ibayboy's page

Whoa! New Zealand is in the FUTURE?!

Quick, send me all the lottery numbers and stock picks you can get your hands on!!!

NARRATOR: And once again, Quibblemuch fails to understand the concept of time zones and will be disappointed...

Can't talk, our robot overlords are listening.

Happy New Year from NEW ZEALAND

All hail Triune!

Although depending on how our Iron Gods game goes, Casandalee may not be an aspect of Triune in our home games ;-)

You're too late my friend. We totally installed her in our game last year, sorry bout that.

All hail Triune.

Awesome podcast. My group already finished Giantslayer and it is surprisingly entertaining to listen to another group as they go through the AP.

I've also run my group through Giantslayer. And i have just finished bingeing on GCP, to the detriment of all my regular TV. Congrats guys.

This is awesome guys! I'm bingeing away, up to Ep81 so far. I've run this AP, so it's very interesting to hear your play.

Well guys, you must have piqued some interest here, because I got a couple of emails from OAD members last night asking if SS is next. :)

Thematically, we've faced more than our share of evil outsiders over the years, while the "serpent/jungle campaign" has eluded us on several occasions. As GM, I have a real desire to see what we could do with mythic rules, especially with some data tracking in reference to the rocket tag that might result. For the players, they loved Cult of the Reptile God enough to play it a couple of times, and that module was the attempted launch of a serpent campaign that always led to TPK or petered out. Playing Serpent's Skull would give the players a chance to redeem themselves and at the same time see the serpent/jungle theme through. What's the general feeling about the difficulty of SS compared to other APs? Has anyone played both Serpent's Skull and SA?

I hope everyone will like the data we've compiled throughout Strange Aeons, it's probably twice as much as during The Giantslayer Endeavor, and will be released with the final blog report of The Strange Aeons Experiment.

We are just a few weeks away from finishing Strange Aeons and entering a short lull where we'll be able to complete Sins of the Saviors and move our RotR campaign to near-conclusion. There's been some stirring in the Order in regard to what will come after RotR in our "side campaign" slot, with the previous lead contender being Shattered Star.

I ran SS and have just started SA, we are 2 sessions in. I think Strange Aeons will be much harder, that might be a result of my GMing getting better. My feeling is that the AP's have been getting more challenging, but we've not played them all, or even really read the modules, untill we pick a GM. I have run CotCT, SS, RoW, GS, Emerald Spire,and SA. I've played in Savage Tide, Age of Worms, RotR, KM, S&S, WotW, and IG.

gustavo iglesias wrote:

I'd be more interested in SS than in Second Darkness or WotR, to be honest

Firm agreement. WoTR has an excellent opening and there's much to like in the first half. By the back half, though, the Mythic rules really turn it into rocket tag -- and if the players are competent, then it's rocket tag that they're always going to win.

Doug M.

Yeah WotR was a cake walk, my paladin was one-shotting nearly everything.

ibayboy wrote:

Aerick Lim wrote:

Hello all! Last weekend we took a break in the middle of Marathon 5 to do an interview with our friends from Nerd Podcast Radio. Please listen to the non-spoiler portion and/or the spoiler portion at your discretion.

Highlights from What Grows Within coming soon to the Paizo Blog!

Just listened to both, great stuff. I've been following your order for RoW and Emerald Spire, having run both, your notes have been a great help and inspiration, so thanks.

I started running Strange Aeons 2 sessions ago and we are loving it, I think In Search of Sanity is Paizo's best book since Souls for Smuggler's Shiv.

Thank you, and I'm glad our work has helped (and inspired)! That interview was a great time, and it was fun to finally tell the story of where the Amber Die came from--not that we really know. :)

It's interesting that you mention Souls for Smuggler's Shiv, since as GM I am constantly tearing through published material trying to figure out where we'll go next. I stopped immediately when I hit Jacobs's adventure, and read the entirety in one night. I've been considering Serpent's Skull as a fun throwback for a while now after being so inspired by PF37; you may have just helped me sell the group on it, since we all loved In Search of Sanity, as evidenced here. Thanks again!

No problem at all. My group really enjoyed Serpent's Skull, however book 3 needs a lot of work, its very hard to run as written. It is really just a sandbox framework, which might not suit your groups style of playing as written. In hindsight a campaign combining SS and Skull and Shackles could be awesome. Get rescued from the island by pirates, gain fame and fortune by finding the lost city, then take on the pirate hierarchy.

Hello all! Last weekend we took a break in the middle of Marathon 5 to do an interview with our friends from Nerd Podcast Radio. Please listen to the non-spoiler portion and/or the spoiler portion at your discretion.

Highlights from What Grows Within coming soon to the Paizo Blog!

Just listened to both, great stuff. I've been following your order for RoW and Emerald Spire, having run both, your notes have been a great help and inspiration, so thanks.

Well we just completed Iron Gods. Time to hang up the EMP rifle. I'll be running Strange Aeons next weekend, and the sacrifices have been submitted.

Male, Human, Fighter (Cad) GMPC
Female, Dusk Elf, Universalist Wizard
Female, Human, Cleric of Desna (Roaming Exorcist)
Female, Emberkin Aasimar, Investigator (Empiricist)

No names, no gear, no memory, no hope...

My very un-optimized, ranger/rogue/gunslinger, in our Iron Gods game, has improved Vital strike. Mainly for the surprise round. Her construct bane EMP rifle is ending some encounters before the rest of the party even see the room.

Awesome, thank you so much.

Hi Paizo, happy new year! I was checking on my order, which was placed in early November, as it hadn't arrived. I see that it's pending because one item is unavailable. Can this item be removed so the rest can proceed?
Thanks

You guys have flying cars yet?

The machines won't let us have them.

Its that time again, Happy New Year 2016 from...New Zealand

The rogue's Favored Terrain talent and the Ultimate Combat talent Terrain Mastery seem very similar as well.

Were these intentional?

I was wondering about this too...

Taumata-whaka-tangihanga-koauau-o-Tamatea-turi-pukaka-pikimaunga-horonuku-p okai-whenua-kitana-tahu, is the longest place name in the world. It is in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, and means ‘The hilltop where Tamatea with big knees, conqueror of mountains, eater of land, traveller over land and sea, played his koauau to his beloved.’

NobodysHome wrote:

Now you're just depressing me. I remember when the "You must have been born after this date" alcohol birth date passed my high school graduation date (happens when you're 39, people).

I finished my Ph.D. in the 1990's. Talking about 1990's kids is just mean.

My 21st birthday had its 21st birthday a while ago.

Mine too!!!

...I'm so old...

Norman Reedus has a titanium eye-socket, as a result of a car accident in 2005.

And it was his 46th birthday last Tuesday.

Its that time again, i'll start.

Happy New Year from Wellington, New Zealand.

Great stories!
The group I'm running through RoW have had their issues with cursed items too. The Bard currently has a ring he can't remove, it'll probably be on till the end, they are a third the way through book 6.

Review and pics are up, sorry it took so long. The lads are already up to pt3.

In the last 2 years, China used more concrete than the USA did in the entire 20th century.

I also agree Souls for Smugglers Shiv is one of the best parts to an AP. It can make a great alternative start to Skull & Shackles too.

How bout Ironman and his armor, synthesist summoner maybe?

Jeez there's some big minis in this set! Reminds me of Serpents Skull.

Wahoo!! Thanks Todd. I'll post photos and a review when they're assembled.

ibayboy wrote:

You could probably play Mummy's Mask without trapfinding, as long as your Barb has enough HP!

I am very dissapointed to hear that.

Paizo has shown us in shattered star that interesteing traps/puzzles can be made.

and...

@ibayboy - if the Mummy's Mask traps can all be solved with sufficient HP then those are pretty disappointing traps.

sorry guys, it was an old joke about using the barb as a trap-triggerer. I haven't even read Mummy's Mask, I would expect an AP on that theme to have some of the tricksy-est traps out there.

Hello Again,

I was listing to the audio book of At the Mountains of Madness and in it it says "the migo or the abominable snowmen" so does this mean that the migo are the abominable snowmen or was that a list of monsters.

Also while I am on the topic of that book. Do you thing it is possible that the professor was mad and his story is not as it seems? He seems to know just a little to much about everything related the eldar things for a short trip into there city.

Hi James, related to the above question, have you listened to any Lovecraft audio books? I like David McCallum reading Rats in the Walls. I almost crapped my pants listening to The Dunwich Horror on headphones in the middle of the night (when I was younger).

I agree with the idea to hold off on some ranks. In later books, learning new languages should be viable on the second level gained in each book. I am just about to GM book 6, and the bard in the party has been doing just this.

I third Row and SS. They're both choc full of wierdos.

You could probably play Mummy's Mask without trapfinding, as long as your Barb has enough HP!

Gah! I saw the new set and thought for a minute it was RoW pt6, sigh!
This looks cool though.

I started running this yesterday, as a filler, while we wait for the last set of paper minis for my RoW campaign. We just played it with the four pregens, and have found it quite challenging so far. Something we noticed was that there seems to be no way to identify magic items. The investigator and bloodrager have spellcraft but not detect magic, and the warpriest has read magic but no spellcraft. The investigator can do potions and poisons, but they're all scared to play with any other magic stuff they find.
Conclusion next week!

Name: Nissa Lightstep

Race: Sylph
Classes/levels: Bard/Rogue 14
Adventure: Reign of Winter - Rasputin must die!
Location: Prison camp

The Gory Details: Hit for 180 points of damage by a Destruction spell from the man himself. Left in ashes.

I think you'll find destruction doesn't even leave ashes, just a pile of your gear. ;)

What, too soon?

I was running The Harrowing and a player told me he was preparing a Dwarf Paladin for it.

He arrived with a Human fighter/cleric, who had the 'Raised by another race' trait, and insisted, despite all evidence to the contrary that he he was A. a Paladin, and B. a Dwarf.

He wasn't running a scam, his character really believed he was a Dwarf Paladin, to the great concern of the rest of the party.

DBH

I called it Corporal Carrot syndrome!

Sorry for the delay. Life got in the way this summer. But I promise if it's not done before Gen Con, it'll be done after Gen Con. ...Wait, that doesn't help. It'll be done in mid-August. Yeah, that's what I meant.

Erk! looks like we will have to make a start on WotR while we wait. Time to roll up a paladin. There is no question of carrying on without your minis, have fun at Gen Con.

ibayboy wrote:

DBH wrote:

DBH wrote nice things...

Thanks!

From the various SS threads it's clear that it's an AP that can easily fall flat.

I've read a lot of complaints where it's easy to see the GM didn't do the prep work, so you earned it.

DBH

versatile performance (Oratory/Diplomacy): 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (2) + 22 = 24

I know a certain sylph bard that won't be dying on Saturday!

edit: although, that dice roll was low!

Hi Liz and Todd! Do we have an eta on the final set of minis for RoW? Rasputin is nearly dead over here. Thanks, keep up the great work.

DBH wrote nice things...

Thanks!

To me the only furniture that seems a bit out is in C5, and C5c belongs to a large creature anyway. I think 10ft squares are just fine, you'll need them for the large creature fights as it is.

ibayboy your numerical ratings don't match your explanations.

I thought they did, maybe they're more like observations though?

Played this all the way through as GM...

1) GM Ease of Play: 6 Needed a lot of work, especially book 3. Also, books 5 and 6 can get a bit 'samey' with extra work to liven them at times.

2) Synthesis of the Story: 8 Good clear story running right through, plenty of clues and hints to drive PC's on. Except book 2, total railroad!

3) Role-play Friendly: 10 Book 1 has built in roleplay and works well, as does book 3 with a lot of work.

4) Combat Design: 8 Encounters are well written. Shadow demon in book 2 is dangerous, and again book 3 needs work to tie areas together. Books 5 and 6 suffer from being a bit 'samey', but I used this to my advantage, running enemies as coordinated, militaristic and adaptive.

5) Fun factor: 7 Book 1 was fantastic. Books 5 and 6 dragged a little. On the whole, I think my players enjoyed the campaign.

Played this all the way through as a player...

1) GM Ease of Play: 8 It seemed to be easy to run. GM needed to be prepared for PC's going anywhere. I don't think he changed to much out of the box. Our GM also ran the kingdom in the background after a concensus from players.

2) Synthesis of the Story: 8 Great storyline running through, although the final chapter seemed a bit tacked on, the lead-up somewhat obscured in earlier chapters.

3) Role-play Friendly: 7 Lots of opportunity for role-playing, a group running the kingdom building rules would have even more.

4) Combat Design: 6 Varied encounters, some hard with the wrong roll on random encounter table, or wrong direction in the sandbox. Suffered from 10 min adventuring day in most places. Our group weren't fans of the mass combat system.

5) Fun factor: 8 Really liked the hex-ploration system.

Nice, I like this one!

but...

sympathetic to her fighting style, tipped her off to an underground fighting ring in a seedy part of the city.

The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.

I have a personal spell compendium, which is up to date, with all Golarian spells included. Also all class lists except Magus. PM me and I can get a copy to you.

That, folks, is how you write a backstory!

Witches also have access to the Age Resistance spells.

DM says: You can't see the bottom of the pool from your hiding place by the door, there might be treasure...

DM means:

I played a witch, with 2 bard levels early on, all the way through S&S. She became the Hurricane Queen, and was the most fun character I've played, except for my first ever character 25 odd years ago. Yes Slumber felt boring, and as a result I didn't use it much, but that was my choice. Never took Ice Tomb hex. Misfotrune/ill omen were great and didn't seem to ruin the game for us. The rest of the party/crew was more worried about her constant use of blood transcription.