Steve Greer's page

I had been out of the biz for a while both as a player and and a writer. The good folks at Paizo have been very loyal to me and requested me on several projects all of which I had turned down since the last thing I had written for them, which wasn't much. I decided this time to go ahead and give an adventure module a try again and thought I had turned in a pretty cool manuscript.
I think, though, that Paizo customers and fans have been a bit spoiled by the superb writing skills of the numerous other authors that they've entrusted the quality of their product line to. It's a great thing to have such awesome products available to you.
Problem is I think it's kind of passed me by. I appreciate the honest critiques. Will save me the guesswork of whether I've got it in me to do any future projects.

As the guy who started off the whole negative review thing for this product, I'll chime in with this: The module just doesn't offer anything worth fixing. I think its good to compare to the module that came immeadiately before this one, Midnight Mirror, which I also wrote a review of. That module had a lot of beauty and a lot of really fun, imaginative stuff going on with it. It also had a lot of crud that needed to be removed or reworked. But because there is something great under there, I want to take the time to remove the debris and get at the gem inside.

This module, No Response from Deepmar, on the other hand, doesn't offer up anything. Its problem is not that it's a gem with some dirt on it. Its problem is that its a peice of quartz with some dirt on it. There isn't an underlying "awesome" to extract. It's just... pedestrian. It's not worth trying to save. It doesn't have a lot 'wrong' with it, it just doesn't have enough 'right' with it to be worth my time.

You have a weigh the pros and cons of each module. And this module fell up short. Not drastically short (that would have been a 1-star review). But fairly short, hence the 2-star review.

Wow! :(

Grats, Greg! Can't wait to see what you come up with. :)
(OK. Going back in to hiding now. Bye!)

Just added a lot of new miniatures. And there are still a lot of books for sale as well. Currently 44 items listed.

Link

This group of items is pretty solid. I'm going to try to add a lot more of my miniatures this week.

Steve Greer wrote:

Improved the link a little.

Linkage.

I seem to be having difficulty with eBay, so I won't be able to raise the bid on Van Richten's...Darklords.

If no one bids on Van Richten's...Werebeasts or Ancient Dead, I'd like those, however.

griffin AT idworld DOT net

Thanks.

Just sent you an e-mail, Damon.

Improved the link a little.

Linkage.

I was cleaning the closet in my spare bedroom over the weekend and discovered 2 boxes full of D&D books I forgot I had (some of it inherited from friends and my brother). I just listed it all on e-bay. Check them out.

Linkage.

Hey all,

I purchased a Sultan at Gencon 2008. I got it right before my birthday in December 08'

I absolutely love it. I did finally get it its own room so people are correct about that. That it would need its own room to be a good game table.

IF I had known they were going to come out with the Emissary I would of waited. BUT that is not to say that I wouldn't eventually get the Sultan as well. Once you have the Sultan it is very SWEET! There is nothing like it.

Here are photos from Gencon 2009

LINK

Here are photos of my own Sultan. It is a great table. I love the unadvertised interior space that can hold a lot of stuff. I also like that I can have my Dwarven Forge stuff set up for a crawl and have it covered. WHile the "game keeper" that I have is one large cover, I am getting from Geek Chic the new improved "leaves" that cover the top so I can reveal it piece by piece.

LINK

This is a table my son will enjoy....so I can not fault the cost. In five years I bet it will be selling from geek chic for $500 to $1000 more.

Sean

Your Link-fu is weak. I have made it strong, though I still cannot access your pictures since I don't use Facebook. :|

Steve, do you have a deal for combined shipping? I looked around, but I didn't find it.

I have this statment on most of my recently posted items under shipping instructions:

Please purchase multiple miniatures to get more bang for your buck! Plenty of minis can ship in a single box. :)

So, yeah, I definitely combine shipping. I guess I need to have that message in a more prominent area. Sorry.

Also, I take 50% off the shipping costs for purchases of $50 or more.
I provide FREE shipping for purchases of $100 or more.

I'm still a little bit new with selling on e-bay. Eventually, I'll remember to add all of these extra details in ALL of my listings. LOL.

I need to make myself a template to use each time.

I've put up a lot more metal on e-bay last night and today and relisted some other items.

Here's the LINK to the entire list as of this posting.

I haven't chimed in on these types of threads in a while, but here's a little advice.

I have had a ton of players like this over the past 25 years. A lot of people need a little nudge to get going.

Whenever I started a new campaign or someone brought in a new character the first thing I did was hand them a Character Personality Generator. It was just a little sheet I had saved as a Word document. I'd print one out or e-mail it to them and have them fill it out and hang on to it. I'd keep a copy for myself as well to refer to when I wanted to throw some character development in to the campaign.

The sheet went something like this:

1. Your name:
2. Your character's name:
3. What does your character look like?
4. Any distinguishing or unusual marks?
5. Any specific character traits? (ex: lisp, bad temper, nervous, etc.)
6. Does he/she have any family? If so, who are they?
7. What are some of your character's likes?
8. Dislikes?
9. What is your character's catchphrase, if any?
10. Why did he/she become an adventurer?
11. What are some of his/her short term goals?
12. Long term goals?
13. What would your character do if he/she had 5,000 gp?
14. How about 50,000 gp?
15. What are some of your character's favorite foods/drinks?
16. Is there anything that he/she really hates or fears?

Once my players started thinking about these questions, they quickly visualized the character they wanted to play. Making up things like their character traits (#5 above) gave them more motivation to role-play because they now had a fun quirk or gimmick to act out.

There were a bunch of other good pointers above as well. Calling your players by their character names, having pictures of their characters and their names on a placcard in front of them, promoting good roleplay by setting the example by doing so yourself, and keeping your group down to 6 players or less... Those are all great ways to promote good roleplay.

I would AVOID awarding xp to players for roleplaying. I tried it before and all you're going to do is alienate those players that aren't as comfortable doing it as those that are and create bad feeling between them. DON'T DO IT.

Some other ideas:
Use mood music softly playing in the background. And I don't mean your favorite rock or metal mix. I'm talking D&D music (or whatever genre you play). Conan, Harry Potter, LotR soundtracks work wonders.

You could also play by lantern or candlelight or just dim the lights so that light is focused on the game table and mat. By dimming lights you fade out the surrounding distractions. Out of sight, out of mind goes a long way towards keeping players focused on the game and puts them more in the mood to immerse themselves in the world your creating for them.

Most importantly, remember that you CANNOT make someone role-play if they just don't want to. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink it." Try to promote it as best you can and enjoy those players that do contribute to the roleplaying, but don't get frustrated with those that don't. If you just can't have fun without everyone role-playing on the same level, then you need to find another group that does.

Anyway, that's all the advice I have for now. Hope mine and other's tips help you.

Steve, you're really selling yourself short with the prices on the hand-painted minis, some of them are worth and would sell for twice listed price. Particularly the PC/NPC minis.

and... I wish I had seen that Celestial when it was still available. :(

Those are the prices they are going for on e-bay. I know it seems really cheap, but that's what some idiots are selling them for. :( I can't really sell mine for much more and expect to have mine sell over their's unfortunately. There's been multiple listings of the same items I'm selling.

Ultimately, though, I'm just trying to get my collection outta here. Making a little money on it is a bonus. :)
Also, all of my plastic was auction only. So, if this one is the Celestial you meant, it'll be there for 6 more days.

Added my WotC plastic miniatures today. Very reasonably priced (compare to other sellers). Check them out.

Linkage

Just added a bunch of new books tonight from my Greyhawk and Ravenloft collections. Also, have a bunch of WotC plastic to add tomorrow.
Here's a link to two of my items. Just click on "Other Items" to the right for the rest.

Vale of the Mage
Ravenloft Adventure: Night of the Walking Dead

Can I play?

1-Golarion
2-Greyhawk
3-Ravenloft (2nd edition, all the way!)
4-Planescape
5-The Known World (I don't recall what the name for it was other than that back in the day - was it Mystara?)

I'm going to start getting in to my Ravenloft stuff and my WotC plastic miniatures this week. I'm waiting for my current auctions to end before doing so and one particular person to actually pay on all the stuff she's won before posting them up (afraid she'll start bidding on all the new stuff, too, and then it'll be forever before she sends payment!).

Probably be towards the end of the week.

That series is sooooooooo addicting. Can't get enough of it! :)

Highlight #2: The Annual Werecabbage Werewolf Dinner

A great time with the Cabbages and the Paizo folks. Poor, poor villagers. And it could have been even bloodier if it weren't for the amazing Dr Alvarez.

This one warms my heart and makes me a bit jealous too. Wish I coulda been there. This being the third Con in a row that the Cabbages have continued to do this it is now officially "tradition" and thus my hopes are high that I'll get to go next year and be a part of the Werewolf game again. :)

Here's some more stuff I added tonight.

Spectral Sword Dancer
Skeletal Spectre with Kamas
Ghoul Lord
Skeleton Lord
Greater Mummy
Dire Animals
Magical Beasts (technically, I think the umber hulk is an aberration, but, whatever...)
Carrion Crawler
Half-ogre with Bloody Axe
Ogre with Glaive
Rat Abomination
Demon Temptress
Goblin War Party (25 pieces)

Man, I wish I hadn't already blown my mini money for the month. That ogre mage is sweet.

Thanks. Hopefully, there will be something up next month that you like just as much. :)

OK. I added the rest from yesterday that I didn't get to.

River Trolls (2)
Frost Giant
Hill Giant
Ettin. I have two of these.
Ogre Magi
Marilith
Dire Wolf
Werebear
Wereboar
Wererats (2)
Spectre with Flaming Sword

The following metal is up for grabs on e-bay.

Wizard with Snake Staff
Gnome with Repeating Crossbow
Inquisitor
Warrior Maiden in Plate Mail
Hobgoblins (4)
Swashbuckler
Templar
Undead Hunter
Evil Cleric
Dwarven Lord
Barghest (wolf form)

I took 3 times this many pictures, but it's been taking forever to upload the damned photos to E-Bay so this is all I had time to post there tonight. I'll add the rest tomorrow.

I missed out on the bugbears!

Aw, shucks! Sorry to hear that. Is there anything in particular you'd like to add to your collection? Like any specific type of miniature? I can check through my vast collection (and yes it is vast... still!) and see if there's anything that fits the bill. I'd be happy to sell privately and forego the whole e-bay process.

I'll probably be shooting the photos of the new batch of miniatures I planned to add this week tomorrow. So there should be a whole slew of new metal up by late afternoon.

Bump.
Just added a bunch of books on e-bay. Click the links above and look for more items sold by me to see them all. I'll have a crap load of miniatures to add this week as well.
If anyone's looking for some particular minis for their games, let me know and I'll put up what I have right away if I do have them.

Steve Greer wrote:

Sharoth wrote:

Steve, I jsut recieved my two books, Guide to Hell and the Spell Compendium. Thank you again for doing this. I will take good care of these books.

Awesome. And thanks for letting me know you got it. I've wondered about every mini and book I've sent out if they are arriving ok and in good condition. My fear is that one of the really nice minis I've mailed out to someone is going to arrive to them all broken and chipped.

Anytime my friend. I am glad that I could inform you about them. ~looks through the books again~ You took great care of them. Thanks.

Also, are you going to put any more books up on e-bay anytime soon? I was just wondering.

Whenever I can get some more time to take some pictures and post them, I'll have a lot more to list. More coming this week for sure.

Steve, I jsut recieved my two books, Guide to Hell and the Spell Compendium. Thank you again for doing this. I will take good care of these books.

Awesome. And thanks for letting me know you got it. I've wondered about every mini and book I've sent out if they are arriving ok and in good condition. My fear is that one of the really nice minis I've mailed out to someone is going to arrive to them all broken and chipped.

Stewart Perkins wrote:

Steve Greer wrote:

Added stuff

You sir make me sad.... Sad that you have to sell stuff you've accumulated and worked on for years.... and sad I am so very broke I cannot take advantage of your wonderful minis. I am a mini enthusuiast(sp) and I love your carefully painted minis, and have drooled over all you've posted. The assorted dungeon props are especially tempting, as was the dual weilding barbarian lady (I bid but lost that one :P). If I too wasn't financially strapped you would have already sold all of these. :)

+1 (I want to cry that I can't buy the fire giant or the griffon.)

I'll have you know that the Fire Giant mini has struck awe and fear in my players many a time. It's nice when you know you're going to stomp your players that you can put a nice big a*skicker like him on the table to do it. LOL. :)

Steve,

I just bought the ogre. Will you combine shipping if I pick up more items.

Sent you a reply via e-bay but I'll reply here too. Yes, I do combine shipping and actually recommend that you guys buy at least a couple items since you won't have to pay shipping costs on everything. Little more bang for you buck that way. Just be sure to request combined shipping and let me know when you're finished buying so I can send you one invoice for it all.

Steve Greer wrote:

Added stuff

You sir make me sad.... Sad that you have to sell stuff you've accumulated and worked on for years.... and sad I am so very broke I cannot take advantage of your wonderful minis. I am a mini enthusuiast(sp) and I love your carefully painted minis, and have drooled over all you've posted. The assorted dungeon props are especially tempting, as was the dual weilding barbarian lady (I bid but lost that one :P). If I too wasn't financially strapped you would have already sold all of these. :)

Haha. Thanks for the sympathy and I'm glad to hear you like my stuff.

Added today:

Goblin Archers (4)
Elf Ranger
Fire Giant
Centaur with Axe
Adult Black Dragon
Hellhounds (6)
Ogre Champion
Celestial
Mounted Knights
Dungeon Dressings Kit
Assorted Dungeon Props (53 pieces)
Dungeon #137
Dungeon #143 (2 copies)
Dungeon #145 (2 copies)
Dungeon #146 (2 copies)
Dungeon #147 (2 copies)
Dungeon #148 (2 copies)

Polishing the blades, did you say?

Do tell!

Well, if I have enough area on a sword, shield, or any other metal object on my minis to work with, I use a hobby knife (Exacto Blade) to gently scrape off the primer and surface residue until I get a shiny surface. Then I use a Tri-Grit sanding stick (by Squadron Tools), which looks kinda like a lady's nail file/emery board, to sand out the little nicks and rough areas with the coursest side, then sand it a bit more with the buffing surface, then go over it one more time with the polishing surface (the sanding stick has 3 separate surfaces on it, thus the name Tri-Grit).

It's pretty easy and you get a much more visually appealing mini than simply slapping on some silver paint. The effect is especialy cool when you can polish the armor too.

Also added these tonight:

Spectral Warrior. Probably one of my best minis, IMO.
Banshee
Winged Salamander. Also doubles as Geryon, though on the small side.
Glabrezu. The one I used during the playtest of The Demon Within.
Chimera
Marsh Troll
Barbarian with Bastard Sword
Female Half-orc Fighter
Goblins (2)
Ghosts (2)

Just added some more miniatures to the mix tonight.

Gnoll Hunting Party
Griffon
Gibbering Mouther

Steve Greer wrote:

Just added several more books/adventure modules. You can click any of the links above and then click on the "View Sellers Other Items" link over on the right side to see the entire list of items.

Ok, I'm not an eBay virgin anymore. I bought 2 of your 2nd edition modules. I didn't realize eBay charged s/h for each and every item. That must be their part of the take, I guess.

** spoiler omitted **

Ben, you can combine shipping on items. If you purchase more stuff from me, wait until you get my bill (via e-bay) before you send the funds through PayPal. I can adjust it so that you only get one s/h fee for your purchases. I can refund you the extra cash on the s/h or provide free shipping on something else you buy from me. Just lemme know which you'd prefer. :)

Oh, and really cool to hear about your choice of adventure to run. Hope to hear more!

Just added several more books/adventure modules. You can click any of the links above and then click on the "View Sellers Other Items" link over on the right side to see the entire list of items.

Steve, I'm not very versed in things e-Bay. Do you have a page there where all your stuff is linked to? All I'm able to do is link to individual things already posted in this thread (and most likely gone).

I have all 3.x issues of Dungeon, and pretty much what I need from Dragon. If you happen to have that elusive 2nd ed. issue of Dungeon that has Wolfgang's Empire of the Ghouls, though, let's talk ;-)

At this stage, my collection is mainly lacking/desiring certain 3.x modules by Necromancer Games & Dungeon Crawl Classics. I also can't get enough of Fiery Dragon counters.

I'll check back later tonight to see if you've posted new items or responded. Thanks much!

If you type in my e-bay handle in the search box... OldPainterSteve... it should bring up all items I'm selling. There's also an option that says something like "More items by this seller"...

I will probably be selling off a lot of Dungeon and Dragon magazines if there's any demand at all for them. If you have some issues missing from your collection, post the issue #'s here and I'll see if I have them. If so, I'd be happy to sell mine to you with the exception of any that I have published articles/adventures in (those I keep!).

Steve Greer wrote:

Just put up the following from my D&D books collection:

ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=250465071682]Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead[/url]

I have a few more I'll add in the coming days and I have a poopload of splat books and modules I'll put up with pictures soon.

Gah! I just looked for this and you sold it to the 1st bidder for a measly $12. I would have paid you more for it, b/c I like your work and would like to help you out w/ whatever you're going through financially. So no more selling to the "Buy it now!" crowd, ok? j/k

Maybe I'll have better luck w/ your next batch of stuff. Though I can only check this out at night PST...

There's a ton of stuff still up there for a reasonable or cheap price (one or the other). I'll be posting up my v. 3.5 Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, and Monster Manual III as well as my Spell Compendium later on today. I'm also putting up a slew of 1st and 2nd edition adventure modules (some still in the shrink wrap!). So check out all my listings this evening, Ben.

Just put up the following from my D&D books collection:

Encyclopedia Magica Vols. 1-4 (complete set)
AD&D Monstrous Compendiums Vols. 1-4 (complete set)
Frostburn
Complete Adventurer
Complete Arcane
Complete Divine
Complete Warrior
Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead

I have a few more I'll add in the coming days and I have a poopload of splat books and modules I'll put up with pictures soon.

Thanks Steve! I am sorry that you are having to do this.

When will you be puting up the books that you want to get rid of?

I'll put up some of them this evening.

Which dragon was the one Stefan sat on? I might have to buy it for him as a memento.

LOL. Unfortunately I don't have that one anymore. :(

Bump.
Just added another batch to the autions. Couple of dragons in this set. If you like them please bid on 'em. :)

Wyvern
Black Dragon
Pair of Dwarves. These guys are from the now out-of-production line of Chainmail miniatures that launched with 3rd Edition.
Human Druid
Female Barbarian
Human Wizard with Flamberge
Templar with Greatsword
Dwarf Hammer Maiden

That wasn't bad. lol

But my favorite is still Star Wars Gangsta Rap 2.

I just added 9 more listings this evening. Check them out...

Skeleton Warriors
Trolls
Wraiths
Erinyes This one is GORGEOUS! One of my favorites.
Succubus
Elf Archer
Bugbears
Femal Warrior Duel-Wielding Swords This one demonstrates my favorite technique with swords... polsihing instead of painting. Much cooler looking. :)
Scantily Clad Sorcerer

Hope you like them. :)

Question: Do you ship to Canada? Cause that Balor is sweet.

I can ship anywhere as long as everything works right through e-bay's payment system. :) I'll check in to it though.

Bump.
One sold... 3 others have been bid on. Check out the above before they're gone.
I'll be posting up stome groups of monsters in the next few days. Keep watching here for the link.

Thanks, Sean! I appreciate it. :)

I mentioned a short while ago that I was hosting a weekend sale of all my miniatures and some of my books and stuff and that stuff left over would go up on e-bay. Well, I just posted up my first batch of miniatures on e-bay today. They're up there for 7 days so please follow the links to check them out. If you like them and have the disposable income to purchase them please do so. :)

Masked Archer
Dwarf Warrior with Shield and Axe
Human Barbarian with Greataxe
Human Barbarian with Sword
Elf Halberdier
Halfling Scout
Human Paladin
Dracolisk
Pit Fiend
Balor
Ogre Shaman

Steve, if/when you ebay your stuff, let me know and I'll mention it in my blog. :)

Will do. Thanks, Sean!

Jonathan_Shade wrote:

Excellent idea! We need more Paizo love in Vegas.

Bring all you can. I live in Vegas and I feel I'm the only Paizo gamer here.

::Cough, Cough::

Err... Hello?!

Oh, and if Vegas gamers are all sounding off here then be sure you make a note of this event.