emeraldlich's page

Well, the bonus against trip at least, comes from the fact that it has four legs.

Ah ha! Gracias, sir. Knew it had to be something simple - forgot that.

I don't know what size the dragon is, but perhaps you have the wrong size modifier?

Size is large, which gives a +1 modifier.

All right ... I've probably overlooking something very obvious, but ...

I started statting up a mature adult black dragon. To make sure I was doing the math right, I began statting an adult black dragon as well, just to see if I could match what's in the Bestiary. And that's when I ran into a problem.

For an adult black dragon, I came up with the following:

CMB: 22 (base attack 14, +7 from 25 Str, +1 for size)
CMD: 33 (10, +14 BAB, +7 from 25 Str, +1 from 12 Dex, +1 for size)

... but the Bestiary has:

CMB: 24
CMD: 33 (37 vs. trip)

The adult black dragon also has the following feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Stealth), Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bite). I'll be darned if I can see how any of them adjust CMB. (Also not sure where the +4 vs. trip comes from - Improved Initiative?)

It's got to be something obvious ... what am I missing???????

GenCon this year will be my first chance to participate in a Pathfinder Society game.

I got a ticket for "Drow of the Darklands Pyramid" - however, I wasn't paying attention to the tiers of the adventure when I got the ticket, and it's for Tiers 7–11. Which (I think) means I either can't play, or have to play a pre-gen, rather than a character I made. Is that right, or am I just imagining that?

Here's the specifics for the event that I'm in:

RPG0904133
#32 Drow of the Darklands Pyramid
8/15/09 1:00 PM

If anyone's willing to trade tickets for either The Devil We Know Part 1: Shipyard Rats or The Devil We Know Part 2: Cassomir's Locker at the same time (8/15/09, at 1:00 PM), let me know. I think I can play an original character in those events.

Thanks!

I finished my proposal for #19 - it's submitted!

Now the waiting begins ... :)

I didn't submit anything for #20. For whatever reason, the outline just didn't grab me. I couldn't think of anything decent for that particular scenario.

The thing is that without being a GSL licensee, the publisher has no direct method to indicate compatibility with 4th Ed. When customers can't figure out the system which your product runs on, they'll go "meh" and keep on browsing.

More importantly, if distributors, can't figure out the system whcih your product runs on, they may not order it ... and your game might not make it into the stores.

A GSL licensee is far more liekly to get products on store shelves than somebody who's trying to make an end-around run at the GSL.

The effective start date for sales of D&D 4E GSL publications will be October 1, 2008.

So does this mean that third party have to wait until then to release any of their product?

Yep. That's what it means.

Fantastic!!

But what happens when they miss the ground?

I'm Mike Ferguson. I've written a number of "Dungeon Crawl Classics" for Goodman Games, as well as d20 material for Fantasy Flight Games.

I've only had time to skim through the Alpha document so far. Overall, I *really* like just about everything I see so far, except for the revisions to the skills systems.

When I have time to properly digest the rules in depth - and to write some coherent thoughts on my opinions - I'll post them here. But as of right now, I don't have much more to add apart from I like what I've read, and I'm pleased that Paizo will be producing Pathfinder.

Genius idea.

I'm just mad that I didn't think of it first.

Hey, look at that!

Wizards of the Coast is having its cake and eating it too.

In any event have the people at Paizo trialed the 4e system that is out there yet- to determine how it 'feels' for the purpose of making a decision when the GSL is available?

Unfortunately, a lot of that's irrelevant.

One of the reasons that 3rd party publishers (like Paizo) need to see the GSL is to let them know what they can - and can't - do in their products. The GSL may expressly forbid the creation of new monsters, for example. Or new character classes. (Have no idea if that'll be the case, but you get the idea.)

If Paizo can *only* use monsters listed in the Monster Manual under that scenario, they may choose not to switch to 4th edition, no matter what they think of 4th edition. They could decide that it's a great game, but the GSL is so restrictive, it's not worth using.

"How the rules can be used", at this point, is probably just as important as the rules themselves, if not more so.

Callum wrote:

I was wondering, and I'm still utterly amazed that this can be the case when they've got finished galleries of the core rulebooks over at Wizards!

Presumably you're talking about art - art takes a lot, lot, lot longer than text (normally), and it's the kind of stuff that could be ordered well in advance. It's not terribly surprising that art is being put up already.

Oh, I don't think it has anything to do with the rules at all. Or layout, or artwork.

I think what's holding everything up is the GSL. The GSL dictates what rules can be used, and how they can be used.

So it doesn't matter if the rules for 4.0 are completely finished. They still can't be sent out to 3rd party publishers until the GSL - which explains how they can be used - is done.

1) Do you plan to convert to the new edition of D&D?

Yep. I fully intend to try it out and give it a shot. That probably won't happen until early 2009, though, when I expect I'll run out of the 3.5 adventures that I intend to play

2) If Paizo converts its RPG products to 4.0, how will that affect your purchasing patterns for our products?

Honestly? It means I'll probably buy less of your products. As I said, I fully intend to give 4.0 a shot ... but unless it utterly blows away 3.5, I don't think I (or my group) will stick with it. (And while I'm going to try to make a fair and objective comparison, my gut feeling is that I won't like 4.0 better than 3.5.

I like 3.5. A lot. 4.0 would have to be *significantly* better in order for me to make a permanent switch. "A little bit better" or "about equal, but just a little different" won't be good enough for a switch.

3) If Paizo does not convert its RPG products to 4.0, how will that affect your purchasing patterns for our products?

If you stick with 3.5, I'll continue to buy your products at the same rate I currently do. Perhaps even more, since my source for 3.5 material will most likely decrease. (Again, the caveat goes out that if I like 4.0 better - probably not, but it could happen - then obviously the answer would change.

Thanks very much for taking the time to check in with the fans to see what they want, Erik. It's much appreciated.

Phillipsburg, NJ.

Definitely "Entombed with the Pharaohs".

It's a great adventure. And it's got too many awesome plot hooks screaming to be made into sequels ...

Many congratulations to you!

I'm sure it's going to be nothing short of spectacular. I look forward to reading it in May!

My question is does the name of the item count towards the word count? May not be a big deal but what if someone is submitting: Ghost Touch Gauntlets of Slightly Ogre-ish Power and Improved Grappling.

No that's not my idea but now that I think of it it's kinda cool. Unfortunately there's words left for a description.

The rule of thumb that I've used when freelancing is this: if you have any doubts whether or not something counts towards your word count, immediately assume that it *does* and go from there.

Even if you're wrong (in this case, if the name of the item doesn't count), you still can't be disqualified for being slightly under your allotted word count. And it's written well enough, those ten words you didn't use in your word count shouldn't make or break your entry. Just choose your fewer words with greater care.

What do you think? Assuming the third Pathfinder Adventure Path, Second Darkness, remains 3.5, will you stick around? I know most of you are as in the dark about fourth edition as we are and I understand that it's too early to make a serious call. But how is the 4.0 hype treating you these days? Do you plan to start up a new 4.0 campaign on day 1?

What do YOU want Paizo to do?

Assuming that I like the storyline of "Second Darkness" (and that's proably a pretty good assumption), then I'll definitely stick around. In all honesty, I'd rather see "Second Darkness" be something for 3.5 than for 4.0.

I'm taking a "wait and see" approach with 4.0. Even if I convert over to 4.0, I don't think that'll be happening until 2009 at the earliest.

So count me in. :)

I expect to be playing 3.5.

While I'll be picking up the core books for 4.0, there's still a good number of adventures I want to play - and run - using 3.5. I don't see a burning need to immediately convert to 4.0 the very instant it's released.

If 4.0 rocks on toast, and is *clearly* an improvement over 3.5, then I'll probably convert over to 3.5 late next year (or even later, if the 3rd Pathfinder AP is 3.5 and I like the overall storyline). If not - meaning if I think 4.0 is either inferior to 3.5, or if it's just a wash between the two - I don't think I'll be converting to 4.0. Ever.

Piemur the elf. I rolled him up using the D&D Basic set with the Erol Otus cover (I think that's the Tom Moldvay version of the rules). That was in 1983.

It's been one heck of a ride ever since then. :)

I've edition changes too, and while 1st -> 2nd was met with skepticism, 2nd -> 3rd was mainly meant with enthusiasm. 3rd -> 4th is the first one where I've seen people this annoyed.

My own experience was a little different, in that the switch from 1st -> 2nd was met with a mix of trepidation and optimism, at least by all the players and DMs I knew at the time.

Everyone acknowledged that 1st Edition had some real strange quirks and could do with some revisions, but since nothing like that had ever been done before, the whole idea of any change was unnerving. But (again, in my own experience) no one was terribly annoyed or horrified when 2nd edition finally rolled out.

And 2nd -> 3rd just seemed like a natural evolution. TSR's financial woes had left 2nd Edition pretty barren. It hadn't been properly supported for years, and people seemed ready for a change.

I think that's the big problem with 3rd -> 4th. Both prior changes seemed organic, and the prior editions had really run their course by the time the new ones showed up. People were ready for a change. Right now, though, people seemed pretty satisfied with 3.5 ... and 4.0 is definitely an unwelcome, unwanted change for most.

The 3.0 -> 3.5 change also adds to the annoyance. I don't think people would be so irked by 4th edition if substantial changes hadn't already been made to the game with the 3.5 revisions.

I don't think it'll really make a difference. Or be bad, for that matter.

Like you, I discovered a lot of games by reading the ads in Dragon - Robotech, Rifts, Warhammer FRP, Toon, and a horde of others. But those were in the days before the Internet. (Which doesn't seem all that long ago ...) Dragon, Dungeon, and your Friendly Local Game Store were pretty much the *only* sources of information the average gamer had for learning about different games.

With the advent of the Internet, though, that's changed tremendously. You have these boards, you have EnWorld, you have RPG.net, and so on and so forth - dozens of sites dedicated to covering any sort of RPG, card game, or board game you can imagine. Over the past couple of years, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a new game that I learned about *first* from an advertisement in Dragon or Dungeon.

Gamers tend to be tech-savvy, or at least Internet-savvy.

Five or ten years ago, I would've agreed with you. But today? I don't think it's going to have much impact on the gaming industry - or keep gamers from learning about new stuff.

I've sent my submission in as well. As noted above, the worst that can happen is that someone says "No".

"The Known Realms", by Goodman Games. Old-school cross between Mystara and Greyhawk.

But I was one of the writers for this setting, so I'm more than a little biased. :)