Goblin Sneak

The Doc CC's page

144 posts. Alias of Carlos Caro.




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I had an early problem transitioning to PF2e as a long-time PF1e GM; I always assigned too few Hero Points. My solution is a rules variant that proved so popular with my players that as they started GMing, they almost all started to do the same. I present it to you all to take or leave as you see fit. It uses the Hero Point deck.

The Hero Point Draft
'Draft' is not the right word, but this is kind of what we called it, so here it goes. Each session begins with me dealing three Hero Point cards to each PC. These cards are examined by each player, but they keep none of them. Instead, they pass one to the player to their left, and one to the player to their right. The third and final card returns to the GM and is shuffled back into the Hero Point Deck.

The PC's are told since they start with two hero points, the GM may be a bit stingier than expected awarding them.

Benefits
The first benefit is that the Draft allows PC's to have a little extra edge and helps avoid the problem of the GM simply not awarding enough Hero Points in the game. The awarding of Hero Points mid-play feels awesome because it can be a bit less frequent while still leaving players with the same number of points.

It causes players to take more interest in the other PC's. For example, if the Rogue tends to play a high-risk, high-reward, aggressive style, then maybe their friend hands them a card which helps make that strategy work like Strike True. If the Wizard just got a new staff, their friend might hand them a card that allows an exhausted item to be activated again.

Players absolutely love it when a card they gave their buddy helps them out.

Downsides
The PC's having two Hero Points at start does increase their power a small amount, though I do not find that to be a terrible downside.

The bonuses from Hero Points tend to be rather well-tailored to the PC's. Again, this doesn't strike me as a bug, but a feature. Spending a Hero Point should feel good.

A Drafting Variant
I did try a variant where the PC's each received three cards, took one, then passed to to the left. Repeat the process, with each PC picking one of the two remaining cards and returning the last card to the GM. This is more like "Drafting" cards in a CCG.

I found the players enjoyed this less. First, you did not have the thrill of seeing your friend use a thing you gave them. Second, it did not encourage the cooperative spirit of the group, since each PC invariably chooses the best card for themselves at both decision points. They do not have to think, 'What helps my friend out?'

Closing Matter
Thank you for reading. Feel free to steal, use, improve, or disregard as you see fit.

I did not see this variant listed before, but it is possible I've been scooped. With my schedule, I rarely have time for browsing the boards.


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Gentlepersons, I submit for you a "first impressions" and "user experience" for HeroLab Online. I can't call it a review because the thing doesn't work yet. My goal in writing is to alert you before your money leaves your wallet, so you can make an informed choice. Perhaps someday this product shall worth purchasing, but I will tell you what has happened since I picked it up on August 1st, 2019.

I would have been quick to recommend HeroLab Classic for PF1e. As a matter of fact, when it was on Paizo.com, I did, giving it four stars but quickly noting the pricing was deceptive. (The review is in my profile, but the HeroLab Classic product page is memory-holed.) Thirty dollars bought you Core 1e, and you would spend a lot more for the PF1e full experience. I did it gladly, because HeroLab Classic was a slightly confusing, absolutely useful tool that could do just about anything you needed. And when you bought the product, you *purchased* it with your license, and didn't have a recurrent cost.

I state that in the preface because I want to say I went into HeroLab online with a generally positive opinion of Lone Wolf. I have Army Builder. I Kickstarted Realmworks. Within hours of checking out HeroLab Online, all positive feelings were lost.

First, the new model is a recurring subscription. You have no long-term in this. They are following the monetization model of a live service. Yes, this means you will pay and pay again for content that you already paid for. I hope that knowledge alone turns people off. It certainly was a negative when I was considering purchasing it, but it wasn't enough to make me turn back. With a diminished, but still favorable, view of Hero Lab, I tried HLO.

Let me be clear; you pay to temporarily license content. If you want just the Core Rulebook in Pathfinder, it will cost you $35 USD. The Bestiary is another $13. This gives you access to the content for 6 months. If you want the product after that, they want you to pay again.

The program is now browser-based and always requires a connection. This means it must always contact the Lone Wolf servers to do anything. Your ability to download your creations is limited to downloading PDFs of the characters you've created. This has several implications, such as you can no longer work when not connected, you can no longer save a creation and send it to someone else to review or edit, you can no longer customize how character sheets print and look, you can no longer take your character and use them in HeroLab without a connection, and you can no easily make custom content. All those functions are gone.

When it rolled out, the server-side connections were abysmally slow. They assured me in an email that they have the problem under control, but the roll-out was still plagued with having the product hang for minutes at a time because it couldn't get a reply from Lone Wolf's server. Well, it still does that. It's gotten better; it's now about 10-15 seconds of wait time per click. That's for every skill you are clicking to pick as trained. For every spell you're adding to the spellbook. For every little item you are picking up in your gear. For every time you edit the journal. For every time you want to delete a used consumable (Sarenrae help the Alchemists).

To put some empiric numbers on that, today at 1 PM CST, adding a spell to a spellbook requires 5 clicks and 1 minute, 2 seconds, almost all the time spent waiting on the server. So that will be 15 minutes for your level 1 wizard if you already know what you want. If you want to browse through spells and pick them, get ready to spend even more time waiting for the spell's text to populate the window.

Worse, if a character has a lot of options, such as if they have a large spell-book, the number of options available seem to cause some non-linear increase in the time you must wait for it to load. It also lacks common-sense features. For example, there is an option to hide "unavailable" features, which should hide feats or spells your character doesn't qualify for. That's nice. It also hides all uncommon things, inherently using the rarity aspect. There's no way to filter "you absolutely shouldn't have this" and "this is uncommon so there should be a reason to have this." Thus, the filter only helps if you are making choice limited to common, and can cause you to search fruitlessly for legitimate options the rules do support. It's a minor problem, but just another way HeroLab Online is just user-unfriendly.

Additionally, the customizability is simply barely there. HeroLab Classic, even with just core, would let you edit just about anything until it fit what you were doing in your game. There is no such animal on HeroLab Online. Consider the Core Rulebook itself details alternate ability score generation, and Hero Lab doesn't support it. If you create custom content, it's now no longer available if you decide not to subscribe to HeroLab. Do you want to help introduce a player to the game and send them a character for them to tweak? Can't do that. Do you want to save the files locally to use this when you go on a trip? Better make sure your connection is always assured. Do you want to ignore a rule? Well, the function to customize the ruleset is gone; you're going to have to go add adjustments to everything. Want to roll scores in your game? No option except to do it the other way and make adjustments. Want to customize what text pops up on the character sheets you export, or change what kind of file the sheet comes out as? Those functions are gone.

I emailed Lone Wolf August 1st regarding my concerns. Their policy is to respond within 48 hours. I did not receive a reply until 10 August 2019 because, as they admit, they have too many angry emails (not their phrasing). In other words, it took ten days to get to my day 1 complaint because they had too many complaints. Not a good look.

I asked for their refund policy, and they have none. They offer no refunds or guarantees on this product. (Check your state; I am in a state where this is legal. If it is not in yours, might I recommend contacting the Better Business Bureau?)

In summary, this product has reduced functionality, wastes your time, and has a greedy revenue model. I would advise you to stay far, far away from HeroLab Online. It will literally take you less time to make your characters with pencil and paper, you'll have more freedom to make it your game, and you won't be charged recurring payments to do so.

And while I'm at it, the no-charge, all-volunteer group at PCGen are working on PF2E. For free.
Without a subscription. They do have a Donate button if you would like to support them instead of the HLO mess.


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Hello!

I am in the McAllen/Pharr/Edinburg area and am looking for a group for Saturday evening Pathfinder. I have a ready-to-go modified and updated Carrion Crown and would be happy to run it. Games would be weekly, subject to professional and family obligations, on Saturday afternoons and evenings. New players are welcome. I'm hope for a June 2018 start.

Please message me if interested; we'll see if we can make something happen. Thanks.


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Well. I haven't seen this thread yet, so please forgive me if I am beating the metaphorical dead horse, but it seems like Paizo managed to demonstrate the writers have no sense of scale.

I ran the numbers on a colossal ship and believe I did it right.

Colossal Ship: Length over 15,000 feet, Weight Over 8,000 tons

Smallest colossal ship:
Length: Feet: 15,000
Meters: 4572
Assume: Width = 400 meters, Shape is a cylinder
(Note: This thing would look narrow like a pencil)
Volume = (3.14) (R^2)(h) = 3.14 * 200 * 200 * 4572 = 5.74 * 10^8 cubic meters

How does 8,000 tons stack up?
Density of Air at 1 atmosphere: 1.225 kg / cubic meter at 15 degrees C
Weight of air: 7.03 * 10^8 kg
Convert to tons: ~775,000 tons

Density of Water at 4 degrees C: 1,000 kg / cubic meter
Weight of that much water: 5.74 * 10^11 kg
Convert to tons: 633 million

For more fun: the USS Enterprise (the real ship) was 1123 feet long, had a beam (max width) of 132 feet, and weighed 93,000 tons.

In other words, they are technically correct that it is over 8,000 tons.

The math for the ships one size category down is even funnier, because it literally seems to say the ships are mostly vacuum. It would be the only way those weights and lengths would work.


The RAW: "A destroyed homunculus companion can be restored to life by performing a ritual with its corpse that requires 1 pint of its creator's blood per Hit Die of the homunculus and rare materials worth 100 gp per Hit Die of the homunculus."

This strikes me as very strange. The Promethean Alchemist gains a companion which, if replaced, costs them blood. There's no rules for what the blood loss does to the alchemist, yet it starts leading to absurdity.

At level 5, that's 4 pints of blood, enough to throw the alchemist into dangerous shock (assuming human or human-like physiology). By level 8, it's not a survivable amount of blood loss. By level 15, it's more blood than is in a human body.

For reference, a human adult has about 5 liters of blood volume, takes a 4-6 weeks to replace the lost cells per pint of blood lost, and suffers severe tissue injury with a strong chance of mortality after losing 2 liters of blood. One pint is very close to 1/2 a liter. Square-cube law says a halfling or gnome should have about 1/8th that.

So...the point of all this is that this rule seems silly. I also don't want to have the black comedy of the party continually healing the 10th level alchemist as he sits all night over a basin cutting his vessels open and bleeding into a bowl.

Proposed Re-Write: "A destroyed homunculus companion can be restored to life by performing a ritual with its corpse that requires 1 pint of its creator's blood and rare materials worth 100 gp per Hit Die of the homunculus. Conducting this ritual deals two points of Constitution damage to the alchemist and takes eight hours to complete."

Thoughts?


I've been highly interested with creating a set of rules based on Kingmaker and Ultimate Campaign which can allow for a more flexible set of options for designing your Kingdom. As a matter of fact, it's designed to allow your "Kingdom" to be any other type of government. I'd like for any willing readers to offer feedback on the set.

Here's the quick overview:

1) Raised Control DC's, because of the additional options. Additionally, as Kingdoms grow, DC's do not increase linearly but a bit more quickly.
2) Each Alignment grants a Kingdom a special ability.
3) Added new forms of governments: Autocracy, Feudal Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Direct Democracy, Democratic Republic, and Oligarchy.
4) Allowed for the Rulers to set how theocratic their nation is.
5) Allowed Rulers to select from various Economic models.

So, fair warning. First, this is quite long. I've spoilered it to keep the thread manageable. Second, while it's not quite a first draft, I'm sure that there's plenty of boneheaded mistakes on my part in it. I hesitate to add that this will be given to the players in a much neater PDF/print-off with tables that summarize the info, and the other stages of running a Kingdom have been getting their own upgrades.

So without further ado...

Spoiler:

Terms
Build Points (BP): Your Kingdom's resources for expansion. Build points represent everything from public to private works. They do not have a type since trade can bring in something you need in exchange for things you do have.
Consumption: The number of BP you must spend each month to keep the Kingdom functioning.
Control DC: The DC of most Kingdom Checks (above) is equal to the Control DC. The Control DC is equal to 25 + Size + Settlement Districts + Modifiers. Additionally, for every full 25 hexes, add an additional +4 to Control DC's.
Kingdom: For the purposes here, the player nation, regardless of its actual governance or size.
Size: The number of hexes your Kingdom has claimed. Size affects the number of resources and developments you can make, your total consumption, and your Control DC.
Treasury: Your total saved BP, which can go negative. This raises Unrest.
Turn: To avoid confusing the term Turn (a Kingdom's round) with a PC Round, the term Turn is used. It equals one month.
Unrest: A measure of your citizen's unhappiness. Unrest applies as a penalty to all Kingdom checks. Unrest above 11 causes some hexes to be deserted. Unrest above 20 results in revolt. Unrest can never be less than zero.

Modified Kingdom Building Rules:

Choose the Kingdom's Alignment. The alignment represents a plurality of citizens in the Kingdom around which the alignment of the others congregates. For example, a NG kingdom will mostly have LG, CG, NG, and TN citizens, with NG being the largest group. A kingdom's alignment affects its Kingdom Checks in the following way:
Law vs Chaos Axis: Lawful +2 Economy, Neutral +2 Stability, Chaotic +2 Loyalty
Good vs Evil Axis: Good +2 Loyalty, Neutral +2 Stability, Evil +2 Economy
Alignment Abilities:
Lawful Good: You may re-roll Stability checks during Upkeep. The second roll must stand.
Neutral Good: Re-roll 1 Loyalty check per 6 months. The second roll must stand.
Chaotic Good: Adventurers during the Events phase cost 2 less BP to hire.
Lawful Neutral: Re-roll 1 Economy check per 6 months. The second roll must stand.
True Neutral: May re-roll 1 check per 12 months. The second roll must stand.
Chaotic Neutral: Unrest is treated as if it was two points lower.
Lawful Evil: Promotion Edicts cost half as much Consumption.
Neutral Evil: The Royal Enforcer re-rolls failed Loyalty checks after lowering Unrest.
Chaotic Evil: Withdrawn BP during the Income phase are worth 2,500 GP.

Leadership Roles:
In order to fill a leadership role, your character must devote seven consecutive days to the job per month. Each Role has a particular associated skill which will be necessary for the person who fills the role to have.
All roles exist in all forms of government, though under different names and with different functions. A king's Royal Assassin might be a Prime Minister's Chief of the Secret Police. The only exception is the roles associated with the Ruler, such as Consort and Heir, which vary in each form of government.

Roles:
Ruler: Whether a King, Empress, Prime Minister, or Supreme Magister, the Ruler is the single most important role. There may be two Rulers in some forms of government, such as a Feudal Monarchy. In all cases, if a Ruler comes from a society which values nobility, and they marry someone of lower station, that person becomes a Consort rather than a second Ruler. Other governments do not allow multiple Rulers, but have other features to compensate.
AKA: Emperor, Consul, Lord, President, Prime Minister, and many more
Benefit: Add your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier to Economy, Stability, or Loyalty. If your Kingdom grows to 26+ hexes, add it to another of your Kingdom's attributes. If your Kingdom reaches 101+ hexes, add it to the third attribute. If married and part of a type of government which allows multiple Rulers, both spouses may do this.
Vacancy: A Kingdom without a Ruler cannot claim hexes, build Farms or Roads, or purchase districts. Unrest increases by 4 each turn.

Consort: The Spouse or Betrothed of a Ruler in many societies. The rules for the Opposition Leader in a Republic are the same. If the Ruler is not present, a Consort (or Opposition Leader) offsets the penalty for vacancy, but does not grant another ability.
AKA: Queen, King, etc.
Benefit: Add half your Charisma modifier to Loyalty. If you act as the Ruler, a Loyalty check must be made during Upkeep or Unrest increases by 1.
Vacancy: No penalty. Opposition Leader is not allowed to be vacant in a Democratic Republic.

Heir: The Ruler's eldest child is usually the Heir. They are mechanically identical to a Consort.

Councilor
Role: Represents the common people before the Ruler. A Councilor is entrusted with making sure the Kingdom's people are heard.
AKA: Tribune (Republic), Minister (Democracy)
Benefit: Add your Wisdom or Charisma modifier to Loyalty
Vacancy: Increase Unrest by 1 each turn. Holidays have no benefit. -2 to Loyalty.

General
Role: Commands the Military and oversees the construction of defenses.
AKA: Lord Commander, Lord General, Chief of Staff, Secretary/Minister of War/Defense
Benefit: Add your Charisma or Strength modifier to Stability
Vacancy: -4 Loyalty.

Grand Diplomat
Role: The Kingdom's first voice to outsiders
AKA: Emissary, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Benefit: Add your Charisma or Intelligence modifier to Stability
Vacancy: -2 to Stability. Additionally, no Exploration or Diplomatic edicts can be issued

High Priest
Role: Head of the religious life of the citizens.
AKA: Pontiff, Heirophant, Lector
Benefit: Add your Charisma or Wisdom modifier to Stability
Vacancy: Stability and Loyalty decrease by two. Each turn, add 1 to Unrest.
Special: The character must belong to one of the following classes: Cleric, Druid, Monk, Oracle, Paladin. The character must worship a deity within one alignment step of the Kingdom's alignment.

Magister
Role: Oversees not only magical education and matters, but much of the official business not related to finances.
AKA: Royal Magus, Minister of Magic
Benefit: Add your Charisma or Intelligence modifier to Economy
Vacancy: -4 Economy
Special: The character must belong to one of the following classes: Alchemist, Cleric, Druid, Inquisitor, Magus, Oracle, Sorcerer, Summoner, Wizard, Witch

Marshal
Role: Oversees the administration of law and order, including threats which are below the threshold of military action.
AKA: Justice, Judge, Inquisitor, Chief of Police, Minister of Security
Benefit: Add your Dexterity or Wisdom modifier to the Kingdom's Economy
Vacancy: -4 Economy

Representative
Role: Representatives are Leaders which represent the Legislative branch of Government in a Constitutional Monarchy or Democratic Republic, or the general citizenry in a Direct Democracy. Player characters, named NPCs, and generic NPCs are treated a little bit differently under this system. The number of Representatives is listed under the types of government: see below.
AKA: Senator, Congressman, Member of Parliament, Speaker, Chairman
Benefit: Each Representative roles a d6 at the start of each Kingdom turn. Consult the following chart, then modify values accordingly for that Turn.
Obstructive: The Representative lowers all Kingdom Checks by 2.
Ineffective: The Representative has no effect on Kingdom Checks.
Statesman: The Representative adds 2 to all Kingdom Checks.
Vacancy: These seats are never vacant, as they are simply tokens representing the cooperativeness (or not) of the elected bodies of lawmakers. A “Generic NPC” fills the role if no named NPC or PC steps up.
Special: For every full fifty tiles claimed by a Democracy, it gains +1 Representative, to a maximum of 10. For every full one hundred tiles in a Constitutional Monarchy, it gains +1 Representative, to a maximum of eight.

(Note: There should be a chart here. PC's are Ineffective if they roll a 1, and on a 2+ are Statesmen. Named NPCs are Obstructive on a 1, Ineffective on a 2, and Statesmen on a 3+. And Generic NPCs are Obstructive on a 1, Ineffective on a 2-3, and Statesmen on a 4+.)

Royal Enforcer/Assassin
Role: You silence undesirables.
AKA: Chief of the Secret Police, Royal Hand, Royal Enforcer, Attorney General, Inquisitor
Benefit: Add your Dexterity or Strength modifier to Loyalty. You may “silence” the opposition and reduce Unrest by 1 each Turn. If you do, roll a Loyalty check. If the check fails, Loyalty decreases by 1.
Vacancy: None

Spymaster
Role: Your networks infiltrate every aspect of the Kingdom.
AKA: Minister of Intelligence, Royal Office of the Inspector General
Benefit: Chose one of the three checks. Add your Intelligence or Dexterity modifier to it this turn.
Vacancy: -4 Economy, add 1 Unrest per Turn

Treasurer
Role: Someone handles the money and taxes – hope they're honest!
AKA: Many
Benefit: Add your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier to Economy
Vacancy: -4 Economy. The Kingdom cannot collect taxes during Edicts.

Viceroy
Role: If the Ruler has established a Vassal, the Viceroy is the effective Ruler of the Vassal.
AKA: Prime Minister, Lord/Duke, Governor, Ruler (of a Vassal State)
Benefit: Add half your Intelligence or Wisdom to Economy. Additionally, you may count as any other role in your vassal state, but provide 1 less of whatever role you are imitating.
Vacancy: The vassal state is considered to have a Rulership vacancy.
Special: You must have a Vassal State, such as a Colony. The Viceroy must be in the Capital of the Vassal State to fulfill his role.

Warden
Role: Protect the other rulers and help with threats that fall between the spheres of the Marshal and the General
AKA: Royal Guard, Secret Service, Special Services
Benefit: Add your Strength or Constitution modifier to Loyalty
Vacancy: Loyalty and Stability drop by 2

Theocracy
Where does the line between church and state exist in your Kingdom? This decision must be made as soon as a Kingdom is founded. Once made, changing it requires a Stability check and a Loyalty check. Each failed check adds +1d6 Unrest. Additionally, a Kingdom cannot instantly move from one extreme to the other. It must instead move step-wise through the different phases below.
Religion Proscribed: The Kingdom has banished the clergy entirely. Having done so, it has raised a new philosophy up instead. This unity ensures Stability (+2) and a focus on the here-and-now (Economy +2), but reduces Loyalty (-2) due to the suppression of people's natural faith. The Kingdom's Religious buildings (such as a Cathedral) are instead dedicated to this philosophy. If you have existing religious structures and change to this religious position, all the religious buildings must be reconsecrated by paying BP equal to 10% of their purchase price (minimum 1 BP) before they can have any effect.
Anti-Theist: An anti-theist state actively suppresses religion but does not bar it. Having a suppressed minority on hand reduces Stability (-2), but raises Loyalty (+2), and a worldly focus aids the Economy (+2).
Religiously Tolerant: The Kingdom's neutral views on religion allow rulers to focus on what they feel is best, granting a +2 bonus to one of Economy, Loyalty, and Stability. Once made, this decision cannot be changed. When founding a religious structure, it can be consecrated to any deity within two alignment steps of your kingdom.
State-Church: Conflicts between the secular and the divine sap Stability (-2), but with religious officials seeing no difference between temporal and sacred power, Loyalty and Economy are both raised (+2). The Kingdom must select one or more patron gods, all of whom must be within one alignment step of the Kingdom. All cathedrals must be dedicated to one of your patrons. Reconsecrating religious structures costs 10% of their purchase price in BP, minimum 1 each.
Theocracy: The church is the state. Opulent ceremonies and religious contemplation sap productivity (-2 Economy) but unify the people body and soul to a faith (+2 Stability and Loyalty). The Kingdom must select a single patron, and its alignment must be within one step of that patron. All religious structures except Shrines must be dedicated to the patron deity. Reconsecrating religious structures costs 10% of their purchase price in BP, minimum 1 each.

Form of Government
Listed below are the forms of government which your Kingdom can use. Aside from Oligarchy, they are mutually exclusive.

Autocracy: Like most of the River Kingdoms, you could be ruled by a strong man or woman who holds power until it is taken from them. An Autocracy may select one Ruler. An Heir may be named. A second Ruler may exist if they are the other Ruler's spouse, stacking the bonuses for the two rulers, or there may be a Consort.
Modifiers: None
Special Ability – Courts are for Kings: Every year the Ruler may withdraw 1 BP from the Treasury to his own personal funds with no penalty.

Feudal Monarchy: The classical set-up of a Feudal government comes with its advantages and disadvantages.
Modifiers: -2 Economy
Special Ability – Noblesse Oblige: Every settlement must have a Lord appointed at the head of it. Every Lord so appointed claims an appropriate noble title such as “Baron.” Each Lord so appointed adds +1 Stability and +1 Economy, but subtracts 1 from Loyalty. These modifiers cannot exceed +/-5. If a settlement has no Lord, then all its buildings produce only half their benefit for the Kingdom. The final modifiers of a Feudal Monarchy with five or more nobles is +5 Loyalty, +3 Economy, -5 Stability.
A Feudal Monarchy may have the same sorts of Rulers as an Autocracy.
When the Heir becomes the new Ruler, the Feudal Monarchy must pass a Stability and a Loyalty Check or gain 2d4 Unrest per failed check.

Constitutional Monarchy: When the Nobles and then the Commoners bind their kings by Law, the Constitutional Monarchy results. In a Constitutional Monarchy, an elected government and a monarch vie for power, though all governance is in the king's name, of course.
Modifiers: +2 Loyalty, +2 Economy, +1 Stability
Special Ability – For King and Country: Unlike an Autocracy, there can only be one Ruler in the Constitutional Monarchy. The Constitutional Monarch's Spouse is treated as a Consort. Gain Three Representatives. Finally, double Unrest increases due to exchanging Kingdom BP for personal wealth.

Direct Democracy: When everyone speaks, not many are heard. In a Direct Democracy, all adults can vote with a few possible exceptions based on the laws of the Kingdom. As a result, the Ruler of a Direct Democracy is simply an influential executive instead of a true Monarch. Nonetheless, it is a position of great power.
Modifiers: +2 Stability, +2 Loyalty, +2 Economy
Special Ability – The Will of the People: Every turn, at the start of the building phase, each settlement has a 10% chance to issue a demand for a building of the GM's choosing The settlement expects reasonable progress towards long-term goals and quick execution of easy tasks. Therefore, if less than 8 BP are allocated each turn toward building the building demanded by a settlement, increase Unrest by 1d4. If the building has prerequisites, the settlement expects the prerequisite built first, then the building they demand. A settlement which is demanding a building will not issue a demand until its current demand is met. Additionally, generate four Representatives. Double Unrest for using Kingdom BP for personal wealth.
Designer's Note: The Settlements might not issue demands for what the players want, but they will also not issue demands which are absurd. The citizens won't clamor for an Arena if their Economy is in the pits when they could get some shops and roads.

Democratic Republic: A republic endows power in a few individuals to represent the whole body. It is the form of government behind both the disastrous misrule of Galt and the spectacular rise of Andoran. A Democratic Republic only has one Ruler.
Modifiers: +2 Stability, +2 Loyalty, +2 Economy
Special Ability – The Loyal Opposition: In a Democratic Republic, opposing statesmen are not enemies but (ideally) loyal citizens with a different vision. Consequently, when the Ruler is selected, an opposing leader is also selected. The opposing leader acts like a Consort. Every year, the Kingdom must make a Stability check with a -4 penalty. If it is failed, the Opposition Leader becomes the Ruler. The ousted Ruler can take up the mantle of Opposition Leader if they so choose. Additionally, generate four Representatives. Double Unrest for using Kingdom BP for personal wealth.

Oligarchy: Sometimes rulers rule from behind organizations and screens. An Oligarchy represents any government by a secret, clandestine group.
Modifiers: -3 to Stability
Special Abilities – Hidden Puppet Masters: Select another form of government and build your nation using that form of government. The Oligarchy then selects a person, even someone with a Leadership role, and their Charisma or Wisdom modifier is added to the Ruler's for the purposes of either Economy or Loyalty checks. Otherwise, identical to any other form of government.

Economic System
The nature of your Kingdom's economy can also have a serious effect on how its people interact with its mercantile life. The number of solutions which have been proposed and their various complications could fill whole libraries, but for our purposes they will be rather limited.
The rules for changing your economic system are similar to the rules for changing your religious tolerance. Roll a Stability and a Loyalty check, and gain 1d4 Unrest per failed check. As with Government, you can only select one form of Economic System.

Command Economy: The Kingdom takes the reins of the economy. Government ministers take control of businesses and heavily intervene in the decisions of business. Officials determine what shops can open, what they can sell, and how much they will charge. This sort of economy stifles profit, but at least it prevents the wilder swings of Income rolls.
Prerequisites: None
Modifiers: You roll 2d4+4 for all Economy checks. If you so choose, you can automatically roll a 9 on any Income roll.

Commune: Quite common in the early medieval period, some democratic communes actually did exist. Communes tend to stifle the kinds of innovation which create economic growth, especially when towns have no invisible hand to tell the butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers what's best to produce. However, at least the people feel respected and valued. It can work in smaller Kingdoms, but soon the economic loss outweighs the benefits.
Prerequisites: Autocracy or Direct Democracy, Lawful -and/or- Good Alignment
Modifiers: -2 Economy per Settlement, +3 Loyalty, +1 Stability. May not issue the Trade edict.

Feudal Guilds: The guilds of the middle ages ensured skilled craftspeople were available and organized that labor to ensure there were workers available. Guilds have their obvious advantages, but guilds in these societies aggressively put down the kinds of innovations and trade which foster economic growth.
Prerequisites: Autocracy, Feudal Monarchy, or Constitutional Monarch
Modifiers: +2 to Stability, -4 Economy. You may build or repair one additional building per turn, but may spend no more than 8 BP per turn on this additional building

Frontier Economy: Stressing self-reliance, small communities often make sure they can produce all their needs within their own borders. Rulers and community leaders often take some time to ensure that some workers in a settlement can do whatever jobs are necessary.
Prerequisites: Size is 50 or less, your Largest Settlement is no bigger than a Large Town
Modifiers: +1 Economy, Stability, and Loyalty. The following buildings have their contribution to Economy halved (round down): Bank, Black Market, Castle (and Upgrades), Exotic Artisan, Luxury Store, Noble Villa.

King's Penny: Many feudal societies have a plethora of minor taxes going to the various lords and rulers, with the King stating he wishes to make a copper penny on each gold coin spent. Turnpikes are amongst the most common ways feudal lords regulate trade, but small fees for entering town with goods and other tiny taxes turn into a steady flow of coins to the Kingdom. The Kingdom invests heavily in these improvements.
Prerequisites: Autocracy, Feudal Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy
Modifiers: -2 Loyalty, -1 additional Loyalty per full 25 Hexes. Roads, Bridges, and Highways cost 1 less BP to build, minimum 1 BP per Hex.

Mercantilism: Taking advantage of your colonies or vassals for your own profit can make your people wealthy, but can also cause the vassal state to eventually revolt.
Prerequisites: At least one Vassal state
Modifiers: First, add +1 Economy for every full 25 Hexes of Vassal states you control. For each Pier you control, gain an additional +1 to Economy. For each Waterfront or Trade Edict, gain an additional +2 to Economy. Finally, total all the bonus to your Economy and add four for every Vassal past the first. Divide that number by the amount of Vassals you have, round down fractions, and decrease the Stability of each Vassal by that amount.
Example: Galran has two vassals, Eldoran (17 Hexes) and Fieralt (10 Hexes). With 27 total Hexes between its Vassals, Galran gains +1 Economy. Additionally, with three Piers, two Trade edicts, and a Waterfront, it gains another +9 to Economy. With a +10 to Economy and two Vassals, Galran has generated 14 points of Stability loss in its Vassals. Eldoran and Fieralt have their Stability penalized by 7 each. Galran will need to spend a great deal of their money just trying to keep their Vassals from falling. If the benefit to your Economy changes, the penalties to your Vassal(s)' Stability apply immediately.

Open Markets: While most Kingdoms will not allow just anything to be traded in their markets, you have decided to do the exact opposite. Slaves, narcotics, poisons – it's pretty much all legal in the bazaars and stalls of your cities. This brings in business, but it may not be the kind of business you want.
Prerequisites: Alignment must not be good
Modifiers: +3 Economy per Settlement, -2 Stability per Settlement, +2 Crime and +10 Danger in every Settlement.

Open to Trade: Focusing on trade outside of your borders could reap great benefits for the daring.
Prerequisites: Three open trade routes
Modifiers: You may choose to double the BP expenditure on a Trade Edict. If it succeeds, the benefits of the Trade Edict are doubled.

Protectionist: You choose to develop native industry rather than trade with the outside world.
Prerequisites: None
Modifiers: +1 Economy per District, halve (round down) all benefits from Trade Edicts.

Standard Economy: Your Kingdom intervenes according to the customs and normal laws of the region you inhabit. Most private property is respected and stores open and close without your input. This is the default Kingmaker or Ultimate Campaign Economy.
Prerequisites: None
Modifiers: None

Unregulated Economy: Enjoy the wild boom and bust cycles of an economy which the government does not bother to control. Wild laissez faire speculation leads to a highly variable income. On average, the outcome is better, but bust cycles can devastate your people.
Prerequisite: None
Modifiers: -4 to Economy. Roll a d30 for Economy checks. To roll a d30, roll ((1d3-1) x 10 + 1d10). This creates an equal probability to produce any number from 1-30. Additionally, rolling very high or very low on your check can affect your Kingdom.
Roll: Effect
1: +2d4 Unrest
2: +2d3 Unrest
3: +1d2 Unrest
28: +1d4 BP
29: +1d4 BP per full 25 Hexes, Min 1d4, Max 6d4
30: +1d6+1 BP per full 25 Hexes, Min 1d6+1, Max 6d6+6

Thank you for all feedback, positive, negative, and especially that which tells me where it needs to be fixed.

Goblinworks Executive Founder

The humans of the PFRPG core setting are a very mixed bag. The PFRPG uses the GM's discretion and a couple of small points or feats to sort them out. If you know the IP, you immediately get a sense for what a duelist from Brevoy, an Ulfen sea captain, and an aspiring Hellknight all look like because the setting's human characters are so well defined in terms of their fictional cultures and relationships.

In the PFRPG, the Core Rules really don't give you a lot of mechanical wiggle room to differentiate these folks, but generally they don't have to. The GM is going to take this sort of thing into account automatically, and characters should react to the individuals they meet.

My main question is: what can be done with this in PFO? I've my thoughts (obviously), but hope to hear new ideas, dissent, agreement, and everything else.

Should the human ethnic groups be treated as different races/subraces?
I am initially inclined to suggest they should, as this would allow for a few things. First, as the player creates their avatar, the engine could steer them toward creating an individual who resembles that particular ethnic group's typical physical features, creating a unified visual template within the game. It could also help mitigate the issue of names which has been already argued three or four times; a player who selects to play a Varisian could be presented with a list of twenty suggested names while not forced to take one. Second, the choice of many types of humans would allow players to familiarize themselves a bit with the world if they choose to. Third, a character's ethnicity could influence their affiliations with particular factions and groups, giving a starting point for tying the characters into larger conflicts within the game. A character from Taldor, for example, may have a penalty with the Church of Sarenrae, given their in-world history. Such penalties should not be insuperable. Fourth, it creates more diverse choices to sway players not to dismiss humans as “boring,” which encourages them to create a more PF-ish feel where humanity is the dominant race. Fifth, it raises the possibility of language being used as an in-game variable; some characters may not speak or read/write the same languages (this in and of itself could spawn its own discussion).

Should the human ethnic groups have mechanical differences?
Here I am a lot less inclined to suggest an answer. Balancing more races becomes more and more difficult, but it certainly acts as a carrot, not a stick, for players to consider human factions. The Elder Scroll series, for example, has always used mechanics to help differentiate its different ethnic groups. Importantly, the voice stabs, accents, and different baseline appearance used by the different groups helped create the sense of very different ethnic groups living in close proximity.

Of course, there are some serious unfortunate implications on anything that sounds like, “This group of humans is better at something than other people.”

What should count as the human subgroups?
I'd be inclined to have every character nominate a homeland, regardless of race, and a human should have their subgroup. For example, the iconic Valeros would be a Cheliaxan from Andoran.

I would suggest using an all carrots, no sticks, approach to having folks create their thematically appropriate humans. For example, a player who likes the idea behind the Ulfen and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings could be given a default avatar appearance and suggested names which fit that theme, even though they can choose to do something else. The player can then also be suggested appropriate religions, starting outfits, alignment, voice stabs, and whatever else is used to represent the character. Again, no forced choices, just suggestions. This helps strike a compromise between the folks who are pushing for immersion and keeping close to the source material as well as those who hate the idea of limiting a player's choices.

Goblinworks Executive Founder

Plenty of MMOs allow you to rebuild a character, usually by paying a few real-world dollars or within certain other limits. However, I feel that a very real and very cool opportunity to use the continuity of a character has been missed.

To the best of my knowledge, no game has ever let you save a character at different points in his or her career and use these copies without replaying the whole game. (Admittedly, this is the first time I've given a damn about an MMO in a very long time.)

I believe allowing players to instance an older copy of a character - who is unalterable and "finalized", would be a huge benefit to a great number of players. Suppose Alan plays with his friend Barbara. Every few levels, a "finalized" version of those characters is saved and set aside for Alan and Barb to break out when they want to use them. What's the added value for Alan and Barb?

Scenario 1
Barb goes to law school/has a baby/has a medical crisis, etc. She still loves the game, but she drops it. Then, when her schedule lightens, she wants to play. Alan has continued leveling, but can use his older character to play with Barb until she catches up.

Scenario 2
The devs come up with an awesome new content for characters of a level Alan and Barb passed a long time ago, but much higher level than new characters. By breaking out the "old" version of their characters, Barb and Alan can experience that content without leveling new characters again.

Scenario 3
Clyde, Barb and Alan's friend, is a casual player. The three have fun together, but Charlie cannot/won't spend as much time playing. Alan and Barb can use their lower-level selves when playing with Clyde.

Scenario 4
Having smoked some content for their level, Alan and Barb want a challenge, so they resolve to try it again with a weaker version of themselves.

What's the value for the devs?

New content doesn't have to be end game content for old hands to see it.
Improved social dynamics for the players.
More "bang" and utility for content in the mid-game since it can be revisited.

What do you folks think?


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Hello folks. I did a search and did not see a how-to guide for this. This isn't a technique for people who build fancy paper models. This is an illustrated guide to making dirt-cheap paper minis for players and GMs who have limited time, limited budgets, and limited hand-eye coordination. This is for folks who want something presentable for a table top RPG that they can quickly produce en masse.

Materials Needed:
Color printer
Card stock – the heaviest stuff your printer can run
Art – Get the artist's permission, or use something open source
Photo editing program
Glue stick
Hobby knife

Skills Needed:
Very light image manipulation

Time:
Ten minutes if you take your time

Now, Paizo's paper minis are extremely cheap and easy to assemble, so really consider using them if you're on an adventure path. Other companies do make paper minis, though they tend to be either the ugly as sin tri-folds or else a pain to assemble. These minis are designed so you can use any art you have the rights to use, so they are extremely easy to assemble, and so they aren't bad looking on the table.

I will be working with this image.

Ms. ScraggleBeak

She doesn't have a purpose yet: maybe she's a druid seer who has given herself over entirely to some animal shape, or an an animal spirit or a strange tribe.

I am using 225 gm/m^2 card stock, which is pretty thick.

Step 1: Find an image.

We've already got one. Artist: Laura Siadak, used with permission, all rights reserved, etc. Her gallery is at Fallen Lights. Yes, that was a shameless plug. Warning, not all her art is safe for work or appropriate for minors.

Image Again

Step 2: Open the image in your photo-editor.

I'm using an old version of Photoshop CS. Every feature I'm using is extremely basic and should be on all versions of PS. If you happen to have another program, you'll need to adjust your technique.

Step 3: Resize the image.

Set your background color to Black and White, then resize the image. Since this creature will be Large Size, I will set the Width to two inches. You should use the size of the creature you are creating - for example, a 1 inch width for a medium PC. You may have to crop an image in order to make it fit. I will also save the image at 300 pixels per inch, since I want to preserve as much detail as I can for when I print this.

Resizing the Image

Step 4: Adjust the canvas size

Now you need to adjust the canvas size. I double the canvas size, allowing the black background to show through. Because I want to create a two-sided image, I will select the box on the bottom, so the image goes on the bottom and I have a second, equally-spaced blank image up to. Double the size by increasing the height to 200%. Leave the width alone.

Canvas Adjustment

Step 5: Select the background with the magic wand tool and then select inverse. Then, copy the image, paste the image, then slide the image over the background.

The PS shortcuts once you're done with the Magic Wand are CTRL-C, CTRL-V, and CTRL-T for “Transform.” You can also select Edit: Transform.

Selecting the Inverse

Step 6: Flip it, then blow it up again.

Select Edit: Transform: Flip Vertical. (You should be on the duplicated part.) This will flip the image again. Now I will adjust the canvas size one last time. Since the creature is large, I want the base to be two-by-two. That means I want to add two images to the canvas height, while leaving the modified image in the center. Use the same tool to edit the canvas size, but this time just add two inches (1 inch for medium/small creatures, 3 inches for 3x3 space, etc).

It should look like this before you expand the canvas...
Then:
end up like this

Step 7: Decorate the black space (Optional)

You can decorate that base if you want, but I believe flat black can go anywhere without looking strange.

Step 8: Print on cardstock and cut out. You can certainly arrange multiple images on one page. A really easy way to do that is to import the images into MS Word or a similar program, then arrange them. I won't be doing that during this tutorial.

A yellow-tan card stock really fits thematically with the colors I use, so that's what you'll see. Forgive the poor image quality; my phone's camera leaves a lot to be desired.

Ready to cut

Step 9: Score your image on the midline and the medial part of both bases with a hobby knife. Fold the middle inwards and the bases out.

Almost done – gluing is the last step

Step 10: Glue the middle two pieces together. Glue scrap cardstock to the base to hold it together.

The last bit of cardstock secures the base

That's it. There are great ways to create much more fanciful paper minis, but this seems to be one of the easiest ways to get the job done. It also means you can use any art you have the rights to and are not limited to designs you buy or find. Hope this helps.

Paper mini on a Paizo battlemat

As you can see, this particular mini fits perfectly on scale for a large-size creature. By adjusting the width and the amount you expand the canvas in Step 6, you can scale for any creature.


First, everything great everyone says about Paizo goes here.

I will be going overseas for a year and need to find out what is the policy for international shipping, so I can decide between that and cancellation.

I also need to know how I cancel subscriptions if I decide that's the best policy.

Thank you kindly.


A bit of an unusual situation came up when a charging attacker happened to move the exact maximum that his charge allowed. I made my judgment call but would love to hear thoughts on what other GM's would have ruled.

Smarty and Meatbag are both medium sized creatures with normal movement rates. Smarty has a reach weapon and the higher initiative. Meatbag has a 5' range in melee. They start at the maximum distance for Meatbag's charge distance. Nothing else impinges on this part of the combat.

Rather than ready a Brace Against Charge action, Smarty decides to simply delay. He sets his new initiative at the time of Meatbag's charge. When Meatbag charges, Smarty declares a five foot step backwards and claims the following should happen:

Smarty's Interpretation
Meatbag moves into a square which Smarty threatens in his charge, thanks his reach weapon. Smarty takes his AoO as normal, then declares that his action is to take a full attack after taking a five foot step backwards. This happens simultaneously with Meatbag's charge attack, since Smarty and Meatbag have the same initiative. Smarty also takes his step back AFTER his attack of opportunity but before his attacks. This would move him out of the range of Meatbag's weapon, and since Meatbag charged, Meatbag cannot take a 5' step to close with Smarty and finish his attack. (Remember, Meatbag charged his maximum possible distance.)

Meatbag's Interpretation
Meatbag, naturally, argued that the charge would take place as normal, then Smarty could take his 5' step backward and attack.

My Interpretation
Smarty cannot interrupt an action that Meatbag initiates. The two roll-off an opposed Initiative check to determine which of the two has priority. Both have declared their action so both are committed to it. Smarty won the roll-off, so he foils Meatbag's charge when takes his 5' step out of reach. He then takes his turn normally (unloading a full attack on Meatbag). However, Smarty does not get his AoO since he took a step back and did not threaten a square which Meatbag charged through. Had Meatbag won the roll-off, Meatbag would have taken an AoO from Smarty, charged and delivered his attack, and then likely eaten a full attack by Smarty on Smarty's turn.

Not that it mattered; Meatbag was essentially making a Death or Glory attack and got the former.