|
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Paizo Pathfinder® GameMastery® Planet Stories® Paizo Games | |||||||||||||||||||
| About Paizo Messageboards News Paizo Blog Help/FAQ | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 Recent Posts
Nani? How are we relegating it to "ugly stepchild" status? I'm afraid I don't understand your complaint. :\ Because when everything looked bright at the inclusion of the fifth CA, you said it may get only limited attention... as an ugly stepchild.
Well I'll just have to start writing faster and crying louder. Besides, there's power in fives and you want to be powerful don't you? ;)
I thought I would start a critique thread for the latest issue. The intention is to provide a space to comment objectively on the recent issue’s adventures in a constructive and friendly way. My own contribution to this topic will include an (x/10) rating of each adventure based on how much I enjoyed reading the adventure and how well I envision it in play. My hopes are that we can use these criticisms – good and bad – to improve our writing and our understanding of that “perfect adventure” we all strive to create. It can also serve as feedback for the editors. As fair warning, this is coming from someone whom has not yet gotten a proposal accepted. The Beasts of Aulbesmil (2/10) It is hard to place the type of this adventure. On the surface, it seems like a murder mystery, but the entire town already “knows” that Cloten has something to do with their problems – mystery solved. It could be an urban adventure but there are precious few NPCs with little to distinguish them apart but for name and few places to visit. That leaves us with a wilderness version of a dungeoncrawl. That is certainly a genre that deserves to be written, but there is nothing in this adventure that makes me want to play it. Cloten was not given much personality to speak of and is not satisfying as a villain. The part with the orcs feels detached and unnecessary. The climax (fighting Cloten) will have likely already occurred before the PCs see the orcs or the even the owlbear and I doubt that those encounters would prove satisfying for my players. The story is also surprisingly linear barring the red herring of the owlbear. Though it tries to give the PCs the illusion of choice, it is a bit too transparent. I view this adventure as a gritty murder case in a rural setting. As such, the adventure would have tracked better and maintained its gritty tone by dropping the fantastic and extraneous (i.e. the owlbear and the orcs) and expanding the options in town (i.e. more NPCs with deeper personalities). Cloten could have been better accommodated with more personality and a more drawn-out fight that builds to the revelation of his affliction. I will say that I appreciate that this adventure is generic and uses only OGL material, as far as I can tell. In the end though, I felt unsatisfied due predominantly to dry writing and a plot that is not compelling. I simply was not ever excited while reading this. The Hateful Legacy (7/10) I have to admit that I was *very* excited by seeing the giant scorpion and dinosaur fight on the opening splash. Unfortunately, that led to minor annoyance, as there was no such fight detailed in the adventure. This is a solid, well-written adventure. I have only a handful of minor criticisms and one larger complaint.
The adventure is in three parts if you consider Zorgus separately. The encounter with Zorgus is quite thrilling and serves as a great first encounter. This leads into the cliff dwellings of the ogres. This is the bulk of the adventure and is solid. The end follows with the Kazgorva confrontation. A criticism arises here with regard to the presence of the ogres. Since Kazgorva took such great pains to erase his once allied giants as is mentioned in the background, why would he, and his servant Zorgus, suffer the presence of the ogres now? I could not find a rationale expressed anywhere, but I may have missd it. The same goes for the harpies toward the end. These relationships seem inconsistent with Kazgorva’s reason for existing. The final fight with Kazgorva and Urgush is well done; the encounter and antagonists are well developed and interesting. My only minor quibble is that Urgush is the same power level (CR) as Kazgorva where my sensibilities demand that this mere *servant* be less powerful than his master (especially since Urgush is smarter and prettier). Of course, the adventure ends with the looting. A major part of that is a new minor artifact that has little, if any, use to the PCs and no connection with the adventure, so I have to wonder why it was included. So far, this has been a very solid adventure with only very minor complaints. My *big* criticism of this adventure is a compound one. This is a site-based adventure. There is nothing wrong with that as long as there is a compelling reason to be there. I will admit now that I prefer adventures that are event-based or at least partially so. Unfortunately, the adventure also gives me the feeling that the important stuff has already been done and there is nothing left of import for the PCs to do. The Hateful Wars are over; the armies destroyed; the deadly, hurricane-force gas locked away; and Kazgorva perished only to spend his days in undeath languishing in a mud bath and not bothering the world. There is no history-making here for the PCs, just damage control (if used as written). All of this likely reflects more on my taste in adventures than anything else and simply means that I would have to change a quite bit prior to use. Overall, this is a very good adventure. In my opinion, it is overly mired in its own details and it lacks a certain empowerment for the PCs. However, it is well written with some well-developed antagonists, a solid flow of action, and a *great* use of environmental hazards (geysers and the deadly gas). The Prince of Redhand (10/10) Wow! This is the adventure I have been waiting for. It is of course an installment of the “Age of Worms” adventure path. Though it is difficult to evaluate separate from the overall story, I think that this is a great adventure on its own and owes no greatness to its association with the AP, which I think is an important distinction to make. The more customary portions of the church, the Well, and Ilthane’s lair all have motivations tied to the previous parts of the AP. That said, they are all short, exciting, and concisely achieve what they are intended to achieve. Well done. That leaves us with the party. This is where the adventure *really* stands out. This portion is easily tailored to any campaign as the partygoers can talk about whatever you want them to. The real gem here is the mechanic of the party – a series of “party games” – and the concept of the Authority Points. This is a great opportunity for some lengthy roleplaying. I was taken aback at first by the decadence and perversity of some of the party-games until I realized that that was how I was supposed to feel. However, maybe some mention should have been made on PC opposition to games such as the Corollax shoot and the cockatrice fighting. There is a bit on how the prince would react if offended though which is very important. The NPCs are beautifully developed and unique. The party is splendidly open-ended: the PCs could be poisoned by the prince, they may disrupt the party and be hunted down by the Angels, or they could close the party having a wonderful time. I am curious to put my players through it just to see how the party goes. I will close by saying that this adventure is *very* well written. The words flow smoothly and on pace. This was a true pleasure to read. ------------------ I encourage you to provide your own review or to simply respond to mine. Please take these comments as they are given – as friendly criticism – and forgive me if I offend. I can only hope that everyone can someday review my own published work. :) Cheers.
Wow! All yours then. I'll be having my way with another thread if you need me.
Can someone please tell me what a Flan is? Otherwise, I'll be forever picturing custard-like humanoids (with sweet sweet crunchy shells) shuffling around and mumbling with a vaguely spanish accent. That's it? Primitive humans? Booorrrrring! *My* Flan will continue to be somewhat gelatinous -- soft, yet form-fitting -- and, of course, come in a variety of flavors.
Sure, I understand WHY they changed the names... but then, why didn't they change the word "dinosaur" which is itself latin? Or even better, why didn't they just translate the latin names into english? Therefore, you'd have terrible lizards with names like "Tyrant Lizard King" instead of "Swordtooth Titan". Honestly, I would rather have seen them leave dinosaurs out of Eberron entirely than include them with silly names.Right... because latin, even in a fantasy game where Rome never existed, is always cool. ;)I prefer my Greyhawk sans dinosaurs, although I did love the idea of cliff dwelling Flan.But adding dinosaurs to ANYTHING makes that thing better! As long as they're still called by their dinosaur names, that is, and not something silly... Amazingly, the Talentan for dinosaur *is* "dinosaur." Sometimes I simply boggle at the way the universe works. ;) I don't think "Swordtooth Titan" is any sillier than "Tyrant Lizard King" (I think they're bith pretty evocative actually). I guess we'll just have to disagree on this.
I prefer my Greyhawk sans dinosaurs, although I did love the idea of cliff dwelling Flan.But adding dinosaurs to ANYTHING makes that thing better! As long as they're still called by their dinosaur names, that is, and not something silly... Right... because latin, even in a fantasy game where Rome never existed, is always cool. ;)
How about organizations too? Same style and frmat you're suggesting. I would be terribly interested in that.
Though there doesn't appear to be many Cthulhu fans here, I have included a list (that a kind soul posted on another forum) of related Dragon issues in case there are some other fans out there that haven't yet succumbed to the sweet sweet oblivion of madness. :)
Unfortunately, many of these issues are "currently unavailable" at the Paizo shop. Any hopes of PDFs of these becoming available? Perhaps some sort of collection or compendium of these and similar articles? Would a sacrifice help? I'll just be here gnashing at my bonds... Cheers... and Happy Holidays!
It's recently come to my attention that, in the way-back, Dragon ran the occasional Cthulhu-related articles (I'm guessing when WotC still supported CoC D20). As my collection only goes back to around #275, I was hoping that someone(s) might be able to help me find these articles and which issues they're in. **Anything even remotely Cthulhu-related will do** So far from other sources I've found: #138 ("The Black Book and the Hunters")
On a related note, is that CD of collected early Dragons commercially available? I've not been able to find it in the Paizo shop. Thank you.
Just wanted to add my mug to the toast and say that I love the new CA format. They are better for being longer; better for being fewer (only 4); and better for including the non-cores (hopefully psionics will have a place in there too). Of course, I could've just been spoiled from an amazing batch of CA's... the bar's certainly been placed high.
OK, first I humbly accept pressuredrop's reprisals if he feels I'm highjacking the thread, but this is a great oppurtunity to consolidate this advice. :) For querying Dragon:
1) query in the body of the email 2) there's no such thing as too many queries per email 3) no matter the article type, a paragraph or two of explanation should suffice (~100-150 words according to Hal Maclean's awesome feature examples above); arguably Class Acts queries should be a little shorter 4) this is not Dungeon magazine! How's that so far? New questions: I'm guessing that one shouldn't mix & match article types in their emails as different people peruse them, yes? Do you (the writers) essentially have your articles written when you query them, or do you just fire away incomplete ideas knowing that if they get green-lit you'll deal with that later? Thanks.
OK, I just need a quick clarification here since the "Dragon Writer's Guidelines" is a little vague on queries... I'm feeling a little slow on the uptake right now. No matter whether Class Act or feature article, you only write a *couple* sentences for the query? Do you write more for a feature-query? If they want more they'll either ask for an outline or green-light the piece? It just seems like a big switch from Dungeon's 1000 word adventure queries. Thanks in advance.
[/QUOTE=Amaril]Relax
The link you posted was for the autographed version.
I'm OK, thanks. :) I'll give that a try. I imagined they would all come from the same place; that Amazon would simply be ordering from the same distributor. Either way. Cheers.
Well the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer is apparently no more with little chance of returning. Feh. I'll look for it at an LGS, but I'm not holding my breath. Guess I'll be doing everything in Eberron for a while. I think there's a rant here, but I don't have the energy right now.
The Adventure Begins Cool, I will check that out. Thanks.
This?
So I'm back into gaming after a long hiatus. Now in the role of a DM and interested in writing adventures in Greyhawk, I am a bit stuck. In the "way back," I was merely a player and we focused on homebrews. I never journeyed behind the scenes (as the DM) and then I stopped playing for years and missed a lot (including all of Planescape). I am now DMing and running both homebrew and Eberron bits. While I love what we're playing, I would like to know more about the Greyhawk that I mostly missed and is still getting support at least at Dungeon. As I've started querying adventures to this mag, I also wanted to be better able to write in Greyhawk and, also, to be better able to use the Greyhawk adventures that are published in Dungeon. Then along comes Paizo and offers up the PDFs of old material -- great! After all that rambling, what I'm trying to ask is: ...where should I start? What are the most important bits to Greyhawk? There's a lot of material at the store, which do I want? Which sourcebooks are essential to knowing (as much as anyone could know :) ) that which is Greyhawk? I also have an interest in the Planescape material if anyone has opinions on that (and I've been on the boards long enough to know that many of you DO :) ). Thanks in advance. ;)
Wasn't Amazing Stories a vehicle for fiction? Bring that back and then there's no need for it in Dragon. I don't really mind the occasional fiction in Dragon, but I so rarely read it and there could be so much else included in the mag. However, I will go back and actually read the ones that have been in since Erik started and see if I like his picks any better... when I have some time. :)
It's a great feeling, btw. :DMike must be talking about this ;) Whoops, missed that one. Who's next? :)
Due out July of 2006 according to Amazon. I've been on the boards enough to recognize all of the authors' names. ;) Very nice.
I jst want to add WOW! One of my favorite issues to date. Great Demonomicon article. Even if some are opposed to Zug's new looks, I think that it was a great choice. The sheer amount of info on each demon is great. At that rate though, there won't be many covered in the upcoming codex, but they'll be covered thoroughly at least. About time that plant (fungus) are getting their due! Lords of Dust. Enough said. One of THE reasons I like Eberron so much. This article was fantastic. We are finally given some detail of the organization. More than that though, the article places certain fiends in the whole of Eberron and their inter-relationships. Anyone catch the bit at the end regarding the Age of Worms? Very cool. Shadar-kai have been one of my favorite new monsters. The environment desperately need some more fey (especially nongood) and the FF and MM3 have been wonderful for that. I only wish that there could have been more info on these dark fey. Great job, but too short. The "Monsters of the Mind" was really nice too. Haven't scoured this one yet, but both the artwork and monsters themselves are very cool. "You got your mindflayer on my dragon. You got your dragon in my mindflayer. Two great tastes... Ia Ia!" I think there is definately room IMC for some of these monsters. The only depressing side of the issue was that the articles included 1 Jacobs, 1 Baker, 2 Decker (class act even!), and 1 Mona. The pros are taking over the business! :) I did say it was one of my favorite issues though.
You don't mean like the carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle, do you? DO you?? Cause, I mean, magic's gotta get recycled right? Is there a big magic sink in the ocean? It's gotta go somewhere. What are the by-products of magic-use? *oo oo that's a query* Do you know what they are doing to the environment? Well... that's just crazy talk, that is. Do you want the hippies to start blaiming global warming on the overuse of cure light wounds spells? Where you gonna get your healing then, hero? Is that what you want? Maybe you should just go back to pillaging dungeons and not ask too many questions if you know what's good for you. :)
I just submitted my first critical threat this week, and I'm working on another. Using stuff outside of core is a tough balance to strike. On one hand, you can develop lots of interesting ideas with prestige classes, feats, and so on from other books. But doing so eats up your word count, as you have to find the space to explain the abilities. I'm preparing my first submission and I'm noticing that very thing. I think I was hoping that that material didn't need to be included and got all excited. :)
Duelist is in the DMG, so that one didn't need to be outlined. And I'm pretty sure the abilities of the Dragonslayer that the Critical Threat had were indeed outlined in the article. I'd have to check to be sure, though. ROFL... Sorry, I totally forgot that Duelist was put into the new DMG. -AND- As I am now looking at the articles, the Dragonstalker DOES indeed have the pertinent extra abilities listed. I better get my sleep tonight! Thanks for the info. :)
So since we're talking about critical threats... For non-canonical classes and PRCs, do all abilities not covered by canon classes and PRCs need to be detailed? I had assumed so, but (now I don't have them in front of me at the moment) 2 of the last 3 published contained non-canononical portions (duelist and dragonslayer(?)) and I don't think that their abilities from those classes were detailed. Can someone clarify for me? Apologies if I just missed them. Thanks.
I would like to continue with the plea for more of the "Demonomicon." It has simply been great and has given me much inspiration. I'm running Eberron arcs right now, but fully intend to use this material for demonlords in that setting. For that reason, I am not terribly interested in seeing the gods done up as they are less portable to other settings: demons and devils and daemons, however, are easily ported. That said, I would love to see more demons -- the old stand-bys (i.e. Orcus, Demogorgon), but also brand new ones. To echo previous comments, I would also be interested in the devils and the yugoloths (love them yugoloths). While we are on the subject, why not "Lords" for other populations such as the Slaad (terribly underused race). "Lords" don't need to be be relegated to simply evil creatures (I'm sorry, Evil). And if you want to throw in the occasional Raja or Daelkyr, you would certainly get my approval. :) Just in case I haven't stressed it enough -- these are great articles!
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
