Vrock

Alkwraith's page

Organized Play Member. 19 posts. No reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 2 Organized Play characters.


RSS


Bags of Holding. They have a fixed weight no matter what is in them. As long your players don't go too overboard about what they stuff in them you can go with the "take what you want, don't worry about weight" option.


Clark Peterson wrote:

Search and replace, people. Search and replace.

It's not like this is some new rule. That's pretty much been the style guide at any publication for, what, nearly 20 years. Double space after periods went out with mono-spaced font.

True, but for the record when I took a requisite keyboarding class 10 years ago they were still teaching the double space after a period. After reading this thread I'll train myself not to, but if no one had told me I'd still be doing it.


PRD wrote:
Extraplanar Subtype: This subtype is applied to any creature when it is on a plane other than its native plane. A creature that travels the planes can gain or lose this subtype as it goes from plane to plane. Monster entries assume that encounters with creatures take place on the Material Plane, and every creature whose native plane is not the Material Plane has the extraplanar subtype (but would not have it when on its home plane). Every extraplanar creature in this book has a home plane mentioned in its description. Creatures not labeled as extraplanar are natives of the Material Plane, and they gain the extraplanar subtype if they leave the Material Plane. No creature has the extraplanar subtype when it is on a transitive plane, such as the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, or the Plane of Shadow.

Still I think this is one of those cases that some one could make a case for a Bane Outsiders (Extraplaner) weapon, but it violates the sprite of the rules if not RAW.


Greg Monk wrote:
Thomas LeBlanc wrote:
Alkwraith wrote:
So when my mother-in-law (she lives with us so she has to put up with the gaming group once or twice a month) told me about RPG Superstar 18 months ago, just in time to get an item in for RPG Superstar 2011, I went for it.
Burning Question: How did she find out about it?

Hmmm... she "has to put up wiith it -- yet, is the one who told you about the contest?!?

Methinks she doth protest too much.

Put up with it is probably not the best way of describing it. She likes having our friends over to talk with them and enjoys cooking for people. She is usually listening in on the game from either the kitchen or the spare bedroom and will jump in with snarky comments. We've yet to convince her to actually sit down with us and join, but she pays enough attention to what is going on in the games to know what our characters look like. She was online buying miniatures for my wife and that's how she found out about Superstar.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I got the game the day it came out, but didn't actually get a chance to actually sit down and play it till last night. Not very far, just to the point where you get your first monster partners. But so far.. I don't know. Like XIII before it, it slowly introduces concepts and ideas over the course of the first several hours, so I haven't really gotten the chance to see the all the parts of the system at once in action.

Like many people on this thread I've played (not necessarily beaten) all the non-MMO Final Fantasy games that I could get my hands on. While I was initially disappointed with XIII once I accepted the design chooses that the developers made I was able to sit back and enjoy the game. I've found that if you don't try to compare the various Final Fantasy games to each other they are all fairly enjoyable and well made games. I suppose it's only inevitable that we compare them since they all have Final Fantasy in their titles. I also wonder sometimes if "The Time Before Final Fantasy Started To Suck(TM)" isn't a product of our nostalgia as much as any perceived increase/decrease in the quality of the games. When the first few FF games came out there wasn't many other RPGs to compare them to so they all seemed ground-breaking and innovated because we'd not played many things like them before, but now that RPGs are common the bar is much higher to just stand out from the crowd.


*sigh* Shamefully every item I thought of this year, including the one I did submit, is on that list... Oh well. Here's to working even harder over the next eleven months.


My Golarian-fu is very lacking, but from the initial descriptive paragraph I was able to infer all the necessary details that I need to know without having every read or heard of any of the places or beings discussed. This is an example of the best kind evocative writing that can pull in someone totally unfamiliar with the a setting and make then want to know more.


I've almost always been the GM in my group, save for a few brief periods of burnout, that quickly end as everyone else in the group wants me to start running a game again. My family kept telling me that I'm creative and that should do more with my creativity. So when my mother-in-law (she lives with us so she has to put up with the gaming group once or twice a month) told me about RPG Superstar 18 months ago, just in time to get an item in for RPG Superstar 2011, I went for it.

I'm not going to stop trying until they make me!


Thanks Neil for all your work in getting us the judges comments! And thanks to the all the judges for look at our sometimes ill conceived (myself included in that group) Wondrous Items.


Neil Spicer wrote:
Jerry Keyes wrote:
Firefly Headband
*I also didn't see anything that indicated multiple headbands stacked all their fireflies together. So, really, you're still only forcing 5 independent concentration checks at DC 10 + spell level + 6 (max). Most spellcasters pump up their ranks in Spellcraft far enough that they could still easily override that burden. Even moreso if they take Combat Casting (which many spellcasters do), that feat alone offsets 4 of the fireflies from this headband...making it essentially a DC 10 + spell level + 2 (max) concentration check. Again, no biggie for most seasoned spellcasters. So, it's not an undue hardship on the opposing spellcaster. It's fairly likely to not even succeed. And all the fireflies are expended in that single use. The wearer doesn't even get to decide which spell he can interrupt. It's always the first spell the fireflies sense in a 100 ft. range. And, even if this tactic forces the opposing spellcaster to lose a single spell in a combat, how is that all that different from forcing those kinds of things in regular play? The only difference I perceive is that it's a ranged "attack" to force the concentration check. You don't have to get up close and personal. And, in some ways, that's this item's greatest utility.

Did I miss an update to the rules for concentration checks? I thought that in Pathfinder concentration checks were based solely on your caster level (plus feats like Combat Casting of course).

PRD wrote:
To cast a spell, you must concentrate. If something interrupts your concentration while you're casting, you must make a concentration check or lose the spell. When you make a concentration check, you roll d20 and add your caster level and the ability score modifier used to determine bonus spells of the same type. Clerics, druids, and rangers add their Wisdom modifier. Bards, paladins, and sorcerers add their Charisma modifier. Finally, wizards add their Intelligence modifier. The more distracting the interruption and the higher the level of the spell you are trying to cast, the higher the DC (see Table: Concentration Check DCs). If you fail the check, you lose the spell just as if you had cast it to no effect.

I'm learning a lot from reading all the judges comments, I want to make sure that I'm not missing things so I don't stumble and make the same mistakes when I submit next year.


David Ross wrote:

Ah, more posts. Excellent!

Alkwraith wrote:
To speak to the Will save issue, you can always voluntarily forgo a saving throw and willingly accept a spell's results. Unless you were in a situation where you actually want to be magically compelled to attack yourself or your allies for some reason, you don't even need to roll the Will save, just let yourself be dazed by the sting.

Interesting... This seems sound for simple effects such as insanity's self-attack action. However, it gets a little fuzzier when it comes to more encompassing effects. For example, if you were charmed or dominated into damaging an ally, even non-lethally, wouldn't the charm or domination make you want to roll the Will save?

As a player and a GM I would assume that you are not actually charmed or dominated until after you fail the Will save vs. an effect, so the option to deliberately forgo your option to roll a save is still up to you.


First off I want to say that I appreciate all the efforts of the judges and everyone who participates in the contest whether it be by submitting an item or just commenting on the threads constructively. This is only the second year I've participated, but just from one year to the next I can see the major improvement in the contest and the general field of submissions.

Mark Hart wrote:

This is just a guess, but it seems like the judges have developed, over the life of the contest, a shorthand series of words, phrases, and statements -- macros, if you will -- for evaluating items. Doing so would save the judges considerable time, both in reading and writing.

This could lead comments to seem terse to people outside the reviewing process. The only analogy that I can offer comes from the world of physicians (I work in a hospital). When doctors communicate about patients with one another, to someone outside the process their comments can come across as cold, harsh, or uncaring. In reality, the doctors are doing what they can to be efficient, and they often rely on somewhat terse communication.

Just a thought.

I think this is probably one of the most insightful things I've seen today on this subject. When I read it all the judges comments suddenly clicked and made more sense if I assumed that like doctors their comments were short hand for much more complicated thought processes then they weren't necessarily making the snap judgments they short terse comments might have implied.


ThatEvilGuy wrote:

3/per day moment of greatness. It's a SIAC, except slightly more limited than the original spell. It's also a ridiculously expensive one at that. 24,000 gp to have an item that gives you the effects of a 1st level spell is pretty steep.

I actually came up with the idea when I noticed there weren't a lot of items that played with morale bonus. It was only when I went search for what spell(s) to use in the Construction Requirements section that I found moment of greatness. I realized it it would be coming perilously close to SIAC but I was running out of time and didn't think I would be able to develop and polish a different item before the deadline. The primary difference between the spell and the effect of the item was suppose to be that the spell only effects one roll or check, while the cloak allows someone like a bard or cavalier to make their morale bonus granting abilities more powerful for the entire encounter where they are used.

Looking back at the item I should have reduced it to 1/day to cut the cost, as several of the judges as well and many members of the community have already pointed out most groups only get into 3-4 encounters a day. Which means that the cloak could be used in every encounter which was not my intention.

But you are right of course. The item was flawed and definitely not Superstar quality.


I rather suspect I know the reasons why my item didn't make it. I waited to long to get started and just didn't have the time to do it right. But the feedback from the judges and the community are always helpful and will likely see things to improve that I missed.

Cloak of Inspiration
Aura moderate enchantment; CL 10th
Slot shoulders; Price 24,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
A normal grey cloak in appearance, when donned a cloak of inspiration takes on any single vibrant color of the wearer’s choosing and is boldly inscribed with the insignia of the wearer’s respected affiliation, religion, or a symbol of specific significance. This cloak allows the wearer to inspire themselves and their allies to even greater heights than would normally be produced, and may be used as the wearer’s personal banner for abilities that require one. Three times per day the wearer can, as a free action, double the moral bonus provided by a spell or ability produced by the wearer. Only one spell or ability can be enhanced at a time. If the spell or ability has duration longer than 10 minutes or is permanent, this effect ends after 10 minutes.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, moment of greatness; Cost 12,000 gp


To speak to the Will save issue, you can always voluntarily forgo a saving throw and willingly accept a spell's results. Unless you were in a situation where you actually want to be magically compelled to attack yourself or your allies for some reason, you don't even need to roll the Will save, just let yourself be dazed by the sting.


Neil Spicer wrote:
Mechanically, I'm not as happy with a few things. For one, I'm not a fan of doubling the spell level with a more difficult concentration check for someone threatened by the shadow. I'd rather it just forced a normal concentration check with the person whose shadow it's formed from being unable to escape it...i.e., if they take a 5-foot step to pull away, the shadow automatically exercises the Step Up feat to follow.

DC 15 + double the spell level IS a normal concentration check for casting defensively in the Pathfinder system. This is something that has sort of gotten to me in past years as well, a designer will use a common rule that function very slightly differently in Pathfinder than it did in 3.5 and use the Pathfinder version of the rule but be dinged by the judges in their comments because they are thinking of the 3.5 version. It's a little disheartening to spend so much effort trying to create something that conforms to the Pathfinder rule set and not trip over something that works differently than how it did in 3.5 only to have the judges say we weren't paying attention when we really were.


Voice Box of Birdsong

Aura moderate conjuration; CL 7th
Slot neck; Price 13,200 gp; Weight 1 lb.

Description

This small hollow box held on tightly by a choker, rest comfortable in the hollow of the wearer’s throat and is decorated to resemble a singing songbird. A voice box of birdsong conveys some of the lyrical abilities of songbirds to its wearer, additionally allowing him to communicate with them and even to call upon their aid. It grants a +4 competence bonus on Perform (sing) checks. On command the wearer can speak with animals (birds only) up to 7 minutes a day, in increments of 1 minute.

Once per day, as a standard action the wearer can summon a flock of songbirds that appear within 40’ of the wearer and act as he directs. The flock is identical to a bat swarm except as follows 26 hit points, swarm damage 2d6 and does not possess blindsense or the Wounding special attack, instead the flock has Deafening Cacophony - any creature damaged by the flock must make a DC 17 Fort save or be deafened for 1d6 rounds. A flock can be commanded to take a standard action to split into a pair of flocks. This divides the remaining hit points equally between the flocks; lowering the swarm damage of each to 1d6, the DC of their Deafening Cacophony to 13 and length of its effect to 1d3 rounds. Only two flocks can be present at the same time and can merge back together as a standard action if touching. A flock cannot split if it has less than 13 hit points remaining. The flock serves the wearer for 7 rounds before vanishing.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, speak with animals, summon natures ally IV; Cost 6,600 gp


Ok, I'm probably going to regret jumping in to this thread, but I figure that I'll add my two sense.

I was running a 3.5 game years ago where one of the characters through the course of the game gain a pair of wings. At one point she wanted to pull off a complicated maneuver that involved diving from a great height with her wings folded to fit through a narrow opening, snapping open her wings to catch herself before hitting the ground and flying through the area threatened by two angels without provoking attacks of opportunity from them. I ended up having to make up all kinds of Tumble, Reflex and other checks to figure out if she could do it since there was no real skill that exactly covered what she was trying to do.

When I opened up the Pathfinder Core book and saw the Fly skill I said "Aha, this is exactly what I need on that day. A skill that covers someone or something trying to do a complicated maneuver in air."


My hope is that if I don't make the Top 32 I'll be able to get my item up on the "Please give me feedback" thread fast enough. I found out about the is contest midway through November and franticly started trying to read all the feed back on all the entries from past year, both those that made the cut and those that didn't. And it seems like the judges really don't have the time to respond to more than a quarter or less of the stuff that gets posted to the Feedback thread, with those that got there item up first have a the best chance of getting feedback directly from the judges or having someone that has access to the judges feedback paraphrase it for them.

In any case I feel glad to have submitted an item that I can be proud of, and win or lose I'll be glad I tried.