I've always loved druids. Probably my favorite class. Wild shape's always been fun.
BUT, I have to say, the shapeshift variant made my game experience with druids so much better. Nothing derails me faster these days than endless bookkeeping, so that absolutely is a feature of shapeshift. AND, really, even if weaker or less versatile by the numbers, being able to change at will an unlimited number of times per day. Brilliant!
How about a variant wild shape for the druid similar to that in the PHB 2. I found it to work really well for me in play with less bookkeeping, book searching, and general downtime at the table dealing with too many choices. Lots of fun.
When it comes down to it (for me), the greatest part of psionics is the flavor. I enjoy 3.5E psionics, but if you can bring us new psionics material and even make so it becomes more acceptable to a wider audience, I am totally on board. (Besides, the 3.5E rules will always be there and others are workings to mod them.)
Some of us want psionics no matter which path the mechanics go.
The post-banquet game of Werewolf with Lou Agresta, Tim, Matt, Ellen, Liz, Cosmo "Mr. Pokerface", Brandon "the Candyman", Scott "the Pissboy", Josh "the Assistant Pissboy", and all the others. My god, that was a hoot and a holler!
Ha! That game was so fun! If I'm ever the werewolf in another game that you're in, I'm eating you first. ;D
1) Is the intention to allow copying of statblock format or is that considered Paizo trade dress?
2) In light of section 4, paragraph 3, disallowing the use of the "Pathfinder" name in the title, would specifically saying "Pathfinder Edition" be a problem? Such as with Title X: Pathfinder Edition? If this is a problem, is there another suggested fair distinguisher rather than just the logo when multiple editions are intended?
Aura faint divination; CL 3rd
Slot see text; Price 10,800 gp (for a pair); Weight —
Description
These continuous loops of intricately woven silk operate only in matched pairs. Possessing no beginning and no end, they symbolize the strongest of bonds and tie two individuals together in spirit and empathy, enabling emotional support and inspiration between those linked.
While on the same plane, these loops allow wearers to use the aid another ability from a distance to assist one another on any skill check. While within 1 mile of each other, wearers can use the aid another ability from a distance to assist one another both during combat, without the need to threaten the opponent, and in response to the effects of some spells, such as when waking a person from sleep. For each use of aid another, the individual providing the bonus must use a standard action and must be conscious.
The loops magically conform to the wearers as necklaces, headbands, bracelets, or belts; however, both individuals must wear them in the same fashion.
Construction Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, status; Cost 5,400 gp
Aura faint divination; CL 3rd
Slot see text; Price 10,800 gp (for a pair); Weight —
Description
These continuous loops of intricately woven silk operate only in matched pairs. Possessing no beginning and no end, they symbolize the strongest of bonds and tie two individuals together in spirit and empathy, enabling emotional support and inspiration between those linked.
While on the same plane, these loops allow wearers to use the aid another ability from a distance to assist one another on any skill check. While within 1 mile of each other, wearers can use the aid another ability from a distance to assist one another both during combat, without the need to threaten the opponent, and in response to the effects of some spells, such as when waking a person from sleep. For each use of aid another, the individual providing the bonus must use a standard action and must be conscious.
The loops magically conform to the wearers as necklaces, headbands, bracelets, or belts; however, both individuals must wear them in the same fashion.
Construction Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, status; Cost 5,400 gp
This is a great issue...and the ecology really is fantastic.
Thank you! Somebody had to do SOMETHING with the phantom fungus. I mean, there they were sitting in the Monster Manual looking all forlorn saying, "why won't anyone play with me," right? Now, they're, like, "whatever, I'm just gonna eat you now." ;D
Yes, Reign of Discordia is my space opera setting built exclusively for the True20 rules.
My preference is Pathfinder for my fantasy stuff and True20 for my modern and future stuff. I've been running True20 games for the past six months, but I'm about to switch over to Pathfinder for Rise of the Runelords.
Print versions of RoD (Black and white and color both available) can be purchased here: Lulu.com
The PDF version can be bought right here at Paizo.
Also, the RoD line is getting support, so you don't have to worry about this being a fire and forget product.
Alright, this concludes shameless self promotion time.
Ooh, Darrin, I just listened to your interview at Atomic Array, and I must say that Reign of Discordia sounds SWEET! I've been jonesing for some space action for a while, and I'll be picking this up shortly. Now, if only I can meld the unholy space adventures from Sinister Adventures with this. Mwahahaha! >:D
Kobold Quarterly pulled me off the streets and cured my lumbago AND my baldness.
The magazine rocks! It's constantly expanding and evolving and you should check it out right now--http://www.koboldquarterly.com. In fact, if you see Wolfgang on the street, you should immediately throw some of your money at him.
Take it from me. I'm not just a subscriber; I'm also Assistant Editor.
I don't understand. Why is an interesting or complicated iconic "political axe-grinding," but if it's a quiet little snippet in the background, it's OK? Why are contentious issues suddenly forbidden? I think a story on "militant vegans," for example, is a great idea--a meaty subject even (couldn't resist). Maybe you agree, I can't tell, but why shouldn't that story be allowed for an iconic? Must all iconics be milquetoast?
Conflict is story. When the stories get boring and predictable, what's the point? It's all fair game or none of it is.
Sorry, but I think you missed this part.
Sebastian wrote:
....if you've got a story to tell and it involves those issues, I'll listen, but I can do without the pithy political soundbite and attempts to beat people with an unwelcome ideology, regardless of whether its my ideology or not.
Thanks for keeping me honest, Heathansson, but my comment stands for the entirety of the post. The part you quote ESPECIALLY reads as an accusation of pandering--as if anything that gets attached to an iconic must meet some other, "higher" criteria. Perhaps, I missed Paizo's admittance of pandering, but I certainly don't recall one. Sebastian seems especially vehement and negative here, and I'm not sure that it's fair, so I was seeking clarification. To each their own, I guess.
...
But the thing is Mind Thrust isn't a 7th-level power. If a manifester wishes to deal damage equal to 7th-level spells perhaps they should use a 7th-level power in order to achieve that result and not a 1st.
I understand a manifester would pay powers points equal to a 7th-level power, but that hardly seems to be a balancing factor. I'm sure any arcane caster would love the ability to sacrifice a higher level spell in order to exceed the damage cap of a lower level spell. Yes, there is the argument that divine and arcane casters auto scale with level but they do max out based on the level of the spell per the DMG's (don't remember the pg # but its under the creating new spells section) base line damage for spells.
You're right, it isn't a 7th-level power. Don't forget though, it's still just a 1st-level power. They can be augmented but will forever have the saves of a lower-level power (unless you spend more points in some powers) and are blocked by anything that blocks a 1st-level spell (i.e. spell immunity) no matter how many points you throw into it. Additionally, psions do max-out on the amount of power points they can use based on level.
I'd prefer my rpg's to be free of political axe-grinding, no matter the flavor. The Crimson Throne relationships are good stories and don't stick out like a sore thumb. "Let's make a gay paladin and good doctor that provides abortions" and "one or more of the iconics is gay" strikes me as intentionally sticking the same sore thumb in the collective eye of people who are bothered by those ideas. Does Paizo really need to take a stand on these issue? What's next? Militant vegan iconics? Anti-union iconics? Does one iconic support the closing of the Chilexian border?
...
I don't understand. Why is an interesting or complicated iconic "political axe-grinding," but if it's a quiet little snippet in the background, it's OK? Why are contentious issues suddenly forbidden? I think a story on "militant vegans," for example, is a great idea--a meaty subject even (couldn't resist). Maybe you agree, I can't tell, but why shouldn't that story be allowed for an iconic? Must all iconics be milquetoast?
Conflict is story. When the stories get boring and predictable, what's the point? It's all fair game or none of it is.
Call the guides experiments. We're trying out rules-light supplements. The whole "will we switch or won't we?" question is only a part of why we're trying this. Another reason is, we wanted to try a product with almost no game mechanics in it. We're hoping that it appeals not only to players of the world's most popular roleplaying game, but also to players of any other fantasy game. As it is now, you can use the guides with any game system and you only lose about 3 pages of content in doing so. Also, we wanted to make something that players can read through. All but about 12 pages of the 64-page book are spoiler free and designed for players and GMs. So if you're the GM, and you plan on running a game in Korvosa, you could hand a copy of the guide to your players and say "you can read any of this except chapter 5 and the appendix."
I'm curious to see the guides. I must confess though, I actually like "crunch"--new classes, subsystems, whatever. Is this approach just an experiment for the "guides," or is it intended to stretch through all products? Could we potentially get a product of more "crunch"? (You could market it like peanut butter: there's "creamy" and there's "crunchy." So, I guess your guide is "creamy"? XD )
I hope to love the guides like this but hope I don't have to give up rules nearly entirely from the other products.
I love this place. I can't remember why I came in the first place (other than being D&D related). The mags actually spurred my interest to return to writing and D&D in general.
The community has been great, but I must admit that while I still check in every day, I've slowed in my posting largely due to the sentiment expressed by GregH.
GregH wrote:
However, the rancor and downright nastiness I've been seeing over in the 4e discussions has seriously started turning me off. I'm curious about 4e, so I like to hear what's happening and what people think, but lately, it's almost getting too sad to follow.
But, that surely can't keep me away for long (try as you might). XD
One my players plays a Sea Kin druid. Last session she summoned an enormous water elemental around her and then shape shifted into an equal size aquatic creature (a giant squid.) I was pretty stunned and it was during a minor encounter so I let it slide since it was a cool effect but let them know I would come up with a final ruling later. The squid reach was very useful.
What do you guy think?
I came up with:
-She cannot summon it around her, it must be next to her, then she can use a move action to dive into it (not a 5 foot step) or it can move onto her (not a five foot step unless she is medium size).
-She cannot fit inside the elemental unless she is one size category smaller.
Not sure about:
-Anyone making attacks on them can attack either one with no penalty (How can you miss the big tentacles sticking out. :)
-or the druid can choose use the creature for 50% cover but any attack that misses automatically hit the elemental (It is throwing itself in the way)
-Reach is halved for an aquatic creature out of water? (no buoyancy... hmm this one sounds weak)
Kudos to you for not slapping her down for being creative! Your first couple restrictions sound reasonable. (Though I think it sounds nifty to be able to summon it around oneself.) Your last restrictions don't sound unreasonable, but I would avoid making it overly complicated. Perhaps, you could let her by with relatively few restrictions by requiring the summons spell to simply be cast as one level higher or have a longer casting time or something similar.
I certainly would have liked to see more on Abzirael, but the opening poem *is* quite nice.
I love psionics, so that was fine with me.
My biggest criticism is simply that he has too much: personally, I would probably lose the rogue levels and the half-fiend template. I like me some good "crunch," but this seems a bit overdone.
[aside]
I love me some fiends, but I'm really starting to hate the half-fiend template. It's like saying that a creature can't be a total bastard without having an evil outsider for a parent. I hate the tendency to throw this template on villains. For me, it's richer for a djinn (or nymph or whatever) to be evil all on their own despite a lack of evil heritage. It too often seems like a scapegoat to me.
However, that's a personal issue I'm getting therapy for, and I won't hold it against you. ;D
In truth, it doesn't seem overly abused here, and I think you handle it well.
[/aside]
Great job! I think Abzirael's my favorite, and you most definitely have my vote.
(Now, I've only glanced at the other comments, so some of these may have been covered already.)
The topic doesn't scare me away: good horror is good horror. However (and it looks like others have already gone here so I won't beat it to death), different language would help: you used very specific language to situate your villain, but I think your intention would survive without the specific use of phrases like "suicide bombings" and the idea that paradise is the final reward and the like.
If anything, I think you should have gone a little farther. :) It seems an awful lot of effort on Durgal's part simply for food. I imagine that the arcane energies spilling out of a scene of ritual mass murder triggered by a suicide is INCREDIBLE. Perhaps Durgal is using these energies in some way. Perhaps his eating of the flesh is a focus for some immense magic. My point is that I think that it might be a bit anticlimactic that Durgal is ONLY eating the flesh. (That's certainly a disturbing phrase! :D ) You wouldn't even have to get rid of his treachery to his flock or his gruesome tastes (those are great), but a few more surprises could last him an entire campaign.
Great job! You got one of my votes... (but that stat block made it only just.)
I would love to see some work on lizardfolk. The recent blackscale and poisondusk varieties in MM3 have really made lizardfolk vital creatures for me again, but alas, these new varieties are not OGL.
I don't mind the cards. They're kind of neat and may actually see use in my game, and I'm ecstatic over the Harrow deck.
However, I am a little concerned about the product schedule. It looks like you've got 10 products over an 8-month period (with as many as 3 in one month and none the next), and the August item carries a $50 tag: this is an expensive and erratic schedule. I'm very interested in the subscription if it turns out I can afford it, but I wonder if you could comment on whether the release dates and prices might normalize a bit. Perhaps, one product a month? Perhaps, a more stable monthly price? Being able to easily predict what a subscription is going to cost me in a year (or even a given month) is of great interest to me.
Yith? As a huge fan of Lovecraft, this name in the title makes me balk. Judging by the tone of your writing, I find it difficult to imagine that you haven't read HPL, so I must assume that this was an intentional reference to the Great Race of Yith. It comes across as bad form. IMO, if you're going to use a name like "Yith," use it in a way more in line with the original.
I'm not digging on the other names. You got me in an HPL vibe and then the too-real-world or, simply, not-pleasing names dropped me.
There seem to be too many logical inconsistencies. Salt flats are typically found in arid areas; peat bogs are found in wetlands; the two aren't working well together for me and such inconsistencies pull me unceremoniously out of my enjoyment.
The language is generally too over the top: "flabby, alkaline vegetation."
The same issue I have with the Migrus Locker: VERY interesting and flavorful ideas but with little thought to game mechanics or impact: "wake and return to flesh all of the fossilized primeval creatures for miles."
Great ideas, I hope to see more, but in case you make it to the next round, I hope I gave you some things to consider. Those great ideas will only pull you so far.
I don't think it's a "one-trick pony." There's some great potential here. How could you have made this greater?
The writing could use some pizazz: It gets a bit generic at times, such as "villainous phase spiders," "gnoll raiders," and "powerful mummies." Some more evocative language would help. Getting rid of some dead words (or even a location or two) in order to flesh out some of your ideas would have been nice, too.
Everything's too perfect within the nation: Even societies "with an emphasis on honor, tradition, and the veneration" can have a dark side. Cultures, IMO, should be complicated things with two sides to everything. I would have liked to have seen more complication here.
In a nutshell... 1) more spice and 2) more hooks.
You'll probably be my fourth or fifth place vote, and I can assure you that mine is not for a "Sanjay" or to be contrary. Perhaps I'm imagining too much the ideas your entry has given me rather than the actual content, but aren't inspirational ideas important? Good job.
As self-conscious as I'm currently feeling, I do want to grow as a writer and designer. So, here is my entry.
Second Thought
** spoiler omitted **
All comments are welcome.
-Scott
What's it based on?
Sorry, I don't follow.
Are you asking if there is a precedent in the game for the increasing intelligence? Not that I know of.
Are you asking if there is something similar from myth or literature on which it was modeled? Again, not that I know of.
-Scott
OK. Seemed familiar, which is why I asked. I like the clock-work aspect of the item. I, too, would like to know how to adjudicate the device when it becomes sentient. Does it have an adgenda?
The "endgame" of hte item was intentionally left vague: partly due to word limit and partly due to it being open to the player and DM (it would then be, essentially, an NPC and all rules are off. Of course, I could go on and on with more space. ;)
From one of the other threads, it was suggested that "plot device" items might be a bad design choice. I, however, happen to like having the seeds of adventure already packed into my items and spells and whatever--as player and DM. :D
Wow, I like your image of a cap that grows extradimensionally and eventually becomes self-aware. I think you need to expand on what will eventually happen when the cap becomes intelligent. Will it always be content being a mind shield, or will it tire of its role and crave something more from its existence? You have a compelling item, keep going with possible results and consequences.
Thanks. With a longer word limit, more description would be possible. As is, I thought it worked well as a story device and seed for adventure. There is no reason the cap needs to be on friendly terms with the wearer once it gains sentience. As its ego grows, so might its ambition grow, and it could just decide it's had enough and take control of the wearer.
As self-conscious as I'm currently feeling, I do want to grow as a writer and designer. So, here is my entry.
Spoiler:
Second Thought
This thin, brushed-metal skullcap extends down the left side of its wearer’s head and face. Within this odd helmet is a whirring mass of clockwork extending impossibly deep into the metal, safely tucked away in extra-dimensional space.
This item grants the wearer immunity to mind-affecting spells and effects by creating a layer of impenetrable, interfering thoughts. Any time the helmet is donned, it requires 48 hours to attune itself to the wearer before any benefit is gained. Upon blocking twelve spells or effects, the item ceases normal functions and automatically begins a reset cycle, which requires 48 hours to complete during which it must be continuously worn. Once the item has reset, it resumes its normal functions.
These skullcaps often develop intelligence over time. After every reset cycle, there is a cumulative 1% chance that they develop rudimentary intelligence and, subsequently, increase in intelligence (following the guidelines for intelligent items). The extra-dimensional space inside the item extends approximately 2 ft. into the helmet at creation, but it increases over time and with increasing intelligence: the most spacious containing entire clockwork cities.
I'm of the opinion that there should be multiple ninja classes. (Bet that wasn't popular! ;D )
Why just have one ninja type? It appears that there are already multiple ideas floating around. Much of the media available for ninjas usually grants each their own unique flavor: Ninja Scroll, Naruto, etc.
I would either make 1) multiple archetype classes to cover several ninja types, 2) an extensive tree-like sub-system of abilities (similar to d20 Modern class abilities), or 3) an extensive feat tree that could be used to "specialize" a relatively generic ninja class. (...or a combination of all of the above! ;D )
