I am with Twitch on this one. Dwarves have beards end of story. In fact if I was playing a dwarf that lost a beard I would go into hiding until it grew back.

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H-here, b-bunny, bunny, bunny...

I'm with Twitch and Jwm on this one. All dwarves have beards. Though I did always imagine the women as having thinner/shorter beards than the men.

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I swear, now you're just doing it to piss me off.

Tolkien made the distinction between male and female dwarves. The females did not have beards but they disguised themselves as males when out of the mines. That probably gave rise to the assumption there is not visible difference between males and females.

Terry Pratchett's dwarves all have beards but then again in the Discworld, I quote, amongst the dwarves there is no feminine pronoun or once the children are on solids no such thing as women's work.

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Nihil est ab omni partum beatum.
(Nothing is an unmixed blessing)

I like Pratchett's version of Dwarves better, he seems to give them a well rounded culture. Tolkien didn't touch so much on the Dwarves as he did with Elves, Hobbits and Man.

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Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

Well, I'm sort of annoyed.  Spent most of yesterday afternoon looking for an online gaming group to join, and couldn't find one.  Either I couldn't work out exactly how to join, the game was closed, or I couldn't use any of the characters I want to try - A quarter Gold Dragon/quarter Celestial/half Human Paladin, A half Celestial/half Human Paladin, a Half Gold Dragon/half Dwarf Fighter, or a winged (haven't decided on the race) Rogue.

I get the feeling the dragon/celestial would probably die rather quickly due to a lack of hit points, but has the potential to become really powerful.

Truths all told, I'm not surprised, but maybe that's because every time someone tries to start with an LA higher than +2, chills go down my spine. It's hard to find games with openings at higher levels. I personally try not to use the half-whatever templates when I'm trying to jack up a CR because I need a really powerful monster for whatever reason. (I have stats for a Half-Celestial Dire Lion of Legend, for this  reason. I used it as a temple guardian.)

If your characters are getting rejected because of their ECL, take a look at these: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/sp There are progressions for half-celestials there, I think. For a winged rogue, I'd say half-fey and make it Cha-based

I've been having to turn people away, but if a spot in my homebrew game opens up, I'll give you a holler.

Oh, and on the actual topic of this thread, I got Complete Arcane for Christmas and become extremely fond of the warlock class and the Blood Magus PrC.

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I swear, now you're just doing it to piss me off.

It wasn't so much that my characters were getting rejected because of their ECL, it was more that several games only allowed Humans, while others only allowed Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs (and Half-Elves/Orcs).

And after reading over the races a few more times, I was thinking a Winged Elf Rogue or Mage.  Always wanted to try an Avariel since meeting Aarie in BG2.  Shame we couldn't have her with her wings there.

What's you're homebrew game?  Is it the post-Roman Britain one that was discussed in another thread, because that does sound cool.  Just a few possible problems, in that I'd really need to play by posting somewhere (can't play by email since I don't check it often enough ), and I'd rather play a G or PG game (as far as sex goes.  Don't mind too much if it happens, just don't personally want to be reading about it).

*Edit*  And the link you provided was quite useful - if I can ever find somewhere to use it.

Nah, you're thinking of Morrigan's meatworld GURPS game. Mine's a PbP game on another forum that's just getting started. It's mostly standard fantasy, molded to my taste. I originally created the setting for stories I write. I can link you to the world setting stuff, if you're interested in looking at it. No openings right now, but if someone drops I'll let you know. And yeah, that's a cool link. I used it to play a werewolf ex-paladin.

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I swear, now you're just doing it to piss me off.

Sure.  I can be a lurker until there's an opening or I decide that it's not for me after all.  And I could use the time to familiarise myself with how a game works on a forum.

Sure, here's the actual World setting thread. It says AD&D, but it's not- It's 3.5, but I recycled the forum and never changed it.

http://www.snotling.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2053&forum=39

And here's my art thread. Over the past few pages, I've ranted about the elves in my game quite a bit. Starts here, and continues for a few pages. I'll condense it and add it to the World thread soon, hopefully.

http://www.snotling.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1022&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=660

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I swear, now you're just doing it to piss me off.

Love the details you've put into your world.  Now, have you actually started yet?  If so, can I get a link to see what has happened so far?

*Edit*  And, now I think about it, could you give me the character creation rules, limits and stuff now?  I figure it'd save some time for when an opening does come up if you already have my character and back story.  I was thinking of making a female Aasimar Paladin, about to embark on a quest to find out more about her divine heritage (about to start the Aasimar/Half-Celestial transition class described in that Savage Progression article series).  What do you think?

25 pt buy, start at level 2.  Any class in the PHB is open, as are the warlock and warmage from Complete Arcane, and my homebrew Moonblade class (http://www.snotling.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1657&forum=2) who are CG holy warriors of the moon god- they are to rogues what paladins are to fighters. We haven't started yet, I'm still getting character sheets and stuff back. Here's the intro I gave them all too.

"You started out in Blackwater, the capital city of the Stalan empire. When a half-orc bard named Moss Trencaval put out word that she planned to head for the Westlands, and any other headed that way were welcome to join her, you came. It wasn't that unusual- the roads are safer when not travelled alone. Your reasons vary- your intentions may be noble, or nothing more heroic than boredom. Perhaps you are a Westerner yourself, and have seen enough of the Empire and are heading home. But you're heading west, and a weeks journey finds you at the gates to the Dwarven nation of Hammerfell, at the citadel of Tardeth's Hand."

And that sounds good. I've heard back from everyone but the druid and the mage, but even if both of them drop, the first two spots go to two people I had to turn away. However, my brother, the cleric might not have time to play, so if he pulls out...

Actually, if you're interested, I can make an elf progression if you play a half elf (half-elves use the elven stats in this game, and elves are much more powerful, LA +2.) That would end up working really well with the premise for the game.

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I swear, now you're just doing it to piss me off.

Sounds interesting, but I think I'd rather not have to deal with rabid mobs out to kill me for being too Elven.  Possibly a Half-Elf/Aasimar, which means I'd have to find out about two different heritages, and might have some of the more moderate NPCs thinking that Elves can't be all bad if an angel has a child with one.  And maybe the divine blood mixing with the Elven could make it possible to bring forth the full power of both bloodlines.  You decide, let me know, and I'll start making her.

Go for it! Just make sure you start at ECL 2- so one level planetouched half-elf, one level paladin. I'd reccomend being a Rintasi paladin, a Knight of the Lion. Of the two orders worshipping Rinta/Ruenet, the war deity, they're the more flexible.

The stats for a combined Planetouched half elf, because I'm bored.

+2 Wis, +2 Cha, +2 Dex, -2 Con
Darkvision 60'
+2 racial bonus on Spot, Search and Listen checks. Detect secret doors as elf. 
Immunity to sleep
+2 vs. enchantments  
Daylight 1/day
Resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and electricity 5.
Automatic Languages: Common, Draconic, Elven (+ Westtalk or Azijanzoku if app.) Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Gnome, Halfling, Sylvan, Quickling,  Westtalk, Azijanzoku
Favored Class: Paladin.
Level adjustment +1.

And the three kinds of elves, for the purposes of the progession thing.

Sun Elves: Dark skinned, Dark haired, superior low-light vision, bonuses to Str and Wis. Spell-like abilities pertaining to light and good spell resistance.
Moon Elves: Fair coloring, average dark and low-light vision, bonuses to Int and Cha. Spell-like abilities undecided.
Drow: As PhB.

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I swear, now you're just doing it to piss me off.

Okay.  Not sure which Elf line she'll be from.  What I was reading about your world suggests that drow are unredeemable, so can't really see a Celestial falling for one.  As for the Sun and Moon Elves, Str and Wis would help in combat and resisting most spells, while Int and Cha would help with skills and Diplomacy - not to mention several Paladin abilities.  Leaning towards Moon Elf heritage, but a final decision can wait a while.

What gear limitations do we have (creation gold, limits on spending for specific items, starting gold, etc.)?

Back story so far.  Found abandoned as a baby outside a chapel/temple dedicated to Rinta.  The clerics could immediately see the curse of Elven parentage upon her face, and were about to turn her over to the authorities, when one of them noticed her golden eyes - a mark of the divine.  Seeing such a child placed before them, they decided to watch after her, and see which part would become dominant.  Their faith was rewarded, for as she grew, she displayed a keen interest in learning about Rinta, so much so that only those who thought she would become a cleric were suprised at her call to join the Paladins.

What do you think?

*Edit*  Better explain the 25 point buy for me.  One of the books I downloaded explained the system, but I can't find it at the moment.  And is it 1 for 1 the whole way?

*Edit again*  Found the Point buy system in the DMG.  Think I the information I need to create her now.