Guennarr's page

Hi there,

I just received the ordered item cards. The parcel was in top condition, the content complete. No complaints about that. ;-)

As you can see the order value is 92.28 $$.
I should have expected that I had to pay import taxes, though :(
(i.e. about 21.50 $$).
What I didn't expect was that I had to pay additionally C.O.D. charges (i.e. about another 9.50 $$!!)!

Unfortunately this makes this order one of my most expensive purchases so far: 92.28 $$ grew to more than 120 $$!! :(( You are not responsible for import taxes.

But how can it be that I am charged 9.50 $$ of additional postage???

Cheers,
Günther

My vote is for Falcon's Hollow. There are quite some loose ends from E1, the setting is really easily usable in any wilderness area, and I love the feys in these adventures.

Greetings,
Günther

Hello Nick,

I am lagging behind (just received E1 this week), so my answer is somewhat belated:
I really appreciate your adventures, Nick. And I really love Falcon's Hollow - your approach to fey really strikes something, it is more true to both old fairy tales and classic D&D than anything I read in a very long time.

But two gory adventures in such a short sequence (i.e. Pathfinder #3 and GMM E1) were too much for my liking. I really love adventures which are heavy on role playing and rich setting atmosphere. I like a dungeon crawl now and then. And to my surprise I really loved Pathfinder #3 (although I never really was into "gory" adventures)!

But E1 felt too similar in mood. And there was just one month in between the two adventures.

And then there is the conclusion in E1. Counting the number of innocent killed ones and measuring success this way?
If bloody details are necessary to create a certain mood - so be it. But was this a necessary story element?
My personal line of good taste was crossed by the conclusion (and I am aware that there are others who may feel differently).

"I promise it's not really my style jwl, it just has been the kinds of modules I've been picked to write lately."

I really like your adventures and would like to see Paizo give you a chance to realize more of those adventures which are closer to your preferred style. Nevertheless one of the "gorier" ones once per year e.g. during Halloween time wouldn't be bad at all. ;-)

Greetings,
Günther

Hi everyone,

I chime in a bit:

First a hearty thank you all at Paizo for you nice christmas greeting!

And now my problem: The package including the holiday greeting reached me in 2008! :(

Greetings,
Günther

Hello Richard,

thanks for your reply and a happy new year to you, too! :-)

It sounds as if you were having quite some fun in your (ending) campaign.

In regards to Korvosa: I didn't pay much attention on who will be "introducing" which part of Golarion, but on a second thought: Sure! Who else?

The existing Korvosa background information already promises a lot of intrigue and back stabbing. Add e.g. some of the Styes kind of detail information on "normal life conditions" in Korvosa and your fellow PCs should feel quite unsettled. I am looking forward to Korvosa!

About Riddleport: It still looks pretty unfinished. There is this arc, people there have a certain reputation and neighbours in the north don't seem to be very friendly. But there is certainly more room for making this place unique!

Cheers,
Günther

P.S.:
The group of fans translating the Golarion previews to german still wonder how to translate this place:
Is it a "place of riddles"?
Or is "riddle" the result of a different word (maybe from an extinct language) gradually transformed to its current form?
Just curious... ;-)

I have a complete Dragon collection. Nevertheless I decided to buy the book and didn't regret it. The reason: Old edition material was updated to 3.5e rules, the material was clearly arranged according to topics (feats, monsters etc.) and finally the whole content appears in the late Dragon look you got used to.

If you look for new material in your game, you will hardly find a book which contains more high quality material per buck.

Greetings,
Günther

Lately what they've been doing instead is affiliations and alternate class features. Take the Lightbringers guild from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft as an example. A rogue who joins it can get an alternate class feature (even retroactively) that allows them to do 1/2 sneak attack damage to undead (kind of neccessary for a Ravenloft campaign)

That might even be the best way to do it in Pathfinder. Maybe the guys at Paizo could develop their own faction/affiliation system that's better than Everquestd20 or PHB2's that could work in some of those elements. This is espescially good if there are going to be a lot of groups like the Hellknights and Pathfinders so they won't have to make PrCs for everyone.

We are drifting further and further away from the original topic, nevertheless I have to chime in:

Maybe WotC's move wasn't that bad (for them): Affiliations etc. aren't part of the OGL (to my knowledge), PrC are, though. So Paizo either had to devise a new affiliation system (which would be therefore most probably incompatible to PHB II) or had to live with a series of base class modifications and/ or new PrC...

Hello Erik,

I already suspected that Thieves' World was somewhat too recent.
Nevertheless thanks for your answer. You may be right. Digital versions of Dragon or Dungeon were considered impossible due to copyright issues. Why should it be any better with novels?

I'll have a look at the thievesworld.info site.

Cheers,
Günther

My own Styes campaign is just in the final throes now, with a truly desperate bunch of decrepid neerdowells sponsoring the PCs via third parties, one is employed by Dory, another Rashlen, whilst so many friends have been betrayed that the players are struggling to find out who is who - it's been great fun and has actually run very much like a Ravenloft AP.

Hello Richard,

would you care to shed some light on the proceedings in your campaign?
Is it WotC exclusive intellectual property (-> only publishable via digital Dungeon?) or do you plan to report about the Styes on this site?

Looking forward to reading news of your setting - and of course a merry christmas!
Günther

First a compliment for this very insightful thread.
For most people abroad the authours mentioned here are virtually (or as a matter of fact) unknown. For that veryreason I already enjoyed John D. Rateliff's survey on classical works of fantasy (over on the old WotC site, unfortunately can't provide a link anymore).

And now I was positively surprised to find this thread at least as informative.

Ok. My proposal is a more recent "classic": The follow up anthologies to Thieves' World's First Blood. I just recently used the Green Ronin sale on your site to complete my collection of d20 Thieves' World books. Unfortunately I was only able to find the original first two anthologies (Thieves' World and Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, published as First Blood by TOR). The follow up anthologies don't seem to be available anymore.

Would you be interested in re-issuing some of them?

Cheers,
Günther

You misunderstood. Lisa said RPG Superstar is "an avenue," not "the avenue." (...)

Thanks for this clarification, Vic!

This thread grows more and more interesting. Actually I was looking forward to answers about the "uniqueness" of Paizo messageboard members, but obviously you prefer the "action speaks louder than words" approach (although it's in the end words again... ;-) ).

Dungeongrrrl: Not only amateur authours eager to join the industry. When even those people who definitely put a stamp on the game leave the industry... Monte Cook certainly couldn't complain about lacking success, he has quite a following and is one of the creators of 3e. Even he decided to quit. :(

Jade: You probably really need to be a fanatic in order to keep on producing content. Or really considering it to be a hobby of yours. So maybe attracting more hobby authours could be a promising approach. RPG superstar could certainly turn out great new authours. WotC tried something similar and there you had Eberron (ok, no discussions about the merits and failings of that setting, please!).

I live in Europe and from my point of view one thing is obvious: The game doesn't attract the mainstream any more. I guess it is similar at your places.

When I restarted DMing with the publishing of 3e, it was quite difficult to find players. I succeeded then, but it was always the same person who DMed, who bought the books, who knew the rules by heart. The players were willing to buy the PH and that's it. It's similar in other groups here.

Maybe it's a question of age: If you are busy in job, have a family, and a house, you are more inclined to just expect a nice and entertaining evening - and not more. That's it again: How to attract new (younger) players... 3e/ 3.5e certainly managed to draw old players back to the hobby, but where are the new players? Maybe D&D really has to dramatically change in order to stay accessible for new players?

Pooh! Quite a rant... :pp

Cheers,
Günther

Hehe!

Glad to see the triple G in here. How could I know that my message would end his hibernation on these boards? ;-)

Jade and Sebastian: Good point, and this certainly lets WotC's new target group for 4e appear in a different light... Maybe this is the only way to increase the audience group? People in our target group don't really grow more numerous, do they?

Just a sad insight, that new and younger customers don't seem to be attracted by our favourite style of play any more...

But back to topic (or rather my two questions above):
Are people here really so much stranger than the average D&D player on different message boards? Are people here just more nostalgic? Or are we only considered as Paizo groupies? :ppp

Cheers,
Günther

Indeed, thank you Lilith and Lisa!

Somehow I must have missed most of the whole story - I just stumbled today over the RPG Superstar section of the site... ;-)

There are some interesting things I gleaned from the interview:

1. New authours are gained by RPG superstar only (?!)

2. The Paizo community looks pretty insular from the outside perspective.

... both of which aren't really assuring for me.

Ad 1. So acceptance of new authours will be considerably more restrictive. Is this due to the relative larger size of adventures (in comparision to Dungeon) which means larger responsibility for authours to produce good content?
I am happy with the current quality of the adventures, but I would like to see more new authours, too.
During Dungeon time the saying was "send a proposal". Now it's just join the RPG superstar competition?

Ad 2. If this is everyone's point of view outside (including WotC), this doesn't exactly bode well for the near future. After all there is this open 4e topic, and you never know how much you'll have to rely on WotC's good will. If your customer base is reknowned as queer fellows, though...

Then there is the question why people here are seen this way?
The one thing which attracted me and many people to Paizo was that people at Paizo (at least more openly) care about their customers' opinion. I love the game and therefore feel sympathetic for its publisher, but I don't feel taken seriously to the same extent as by Paizo.

Why should other people feel more at home at WotC? Do they just don't care that much for message boards? (for sure the glue here keeping the community connected; but then messageboards at WotC are busy, too!). What about the popularity of e.g. candlekeep.com in comparision to the FR message boards at WotC? I never spent much thought on the topic before, but feel curious about what is the difference.

What do you think? I know that many of you frequent both the WotC and Paizo message boards. Are people here and there really that different?

Cheers,
Günther

And yes, Curse of the Crimson Throne is indeed a lot heavier on the roleplay elements; that's not just limited to the first adventure.

I am definitely looking forward to more roleplaying heavy adventures!

Cheers,
Günther

Hey there all,

Just to clarify even further. If it comes in a box, it is a complete set. Only the boosters are random (Heroes Hoard and Relics of War). As of this moment, due to customer feedback, we have no intention of putting out another booster set anytime soon.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

You finally persuaded me and proved again that you really listen to your customers. :-)

Two days ago I still complained that the chronicle subscription wasn't suited to me because I hate collectible cards - and today I read that you already switched course and favour complete card sets over collectible boosters! :-))

I just ordered enough cards to fit out my group. ;-)
Only criticism so far: The number of single items in the adventure gear pack is too low: You don't need one magnifying glass per player, but you could certainly need more than one back pack/ one rope/ one blanket - I still won't be able to purchase four adventure gear decks just in order to fit out my players... ;-)

I'd really look forward to a whole group adventure gear 110 card pack that includes all essential equipment for your average four player group.

Cheers,
Günther

Well, everything that will be part of this subscription will be found on the Pathfinder Chronicles product page.. We always announce products at least a couple of months in advance of their release, so you'll have some warning. (Even if you're totally not paying attention for months, you'll at least get the "your subscription product is about to ship" e-mail that will warn you shortly before we charge your card).

But yes, to some degree, nobody knows what's coming to this line after next August; Paizo hasn't yet committed to specific items beyond that. If you're not comfortable with that, I'd advise you avoid the subscription and just pick and choose the stuff you want.

Hello Vic,

thanks for this information.

I see your arguments (also those mentioned further above) and give the subscription a try: I'll see if the item cards are to my liking and decide then whether to continue the subscription or not.

Don't consider me as enthusiastic as with my other Paizo subscriptions, though. Hopefully the item cards will be a blast. ;-)

Cheers,
Günther

We have 128-page adventures brewing by both Wolfgang Baur and Robert J. Kuntz, but I don't yet have a great idea of when they will be coming out or whether or not they will be part of the GameMastery subscription. They probably will be, but since they'll be more expensive I worry a little bit about surprising people.

--Erik

Hello Erik,

thanks for your fast reply! :-)

I am really looking forward to both adventures. I always enjoyed Wolfgang's and Robert's adventures, and really loved the two patronage projects of Wolfgang's which I read so far.

About surprising people: Nice coincidence, the very same topic came up in this thread.

EDITED:
Why not treat the large size modules like GameMastery Module TC1: Into the Haunted Forest (OGL) ? I quote from the TC1 product description: "This product is not included in GameMastery Modules subscriptions, but subscribers who purchase this module will receive a free PDF when the module ships."

I could live with that. Unfortunately free pdfs are anyway the only advantage (apart from automatic shipment) in comparision to PF subscription.

Of course there is still the classical option: Re-name it to GameMastery Magazine and publish two adventures per issue. ;-)
Sounds silly, but there are advantages to this option: Each issue could consist of one large and one small or two medium sized adventures, and the size and price would be better calculatable by both you and your fellow customers.

Cheers,
Günther

We don't have any high-level adventures coming up in the immediately future. In general, it's extremely difficult to produce a quality high-level adventure in the 32-page module format, mainly to do the length of high level encounters.

Also, there is a smaller demand for high-level adventures as compared to low- or mid-level ones.

I'm not going to say we'll never do high level adventures (especially with a new edition potentially on the horizon) but we don't have one on the radar yet.

Hello Jeremy,

you mention something that is bothering me: The 32 page format makes the modules pretty much calculatable in price (-> subscription), but restricts them pretty much in matters of adventure size: You can change the size of the "second part" of the module (critters, back ground information etc.). But apart from that you don't have any possiblity to enlarge the adventure without forming multi part adventures (e.g. D0 + D1) which makes them close to "mini adventure paths".

Are there any plans to publish larger modules in future or is this only possible in the Pathfinder format? I'd really look forward to larger modules which aren't part of a 6 part adventure part.

Maybe Paizo restricts itself too much by these 32 page module vs. 6 * 50 page adventure path formats?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Günther

The Pathfinder Chronicles subscription is *not* a selection of campaign setting books. It's a line of campaign accessories. That line includes those setting books, but it also includes map folios, item cards, and the Harrow deck. It may someday even include other product types, like Map Packs or Flip-Mats, or something else we haven't thought of yet (though none of those are currently planned). In short, it's a selection of products that we feel complements the Pathfinder subscription, and it's our response to people who have been asking for a "deluxe subscription."

I'd also like to point out that this product may not ideal for people with limited monthly budgets. It's not a regular line where the product is always in the same format. The currently announced products include map folios, 64-page books, card decks, and even a 256-page hardcover. Some months, there are no products; other months, there may be three.

So, no, it's not for everyone. But I think the people who subscribe to it are going to have a *lot* of fun with it.

EDITED:

Yes, I would like to have a deluxe subscription which includes all Pathfinder supplements.
Yes, I am aware that in contrast to the AP products the supplements will be more varied in frequency, content, size, and price.

No, from my point of view (like several others above) accessories are books and maps - not item cards. Actually the subscription details point this out, too: pdfs are part of the description - *escept* for item cards! :-( For me availability of all subscribed elements in digital form is critical, though.

But apart from that I don't seem to grasp two things:

1. I'd still need more item card packs in order to have a really usable deck (assuming that I don't happen to have all interesting cards in the one pack part of the subscription). So why is this supposed to be deluxe? It rather feels like "appetizer" (<- just my impression).

2. Am I right in assuming that I'd neither know in advance which products could be part of the subscription nor how expensive the deluxe subscription grows (depending on your output of accessories)?

I am really willing to spend some money on my favourite hobby (even more so if it is for Paizo products), but this sounds like issuing a blank cheque, in other words taking a financial risk hard to assess.

Or did I misunderstand something in this thread?
I'd be very grateful if someone from Paizo could enlighten me, for I am generally very willing to subscribe to the deluxe offer...

Cheers from Austria,
Günther

Hello Lisa,

thanks for the information.
I just e-mailed customer service.

Cheers,
Günther

Hi there,

the last Dragon and the last Dungeon issue finally arrived - but on the wrong address!! (I repeated it several times: Please send the missing issues to my NEW address stored in my subscription data - you still sent it to an invalid address, mere coincidence that I got these issues)

One thing was not included, though: Dungeon #149.
When can I finally expect Dungeon #149?

Thanks for your effort!

Günther

If you can get the complete book, take it!
All stats are updated to 3.5 and some additional stuff is included.
Besides in contrast to Fiendish Codex I and II also daemons get their share in the book.

From my point of view all of the authours belong to the best d20 authours around.

I feel sad for Green Ronin's new focus on their d20 spin off, too. On the other hand they clearly show, which alternatives to 4e are available and how appealing they are.

I am not an expert, but wouldn't you consider Paizo's following to be similarly strong as Green Ronin's? Consider the additional bonus, that a huge stack of (after 4e's debut quite cheap) source books is around to build upon... ;-)
(-> subtle hint at the 3.75 Paizo style edition discussion...).

Cheers,
Günther

Your shipping costs did not change from what was on your order at the time it was completed.

Thanks,
cos

Thanks once again for your fast reaction!

Paizo customer service rules! :-)

Greetings from Austria,
Günther

Advanced Bestiary is a great book!

But better have another look at the other two advanced books. The content might be more or less helpful for you...

Greetings,
Günther

Dear people at Paizo,

I ordered at your Green Ronin "on sale" promotion a few days ago.
In order to avoid shipping costs to grow too high, I ordered two books per order only.

Yesterday you informed me by mail that a first shipment is on its way to me containing three books! (orders ## 840364 & 840367)

Can I be sure that the shipping costs won't exceed the amount given during the ordering process? (there are several orders pending right now and the shipment cost increase is drastic if too many books are shipped in one package)

Could you please confirm the shipping costs of 6.86 USD per order?
Thanks in advance for your effort!

Günther

Hhhmm... after just having expressed my ongoing devotion to the FR setting in a different thread, I am still curious how to convert RotRl to FR.

After all the previous adventure paths were meant for a Greyhawk like setting and still there were people interested in conversions for the FRs.

Did anybody try a conversion already?
I am currently not DMing but RotRL will definitely be the next campaign and I would like to adapt it to the FR.

Your points are valid: The realms will undergo drastic changes. But my campaing will (as much as RotRl) stay 3.5e for a while. So I don't worry about any FR changes upcoming with 4e.

Thanks for your input!

Günther

P.S.
If 4e and 4e-FR disappoint me, Golarion will get more than a chance - but until then I am set for the realms.

P.P.S.
Good point about the hell knights and the sin motif: But isn't there any 'forgotten' faith that could fit in? After all we are talking about the *forgotten* realms. ;-)

A: Maybe because it is a WotC setting?
WotC setting = used by "too many" people, too "stream lined", "uncool"... add whatever prejudice you like. ;-)

On the other hand e.g. Greyhawk is "cool":
First it is closely connected to Garry Gygax, one of the creators of original D&D. Second Garry Gygax was finally forced out of company and his setting grew more and more neglected (making it even more adorable). Third it is now an insider's setting loved especially by those who delve in the rich history of the game.

Enter the realms: You can project everything you dislike about WotC settings into the realms. You can even complain that you dislike all the Drizzt stories, even though any FR fan will confirm that especially Drizzt novels lack a deeper connection to realms lore. Salvatore novels often resemble plot lines which are only loosely connected to the actual realms tapestry.

Just my 300 cents or so... :p

Günther

P.S.
I started playing D&D when 2e hit the shelves. By then Greyhawk was cool and I wanted to play it. But the material was spread over too many modules and the owner of my flgs of then recommended the FR setting: Everything you need is in this grey box. That's how I started to play in the realms and I enjoyed it as much.

I still prefer the early Greenwood feel of the setting over the later approaches, but it is definitely my standard setting. You always meet people who know the realms.

Especially Ed Greenwood's ongoing support on candlekeep.com is something making this setting unique.

About translation quality in german and availability of german D&D material:

It's one of the most snobbish opinions I encountered in Germany and yet I heard it again and again: German translations are generally horrific and you can only enjoy the game if you use the original.

Most of the people expressing this opinion never layed hands on any german D&D book since 2nd edition (remember "Thac0" = "ETW0"? ;-) ). I can confirm that translations of that time were often unwillingly funny.

But have a look at the german 3.5 core books, at the FRCS and other books. They are well translated, don't cost considerably more and at least for my former D&D group they managed to sway them to D&D (all of them were RPG newbies and very hesitant about it, even worse 80% of them didn't understand english that well).

I never felt sorry for using the german books and favoured translating Paizo content during the preparation phase over having to translate rules expression during the game.

There is a following for german D&D. But there are trends (e.g. the one which made WotC virtually abandon adventure publication until Paizo's successful launch of adventure paths).

There are currently two companies publishing official german D&D (i.e. D&D and not d20) adventures:

• Feder & Schwert, which publish WotC translations (unfortunately they currently only offer the 3.0 "blue" adventures): translation quality = good.
  
• Games In Verlag, which publishes "Kingdoms of Kalamar" adventures. Their first adventure trilogy was very well translated and seemed to be a commercial success, too. In the meantime a steady stream of new translations was published. Actually these translations are in some way *better* than the original: some of the adventures were published with 3.0 rules. Games In Verlag updated the rules to 3.5 and felt free to improve the content, too.

  According to this text (scroll down the page: "(quotation of the above mentioned source: "Die jetzige 3.5-Version ist führend und zukunftorientiert, da machen wir mit! Um jeden Abenteuerband den nötigen Schliff zu geben, werden diese vollkommend neu layoutet und dem "Neuen Stil" angepaßt!
  Ergo, da gibt keinen alten AMI-Schrott und auf deutsch aufgewärmt, nein, es werden völlig neue Abenteuer, da staunte sogar unser Lizenzgeber und US-Herausgeber KENZER, und von WOTC wurden wir bereits für diese vorzügliche Arbeit belobigt.") Btw. the (german) description of how quality checks by the licence givers are done is quite enlighting. In the case of Paizo any translator could be glad that only *one* company is involved! ;-)
  

You see, there are options and there is demand for high quality D&D/ d20 translations. Of course you are right that the translations have to be sound.

Greetings,
Günther

Hi everyone,
hello Oliver,

we already had this kind of discussion before, but may I point out that there *are* german adventure publishers who use the OGL *and* who use german equivalents of the english class expressions (come on: is there any valid possibility to copyright class names like fighter/ Kämpfer etc.?).

It would require a bit of work but who could prevent you from translating OGL content into german (and the spell, skill, and feat titles should be sufficient, shouldn't they be?) After all there are already countless d20 games which build upon OGL rules and heavily modify them/ expand on them (take e.g. Iron Heroes et al.).

Not the OGL is the issue, it's getting a license, finding translators and a company willing to shoulder the risk...

Greetings,
Günther

Same here in Austria.

Postings from Paizo hq take a few weeks (still waiting for AP #3 and J1 print issues).

But post across the channel shouldn't take more than a week, should it?

Anyway thanks for your effort in bringing us the last magazine issues!

Greetings from Austria,
Günther

Guennarr wrote:

*sighs*... this thread looks very strange from my (admittedly european) point of view, I mentioned as much above.

Gentle Giant wrote:

To concur with some of my fellow Europeans who have chimed in in this thread, I seriously don't see the problem with any of the graphics (i.e. the art)...

I know I'm going to open a HUGE can of worms here. But, what the hell.

Since when did 'European' become synonymous with 'progressive?' I've traveled to places in Europe where you get cross looks from people if you're wearing shorts or jeans (especially if you're a woman).

Culture is culture. There are differences and similarities. But anyone who thinks that Europe is universally more progressive than the rest of the world probably hasn't been there, and anyone who thinks that the stereotypical bible belt mentality typifies the US hasn't been to here.

I love people who know better than me what I am thinking about when writing something.

Did I do any comparisions between the U.S. and Europe?
Did I use the expression "progressive"?

I am feeling VERY irritated for being shoved into the very same "HUGE can of worms" you opened, santinja!

I am not interested in opening these cans because there is always just one thing in them: acid. "old fashioned", "fragmented", "bickering" etc. for europeans and "gun loving", "prudish", "self absorbed" etc. for americans.

I am not a friend of any such stereotypes whomever they are applied to.
Btw. you mentioned as much. So it is most astonishing for me that you are the one spreading them...

Apart from any stereotypes I *know* that none of the people I know here in Europe would consider the current AP to be "torture porn". That is what made we write that line you quoted and I never tried to express more than that.

Günther

Guennarr wrote:

Everyone who feels scared by this kind of content could be warned before.

Huh? Scared?

Guennarr = non native speaker.

Not scared, call it "irritated".

Cheers,
Günther

The mature audiences stickers for Book of Vile Darkness was as much a marketing ploy as anything else, to be honest. Look at other books WotC has done; Libris Mortis has some stuff in there as gross and violent as anything in Book of Vile Darkness, for example, but it doesn't carry a sticker.

Developer Notes are the way to go, I think.

Mentioning Libris Mortis: You are right.

But then why not promote it? ;-)

Or is there a danger that this kind of marketing could backfire at the whole PF product line?

Greetings,
Günther

Think of the adventure as a dash of Event Horizon and pinch of Pitch Black/Chronicles of Riddick, oh and throw Hoth in there too. How does that sound?

The ingridients sound very interesting, but I only DM d20 fantasy so far. So there should be a connection (be it a portal, be it spelljammerlike ...) to any standard fantasy campaign (e.g. Pathfinder Chronicles). Didn't some of the original D&D modules successfully blend fantasy and sf? (party entering a "dungeon" just to finally realize that they entered a crash-landed u.f.o. ...

I am not into pure sf, though.

Cheers,
Günther

My basic goal, though, is to keep Pathfinder in the PG-13 band of entertainment. Now and then, it may drift into "R" or "PG" (although drifting into PG is not nearly as noticeable), but I'll certainly be doing my best to make sure it doesn't drift too far. And threads like these are invaluable in telling me when things might have done just that.

*sighs*... this thread looks very strange from my (admittedly european) point of view, I mentioned as much above.

A proposal for future APs: Why not follow WotC's example?
Book of Vile Darkness and accompanying Dungeon/ Dragon content was marked as adult content. Everyone who feels scared by this kind of content could be warned before.

Publishing GameMasteryModules marked this way (e.g. E1) could be testing candidates which give you a picture of how popular this genre is (critics being the loudest in the forums doesn't mean that they are the most numerous ones).

Anyway, I was old enough to purchase the Book of Vile Darkness. I feel old enough for purchasing comparably adult AP issues.

Greetings,
Günther

The minimum I got into an order was three items. The shipping costs don't actually update while in the cart if you remove items. You'll have to go to the check-out and reselect the cheaper shipping option.

Bugger. :( Then I payed at least one shipment too much. ;)

On the other hand I tried to bundle two hardcovers and a softcover first.

Maybe this is a destination country thing (unlikely...) or it does depend on book size...

Anyway I was running out of patience and splitting it into two book bundles still saved me about 40 $$.

Greetings,
Günther

I did manage to get seven items into one shipment for $6.86, but that is about the max I think. In the end I simply dropped two items from my total shopping list because I didn't want to fork over another shipmment. Perhaps if more is added to the sale I will succumb again or if the Dollar keeps going against the Euro like it is now: EUR 1 = $ 1.48 :-) I say go 1.50!

You must been more fortunate than me: I never got more than two books into one order without shipping costs hitting the roof. It didn't seem to matter if the books were hard or soft cover.

Unfortunately the shopping cart wasn't able to recalculate shipping costs after items were removed from the cart. So after some unsuccessful attempts of "optimizing" order size I ended up splitting my order into several two item orders.

Greetings,
Günther

Nevertheless thanks for your answer to Tio.

I split up my orders, too. Saved me about 40 bucks of shipping costs. Hope that this doesn't mean too much additional effort for you.

Cheers,
Günther

Warhammer is a British RPG! I was playing it in the early 90s (in school.. guess the age time!) and our teenage minds weren't fried, in most cases my fellow players are now happily married, rich and productive members of society.

See, we were doing gross-out horror waaayyy back before you guys ;D Catch up!

Mea culpa! Of course it's british.

Btw. Warhammer just reached 2nd edition two years ago and still has quite some long time following... Adventures (and even more so the novels) contain considerably more gore, violence, sexual content etc. than any PF adventure so far.

Maybe it's just an american issue?
I (= european subscriber) don't have any problems with the content of PF #3.

I am affected by this topic, too.

I happily delved through your Green Ronin Product offerings and chose products worth 40 $$. I am to pay 81.13 $$ of shipping costs for 40 $$ worth of products?!?! (-> items are still saved in my shopping cart)

I followed discussion in a different thread of these boards (link) and I do understand that implementing new shipping options takes effort, man power (which is needed for many other scores, I am sure!) and of course: time!

But isn't there a way to somehow combine our orders with subscription items? I know that the shippment costs won't be the usual PF shipping costs, but they shouldn't be as high as 81$$, should they?

Thank you very much for your effort to make us happy Paizo customers!

Greetings,
Günther

Does RotRL feel more and more like "torture porn" to anyone else?

Not to me.

But then I am one of those old farts, too. ;-)
And younger players are supposed to go to 4e and get a youth compatible version of D&D (including all the MMORP ingredients), don't they?

Serious: I didn't feel disturbed, actually I welcome the change to a more gritty feeling adventure path (not just single episodes in an AP adhering to a different mood).

Not every AP has to cling to this mood, but other american RPGs like Warhammer show that you can create "harsher" adventures for a mature audience.

Greetings,
Günther

P.S.
I didn't read all of Vol. III, but so far the art is steadily improving!
Just the small character size... :(

Hi everyone at Paizo,

the final Dragon issue is supposed to reach me with Pathfinder #3 (according to today's mail by Paizo customer service). Thanks for finally bringing the last Dragon issue to Austria!

I was able to purchase Dungeon #150 in Vienna (gave up hope of receiving it via my Paizo subscription). Unfortunately Dungeon #149 is not in stock in that game shop.

Is it possible to add Dungeon #149 to the enveloppe of Pathfinder #3 and to credit the value of the missing Dungeon #150 to my current subscription?

Thanks for your help!

Günther

I think, this supplement makes perfect sense.

I am going to play 3.5e for some more time anyway. I don't accuse WotC of bad timing: when should they publish any such book but now? WotC spends their ressources on 4e, so any rules compendium published now should be a pretty final look on 3.5e rules.

In comparision to 2e times I just feel sorry that WotC seems to be unable to publish digital version of the core rules like TSR did with the core rule cds for 2e.

If the lay out and rules clarifications are well made, I'll buy this book.

I'd like to see a link, too.

Especially because this contradicts some of the previous information on 4e. According to older sources there are supposed to be 3 core books and the FR 4e campaign setting is to immediately follow.

In general I am against this concept. There are already too many 3.5e campaign setting by 3rd parties who basically paraphrase by and large just another variation of the core rules. The new setting content just consists of less than one half of the book.

I love the concept of SRD that you purchase the setting content only and have the core rules for the rest... Do you really need the same spells with different setting specific names each? Sounds to me like an excuse to sell more pages and spend less effort on setting specific content - it's got so far that I only assume the worst when it comes to 4e... :p

But maybe they just want to extend their Star Wars approach (d20 rules heavily modified) to all their SF / Fantasy settings and would like to give each setting its own "rules touch"?

Looking back to Paizo this would open up completely new opportunities: If 4e already offered so many variations on the "core core" rules...?

Greetings,
Günther

Guennarr wrote:

Just the question who does it:

James Jacobs (Editor-in-Chief, Pathfinder), Yesterday, 06:39 PM wrote:

... we don't have the resources and manpower to dual stat, so that's a good reason not to do that too.

That spoke to printed dual-statting, like Crown of the Kobold King with 2 (or more) sets of stats.

That didn't speak to a PDF or online web engine.

You'd still have to stock this pdf or online web engine with content, wouldn't you? Someone would have to create this content.

I am not an expert in these matters, but James' answer above sounded as though he referred to both the space needed in a dead tree version and the manpower needed to create these stats.

Nevertheless I sympathise with this idea.
It's just that you'd make the "rift" between editions permanent. Paizo customers would be fragmented across several rules editions. No rallying cry for one edition which "unites" Paizo fans (if this is possible at all).

I know precedents here in Europe - i.e. adventures with multiple stats - but these adventures are less encounter heavy than your average Paizo adventure.

So I have some doubts...

Greetings,
Günther

Seconded.

There is even a cover picture available on Necromancers' sites, but no publishing date.

Can we expect Eamonvale before 4e?
I'd like to complete the setting in one edition if possible.

Greetings,
Günther

Neither Dungeon #149, nor the last Dragon issue reached me.

But as I mentioned before: My address changed and apparently you sent the issues to my old address in Cologne which is invalid for two months by now (I changed the address in my subscription settings for PF and GMM two months ago).

Could you please send replacement issues with my next PF issue?
Please use my new address saved in the subscription settings.

Thank you for your effort!

Greetings from Austria,
Günther

GVDammerung wrote:

ourth, can Monte Cook be persuaded to lend his name and his knack for the 3x rules to a 3.75 edition? Monte Cook has a reputation every bit as formidable and positive as Paizo, Necromancer Games and Goodman Games. He could also significantly speed along the development of the 3.75 rules to meet an August 2009 release date. While Monte Cook has said goodbye to game developing, a 3.75 rules set, particularly partnered with Paizo and Necromancer Games, and perhaps Goodman Games as well, might be the sort of thing to see him come out of “retirement” for one more go around. That he knows Eric Mona and is on friendly terms with him can only help.

OH GOD. You just spelled out my ultimate phantasm here, I think.

Monte is a good web friend and I seriously don't think he'd be getting out of his "retirement" without a very good reason/opportunity to do so, but man... MAN! To work on something like this? Like a Arcana Unearthed 2: Pathfinder? That would be AWESOME!

One can always dream, right?

I am not a fan of this idea.

There are some interesting ideas in Monte's AU/ AE, but it strays too far from D&D for my taste, and this brings up back to the discussion above about how true to D&D any 3.paizo had to be/ *can* be...

In a different thread people mentioned a joined effort of many different 3rd party companies like Green Ronin (already have their own system True20), Necromancer, Paizo and others to bring out a 3.x version staying true to the current rule set.

This sounds more promissing to me, but even then there stays Sebastian's question whether that rule set would be able to attract sufficiently many people in order to call it more than a niche like Hackmaster...

I was toying with a Adobe last night and made a PDF where the GM clicks the system (OGL/True20/C&C) he's using and the proper stats pop up. It can be done, all in the same product.

Just the question who does it:

... we don't have the resources and manpower to dual stat, so that's a good reason not to do that too.

That's not as obvious. They've also been stating that 4E will make creatures scalable down the ladder much more easily than 3E's were. IF that is true, then it'd be possible to use the same MM participants and just scale them down for the same relative EL.

True, but there should be a difference if 4e recommends more opponents and larger scale dungeons, shouldn't there?

I admit that I am seing this rather from the 3.5e point of view... sounds as if it was easier to convert from 3.5e to 4e than vice versa.

Günther