steelhead's page

Or perhaps I should amend the above statement about "time travel." I think "alternate planet/time travel" is more appropriate. Epic stuff! Woohoo!

After Kingmaker I had to unsubscribe from the Adventure Paths, because, with a student's income I couldn't justify the expense. But the innovation with this adventure path - Baba Yaga's hut, interplanetary and time travel - I'm back on board for at least this ride. Once again, Paizo's creativity made me a loyal (subscribing) customer.

Congratulations all! The game is afoot!

I don't think there has been anything done with Shadow Westcrown. However, if you want ideas about how Paizo is using the Plane of Shadows you might want to check out the Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-11: The Penumbral Accords and/or the Pathfinder Module: The Midnight Mirror

Good luck and have fun!

Lots of punk in those lists :-)
Dead Kennedys are curiously absent
And adding to the Irish mix, The Tossers

I will try not to reproduce any of the great bands in the above lists:
Chemical Brothers
Crash Worship (but more for the live shows)
The Damned
Dead Can Dance
The Doors
Freshlyground
Hugh Masekela
Lupe Fiasco
Mandoza
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Morphine
Mr. Bungle
Pink Floyd
Skinny Puppy
Sonic Boom Six
Spoek Mathambo

Wow, pretty small sample for this exit poll. Not sure you can count on its accuracy.... ;)

So in other words, it's anyone's game (?!?!). Although, according to these exit polls, I would guess that Russell, Sam, or Mike could be contenders for the coveted fourth spot - with Tom, James and Steve being a sure thing . Ah, the joy of being a pundit! Hey, is anyone hiring political pundits for the 2012 presidential elections? Being a public diviner is kind of fun - now if I could only get paid for it.

I'm agreed with Pedro - we might as well vote for four, because that is how many people are going to be in the final round. So despite reservations that I share with many of the comments, I made my fourth vote for Brike Isle. It is definitely gonzo in a good way, and I love that roleplaying is an integral part of the encounter. It should be interesting to read some of the feedback from those who got a chance to playtest it (I did not).

Here's the traditional exit poll sheet recording the votes ;)

RPGSS 2012 - Round 4 Exit Poll

Ah ha! I knew this had been done in the past, but could not find a link to it at Paizo. I like that it is much clearer than my list. However, is it correct that if someone playtests an encounter they are suppossed to add a mark in the column for "votes" AND the column for "playtests"?

Adam Donald – The Slavers’ End:
Steve Miller – Brike Isle: 1 N
James Olchak – Mushti’s Beguiling Oddities: 4 N
Tom Phillips – Eightfinger’s Tomb: 4 N
Sam Polak – Sequestered Palace Sumptuous: 2 N
Daniel Rust – Crimsondale Villa: 1 N
Russel Vaneekhoven – Hungry Mountain Dragon: 1 N
Mike Welham – Thanatopic Amphisbaena: 2 N

P=The encounter was Playtested
N=Not playtested

Bump

Adam Donald – The Slavers’ End:
Steve Miller – Brike Isle:
James Olchak – Mushti’s Beguiling Oddities: 1 N
Tom Phillips – Eightfinger’s Tomb: 1 N
Sam Polak – Sequestered Palace Sumptuous:
Daniel Rust – Crimsondale Villa:
Russel Vaneekhoven – Hungry Mountain Dragon:
Mike Welham – Thanatopic Amphisbaena: 1 N

P=The encounter was Playtested
N=Not playtested

My votes so far are for: 1 N for Eightfinger’s Tomb, 1 N for Thanatopic Amphisbaena, and 1 N for Mushti’s Beguiling Oddities

In this exit poll I wanted to get an idea of who might take the round, although these have proved unreliable in the past. However, I also thought it might be interesting to get a sense of how many people actually play tested the round. So in order to vote, everyone should reply “quoting” the last message. If you play tested the round, add 1 P to the list, if not add 1 N. I will add a post to demonstrate…

Adam Donald – The Slavers’ End:
Steve Miller – Brike Isle:
James Olchak – Mushti’s Beguiling Oddities:
Tom Phillips – Eightfinger’s Tomb:
Sam Polak – Sequestered Palace Sumptuous:
Daniel Rust – Crimsondale Villa:
Russel Vaneekhoven – Hungry Mountain Dragon:
Mike Welham – Thanatopic Amphisbaena:

…and in my next message I quote myself to give an example (just removing the “Quote” text).

Thanks Sean!

Because I currently don't have a gaming group for playtesting the round, I was thinking of voting quickly to not be swayed by the reports as they come in. How many votes will we get for round 4? I thought it might be interesting to see how people who don't playtest vote, compared to those who actually do the gaming.

I'm currently reading John and Jean Comaroff's Ethnicity, Inc. and El Salvador in the Aftermath of Peace: Crime, Uncertainty and the Transition to Democracy by Ellen Moodie. On a lighter note, The Pathfinder Beginner Box Hero's Handbook and City of Strangers: Kaer Maga have been occupying my time between RPG Superstar rounds.

Congratulations to the contestants, and woot woot for Round 4! Things get very interesting as the competitors get the chance to explore Golarion, catch all of our imaginations by expanding the world, and give us an exciting encounter with fun possibilities. Good luck folks!

I agree with Neil, that you have to work on finding your kernel of an idea – that one sentence that sums up everything – and work backwards from that in your writing. I wasn’t very impressed by this entry originally, but after thinking about it, I really like the possibilities! The problem is that in future rounds you need for everyone to see your Superstar-quality idea immediately. I humbly disagree with Sean, and would like to emphasize some of the other posters’ thoughts. The beauty of this organization, is it exists in a country where you wouldn’t expect it. Honestly, Andoran really didn’t interest me as a GM to locate my campaign as it was too much like the US. Why have your players use it as a base to travel to neighboring Katapesh, Osirion or Cheliax to harass slavers when you can locate the campaign in those nations?

Now with this organization, I see the possibilities of an Andoran-based campaign where the players raid Cheliax to take down a slave ring, but the trail leads back home. This has all the makings of numerous epic adventures, and as many previous comments suggest, there are many examples of this in post-Civil War America, and parallels in the contemporary era all around the world. Racism or the de-humanizing of certain people doesn’t happen overnight in all citizens in a recently unshackled nation like Andoran. I think I just convinced myself to vote for you, Andrew. However, read through all the comments and take them to heart—the competition only escalates from here to the finish line!

I carefully weighed my decision to choose Lyell over the sane derro because I thought both would make good choices for number eight of my villain votes. Despite the appeal of an over-the-top final encounter with a derro floating in a gelatinous cube, I believe the moral dilemmas raised by your villain clinched the vote. As mentioned before, he has deliciously long-term campaign potential - but that needs to be made more explicit in your description. To be quite honest, the derro would probably make a better villain in a 32-page adventure. However, I believe your potential to stretch the possibilities within a GM's campaign beyond one adventure make you a worthwhile candidate for the end game. I also believe that some of the commenters might be justified in saying that this villain is a bit stereotypical (a dhampir anti-paladin), but the context of trying to take down a LE nation counteract this critique to some degree. That being said, push the limits of gonzo a bit more. Good luck!

I've gotta agree with all these distinguished gentleman. Submit, submit, submit! Last year I entered, and although I didn't make it into the top 32, the experience helped me learn alot about game design - the feedback alone is worth it!

Auxmaulous wrote:

Circle Jerks - Coup d'etat

Circle Jerks - Junk Mail
Circle Jerks - I Just Want Some Skank/Beverly Hills
Angry Samoans - Get off the Air
Agnostic Front - Blind Justice
The Adolescents - Richard Hung Himself
The Adolescents - I Hate Children
The 4-Skins - Plastic Gangster

And so forth...

I applaud your taste.

+1

I also enjoy the range of Mr. Shiny's music!

I'm gonna hit the FAQ flag on this post; other folks who want to see this show up in the FAQ officially should hit the flag as well. I've already sent emails to Sean, Jason, and Erik, in any event, so hopefully this'll end up in the FAQ someday soon. In any event... there ya go.

I hit the FAQ flag on this post, but got an error saying "There was a problem flagging this post". Not sure what the problem was, but consider this post an additional flag.

The Tossers - "Goodmornin' Da"
Fantomas - "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me"
Kodo - "Strobe's The Hunted (Kannagara Mix)
Zola - "Mdlwembe"

First, since we are talking about human behavior, and not that of worms, amoeba, or other asexual creatures, I think it's entirely fair to say that homosexuality is abnormal. It always has been, whether decided for reasons of religion, procreation, health, or otherwise.

First, homosexuality is normal if you mean that people have been entering sexual relationships with the same sex for thousands of years. In fact, many cultures have social categories that acknowldge these bonds with the same sex. Do a little bit of research and you will find that the ancient Greeks, Native Americans, Australians, and Japanese (amongst many others) all had traditions acknowledging homosexual relations. So why is it only recently that gay people have been demonized to such a degree in Western culture?

To answer the OPs question, I don't have a problem telling my wife when I find a guy attractive. Perhaps that is because she is the only person I trust enough to not worry about getting beaten up or worse.

1, 2, 3, 4 because Monday is Labor Day!!! (Oh hell, what do I care - I'm unemployed)

The next poster's alter ego is a famous punk rock musician

I've used Eberron most recently, and plan on continuing to use it. However, I'm finding that I buy Paizo products based on the specific settings, adventures, dieties, and other details of Golarion that easily fit into Eberron. Eventually I might just switch to Golarion because the fantastic particularities keep getting better and better.

I just want to reiterate what other posters have said: the combination of sandbox adventure and Paizo's great writing is phenomenal in Kingmaker! I really hope that more sandbox style adventures are in the works just to see what else you can do with this type of adventure - especially in other settings (I'm thinking an urban campaign, which you've already highlighted your writing chops in past more linear Paths). My old gaming group would have really enjoyed this AP.

Welcome to the forums! I'm glad you started this thread. I will be moving to Billerica on Tuesday so thanks for the heads up on the New England gaming group Githzilla. Once I get settled, I'll look over the games offered and perhaps see you both soon in a New England gaming group.

Kudos to you for offering to look at more items Vic, and thanks for all the previous work you've done in this contest! I would really appreciate the judges' feedback on Urgathoa’s Tainted Hand

Steelhead:

...I really don't understand why you didn't just title this thread 'I think Azmahel is a great guy, thanks!'

:-?

<Wanders off back to Campaign Setting land>

Ah, get back here you.

Truthfully, I was hoping to generate some discussion about the rest of the contest - which is exactly what happened. I wasn't able to follow it as closely after the first round as grant-writing hell kicked in, so I just wanted to get a sense from the rest of you, who did a great job.

You, Taig and Azmahel are absolutely right, Neil did a great job with overall feedback regarding the whole contest! Perhaps the "rule" of excluding the previous top 8 is a bit arbitrary. Nominate away, I'm all ears :-)

(edited, tidied up)

Since you asked...

And now for something completely different...

I would appreciate any comments, but pretty much realize what I did wrong here.

Urgathoa’s Tainted Hand

Thanks Charles. I appreciate your rules-fu and it is amazing how something so simple as a limit on the number of diseases carried could hold in check possible abuse. My guess is the item got an auto-reject because technically it is not a Wondrous Item. I recall that somewhere one of our esteemed judges made the comment that many items get rejected for being a player's magic item or a GM's magic item, and this probably falls completely in the latter category - it would make a good campaign item for the story possibilities, but not many players would actively want it.

So my question is: Are there any other similar Pathfinder/Pathfinder Society/Gamemastery or AP modules around? Or maybe ones from the old Dungeon Mag?

Although I have not played it, one of my favorite infiltration modules is from the Pathfinder AP module "Endless Night". Infiltrating the drow as a drow -- all kinds of fantastic role-playing opportunities there! Should fit well with the Shadowrun crowd.

First, a heartfelt thank you from the community to the folks at Paizo and the judges for all your hard work and dedication to pull this off! As this contest grows in popularity, so does the excitement of the fans and participants. The great feedback from the judges provides a learning experience about the game that couldn’t be matched during Dragon and Dungeon magazines’ era. However, this post is more about the legions of fans who support the contest in other ways, making the competition what it is. A lot of us have entered the contest since its inception three years ago, and I would like to honor the fans by proposing a vote for the community members who really made this year’s contest zing. Each round there were fans who left extremely useful comments, whether those were helpful critiques of items or insightful observations about entries.

This thread is meant to elicit nominations for the Pathfinder RPG Superstar’s Most Valuable Player for each round. So if you think there was someone who stood out, enter the round for which you are making the nomination, who the MVP is and why you are making the nomination. People can then vote for who they think the MVP should be and we can tally them up in a week. Although the contestants, judges, and folks at Paizo did a phenomenal job and I don’t want to slight their HUGE contributions, let’s focus the MVP on the community so please don’t nominate any Paizo staff, judges, or contestants who have reached the top 8 in previous years.

Round 1
I think that Azmahel deserves the award of MVP for the first round because of his (?) work in the “Clark, please give me feedback on my item” thread. Although many people commented on other’s magic items (with Clark starting this great idea, while Vic and many fans contributed feedback), Azmahel by far did the most complete job in critiquing a total of 149 items. The commentary wasn’t in-depth, but it was important to some people that just didn’t get any elsewhere because of the grind of the contest. I think this not only gave this MVP contender a broad range of experience to understand why the judges rejected some, it also gave MANY of the hopeful contestants at least some feedback on their rejected items. I for one know that his feedback will make the quality of at least one entry stronger next year.

Please let the nominations and discussion begin.

Congratulations Matt! I look forward to the module and thanks to all the other Superstars for a great competition. I learned a lot from the contest and your entries this year!

6:30 am and I have nowhere to be this morning, so I guess I failed my Fortitude Save. :/

Aw, have a drink (or four) - I've heard that cures insomnia with continued failed Fort Saves. You deserve it! You all did a phenomenal job and I look forward to reading your proposals a little bit later!

And now for something completely different...
I would appreciate any comments, but pretty much realize what I did wrong here.

Urgathoa’s Tainted Hand

Aura faint conjuration and enchantment; CL 5th
Slot neck; Price 10,200 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
Description:
One of the few cursed magic items purposefully created, this recently mummified human hand maintains a healthy pink look and hangs by a leather cord around a character’s neck (taking up space as a magic necklace would). Magic analysis indicates this item protects against disease, but it is cursed and actually only guards against manifesting the negative effects of disease. The wearer must make a saving throw versus any disease he comes in contact with, failure indicating he contracts the illness without taking any ability damage, and becomes a carrier of any inhaled or contact disease. The wearer continues to make checks to overcome the disease naturally, and transmits the disease in its normal fashion. The hand starts to show all the cosmetic aspects (boils, lesions, eczema, withering, etc.) and only if the wearer removes the hand do the surface aspects and the ability damage manifest on the owner.

The hand grants the ability to cast contagion once per day when the command word is spoken, but if the disease is normally contracted by inhalation or contact the wearer must also make a saving throw or become a disease carrier. Additionally, the target of the spell is distracted (see Bestiary pg. 299) if she fails a Fort. Save (DC 16).

This cursed item is identified like most others: if the check made to identify the hand succeeds by less than 10 only the protection versus disease power is revealed without disclosing the carrier curse or other functions of the object. If the check to identify succeeds by 10 or more all abilities and drawbacks become apparent.

Construction:
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, contagion, remove disease, Knowledge (Religion)
Cost 5,100 gp

Reading the Ambraces I was immediately annoyed because Matt did not tell us when the wearer can make the immediate action to grab the spell. I am assuming it is before the wearer makes the save, but theoretically he won't know what the spell actually is (unless he's made a Spellcraft check). Actually, I think this item might be well-balanced because not knowing which spell you are grabbing limits the utility of the item - especially since it can only be used once per day. Thoughts?

This is a very tight item! Congratulations for making it into the Top 32! I definitely plan on placing this item in my next campaign for the PCs to find. Good work and I look forward to seeing your future entries.

You got that right! I couldn't have said it better.

18 hours, 45 minutes to go...

Does anyone else share the feeling that you are slowly rolling up the first peak on an awesome roller coaster?

Antici...

If monsters are going to be reprinted from the AP would it be possible to reference the orginal source in the Bestiary II (in the entry for the monster would be ideal)? That way those of us with the AP would know right where to turn for that extra page of material.

Sorry, disregard previous message. I just found it.

The opening text in the The Six Trials of Larazod mentions that the "Dramatis Personae and history of this play can be found online." Has this been posted to the web site somewhere? I am hoping to find the enhancements to an already stellar adventure! Thanks.

Three heroic days left, swords at the ready.

Two days! Is it time to start counting down the hours?

I got rid of all my 1st edition books on Ebay. Sold them all in one big bulk package just to make them all disappear at once. You can get a little more money if you sell the books one by one.

I have to disagree with Christopher: I found The Song of Ice and Fire series to be a great exploration of many different character types - some repugnant, some confused, some assured in their heroism. The thing I really enjoyed about the series is that the story is told from many different viewpoints (including those of the "villians").

Great topic! I will have to return to this thread once I'm finished with this d*&#n dissertation and I can return to reading for enjoyment rather than for work.

When I first started writing I would despair waiting for responses from the Black Hole that was the Dungeon and Dragon magazine slushpile.

Don't just wait... there's reasons for this... if you get rejected, then what? If you don't have anything else in progress or out waiting for a response then you can become frozen. But if there is something else out there the rejection doesn't feel so much like the end of the world... you still are waiting for another response, or you have another project in progress to mitigate the loss of the rejection.

UUUUUURRRRRGH...

** heroically tries to pull the thread back on topic ***

Good point Koldoon. Time to start practicing my chops on some villians. Only 7 days left...

Patience...

breathe deep...

I was also hoping to buy a hard copy and see that there aren't any left. I realize that Paizo is probably taking a loss on these and they have probably sold out on their first print run, but my gaming group would really like to get a print version to playtest before the new release (the prints from pdf that we have are very small)! Is it possible to release another print run? Even with a raise in price my group would buy an "official" Beta copy. It seems like there are people still asking for print versions. Please, please, please, another print run...

Dropkick Murphys "Sing Loud, Sing Proud"

My vote is for the Whispering Cairn. It can fit in pretty much anywhere. It doesn't necessarily have to fit into the adventure path because you can modify the story so the tomb is actually an old Dhaakani site. There are all kinds of reasons for PCs to visit it, least of all beating Lords of Dust agents, the Emerald Claw, or numerous other bad guys to the treasure. If you are starting your campaign in a rural setting I recommend Valley of the Snails (#87) for a unique adventure that forces the PCs to think or they will end up accidentally killing the person they are supposed to save.

After the news about the magazines I feel a need to weigh in on this question. Dungeon has given us an amazing number of great adventure sites over the years. I agree with many of the posts above, but noticed that my choices usually involve a good story rather than just an exotic location.

The Elephant's Graveyard was one of my favorite locations and I have often thought about updating it to 3.5. Likewise, with the house and garden in Chandanther's Bane. As a previous writer noted, I really like the idea that shrinking characters are challenged by getting across the cavernous gaps and cravasses of the inn floor and regular-sized insects become horrendous, monstrous creatures.

My votes for more recent sites go to Diamond Lake as the perfect setting for low-level characters. Lots of interesting characters and important friendly NPC links for the players. It was dripping with grungy, miner's grit and nasty local politics: perfect reasons to get the PCs to start adventuring.

I also liked the Styes for some of the same reasons, though DL was richer with backstory because it was part of the AP. Though I generally dislike dungeon crawls I think the Whispering Cairn is one of the best sites in this vein because of Erik Mona's brilliant mix of conventions (dungeon crawl, role-playing opportunities with monsters, traps, etc.). And then returning to the site in Wolfgang Baur's A Gathering of Winds; awesome!