While briefing Terr on how to get Shivians in Bloody Bay...
06-16-2008 10:08:11 [The Legendary]OpMegs: After you've endured enough radiation to sterilize Detroit, you find a firebase.
06-16-2008 10:08:23 [The Legendary]MatrixDragon: ... So, after a night with Rhea and Lisa?
06-16-2008 10:08:36 [The Legendary]OpMegs: No, that's to sterilize *Rhode Island*
06-16-2008 10:08:51 [The Legendary]Terrence Knight: 0_0
06-16-2008 10:08:56 [The Legendary]Sweno: I resent the perfectly accurate statement

I posted a brief piece here about the Binders. This is a
more in-depth look at them. Ankhani expressed interest, and if anyone else is interested, hit me up. There's possibilities here. Of the alts I list
below, I'm only firmly attached to two -- Flame and Light -- and so if someone wants to take one of the others let me know and I'll release the slot.
Or roll yer own, of course.

Technical Stuff:

Origin: Magic

Costume: Ears should be Demon Ears, but if you've got a reason to change that, it's malleable. Chains should feature on the costume; at a minimum, the
belt should be the chain and padlock combination (available on both male and female models, I believe). No other requirements, but I tend to give them a dusky
or greyish skin tone to reflect the demonic influence.

Concept Stuff:

An ancient demon's power, his soul, has been fragmented into many pieces, to prevent him from wreaking havoc. Each fragment is bound to a human soul --
the only way to ensure it doesn't find its way home again. Each fragment can empower its Binder with whatever aspect of the demon's power it
represents. Being such an old and powerful demon, of course, there really is no limit on what he can do. At a minimum, it grants the Binder freedom from old
age. They are not immortal, but they don't get older and won't die of old age. Nothing special is required to kill them, though -- this isn't
Highlander.

Each large fragment tends to represent one theme (I used the classic elemental powers, but there aren't any real limits here), or related themes -- light
and dark, fire, whatever. The fragment is not sentient but can be best described as wanting to return home -- to the demon, in essence -- which can be done by
releasing the bindings (the magical chains holding that fragment to the Binder -- see costume, above) when two or more pieces are in close proximity. The more
pieces that merge, the greater the danger that the demon will awaken and actively try to reclaim what is his. There are an unknown number of small fragments,
which may be inhabiting J. Random Person, small animals, trapped by mages for magical power sources, or what-have-you. It is only the large fragments that
need Binders; the small ones don't possess enough power on their own to pose a real threat, though they still try to come together if they get close
enough. Thus, the Binders actively search for them -- they can sense them, when close enough -- and try to imprison them. When enough are imprisoned, of
course, another large fragment is born and a new Binder must be found to handle it. Someday they hope to be done with this task.

Fragments can be transferred voluntarily, if the Binder holding it chooses to release it. It can also be forcibly impressed upon another, which a heroic type
would never do, of course, but there's a lot of fragments out there and nobody knows for sure where they all are.

Binders in (relatively) close proximity can share each other's thoughts and feelings, linked by the fragments they possess. If they get *too* close for
too long a time, the fragments may break free and merge on their own -- which usually kills the Binder in the process.

Finally, Binders face a constant and unrelenting assault upon their mind from the fragment, at an unconscious level. Think of it as a curse. Binders tend to
last a long time as heroes, then fall suddenly and become what they once hunted. That is the fragment at work. Binders constantly watch out for each other
and will not hesitate to go after one of their own if they do succumb to the demonic influence.

Known Binders:

Flamebinder -- Molly Morgan, American midwest, became a Binder voluntarily but without full understanding (the previous Flamebinder was less than forthcoming
about the details), has been active as a Binder since the 1950's. Objective age 72, subjective age 19. Fire/Fire blaster.

Earthbinder -- Faith Santova, Mexico, became a Binder voluntarily and with full disclosure -- it's a family curse or tradition, depending on how you look
at it, for centuries -- and has been active since 2005. 25 years old. Stone/Stone tanker.

Nightbinder/Lightbinder -- twins, brother and sister, neither of which had any clue what they were getting into. They are in a unique situation, in that their
bodies were possessed by a single uncommonly large fragment, which split between them but nearly killed them anyway. Kheldians saved their lives by merging
with them. They have no clue what the whole Binder thing is about and are the current targets that Flame and Earth are trying to track down so they can be
trained and/or handled as needed. Both are 22, they became Binders during the latest Rikti invasion (before the June 2008 one, that is). Night is a warshade,
Light is a peacebringer.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

A number of you have probably been following this, but in the spirit of 4e news that's been going around here I thought I'd link this. Gabe and Tycho
from Penny Arcade along with Scott Kurtz of PVP sit down with one of the RnD guys at Wizards to play a campaign of DnD 4e, and record the whole thing and are
releasing it in weekly pod casts.

If you're into their kind of humor, it's pretty funny to listen to them bumble their way through a 1st level dungeon, but it's also really
interesting to A: listen how people with three different DnD play experiences (old hand, hasn't played in years, and never played at all) interact with
each other around the table and B: how those said mechanics of the new edition work.

It's located in the features area of the Dragon Magazine part of the Wiz site. You have to register with the Dragon Magazine site to listen to them, but
it's free and if you have a spam email address, easy to do.

Take it or leave it,but I thought it was worth a listen. Made me want to hunt up a group and play.

Link
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"

http://www.fileplanet.com/187537/180000 ... (Free-Game

Get it while you can!

What's new with Phil and Dixie

Warning - somewhat NSFW - but I did laugh out loud.

...ever correct answer to any question on a game show.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Be the first on your block to play World of World of Warcraft.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Apparently,. I am going to Toronto, Canada. Suggestions on what to do there, if my hosts haven't already arranged it, are solicited from the people on this
forum.

I had this idea several years ago and promptly forgot all about it. Over the last couple of days, though, it has slowly been coming back to me. Here goes:

Take any RPG. It can be a video game, or you can make up your own. The more cliched, the better. This is for comedic purposes.

Upon receiving their first quest (The Search For The Legendary Fork Of Eating +3!!!), the "Heroes" are followed into the dungeon by a curious
teenager. He is not noticed by anyone, and watches in awe as the "Heroes" defeat their first boss. The heroes triumphantly ransack the room and
leave. Meanwhile, the boy is sitting in the shadows thinking of how awesome the light show was when the monster was defeated. Suddenly, a voice asks "Are
they gone yet?", and the supposedly dead boss gets up, stretches, and goes to open a hidden door in the wall. It leads to a well lit room, and the monster
says "Time for Coffee break."

The boy eventually goes on a quest to follow these "Heroes" in order to find out why the hell all these monsters that have been terrorizing the
countryside are acting out their defeats at the hand of these "Heroes" and then vanishing.

As the "heroes" advance on their epic quest, and the scenarios facing them become more and more cliched, the boy realizes that someone is pulling the
strings behind the scenes and the "Heroes" are in on the whole thing.

When the "Heroes" are unexpectedly defeated, our boy watches in puzzlement as the "Heroes" get up after ten minutes and start bickering
amongst themselves, blaming each other. A man comes out of the by now expected hidden room, and informs the "Heroes" that their game is over, and
thank you for playing.

What the hell had he stumbled into, and how was he going to save his world from some guys pretending to be heroes while playfighting the monsters that
terrorized the lives of everyone he knew?

Okay, basic idea is, some uber-advanced race is filming a "Reality Show RPG" filmed on a backwoods planet, and our young local eventually finds out
that all the monsters in the world were placed there for the entertainment of the alien masses as contestant "Heroes" battle them.What will he do?

Whoever wants this diseased idea is welcome to it.

Jervic

This is the first time since I opened these forums something like six years ago that between breakfast and lunch on a work day nothing has been posted by anyone.

I suddenly feel a little frisson of fear that a "Relevancy" switch somewhere for the forums has just been flipped...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.