tadkil's page

Jason Bulmahn wrote:

So,

I think we are starting to see what I felt has been the problem with the monk all along, the fact that they cannot really gain the same kind of bonuses to their unarmed strikes as others can with their weapons without paying a ridiculous cost.

I have been working on a way for them to do this, that is, apply weapon enhancements (such as +1 and flaming) to their fists at a reasonable price. The tripping point was not the idea, but the in game implementation. I thought of some sort of hand wrapping, rings, or maybe bracers, but these are really going off the beaten path, as they are not, in and of themselves, weapons.

I am hoping to get something like this into the Beta. Thoughts?

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

How about expanding the ki pool and letting the monk use ki to enhance his unarmed strike in various ways for one round, such as spend 1 ki for a +1 enhancement to all attacks as a swift action, spend 2 ki to overcome a specific type of dmg reduction (silver, cold iron, evil, etc.), spend 3 to add holy/unholy dmg and so on. Not saying that the examples I've given are a good ki point cost, just throwing something out to think about.

EDIT: While I was away, it looks as if this has been suggested a time or 2, sorry 'bout that. I still think it's a good idea and wouldn't necessitate new weapons or slots.

I second this. Might be worth its own thread.

What's the ETA on these?

The Ki pool can be central in offsetting most of these concerns. It functions strucuturally in the same way the barbarian's rage pool does in that it adds flexibility.

I would tweak the mechanic slightly and develop a pallette of design options that make sense. This forum might be a good place for suggestions as to potential powers.

While playing LG, one of the most effective party's I ever DMed involved a grappling half-orc monk and a group of halflings who all had thief levels. The monk snagged a target, grappled and made it flat-footed. The halflings all attacked gaining their sneak.

A grappling monk is very durable by comparison to the "puncher."

I always felt the list of 'Monk Weapons' was somewhat silly and redundant. It may be done for game balance but the way I see it the game balance achieved is minimal at best.

The thing is, most 'Monk Weapons' are just Asian versions of pre-existing simple weapons.

Kama=Sickle
Nunchaku=Light Flail
Siangham=Arrow/Dagger (Honestly, really, what is a Siangham but a Dagger that can be used for special Monk Attacks?)

How about instead of going through this extra redundancy, just let the Monk use Simple weapons, then they'd actually be able to use Spears, weapons that actual Shaolin and Wudan Monks (The main inspiration for this class) train with.

It may seem imbalanced but I've seen a Shaolin Monk 'Flurry Of Blows' with a spear in a demonstration before, and it'd get rid of the necessity to have a bunch of extra exotic weapons that are nearly identical to previously existing weapons.

I agree with this. The old Jo and Bo sticks form 1.0 were dropped in favor of Quarterstaff. This seems like a logical extension.

Will these be a part of any subscription?

Look at the pretty shiny Pathfinder Branding!

Folks,

If you could help me with two things, I would appreciate it.

1) This order is currently tied up waiting for the Samarkind solution pre-order. Please release these products and roll the novel into my next monthly shipment. I need the Pathfinder stuff for my campaign.

2) Please change the shipping option to the slightly more expensive UPS ground. I have changed all my settings on my subscriptions and I am officually over waiting for the Post Office to get stuff here. It's not Paizo's fault but every time I have used the USPS, 10 days max has turned into 15 or 20.

Thanks for your speedy and always excellent attention and execution.

Tad

Stereofm wrote:

Just say no !

I'm glad that Paizo and Pathfinder will continue 3rd edition, just as Tunnels and Trolls and Hackmaster continued the first two editions, but I'm going to 4th edition and I won't be looking back.

I'm playing both. Back in the day we had basic (4.0 design principles) and Advanced (3.0/3.5 design principles). I played both and enjoyed both. My buddy is DMING 4.0. I am DMing PFRPG. I'm getting the best of both worlds.

Ordered it here. I will give it a once over.

One of my good friends is going to DM, 4.0. I am running a beta of PRPG.

Going to soak up the best of both worlds.

Pure branding stance. Pure.

Who hasn't been tearing up pieces of content to make the game work? This formalizes permission for the folks who need it.

It will be interesting to see how this is presented in its final form, however.

tadkil wrote:

What are your issues? I ran this for a table of Tweens with Momma sitting in and for my normal gaming group. Nick Logue was much harder to PG-13 than this was. My adults LOVED it, however.

I thought that Sins of the Saviors would be much harder to PG-13 than Nick Logue. I thought of taking out the lust part completely as suggested in the adventure, but at first reading it seemed to leave a hole in the narrative. I should take a second look.

Thank you for your responses.

I traded Lust for Gluttony and camped things up a bit. Where I couldn't, I gave the affection elements the Loony Tunes treatment. It was more about unwanted affection than sex or bad touch.

To quote my 10 year old, "Daddy, this entire adventure is about cooties. Will cure disease protect us?"

The conversation went on from there...

If some sort of short fiction publication were possible, I'd be chomping at the bit to work on it. Unfortunately, though, it just doesn't mesh with our current business model. (That model being: "make things + sell things = stay in business"... short fiction magazines have a lot of trouble with that one. : P). That said, we do have the Pathfinder's Journal in Pathfinder, which is serialized fiction, and you can expect to see some short story anthologies with various themes in Planet Stories' future. For now, if you want short fiction, I highly recommend checking out Black God's Kiss, Elak of Atlantis, or Northwest of Earth... and stay tuned!

U rock. Tuned in.

I would love it (my life schedule is such that I can fit in short fiction better than full novels unless it's an audiobook), but I fully realize that on the practical side, it ain't gonna happen.

Maybe it could be done online - reading fiction online isn't wonderful, but shorter fiction might not be as bad, or as audiobook podcasts. Again, on the practical side it's most likely not worth it, but some new serialized sword and planet stuff, as well as short stories, would be really fun. Being forced to only get a story in installments (if done well) can really be a fun community experience. Ah well, I can dream, can't I? :)

You know, I would subscribe to this. I think this management team has its hands full for a bit though.

PFRPG must be a huge project.

I certainly respect their frank honesty with us on this topic though. Its one of the things I love about Paizo--integrity.

I am currently running The Skinsaw Murders.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what would be a good way to go if I did not even want to run Sins of the Saviors? Is there a Gamemastery adventure for that approximate level, and does anyone have any suggestions as to how to integrate it into Rise of the Runelords in place of Sins of the Saviors?

I dunno. I think you are going to have manhandle the whole arc to get the same feel. So much follows incrementally fromand to Sins of the Saviors, and a ton of the narrative enjoyment comes from all the pieces falling together in this episode.

What are your issues? I ran this for a table of Tweens with Momma sitting in and for my normal gaming group. Nick Logue was much harder to PG-13 than this was. My adults LOVED it, however.

And remember SPOILERS

Keldarth wrote:

In first place, I want to apologize... English is not my native language, and it's kind of hard trying to explain my points of view or defend my positions, and I think it's possible I don't always find the right tone when doing so, and make me sound harsher than I intended... (Believe me, it's hard to maintain a serious debate in a foreign tongue). So, if I have offended you or anyone else in these boards, my sincere apologies. Believe me, I'm absolutely not trying to imply that you are a bad player or yours is a bad DM, it has never my intention to say such a thing. So again, my fault, and my apologies to you.

Not a problem, Keldarth. It was perhaps more a reaction to things like Tadkil's post and the fact that I burned out self-creating a sandbox world than what you actually wrote. Sorry about the over-reaction.

Let me take a knee here. Not my intention to antagonize you.

We are in the scrum of a discussion, and sometimes we get a cleat.

tadkil wrote:

Mature adults should be able to respect some private DM time, and also recognize that they will also get it with their character too.

Nice ad hominem attack. I make an argument that a class that requires consistent solo time to function is not a well-designed class and now I'm a child? Not that I should have to make this argument, but at my gaming table is a vice president of a major company, three other people with masters' degrees, and two people who run their own businesses. I'd definitely label them mature adults.

The player of the tank and the player of the warmage are perfectly in their rights to question why the game mechanics should assume that they should periodically give up or radically decrease their abilities for an entire mission so that we can accomplish the mission the ranger's way. Similarly, they'd have every right to argue state that they carved out precious time in their schedules to play a game with the player of the ranger, not to watch the ranger on yet another a solo mission.

But they do not, of necessity have to do so, nor should they be assumed to do so. Your experience with a specific sample should not be generalized across all playing groups and styles. The basic flaw of your entire analysis stems from this. It is just not always relevant.

In specific, our play groups are actually drawn from similar demographic pools. My home game is populated with professionals with terminal degrees, executives, and senior managers. I am an executive with a terminal degree. Your experience does not tie back to mine even though we are DMing the same demographic group.

My ad hominem attack was unintentional. I apologize. I have just had radically different experiences than you.

Most DMs and players aren't willing to let rangers and rogues do what you describe: to watch as one person at the table climbs the wizard's tower, do a fight or two, explore and then open the gates. That's called being a spotlight hog if it happens twice in a year at my tables.

Essentially, in order for the Ranger to be versatile all the other party members have to be versatile too or be left behind. And what fun is that for everyone else at the table? And most DMs aren't going to encourage such lone wolf behavior for the table-level reason that it's fun for you to play, but it's not fun for the rest of the players to watch. Your whole stealth and versatility and ambush thing is great if the ENTIRE party is designed for it.

So, if you've got a party of a druid, a ranger, a beguiler, and a monk, the ranger's a great choice. But if you're in a party with a tank and an arcane artillery, you're asking two players to do nothing so that you can do something. There's only so many times that you'll be able to get them to go along with your tactics.

Again, this is playstyle. For Living/MMRPG play and for home games I have seen this particular type of encounter work well. I have written spotlight moments into episodes played by literally hundreds of players and not had this complaint brought to me once.

You assume other players cannot enjoy watching their colleagues develop and explore their role. Likewise, you do not accomodate a design that allows players to split off to solve separate problems.

That is: I hand Cleric and Arcane Caster a list of supplies and materials available to help the villagers secure their perimeter and then spend a half hour with the rogue and ranger doing recon. Mature adults should be able to respect some private DM time, and also recognize that they will also get it with their character too.

I then have the group communicate what they each did in character to give them the feeling of parallel narrative arcs. This works very well.

Do not discount generalists because they do not translate easily into your play style.

When designing the Ranger please keep in mind a reason for the class to exist, and a job the class is suited to perform for the party. The existing 3.5 Ranger doesn't do well at taking down single enemies with precision, doesn't do anything to protect his party from attacks, and does very little to limit/effect enemies' movement/effectiveness. When looking at the 3.5 Ranger I'm left wondering - what does my party gain from having a Ranger on board?

Part of this devolves to play style. My home game, and a large part of the Blackmoor and Greyhawk episodes I have written, focus on the party's ability to collect information about a foe and pick the time and place that they fight.

Ranger's are the best single class at providing tactical choice in wilderness or outdoor settings. Their pallette of skills makes them excellent at hunting targets and picking the ground that those targets fight on.

Now, if your game is about equations and narrative as video style cut scene, then the ranger is not as valuable. If it is about player driven causality, then the ranger is much more valuable. A good player running a ranger in an outdoors environment, can be as good at getting information as a diviner.

So - I havn't read any of the planet stories. I'm planning on ordering some items soon and would like to have one or two in the shipment.

So - you avid PS readers.. what are the best that you've read and maybe a little bit of why to help me in my decision.

Thanks

I'd go back to the first printed and work my way forward. I've enjoyed them all.

C.L. Moore and Leigh Brackett have the most contemporary feel and are my personal favorites.

Kutner is very interesting also.

If you are an avid gamer, this fiction strips the veneer off the early plot lines and aethetic structure of both Greyhawk and Blackmoor. You can see what fed Gygax and Arneson.

Great stuff.

Trey wrote:

Didn't Paizo try that when they published Amazing Stories? It looks like they broadened the format toward the end, but for a lot of the run it was a fiction magazine.

They've also said they don't want to do magazines, because it is so hard to make a profit. IN addition to the challenges of selling them, retailers can return them, unlike books, and that can be really financially punishing.

Sorry to be a wet blanket. :(

Launching a new magazine is the worst business ever ever ever ever. Ever.

My advice to anyone thinking of doing so: Don't. (Ever.)

We have nine glossy magazines in our local portfolio as well as our newspaper and websites. Our most profitable magazines are glossy wrap and newsprint core and are 90% classified style agate and some articles. I have the advantage of local markets and an effective distribution system to make certain I deliver my margin to my company.

If you are piggybacking on local or national wholesalers, the bar of entry would be pretty high for a niche publication. Your current subscription model works pretty well. Might be durable with other products. Could be another way to monetize your brand.

This was the last start up I was involved in, although I have moved on to another market since its launch.

My $.02 from the mass market side of media management. Bummer about Amazing!

Didn't Paizo try that when they published Amazing Stories? It looks like they broadened the format toward the end, but for a lot of the run it was a fiction magazine.

They've also said they don't want to do magazines, because it is so hard to make a profit. IN addition to the challenges of selling them, retailers can return them, unlike books, and that can be really financially punishing.

Sorry to be a wet blanket. :(

I work in print media on the marketing/circulation side. I know the business model fairly well. Amazing was glossy and that directly impacts expense. Pulp is cheaper. Lower frequency is safer. Another approach might be a semi-annual anthology.

It will all depend on how successful Planet Stories is, and how well Paizo can ramp up the brand.

Doesn't list everything I subscribe to. Looks buggy.

OOOOOOH! I feel soaked in coolness then. Course, there's that entire BLOWN spot check thing...

Doesn't list everything I subscribe to. Looks buggy.

DMcCoy1693 wrote:

...but I'd guess they were discussing compatability logo licensing.

Close, Product Merger Licensing.

There's quite a market to increase product recognizability by formulating Identity Marketing Mergers with Nissan, Vinland Productions Canada Inc., Pathfinder International, and NASA.

Outstanding.

CJ Cherryh is my favorite contemporary author. Her praise was concise and very accurate.

I really enjoyed these stories. Thematically, Moore kept playing with seduction and loss of self in very many, very interesting ways. She also froliced a bit with the nature of identity and the horror of its contamination or loss.

Thanks to Paizo again for bringing these back to us.

Show of hands folks.

How many people would subscribe to a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly Planet Stories short fiction magazine? I envision classic pulp style and feel with a sprinkling of reprints and some new authors.

This might also be a place to begin fictional explorations of Korvosa. I'd love to see that world through the lens of fiction.

Anybody else like this idea?

Must agree these were great books and I can only find one of them. Gamma World with believable economics.

I thought I saw a thread here indicating that there are some Planet Stories books that are better if you read earlier installments in the series first, but now I can't find it. Can anyone help? I started with the NW Smith collection, and want to make sure that I get my reading in order for anything after that.

Thanks!

Drop in where ever. I'd suggest reading them in order of publication however. It's the same hourney many of us have been on.

Hey Corey.

Made the changes to my subsciprtion you suggested. All should be good now.

Thanks.

Try that email again. My yahoo email is having issues. I switched it to another address.

Ok. My sidecart is a bit jammed up right now:

Pathfinder Chronicles: Guide to Korvosa (OGL) Print Edition
Paizo Publishing, LLC 1 @ $17.99 $15.29
• Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited (OGL)
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Preorder - expected April 2008 1 @ $17.99 $15.29
• Almuric (Trade Paperback)
Paizo Publishing, LLC 1 @ $12.99 $10.39
• Lord of the Spiders (aka Blades of Mars) (Trade Paperback)
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Preorder - expected March 2008 1 @ $12.99 $10.39
• Pathfinder: Curse of the Crimson Throne Player's Guide (OGL)
Paizo Publishing, LLC 1 @ $2.00 $0.00
• Pathfinder #7—Curse of the Crimson Throne Chapter 1: "Edge of Anarchy" (OGL) Print Edition
Paizo Publishing, LLC 1 @ $19.99 $13.99
• Pathfinder #8—Curse of the Crimson Throne Chapter 2: "Seven Days to the Grave" (OGL)
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Preorder - expected April 2008 1 @ $19.99 $13.99
• Pathfinder Chronicles: Harrow Deck
Paizo Publishing, LLC 1 @ $15.99 $13.59
• GameMastery Module W2: River into Darkness (OGL) Print Edition
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Preorder - expected April 2008 1 @ $12.99 $11.04
• GameMastery Module D3: The Demon Within (OGL) Print Edition
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Preorder - expected April 2008 1 @ $12.99 $11.04

Subtotal (10 Items) $115.01
Shipping & Handling* $0.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----

Order Total $123.80

Please ship everything that is ready to ship now. Ship everything else with D3.

Thanks!

tadkil wrote:

Erik Mona wrote:

What companies do you think pay more than one employee this much money?

I am in media. I manage nine managers who are at or above this level.

Some types of manufacturing compensate like this, as does pretty much any high end B2B sales position. Go check the postins on www.theladders.com to get a feel for that.

I meant, of course, what RPG companies you think pay employees this much money? Obviously lots of companies do, just not in this industry.

Yeah you did. I misread.

tadkil wrote:

Erik Mona wrote:

What companies do you think pay more than one employee this much money?

I am in media. I manage nine managers who are at or above this level.

Some types of manufacturing compensate like this, as does pretty much any high end B2B sales position. Go check the postins on www.theladders.com to get a feel for that.

I think he meant in the RPG industry. At least, I hope that's what he meant.

Your statement made me tally my team of 6's total annual salary. I don't even want to contemplate that number. You're not in NYC by any chance, are you?

::Rereads:: You are right. He was taking RPGS.

I am in Atlanta. Major metros drive up salaries.

My 7 year old wears his with pride. He went as a goblin for Halloween.

What companies do you think pay more than one employee this much money?

I am in media. I manage nine managers who are at or above this level.

Some types of manufacturing compensate like this, as does pretty much any high end B2B sales position. Go check the postins on www.theladders.com to get a feel for that.

DudeMonkey wrote:

Let me clarify. A salary of $75,000 is low for I just noted on another board that Gleemax and the DDI reek of "poor planning, lacking stakeholder requirements, poor or lacking project management, no good process in place for quality checks and controlled public release, etc." and I think this can be expanded to the 4e release in general. The GSL is one element of this lack in project/product planning. Though I'm in the IT field, the basics of project management are the same and I see clear indications of failures in key areas--risk management, communication management, activity scheduling/sequencing--that are manifesting in things like making an announcement about something (Gleemax, DDI, the GSL, etc.) before you should/could really show that thing to stakeholders. This destroys stakeholder confidence, increasing pressure on the project to deliver which often leads to cutting corners and lower quality.

Dead on. As a marketing professional, I have been horrified by the way they have handled this as a project. Flat out pitiful.

Shambleau. Hands down the most ienresteing story. Last half page is excellent work and a real distillation of the psycholigical trauma NW had just passed through.

Defintely a fan of Stark too. He's a very interesting anti-hero. Homage to Tarzan in terms of point of genesis, but with a much fiercer edge.

Keep them coming Erik.

Cool! Which was your favorite story out of all those? For me it is probably a toss-up between "People of the Talisman," "Dust of Gods" and "Shambleau".

Editorial salaries in this business range from the mid-20s to the high-40s, I should think. It's been a long time since I worked at WotC, but I'm guessing that's still fairly accurate.

Absolutely dead on. I was offered a job as a line manager for an RPG company for a little over $30K. They THOUGHT they were making a generous offer and they were given their resources. I would have had to take a 75% cut in pay. Working in RPGs is a labor of love.

At Chez Kilgore we use geohex and tape measures, as well as Dwarven Forge. 6 squares = 3"

Makes for a better game.

FabesMinis wrote:

I'm guessing you're joking - ENWorld is nothing like that.

Don't sweat it. Back when this board used to get lots of traffic, plenty of the anti-4E crowd was under the impression that pro-4E reviews were all paid for by WotC. This is just a continuation of that theme it seems.

Cheers! :)

This board still gets lots of traffic. And EnWorld is a good site.

Hey, thanks, Tadkil! Which books did you read?

The Secret of Sinharet & Elak of Atlantis. Plowed through a bunch of Northwest of Earth while I was at it.

Sun, the pool, Two Buck Chuck, and classic SF, what could better?

Just spent a week in Orlando reading Planet Stories beside the pool. Drank some wine too.

About the best time I have had in ages. You are doing such a service for all of us reprinting these books. These writers would have been lost without your work. The only real complaint I have is that PLanet Stories is getting in the way of my involvement in the Pathfinder beta-test.

Thank you again.

I don't want to take part in any anti-Paizo vs. anti-4E. Can't people just let other people play the games they enjoy? Does every person who's playstyle doesn't match your own insult you (the general, all-inclusive "you")?

For anyone drive-by-posting from elsewhere, this community is not defined by being "anti-4E", it is defined by intelligent people passionate about games and their loyalty to a company that never fails to please.

word

I personally would LOVE to head to Gencon OZ. If Josh is at all interested, I'd be all for heading to the Gaming Outback and running some fun events for you all. Dunno if its feasible, but if it is, count this Logue in.

Don't blame you dude, but do you have any idea what the ROI on that would look like. Maybe they Paizo could ship you bulk freight?

Outstanding. As someone who has run an international campaign, Blackmoor for ZG, I can testify to the fervor it generates and the powerful community that forms as a result. As Paizo already has a passionate and engaged fan base, I expect true excellence from this group and a very strong campaign base.

When can we expect campaign documentation?

When will submission guidelines be posted? I have written 22 episodes and interactives. More than willing to throw in here.

Are you going to use a soft point/hard point structure like Arcanis? In other words, will all episodes be part of a continuous plot line, or will some be one offs?

Will you have regions?

Will Pathfinder Adventure Paths and Gamemastery modules be compatible with the society? That is, can homeplay with your MMRPG characters be included in that character's career. ZG did this with Temple of the Frog. WOTC does it with much of its product. It both drives sales and engages the MMRPG player base more broadly with the setting.

What sort of org chart are you building for your organization? When can we see it?

Will you writers retain any intellectual property rights, or does their work belong to Paizo?

What are you anticipating as a release schedule? How many episodes a season?

How will you tier episodes? Will this be by ATL/APL or some other mechanic?

Will episodes retire?

I had reconciled myself to running 4.0 at cons. Looks likes they'll be SRD driven rules sets around for awhile. I am excited and will be offering my services. Bravo.

Oh yes, and for Joshua !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tobus Neth wrote:

I have a secret to tell

** spoiler omitted **

Heh. Do we get nifty uniforms, or do we have to work undercover?

We'll never know.

Woot for good people working hard.

tadkil wrote:

Please include this order with my monthly subscription shipments.

Thanks.

Unfortunately, we cannot combine non-subscription orders with subscription shipments at this time. We are working toward being able to provide this functionality, but it is not yet available.

thanks,
cos

Sure thing Cos. I am fine with that.

I am not frustrated by the monster design process. I think this will make it easier for msot folks to build encounters and such. I level a Sheldomar LG episode from APL 6-18, and it was a great challenge but very labor intensive.

I really enjoyed creating critters in 3.5, and got very good at sculpting challenges. Between Blackmoor and LG I have done 22 episodes. What I am worried about is precision in design. Scaling encounters for higher level play was very ahrd in 3.5 even with some pretty fine computational controls. I don't see yet how this will be better.

For homeplay, this should be a fine system as designing good fights for a home game is a different beast than designing for organized play.

My reaction to this is, "Ok. Let's see." My reaction to the fluff and marketing has been less than stellar.

Please include this order with my monthly subscription shipments.

Thanks.