Cylerist's page

I have edition fatigue. I have settled on the game I enjoy, and I am playing it: Pathfinder. I do not have the time, energy or money to devote to another new game I may not enjoy and may not find players for - especially when I know the main reason for it's release is that WotC need to make another round of cash out of the D&D name.

What kind of action is it to activate the cleric strength domain power "Might of the Gods"?

I think you are playing your character properly, and your GM should have been more aware before putting you in this spot.

Color me shocked, SHOCKED, that to increase your defenses, you need to decrease your offensive capabilities. What a stunning revelation.

Dear Paizo Fans,

First off let me apologize for my long absence from the Internet. I don’t use it for anything beyond work email these days and I am about as far out of the electronic loop as is humanly possible – my own fault, and my undoing on many levels.

I deeply apologize for the debacle that was Sinister Adventures – I can honestly say there has been nothing in my life I regret more than attempting to run my own publishing company. I have done severe damage to my own finances over the past several years, ruined my reputation as a game designer, and transformed a hobby that used to be the most enjoyable part of my life into my own personal mire of misery and shame. But most importantly I have alienated a host of lovely people who love RPGS. I used to take great joy in communicating with my former fans, and felt a growing camaraderie with several of the people who enjoyed my work, or even hated my work, but just downright enjoyed this great hobby. I let those people down, betrayed them, and damaged their enthusiasm for the game, not to mention lost the hard-earned money they entrusted to me through pre-orders.

I dealt with the avalanche of problems Sinister experienced ineptly to say the least. The failure of this company combined with crushing stress from my 90 hour-a-week day job of the last three years shook the foundation of my sense of self. This led to a downward spiral of alcoholism and depression.

My recent move back to Hawaii has restored a great deal of the vitality and psychological well-being I lost over the last few years and I am finally in a place to take serious action against the start-up gaming company that has become my personal nemesis.

I have lost over $15,000 personally on this endeavor through my gross ineptitude as a publisher. I paid for a great deal of top quality art, web design and other start up costs and then as problems arose that siphoned off more funds, I found the company wallowing in destitution. As the problems piled up, I eventually lost any ability to deal with them and kept attempting to tell myself I would “get around to it soon” once I was able to save up more funds and free up more time. I grappled with the idea of bankruptcy, but didn’t want to end up not giving those who trusted me their money back.

Fortunately I have been able to shift some funds around recently and replenish Sinister’s coffers enough to get everyone their money back. To ensure this happens in a timely fashion I will not trust my own dire worthlessness with the task. Instead the heroic Lou is once again stepping up to bat.

Through the invaluable assistance of Louis Agresta – one of the truest friends a man could ask for – I am now in a position to refund all and sundry for their pre-orders to Sinister. Lou has very kindly offered to assist me yet again, this time pooling through my mangled attempts at record keeping to ensure all of you who have not yet been refunded get your money returned.

Lou has posted instructions and details above.

Now allow me to move off my own dire failures as a businessman and human being and move on to a more salient point.

Paizo Publishing is a true gem - A company full of caring individuals who are entirely the opposite of Sinister Adventures. They care deeply about their fans, their authors, and the hobby. From my close contact with them for years, first as a rabid fan and aspiring writer, then as a go-to freelancer, then as a brief employee I have a unique view of the fine people of Paizo inside and out. They are compassionate, professional, creative, enthusiastic, and possessed of a deep well of forgiveness and generosity. They don’t just uphold high standards of how companies should operate – they set the standards as far as I’m concerned.

It hurts me deeply that their remarkable feat of kindness and an attempt to rehabilitate the degenerate hobbyist and writer I have become over the last few years could result in any sort of backlash. These fine upstanding people pour their love, blood and sweat into their company daily.

To those of you hurt by the Sinister fiasco: I implore you to keep the sights of your (righteous) anger focused entirely on me. I will happily give ample opportunity for those of you slighted (or worse) by my mistakes and failures a chance to redress the wrongs you suffered at Sinister (and my) hands. I will gladly listen to your anger, apologize, and try to make amends as best I can at Paizocon. I will attempt to run games for those of you who suffered from Sinister’s flop, languishing in limbo while awaiting news or refunds from me.

I humbly apologize for the long and resounding silence and for thinking I could get things back on the rails.

Thank you for your time and patience. Please follow the instructions and details Lou posted above on how to FINALLY get your money back.

Yours,

Nicolas Logue

The idea that you can't play a simple, light casual game of 3E/3.5 is amusing.

As has been stated, system mastery isn't "memorize all of the rules".

Yes.

The very next section in the 'Combat' chapter after the 'you can wait to see how each attack resolves' comment is;

"Deciding between an Attack or a Full Attack: After your first attack, you can decide to take a move action instead of making your remaining attacks, depending on how the first attack turns out and assuming you have not already taken a move action this round. If you've already taken a 5-foot step, you can't use your move action to move any distance, but you could still use a different kind of move action."

How about a PDF version?
I guess there will be much artwork in there that longs to be made a wallpaper...

Bard

Why are people talking about alignment shifts? The OP just asked if it was an evil act.

As for folks who are eager and hopeful we'll do something for the good guys...

...patience! We have heard!

1) That elves had a big dump taken on them in the name of "We can't be like Greenwood elves, because that would be BAD!" Eradicating the green hair (despite that half the elves in the avatar database on this very site have green hair) and the elven reverie. (because sleeping is the ONLY thing one can do in a bed) Pretty much elves are just long-eared humans now.

We're crestfallen about elven hair colour now? This is about Shalelu, isn't it? Even Shalelu herself has moved on.

The reverie thing is a bit weird, but not really something that really bugs me.

And elves are just long-eared humans now? Please. They always were long-eared humans. And dwarves always were short, bearded, stocky humans. All humanoid races are just humans with funny bits. It's because they were invented by humans. Humans tend to have some trouble creating really alien races. They lack experience with them.

But as humans with funny bits go, Golarion elves aren't bad. They might not have a weird sleep alternative (though that alone doesn't make a race), they might not have green hair (though that doesn't make a race at all). They're still their own race. It manifests not just in pointy ears (and weird eyes), or their freakish height. A lot of it stems from their different life-span. That makes them take their time with many things a human rushes through. It makes them realise that "eternal love" is a sham. It means they have lots of personal experience with a lot of situations by having been through them again and again, so they often know instantly what course of action will move best (which for other races will seem reckless).

They also have a completely different idea about meddling. They usually don't. They think it's rude. You don't tell others what to do. It's their own life. The most they'll do is a sincere "if I were in your place, I'd do X". And by sincere, they really do mean it like they say it, and not the usual meaning, i.e. "You should do that, because I say so." Other races often consider them aloof because of it.

And then there's their definition of honour. They think that friends are the most important thing, and honour means you honour them. Above all else.

2) That Gnomes were given ridiculous hair colors like pink, purple, green and blue. Seriously?

Of course. All of nature's colours. Not just what humans think is natural for hair colours. They're not humans. They might be humanoid, but that is a recent development, they used to be fey.

The designers will abandon concepts that were purely created for the use in D&D games (and this IS a D&D game)

What good is a concept that is purely created for use in D&D games? I mean, by itself. What use does it have?

In this case: None at all.

Otherwise gnomes wouldn't have gotten the red-headed stepsister treatment in 3e (and ditched altogether in 4e).

or have basis in myths or faerie tales

So you want the gnomes to be three apples tall? Or as earth elementals?

and embrace a concept coined by World of Warcraft?!

I call major BS. Just because WoW did it doesn't mean it invented it. Weird hair colours have been around since forever. WoW used it, but Blizzard can hardly be credited with it.

The fact is that the weird hair colours are a perfect fit for the gnomes - which, as early fairies are actually closer to those myth and fairy tales you mentioned. They're not humans. They're not beardless dwarves. They're not short elves. They are fugitives from fairy land. They are humanoid now, but they started as fey.

Fey are wild and don't care what humans think normal. They certainly aren't beholden to human expectations, either.

The giant Praying Mantis assassin god.

One thing i would like to see fixed in pathfinder, is to have a community that doesn't complain about the game so much.

40% of the talk here is... how do i make my PC more powerful
40% of the talk here is... this class is to powerful

the problem here is that the game is broken because people are trying to break it.

if i buy my dauther a new doll and she wants it taller, so she pulls and pulls on its head, than the head pops off. when that happens she crys that her toy is broken... Why is the toy broken???!??

Cyclopes is the correct plural form of cyclops, Ryan, despite what just about everyone's gut tells them. It still looks strange to me, but it's the correct term.

James will there ever be a book that contains all these subsystems? I like the subsystems as my group and I are world builders so we like to have in game things to develop.

Plus I find the subsystems give a nice bit of flavour to the campaigns.

A book that contains all of these subsystems, revised and expanded as necessary, and perhaps joined by additional subsystems, would not only be cool, but would allow us to use such elements in Adventure Paths, modules, and other products with MUCH GREATER ease.

I would love us to do a book like this, and have wanted us to do a book like this since the start, pretty much.

They stealthily went into hiding and haven't been seen since.

Maybe we need an FAQ for minimizing shipping costs. :)

That was really nice of you to volunteer, Sean. Thanks!

And that, irony or not, pretty much disqualifies you of having any decency. I hope, neither you nor someone you love will ever have to suffer from something that would make you understand the uglyness of what you wrote here.

I believe that 5E will be a great game just like 4E was.

I am sure that my business with WotC is over. Their mishandling of 4E on oh some many levels eroded my sympathy to the company, and somebody was kind enough to supply me with an alternative of premium quality.

The only thing that interests me in 5E is the question if the new game can break even in face of all that was lost during the 4E days, or are there perhaps enough disgruntled people who lost their faith in WotC so that 5E won't be able to claw back on the top.

Sorry. I've made my choice. I'll stick with the company that has always listened to and treated its fans with respect. 5E won't change that.

From my point of view, as someone who doesn't play 4e and enjoyed playing 3.5e and 1e I am excited and happy to hear the news that wotc is going to make a new game & the way they say they are going to make it.

I don't really understand the negativity from those who don't play 4e. I mean

- they used to make a game I liked.
- they stopped & made a different game ( me sad, but I have other games )
- now they have said they will stop making the different game and make a game like the one they made before, ie one I like.

That's a good thing right?

As I say the news that wotc are going to make a new game instead of 4e ( which I don't play so don't care about ) is all good.

If they fail to make a game I like either because they are tricksy corporate suits or because they are hamfisted bunglers I am no worse off than I was before. But if they succeed....

Yay!

Isn't Mr. Pett the man who introdced Xanesha to the Rise of the Runelords campaign? Do you know how many PCs she has brutally murdered?

I'm scared.

Ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!

Paizo's editors, in an email to Richard Pett:

I don't care how many "A"s you put in it; you're paid by the word, and it just counts as one word.

I'm pretty sick of Aasimar and Tieflings; I was hoping for Lawful and Chaotic plane-touched getting equal billing. Surely I can't be alone in this?

I wouldn't mind seeing those and a Neutral plane-touched as well.

I'm pretty sick of Aasimar and Tieflings; I was hoping for Lawful and Chaotic plane-touched getting equal billing. Surely I can't be alone in this?

Actually, it's spelled "Drow," but it's pronounced "Throat Warbler Mangrove."

It rhymes with cow.

you have an oracle of the SUN god and she wants the SUN blade and ANGEL gave to your group, damn she must be insane! I mean what roleplayer would ask the adamantine katana wielding ninja for that weapon?

Sorry Blue Star, you've got good stuff, the oracle got fluff reasons (not the same as irrational) to want that weapon, let her have it and ask for something reasonable in return (not her holy symbol for example).

Hey there, here is a conversion of X2 Castle Amber (Moldvay, Tom. TSR, 1981). Note: This is a re-imagined version, rather than a straight conversion.

Here is the file -> X2 Castle Amber [74.25MB]

I recommend you right click the link and select "save as" to get the file; Otherwise, your browser may display a cached version.

Enjoy!

~D

Other Conversions Available

I ran an encounter with an intellect devourer recently. I played it as the "body" being the equivalent of whatever is was in life - minus specific knowledge, spells and spell like ability.

So in my case it was a morlock barbarian with all of the powers, abilities, and HP's it had in life.

This is exactly the way to handle it.

It's like when a ghost possesses someone, sort of.

You kill or defeat the body it's inside of (encounter one, using the host body's stats), and then the monster comes out and you fight it next (encounter two, using the intellect devourer's stats).

With two weapons you can always choose which order they are applied. However even if you are not using the extra attack the penalties for TWF would always be in effect of wielding two weapons.

The rogue is very much a 'second-string' combatant when compared to classes whose primary objective is to fight. A rogue receives tons of skill points and a vast array of class skills, to say nothing of a plethora of defensive abilities, in exchange for giving up the staying power and high accuracy of those other classes. Under certain circumstances, the rogue's damage output goes from mediocre to astonishing - but it's the job of the rogues' battle-brothers to help the rogue create those rare opportunities.

Yes, the rogue isn't as effective in combat as the fighter. He also isn't as effective a healer as the cleric. Fighters are built to fight: a rogue is best when he's finding alternatives to fighting, whether it's Stealth, Acrobatics or Bluff.

What I'm basically saying is that many (pretty much ALL, in fact) of my NPCs are designed as personalities first. The stats come second, and are slaved to the flavor; the stats are almost never the first thing I come up with when building a villain for an adventure.

This is why your game is awesome. Keep it up.

The DR should apply first since it stops incoming damage. Whatever gets through is then cut in half.

But you could just as easily argue that incorporeal applies first since it prevents damage from even happening, then DR applies because it reduces damage received.

If you treat incorporeal as "half the damage of the blow is never transferred to the target" then it doesn't make sense to apply DR to the damage which never happens.

So too with energy resistance/save-for-half combos. The save for half reduces the amount of energy you are exposed to. The energy resistance then protects you from a set amount of that energy.

Well, Ring of Regeneration is based on the Spell Regeneration, and not on Regeneration (Ex) which has two different effects.

The spell heals damage magically and therefor stops bleeding.

Anyway, i think i'll rule in my group that Regeneretion (Ex) stops all Bleed, even though its not magical healing. Less Book-keeping, and the different examples above suggest Regeneration and Fast Healing effects does stop bleeding.

Human Fighter 7
Dodge (Character 1)
Mobility (Human)
Combat Reflexes (Fighter 1)
Step Up (Fighter 2)
Fleet (Character 3)
Following Step (Fighter 4)
Combat Patrol (Character 5)
Step Up and Strike (Fighter 6)
Lunge (Character 7)

Here, you have a character, who does all his/her moving on other peoples' turns. Be sure to equip a reach weapon for maximum reachyness.

That looks awesome. And the most skilled shrink-wrap removal I have ever witnessed!!

The thing I appreciate the most about the Beginner's Box (and by extension, Paizo and all the fine folks who worked on this), is that it brings me full circle. I started gaming with Basic D&D with one of the older boxes (i.e., the one with the color picture of a fighter and wizard looking in on a dragon lying atop a big pile of treasure). That year was a magical time for me and my brother. And it served as the entire crux for how and why we got into RPGs. Eventually, we "graduated" to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons...and, after passing through all its iterations...I now have the occasional opportunity to write for a hobby I've grown to really love, which has fired my imagination for more years than I can recount.

With the Beginner's Box, it's like everything is starting over again. Only now, I get to relive this experience through the eyes of my children. They're still a little young to introduce to Pathfinder right away (i.e., my oldest is 7 years old). But when we're all ready, I know our game nights will immediately include the Beginner's Box and it'll serve as their first RPG experience. After that, I'm certain it'll fire their imagination just as much as it did for me.

So, this is a heartfelt thank you to Paizo. This is another example of how you guys have become the true custodians of what roleplaying has always personally meant to me. And it's awesome to see you embrace the traditions of the game's origins, all while making it fresh and exciting for a whole new generation. Now, it's up to the rest of us "gamers" to go out and introduce that generation to the hobby. And you've given us the perfect tool to do it.

Just my two cents,
--Neil

I don't think it will have a "harmful impact" any more than the Words of Power system or the piecemeal armor system will have a harmful impact; it'll remain a rarely-used optional system, I suspect.

any one ever wonder why fantasy time lines are so exaggerated?

Probably long-lived races.

Very nicely done! Nice way to keep all of your character stuff together. It looks like you used Perram's Spellbook for the spellcards (I recommend y'all check the site out if you haven't already).

I am wanting to play in an upcoming Pathfinder Society game, and I need to make a character. I was looking through some books and i noticed that in the Advance Players Guide, the Ultimate Magic, and the Ultimate Combat all contain the phrase, "Characters may take more than one archetype if they meet the requirements." (pages 72, 8, and 22 respectively) The archetypes in question are the Undead lord (ultimate magic page 32) and the Crusader (Ultimate Combat page 40) The requirements are that I only have one domain for both and an additional require from the Undead lord is that my one domain be the death domain more specifically the undead subdomain. Since neither of these archetypes are banned and I am meating the requirements for them both. Would this be legal to play as a Pathfinder Society character?

I enjoy Monte's third edition books, especially the Arcana Evolved series and the Books of Eldritch Might but I still won't try fourth edition no matter who they hire.

It allows you to treat the selected natural weapon as if it were a monk weapon. Thus a 1st level monk with feral weapon combat (bite) could bite twice when using flurry of blows.

Personally, I want the goblin "iconics" from We Be Goblins. (Even if I have to sew them myself...I'd make a Zon-Zon doll at the same time, too, just for kicks.)

I think they have largely done or are doing those things. Short of Mike and Monte pulling off a revision somewhere just short of miraculous, I don't see how they would lure my gaming dollars away from those that stuck with me.

Stop the tease and start stripping already!

Stop killing effects of all kinds, bring people back from the dead, all the same thing.

No, these are not the same thing in any way. When you're dead you're dead, you're an object, and no abilities at all work. Arguing that "can't be killed" equals "revives if dead" is like arguing Protection from Elements heals inflicted elemental damage. It's not what it does, and it doesn't work retroactively.

Acid shuts down regeneration, during which time it can be killed (since regeneration doesn't work when inactive). When it's dead, it's abilities can't activate and it won't heal anything.

The Dread Gazebo.