varianor's page

The Manual of Detection. Fun, dreamlike book.

Now working on a non-fiction book about negotiation. Eh. Looking forward to Un Lun Dun, which is next!

Well there is an obvious conundrum there. If I could write my own articles why would I want somebody else's?

To broaden the pool of articles to keep interest for other 3.#/OGL fans?

Well, there's an ECL 0 plant race in Lands of the Jade Oath, forthcoming from Rite Publishing. It's even up as a preview. Clicking the link will download it directly. It's an Arcana Evolved-style race, meaning it has only +2/-2 on one stat apiece. (A format I rather like.)

http://ritepublishing.com/images/Jade_Oath_-_Mandragoran_preview.pdf

A space AP, perhaps almost like Pierre Barbet's Cosmic Crusaders (Baphomet's Meteor, et al) would be cool.

Gripping Hand actually had some more interesting characters than Mote. That said, I think Mote is a unique, cool piece of SF. (You can fairly easily just relable the Co-Dominium stuff as "politics" and not worry about it. The story isn't hugely dependant upon it.)

Cool thoughts. I think it's good to articulate where one stands.

Nuts. Restov is not in PC:CS. Is it detailed in a supplement? Oh wait. I see. Pitax isn't either. Good idea. Take undetailed places and drop Zobeck into them.

Sidenote: Is it just me, or could you turn Skywatch in Brevony into Skynet with constructs to get a Zobecki-Pathfinder Terminator-esque game?

I would use either Warforged, ironborn (Book of Iron Might; Malhavoc Press) or gearforged (Zobeck Gazetteer; Paizo store, from Open Design Press LLC). Since these are races, you just need a creation price. I would figure the cost like a mercenary hireling bought outright. Since you are getting the use of the construct (barring destruction) for a length of time, what's a price? I think 20 years worth of wages. I don't have my books in front of me to go through though.

Hm. Restov. Hadn't thought of that one. Have to go reread that entry.

Part of Wizards press release also mentioned that they are looking into Kindle and other e-reader releases of their products. So, Amazon ain't out by far.

does anyone know when the PDF version will be available?

thanks

Now. You need to get a subscription for four issues (one year).

Why should you think Pathfinder? Get yourself a copy of the Pathfinder Companion and just browse through it. Wow! Talk about a world rife with possibilities. I was always interested in Paizo products, but not a buyer for adventures because I write my own. Holy cow, the ideas that drip from every page! There's material in there to ignite your imagination. Now I'm hooked and interested and trying to finish it so I can figure out how to stick Zobeck in.

Franz Lunzer wrote:

In Firefox you can specify to exclude paizo.com from auto-loading images.

Should do the trick.

Should be able to do this with most browsers.

Anyone know how to do this in IE? That would be great for my work....

I go about it a couple ways. For random names, I like to look at what turns up in my spam filter, and borrow those, sometimes changing a syllable here or there.

When I map out a place as the DM, I like to find a real language, translate stuff, then roll it around sounding it out to get a name that sounds very similar. When my kids were very young and learning to speak, I used to say a fantasy name at them, and use what they repeated back, which often had a unique and/or interesting change.

The biggest key is to say it out loud. Then think about how you might mock it at the game table if you were playing. If you get past those two, you're pretty good.

I can't take a laptop with me to read in a long bath, at work while the kids I'm with are doing homework, or the myriad other places I will have a book along to while away the time.

You probably can. Once. Then it might be dead laptop or dead reader.

;)

About these Maenads, are they like the Bacchae a la 2E Planescape, or are they something else?

They seem rather like the Greek originals to me, with a lot of new stuff to make them fit better into generic fantasy. The Maenads are the wild women who often appear at the Bacchanal, IIRC. I don't know the Bacchae unfortunately, so I can't fully answer the question.

I also like the cover. Forgot to say that. I have found two editing mistakes. Guess I'm happy with an issue out two weeks early. One mistake per week early is very cool.

Are you looking for a mechanical replacement, or for one who fills the player's spot at the table? If you're running mainly investigation and intrigue, instead of needing a swashbuckler, you need an Expert. Or an akashic (Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved). If you want a derring do fighter who takes over for the swashbuckler/duskblade, how about a spellthief? Interesting set of abilities that are different, but with a similar mindset.

Tough one. They like the game; you don't feel engaged. Is your group a lot of beer 'n pretzels gamers? Would someone else take over as DM to round it out?

Reading through it right now. Alternate bards? Arneson interview (possibly his last)? Monte Cook article? Jon Roberts map? Tons more?

Okay, I guess it's more than pretty good, it's darn good!

All good points. Our group tends to appoint a player as Initiative Caption. The IC notifies players when their action is coming up, so they stop chatting and look at the board to think about what they'll do. Other good practices include rolling all relevant dice at once (remember that section of the 3.5 PH?) and not stopping combat for big rules lookups. If it's a question that can't be answered and tabled, someone looks up what the answer is while the DM moves forward (if possible) with the next person in the order. As a DM, I like to put all my monsters on one initiative so that I run through my entire list and get it done.

What sort of equipment, specifically?

Thank gosh Paizo's DUngeon and Dragon will remain... Right?

Yes, see page 1.

I am reminded of an historic moment:

http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/images/starwarsDRM.jpg

"The more you tighten your grip, Lord Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

Agreed! (It's not a question of affording the subscription. It's more like I fall outside the target market.)

Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Really enjoying it.

I think that's slightly off the point of why weak saves, particularly Will saves, are at issue. A fighter, rogue or other weak Will save character frequently gets targeted by DMs with creatures, spells and abilities. How many of us have hit the Barbarian with confusion because it's fun?

Critters that attack everyone deal hit point damage, and there's a range of possibilities that everyone will suffer. Running up against mentally powerful opponents, or mentally threatening ones, gets frustrating. (I know. The DM in the game I played in ran us up against several opponents several weeks in a row where we lost a lot of actions to bad Will saves.)

The complaint that the party almost bought it because everyone rolled poorly is like saying that you don't like Uno because someone loses -- it happens everythign find a way around it don't play. The only way it couldn't happen is if we stop allowing a chance at failing.

You know, I have concerns that this could happen....

I have reviewed a few products, so I have a tiny bit of experience.

You can refer to encounters vaguely. Example (made-up): there's a demonic pillar of rock that spits out enemies and that is actually the villain. The PCs encounter it. There are no clues that it's alive or is the biggest threat because the encounter includes a way that camouphlages it spitting out critters. (Who's going to look in a battle? Not too many.) You can write about this by saying "The finale had some excellent ideas, however it could potentially turn into a TPK since there's no clue to the source of many enemies."

One thing I like to do as a reviewer is to be factual, and not just emotive. If I like something or dislike something, I give an example. "This rawked" is okay. "This adventure really worked because it had a mystery with a clever system for organizing clues" tells the reader a lot more. I also like to remove negative language (like "sucks", "hated" or less acrimonious words but still pejorative) and give a meaningful (yet sometimes vague) description of what doesn't work in terms that the reader finds meaningful or useful.

Consider also what DMs want or don't want in adventures:
*are they easy to prepare?
*how much read-aloud text is there?
*how is the adventure laid out as you read through it? Well organized? Not? (Give examples.)
*is it exciting, interesting and flavorful?
*is it a dungeon crawl, a wilderness slog, a mystery, a skill challenged, something else?

Good luck!

I don't think that's too much different (except perhaps for frequency) from gamers in the group that have been in other campaigns together talking about them fondly and nostalgically. Especially if you weren't in that game either!

My wife games, but a lot less in recent years. Fortunately, my daughter is an enthusiastic convert and my son is interested!

Two alternate possibilities:

1. A thin layer of something (like makeup) blocks a detect evil spell. Even an illusion, a disguise, or something like that. This lets you salt "suspicious" and actual Evil people out there who aren't the bad guys. Then you mess with your players when they accuse them and they are indeed evil, but they have friends in high places.

2. Change the range to a touch spell. Imagine spellcasting while touching anything for a couple rounds? Kinda tough. Makes for some fun RP episodes though when you have to manuever into position.

Also, Adepts, Sorcerers and Druids can all fill the same shaman role, without needing such a power source.

That's a good point.

An alternate explanation is that there is a kobold god. He, she or it is a child of one of the dragon gods. A puny mutant compared to the other dragon gods who was cast out, never to be spoken of, abandoned to die in the screaming wilderness. But the godchild lived, cared for by kobolds (or so goes the myth), who never speak of the one they saved. Now the Saved One, grown into full power, lurks in the secret tunnels, worshipped silently and secretly by the kobolds. Some day, the Saved One will lead them all onto the surface, where they will taunt the larger races into following them down into dark and final doom. Plus traps.

Or something like that.

Shhhh.

That would be really cool! I intend to pick up some but not all back issues. Is there a list of adventures and locales somewhere?

I would say the Rogue Will save could use it actually. A rogue is likely to have a decent Con to get hit points. Wisdom doesn't give you hit points. A rogue can multiclass as a fighter. However, there are few ways to boost one's will save past Iron Will (I know, I've looked) even when you go severely splatbook, whereas there are several decent options to improve a Fort save for the rogue.

EDIT: Is this backwards compatible with the d19 system?

Better yet! It's forewards compatible with 21st Edition D&D.

I recently got Pathfinder Campaign Setting, and really like it. I would be interested in getting some of the 64-page supplement books now since I'm unfortunately late to the party. (I notice that there's several calls to reprint them as well.) Have you folks given any thought to combining them into hardcover for reprint purposes? Maybe four at a time? Thanks in advance for any consideration.

Yes, you can take feats that help with saves, but I don't think the big brave fighter should have to take a special feat just to be as brave as a a wizard.

How about rephrasing this in other contexts? Why should the wizard have to take a feat to be as nimble as a rogue or as tough as a fighter?

If you want to have a mentally tough fighter, he can also choose to go with a lower Con and a higher Int.

As I said before, I loved it for my 14th level sorcerer, but my DM hated it along with all immediate action spells (which he felt disrupted the flow of the game).

Then it's not the spell, it's the immediate action that let you use it to escape some fate he had in store for you that bugged him. There's a look DMs get when something unanticipated hits them. (Especially those who really try to plan for everything.) I get it from time to time. I love seeing it on the face of the DM when I'm playing.

The spell's fine. Though I agree that it should be bard only.

Well done Neil! Congratulations. (And to the other top finishers, and in fact all who participated. But especially Neil the new Superstar.)

Human. Human, human, human. It's awesome.

However, I have enjoyed playing a cannibal sibeccai and most recently a gearforged wizardly type. His original form was a litorian (leonine race) and he was killed and returned in the gearforged body thanks to a mysterious magical device deep within some caverns.

Now he wears his own skin and yells about how he can't smell or taste anything!

Fourth and final review. I have not been following the contest up until now. I have not read anyone's comments before commencing this review.

Cons
*Passive voice. Ugh. I know I'm over-sensitive since I'm an editor and a (mostly unknown) d20 writer, but please, rethink intros with lots and lots of passive voice.
*The intro is heavy on backstory. Many adventures are. However, I think that a storm that blows up, with mayhem and destruction, is cool! Why not start with that? Go into it more in this prompt? Tell us more about how adventuring during this storm is cool. What do the PCs do besides help people? Are there buildings to rescue people from? Creatures dredged up that flop on the docks?
*This seems a bit scripted as well. You have to go point A to point B to point C.

Pros
*the Blecksprut fight is darn cool. An octopus pulling apart a bridge? Yeah baby. Now, what level are the PCs? 8th. Hm. This had better be a Colossal octopus or some of them will fly rings around it. Still, you have to destroy the runes, so there's at least a reason for the cool fight.
*The visual imagery of the Boiling Maiden's lair was cool. I wanted to see so much more. It was well thought out and intriguing.
*This adventure seems very well steeped in Golarion and in a problem. It's not a save the world quest. It's achievable, and it seems about right for the level.

This is my third adventure read/reviewed so far. Unfortunately, I missed much of the contest prior. Sorry. I have not read judge's comments before writing these piquant yet obscure observations.

featuring a mix of combat, role-playing, skill-use and puzzle-solving.

This is the first adventure of the three where this was incorporated up front. I like the emphasis on all four. I think balanced adventures offer something for all these areas, even if combat is #1!

Cons:
*Right up front, a cool roleplaying moment head butts the mechanics of D&D. Everyone gets a saurian! Cool. Except that this doesn't account for flying. Yes, it's carefully set below the teleport threshold so players probably will be on foot or mounted, but still. That said, the encounter with the trolls? Visually stunning.
*This adventure too seems to have a bit of a hint of rails to it. Must the PCs use the longship? Aren't there other ways to get past this point? Yes, the scenes envisioned for it are cool, very cool, but I don't quite get a sense of options.

Pros:
*The writing is excellent. It draws me in. It shows and doesn't tell me what's going on. I'm intrigued. It also shows a grand, unified vision for the adventure. This can actually be a little problematic for some DMS if it doesn't fit within their campaign, but I think that's ultimately a good problem. A really good adventure still gets used. This has that potential.
*The various Tests are good. I like that inclusion.
*Ice and snow is awesome. I was not expecting to follow this frigid adventure into a Lost World. That was exciting! Then the ziggurats in the Lost World slide and turn into a puzzle to solve? Impressive.
*The whole place teems with potential and awesome, like there's a lot more room to go beyond the adventure.

I like this one a lot, despite what seems like a lot of scripting. I have one more to read. I will see what the fourth and final one is.

Second adventure I am reading. As noted, I've missed most of the contest. Bleah.

Cons
*While there are some visually stunning and evocative descriptions in this, it does borrow a great deal from the vibe of X1: Isle of Dread, Joe vs. the Volcano, and other island adventures. The dragon vibe seeks to bring it a cut above, but I found the juxtaposition a bit jarring actually.
*The adventure seems a bit thrust upon the PCs. You are automatically shipwrecked on an island that blocks teleport. You find a sword and a message. You must do something with them. It conclusively ends with a final battle. I don't get a great sense of What's There to Explore, which is _a_ point of island adventures.
*For lack of a better term, the adventure seems a bit thin and predictable. That's not to say that's bad. A big fight is fun. However, I would like to see more of a sense of what's to come.

Pros
*This one really gets a good format down pat. I like the approach from the beginning. The information up front provides a good flow for the adventure and lots of background.
*The biplanar volcano is cool, as are the interplays with the Ethereal Plane and all. Ironically, I would have liked more explanation on this.
*The dragon theme works. There are many cool draconic monsters and situations to deal with.

I have been missing/busy for most of this contest. Wish I had had more time. Okay, I am reading and commenting on entries without reading any judge's comments.

Thoughts on this:

Cons:
*writing, especially at the beginning, could be stronger - tons of passive voice; ideas shine through though.
*Fellnight creatures remind me a lot of Wolfgang Baur's Shadow Fey. They could also be a little more unique.
*Shadowfein poison looks really, really nasty. A group starting at L7 will have difficulty removing those effects if everyone uses it. I like it though.
*Several encounters seem high-powered, particularly a CR 13 sorceress at the end. However, it looks like she's alone. She could actually suffer from Critical Syndrome where a fighter type gets in a good shot or two and wastes her. True, we don't have her stat block. Spells could make up for many weaknessses. However, I've never been a big fan of the solo BBEG in D&D.
*The pitch uses the Maguffin of the staff, but doesn't explain it more. Players have a tendency to want to destroy the stuff that evil enemies use. That said, I think I'm more concerned that the middle seems well thought out and intriguing and the endgame looks a tad short. "Okay, we have our army to counter their army, let's go kill the b!$*% now."

Pros:
*A drunken treant? a fey creature hiding inside/possessing a druid? A massive fight in a forest against fey creatures? Those are very cool ideas.
*I'm intrigued. This has sufficient sandbox elements and a "save the village" not a "save the world" flavor to it that it stands out as an adventure that I might actually read. (I don't read too many adventures, or buy them for that matter.)
*The First World has my interest.
*I love the whole spooky fey fog feel to this.

Excellent! I like the last little touch of encountering the trader looking for the city that is no more.

What does the item do? Without knowing that, it's hard to guess what sort of a discount to apply. (The rule of thumb is 10-30% discount, with the typical discount being 10%.) If it's a racial specific item that only one character in the party can use? Max 10%. If it's an offensive item (rather than defensive, curative or just neat), then I would say that it should have a bonus increase instead of a discount.

Awesome synthesis! Yeah, I love the idea that to destroy the mirror you have to "go within". Perhaps inside it is so brilliantly lit (from the outside world's light) that you wander around blind, if you don't have magical aid.

The mirror represents the ideal city of K'Tang, a city under the ultimate curse where every inhabitant screams out in pain, agony and fear every moment of every day. It is so filled with fear and pain that it is indefensible, as those fears and agonies take on new life. The citizens of the "local" K'Tang heap their frustrations and sadness upon the mirror every day, allowing it to send forth hopelessness and despair.

This being D&D, Hopelessness, Despair, Fear and Agony are the runner-up Horsemen of the Apocalypse, ancient emotions made manifest who feed upon the offerings of K'Tang. Who ride out not to defend the city for some great and holy reason, but to covet it and keep it and devour the lusts of its terrified peopls for themselves. I would put them at CR 30 or so, just below gods.

Still, this is a very cool idea! Thanks.

Well, since I was completely wrong about that, what's the print price for the Zobeck Gazetteer please?

As a note, the costs for the print edition are "at cost" for patrons. Right now, there are many patrons, but the numbers are small compared to big outfits like Paizo. Unless he's found a different deal with the fine folks here, print copies come from Lulu.com.

That said, please also check out Tales of Zobeck, the companion volume! Edited by Mike McArtor, it has eight different adventures written by patrons and by luminaries such as Wolfgang Baur himself. It has a nifty adventure by Ed Greenwood! What's not to like? :)

Expect Sean to have strong opinions. Don't expect to predict them. ;)