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I am playing a Magus in the Shackles, love it, no complications from us, we are pretty firm on RAW interpretations unless it's just obscure as hell... Also, have no problems making it effective, useful and fun... but then again I can have fun with virtually any class as well as make them contributors to the party.
Corbie is a good Raven name... also I believe that would be Old English for Crow or Raven
Corvus Andromeda, named for a space pirate from an old TSR minigame. Corvus is Old Latin for Falcon...also the name of the boarding ramps that made Rome a naval power by inventing the Marines...ie taking their superior Infantry to the sea Revolt on Antares was the minigame wasn't it?
I found Jade regent,just from the reading, very disjointed. I would much rather have had an AP that was set in the East, not one where we spent half the adventure just getting there. Again my opinion but my group and I were so looking forward to the path until we received it and realized it was a double fish out of water campaign... First any Asian themed character start as fish out of water and then by the 4th installment the western theme characters become the fish. The 3rd adventure in the Jade Regent path is almost exclusively travel time with snippets of adventure along the way. Not exactly epic, though the part about the Monoliths at the top of the world (avoiding spoilers)and the mystery surrounding them is a nice touch, I'd love to have seen that as an in depth adventure instead of a sideshow. The caravan subsystem is not very good, IMO the subsystem games have been a bit of a flop but I have noticed they are going away so I won't belabor that issue. We were hoping and still are for a Campaign set exclusively in Dragon Empires Again I'd like to point out I like fluff but I want it to truly be VERY relevant to the adventure and not feel like filler. I actually am starting to like the way that the Players Companions Campaigns Settings are fleshing out regions, races etc.. and that's how I'd like to see the fluff dealt with so my adventures have the crunch and my fluff and splat are a bit more optional. By the way I subscribe to both and use most of it as my Campaign is set in Golarion currently (I did find the book on Knights a little too fluffy and extraneous but loved the Books of the Damned series. Kudos on those)
Lets not forget that nearly a quarter of each Adventure path is devoted to fluff. I like fluff, fluff can be very cool BUT it isn't always necessary and at some point with the amount of fluff in each piece of the AP adds up to being what amounts to a whole extra installment of fluff. With the short stories removed and the "new" monsters and such trimmed a little bit. With the fluff being more concise and relevant to the actual story line I believe 50 pages could be trimmed. While I enjoyed the article on Groetus in the Shattered Star it didn't really need to be there, also some of the side hooks could have been summarized instead of being given a couple of pages each. I played in A Night Below, it was nice but I wasn't privy to the books as a player. the GDQ series really wasn't that Sparse once you got into the Underdark, D 1 and 2, and Queen of the Demon Web Pits (1e) were full of info and pretty detailed, it was just focused directly on things that pertained to the actual adventure. I guess I just want more crunch and less fluff, or at least fluff that REALLY matters, like Stat blocks, items, tables and magic that actually appear in the adventure. Also before you tell me how hard it is to write and keep up with a real job, I completely understand that, it takes will and discipline and btw I was a contributor with Necromancer Games, so I have a couple credits of my own under my belt.
Ok...so there haven't been any Paizo Adventure Paths with one author, my point is back in the Day...1st and 2nd Edition we had the Super series the G, D and Q series from 1st edition.. sure it wasn't called an AP but in many ways it and the Slavers (A Series), the the S (Salt Marsh series) were the grandfather of the AP they had a more cohesive feel to them than the CoT, Kingmaker and even Skull and Shackles. You guys seemed to have missed the most important point of my post in your desire to point out that no AP has had a single author. Also if you were to plan ahead... say tomorrow call up a designer and say hey... Can I have a 6 part Adventure from you by Feb 2015 I'm sure it could happen. Also yes Tsar took 10 years to make but its basic groundwork and ideas were developed during the creation of Rappun Athuk, which btw is hands down one of the finest RPG adventures series ever, even though it did require a bit of tweaking for continuity, btw by adding Tomb of Abysthor to the Rappan Athuk arc makes it even more epic than it already was). Also I have Shattered Star as I am a AP subscriber and I can't call it a Dungeon Crawl, just my opinion but I would rather have seen something along the lines of a crawl in Hollow Mountain or in Kaer Maga or even both of them.
While I have enjoyed the AP's for what they are, there seems to be a lack of cohesion that I like to see in an adventure arc. I would LOVE to see an Adventure Path written by a single author again. I feel that one designer AP's are superior because there usually are fewer holes and less loose ends to tie up. I'm not bashing the concept of the AP's I'd just like to see some that are stylistically similar and more fluid upon occasion. Also, I know many people are inured to the concept but I'd love to see a good old fashioned dungeon crawl as an AP one of these days.
I have to agree with Raving Dork, I've found several characters in various AP's that assume feat chains work differently... for instance Spring Attack + Vital strike, I've seen a half dozen stat blocks built with these two feats used in combination and mentioned in the combat tactics as working together but have seen it posted in the boards that they are mutually exclusive. We house ruled that they could be used in conjunction with one another by essentially saying that Vital strike can be used for any combination that results in a single attack. Our house rule works but I'd like to see a little more consistency on things like this in the message boards... Honestly we need a ask Jason or James thread that is "Official" and not full of silly questions about life and philosophy and other minutiae, how about a petition or movement to get an errata or rules clarification Thread instead of them being random or hard to find...
And your weird Aussie toilets spin backwards when flushed!
The Heralds Host Bane of the the Herald Hark the Heralds Horn Hunt for the Herald Twilight's Herald
Heart of the Swarm The Winged Plague They Shall Not Pass To Heal the Wound Cauterize the Wound Into the Fire Penitents Stand Heart of the Host The Swarm Eternal Bastions of Hope A New Song for Sarkoris A Dirge for Aroden
The Kickstarter site went down with all the hits... But Cthulu is within reach
The Heralds Host Bane of the the Herald Hark the Heralds Horn Hunt for the Herald Twilight's Herald Heart of the Swarm
The Winged Plague They Shall Not Pass To Heal the Wound Cauterize the Wound Into the Fire Penitents Stand Heart of the Host The Swarm Eternal Bastions of Hope A New Song for Sakoris A Dirge for Aroden
I used a Cavalier and actually he ended up the King, I chose the Tactician Archetype and I believe Order of the Dragon, worked out quite well since so much of the AP was outdoors.
The idea is to more or less dupe people into viewing him as a 2 weapon melee character, Ranger or Rogue until Boom or Pop, that dagger produces a FB or Corrosive Touch, etc... I of course realize with the limitations of Wand Strike that the option would be Either a Spell from the Dagger/Wand or a Melee attack but delivered at the right time it could be devastating. I see the creation essentially as follows, Buy MW Dagger/ShortSword/Lt Mace as part of the cost or in addition to the standard creation cost. Cast the Wand Strike Spell in conjunction with the Spell added to the Weapon and Viola... Dagger/Wand of Zap/Boom/Splash/Buff.
Essentially; I also intend to use the Wand Wielder Magus Arcana and I might mix in 2 Weapon fighting for a deceptive edge.
Ok... So I have a Magus, with Craft Wand. I wanna use the Wand Strike Spell to create permanent Wands out of Masterwork Daggers. A Dagger, Dart, or Stiletto basically fits the size and shape of a wand. The Wand Strike spell allows a wand to be subsumed into a weapon for a duration. Wouldn't it be feasible if a little outside the box to make a Weapon into a wand as long as there were no enchantments getting in the way as long as the creator new the Spell Wand Strike and had the ability to Craft Wands? I'd like opinions BUT a Ruling from one of the POWERS THAT BE!!!! would be spectacular as my Magus is soon to be in said position. THNX DS
Actually I would say the reason is because classically speaking Charisma has always been the purview of Paladins. Even the example Paladins given in the original D&D were characters known more for their conviction and personality than for their wisdom...Lancelot, Gawain, Roland and even King Arthur. These characters embody the idea of the Paladin and all were strong of faith and personality but not always Wise... and no I'm not talking out my rear... I get most of this from Gygax himself... AD&D PHB and early editions of Dragon from articles written by Roger Moore one of D&D's great earlier contributors. 3.5 D&D as well as Pathfinder just added a mechanic to make it fit into their gamescape and thus keep it from being a dump stat like it is for so many other classes.
Kalam and Apsalar (both from the Malazan Novels) Arya Stark The Upright Man and Jimmy the Hand from the Raymond Feist Novels Slippery Jim Degriz...aka the Stainless Steel Rat....can't believe he hasn't been mentioned before
Kalam and Apsalar (both from the Malazan Novels) Arya Stack The Upright Man and Jimmy the Hand from the Raymond Feist Novels Slippery Jim Degriz...aka the Stainless Steel Rat....can't believe he hasn't been mentioned before
well that would savvy much better if many of the races weren't 1/2 or 1/3 CR... using that train of thought goblins and kobolds should get a bonus... I am hoping for a semi official response... but if I've missed something somewhere I'd love to be pointed in the right direction
Ok, so what happened to level adjustment.. I found the chart for challenging high RP races but the formula doesn't compute well for a party with only one advanced race...(I have a player wanting to play a Tengu in the Shackles)also I ran Council of Thieves and they suggested that Tieflings start at -600 XP... if this still hold true...what is the cut off for RP for deciding this penalty The ARG has many cool things in it but I feel it missed the mark on how to properly add many of the races without unbalancing the game, I also would love to have seen a chart with the varous race traits and/or a race building worksheet...
Sweet...Do you remember which episode?
Well the Scizore as written is a Martial Weapon, also the picture appears to be a pendulum shaped blade, lending the idea that it would be a slashing weapon, not a piercing weapon. The shield bonus is sweet the -1 to attack is inconvenient but the d10 damage seems extreme
I misquoted the location its in the Adventure'r Armory not APG...Hmmmm well that still doesn't tell me if the d10 is accurate, so much errata in that book... I think the d10 is a bit steep
Are the Stats for the Scizore in the APG accurate? d10 Damage and Piercing damage? Seems that the picture of the weapon and its description would lend itself to a slashing weapon and it seems that that d10 damage for a one handed martial weapon. I checked the reprint PDF version and found that it hadn't been changed. Would love a semi official ruling... or interesting opinions... specious conjecture...probably unavoidable...but hey I like the +1 Shield Bonus if you don't attack with it... I'm envisioning a magus in the Shackles with this as his primary early on...possibly as a prosthesis or a fake one... I love an ace in the hole like a hand no one knew I had!
Are the Stats for the Scizore accurate, d10 Damage and Piercing damage? Seems that the picture of the weapon and its description would lend itself to a slashing weapon and it seems that that d10 damage for a one handed martial weapon. I checked the reprint PDF version and found that it hadn't been changed. Would love a semi official ruling... or interesting opinions... specious conjecture...probably unavoidable...but hey I like the +1 Shield Bonus if you don't attack with it... I'm envisioning a magus in the Shackles with this as his primary early on...possibly as a prosthesis or a fake one... I love an ace in the hole like a hand no one knew I had!
Of course recent statistics are showing that Mexicans are returning to mexico in growing numbers bc the GDP of Mexico is growing faster than ours http://www.startribune.com/world/148614575.html Also I live in a state...Tennessee with a much lower cost of living than the national average... 60k in Tennesse makes you in the upper income whereas the same 60k in Cali or New York puts you barely above poverty, so as usual the babbling about cost of living not matter is complete and utter BS, even gas, rent and food are significantly cheaper here than many states... usually Blue states btw, the idea that the difference in cost of living is an insignificant statistic is moronic, I have lived in Chicago and SoCal as well, the difference is night and day.
I can't pick 5, 10 or even 20 but AWESOME to see metal represented so well in the Paizo community... I Salute the Metalheads...HUZZAH!
Boah,..I caint unnerstand all them thar 10 gallon wurds. Yew messin wiff Texis? Lol... you betcha since I'm from Tennessee and all the real Texans were just kicked out of Tennessee and had to move west...
NO NO ... those aren't REALLY energy jobs, didn't you notice the guy earlier who is an EXPERT, those jobs are @ Mickey D's and minimum wage, just like my CSM job for a Computer firm that was a bad job and I didn't need anyway so it was ok when it went oversea's... you gotta have the right lingo here... ENERGY JOB, equals slinging High Caloric intake to the masses for the production of ATP for cell work, and CSM means evil bastard who puts you on hold for to long, those aren't good jobs bc they aren't union jobs or supported by the DNC...sheesh
Sasha for sure, my g/f and I met her once. She was sweet, friendly, witty and damn sexy.
Gotta have everyone be equal I see, bc the world is full of equal people, everyone is equally fast, strong, smart, good looking, wise...there is absolutely no variation in the real world and thus we should bring that over to our games... Idk...smacks of socialism creeping into my RPG's... no thanks enough of that in America for me... fortunately my whole game group agrees... point buy leads to little or no variation and thus reduces flavor for us...
We never use point buy unless the whole system is point buy...ala GURPS
Not only did the Democrat Congress tell them to, they threatened to shut them down if they didn't give the loans... Thank you Barney Frank and the Democrat majority, oh yeah lets not forget that in 2005 Bush's econ advisers told his admin that this was a fiasco waiting to happen and when he put it to the democrat congress...they ignored the warnings... but keep on blaming bush...who btw I never voted for...but I also don't believe in passing the buck like the Dems do
We've used the 20/20/20 for well over 20 years...Its happened to two PC's, 1 BBEG, and a half score or so minions over the years, seems to slightly to actually favor the PC's in our experience but hey... Harold the Saxon King was struck by a stray arrow at the battle of Hastings killing him and legitimizing William's "claim" to the English throne... ...stuff happens....
Never used point by and probably never will, We roll, using our House rule system called the Matrix..., Most likely your character will have the stats it needs to be what you want with decent supporting stats as well. The Convention produces and average of +3 across the characters stat block, Most players sport an 18 and a cpl of 15's or 16's to compensate I add +2 to the Con and +2 to the Prime Req of each opponent. Its not a vast amount of bookkeeping and it produces a sufficient challenge to my player without major modification. The Group I play in has 5 players and well and that is somewhat harder to compensate for than good stats. I've found that with Minion fights often simple adding another CR of opponents is the easiest thing. With Bosses this has rto be handled carefully as a Spellcasting Level can alter the situation more than a simple HD or minion... I take Bosses on a case by case by rarely find the entire counter needs to be adjusted drastically
I'm utterly amazed by all the Lawful Stupid behavior that has been used as examples...seriously I've played Pally's and played in games with Pally's not all were great but some of the "logic" here is dubious at best.
Guess it Depends which Shanara books you are talking about ...Walker Boh is not a mundane... they all had a Legacy of power which sets them apart from commoner folk..and Legolas may be supporting but he and Robin Hood are two of the most common archetypes for the heroic archer... I myself might add Hiawatha and William Tell to the list but not most people. My point stands...Heroic types are what MOST wanna play, I've played a carpenter and had fun, but no more fun than I did with my Ranger or Cleric or whatever. You may wish to play Ted the farmer or Joanne the Midwife or whomever but in my 28 years of gaming experience most of my players enjoy a character that is beyond the mundane because they exist in the world of the mundane every day. IMHO its far easier to down grade a character if you wish to play Farmer Ted but its nearly impossible for a player to have the epic hero with a 15 or 20 point buy but I argue that Ted the Farmer can have good stats as well and still be Ted Triumphant if you roll your stats instead
Just another batch of reasons why we ROLL(4d6 Drop One Die Roll Seven Stats and Drop One Arrange as wanted)in our games and I've yet to build a PFS character even though I've got the card... With Rolled you might get the stats you need for your character concept. I have no objection to point build based games...I love GURPS...I consider it the best overall system but its also very intensive. It helps for everyone to be pretty familiar with the creation system. We, meaning my group, has 8 Players spread over 2 evenings with two campaigns and several overlapping players, we stick with Point Buy character for Point Based games and roll stats for games that aren't based on a point system. Original D&D didn't have a point buy system that I recall. It offered several rolling options but like the OP we've never had much issue with game balance or much in the way of dice envy beyond the passing comment. I've found its easy to compensate for a tougher party with very little if any change in balance. Good stats seem to make happier players honestly, playing that farmer can be fun but somehow Alanon, Conan, Legolas, Aragorn, Fiddler, and One-Eye seem to be more popular as heroic archetypes than Ted the farmer. Now I'm not disparaging Ted nor am I saying Ted can't be one heck of a hero, but they don't make that many epic stories about Ted the farmer and his mighty Hoe of Weeding.
GURPS is superior to all these systems...that said it requires lots of work to bring a campaign to fruition but the work is usually worth it when all comes together.
OMG you said katana not nihonto...you will be flamed like an asmodean bbq... lol
+1 The 3.5 MIC is the 2nd most used book in our game library... So used we have 2 copies of it and the most used book... the Spell Compendium. I heartily agree that a comprehensive series of Tables for the generation of equipment and loot would be an invaluable asset to our group and to virtually any group. We certainly would love to see additional mundane gear and vehicles as well and perhaps a good system for designing mundane equipment/weapons and vehicles. Good rules for vehicles in combat would be a plus. Wouldn't object to strong hold rules as well and perhaps detailed list of hirelings and henchmen to populate said stronghold, maybe include some expanded cohorts list to ice the cake so to speak... Though this last topic may be easy to handle in a smaller form instead of adding it to a book about equipment...
Try the Rhoka from the Adventures Armory, pretty wicked looking and fairly effective.. also has a mean rep bc its the weapon of choice of the Deamon Spawn Urdefan
IA IA Cthulhlu Ftagn! Yeah might wanna nix that one...shouting the name Hastur repeatedly could also be bad
Ooh... I forgot to mention this because I had to rush to write the blog post, but I'd like to give the awesome folks at Chaosium a HUGE thank you for letting us play in their eldritch pond! Lovecraft's writings are, of course, in the public domain, but Chaosium and their Call of Cthulhu game have done an INCREDIBLE amount of work keeping his writing popular and accessible, particularly among us gamers, and if it weren't for the incredible work they've been doing over the past 3 decades plus, this volume of Pathfinder would likely have been a completely different thing altogether. So... Huzzah for Chaosium!!!!! +1000
The Mask of Command by Sir John Keegan... Keegan is one of the worlds formost Military Historians and has a chair at Sandhurst, the British Military Academy. The Book itself is an in depth analysis of commanders and their style of leadershipfrom Alexander the Great to the Modern Post Nuclear Commander. Its a fantastic book filled with gems and wisdom from some of the greatest military minds of the ages.
Still rolling stats with our groups, We don't beleive in misguided concepts of equality. All people might be equal under the law but some are smarter, quicker, faster, smoother etc... People may not like to hear that but it happens to be more realistic and despite it being fantasy we tend towards grittier stuff.
Well I say buy a PDF reader from a company smart enough to include A pdf READER WITHOUT A DOWNLOAD...i love my Kindle DX, as a matter of fact I'm using it now...And I had an IPAD but it fell quickly into disuse bc it doesn't do half what I wanted it for without a hassle. The IPAD is good for some things but as a GM carrying all my stuff in one place, My DX gives me the ultimate in convenience without playing the Steve Jobs shuffle... lol... When he said flash was dead, I almost spit out my drink, Adobe is 90% of the Web. Wishful thinking or pure stupidity. The only IPAD has going for it it the plentiful Aps...which is starting to happen with the Kindle now as well. Also the instant USB compatibility is awesome. In 10 minutes I had my entire PFRPG library on my Kindle.
Obviously he is representing the mentally unstable penal colony ancestry of his homeland...good news though fully 2/3 of Australians are fine people despite their love of veg-a-mite |
