Timitius's page

Whoa. Urath DM has the shining and took my words right out of my sleeping head.

But never say never! While I don't currently see the blog (with the challenges it presents to organizing and finding content) as a place to present substantial new content, you never knows what formats and resources might change in the future to make such an idea more tenable.

As for Wayfinder, we love it! Obviously. But I fear our relationship with it becoming too like that of a gigantic giggling man-baby and a colorful butterfly - us wanting so much to touch and be a part of the beautiful thing that we crush it in our knobby meat hands. Wayfinder works brilliantly as a soap box and variety show for new and enthusiastic authors seeking to contribute to the Pathfinder campaign setting, and I'd hate to rob a freelancer hoping to get her work out there of her chance with what largely equates to additional errata. This is also to say nothing of Wayfinder being an unofficial source, which makes directing readers of our RPG line to it for rules clarifications a bit wonky - that should really be the role of our current errata system.

All that said, if Wayfinder's creators wanted to approach one of our designer about doing a brief, Sage Advice styled article - maybe something with a fun, in-character voice to make it something more fun to read - there could be some potential there.

<SHAMELESS PLUG>Latest of my Wayfinder previews is up!</SHAMELESS PLUG>

Very cool! I am pretty sure I am the one who came up with the name Pathfinder Fans United as we were hurriedly trying to put up Wayfinder 1 on the website and we needed a company name to do so. To think that that name that was pulled out of the blue like that has come to mean something and will now have a logo is pretty neat. Sniff. My baby's all grown up! :)

-Lisa

Not that I'm some big deal guy or something, but the thing that got me illustration work for Slumbering Tsar and Frog God Games was work I produced for Wayfinder. Some guy named Greg Vaughan saw a few pieces I had made and said "the kid's got moxie!"(at least, that's how I imagine it) and I wound up with a fifteen installment project on my hands.

Sometimes people ask you to work for free and nothing comes of it but in the instance of Wayfinder, your work WILL actually be seen by people that can hire you.

I'm James Keegan and I approve this message.

I have been reading through this over the last 24 hours. I'll admit that I concentrate on the fiction. The other stuff is good, but I LOVE stories.

Ice and Darkness: A story of temptation and fall. I loved how this story tied into the next weal/woe segment and then tied into the following adventure segment!

The Three Rimes: As soon as I finished this story last night, I turned to my wife (who was reading World War Z) and told her that she should read this story. It is a bit of a classic fairy story with deals and suchlike, especially a clever hero. I especially enjoyed the extensive use of alliteration since that was in important part of Scandinavian folklore.

The Great Hunt: I want to play this game. It looks like fun. I will be looking at options to download and print the full size board and tokens. (Thanks JonathanRoberts!)

Tallak: Portrait of a Warrior: Good story. Simple. As stated, it is a character portrait of a warrior with a strong moral code. This story is a good counterpart to the next one in line, which brings me to:

The Linnorm's Curse: Well written! Sad! A beautiful story of heroism and loss. Not every campaign should end this way, but some definitely should. It certainly portrays that great things cannot be done without losing something along the way. This story also fits the archetype of the Scandinavian mythology where the hero loses much, if not all, to win. I think that this was the best fiction in the issue. It grabbed and held me at an emotional level.

In Hells Embrace: Part IV: I’ll be honest. I did not read this one, because I want to go back through my back issues of Wayfinder and read them in order. If I can find the time to do that this weekend, I will post a review... here, I guess. I am not sure where else to put it.

Words from Many Roads: I enjoyed the poetry. I need to let this stew a bit more before I comment on it. Poetry is not as east to talk about as fiction is.

Moot: A Folktale: I’ll admit, I read this one out of order last night because it was written by Kevin Andrew Murphy and I have enjoyed everything of his that I have read so far. This was a fun, one page story about the inner workings of gremlin culture as related by the hero from The Three Rimes. It was fun, anyone can be a gremlin.

Ostog’s Song: An entrancing story of an Ulfen hunter entranced by the song of a Nymph. I enjoyed the inevitability in the story. The way that he knew what he SHOULD do, but couldn’t seem to do it. Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, I still wanted to read to find out HOW it happened. Bravo! The fey are so mischievous! Racy art!!

Champion of the People: The lengths that we will go to in order to protect those we love and those under our protection are tremendous.

Very pretty! Here's the full res images for the board and tokens for the great Hunt board game, along with a maptool file for computer based Wurm hunting.

I've said it before for previous issues, but I'm gonna say it again.

Most of the folks contributing art, design, and words to this publication are doing it out of their love of the game and the love of the setting. The only reward they get is knowing that they've supported the community and the feedback they get for doing so. Please find time to enjoy this publication and provide feedback either on this thread or by reviewing the magazine (Feel free to go back and review older issues too). It would mean a lot to those who agonized over their work. I only did some editing for this issue, but I always delight in seeing the love put into Wayfinder.

Show some community love to some of the folks supporting the community.

James,

Just a note on something that happened at the con. Since it's hitting the board, I wanted you to know. This is especially disturbing considering all the pain getting FAQ entries put in (the whole them being lowest priority for everyone).

:( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Link to conversation

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but try to keep in mind that all of you outnumber us by tens of thousands of people. We do our best to try to keep up on these boards, keep up to date on rules questions and FAQ questions and all that, but we're human too. We get depressed and cranky and fed up and frustrated as well... especially when we might WANT to do something but simply CAN'T due to a lack of time or resources or whatever. As frustrated as you might get at us being snippy or short or dismissive... try to remember we get the same when customers deluge us with requests and questions and comments.

Especially if someone does so in an antagonistic or insulting way—I'm not saying YOU did this, but if we get, say, 100 questions about a topic, and 1 of those questions is annoying or insulting... that colors the entire batch of questions. Which is why it's SO IMPORTANT for customers to exercise patience and understanding and be polite. When you're not, your actions DO have a negative repercussion on your fellow customers, as much as we at Paizo try to not let that happen.

Part of the reason I'm on a personal crusade to encourage GMs to make their own decisions regarding rules is precisely because of that—as a GM, you HAVE to be comfortable making decisions about rules interpretations, because no one at Paizo is your personal rules expert.

A lot of us here at Paizo try to help out as best we can, but "Answer rules questions" is no one's number 1 job responsibility here. Simply put: It Can't Be.

So encouraging GMs to loosen the dependance on things like errata, FAQ, and direct input from overworked game designers is a good and worthwhile goal.

As for folks not answering questions at PaizoCon... we're not the walking rules encyclopedias a lot of folks think we are. We simply ARE NOT COMFORTABLE answering super complicated rules questions without having the time to think through the ramifications and without having the books at hand to look through them.

Ambushing a designer at a convention with 13 rules questions is a great way to get a brush off, because chances are good that designer doesn't have a stack of rulebooks at hand to answer your questions. Chances are good he doesn't want to set up a precedent that it's okay for one person to ask 13 questions because then he kinda says its okay for hundreds of people to do the same thing. Chances are good he's just come out of a seminar and has only a minute or two to get to the next one on his schedule, or has to go run a game, or has to go get lunch at 5:00 in the afternoon. Maybe the designer just got out of an extraordinarily awkward and frustrating conversation with a fan, coworker, or supervisor 10 seconds before you ambushed him with your questions. Maybe the designer was sick with the flu. Maybe the designer just found out a friend or family member died. There are countless things that you can't know about when you approach a designer at a convention to chat, and if they seem brusk or distracted or rushed, don't take it as an insult to you. And if they DO get snippy at you and actually insulting to you, I suppose the proper way to handle that is to inform our customer service department or perhaps track down a supervisor in person or via email. Messageboards or other public venues are not a good place to do this.

In closing: we try really hard to make our products, our conventions, these boards, and all that a fun and enjoyable place for gamers to go and hang out. But we have bad days too, and just as we roll with the occasional insulting messageboard thread (not a lot here, but go check some other gaming websites if you're interested in seeing some nice examples of Paizo hate) and try to let the bad roll off our backs. While I'd love to say we don't ever mistreat folks or annoy/insult/underwhelm customers... it happens. When it does, all I can ask is that you understand that we're humans too and that we can make mistakes as well.

That all said... if something like this is a recurring problem, rest assured it'll be addressed. If you've got a specific issue you'd like to talk to me about, email me at james.jacobs@paizo.com and I'll look into things.

Ditto on what Clark asserted above. Although this wasn't my first PaizoCon experience (and I'm not sure anything can ever top Year Two), this has become my favorite, hands-down convention every year. There was a moment in time where I (and I believe many others) felt the spirit of the Dungeons & Dragons game we all grew up playing, passed into Paizo's hands. And, I suspect much of the early energy which once surrounded GenCon in its early days has now passed to PaizoCon, too. But, in the same fashion that Pathfinder RPG has elevated my own personal gaming experiences, I think PaizoCon has done the same thing for my convention-going, as well.

So, kudos once again to everyone who devotes so much time and energy to this event. The Paizo staff work exceptionally hard...not just throughout the year to create so many great products, but also at PaizoCon in making time for everybody to ensure the fans (and freelancers) have access to them, setting up the trivia contest at the banquet, running the dealer's room, organizing all those PFS games, seminars, etc. There's also the free grab bags for each attendee...which are far more generous than anything I've ever seen. Much like Paizo's products always carry the highest quality and production values, you can see it in how the con's put together, too. They wouldn't have it any other way.

Also, kudos to those who make the time to run lottery games, contribute to the gaming panels and ensuing discussions, arrange the Meet-and-Eat, host sight-seeing tours, and bring such cool fan contributions like Wayfinder, the Pathfinder Chronicler Anthology, and yes...even Goblin Brains. A lot of traditions have formed around PaizoCon which only add to its overall charm and entertainment. Thanks again to everybody for making it so memorable. These are the kinds of events you wind up looking back on that make you smile. And that's because they stick with you forever. That's what I always take away from PaizoCon. And it's why I'll be back next year. Hope to see everyone there...

My two cents,
--Neil

Wow. What an amazing Con.

I've been to GAMA (aka GTS) in Vegas for a bunch of years, during the height of d20 (2000-2005). I've attended a few GenCons during the d20 days. And while my con stories don't rival those of Mona's or Lisa's (hers are unreal, like all her stories, she has the best in the industry), for a mere mortal I've done pretty well at cons--heck, one GenCon Bill and I took Gary Gygax out to dinner, just the three of us, because we had just published his Necropolis product (which was great). Now that was sweet. Imagine that, a nobody like me who started some company at home, taking freaking GYGAX to dinner! And some other amazing moments, too. Late night gaming with a select group including Monte Cook and Steve and Stewart Wieck (its hilarous to turn to Monte and ask "uh, hey Monte, what's the rule on that?" and he just knows). The "invite only White Wolf/Vampire parties" (my oh my). So I've had some fun cons. And there is nothing like working your company booth and seeing people lined up to get your product and loving that they are the very first ones. I'll never forget the amazing hype for Rappan Athuk 2 and then 3. As a publisher, you never see when the book gets into the hands of the gamer, you just sell to distributors. But at the con, you usually are selling a product that is brand new just for the con. That is amazing. Fans go nuts. Sure my 20 person line is not as impressive as Paizo's line around the building, but it still sure feels great to hand that first product and hear how that person has been waiting so long to get it and is so excited.

Even with all that ... I have NEVER had more fun at a con than I just did this weekend. And the reason is the people--and I mean BOTH everyone at Paizo AND all the fans. Its an amazing community of fans. And, if this is possible, an even more amazing family of designers and staff at Paizo. And it is top down. From Lisa and Vic, through Erik, James, Jason, Wes, Sean and company all the way down to Cosmo :) (and certainly not forgetting all the great people along the way). I met more cool people this con than I ever have.

It sure is great to see the good guys win. That is all I could think to myself all night at the banquet as a guest. I was looking around and just thinking: look at that, the good guys are winning. I don't mean to get all sappy, but I really think of Paizo as the caretakers of something that was neglected--something very important to me--the game I grew up playing and loving. They saved something I love. They kept its heart and preserved it. And from top to bottom it is clear they get that and they understand what a sacred trust that is to gamers. And they carry that responsibility proudly and with distinction.

So do yourselves a favor, get to this thing next year. Because next year Ultimate Combat will be out already, the Beginner's Box will be out (I got to actually see it and touch it and read it and IT IS AWESOME), Jade Regent will be out and Skull and Bones in stride. If it is even conceivable, that show will likely be even better. I can't wait to go, and I literally just got home from this one.

Wow. What an amazing Con.

I've been to GAMA (aka GTS) in Vegas for a bunch of years, during the height of d20 (2000-2005). I've attended a few GenCons during the d20 days. And while my con stories don't rival those of Mona's or Lisa's (hers are unreal, like all her stories, she has the best in the industry), for a mere mortal I've done pretty well at cons--heck, one GenCon Bill and I took Gary Gygax out to dinner, just the three of us. Now that was sweet. Imagine that, a no body like me who started some company at home, taking freaking GYGAX to dinner! And some other amazing moments, too. Late night gaming with a select group including Monte Cook and Steve and Stewart Wieck (its hillarous to turn to Monte and ask "uh, hey Monte, what's the rule on that?" and he just knows). So I've had some fun cons. And there is nothing like working your company booth and seeing people lined up to get your product and loving that they are the very first ones. I'll never forget the amazing hype for Rappan Athuk 2 and then 3. As a publisher, you never see when the book gets into the hands of the gamer, you just sell to distributors. But at the con, you usually are selling a product that is brand new just for the con. That is amazing. Fans go nuts. Sure my 20 person line is not as impressive as Paizo's line around the building, but it still sure feels great to hand that first product and hear how that person has been waiting so long to get it and is so excited.

Even with all that ... I have NEVER had more fun at a con than I just did this weekend. And the reason is the people--and I mean BOTH everyone at Paizo AND all the fans. Its an amazing community of fans. And, if this is possible, an even more amazing family of designers and staff at Paizo. And it is top down. From Lisa and Vic, through Erik, James, Jason, Wes, Sean and company all the way down to Cosmo :) (and certainly not forgetting all the great people along the way). I met more cool people this con than I ever have.

It sure is great to see the good guys win. That is all I could think to myself all night at the banquet as a guest. I was looking around and just thinking: look at that, the good guys are winning. I don't mean to get all sappy, but I really think of Paizo as the caretakers of something that was neglected--something very important to me--the game I grew up playing and loving. They saved something I love. They kept its heart and preserved it. And from top to bottom it is clear they get that and they understand what a sacred trust that is to gamers. And they carry that responsibility proudly and with distinction.

So do yourselves a favor, get to this thing next year. Because next year Ultimate Combat will be out already, the Beginner's Box will be out (I got to actually see it and touch it and read it and IT IS AWESOME), Jade Regent will be out and Skull and Bones in stride. If it is even conceivable, that show will likely be even better. I can't wait, and I just got home.