GreatKhanArtist's page

I like political intrigue and factions v. factions like in Elaine Cunninghm's drow novels. I also like Ustalav, Nidal, Kaer Maga and Mediogalti.

Shouldn't this be under the "Another year, another sanity point lost" blog?

I would definately say to check out the Carrion Crown AP. The first volume has mostly "boss" fights and the second has a huge investigative bend, but the second half is more hack and slash.

Actually, I would start with the Darkmoon Vale series. You will have to update it from 3.0, however 1/2 of it is free. The adventures are a little shorter than AP adventures. They don't have weird new templates and don't require a ton of DM prep. I recently reviewed "The Haunting at Harrowstone" and found it to be very prep heavy. Darkmoon Vale is in a big forest, so it's easy to add encounters. Likewise, from what I remember, many of the encounters are easily scaleable, especially in "Hungry Are the Dead".

Technically, Darkmoon Vale is its own place in Golarion, but I would add "Realm of the Fellnight Queen" and "Feast at Ravenmoor" to the forest without feeling bad.

Oh boy, I hope Logue brings his tower shield...

He made some mistakes and coming out to PaizoCon to face up to many still grieving fans is very brave of him. I really hope that the community at PaizoCon can come together as a whole and say:

"I forgive you."

Let's show that we are a gaming community and come together as one.

(I wouldn't mess with him anyway, he's some kind of martial arts master and swordsman.)

You say yeth hound, I say goblin dog!

Tales of the Old Margreve is a must-read for this campaign. It technically has nothing to do with Darkmoon Vale, but it is *the* awesome creepy forest sourcebook. Go read the reviews!

I'm not much of a DM, what about set-up and take-down or other sorts of non gaming volunteering?

Kobold Quarterly #13 has a good article on the topic of sex and romance in gaming. You may like to check it out.

I thought this was about the "I hate Asian theme, so stop making Tian products" whine.

I got into gaming from video games too. My mom brought home "Computer Gaming World" from the office when I was in high school and it rated "Baldur's Gate 2" really highly. So I asked for it for Christmas. I *loved* it. It's still my favorite game of all time. And that's what brought me to D&D.

I played this game on the school computers when I was in grade 2. It was all text and you were exploring a haunted house. I loved it. I think it was one of the very first computer games. Does anyone else remember playing this?

Lost Cities has lots of places that are off the beaten trail all over the world, and since they are lost they are also unexplored.

I also don't know much about the underdark, but you could always go there, and there are whole continents that are unexplored!

I just finished "Lost Cities" at work tonight. I really liked the layout for each chapter and the low-med-high campaign ideas. I think this is a major selling point and should stay! However, I was annoyed at the lack of place art. I wanted to see the flaming lens thing on the Sun Temple Colony island pursuing terrified rebels just ahead of its burning swath, maybe even immolating an unlucky someone. As it is, I have no idea what the unique architecture of the lost cities looked like. The maps are exquisite, by the way and I would buy a map folio of this book.

I'm writing a series of comic books in screen format. I would be extremely interested in corresponding with KestlerGunner, if he's reading.

I'm very happy to see the qallupilluk made it in. This is my favoite Inuit monster, and one I remember from my childhood. For those of you who want more on this fantastic monster, check out "A Promise is a Promise" by Robert Munsch, a Canadian children's author. This is a cautionary tale warning children to stay off thin ice, as the monster lures them to their deaths. The qallupilluk is a female with fishbones in her hair, as I recall, and I prefer the artwork to a fishheaded version. When you are done, read "Something Good", because "A Promise is a Promise" is actually a horror story for children. "Something Good" is a lot lighter and quite funny.

For those of you who would like to hear the Inuit language, Inuktitut, Susan Algukark is a well-known Canadian Inuit artist who has produced many albums. For a different take on something many of you know, she sings "Amazing Grace" in this language. Also, the film "Atanarjuat" or "The Fast Runner" is in Inuktitut and subtitled in English. It may be a little difficult to find, as it would be considered a foreign film. This film does have nudity and mature themes, so consider yourselves warned.

Be careful on the rotten ice, lest the qallupilluk drag you under!

The Everflame Trilogy has been sanctioned! Yay!

Is this the collected version of the 101 spell @x lvl series or brand new material?

REgardless, I want to see a collected version of the above, at a reduced cost.

Swarms.

And I know a dire fiendish t-rex would warm a certain editor's heart...

Who is Tork Shaw?

What I really like about this product is its pricing. I do really like the fact that it is the same price as TCG packs. So, for those non Magic months, I could buy a brick or save my dough to buy a case once every 4 months. Now I just have to decide if I want minis or Magic more!

To me, Golarion really is a little bit of everything for everyone, both for good and for ill. Someone out there is going to want Khemri (Egypt) in their world, so we have Osirion. Someone else misses Ravenloft, so we have a place and AP of vampires and gothic horrors.

The vastness of the world really seems overwhelming to me. So many worlds are giant human-centric places. Greyhawk, and the REalms come to mind. Myself, I love Eberron. Eberron has clearly defined cultures and continents, and doesn't mirror everything every other major campaign setting or real world culture has to offer.

I agree with Pentagast. My players and I would rather gear manage treasures! If you and your players enjoy it, go for it. I once had a gnome who tried to take anything under the sun, because he was the consumate boy scout. He also had the barbarian convinced that every piece of junk was needed on every adventure, just in case.

Actually, I had a roomie with bipolar back in the day. She was considered handicapped by the government and would not be able to play RPGs because she had difficulty telling reality from fantasy. (She was also unable to watch certain films--the Matrix would have really blown her mind.) The opinion of the therapist may be substantiated. However, you may want to pose the question to your MD or psychiatrist; they tend to be more knowledgable.

Futhermore, therapists quite often encourage roleplaying. My therapist used to laugh at me for playing D&D until I told her that it was a form of therapy. She had to eat her hat.

I heart pirates. Actually, our whole game store is pirate-themed, so this will go over very well with the local groups.

However, I'm a little iffy about the opening, as it seems like Serpent's Skull redux. However, I also heart Richard Pett's writing, and I'm excited to see him on this project. Maybe it will serve as a creative continuation of the ill-fated Razor Coast?

Okay, I haven't GMed RotRL yet, but I have sticky notes all over my modules. I write basics of spell effects of the villans, poisons (these are a pain for the new DM!) and basic monster stats. Saves with the flipping and makes for a smoother game. You can move the stickies to the back of your GM screen when you want to use the book. Handy! Oh, and they're colour-codable.

Plus the Condition cards are worth their weight in gold. Not only do they tell you as GM what saves the PCs have to make, it tells them.

The House of Night Series by the Cast mother and daughter team is really outstanding.

"The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" by Stephen King is also really good. It's also one of his shorter works.

EDIT: I should note that the House of Night is for more mature teens. It drops the F bomb several times and there are some very suggestive scenes, especially in the latter books.

+3

Everything could use more fey.

Hey, folks, it's me again...

*Warning spoilers!*

So what the heck is up with Erdikhaan? I looked up Skeletal Champion in the Bestiary and the statted example has too many feats from what I can tell. I know skeletons get improved initive free. Although the stats for skeleton say that feats are lost, it looks like skeletal champions keep their class feats. That said, why three feats? One for 1st lvl, one for being formerly human, one mysterious feat.

Furthermore, should Erdikhaan be altered to have WF: ranseur as his mysterious 4th feat? I do intend to run this module sanctioned, so is this allowed?

Other than that, I wrote claw attacks on a sticky just in case Erdikhaan loses it in battle and will adjust his stats for having increased AC from the non-standard armour. I think he'll be ready for battle after the feat kink is worked out.

Thanks again everyone!

-Nicole

Wow Eric! somebody knows his stuff! Thank you very much for clarifying that.

@ Neil: So the PCs don't get the original adventure items, just those listed in the chronicle conversion? It sounds like the original items are turned into wealth for the party and split up among them.

Again, thanks everyone for your help!

First of all, do the PCs get to find and take to other chronicles the goodies not listed on the chronicle sheet with the sanctioned conversion? Do all PCs get a copy of the item, or just the lucky ones?

WARNING SPOILERS!

One of the items the PCs get early on in the campaign is the feather token: whip. While I like this item in a normal campaign, it seems complicated and maybe too powerful for a sanctioned adventure. As a new DM, there is a lot of thought about using this item before it is unleashed on the populace.

After a lot of research into what this item does and does not do, I've come up with:

"Like a dancing weapon, the token fights for 4 rounds when loosed at a +10 BAB. It does 1d6+1 pts non-lethal dmg. It has a +1 bonus to ATK and DMG rolls and makes a free grapple attack it it hits at +15. It may deal lethal damage at -4 to ATK. It does no damage to any creature of +1 armour bonus or +3 natural armour. As it is considered held for the purpose of attacks and effects against it, it may be sundred, provoking an AoO from the whip. DMG exceeding hardness is subtracted from the whip's HP. Hardness and HP are both 5. For simplicity, the whip makes FORT, REF and WILL saves using its owner's bonuses. The whip is otherwise considered unattended and may not trip, as it is too small."

I used the HP and hardness for a melee one handed weapon. This is however a magic weapon for all intents as it is treated like a dancing weapon, isn't it? If it is, what kind of saving throws does it get; we have no idea what the caster lvl was for its creator? Does it fight for 4 rounds and need to be reactivated like the sword it's modelled after? If yes, how do the PCs reactivate it?

Pillars of the Earth and I love it. Funny that the guy who wrote it was orignally a best-selling thriller author, becasue I think he's found his niche. I'm also reading this book on cults the library discarded. It's actually really interesting and I think alot of the info in it will be useful for campaigns.

As long as Gozreh isn't constantly back and forth male female adverbs, I'll be okay. [See "Racing to Ruin"]. If I were Editor-in-Cheif, I'd've killed Sean over that atrocity.

Flavour-wise, a monk may not seem so out of place. I haven't read the player's guide for Serpent's Skull, but I do know that (without spoiling much at all), The Red Mantis capital city Ilizmagorti, is a destination choice for PCs when they board in the very beginning. There is a nice write-up on the city in "Cities of Golarion". Although an assassins' guild, I don't think a monk would be too strange in a city devoted to pirates. Maybe he's an aspiring assassin, a prodigy who is being scouted by the Red Mantis...or maybe he has something to run from, or just trying to achieve enlightenment through travel. An inspired player can find a place for a Mammoth Lord in Osirion, so don't let that trouble you.

By "manufacturer of protective barriers", I assume they don't mean guardrails.

Has anyone actually driven one of these?

So this is a child prodigy who will be writing future Pathfinder novels? I'm so confused...

Be patient. You're not going to get squat for them at the bookseller's anyway.

I'm interested in the Spell Compendium, but won't pay more than $20. Where in the world are you?

Eating Shreddies infront of the PC, longing for MiniWheats. Checking ebay, loathing those jerks who outbid by 20 cents at the last minute. Please tell me the good citizens of FAWTLy land would never commit such atrocities.

I think I will mow the feedlot today. I probably will find a car.

@ Urizen:

Really? I empathize with the hearing loss. My sister is hearing impaired. We use CC on the TV all the time. I can read faster than the characters speak, so it's kind of cheating. She has ear infections all the time, which are the source of the hearing imparement.

And yeah, that's the one. I always get it confused with the one that's supposed to be for male anatomy, so it's no wonder why I'm so happy all the time! I could be wrong, but I think it's for dopamine, not seratonin re-uptake inhibition. Don't quote me on that. Acutally, I found when I started it, I was hyper and semi-manic, so we really had to ease into it. And taking it in the morning helps keep me from 3 AM carrot binges.

@ Woodraven:

Sorry to hear you are feeling down. You'll find the right girl. You could ask a friend to double date, sometimes it really helps to have a wingman. I don't really have many friends either, but my acquaintences are usually happy to go someplace casual with a date, even if it isn't really a "date".

As for the meds, I'm not trying to shove anything down your throat, but I do speak from experience. Recently I was told that I have Aspergers, which is a mild form of autism. I agreed to try anxiety medication to deal with some of the more troublesome aspects of the disorder. Of course, it didn't cure Aspergers, but it certainly helps with some of the other problems. I can now drive, which I was never able to do before and I am better able to get along with others. My mood doesn't fluctuate nearly as much either. I was initially against the idea, having had bad experiences with meds, but I have no side effects. Taking a pill in the morning isn't so bad, I take vitamins anyway. If that's what it takes to function better, no biggie. Lots of people are on lots of types of medication for life. At least I don't have to stick myself with a needle.

The really weird thing about those big comfy chairs is that when paired with a book, they have the ability to alter space-time relationship.

My farmhouse.

Which is really silly, since it is an old house that we have been the sole owners of. Nothing remotely violent or horror movie-rific has ever happened there. Once, we renovated the bathroom, and that was pretty scary... Actually, in the attic, there is this huge nest thing that the birds made around a pillar. It has straw sticking out all over and looks very much like a cocoon or something from the X-Files.

The reason the house makes me nervous is that I did some less than wholesome activities there, and my over-active imagination conspires with faith to concoct all kinds of terrible hellish creatures; portals and such.

So I decided that I would bring the cat in, so I would have something to blame the weird noises at night on. The cat went to the deepest, darkest recesses of the basement and started making creepy cat noises. So much for that idea, now I just sleep with the radio on.

Paladin. I love the role-playing opportunities that being a paladin presents.

That said, I'll play the Cleric in a pinch.

I remember reading once (it may have been an editorial) about a DM who had piles of the WoTC minature of the guy holding a pig. He decided to have a village where everyone had a pig and the PC's didn't know why. It was played in a manner that creeped them out.

I think the known or mundane becoming foreign is quite unnerving. Obviously, if something is mundane, it is very well known, to the point of being ignored. Meta-gaming can play a large part here. Take the cultural expectations and norms of the western gamer and put a spin on them, like the evil child, or better, something that has child-like attributes. Aliens are creepier when they can be partially understood. The raptors in [u] Jurassic Park [/u] are likened to wolves by most people and even the NPC game warden mentions it. Their human-like intelligence and the ability to use body parts like tools (or even use tools in your game) and their sheer speed and ferocity make them unnerving villians.

I've always enjoyed the fae and the Pathfinder goblins. The goblins are my favorite because the begin as something of a joke. They even look comical, with football-shaped heads. Pretty soon, it's not funny anymore. I think this is like being tickled to death--first it's kind of fun, but pretty soon it starts to hurt and you have to pee and can't breathe...

Of course, all horror is about the suspense. Gain their attention and slowly drag out the climax. Action has a quick, massive climax, like the world ending in a firey explosion. Horror draws it out. We know there are aliens in the house, but they don't kick down the door and eat the heroes. No, they whisper and scuttle and fish under the door. Gradually they up the ante until the climax, where they may attempt to get through the door, but they never just kick it down.

During college I worked at Wal-Mart. I actually liked being there, mostly because I hated college. I hate the people who think they are better than you because you work retail. The people who taunted me at the till got a an active security device in their bags.

I remember the first time someone asked me where the front of the store was. I was like are you serious? Then I realized he was serious. I also got the "Do you work here?" alot. I would usually tell them I was a paid volunteer.

I had to walk through the hardware dept to get to my dept. Once some guy asked me where the fasteners were. I know nothing about hardware and hate pretending that I do. So I said, "Yes, I think the self-checkouts are faster," and continued on my way.

I'm working on converting the "Second Darkness" AP into Eberron, mine will have quite a number of major changes, including a polymorphed tarnished bronze dragon as a major enemy and I'm skipping a few of the AP voulmes completely, because they aren't Eberron-friendly. I'd be happy to send my notes!

How many Eberron books do you have? (I think I have the whole set now...)

I have Shackled City, but haven't looked at it much. Still trying to finish the first conversion. Shackled City is very demon-oriented, and there are no demons in Eberron. The daelkyrs' allignment is LE, and they have the same subtypes and alignment as devils. That said, it's probably a major pain in the hinney to change all the demons in the AP over. Luckly in Eberron, we have the Lords of Dust and the Rajahs. The Rajahs are said to be Demon Lords in a few sources anyway, and the worshippers of the Lords of Dust and cultists of the Dragon Below are probably CE in alignment anyway, the ECS should have samples of cultist for both, as well as write-ups. For the location, I'd use the Demon Wastes. The city of Ashtakala is detailed in "Explorer's Handbook" and looks really cool. Since little is written about the Demon Wastes and it is a place rarely ventured to by mortals, you'll have a mostly blank slate.

From one Eberron fanatic to another, hope this helps.

I'm really excited that there are still Ptolus fans out there. Until recently it seemed to have fallen off the radar.

I just read Wes's gripe from St. Paddy's Day. I do emphasize. I remember reading that Todd McFarlane had the same problem with his artist for "Cy-Gor" #1 several years ago. Apparently they had this really great concept sketch and mock-up of a few pages, but the guy never finished his work. At all. They managed to frantically hire another artist who finished.

It makes you wonder what the artist was thinking. That's a good way to destroy your career right there.

And if you've never heard of the comic book "Cy-Gor", don't worry. It was crap-tastic and only lasted 3 issues anyway.

I also prefer washers as based because it lowers the center of gravity of the mini, making it less likely to tip over.

I do too. You can stick them on the inside of bases for that inconspicuious look. As a bonus for magnet lovers, get some of those tiny ones that have the "Choking hazard" warning. Glue them on to your Warjacks or Citadel tanks and then on to the accessories. Voila! You can easily swap out weapons and accessories without purchasing several of the same mini kit. This tip was originally c/o the Pirates of the Plains.

Oh my heck! I just found the coolest thing ever! Check out Hirst Arts moulds. If you liked the Kelmerane terrain from paper, you will wet yourself when you see this.

Now excuse me while I go change my pants.

Uncle Mike's Bases. They are relatively inexpensive and ridiculiously cool. They are mostly in Warmachine scale, but the small ones do work for medium bases in d&d if you aren't too fussy.

There is also a company in Europe (Poland?) that stocks bases. They have some really nice resin ice bases, but they are a bit expensive.