Friendship is Dragons
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Page 189 - Grand Line II, Part 1
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Those pears have really frightful set of teeth... and that smile...
*Shudders in fetal position*
*Shudders in fetal position*
If I were DMing, that would become a very, very fatal flaw indeed.
Picture - a vault with a sealed door that can only be opened by eating all the pears in the room. Through some contrived coincidence it falls on the Doctor to eat most or all of them.
The pain begins with him taking a bite and me, oh so innocently, saying "Roll a Fortitude save..."
Picture - a vault with a sealed door that can only be opened by eating all the pears in the room. Through some contrived coincidence it falls on the Doctor to eat most or all of them.
The pain begins with him taking a bite and me, oh so innocently, saying "Roll a Fortitude save..."
This could only be made more horrifying when the player makes that Fort roll and you don't immediately tell him what the results entail...
What would you have happen as DM if the player failed the Pear Fort roll?
If crit? Pony faints out of disgust.
So, rather than some truely evil pain, the failure just results in the fruit being...
...unpearable.
...unpearable.
Not necessarily, Digo. You know a pyrus can be deceiving.
And even if the can choke them down, they'll hate it. It will certainly be a pyric victory.
NB: Pyric - of or related to pears.
NB: Pyric - of or related to pears.
The victim takes damage from either Bartlett's Catapult or the Beurre d'Anjou Trebuchet.
A slightly more serious reply to Ranubis' question about the failed Fortitude save/check:
If the advantage gained is minor, then the penalty for tasting pair would be a -2 penalty on checks if successful and a combination of the penalty and dazed status if failed.
A more concrete advantage would create an aversion-type affect, forcing the character to spend at least one action per turn on moving away from pears or pear juice until they cannot be sensed in any fashion.
If the advantage was abusive, then I'd redirect the save/check to Will and have the player make it any time anything remotely pear-like appeared or received a mention. Pear puns, even when unintended, would trigger a -2 penalty, as would mention of things going all pear-shaped. Anything literally pear-shaped would compel a choice: get away from the symbol (as above), destroy it (not appropriate to all games), close eyes for as long as it's around (treating the character as blinded), or suffer a -4 penalty on all checks, including saving throws.
Game-breaking advantages would bypass the whole saving throw system. We're in geas territory by that point. Good luck keeping that secret. At least some of them might be too embarrassed to exploit something so absurd.
If the advantage gained is minor, then the penalty for tasting pair would be a -2 penalty on checks if successful and a combination of the penalty and dazed status if failed.
A more concrete advantage would create an aversion-type affect, forcing the character to spend at least one action per turn on moving away from pears or pear juice until they cannot be sensed in any fashion.
If the advantage was abusive, then I'd redirect the save/check to Will and have the player make it any time anything remotely pear-like appeared or received a mention. Pear puns, even when unintended, would trigger a -2 penalty, as would mention of things going all pear-shaped. Anything literally pear-shaped would compel a choice: get away from the symbol (as above), destroy it (not appropriate to all games), close eyes for as long as it's around (treating the character as blinded), or suffer a -4 penalty on all checks, including saving throws.
Game-breaking advantages would bypass the whole saving throw system. We're in geas territory by that point. Good luck keeping that secret. At least some of them might be too embarrassed to exploit something so absurd.
Immortality is the Flaw and he's getting Racial Enemy: Pears for it
Wow. I never expected my favorite metaphysical topic to turn up here. I'll try not to rant...
Yes, Immortality is difficult, but it can be a boon. You just have to hold on to your optimism. Think about it this way: you can live in a town for 2 to maybe 5 years at a stretch before people start commenting that you never look any older. Longer if you learn how to work with stage makeup. So you can spend 5 years in Dublin, then 5 years in the Greek Isles, then 5 years in London, then 5 years wandering the great Plains...You have an infinite amount of time to learn languages, earn money for travel, and for all we know you might not need to sleep, so you can get your spare reading done too.
And by the time you lived in every different culture in the world, Humanity will have reinvented itself, and all your old locales will be different. Who's going to remember 30 year old man who lived in town for a couple of years two centuries ago?
The secret is to never stop enjoying the little things. As long as you can smile at the sweetness of a strawberry pastry, you'll have something to smile about on Earth.
So yes, immortality can work. It just requires a very strong mind.
Then there's memory decay, but I won't go into that...
Yes, Immortality is difficult, but it can be a boon. You just have to hold on to your optimism. Think about it this way: you can live in a town for 2 to maybe 5 years at a stretch before people start commenting that you never look any older. Longer if you learn how to work with stage makeup. So you can spend 5 years in Dublin, then 5 years in the Greek Isles, then 5 years in London, then 5 years wandering the great Plains...You have an infinite amount of time to learn languages, earn money for travel, and for all we know you might not need to sleep, so you can get your spare reading done too.
And by the time you lived in every different culture in the world, Humanity will have reinvented itself, and all your old locales will be different. Who's going to remember 30 year old man who lived in town for a couple of years two centuries ago?
The secret is to never stop enjoying the little things. As long as you can smile at the sweetness of a strawberry pastry, you'll have something to smile about on Earth.
So yes, immortality can work. It just requires a very strong mind.
Then there's memory decay, but I won't go into that...
If you live long enough, the universe will die around you. This would be a good time to know the Fiat Lux technique.
Technically, Superboy is aging internally. He just doesn't show it on the outside. My impression was that his issues over that had more to do with how it means he's going to be SuperBOY for the rest of his life.
Now, the trick is to remember the difference between "immortality" and the simple "not aging"
Not aging, I'm sure that we all would take that if we could.
Immortality on the other hand would be a curse, not being able to die after the world has gone dark and just being able to sit there waiting for the next big bang.
Not aging, I'm sure that we all would take that if we could.
Immortality on the other hand would be a curse, not being able to die after the world has gone dark and just being able to sit there waiting for the next big bang.
Yeah. I've heard all of the reasons for "immortality sucks," and they've never convinced me. You could pursue a hobby to ridciculous skill-you could become a master to the nth degree-or you could use your immense wisdom to improving people's lives in little ways--maybe move around, and just help. You could learn absolutely everything about a topic, and know a little of anything, and have time to still run and ...I'm going to stop now. Needless to say, I really, really like the idea.
I figure it'll be worth it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not cold and indifferent, and I don't shun companionship. However, there is such a vast amount of knowledge in this world, more than anyone can discover in the time granted to them. To be given the time to discover... well think about what a genius can do in their short life time. Now imagine an above average person with millions of life times? Just imagine.
As long as there is strawberry pastry involved with immortality, I think it would be worth it!
The degree to which this is a curse or not depends on the psychology of the immortal in question. Hitchhiker's Guide had a bit of commentary on this, via Wowbagger the Indefinitely Prolonged.
The pony fic "It Takes a Village" has Princess Luna talk about this, as well. Spike's lamenting the fact that all of his friends will die long before he does. She has a rather impressive speech. Excerpt:
S: "But they'll leave me. They'll all die."
L: "Yes. But you and I, we will not. We endure."
L: "And then you will die, and I will not. And I will endure."
L: "And when the moon crumbles to silver dust and the sun expands in a glorious conflagration and this world is nothing but a cold cinder in the void, I too shall die."
The pony fic "It Takes a Village" has Princess Luna talk about this, as well. Spike's lamenting the fact that all of his friends will die long before he does. She has a rather impressive speech. Excerpt:
S: "But they'll leave me. They'll all die."
L: "Yes. But you and I, we will not. We endure."
L: "And then you will die, and I will not. And I will endure."
L: "And when the moon crumbles to silver dust and the sun expands in a glorious conflagration and this world is nothing but a cold cinder in the void, I too shall die."
Also what happens if you get trapped under a building collapse? How many days would they give up before they call it quits rescuing people? What happens if they leave you down there?
Not to mention the human race is still evolving. We don't look the same as we did several thousand years ago, you can end up looking like a different race a million years in the future. Imagine being one step below the human evolution chain and trying to live in that society.
Not to mention the human race is still evolving. We don't look the same as we did several thousand years ago, you can end up looking like a different race a million years in the future. Imagine being one step below the human evolution chain and trying to live in that society.
well if they leave you down there... you wait, the building materials will eventually crumble, but hey in that time you can make the best kind of friends... imaginary ones and they'll keep you company and sing and dance, oh and there will be that one angry one that insults you for getting stuck there and never lets you forget about it and follows you for eternity even after you escape and the nice ones have all fled back to your inner child never to be heard from again.
That folds back to the "psychology" bit. True immortals (or at least ones who can cope well) would have near-infinite patience.
Humans, of course, don't. Nor do we have an infinite capacity for knowledge or memory, or for remaining interested in hobbies. Human minds are _really_ not built to handle eternity.
Of course, becoming immortal would involve huge enough physical changes that the required mental changes could be added to the package. You just won't end up with something that thinks much like a human any more.
Humans, of course, don't. Nor do we have an infinite capacity for knowledge or memory, or for remaining interested in hobbies. Human minds are _really_ not built to handle eternity.
Of course, becoming immortal would involve huge enough physical changes that the required mental changes could be added to the package. You just won't end up with something that thinks much like a human any more.
Regarding evolution, that might explain why Celestia and Luna look different from other ponies. The species might have developed dwarfism over the last few tens of thousands of years.
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams
Yet slips away from us
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever.....?
That tells you all you need to know about the life expectancy of dragon trainers, doesn't it?
Ok I have to point out that Time Lords are not immortal especially the Doctor. Regeneration can only occur 12 times resulting in 13 incarnations.
I sincerely do not believe that they're going to keep that canon when they reach the 13th Doctor. Because that would be ridiculous, both from a business and a fan standpoint.
Not so simple, with the extremity of the genocide they've implied...and the fact from what I can tell, we want most time lords to stay DEAD.
Unless...Oh, dear. Oh dear, oh dear.
Unless the Doctor takes a romantic relationship far enough to have a child. The original canon was that the doctor was half-human (hence his fascination with Earth), but...Jenny. Oh, dear.
Admittedly, it seems to be a doctor who tradition to go through canon with an axe every now and again, so who knows?
Unless...Oh, dear. Oh dear, oh dear.
Unless the Doctor takes a romantic relationship far enough to have a child. The original canon was that the doctor was half-human (hence his fascination with Earth), but...Jenny. Oh, dear.
Admittedly, it seems to be a doctor who tradition to go through canon with an axe every now and again, so who knows?
There's other cross-canon bits that suggest he (not all time lords, JUST the doctor) Is an elder god. Yes, a Lovecraftian Elder God.
I stopped trusting Doctor Who Canon the second time they declared the Daleks were gone forever.
I stopped trusting Doctor Who Canon the second time they declared the Daleks were gone forever.
It's possible. The Master ran out of regenerations at one point, and after several failed attempts at recharging them finally managed.
Don't forget that our Doctor is also slated to have at least a 13th 'regeneration' (not 'incarnation'), after spending time as the villainous Valeyard.
Don't forget that our Doctor is also slated to have at least a 13th 'regeneration' (not 'incarnation'), after spending time as the villainous Valeyard.
...Half of my DCURPG characters having high enough ranks in immortality to respawn after only one round of being dead, however, totally legit.
I love/hate how I can't come up with anything for this until now.
As potential gamebreakers go, immortality is hopelessly overrated anyway. Most campaigns don't really last long enough for a potential difference in raw lifespan to matter, and being able to genuinely "cheat death" in some game-mechanical fashion fundamentally just means volunteering to be the GM's punching bag because hey, your guy (or gal) can safely take it, right?...
Author: DragonTrainer
Guest Author's Note:
"Well, here we go again. It was fun making these guest comics, both the ones from before and now. Crossovers are always fun because it shows that there's a much bigger world outside the main cast, like the Marvel universe, the DCU, the Stargate series, and Power Rangers. I still remember the first Power Rangers team-up episode (when the Zeo Rangers teamed up with the Alien Rangers, though the In Space and Lost Galaxy team-up was also awesome! Er... I just gave away my age just now, didn't I? ~_^). I don't know about Newbiespud, but for that reason, I like to think that our characters share the same universe. This specific genre of webcomic lends itself very well to crossovers, don'tcha think? :p
"This time, I decided to keep things short instead of trying for a mini-arc like last time. I had intended for that previous one to be much longer, but I was running out of buffer pages for my own comic at the time. Eh, maybe another time. For now, please enjoy these three guest pages. ^_^"