Steven T. Helt's page

If you are getting yourself a badge at Gen Con or haven't decided to go yet, I wanted to offer two events that still have tickets available, and that I can vouch for as unique and a super-great time. Gen Con event number and times included.

RPG1120287 Iron GM Saturday from noon to 6:30. Come sit a table where you create your own character and your GM is not only COMPETING to give you the best time ever, but also though enough of his/her stuff to pay $20 to enter. One of the best events at Gen Con every year.

RPG1124193 The Devil In Me Friday 4-Midnight. Organized by Iron GM winners and competitors, published authors and rabid players witha taste for the epic. We build the best pregen characters at the convention - powerful, deep and unique. Come experience a game that gives away big prizes, and where the GMs are committed to telling a story you'll never forget. Even better! Same room as the Iron Gm event, so your Gen Con will be as smooth as possible!

I know the economy is tough. I know roleplaying at conventions can be hit or miss. So I want your convention to be memorable, and I want you to decide to go if you're on the fence. These events plus a couple of Pathfinder Society or other events will make you glad you made the trip!

TOnight's slam dunk competition was monstrous, creative and fun. Normally I don't like the NBA and can't watch many teams or palyers, but this was fun.

Think I'll stat Griffin up and make my palyers fight him.

Tell your friends! Gen Con is only a few months away and only a few tickets are left for this year's awesome Pathfinder event: Xorvintaal!

RPG1011279 Xorvintaal - the Great Game

Play a unique, well-built PC as adventurers flock for varying reasons to an ancient town in the North. Rumors of dragons playing at politics and gambling their hoards entice willing servitors and free privateers to seek out their own fortunes. Be careful, though. Some players may be joining your table for other reasons.

This event is written and directed by Iron Dungeon Master champions and competitors, Paizo contributors and more. Spend your Firday night with us, and you'll be talking about us the rest of the Con!

Only seven tickets left!

Some of you might remember us from the epic event Ascension of the Drow last year.

Well, we're back with our own huge event, and we promise to deliver one of the best convention experiences ever with RPG0903644: A Star Is Born. This 48-player game will feature the Pathfinder system and run from 4 to 12 Thursday night.

We gave you a good time last year, and we are excited to be on our own after our experiences with two huge events. We learned a great deal, we had a lot of fun, and we can't wait to see you all in Indy!

Spend your Thursday evening as one of our unique, well-built PCs, and spend the rest of the convention levelling up your PFS character, as together we make this Gen Con the Year of Paizo!

A lot of you know about Phil, the Chatty DM. His blog on all things RPG has numerous regular readers, and is always useful in terms of DMing advice, current events in gaming, or a good laugh.

Chatty Phil has unveiled a unique design project, wherein he discusses adventure design while he sets forth a trope-rich plot and challenges designers and GMs to represent their favorite system by designing his adventure, all to ilustrate the strengths that different game systems have and showcase the great community he has helped build among gamers.

Check it out at chattydm.net

Some of these seem out of balance to me, while some seem completely useless. I write about this under the pretext of playtest, because my character in Rob McCreary's Iskandria PBM disdains his own first-level ability. In looking over the other abilities (I have dreams of playing a high-powered Malconvoker one day), I have some questions and concernes about these abilities. Others are welcome to chime in or disagree with me here. Hopefully there will be some comments that Paizo's team find helpful as they continue to design the future World's Most Popular Role-playing Game.

Hey - confirm for me that most of these abilities ahouls be based on wizard level and not caster level. Otherwise, we are really rewarding the multiclass wizard a lot. The inevitable mystic theurge will bring the house down.

Abjurers: First level ability is no good. A standard action for an ability that lasts one round, and likely duplicates a benefit for your party that can't stack? I can't see this getting much use. I think most wizards would rather cast spells. Perhaps if it were a swift or immediate action, or lsated one round per (wizard) or (caster) level.

The rest of the Abjurer's abilities seems fun and balanced. That dude is taking no energy damage though, so it might be a little strong. I'll join a 20th level playtest to find out!

Conjurers are studs. I fear the 20th level ability might be too much. I know it has me licking my chops over the 20 level playtest and thinking 'malconvoker'. Maybe a party of 6 wizards in this playtest. Mmm.

DivinersThe diviner's first-level ability lasts three rounds, and provides a bonus equal to caster level on an ability, attack or other check. Stronger than the abjurer. After 4th level, I fear diviners with Quickened Spell-like Ability: Truestrike. That's hard. As a DM, I am going to frustrate a lot of Diviners by squirreling my wauy out of their 20th level ability. Campaigns must have secrets.

Enchanters Strong bonus for cross-classers! And permanent dominate monster[/b] is STRONG! I'll look up whether this spell has a HD limitation on it, but currently, this SLA makes a strong answer to the debate in that other thread about Cha or Int being used for DCs. Clearly this ability rocks the house, and skying your Int bonus would be a big priority.

Evocation Suck it, warmage! So, meteor swarm deals 24d6+120 points of damage? Sudden Empower, anyone? I think +1/die is sufficient, since at higher levels you deal more dice. I shudder at the thought of quickened magic missiles dealing out 5d4+30 points of force damage. This guy is an even beter argument for keeping SLAs as is, since nothing takes the bad guys to the woodshed like free [i]chain lightnings, prismatic sprays, and meteor swarms The elemental power ability is neat, and not overpowered. Just maybe the rest of him.

Illusionist The specialist ability is clever, useful, and balanced. It also motivates the character to be a real illusionist, instead of a battery of invisibility and phantasmal killer spells. The 20th level ability is fun and not over-powered. I would think we need a rule about bonuses to disguise checks. People often believe their eyes, but some wizards are terrible actors.

Necromancers Hoochi mama! 8 HD/level! Your 7th level wizard can animate 9 troll skeletons (make sure they go on their own initiative!) I played this game before: it's called Diablo 2. And, yes, your screen will also slow down and you'll be dead before you get back up to your normal processing speed. I am not sure how I would fix this. A HD cap just means more humans skeletons to tie up turns. As an NPC, this guy is great. As a PC, I worry about the sanity of players who surround themselves withmore NPC skeletons than actual friends. And anyone who knows me will now accuse me of being that guy, but oh well.
Moving on, grave touch is awesome. Not too powerful, but definitely mean-spirited. I don't like the 20th lvl ability much. I think players should be able to choose humanity despite their crimes against it, and I think anyone that chooses undeath deserves to be vulnerable to positive energy just like the rest of his kin. Also, I have always thought the deck was kind of stacked against undead, so I think of this ability as much a penalty as I do a bonus. But we can have that discussion later.

Tranmuters Another big reward for multiclassers, but then should transmuters be multiclassers? Hmmm. Telekinetic fist is cool..a little untyped damage to throw in, plus it rocks cinematically. Like the staff fight in Fellowship of the Ring. I'd like it to be stated somewhere that these abilities you can use for non-consecutive rounds per day are usable as free or swift actions. Fluid form is boss, just remember that if we're using caster levels and not wizard levels, this class rewards the wizard/fighter type like no other. ("I charge 240 feet with Spring Attack and Two-Weapon Rend.")

Universalists I never had much use for these guys, but having a None of the Above category is reasonable, and the revised abilities I think capture good flavor. Most of your world's wizards might be specialists, but then a few will not. They have no restrictions on spells, and gain awesome bonuses at higher level. The first level ability seems weak, until you realize that the wizard can move away from his target and cease concentrating after he picks a better spot. Also, you don't have to fight. You might just need to have a mage hand handy at will. I question the wish spells. Nothing sees unuse like a 5000 xp component.

Those are my thoughts on the balances of the specialist abilities. Mostly, they refer to beginning or ending abilities. The middle abilities - for the most part - all seem balancd, and to be expected of a wizard with that specialty.

I do think the added abilities are fun and awesome in concept. I think more people might play wizards and clerics, and if you changed 'caster level' to 'wizard level' a few times, they would ride the wizard class all the way up more often. Otherwise, I fear some very verypowerful characters could pick their way through different classes and always outshine their companions.

But I am just me, and I haven't playtested any of this. Tell me what you think.

Some of these seem out of balance to me, while some seem completely useless. I write about this under the pretext of playtest, because my character in Rob McCreary's Iskandria PBM disdains his own first-level ability. In looking over the other abilities (I have dreams of playing a high-powered Malconvoker one day), I have some questions and concernes about these abilities. Others are welcome to chime in or disagree with me here. Hopefully there will be some comments that Paizo's team find helpful as they continue to design the future World's Most Popular Role-playing Game.

Hey - confirm for me that most of these abilities ahouls be based on wizard level and not caster level. Otherwise, we are really rewarding the multiclass wizard a lot. The inevitable mystic theurge will bring the house down.

Abjurers: First level ability is no good. A standard action for an ability that lasts one round, and likely duplicates a benefit for your party that can't stack? I can't see this getting much use. I think most wizards would rather cast spells. Perhaps if it were a swift or immediate action, or lsated one round per (wizard) or (caster) level.

The rest of the Abjurer's abilities seems fun and balanced. That dude is taking no energy damage though, so it might be a little strong. I'll join a 20th level playtest to find out!

Conjurers are studs. I fear the 20th level ability might be too much. I know it has me licking my chops over the 20 level playtest and thinking 'malconvoker'. Maybe a party of 6 wizards in this playtest. Mmm.

DivinersThe diviner's first-level ability lasts three rounds, and provides a bonus equal to caster level on an ability, attack or other check. Stronger than the abjurer. After 4th level, I fear diviners with Quickened Spell-like Ability: Truestrike. That's hard. As a DM, I am going to frustrate a lot of Diviners by squirreling my wauy out of their 20th level ability. Campaigns must have secrets.

Enchanters Strong bonus for cross-classers! And permanent dominate monster[/b] is STRONG! I'll look up whether this spell has a HD limitation on it, but currently, this SLA makes a strong answer to the debate in that other thread about Cha or Int being used for DCs. Clearly this ability rocks the house, and skying your Int bonus would be a big priority.

Evocation Suck it, warmage! So, meteor swarm deals 24d6+120 points of damage? Sudden Empower, anyone? I think +1/die is sufficient, since at higher levels you deal more dice. I shudder at the thought of quickened magic missiles dealing out 5d4+30 points of force damage. This guy is an even beter argument for keeping SLAs as is, since nothing takes the bad guys to the woodshed like free [i]chain lightnings, prismatic sprays, and meteor swarms The elemental power ability is neat, and not overpowered. Just maybe the rest of him.

Illusionist The specialist ability is clever, useful, and balanced. It also motivates the character to be a real illusionist, instead of a battery of invisibility and phantasmal killer spells. The 20th level ability is fun and not over-powered. I would think we need a rule about bonuses to disguise checks. People often believe their eyes, but some wizards are terrible actors.

Necromancers Hoochi mama! 8 HD/level! Your 7th level wizard can animate 9 troll skeletons (make sure they go on their own initiative!) I played this game before: it's called Diablo 2. And, yes, your screen will also slow down and you'll be dead before you get back up to your normal processing speed. I am not sure how I would fix this. A HD cap just means more humans skeletons to tie up turns. As an NPC, this guy is great. As a PC, I worry about the sanity of players who surround themselves withmore NPC skeletons than actual friends. And anyone who knows me will now accuse me of being that guy, but oh well.
Moving on, grave touch is awesome. Not too powerful, but definitely mean-spirited. I don't like the 20th lvl ability much. I think players should be able to choose humanity despite their crimes against it, and I think anyone that chooses undeath deserves to be vulnerable to positive energy just like the rest of his kin. Also, I have always thought the deck was kind of stacked against undead, so I think of this ability as much a penalty as I do a bonus. But we can have that discussion later.

Tranmuters Another big reward for multiclassers, but then should transmuters be multiclassers? Hmmm. Telekinetic fist is cool..a little untyped damage to throw in, plus it rocks cinematically. Like the staff fight in Fellowship of the Ring. I'd like it to be stated somewhere that these abilities you can use for non-consecutive rounds per day are usable as free or swift actions. Fluid form is boss, just remember that if we're using caster levels and not wizard levels, this class rewards the wizard/fighter type like no other. ("I charge 240 feet with Spring Attack and Two-Weapon Rend.")

Universalists I never had much use for these guys, but having a None of the Above category is reasonable, and the revised abilities I think capture good flavor. Most of your world's wizards might be specialists, but then a few will not. They have no restrictions on spells, and gain awesome bonuses at higher level. The first level ability seems weak, until you realize that the wizard can move away from his target and cease concentrating after he picks a better spot. Also, you don't have to fight. You might just need to have a mage hand handy at will. I question the wish spells. Nothing sees unuse like a 5000 xp component.

Those are my thoughts on the balances of the specialist abilities. Mostly, they refer to beginning or ending abilities. The middle abilities - for the most part - all seem balancd, and to be expected of a wizard with that specialty.

I do think the added abilities are fun and awesome in concept. I think more people might play wizards and clerics, and if you changed 'caster level' to 'wizard level' a few times, they would ride the wizard class all the way up more often. Otherwise, I fear some very verypowerful characters could pick their way through different classes and always outshine their companions.

But I am just me, and I haven't playtested any of this. Tell me what you think.

Those of you going to MEPACON in Pennsylvania this weekend, don't forget to form a team and try your hand at the DnD CHampionship qualifier!

Does your team have what it takes to compete in the largest DND Tourney in history? Find out this weekend when you play Saresberg, by a certain aspiring game designer and novelist!

Go! Fight! Try not to lose anyone!

What were the highlights of the contest for the voters,contestants and judges? We all know there were big ideas, great jokes, and helpful critiques. What do you take away from the first installment of one of the best ideas in gaming history?

Formy part, there's of course the fun and friendships. I guess I got to know Booms best of all throughout - but hey, I'm not going anywhere. Literally. It's my day off. There's also that while we awaited judgement of our magic items, I threw together four ideas to flesh out for 'Design A Country', and three of them were eerily similar to nations that were advanced by judges. Including Christine's entry (the most like mine), and Iskandria (my favorite entry of that round, even though during voting I thought Vramaire was my favorite).

As far as actual entries go, though, my absolute favorite ideas and executions were:

5: Let me be among the first to say it. Monkey goblins!

4: A god-like psionic genie who struggles with outer genius and inner chaos. Being his own worst enemy is why the Cackling Whirlwind hasn't acheived all that he ever wanted.

3. A nation of blink dogs defending their homeland, but also the civilized races coming to establish colonies, from a ruthless nation of goblinoids, who employ phase spider assassins to terrorize their lawful good enemies.

2. Iskandria, where waking up each morning is a small victory for the good guys, and the possibility of death-by-scantilly-clad-priestess is as likely as not!

1. A moving monastery, taking the gods' vengeance to an old city, while the PCs inside it try to survive the ride and the encounters within. Shifting walls, opening floors. Man, what I could do to my friends and family with that!

Congratulations to Christine, Jason, Rob and Boomer on being in the final round of RPG Superstar. Not only am I insanely jealous, I am also very happy to have conversed with you and watched your progress as you outlasted some stiff competition.

I think a lot of us who have been on the outside looking in have also learned a lot. I think watching this contest has made me a better writer and player and DM. I am grateful for the community here, and really looking forward to some exciting adventure proposals.

Congratulations again, and good luck as you ignore the world and lock yourself away to give us your best.

Or, for Boomer, wait til the last minute and throw out another PSA instead. : }

Has anyone ever considered the idea of a joint campaign..like where the home campaigns in different places are telling the same overall story, but the parties don't realize that other campaigns are concurrently affecting the world they live in.

So every couple of weeks, the aprticipating DMs have a chat or conference call, compare notes, etc.

It isn't a competition. Maybe to ensure that, each DM runs another DMs important plots. I dunno. I have spent exactly this much time thinking about it.

Then at gencon, or using Insider, different groups can meet and realize what's been going on.

Does that sound dumb to anyone?

The site for Gen Con's best event is back up and running. Go there, and make an account, and hang out on the forums while you're waiting for replies (or the Superstar monsters) here! A taste of this kind of gaming, sponsored generously by Paizo, is all you need to want to be involved. You'll love that you were there and talked to great players, GMs, and household names like Nic Logue.

Be Iron! irondm.com

The site for Gen Con's best event is back up and running. Go there, and make an account, and hang out on the forums while you're waiting for replies here! A taste of this kind of gaming, sponsored generously by Paizo, is all you need to want to be involved. You'll love that you were there and talked to great players, GMs, and household names like Nic Logue.

Be Iron! irondm.com

Okay, not in too much detail. After all, some of us have to work for a living instead of slacking off and marrying rich (I'm looking at you, Logue!)

So. I thought it would be fun to see what kinds of characters spring to mind when you read the Countries round of Superstar. I'll post some more of mine later (that work thing: catering at 6 in the morning. Jeez.), but I was curious about everyone else's.

Of course, I am most grateful for God, friends and family, and this wonderful country. But higher and higher on the list as I get to know more people, I am grateful for Paizo, its committment to the best vision there is for the hobby I love, and the fun, friendly community I have found here in recent weeks.

To Paizo, and its wonderful staff: happy Thanksgiving, and a big thank you for all you do for us.

To those of you with big families and bigs plans today, travel safely and best wishes to you.

To those who don't make big plans on Thanksgiving (which in this community I think is a bigger ratio than most), enjoy your friends and hopefully a peaceful day off!

And very important to me: to our soldiers and civilians giving up another holiday to keep the bad guys where they belong, and to allow millions who have never voted before to have a voice: thank you so much, and we look forward to seeing your continued success abroad, so you can get back home to your familes.

Happy Thanksgiving and safe traveling to all of you!

Except the Graul family. They can go to Hell. : }