Dungeons & Dragons... Discuss!

[TheGlyphstone]

I often find that you get heaps of quirky tangents to the adventure when you run with a new player. Especially a female player - they don't see everything as a shimmering pot of gold and XP.

The girls I've played with almost universally made the guys look practically Ghandi-like in their relative bloodthirstiness.

[Endorphin]

Oh, some of them can be truly evil. No doubt.

Though, I've also found that female inclusion in groups tends to increase the overall creativity of the group, the propensity towards spending inordinate amounts of time in markets and fayres and a (slightly) increased willingness to find alternative, non-violent means of conflict resolution. When the conflict does come, though, it can be far more malicious and vindictive.

As a side note; more females also leads to a direct increase in the number of bards, gnome druids and elven sorceresses. An unfortunately side-effect, I know, though I suppose someone has to play them. Plus, it's usually pretty cute.

[Thorne]

Tsk tsk Thorne. EVERY Halfling makes a suitable improvised weapon. That's why Halflings were invented! And gnomes. And kobolds... what other use is there for them apart from picking pockets, doing silly magic tricks and being hacked down by aggressive party members!

... okay, point (and people wonder why I don't usually play 'short' characters).
Still, some of them make better improvised weapons than others. I'd use the gnome in the spiked armor before the kobold in leathers, for example.. and the goblin with all the bottles of alchemist's fire before either one...  Improvised Fireball, anyone? *evil giggle*

. .. I think I just proved your other point, too. Oops?
Although I don't do bards or gnome druids. Elven sorceresses are fair game, however.

[Endorphin]

Now that's what I call lateral thinking. And a fine example too!

Having a gnome in spiked armour would be likely to increase the damage die by one increment, in addition to providing piercing damage instead of bludgeoning damage you'd receive from a kobold in leather armour only. So, you can effectively get more bang for your buck purely through a careful selection of which enemy to hurl. Okay, sure, there would be a fair argument to say that a kobold in spiked leather would be halfway, though I think the consensus would be that wouldn't quite cut it and would effectively be the same as the ordinary, run-of-the-mill leather armour.

But a goblin molotov cocktail, well, that's something else entirely. I'd be prepared to give that the standard 1d4+STR+1d6 for the alchemist fire. Potentially more for additional bottles. I mean, yeah, you'd have to roll for the chance that they'd break but I think the impact would be worth it. Especially since goblins are a race that are more likely than standard to come with bonus alchemist fire and similar products upon weapon selection.

No bards or gnome druids? Promise? I suppose we'll let the elven sorceress slide for now. After all, she is nice to look at and can be exceedingly diplomatic at times. That's always handy for a balanced party.

Seriously, though, I really do like the change in dynamic you get when you bring one of those classes to the party. It makes a pleasant change.

[Thorne]

Honestly, the last sorceress I played was human.
She had an unholy fondness for the Grease spell (and was I /ever/ disappointed to have it Officially Ruled that you can't set the results of that spell on fire).

.. actually, I still have an unholy fondness for that spell. There's nothing like casting it at the top of a stair well, then getting out of the way of the charging .. whatevers. *evil giggles*

[Chris Brady]

The grease spell is among the most powerful and versatile spells in D&D.  Always has been.

[TheGlyphstone]

Honestly, the last sorceress I played was human.
She had an unholy fondness for the Grease spell (and was I /ever/ disappointed to have it Officially Ruled that you can't set the results of that spell on fire).

.. actually, I still have an unholy fondness for that spell. There's nothing like casting it at the top of a stair well, then getting out of the way of the charging .. whatevers. *evil giggles*

That's why the Incendiary Grease spell was written. I don't remember what book it's in, but it is Grease at Level 2 that explicitly lets you set it on fire.

[Thorne]

Hrm. This could be useful. I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.

The other handy spell is still the Floating Disc - albeit it's been nerfed a bit. One can no longer ride on one's own disc (not, at least, in Pathfinder. They might not have fixed it for 3.5e). Still Most Useful Spell in a pinch. Just make sure the guy that cast it isn't the one who is prone to slipping and falling off of things. :/

[hippyness]

On the grease spell, that is a very strong one two punch for a first level bard. It can keep them back and doesn't have too much of a need to roll.

I have a player pull Floating Disk on my last week to help an old man fix a broken wagon. The idea was the force some of the party to lift the wagon and not be prepared for an assassin attack. Stupid stupid wizards. He didn't even know he was messing up the ambush, just wanted to use magic for the sake of magic.

Still (almost) killed the shit out of him....

[tsc]

The grease spell is among the most powerful and versatile spells in D&D.  Always has been.

Well... for values of 'always' that don't include the ten years or so that the game was around before the spell was introduced. 

[TheGlyphstone]

Well... for values of 'always' that don't include the ten years or so that the game was around before the spell was introduced. 

Lies. Grease is so awesome, its invention retroactively reached back and made previous editions better.

[Endorphin]

I'm always pleased when a fellow party member decides to include Grease in their spell list. Not only can it be used on surfaces; but also enemy weapons and items too.

The only real downside occurs when battles are fought in a terrain where Grease isn't appropriate.

[hippyness]

The only real downside occurs when battles are fought in a terrain where Grease isn't appropriate.

Grease is always appropriate. It burns just as well on grass, water or people.

[Endorphin]

Normal grease, maybe, but not D&D/Pathfinder Grease.

That kind of Grease only works on solid surfaces (which does not include grass, dirt or water), it doesn't burn like oil and, as far as I know, can only be cast upon objects and not people. Even those objects get a saving throw if they are attended.

Still a kick-ass spell, but not universal.

[hippyness]

... one day, I will read these new rules and stop making assumption based on old one.

I've never had a DM stop that or stopped it myself... guess I'm learning something...

[Thorne]

It can be cast on people. They get a saving throw, but if you cast it on a PC, he gets to decide to fail it...
(Bearhugs don't work if you grease the rogue. Just an FYI).

[Endorphin]

Ah, ok. I knew you can cast it on a piece of armour someone is wearing, for instance. Though I didn't know you could cast it on them per se.

I think rogues get something like a +10 to their Escape Artist when greased.

[hippyness]

As written it didn't say with words you COULD cast it on a person but it doesn't say you CANNOT.

[Endorphin]

Sounds like that could be the subject of mid-combat debates around quite a few gaming tables. In the spell description for Pathfinder, it does say that the target is: "one object or 10-ft. square". So that really comes down to whether or not you consider a person to be an object. That may vary in other versions, of course.

I think the best use of the spell that I've seen so far has been to grease the saddle of a flying mount.

[hippyness]

I like the saddle idea... may use this...

And of course other people are objects. How else could I morally rationalize random killings, grave robbing and desecration of burial sites.

[Skynet]

I like the saddle idea... may use this...

And of course other people are objects. How else could I morally rationalize random killings, grave robbing and desecration of burial sites.

*Is radiating a strong aura of evil*

[hippyness]

Hey hey hey, chaotic neutral thank you. I like stuff.

And dead people tend to have stuff.

[Thorne]

Lawful neutral.
Get all the stuff - /legally/. *grin*

And chances are good you still get to engage in bloodshed and other such mayhem in the process.

[hippyness]

Not much for those Lawful types, I don't need anyone telling me I can or can't have things. Proper adventure's burial means I get your stuff because you died.

[Thorne]

Oh, no. No, no, no. Lawful is fun. That's the one where you screw people over, using those laws they trust to protect them.
Then you bury them. If you're feeling especially rotten, you break 'em first. Let 'em bounce off of all those rules they like so much. Let 'em see the prize, before you snatch it away.

... I have /entirely/ too much fun playing L/E characters. Eheh.