Need Help Making This Monstrosity a Viable Character *Update on 7th page*

[kevin_video]

Yeah, it's officially licensed.  Has a big dungeons and dragons logo right on the front cover

2002? 3.0?

[Vicerious]

Can you guess what I do for a living? 

paint houses?

If you know the euphemism in play there, that answer is friggin' hilarious.

Kev, you are an extremely patient, tolerant person, and are to be commended for putting so much work and effort into these games.  I don't have any suggestions for your character, but I wanted to offer my support and admiration.  Hang in there, big guy. 

[The_Mad_Linguist]

Ah, sorry, misread that as a 3.5 compatible d20 book.

Unfortunately, it's 3.0.  As is spellfire (magic of faerun).

[kevin_video]

Ah, sorry, misread that as a 3.5 compatible d20 book.

Unfortunately, it's 3.0.  As is spellfire (magic of faerun).

That's alright. I wasn't sure.

@ Vicerious -- Thanks. And here's the fun part. I'm only at game one for both DMs, and this will be my second campaign with the first one. i have no idea what to do either, but maybe I'll get lucky.

[McPoyo]

No, these guys are veterans. If anything I'm the newb by comparison. Three of these guys have been playing since 1st edition was released.

That doesn't mean much, IMO.

That's a lot like saying, "I've been watching <insert TV show> since the first season, which was 20 years ago.  You've only come along since season 15."

Well if that show is crap, and you've never watched anything else on TV then you still have no idea what a good TV show is supposed to be like, despite the fact that you've been watching TV for 15 years longer than I have.

It's not the years, kid.  It's the mileage.

Mmm, I can't completely agree with you on that one. At least not with that being your reference. Why? Because it's all relative. There's a reason I've been watching that show for 20 years. Maybe the first 15 years were awesome, and season 16 on is crap by comparison but I'm bound and determined to finish it because I've already been through this much. Who are you to dictate to me what's good TV? Maybe the TV you watch now is crap. That's your opinion and that's mine. For example, The Simpson's. I watch all the old episodes over and over because they're timeless. Were the first two seasons that great? Not really, but the later seasons were awesome for a while. Nowadays I can't even try watching it because it's lost it's originality and umph. I know tons of people who hate all 80s shows, and only like all shows that came out after 2000, but I like all the old shows from the 80s and 90s. I grew up with that, and while some are really cheesy, they're still enjoyable and nostalgic to watch.

A better way to have put it is it's not the quantity, it's the quality. I'll use paint as an example. If you use the cheapest paint to do your house, chances are it's going to be really watery, the coverage won't be that good (ie you'll be doing multiple coats), it might not stick that well, it doesn't wash worth a damn (ie it comes off or it becomes shiny if you wash too hard), and after a few years it'll probably peel and you'll have to do it over again after 1-2 years. All because you didn't want to spend more than $20 after taxes. Now take something that's going to cost you double that, and is rated #1 in the country. It won't be nearly as watery, it'll probably have primer already in the can (2 in 1), there's no splatter because of the lessened amount of watery substance, the coverage allows you to go over any colour, it'll stick to even oily and shiny surfaces and drywall, you can wash it and scrub it all you want and it won't come off unless you're trying to, and has a lifetime guarantee (ie it'll last as long as you live in the house) so you'll probably only do it once every 25 years.

Can you guess what I do for a living?  

Anyways, I get what you were trying to say though. If they've only ever DMed or played crappy games, and are used to this because they've been subjected to it for so many years, it doesn't really help. I get that. But I'll never know because I wasn't there for those games. I just have to trust that their outbursts means that they don't agree with everything that gets done, but tolerate it regardless.

The analogy about TV works, but let's make it correct: If I've watched the first "Version" of Doctor Who for 20 years. Over and over. That has no relevance to the newest incarnation of the Doctor. In fact, it completely invalidates some of the earlier Doctor. Does that mean I am amazing at anything related to the newest Doctor, if I'm still functioning on premises set forth by the first Doctor, a decent number of which no longer apply, or have been completely over-written? No.

Edit: Added one important word that made me sound like I was 40+.

[ReaderOfPosts]

So this suggestion is assuming that you really are not having fun in combats, and relies on your willingness to completely give up combats in an attempt to make a point. If not, play something reasonable (I might suggest Chameleon if you can get a few levels in it.)

Say that you're playing a psionicist who is completely delusional about his abilities, and write up a normal human psion character. Be IC all the time, and loudly announce your actions, saying, I try to manifest time hop/astral construct etc. Make the DM do the work on what your character can actually do, interspersing things your character can do, things he can't do but the real psion can, and things that psionics can't do.

Tell the GM you're playing this character, and that you're fine with him vetoing the effects of your powers, or changing them based on what he wants to happen. Formalize an agreement that he can decide how your powers actually work, or not, if you want to be obnoxious or spring it on him. My guess is he'll do one of two things.

Pessimistically (and thus probably): ignore you, while you have fun in an immersive roleplaying of a crazy chaotic person, which seems a decent way of salvaging the situation since it sounds like trying to enjoy the tactical battle aspect of it is an exercise in futility.

Optimistically: He realizes that he just wants complete control over what happens, and will make your psion cause random things to happen or adjudicate vague effects to have an ad hoc effect, and you'll be exactly as effective as you'd be otherwise without the frustration of being hit with the fiat bat every time you try something.

If confronted, say you're trying out a new playing style that matches his GMing style. Come up with good reasons. If this fails, have your character take up basketweaving, and read a book or check play by post games online.

[kevin_video]

Chances are it'll be the former.

Right now we're in discussion about whether or not we'll be doing an evil campaign or not. A couple of the guys are pushing it, so if that's the case maybe I can live with what's happening if only because the character is naturally evil.

[Amechra]

kevin_video,

Sooooooo, your DM likes the game to be chaotic, right?

Here are some ways to get him to be chaotic in the way you want.

1. Play an Illithid, just like he wants. Play said monstrosity as either a. Spock or b. the polar opposite of an Illuminati.

2. Whenever he adds LA, mutter under your breath that he's taking chaos out of the game. If he catches this, explain how LA makes the game boring, since you already know what your going to be. If he counters with his surprise LA, tell him that you predicted that LA (i.e. bullshit your way through it), and that it also makes it even more boring.

3. Talk to him about the whole not-dying thing. Use similar tactics to #2.

4. Every time something he put into the campaign to make it more random occurs, start yawning and mutter something along the lines of "like we haven't seen that before." You should be able to figure out the rest.

5. Go through all 20 pages of house rules, and produce something like a 40 page response along the lines of "the following rules, quoted in their entirety, make the game to simple and calm. A proposed amendment for each follows."

6. Next time he puts on LA, hand him your character sheet. If he asks why, just say that it seems obvious that he would much rather play your character than DM the campaign.

7. Follow any one of McPoyo's excellent, sane, and legal pieces of advice.

One of the above is sarcasm. The rest are suggestions.

I feel for you. Your a better member of our species than I.

[kevin_video]

Yeah, sometimes I don't know how I put up with is. As for the LAs, it's not always just that, and you don't know exactly what he's going to do. I mean, I knew I was going to get a LA, but I thought it'd be something I already had, not that he'd be ADDING A NEW ONE. And it is chaotic because it is random. As for the child being handed over, heck with him. He's doing that with my current character. No matter what I do, or how I want to optimize, I'm basically cock-blocked. And so would each and every one of you. Short of leaving the game, and flipping off the bird, none of you would be able to do anything about anything in that game. I know the DM's all powerful, and is basically god, but he's got too much power sometimes. I've finally let him know his reputation for gaming has spread throughout the province, and how people think of him. You should have seen his smile.

Truth be told, this should be copied and pasted into the DM rant as well.

[McPoyo]

The DM is only as powerful as the group lets him be. If the group doesn't let him have power, then he has none, DM or no.

Granted, it sounds like the rest of the group has battered wife syndrome, and will never come together to stand up to it because "He's a good DM, and it's never been any different". Sorry you have to deal with that kind of stuff

Also, of Amechra's list, the one that is sarcasm is clearly NOT number 7. I wholeheartedly endorse number 7

[awaken DM golem]

What about the having a druid Reincarnate you? Sure you'll be stuck without a template at all but unless you get a natural 100 it can't possibly be worse than what you already have.

Call it: Justin Beaver
Girls say the tentacles are cute, but I don't get it.

[kevin_video]

What about the having a druid Reincarnate you? Sure you'll be stuck without a template at all but unless you get a natural 100 it can't possibly be worse than what you already have.

Call it: Justin Beaver
Girls say the tentacles are cute, but I don't get it.

Reincarnation doesn't exist. Although, he is considering bring back a homebrew version that he himself is creating. Basically, you will not come back as yourself. Whatever you were, you can not be again (ie base race human can not be human again). However, you can be reincarnated into another base race that comes from your templates. So if you were a human half gold dragon, you would be reincarnated as some kind of dragon race with gold dragon blood in it.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

What about the having a druid Reincarnate you? Sure you'll be stuck without a template at all but unless you get a natural 100 it can't possibly be worse than what you already have.

Call it: Justin Beaver
Girls say the tentacles are cute, but I don't get it.

Reincarnation doesn't exist. Although, he is considering bring back a homebrew version that he himself is creating. Basically, you will not come back as yourself. Whatever you were, you can not be again (ie base race human can not be human again). However, you can be reincarnated into another base race that comes from your templates. So if you were a human half gold dragon, you would be reincarnated as some kind of dragon race with gold dragon blood in it.

Hmmm... so enough reincarnations could disqualify you for every race you have, right?

Your DM *did* ban being a dragonborn, right?

[kevin_video]

Hmmm... so enough reincarnations could disqualify you for every race you have, right?

Your DM *did* ban being a dragonborn, right?

Yes, but you'd have to afford the reincarnations.

Nope. We have a dragonborn kobold in the party. You could be a spellscale, a dragonborn, a kobold, a gold dragon (ala Savage Species), or whatever else.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

I mean it doesn't take off your templates when you do the transformation, right?

[kevin_video]

I mean it doesn't take off your templates when you do the transformation, right?

Right. You just change your base race.

But here's the thing. Whatever you've been playing as so far, you'll have to really think about what you're becoming because you're going to lose a majority of it from the transformation.

[A_Shadow_of_Life]

Hmmm. As I've said in PM before, cheating isn't nice, but when a DM abuses his power and screws up the game, it's time to put your foot up his arse and twist. >;3 I would.

I'd tell him, that I went through a very chaotic, uber, ritual that removed all my level adjustments and left me as a [Insert Prefered Race Here] and Voila. Epic Win.

[kevin_video]

Hmmm. As I've said in PM before, cheating isn't nice, but when a DM abuses his power and screws up the game, it's time to put your foot up his arse and twist. >;3 I would.

I'd tell him, that I went through a very chaotic, uber, ritual that removed all my level adjustments and left me as a [Insert Prefered Race Here] and Voila. Epic Win.

Sure thing you can do that. Just read through Savage Species and tell the DM how much that ritual cost you. If you're lucky, it won't have cost you more than 50k a template.

[A_Shadow_of_Life]

Tell him Pun Pun helped you and got you a deal for free

[kevin_video]

Tell him Pun Pun helped you and got you a deal for free

lol Likely wouldn't happen. You can't even mention Pun Pun around him. At least you can't now. He didn't even know about Pun Pun before last month. But after finding out about it, he said "If a lvl 20 wizard couldn't survive in my campaigns, Pun Pun wouldn't either."