Jason Bulmahn's page

Well, i'm sometimes a little sad as a DM, when i try to create an athmosphere of tension and adventure and my players loose themselves in endless and seemingly funny conversations.

I hope this wasn't the case in Jason Bulmahn's game.
Don't get me wrong, I'm always for a good laugh at the gaming table, as long as the game itself doesn't suffer from it.

I hope you folks get what i mean, 'cause my english is not the best.

Absinth
Hamburg, Germany

For me as DM there are different tones presented as a campaign progresses. While I may drift toward sillyness at times, there are other times when the situation is grim, the prospects poor, and the hope for better days seem distant. Right now in the campaign, the PCs just finished up a long murder mystery on the lightning rail heading toward sharn, and although that lended itself to a bit of levity, Sharn is a different environment, so the tone will change with it.

All a matter of style...

MUAHAHAHAHA!

Even more message boards for me to post on! :D

Uh...I mean...when I'm not working diligently, Erik! Yes, yes, hard at work. Nothing to see here... :\

Slacker

Another questtion to add to Amber's

When we give our word count do you prefer an exact word count or do you prefer the old magazine standby of rounding to the nearest hundred (nearest 50 if less then 1000 words)?

Hey there all,

You should include a working title for the article as well as an exact word count.

Hi, i just want to let you know how much i've enjoyed James Jacobs Article on the demon prince Pazuzu in issue 329.

It is one of the best written and most informative article in months and i liked the fact, that you seemed to continue the concept from the 'Ebon Maw'-Article (including stats for followers and stuff) from issue 312, which i found very useful.
I really hope that these Demonomicon-articles will become a regular feature in the magazine as you announced previousley.
In the preview for Dragon 330 there was no mentioning of another Demonomicon-article and i really hope, that you didn't change your mind...
Will the next articles in the series be written by Mr.Jacobs too?
And which demon prince will be next?
Will there be articles on demon princes that were already covered in the Book Of Vile Darkness, like Graz'zt and the boyz?
:)

There will be more demonomicon articles.. oh yes, you can be assured of that. The demon princes are all in line and won't let us stop. They have chained poor James to the pillars of pain and are forcing him to take down their life stories. The screams are unimaginable.

Who will be next, if I tell you, they might just eat my skin.

More info, please!

Where did the characters start out (region, city/state, etc.)? What races are represented by the party and/or nationalities?

What was the story behind the first adventure? How did Erik hook the party into taking on the mission/quest?

I love Greyhawk. No matter where the adventures take place, there's just a great classic swords and sorcery feel to it. Since I only own 3 of the Gord novels, I like reading about other Greyhawk campaigns to help influence my own Greyhawk campaign -- to give it a "shared" Greyhawk feeling where I know others have been as well.

I can tell you that my light hearted bright eyed tried a roasted wolf leg (I do not recommend.. too much fur) and got a chance to use his keen dwarven engineering skills.

:-)

Gar Blitzhame
Jason Bulmahn
Associate Editor of Dragon

William Christensen wrote:

Which brings me to ask, how long do you usually expect an author to take on an article? That is, if I query several articles when do you expect them to be submitted? I ask because if I query about a dozen articles and you accept eight of them (as you [Mike] said you did with one author on a previous post), should I have them all written within a week or two, or when?

Unless an editor gives you a deadline, you basically have as long as you want to write an article. I almost never hand out deadlines for Class Act articles, mostly because it would be unfair of me to ask you to have an article in to me within a week when I have no chance of looking at it for a month. So take as long as you need to get me your articles.

Generally speaking, I try to give about a month for feature length articles and if an author has more than one on their plate, I like to spread out the deadlines.

Just a quick FYI

such as Heroic Feats?

Feats, races, and prestige classes can all be a part of a feature. However, we would like to stress that, generally speaking, the article should be able to stand on its own merit without the rules content included. A prestige class or new race without enough background and flavor to make it appetizing to players and DMs is of little use to us at this time.

Jason Bulmahn
He who deals with features

gigz wrote:

I have SSSOOOOOO many things I want to say to that, but will refrain as I am generally a nice guy.... ;)

/gigz

... grumbles about meetings and donuts......

I know, I know...years of haranguing you about donuts and meetings makes me now a hypocrite. ;) Oh, speaking of donutless meetings...I have one here in about 20 minutes! :D

Once again.. there will be donuts.. but none for you... :-P

Ooh! Ooh! Are they available yet? Are they available yet?

Almost there... Almost there... stay on target.. stay on target...

Yes, but what I REALLY want to know is whose picture is posted on the wall that you guys fire darts and spit balls at.

(At my work place, it's a close up photo of the former governor -- looking grumpy -- who is facing corruption charges. But I haven't the foggiest who the staff of a fantasy magazine would choose for target practice. Maybe Iuz?)

We are not allowed any sharp objects to throw around, one of us would be dead by now if that were permitted. We do however, have a number of soft plushy bits that get tossed with great frequency... including a big yellow foam dark and a dead rubber duck.

Hmm... an article about the process.. that would be really good.. then we would know what it is. :-)

Zherog wrote:

Were there donuts served in those meetings, though? That's the important question. ;)

Sadly, no. :(

It's not really much of a meeting without donuts, I guess. :\

There WERE donuts.. just none for you :-P

Hey there,

First off, let me thank you for giving feedback, it is always appreciated. I just wanted to take a second to post up a few answers for you on some questions posed in your post.

For the armor of the long journey, the +16,000gp cost is indeed for the "long journey" portion of the armors enhancement (the increased speed, encumbrance, and fatigue reduction). This is a flat fee, not added to the enhancement of the armor.

For the Fugue of Tvash Prull, the caster may choose only one of the listed effects. Grrr... I thought we caught that one.. Thanks for keeping us honest.

Keep the comments coming. We always want to hear what you think.

Am I the only one who cracked up on reading F. Wesley Schneider's Class Acts for Druids: A flying squirrel and a moose! What a hoot! Cheesy and clever all in one article.

I love the adventures of "Moose'n'Squirrel." Now that we've got stats for Rocky and Bullwinkle, can Mr. Schneider provide stats for Boris and Natasha? How about Dudley Do-Right's stats as a paladin?

Ohh.. don't say that... you will only encourage him. :-)

Very nice, not just a cake, but also an adventure.

I hope those miniatures are not lead. :-)

Pax was a great sword too. I nearly had all the gemstones needed to make it a holy sword. Ahh, those were the days.

I am putting togather my collection of dragon and trying to figure out wich isues are 3.0 and where 3.5 starts. Cansomeone help me?

After extensive research, and finally checking the cover, Dragon 309 was the first issue to be fully 3.5 compatible.

Hope that helps.

Hey there Shawn,

Not sure how this one slipped through the cracks, but here is your answer. Vital aim allows you to substitute your Dex bonus for your Str bonus with ranged weapons. For this to work, the ranged weapon needs to allow you to add your Str bonus to the damage. So, in this case, you would need a mighty composite longbow to gain any damage bonus, and you would still be limted by the bow's maximum Str rating. Oridnary longbows would give you no damage bonus through this ability.

Hey there all,

In the futurre, I am hoping to get more terrain tiles AND poster maps in Dragon magazine. I am a real fan of the miniatures game and would love to see support for it that is cool for not only the Mini game player but the average Roleplayer as well. I will try to keep everyone updated...

Hey there all,

This thread has got me thinking a bit. What maps/pullouts would you find useful in the future. Not making any promises here of course, but just wondering what you would find nifty. Just curious...

Thanks Mike,

I am hoping to make the Under Command articles a more exciting part of Dragon magazine. I would like to do new maps, terrain tiles and some exciting scenarios, all of which could be fun, not only for the skirmish player, but for your average roleplayer as well.

Jason Bulmahn
Associate Editor, Dragon Magazine

Thanks Erik and Everyone Else,

I am thrilled to be on board here at Dragon magazine and look forward to working on this great gaming insitution.

Jason Bulmahn
Associate Editor of Dragon Magazine

Oh man.. what have I gotten myself into. :)

Jason Bulmahn