Prof Chaos's page

*pokes head out of the shadows*
Oh, hello. I'm JMD031, you may remember me from such threads as "The Official JMD031 Rant Thread" and "JMD031's Awesome Thread of Awesomeness" from approximately 2+ years ago. You don't remember me? Well, that's fair.

Anywho, why am I starting a new thread now? Because I'm going to Gen Con and I'm considering running a short game. This will not be a typical game, it will be a Lord of Chaos game. What is a Lord of Chaos game? Click here for information. If interested post here!

More information to follow.

I thought it would be interesting to add Mythic abilities to the Hurricane King to add more challenge to the final encounter. I didn't see any threads on this, so I thought I'd start one. I'll add my thoughts later but feel free to chime in.

First things first, I did conduct a search on the forums and did not find any answers, so decided to make a thread.

Secondly, I had a player in the game that I run recently take the Trickster Path ability Perfect Lie. The ability reads "When telling a lie you expend one use of Mythic Power to make the lie indiscernible from the truth by both Sense Motive and magic. Obvious proof of your falsehood still reveals the lie for what it is, but in the absence of proof, those who hear your lie believe it." Having read both the Bluff Skill and the Sense Motive Skill I do not fully understand how this ability works.

The way we are reading this is like the scene from A New Hope where Obi-Wan tells the Stormtroopers "These aren't the droids you are looking for" and they believe him. Last night, I let the player use this without any kind of roll because as I'm reading it, they auto-fail their sense motive checks if it "there is no obvious proof" and auto-pass otherwise.

So the question, should this ability require an opposed roll or does it simply work because the player spends Mythic Power to use it?

In my current game, the PCs have made an enemy of the Red Mantis and will no doubt in the future plan an attack on them. This is great but also terrifying to me as there is nothing in print on this. So I turn to the Community here to get guidance and perhaps develop something for temporary use until Paizo wows us with their own version.

I recently asked James Jacobs to describe the Crimson Citadel and he stated that he considers it to be a "Citadel sitting on top of a Megadungeon". It's the "Megadungeon" part that is kind of overwhelming to me as these usually entail several hundred pages of material (more than one person could conceivably come up with at any rate). Anyways without further ado, let's get started.

Known factors of the Crimson Citadel -
According to Pathfinder #9 there are 4 main parts. The first part is the Ruvaria or the Ruby Halls. In this area there are all sorts of poisoned razors and traps as well as poisonous beasts running around to test the mettle of the initiates. The second part is the Sivlamik or the Honeyed Gardens. This area is filled with pleasure groves and bubbling blood fountains. It is inhabited with "guardian slaves" who are essentially prisoners. The third part is the Odalis or the Lavish Heart. This area has the living quarters of the upper ranking Red Mantis, meeting halls, workshops, and treasuries. The last part is the Faynas or the Iron Heart. Here is where the Blood Mistress resides, where the Red Mantis keeps their greatest treasures and weapons and where the Sarzanri Library is.

According to James Jacobs the Sarzanri Library is so expansive that it should encompass about 3 levels worth of encounters (stated between 14 to 17 or the equivalent to an entire volume of an AP). Which means that the library itself is likely several levels of the Megadungeon on it's own.

I'm sure there are more things but I'll add them later after I conduct more research.

Hello there. Have you ever had a campaign just abruptly end without a back-up plan? Did half of your group move away, get married, or are otherwise "in disposed"? Then I have the perfect solution for you...a Lords of Chaos game!

What is a Lord of Chaos game? I'm glad I predicted you would ask. And here is the complex answer to that simple question.

Lords of Chaos games are simply games where everyone makes a character at whatever level you decide them to start at BUT everyone must have a Chaotic alignment (CG, CN or CE). Additionally, the idea is for the players to make the most absolutely random, broken, and insane character they can create and just have fun playing them. Examples of characters include: a Fighter who thought he was a robot and would constantly remind the GM that he was in fact a robot, an Elven Wizard who hated that he was an Elf and cut his own ears to look more "human", a Half-Giant who carried a "stick of sneaky-sneaky" that he believed made him "invisible", a goblin alchemist who rode a Dire Bat and was afraid of "the man in red tights", a cleric who worshipped his previous PC, and many more.

Basically, if you are a player this is your opportunity to play that crazy combination that your GM has given you the stink eye about. This is a game where AM BARBARIAN could be a reality. The sky is the limit.

But how does one run a Lord of Chaos game? Essentially, you use Calvinball rules. What? You don't know what Calvinball is? You poor poor individual. Let me enlighten you. With the exception that it is you who makes up the rules as you go along. This is also a time for you the GM to through all of those really goofy and silly monsters and plots you have been meaning to run but have never had the opportunity. Want them to fight an Aboleth but are not having any sea adventures anytime soon? Just start your game underwater. Want to incorporate some cool aspect from some movie or TV show you just watched? Go ahead. The idea is that the crazier the game is the better it can be.

I have ran several of these games as filler between games. My players love them and they often look forward to the next one. If you have any questions about Lords of Chaos games feel free to post it in this thread. If you happen to run your very own Lords of Chaos game and want to post about it, do so here.

My group has decided to make the island of Smuggler's Shiv into the beginnings of their new kingdom but unfortunately there is no convenient hex grid map of the area.

My main concern is just figuring out how many hexes are in the area and if anyone has that kind of time or ability to do so, I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, any suggestions for other GMs may be useful as well.

One of the ways I got the kingdom building started was by letting the players negotiate with the different factions to start their kingdom.

Hello everyone. I'm cleaning out the closets and making room for new Pathfinder products. Most of this stuff is old 3.5 DnD books and old World of Darkness books. PM me if interested and I'll email you the list. I'm also getting rid of some Warhammer 40k Minis and can provide a detailed list if need be. Act now and receive a 5% discount!

I am getting ready to run this AP here in the next month or so and I just recently purchased Mythic Adventures and haven't had a chance to fully digest it all yet. However, I thought it would be a good opportunity to solicit advice. Also, feel free to ask your own questions about how to "mythic" your own running of Serpent's Skull.

So I'm considering building a table for wargaming since the table I had been using collapsed. Any suggestions regarding wood type or construction?

It had to be done eventually.

Ok, so I did a short search and there was no thread about this game so here is one.

Feel free to talk about Warhammer 40K in any manner you choose. Examples include: 1. Opinions on the new edition. 2. Why you like (insert army here). 3. Why you hate (insert army/rule/etc. here). 4. Models. 5. Etc.

I'll be back later to discuss armies I'm currently playing and my thoughts on 6th ed so far as I'm reading the book.

Welcome to the official thread where I, JMD031, will not only be reposting my now imfamous rants but also will be producing new ones for you to enjoy.

Since these were originally posted in the "Do Not Reply to This Thread" thread (this is not a time for jokes) I will encourage others to post here much like they posted there. If anything it will give me fuel for further rants.

So enjoy, and if you don't like my rants you can (expletive deleted) a (redacted).

So I'm playing a Conjuration spec wizard and I was looking for some advice about some feats. I've read over Treatmonk's guide for wizards but he only covered the core book. I'm going to post a list here and then ask the wonderful Paizo community to tell me why I should or should not take any of these feats as well as suggesting any feats I may have overlooked.

Core:
Arcane Strike
Spell Focus (Conjuration)

Augment Summoning
Craft Wonderous Item
Extend Spell
Quicken Spell
Weapon Focus (Ray)

APG:
Arcane Blast
Disruptive Spell
Elemental Spell
Spell Perfection

Ultimate Magic:
Skeleton Summoner
Spell Specialization
Greater Spell Specialization
Superior Summoning

Ultimate Combat:
Dimensional Agility

So with the Rise of the Runelords AP being made into a Hardcover book, I had a thought, why not do this more often? Now I'm sure I'll get a lot of people to say "because it will ruin the AP biz" and whatnot, but hear me out. The main draw to having the Rise of the Runelords as a Hardcover is because for the most part it is out of print and almost impossible to find all of it in print. Sure, you could get the pdfs, but for most of us we like the feel of the book in our hands or we don't have one of them fancy new e-readers.

So here is my idea. Obviously, you don't put one out every year, that's ludicris. But, perhaps, they could put one out every two to three years. Paizo puts out two APs a year usually, which means that between 4 to 6 APs will be produced at a given time so there is little chance that they will ever catch up to the current one and it will allow for the oldest ones to be "dated".

My main purpose of thinking of this is because I'm really having hard time convincing myself to purchase any more Hardbacks for this game. I used to buy almost every one of the DnD 3.5 ones back in the day and I feel kind of burned. Doing this would make deciding what 3 hardcovers you would do every year as one of them is likely going to be a Bestiary. I would likely jump at the chance to purchase one of the older 3.5 APs (even Second Darkness) if it was compiled into a hardcover. Heck, I might even purchase one I already have all the books for so I don't have to go flipping through them all the time...

If anything, I'd at least like to see all of the 3.5 ones reprinted and updated if only so that I could purchase them as I kind of joined the party a bit late (when the official rulebook was in Beta test).

I have decided to play a Bard in an upcoming Pathfinderized Dark Sun game. This particular Bard will be close friends with a Rogue (played by my brother). The purpose of this character is be be part of an assassin team with the rogue. Any assistance as to what spells or feats to take will be most beneficial. Currently I'm taking the Street Performer Archtype.

My big problem is what to pick for feats as I have never played a Bard before and I don't know what is good for them. I'm also not trying to "break the game" with this character as I did when I played a psychic warrior (from Dreamscarred Press' Psionics Unleashed) and be more of a support versus damage dealer. The last to keep in mind is that I'll have to rely mostly on class abilities, feats, and spells to survive as there are not many magic items around and MWK is likely the best I'll find.

Thanks in advance.

So as a big fan of AM BARBARIAN, I had this crazy idea for a story/possible comic strip. It could be called AM CLASS or something like that and it would follow AM BARBARIAN and the other AMs as they adventure through the world.

I think we could make something happen and it would be hilarious.

Thoughts?

How does one know they are awesome? This was a thought that occurred to me today. So I decided the best course of action was to set up a thread where everyone who posted in it would know they were awesome simply due to the matter that they posted in it. So show how awesome you are by posting in this thread.

Based on what he said recently in the "Ask James Jacobs" thread, I'm going with CE.

I'd only be a masochist if I went back to that Hellknight thread to wallow in the mayhem I created, though. Since I don't plan to, that'd probably just make me a psychopath or a maniac or a sadist or something, I guess.

Discuss.

Anyone besides me playing this? If so, please add what system you are using. I'm currently a big fan of this game and I normally hate shooter games.

I would like to make a request that the "Ask James Jacobs" thread be restored so that I may once again have the glory of having the 10,000th post in the thread. As of now, I do not and it saddens me a great deal. I may not be able to sleep at all until this evening at the latest. Help me PMG, you are my only hope.

[Unfunny statement that mocks a more serious thread through the use of puns and/or words that sound similar]

[Query for further comments]

I'm concerned about our resident lord of the undead Aberzombie. He has been recently replying to threads with the phrase "ARRRGGGGHHH!!!". Clearly he is in some kind of distress. Thoughts?

What is the threshold on this thing? When did it stop being funny? Was it ever funny? What is that smell? Who let that dog in here? How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? If Mary is three years older than Jim and Susan is two years younger than Gary and Jim is twice the age of Susan what is everyone's age?

This thread is dedicated to applying to be my new Archnemesis since Leafar the Lost has gone MIA. Please provide all revelant information such as who you lasted arched for, guild membership status and special skills. Being insane is a plus. I will choose the best qualified candidate out of all the applicants sometime in the near future.

I would like to formally announce my bid in the upcoming FAWTL election.

VMmercenario what did you mean when you said I took your advice here?

I have noticed that it has been difficult for us to really hate on Leafar the Lost lately, due to his slacking off, so I have created this thread just for us. To all the haters of Leafar the Lost, thank you for your continued devotion to hating on Leafar the Lost. Feel free to leave your trollings and general hatred statements for him here. I'm hoping he will look at it at least once every 24 hours, and cry himself to sleep afterwards. Don't feel bad if you don't come up with a very good jab at him, every bit of hate counts. Enjoy!

Deal with it.

I'm asking that we stop with all of these parody threads. Seriously. I absolutely do not want to see another thread that uses the words Civil, Planned, Parenthood, Ice Cream, Grocery Bag, Politics, or Discussion. This is the Off Topic Threads forum, not the parody forum. Go find your own forum. I mean it. I'll be very upset if another parody thread is made, to include one of this thread. Don't you do it (I'm looking at you Amberzombie). Seriously, it has got to stop. I realize that I'm guilty of doing these kind of threads myself but now I see the error of my ways. Will somebody please think of the children? What have I ever done to deserve this? No more. Please?

*continues rambling*

.....................................................what was I saying again? Oh yeah, stop talking about my dog. I don't even have one, so why would you say such terrible things about him. Seriously it has got to stop. Right now. Thank you.

For personal reasons I am requesting that Leafar the Lost never reply to this thread. Everyone else may reply to this thread but Leafar the Lost is never allowed to do so. Should he reply to this thread he must immediately give up his rantings about people replying to the "Don't reply to this thread" thread. Thread thread, that's funny. Anyways, where was I...............oh yeah, don't reply to this thread if your name is Leafar the Lost. Any and all alias' that may or may not make fun of Leafar are welcome to reply to this thread, but Leafar the Lost may never reply to this thread. I'm serious. See my face, this is my serious face. I'll reinterate, absolutely ANYONE can post in this thread EXCEPT Leafar the Lost. Thank you and happy posting, unless you are Leafar the Lost.

(Additional attempt at comedy)

For personal reasons I am requesting that Leafer the Lost never reply to this thread. Everyone else may reply to this thread but Leafer the Lost is never allowed to do so. Should he reply to this thread he must immediately give up his rantings about people replying to the "Don't reply to this thread" thread. Thread thread, that's funny. Anyways, where was I...............oh yeah, don't reply to this thread if your name is Leafer the Lost. Any and all alias' that may or may not make fun of Leafer are welcome to reply to this thread, but Leafer the Lost may never reply to this thread. I'm serious. See my face, this is my serious face. I'll reinterate, absolutely ANYONE can post in this thread EXCEPT Leafer the Lost. Thank you and happy posting, unless you are Leafer the Lost.

Fess up now so we can kill you quickly.

Welcome. There has been some discussion lately about how does one become an Evil Mastermind. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to start this new seminar...I mean thread. Here you will get advice from other successful Evil Masterminds like Lord President Moorluck and that guy...what's his name...well you know who I'm talking about. Also, you'll learn what not to do from a group of failed Evil Masterminds. Learn well from their mistakes so you don't make the same ones. Lastly, we hope to have a special guest speaker in James Jacobs who is known as the "Lord of the Abyss" around these parts. Mr. Jacobs unique perspective on the goings on of the Abyss will really help to put your Evil schemes in motion. So feel free to ask any question, or if you happen have some insight into the world of the Evil Mastermind offer up some advice.

I'm not sure how many of you actually care about the NFL, but it is getting to be close to Playoff time with the Superbowl starting next month.

Anyways, I mainly started this thread to say how much I hate Carson Palmer (Quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals).

Thanks for all the hard work you do, especially considering today is a Sunday.

all of you guys. He says he wants you to get off his lawn.

Go on I dare ya.

Hello all,

I have noticed that many of you have been getting fairly hot under the collar in terms of this class and the playtest. Now before you dismiss this thread as simply a parody or joke thread, please here me out. There is absolutely no reason we cannot be civil about all of this and simply play the class as is and provide input about what works with the current build and what does not. For those of you who would like to see a completely different version of this class, or if you believe this class does not meet your expectations of what this class could achieve then I very seriously suggest writing a letter to the employees at Paizo expressing your concerns versus spewing hate filled venom over these boards. It is solving nothing and is more likely to cause the few really good ideas out of this process to become lost in a sea of redunancy, angry words, and useless banter about what you believe the class should have been. I really appreciate the time and effort that the people at Paizo put into this product and for the most part they really do not have to include any of us in the process. The fact that they do shows that they have a lot of respect for their community and it is our responsibility to return that respect. Now, I'm probably wasting my time here but I also believe that if this process becomes too cumbersome or if the developers believe that we are getting too irrate over the test, they might consider doing away with the whole concept. So please, for the future of more playtests and for the sake of the community, be civil to each other and give only constructive feedback.

Thank you,

Concerned Fan.

I can not be sure until someone does.

So, I've always wondered about a lot of the non-OGL items out there that came from the Splat books. The main thing that I've been thinking about is all of the content that is not OGL but exists for 3.5. Obviously, I do not want Paizo (or anyone for that matter) to reprint all of it but there is a question of some of the good stuff that is buried under the mountain of "other stuff". For instance, if Paizo decided they wanted to make a shapeshifting base race they obviously could not use the name Changeling*, but what about a race called "Gobbletygook" that could use the ability Alter Self at will. Could they do this? Or would they have to just leave it be?

*I'm not advocating that Paizo or anybody else release a product that updates the Changeling in any way, I'm mearly using it as an example.

Hello all. I'm hoping to get some assistance here. I'm currently running a game and have everything mapped out up to 9th level but now I've hit a wall. What I hoping for is to get some jumping off points, either with posters telling encounters they thought were interesting or with encounters they wish they could always do. So, feel free to post random stories about gaming in this thread, who knows maybe it will inspire someone else. Thanks in advance.

Dear Paizo,

I was wondering if we would be able to have a question and answer session with the devs about the development process behind APG. As a big fan of your products my goal is to just really get a behind the scenes look into the making of this book. Obviously the purpose of this would be to ask questions such as "Why did the Anti-paladin become a separate class?" and other constructive questions. Thanks in advance.

I was curious to know if Paizo is considering reprinting some of the older adventure paths with updated stat blocks for monsters? I'm asking this because it appears that some of the earlier APs are out of print and I would like to look over them. PDFs are ok, but I like having something in my hands when I'm reading. I'm guessing they probably aren't, but I think it would be cool if they did so.

I looked through the preview for the Summoner and I noticed on page 34 when talking about the Eidolon's evolution pool there is a mention of a spell named transmogrify. Yet in the Summoner spell list there is no such spell mentioned. I imagine it will be a new spell, but I'm just curious to know what level is the spell suppossed to be? I'm a smart guy and I can pretty much figure out that the spell will be designed to alter the Eidolon between levels.

Hello. I, like many of you, hate 4th ed DnD and was looking for an alternative which lead me to this game. So far I like a lot of the changes but I am interested in knowing what the final product will look like. In the mean time is there a comprehensive list of all of the changes that have been made since the BETA playtest version has been released?