DarkWhite's page

Not necessarily. It can also be an indicator of how many straps and buckles you have on. That's why Hennet has so many!

No, Hennet simply has a leather fetish.

So if CHA explains how many straps and buckles one has, how do you explain Merisiel and all her daggers? What stats explains her dagger fetish? Merisiel Pic :)

That one's easy - stalking a spurned lover!

And while we certainly do listen to our readers on many things... Pathfinder is going to continue to have gay/lesbian/bi characters in its pages now and then. Hell... I'm almost tempted to make one of our iconics homosexual now!

Strong physical type, yet babyfaced; battle scarred, yet a look of innocence - Valeros gets my vote!

After being subjected to decades of babes in chainmail bikinis, I think we're finally getting our first peek at where 4th Edition is going with D&D as "Points of Light".

It's not much, but it's a start.

I was one of the first to respond that the font was uncomfortable to read when the Players Guide PDF first became available. I had printed that out on the office black and white lazer printer, and although a good quality printer, I did have a hard time reading the Players Guide.

However, I thought I'd hold off further comment until I received the published version in my hands, as I had hoped that maybe the quality of the published version might be sharper and more readable than a copy printed on office copy paper in black and white. And today I finally received the Pathfinder, the Players Guide and Seven Swords of Sin (Australian subscriber here).

For the most part, I am encouraged that the published version is sharper and a little easier on the eye than the black and white printed copy. It's still a little uneasy, but better than I had hoped after reading the black and white copy.

Something else I noticed, is when comparing Pathfinder side-by-side with Seven Swords of Sin, is that they both contain the same number of lines per page, but the font in Seven Swords of Sin is larger and much easier to read. This makes me think that the white-space between lines in Pathfinder is unnecessarily generous - it should be in proportion with the font-size. What you lose by increasing the font-size, could be compensated for by reducing line-height to achieve more lines per page.

Personally, I still prefer a slight increase in font-size - it probably doesn't need to be all that much to make a difference - though, I do feel a little easier now having the physical product in my hands. I realise you're already committed to re-assessing the font in future adventure paths, which is very much appreciated, but thought this feedback might be helpful.

Cheers.

Residing in Melbourne, Australia, brands etc may differ, but here's my take on teas:

I forgot to ask: I was avoiding dairy to clear up my sinus issue, but now that that's over, do any of you go the milk route?

I avoid milk in springtime for the same reason, hayfever. However, I find the little amount required in tea doesn't affect me much, so I continue to milk my tea, as I cannot tolerate tea without milk. Or I should say, some tea without milk - the thing is knowing which teas to add milk to, and which teas not. My (rather vague) rule of thumb is to add milk to British teas, don't add milk to Chinese teas.

However, I switch from dairy milk to soy milk for my breakfast cereal. The taste can take a little getting used to at first, but it's not too bad, much like making the switch from full-cream to non-fat milk, you soon get used to it. If you really don't like it, try another variety, as they have sweetened, unsweetened, pandang flavoured (coloured green from pandang leaves, like banana leaves?), and can even get it vanilla or chocolate flavoured.

My personal favorite from Bigelow are their vanilla chai and their vanilla hazelnut flavors. Drizzle a little bit of honey into one of those and you're set.

Wholeheartedly agree! Vanilla tea, and Chai tea were my two all-time favourite varieties, until ... Lipton released VANILLA CHAI in the one tea! This has to be tea sent from heaven! Seriously, Vanilla and Chai are great teas on their own, but combine them, and WOW!

When I feel like spoiling myself a bit, The Republic of Tea has lots of fun (and good) flavors, my favorite being Vanilla Almond. It is amazing.

Sounds similar to a tea franchise here in Melbourne called T2. They sell boxes of loose-leaf teas in a dizzying variety of trendy flavour combos, and they display them all arranged on a table in small china cups for customers to smell. Vanilla Almond definitely sounds like something I'd like, I've already described my addiction to Vanilla tea, and those Almond jelly desserts you get at Chinese restaurants are delicious! I'll have to try track Vanilla Almond tea down for myself and give it a try.

I still haven't found anything that can beat Earl Grey (from time to time I use variants called Russian Earl Grey (added citrus flavour) or Earl Grey w/lime)

Twinings Lady Grey sounds very similar to the Russian Earl Grey you described, a blend of Earl Grey with an added flavour like grated orange peel. It gives an edge to the otherwise tame Earl Grey flavour, which I really enjoy. It's entirely possible that Russian and Lady Greys are in fact the same tea, but labelled differently for foreign markets. If you already enjoy Earl Grey, but looking for a subtle change, I recommend giving one of these Earl Grey /citrus blends a try.

Another favourite of mine is Twinings Lapsang Souchong. It has a strong smoky flavour and auroma. Not for everyone, like Vegemite, you either love it or hate it, and nothing can sway your view.

An often complaint of Chinese tea is that it looks/tastes like dishwater. When I'm out at a Chinese restaurant (Yum Cha lunch!), I don't accept the standard tea, but always ask if they have Boleh (unsure of the spelling, but pronounced like the sunglasses brand). It's a much darker and stronger flavoured tea than the dishwater they usually serve up, but can become bitter if left too long.

There's a Spanish(?) chocolate bar in Brunswick Street, Melbourne, (sorry I forget the name) that serves hot chocolate blended with chilli! You can also purchase tins of chilli-chocolate powder to take home to make your own "hot" chocolate. Sorry, I realise this is straying from the subject of tea, but thought I'd offer something for those extreme beverage fans among us (as if Lapsang Souchong weren't enough? :-)

Just curious, where are you getting the Tauren idea from? Is this OGL? Actually, I love the Tauren from World of Warcraft RPG (the D&D version, I've never seen or played the online game), but I would have thought Tauren would have been World of Warcraft product identity?

If Paizo have a) D20 SRD; b) OGL critters; c) their own creations to draw from, I suspect they'll go with common SRD minotaurs, but put their own creative spin on them, as they have already done with goblins, ogres, stone giants et al. However, "creative spin" could very possibly make common SRD minotaurs resemble something much cooler than we're familiar with, which seems pretty much what the Warcraft guys did with Tauren.

Love the artwork!

First impression was Easter Island meets one of those plastic bendable Gumbee figures.

I think a theatre fits right into a frontier town. It's one of the few forms of entertainment such folk had to look forward to.

Many period Chinese movies feature musicians, acrobatics, performers etc, travelling from town-to-town and playing in old theatres. Parents would sell their children into such travelling bands if they couldn't afford to feed them.

Also consider Shakespearean plays in their day.

Church and Theatre were the "modern media" of their times - a way of spreading news from other townships, communicating laws and morals etc, through entertainment.

Melbourne, AUSTRALIA :-)

It seems Paizo were ahead of their time, featuring a Tiefling as one of their Iconic characters in Dragon magazine.

It doesn't seem a bad choice - diffuses the "everyone wants to be a drow" syndrome.

Given that international post means overseas customers will receive their orders at least a week after US subscribers, it would be nice if international orders were processed first, and US orders processed while overseas orders were in transit. That way we should all receive our printed copies at roughly the same time.

Just a thought.

Phil. L wrote:

I believe that not only will Paizo switch to 4e, but that it may also play are part is shaping the foundations of the new game.

Really?!?!

Cuz I've got some ideas...

I believe this is the [blog post] you were referring to:

FRIDAY
Scott Rouse (my roommate at the show) and I chatted with Lisa Stevens and Erik Mona from Paizo to discuss 4th Edition plans. We also met with other d20 publishers throughout the show, first to assure them that the OGL would be continuing under 4E, and that we're interested in working with them to iron out things that didn't work so well with 3E. Very exciting!

Oh yeah, I also got to meet with a bunch of our freelancers to tell them more about what's coming and how we're gonna need their help on future 4E products as well as D&D Insider content.

Hi there,

I'm already a Pathfinder/GameMastery subscriber, but I was also considering subscribing for my nephew as a birthday gift. How would I go about doing that? If I add a second Pathfinder subscription to my basket, do I get an opportunity to specify a different postal address? Wouldn't he require his own account to receive the PDF files?

It might be easier to pick his copy up at my local game store once it hits the shelves, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks,
DarkWhite

It's my intention that the monsters be completely open, in the spirit of the material we use by other companies.

I didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but this is the kind of "environmentally-friendly" policy I was expecting from the Paizo I have grown to love - though I could equally have seen a business case for it to have fallen the other way.

It's possible we need to rework the wording, somewhat. We're still getting used to this OGL stuff, and it may take us a product or two to phrase everything exactly the way it should be phrased.

Please bear with us in this regard.

Thanks for the clarification, Erik. Much appreciated.

Very good point - something I hadn't fully considered. Some of those books were published years ago, and now Pathfinder arrives on the scene creating an unexpected demand for their works, though some of those titles are becoming difficult to find and would require a reprint.

I already have the previously mentioned titles, but I certainly hope it helps those publishers, and maybe even provide an incentive for others to release new OGC titles, particularly creature books, which Paizo seem to be putting to good use.

Another point, though. If Pathfinder is to update and reprint the required information within it's own pages, I guess there's less incentive to seek out the original source. Even I already own those titles, I may not even need to reference them when running a Pathfinder adventure.

On the issue of errata, how feasible would it be to update and correct the PDF download files as errata are discovered? Even if something seemed missing or wrong with the print version, we could always download and check it against the latest PDF.

This would also be a way of getting the correct Designation of Product Identity out on at least some of the product that missed it.

I understand that Paizo are developing their own campaign setting for their Pathfinder/GameMastery line, and no doubt they are keen to retain some creatures unique to that setting to help establish it's own identity and flavour. I am sure, as the product line develops, Pathfinder/GameMastery signature creatures will resurface to haunt the heroes time and again. Paizo have a long-term interest in Pathfinder/GameMastery, they work hard to develop these creatures, so why wouldn't they want to protect them as product identity as they do proper names, plots, locations etc?

However, Paizo have also indicated that they intend to draw creatures from other OGL sources, such as Tome of Horrors, Book of Fiends, templates from Advanced Bestiary etc, if memory serves me correctly. It just seems to run against the grain, taking advantage of the creative works of other OGL publishers for creatures, but not expanding the OGL library by offering your own creatures in return.

Though, the bottom line is - would Dragonlance have been so appealing if every other company published Draconians in their adventures too?

Well... I'm biased, but I'd vote for waiting for Pathfinder; it'll give you a campaign out to level 16 or so (starting at level 1), and Sandpoint plays a pretty important role along that way. If you replace Sandpoint with Falcon's Hollow, you'll be hooking yourself up with a lot of headaches in reworking stuff (the least of which is the fact that Sandpoint's location on the coast is pretty key).

I was thinking to do it the other way around - ditching Falcon's Hollow, and relocating Droskar's Crag and Darkmoon Vale etc to surround Sandpoint instead. This way, the players can create Varisian characters using the Player's Guide. Sandpoint would remain exactly where it is on the coast, and become base of operations for both D0-D1 and Rise of the Runelords. But I am swaying toward waiting until Burnt Offerings to arrive.

Personally, I don't like the raptorians much at all, but if you want to find a place for them in Varisia, I'd suggest placing them in a coastal mountain range. The Storval Rise is pretty infested with ogres, giants, and other menaces; it's not an easy place to live in.

Unless the ogres and giants actually live within the cliff-castles and carved passages within Storval Rise, I thought the skies and caverns of Storval Rise should be far out of reach of said land-bound menaces.

The Storval region may not be an easy place to live, but the Shoanti seem to be able to eke out a living. Raptorans are capable hunters, so I was considering they might ally themselves with these nomadic tribes.

Upon reaching of age, all raptorans are required to embark on a test of survival and self-reliance called the Walk of the Four Winds. So it is not unusual to find a raptoran so far from home. All a player requires is an origin for his back-story - though a coastal mountain range not far from Sandpoint could work equally well.

Do you have to be of the Varisian race to take Varisian Tattoo feat, or simply from the Varisian region? eg, could a Gnome be enscribed with magical Varisian Tattoos if he wanted to? I'm guessing this to be the case, otherwise it would have been listed as a Prerequisite, but thought I should check.

While I certainly appreciate the attempt to present more printed information on each page, sorry, I have to agree the font is difficult to read at the current size.

I can only echo the sentiments already expressed by others here - outstanding effort on the Players Guide, and GameMastery Modules received so far.

I'm wanting to start a new campaign, and as Pathfinder hasn't arrived just yet, I was thinking of starting with D0 and D1 in Falcon's Hollow. However, the players are asking about the world, and character backgrounds etc, and not much of that is currently available for the Falcon's Hollow region. By comparison, the Player's Guide contains exactly the kind of information they're looking for, but for the Varisia region.

I'm wondering whether I should relocate Falcon's Hollow to, say, Sandpoint? Or should I hold off, until the Falcon's Hollow region is further developed in later products, and wait until Pathfinder#1 is released and start out with Burnt Offerings instead?

One of my players expressed an interest to play an Elf air elementalist spellcaster. I thought the Raptorans from Races of the Wild might be a good fit. That sourcebook suggests this winged elf-like race live in homes carved out from cliff-faces - the Storval Rise would seem to be the perfect setting!

Cheers,
DarkWhite

Doh! How could I have missed that? I swear I read over it several times. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

D0 and D1 - outstanding adventures!

My question is relating to the Grasp of Droskar.

Any potential players of this adventure, please stop reading now!

It's not as though you can't pick up one of the many adventures WotC have been releasing lately, past Dungeon magazine adventures or Adventure Paths, to find encounters with Beholders or Mind Flayers.

I'm very happy to see Paizo creating new creatures (Tatzlwyrms) and re-imaging existing ones (Razor Crows). It rekindles the feeling of excitiment and discovery I had back in the early days of D&D Basic - originality I haven't experienced now for 20 years.

If Paizo keeps up this level of innovation and quality, I don't think I'll be missing Beholders or Mind Flayers in the least!

Given that the Iconics are primarily intended for beginner players unfamiliar with character building, wouldn't it be confusing to these new players to change feats and other character options between products?

I'm all for advancing the Iconics with each issue of Pathfinder, adding new feats etc, but I'd prefer already chosen feats remain fixed.

Low Int Rogues? Maybe a low Int is the reason the character dropped out of high school and turned to alternative means to make a living in the first place?

Eek! Dodge is dodgy.

designates the T-Rex as being dodged

forgets to apply bonus from Dodge

asks DM if he can apply it after the fact

next round, forgets to designate the owlbear as being dodged

asks DM if he can Dodge the owlbear even though it's not his turn

dodges rulebook thrown by DM

I had this problem ALL THE TIME with my characters who use Dodge. There are so many other things on your mind in the heat of the moment during combat encounters, that is it so easy to forget until play has passed to the next person's turn .. Doh! Too late.

Recently, I've resolved this problem by using a marker, permanently on the play surface, that represents my Dodge opponent. Currently, I'm using a D4, but I'm looking for something more aesthetic, like one of those flat-bottomed glass beads.

I place it next to the mini I want my Dodge bonus applied to, and move it each round if I need to. If I forget, well, that's my own damn fault, my Dodge bonus remains on that opponent. But at least I have a constant visual reminder that is unmistakable for the DM during play.

Sounds like a good way to introduce a new setting to the players, while giving them a goal to bring into that setting.

An interesting twist might be if prayers (and therefore spells) to St Cuthbert aren't answered in foreign lands. How do the players react?

1) Set up a shrine to St Cuthbert attempting to spread this new faith among the local people in the hope that once a critical mass of followers is gained, that St Cuthbert will once again answer prayers and provide spells;

2) Finding a compatible Varisian faith, and promoting St Cuthbert as an aspect of that faith;

3) Finding a compatible Varisian faith, and following that faith instead, having abandoned St Cuthbert as lost.

I could see these providing plenty of roleplaying oppotunity, perhaps side adventures or quests, and much discussion and conflict of opinions between the players as they decide which approach to take.

Thanks Gary, very much appreciated.

Cheers,
DarkWhite

Hi Customer Service / Cosmo,

Yesterday I subscribed to both Pathfinder and Game Mastery ongoing subscriptions. I can view my order in My Account, all seems fine, however My Subscriptions appears empty. I'm also not seeing any Charter Subscriber message after my messageboard posts. Or maybe this takes a little time to process?

Thanks,
DarkWhite

Reckless wrote:

Any chance one of your miniature partners will come out with minis of the icon characters?

There is a near 100% chance of this happening.

--Erik

Is there even a remote chance Pathfinder minis could be produced in pre-painted plastic?

Having collected thousands of DDM, and zero metals, as good as Pathfinder minis would be, I would snap up pre-painted plastic Pathfinder minis in a heartbeat :) but zero chance I would purchase metal :(

Thanks

I think half-races are the perfect opportunity to explore themes such as predjudice, never quite accepted by either society, culture clash, constanty having to prove oneself, etc that might be experienced by people of mixed heritage in the real-world.

D&D is first-and-foremost a story-telling medium. DMs use non-player characters for themes and plot, and players use their characters as a means of self-expression. Don't dismiss the half-races!

All of the expansionary material is bundled with the AP. It can also be used outside of the AP in other games with ease, and will very likely be utilized and referenced in other Pathfinder Adventure Paths as well, although generally not as strongly as in the AP in which the support material first appeared.

This is all good, I like that everything needed for an adventure is contained within the Pathfinder issue in which the adventure appears.

Where it starts to break down, however, is if Goblin Dogs become iconic to the setting, how can they reapper in future Pathfinder adventures? Those who have Pathfinder#1 wouldn't need Goblin Dog reprinted as one of the six new creatures in Pathfinder#7, for example. While those who have Pathfinder#7 would be at a loss if they didn't own Pathfinder#1.

I mentioned this in another thread without any reply, so I thought I'd try again. What if Goblin Dog (as a ficticious example) appeared in Pathfinder#7 as:

Goblin Dog (2) CR 1/2
hp 8 each; Pathfinder#1 pgXX
[OGL substitute: ToH Rat, Giant Sewer pgXX ]
[Core substitute: MM Dog, Riding pgXX ]

The idea is, without reprinting creatures that appeared in past Pathfinder issues, these creatures can reappear in future Pathfinder issues by referencing the issue number of creature's original appearance. However, for those those who don't have the required back-issue of Pathfinder, they're able to substitute something nearly as cool from some other OGL source, or at least something that works from the Monster Manual. At least until a "Monsters of Pathfinder" volume is released.

There seems to be some debate whether or not Pathfinder is the place to introduce new base classes, prestige classes, character races, magic systems etc?

A new campaign setting is only being developed because Paizo no longer has licence to use Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms or Eberron, and they need somewhere to place their adventure paths, though it has created a great opportunity.

I agree that players can bring a character of their own choice into a Pathfinder adventure, and there are already a great range of places to source them from, including core PHB classes or expanded classes from other WotC sourcebooks, Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved or Iron Heroes etc. No problem with that.

However, don't forget that Pathfinder is filling a void not only from Dungeon magazine's adventure paths, but also decades of player-related articles from the pages of Dragon magazine.

I'm totally fine with Pathfinder content being tied to the current adventure path and the campaign setting. However, there should ALSO be articles that expand on character options aimed at players, otherwise Pathfinder's focus is too narrowly aimed at Dungeon Masters, and will lose the player audience.

I want interesting campaign-focused character options to offer players of Paizo's adventure paths. If I purchase Pathfinder but don't have an opportunity to run the adventure paths, then I want to be able to take something away from Pathfinder for my own characters in other games.

The adventure path and campaign setting already take up the bulk of Pathfinder pages. Let's leave some room for the players!

For Pathfinder, my current favorites are Tome of Horrors I, Book of Fiends, and the Advanced Bestiary. I'm sure more'll be added now and then to that list, especially as our authors find neat critters to include.

If I understand correctly, new monster entries will be printed in the Pathfinder issue alongside the adventure in which they appear.

If critters are sourced from other OGL publications, stats may be brought up to date with current rules or re-worked to fit the Paizo's campaign setting and then re-printed in the Pathfinder issue alongside the adventure in which they appear.

I am hoping that some of these creatures will gain popularity and re-appear in other adventures down the track, and not simply make cameo appearances. However, I am also guessing that Paizo would like to avoid re-printing the same creature write-up in multiple issues of Pathfinder.

The problem is, how to feature the same non-SRD creature in multiple issues of Pathfinder? Unless the player has a) the issue in which it originally appeared; or b) an OGL product that published this creature, then how can the encounter be run?

As a web developer, a concept I use every day is Accessability - building something to accommodate the widest possible audience.

A simple example is web page fonts. I might want a web page displayed in a fancy Exocet font. However, this likely causes problems if your computer doesn't have the Exocet font installed. So can I know what font you have installed in your computer? Simple answer - I don't.

What I can do, instead of requesting one specific font, is to specify a list of fonts in order of preference. The computer will try each font in the list, until it finds one that it has installed, and then it uses that. The last choice or two in the list should be a generic font that anyone should have access to.

This approach could work well for Pathfinder adventures. Say, for example Pathfinder #3 introduces the Wendigo, Pathfinder #5 introduces the Beserker. Then Pathfinder #7 features a Wendigo Beserker in an adventure, without reprinting either the creature or the class. How does someone new to Pathfinder run the encounter?

Wendigo Beserker1 [ OGL alternative: Advanced Bestiary Templated Gnoll; Core alternative: Gnoll Barbarian2 ]

The exact format is something the Paizo team would refine, but the concept is that someone without previous Pathfinder issues could replace the Wendigo Beserker with either a Gnoll with a template applied from the Advanced Bestiary, or a regular MM Gnoll with a couple of levels of Barbarian.

Suggested substitutes need not be precise, they just need to enable someone to successfully run the encounter. Replacement creatures might retain the same role or theme as the original creature, or maybe a radically different creature is offered as a substitute, because it has a particular special ability to challenge the players with - kind of like how foreign movies aren't translated word-for-word, they just need to get the general meaning across and keep the story moving.

Of course, this same method can be used with any game component - Races, Base/Prestige Classes, Feats, Spells, Religions etc.

I'd really like to see something different done with Paizo's "Underdark" (for lack of a better term). Every game setting has a massively large underground component featuring Drow, I'd like to see something new, and have certain assumptions about an "Underdark" turned on it's head.

Maybe the environment is completely different, like co-existing with the plane of Shadow, or the Underworld (place where the dead physically roam before finding their way to the afterlife), or maybe the Drow don't reign supreme, or may not even be evil per se, but are rag-tag little groups fighting for their mere survival using any means possible in such a hostile environment? Just some thoughts.

DarkWhite wrote:

Prestige classes look all cool, but they're pretty much useless to a group of first level characters. And if your campaign never reaches 5th or 6th level, then you're never going to see any prestige classes in your games.

This factor also drastically limits the value of prestige classes in representing cultural differences.

I guess this is what racial levels are good for - in effect, 3-level prestige classes that may be taken at first level. These could be good if interesting enough for a character to take instead of a standard class level - perhaps could be used to represent something culturally like Ravenloft's Vistani (gypsies).

I also think the Dark template sounds interesting for a character to take in place of a standard class level, provided it's justified with a suitable story hook, as suggested in Tome of Magic. I have a fighter/rogue/monk city goblin character (Eberron Mark-of-heroes campaign) I'd love to apply this to.

In general, people are far more open to prestige classes than standard classes, but not every editor feels the same way. (I, for example, vastly prefer standard classes over prestige classes.)

I don't get to play D&D all too often. Everyone working and having busy lives nowadays, it's difficult to get a group of players together on a regular basis. So I usually find myself starting new adventures with new players at first level.

Prestige classes look all cool, but they're pretty much useless to a group of first level characters. And if your campaign never reaches 5th or 6th level, then you're never going to see any prestige classes in your games.

Standard classes, on the other hand, offer cool new abilities and roleplaying opportunities right from the start! Therefore, I find standard classes much more useful than prestige classes I'll never qualify for.

I noticed Knights of the Raven prestige class recently in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. Accompanying text states "The mechanical prerequisites for this prestige class are intentionally easy to meet, to encourage one or more PCs to adopt the class over the course of the adventure". Prerequisites include: a good alignment, +4 BAB, ability to cast 1st-level divine spells, plus a story element. The adventure is recommended for levels 6-10, and a sixth level character could easily qualify for this prestige class. I guess anything lower than that, and you might as well make it a standard class than a prestige one, but it was good to see this approach, a prestige class tied to the adventure campaign, aimed squarely at the player characters.

I really cannot fathom WotC's removal of Modrons from their sourcebooks. What have they been replaced by? Formians!

Modrons - love 'em or hate 'em - at least they generate a response. Everyone knows who they are and what they're about. But Formians? What have WotC done with Formians in way of support in any of their sourcebooks?

In Planescape days, Modrons were recognisable, had character, they made a difference. Formians just don't have anywhere near the same kind of appeal.

What better way of raising something to cult status, than denying it from the public? In my mind, the current Modron frenzy is a beast completely of WotC's making, likely the complete opposite effect than the one they had hoped for.

Thank you Paizo for this article - I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Bring back the Modrons!

#6 from Melbourne here (Burwood)

Currently, my two favourite classes are Barbarians and Monks. So when I was thinking of levelling up one of my characters, without giving the rules too much thought, naturally the thought occurred to me to multi-class as a Monk/Barbarian, until another player reminded me that Monks MUST be Lawful, and Barbarians CANNOT be Lawful, thus a Monk/Barbarian is one of the few illegal character combos.

Wondering why this might be, aside from any realism/cultural/roleplay considerations, it probably has more to do with game balance. Imagine a Monk/Barbarian with Flurry of Blows AND Rage bonuses!

On the subject of maps, on SCAP p42, top of the second column, it says that Keygan can provide a worn map of Jzadirune to the players - Players Map of Jzadirone appears on the following page.

So what then is the purpose of J16 Map Room, if the players already have a map?

the other members of the players think my dvati is only one person because i have kept my race a secret so far

How do the other players think your Dvati is only one person, when they can see two physical bodies? That is kinda difficult to keep secret, unless only one of them is ever present at any one time, and they do the old "switcheroo"?

Whatever the offer, I hope it available to overseas readers?

I hope at least the old NPC classes will be kept as unbalanced as they were designed and not neutered. An NPC class is NOT a prestige class.

If you want an NPC to be more of a challenge to your players, then advance it another couple of class levels.