Koldoon's page

Seriously, Write or Die helps. I've been using it since you posted it up here, and I got my word count from 18,000 to 22,000, making up for the day before (in which I did hardly anything).
As of yesterday, I'm at 29,000 words and very excited!

- Ashavan

Hope those of you still working on novels are still getting the words out. Today should mark 30,000 words for those still trying to get to 50k by the end of the month.

Hey, keep it up guys.

I do this every year (this is year 5 for me) and for those wondering at the size of the project and how feasible it is, it's day 14 and I closed the day with over 45,000 words. It's possible and even likely I will finish the word count tomorrow... though the story is likely to continue for a while yet.

For those needing help to keep writing, I strongly recommend write-or-die or a communal write-in where someone is giving you leverage to help you get your word count in.

Write or die:

http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

The idea is that you set a preset goal (in number of words or time) and until you meet that goal, nasty things happen if you stop typing for more than a few seconds at a time.

- Ashavan

Opportunity Lost

by Ashavan Doyon

Pain exploded through me at the thought. It started in the temples, beating like drumbeats hard upon my flesh. Then it jolted inwards, inflaming the inner layers of my brain like that stupid egg they used to tell you would be your brain if you did drugs. Funny, didn't need drugs to make that happen.

I confess, edition wars have largely been the culprit keeping me away, though I try to still hang out in the chat room fairly regularly.

When the play tests first started on Pathfinder I thought, great. But the play test forums and indeed almost all the forums became toxic for anyone who played (or even liked) both systems.

I love paizo, they're great people and I enjoy the opportunities I've had to write for them. I like their world and can only say I wish they'd slow down the pace a bit, cause it is hard for me to keep up! I have no trouble saying that paizo produces the best interwoven adventures in the business and does so consistently. That's not to say other companies don't manage a gem now and then, but I know I can buy almost any paizo adventure and trust the quality will be outstanding.

I have mostly switched to 4e for my games. That doesn't mean that I'm not reading pathfinder and hoping to (eventually) run some online 4e conversions of the adventures. It doesn't mean that I won't play or run a pathfinder game in a pinch. But it does mean that I do, for the most part, avoid posting on boards where the mere mention of liking 4e gets me branded as some sort of traitor (or worse).

Not posting doesn't mean I'm not reading, however, though I readily admit I don't do so every day as I used to.

- Ashavan

I wish to remain clear that I was making a purposed (and dictionary allowable) distinction between the two terms, precisely so that I could illustrate that it is also possible for a man to be prejudiced against a certain race without being racist.

Words have meanings, and we must use them correctly. We cannot Clintonize our language to make a term mean whatever we want, as it suits our purposes. Tarren, I am NOT attributing this to you. Many people butcher the language, however, and so I make sincere attempts to find and use the right words.

To this, I still contend that the terms are distinct. As was pointed out, racism is a subset of prejudice, but the two are not equivalent terms. If it helps any at all, I am simply using them distinctively.

Words have multiple definitions because people use the words differently at different times and in different places to mean different things. That may be inconvenient, but it doesn't make those usages wrong.

Champions Online never pulled at me. Something about the graphics bothered me and still does.

I still like City of Heroes/Villains, though I confess still being miffed that the power gamers completely destroyed the architect system within weeks of release.

I wouldn't usually name the game unless among gamers. I'd just say I was meeting some friends for the evening and not say more unless asked.

That's a healthy attitude. Gaming books, for all that we love them, are still things, most of which can be replaced.

I'm happy to hear you're alright, and I'm sorry about your books. It's easy to say they're only things, but I know how frustrated and hurt I'd be if my own collection were lost.

Welcome, Brandon!

Ha!

Well, there are worse nicknames to have

-Ashavan

Sharoth wrote:

Yep! Besides, you can always pick up the other books later when things get better.

Edit - Plus you get two of the Darkmoon modules for free. Sort of. If you hit the gamestore for the free RPG day or if you downloaded the free PDFs.

I think I will use Darkmoon Vale. I just picked up the .pdf and I was happy with what I saw. It is a good, traditional setting with some nice twists. The area will appeal to my group and, if I decide to, I can find a place for Monte's Dungeon a Day.

I also like darkmoon vale as a setting and am preparing a 4e conversion to run as an online game... there are enough twists to make the area fun, Falcon's Hollow in particular provides some great opportunities for role playing, and the lumber consortium provides an interesting "law vs good" type conflict for players who like that sort of thing.

If you are thinking adventures though, don't forget to check out the pathfinder society adventures... they have the advantage of being very inexpensive and are quite good - and short, which makes plugging them in places as a break a little easier.

Dark_Mistress wrote:

I'm still waiting on the Boys of Paizo speedo calendar. :D

That shrill ringing you hear way off in the distance. That's me screaming.

That sound will continue forever.

Thanks.

James Jacobs wrote:

My experience working on Dungeon (with its side treks) and Pathfinder (with its set pieces) is that writers hate hate HATE writing short adventures, and that they invariably take more work than it's almost worth to trim back down to "short" status. I'm pretty fed up with the idea of short adventures as a result—anything shorter than a 32 page module at this point is probably not something Paizo's going to be tackling anytime soon as a result.

*cough*
Pathfinder Society Scenarios
*cough*

Of course, they'd be even better if I could write them. (well, not really, the writers are very good already, I'd just like to see my name up there one day too!)

I've been thinking of doing some conversions for these to 4e, since that's what I'm playing lately.

EDIT -> PS - this is not a dig against Pathfinder RPG, I haven't seen it yet to judge it. For me, Paizo's greatest strength is the stories the adventures tell, and they do it better than anyone, that's why I use their material for my 4e game.

That this thread is still open is indicative to me of how awesome Paizo is.

Or they could be taking the approach of being flattered.

- Ashavan

Scott, I can sympathize with you through most of this, but one thing to remember is that Paizo has set themselves up, more or less, as a "haven for the disaffected." In a sense, Pathfinder is a blantant anti-4e. Unfortunately, that means that almost any mention of 4e is met here with cries of "blasphemy!" -- and why wouldn't it be? -- that's the target audience of the company, people who don't like 4th edition. It's kind of unreasonable to expect, well, reasoned argument about it.

The logic seems to be that if someone equates computer games with "no roleplaying" and says that's bad, well, then 4e must be based on computer games, because 4e is bad: QED. (Personally, it reminds me more of Magic: The Gathering for some reason, with the monster card layouts, but I don't personally have enough experience with either game to really support that statement.)

Scott, you are the best argument for an ignore function on those boards. Your hypocritical and arrogant crusading for 4E and your inability to accept any critic of it - no matter how true - should be labelled as the trolling it is.

Check what bridge you're hiding under.

- Ashavan

Oh, and I expect Lilith should be along with cookies for you shortly... I'd offer some, but I don't bake.

- Ashavan

I am sorry again for causing you distress. I do know people are pretty inflamed when it comes to criticism to an edition or the other. However, I would like to point out I did not say any of those things you mention, though I guess from your response that you have had plenty of those coming from others. I was just mentioning a difficulty I think newer players might have with the recent iteration of the game, since some of those elements that were instrumental to me seem to be missing.

You have plenty of experience with RP as it seems and playing 4e is as good as playing any other system if you and your players are experienced.

As for needing to be an experienced group to roleplay, again, I have to say, we must have read two very different versions of the DMG... the 4e guide went into far more depth on how to run a game, especially from the perspective of a new DM, than I recall any previous edition doing.

Scott, get a clue, and do the math before you post next time. SC are broken, math says so. Arguing with math makes it really hard to take any of your opinions seriously.

My main problem with 4e comes from the way it teaches a new generation of RPgamers our loved hobby. It is true that experienced players can grab mostly any set of rules (3.5, 4e, or even Chess) and construct a role-playing experience.

I started playing RPGs with AD&D some 16 years ago. The amount of fluff, tips on roleplaying, and literary references that came with the core books really aided me and everyone playing at the time to understand what RPGs were all about.

I hear things like "well powers are all the same - only the damage die and type changes" and I think what were the differences between ray of frost and burning hands or flame strike vs fireball vs lightning bolt vs cone of cold. combat spells do damage of a type in a shape - they did in 1st edition and 2nd edition and in both 3.0 and 3.5 - so why is this bad in 4e?

Flavor and role-playing depend on the players and the DM - anybody who started playing very young knows that, because when we were young, very young, we probably didn't understand the rules well enough to play correctly. But we still had fun, because when you're a kid roleplaying comes naturally. And you know what was exciting? The bits where you got to fireball the troll. And it's still exciting in 4e.

Only in 4e, I don't have to prepare for six hours if I want the game to go well, or even longer at high levels. I can just spend a reasonable amount of time preparing and enjoy.

4e gives tremendously good DMing advice in the DMG - Easily better than ANY PREVIOUS EDITION of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

I don't have anything against people who enjoy 3rd edition, nor anything against Paizo. Heck, I think they put out great products, and I'm thrilled to be able to port some of that content for my 4e games. I will still pick up the Pathfinder RPG when it comes out. But I am really sick of hearing "but there are no rules for roleplaying in 4e" because there are, and frankly, the barebones rules light approach for roleplaying appeals to me a heck of a lot more than the 'must be a rule for everything in case someone tries to break the game' approach taken by 3.5 ... I'm so relieved to not have to spend hours stating up a monster with class levels... I can do it in a few minutes, and not have to feel like crap if my two hours of prep work dies in the first round of combat.

I'm also really sick of the edition wars. I've tried to be neutral - because I do enjoy both... I like playing in 3.5, and even DMing at lower levels... but I also enjoy 4e and I see a LOT of unjustified attacks.

It's a boardgame that requires minis - I hear this a lot too. So did 3e, it just didn't outright say so. Was it possible to play without? Yes. Did certain classes lose out if you did so? Yes. I wonder where the excitement of playing with the table, with a board went to. My brother and I used to use legos, and we thought it was so cool to be able to put the monster mini down, especially if we had the right one. Now it's bad????

I'm sorry, I'm just fed up. I'm really sick of being told that if I enjoy 4e I don't know what role playing is. I'm really sick of being told that if I was a good DM, I wouldn't have to prep so long for my 3.5 games. That clearly 3.5 is better and that I owe it to Paizo to support their game of WotC.

This edition war is destroying both games. And it shouldn't. I like both games. I hope, I really do, that somehow Paizo manages to fix 3.5 for DMs, because I like the game - I just hate that DMing for it became work rather than fun, especially at high levels. I hope that WotC manages to figure out that failing to actually let new blood into their adventure writing pool is causing most of their adventures for 4e to stink. Because I want to be able to play and DM in 3.P and I want to be able to play good prepublished adventures in 4e.

And mostly, I want not to feel every time I go to one discussion board or the other that I am the enemy. Even when I don't post, when I read the boards... these wonderful boards that were once the best gaming community out there... I cringe. I'm always the enemy now, no matter where I go, just because I like to enjoy my game. Gamers shouldn't do that to other people. We should know better.

- Ashavan

1, 4, and 7 for me.

I like this game. Not all of it, but then what DM doesn't have to houserule SOMETHING they don't like about a system.

What I like:

DMing is fun again. I don't think I realized how much I missed that. Whether it will hold as true for high levels, I'm not sure, but it certainly does for low level play.

All characters get to have something fun to fall back on. The new bard rocks. Sorcerers and Warlocks are just cool. Divine characters get a really cool control type character too in the Invoker.

What I dislike:

I'm not sure I like how they've done druids. I'd like a typed damage that couldn't be instantly healed overnight. Strict reliance on a battlemap grates on me (but I note that 3.5 had this too, at least if you wanted to get the most out of rogues and fighters). Monsters don't have enough ecology/fluff and have become simplistic descriptions with stats.

Can I play this and feel I'm playing D&D -- yes.

Let's hope a month passes, or a year if that's what the contract reads, and the entire IP for the realms returns lock-stock-and-barrel, from what I've heard, back to Ed Greenwood.

Perhaps it was even this thread, where I heard 'ol Ed wrote that into his contract to ensure FR was a continuously supported system ad infinitum....

How's that for Deus Ex Machina?

The other "participating" store (which I only visited because I wanted some new dice and my FLGS had none that appealed to me) had just tossed the FreeRPG product in a casual and teetering pile on the corner of the sales counter, in amongst any number of other random bits like invoices and an empty pop can. I had no idea they were even participating until one of the only other two patrons in the store (which was deathly quiet) asked about it. The owner just said, "Yeah, just grab something from there" and waved in the...

I haven't shopped there since, though strangely they are one of the stores around me that has managed to stay open.

I am amazed at some of the stories people have posted no wonder the FLGS are having such a hard time competing now. The whole point of this is to get people into the stores and to get people to try new products so they will come back and buy them if they like it.

I guess I should be thankful that my FLGS gets it (Myriad Games in Salem, NH) was only asked to please limit myself to up to 5 items with no duplicates. And for the record the idea that Free RPG day is a promotion work as it got me in the store today and I ended up buying a new board game to go with my shiny new pathfinder bestiary.

I was a little disappointed in the overall selection this year there wasn't a ton to pick as compared with past years. The bonus bestiary and the q-dice I thought were the best things I saw, and yet again as in 2007 the paizo product wins free RPG day in my opinion. I'm guess the economy play a big part in it this year,

This economy is hurting stores badly... kudos to those that actually used the freeRPG stuff as a way to get people to the store. Whenever I get stuff for FreeRPG stuff, I always buy something at the store too... usually something I've been looking at and on the fence about but haven't managed to pick up yet.

- Ashavan

Fantasy Grounds II is very nice and has a 4e ruleset available, created by fans. The program itself costs money though, for both the DM and players (though it's a one time expense).

In free options you've got:

TTop is supposed to be very good also, is free, and the developer hangs out on the Paizo chat -- he's usually willing to run demos for folks.

The developer for Glittercom also hangs out on occasion at the Paizo chat, so you might consider that also.

Maptool, part of the RPTools.net suite of tools, is also pretty good and free. It has a great community who are helpful if you have problems and need help.

- Ashavan

I feel lucky then... Our FLGS allowed two items for regular customers, and let you pick out another one if you stayed for the games. Which is what they did last year.

No problem getting the pathfinder bonus bestiary, since I was the first person to get anything. My husband picked up the Eberron adventure, and I picked up the quickstart guide for the new Whitewolf WoD game.

I wish I could have gotten a complete set of the Q workshop dice... purple with yellow numbers, they looked sharp.

Does anyone know of a virtual tabletop that can be run on a Mac?

- Ashavan

arkady_v wrote:

Koldoon wrote:

I'm thinking about starting an online 4e game with the pathfinder setting. I'd prefer to do one of the pathfinder APs, but I am unsure which one would work best, both in terms of ease of conversion and for running in an online setting.

Any suggestions?

- Ashavan

Someone (name escapes me at the moment) is doing a 4E conversion of Rise of the Runelords and even has a blog page for it. There should be a thread in this forum about it.

Scott Betts, you can find it here Tales from the Rusty Dragon.

It's a very good adaptation, makes me sorry I've already run the body of this campaign in 3.5, oh well.

Scott frequents these boards quite a bit and I'm sure he'll respond to any queries you have.

- Ashavan

Koldoon wrote:

Sadly the red cross won't take my blood. Seems they don't think the blood of gay men is safe, despite changes in the demographics of HIV/AIDs and the routine testing of donated blood.

So don't tell them...?

I'm thinking about starting an online 4e game with the pathfinder setting. I'd prefer to do one of the pathfinder APs, but I am unsure which one would work best, both in terms of ease of conversion and for running in an online setting.

Any suggestions?

- Ashavan

During the D&D insider seminars at GenCon last year several folks on the panels hinted that Dark Sun might very well be the setting to follow Eberron for 4e conversion. I'm talking James Wyatt here in particular, but he wasn't alone, several others made hints in the seminars also.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see it announced officially at GenCon this year as the next setting.

Sadly the red cross won't take my blood. Seems they don't think the blood of gay men is safe, despite changes in the demographics of HIV/AIDs and the routine testing of donated blood.

I played in a game at my local gaming store. The players had all played D&D but were not that familiar with 4e, myself and my husband excepted. The DM I suspect was relatively new to DMing and made a couple mistakes, but the rules errors in question didn't favor the players or the monsters and were consistently enforced.

The scenario was a little basic, with little intro and not much of a hook, though that could have been the DM's lack of experience as easily as anything else.

I was playing the dwarven paladin and aside from needing to keep my distance from the rust monsters, I thought the game went pretty well. We ran out of healing quite spectacularly in the last combat, but still managed to get through without anyone even going unconscious, though several of us were very close toward the end.

It was fun, though now I'd sorta like to know what the adventure actually looked like now that I've played through it.

- Ashavan

Oh oh oh.

The Last Unicorn.

Still on my watch-a-lot list, and the tale of the Red Bull and love and loss and regret and learning still makes me smile.

Edit: And cry. I bawled when I was a kid.

Justices seem to be leaning in favor of Prop. 8

(03-05) 15:28 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court, which last year declared the right of gays and lesbians to marry, appeared ready today to uphold the voters' decision to overrule the court and restore the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Opinions? To be honest, I'm not surprised.

Makes me happy to be living in Massachusetts.

- Ashavan

To any readers or judges:

How was costing evaluated? I know in the item which I submitted, straight costing as per the rules lead to an item wildly expensive for the effect. I actually halved the price of my submission to put it more in line with similar existing items. Was costing seen as more art or more science?

- Ashavan

EDIT - it may have been Eric's comment... I can't remember and I'm not up to looking for it without an idea of which thread it was in.

I haven't given up, though I still don't see superstar in my item. On the other hand, there are plenty of items other people rave about that I just don't see the appeal of, so maybe one of the judges will see superstar potential where I do not.

It's these little hopes that keep me submitting.

- Ashavan

I used to roll on Realms of the Dragon back in 99. Are MUDS still even around?

- Ashavan

I played on mostly social muds... MUCKs, MOOs and the like.

I was active on Islandia, Pegusus, TimeTraveller, FluxMUCK, and HoloMUCK among various others.

HoloMUCK is still running after somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 years, though relatively few people frequent it anymore.

- Ashavan

Though its unlikely I'd like to see Paul McGann as the Doctor again. The TV movie was dreck and as a result McGann never got a fair shake. He could've been a very good doctor. Though if the above posted rumour is true it'll be neat to see him even if it is in the form of Timewar flashbacks.

- Ashavan

I may be. I just looked over my saved item and found a grammatical mistake created when I tried to fix the flow of a sentence. I may have fixed it before I hit submit, because I did a final tweak before I sent it in... but I'm not sure.

It was a stupid error... the kind that results from not having anyone available to read the final draft before you submit.

GAH.

*crosses his fingers*

- Ashavan

I wasn't going to enter this year and decided at the last minute to do so. I don't really expect to advance, but at least I made the effort, even if it was last minute.

I fell into category 1, mostly due to time considerations.

- Ashavan

Of course, armorers who can make masterwork items would be... distressed. Apt to hire another adventurer(s) to take care of the problem. Along with the limited population to buy such items, I should think that sort of solution, which is not only probable, but likely, should help to take care of players seeking an easy way out to make money.

I don't have problems with players using their spells to make money on occasion. it's when they become abusive that you have to look at how it's affecting your world's economy... and who would be upset at their sudden status change. The world doesn't revolve around the players, even though they should feel at times that it does. This is one of those situations where reminding them it doesn't is okay, and even desirable.

The merchants and crafters affected by the PCs actions are exactly the kind of people who normally hire the PCs... and therefore it seems likely that they would hire a rival group, a more powerful group, to take care of their little problem. With guild memberships and other political considerations, it's likely that the crafters in this instance might even have the law on their side. Merchants tend to be a powerful political force, and certainly they could have foreseen this event.

At any rate... this is not a problem in the rules, but with players abusing a technicality. They should be allowed a small profit, but when that profit becomes abuse... then the DM should act.

- Ashavan

Chicopee, Massachusetts.

I have entered once more with only a few hours to spare.

I'm all for cheesecake images... as long as occasional beefcake images also show up. I'm all for an increase in the beefcake images, btw, though I understand that for some reason cheesecake sells better than beefcake. It's a shame really.

- Ashavan