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hargoyle |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Here's my tuppence:
Back in Ye Good Olde Days we were playing D&D 1st edition. We had a party of four: a Fighter, a Magic-user, an Elf (and for you youngsters: in those days, elf was both a race AND a character class, kind of like a bad fighter/mage multiclass thingie) and a Thief, which I played. We had adopted much stuff from Dragonlance book series, for example our mage was neutral (because there was only lawful, which sort of meant good, neutral and chaotic, which sort of meant evil) and thus wore a red robe (lawful wore whites and chaotic wore blacks). With this combo of adventurers, this is The Encounter I Will Never Forget:
Our party was at some port city, ready to sail off to another glorious adventure! Unfortunately the pirates decided to attack the city with five Big Vessels so we had to fight them! How unfortunate!
On the first round of combat our Magic-user spits out:
"I don't wanna do this. I'm depressed"
He then proceeded to the cabin of our ship and locked himself there for the rest of the battle!
OK so our spell flinging engine was out of the game. Fortunately we were high enough level for the Elf to hurl a Fireball to one of the ships - which was instantly set on fire. The Fighter was feeling cocky because he had acquired a dragon mount on the last adventure! How he tamed and reared it to carry him - we had come to the port city straight from the dragon lair - is beyond me. It just happened, as these things sometimes do.
So the Fighter flies off on his dragon to attack one of the pirate vessels, swinging his sword and yelling curses at the pirates. Unfortunately, there's a magic-user aboard every ship! The unfortunate Fighter doesn't even get to ship before their magic-user hits him with a Disintegrate spell! BOOM! The Fighter fails his save and is instantly turned into fine dust - and as it happens, so does his dragon mount too. They both sink into the seabed.
We later on went to get the Fighter's and the dragon's remains back from the seabed. While we were capable of ressurrecting the Fighter, the dragon was beyond our help. "It's remains have scattered", stated the GM. How the Fighter's remains were all in the same place - and how the Disintegrate affected BOTH the Fighter and his mount - well, it just happened, as these things sometimes do..
And the battle continues! My Thief runs to our ship and tries to persuade the Magic-user from his cabin. No luck. At the same time the Elf throws an Ice Storm -spell to another pirate ship. It stucks to it place and begins to sink (!). At this point the pirates decide to retreat. To cut it short, they never do because we annihilate them!
Except for one ship.
This one ship rises to the air and starts to fly off! Fortunately, my Thief has a Ring of Flying so I'm off to chase them! I fly a little bit faster than the ship and reach it in a few rounds. They don't see me coming and I start looking for the magic-user. I find him concentrating hard on the spell that keeps the ship afloat. I then proceed to load my crossbow, take aim at him and BOO-YAY! A DIRECT HIT!
The Magic-user dies. His spell fails. The ship falls from the sky, crashes to an island, everybody dies!
I fly off to examine the wreckage. And what do I find? 200 000 GOLD PIECES! It's a big money for sure. But, in the first edition, you got XP's for finding gold pieces - 1 XP for 1 GP. So I got 200 000 XP's (+ some more from the "defeated" crew of the ship) and leveled up. Twice. At the same time.
So I return to the port where the remaining party is finishing the battle. And then the unexpected happens. Our Magic-user emerges from his cabin wearing BLACK ROBES - denoting that he is now chaotic! And then the following conversation ensues:
Elf: So you became chaotic?
Magic-user: Yeah.
Elf: OK.
End of alignment changing conversation! It was never brought up again!
Oh, sometimes I miss the old times... :)
Jerry Wright 307 |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I was running a paladin who prayed for a special mount. He was answered by his deity, who sent him on a series of quests, each a little more dangerous than the last--over almost two years, real-time.
Wneh he was at last ready, he went to the largest temple of his deity and stood vigil before the altar until dawn arrived, and the mount appeared out of the sky; a beautiful pegasus, white as a cloud, gleaming in all its glory. Several acolytes stepped forward with gifts from the temple's High Priestess and accoutered the beast in wonderfully fine tack.
My paladin stepped forth and the High Priestess blessed him and his mount, sending him out into the world. She asked him to perform one last task; deliver a message to another temple in a far-away city. He accepted the scroll and slid into the saddle. The pegasus leapt into the sky and they were off.
About five miles from the city, he saw a commotion in a village marketplace. Being the paladic busybody he was, he flew down to investigate.
A thessalahydra was attacking the peasants, killing and eating those it could catch. So hero-boy flew down to engage.
For those of you who don't know about thessalahydrae, they have one particularly devestating attack; they can regurgitate stomach acids in such a way as to severely harm creatures directly in front of the beast.
And so, after two years of preparation, after facing trials and tribulations that would have broken a lesser man, my paladin learned true horror when he felt his beautiful mount dissolve beneath him as a monster vomited on them.
Not only that, but every non-magical thing the paladin possessed--which was everything but his sword--dissolved as well. So he was standing naked before the beast, which promptly swallowed him.
He hacked his way out, killing the monster, but had to walk back to the temple to get another copy of the message scroll, so he could complete his mission. A peasant gave him a piece of cloth to make a loincloth with.
I still haven't really forgiven my DM for that, and it happened almost 30 years ago.
Jal Dorak |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
My absolute favorite moment (I may have mentioned this on the boards before) came in my friend's Ravenloft game (this was actually shortly after 3rd Edition, but my friend still used a lot of old school rules like Backstab.
The set-up:
We were playing a band of evil adventures: a thief (myself), a monk (my brother), and a sorcerer (my friend's brother). After being misted to Ravenloft (a homebrew domain), we eventually came into the service of a wizard who promised he could free us from the realm if we assisted him in defeating his nemesis.
Being the DM's NPC, the wizard was quite adept at showing us up, making demands of the party, not delivering on his promises, and generally making us feel inconsequential at every possible opportunity. Eventually, we came to decide as a group that the wizard was not going to follow-through on his big promise (or at least, it wasn't worth the trouble).
His final request to us was to make our way up a haunted tower, replete with traps and undead. It was a slog (though my rogue had fun using his immovable rods to rig pulley mechanisms to open doors), but we finally made it to the top of the tower. All that was left was to open the door to the final room.
My character turned to the rest of the party:
"I swear to all that is unholy, if that stupid wizard is on the other side of the door, I'm going to kill him."
The party enthusiastically agreed. The DM: "Let me get this straight, you're going to charge if you see the wizard in the room?" "I'm going to charge the wizard and stab him with my dagger." "Okay."
Sure enough there stood the wizard. A few lightning bolts later and we were offered quarter. The sorcerer: "Screw that, let's go down swinging."
The DM: "Okay, the campaign's over then."
So bittersweet, it was the height of roleplaying.
Tirq |
Just last sunday, I was playing a Monk/Low Templar, traveling with a Pre-gen Sorceress, a Rogue/Shadowdancer, and a Barbarian. The fight was against a Cleric, who was floating up 10 feet in the air. Sorceress went, enlarged the Barbarian. Shadowdancer went and shot at the Cleric (missed) Barbarian went and walked around the otherside of a large fountain. I went last and charged her. I jumped off the Shadowdancer, threw a shocking punch(Miss, stupid high AC on her)and Slow Fall'd down the side of the Barbarian. Next turn, the Barbarian decided to lift me up so that I can FOB her with my punches. Instead, I grappled her. Eventually, we had 3 characters grappling her in mid-air.
An enlarged Barbarian, a Shadowdancer, a Low Templar, and a Cleric of Urgathoa were floating 10 feet off the ground while a Sorceress was flinging Magic Missles at the Cleric. The Cleric was not getting out of all of our grapples, and couldn't get off any spells.
Turin the Mad |
Getting death-rolled by a black dragon in its lair. This allowed my fellow PCs time to escape with their miserable lives.
Providing my fellow players time to heal up and smite the bad guys most thoroughly at the cost of my character's life.
Out of spells, out of ammo, rest of the party is in various stages of bleeding out, striking down the monster of legend with my character's unenchanted cold iron spiked gauntlet.
Setting up a cantankerous HackMaster group to slaughter each other over differences of Honor *and* opinion.
Bad guy in full plate with a tower shield strapped to one arm pinned to the ground after being reduced to a 1 STR- encumbrance is fun! What made it memorable was slowly burning him to death with an overabundance of alchemist's fire. Bad way to go.
Pixie shots.
Tricking five arrogant players into reading scraps of paper inscribed with "Hastur! Hastur! Hastur!" - five players got their comuppance that day. It's good to be a closet cultist that can blind/deafen oneself *and* remove the afflictions afterwards.
Mystic_Snowfang |
It started with an elven ex-man-now-woman wizard agreeing to help a shopkeeper teach her cheating husband a rather unpleasent lesson. Anyway, the encounter ends with greased up whores everywhere in a whore-house, running around and screaming.
Cue the half-orc entering, and taking note of the whores.
The one whore who will sleep with a half-orc (the rest are snobs) is a slovenly trull. Note the world slovenly. It means a complete lack of regard for her own personal care and is likely disgusting. Of course, the owner of whore-house has her covered in a glamour spell. However it still costs only two coppers to f!!# her.
Now, anybody with half a brain is not going to stick their tender bits into a two copper whore. However the half-orc does just that. He pays up his coppers... and catches mummy crotch rot.
First he goes to the wizard, asking for a healing potion.
The wizard laughs at him, and tells everybody that the half-orc has a VD.
Then he comes to the healer, who is just shy of being able to cure him. By the time the healer COULD heal him... he'd be dead/missing his pride.
So he decides to go a temple to get healed.
A Temple of Zon-Kuthon, bad choice.
He's screaming for the next several hours, however he DOES manage to get healed.
hargoyle |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
And so, after two years of preparation, after facing trials and tribulations that would have broken a lesser man, my paladin learned true horror when he felt his beautiful mount dissolve beneath him as a monster vomited on them.
Not only that, but every non-magical thing the paladin possessed--which was everything but his sword--dissolved as well. So he was standing naked before the beast, which promptly swallowed him.
He hacked his way out, killing the monster, but had to walk back to the temple to get another copy of the message scroll, so he could complete his mission. A peasant gave him a piece of cloth to make a loincloth with.
:D That's pure gold man!
And oo! I have a paladin story too! Albeit a sad one..
So, D&D 3.0, Forgotten Realms, party of four: a cleric, a druid, a rogue and a paladin I played.
We were headed to some planar rift when we got lost on some stony plain. Fortunately, we found shelter. Unfortunately, it was cave which a hydra had claimed as it's own. We were 3rd level but decided to challenge the monster still. I prayed for my god to help us. I got a pat on the shoulder, but that was it. We then proceeded to attack. To cut it short, we almost perhised. The rogue cut down the hydra with her last hitpoint remaining. Doesn't get more epic than that.
We had won and played the session to its end. We also leveled up but decided to do that in the beginning of next session.
Two days of real time goes by. Our GM emails us and informs:
"The last attack that the hydra made struck true. I lied when I told you it missed. So the rogue died also and couldn't have saved you. So you are all dead. Sorry. The campaign's over."
So, a TPK made via email. Can you beat that?
Orthos |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The first campaign I ever played. I was Zilvanus, a Half-Drow Hexblade, in a party with a "New Human" (a halfling-like race) Ranger and Human Swashbuckler in a post-apocalyptic, all-the-gods-are-dead setting. We were attempting to infiltrate the tower of the local wizard overlord and had descended into the tunnels below the city to try and come up from beneath if possible. We quickly learned these tunnels were filled with zombies and spent quite some time fleeing from them before stumbling onto the underground portion of the tower, surrounded by a vast chasm.
Some lucky rolls later, Zil shoots a grappling hook across the gap with his crossbow and ties a rope across, fastening it in place with a piton and tying it off. He and the Ranger shimmy across. The Swash is about to do the same when the zombies finally catch up.
Instead of getting across as we did before they can get to the rope - knowing full well that zombies would never be able to cross - he opts instead to cut the rope and swing across, Tarzan style.
Mind we are 2nd level.
The game then stopped for thirty minutes while the DM and the Ranger's player - a math major - calculated up exactly how fast he was going and why he couldn't simply "tumble to reduce the damage" enough to save his life.
The Ranger and the Hex finished the quest, robbed the wizard, and met up with a suspiciously similar Swashbuckler who had befriended the flesh golem slave the first Swash and the Ranger had rescued from the slave market that put us on this quest in the first place.
Fast forward three years of no playing and I finally get a chance to play another game. This time I'm playing Midgard, a greatsword-swinging Air Genasi Cleric. Meet up with the rest of the party - an Illumian Sorcerer, a Human Monk, and a Psion of some type - on the road being attacked by a bunch of insect creatures. Get invited to join up because hey who doesn't like a Cleric along? (Monk grumbled a little, being LE to the rest of the party's CG/CN, but didn't mind the buffs.)
A few sessions later, we escape from the woods we're lost in and come across a huge field filled with perfectly spherical boulders of countless different colors and sizes. Touching any of them elicits a random spell effect, which we quickly learn to avoid. Searching through we discover the largest boulder, which almost immediately begins speaking to us telepathically, claiming to be a powerful wizard who transmuted himself and all the other denizens of this place, and intends to add us to his collection.
Of course the Sorc and Psion immediately start battering at the thing with spells, while the Monk and I are standing back trying to decide how to get at this thing without hitting it physically and taking the backlash from whatever spell this particular boulder inflicts on those foolish enough to touch it. (We were betting death magic or instant transformation, neither of which we relished.)
They do a fair bit of damage to him, but he doesn't die or break or anything and poof! They're both boulders suddenly, complete with the Illumian's sigils still spinning around the top of the rock. Touching his throws out a Power Word: Pain, the last spell he cast, while the same for the Psion hits with a Sonic energy attack. The Monk, somewhat too gleefully, tries to take advantage of the annoying characters being turned into immobile rocks by beating them down (I forget why, or why we let him get away with it, though it made sense at the time....) only to be badly battered in return by the spell effects, and eventually knocked unconscious with me sitting there healing him to barely keep him above -10.
With him unconscious and the other two stoned (heh), it was left to Midgard to negotiate with the wizard-boulder, which led to the infamous line "I think-talk to the rock" (see Gamer Speak thread). I eventually convinced him to change the two casters back, but in exchange he demanded I rather painfully scar myself by carving runes into my arms with a dagger, and refused to allow them to be healed magically. He was good to his word at least, and we made quick to escape that field as soon as the Monk was conscious again.
Not the most heroic event, but certainly one of my most memorable.
Mystic_Snowfang |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Two days of real time goes by. Our GM emails us and informs:
"The last attack that the hydra made struck true. I lied when I told you it missed. So the rogue died also and couldn't have saved you. So you are all dead. Sorry. The campaign's over."
So, a TPK made via email. Can you beat that?
what the frack?
I don't get why?
Dal Selpher |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
It was the first time any of our group got to play *really* high level characters. I was the DM, it was 3.0, and I had them start at level 17. After they finished the first main arc, they hit level 21. I then did a 25 year jump in the time line and had the heroes basically come out of retirement to save the world again.
After the 25 year break, and 2 sessions in the players had learned the following.
The BBEG was trying to free 4 titanic beings lost to all mortal knowledge. All the party could figure out was that these creatures were called Primals, there were 4 of them, and one was bound at the heart of each of the Elemental Planes.
They found the first Primal in the Elemental Plane of Fire. With the help of an NPC, they defeated the Primal's guardian and freed it. They then set out to find the next one and discovered that the NPC who'd helped them with the first primal was actually working for the BBEG.
So the party basically handed the first of the primals to the guy they were trying to ensure wouldn't free any. With this knowledge, they then went on to challenge the guardian of the Primal in the Plane of Water. Trounced the dude. Ripped him to bits, easy peezy. They freed this primal and, worrying that the first one would already be laying seige to Celestia, they ordered it to go defend Heaven.
NOW: The Most Memorable Encounter
Fighting their way through a massive maze, the party stops just beyond the chamber of the 3rd Primal's guardian. Preparing for an intense balls-to-the-walls battle, they enter buffed to the 9's and find a single, regal-looking minotaur standing before the doors to the Primal's Chamber. Desperately, this figure implores the party to turn around, stating that he knows, he just knows that the Primals must not be freed. He can't articulate why, it's just something he knows.
A dialogue then ensued between the party and this lone guardian. The Guardian looked at all 5 of the heroes, admitted he had no hope of stopping them, and then apologized to them. He recognized the good in each of them, that they were trying to help, but they were misguided and even though he couldn't stop them, he had to try.
Cue TOTAL PARTY DILEMMA. The big, hulking, half-dragon brute of the party was sudden filled with second thoughts and indecision. How could it be right to kill someone so obviously good and noble? The cleric of the group didn't know what to do or what to say. The ranger/paladin saluted the Guardian, praised him for the honor he saw in him, and then regrettably drew his weapon because the only information the party had was that these Primals could stop the BBEG.
I queued up an ephemeral, sad track - a drastic change from the typical pulse-pounding, orchestral songs I used for big, climactic fights. And the half-dragon couldn't bring himself to make an attack. The cleric stood mute and paralyzed as the ranger/paladin and the rogue/duelist struck down the Guardian. With his final breath, he begged the party not to free the Primal.
And then he died.
Good vs. Good. It was a powerful, thought provoking encounter. Definitely one of the most memorable I've participated in either as a player or the DM and it's probably the one we reminisce about most frequently. I still get chills when I think about it sometimes. It's stuff like this that makes me love rpgs.
Jal Dorak |
In my home Kingmaker game:
We are using the fast advancement track with 3 evil tiefling PCs. There have been a couple of great actions. One player is playing a cleric of Hextor, his brother is playing a ranger/assassin. The last PC is a arcane bloodline sorcerer. They are currently level 17.
Scene 1:
In the last AP, a noblewoman attempts to bribe the party to erect statues in her families honour, in exchange for an important book. The PCs had already taken pains to detail statues and art dedicated to themselves around the city and castle. They took this as a deep insult.
The assassin left the meeting quietly, went to the noble villa nearby, activated his ethereal armor and proceeded to steal the book. The family was arrested and executed for treason (blackmail).
Scene 2:
A woman promises a huge monetary reward in exchange for a stallion that leads a nearby herd. After some exploration, the herd was located. The assassin goes ethereal, uses Knowledge (nature) to find the appropriate target, studies the target for 3 rounds and then paralyzing death attack. Problem solved.
Scene 3:
Nyrissa's blooms start to appear. The party defeats the first one (whirlpools), with the sorcerer realizing their significance. Some research and magic reveals the source. One purchased scroll of gate later and the party finds themselves in Nyrissa's kingdom. Within a few days they collapsed the fey realm onto the material plane, and are now proceeded to wreak havoc on the fey.
Scene 4:
Ithuliak swoops over the party, turning the ground to mud. Eventually lands to boastfully deliver breath weapon and melee attacks. The cleric summons 3 Tyrannosaurs (Gargantuan) which proceed to kick the crap out of the Huge dragon, grappling every round, one even swallowing whole for fun. They were eventually killed, but not before the assassin and the sorcerer delivered some fatal attacks to the dragon.
hargoyle |
hargoyle wrote:
Two days of real time goes by. Our GM emails us and informs:
"The last attack that the hydra made struck true. I lied when I told you it missed. So the rogue died also and couldn't have saved you. So you are all dead. Sorry. The campaign's over."
So, a TPK made via email. Can you beat that?
what the frack?
I don't get why?WHAT A JERK!
This particular GM was no friend of fudging and always wanted things to go excatly as rolled / played. If memory serves, we had something like six different parties in D&D games he hosted. At least four of these ended in TPK. We never made it past character level three. Except that one time I mentioned above, but, yea, it sort of, like, never happened anyway.
The other side of this is that he mastered amazing games. Up to date, they are still easily the most immersive roleplaying experiences for me. He put lot of effort into those games and it payed off.
But alas, he was a control freak. I think that he just got bored how we always charged into the monster's den. Almost never did we withdraw or try different options. And / or he got tired of the story he wrote and wanted to start a new campaign.
I do miss those campaigns because they were so good. However, I do not miss them because of the gnawing feeling of the campaing ending prematurely because of some stupid random encounter or whatever...
hargoyle |
Going to bump this thread with a good story for a change:
D&D 3.0, Forgotten Realms, party of four: a cleric, a druid, a rogue and a paladin I played - this encouter actually happened in the same campaign I have mentioned already in this thread, albeit at an earlier session.
The cleric and the paladin were connected because they served deities in the same pantheon. In Forgotten Realms there's this trio of deities (Tyr, Ilmater and Torm, in decreasing power level), all Lawful Good. The cleric served Tyr, the head honcho. The paladin bowed to Torm, the least of them.
So we got this mission from the church of Tyr, namely from a high priest, to go and retrieve a Talisman of Pure Good. Well, to be precise, the paladin got it. The rest of the party were just told to tag along because it could very well be "a dangerous mission".
The cleric wasn't too amused by this. First, why wouldn't his god grant him the right to retrieve the talisman? Why settle for a servitor of a lesser deity? And a paladin? Second, the high priest who gave the mission to the party was the cleric's brother. A blind brother, who still was ranking higher than the cleric in the church's hierarchy.
Off we went to find the talisman. The player of the cleric's character did a good job on playing a very somber cleric, for obvious reasons. But when we finally got to the talisman, he really hit the jackpot. As we are looking at the talisman and thinking what we should do next, the cleric steps in, declaring:
"No. You shall not take it, it will be mine", he says and grabs the amulet.
Before anyone can act, the cleric takes 6d6 damage from touching the amulet (being Lawful Neutral), and that's a big hit on level 2, and drops on his knees. So my paladin Lay's on Hands, Druid CLW's the cleric. He raises and then we find out that it was only nonlethal damage, because the damn amulet was a fake. We did find the real amulet later on and then my paladin did the grabbing.
And that's what I call roleplaying. Still sends shivers to my way when I think of it...
Jal Dorak |
Back to Kingmaker:
The party enters the throne room of the House at the Edge of Time. The Wriggling Man is aware of their entrance, and has cast his prep spells (mind blank, overland flight, resist energy (cold), invisibility)
Fortunately, the party assassin had previously activated the Eye of Abaddon's true seeing while fighting the ghosts, and was thus aware of his presence. The entire party was already subject to fly.
Surprise Round: Wriggling Man leads off with summon monster IX hoping to catch the party unawares.The assassin moves up to attack, doing <10 damage, but enough to disrupt the spell.
Round 1: Wriggling Man casts time stop, followed by quickened shield, protection from sonic, chill shield, resist acid, mage's sword). Party sorcerer whips off an area dispel magic that takes down the sword and the invisibility. Assassin presses the attack. Party cleric casts miracle to call a horned devil from his patron Hextor. Devil proceeds to tear into Wriggling Man, stunning him for 3 rounds.
Round 2: Sorcerer targeted dispelling taking out the mind blank. Melee continues from assassin, devil, and cleric adds a flame strike.
Round 3: Wriggling Man is brought below 0 hp, contingent dimension door activates. Assassin uses greater scrying using the occulus, picking up some of the remaining worms to heavily penalize the save. Locates the mage and describes the location to the sorcerer, who teleports the party in pursuit, followed closely by the horned devil.
Round 4: Wriggling Man is killed by the horned devil. Hextor is pleased.
All in all, some of the best tactical gaming I've seen that group pull off and with minimal discussion - the entire encounter lasted about 15 minutes.
TriOmegaZero |
Well, it's memorable, but for all the wrong reasons...
The Tale of the Impenetrable Portcullis.
My level 7 party is making their way through the Demonskar in our Shackled City game. Coming out of the underground tunnels, they find themselves in a small deadend canyon. The only way forward appears to be a large steel portcullis.
They handily dispatch the sentry outside, and approach the gate. I tell them there is a 2ft hole above the portcullis that seems clear.
They begin deliberating how to proceed. It's finally decided for them when the elven fighter spiderclimbs up to the hole and spots the hill giant guard on his ledge. Combat begins.
The players are stymied when they learn that the Escape Artist check to squeeze through the hole is DC 30 for a Medium creature, 20 for a Small. None of them have Escape Artist.
The battle rages with ranged attacks through the hole. The eladrin player is reminded that, since they're in the middle of nowhere, he can use his incorporal globe form without a care. He floats through the gate and is attacked by boulders that, being non-magical, pass harmlessly through. Not wanting to be harmed (Savage Species progression, low HP), he sits tight.
More enemies are called in. The party is trapped on the outside, the enemy can't really harm the eladrin.
Finally, the lizardfolk warlock grabs the catfolk monk and dimension doors through to the ledge. They begin beating down the first guard and trying to work the winch to raise the gate. Not being strong enough, the changling druid tries to assist from the outside. I finally decide that them all working together manages to raise it enough to let the rest of the party inside.
This entire affair took up about two hours of game time, and drained every player at the table due to the futility of it. The elven fighter's player got upset at the DC, but managed to calm down with some words from the druid's player.
Shadowborn |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I had a 2nd edition campaign where the party had made an enemy of a lich, who they had repeated encounters with (well, mostly his minions). At one point, he sent a giant, four-armed gargoyle to assassinate them. They're in camp when this twenty foot tall monstrosity comes flapping into view, a big, glowing red arcane mark on its chest making it quite clear where it came from.
The party enters a pitched battle finding it difficult to do much damage to the thing, thanks to spell resistance, a high AC, and a ton of hps. Things were getting desperate and spells were getting low when one of the characters lets loose with his wand of wonder. Percentiles are rolled. The result: enlarge. Now they've got a 40 foot tall, four-armed gargoyle to defeat.
One of the PCs was a wizard who had lost both his familiar and his sister (another PC) in prior encounters with the lich. These losses unhinged him a bit. He carried his dead, preserved familiar around with him and carried a vial of his disintegrated sister's dust, speaking to both as if they were still alive. Watching his friends get pummeled, he has a moment of clarity. (Also, this player was leaving town, so this was his last hurrah with this character.)
He throws a spell and a number of taunts at the beast, attracting its attention. It follows him into the air...and he breaks his staff of power. No more gargoyle. No more wizard. Big moment of awesome.
baalbamoth |
break the staff... always ends in braided awesome.
1e we had a character get turned into a werewolf, with that immunity to non-magic weapons and str dex and con stats in the 20's he was claw-claw-biteing through every damn thing for three adventures.... until we took on... (dreadful pause...) THE KOBOLDS!
the overconfident werewolf saw the giant mob of Kobolds and leaped into the frey with an insane glee on the players face... but the Overbearing rules had just come out and the kobolds were just a cunning ruse by the DM.
Sure enough the green midgets were able to get the man-wolf down... but giggling the player said "yea but now what r they gonna do with me... HA!" and the call went out down the kobold line... "get the +1 Dagger"
the player squirmed and started yelled for the other party members to save him... but we wernt getting near that mess, regardless of our level they'd kill us all... and hand over hand the Kobolds passed the dagger.. and they ate very well that day, even if they did have to spend a long time cutting the wolfman meat into little bitesized bits.
Petty Alchemy RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |
This one game I played in was a little Fallout inspired. There's a lot of desolate wasteland, with most of the PCs coming from an oasis where the land is still fertile, and the society is tribal.
End game, we're encountering for the first time the equivalent of the Brotherhood. These guys have an advanced set up, but what catches my eye is the sniper in the tower with a ray gun and a walkie-talkie, calling in what can be described as orbital strikes.
My rogue manages to sneak off from the party, stealthily climb up the tower, one-shot the sniper, and the DM informs me that crossbow proficiency will allow me to use the ray gun. I want the walkie-talkie though.
So my rogue makes the bluff check to impersonate the voice of the recently deceased, and is asked for "coordinates" to direct the strikes.
A natural 20 on the Int check later, and my elf is having hell rain down on their troops.
I'm sure the party was doing something while this was getting set up (it took about 3 rounds alone to sneak up)...I just can't quite remember what it was :)
Ishmell |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
We had random encounter with a young white dragon, and due to the DM thinking that "at will" meant "done as a free action" it was throwing up ludicrously thick ice walls every turn as it tore us apart.
After a long drawn out fight we eventually get it down to pretty low hp and it starts to fly away.
My character, a lvl 5ish Paladin had run out of weapons at this point due to a lot of natural 1's and is the only one who can see it flying away, scoops up a snowball and hucks it at the dragon and crits. Dealing 2 nonlethal damage and knocking it out, making it fall to the ground.
tldr: I killed a white dragon with a snowball.
Little Brother |
Was playing in a free for all campaign, the rest of the players thought that meant first come first serve on magic items, or a necromonger mentality of keep what you kill. Sounded good, everyone but me made good chars, mine was a NE Rogue that by 12th level had a bag of holding type II, +2 Studded with improved shadow and improved silent moves, gloves of dex +3, +2 keen rapier, about 300k gp worth of gems and a cloak of cha +5. The group wanted to investigate a dragon den rumored to be home to Tiamat herself, as at any givin time any on of the five chromatic dragons could be seen entering or exiting the cave. Being the sneakiest in the group, and not wanting to become a snack for one of the many dragons rumored to be inside, I told the group to hang back while I recon the cave (they trusted me finally after more than 10 levels together of them questioning my alignment choice), so I went in alone. None of then even suspected this may be one dragon using illusions to seem like many, but I found the truth soon enough, as the dragon had me against the cavern wall asking if I had any last words. I told the dragon a powerful group of dragon hunters was comming, but I had a plan to help the dragon quid pro quo. I told the dragon of the group waiting outside, and how they planned on preparing to assault, but also that I was a follower of Tiamat and joined them to lead me to the cave so that I may save the dragon or dragons inside. She was doubtful but heard me out, the plan was simple, the dragon would prepare defenses for ice and cast an illusion to appear red, I would tell the "dragon hunters" outside to prepare for a red. Cast ice defend against fire. The dragon asked why she should trust me, I said it's that or kill me now and deal with the other five. The dragon killed all but one of them, I finnished the barbarian with a sneak attack. Yes, I'm that evil, the other players refused to play in any campaign where I was allowed to play evil.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Shawn Steel: ACLU shouldn't be lone voice against surveillance
The American Civil Liberties Union has long been the GOP's favorite punching bag.
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese famously dubbed the organization "a criminal's lobby." In the 1988 presidential campaign, George H.W. Bush used Michael Dukakis' membership in the organization to portray the Democratic nominee as out-of-touch with traditional American values. Even insurgent Republican movements have scored cheap points attacking the country's most reliable defender of civil liberties. In 2010, the founder of the Tea Party Nation included the ACLU on his list of the "top five liberal hate groups."
From abortion to prayer in public schools, there are plenty of ACLU positions that Republicans will find objectionable. Yet, on the most important issue of our time, whether technology will enable the totalitarian's dream of a surveillance state, the ACLU is not only on the right side of the issue, but leading the fight.
The same can't be said for conservatives, who are missing in action on a fundamental human rights issue. Are constitutionalists abandoning our commitment to the right to privacy? There are dozens of property rights groups, even more religious freedom foundations and an endless number of conservative political committees designed to protect and preserve the Second Amendment. Yet, the Fourth Amendment has been neglected.
Even as nationalized surveillance is far greater than Orwell prophesied, not a single right-wing privacy group has risen to prominence.
It'd be a non-starter for Republicans to embrace the ACLU, but that doesn't relinquish our responsibility to fight the modern era of unprecedented government surveillance. That's why we need a right-of-center answer to the ACLU, designed to protect privacy based on the Bill of Rights.
This summer's staggering revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden should concern a party that claims as its bedrock principle an abiding fear of big government. Surveillance is massive and growing exponentially every day. The National Security Agency can secretly snoop on the private emails, chats and internet use of millions of individuals worldwide.
Our government now has the ability to store a billion phone calls per day. Late last year, an NSA official boasted that the agency had processed its one trillionth metadata record.
With the help of automatic license plate readers, law enforcement agencies now track our locations without a warrant. According to one government presentation obtained by the Guardian, government bureaucrats can review "nearly everything a typical user does on the Internet." Under construction by the NSA is a $1.9 billion data center in Utah that is seven times larger than the Pentagon.
If left unchecked, faster computing speeds and chips implanted in every device will give government agencies the power to track every detail of our lives, online and off. This isn't hyperbole or a slippery slope. The Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups offers definitive proof of how this information can be abused by government. Imagine what New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other nanny government officials would do with this endless stream of information.
In recent years, the ACLU, along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has repeatedly filed lawsuits to stop these unconstitutional violations of our right to privacy. Almost immediately after Snowden's revelations, the ACLU filed a lawsuit to challenge the spy agency's authority to harvest and store phone records. It urged members of Congress to support an amendment by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., to defund the NSA's unconstitutional programs.
When given an extraordinary opportunity to rein in big government, a majority of House Republicans voted down the Amash amendment. The ACLU's position, given its low standing with Republicans, likely hurt the cause of freedom. Again, a conservative counterpart to the ACLU could have educated these misguided Republicans about the dangers of the NSA's unfettered access into the lives of Americans. It would have provided a constitutional justification based on sound conservative philosophy.
In a fight against the surveillance state, we need all the help we can get.
Shawn Steel is the state's committeeman for the Republican National Committee.
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text: PVA absorbent sponge roller - mainly used in automotive glass processing plant and circuit board cleaning equipment. 1. Main features : Sponge good elasticity, water absorption 8-10 times ( weight ), not a plastic, not the dregs, good solvent and weak acid-base properties, apparent soft white, with a special anti-mildew treatment, within 6 months will not mildew. domestic production of high quality research and development is far below the price of imports of similar products can greatly reduce production costs. 2. Quality level : Our PVA production technologies and processes and management models are imported from Taiwan, the main raw material polyvinyl alcohol from Japan, imported from Taiwan, the current level of product quality in a leading position in the Chinese mainland, can replace similar imported products directly . 3. PVA sponge Specifications : (all sizes can be customized) diameter range to produce products : R 20- 300mm length to produce products :?? L 0-2500mm


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Anyone may park in spaces with white lines. You can find these spaces in most surface parking lots, plus the two parking garages (from the second level to the roof). You don't need a permit for these areas.
Tip: You can usually find open spaces on the upper floors of both parking garages at any time of the day!
Visitors in vehicles with a current state disability placard or license plate may use accessible parking spaces.
Students with disabilities need a permit from University Police to use accessible parking.
Metered parking is available near Kettler Hall for short stays.
Spaces with green lines are reserved for university employees with a valid "A" parking permit.


text:
UH Manoa Campus Events Calendar
Tuesday, June 12 | |
9:00am |
Economics Final Oral
Manoa Campus, Saunders Hall 713 |
10:00am |
Cell and Molecular Biology Final Oral
Manoa Campus, MEB 315 |
12:15pm |
COBRE Research Seminar Series
John A. Burns School of Medicine, Kakaako Campus, 651 Ilalo Street, MEB Room 315 (Auditorium) |
4:15pm |
Pacific Asian Lecture Series: Role of Biz Comm. in Preventing Human Trafficking
Manoa Campus, Shidler College of Business, Faculty Lounge BusAd D-207 |
- Highlighted dates have scheduled events.
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text:
Subject: | Re: If you had to |
Author: | Ninor (Authenticated as Frozten) |
Date: | October 10, 2012 at 8:51:38 AM |
Reply to: | If you had to by Lily |
1) If you had to name a son with a top 100 name, which one and why?
Noah Kjell Alexander because I've always loved Alexander, and Kjell is honoring my amazing grandfather. Noah is my #1 boys name2) If you had to name a daughter with a top 100 name, which one and why?
Stella Anna Isadora because neither Alice or Nova (these are my favorites right now) are in the top 100, and I really like Stella. Plus, if I had a daughter right NOW I could name her Stella and hopefully stop my cousin and his girlfriend from naming their January baby Ztella. Anna is honoring, and Isadora I just like.3) If you had to name a son with a bottom 100 name, which one and why?
Elian Kjell Alexander - I was going to say Alfred first because it's cute and works great in both English and Swedish, but then I realized that Elian was in there. I've loved it for years, so it was an easy choice.4) If you had to name a daughter with a bottom 100 name, which one and why?
This is by far the hardest. Leona, Liv, Alianna or Esme ? I guess Alianna and Esme are out because how they sound in Swedish. Leona and Liv both works fine in Swedish. I like that Liv isa old Swedish name but I do have some negative associations with it. And then there's Leona Lewis, but I've always liked Leo- names. I guess I'm going with Leona Anna Isadora
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text:
I'm working on a TV reality show — which I naturally will host and become rich from — with a twist. There won't be any contrived and scripted tribes of people 'stranded' on a desert island a la Lord of the Flies. We aren't going to switch spouses putting a stern task master with a family of slobs. We won't have fair maidens deciding between a jock and a nerd.
This will be real reality. Actually after-the-fact situations which we may just tell straight out, or maybe (once the big buck sponsors latch on) reenact.
Online Chat: Beth Killoran, deputy assistant secretary for Information Technology and chief information officer at HHS, on March 28.
The show should write itself. It will target one of the most unpopular-with-the-public groups: federal workers. If that works — and how can it not? — we can do a spinoff with even less respected professions such as politics, lawyers and the news media.
Many of the true life scenarios for this Stupid Feds Show will be drawn from cases of government workers — white collar, postal and blue collar — who let their political zeal overpower their common sense. We're talking violations of the Hatch "no politics" Act.
It is a much modified — and watered down — 70 year old law which says federal workers (and officials) shouldn't get political at the office. No buttons, badges or posters. No recruiting or arm-twisting and definitely no fund raising at the office or on federal facilities.
This should be a no-brainer. But every year, and especially in election years, dozens of U.S. Government workers — Republicans and Democrats — cross the line. Some get away with it. Others get caught.
During the 2008 presidential campaign an IRS revenue agent sent an e-mail — from his office on his government computer — "to numerous individuals, including co-workers" soliciting financial contributions financial for the campaign of candidate Barack H. Obama. In the e-mail he included his name, agency, title, duty location and telephone number. It also linked to three campaign donation sites which took credit cards. So you could donate, if you liked, from your government office. While working.
Whatever your politics, imagine getting a request for funds from an IRS agent!!!
The guy was eventually fired and he appealed his case to the Merit Systems Protection Board. This is where it gets really good.
He admitted doing it, but said he didn't know it would be a problem. He said at best he should get a 30 day suspension because there was no deliberate disregard" of the Hatch Act. Besides, he said, the feds on his e-mail list were not subordinates and he didn't coerce anybody. Also he said he was really sorry and wouldn't do it again.
He agreed that the IRS had, four days earlier, had given employees a pamphlet entitled Plain Talk About Ethics" which included information on the Hatch Act. He got it, he said, but he didn't read it.
Bottom line, he is no longer collecting money for Uncle Sam.
One problem with my planned TV series: A woman named Elaine Kaplan. She's general counsel for the Office of Personnel Management. She's trying to educate employees as to the perils of politics at the office. She recently issued a warning which — if enough people follow it — will doom me to a life of sweating over a hot key board. Here's what she said.
Please do not pass it on:
"In view of the upcoming Congressional, state, and local elections this November, it is a good time to remind OPM employees about the Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 7321-7326) and its implementing regulations (5 C.F.R. Part 734).
Non-SES employees:
The Hatch Act and its implementing regulations allow the majority of Federal employees to participate actively in most partisan political activities, so long as they are off duty and not on Federal property. OPM employees who are not career senior executives may:
Under the Hatch Act, OPM employees may not:
Special Caution for All Employees:
Pay particular attention to the prohibition against participating in "political activity" (activity directed toward the success of a political party or a candidate for office in a partisan election) while on duty, or on federal property or while using Government resources, such as office equipment, computers, the email system, telephones, cell phones and PDAs.
Please keep in mind that the prohibition against on duty political activity applies to both government issued equipment and to use of your personal cell phone, pager, email, PDA, and other devices when you are on duty or in a federal facility.
It is especially important that employees do not use government email systems to distribute political messages, as the Office of Special Counsel has been aggressively pursuing such violations in recent years.
In addition, political posting, updating, blogging, tweeting, and other internet activities from the workplace or while on duty are considered violations.
Enforcement and Penalties:
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) investigates and prosecutes alleged violations, and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) determines whether a violation occurred. The penalty for violating the Hatch Act is removal from your Federal position. The full board of the Merit Systems Protection Board can lower that penalty to a minimum 30 day suspension, but only by a unanimous decision.
Further Information:
For further information, go to the OSC website.
You may contact OSC's Hatch Act Unit if you would like to secure advice about whether or not particular activities violate the Hatch Act. You also can contact the OPM Office of General Counsel via email or at 202-606-1700.
Finally, you should take a look at Political Activity and the Federal Employee, an excellent booklet that is published by the OSC.
Thanks a lot Elaine! Ever hear of free (as in my) enterprise?
To reach me: firstname.lastname@example.com
Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota
"Our personalities stay pretty much the same throughout our lives, from our early childhood years to after we're over the hill," reports LiveScience.
Postal Service may not be able to pay 2011 bills
The U.S. Postal Service is in dire financial straits. Like most of us, they'll need to make more, spend less, or come up with some combination of the two. According to the latest quarterly report, the USPS plans to "increase efficiency, reduce costs, and generate new revenue", but that may not be enough to make up for the predicted $7 to $8 billion dollar shortfall. In fact, the Postal Service says it may not be able to pay all of its bills in 2011. Read more here.
Your office fridge could be hazardous to your health
What's that gross stuff on the counter in the office kitchen? How long has that crust been on the inside of the microwave? What is that nasty odor coming from the fridge? Kitchen cleanliness its something every office battles, but now Men's Health says it could actually be making you sick. Learn how to get your fridge cleaner and make your office healthier by reading more here.
Which agency has the best gym?
Federal News Radio wants to know what agency you think has the best gym or workout facility. It's part of our Best of the Federal Government series. Nominate an agency now. And, be sure to check out which agency won for best food/cafeteria!
Federal News Radio presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
Photos of the amazing, moving, important and amusing things happening in the federal community.
Mar 24, 2017 | Close | Change | YTD | |
L Income | 18.6930 | 0.0038 | 1.39% | |
G Fund | 15.2692 | 0.0010 | 0.38% | |
F Fund | 17.5973 | 0.0185 | 0.94% | |
C Fund | 32.4800 | -0.0266 | 5.95% | |
S Fund | 42.0464 | 0.0307 | 4.66% | |
I Fund | 26.3989 | 0.0716 | 4.37% | |
Closing price updated at approx 6pm EST. each business day. More at tsp.gov. |


text:
The poll for the May 2014 BZPower Flickr Contest opened last night. There's a dozen great entries and you get to decide on who wins! Which MOCist will get their creation set as the BZPower Flickr Group's banner and win a copy of Evo XL? You have until May 22nd at 11:59 PM Eastern to vote, and after that we'll know the answer!
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The Mt. Eden Saddle Club will sponsor a chili supper and auction Dec. 11 at the Alton Ruritan Club, the group announced.
Chili will be served at 6 p.m., followed by the auction at 8.
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Rampardos (3.5e Monster)
this wiki
Quantumboost (talk) | |
Original Creator: | Koumei |
Date Adopted: | 4/2/2010 |
Status: | Complete |
Editing: | Spelling and Grammar only |
Rampardos | |
Size/Type: | Huge Magical Beast |
Hit Dice: | 10d10+70 (125 HP hp) |
Initiative: | -1 (-1 Dex) |
Speed: | 50 ft. |
Armor Class: | 27 (-1 Dex -2 size +20 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 27 |
Base Attack/Grapple: | +10/+29 |
Attack: | Slam +22 melee (4d6+19, 19-20/x3) |
Full Attack: | Slam +22 melee (4d6+19, 19-20/x3) |
Space/Reach: | 15 ft./10 ft. |
Special Attacks: | Ancient Power, Rivalry, Swift Demoralize, Takedown, Thrash, Trample |
Special Qualities: | Damage Reduction 5/—, |
Saves: | Fort +14, Ref +6, Will +4 |
Abilities: | Str 38, Dex 8, Con 24, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 8 |
Skills: | Intimidate +16 |
Feats: | Improved Natural Attack (Slam), Power Attack, Leap Attack, Run |
Environment: | Temperate or Warm Plains (when not extinct) |
Organization: | Solitary or Herd (4-10) |
Challenge Rating: | 10 |
Treasure: | Standard |
Alignment: | Usually Neutral |
Advancement: | 11-15 HD (Huge), 16-20 HD (Gargantuan) |
Level Adjustment: | — |
Ancient Power (Su): Once per minute, Rampardos can telekinetically launch up to 3 chunks of stone within 100 feet. These are launched as ranged attacks, and, if at least as large as a Medium character, deal 10d6 damage each. Furthermore, upon activation, there is a 10% chance that Rampardos will become stronger for 3 rounds, gaining a +4 bonus to Strength, a +6 bonus to Natural Armour and immunity to all negative conditions (it is only harmed by damage).
Damage Reduction (Ex): Rampardos has Damage Reduction equal to half its hit dice.
Trample: On a successful Overrun, Rampardos automatically deals Slam damage.
Thrash (Ex): As a Standard action, Rampardos may enter a rage. It rages as a 4th level Barbarian for 3 rounds, but once the rage ends it becomes confused for one minute.
Swift Demoralise (Ex): As a Swift action, Rampardos may make an Intimidate check to demoralise a foe. It has a +4 racial bonus due to being fucking enormous.
Takedown (Ex): Once per round, when making an attack, Rampardos may add 4d6 damage to a successful hit, but takes 2d8 recoil damage (ignoring DR). This increases to 6d6 damage and 3d8 recoil at 18 hit dice.
Rivalry (Ex): Rampardos have an intense rivalry with theropod dinosaurs, such as Megaraptors, Tyrannosaurus, and similar-looking prehistoric reptiles. They gain a +2 to hit and damage them in combat, as well as doubling their critical threat ranges, however if such a creature is in sight it must make a Will save (DC 15 + half the dinosaur's HD) or focus on attacking it, ignoring any commands. It can save again every 3 rounds, or when the opponent dies/flees.
A Rampardos gains further powers as it advances, and receives the following attacks:
Zen Headbutt (Su): At 14 HD, as a Swift action, Rampardos may grant itself the ability to strike Incorporeal and Ethereal creatures as though they were corporeal. This lasts for one round. For the duration, it can also see such creatures as though they were visible.
Head Smash (Ex): At 20 HD, Rampardos may make a full round action to perform a mighty head smash attack. This gains a +5 bonus to hit, and deals +1d6 damage per level. Rampardos does, however, take 10d4 recoil damage, ignoring DR.
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Monsters


text:
I believe I am the second owner, I bought it from someone on Head-Fi about a year ago or so. It is in good shape, shows some signs of use (some wear around the corners). It sounds great and holds a good charge. I have not used it much in the time I have owned it and am selling it now because I just picked up a RS Intruder. Comes with the Protector, the charger and the slip case. This still sells for $475 on Ray's site I'm looking for $250. Here is a link to a review on Head-Fi if you need more info.
Thanks and let me know if you have any questions!
Edited by declinedesign - 1/22/13 at 3:55pm


text: Officer Charged With Stealing Money During Traffic Stops Officer Faces Charges Of Robbery, Official Misconduct 12:32 PM, Apr 29, 2011 Share Article Officer Charged With Stealing Money During Traffic Stops pn.lahorton Show Caption Hide Caption Previous Next An Indianapolis police officer has been arrested, accused of stealing thousands of dollars from drivers during traffic stops, police said.Officer David Butler, a 23-year veteran with the department, was charged Friday with two counts of robbery and two counts of official misconduct.An internal investigation was launched three months ago after accusations that Butler, while in uniform and driving a police vehicle, made two traffic stops for minor violations on Indianapolis' northwest side, said department spokeswoman Sgt. Linda Jackson.During the stops, Butler stole money and threatened to arrest the Hispanic male drivers for license violations, investigators said.The first report was made in early January when a man said he was pulled over in the 5400 block of West 34th Street.The driver said the officer did not tell him what he had done wrong, but ordered him to leave his wallet and cell phone on the driver's seat and stand by the back of the truck while he searched the vehicle.The driver told police after the search, he noticed that $700 from a paycheck he had recently cashed was missing. He said he was going to send the money to his ill father in Mexico.That incident prompted investigators to look into other cases in which drivers had claimed an officer stole money during a traffic stop.Police said they determined Butler was also involved in a similar theft on Sept. 27, 2010, in the 3400 block of North High School Road.The driver in that case said he was stopped by an officer who searched his vehicle and threatened to arrest him. After the stop, the man said he noticed $1,500 he was saving to send to Mexico was missing from his wallet."I commend the IMPD Professional Standards Unit for initiating and completing a thorough investigation into Officer Butler's actions," Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said in a news release. "Their investigation uncovered a repetitive pattern of behavior by Officer Butler, a pattern of behavior which plainly violated the trust the public placed in him."Butler was suspended without pay and will be recommended for termination, police said.One of the alleged victims, Emiliano Vasquez, said he had not heard the officer had been identified and arrested."He wanted my registration and my I.D. I give to him but he told me put my watch on the seat," Vasquez said.Vasquez said police initially doubted one of their own was involved.The police told me, 'Maybe it's not police,' Vasquez said. I told the guys, 'Go into the gas station and watch the camera, it's in there.'"Police later used the video to charge Butler with the robbery.While Vasquez said he is not angry, Ildefonso Carbajal, publisher of bilingual "La Ola," said he is outraged.If it happened to somebody in the Hispanic community it can happen to anybody, Vasquez said. People tend to be afraid because most people come from other countries where the laws are not as good as they are supposed to be in this country.Anyone who may have been involved in a similar incident on the city's northwest side or has more information about the case is asked to contact Detective Shani Anderson with the department's Professional Standards Division at 317-327-2944. Share Article A Share A A A Share Article


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A clear explanation of the FCC rules changes governing the TV broadcast RF spectrum used by production wireless equipment, how that wireless equipment will likely be affected, with the 700MHz band re-allocation and proposed white space devices being predominant considerations, and ways in which the sound designer can minimize potential problems. Followed by a short Q & A.
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Suez Canal Seen Kept Open by Army as Ship Agent Suspends Service
Michelle Wiese BockmannEgypt's army is maintaining shipping services through the Suez Canal, which handles about 8 percent of world trade, amid unrest that's suspended some port services, Inchcape Shipping Services, a global maritime agent said.
"The canal is a controlled military zone, therefore there are no transit issues," Sheila Armstrong, spokeswoman for the Chafford Hundred, England company, said in an e-mailed response to questions. The agency hasn't been providing ship supplies or organising crew changes since Jan. 29 for vessels calling at Egypt because they can't guarantee safety to ports, she said.
Egypt's army is using cameras and helicopters to guard traffic through the 193 kilometer- (120 mile)-long canal that earned $5.13 billion in tolls in 2012, amid rioting. A week ago, demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the Jan. 25 uprising that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak unleashed street battles that led to a state of emergency being declared and curfews in three provinces.
Cargo couldn't be released at Port Said, at the mouth of the canal, as staff weren't working, according to Inchcape. Operations at Sukhna Port stopped on Jan. 31 due to a strike by contractors, while bad weather also caused delays at other ports along the canal, according to Inchcape.
The changing of crew and the supply of ship provisions and vessel parts were still being provided by Gulf Agency Company (Egypt) Ltd., the port agent's Cairo-based managing director Mohamed Badawi said by phone today.
In 2011 about 17,799 ships went through the canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, carrying 691.8 million tons of cargo, equal to about 8 percent of world trade, figures from the Suez Canal Authority and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development show.


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About the Group
SLED, Science Learning through Engineering Design, is a National Science Foundation Math Science Partnership project of Purdue University's Colleges of Education, Engineering, Science, and Technology; the Discovery Learning Research Center; regional industries; and the Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Plymouth, and Taylor Community schools.
The goal of the SLED partnership is to improve science learning in grades 3-6 through the integration of an engineering design-based approach to science learning in the targeted grades. The project will achieve this goal by preparing teachers and prospective teachers to utilize engineering design as a way to teach inquiry-based science in the classroom, adapting and creating curricular materials that support the teaching of elementary science through design, and gathering evidence of outcomes that contributes to a better understanding of how teachers teach using design and how students learn science through design-based activities.
The partnership involves teachers and administrators in the participating schools, teacher educators, university scientists and engineers, and community partners all working together to improve students' learning.
If you are a teacher or school administrator interested in using SLED materials in your school, read Getting Started with SLED.
Contact Information
SLED Project
Purdue University
Hall for Discovery and Learning Research
207 S. Martin Jischke Dr.
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1791
Phone: (765) 494-5554, FAX: (765) 494-5040, E-mail: email@example.com
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation, award #0962840. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


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July Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts
The July applicable federal rate ("AFR") for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 2.4%. This is down from the June rate of 2.8%. The rate for use with a sale to a defective grantor trust, self-cancelling installment note ("SCIN") or intra-family loan with a note of a 9-year duration (the mid-term rate, compounded annually) is also down slightly, to 2.00%. Remember that lower rates work best with GRATs, CLATs, sales to defective grantor trusts, private annuities, SCINs and intra-family loans. The combination of a low AFR and a decline in the financial and real estate markets presents a potentially rewarding opportunity to fund GRATs in July with depressed assets you expect to perform better in the coming years. However, the Obama Administration, in its 2012 fiscal budget, has proposed to significantly curtail short-term and zeroed-out GRATs. Therefore, GRATs should be funded as soon as possible in order to be grandfathered from the effective date of any law that may be enacted.
Clients also should continue to consider "refinancing" existing intra-family loans. The AFRs (based on annual compounding) used in connection with intra-family loans are 0.37% for loans with a term of 3 years or less, 2.00% for loans with a term of 9 years or less and 3.86% for loans with a term of longer than 9 years.
Thus, for example, if a nine-year loan is made to a child and the child can invest the funds and obtain a return in excess of 2.00%, the child will be able to keep any returns over 2.00%. These same rates are used in connection with sales to defective grantor trusts.
Malpractice claim against an estate was too uncertain to be deductible as of date of death and thus, the deduction would be based only on the amount actually paid by the estate – Estate of Gertrude H. Saunders, et al. v. Comm'r, 136 T.C. No. 18 (4/28/2011)
In Saunders, a malpractice claim for $90,000,000 was filed against the decedent's predeceased husband's estate, alleging a breach of fiduciary duty by the decedent's husband. The Plaintiff in the malpractice claim accused the decedent's husband, who was an attorney, of having revealed client confidential information to the IRS. On the decedent's estate tax return, a deduction for $30,000,000 was claimed based on an appraisal of the value of the malpractice claim. During the jury trial, the jury found that the breach of duty by the decedent's husband was not a legal cause of injury to the Plaintiff. Although the Plaintiff appealed this verdict, the claim was ultimately settled for $250,000.
The Tax Court noted that Treasury Regulation § 20.2053-1(b)(3) (as in effect at the decedent's death in 2004) provided that a claim against an estate was deductible if the value of the claim was "ascertainable with reasonable certainty, and will be paid." In determining whether the value of the claim was "ascertainable with reasonable certainty," the Tax Court did not consider the actual settlement amount paid. The Tax Court, however, determined that the value of the claim was not "ascertainable with reasonable certainty" because there were at least four appraisals of the value of the claim and these appraisals varied in amount by almost $11,000,000 (i.e., the values reported were $30,000,000, $25,000,000, $19,300,000 and $22,500,000). Additionally, the Tax Court noted that none of the appraisals indicated that the claim would actually be paid. Accordingly, only the amount actually paid (i.e., $250,000) was deductible by the decedent's estate.
Estate not entitled to discount the value of three marital trusts for claims by ESOP members against the marital trusts' assets – Estate of Foster v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo 2011-95 (4/28/2011)
In Foster, the Tax Court considered the following: (1) whether an estate was entitled to discount the value of assets in three marital trusts due to the potential for litigation; and (2) whether assets in the marital trusts could be discounted for lack of control over and lack of marketability of the marital trusts' assets. In this case, the beneficiaries of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan ("ESOP") filed suit against the decedent's predeceased husband and the corporate trustee, as co-Trustees of the ESOP. The beneficiaries of the ESOP alleged that the co-Trustees breached their fiduciary duty in connection with the ESOP. The beneficiaries also sought restitution against the decedent and another corporate trustee, as co-Trustees of the three marital trusts which were created at the death of the decedent's husband, and requested the imposition of a constructive trust over the marital trusts' assets. To limit the liability of the co-Trustees of the marital trusts, the corporate trustee froze the decedent's right to withdraw principal from one of the marital trusts. The ESOP beneficiaries lost in district court and did not seek a stay of judgment. The decedent's estate tax return included the value of the marital trusts after applying a discount for the hazard of litigation and a discount for the lack of control over and the lack of marketability of the assets in the marital trusts resulting from the asset freeze imposed by the corporate trustee.
The Tax Court did not allow a discount for the hazard of litigation because the ESOP beneficiaries did not seek a stay of judgment against the assets in the marital trusts. The Tax Court distinguished cases in which a discount was allowed because in such cases the rights of a purchaser of the assets could have subsequently been impaired by litigation. In this case, because a stay of judgment was not sought, the constructive trust was not imposed on the marital trusts' assets at the time of the decedent's death. Consequently, a willing buyer would not have insisted on a discount on the marital trusts' assets because the ESOP lawsuit would not have affected the buyer's rights to such assets.
The Tax Court similarly did not allow a discount for lack of control over or lack of marketability of the marital trusts' assets because two of the three marital trusts were not subject to the asset freeze and the asset freeze on the third marital trust applied only to the decedent's ability to withdraw principal from the trust rather than on the right to sell the assets in the trust. Accordingly, the Tax Court held that a discount was not appropriate because a hypothetical buyer would be unaffected by the asset freeze.
Sale of assets for fair market value between a marital trust and a nonmarital trust to settle a dispute between beneficiaries and trustees of the trusts was neither a taxable gift nor a transfer of an income interest in a QTIP – Priv. Ltr. Rul. 201119003 (May 15, 2011)
In this private letter ruling, the issue was whether the transfer of assets for fair market value between a marital trust and a nonmarital trust resulted in a taxable gift or a disposition of an income interest in qualified terminable interest property ("QTIP"). Upon the decedent's death, the decedent's Family Trust became irrevocable and was divided into the Marital Trust and the Exempt Trust. The decedent was survived by a spouse from a second marriage ("Spouse 2") and two children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren from his first marriage (the children are referred to herein as "Child 1" and "Child 2"). The Marital Trust, Child 1, Child 2 and a trust for the benefit of Child 1 each owned interests in various entities. At the time of decedent's death, Child 1 was the manager, managing-member or general partner of eight of these entities. Child 1 and Child 2 filed a petition for an accounting of the Family Trust and the Trustees of the Marital Trust filed a petition to establish the ownership interest of the Marital Trust in certain entities and to enforce Child 1's resignation as manager. The parties ultimately entered into a settlement agreement during a court ordered mediation. The agreement required the Marital Trust to purchase at fair market value ("FMV") the interests of Child 1 and Child 2 in certain entities and for Child 1 and Child 2 to purchase at FMV the interests of the Marital Trust in other entities. To the extent there was any difference in the aggregate FMV of the Marital Trust purchases and the Child 1 and Child 2 purchases, an equalizing payment would be made. The FMV of the interests would be determined by 2 commercial appraisers.
Under IRC Section 2512(b), the amount by which the value of property exceeds the amount received as consideration is deemed to be a gift. Accordingly, when property is transferred for adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth no gift occurs. The IRS ruled that the transactions between the Marital Trust and Child 1 and Child 2 to resolve discord between the decedent's surviving spouse and her stepchildren were the result of a bona fide adversarial proceeding and arms-length negotiations such that the FMV exchange would be made for adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth and not subject to gift tax.
Under IRC Section 2519(a), a disposition of all or part of a qualifying income interest for life in QTIP property results in a deemed transfer of the value of the residuary interest in such property which is subject to gift tax. The ruling request asked whether the transfers pursuant to the agreement would result in a disposition of a qualifying income interest under IRC Section 2519. The IRS held that after the transfers, Spouse 2 would continue to possess a qualifying income interest for life in the assets of the Marital Trust, and, therefore, the transfers pursuant to the agreement would not result in a disposition of a qualifying income interest.
IRS issues an inconsistent ruling on whether a grantor trust can hold an IRA - Priv. Ltr. Rul. 201117042 (April 29, 2011)
In 2006, the IRS issued Private Letter Ruling 200620025 in which the IRS approved of the transfer of an Inherited IRA to a special needs trust ("SNT") that was a grantor trust for income tax purposes. The 2006 ruling indicated that one of four surviving sons of the decedent was disabled and the four sons were named as IRA beneficiaries. A state court established a SNT for the disabled son and the guardian and trustee of the SNT intended to transfer the disabled son's share of the Inherited IRA to an Inherited IRA benefiting the SNT and its beneficiaries. One of the issues was whether the transfer of the Inherited IRA from the disabled son to the SNT was a transfer that required the recognition of income by the disabled son under IRC Section 691(a)(2). By applying the grantor trust rules, the disabled son was treated as the owner of the assets held by the SNT. Consequently, the IRS held that the transfer of the Inherited IRA to the SNT was not a sale or disposition of the Inherited IRA for federal income tax purposes.
Conversely, on April 29, 2011, in Private Letter Ruling 201117042, the IRS noted that a financial institution correctly stated that an IRA (not an inherited IRA) cannot be set up and maintained in the name of a grantor trust. In this ruling request, pursuant to a court order, a SNT was established for an individual that was determined to be disabled. The court specified an amount that was to be transferred to the SNT, which was a grantor trust. The amount ordered to be transferred to the SNT corresponded to the balance in the individual's IRA. The IRA custodian refused to process the paperwork to transfer the IRA from the individual to the SNT stating that the IRA could not be maintained in the name of the SNT. As a result, the entire IRA was deemed to have been distributed to the individual and the proceeds deposited into a non-IRA account owned by the SNT even though the individual intended to continue his IRA. The ruling request was submitted to obtain a waiver of the 60-day IRA rollover requirement, so that the IRA could be restored to an IRA held in the individual's name and not in the trust. Prior to ruling on the waiver of the 60-day requirement, the IRS briefly stated that the custodian correctly noted that an IRA cannot be set up and maintained in the name of a grantor trust.
Nevada Governor signed into law S.B. 221 with an effective date of October 1, 2011, which makes Nevada's asset protection trust laws even stronger – S.B. 221, 76th Sess., Reg. Sess. (Nev. 2011)
On June 4, 2011, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed into law S.B. 221 with an effective date of October 1, 2011. The legislation is intended to improve and update Nevada's laws to make the state an ideal jurisdiction for the establishment of trusts. Chapter 166 of the Nevada Revised Statutes was previously amended to allow for self-settled asset protection trusts, which are irrevocable trusts that are exempt from claims of the settlor's creditor provided that the transfer to the trust is not proven to be fraudulent during the 2-year period following the transfer. S.B. 221 further updates Chapter 166 to clarify and expand existing law.
Beginning on October 1, 2011, the following trusts will qualify as self-settled asset protection trusts, making the settlor's interest in such trusts exempt from the claims of creditors:
Additionally, the settlor of a self-settled asset protection trust may use real or personal property owned by the trust without limiting the scope of the protection provided by such trust.
The law makes clear that no action of any kind may be brought at law or in equity against the trustee of an asset protection trust if at the date the action is brought an action by the creditor would be barred by Section 166.170 of the Nevada Revised Statutes. This clarification is intended to dispose of any arguments that Nevada's fraudulent transfer laws, which include a 4-year statute of limitations, negates the more favorable 2-year statute of limitation rule provided for self-settled asset protection trusts. The legislation makes clear that if an individual is a creditor at the time the transfer to the asset protection trust occurs, then such individual must bring an action by the longer of (i) two years from the date of the transfer to the trust or (ii) six months from when the person discovers or reasonably should have discovered the transfer.
The law also allows for the transfer of a trust from a foreign jurisdiction to Nevada without re-starting the statute of limitation period (i.e., the date of the original transfer to the trust is treated as the date the property was actually transferred to the trust rather than the date the trust situs was moved to Nevada). For this rule to apply, the transfer must be from a state where the asset protection laws are substantially similar to Nevada's.
Pursuant to the revisions to Section 166.170, a creditor may not bring an action with respect to a transfer of property to an asset protection trust unless the creditor can prove by clear and convincing evidence that the transfer either (1) was a fraudulent transfer or (2) violates a legal obligation owed to the creditor under a contract or a valid court order that is legally enforceable by that creditor. The determination of whether a transfer is fraudulent does not affect a separate transfer to the trust. Consequently, if a transfer is determined to be fraudulent, it will not taint the exemption of the entire trust.
Also notable, the law provides that if assets are appointed into a second trust pursuant to Section 163.556 of the Nevada Revised Statutes (i.e., if the trust is decanted), the assets in the second trust are deemed to have been transferred to such trust as of the time they were transferred to the original trust. Therefore, decanting an irrevocable trust to a new trust will not re-start the statute of limitations.
Florida Governor signed into law H.B. 253, which amended Florida Statute § 608.433 to explicitly provide that a charging order is the "sole and exclusive remedy" against LLC membership interests – H.B. 253, 2011 Leg., (Fla. 2011)
On May 31, 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law H.B. 253, which amended Florida Statutes § 608.433 to explicitly provide that a charging order is the "sole and exclusive remedy" against limited liability company ("LLC") membership interests. The law, however, further provides that a charging order is not the sole and exclusive remedy in the context of a single-member LLC if the judgment creditor establishes to the satisfaction of a court that distributions under a charging order will not satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time. In such case, a court may order a foreclosure sale of a debtor's single-member LLC interest.
This legislation was adopted to clarify the decision in Shaun Olmstead, et. al. v. Federal Trade Commission, 44 So. 3d 76 (Fla. 2010), in which the Court held that charging orders are not the exclusive remedy to enforce a judgment against the sole member of a single-member Florida LLC. The law clarifies that the decision in Olmstead does not apply in the context of a multimember Florida LLC.
Florida Third District Court of Appeals withdrew its opinion in Habeeb v. Linder that a husband and wife can waive homestead rights merely by signing a joint warranty deed - Habeeb v. Linder, 3D10-1532 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011)
On February 9, 2011, the Florida Third District Court of Appeals held that a husband and wife waived their post-death homestead rights merely by signing a joint warranty deed transferring the homestead property to the wife. On May 17, 2011, the Court, released a sue sponte Order withdrawing its decision in Habeeb. Although the withdrawal of this decision now leaves the door open for future litigation, the Habeeb decision may not be relied on as precedent.
Florida Governor signed into law H.B. 469, which amends Florida Statutes § 222.21(c) to provide that inherited IRAs are protected from claims of creditors of a debtor beneficiary – H.B. 469, 2011 Leg. (Fla. 2011)
On May 31, 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed H.B. 469 into law. The law amends Florida Statutes § 222.21(c) to clarify the Legislature's intent that inherited IRAs are exempt from claims of creditors of the owner, beneficiary or participant of the inherited IRA. The law is remedial in nature and has retroactive application to all inherited IRA accounts without regard to the date an account was created. Additionally, the law should protect inherited IRAs in both state court and bankruptcy court.
Florida Governor signed into law C.S./H.B. 325, which establishes that there is no fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege – C.S./H.B. 325, 2011 Leg. (Fla. 2011)
On June 21, 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed C.S./H.B. 325 into law. The law confirms that there is no fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege and that only the person or entity acting as a fiduciary is considered a client of the lawyer. The law provides that a client acts as a fiduciary when serving as a personal representative, a trustee, an administrator ad litem, a curator, a guardian or guardian ad litem, a conservator, or an attorney-in-fact. Accordingly, the law requires a personal representative in a probate proceeding to include in the Notice of Administration a statement that the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege applies with respect to the personal representative and any attorney employed by the personal representative. Additionally, the law requires that the trustee include in the initial notice to qualified beneficiaries a statement that the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege applies with respect to the trustee and any attorney employed by the trustee.
Effective October 1, 2011, a surviving spouse's share of a decedent's intestate estate will be increased from the first $60,000 of the intestate estate plus one-half of the remaining estate to the entire intestate estate when all of the decedent's descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse does not have any other descendants. If there are one or more surviving descendants of the decedent who are not lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, the intestate share for the surviving spouse is one-half of the decedent's intestate estate. Similarly, if there are one or more surviving descendants of the decedent, all of whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse also has one or more descendants who are not descendants of the decedent, the intestate share for the surviving spouse is one-half of the decedent's intestate estate.
Effective July 1, 2011, a court may reform a will, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms of the will to the testator's intent if it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that both the accomplishment of the testator's intent and the terms of the will were affected by a mistake. In determining the testator's intent, the court may consider extrinsic evidence even if it contradicts the plain meaning of the will. Additionally, a court may modify a will, with or without retroactive effect, to achieve the testator's tax objectives provided that such modification is not contrary to the testator's probable intent. The law provides that in proceedings to reform a will for mistake or to modify a will to achieve the testator's tax objective, a court is authorized to award taxable costs, including attorney's fees and guardian ad litem fees.
Further, the law authorizes challenges to the revocation of a will or trust on the grounds of fraud, duress, mistake or undue influence after the death of the testator or settlor. Finally, in judicial proceedings regarding trusts, the law provides that Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525 applies for purposes of determining when and under what circumstances a trustee or beneficiary of a trust or attorney must file a motion for attorney's fees and costs, with specifically listed exceptions.
Except as otherwise indicated above, these provisions are effective as of June 21, 2011, and apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced on or after the effective date.
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