BenS's page

Hey, there's a review up at the Pathfinder SRD site and on the Cavernia Blog.

I just posted my review here at Paizo. Didn't realize I couldn't give half-stars, or it would have received 4.5 ;-)

Lots of helpful, if contradictory, information! I wish this were really a straightforward thing. I'll have to look more closely at how it appeared where it did (I'm pretty sure through a Gate) on Oerth, and go from there.

Thanks everyone.

I fought and killed an Arcanaloth (sorry Todd!) that was an ally of an evil archmage. So he wasn't brought there recently w/ a summon spell of any kind.

I think he's dead rather than "reforms on home plane", but that's not my real question. He had some magical items. Do they remain behind?

Thanks BenS! Any chance of a short review?

I could probably handle that in the next few days. Did you mean here at Paizo or somewhere else? I'll check back tomorrow for your answer...

I spent last night reading through this. Quite impressive! Kudos to all who worked on it.

Rogues can now use sneak attack on Undead and Constructs just like in the Beta. Although the complete inability in 3.5E to sneak attack those monster/creature types was too restrictive, the ability to conduct full sneak attacks against them is too good. I was hoping for some kind of partial sneak attack against the formerly immune creatures (e.g. half of the sneak attack damage, or perhaps Undead/Constructs and so on could have DR against precision damage [sneak attacks, crits, etc.]). Oh well, it will have to be a house rule.

You and I think alike here.

After my current party retires (Greyhawk), I will roll up a new group w/ the PFRPG rules but probably still play in GH for a while. Unless I can convincingly transport the Dungeon AP's over to Golarion. We'll see. But there will definitely come a time when I embrace Golarion whole hog (I'm already in love with it!) as my actual campaign setting of choice.

Ben, you can combine shipping on items. If you purchase more stuff from me, wait until you get my bill (via e-bay) before you send the funds through PayPal. I can adjust it so that you only get one s/h fee for your purchases. I can refund you the extra cash on the s/h or provide free shipping on something else you buy from me. Just lemme know which you'd prefer. :)

Ok, looks like my eBay proficiency just leveled up again. I'll know what to do in the future, in case you have more stuff I'd like. We don't need to sweat the $4 s/h for that 2nd item.

Cheers.

Ross, thanks for the correction.

EDIT; belongs in another post.

Just added several more books/adventure modules. You can click any of the links above and then click on the "View Sellers Other Items" link over on the right side to see the entire list of items.

Ok, I'm not an eBay virgin anymore. I bought 2 of your 2nd edition modules. I didn't realize eBay charged s/h for each and every item. That must be their part of the take, I guess.

Steve, I'm not very versed in things e-Bay. Do you have a page there where all your stuff is linked to? All I'm able to do is link to individual things already posted in this thread (and most likely gone).

I have all 3.x issues of Dungeon, and pretty much what I need from Dragon. If you happen to have that elusive 2nd ed. issue of Dungeon that has Wolfgang's Empire of the Ghouls, though, let's talk ;-)

At this stage, my collection is mainly lacking/desiring certain 3.x modules by Necromancer Games & Dungeon Crawl Classics. I also can't get enough of Fiery Dragon counters.

I'll check back later tonight to see if you've posted new items or responded. Thanks much!

Ideas we discussed at the meeting included:

* more high-level adventures (especially ones you could run after finishing an Adventure Path)

YES! Either related to an AP or independent would be awesome.

* larger adventures, like "supermodules" (though we aren't sure how we'd fit that into the line, which currently only has 32-page adventures)

Hell yeah! Test of the Starstone. One of those siege towers outside of Absalom. The Whispering Tyrant (he is on your CS cover after all). Kaer Maga. The list goes on.

* prequels or parallel adventures relating to an AP, so your players (who may or may not be playing the same PCs you have active in that AP) get additional information or another perspective on the events of that AP

Sounds great.

* one-off adventures, such as "here are pregenerated PCs specifically built with a backstory tied to this adventure, and you'd play them instead of your current PCs" (such as a murder mystery adventure where some PCs actually dislike each other and have motives to frame or discredit another PC, or an adventure on a ship in a storm where all the PCs are sailors trying to get the ship back home)

These are pretty much what you have now. What I like about them is exploring new areas on the map not necessarily covered by a pre-existing AP.

* similar to the previous item, but tied to your PCs (such as "you activate a mysterious device and find your souls transported into the bodies of these other people, and you can't return to your own body until you've resolved the adventure with the possessed bodies")

Honestly, I don't care for this idea at all.

* even more unusual one-off adventures, like "everyone plays a goblin" (whether you're defending your lair or going on a raid)

This particular example doesn't excite me, but I don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater, so I'd need more information.

Which of these ideas are interesting to you? What other suggestions do you have for the line that you think would be cool to play?

Other suggestions: "red & green planet adventures", but those probably need an actual Chronicle book to come out 1st before setting adventures in them.

Adventures tied to ancient Golarion history, the Azlanti, etc.. FOR EXAMPLE: How about an adventure that takes you back to ancient history to attempt to do something, which gives the PC's a chance to actively interact w/ this ancient history rather than just passively read about it in a product?

The First World is of tremendous interest, and more planar adventures in general.

Thanks for asking!

Just put up the following from my D&D books collection:

ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=250465071682]Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead[/url]

I have a few more I'll add in the coming days and I have a poopload of splat books and modules I'll put up with pictures soon.

Gah! I just looked for this and you sold it to the 1st bidder for a measly $12. I would have paid you more for it, b/c I like your work and would like to help you out w/ whatever you're going through financially. So no more selling to the "Buy it now!" crowd, ok? j/k

Maybe I'll have better luck w/ your next batch of stuff. Though I can only check this out at night PST...

Great time and place for a good look at the First World, and the Fey themselves.

I'm hoping such an article would deal with the truly wondrous and terrible aspect of the Fey (as opposed to gnomish or elven analogs).

Rumor Control says that Richard Pett is itching for some KingMaker action. It's not up to me to say whether he suited to KingMaker or not (that's your business), but he might be well suited to an article on the Fey.

Recall the vivid and terrifying bit he wrote in Pathfinder #2.

I not only agree whole heartedly w/ this, I would love a PF Companion dedicated to them as well.

There's essentially three categories of god on Golarion.

Deity: A deity doesn't have a stat block because they can't be killed by mortals and things that need stat blocks to do stuff. Deities grant their worshipers 5 domain choices.

Demigod: This is a less powerful god; it has a stat block (generally from about CR 26 to 36 or thereabouts), and can be killed by mortals. Demigods generally offer 5 domain choices.

Planar Ruler: This category includes demon lords, the horsemen of the apocalypse, arch devils, elemental lords, empyrial lords, and the like. These creatures are generally as powerful as demigods (CR 26–36), but only grant their worshipers 4 domain choices.

EDIT: There's actaully a 4th category. The Great Old Ones/Outer Gods like Yog-Sothoth and Azathoth do exist in Golarion, but they don't generally care about their worshipers. Those who worship them follow the Old Cults and they get access to the domains of Chaos, Destruction, Madness, Rune, and Void, IIRC; their domain choices don't change depending on which specific creature they worship since clerics of the Old Cults have more in common with clerics who don't worship deities than those who do. BUT! This category's a weird one and sort of exists outside of the Deity/Demigod/Planar Ruler triad, so it usually goes uncommented upon.

Thanks for the official clarification, James. I will say I do prefer the 2nd ed. approach of breaking the gods into greater, intermediate, lesser and demigods (I could live w/out Divine Ranks if need be), not b/c I'd need that for scenarios of mortals fighting the gods, but for intra-divine conflicts, which I like to play around w/ in my background material. But if you guys aren't interested in that breakdown for the Golarion gods, I can always come up w/ my own, of course.

I like the CR equivalence for planar rulers and demigods, btw. I use something quite similar!

What do you think?

** spoiler omitted **

I think you could go w/ either of those 2 diverging endings and not be "wrong".

Patrons!!! voting for cover artist is open at the RP forum

Support your favourite frog...errr...artist! :P

The link I was provided didn't let me in, which makes me believe it's only the senior patrons who are voting now.

I wish I had a color printer! I would snap this up in a New York minute.

This was a nice antidote to the stereotypical Hollywood vampire film. I quite liked it.

I made the mistake of watching it dubbed, though, not finding until after the fact that there was a setting I could change. D'oh! I almost turned around and watched it purely in Swedish (my rusty Norwegian would make that doable enough); something I've now decided I'll do after some time elapses.

Anyway, yeah, I can't see Hollywood doing this film right.

BenS wrote:

vagrant-poet wrote:

I think its silly to assume there even will be soulknifes and psychic warriors.

It'll probably be a totally different psionics system.

Not sure why you'd think that. Why should a psionics treatment not attempt to be as backward compatible as their revision of any other classes?

As for the soulknife, s/he just needed a few tweaks, and those were done admirably in the Untapped Potential book by Dreamscarred Press (it's a variant soulknife, in the back, and I quite enjoy it!).

For the record, Psychic Warriors are one of my all-time favorite D&D classes.

Because they're not the core rules, and are regarded by JJacobs at very least, but subtly I think by all the crew as game-breaking in many ways, it has been said they'd like to do them radically different. J stated above that they would playtest them primarily so that people would be aware of the changes, which suggests radical differences. And they are against base class glut, so you may only see the psion, maybe one other base class and hopefully a psion/monk prestige class.

I don't want to turn this into a threadjack, but those 2 classes are in the EPH. Are you saying that book isn't a core book? I thought Complete Psionic wasn't a core book, but the EPH was. As such, if you were to update 3.5 psionics, it seems to me you'd have to at least keep the "core" psionic classes. Or maybe it's my understanding of the word "core" that's at fault here.

I'm also not privy to conversations (on these boards?) that changes made would be radical in scale, so if you're right about that, I guess anything goes.

I guess I can always stick w/ my EPH if I don't like a potential Paizo remake. No harm, no foul as we say.

One final thing. I can't speak for the P. Warrior, but most people's complaints about the Soulknife aren't that it's "broken", but rather, it's underpowered and overly complex in its mechanics. Something I think the variant version I mentioned above addresses to some degree.

Set wrote:

Herald wrote:

Here is a concept that I could see working in Glorion.

Psionics is a recessive quality that has been for the most part lost for quite some time. It first surfaced in the old kingdom of Azlant as the Aboleths tinkered with humans (and other races) and their methods of controlling them. It wasn't too long afterwards that the Aboleths lost control of Azlant and in retaliation; the Aboleths brought down devastation upon the nation and sunk it deep into the sea.

That's a pretty awesome take on it, Herald.

I'd be partial to having a sizable enclave of these individuals having fled to Vudra, perhaps via Jalmeray. (Indeed, perhaps Jalmeray was first founded by a member of these people wanting to recruit like-minded fellows from these areas far to the west, which he then returned with him to Vudra?) The 'mystical' lore of India fits better with psionics than magic, IMO.

Setting the bulk of Golarion's psionic types in a faraway eastern land already known for 'impossible magics' and the like might also work well for those who don't want to muddy up the core of the campaign setting with psionics. They can remain 'foreign' and more easily ignored by DMs who have little or no use for such things, just as fantasy DMs who recoil at the concept of guns can stay the heck away from the small sections of the map (Numeria, frex) that use them.

That was my thinking on the concept. Even if there was a sudden boom in their population, I'd still say it would be small blip on the radar so to speak. I never like to shove anything down someone’s face. But I do like to try raising some one’s interest, throwing a few story hooks around.

Hermea might make a great location for the Elans, considering the experimentation going on there with Humans. Then again, a few isolated cells here and there might also be interesting.

Perhaps psionics works in Alkenstar but arcane and divine magic doesn't.

You guys have been reading my mind! Vudra is the obvious choice for psionicists in Golarion, w/ some found in smaller doses in Hermea and Alkenstar. Not to mention the Red or Green planets. If psionics is going to work for Paizo, it absolutely needs to be tied into the campaign setting. But in areas that can remain out of the way and thus optional for those who don't want anything to do w/ it (sigh).

I think its silly to assume there even will be soulknifes and psychic warriors.

It'll probably be a totally different psionics system.

Not sure why you'd think that. Why should a psionics treatment not attempt to be as backward compatible as their revision of any other classes?

As for the soulknife, s/he just needed a few tweaks, and those were done admirably in the Untapped Potential book by Dreamscarred Press (it's a variant soulknife, in the back, and I quite enjoy it!).

For the record, Psychic Warriors are one of my all-time favorite D&D classes.

BenS wrote:

...May I suggest the 3 of you collaborate on a Gamemastery Module that is a run through of the story. And instead of the usual 4 Paizo iconics at the back...well, you get the idea!

I've got no pull to help make that happen. But if Paizo fans want to lobby for a Gamemastery module so Trevor can showcase the Ravenous Queen and her Four Consorts, by all means make your voices heard. The Paizo staff has repeatedly pointed out that they not only check these types of threads, but they monitor them for exactly this kind of feedback in helping them know which products interest their consumers. And I for one, would certainly like to add my voice to Trevor getting a chance to showcase this scenario in an adventure module.

But that's just my two-cents,
--Neil

Ok Neil, I didn't have the full story on PF fiction, so that's 1 fantasy scenario on hold. But for our Paizo overlords reading this thread, I still think a Gamemastery module following up on this story would be an awesome idea.

I won't keep beating this into the ground, though, so others need to take up the rallying cry ;-)

Speaking entirely in world-wide truths and hypotheticals as we've locked VERY little down for Vudra thus far, it's my thinking that you're not going to see many of the typical demihuman races in Vudra. Vudra is our home to the fantastic and epic mythology of India, Tibet, and that region of the world, so trying to overlay it with a thick layer of Western fantasy seems like adding gravy to ice cream. There might be some on the side or a bit added in the form of specific NPCS, PCs, and others, but don't expect thousands of dwarves in saris or elves in kurtas - again, some maybe, but not tons.

Yes! I love demihumans as well as anyone else, but I don't want to see them where they don't feel right. And they wouldn't feel right in Vudra, as I imagine it at least. YMMV.

Tarren Dei wrote:

I've been thinking about either continuing the story or trying to plan out the pyramids themselves. I've got a very good idea about the pyramids and think they would make an interesting mini-adventure. Probably too big for a Pathfinder Society scenario though.

The whole scenario sounds like it would make for a good standalone adventure or even a Pathfinder novel. I just love the premise behind Akkunhis and his "greenhorn" companions...all of whom are much more than they appear. It's also too bad we didn't have enough time to include Nerrat Dei as the voice of Tanglehead.

If you ever do get a chance to turn this idea into something publishable, let me know. I'd love to support you in it...either by proofing it or contributing to it again. Thanks for letting me play in your sandbox.

--Neil

I thank the 3 of you again for this story and responding here. Two quick ideas:

1) I haven't followed the PF Fiction threads for quite a while, but you 3 should do a much longer tale (including the already written preface) w/ these characters in some sort of PF fiction anthology.

2) Neil, you're now a contributor, so you have your foot in the Paizo door for having stuff published. May I suggest the 3 of you collaborate on a Gamemastery Module that is a run through of the story. And instead of the usual 4 Paizo iconics at the back...well, you get the idea!

Some of the short stories w/in the issue were self-contained, and others just the beginnings of a larger tale.

Are there any intentions of continuing any of the latter? I was especially taken w/ "The Greenhorns", and its clever concept of 3 authors speaking through 3 different characters. Very well done!

BenS wrote:

2) I think I want a Paizo take on psionics, but I'm a bit nervous based on how I see Paizo folk (I won't name names) commenting on what psionics is, and what's wrong w/ it as it stands.

Trust me, those unnamed Paizo folk are equally nervous about psionics. Namely, if the majority of psionics fans like how they work now, who are we to "fix" them? I don't want to try to change psionics to appeal to people who don't like them now in a desperate attempt to make them like them. I want to "fix" them so that they do the things that I (and the rest of us at Paizo with an interest in psionics) want them to do in the context of both the game and their traditional/mythological role in the real world's tales and legends.

Best case scenario, we have a version of psionics that appeals to current fans of psionics AND the way we want them to work.

Middleground scenario, we estrange current fans, maybe attract some new ones, and have something that works for us but without the fans to support it we don't do much more with the rules.

Worst case scenario, we ruin them.

Taking those three possibilities, I don't want to do a psionics book if we can't hit the Best Case version; I'd rather let it lie. The Expanded Psionics Handbook IS, after all, compatible as it stands with PFRPG.

Thanks for the candid response, James. In my heart of hearts, I'm worried that the Best case scenario might prove too difficult. Psionics, as you well know, is a very polarizing subsection of D&D. It might ultimately be too risky to take it on.

And honestly, I could certainly live w/ the EPH as the main psionics rules for PF.

Most everything I'd like to see has already been mentioned, but, in no particular order:

1) Mega-dungeon/dungeon crawl for levels 15-20. If it sells well, they can seriously consider doing more of these. If it doesn't, all the people clamoring for it get a cold shower of reality.

2) I think I want a Paizo take on psionics, but I'm a bit nervous based on how I see Paizo folk (I won't name names) commenting on what psionics is, and what's wrong w/ it as it stands.

3) At some point, an Epic rulebook.

4) New areas of Golarion, like Xian Tia or points to the east of Avistan. Not that interested in Arcadia to be honest, but YMMV.

5) Golarion-specific counters put out by Fiery Dragon; not just pdfs either.

6) Todd Stewart doing the Book of the Damned for the NE fiends.

7) Greg Vaughan's The Slumbering Tsar trilogy for PFRPG.

8) A POD option for Downer, Volume 2.

9) A hard- or softcover collection of PF Society Scenarios. I already buy the pdfs, but honestly, I'd buy a print version in a second.

10) An official Errata section for the site.

Umm, if this is signs of things to come, this will be the best bestiary (art-wise at the very least) I've ever seen.

Thanks for the 2 Tyler Walpole pieces, after I called him out earlier in this thread! Love the face on the Balor, too!

I actually prefer counters/tokens, w/ nice art (thank you Fiery Dragon Productions!) to miniatures. So no real interest in minis.

Personally, I think there are better psionic books than Complete Psionic. Like Hyperconscious, for instance.

[Hyperconscious] I use "Chrysalis" and "Alloyed Hide" for my Psion & Psychic Warrior all the time.

I'd also recommend Untapped Potential from Dreamscarred Press.

Yeah, Complete Psionic isn't great, but it's got enough to recommend it for me.

Any chance there could be a pdf put up for sale w/ a print option via Lulu? That way Paizo wouldn't have to pay out a lot for a printing of something they fear won't sell enough copies to recoup their initial investment.

Or is the Lulu option not an agreeable one for Paizo's business plans (I of course have no idea what Lulu charges to use their services)?

Asking out of sheer desperation at this point, though it's probably a lost cause.

taig wrote:

David Eitelbach's last day as editorial intern is today?? Where are you going? Are you leaving the Paizo family? Good luck, wherever you end up.

Good luck David. I for one have enjoyed your stay here at Paizo!

+1

BenS wrote:

Is becoming a patron the ONLY way to get the option for a print version?

For the Halls, yes. It's a limited edition, so it appears in print only for patrons.

For the Dwarves of the Ironcrags Gazetteer, you'll be able to buy it in print or PDF here at Paizo.

Ok, thanks for the quick replies. I'll give this some serious thought...

Who am I kidding, sold!

BenS wrote:

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Well, Open Design just released Halls of the Mountain King for 3.5. It's a big, beautiful dwarven halls adventure like no other. Available from the Kobold Store.

Is the print version available, or is that $29.95 just for the pdf + option to pay a separate (unknown) price for a print copy??

That is for the PDF, but signing on to the project as a patron also includes the (still in layout) Gazetteer--which has magic, items, prestige classes, feats, culture aspects. What you'd expect from a gazetteer. The print copy is yet unavailable for the adventure because we're in the errata phase for the adventure. I'd guesstimate about 2 weeks before we'll be able to order the print from lulu. Print costs have, historically, been pretty reasonable for Open Design projects-- if I recall correctly, Wolfgang generously offers them at cost.

-Ben.

Is becoming a patron the ONLY way to get the option for a print version? I'd be willing to pay more than cost for a print version, but I have historically not had the time to dedicate to Open Design patronage, so I simply haven't. I don't want to pay $30 just to get the option to pay another X amount for the print version is what I'm saying.

Maybe I just need to befriend a patron and pay them the print cost +s/h. Theoretically speaking of course ;-)

I was moving some things around yesterday and re-found my beautiful Lands of Mystery world map...

I have all the West Maps of Mystery cut out and stored in a binder with page protectors.

Is everyone else still silly excited about the prospect of a Lands of Mystery product? Keep this thread alive.

Sounds like we won't ever see a print version of all the Dungeon-era LoM maps, so I guess I'll have to start collecting duplicate issues so I can cut them out myself, and put them in a dedicated binder like DF did (great idea, thanks!).

BenS wrote:

Yeah, I went a little crazy w/ this sale. Only missed out on a few items that were no longer available...

reality check

-Lisa

Gulp. Well, I'll cross my fingers I get as much as possible! Thanks for the clarification, Lisa & Vic.

EDIT.

BenS wrote:

psionichamster wrote:

Now, there are some rather abusive PrC's out there (Frenzied Berserker, Thrallherd, Contemplative are first on my mind) that require finesse to pull off without breaking the game
-t

Apologize for the minor thread jack, but I have a Contemplative Cleric. I did it for flavor reasons only, and honestly, I thought it nerfed the normal cleric progression. Maybe I'm a bad character optimizer, but, what's broken about this PrC?

More on topic: the idea of them was initially good, but they quickly became a means to get "better" characters. Also, too many of them left me w/ information overload. I use them rarely, and only for flavor purposes.

It's usually dipped and with righteous might losing BAB doesn't really matter for a cleric. It's easy to get into and gives a domain real quick as well as several nice "perk" powers.

Thanks for the response. I'm going for a 10/10 cleric/contemplative split, so I'm not a "dipper" I guess. And this particular cleric abhors physical combat, and only fights defensively unless it's a life or death situation for her companions (so no "Righteous Might" spells). The domain I took was Balance (and thanks to revisiting the class, I realize I'm due for another domain in my 10th cleric/5th contemplative split!), to go along w/ Law & Oracle. So the build is thematic for my campaign, and the perk powers rarely come into play to be honest.

But I can see a little better now how the PrC could be optimized, if not exactly abused.

Back on topic, I really like the idea of few prestige classes, that are flavorful and tied into the campaign world (Harrower, Red Mantis Assassin, etc.). For equivalent builds, I'm very close to implementing a Talent Tree system for the base classes; just waiting for the PFRPG to get the new "base" platform.

I'm really hoping the monsters used for the PFS scenarios make it into the Bestiary (like Hou's Medusa did!). I'm especially hopeful that Tyler Walpole's Xill & Bone Devil are in there. And anything else he might have contributed.

And if the karma gods are good to me, Andrew Hou illustrated the new Nymph ;-)

Always good to see Kieran Yanner, too. I'm only familiar w/ his b/w artwork, mainly from Malhavoc Press.

This could be the best illustrated bestiary D&D has ever had (crosses fingers).

Yeah, I went a little crazy w/ this sale. Only missed out on a few items that were no longer available...

Well, Open Design just released Halls of the Mountain King for 3.5. It's a big, beautiful dwarven halls adventure like no other. Available from the Kobold Store.

Is the print version available, or is that $29.95 just for the pdf + option to pay a separate (unknown) price for a print copy??

Now, there are some rather abusive PrC's out there (Frenzied Berserker, Thrallherd, Contemplative are first on my mind) that require finesse to pull off without breaking the game
-t

Apologize for the minor thread jack, but I have a Contemplative Cleric. I did it for flavor reasons only, and honestly, I thought it nerfed the normal cleric progression. Maybe I'm a bad character optimizer, but, what's broken about this PrC?

More on topic: the idea of them was initially good, but they quickly became a means to get "better" characters. Also, too many of them left me w/ information overload. I use them rarely, and only for flavor purposes.

I am so getting voted off the message boards for this, but I've never been a huge Otus fan.

Honestly, the appeal nowadays is nostalgia. So many parts of 1st edition had his very distinctive artwork that it brings back good memories seeing it or newer pieces (like in some 3.x Dungeon Crawl Classics covers).

If I had started D&D w/ 2nd edition or later, I'm not sure I would see what the big deal is about his artwork. Though for all I know you DID start w/ 1st edition, and it's just a matter of taste ;-)

Just finished reading all my copies of the published comics. More!

Hey, I just did the same thing a few weekends ago. Haven't seen another one advertised though, so it might be a while (I prefer to read them collected in print rather than on the website).

Dave Trampier, Jeff Dee & Erol Otus stand out as 1st edition artists for me. Yet when I think of the current 3.x artwork, and what's been done for PF/Golarion, I have to say I'm not sure I would see their artwork as fitting in to the setting.

But when it comes to 2nd edition, my favorite artists have to be Brom (got me into Dark Sun in a big way) and DiTerlizzi (ditto for Planescape). An earlier poster had a good idea; Tony for the First World & fey. As for Brom...well, he could draw most anything in Golarion and make me want it.

Non-scaling spells is one (of many) reasons I prefer psionic powers to arcane & divine spells. The Expanded Psionic Handbook does a great job of scaling/augmenting the powers (not all can be increased by any means).

Jason, I like your method of scaling spells.

James Jacobs wrote:

How do either of these options sound? Would they be good methods to use to try to aim for a 1st–20th level adventure path?

I'm not a big fan of either options, personally.

Agreed!

But here's another idea for you: Why not leverage some product synergy with the Modules line? There are 12 AP issues/year and 6 modules/year, so you should have about 3 Modules published during the course of a single AP (I'm speaking generally here, I realize the scheduling doesn't always work out this nicely). You could release a lower-level module (say level 2-3) around the beginning of a new AP, a level 7-ish module about the middle of the AP, and a higher-level module toward the end of an AP. The you could include a box in the AP (or Module) to tell a GM they might consider using Module X as a side-trek in AP Y. Maybe include a few lines of "change the city to this, and the main villain to that."

I suggest this without any knowledge of how easy or difficult it is or how much work it adds, it's just a thought.

-Skeld

This is a very interesting idea. There might be logistical problems having it all come together in a timely fashion, though. Right now, the modules are great b/c they're not afraid to happen in hitherto unexplored areas/countries. Not sure how limiting it would be to try and force them to happen in areas that would match up w/ the AP. But the more I think about it, since I prefer the equivalent of the slow AP track, I wouldn't mind modules that became useful to fill in some of those gap levels...

Mr Baron wrote:

I am almost the complete opposite with regard to this. The set pieces were not my favorite part of the AP, but I liked the fiction.

I'm with Mr Baron, the only parts I've gotten to in my second darkness books are the riddleport articles in the first one and the fiction. Elaine Cunningham's entries in the LOF path are especially good. This fiction introduces us to various areas of the world the same way that most writers of worlds flesh out their worlds, in small bits.. it allows for each area to get a distinct feeling without being limited to the information that is needed in a RPG book. you can find out how the street gangs of Kaer-Manga act, without having to wade though the encyclopedic information on their leaders that your characters may never see (for instance)

+1

I'm in this game for the fluff more than the crunch, and these stories bring me into the world really easily. They're literally the 1st section I read in each issue of the AP.

I very much like the idea of these 3-adventure story paths (all of which can be played independently as well).

Not to mention revealing new lands and villains therein. Looking forward to these.

Don't know how I missed this was being written by Sean. Cool beans.