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It's marketing, get over it. This is how marketing is worded. If you read a good many entries for products you'd think the world was going to end if you didn't buy it. Thats what you're suppose to think.

Personally this product is pretty amazing. It will help you set up a live wiki for your game that's built towards dnd.


lantzkev wrote:

I think our OP just has a problem when he looks at touch ac in a vacuum.

He's continually ignoring the range limitations on it and focusing purely on the hypothetical that can be done.

If he goes the crossbow route like he's suggesting, why on earth would you play with guns then? They then become expensive crossbows with a chance of misfire until lvl 13.

Who cares that these weapons eliminate all possibility of stealth for the most part?
---are more expensive?
---can blow up until lvl 13
---rare
---require grit until lvl 13 to function reliably over time
---does less damage than a archer focused character
---that characters using these weapons aren't quite as durable (although still are to a good degree at least)
---that they are a one trick pony, even if a really cool trick

You hit the nail on the head. I have one gunslinger in my party and guns are more readily available in my campaign. The rest like crossbows, the range is much better and they can recover their nonexpensive arrows. Theri weapon is also very useful.


That's what one of my friends did and it worked better. I actually built the website for that campaign. He's a super math geek so he did a bunch of calculations and essentially created a wealth system that had deconstructed a level (saves, bab, feats, skills, CL etc) and created a store on the website where you can purchase those things piece meal. (I think we were using a system called Buy the Numbers). Then the XP system was just wealth in that. It worked out pretty okay until he got a power gamer in who ruined it.


Threeshades wrote:
Don DM wrote:

Back in older times it was those different xp ranges that made many dms just simply say you level "insert here" and 3e came out with standardized leveling which felt very optional. The newer system highlighted xp higher in the statblocks which matched the trend in video games of imputing "rpg elements" which realy just meant xp and leveling.

I"m not calling anyone a gamist, i'm saying that the need for XP has trumped storytelling because of the push of MMOs. and and this mentality is trickling down into Tabletops. I can't tell u how many players who come from 4e constnatly ask me "when do we get xp, how do i know if i'm doing good, when do i get xp, can i have a treat daddy". Whereas the old school thought pattern was, oh xp cool, did we do this. Even treasure wasn't as emphasized. Everyone liked nice and shinies but the adventure, the story was what you whent home and talked about.

I think its a matter of experience then (no pun intended).

I know only one out of fourteen people i used to or still do regularly game with who ever asks about XP. Everyone else really only acknowledges them when they are actually being awarded by the GM.

The question is, is it out of habit or is it because they really want it/need it. I've had players ask once at my game when do they get xp and i explain we don't do xp players level at certain points and its never brought up again. Someone said it best. People will focus on what the dm is focused on. IF the dm is xp/treasure focused that will be what they do, if the dm is story focused the players follow suit. NOthings right nothigns wrong just different styles. I wish games would get back to story focused narratives but with xp getting being apart of every game rpg and non rpg, its a pipe dream.

The funnything is, if they made xp an actual in game thing, it would hold more weight. IE I once had a friend who used xp in a game, but xp was used to buy "stores" and "items" to rebult a town ala dark cloud 2. Another friend used xp as a wealth system. The more welath you collected the higher you got and he coolated the xp chart with the optimal wealth chart.

Those are cool uses. Both lead back to the story and still give players carrots.


Make sure your PCs acknowledge the misfire rate and make sure that they are tracking bullets. Both of these balance firearms. I had your same issue until i realized i had a player telling me every 20 he rolled but neglecting the 1s and 2s he rolled. He also wasn't tracking the all expensive bullets.


Whale_Cancer wrote:
Don DM wrote:
Initiative is a system created for adults who still have that "me first" mentality. I never understood what the purpose was of going first within the team. And this feels like its going to slow combat down even further for no reason other than for one or two people to say i went before someone else.

Huh?

Anyone wanting to go first on a surprise round or the first round of combat wants a high initiative. This is mainly sneak attackers (for flat footed) and casters (for using an area of effect spell before melee is joined).

Why should Fatty McBlob the 500 pound half-orc barbarian with 7 dex go at the same time as Nimble Nimbleboots the nimble gnome rogue with 22 dex?

It's just one mechanical effect of character choices (both roleplay choices and rollplay choices).

Taking your logic to its logical conclusion, why don't people just play the adventuring party as a team with each player exerting some control over all characters? Differentiating PCs is a system created for PCs who have an "I'm different" mentality.

Unfortuantely the way the system works everyone is still going at the same time. Same 6 second window. My problem with initiative is, its a number that doesnt exist within the game. Why should the character having a higher reaction time result in the player going ahead of his own team members when in game, it is the same 6 second window. Yes, he would "start first" but .0002 seconds later the next person would start his turn too. Because the game is built the way it is, the high reaction guy completes his turn first, despite in the game the next guy would have been able to act near simultaneiously.

Our combats went by so much quicker once we went to the only thing that matters, do the enemies go first or do we. You want high dex people to go first, as a team u figure that out. Instead of competing on the same team you're working together like the game is designed to. In other words, just getting the out of game players to match up with the in game cohorts.

We add up the pcs initiative (so initiative raising mechanics don't get robbed and we add up the enemies imitiative and divide by the player. (rolling the enemies initiative again up to the number of players if need be). Then it goes pcs creatures or creatures pcs. No mechanics get robbed, everyone has a turn and the pcs cna figure out whats going to happen without fearing the metagame police.

Players decide the order they want to go in, if they decide to change they can but for the most part stick to that order per combat. There is more of a chance of a mechanical advantage to going before a monster, not before another player, and if there is you explain hay im going to go first okay that sounds good. This gets away from all the rediculous delaying and starting and not starting and moving in turn order. Again, things that really aren't happening in the game, it's a whole subsystem to get 6 people at table to agree on who goes first per round. Theo nly thing that matters is who ges next the monster or the pcs.


Back in older times it was those different xp ranges that made many dms just simply say you level "insert here" and 3e came out with standardized leveling which felt very optional. The newer system highlighted xp higher in the statblocks which matched the trend in video games of imputing "rpg elements" which realy just meant xp and leveling.

I"m not calling anyone a gamist, i'm saying that the need for XP has trumped storytelling because of the push of MMOs. and and this mentality is trickling down into Tabletops. I can't tell u how many players who come from 4e constnatly ask me "when do we get xp, how do i know if i'm doing good, when do i get xp, can i have a treat daddy". Whereas the old school thought pattern was, oh xp cool, did we do this. Even treasure wasn't as emphasized. Everyone liked nice and shinies but the adventure, the story was what you whent home and talked about.


I wouldn't switch. If you're getting booted from maptools its an network error, which isgoing to be an issue whatever u play. YOu're not going to find a better program with that many features as maptools. I"ve tried them all, and time and time again I keep coming back. Networking is always the initial issue, and that is uusally my only frustration.

Now though that there is a plugnplay functionality for routers (there is a development version u can find in the forums) things are working very easy. This version is also compatible with java 7. Check out the forums (maptools) and download it. Your players will not need to just you. YOu sould have a much better experience.

Other things that will help (try to be on a lan line, this will insure its not your wireless dropping).


Gauss wrote:

I have used Maptools, Im sorry but my experience differs greatly from yours. I found Maptools to have a rather steep learning curve and I have heard this from many other Maptools users, even from those people that like Maptools.

- Gauss

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I always tell people to go to the forums and ask for help if they can't figure it out. It's fairly easy, so easy that I can't believe it when people tell me its difficult. I've had a dozen or so players in the last 6 years, none, even my technlologically declined wife, has had no problems installing a framework and pushing buttons. What element did you find difficult?


I don't buy the argument that technlogy slows the player down, user understanding slows the game down. If you understand the tech the game goes by in a breeze. I prefer tech at my games, its much easier to move characters via tablets and laptops than every player strecthinc over the table, counting squares, referring back to thier character sheet, .

At my table we have one person in charge of healng and damage for all pcs, the other person in charge for condition assignment and deployment. (all digitically).

I feel its a bit controlling to "ban" things at a game table. Downtime is downtime. I dont repeat story elements. So if players want to surf the web, they are grown adults, i am not going to control them. So long as they are active when their turn is up.


1 Yes, we switched to digital minis 6 years ago and have not looked back.

2. Maptools.

3. I have used everything on the market. I actually still have licenses for Battlegrounds, Fantasy Grounds and d20Pro. I always go back to maptools as I find myself waiting for the others to catch up in terms of quick play use. By that I mean i am an on the fly DM. I don't want to use special file formats and design every NPC from scratch. The Pathfinder Framework for Maptools allows me to quickly cut a statblock, paste it into a window and onto a character. Then have that characters skils and attacks at the push of a button. It also allows me to simply drag a map onto the board. No need for searching through a file menu or converting to a special format with specific graphs.

I'm not sure why in 6 years no one has simply just copies this technlogy. But i keep going back to look. Still can't find one that does.


Skeld wrote:
thejeff wrote:
You mean the Paizo APs which include a section at the start of each module saying what point PCs should be leveling at?

Too be fair, I think the recommended level sidebars are a relatively new thing. I don't have my books with me, but it seems like RotRL-AE might be the first time those were placed into each chapter of an AP.

But I agree with you; all that information is right there for the GM to use, ignore, or modify.

-Skeld

Sorry, my bad, the old ones didnt have it. Still, the statblocks include xp, of which I am glad to see no xp blocks in the Enworld stuff.

But, I do love this debate. It's age old, its not going no where.

The needing a treat thing is rampant in tabletops, video games and other formats of rpgs. It has ruined the meaning of story advancement. With the increase in mmos, i expect the opinion of "no xp" to fade to us old dnd hats who keep the light on. Whereas killing the dragon once meant saving the town it now only means 2400 xp.


Initiative is a system created for adults who still have that "me first" mentality. I never understood what the purpose was of going first within the team. And this feels like its going to slow combat down even further for no reason other than for one or two people to say i went before someone else.


yay! We won. Unsure of what we won but we won.


Threeshades wrote:
Sure thing, but why not have even more stuff to be excited about if its so simple to implement?

Your characters are not excited about XP, they are excited about what XP leads to which is leveling, so let's bypass the leveling. Again, this is why i say XP is one of those rules that just makes adults act like adults and I like for adults to act like adults without needing rules for it. I akin XP to riding in the car with children who ask are we there yet. When I ride in the car with other adults they don't ask that question, cause they enjoy the ride and know we'll get there when we get there.

XP means nothing in the game, it literally is one of the few statistics that has no true bearing on your character. Is there an XP system out there that does make sense, yes. There's already ingame rewards that do make sense such as treasure, land, glory and the sting of defeat.

One of the reasons why its hard for me to deal with the Paizo Campaign Paths its its heavy reliance on this nonscientific XP system to regulate its modules. Zeitgeist, by Enworld, has it right. When you reach particular points in the story you level. This allows me as a DM to have any side adventure, crazy plot rewrite or deal with any off the map quests my pcs want to go on without worrying about them derailing the main story cause they've accumlated enough levels to outpass the arc.


Gauss wrote:

Wow Don, I think that is the first time I have ever heard anyone call Maptools 'easy to use'. *grins*

- Gauss

I think theirs a myth that is "difficult" because you have to install your own campaign. Which, ammounts to opening a campaign file. ... Thats about it. It's about the easist VTT out there when it comes to actual use in game. Click and drag, it behaves like windows. Copy and paste, behaves like office.


Threeshades wrote:

I use XP as well.

I just like to give my players a (sorta) tangible reward. The knowledge that their effort does something to their advancement and thrill of "I'm almost at next level, just one or two monsters more". I tend to keep player XP about equal (except maybe marginal differences created with party splits or similar things).
For the same reasons I like XP as a player. I can live without them, if the GM doesn't use them, but generally i prefer having them around.

I don't think either version, with or without XP solves more problems than it creates as opposed to the other.

My response to this answer is always that the story should be reward enough. I think if the story and adventure is exciting enough when/ and how a player levels becomes in consequential to taking over a kingdom or losing the town square in an orc assault.


This idea makes me want to develop a system for a single party based companion. Whereas druids, rangers etc don't get htier own but can contribute powers to a single animal as the parties cohort.


Michigan person here. I run a game in Canton Michigan based on Enworld's Zeitgeist campaign.


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Dryder wrote:

Ok, I've read so many posts asking about which advancement track to use, what to change for parties of more, or less than 4 pcs, and what encounters to use, to not fall behind, that I started to wonder, how many of you guys take xps serious?!

I know, they have to be in the rules-system, but I don't use them at all!

I always tell my players, that they will level up, when the time is right regarding my campaign-planning. It's so much easier to plan a campaign, and it makes it easier to insert other stuff, which is not part of an AP, for example.

In the end, it's not GM vs players, so my players know that I won't cheat them, or keep them less effective against opponents on purpose.

How do you guys do XPs? Do you use them as precisely as possible, or any other way?

There are two rules I find unneccessary in dnd. One is experience points. Dnd is a cooperative game where the focus is to immerse yourself in a world where your characters obtain goals for thier own motives. Introducing XP breaks that immersion on two fronts, 1 is that it turns a cooperative game into a competititon for monster killing and xp gaining and 2 it is an out of game statistic that breaks the immersion of the character's actual goals. I don't invite players into my campaign who seem obsessed with leveling and xp, it is a great predictor for a power gamer.

But, this has been an age old divide that isn't going anywhere. I've never played ina game where we tracked xp (nor ran one) and i've had several dms. Essentially the party levels when the party levels, as a party. Death simply gives a negative level in most cases if a player decides to assepct a res(but i've played in games where rez's are hard to come by and mostly not worth it).

The other rule is initiative individually. They are two rules that I feel regularate grown people to act as adults and break the immersion of the game. (For initiative i have a house rule where all the pcs scores are added up after a roll and the creatures scores are added up and averaged out the number of party members. Then it goes one side other side allowing for more group coordination and tactics.


The two big things for me and VTTs is how easy is it for me to put in characters, and maps. Does it only use paizo storebought flip maps? Does it have a character importer.


Late to the party but I can never talk enough about maptools. I've used it for years with different players inhouse and externally and it's fairly easy to use. If not for two things, click and drag maps and stat block importing. I still havn't seen a VTT that could do either.

If I want to do something on the fly i open a windows folder find an image and drag it to the map. I then crack open a book copy a statblock and paste it into a macro.

The Pathfinder support of it has a strong user base and consistant updates. If you want to move into the advanced you can install maps for traps, lighting and all sorts of neat effects that add to the immersion.


zerzix wrote:

Don DM, I was thinking on this a lot. I wanted to try to keep it simple, but what do you think about just changing the Ki issue to:

Ki pool = Level + Wis bonus. If no Ki pool available PC may drain Chakra level for 1 point per level, reducing Chakra level by 1 level.

So a bigger pool, but Each kata used to attack which costs a point? That way a 3rd level PC with 16 Wis would get 6 Ki Pool and could make 6 earth boulder attacks.

Or go with it costs 1 point only if they miss?

Sorry for the lack of feedback, had a really busy week.

Feel free to take whatever you wish.

On one end, I like the idea. Though i would rather just have 1/2 level + wisdom equal Ki. Just because having 15 to 20 of anything to track can be annoying at higher levels and could still cause embalance. Especially with the fact that some skills scale too.

An ultimate way would be a means to eliminate two things to track. After all, it would be the only melee class that has 2 things to track, each one meaning almost the same in this world.

If u're talking big change. I take it you wanted to give players a choice of having more Chakra or more abilities. What about this.

SUGGESTION
Players only have to track KI. Ki is level + Wis (or half level + Wis).
Chakra is equal to the current state of Ki. Some abilities drain KI. This would mean making sure each element has some useful, yet low level powers that don't use up KI. And the more powerful stuff uses KI.

Players may choose a kaja ability each level, as designed.

HOwever, alter the Kaja "chakra gaining" ability to state that instead, players may gain a permanent +1 to KI. This may be chosen multiple times.

So, now, we only have Ki to track, and Players will be able to seperate their abilities into those that use KI and those that do not use KI. This kind of suggestion means lowering a lot of DCs. Perhaps 10 + 1/2 Ki for a good many of them. Plus it opens up the class to all the other Ki related feats.


Thanks, had a chance to have a session last night. After a couple of sessions I am seeing that there's a definitive power spike in the 6th level elemental earth bender. I can only give my impression so far of this one. But I think that the class is a tad overpowered but not without balancing. The damage meter feels all over the map for some abilities, and there should be a uniform in it. So far the build has higher AC and deals 2x more damage than the fighter.

For the record, my earth elemental guy has boulder toss, the earth elemental feet, earth catapult and earth elemental.

1. I'd lover damages to 1d4 + condition. With a DC of 10+Kata for conditions.

2. I don't think Ki Pool is necessary. It feels like a hold over from the monk build and pushes the character into the overpowered range.

3. No ability should be usable with flurry of blows. As is my 6th level bender can, with ki strike, deal a maximum of 97 damage total by separation his flurry of blows into earth elemental feat attacks on different opponents. This does not add into account the elemental golem. At this point I think I"m done with the elemental earth feat. There are a ton of ranged earth feats, so, instead of a mandatory one. I am changing it to

4. Summoned creature's who expire should have a limit before they can be summoned again or have a lengthy summoning period (possibly of a minute to 10 minutes). Also it needs to be specified that only 1 can be summoned per turn. Also, gaining tremorsense is a Kata. However, Earth elements have tremorsense. So It becomes an ability of getting 2 feats for 1 instead of 1, which was not the intention.

For my own game, I'm installing the following fixes to see if I can bring the damage level down. It's starting to feel like superman and the wondertwins. He pretty much can cast a 3rd level fireball every turn. My goal is to not hardset the Elementalist from his abilities but to have a limit of Chakra that can be drained.

1. Just as a normal monk players receive a Ki Pool, however, at level 0 their Ki pool is 0. Their Ki pool is always equal to their Kata level. Players may use Kata so long as they have at least 1 Ki. Certain attacks labeled (KI/Kata Attacks) drain 1 Ki point when they miss their opponent. Rolling a natural 1 drains 2 Ki points. Rolling a natural 20 regains a Ki point. As your Ki point drains, so does your Chakra. Earth Attack, Earth Boulder are both Ki draining abilities.

2. Elemental Feat Earth Attack can not be used in Flurry of Blows. Earth Benders receive Child of Dirt: Earth Benders receive a +2 to Flurry of Blow attacks when outdoors. Earth Elementalist use the earth to curl around the feet and legs of their foes, allowing them to be struck easier.

3. When summoning an elemental Golem with Ki, it takes 1 minute. The Golem is not able to communicate, but can receive communications to do simple tasks.


While you're updating, can u verify that the class gets a ki pool? The description is included in the text, but it is not in the character progression chart. There are also some other issues with the progression chart in that wholeness of body is at 8, but the description says 7.

I think bending is a supernatural ability. As far as I can tell, the person can only manipulate the elements. I see it as a very focused form of psionics. If someone picks up and throws a rock, whether its with their mind or by hand, i don't think there should be a difference. I think abilities are tapered in that there is no way that they can ever get through DR, so getting through spell resistance balances that.

By the way , so far so good as far as a dm watching a player playtest the earth bending. The hardest part is getting him to realize he's not in the tv show. He keeps wanting to manipulate the earth outside of his powers and i keep saying that's not possible without the ability.

In any case , i think the most lery i felt was last night when he gained the fly spell and began doing earth attacks for a ton of damage. But, that's cause i wasn't prepared for the party to steel fly scrolls.


ah that makes more sense. It's not implied in description that there is an attack roll, and the wording includes that "no saving throw is needed" which seems to imply that the damage is automatic.

Adding an attack actually makes for a much better feat.


zerzix wrote:

the second option. (Chakra Level x Dam)+ Cha. Yes kata's are considered ranged attacks and so are subject to AoO.

The elemental earth feat, a 1d6 of non lethal damage. Not much more powerful than a crossbow at 1st level, except that it does only non lethal unless you take rock spike kata to make it lethal damage. The blind is subject to a save, but lets say that a player never takes rock spike nor any other kata or ability to do anything but the main earth feat (had a player just like this)...it can seem pretty powerful, for a one trick pony.

So at 10th level he was chucking a rock at people that did 9d6 points of damage. But it was non lethal, and that compared to a 10th level wizard and his fireball of 10d6 lethal damage...its not so different.

Again, this is rare due to the fact that most of the flavor from the class is doing more than just throwing a rock at someone, but rather doing earth quakes and rock armor, dirt clouds and stuff.

My concern is that we're 6th level, and their doesn't seem to be a limit on it nor anywaya for the opponent to avoid it. So say a wizard can only cast at most 6 to 8 fireballs a day, he'd be casting fireballs on every turn. There's also no save or hit so it's an automatic fireball everytime. Reading this, it diminishes some of the other ranged abilities an options. Lethal and nonlethal damage react pretty much the same until they hit 0.

I'm a bit worried that this is overpowered still. The other 3 elemental feats all have saves or attacks and some provide less damage. I think this should be uniformed for all the elemental options.

I nerfed the feat a bit. What do u think of this option? I didn't want to mess with the damage or over-complicate it with an extra attack, i hate adding rolls. So i changed the fort roll to a reflex save and added that the damage could be halved by the save as well.

I also added the stipulation that kata's only can be activated if you have at least 1 ki.


question for caculations on element feats. is it (charka + Cha) X damage or is it (chakra X damage ) + Cha.

Also, looking over the elemental earth feat, it feels fairly overpowered without a save or damage. Particuarlly compared to the other feats.

Finally, do kata provoke attacks of opportunities. It feels like they should to keep them balanced.


openworld pvp is a turnoff for 75% of gamers and most RPGers. No one attacks party members in a game, so why would an online game have it?


Dean A wrote:

Since there are a few debating the process, and I knew it would happen, I ask what is the appeal to having higher than average stats. It takes away from the occasionally exceptional rolls. I personally enjoy the randomness of character creation, the challenge of SURVIVING a battle using strategy and teamwork vs supercharged heroes.

Like every other medium of game, encounters and situations are balanced against the characters. A Fighter with half the HP of a wizard is not the balanced ideal that the encounter was designed for.

d20s, d10s, d6s, d8s, etc, there is a good deal of randomness throughout the game. This randomness is equalized at times by how you choose skills and abilities.

At character creation, there is nothing to equalize this. It is literally throw the dice in the air and hope. That plays no part in any strategy or teamwork later on. The characters created using a balanced point system aren't superpowered in anyway, they are balanced for the game. The DM can choose to use smaller than average point buys or higher than aver age point buys.

The two areas the game still uses an archaic method in, are HP and Ability scores. I can't figure out any other medium of game that uses such an insane random way to build a character, and then expect thaat character to be balanced against other characters.

As you say, DND is a game about heroes. When death happens in a game, it should be becasue the heroe made poor tactical or statategic choices, not because 8 months ago at character creation the character rolled a 1 for Hit dice twice and poor ability scores.


Dnd has enough randomness. 40 years ago, this was okay, 40 years later it's about as old as a monochrome monitor.

I've done either point buys or arrays for a while. Recently i've eliminated the wide array of hit point totals buy having every player roll a d6 at level and add the difference between 4 and their base die.


Asphalt wrote:
Hi, I've recently moved from Alabama to MI, and I'm looking for a gaming group with space for a new player. I can host/gm if necessary, and I'm open to most rpgs. I'm willing to travel half an hour.

Hi, i saw your post and would like to invite you to our group if you have yet not found one.

Hi, saw your post looking for a game and wandered if you were still looking. We're in canton and currently looking for 2 or 3 new players to fill our group. If you're interested shoot me a message back and we can go from there, i have included the info about the campaign below.

You can check out the website at https://sites.google.com/site/chrystaria

Steam and soot darken the skies above the city of Flint, and winds sweeping across its majestic harbor blow the choking products of industrial forges into the fey rainforests that dot its knife-toothed mountains.

Since the earliest ages when the people of Risur founded this city, they feared the capricious beings that hid in those fog-shrouded peaks, but now as the march of progress and the demands of national defense turn Flint into a garden for artifice and technology, the old faiths and rituals that kept the lurkers of the woods at bay are being abandoned.

The Unseen Court, the Great Hunt, and the many spirits of the land long ago conquered by Risur’s kings no longer receive tribute, but they cannot enter these new cities of steam and steel to demand their tithe. The impoverished workers who huddle in factory slums fear monsters of a different breed, shadowy children of this new urban labyrinth. Even their modern religions have no defenses against these fiends.

Times are turning. The skyseers—Risur’s folk prophets since their homeland’s birth—witness omens in the starry wheels of heaven, and they warn that a new age is nigh. But what they cannot foresee, hidden beyond the steam and soot of the night sky, is the face of this coming era, the spirit of the age: the zeitgeist.

In the Zeitgeist adventure path, your characters serve in the Royal Homeland Constabulary of the nation of Risur, protecting the country and its citizens from foreign threats lurking within its borders. During missions of espionage and assassination, your duty will be to root out hostile spies and pursue international conspiracies. As you learn more of your homeland’s own secrets, however, your loyalties may be tested, may even be turned, and you may find that it is you whose hand controls the gears of the turning age.

We recently moved to the canton area and are building a new group to replace the 3 players we lost when we moved to the other side of town. We meet 2 to 4 sundays a month in the afternoon or evening depending on the players. If you're new to pathfinder or rpgs, we love to teach.

We plan on playing this campaign for a while as we incorporate the adventure path into player made back stories.

We are looking for players (beginners and veterans), looking for a friendly, consistent group. The goal is to begin the campaign by 9/4 at the latest. Please respond to this thread or email me at players at detroitwriter.comm


I always do adventure summaries of my campaigns, always trying a different format. This time we're trying short micro blogs, cutting to the chase. www.darkpaths.com (BTW I've transfered Carrion Crown into LPJ Designs' Obsidian Twilight Campaign Setting)


This year's Gencon Iron Player Tournament is the final part of the three part trilogy with the heroes trying to reclaim Golarion from the clutches of Cthullhu.

Tons of goodies in this update The first Iron Player Tournament Journal is posted and talks a lot about Cthullu and how we incorporated the traditional horror and mystery into a role-playing game that still focuses on action and adventure. We also give a quick run down of the last 3 parts.

The first Gauntlet Journal which explains the format we're using this year for the gauntlet. We have a shorter, fiercer tournament to test your DM merit.

Bart's Journal is something special we are doing this year online. We are taking one lone commoner in the army, and telling his story. He has finally found where the army is gathering. However, he's losing everything else. For all updates go to
www.ironplayer.com


Sean K Reynolds wrote:

Ha, indeed, I think we rejected items that incorporated elements of that, yours would have been clonked three times over. ;)

In other words... good call. :)

I get that Paizo has policies, but that reasoning is absurd to me. There are tons of items that take away "DM" functions. Take a simple Bag of Holding, which, in the hands of a novice DM, can prevent encounters that force the PCs to make a decision about what items to procure. I think an item like this could work in any situation. As presented its certainly at artifact level. But you can always do as they did with bags of holding and put limits to it to regulate mileage.


Ash_Gazn wrote:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Pathfinder_Society_Southeast_Michigan/

There's the Pathfinder Society meetings in Livonia.

Hi, we are currently running my version of the kingmaker campaign (kingmaker gutted and replaced with the obsidian twilight setting and custome content). Wwe're looking for an extra player. There are 5 players in the group and we play on sunday , usually early afternoon in dearborn. Email me if yo're itnersted (dreads@darkpaths.com). Also you can get a good feel for the campaign at the website, www.darkpaths.com


Hi Iron players,

We're reaching the finale of our design and playtest phase and I wanted to share with everyone how amazing this adventure is this year for the Iron Player Championship( RPG1007948). We've taken the theme of Ninjas and Pirates, which often comes off as campy, and wretched up the serious factor to make it the kind of adventure you will want to invest emotion into.

But that's not the news I want to share. The big news is, is that we're also providing the Iron Tournament into more bite sized chunks. We aren't taking anything away from our full tournament players. Instead, we have added 3 additional events of 2 to 4 hours for teams and players that want the epic adventure and nonlinear gameplay of an Iron Player event, but do not want to devote the entire 8 hours. The prizes are obviously smaller, but the adventure is just as fun.

Though Those who do the challenge instead of the tournament will be playing in one of the three adventure acts that tournament players are running. However, we have altered these adventures so that they are complete adventures with a beginning middle and an end and an option to proceed into challenge if you have generics.

This isn't just for the Iron Player Tournament. We have had a few dungeon masters who have wanted to test their merit against decorated Iron Dungeon Masters but not run the full gauntlet (RPG1007959). The Dungeon Master Challenge calls out these dms with shorter blocks where they compete against 1 dm to see who can entertain a party the best.

These new events will be posted by the end of the week. We thank everyone new for signing up and hope to see everyone again this week.

Game ID Title Start date/time Duration Event Cost
RPG1016482 Iron Team Challenge: Shipwr... 8/5/2010 12:00:00 3.5 hrs $ 6.00
History
RPG1016483 Iron Team Challenge: Terrorist 8/5/2010 14:00:00 3.5 hrs $ 6.00
History
RPG1016484 Iron Team Challenge: Destru... 8/5/2010 17:00:00 2 hrs $ 4.00
History
RPG1016485 Dungeon Master Challenge 8/5/2010 12:00:00 3.5 hrs $ 4.00
History
RPG1016486 Dungeon Master Challenge 8/5/2010 14:00:00 3.5 hrs $ 4.00
History
RPG1016487 Dungeon Master Challenge 8/5/2010 17:00:00 2.5 hrs $ 4.00


Iron Player Championship 2010
RPG1007948

The 2010 D&D Iron Player Championship eviscerates the stale mold of traditional tournaments by offering a full experience for the player. Players make their own characters and run them through a non-linear tournament where their actions change the world. All players exist in the same world creating a true epic storytelling experience. This year, running along with the tournament, is the DM’s Gauntlet, where we take 5 normal game masters and run them through hell at their own table in the Iron Player Championship, complete with secret player judges and hidden DM objectives.

What’s Different:

* Players play and compete in the entire adventure, not just 2 or 3 encounters
* Players are allowed to play their own style, good or evil, without having to meet minor goals “as written” in the module. There’s a large goal, how the players accomplish it is up to them.
* Playing through a normal tournament is a minimum of 12 to 14 hours to win. Our tournament wraps up in 7.5 hours with 45 minutes of breaks.
* Players design their own character.
* Encounters provide a balance of tactical challenging combat, brainteasing puzzles and multifaceted traps.
* The adventure is designed so that the PCs decisions impact their experience in a non-linear fashion.
* Multiple judges eliminate the possibility of anyone being screwed because of 1 bad judge.

Join the Iron-DM Allstars. We're always open to fresh and new ideas. If you're interested in joining our design team and help facilitate the event, send me a private message. Judges, secret players and DMs are needed.

The DM's Gauntlet 2010
RPG1007959

New & inspired by the Iron DM event, running the Gauntlet will assault your DM abilities as you DM in the arduous Iron Player Tourney for prizes. Choose an Iron DM to challenge. Then take 3 separate groups through 2 non-linear encounters, an off the cuff adventure and an intensely designed boss battle. The Gauntlet was designed to see how a normal dungeon master will react when thrown into the fire of a live adventure. Some DMs find it easier to write theri own material, some find it easier to use a module, in the Guantlet, you will have to do both all the while being in earshot of the Iron DM winner you choose to challenge. The head to head competition will truly test your merit to command a group of flegling adventurers. We have installed secret players throughout the tables to secretly judge you based on your adventuring prowess. We will also have Iron judges going from table to table and judging you as well based on your Table Command, Adventure knowledge and overall kick-assness.

If you defeat the rest of your competitors you will win some wonderful sponsored prizes. However, beat the DM you are directly competiting against and get the coveted DM's bounty.

To find out more information about either tournament, go to http://www.ironplayer.com, where you will find updated information on the tournaments, and designer journals that offer information and help on strategies.


nicklas Læssøe wrote:

now this subject might also be in some other thread i just couldnt find, but im really interested in getting a good NPC pathfinder generator. The main problem here is that most of the generators i have already located, are for either 4e or 3.5e, wich makes it kinda hard but not impossible to apply it to pathfinder.

So do any of you know of a good pathfinder NPC generator? preferrably one with monsters and classes too.

Try www.rpgattitude.com and download the NPCdesigner there. I believe there is a beta version of the pathfinder set already included and its free until the creator creates the next version.

The data is pretty easy to manipulate to make it what you want, I have created a few that are geared towards my own campaign.


Now that other old campaign has ended, I'm starting a new epic campaign that will take the party from 0 level commoners to 20th level, substituting death with gruesome injuries.

The campaign is based off of the Obsidian Twilight line of Pathfinder Campaign products. Gone are humans. Instead the remaining races have survived by changing and there are a half dozen new races consisiting of various outsider, undead and shapeshifter races.

We're looking for a new player (or two) to join us within the next month as we start off the campaign.

If you've never played pathfinder, this will be a great jumping off point to learn.

There are four players in our campaign, (My wife and three guys between the ages of 25 to 35). We run through the entire game in session, using signals to speak out of character. This really drives a good level of submersions.

We use pewter minis for epic combats (and a projector) and imaginative tactical combats for more mundane combats.

This campaign, in addition to traditional rpging will also feature massive combat rules as the PCs are attempting to build up an army to fight the undead hordes in the post apocalyptic fantasy world.

We're looking for player(s) who are consistent and can make it out for a majority of our Sunday game sessions and who can keep a good character background updated on the website (10 minutes maximum of your time a game week).

We play 2 - 4 sundays a month from 4 p.m. until 10 or so in dearborn michigan.

If you're interested, respond or send me an email at dm at darkpaths .

You can find the pathfinder srd at
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

You can explore the campaign website at
http://www.darkpaths.com


The change is one of the more pleasant things about pathfinder. (I love everything, but this one was really one of those big steps i thought it needed t otake).

This really seperates the paladin and the cleric for me.


I'd allow it and but see advice above for code advice. Paladin's alignment restriction should be strictly according to the diety (with no step)which is how I"ve always ruled on it.


Steven T. Helt wrote:
Hmmm...well...if you've already got your ticket then maybe consider letting others know about Star. I'm still not really sure what Nathan's deal is, but I really hope you enjoy his game!

What my deal is? Steve, in September I sent you an email offering us to bury the hatch and work together. We even asked if you wanted to participate as a DM this year. I told you we don't hold any grudge against you, because we're a little too old to be carrying grudges from year to year. We knew from the reception last year that we'd have a bigger year this year and would have loved for you to take part in it in some capacity.

You rebuffed me and eric (in an explicit filled email), even after eric saved your event last year by writing most of it on the fly. Not hating, but maybe you will be prepared this year. Also, its kinda crappy that you didn't ask Nick Logue for permission to run hellfire, considering that was his pet project. It would be like me saying I"m running a game called Nascrag and didn't let the good folk over at Nascrag know about it. You turned the great collaborative DMing affair that was the first hellfire into another Ego project. And from the way tickets are selling, we're not the only ones who figured that out.

But again, I hold no grudge or ill will towards you. I hope one day you can bury the hatchet.


JoelF847 wrote:
Don DM wrote:

All Pathfinder fans, if you're looking to DM Pathfinder at the con this year, We're running a tournament called Iron Player that features the system. The adventure revolves around the mysteries of the starstone and involves a dozen or so different parties adventuring within the same world. We're looking to get as many DMs as possible to help us run the tournament. You can read about it here. You can read about it in this thread here

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/general/2009IronDungeonMasterPathfinderTournamentNeedsDMs&page=1#14

Send us an email at gencon2009@ironplayer.com if you'd like to assist. The Event is RPG0900129, Thursday from 12 to 7:30 p.m.

Is there going to be an Iron DM event this year also? I didn't see it in the Gen Con event schedule.

This is dreads btw. I've talked to Lou, one of the judges, and he has assured me that nick should be at gencon and irondm should be a go. Nothings been submitted yet, but Dereck at gencon says it shouldn't be to hard for them to get a room. at the same times as usual.

Mr. Frost, would Paizo be open to supporting the Iron Player tournament in some capacity? Private message me if you can. We've created several more sponsorship opportunities since I last emailed you.


All Pathfinder fans, if you're looking to DM Pathfinder at the con this year, We're running a tournament called Iron Player that features the system. The adventure revolves around the mysteries of the starstone and involves a dozen or so different parties adventuring within the same world. We're looking to get as many DMs as possible to help us run the tournament. You can read about it here. You can read about it in this thread here
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/general/2009IronDungeonMasterPathfinderTournamentNeedsDMs&page=1#14

Send us an email at gencon2009@ironplayer.com if you'd like to assist. The Event is RPG0900129, Thursday from 12 to 7:30 p.m.


Don DM wrote:
thelesuit wrote:

How much of a time commitment is this at the con?

CJ

7.5 hours. It's on Thursday from 12 to 7:30

Bump. we're still looking for 1 more DM. Are you iron?


Sean K Reynolds wrote:
http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/rants/calledshots.html

I agree, though I do like called shots in specific cinematic situations, but even then its just the sunder rules.


val zeleznak wrote:

Even though I dislike the direction that 4e took, I must say that there are a few things that I wouldn’t mind adding to 3.5

So my question is, is it possible to somehow include the ability to move (Push/Pull) enemies during combat. I feel that this adds a lot to the strategy in combat and makes the players work as a team to succeed.

in addition, The marking system appeals to me, but there is already a thread for that.

There is a supplement by Enworld publishing that works well with pathfinder and fixes my major concerns with the CMB and grapple.

It's quite simple, working off of level of which you passed your grapple. if you barely pass you grab the person, allowing you to pull or push him in batle but no grapple. by 5 you tradditonally grapple the character. by 10 you pin the character (traditional).

While we're talking 4e, the only thing i'd like to add is conditions for different types of elmental damage. Fire creatres burn, ice creates freeze. I think it adds a bit of flavor to elemental damage that is gravely missing in 3.5. I often find myself saying sonic damage and my players sya8ing so what does it matter what type of damage it is outside of flavor.

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