Ask Arkanis

[Deathgrowl]

On the topic of the wall of the faithless: Play through MotB. It is mentioned that Myrkul constructed the wall.

However, he must have done so before ToT, as he died during ToT and Cyric took his place (briefly), and then Kelemvor.

[DM Arkanis]

On the topic of the wall of the faithless: Play through MotB. It is mentioned that Myrkul constructed the wall.

However, he must have done so before ToT, as he died during ToT and Cyric took his place (briefly), and then Kelemvor.

OK I did not count MotB as "lore" as the source material that I loooked at doesn't support this.

[DM Arkanis]

2. In the FR you have to believe in a diety to be granted powers. If you have powers and are not a believer, then you are an arcane magic user.

This is not what I meant when I asked #2.

Being believer and part of any order are two different things. Worshipping deity and following deity's dogma are obvious requirements to be granted power.

However... is it really necessary to be part of some clerical hierarchy? Can you become cleric or paladin on your own? Can independent, unaffiliated paladin or cleric exist and be still granted power? (Paladin that is not a part of something like radiant heart, or a cleric that is not part of hierarchy and does not belong to any church or order)[/quote]

Most dieties do not require their clergy/paladins to belong to any order at all. There are lots of dieties whose idea of "organized" religion is a once-in-a-while gathering for any who can make it. The religious order does not create the paladin, the paladin usually goes to the order seeking like-minded people or similar beliefs. To put it in more simpler terms, power is granted by belief and worship, not from belonging to a religious order.

[DM Arkanis]

1. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

2. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?

3. Which, in your own opinion, is the best base class, and why?

4. Will we ever see crafting on this server or is a pipe dream that is used to string us along to try to keep us here?

5. How are you?

1. This was answered in an earlier question but you'll have to scroll through to find it. I thought it was very well thought out, and reasoned.

2. I believe Run DMC has your answer http://rapgenius.com/Run-dmc-peter-pipe ... ote-477419

3. "Best class" depends on a lot of variables, so I'll narrow them down based on our server rules about classes. At Epic levels something that is sneaky, can hit for a lot of damage, hide in plain sight, and has a good resistance to magic - Rouge/Assassin type. Why? Because if you have built and geared your toon properly, you can sneak up on almost anyone, kill them before they even know you are there, hide if you don't get them on the first shot, and deflect any retaliatory magical attack. The strongest fighter may withstand your first attack due tohigh HP, but if you HiPS and he can't see you, and you have Sneak Attack/Feint and other Feats you can polish him off eventually. If you get close enough to the spell-caster to get off a Sneak Attack, and for some reason, you can HiPS you way either out of range of an area of effect spell or use your SR to reduce the affects to yourself. Run light, run fast - DEX is your primary attribute with WIS a close second, STR and CON are in the "normal" range, and you have magical gear that augments these attributes as well as Hide/MS and something that gives you SR. You are one-weapon focused and have a lot of finesse and you prefer to let your words to prevent trouble, and your ability to hide and run to get you out of it when it happens. Your strength is in your stealth, your legend, and the only eyes that see you are those of your victim as they die. If you prefer to be more social, no one knows your true identity as an assassin - you are a merchant, or a bard maybe, but never your true self...

4. Yes.

5. I am doing relatively well, thank you for asking. My daughter had an emergency appendectomy a little over a week ago and is fine, work is busy but rewarding, my (latest) GF is history as she pulled some emotionally juvenille things on me for the last time and that was the last straw, and I seem to be reacting well to my new(est) set of medication that is keeping my cancer at bay.

[mireigi]

This is my crossbow. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My crossbow is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My crossbow, without me, is useless. Without my crossbow, I am useless. I must fire my crossbow true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will...
My crossbow and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the twang of our volley, nor the holes we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit...
My crossbow is alive, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother/sister. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its bow. I will keep my crossbow clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...
Before Tempus, I swear this creed. My crossbow and I are the defenders of myself. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is mine and there are no more enemies to fight.

So fitting.

[DM Arkanis]

So fitting.[/quote]


Yep, I watched Full Metal Jacket last week with my daughter and her BF and that's where I got my "version" using a crossbow instead of a rifle

[DM Nilbog]

I am DM Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor. From now on, you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir!" Do you maggots understand that?


Bullshit! I can't hear you. Sound off like you got a pair.

If you ladies leave my nexus, if you survive this server ... you will be a weapon, you will be a minister of death, praying for war. But until that day you are pukes! You're the lowest form of life on faerun. You are not even human! You are nothing but unorganized grabasstic pieces of amphibian dung!

Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard, but I am fair! There is no racial bigotry here! I do not look down on Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes or Hin. Here you are all equally worthless! And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Realms! Do you maggots understand that?

[DM Arkanis]

You know, there is a reason why I like DM Nilbog...

[NegInfinity]

Do Illithids have souls?

Hidden: show

They're abberations and "do not belong here". Do they have souls and participate at the soul cycle with deities taking them to their realms, or devils trying to coax them into signing contracts? Or are they exceptions from the whole thing?

[DM Arkanis]

Do Illithids have souls?

Hidden: show

They're abberations and "do not belong here". Do they have souls and participate at the soul cycle with deities taking them to their realms, or devils trying to coax them into signing contracts? Or are they exceptions from the whole thing?

While it is true that illithids are not native to the Prime Material Plane it does not mean that they do not have souls. First I think we need to agree on what a soul is -
"noun
1. the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.
2. the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come: arguing the immortality of the soul.
3. the disembodied spirit of a deceased person: He feared the soul of the deceased would haunt him.
4. the emotional part of human nature; the seat of the feelings or sentiments.
5. a human being; person. "

If we use this definition then of the soul applied to illithids, and we know that they have a patron diety, "Traditionally illithids revere a perverse deity named Ilsensine. In 2nd edition, they have a second deity named Maanzecorian, who is later killed by Tenebrous (Orcus) in the Planescape adventure module Dead Gods. Although Ilsensine is the illithid patron deity, few mind flayers actively worship him, thinking themselves the most powerful creatures in the universe" we can assume, even if the illithid feels themselves to be most powerful, that a deity has taken an interest in them and therefore they have souls.
I did find some source material to indicate that there is a (fairly secretive) illithid clergy as well.

Ark

[DM Arkanis]

There's a place I hang out at fairly regularly called, "The Cheshire Cat." http://www.cheshirecatpub.com/home.html` It is a traditinal English-style pub complete with micro brew beer, over a hundred kinds of scotch, a woodburning stove and a couple of great big arm chairs to curl up in. I guess I spend enough time there that when I walked in last week the place greeting me with one voice shouting my name... kind of like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPqPAKqzx7M The servers, bartenders, and owners all know me and come and sit with me or we joke around when I sit at the bar. I have a favourite table (190 on the server seating chart) and they make a hot sauce called Station 64 that is yellow and not red and even smelling it makes my eyes water... but I love it and put it on almost anything other than desserts. I usually have a pint of Murphy`s and eat some wings with the 64 sauce on them, and read a book, or chat with the regulars, and periodically hold impromptu trivia contests, or go and listen to live music nights (I sometimes get asked to sing a song or two myself - notably, `Barrett`s Privateers` by Stan Rogers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIwzRkjn86w&feature=kp and yes I know it all off by heart and have only forgotten the words once in the last 25yrs of singing it and there might have been beer involved that night. A lot of beer, but I digress. The pub is about a ten minute drive from my house, a cozy 8.8 kilometers or so down sideroads, and sits at a crossroad that sixty years ago when it last was a school house saw a lot less traffic than it does today, and on a hot summer night you can sit out on the patio, and on a cool autumn evening they'll bring you a blanket to wrap up in on the same patio if you are a little chilly but not ready to go just yet. There is always a quote of the day on the chalkboard outside by the red, English phone booth, and they sell home made soups, pies, cakes, and other specials that you can take with you if you want to eat but can't come in and stay. I guess you can say it is my home-away-from-home and over the last dozen or so years it has transformed from a dingy old place where sometimes it was just me, the bartender, and a large ginger cat in the place, to a very popular watering hole out here in the suburbs. They had a fire a year ago January 29 and the place burned and was completely gutted, but the owners decided that it was the heart and soul of the community and rebuilt the place with a lot of help from many levels of government, and the local community. The regulars even had a charity fund raiser for the 34 staff members who were put out of work because of the fire and they raised over $30k. It reopened just before Christmas 2013 to great acclaim, and I guess you say the rest is history.
Why am I talking about my pub?
Well, over the weekend a friend dared me that he could lose more weight in one week than I could. My friend and I are roughly the same size, that is to say Reubenesque, and both of us could stand to lose a little weight. The bet consists of a bottle of spirits of the winners choice, and my friend has exceedingly good taste so losing is not an option. As such, I have decided to try this soup diet where you eat lots of soup, no carbs, some fruit, a little red meat, etc. and you are supposed to lose anywhere from 10-20lbs in seven days. Today is day one. I am so hungry I could eat a cardboard box, AND to top it ALL off, there is a beer sampling at the pub tonight - yes, twelve new and delicious beers made locally by some outstanding little breweries. You might say, "Listen Ark, just go, you don't have to drink the beer." You might say that, and you might also wake up with a Rust Monster in your closet... Here's to the man who drinks dark ale and goes to bed quite mellow - I'll be back at the Cat next Monday night.

[Xanfyrst]

Try Intermittent Fasting, Arky.

[Marigold]

I know in game in DM events when it comes time to rest there is a debate on how long this actually takes in game time because the results are pretty much Instant. I know in first edition to regain spells by either prayer and studying a spellbook the time to regain spells was 10 min per spell level so in order for a Archmage to get all his spells back it would take a total of 90 min at 10 min per spell lvl *9 being he has 9th level spells. Do this still hold true in this setting 3.5 or does the staff here have another standard they use?

Before someone posts about soc and FS my guess is that may be recoup time involved in order to prep oneself.

[DM Arkanis]

Try Intermittent Fasting, Arky.

Coupled with exercise and eating properly, yup. Down 12 lbs and one more day to go. Feelin' great!

[DM Arkanis]

I know in game in DM events when it comes time to rest there is a debate on how long this actually takes in game time because the results are pretty much Instant. I know in first edition to regain spells by either prayer and studying a spellbook the time to regain spells was 10 min per spell level so in order for a Archmage to get all his spells back it would take a total of 90 min at 10 min per spell lvl *9 being he has 9th level spells. Do this still hold true in this setting 3.5 or does the staff here have another standard they use?

Before someone posts about soc and FS my guess is that may be recoup time involved in order to prep oneself.

Interesting question. Remember that the semantics of the NWN2 game are not always in-sync with DnD "rules" that you might follow in a PnP game. In PnP you can use whichever rules you want around resting and RP it out by saying, "and the party rests overnight - the wizard memorizes, the cleric prays, the fighter sews up his cuts" etc. In our game you just hit "R" and kneel, and a bunch of zeds appear over your head and you snore a little and then VOILA! your spells and HP are restored and buffs and other ailments are gone. This is the NWN2 version of rest defined as:

"Resting allows a character to regain lost hit points and memorize spells. Resting is considered the end of the day, and all abilities and items with uses per day will be recharged.

You can not rest when enemies are nearby, or immediately after being in combat or casting a spell. In certain areas you can not rest at all, and in other areas enemies may interrupt you while resting. In the official campaign it takes 5 seconds to rest, and there are no other restrictions on how often you can do so. The rules of resting may be different in other modules.

Spell effects that are not permanent will end when resting. Mage armor, for example, will disappear when resting, but the effects of Bestow curse will not. Supernatural effects are not removed by resting, but Magical and Extraordinary effects are removed.

Hit points and spells are regained periodically while resting, so even if the rest is ended prematurely, some hit points and spells will still be regained. All buffs are removed immediately when the rest is initiated, though. Spells regained start with the lowest spell levels, progressing towards the higher spell levels. Therefore, cantrips are recharged first, and your highest level spells will require a complete rest to regain."

"Natural Healing: You recover 1 hit point per character level per day of rest..." Rest here is also defined as doing light/nonstrenuous activites over the course of the day and you will still gain the points back for that day. Complete bed-rest you get 1.5x HP back. (p. 129 v3.0 PHB) To regain spells here also the wizard needs 8h of rest or "calm" and a clear mind (p.154) - divine casters preparation "is the same as for a wizard" (p.156)

There are some things that the semantics of the game arre just not congruent with the PnP version of the game and resting is one of them. I think you could define/interpret the differences in a few ways:

1. Your character "rests" when you RP it. "Frank sits down by the fire and closes his eyes..."
2. Time IG passes differently than it does IRL, and for the purposes of playing the game if your toon had to sit out for a week to rest up because they got bashed, either no one would be around because we'd all be in hospital, or no one would engage in combat for fear of being knocked out of the game. You could also say that when your character is not IG that they rested up then. Kind of like in the TV series, "24" when the commercials are on for us is when Jack Bauer uses the rest room or eats....
3. The action of being able to rest is actually something that can be adjusted by the dev guys too. There are (ok maybe were...) other servers that were "hard-core" when it came to resting/eating and you had to rest more often, and eat. The timer we have for resting is based on the characters level - the higher you are, the longer the interval is between rests, but the timer can be set to zero and you can rest whenever you like. I think where we have it set balances the desire to keep playing after getting pasted, with an appropriate amount of interval time between rests.
4. There are a limited number of variables that the game can incorporate due to the limits of the software and the designers had to simplify the whole issue of resting so to go from Near Death to fully healed being almost instant is a part of the NWN2 game while it isn't part per se of the PnP game.
5. Maybe, it's just magic? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1tYOuQKH4

Arky (listen to verse 2 of this one ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMQjYJdtwoc