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Dryder wrote:
Ditto. A bit of preview helps get the players excited about the AP. (Jeff Probst voiceover) "Next Season on Survivor:Varisia!" Mike McArtor wrote:
Absolutely. If I'm designing my own open ended campaign with my buddies and one is a ranger focused on undead, then I (as the DM) occasionally put some undead in the game so he has some fun stuff to do. That's my job as the DM, to tailor the game to the players skills so they are challenged using their character concepts. Sure an occasional Giant will show up, but if I continually throw Giants at him, he gets frustrated and doesn't have as much fun. But with an AP, you (Paizo) control the campaign at that level. I really see the AP as somewhere between a self-designed campaign and a convention game with pre-gens. The DM doesn't have as much leeway on the monsters involved, without some major reworking. So the Ranger should be given some clues ahead of time where to focus. It's just the right thing to do to make the game fun for all and easy to run. A few ideas: Player's Maps - both regional and local. Don't make the DM have to try to create these out of his maps. Give PC's who "live in town" enough info about "town" to actually seem like a resident. Include regional skills/feats - this is nice flavor - but also highlight standard feats/skills that would be popular in this particular region. "Because of the caravans it's a given that everyone here knows how to ride a horse." Continue to improve upon "you meet in a bar". The 2nd player's guide had this, it was the best part. Provide hooks for the varying classes. This includes major temples, troublesome monsters in the area (for rangers, etc.), and schools of magic that might be popular/not. Give a short history of recent major events (town destroyed, etc.) This provides flavor, but also provides PC hooks. "My family disappeared 3 years ago in the Raid on Zanzibar." Info on Major families/groups - including a metagame sidebar of "who can my character be related to/work for"? Help the DM avoid the "oops I'm the cousin of the major villian" problem later on. I would also recommend you put the 1st level pre-gen characters in the players guide. This will allow the folks creating PC's from scratch to see what sort of classes/skills/feats you had in mind for the campaign. It will also give new or time-constricted players the ability to just choose one and go. Finally had a chance to read through 1.1. The product confuses me a little bit. The majority of the Pathfinder products are aimed at a DM. The Modules and Adventure Paths, etc. Sure there are a few things that Players might buy too, and a new subscription started for players, but overall the majority of the products are DM oriented. But this new ruleset looks to be focused almost entirely on PHB info. Races, Classes, Skills, Feats, Spells, etc. Combat has a few pages, Running the game has a few pages. I was glad to see the bit on experience, for example. As a DM, I really haven't felt that classes are all that broken. Building NPC's is a pain. This sort of addresses that but not enough. And even so, building monsters is broken too, and nothing much done here on that. Building encounters is broken at times, especially at higher levels. I don't see anything that helps with save or die and the power issues at higher levels. This is a common problem that I've seen with some of the 3.5 add on products - they seem to focus almost everything on PHB variations. I'd like to see alot more DMG and MM "fixes" compared to the amount of pages devoted to the PHB. Now, I don't need you folk to get all "but it has this, and it has that." Yes, I'm sure I missed this or that. Just giving a general impression that hopefully can help Jason et al think about some of the broader issues with 3.5 that they could address. -Pete Erik Mona wrote:
I guess it depends who gets to be Louis XVI ? :-) Nope, never heard of him. :-) List in chronological order: Shards of Honor
Pete Apple wrote:
I wanted to apologize for this post, it was obviously in the wrong forum. I had a few different holo-screens open in Internet Time Explorer 77 and ended up copy/pasting to the wrong window! Damn MicroExxon and their software! I almost ended the 100 years war 30 years early once! -Pete Well I think it’s just ludicrous and I couldn’t agree more. Professor Plato is just a pain in the arse. And don’t get me started on Xenophon, that mercenary! *Everyone* knows the Socratic Method is the best! We’ve been using it for years. It’s what we’re used to, it’s what we enjoy. Why go and change it now? I’ve already got all of this papyrus sitting on my bookcase that details at length the Socratic Method. Plus I’ve purchased all the add-on Dialogues as well! That’s a huge investment! I think Plato and his cronies are just money hungry cad’s wanting us to buy *their* new papyrus scrolls with all these new “improvements” on the Socratic Method. Like it needs improving! I say we just take the Socratic Method, maybe tweak it a bit here and there for the current times, and just keep using that! That’ll show Plato and his crowd! Who’s with me!? Having been a party in the SCO v IBM hoo-haa on IP, I think it would be very helpful to folks if the Paizo clarified the OGL, 3rd party OGL rules, trying to slip in other companies IP as "new" rules, etc. etc. You need to look out for Paizo, you don't want to give them problems if possible. Jason is doing a bunch of stuff here, last thing he needs is to have to research every rule suggestion for IP. A house rule we came up with for Heal. You make a Heal check and the value (with pluses or minuses for how familiar or alien the creature might be) gives you some amount of diagnosis information. DC 10: Very General info ("He looks slightly injured.")
Amusingly, this came about not to get an advantage in combat against opponents, but because of the party's Cavalier. The Cavalier would always say he was "Fine!" whenever asked. "Don't worry about me, press on!" This would continue until he finally collapsed. SO the cleric suggested this use for the Heal skill. I thought it was brilliant! He would drop healing potions into the Cavalier's rations and slap him on the back with a CMW's when he wasn't looking. -Pete A nice compliment is included. Text follows is from the Link:
Paizo announced yesterday that they will be sticking with their own re-branded version of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 for their popular (and well made) Pathfinder series. The Pathfinder RPG will serve as the core book, which will update the 3.5 D&D Rules. You can even download the nice-looking Alpha document from Paizo’s site now. After looking through the rules, they incorporate what I consider some “no brainer” updates to 3.5, and nothing that struck me as brilliant game design. It’s also not nearly complete, since they just offer a selection of updated classes and such, still having the expectation that it’s an add on to the PHB. I personally am not happy about this because I loved the first Pathfinder series, but I’m definitely moving to fourth edition, which means I won’t have a Pathfinder in the new edition. (I am glad to see that Necromancer Games, a Paizo partner, will be publishing an adventure path for 4e. I just hope it’s up to the same standards.) Looking at it from a business perspective, however, this makes a lot of sense. WotC is behind in offering the big third party publishers the new license and rules to use 4e. Paizo is uniquely positioned with the existing 3.5 market. Judging from the divisive reaction to 4e (and those who just don’t want to pay money to switch rules) there will be a market for 3.5 for at least the near future. I’m not sure they had a choice. Still, I hope they produce high quality accessories and adventures for 4e, even if they don’t switch for Pathfinder. The truth of the matter for me is that no one else is making products up to their level except Wizards. Callous Jack wrote:
My wife said I'm going to need a raise if I keep buying at the rate I am... Blackdragon wrote:
My suggestion wasn't for you to read reviews, but to write them. Paizo looks at those reviews to see what products people like and why, and other buyers read them when choosing products. If you haven't given her *anything* from your charter subscription so far that's going to be a big birthday present once you do! Blackdragon wrote:
Disenchanter wrote:
So... I'm looking forward to 4th edition, but even so, you seem like nice enough folks and I'm sorry you feel like you do. I want to help. So I thought I'd throw out some ideas for you to do something about what you're feeling rather then lash out. You know, constructive, positive stuff. The best and most obvious way you could influence Paizo is to buy more of their products. Become a supersubscriber or whatever it is. Being a business, they should listen more urgently to the people that are their current, best customers. Another thing you could do is write some reviews. Mr. Blackdragon and Mr. Disenchanter haven't written any reviews at all. If you really love the Paizo products as they are right now, say so. Write positive reviews for the products you own and specifically mention how you like them being 3.5 edition. Obviously you should be responding to any and all of the survey's that paizo puts out as well as any postings put out by their staff. They also publish their e-mail addresses so you should be providing feedback to them directly. I'm sure other folks might have some ideas as well. Blackdragon wrote:
I agree, the save mechanics seem strange, I'm going to wait and see on that one, although I am looking forward to making attack rolls when my wizard throws a fireball. DaveMage wrote:
I draw the line at adding back in grapple rules. Sorry. :-) I guess my point (in case you missed it) is I'm fully planning on modifying things as appropriate to my way of doing things, just like we do now with 3.5 houserules. These aren't some sort of sandscript tablets we're talking about here. :-) In fact, the term "3.75" has been bandied about here. If it makes sense I'll poach the good stuff out of 3.5 and the good stuff out of 4.0 and make my own 3.75. It's a game, the idea is to have fun the way you like it. I keep failing to see the gun being held to my head on this. I'm sure WotC will have plenty of "optional rules" in the books or online. And there will be plenty here and on other sites as well. -Pete DaveMage wrote:
"We roll ability scores in my campaign" There, fixed that one too. :-) PS: For 3E I actually prefer point buy. You can control the power level and people don't feel gyped if they roll bad. -Pete Excellent post! 1) Too much marketing tears down the previous version. To me this never made sense because you're essentially telling the customer "oh, we misled you about great that last version was". Never sits well with me. 2) Having worked in the business world long enough, I realize that the delays with the GSL are probably due to normal Dilbert reasons, but it absolutely should have been a higher priority! It certainly gives the wrong message to the 3rd parties and the customers. 3) I've heard that George R.R. Martin's Fire and Ice books are going to be made into a series on HBO. I thought that was fabulous news because it will give them time to do it right. A TV show would make a ton of sense - DnD is perfect for cliffhangers! (Sometimes literally!) -Pete pres man wrote:
Absolutely not! Well, not necessarily the bathroom, but in the front room by the fire in the comfy chair. I miss that. The laptop is just klunky. But this isn't necessarily a 3.5 thing. I would have been happy to see Paizo publishing 3.5/4.0/4.5/5.0/5.15/5.25/etc. Dragon/Dungeon forever! :-) KaeYoss wrote:
KaeYoss, I understand the point you're trying to make here. I thought that my terms were sufficently negative to convey my feelings, but not sufficiently rude to be offensive. "Troll" and "Twit" are much better then some of the many alternatives. If you, or Cory, (if he's still reading - which he said he wasn't), or any other reader, is offended I certainly do apologize.I also thought that since this is a thread discussing unpleasant behavior it would be somewhat different from someone jumping into the midst of a otherwise positive thread to start insulting people. In other words, in a thread where you're talking about people being troll's, using the term "troll" is appropriate to the context. Also, to be clear, I felt I was describing how Cory was acting, not who he is. I don't know him. I'm sure in person, we'd have a delightful time because we both like the same games and the same RPG company. I do hope he comes back and hangs around on the boards. Just, you know, nicer, cause at the end of the day we're all just DnD folk. (Bill & Ted: Be Excellent To Each Other) But, you are quite correct, two wrongs don't make a right. And so if the wise Paizo folks feel I've stepped over the bounds of propriety, I shall have to live with the consequences. So be it! -Pete This is a friend of mine's response to the article in some e-mails going around. This is not my work, but I enjoyed it so much that I got his permission to post it here. I include it as is. > Subject: Re: Interesting take on D&D
Joshua J. Frost wrote:
So let me commend you on this statement and your actions. I started the WOOT thread. I saw Cory's post before it was deleted and he was being a troll on purpose to poke buttons. I appreciated your team stepping in and deleting the post. I wish more moderators would step in like that more often. You are fully justified in modifying your boards to keep the quality at the level you desire. And if that means less twits and more constructive, interesting discussions then more power to you. And here's the thing, if Cory wants to create a "I'm mad as hell at WotC and I'm not going to take it anymore" thread - he should! I'm not going to hop on it and go "Woot!" I read through the article. First of all, I *love* the artwork. Lots of fun there. Something that struck me is that the Goblin's artwork out of Pathfinder would fit well with these guys. Imagine some of those Pathfinder Goblin's being pawns in the Fomorian plans? The like the concept of the Feywild and Feydark. It's good to see "Fey" mean something creeepy again. It's been used well in some recent literature and I'm glad they are following that example. One of my favorite TV shows was always "Tales from the Darkside" and their new take on dark fey and the shadowrealm reminds me of the opening credits... It's easy to imagine some fun adventures around that with some crazy Fomorian king. The article immediately got me thinking of some interesting campaign ideas. By associating the Goblins with them you have the tie into the character's realm. I'm really glad to see Cyclops -- they're a classic from mythology that everyone knows but has never been used well. Dark Dryads sound really creepy, actually. Deep dark woods dragging you down to the depths of the Feydark. <shudder> All in all good stuff. 1) Halflings like water all of a sudden?
How about more than 10? Some of these are a bit tongue in cheek but are true at heart. I'll put some on the other post as well. 1) Simplified Skill System with less “throwaway” skills.
I know there's more, that's just off the top of my head. It's an amusing post -- punditry on RPG games! Huh. Obviously meant to generate some hits, which it is doing. Good job there anyway. To me his points regarding violence are the sames ones I make when discussing what separate tabletop RPG's from Video/MMO's... in the tabletop you can make the bluff/diplomacy check and still get the xp. -Pete David Marks wrote:
That actually makes sense and goes along with the way SW:Saga works with alternating feats/talents at each level.
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