alleynbard's page

I am actually kind of curious what ratio of people who do not like the cavalier base class were players of 1st edition using Unearthed Arcana. Conversely, how many supporters played 1st supplemented with UA?

It doesn't "prove" anything and really serves no practical purpose. All it really does is satisfy an interesting thought I had run through my mind. I am just curious if having "old school" experience with the class makes one more open to its inclusion in Pathfinder. I know I was overjoyed when I saw the class was to be developed for the APG. Most of that had to do with nostalgia and a deep love for early edition D&D. In some ways I think this is a further showcase for Paizo's respect of grognards like me.

I wonder how many 1st edition players felt the cavalier was unnecessary then and think it is now or how many liked the cavalier then but feel it is useless now? And how many players who haven't played 1st edition like or dislike the concept? Did these same people dislike the 3.5 knight?

There are so many questions that I can't cover them all. But you catch my drift. Just an interesting sociological exercise and nothing more.

I know this goes rather off topic and likely shouldn't be spawned into a thread at all. Just sort expressing the thoughts that swam around in my head while reading this thread and the two in the playtest forum that touch on the subject.

I know the conversation has moved past this point, but here is the forum entry that Logan Bonner posted to explain why they shifted from Orichalum to Orium.

This is not the entry describing the dragon, just a small thought about the naming process. Not a huge bit of info or anything. I just find that kind of thought process interesting. I like to get snippets of why designers take certain paths. The creative process is interesting in any form.

alleynbard wrote:

Here is where Logan Bonner explains the change.

That takes you to a wiki article on orichalcum.

I was really behind but now I am very close to being caught up. Sitting at a total of over 10,000 words.

Conceptually, it is kinda neat. Basically has the "Animate Breath Weapon" effect from 3.5 built-in standard, but when the minion dies, it recharges the breath weapon, which is also nasty.

My main question is, what exactly is "orium"? I'm not familiar with it, and plugging it into dictionary.com yields nothing. Is this some fantasy metal, and if so, is it new to 4e or have I just missed it in previous editions?

I don't actually have an opinion on that either way, so I don't want my statement to be misconstrued as a negative mark against the dragon. Please. :) Just trying to provide the progression of ideas that led to orium. I get kind of nervous posting here some times, so forgive me for being a sniveling pool of jelly. :)

Here is where Logan Bonner explains the change.

alleynbard wrote:

You can truly be hardcore and get plastic surgery done. I am still adjusting to the ridiculously huge mouth. Drinking is the toughest, it sort of dribbles out of my mouth. I didn't have as much of an issue with the loss of depth perception as I thought I would.

Sweet. Soon we will proceed with the plan to kill Erik and have you replace him...

Oh wait, I should've put that in spoiler tags...

I like what I see here. Paladin in Hell was always one of my favorite 2e modules. Good job! Seems fairly well converted so far.

And remember everyone, the proper way to celebrate Erik Mona day is to poke out one of your eyes in honor of his cyclopean avatar. If you don't do that, you're not a true Paizoian and never will be.

Just ran this scenario last Tuesday. It was amazing fun. The party really enjoyed themselves and the encounters were extremely challenging. I had a few characters slide towards death. The group was on the edge of their seats throughout.

I laid the area out in tiles, which added a nice immersion quality to the dungeon. That said, I would love to see pictures of the 3-d set-up mentioned above.

One particular encounter and interesting development stood out:

I would highly recommend this scenario if you think your group would like a bit of Lovecraft/sci-fi in their Pathfinder.

A little nit pick about the descriptive text:
"In the outcast city of Kaer Maga, your business is your own, and no ware is too dangerous or taboo to find a buyer."

My goal is to do 3,000 words a day, which should give me a decent buffer. Although I fell about 500 words short yesterday.

I am doing okay. I am not particularly happy with how I have progressed in my word count. This is my third year so I know what I need to do to stay focused. It just happened the beginning of November was really busy and now I am playing catch up. I can do it, I just wish I didn't have to.

Here.

I didn't see a thread concerning this so I apologize if there was one.

Who is taking a crack at National Novel Writing Month this year?

For my part, this is my third year doing the competition. I plan to actually win this year.

alleynbard wrote:

Is that a whip in your hand or are you just happy to see me?

Why do you say "or"?

If someone referred to a gish and fluff in the same breathe, I might have to eviscerate them with a grapefruit spoon.

Paul Ryan wrote:

*eyes Mairkurion and cracks a whip* Get going. :-P

See, I'm more of an IDEAS man...but I wouldn't mind borrowing your whip. It's more the kind of machine that I understand. And you sure located those instructions fast...

Set wrote:

Seeker spoils my fun. I was gonna suggest he Google it. :)

Google it with the safety filters off.

I have heard the term in reference to munchkin gamers and "tricked out characters" as well young, hairless gay boys. Amusingly, "twink" was used in the gaming sense by a number of gay gamers I know. It would get really funny when one of us used the word and there was confusion over which definition we were using. :)

It should, of course, be noted that none of my gay friends (and myself)could possibly be confused with the term "twink" as it is defined by the gay community. So, in both cases, it was definitely derogatory slang for us.

I missed this one until now. Anybody out there use it? Opinions?

alleynbard wrote:

I had a friend who would sit in puddles and scream how she was the Lady of the Lake every time she got drunk.

This "friend" has no reason to embarassed about it. It's a perfectly normal thing for you to do, alleynbard.

I mean, for your "friend" to do.

Being sick for nearly three weeks straight. From the flu to sinus congestion and finally the migraine that would not go away, I have been ill for a good part of this month. It was a horrible nightmare. Even now my head still has phantom pains and my stomach is rebelling against food. I can't wait for this to be over.

Joshua J. Frost wrote:

Rhubarb wrote:

"you mean that stupid game where you dress up like fairies and run around in the woods?"

Now THAT sounds like a fun game. Right, Daigle?

We played that once, I think. Or some of us. It was at a party we had in/near a cottage. We had a barbecue, and of course we had alcohol.

I don't remember much of the latter parts of the night. I do remember that at least one of the girls put tinfoil on her head, shouted something about her being the fairy of the woods, and started prancing through the wood.

I vote for 4, 6, and 8.

I did something similar with 4, where the world was the dream of a particularly powerful psionic boy in a coma. It existed in the Realm of Dreams, but had a life all its own. Most of the adventuring types (basically characters with strong free wills) were also coma victims that the boy had brought to his world so he could protect them. The rest of the population were dream creations. This world was known to some people in the multiverse and they sought to conquer it.

6 sounds similar to what Monte Cook did with his first incarnation of Praemal. I have always liked this idea, a mythic age when the races are just beginning to move out into the world. Perhaps something similar to the early chapters of the Silmarillion. The world is a wild and unexplored place while the first evils are just beginning to grow in the darkness. The characters become the first extremely powerful heroes and go down in legend for their achievements. Very cool sounding in my mind.

8 is something I have always wanted to do as well. There was a setting released towards the beginning of 3e called Dungeon World. Unfortunately it was created by Fast Forward Entertainment so I am not sure how good it was. But the core idea is a cool one. In Dungeon World characters would "die" and find themselves in the dungeon, sort of like Phillip Jose Farmer's Riverworld .

Right now I am intrigued by the "old school" notion of exploration. The game world and attendant adventure sites are there for the sake of exploration and nothing else. That is the motivating reason for the campaign. No "save the world" storylines. Just a "the party roams the area looking for fame, wealth, and power" type situation where player actions create the story.

By placing such a "sandbox" campaign in a dungeon you have a built-in limit. These boundaries will help you focus, even if the dungeon is this massive complex the size of a world. It could also fit the Dungeon as Mythic Underworld motif. Here is another example of that idea: Dungeon of Myth.

So if I have to choose between those three, I would go with 8. There is a lot you can do to make the traditional dungeon an interesting place full of wonder, terror, beauty, and metaphor. It can include combat, role playing, and everything in between. It has puzzles, traps, and all sorts of nifty tricks. It can lead to other demiplanes using portals. And, let's face it, a world that consists entirely of a dungeon can be creepy. Who would live there and why? What kind of cultures would you find? What would the "safe areas" look like?

Like I said, I have been exploring this idea more and more so I am a bit biased. My current campaign features a mythic megadungeon but I haven't gone so far as making the entire dungeon the world. It is on my list of experiments. I like the idea of "going back to the roots" but exploring new ways to tackle it.

We saw some differences at the table but I think that had more to do with other influences than the actual rules. Our group had just come off a two-year, 3.5 game set in Monte Cook's Ptolus. The players really knew that setting well and the characters had become remarkably well developed.

I set the 4e game in the default setting and the players decided to change up roles a bit. I think that had an interesting effect on the game and how it unfolded. The setting would have been fine but it didn't feel as "alive" due to constant, initially subconscious, comparisons to the Ptolus campaign. There were some odd shifts in how players interacted with NPCs and each other. As stated, I think this had very little to do with mechanics.

I should also note I ran the WotC adventures and those felt a bit flat. Even after some massive tinkering they still didn't seem to flow well. H2 was the best of the lot and felt most like our "old style" of play. But the others never ignited my enthusiasm and, as DM, I know I set the feel of the game. If I am not excited I can't expect my players to be. I really should have made adjustments much earlier and stopped trying to make those adventures work. They just weren't for us.

So, I would say the feel/style would have remained the same had I set the campaign in Ptolus and ran a different set of modules. Perhaps homebrewed adventures would have gone off even better. I don't think 4e forces an alteration of playstyle nor does it significantly change the assumptions your group might carry.

The players liked the system and they took to it rather quickly. They still roleplayed rather significantly even if it felt like something was off. Had I made different choices the situation would have likely been different in some very specific ways.

Not sure if it's been covered yet, but how are you going to run the 3 claims to the empire issue?

With all of that said, I would love to answer the question as it applies to a Golarion conversion. This is what I would do.

First off, the situation is a bit difficult but doable. Since I established that Ptolus was a semi-independent state of Cheliax I think it would be interesting to work with that political environment.

In my conversion the Holy Emperor was going to become one of the major priests in the faith of Iomedae, if not the church leader. I would imagine that Iomedae's church has a vested interest in claiming Cheliax for the forces of good, but can't really go forward directly. The situation is too tense and the church isn't certain they would win. That said, the High Priest could claim that he is the rightful ruler through Cheliax's past devotion to Aroden.

Of course, House Thrune is the ruler of Cheliax. Their rule is pretty absolute but there are certainly forces that move against them on a regular basis, making the environment volatile. I imagine Thrune fills the role of the "Emperor in the Capital" that original Ptolus setting sports. They have the most security and the most allies.

Originally two organizations were funded by the Emperor to help bring the city back into the Empire, the Shuul and Kevris Killraven. Both are tasked with securing Imperial control over Ptolus and prevent it from becoming an independent city-state. The same situation could be maintained if Ptolus exists in Golarion. House Thrune has funded these groups to help bring Ptolus back under the absolute control of Cheliax.

The final Imperial claimant in Pramael doesn't have the same resources as the other two, thus filling a rather minor role. In Golarion that position can go to any individual who has big dreams but few resources to make that dream a reality. Perhaps there is a family in exile, living in Absalom, that has claimed rightful rulership. They are mostly ignored but they do occasionally cause some trouble. I like the idea that this claimant is a "sleeping lion". One day they suddenly gain the upper hand they need to become a major player, thus moving on the throne in a much more significant way.

As a side note, in my previous Ptolus campaign, which took place in Praemal, I followed the rough outline proposed by Monte and had the Commissar exile the Holy Emperor from the city after he made some very poor choices. This left him exposed, bereft of a reliable power base and a major target of those who support the other two claimants. That kind of storyline would not work in Golarion as well, I think, but it was great fun to unleash on my players.

I should also note that by the end of the campaign the players had released banished the Galchutt and opened the world of Praemal to planar travel. Based on what I have established in my conversion, that act would be very difficult to say the least. I tinkered with the idea that the Praemus Boundary was the "keyhole" Asmodeus devised to imprison Rovagug. The Galchutt are a servitor race and cannot leave due to the Boundary. That said, they don't want to leave the area because they feel the key to releasing their master lies within the city.

But if you stick with the idea that the prison does hold the Galchutt and the Galchutt are a major threat separate from Rovagug (perhaps imprisoned lords of the Maelstrom), then you can certainly toy around with the epic storyline presented in the Ptolus book.

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the subject. If you have any questions, just let me know. I would be happy answer them.

For now, the three Emperors are actually in the background of my current campaign. Naturally, the Holy Emperor is on the run, but the other two aren't actively moving on each other yet. I have a fondness for the Republican Movement and I might bring that organization front and center later in the game. Perhaps they might get what they desire, at the cost of inciting the Shuul and Killraven. This might prompt those two organizations to become more direct in their dealings. But for now, politics are not a primary concern for the new delvers so it takes a back seat to the major theme of exploration.

These are all good suggestions. I found I used a number of different tactics based on what I was looking for in the encounter.

1) Tailor the encounter. Usually this means using less brutes and soldiers. Actually, Stalker0 at ENWorld had a great method for tailoring encounters to encourage speed. You can find it here . This thread has some really good stuff.

2) Work with hit points and defenses. You can either lower hit points or lower defenses. If you lower hit points though, I would suggest actually increasing defenses a bit. Both of these will lead to faster encounters. I often lowered hp by a quarter and increased the defenses by 1 or 2 to compensate. But this only happened in situations where I thought the creature needed it, such as if the creature had somewhat low defenses to begin with. Sometimes I would lower defenses by 2 and not touch hit points. In other words, play with it until you hit the happy balance you are looking for.

3) Encourage a certain party composition. Like others have said, encourage your players to focus on certain roles. More strikers and fewer defenders. You can also go pretty far with a couple of controllers. If you have a group of seven I would suggest having two defenders, a leader, two strikers, and two controllers. Or, replace one of the controllers with another striker.

There are a ton of strikers in the game and they tend to play a bit differently. For instance, a rogue is very different than a warlock or an avenger. Those three in the same party would rock.

Also, there are a number of 4e blogs out there that give wonderful advice on this subject and many more. My favorite is Sly Flourish . Lots of great DM advice there. I still like to read the blog even though I am not currently running a 4e campaign. It is that good. In fact, Sly Flourish recently featured a short article on Paragon Tier play.

Asmor's Encounter-a-day blog also provides some interesting, out of the box ideas on various subjects.

I tend to change up spell effects depending on who is casting the spell.

I also let my players detail the physical expression of their spells so long as they actually stay within the mechanics of the spell. Once they choose an appearance for one of their spells that manifestation can't change unless there is some overwhelming reason to alter it. I also encourage my players to tailor the spell names for their use.

So one wizard may cast passwall and it appears to dissipate in a bank of mist that lingers until the duration ends. Another wizard, this one more aligned with the demons of the Abyss, might have a manifestation that causes the wall to open like the maw of a lamprey and turn the walls inside an odd, fleshy color. Still stone, just looks a bit odd. Still another might cast the spell and cause the stone to melt away like ice, but floor doesn't get wet or slippery. When the spell expires, it "re-freezes" back into a wall shape.

Somewhat on topic, one of my players had a wizard character that themed all his spells around the stars. Fireball took on the appearance of a starburst, like an exploding sun. Magic Missile was called Shooting Star and it created motes of light that lanced across the room, trailing stardust like its namesake. Mechanically the spells didn't change.

I always found changing the window dressings of a spell adds a lot of fun to the game. Nothing new and revolutionary, just a bit of fun.

Seems like we could get a whole thread providing alternate appearances for the spells in the core book. Might be entertaining.

Sorry to blather on there. I hope I was within the boundaries of the question asked. :)

alleynbard wrote:

Sent. Enjoy!

Thanks so much!

Unfortunately I did not get it.

Could I trouble you again to send it?

** spoiler omitted **

Thanx!

Hawk

Edited: Cool my alias finally works!

A,

Is your fansite for public consumption? I cannot seem to find a url.

Thanks.

I just ran the first session of my new Ptolus campaign today so I do have some things to post. This is actually the second time this group has played in the setting, so most of the material I post will see action in my games first. My players are explorers so they like to push the limits of what I can build...or come up with on the fly.

I would estimate, barring no major issues, the site will be up on Wednesday or Thursday. That is an estimate only though. I am running a Pathfinder Society game on Tuesday so it might set be back. It shouldn't, but I am leaving a little wiggle room for myself.

When it goes live I will post the url.

Currently I am putting together a no nonsense, wiki format for the site. There will be images, but there won't be too many bells and whistles. I have laid out the wiki in a fashion similar to the "big book". This format should make it easy for me to update and easy for others to peruse.

I am sorry it isn't up yet. The way I keep talking about it I should have had the darn thing up by now. Once the basic structure is there, everything else will flow much more smoothly. I can breathe, see if I need any help with the project, and update it fairly regularly.

I have the same issue, both the front and back sections are falling out. Mine was lightly used, for the most part. I haven't thought of a way to really fix the binding in a clean and easy fashion. And I puzzled over it for a bit to see if I could.

Glad to hear you've got some time to work on this again. If you need any help just send me a note. I've got the Ptolus book and the adventure that came with it, though I haven't looked at my stuff in about two years or so. I've also got Banewarrens and Chaositech if you need help with anything in either of those too.

In my campaign I'm thinking of placing Ptolus somewhere near Falcon's Hallow, though I haven't had much luck finding a big city near by to replace with it. The plan is to run the Falcon's Hallow adventures with the Age of Worms path using Ptolus as The Free City, and possibly throwing in some of the Ptolus adventures (Banewarrens especially) at higher levels.

My campaign starts tomorrow and I am excited. This campaign is huge. But it looks like it will go over well. Once it starts moving I think it will be wonderful. The prep work (combined with school) has been monumental. This has to be the most complex campaign I have run in a very, very long time. A lot of the prep work I did for this game means I have some nice initial entries on my website. All that remains is organizing, proofing, and posting it.

I like the idea of placing Ptolus in Andoran. I would definitely place it on the coast, perhaps near the western border.

Age of Worms would work great in the City by the Spire. Lots of history there that could be tied into the adventure path. I find the idea really exciting. It has been awhile since I have read AoW, but if you are looking for any ideas I would be happy to dig out my copies.

Banewarrens is a great adventure. Have you run it before? So far I have had two parties plumb its depths. Both times the dungeon served as a major showcase piece for the campaign. The whole concept of a massive vault sealing away the world's evil is evocative. Lots of prep, but so worth it.

Hello,

I really like what you have done with Ptlous. I am in the process of changing my campaign world to Golarion so this will help greatly.

My plan is to put Ptlous in the cove that is about 75 miles east of Riddleport.

I also have a zone around Ptlous that outsiders can enter, but not exit.

My zone is approxomately 30 miles from Ptlous in all directions and in additon to trapping outsiders you can not teleport, dimension door, plane shift, etc beyond the boundry.

You can teleptort, dimension door, etc within the boundry however.

There are a few working aiudara (not all discovered) within (or under) Ptlous's envirions with the most famous gate going directly to Sigil.

Also could I get a copy of your Ptlous document?

** spoiler omitted **

Thanx!

Erik

Both have been sent. Hope they provide a bit of inspiration for your games.

Celestial Healer wrote:

The Jade wrote:

As they said about me back when I kept the largest Harem in all the Middle East, Rone likes variety.

It's like you have this whole other life!

And I still find the time to be an Indian Ocean sea monster!

Update on Ptolus fansite.

Near completion. Autumn quarter classes started and I needed to get moving on that before I could finish the site. Now that I feel comfortable with my classes I can move forward.

There won't be a whole lot at first but I do plan to make regular updates to the site. Perhaps every other week.

Just wanted to make it clear I have not forgotten nor have I pushed it too far back.

I am interested as well to give ptolus a home in Golarion too. Could i get a copy of your pdf as well?

In recent years, I've been really unhappy with EN World, but is it me, or has it become more friendly to 3.5 and Pathfinder holdouts in the last couple of months?

Erik's column looks like it will be great and informative. I can't wait to read future installments. That alone would convince to check out ENWorld more often.

I wish I would find treasure in my yard...

I can't believe some of the masterful work on those pieces. There has never been a doubt that Anglo-Saxon jewelry is beautiful, but these even blow the doors off previously discovered pieces. The inlaid garnet hilt and scabbard pieces were amazing. Some of the other work was nearly breathtaking.

Stick with the sarcasm. It gets me everywhere.

Seriously, though, these OTD forums are a fun place to chat it up. Just avoid the political threads - they suck you in and drain your soul.

Actually, I must admit I don't hang out in the OTD forums very often. But I am starting to amend that behavior. They are fun. Like you said, they are a good place just to "hang out" and chat.

A huge hoard of Saxon gold and artifacts has been found in Staffordshire.

I didn't see a post about this so I thought I would link some articles. I apologize if I missed it somehow.

Guardian

CNN

The Independent

This is truly significant and bound to lead to some new discoveries. I can't wait to hear what will come of this find.

Hm...I just went to EnWorld to dig up a thread there where folks discussed why they like EnWorld more than the Paizo Forums. However, as I was trying to navigate the pages (since I couldn't search), it froze up on me.

Guess everything you said was true.

Amusingly though, ENWorld can be difficult to navigate due to a lack of search function and the slowness of the site. Which you got to see first hand.

It's pretty popular. I'm not sure why but it is.

I've tried getting involved there a few times and it's a non-starter

As fat as I can tell the draw used to be industry insiders would hang out there. I'm not sure if they still do. Most of the industry insiders I care about too much either work or hang out here. (not ALL just most)

In some ways, I feel I have the opposite issue. I have never found my footing here, despite my 1,000 odd posts. No one has ever made me feel unwelcome. I just haven't figured out exactly what I can contribute to the Paizo community outside of sarcasm. :) Maybe once I get back to running a game and designing material for it, that will change. But for now, I am not sure what I bring to the party, as it were.

Did that make sense?

Anyway. I thought the site was a lot more popular than it appears to be from responses here.

For example, when 4e was announced/released ENWorld very clearly became a 4e site. Of course, it is natural that the biggest D&D news and information site would report on 4e. Obviously, if you aren't interested in 4e the site would have little use to you. Therefore some of those who stuck with Paizo because they stuck with 3.5 would have nearly no reason to visit as often.

Now that I have decided that Pathfinder is my game of choice, I don't find the site as useful. When I visit I stick to the Pathfinder forum, which doesn't see as much activity as the forums here. I make a point of staying away from the General Discussion threads. That way lies to madness.

I used to go there often when I played 4e. And there are some great posters there. But there is also some undercurrents of conflict as well. I don't think that will ever go away and it is not exclusive to ENWorld.

But yes, the site is very difficult to navigate due to the speed issues. Makes it hard to find what you want to discuss.

Either one is good. Preferably before they have been cooked! ~munches on some cookie dough and some brownie mix~

More seriously, both the ethergaunts and the kaorti have figured heavily into my past campaigns. They were a huge hit and just about scared the crap out of my players.

Fiend Folio is just as useful as the first Monster Manual and I made heavy use of it. Which is saying something as I tend to forget to use monster tomes outside of the MM1. The only other two that I have used with any frequency was the Monsternomicon from Iron Kingdoms and Tome of Horrors from Necromancer.

It's a fairly common practice to price PDFs at about 30% off the print price, and these aren't *that* far out of line with that.

cappadocius wrote:

Heathansson wrote:

It threw me off; I didn't know he was talking about 1e.

There's no Fiend Folio other than 1st edition. There was no Highlander 2. George Lucas only made three Star Wars films.

Comparing the 3.5 Fiend Folio (which was mostly written by Paizo Employees at the time) to Highlander 2 and the new Star Wars films is not an efficient way to maintain favor in the eyes of the Publisher or the Editor in Chief at Paizo.

Just sayin'. :-P

Aubrey the Malformed wrote:

Is it my imagination or are these horribly expensive for pdfs?

They're the same price as the dead tree books' list prices.

Either way, the pdf is pricey. I admit I wouldn't buy it at this price as I have the books. But I am a huge fan and I think it might be worth it if you don't already own the books. I am biased though and shouldn't be taken as a good benchmark.

I can definitely understand the reluctance due to the price. I can't say I would be confident in suggesting someone who has no experience with the setting to buy these pdfs. Iron Kingdoms has a very specific feel that you may or may not love. I would hate to see someone spend the money and feel like it was wasted.

I wrote my review believing the price was lower than the original price. I may need to edit that.