Pathfinder case study #5: Gandalf the Grey

 So it wasn't my intention to do the Fellowship, but I really wanted to do a magic-user.  The problem is that nearly every iconic wizard or witch or whatever is difficult to shoehorn into Pathfinder/D&D class coventions.  I went through several phases of thought with my build for Gandalf.  My first thought was to design Gandalf as a 'monster' advanced with chracter classes, seeing as how the Istari aren't human.  However, the fact that they came in the shape of men and are subject to all the frailties of that race convinced me that Middle-earth's wizards have to play by the same rules as regular humans, just with a bit of a head-start.

So next I considered designing a unique class for Gandalf... something like a cleric or druid but which would learn spells like a wizard.  I decided that would be 'cheating' so I decided to go with at least official rules, then decided to stay with core.  Music is a powerful and integral force in Middle-earth.  Indeed, all existence is a result of the Music of the Ainur... and all strife is the result of Melkor's attempts to play notes of discord.  Also, Gandalf certainly has a great wealth of knowledge, so bard seems appropriate.  Basically I looked at all of the bard's class abilities and spell lists and determined what I thought would be the most powerful effects that would fit the powers that Gandalf displays or, that Tolkien lore implies he is capable of. 

After deciding on bard 9, I looked at other possible classes, giving divine spell-casters a long look, as well as the NPC class expert.  I decided there were a few magical effects that Gandalf displayed that could not be attributed to bard spells or Gandalf's magic items, so the multi-class had to include spell-casting, and after agonizing thought I decided on the sorcerer.  So here is the result of the case study:

Gandalf the Grey

Male human (ainur) bard 9, sorcerer 6
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +13

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +3 deflection, +1 dodge)
hp 133 (9d8+6d6+45+15)
Fort +11, Ref +14, Will +21
Defensive Abilities combat expertise, dodge, toughness

OFFENSE

Speed 35 ft.
Melee +12/+7 Glamdring (1d8+3/19-20)
Ranged +12 (by weapon)
Special Attacks bardic performance (countersong, distraction, fascinate, inspire competence, inspire courage +3), fleet, holy, mighty cleaving, vital strike

Spells Known (Bard) (CL 11^th; concentration +15)

3^rd (4/day)—daylight, good hope, major image, speak with animals

2^nd  (5/day)—alter self, animal messenger, animal trance (DC 16), heroism
1^st  (6/day)—charm person (DC 15), cause fear (DC 15), comprehend languages, silent image, ventriloquism
0 (at will)—daze (DC 14), detect magic, know direction, mage hand, mending, read magic

Spells Known (Sorcerer) (CL 8^th; concentration +12)

3^rd (4/day)—identify, versatile weapon

2^nd (7/day)—eagle’s splendor, pyrotechnics (DC 16),
1^st (7/day)—burning disarm (DC 15), flare burst (DC 15), hold portal, true strike

0 (at will)—arcane mark, disrupt undead, flare (DC 14), light, prestidigitation, resistance, spark

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 21, Cha 19
Base Atk +9; CMB +10; CMD 23
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Fleet, Skill Focus (diplomacy), Skill Focus (history), Toughness, Vital Strike
Skills Climb +4, Diplomacy +22, Disguise +8, Handle Animal +10, Heal +8, Knowledge (arcana) +17, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +14, Knowledge (engineering) +11, Knowledge (geography) +16, Knowledge (history) +20, Knowledge (local) +17, Knowledge (nature) +12, Knowledge (nobility) +12, Knowledge (planes) +11, Knowledge (religion) +14, Linguistics +12, Perception +13, Perform (oratory) +22, Perform (sing) +14, Ride +4, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +7, Survival +8, Swim +3

Languages All

SQ arcane bond (staff), bardic knowledge, bardic performance, bloodline (arcane), cantrips, lore master, versatile performance (comedy, oratory), well-versed
Combat Gear Glamdring (+2 holy longsword of mighty cleaving); Other Gear broad-brimmed hat, fine pipe and 1 pound of pipeweed, Narya, traveler’s cloak, wizard’s staff (+2 sacred bonus to will saves, caster level, and spell DCs)

Narya

Narya functions as a ring of sustenance, and major ring of fire resistance.  In addition it has the following powers:

·         +3 deflection bonus to AC

·         +3 resistance bonus to saving throws

·         Gandalf may cast bless 1/day

·         Gandalf may use the ring to cast any spell with the fire descriptor as will as lightning bolt and chain lightning provided Gandalf expends a number of spell slots with a total of spell levels equal to the level of the spell being cast (i.e. one 1^st and one 2^nd level spell slot to cast the 3^rd level spell fireball)

So my goal was to make Gandalf subtle, yet powerful.  Narya allows for Gandalf's stronger displays of power, and the rest of his abilities are either mundane, or usually buffing of some kind, the goal of the Istari being to assist the free peoples in fighting the enemy rather than matching their own power against Sauron's.  Typically Gandalf uses the least spell of effect that can accomplish his goal and (particularly when with the ringbearer) avoids the use of magic as much as possible due to the fact that other magical beings can sense when magic is used, and even pinpoint the location of either the magic-user or location of the casting (it's not clear which).

For optional rules, I would consider changing the bard and sorcerer to divine casters... whether magic is arcane or divine seems to depend on the user (good=divine, evil=arcane) or it's just all divine in Tolkien legendarium.  But that really is just a matter of flavor.

I would definitely use class defense bonus,  and probably the taint rules, at least for the One Ring.

Pathfinder case study #4: Aragorn

Aragorn II

Male human gestalt fighter/ranger 9
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 78 (9d10+18)
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +9 (+2 vs fear)
Defensive Abilities bravery +2, evasion, improved iron will, iron will

OFFENSE

Speed 35 ft.
Melee Andúril, Flame of the West +14/+9 (1d8+5/18-20)
Ranged +11 by weapon
Special Attacks bane weapon (orcs, undead), favored enemy (orcs +4, undead +2), fleet, weapon training (close 1, heavy blades 2)

STATISTICS

Str 14, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 16
Base Atk +9; CMB +11; CMD 23
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Endurance, Fleet, Improved Shield Bash, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Mobility, Mounted Combat, Point Blank Shot, Two-Weapon Fighting, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (longsword)
Skills Acrobatics +6, Bluff +7, Climb +9, Diplomacy +10, Disguise +5, Handle Animal +8, Heal +16, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (geography) +8, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nature) +9, Knowledge (nobility) +8, Knowledge (religion) +3, Linguistics +3, Perception +14, Perform (oratory) +6, Ride +10, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +11, Survival +15, Swim +6
Languages Aduniac, Westron, and many more I'm sure...

SQ armor training 2, favored terrain (forest +4, cold +2), hunter’s bond, swift tracker, track, wild empathy, woodland stride
Combat Gear Andruil,; Other Gear camping gear, fine pipe and 1 pound of pipeweed, traveler’s outfit

As a 9^th level ranger, Aragorn has access to spellcasting.  Spells, as they function in the standard D&D campaign, are not entirely appropriate in Middle-Earth.  There are two solutions that I would suggest.  The first is to explain Aragorn’s spells as skill and extra preparation.  Fore example, you could exchange the typical components of cure light wounds with athelas root.  If this doesn’t seem right either, then simply use a variant ranger.  Complete Champion has a Champion of the Wild variant which replaces spellcasting with additional feats. 

Choose one of the following options and add it to Aragorn’s statistics:

Add a new line under Offense:

Spells Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +10)

1st   – keen senses, longstrider

2nd                         – cure light wounds

OR

Add the following feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Trip

Andúril

Andúril is an arming sword designed for one-handed use.  It is a +3 weapon with the following properties: keen, orc bane, undead bane.  Andúril sheds light within a 5’ radius, but the wielder may choose to suppress this ability at will.  The light is flame red during the day (fire of the sun), and bright white at night (fire of the moon).

This build represents Aragorn as a member of the Fellowship.  You’ll note he lacks armor and shield.  This is true to the source, but could be crippling due to the low AC so I highly recommend using a defense option.  Aragorn would have +6 (3/4 of his class level).  Depending on how D&D like you want thing’s to be Andúril could add flaming burst and icy burst, holy, or increase the enhancement bonus.

Pathfinder case study #3 and now for something completely different. Elric

Elric of Melniboné

Male Melnibonéan gestalt fighter/rogue 11
NE Medium outsider (native)
Init +2; Senses Perception +11

DEFENSE

AC 27, touch 12, flat-footed 25 (+11 armor, +4 shield, +2 Dex)
hp 85 (11d10+11)
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4
Defensive Abilities armor training 3, DR 8/-, evasion, improved uncanny dodge, slippery mind, trap-sense +3, uncanny dodge

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee the sword of Earl Aubec +15/+10/+5 (1d10+4)
Ranged +13 by weapon
Special Attacks bleeding attack, sneak attack +6d6, surprise attack, vital strike weapon training (heavy blades 2, close 1)

STATISTICS

Str 15 (5), Dex 15 (11), Con 14 (6), Int 24, Wis 13, Cha 18
Base Atk +11; CMB +13; CMD 25
Feats Cleave, Combat Expertise, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Improved Critical, Improved Feint, Lunge, Magical Aptitude, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Knowledge: Planes), Skill Focus (Use Magic Device), Vital Strike

Skills Appraise +14, Bluff +18, Diplomacy +15, Heal +6, Intimidate +18, Knowledge (Arcana) +18, Knowledge (Geography) +15, Knowledge (History) +13, Knowledge (Local) +14, Knowledge (Nobility) +17, Knowledge (Planes) +26, Linguistics +15, Perception +11, Perform (Sing) +15, Profession (Sailor) +10, Ride +11, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +22, Stealth +13, Survival +8, Use Magic Device +28
Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Draconic, Common, Ignan, Melnibonéan (high speech), Melnibonéans (low speech), Terran and 8 others
SQ major magic (protection from chaos 3/day), minor magic (read magic 3/day), trapfinding
Combat Gear adamantine agile half-plate of invulnerability and moderate fortification, +2 heavy steel shield, the Ring of Kings, the sword of Earl Aubec (+2 keen bastard sword 2); Other Gear noble’s outfit, numerous mundane and magical scrolls and texts (some containing philosophical essays and others detailing spells, rituals and incantations), the Ring of Kings

Melnibonéan

Melnibonéans are beautiful indeed, slim and graceful, but also alien to the younger races. They have triangular faces, high cheek-bones, pointed ears without earlobes, and large slanted eyes.  Melnibonéans are an antediluvian species and their full history is probably unknowable to all but the gods.  In all those years Melnibonéan culture has grown improbably decadent.  Among their most appalling (to other humanoids) customs include the mutilation of slaves so that they can produce only one perfect vocal note, and the ceremonial cannibalization of hated rivals, for example.  It is with good cause that many humans believe the Melnibonéans to be demons.

  Melnibonéans don't see themselves as arrogant.  They know that they are superior to humans just as humans know they are superior to beasts; it is self-evident.  Although extraordinarily gifted in all sciences (magical and mundane), Melnibonéans have a longstanding warrior tradition and make the finest arms and armor that mortal hands can craft.  They are also the keepers of the last dragons and the best Melnibonéan warriors aspire to ride one into battle someday.

  The Melnibonéans have old pacts with the gods of chaos so awareness and honor of those contracts is what passes for religion among them.  Melnibonéans are almost always of evil alignment.  In fact a truly non-evil Melnibonéan is as of yet unknown to recorded history.

·         +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, -2 Wisdom: Melnibonéans have knowledge and force of personality reflecting their status as the world's eldest race, but the decadence of their culture has eroded their sagacity.

·         Noble Bearing: Melnibonéans get a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks.

·         Elder Race: Melnibonéans gain Skill Focus in any one knowledge skill as a bonus feat.

·         Fiendish Wrath: Melnibonéans are particularly vengeful.  Once per day, a Melnibonéan can call upon his anger to strike out against a foe that has successfully attacked him since his last turn. As a swift action, the Melnibonéan chooses one target within sight as the target of his wrath.  The Melnibonéan adds +1 to his first attack roll against that target and if the attack hits he adds his Charisma modifier to the damage roll for that attack.

·         Languages: Melnibonéans begin play speaking Common and Melnibonéan (low speech). Melnibonéans with high Intelligence scores can choose any of the following: Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Ignan, Infernal, Orc and Terran.

Notes: Yes Elric fans you read that right, Elric has no levels as a spellcaster.  This was a difficult build given the way Elric is written.  He uses 'sorcery' often and is a great warrior besides, so a fighter/wizard or fighter/sorcerer build seemed appropriate at first, but I quickly dismissed the idea when looking over the arcane spell selection.  There are just too many things Elric, can't do.  He doesn't seem to use any casual magic with the possible exception of really minor magic, as in not worth even a 0-level spell. 
  Next I considered cleric.  Elric honors age old pacts with the gods of chaos and summons elementals and planar allies, is a good fighter and uses armor.  Also the planar ally and binding spells seem appropriate, but again, even if I create a cleric variant to eliminate all the healing spells, there's little besides the spells I mentioned that Elric does.  Other possibilities I looked at were hexblade and warlock or some variant of each, but ultimately I settled on what I consider an elegant solution.
  Magic in Elric's world is clearly a different thing than in D&D (a common scenario when dealing with literature).  That is not to say that sorcerers and wizards and so on, cant' exist in that world, but those classes clearly don't represent Elric's capabilities.  Elric, is a highly skilled combatant (fighter), but also has a wide array of skills and tricks.  Rogue has the highest possible skill points and the ability to learn 0th and 1st level spells, and the two spells I gave Elric seem to work while so many others didn't.  Elric also kills a hero of the young kingdoms after a fair duel with a very obvious sneak attack on the flat-footed warrior.  Here he is a fighter/rogue gestalt, but multiclassing would also work if you don't want to use optional rules.
  So what about Elric's various summonings of demons and elementals and what not?  Well, his pact with Arioch is more of a relationship than a spell.  Elric can contact Arioch magically, but the chaos lord only answers because he wants to, so that is more of a GM fiat situation.  As to everything else, there's actually a number of ways Pathfinder can do this: scrolls (used with Elric's amazing Use Magic Device skill), and the Ring of Kings could both allow Elric the high level summoning spells he needs, but I think a more satisfying solution is to combine Incantations from Unearthed Arcana with d20 Call of Cthulhu spells a la carte as appropriate.  In this case Elric's people would resist sanity loss and Elric's ring would mitigate Incantation backlash and ability damage from spells. 
  Another couple of things worth mentioning; these stats are Elric before acquiring Stormbringer, so he is still dependent on drugs to maintain his strength and vitality.  To me this is just a plot complication.  Elric just has to 'go back to town' often.  If you want he could use potions of strength and endurance with addictive effects, but to me it's just a roleplay thing. 
  Also Elric's alignment.  D&D, back in first edition advanced, gave Elric's alignment as Chaotic Evil and pastiches of him are usually that or Chaotic Neutral.  The logic seems to be that he serves the 'lords of chaos' and therefore must be chaotic himself.  I challenge the idea that even the lords of chaos are all 'Chaotic' in alignment, most seem to be Chaotic (Anything) or (Anything) Evil.  Elric himself displayed a certain amount of honor and observance of tradition (even as he questions his own people's traditions), and I think he makes a good case for Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil at the least.  Stormbringer is clearly Chaotic Evil, and provides a good contrast with Elric's alignment, as I think they are clearly different.

Recommended optional rules:
Incantations (very highly recommended, if not used then Elric would have to be a standard D&D character probably fighter/wizard/eldritch knight)
Class defense bonus (Elric would have +8)
Taint (in this case, Elric would have levels in 'Tainted' classes)
Sanity (mostly for humans, Elric would have the occasional case of temporary insanity though)

Pathfinder case study #2: Beowulf

Beowulf

Male human fighter 14, ranger 1
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +11

DEFENSE

AC 24, touch 13, flat-footed 21 (+9 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 shield)
hp 138 (15d10+45)
Fort +13, Ref +8, Will +6; +4 vs. fear
Defensive Abilities bravery +4

 

OFFENSE

30 ft. 
Speed

Melee Hrunting +25/+20/+15 (1d8+11/19–20/×2)
Ranged +17
Special Attacks weapon training (heavy blades +3, natural +2, spears +1)

STATISTICS

Str 24, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 16
Base Atk +15; CMB +21; CMD 33

Feats Athletic, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Leadership, Power Attack, Mounted Combat, Skill Focus (swim), Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Weapon Specialization (bastard sword)
Skills Acrobatics +12, Climb +26, Diplomacy +13, Knowledge (geography) +8, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nobility) 7, Perception +11, Perform (comedy) +8, Perform (oratory) +10, Ride +11, Survival +15, Swim +34,
Languages Lappish, Scylding, Weder
SQ armor training 3, favored enemy: giants +2, track, wild empathy
Combat Gear Hrunting (+1 keen longsword), large wooden shield, Weland’s +3 breastplate and mail of light fortification; Other Gear flagon of wine, gilded breastplate and mail, masterwork bastard sword

Notes:

Here is one of the ur-D&D heroes fighting for fame, honor and wealth.  You might wonder why I chose not to include feats dealing with unarmed attacks and grappling, and indeed, a Dragon Magazine 3.5 build for Beowulf makes heavy use of such feats.  IMO, that wasn't what Beowulf was really good at.  He was a man-at-arms and vassal, he would have extensive experience with sword, shield and armor, so my build reflects that.  Besides, Beowulf specifically did not use his arms and armor to make the contest fair; Grendel, according to Beowulf, would have no knowledge of armed combat and so the hero took himself to his foe's  level, thus granting a handicap.  

  The two most controversial things I've done with this build is giving Beowulf the magic items he has and giving his alignment as 'Lawful Good'.  Let me explain the latter detail first.  As already mentioned, Beowulf lives under vassaldom, which is a lawful arrangement, and Beowulf seems to be an exempler of that system rather than indiffrent to it (neutral) or opposed to it (chaotic).  As to the 'Good' half of that equation, athough Beowulf fights to enhance his own status, he put himself at risk to save Breca with whom he was having a swimming competition, and takes the high road when Unferth challenges Beowulf's meirt, using his wits to humble Unferth, and make an ally of a potential enemy.  Also their is the afforementioned sense of fairplay in his challenge of Grendel.
  Only one thing challenges the 'Good' aspect of Beowulf's character, that being that when Grendel attacks, Beowulf watches quietly while a friend is slain by the monster.  This is an example of Beowulf's intellegence and his 'Lawfulness'.  What is more important than the fellow Geat's life, is the mission to slay Grendel.  Had he saved the man at the expense of knowledge necessary to defeat his foe he would have put the mission (Lawful) of slaying the evil monster (Good) in peril.  Certainly the 'Good' thing to have done is to save the man, but watching the fight was not exactly evil either.
  As for the magic items, Beowulf specifically has armor crafted by Weland, a figure of German mythology who possesses magical powers.  That's worth a +1 anyway, although I go quite a bit further than that.  Also Hrunting is a named sword given to Beowulf by Unferth.  That doesn't automatically qualify it as magical, but it seems appropriate.  Beowulf is also said to have the strength of 30 men, so perhaps magical enhancement to his strength might be in order (either from God, pagan gods, or even a belt of giant strength given the fact that Beowulf is said to have slain a tribe of giants in his youth ;)

Star Wars.... it's time to have "the talk"

So yeah, here we are five years after RotS... it's time.

When we think "Star Wars" a certain section of humanity gets all warm and fuzzy.  Most are thinking of ANH, ESB, and RotJ (but we turn a blind eye to Ewoks).  Many also then say, but not that prequel crap!  Or, well this one was good, but the other two sucked and millions of voices cry out in terror at mention of "Jar Jar".

I enjoyed each prequel at the time of their release, but I did cringe at some dialogue and when Jar Jar just... was... STILL there!... and not doing... anything!  I mean I get the whole thing; Qui-Gon is wise enough to know that all things, even the simplest or most annoying beings, have a roll to play.  Sorta like Yoda, don't judge him by size and don't judge Jar Jar for.... his existence.

I still have no problem with midichlorians and all that...

....But, as a whole the saga is... I'm just going to say it... a bit off.  And it's not just the prequels.  ESB has some major flaws.  Luke jumping of the bridge and then finding the... whatever that thing was.. to cling to.  It's cool when you're still trying to figure out if Vader is Luke's father... I mean plot wise he had to escape somehow at that point, but perhaps a more satisfying scenario could have played out.  Also the whole "there is another" thing was totally weak.  It was done so Luke would seem to be truly in peril, but it was pretty dumb and then it amounted to nothing.  After "I am your father..." "It's you Leia" is supposed to impress me.... how?  How about "My uncle's a Wookiee!"

And speaking of Leia (and Padme for that matter), so I'm cool and in charge and independent and kick ass in my first movie... in the second one, okay I'm vulnerable on the inside, but I still kick ass too!  And in the third movie I.... cuddle teddy bears and braid my hair.  What?!?  The original draft of RotJ is actually cooler in that Leia does something.  She captains a rebel ship and kinda does the whole 'fly casual' thing.

Another thing with RotJ is that Lucas admits that he ran out of ideas and the return to Tatooine was essentially yanked from the great beyond as filler.  Now I'm sorry but you get your basic ideas from Flash Gordon, John Carter of Mars (from which we hear such words as sith, jed, jeddak, banth, and palawan to name a few), and Asimov's Foundation series (Korell, Korellians, Rodia, and a city/planet) write a script, determine that there enough for three movies (then six, then nine! then no just three........20 years........okay six!), and the authors who inspired you were fairly prolific, and you run out of ideas?  I'm now cynical enough to say "no you just decided you earned enough and were burnt out enough that you let the dream die". 

Okay, so fine.  We have the "Holy Trilogy" and tons of "EU" and games and what not.  Then came Zahn.  I don't really like those books... I do like some of Zahn's other Star Wars offerings, but anyway, turns out Star Wars fandom is big and hungry.  So let's feed the beast and create a "canon" of material and now make it impossible to repeat the success enjoyed by the Zahn Trilogy by keeping our authors on a tight leash (and panning the same old spots for gold).

Now let's go ahead and show the backstory (which I now believe... and not just because of Star Wars... is a horrible idea.  Some things should just be imagined and speculated on) which "I never wanted... I mean always meant to... uh, (Yoda fights!)... do.  AND let's just ignore, not only the "canon" I made everyone develop (and get many fans invested in) let's also ignore facts from the other movies too.  Seriously, this sounds like a Palpatinian plot of vengeance!

Now, we must face facts.  Lucas is a visual genius, even today, and he's a marketing genius.  He sold Star Wars before it was finished filming, in a guerrilla, viral campaign.  But!.. but, but, but!  He is not a narrative genius.  Somehow he hit on the right thing at the right time and, here's the difference with ANH and ESB as opposed to everything else:  Lucas was challenged.  Spielberg challenged him and got the monster's (yeah I know, he was an aqualish named "Ponda Baba" thanks Mattel!) arm chopped off.  Harrison Ford challenged him, and taught Fischer and Hammil to do the same.  His British set lighting guy fought him for goodness sake!  The studio fought him, the SAG fought him.  And God bless him, he persevered.  And something wonderful happened (for many of us).  Then ESB challenged him and he did it barely, but I believe it broke him.

He mailed in RotJ in a barely satisfying way and then took a break.  When he came back, he had total confidence, which is good.... but he had NO challenge.  All the actors were like "yes George, like this George, okay George" because... now he was George Lucas.  The studio said go for it, do what you want, you know what you're doing.  Before the release of TPM, Neeson is saying "Oh, I love the hands off direction, blah, blah, blah".  Then later "well he sucks and it sucks".  McGreggor says "ah the next one'll have more action mate".  Portman says "I am going to college!".  Daniel's says... a lot of crazy-ass weirdness!  It wasn't until after AotC that someone said.... er... let's maybe hire a script writer to... ah.... smooth out the dialogue a bit.

So what did we get.  The beginning and end (but nothing else) of the Clone Wars... and so... cloners churn out an army in the name of the Republic and Yoda decides to fly those bad boys in to rescue two Jedi and a Senator... I guess maybe the Senate ordered them to.  And for what the hell reason does Dooku become Tyrannus?  Dooku is trained like every other little Padawan but then turns out to be an idiot and filled with hate... why?  And then Yoda completely dismisses Dooku's bizarre confession to Obi-Wan.  And in the end Anakin becomes Darth Vader because his mom died, and Padme's in danger, and he really likes Palpatine as a daddy figure and he believes that Sith can extend life based on zero evidence.  And he loves her so much he has to kill Obi-Wan and brutalize her and kill all kinds of baby Jedi. 

Yes the circle is now complete, and it's so satisfying to finally learn what happened.  Not, I think, yes? Hmmm?  Heheheehe!

Think back to Star Wars (ANH) remember the Star Destroyer thundering across the screen bigger and more real than anything you ever saw before.  You were there.  You believed that universe, you believed in miracles.  You knew the good guys had to win, but knowing that didn't change anything, it felt awesome and was deeply satisfying.  You were moved and you saw the world with child-like wonder, for a while anyway.

ESB and RotJ didn't replicate that despite most fans assertions that Empire was the best.  Maybe it was, but it didn't satisfy, it tied things up no more than Matrix Reload(blergh!)... sorry I puked in my mouth a little.  Okay it WAS more satisfying than that, but still.  And really the numbering scheme was dumb.  I understand and if he really never did the prequels it would have worked... though fans would bitch and moan til the end of time, but in limiting himself to three movies to tell this thing that goes all over the map and then barely comes in for a landing (and not really another happy one).

So I've decided that for me Star Wars begins and ends with, well, Star Wars.  So much could have happened before and so much could happen after.  By laying the rest out, Lucas just limited it... it's like the concept of magic.  The more you understand it the less magical it is.  But thanks George and everyone else on that initial band of scruffy rebels who sweat in garages, and put together miniatures, Ben Burtt for all the amazing sound effects, and John Williams for really tying it together, and everyone wearing goofy outfits with their boobs taped up, and the lighting guy for being a big dick.

You all did a great thing, but as we kept going back to the well, the water became less sweet... sadly even bitter.  I guess you really can't go home again.

Pathfinder (RPG) can do almost any fantasy case study #1: Conan

  First, I'm not a 4e hater, it just so happens that some of the good people I game with regularly don't like it. 3.X /d20 is what everyone is most familiar with, have the most books for, and/or generally prefer. Therefore, I have steppedback from 4e (with all hopes of returning) and stepped towards Pathfinder as the current definitive D&D 3e rules set. Now the challenge is to use this sytem to create any sort of fantasy setting rather than just D&D settings, which I love, but stepping outside that paradigm is nice once in a while.

  Now to the end of using Pathfinder as my fantasy bible, I want to prove that Pathfinder can do it all as far as fantasy and sword and sorcery go. It can do LotR. It can do A Song of Ice and Fire. It can do virtually anything in the realm of fantasy. Today I will show that it can do Conan.

  Here I present Pathfinder game statistics for the mightiest warrior of them all and the reason why Barbarian is a class in the first place. 99.999% of the credit for this build belongs to Vincent N. Darlage and his amazing, amazing, amazing Conan fan page wherein the aforementioned gentleman takes us through twenty levels of Conan 3rd edition style. Now every build for Conan in a class system that I have ever seen includes some sort of multiclassing with warrior/thief type combos being universal, AFAIK. However, my feeling is that if barbarian is to be a class at all (and not just a background choice), then the character who inspired that trend should, nay must!, be single classed. But can it be done? Let's see...

Conan the Adventurer

Male human barbarian 16
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +11

DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+4 Dex, +4 chain shirt, +1 dodge, –2 Rage)
hp 235 (16d12+112)
Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +8 (+3 Rage)
Defensive Abilities trap sense +5, improved uncanny dodge, indomitable will

OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee longsword +24/+19/+14/+9 (1d8+8/19–20)
Ranged +20/+15/+10/+5 (by weapon)
Special Attacks rage (30 rounds per day), rage powers (fearless rage, guarded stance +3, intimidating glare, no escape, rolling dodge +3, strength surge +16, superstition +6, unexpected attack)

BASE STATISTICS

When Conan is not raging his stats are:

AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +4 chain shirt, +1 dodge)
hp 203 (16d12+64+16); Fort +14, Will +5
Melee longsword +24/+19/+14/+9 (1d8+8/19–20)
Str 21, Con 19; CMB +21; CMD 35; Climb +24, Swim +11

STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 18, Con 19, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 17
Base Atk +16; CMB +21; CMD 35
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Mounted Combat, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics +23, Appraise +2, Bluff +6, Climb +24, Craft (blacksmithing) +5, Handle Animal +5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (Local) +3, Knowledge (Geography) +6, Knowledge (Nature) +6, Linguistics +6, Perception +11, Profession (seafarer) +7, Ride +15, Search +9, Sense Motive +3, Stealth +13, Survival +14, Swim +11
SQ background (apprentice [blacksmith]), drawbacks (abrasive attitude, impatient), fast movement

Notes on the build:

I used the optional rules for Drawbacks (PF: ToS) and Occupations (PF: ToS). Conan has 16 extra hit points from barbarian being his favored class and for his hit dice I rolled and then compared it to the average, which was higher. I then checked the average against the hit points Mr. Darlage had provided for Conan, which worked out to be something like 11 points above average, so that's what this Conan has, but being single classed he has 30 more hit points than the source version.

It was very tempting to add other classes, and perhaps build Conan as a gestalt character (in which case I would include levels of warlord and probably rogue). I was also tempted to not use any barbarian levels and instead go all fighter, but with a primitive background, but then I came to my 'if he's not a barbarian, then who is?' line of reasoning. You'll note that my Conan lacks heavy armor proficiency but Conan does wear heavy armor now and then, in which case he just lives with the penalties.

Recommended Optional Rules:

Defense: Each class will offer a defense bonus which functions like, and does not stack with, armor bonuses. Classes known to be agile or which stand on the front lines as "tanks" will have a "good" defense progression (3/4 class level), classes that use no armor typically have a "poor" progression (1/2 level). This can be very subjective from GM to GM but I would say the Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger and Rogue should get the "good" progression.
  Using this variant, Conan will have a +12 class bonus to defense, which would replace his armor bonus of +4.

Massive Damage Threshold: Characters have this new statistic and it is equal to Constitution score plus level or hit die. When a character suffers damage equal to or greater than this number, he must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be reduced to -1 hit point, unconscious and dying. Conan's massive damage threshold is 25 or 28 while raging.

Armor Variant: If using the options described above, you may wish to change the effects of armor. My recommendation is to add the armor bonus to the massive damage threshold of each character. In addition I would suggest that armor provides temporary hit points depending on the armor's category; +5 for light armor, +10 for medium armor and +15 for heavy armor. For enhancements from magic or other sources you could add the bonus to one or both of these values and/or apply it to defense.

Taint: I recommend using the updated rules from Heroes of Horror. Despite claims of "low fantasy" or "low magic", magic isn't really all that rare in Conan's tales, but it causes physical corruption and mental depravity and so you can't use it much without becoming an inhuman thing.

Sanity: I further recommend using some type of sanity system (d20 already has one which can be found in 3e's Unearthed Arcana and the d20 version of Call of Cthulhu). Magic and some monsters will threaten a character's grip on sanity. Using taint and sanity together should discourage most player's from selecting spell-casting classes (which you could also ban outright).

Incantations/Rituals: This is the heart of magic use in Hyborian tales; strange rituals performed in dark places to summon even darker powers and creatures. Many, if not all, Hyborian "sorcerers" will actually be non-spellcasters with arcane knowledge and the will to use it despite the dangers.

Final disclaimer

Spellcheck has crippled my spelling... not utterly but I limp now and then, so I'm bound to have typos here and there and I'm very wonky with the netbook, so I might accidentally cut and paste or something. Also I might make a math error here or there or make somekind of technical error with my builds, and finally I'd love to hear feedback, but if my thoughts make you boil with rage do me a favor and just don't.