love.)
44)You know there's no greater stress relief than making a character sheet of someone who's pissing you off, then sending it through the shredder.
45) You legitimately forgot that not all monks are martial arts masters.
46) You wonder what you took for the feat you got for being Human.
47) Many people hang fuzzy dice in their car. Your hanging plush d20 are not as common.
48) Your idea of a good evening alone is sitting down and rolling up a new character.
49) You've realized just how many of these apply to you.
*Bonus points if you're thought of more.
50) You read Girls Rolling 20s :)
Thanks for sticking around for 50 posts. Onward to 100!
Happy rolling!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Tuesday Tasties: Rosemary Bread!
Ravi here.
Little-known fact: there is a very soft spot in my heart for rosemary. It is a delicious herb. So delicious, in fact, there is a rosemary bush on our patio that provides me with a supply that I can never deplete.
Yes. My love runs THAT deep.
Today, I'm going to share with you a recipe that has always been a big hit with family and friends... when I feel like sharing my precious. I present to you: rosemary bread!
I first came across this recipe while looking for a rosemary-based side dish for a romantic dinner that I was helping a friend plan and cook for his girlfriend. The link to the recipe is here. I really can't explain it any better than they did, so I'm going to refrain from posting the whole thing.
Fair warning: it is a fairly dense loaf.
Happy Eating and Rolling!
Little-known fact: there is a very soft spot in my heart for rosemary. It is a delicious herb. So delicious, in fact, there is a rosemary bush on our patio that provides me with a supply that I can never deplete.
Yes. My love runs THAT deep.
Today, I'm going to share with you a recipe that has always been a big hit with family and friends... when I feel like sharing my precious. I present to you: rosemary bread!
I first came across this recipe while looking for a rosemary-based side dish for a romantic dinner that I was helping a friend plan and cook for his girlfriend. The link to the recipe is here. I really can't explain it any better than they did, so I'm going to refrain from posting the whole thing.
Fair warning: it is a fairly dense loaf.
Happy Eating and Rolling!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
I WANNA CUDDLE AN ELDRITCH HORROR!!!!
Ravi here.
If you have been around nerds long enough, H. P. Lovecraft's non-Euclidian Elder God has been brought up in conversation at some point. You know about Cthulhu and have probably seen a horribly punny "O Rl'yeh?" cracked at some point. I have seen this Eldritch horror, and...
IT'S SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE!!!!
Behold, the adorable Squishable Cthulhu. I JUST WANNA PICK HIM UP AND SNUGGLE THAT LIL BUGGER.
As you can see, he still causes people to fail SAN checks (as evidenced by my droolery), but the Squishable site promises he won't devour your soul, so it's probably all good.
SO. FLUFFY.
Happy Rolling!
If you have been around nerds long enough, H. P. Lovecraft's non-Euclidian Elder God has been brought up in conversation at some point. You know about Cthulhu and have probably seen a horribly punny "O Rl'yeh?" cracked at some point. I have seen this Eldritch horror, and...
IT'S SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE!!!!
Behold, the adorable Squishable Cthulhu. I JUST WANNA PICK HIM UP AND SNUGGLE THAT LIL BUGGER.
As you can see, he still causes people to fail SAN checks (as evidenced by my droolery), but the Squishable site promises he won't devour your soul, so it's probably all good.
SO. FLUFFY.
Happy Rolling!
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