Elan

Fflewddur Fflam's page

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My favorite is the Savage Tide. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water--your sailing into the Abyss.


I can see myself playing Laek Ayoti. Looks like fun.


Like pressman, I think the prequels need Han Solo.

I have always wanted the trilogy to be about the friendship of Obi-Wan(an idealist), Anakin (Han Solo type) and Owen(who gets dragged into adventures--someone has to look after his fool for a brother). Of course, they would need a "fast ship".

I have tried to protect my kids from the most recent trilogy. Rooting for Anakin is like rooting that young Hitler survives childhood.


I think the problem with Rand Paul is that he has committed a series of unforced errors that demonstrates he is not ready for scrutiny. He came out on numerous occasions(Kentucky newspaper, NPR and the Rachel Maddow Show) against the Civil Rights Law of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1993. Even if he thinks that less government is ideal, there is no movement in the country to repeal these laws because it would be political suicide. The Civil Rights Act is probably one of the greatest legislative victories in the history of the Congress and is rightly celebrated. No one(despite their actual feelings on race) and I mean no one in the Senate for the last deacde would be foolish enough to say to a reporter that the Civil Rights Act was a mistake and would have voted against it. This is settled law.

Currently, he is backtracking as fast as he can.


I will submit the Quill of Diplomatic Correspondence for 2011.


I think it is fine that Reagan is missed by his supporters. I went to the Green Bay Packers Game yesterday and there is a lot of tribute to past players and coaches. Helps build the mystique, draw strength and sell tickets. But I do think it is pretty disappointing that the current view on torture by Republicans is so divergent from Reagan signing a treaty to ban torture and to compel prosecution of those who torture even if their governments refuse.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/05/01/shifts/


Lawmonger wrote:

Hey all,

just started running Prince of Redhand, and in event 4: The Hungry Priest the PCs didn't back down against the blessed angels who subdued them all, and took them away for just retribution.

session ended there.

I'm tempted to execute them all then have a resistance movement resurrect them. The trouble is i'd then have to have a motive for the resistance movement to do this. Without getting the party to assassinate Zeech I cant think of a suitable motive.

any suggestions to resolve this dilemma would be appreciated...

You might consider Logue's Chains of Blackmaw for a prison setting in issue #135. All sorts of fun characters should be a hoot. I think if they are this dumb, immature, erratic to get caught a resistance group would not want to waste resources on their sorry behinds.


I saw it last night between election returns. Very funny and very much old school gaming. I love the AD&D DM Screen that's used. Dedicated to Gary Gygax as well. I think Paizo should stock this DVD.


I thought I would pass on this letter from the prosecutor of the Weather Underground. It is in today's NY Times.

"Re “Politics of Attack” (editorial, Oct. 8) and “Obama and ’60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths” (front page, Oct. 4):

As the lead federal prosecutor of the Weathermen in the 1970s (I was then chief of the criminal division in the Eastern District of Michigan and took over the Weathermen prosecution in 1972), I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.

Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.

Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.

I do take issue with the statement in your news article that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of “prosecutorial misconduct.” It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director.

William C. Ibershof

Mill Valley, Calif., Oct. 8, 2008"

I guess if the prosecutor is willing to move on the rest of us should be as well. I do not think that every association should poison our view of a candidate and the concern I have right now is that a scorched earth approach to campaigning makes future LEADERSHIP difficult. One of these 2 men will be President and have to lead during an economic crisis as well as at a time of war.

I think that each candidate has responsibilities to campaign with dignity. Both McCain and Obama are smart, honorable, and patriotic. They have a responsibility to try to win, but they also have a duty not to destroy the chance for leadership by the eventual victor.


Saurstalk wrote:
F. Wesley Schneider wrote:
Honestly, though, it's still true. We keep finding out how to make things run smoother. Some tasks that use to be real problems are tons easier now, some projects that needed love are all hugs and extra help, Pathfinder's actually on schedule, we got new comfier leg shackles for our desks, etc etc. So yeah, every day the suck quotient gets a little bit closer to reaching that hypothetical 0 and we're not going to stop reaching. At least not until we put out the PERFECT RPG book.. like, The Pathfinder's Guide to the Dragon-Drow-Demon-pocolypse Adventure Path 900-page hardcover, boxed set, hologram (only $14.49)!

Hardly perfect. You forgot ninjas, pirates, and space hamsters.

So . . . when can I pre-order? :P

Publishers must leave room for a sequel.


I thought of a little sales tip for the Paizo gang. When a visitor sees the tags on the message boards like Pathfinder Subscriber you should make a link on how one can get such a tag.

My consulting fees are very reasonable: I will tell others what they should do with there website for free.


My family had a trip to Green Bay today. My lovely wife mapped our trip which included 3 FLGS on the way. 6 Stores in all of Wisconsin participated and I hit half of them. The Paizo module of course had the best production values that I saw today. In addition to the Revenge of the Kobold King, I picked up campaign settings for Dungeon Crawl Classics and Iron Heroes. I also nabbed a C&C quick game.

This was such a fun day.


Yrag of the North
Str 14
Int 11
Wis 16
Dex 9
Con 14
Cha 10

Looks like a Ranger and the way we played in 1980 he will be a werebear by level 4. 1st edition really let the ranger shine.


I just stumbled on this and had to pass it along. http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/archive

I had taken Garfield out of my life a long time ago. I never new what I was missing or could be created by taking him out of existence.

The possibilities (negativities?) are endless.


I don't plan on converting to 4th edition. I would certainly continue to subscribe to Paizo products in the 3.5 format. I really think you should see if there is a way to bridge the 2 game formats that you could use under the OGL. I don't envy the smaller publishers that have to work under the GSL--seems too restrictive. It would take a lot of convincing for me to get on board with products written exclusively for 4th edition. If you go 4th edition, you may want to use your website for 3.5 stat blocks for the loyal gronnards.


I received the Hangman's Noose yesterday. I love it as written. I tend to DM solo adventures for my wife and I am thinking of tweaking this module to expand the Jury. If she were to play a character with ranks in the social skills, do you think this would be a decent module for a solo quest. I would think that some of the more honorable members of the jury could be utilized to help in the investigation. I would still see most if not all of the others being done in by the Hangman but I think this would be great in the Alien, Scream type of story--strong female rising to confront a terrible menace all alone.

Any thoughts?


I have been very happy with the UPS option. I had trouble with the first game mastery modules this past summer with USPS. The problems with my local branch of the post office were not satisfactorily resolved but I am happy as a clam with the current delivery.


This was bad form for me to use a pun for a minor tourist trap. I was born in Mitchell, SD which is the home of the Corn Palace. Indian or colored corn is used to decorate the exterior with different pictures and themes each year. Xorns would probably eat the whole thing in 5 minutes.
I wonder what the D&D equivalent would be for Wall Drug. Or the Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis.


Do any of the nobles reside in a Xorn Palace?


I always chuckled about Keoland when I traveled to see my Grandparents in Canton, SD--Keloland is a local affiliate in nearby Sioux Falls.

http://www.keloland.com/

This morning I find myself at http://keoland.sheldomar-valley.org/index.php?location=map and the South Dakota hits keep coming: Rushmoors and Dreadwood pop out and I'm sure there are others. Are the Bad Lands the Good Hills? God Bless Gygax and his love for the Midwest.

Cheers


I was thinking similar format to the sample party at the back of the adventure. But these would be 2 sided (stats & image). 4 could fit on a page for low CR and 1/2 page for higher. I just think that the major villains of the module could get a little more exposure this way. The paper stock used in the Compleat Encounters is very nice for this purpose.


I've been thumbing through the Compleat Encounters that I picked up from the end of year sale and I really like the cards with the image of the foe and stats written up on the back. Maybe instead of having the key villains statted in the body of the adventure, they could be in an appendix in a card format with the image on the reverse. This will make utilizing the art easier in the game and the ability to port these encounters into other games.


The message was just up on a chalkboard behind a sports writer/commentator. No further reference was made to it. But I flipped by half way into the show so there may have been comments earlier in the program. No Drow players or mascots in either the NHL or NFL as far as I can tell.

Spoiler:
That will probably change when they don't get a Constitution penalty in 4th edition.


Just flipping channels and one of the sports talk shows "Around the Horn" on ESPN had the message "2008 is Year of the Drow" clearly written on a chalk board. The show is unwatchable ranting about outdoor NHL hockey and trading of NFL players before the postseason is over etc. It had redeeming value today.


Just a quick note Erik mentioned 30% discount for subscription in the blog but at Planet Stories it shows 20% discount for the subscription.


Crisis was taken off my order as well.


Now we just need temporary tattoos...

Spoiler:
--players would probably sell their souls for one of those. Ha Ha Ha.


Check out the Iron Heroes Rule Book

The classes have a much narrower range per level for example the Arminger (heavily armored fighter) gets 1d4 +6 per level. Rolling a 1 is more common but less devastating.


You may have an opportunity like Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved and Iron Heroes to make a variant Player's Handbook. A text would allow you to fix or clarify some of the issues with 3.5 that have arisen and to provide Varisa to a wider audience. In the 2nd Pathfinder issue you introduced rules for haunts which I like very much--a trap for the cleric to disarm. I think you could flesh out similar improvements in a handbook.

4.0 may be an improvement but a lot of it will be reinventing the wheel. I can probably take the changes and house rule what I like. I plan to make the most of my 3.X materials and not convert.

I am not interested in the DI. Using the internet to communicate with customers and fans is great, but I don't see an online subscription as helpful. Players will look to free sources online or 1 time purchases for utilities, advice and inspiration. I think publishers need to continue to create not live off of past work--the DI looks to me more about resting on laurels than new things.

Paizo has fierce fans that will support you during this change.


Brother Maynard: [studies the runes] It's Aramaic.
Galahad: Of course! Joseph of Arimathea!
Lancelot: Of course!
Arthur: What does it say?
Maynard: It reads, 'Here may be found the last words of Joseph of Arimathea: "He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the Holy Grail in the Castle of Aaaaarrrgh"'.
[pause]
Arthur: What?


I have been thinking about how parties of heroes get together and I am a little bored with the disparate character types who happen to adventure together. 1 fighter type, 1 healer, 1 sneak, 1 arcane caster. We just met at the bar, saved the local noble's bacon and have been together ever since.

Any thoughts on one characteristic that each party member must have to adventure together? For example, members of a thieves' guild? students at a school for young wizards, clerics of the same faith, knights of the round table, barbarians of the same tribe etc.

I guess what I am thinking of is how similar characters on one level may find ways to be very effective together. Just rambling I guess, but I wonder if anyone has had experience with this type of campaign. Only published work I can remember refereeing is the doomed Circle of Eight in Vecna Lives.

Cheers!


So, 3 Fridays have passed since Joshua Frost wrote that winners would be announced on Friday. Did I miss a post elsewhere on the site?


Lilith wrote:
Fflewddur Fflam wrote:
The label on the package is "US Postage Paid UPS Mail Innovations."

Mail Innovations is a method in which UPS will pick up all of your USPS packages and deliver them for you, to the USPS. (Paizo to UPS to USPS to you.) Generally, it saves the shipper (Paizo) some delivery charges, and thus can get volume discount, which usually translates to savings for us.

You should direct your wroth to USPS, as they were the last piece in this particular puzzle.

Thanks, I will swing by the Post Office in the morning.


Hey gang!

I received W1 on Saturday morning. I did not see who made the delivery but the envelope was thrown into the wet yard during a rainstorm. I was at home and I have a covered front porch so this was quite unnecessary. I am positive the package came Saturday since I mowed the lawn on Friday evening. The module is soaked through. The label on the package is "US Postage Paid UPS Mail Innovations." I am confused on who delivered the envelope. My USPS mail carrier showed up an hour later than the envelope with the regular mail and a package and I met with the Saturday crew at the UPS Center in town they were unfamiliar with the labeling. Who delivers these packages? I would like to direct my righteous indignation to the appropriate party.

Would you mind sending another copy of W1 with my next mailing?

Thanks,

Thomas Oakland


This is what I found in Dungeon. The grail on 92 was in a Kyle Hunter picture and had to be interrupted a bit. The others were nearly identical except for size and the one on 98 was translucent.

1) Page 4 located upper left of page following issue number and month
2) Page 6 located lower right next to text "Editor-in-Chief"
3) Page 26 located middle right following text "his own shoulders"
4) Page 92 located on Ogre's right shoulder by sword.
5) Page 98 the Deep Grotto Map of Mystery lower left corner by text "Underground Lake"


Arthur: (to Bedevere) What happens now?
Bedevere: Well, now, uh, Lancelot, Galahad and I, uh, wait until nightfall,
and then leap out of the rabbit, taking the French, uh, by surprise.
Not only by surprise, but totally unarmed!
Arthur: *Who* leaps out?
Bedevere: (pointing to each knight as he names him) Uh... Lancelot, Galahad,
and I.... uh, leap out of the rabbit, uh, and, uh....
Lancelot: (groans)
Bedevere: (pause) Oh... um, look, if we built this large wooden Badger....


Thanks for the clarification. I think considering his _ss-kicking of the undead either the chainsaw or Ash can inflict critical hits on undead.


I received issue 149 yesterday. I tend to read the author's appreciations before delving into an adventure. Stephen Happ thanks his playtesters, including Bruce Campbell. Now I'm very happy that Wesley Crusher enjoys D&D, but Ash--oh that is great. Does anyone have stats for a chainsaw?


GALAHAD: I seek the Grail! I have seen it, here in this castle!
DINGO: No! Oh, no! Bad, bad Zoot!
GALAHAD: What is it?
DINGO: Oh, wicked, bad, naughty Zoot! She has been setting alight to our beacon, which, I just remembered, is grail-shaped. It's not the first time we've had this problem.


King of Swamp Castle: One day, lad, all this will be yours.
Prince Herbert: What, the curtains?

Any word on the "one day" when winners will be announced?


This sounds great can you forward to me as well?
tmoakland@charter.net

Thanks,

Tom


For Moff Rimmer, the reason the stem cell issue will keep coming up is it is not settled. The issue helped the Democrats win Congress last fall. I think that more American voters still side with Michael J Fox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9WB_PXjTBo

Than with Rush Limbaugh:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610240001

Gathering vetoes from Bush may be the most effective tool that Democrats can wield since they have a slim majority.

Personally, I find the anti-science of the current administration concerning for our continued prosperity (stem cells, evolution, environment).

I think the following from hhttp://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/06/the_stem_cell_veto .php is helpful when looking at the stem cell funding debate:

“Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical,” US President George W. Bush said yesterday “a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred.” That, of course, came during his address on the need to ban embryonic stem cell research.

Except that it didn't. Rather, it came during his address on the need to veto a bill permitting the use of federal funds to undertake embryonic stem cell research. The conclusion, however, seems unrelated to Bush's line of reasoning. If the cells are sacred human life, then surely it's not okay to kill them in a privately financed manner. The nonsensical nature of Bush's position on this issue is old news, but continues, in my view, to be under-remarked upon in mainstream coverage of the issue. Years ago, he hit upon a goofy split-the-difference compromise and ever since then he's been wandering the country insisting that he's taking a bold stand of principle."


"The swallow may fly south with the sun, or the house martin or the plover seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land."

Are any of the prizes migratory?


I have become hooked on Pandora Radio at www.pandora.com . Currently my David Byrne channel is playing Boy About Town by The Jam.


"Come see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!"

I mean to say, any word on the winners?


I missed this post last week, but I did stumble across the news last night. I ordered hard cover editions and I am waiting anxiously to reread these stories.

I think that Alexander is one of the greats to introduce fantasy in general and Welsh mythology in particular. The Prydain series explores honor, sacrifice, and friendship. His distinction between nobility and "noble worth" is wonderful.

My handle here, F.F., is my favorite bard of fantasy. Here is a good introduction of the character http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fflewddur_Fflam

This website helped me track down the hardcovers' ISBNs last night: http://www.lloydalexanderbooks.com/


I saw this in the NY Times today "You will be able to download three-dimensional plans online, then push Print. Hours later, a solid object will be ready to remove from your printer."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07copy.html?_r=1&hp&or ef=slogin

If you've got $15000, you are good to go. For the rest of us, check Wal-Mart in a couple of years.


I know all the changes to Dragon/Dungeon have rocked the RPG community. Pathfinder looks great and I have already signed up. But its already May 2, when can we get a list of winners for the Grail Giveaway?

I have endured enough heartbreak over the past 10 days or so--coconuts may help me go on.

Cheers!


Dungeon has provided so many wonderful antagonist over the years--I think having a little nod for the heroes would be great. I would like to see starting stats and a progression table along the lines of the Shackled City Book for the Storm Blades. I can imagine it would be a great way to incorporate the characters in games of any level. I enjoyed the feel of a party that has endured the many adventures over the past 3 years or so. The iconic characters should not go quietly.

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