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I believe we have price per cup and per pound of coffee in Ultimate Equipment. 
Maybe they got it from the song ? :)
Vic Wertz on why they don't make hardcover compilations: Personally I would mind the option of spending $79.95 - $99.95 for a complete adventure path set in hardcover. Probably would be about as thick as the PFRPG core rules though. Vic on the hardcover RotRL being the exception and not the rule:
Optimization ruins more than just games, it seems. ;) This is why we can't have nice things. 
Sent my turnover in weeks ago, so my work on Shattered Star is done for now (and my turnover for PFSS #4-02 was sent in Monday!). It's all in the eldritch hands of the thoroughly cruel, despicably evil James Jacobs. I happen to know he's going through it with his (evil) fine-toothed comb as we speak. Be afraid. I have seen the comb you speak of. Legend tells that it is made from the sharpened teeth of 20 screaming babes, and was polished with the broken dreams and tears of no fewer than a dozen freelancers. It is the source of Jacobs's power as well as his voluptuous locks of auburn hair. On a more relevant note...we hear you guys regarding the maps. During development of Isles of the Shackles, we simply found it impossible to include all of the map tags we wanted while (a) keeping all of Mike Shel's awesome content, and (b) making sure the map was still legible. So we had to compromise and only tag the islands that show up in the Gazetteer. Mapping is one of the hardest parts of developing a book, not only because it relies on a unique synergy between the art and writing sides, but also because it's so difficult to strike a balance between what locations to include and what locations to leave for GMs to place as they see fit. 
Interesting. I like the feel of it, especially because its a relief to see Changelings featured. I'm unsure about changelings with the witch class, but this is a very nice touch. I like the whole "inception" feel and this seems like a great BBEG-type class. Love it. Don't know if it'd be fun to play as a PC, but...well, whatever 
You also tend to lose a little prestige and most 'experience' you get in jail is... not good. 
Nope. The vault of souls still exists... although if I were developing it today (I didn't develop it back in the day) I'd be more clear on the fact that not EVERY atheist ends up in that particular graveyard.
There's a lot about Shackled City that reflects its status as the first AP we ever did. We learned a LOT from it, and one of those things we learned was that saying "you can't redeem someone" without having a good reason is unnecessarily limiting. Re: Rise of the Runelords
Spoiler:
Aldern's fate is important to the story for two big reasons—it shows the PCs early on how sins can cause you to fall from grace, and it covers the classic "someone you know died and became a scary undead bad guy" plot element that was one of the two underlying goals of the entire adventure. That said... you can absolutely still redeem Aldern after he becomes the Skinsaw Man... it just requires a raise dead or resurrection spell.
As for the champion of greed... that was a necessity brought on by a lack of space. That's something I was never really happy with having to do, and in the upcoming hardcover, she's got a LOT more about what happens if you manage to save her. In fact... saving her rather than killing her is kind of what the adventure expects, since that way she'll be able to help the PCs with the REALLY tough encounters still to come. Re: Kingmaker
Spoiler:
When we put "zero support" for an option in a module, 90% of the time it's because there's not enough room to cover something that most of the people playing the adventure won't use. In such cases, we DON'T say "you can't do it," but I'd rather say nothing at all about how to do it if all the room we have to cover the subject is a single line. As for why corruption of good as a theme appears more often than the redemption of evil—that has to do with the fact that corruption of good is a GREAT theme for a story's antagonist, while redemption of evil is a GREAT theme for a story's PROtagonist. In an adventure... the only characters we have no control over and don't talk about at all are the protagonists—those are the PCs. Could we do an adventure where a bad guy is trying to become a good guy? Where a demon is trying to redeem itself? Absolutely. That doesn't really make a good villain, though. In any event, the challenge of putting a redeemed demon has been issued. And I'm already percolating on a way to make that happen in an upcoming AP that we'll not be announcing for another few months... 
What if it comes up in the backstory for the upcoming Irrisen/Linnorm Kings Adventure Path?Is there any detailed info on White Estrid's raid on Nisroch and her break of the Chelaxian blockade at the Arch of Aroden? I'm going to be running a Land of the Linnorm Kings campaign soon, and I want my players to take part in that, so anywhere I could find info would be awesome.Not much yet, no. What's said in Inner Sea World Guide and in Lands of the Linnorm Kings is pretty much it for now, and for the foreseeable future. I never said it was e next one, just that we would probably see it in 2013. ;) 
What if it comes up in the backstory for the upcoming Irrisen/Linnorm Kings Adventure Path?Is there any detailed info on White Estrid's raid on Nisroch and her break of the Chelaxian blockade at the Arch of Aroden? I'm going to be running a Land of the Linnorm Kings campaign soon, and I want my players to take part in that, so anywhere I could find info would be awesome.Not much yet, no. What's said in Inner Sea World Guide and in Lands of the Linnorm Kings is pretty much it for now, and for the foreseeable future. I was just channeling my inner Justin Franklin ;) 
Erik: The machine works really well except for the part at the end where it continuously spits out broken people.
Numeria is certainly a polarizing element—not everyone likes having lasers and robots in their game. That's a big part of why we designed the Inner Sea region to be modular, such that beyond a region's border, they don't have a LOT of impact on the rest of the region. That does result in a certain level of non-realism, I realize, but it's worth it to us in order to make Golarion as widely usable as possible to as many people as possible. So... if you happen to not like Numeria, (or Irrisen with its eternal winter, or Andoran with its democracy, or Belkzen with all those orcs, or whatever) you can turn that region into a blank-slate (either an empty wilderness or a nation of your own design) without significantly impacting the rest of the setting. Now... that said... Numeria is one of the top requests from folks for more information about it, and is often requested as the site for an Adventure Path. Reaction to Numeria elements we've put into other books has been mostly positive as well. Chances of us doing something big with Numeria at some point in the near future are pretty high as a result... at which point folks who hate Numeria will, I guess, get a chance to let their wallets catch their breath! 
After the dragonboob debacle you would think fantasy artists would pay more attention to the boob count on anthropomorphic creatures. Anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that the correct boob count for felines is *eight* though sometimes they have as many as *ten*. This catfolk is clearly shy a few boobs. 
Currently on my mind. Irrisen, Worldwound, and perhaps something to do with Molthune or Isger. Numeria's cool and all, but it can wait. 
I find it sad and disappointing that a community couldn't be open minded enough to try something new and instead get so aggravated over this experimental issue, to the point where Mark and Mike abandon their plan. All over 16 days of not playing a character while the players wait for part 2. Wow. 
I hope to see more kitsune and halfling love!Personally I wouldn't want to see any graphic kitsune and halfling love, I mean my god think of what their off spring would look like. "Oh whatever they look like, they'll be loved." 
This just sounds dull. Three books of keeping crime down and Pathfinders in check? Are they cleaning off graffiti by book 4? I want this too... And I want to play a kid in it. Russian-legend style.
Jason: I'm scared. I'm getting under the table. James Jacobs: Heh heh. Jason: You put work under here! 
You already got me flowers from Pike Place last week. I think you might be up to jewelry, my dear. :-) And he failed to mention that we are the same age until mid June. 
any ability that requires a standard action to activate but has the "at will" attached to it can be maintained permanently so long as you are conscious. at the beginning of the game. "every x minutes i renew my detect evil" Any paladin at my table who wants to "always be detecting evil" is going to force the entire table into initiative for the full 4-5 hours. It's a great ability, but don't be a jerk about it.
We all figured you'd abused haste a bit too much in the AD&D years. 
Awsome mention of the Wilhelm Scream. I may need to add it into play, having the scream play on my phone whenever a player goes into negative HP . :)
Kobolds, furry or scaley? Scaly. See all of our Golarion art for reference. If I preferred them furry, then our kobolds would be furry. I have that level of power. 
If all these blog posts are serving as the buildup to the 10th anniversary celebration at PaizoCon 2012, I'm absolutely ecstatic to be there for it. Vic? Good show, man.
And for everyone else at Paizo? As hard as I know it must sometimes feel in your everyday work schedules and product deadlines, these are the kinds of stories which represent the hard-won accomplishments waiting at the end of that struggle. Nothing worth doing in life ever truly comes easy. Otherwise, it isn't appreciated. And yet, all that you do today is obviously so very much appreciated by your customers, the fans, your industry peers, and yes, even us freelancers who stand ready to support you precisely because of the kind of people and company that you are. I wish you guys all the prosperity and longevity in the world. Because your committment and hard work deserves it. My sincere two cents, ;-)
Running this tonight and planning to incorporate Chris' excellent suggestions. I really liked the read-through. It should be a really nice change of pace. Will post feedback when our session is done. 
Agreed! That artwork is awesome! The template is damned cool too. 
Haunting was recently ran at a local con and I have to say that is was by far my best gaming experience ever. Chris Mortika did a phenomenal job of keeping the party on the edge of our seats. Everyone at the table agreed that this was an awesome scenario. One thing Chris pointed out to us that made it so suspenceful, was the fact that he did not have the map drawn out for us to view. We had to rely on our own imagination. I am definitely looking forward to other scenarios from Jim. 
I got very lucky as a GM. They party had healing resources (a bard and a druid) but no cleric and no paladin. And the APL was 6 plus 1 for a 6-player table. And they decided to play up. So there was already a sense of danger n the party before the first die was rolled. As Kristen says, I considered it my job to increase the tension for about 45 minutes out of every hour of game play. And yes, one of the tools at our disposal is to avoid the really nice map on page 8. If you lay out the map, so that everybody can see how the house is laid out, it's very comfortable for the players, and they approach the situation strategically. Don't let them. Describe each room with all the details you think you need -- underplay the creepiness; a little goes a long way -- and explain how many doors there are and where. Spend as much time on sound and smell as you do on sight. Use miniatures and maps when you have to: for complex combats, or to cut the party a break. See below. Bob Jonquet did me a great favor by reminded me that Scenario 10, "Blood at Dralkard Manor" has a lot of terrific mood-setting pieces: the sound of babies crying, floorboards creaking in rooms behind the party, or sudden gusts of wind. Even though that scenario isn't legal to play in Pathfinder Society, there's a treasure trove of spooky stuff there that we can use for window dressing. One of the differences between "horror" and "action/adventure with a strange and powerful foe" is that horror depends on the protagonists' choices. "The engine on our bus konked out, and we're stuck in the woods" isn't horror. "The cute girl and I snuck out on our own to make out in private" is horror, because the danger is the protagonists' fault. So, give the players choices: will the PCs stay outside, hoping to avoid the witchfire and the hungry fog, or will they go into the house, weakened and fatigued? Are they going to separate the party, or are they going to all go down into the basement, leaving the wind to slam the trapdoor shut? Shirt re-rolls are your friend: every single time someone makes a Perception roll or a saving throw, you can ask "Is that good enough for you?" So going ahead with a roll of 14 is the player's choice. All of this can be heavy-handed and overdone. That's no fun for anybody. Also, you need to get a sense of when there's a good time to ease up and give the party a clean victory. But really, there are some nice tools in Hinojai that you can use to scare the players. 
Congrats Mike! Well deserved! Now get to work!! You are behind schedule already!! :) -Lisa 
Well, you can only get positive credit once, so you should only be penalized once for all the times you run it. Though this would give GMs a free pass to kill off as many characters as they want once they have taken the one negative hit. That would be up to Paizo to balance, but its all kind of moot because they obviously side with RAW, GMS, and huge penalties for dying. I feel that you have some strong issues with GMs in general, wolflord. You've repeatedly ignored the assertion—one that has been presented on numerous occasions within this thread—Player Character death is most often caused by inadvisable decisions made by players or by the random results of dice rolls. Again, I must assert that neither of these are things that are within the scope of a GM's arsenal to adjust. ; a GM cannot change them. Where the die falls, it stays, with certain exceptions which are well within the rules and documented in the T-Shirt Reroll rule, class features, feats and traits. If I wanted to edit my players' decisions so that they were "safer," I'd be playing Pathfinder Society at home, by myself. It is cheating for a GM to specifically suggest the safest course of action for a character, although he may suggest that there are alternatives and let the players puzzle out what those alternatives are. It's definitely cheating if the GM specifically outlines the traps before they're sprung, or the tactics of the baddies, or anything else that the character should not be able to act on because she isn't meant to know about them before encountering them. First time scenarios differing from successive playthroughs depends on how you as the Gm play the NPCS. The first time you aren't playing to win or using the most deadly tactics, you are trying to figure out the tactics. The second time around you know how to play the npcs in the deadliest way and most gms do. (Open with the firestorm that hits the entire party, then follow it up with flame strikes, or other nasty things.) GMS are not playing to "win." As I've mentioned above, the GM's job is to tell the story. Remember that the GM also has to play the parts of any NPCs allied with the party and the parts of any NPCs who are indifferent to the party, whether they are allied with or at odds with the NPCs who are antagonistic to the party. And a GM who is using the most deadly tactics is probably playing well outside the Rules-As-Written. What I was sort of hinting at above is that gms don't HAVE to always have the npcs employ the most devastating tactics. Players often don't, because they want to have fun, have gained a new level and don't understand their abilities, are casual players, or might be newbies. While it is within the rights of a Gm to play the npcs in the most deadly way possible, personally I don't feel they always need to for the group to have fun. They can choose to make it a little easier if it means not killing a character and having him sit there with nothing to do for 4 hours. Further, you're using as example your personal experience with a scenario you played up, which you announced that you yourself opted into even though it was two levels above your character's abilities. As it has been stated above, you made this choice, knowing that Pathfinder, like D&D before it, involves some risk. The risk to your character was great, and in spite of this great risk, you opted to play. This is an example of a player making a poor choice. You also, at great inconvenience to yourself, chose to sit at that table for the remaining five hours rather than find something more productive and interesting to do. Remember, this thread asked what I would like to see and this is my perfect pfs world. I know many of you would probably hate it. I do find it interesting that AFAIK only (or mostly) gms have responded. I wonder what experienced non-gm players, or newbie players (with chars under lvl 5) would think of these ideas. How do they feel about all these issues? Did these things (and not just the death thing) make them want to come back for more or did it deter them? I do not see anywhere in the original post where it asks you what would make PFS a perfect world for you, and while, despite that, I still appreciate your candor, I honestly believe that your suggestions would cripple Pathfinder Society Organized Play by further deterring people from becoming GMs and causing existing ones to walk, not to mention by completely throwing off balance mechanics that are meant to keep Pathfinder Society Scenarios fair for all players. Your qualm, as has also been mentioned before, is with specific GMs and the tactics and attitudes of those GMs—tactics and attitudes it has been suggested again and again that you should report. But the rules you're suggesting are across-the-board changes that would apply to all GMs. It is not a GM's duty, nor should it be, nor would it benefit Pathfinder Society Organized Play as a whole, to soft-ball encounters, and it has already been indicated in other topics that GMs may not employ tactics that go beyond the scope of RAW to outright maliciously kill characters. Your character has died. I'm empathetic on the subject. But characters die and penalizing GMs for it or mandating that GMs are to "go easy" on players when the dice roll in favor of the baddies or the environment or when the players make inadvisable decisions for their characters is not the answer. Let me turn this around, however. You spent so many hours getting your character up to level 6. The only way this can be a waste of time is if you toss aside Pathfinder Society Organized Play and never play again. And if it also causes your friends to avoid playing the game, all theirs will, too. Instead, as the GM I told you I am, and as your best friend as I told you I am, I challenge you to do better. A dead character is not a dead stop. It's just a dip in the road or a speed bump. So I challenge you to make a more resilient character, to choose better tactics, and to realize when it's just a bad idea to play up. I challenge you to not let those hours of learning the nuances and rules go to waste. And I challenge you to fairly report when you feel GMs are outright bending or breaking the rules to march PCs to their deaths. And to fairly report when you see GMs bragging about their kill counts when—and only when—they are doing it at the expense of their players' feelings. And not when it's meant in honest, good-hearted fun. Moreover, I challenge you to GM for Pathfinder Society, , following as closely to the tactics delineated within the Scenarios you run as you can and deviate only as far from those tactics as would befit the NPC's or monster's outlook. Not only so that you can learn that it is indeed possible for a player to have a good time even when his or her character dies fairly, even when it is his or her own decisions that led to that death. Please don't let your bad experiences turn into a hate fest. Turn your negative emotions into dedicated, devoted, caring determination so that all of Pathfinder Society benefits. 
Shivok
(Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, GameMastery Maps Subscriber)
Okay guys and Gals I got the go ahead from Liz Courts and Mike Brock to have a PFS centered Q&A webchat in a few weeks using Liz's chatroom. I'll be posting the information and date as soon as we clear up the details. So if you cant make it to GENCON for the PFS Meeting this is the next best thing! 
The order of Arshea better be moody and blue despite (or perhaps because) they dress in white silks. Wouldn't that be white satin? Never reaching the end?
I strongly disagree with this. I'm a GM who's already afraid that I'm going to kill a character. And yet, I force myself to play by RAW. Luckily for me, none of my players' characters have died (yet), but I know that it's going to happen sometime. Setting aside for the moment that I'm worried about how the player will feel (probably more than justified and because I know what it's like to lose a character I've put a lot of effort into making and building up)... And setting aside for the moment the point made ad nauseum above (death is part of tabletop RPGs)... What you've said here strikes me as contrary to the spirit of gaming in general. The whole point of sitting down at a table to play a game like Pathfinder RPG, Pathfinder Society, GURPS, Alternity, or what have you, is to have fun. And in my (somewhat limited, compared to folks like Kyle or Mike or Bob) experience with Pathfinder Society, that's what happens. I've had players near death, useless in combats because they're bleeding out at 1hp a round. Two at one of my most recent, in the same combat, too. And at the end of the night, they all agreed that they had a fun time. I suggest that if you're not having fun in Pathfinder Society, whether it be because you feel the GMs are too unfair when sticking with the RAW or because you feel that it's too easy and you're not being challenged well enough to hold your interest, that Pathfinder Society is not your cup of tea. Not that it's not for you—never that, because (let's be fair about this) the phrase, "not for you," carries an unfortunate, oft-unintended and, moreover, an oft-overlooked strong connotation that implies exclusivity—but rather that you'd prefer something else. While we love having players, yourself included, it's not as fun for us as GMs if we know our players aren't having fun playing the game they're playing. If I have to ask why you're playing the game, I feel like there's something wrong, and that perhaps you'd be much happier being elsewhere and doing elsewhat. I don't agree with celebrating over a character death. And I will never condone it in the GMs that I will eventually recruit. Certainly, if a player is going to be a good sport about it, or even can see the fun in his character's death I won't stop them from joshing with that player and others at the table and even other GMs. My point here is that I want to see caring GMs who recognize that a player is feeling down about what may honestly feel like a lot of lost time and effort. And if you feel that GMs running the tables at your local venue are going out of their way to TPK so they can brag about it, then you should seriously contact your local VC or Mike Brock about it. However... However, I will never agree to penalizing GMs for character death when the GM was following Rules-As-Written. I have trouble getting players already, and that's starting to pan out better since I have both the stores in my town advertising for me. But I'm sure that the majority of VCs and VLs will tell you they know just how difficult it can be to recruit a GM, because that's probably a hundred times harder to do. Not just anybody will step up for the position, and quite frankly not just anybody has the right combination of attributes to perform the job even passably. Giving someone a minefield, telling them, "now this might kill some people even if they're good at avoiding mines," followed by, "if anyone dies, you don't get paid," and then, "usher these people who claim to be good at avoiding mines across the minefield," is ALWAYS going to result in a resounding "HELL NO!" That is to say, giving them yet another reason to not do it will turn them off to the idea even more. What this illustrates, obviously, is that I'm really bad with analogies. While on this path, it's important to note that it is important the GM has fun. If GMing is not fun, it's work, and if it's work, I don't want to do it and nobody else will, either. Especially if there's no benefit in following the rules, because there's definitely no benefit to be had from bending or even breaking them. Even worse would be to give GMs the edict to let all their players' characters live, even if those players make poor choices or if the dice do what they're supposed to do and roll badly sometimes. The dice are one of the things that are most decidedly not a guideline, and if a player makes a choice, there are definitely either positive or negative consequences of the actions she chooses for her character. If there's no real risk, there's no game. Pathfinder, like D&D before it, is about that risk. It's about delving into secret dungeons and sifting through the ruins of ancient, collapsed fortresses, and exploring a strange and wondrous world filled with traps, treasure and things that would like nothing better than to destroy you. And if you take the danger out of that, you may as well be frolicking through gardens of butterflies, in a world where it never rains and yet a rainbow hanging perpetually in the sky. (PROTIP: If you ever, while playing Pathfinder or D&D, end up in a place like the one described above, be very scared.) But, after all that, let's return to the original topic: If you were in my region, at my table, and your character died in a scenario, I would not laugh unless you were laughing, too, and then I would be laughing with you. And then I would ask you if you'd like help creating a new character for next time. For my players, I'll do anything within my power as a GM—power that's limited by the RAW. If you ask me about something I will tell you what I know of it and go home and research if I don't. If you email me or call me and tell me you are sick or that you have another engagement and won't be able to make it this week, I will tell you I look forward to seeing you next week. If you want to argue that the rules are unfair I will either agree with your or disagree, but I'll be honest about it and I will continue to follow those rules. As a GM, I am your best friend and I will be honest with you Every. Single. Time. And as your best friend, I won't change the rules for you or lower the hurdles because however hard the world your character lives in wants him to fail, I want him to succeed all the way, just like everyone else who's gotten over those hurdles all over the world. As a GM, I don't try to kill characters. I let the NPCs and monsters do that for themselves, and it's definitely not my job to stop them from doing it. My job, as a Pathfinder Society GM, is to tell the story. My job as a promoter of Pathfinder Society is to interest players who are willing to give their time to the game, to their character, in exchange for having fun and trying to keep their character alive throughout that story. And I do all of that and more, every week. 
And it was me... muahahaha.... I keeled my VC!!!!!!!!!! *Disclaimer* I'm celebrating, yeppers I am ... Todd took it like a champ and came back a day later for another game. Death happens, especially when you fail your save. I mean... it was a 90 point finger of death right to the kisser... it was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Nope, the nagas of Nagajor have no arms. I'm sure they'll figure out a way around this. After all, the daleks figured out how to get up steps ... eventually. 
Hi everyone! As I am finishing up my commentary on the top 4 submissions this year I thought back over prior years' submissions and contestants. I hope everyone in the top 4 this year realizes that while winning the contest is great, its what you do after Superstar that really matters and each and every one of you has the chance for great things and for an amazing freelance career if you choose to work hard and do it whether or not you win Superstar. Just look at the list of prior top 4: 2008 Top 4:
2009 Top 4:
2010 Top 4:
2011 Top 4:
There are some "non-winners" on there who have gone on to great things.
Congrats to all 4 of you for your hard work and success during this great contest! You four have done a great job and regardless of who wins, I wish you all a great post-Superstar career should you choose to pursue it. And now your four names will be added to that above list, which is pretty impressive, and when I review submissions next year (if they let me) it will be YOUR submissions that I mentally compare their submissions to. I hope you get a feeling of your place in the history of this contest and how cool that is. It is quite an accomplishment. You should be proud of yourselves. And all the members of this community should be proud for their support and involvement in this great contest! Nice work, top 4! Win or loose, welcome to the annals of RPG Superstar history!
Can you possibly outdo Roger E. Moore's Dancing Hut? I think we can. It won't be easy though. 
My list: 1) Taco launcher special ability is banned for pole arms.
Skrillex....is that a singing group or a cleaning product?It's the new Dark Tapestry Faction! I initially read this as "... the new dark tapestry falcon". Perhaps Mr. Groves' avatar picture was responsible.
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