lojakz's page

Life happens. I get that. Every one who plays in the game I run has very different schedules. Two guys are disabled and aren't employed, but they have family obligations that come up. Another guy has regular days off, but they fall in the middle of the week. The other two can usually get what they need off when given enough notice. My job is the biggest pain. I work four days on then have two days off, because of that, and the hours I work (at 3 a.m. half the time) we game about every 2 1/2 weeks.

I'd love it for everybody to be there, but sometimes life happens. I'll run the game with 4 people, but no less than that. If we plan a game night and people end up cancelling we'll do board/card games instead.

There was one guy I kicked out/stopped coming. I had surgery about 9 months ago and after I recovered I decided to do the next several game sessions at my home (we were rotating it to other peoples houses in the group for the rest of the players convenience as I live some distance outside of town) as it made it so I would not have to carry a large bag of books which I wasn't able to do a the time. Excuses came from the guy, all of the legitimate, but each one becoming progressively slimmer. When I was finally able to start packing my gear again and was able to run the game at another player's home he had the same excuse he had the previous game (which was about 2 weeks before that). At this point he'd missed four games in a row. The fifth game, after getting firm confirmation mid-week (always send a mid-week text out as the games are so far apart) he doesn't show. No response to my text and no phone calls. I stopped inviting him to the games. Honestly I don't think he liked our play style, and he and another fellow in the group had a beef with each other outside the game. So given that, I'd have to say if you miss more than five times in a row and you fail to contact me the last time, you're out of the game.

lojakz wrote:

I'm really looking forward to this AP. REALLY looking forward to having another adventure set in Kaer Maga. I do have one question, more of a curiosity really, will we get to see Janderhoff in this AP at all?

We'll do a little bit with Janderhoff in the upcoming Varisia Player's Companion...

...but we won't be going there in this Adventure Path.

That's good to know. I keep hoping that a little more info on the city crops up, so I'm looking forward to seeing what's in the Varisia Player's Companion. I'm a bit sad that Janderhoff won't make an appearance, but I'm not shocked by it either. Either way I'm really looking forward to this AP.

I'm really looking forward to this AP. REALLY looking forward to having another adventure set in Kaer Maga. I do have one question, more of a curiosity really, will we get to see Janderhoff in this AP at all?

HBO has renewed GAME OF THRONES for a third season, to air in the Spring of 2013. At the moment it sounds likes the season will again consist of 10 episodes, although HBO has not officially confirmed this. However, in recent interviews the producers have said they cannot make more than 10 episodes a season without a substantial increase in budget and time, so it seems unlikely it will be more than this.

Season 3 will cover approximately the first one-half to two-thirds of A STORM OF SWORDS, the third novel in the SONG OF ICE AND FIRE sequence. The novel is too long (half again the length of the first) to be adapted into one season. According to the producers, they plan to culminate the season with an event code-named 'RW' (book readers should work this out immediately).

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are returning to produce and co-write most of the season. George R.R. Martin should be contributing one episode as usual. It's too early to talk about casting, but major roles debuting in Season 3 should include Oberyn Martell, Mance Rayder and Tormund Giantsbane, as well as the delayed Edmure and Hoster Tully (and possibly the Blackfish). Production should resume in Belfast (and presumably Dubrovnik and Iceland) in June or July this year.

Well this makes me almost giddy.

I didn't vote for this entry, but I'm super stoked you won. I had a real pickle deciding who to vote for this year, and it came down nearly to a coin flip. Congrats!

"SNEAK ATTACK!"

The reason I run with AP's in Paizo's setting are pretty much the same as most of the people above me already listed:

1)I don't have time to devout to fully fleshing out the adventure each week. While I do add things to the AP and change things to better suit my play group, I don't have time to develop and fully flesh out the plot of my campaign and still play frequently.

2) I love Golarion. It's very close what I'd want in my own setting. I do have a couple of homebrews that I've played with in the past but Golarion hits all the right notes for me. It also allows me to fill in details on certain regions and places, I have plenty of room to expand as I need to.

I wanted this book after having read Skin Saw Murders for the first time oh so long ago. I even said as much back then a couple of times.
I'm pretty happy to see it. (I knew you guys would eventually release it, it's just too cool not to.)

I'm very happy to read this blog and can't wait for the next installment. I love reading about gaming history- the only one I know in my circle of friends and acquaintances that does. So keep em' coming. I find the interplay between the different companies during the earlier days of the hobby absolutely fascinating. (I'd love to read more about the development of Ars Magica, and the merging with Whitewolf and so on... but I suppose that will have to wait for your autobiography Lisa).

lojakz wrote:

Congrats Ben! Just reading through all the entries and organizations today and I'm quite enjoying them.

I was curious. I saw you were from Logan, I think I may know you actually. I lived in Logan for a number of years and used to game with a Ben up there.

Kudos on making the top 32 and good luck. I'll be following your work closely.

Entirely possible...I did GM a number of games at Cache Game & Hobby, as it was called at the time, before running most of my games at home. I admit to being curious if I did game with you now...

But mostly I'm keeping my mouth bloody shut so that I don't incidentally upset the judges.

I'll shoot you a message on here. I see they allow for private messages now.

I'm a little over half way through reading all the entries, and this is the first I've commented on. I don't do that a lot (only one or two a year) but when I do it's because I find the entry Awesome! You've got my vote, and yours is the only one that is 100% secure for this round. I can't wait to see what else you come up with.

[I also want to say, I love that you're exploring Tian Xia design space, I don't know how the folks at Paizo feel about it, but there's a lot of open ended potential there so I imagine it feels like you have room to stretch a bit.]

Congrats Ben! Just reading through all the entries and organizations today and I'm quite enjoying them.

I was curious. I saw you were from Logan, I think I may know you actually. I lived in Logan for a number of years and used to game with a Ben up there.

Kudos on making the top 32 and good luck. I'll be following your work closely.

I'd love to see Paizo do something like "Book of the Righteous" from Green Ronin, compile info on the Gods and have a running narrative of a few versions of the mythology behind it all. Having it all in one place would be nice, I admit, but it's not something I look for any time soon.

I have nearly all of the printed material, only missing a few of the earlier modules. Though I don't often post on the boards (though I do lurk about them at times). I'd suggest the "Inner Sea World Guide" and go from there. There's certainly more information on Varisia more than any other region, thanks to 2 1/2 AP's, soon to be another at least partial AP, and a couple of city books "Guide to Korvosa" and "City of Strangers". The AP's do flesh out specific areas quite a bit. The campaign setting books giver fairly decent broad overviews of other regions, usually entire countries (or several countries).

You don't need much to run a game in Golarion, and most of what you need is available in "The Inner Sea World Guide" and on the Pathfinderwiki, but pick up other stuff as you need for your game.

(While being a completionist myself, I don't recommend it for sane people.)

I'm not going to pontificate about the benefits or negative aspects of the model, I'm just going to bite the hook:

I'm predominantly Narrativist and Simulationist leaning much more towards the Narrative aspect.

My group is very much Narrativist. Each person leans either towards Gamist or Simulationist in their own way, but the core of group leans towards the Narrative aspect.

Pathfinder functions quite well for Gamist and Simulationist play, but that doesn't mean it's solely used for one or the other. I certainly may ignore rules at times to serve the narrative (though not as often as you might think).

There were a few times I've felt held hostage, but it never lasted for very long. Honestly I'm pretty open. If it's not in a book I own (and I have a lot of books) then I want to see it and read it over. Usually, unless it's glaringly overpowered, I'm willing to allow it. That being said, I'm usually very upfront at the start of the campaign as to what I will allow and what I won't. Often times there is no need to ask, because the answers in print right in front of you. I want this to be a fun experience for everybody and I encourage options, but not at the expense of the other players fun and my own fun.

Hmmm... This is a tricky one, because there are certain sections of some of the modules that are personal favorites but don't extend to the module themselves so:

Seven Days to the Grave
The Edge of Eternity
Burnt Offerings
Trial of the Beast
Escape from Old Korvosa

Those would be my top five, whole modules that I just love.

The Skinsaw Murders: The haunted house and investigation is fantastic, I can do with out the excursion to Magnimar (even though it is one of my favorite cities).

The Spires of Xin Shalast: The haunted cabin in the mountains. I do like the city, but it isn't intriguing like the cabin.

That's all I can think of actually at the moment.

And as to the change in conversation about waiters and tipping. I give very good tips. 15% is the bare minimum and that is only if the service is poor or I'm completely strapped for cash. 20%-30% is closer to the norm. I've had many friends make their living waiting tables, and know it can be a very difficult job and I respect that.

lojakz wrote:

First off, I'm pretty much in the camp of "no show, no xp."

Secondly: the players in my games have no idea how much xp their characters actually have. I keep track of it behind the scenes. They get xp for encounters, for staying focus and in character, for doing cool stuff during the game, I also give out bonus xp for work put in outside of the game. This includes game journals, art work, coming up with a background for a person/place/thing in the game world. It is extra credit and is rewarded as such.

I'll tell them when they are close to leveling up. But they have no idea what their exact total xp is. If a player doesn't show up he get's no xp. They know this and if they had a problem, well they probably wouldn't play in my games. I'm ok with that. I'm a pretty fair tempered DM anyway and I never with hold XP to punish people. I do understand that things come up, and people have to miss, no biggie, but you're not getting xp if you do. Though how much you missed you'll never know for sure.

I have never played in a game where if somebody missed the game session they still received XP. To me the notion is ridiculous. Is my way the only way? No. But it's the way I run my games, and I'm very clear and upfront about it from the get go.

So you clearly view XP as a reward for the players, and not a reward for their characters, then?

The whole "I'd never withhold XP to punish anyone, you just won't get as much if you don't show up and don't do as much work as some other players, that's all!" argument strikes me as the same sort of "logic" that people use when they want to stiff their waiter on a tip. "It's a reward for exceptionally good service!" they'll say, ignoring the fact that it's not actually a reward for exceptionally good service, and is actually expected for normal service, especially since it is designed to make up for otherwise paltry wages. In their mind, they're not punishing the waiter by not giving them a tip, they're just not rewarding...

I'm not arguing with you Scott, I've seen your side and I disagree. You've yet to come up with anything compelling to convince me otherwise. You can disagree with me (which you obviously do) and I'm ok with that. I'm just throwing my opinion in the pot.

First off, I'm pretty much in the camp of "no show, no xp."

Secondly: the players in my games have no idea how much xp their characters actually have. I keep track of it behind the scenes. They get xp for encounters, for staying focus and in character, for doing cool stuff during the game, I also give out bonus xp for work put in outside of the game. This includes game journals, art work, coming up with a background for a person/place/thing in the game world. It is extra credit and is rewarded as such.

I'll tell them when they are close to leveling up. But they have no idea what their exact total xp is. If a player doesn't show up he get's no xp. They know this and if they had a problem, well they probably wouldn't play in my games. I'm ok with that. I'm a pretty fair tempered DM anyway and I never with hold XP to punish people. I do understand that things come up, and people have to miss, no biggie, but you're not getting xp if you do. Though how much you missed you'll never know for sure.

I have never played in a game where if somebody missed the game session they still received XP. To me the notion is ridiculous. Is my way the only way? No. But it's the way I run my games, and I'm very clear and upfront about it from the get go.

Some how I keep catching the episode on Philip K. Dick, but none of the others. While the episode proved interesting, it's frustrating to have it be the only one on 3 times in a row when I've had the chance to channel surf.

(I'm actually looking forward to H.G. Wells and Jules Verne).

I can see myself swiping some of these. I actually have a player who's character likes to make stuff up, usually based off an event witnessed where all the details aren't clear, or lying about something the party did and blaming it on another group.... though sometimes he just makes stuff completely up from thing air. When I update my rumor sheets I add in his new ones, sometimes changed slightly sometimes not. It's a lot of fun for both him and me.

I'm running Curse of the Crimson Throne right now and we're almost done with the first volume. I add content though, and the players like to go off on little tangents themselves. I figure two more game session should do it, and that will make it 13 total. We average about 4 hour sessions, though some are 5 to 5 1/2 and others are 2 1/2 to 3.

I'm blending each volume into the next so there's no clear line between adventures (the last event of the first adventure hasn't taken place yet but the first event of the second adventure has). But even with added content i anticipate the each remaining volume taking no more than 15 sessions and no less than 10. (So we should be finishing volume 3 or partway through volume 4 this time next year with our every other week schedule).

lojakz wrote:

Szuriel because of how contrary she is. She appears to be an epic and angelic being, but is just as hideous as the other horsemen.

I like her too, and I was pretty happy with the art. The original mental image I had of her was something very much like a winged, corrupted Rodina Mat Zovyot, pose and all but with the bleeding eyes and pirhana grin.

I was not familiar with that statue, (I'm know more about ancient Roman and Celtic history than I do about Russian battles in WWII).

It's amazing! I have this horrifying image in my mind of Szuriel, as large as that statue, leading a vanguard of daemons to destroy a world. Absolutely horrifying (and AWESOME). I wish I had a knack for the visual arts.

So now that the book has been out for a little while, I have a few questions to ask for those folks who've already gotten their copy, or have read through the pdf while it's in the mail. I've been wanting to write a book like this for oh, forever, and so suffice to say I'm absolutely desperate for feedback: positive, negative, or otherwise.

So a few questions:

1) Among the new daemons in the book, which are you favorite and why?

2) Which of the Horsemen/Archdaemons are your favorite, and why?

3) What more regarding daemons/Abaddon do you want to know more about?

4) What part of the book in general did you like the most, and likewise what part of the book did you not care for (and why especially for the last one)?

Feedback here on the boards or if you want to roast me over the coals and not do it in public for something or another, you can email me any comments are fiend@laughingfiend.net

:D

1): The temerdaemon followed by the obcisidaemon. The temerdaemon because I'm fond of the idea of major catastrophes being engineered by some horrible evil. That and I really like the look and description of them. The Obcisidaemon because they'd make an epic (not in game terms but in story terms) foe for the PC's to deal with at the end of a campaign - not the mastermind behind the evil, but the actual evil the mastermind is plotting. I love that idea.

2) Charon, followed by Szuriel. Charon because he's patient. He has all the time in the world to collect the souls, and the fact he disguises himself among his boatman just thrills me with the story possibilities. Szuriel because of how contrary she is. She appears to be an epic and angelic being, but is just as hideous as the other horsemen. I really wish there were a variety of daemon that had more angelic features to play with that paradigm shift of don't judge a book by it's cover.

3) What more don't I want to know about? I'd love more detail on the plane itself. More details on the separate domains of each of the horsemen as well. Specifically adventure sites, not many but one or two with some significant detail would be awesome from each area. Something akin to "Cities of Galarion" or "Dungeons of Golarion" but for separate locales in Abbadon would be a firm purchase from me even if I didn't have the subscription (I'd love to see the same treatment for the Abyss, The Hells, and perhaps one or two others.) I As far as daemon's.... well nothing specific, just more and more and more would make me happy.

4)I love the excerpts from The Book of the Damned the most. It just oozes with flavor and just absolutely fascinating to read (it's my favorite part of all three volumes). My least favorite part, strangely is probably the prestige class. It's pretty minor though, I'm just not interested in a lot of rules info in a book like this. (I'm much more flavor oriented than I am rules oriented).

Anyway, great series! Really love your stuff and can't to see what's next.

I suppose just about anything I write could possibly be a spoiler, so better safe than not.

** spoiler omitted **

The exact same thing happened in my game (last game session actually).

A question just came up in my game, followed by a seemingly correct but unsatisfying solution, followed by some more speculation and then a related question.

The question was from one of my players, who's a fighter but rather obsessed with baking as he's from a family of bakers and intends, once he's sought his fortune, to retire to start his own bakery and also use the recipes he's learned in his travel.

The Question: Who is the god of bakers in Golarion?

My Answer: Abadar, who's the god of banking and civilization. Bread is a nickname for money and all cities require bakeries to function.

Why this is vaguely unsatisfying: Why should a CG character have to worship a LN god to pursue his passion?

I then came across a related question when a friend had her washing machine die and she was planning to make a shrine to St. Jude on the new one which couldn't be installed yet due to rusty pipe, and I started wondering which Catholic saint presided over washing machines or laundry in general. I guessed it might be St. Veronica, who had the miraculous veil which she used as a towel, but I of course went to look it up and I found there were no less than five Catholic saints in charge of laundresses. St. Veronica was only one, and she split her duties by also taking care of photographers, but while St. Martha, St. Lawrence, and St. Clare of Assisi all had laundry lists of professions who could pray to them, only St. Hunna showed the dedication to be the Holy Washerwoman and only preside over laundresses.

I'm thinking it must be a similar situation with the gods in Golarion. Abadar is the god of bread and breadmakers insomuch as bread is part of civilization and commerce. Urgathoa can probably claim some baking duties as well as goddess of feasting and the whole "I'll grind his bones to make my bread" shtick. Even Calistria probably likes honeycakes and blesses anyone who makes them. But beyond that there's probably a whole host of minor saints, blessed...

I'd be almost inclined to come up with a collection of petty (demi) gods and household gods to fit into these sorts of niches. Perhaps they are simply cohorts to the major gods. Maybe they are lesser powers (Empereal Lords, First Worlders) re-imagined to fit these niches. From my perspective it would be much like the minor gods worshiped by the Romans. You don't hear about them as much as the more popular gods because only very specific groups gave them any abecyance, but they were there. Pratog the god of bakers and millers in Galt may not be worshiped in Taldor where the god of bakers there is Lamalon. Pratog may fall under the purview of Erastil (perhaps he's an ally or a cohort) while Lamalon falls under Abadar.

Just a thought. It would most likely be the approach I'd use in game.

Hi, i have the Harrow deck cards, how can i tell what card matches what alignment?? i cant see any indication on the cards as to what alignment it corresponds too... might be being thick..

The alignment positions go like such: the top row is Good, the middle row Neutral, and the bottom row is Evil. The left column Lawful, middle column is neutral, and the right column is Chaotic. The logic is pretty easy to catch once you look at both the title of the card, the art and the position of the symbol (as well as what the symbol is).

I've had a lot of fun with the deck so far. My players in CotCT are a bit paranoid to use it.

I may be blind by I don't recall seeing a coat-of-arms for House Jeggare in any of the CoCT books or the Guide to Korvosa. Anyone have a clue as to what it might look like?

It's on page 42 in "The Guide to Korvosa". It's 4 swords, blades to pommel's surrounding a stone tower in a square on a white field.

I recently picked up a nearly complete copy of Hero Quest, along with two expansions. I still get giddy thinking about it. Between the copy I just picked up, and the old copy (which was less complete) I had as a kid I have a full functioning board game.

We may actually get together tonight and play a scenario or two.

Only when we do specific sequels to an adventure path.

For the most part, though, what happens in an Adventure Path STAYS in the Adventure Path. AKA: You can run pretty much all of them in any order you want.

This handling of meta-plot is one thing I love about your setting. It means I can handle the meta-plot of the world/continent/region on my own. On the reverse of that it's one of my buddy's biggest pet peeves with the Pathfinder Campaign setting. We've argued. He has some good points. I still disagree though.

I've been waiting for this book for 3 years.

YAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Will be the next AP after Skull and Shackle!

This will be an artifact hunting AP set in Magnimar. PCs will be searching for the original Sihedron of Emperor Zin as anti-runelord mojo. Just announced at Gencon!

Also Rise of the Runelords is due to be re-released in hardbound!

This makes me immensely happy. I've been wanting more Magnimar since the Skinsaw Murders.

lojakz wrote:

Has the Castle Keeper's Guide been released yet? I know it has been a work in progress for quite some time.

It's available right here on Paizo...

Castle Keeper's Guide

It's also available in the "digest" edition...

Excellent. I think I'll be picking this up very, very soon.

Their Castle Keeper's Guide will have the info for bringing feats and skills back into the C&C system in addition to other things, such as class information from levels 12 to 24 and alternate character generation methods. Of course, the entirety of the CK is entirely optional material for the Castle Keeper but it does exist if there's a need for such.

Has the Castle Keeper's Guide been released yet? I know it has been a work in progress for quite some time.

lojakz wrote:

The main dice mechanic itself is easy to use, and very functional, but isn't terribly robust. I, however, didn't mind this because it's very easy to tweak things in C&C, there's not as much math, so unexpected results due to missing something while tweaking the mechanics aren't likely to occur as often. So keep in mind, there are no Feats, or skills, but these are easy to plug in (keep in mind however you will want to trim the bonuses down from feats).

These are actually big perks in my eyes. What I find time and again running OGL-based systems is that choosing feats and assigning skill points intimidate new players, and more experienced players who know how to game the system tend to pick the same game-breaking feat combos every time they build. I want to move away from that, and the Siege engine mechanic, although very simplistic, goes along well with my GMing philosophy - I am a big believer in "Page 42" for 4E games and the fan-created Pathfinder equivalencies that are available on the web. Siege seems to emulate that approach very well.

Quote:

As for running things from older works, it is absolutely a snitch to run material from 1st/2nd/OD&D (I never used it with 3rd ed material). For monsters you just note if they will use physical or mental attributes as their good save (monsters have two saves while PC's and statted NPC's have their saves tied into the 6 ability scores) which is easy to do just by looking at the monster in most instances, then you note how many hit dice it has and that's the number to add to your d20 rolls. That's the simplest way to do it, and takes about 5 seconds.

This is a draw for me as well. I'm going to schedule a playtest with a mix of different gamers and try converting monsters from all four editions of D&D as well as Pathfinder just to see how well the conversion mechanics hold up. I expect 4E will probably be the biggest mismatch, but it's worth a shot regardless just to see how it affects balance.

Quote:

I really enjoyed running

...

I'm happy that the system will work for you. I love it, and though I run Pathfinder most of the time these days I'm very much excited to pull it out again and start running a game again.

I've bought digest copies of the C&C PHB and Monsters & Treasures, and ma anxiously awaiting their arrival. But I'd like to hear some feedback - be it good or bad - from other GMs who have tried C&C. Did you go to the system seeking something easier to prep and run than OGL-based systems? Did it do what you wanted it to do? What did you like or dislike about the system? Is converting material from AD&D 1E/2E and D&D3.X really as easy and compatible as their marketing material claims?

It really depends on what you're looking for. I personally love C&C, but it has an "old school" feel but has the intuitiveness of d20 for the most part.

It is more retro than you might be anticipating: The classes are only given levels up to 12, (then it's a fixed hit point(s) per level after that). Each class is balanced with itself, so the experience tables exist individually for each class instead of being generic. The main dice mechanic itself is easy to use, and very functional, but isn't terribly robust. I, however, didn't mind this because it's very easy to tweak things in C&C, there's not as much math, so unexpected results due to missing something while tweaking the mechanics aren't likely to occur as often. So keep in mind, there are no Feats, or skills, but these are easy to plug in (keep in mind however you will want to trim the bonuses down from feats). I haven't been there in ages but I do know that Troll Lords Games had a lot of info on from members on their message boards about adding and tweaking the system.

As for running things from older works, it is absolutely a snitch to run material from 1st/2nd/OD&D (I never used it with 3rd ed material). For monsters you just note if they will use physical or mental attributes as their good save (monsters have two saves while PC's and statted NPC's have their saves tied into the 6 ability scores) which is easy to do just by looking at the monster in most instances, then you note how many hit dice it has and that's the number to add to your d20 rolls. That's the simplest way to do it, and takes about 5 seconds.

I really enjoyed running C&C, and will probably pull it out and run it for some younger nieces and nephews this fall. It does require a slightly different approach than 3.5/Pathfinder, and you the GM have to be willing to adjudicate rules by the seat of your pants, as many are not covered (this means you need players who are ok with that, some people are not). I liked the system, but it isn't as robust as many, and that is off putting for many people. You may love it and in fact stuff from your homebrew (based off what you said) may click quite easily into the framework presented in C&C. Anyway, it's late, and I'm rambling and possibly not making much sense, but I hope that helps.

Edit: I couldn't resist.

:-)

Fever
School: necromancy [disease]; Level cleric/oracle 2, druid 2
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: Close
Target: 1 living creature
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance: Yes

The target is sickened for the duration of this spell. Creatures immune to disease are immune to this spell.

From my understanding the only cure is more cowbell.

I bet you can not read it.

> Dresden Codex <

.

I'm pretty sure Lovecraft has been correct all along..

I certainly can't read it. But there are those that can. This is one of three remaining books that were saved from burning written by the Mayans. It was "rescued" by a Russian soldier turned scholar (damned if I can remember his name right now) and he used it to come up with his own theories on what the Mayan writing was/meant. His studies, while not completely breaking the Mayan system of writing, certainly did much to help them finally do so.

I've become fascinated with Mayan history recently.

lojakz wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Okay, I am in the process of re-reading the first book and just came across something that sorta supports my, granted, slightly crazy theory.

After Ned falls from the horse in Kings Landing and is given milk of the poppy, he dreams of fighting not one but three members of the kingsguard in Dorne, which was where Rhaegar's "wife" was from. Reason, unknown. But, as he is dreaming, he recalls the conversation that they had, that he had looked for each of them, all three of them the best swordsmen, including Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, at the Trident and none of them were there. They were at this weird tower in Dorne, possibly protecting something that Lyanna wanted.

Crazy theory, again, but might it have been Rhaegar with Jon? I think I remember it being said somewhere in derision that it was the war for Lyanna's naughty bits... Maybe there was more to her and Rhaegar than GRRM has previously implied.

Two weeks until the next book comes out. Will have to go to drive to the store and buy it physically, i am afraid. *le sigh*

A map of the world of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.

Westeros, the Free Cities and Slaver's Bay are canon, some of the linking areas, Ibben, the Summer Isles and the Jade Sea region are speculative. Though I nicked the north-eastern coast of Essos from the TV title sequence where it shows the sea north-east of Vaes Dothrak, so that's vaguely canon, maybe.

This is excellent! It may not be accurate, but it is very cool, and well put together.

I like this idea a lot.

Other ideas include Lamm jumping into the ocean. "Exit, pursued by an alligator." Later he can either survive and come after the PCs again, or else return as an undead revenant (which actually works nicely with the plot of Episode 2).

I would have liked Lamm to survive, but the PC's in my game had it out for him. Really, really had it out for him. He did last longer than one session though (mostly because my players have poor planning skills and are even worse at executing said "plans") but I don't intend to have his "presence" go away any time soon.

I personally have no interest in seeing sub-races put into this book. Nor do I want to see variant races. However I wouldn't mind seeing some regional/climate/elemental templates put into this book. Something easily applied to all races easily.

Lamm is a pretty good starting villain, but he never appears again after that first ep. Any way to give him some continuing relevance?

Here's one thought: make Pilts his son.

This doesn't require much handwaving, actually. Have PCs who were children in Lamm's factory remember that Lamm had a son -- a sullen, pudgy young man who consider himself an "artist", and who constantly fought with his father over money.

Pilts himself hardly cares about the death of his father -- he hated the old man and hadn't talked to him in years. But if he discovers that the PCs are his father's killers, he might play it up just for the sheer drama of the thing. I'd have it be obvious that he's overacting: "OHHH, and now the LOYAL SON confronts the MURDERERS of his LONG-ESTRANGED PARENT!"

Not a big deal, but it could add some amusing interaction to the otherwise very uneven third volume.

Doug M.

I rather like this idea. My players just killed Lamm last session (in fact we ended just shortly after that, so the city hasn't yet exploded with the chaos of the Kings death yet.) I'm going to steal this (though none of the players were ever children in Lamms gangs, it could still work, just use the rumor mill to drop the info that Lamm's son is looking for his father's killers.)

Anybody know the best resource for details on Nirmathas?

There is a tiny bit of information on Nirmathas in the module Crypt of the Everflame and Masks of the Living Gods and both modules are part of a loose story arc involving the church of Razmiran (there is a third adventure titled "City of Gold Death").

Both of modules take place in Nirmathas. Crypt takes place in a small village in the northern part of Nirmathas and has details on the village Kassen and a little bit about the history of that particular part of the country. Masks is set in the city of Tamran, which is (iirc) the capitol of Nirmathas. There's a little bit of info on one of the rivers that flow through the country (which name I can't recall at the moment) and some info on the city itself. There isn't a lot about the political situation in Nirmathas, or the military structure, or the conflict between Nirmathas and Molthune. The Inner Sea Guide has a pretty decent amount of info on all of that however. There is also an entry in the NPC guide for an NPC from Nirmathas who is retired from the military.

As far as I know, this is pretty much all of the info on the country that is available save for somethings that may or may not appear in the PFS modules. If you have the Inner Sea World Guide then you probably have most the info you'd need or want to run an adventure there. The modules do add somethings and have some info on specific portions of the country, but may not be useful for your purposes.

lojakz wrote:

I had thought this topic had come up in the past here on the boards.

Pretty much every topic has come up in the past here on the Boards. The Archives are a great resource, and after much effort by Vic are now well-indexed and highly searchable as well.

R.

LOL. I think what I should have put was, I remember seeing a thread on this (specifically meta plot in published settings). I've been around the boards for quite a while, I just don't post very often. Typically because others' have covered what I want to say.

That being said, the link you provided has some great advice. The link from the originating thread with in that thread (does that makes sense?) will have to wait another day. It's time for bed.

lojakz wrote:

How do the folks that frequent the boards here in Paizoland feel about meta plot in their campaign settings?

Quoting myself from an old post:

Monte Cook's best ever Dungeoncraft (IMHO) "The Campaign Outline: Plotting the Campaign (Part 5)" in Issue #125 covered all of this pretty well.

I discussed Meta-Plot a bit with another fellow HERE, the first post of which contains a link to our preceding discussion of the issue.

Personally, I have several regional and continental meta-plots and even a world-wide "uber-plot" running in my homebrew. It gives purpose and structure to the world and storylines. However, as a DM you need to be careful about giving away too much too soon, and also avoid railroading your Players into your metaplot. In my case, the metaplots evolve entirely in the background, and I allow the PCs the chance to nibble on various hooks. If the Players/PCs express an interest then we pursue it. If they do not, then I don't force them that direction.

Granted, my style of Storytelling is entirely Player-driven. I determine what the background plots are, while they determine their level of involvement with those plots as well as the resultant storylines.

FWIW,

Rez

Thanks for the link. I'm going to read through it, and probably a chunk of the original thread. I had thought this topic had come up in the past here on the boards.

It's been a few days, and I thought perhaps I should give my thoughts on the topic as the OP.

I'm not a big fan of meta-plot in published campaigns/RPG's. Specifically on going meta-plot that develops through a constant releases of products. Things like TORG, OwoD, Dragonlance, to a lesser extent ShadowRun, and pretty much anything based around a franchise (Star Wars being the biggest example) are typically things that I don't enjoy running games in. Some of the meta-plot is easily ignored, such as in ShadowRun's case. Others are difficult, especially when you have players that are well versed in the advancing meta-plot (StarWars being the largest beast and culprit).

Now this isn't to say that I hate all meta-plot. I don't mind it when it initially defines a setting and is given as a tool for me to develop without the help of the publishers. It's what attracted me initially to both Golarion, and to Eberron, the RPG products of the Iron Kingdoms (and a few other settings I have in my collection). Doing this makes it much easier to ignore the meta-plot, and also makes it feel like less of a race to get the most up to date information.

As for my own campaigns? There's always a meta-plot going on. When I run a home-brew I do pretty much what you do Luna Eladrin, come up with a few potential story-lines and then follow the players down the rabbit hole. I also run AP's, which always have an overarching meta-plot, this requires steering the players a bit. (I don't really like seeing AP's as being railroad tracks. I prefer to view it as a highway and it's my job to keep the players on the road. They certainly can veer off at any time, but it's my responsibility to get them back.)

As a GM, I usually find metaplots highly interesting. They add... "purpose", as currently I can't find a better word.

However, it's also very true that an overbearing or (even slightly) poorly designed metaplot can wreak havoc on the most interesting setting/campaign.

So, a very careful application, with some in depth considerations are mandatory elements.

Now to further add to the discussion, what's an example of a meta-plot that works in RPG's? Further more, what's an example of one that is poorly designed or overbearing?

(I can think of examples on my own. I'm curious what others opinions are, this isn't even something that I'd considered in great depth until just recently. The structure of meta-plot and how present it is in an RPG or setting wasn't something I that even occurred to me but now I realize that it is one of the primary basis for what settings/rpg's I enjoy most.)