Mooncabbage's page

Hmmm, interesting. Maybe a disengage move then, a special 5ft step?

You could fire a crossbow prone easily, reloading it might be a challenge though.

I would always let a player who could move (ie not frozen, stuck), be able to move a minimum of 5ft. I am pretty sure there is a rule somewhere that says you can always make a 5ft step if you're able to move at all, you just can't combine the 5ft step with regular movement.

I agree about OAs allowing for a fairly ridiculous amount of frontage to be covered. Consider PCs with reach can cover even more space too.

However with the 5ft step, I remember reading somewhere in the BB that movement can never be reduced below a minimum of 5ft. So using a 5ft step will always allow you to move atleast 5ft. In this regard threatened squares costing double movement is not a problem.

With regard to it costing twice as many squares to move IN to combat, I can see your point. However consider that weapons with a 10ft reach have double the effect, effectively requiring 20ft of movement to move into melee range. That doesn't actually sound too bad to me, it makes polearms somewhat more useful, and if you consider a block of pikemen or a spearman using their extra reach to keep an opponent at bay, it makes sense, and adds another tactical layer, WITHOUT adding any more complicated variables to track.

It might be possible for spearmen and the like to effectively defend squares by slowing movement through them, without getting any free attacks out of turn.

Anyway it sounds interesting, I think I will try it in my own game.

Actually I've been thinking about this more, and I think the issue is less that a beginner box sequel is required, and more that certain things are lacking from the rest of the Paizo line.

The beginner box already provides plenty of card figures, and Paizo is producing more of those as a separate product line. It's not really necessary to add any classes, as they're already available in the SRD if you want them and otherwise they over complicate a nice simple game.

The issue isn't even the rules are any splitting of the customer base. Just because the players don't and probably won't be using the more complex rules, doesn't mean the GM can't buy full Pathfinder products and run them for his BB players.

What the beginner box highlights is a lack of light hearted adventure modules and paths, and also the need for "Ready to Run" adventures. To run a BB style adventure as a GM, you only have to skim read it once, and you can play right from the book. For those of us with precious little prep time to write our own adventures or fart about trying to commit to memory the important details of an adventure in the current style, it's a godsend.

So to summarize, there are two things you really need to expand on the Beginner Box. Appropriately light hearted adventures modules, and a better, clearer encounter format. If it comes in a pretty box with maps and tiles and counters all inclusive, all the better.

I have never really liked Attacks of Opportunity. They don't add much to gameplay, except to slow things down and break the turn sequence.

I think a ready action sounds like a great idea, and threatened squares acting as difficult terrain seems a very elegant solution. No keeping track of who's used their AoO for the round or constantly having to check/remember if an AoO is triggered. You could also allow an acrobatics check to treat threatened squares by a given opponent as normal terrain, opposed by a melee attack roll from the target, or to speed things up, just DC 15 + Basic Attack Bonus.

I agree with Niilo, creating characters takes a good long time. Plus you really need one copy of the Hero's Handbook per person creating a character, if you're doing it at the same time. If the kids are old enough and can follow simple instructions, they should have no problems creating their own characters, although the Feats and Equipment sections can be tricky, it might be necessary to strongly encourage use of the "suggested" stuff, and maybe allow them to change their starting feats once retroactively.

The biggest issue is time, I would guess you'd need atleast one entire session to get through it. Kids also get a bit bored once they're past the creative part and into number crunching, so you might want to stop at that point and do the maths yourself.

I've just rolled characters with my stepdaughter and my girlfriend, so the memories are still reasonably fresh :P

Well, with regards to suitable adventure modules, I would prefer to see a quit short game, the sort of thing you could wrap up in a few hours. Maybe a little bit longer than the bash type adventures, perhaps 4-5 encounters total. It's hard to get non-gamers to sit down for hours and hours at a time, and I'd much prefer to finish the adventure than leave it hanging.

A mix might also be worth considering, I have tried running the bash games (with some modifications for a 2 player party) during the week, and I plan on running a longer game on the weekend. Even then, the Blackfang dungeon feels about twice as long as it should be, it definately feels like a two parter, but there is no good "to be continued" point.

Another option might be a random dungeon generator, with a set of different tiles (corridors, rooms etc), and just roll up the rooms as you go. It's not necessarily something my group would enjoy, but for the RPG-lite players it might be a good introduction to roleplaying, without the embarrassment of talking in funny voices.

I just read this whole thread. I want these NOW.

I have actually been thinking about this. I have my step-daughter and GF playing the BB, plus the Bash games and the GM Kit dungeon. My stepdaughter is 8 and she while she might eventually make it through the Hero's Handbook, there is no way she could ever read the PF book. Similarly my GF is vision impaired and has trouble reading for long periods of time, and is primarily interested in playing with her daughter, and is not dedicated to learning a huge set of complicated rules.

I am basically considering the BB to be "Pathfinder Basic", and it works fantastically like that. The rules are simple enough to understand, and there is plenty to do. The Monster Counters are an especially nice touch, they take up nowhere near as much room as minis to store, and are probably much cheaper to boot.

Unfortunately it's quite difficult for me to convert existing PF adventures to the BB, because the tone of most of those adventures is inappropriate. They're made with mature gamers in mind.

What I would like to see Paizo do, is not make the BB a one shot, but consider it perhaps a separate line that might lead into PF, rather than necessarily doing so. I would personally love to buy BB expansions, with new monster counters, adventures, map tiles, spells, items etc. Not new classes, because I think the 4 is just fine. Something like the Hero Quest expansions of old. Maybe even an "Intermediate Box" levels 6-10 somewhere down the line.

You only have to look at the number of parents in the comments here, singing the praises of the BB, to see there would be a market for simpler, more self contained products with a more child friendly tone.

I really hope to see something like that in the near future :D