Author Topic: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation  (Read 45748 times)

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Dusk Eclipse

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #80 on: March 17, 2011, 05:40:53 PM »
Umm, best wishes to your niece. I don't really care about your DM or your group, but I hope she does OK.

Plus Fucking One.

Plus 2, my thoughts and prays for you and your family

Gnomeo

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #81 on: March 17, 2011, 05:58:01 PM »
Umm, best wishes to your niece. I don't really care about your DM or your group, but I hope she does OK.

+1

Being a parent I agree that these issues are inconsequential when compared to family health and well-being.  I hope she gets better soon.

I had similar DM issues a few years back; and at the time I contemplated waiting it out and trying to make it work (our group left the DM in question).  Had they happened to me today, I wouldn't hesitate to walk away.
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Gods_Trick

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #82 on: March 17, 2011, 06:00:16 PM »
Umm, best wishes to your niece. I don't really care about your DM or your group, but I hope she does OK.

Plus Fucking One.

Plus 2, my thoughts and prays for you and your family

+ 1 more, and they stack. Best wishes to your niece. I think you did a decent job on the letter, hes a douche, but perhaps he has his own story, but at this point thats his problem.

Good luck finding a better group as stress relief.

RelentlessImp

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #83 on: March 17, 2011, 06:01:26 PM »
Umm, best wishes to your niece. I don't really care about your DM or your group, but I hope she does OK.

Plus Fucking One.

Plus 2, my thoughts and prays for you and your family

+ 1 more, and they stack. Best wishes to your niece. I think you did a decent job on the letter, hes a douche, but perhaps he has his own story, but at this point thats his problem.

Good luck finding a better group as stress relief.

+5 inherent bonus on the niece, and a +10 morale bonus on finding new stress relief.
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Kajhera

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #84 on: March 17, 2011, 06:08:55 PM »
Indeed. Best wishes.

KellKheraptis

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #85 on: March 17, 2011, 06:31:02 PM »
Umm, best wishes to your niece. I don't really care about your DM or your group, but I hope she does OK.

Plus Fucking One.

Plus 2, my thoughts and prays for you and your family

+ 1 more, and they stack. Best wishes to your niece. I think you did a decent job on the letter, hes a douche, but perhaps he has his own story, but at this point thats his problem.

Good luck finding a better group as stress relief.

+5 inherent bonus on the niece, and a +10 morale bonus on finding new stress relief.

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Gattack

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #86 on: March 17, 2011, 07:04:35 PM »
Umm, best wishes to your niece. I don't really care about your DM or your group, but I hope she does OK.
I'm gonna have to tenth this. Unless someone Swordsages me.

Saeomon

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #87 on: March 17, 2011, 07:07:18 PM »
Thank you so much, everyone, for all the well-wishes for my niece. I teared up. Had to pull myself together 'cause I'm at the office.

I'll pass along to my brother- and sister-in-law what you've written. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

Saeomon

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #88 on: March 17, 2011, 07:41:43 PM »
I don't want to share any identifying information without my in-laws' permission. It's not my immediate family or my child and I want to respect their privacy. But, I do feel like I should share the little bit that I can.

My niece was diagnosed with a Wilms' Tumor. It's a less-common cancer of the kidney. When it does occur, it occurs mostly in children. But even then it's usually in children between the ages of 3-7. So for it to develop in the body of a 7 month-old is unusual.

The fortunate thing is that the prognosis is good. The cancer was put at stage 2, which means it had spread a bit but not significantly. That also means that the surgeons were able to remove the entire mass in a single surgery. It also means that my niece doesn't need to go through as extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

So that was the good news. Here comes the bad. First, the tumor was HUGE, over a pound in weight, and the size of the palm of an adult hand. Second, the kidney it had grown out of had to be removed. Third, there was a subsequent complication. She had to have a second surgery to correct a bowel obstruction. That doesn't change the prognosis, but it just about drove my in-laws insane to have to see their kid go under the knife a second time so soon. Surgery on infants is always a dangerous matter. Sometimes children simply don't wake up from the anesthesia.

We're still in the very early stages of dealing with this; they only found out the tumor existed a few weeks ago when my sister-in-law took my niece to the hospital for completely unrelated reasons. They thought she was having an allergic reaction to antibiotics she'd been prescribed to treat a bad ear infection, and the doctor's office was closed. They got there and found out it was every parent's nightmare.

The process is going to be slow. Unfortunately for my niece it isn't going to be without pain. She's been pretty miserable so far, and the bowel obstruction was a definite setback. It's delayed her chemo and radiation treatments for a few weeks.

On the plus side she IS improving. She's been acting more like a baby again, and has actually smiled and cooed a fair amount. She's a real fighter, and she's at one of the best hospitals in the world for cancer treatment. There's every reason in the world to believe that she's going to pull through this and grow up to be a happy, healthy, cancer-free child and then adult.

Your thoughts and prayers are very, very appreciated. It's been a rough time for my family. We definitely need all of the support we can get. So thank you for that support, and thank you for reading this.

As a conclusion, I'm posting this link to the American Cancer Society's donation page. It's been a rough few days for me, with all that I've written about in the preceding pages of this thread. It's been an even rougher time for my niece. If a little good can come out of so much bad then I'm going to do what I can to make that happen.

awaken DM golem

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #89 on: March 17, 2011, 08:10:59 PM »
Hang in there. Kids bounce back better than Adults do.
You and arcaA get to share the Real Life Sucks Sometimes award.


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nijineko

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #90 on: March 18, 2011, 02:44:48 AM »
i'm very sorry to hear of your woes. and woes they are. a change of dm or gaming group is in order. as a person very fond of psionics and the rule of yes, i feel your pain. of the two, i think a change in dm might be worth a shot before totally giving up. up to you though.

and thanks for your guide, by the way, very useful to me. do you have a link to that psionic tricks thread, by chance?

oh, and penandpapergames is a good place to find local gamers and online games for the non-local.
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bananaphone

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #91 on: March 18, 2011, 05:44:30 AM »
That's truly heartbreaking,  Saeomon.
I've worked in healthcare for over twelve years and have seen all kinds of things, but sick kids still gets to me.
Glad to hear that your niece is doing better and has a good prognosis.
My prayers are with you.

Saeomon

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #92 on: March 18, 2011, 09:30:10 AM »
and thanks for your guide, by the way, very useful to me. do you have a link to that psionic tricks thread, by chance?

I'm glad you've found it helpful. :) Is this the thread you're looking for? If so, here's the same thread on giantitp.com.

I've worked in healthcare for over twelve years and have seen all kinds of things, but sick kids still gets to me.
Glad to hear that your niece is doing better and has a good prognosis.

Thank you so much. :)

Yeah, I've decided that if there is a Hell on Earth it's in the pediatric oncology units of hospitals. They do their level best to make them cheerful, and there's plenty of people doing fantastic work in those units. But, that doesn't change the fact that no child should ever have to suffer like those kids suffer.

At the same time, I've heard some of the most amazing stories of human kindness, like a 4 year old girl giving a pep talk to a teenager who was just diagnosed. Also, miracles do occur in those places every day. It's a crazy juxtaposition.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2011, 09:42:27 AM by Saeomon »

archangel.arcanis

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #93 on: March 18, 2011, 04:23:58 PM »
Yeah it is tough sitting there knowing your child is under the knife. It is important that they have trust in her doctors, without that they will constantly dwell on the "what ifs" and wonder if the doctor screwed up or has her best interest at heart (1). The best advice I can give for when they are freaking out over things is to ask themselves "is there anything I could have done to make this better?" if they answer honestly the response will almost invariably be no. Once as a parent you come to the realization that there isn't anything more you can do and you need is to have faith that it will turn out alright you are a lot less stressed.

@Awaken DM I won't take the prize. I have a happy and wonderful baby girl that lights up everyone's day. To the point of the nurses in the cardio ICU wanting to take her home with them, they became an extended part of our family. So while it may occasionally throw a curve ball, life is still good.
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Saeomon

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #94 on: March 18, 2011, 04:59:12 PM »
Yeah it is tough sitting there knowing your child is under the knife. It is important that they have trust in her doctors, without that they will constantly dwell on the "what ifs" and wonder if the doctor screwed up or has her best interest at heart (1). The best advice I can give for when they are freaking out over things is to ask themselves "is there anything I could have done to make this better?" if they answer honestly the response will almost invariably be no. Once as a parent you come to the realization that there isn't anything more you can do and you need is to have faith that it will turn out alright you are a lot less stressed.

@Awaken DM I won't take the prize. I have a happy and wonderful baby girl that lights up everyone's day. To the point of the nurses in the cardio ICU wanting to take her home with them, they became an extended part of our family. So while it may occasionally throw a curve ball, life is still good.

Yeah, they're coming to terms with the fact that there was nothing they did to cause this, nothing they could have done to prevent it, and that they're doing all that they can do and it's the very best that any parent could do.

My wife and I have had several conversations with them about their guilt. They were kicking themselves quite a bit at first, because in the weeks leading up to my niece going into the hospital, she wasn't sleeping but for around 12 minutes at a time. She'd wake up bawling and be nearly inconsolable. They said it got to the point where they were letting their feelings show in front of her. Of course, they were exhausted, so it was a very human response. However, I can understand feeling guilty when they found out that the reason why she wasn't sleeping was because the tumor was pressing against her insides. But they didn't know. If they had known then they would have acted entirely differently.

Rebel7284

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #95 on: March 19, 2011, 12:30:49 PM »
This thread has grown to be about so much more than Psychic reformation.

I am glad that it's here, addressing issues like honest open communication, family, diplomacy, and love.

Such a pleasant change from "Hurf durf, you're ignoring line 5, so you're a moron" type threads.
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Gods_Trick

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #96 on: March 19, 2011, 12:42:17 PM »
This thread has grown to be about so much more than Psychic reformation.

I am glad that it's here, addressing issues like honest open communication, family, diplomacy, and love.

Such a pleasant change from "Hurf durf, you're ignoring line 5, so you're a moron" type threads.

Indeed. Its a nice change. Thanks guys.

Amechra

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #97 on: March 19, 2011, 07:46:05 PM »
I sincerely hope this is the only severe medical problem your niece has in her life. I will pray for her (unless you don't want me to.)

Same goes for you, a.a.
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On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
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Saeomon

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #98 on: March 21, 2011, 10:11:16 AM »
I sincerely hope this is the only severe medical problem your niece has in her life. I will pray for her (unless you don't want me to.)

Same goes for you, a.a.

Any and all thoughts and prayers for her are welcome. :)

...

Since the thought occurred to me, I'd like to post something related to the original topic of this thread: a valediction against saying "you can't do that," as a DM. Or at least about saying it too often.

Case in point: my party had a little down time. We didn't know how long the down time would last. We were low on gold. My character had ranks in Sculpting and had just obtained the Energy Wall power. I had her take a little trip down to the riverside and start sculpting figurines out of river clay. Then, to fire them, I attempted an Energy Wall, which has a duration of Concentration + 1 round/level.

My DM immediately simply declared that this would not work. I was told that there was no way that I could concentrate for the length of time required to fire the figurines, and that even if I could the Energy Wall didn't produce enough heat to accomplish the task.

To me, this was wrong-headed on two counts. One, there are rules for how much damage certain heat sources do. A forge does 3d6 damage/round, IIRC. A fire-type Energy Wall does 2d6 + 2 + 1/level. To me a forge and a kiln would seem comparable, and the damage types comparable, so the amount of heat would be comparable, too.

The second reason it's wrong-headed is that the Concentration skill exists for a reason. Concentrating for a long time is difficult, to be sure. Maybe even next-to-impossible. But next-to-impossible means still possible, and we're dealing with a game involving heroic characters, here. My character had intentionally picked a spot away from distractions to facilitate her efforts, was focused on her goal, etc. I should have at least been allowed to roll for it. Sure, the DC would have been high, but, again, there are rules for determining difficulty.

In other words, don't stomp on your players' creativity just because something seems improbable to you.

Okay, mini rant over. :)

nijineko

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Re: My DM Just Banned Psychic Reformation
« Reply #99 on: March 22, 2011, 02:45:42 AM »
yes, that was the thread, thanks. =D

i find that sad that the dm stomped on that out of hand. i had a similar idea where i was using a pyrokinetic and a sandshaper to make some interesting glass figurines. playing around with different kinds of sand and the resulting colors became quite interesting. stained glass windows too. ^^
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