Post/Author/DateTime	Post
NotBruce 03-18-06, 02:42 PM	we are playing in a all Dragon champaign, I am playing an adult Topaz Dragon (CN) and I have somehow placed my self as the leader. I enjoy being the leader, but I do not quite know if it fits my alignment. that and I think that I am not being the best of leaders. example: taking time to hit on the evil sorceress in the middle of combat(I still wish I could have turned her away from the dark side) Anyway, got any tips on being a CN leader, and RPing a dragon all together?
taradusis 03-18-06, 04:38 PM	Chaotic neutral is the closest thing to crazy the d+d game has.In order to inject a note of randomness to your decision -making give up on logic and reason,surrender to the underlying chaos of a universe where nothing really matters and only your desire to avoid boredom keeps you going.In your world you are all important and the meat puppets you lead are like game pieces on a board.Reduce every decision to a yes or no,flip a coin and your character doesnt care what the results are!!!!!Talk to every new being you meet and when their inferior minds bore you attack them to see if their fighting skills are interesting,run away if it looks as if you might die.Repitition kills and renewal comes from the different.You are the fool who gets to boldly go where the angels will not,too bad for them.
taradusis 03-31-06, 10:11 PM	How are you doing as leader,did my advice enrich your play?
Delfedd 03-31-06, 10:19 PM	Chaotic neutral is the closest thing to crazy the d+d game has.In order to inject a note of randomness to your decision -making give up on logic and reason,surrender to the underlying chaos of a universe where nothing really matters and only your desire to avoid boredom keeps you going.In your world you are all important and the meat puppets you lead are like game pieces on a board.Reduce every decision to a yes or no,flip a coin and your character doesnt care what the results are!!!!!Talk to every new being you meet and when their inferior minds bore you attack them to see if their fighting skills are interesting,run away if it looks as if you might die.Repitition kills and renewal comes from the different.You are the fool who gets to boldly go where the angels will not,too bad for them. NO NO NO! This is exactly what you do NOT want to do. Chaotic neutral is just like chaotic good, except you don't believe in good an evil. Learn to read. Come on, "Note: a chaotic neutral character does not have an equal chance to jump off a bridge as to cross it." Sound familiar? Sure, if you can't come to a decision, fliping a coin might work, but otherwise, don't.
BeyondFated 03-31-06, 11:57 PM	Do: Follow most of your gut instincts. Do Not: Follow them if they happen to be incredibly stupid. Do: Think about what feels like the best choice at that moment. Do Not: Always act on what feels best at the moment. IE no *ahem* mating out of season if you get my drift. Do: Act desicivly. Do Not: Act without thinking. Do: Keep yourself open to advice. Value the wisdom of others. Chaos loves indiduality, so embrace a new way of thinking and viewing a problem. Do Not: Take obviously bad advice. Like taradusis'. His heart's in the right place, his advice isn't though. Those are what every Chaotic leader (regardless of Good, Evil, or Neutrality) should keep in mind.
taradusis 04-01-06, 08:03 PM	I must tell you that very few CN races behave in a sane fashion,the CN topaz dragon you're playing is a prime example,conversations that turn into brawls,how stupid is it to talk to strangers and pick fights with them!I wonder if the most common cause of death for a Topaz dragon is some weak looking wizard toasting your butt till its even more golden -brown than usual.Most people play a CN so stupid-crazy that they get themselves and the party killed!If I ever got a wish spell I'd wish for something horrible to happen to every one who plays a CN gnome bard,no seriously.
runestar 04-01-06, 11:57 PM	Flip a coin every time you have to make a decision? :D
taradusis 04-02-06, 07:42 AM	When I read the post the poster seemed like some one who was to well organized and thoughtful to play a CN character.HE seemed to be metagaming and worrying about being a responsible party leader,the typical CN topaz dragon tends to be self -interested and petty,picking fights at random.In order to roleplay this sort of personality you need to randomize your decision making more,I mean if this guy was a paladin by nature and picked this dragon because of the powers he's going to need a method to break out of his good mental habits,right?
Zemyla 04-04-06, 03:13 PM	Flip a coin every time you have to make a decision? :D I was going to say the same thing, except my coin landed on tails. :(
NotBruce 04-04-06, 03:23 PM	Well after this weeks game, I think I have a bit more feel to my character. I sort of hop from one feeling to another, happy and carefree one moment and deadly serious the next. Charging headfirst in to battle sometimes and sometimes not. Now having played a few games in an all dragon party I am seeing a major problem, Lack of diversity. If claws, fang, and breath don't work we are in a lot of trouble. I am really feeling the lack of a full spell caster right now, (not to mention a healer)(and NO ITEMS :headexplo ) the trouble is that our spells have 0% chance to bypass SR. Example: (DM monstrosity (I am not sure if it is raw) strong resistances to most elements, strong chance to make reflex save, armor that deals negative energy damage each time we hit it (20+) a lot of HP, SR 30, DR 20/Unknown and can hit back for 120 a round. oh yea and fast healing. This thing would have lead to a TPK if I did not organize every one and planeshifted us all out. Needless to say we could not to Jack to this thing, and I would have given a lot for a full cleric or wiz/sor just so we had more options other than run away. Anyway any ideas on what to do? We get NO ITEMS and it is too late in the game to switch over to another class for spells. The leadership feat is null. We have 4 adult dragons Claw/tank (that’s me) Breath/Supernat user (he seems week in my opinion) 2 melee/breath
Lincoln Hills 04-04-06, 04:26 PM	Your character is chaotic neutral: he should hate the obligations of leadership. As long as he's handing out orders and they're obeying, he'll think it's a hilarious game. When his leadership suddenly causes serious injury to one of his friends, or leads them into a corner - when the ugly question of "responsibility" arises - he should be just as quick to declare that leadership is no fun anymore and attempt to pass it off on one of the other dragons. (He'll probably name whichever dragon has impressed him most as his successor and be surprised/offended if anybody disagrees.)
taradusis 04-04-06, 08:54 PM	Look around for a few tribes of kobolds to do your dirty work?THE red shirt kobold scouts to die while testing abilities of opponent.Massed spellcasting gather as many kobold soceror/cleric /adepts as possible.hired guns see if you cant get a few high level mercs to go along with you.the enemy of my enemy is my friend? check around and see if uber-dude has an enemy you can team up with,kind of hard to get or maintain power without you making somebody unhappy? Is there a tribe of giants you can enslave for muscle?Just a few random ideas :)
taradusis 04-23-06, 02:39 PM	If you plane-shifted your party to the elemental plane of water ,would your enemy drown?,Could you leave him stuck there ,if he can"t plane-shift out does the DM give you points for defeating him?Sorry about the double post,in a rush :)
Kittencaboodle 04-24-06, 03:29 PM	Chaotic neutral is the closest thing to crazy the d+d game has.In order to inject a note of randomness to your decision -making give up on logic and reason,surrender to the underlying chaos of a universe where nothing really matters and only your desire to avoid boredom keeps you going. There's a difference, my friend, between chaotic neutral and chaotic stupid. I suggest learning that difference. What you're suggesting is like a Malkavian believing their insanity allows them to act however they want to... Even if it gets them killed. That doesn't fly in my games, d20 or not. Chaotic Neutral, “Free Spirit”: A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn’t strive to protect others’ freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it. Chaotic neutral is the best alignment you can be because it represents true freedom from both society’s restrictions and a do-gooder’s zeal. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it. Have I made my point yet?
taradusis 04-24-06, 10:00 PM	Kittencaboodle,you can type it in letters six feet tall,if every moral vacuum in the community doesn't play c/n the way it should played and quotes/bends the rules into a pretzel to justify doing any fool thing that enters their head your wasting your time and mine.I repeat,c/n is the last refuge of scoundrels,rules-lawyers and the morally ambivalent.
Kittencaboodle 04-24-06, 11:34 PM	.I repeat,c/n is the last refuge of scoundrels,rules-lawyers and the morally ambivalent. 1 -- No. It just means you don't know ho to roleplay chaotic neutral. 2 -- However you type it, with or without capital letters, spaces, or proper use of grammar... You are still wrong. 3 -- While D&D is a game and supposed to be fun, not many people like playing with chaotic insane, which is what you're describing. If your DM allows you to roleplay chaotic neutral that way, more power to your DM, but it makes me glad I'm not involved in those games. People that play CN that way tend to be self-centered and focused only on their own fun. Not that of the people playing with them.
taradusis 04-25-06, 09:17 PM	...For every expert on playing C/n.You should go on tour kiitencaboodle,you could argue with the 99% of the community who does play c/n as if it was chaotic stupid or chaotic insane.Maybe you can exsplain why the c/n topaz dragon from monster manual II doesn't conform to the official guideline you're quoting,I mean if the game designers haven't given us a c/n race that follows these guidelines how is DM like me supposed to enforce a consistent set of behavior?We have a large number of threads that argue about this rather theoretical alignment,some experts who opine in capital letters and a community that just says to hell with it and does whatever they feel is real.So if I let somebody or encourage somebody to play his c/n topaz dragon as written in the monster manual are the drama police going to write me a ticket?
Cytokinesis 04-25-06, 09:53 PM	Look people, he obviously understands (I mean, I should certainly hope so at least), he's just trying to be the standard forum troll to garner attention, so I suggest we just ignore him and move on. About the monstrosity, do you absolutely have to fight it? Cause if not, I suggest you don't. If you do, why not try calling in favors from allies? Or even hiring someone to help you, I think there are wages in the DM guide, and many a people would be entranced by the thought of having a part of a dragon's hoard, you would just need to phrase it carefully why four dragons would need help fighting something.
Kittencaboodle 04-26-06, 12:59 AM	...For every expert on playing C/n.You should go on tour kiitencaboodle,you could argue with the 99% of the community who does play c/n as if it was chaotic stupid or chaotic insane. Along the good/evil axis neutrality means the character doesn't care either way. They aren't overly selfish, they aren't overly cruel, and they aren't partuicularly murderous. However, they also don't feel any particular duty to assist those in need. Along the chaos/law axis; chaos means that the character is more interested in personal freedoms than in rules and traditions. They are more likely to do what they feel is right as opposed to what authority tells them is right. The RAW states very clearly that chaotic neutral "is not as likely to jump off a bridge as cross it". The belief that CN represents insanity is a very POOR definition of insanity. Chances are very good that a compulsive character is much more likely to be lawful. The delusional may indeed be chaotic, but they could be good or evil or anywhere in between. You are welcome to continue clinging to your pendantic misinterpretation of the rules, if you wish. I've made my case. All you've done is repeat the same set of excuses Following your definition of chaotic neutral would be akin to following an accountant's advice on nuclear physics. I don't care what hotel you stayed at last night, your arguments simply lack substance and intelligance. Feel free to respond, I'm sure you'll just regurgitate the same stuff as before... Maybe I'll check back later.
taradusis 04-26-06, 01:12 PM	I re-iterate my earlier advice ,in order to defeat this super-dude your going to need allies(kobold tribes,bandits or dragon-worshipping cultist) and knowledge from divining magic on what his weaknesses are.It would also be helpful to find out if he has any enemies.I suggest sitting down with your party and having a tactical review of your powers,as a gem dragon you may be able to plane shift the DM's pet into the plane of water where he might drown,do the other players have similar tactics?Go over each of your psionic powers carefully-some may ignore spell resistance.To recap Allies-Knowledge-Self examination,this will lead to the evolution of a more workable set of tactics.Good luck and happy hunting.
Kakerate 04-26-06, 01:20 PM	Do: Follow most of your gut instincts. Do Not: Follow them if they happen to be incredibly stupid. Do: Think about what feels like the best choice at that moment. Do Not: Always act on what feels best at the moment. IE no *ahem* mating out of season if you get my drift. Do: Act desicivly. Do Not: Act without thinking. Do: Keep yourself open to advice. Value the wisdom of others. Chaos loves indiduality, so embrace a new way of thinking and viewing a problem. Do Not: Take obviously bad advice. Like taradusis'. His heart's in the right place, his advice isn't though. Those are what every Chaotic leader (regardless of Good, Evil, or Neutrality) should keep in mind. ...What about orcs...the orc double axe Orcy orc orc.. he gonna choppa choppa you. Orcy orc orc.. he chop you in two Orcy orc orc.. Then when he is through Orcy orc orc.. get busy wit' you Orcy orc orc.. this is orc style Haiku! Just gotta love orcs! :D
NotBruce 04-27-06, 04:10 AM	hmm I seem to have dug up an old argument about C/N. This was not really my intent but good info anyway. The game has sort of degenerated in to a game of players trying to beet the sick and twisted things that the DM can think up, with a little RP on the side. This is fine for me as it gets my rampagey side taken care of so i Role play more in my other games. the Topaz is dead long live the fang dragon. I have a feel for how i want to play the new dragon, the problem is that i am a bit of a nice guy in real life, and the fang dragon is very cruel. any movie/anime characters that i could watch or read to help get in character?
taradusis 04-27-06, 06:50 PM	The best example of how a fang dragon acts is like the alien from the alien movies..the favourite pastime of fang dragons is ripping intelligent mammals to pieces.How do you role play a c/n fang dragon whose greatest pleasure is ripping intelligent mammals to pieces,lets hear what the experts have to say ?
NotBruce 04-27-06, 11:41 PM	well i was hoping for someone/thing that i could take one liners from
taradusis 04-28-06, 11:09 AM	draco dentus terribilus tends to be a mimic,remember that scene from predator where the monster just repeats the last thing it hears.Perhaps a bit of "HELP-HELP"routine?Perhaps you could do growls like the tazmanian devil of warner brothers fame?
DeathsAudit 04-28-06, 11:47 AM	Click me, or don't. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sg/20050325a)
NotBruce 04-28-06, 09:20 PM	well I think I have the feel of the character I just need a role model for how to talk, inflection/type of speech, that sort of thing.