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Am I waiting for Pathfinder #1 to ship to me, or is there a problem? Thanks for the quick reply. It actually just showed up in my account... Thanks!
Am I waiting for Pathfinder #1 to ship to me, or is there a problem?
That's funny. We _just_ played this adventure in the old D&D basic set this summer. I was actually kind of disappointed that it was almost a straight conversion. I was hoping for an "update" along the lines of the Expedition series of modules... anyway, good fun anyway. As to the goofy name, I played Bargle as goofy as his name. His master plan was to take over the Village of Threshold, and he shared his plan with the characters as they treked through the dungeon punctuated by hearty belly laughs. I had a background character (qasit) who was the real "brains" of the operation driving the "all powerful Bargle" to take over Threshold where unbeknowest to Bargle, a demonic artifact waited for the qasit to nab and take back to his true master.
I like this as a concept, actually (though the songs here are great, too). Using "goblin training songs" as clues to some greater purpose during an adventure might be...hmmmm...
I second the approach if not the author choice, along with Logue, and other Dungeon mainstays. Tangentially episodic shorts with recurring characters (from different perspectives). I actually just finished the first couple of Thieves' World books and I really really like that style. I think it fits gaming fiction much better than a straight novelization of "Keep on the Borderlands" or whatever.
Reading Perdido Street Station which is a steam-punk setting with magic and guns... Spoiler:
I just got to the part where Issac and his adventuring buddy assault the slake-moth den. A great scene with a magical pistol that could have gone either way. I like the fact that the story built up how evily cool the magical pistol looked then proved rather ineffectual. Anyway -- looking forward to seeing Pathfinder's handling of magic and firearms.
You guys probably don't hear that enough...:) I was happy because I'd just started my subscription back up and wasn't sure if I'd get this issue via mail or would have to buy it from my FLGS... Anyway...thanks!
I don't think this battle can be won. I think all that can be done is damage to the hobby. I'm sorry, I don't want that to be true, but I believe it is. I disagree that this will damage the hobby (change Dungeon/Dragon, boycott, etc). I think more open source publishers in the arena make the hobby stronger, especially those like Necromancer, Goodman Games, and Paizo, that want to stay as close to core game as possible and bring their considerable creativity and high quality to bear. To tell the truth, I haven't been very happy with the core game for a couple of years. I feel like it's grown into a monstrosity of character options and drifted quite far afield from five people sitting down for a night of gaming. I thought Eberron started off in that mold, but it's starting to follow the core at this point. I was never a huge Dragon fan, though there were a few articles I followed, but Dungeon was the only source for high quality D&D™ adventures. I haven't seen a solid adventure out of Wizards for quite a while (though I am enjoying Ravenloft at the moment). And even if I never used an entire adventure unmodified, or picked and chose from various issues, Dungeon magazine was the best it's ever been in the last few years. For me, it's a last straw kinda thing. I'll keep looking at Eberron stuff and buying what appeals, but I'm done with the rest of Wizards monstrosity. I'm on for Pathfinder...we'll see if Paizo can keep their momentum. I truly believe that Erik, Robert, their crew, and freelancers resurrected a dying institution. Before Paizo, the d20 Modern/minigames kept me buying, but I left Dungeon for good for a while until...BANG! It was very very good again. Sad to see it go.
Protest 101...there's quite a few options of ascending effectiveness and cost/effort open to you (and are legal): * Whine on a messageboard (or many messageboards)
If you get a handful of people here to go to their FLGS and organize either an e-mail or letter campaign (letter campaigns are generally more effective), then back it up with action (boycott or whatever), then you have something. Otherwise, you're whining to the choir. Case in point, (if you're worried about Corporate America™ not listening to you), I work at a major computer manufacturer that switched whole hog over to Vista when it came out. You couldn't purchase a consumer machine with Windows XP after Vista launched. Management opened up the question on a public forum and got 10K responses. As a result, we're now offering XP again on our consumer systems. Corporations care about one thing (ultimately): Money. You are their money. If you get enough people to say they will no longer pass over their money for product due to some product decision (and you act on it for some amount of time that gets their attention), then you'll get a response...guaranteed. If you can't do that, then you'll get no response. Guaranteed.
How about a virus attack on the WoTC website? That could be the shot heard around the world.I like the spirit of the idea but I don't think criminal acts would help anything Breaking the law probably isn't going to get your message out there like you want it to. Logical, adult strategies are probably a better path.
I can only echo what most have said about Dungeon and Dragon. I subscribed way back at issue 1 of Dungeon (never been a huge Dragon fan), and have every issue either through subscription or one-offs. I actually just subscribed a few weeks ago, and came to the site to check the status of my subscription! Imagine my surprise.... Erik: Is there anyone at WotC we can write to complain and offer our opinions? I'm a net geek, but I loathe the idea of reading Dungeon-type content online.
Hey, The wording in this article confused me a bit or I'm just not seeing the answer: Do you have to take the Implant feat for each implant you get, or take the feat and then you get all the implants you can afford / have magic item slots for? Though it's a bit kooky, this one worked out nicely for my Eberron campaign. Kudos to the author for his kookiness.
It's possible, as the previous posts suggest, but it may be so darn difficult as to prevent you from actually gaming. The main reason is that you'll be waiting monthly for adventures, only to have to go through and convert everything. And if you're not already familiar with D&D and d20 Modern (Future), you have that learning curve headache. That being said, I really like the ideas floating around a sci-fi STAP. Personally, I'm thinking of a Greyhawk "1600's" setting and Grim Tales, but I'm faced with the conversion monster and at least one reluctant player.
Both Star Wars d20 and d20 Future are great rulesets, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. The farther away from space-fantasy you get, though, the more difficult the conversion will probably be (in "feel" more than anything).
*Bing* Now I get it. That's pretty cool. I really like the canal idea, as well. Definitely an original take on the typical dungeon crawl.
Sorry for the duplicate thread... I composed this and posted it and then it never showed up in the index, so I thought the great Post moster ate it... then I found the other thread and this one showed up... Don't know if the mods can close/merge this one or not. For those that posted here, the author is actually on the other thread and made a few things clear. -- just don't want to seem like we're piling on here.
As I imagined it, the only way down to the dungeon initially is through the canal which leads to the seal in area 2. You are correct that getting into the pool while the chamber is in Ibex mode (special oil in the lamps etc.) should bounce you into his antechamber. Not sure if I included this in the final copy, but Tealpeck used to enjoy tricking his prisoners by letting them escape, find a boat, and ascend to the pool, only to get zapped into the abyss (out of the frying pan...). The description of area 6 is unclear, now that I reread it, but the intent is that, when the room is in normal mode (ie, normal oil in the lamps), the sacrificial pool is DISABLED, making it just a simple extension of the boatlift. The thing that threw me about room 7 was that it describes a secret door in the west wall and south wall, but they don't appear on the map. I guess it was a cartography error, easily fixed, but I was likewise confused by the boat lift and some other stuff, so this added to the confusion. Let me echo Saurstalk in saying that it's an interesting premise and seems to be an interesting adventure (haven't actually finished reading it yet), but I think it could have benefited from a side-view map... Edit: Actually, I still don't understand the boat lift. Let me describe how I think I'm interpreting it: To get it to work, you enter room 6, disable the demon illusion (or I guess...re-enable the Wee Jas illusion) by replacing the imp oil with regular oil. You pull the lever down, and the water drains, lowering your boat down to room 8. Presumably there's a door to room 8 (which doesn't appear on the map), which you can open at this point to get to other parts of dungeon level 1. However, room 8 describes a series of tracks, pulleys and chains for the floating prisons "attached to the ceiling" and the central pillar. I'm confused again.
I am a Dungeon cheerleader, typically, but Tealpeck's Flood may be the first Dungeon adventure that I have major problems with. I love the premise of the adventure, but I'm a bit frustrated by a few problems. So, as a sanity check: Is it just me or is this adventure rife with errors, inscrutable description and just overall poor cartography? I can't make heads or tails of how the boat lift works. Presumably, it moves your boat from room 6 to room 8, but it seems to state in the descriptions of both rooms that you end up in Ibex's chamber if you use the boat lift. Do you transit Ibex's chamber to get between 6 and 8? Room 7 describes secret (west wall) and normal (south wall) doors that I just don't see on the map. There doesn't seem to be a way to get into room 12. And room 11 describes a secret door between 10 and 11 that's also not on the map. I'm chalking these up to cartography errors (since level 2 of the dungeon has numerous secret doors notated on the map), but I just can't get the boat lift thing no matter how many times I read it... Off the top of my head, this adventure could have benefited from a side-view map.
Ha! Steve you think you're being so subtle but you've given everything away. I can tell by the way you typed the message. I know the entire adventure path now. Amazing! So, does Asmodeus really change sides and become the sovereign deity of cheese? That's a little bizarre, but I guess it works. Seriously though, can't wait...I'm playing AoW and reading Shackled City (thinking of running it). I think, so far (and I haven't spoiled myself) AoW is much nastier and more convoluted than Shackled City. I still like Shackled, but there's something about Kyuss that just makes me...squirm.
I just got 114 off of ebay. The Isle of Dread background material is great. Actually, the whole dang issue was pretty spiffy. Has anyone run Mad God's Key? I'm actually considering modifying it a bit and using it as a pre-intro to Savage Tides, once we know what the first couple of ST adventures look like.
I'm going to run ST for our group (currently in 3foE in AOW), and I'm contemplating how I'm going to change things up (already...before I've seen a word of the first module). My big idea is to make the setting more Renaissance and less Greyhawky-D&D. Not because I don't like GH/d&D but I figure after AoW, it might be a nice change of pace, and with all the talk of pirates and whatnot, it might be a nice fit. Without going into the obvious Renaissance changes (guns, politics, religion, etc), here's what I'm contemplating as far as the PC's go: - Use Backgrounds (Occupations in d20 Modern) as a way to give PC's a couple of Class-based skills they can carry with them throughout their adventuring careers, and a couple of 'bennies'. For example, if the PC chooses a Nobility background, maybe they get Knowledge (nobility) as a class skill, perhaps proficiency with a rapier and a body servant. This gives the player a bit of a boost (but not much) and sets up the character for the kind of culture and game style I'm looking for. - Use a variety of 'paths' to get to the information they need to move the story along. I'm noticing this in AoW, though it may be the group's style, but we get the 'good' information only after we hack apart some evil cabal. I'm all for it, but I'm wondering how my group would take an entire session of 'gambling' as a stand-in for dungeon crawling. Defeating their opponents at the table yields the treasure and information they need to proceed. And whether that change of pace is fraught with peril. Taken with the Backgrounds above, I think I could get some mileage out of these paths. Anyway, just looking for others opinions, especially those that may have tried similar methods to change things up.
As a visitor to some new place, it made me a little paranoid to know that there was a nation of bats handing some 30 feet above me, chittering their odd choruses among the girders and crannies. It seemed irrational, a fear that a flapping screeching mob of rabid skyrats could descend upon me. But alas they would only be interested in you if you were a mosquito or a peach...being Mexican fruit bats. A handful of them end up in our yard a couple of times a year (usually nursing mothers with too many babies...which they carry with them as they fly). If you think they stink from under the bridge, try it when your kid brings one in the house in a cardboard box...Yech! As for ST... can't wait. I was a big fan of the Isle of Dread.
TPK! PC Name: Jack Fletcher (Rogue/Fighter 2/1), Ageon the Blessed (Cleric 3 - Vow of Poverty), Darik (Barbarian 3)
We fought on against the big boss mob (grimlock priest and minions) long after we should have retreated. Lost a wizard and a bard in the same encounter, but I can never remember their names. Now no one will... Next up: A tank fighter, a ass-whupping battle cleric and probably another roguish type. Sidenote: How do you guys handle bringing in a whole new party when there's been a TPK?
MORE VIKINGS! And rather less Cowbell. I'd like to second any spy, thief-centered, and or murder mystery adventures/arcs/campaigns. Urban adventures in general usually make me happy. What I'd really like is an AP that's centered on a long-lost island where pirates, dinosaurs and ninjas battle it out in a giant urban setting and the characters are spies, thieves, or otherwise sneaky folk. And there're UFO's, Napolean, Cthuloid horrors, and a big helping of human sacrafice. Anything like that in the hopper?
We're working on it, but it requires a LOT of code monkeying to make it work right. I think it's about #422 on The List :-) So, where are you on the list right now? 421? :) Bleh. I guess I'll get un-lazy. I buy from my FLGS, but it's hard to justify full cover price when that tasty subscription price has been out there for aeons.
I want to subscribe, but don't have a credit card. Too lazy to mail in a check/mo. Anyway. Just wondering.
Try out the Pyrates set from Megablocks. They're a bit out of scale, but not by much. We used this ship:
as an Eberron airship and (as expected) then crashed it. All the pieces flying all over the place had a nice effect...
Isle of Dread was the second published adventure I ever played, so, yeah...dinosaurs, pirates, south seas....it's all D&D all the time.
I haven't run it yet, either, but it's on our big campaign map for eberron. I thought it was one of the best Dungeon adventures in a while (though I don't read the Age of Worms stuff, since I'm a player in that campaign). The reason I like it is the character-driven story. Someone mentioned it, but the antagonist is a difficult nut to crack. She's a victim, seeking revenge, and if you have players that get into the role-playing side, they have to empathize with her plight somehow. They have to make decisions based on their world-view and it's not just 'bash the baddy and take her stuff.' I didn't like 'Chimes at Midnight' for that very reason. I just couldn't really see the antagonists' side. I've got a pretty good mod for that one, and I'll be running these two as 'linked' adventures, as well, but I just didn't like Midnight as much as Oakbridge. (Though I really liked the NPC's in Midnight - they seemed more like a 'circus menagerie' than those in Oakbridge - which is what they'll become in my implementation of these adventures).
I'd like to see an AP that's 'non-linear.' Meaning that instead of taking the characters from 1-20, maybe you take them from 1-5, then 9-11, then 14-18, etc. That gives the DM some control on where to fold in his/her own adventures and/or other Dungeon goodness. I know it's possible to mix and match with the current AP philosophy, but just makes it easier to 'break the path' and then pick it back up in later levels if there isn't a set adventure for every step in the path. Additionally, you could tie adventures tangentially to such an AP. For instance, when the AP leaves off at level 5, you could suggest other Dungeon or published adventures to fill the gap...thus driving up those back-issue sales... :)
I think we are seeing a lot of pre-#50 adventures in the list because the majority of the posters in this thread are in there 20s, 30s, and 40s, meaning those issues fell squarely in their adolescence, teenage years, and early twenties. I think the crux of this is that in those years we also had time to _play_ every darn adventure in an issue of Dungeon. My all time favorite was the Flame adventure in issue 1, but there have been some amazing adventures in recent issues and some fantastic elements ripe for the stealing: - Issue 120 - I stole the jackalweres for another adventure - great group of baddies- Forsaken Arch and Temple of Demogorgon also have some very unique elements (haven't played/run either one). - The Istivin series - great read and some stealable elements. - Queen with the Burning Eyes - Very extensible. I was able to use this adventure in my Eberron campaign with very little modification (the map was horrible, so I redrew that), but the adventure had all the elements of a good pulp. - Fiend's Embrace - Another great read. Haven't run it. - Maure Castle - retro-goodness. - Murder at Oakbridge - a simple murder mystery with lots of hook-ins for any campaign. I have a modified version of this lined up in my Eberron campaign. - PANDEMONIUM IN THE VEINS - the gladiator adventure. Converted this to Eberron and my kids loved it. I think there's a new era of Dungeon classics... maybe it's just me, though. I can remember heavily modifying adventures from 1-50 and still not being all that happy with them. In recent years, I've run several Dungeon adventures with almost no mods with happy results... And I think the quality has gone up since about issue 119...considerably.
A few weeks ago I found a really great adventure in Dungeon issue #88 which is called "The Seventh Arm", by Tito Leati. What level were the characters when you ran Seventh Arm? We just wrapped up Queen (excellent adventure, by the way, though I re-drew the map because it was rather boring).
I usually ended up playing with small groups (~2 players and a DM), so we played multiple characters. Thus, my first character death was THREE characters. RIP - Green Dragon Breath - December 22, 1984 Jorgoney Took - Halfling Thief
The Greyhawk content...nay! the quality of the content, has brought me back to a regular D&D campaign after a year or so of playing Modern. Definitely keep it up.
We played the following (either the whole game or used some significant portion of it): V for Victory (Great game, though I've bolted on so much custom armor plating that it's unrecognizable)
I'll throw my bits in the bin: 1) Wasn't a fan of Maps of Mystery for reasons already stated. Maps are everywhere. 2) Wasn't particularly a fan of Critical Threats. Most of the NPC's in various adventures are interesting enough when ripped out by the roots and re-envisioned with a backstory relevant to your campaign. (Though the one based on the D&D action figure...forget his name now...was inspired) 3) Was a fan of mini-games. But, that's irrelevant now. I've been a subscriber and 'game store' subscriber of Dungeon off and on since issue 1, and I have to say this is a Renaissance for the magazine. I really thought bundling Poly was a great idea, but I felt like there was a steady decline in that period of its life (though the Shackled City was great -- no others really stood out for me). Now, it seems like every adventure is usable just as it stands. For the first time, (since Into the Fire - issue 1) I'm using whole adventures, rather than pounding them out by hand. It's WEIRD, ERIK! Did you guys put something in the water over there? That Jackalwere adventure was fantastic (too lazy to look up the name). I pulled the NPC's out of that and have been popping them in various adventures for my kids, all leading to their desert retreat. I like even the 'Campaign Builder' articles.
I say don't change a thing. |
