Magnus Thunderf00t's page

Let me start things off by saying that, mechanically, I like the idea of the Balanced Scale Prestige Class. Being able to summon whatever item you need is a unique and interesting mechanic. They are fantastic dungeon delvers and excellent in a rogue-esque role.
...or they would be...
I don't understand the disparity between Abadar's alignment (LN), his domains (earth, law, nobility, protection, travel), and his pretige class.
With low skills, and a markedly lawful(read:honest) deity, you would not expect them to be playing traditional rogues, but it seems like the rest of the prestige class wants to do otherwise. Any item you need, disabling magic traps, dimension door escape route, heck there's even a class feature designed for bribing locals. These aren't really conducive to what I would consider lawful play.
I'd love to see this prestige class in use for another deity that actually lines up both in flavour and mechanics to the abilities the PC grants. I'm fine with the prerequisites of the PC as well, but only in circumstances where, for example, a cleric could take domains that actually compliment the build.
What do you folks think?

Hey all I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who would be interested in a game where we test the limitations of so-called broken classes and 3pp options. I'm talking about flaws, synthesists, min-maxxing, and dragon riders to name a few. Probably a short-term pbp, probably starting at fifth level-ish. What do you folks think of this idea? Would anyone be interested in playing/DMing? I can DM if no-one else is interested. Also taking suggestions for an appropriate adventure path to unleash these god-among-men upon.

Hi All. I am curious what your thoughts are on this. I am wanting to build a PC who does not carry any magic items on him or use other magical effects. Let's discuss generally why the system makes these builds less easy and the role of magic in games of this nature.

I personally think that magic is just flavour requiring little explanation. I have fiddled with homebrew classes that can logically steam-punk a large number of magic effects, or attain similar levels of power without needing to be decked out in glowing magic equipment from head to toe. (which makes detect magic the most powerful level 0 spell in the game in my opinion, even with the 3 turns it takes to pinpoint sources) Honestly, if the magical aura's were visible, most PC's would be lit up like christmas trees. To me, it seems a little bit too homogenous.

The campaign I am looking at is starting at level 6 with average wealth. We are playing with the Armor as 1/2 DR rules, and my class (a crossover from WotC) is light armour, with medium armour available at the cost of one feat. What do you all think?
My thoughts: adamantine armor, switch hitter using Mwk weapons, possibly duel wielding, possibly on horseback.

Hello all. I'm looking for an open minded DM to take my character in his/her campaign. I would like to use the Binder class from WotC's Tome of Magic. I don't think this class is broken, or difficult to DM, and I think the roleplaying and symbolism that the class' mechanics enable you to work with make it well worth while. (I.E. Religious and social stigma about what is different without taking consideration to actions. The ways in which power can corrupt. The use of soul-binding to other creatures to avoid your own problems/responsibilities. )
Any takers?

"Heroes! I beg of thee for your aid. There is but precious little time to defeat My protégé, Kronos the Son. You must show commitment, power, and depth to prove yourselves in this high fantasy of my own creation. here You will find more information about the world of Terra Vicis, including a guide to your own land and history. Yes, I have been watching you from the beginning. Please submit applications at any time to join, Many hands make light work, and there is still so much to do. Please, Heroes, save us From Darkest Times! "

15 point buy
current level: 6
standard gold
2 traits
Core, APG, and homebrew from PC guide accepted. Others upon request (3.5, ultimate books, etc.)
Must be able to post 3 times/week minimum. 1/day preferred.

Sense Motive checks are made behind screen.
You will not be prompted to make knowledge checks, you must volunteer them.
Note that bards cannot take a musical form as their perform style (yet) Oratory and dance are still valid though.
As a homebrew campaign, this is not based in Golarion. A background should be constructed based on the PC guide and Terra Vicis.
Please submit applications here, or to my personal email: fypewriter@hotmail.com

Hey all. My live game right now is going through a pretty hard section. I'm just looking for some advice.

The situation: We were knocked out, stripped of our items and put in cells rather than being killed outright, as one would expect for gnolls. So now we're stuck in separate cells with no items and just waking up at 1hp.

The players: Our core group is a dwarf barbarian focusing in combat maneuvers and a half-fiend ninja with high defenses. Our most consistent others are a human cleric healbot and a gnome druid leaning toward spellcasting. Occasionally, we also have an oakling witch with one level of monk and a human rogue, but they aren't usually around. All level 5. Just the cleric, barbarian, and half-fiend ninja were officially captured last night.

My idea: After we have healed naturally long enough to be fighting fit, either the half-fiend or the dwarf fakes an illness, the cleric then begs the guard to let him use his holy symbol to heal his ally. Assuming a non-caster is watching us, they won't notice when the cleric slips in some buff spells on top of the cure spells. Now with the cleric in (let's assume) the barbarian's cage, he casts silence and the barbarian bullrushes and grapples the guard against the ninja's cage for the sneak attack. With the guard disabled, we quickly don his armor and attempt a disguise if possible then begin the search for our items and our objective.

Thoughts?

Hey all. Making a 20th level Drow Noble Wizard for a story. Stats are pretty well done. I'm looking for advice on equipment, feats, and spells.

Currently he is a Transmutation Wizard with the enhancement subschool.
Str 8 , Dex 24 , Con 16 , Int 22 , Wis 16 , Cha 18

I have already picked some of the most obvious time-related spells like haste, time stop, and such. In particular, he uses calcific touch to age and slow his opponents.

For feats, I have chosen to use the arcane discovery of immortality instead of the 20th level bonus feat. I have also included lingering, extend, persistent, and quicken spell. I have also added step-up, which makes sense to me as something a speed-demon would have.

I don't think a weapon with the speed quality is really necessary as he will be casting haste at the start of most fights, but I suppose most mundane Items would need an extra 150 to their cost for the unguent of timelessness. I think he needs the ring of sustenance as well.

So, have at it. Any ideas?

Me and my home group are going to be starting this soon, and I am wondering if anyone has advice for me, (Going to be the DM) or my players. In particular I am wondering how you have handled conjuration and teleportation magic? Do you just hand-wave it and ignore the logic issue, or do you follow the suggestions given in the book

trying not to give too many spoilers

Also, how did you deal with level ups and rest? It seems like there are only a handful of safe places to rest and that those rooms are not really clearly different than others. My concern is that my PC's will be wandering forever trying to find a place to end the session for the night. (I like to end my sessions at a logical junction. )

So, any tips from the pros?

I'm having trouble finding what abilities Shamans lose in exchange for their archetype.

I know that the totemic summon switches for 1,000 faces and that the bonus feats replace venom immunity.

...but....that's not enough....They get a whole bunch of cool stuff, and sooner than the basic druid for two abilities that don't even matter until level 9? Am I missing something here? That seems strange that you can just get extra stuff for free up until level 9, and then it's a heck of a deal. explanations?

Looking for the build which will be easiest to play for a new player. Submit ideas here.
My intention would be to use this thread as a basis for helping new players slowly introduce themselves to the game. One of the biggest issues I've seen with recruitment is the learning curve for the seemingly endless rules and mechanics.

Some Requirements: -15 point buy
-Give reasons for any decisions made.
-Average wealth per level
-Any level you choose (If you can make a 20th level character LESS confusing than a level 1, I'd love to see it)
-No level requirement
-Realize that this character will likely be quite ineffective, that's not the point of the exercise.

Some Suggestions: -Fighter (Bonuses are static, feats are individually decided, no spells, doesn't suffer from MAD, but can take advantage of any stat if given the opportunity. )
-Ring of Sustenance (No need to deal with rules associated with eating/drinking)
-Armor with ACP 0 (One less factor to worry about)
-INT 6 (Yes, I'm serious. Less skill ranks means less skills to have to focus on learning.)
-Greater Blind fight (Ignore rules for concealment)
- Improved Unarmed Strike (so many exceptions and weird rules neutralized by one feat)
-Catch off-guard, Throw anything, Improvised weapon mastery (All remove exceptions to rules)

Look forward to some interesting builds.

Ok, so my DM has waived the alignment restrictions for the classes as long as I do one, then the other straight through. I've already taken 3 levels of Barbarian with Brutal Pugilist (I'm specializing in bullrush and grapple) My question is: When should I switch to monk levels? I had thought level 6 would be appropriate. because then I will have gotten the full benefit of brutal pugilist archetype. The campaign we are running ends around 13 as I understand it. Advice?

When a barbarian uses knock back, can he move two opponents as normal with a second maneuver roll? If so, does the second target take damage equal to the barbs strength mod?

"Heroes! I beg of thee for your aid. There is but precious little time to defeat My protégé, Kronos the Son. You must show commitment, power, and depth to prove yourselves in this high fantasy of my own creation. here You will find more information about the world of Terra Vicis, including a guide to your own land and history. Yes, I have been watching you from the beginning. Please submit applications at any time to join, Many hands make light work, and there is still so much to do. Please, Heroes, save us From Darkest Times! "

15 point buy
current level: 6
standard gold
2 traits
Core, APG, and homebrew from PC guide accepted. Others upon request (3.5, ultimate books, etc.)
Must be able to post 3 times/week minimum. 1/day preferred.

Sense Motive checks are made behind screen.
You will not be prompted to make knowledge checks, you must volunteer them.
As a homebrew campaign, this is not based in Golarion. A background should be constructed based on the PC guide and Terra Vicis.
Please submit applications here, or to my personal email: fypewriter@hotmail.com

Had this concept for a while now and it looks like I finally have a chance to run this character.
The idea is that it is a person who has lived his life angry, but sometime during his adventure, he has an epiphany and begins to fight with focus and purpose rather than just anger.
mechanics wise, I'm looking at taking about 4 levels of monk mixed with about 5 levels of barbarian. My question is: How do I make this character good at what he does? I am particularly stuck on a race right now. Dwarf seems most appealing, but human also has some merit and halfelf and halforc are contenders as well.

***Before anyone goes and tells me I can't do this because of alignment restrictions: neither monk's nor Barbarians lose their class abilities if they change alignment, they just can't gain more levels in that class once their alignment shifts. Thus the epiphany in the backstory.

Thanks in advance. I know you guys always have good advice.

Go!

The animate dead permits you to take an appropriate target and turn it into either a skeleton or a Zombie. I'm wondering which choice is better for a given situation and what the factors are that determine the decision.
From what I can see, the obvious is to use a skeleton for something that already has a high Dex, as the bonuses go in that direction, and to give the zombie template to something that is more strength focused, but that's not really very in-depth. What else should be considered?

...And Go!

I'm interested in how you would play this. The pit is a valid target of shadow conj spell, and if someone makes their will save, what happens? Do they have a 1/5 chance of falling, but are otherwise suspended in mid-air? Do they fall the full distance, but only take 1/5 damage? Do they fall 1/5 of the way and take appropriate damage for that distance?

This is to become the new centre for OOC discussion. Helps to keep the action and story separated from the mechanics and makes things more immersive.

The subject may have promised more than I can deliver in one post, but I'd like to open up this thread to anyone with suggestions about ways to dealing with PC classes that seem to overwhelm the table and imbalance play. What are the weakpoints of each class/archetype and how does one exploits these in order to maintain a sense of balance, challenge, and intrigue to your players.

Examples I can provide:

Class: Wizard
Weakness: spellbook
Exploitation: thievery, bookworms
Result: Inability to prepare most spells, lost spells

Class: Fighter
Weakness: Armor dependance
Exploitation: thievery, Night encounters, seduction/betrayal scene
Result: Fighter is caught unarmored and finds himself surprisingly exposed and squishy without items protecting him

Class: Summoner
Weakness: Tenuous connection with Eidolon
Exploitation: casting of blink, teleport or similar on caster (A flavourful way to do this is a bumbling, well-intentioned ally NPC attempting to buff the summoner)
Result: temporary loss of planar connection removes the Eidolon and the Summoner is left to fend for himself.

Due to recent member loss, I'm looking for 2-3 new players to join a game already in progress. Starting level 5, Core Rulebook, APG, and my homebrew options are all fair game. Anything else, including 3.5 mix & match with approval.
The setting and a PC guide area available here
The story so far is available Here
Looking for players of any experience level who are willing to post roughly once every two days.
I look forward to seeing any builds and backgrounds. and to working with you folks. It promises to be alot of fun.

I am both running and participating in play-by-post games right now. I am wondering what the common experience is with attendance.
-How often do players post? Daily? Weekly?
-How long of an absence before you "bot" the PC?
-How long before you write out the PC?
-How do you go about replacing/compensating for the character?
-Do you consider it rude/in poor taste if no warning is given when a PC drops out, or is this just the way things are?
-How often do players leave pbp games and what are the usual motivations?

Personally, I like posts to be every 1-3 days. I bot after 3 and write them out after 7 at the next most reasonable plot-junction.

Flagged thread for wrong topic in the hope it will be moved to play-by-post discussion; you should get a lot more responses there. Will weigh in on my own experience when I get the time.

This thread is essentially the opposite of another thread currently running:
Why would you completely maximize one stat, and where would your character take a hit in other areas?

I'm maybe interested in seeing some character designs where one stat is maximized all the way up to level 20, all others are ignored or neglected.

Monks in particular would be interesting due to how each stat (except CHA) is tied to a relatively important aspect of the class

Most often, when we hear of dump stats, we think of Strength and Charisma. These two can be dropped by many characters, classes, and builds with little repercussion. This means there are a lot of frail, socially awkward heroes in this world (maybe this is a subconscious reinforcement of negative stereotypes associated with gamers). In any case, I'm wondering about other dumps. What is acceptable, what is ludicrous?

ex: I had a CON 6 (after race) PC who did a decent job, but got hit by a heck of an attack at level 2. I think CON is actually something one can survive without. Fort saves are rare enough, and most are replaceable with anti-plague and anti-venom on hand. Hit points are made up for with the toughness feat and favoured class along with larger hit dice.

What do you think about all this?

There are a lot of questions around the topic of introducing a new player to pathfinder. I'd like this thread to turn into a collection of advice and guides for how to introduce someone to the world of pathfinder.

I'd like to open it up to a few sub-topics like:
Class Choice
Feat Choice
Item Choice
How to introduce the numbers, and how not to scare people off with the numbers.
Format of a good introduction (pbp vs tabletop vs other medium)
Dealing with different experience levels at the table.
etc.

Am I crazy, or is there a source somewhere which has character sheets color coded to match ability scores. It's a beautiful design and it flows really well, but I can't find it anywhere for the life of me. If it doesn't exist, does anyone think it's a good idea.

I remember is something like:
STR=Red, DEX=Green, CON=Brown/Purple, INT=Indigo, WIS=Dark blue, CHA= Yellow

Ringing anyone's bells?

Sound neat?

In the few campaigns I have been with previously, channel energy always required a fortitude save. I never questioned it because this made sense to me, being an energy effect closely associated with the body, healing, and the forces of life and death. Your will-power doesn't seems as appropriate to me. Is there any reason that this is? was an effect like this a fortitude save previously? Is it an alright houserule to change the save-type?

Prologue

Your wanderings from about the earth have resulted with you ending here, in a new tavern in Startville on the night of the first day of Year Zero. You have heard about this event since the earliest days you can remember. Some are dubious choose to ignore the prophecies of some unknown coot a millenium ago. Some obsess about the coming events and have barred their windows against the coming storm. In any case, this tavern is the only place in town with reasonable rooms and meals. Most people here seem apathetic towards the prediction. They still have lives to live and if it is taken away, no different than a normal death.

The time is 10:30, and you enter a bar and sit yourself down. The barmaid comes around an take your drink orders. The crowded tavern seems to have a tension in the air, but people do converse with each other and make themselves new acquaintances in this room.

The mead being served tastes stronger than usual, perhaps even nasty to the stomach, but it is no worse than the regular slop served up in any other tavern.

In the room there are the following patrons.

The Barmaid A tall and unattractive woman serving drinks to all takers. You suspect that there is a taint of monstrous in her blood. Her skin is tinted towards an unnatural orange and her face shows the dumbed demeanour of a goblinoid. In any case, she seems to be doing her best to serve you well.

The Bartender This halfling man sits behind the bar, keeping a close watch on his charge. He coughs pointedly at anyone gawking at his barmaid, but he is otherwise a knowledgeable looking fellow and a worldly one as well. He greets you with a smile as you approach and asks you what you feel this next year will bring.

Hooded Figure In the corner of the tavern sit an elf creature shrouded under thick robes. You would not be able to tell he is an elf except for the size and proportions of his body. He seems distant and mysterious, but approachable nonetheless.

The Salesman This human approaches everyone in the bar, advertising his cousin's ship tours. “A real wet and wild adventure for everyone.” He proclaims, “with many treasures and secrets to be found.”

The Weathered one This gnome sits by the bar, with his dog companion at his side. This starved looking beast wanders the bar, looking for scraps from the tables. He looks like he has just travelled a great journey and he is up for no reason other than to drink himself to sleep. Sand is visible on his clothing, suggesting that he has just been either to a beach or a desert. He seems lost in the bottom of his empty glass, obviously sad as he searches his pack for a few more silver pieces to buy one more round.

You There are five other people populating this room, each with their own stories and motives for being here. Feel free to talk to them and meet these people. They may even be your future allies. I suppose anything could come in the future....

Looking for a couple more players for my homebrew campaign.

The players should be able to post often, and should be able to deal with challenges outside the recommended CR. 15 point buy starting at level 5. Campaign ends between lvls 10 and 15.

E-mail will be used for sending a more detailed PC guide and other information ongoing, but I'd like to see a few ideas presented first.

Background:
-This is Year Zero. A powerful diviner predicted millenia ago that this is to be the last year of the world as we know it, and the system of counting years backwards has been adopted because of the general belief in this Seer of futures.
-"Music" is an unknown concept. People still use sounds of different pitches for practical purposes, such as sending messages long distances, or keeping time to a drumbeat for large groups, but the idea of pleasure from sound is foreign to all.
- This land, known as Terra Vicis , is different from any other world. The basic races are of equal distribution across the land and the only racial prejudice remaining at this late point in culture is against monstrous creatures and unusual races like the drow.

If there are any questions about construction or background, place them here. I'm looking for two or three more adventurers as I already have two who have asked to be part of this first flight of my homebrew.

Looking for a couple more players for my homebrew campaign.

The players should be able to post often, and should be able to deal with challenges outside the recommended CR. 15 point buy starting at level 5. Campaign ends between lvls 10 and 15.

E-mail will be used for sending a more detailed PC guide and other information ongoing, but I'd like to see a few ideas presented first.

Background:
-This is Year Zero. A powerful diviner predicted millenia ago that this is to be the last year of the world as we know it, and the system of counting years backwards has been adopted because of the general belief in this Seer of futures.
-"Music" is an unknown concept. People still use sounds of different pitches for practical purposes, such as sending messages long distances, or keeping time to a drumbeat for large groups, but the idea of pleasure from sound is foreign to all.
- This land, known as Terra Vicis , is different from any other world. The basic races are of equal distribution across the land and the only racial prejudice remaining at this late point in culture is against monstrous creatures and unusual races like the drow.

If there are any questions about construction or background, place them here. I'm looking for two or three more adventurers as I already have two who have asked to be part of this first flight of my homebrew.

I'm wondering what the common concensus is about what level an average group of players could beat certain BBEG's. If we're lucky, maybe this thread can turn into a CR discussion.
(I'm sure many of us have opinions about how much value CR is)

So, if my party of an average 4 is going all out on a fight that they are expecting. They've got the right tools for the job, even some homebrew kryptonite. What level can they beat a lvl 20 transmuter wizard?

more general questions:
Tarrasque? (and how?)

I'm just wondering if there are any pathfinder friendly races or monsters that fit the build of Pterafolk from 3.5. I'm looking for something airborne, village organized, and with saurian history of some description. Suggestions?

Hey All. I'm just looking for some feedback on my homebrew race. It's supposed to be an amalgam of all the base races. (I won't get into the backstory, but I wanted the best parts of each race mashed into one.) Let me know If this is too powerful to be the standard CR 1/3 of a base race and what changes I should make. Note also that I didn't give racial bonus/penalty to an ability score to help balance it, was this wise?

Protoss Racial Traits
Protoss gain no racial bonuses or penalties to their ability scores.
Medium: Protoss are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Slow and Steady: Protoss have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Protoss Luck: Protoss receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
Keen Senses: Protoss receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Ferocity: Once per day, when a Protoss is brought below 0 hit points but not killed, he can fight on for one more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.
Protoss Magic: A Protoss with a Charisma of 11 or higher gains the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals. The caster level for these effects is equal to the Protoss’ level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the Protoss’ Charisma modifier.

Hi All. I am currently writing an extensive adventure path of my own creation. (Lvls 5 to about 10). I am wondering if anyone with more experience has some advice for a young, aspiring writer such as myself. I am particularly concerned with how much time this project is taking. It seems like the work is never-ending and I have trouble staying motivated.

From looking around, it seems like many of the topics here are about combining different spells to achieve synergy and a stronger effect. I'd just like to consolidate some of these into one broader umbrella topic.

What are some of your favourite combinations? Do they work by RAW? Should they.

Here are a few example from what I've read and thought up myself:

Light+prestidigitation= dancing lights equivalent

create water+more create water+raise/lower water= flood a dungeon

acid arrow+ arrow eruption=many acid arrows.

mirror image+invisibility=invisible copies

silent image+ghost sound=minor image at lower spell level.

I've been looking around for a while and I have not found rules for what happens measurably when you lose the use of an arm, or a leg, or an eye for that matter. I imagine it being something like (-4 to all tasks that require the use of hands, -10 to your base speed, or -4 to perception), but I'd love to know if there are official rules about this.

Also, does magical healing like channel energy reset the bone if its broken? If they heal without resetting, then the bone sets sideways and that causes major issues.

On the topic of broken bones, would there be a combat maneuver for that? obviously it would be OP as a normal combat maneuver, but it should be something mentioned in the mechanics somewhere. Like coup-de-grace.

The reason I ask is because an NPC in my game breaks his leg before a big rodeo competition and can't attend because of it. If a cleric comes in with his magic healing, there goes my plot device.

I know that realism is one of those polarizing topics, but I'd like to put up a question, and then offer a suggestion.

My question is this: What relevance has rotting food ever had in anyone's games? food rations don't go bad as I understand it, and what is the penalty for eating bad food? is there an illness, a disease?

Now a suggestion: Aside from the obvious reasons for not having a complete description for the digestive process in game terms, I think there is another solution. Something more straightforward. What do you think of the concept that adventurers in the Pathfinder world have digestions with 100% efficiency and no waste? It would help to make an easier justification for the fantastic talents and healing that characters have. Opinions?

I love to search through the books and find interesting ways to mix and match powers and classes. Not even for min-max purposes, but just to see how much impact a single point here or there can do. I'm wondering if I'm the only one who really likes doing this. What part of seeing the numbers crunch around does it for you?

If there are others, then I'd love to ask a favour: I'm working on a lengthy (5 lvls) home-brew campaign and as much as I'd love to do the blocks myself, I just don't have the time anymore. So If there's anyone who would be willing to share their talents, I'd love to have some help and I'll of course share the finished product with you all. (already did a play through of sorts, and it was well received)

Hey all. I'm looking for some volunteers to make some stat blocks from descriptions for my homebrew campaign that I am working on. I love to construct them myself, but I just have to delegate if I'm going to get done this project in any reasonable timeframe. So any takers? Here's the first Challenge: CR 7 drow noble cleric. High Priestess of one of the last drow outposts in existence. Recently gained political power in the town, and is obsessed with preparing an undead army for the raids that are ongoing in the town. Despises the light also. So let's see what you've got! Formatted for easy reading is a big bonus. Thanks all!

Hey all. quick question from a not-so tech savvy person. I couldn't find this info on the help section of microsoft office, so I'm wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to format each row individually to display all information as far to the left as possible.
Another way around that is: can you have a formula in the same box as text?/ how? I'll keeping looking and if I find the answer I'll post here.

I am working on a homebrew right now with a wizard specialaizing time-travel. Or rather I would be, if pathfinder didn't have such a limited spectrum for this. I was really stretching to find spells that would be relevant to a time-wizard, even if I re-imagined the way the spell itself was cast (ie: stoneskin as a result of objects being slowed in time as they approach you)
I haven't yet looked at ulitmate magic, but I think this is still going to be a blind-spot. Suggestions?

Also, in regards to aging, I would like to point out that there is no consideration that skills like perception actually go up with age. This seems like another oversight as most elderly people I know begin losing their vision. I've been working on some alternate benefits/penalties for different ages. Do you think such a thing is necessary? why or why not?

These are just two age brackets, I'll post others if you all are interested, but this gives a good representation of what I'm thinking.

Age: Middle Age
Advantages: - Old enough to know better- Your experience at this age gives you a strong sense of danger. You gain a +1 bonus to knowledge and perception checks to notice and identify threatening creatures, traps, or other obvious dangers in your surrounding.
Disadvantages: - Too young to care- You feel a need to prove that you are still young and capable. You may never back down from a challenge of physical skill. Alternatively, you may choose to treat this as the wrecklessness age trait of young characters. (you may not withdraw unless your hit points are below 1/2 maximum)

Age: Old
Advantages: - Natural teacher- You are able to articulate you experiences clearly to others and anticipate their own issues. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus every time you use the aid-another action.
Stronger than you look- You are able to summon strength from your body that no one would expect. Once per week, you may raise your Strength score by 2 as an extraordinary ability for a number of rounds equal to your constitution modifier. After you use this ability, you are fatigued for the same number of rounds.
Disadvantages: - Frail- Your body is not as resilient as it once was. You take a -2 penalty versus poisons and diseases.
Aged appearance- Your skin loses elasticity, your hair begins losing colour and starts falling out. You take a -2 penalty to diplomacy and bluff checks against creatures that could find you romantically attractive.

Hey all, I'm working right now on a homebrew campaign (time travelling wizard out to destroy existence, fights his future self, nothing crazy haha) and I want to work on map construction. I'll need generally three orders of magnitude: rooms(1 square=5 feet), city size (1 square= roughly 1/4 of a city block) and a national map as well. I'm not the most artistically inclined, so I'm wondering what's a good program or system that will do the job for you fairly well. Other questions, but let's just start with this one.

High Harvest Festival

Dear Journal

Written sloppily after a night of honeyed lagers

Since coming to Dunshale, I have grown up in many ways, but much remains the same. It has not been entirely six months since I came here and yet I still do not know much about the town. I have been so preoccupied with my studies that I forget some days that my purpose is to gather and share this information with the people. Even my sale of scrolls has been stunted since coming here. Indeed it seems that I have more issue maintaining my faith in the quality of people I see around me. humans in particular stand out to me. Most of them stand much taller than the dwarves and gnomes who preside over them. I laugh at just how far a dwarf must bend backwards to look down upon the humans. The High Harvest Festival has been excellent, but I must learn to control my sweet tooth. I am staying tonight at the Inn. Today I also took an interest in the horse races. I have made new friends I think in Willem and Sunset. That horse has such a passion as I have rarely seen or understood before in any creature. WIllem's education is perhaps limited as of yet, but that is not surprising and I do not hold it against him. I must remember to have a look at the hillside as Willem suggested to me. If nothing else, it should give me a new perspective on town to see it from that angle. I grow tired now and I should rest. In the morrow, I shall begin my research in earnest into the question presented before about the mysterious murder of five years ago. I am not certain, but I think I have been placed in the same room as the event, or very near to it. Until Next
-MT