deganawida

Ah, yes... the eternal problem of how to make things personal for the PC without pre-determining the character. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It also has the advantage of introducing the player to a world where they don't know the rules, histories, and peoples. That's why it's such a fantasy staple, and is commonly used in fantasy novels. After all, most players/readers, upon entering a strange new world, will more easily identify with a character who knows little to nothing about the world around him. Thus, when the PC/protagonist discovers a truth about the world, so does the player/reader, creating an emotional bond that carries the player/reader through the rest of the game/novels. The only game that I have played where this formula was successfully broken was KotOR2. I found KotOR2's development of the character and his backstory ingenious, and actually found myself more invested in the Exile than any many other PCs/protagonists.

Aaaah! I see a fnord! <quickly forgets reading the previous post> I think that it's a sucky opening, but from what I've seen of what will be in this flick, I think that it might actually be decent. Suppose that I should mention what I find sucky about this intro. Well, it's too short. You see, with the time differential between 2 and 3, and with the important events that occur in between, I feel that there needs to be more exposition of what happened during the Clone Wars than simply, "They're nearly over." What happened to bring them to this point? The Confederation and Dooku (I keep expecting Toady to pop up everytime I hear that name) were built up in Ep. 2 to be major threats, and it seems as if Ep. 3 will gloss over how they were defeated. In contrast, the differences among Ep. 4, 5, & 6 were nominal as far as important events go. One can reasonably assume that Luke, after the destruction of the Death Star at Yavin IV, rose in the Rebel ranks to become an important officer, and that during the planning for Han's rescue between ESB and RotJ he continued his Jedi training under his own supervision. However, the current situation is akin to finding out at the beginning of RotJ that the Empire has been destroyed except for the Emperor and Darth Vader (though it may seem that way to some, in fact the Rebellion was on its last legs in RotJ, and planned the attack on DS2 as a last-ditch effort to win). As a result, I think that there needs to be more exposition than just "War! We won!".

Who's talking about hate? Not me. I just feel that, in spite of the bugs and the rushed ending, this is a superb game, one that was both fun and provided food for thought. As such, I believe that my money was well-spent.

Hmm...let me think...um... Nope.

Writer/Designer.

What about Jonas Salk? His polio vaccine has saved countless lives and improved the quality of life worldwide.

The funny thing is, even though I came up with this build, I'd probably never use it. When I play, I tend to pick utility combat feats, such as Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, and Improved Unarmed Strike (hey, when disarmed, it helps to be able to use your hands and feat), and this build would prevent me from taking such feats. Still, it is nice ...

Good point, Squidget, except for two things: the low strength and the lack of magic. It's not unreasonable at all for a 10th level melee-focused character to have an unmodified Str of 16 or higher, adding another +1 at least to attack. Next, when we add magic into the equation, we can assume at least another +5 to attack: +4 to Str from items (giving a +2 attack bonus), and +3 from a +3 Bastard Sword. Both of these are available to 10th level characters as level-appropriate treasure. Throw in a bard song, a bless, or something similar, and the attack bonus is pushed up to +11 (the +3 from Str, the +3 from the sword, minus the MW bonus) at the least. Assuming an average roll of 10, that means that such a character could hit anything with an AC of 21 or less with each hit. And that's just a conservative estimate. I imagine that some players could come up with even more bonuses to attack (one way would be to burn action points on the attack roll, if the campaign has action points; another would be to exchange WF:BS for Improved Favored Enemy, so you only have to take 8 points away from BAB to make the 50 point mark). Of course, this build does have a weakness: defense. Since a ranger is limited to light armor by feats (only given Light Armor Proficiency), combat style (limited to light armor only), and special abilities (Evasion only works in light armor), he'll never have a high AC to begin with. Add to that the fact that charging incurs a penalty to AC. and the fact that the ranger is the only full-BAB class to have less than a d10 for hit dice (he has a d8), and you begin to see the real weakness of this build. Personally, I think it's a fair trade-off, as this character can wreak massive carnage potentially but is more likely to be seriously wounded/die than other melee combatants due to poor hit points and AC.

Paine's a good choice. Wasn't he executed by the French during the French Revolution, though?

Deganawida (the original, not me).

Books used: 3.5 PHB, Complete Warrior, Complete Adventurer Relevant stats: Assume Str of 14 10th level Straight-class Ranger Human Jump 8 ranks Favored Enemies at +6, +2, +2 Feats: Weapon Proficiency (Exotic):Bastard Sword------1st level Weapon Focus:Bastard Sword-------1st level Power Attack-------3rd level Favored Power Attack (from CW)------6th level Leap Attack (from CA)------9th level Weapons: Masterwork Bastard Sword (+1 to hit), wielded two-handed when using Power Attack. Equip: No magic items Breakdown: BAB-10 Attack Bonus----10(BAB)+2(Str)+1(WF:BS)+1(MW BS) When using Power Attack with a two-handed weapon, you multiply the amount subtracted from your BAB by 2, rather than 1; i.e., take 10 away from AB, add 20 to damage. When a ranger with Favored Power Attack (CW) attacks a Favored Enemy with Power Attack and a two-handed weapon, he does 3 times damage as the amount taken from AB; ie., take 10 away from AB, add 30 to damage. When a character with Leap Attack makes a jumping Power Attack with a two-handed weapon, he does 3 times damage as the amount taken from AB; i.e., take 10 away from AB, add 30 damage. 1 doubled, then doubled twice more, is 4 times according to D&D rules. Thus, a ranger built as described would, with a leaping Power Attack against his Favored Enemy and using a two-handed weapon or a non-light weapon in two hands would do 4 times damage as the amount taken from his Attack; i.e., take 10 away from his Attack, and he does 40 extra points of damage. Now, that's only 40 points of extra damage. How can he kill everything in one hit? Let me break it down further: -10 to attack for Power Attack +1 to attack for WF:BS +1 to attack for MS BS +2 to attack for Str +2 to attack for Charging Attack Bonus of +6 1-10 damage from Bastard Sword +6 damage for Favored Enemy bonus against best FE +3 damagefor Strength (1.5 times Str bonus of +2) +40 damage for Power Attack, Favored Power Attack, and Leap Attack Minimum damage dealt by this attack is 50 points of damage. Whenever a single source deals 50 or more points of damage to a creature, said creature must make a Fortitude save vs. DC 15 or die. Now, many CR 10 creatures could possibly make that save, but this ranger could force a save every other round while still doing a minimum of 50 points of damage per hit. I saw how all this synergized together Tuesday night when I got home with my new copy of Complete Adventurer. I had to work out the math by hand just to make sure that I was right. It is an incredibly powerful build that only requires the right class and 3 extra feats (as it can be done with a greatsword or -axe as well), yet it's given to the weakest of the full-BAB classes, that being the Ranger. A Ranger who took this would probably not take the TWF fighting style (man, I hate those fighting styles with their virtual feats), and wouldn't need to use much archery. I'd allow it in my campaign, simply because Rangers are the weakest full-BAB class and a character who picked it would have to forgo fighting styles.

Thundarr was awesome. I used to watch that show religiously. Space Ghost was awesome as well, but what was even better were Cartoon Planet and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The 80s had some great cartoons.

wb agrees with you, taks. btw, got another one on the way. maggie just turned a year old today.

That was hilarious!

Troy Denning wrote that first Dark Sun pentalogy, as well as A Breach in the Watershed.

They are releasing them on DVDs. These are the uncensored ones from the early 80s. Most of this info, though, you won't find in the cartoons. I would recommend hunting for the G.I.Joe comics written by Larry Hama and published by Marvel Comics (you can get them all pretty cheap), and picking up with the new series by Devil's Due Comics. The Joe comics were a lot better than the cartoons, and I enjoyed the cartoons (heck, I have the first two movies on special edition DVDs).

1. They combined into Superion. Silverbolt was the Concorde who was afraid of heights. Incidently, Jetfire was the first flying Autobot (and one of my all-time faves). He was called Skyfire in the cartoons, and was a pacifist instead of the warrior-scientist of the toy. Jetfire was a repaint of some Robotech toy, as well. 2. Tommy Arishikage, aka Storm Shadow, joined Cobra after being framed for the death of the Hard Master of the Arishikage ninja clan. He originally went under to find the true killer, who was Zartan, but ended up being mind-controlled. When freed, he did join the Joes to help his sword-brother, Snake-Eyes (whose name is never revealed, BTW), and trained Cobra Commander's son Billy in the Arishikage ways.

That's the second time that I've seen you post that. What the hell is "boo urns" supposed to mean? Edit: For those who didn't get my failed attempt at a joke, Annah of the Shadows from Planescape: Torment was voiced by singer Sheena Easton. Easton did the title theme for the only Roger Moore Bond film that I enjoyed, For Your Eyes Only, and was the first Bond theme singer to be featured in the opening credits and be pictured nude.

I see that my sense of humor has fallen flat... Oh, well.

Eh, Batman Begins is going to kick every other comic book hero movie's tail, come this summer.

...whenever I play Ps:T, I break out in a rousing chorus of "For Your Eyes Only"? :ph34r:

I love how Rodriguez left the Screen Writer's Guild and the Director's Guild so that Miller could help write and direct the movie. Now that's a director with integrity.

Yay! The PC snobs won't like it, but I've been looking forward to this game for awhile. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Enjoy it while you can. One of the writers who's been with them from the beginning of Xenogears has recently quit. Expect the quality to drop quite a bit.

The same argument, mkreku, can be used for true anarchy. However, the problem with all of these ideological political systems (of which anarchy and communism are the most famous) is that they all require the same levels of commitment, maturity, and participation from each member of a state/society. Such, unfortunately, will never happen.