Stebehil's page

Hi folks, I will be moving in late September. As shipments take about two weeks to Germany in my experience, I would love to have an really early warning before the next shipment, so I can change my adress accordingly. If the next shipment is to leave your warehouse until roughly the 9th of September, the old adress should be fine. If it ships later, the new adress would be better. I will have all mail forwarded anyway, just in case. Still, getting the paizo stuff as fast as possible would be nice :-)

Thanks to whomever had the idea of putting the books in my latest shipment in additional envelopes inside the shipping box itself. That way, the books arrived here this morning in pristine condition, which is great for a collector like me :-) If this extra packaging causes higher costs, I´m willing to pay extra for this service.

Stefan

Is it possible to take the Inner Sea World Guide out of this order? I just recieved the order confirmation mail, but the s&h costs are just too high for a hardcover.

Stefan

On the German PF boards, the question was raised if a cleric who can control undead can choose his targets, or if he starts with the lowest HD undead and works his way to the higher ones? I had the idea that, as channel energy is a burst, control undead should be as well, so he starts controlling the nearest undead and works his way to the farther ones. I did not find any definitive answer in the rules so far. For the record, I´m fine with giving the cleric the choice of targets, but I´m interested in an official ruling here.

Stefan

An exceptional musician died today: Gary Moore is dead at age 58. He was one of the greatest guitar players of our generation, his work spanning rock and blues music. RIP, Gary - now we have the blues...

Does anyone know if there is a possibility to make this classic run again? While recently digging through my old PC stuff, I found that game, but as I´m not that computer savvy, I had no success getting it running - just for nostalgia´s sake.

Stefan

EDIT: I´m talking about the original - from Homm 2 onward, they are running just fine.

Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead is 65 today! I saw Motörhead live a few weeks ago - he´s got to be the loudest pensioner of all times, I guess...
New album announced for january as well.

Stefan

In the dwarf hate thread, I had the idea that I might play a dwarf wizard at some time. Now dwarves are not generally known for their arcane talents, so this needs some kind of backstory. Dwarves are known for being warriors and craftsmen and their traditions. (Disclaimer: I´m well aware that arcane caster dwarves are allowed as per the rules, even with some special spells noted in Dwarves of Golarion. Still, the concept of arcane casting dwarves feels somewhat strange to me. Thus the need for a backstory.)
So, a dwarf that studies arcane knowledge would not sit well with his community. Perhaps he found a spellbook as part of some spoils of war and his curiosity got the better of him, so he started reading and noticed that he could follow what was written there, and he even managed to cast a cantrip – once. (Ideally, I would use some 0-level multiclassing rules, for giving him fighter 0/wizard 0. If that’s not possible, I would just start as fighter 1 (traditional upbringing) with perhaps some arcane knowledge.) At some point, his fellow dwarves noticed his unorthodox studies and ostracized him, so he is forced to become an adventurer. The former owner of the spellbook or his companions might want it back, or the book might contain some black magic (a dwarf necromancer is a nasty idea somehow) A dwarf wizard would be a singular thing in any game I would DM or play in, but the idea is interesting. The background would more or less inevitably lead to an eldritch knight, I think.

Another idea might be a dwarf sorcerer. While being problematic from a mechanic point of view, with the -2 to charisma, it might make for an interesting story (as a side note, I will probably houserule that dwarves can choose if the -2 applies to cha or dex). Some strange influence in dwarven blood will surely lead to this dwarf being thrown out, if they leave him alive at all. I could imagine infernal, abyssal or even undead bloodlines, or if you have a particularly nasty streak, fey. This makes for an even darker character, as he gets kicked out for no fault of his own - or is it? Perhaps he experimented with forces beyond his ability to handle, say, while working on some special smithing project, and got overwhelmed. Depending on the details of the backstory, the other dwarves might even want his death, and he fled as soon as his mistake became obvious – say, some other dwarf got killed. Whatever the details, I think this will be a dark story.

Combining it with other classes would work as well, I guess. Rogue is always a viable combination, if less classical. Cleric – now there it gets interesting. I am not sure what dwarven god might accept a dwarfs pursuits into arcane dabbling. Dranngvit, the dwarven god of revenge (from Dwarves of Golarion) might be an option if I take the concept that far that he seeks revenge on his former kinsmen now. This would surely a stretch for this god, but might be an idea. Other than that, Droskars aspect of trickery might fit the bill, at least from a dwarven point of view.

Ideas, comments, opinions?

Stefan

I recently run our long-time group through the "Price of Immortality" trilogy, with an elven rogue, human sorcerer (red dragon bloodline), human cleric of Abadar, and two female human fighters. The women playing the two fighters are very close friends and decided to make them twins, bur for the sake of difference, one wielded a greataxe and the other bastard sword and shield. (We christened them the "Sisters Hack and Slay")

Now, it seemed to me that two front-line fighters make a huge difference in the game, almost doubling the offensive potential. This was especially true against single enemies - once they closed to Iramine in the end, she was down in no time. I know that the game is meant to be balanced for four characters, but I wasn´t aware that changing that could almost wreak havoc to game balance. Do you have similar experiences?

As a side note, I left out several encounters in the city of golden death due to time constraints and the fact that the group was only level 5 throughout the whole module, not going up to 6th level as recommended. The levels set for the modules do not correlate very well with the experience handed out if you calculate it by the RAW - my PCs would have been one level short almost all the time. I just winged it, but I guess that it would have been closer to the fast advancement track than medium.

Stefan

(my first post for about three months - been quite busy with other stuff.)

Hi,

my latest package arrived a few days ago. I checked the order and found that the GameMastery plot twist cards are missing. The order # was 1460596. Could you send me the cards with the next shipment, please?

Stefan

One of my prospective players in a Pathfinder game tryout I plan for this fall (using Falcon´s Hollow) asked if he could play a dwarf druid. I ok´ed that, and am now starting to wonder: Just what exactly might a dwarf druid be? What is his role?

The companion about dwarves does not have many words on that, even if one of the example characters is a druid, but from Osirion. One spell for druids and rangers gives an idea that these classes serve the dwarven communities to protect them from hazards in the deepest recesses of their tunnels, so they seem to be more in tune with their community than other druids are.

So, the player had the idea that druids have a special role in judging new excavations, as they predict if that will go well or if dangers lie ahead. I like that idea, and we delevoped the background story that he had an elderly druid mentor who predicted something bad about the latest endeavour, but died before he could tell anybody besides his youngest pupil - the PC. Now, the PC, being a little pert, wanted to stand in the limelight and recounted that prophesy, but was instead set back into his proper place and got scolded for being too bold in face of the elders. He lost his face, and was quite upset by this turn of events and left his home (presumably somewhere within the Five Kings Mountains).

Now, with Droskar´s Crag and the old monastery right next to Falcons Hollow, it is not too far a stretch that he might wind up there, I think.

Still, what faith fits a dwarf druid? The dwarven gods don´t seem to have a deity that would make a good patron. The generic green faith does not appeal too much to me.

Any ideas welcome!

Stefan

The Price of Immortality trilogy consists of the three modules "Crypt of the Everflame", "Masks of the Living God" and "City of Golden Death". While these modules can of course be played as standalone, they can be linked. This thread is meant for GM questions that come up in relation to using these modules as a mini-campaign, and for hints and tips that GMs can give that have already used these modules in this way.

I start with a question: What ideas do you have to bridge the XP gap between the first and second module? Crypt gives just under 4000 XP max. to a PC, maybe even less. With the medium advancement track, this is 1000 or more XP short of level 3, which should be reached for Masks. Just throwing random encounters at them is nothing I would like. (Besides, my five PCs have just over 3000 XP each, so they need 2000 each).

Stefan

I just found another Dragon Magazine still in print:

link

Stefan

I was looking for a feat that allows minor spell casting. I found a trait that allows casting of a single cantrip once a day. Now, would you think allowing a 1st level spell 1/day would be ok for a feat? Or would it be unbalancing on low levels? (on higher levels, it is pretty much useless). What do you think about a feat allowing you to cast two cantrips a day?

One player of mine asked for a fighter with very minor spell casting, that is what got me searching.

Stefan

...will be the topic of a campaign I hope to start in fall this year. We will be using the PFRPG rules, and I will most probably be using Golarion as background. Of course, this screams Pathfinder Society quite loud. Now, I would love to start the whole thing off as an "Indiana Jones goes Fantasy" story. What adventures are recommendable for that? I´ve got the whole range of paizo publications at hand, as well as most Dungeon magazines.

I´m thankful for any ideas, also regarding the use of the Society itself.

Stefan

Sadly, my latest order once again did not arrive unharmed - the books have their corners damaged although the packaging was unharmed. Kingmaker # 1 has severely dinged corners, the NPC guide even has a break in the spine where the pages show through. I would like to have a replacement for both books.
The green foam chips do nothing to protect the corners of the books in the package, which is too big for the books contained, so the books slide around inside - and handling is sometimes not too gentle. If you could use a packaging method that specifically protects the book corners, shipping damage will probably be reduced significantly. I have no idea if this is economically feasible, however.

Stefan

I had found a short notice on advancement between levels somewhere in the net. It contained an idea that the character gets four improvements while collecting enough xp to advance from one level to the next. The character might get IIRC

• hp
  
• bab and saves
  
• skills
  
• other class abilities
  

for every fourth of xp needed for advancing the complete level. But I´m not absolutely sure about that.

While this is probably the core of that idea, I wanted to read the original text again, but can´t find it - obviously, I did neither save nor bookmark it. It might have been written by Monte Cook, but I´m not sure about that.

Does anybody know what I´m talking about and can point me in the right direction?

Stefan

Has anybody seen this one? I saw it today. It is pretty entertaining. Surely nothing outstanding, but is has some very nice ideas and does generally a good job of placing greek myths in todays US.

Stefan

In one of my regular groups we are playing AD&D2. A traditional houserule allows spellcasters total flexibility in choosing spells. Think of it like a sorcerer, but with full access to all spells on the spell list resp. spell book.

Now, if we were to play 3.x, this rule would make the sorcerer pointless. To avoid this, I´ve been thinking about a houserule that would be a middle way between the total flexibility and the RAW memorizing.

I would allow wizards, clerics etc. to either memorize spells as per RAW, or leave the slot open in the morning, and have them roll if they want to cast a spell. This roll would be d20 + 1/2 caster level + ability modifier against a DC of 10 + spell level. If they don´t make the roll, the slot is not wasted, but they have to try again. If a "1" is rolled, the slot is wasted (and I´m thinking about using the Critical Fumble Deck). I´ve set the roll and the DC to achieve a good chance to succeed - otherwise, why bother - but also a chance to fail. Also, a higher level caster has an easier time to cast low-level spells successfully, but still no guaranteed success, which is the way it should be IMO. The ability mod is more added for flavor, as I think it important that a "better" caster should have a higher chance of succeeding.

I know that this flexibility is somewhat unbalancing, that is why I introduced a failure chance. And I think that the sorcerer is still a viable class that way.

What do you think?

Stefan

The class variants from UA are AFAICT open content. I need the variant paladins, especially of slaughter and tyranny, for updating an old Dungeon adventure (The Forgotten Man, from #75 - the conversion is found here). Has anyone converted those to PF rules? If not, I will try to work out a conversion and post it here.

Stefan

as my product discussion about that adventure did not find any interest, I will try again here. It will contain heaps of spoilers, but I will make liberal use of spoiler tags.

Stefan

Would it be possible to make a continuous-use Item with the spell Guards and Wards? AFAICT, the answer seems to be yes. It can´t be made permanent with the permanency spell. But a wondrous item should work.
It would be a continuous spell effect item, costing spell level x caster level x 2000 gp. Spell level is 6, minimum caster level is 11, so it would cost 6 x 11 x 2000 gp, or 132,000 gp.

It might seem strange to want this spell permanent, but if you are a high level wizard or even a lich, you could probably care less about web-filled staircases, misdirection effects or illusion-hidden doors. The fog is more a nuisance - if you are doing some magical research, 5ft. visibility is probably all right. If this is what it takes to get a little privacy...

Stefan

Does anyone have eny experience with "The Forgotten Man" from that issue? I´m thinking of converting it to my 3.5 knight campaign, the topic of that adventure should fit nicely.

Stefan

I just decided that I will spring this adventure on my knight group I will resurrect soon. As my characters are 9th level at the moment, it will take them a bit until they reach the required level. Considering that I have only three PCs (ranger1/fighter8, knight6/knight of holy shielding3, cleric 5/radiant servant of pelor 4, IIRC - don´t have the sheets right at hand.) and no arcane caster, this will be hard on them. But they have above average stats and good equipment, so this should be ok at level 11.

So, does anyone have any advice for running that adventure? TPK situations, stumbling blocks or anything else?

What´s more, I will have to redesign it partially to my campaign, as it is set in 576 CY in Greyhawk/Shield Lands. It allows easily for a border keep like that in the module - I guess I will set it close to Law´s Forge/Deepshuttle delve on the northeastern border. I will keep the demon theme as it is, even if the main enemy of the Shield Lands are still the devils from the Horned Society in 576 CY. The church will be one of Heironeous, of course. Overall, the topic of this adventure should fit well overall to the shield lands.

If anybody wants to add something on that topic, go ahead.

Now I just have to find something for them to reach level 11...

Stefan

Does anyone play Dominion ? It is from Rio Grande games originally, found here. I play the german version, of course. It is a lot of fun and easily one of my favorite games at the moment.

Stefan

I´m starting to plan a two-week holiday this coming summer with my wife. We have some points fixed already, it will be in late July/early August. We will fly to Boston, visit my brother-in-laws girlfriends family in Maine, and have the vague idea of doing a round trip with some sightseeing. This will probably include: Boston itself, New York, Washington (D.C.), perhaps Philadelphia, perhaps Richmond (VA), then back up north, with our thoughts on either Chicago or the Niagara Falls, and perhaps a short trip into Canada.

Do you have any tips and hints for this kind of trip, like must-see sites, things to avoid, cool RPG shops to plund... err, visit and the like?

Stefan

Hi folks, I had some idle time these days and decided to built a 1st level Half-Orc draconic sorcerer, just for the fun of it. I imagine him as as a big bully, intimidating and bluffing his way through life, but always with an eye for potential trouble. Having a Greataxe helps in intimidating as well… He views his special powers more as a welcome boost to his formidable physical prowess, but this would change if he got more arcane power due to adventuring. The character is not optimized for spell damage output, but it was a fun idea for me. What do you think?

Hrud, Half-Orc Draconic Sorcerer
(rolled via random.org)
STR 16
CON 16
DEX 12
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 18 (including racial bonus)

AC 11, HP 9, Fort +3, Ref +1, Will+2; AL:CN

Draconic Bloodline: Red (Fire)
Fire Spells +1 damage per die
Power at first Level: Claws
Feat: Intimidating Stance

Class Skills (2 ranks/level):

Appraise
Bluff
Craft
Fly
Intimidate
Knowledge (Arcana)
Perception
Profession
Spellcraft
Use Magic Device

Skills learned: Bluff, Intimidate, Perception (+1 rank for favored class)
Bluff +8, Intimidate +13, Perception +4
(The high intimidate comes from: CHA +4, +1 rank, +2 for being a Half-Orc, +3 because it’s a class skill and +3 from the feat)
Spells per day: 4 first
Spells known 4/2
0 Level (cantrips): Acid Splash, Daze, Mending, Detect Magic
1st Level: Shield, True Strike
Darkvision, +2 on Intimidate, Orc Blood, Orc Ferocity, Weapon familiarity:
proficient with Greataxe and Falchion.
Languages: Common, Orc.
Weapon: Greataxe, Atk +3, D 1-12+4, 20(x3) or 2 Claws Atk +3, D 1-4+3, 7 Rounds/Day

Stefan

I think witches gaining flight as a major Hex is off. The fly spell appears on their spell list at level three, which they gain at level five. Gaining 10 minutes of flight at that level does not compare favorably to agony, retribution, nightmare or waxen image IMO. Put it as a standard hex, perhaps available at level 4 as earliest, and perhaps make usage of a broom or kettle (or vacuum cleaner, if you play pathfinder modern) mandatory - if you go all cliché, just go all the way. Flight is very much a signatory ability for moderately experienced witches, and at level 10, they are more than moderately experienced.

Stefan

I just got this link via the greytalk mailing list:
rumours about 4e ´hawk (text is in English, comments are German)
Now, it is just a rumour (seemingly originally from ENworld, which I don´t frequent), so take it with more than a grain of salt. If a book according to that rumour would be published, what would you think about it?

Stefan

...but again a shipment has been seriously damaged in transit. The cardboard envelope was watersogged when I pulled it out of my letterbox, and the corners heavily creased. When I opened it, the two books within turned out to be still slightly damp, the corners creased, the edges wavy from moisture, and one book even has pages stuck together and the cover partially discolored from being wet (over a longer time, I´d guess).

It was order 1270077, with
Pathfinder Chronicles:
Seekers of Secrets—A Guide to the Pathfinder Society (PFRPG)
and
Pathfinder Chronicles:
Book of the Damned—Volume 1: Princes of Darkness (PFRPG).

May I ask you to replace them? It would be great if you could combine them with order 1294113 from today.

Stefan

The trailers and the behind-the-scenes clip I found on youtube sure look good and make me want more. I guess the DVD will have a regional code for North America? Then it is dead for me...

Too bad that the midnight setting books seem not to be available any more...

EDIT: Well, reading the blog first might help finding out about the regional code...

Stefan

I noticed that the ranger can now take his own species as favored enemy even if not evil, as it was in 3.5. At first, I was not sure if this was a good change. Reflecting about it, I think it is a good change - specializing on hunting your own species does not make you evil. Rather, it is a skill that should be very valuable for law enforcement, for example. I can easily envision a LG or LN ranger working for law enforcement in a community where his own species is predominant - most probably humans and dwarves. The +2 on skills (most of them dealing with social relationships) and +1 on "force", used if need be, gives the ranger quite an edge in this regard.
It is another example of a tool that can be used for good or bad. It is outright recommended for Council of Thieves to take humans as favored enemies, anyway.

Stefan

Somebody in the process of getting that order from your warehouse to my place managed to drop it so badly on one corner of the package that all books contained are damaged now, with the upper left corner bent from the impact and the thinner books also creased along the spine. It arrived today.

The German post office told me that there is no way to get a refund from them, as the shipment was not insured and in case of an international order, it is not possible to find out who damaged the shipment. Aside from making me "What the hell? They transport my stuff, but the risk of damage is with me? I don´t have any chance to control the process, but carry the risk?", I want to ask how we go about replacing those books. It was an order of over 50 $ (65 $ before the subscription discount), so I don´t expect you to give me a free replacement.

It contains the following books:
Pathfinder Adventure Path #25: The Bastards of Erebus (Council of Thieves 1 of 6) (PRPG) Print Edition
Pathfinder Chronicles: Legacy of Fire Map Folio Print Edition
Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils (PFRPG) Print Edition
GameMastery Module TC1: Into the Haunted Forest (OGL) Print Edition
Pathfinder Module: Crypt of the Everflame (PFRPG) Print Edition

Also, is there an affordable way to insure those packages? I´m going to ask that with the German post as well, as I guess if there exists such an insurance, it would only cover the damage caused within the US. I hate it when that happens, as I´m quite fussy about my books, and can´t stand to pay for someone elses mistakes, not to mention the trouble with getting the books replaced.

Stefan

I´m just thinking about preparing a mini-campaign in Darkmoon Vale with the modules set there. (the D Series, the Carnival and the LB series) What did you do to brigde the level gap between the moduldes, what andventures fit in there? Does anybody have experiences with this kind of mini-campaign? Any advice you want to share?

Stefan

I just wanted to order a pdf, and all I get is that
"The payment method you selected was declined.
Please select a different payment method."
I have no idea why this happens, my CC should be good for a year still and should have quite the credit range needed for a 3 $ pdf. Could somebody look int this? I will try again later today.

Stefan

Has anybody seen these TV movies ? They encompass the Discworld novels The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. They were shown on German TV yesterday, at prime time. I love these movies, they capture the spirit of the novels quite good, and do a good job reflecting Terry Pratchetts very odd british humor. Great stuff!

Stefan

Dear folks at paizo,

as the shipping fee is outrageous, I would like you to cancel my Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook preorder. Order # 912046, placed March 18, 2008. (my birthday present order). I will get the book locally, either by mailorder or via my FLGS. Thanks.

Stefan

I recently watched Metropolis, the old german silent movie from 1927. One of our Professors has a recently remastered copy of that movie. While the story is pure kitsch and the acting exaggerated (like acting in many very old movies is, dur to the actors coming from the theatre stages, where you need to exaggerate the gestures somewhat), the movie has had strong visual influences on a lot of movies. The city backgrounds reminded me of some star wars backdrops, and the general depiction of a city has been echoing through movies like blade runner. Any Sci-Fi movie fan should have seen that movie at least once to understand where some of the visual influences come from. It is not listed in the World Heritage without reason. Highly recommended!

Stefan

I just had the idea to DM a scenario at our local convention (Hannover spielt! 16). As you can see on the website, it is not only held in Germany, but in german as well (how surprising). Are there any translations made by fans available, and what is Paizos policy on translations - I guess it will be ok if not used commercially?
Also, is it correct that Pathfinder society play uses 3.5 rules at the moment? I would love to showcase the pathfinder rules at that convention.

Stefan

I´m a pathfinder superscriber, and am just planning my next purchase outside the subs. Looking through the four product lines, I noticed that most are scheduled for April right now, and there are two chronicles expected for March. So, can I assume safely that there will be no shipments in February? If so, I would order the things in my shopping cart right away, as I did not spend my monthly credit card limit I set for myself yet.

Stefan

I purchased this product yesterday after reading through the discussion about worldworks doing paizo stuff, to see what it is all about. At 16.99 US$, it is not expensive considering the sheer amount of material. (And it gets even easier on my wallet considering the exchange rate Dollar-Euro :-)) I guess I will find a way to print it at virtually no cost, one of the advantages being the "computer guy" at the office :-).
After reading the instructions, it does not seem too hard to do the building (especially considering that I just built an very simple white-paper architectural model for my studies from scratch). I have no idea when I will build it and even less of an idea if I will need it at all, but considering that I still have my knights campaign running, I might use it.

A few questions remained after reading the instructions regarding the basing. I can easily see the merit of glueing them to foamcore, and have found an onlineshop in Germany selling something similar, sized roughly 2ft x 1.5ft (50x65 cm), and in black or white. In black, they offer it only at a strength of 5 mm (ca. 1/5th of an inch). Would you consider this too strong, too weak, or just right? Is the size sufficient for the bases included in the set, considering a basic layout? Or would two boards be a better idea? (The white version comes in various strenghts, but white would be not a good idea for the bases.)

Any comments welcome.

Stefan

The thread about Barrow of the Forgotten King got me wondering if anybody did connect the eight adventures WotC published in 2000/2001 into a campaign? I´m talking about Sunless Citadel, Forge of Fury, Speaker in Dreams etc. Not that I were to run this anytime soon, but just wondering if anybody did and what ideas/comments resulted from that (just curious again)

Stefan

I noticed a few days ago that the group I DM has completed it 29th game session, a D&D 3.5 game. At the end of that session, my three PCs advanced a level, and are now 9th level. As a session is four hours on the average (playing mostly weekday evenings), this makes one level every 14,5 session hours or one level per 3.6 sessions. Now, my players always complain half-jokingly that they advance too slow. What are your experiences with advancement speed? How would you judge the advancement speed I gave my PCs?

(as an aside, we started that campaign in February ´07, so that makes about 15-16 sessions per year)

Stefan

Is there any overview of the modules somewhere? I think of a handy list where the following items are listed:

- letter code
- Title
- level
- setting (as indicated by the letter code)
- climate (this can indicate how much work it is to use it)
- part of a series? Which one?
- notes (if any, e.g. if it works with evil PCs or has any other unusual features)

If I get around to it, I might start it these days.

Stefan

From the Mystic Theurge thread, Kirth Gersen reported trouble in finding/acquiring the pdf of "Buy the Numbers", basically a point-buy redo of the D&D/d20 rules I found very interesting. I bought it quite a while ago, but can´t seem to reach the home page now, no matter what I try. Does anybody have any information?
Here is the link.

Stefan

Just curious - in my experience, shipping from the US to Germany seems to take about 12 days on the average, judging from the past few things I recieved from paizo. What shipping times did others experience?
(Got my Hook Horrors today - can´t wait to unpack them. Yay!)

Stefan

This order arrived at my home just 10 minutes ago, safe and sound. 12 days for shipping is not much, considering that 9 to 36 days are to be expected (it was even opened by german customs).
Thanks to everyone at paizo involved in delivery and service. (I felt like it was time to say that again).

These Green Ronin sales will ruin me... ;-))

Stefan

I´m just wondering. Recently, several threads seem to have turned into flame wars, so much so that posters feel compelled to inform Gary of this, or Gary posting himself and warning posters of imminent time-outs. This seems to happen in the playtest feedback area mainly. Until now, I was quite happy that this place was more or less flame-free (not counting the 4e area, which I haven´t looked at for about half a year or so). I hope that this does not change. I already noticed that I look less at these boards, partly due to the flames and partly due to less free time on my hands.

(FWIW, IMO someone who cannot behave himself properly after warning and timeout should be banned permanently, even if their contributions were meaningful - I would rather live without this persons insights than bear their obnoxious behaviour, if it comes to these extreme measures. I have my share of annoying people I have to cope with in real life that I don´t need more of the same online. Just IMO, of course.)

Stefan

I recieved my pathfinder beta today, and the package did not contain any padding for the goods within (only one book, in this case). The damage to the book is very minor, but still, with a little padding, this could have been avoided entirely. As I also had this with the PFCS and the other books included in that shipment, I ask you to look into your standards of packaging the books if they come in a box.

I don´t need a replacement or anything, but if I get new books, I want them to look new, as I´m very fussy about my books.

I noticed positively that the PF beta needed just under two weeks to reach me - quite speedy, I think.

Stefan

Hi folks,
I recieved part of my order 987928 today, namely Pathfinder #12, CotCT Map Folio and the Campaign Setting HC. I guess the other two items shipped separately?
Anyway, the three books were loosely sliding about in the box, and have damaged, crinkly corners as a result. The usual packing list was missing. The box had packaging tape from the german customs around it, so I guess that customs opened it, took out the contents and packed them back in.
Paizo normally packages the books with some kind of buffer for the goods, like scrap paper, right? So I guess that the folks at the customs forgot to put the buffer back in...
I´m pretty much annoyed by this, as I´m very fussy about my books. Now, the books are still serviceable, of course. Is it possible to put a "handle with care" sticker on the packages, at least those traveling overseas? Perhaps this could do at least some good...

Stefan

I can see that it contains "dire", but what other connotations go with this name? Perhaps I should add that I'm not a native speaker, so obvious things might have escaped me.

Stefan