Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sudowoodo! Sunflora! Donphan!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
BriarThrone
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by BriarThrone »

Woodclaw wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:13 am Okay. I'm going to vouch the "unpoular opinion" here, but I don't have a problem with Kenders per se. I have massive issues with Knder players.
It's an unfortunately well known fact that we, as players, often then to portray all characters but humans in a rather standardized way. All dwarves are gruff, drink a crapton of beer etc. All elves are alof and obsessed with nature and so on.
So what about kenders, if you go by the official fluff they should be like this eternal starry-eyed children, with little to no concept of private property, who are nonetheless capable (just like children I might add) to say juat the right thing at the right moment to put everything into the right perspective, because they world-view is extremely uncomplicated. This is extremely funny as an NPC, but in the hand of anybody but a really good player is a recipee for disaster. Kender players seem to aim at being the most annoying PCs possible, often engaging in completely obnoxious or suicidal behaviours.

Let's go back to the apparent root of the problem: Tasslehoff Burrfoot. Despite being often the annoying comic relief, Tass showed time and again that he knew when to stop: he never betrayed the truth about Fitzban, he showed deep respect to both Sturm and Flint when they died and, above all, when the shit hits the fan during the Council of Whitestone he actually showed to be wiser than many others and understood that the Orb of Dragonkind was actually part of the problem, not part of the solution and smashed the goddamned thing to pieces, knowing that he was probably going to die because of that.
Now, the problem with most Kender players is that they know when to stop, they see their character as a "get out of jail free" card to do stupid things and never pay the price, which is exactly the wrong way to use any kind of character.
Basically, it's like how I actually find Malkavians fascinating, but if I'm presented with a PC character sheet featuring the word prominently, I'm already reaching for the hose.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Jabroniville »

L-Space wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:17 am There's nothing wrong with having a negative opinion about kender, but comparing them to fucking JAR JAR BINKS?!? NOT COOL JAB! :D
Oh god, you're right. That was way off-base, and true cruel a comparison to make. I absolutely, unequivocally, hereby apologize.















To Jar-Jar Binks.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Ken »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:36 am
L-Space wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:17 am There's nothing wrong with having a negative opinion about kender, but comparing them to fucking JAR JAR BINKS?!? NOT COOL JAB! :D
Oh god, you're right. That was way off-base, and true cruel a comparison to make. I absolutely, unequivocally, hereby apologize.















To Jar-Jar Binks.
*giggle* *snort*
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by L-Space »

Woodclaw wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:13 am Okay. I'm going to vouch the "unpoular opinion" here, but I don't have a problem with Kenders per se. I have massive issues with Knder players.
It's an unfortunately well known fact that we, as players, often then to portray all characters but humans in a rather standardized way. All dwarves are gruff, drink a crapton of beer etc. All elves are alof and obsessed with nature and so on.
So what about kenders, if you go by the official fluff they should be like this eternal starry-eyed children, with little to no concept of private property, who are nonetheless capable (just like children I might add) to say juat the right thing at the right moment to put everything into the right perspective, because they world-view is extremely uncomplicated. This is extremely funny as an NPC, but in the hand of anybody but a really good player is a recipee for disaster. Kender players seem to aim at being the most annoying PCs possible, often engaging in completely obnoxious or suicidal behaviours.

Let's go back to the apparent root of the problem: Tasslehoff Burrfoot. Despite being often the annoying comic relief, Tass showed time and again that he knew when to stop: he never betrayed the truth about Fitzban, he showed deep respect to both Sturm and Flint when they died and, above all, when the shit hits the fan during the Council of Whitestone he actually showed to be wiser than many others and understood that the Orb of Dragonkind was actually part of the problem, not part of the solution and smashed the goddamned thing to pieces, knowing that he was probably going to die because of that.
Now, the problem with most Kender players is that they know when to stop, they see their character as a "get out of jail free" card to do stupid things and never pay the price, which is exactly the wrong way to use any kind of character.
Exactly. Hell, this is a problem I have with some people who play rogues in general at times.

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:36 am
L-Space wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:17 am There's nothing wrong with having a negative opinion about kender, but comparing them to fucking JAR JAR BINKS?!? NOT COOL JAB! :D
Oh god, you're right. That was way off-base, and true cruel a comparison to make. I absolutely, unequivocally, hereby apologize.















To Jar-Jar Binks.
Oh yea? Well, Cyclone is overrated. :P
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Kender are probably the Paltonic Ideal of “character that works in fiction, but does not work in roleplaying.” Tasslehoff was an enjoyable part of the original Dragonlance novels, but only Weiss and Hickman really ever seemed to be able to make him (or any other Kender) work as a character. Plenty of other authors tried and failed. The game designers that worked on D&D materials featuring Kender (that weren’t Hickman) failed even harder.

The moody loner with a dark backstory who doesn’t work well with others, a.k.a, the thousands of badly done Wolverine clones I had to roleplay with in the Nineties were pretty bad too. But since there schtick was being apart from the party, it was easy enough to work around them. Kender were gregarious and sociable, they stuck with the party...

A well-done Kender is Beast Boy from Teen Titans: Happy-go-lucky, gregarious, and joyful; An eternal optimist who sees the best in everything; far more interested in having fun than destroying evil... But whenever things get serious, he drops the cute-and-fluffy and buckled down.

A badly-done Kender is Beast Boy from Teen Titans GO!
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Batgirl III wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 4:02 pm Kender are probably the Paltonic Ideal of “character that works in fiction, but does not work in roleplaying.” Tasslehoff was an enjoyable part of the original Dragonlance novels, but only Weiss and Hickman really ever seemed to be able to make him (or any other Kender) work as a character. Plenty of other authors tried and failed. The game designers that worked on D&D materials featuring Kender (that weren’t Hickman) failed even harder.

The moody loner with a dark backstory who doesn’t work well with others, a.k.a, the thousands of badly done Wolverine clones I had to roleplay with in the Nineties were pretty bad too. But since there schtick was being apart from the party, it was easy enough to work around them. Kender were gregarious and sociable, they stuck with the party...

A well-done Kender is Beast Boy from Teen Titans: Happy-go-lucky, gregarious, and joyful; An eternal optimist who sees the best in everything; far more interested in having fun than destroying evil... But whenever things get serious, he drops the cute-and-fluffy and buckled down.

A badly-done Kender is Beast Boy from Teen Titans GO!
I think this is a pretty fair assessment.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Jabroniville »

L-Space wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:34 pm Oh yea? Well, Cyclone is overrated. :P
We are now arch-enemies.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by L-Space »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:46 pm
L-Space wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:34 pm Oh yea? Well, Cyclone is overrated. :P
We are now arch-enemies.
So be it!

Since my schedule is pretty wonky is it ok if it's mostly a part-time arching?
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Shadow Mastiff

Post by Jabroniville »

ImageImage

SHADOW MASTIFF
Role:
Otherdimensional Dogs
PL 5 (58)- Minion Rank 3, Sidekick Rank 12
Normal Version:
PL 2-4
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 7 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Trip

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 6 (Acute & Extended Scent, Darkvision, Ultra & Extended Hearing) [6]
"Animal Physiology" Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
"Natural Weapons- Teeth" Strength-Damage +1 [1]

"Baying Hound" Affliction 5 (Will; Dazed/Stunned) (Extras: Area- Hearing Perception) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Limited to Foes Who've Not Succeeded vs. Baying That Day) [3]
"Shadow Blend" Concealment 2 (Vision) (Flaws: Limited to Within Shadows) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Natural Weapons +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Shadow Mastiffs cannot speak to humans, nor use their paws to easily manipulate objects.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 7 (58)

-Shadow Mastiffs are native to the Plane of Shadow, but frequently enter Castellia to hunt at night. The sheer number of creatures like this have led to a lot of "Black Dog" stories, with tellers arguing with each other over the exact traits of the creatures. Even Rangers, Wizards and Loremasters are frequently confused as to what they're actually dealing with.

Jab's Notes: One of 9,000 variations of "Black Dog" myths found in the Monster Manuals, Shadow Mastiffs get a pretty good image- a REALLY muscular Molosser-type breed with a more evil-looking face.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Pegasi! Unicorns! Sphinxes! Fairies!)

Post by Jabroniville »

catsi563 wrote: Sun Jun 03, 2018 5:21 pm Dammit Jab you forgot Complication: Will go to War over Pizza in the fae writeup

ALL HAIL THE ZA LORD!!
I don't get it :). What's this from?
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Batgirl III wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 4:02 pm Kender are probably the Paltonic Ideal of “character that works in fiction, but does not work in roleplaying.” Tasslehoff was an enjoyable part of the original Dragonlance novels, but only Weiss and Hickman really ever seemed to be able to make him (or any other Kender) work as a character. Plenty of other authors tried and failed. The game designers that worked on D&D materials featuring Kender (that weren’t Hickman) failed even harder.
Is that the source of the image/description scandalously-insulted in the pics I showed? The other designers? Because yeah, that's hopelessly "Shilling the race" naivete that more or less goes out of its way to be obnoxious.

Did the other authors take over and make the "Kleptokender" thing a mainstay?
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Getting pretty close to the end of my "Stat Every 3rd Edition Monster Manual Creature" set:
Carrion Crawler
Celestials
Chaos Beast
Choker
Chuul
Cloaker
Cockatrice
Couatl
Darkmantle
Delver
Destrachan
Devourer
Digester
Doppelganger
Dragon Turtle
Drider
Dryad
Salamander
Satyr
Shield Guardian
Shocker Lizard
Skum
Slaad
Spider Eater
Stirge

There's still plenty of Pokemon to go through, but this has my focus for the moment, since it's largely the redundant/uninteresting Original 151 Pokemon left.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Woodclaw »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:34 am
Batgirl III wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 4:02 pm Kender are probably the Paltonic Ideal of “character that works in fiction, but does not work in roleplaying.” Tasslehoff was an enjoyable part of the original Dragonlance novels, but only Weiss and Hickman really ever seemed to be able to make him (or any other Kender) work as a character. Plenty of other authors tried and failed. The game designers that worked on D&D materials featuring Kender (that weren’t Hickman) failed even harder.
Is that the source of the image/description scandalously-insulted in the pics I showed? The other designers? Because yeah, that's hopelessly "Shilling the race" naivete that more or less goes out of its way to be obnoxious.

Did the other authors take over and make the "Kleptokender" thing a mainstay?
That picture is from the 3rd edition Dragonlance Handbook, which came out in 2003, written by Margaret Weis, Don Perrin, Jamie Cahmbers and Christopher Coyle. If you consider that the original idea for Dragonlance is from 1982 and the first module (DL1 Dragons of Despair) is from 1984, that particular piece had 20 years of discontinuity and bad players to contend with.
Also Weis, Hickman and most of the original team had to sign off thier creation to TSR (standard procedure in the '80s) and they had little impact on subsequent reimagining of the world of Krynn until 2003.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Pegasi! Unicorns! Sphinxes! Fairies!)

Post by kreuzritter »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:22 am
catsi563 wrote: Sun Jun 03, 2018 5:21 pm Dammit Jab you forgot Complication: Will go to War over Pizza in the fae writeup

ALL HAIL THE ZA LORD!!
I don't get it :). What's this from?
The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher. a recurring element to the novels is that the protagonist, Harry Dresden, is the beloved patron of a fairy tribe because he pays for their favours in fresh pizza

as for kender, they were exclusive to Dragonlance as a substitute for halflings to distinguish their setting from "standard tokien wannabe", which is also why there weren't any orcs in the setting.
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Re: Castellia- A Fantasy Setting (Sphinxes! Fairies! Nixies! KENDER!!!)

Post by Batgirl III »

With the release of 3e, Wizards of the Coast did an extensive “rebranding” of Halflings. Long gone were the pudgy, agrarian homebodies; now they were svelte, wanderlusty, and exotic. No more Bilbo with his fuzzy feet, now we got Lydia in her tight leather pants*. 3e’s default Halflings were essentially Dragonlance’s Kendrr without the uncontrollable kleptomania.

Image
Old and Busted.

Image
New Hawtness.



* (And sometimes out of her pants. Yowza.)
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