Dragnmoon's page

We no longer use PA as an expendable, earned resource. Prestige Awards are now something you spend Prestige Points on.

(Please do not move this to the Rules board, as I want to know if a player can do this in PFSOP, and the only thing I seem to get when I ask questions over there is wrong information, opinions, and comments about how stupid my questions are.)

If you can't do it in a normal game, what makes you think you could do it in a PFSOP game as an exception? I will leave this here for now. But, if it devolves into endless rules debate, it will go over to the rules forum.

You already got me flowers from Pike Place last week. I think you might be up to jewelry, my dear. :-)

And he failed to mention that we are the same age until mid June.

Not my problem. I have too much else to worry about to start making sure Mike keeps his shoes tied.

Dear Paizo Fans,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lou has posted instructions and details above.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yours,

Nicolas Logue

Well, I do not know what Mark has in mind, but it would only work if it is something that can be applied to all scenarios equally. It would have to be this way because they do not have the page space or word count in the scenarios themselves to write in specific variances or adjustments allowed.

I have heard rumors that some are taking this thread to mean "shut up" if you have a dissenting voice about the rules. Nothing is further than the truth. What Mike (and others) are saying is that while you have the right to object to the RAW and to discuss how things could be different, you DO NOT have the right to ignore them, do what you want, and then essentially brag about in the forums. As players, we do not have the power to follow the rules we like and ignore the ones we don't. If you think something is wrong, start a thread, explain why, and this is important, what you think can be done to correct it. There have been many rule changes that resulted from discussions in the forums. The word "cheating" has a very serious connotation, but what else would you call it? Either you are following the rules or you aren't. Package it however you want, but in the end, it just boils down to that question.

Before you peg me some kind of jack-booted enforcer for the PFS gestapo, I happen to agree with arguments to change some of the rules. After-all, I am a player too and would like things "my way." However, until such changes occur, we are all bound by the rules of the society. Some will say it is a harsh stance, but either play by the rules or play something else.

EDIT--One more thing, despite what anyone may have told *you*, the Venture Officers, Mike Brock, and Mark Moreland are always receptive to email if you feel an issue is more appropriate for private discussion.

I had an interesting ruling this weekend by a GM I did not agree with, but after talking about the ruling I saw where they were coming from.

The topic is how much Movement it takes to use acrobatics through threatened squares while moving diagonally.

It was ruled by the GM that it would take 3 squares to move diagonally while using acrobatics. The reason for this was that he was using the rules for moving through difficult terrain.

Each square of difficult terrain counts as 2 squares of movement. Each diagonal move into a difficult terrain square counts as 3 squares.

I did not see it that way, I saw moving diagonally the first time as still only 5ft, the second time as moving 10ft as normal, that the squares do not count as more squares that my movement was just halved.

you can move through a threatened square without provoking an attack of opportunity from an enemy by using Acrobatics. When moving in this way, you move at half speed.

Though it may seem the same there is a Huge difference.

Thoughts?

Edit: My brain is going in circles... is there a difference?

I'm going to go outside my normal position of letting the player base police itself and say this. This post is directed at any person who wants to encourage cheating and breaking the rules. If you don't want to follow the rules we have established for Organized Play, then don't play our campaign. I have seen posts and advice that continuously encourage people to break the rules and this will stop. Are there some rules that can change to make the campaign better? Of course and we are working to fix those. Should people blatantly break the rules because they don't like them? Absolutely not. If you feel this is what you need to do, then leave the campaign. Encouraging people to intentionally break the rules is the same as encouraging cheating, especially playing outside of their tier, and it is not welcome and will stop.

This is not said in an angry or irritated tone. It is a matter of fact statement. Enough is enough.

Nonplayer Character (NPC): These are characters controlled by the GM.

Asking for FAQs to include things like this is the reason we can't have nice things.

We can't FAQ every single possible rule. In the case of both of these, nothing is changing, and the rules have always said what James has simply rephrased in a way that makes sense to the people who were confused. If someone doesn't understand how a wizard prepares his spells, we aren't going to FAQ that, and if that means that a GM who doesn't understand the rule as written gets it wrong in a game and frustrates a wizard player, that's just the way it goes.

Alignment Infractions are a touchy subject. Ultimately, the GM is the final authority at the table, but the GM must warn the player his character is deviating from his chosen alignment. This warning must be clear, and make sure that the player understands the warning and what actions initiated the warning. The PC should be given the opportunity to correct the behavior, justify it, or face the consequences. However, I believe a deity would forgive a one-time bad choice as long as the action(s) wasn't too egregious (such as burning down an orphanage full of children, killing a peasant for no good reason but sport, etc...). Hence, why the GM can issue a warning to the player through a "feeling" he receives from his deity, a vision he is given, his conscious talking to him, or some other similar roleplaying event.

If infractions continue in the course of the scenario, an alignment change may be in order. If the GM deems continued actions warrant the alignment change, the GM should note it on the character's Chronicle sheet at the end of the session in the "Conditions Gained" box. A character may remove this gained condition through a Atonement spell. If the condition is removed, the GM should also note it on the Chronicle sheet.

Characters who become wantonly (read as deliberate and without motive or provocation) evil are retired from the campaign. These measures are a last resort; there is more than one way to play a given alignment.

If a character has become wantonly evil as defined above, the GM should escalate the report to the convention coordinator and/or Venture-Captains or Venture-Lieutenants. If they agree with the GM, then the character will be deemed as evil and considered removed from the campaign. Again, these measures should be taken as a very last resort.

In the event of a wantonly evil character, the GM will record the character as "Dead" and the person who enters the tracking sheet should check the box as well. If a decision that a character who fits these criteria and the above actions have been taken, the convention coordinator and/or Venture-Captain or Venture-Lieutenant will email me to advise of the situation, and include the player's name, character's name, PFS number, and email of the player. They will advise the player of these actions and offer the player my email address so the player may present his case.

I will present all facts to the Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants at large with all names (both real and character) removed. If the majority of Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants feel that the act was wantonly evil and the character is irrevocably evil, then character will remain removed from the campaign. If the majority feel the character should be able to atone for the actions, I will contact the player and advise of such. The email may be printed and taken to the next game session so the GM may adjudicate the atonement and document it on the Chronicle sheet of the next game.

The above will be added to the FAQ, and possibly the Guide 4.1, when I get into work tomorrow.

OK, so you get it as a kid, you itch a lot, and then you're over it.

Thirty-some years on, I don't really remember the itching, but I do remember that I got to stay home from school for a week and watch some mighty fine cartoons and game shows.

So yes, there is a problem, because they are available....

It's entirely possible that your store got them early through some other means (perhaps with a direct relationship with Wizards of the Coast). Our distributor that we receive this from has a street date of November 15th, which is why it's still listed as "not yet available" and has a preorder notice.

We are also working on an info sheet to allow a person whose first exposure to the game is the Beginner Box, to be able to have a quick reference to transition into Pathfinder Society.

Additionally, we are creating four, one-hour delve type quests that will be compatible to run with the Beginner Box. We will have up a blog post soon where all the Beginner Box Bash launch parties will be held. I'm currently anticipating more than 70 stores in various regions around the world, organized by our local Venture Captains, hosting Beginner Box Bash launch parties.

In the Beginner Box Bash, when a player plays through all four delve quests, they will receive a special PFS Boon. Likewise, anyone who volunteers to GM at least four delves will receive a special PFS Boon from their local Venture-Captain or store coordinator. Stay tuned for more info on Beginner Box Bash launch parties around the world.

I keep wondering where these GMs with a very very loose grasp of the rules keep coming from.

There's lots of people that have home games and don't read these boards. We're a really small proportion of the PFS community at large. Makes you wonder though.

Benefit: The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were four levels higher, to a maximum effective druid level of equal to your character level. If you have more than one animal companion or familiar, choose one to receive this benefit.

This would make it clearer. And yes, you can take the feat if you're a single-classed ranger. It's actually pretty sweet deal.

Currently we don't have a place to post FAQ/update material for books other than the Pathfinder RPG hardcovers, so I can't attach this to a permanent FAQ, but consider this an official ruling on this question.

Jeranimus Rex wrote:

wizoroc wrote:

So unless a real study on marketshare or sales is made public, I just don't see this.

I actually heard from somewhere that Pathfinder and D&D now have a roughly equal share at the moment.

Afraid not.

Scott is totally right here. Pathfinder has surpassed D&D in most of the markets that I check.

Thanks for ninja'ing me Scott!

-Lisa

Gains additional marketshare...over what? Pathfinder's core market is made of a group of devoted 3.5 players who did not want to transition to the new version of the game. So Pathfinder's market had it's initial influx of players when it released, and I am betting has remained stable since then.

And you would have lost your bet. :) We have seen an every growing number of folks getting into Pathfinder. We are selling Core Rulebooks at a faster clip now than we were a year ago. Not exactly sure where these people are coming from, but they are coming and FAST!

-Lisa