Kesedrith

I think you did a pretty good job of it yourself.

And not a terrible synopsis of the thinking that went into both the original statement and then the redaction of that later. A lot easier than wading through the papers on 55 Cancri e for certain. There's other issues with the original hypothesis too. For instance not all of the carbon on Earth, not even a significant portion of it, formed diamond. A much larger portion went into forming things like carbonates, graphite, and atmospheric gases. Therefore even if 55 Cancri e were to have as much carbon as oxygen, it is unlikely that a significant portion, much less all of it, would have been incorporated into diamond. Graphite is the more likely end member, barring significant water, and if there was a fair amount of water, then carbonates are more likely results. There's also issues like core differentiation, it's conditions (were they reducing or oxidizing?), and other factors that come into play on whether you get a result of diamond, graphite, carbonates, or exsolved gas. In short, a "diamond planet" is very unlikely, even if the starting materials are carbon rich. That said, this discussion does bring up the issue that the SF trope of a "mineral rich" or "mineral poor" world is quite plausible. Anne McCaffrey's Pern was uninteresting for colonization by all but an agriculturally minded group because it was 1) remote in location and 2) it had very low mineral wealth. My point here being that the range of planets out there has only expanded, and you could very well have a system where the worlds are iron poor (by comparison), and therefore almost all of it is locked up in the planets's cores, meaning there's unlikely to be any real industry in metals, but perhaps it's that much richer in silicon/silica so they produce a lot of grit/sand, concrete slurry, and so forth. Maybe such systems are also enriched in carbon too though, and therefore are good sources for organic chemicals or even agriculture. They might be also be so biologically diverse, and temperature stable over large latitudes, that they're the proverbial "pleasure planets" that appear in SF media, covered in lush rain forests and the like. Then again, all of this may be just worrying about incorporating too much realism in your space opera.

Wow! Yeah, I think I'll stick with those put out by Seager, Lissauer & de Pater, and that crowd. Just...wow.

You know, I can see that web comic panel now........

I'll have to second Netzilla's general idea, and reinforce that it doesn't seem like you're describing a system where spells can just fizzle or BANG!, but where they just may not work as intended always. Therefore slapping on Side Effect onto spells, and then let success or failure decide whether the "weird" is beneficial, indifferent, or negative, with you rolling "effect dice" behind the screen to determine just how "bad" it is. That would allow -you- to throw in something like instead of the fireball just being bigger on a great success, maybe it's actually smaller....but took on Indirect and just bypassed the wall the targets were hiding behind. That "Cloud of Fog" the caster tried to put up? Yeah, no, it's a "Cloud of Butterflies"! Same penalties to seeing through it (there are a -LOT- of butterflies), but it let's you have some fun with the "Holy crap, what was that!" factor. Just make sure that your potential spellcasting players understand that, "Weird stuff is going to happen."

Yeah, we had a "Night of a Thousand Nut Shots" one time that had a ninja character's name shifting from "Night Dragon" to "Nut Dragon". What I was really going to point out that on calling shots, there are also "rules" you can use for allowing a call of "high shot" that doesn't roll against any location below the waist, and all sorts of similar location roll modifiying calls.....if you want to add that complication. The point being that people can aim high or aim low, not trying to hit particular locations, but simply localize a zone. Lower penalty than calling a specific location, but beats a sniper who's almost certainly aiming for center of mass (if not the head) and hitting.....their foot!

4th and 5th being my editions, I sort of have to chime in, and on that, I have to agree that if they are separate personalities and the like, and especially if they have their own abilities and powers, then that's the Duplication with appropriate limitations that Lucius and the palindromedary point out. If they can both use the body independently, but are restricted to the same power set and such, then that starts becoming just Extra Limbs, and that then becomes the special effect for some things like Enhanced Senses, extra Speed (each head orchestrating their own sets of attacks), and so forth. Then we can get down to the point where it's just an odd, natural thing of the species (like D&D Ents), and then it's just 5pts. for the Extra Limb, and maybe the justification for some Disadvantages.

Fictional, yes. Anime worlds would also lend a fictional backup to it turning out okay. Realistically though, that's not how it would go at all.

Of course being a penniless baron may be why they're out adventuring too, so it could be a good plot hook. Your lands are all rocky stubble and with no ore or stone quarry to speak of, so how do you pay the king's taxes and keep your title and lands? My thinking is just that there's a lot of obligation that goes along with a title of nobility. If nothing else, there's the expectations on behavior and lifestyle. It's not just getting a title and being able to lord it over anyone beneath your station.

Fair enough.

And so this thread reminds me of a modern fantasy story (House Between Worlds by Marion Zimmer Bradley) in which there are nodes where it's easy (easier) to cross between planes. One of those in San Francisco is a comic book store. Anyway the point is that yes, I've run one game where a single instance of EDM would have been allowed. The PC's were eventually going to have to stop Orcus from entering their world with his demon army through the Demon Gate. A way to prevent the latest Demon War though, would be to get through, somehow, and destroy Ocus's mace. All they had to do would be to gain enough support (the campaign was called "Heir Apparent") to get an army to the gate, figure out how to activate it before Orcus did, and then go through, get his mace, and destroy it. Easy. Right?

I like the idea that such a sword would be desired by necromancers, as the true power would be that you could summon, and bind, the souls of the blood that went into its forging. Maybe I'm just sick and twisted in the head though.

I've always thought that one of the biggest perks of a title of baron or higher is good ole noblesse oblige. You can call on your "cousins" - fellow lords - in their demesne and pretty much expect a night of food and a place to rest, whether you're penniless or not. You're not, after all, a member of the common rabble, and hence worthy of some consideration. Commoners would also be expected to defer to you, but this carries the obligation that you may be called upon to render judgement (low justice) if the local lord isn't available, or even defend the poor peasants. You can also be called upon to render service to your liege. Personally, I've always thought that the costs for the title are too high....-UNLESS- the lands, servants, incomes, and so forth come along with it. Which require either paying the points for them, as stated above (Demesne, Money, Followers, etc.) or earning them through the course of the campaign. Without them though, as above, I've never seen that the title alone carries that much more benefit compared to the obligations that come with it. After all, if you're a baron, and your count or duke are called by the king to form an army and come to render service, guess who that means they're calling to form the knightly cadre of that army?

It's been suggested that the items could be used for an extreme evil - bringing the demon/devil involved to the mortal plane in its true form, rather than its limited avatar it must adopt, etc. - as well as making the claiming of the item a moral dilemma, and yes, actually -not- returning the items is the true test. For instance, the bow is in the hands of a dryad trying to save her forest. She's -very- beautiful (test for the half-elf), but an arrow shot from the bow is inordinately accurate (bonus to location shots), and perhaps can "always" find the heart of an enemy that's named (test for the half-orc, dwarf, and warrior as what greedy sob wouldn't go after that, what prideful warrior wouldn't want a bow that makes him nigh invincible, and what cleric full of wrath wouldn't want to be able to absolutely smite his enemies?) In short, taking the bow now renders the dryad and her forest dead. Without it she simply cannot defend her forest against the powers arrayed against her. Several characters are tested against their sin, and they are given the test of returning the bow despite the cost, or leaving it where it is, or even finding someway of rendering the powers arrayed against the dryad defeated and moot, and thus taking the bow won't be a hardship. (Ah, but will following such a path tempt the dwarf to wrath, the warrior to pride,....) The above scenario can be altered to put the mirror in place of the bow. (Perhaps it allows the dryad to see where the enemy will strike from, and with what forces, and so she can marshal her own strength to always be able to counter.) Probably it could be altered to fit any of the items, and this scenario isn't unique. I'm just not sure that people would appreciate a five page post for me to synopsis all of the possibilities. The long and short is that there are truly numerous ways that acquiring each item can be a test of multiple sins in and of itself, but can also be just an overall test of "right vs. wrong," with multiple "outs" for how to fix it so they can take the item or they can just choose not to hamstring the entity currently holding it. Finally there's the biggie: knowing what they all do, possibly even finding out what the ultimate goal of acquiring all of them is, do you actually turn them over and say that the Big Evil is just none of my business, bringing Hell on Earth, (but at least you're not in the real Hell!) or do you hold onto them (assuming you took them in the first place), and risk the trip back to torment or use the last hours to try and lay down the smack on the Professor and his hellspawn pal!

In most of the campaigns I've been in, that seems about right. If you're trying to create 2 from Dark Matter especially, because those nanites she needs aren't exactly the most common things in the galaxy. They could also be partially or completely turned off by that field her creator had.