Northron's page

Definitely interested in sharing a room, so if anyone is looking for a clean, non-snoring roommate please drop me a line. I'm looking to be there by Thursday evening and leave Monday morning. Thanks!

Congratulations!

Congratulations Kyle!

Welcome, John!

Awesome! This is exciting news, my players will love this!

Thanks, Mike! Looking forward to seeing you all at Gencon!

This isn't about convention boons, but it is about pathfinder tales chronicles and their possible abuse. I met a guy a couple of weeks ago who was of the opinion that when you assigned a tales chronicle to a pc, the pc received everything on that chronicle for free. So, take, for example, the gem of seeing on the death's heretic chronicle. He believed that he received that gem for free. So, if he chose to assign the death's heretic chronicle to his first level character, he believed that first level character got a 75000 gp magic item without having to pay for it (and could then turn around and sell it for 37500 gp). I tried to tell him that, like any other chronicle, it only gave him access to buy the items, not the item for free. But he clearly didn't believe me and I wonder if others are mistaken in the same fashion. As much as it pains me to say, since I think this is patently obvious, maybe there needs to be an explicit statement in the guide or FAQ that this only grants access and not the item itself?

Like any other Chronicle, the boons grant you access only to an item, unless the boon specifically says you get the item for free. But if it is listed with a cost, you have to pay for it.

Even if this player doesn't agree with this "opinion", his first character audit will straighten things out.

Congratulations to all the new Venture-Officers, and especially to fellow Canadian Robert Trifts, stepping up from Leftenant to Captain!

Seconded! Congrats on the promotion, Robert! We three need to discuss a Pan-Canadian PFS event soon... ;)

Sorry to hear that Neil, but I can understand the need. I hope I still get to meet you at a con in the future or around the gaming table!

I shall toast your stepping down with the traditional Canadian "Beaver Bite"; two parts screech to one part maple syrup, chased with a pale ale and a bowl of poutine...

Awesome! Thanks, Mike and Don!

Let me clarify by pointing something out:

Core Rulebook, p. 91-92 wrote:

You can practice your trade and make a decent living, earning half your check result in gold pieces per week of dedicated work.

The Day Job roll represents a period of work, which makes it different than say an Acrobatics check to avoid an AoO. But the Craft and Profession skill have the same use stated in the RAW. So a Day Job is technically just like other skill checks, other Craft and Profession skill checks to earn income over time.

Now, that said, there is nothing in the CRB that says you can't take 10 on the Craft check to earn income over time. Nosig is asking why the Day Job, which uses a different mechanic but is in-game the same thing, does not allow the player to take 10. Simply saying it's different isn't an acceptable answer.

Actually, saying it's different when it is different is a perfectly acceptable answer.

Notice the emphasis I placed in your quote above. You are right about the RAW in the Core book. But as has already been stated, the Day Job check is meant to cover an indeterminate amount of time. It could be a week, it could be two weeks, or it could also be three days and then you're off on another mission.

I think some confusion is coming from comparisons to the old Living Greyhawk model of "day job" checks. But in LG that time period was a set period, since LG tracked your character's time by the week. Pathfinder Society does not, and because of that and for reasons already stated, you can't Take 10 on a Day Job roll.

Fromper - I'm sure I am not the only one on this board that could come up with a regular job that would let me travel at a moments notice on Society Missions all around the world. (Writing a travel coloume for a local Mag. or Book club, cleric for my Faction Leader, Guild jurneyman - "if I'm in town and punching the clock I pull the pay, it's union rules", so many others). Can I explain why (in game) it has to be a roll and not a T10? Sure. But why do I have to build this in game justification for a rule variation? This is an exception to the T10 rule. I would like to know if there is any reason other than "just 'cause!".

Nosig, you seem to be complaining that people are giving you "in game" justifications for the Day Job no T10 rule, but then you use "in game" justifications for why it should be allowed.

As Bob already pointed out, the Day Job roll is not like other skill checks. It is an abstract way to aggregate income results over an indeterminate period of time during your character's off-hours. Since there is no way to measure that time, and no way to determine what things (good or bad) happen during it, players must roll to represent the hand that luck (again, good and bad) can have in a character's off-hours work.

I'm not sure what else can be said about this. Imo, your question has been answered, but if you feel it hasn't, I guess you will just have to accept, "because its the rule". But I hope you can understand the reasoning behind it.

I personally started playing in 1980 at age 10, through a D&D event being run through my local library. So I consider that to be the min. age for role-playing games, inasmuch as I think about age minimums. As luck would have it the youngest of my four nephews just turned 10, so guess who is getting the Pathfinder Beginner Box for Christmas? And of course Uncle Brent will be happy to GM...

Bringing new children/tweens into gaming is one of the ways we will keep our hobby strong. We just need to be the best stewards we can for the generations coming up behind. And I think the Pathfinder community as a whole is particularly able in this regard.

Scott Young wrote:

I have a "Cheat sheet" for new players that explains both the subtleties of Organized Play plus helps them choose factions (if they're starting in a regular scenario) that I'm happy to share with anyone who wants them. It gives new players at the table something to read while the GM preps the game, and answers most of the common questions.

Ooooh, pick me! I want to read/use it for my new players.

+1 to that; I'd also love a copy of that when it's available.

Very cool! I can't wait to expand my collection of pre-painted minis with these new scuplts. I am super excited about the new minis!

I would think that the scenarios for season 1 would have a dual number. #1-01 (#29), #1-02 (#30), etc. A doable compromise.

Except that any change to the scenario numbering would still require a lot of data entry work for very little pay-off. And Michael makes a very good point about chronicles already in use; do we track those down and force the players to update them?

The actual inconvenience is pretty small. Just consider it a little quirk of the PFS.

Brent Jans wrote:

Looking forward to working with you and Neil; we need to plan out the Great Canadian Pathfinder Moot real soon!

Going to PaizoCon? We're toying with driving out from Winnipeg...

I am definitely going to Gen Con this year. Did the drive out from Edmonton in 2010, which was interesting fun (especially when crossing back to Canada with resin steampunk gun replicas).

I'll keep the drive in mind. Funds allowing, I wouldn't mind just flying but I'll have to play that by ear.

While I can see how it may seem unfair that con-goers have access to special boons, I don't agree that it is unfair. As has already been stated, this is the PFS con-goer's reward for attending the con and spending their time on PFS.

And as has also already been noted, they are getting something special but no more or less effective that anything from the core rules. The tengu already cited; is that really going to work any better than a dwarf or human? Will it help a player "win" PFS better? No, of course not. It is just different. No one is depriving PFS players who can't make it to cons of anything. Heck, the last time I was at GenCon was two years ago. The time before that? 1996. I know what it is like to be isolated from these major conventions, believe me.

But that doesn't stop me from enjoying PFS. And Paizo does provide options for people that want special boons right in their home town (the Beginner Box Bash already mentioned is a good example).

The fact is, scarcity makes these boons valuable, and the races allowed by them interesting. Without that scarcity, we might as well just allow everyone to play everything and see how interesting things are then. There is already an organized play system that follows that model, and I haven't found anywhere near as much fun with it as I have PFS. Of course, ymmv.

Brent Jans wrote:

Thanks for the kind words, all! Congratulations to my fellow newbies, and a big thanks to the the VCs and VLs working so hard before us. I'm looking forward to working with you all.

Congrats, Jan! You're only 13 hours away by car, hopefully I'll get up your way soon!

Ha! It's Brent, actually, though you aren't the first person to make that mistake. And oddly, my birth certificate does show my last name as having an apostrophe (Jan's). Someday Jan will claim me as hers...

Looking forward to working with you and Neil; we need to plan out the Great Canadian Pathfinder Moot real soon!

Thanks for the kind words, all! Congratulations to my fellow newbies, and a big thanks to the the VCs and VLs working so hard before us. I'm looking forward to working with you all.

Both #3–07 and #3–08 have been turned over to the web team and should go live today, as indicated on their product page for the last few weeks. I don't know why the availability on them switched from "Available tomorrow" to "Unavailable" instead of to "Available later today" but those sorts of technical details are not my purview anyway.

Thanks, Mark! Appreciate the quick reply.

Just wondering if there is an update on the release of Echoes? I had it and another Season 3 scheduled to run this coming weekend, but I notice they are both listed just as Unavailable.

I've switched out this weekend's scenarios, so no harm done there. Just curious when I can send my Pathfinders back to Blackros Museum... :)

WANT SO HARD!

With enough plush goblins, I could organize a "gobbo hunt" in place of an Easter egg hunt one year...

Pygon wrote:

Tickets secured. Now I need to get there and find a place to sleep.

At least your priorities are in the right order.

If Seattle is like Vancouver, a park bench and a tarp make fine accommodations...as a last resort, of course. :)

Matthew Morris wrote:

Northron wrote:

Ha! Brilliant! My Andoran cleric will be sure to spread the word of Captain Andoran across Golarion.

Now I'm tempted to try and build some Alpha Flight-inspired characters...

Northstar Half Elf* Monk maybe? Would cover speed and his fighting style.

Shaman - Druid or Wizard with a bonded spell component pouch.

Sasquatch - Barbarian

Guardian/Vindicator wizard/evoker.

Don't forget Puck!

No, can't forget Puck! He's the Dwarven Grappler of the group!

Paizocon! And on the calendar it goes. See you all there!

Excellent! Good to see more happening in Canada; best of luck, Michel!

Home games, as long as they follow the PFS rules, are totally fine. I actually just started a home PFS group, to help me practice my GMing and to give us an option when the campaign can't run.

And on the plus side, five new people playing PFS... :)

Ha! Brilliant! My Andoran cleric will be sure to spread the word of Captain Andoran across Golarion.

Now I'm tempted to try and build some Alpha Flight-inspired characters...

Dollar/discount stores are definitely your best bet for the monkeys, as well as any other animal miniatures you might need. You can usually find a set of toy animals around the right size, as well as dinos if you need them for other games.

When I played in it, the GM allowed the Cheliax player to just bring back a part. And when I GM it I'll likely do the same.

Thanks, Seraphimpunk, for posting these unofficial updates; they will be of great use to anyone running the scenarios for non-PFS use (like myself). You obviously put some work into them, and its cool stuff like this that keeps me on the forums. :)

And thank-you as well for making sure to post them as unofficial; the PFS GMs that frequent these threads would never make that mistake, but it's always good to cover all the bases. As Vinyc points out, there are new PFS players on here all the time.

Vinyc, with respect, I think that Seraphimpunk has made the unofficial nature of these updates pretty clear. I don't think we should discourage this kind of player contribution. I personally think this kind of player involvement is excellent, and should be encouraged.

Not much more to add to the excellent advice already given. In general, if you think of things that happen in home games (needing pencils, forgetting dice and so on) and prepare for those things you'll be fine. Have fun running the game, because fun is contagious.

Something specific, if you are running off of a laptop (as I usually do); it is worth it to either print off the map pages, or create a separate file just with the map images (through Photoshop or some other program). The time and aggravation you avoid by not having to scroll back to reference the map on your laptop is worth it.

Again, have fun! And welcome to the PFS GM fold! :)

We hope to be able to announce something within the next week or so!

*Squeee!*

Er, um...I mean:

*manly Squeee!*

For what you want, I think Grand Lodge might be your best bet. You are right after all; if the barbarian isn't interested in faction politics he's just going to do his job and stay out of it all.

But you can still expect to get missions that require skills that are sub-optimal for your character. How I've always looked at faction missions is, the faction is using the member that happens to be available. Ideally they would like the best person for the job, but what they get is the second best (or third best, or fourth...) because that happens to be the Pathfinder available.

And personally, I usually enjoy role-playing the faction missions I am less suited for, than the ones that should be a lock for me. My Andoran cleric of Iomedae usually gets missions that suit him, but he isn't sneaky or particularly diplomatic. So those missions can be good for a bit of fun.

In the end, I'd suggest you pick the faction you like the most, and accept you will have "interesting" missions regardless. Tends to make for more fun, imo.

I have a question. . .

How do you handle non-lethal damage due to extreme conditions like a desert or frozen north type areas? Should I do just straight damage or should there be other effects as well? Ability modifiers, save scores, etc?

Thanks for the help!

The SRD has a good summary of environmental effects from extreme heat/cold, among others. Probably your best resource for answering rules questions on the fly, imo.

Hope that helps!

This is loads of cool! I'll hand these out to the players at our special Halloween event. Thanks, Mike!

Michael Brock wrote:

Stephen White, Venture-Captain for Melbourne, Australia, has some great ones he made at HERE

It has the community use policy already on it.

Those are outrageously awesome. I wish I knew how to use Photoshop so I could make use of them...

If all you are adding is text, you can load the image onto a document in Office (or whatever word-processing program you have), set the image to fill the page, then set your margins to type just in the scroll area. A little more work, but it should give you a good result.

If you don't have a word-processing program, Google "Open Office". It's a free WP program comparable to MS Office.

Hope that helps!

I'll be going for the first time in 2012, after a few years of missed chances. But this year it will happen; third time's the charm!

I tried to go to that site and sign in, but have had trouble. I would like to see the scene at your events.

Thanks
Larry Wilhelm

If you can, just send a message to Barracus, the group's GM. He can send you a link to join, and you'll be all set. If you have any issues drop me a line at brent.jans(at)gmail.com.

Maerimydra wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

They were dog-like in 2E.

They went dragonic in 3E.

And after Meepo, there's no turning back.

They were described as "dog-like" in the 1st edition Red Box too!

I'm not THAT old ;)

I am, and he's right; they were described as dog-like in the red box. And in the prior "pink box", AND in the printing before that. I'd have to break out my copy of the white box to check the description there...

Yes, I am old(er). ;)

I can understand Paizo's reasons for not doing it anytime soon, but you can count me among the few that would buy such a book. AND I'd leave it out on the table for all to see; anyone who has an issue with my gaming at this point generally doesn't come by my house anymore. :)

Very cool and handy, thank-you!

During recent discussions about GMing, rules, and authority; there's been quite a bit of conflict.

Amid said conflict, Mark Moreland and Michael Brock have both stepped forward and - in a united voice - stated the position of PFS... a position not universally liked.

With the outspoken ideas of an over-represented minority seeming to drown out the rest, I've become worried that Mark and Michael might begin to feel that it's them against the world.

Thus, I felt it important that I (and anyone else who feels as I do) step forward and make it known that I not only accept, but also agree with and fully support what M&M are doing with PFS, up to and including the exhortation for GMs to run scenarios as written.

Keep up the good work, guys.

+1

I'm not going to lie; I like the way PFS has "perked up" recently, and I support what is coming down from the top. No question, when I'm running a scenario as written and the Pathfinders are pounding encounters out of the park with little effort, it can be disheartening. But that is the organized part of Organized Play; all else being equal, each player should get the same experience from a given scenario.

Because of things like OGL vs PFRPG scenarios and the like, there are going to be imbalances that crop up. If you are a GM/organizer, really the best thing to do is report anything you consider to be a true imbalance. Then trust Mark/Mike to do what needs to be done. Things can't change overnight, so give them room to work!

Sunshine Rat! wrote:

I would love to see a parody of "Dogs playing poker", but with goblins playing pathfinder.

That's a pretty hilarious idea, actually. They could be playing Harrow. And one of them could be a goblin dog. :)

+1

I would buy that, as either a shirt or a poster!

I'll second what others are saying; it is a self-regulating issue, and soon you may be begging for fighters! We go through a similar phase with our new players here in Edmonton. But in time many start looking around for different challenges and try out new classes.

And I would personally love to GM a table of nothing but alchemists. How could that be anything but hilarious?

I'm curious.

Please choose one of the following. I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate a little bit on your thoughts on the following question, if you would.

1) I am interested in a "Modern" Pathfinder RPG because:

A) I specifically prefer the rules conceits of d20 Modern (Fast Hero, Smart Hero, etc., talent trees, other mechanics stuff).

B) I am excited by the idea of a "Pathfinder" Modern RPG, regardless of mechanics.

If the game becomes as successful as it appears it may, something like this is definitely within the realm of possibility in the medium to long term.

Please pick one of the choices above and expound a bit on the way you voted the way you did.

Thanks!

I would have to say mostly A, but with some B thrown in. I think the d20 Modern system, with a Pathfinder update, would be useful for a wide variety of possible genres/settings.

I personally like the idea of a Modern Golarion setting; the current game world updated in development. I think it could be a lot of fun to explore a setting where the events of our current in-game timeline were viewed from the same distance as the events of the Thassilonian period are viewed in-game now.

Ok, thanks.

I also need to know what number limit on powers.
Is it just limited to what I can pay for?
Remember this is for my bonded staff.

The section on bonded items in the Wizard description puts no limit on the abilities your item can possess, except the usual: you must be of sufficient level to add the abilities, and you have to pay for them.

Your best bet is to read the section on item creation carefully, and talk with your GM about any campaign issues he may have.

Thanks for this, Michael! Always nice to have more options when placating voracious players. :)

When I add powers to my bonded staff do the powers need to follow a theme?

When I create a staff, do I need to replicate one from the books?

No, if you are creating the item you can add powers as you see fit. You may find a theme presents itself at some point, or you could just build a "Staff of Wonder" all your own.

Chris Mortika wrote:

Lamplighter, there's a complicated version of that which I ... sort of ... approve of: everybody at the table gets a d12. Every time you do something cool, like help out a new player or contribute to a good plan, or suffer a critical, you get another d12. At the end of the session, you can hand your d12s to another layer if you want. Everybody rolls their d12s, and the high roll gets the boon.

It's a combination of "suck up to the GM" and "random chance". I like the way it negates the scummy tactic of a bloc of players deciding ahead of time to vote for a particular player: it doesn't affect the luck of the bloc as a whole.

I really like this idea Chris - I think the next time I know we'll be doing this (like at a con or such) I may just employ this idea.

I like that idea, too. Thanks, Chris!

It can be tough to figure out a fair way to distribute boons and other prizes. In the past I've tried a number of different methods, many already listed above.

One that I tried for a while (which worked best when I had two prizes to give away) was asking each player to write down, numbered 1 thru 3, their top three picks for best player (1 being first choice, 3 being last). Then I would give the prizes to the people with a combination of more votes but the two lowest numbers. That way even if people were stacking the vote, the second lowest number would be a more accurate representation of who was looked on as the best player.

It wasn't perfect, but it seemed to keep people happy. And it usually resulted in actual good players being rewarded.