Doc_Outlands's page

Boots2 with a nice dirk tucked in them.

In black.

So my wife is going to be gone to a weekend summer music camp this weekend - Thursday afternoon thru sometime Sunday afternoon. To help the kids not think about mom being gone, we'll be gaming. This is going to be the youngest girl's first game with a character of her own.

They have very little idea of what is going on. I told them I want equipment lists for 3rd-level characters, classes, and whatever feats/flaws/traits/class-variants they may want. I'll handle making the final characters myself. Looks like we'll have a Scout, a Fighter, and a Warlock. (I figure the few tricks a Warlock can pull off every time works well for a 4-year-old to remember.) All they know is "underground classic dungeon.

I'm going to put them thru an adventure I devised some time ago (ie: just about the time 4ed was announced) but never pursued. However, I'm going to rethink that and may well develop it into a retail adventure. Depends on how it plays this weekend.

Here's the intro:

Panic in the Pantry!

You are a Kobold, of the Moonscale tribe. Your tribe has worked hard all summer to be sure the tribe's pantry is well-stocked for the coming winter. Everything was going well until the chef happened to go into the lower pantries looking for pickled Goblin guts to make a meat pie for the chieftain. That's when the panic started.

Someone has pilfered the entire stock of Goblin guts! To make matters worse, almost all of the sacks, crates, and barrels the tribe spent the summer so assiduously filling with winter storage are EMPTY!! It has fallen to your small band to find out what has happened to the tribe's food-stores...

...the bad part is, you know exactly where some of them went, because you carried them off. Even worse, you can't tell anyone what you did or why. See, while exploring the tunnels one day, you encountered a very young red dragon who called himself Bristle. He asked you to help him stock his pantry by bringing him the occasional haul from the Kobold pantries and the occasional item to furnish his lair. In return, he promised to not make you or any others of the tribe part of his larder. He begged you to not tell anyone about him, or the entire tribe would never do anything but beg him for favors. He has promised to help the tribe out later, after he grows some. This made an enormous amount of sense, so you readily agreed. But now, someone is threatening the survival of your tribe, you, and your dragon friend...

So far, my outline is something like this:

"Room" One:
Goblin band intercepted roaming into the tribe's territory. This is, of course, an excellent short-term fix for the loss of the pickled Goblin guts. The entire tribe is ready to turn out and take on the Goblins in a fight a little less than the Kobold's norm. The tribe will win, but with many wounded and lots of Goblins to process into the pantries. I want to revisit something I did once, but this time with Goblins - the Phalanx. That was a naaaaaaasty time of a fight!! I want to see how they handle it this time. Maybe some of their own can form one, as well, for the PCs to hide behind.

I think I may sow the seeds of confusion here by having the Goblins yell things like "We'll feast from your kitchens tonight!" or "Winter won't be so hard with us living off the fruits of your labors!"

"Room" Two:
While helping with the rendering, they catch a fellow Kobold trying to slip away with either food or goods, heading to Bristle's lair. Since the party has a Scout, they may opt to track him to find out where he is going. I may suggest to at least one of the players that during this confusion, they might be able to slip some food or loot into one of Bristle's receiving areas. (He has taken to having them drop stuff off in certain areas "in case anyone follows you, they won't see me" - basically, he's reserving the last few charges in his wands for an emergency. I may also make sure one of the PCs sees another one stashing some extra food, just to increase the suspicions.

They may opt to confront the "skizzer," either publicly or privately, about his attempt to sneak away with loot. This should get interesting as he tries to wriggle off the hook without mentioning Bristle and with the PCs trying to pin him down without mentioning Bristle. I'll be brushing up on the Charm Person spell, to see how this should play out.

"Room" Three:
I may toss a Goblin raiding party into the tunnels, just for some dungeon combat, since the Scout wants to have the Dungeon Specialist variant feature from PHBII. Perhaps have them actually penetrate into the lower pantries that were looted so as to mess up any chance of an easy tracking check to discover that only Kobolds have been in there. Maybe a rat swarm in the pantries would be a better idea. With the Goblins taunting them in Enc-1 and ending up in the pantries here, they should be wondering if maybe someone else really is stealing their food. At any rate, they end up in the pantries and have to fight something there.

"Room" Four:
Dunno yet...

"Room" Five:
They finally end up in Bristle's lair. I'm not real sure yet how and why they get here. But - I do know I'd like for them to fight the Halfling thinking he has killed their beloved Bristle!! Something I want to work with is summoned monsters, with the PCs having to face them in waves (as was discussed in the BBEG thread this week) as the bad guy tries to make his escape.

So that's what I have so far. If anyone has any ideas for believable slapstick to use to connect the dots, I'm all ears. I'm trying to stick to a "5-room dungeon," partly so that we actually finish it, partly to try out a bunch of new ideas for how to prep a game session, partly so that it holds their attention and partly to see if I can do it. With a party of 3 Kobolds of 3rd level, I think I can justify throwing a 5th or 6th level Halfling Rogue at them as a bad guy. He doesn't want a fight, after all - he's LAZY and wants minions to serve him. He'd rather drink a potion of invis and sneak out while they fight 2 waves of 1d3 Fiendish Badgers, picking up his bug-out bag on the way out to start up the scheme somewhere else. Sure, he'll lose a chunk of goodies, but rather lose goodies than flesh.

So, given the Halfling propensity for gluttony, his larder is nowhere near equal to the sum of what the tribe "tithed" over the weeks. But they will manage to eke their way through the winter, earning the PCs a place in the tribe as heroes for having vanquished the foul beast that killed their beloved Bristle, whom the tribe all feel they can now talk about openly.

And hopefully, a great time will be had by all. Players are my kids - 15, 8, and 4. The older two already play and the younger normally falls asleep watching us play. Comments and suggestions welcome - flames, well... ;)

Try the march from Bridge over the River Kwai.

Per my main player, "Common sense would dictate you fall prone...but magic doesn't always equate to common sense."

Per my literal player, "You *fall* asleep, therefore you *fall* over - duh!" (she's 8, not blonde...but there isn't that much difference in practice...)

Per my teenage player who is learning how to DM, "I suppose it is DM discretion..."

Having discovered in boot-camp that I could sleep standing up - marching, actually - and again while working on pipelines, I can see the argument made that a Sleep spell doesn't make you fall over. As a DM, the target of a Sleep spell ends up prone...

but you're going to get all the same information for gaming purposes.

Yep, Vista with Acrobat Reader 8.something, and Firefox.

As for the tune, I haven't figured it out yet.

Looks like my gaming group needs to put purchasing sets of Q-dice at the top of the list once they can start shipping product again.

I'm going to go out on a limb and start with ... Frostburn. But that's just me.

What is...Antarctica!

It's all fun and games till someone gets devoured in public by invisible monsters all Abdul Alhazred style.

The Rogue Trader offering is Here...

Aldo, thanks for pushing the hobby *and* sticking your neck and shoulders out there! I didn't get to participate - look at the list of stores in Louisiana that participated compared to a map of the state and you'll see why. I wish I had known about it earlier and I would have gotten you contact info for at least two more stores in the north end of the state, plus one down in Baton Rouge.

I also really appreciate your showing us the otherwise hidden "mechanics" of how Free RPG Day works. Seems odd the distributors don't want to help increase orders that *they* benefit from...or maybe I'm missing something. That's usually the case.

Didn't Oriental Adventures for AD&D have a bunch of floorplans in the back? Anyway, this is another product I've considered making for 3.5 and now/or now Pathfinder - Fantasy Sites. Once, that is, I find a graphics program and images I can use to produce commercial maps.

Also, check the Map Packs for usable sets. I only own a couple of them, and they are outdoors ones at that, but I think you may find a couple that are what you want - specifically, Slums and Village.

Just wanted to chime in...

I would like anyone to confirm that clicking the above link opens up a new tab in your browser that is a direct link to the Fungus, Deathcap .pdf file. If so, please let me know.

Thanks!

I'd written the reply before noon, but forgot to hit submit before I dashed off to town. In the interest of encouragement, tho, I went ahead and posted the reply. :D

Gene is awesome. I'm saving off everything that gets posted. All you ppl who feed requests to Gene so that he has ample projects with which to occupy himself and benefit us are almost as awesome as Gene.

I love 'shrooms...

I had to tweak the link you posted slightly to get it to work, as the internal links in the pdf weren't working for me. I was likely screwing something up, who knows. The main drawback to House is how creepy it is. I'm not real sure the youngest could handle it. Beyond that, the other three would absolutely eat it *up*!

Ok, I got involved looking at CSP's offerings and almost forgot to come back here and finish my reply!! Goooooooooooooood stuff...

Crooked Staff Productions

I'm sure that site will contribute to melting a hard-drive and a printer sooner rather than later...

Are any of the other publishers being as consumer-friendly and providing free pdf's of their Free RPG Day goodies? Some of the listed goodies sound interesting and I'd like to give them a whirl...

How very interesting...thank you for the House! I think even without the note, I would have detected Lovecraft's hand in that adventure.

Here is a time saver tip, just a little too far:
"Plan the order of your stops in a clockwise direction, that way you avoid all the time-consuming left turns."

I was afraid you'd say that. My mags are all packed up and in storage at the moment, since I don;t have room for a decent library. One of my part-time gamers may have the Challenges book. I'll look into it.

But still, that always felt like a tournament or fair rather than an adventure to me...

Good stuff, man!

1. When you call for your players to roll Perception checks, do you pull those who succeed aside, or do you simply look at them and say, "You see/hear...?"

Depends on the player and what is perceived. If the PC is one who I know uses knowledge to their own benefit, I'll let just that one know what is going on. If someone notices something that an obvious reaction to would tip the party's hand, I'll tell just that player(s). Otherwise, it's a "Are you going to let the rest of the party know? If so, I'll just say it for everyone to hear."

2. When delivering the lines of NPCs, do you prefer in-character or third person?

I prefer in-character as much as possible, as I am a bit of a ham.

3. Do you encourage your players to create well-thought-out backgrounds complete with hooks that you can insert into your campaign?

I prefer and encourage it, especially from players I know can deliver. I like to use any tidbits anyone drops about their past in the games to make them fell connected. However, if someone wants to just bash monsters and take their stuff, I'm good with that too.

4. You have been playing a campaign for many months, and your group suffers a TPK. Do you fudge the rolls, contrive a reason for them to be brought back, have them create new characters and pick up where the others left off, or just scrap the campaign?

Wow. I'd like my gaming group to make it to the first comma in that question so that a campaign-ending TPK becomes a possibility!!

5. You have a scene where a large orc tribe is attacking a village. You have all of the orcs and various NPCs represented on the map. Do you roll for each and every orc and NPC, or do you, in the interest of saving time, just decide how many of each side dies each round?

My rule of thumb - any combat or other activity that doesn't involve the PCs will move at the speed of plot. If I need to village to take a beating, it will. If I need the Orcs to just bloody the village's nose, then there's gonna be more wounded than dead and very little of either as the Orcs set buildings on fire. If I need the PCs to impress the locals with their abilities to help, there'll be a lot of wounded to tend. If I need to PCs to show off their battle-smarts, etc etc.

During a recent discussion with the main two players of my gaming group, it came about that I should run a "5-room dungeon" for 3rd-level characters that is all non-combat. This is partly a reaction to some recent games with some other players that was rather combat-heavy as well as a desire to explore some of the less often used abilities out there. We may add in my youngest girl, who is four but has been around D&D pretty much her entire life.

So, with this in mind, I'm looking for ideas on what sort of adventure or encounters other DMs have run or would suggest running for a non-combat adventure.

There goes my first potential Pathfinder product...already planned by Paizo.

Ran into an oddity as I was working on some NPC charts. The five NPC classes (adept, aristocrat, commoner, expert, warrior) have starting gold listed. Hunh??!?? I thought they used the NPC gear value by level chart over on pg 127 at the end of the NPC chapter. How do other DMs handle 1st-level NPC gear?

The print product is now available to order. We are working on getting the PDF up.

I'd hate to see today's traffic report on the Paizo server...

I did get my PDF downloaded and along the way found the PDFs from the *last* two FreeRPGDay products. I got them, too. No sense in letting them sit there and rot, y'know. Thanks for making the PDFs available, guys. We appreciate it.

in a book that's supposed to be about giving the GM as many monsters to use as possible in a limited page count, I'm not interested in carving out a chunk of pages that big to try to make the Bestiary into something it's not supposed to be.

I was initially considering a Ranger/Rogue, especially since it allows me to fill two party roles nicely. I am also open to other suggestions and cool ideas though. Maybe a Warlock/something would be cool?

Excellent. Bloody marvelous work. You just codified what has been floating around in my head as half-formed ideas and vaguely-seen apparitions for a few years now. I don't play regularly, or I would have likely already nailed down in concrete a lot of what you presented here. Thanks for helping me figure out what I've been trying to tell myself.

The sages at Paizo now have empirical evidence that, unlike certain elf Wizards, preparing Explosive Runes would be a waste of a spell-slot pretty much any morning...

:D

I live in such a pit of utter abject lack of culture that my FLGS's are Paizo, RPGNow, and ebay.....

ONE STORE in Louisiana is participating and it is on the WRONG END OF THE STATE!! I was shocked to see no entry for Little Wars in BR, unless they've closed and I didn't know about it. Of course, they are on the wrong end of the state, as well.

I started reading this thread last night and had to break off for sleep about halfway through. I came right back at it this morning to finish up. Vic, you've done an amazing job of being incredibly patient and helpful throughout the entire thread. As someone who has dreamed of having a product or three in circulation for 3.5, I just want to tell you how appreciated your attitude and approach is. The fact that Paizo is offering a compatibility license for Pathfinder is of great encouragement, now that we have 4ed. My dreams may yet come to fruition due in large part to Paizo's willingness to allow third-party products and to Vic's herculean efforts to present the license in terms as clear as humanly possible. Thank you, sir!

I'm with Pax. From where I sit - and it is a LOOOOOOOONG way from the west coast - Hasbro treated the D&D community as an unfortunate side-effect of the existence of the property, rather than as the reason for the property's existence. In my opinion, there was no need for a new edition other than to sell core rulebooks. I didn't like the effective cancellation of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. I didn't like the languishing of the SRD - it seemed once it was in place, virtually nothing was added and certainly Wizards (or was it Hasbro) wasn't going to make anything OGC, even tho it would have made sense for a *lot* of mechanics to have been added. I didn't like what I saw as power-creep in official expansion books. I didn't like what I saw as a lack of ... internal consistency or verification or interoperability between the options presented in later books. I didn't like the lack of support for the Warlock in later books. (gotcha - but it is an illustration of a point) It got to the point it seemed as if Hasbro/WotC was almost just throwing stuff out there, expecting us to buy everything because it was D&D. And I sure didn't like hearing WotC hadn't sent Paizo a copy of the 4ed SRD (or whatever they called it) early, so as to have Paizo's support in place - seems like other 3PP's got copies, why not Paizo? (again, this is appearances from where I sit and I don't generally need to know the details) All in all, it just flat looked like WotC/Hasbro ended up deliberately shunning part of their support group that had literally been there for years. Why would I want to do business like that?

But that's done and gone. We have the SRD, we have the OGL, we have 3PP like, say, Paizo who are run by folks that seem to understand the customers drive their business, even if they know they won't be able to please everyone every time.

I don't wish ill upon 4ed, because it *is* D&D. I have friends who love it, because it plays more like a high-speed video game than does 3.5. Of course, they still play fast and loose with the rules. More power to them - it isn't *my* style. I've played a lot of different rpg systems in my days of rolling dice and so far 3.5 has been the most enjoyable from a system standpoint. I'm glad it was produced, even tho it isn't perfect. But it *is* adjustable to fit what I want from a system.

So... I'm off to write my own niche 3.5 OGL product, one that may even be compatible with Pathfinder and maybe add my own tiny nuance to the giant...

Interestingly, of the listed treasures, the past week has seen references around my house to:
Sphere of Annihilation
Figurines of Wondrous Power
Deck of Many Things
Bag of Holding

And keep in mind, we've not played D&D in months. When the boy presented a scenario and said, "The best way out of that is to use a Sphere of Annihilation and..." I felt I had to shut him down quickly!! :D

(I would make the DC target for over your level, based upon the adjusted level...so that 9th level spell that's boosted to a 15th level spell doesn't add +5 to the check it adds +15...)

Okay, be aware that I'm coming at this from the 3.x side of the house. I thought I had the PFRPG Beta on my computer, but apparently not. Its likely on the one that crashed a while back. I'm in the process of rectifying that situation (lack of PF, not the crashed computer) right now. It'll go on my flashdrive.

As for casting above your level, I'm all for it when looking at spells you add metamagic onto. If you want to beef up the penalty for failing your Spellcraft check, how about a trip through the scrolls mishap section?

One of my players is very interested in playing a spellcaster, now - thanks to this system. Another player is interested in taking the system for a testdrive, as she knows wizards fairly well.

Just for giggles, I sat down and worked up a Human Wiz3. He has Spellcraft +16: +6 (ranks) +2(Magical Aptitude) +2(know arcana synergy) +3 (skill focus) +3(INT bonus). So, if he wants to cast a Stilled Mirror Image, he'd have a DC of 15(base) + 1 (one metamagic feat) +3 (adjusted spell level) +5(final is one level higher than he can cast) = 24. So he'd have to roll an 8 or better on his spellcraft check.

Plus, any opponent who readied an action to nail anyone who started casting a spell can interrupt him, right?

This fanzine is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing

Getting mine now.

Very interesting. I think I shall play around with this system you've presented and see if I like how it works. This articulates fairly well an idea that has been floating about in my mind for quite some time. Now I have been handed a framework upon which the idea may hang. Thank you!

Just a few random thoughts...

The Bible makes mention of the daily wages of a farmhand being a denarius - basically, as I understand it, one silver piece.

Historically, particularly in recent history, gold prices have been subject to extreme manipulation (accounting for wild fluctuations in price).

When you try to look at the cost of gold through the years, you should look at what that price would buy at that time. $100 in 1898 bought a lot more than it did in 1998. Gold tends to hold its value rather consistently - ie, one oz of gold, converted to $, has tended to buy pretty much the same stuff through the years.

This, of course, assumes a stable government and doesn't anticipate extreme fluctuations in supply or demand of gold or goods. Droughts drive up the price of grain, mining booms drive down the value of gold, etc.

Celestial Creature 1-3 HD is missing. Not that it actually changes anything other than DR 5/Magic.

Also - why have the templates on the NPC Generator but not on the Monster Generator?

Also - ability stats for the Dire Rat (the only thing I've used so far) in the MonGen differ from those in the Monster Manual. I assume you used stats from the SRD and that, therefor, the stats in the SRD differ from the MM?

Very VERY useful tool! Too bad WotC didn't make feats, templates, etc OGC in all their books.

Awesome! I'll give it a whirl once I get evening chores wrapped up and can sit down to play.

I was pretty sure this was how it worked.

So a Celestial X speaks Celestial. What does a Fiendish X speak? Will that vary based on the alignment of the summoned creature?

so I can start attracting some worshippers? Chaotic, tricky, greedy, female worshippers?

:D

The Garden of Adompha - "Now, as if in suppliance, the semi-vegetable arms reached out towards Adompha with their human hands. The king felt a revival of his old interest in Dwerulas' horticulture, a queer excitement woke within him before the mingled grotesquery and beauty of the grafted plant."

- I read this thread
- I read the above story
- I came back to read the new posts and post that
- I now have an idea for an adventure-arc based on that story???

Thanks for the story links, btw. Oh and Carmilla was a good one.

This change makes sense to me. Mithral was always "the broken metal" to me, but I also apply "sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" logic, so if the players went heavy on mithral armor, so did the NPCs and their BABs got better. Obviously, if they focus on armor, the players want more combat, right? So therefore *everybody* wants more combat, too.

So, for me, at first glance, the requirement of Armor Prof (heavy) is a reasonable price to pay for the lighter armor.

Or you could just control the source of the mithral in the first place...

I have a dilemma for next year:

- PAIZOCON, or

- 20 year high school reunion.

On the other hand, I'd love to make PCIII!! Hopefully, life will be such that attendance is viable.

Doc_Outlands wrote:

Wow! VERY handy to me! Any plans to include options from Unearthed Arcana, like flaws, traits, and so on?

Thanks for the suggestion Doc, I will certainly look into this - A good idea. I don't think the game rules are copyrighted so I should be ok using them. Does any one know if this could cause a problem?

My wife says the only other thing she can think of is to use the gestalt option from Unearthed Arcana. That can tax your sanity, if your players aren't seasoned. I just looked and didn't see any ready-made class variants that fit her concept in UA's classes chapter.

Check Heros of Battle - Guerilla Warrior feat. You get a reduction of armor check penalties for light and medium armors and Hide and Move Silently cost you 1 point, even tho max ranks are still same for being cross-class.

That should help a bit... I'll get my wife - whose first D&D character ever was a 3ed Ranger/Druid - to offer up anything she can think of in a bit...

Little something I tossed together that my players are interested in turning into a significant part of their campaign. Thought I'd toss it out here to share and see if anyone had any thoughts or comments they might want to share.
============================

BEING A TREATISE ON THE RULES AND VARIANTS FOR POPULAR SUMMONING COMPETITIONS

It was the will of the Guild Council to establish a common reference work in identifying the various methods in use for adjudicating the competitions between Conjurers, particularly in the use of Summoning Magicks. To that end, this Treatise was commissioned in order to codify the known styles of competitions and reference their known variants for the edification of all Guildmembers. Keeping in mind that new competitions or variants may be encountered or developed, this document is being presented as a living document and as such may be appended or updated at any time, without warning.

Certain variations are common across all the games. The first is the setting of a time limit for the duration of the individual challenges. The second is whether or not additional spells are allowed to be cast on the Summoned creatures before or during the challenge. Additionally, some challenges are divided into a specified number of rounds of a given length, with grace periods between the rounds to be used for casting restorative or enhancing spells. This approach is particularly popular amongst Casters of the nations of eastern Forinth. Finally, Casters may be restricted in how many times they may Summon creatures during a challenge.

Competition #1

Commonly called "Last Man Standing" or variation thereof, this competition is regularly seen as a slugfest between Summoned creatures of opposing Casters. The primary variations seen in this competition has to do with whether Casters are limited to how many times or creatures they are allowed to summon. Rarely is a time-limit imposed as is seen in other variants, but occasionally during multiple-casting contests, there is a point set beyond which no more Summonings may be cast and the final conflict is allowed to play out.

In Ruidia, brackets are run as in a warrior's tournament, typically held in double-elimination fashion. Casters are limited to a single Summoning, but are allowed to enhance and heal their avatars throughout the competition.

Competition #2

This is known as "First Touch." In this style, the opposing caster is the target of the Summoned creature. Here, the object is for the creature to make a successful melee touch attack against the opposing Caster. Harming the Caster is almost uniformly considered to be a sign of poor sportsmanship and lack of control and is regularly penalized by disqualification and in many cases financial sanctions. The main variation in this competition is whether or not the Caster is allowed to defend themselves against the creature's efforts.

Certain northern barbarian Sorcerers use a variant that is a fight to first blood, wherein the creatures are allowed to inflict damage and the Casters are allowed to fight back.

Competition #3

This category is more a group of related competitions that share a common style. Frequently, these games are referred to as "Capture The Flag" for their use of a flag or heraldic banner on the field. Casters are typically expected to provide their own banner in two-flag games, whereas the hosting field provides one - usually in the colors of the game's sponsor - for one-flag games. In a one-flag game, the flag starts in the center of the field and the creatures from each side must first reach the flag and then either return it to their own starting area or advance it to their opponent's starting area, depending on the local rules. Two-flag games require the Summoned creatures to either advance their own flag across the field to plant it in their opponent's starting area or to retrieve their opponent's flag from the far side of the field and return it to their own starting area. In all cases, the flags return to their original starting point within 5-6 seconds via a variant of the Dimension Door spell.

These games have the most number of variants. First, several Casters may be grouped together as one team, as is common in Havalrand. Most multi-Caster challenges are restricted to no more than a single Summoning per Caster. Games are played until one side reaches a set number of points first or they may run a preset length of time, with the side having scored the most points being declared the winner. Should one side see the loss of all their summoned creatures, the opposing side is typically called as the winner, with points recorded as scored up to that moment.

Entry Requirements, Fees, & Prizes:

Sponsors may set whatever requirements they wish to enter a competition and this varies widely between cultures. (For example, in Khadil, only females are allowed to cast arcane magicks, therefore their competitions are open only to females.) Membership in a particular Guild or Magickal Order, Patronage or Sponsorship, minimum casting capabilities, and nationality are all known requirements that have been used throughout history.

Fees and prizes often go together, as the former is frequently used to provide the latter. At the Collegium of Ghent, competitors were charged a scroll as their entry fee. The top three winners then selected from the scrolls as their prizes, the idea being to foster the spread of Arcane knowledge amongst peers. This practice continues to this day and has gained popularity amongst scholarly types as a means for both improving the range of student spellbooks as well as providing a practical test of Summoning magicks and language skill. Other entry fees known to have been charged have included the obligatory coinage, gifts to charity, spell components, artwork, enchanted items, personal favors, and rare animals. One famous competition held by Lady Ariviaa, Countess Bhonlen, had as its entry fee a poem. It was for this event Lord f%~alen the Dusty composed his now-famous "Salute to the Far Road" extemporaneously, having arrived at Bhonlen Estate with no foreknowledge of the event being hosted.

As was mentioned, the prizes offered at a given competition may be tied to the entry fee, but this is not by any means a hard and fast rule. Many competitions have been hosted in order to meet the needs of a particular charity - the building now housing the Santo Pilastro orphanage and chapel in Juntasa was paid for from funds raised by such a competition. Every participant received a small cloak-badge as a token of appreciation and today those who wear their badge when visiting that town find themselves on the receiving end of many kindnesses while there, from free food and lodging to special treatment by city officials. Other prizes include the obligatory coinage, the aforementioned spell-scrolls, magickal items, artwork, trophies, and personal favors, to name several. If something has a value or is desireable by someone, it has probably been used as a prize. Naturally, the more powerful the competitors, the more valuable the prizes. Most competitions give awards to either just the winner of each category or to the top three finishers.

GAME NOTES:

Competition structures are typically single-elimination, double-elimination, or round-robin styles. If the pool of competitors is particularly small, a double round-robin structure is frequently used.

Another concern is how tournaments divide up entrants into categories. A student who has just completed his apprenticeship is no match in most challenges for a Guild Mage who researches new spells for breakfast. Detect Magic offers one potential grouping by following Aura strengths of "faint," "moderate," and "strong" which yields Wizards grouped into levels 1-6, 7-12, and 13-20. This quickly leads to uneven matches, such as a Dretch versus a Celestial Badger. The availability of Arcane Sight gives the DM a way to keep things more even, by allowing only match-ups of equal spell level.

Indeed. I've popped onto paizo.com probably a dozen times this morning, just reading and posting and reminiscing with the warm fuzzies of a great time. You don't want it to end, but there's another year to look forward to.

LUCKY YOU!! All those warm fuzzy memories (which would be a lot clearer if you hadn't- wait. There goes the family-friendly alert again.) you get to relive and cherish! Perhaps next year.

Altho my buddies are trying to get me to go to AdventureCon next year, which happened to be this past weekend. Conflict - the spice of life!

It pretty much reinforces my existing opinions, thanks. :D