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Topics - machmoth
31
« on: January 01, 2007, 07:26:43 PM »
[It's been a while since the daring duo of Hawk and Pine graced the story boards. Some still tell me they were their favorite of my characters. Though I just don't log in with them as much as I should, I never tire of writing for them. So, here we have Hawk and Pine in...]
Vegetarianism: Because Meat is Murder
A creeping fog still rolled over the glass-still, water's edge, despite a cloudless sky baring down a high-noon blaze. Not so much as a blade of grass flickered to indicate a breeze. A cloaked, ominous human remained motionless with his wide-brimmed hat tipped down over his eyes. He remained poised, making only the slightest motions to adjust the sharp extremity on his implement of death. Quietly, he waited for his opponent to make the first move. The outcome of the battle that he waited for in anticipation would hinge on the success of his first strike.
"Hawk, this is BORING," whined the diminutive fey slumped next to the reclined human. "How can you enjoy fishing? Nothing happens. You've been sitting there for hours now and haven't even caught us breakfast. It's time for lunch now."
A faint sigh came from beneath the hat. The scoundrel known as Hawk lifted the brim out from over his face, displaying his ill-kept scruff and hazel eyes. "S'ow fishin' goes, Pine. T'is a battle of man versus nature, a test o' wit an' patience."
"That's nice. Nature is outwitting you with a creature that breathes the same water it craps in. Your intellectual prowess is stunning," she snidely retorted. "Instead of spending hours feeding them, how about you feed us?"
Hawk lifted the jar of dirt and night-crawler worms he was using for bait and made an offering of them to the pixie. She gagged and kicked his finger.
"I'm not joking. Food. Now." Pine was now on her feet. She shifted her hip, crossed her arms and gave her wings a flutter to emphasize her point. Hawk often noted that she had more attitude than a creature of such small stature should be able to contain.
Suddenly, his fishing pole doubled over near to the point of breaking. "Looks like y'get yer wish, love. We got us a big'un." He leapt to his feet and began to wrestle the massive weight towards the banks. Pine's face lit up at the possibility of fresh trout for lunch.
"Meat! It's been so long since I've had real meat," she exclaimed. Her wings fluttered in anticipation and she took flight. "I can't wait!"
And she didn't have to wait long. After a short, frenzied fight, the aquatic being worked itself inland under its own free will, leaving Hawk to simply reel in his slack until it first broke the surface. It was round and covered in moss. A horrid stench quickly filled the breezeless air. As it raised further from the water, the duo could see it was, in fact, human, or was once upon a time. The hook, worm and all, dug firmly into a hollowed eye-socket of a decaying, water-bloated head. The body was soon to follow as it lurched from its watery grave.
"Zombie," both shouted in unison. Within a blink, Hawk had his bow out, and three arrows soared into the thing's chest.
"That's the spirit, Hawksies! Show that sea scum who's the best archer this side of the Spine!" Pine gave a celebratory loop in the air. When she completed it, she saw that the moss-covered corpse hadn't been so much as phased. She turned back to see Hawk several yards behind her, in full stride and putting distance from them fast. "You coward!" Wings beating at a panicked pace, she feverishly turned and buzzed after her companion.
By time she caught up, Hawk was half-way up a short cliff, resting on an outcropping roughly ten feet off the ground. Her tiny lungs panted heavily for only a few seconds before they had the capacity for high-decibel obscenities, which she exercised liberally before directing her associate's course of action. "Shoot it!"
"Can't, love. Left the bow by the banks," he responded slowly and between labored attempts to regain his own breath.
"You what?" Her tone was deadpan. She turned to see his bow, swords, and backpack still resting by the water in the distance.
"Dun worry yer sweet li'l head. S'a known fact, zombies dun climb." He nodded sagely with a smug smile on his face.
"You sure about that?" She sounded equally smug.
"It's climbin', huh," he questioned in a that sort of way one does when resigned to their impending death.
"Ayup," she responded in that sort of way one does when resigning someone to their impending death.
The zombie was about half way up the cliffs and the more fetid water it drained off, the quicker its struggling pace gathered. Behind Hawk, the rest of the cliff was smooth and unscalable. He began, "how ya think it does that, what with the mushy claws an' brain dead..."
"You know what's ironic," Pine interrupted. "Through all of this, the zombie is going to get to eat, and I'm not."
Hawk peered over the edge of their small ledge. The creature had no actual eyes to gaze into, only empty, rotting sockets, one with a slowly squirming worm hooked into it. He followed the line with his eyes and saw his fishing rod in the distance, wedged between two rocks. He figured the drag must have been released if it was still unraveling line. "Pine, go flip the drag!"
She stared at him as if he had just asked her to perform brain surgery.
"The drag on the rod. Flip it." He tried to remain calm, but time was becoming a factor.
Her tiny eyes glazed over. "You want to flip your rod in drag?"
He didn't have time to dispel the innuendo in fishing terms. If too much slack got out, the line on his rod would be too limp to jerk the thing's head. He scooped up a small rock. Muttering a small chant, he could see the various arcs between him and his target. Once he saw the perfect path, he threw it with all his might. It connected dead on with the reel and triggered a small mechanism that caused it to stop releasing fishing line. As the zombie gained another foot up the cliff, the line went taunt, but the pole remained firmly wedged in place. With each vault higher, the hook in its eye socket pulled its head back a little harder. By time it pulled itself up over the ledge, its head was cranked back far too much to make any bites at its intended meal.
Hawk waved at the new arrival with a smirk, then pulled out the knife he used to fillet and clean the fish he caught. With its head pulled back, the creature's neck was easily exposed, and its hands were still in use trying to pull itself up. A few stiff swings and a solid punt dismembered the cranium, sending both halves tumbling down to the rocks and gravel on the ground. He waited a few, quiet moments to make sure it remained motionless. Both partners took a brief time to let what just happened sink in.
At length, Pine broke the silence. "So, lunch?"
"Breakfast," Hawk corrected as he scaled down the ledge.
Pine hovered effortlessly down after him. "If we start counting skipped meals, we're not even on the same month."
"Brunch, then." He cut the line from the head, rather than try to salvage the hook or bait, then strolled back to the bank to collect his pole and gear. Neither saw fit to investigate the body or why it was animated. That was hero's work.
"As long as I get something to eat, you can call it whatever you want." Then she injected, "but no fish."
He laughed. "I thought ya wanted meat, Pine."
She scoffed. "Prove to me you can outwit a tossed salad without getting yourself killed, then we'll work up from there."
32
« on: December 14, 2006, 01:12:33 AM »
After a lengthy discussion with a few people on the lovely topic of funerals and death, many of us agreed we didn't want to just have people sitting around upset over our eventual display of mortality. Personally, I want a funeral that the cops have to break up at 4am for noise complaints and general rowdiness.
So, if its not too morbid for you, what's your funeral wishlist?
33
« on: December 08, 2006, 11:58:13 PM »
[Here we have part one of Hatchet's story. As a forewarning, I've censored it from by first draft a bit for gore and disturbing images, but it is also certainly something the tale is intended to portray, so it's not exactly rainbows and sunshine either.]
Greetings. My name is... was Alexander Halter. I made my living as a healer, and as such, I have always been comfortable with death. That is what I thought, at any rate, when I believed death was the end of life. Here I now find myself walking through the depths of the forest, those events that brought me here playing back through my mind.
Find me.
"Are you going to be all night, Alex honey?"
I glanced up at the shimmering beauty that leaned over my desk in little but a silk night gown and a sultry pout. How it pained my heart to deny dearest Helen my company these next few hours. Knowing I had to sit at that desk late into the night instead of being with her made the parchment only feel that much rougher and the ink only look that much blacker. She would be beautiful in any light, but with only my writing candles to silhouette her perfect features in soft, dancing luminosity made me feel as if an angel looked down over me.
"I must, my love. It pains me, but I can not abandon my work."
She huffed in frustration and righted herself, her robe dancing as if a part of her and sending my candles into a quick frenzy. "Your hands are for healing, Alex, not for writing. I do not cry when you touch another woman, for you are saving her life, but of your books, I am truly jealous." With that, she sauntered from my study, each movement a taunt of what I would not have that night. She could never understand the labor I endured running the business.
Find me.
I awoke at my desk to a clamor. I first mistook the light through the window for dawn, but it flickered and danced with agitation. I heard a scream from the street below that brought me completely to my senses. Without time to assess the situation, my first thoughts were of my beloved. I leaped from my chair, sending it and my work flying in my haste.
As I approached the exit, the study door shot oak splinters outward. The damage had been caused by a single hand, thrusting through the sturdy wood in a single blow. It was like no limb I had ever seen. The stench of rot surrounded it. Grey flesh hung from its bones by what remained of rotting sinew. Long, brown nails had been allowed to grow several inches in length and held sturdy from their abuse, despite appearing brittle and warped with fungus. I stumbled back from the sight and smell. A paper that had scattered from my desk caused me to then slip and fall upon my back. A second blow from the gruesome hand shattered the door completely, sending shards of wood falling all about me.
The creature I saw, I dare not describe in the detail it was presented to me, else you shall share my haunting nightmares. It could have been human at a time, though I could not tell completely. It could not have been, by any means I know, alive, though the worms and maggots infesting it surely were. Every movement towards me was a labor of pain shown in the unchanging, twisted visage of horror upon its decomposing face. I do not know what sense it tracked me by for it had only one, yellowed eyes that did not move. Its nose was only a single bridge of cartilage and its ears overcome by a parasitic sludge. Still, it lumbered towards me at a steady pace.
I feared for Helen's life. I feared for my own life. Fear, anger, sadness all overwhelmed me in amounts I never knew could exist. I barely felt the splinters sink into my hand as I hefted the largest of the door's fragments. The strength of desperation nearly compared to that of the supernatural fiend's. I do not remember any of the motions, but I do remember standing over the thing's corpse. What was once recognizable of it was no longer. At my feet, the hardwood floor was painted in strokes and pools of my own blood and the creature's morbid contents. My oaken cudgel was shattered and gore-soaked beyond any future wielding capacity. I did not care. I had to get to Helen.
If I had known then it was you who gave me that strength, perhaps I would have let myself die.
It was not me. It was us. Find me. Let it be us again.
34
« on: November 14, 2006, 05:04:53 AM »
How bad is your computer station? When my laptop died, I had to take a nothing budget, and get myself back in the game. Because of limitations, I had to make a desktop, and I'm woed at how much space it consumes. Still, it's grown on me. I was moving it about, because I was so fortunate as to earn enough side cash as to buy a brand new nVidea GeForce 7950GT to upgrade the beast, and thought maybe she deserved a tour before her value doubles, to show what a scrounge I am. Introduction to the SS-FirehazardInside (techy-part, feel free to skip): ASUS P5RD1-VM Motherboard, a little mini that for $75 did it all. Basic sound and network, as well as a fairly laptop-like ATI X200 graphics chip that can be automatically overridden by installing any PCI-E 16x videocard. In the future, this little girl's going into a baby case. Intel P4 2.8 GHz. None of that fancy dual-core stuff, but it'll do. 1GB of decent RAM running dual-channel with two 512MB sticks. Probably ran me more than any part in the system. Outside (fun part):  A: I'm an accessory whore. In this pile is a TV Tuner, remote control, 7 port USB hub, network switch, external drive casing containing the old laptop's hard drive, a pair of sun glasses, some loose change, a flashlight... ooh, candy *munch*, headphones, some scraps of notes, a universal power adapter, mail room keys, some peta pamplet thingy, some condoms they passed out, and an iPod of near-equal cost to that of the entire computer. B: The front of the SS-Firehazard. Note, the CD Burner and face-less DVD drive, each costing $1 at the thrift store. The case was free, because it's ancient and had been gutted of every working part (a few nicely charred ones still remained). C: External Power-Supply (see below). Power-strip/surge protector. Toilet Paper for blowing nose. Stolen cafeteria mug for face-plants (hot chocolate with a shot of 151 and 100 proof peppermint schnapps, warms you right up). Some sort of business card. D: 18" monitor. Yarr, it's massive. I paid $5 for it at a kegger/yardsale. It also doubles as a boat anchor. Yup, I still use the default PHPBB format, despite LotN's beautiful and well-done theme. Mug currently contains Tampico punch and rum. You can also see nail clipers, iPod charger, stack of random CDs, some pens, and another condom. On top is an answering machine to the phone (20 points to anyone who can Where's Waldo it from this pic), some papers, the NWN2 manual, and a funnel for filling the wonderful flask my ex-suitemate Jason got me for my birthday. E: Specifically, that's my roommate's bed (mine is the top bunk, the desk doubles as a stepping ladder to get me up there). The laptop is a G3 iBook (I <3 my mac) that still needs a name (I name all of my computers). I want to get a TV tray to put the laptop on, so it can be used for all of my chat stuff. F: Believe it or not, there's a gamecube in there. It connects to the TV Tuner, so I can play gamecube games on the computer. A tiny PS2 normally sits beside it, but I've been dragging that off every Tuesday to be used as our DVD Player at some anime viewings. There's also a bank statement, two cups (both rum-christened), and a random CD. Blocking the view are various wrappers, a Gamecube Wavebird (god, they rock), a can opener, and... yup, another condom (they really should stop giving me them). G: Ah ha! There's my builder's notes. I've been looking for that. We don't know what that knob does, but it certainly doesn't control the heater. H: Veggie Thins. They're not that great, really. I: My closet. It makes the desk look in pristine order by comparison. We'll not look into it, for it has driven men to the brink of insanity with a mere gaze. It's sort of been compared to Cthulu like that.  Here we see the back of the SS-Firehazard. From this angle, you can sort of see the CPU fan. See, the SS-Firehazard uses a revolutionary heat-dissipation design. Where as more expensive models use carefully designed part-placement to create a circulation of air through-out the case, Firehazard uses a much more direct approach of placing the heat-making power supply loosely on top of the case. See? Instead of trying to get the heat out of the case, we just put it outside of the case to begin with. This also leaves a wide, gaping opening for the CPU fan to blow the processor's heat directly out of the case. The result is a ghetto $300 machine with an internal temperature that surprisingly beats out the most expensive water-cooled custom rigs. Okay, I admit I didn't design it that way on purpose. The fan I bought ended up right where the power supply went, and so it didn't fit. So, how about giving some of us a tour of your space?
35
« on: November 09, 2006, 09:53:36 AM »
To add to your podcast library, Tiki Bar TV. Drunk people teaching you how to make drinks. It's hard to tell if the girl is brain-dead or has just had too much Tiki Perscription, but I don't think she's there for her verbal contribution.
36
« on: October 28, 2006, 08:46:03 AM »
As you may know (or not), LotN has a bunch of little "Easter Egg" sort of things hidden away here and there. I'm just that sort of person, and it amuses me. But, what would a popular (we're popular, right?) RPG be without fake cheat pages with convoluted means to do things that don't really exist (you too can resurrect Aeris)? Here's your chance to make up hidden cheats for LotN.
37
« on: October 18, 2006, 12:50:57 AM »
Gonna start updating the server to CEP2. I haven't gotten those 4 legged beasties quite up to par with my standards yet, but we'll move on without. And there's really not enough changed to bother with a further test period. Get it here.I should switch over in the next few days.
38
« on: October 16, 2006, 11:34:52 PM »
I went about today, reading various screen shots and posts, and this is the notes I've taken. I'll probably clean it up later, but for now, it's just what I tapped out as I was reading. In the case of the old classes, I only put down what had changed. In the case of new classes, I provided a link, and put notes on what was different in NWN2 from PnP. A lot of this comes from beta stuff, and might change.Edit: Adding changes mentioned below.Barbarians: Exactly like 3.5 ( http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/barbarian.html) including fatigue. Bards: Inspirations: (Always-on effects for having bard in party, but only one can be in effect at a time.) Inspire Courage: +1 hit/damage (+2@8, +3@14, +4@20) Inspire Competence (L2): +2 skills (+4@11, +6@19) Inspire Defense (L5): +2 Dodge AC (+3@10, +4@15, +5@20) Inspire Regeneration (L7): 2HP/r (4@12, 6@17) Inspire Toughness (L8): +1 saves (+2@13, +3@18) Inspire Slowing (L11): Will DC 13 + Bard Level + CHA or slowed 15% (30%@16) Inspire Jarring (L14): -4 Discipline/Concentration and -2 Will Bard Songs: (level required, perform rank required) (gone are the old generic uber-buffs) Countersong (P3): One ally gets SR 10 + bard level vs. next spell Facinate (P3): Dazes all enemies (Will DC 11 + 1/2 bard level + cha) until someone around is attacked or song stops. 10 round cooldown Haven Song (L3, P6): All enemies failing Will save can not attack bard. Cloud Mind (L3, P6): More powerful, single target Facinate (DC 14 +...), and attacking nearby enemies doesn't break. 5 round cooldown Ironskin Chant (L9, P12): Party gets 5/- DR for 4 rounds Song of Freedom (L12, P15): Same as Break Enchantment spell Inspire Heroics (L15, P18): One target, +4 AC/saves/HP per level. 20 round cooldown Inspire Legion (L18, P21): All allies get base attack bonus equal to the party's highest and +4 damage for 10 rounds. 5 minute cooldown. Clerics: nothing new Druid: Nature sense: +2 Survival, Search, Spot in wilderness areas (not attack anymore) Woodland Stride: +10% movement in outdoor, natural environments Fighter: New feats to choose from Monk: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monk.html3.5 attack/flurry method Evasion only useable in light/no armor Empty Body: still 50% concealment for class level in rounds Paladin:http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/paladin.htmlAura of Courage gives allies +4 vs. fear in addition to the paladin's fear immunity No horsies Ranger:http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/ranger.htmlTrack: can find and read tracks (dunno how this gets used) Favored Enemy: Still +1 bonus per favored enemy (not 3.5 +2) 3.5 Combat Styles Toughness (L3): Free toughness feat. Animal Companion (L4) Woodland Stride (L7): +10% movement in outdoor wilderness. Evasion (L9): Only in no/light armor Camouflage (L13): No movement penalty for stealth in outdoor areas Hide in Plain Sight (L17): HiPS when outdoors. Rogues: Trapfinding: Only rogues can find magical traps. Evasion (L2): Only in no/light armor Improved Uncanny Dodge (L8): Can only be sneak attacked by a rogue with 4 or more levels. Skill Mastery: Can't roll less than 5 whenever using Disable Device, Open Locks, or Set Traps Sorcerer: Familiars are normal animals which grant bonuses to their master. Warlock: http://www.nwn2wiki.org/WarlockHD: d6 BAB: Medium High Saves: Will Weapon Proficiency: Simply Armor: Light (can cast in light armor, but suffers spell failure chance in medium/heavy) Skill points per level: 2 Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft Alchemy, Craft Armor, Craft Trap, Craft Weapon, Heal, Intimidate, Lore, Spellcraft, Taunt, UMD. Eldritch Blast: 1d6 beam attack at will Eldritch Lore (L2): +2 Lore/Spellcraft Damage Reduction (L3): 1/cold iron DR (L7+ improves) Deceive Item (L4): +4 UMD Fiendish Resillience (L8): 1/day regen 1HP/rnd for 20 rnds (2HP/rnd @ 13, 5HP/rnd @ 18) Energy Resistance (L10): 5/- to two chosen energy types (10/- @ 20) Eldritch Essense: Learnable additions to Eldritch Blast (only use 1 at a time) Blast Shape: Learnable alterations to Eldritch Blast targetting. Wizard: Familiars are normal animals which grant bonuses to their master. Arcane Archer: nothing new (still only imbuing fireballs) Arcane Trickster: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/arcaneTrickster.htmlNo Ranged Legerdemain :( Pilfer Magic: Touch attack (1/day) lesser dispel that, if successful, grants +2 attack/saves for 10 rounds (2/day @ 5, 3/day @ 9) Assassin: Improved Uncanny Dodge (L5) Hide in Plain Sight (L8) Black Guard: Aura of Dispair (L3): -2 saves to all enemies in 10 feet Divine Champion (formerly Champion of Torm): Smite Infidels: Same as smite good/evil, but against anyone of alignment different than the PC (they be haters) Duelist: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/duelist.htmlSkill Requirements: 5 Parry/5 Tumble Improved Reactions (L2): Gives Haste 1 rnd / duelist level 1/day (3/day @ L4, 4/day @ L6, 5/day @ L8, 6/day @ L10) Flourish (replaces Acrobatic Charge @ L6): Adds +2d6 piercing damage to one attack. Unlimited use, but requires a 30 second cooldown between uses. Elaborate Parry (L7): Add duelist level to Parry skill. Dwarven Defender: Improved Defense (L1): +1 Dodge AC (+2 @ 4, +3 @ 7, +4 @ 10) No defensive stance Eldritch Knight: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/eldritchKnight.htmlBonus Feat (L1): You don't pick, instead get Combat Casting and Skill Focus (Concentration) Frenzied Berserker: http://www.nwn2wiki.org/Frenzied_berserkerI haven't found anything that describe how NWN2 handles frenzy, but I expect it'll be a little different. Supreme Cleave (L2): Like cleave, but two free attacks instead of one. Deathless Frenzy (L4): Immune to death magic/effects while in a frenzy Improved Power Attack (L5): When using power attack/improved pa, the damage bonus is increased to +5/+9, while the hit penalties remain -3/-6. Inspire Frenzy (L6): 1/day, give all allies the effects of Frenzy (greater @ 7) Greater Frenzy (L7): +10 str during frenzy Supreme Power Attack (L10): +6/+12 power attack damage bonuses Harper Agent: Req: nonevil, Diplomacy 8, Lore 4, Survival 2, Alertness, Iron Will, at least 1 level of a spell casting class. HD: d6 BAB: Medium High Saves: Will Weapon/Armor Prof: Simple/Light Skill Points: 6 Skills: Appraise, Bluff, Craft Alchemy, Craft Armor, Craft Trap, Craft Weapon, Diplomacy, Discipline, Hide, Listen, Lore, Move Silent, Perform, Slight of Hand, Survival, Taunt, Tumble Spellcasting: Starting at level 2 and each after, progress in your spell casting class. Harper Knowledge: +1 Lore/ HA level Deneir's Eye (L2): +3 save vs. traps Lliira's Heart (L2): +2 save vs. Mind-effecting Tymora's Smile (L3): 1/day one target receives +2 saves for 5 turns. Lurue's Voice (L4): Dominate Animal 3/day Mystra's Boon (L5): +2 save vs. spells Neverwinter Nine: All new classReq: BAB +6, Member of the Neverwinter Nine HD: d8 BAB: High High Saves: Reflex, Will Weapon/Armor Prof: none Skill Points: 4 Skills: Concentration, Craft Alchemy, Craft Armor, Craft Trap, Craft Weapon, Diplomacy, Discipline, Heal, Intimidate, Listen, Lore, Search, Spot, Parry Protective Aura (L1): +2 saves, +1 deflection AC to all allies in 10 feat (but not self). (+3 save, +2 AC, 15 feet @ L4) Guarding the Lord (L3): Shield Other 3/day. A single ally gets +1 Defl. AC and saves, and only takes 30% of damage and redirecting 50% to you. The rest is lost. Frantic Reactions (L3): +10% movement, +2 AC vs. AoO by movement, +2d6 sneak attack All-Out Assault (L5): 1/day. Concentrate for 1 round to make all attacks do maximum damage for 3 rounds. Take 10 damage at the end of each round. Palemaster: nothing new Red Dragon Disciple: All HD are d12 Blindsense (L5): No penalties for fighting in the dark. All invisible creatures are visible within 30 feet. Shadow Thief of Amn: http://www.nwn2wiki.org/Shadow_thief_of_AmnReputation (L3): 10% discount from all merchants, +2 Bluff/Intimidate/Diplomacy Shadow Dancer: Hide in Plain Sight: If HiPS fails, must wait 15 seconds to try again War Priest: http://www.nwn2wiki.org/WarpriestWeapon Master: Weapon Master Improved Critical no longer stacks with Improved Critical Feat. On a side note, I noticed the Cosmopolitan Feat made it into the list. If this works like it does in PnP, this will make for some very diverse characters. Cosmopolitan is a 1st level feat that lets you pick any skill, get +2 with it, and make it a permanent class skill, no matter what classes you take. Diplomatic sorcerers, stealthy fighters, lock-master rangers, acrobatic paladins, and spell-savy monks are just a few possibilities.
39
« on: September 28, 2006, 11:46:12 PM »
Between semesters last year, the four residents of Pepperwood Penthouse at Humboldt State University took on a project. They made a table, and it was good. It was a table beyond utility of any other table. This table could be kicked, and your drink would not fall over. It had ample storage space below it for anything one might need. And, it was well fitted for earth quakes. Much fun was had with this table. Come this year, three of the Penthouse residents returned to find themselves revered and adored for the monolith they had bestowed upon the new-comers. In this rare footage, one such faithful caught a small glimpse of the structure, and posted it to a popular and reputable news organization. Many of you may have heard tale of it already. Now see it for yourself. (Warning: Though this picture is clean, the occasional exposed mammary might be found on this site by the uncautious browser.)Sneak Photo Here
40
« on: September 21, 2006, 11:19:02 PM »
We've caught up clean with the world. Get the new CEP if you haven't: http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=hakpaks.Detail&id=6974The CloaksAs a result of 1.68 cloaks, all cloaks can be seen as a big flowing drape of drab brown. There's a few ways we can go about this. For the moment, you all have the option in your craft menues to dye the cloaks to match your armor. This is a stop-gap to hold things off until we decide which way to go. :arrow: We have the option, at least until CEP2.0, to do away with them entirely. I can change to the no-cloak hak, they just won't show for anyone, and we ignore the fancy feature. :arrow: I have code and the option to do limited crafting on cloaks. Unfortunately, NWN doesn't yet support basic model changes on these cloaks with the core craft system. The most effective means around this involves some work-workarounds that get you the appearance you want, but loses the item description when you examine it. One of these available appearances is a blank one, so you can, if you prefer, make your cloak invisible. The floor is open...
41
« on: September 08, 2006, 08:31:33 PM »
So, I told you some time ago that when I introduced the XP system, it was part of something larger, a project to create a unified dungeon mechanics system for all of the builders to use and test their creations. I feel it's been fleshed out and tested enough finally for LotN introduction, and it's quickly on its way.
...That is, after I sit down and convert every existing dungeon to the new system. I've finished the bare-bones conversion, and they're playable, but I'd prefer to add at least some of the new functionality to them all as well (I might end up having to do this over multiple updates, I think). One thing each dungeon needs to know is what level characters are expected to go there. As I'm sure you know, the existing "max level" on loot chests is a bit slap dash and just plain wrong in some places, so it's been redone a bit. A hand full of new features count on these levels being right, so I need to know, about what level are you when you go to the following places:
A House Forgotten
Abandoned Temple
Amazon Moon Temple
Forgotten Tower
Lake Stillness - Bandit Cave
Lake Stillness - Castle, Ruins, etc.
Den of Snakes, Matron Medusa Den
Harpy Caves
Haunted Old House
Mirabar - Abandoned Mine
Mt. Frostbite
Mt. Hotenow
NWC - The Fallen Tower
Ant's Cave
Arachnid Cave
Bat Cave
Cave of the Bloodied Grove
Druid's Cave
Goblin Caves
Minotaur Mazes
Reptile Ravines/Trog Caves
Roid Sewers
Sepulchers of the Damned
Rundown Farmhouse
Pit of Dispair
Tower of Doom
Underdark below House Forgotten
Validimith's Fortress
Bugbear Fort
Old Tomb
Zhent Keep
Second, I figured you'd want to know exactly what this update entails, or rather, what abilities it grants the builders to take advantage of. I, personally, consider them positive changes, though I know a spot or two where there will likely be a little friction.
:arrow: Full dungeon cleanup/reset mechanics. This is designed to clean up bodies and left behind spawns after the players are gone as well as reset all of the chests, traps, locks, closes doors, and otherwise does its best to return the dungeon to a "server just reset" state.
:arrow: It knows when multiple areas are part of the same dungeon, and so treats them as such. For example, it won't clean up the base of Frostbite while you're still up in the tunnels.
:arrow: With some exceptions, encounters do not respawn. If you cleared out a dungeon on the way in, you don't fight them on the way back out. The encounters will come back along with the chests and everything else in the cleanup. I was unsure how this would be taken, and almost dropped it for fear of it being taken as a "farming control" mechanic. But, several players have been asking for something similar and told me the roleplay benifit of not worring about respawn times while RPing during adventures offset the reduction in encounters.
:arrow: Chests get a bit of a tweak. They're no longer destroyable, but most that are locked can be bashed to destroy the lock itself. Builders can still put down the current generated chests (the ones that look different every time they respawn), or they can put down something more flavorful like a safe or armoire and have it setup to generate locks, traps, and loot like the others.
:arrow: Chests won't be the only things trapped. Respawning floor traps, randomly locked and trapped doors, and a few other possibilities through scripting can hinder your progress.
:arrow: Not a perfect system as of yet, but a little party XP might go around if you've got someone to finesse those locks and traps off.
42
« on: August 12, 2006, 06:58:08 PM »
[Well, I'm still without a NWN machine, and so my RP blue balls is kicking in. When that happens, I do story minis. Today, I'm actually doing one of my own characters, instead of the random made-up kind I seem to enjoy so much. Most of you have never met Kestrel, and fewer have seen her in action. I retired her for a while, because I felt unable to play her the way I wanted, but she's recently made an appearance or two again. Here we see her at an average day of work: ]
L'oiseau D'amour est un Corbeau - The Love Bird is a Raven
The wide doors of the hall opened and its occupants began to filter out into the common area. Worried grimaces danced over several of their features as a dark omen to what had been discussed inside. One figure, however, was granted a wide path down the blue carpet that extended out through the room. She bore no markings of nobility or rank, but she strolled with an elegance, pride, and presence that could not have earned her more breadth were she on fire. Her soft skin and long, wavy hair carried the darker tones of a desert bloodline. Her frame was light and fragile looking, and adorned in a fine, black-silk dress trimmed in gold. Her dark eyes captured any light or gaze that happened to wander into them. By appearance, she couldn't even be in her twenties, but she carried herself as one with decades of experience.
"Miss Vanima," shouted a young man in a dress coat as he chased from behind in a pant. She paused in her stride enough for him to catch up, then turned to meet his gaze. Her smile started him enough that he briefly forgot himself. "Oh, um, my apologies. Miss Vanima, if I may?"
Her hands clasped behind her back and she tilted her head to the side with an amused expression. Though they weren't far apart in age, he held a good foot in height on her, and so she had to look up to meet his eyes. This made him feel that much more awkward, and so he shrunk down sheepishly in response.
"What can I do for you?" Her voice had a certain, faint rasp to it that, when melded with her melodic tone, put him at ease instantly. He felt for the moment he was talking to a peer and not the intimidating figure most took her for. "And you may call me Kestrel." She motioned for them to walk together.
"I was impressed with how you handled the council in there." They continued their stroll through the crowd of diplomats and politicians discussing the day's events.
She giggled softly and shook her head. A wavy lock of hair fell into her face as she looked back to him again. "You think so?"
"I know so! My father is no easy man to budge on any issue."
"That would make you Mandrake's boy, then?"
His cheeks blazed red as if she had just offered him a personal compliment. "Yes. I mean, Darwin Mandrake is my name, yes."
"Well, thank you, Darwin. I don't suppose you came just to compliment me?" Her lips pursed into a smirk that caused him to nervously stumble on a crease in the carpet.
"Not exactly. I was actually curious if you were free for dinner tonight."
"A dinner date with the son of Maximus Mandrake? I just made quite the fool of your father. Do you really think he would approve?"
"I'm not asking for him. I'm asking for myself."
She broke stride and looked up to his face with a smile. She clasped his hand with both of her own. "I leave town tomorrow, you do realize?"
His face turned bright red. "It would only be for tonight."
She squeezed his hand slightly and gave a slight nod. "I believe my schedule is--" The sound of swords being drawn echoed across the entire hall. Every exit was manned by an armed guard who seemed ready for battle.
One guard spoke up. "Alright, everyone play nice and no one gets hurt." Kestrel released her grasp. Darwin's flush face suddenly went pale. Screams and cries soon followed all about the room. "Now, everyone kindly empty your gold pouches in the middle of the floor, and we can be on our way."
Kestrel scowled angrily, but seemed totally calm, much the way a snake does just before it strikes its prey. "Seems rather elaborate, don't you think," she whispered to Darwin.
He pulled himself from shock and whispered in return while he dug for his gold pouch. "It's no time to be admiring the ingenuity of thieves. Just give them what they want and they'll go away." He was obviously trying to sound brave. She wasn't buying it.
She giggled and brushed her hair back from her face. "Sorry, worked too hard for this pay."
"Kestrel!" Though he tried to whisper, he wasn't very quiet.
"You there, get on with it. Gold in the pile, conversations later!" The guard waved his sword to accent the command.
She calmly walked to the pile with a bag in hand and a grin on her face.
"What's so damn amusing," spit the guard standing over the growing pile of coins. She winked, took a deep breath, and slammed the bag against the pile. Instantly, a cloud violently erupted into the air, blinding their vision and sending everyone into a coughing fit.
Her own eyes watering, she bolted back the way she came while ripping away the skirt of her dress that hampered her movement. She remembered seeing the debate hall's doors still open. It was a dead end, but she was sure it was open for a reason. She measured her progress carefully in her mind with each step, taking note of any visible markers. As she approached the door, she dove and summersaulted past its guard, leaped to her feet, and slammed the massive doors shut with a grunt. Through tear-blurred vision she grabbed a nearby candelabra and jammed the doors shut with it.
"What in the nine hells is going on?" In the middle of the room, a man in guard's armor but no helmet held an elderly man at sword-point. He had a shaggy appearance with an eye-patch over his left eye. "Don't take another step, or the councilman gets it.
She decided to stall. There was no point in giving away that she couldn't see very well yet. "I knew this wasn't just about the money." She crossed her arms in a cocky fashion. "So what is it? Revenge? Political power?"
"This is none of your business. We're going to work out our little deal here. Councilman Mandrake is going to sign our land back over to us, we'll take our gold, and be on our way. No one has to get hurt."
"I'm usually all behind helping the poor, starving farmer put down by the system, but I'm afraid your stepping on my toes this time." The glare in her slowly clearing eyes had a dangerous fire in it. She didn't really seem to care that she was dressed in nothing but bloomers and dress-boots from the waist down. She took a firm step forward.
"I told you, I'll kill him! Don't come any closer."
"You won't kill him. Then you won't get what you want." She took another.
"You'll have his death on your hands!"
"I don't care what happens to him. I don't even like him." She took another. She was getting close enough to make the man nervous.
"Then I'll kill you!"
"Try it." Her voice was cold as ice and sunk in him like daggers. He flinched and visibly sunk away as she took a few more steps.
"I didn't want to hurt anyone. This is for a just cause!" He turned his sword towards her as she continued to walk at a pace that would soon put her inches from him.
"Then you're just going to let him stab you?" She motioned at the cowering councilman. The panicking bandit spun to defend himself from him, only to find he was still curled up in fear. Before he could spin back, he felt a shot of cold steel slip up under his jaw. Behind him, she embraced him as would a lover, if you didn't include the dagger she impaled him with. It was a quick death. He hadn't even time to scream before she let his body fall limp to the ground with the clanging sound of armor on marble. Without a word, she began stripping the armor and putting it on herself.
"What... what are you doing," croaked Councilman Mandrake.
She donned the helmet from a nearby desk last and grunted in a decently convincing voice, "I gots what I want, now me and the boys are taking our gold and getting out." She unblocked the door and walked out. It wasn't a perfect disguise, so she had to hope the guards were still dazed from her powder bomb. "Right, boys. Job's done. Get the stash, and lets go before the officials get here."
The fake-guards each scattered in different directions, without stopping to question anything. They all knew their part, and the plan had been laid out with such precision that they didn't even stop to notice she wasn't even leaving the doorway to follow. She turned back into the debate hall. She didn't see any sense in drawing any more attention to herself than she already had.
"Miss Vanima," whimpered the recovering councilman. "What are you?"
She cheerfully pulled off the armor, piece by piece. "I'm a diplomat, councilman. You know that."
"I think you are far more than that!"
She giggled as she jerked her knife from the neck of the corpse and wiped it off. She turned to him with an amused smirk. "Oh, yes. I'm also going on a date with your son tonight." With a wink, she slid it back into hiding and skipped out into the common area to find the rest of her dress.
43
« on: June 10, 2006, 06:53:04 PM »
I am linguistically challenged. In my many years upon this earth, I have barely grasped the english language, and every attempt to be a better, bi-lingual person has failed miserably. From it, I have gained the ability to count to 10... way too many ways. Personally, I have English, Japanese, German, Spanish, French, and with effort, Swedish and Danish.
So, here, post counting to ten in a language, and share your worldly knowledge.
English:
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
44
« on: June 04, 2006, 06:52:06 PM »
I hit the switch, and Evil ILR will activate sometime after this post. If you didn't listen to the friendly bird in the beginning, and you can't login now, post here, and a friendly recovery team will be dispatched to salvage your disheveled character.
45
« on: May 28, 2006, 08:13:38 PM »
At the end of April, Strange Company (founders of Machinima.com) began releasing their first feature-length film, Bloodspell. Bloodspell features the battle between the naturally gifted blood-mages, the church out to clense the world of them, and the monk caught in between. The entire feature is recorded using NWN, as is quickly obvious, in the general Machinima style of shows like Red vs. Blue. The story is pretty decent, and it really shows off some of NWN's visual capabilities, even at this age. I'm also rather fond of the soundtrack, myself. They're up to episode 3, as of now, with 4 coming out June 14th, and another following every two weeks until it is complete. Check it out here.
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