Carl Meyer's page

Thread necromancy in progress.
Please please please let this happen someday! Planet Stories, Kane, two great tastes that taste great together!

On Amazon it lists this deck with Chuck Lukacs as the artist. I love his art, and would be very happy seeing him illustrate items in these decks, buuuuut, I also love Vincent Dutrait's item cards, and I like that they all have the same style. Is Dutrait still going to be doing item cards, or has he moved on to other things?

1. No, I will not be buying 4e. If the game turns out to be really good, and I have a group willing to play, well, then I'll consider it. As it is I really like 3.x, have a group that likes it and is willing to play, plus several other systems we like and are itching to play.

2. If Paizo goes 4e I will probably only continue getting Planet Stories and statless things like item cards.

3. If Paizo stays 3e, I will probably continue buying things like Pathfinder and GameMastery modules.

Thanks for asking!

I ran my group through several NG modules up to this one. For some reason they left after a few rooms, never to go back. They LOVED Wizard's Amulet, LOVED Crucible of Freya, LOVED Siege of Durgam's Folly, LIKED (doesn't really work in all caps, does it?) Hall of the Rainbow Mage, and HATED Rappan Athuk. Tomb of Abysthor, however, just didn't register. No matter how many hooks I threw at them for it, I couldn't get their characters to go back.
I really enjoyed reading it, and thought they would really get into it, but something about it really turned them off. Maybe they just got burned out with "old-school" style by then.

I was lucky enough to get to interview Eco in college for our school literary magazine. Very friendly, fascinating, and great sense of humor. We were supposed to get a 20 minute time slot to interview in, but he said he was enjoying our talk so much he blew off his next appointment and spent a full hour chatting with us. That evening, after his dinner with various school grandees and such, he got in contact with our editor to go drinking. Several of my friends took him out to our favorite dive bar and drank martinis out of plastic cups until the bar closed. Unfortunately I missed the call. I was out on a date, had I not ended up marrying the girl I would have been really upset.

Now this thread I like.
I love Homer, I studied Greek in school, and have read the Iliad and Odyssey in Greek and just about any translations I can find. I always find something new in them.
I am reading War and Peace right now. I'm beginning to think I'm just wired to like Russian authors, as I'm also a huge fan of Dostoevsky.
Love anything by Eco, Borges, Calvino, Rushdie and Pynchon.
Took a course in college on the Inferno. Best way to read it is with someone who has spent the last 20 years studying it.
Surprised myself with how much I love Jane Austen's writing, especially Pride and Prejudice (fun fact: This novel might make for a good movie).
Arabian Nights are awesome, I prefer the Mardrus and Mathers versions myself.
Great Gatsby is another favorite I have read a few times when I don't want to commit to a long book.
Also Herodotus, Vonnegut and Twain - before I shut up.

Wow, what a hard thread to read. I'm seeing so many of my favorites pulled down. Fortunately, a lot of crap has been mentioned as well.

For me, Steinbeck and Faulkner hurt. Really hurt. Thank God you only go through high school once.

I managed a bookstore for a couple of years and found myself reading a lot of the "great contemporary authors of fiction". Blech. They all ran together in my head, and now they are all becoming movies. I was able to avoid the Da Vinci code, however.

In answer to the original post:
I would be ecstatic if the 3rd Pathfinder series is 3.5. If Paizo ever did their own Pathfinder RPG based off the OGL, I would buy that too.

I am both excited and saddened to hear of the bind you are in at Paizo, as I was pretty sure I would end up canceling my subscriptions once the switch to 4e was made. So on the one had I am happy to hear there is the possibility I may get another AP out of Paizo, but on the other I am sad to hear the difficult and distressing business situation this puts you in.

Whatever direction you take, I wish Paizo the best of possible outcomes.

1. Have you purchased a Planet Stories novel or anthology yet? If so, which one(s)?

None yet, sadly. Money is tight, but I intend to buy all of them when it becomes more available.

2. What author in the Planet Stories line most interests you?

Up until today I would have said C.L. Moore. This morning I finished reading an old collection of the Jirel stories. I loved it, and I am very excited to pick up the Black God. Right now, I think it would be Brackett. I saw the Big Sleep a couple of weeks ago, and that got me really excited about her writings.

3. Please list the following genres in the order you would prefer that we focus on in late 2008 and beyond:

Sword & Sorcery
Sword & Planet
"Weird" Fiction

4. What can I do to get you to buy more Planet Stories books?

Other than the obvious "give me a high paying job" type answer, my only real advice is to continue with the less known/high quality authors. I like Moorcock, and love Howard, but I am more interested in the harder to find, less lauded writers in these semi-obscure genres.

5. If we offer a monthly subscription with, say, a 30% discount off the cover price, would you consider subscribing?

Yes. Can I right now? Because I would. Thanks for working on making subscriptions a possibility.

I was so excited for this, but if it is for 4.0, I'm afraid I'll have to pass.

I'm considering picking one of these up, both are currently available to me, but I really only can afford one at this time. Which would you recommend and why?

My first child! On Sunday my wife gave birth to our beautiful little baby girl, Iris.
Baby is healthy, wife is healthy, I am ecstatic. And while I may have used that word-ecstatic-to describe my feelings for various gaming products here, this is different by orders of magnitude.
My advice? Go get yourself one of these! They're great!

Now to decide which edition of D&D to start her with, I guess I have a few years to work on that.

Haven't read any Kuttner yet, however last week I bought a bunch of used paperback fantasy collections, and I believe there are at least 2 Kuttner stories in there.
I'll try to give 'em a read tomorrow (sitting around, waiting for my wife to go into labor). I'm pretty excited about trying his work out, as I have heard great stuff so far.

I have to second the recommendation for D0 Hollow's Last Hope (available as a FREE download here at Paizo). I hope to begin running a game for my 10 year old nephew and his friends in the next month or so. If they choose 3.x as their system, I am definitely beginning with D0.
The later GameMastery modules have struck me as a bit more mature than I would like to run for them as-is. However, the adventures (D1, D2, and W1) are good designs, and may just require some minor story tweaks to alleviate any maturity problems.
If I do decide to use them I would happily share the changes I made, if you have an interest.

Geneva, NY. In the middle of the Finger Lakes region. In four weeks, however, I will be moving back to Minnesota, Twin Cities area. Also known as God's Country. I'd better change my shipping address for Pathfinder and GameMastery!

Me too. Huh?

No apology necessary (of course), you guys are class acts.
Thanks for the cards, and for the mistake (I bet you don't hear that very often!).

Just a quick thanks, I received my order this week, and as usual the packaging was excellent, the items I ordered were all there, PLUS a pack of Heroes Hoard cards. Also, I ordered a copy of a Compleat Encounter, adventure only. Well, it came with the miniatures. I assumed this was just another little nice thing from Paizo, but got a little paranoid. If the whole shebang was put in by accident, I would be happy to pay the difference. If it was, in fact, just someone over at Paizo being extra nice, well, I really appreciate your generosity.
No problems here, just wanting to say thanks again.

Is the "War Golem Factory" Compleat Encounter part of the inspiration for the golem works of Magnimar?
I have been wondering if the remaining, unreleased, Compleat Encounters would have some of their ideas reworked into GameMastery modules or into Pathfinder. I guess I have no idea if theose CEs ever made it beyond the stage of a name and concept, but they sounded pretty cool.

Well, I'm not going to comment too much on the specifics in this thread. I just wanted to pop in and say, after three (and a half) GameMastery modules, seven Compleat Encounters, and one volume of Pathfinder, I am very happy in general with the art direction on these lines. Of course there are some pieces that don't do much for me, but overall, I am very,very happy.
But then I do love anime. And classic fantasy art (Frazetta, Otus, Parkinson, Elmore, etc.). And current game art (Reynolds! Lockwood, Wood, etc). And classical art (spent a semester in Greece and Italy studying it).
I find what I have seen so far tickles all my fancies for art. Hm, that last sentence makes me feel kinda funny.

Keep it up Paizo! I especially love the mug-shots of characters in Burnt Offerings (whoever did Shalelu Andosana is my hero).

Could the art used on these covers be sold as prints by Paizo, or by the artist (Andrew Hou, I believe)? I would love to have several of these based on what has been posted (especially Black God's Kiss).

I have been collecting old fantasy paperbacks and intend to display them face out in my future study/den/studio/gameroom/discussion salon/hideout. Having modestly sized prints of these covers would be perfect for the feel I want in "my space".

I know you guys are busy, but I just thought I'd throw the idea out there as you guys do a damned fine job of taking customer desires and making them happen. Especially the really great ideas like this one. Right? Right?

Awesome! Thanks for the good words James.

I think it would be great to have access to the images from Pathfinder (and the whole GameMastery line) available in a gallery, like Wizards does.

I may be an anomaly, but I usually check out the art galleries or art previews before buying a book. I know the content is the most important aspect, but I have bought more than one book I had no use for simply because the art is fantastic, and likewise skipped some books I was interested in until I saw the art was terrible. Does this make me shallow? Probably, but I think I am not alone.

After looking through Burnt Offerings and Seven Swords of Sin last night my first thought was that I'd buy these just for the art. I guess so far, that is all I have really checked out. So maybe there are others who would get into Pathfinder if they got a glimpse of just how great the illustrations are (they also serve a very practical purpose in conveying the feel and type of world present in Pathfinder).

Also I like to print out pieces of art as play aids, usually an image of an NPC on a card to hold up when I am speaking in-character (I don't do voices, well, not well at least).

So what do ya say? I know you guys don't have much to do over there, with so little product coming out these days ;)

Yeah, I'll second that request, this could be an extremely useful product for me.

Just got mine. Quick skim looks very exciting, and the art, the ART! So very very pretty.

Just opened the .pdf as well, and wow, BEAUTIFUL stuff. Have only skimmed the contents, but the art is gorgeous, and the actual contents look pretty devious.

Oh, and I just wanted to add: Stebehil, you are one handsome gentleman.

I also wanted to note mine arrived about a week ago, and despite the post office doing their damnedest to destroy it, everything inside the package was pristine. And by everything I mean W1, the print copy of Paizo's summer catalog, and some FREE item cards! Thanks guys!

I saw this at Target over the weekend, but didn't pick it up. I think I'll have to make a trip to do just that (considering the nearest Target for me is an hour drive away, that's saying something).

I like stuff from a lot of game companies, but have a pretty exclusive list of "Favorites".

Paizo Publishing
Malhavoc Press

I am ecstatic about how prolific Paizo has become, it makes up (somewhat) for Monte bowing out of RPGs for the present.

Personally, I'd just go with the core rulebooks, a DM screen, perhaps the GameMastery Combat Pad and some Fiery Dragon counters (perhaps just the CD if you have access to easy printing).

It sounds like Pathfinder will be pretty complete in and of itself, including all the fun extra bits you may want to use. If you only bring the core, it will be easier to make room to focus on the specific-to-Pathfinder bits.

Also, if you will have regular internet use, a lot of great stuff is available there. Most (if not all) of Unearthed Arcana is in the SRD, as are the Psionics rules. You can get PDFs of other books from WotC and all sorts of other publishers (many quite inexpensively), plus there is a lot of great free content out there.

This is all just my preference. I would take a year halfway around the world as a bit of a break from all the available options, and just concentrate on what Pathfinder is all about without having to worry about the other stuff.

Carl Meyer:
Creator of Imaginitive Screen Names

Great looking line-up. I was tempted to get the Leigh Brackett books used a couple weeks ago, but decided to wait and see if Paizo would have Ginger Star. Can't wait to see these!

Most of my family lives in the Twin Cities area, and most of them are huge Twins fans. I had to call as soon as I heard about the collapse, knowing at least someone in my family would have been going to the game.

Fortunately all are accounted for.

I too took a great deal of comfort upon hearing how many who fell, and were able to, went right back into the water to help others.

This is a great tragedy, but it is good to know that people everywhere seem to be basically good and willing to aid total strangers when confronted with such a need.

Classic monsters revisited? My prayers have been answered! I am almost as ecstatic as when we first learned about Pathfinder (but without the sadness knowing our mags are going away).

Great looking lineup, can't wait for 2008!

The Pit.

Weird thing is, I'm pretty sure the pieces I don't care for are done by Eric Deschamps, and I have really liked a lot of other things he has done.
I guess when an artist puts out a lot of work in a given venue, some pieces are bound to disappoint some viewers. Hell, there have even been several WAR pieces I haven't liked, and I LOVE his stuff usually.

I'm happy to mark this up as singular event. Paizo has given us years of art heavy products and has an almost perfect record of excellent art. Honestly, compared to a lot of rpg stuff out there, this is still pretty good.

Yeah, town criers are cool. I especially like the idea of a criers guild. Might make a good associate guild for the thieves guild, for misdirection and whatnot.

Could be Tyran, but the body looks a bit too feminine (yes, even for an half-elf). Sorcerer dress-code? Well, I've got one, but I make concessions for bis-cas-Fri.

A manuscript (as opposed to printed) based culture is important to me as well. Why? I have no idea. Well, just one. I like manuscripts. I think there is something much cooler about unique (as in one-of-a-kind, you know, the actual definition of unique) texts as opposed to widely available. Much the same as many people's opinions on magic items.
Also, please no newspapers. Fine in Eberron. Fine in Ptolus. Not OK in Hyborea or Zothique or Greyhawk. What can I say, I miss the old rumor tables. Newspapers really gank the pre-modern feel.
Well, enough from me. I trust you guys. If for some reason you put a newspaper in some kingdom, I'll look at it with an open mind. OK, maybe slightly biased.

This is one of those images that really didn't do much for me in D1. And I hate to say it, but the art in general in D1 was disappointing to me. I suppose I was kinda spoiled by the art we have been seeing in Dungeon and Dragon these days, but especially in D0.
I too was wondering if it was supposed to be Seoni, I guess question answered.

Thanks for the info Cpt. I guess I missed seeing that. However, this was an actual charge, through my bank account. The $16.08 was deducted from my balance on that date.
Whatever the source, I'm not too worried. Just curious.

Ooh, I hope this happens. I really like the idea of getting the full set. None of my local stores carry them (despite requests made by a regular customer), so the few I have gotten have been when traveling. I can't really count on that to fill up the remainder (I just love the art, what can I say, it is such a "gotta catch 'em all" for me).

Vic, any info on why I may have been charged early? I'd be happy to wait and see if there is another charge before getting worried or anything - just curious.

Hi Vic and Cosmo,
I was aware of the charge for Dragon (yes, I did intend for two copies, thanks). But those were charged on a different card from the one I used for my GameMastery subscription. That card (the GameMastery one) was charged $16.08 on 7/26.
I guess I'm stumped as to why there was the charge early, as I have not made any other orders on that card.

Woohoo, my card has been charged for Bloodsworn Vale! That should mean it is shipping soon! Right!? Right? My fingers are crossed.

OK. REH's Red Sonya first appeared in "The Shadow of the Vulture" (The Magic Carpet, January 1934). Red Sonja is based on this character in the Conan comics from Marvel, first appearing in February, 1973.
Jirel of Joiry first appeared in "Black God's Kiss," October 1934.
I guess REH's character appeared first, but I would be unsurprised if the comic adaptation of Red Sonja takes elements from the Jirel stories.
Thanks wikipedia! Here's hoping this stuff is accurate!

I belive REH created Red Sonya (as opposed to Sonja - not entirely sure). From what I understand her setting is late medieval, but sounds very similar to Jirel. I'm not sure if Howard's story came before Jirel, or the other way around.
The Red Sonja of the comics seems to be a much later invention (1970's? again, not sure), and set more in the Hyborian age, like Conan. I'd better just wikipedia this to get a better idea before I spout off any more uncertainties.

I bought the first book for my nephew (8 years old at the time). We both read it, and neither of us much cared for it. It wasn't particularly bad by any means. I am having a hard time remembering the details of the story as I read it about 2 years ago. Perhaps that is my point, it just was not memorable.
It did have a good effect though, it has got me thinking about good books for younger readers in the fantasy vein, especially those that work well as D&D inspiration. I have been trying to read all the suggested books in the back of the Moldvay basic book (I think it is also in the Mentzer version, but not sure. It also overlaps a lot with the 1st ed. DMG appendix N).

So, I only own one flip mat so far, the Ship one. Many months ago I requested a GameMastery map-pack of ship decks that could be assembled into whatever size ship was necessary (I still would love something like that), but after getting the Ship flip mat I have a new idea.

A flip-mat of 3 ships, top deck level only. And here's the part that would make it extremely useful: have the map separated into 3 long strips, each deck plan on its own. The flip mats already fold into thirds, just have them pre-cut on those lines.

This way you could actually have a running sea battle, moving the ships independently of each other over another map (either the back of the current flip mat: Ship, or whatever is on hand). I have wanted to run a cool, full-on naval battle with miniatures, and this seems an economical way to pull it off. I'd love to be able to get a few Ravaged Prides, but I really can't even afford one.

Good idea? Bad? Just obsessed?