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Messages - Cynical Cat

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31
The Unholy Consult / Re: TUC Reviews
« on: September 16, 2017, 03:46:16 am »
frigid isn't a doctor nor does he claim to be.  His editor, on the other hand, is a mutual friend and does have Phd.

32
The Unholy Consult / Re: TUC Reviews
« on: September 15, 2017, 06:26:46 am »
He says: "And finally, with the publishing of The Unholy Consult, I think it can at last be said that Bakker has written the epic fantasy series of the post-Tolkien era."  If you don't think that's a positive review, I think you need to reexamine your standards.

33
The Thousandfold Thought / Re: Why did Moenghus leave Ishual
« on: September 15, 2017, 06:22:28 am »
I can see what you're saying, CC.

Food for thought but I can't agree with your interpretation entirely at the moment.

They agree on some of the details of the Outside, but diverge radically on religious matters.  As to be expected, the Mother-Supreme of Yawter believes the Fanim are mislead heretics.  Details, like the fact that the Hundred aren't necessarily moral and many will fall as fodder, they agree on.  The nature of the God of Gods is a clear area of disagreement, which is again to be expected as this one of the core religious differences between the Inrithi and the Fanim.

34
The Thousandfold Thought / Re: Why did Moenghus leave Ishual
« on: September 11, 2017, 12:51:12 am »
(click to show/hide)

MOD EDIT: Added spoiler tags, because this section of the board is for info up to The Thousandfold Thought.

35
The Unholy Consult / Re: Why Kelmomas?
« on: September 11, 2017, 12:30:16 am »
I imagine its a combination of heredity and mental plasticity.  The Anasurimbor line reputedly includes Nonmen blood so the "code" of both of Earwa's native soul possessing humanoids can be found and read in their bodies.  The second, as has been mentioned, is Kel's mental plasticity that allows him to closely match the mind of the original.

36
RPG Discussion / Re: Earwan Rules Hack for D&D
« on: September 06, 2017, 05:27:57 am »
Nonmen-most should be done up as individual NPCs, but we do see groups of nameless Erratics at a few points.

Ruined Wretch
Armor Class  11
Hitpoints 26 (4d8+8)
Speed 30ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
14       12    14      8       8        6
Actions
Grapple:  +5, 5 foot reach, DC 15 to escape, 3hp damage
Improvised Weapon attack:  +4, 5 foot reach 1d4+2 damage
Erratic:  At disadvantage to any save versus confusion or misdirection effects.

Consult Enforcer
Armor Class  19 (Nimil)
Hitpoints 75 (10d8+30)
Speed 30ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
18      14     16     12      8       12
Actions
Multi attack: two sword attacks
Nimil Sword:  reach 5 feet  +10 to hit, d8+5 damage
Warrior Steeped in Violence:  Any attack that hits by 5 or more is a critical, triple damage criticals
Erratic:  At disadvantage to any saves to resist confusion or misdirection.  If the Erratic has a Book, the Book will allow him a reroll for a failed confusion save (still at disadvantage).

Deranged Quya
Armor Class  15 (Nimil Chain shirt)
Hitpoints 79 (12d8+24)
Speed 30ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
14       12    14      20     12       12
Actions
Quya: Casts spells as a 14th level wizard, all spells count as if being cast using a spellslot one level higher
Nimil Sword:  reach 5 feet  +7to hit, d8+3 damage
Erratic:  At disadvantage to any saves to resist confusion or misdirection.  If the Erratic has a Book, the Book will allow him a reroll for a failed confusion save (still at disadvantage).

Unbalanced Warrior of the Tall
Armor Class  22 (Nimil Plate and Shield)
Hitpoints 165 (16d10+80)
Speed 30ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
24       12    20      12      8       12
Actions
Multi attack: two sword attacks
Nimil Sword:  reach 10 feet  +12to hit, 4d6+8 damage
Warrior Steeped in Violence:  Any attack that hits by 5 or more is a critical, triple damage criticals
Erratic:  At disadvantage to any saves to resist provocations to violence.

37
RPG Discussion / Re: Earwan roleplaying
« on: August 28, 2017, 03:34:10 am »
I'll be playing in person :) maybe I'll make my wife the skinspy, she's a sneaky one ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It seems you have a solution.

38
RPG Discussion / Re: Earwan roleplaying
« on: August 27, 2017, 09:06:25 pm »
It depends on how you're playing.  Online it's easy to send IMs but in the flesh it's a little trickier.  Make taking aside players for a few minutes and passing messages normal.  Give several other players minor side missions.  Take the Mandati aside and tell them what they dreamed of during the night.  You can't hide that there is secret communication going on, but you can hide its importance by burying it in a routine stream of information exchange.

39
RPG Discussion / Re: Earwan Rules Hack for D&D
« on: August 25, 2017, 11:09:11 am »
Bashrag

Adolescent Hunter
Armor Class  12 (Hide)
Hitpoints 45 (6d10+12)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
18        10    14      6       8        6
Actions
Multi attack: two hammer attacks
Hammer:  reach 10 feet  +6 to hit, 2d8+4 damage
Javelin:  +4 to hit, 2d6+4 damage range 30ft

Tribal Ravager
Armor Class  14 (Hide and Shield)
Hitpoints 76 (8d12+24)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
21       10     16     6       8        6
Actions
Multiattack:  2 Hammer attacks
Hammer:  10 foot reach, +7 to hit, 3d8+5 damage
Javelin:    +5  to hit, 2d6+5 damage range 30ft

Consult Warrior
Armor Class  16 (Scale armor and shield)
Hitpoints 95 (10d12+30)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
23       10     16      6      8        6
Actions
Multiattack:  2 Hammer attacks
Hammer:   10 foot reach, +8 to hit 3d8+6 damage

Foul Chieftain
Armor Class  18 (Chain mail and shield)
Hitpoints 126 (12d12+48)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
25       12     18     6       8        6
Actions
Multiattack: 2 Hammer attacks
Hammer:  10 foot reach, +9 to hit, 3d8+7 damage
Javelin:  +4to hit, 1d6+1 damage range 30ft

40
The Unholy Consult / Re: TUC Reviews
« on: August 25, 2017, 06:30:51 am »
frigid has reminded me I didn't have to push that hard to get him to read Bakker (the benefits of having good taste cred).  That's true, I didn't need to, but I did.

41
RPG Discussion / Re: Earwan roleplaying
« on: August 24, 2017, 06:26:23 am »
You'll want veteran soldiers/knights/elite units/warrior thanes in there or as a template.  This is a setting with a lot of hard dudes, not that being hard will always save you when death comes swirling down.

42
RPG Discussion / Re: Earwan Rules Hack for D&D
« on: August 24, 2017, 06:19:40 am »
Scranc
Vicious Adolescent
Armor Class  11 (+1 Dex)
Hitpoints 6 (1d8+1)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
8        12       12         6        8        6
Actions
Crude Cleaver:  +1 to hit, 1d4 damage
Crude Javelin:  +3 to hit, 1d4 damage range 30ft

Tribal Warrior
Armor Class  14 (+1 Dex, Leather and Shield)
Hitpoints 11 (2d8+2)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
10       12       12         6        8        6
Actions
Crude Heavy Cleaver or War Club:  +3 to hit, 1d6 damage
Crude Javelin:  +3 to hit, 1d4 damage range 30ft

Ursranc
Armor Class  17 (scale armour and shield)
Hitpoints 16 (3d8+3)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
13        12       12        6       10        6
Actions
Sword:  +4 to hit, 1d8+1 damage
Javelin:  +4to hit, 1d6+1 damage range 30ft

Chieftain-Tyrant
Armor Class  15 (+2 Dex, Leather and Shield)
Hitpoints 26 (4d8+8)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
14        14       14         6        8        6
Actions
2 Hand Axes:  2 attacks +4 to hit, 1d6+2 damage
Javelins:  +4 to hit, 1d6+2 damage range 30ft

Some Sranc done up as a single horde type creature for easier management

Mob of Starving Skinnies
Armor Class  11 (+1 Dex)
Hitpoints 220 (40d8+40)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
8        12       12         6        8        6
Actions
Crude Cleaver: 2 attacks at everyone within 5ft of the Mob  +2 to hit, 2d4 damage
Shower of Crude Javelins: 2 attacks,  +3 to hit, 2d4 damage range 30ft
Loses 1/2 its attacks when it drops below 100 hp
Takes double damage from area of effect attacks. triple if more than half the mob is in the area of effect

Band of Sranc Warriors
Armor Class  14 (Leather Armor and Shield, Mob penalty)
Hitpoints 275 (50d8+50)
Speed 40ft
STR   DEX   CON   INT   WIS   CHA
10        12       12         6        8        6
Actions
Crude Cleaver: 2 attacks at everyone within 5ft of the Mob  +3 to hit, 2d6 damage
Shower of Crude Javelins: 2 attacks,  +3 to hit, 2d4 damage range 30ft
Loses 1/2 its attacks when it drops below 120 hp
Takes double damage from area of effect attacks. triple if more than half the mob is in the area of effect

43
RPG Discussion / Earwan Rules Hack for D&D
« on: August 24, 2017, 05:19:09 am »
A worm crawled into my ear and wouldn't go away so here it is:  a relatively quick and dirty reskinning of D&D to fit into Earwa.  Comments and so forth are more than welcome.  Steal as much or as little as you wish to.  Why D&D?  It's not a great fit, but the mod is relatively easy to do and as I said, it won't go away. 
First things first.  It has to be Fifth edition because the bounded armor class and attack bonus system is the only one where having mostly mundane armour and weapons can actually work and hordes of low level monsters don't have to roll natural 20s to hit a mid or high level hero.  Also, a few other details work out better.  I'll get to them in time.

Races:  Humans, of course.  I'll cook up a take on Nonmen an when I can.   Nonmen is going to be hard to do without being wildly unbalanced although sufficiently nasty Erratic penalties can offset that. .  Dunyain are even more broken than Nonmen.  Half Dunyain or a defective is still damn strong, but might be manageable.  They make much better NPCs and they make Nonmen look common.
Classes:
Barbarian:  Obviously in.
Paths
Super Berserker type:  Holca.  The super berserk badassery works better as a Barbarian path than as a racial trait.  As for their brute power, I don't think that needs to be addressed other than "Holca NPCs tend to have lots of Barbarian levels and good Strength and Con."  Sure they're huge and powerful, but so is Cnaiur and so is Yalgrotta Sranchammer. 
General Badass:  Thunyeri.  Should incorporate the tidbit about Thunyeri bolstering their defences by keeping their enemies off balance with fierce strikes. 
Horse Warrior:  Scylvendi goodness.  Or badness, depending.

Bard:  Nope.  I know, Bardic Priests, but they're non magic using priests, no spellslinging rogues.
Cleric:  Nope.  Yes there are miracle workers and Shamans, but they are so rare they make the Few look common .  Shamans are holy sorcerers and miracle workers are vehicles for DM action.  So no, not as a class that can be taken.
Druids:  See cleric.
Fighter:  Hell yes.
Monk:  Nope.  Yes, I know the Dunyain are monks but they aren't D&D monks with magic ki powers and kung fu more badass than broadswords. 
Paladin:  Nope. 
Ranger:  Use the nonmagic Ranger variant(s) that you like.  There's a small army of them out there. 
Rogue:  Yes.
Sorcerer:   Baseline class for users of the Psukhe.  Some Surgery
Warlock:  No.  After all, damnation is nothing special in this universe.  Why give out powers for that?  You fall as fodder anyway.
Wizard:  Baseline class for Schoolmen.  Some Surgery.
Arcane Traditions: the specializations that exist already can work, but to have some that reflect the world of Earwa and the distinctive nature of its sorcery would be a shame.  So:
Anagogic War Cant Master:  the Evocation Specialist.   
Mandati:  This is tricky, because you want the Gnosis to be distinctive and powerful, but you don't want it to wreck all balance.  So instead of the standard type of arcane specialist we have instead the following: 
-Relive the Apocalypse:  Upon every long rest must make a DC 8 Con save or recover one less hit die and be at -1 penalty to all dice rolls until the next long rest due to disturbed dreams.
-The Gnosis:  All spells, where applicable, count as being cast with a spell slot one level higher than actually used.
Iswazi: This is going to be tricky.  It's generally stronger than other anagogic sorcery but less flexible.  D&D rules doesn't deal with this particular issue well because it doesn't really have group spellcasting and its baseline sorcery is fairly inflexible.  I'll see if I can cook up more than "has to use material components"

Sorcerer:  Puskhe user.  There's been a few blind miracle workers before the Cisharaum so it can work for a non Fanim group.
Changes:  Spell list is massacred.  A lot of transformation spells are out, as are teleporting type spells, a lot of necromancy, and summoning.    Spells are reskinned from D&D standard to  have visual effects more closely match Earwa's magic. The sorcerer is vulnerable to Chorae and is blind, but can perceive the onta and see the Mark without difficulty as well as see through the eyes of a bonded animal.  This is limited, giving the sorcerer the ability to see but making all vision based perception checks at Disadvantage if they don't involve magic.
On the plus side, no need for components at all, no Mark, and the Psukharim's spells are indistinguishable from the world and thus not detectable as magic.   The Sorcerer has double the usual number of spell slots so the character more closely matches the ability to throw around a lot of magic evidenced by Earwa's spellcasters and to compensate them for the diminished variety of spells and the existence of Chorae.

Wizard:  Similar to sorcerers.  Demon summoning is allowed and the "too complicated" barrier on Psukhe doesn't exist.  The difference between Gnostic and Anagogic magic is going to have to be mostly simulated by throwing levels at NPC Gnostic Schoolmen.  PC Gnostic magicians will be less advanced in their mastery than equivalent level Anagogic PCs.  Yes, less than ideal.   Cooking up an Arcane Tradition for Anagogic and Gnostic practitioners, the Gnostic one focusing on brute spellpower and the Anagogic one probably focusing on the Daimos (which is, after all, actually capable of threatening a Gnostic Schoolman in the source material) will probably help but I'll actually have to look at 5th ed material to do it right so it will come later.
Also can see onta and the Mark, are Marked, and also vulnerable to chorae.  Also suffer from ravaged spell lists and gain double the number of spell slots.  Spells are reskinned so Fireball is Falling Suns or the Dragonhead, Lightning bolt is Nibelitic Lightning, etcetera depending on tradtion.

Gear
Armor
No Plate Armor as standard, available armor.  Mail is common and mail reinforced by steel splints (aka splint mail) also shows up. 
Nimil Plate does exist.  Good luck finding it in your size.

Nimil:  Armor is half weight, counts as one category lighter.  +1 bonus to AC.  Weapons +1 to hit and damage. 

Chorae
Grants total immunity to the direct effects of magic.  Attachable to missiles or useable as a melee attack.  Both suffer a -1 penalty to hit.  Totaly destroy wards on a hit or missing by one point, ignore magical protective effects.  Any magic user hit suffers +2 hp of damage per spellcaster level.  Yeah, not instant death on hit or save or die.  D&D hit points are abstract and losing hp can mean a near miss that uses up the last bit of the Whore's favor before your skin is punctured.  Ditto with Chorae hits.
Scourging the Earth:  Any magical attack that can potentially cause serious damage to a Trinket bearer with secondary effects counts as Scourging the Earth.  Burning horses, blasting the earth and sending stones flying, splinters of wood and stone all count.  Chorae bearers suffer 1/2 damage from such spells (again, damage is abstract in D&D and they are protected from the primary effects) and gain a +1 to any relevant saving throws.

Billows:  Can be animated with Unseen Servant (or equivalent).  Only deployable in the air.  Grants a +2 bonus to AC against ranged attacks.

Wire Screens:  Limits Dex to max +2.  Weight:  10lbs.  +2 AC versus ranged attacks. 

44
RPG Discussion / Re: Earwan roleplaying
« on: August 24, 2017, 05:16:25 am »
I've actually being cooking up some rules mods for Earwa for D&D.  The bug bit me and wouldn't let me go.  I wasn't going to post anything until I had polished it more, but better rules 6 months from now aren't going to do you any good so I'll post the rough stuff early.

45
I remember the line.  I don't remember where it is, but I think it's in either The Great Ordeal of The White Luck Warrior.

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