So here is a link to all of Talislanta free from the publisher. Lots of free RPG material that can be adapted to other systems.
I was thinking of looking it over and posting about it.
All Talislanta is free.
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Thanks, K.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
Oh, man, I've been reading the d20 edition, on the basis of being able to understand mechanics quickly.
The Xambrians are either trolling or a Mary Sue race.
Here's the highlights:
-Xambrians are tall, white-skinned, black-haired people who were almost exterminated by a dark cult. Only a few survivors escaped the purge. The survivors dedicated themselves to revenge. Oh, Medium Sized, +2 Wis
-So now they're all wizard-hunters as a vocation and hobby. Newborn children are left with non-Xambrian friends so they can continue hunting the reincarnated Torquarans
-The children grow up unhappy and being made fun of, and on 'the eve of their 13th birthday" they get a vision from an ancestral spirit that tells them the racial history and what their destiny now is. They then get training from the ancestor spirits. They also hear voices nagging them unless their actively pursuing the revenge quest, and detect magic. At level 3, they get a special scaling magic sword that freaks people out.
-Eventually, they'll be notified that a Torquaran has reincarnated and they'll be directed to "the place called Omen, the mountain of skulls" where they'll be told how to find the Torquaran and get the official go-ahead for the quest and "will not rest until he or she has carried out the vendetta."
I seriously can't tell if it's trolling or not.
The Xambrians are either trolling or a Mary Sue race.
Here's the highlights:
-Xambrians are tall, white-skinned, black-haired people who were almost exterminated by a dark cult. Only a few survivors escaped the purge. The survivors dedicated themselves to revenge. Oh, Medium Sized, +2 Wis
-So now they're all wizard-hunters as a vocation and hobby. Newborn children are left with non-Xambrian friends so they can continue hunting the reincarnated Torquarans
-The children grow up unhappy and being made fun of, and on 'the eve of their 13th birthday" they get a vision from an ancestral spirit that tells them the racial history and what their destiny now is. They then get training from the ancestor spirits. They also hear voices nagging them unless their actively pursuing the revenge quest, and detect magic. At level 3, they get a special scaling magic sword that freaks people out.
-Eventually, they'll be notified that a Torquaran has reincarnated and they'll be directed to "the place called Omen, the mountain of skulls" where they'll be told how to find the Torquaran and get the official go-ahead for the quest and "will not rest until he or she has carried out the vendetta."
I seriously can't tell if it's trolling or not.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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OgreBattle
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Lago PARANOIA
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Oh, really? I got more of a Woden's Folk vibe from that. As in, that race is exactly the political template for one of those cretins -- down to the martyrdom, racial vendetta, brainwashing of children, and persecution complex. The only real difference between that race and Woden's Folk propaganda is that the latter admits that it's 'modern'.OgreBattle wrote:Well that's the neatest take I've seen on Fantasy jewish nazi hunters yet.
Harken and respond to the call of the War-Arrow, that summons the host to defend the Kinfolk, or to avenge wrongs done to the Kinfolk. A warrior’s death in the struggle for the freedom and survival of the Folk secures a place with the Gods in Walhalla. Woden awaits the brave in the Halls of Valhalla.
Last edited by Lago PARANOIA on Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
Josh Kablack wrote:Your freedom to make rulings up on the fly is in direct conflict with my freedom to interact with an internally consistent narrative. Your freedom to run/play a game without needing to understand a complex rule system is in direct conflict with my freedom to play a character whose abilities and flaws function as I intended within that ruleset. Your freedom to add and change rules in the middle of the game is in direct conflict with my ability to understand that rules system before I decided whether or not to join your game.
In short, your entire post is dismissive of not merely my intelligence, but my agency. And I don't mean agency as a player within one of your games, I mean my agency as a person. You do not want me to be informed when I make the fundamental decisions of deciding whether to join your game or buying your rules system.
'Lago PARANOIA wrote:Oh, really? I got more of a Woden's Folk vibe from that. As in, that race is exactly the political template for one of those cretins -- down to the martyrdom, racial vendetta, brainwashing of children, and persecution complex. The only real difference between that race and Woden's Folk propaganda is that the latter admits that it's 'modern'.OgreBattle wrote:Well that's the neatest take I've seen on Fantasy jewish nazi hunters yet.
Harken and respond to the call of the War-Arrow, that summons the host to defend the Kinfolk, or to avenge wrongs done to the Kinfolk. A warrior’s death in the struggle for the freedom and survival of the Folk secures a place with the Gods in Walhalla. Woden awaits the brave in the Halls of Valhalla.
It's seriously like Generic Fantasy Protagonist. Come from a lost bloodline? Check. Raised by non-family? Check. Destiny is revealed as you come of age? Check. Inherit sweet magic sword? Check. Go on a quest to destroy an evil wizard? Check.
The only thing that makes me unable to tell if it's commentary is that the Xambrians hear voices (that's seriously the name of the ability. "Voices"). So, I dunno.
As for the rest of Talishanta, it shows that they tried to make what they thought would be a functional world. They certainly like scaled creatures--Catdracs are little lizard-cats, and there's Equses, which are lizardy horses.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Lago PARANOIA
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Yeah, except for the shadowy genocide revenge fantasy where children are constantly pestered by ancestor spirits to commit murder against the reincarnated spirits of people who wronged them.Maxus wrote:It's seriously like Generic Fantasy Protagonist.
That is pushes it past Generic Fantasy Protagonist Background to something indistinguishable from eliminationist propaganda.
Josh Kablack wrote:Your freedom to make rulings up on the fly is in direct conflict with my freedom to interact with an internally consistent narrative. Your freedom to run/play a game without needing to understand a complex rule system is in direct conflict with my freedom to play a character whose abilities and flaws function as I intended within that ruleset. Your freedom to add and change rules in the middle of the game is in direct conflict with my ability to understand that rules system before I decided whether or not to join your game.
In short, your entire post is dismissive of not merely my intelligence, but my agency. And I don't mean agency as a player within one of your games, I mean my agency as a person. You do not want me to be informed when I make the fundamental decisions of deciding whether to join your game or buying your rules system.
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infected slut princess
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"Eliminationist propaganda"?
If a genocidal murderer dies, and is reincarnated, maybe it's justified to go make him be dead once again.
Like if Hitler was reincarnated, it would seem to be ok for some Jews (or anyone really) to go kill the reincarnated Hitler. It might even be a decent fantasy adventure! "OMG the Dark Lord is reborn, he must be stopped neuhrg."
If a genocidal murderer dies, and is reincarnated, maybe it's justified to go make him be dead once again.
Like if Hitler was reincarnated, it would seem to be ok for some Jews (or anyone really) to go kill the reincarnated Hitler. It might even be a decent fantasy adventure! "OMG the Dark Lord is reborn, he must be stopped neuhrg."
Oh, then you are an idiot. Because infected slut princess has never posted anything worth reading at any time.
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Guyr Adamantine
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Foxwarrior
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Desdan_Mervolam
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Morality in genre literature and especially roleplaying games based on genre literature is notoriously muddy and protagonist-centric. If a Xambrian is the main character of the story, then the quest against the Torquarans is probably going to be justified and reinforced with some kick-the-dog moments to show that them damned Torquarans are all bad and can't be trusted. Hell, as mentioned, the whole "The dark lord is reborn, he must be stopped!" plot is stock in fantasy. Whether you agree with the designation or not you shouldn't be surprised that these people would be presented as legit justified heroes.
Don't bother trying to impress gamers. They're too busy trying to impress you to care.
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infected slut princess
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Ok. But it's not "what you might do", it's what you've already done. Because you are Hitler, and you have been reincarnated. So your body is different, but you are still Hitler and you are a genocidal national socialist maniac dude who put people in ovens. EVIL IS REBORN.Guyr Adamantine wrote:For those of us who think you have to be punished for the crimes you did, not what you might do, it's pretty fucking horrible.
It might be a different kind of reincarnation, like just some of the raw "soulstuff" is recycled and then basically an entirely new person results. Then clearly one's moral responsibility is different. But even then it would still create an interesting fantasy world faction of evil dudes who carry out their fanatical vendettas by killing innocent children who have a fragment of the essence of an evil dude's soul inside the.m
Oh, then you are an idiot. Because infected slut princess has never posted anything worth reading at any time.
I suppose it comes down to whether the Torquarans remember what they did or not.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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PhoneLobster
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But then you're saying that if they didn't reincarnate but did have some form or racial memories it would be ok to genocide baby Torquarans for remembering the crimes their parents committed.Maxus wrote:I suppose it comes down to whether the Torquarans remember what they did or not.
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RadiantPhoenix
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I believe there was a Star Trek episode about this...PhoneLobster wrote:But then you're saying that if they didn't reincarnate but did have some form or racial memories it would be ok to genocide baby Torquarans for remembering the crimes their parents committed.Maxus wrote:I suppose it comes down to whether the Torquarans remember what they did or not.
Maybe more than one, but the one I remember was in DS9 season one.
Reincarnation and racial memories.
Two more reasons consequentialist ethics make more sense than SOULS! shittery.
Two more reasons consequentialist ethics make more sense than SOULS! shittery.
The U.S. isn't a democracy and if you think it is, you are a rube.DSMatticus wrote:Kaelik gonna kaelik. Whatcha gonna do?
That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves.
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infected slut princess
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I think the idea is kind of interesting. The question is, what happens in this setting when people are reincarnated?
So if Mr X genocided some dudes, and dies, then reincarnates into a new body, is the new person still Mr X? Because if he is, it seems to follow that the "new person" who is really Mr X is still responsible for Mr X's crime. Because those are _his own_ crimes. So would he therefore deserving of punishment on his new body, or does he get a "fresh start"?
Or is it essentially a _different_ person with merely some "piece" of Mr X's soul or whatever, and whether the person shares some collective memory with that "piece" or not, is therefore innocent of Mr X's crimes? Punishing the new person because of "collective guilt" would be an interesting motivation for a bad guy.
It raises another question that is kind of interesting if there is magic that can bring people back to life. Like this: if Mr X murdered a dude, maybe he deserves to die. So you kill him and that's the end of it. But what if Mr X murdered a hundred dudes? And furthermore, suppose you have magic that can bring Mr X back to life. Would it be appropriate to resurrect Mr X and kill him again? And again and again, until the 100 victims are "avenged"? Pretty weird. That would be a tough justice system.
So if Mr X genocided some dudes, and dies, then reincarnates into a new body, is the new person still Mr X? Because if he is, it seems to follow that the "new person" who is really Mr X is still responsible for Mr X's crime. Because those are _his own_ crimes. So would he therefore deserving of punishment on his new body, or does he get a "fresh start"?
Or is it essentially a _different_ person with merely some "piece" of Mr X's soul or whatever, and whether the person shares some collective memory with that "piece" or not, is therefore innocent of Mr X's crimes? Punishing the new person because of "collective guilt" would be an interesting motivation for a bad guy.
It raises another question that is kind of interesting if there is magic that can bring people back to life. Like this: if Mr X murdered a dude, maybe he deserves to die. So you kill him and that's the end of it. But what if Mr X murdered a hundred dudes? And furthermore, suppose you have magic that can bring Mr X back to life. Would it be appropriate to resurrect Mr X and kill him again? And again and again, until the 100 victims are "avenged"? Pretty weird. That would be a tough justice system.
Oh, then you are an idiot. Because infected slut princess has never posted anything worth reading at any time.
My main question is "are reincarnated souls likely to have the same or similar personality as previous incarnations?" If a guy can remembers slaughtering the Liliputians but doesn't particularly care to do so again, I don't see any reason to stop him from settling down and having kids. On the other hand, if a guy can't remember slaughtering the Liliputians but is nevertheless very likely to go knock off the Bigtopians who were next on his genocide list in his past life, I'm game for killing that guy.
Nooo, I'm saying if it's the same personality/being in a new body, with memories and motives intact, I could see it being acceptable to take a bastard out before he can get his feet set.RadiantPhoenix wrote:I believe there was a Star Trek episode about this...PhoneLobster wrote:But then you're saying that if they didn't reincarnate but did have some form or racial memories it would be ok to genocide baby Torquarans for remembering the crimes their parents committed.Maxus wrote:I suppose it comes down to whether the Torquarans remember what they did or not.
Maybe more than one, but the one I remember was in DS9 season one.
I apologize for not fully expressing the thought, now that I look at it again.
Last edited by Maxus on Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
But memories != motives. I remember plenty of shit that I did that I have no inclination to repeat.Maxus wrote: Nooo, I'm saying if it's the same personality/being in a new body, with memories and motives intact, I could see it being acceptable to take a bastard out before he can get his feet set.
I apologize for not fully expressing the thought, now that I look at it again.
So, I think Maxus' point is that Hitler has just been skinned to a different body. Everything else is the same -- memories, personality, motives, etc. This also means that Hitler will continue to be evil and commit evil acts.
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It's a pathetic idea but I think that's what the devs probably intended but didn't implement it properly.
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It's a pathetic idea but I think that's what the devs probably intended but didn't implement it properly.
Last edited by Cynic on Thu Sep 26, 2013 5:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.
I'm sure what they're up to is in the books SOMEWHERE, but that's a lot to read. I'll check, but I did find a reference to them being necromancers.
So Re-Skinned Hitler could be a thing they're trying for.
Edit:
As an aside, they really should have chosen a different word than "reincarnate" for that process.
So Re-Skinned Hitler could be a thing they're trying for.
Edit:
And they killed the Xambrians because they saw the Xambrians as an inferior race. And wanted lots of ritual sacrifices.Instead, the Torquarans struck an unholy pact with the arch-devil Zahur, who used an ancient incantation to turn them into reincarnators: malign spirits cloaked in an aura that renders them untouchable by Death. In this manner, the Torquarans acquired a form of near-immortality. They became capable of possessing the physical bodies of living creatures at will, and returning time and time again from the dead. Only if vanquished by a Xambrian can these vile spiritforms finally be claimed by Death and delivered to their final judgement.
As an aside, they really should have chosen a different word than "reincarnate" for that process.
Last edited by Maxus on Thu Sep 26, 2013 6:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
Based on what I saw in the thread, I can't blame the Torquarans here. I see every reason to exterminate a race of people who can't help but be supernaturally motivated to exterminate your people and are uniquely suited to doing that.Maxus wrote:Only if vanquished by a Xambrian can these vile spiritforms finally be claimed by Death and delivered to their final judgement.