Alex Martin's page

Good to know some insght on this, thanks.

Mysterious is the wrong word to use; but the intent to make them true bad-guys is totally on par with what I was thinking. My comment was a reference to them as something alien and evil to the PCs; not the cool, misunderstood anti-hero race it's sort of developed into over the years. Heck, even the implication that they all aren't spider-worshippers sounds interesting. So yeah, that sounds pretty cool to hear.

Offending Dragon halfling

Urza, when you mentioned the Dragon cover, I knew which one you were talking about - you just beat me to getting in an image post.;-)

Hey now, what's offending about her? That's a classic Larry Elmore fantasy girl - it just happens to be his interpretation of a halfing. Original image here. I was just discussing this in another thread - Elmore's illustrations tend make fantasy races look more human and more apealling as a result, in my opinion. It may not be the best interpretation, but she's still pretty hot!

Getting back to the subject in question:

What's weirdly about it? She's a hot cowgirl.

Yes, she's defintely got that vibe going on. ;-)

More to my previous question, can Mike or James tell me which person illustrated her? My guess is Andrew Hou; but I wanted to make sure.

Also,I have been thinking about the pedestals. We might try standing on the runes in the other hall and see if that affects the items on the pedestals.

Whooo...sorry I've been out of pocket for the last few days. My workload exploded due to some emergencies; I've got a wicked head cold; and my car's transmission just went ka-put! Other than that, feeling fine really ;-)

I asked about this in the main thread when I tried something similar. I don't know if Tarren figured we didn't have time for me to get results; or nothing happend. Maybe it's a group effort.

I actually like Erol Otis version quite a bit (but that was when I was young and first in love with the Game, being 40 now, Erol Otis was part of my generation). I don't think that style is contemporary enough for today's audience, but I still tip my hat to it. That's classic for me.

Makes me wish you could kinda merge Elmore and WAR's styles and see what it would look like...

I totally agree that compared to today's fantasy art styles, Erol's way classic by comparison. In fact, I think that why Goodman Games had him do artwork for their Dungeon Crawl Classics line - to evoke that feeling. I just hearken back to it because his style (along with the old Fiend Folio entry) seems to bring that freaky/strange feel the Paizo looks like they want to reinvest in their take on the Drow.

I don't think the emphasis the past 15 (or is more like 20) years both in writing (by folks like Salavatore and Cunningham) and artwork (by WAR, Brom, et al) on the Drow was ever bad. I think it fleshed them out in ways that were unique and certainly interesting. But, I guess the familiarity it's created has made them seem like just dark elves and less mysterious in a campaign setting. That's why I'm very interested to see what qualities Paizo emphasizes to make them seem like the "mysterious" Drow again.

Getting back on track, if you could somehow merge Elmore and Reynolds styles together....OMG! That would be like awesome Artgasm! ;-)

I also tend think it is Poss as well - seems a good match to the article.

My question in correlation is - which artist drew her? I've noticed some of the other images seem similar in style - but I can't tell which artists of the ones listed it is. Anyone know?

OK - totally barging in, so apologies. I just wanted to say I've been reading your adventures in the Pbp. This latest bit of exposition I find to be both really amazing and also unintentionally funny.

Amazing - RP-wise. You guys have managed to really express the different characters very well. You seem like a very mismatched group; and yet the whole Gaderan Lamm situation is really working to make you partners, if not friends. ;-)
Nice job on keeping the story interesting.

Funny - I'm just slightly laughing because here you are, in the hold of a nasty ship, spiders lurking in the corners to pounce, fumbling around in near dark for a secret door. And NOW you pick the time to have an interpersonal discussion/existential analysis? I think its more funny because I've seen my own players do it in the middle of combats when I DM.

Great stuff in any case; keep up the great Pbp! It's been entertaining to read.

I'm joking. It's pretty much a bull rush but with different flavour.

Sad part is, I'd be willing to try it. Especially right now...I'd like to drop kick that hag back down into the well. ;-)

Just wanted to add that was a nicely done segueway for adding the extra domain. It's appreciated. I hope I'm not upping the "drama" too much; we seem to be having a good old time with action mayhem and randy socialzing.

From my money Brom is the King of the Drow, but I also like Justin Sweet's work (from the icewind dale games) for a dirtier look. I also love WAR's drow Tempest from the Shadows of Istivin arc cover.
Brom's Drizzt
Justin Sweet

I'm liking Steve Prescott's new look for the Drow, but of course I've also liked WAR's take as well. But mentioning other artistic references, I'm kinda going "old-school" in my thinking - back to when the drow where a little more mysterious and creepy.

Erol Otis use to draw them with this bizarre look - I think it was the combination of solid black and ornate armors. (You'll have to scroll down to Vault of the Drow and the Slaver's portrait)

Although it's hardly the most unique take for Larry Elmore, I also remember liking his Drow look in the The Offering. Probably way too human-looking, but I think it captures the right feel of sexy-creepy that Drow seem to have. Also, this was the first time I had seen somebody give a Drow a different skin tone than solid-black, which was kind of unique at the time. (Dragon had this as a poster sized image in one of their issues; I think I need to dig it out and see.)

Great work! I'm starting to get my video editing itch on.

da-dun tssst! (toms and hi hat)

Here all week. Try the veal and don't forget to tip your waiter! (Shuffles off with a cane and straw hat)

surely tho that is what a rogue craves...total badas* mis*ion.

Sure he does, but don't call him Shirley! :-))

Thanks for the clarification, good sir.

OK - made the adjustments. What's the call on MW bolts vs. MW crossbows? If both are used, do the attack bonuses stack?

I was thinking we could slap on a war domain, leave everything else as it is, and give him a weapon to use or something so he doesn't have to sit there missing with his crossbow 10 times or whatever.

I think the mages with their combat wands are happy, and the druid with his premature wildshape is pretty snazzy, so I got a cleric guy who's shooting the walls up with crossbow bolts; I should hook him up too somehow.

I usually don't mind playing clerics; most of my parties tend to jump in and get mangled enough that I'm really busy. I'm kind of enjoying playing the somewhat straight arrow to the wackiness - like "what the hell have I gotten myself into?". You are certainly keeping it open and flexible for all, Heathy.

Overall, that sounds like a good idea. As long you don't think we'll get too unbalanced - I'll add the War domain to my list. Also, the heavy mace is fine by me; so no worries about weapon changes on that front. Although a snazzy new crossbow (or maybe some magical bolts would be cool) wouldn't be frowned. Anything else I would need to do as far as character changes?

Let me know what is acceptable and workable for you, man. I don't want to bog you down with more work; I appreciate just getting a chance to throw in some feedback.

Thanks for asking. I know this sounds dumb, but I don't know that I have a good reason. Something just hasn't clicked, and it isn't your style of DMing.
This game has been frickin' hilarious and great fun; so it's not your game.

I would probably say that I am playing the character too conservatively, and that clerics tend to have that quality of "needed now" then not at all. So I either need to make myself more impactful or just be more attentive when combat starts.

Also, and this isn't a criticism, the pace seems so rapid fire that by the time I respond I feel like I am totally lost - that's kind of making it hard to keep up - which in turn makes it hard for me to get in a good post. (By good, I mean accurate and helpful - I tend to be a perfectionist on these things.)

Finally, you're not inaccurate when you say I am swamped with work - my window of response tends to be either early morning or late evening. In other Pbp's, I usually only respond once/twice a day - and the pace has been such that it isn't an issue. Some combats have taken a week to finish; ours seem like they are done in a hour of Pbp. Again, not a critique, just not used to it.

So, you can call me a lazy SOB or just attention deficient. But I plan on sitting down later today and get back in the flow of things. I just wanted to apologize, because I just haven't been paying attention like I should. It maybe partially a class thing; but I just need to do some adjustments as well.

Since Rellios has no smithing skills, I'm afraid that I can't add much to the conversation. Klyndak working the forge while the rest of us press on might be workable - although we probably shouldn't wander too far.

My only other suggestion would be that Rellios could go back to the main entrance; sneak out and see if he can snatch some food from the goblin camps - especially if they are away from camp for some extended time frame. Not saying it's a good idea.

If there was some wildnerness within easy access - I could try using his Survival skills to hunt some food in the valley. Maybe by climbing down the tower?

OK - just now getting back into posting, and was under the impression I was "off-camera" anyhow. I hope I'm not in trouble...should I be expecting a whipping with a wet noodle?

Sorry, Heathy.

No offense meant, I was just being silly. Logos's comment about the stupid newbs winning the edition wars simply struck me as funny.
Cheers! :)

Ahh, I figured as much. I had much the same sentiment...thanks for the clarification. :-)

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers! :P

David, I have ask...if only because you seem like an insightful fellow, and have at least parsed your conversations intelligently. Is that statement a commentary directed at Logos or everyone else on this thread?

Becuase, despite a few raw or rude commentaries from both those who like 4e or don't, this thread seems to be a decent forum for discussion. I apologize if I am missing your point that it was intended as cute sarcasm.

Totally off the deities a sec...thanks Tarren for the mapage. It keeps me from getting too confused ;-)

I like having a leader in "Kerrigan's Keep" - because of that very definite focus... that and Orlan is very entertaining!

Ditto on Klyndak! It's nice to have his focus as a reference.

I believe also time zone is a factor, I'm on the east coast so when I get up most of the US isn't online yet, but when the west coast gets up, it gets slooooww. May be just my perception but....

Same here for me. East Coast time - early am is great. By mid-day, I'm seeing a drop in response.

***Crickets chirping***

OK, maybe it was just me that was confused.

If no one disagrees with the suggestion or observation, can I at least get someone from Paizo to say, "Thanks, we'll take it under consideration," when they have some time.

Anybody else having trouble with getting on the site today? It's been sporadic for me.

Have had a hard time getting on all day. Keep getting delays or bumped off the site. I plan on posting tonight.

Has anybody though about Trying to run Mass effect as a table top or even pbp rpg. It's base on d20 like most bioware games. I think it would be fun to play in an almost mass effect wold letting the Gm and players colour it with there own styles and giving different personality to a very cool concept. What you folks think?

It sounds like a good idea - my guess would be you would want to use the d20 modern system, possibly in combination with d20 future supplement. You might have to sit down and do some pencil work on properly applying perks/abilities to the armor and weapons. I suppose if you're a d20 modern fan, you could also use the Arms book that came out as well. Possibly the biggest question would be the races - how do you balance abilities and traits, etc.

If Bioware has any pdf's or other materials for such an endeavor as conversion sets; that would certain be a bonus in doing the job faster.

It certainly has the potential in terms of flavor and background to create a great storyline or series of adventures.

Financial problems????

I meant that in the "we have to pay our bills and employees" way to keep making cool products. I'm not hinting that Piazo's having any kind of financial troubles...at least none I'm aware of.

Sorry if I'm starting rumors...although that cold fusion thing would be kinda cool!

Just wanted to add that the color really looks great! Nice details, like how you amazingly done the scrollwork swirls is in Seoni's belt and dress. I'm comparing your take compared to Wayne Reynolds.

I will say, in looking at them both, that you did a great job on reproducing the details. However, I am glad you didn't feel the need to give her a "red/sunburned nose" like Wayne did. ;-)

Great stuff!

As many have said before me, The Forbidden Kingdom is quite entertaining. But, I feel I must say that while watching it I couldn't shake the feeling of it being a mad combination of The Never-Ending Story and The Karate Kid.

One review I read compared it as a variation on Last Action Hero, with the Kung-fu/Martial Arts' cliches and themes replacing gun-toting action heroes and urban landscapes. He mentioned it might have been called "Last Kung-fu Hero" instead of the Forbidden Kingdom.

I really enjoyed the movie - the beautiful action sequences combined with the mythical qualities that are evoked really made it appeal to me. It's a movie I'll probably go see again just to get a few of my friends to watch it. However, I'll admit that I did agree with one thing the reviewer said:

" Most people are very surprised...they had no idea there was a kid involved at all. That's because the TV spots left that detail out after the poor response the original teaser and trailer received. Instead of focusing on what the story is about, the TV spots centered around the fact that Jet Li and Jackie Chan are in a movie together. This is yet another example of trailers giving a false impression of how a film is really going to play out."

If I hadn't read something about this before going to see the movie, I would have been equally surprised. When I found out that tangent of the movie, I'll admit I was more hesitant - but my disappoint was minimal after watching the movie.

My apologies if this seems an obvious observation and already been discussed elsewhere, but I wanted to bring it up for future updates.

In our playtesting Pbp, when my character leveled, I got a chance to study the new Rogue Talents. This one seemed a little ambiguous to me:

Combat Trick: A rogue may gain a combat maneuver feat in place of a rogue talent.

So:
a)What would be considered a combat manuever feat? Improved Trip?, Improved Feint?, Improved Disarm?, Improved Grapple?, Improved Bull Rush, etc? Any others besides the "Improved" ones?

b)Also, some of these feats have prerequisites - are they bypassed if you choose these feats as a Rogue Talent?

So basic conclusion/observations:

a)It's misworded - it should just say "combat feat" - nothing has been delineated specifcally as a "combat maneuveur feat." My guess was based on what they call "Combat Manuevers" in the section on the CMB. They describe actions involving: Bullrush, Disarm, Grapple, Overrun, Sunder, Trip, and Feint.

So, the assumption would be that any Feat that describes these specific actions could be picked. Essentially the seven "Improved" feats in the SRD.

b)It seems that based on the fact that it's an ability, any prerequisite the feat might have is bypassed. There was some question of this being unbalanced. I'm concluding that the design process thinking is that:
1)You can only pick one of these feats
2)It's a one time choice on the Rogue Talents list
Therefore, it can't be too unbalanced - maybe.

*********************************************************************
My suggestion for the Paizo folks:

1) Please clarify what is considered a Combat Manuever ability for this Rogue Talent. A list would be nice. This was done with two other Rogue Talents by specifying Weapon Focus and Weapon Finesse.

2) Please make sure to note whether the Feat's prerequisites must be incorporated if the Rogue wishes to pick that feat. Otherwise, perhaps a Feats listing (again), with requirements conditional to taking it as Talent.

That's all I got for now. I hope this is helpful. Any thoughts on this? Does it seem obvious to everyone else how the talent works?

Thanks to FabesMinis, Tarren Dei, Nspicer, and Wicht for helping me with their observations.

Good question. No idea. If that was something you wanted to do, I'd want opinions. Is it something you want to do?

Not right away. It seemed a little ambiguous, and there were other things that looked more interesting. But if we survive to level 4, I may consider it.

It's misworded - it should just say "combat feat" - there's no such thing as a combat maneuveur feat, it's a misnomer. It should read something like "a rogue can select any combat feat (p53) for which he meets the pre-requisites". Some feats use the CMB, yes, but nowhere is a distinction made between a combat feat that doesn't use it and one that does.

See, that's a pretty good way of describing where my confusion with the rogue talent's description lay. It doesn't really specify.

My guess was based on what they call "Combat Manuevers" in the section on the CMB. They describe: Bullrush, Disarm, Grapple, Overrun, Sunder, Trip, and Feint. So, my assumption would be that any Feat that describes these specific actions could be picked, such as the "Improved Bullrush, etc."

And despite the fact that some of those feats have prerequisites, my suspicion is that the intent is to be able to take it without having to meet those conditions.

The conclusion I came to is that it wouldn't be too unbalanced since:
a) The rogue can only pick one of those feats.
b) You can only pick that talent once.

So essentially it's a one feat addition that you are taking with no chance to add more of them.

In any case, I may go ahead and submit a post on the boards on this.

By the By, why hasn't Rellios been making rolls to stabilize?

Actually, I wasn't certain if that rule was in effect until somebody mentioned it...oh well. In another game I was playing, it required a heal check for me to make a stabilize roll - but I think that was just a different interpretation. Maybe if I had made them one at time it would be better.

This one of those moments when I wished I had taken the Lone Wolf feat.

Two Words: Cold fusion

It seems someone at Paizo found out that they lined the toilet pipes with paladium. Whoosh! Instant energy...Paizo's financial troubles are solved so they can get back to work on making cool Pathfinder and Golarion stuff. :-)

What? I can't dream a little dream?

My only comment at this point is:

I have been doing a playtest Pbp (Foray into the Foehammers) with Alpha rules, more for fun and curiosity - but we planned it from scratch and so it was seemless so far.

We seem to be doing OK with standard rules - and while there's some interesting aspects to the sorceror class - I am not absolutely dying to switch unless there's a majority interest. Also, multi-classing hasn't been covered, so in my case I don't know if there would be more changes later.

So, I'm on the fence - mostly its not a big deal. I just brought it up because I know some Pbp's have been doing the switch in mid-game.

I'm an old AD+D head, and played my first sorcerer in Sept. (and my first 3.5 game-yes I'm a grognard) but now I'm an ALPHA(2) tester-oooh, shiny! anyway that seems like too huge an advantage...take 3 levels of wizard and 1 of sorcerer. Or it seems like alot of keeping track of which spells you cast etc

Hail the Grognard! Seriously, I know how you feel. I was a mostly 1st and 2nd edition player for many years. I had dabbled and read alot on 3rd edition, but probably only really got into about 2 years ago.

I haven't studied the wizard/sorceror combos, but I would admit that there would need to be some bookkeeping for spell reference. Kayos' approach might be best - to either focus on one or the other for the sake of simplicity. Just my initial thinking.

I don't know if anyone's caught this from earlier this month, but there's a newer Hellboy 2 trailer that went up.

Perhaps it's too early in the summer movie season for this, but I am really pumped for this movie! This anticipation was what disappointed me some with first movie - so I try to keep a cooler perspective, but this trailer makes it looks so awesome again.

I don't know too much about the Hellboy Universe, but just what I see looked impressive - albino elf-people; metal-gauntleted trolls; a bizarre winged seer?; earth elementals; shape-changers, and of course clock-working looking golems that form a destructive army. It may all be more impressive in my imagination, but it makes me want to run a D20 modern arcana setting.

Also, the offbeat humor and Ron Pearlman's Hellboy style just makes it seem like fun. I hope it won't disappoint.

By the way, my latest comment isn't intended to rush you, Pat. I'm just trying to play to Fraz's impulsiveness; no complaint intended. Just to let you know.

I haven't had much time to sit down and read it yet, but it looks the PF Alpha 2 release is out and there's some interesting changes for the sorceror class.

We seem pretty set as it is for rules system; but if there's any plans to change or adjust - let me know what is workable on that class. I don't necessarily think wholesale change is needed for the character; but just wondering for reference.

Back later on.

It looks like - skills-wise - we'll need to do some revisions on how theye are calculated, especially with cross-skills vs. class skills. Also, did I understand correctly that there's also a difference in a trained skill if its within your class?

I had talked about maybe doing a bit of multi-classing into fighter; but since I see no further details or additions on that front - I'll probably just stick with rogue. We seem to be doing OK (pausing for Evil DM laugh here) with the current level of firepower.

I need to sit down and give it a good read - not something to do right now. Need sleep.

I feel like we're the rebels awaiting the Imperial raiding party in Star Wars IV - all ready to shoot at them when they come charging.

Oh wait....that didn't end to well for the rebels, did it? ;-)

There's quite a few sources that come to mind, but my first suggestion might be a composer named Jeanine Cowen. Basically, her stuff is electronic, but more mood than anything - some of it has a haunting quality that might fit well. I came across her stuff a few years ago from when they played in Asheron's Call 2.

Ah yes Mihai's player, one of those DM's love to hate, that takes the most straightforward things and then complicates them, and he has a talent for it.

Ahhh...I'm familiar with the type indeed. I can see why Wren could be driven crazy by it - if nothing else sounds like a classic lawful vs. chaotic thing (perhaps even without realizing it, hmmm? ;-)). Best of luck then, and I'll be looking to see what else happens. Cheers!

Best of luck with those brits, Amardolem. You should yell "Blood and Souls for Gorum" just for fun in-game.

Pip pip, cheerio!

I'll admit that I've been watching Fabes' adventure with some interest -and if I wasn't already swamped - I'd offer to join.

The lone American amongst the crazy Brits (or nearly so - didn't you have someone from California?) - I could see that leading to some interesting moments. What fun!

Good luck!

A couple of excellent posts there, Kayos!

What I'm finding interesting is how different your party is here than compared to the gang over in RotRL. There's definetly a more agressive tension going on with this bunch. The RotRL folks also have tension, but it is a little more familial and dramatic. These guys seem to really be the odd bunch gone awry.

Catch-phrases like "They could save Korvosa; if they don't kill each other first!" come to mind. I'd be curious to have Mihai or Acastus' take on things - certainly would be a nice contrast of POV I suspect.

Anyways - a great job as usual.

If there comes a point at which we have lost a few players, the united party can finish off any remaining dungeon.

Why does the phrase, "The tribe has spoken" take on an ominus tone all of a sudden ;-)

So Wayne Reynolds' designs are great. So much so that I whipped up a quick (oaky, maybe not so quick) picture of Seoni and Marisiel (or is it Merisiel?).

Awesome stuff, Claudio! I'm also interested in seeing the final coloring.

Been a fan of yours since I saw your images on Fiery Dragon's Counter Collections. If Paizo's looking for more artwork for their products, I think your work would fit in nicely.

Does anyone have (or has anyone played) the old Avalon Hill game Lords of Creation by the late, great Tom Moldvay?

Apologies for changing the subject, but I didn't know that Tom Moldvay had passed away last year! With all due respect to Mr. Gygax, he was one of those unsung guys at TSR who I think gave D&D some legs beyond the initial game format. That's a bummer to find out he's gone.

Beside Isle of Dread, Castle Amber is one of those bizarre modules I enjoyed when I started playing D&D. Also, I think he was involved in the Slavers series (another favorite). Also, Star Frontiers was probably the first RPG game I tried that had a sci-fi theme.

Sorry to threadjack, Lords of Creation was unfortunately the one I was least familiar with.