seasthyday's page

Goblin Squad Member. Organized Play Member. 9 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 3 Organized Play characters.


RSS

Grand Lodge

Everyone:
I am trying to figure out the correct way to apply a bonus to a Skill check for Monsters in general.
In the PFSRD, if you look at a sample creature like the Bugbear, it shows Skill Bonuses for the following:
- Intimidate +7
- Perception +8
- Stealth +10

I understand how those total modifiers for the listed skills are calculated; but what about the other Skills for which no Bonus is listed? For example:
- Escape Artist
- Swim
- Etc.

There are circumstances where the Creature needs to overcome an obstacle, like getting untangled from a net thrown over the Bugbear, or needing to swim across a pond.

Escape Artist is DEX based, so the Ability Score should provide a modifier of +1, and Swim is STR based, so the Ability Score should provide a modifier of +3, but no such Bonuses are listed in the PFSRD.

Do Ability Scores not provide a modifier for Creatures unless the Skill is specifically listed in the Creature stats? I don't get it.

Links for reference:
- Bugbear: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/humanoids/bugbear/

Grand Lodge 1/5

I'm trying to find where I can purchase/download the Silverhex Chronicles quests for use in my PFS group.

Can't find a link anywhere, but there's lots of discussion about it... where can I get a link to the PDF/Purchase?

Grand Lodge

I picked up the 3-day pass, but need to know the agenda of activities for Friday:

I either arrive late on Friday, or get there the day before and have all day Friday -- if the activities start early enough on Friday to make the extra night hotel stay worth it.

Where do we find the loose agenda for the Con?

Grand Lodge 1/5

Malag wrote:
They get always 2 minimum prestige for anything I belive.

"They" meaning the GM?

I'm pretty sure the players only get ONE for that scenario...

Grand Lodge 1/5

Hi, as the GM, I ran the We Be Goblins scenario; we loved it.
Today, I went to update the Society session for my players, who each earned the maximum Prestige of 1 point.
But I noticed that when I finished my entries, the system awarded me as the GM 2 PPs.
Do GMs get 2 PP for running a session?
Or are we supposed to be limited to the max available to the players who played the scenario?

Grand Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:


2) (and this is actually the main reason) Cost. We don't pay cartographers by the map... we pay them by the print size. The maps they build are meant to be viewed at the size they're printed at, after all; when we want to make a poster map of a map, we have to pay the artist for the increased size and they put more detail in. It's no big deal shrinking a map down in size; that's free. Expanding them up is very much NOT free.

Wow, good to know, James! I had no idea that cartographers were paid that way. I guess it makes sense that Paizo provides them at the size they are.

Generally, I've had good luck blowing things up and printing them at scale size.
However, I still miss the PC-version of the maps, with spoilers removed. Even if they must be small-sized, a PC-version makes it much more useful. If you can consider that for future efforts, that would be great. (And again, paying for the resource is something I -- and many others -- are more than willing to do. Afterall, our investment in the AP is already well underway at that point.)

Thanks for the reply!

Grand Lodge

Anguish wrote:

I agree with your points. (sic)

I don't think it'll happen because it's still more work on an already overworked staff, and it potentially competes with a paid product but it's nice to dream.

Well, I'm not sure that it's quite that much more work: the map has already been created (likely at 1:1 scale) -- they have simply reduced it down to fit on the page. So, as a web enhancement, making what was created available at the time of publishing would be a nice aide.

And frankly, if money is the problem, then sell the PDF enhancement pack as an optional product. There is no doubt that I would pay for it as a PDF (since I print the maps and illustrations myself anyway.) My guess is that many others would find value in this, too.

Perhaps if more people weigh in on this issue, Paizo will realize that people love their products and are willing to pay for them. Just make them available!

Grand Lodge

Hi Paizo Team:

This thread continues what elicited good response regarding the PDFs that Paizo publishes for the APs, here: LINK

In addition, I'd like to suggest a few more changes:

1) Make the Graphic images of maps bigger -- I will often enlarge the maps and print them on a poster printer for use in the game. I have to use Alien Skin Photoshop plugin to get the maps enlarged with high enough resolution to print out at scale -- and even then, the pixelization and loss of quality has been commented on by my players. In this electronic age, just make the PDF maps a full page size, please! Otherwise, they are little more than a pretty graphic that no one but the GM sees...

2) Provide a GM version of the map, with room numbers and secret doors, but also a PC version, that has been cleaned of GM-only information. Again, this helps your graphics be "usable" without lots of GM photoshop work to edit out the 'spoilers' in the maps you provide. You used to do this under the WoTC process, but the PC version of your maps seems to have fallen by the wayside -- and I miss them!

3) Paizo has the opportunity to excel in this area. PDFs are a "cheap" way for Paizo to make the GM's job easier, and these resources certainly made my life easier when I subscribed to your WoTC products... so please amp it up several notches and be the outstanding resources you clearly have shown us you can be.

Others may have more suggestions, too. Feel free to elaborate. Looking forward to Paizo's comments!

Grand Lodge

Hi Pathfinder Team:

I have a major problem with the Pathfinder Adventure Path resources I'm hoping you can solve.

I had been a long-time subscriber to Dungeon Magazine, as pubished by Paizo. What I most liked about how Paizo published Dungeon, and the adventure paths like Age of Worms, was that each magazine had an accompanying set of PDF resources.

The PDF resources were divided into two types: one for GM's, one for Players. The set for players had been scrubbed of GM info, like room numbers, hidden doors, etc. This was a GREAT resource of a GM, since I could simple print out the player version, and have an instant map for the players.

Now that I have purchased the Pathfinder RPG core rules and the first two volumes of Council of Thieves, I am disappointed. Paizo has for some reason discontinued the PDF resources that enhanced the Adventure Path.

I have tried to "make my own" by purchasing the PDFs, but since they are SECURED, Acrobat won't let me extract pages, save as images, or edit the maps to delete the GM room numbers, etc. In short, the PDF is worthless as compared to Paizo's previous practice when you published Dungeon Magazine.

I realize you are planning to publish maps of Westcrown, but since you are months behind on your development, can't you at least allow those of us with poster printers to be able to "make our own?"

We are just starting Council of Thieves now, but without the map of the city as a large scale reference, this is a major disappointment.

Please let me know if I've missed something. I really want to be able to use your PDFs like I did when you published Dungeon Magazine!

A previous and hopeful fan,
David