Starfrost Sparkletoes

by Kendermage

Starfrost Sparkletoes, female kender sorcerer 6/winternorn 3
Strength	10	Fortitude	+4	Armor Class	14
Dexterity	18	Reflex	+4	Flat-footed AC	10
Constitution	11	Will	+9	Touch AC	14
Intelligence	10	Alignment	NG	Base Attack	+4
Wisdom	13	Speed	30 ft.	Melee Attack	+4
Charisma	16	Initiative	+4	Ranged Attack	+8
Hit Points	25	Size	Small

Special:

kender traits, familiar (Starfrost has not yet taken a familiar), cold resistance 5, ice magic, wyrd 1/day, cold summoning

Skills:

Bluff 0 (+3/+7*), Concentration 4 (+0), Heal 0 (+3), Knowledge (arcana)5 (+5), Knowledge (history) 1 (+1), Language: 3, Open Locks 0 (+6), Sense Motive (cc) 4 (+7), Sleight of Hand 0 (+6), Spellcraft 5 (+5), Spot 0 (+3), Survival 2 (+5)

Feats:

Empower Spell, Exotic Weapon (ice crossbow), Self-Sufficient, Spell Focus (Divination

Languages

Common, Icefolk, Kenderspeak, Kharolian, Thanoi

Spells

(save DC 13 + spell level)
4th level (4/day) – arcane eye, wall of ice
3rd level (7/day) – arcane sight, sleet storm, tiny hut
2nd level (7/day) – elemental dart, locate object, mirror image, trace magic
1st level (7/day) – freezing hands (burning hands), comprehend languages, endure elements,
expeditious retreat, feather fall 0 level (6/day) – arcane mark, detect magic, light, mage hand, mending, prestidigitation, ray of frost resistance

Weapons:

masterwork ice crossbow +9 ranged (1d4 damage, crit x2, range inc. 100 ft., piercing), Icicle, +2 icy burst dagger +6 melee or +10 ranged (1d3 + 1d6 cold, crit 19-20/x2 + 1d10 cold, range inc. 10 ft., piecing)

Possessions:

masterwork ice crossbow, 20 ice bolts, Icicle, +2 icy burst dagger, boots of the Icereach (boots of the winterlands), wand of elemental dart (cold) (12 charges), padded cold pouch (minor magic pouch which keeps whatever placed into it ice cold, currently holds five tiny ice scultpures).

Description:

Starfrost is unusual for a kender, She has snow white hair and icy blue eyes. She wears her long hair down over her ears. She dresses in icy blue traveling clothes accented with furry white leggings and gloves, and topped by a white fur cloak. She lives on Icewall Glacier by choice. She loves being surrounded by ice and snow. Starfrost knows when to keep her hands to herself; she would never presume on her friendships by idly handling other people’s personal possessions. Despite this she does possess a small talent for the larcenous arts which she learned as a young kender from her mother. She has a fondness for the delicate ice sculptures crafted by a particular Icefolk craftsman. She has purchased a few of them, and seeks to add more to her collection.

Background:

Starfrost loves the snow. When she started on wanderlust one of her first stops was Icereach, in fact she loved the glacier so much she made it her permanent home. Over time she was able to befriend the Icefolk and learned skills such as how to survive on the glacier and how to wield one of their traditional weapons, the ice crossbow. She endeared herself to the Icefolk by standing with them during several raids by the Thanoi minions of Ice and Freeze; using her magic to defend the village. Her skills in divination and cold magic eventually attracted the attention of an eccentric winternorn, known to the Icefolk as Winterbolt. He took Starfrost under his wing and taught her the traditions of the winternorn. She studied with him for several winters and woke one day to find her master gone. Try as she might she has not been able to find him. She suspects the dragonlords of Icewall Glacier may have had a hand in his disappearance.

Design Notes

Trampas and I were messing around with the random renamer on Behind the Name and I came up with the name Starfrost Sparkletoes. He dared me to post this on the Nexus so here is the end product. Enjoy.

Don’t Ask Me How I’m Doing

Don’t Ask Me How I’m Doing.

I work in retail and one of my biggest peeves is customers asking me how I’m doing?  Why?  They don’t really care how I’m doing.  It’s just small talk while they complete their purchase.  And if they want to know, do they want the truth or just a meaningless platitude like “Okay” or “Not Bad.”  They certainly don’t want to know I’ve worked six days straight and I’m getting pissed off because I keep getting interrupted while trying to finish my side duties so I might be able to go home on time.  So inevitably I give them the meaningless platitude.  Yeah, it’s a lie, but I don’t care.  Personally, I could care less how a customer is doing and I assume they think the same way about me.  They want to get in, pay for their Tic Tacs, Red Bull, and condoms, and get out as quickly as I want them to get in and out.  So let’s stop with the meaningless BS of asking each other how we’re doing.  It’s a waste of freaking time.

Cops: DL Forums

COPS: DL Forums

Cop: Yeah , I’ve only been on the force a couple of months.  Busted a guy in Wisconsin a few weeks back for running an illegal character with 12 themes.  I confiscated his illegal character, and his books.  Been pretty quiet the last few weeks.  A few minutes ago, I got a call about a disturbance on a message board I’m heading over there now to check it out.

Cop pulls up and sees a group arguing.

Cop: What seems to be the problem guys?

Gamer 1: This guy wants to import Ansalonian ideas into Taladas and were staging an intervention to get him not to do it.

Cop: Oh, hell no!

Gamer 2: Tell him we’re right.

Cop: I’m afraid your friends are right sir, it’s against the law to import elements from Anaslon into Taladas.

Gamer 3: I thought I could do what I wanted in my game?

Gamer 1: Tell him what you told me a few weeks ago officer.

Cop: Nope, there are rules that you as a gamer have to follow and a big one is no violating the Prime Directive.

Gamer 3: What does the Prime Directive have to do with bringing Knights of Solamnia and RObed Wizards into Taladas?

Cop: You’re interferring with the internal development of another continent, that’s what it has to do with the Prime DIrective.

Gamer 3: Screw it, I’m gonna do it anyway.  It’s my game.

Cop: Actually Sir, It’s our game.  You just play it and you have to play it by our rules or you can’t play at all.

Gamer 1 & 2 laugh.

Gamer 3: Who the hell are you?

Cop: Officer William Brady, of Wizards of the Coast Standards and Practices Division, Badge # 42.

Gamer 3: So you’re a gamer cop.  I don’t recognize WotC’s authority over my game.  I bought the books, I can do what I want with them.

Cop draws tazer and tazes Gamer 3.  Holsters tazer.

Gamer 3 convulses on ground.

Cop: Can I get you two to help me get him in the car.  A few hours in the Game Deprivation Tank should cure him of such idiotic notions.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Taladan 10 Commandments

The Taladan 10 Commandments

1. I am the one true Taladas, thou shall not have strange continents before me.

2. Thou shall not make unto Taladas any graven thing of Ansalon.

3. Thou shall keep holy the Time of the Dragon.

4. Honor thy creator, Zeb Cook.

5. Thou shall not kill Ansalon and take its stuff.

6. Thou shall not lie with Ansalon and beget abominations.

7. Thou shall not bear false testimony against Taladas.

8. Thou shalll not covet Ansalon’s organizations.

9. Thou shall not covet Ansalon’s history.

10.  Thou shall not covet anything that is Ansalon’s.

Arguing Vices

Gary sat on the couch in his house watching a boring daytime television show.  He was kind of thirsty and walked to the kitchen to get a drink.  He opened the refrigerator door to see his bottle of soda arguing with a long forgotten pack of cigarettes.

“Forget it, Packman,” said the bottle of soda.  “He’s never coming back to you.  I’m the only vice he has now.”

“He’ll come back Bottleneck,” said Packman.  “Just wait until he’s had a bad night at work and he’ll take me up again.”

“Yeah, and how many times has that happened over the last 17 years,” said Bottleneck.  “He’s tried to ditch me countless times, but he always comes back.  Oh look there he is now.”

Gary tried to resist, but his will was weak and he reached into the fridge and took out the bottle of Pepsi.

“See ya Packman,” yelled Bottleneck.

Gary closed the door to the fridge and said aloud, “I need serious help.  This stuff is talking to me now.  Even worse, it’s getting into arguments in the fridge.”

Gary shook his head and returned to the couch.

It Is Better to Light a Single Candle….

A few nights ago I began reading Wizard’s First Rule, and I was amazed when I came to the passage where Zedd is explaining to Richard why people willing serve evil men.

“Because, Richard, many people must be ruled to thrive. In their selfishness and greed, they see free people as their oppressors. They wish to have a leader who will cut the taller plants so the sun will reach them. They think no plant should be allowed to grow taller than the shortest, and in that way give light to all. They would rather be provided a guiding light, regardless of the fuel, than light a candle themselves.” – Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander

It got me to thinking about the majority of people not just in this country, but around the world.  I came to the conclusion that Zedd is right.  Most people would rather have someone take care of them, than to do the work themselves.  These people do free people as their oppressors.  They do rail against the individual in favor of conformity.  All this is done in the name of fairness, but is it fair to stunt the growth of those who aim a little higher and work a little harder to get where they want to be?  I don’t think so.

This mentality has become a sickness across the world and it has seriously infected the United States.  People are looking for the government to save them when they should be seeking out the means to save themselves.  Benjamin Franklin said it best.  “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”  That is what most people in this country are now doing.  They are giving up their freedom in exchange for the pretty promises of the government to make the hurting stop.  Nothing is free, and the price tag for what the government is offering is too high.

Instead of railing against the darkness that threatens to engulf this country, we should all light a single candle.  Use this candle on election night 2010 to change the course before it’s too late

Welfare Reform

I have a simple way to reform the welfare system and help cash starved states maintain service levels.  Put the people on welfare to work.

The people on welfare are already being paid to do nothing.   I work in a convenience store and everyday I see people in nice cars drive up get their food with food stamps then whip out the cash to buy their lottery tickets and beer.  It pisses me off to think we are subsidizing their luxury items.

Many states are laying off people left and right.  Services such as the DMV, Rest Areas, and State Parks  are suffering from the layoffs.  They don’t have the money to employ as many people; or rather they have all the people they need if they’d just use them.  Put the people on welfare to work filling these jobs.  They are already being paid.  This would eliminate the need for layoffs and return staffing levels to acceptable norms.

I say put them to work and let them earn the hand-out they are receiving.  If they don’t want to work these jobs then fine they can perform community service by picking up trash on the side of the roads, cleaning graffiti, or some other task which benefits the community.  They shouldn’t be allowed to just stay home, squeeze out a unit every nine months, and get more money from the taxpayers.  Why should they get to sit on their worthless asses and get what the rest of us have to work for?

It should be workfare, not welfare.  Its a hand-up not a hand-out.  Lets stop treating it like one.

Do we really need Valentine’s Day?

Do we really need Valentine’s Day?

I find the idea of Valentines Day somewhat offensive.  Why do we need a special day to show our loved ones how much we care for them?  If you need a special day in which to show those you love how you feel; then you are doing something wrong.  You should be showing the people in your life that you care about how much you love them everyday; not just one day a year.

Why do you need a special day to send flowers and chocolates or to buy something nice for a significant other?  Why not do these things year-round to show that person how you really feel.  You don’t need Valentine’s Day for that.  Do it because it’s an average day and you just happened to be thinking about them.

Valentine’s Day is all about expectations.  We are expected to give something to our significant others one day a year.  That isn’t a holiday, it’s a hold-up.  It’s just one more in way in which someone else tells us how to feel, what to buy, and what to do.

My advice: make everyday Valentine’s Day.

5 Tips For Being A Good Customer

Here are 5 tips on how you can be a better customer.  It doesn’t matter whether you shop at a grocery store, big box department store, or even at a convenience store.  The ability to shop is a privilege not a right.  These tips can help you have a more positive shopping experience.

1. Respect - The cashier is just like you.  He or she works for a living.  They are not the scum of the universe; they are people.  Treat them as such.  Treat them with respect and they will treat you with respect.
2. Large Bills – Don’t expect the cashier to break your big bills.  Contrary to popular belief, stores are not banks.  They don’t keep large sums of money due to security reasons.  Take some responsibility and break them at the bank yourself.  Next time a bank teller asks how you want your money have them give it to you in small bills.  Cashiers will thank you for it.
3. Cell Phones – Keep your phone conversations to yourself.  Standing in line or at a cash register is not the place to have a phone conversation.  Your conversations are no one’s business but yours.  Not only that , but it is rude, not only to the people behind you, but also to the cashier as well.  If you would not want the federal government listening in on your phone call; then don’t make complete strangers listen to it either.  Use a littel common sense, and some common courtesy; end your calls before approaching the register to complete you transaction.  Give the cashier your undivided attention; just as he does you.
4. Wet Floors – Few things are as annoying to a cashier as someone walking across a floor he just mopped.  Cashiers hate that.  If you see wet floor signs, spot the mopped floor, or are informed by the cashier that the floor is wet; then for heavens sake don’t walk across it; walk around it.  If you must walk on it then apologize before hand.  It lets the cashier know that you are at least aware of your surrounding.  Which brings us to the final tip.
5. Signs – Please pay attention to signs.  I know in this technological age that if it isn’t written on a cell phone screen that most people can’t, won’t, or don’t see it.  Take your eyes off the cell phone screen for a moment and look around.  You’d be surprised how much information is not electronic in nature.  Posted signs often hold important information of which you should be aware, before conducting business.  Don’t just look through the signs as if they aren’t there.  Pay attention to your surroundings.

These five tips can help us to all become better customers.

What it all comes down to is respect.  Treat others the way you’d wish to be treated if the situation were reversed.

A Stimulus Plan That Would Work

If President Obama wants to pass a stimulus bill that will have meaningful result then he should give the money back to the people instead of using it for corporate welfare payments.  Don’t give the hard earned money of the American people to banks, auto makers, and wall street.  Give it to main street.  The $800 billion dollar stimulus passed last year was a joke.  If he’d have given that $800 billion to the people; they could have paid their mortgages, bought the cars, and weathered job loses.  Instead he used it to pay election debts.

His administration continues to print money that isn’t worth the paper its printed on.  Eventually these bad economic decisions are going to bite us in the ass; like when China calls in all their debt markers and ends up getting about 50 states worth of new property in lieu of payment.  You don’t get out of debt by spending more money.  You get out of debt by tightening your belt, cutting back on the extras, and setting some aside for a rainy day.  Americans have to live within their means, its time their government does the same.

And for those who say that Obama is blameless.  He is the President.  The buck stops with him.  For $800 billion dollars he bought the blame.