The bomb is actually fairly useless to a PC. It's range is measured in miles (which you can't cut down), which is just way too much destruction unless you want to slaughter entire cities, in which case PC cheating is the least of your problems.
The reason I ask is because I want the BBEG to use it to commit genocide. I would never, ever let a PC get away with this stuff, but an NPC forwarding a major plot hook with it? That seems reasonable to me.
Creative Director
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The bomb is actually fairly useless to a PC. It's range is measured in miles (which you can't cut down), which is just way too much destruction unless you want to slaughter entire cities, in which case PC cheating is the least of your problems.
The reason I ask is because I want the BBEG to use it to commit genocide. I would never, ever let a PC get away with this stuff, but an NPC forwarding a major plot hook with it? That seems reasonable to me.
Anything an NPC can do with the rules, you should be willing to let the PCs do. AKA: If you let an NPC commit genocide using this loophole, you should be willing to let the PCs do the same.
So, I don't recommend letting the NPC do this.
Fortunately, as an NPC, he has access to an infinite number of other options, all of which can be powered by the force of a plot. Whether it's a pact with a demon lord, a time-displaced nuclear bomb, a powerful artifact, a meteor called down from the sky, or the result of a complex ritual, it's best for significant events such as these to NOT be things you quantify via rules, in my opinion.
The bomb is actually fairly useless to a PC. It's range is measured in miles (which you can't cut down), which is just way too much destruction unless you want to slaughter entire cities, in which case PC cheating is the least of your problems.
The reason I ask is because I want the BBEG to use it to commit genocide. I would never, ever let a PC get away with this stuff, but an NPC forwarding a major plot hook with it? That seems reasonable to me.
Not James but...
There is a spell from the Book of Vile Darkness that pretty does what you bent the rules to do in the first place(sure less damage...but miles radius damage spell).The spell is called Apocalypse from the Sky if you are curious.
Now a question for James on a different topic:
Any chance of us seeing Class books for Golarion in the Player Companion line? Example: Bards of Golarion or Wirches of Golarion.
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Creative Director
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Any chance of us seeing Class books for Golarion in the Player Companion line? Example: Bards of Golarion or Wirches of Golarion.
Wirches! Ha.
There's a chance of us doing something like this, but it's complicated by the fact that we have 19 base classes and only do 6 of these books a year... so even if we do six classes a year, it'll take us over 3 years to cover all the classes, which is a long time to wait if you happen to be looking forward to class #19. Furthermore... I'm afraid doing this type of theme would hurt the line somewhat—since it's narrowing in so much on 1/19th of the options that we could see 18/19ths of the line's customers deciding not to buy.
What's far MORE likely is to see us do books that cover multiple classes at once. Which we're already doing. The three Faiths books aren't just for clerics, and the upcoming Pirates book will have options for rogues, bards, fighters, and many other classes.
I have a question. I'm using The Modern Path to run a dieselpunk campaign with the PCs as battlemech pilots. These mechs have ejection seats, and the pilots carry handguns, so having your mech destroyed does not mean your character is dead. So, how should I handle it if someone gets wrecked? The ejection seats lift the pilot to 2500 feat before deploying the parachute, so that pilot isn't landing anywhere near the rest of the group. Should I RP the fallen pilot's escape back to friendly forces? How do I do that and keep the rest of the pilots fighting at the same time? If I shouldn't RP the escape, should I just rule the pilot made it back, or roll a die and see whether the pilot was killed, captured, or made it back?
Did you ever think of calling the Game Master something else? Perhaps something that would allow us to keep using DM?
I've switch over to using GM. It makes me feel like a team player(like I have a pathfinder tattoo.) but it wasn't an easy transition.
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Creative Director
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Did you ever think of calling the Game Master something else? Perhaps something that would allow us to keep using DM?
I've switch over to using GM. It makes me feel like a team player(like I have a pathfinder tattoo.) but it wasn't an easy transition.
No.
We can't use "DM" because that (and Dungeon Master) are trademarked by WotC. The phrase "GM" (or Game Master) is not only part of one of our lines of products (GameMastery), but it's also the phrase for the role in an RPG that's been used for 30+ years by other companies that weren't TSR.
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Creative Director
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I have a question. I'm using The Modern Path to run a dieselpunk campaign with the PCs as battlemech pilots. These mechs have ejection seats, and the pilots carry handguns, so having your mech destroyed does not mean your character is dead. So, how should I handle it if someone gets wrecked? The ejection seats lift the pilot to 2500 feat before deploying the parachute, so that pilot isn't landing anywhere near the rest of the group. Should I RP the fallen pilot's escape back to friendly forces? How do I do that and keep the rest of the pilots fighting at the same time? If I shouldn't RP the escape, should I just rule the pilot made it back, or roll a die and see whether the pilot was killed, captured, or made it back?
I would look into some old Battletech books for inspiration if I were you.
That said... losing your mech in a game where the combat is all about mech fighting is kinda the same as going unconscious in a typical game. My best advice would be to make it just a lot more difficult for a mech fighter to get into a situation where he's forced to eject from his mech. Rather than say a mech blows up, just have it shut down or lose control of certain functions or otherwise become crippled, so that rather than ejecting out of the mech (and thus out of the fight), the PC at least gets to make some frantic checks or whatever to jury-rig or quick-fix his mech so it'll function for a few more rounds of combat.
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Chief Technical Officer
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We can't use "DM" because that (and Dungeon Master) are trademarked by WotC.
Clark Peterson is the one who drew my attention to this: apparently Wizards claims "Dungeon Master", but *not* "DM", as a trademark. (I think Clark actually used "DM" in at least some of his 3.5 products, too.)
However, even if I had 100% certainty that Wizards didn't feel "DM" was their trademark, I still wouldn't want to use it. I have zero interest in having an abbreviation that we couldn't explain properly (because we legally couldn't tell you it stood for Dungeon Master)... and I have only slightly less interest in redefining it to mean something other than the thing that everybody in our audience would expect it to mean.
Plus, as James said, we already had our "GameMastery" brand, so the decision to use "GM" probably actually took less time than writing this post did.
I have a question. I'm using The Modern Path to run a dieselpunk campaign with the PCs as battlemech pilots. These mechs have ejection seats, and the pilots carry handguns, so having your mech destroyed does not mean your character is dead. So, how should I handle it if someone gets wrecked? The ejection seats lift the pilot to 2500 feat before deploying the parachute, so that pilot isn't landing anywhere near the rest of the group. Should I RP the fallen pilot's escape back to friendly forces? How do I do that and keep the rest of the pilots fighting at the same time? If I shouldn't RP the escape, should I just rule the pilot made it back, or roll a die and see whether the pilot was killed, captured, or made it back?I would look into some old Battletech books for inspiration if I were you.
That said... losing your mech in a game where the combat is all about mech fighting is kinda the same as going unconscious in a typical game. My best advice would be to make it just a lot more difficult for a mech fighter to get into a situation where he's forced to eject from his mech. Rather than say a mech blows up, just have it shut down or lose control of certain functions or otherwise become crippled, so that rather than ejecting out of the mech (and thus out of the fight), the PC at least gets to make some frantic checks or whatever to jury-rig or quick-fix his mech so it'll function for a few more rounds of combat.
Thanks. That sounds like a good idea.
Thanks. That sounds like a good idea.I have a question. I'm using The Modern Path to run a dieselpunk campaign with the PCs as battlemech pilots. These mechs have ejection seats, and the pilots carry handguns, so having your mech destroyed does not mean your character is dead. So, how should I handle it if someone gets wrecked? The ejection seats lift the pilot to 2500 feat before deploying the parachute, so that pilot isn't landing anywhere near the rest of the group. Should I RP the fallen pilot's escape back to friendly forces? How do I do that and keep the rest of the pilots fighting at the same time? If I shouldn't RP the escape, should I just rule the pilot made it back, or roll a die and see whether the pilot was killed, captured, or made it back?I would look into some old Battletech books for inspiration if I were you.
That said... losing your mech in a game where the combat is all about mech fighting is kinda the same as going unconscious in a typical game. My best advice would be to make it just a lot more difficult for a mech fighter to get into a situation where he's forced to eject from his mech. Rather than say a mech blows up, just have it shut down or lose control of certain functions or otherwise become crippled, so that rather than ejecting out of the mech (and thus out of the fight), the PC at least gets to make some frantic checks or whatever to jury-rig or quick-fix his mech so it'll function for a few more rounds of combat.
You know, in 1973 Israel lost around 75% of their tanks in the first 18 hours at the Golan Heights, but had sufficient repair and recovery vehicles (which are expensive and highly specialized units) available that 80% of the tanks that were lost were back in action within 24 hours, with some tanks being damaged and repaired as many as 5 times. This was a decisive factor in the battle. These tanks that were damaged were not at 100% capability, but they were good enough that they could shoot at the enemy.
A similar situation for all the PCs could be interesting.
1)Whould you make a common/worker Xenomorph from Aliens medium or large size?
2)The Xenomorph from Alien 3, would you classify it as a soilder type or a drone?
3)I know about the really powerful Proteans, but what ment to ask are there any CR18-20 types of Proteans?
4)So what determines you guys giving a creature all-round vision when you design creatures with multiple heads, eyes, etc.?
5)What senses(Darkvision 120ft, blindsense, etc.) would you give the Xenomorphs from aliens? would you make them blind?
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We can't use "DM" because that (and Dungeon Master) are trademarked by WotC.Plus, as James said, we already had our "GameMastery" brand, so the decision to use "GM" probably actually took less time than writing this post did.
If weren´t for your GameMastery line, it would be cool if you called it PM (That stands for PathMaster). Here in Brazil we use DM but never use what it stands for nor we translate it, we just use Mestre(Master).
Questions:
1- Do you actually study about others cultures when you write about a new culture from Golarion or do you create details based only in what you already knows ?
2- Did you like the Red Steel setting from Mystara ?
3- A lot of Brazilians think that would be cool if Golarion had a country based in our country. Our "Sertões", jungles, legends etc.. Brazilian culture is very different from latin america and besides the Red Steel setting we never had much screen time im fantasy. If we send books (in english) to Paizo about us, would you read it ?
Question: are you hacking my hard drive, am I unconsciously reading your mind, or do we just thing an awful lot alike?
I ask because I just read the more detailed background on Ameiko in The Brinewall Legacy, and discovered a shockingly close parallel to something I wrote, a bit of fan-fic inspired by the Rise of the Runelords game. In that game, my character became intimately involved with Ameiko after the battle of the glassworks. I had written up the fight as a short story to share with the other players in my group, and was inspired to write another piece about Kavren and Ameiko, which I haven't shared with anyone because it's unfinished. The first time they're in bed together, part of their conversation goes like this:
"Be gentle with me, Kavren. I haven't done this before."
Kavren blinked, hastily suppressing a surprised, "Really?" Unfortunately, his expression seemed to have said it clearly enough, as Ameiko glared at him.
"What," she challenged, "is it so hard to believe I'm a virgin?"
He paused a moment before answering, choosing his words with utmost care. "No," he said. "Not hard to believe, it just hadn't occurred to me. I've always looked up to you, Ameiko-san. You're so... capable, and you've led such an interesting life, I tend to take for granted that you have more experience than I do at everything except alchemy and wizardry. From what I know of you, I don't think that making love, especially for the first time in your life, is a decision you would ever take lightly. But you are very beautiful, and as sweet and warm-hearted a lady as I have ever met. If I thought of it at all, I thought for certain you must have loved, and been loved, at some time in your life. Were that so, I could not imagine you hesitating to make love out of timidity, or fear of others' disapproval."
He could see her expression softening as he spoke, and when he finished she gave him a long, lingering kiss before replying. "You're right, Kavren. I have been in love. His name was Sir Beldis Telengar. He was a paladin, of Irori's order. We travelled together, with a few others, for the best part of a year. I was smitten with him from the day we met, and in time he came to love me, too. He could have had me any night he said the word, but he had vowed to remain chaste until he married. I persuaded him to follow a very strict definition of 'chaste,' and we were... intimate in a number of ways, but he never took my maidenhead, though I was his for the asking."
"I don't know whether to admire the man's discipline, or think him a fool. I can't imagine refusing such an offer from you."
"In hindsight, I'm not sure which sentiment to feel, either -- probably a bit of both. I would have married Beldis, but... he was killed, along with two of our companions, on our last expedition. We were camped up on the Lampblack, planning to explore a ruined temple in the Churlwood, when a gnoll warband happened across our camp in the night. There must have been at least forty of them; we never had a chance. I only survived because I got knocked out, and Beldis threw me into our boat and ordered Hanno* to cast off."
Her eyes filled with tears. "I would have had him raised – we had enough wealth for it, barely – but we couldn't recover his body. The gnolls...." She shuddered in remembered grief and horror, then wiped her eyes with an angry gesture. "I'm sorry. I thought I was over that, but talking about it like this...."
"It's all right, love," he murmured. "We have all night, and we don't have to make love tonight at all. If you'd rather I simply held you, that's fine too. I want you, don't imagine for a moment that I don't, but I will be as patient as you need me to."
* Hanno Belenczi is established earlier in the piece as a Varisian rogue who taught Ameiko the skills that constitute her single level of rogue.
I wrote that before I ever heard the name "Jade Regent." Imagine my surprise at finding you'd come up with essentially the same backstory for how Ameiko's career as an adventurer ended as I did. Minor differences -- a cleric of Shelyn, not a paladin of Irori; backwoods cannibals (half-ogres like the Grawls, perhaps?) instead of gnolls; but the other details are strikingly similar, right down to the escape by rowboat with a Varisian rogue who's the only other survivor of the party. Weird, eh?
Have you guys nailed down the writers for the Shattered Star yet?
If so, are you one of them?
We can't use "DM" because that (and Dungeon Master) are trademarked by WotC.Plus, as James said, we already had our "GameMastery" brand, so the decision to use "GM" probably actually took less time than writing this post did.
If weren´t for your GameMastery line, it would be cool if you called it PM (That stands for PathMaster). Here in Brazil we use DM but never use what it stands for nor we translate it, we just use Mestre(Master).
Questions:
1- Do you actually study about others cultures when you write about a new culture from Golarion or do you create details based only in what you already knows ?2- Did you like the Red Steel setting from Mystara ?
3- A lot of Brazilians think that would be cool if Golarion had a country based in our country. Our "Sertões", jungles, legends etc.. Brazilian culture is very different from latin america and besides the Red Steel setting we never had much screen time im fantasy. If we send books (in english) to Paizo about us, would you read it ?
3) Estou com você companheiro.I am with you brother.
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Jacobs (and other Paizonians!),
Where do you put the Golarion Layers of the Abyss in relationship with other Layers in your Home game?
Does, for example, stay on the 597th Layer of the Abyss as he is in older editions?
What Layer # -- for example -- is , the Abyssal Layer of , in your Homegame?
More importantly -- what would be a good set of considerations or guidelines for us to use for adding Pathfinder's Demon Lords & Layers to the Abyss we've known and loved for decades?
Thanks!
Oooh, Jacobs -- would you be willing (able?) to provide an unofficial list of Layer numbers that you use in your Homegame of the Pathfinder Abyssal Lords & Layers?!
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Creative Director
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1)Whould you make a common/worker Xenomorph from Aliens medium or large size?
2)The Xenomorph from Alien 3, would you classify it as a soilder type or a drone?
3)I know about the really powerful Proteans, but what ment to ask are there any CR18-20 types of Proteans?
4)So what determines you guys giving a creature all-round vision when you design creatures with multiple heads, eyes, etc.?
5)What senses(Darkvision 120ft, blindsense, etc.) would you give the Xenomorphs from aliens? would you make them blind?
1) Medium
2) Neither. It's an entirely different type of alien based on a dog, not a human. Therefore, it's a different type of alien entirely.
3) I suspect that there are.
4) In most cases, we give creatures all-around vision whenever they have multiple heads or other obvious methods of looking everywhere. It's not a hard and fast rule, though. The kamadan certainly COULD have gained all-around vision... but it didn't, likely because no one thought about it while it was being designed or developed. And since there's no hard and fast rule about when something can or can't have all-around vision, it's not an error at all. Simply a design choice.
5) I would give them darkvision, tremorsense, and low-light vision.
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Questions:
1- Do you actually study about others cultures when you write about a new culture from Golarion or do you create details based only in what you already knows ?
As a follow up question to this one - I loved the forward on "The Hungry Storm" adventure that talked about the authors' research into the Inuit culture.
James, what real-world culture would you love to explore in a Pathfinder context that has not already been addressed? Is there a particular one you are looking for an opportunity to delve into?
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Creative Director
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We can't use "DM" because that (and Dungeon Master) are trademarked by WotC.Plus, as James said, we already had our "GameMastery" brand, so the decision to use "GM" probably actually took less time than writing this post did.
If weren´t for your GameMastery line, it would be cool if you called it PM (That stands for PathMaster). Here in Brazil we use DM but never use what it stands for nor we translate it, we just use Mestre(Master).
Questions:
1- Do you actually study about others cultures when you write about a new culture from Golarion or do you create details based only in what you already knows ?2- Did you like the Red Steel setting from Mystara ?
3- A lot of Brazilians think that would be cool if Golarion had a country based in our country. Our "Sertões", jungles, legends etc.. Brazilian culture is very different from latin america and besides the Red Steel setting we never had much screen time im fantasy. If we send books (in english) to Paizo about us, would you read it ?
PM would never fly, because that also stands for too many things already, one of which makes it far too easy to make fun of the abbreviation. If it weren't for the GameMastery line, we'd still use the abbreviation GM, because, as I mentioned, it's been around almost as long as DM has.
1) Yes; there's a lot of study put into what a culture is like. A lot of it we already know, but that doesn't stop us from looking into the ethnicity's real-world inspirations more.
2) I did... but I did not like the audio CD that came with it. Way too cheesy.
3) I personally don't have a lot of free time to read game books... but I'm pretty sure that if you sent a book to Paizo, someone here would certainly check it out. As for a country based on Brazil... that's absolutely a possibility for inspiration in the future—Arcadia's the obvious place to put a nation like that, but southern Garund might work as well.
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Creative Director
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Question: are you hacking my hard drive, am I unconsciously reading your mind, or do we just thing an awful lot alike?
I ask because I just read the more detailed background on Ameiko in The Brinewall Legacy, and discovered a shockingly close parallel to something I wrote, a bit of fan-fic inspired by the Rise of the Runelords game. In that game, my character became intimately involved with Ameiko after the battle of the glassworks. I had written up the fight as a short story to share with the other players in my group, and was inspired to write another piece about Kavren and Ameiko, which I haven't shared with anyone because it's unfinished. The first time they're in bed together, part of their conversation goes like this:** spoiler omitted **...
How do I know YOU'RE not the one hacking MY hard drive?
In any case, parallel design is always weird. But in cases like this, where two different people develop a character from the same baseline, not all THAT weird. There's a lot in what's been said about Varisia and Ameiko that kind of naturally suggests certain routes for character development, and when you get two people who just happen to have similar tastes or writing styles or interests... chances of parallel design go though the roof.
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Creative Director
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Jacobs (and other Paizonians!),
Where do you put the Golarion Layers of the Abyss in relationship with other Layers in your Home game?
Does, for example, stay on the 597th Layer of the Abyss as he is in older editions?
What Layer # -- for example -- is , the Abyssal Layer of , in your Homegame?
More importantly -- what would be a good set of considerations or guidelines for us to use for adding Pathfinder's Demon Lords & Layers to the Abyss we've known and loved for decades?
Thanks!
Oooh, Jacobs -- would you be willing (able?) to provide an unofficial list of Layer numbers that you use in your Homegame of the Pathfinder Abyssal Lords & Layers?!
I already sort of answered this same question on another thread, but here's more details.
There are no layers of the Abyss in the Great Beyond—instead, there are "realms." I wouldn't be surprised to see the "layer" terminology sneak in here and there, though, since it's so much a part of Abyssal tradition. Officially, though... they're realms. They're not numbered either.
If you wanted to add Pathfinder's Abyssal realms to the layers of the Abyss in D&D, place them wherever you want. Assigning realms to numbers is part "what number isn't yet taken" and part "what number makes sense symbolically for this realm?"
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Questions:
1- Do you actually study about others cultures when you write about a new culture from Golarion or do you create details based only in what you already knows ?As a follow up question to this one - I loved the forward on "The Hungry Storm" adventure that talked about the authors' research into the Inuit culture.
James, what real-world culture would you love to explore in a Pathfinder context that has not already been addressed? Is there a particular one you are looking for an opportunity to delve into?
It looks like we cross-posted. Any thoughts?
Is the abyss dynamic enough in the long term that any nubmering system would be obselete as it changes?
1) What was a catalyst for the Goblinblood Wars? Was there 1 powerful leader spurring them on? If so, what happened to him/her/it?
2) What nations/regions did the Goblinblood Wars affect, and how strongly did the Wars affect them?
James,
There are numerous threads asking this question, but I haven't seen any official answer.
Under the Spellcraft Skill, the DC for magic item creation is DC10, but under Magic Items, it's DC5 to create. Which is it?
It's not in the current errata, and if there was an official answer on another thread, I apologize for asking again.
Thanks! You guys are doing great! Next time, let's talk about some love for the Cleric (Archetype wise i mean)!
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Hello Double J!
I'm curious about your opinion about multi-classing. It seems that there's a good deal of anti-multi-classing sentiment for PCs on these message boards (or at least they're louder), but I do keep on seeing carefully-nuanced multi-classes NPCs and villains in modules.
Pathfinder does a great job of rolling out plenty of prestige classes, archetypes, etc. Is that in part to discourage multi-classing? What do you think makes people wrinkle their nose at multi-classed characters?
Just curious. I find multi-classing to be useful for characters who want to go in different directions later in their development, so I'm definitely on the 'pro' side.
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Creative Director
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It looks like we cross-posted. Any thoughts?
Questions:
1- Do you actually study about others cultures when you write about a new culture from Golarion or do you create details based only in what you already knows ?As a follow up question to this one - I loved the forward on "The Hungry Storm" adventure that talked about the authors' research into the Inuit culture.
James, what real-world culture would you love to explore in a Pathfinder context that has not already been addressed? Is there a particular one you are looking for an opportunity to delve into?
We've covered a LOT of cultures already, actually, but I'm eager to delve deeper into South American mythology someday. There's some incredible stories there.
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Creative Director
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Is the abyss dynamic enough in the long term that any nubmering system would be obselete as it changes?
Nope. If I were to number the Great Beyond's Abyssal Realms, I'd start at 1 and count up, then as new realms are added, they'd get new numbers. But the fact that numbers are interesting from a numerological standpoint means that system is inherently flawed to me, so I'd rather just not number the realms at all.
Jemes, what do I do if I'm a really bad GM? I always end up losing rule arguments, even when I'm right, do to the fact that my players usually yell until I'm too tired to yell back. I want to put my foot down and say no, you cannot use flurry of blows while casting multiple spells through a bow as a free action that only uses up one spell slot, but my player's won't stand for it, and if I push the issue I feel like a total b*$!#. Worse, this happens with every tabletop group I play with.
I need help. I have all these awesome ideas for stuff to do with Pathfinder and World of Darkness (you should know, since I post them all here), and it never goes well.
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@ Kelsey
Try being a very good player, at least for a while. It will be more fun than being a frustrated GM.
After a time you should have learned who is a reasonable player with which you can start a new campaign. In the meantime, hopefully, a more forceful GM will hammer the more troublesome players into a more amendable shape.
Regardless of what you do, good luck
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Now the reason why I have come here today (beside reading the thread, it is always interesting):
What is the meaning of this feat (from UC), as a crossbow don't give any penality for firing when prone :
While prone, you use the ground to stabilize your aim while using a crossbow or firearm.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (crossbow or firearm), base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: If you have been prone since the end of your last turn, you can ignore the penalty the prone condition imposes on ranged attack rolls you make using a crossbow or firearm with which you have Weapon Focus.
Do you know where I can get a copy of the Advanced Race Playtest? I have need of a copy. My players wanted to use it, and I said no but got overruled, and now I have reason to believe most of the stuff from it that they used isn't actually in the Advanced Race Playtest and that they pretty much used the fact that I've never used it to f!%# me over.
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Creative Director
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1) What was a catalyst for the Goblinblood Wars? Was there 1 powerful leader spurring them on? If so, what happened to him/her/it?
2) What nations/regions did the Goblinblood Wars affect, and how strongly did the Wars affect them?
1) We haven't really delved much into what started the Goblinblood wars yet.
2) The wars mostly just affected Isger, but there was some bleedover into Cheliax, Druma, and Andoran
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Creative Director
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James,
There are numerous threads asking this question, but I haven't seen any official answer.
Under the Spellcraft Skill, the DC for magic item creation is DC10, but under Magic Items, it's DC5 to create. Which is it?
It's not in the current errata, and if there was an official answer on another thread, I apologize for asking again.
Thanks! You guys are doing great! Next time, let's talk about some love for the Cleric (Archetype wise i mean)!
I honestly don't know the answer to that. My gut would be to go with DC 10, but only and purely because I think it should be harder to create magic items than easier.
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Creative Director
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Hello Double J!
I'm curious about your opinion about multi-classing. It seems that there's a good deal of anti-multi-classing sentiment for PCs on these message boards (or at least they're louder), but I do keep on seeing carefully-nuanced multi-classes NPCs and villains in modules.
Pathfinder does a great job of rolling out plenty of prestige classes, archetypes, etc. Is that in part to discourage multi-classing? What do you think makes people wrinkle their nose at multi-classed characters?
Just curious. I find multi-classing to be useful for characters who want to go in different directions later in their development, so I'm definitely on the 'pro' side.
The design philosophy of Pathifnder is that we wanted multiclassing to be not as overwhelmingly attractive to players—we want players to stick to their classes more often than they start multiclassing, and I think that we're seeing the results of that in the character construction discussions.
That said... PCs are NOT NPCs... NPCs serve different needs, and multiclassing really works well to build some neat NPC combinations for specific roles. For many PCs, there's only one role—be the best at your class. A lot of players don't seem to be interested in building characters that make sub-optimal choices in preference for character and personality issues, which is what we do all the time for NPC builds (or if there ARE players who do this, they generally aren't interested in taking part in the messageboard conversations... and honestly, being one of those players, I can't blame them for that choice at all!).
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Creative Director
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James, what do you think are the five most important skills for someone aspiring to work in the table-top RPG industry to develop/have?
In order:
1) Skill at writing with good spelling, good grammar, and most importantly, evocative writing that is fun to read.
2) Humility.
3) Some sort of specialization in some area OTHER than writing, be it history or archeology or meteorology or genetics or whatever... something you can bring to a company that builds worlds that they might not have access to.
4) A really kick-ass imagination.
5) Conviction, self-confidence, and passion for game design.
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Creative Director
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Jemes, what do I do if I'm a really bad GM? I always end up losing rule arguments, even when I'm right, do to the fact that my players usually yell until I'm too tired to yell back. I want to put my foot down and say no, you cannot use flurry of blows while casting multiple spells through a bow as a free action that only uses up one spell slot, but my player's won't stand for it, and if I push the issue I feel like a total b@@*!. Worse, this happens with every tabletop group I play with.
I need help. I have all these awesome ideas for stuff to do with Pathfinder and World of Darkness (you should know, since I post them all here), and it never goes well.
I guess the easies solution is: Get someone else to be the GM so you can be the player.
The harder solution is practice, practice, practice. And hand-pick your players if you can for personalities that work better with your preferred style of GMing. If you're not strong on rules, avoid rules layers, for example.
The BEST solution is to talk with your players and establish some house rules or table rules—something like, "When I'm GMing, I need you to respect my decisions. I welcome rules discussions AFTER the game so that I can learn the rules better, but I'd rather not derail the game when it's in progress to argue rules." If players aren't willing to give you that respect and understanding, they should find another GM.
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Creative Director
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What is the meaning of this feat (from UC), as a crossbow don't give any penality for firing when prone :
Prone Shooter wrote:
While prone, you use the ground to stabilize your aim while using a crossbow or firearm.Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (crossbow or firearm), base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: If you have been prone since the end of your last turn, you can ignore the penalty the prone condition imposes on ranged attack rolls you make using a crossbow or firearm with which you have Weapon Focus.
My guess is that it's not really all that useful a feat, honestly. Theres a bazillion feats to choose from. Just don't pick that one when you're making a crossbow user.
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Creative Director
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Do you know where I can get a copy of the Advanced Race Playtest? I have need of a copy. My players wanted to use it, and I said no but got overruled, and now I have reason to believe most of the stuff from it that they used isn't actually in the Advanced Race Playtest and that they pretty much used the fact that I've never used it to f%$% me over.
Typing "Advanced Race Guide Playtest" into our search window sends me here: Advanced Race Guide Playtest. :-P
And if you've got players who "overrule" you and make stuff up... that's kind of an abusive player/GM relationship. Not a situation I'd enjoy being in myself... maybe someone in your group would be more willing to be a GM? Otherwise, if they're not respecting your authority and decisions as GM... they're being jerks and that's just not cool at all.
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James, what do you think are the five most important skills for someone aspiring to work in the table-top RPG industry to develop/have?In order:
1) Skill at writing with good spelling, good grammar, and most importantly, evocative writing that is fun to read.
2) Humility.
3) Some sort of specialization in some area OTHER than writing, be it history or archeology or meteorology or genetics or whatever... something you can bring to a company that builds worlds that they might not have access to.
4) A really kick-ass imagination.
5) Conviction, self-confidence, and passion for game design.
Neat. I hadn't really thought too much about number three, but it makes total sense. Thanks James!