Community

fodigg wrote:

So you would prefer.

About rules for bone casting, tarot cards or astrology.

About describing Headshrinkers, with new magical objects like a head that laughts and makes people of the same race then the head laught.

A rattle made with the teeth of the shrunken heads that make people dance when it is used.

A head that scares people of the same race then the head or gives them minus when fighting the wearer of the head.

A spell that shrinks the head of a enemy you just have slained and another spell that makes that head talk so you can ask it questions.

Maybe a minor artifact, the large head of a ancient evil intelligent snake. Its the totem of a tribe, it talks, controls the shaman and give him a few powers or divination abilities. A weird and new enemy for PCs.

I would love to see family heirlooms as magical objects. Like the peinting of an ancestor with angelic traits, that transforms, for a short period of time, one of his descedants into a angelic like being.

The family mausolium, were on a full moon (thus once a month) a family member can seek council form his ancestors.

A small marble bust that answers questions on certain matters. It has like a +15 to one knowledge skill.

A music box that when open it makes creatures fall asleep around it.

A gem flower made by a fey ancestor. When worned the flower give one extra power to a warlock. A gem horn could be from a fiendish ancestor.

The family tapestry, that absorb the disease of people who sleep in the same room.

Clues on how to incorporate this items in games. Like someone stealing one such itme in the family estate. A diying father that tells the family's secret to his only son. A rival family that wants to war, again, against the family, so a PC has to find a heirloom that was hidden from the rival family many decades ago.

You know that kind of stuff.

fodigg wrote:

You need rules for all that?

Well do I need Paragon Paths? They seem pretty easy to make.

Sure I need rules for headshrinkers and family heirlooms. What I suggested is easy to make, but a professional writer can take it to the next level.

Bone casting, tarot cards, astrology and gun power weapons, yes I need rules for balance.

fodigg wrote:

It's not that I think those things are without merit, just that I don't see them as having more merit than what we got in this article, which was a nice bit of fluff for a goodly organization.

I also am not sure if you're asking for extra sub-systems of mechanics. I would much rather have a "bone casting" divination ritual that works like every other ritual than unique rules for bone casting. Again, I'm not sure if that's what you were asking for or not.

Maybe I'm just tired of goodly organization. They lack something generaly, but that is a matter of taste.

Well, yes I am asking for a sub-system. Just another ritual, that would be ordinary. It would be another divination spell. I would elaborate on bone casting and such, but I lack the imagination/rule knowledge to go further. This is where the professional writer kicks in.

fodigg wrote:

Well...after seeing the rules bloat in 3.x, I'm wary of any new sub-systems of mechanics, especially in an online article.

I guess its a matter of taste again. I saw your bloat as diversity and options for PCs and NPCs.

But with the Martial book coming soon, the FR setting, the Manual of the planes, the online Dragon mag, etc, I think that a rules bloat/power creaps are just around the corner. Like I said, its the same business model.

It was nice to see the Class Acts: Wizards powers get and errata in the final PDF of Dragon 364.

I was disappointed to see that the Wolves of Maldeen article didn't get the same treatment.

The Straw Soldiers power raises several questions to me, by the wording of its effect.

Daily ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: 1 creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 3[W] + Strength modifier damage.
Effect: You and your allies gain concealment against all attacks until the end of your next turn.
Sustain Minor: When you sustain this power, the concealment effect persists.

First off no range is listed for this effect, unlike other Warlord powers in the the PHB that affect allies. If range isn't listed for a power the it is determined by the weapon in this case the Warlord's melee weapon, hence only allies adjacent to the warlord are effected.

What happens if they move away? Or an ally moves adjacent while this is sustained.

Do the allies actually gain concealment or only effectively concealment (-2 to attack rolls) against attacks? Could a rogue attempt to hide while concealed by Straw Soldiers?