...I got hooked again. I really do have to learn to examine that bait better...
Oh, wait. I did.
Can you gain levels in geekhood?
You could call it a plot, or a conspiracy. You could even call it happenstance if you wanted...
Digital Dreaming's d20 side, as listed on the sidebar, put up a poll about ECL+1 races. If they were opened, would anyone be interested? I replied in the negative, as I already had two very satisfactory humans. And then popped open Races of Faerun to get a better look at the ECL races available.
I didn't know Aasimar and Tiefling could grow wings. Yes, that was the sound of serious thinking anyone would have heard at the time. And yes, my post was amended. It can't be done at anything less than third character level (which, effectively, means 6,000 XP) and even then the first class level has to be monk, but it can be done.
Just a little bit before this another (occasional) member of the site there pointed me to a forum by name of Forgotten Realms Portal, where a play-by-post game was just in the beginning stages allowing starting characters of 5th level. I'd been halfheartedly contemplating a monk. Human monk, of course.
And then this?
So now I've got another RP addiction to feed. A winged female, Talia 'Fiendtouched' by name. Ex-monk 3/Fighter 1 multiclass. Not to mention that her eyes glow red, her skin's hot to the touch...and she's got a large pair of bat wings.
Does Xarroch like company?
Somewhat intrigued by the idea of playing a flightworthy character, I started poking around to see if there was a Prestige class designed with that idea in mind. And when I found out that there wasn't...
Ahem. Still under construction, so far...comments, suggestions and razzing welcome here or there.
Yup, definitely another level of geekhood. I should probably unearth that roleplaying test that was going around 6+ months ago and retake it...
I never thought I could do it all that well. Playing a purely bad, evil character and all that...well, I'm good at heart (or so I like to think) and try my best to help people, not hurt/cheat/rob them.
I mean, even my vampire on Digital Dreaming isn't really all that bad. He doesn't even kill most of the time...and the people he chooses for 'refreshment' are usually the kind of people who really are bad.
And yet...
And yet over the past couple of weeks, I've pulled off some rather straightlaced, out-of-character evilness. Not the 'I wear evil on my shoulder' variety, more the scheming, innocent-faced type.
"What's in it?" ::reads fine print::
"Oh, just the standard assistance contract. You know, waivers in the event you try and take anything I said in front of the DM as proof." ::rolls Bluff::
::rolls Sense Motive:: "What's this here?"
"Umm...what?"
"This part about you getting ownership of my soul?"
"Oh. That. Yeah, like I said. Standard contract. My ST owns mine, I'll own yours...which'll end up hers, of course..."
It's incredible how much fun all that was.
And then there's the more recent stuff. One of the other players and I have cooked up a nice bit of evilness between the two of us that's got at least two other players misled, among others. And we don't hesitate to reinforce these misleadings at any chance given. Journals, OOC comments, IC comments...and falling over laughing in our sleeves when we do.
I've never had so much fun in ages.
Maybe I need to reconsider and try playing an evil PC?
Well, building actually.
Would you believe (for those of you in the States, this is) that this is the first time I've been in an earthquake?
I wasn't particularly impressed...but then, it only rated a 5 on the Richter scale. I was inside in the office, on the office PC (My laptop is in for servicing--battery hassles.) and all of a sudden it felt like the building was moving.
I thought, Hang on, what are those workers doing on the second floor? I didn't think they had anything powerful enough to move the entire building...
Followed, of course, by the realization that there was no way they did have something that could do that.
Here's what the Jerusalem Post has to say on the matter, for those interested.
Are there really Dungeonmasters, Storytellers, or Gamemasters (that is what GM stands for, isn't it?) who do this?
Well...maybe not on purpose. But now I've met one who doesn't pull his punches once the fight starts. At all.
::winces just remembering::
First encounter? Seven party members versus five large monstrous centipedes. Most of said party members being equally divided between third level (two rangers and a sorceress) and second level (a druidess, a rogue, a fighter/barbarian and a rogue/fighter). The centipedes, of course, ending up attacking--and hitting--both the sorceress and the rogue/fighter first.
The rogue/fighter being mine. Aeryn (mk II, for those of you who know the original). And guess who went down during the course of the fight? First time I've had a character drop below zero before...he ended up at -2. Oddly enough, there was almost no magical healing in the party. Either the druidess had only the one-point heals available, or decided that it was better roleplay to deal with the injury--and everyone else's--in a more regular manner. A point to which I'd agree, in fact, as I submitted my log of the ending for extra XP for her.
Buuuut...no aftermath for Aeryn. So many things he'd liked to have done...
Ah well.
So...on to the next encounter! We run into the Big Bad Dudes of the adventure. A Ranger (Level 4) and two Rogues (Level 3). Ambushed from the sides by the Evil Rogues, of course...while the Evil Ranger just stood there and laughed. Aeryn got an initiative good enough to vanish off to the side, sneaking through the woods to get to one of the rogues. Thumbs up on the dice there.
And it was at that point that the DM pointed out that what worked on the Bad Guys could do just as good (or bad) a job on the good guys. One well-placed Entangle trapped all but the druidess and the rogue. Nice little spell, isn't it? Field day for the two archers! With the Manyshot feat, too! Holes, anyone?
End result? One L3 ranger pinned down and wasting his time either drinking a Protection from Arrows potion or trying (and failing) to break free. The sorceress fizzing her spells because of lashing vines. The fighter/barbarian went down (while in a Rage, at that). Aeryn snuck in both a crit and a sneak attack (gotta love Improved Feint!) and dropped one Evil Rogue, with help from the other rogue. The druidess went down. The rogue went down. Aeryn went down, critted in his turn, trying to get at the other Evil Rogue.
And then, finally, so did the other two Bad Guys, to the sorceress' spells--finally working!--and the two rangers. The Evil Ranger being particularly difficult to take down, as the DM had also gone and given her the Diehard feat. Oops. That's pretty much an extra 10 hit points, when you get right down to it--especially if you've got healing potions on your person.
And again no large quantities of magical healing--although with the druidess down, not too surprising. There were a few healing potions around, as well as one of the rangers being skilled in Heal, so no-one actually died. It was pretty close for my character, though. -8 is Bad. Had the fight gone on another two rounds, I might have had to try out that halfling wizard concept I had in mind...
One does note that, after his being 'stabilized' by the book, the others appeared to pretty much ignore the fact that he had a hole in his lungs and some other assorted and pretty horrendous wounds. A bit of a hole in AD&D, that...how do you seriously 'stabilize' someone hurt that bad...and then can just leave him like that for a while (which the others did)? Or even (although that didn't happen--someone poured a Cure Light into him which brought him all the way back up to -5) leave him that way while you drag him back to a town or such where you can find a cleric?
Oh well. Evil DMs are part of the fun...and he did survive, after all...
Even if it was only just by two hairs.