Kizan's page

I heard about this product after a review in the Know Direction podcast. They seemed to like the options offered. It sounded fun and interesting to me even if only as a good read. After purchasing the PDF and giving it a read through I agree with the hosts of Know Direction and many on the forums here. It's a great product! Maybe not right for all games and all players but certainly useable and fun!

I plan on using it to spice up my critters! Using it as NPC/Monster feats are great ways to throw complacent players.

Much of Owen's early discussion about this product (and some other board members) appears to have some of the ring of... dare I say it D&DNext! Not all books/products are right for every game. Use the ones that work for your group and the type and style of game you want to play/run.

Thanks for a great book! Look forward to more.

Kizan

P.S. Is there a Hero Lab file for this book?

I have a Ninja PC in my group that's using poisoned shuriken. After a combat in which she missed with all poisoned shuriken thrown she asked if the shuriken she retrieved (and there were some) still had poison on them? I'm not sure. I did some searching and found lots of rules about applying poison and adjudicating poisons but not much about retrieving poisoned ammo. I guess this question could apply to poisoned arrows and thrown weapons as well?

Thanks,

Kizan

I've created several battle maps using the method described above. And while very work intensive it's worked pretty well. I guess my question to Paizo is why isn't this style of image available as part of the map pack? I have had to jump through these hoops for many many PFS slots (although many use the flip-maps and map packs which is great albeit a tad generic).

I like the interactive portion of the map pack, but would be MORE interested in PDFs that came setup for printing battle maps. Perhaps just including a JPG that is squared with the grid and correctly sized (I know it would be large). Most of the battle maps are ones that have no room numbers or secret doors on them anyway.

Thanx,

Kizan

My Disney World Pathfinder MMO video!

Goblinworks and Paizo Publishing, LLC(R) have my permission to use the video as they see fit.

Kizan

I guess it's possible that no one has reported this, but the Chronicle at the end is in error. The title states it's for Part I not Part II. I'm guessing that the rest of the cert is correct?

Kizan

d20Pro v3.0 just came out with a Marketplace to give/sell maps, tokens and content. Is there any plans to release Paizo content on that Marketplace.

This would be especially nice for Pathfinder Society slots.

Thanx,

Kizan

There are lots of options. Don't tie yourself down by thinking there is a "secret story" that you *HAVE* to follow.

Thanx for the links. I'm not looking for a story that I HAVE to follow but I DO want to make an informed choice about which mods/slots have which plot arcs as part of them.

While I agree the Blackros mods are not story dependent they are clearly linked if only in the minds of the players (and therefore are considered fun). The fourth Blackros Museum mod (Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-07: Echoes of the Overwatched) was announced because its a fan fav even though there is no strict plot arc.

I'm interested in info on official metaplot arcs like Year of the Shadow Lodge and "unofficial" arcs like Blackros Museum.

I'm guessing based on the silence on this topic that no such resource exists?

Thanx,

Kizan

P.S. Maybe I'll see what I can compile. I was hoping to not recreate the wheel.

This might be heresy asking this here, but I couldn't find it anywhere else.

Is there a listing of all the metaplot arcs and the adventures that make them up? I know that some plot arcs are more linked than others. For example, the Shadow Lodge is a more clearly linked arc. While all of the adventures that take place at the Blackros Museum are much less linked but none the less have a arc or are at least linked in some way.

I looked at the various wikis and searched here on the forums looking for any kind of listing of the various larger and smaller plot arcs.

In this and other "organized play" systems I've played in it always seems like the authors/publisher wants to keep this a secret for some reason. I don't understand why. It makes it difficult for people that want to get involved just are afraid of jumping into the middle of a plot arc. I any others I've talked to would like to start at the beginning of a plot arc to get the whole story.

Thanx,

Kizan

Looks great!

Any chance of seeing this as a mobile App like the Critical Hit/Miss decks?

A chase app with in-app purchase of additional chase card sets and additional chase types! Maybe some custom card types!

Very cool idea!

Kizan

My players LOVE these cards during a chase. Much better than the 3x5 cards I was using. Gives a nice visual to the obstacles.

Need more types of chases! And expand the selection of cards for the existing chases!

Hope they come out with an expanded line of these soon. That way we could shuffle all the urban cards (if there were enough to do that) together and get a random chase! Challenge for the player and DM if the NPCs roll too!

Kizan

I work at a university and will be volunteering my time to run PFS slots every Saturday night during the academic quarter for the universities gaming club student organization.

At the beginning of the year (and sometimes again at the beginning of each quarter) people that are running games are asked to stand up in front of the group and explain the type of game that they are going to run. There are some 30 to 50 student members in the club. Most are students in the room although I'm sure we'd take anyone that wanted to run or play.

Most are RPG players or board game players or minis players of some kind. We rarely get anyone that doesn't have a background in gaming of some kind. I have yet to run into any students (in the club or out) that don't have some background in gaming because of the prevalence of MMO, Facebook games and the like.

Oddly there are few if members that have gone to conventions of any kind and have no conception of an "organized play" style. Most of the RPGer crowd has played home-games (high school level stuff) and some of the PVP conversions for D&D. The structure and constants of "organized play" are sometime alien to them and seem very restrictive.

If someone at Paizo or anyone else has an "elevator pitch" (2-4 min speech sales pitch) to explain PFS in a positive light and to some degree an organized play experience I would love to hear it.

Thanx,

Kizan

P.S. I love organized play and have played at cons and at home for the past 15 years.

W E Ray wrote:

Or will the other novels have Chronicles added at a later date?

This.

I'm sorry I don't understand.

This. What?

Kizan

I have used and own both PCGen and Hero Lab. The comments and suggestions that other people have made on both sides of the issue are very true.

I have a long history with PCGen and find it "easier" to use. I put that in quotes because of the steep learning curve that PCGen has. I really like the custom output sheets that PCGen provides or allows me to create. I really really like custom data that I can create. That all said it wasn't easy to learn to do that and it wasn't fast. Data sets are community created so they are slow at best and have some omissions or errors at best. Most redeeming value is that it's free! Second most redeeming value is custom sheets and data.

Hero Lab I have less experience with, but datasets are quickly created and seem to be fairly accurate (within normal reasonable limits... bugs always creep in). I looked into custom content and was surprised that it was as difficult as it is. I really looked into custom output sheets and was very bummed that it was that hard.

My needs and POV:
I could care less what's "offical" unless it means that there will be less content for one program over another. I really dig the custom output sheets and the fact that I can create custom content if I really want it.

Kizan

We have been playing Pathfinder for almost three years now and have been using these rules.

ARPS Pathfinder House Rules

Some we put in place to speed up combat some just to make it more fun.

We have also started using the Critical Hit deck, but only on named monsters and only against PC's from named monsters. The Critical Failure deck wound up being not very fun and the Crit Deck was only fun when used sparingly.

Kizan

Please post some pics of your creation. I'd love to see it.

That looks great! What a labor of love. Having recently finished a 3D version of the Lucky Monkey Inn, I can appreciate the time and care that goes into these things. I couldn't really make out the figure, though; what did you use specifically? I've worried about what I'll use to represent Adimarchus (when we get that far years from now :-P)

I recently completed 2.75D map creation. It's the culmination of my longest running campaign ever. We started Pathfinder 24 months ago playing The Shackled City AP.

Skullrot 3D is the final encounter map in that AP. I used cardboard for the levels (free from Lowes appliance department) and some 7/8 wood rods to create the legs. I printed to scale the actual maps from the AP (Photoshop and Acrobat Pro tile printing). I used a carpentry pencil to create the 5ft squares (the map only had 10ft marked). The cage is a donation/borrow from my childrens ImaginNext toy and the figure is from WotC.

Skullrot 3D
Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

A Video too!

Hope you like the pics and video.

It's a lamentable but well known fact that most of the pre-gens (at all levels) have errors and paizo staff have indicated it's on their to-do list to fix them at some point.

I actually did some Google searching and messageboard searching before I posted this hoping to find a list of errata. When I didn't find one I posted my questions.

Kizan

It appears that Kyra the Human Cleric also has the same issue. I think she should have 3 skill points, but only 2 are spent.

Kizan

The Spell Focus (Evocation) is the substitution for Scribe Scroll. Item creation feats aren't allowed in PFS.
I'm guessing he's human, and so gets two feats at 1st level, and 1 extra skill point per level.

Yup that's got to be it with the feats. However, I think the pregen has an unspent skill point. He should get 2 + Int Mod + Human = 2+4+1 = 7 Skill points. On the sheet he has Know(Arcana) +8, Know (Geography) +8, Know (History) +8, Know (local) +8, Perception +3, Spellcraft +8. That leaves him with one skill point left. Yes?

Thanx,

Kizan

Would someone please check me? I played with a group of college students over the weekend. They had never played Pathfinder or Pathfinder Society so to make it easy I printed up the official pregens from the website and we played.

Had a ton of fun and we'll be doing to again. A couple of the guys knew a bit about 3.5e and asked about the PC's. We didn't get into any real discussion about it because everyone wanted to play.

But I went back and I'm trying to put the pregen PC's into PCGen so I can use them again and either PCGen is busted (which happens all the time) or the sheet is bogus.

PCGen is claiming that Ezren has 1 skill point that I can't account for (total is 7). Also his sheet gives him three feats Combat Casting, Great Fort and Spell Focus (Evocation). I can't figure out where the third feat comes from.

Thanx for correcting my stupidness.

Kizan

+1

As the guy in our group that's willing to spend money on the RPG hobby I would enjoy the convenience of a subscription. Adding ($3.99 x 2) per month to my monthly subscription would hardly add much to my bill and would add to the easy of use and play quite a bit.

While I don't run every slot I usually am the purchaser/organizer/liberation/collector of my group. You might say this isn't "fair", but it is what it is. And we are all happy with it.

Kizan

I've been running this AP in Pathfinder for the past 13 months and we have loved it. Since it is 3.5e and not Pathfinder I find that most of the encounters are a bit underpowered (in some cases esp if you have a paladin in the group). We also have five to six PC's in the group which also contributes to the overpower factor.

I've used http://therpgenius.pbworks.com/Shackled-City-main-page heavily in my prep and have contributed back to it some of the resources I've created for it. Several people have contributed PF conversions for encounters/room/critters and so forth.

A great mod like this shouldn't languish because of difficulty in supporting it. I was glad to see several people pick it up and run with it.

Kizan

+1

I found a new Pathfinder Core Rules Advert today!

Very cute!
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~bowie/pfcr-advert.jpg

Kizan

Thanks for the clarification!

Kizan

A question about Damage Reduction (DR).

Critter has DR 10/silver. If a PC used a non-silver Frost weapon would the magical flame portion of the damage go through the DR?

I looked up DR in the PFCR. These are a quotes from that section.

Damage Reduction - PFCR pg 561
"Whenever damage reduction completely negates the
damage from an attack, it also negates most special
effects that accompany the attack, such as injury poison,
a monk’s stunning, and injury-based disease. Damage
reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage
dealt along with an attack, or energy drains."

A subsection of DR section - PFCR pg 562
Overcoming DR: Damage reduction may be overcome
by special materials, magic weapons (any weapon with
a +1 or higher enhancement bonus, not counting the
enhancement from masterwork quality), certain types of
weapons (such as slashing or bludgeoning), and weapons
imbued with an alignment.

Thoughts?

Thanx,

Kizan

This has prolly been answered a dozen or so times already, but since Google didn't kick anything up and the search feature on the forums is currently broken I figured I'll ask.

When using a scroll, can a caster "Cast Defensively".

Feat - Cast Defensively
You are adept at spellcasting when threatened or distracted.

Benefit: You get a +4 bonus on concentration checks made to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability when casting on the defensive or while grappled.

The rules clearly state that a scroll is a spell-completion magic item. But never gives very clear indication that using a scroll (or any other spell completion item for that matter) doesn't also count as "spellcasting".

Like I said this has prolly already been hashed out I just can't find the thread.

If someone has a short answer (or even a not so short answer) I'd appreciate it.

Thanx,

Kizan

I see it differently. I think that finding things - even in plain sight - is a skill, and some people are better at it than others. I often fail to see what is plain in front of me. Others have a knack for checking the right place right away. Of course, luck is a factor - and in the d20 system, luck is VERY important. So I'd say that a Perception roll WOULD be appropriate for such a situation.

I'm going to agree with this. There IS a mechanic for the methodical body cavity search. Take 20. I would readily agree that it would take more than two minutes to search THAT thoroughly. I don't think most people want to get into that much detail (at least my players don't).

Personally I like and use the passive auto-take 10 approach to perception. This allows the players to stop rolling dice for every 10 ft. asking if they see anything (yes, my players are a bit nervous). If there is really something interesting they then ask for a "real" perception check. If they don't roll better than a 10 they still get their passive.

My two bits,

Kizan

This product is JUST the information you would give a player about a creature. It's designed to be printed out on cards to be handed out. The info is organized by DC of the check so the DM knows how much to tell the player.

I'm not so sure about the card part of the idea. I don't think I'll be printing out the cards. I'll just be opening up the PDF searching for the monster and reading the section that is appropriate.

This is a great idea. I have been waiting for this product and have already purchased it. My players are always wanting to know what they "know" about a creature and this can be a great starting point for the DM to hand out that info.

While at the beginning of the PDF is states which knowledge skill would be used to "know" something about the creature it would be better if the card had the needed skill listed on it as well. Thus saving the DM the time of looking at the beginning of the PDF to look up the skill and then having to look up the card. Would be VERY helpful for new DMs especially.

Kizan

I got mine!

Thanx,

Kizan

Can't wait. Just got my hands on my Bestiary and I'm looking forward to using those cards.

Thanx,

Kizan

I listened to 3.5 Private Sanctuary's monthly segment called Know Direction that is dedicated to Pathfinder RPG news and reviews. They interviewed the Owner/Creator of 4WindsFantasy and talked about his new products. I was intrigued and purchased the Pathfinder RPG Condition Summary PDf. Nice product and easy to use.

Robert Thomson was interviewed during the podcast. He mentioned that there would be Pathfinder RPG versions of "Monster Knowledge Cards".

I would like to know when those will be out? I'm in the middle of a Pathfinder RPG game and my players ask those types of questions ALL the frikin' time. Can't wait to see the product.

Thanx,

Kizan

I listened to 3.5 Private Sanctuary's monthly segment called Know Direction that is dedicated to Pathfinder RPG news and reviews. They interviewed the Owner/Creator of 4WindsFantasy and talked about his new products. I was intrigued and purchased the Pathfinder RPG Condition Summary PDf. Nice product and easy to use.

During the podcast the host interviewed Robert Thomson and he mentioned that there would be Pathfinder RPG versions of "Monster Knowledge Cards".

I would like to know when those will be out?

Thanx,

Kizan

Where is picture of cover?

I had to go to Amazon to see it!

Kizan

I really liked the that you only had one other host. Sometimes with so many hosts it can be difficult to get into much depth with the topic. The fact that Kurt didn't have much 3.5e or Pathfinder XP was both good and bad as others have stated. Since you had so much 3.5e and Pathfinder XP I think it made up a lot.

I'm hoping that you'll be able to do interviews with other more experience and less experienced hosts about the same product (Pathfinder RPG Core Rules) to gain other insights and commentary. As I recall the statement for Know Direction was to cover other Pathfinder products (I hope you can produce a chart for the rest of us to use). But I still think there is material in just the Core Rules that could come from other hosts (and other types of hosts).

Thanx for such a great job. Can't wait to hear more.

Kizan

A very good podcast. Can't wait for more. There were a few errors that have been chatted about in their forums. I was hoping there would be more hosts to chat about the topic (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook). I hope they do the SAME topic again with a different guest host(s).

I really liked the depth they went into with the one guest host (I think he was a guest host?). But would wish that they would get some other more D&D knowledgeable hosts to read through (hopefully play!) Pathfinder RPG and be on the host(s).

Two more 3.5 Private Sanctuary episodes have released. While the primary topics were a discussion of 3.5e classes and class features (Monk and Fighter in this case) at the end of the discussion there was a brief discussion about the Pathfinder version of both of these classes. I would wish for just a bit longer than a brief discussion, but I'm sure they are short on time.

Kizan

I'd like to happily report that I have listened to all of the first Know Direction and was very happy with it. There's was lots of good stuff in there.

They covered the Pathfiner RPG Core Rules for over an hour. I would love to have that SAME topic covered with several other people. It's really great to hear some in depth coverage of the book from 3.5 experts and some (self-professed) not-so-experts.

I read in their forums they had planned on having several other people to chat with about the book. The interview was in depth and details which I really liked also though.

Thanx!

Well this is good timing. I've been working on a Pathfinder-focused spin-off of 3.5 Private Sanctuary for over a month now. Technical gaffs and some other delays meant this episode is two weeks late, but the Fan Generated Pathfinder RPG news, reviews, and interviews podcast Know Direction debuts today with Know Direction - Episode 1. Episode 2 should be out before the end of September, Episode 3 by mid-October, and then we start our monthly schedule.