Author Topic: The Tao of Pun Pun  (Read 8067 times)

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JohnnyMayHymn

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The Tao of Pun Pun
« on: November 29, 2010, 07:57:38 AM »
The Tao of Pun-Pun

1. Pun-Pun happened                                      You discover Pun Pun(the min/max world was a different place before and after pun-pun)

2. Pun-Pun can do anything in D&D 3.5              You attempt to comprehend the vastness that is Pun Pun(really anything)

3. There is more than one path to Pun Power      You try to do it sooner, then sooner(several ways in fact, as early as level one), then you try to kill Pun Pun before he is born :nonono

4. Anything is possible in D&D 3.5                     The realization of the true brokenness of 3.5(any conceivable character can be attained at any level in the game because of
                                                                     pun-pun(pun pun can take all or some of his power away at will thus leaving the desired character after ascension/decline
                                                                     in power))


Knowing that anything is possible in 3.5 can be applied to Min/Maxing.
Since Pun-Pun can do anything, then anything is possible, the problem is that
every gaming table has its own version of what anything is.
In this sense, we can scale our Min/Maxed creations to apply in more real world tabletop scenarios.

Example:
xyz character can do THIS at level x (as recommended in the PHB)
TO min/maxed xyz build can do THIS at level 1 (ie Pun Pun(this will probably not be approved by any "sane" DM))
Gestalt xyz//uvw can do THIS at level w
RAW xyz can do THIS at level v
RAI xyz can do THIS at level u
y is banned so xz class cannot do THIS at all
x is banned so yz cannot do THIS until it is no longer viable
xyz is banned, but fortunately rst can do TH1S in a different way
opq can do THIS better, but is completely worthless outside of levels c through g

all of the above might be allowed at a certain table
half or less of these available at another

to take Min/Max a step further, which of these options have the most advantages relative to other options at the table they are approved at?

using this data one could create a multidimensional graph that charts all possible characters(ie known Min/Max builds) and their relative power to each other at each level AND under different(known) IRL playing conditions
(no I have not done this, but we should get a group of crazies to start on this right away)  :looloo

just something to consider for writing handbooks / themed characters / theoretical challenges / personal character goals / Min/Maxing in general, whatever it is, IS possible, just not at every table


any thoughts? suggestions for revisions or additions to the four steps?  was thinking about making this a handbook, but it seems a little thin on content...
is there another path to enlightenment that starts with a "P"? Pao of Pun Pun seems forced, Path of Pun Pun seems clunky... looking for an IRL religion neutral "Path to enlightenment" any ideas?

after some editing, and hopefully some of your feed back, I can post this in the Handbooks section but without the (explanations) of each step, and newcomers can try to figure it out  :evillaugh
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Can you find the Wumpus? (Hint: start with the spoiler....)
[spoiler] :beathorse [/spoiler]
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The_Laughing_Man

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2010, 09:38:45 AM »
is there another path to enlightenment that starts with a "P"? Pao of Pun Pun seems forced, Path of Pun Pun seems clunky...

Pao === Polymorph any object?  :P

JohnnyMayHymn

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2010, 09:55:35 AM »
sooo i guess that would be a pun...

a pun pun pun
My (sometimes offensive) Web Comic Faux Blast
Can you find the Wumpus? (Hint: start with the spoiler....)
[spoiler] :beathorse [/spoiler]
...........  :joystick

skydragonknight

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2010, 11:02:59 AM »
Because some of you are not ready for Truth, I've spoilered it. Because really, if enlightenment is a place, then by definition there are infinite routes to get there...
[spoiler]While it is good to lessen one's ignorance, seeking knowledge seldom leads one to enlightenment, for the more one knows, the more one realizes how much one does not know. How much then must one know to be enlightened?

While it is good to not be weak, the pursuit of power seldom leads to enlightenment, for the more powerful one becomes, the more powerful rivals and enemies one makes and the more powerful still one needs to become. How powerful must one be to be enlightened?

The Truth is that the path one seeks out and chooses to follow gives meaning and purpose to one's existence. Following that path, and living every moment of one's brief existence to its fullest...that is enlightenment.

A god is not enlightened because he has much knowledge or much power. A god is enlightened because it chooses a purpose for itself and dedicates itself fully to that purpose, achieving complete fulfillment of being.[/spoiler]
It always seems like the barrels around here have something in them.

PhaedrusXY

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2010, 12:36:01 PM »
I once played a character who believed some of the precepts set forth by SkyDragonKnight, but concluded that the true path to enlightenment could only be found in non-existence... He then became a Void Incarnate, with Void Presence houseruled to not be Mind-Affecting.  ;) The DM also gave him a couple of other cool homebrewed powers, like basically stepping outside of reality briefly with a high enough concentration check.

At the end of the campaign, the epic level PCs saved the multiverse and became deities of their own new set of planes of existence. My character faded into the background as an unseen presence who presumably watched over the others to make sure balance was maintained. (He was TN).
« Last Edit: November 29, 2010, 12:37:47 PM by PhaedrusXY »
[spoiler]
A couple of water benders, a dike, a flaming arrow, and a few barrels of blasting jelly?

Sounds like the makings of a gay porn film.
...thanks
[/spoiler]

Saxony

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2010, 12:57:03 PM »
Define enlightenment.

*catchy out-tro*
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Prime32

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2010, 03:05:18 PM »
tl;dr - Pun-Pun is a Buddha?
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

BeholderSlayer

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #7 on: November 29, 2010, 03:16:01 PM »
tl;dr - Pun-Pun is a Buddha?
TR;DR version - [insert nonsensical and worthless rambling]

PS - there's only one actual "Buddha"
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

Prime32

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #8 on: November 29, 2010, 03:21:45 PM »
tl;dr - Pun-Pun is a Buddha?
TR;DR version - [insert nonsensical and worthless rambling]

PS - there's only one actual "Buddha"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhahood
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

BeholderSlayer

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2010, 03:28:34 PM »
tl;dr - Pun-Pun is a Buddha?
TR;DR version - [insert nonsensical and worthless rambling]

PS - there's only one actual "Buddha"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhahood
Interesting. In all the books I've read, Buddha is referred to as a singular person (whom I can remember his name right now). I've never heard of "Buddhahood," and I do a fair amount of reading on Buddhist topics.
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

awaken DM golem

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2010, 09:50:25 PM »
If you are arguing which came first,
Pun-pun or Buddha,
you have Not reached enlightenment.
 ;)

skydragonknight

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2010, 09:53:55 PM »
If you are arguing which came first,
Pun-pun or Buddha,
you have Not reached enlightenment.
 ;)

They exist in different worlds, so its also apples to oranges.
It always seems like the barrels around here have something in them.

awaken DM golem

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #12 on: November 29, 2010, 09:55:37 PM »
Pun-pun's world does not contain Buddha?

 :debate

Buddha's world does not contain Pun-pun?

Endarire

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #13 on: November 29, 2010, 10:05:55 PM »
Jesus Christ did it first.  (|=^)
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

awaken DM golem

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #14 on: November 29, 2010, 10:15:34 PM »
Given certain parameters, I wholeheartedly agree. (supralapsarian?)


Pun-pun + Far Realms + infinity stuff =  ???

skydragonknight

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #15 on: November 29, 2010, 10:21:12 PM »
Pun-pun's world does not contain Buddha?

 :debate

Buddha's world does not contain Pun-pun?

Is Buddha, by any other name, still Buddha? I have yet to see a Buddha entry in D&D, though there are similar deities (Zuoken).
It always seems like the barrels around here have something in them.

Prime32

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #16 on: November 29, 2010, 10:35:43 PM »
Is Buddha, by any other name, still Buddha? I have yet to see a Buddha entry in D&D, though there are similar deities (Zuoken).
My point was that according to Buddhism, a human compared to a god compared to a Buddha is supposed to be like 1 compared to 1 million compared to infinity.
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

awaken DM golem

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #17 on: November 30, 2010, 10:33:13 PM »
My other point (there's always lots of them)
was a Far Realms or Pun-ish Apple is an Orange.
There's lots of ways for this to happen.


 :embarrassed ... yes I know Enda, Jesus doesn't do "that".

Bozwevial

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #18 on: December 01, 2010, 04:12:47 AM »
Is Buddha, by any other name, still Buddha? I have yet to see a Buddha entry in D&D, though there are similar deities (Zuoken).
My point was that according to Buddhism, a human compared to a god compared to a Buddha is supposed to be like 1 compared to 1 million compared to infinity.
So Buddha is comparable to Ao?

awaken DM golem

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Re: The Tao of Pun Pun
« Reply #19 on: December 01, 2010, 08:54:57 PM »
(arguably) Buddha snookered all of the Rigveda / Aryan / tryingnottosayhindu pantheon !!

But did he have Pun-pun's help?
You can't disprove it on the Far Realms.