Skład:

William: niby healer, ale strasznie tłucze: K.
Graem: niby fighter, ale rogue: MW.
Elaine: niby charyzmatyczna i groźna, ale leczy: E.
Lris: niby wizard, ale nie smaży na frytki: J.

Prowadzi: O.

[Tazs wyjeżdża]
MW: Staram się nie myśleć o jego sprawach rodzinnych.
K: Tak, nie ma się co wpierdalać między demony a zakąskę.

E: Zrobiliśmy mu sporą przysługę! Oddaliśmy mu nie tylko kowadło, ale i ojca!

K: ...I chciałbym się zaszyć.
[Cisza, pojedyncze parsknięcie]
E: Gdzie byś się chciał zaszyć, w lesie?
K: Nie, w bibliotece! Tam poznałem moją Mariolkę!

[MG dzwoni telefon]
MW: Znowu szopka spada ze schodów.
E: No co ty, to Czajkowski.
MW: Czajkowski spada ze schodów.
K: Z szopką.

K: Silence?
E i K razem: I kill you!

MG [jako inteligentny miecz]: Poćwicz trochę, brzuch ci rośnie.
MW: Jeszcze ze dwie takie uwagi i poszukam głębokiego jeziora.

MG [nadal jako miecz]: No postaw się w mojej sytuacji - przez 150 lat nikt...
K [wcina się]: ...Z tak wielkim bebechem nie trzymał mnie w dłoni!

[E ruszyła "w miasto", szukać rozrywek wśród elfów i trafiła na tańce]
E: To ja się teraz oddaję rozrywkom ruchowym? I jestem jak kłoda?

[Telepatyczna rozmowa trójstronna miecz-K.-MW.]
K [do miecza]: Jakbyś miał coś ważnego to też mów. Tylko wiesz, między ósmą a szesnastą, bo potem odpoczywam...

MG: Masz taki czar i go nie używasz?
K: No powiedz, a jaką przygodą byłoby podróżowanie, jakbyśmy mogli zapierdalać nad terenem z prędkością 60 kmh, nie nękani przez baterie obrony przeciwlotniczej?

[Nabijają się ze mnie, znowu...]
MG: No stary, ani z ciebie łabądź ani wydra! W wodzie, ale w sumie chuj wie co...!
MW [do E]: A wiesz co jest najgorsze? Mają rację...

K: A ty żarłeś serce giganta wcześniej!
MW: Bo jest zdrowe! Zobacz ile razy zginąłem, a nadal łażę!
K: Jak to dobrze marynarzom - ciągle giną i wciąż łażą.

E: O., ty masz jakąś obsesję na punkcie cycków!
O: Jak każdy facet.
J: Ja mam mniejszą.

K: Na pewno będą się ślinić, przylezą jak ślimaki: "Wyszorować pani plecy, heeeeee? Takie mam owłosione ręce, prawie jak gąbeczka...!"

[Zdryfowaliśmy na głupie filmy]
J: A propos "The Core", mówiłem ostatnio znajomemu jak wygląda podróż do wnętrza Ziemi: -brr-, -brr-, -psst-. A dobrze opancerzonym pojazdem: -brr-, -brr-, -brr-, -psst-.
K: No, to tak jak podróż w stronę Słońca w "Sunrise", co? -psssst-.
J: Nie, gradient przyrostu temperatury jest mniejszy.
K: OK, -pssssssszszszszttttt-.

[William referuje swojemu patronowi efekty przebywania za magiczną barierą, która odcina od świata]
K: ...Shaper wszedł w końcu, a ja miałem bardzo kiepski kontakt. Jak to wyglądało po stronie serwera?

Are you troubled or getting irritated by telemarketing executives about their products and offers :),

If Yes, you can avoid them by registering yourself with the bank as "Do Not Disturb Me" or "Do Not Call Me". TRAI (Telecom Regulatory of India) and RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has taken steps to put down tab on these calls. Every Bank or Telecom operator now must have to maintain a Do Not Disturb (DND)/ Do Not Call list (DNC). Once you get registered, you will be out from telemarketing people and it takes around 15 - 30 days to get activated.

Slick was not content to be food for monsters, however, and he deftly climbed out of the pit and in an amazing display of agility, he tumbled, dodged and flipped away from the pack of monsters that surrounded him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party was desperately trying to break through the enemy lines and assist Slick, but the larger members of the pack were proving difficult to get past.  With a mighty bash with his shield, Grandak sent one of the creatures in the corridor flying into the open pit.  Meanwhile, the other members of the party concentrated on the other, largest creature.

Slick's earlier display of agility couldn't save him from the pack, as they moved once again to surround and swarm him.  Slick put up a valiant effort and managed to slay a few of the creatures but inevitably they proved too much for him and he soon succumbed to their attacks and lay in a heap on the floor.  Without immediate assistance, our rogue would soon be monster chow.

Luckily, with one creature in the pit, and the largest one vanquished, the corridor one again became free to move through.  Alsair quickly took advantage of the opening and ran up to our rogue.  With some berating words from the warlord that there were monsters to kill and that he shouldn't be sleeping on the job, the rogue quickly regained consciousness and was able to join in the fight.  With the party once again joined as a whole, we were able to mop up the remainder of the bug covered creatures.

Despite his close call with death, Slick seemed able to continue on with the adventure, so we set off once again.  Unfortunately, this part of the ruins of keep had come to an end, so backtracking our steps, and giving an embarrassed look at the fungus covered door as we passed it, we came to a set of doors that we had not yet opened.  Boldly, we opened up the doorway and walked inside.  We were greeted by a very large room with burning symbols on the ground.  Unlike the cemetery, these symbols were blazing a bright red.

Strangely, no creatures seemed to be present, so staying in formation, we moved further into the room.  It was at this time, we heard the telltale moans of the undead, and sure enough a group of zombies in a side chamber had manged to spot us as we blundered into the main room.  The zombies didn't look too menacing, but as we were fighting them, the sounds of our battle drew the attention of even more of the damned creatures from other parts of the chamber and we soon found ourselves fighting a battle on two fronts.

Morthos developed visions of grandeur and tried to take on the second wave of  zombies coming at our rear by himself, but through poor luck working against him, his plans of using his mighty color spray went awry and he managed to miss almost all of the zombies.  Suddenly realizing his juicy soft body would make a nice snack for the undead horde, he quickly retreated and left Eagleeye to fire arrow after arrow into the advancing mob.

With Eagleeye bravely holding our rear, the party vanquished the remainder of the first group of zombies, and soon afterwards we turned our attention to the second group and quickly chewed them to bits.

Effective Level:9th
Skill Checks: 9
*Knowledge (the planes) DC 26, 2 success;
*Spellcraft DC 26, 1 success;
*Psicraft DC 26, 1 success;
*Perform (sing) DC 26, 5 successes
-For this incantation the spellcraft and psicraft checks are made by the additional casters while the Knowledge: the planes and Perform checks are made by the primary caster.Failure:All casters take 2d6 hp of damage and are exhausted. Smalljammer along with crew and cargo is planeshifted to a random plane within the originating multiverse and unable to take its first action for 1d6 rounds while the smalljammer attunes to its new spacetime coordinates. (i.e. You fail to make the jump from Realmspace to Urban Arcana, the ship and contents are planeshifted to the plane of Shadow and unable to move for 4 rounds while the ship recovers from the jump.)
Components: V, S, M, F, XP
Casting Time:< 9 hours
Range:Touch
Target or Targets:1 Smalljammer Class Ship with crew and cargo. While the ship's air envelope is affected as well, nothing more solid than a gas that is within the envelope but outside the Smalljammer's hull is. (While it is speculated that the incantation will work with any living ship there are no known instances of it being done.) For the incantation to work the smalljammer must be outside the orbit of the outermost planet in the system by at least 5,000 miles.
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw:Will negates (harmless) (DC 19 + caster's Cha modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
Casting: The actual song portion of the incantation takes five hours. During that time the singing alternates with chanted components performed by the additionalcasters and, if they are successful, the Smalljammer as well.
Material Component: 5,000 gp Worth of exotic materials. The exact materials vary depending on what multiverse you are in and which one you wish to go to.In all cases the materials must come from three different planes in the starting multiverse.
Focus: An Organic, Living Spelljamming Helm
Backlash Component: Crossdimensional feedback. (planeshifted, exhausted, 2d6 hp damage)
Extra Casters: 2 backup chanters, 1 with Psicraft and one with Spellcraft. In addition the Smalljammer acts as an additional caster for a grand total of 3.
XP Cost: 200 xp from Primary Caster and 75 xp each from the additional casters.

Since the barrier between the Myriad Realms (i.e. d20 Modern, DragonStar, Call of Cthulhu, etc.) is vibrational in nature it stands to reason that one of the few ways of breaching the barriers between dimensions would involve sound. In this case the sound of song.

This nine hour ritual creates a breach in the barriers between dimensions allowing one ship to pass through. The first four hours are used in ritual preparation, attuning the ship and crew with the balance of arcane, psionic, and divine energies of their starting plane.

Some say that it was during the first performance of this Incantation that the Far Realm was first discovered. If there is truth to the theory held amongst some sagesthat the Far Realm fills the area between dimensions much like the Phlogiston fills the area between Spheres then this story may well be true.

As the silver light streams in through the windows Violetta feels momentarily light headed. While Xring tends the unconscious Ibid, Klasath explains that he is a pariah amongst his people and being on the Astral is a death sentence if they get caught. As they interrogate Moswen about what happened and discover she has no idea the githyanki explains some basics of the plane: lack of time, getting places by thinking about them, etc.

During the course of the conversation a change in Violetta's chain, as it now has the aspect of both being made of silver and being of githyanki craftsmanship. As Klasath asks her about it a figure comes into view in the distance. In short order it resolves into a strange looking cube, a cube with spindly chicken like arms and legs as well as a strange almost comical face. Larren identifies it as a Modron, native to the plane of Mechanus, a creature of pure Law.

In a strangely stilted prose the creature introduces itself as Individual 23 and, they think, inquires why they are there. Closer view shows the creature seems to be made of a an odd mix of metal, stone, and flesh. All in all it almost seems more of a construct than a creature of flesh and blood. Under its arm it carries a stone tile about a foot square and it holds a staff in its left hand.

After a brief and slightly confusing conversation the Modron asks, "Interrogative: Participate in game?" After a bit of conversation they agree and the Modron tosses the board out into the Silver Void where it rapidly grows to huge proportions.

Upon attaining full size the crew are transported to the surface of the board where they have taken the place of several pieces on the white side of the board. Surrounding them are living chess pieces, the Chaturani from Mechanus. The Modron sits on a raised dias at the other end of the board directing the black side's pieces.

A rapid, vicious game ensues. As the pieces move, animate, and fight Violetta feels a pulse at her temples and, suddenly released by the energies of the Astral, strikes out for the first time with an Ego Whip. As the strange, boxlike entity plunges headfirst into depressive lassitude Larren directs the game towards a rapid checkmate. In the course of the combat Lemmy had been "killed." At its end he appears on a dias opposite the Modron beaten but barely alive.

As a booming voice from above announces "checkmate," the black pieces defeated, including the checkmated King evaporate in amber light leaving behind three scrolls hanging suspended in mid air where they stood. Two are maps, in the same style as the map of Athas Violetta memorized a few weeks ago. One is labeled Dasaraches, The White Fortress. The other one is a city map emblazoned with the name Tyr.

In addition to the enigmatic maps is a scroll bearing a powerful incantaion, The Song of The Jammer. Combining elements of arcane, psionic and musical notation it seems to be a complex multi hour ritual that allows a smalljammer to breach dimensional barriers. At least that is the best they can gather from it.

After the game Klasath explains to Moswen how to rest in the Astral. Being a warlock she is unused to the energy draining effects of the helm. Being bereft of all her arcane abilities has rattled her a good deal. Individual 23 has, in the meantime, begun balling to himself while standing on the open deck of the Voidskimmer. He keeps saying that "Mad, mad, mad! Giotractuszeit mad will be," wringing his strange spindly hands.

Acting as the native guide Klasath finally suggest the best place to seek shelter would be Crosswinds Keep in the Elserryn Cluster. As a githyanki he would have to hide in the ship, his race are forbidden there and constantly attempt to breach the settlement's defenses.

He gives a detailed description to Xring and off they go. After five hours they come to a swirling array of color pools, portals to other planes that orbit in a complicated array much like and asteroid field. This is the Elserryn Cluster. Off on the other side of this maelstrom of color pools floats the enormous stone head of a dead god. Built o the back of the head is their destination, Crosswinds Keep.

As the smalljammer describes a sweeping arc around the swirling array a pair of seemingly normal hammerships move into view and hail them. A quick visit from the guards of the Lion Fleet allows them to be escorted inside the magical sphere of exclusion. Moswen immediately picks out the leader, Justin, and begins the now familiar batting of her eyes. Violetta rolls her own eyes and walks off. In short order the Voidskimmer is following the hammerships through the force shield and up to a dock on the side of the head.

While Klasath hides and the Modron sits in the hold talking to itself Ibid paces the perimeter keeping watch and guarding the ship. In the meantime the rest of the group make their way to the main keep where they are charged two gold to enter. After doing so they make their way to the common room and order a round of drinks.

Me? I get excited. Dungeons & Dragons has been a part of my social repertoire since I was in high school. My first experience was with 2^nd edition AD&D, a horrid age of unnecessarily complex rules, presided over by the dark and tyrannical THAC0 (To Hit Armor Class 0). That didn't last so long. In high school, a friend convinced me to give it another shot, during the 3.5^th edition era, a time when negative modifiers were no longer good (ever), and feats were as important a part of character creation as classes and skills.

Having bought, to date, over $400 worth of 3^rd and 3.5^th edition, I was understandably bitter when 4^th edition was announced, though optimistic that particularly annoying rules might be changed (I hated grappling, it never made sense). A part of me yearned for a system that was more balanced and player-friendly, while my wallet vehemently rejected the idea. As details leaked out, I grew excited by the changes; maybe this would be fun after all.

As it turns out, it is.

Pros: The game has been simplified. A lot. Rather than fighters getting bonus feats, wizards getting spells, and rogues getting "special features," everyone now gets powers. All of the powers are very simple to read and understand, and since everything is largely the same, new gamers won't feel overwhelmed by a barrage of choices.

The basic game mechanic of roll a d20, add a number, and compare it to a Difficulty Class (DC) hasn't changed, but the numbers you add have. No more are you bothered by base attack bonuses, skill ranks, and base saves complicating your class: almost everything is simply a d20 plus one-half your level plus an ability modifier. Saves have been done away with altogether, replacing them with Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses, an AC-like score which enemy casters try to beat with an attack roll. This allows casters to critical with anything, not just "weaponlike" spells anymore.

The addition of at-will powers means that no one, not even the spell-slinging wizard, is at a loss for action in combat. It also adds more variety; now, rather than simply having a fighter swing a sword around mindlessly, he can make a basic attack or use one of his at-will powers with a variety of interesting (though not game-breaking) effects.

Death effects have been entirely removed, meaning that an unlucky roll will never lead to your character's untimely demise. Likewise, critical hits have been made less lethal; no longer does a natural 20 multiply damage, now it just maximizes the damage dice you would have otherwise rolled. Still very cool when some powers let you do three times weapon damage. Also, confirmation rolls have been removed, because what's more disappointing than rolling a natural 20, only to fail the confirmation roll?

Separation of power levels into ten-level "tiers" (heroic, paragon, and epic) makes the game simply for the DM and player alike. Feats are likewise separated, with heroic, paragon, and epic tier feats becoming available at the appropriate level, thus doing away with the complicated base attack bonus prerequisites of 3.5^th edition.

The book layouts have been improved, significantly. Every topic has a simple bullet-list style of presentation, and has been worded such that it's very easy to understand. A single chart covers all classes' progression through the levels, and each class has a very standardized layout that's simple for new players to digest. Terminology has also been standardized; "shift" always means movement that doesn't provoke opportunity attacks, "push" always means moving an enemy directly away from you, etc.

The game has been, overall, been made more accessible to those without any sort of roleplaying experience whatsoever. The Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) even has really good advice for new DMs... mostly. Monster encounters have been made easier to set up, experience has been simplified, and play has been streamlined. Even character creation is a little easier. As much as I personally dislike the official inclusion of character "roles" in the system, it does make it easier for new players to figure out their character's job.

But not everything is chocolate body frosting and edible underwear. Every silver lining has its cloud, so let's look at the negatives.

Cons: Class roles have been strongly emphasized; fighters are defenders, clerics are leaders, and rogues are strikers. It's harder to play a social rogue, or a dual-wielding, damage-dealing fighter. Actually, that second one is completely impossible by the current ruleset, where dual-wielding is impractical for anyone but rangers. Though power and feat selection still allow for a fairly versatile character, all of the powers point in one direction for each class.

The Monster Manual (MM) has skipped out on metallic dragons. Other than a short blurb about the other varieties of dragons, only chromatic dragons got any page-time. Admittedly, this isn't that big a deal. The game assumes that players are playing a good party, and as such should only meet chromatic dragons as adversaries, but as a true dragon-lover, I find myself disappointed by the lack of play that metallic dragons have received thus far.

The game's core rulebooks assume you'll be playing a good or unaligned party. As such, only the good and unaligned deities received a significant amount of attention. All paladin and cleric powers deal "radiant damage" and are described as shining lights from the gods themselves. The DMG, fortunately, gives slightly more information on the evil deities and suggestions on how to make player classes more evil-themed. Still, the fact that the typical stance is goody-two-shoes is troublesome. Some of us have darker urges.

Gnomes are a monster race. Wizards of the Coast was kind enough to put a small blurb on playing gnomes, drow, and such in the back of the MM, but gnomes are no longer the bright-eyed, tiny illusionists they once were. Now they are squat, ugly, grey things with sharp teeth, twisted by the alien realm of the Feywild. Gnome bards are a thing of the past.

Come to think of it, bards are a thing of the past, as are monks, sorcerers, barbarians, and druids. At least, they're history until more supplements come out, detailing the archetypal classes that are so far missing from our rulebooks. This is enough to be annoying, though there may be a good reason for this. We'll have to wait for the supplements to come out before a sterner judgment can be passed.

Multiclassing has been butchered. No more can a wizard dabble in a few levels of rogue to get some sneak attack dice and a few ranks in Hide and Move Silently. Multiclassing is handled entirely through feats; if you take four separate feats to gain powers from another class, you may then select that class in place of your 11^th level "paragon path" to gain even more powers from that class. It is impossible to gain a class' features without having selected that class.

Overall, the feel of the game is different; it feels a little more like playing an MMORPG on paper, rather than MMORPGs being a bit like D&D on your computer. The increased standardization of magic items, the uniformity of level progression, the strictness of class roles, the increased focus on combat, and especially the lumping of all special abilities under the "powers" banner have the appearance of making the game easier for new players (which is true, to an extent) but also suck dry the original soul of the game. No longer is a group of adventurers quite as different from one another as they once were under 3.5^th edition's rule. Uniqueness was sacrificed for simplicity's sake, and those of us with the intelligence and patience to learn older systems have to wonder if it's worth it.

Overall: Though my heart weeps at some of the changes this system has seen, the switch to 4^th edition has been a worthwhile one. The game is simpler, quicker-moving, easier to teach to new players, and as much (perhaps more) fun as older systems. As with any game, further releases only serve to deepen the game, hopefully returning some conspicuously missing classes to us and giving us unique perspectives on existing classes (rangers are rumored to have a third combat style on the way). As it stands, an incomplete system, it could use improvement. Hopefully, that's on its way.

For now, a mutable four out of five stars.

Skład i prowadzenie: ci co zwykle.

[Konfrontacja z mówiącym mieczem]
MW: Nie no, nie jestem głupi, mam już parę leveli za pasem...

Graem: William, spojrzyj mi proszę na ten miecz True Seeingiem...?
K: Ja to się za czym innym rozglądam, więc tak szybko luknę - inteligentny, bardzo magiczny, Chaotic Good.
MW: Biorę.

(MG opieprzył nas potem za gadanie mechaniką.)

MG: Miecz nie macha do ciebie znacząco brwiami...

[Leczenie]
K: Kurwa, to ty wcale nie byłeś chory! L4 chciałeś, żeby do podziemi nie schodzić!

MG: Miecz cię zaakceptował.
MW: No, jeszcze nie wiadomo czy ja jego zaakceptuje!
MG: To nie tak, będziecie raczej partnerami...
[Chwila niezręcznej ciszy]
O: W dni parzyste on jest dziewczynką, w dni nieparzyste...?
E: Chyba że są akurat te dni, w które trzeba robić to co miecz każe, BO TAK!

[Walka]
K: Raz normalnie i dwa krytyki.
MW: Mówi się dwóch krytyków.

MW: Ty normalnie rzucasz tyloma kośćmi...?
K: Nie, tylko w outsidery które cierpią podwójnie od ognia, bo co?

Tazs [rzucając czar na Graema]: Od tej pory będziesz niewidzialny.
K: Ha! Ale miecz masz śpiewający! Jesteś niewidzialny, ale za to dobrze słyszalny!
MW: Gorzej by było, jakby miecz jeszcze przymuszał do tańca.
K: A co byś powiedział na miecz śpiewający "Feel"? A na miecz, który klaszcze jak u Rubika?
E: Twoja szpada klaszcze u Rubika!

K: ...A ja go unikam.
MG: Ale nie powiedziałeś tego.
K: Ale jeszcze nie rzuciłeś kośćmi.
MG: Ale skończyłeś już rundę.
K: A kto tak powiedział?

MW: Chwila przerwy.
O: A co ty tam znowu robisz?
MW: No wiesz, Detect Magic i plundr.
O: Kurrrrna, ty sobie wziąłeś ten poziom wizarda nie po to żeby zostać bladesingerem, tylko po to żeby plądrować sprawniej!
MW: Nieprawda, to uboczna korzyść.
K: Jasne, ale jak sobie zapiszę że robimy przerwę żebyś mógł opierdolić zwłoki z kosztowności to się wiele nie pomylę, co?

K: A ja porozmawiam z tym elfem. Jak nie rozumie języków które mam, to mam tu jeszcze parę luźnych.
E: Masz luźne języki? Możesz się spleść z tym elfem...
[Ogólny niesmak]

MG [do MW]: A ty, o dziwo, elfa rozumiesz. On rusza ustami, a ty, z lekkim opóźnieniem, słyszysz przekład w głowie.
O: Subtitle ma przed oczyma.
MW: Nie, na dole ekranu i łypię na nie.

O: Czy mogę zanalizować twój dweomer, przepraszam bardzo? [Analyze Dweomer to czar identyfikujący efekty magicznych przedmiotów]
MW: Tak przy ludziach?
O: No, nie patyczkuj się, wyciągaj miecz!

O: Nie, tego twojego nowego to nie muszę analizować, on jest inteligentny i sam ci powie: "No cześć Zenon, mam tutaj taki fajny dizajn że czytam wszystkie subtitle..."
MW: DivX też czyta?
MG: Nie, on jest Good...
MW: ...Ale Chaotic! Wszystko będzie czytał i do tego będzie olewał regiony!
MG: Fakt, to DivX też czyta.
E: I ma mały napis "Manta" na rękojeści?

K: Kładź się na kowadle - zmienimy ci Charyzmę!

O: Scroll of Resurrection? Healerce? Po co?
E: Zawsze mi go ktoś może wyjąć z napierśnika i odczytać.
MG: No, zapuszczenie łapy w twój napierśnik to podróż sama w sobie.
O: Zależy jak długo nie żyje.

K: ...Gains great presence and personal magnetism.
O: Będziesz sobie mogła żelazka przyczepiać, tak -mlask- [Demonstruje]

My writings on the d20 monk class have proven to be moderately popular, bringing a number of readers from the search engines. However, based on the search queries used to reach tenletter, I can see that some visitors left the blog with their questions still unanswered. I hope to answer some of those questions today.

power leveling a monk from 18 to 20

It is my personal opinion that the GM is always in control of the level progression of the player characters, whether that control be exerted by the rate of xp hand out or arbitrary leveling up to tie in with story or the GM's whims. Power leveling, from the point of view of the player is impossible. Power gaming a character is a different story. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to  even cope in a mid- to high-level game with a 3.x monk, let alone power game one. That's kind of why I started my little project.

add fighter and monk levels unarmed damage

Before I multiclass, I always ask myself why I am doing it. When I first started playing 3rd ed., I multiclassed into whatever made story and roleplay sense to me. Later, it was about optimizing and creating interesting builds. As I understand it, this searcher is looking to build an unarmed warrior of sorts. However, the searcher may have realised that the core fighter or core monk as unarmed warriors do not bring enough to the party. The standard 3.x fighter is also another 'weak' class (maybe I'll write a bit about improving the fighter another time) and combining the monk and fighter is probably not going to fulfill the players expectations. I would advise that the searcher instead look at the Psionic Warrior (Expanded Psionics Handbook), Fist of the Forest (Complete Champion)* or Frostrager prestige (Frostburn) classes for  interesting unarmed combatant options.

I'll be off on a training course on Monday and Tuesday next week, so I'll be missing my normal early week post. Until later,

-j

* Both Trash and I made some crazy builds around this class. Hopefully we can find our notes and post them in the near future. I remember Trash had a monk base, whereas I had a ranger/barbarian/fighter/x/y/z build.

We push little cart!

Just thought I'd let the curious cats out there know that I'm currently working on a Team Fortress 2 payload map, the same game-type as the ever so popular Gold Rush. I've also been poking around in Radiant, Infinity Wards level editor for CoD4, though I probably won't end up creating a level in it, it was fun to see a different tool set.

Other than that I've been reading up on the DnD 4th edition core rulebooks and I'm rather pleased. Just as videogames have taken from DnD systems, now DnD takes systems from videogames. There are so many fundamental rule changes that simplify the core systems.

I've heard some opinions say how that simplifying them, they seem more watered down and generic. But I digress, it doesn't take away from the soul of the game, it just changed it in a way that is more logical and makes sense to a broader audience. Most of your favourite spells are still in there, you just cast them in different and more interesting ways.

DBM money for faxes, electric fans, and Disaster Assistance etc.

First,  even if the Pag-Asa is under the Department of Science and Technology, it is Sec. Gilberto Cojuangco Teodoro, Jr. who is the chief whip of the inter-agency task group that coordinates disaster assistance.

I was extremely surprised when I was told that suddenly Pag-Asa faxed an unsolicited message from a Quezon City number to selected government offices.  Even if the fax contained near-microscopic letters and minute drawings of clouds, rains, suns, it provided a good view of the coming weather conditions and what kind of preparations one should make.

It makes Teodoro a good leader, a very good secretary and cabinet man.  There aren't many good Queen's and King's Ministers all round us.  But Teodoro is a candidate for an Olympic gold medal for being fast on the job.  So kudos Mr. Secretary!

May your tribe increase!!!

*  *  *  *  *

On the other hand, Sec. Rolando Andaya of the Department of Budget and Management -  DBM,  should now look for ways to fund the purchase of more fast, heavy duty fax machines for Pag-Asa or else, more computers with fax modems.

Of course, Sec. Andaya should investigate ground floor, DOST and consider buying the laboratories thereat new electric fans, feather duster, Pledge and wiping cloth (they always seem untidy, exceedingly mummific dusty), among other kakulangan at that department.  Even the brain of the DOST secretaries, always seem to lack turnilyos.  Tsk, tsk, kawawa naman.  Mr. Andaya, please give them some pity and buy them the necessary turnilyos.  The  worst is still to come;  if the other turnilyos from the DOST secretary's head will also fall, that will be damnation for our national science and technology, that awa ng panginoon ay masayang nasa putikan na ngayon.  OMG!

Sec. Andaya and the President should also look for ways to support Teodoro build a state-of-the-art disaster monitoring and assistance coordination system with a complete war room and the latest GIS software.

The same GIS is expandable later to becoming a monitoring system for hotspots during crisis situations, flashpoint areas, logistics movement and management, as proposed as early as 1990-1992 -- but the significance of which Cory, Ramos, Erap were not able to fathom.

Andaya and the President should also be able to do the same for Sec. Jose Atienza in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources -- DENR so that the agency can build GIS based mapping of the country's water, forest, soil, mountains, underground formations like caves, etc. and be able to create environmental hazard maps accordingly.

The SONA is about to be delivered by Madam Gloria but these things need not be mentioned if they cannot be done anyway.

But the most critical assistance that DBM can render the concerned agencies, is providing support for forecasting.

So far back in the past, Pag-Asa and Phivolcs for instance have always been crying for newer and better forecasting equipment, that are truly very expensive.

The United Nations, for instance can help provide funding for NDCC member departments or agencies (not through the DND since fund sponsors, such as, but not limited to World Bank are prohibited from giving money to military and other armed institutions).

If not the UN, at least that organization can help point the NDCC to potential sponsors that could help fund the projects.

Organizations based in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands are prospective sponsors and if the aid will have strings attached, at least the supply market in those countries are all attuned to the newest developments in the trade.

The Germans have always for instance been up-to-date in Disaster Public Warning Systems (PWS).  Simple public announcement speakers for instance, during disaster, are able to utilize radio waves and reach households through radios and even television sets (at least these must be turned on, idiot).  Nothing of the sort was appreciated by the higher ups in 1992 when this kind of German technology was offered.  To think that Germany has huge clout in the Asian Development Bank -- ADB that  bank could have approved a grant for the country.

Even if the gestation period for approving a funding request is long, the time frame between 1992 up to the present would have been too long for ADB not to have considered providing financial and technical assistance to the country in disaster assistance.

The problem was with nincompoops and fools in the Cory government who squandered time, resources and efforts in the highly critical emergency assessment, assistance and coordination front.  Of course Cory herself is stupid, so what more can we say?  She would never have understood the import and real worth in terms of human lives, properties, opportunities of what we are discussing here today.  She always had her mahjong sessions and her ka-chikas then and she will always have them now anyway, so what the heck!  Fucking presidenteng sugarol!  Sounds like it's nice to eat no?  But some people are fucking loads of shit and crap that their behinds get cancer just because.

And Ramos?  Ask the Pangasinenses and they will ask you back, sino yan?  Wala naman kami naramdaman na may naging presidente na taga Pangasinan!!!  That says a lot of his accomplishments, doesn't it?  Imagine the East Pangasinan ash that trampled huge areas of that province, destroyed riverine systems, ricelands and Ramos the President forgot about it all and up to now, lives, rice and other cash crops go down the drain with flash floods that heretofore were not known in Pangasinan before the Pinatubo eruption.  Jesus f_g Christ!!!  And the old boy keeps shitting Gloria about his genius ideas about how to solve our national crises, OMG!!!

And his asungot, Mr. de Venecia nee Perez, will be his stariray during the coming movie of Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola (Julia Roberts and Joe Perez in the billing), The Great Flasher while he, Ramos, the demonyong puppet master will stay unseen behind, pulling the strings as the Flasher and the throng mount and stage their next big attack against city hall.  Well, helloooo!!!  Excuse us, sirs and madams, aren't you out of your fucking minds?  Aba, patahimikin niyo naman kami, marami pa kaming kalamidad na sasagupain!

The Arroyo government should not follow the Cory, Ramos and Erap models.  All play, money making and no work.  All because Juan was a dull boy!

At least La Gloria is a real, working president and people like Teodoro are truly worth their mettle.  Unlike Cory who always managed to slip to the late Joe Quirino's house in Pasig to play her favorite sugal with her rich (kuno) and notoriously stupid (not famous) confreres.  You can ask the wife of Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, if she is still alive.  She is one of them mad mahjongeras and Mrs. Biazon's mahjong sessions with Cory is the reason why Pong became chief of staff and later a  senador.  Imagine!!!  The fate of our country over a few games of that unspeakable game of plastic chips!  Caramba!!!  Dios mio!!!  (At least Biazon owes his mahjongera wife the chief-of-staffship and the suggestion from her to hire an English tutor so that de poor Pong weel no longger spik karabaw ingglis.  Susmaryosep!!!)

So there, it is hoped that more action will come from NDCC in the days to come.  That DBM's Andaya will not repeat the example of Erap of buying huge teevee screens to make it look like that DND has finally built the state-of-the-art command, control, communications, computers and intelligence system to confront real disasters, specially in these times of global warming.

Godspeed to these people, and to hell with Cory and the rest of the demonyos who nearly buried us all in the pits by being heartless and unfeeling about the subject of national catastrophes and cataclysms.  As if the greatest countrywide calamities that both threatened and actually hit us, were just like having a boiling stomach and making a simple trip to the toilet for them!  Aaaaand,

Shit!!!

Voila!!!

Look Virginia, the disaster's oooohhveeeeeeer!!!!!

No Mississippi Flooding in RP only Kalibo mudshit!

No China earthquakes, only Baguio killer tremor and Pangasinan liquefaction and earth cracking!

No maritime natural disaster!  Only murder by Sulpicio.  (Pag ang intsik nagipit, bato bato sa langit, ang malunod at masunog wag magalit hhaaaa…)

Hay naku, tanqhna niyo talaga!!!   Animál!!!

Skład i prowadzenie: ci co zwykle.

[Podziemne korytarze nieopodal miasta mrocznych elfów]
K: Tak, byliśmy obok w takim korytarzu. W którym wszyscy leją. Jeszcze wtedy nie znali trójkąta i kółeczka.

MG [jako NPC]: Jeszcze krok i was zabiję.
Graem: Ale, przepraszam, krok do przodu, do tyłu, na boki...? Bo żeby się cofnąć musimy krok do tyłu...
William: Ty, nie wkurwiaj jej.
Tazs: Te, stopy ci się dezintegrują...

[Płyniemy, Elaine się przytopiła, więc ją holujemy metodą ratowniczą]
MW: Nieno, co ty, wleczemy ją na plecach, wlotem do góry.
K: No, przypomina wieloryba, co jakiś czas strzyka do góry strugą szlamu i gupików.

MG: Spadające na miasto stalaktyty wystarczają, żeby ludzie zaczęli zwiewać i chronić się pod dachami.
O: I tylko my, heroiczne debile...

E: Ej, moje skrzydła nie wydają dźwięków!
K: Teraz już wydają, bo pasek klinowy im się ślizga.

K: Szukamy pewnych gadżetów, więc uznaliśmy że będą w najlepiej strzeżonym miejscu - w świątyni. Oczywiście możemy się jednak mylić, więc możliwe że potem będziemy musieli spenetrować też miasto. Karczmę, kowala...
MW: Ty.
K: Co?
MW: Ty będziesz penetrował kowala.

[Zbuffowany zylionem czarów wzmacniających William sieje zniszczenie i trwogę]
O [patrząc na efekty]: Stworzyłem sekatora.

K: Oj, nie dodawałem żadnego modyfikatora z siły. Ani żadnego innego modyfikatora. To jeszcze dziesięć do każdego z tych obrażeń, jeśli ktoś notuje jakieś high score'y...

MG: A wiecie, w czwartej edycji nie ma już BABa, tylko pół levelu...
K: Mam się wypiąć, żeby ci pokazać gdzie mam czwartą edycję?

K: So much for stealth.
MG: No weź, wcześniej dwa Flamestrike, Holy Smite, -whooom-, -whooom-...
K: Eee, pomyślą że to klimatyzator...

K: Niewidzialne włócznie nadleciały znikąd, uderzyły w mój bok i zniknęły.
MG: Nie, widzieliście je doskonale...
K: No co ty, to tylko część raportu do PZU który piszemy...

MG: Rzucaj.
K: Co "rzucaj"? "Co robisz", a nie "rzucaj"! Jak ty mnie traktujesz?

MG: ...A jeden z nich ma rogi.
MW: U, powinien porozmawiać z żoną.
MG: Nie jelenie - demonie. To co, powinien porozmawiać z babcią?

O: Disintegrate.
MG: Oo-kay. Ale wiesz, że musisz nim trafić?
O: Wiem.
MG: I przebić się przez magic resistance?
O: On nie ma magic resistance.
MG: Ma.
O [wykonując gest Jedi Mind Trick]: Nie ma.

Components Required: Verbal and somatic

Ed ora i miei plugin preferiti:
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Ftp (integrato nel browser con resume dei files): Fireftp
Browser immagini in 3d : Piclens

Per ora "that's all folks!"
Buona navigazione!
Ciao, J

Check it out, its great reading from one of the True Pros of the industry.

You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have:
1. one weapon.
2. one song blasting on the speakers.
3. one famous person to fight alongside you.

Weapon can be real or fictional, you may assume endless ammo if applicable. Person can be real or fictional.

Yes, the entire interweb is doing this one now. Here's my take on it:

1: A combat shotgun - preferably one that can be used as a club if needs be.

2. A horse with no name - America

3. Sir David Frederick Attenborough - to narrate the awesomeness.

DARKAGE

A group of friends playing a fantasy role-playing game, DarkAge, become trapped inside the game as their characters. Many of their past gaming decisions will come back to haunt them. They must battle wizards, demons, knights, giants, and the undead but find their most deadly foe is each other. Will our heroes find their way back home? Will they want to go back home? Come hangout at The Busted Skull Tavern, where the ale is cold and the wenches are hot.  This is a fantasy fiction podcast novel by Kirk Warrington.

My Take: Kirk has written a very entertaining fantasy story. The Dark Age world is very believable and the characters are intriguing. Warning strong sexual situations.

A quarta edição do RPG mais famoso do mundo nem bem foi lançada e já temos um caminhão de novidades previstas.

• O D&D Insider ainda não está pronto mas deve ficar logo
• planilhas de personagem? sim meus amigos, mercenário é pouco
• Forgotten Realms, e com uma capa que pode não ser melhor que a anterior, mas os fãs irão ao delírio quando a virem

...a sim a capa do FR :

Per tenere traccia di quel che succede in gioco e non perderci troppi pezzi ho creato un pratico wiki...

http://corvi4e.wikidot.com

dove trovate anche i token ed i ritratti dei personaggi, i loro background... e col tempo altre risorse.

Wizards of the Coast has released a very brief glimpse of the 1st quarter 2009 publication schedule and I have to say that it has certainly peaked my interest.

January 2009 brings us the new undead resource Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead. It is still unclear what this tome may hold, but I am hopeful for new undead creatures, templates, rules and maybe even some more information pertaining to the Shadowfell. Wizards has yet to explain whether books like this will be geared more toward the player or the DM. From a marketing standpoint, they will probably try and cover both, but in my opinion, books that span that gap tend to ruin the surprises that a DM can hit their players with. Let's hope they choose one side.

February brings a true mystery down the pipeline. The title, Dungeon Delve is all we have to speculate on, but that won't keep me from jumping to conclusions. Hopefully this supplement will bring a little more life to those dungeon crawls that we all enjoy. My money is on an assortment of Traps, Environmental Hazards, Terrain Features, Plot Hooks and maybe a sample dungeon setting or two.

March brings us the most exciting entry of the spring line up, The Players Handbook 2! We have gleaned tid bits of information about the Players Handbook Series since even before the release of 4th edition. Generally what we can expect to see is a new Players Handbook every year, implementing new races, classes, power sources, feats, weapons, armor and more. The Players Handbook 2 according to it's cover (so far as we can discern) will cover the Arcane, Divine and Primal power sources. This leads me to believe that a few of the most anticipated legacy classes will be fleshed out in this rules supplement. My guesses? The Arcane power source will likely be the Sorcerer as they have already explained the basic concept in the Races and Classes preview. Primal will likely encompass the Druid and Barbarian classes. This leaves the Divine power source. I think that the Druid is moving away from being a divine caster class, but based on the use of spirit animals in the cover art, I am thinking that they will probably explore the Shaman class or perhaps the necromancer, though I am betting that is a very very slim chance indeed. I am also tempted to speculate that they will be re-introducing the Goliath race that first appeared in the 3rd edition Races of Stone supplement. I base this on the hulking figure displayed on the cover of the PHB2, though it is pretty hard to tell for certain. It would also make sense if my class assertions are right as the Goliaths are ideally suited to the Barbarian, Druid and Shaman classes. Any opinions on your part? Post 'em in the comments.

Lastly, in April 2009 we will get the second of the Power Source Supplements, Arcane Power. Hopefully, with it's publication coming after the Players Handbook 2, it will have some additional features linked to the Arcane class or classes debuted in that publication.

All in all, it looks like this slew of rules supplements will keep us all busy as we ramp up for the summer months.

Official 2009 D&D Schedule

I'm updating the preview of the Monster Manual Cover that I'm doing, and posting a new drawing that is for a contest of Area E. (http://www.areae.com.br) The theme is anything with the main characters of the Anime Friends event (http://www.animefriends.com.br). Since everybody in the class was doing violent stuff, I decided to try too.  

Eu to atualizando o preview do desenho da Capa do Livro dos Monstros que estou fazendo, e postando um desenho novo que é pra um concurso da Área E, cujo tema é qualquer coisa envolvendo os personagens principais do Anime Friends. Todo mundo na aula tava fazendo coisas violentas, então eu decidi tentar também.

4e is easy for people to pick up instantly?
Thats a outright lie. Its no harder or easier than any other edition. Yes, its all d20, but the amount of modifiers, pre-checks, after checks, fore checks, canceled checks, Rice Chex and Wheat Chex that go on in a round left me confused (and I was not the only one) where a round began and ended. And I wasn't the only one, judging by the bewildered looks of the experienced DnD players there. The round is far too complicated for my tastes.. and, btw, this was a first level encounter with five party members fighting an equal number of kobolds. Not exactly what you would call "gripping" combat.

The rulebooks are intuitively laid out, and everything in there is exceptionally easy to find.
Another dirty lie. I went straight to the index for a half a dozen rules. (maybe today's kids are too dumb to alphabetize?) only to find no entry. And when I went back into the rules to hunt and peck for the answers I was left with the same head scratching that is so familiar ot anyone who has played DnD. Sadly, this was the most familiar feeling I'd had throughout the entire review period.

Moving on to the actual rulebook / mechanics. I almost always play magic-users. (sorry folks, I still call them magic-users. Wizards are 11th level versions of that. I firmly believe that most of what is wrong with DnD stems from the day that they changed the class name to boost little Johnny's ego.) So I tend to judge a game based on what they do to the spell classes. 4E continues WotC's nerf-fest on them.
That's not to say that there aren't some rules I DO like. Such as...

At will spells: I like to think that by 20th level, I have cast MM enough that it's so firmly ingrained in my head that I can do it at will. I think that in the grand scheme of things, MM is the DnD equivalent to remembering your own phone number.

Rituals: I like the idea of taking all the non-combat spells and turning them into rituals. I'd change the name, but I think it's a great idea. Everyone gathering around and defending the mage in combat because he needs to cast Gate to get them out of the place. (or from a lower level, cast Knock to get the door open). That lends itself to some real roleplaying opportunities and that sort of "end of the episode" scenery. Plus, it frees up a whole mess of spell slots.

however, the above is overwhelmed by the horrible rules that follow, such as:

Spells don't scale - Fireball is 3d6 + int mod (which won't be more than +8 regardless) forever and ever. Save for half damage. Be ridiculed if you can't take full damage and shrug it off. The aforementioned MM is something like 2d4 even when you're 30th level. 1 missile, one target. Thats it.

Once per encounter spells - Fireball is a 'once per encounter spell'. You can cast it once, then you gotta cast something else. I preferred the old system, where at least if my LIFE DEPENDED ON IT, i could cast it twice! And there's a thrid category - 'once per day' spells. Can you guess how often you can cast 'fly'??

Aggro rules - You know what? I didn't even read the aggro rules on principle. Why? This is supposed to be a role-playing game. What the heck are aggro rules doing in a role-playing game? If I wanted that, I'd play WoW or CoH. Didn't read them, wouldn't use them. And anyone who says they are useful is a WoW wanker who should be smacked with the 1e DMG until unconscious.

Permanant # of hit points / level and getting tons of ability score increases - Seriously? We can't roll our own HP now? And whats with the bumping up of ability scores? It was bad enough in 3E - it's gotten worse in 4E. Now they just bump up everything! Its like Diablo. Can i take that +1 in Charisma and put it in something useful instead? Of course not, its 4e and thats the real theme of it - following the 'straight and narrow' path.

There's more - a lot more wrong with the game. The game was written to be used as code for an MMO. The game is dumbed down, the options for once you get past the first few levels are so limited that you are funneled down your respective 'path' - striker, controller, defender, brute, tank, blaster... oh wait, I'm channeling CoH again. But then, so was their design team. This is DnD for the WoW generation. Look, we've even shortened the acronym to two capital letters with a lower-case letter in between. There's a term for people who rave about this game: "4-rons". (rhymes with "morons", you little 4ron). In my bookcase, I still have all the rulebooks for 1st Ed. They are literally the gold-standard (the spines are gold-colored) for the game. It was a broken thrown-together mess that required an Int of 10 or greater to play. But it was fun. You COULD break the game, if you had a terrible DM. But the great thing about it was that there were enough obscure rules that you could break the person breaking the game as well (and you're talking to someone who once tossed someone into the center of the Planes of Concordant Opposition). Classes weren't equally powered - MUs were ridiculously weak at lower levels. You played them for upper levels (sometimes they never came). It was called 'paying your dues'.
They used to have a dumbed down version of DnD.. They called it Basic Dungeons and Dragons and it was supposed to get you interested enough to buy ADnD. I started out on Basic. At least it had a nice box and dice were included. (and it was about the third of the price of the rule-set out there today.)

I dunno. I watched Idiocracy last week and all I have to say is "we're right on track". Thanks WotC! 4rons.

Falling back to Lucille's the group try to figure out a plan of action. eventually getting the feeling one suffers from beating one's head against a wall they retire for the evening.

In the morning they head to the docks where the Voidskimmer is tied up. Violetta chats with the guard at the pier, but he's seen no one coming or going. They meander the docks scanning the crowd, but see no sign of him. As luncheon nears they turn up the road that divides Kara Town from the Red Lantern District, making quickest pace for Lavinia Vanderboren's, ale and food. Lemmy splits off, heading for the dockside pubs to see if he can find any useful info.

Suddenly a naked, soaking wet Casimir and Hissarmau barrel past them seemingly fleeing unseen pursuers. Violetta picks up the pace and runs with them toward Vanderboren Manor.

Larren and Khlasath, having just recently arrived from a very log trip dealing with renting rooms, step out into the street. Hailing from Sigil, or The Cage as many planewalkers call it, the two are hardly fazed by the profusion of species found on the asteroid city. Adventuring partners for many years the Elan and the the pariah Githyanki make a formidable and experienced duo. As the naked, soaking catfolk and human run past them and what seems to be tiefling joins in the chase Khlasath just looks at Larren and says, "Hmph. Reminds me of The Cage somewhat."

As the recently arrived planewalkers and our heroes stare at Casimir's receding bony ass cheeks Xring sees pursuers coming up the alley behind. Scurrying higher up the wall she prepares for possible combat, swiping her forelimb blades through the air. Six figures in the same colors as Dame Syzygy's personal guard march determinedly up the street.

Xring runs up wall while the cagers and our heroes each move to the street corners and turn to get out of the guards' path. The uniformed figures rapidly make their way up the street, their pace quickly eating up the two remaining blocks to Vanderboren Manor.

In the meantime, having reached the Manor, Casimir finds some clothes while Hissarmau dries herself off and Violetta grills him. At the sound of steel on steel they make their way out towards the front gate.

At the gate the six uniformed bravos are in mid melee with six of the Vanderboren Guard. Those following behind, including the Elan and the Githyanki, see The Masked Bard (Violetta) summon a Celestial Hound which she directs to attack. As the shining beast leaps into the fray she steps forward the air darkening around her as her eyes flash with hellfire.

While Casimir calmly walks, unarmored, toward the combat Xring, Ibid, and Moswen engage from the street side. AS Moswen hurls her first eldritch blast a figure in plate armor comes charging into the fray. It's Lemmy!

The purplish black energy of of Moswen's eldritch blasts ripples through the air like purple flame laced with lightning to slam one of the guards to his knees. For the merest blink his form shimmers and he seems to be...something else.

As Lemmy handily disposes of the first guard Moswen keeps pounding them with her blasts. Violetta unslings her spiked chain and wades into the fray. Then, as Moswen hits another and its form shimmers for a moment a voice at the edge of the crowd shouts something in a fluid but gutterral sounding language. All of the "guards" immediately turn and glare in the drection of the voice. Its a tall, bone thin figure, with black clothing and black cloths tied across his face above and below his nose, masking his features.

The figure is Khlasath. He throws his cloak back from his shoulders and takes astep forward. As he does so his clothing is suddenly replaced by armor made of thousands of tiny metal beads strung together. As the cager steps forward he unlimbers his chain belt revealing it to be a bladed chain. As he advances two of the “guards” let fly with daggers and razor discs. One of the discs lodges deep in his side, yet he doesn’t break stride ad he swings his chain into action.

As he engages the "guards" Larren steps calmly up from the sidewalk and lets fly with a crackling blue bolt of electricity immediately slamming is opponent into the wall next to the Manor gate. Each time one of them is hit by Larren's bolts of psionic energy or Moswen's eldritch blast their form shifts revealing wrinkled, yellowish skin, pointed ears, and urning eyes. Lemmy now recognizes these "guards" as either Githyanki or Githzeri, he cannot tell which with only glimpses but they are certainly Gith.

Violetta, whose face lit up when she saw Khlasath swing his bladed chain into action, looks on with amazement as the black clad Githyanki explodes in a whirlwind of chain, attacking all of the opponents around him in the blink of an eye. With the added firepower of these two strangers they make short work of the guards. As they do one of the stray swings knocks Casimir unconscious with the flat of its blade. He falls to the ground, face down, cheese sprayed across the grass.

As Khlasath and Larran trade introductions with the party four more figures, again clad in the colors of the Syzygy Guard, appear as if from thin air and attack viciously. As they close Hissarmau charges forth from the Manor and aims a flying kick at them. Everything after that is lost in a chaos of whirling steel, purple fire, and crackling multi-hued psionics.

Unnoticed by almost all in the party additional groups of "guards" appear from thin air, collect the bodies of those fallen in the prior combat and then disappearing once more. Once the last of the fallen are gone the combatants vanish as suddenly as they appeared.

The worries seem to be over, at least until they try to collect Casimir's fallen form. As Ibid's hand passes through his form hey realize that this is not a person. Its a minor image. Conjecture reasons that the "guards" took him and left the image as a distraction.

Violetta offers the hospitality of Lavinia's and the Cagers accept, although the "goth-yanki" keeps giving Ibid odd looks. They retire to the garden and have Jarvis notify Lavinia. Larran raises an eyebrow when he notices a Sons of Mercy token on Lemmy's belt, but says nothing. Khlasath asks in any have heard of the Pirates of Gith, but no one there has heard of them before.

While Jarvis brings out the wine a very soft thump can be heard in the distance. Xring is the only one to notice it at first, the others catch on when it repeats. As they look off in the direction of the docks, the source of the sound, they see an Elven Man 'O War tear off moving fast and a steep tangent. In short order a phalanx of three more take up pursuit spells effects and siege engines targeting the first one. As the first ship reaches the edge of the atmosphere envelope it seems to win put of existence leaving the trio behind in circling the sky.

Immediately after this specatacle Lavinia Vanderboren arrives to offers her thanks to Larran and Khlasath for their aid in the Manor's defense. She begs pardon for her lateness, she was tending members of her guard that we injured in the melee. Violetta thanks her, gathers everyone together quickly and sets off for the docks to see what has transpired.

Arriving at the docks they discover that even the reserve of Elven Imperial Navy can crack when it is put to the test by the vivacious Violetta. Somehow she manages to talk the guards into allowing them access to the docks. Whether it was her womanly charms or the fact that she kept dropping Admiral Icarus' name we shall never know. Te group manage, along with the assigned EIN guards, to get almost to thier ship before hearing someone yell "Hey! Stop!" Then its a mad dash to the Voidskimmer, which gives Larren and Khlasath quite a start when they board it. When they can see that it really is a smalljammer and not just small galleon as it seems eyebrows get raised.

Everyone stands ready at alert stations ready to take off at a moments notice. Moswe is pumped up about her first opportunity to try piloting. As the metal clad feet of elven troopers pound across the dock headed towards the Voidskimmer, Moswen sits down in the helm.

AS the Mulhorrandi sits down she and the helm are suddenly surrounded in a corruscating numbus of purple flame sot through with black arcs of energy. There is a violent lurch and everyone except the catfolk and the xixchil is thrown from their feet. As they get to their feet they notice the sky outside the ship's posts has gone completely silver. Khlasath cowers away from the window exclaiming "No, no, no, damnit! Not the Astral!"

Absences: None | New Player: Ray | Returning Player: Cormac