Cintra Bristol's page

So why exactly aren't the ship maps included in the Interactive Maps file? Those maps appear in the adventure, they should be included in the PDF.

I'm considering re-subscribing to the Adventure Paths (as opposed to continuing to buy everything from my FLGS).

In the past, I had to choose UPS Ground to get any sort of guarantee of intact shipments. (Either by USPS or UPS, I was having really bad luck for a while there, with about one book every 6 months damaged in shipping, and as I recall, Paizo had me upgrade my shipping to UPS Ground in order to be able to replace damaged shipments.)

Now I see that UPS Ground costs $15, but there's USPS Priority Mail for only $7-something, and I truly can't recall if that was available in the past. Does USPS Priority Mail carry any guarantees of damaged-book-replacement from Paizo? (If so, I'll almost certainly be re-subscribing, but if not, I can't justify paying $15 shipping.)

Thanks!

I've been working on a way to remove the Magic Item Economy from the Kingdom Building rules, by rebalancing all the buildings and increasing the amount of Economy that many buildings provide, while eliminating any mention of Minor/Medium/Major items.

I've got a pretty decent formula for this, and I'm liking the results so far, but keep in mind that I haven't actually started running Kingmaker yet, so I can't playtest my numbers. Therefore, before I share the results, I need to get some feedback from people who have actually already run Kingmaker and may have a better perspective on the ideal results.

Theoretical Explanation:

IMPORTANT ASSUMPTIONS:

So...as the PCs' kingdom develops:

1) How many BPs per turn does a kingdom need to be able to generate, at a minimum, before starting the war phase of the adventure path? 100? 50? 20? What is the absolute minimum that you can get by with?

2) Is there an amount of BPs per turn that becomes unwieldy? If the kingdom generates 200 BP/turn, is that manageable? How about 500? 1000?

3) Which is actually the worse problem in your experience, too many or too few BPs?

4) What would an optimal amount of BPs/turn look like (in the later game)?

I lost my job yesterday, so I'm having to eliminate most/all discretionary spending for a while.

If I understand correctly, as a Subscriber, I can have my subscriptions suspended but not cancelled, and at a later date (presumably when I get a new job) I'll have the option to reactivate them to ship the items in the meantime as subscription (including the free PDF)? If so, that's what I'd like to do. If not, shoot me an email and I'll have to figure out what my options are...I don't want to miss out on the second half of the current adventure path, but I'd fell pretty guilty committing the money to it right now. Thanks.

My 4E Rise of the Runelords campaign has taken a bit of a twist. As the PCs are about to head into Misgivings:

Un-ghoulifying someone I've got covered; they perform a Remove Affliction on him while he's helpless, which will be like an exorcism and very painful for their subject, leaving him no longer a ghoul but instead a dead body, and then they can use the Raise Dead ritual if he has been dead (including the time he was undead) for no more than 30 days.

But here's the twist - they've also decided they want to redeem Nualia, who died in the fight under Thistletop, and who was still filled with devotion to Lamashtu and hatred for everything else at the time of her death.

Here's what I've told them they'll need to do:
1) Participate in a "vision quest" to the plane of dreams (Madame Mvashti will perform this ritual). Therein, they can visit Nualia's dreams from throughout her life, and learn if there is any possibility of redemption, plus what sorts of things might help connect to her to make her want redemption.
2) Travel into the Shadowfell to Pharasma's Boneyard (via the Shadow Passage ritual). There, they need to find Nualia waiting in line, sneak her away to a discreet spot somewhere in the Boneyard (since trying to leave with her would attract too much attention), then perform an Atonement ritual (which I invented since it doesn't exist yet in 4E). During the Atonement, they can surround her with a few items to remind her of her "younger self" to help her reconnect to her innate goodness.
3) If the Atonement is successful, they can then perform Raise Dead.

On the dream-quest:

So here's where I need help. I need ideas for what sorts of things might be "reminders" of Nualia's innate goodness. For example, if someone gave her a gift as a child, and she felt like they really cared about her, then that gift might be a good object. Also, some scenes from her childhood and teen years that might show her as a good person, or show others who care about her. I want these scenes to give the PCs ideas for objects or images they can surround her with (even if they have to recreate many of them) during the Atonement.

Any ideas or feedback?

Order 1081888 arrived today (Pathfinder issue 16 and Into The Darklands).

Unfortunately, they're pretty severely damaged. The UPS box is crushed end-to-end somewhat like an accordion, then folded into a U-shape. Then, someone apparently used their foot to crush the box back to being flat when they delivered it, as there's a dark set of marks that might be a boot-print on the "inside" of one side of the U-bend.

The inside cardboard mailer split in a couple of places because of the bending/compression. The two books are permanently folded, their spines damaged in multiple places, and the entirety is basically "wrinkled."

So yet again, I've paid extra for shipping only to have the books severely damaged anyway. Here's what I need:

1) Please send me replacements - I'd be delighted if they just ship with next month's subscription, in hope that the larger quantity in that box will help protect the individual items.

2) If you have any statistics you can reference, can you share with us whether you have a higher percentage of damage on the "cheap" shipping than you do on the upgrade? Mainly I'm just curious - I do understand that the basic shipping doesn't let you recoup losses and the UPS shipping does.

3) Do you need photos of the damage to share with UPS as part of your cost recoup (or to press them for improvements)? I can email photos if they'd be helpful.

Thanks!
- Cintra

My copy of Pathfinder #10 arrived via UPS today, in a box that was crushed. The book itself is "mostly intact" - readable, but the spine is bent and the back cover has a large fold.

My understanding is that you can recover your costs (book plus shipping) from UPS for things like this? (That was a large part of the point in my paying the extra shipping, after all...okay, besides the fact that USPS can't deliver things to the right house in this town - but that's another story.)

If you can, and the damaged book is therefore replaceable, my preference would be to have the replacement ship with my next issue (in hopes that the extra-thickness of the contents will help protect the next one, too). Let me know if this can be done, thanks!

I want to include both Dragonborn and Tieflings as options within Golarion (one of my players has already set his heart on playing a dragonborn). I also want to do something logical with the elf/eladrin divide, and use both of them. I'd appreciate some feedback from others who are working on/interested in this sort of thing. And if any Paizo folks see problems or opportunities here, I'd be grateful for any insight you can share with us.

DRAGONBORN OPTIONS:
1) Dragonborn come from some nation that's far away from Varisia. It could be in the far east, which goes with some of the eastern/kensai flavor they seem to have - their original homeland might also have been entirely destroyed somewhere along the way (likely 10,000 years ago, but possibly earlier). The main problem with this option is that we may not have a map of the Far East for a while, and so it may be a while before I know how problematic this choice might be, or if there are ramifications I don't know at this point to take into account.

2) Dragonborn aren't from Golarion, but from (wherever the elves went to when they departed through their gates just over 10,000 years ago). The first dragonborn came back through the gates with the elves upon their return, to help them in their battle against Treerazer.

TIEFLING OPTIONS:
1) Tieflings are from Cheliax, where noble families are making pacts that transform them into these beings.

2) Tieflings can appear unexpectedly in what seem to be true human bloodlines. It is widely understood that this only happens if some ancestor (however distant) entered into a pact with a devil. Tieflings who have children with humans are 50% likely to produce tieflings or humans; tieflings who have children with other tieflings are 100% likely to produce tieflings. Even so, since tieflings are usually not looked kindly upon, there are no "societies" of tieflings, and the majority of tieflings result from the "taint" suddenly manifesting. NOTE: This happens prior to birth, not later in life. ALSO: In this model, tieflings are becoming much more common in Cheliax, where people have been worshipping devils for a while now, and some of those people have randomly had tiefling offspring. Despite the Chelaxian origin possibility, the likelihood is that any Tiefling in Varisia probably owes his condition to a distant ancestor...

ELVES AND ELADRIN:
1) The elves that came back through the gates live in forested lands, but really, they seem to me to lean more toward the eladrin characteristics than the elven ones. So I'm tempted to say that eladrin are elves who came back through the gates, elves are the surface-dwellers who remained on Golarion after the exodus, and drow are those who remained but who took shelter in the Darklands.

2) Alternately, when the elves departed through the gates, some went to one place (the "official" version) and others went to another (the "feywild"). When the elves returned, both groups came back. They may be allies such that they live in the same areas and many non-elves don't really understand they are two divergent races now, even though they have separate cultures, or I may split them up into different areas once the books come out and we know more flavor about the differences between them.

FEEDBACK REQUEST:
So, what do people think?

No problems here, just some positive feedback.

I have the UPS shipping method, and while the box prevents spine damage from the book being folded, it allows minor crushing of one or more corners of the book as it bounces around in the box. Shredded paper really doesn't seem to prevent that.

This time, the books were put in an envelope/mailer, and then the envelope was put into the UPS box. Thank you for doing this - there was absolutely no corner damage on this shipment, everything came out looking perfect!

(And if this isn't your new, official packing method for the UPS boxes, I hereby request it become the official method - I'd gladly pay a bit extra if the cost goes up for the packing materials required.)

I'm hoping for some official clarification on how slavery fits into the world of Golarion.

Here's what I've been able to find:

1) In the Gazeteer, only the nations of Andoran and Galt are specifically called out as despising and outlawing slavery.

2) Although the Coins district of Absalom (p.24) mentions the slave trade as "illicit," the "Slave Ships of the Inner Sea" sidebar (p.35) mentions halflings as a popular choice for slaves in Absalom. So either it's illegal (but practiced in secret), or it carries tarrifs which some people try to avoid by smuggling.

3) The same "Slave Ships of the Inner Sea" sidebar mentions Druma as secretly helping Andoran to oppose the slave trade.

4) There's no mention of slavery, one way or another, in the Magnimar article, but enough else implies a value system that shares some influences from Andoran, making me suspect slavery might be illegal in Magnimaran holdings.

5) The Guide to Korvosa has contradictory mentions of slavery - rumors that the temple of Asmodeus actively supports the slave trade (p.17) suggests it is illegal, as does the reference to the Cerulean Society's monopoly on smuggling including that of slaves (p.47); but then there are references to the slave girls in the king's harem (pp.36 and 40).

So here is my question: What should the people in various parts of Varisia think of slavery? Do the folk of Magnimar think it is apalling, or normal? What about Korvosans?

And beyond that, where else in the world is it considered accepted practice vs. an offense? Is slavery legal in Absalom, or not? Etc. Thanks for any insights you can share.

I've received an email that Order 899275 is being shipped.

I just recently changed my shipping option to Once Monthly instead of With Pathfinder (yesterday? the day before?) based on information on the messageboards that the Gazeteer was likely to arrive at your warehouse in the next week or so. I'd much rather delay the Pathfinder issue and get the Gazeteer as soon as possible, than get Pathfinder promptly and wait an extra few weeks for the Gazeteer.

So...is the Gazeteer still likely/possibly to arrive at your warehouse this month? If so, is it too late to hold my shipment for it? Thanks for checking into this for me.

PREFACE
I've never participated in Organized Play events. I've only played in one game session at a convention, and that was Marvel Superheroes.

And at least half the time, my friends who did RPGA Living City (back in 2nd edition days) came back complaining about how that session was a waste of time. Often, the issues related to poor judge rulings or failure of the DM to manage difficult players at the table. Sometimes, the issues related to a feeling that a particular adventure was "too railroady." Sure, my friends had fun the other half of the time, but it was still enough of a turn-off that I never wanted to join them.

But now I'm excited about Pathfinder Society, and I'd like to participate. And even more, I want to make sure that when I run events, I have a good chance of running a session people are happy to have played in.

QUESTION
So...can some of those with positive/successful experiences at Organized Play (as DMs or as players) share some insights into what makes a session work well? What should an Organized Play DM do to make a session successful? How do you deal with "difficult" players who show up at your table (I recall stories of cheaters, spotlight-hogs, and even some obnoxious/abusive/drunk folks)? Any insights/stories you care to share would be helpful...and entertaining to read, while we wait for plans to be finalized. Thanks!

As far as I can tell, specialist wizards no longer get an extra spell slot per spell level for use with their specialized school. Personally, I'd like to see the spells per day on the chart all increased by 1, so I thought I'd suggest it and see what other people thought. Or, since the "Universal School" is very strong, perhaps specialists should get that bonus spell back instead?

Bonus Languages (p.16): "A wizard may substitute Draconic for one of the bonus languages available to the character because of his race." Okay, this is probably just a grammar nit-pick, but the concept of "substituting" rather than "adding" bothered me - I don't think one of the other options for bonus languages actually goes away to make room for this one, I think this one just gets added. :)

CONJURATION SCHOOL (p.46)
18th level power: Gate 1/day as a spell-like ability. This spell breaks if the XP cost goes away, so this may need to be limited (only for portal) or at least the creature called may need to be limited (max HD = your caster level)?

ENCHANTMENT SCHOOL (p.47)
1st level power, Dazing Touch, doesn't have a duration listed.

And this is more opinion than errata, but I'm not personally that fond of the Power Word spells, with their hit point limitation etc. I'd personally prefer to see Mass Charm Monster and/or Mass Hold Monster in there somewhere.

EVOCATION SCHOOL (p.48)
This specialization seems a bit weaker than the others, which is okay, as plenty of folks will probably still choose it. But the limitation on the 1st level power, "Your specialist bonus does not apply to this ability," seems a bit unfortunate. It's such a small bonus anyway, I think it would be okay to let it apply.

Besides, it brings up a question - does that statement being on the 1st level power mean that the bonus does apply to the higher level ones? Or does it not apply because they're all spell-like abilities? It would probably be good to have a sentence in the specialist bonus text that reads some variation of: "(Unless otherwise noted,) Your specialist bonus (does/does not) apply to the level-based abilities listed below (even though/because) they are spell-like abilities, not spells."

UNIVERSAL SCHOOL (p.49)
18th level power: Wish 1/day is another one that breaks. "Only to cast arcane spells of up to 8th level or divine spells up to 7th level" might be a good limitation on this one.

By the way, the powers of the Universal School are very strong, but I think that's a good thing. I've never bought into the belief that you must specialize when you play a wizard, and in fact, I've never been able to bring myself to give up access to a couple of schools of magic. So I like the changes that make it so a specialist still has access to his opposition schools (and can therefore use scrolls and wands of those spells with no penalty). But making the Universal School's powers strong helps keep both options viable - thanks!

The last sentence for the Disarm combat maneuver reads, "If you successfully disarm your opponent without using a weapon, you automatically pick up the item dropped."

I like this - it gives the option of wrenching something out of someone else's hands. But as it stands, to do this, you must not have a weapon in your own hands, which gives you a -4 penalty on your attempt.

Should there be a way to do this when you have a weapon in one hand, and your other hand is free? Perhaps if you exceed the DC by a certain amount, and you have a free hand, you can catch the dropped item in your free hand? (But still let it be automatic if you are unarmed.)

As a person who has been strongly pro-4E for a long time, I have to admit that I'm dismayed by this turn of events. Where the pro-3.5 camp has their conflict resolved, I think the conflict for me is just beginning.

Here's the thing - Paizo's decision is the one thing that can make me re-think my decision to go with 4E. I've already downloaded the Pathfinder RPG Alpha file and started looking through it, and I intend to stay a part of this process. I'll also still get the 4E books when they come out. I'll start converting Rise of the Runelords to 4E, but now I'll have to look at it more seriously through these Alpha rules as well. And it'll probably be quite a while before I'll be able to tell what I'm ultimately going to do.

I'm scheduled to run some 4E-intro events at my FLGS over the next few months, and with this announcement, I fully intend to run some introductory Pathfinder RPG events there as well. (Paizo - please make some sort of FLGS support for the release a priority.)

I think I already know what could ultimately make me choose Pathfinder, however. One make-or-break rule-change that would make me embrace the Pathfinder RPG ruleset enthusiastically, and without which I’m afraid I probably won't ever be able to.

If there is any way possible at all, I'd like the Pathfinder ruleset to include quick monster-creation rules, and a simpler write-up that can exclude unnecessary details. You know, what they're claiming they've accomplished for 4E, where you know what abilities to put together for the CR and the type of challenge, and you only create what you need for the encounter in question. I know we don't even know how 4E accomplishes this yet, or how well it will work. But that is the single item that sold me on 4E.

I am NOT saying that this has to be the only way to make monsters and NPCs. But I think it is an essential option. Without something to make the DM's job easier, I just don't think I can go back to playing the game – I’m that burned out on it. So, for what it's worth, that's my wish for the Pathfinder RPG. Make this one happen, and I believe that I'll end up not only joining the Pathfinder RPG crowd, but also bringing my entire gaming group and my local FLGS with me.

NOTE: This is not a "do this or I stop being a customer" scenario. Nobody makes adventures like Paizo, and even if I choose 4E in the end, I strongly believe I'll continue to buy Pathfinder and convert the adventures. This would just turn it into a matter for wholehearted enthusiasm rather than anxious compromise.

I think the Guide to Korvosa is one of the most compelling fantasy city products I've ever seen (and I have quite a collection.) But I did run across a few minor points that could use some clarification, so I'm starting this thread for us to collect any such items we discover.

In another thread, Mike McArtor already provided some clarifications. (I've edited my questions for clarity)

Exactly where are the ward boundaries? For example, Old Korvosa - how far west and east does Bridgefront run, and what districts do Merciless Way (at the left) and Fiddleback Way belong to?

Ah drat. The ward boundaries are nowhere to be seen. :( Ward boundaries follow major thoroughfares for the most part. Sometimes they connect one landmark to another, when appropriate.

Bridgefront runs from the Narrows to Waydon Street, IIRC (and certainly, that's close enough for me). It follows Waydon Street until it starts to curve and turn into Merciless Way, at which point it runs to that last tower on the wall there. It ends in the NE at Fort Korvosa Boulevard. Old Dock takes up the NE end of the island, with the boundary following Fort Korvosa Boulevard until it turns, at which point the boundary follows that little unnamed street that connects with Siegebreaker Circle and then up to the shore. Fort Korvosa ward is everything inside the walls in the N-NW chunk of the island. Garrison Hill ward is everything else.

Which 5 families are the nobles for the "Peerage Review"? The noble families on pages 40-43 include Arkona, Bromathan, Endrin, Jeggare, Leroung, Ornelos, and Zenderholm. Which two don't count?

The Great Families are those with coats of arms illustrated (Arkona, Jeggare, Leroung, Ornelos, and Zenderholm).

Is the "Longriver Bridge" (p.24, "Northgate:") actually the North Bridge?

Oops. Yes, that's correct. :)

I've just downloaded my PDF of Pathfinder 7. The file sizes are huge compared to the earlier Pathfinder PDFs; 126 meg total vs. about 32 meg for Pathfinder 6. This is actually kind of a big deal, because I carry the files to work and back on my flash drive, and this kind of file size will eat up the space a lot faster. (It also took about 15 minutes to download, so I wonder it's going to cause server issues for you guys.)

So...is this:
(A) an error, and you'll be re-posting it with less of whatever is eating the space, Or
(B) you'll leave this set as-is but future ones won't be this space-intensive, or
(C) it's intentional because of higher-quality scans, and this is a heads-up that I'll need to get a bigger flash drive within the next couple of months.

Inquiring minds want to know!

(Just so you know, I'll be happy either way - it looks beautiful - but I just want to know what to expect, and if I should bother checking back at some point for a smaller download version. Thanks.)

It's down to Pathfinder vs. two other contenders: Eberron Campaign Setting and Unearthed Arcana.

Go vote at this thread on ENWorld!

As I post this, Pathfinder is 4 votes behind Eberron.

I remember fifth and sixth grade. "Let's hate her today!" I didn't like it then. I made a conscious decision not to participate in it then. In fact, I founded a gaming group with a "no ostracisms" rule for all us social rejects, and completely rejected the possibility of any social interactions with all the other folks who acted like that back then.

Probably because of that, I've always thought of "gamers" as people who've been there. The one-time-social-outcasts who know better than to treat people like that. I've seen plenty of evidence that this model doesn't hold true; I've gamed with people who were athletic and who possessed social skills, and who were probably always "popular" - who never experienced the social pressures that I'm talking about. But I still have that as part of my mental concept of what gamers are all about. People who can be expected to understand the consequence of obnoxious social ostracism, and who are more tolerant of others as a result. People who don't engage in bullying because they know better.

And I think that's why I'm so unhappy here, recently. I've mentioned it before, said that I feel like just going away and not coming back. Said that I'm afraid the level of vitriol on this site is going to drive away potential customers. People responded, and some of them might even have understood.

But now it's come into focus for me, thanks to the Any Non-Complaint Based Threads On 4E thread.

In the first mere handful of posts, several people felt it necessary to express their dislike of 4E by coming in and "vomiting" all over the thread. One of them did this because that's his MO. Okay. But two of the others, in following his lead, felt the need to create new identities in order to join this so-called joke, and thus to share in the solidarity that comes from ganging up on, and verbally abusing, others.

SO fifth grade. I'm sorry, I can't see it any other way. Obnoxious, purely for the sake of joining a group of others who are being obnoxious.

So, feel free to abuse me in turn for my evaluation here. It won't make this any less true. This is bullying, and I'm calling you on it.

This order has been held up for a while because of one backordered item. Now it looks like a separate item became "cancelled" because inventory ran out. So now I'm worried that if I keep being patient, I'll lose even more items.

I'd like to have the rest of the order shipped ASAP, and send the backordered item separately (and I understand that I'll be charged the shipping on that separate shipment). Thanks.

Order 723779 - I didn't see anything in the sale that explained why the shipping was free on this. The only thing I could think of was that your system calculated the full price of everything I bought and it was over $100 - but it was all on sale, so it really didn't cost me that much.

And I'd rather you guys stay in business, plus it says "Lawful Good" right here in the alignment block on my character sheet, so I figured if this was a mistake, I'd better let you know.

Assuming it was a mistake, let me know if I need to do something else to authorize a corrected charge...

My players are sometimes a bit lax about the role-playing - it can be hard to get them to communicate with NPCs, develop relationships, or otherwise do stuff that would let me evaluate their "sinfulness." That is, I can mark up plenty of Wrath, but let's face it, how easy is it to find signs of Sloth or Gluttony in the behavior of a PC?

With that in mind, I created the following survey question (as part of a larger questionaire I intend to use to encourage them to develop their characters better). If anyone else wants to use it, feel free. (The associated sins are, in order: Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Greed, Pride, Envy, and Sloth.)

- - - - -

Imagine that your PC has a day to spend, however he wants, between adventures. Rank in order (from 1 to 7, with 1 being the thing your PC would most want to do) which of the following would be your PC’s preferred way to spend the time.
(NOTE: This is what your PC would want to do during down-time, NOT what you would want to spend time on during the game session.)

___ Enjoying fine food and drink.

___ Enjoying the company of an attractive companion.

___ Getting into a fight.

___ Earning some extra money.

___ Telling stories of your achievements to an admiring audience.

___ Taking action to get an advantage over a rival (or to make them look bad).

___ Just relaxing somewhere.

I got issue 359, but on flipping through, it is missing pages 67 through 83 (well, we have page 84 and an ad for Cursed Empire on the back that I assume is page 83).

Can you please send me a complete copy? Thanks!

What's the difference between these two shipping methods (for shipping my Pathfinder subscription)?

(For where I live, the "Pathfinder Standard" method costs only 20 cents more than the USPS Package Service, so I'm curious if one is more likely to get my Pathfinder to me reliably and as undamaged as possible.)

In the "Fixing the Wizard" thread, Hagen mentioned that he intends to re-price many of the magic items from the DMG.

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/community/gaming/dnd/fixingTheWizard&a mp;page=2

This is something I've considered doing as well, particularly since the Magic Item Compendium came out. If Hagen or anyone else who has also been working on this would be willing to post some of their work (or e-mail copies of it), I for one would find that incredibly useful.

Personally, I've re-priced the Ring of Wizardry, because we determined that it is way too costly as written for the benefit received. In addition, it currently gives more benefit to sorcerers (because they have more spells per day) than it does to the wizards for whom it is named. Here's my version:

Wizardry: This special ring comes in assorted stages according to spell level (ring of wizardry I, ring of wizardry II, ring of wizardry III, ring of wizardry IV, etc.), all of them useful only to arcane spellcasters. The wearer’s arcane spells per day are doubled, up to a maximum of 4 extra spells per day, for one specific spell level. A ring of wizardry I increases the number of 1st-level spells, a ring of wizardry II increases the number of 2nd-level spells, and so forth. Bonus spells from high ability scores or school specialization are not doubled. For example, a Ring of Wizardry IX would grant a 17th level wizard only 1 extra spell per day, because he gains only one base spell slot of that level from his class; by the time he reaches 20th level, it will give him 4 bonus spells of 9th level per day.
Multiple levels of a ring of wizardry can be combined into a single ring, occupying the one ring slot, with no increase in the cost of each level. There is no price break for dividing the different levels of ring of wizardry among different rings in separate item slots. For example, it would cost the same to purchase a Ring of Wizardry III-V as it would to buy a Ring of Wizardry III, a Ring of Wizardry IV, and a Ring of Wizardry V.
Rings of Wizardry of the same spell level do not stack. The same wearer cannot gain a benefit from wearing multiple rings of wizardry of the same spell level.
Faint (wizardry I ), Moderate (wizardry II) or strong (wizardry III+, or any combination) (no school); CL 10 + spell level (e.g. I = 11th, V = 15th, IX = 19th); Forge Ring, limited wish; Price 4,000 gp (I), 16,000 gp (II), 36,000 gp (III), 64,000 gp (IV), 100,000 gp (V), 144,000 gp (VI), 196,000 gp (VII), 256,000 gp (VIII), 324,000 gp (IX).

Designer Notes: These new costs bring the benefits in line with the Pearls of Power (1,000gp times spell level squared, times 4 because of the cap of 4 bonus spells). The cap of 4 also means that a Sorcerer no longer gains far greater benefit from the ring than a Wizard. The cost not increasing for putting multiple levels into the same ring is based on similar decisions for the "big six" items as described in the Magic Item Compendium; also, since the costs are based on Pearl of Power costs, which are slotless, it seemed appropriate.

I'd like to suggest that Paizo host an online Index, and also a Glossary, for Pathfinder (and all other materials/adventures/etc. set in that world).

The Index would be helpful when trying to remember what previous adventures had included particular NPCs, when trying to track down a monster stat block, etc. It would also be a good tool for helping us know what publications would help us complete our collections, as more and more related products come out. (Oh, look, the nation of Tir Tanith is mentioned on pages 4-19 of this other adventure, how'd I miss that one?)

The Glossary would be helpful as we learn more about the world. Personally, I'd prefer if there could be some rules to keep it spoiler-free (for example, don't include the fact that Queen Minsaret is actually a vampire, just that she's the queen of Tir Tanith).

If maintaining these would take up resources better spent elsewhere, PLEASE give us permission to set it up and run it as a fan-based initiative, either hosted here or on DM Tools. I'm sure we could line up volunteers as each new product is released.

Does anyone else think this is a good idea? Have related ideas/suggestions?

I transitioned my subscriptions to Pathfinder and signed up for the Month-to-Month subscription. However, I'm not sure I did it right.

I've always used the "don't save my credit card info" setting, and I don't remember being cued to change this. I thought about it after the fact, and worried this might mess up the month-to-month service.

I looked on my account's subscriptions page, and it lists a "final issue" number for Pathfinder. Shouldn't it say something about me being enrolled in the month-to-month service? If I did screw it up, how do I fix it? Thanks!

Well, Dragotha suffered ignominious defeat at our last session.

The seven heroes, having been chased out of the Tabernacle of Worms once, regrouped and returned by teleportation to the Wormdrake’s cavern the following day. There, they fought a second wormdrake plus a Ragewalker (MM3, with 10 fighter levels) that had been summoned up by all the rage, death and evil of this unholy site. Then, they flew to the upper level.

They battled four Nightwalkers (instead of Nightcrawlers, because I had the minis and because I wanted something other than more worms) – the dwarf eldritch knight was horrified to see his cold iron longsword reduced to scrap, and before the end of the fight, the elf ranger lost his (very expensive) longbow and the warforged-scout rogue lost one of the two blades recovered from the Tomb of Icosiel (the warforged made his Fortitude save on the other – he was greatly relieved).

During this battle, they could hear Dragotha’s deep, deep voice rumbling down the curved passage ahead of them. The foul creature was cursing “that Kyuss-(darned) silver @%&$” and ranting about how once he dealt with these interlopers, he’d go deal with her for “stealing my monolith.”

At this point, I should mention that the handsome catfolk healer had greatly impressed the lillend bard Zulshyn (well, she thought he was an incredibly interesting physical specimen, anyway – boy, was the player embarrassed), and he had agreed to come stay with her for a year as her companion (after he and the others dealt with Kyuss) if she and her apocalypse golems would come and help the party in their battle against Dragotha. So at this time, he used the magical token she had gifted to him (the players called it his “Booty Call”) to bring Zulshyn and her golems to join them. As Dragotha fell silent (realizing the fight was almost upon him), the adventurers (and Zulshyn) cast their final prep spells. Zulshyn even used a Wish to restore the eldritch knight’s cold iron sword to working condition (“Gosh, I wish that hadn’t happened”). They also learned the details of the assistance Balakarde would offer them in their battle. And then they ventured into the cavern.

The colossal Dragotha perched not far inside the cavern (which was about twice as big as the map indicated, since I’d upgraded Dragotha’s size). Dragotha breathed an Energy-Admixtured breath weapon of Fire and Electricity (they were all immune to the former, but not the latter). The adventurers delayed for the catfolk healer to Mass Heal them all, then several charged to the attack.

The warforged-scout rogue made it to the far side of the undead dragon, and did a bit of damage. The dwarf eldritch knight charged (flying) toward the dragon’s head, while the half-orc bear warrior charged along the ground. A fair amount of damage was dealt to the beast.

Three Swords of Kyuss stepped out from behind the massive ziggurat and one used his Invocation of the Worm to heal most of the damage his master had taken. Dragotha took a full-attack action to deal about 350 hit points of damage to the half-orc bear warrior, dropping him to -20hp – and showing the others that one to two of them would be slain per round if they came within the dragon’s reach. The druid (wild-shaped into dire tiger form) was charging the Swords of Kyuss to stop them from healing their master, but wondering if he shouldn’t have stayed in the main fight instead.

The healer decided to run forward and Revivify the bear warrior (raising him to stable at -1hp), and two of the apocalypse golems ran forward with him to guard him. Dragotha’s attack of opportunity struck one of these glass guardians instead of the catfolk healer, so his spell was successful. With Dragotha’s attack of opportunity spent, Zulshyn ran forward and then teleported herself, the catfolk healer, and the unconscious bear warrior to a safer spot near the cavern entrance. Others of the adventurers attacked the dragon and dealt substantial damage, but still only a fraction of that needed to put down the beast.

And then two of Zulshyn’s apocalypse golems made their attacks. Each unleashed a Prismatic Spray on Dragotha, and I proceeded to roll for the effects. Two 8’s – so each generated two results.

The first was a 4 and a 7 – Poison (Dragotha was immune), and the possibility of sending Dragotha to another plane. Dragotha handily made his save, and sneered.

The second was a 4 and a 5. Poison again (Dragotha was still immune), and a save to avoid being turned to stone. Because this was a Supernatural ability, spell resistance didn’t apply, so straight on to the Will save, which Dragotha could only fail on a natural 1. Two of the players stood and were making “jazz hands” palm-down at the table, chanting “One, one, one” – and I rolled a natural 1.

I worried for a moment that they might cry foul. This wasn’t just an NPC making the final blow – it was an NPC’s minion! But the players were high-fiving each other and celebrating. They spent some time chopping the statue to bits, dispersing the bits, and then casting Break Enchantment and stomping the fleshy bits to make sure no one could put Humpty-Dumpty together again.

So the fight was an overwhelming success, despite the unorthodox ending. My only concern now is that, as they plan for their final fight with Kyuss, they might decide they can all whore themselves out to powerful NPCs in exchange for help.

My group's in the middle of Into the Wyrmcrafl Fissure, and I've realized I'm completely confused about how the Balakarde fragments are supposed to work.

When first found, each fragment (individually) offers the benefit listed on page 62.

When brought together, and for as long as the PCs are pursuing the goals of the adventure, each fragment individually still offers that benefit.

Once the PCs reach Dragotha, the benefits listed near the end of page 70 come into effect, and the soul fragments "disengage" from the items and can be passed from PC to PC as an immediate action. I'm good so far. But does this mean that the listed individual benefits are still attached to the individual items, or does the +2 luck bonus pair fade away for this final fight, replaced by the special benefits on page 70?

And in Concluding the Adventure, there's another benefit listed. But again, do the three individual items still offer the benefits listed on page 62?

(One of the players in my group is really interested in one of the items, primarily for the skill benefits from its page 62 listing. And I have no idea if he's going to get to keep that benefit or not. I realize the correct answer is, Whatever I decide as DM. But I'd like to know what was intended when this was written.)

In the process of typing in Dragotha's stat block, I've run across a couple of things that I'd appreciate some clarification/interpretation on. Please, anyone feel free to chime in with how you handled these.

First, his Paralyzing Gaze is listed under his Special Attacks, and once you make your save, you're immune to it. I'm assuming this is a normal gaze attack, however, wherein everyone within the range (40') is affected unless they avert or close their eyes. Or was this intended to be a separate attack option that requires a standard action for Dragotha to meet a specific individual's eyes? (This may seem to be a stupid question, but I seem to recall at least one other critter during this adventure path that had a gaze attack which required a standard action, and that's thrown me off here.)

Second, Dragotha's two breath weapons. The first is standard, but the second (death wind) indicates it does the listed damage plus the results of the wind. Does this mean there's no Reflex save against this attack? Or should a Reflex save against the damage portion have been included? (Or a Will save, given the type of damage?)

Question for James Jacobs - The various types of "spawn" critters in Red Hand of Doom have no visual descriptions, just a stat block, so I have no idea what these things should look like. The needed info also is not in the Web Enhancement at Wizards' web site. Are they actually published in some other book? Or is this information available/forthcoming anywhere else? (Can you maybe give a single-sentence visual description of each?) Same question for the Bonedrinker, is it from some other source or can you say what it should look like? Any help would be appreciated.

By the way, this adventure is simply superb. It is imaginative, taking the characters in directions I've never seen in a published adventure. The "Designers' Notes" and the "Developments" sidebars both contribute tremendously. I highly recommend this module to anyone who hasn't seen it yet...

I'm trying to come up with minis for my Age of Worms campaign. Looking ahead, the main one I'm struggling with is Froghemoth. Does anyone know if the Small Cthulu Plush from Paizo's store would be the right size (not larger than a 3 inch square base)?