Talion09's page

Making the wait intolerable right now...

1. Its maintenance day for WoW, so I can't distract myself that way
2. My xbox crashed again, so thats out as an option
3. I finished the last unread book from my Christmas presents last night. So now I'm out of new reading material.
4. It is my day off, so I don't even have work to distract me.

*I think I'll head to the bookstore and find something to distract me until 2pm.

...
Obviously, the Beta rules don't include an XP cost, so you wouldn't include that very last bit. ...

*I had this discussion with a friend who was also submitting when we compared items afterwards. I had the XP cost calculated, but cut it out when I compared it against the Beta examples. My friend included his, but then again, he also used SRD formatting.

Generally speaking I've found that structure and limitations can actually add to the potential creativity of a project.

Take Star Wars for example. In the original movies (IV-VI) Lucas was greatly limited by what special effects could be created, budget concerns, the fact that there was nothing to base the idea off of and the fact that the story itself had to in some ways be limited by all of these factors. Sure he wanted to do more with it, but was unable to given his restrictions.

The movies were incredible and obviously made a huge impact on movie making in general

But then we have the second set of movies (I-III) where there were none of those restrictions. Lucas basically had enough money to throw at it to do anything he wanted, it was already established as an idea and overall there were little to no limitations to the project.

That set of movies were, imho, ok but lacked some of the feel of the original movies. In some ways it felt somewhat disjointed and showed that whatever Lucas thought of he chose to throw on the screen. And overall they had less impact on the overall psyche of the average moviegoer. (How many times do you quote the original three vs. the ewer three?)

The point being that limitations can in fact direct and add to the creative process rather than stop it all together.

I don't disagree with your assessment, but I think an important factor is that Lucas didn't have limitations for the Prequels (and Clone Wars, etc) because he was the producer and bankrolling it himself. Who was going to tell George "that sucks, rewrite the scene or cut it" when he is doing a one-man show and signing the paychecks, regardless of being a SW fanboy or not.

Back on topic:

IMHO, the Prequels were the equivalent of self-publishing, so he could do whatever he wanted. Any limitations were self-imposed, and he had an unlimited budget.

The original Trilogy was more like the equivalent of working with an editor/publishing company... although he probably had a lot more editorial control himself with Empire and Jedi after the truckloads of cash came in after New Hope.

*A floating roster of characters works rather well. (I imagine the original Mission Impossible cast)

1-2 characters per player gives some variety, but does slow the progression a bit. But since Shadowrunners tend to be created at a decent powerlevel and then slowly advance, that isn't such a big deal.

It also opens up the scenario where you can have rotating GMs as well, since Shadowrun lends itself well to episodic content. (ie. If Bob is GM'ing this run, then Bob's character isn't available. But next session when Jim is GM, Bob's character is back in town, etc)

Shadowrun actually works rather well with fewer players. (At least the way I usually ran it back in SR2/SR3. I have 4th, but haven't actually run it yet)

Essentially, if you go by the cliches, your PCs are hired specifically for a given shadowrun. Presumably, in almost every case, there has been some due diligence or background checks done by the Mr Johnson, even if its only asking about their street cred, etc. Or maybe they were referred by a fixer, whatever.

But they wouldn't approach someone who didn't have at least the basic skills to get the job down. Just like Paizo isn't about to hire me to help Gary and Vic with the website, Mr Johnson isn't going to hire a knuckle-dragging street samurai for a run that heavily involves decking or a trip to the Metaplanes.

Of course, there can be complications and unexpected difficulties, or sessions where the PCs aren't hired specifically for a run, but have it forced on them by circumstances (blackmail, etc). But generally, if you get approached by Mr Johnson for Shadowrun XXX... its a safe bet you can accomplish the job with your existing skills... assuming you don't die first ;-)

Shards of a Broken Crown by Raymond Feist was a bad ending to what was otherwise my favorite series done by him.

I have all of his books, and two of my favorites are the 2nd/3rd in that particular quartet. And the worse thing was that the 3rd book would have been a great place to end it.

The 4th book could have been a good starting point for a new trilogy, but it essentially is anti-climatic after the 3rd book and just sets us up for the next arc.

Actually, in retrospect, if the book was "solo" novel like Princes of the Blood or The Kings Bucaneer (essentially designed to bridge the gap between generations in Midkemia) I would have liked it much more.

* I can't wait for the next in the series of other authors writing in Midkemia (Tales of the Riftwar?). Its SM Stirling (currently one of my favorite authors) doing a Jimmy the Hand story in Krondor. Hopefully much better than the videogame novelization Krondor series which someone else commented on in this thread.

Sebastian wrote:

You're a cruel man telling him that a cortex bomb is a helpful cyborg implant.

Very cruel.

You're forgetting about the placebo effect. The cortex bomb could be helpful, you never know.

*Or so I remember from Shadowrun campaigns... I miss Shadowrun :-(

Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:

Age of Worms.

This. With a bullet. AoW is full of hack and slash fun. RotRL is probably next best, then Shackled City, then Savage Tide, and then CotCT.

1. Availability. If you don't already have the Age of Worms Dungeon mags, it might be problematic to pick them up now. (I believe some are out of print)

2. Length. The Dungeon APs (Age of Worms, Savage Tide, Shackled City) were all 1-20. The Pathfinder APs are designed to be shorter (1-15). As I recall, this was because the main complaint about the Dungeon APs is that they were too long.

*Rise of the Runelords has the cool Player's Guide as a free download (not sure if there are physical copies left) and that is an awesome handout to start off a campaign.

I like this idea, albeit maybe with the restriction that the feat have an ability pre-req (Int 15+ perhaps) to prevent "everyone" from taking it.

Although it would be useless without search and disable device, so the ability pre-req is probably a moot point, since you wouldn't take it unless you had a high int or were a rogue anyways.

One of my favorite alternate class features were the ones from Dungeonscape that allowed non-rogues to take Trapfinding. It alleviated the need to have a rogue in every party, as the OP noted.

Karui Kage wrote:

As someone else posted, Brian R James is not an employee of Goodman, so we wonder if that's also speculation or if he actually has a source.

That's not really confirmation. In having talked to WotC, they explicitly said that they are absolutely not interested in making seperate GSL deals. Granted, they may have done this BEFORE hand, sure, but if Goodman and WotC actually had a deal going... wouldn't they publicize it a bit?

If it was a seperate negotiated agreement, why wouldn't they say so? Even if Wizards didn't care (unlikly IMHO), why wouldn't Goodman Games be splashing it all over the web that they are the first 3PP to put out officially licensed 4E material?

Unless of course they are <b>in negotiations</b> and Goodman Games just jumped the gun in announcing these, and are assuming that the seperate licensing deal will be in place by Gencon. But that is problematic on multiple levels.

Personally, I think they are just avoiding the GSL as outlined by others above.

I'd just toss in my two cents...

I like this idea.

As noted above, there were areas in the previous Pathfinder Arcs (Catacombs of Wrath, Graul Homestead, etc) that could be split out or even skipped by a party without derailing the adventure.

By explicitly putting these in a seperate chapter, it makes it easier for me as as a DM to flip through my books and pull out a suitable sidetrek or oneshot adventure.

This versatility makes Pathfinder more valuable to me, as a busy DM.

I can see pulling out Catacombs of Wrath with very little changes and incorporating it into another campaign as a low level dungeon. I could do this now easily enough, but if it was in a seperate chapter, with some notes on adapation besides linking to the main AP adventure, it would be easier for me to flip through my books and find it on the fly when the party deviates from my plans.

And considering I've got a stack of Paizo material that grows by at least a full Pathfinder book plus an adventure every month, the list of adventures to flip through looking for that sidetrek is getting bigger as we speak ;-)

Superscriber is for Pathfinder products. Planet Stories is separate. So you are both a Superscriber and a Planet Stories subscriber.

Thanks Ross.

I misread the titles when I looked at it quickly, I've always included (mentally anyways) Planet Stories with the other Paizo products, since they get shipped in the same box. So seeing the two titles, I didn't really pay attention, since I was expecting only the one.

*Thats what I get for checking the message boards while playing WoW. ;-)

hmm... Vic, since you have responded to this thread already... when I added the fifth subscription, why did the titles beside my name switch to only Pathfinder Charter and Planet Stories? Shouldn't it of just switched to Charter Superscriber?

I double-checked my My Subscriptions page to make sure I hadn't deleted something by accident, and I show all 5 subscriptions as ongoing and active still.

Ah. Thanks for that ;-)

I'll add that subscription then.

*I didn't see it on the main Pathfinder Page under the 4 subscriptions that it shows up top, but I did see it further down the page.

Hi,

I've been reduced to lurking on the boards the last few months, since I haven't had much time with work to post actively... but there is a question I've been meaning to ask.

What subscription am I missing to be a <Pathfinder Charter Superscriber>?

I've got Pathfinder Charter Subscriber, Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Modules and Planet Stories... what cool Paizo Product am I being deprived of? ;-)

*Its probably something obvious, but it didn't jump out at me when I scanned the Pathfinder and GameMastery pages.

My first thought was that Monte Cooke was joining in a more permanent role than rules consultant for Pathfinder.

But that might just be because I was flipping through the book of eldritch might

Just to chip in my 2 cents on 3rd party PDF viewers...

I haven't had any problem reading the PDFs using Preview for Mac.

While I love those comics I do not want them in my rule book that's space that can be better spent might as well put in ad's really.

Anyone played this yet? Does it use an updated version of the Palladium (SDC/MDC) system, or something new?

I had all the Robotech RPG books back when I was a kid. I loved the cartoon, and then I came across a full-page ad for the RPG while flipping through one of my Dad's Dragon magazines... so I saved up my allowance and ordered it. And back then, ordering meant sending a money order and waiting 8-10 weeks, lol. This was probably the first RPG product I actually bought with my own money. (I think Heroes Unlimited and/or TMNT was the second)

Even if I don't end up actually playing it, its worth buying for the nostalgia factor alone.

If I buy 4th ed books, I'll buy them from Paizo.*

*At this point, with my gaming group lined up to finish ROTL and then start Crimson Throne, plus numerous GM Modules that we want to play... unless 4th edition is the best ever, I'm not in a huge hurry to convert in 2008, or even 2009. But if/when Paizo 4th ed products start coming in from my subscriptions, I'll pick up the books. Or maybe earlier is something else dazzles me, but I'm not in a hurry to be an early adopter for the sake of change unless there is a cool 4th ed setting or adventure path to run. (I'd accept a kick-ass Eberron update, but I'm wary after the Realms being nuked)

I'm sorry to have to do this, but I have to withdraw from the campaign. (If you haven't kicked me out for non-posting already, which would be understandable)

I've been swamped with work lately, and I thought I had everything cleared away at the holidays... but now its back to the level where I haven't got the time to play in my weekly real-life DnD campaign, let alone keep up with and participate PbPs... at least not for the next couple months. (I don't think I've even posted on Paizo in the last couple weeks)

Thanks again for the fun while it lasted. Maybe Corran can join the Sandpoint Militia or something.

You still out there? I'd hate to see this one die and we miss (and need) Corran in JSL's RotRL.

I've been swamped with work lately, and I thought I had everything cleared away at the holidays... but now its back to the level where I haven't got the time to play in my weekly real-life DnD campaign, let alone keep up with and participate PbPs... at least not for the next couple months. (I don't think I've even posted on Paizo in the last couple weeks)

Thanks for being good players, it was fun while it lasted... and once again, I'm sorry I dropped the ball as DM due to real life commitments. (Gah, I had being an adult. Finding time for RPGs was much easier as a student)

Well.... I was just about to come online and post that I have to withdraw from this (and other) PbP games due to an extreme abundance of work commitments myself. (I've had to actually take a hiatus from my real-life weekly DnD campaign too...)

So no worries, and as the others said, maybe we can pick this in a few months if things get less hectic. But if not, it was still fun, so thanks for running it while it lasted.

D'oh! We'll fix the e-mail. There are no PDFs for Planet Stories or card products.

<whines> But I wanted to read my Planet Stories PDF while at work ;-)

grrtigger wrote:

It would be nice to see product lines grouped in folders, or at least a List View option that would sort by product name, which would group them together by default. Possibly both :)

You can already sort by product name. At the top right of the downloads area, you'll see "Sort by Name | Sort by Date Purchased." (We default to date since people are most likely to be there for their most recent purchase.)

Folders are a bit complicated, but we'll likely have to do something like that eventually...

ie. A general folder, one for GM Modules, one for Pathfinder, etc. That might help keep it easier to sort.

I think it was an error in the email.

I had a planet stories novel ship at the same time as the GM Module and the Item cards, and it said I had PDFs available for all three.

However, if I'm suddenly getting PDFs of the Planet Stories novels with my subscription, that would give me something to do at work ;-)

To: JSL's Runelords Players
Re: "Player Wanted"

JSL said you were looking for a new player. I'll admit I've been following the story, and really quite enjoying it. I commend you all for your story-telling and -playing ability, and for the way I've been able to vicariously watch you come together as a group. I certainly don't want to step on any toes or come to a party where I'm not invited, but if you would have me, I would be interested playing on either a temporary or permanent basis, as per the needs of the party.

JSL told me about the character creation/selection process, and I'm very aware of his philosophy of game balance and having fun while telling an engaging story. I would be happy to play a paladin/cleric of Serenrae once we're done travelling and I've had a chance to peruse the player handbook.

I await your replies.

- Dreamer

Hi,

I just noticed in my account that Order 848202 has been moved to pending status as of Dec 26th.

A couple of questions through:

1. I thought Vic mentioned that the once a month shipments for combined subs would be approximately mid-month? Just wondering about that, so I know when to expect it.

2. On Dec 27th, Order 863401, comprising solely of The Secret of Sinharat (another Planet Stories sub item) was created, and is currently awaiting monthly shipment. Any chance it could be added to order 848202 instead, as it appears to have just missed that monthly shipment by a day?

Arctaris wrote:

Alternatively we could find a player who was comfortable with Naelah as a character and they could take Naelah on as their own character. That way we could keep our healer without messing up anyone's intended progression and we could keep the interesting RPing. As long as we could find someone both willing and capable of taking Naelah as their character it could work.

That's an idea. I don't know how either the prospective recruit or PsiFox would feel (should he want to come back in the future). Hmm.

I think I'd rather have Naelah go off somewhere and have a new character come on the scene for two reasons. First, the new player would have more of an interest in playing a character they created--we'd already be asking for someone to be playing a divine spellcaster, after all. Second, it would give PsiFox the option of returning later on. Could present some interesting plot twists (Naelah returns to the group pregnant; Vesh looks and Slidell; Slidell looks at Vesh; hilarity ensues).

I also don't want to get too attached to any one character, or group of characters (my own included). Don't get me wrong, I love playing Vesh, but I've already thought about what I'd play if Vesh bit the bucket. Fun thought!

*And I'm back from Christmas insanity, so I'll get caught back up and be posting later on today.

I just noticed that the book numbers for the series seem to skip PZO8002...

Anubis Murders PZO8001
City of the Beast PZO8003
Black God's Kiss PZO8004

Does anyone know why?

Is there a secret publisher's reason?

(Just curious - unless it was the penultimate volume, then I don't want to
know.... :)

Or maybe I'm totally misremembering that.

Has anyone played this game yet?

My wife asked for it, so I've ordered it... but apart from hearing its a good party game, I know virtually nothing about it.

JSL wrote:

OK. So is everyone done here? It is still before noon - where to next?

Did anyone make the DC 20 Search roll?

Oops. Turned out I should have waited instead of being impatient.

I just got the shipping confirmation email now.

Malleon is going to spend the holidays slumped on the ground, thinking about how his near-brush with death ;-)

... Can a generation that has grow up playing a character in WoW that attacks a giant dragon with twenty other people with spell effects going off left and right be expected to get excited about sitting down and reading rulebooks, buying minis, and playing something that, to them, is a slower paced version of the same thing they can do on their computers, except it takes more work?...

It has to come down to a better story.

My gaming group has an average age of ~30. Most of us also play video games or MMORPGs. But DnD offers something different, in that it can be tailored to our specific audience by the DM.

I can create a better story and metaplot for a campaign for my players than a MMORPG or stand alone computer/videogame RPG designed for a mass audience can.

I can't compete for the speed of play and special effects.

I love my old school FF and Phantasy Star games. I've played WoW (I don't anymore because it sucked up all my free time, lol) I just spent the last couple nights not sleeping nearly enough so I could beat Mass Effect.

But the computer/videogame RPG/MMORPG storyline that can compete with a well crafted adventure, which is further tailored to my specific group and our tastes? Few and far between.

That is where the tabletop RPG market shines in comparison.

*Well, that and the social aspects when everyone gathers around the table. MMOPRGs have social aspects as well, but on a different level

Hi,

Just wondering what the status is of this order, as it seems to be in Pending status for a long time now.

Although to be honest, I know some of the items are in the "5-11 Business Days" range to ship, and I can't remember when exactly it changed to a pending status... so I very well might be overly worried without a good reason.

Thanks,

Joel

So we are looking to start up a second game (probably bi-weekly) in addition to our weekly DnD games... it came down to either Shadowrun or Mutants & Masterminds. We picked M&M, mainly because one of the potential players didn't like SR, although everyone liked comics to some degree.

Anyways, I've ordered the Advanced Powers book, as well as the core book. Are the other books worth picking up?

How about the setting books, Paragons or Freedom City, anyone use them for a campaign? Personally I'm inclined to run it as a variant DC or Marvel Universe, since its only a casual game and that way everyone has a touchstone to the universe already.

Has anyone used the "Era" books, Iron Age or Golden Age? How tied are they to a particular campaign setting?

Any tips for an experienced DM about to run his first M&M campaign?

hmm... I just checked mine (I just got around to finishing the subscription process) and mine says 9.99 for the Item Cards. No 14.99 crossed out or anything. (Now my Elak of Atlantis Planet Stories has the 12.99 crossed out, replaced by 10.39)

Edit: Just looked at my post... all these tags after my name, and I didn't get the one I really wanted (RPG Superstar) :-( Well, there is always next year.

Yay! <off to go sign-up now>

That thing for Rogue; its a big thing too; and undescribable thing; comics, cartoons; dont matter; that is one great character; full of flaws; strengths; lovelorn; well drawn; southern belle, and always has a witty response. One of my favorite X-men; dont know any DC characters with the depth of character of the X-Men.

This rough map from the blog a while back might help put it into perspective.

And if you got the first 4, don't forget to download the player's guide ;-)

I've tentatively got it down as:

Theocracy of Carnamach
Cyrehllan
The Prison Colony of Saran
ISKANDRIA
Olanra

*Although, I'm still considering, I've got 2-3 other ones on the cusp, so I'm going to sleep on it and re-read them all at work tommorrow before voting.

I just went through all 32 entries today... and I have to say, that if you didn't grab my attention in the first paragraph, I tended to skip down to the judge's comments to see what was special (or not special)... and in some cases, I didn't bother to go back and read the rest of the entry, because of this.

I've just gone through all 32 entries... and this one was one of my favorites. (I've got ~8 I've shortlisted to read through again before voting)

I'd just like to note (not that you can answer with the rules) that I one thing that stood out for me in both your item (Elemental Quiver) and now the country submission is the comic book vibe.

For me, thats a good thing. And I know Eric at least picked up on it in his comments on both entries. Hopefully others like it as well, and its an element I'd say to continue to run with in future rounds if you can.

I like it.

Not sure if I'm going to vote for it, but its the one that stands out the most in the first half dozen entries I've had time to read today.

IMHO, the blink dog nation concept works. If I'm going to include a nation in my campaign world (either in a homebrew, or just including it as a part of an established setting that I'm going to give screen-time to), it either has to be:

A) Somewhere the PCs can be from
B) Somewhere the PCs want to go to and adventure

And this entry definitely hits on B

If it was in Seattle, I'd probably go. I live only 3 hours away, so it would be easy enough, and really just depend on getting time off work.

If it were in Vegas, I'd have to fly... but flights to Vegas are a dime a dozen, so...

I just bought the last pieces of my wife's christmas present here on Paizo... board games, but still, I'm slowly working on converting her ;-)

*And rather than have our 1 year old daughter watch kid's shows like Teletubbies, Dora, Barney, etc... I've dug out DVDs for Justice League, Superman, 80's Transformers, 80's TMNT, He-man, She-Ra, Thundercats, Jem, etc. And then I dumped them all onto the hard drive, and made a bunch of "mixed" DVDs so that: A)Its like watching afterschool cartoons. B) If she scratches them, I don't care.

My wife gets a pained expression when she sees how excited our daughter gets at the theme music for each show when it comes on.

Sorry about the delay in Corran's responses at the dinner. I'll get that written up and posted right after this.

* I got a promotion at work recently... which has dumped a few other projects on my plate, so my workload has almost doubled. (My pay hasn't doubled unfortunately, lol) Anyways, I kept on pushing back posting since I was at work so much, and then I realized that it has been a week <sheepish look> but I think I have everything under control now.

Koldoon wrote:

Spoon of the Witch Queen

This (and a similar item) seem maddeningly familiar, but I can't quite place what book, or what edition of the game.

I recall some sort of 'Alchemy jug' that could create acids, poisons or potions on command.

AD&D Unearthed Arcana maybe?

EDIT: nm, someone else beat me to it.