Oh my god!, Karzoug is Mr.Burns!!!
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This is just a quicky post - it came to my mind as I was heading out the door, sorry, I didn't check to see if it was already posted.
It might be useful for this Guide to have a discussion on prepping TOO much. Like detailing a campaign but the players just utterly go left, or you prepare for a session and the prep doesn't see play because the players did something else.
How much is too much, and what can a GM do to keep his campaign, and sessions, more flexible? What are some good techniques to respond to players going left? What elements of campaign design lend themselves better to flexibility?
Ok, I'm out.
I would love to see some trade rules. I know that many players hate the idea of doing something as boring as trade, but I really like, for example, the trade rules of Traveller. We don't use them a lot, but it is nice to have them there.
Well I don't want to rain on all the fun but I'm taking a wait and see position on this product. Maybe its because I'm a 'relative' Old Timer when it comes to RPG's (not just DnD), or that after 15 years I'm now looking for a new carrer have to be more careful with my money; but this product seems like it could be Paizo's first mis-step. Sorry I don't see the need for a DMG 2 already, and it screams out "Hey a PG and DMG in one book just couldn't be done". I don't need another worldbuilding 'this is how air flows around the globe" book, though I'm sure Paizo would do a better job of this then the few books I do have.
Moreover from what I've read on this tread (Mind you I've skimmed not read every word so please correct me if I'm wrong)the think I'm most intreasted in is missing, that being a Conversion Guide. With all the stuff that has been published under the OGL I know any conversion guide wouldn't be able to cover even a tip of the iceburg, but it'd be nice to get some ideas on how to say, bring a class from book X up to Pathfinder standards, such as saying something like:
Martial classses such as the Fighter tended to get a class feature every other level, now its every level, first off if a class in question has a class feature that could resonably increase by one more often then.........
Before eveyone starts screaming at me let me first address some of the protest to this.
1. No I don't expect this to be an all inclusive Conversion, but at a least a table or two for for what has been changed and therefor needs to be covered.
2. And No, I don't think this should be its own book mainly because one cannot possibly cover every thing, but a single chapter for tips on how to do it would be very nice.
And for the love of all that is good in the world please don't put in alternative class features, just make a new class or give us a 'hey this is what a Rager is like without spells'. Alternative class features are just a pine in the but for a GM unless they are structured very tightly, and I mean so tightly that you decide level one, and you cannot go back to standard options once you do so, in effect a new class. Like Racial Class features or Class Features only for Class X that comes from Kingdom/City of Y. Example "in Dwarf society the Sorceres gain X instead of Y at levels 1,4,8, by a long standing tradtion". I saw some of this in the Setting book, and while a little too vague for my taste at lest left it up to the GM to simply say 'no'. The reason is really simple, too easy for players to say "Yeah I can do that, and this because I too Feature C, E, F, and G, the first two was in a Pathfinder book, that other one from some other publisher, and well I just made up the last and its balanced. Tell him now, well that game session just went down to updating/fixing the character, with all the crap about "it's in the book!" and "how do you know its not balaced unless you play tested it, the 10d10x10 damage only comes into effect after 4th level" Thank you no.
Having said all this I'll prob. get the book in the end, but it's not high on my get it right away list. I think the RPG line should have fewer books per year then the other lines (Paizo always said that the RPG was going to support the Adv. lines and settings, not the other way around)and something more like Savage Spices/Beast Builder, or OA, or Beastey II, or Epic Play, or even that idea of the Great Big Book of mid-14th level gaming, which I'm not sure about but at lest sounds useful for players.
Sorry for the rant, wasn't my intention, but I guess I need to let the steam out.
TTFN DRE
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Well I don't want to rain on all the fun but I'm taking a wait and see position on this product. Maybe its because I'm a 'relative' Old Timer when it comes to RPG's (not just DnD), or that after 15 years I'm now looking for a new carrer have to be more careful with my money;
I have been playing for a long time too (19 years, shoot), and not only do I value my money but my time, which is not as plentiful as it used to be when I started playing. That is why I welcome quality products that help me save time. this book sounds like it might help in that regard.
Sorry I don't see the need for a DMG 2 already, and it screams out "Hey a PG and DMG in one book just couldn't be done".
576 is a larger page count than the combined PHB and DMG of Both 3.0 and 4e, so I think it is possible.
Moreover from what I've read on this tread (Mind you I've skimmed not read every word so please correct me if I'm wrong)the think I'm most intreasted in is missing, that being a Conversion Guide.
From the product description: "tips for using and adapting published products to your personal campaign". I Don't know how comprehensive it will be, but it can't be more than a guideline with a few examples, I am mostly interested in suggestions for adapting monsters on the fly, which should be pretty easy. Like you said there is too much stuff out there but I think this covers what seems like your biggest need.
Moreover from what I've read on this tread (Mind you I've skimmed not read every word so please correct me if I'm wrong)the think I'm most intreasted in is missing, that being a Conversion Guide.
From the product description: "tips for using and adapting published products to your personal campaign". I Don't know how comprehensive it will be, but it can't be more than a guideline with a few examples, I am mostly interested in suggestions for adapting monsters on the fly, which should be pretty easy. Like you said there is too much stuff out there but I think this covers what seems like your biggest need.
Ahhh I stand corrected. Okay, now this book has my attention depending on 'how comperhensive'. As to monsters I think they'll be the easier of the problems in terms of updating older stuff. Power creep did not happen as much or as fast in 3pp material as it did in WoC stuff. Monsters give or take will work as is (ie I don't think hit die will change much, nor powers persay and even if they did as a 3pp 'monster' their powers will be differnt anyways) The real question remains the classes and to a much lesser extent the races. If we could get a fairly close formula about class power in comparison to 3.5 then CR can be adjusted accordingly. Example, for be was the Beholder, in Beta test we adjusted down three normaly, but for some reasons most outsiders went down two in CR, at lest that was the collective conclusion. However previews and my gut thinks more and more that a collective 2 reduction in CR will be the norm, beyond that little is needed. However for classes well no 'empty'levels means that most 3pp classes will have to be updated. In my play test only the WoWC Tinker held his own unchanged.
P.S. after looking a bit more carefully I see that a few posters have already linked to som E-books that might be of some help, though I'd like to see something along these lines for Pathfinder as appose to 3.5
TTFN DRE
My only compliant why no new products for four months after release? I figured they want to get at least one more book for Chrismas at least.
I would guess because they don't want to rush the contributors more than normal on the information in the book :) All their efforts have been for those items we knew about and getting the main rules and bestiary done ... now that they have a moment to gasp, they can look at what comes next :)
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I think the RPG line should have fewer books per year then the other lines (Paizo always said that the RPG was going to support the Adv. lines and settings, not the other way around)
I'm pretty sure it was said somewhere (maybe in the Future of Paizo video?) that Paizo is planning on releasing 3-4 Pathfinder RPG books each year. That's considerably less than the other product lines Paizo have going.
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A specific breakdown of high-level game play, with the usual suspects breaking the game for most people (teleport, buffs and how to practically handle them, mord's disjunction, find the path and similar low-level plot killers, etc.), as well as ways to handle them, explaining how the game play itself changes from low-level games, will go a LONG way towards tailoring DMs expectations and confidence, and thus preventing most of the issues people were complaining about with 3.5 high-level games.
Please include this in there. The DMG was sorely lacking in this department.
What I'd like to see more detail on is game economics. I know the DMG2 has rules for running a business, but I'm interested in more coherent concrete rules for shipping, trading, and the like. My PCs are always wanting to start businesses and I find the DMG2 rules to be a bit overbearing, overwhelming, and clunky.
And it would be nice to use a system of values such that for a region or setting, you could just publish modifiers to these basic values in Golarion setting books (for example).
Thanks for your consideration.
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If I hadn't signed up for the Pathfinder RPG subscription, this is one book I'd have preordered immediately. Even with more than a decade's experience as a GM, this is one title I'm very excited about. Sure, I can make up chase rules or rules about (in)sanity on the fly but it sounds like this book will give me those tools and more and I can just focus on roleplaying. Add in the 100 ready-to-use NPC stat blocks (give or take a few) and all the other great stuff and we have a winner!
Well, last night in PF Chat, I asked good ole' Jimmy J. about Traps & Haunts. He replied that Traps stayed about the same page space as the DMG 3.5. While I'd like to see more on Traps, I'd really like to see more on Haunts. This is a great new envisioning of the Trap mechanic from RotRL #2: The Skinsaw Murders, that definately needs to be fleshed out some more.
He said that it would be more in line for the PF GameMastery Guide. So here be my official request. MORE ON HAUNTS! Please.
Creative Director
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Quick question: What's in the PfRPG Gamemastery Guide that's sufficiently different -- and desirable -- to entice us if we already have the 3.x DMG?
About 5 (or 10, depending on the part of the book you're looking at) more years of experience and familiarity with the rules, for one—the authors are going to be that much more expert on the topics at hand.
There'll also likely be a lot more tips about the real-world aspects of playing the game, and a lot more world building advice.
And plenty of other neat little expansions and prizes.
Part of the goal with this book is to NOT just parrot the 3.X DMG, after all... especially since the majority of the 3.X DMG is already in the core rules of PFRPG anyway.
In any event, we're still too far out to be talking specifics about the book's actual contents... stay tuned for previews in several months!
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Quick question: What's in the PfRPG Gamemastery Guide that's sufficiently different -- and desirable -- to entice us if we already have the 3.x DMG?About 5 (or 10, depending on the part of the book you're looking at) more years of experience and familiarity with the rules, for one—the authors are going to be that much more expert on the topics at hand.
There'll also likely be a lot more tips about the real-world aspects of playing the game, and a lot more world building advice.
And plenty of other neat little expansions and prizes.
Part of the goal with this book is to NOT just parrot the 3.X DMG, after all... especially since the majority of the 3.X DMG is already in the core rules of PFRPG anyway.
In any event, we're still too far out to be talking specifics about the book's actual contents... stay tuned for previews in several months!
Coolio.
I had me this weird thoughts- dunno if it's beyond the purview of this book, but might there be something offered (in terms of advice or even time saving programs and stuff) about doing stuff online, like in a play by post or a play by email?
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Totally can't wait for this book! A few things I'd love to see covered, if not here then somewhere:
Advice on running low/high magic campaigns and info on how changing the magic level affects different character types and magic treasure availability. For example, does a high-magic campaign mean there are just more wizards running around everywhere, or are wizards somehow more powerful?
Info on running campaigns focused on different aspects of the game, such as a campaign focused on arcane magic or divine magic themes, or a campaign in a warrior society vs a social/political society.
Advice on adjudicating divination spells, particularly for handling mystery campaigns or methods used by NPCs and organizations to protect their secrets against magical prying eyes.
Edit: I'm also not a fan of magic shops, and would love to see info on buying and selling of magic treasure so isn't simply players treating the magic item list like they just won Wheel of Fortune by flipping through the book to spend their latest wad of cash.
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Edit: I'm also not a fan of magic shops, and would love to see info on buying and selling of magic treasure so isn't simply players treating the magic item list like they just won Wheel of Fortune by flipping through the book to spend their latest wad of cash.
Off Topic...
Ok, so I take the money I can sell the masterwork sword for, deduct it from the cost of a +1 sword of the same type, and that is the amount I have to pay to the Magesmith who takes my sword for a few days and gives it back to me as a more powerful item....
Where was that magic item shop again?
I had me this weird thoughts- dunno if it's beyond the purview of this book, but might there be something offered (in terms of advice or even time saving programs and stuff) about doing stuff online, like in a play by post or a play by email?Probably.
Sounds good to me.
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I had me this weird thoughts- dunno if it's beyond the purview of this book, but might there be something offered (in terms of advice or even time saving programs and stuff) about doing stuff online, like in a play by post or a play by email?Probably.
I'd prefer the book to concentrate on specifics of the game itself - and not on real life aspects like "finding a group" or "setting up online games".
Just the topics listed in the teaser text and some of the topics mentioned here (conversion of other material to PFRPG (4e included?! :-)), impacts of low/ high magic campaigns, treatment of problems in a rpg group, campaign development, game world development) should be more than enough to fill 320 pages, shouldn't it?
Cheers,
Günther
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Creative Director
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I'd prefer the book to concentrate on specifics of the game itself - and not on real life aspects like "finding a group" or "setting up online games".
Just the topics listed in the teaser text and some of the topics mentioned here (conversion of other material to PFRPG (4e included?! :-)), impacts of low/ high magic campaigns, treatment of problems in a rpg group, campaign development, game world development) should be more than enough to fill 320 pages, shouldn't it?
We could fill 320 pages with discussion about the right and wrong way to use longswords in combat against foes who are taller than you and wield a trident and whip. It's not really the question about having enough topics to fill 320 (or however many) pages that's the trick, it's using the pages you have in the most efficient manner and covering the widest range of topics you need to cover.
The fact that a game can't happen at all unless you find a group or set up the gaming area (be that a table or a chat room or whatever) means that element of playing/running the game is as, if not more, important than playing the game itself.
One of this book's goals is to be inclusive of everything that can help a GM do his job, and that will include tips and advice on what to do during a game as well as before and after.
The book is still in outline mode, though, and it's far too early to set down specifics about what will or won't be in there anyway... teaser text notwithstanding.
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I had me this weird thoughts- dunno if it's beyond the purview of this book, but might there be something offered (in terms of advice or even time saving programs and stuff) about doing stuff online, like in a play by post or a play by email?Probably.
Please get Aubrey to write this. He is the PbP GOD.
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I would really love some sort of economics info other than magic items- ie trade, costs of a slave, cost of a poor/average/fine/luxurious dwelling in a town/city/metropolis, cost of living like a king etc.I am happy to have rough and ready guidelines ie
to live like a wealthy merchant in a city costs 100gp per week. You must be in a city to get access to all the benefitsThis means you get fine food, decent wine with your meals, access to a manservant for running errands, a private room.
to live live a prince costs 500gp per week you get all of the above, sevearl fine sets of clothes, a couple of bodyguard warriors of 1/2 you level, you can have a lavish dinner party 3 times a week with up to a dozen guests...etcThe problems I want this info to solve is when my players say
a) that they have just returned from a brutal adventure and they want to have a lavish meal and live it up for a couple of weeks in a big city-(like the Grey Mouser or Conan would)
b) I tell a Cayden Cailean worshipper someone is enslaved in a city where it is legal and they ask how much it is to buy her out
c) The party is about to travel to a distant land and someone with some profession merchant skills says they want to know what sort of trade goods they can sell there-- and then when we get there how much profit they make
d) someone has a bit of cash and wants to buy or build a big house in Sandpointthese are all mundane sorts of things but I find they invest the players in the world.
These would also really help....yeah ! THUMBS UP for this !
For me I never had a magic shop (except may be shops holding some specific items like potions and minor scrolls) and would love to have a realistic way to sell and buy magic items.
The idea above about a wizard upgrading weapons for a fee is quite cool and I will take it if you don't mind !
Also how to deal with low magic and high magic campaigns as mentionned above
Also how to add a bit of technological things .
HELL YEAAAAH !
How to handle action scenes, and maybe some charts that give a good formulaic breakdown of dcs and dmg per level for random acts or stunts that make doing crazy epicly adventurous things worthwhile. If Full attack does more damage than swing on the chandelier and kick them in the head and is more reliable no one will do it. I want people to do crazy stuff. So some advice or something would be great. Thats pretty much my wants other than advice for running 1 or 2 players...
I would really love some sort of economics info other than magic items- ie trade, costs of a slave, cost of a poor/average/fine/luxurious dwelling in a town/city/metropolis, cost of living like a king etc.I am happy to have rough and ready guidelines ie
to live like a wealthy merchant in a city costs 100gp per week. You must be in a city to get access to all the benefitsThis means you get fine food, decent wine with your meals, access to a manservant for running errands, a private room.
to live live a prince costs 500gp per week you get all of the above, sevearl fine sets of clothes, a couple of bodyguard warriors of 1/2 you level, you can have a lavish dinner party 3 times a week with up to a dozen guests...etcThe problems I want this info to solve is when my players say
a) that they have just returned from a brutal adventure and they want to have a lavish meal and live it up for a couple of weeks in a big city-(like the Grey Mouser or Conan would)
b) I tell a Cayden Cailean worshipper someone is enslaved in a city where it is legal and they ask how much it is to buy her out
c) The party is about to travel to a distant land and someone with some profession merchant skills says they want to know what sort of trade goods they can sell there-- and then when we get there how much profit they make
d) someone has a bit of cash and wants to buy or build a big house in Sandpointthese are all mundane sorts of things but I find they invest the players in the world.
These would also really help....yeah ! THUMBS UP for this !
For me I never had a magic shop (except may be shops holding some specific items like potions and minor scrolls) and would love to have a realistic way to sell and buy magic items.
The idea above about a wizard upgrading weapons for a fee is quite cool and I will take it if you don't mind !Also how to deal with low magic and high magic campaigns as mentionned above
Also how to add a bit of technological things .
HELL YEAAAAH...
This stuff isn't all that hard, you can often reference real life equivalents. The important factor is consistency.
Like how to realistically sell magic items. Store fronts, auction houses, private sales all work just as well as they always do. Pricing? Thats what the GP values in the item descriptions are for. When selling to a "retail" equivalent venue you get 1/5 to 1/3 of its retail value. You take the time to market it yourself you can get full retail, but that effort can take months.
Still, since most people don't know about these things guide lines would definitely be a big help. I only know things as well as I do from my 8 years buying and selling gemstones, cutting and cabbing them, carving and casting custom designed jewelry pieces and like. So I personally feel very confident at working such things out for myself.
Now what I would like more guidelines on is for building your own buildings, such as manors, keeps, huge castles, roads, etc... I have plenty of other RPG books that I use for it, but if I were to play PF it would be nice for that to be in my PF books.
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We could fill 320 pages with discussion about the right and wrong way to use longswords in combat against foes who are taller than you and wield a trident and whip. It's not really the question about having enough topics to fill 320 (or however many) pages that's the trick, it's using the pages you have in the most efficient manner and covering the widest range of topics you need to cover.The fact that a game can't happen at all unless you find a group or set up the gaming area (be that a table or a chat room or whatever) means that element of playing/running the game is as, if not more, important than playing the game itself.
One of this book's goals is to be inclusive of everything that can help a GM do his job, and that will include tips and advice on what to do during a game as well as before and after.
The book is still in outline mode, though, and it's far too early to set down specifics about what will or won't be in there anyway... teaser text notwithstanding.
Hi James,
thanks for your reply!
I wouldn't consider fighting techniques for longswords to be an appropriate topic for a _dungeon_mastering_ book, either. ;-)
But I get the meaning of your point. I am looking forward to the final book and hope that it will be as much encompassing as you make it sound. There is certainly a lot of topics affecting dungeon mastering which are worth a closer examination and in which you have plenty of experience to share with your fellow readers.
Just please make this a real dungeon master's book.
There will be certainly enough other rule books for adding new rules to the game.
Cheers,
Günther
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Creative Director
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Can I add to the courus of Haunts, and the the chase mechanic from Pathfinder. Yes it's reprints of material I already have....It's also much easier to find at the table! (Even with file searches and grep)
I'm pretty sure haunts will be in the book. I'll be championing for them to be in there, at least!
Please, let me add my vote to… Mass combat rules!!!
Thanks
Like how to realistically sell magic items. Store fronts, auction houses, private sales all work just as well as they always do.
Robert, I appreciate what you're trying to say here. But the first sentence in this paragraph assumes the would-be GM is comfortable with how economics are depicted in the first place.
And I'm concerned that this thread could degenerate into:
"Hey Editors, we don't need what those guys want.. we need this instead!"
All we can do is suggest stuff we'd like to see and let them make the decision on what they feel is most important.
And if demonstrating a more realistic and cool way to handle how magic items are bought, sold, and traded just don't make the cut.. then so be it. I will have made the suggestion and the Editorial Team prioritized something else over it. And life will go on.
But let's not step on each other.
Pricing? Thats what the GP values in the item descriptions are for. When selling to a "retail" equivalent venue you get 1/5 to 1/3 of its retail value. You take the time to market it yourself you can get full retail, but that effort can take months.
And again, pricing isn't the issue or the concern that myself and others have tried to suggest we could use some embellishment or elaboration on economics (in the case specifically, magic items).
You're right.. When a player says, "I want to buy a +1 Greataxe", I could say "Alright, erase 4320 gps off of your character sheet and it's yours!" Hell.. I do that now. And I hate it. It's part of the game that I think sucks. Along with how PCs sell handfuls of +1 crap that they don't want. Like there is some enchanted recycling scrap metal center in every major town with an economy above 200 gps. And really, they have to in order to gear themselves properly.
No offense Robert, telling me that there are GP descriptions in the book doesn't help me. It doesn't tell me how to tell a better and richer story, or make the world of Golarion seem that much cooler.
Maybe I lack imagination, but that's why I'm asking for help with the topic. If Paizo doesn't want to address the topic, then I'll carry on as best I can. Life *will* go on. But respectfully, that is their decision, not the respondents of this thread.
Still, since most people don't know about these things guide lines would definitely be a big help. I only know things as well as I do from my 8 years buying and selling gemstones, cutting and cabbing them, carving and casting custom designed jewelry pieces and like. So I personally feel very confident at working such things out for myself.
Well.. in any case.. If I sound harsh, I don't mean any ill will towards you. I just get touchy when I feel my ideas are dismissed as unnecessary, because they don't represent a challenge for someone else.
I do hope you get some information about construction for PF RPG.
Hey Robert...
I got a little too excited. I meant what I said, but the intensity didn't need to be there. I didn't mean to come down like a ton of bricks. My regrets.
Hey Robert...
I got a little too excited. I meant what I said, but the intensity didn't need to be there. I didn't mean to come down like a ton of bricks. My regrets.
NP.
In fact in the last paragraph of mine which you quote I am transitioning to seeing that such guidelines would be a good idea, because if you don't have familiarity, or even no clue what so ever, guide lines would be a huge help in being fair, consistent, and to have coherency.
I have 8 years of experience buying rough and cut gem grade stones, then cutting or cabbing them, carving and throwing molds, casting, setting, and marketing and selling. So for me its almost second nature based on hundreds (thousands?) of transactions. Back before all of that I would probably feel pretty lost.
As for construction I am familiar with that too, working for my uncles when I was a teenager, however I still wouldn't feel comfortable making such decisions as a DM, so would like guidelines for that as well.
So to sum up, by the end of my post I was actually agreeing with the need for such guidelines for everything, including what I would feel comfortable with judging on my own.
* Advanced GM techniques such as fixing a "broken" game, using accessories, converting content from other systems, using props and handouts, when to "cheat," and how to prep a game from scratch in 15 minutes
I really hope the book doesn't go any farther than presenting "cheating" as one option for GMs, without outright recommending it in any situation. Personally it's an option that I hate. If it makes the game fun for some people, fine, but I would be annoyed to see the anti-cheating point of view marginalized or overlooked. Sure, I could ignore the advice, but it would be annoying to have to do so. A balanced discussion that respectfully presents multiple points of view would be welcome.
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I really hope the book doesn't go any farther than presenting "cheating" as one option for GMs, without outright recommending it in any situation. Personally it's an option that I hate. If it makes the game fun for some people, fine, but I would be annoyed to see the anti-cheating point of view marginalized or overlooked. Sure, I could ignore the advice, but it would be annoying to have to do so. A balanced discussion that respectfully presents multiple points of view would be welcome.* Advanced GM techniques such as fixing a "broken" game, using accessories, converting content from other systems, using props and handouts, when to "cheat," and how to prep a game from scratch in 15 minutes
I guess it probably won't say "You have to cheat" in those cases....
But may be more like "You can cheat if needed" in those cases...I am a cheating DM when needed because i favour more the role-play than the rules (which none of us really know anyway) ;o). But sticking by the rules is OK also.
I just wanted to add another vote to the combined travel table, especially including more esoteric means of travel as well as mundane ones like wind walk. :)
I guess it probably won't say "You have to cheat" in those cases....
But may be more like "You can cheat if needed" in those cases...
That's fine. What I don't want to see is "You should cheat if..." which is what the teaser seems to suggest it will be. Instead, I'd like to see, "These are some of the reasons you might cheat. If you're going to cheat, these are some tricks to make it work well. Alternatively, if you're not going to cheat, these are some tricks to make that style of play work well. These are some factors to consider when deciding which approach you will use."
What I'd like to see in the GM handbook.
1. Rules about PC "Constructions". A construction is any major place or thing owned by the PCs that plays a central role in an adventure. For example a fighters fortress may be a construction, so would an inn owned by one of the PCs, a flying ship, a trade caravan or trading house, a temple established by a PC cleric, a mercenary company, ect. See covenants in Atlas Games, Ars Magica for some idea about what I mean when I say a construction should be central to the story. Special attention should be payed to making sure that what ever player is the "title owner" of the construction does not dominate the game or become an indispensable person.
2. A sliding tech level scale with both technology and magic (possibly with a number of subsets). This is not saying that magic and technology should be mutually exclusive, simply that if you have enough magic your social structure looks like something out of a later time period then what the level of mundane technology would suggest.
For example: the average D&D game tends to be culturally around 1500 or 1600 but lacks firearms and has a generally underdeveloped technology, compensated for by relatively common NPC class magic users. That doesn't mean that you couldn't have a late stone age (or advanced Stone Age, such as precolumbian Native America civilizations) society that survived on heavy use of magic.
3. Rules for guns. At least up through flintlocks including rules for enchanted guns. Do muskets in game have the same accuracy problems as their real life counterparts. A treatment of the questions of 1. Will firearms have the same effect in a magical world as in the real world (if the walls of Constantinople needs to survive giants, dragons and spells do they still fall to turkish gunners). 2. Is carrying gunpowder a good idea in a world with common fire spells. 3. If guns are available in game, how to maintain class balance.
4. Basic rules for magic items that would surpress some class features in favor of alternate powers. For example a gem that would change a clerics domains to use the beta playtest rules.
5. Group magic items, magic items that interact with a group of adventurers instead of benefiting only one party member. See as example the various conceptions of Totem spirits in White Wolfs Werewolf games.
6. Mass combat rules, Ship Combat Rules, Vehicular Combat Rules (especially for War Chariots in early time settings).
I like the rules (in 3.5e anyway) of upgrading magic weapons. When our party barbarian came into town and wanted to go a step beyond his +1 greatsword, he didn't go to Ye Olde Magic Shoppe and buy a +2 greatsword, he went to the local wizardress that does that kind of work and paid her to upgrade his +1 greatsword to a +2 greatsword. She also sells magical weapons, but I would assume she actually only keeps a small selection of masterwork weapons in stock and enchants them when someone buys one. ("Oh, you like that one, do you? What kind of magic were you wanting to get on it?" "Oh. Come back in a week and it will be ready.") If the character doesn't like the look of the weapons she has, or wants a weapon she doesn't carry, he would have to provide the masterwork item to be enchanted (and perhaps pay a small service fee).
Actually I see it as being more a broker system. You find a Short Sword +1 that you don't want. You go to whomever sells potions locally (i.e. caster level at least 3). They contact an associate in a nearby city where local lords son is about to turn 13 and needs a sword (don't laugh in D&D enough creatures have damage reduction, that giving the kid the sword makes him slightly less likely to get offed by a creature with damage reduction 5/magic).
Now that broker in the city contact a wizard friend of his in another city who has the ring of protection +1 you wanted. Broker 2 calls in a pre existing "debt" that wizard 1 owes him and at some point all parties use some kind of teleport spell to move the items around. Both brokers make a markup on the item sale and move gold to make up any difference in the price.
The bottom line to the player is that he sell the short sword +1 for 1/2 its retail price then picks up a ring of protection at full retail a day or so later.
Of course this system allows for some hideously complex series of trades, requiring adventures to go acquire a particular item or otherwise throwing out adventure ideas.
Didn't see this, so I apologize if someone's mentioned it already. How about some random dungeon tables like the old 1st ed DMG? Maybe expanded a bit with some new tables and the like?
I'd like to see:
- I would love mass combat rules too. Especially for use with miniatures although that could merit another book.
- Also, alternative rules for combat would be nice. The Core Rulebook implies that one can play without a battle grid but doesn't elaborate too much in how to do it. Rules for miniature play without a grid will also be nice, they were the standard ones in 3.0 and the use of the battle grid was covered in the DMG. Here, Paizo could do the opposite covering grid-less battles in the GameMastery Guide. I find those rules very convenient when playing with miniatures in outdoor environment.
Ah well time to sell a kidney.
Or a friends...