Kyle Baird's page

Please cancel my GameMastery Cards and GameMastery Maps subscriptions. Thanks!

By far the most memorable villain is the "mermaid" in #34 Encounter at the Drowning Stones.

I find it disheartening that Doug didn't agree, she did give your character (a) head afterall!

Regarding the torture-sage (the guy with the pixie?):

Our party was split up at this point (I blame Doug Doug and his Goat). My 2nd level fighter and a 1st level Inquistor encountered the Torture-sage and his buddy on our own.

I had light on my greatsword at this point, so lighting wasn't an issue. We tried to investigate the goat remains and were ambushed by these guys, but the fight only lasted one round. :(

The best part about this area though, was indeed the dead goat. My character took the remains in her bag, and after the final encounter, surprised the Goat-like Eilodon with it. :)

A more detailed account:

My character bashed open the door to the room, and investigated the room while the party was attacked by the mite(?).

I wasn't even thinking that an escaped slave would be now be a recaptured slave, so it wasn't until we found the ivory handled swords (mentioned in the mission), that my character got sucipicious.

She examined the slaves for clues (w/o directly interacting with them, so as not to raise suspicion from the captives). The GM pointed out that the Dwarf bore marks that would be consistent with a former slave. (Not sure if that's in the scenario)

She then made it known the party (away from the captives) that she was seeking a murderer, and that she believed the Dwarf was her man and would need to bring the swords and his personal effects back to Absalom for aid in proving his guilt.

She took the swords, stripped him of his clothes, and put a sword to his throat (while he was still bound (and gagged?)), and told him he'd pay for what he had done.

The GM did at this point prodded me to talk with him ("Is there anything you want to ask him?" (A few times)), but my character felt as she had dutifully carried out her mission, which, according to the handout, she did.

My character, the ever so uncharismatic one, asked the GM to closely examine each captive, specifically looking for signs or marks that would indicate a former slave.

Should the PCs expect that if one of these three were a mass murder, that they would confess?

"Excuse me everyone, before we free you, do any of you happen to be an escaped slave guilty of killing an entire family? No? Ok!"

The GM identified the Dwarf as bearing marks of former slavery, and that plus the ivory handled swords made it highly likely this was the man. Taking swords, that closely matched information provided by my faction leader, seemed exactly what I needed to do. Hell, I even took the clothes off his back!

The true problem actually comes from the second Qadiran mission, and needs major attention ASAP.

The mission tells the PC that an escaped slave is guilty of murder and you need to bring something of his back.

The scenario tells the GM that the PC must find out that the slave is innocent of the crime through Diplomacy.

Why would the PC randomly question the word of his Faction Leader and bother to care whether or not he's guilty of the crime?

Our editorial team is very busy and this is an extra project.

If he finds a +1 mithral shirt on a chronicle before he's able to afford to buy it using his PA, he can pay 2,100 gp to buy it, and sell his existing shirt for 1/2 price. Items from chronicles are what they are. You can't upgrade them, nor can you upgrade into them.

This is very similar to a previous question regarding strength bows. A bow found on a chronicle sheet can not have it's strength rating modified, but one purchased with PA can.

It's not possible unless there's a partially charged wand on one of your last 3 chronicles. All wands purchased with PA are assumed to be fully charged.

Good clerics and paladins.

First Question:

If you are grappled by an Entangle spell, what is the concentration check to cast a spell?  The grappled condition notes that it's DC 10 + Grappler's CMB + spell level.  What's the grapplers CMB in this situation?  Same question for Web.  Black Tentacles seems to spell out the CMB as using the Caster Level as BAB in addition to size and STR bonuses.

Second Question:

A Fey Sorcerer casts Entangle in Round 1.  Web in Round 2.  Grease in Round 3.  What's the total terrain penalties?  Is it ever improved past standard difficult terrain (1/2 movement)?  I've seen scenarios that require 1/4 movement for certain terrain, but can't find any references to such terrain in the Core Rules Book.

Got my confirmation email for November. Flip-mat isn't listed. Please add!

I'm trying to organize the schedule for next year's monthly game days. We only have a few pathfinder players as-is who attend, and they often walk away because their table doesn't get enough players. I can't schedule older modules (season zero) because the veteran players have already played them at conventions, and it is really hard to 'build up steam' for new players if they only get to play one scenario per month (since Paizo releases one low level and one high level per month). Extra releases in only June and August doesn't help.

Is anyone else running organized play for Pathfinder?

-Perry

I don't fully understand one sentence above regarding new players. Why is it hard to build up steam for new players? If they're new, they can play all of season 0. That means there's 36 scenarios to choose from!

Josh, what are the chances that my level 7 Ranger with Boon Companion will get to fly around on a Roc companion when v2.1 comes out?

*wishin' 'n' hopin'*

Of course, next time I'll get into all of my first choices, which will be an improvement over PaizoCon 2009.

I ran this for a sub-optimal party at tier 3-4 on Sunday. They were heavy on healing, but very light on damage. To give an idea, the full-blooded cleric critted with his dagger dealing 1 nonlethal damage in ACT II. Seriously.

Even though they weren't an ideal party, they still managed to walk through the first 3 Acts. The difference between tiers 1-2 and 3-4 is so minor, it's pathetic. (my rolling for the first 3 acts didn't help either)

Then we come to Act IV. They even manage to spot one of the Ettercaps hiding in a corner and get a surprise round that the spend buffing. That was the last good round for the PCs. The Ettercaps used their web to effectively separate the party with the only PC that passed for a tank singled out and webbed up. They beat on this poor tank for round after round with the rest of the party almost unable to deal any damage, they spent their time channeling healing to keep the tank alive. I am being quite literal when I say that the tank was knocked unconcious SEVEN times in this encounter. "I'm not dead yet!" Salvation finally came when the gnome's riding dog stopped rolling 3's to escape the webbing and then critted an Ettercap. It then promptly chomped on the second one. At this point the party was nearly out of any resources, and that was before the cleric set off the block trap that dealt almost max damage!

Had they left the shrine and faced Riverbane, it would have been a TPK. They asked about setting up camp in the shrine (after burning all the webs!), and I didn't have a problem with it. If I wanted it to be "fair," or "real" I would have had Riverbane order a thug to confirm the party's demise, resulting in Act V being triggered, and everyone at the table dying. That's not fun for anyone.

I think the players enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed running the scenario, and at the end of that day that's all that matters.

I wouldn't expect to hear anything about the actual events until early next year. This will be my first PaizoCon, but even a con like GenCon doesn't release event information until about 3-4 months before the con.

I was impressed with the casual atmosphere of Pathfinder Society play at GenCon. That atmosphere has continued to local game days as well.

This is my little baby. I am not quite ready to reveal the mechanics and such, but rest assurred we will preview this in the Paizo blogs before it releases. I am using a variant of these cards in my home campaign and they are a blast! Paizocon attendees will be able to use them in a very unique event that we are also not ready to unveil. :)

-Lisa

Pathfinder posters, courtsey of Dennis Biagini in Italy:

Link

Is this poster different than the "3.5 Thrives" Poster? I've never seen a Society poster anywhere, but it would be nice for local cons as well as locations that host Society events. If there isn't a set poster has anyone created their own, using the Open Content art, they wouldn't mind sharing?

I saw those posters in pictures from the recent con in Italy. They're gorgeous! I'll have to ask our game-day coordinator to make a request. What about ever putting them up in the Paizo store for sale?

• Original Tavern/Inn (it has a blank grass back)

GM Rewards touches on a much broader subject of Quality and Quantity vs. Compensation. Be it Doctors, Teachers, or Pathfinder GMs. There needs to be a balance. Do you want a doctor that's in it for the money or one that wants to help people? Do you want a teacher who teaches for the (perceived!) benefits and pay or do you want a teacher who loves to teach? Same with a GM.

We need a reward system in place to attract new GMs. If you enjoy GMing you're going to do it regardless of reward. But what about those that could be good, but haven't tried (for a lot of reasons)? How do we attract those people w/o getting people who do it only for the rewards?

Personally, with what credit is offered for eating a scenario, I'd rather NOT take it. What's the point? My character's personality and, well, character, are determined by his experiences.

I do have a character concept for a character who could be made using only GM credit. He'll be Taldan of course, who's gotten his "prestige" and "experience" in life virtually (or literally) handed to him. Too bad we can't take the aristocrat as a PC class in PFS. Stupid nobles... Oddly though, he'll be less wealthy than those dirty "hands-on" type. Pfft.

#34 suggests the use of both Woodlands and River Crossing.

Like Doug, I agree that flip-mats work well for a time-pressed GM, but using them to design encounters really limits the possiblities of those encounters.

I completely understand the need of Prestige Award and the upgrade, I just didn't know how to price it.

Now here is a PFS specific question, are the animal companions presented in the Bestiary open to use or will we have to wait til the next update to the PFS rules to see what is and what isn't allowed in the way of animal companions and feats from that book?

...leaving the tarrasque to rampage in peace.

Alright, here's the situation. You can only buy three Map Packs and three Flip Mats, so you decide to get those that are most useful. Which three do you buy of each? Which ones do you find yourself using more often than others? It doesn't matter if they are currently in print or not. Assume you've got all the APs, but none of the GameMaster/Pathfinder stand alone adventures.

I'm asking because I want to pick some up, but I really want to get the ones that will provide me the most bang for my buck.

• Basic
• Original Tavern/Inn (it has a blank grass back)
• Woodlands

As has been said in this thread and in others:

In order to upgrade ANY item, your current maximum Prestige Award must be sufficient to purchase the full cost of the upgraded item, even though you only need to PAY the difference between the costs.

As much as I detest the thought of ever having children myself, they can be amusing at times. :) What about developing an interactive specifically designed for kids of a certain age range? That could not only keep those little buggers entertained, but could also get them hooked on Pathfinder. >:)

I would love to see a high-level AP that deals with gathering things and making preparations to rid the world of the Tarrasque. It would be a great chance to fully flesh out the legends, myths, and history surrounding it.

Regarding the calendar, I think that's an awesome idea as well. You could even go as far as including things like, "On This Day in Golarion," including Golarion holidays, and perhaps even giving out special minor boons for Society play on special days (Pathfinder Society Founders Day or on other special Pathfinder Society days/events).

I'm similar to those above me. I like to integrate images into different handouts for players, be it character sheets, notes with "sketches" of who/what they're after, or enlarged printouts.

For example:

Pathfinder Society Scenario #34 [SPOILERS]

And we'd be concerned about devaluing the actual rulebook PDFs as well.

I apologize if this has been answered previously. I searched the forums, but didn't seem to find anything specific to this particular question.

I understand from the campaign rules that GMs 'eating' a mod gain 1xp, 1/2 level-appropriate gold, and 1/2 faction points. It also specifically mentions that the character they apply it to does NOT gain access to "special bonuses [...] such as free magical treasure, boons, or bonus dice rolls in the future."

However, what category does 'regular' item access on an AR fall into? If the AR includes access to an otherwise normal, standard magic item that would be appropriate to the character level of the PC the rewards are being applied to, does the GM's character get that access?

Also, while I'm thinking about it, what if your GM character is, say, lvl 3? Would he get 1/2 gold as per the 1-2 tier, or 1/2 gold as per the 4-5 tier?

Thanks in advance,
Steve M

From the 2.0 FAQ thread: Link and Link

If Paizo did do an electronic "Art of Second Darkness" (or another AP), what would it cost roughly? To buy the pdfs for the full AP, it's $84 MSRP. Would it be around $40 for just the art? Less? Would be better for Paizo to only release art that's older than a certain date? (giving full product owners an advantage)

Pages 16-17 of the Seakers of Secrets lists three feats: Boon Companion, Dilettante, and Friendly Switch.

My first question is, does a character need to be a member of the Pathfinder Society to take one of these feats?

So a Single Classed Druid or Wizard would gain no benefit from this feat?

So this would give the Ranger three effective levels? (Since Rangers get "Hunters Bond" at Lvl 4, and are normally considered as a Druid three levels lower.)

The art, in any event, is EASILY the most expensive part of the art + words stew that makes up a book. As a result, we're a bit more hesitant about giving the art away for "free" as electronic, high-res pictures.

Heh. I've had the Tarrasque on my "must make" list for, damn, almost a year now? I actually e-mailed the Paizo guys and/or mentioned it in a Paizo chat about this time last year, trying to get a feel for how their version of the Tarrasque might look. 'Course, my copy of the Bestiary's in the mail now, so I s'pose I'll find out when it shows up. :D

Don't get me wrong, I love the catalog and I'm eagerly awaiting a 2010 version! But as a way to save money for Paizo and to save some trees (to be used for other Paizo products!), can we get an option somewhere to request "no catalog?"

Ah, sorry, slow mind today.

Yeah, I think I'd be more interested in that! (But not as a replacement for generous blog preview pics. ;) )

Plus new to the game. Do you need some experience or is their a FNG "table"?

Do keep in mind that FNG's are just as tasty to evil dragons as FOG's!

I was thinking it would be digital only. Essentially a zip file of high-res images.

Pages 16-17 of the Seakers of Secrets lists three feats: Boon Companion, Dilettante, and Friendly Switch.

My first question is, does a character need to be a member of the Pathfinder Society to take one of these feats?

My second question is about the "Boon Companion" feat. It says that
"The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were four levels higher to a maximum bonus equal to your character level.

Does that mean that a Lvl 4 druid with that feat would use Lvl 8 for his/her companion's abilities (PathfinderRPG p. 52)?

Or is this feat mostly beneficial for Multiclass characters; i.e., A Lvl 4 Fighter/Lvl 4 Druid would still use Lvl 8 for his/her companion's abilities? (And, where would Ranger's fit in this mix?)

A single classed Ranger would use his character level as his effective druid level for companion abilities.

Higher CR and Huge/Gargantuan SWARMS. *maniacal laugh*

I own the full chronicle line, the full RPG line (all 2 of them! lol), the full companion line, but I didn't start the APs until CoT. I bought all I own at and since GenCon '09. I love dead tree format. I wouldn't have it any other way when I'm at home reading it. I have no immediate plans to ever run or own any of the Pathfinder Modules or previous APs. I have no need to buy the pdfs for the books I bought at GenCon. Yet I find myself wanting them all. Why?... THE ART!

Not only do I love looking at it, I love to print select pieces out to show my players. It helps set the mood and describe things in ways I'm not capable.

It could be collected based on AP, period of time, or general product line. Something like "The Art of Second Darkness," or "The Art of 2009 Modules Part 1 of 4."

Would something like this even be possible? Could it include cartography as well? If it was available, would you buy it? What would it likely cost?

A Silver Dragon! ~re-reads what N'wah wrote~ Oh. Drat! I already requested that. ~grins~

Tarrasque please!

Time to eat the world! *NOM*NOM*NOM*

My guess from having to purchase large banners for work conventions is that you can find a local shop to produce it for you, but will need Paizo's permission to do so. A banner of that size will likely cost several hundred dollars to purchase and several weeks to produce (depending on the shop's workload). Of course you'll also need the artwork from Paizo too.

I will be booking tickets on monday with any luck. now...to start saving for trans-atlantic plane faires.

PS: Wow this is going to be expensive :o