Rich Morris' Comics - YAFGC and The ComixBlog

Was he good?

My (admittedly hazy) memories of the actual plot report that his story was not inspired and very unremarkable. Something about exploring a forest along the seashore. I later found out that he was writing a (unpublished) fantasy book around that same time, so it is possible we were "exploring" his book setting.

Eeesh, better thee than me. I've been through that enough times to know it never goes well, and generally makes railroading seem pleasant.

We had a DM who did that for a while. We would end up having whole sessions of wondering through a forest and witnessing great events instead of doing something. A too open world can do that to you. Fortunately we did some talking and even though he dropped the campaign (and was a bit pissed too), he did create a new one after one or two years which run as games are supposed to run. Never underestimate the power of well intentioned feedback .

Our group was big into constructive feedback, but only if asked.
I don't recall being specifically asked for feedback, but he may have asked our regular GM's for feedback.

In his defense, he was a very good player, just not a good DM. This is not that uncommon.

Ironically, a few years later, one of our regular DM's built an entire campaign around a forrest (main plot adapted from the play "Into the Woods"), and much fun was had by all.

So me and some buddies i met online are playing a game of shackled city twice every month, and the past few sessions... well lets say my Paladin is not having a good time.

Session before last, a giant umber hulk burst its way out of a wherehouse the group was passing and started tearing up the place. The fight went as one would expect, we hit it, it hit us, several of us, my paladin included got hypnotized by it's eyes, and so forth.

Well apparently Mr. hulk was not particularly fond of the smite evil i had just used against it's toes, and proceeded to use what i can only imagine was a "smite good" ability, as the next thing i know, his claws are glowing, he swipes me once with each claw and then chomps down on me with his humongous pincers, and my full sixty eight hitpoints go aaalll the way down to five. My armour is now a cage, a massive hole going right through my chest plate, and i am in terrible pain. It takes a second strongest party member and a bear-form druid to peel me out like a banana and free me. The guys who came to investigate the happening were as surprised as i was that i survived.

luckally we were on our way to pick up some freshly forged new masterwork fullplate for me when we were attacked. The fancy cape one of the elves forced me to buy however was ruined. Ahh well, got an even nicer one made out of red dragon hair later on.


Next session! We fight a red dragon! Fortunately not one that my cape was made from, but it unfortunately did not land to fight us in melee, i did not have a ranged weapon, and it repeatedly attacked (mostly me) with breath and fly-by attacks, reducing me to i believe between eight and three hitpoints, and nearly killing my new horse twice.


A little later on in the same session! We descend some stairs into the underdark, and we get attacked by a hydra! it first attacks our rogue in the front of the group as she was looking for traps, however it's icy bread weapon was wide enough to hit me following slightly behind her. Needless to saw we engage, and once again, my poor paladin proceeds to get the stuffing knocked out of him. at one point all seven heads attack me, and I’m down to my last ten or twenty hitpoints and desperately need a heal, but not only am i longshadowed, making healing spells less effective on me, but our healer just HAPPENS to be waaay up the stairs attacking the hydra from a range. We manage to kill the hydra, but for some reason it explodes after death, my paladin being one of the few in range, is hit, tossed into a wall, and sent down to about negative twenty hit points. the only reason he is alive is because the DM took pity on me and gave me a fort save to live, wich i luckally passed despite a low roll.

Oh! And lets not forget shortly AFTER that, where my paladin gets grappled and almost eaten by an ettin.

Two sessions, four times almost dead.

I'm starting to think he may have chosen the wrong god:P

I think the wrong GM. Are you far and away the most damaging to all of these monsters? Or did you take the Delicious Aroma Flaw?

Because you shouldn't be taking most of the attacks.

i'm the melee fighting tank, the high-damage dealers are mostly the archery-fighter and the favoured soul with his OP laser-beams.

I think i just taste good (Or raidiate it.)

Red dragon... hair?
Yes i know i should show some sympathy here but... dragon hair? Explain yourself, genetics !

Half the table asked the exact same question when it was revealed.

apparently some red dragons can grow small tuffs of hair on their head once they reach a certain age? *shrugs*

Groan and double groan. Let us hope they do not grow them out of their ears or the mental image would be unbearable...

Actually, several games have dragons growing (for lack of a better term) manes. Eastern style dragons and linnorms in particular.

And the Luck Dragon was a furry beast *ducks out*

Stories never end, do they?

I have this new guy who plays a dwarven fighter. He has a charisma of 8 but he believes he is Gods' gift to females. He doesn't like women of his own kind, and he always goes for the elves -even though he somehow things they mate by looking deeply into each other's eyes. Oh, and he does not believe in magic.

Also, in that session he had just picked the Endurance feat.

Now at some point the party arrives at an Eilistraee temple, with a sought after artifact and a convert wannabe. This was meant to be a 5 minute stop: deliver the convert and the statue, and get on with the adventure.

But then the dwarf starts flirting with the two drow rangers who slightly mock him, and manages to involve one of them in a bet: if the overcomes her in a duel, he gets to be her partner to the feast. The (two levels higher than the dwarf) ranger laughs that Eilistraee will decide and even hangs her holy symbol pendant as a witness. The duel begins...

...and i roll two "1"s for her. The dwarf meanwhile never rolls below 18. The second ranger teases her friend for loosing and the suddenly Bond-suave dwarf challenges her too. She, being more clever, challenges him to a hunt instead of a duel. She is after all, a ranger...

But I roll 4 and 5 for her. Meanwhile the dwarf scores 16 and over, and in the encounter chart, i roll 99 which means he finds Eilistraee's favorite prey, a stag.

Later on, after the three had had their fun, (and the dwarf had made ample use of his otherwise useless feat Endurance), the Wild Hunt, the culmination of the feast, begins. Some people get up to participate and the dwarf does too, since his partners delicately and elvenly snore. You can guess the rest: I rolled 3s and 4s for everyone else involved (all elven and drow hunters, rangers and rogues) and somehow the dwarf got the Great White Stag with a single ranged attack. He even succeeded in his move silently roll, while in full armor. I guess he pretended to be a bear cub or something.

Back in the temple grounds, as he returns carrying the stag, he silently signs to a bard to sing for his victory for gold and the bard rolls an 18. I had no choice: to show what happened next i took his miniature, grabbed a handful of female elven miniatures and dropped them it, then put them in a box and shook them.

Needless to say, we did not play anything else apart from the sexual escapades of the party that night. It was not a session, it was a celebration of Endurance.
Oh, and the elven sorceress got it on with two guys as well, and the dwarf was bewildered: how did she do it since she is not cross eyed? Because, remember, even after the drow orgy he still thinks elves mate by soulful gazing, and a trio would pose a practical problem...

I have not a face or a palm big enough for that one.

Where does he think half-elves come from, or does he think humans mate through soulfully gazing into one another's eyes as well?