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Do you like Leadership in your Pathfinder? Do you get a kick out of bossing people around? Then this is the book for you!

Fellow Travelers: Cohorts, Followers, & Hirelings
Leadership has its perks!
Greatness and glory attract the attention of those looking for a leader to command them!

All those who accomplish great things attract followers that wish to join them in their journey. The burden of leadership shouldn’t cause problems at your game table, but instead, be a rewarding experience that helps tell the story of your adventure. In myth and legend, the trusted companion is a common theme, from Enkidu to Sancho Panza and even into today with sidekicks like Robin. These cohorts chose to follow the main characters on their journey and had an important part to play in the narrative.

The Fellow Travelers line of books from Fat Goblin Games offers new or expanded options for your Pathfinder Second Edition game all about the companions, familiars, cohorts, hirelings, and other allies we gather to us on our path through the world. Fellow Travelers: Cohorts, Followers, & Hirelings provides an all-new use for the Diplomacy skill to allow PCs to recruit followers, as well as an archetype for leaders, rules for creating your own cohorts, and a selection of NPC hirelings whose services can be hired out or recruited into followers. This is perfect for the character that wants to lead others, or the Gamemaster that wants to offer more services for downtime activities.

Check it out now!

I started writing this two weeks ago and had some distractions, so it might be a little behind in the community discussions.

Shields are a classic item of fantasy, and have been around in TTRPG for a very, very long time. In the Pathfinder Playtest we have a new set of rules around shields and how they work. In this deep dive, I'll be examining the RAW, RAI, math, and any mechanics related to them.

The questions I'll want to answer are:

• Do they work as intended?
  
• Are they viable at all levels of play?
  
• Who benefits from them?
  
• Are there any break points with these mechanics?

Personally, I have a bias towards shields not being disposable. This can be seen in the book I wrote for Fat Goblin Games, "Call To Arms: Shields" where I go over how their construction and use varied from era to era, but generally they were built to be highly durable and able to withstand amazing punishment. After all, a broken shield meant a broken body and no soldier carrying one would rely on something that would fall apart and allow an attack through. Spartans either carried their shields home or were carried home on them. Probably the largest myth is the breakable Viking shield, but such shields would have only been for training or ritual. Real Rounds were tough laminated three layer plywood with a raw hide face, metal rim, and metal boss that even great axes had trouble getting through. This isn't to say that shields were indestructible, but it would have been rare to see them be damaged to a complete useless state.

That said, this isn't a simulation game meant to copy real life. In fact in talking to Paizo developers in the past about such things a few of them brought up that they were often looking more at popular culture than they were real world situations. I can respect that because it means they are designing the game towards a pop culture type of experience, where we are able to play out the same big action fight scenes that we see in that space.

Now that I have that out of the way, lets get into the rules:

A shield requires the use of one of your hands. It grants its bonuses to AC and TAC only if you use an action to Raise a Shield. This grants the shield’s bonuses to AC and TAC as a circumstance bonus until your next turn starts. The shield’s check penalty applies whenever you’re wielding the shield, regardless of whether the shield is raised.

While you have a shield raised, you can use the Shield Block reaction to reduce damage you take by the shield’s Hardness (3 for wooden shields or 5 for steel).

These are the basic rules. Shields no longer provide a passive constant bonus to AC. You must use an Action to raise your shield to gain a bonus to both Armor Class and Touch Armor Class. I think the addition of TAC bonus on shields is great, and balances out the drawback of having to use an action to activate the shield. It must be noted that this is a circumstance bonus, and in the Playtest circumstance bonuses do not stack. Do not waste your actions taking cover and raising a shield, but instead just pick whichever will give you the better advantages.

The check penalty on shields is always active, not just when it is raised, but shields can also be stowed and drawn like weapons and items allowing you to avoid those penalties if you have the time and wish to do so. I do want to note that the rules don't seem to point out that you can draw or stow a shield with the Interact action in the shield specific rules. It seems to be assumed that you can do so with pointing out that it requires the use of one hand. While possibly redundant, it may be needful to add that shields can be drawn and stowed.

The first entry for shields mentions the Raise a Shield action and the Shield Block reaction. Lets take a look at those.

(NOTE: When symbols are needed I'll be using > for action, >> for double action, and >>> for triple action. <> will be used for reaction.)

Requirements: You are wielding a shield.

You position your shield to protect yourself. When you have Raised a Shield, you gain its listed bonuses to AC and TAC as circumstance bonuses and you can use the Shield Block reaction. Your shield remains raised until the start of your next turn.

Trigger: While you have your shield raised, you take damage from a physical attack.

You snap your shield into place to deflect a blow. Your shield prevents you from taking an amount of damage up to its Hardness—the shield takes this damage instead, possibly becoming dented or broken. See page 175 for rules on dented and broken items.

When you are wielding a shield you may use the Raise a Shield action. This grants you the AC and TAC bonuses. You must use this action each round you want to benefit from your shield. I can see this coming up in an action economy's order of operations. Raising a shield in the start of a round may help if your actions trigger a damaging reaction. Never forget that you lose the benefits at the start of your turn.

Having the shield's protection be an active thing on the part of the player is going to mean that builds that rely on them will have fewer actions for attacks or abilities. We'll have to dive into the math later to see if the benefit is worth the cost.

The Shield Block reaction is where I've seen some confusion but the confusion appears to come from thinking that certain terms still have their PF1 meanings.

Where there isn't confusion is in the trigger, but I want to still look at that. The shield must be raised, meaning you used the Raise a Shield action, and you must be taking damage from a physical attack. This means that attacks from spells most likely will not trigger this. I can see where they are thematically aiming with this, as the warrior raising their shield to swat away or absorb an attack is a pretty iconic image. Or, to put it another way, this is very pop-culture. This is further shown in the first sentence, especially with a strong word like snap.

The confusion comes from the next part: "Your shield prevents you from taking an amount of damage up to its Hardness—the shield takes this damage instead, possibly becoming dented or broken."

Let's break this down. First, this reaction is intended to prevent the character from taking damage. The amount of damage prevented is up to the shield's Hardness. Where many interpretations start to break down is with the shield taking the damage instead, and the note that it may become dented or broken. In the section on damaging items we learn the following: "If an item takes damage equal to or exceeding the item’s Hardness, the item takes a Dent." I bolded "equal" because I think this is where most people are getting hung up. The Playtest removed HP for items completely. If you look at page 354 you will see that materials no longer have Hit Points. Its all about moving an item from dented, to broken, and finally to destroyed. Next, hardness isn't a type of damage reduction like it is in PF1. Its a target number, and any time that target number is hit the item is dented.

This means that if a shield is blocking an amount of damage equal to its hardness it gains 1 dent because the damage hit the target number for that item. You will only gain 1 dent per block because the shield only blocks an amount of damage equal to its Hardness or less. Anything beyond the Hardness goes to the character wielding it. I will agree that there might need to be some tightening of the language, but the confusion seems to be with semantics and term definition.

Shields have no exceptions to the dent rules. This means a second dent will give it the broken condition and a third will destroy it. However, the shield would have to be actively sundered in order to destroy it. Once broken the shield cannot be used to perform the Raise a Shield action or the Shield Block reaction. This can be seen under the Broken condition section on page 175:

Broken is a condition that affects objects. A broken object can’t be used for its normal function, nor does it grant bonuses.

Back to my bias in shields and whether or not they were disposable! At first I wasn't liking this system, the initial information I had suggested that shields were just meant to be disposable, but now I understand that this might actually be more realistic. I still think there need to be some adjustments to keep both realism and pop-culture like simulation, but we have something close. Shields certainly took damage in battle, especially if you were blocking powerful blows. Some weapons were designed to counter shields, even damage them so they couldn't be raised. The fact that you can't raise your shield after that second dent reflects this reality, as well as the reality that shields were often repaired between fights and battles.

So what can we expect out of shields if we use it for its damage reduction reaction?
The very basic wooden shield has a Hardness of 3 and the basic steel shield has a Hardness of 5. Quality and Material can improve Hardness. The best I could find in the book was a Sturdy Legendary Adamantine Shield with a Hardness of 21. Considering that these are the low and high, how do they stand up to Level 1 and Level 20 play respectively?

1st level monsters have an average damage of about 4 points per attack. I would expect a wooden shield to be able to absorb about one third of the blocked attacks without taking a dent, while the steel shield could block about two thirds of the attacks without taking a dent. However, I suspect that shield hardness does not keep up with average damage as levels increase. I don't have all the data I need to show that, but I do have enough to confidently speculate.

For example, the magical Sturdy shield has the best Hardness for each of the item's levels. I randomly pulled the damage information for 80 monsters, making sure to have each level represented so I could see average damage as levels increased. Comparing the two, average damage eventually outpaces shield hardness, and even minimum damage passes shield hardness in later levels. This is also looking just at Sturdy shields, and doesn't consider weaker ones.

What this means to me is that shields are going to need some tweeks and support. In the low levels shields are about where they should be. You will want to use the Shield Block reaction to block damage less than the shield's hardness in those early levels, which not only keeps you from dying from a thousand cuts but also keeps your shield from being dented. However, the damage output from physical attacks quickly outgrows a shields Hardness, and Hardness never catches up.

Essentially, what I am suggesting, is that shields should be able to keep up with damage in such a way to allow them to block about one-third to two-fifths of damaging physical attacks without taking a dent. They shouldn't match or exceed average damage past the lowest levels, as that would make them far too good. Keeping Hardness at a point where it is just good enough to block a third of attacks but not so good to block half of them might be tricky but it would keep the shield's Shield Block reaction worth using across every level. As it is, it seems to only be worth doing in lower levels where the amount blocked has more impact on survival.

A paladin seems to help a bit with their shield ally, where the hardness increases by 2 and the number of dents increases to 4, but I didn't spot any feats or class abilities that did anything else to improve a shield. As for magical shields they cannot be etched with runes and all magic shields are specific and special. Shields can carry trinkets, however, so there is at least that. The Indestructible Shield is going to be a must, but once more the Hardness is just too low for that level. A mending lattice will help you keep a shield viable by instantly repairing it, which is nice. The Sturdy shields offer higher Hardness, but in my opinion they just don't keep up with the damage being dealt.

To bring shields closer to the reality of their real world construction and use I would suggest allowing them to take three dents and increasing the base Hardness of wood shields to 5 and steel shields to 8. Every other material should also be increased as well, and I might even suggest that quality bonuses to hardness be increased by 1 for shields specifically. Lastly, proficiency in shields could also increase Hardness by +1 for each level of proficiency.

Doing any or all of these could allow shields and the Shield Block reaction to be viable over every level. On top of those there could be class feats that allow all damage to be blocked in exchange for multiple dents, the ability to block certain non-physical attacks, and even a bonus to Hardness against specific types of attacks.

We've talked a lot about the shield's hardness but how much protection can you expect as a bonus to AC and TAC?

Shield | Price | AC Bonus | TAC Bonus | Dex Modifier Cap | Check Penalty | Speed Penalty | Bulk | Traits

Light wooden shield | 5 sp | +1* | +1* | — | –1 | — | L | —
Light steel shield | 10 sp | +1* | +1* | — | –1 | — | L | —
Heavy wooden shield | 10 | sp | +2* | +2* | — | –1 | — | 1 | —
Heavy steel shield | 20 sp | +2* | +2* | — | –1 | — | 1 | —
* Gaining a shield’s circumstance bonus to AC and TAC requires using the Raise a Shield action. A shield’s check penalty applies whenever you’re holding the shield, regardless of whether you have it raised to gain its bonus.

And it should be noted that there doesn't appear to be any way to increase those bonuses and shields cannot be enhanced like regular armor can. This may be a balancing decision but it seems like its keeping something on the table that could further make them attractive as an option. Maybe you should be able to enhance them but the enhancement bonus doesn't stack with any on the armor, allowing shields to have special abilities through their runes. For example, maybe the Sturdy magic ability should be a special shield only rune instead of a special made shield.

But that isn't all shields can do. How did their ability to act as weapons change?

If you attack with a shield, treat it like an attack with an improvised weapon (see page 178). This deals the heavy shield bash damage or light shield bash damage (as appropriate to the shield’s type) listed on Table 6–5: Martial Melee Weapons on page 180. If you want to reliably use your shield to attack, you need to buy and attach a shield boss or shield spikes to the shield. These work like other weapons, and can even be etched with runes (see page 370).

In PF1, shields were both weapon and armor with some special rules on when and how they can be used as weapons. In the Playtest, they count as improvised weapons but have special weapons that can be attached to the shield. The shield boss and the shield spike can be added to the shield, allowing for a non-improvised method of attack. It seems to me that you are not attacking with the shield but the attached weapon, and while they are both part of a whole the rules keep the two separate. For example you cannot magically enhance the shield itself, but you can enhance the attached weapon.

Lets try to answer those questions I asked in the beginning.

Do they work as intended?
Yes, but the rules seem to be confusing a lot of people. Part of the problem is that people are confusing playtest terms with PF1 mechanics. Part of the problem is in how the rules are written out. Some testing and deep questioning of people not familiar with the rules might find where rewrites are needed. Other than that, the only thing I think is intended but not supported by the rules is the ability to use Shield Block with a broken shield. Once a shield is broken it doesn't provide any benefit and cannot be raised, but from what I've heard and read the developers seem to suggest this shouldn't be the case.

Are they viable at all levels of play?
No. They can't be enhanced to provide any greater bonus. Their hardness does not keep up with the damage as levels rise. They are much more valuable in early levels and quickly become less and less useful as levels increase. If you are using them as a weapon their attack values keep up as well as any weapon, but you don't have much incentive to keep using them past midlevels.

Who benefits from them?
Low level characters that can afford to wield them with one hand. Specific builds with feats and class abilities that support shields benefit more for longer, but as pointed out above the viability of these builds diminishes over time.

Are there any breakpoints with shields?
A breakpoint is a threshold where a single step up in the numbers suddenly breaks the game in a unique way. With shields, I didn't spot any but more testing and number crunching would be needed to find them. I don't think any are going to be found with shields however, as outside of their uses as a weapon all stats fall behind the power curve as levels increase. You don't suddenly have a hardness that will block everything, and you can't really increase their bonus to AC and TAC.

In conclusion, the rules might need to be rewritten to avoid some of the common misunderstandings I've seen pop up in these forums, but by looking deeply at all of the rules around them I do grasp how they are intended to work. I would like to see some hard numbers on how these rules have held up in the playtest, but I suspect that shields need more support in their hardness. I'm also disappointed in their customization options in comparison with what we see in weapon and armor. They don't need any major reworking, but some small changes can really go a long way here.

Because I'm curious and liked Mona's archetype survey, here is one of my own. I'm not a part of Paizo at all so take this as purely a fun survey/discussion.

What five spells from outside of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook would you love to see sooner rather than later?

I can even start!

Possibly because I love playing the witch, but my top five are:

• Lipstich While not always the best choice in a combat, I love the flavor and utility of this spell. It is not only horrifying, but can actually prevent some foes from being effective if used correctly.

• Ill Omen Force a foe to roll twice and take the lowest? Heck yes. With PF1's critical hit system this almost guaranteed that the target wouldn't get one, and it really helped to set up some save-or-suck abilities and spells when I played a witch.

• Blistering Invective This not only allows you to make an Intimidate check against multiple targets, but has the potential to set them on fire!

• Limp Lash This needed a bit of work to clarify and balance out but even after all that I enjoyed using it a few times on our enemies.

• Call The Void My spellcasters always seemed to end up right next to the enemy, and this spell helped me make sure they regretted getting so close.
  

Maybe they aren't sticking to a strict Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule for the preview blogs. I was hoping they would be.

Should we be expecting preview blogs on a regular basis on set days?

Okay, so I keep reading a great amount on resonance and I'm seeing enough to have me believe that people are not considering all of the information given to us. Fair enough if you haven't been able to read all the blogs and forum posts, as well as listen to all the podcasts and keep up with social media. So here is everything En World has compiled on magic items , with a little editorial work on my end.

We keep focusing narrowly on resonance but lets look at magic items as a whole first.

The alignment system has been a part of the hobby for a long time, and has seen little change from the Good-Evil and Chaos-Lawful axis in many decades. It is so well known that it spawns countless memes, debates, and discussion even outside of the hobby. It is, however, outdated and this play test offers an opportunity to try something different.

While I understand Eric Mona's sentiment that removing something from the game has the danger of pissing off a fandom, we should still use this opportunity to at least try to innovate in this area of the game. If it doesn't work, if it isn't liked, there is still an opportunity to change it back to the way it was before. To keep alignment as it is will be missing an opportunity to do something Mr. Mona and others have said they want to do: facilitate storytelling in inclusive and accessible ways.

Keeping the concepts of good, evil, law, and chaos in the game is still possible without the current alignment system. After all, anything that replaces the current system will have to allow for planes of existence and creatures that are the absolute representations of those concepts. Devils should always be lawful and evil, for example. Spells and items should totally be able to carry auras that tie them to those concepts as well. Those auras help tell a story about the world, and to remove those elements removes something fundamental about fantasy games.

However, alignment for PCs, most NPCs, and most monsters is not nearly as helpful or inclusive as it could be. To start, most games simply ignore PC alignment until it is needed because of a class, spell, or effect. While alignment has the potential of facilitating character development, it is far too broad and ambiguous to inform interesting action. Good generally means that I have other people's interests at heart, but it doesn't actively encourage me to do specific good actions. There is little to nothing there encouraging the player could play directly with or against their alignment, and GMs don't have something specific they can directly challenge unless the player is a paladin.

Alignment as is also doesn't provide as much depth to the game as a similar system could. By limiting the trait to five terms it also limits creative play, and in some cases differences of opinion on what they mean can make them exclusive. While the simplicity of the system is good, it is ultimately shallow in what it provides players. It assumes that all Lawful Good characters are going to share the same opinions on what is both lawful and good, when in reality that will not be the case. As is, it doesn't encourage those two characters to explore those differences in any meaningful way. It also doesn't encourage either to have a difference from the other that can be played with.

Instead, I suggest we remove alignment from player characters and other elements where they are not needed for an aura or direct creature type. Certain classes can still inherit an aura, but other than that the PCs wouldn't have an alignment. What they could have is something more personalized to the character, such a statement of belief or morality, that can be used to inform their action, to be played against in interesting ways, and to be challenged. It could also be something given to NPCs that PCs may have methods of discovery for (sense motive? Detect Morality?)

The system could also have something built into it to encourage active play with the statements or aspects. Something that the GM could use as a guide when rewarding players for role play.

Here are two possible ideas:

Morality
Pick two adjectives that describe your character's moral character. Examples include but are not limited to chaste, honest, greedy, murderous, lustful, reserved, honorable, and kind.

Belief
Taken directly from Mouseguard/Burning Wheel, belief is a statement of belief that informs the character's morality and actions. "It's not what you fight against, but what you fight for that matter."

Both of these could have a reward system attached to them. Playing with, or even against, either could reward the player bonus experience points, or maybe even a bonus to a check. Morality could be something easily integrated into detection spells or the Sense Motive check. Belief would be trickier to put into monsters or NPCs, but it also encourages more thought into who the character is and what they live and die for.

No matter what is used in place of alignment, we need something with more depth and allows more inclusion. Something that has less potential for contention at the table and in discussion. This is a perfect opportunity to experiment and see what could be done. The perfect chance to move away from an old outdated system that has outlived its usefulness. We don't need to remove the elements of alignment completely from the game, but we should at least rethink how they are used and find ways to expand our tools to tell meaningful moral tales.

Now, I understand that this might be coming in too late. That to change how alignment is used would require far too much work. If so, oh well, but I couldn't let this play test pass without adding my voice and suggestions to this issue.

Sometimes there are little things that just don't get changed between editions that probably should have been given an editorial or proof-reading pass. Sometimes something works well but isn't worded as clearly as it could be. Sometimes there is just something small that bugs you. These are paper cuts. Things that won't have a major impact if changed in the next edition, but also wouldn't have an impact if kept the same.

My paper cut has to do with the bag of holding, specifically the cost of the Type III bag. All other bags of holding use multiples of 2,500 in their cost, but the Type III is worth 7,400 gp. This started with 3.0, and as best as I can tell it was carried over by copy/paste through other editions, including Pathfinder. Changing it to 7,500 gp would put it in line with the other bag types.

(As a note, bags of holding need to be reexamined to make them easier to scale up and down but that's more a personal desire than a paper cut.)

Another paper cut is how coffee and tea aren't in the core rulebook. While it doesn't seem like much, what if my proper noble character wants something besides wine with his brunch? What if he wants to do business over coffee at a cafe instead of a rowdy tavern?

See, nothing that has any real impact on the game as a whole but might still be worth including, changing, or removing.

What is your paper cut?

Has anyone considered and looked into using Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator with Starfinder?

What would be the challenges for using the two together? I seems like something that could work if done right, but would need some heavy prep to set up if you wanted to use it with the Dead Suns AP.

For those who don't know, Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator is a game that allows you and your friends to take different stations on a Star Trek style spaceship. Each station has a different purpose and role to play in flying, fighting, and exploring. There is a mission editor to create custom missions, and plenty of community missions and mods to download.

I'm looking to run a Pathfinder game again but haven't decided on the adventure yet. I want to present the group with some options, and have selected Reign of Winter and Iron Gods. But I also want to present to them a hack-and-slash option.

What adventure path, Paizo published or 3PP, would work really well for hack and slash?

Good luck everyone!

I found my new desktop background!

Covered in dirt and blood, this headless humanoid in the finery of a noble gropes the air in front of it with hands of bloody bone.

Guillowed CR 6
XP 2,400
LE Medium undead
Init +8; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception +9

----- Defense -----
AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 78 (12d8+24)
Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +8
DR 5/slashing Immune undead traits

----- Offense -----
Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +15 (1d4+6)
Special Attacks summon guillotine

----- Statistics -----
Str 22, Dex 18, Con —, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 15
Base Atk +9; CMB +15 (+19 grapple); CMD 29 (31 vs. grapple)
Feats Body Shield (UC), Chokehold (UC), Deceitful, Greater Grapple, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike
Skills Bluff +18 (+21 with steal head), Diplomacy +14 (+17 with steal head), Disguise +13, Intimidate +17, Perception +9, Sense Motive +9, Stealth +13
Languages Common, Infernal (can't speak unless using steal head)
SQ steal head

----- Ecology -----
Environment any urban
Organization solitary, pair, or mob (3–5)
Treasure standard

----- Special Abilities -----
Steal Head (Su) A guillowed is able to attach any humanoid head severed by its summoned guillotine to its neck. When it does this it gains the effects of the alter self spell to appear as the previous owner and is able to steal aspects of their identity. As long as the guillowed wears the head, it knows (and can speak) the languages known by the victim and basic information about the victim's identity and personality, yet has none of the victim's specific memories or knowledge. Additionally, the guillowed gains Bluff and Diplomacy as class skills while a head is attached.
Summon Guillotine (Sp) A guillowed can summon a ghostly guillotine made of force as a standard action. The guillotine appears adjacent to the guillowed and looks like the same one that took its own head. The guillotine is a weapon that deals 2d6 points of damage and has a x3 critical, but it is not designed to be wielded and cannot be used to make normal attacks. If the guillowed begins its turn grappling a pinned creature it can use a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity to maintain the pin and perform a coup de grace with the guillotine. Creatures killed by the guillotine are decapitated by the falling blade. The guillotine remains summoned for five minutes, but the guillowed can dismiss it as a free action at any time.

Guillowed are the result of a malevolent entity inhabiting the improperly buried bodies of those executed through decapitation. Their hands torn to bony claws from digging their way out of unhallowed graves, the guillowed wander the land seeking to take the lives and heads of anyone in a position they can use for their own purposes. They are found almost exclusively in Galt, where decapitation with guillotines is a popular form of execution. Some guillowed seek to create more chaos in Galt, while others seek to end the rebellion, but all of them are ruthless, cunning, and devious. It isn't uncommon for one to have a network of followers they treat as highly expendable, and all of them have a healthy collection of heads preserved and hidden away for their work.

The destruction of a final blade can create a guillowed of greater power, and a few of the older guillowed summon an executioner with a greataxe instead of a guillotine. It is rumored that the only way to permanently destroy a guillowed is to trick it into wearing the head that belongs to its body.

You have made it into the top 32, you have completed your map, you have turned it in, and soon those maps will be posted for all the world to see.

Congrats on making it this far! Now be careful and don't disqualify yourself. Every year one or more people make a critical mistake and have their item disqualified from the contest. That critical mistake? Talking about their map when they shouldn't.

During public voting rounds, contestants are prohibited from any public discussion that could be considered as adding to, expanding upon, or clarifying the content of their current submissions. This applies to (but is not limited to) interviews, personal blogs, and messageboard posts on paizo.com or elsewhere, including the paizo.com discussion thread for the entry itself. Any such discussion may result in disqualification, in the sole discretion of the judges and/or Paizo.

Don't talk about your map (or monster, encounter, or pitch) while voting is ongoing! Feel free to thank people for their comments, but don't expand, explain, clarify, or correct. Don't do this in the messageboards. Don't do this on Facebook. Be aware at all times that there is a possibly that any public communication could be seen by a judge of the contest.

I nearly DQ'ed myself this year on Facebook. I posted on my wall that I had made the top 32 and that I needed to do a map. A friend asked me a question about the map and I replied, forgetting that Owen KC Stephens is able to see my posts. Low and behold he not only saw the comment but replied to it. He assured me I had not done anything to disqualify my entry from the contest, the answer I gave was not specific enough to identify my entry or specific details of it, but he did warn me to be more careful.

This is a plea. Don't disqualify because you are so excited that you just have to talk about your item. The rules are there to test us, to see if we can have self-control.

Once voting is done and the results have been posted you can go in and comment, expound, explain, and respond all you want. Wait until then.

Good luck!

Abandoned long ago and now neglected to ruins, this cemetery once served the proud noble and royal citizens of Galt. Only the unwanted rest here.

Area Key: 1 – The Competing Monuments. 2 – House Tarne mausoleum. 3 – House Morgayne mausoleum. 4 – Old chapel and rebel hideout.

Spiraled Madu
Aura moderate abjuration; CL 9th
Slot none; Price 30,340 gp; Weight 6 lbs.
Description
This +1 defending steel madu has three twisted steel spikes jutting out from behind a round shield faced with a glowing bronze spiral. The spikes and spiral slowly spin to protect the wielder when they charge, reducing the armor class penalty for charging to -1. The wielder does not need to use the madu in the attack at the end of the charge to gain this benefit as long as it is wielded in the off-hand. While using the madu in a two-weapon full attack, the twisted spikes move and position themselves to balance and direct your strikes, and the spiral spins with an audible whine to steady your hand. This reduces the penalties for two-weapon fighting by 1.

For ten rounds each day the spikes can be commanded as a free action to furiously spin, blurring together and appearing to be part of a larger shield. While spinning, the madu is considered a +1 bashing heavy steel shield that deals slashing damage when used in a shield bash attack. Additionally, this weapon ignores up to 5 points of hardness when attacking objects or sundering as the spinning blades tear material apart with a spray of angry sparks.
Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, shield or shield of faith, wreath of blades; Cost 15,340 gp

While my wife and I didn't see many young gamers this year at PaizoCon, we certainly noticed them. We also noticed that there wasn't very much geared towards them specifically. There was the kids track games and a kids board gaming room but not much else, and we sensed that there wasn't anything consistently available for them the do.

We came up with an idea that would be fun and keep something open for gamers younger than 16 throughout the convention. It would require planning and preparation, not to mention volunteers to help man it, which is why I am gauging interest now. If it turns out this is something worth doing, and Paizo gives it their approval, my wife and I would love to start working on putting this together.

We propose setting up a miniature Swallowtail Festival in one of the rooms. It would have games and activities geared towards gamers younger than 16, such as ongoing We Be Goblin games, goblin crafts, and Swallowtail games.

Some of the specific ideas:

Goblin Crafts at Junk Beach
Goblins love junk and they also love to do stuff with that junk. At this station goblin masks, goblin jewelry, and more can be made from a donated collection of crafting supplies and odds and ends. Someone will always be on hand to assist, keep order, and keep any real goblins from stealing the junk.

Old Light
Inspired by a fan suggested game in Wayfinder #7, large foam block made to look like the stone that makes up Old Light are set out for people to build up the landmark tower. Enough sizable blocks are available to build a tower about four to five feet tall. Once built the tower can be torn down by way of a wrecking crane set up next to the build site. This is a bag full of rice suspended by a rope hanging from a pole.

Goblin Tales at Sandpoint Theater
A puppet stage will be set up with puppets available for people to tell goblin tales. At some point a storytelling contest will happen and a prize will be given to the winner.

Goblin Tossing at the Goblin Squash Stables
Goblins have broken into the stables are trying to harm the horses! A board with holes cut out of it is set up with scenery put down in front of it. The holes in the board represent an open door, two windows to the side, and one small window above the door. Scenery would represent the horses and stable. Players need to kick the goblins out of the stables, with points scored according to the hole the goblin flies through. Prizes are awarded for playing.

Game Tables at Rusty Dragon
Two or three game tables will be available for games. The We Be Goblins series will be ran each day, and a table with various other table top games will be available for open games.

Other Ideas
Pathfinder related coloring sheets, goblin raid parade, Squeely Nord nap corner, the possibilities are only limited by what space we can get, how many volunteers sign up, and what can be easily transported to and set up at the space.

So, would there be enough interest in this sort of room at PaizoCon? It would be open from 9am to 6pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with rotating volunteers. No children under 8 could be left unattended in the room, as the intention isn't to provide a daycare, but siblings 12 and older would be allowed to accompany younger siblings. We would need to have two to four volunteers in the room at all times, and enough volunteers to rotate through so we didn't have people stuck there the entire convention.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Hi! I am going to be running this event.

If anyone has any questions please let me know. We are pretty excited to be doing this event.

Is there a place to find out who will be involved and if we are able to participate? I will be there representing Flying Pincushion and we would love to be a part of this.

In a Skull and Shackles game I started out playing a fighter with the weapon master archetype that focused on repositioning enemies. His name was Azikewe.

Azikewe was a skinwalker race with the scaleheart heritage, used a hooked lance, and had a nasty bite. He has been a really good fit for the game.

That is, until he was killed in batte. He went down and was dying when his allies retreated and he was held as a hostage by an enemy captain. Negotiations didn't go well, and he ended up with a slit throat. It was then that our raging bloodrager picked up my character's body, yelled "SHE DEMANDS A SACRIFICE!" and threw the body overboard. We still are not sure who "she" is.

The GM agreed that it wasn't a cool thing to do and allowed my character's soul to be captured by an angry ex-girl friend (long story) and have the body possessed by a Voodo spirit my character worshiped. Being one of the more powerful spirits he was able to heal the body and keep it alive while he tries to reclaim his favorite worshiper. He also wants to destory the ex-girlfriend (again, long story.) His name is Ogu Fernea

So now I am playing a skinwalker (scaleheart heritage) with one level of fighter (weapon master,) and several levels of witch.

At some point the soul of Azikewe will be reclaimed by Ogu. Ogu wishes to become a full fledged and physical god, and certainly doesn't want to give up the body (it was established that godhood requires a physical body.)

What I want to do is have Ogu consume the reclaimed soul of Azikewe and have the two merge into one character. This one will be namedd Ogu Azikewe, with the soul of Azikewe and the spirit of Ogu becoming one entity bonded to the same body. In this form he will be one step closer to godhood and will be able to slowly awaken the divine power Ogu has had been using for centuries.

The GM has agreed that once the soul is reclaimed I can choose to play a new character if I wish. What I need help with is picking something to play.

I don't know what level he will start at, probably 7 or 8. He must be a skinwalker with the scaleheart heritage. I would like him to be able to reposition and throw enemies around but I also would like to have some spellcasting ability. He will be Neutral Evil. He is currently using a hooked lance as a weapon, but he doesn't have to continue to use it. No, we are not using mythic rules (saddly.)

What builds do you guys suggest I consider and try out?

I have seen a couple people looking for others to share a room with. I know the first year I went there was a helpful thread to organize room sharing.

Please have the following information to help people find rooms to share.

Name:
How to contact:
Have reservation already or looking for a room?

If you already have a reservation
What hotel:
Dates:
Expectations:

Maybe a little about yourself would be helpful as well.

Round 2 is over and we move on to round 3, but while the lessons of the map round are still fresh I wanted to post something that could benefit future contests and contestants. This is not intended to take away from the next round nor is it to pull focus away from the top 16 that made it. Go and congradulate them if you haven't, speculate about the monster round twist and how people do with it, and focus on them. I am just posting this here while the lessons learned are fresh in my mind. I hope to help anyone making a map in any future round of this contest, be it this year or the next.

On This Year's Round

I really liked that there was a map round, and I thought making it round 2 was a great idea. 32 written entries are tough to read all the way through without feeling burned out by the end, and maps are something I can gain a feel for with just a quick glance. I knew my top 16 votes in about ten minutes and top 8 in a half hour. 

Many of the maps are ones I want to use in a game, and I certainly will come back and grab a couple of them in the future. It was clear, however, that many of the contestants have never had to turn in a map to a publisher and as such lacked some of the skills that would have made them shine. There was advice posted to help everyone out, but written advice for a map isn't the same as written advice for a map. It would help if someone did a more visual tutorial post in the future, as well as linking to possible tutorials on how to draw basic elements of a map.

I felt the four day deadline was a bit much, especially because this was such a new addition to the contest and not everyone had the artistic skills to put out a great looking map in a short amount of time. I do not think my own map would have benefitted from a couple extra days (see the thread for my map if you want my thoughts on why,) but it may have helped others. Because voting for the maps can be done much more quickly than other rounds, it may benefit future maps rounds to have one or two more days in the submission deadline and one or two day less in the voting round. 

In the future, the round should also be more specific. Comparing city maps to tavern maps to dungeon maps felt a great deal like comparing apples to oranges. It also created an options overload situation that may have harmed some of the contestants. For example, I was less prone to vote for a city map because of how all cities essentially are just a variation of a theme, even if it was beautifully done. There were greatly unpolished dungeon or specific location maps that I voted for because they had a great concept that only work for that type of map. It would be pretty cool to see very specific requirements, like maping a location that would fit into Korvosa, an unmapped town in a Galt, or mapping out a tavern.

Outside of those two changes, I believe this is certainly a round that needs to be repeated again in future years. 

Advice for Future Contestants

Take time to breath and relax, and start looking at maps. Look at a previous years maps, including the encounter maps. Look for collections of maps online, messageboards for cartographers sharing their work, and galleries. If you have drawn maps for your own games, pull them all out and start looking at those. Looking at all of these will help you find elements and ideas on what to do and how to do it. If you have a map you drew already that you think fits, and it is one you can submit, use that as a starting point. 

Do not try to learn a new skill with this map. If you don't know how to use photoshop, don't try to learn how to use it now. Instead, focus on using those abilities and talents you are familiar with. You can turn in a professional looking map with minimal or no use of a photoshop program. 

Use your space wisely. Don't cram too much into every corner of the page, but don't leave too much space open and untouched. 

Think like a player and a GM. This would apply to encounter and dungeon maps much more than maps of cities or nations. Ask youself if you would enjoy drawing this out on a game mat, and how long your players would have to wait while you do it. How does an encounter work with the space and elements of the map? If things are too cramped or too open you may need to rethink the map or parts of it.

For example, a oddly shaped room with many 5 ft. alcoves and seval halls coming off of it may allow for interesting combat but could be a pain to draw out. Consider how much time will be spent on multiple rooms of that type. Also, if most of the rooms are small the encounters are going to be limited to one or two creatures. Have variety in size and complexity.

Mazes are pain to run. Don't do a maze. 

Linear design has its place but doesn't always work well. Do what you can to have multiple routes to the same key location. City and nation maps also benefit from this advice. Unless the city is a fortress designed to funnel attackers towards a key kill zone, it will have multiple major roads running through it.

There are several places online to find great map symbol sets for map keys. They do not take that much work to add into a map using a photoshop program or by drawing them by hand.

Elevation is tough to work out but some have done a good job by using colored numbers. Pick a part of the map and have that be elevation 0. Everything else will have a positive number (10) or a negative number (-10) to indicate going up or down in elevation.              

Tell a story with your map. This may be hard to do at times, but thinking through a map narratively  can help you decide on what elements need to be present. If a room was once a wine cellar but has been looted and abandoned, try to find ways of showing that. You can also do this through the names of the room. Ask yourself what people do in the room outside of any combats you plan on having there. What lives in that area of the map and what its needs?  What makes this district of the city different, and what effect does it have on the map visually? 

Have something visually different and appealing in the map. If you are drawing a city map, have a large landmark or two that stand out. If you are drawing a dungeon have one or more unusually shaped rooms. Keep in mind that while sticking to a square grid is helpful for combat, people do not often build buildings or plan cities using square grids. Deviating from the grid becomes problematic with smaller spaces, such as narrow passages. Larger spaces are much more forgiving and therefore better candidates for unusual shapes. 

When drawing a city map, think about three things in particular. Why was the city founded in that spot? Why has it thrived in that spot? What is constraining it to the size or shape that it currently is? Cities need a few important elements to be successful. They need water, a traveling route to take people to and from them, and a resource to build an economy on. Not having any of those can spell doom for a city, so keep them in mind as you draw them. If a city is large enough it will also need good defenses. 

Color on a map isn't required but it can help you. Water, for example, if good to call out with a blue color, and if you have multiple materials making up a dungeon you may want to think about greys and browns. 

Maps are done and submitted, and now we 32 are taking a breath and have some time before the rules for round 3 are posted.

My plan doesn't have to be anyone elses but here it is.

Sit down an look at my schedule, find the times each day I can spend on the contest while avoiding possible neglect to other areas of my life. There is much I can set aside in my life for this contest and as much as I like trying to grab a culture win in Civilization V, or finish my wife's slime farm in Minecraft, those are largely distractions and entertainments. There are also personal projects I can put on hold. As much I want to meet a friend's challenge to create an Attack on Titan RPG with non-transitive dice sets, that isn't important.

But I have to keep some of my life. Obviously work, school, and marriage needs to be priority over the contest. I have a Skull & Shackles game that I am playing in, and it helps me keep fresh with the rules of Pathfinder and keeps me grounded in the basics. I also started playing a Mwangi wendo possessing the body of a previous character and it is just too much fun to pass up.

Jacob pointed out several times that sleep is important and I completely agree.

There are other activities to set aside or keep, so this isn't an exhaustive list of what will and will not be set aside for the contest.

Once I have that finished and a schdule is figured out, I need to jump on monsters, begin thinking of encounters, and start polishing up my adventure pitch skills. I was told by people in my pit crew that I have to start thinking about future rounds now and avoid thinking about each round only once the rules for it are posted. I agree.

I am fortunate to have Flying Pincushion as a pit crew. Frank Gori and Jeff Harris put together an amazing team over there, including past RPG Super Star contestants. They have been great in pushing and stretching me, giving me advice, and pointing me in the right direction for research. If you do not have a pit crew, a group of people you can bounce ideas off of and who can offer good advice, find one.

Between now and the rules for round 3 being posted I plan on designing one monster a day to warm myself up, passing them along to my pit crew, and trying make all my mistakes with these practice pieces. Once the rules are posted I hope to be ready for that round.

I also plan on working on rough and quick maps for round 4, studying encounter design, and writing an adventure pitch once a week each.

If I don't make it to round 3, I still want to work on pitches because I want to be able to start sending them out once the contest is finished for me. The Pathfinder Society open call is an opportunity I should have jumped on two years ago, and I am long over due to take advantage of it.

Good luck to everyone, and I hope we have the best year yet.

What are you plans to ensure you are doing your best each round?

Temple of Kabriri, The Pit, Sandpoint Hinterlands

Fist of Havoc
Aura strong evocation; CL 12th
Slot none; Price 75,840 gp; Weight 15 lbs.

Description
The fist shaped head of this +2 adamantine earthbreaker glows a faint orange and gives off sparks when struck against objects, sounding a deep boom with each blow. The fist of havoc can score critical hits on objects when attempting to sunder or damage them with a critical of 19-20/x3. The critical for sundering cannot be modified by any abilities or feats, such as Improved Critical or the keen weapon ability.

When used successfully against a structure, such as a door or wall, the earthbreaker strikes with such force that a large area around the glowing fist visibly cracks and buckles in. This causes the attack to be an automatic critical threat on the object. Destroyed doors turn to splinters with the door frame severely bent out and ruined. Destroyed walls, floors, and ceilings are opened up with a hole ten feet in diameter centered on the attack. Ceilings and floors that collapse rain rubble onto any creatures below, causing 3d6 points of damage. A successful DC 18 Reflex save halves the damage.

Once per day as a swift action after an object is destroyed, the earthbreaker can cause the object to explode in a deadly spray of jagged wood and hot iron. All creatures within twenty feet of the object, excluding the earthbreaker’s wielder, take damage equal to 1d6 plus the hardness of the destroyed object, and must make a DC 18 Fortitude save. If they fail the save they are shaken for 1d4 rounds.

Construction
Requirements Craft Arms and Armor, break, shatter, sundering shards ; Cost 37,920 gp

Hi everyone!

For those who don't know me because of how little I have been contributing in the last year or so, I am Taylor Hubler (Caleb T. Gordan is a pen name I used in gaming.) I am a community member that has been around since 2009, attending PaizoCon a couple of times, occasionally contributing to Wayfinder, and who has recently started doing some light freelance work for d20PFSRD.com and Flying Pincushion. I wrote a few guides, and while I mostly lurk on the forums I will contribute to discussions when I believe I have something to say.

Following the advice from James Jacobs, James Sutter, Jason Bulmahn, Lisa Stevens, and several others (all of which personally gave it to me at PaizoCon,) I am attending college and working towards earning a degree so that I can one day work in the gaming industry. One of the classes that I am taking is Interracial Communication, which explores communication about and across racial lines. We are to write a final paper that involves research and study, and I would like to write a paper related to racial representation in gaming. Specifically, racial representation in table top role playing games, how that representation has evolved over time, how it might change into the future, and how it has or has not been beneficial thus far.

I need some help with this paper, especially the research part of it. I do not have the time or resources to seek out and find a diverse enough sample of the early rulebooks and adventures. If I can call upon the community here to help me, I need people to look at rulebooks, modules, and possibly adventures, to gather some information from them for me.

Please dig through your old libraries, PDFs, and collections and report back here with the needed information for this project. Without your help I may only have parts of 3rd ed, the three core rulebooks for 4th ed, and 5th ed for D&D, and pretty much everything for Pathfinder. That would only cover a narrow window of history, selection of game systems, and publishers. I need more.

What to look at:

• As many hardcover rulebooks and boxsets as possible for D&D from its first edition to today.
  
• Hardcover core books for major settings: Forgotten Realms, Dragon Lance, Ebberon, Golarian, Razor Coast, etc.
  
• Core rulebooks for as many other systems as possible: Hero, Fate, d6, d20, Mutants and Masterminds, etc.

Please only look at box sets (because they are often meant to be an introduction to the game or were the first major releases for a game,) and hard covers. I may consider looking at popular and famous adventures later, including Paizo APs.

I have a huge Pathfinder library so I don't need others to help me with getting the information from them.

Please post the desired information here in the following format (so I can easily browse, find, and record it on an excel sheet.)

Name of Book:
Year Printed:
Game System:
Publisher:
How many individual characters are represented in the product:
Going over each individual give me the following:
Name (if they have it). What archetype of the game they represent (class, role, etc.) What race they are. (Color of skin, though if they are non-human please state that as well.) If they are a protagonist or antagonist. How many times they are represented.
Any additional insights or thoughts related to that product and racial representation within it.

Other ways to help:
Suggesting primary sources on racial representation in table top gaming for me to read, such as similar studies or interviews with industry leaders. I have found a few blog posts about opinions on the matter, but I can't use opinion pieces that haven't also been backed by research and facts I can confirm on my own. For example, a piece where someone talks about walking through GenCon and seeing a lack of characters of color is not helpful to my research at this time. A piece where an industry leader explaining their company's policies and practices on the matter will help.

Double checking what others have posted and confirming that it is correct, or offering further insight into a product listed.

NOT filling this thread up with debate or personal opinions at this time. I would like to have this be a place where I can gather information (should it be provided.) I will post my paper in a new discussion, and that will be a place to debate and discuss the topic of racial representation in gaming. If you wish to discuss racial representation sooner, start a new discussion please.

If I have time and a need to do more I may set up a place for personal experiences, but at this time that isn't needed.

If you have an alternative and easier way to gather the information please let me know. If you want to be super helpful and do the excel sheet or a database for me, all the better!

Please help me out with this, as without this information I may need to look into doing the paper on a topic that requires less involvement and research. If I have to do that, it will not involve gaming, which will make me very sad.

Thank you so much for any help you can give.

What game accessories do you use?

What are the coolest things you have found to really help your game?

What are those cool things that you find you don't need but add something fun to the game or make your life just a little bit easier?

Try to post links if you can.

I will post my own later when I have a bit more time to a good post about it.

A couple of notes:

• We rolled for stats and I was very fortunate with my rolls.
  
• We have been playing for a few sessions so things are pretty set and can't be changed without the GM's approval.
  
• He currently has the Cruelty drawback, but that may change. The GM recongized that it was going to seriously harm my character in a fight in this game.

This is Azikiwe Akobundo, my character for Skull & Shackles. We are about two weeks of in game time into the AP and things have been going really well. Azikiwe is acompanied by the following:

• A catfolk rogue focusing on fighting with claws. He is pretty decent in the frontlines as long as he can flank.
  
• A human bloodrager who is our front line DPR at the moment.
  
• A half-elf inquisitor of Besmara. He focuses on distance with a longbow but can switch to a rapier when needed.
  
• A human tattooed sorcerer. She has been staying far back for now.
  
• A teifling bard (no archetype.) Needs to stay in back lines.
  

Azikiwe is designed to be about mid-field to front lines. I plan on getting him a trip reach weapons and using that to help out the catfolk and bloodrager. The idea isn't nessicarily to trip but to reposition foes to help the rogue gain flanking, and eventually to give people attacks of opportunity. He will almost always have his bite attack in combat, so if someone closes in on him he has an attack that still threatens.

So far he has been a character of surprises. Because I don't have to pump so much focus into DPR, and because I have one of the highest Intelligence scores in the party, I have been able to do some fun things with this character. I plan on taking the Improved Reposition, Greater Dirty Trick, Greater Reposition, Tactical Reposition, and possible the Quick DirtyTrick/Reposition feats. I may still get Greater Weapon focus for a hooked lance, but I am considering skipping out on Greater Weapon Specialization.

What I am considering doing, and would appreciate some advice on is 3rd level. I am thinking of dipping into another class for a two or three levels, possibly spreading them out between fighter levels.

I am considering rogue as it will give me a couple more skill points (Lore warden gives me +2 to put into Knowledge skills, and I am using the favored class bonus for +1 skill point,) maybe an neat archetype ability (haven't really picked one but rogue archtypes are pretty front loaded,) and at 3rd getting evasion to help protect the character a bit more.

I am open to other suggestions as well. Bard might be a good one but I haven't really seen much there that excites me besides the class skill bonuses and skill ranks.

What do you all suggest?

I apologize if this isn't in the correct place for this question.

I was working on a couple of projects that involved material from the Player Companion line and decided to make sure that should they be printed by a third party publisher everything was okay as long as I referenced the sources correctly. This would, of course, include proper referencing in the section 15.

When I looked up the Compatibility License though I noticed that there was a very specific list under Exhibit B: List of Products which May Be Referenced.

Am I not allowed to reference material not on Exhibit B? For example, am I not allowed to use or reference material found in the Player Companion: Adventurer's Armory, such as an item that is only found in that book?

Would I need to contact someone and gain special permission for books not included on that list, including other 3PP products?

How would I check to see if a particular product can or cannot be referenced?

If I do not have a proficiency with an exotic weapon can I still use the abilities listed under "special?"

For example, if I do not have a proficiency with a whip can I still use its disarm, reach, and trip abilities?

So I found out that Trip weapons give the same benefits to reposition and drag.

Does that mean I can also make ranged reposition and drag maneuvers with bolas?

There is a trait in the Adventurer's Armory called Rough and Ready where you gain proficiency with improvised weapons related to your profession.

If I was playing a pirate character, which I will be in an upcoming S&S game, can I use this to gain proficiency with certain pirate weapons so long as I had ranks in Profession (sailor)?

Would I, for example, be able to pick up grappling hooks, gaffs, and boarding gaffs and be able to use them as if I had taken the appropriate exotic weapon feats? Would they have their grappling or trip special abilities when using this trait? I know it wouldn't work with weapons like a cutlass that were designed to be weapons in the first place, but specifically the three I mentioned above are not actually weapons; they are tools people just happened to have commonly used as weapons.

I am trying to find a way to gain proficiency in the types of weapons that would be extremely common for pirate characters to use without having to waste feats on it.

I am starting Monterey PFS once again at Mythic Games in downtown Monterey.

I am maintaining a Facebook page with all the needed information, and will be starting up the Warhorn page again soon. You can also find information here on this site by searching for a game in this area.

I am looking for GMs who are willing to run games so that I can play from time to time, and so that if I were to suddenly not be able to run games the events can continue to happen. I am willing to run a GM only Adventure Path on the days we don't have PFS as an incentive.

We are gaming in the new and wonderful Mythic Games. They are still growing and setting up the store so it is a little rough around the edges, but the owner is super supportive of us having events there.

Some of you may be aware of the How to Use Leadership guide that I wrote a while back. Well, the sheer popularity of it and my recent in with a few 3pp as a freelance writer has inspired me to work on a product centered around the feat Leadership. It will be a few books, each one covering different things.

While this is just in the planning phases, and honestly hasn't been fully pitched to anyone yet, I thought it might be a good idea to hear about how people have used the feat in the game. For now I would like to hear all about how you use cohorts.

What are some of the uses you have had for cohorts?

Where have you seen them be the most effective?

If you are a GM, do you allow them to be combat focused?

When used, where there any restrictions to their use?

Who built them, the player or the GM, and were there any guidelines used?

Give me anything you feel would be good to know about cohorts in your game, and where the Pathfinder RPG might see some improvement with them. Everything people can give me will help me with this project.

I am working on a project and I need to figure out the dead shot DPR so I can compare it to full attacks.

I can't use the DPR calculator because dead shot works very differently than normal full attacks. It only adds the bonuses once, it only rolls the critical hit once, and only misfires if all of them misfire.

What is the math behind figuring this out?

There will always be paladin threads, and people are still going to play them wrong, but I felt inspired to write a guide anyway.

This is not, in any way, an attempt to write a guide on how to optimize a paladin build. This is an attempt to write a guide on how to play with the code of conduct. As a result, this guide will probably be revised and expanded over time as I gain more experience and feedback.

The initial parts of it are not that long, but there are a couple of optional sections that go on for many pages. I have included a brief history of the word paladin, a brief look at why they have a code of conduct, how to prepare to play a paladin, and a more in depth look at the standard code of conduct. After that there is a section on how to use communication between the paladin and the god, and a section on codes of conduct that can be used as inspiration for custom paladin codes. There is also an old Dragon Magazine article on the subject from way back in the AD&D days.

This thread is for discussion, relation of experiences, and providing links or suggestions for the real life code section.

There is some discussion of real life religions, including but not limited to Christianity, Islam, and Buddism, but I did what I could to limit those discussions to the optional sections. If you find anything in the guide insulting or infuriating, please keep any responses you may put here civil.

You may find the guide here.

I am writing a guide that goes over how to set up, play, and challenge a paladin's code of conduct. One section of it will have real life codes that can be used to build custom ones for play.

What are some possible codes of conduct I can include in this guide?

Chivalry and Bushido are already going to be included. Nothing is too small or unusual to be considered, and fantasy codes are also welcome.

Please, do not dismiss other poster's suggestions or argue against them. Let me decide if something shouldn't be included.

If I am reading things correctly, the only thing the feat actually does is make misdirects from indirect-fire siege engines go from 1d4 per range increment to 1 per. Why? Well, in the paragraph about direct siege engines it says that any ranks in Knowledge (engineering) removes penalties from the siege engine being larger than the commander.

Here is the feat:

By the way, the above feat requires the feat Siege Engineer, which requires you have 5 ranks in Knowledge (engineering.)

And here is the paragraph explaining the penalties for size difference.

Bold mine.

So... am I reading things correctly? Does the requirement for the feat actually just make the first part of it redundant?

This is a rough idea, but I felt like sharing it to see what people thought.

Use the following instead of the normal rules for negative health and death:

At 0 health and below your character is disabled, losing 1 hp for each standard action you take. If you lose enough health in this way to put your negative health equal to your Constitution score you fall unconscious. Each round at negative health you must make a DC 10 Constitution check, taking a penalty equal to your negative health. If you fail your character falls unconscious.

If you take enough damage in one attack to drop you below an amount of negative health equal to your Constitution you fall unconscious.

Once unconscious in any of the ways mentioned above you live for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score. After that time you die. You can be stabilized with a heal check or with any kind of magically healing. You remain unconscious unless you are brought above 0 hp.

Coup de grace work normally.

[/rules]

Okay. I know this means less death for the PCs, but it could also mean less death for the NPCs. It also means coup de grace is much more important to perform.

I should probably have an amount of negative hp that means death. Maybe double or triple Con.

Paizo owns the submitted items, and they cannot be used elsewhere without their permission?

Only asking because there are so many amazing and awesome items this year that it would be great to see many of them together in a publication of some sort. Maybe a page on d20pfsrd.com? A single free webzine with the top 100? Nothing that people would have to pay for, just single place to read this year's best. Is that possible?

What is the earliest level one could take prestige classes (with unusual character builds)? What is the earliest intended level for one to take a prestige class (no overly special builds to qualify)?

I only did a quick look and it seems that level 7 is a very popular level for them. This is different from what I had thought was the norm: 6th level. Is this true across most of the prestige classes?

Just kidding. I know that would disqualify me. Don't reveal names of your items until the results are posted!

But the anticipation is killing me! I really want to know if anyone has seen it and what they think of it. That honestly is my favorite part of this contest, as selfish as that sounds. I love telling everyone what I liked about their item and talking about my favorites just as much.

Last year I thought I had a strong item, but people felt it was a joke item and there were a few mechanical issues. This year, my item is much stronger, but I keep seeing items just as strong come up for voting. This year is tough!

So do you feel anxiety over how others see your item?
Do you think this year has much better items than previous years?

May I refer to spells, items, or class abilities printed in either the Player Companion or Pathfinder Campaign Setting product lines? Do we need to only use Core books?

For example, could I use the spell accursed glare from the Player Companion book, "Blood of the Moon" as a spell requirement in an item?

We are starting Skull and Shackles soon and I am starting to look for minis for my character. I typically don't paint a mini until 3rd level so I have some time to find one, but I thought I would ask.

The character is going to be a fighter, handsome looking, and he dual wields kukris.

This is pretty close, and I could always just alter his sword and dagger, but I would like to see all my options.

Anyone have some suggestions?

We don't seem to get very many new hexes for the witch, at least not very often. Blood Of The Moon added a few, and Delicious Fright is a particularly good one. The only thing that would make it better is if it would work with Cackle. However, the original language of Cackle prevents not just this hex, but any hex released outside of the Advanced Players Guide to work with it. I feel this is a mistake, as some new hexes could, and probably should, be able to benefit from the Cackle hex.

I don't think Delicious Fright would be broken when combined with Cackle. It would really benefit from a sentence that simply said it can be extended with Cackle, and if there are any future hexes that could be used with it, they should have a similar sentence.

Do others agree or should Cackle only work with APG hexes?

We are moving into the last book of Legacy of Fire, and the one thing that has been proven in the last couple of books is that my witch is frail (he died three times, more than any other PC,) and needs a bit more of a barrier and protector. I took Leadership many levels ago (mostly for story reasons) and I have decided to use that feat to gain a cohort who can help extend my character's survivability.

We haven't sold any loot in the last two books and so we have a huge amount of gold to spend. I bought all the items I needed for my PC and now have plenty left over for the cohort. I have an idea of what to buy the cohort, but I wanted to see what the good folks here would buy.

The cohort is a ranger with the Witchguard archetype. This is an excellent cohort archetype, as the purpose of it is to keep adjacent casters alive. The one need he has is a shield, preferably a tower shield. This is due to a couple of feats and abilities that he has.

He has 25,928 gp to spend. My PC is level 13, the cohort is level 11.

What would you buy?

Absolutely amazing what is done for home theaters these days. I had heard amazing stories and rumors about what Lisa has, and recently I discovered an article that shows it off in the magazine "GEEK."

It looks like it was taken right from the movies and has the famous smuggler, Han Solo, in carbonite and a full sized C-3P0. There are even "view ports" that look out into a field of stars. It looks so very posh and amazing, and certainly looks like you are in a ship zooming through space. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to watch the original trilogy there.

I was able to find more pictures of it here, along with other really cool home theaters.