Monte Carlo

^ I suspect you're right, I'm just useless at WASD + mouse, I'll persevere but I've got four other interesting games of MTW2, BG2, SoZ and Majesty going on at the moment. No biggie, it's nice to have a new game in reserve - M&B and Majesty Gold came in at fifteen quid on a two-for-one deal which is great value. Cheers MC

^ Dude, if William Tell had tried that apple trick with a sawn-off Remmy pump gun the legend might have been slightly different in the telling

I'm liking that a lot. Does this game have shotguns?

Am playing Monut & Blade. Badly. I am to combat in this game what Jabba the Hutt is to hang-gliding. I don't, to be honest, like it very much.

Trying Mount & Blade based on the positive comments on this here forum.

IIRC you simply increases your existing spellcasting levels, if you have more than one you choose which. I don't really dig it because I'm not into standing at the back and throwing things.

^ It would have been a bit more convincing if he'd had some sort of character change after he'd become a monk. But as far as I could work out, he didn't really, his quest for spiritual enlightenment was merely a vehicle for learning new ways to beat people up. Anyway, if I play it again he'll not be taking the monk class.

It's the principle: I paid for it, I didn't hire it or rent it or lease it. It's my property. I did my personal boycott of Empires: TW because of the mandatory online activation / Steam issue. This is why I loathe piracy so much - they cause this pox to be visited on honest people like me. Anyway, we are now completely O/T, this is about comparative pricing of console / PC titles

The pound has taken a hammering over the past year or so, especially against the Euro. At Xmas it was almost one-for-one, it's rallied to about 1.16 Euros to the pound. Still not too bad on the dollar, but I remember the halcyon days of

Gfted1, old chap, pay for a round of drinks in a Swedish bar... and re-mortgage your home to get the second in. EDIT: My currency converter shows 1.00 British pounds sterling = 12.23 Swedish kronor.

^ I know Sweden is a social democratic nirvana, with fresh air and extremely gorgeous women... but by ODIN'S RAVEN stuff is expensive there.

From The Compendium of Bowl World Loot & Treasure (Splat Book 37), Monte Carlo publishing, $49.99 (softback): Bowl World is noted for the large number of crates and barrels littered over it's strangely bowl-shaped landscape. Some of them are trapped, and glow red as a warning. Others contain a couple of gold coins and a hand axe, although a far larger number contain returning frost darts. And, from the Tome of Bowl World Lore and Mystic Miscellany (Splat Book 68), MC publishing, $69.99 (hardback): The lowest circle of hell on the outer planes of Bowl World is Cratehalla, an eternal, misty dirge-like place full of containers to be opened for infinity. The containers often contain nothing of interest, not even a returning frost dart.

Tried crazy STR-based Barbarian / Bard build in my MotB try-out frenzy, looking for a sort of heavy metal skald. He sucked. Big Time.

^ Thinking about it every year Brits go to NY for their Xmas shopping, exchange rates willing, because Stuff's Cheaper There. Now, games are now cheaper in Europe since the Credit Crunch. If Americans are visiting the UK you might as well stock up on PC titles (dunno if the console titles are regionalised). I remember buying IWD: Heart of Winter in Las Vegas in 2001, it was much cheaper there. Not so now I suspect.

Is this a regionalised phenomenon? In the UK the difference isn't as pronounced. L4D Game of the Year Edition on the XBox 360:

Hey, you could have the worlds most crap crate-opening minigame. Oh. They already did that with lockpicking in FO3.

They've updated the official website with stuff about The Fade (etc). It's a scary red island on the map.

There should also be a horde-like army of orcs and undead led by a knight dressed in black ornate armour riding a scary-horse. He found his Greatsword of Hate +5 in a barrel... in hell. He, indeed, is intent of ENSLAVING NATIONS WITH NECROMANCY. He is the thrall of the Narco-Lich and I open his name up to the floor. Dave The Evil One is too mundane, although it's a start. He's too buff for the Harlequin Death Ninja prestige class, he is something far more badass, so badass in fact that nobody else can achieve even one level in it because if they did their brain would melt. A name for this class too, would be helpful. I will include all this in the 44th Bowl World splat book, "Dave's Compendium of Evil Warrior Stuff."

^ Sadly not, but one of the doctors mentioned that the dress-up-dolly gift items for the sims NPCs includes bones for the mutt. Honestly. Good doggy.

Yeah, Bard / Rogue seems to me to be over-symbiotic, if there is such a thing. Unless you want a bard who can sneak attack / get evasion etc but why not go Bard / Assassin or Bard / Barbarian or Bard / Ranger who all get similar roguish abilties plus more distinct bonuses too? For me, bards are primarily about spellcasting - the song and skills are good but its the spellcasting that's throwing in the meat and potatoes. Unlike rogue, who's pretty front-loaded at levels 1-4. +2d6 sneak attack is useful at even high levels, low-level bardsong ain't. This brings us back to the elephant in the character-building room - the bard level as access to the frankly awesome Red Dragon Disciple. Human Bard 1 / Ftr X / RDD X is a complelling tank fighter build. Add able learner and you get the dialogue skills too. Tough to beat. Cheers MC

So why make a TV series of it? Genuinely curious.

I think you can make Blackguard as a single-classed level 7 or 8 rogue without taking any fighter levels (is it +6 BAB, Hide 5 Ranks, Power Attack & Cleave?). If you want a fighter / rogue with a hatful of decent abilities (i.e. added, stackable sneak attack, summon undead, turn undead, aura of despair) you could do a lot worse. Ditto a bard, as the BG uses CHA as a bonus to his saves too. Bard 20 / BG 10 would be pretty powerful at Epic levels. Not to mention unusual.

Personally, NPC slot number one is going to the mutt in my party, he's right up my street. All I need then is a comedy demi-human rogue and somebody to chuck the occasional fireball about. Cheers MC

Can anybody do a Haiku length resume of what the book is about please?

^ Grom has said he doesn't like RDD builds, and all of the twinkiest ones I've seen on the NWN2 character builder site feature it as a PrC. Then again, using his logic, Brd2/Clrc 'X' would also seem to work