Steel_Wind's page

The only effect which should "stack" is the modest increase in damage due to increased strength by reason of the enlarged person spell. Gravity bow should work per normal. I would not permit a "double bump" to arrow size, no matter how clever the ammunition is crafted. To permit this with such a low power spell combination breaks game balance.

Frankly, enlarged person in potion form is already the best low level spell in the game. We don't need to break it more.

For those who prefer to watch a recorded video of the 3 hour session, last night's session is up on our Grumpy GM site for streaming. Typically, the sessions are available for streaming for about one week after the session.

Is this game broadcast with the Chronicles' podcast?

Yes it is. Every Monday at about 9:00 p.m. est.. So in less than one hour tonight, actually. Grumpy GM

Yes, the document is available to those who send me a PM. I must say that it is a work in progress, but currently weighs in at about 6,500 words. PM and ye shall receive.

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Currently it's one player per browser window. You can open two separate windows into the same scene and sign in as different players, we do that for testing. I don't know how well that would work in an actual game, sharing keyboard etc.

Each player can control multiple tokens, and there can be multiple GMs active simultaneously, though that gets a bit weird during combat.

An observer mode for a public game would be good. Observer = gets to watch, otherwise locked out of input.

In terms of longterm API, hooks for someone to ultimately get basic combat values from, ultimately, a Herolab sheet would appear to be optimal.

P.S.: You can chain a contingency spell to key off the casting of another spell on the same target with the same action. With this tactic, you can hit a target with two maximized touches of idiocy in the same round. That's -12 to CHA, INT, and WIS, no save. Even with PC uber stats, that is likely to wipe out most 7, 8, and 9th level spells possessed by that character at a stroke. Following a disjunction spell that screws up major stat gain items, you might effectively wipe out BOTH party casters with this tactic.

With spectral hand and a lich's BAB from surprise? You won't miss either.

You absolutely CAN screw over just about anybody with a 19th level lich. Play it smart, patient and mean. Don't be fair about it. You'll be surprised how quickly the party can fall.

Last I checked, a lich can cast vampiric touch, enervation and energy drain. Most importantly limited wish permits a lich to cast harm, which essentially fully heals it.

The suggested spells for this encounter allow for maximized enervation and enervation, both of which can be used to heal it, but you can vary as you see fit. Limited wish used to cast harm is the easiest way to add a heal spell to the lich for this encounter.

If you can't challenge a party -- any party -- with a lich? You really aren't trying hard enough. or you don't know to play a Wizard to maximum effect. Try adding a contingency and greater dispel magic along with something uber. Etherealness and noncorporeal body adds surprises as well. Change it up.

Throw off a hit and run Disjunction to strip their buffs, break their stuff (even artifacts) and REALLY piss them off. Reverse gravity fields are still horrendously powerful at an opportune moment, as are surprise anti-magic fields near powerful environmental threats.

Greater dispel magic and a quickened enervation in the same round or an energy drain -- empowered feeblemind after a disjunction on the Wizard PC and then teleport the Wizard away to kill him -- all of these things can be utterly devastating. Use hit and run. Teleport away -- FAR AWAY and use selective spells to split up the party -- or just leave and come back after the buffs wear off (some times this simple tactic is the most effective). Don't let your lich show himself. They should not even be able to even reach it without real effort.

Really, any caster that can cast 9th level spells has its finger on the "I win" button if you want to give the appropriate spells to it as long as it has superior knowledge and the initiative. And as the GM, you decide if you have that or not.

Running high level encounters is difficult because with access to that much power and being devious about things, it's quite easy to TPK the party. Playing up the threat without pushing it over the top is the hard part.

1 person marked this as a favorite.

We'll be chatting tonight, Sunday March 17, 2013 at 6:30 pm PSt/9:30 pm EST with Chris Pramas of Green Ronin on Chronicles LIVE. Check it out on Google Hangouts, on Youtube when complete, or you can wait for the podcast audio feed on iTunes tomorrow. Psst: that Jason Bulmahn fellow might be joining us as well. See you there!

Damn you Paizo.

Well played Erik.

I guess this speaks to the dev time issues; though I am surprised you went in support of an AP release BEFORE Shattered Star. Didn't see that one coming. I thought we might see a more generic branded set followed by Wrath of the Righteous.

Well, I'm a player in this one too. *grins and dodges bullet*

So... this could serve as a mousepad?

I've called running this one for the podcast group, so I'm really looking forward to it! Hopefully, I will have our Age of Worms: Re-Rolled campaign done by about the time this AP is fully released, so it's with much anticipation that I am awaiting this one.

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm looking forward to this one. Since the initial Price of Immortality Trilogy, this area of the Inner Sea (well, north of same) needed a little love -- and this one should serve to fill in the XP gap before City of Golden Death.

So far, I think it has been very successful. I credit that to having run 7 of the 12 installments before; knowing the overall story arc very well; and knowing Golarion very well.

All of that has allowed me to make more out of the Age of Worms than could be achieved by just running it out of the book, as written.

I also believe that modification of the story, settings and encounters, and using a judicious rasp to file off the burs and make the whole thing fit "better" for your group is an approach that can and SHOULD be used running every single AP that Paizo has ever released, without a singular exception.

Given the manner in how they are written, the one constant throughout the past seven years is that they are written and developed under incredibly tight time pressures. Accordingly, it's just not possible for one developer to do everything they can to shepherd the best possible AP out the door that they could develop if they had twice the time to do it.

Those are their workplace realities. But they are not OUR workplace realities. We have more time. LOTS more time.

So take that time and add + reduce, trim and cut, mold and strengthen whatever AP you choose to make it your own in order to fit your players' needs best. It doesn't matter which AP you run using this approach, your game will be the better for those efforts.

4 people marked this as a favorite.

Age of Worms, Re-Rolled: A Pathfinder AP set in Golarion

I thought I would post an update to my current Age of Worms, Re-Rolled campaign. As I have posted elsewhere in this forum, my Age of Worms campaign has been converted to Pathfinder RPG and has been completely converted to Golarion. Without giving too much away, the central conceit is that the Greyhawk NPC's and mythos which lies at the heart of Age of Worms has been completely excised and has been redesigned with the NPCs and mythos of Golarion substituted.

Note: I have created a design document to convert Age of Worms for use in Golarion for this and anyone who is interested may PM me for that design document as I do not want to post it here (my players read this message board). The current document is a work in progress, but weighs in at 5600+ words.

Events in The Champion's Belt

The Heroes travelled from Diamond Lake to Egoria, (the "Free City") a journey of about 3.5 days along the Imperial Highway on horseback in search of Ezren ("Allastan") who disappeared via a telepport spell carrying Harsk at the beginning of Encounter at Blackwall Keep. At the time, Harsk had been infected by a "slow worm" and was on the verge of turning into a Spawn of Groetus.

During the course of the events of Hall of Harsh Reflections, Ezren's daughter, Marzena worked with Grandmaster Torch to find the location of Ezren without success. As The Champion's Belt began and the Great Fire was lit to start the Games, the heroes met at the ding room of an absent Chelish noble. The home's owners were absent, but the great dining room was in use by GrandMaster Torch as he entertained the heroes, Marzena and a new companion, the sorceress Seoni (Celeste). Seoni confirmed that no trace of either Ezren or Harsk had been found in Absalom. Given the considerable enchantments placed upon the former "Heroes of Westcrown" to prevent them from being magically located -- no spell would ever locate the missing pair. Still, where magic would fail, old-fashioned intelligence, rumours and informants might yet provide a clue. A few pointed to the involvement of Lord Valeros (Loris Raknian) as the man who was behind the attempt on the PCs life at the hands of the doppelgangers.

As the dinner unfolded and the Heroes prepared to feats, a silver chafing dish was uncovered to reveal a rack of lamb. Beneath the cover of the dish, a delayed blast fireball went off at the table severely injuring the Heroes and almost killing Grandmaster Torch. In the panic, smoke and fire which followed the Heroes escaped from the capital and returned via teleportation to Ezren's home in Diamond Lake to heal up and prepare for entry into the Champion's Belt. While there, the PC Wizard, Felinx who had been working on his familiarity with Ancient Azlanti, noticed amongst Ezren's papers the old Azlantui runes for the word "Icosiol".

Thinking little more of it, the Heroes prepared to return to Egoria and to enter the competition for the Champion's Belt. Under the protection of the Fires of Peace, even the hero pledged to the worship of the Dawnflower might safely reveal his divine spellcasting power safely within Cheliax -- as long as the Hellfires of Peace burned, at least.

Gladiator Studs for Hire...

The tourney progressed and, with some difficulty, the Heroes prevailed against the competition. Between matches, the Last Knight of Aroden was visited by the Chelish noblewoman Ilya, who the Heroes had rescued from bondage in Sodden Hold. Entering into a private chamber beneath the Arena, the Lady Ilya had paid dearly for the privilege of spending some... quality time... with the gladiator of her choice.

Following their tryst, the Last Knight learned that last year's champion, Auric, had a similar tryst last year with Hakim's (Ekaym) missing sister, the Lady Lahaka last year during the games. Understandably, Auric was reticent to speak of his tryst with the Lady Lahaka, given that she was the second wife of the Minister of Punishment, Lord Valeros of Blackstone -- the Chancellor of the Arena and patron responsible for the Champion's Belt tournament.

Later investigations of the rest of the chambers beneath the Arean ultimately lead the Heroes to Bozal's lair, the Apostolic Scroll and the Great Worm. Bozal was defeated and slain and the secret passage to the wine cellar of Blackstone castle found as well -- but the Scroll could not be touched and the Worm remained in its force field cocoon.

On the eve of the final battle against Auric and Khellk, the Lady Seoni, in disguise visited the Last Knight posing as a matron who had paid for his stud services. Seoni revealed that in an attempt to hunt down GM Torch's would be assassin, the clues lead to Merisiel, a former adventuring companion of Seoni from the old days. Seoni advised the Heroes that she had defeated Merisiel's plot to have Bozol raised from the dead in Absalom, but Merisiel had eluded capture. Seoni also revealed that a copy of the Apastolic Scroll she had read in the holdings of the Arcanamirium indicated that a sacrifical event involving the great worm Ulgurstasta and the Blood of a Champion could have apocalyptic consequences. Seoni subtly suggested to the Last Knight that it might be best if he and his companions did not win the match -- but Takomah rejected the advice.

Other events in the city in the two days leading up to the final battle in the arena also changed the celebratory tone of the city of Egoria. Some event in Andoran -- a great battle as the rumor went -- had emptied the city of most of the troops that had patrolled the streets. The Queen and the Infernal Court was also said to have left for the battlefield and many of the Infernal Court's Wizards who had acted as Umpires at the battle and tended the force field surrounding the competition had also left the city for the front.

The Final Battle

During the course of the final showdown with the Grand-Champion Auric, Khellek and their Flesh Golems, the heroes witnessed a fatal attack on the Archmage Talibir, Umpire of the Games, by Lord Valeros from within the Royal Box. At that time, the Ulgurstasta burst from its holding chamber into the arena and Pandemonium ensued.

As matters turned out, the battle against the Ulgurstasta was touch and go. The worm did not burst through the floor of the arena until the 4th round of combat and by that time, Auric had been brought to near death by the efforts of the Heroes during the contest. The Great Worm had the Champion in its mouth and if it had swallowed the Champion, an apocalypse would have been unleashed upon Egoria.

As chaos unfolded, the Last Knight strained to hear the urgent whispered words of a far-off woman, pleading help -- or perhaps providing instructions. Whatever the case, the words could not be heard and the Champion was soon to be swallowed. The world's fate teetered on the edge of the razor's blade.

However, at that moment, the elven Ranger Yuimiara saved the day (and the world) by firing three arrows at the Worm, doing 89 points to it with one attack. The demon worm was brought to (Un)Death's door and was easily dispatched before the worm could swallow its sacrificial prize.

In the immediate wake of the attack on Talibir and the worm's entry into the arena, the Crown Prince and Lord Valeros had vanished during the chaos and there was still fighting within the Arena halls. The surviving Umpire dropped the force field and the Heroes quickly provided to the Infernal Court their notes concerning the worms and the cult of Groetus. As the Wizards traded words, Seoni dropped to the sands and told Takomah that earlier that morning Diamond Lake had been destroyed by a dragon.

We resume on Monday, Feb 25, 2013 with Wolfgang Baur's "A Gathering of Winds".

Looks like some nice additional rules and feats for players to facilitate campaign play.

Not so much for DMs though - besides point 3.

Ultimate Campaign is now "too player focused"?? WOW. Tough crowd. Can't win for losing.

There will be PLENTY in Ultimate Campaign for GMs. Indeed, my main concern when it was first revealed was that Ultimate Campaign would appear to be too much of a GM oriented product and so not sell very well.

I am glad that Paizo is marketing the player oriented aspects of a book that appeared, on its face, to be squarely aimed at GMs.

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Downtime systems, story feats and -- perhaps the best and most obvious thing to emerge in a D&D RPG since 1974: an Honor system which rewards a player for sticking to his PC's personal code.

"A man's got to have a code."

- Omar Little, The Wire

Paizo continues to take risks and forge new paths with the Pathfinder hardback series. I continue to look forward to Ultimate Campaign more than any other hardcover that Paizo has yet released. Let's hope the reality lives up to the hype -- and most of all -- to the hopes of fans.

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Really? You were drunk during our first guest filled LIVE episode? Gee. I never noticed. I am sure listeners/viewers won't notice either. *eye roll*

Once again proving that while Pathfinder RPG IS pretty awesome, it's the Pathfinder Adventure Path line that drives the brand.

Looking forward to this one James!

N43: Torture Chamber! Please note that the damage potential of Asaam the torturer with an improvised weapon is SOOOOOOOO over the top it's not even funny. I have never been exposed to such a blatantly BROKEN encounter as this one in all my years of playing 3.5 and Pathfinder.

Using the uber Advanced Rogue Trick "Hunter's Surprise" (EX): Once per day, a rogue with this talent can designate a single enemy she is adjacent to as her prey. Until the end of her next turn, she can add her sneak attack damage to all attacks made against her prey, even if she is not flanking it or it is not flat-footed."

Not that it does not say "until the end of their turn", rather, it is until the end of the "NEXT turn". So this would appear to give Asaam two rounds of attacks, or SIX attacks with full sneak attack going.

6d8+6d4+42d6+30= 27+15+147+30=194 hit points to one foe.

Asaam will do, (if he hits with all attacks, which is not all that unusual against Barbarians and two-handed weapon wielding fighters) an AVERAGE of 194 hit points over two rounds. Even at level 15 or 16, there are not many characters who will be able to withstand this damage -- or even know where it is coming from seeing as his first three attacks are from invisible -- and the next three might be as well.

It is a pretty clever stacking of feats to get the catch-off guard and improvised weapon mastery to turn a red hot poker into a 1d8+1d4 weapon -- all while invisible no less.

But for all its cleverness, it wasn't a whole lot of fun on the receiving end. I don't mind dying, but this one comes off as an outright assassination of a Player Character.

It didn't feel epic; rather, it felt cheesey.

I am enjoying the process much more than I thought I would and am also enjoying reading many of these entries. While it was never in doubt, this simply confirms why the Ultimate Equipment Guide had so many cool wondrous items :)

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Dragnmoon wrote:

How is this different then GameMastery Map Pack: Sewers?

And if it is different, will it work with GameMastery Map Pack: Sewers?

This Map Pack is going to be more modular than the Map Pack: Sewers. So they'll be a lot like Mines and Rooftops. You'll also be able to use it with a couple of the Flip-Mat we have planned that feature urban underground areas with access to the sewer system.

If I can make it work with Map Pack: Sewers, I will. My main concerns are to make them modular, expandable, and that they work with the Flip-Mats we have planned.

Map Pack - Sewer System:

Simply Awesome. Buy *three* copies with complete confidence. (And yes, I have three copies of the original Sewers map packs as well - but only because they were on sale during the 10th anniv sale.)

SRM's approach to Map Packs is the best thing to happen to the GameMastery Map Pack line since the product line started (and yes, I'm well aware that's saying something).

2 people marked this as a favorite.

When it comes to adventures, the market has clearly indicated that people prefer long and epic adventures and have very little interest in smaller adventures. (At least when it comes to buying them. What people actually play is anybody's guess).

The Adventure Path concept itself is Exhibit "A" in this trend. As we look at other 3rd party adventure products, once more, it is the long and lengthy campaign adventures that sell: Rappan Athuk, Slumbering Tsar? These sell. The Rise of the Runelords hardcover? Big seller once again.

Compared to 32 page modules? The sales figures are rather telling. While we don't have hard data on this from within Paizo, we do have sales figures from retailers. At Black Diamond Games, for example, sales at that store indicate that the entire 32 page module line is less than 3% of the store's overall Pathfinder RPG sales volume. Their turn rate is low as well.

APs are three times -- and closing in on four times those sales figures at BDG. Because of the subscription model that Paizo uses for direct sales, my guess is that the AP line clearly sells better than that directly to hardcore fans and the AP line is Paizo's flagship for a reason.

Which leads one to wonder why Pathfinder Society is emphasizing the play of one-off unconnected adventures at all. Put bluntly, I think the entire concept behind PFS Scenarios is the perpetuation of a play style that has not existed since 2nd Edition. It is the selling of yesterday's game using yesterday's adventures. Why? There has got to be a better way of accommodating casual attendance than presenting an endless supply of one-off adventures where the story content is only a little above that presented in Farmville.

In a world where players are linked to the web via smartphones, tablets and computers virtually everywhere, at every time, there has GOT to be a better way than promoting a playstyle that has its roots in the 70s and which clearly isn't selling any more.

(Yes. I get to say things like this again Jeff :))

As I have mentioned earlier this week at 401 Games, I am retiring as Venture-Captain effective Monday, December 3, 2012.

A number of factors have contributed to this, but the essence of it is that after a year and a half, Pathfinder Society is less satisfying for me than it was. Often, it seems to feel that is has evolved into an obligation. As a consequence, it is feeling a lot more like work and a lot less like fun. That’s not a lot of fun to me — and it isn’t fair to you all as players either. You need a Venture-Captain who is fully engaged and excited to be involved in the game. Right now, that just isn’t me.

While Jeff Mahood has done an excellent job as Venture-Lieutenant and co-ordinator at Dueling Grounds, he has a number of other obligations in his professional and family life which have lead him to prefer not to act as the new Venture-Captain.

Instead, Adam Mogyorodi will be stepping up as our new Venture-Captain for Ontario. For those who do not know Adam in person, he posts as Mergy here on the Paizo Message Boards. For those who do know Adam from in-store play, Adam has selflessly assisted many new local players in creating their own characters for PFS play in the Toronto area. Pathfinder Society and the Southern Ontario Lodge will be in good hands.

While I will continue to be involved with Pathfinder as an Adventure Path player, GM, sometimes reviewer and podcaster, I will be withdrawing from all PFS activities until probably well into 2013, at a minimum. My career and family can use the extra time — and frankly — so can I.

I wish Adam all the best and hope that you all will support him as he steps up and takes our local PFS lodge to the next level (or three).

Wishing you all Happy Gaming and a great Holiday Season and prosperous New Year.

I advanced it 25 years, not 80. If it was 80 years, most of the Iconics would be dead. I didn't want that.

Saying it only takes 14 seconds for the developer and also no additional time for editing and layout over and over doesn't make it true (and is a bit insulting). Sure saying it over and over might make it true in your own head, but it still doesn't make it a truth in the real world. Once you actually work for Paizo, then you can speak on the matter. Until then, we'll just have to trust Mark Moreland when he says that adding more words to scenarios will cost Paizo more money.

Crap to that Kyle. *I* can certainly do it in 14 seconds. Sorry if I am saying things you don't want to hear - but that doesn't mean that the solution is not to say them.

The reason behind this initially was about training new authors. It isn't about cost and never was. There has been a technological change in the intervening period. It requires revisiting.

Robert Trifts wrote:

Lastly: Can we PLEASE stop sending the GM to some other stat block published in another book in a PFS scenario? We have PDFs for these scenarios and there is no print product or page length concern engaged. At all. Ever. EVER. Yes, I have the books in hardcover, yes, I have the books in PDF (all VC's do) but the stat blocks are available online anyways. Can we just STOP with this file/book chase? Especially if we are going to use more monsters from Bestiary 2 and Bestiary 3 in the future?

From the feedback I have seen from the writers (Groves being an excellent example) scenarios do indeed have a word limit that impacts cost. Writers are usually paid by length of their work, editors have more to edit, layout artists have more to work on per scenario, etc. All of this impacts the length of time between conception and final product and thus effects the bottom line of how much a scenario costs.

If you want more stat blocks from core assumption books then you have to loose something else.....mainly other story content. I choose story and better more developed scenarios over not needing to pull out a bestiary.

Why are you saying things like this? It's just not true. No matter how many times this stuff is chirped out loud - it doesn't make it true.

If the issue is: we want our noob authors for PFS scenarios to abide by a word count -- then make them do that. Make them refer to these statblocks in other products when assessing the length of their submission and paying them for it. NO PROBLEM.

But at a developer level, take the 14 seconds extra and copy+paste that stat block in for us. THE END. No extra cost, no extra time on the Dev side and NO EXTRA TIME on the GM side.

This is not an extra cost issue. That's PLAINLY AND OBVIOUSLY not true.

People are saying that scenarios run long now. And Paizo needs to keep word count to a certain length.

Seems to me, if they added stat blocks back in, they'd have to cut some of the other text, which might lead to scenarios that run within time rather than over.

In a word -- nonsense.

If the issue is "we don't want to pay an author for copy pasting in an existing statblock" -- then deal with it on that level. Don't pay for a copy+paste stat block -- and then copy+paste it in at a dev level. There is no word length in a wholly electronic product except for one that is arbitrarily imposed without a valid commercial purpose.

This approach will serve the purpose of training authors that seems to be behind the rule, without inconveniencing GMs.

I put it to you that these design assumptions inherent in PFS scenarios were put into place long before GMs started running products digitally without ever printing them off. We have iPads now, and they don't deal as well as we might like when switching between multiple documents.

Technology has changed since Season 0. This necessitates that the submission/printing assumptions behind wholly electronic products should change as well.

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I think I approach this topic from a very different perspective than many posters here, in terms of the foes I prefer to see in PFS and those I look forward to seeing in the future.

• The Map is More important than the Monster: I have amassed an extremely large collection of flip-mats and Map Packs for use with PFS, and I don't think they are being used as often as they should be. I want to see more use of flip-mats form years gone by, more use of map packs and a more interesting use of difficult and extra terrain on all of them. I want my scenarios to draw the eye and be a spectacle not just for my players but for every player in the store who is not YET one of my players. Interesting maps , interesting use of terrain and other environmental factors is more important to me than the monster type I am fighting.

• The Miniatures Matter: One of my favorite things about the Dawn of the Scarlet Sun is that the minis were available for use by all GMs and I saw them being purchased and used by virtually all my local GMs. While we can quibble over whether a particular mini is a "good" mini or not, the use of distinct and appropriate minis for an encounter -- along with a nice colorful map for it as well -- draws the attention of the player and creates excitement at the table. We have nearly a decade of D&D minis behind us, several set of Pathfinder minis and more to come in the future. Whatever encounter is chosen, I want to see more attention paid to the minis we should use to represent the creatures in that combat.

• The Monster Impacts Upon Combat Length: There seems to be a large number in favor of more dragon encounters. I think these types of monsters are great, awesome, iconic... and rarely appropriate for use in a PFS session. We rarely have time for them. I am in favor of more interesting monster encounters with perhaps lesser dragon types with less abilities, but encounters with true dragons are difficult to fit within the encounter format of PFS.

• Where the Hell did the Orcs Go? While I agree that Goblins are wonderful creatures and very evocative of the vibe we are trying to sell with Pathfinder, I think we've undersold the Orcs and not just by a little. Given the impending release of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, Part 1, I expect a good helping of Orcs (and dwarves) would be a VERY timely arrival for Season 5.
  

No Thematic Approach to Monsters

With perhaps a slight bias in Season 3 to Eastern flavored monster types (and that's *quite* a catch all) there has not been a thematic approach to what monsters we are fighting at the table. The themes in terms of season design breaks down, more or less, as follows:

• Season Zero: No theme at all. "We're just Happy to be Here"

• Season One: Still no theme at all. Still "Just Happy to be Here", but we'll try and feature more Goblins where we can. And did we mention undead?

• Season Two: The theme is the Shadow Lodge and the Pathfinder Society. This theme has no discernible impact upon encounter selection in terms of monster types whatsoever. Still lots of undead.

• Season Three: The Theme is Eastern flavored Tian Xia. The geographical impact upon monsters is present, but entirely inconsistent.

• Season Four: Runelords. Impact upon encounter selection, so far, has been minimal. Undead, old tombs and a "return to the dungeon" is supposed to be a theme -- but the Goblins are still there.

• Season Five??: Looking forward, I don't really care WHAT the monster types to be encountered are so much as that they have a racial theme to them. ANY consistent theme is better than no theme at all. Drow, Orc,*whatever*. What I want to see more than anything else is a discernible foe, with a consistent and emerging theme, dependent upon their race and type, and less dependent upon the region highlighted by that year's Gencon Adventure Path release.
  

In short, what I want to see is a coherent STORY emerge out of a Season of PFS, not a series of theme park rides set in a region. The story should engage the player, the use of interesting environmental challenges should entertain them and make them think, while the maps and minis should be eye candy which creates and sells visual excitement to both players and non-players alike.

Enough with the Multiple Files Already

Lastly: Can we PLEASE stop sending the GM to some other stat block published in another book in a PFS scenario? We have PDFs for these scenarios and there is no print product or page length concern engaged. At all. Ever. EVER. Yes, I have the books in hardcover, yes, I have the books in PDF (all VC's do) but the stat blocks are available online anyways. Can we just STOP with this file/book chase? Especially if we are going to use more monsters from Bestiary 2 and Bestiary 3 in the future?

My pattern is to run the scenario straight from my iPad and from what I can see, that a habit a LOT of PFS GMs are following. The more I need to open another document in another tab and navigate to it, the more my game slows down. Please put the stat block in the scenario and don't make me go look somewhere else for it.

This design "feature" slows down my game and there does not appear to be a valid commercial goal behind this decision at all. Convince me that there is a valid commercial interest being served here and I'll shut up. To date, that argument has not been made and the design feature is adversely impacting the quality of my game. I can't be the only GM out there that this is affecting.

Regards,

.Steel_Wind

It is evident to me that I clearly like other design elements in dragon miniatures than the overwhelming majority of people posting in this thread - or - it seems, designing and manufacturing this miniature.

The depths of my dissatisfaction with the pose, sculpt, and paint job on display in this mini are difficult to express in detail without being accused of being a troll.

Suffice to say, this miniature is clearly not intended for me. Which is just fine. Can't win em all.

This will be addressed in the FAQ. Yes, the pregens included with DotSS, WBG, etc... may be used for those modules only. It will be spelled out in the FAQ. As for people using them in the way I am concerned about, the reason this is an issue is because a 10th level pregen from Hero Lab was used in a game in the past week.

Understood.

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

I was of the view that the pregens that were provided with Dawn of the Scarlet Sun were okay to use for that specific module.

There were pregens created specifically for Master of the Fallen Fortress as well back in the history of time. We be Goblins? Ditto.

It is also likely that there will be pregens specifically created for use with Free RPG day modules in the future too Mike.

Please be careful in the blanket language that you might employ so that it does not prevent the use of pregens for the modules designed for them. The Herolab pregens have been there for more than year - this is not a new thing and I am not aware that anybody is using them for any purpose in the way you are concerned about. If they are, it is a very rare exception. Please ensure you don't employ langauge which throws out the baby with the bathwater.

Bienvenue Michel!

Magic 8-ball says...

Gargantuan Green Dragon.

Erik,

On the subject of transparent fire effects, I would suggest you look at the effect obtained by this modder of WotC's fire elementals simply by taking advantage of a painted base instead of a flat black base.

Setting aside the impact of rocks and so forth, the effect of simple paint under the transparent fire plastic is awesomely effective and might not involve significant paint steps. Indeed, a uniform pre-printed decal might achieve the same effect and be applied almost instantly at a very low cost.

The gallery of the miraculous fire-effect bases is HERE. I think the impact of this sort of basing is self-evident.

While you will want three Kolinsky Sable brushes of varying sizes, that does not mean that you will want to use them for painting every mini -- or every element of every mini that you DO use them on.

The Army Painter white handled collection of their "3 most popular" brushes are good utility brushes. Army Painter's wooden-handled brushes also serve as good general purpose brushes, too.

If you are going to be painting up 250 plastic Bones like the rest of us, you won't be doing Golden Demon work -- or even aspiring to it -- on the vast majority of those minis.

I have three Raphael Kolinsky brushes and a large variety of other brushes (20+), both natural and synthetic. Sometimes you want to go with a Raphael Kolinsky -- and sometimes you do not. Often, the Army Painter Wargamer brushes I have are *just* perfect for the task.

2012 Gencon Seminar Special

Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast

Part 1 - Click Here
Part 2 - Click Here

Gamer Nation, we return from Gencon 2012 with a canoe full of seminar goodies. But first, we reflect on Gencon 2012 and share our con stories and discuss the Reaper Bones Kickstarter . After that, we get on with the seminars. The 2012 Gencon Seminar special weighs in at about eight hours long so we have split it into two separate podcast parts.

Part 1:

01 Cast Intro and GenCon stories – 44:53
02 Paizo 2012 and Beyond – 59:30
03 GM101 – Practice Makes Perfect – 1:56:08
04 Highrise Circus – Blindman – 1:47

The Gencon 2012 Seminar Special continues:

Part 2:

01 Paizo Adventure Path Q and A – 58:46
02 Writing for Paizo – 56:53
03 Secrets of RPG Editing – 58:53
04 Rules Design Workshop – Mythic Adventures – 59:27
05 Secrets of Golarion Q and A – 1:00:26
06 Highrise Circus – Red Wine and Vicodin – 2:52

Please use the above links until the iTunes feed updates.

2012 Gencon Seminar Special

Part 1 - Click Here
Part 2 - Click Here

Gamer Nation, we return from Gencon 2012 with a canoe full of seminar goodies. But first, we reflect on Gencon 2012 and share our con stories and discuss the Reaper Bones Kickstarter . After that, we get on with the seminars. The 2012 Gencon Seminar special weighs in at about eight hours long so we have split it into two separate podcast parts.

Part 1:

01 Cast Intro and GenCon stories – 44:53
02 Paizo 2012 and Beyond – 59:30
03 GM101 – Practice Makes Perfect – 1:56:08
04 Highrise Circus – Blindman – 1:47

The Gencon 2012 Seminar Special continues:

Part 2:

01 Paizo Adventure Path Q and A – 58:46
02 Writing for Paizo – 56:53
03 Secrets of RPG Editing – 58:53
04 Rules Design Workshop – Mythic Adventures – 59:27
05 Secrets of Golarion Q and A – 1:00:26
06 Highrise Circus – Red Wine and Vicodin – 2:52

Please use the above links until the iTunes feed updates.

Steel_Wind wrote:

I have placed Diamond Lake in Cheliax near the coast in the hills, about 200 miles East of Westcrown.

The Free City is obviously Absalom. The fact that it is not nearby but is available via short trip by ship is neither here nor there.

This is pretty close to what I'm thinking but I'm struggling with where to put blackwall.

Note re: Absalom.

I ended up changing the Free City from Absalom to Egoria. Far more importantly, I subbed Westcrown for Alhaster. Diamond Lake is, as noted, 200 miles East of Westcrown, and is south of Egoria about 3.5 days on the Imperial road. Blackwall I placed in the hills north-east of my Diamond Lake towards the Chelish/Andoran border.

I made a large number of changes to the rest of the AoW to Golaionize it. I have created a fairly large document detailing those changes. As my players read the Message Boards from time to time, you may PM me for a copy of the conversion document.

I would add that Egoria seems a particularly suitable city for The Champion's Belt.

In all, I am extremely pleased with the above choices and it has worked out extremely well so far. We are near the end of Hall of Harsh Reflections, and are about to start The Champion's Belt. No troubles so far.

1 person marked this as a favorite.

This looks like it needs a timely bump**.

(** With much respect and appreciation of Painlord's SELFLESS organizing efforts and patience, as he is plainly FAR more community conscious and patient than I would ever be were I walking in his shoes! You rock Rand.)

Limited Wish. When a wish spell is possible to learn, that is the spell to take. Screw the component cost. 1,500 g.p.? Who cares? You don't pass on limited wish. It's every Wizard spell of 1st to 6th level -- and every non-wizard spell of 1st to 5th. All wrapped in one spell. That's a no-brainer.

As noted above, CotE is designed so that the characters level up to level 2 before they get to the second level of the dungeon. You will TPK a party of 1st level characters if you run this module at 1st level. This was not considered when it was approved for 1st level PFS play. DO NOT run this for a 1st level party. Don't. I mean it. He'll TPK chances are still pretty good if they are 2nd level given the abilities of the final boss.

I would put most of your design efforts towards managing the campaign from Whispering Cairn to Shadows of Long Spire. After Long Spire and a brief "rest" in Prince of Redhand, the campaign takes a markedly different turn for the third and final leg of the AP. You may well get there and I hope that you do -- but to be realistic? Chances are better than even that you will not.

I'm not saying to ignore the final third of the AP, but that you will have a LOT of time before that stage of the campaign is before you. It is far netter to spend your time on the first half to two-thirds of the AP where your efforts will be more immediately rewarded and where the time spent is far more likely to be used at the table. Moreover, no AP survives contact with the players and it may be that your AP will take a radical branch off the intended path along the way.

You'll have time to worry about the final third in due course.

Much luck on your new gig. Shout it you need anything!

We have no plans to run events at Phantasm. We just finished events this past 4 day weekend at FanExpo. These are the upcoming conventions we will be supporting:

AARG Game Day - October TBA, Toronto (Ryerson)
Gryphcon Shadow - October 20, 2012, Guelph
Hammercon V - November 2-4, Hamilton
GenreCon - November 16-18, Guelph
Spellstorm III - February, Toronto
Gryphcon 2013 - February, Guelph,

If you were wondering which of those cons would be the best to make a trip from Ottawa? That's easy: Gryphcon in February is the one you do not want to miss. It's the best regional convention we have in Ontario, IMO. Hammercon is also a lot of fun...

I also expect that we will be running the Gencon Special at Gryphcon in Feb, 2013 on the Saturday night of the con.

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm already committed to getting these, but if I paint them at all, I want to do it the laziest way possible. Is this right?

1. Ready to use!
2. Primer coat them all (I dunno with what).
3. Wash them all (ced1106 mentioned Army Painter Strong Tone ink wash).
4. Ready to use looking better!
5. Paint whenever, it's in eyedroppers.
6. Wash a mini again after done painting it.
7. Ready to use looking the best!

The laziest way possible to put these minis down on your table so that they can be used is of course to do nothing at all with them.

Beyond that, a quick color code system can be used depending on the type of mini (PC, NPC, undead, etc.) The way you do this is NOT to use a paint, but to use a PVC dye. It's pretty inexpensive stuff, too.

Example of home made PVC dyes: Click HERE

After the PVC dye is applied, you can use Army Painter Strong quickshade to bring out some shadows and details. Please do not confuse Army Painter Strong Quickshade with an ink wash. That's not what this product is and it is not a GW Devlan Brown wash substitute. Army Painter Quickshade is a hobby branded substitute instead of using a Minwax Polyshade Mahogany Dip. Both are oil based varnish products. It goops on and must be brushed off and left to dry for 24 hours or so, depending on your relative humidity. It goes on really dark and you wonder "what the hell have I done" but it dries mostly clear and creates shadows and depths in the model near the fold and corners of limbs, fabrics and so forth.

If you are looking at exerting the least amount of effort while still trying to do something with your Bones before you put em on the table - PVC dye plus a Minwax Polyshade dip is your ticket. You could dye and dip an entire Vampire pledge mini set in an afternoon if you cared to using this method.

7 people marked this as a favorite.

But you didn't tell us how many more minis you would preview if we make the stretch goal!

F5. F5. F5...

(Yes. It's been that sort of week)

Ken Marable wrote:

Increasing a pledge later doesn't help unlock anything.

But it does mean that someone who can only pledge one dollar today can add minis to his pledge later.

I would not rely upon that interpretation of what you thInk will be possible with the pledge manager. If you want, you can take that risk all you like, but enticing others to do something which Reaper has not stated categorically that you will be able to do is not being helpful, rather, it is the opposite of help You do appreciate that, right? I urge others NOT TO RELY UPON THIS VIEW.

Games start tonight at 7:00 p.m. In ROom 706, South Hall.See you there!

ok, ok, do I get this right...

I backed this project with 100$ and another 10$ to get the Red Dragon fromthe Core Rulebook Cover.
By now I get how many minis? I don't have to pay more for those which are added to the Vampire level?!
Only amount which is taken from my card will be those 110$ and I get almost 200 minis for that by now?!
OMG

Or am I totally wrong here?!

You have it correct sir!

A special welcome to Jonathan and Anthony. Great to have you here!