Steven Cole's page

I figure my players will figure it out on their own, ask, or go "ooooh, exotic!". :)

(Also one of them is probably reading this post on his RSS feed.)

Hm. I got my PF#14 yesterday despite my being set to ship once a month.

Yours is just PF14, so there's no reason to wait.

There's an odd efficiency to Paizo's methods that results in unpredictable and chaotic shipments, and yet... It's *better* than the rigid methods used by older, pre-internet companies.

And besides, if anybody should be able tame chaos and make it work, it should be a bunch of geeks who grew up imagining how demons would run the world if they had control...

You've currently got everything set to "hold for monthly shipment", and since we're expecting another Pathfinder, another Module, a Companion, and a Chronicles product in October (actually, in a little over a week) we're waiting for those to arrive before we ship your 14 and your LB2.

I suppose I'm lucky because there's no way my reading can possibly keep up with the amount of Paizo stuff I'm getting... And besides, I've actually got a PC in Second Darkness anyway, so those go on the bottom of the to-read stack.

Hi all.

I'm currently prepping The Bullywug Gambit, and noticed the comment that overland treks to Kraken's Cove should use the wandering monster tables from the corresponding Savage Tidings article.... And of course, there are no such tables there.

Now, I hope that my players will go the sea route anyway, but they have this annoying habit of choosing the path I spend the least time fleshing out beforehand, so I'd like to be a bit prepared.

Does anybody have a favorite list-of-critters already made for this trek?

Thanks...
--Steve

I don't know if this is some sort of automated magic "fix it" system, or if Cosmo is working his magic... But Thanks!

Monday update: I just got an email telling me that another copy of the Gazetteer has been placed, for $0. The prior order *still* says "shipping" on the order summary page.

I don't know if this is some sort of automated magic "fix it" system, or if Cosmo is working his magic... But Thanks!

--Steve

I, too, seem to have become a victim of the great Missing Gazetteer monster.

Also of note: while I've received Pathfinder #9, the orders page still says "shipping". And there was no packing slip.

--Steven Cole

What would you say: does the searching rogue trigger the trap?

So if he's searching the "whole room" (as you say), and takes a 20, then he finds the trap. Of course, taking a 20 for every 5x5 square can take a long time. Taking a 10 is much faster, but often doesn't find things.

In my games, when the party wants to do a thorough search, the rogue takes a 10 and everybody else does the Aid Another action to boost the search check.

In any event, if the rogue is searching, he likely finds the trap. Since "trapfinding" is a rogue skill spelled out in the rules, I'd assume the rogue must have learned a trick or two about not setting off things while he looks.

Huh. I could've sworn there were downloads earlier than 144; I'm looking for 133.

Is the all-in-one PDF missing the Prologue page? My copy has page 6 immediately following the Table of Contents, but the TOC says the prologue should be on page 4.

The *only* RPG book I've read every page of (and *used* every page of) has been the hardback version of the Shackled City AP. Initially, at $60, I thought it was overpriced, but the game value per page makes it the *best* RPG purchase I've ever made.

It only sounds harsh because of the level they're at, but really, an extra 13,000xp is a minor speedbump, after which they pay a mere 1000xp surcharge each level, which should be neither here nor there.

The Smoking Eye template gives the character a +1 Level Adjustment. Which means that the Effective Character Level bumps up by one.

The way my group uses this (which as I reread the rules just now may not be exactly right), means that the templated character earns XP at a slower rate than the non-templated characters (he earns them at the rate of a character one level higher). But we still trigger a new level at the same XP threshold as before.

Since he's earning XP more slowly, however, the other characters reach higher levels first. This method stabilizes with the templated character one level behind everyone else, which is what you want.

Also check out "The High Cost of Dying" http://www.andycollins.net/Theories/dying.htm at Andy Collins' web site. I use it in my SC campaign, and it seems to be working well.

(The basic idea is to replace XP loss with negative levels (which are removed only by further XP gain).)

--Steven

I agree with what Jeremy wrote; I'd add that the grouping of all feats into the Statistics section is less than useful. Splitting out "important" feats (like Power Attack, Dodge, Improved Trip, etc.) into the "Offsense" section, while leaving the "only-changes-statistics" feats (like Weapon Focus, Improved Initiative, etc.) in the Statistics section was one of the great big improvements of the last stat block revision.

"Useful skills" would also be nice to separate; in my own stat blocks, I often place Tumble on my Speed listing and Concentration on a spellcasting listing, since they're used so often.

-Steve

Try the
Web Enhancement for the draconomicon.

Good luck!
-c

But I'm still looking for a minion that really works for me. Haven't found one yet.

--Steve

We just finished running Foundations of Flame, and had a memorable last encounter with Hookface. (Emergency plane shift away to save a fighter getting slowly chewed to pieces as Hookface flew away from Cauldron, defeated but still alive and bringing a snack with him.)

Now the players plan to visit his lair once other events give them some breathing room, fully prepped and ready to do battle.

Has anybody done any work on creating a good lair for Hookface and his mate? The SCAP intro suggests minions and traps, along with his more-powerful mate. All of which suggests a lair considerably more complex than the sample red dragon lair in Draconomicon.

I mean to look through Dungeon's Maps of Mystery to see what I can find, but in the mean time, I thought I'd throw out my request to the SCAP crowd...

--Steve

Thanks for the feedback, Steve. Our statblocks are a work in progress and have benefited greatly from comments made by our readers. I'm not one of the statblock guys in the R&D pit, but I'll make sure they see your post. :)

--Steve

I received W1 yesterday, and so far really like the way the module is written...

But I've got a beef about the stat blocks. The new 'split-into-sections' style is wonderful; but the ones in W1 are still causing me to pencil in bits & pieces.

In particular, some of the combat-useful feats that don't permanently modify combat stats aren't listed in the OFFENSE section (like Combat Expertise or Improved Feint). Also, the combat gear is not listed in OFFENSE either.

With the easy critters of lower-level adventures this isn't much of a big deal, but it would be nice if *all* combat-relevant, checkbox-style items actually moved to the offense section---that's where I look to figure out what a monster can do in a combat round, after all...

--Steve

Great suggestions, guys, I appreciate it. The point about keeping things simple and straightforward is well taken. Investigatory stuff is probably out, as well as puzzle type scenarios. For a few years, anyway.

Even though the Sunless Citadel is biggish, I am tending to think that direction. Though perhaps with some sort of homebrew beginning link there first, especially since I probably need to underpower the encounters my kids face. (I expect their tactics to be poor.)

I like the comedy element that Meepo can provide, especially. The more I think about things, the more comedy will prove to be a critical element, I think. (There was an adventure a few years ago with giants raising a clutch of "chickens" (actually cockatrices)).. I'm going to be trying for that kind of style, I think.

And that one with the bees looked interesting, too.

--Steve

My kids have been clamoring for me to get them started on playing D&D... And this Christmas vacation, it's gotta finally happen!

So: what are everybody's favorite kid-friendly adventures? Where the evil is more comical than brooding and dark?

I'm thinking "Box of Flumph", (because, well, flumphs are ridiculous), and "The Devil Box" with it's goofy giant-sized kobolds...

Does anyone else have any favorites?

--steve cole

I think I'm intrigued and confused by these. On the one hand, I love the idea of handing out cards to players when they get treasure. I've done it sporadically before, and it's been a kind of mixed blessing. (For the stuff the players keep, it's great. For the stuff they sell right away, it wasn't worth the effort.)

So I'm intrigued.

But then I noticed that the expansion packs have randomized cards. Randomized? But this isn't a trading card game, it's a GM tool! What GM wants random stuff? It makes no sense! A GM wants stuff he knows he can use. One card is "foil"? Big deal! It makes me think that perhaps this product is not so well thought out after all... Or that its goals don't match the GM community after all, but are targeted at card collectors.

--scole