hazel monday's page

After running Burnt Offerings, Crimson Throne ( best of the bunch IMO), & Second Darkness all back to back, I decided to skip Legacy of Fire & run a more plotless, open ended campaign for a change ( still set in Golarion of course).

I guess if an AP doesn't have a Vankaskerkin in it, it just doesn't feel like a proper AP to me.

Also, Arabian Nights style adventures just don't appeal to me and my group. Looking forward to running Council of Thieves though.

If you ever need players for daytime/afternoon sessions, please post it here.

While it's not an RPG, it's still a good way to meet local RPG players.

Hazel... are you still looking for players? I'm trying to get involved in a weekly pathfinder game.

Hap

Everyone seems to be getting along well and having a lot of fun. So, if you're thinking about showing up, please do so. Walk-ins are always welcome. We'll have pre-generated characters & extra dice waiting for you. 6pm every Wednesday.

I love the bestiary.

Reading it gave me the same feeling I had as a kid reading the AD&D Monster Manual. I enjoyed the Bestiary more than the Core Rulebook.

Now if only the Bestiary had an Aurumvorax in it, it'd have been perfect.

Expletive.

Hazel monday, after your last post, I actually got my hopes up that I could go. But there's a family event this Wednesday night.

I need a shoulder to cry on...

Listen, hazel monday, please do me a favor. Could you keep me updated? Of course, if there are many games going on at Graphic Novelty, I can't expect you to keep track of all of them. However, if you happen to know about one game going on, and its schedule, and whether it might have any openings for a player, I would very much like to know. Maybe you could post that information to this thread. Or maybe you could direct me to a website, or something, where that information might be listed.

Graphic Novelty's open 12-9 weekdays. 11-11 Saturdays, 11-8 Sundays.

While I'm not optimistic about my ability to go, I'm curious about a few things.

1) For how many hours does a weekly session run?

2) I've played 3.5, but I know very little about Pathfinder RPG. Even if I were to download the rulebook right now, or study the SRD, I wouldn't have enough time to learn it well enough and create my own character in 2 1/2 days. Is that a problem?

I would ask more questions, but the answers to my first 2 might dash my hopes for going, so I'll stop at 2 for now.

No need to worry about designing a character. We'll have pre-generated characters available for the first session. All you need to bring is dice.

Hey Folks.

Just wanted to let you know that my FLGS, Graphic Novelty, is going to be hosting a home brewed Pathfinder Campaign set in Taldor, as well as hosting Pathfinder Society games.

It starts this Wednesday, Nov.4 6pm, and will be continuing every Wednesday, every week.

So if you're in the area, come on down to Graphic Novelty. It's at 1712 Thames St. Baltimore MD 21231. That's in Fell's Point, for all you locals. If you've got any questions, call us. Our phone number's 410-522-0215.

Hope to see you there.

Man, that's great!
The Nobel Peace Prize is a great honor. And the American President won it.

Good news for America. The rest of the world seems like it's starting to hate us less.

No.
If I wanted to see a crazy idiot spout absurdities, I'd just go watch the homeless on the corner.

How is he doing that? Is he only fighting against 5 opponents a day?

She just saves up the smites for the ones that matter.

Besides, I don't think the smiting is the main problem. It's her ability to self-heal as a free action that put her head and shoulders over everyone else when it comes to melee.

I'm not bent out of shape about it. If any class should stand out as most powerful it's the Paladin. But still... most powerful by far.

I'm running the last parts of Second Darkness. There's tons and tons of Demons in it. My players' party has a Paladin in it.

Said paladin makes everyone else look like a side-kick in comparison.

I don't wanna see a 2nd ed. of Pathfinder for at least 18 years.

1. Limiting the number of buffs active on a creature simultaneously. Keeping track of the 20 buffs on Kharzoug when I ran RotRL was painful. Too painful.

It works great. Really eliminates a lot of book keeping at high level ( and mid-level as well for that matter.). And my players think it adds an element of tactical thinking to their spellcasting.

It's just a great little rule all around. I highly recommend it.

Thank you Hazel, I find your position flawed, but accept your belief of it at face value.

If I may address your points.

In the 20 years between MJ and Peter being married and the retcon-bomb, his cast of characters changed, saying that they were stagnate would be incorrect. Using Wikipedia, we see that in this time, the Green Goblin returned, Mayday was born, Aunt May is killed, then gets better. MJ dies and gets better, new foes appear and old ones change/are upgraded. Flash Thompson is put in a wheelchair, Peter becomes a teacher, Eddie Brock is redeemed, Kraven dies, DocOc dies (and gets better) Peter finds some peace with Aunt May and he grows up. Heck even May got some development, in finding a dating partner with Jarvis.

All that tossed away, in an urge to return the character to a 1986 stasis. A stasis that was the norm in Ultimate Spiderman.

The green Goblin is still returned from the dead. Mayday was still born. Aunt may was killed then got better, then got shot then got better. Then got married. None of the changes to his villains were wiped away in one fell swoop.

Flash Thompson is still in a wheelchair. Eddie Brock still has the same issues he's always had. Kraven's still dead. None of that stuff has changed.

Almost nothing that you mentioned was wiped away ( except for the part about Aunt May knockin' boots with Jarvis. And between you and me, that's something I'd like never mentioned again. On account of it's gross.) All the stuff that you listed still happened. Pete just isn't married anymore, and the Public forgot his identity.

That's a change I'm willing to go along with as long as the stories that come out of it are good. And they are good. So it's all good.

Lesson 1. Comic book Characters don't advance. they don't age.

And Hawkeye seems to have aged about 10 years in the past 2. The poor guy looks exhausted.

"Broken" is broken.

People who use that expression should be made aware that it's played out.

Amazing Spider Man has something it's been missing for years.

When Stan and Steve and John invented the character Peter Parker so many, many years ago the thing that separated Pete from other Superheroes at the time was that his love life was a total soap opera.He was unlucky in love. And it was good to read about. His costumed slug-fests were secondary to his romantical exploits and misunderstandings.

It was an important part of the character. Spidey's supporting cast was what really made him stand out. And when he was married, his supporting cast was set in stone for decades, unchanging, stagnant.

Now when I read ASM, I dunno what's going to happen next.Pete's always into some nutty affair or another. And that's when the character's at his best.

Brand New Day is the best thing to ever happen to Spidey.

If I ever met Joey Q, I'd shake his hand. Then I'd buy him a steak dinner.
Over the course of that dinner I'd say "Thank you Joe. Thank you for making Marvel Comics better than they've been in 30 years. How about some desert?"

That's what I'd do anyway.

Personally, I'd like the APs to end at a lower level. Like maybe 8th. It would be terrific if there was an AP designed for slow track progression.

1. Level 1-3

2. It's the least rules intensive.The numbers are small and manageable. The danger level keeps everyone alert and paying attention.

3. My favorite adventure so far is Beast of Burden by Mike Kortes.The setting was so creative and fun.I've never seen another adventure quite like it. My player's minds were officially blown.

Setting.

If my interest in Pathfinder were a cheeseburger, then the meat, cheese, bun, lettuce, and tomato would be the setting.

The ketchup would be the rules.

I like Flesh to Stone a lot. The visual is cool, and it's crazy effective against spell- casters.

Also, it's the closest thing that Pathfinder has to a good old fashioned save-or-die spell. And save-or-die spells are a great thing when used sparingly.

Fantastic news. Paizo & Reaper is like chocolate & peanut butter. Two great tastes that taste great together.

Honestly, there are lots of people who do call the education system socialist because it is funded by tax money.

Do they hang around at militia meetings with birthers & flat-earthers?

I just don't get the position that publicly funded healthcare is somehow "socialized" because our taxes would finance it.

Our taxes fund the public school system. No one calls it "socialized" school.

Our taxes fund the military. You can be damned sure no one calls it a "socialized" military.

Our taxes finance the police. No one says we have a "socialized" police force.

Saying that a publicly financed healthcare would be "socialism" is nothing more than partisan propaganda. It's dangerous, cynical,and irresponsible, partisan propaganda. It's clouding the real and important issue of health care reform with poorly conceived, jingoistic rhetoric.

I find the whole thing very disappointing.

Just got mine yesterday. 2 whole days before the release date.That's just too cool. Many thanks to whoever made this happen.

Pathfinder buffed Clerics up so much that I'm actually glad they took a little something away.
Even something really minor like heavy armor proficiency.

I'm happy with Paizo, Pathfinder, and their production schedule exactly the way they are.
I honestly don't want them to change a thing.
It seems like they have a stable of regular talented writers who produce the adventures and setting material I want at the perfect pace for me to read and run all of it.
I don't want Paizo to get any bigger.I don't want Paizo to get any smaller. It's perfect as is. It's like the porridge that Goldilocks ate.

Quesada's the best thing to happen to comics since Stan Lee. Marvel Comics are better than they've ever been in my lifetime. Most of the credit for that goes to Quesada.

That said,I agree that Red -Hulk is unbearably stupid and nigh-unreadable.

Best horror movie to come out in years. Five thumbs up.

That's nasty. Nasty as hell.

I'll only list the ones I've run.

1. Crimson Throne
2. Second Darkness
3. Runelords
4. Age of worms

Opinions are like b~~&-holes. Everyone has one and they usually stink. No one cares to see yours.

Errol Otus, no doubt.

"Allowing discussion of" and "encouraging" are different other things.

Heck, the Valeros build is proof enough they aren't "encouraging" min/maxing.

Thank you for that endorsement, Mr. Bendis. :P

It's not just the mess of the Avengers. It's a pattern of abuse for years.

Captain America - First 'Truth' then the Heroes Reborn mess, then the Guantanamo storyline, then the just general mess...

X-Men - House of M, Decimation, the entire 'we want a gay X-man, look Northstar's available!' Super healing factor Wolverine, Jean Grey, and now the messing with Betsy... The Black Panther/Storm Pairing, Frakking with Bishop...

Wolverine - Oh gods, don't get me started on the mess of 'Origin' or his son...

Thunderbolts - I miss the villians trying to be heroes.

And Bucky should have stayed dead, damnit!

But have you seen mark Millar's recent Wolverine story? It's one of the best Logan stories ever. House of M was a tear jerker. It's basically just a story about a disfunctional family. It's more of a "Terms of Endearment" type story than a slug-fest crossover. Spider-Man (amazing & ultimate), Iron-Fist, X-Factor, and Captain America are all great titles with solid stories right now. Marvel's putting out some great stuff these days.

I just think that New Avengers shouldn't be dismissed out of hand because it's different from Stan and Jack's avengers. Or because there's a different character roster from Busiek/Perez's run on Avengers. Sometimes some surprisingly affecting stories can be told using unlikely "C-list" characters.

Even Brother Voodoo.

I'd prefer not to see a a "character optimization" forum.
I think min/maxing in general is bad for the game.
I wouldn't want to see the designers of the game themselves encourage it.

Bendis' run on New Avengers is quite simply the best the Avengers have ever been.
For the first time ever, I actually care about the characters on the team and what they're doing.
Spider-Man & Luke Cage are hilarious together. Wolverine is even cooler and more bad-ass than when Frank Miller wrote him. Jessica Jones is the best Marvel character introduced in 3 decades.
And their enemies!! A team of heroes is only as good as their enemies. And New Avengers have the best enemies in comics right now. Norman Osborn with a government mandate and an unlimited budget is truly a terrifying thing to behold. The Hood's army of Villains. Dormammu. Sentry. The God of War. The Police. Bendis' New Avengers have been hiding from the cops while dealing with threats that any previous team couldn't have imagined.

Something else I've enjoyed about New Avengers is that They're the original Captain America's team. With Steve Rogers dead, it's like his team of reject Avengers is all that's left to carry on fighting the power in his name. All of them practically worshipped Cap and you can tell he's still a huge presence in this comic. None of them feel like they're living up to his standards and his spectre looms large over them.

I encourage any comic reader who hasn't given New Avengers a try ( which probably isn't too many people, considering it's a top 10 best seller month after month) to ignore the grumbling in this thread and give it a read. I think you'll enjoy it.

hazel monday wrote:

Like if she died, I'd laugh about it instead of feeling bummed out.

You mean you're getting some of the anti-hero vibe from her?

I like the sories she's featured in a lot. I just find Channa-Ti to be too judgmental and abrasive for me to like her as a character.

Does anyone else find Channa Ti to be really unlikable? She comes across as kind of a jerk.

Not to say her story isn't well written, cause it is. And I enjoy reading about her bitter, mean-spirited antics. But she's one of the most unsympathetic main characters I've ever read about.

Like if she died, I'd laugh about it instead of feeling bummed out.

I have to admit, all this genie art has been spoiling me(and has been since before Legacy of Fire!). I don't want it to stop even when Council of Thieves starts.

Awesome cover.

The Cinderlands. Classic hostile environment. It's like Golarion's Darksun.

The Worldwound is pretty cool too. Reminds me of Warhammer in a good way.Definitely wouldn't mind a chronicles product about the Worldwound.

What do you think?

Speaking as a DM,the disjunction trap was awesome.
My players did some good natured grumbling about it,but they had fun with it too.
More cruel and unusual traps please.

Always nice to see new work from Pett, Logue, Kortes & Vaughn. Those guys know a thing or two about adventure writing.

Finished Runelords in 6 months. Once a week, 12 -14 hour sessions.
Same with Crimson Throne.
So 2 APs in 1 year. My group runs through 'em at the same pace Paizo makes 'em.

Marlo Stanfield (scariest villain ever) & Stringer Bell (most sympathetic villain ever) from The Wire.

The Mayor (most entertaining villain ever) from Buffy.

I'd give Fighters a better will save.

I don't care at all about strict adherence to the rules of existing game mechanics.

As long as the villain can do cool stuff, and it's clearly explained how they do it, that's good enough for me.

So far in Pathfinder some of the coolest stuff has been new stuff that didn't previously exist in the rules. Stuff like haunts, the chase scene rules from Edge of Anarchy, the games of Knivesies, Sredna, and Blood Pig are all terrific new additions to the game.

I don't think designers need to adhere to existing rules too closely.Stifles creativity and all that.