Creative Director
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If you could get Richard Pett, Wolfgang Baur, Greg A. Vaughan, Nicholas Logue (please return to RPG writing) and Brendan Hodge in a room together to brain storm an AP:
A) Would having such a concentration of unmentionable horror concentrated in one location be legal in the state of Washington?
B) Would they negate each other and we end up with an AP about fluffy bunnies and high tea?
C) Open the a rift to the far dimentions and as Gnarly Hotep, Coolthulahoop and Shaggoth & Scooboth battle it out to rule the Earth the writers merge and form Mecha-Geek and save the world.
D) Shake the foundations of horror writing and cause Poe, Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker, rotate 90* in their respective resting places in awe at what they produce.
E) They get drunk, tell gaming stories forget what they are doing, suddenly realise what they were there to do put something together on the fly that is cool and amazing any way.
Or maybe...
F) Fall into my cunning trap designed to transform creative potentiality into a renewable energy source to power my army of cybernetic vat-raised dinosaurs.
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Sir, I ask if there are any massive weapon feats coming down the pipe like PHB 2's "weapon mastery" and "weapon supremacy".
I understand we have a lot of critical feats, which make me want to play a falchion or scimitar wielder...but do you have any mega-fighter feats that only a fighter of 15+ level will have access to?
I have not looked at PHB 2 (assuming the 3.5 one) in years, and I've NEVER looked at the 4E PHB 2. So I'm not sure what the feats you're talking about do.
We WILL continue to provide feats for high level fighters; we've already produced quite a few in the Core Rules (the critical feats), with a bunch more in APG and more to come next year in Ultimate Combat.
PHB2 feats basically do what the fighter already has got in terms of Weapon Training. You get more damage with a category of weapons.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
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Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
wow ok I will cross the Pacific Northwest off my list :-)
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"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
Rotten squawky jerk birds. If a puffin landed near by you'd *want* to share with them. Stupid gulls just take your fries, and probably poop in your food when they take off.
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Rotten squawky jerk birds. If a puffin landed near by you'd *want* to share with them. Stupid gulls just take your fries, and probably poop in your food when they take off."crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
Pretty darn close. Weird sitting with my ex wife eating fries waiting for the monorail and having the stupid bird snatch it out of my hand.
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wow ok I will cross the Pacific Northwest off my list :-)"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
On a clear "hour," the view is awe inspiring. Especially when you live in the flat lands like I do. The pacific Northwest has a lot to offer and I am sure those who live there can say much better then I. That being said, a few years ago when I visited, for 3 weeks, I think it let up raining for two hours.
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Creative Director
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Have you ever noticed that Pointy Haired Boss and Player's Handbook are both abbreviated PHB? Do you think Dilbert is full of secret gamer commentary?
Have you ever noticed that abbreviating Player's Handbook to PHB doesn't make sense? Shouldn't it abbreviate to PH? The "b" in Handbook isn't starting up a new word, after all.
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Creative Director
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But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
Looking up at Rainier is indeed amazing. And I do actually LOVE getting out to nature. I grew up on the north coast of California, where nature is particularly super-awesome (what with the redwoods and Pacific ocean and awesome mountains and cool wildlife and potent storms and all).
What I mean by lacking equipment to boat or fish is this: I don't own and can't afford a boat, but hopefully some day I will. Likewise, I don't own any fishing gear or a fishing license; that's a lot easier to fix, and honestly one that I've considered addressing many times... but starting that up from zero is a little intimidating.
(My love of boating and fishing comes from my dad, who was a commercial salmon fisherman for many, many years; he's retired now, but still fishes on land and sea. I normally don't get a chance to go down to Point Arena to visit except around December, when the weather pretty much always prevents fishing expeditions, but now and then things work out and I get to scratch that itch.)
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Creative Director
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"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
We have plenty of crisp mornings. And drizzly weather, to me, is actually quite nice. I'll take Seattle's weather ANY DAY OF ANY WEEK over the weather in the midwest or the south or the east coast, that's for sure.
And if a sea gull steals a french fry from you, it's doing you a favor. Those fries are like the most unhealthy thing you can eat.
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Creative Director
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wow ok I will cross the Pacific Northwest off my list :-)"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
Your loss! The Pacific Northwest (which to me INCLUDES Northern California; its weather is not all that different from Seattle) is the best place in the world! (RAH RAH RAH!!)
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Have you ever noticed that Pointy Haired Boss and Player's Handbook are both abbreviated PHB? Do you think Dilbert is full of secret gamer commentary?Have you ever noticed that abbreviating Player's Handbook to PHB doesn't make sense? Shouldn't it abbreviate to PH? The "b" in Handbook isn't starting up a new word, after all.
CONSPIRACY!
*puts on tinfoil hat*
Have you ever noticed that Pointy Haired Boss and Player's Handbook are both abbreviated PHB? Do you think Dilbert is full of secret gamer commentary?Have you ever noticed that abbreviating Player's Handbook to PHB doesn't make sense? Shouldn't it abbreviate to PH? The "b" in Handbook isn't starting up a new word, after all.
For some reason, the three-letter acronyms just feel right. PHB and DMG were always more natural than MM. My one regret about the current Paizo line is that the Bestiary has no such amusing truncation to use in spoken conversation. We have CRB (with the same added B as you mention above) and GMG, and APG... perhaps when the Bestiary 2 comes out I will convince my group to adopt BV1 and BV2. Those are fun to say.
Oh, uh... question. Have you read R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series?
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Creative Director
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For some reason, the three-letter acronyms just feel right. PHB and DMG were always more natural than MM. My one regret about the current Paizo line is that the Bestiary has no such amusing truncation to use in spoken conversation. We have CRB (with the same added B as you mention above) and GMG, and APG... perhaps when the Bestiary 2 comes out I will convince my group to adopt BV1 and BV2. Those are fun to say.
Oh, uh... question. Have you read R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series?
Modern society's obsession with acronyms is not a strength, in my opinion, so more things that don't use acronyms is a bonus.
Haven't read "Prince of Nothing," in any event.
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Creative Director
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Three Questions - Do you think modern Computer RPGs Bestiaries are too small?
How large do you prefer your dungeons (mini 4-6 rooms, medium 6-12 rooms, large 12-20 rooms or MEGA 20-*infinity*)?
How does one stock a dungeon with dinosaurs to defend and hunt through it?
Ummm... what's a "Modern Computer RPGs Bestairy"? Are you talking about monster lists in video game manuals?
I generally prefer dungeons to be medium to large. If they're larger than that, I prefer them to be composed of medium to large sections.
You stock a dinosaur dungeon by building it big and probably next-door to a dinosaur-infested land of awesome.
Your loss! The Pacific Northwest (which to me INCLUDES Northern California; its weather is not all that different from Seattle) is the best place in the world! (RAH RAH RAH!!)wow ok I will cross the Pacific Northwest off my list :-)"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
Nahh its still on my list :-) I place it second best after the Far North Coast of New South Wales (RAH RAH RAH) :-).
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Three Questions - Do you think modern Computer RPGs Bestiaries are too small?
How large do you prefer your dungeons (mini 4-6 rooms, medium 6-12 rooms, large 12-20 rooms or MEGA 20-*infinity*)?
How does one stock a dungeon with dinosaurs to defend and hunt through it?
Ummm... what's a "Modern Computer RPGs Bestairy"? Are you talking about monster lists in video game manuals?
I generally prefer dungeons to be medium to large. If they're larger than that, I prefer them to be composed of medium to large sections.
You stock a dinosaur dungeon by building it big and probably next-door to a dinosaur-infested land of awesome.
I mean that modern CRPGs don't have as much of a variety of monsters that older games have. It's something that bothered me about Dragon Age: Origins. Have you noticed this too?
Also how long until we see a Dragon as the evil mastermind behind an entire AP?
(I'm not sure CotCT counts seeing as that Dragon was already dead, and influenced by the shallow queen. Against the Dragon is such an iconic idea and I'm surprised Paizo hasn't done this yet).
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Your loss! The Pacific Northwest (which to me INCLUDES Northern California; its weather is not all that different from Seattle) is the best place in the world! (RAH RAH RAH!!)wow ok I will cross the Pacific Northwest off my list :-)"crisp" Saturday morning?? more like raining drizzly yucky morning with gulls stealing your fries.
Boating/Fishing (although I currently lack the equipment and resources to indulge in these)
But you live in Seattle and you have one of the greatest places for sailing in the world on your doorstep... Snow capped mountains, hundreds of islands, its one only a few places in North America that I have an interest in visiting.
Looking up at mount Mount Rainier on a crispy Saturday morning while cruising around Puget Sound would be amazing.
Best, not so sure. Pretty, oh heck yeah. Fun too.
...so what I really want to know is WWJJD?
I think we got it figured out James, but I should have posted a link.
I'm going to say flat-footed CMD check will be in order.
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Creative Director
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I mean that modern CRPGs don't have as much of a variety of monsters that older games have. It's something that bothered me about Dragon Age: Origins. Have you noticed this too?
Also how long until we see a Dragon as the evil mastermind behind an entire AP?
*** Spoiler Omitted ***
Ah; nah. The fact that CRPGs don't all have a huge variety of creatures doesn't really bother me unless the variety is REALLY low. Dragon Age had more than enough variety for me, but Fable II certainly had a dearth of monsters.
As for a dragon being the big bad end guy of an AP... someday we'll do that, but I'm not gonna say when!
I added a spoiler tag.
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Creative Director
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now the the second beastiary is printed... any word on what is in it? more or less? say a spoiler on something other than monsters? (like templates, feats, ect)
We just did a blog post on it, so that's some words right there!
We'll be providing a list of the monsters soon in a pretty fun way.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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James, two questions:
1) When Wizards ended Paizo's licenses for Dragon and Dungeon, and you folks decided to build new adventures in a new campaign setting, what lessons did you take from the published settings that had gone before, from Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun and Mystara, Ptolus and the Scarred Lands?
2) When the Adventure Paths started, it seemed that Paizo was a company that was putting out quality adventures first and foremost with Gamemastery products and the Golarion campaign serving as support materials.
These days, I get the feel that the company is shifting towards the Pathfinder rule books as a primary focus, away from things like the Adventure Paths and the independent modules. (For example, Pathfinder Society OP encourages the players to buy the rule books, but not really the APs. For another example, the Players' Companion line has shifted from setting material, much of which was system neutral, like the Elves of Golarion, to system material, much of which is setting neutral, like Adventurers' Armory.) Is that a fair assessment? If so, does it put new pressures on the adventures, to include material that, say, makes players feel they got their money's worth when they buy the Advanced Players Guide?
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Creative Director
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James, two questions:
1) When Wizards ended Paizo's licenses for Dragon and Dungeon, and you folks decided to build new adventures in a new campaign setting, what lessons did you take from the published settings that had gone before, from Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun and Mystara, Ptolus and the Scarred Lands?
2) When the Adventure Paths started, it seemed that Paizo was a company that was putting out quality adventures first and foremost with Gamemastery products and the Golarion campaign serving as support materials.
These days, I get the feel that the company is shifting towards the Pathfinder rule books as a primary focus, away from things like the Adventure Paths and the independent modules. (For example, Pathfinder Society OP encourages the players to buy the rule books, but not really the APs. For another example, the Players' Companion line has shifted from setting material, much of which was system neutral, like the Elves of Golarion, to system material, much of which is setting neutral, like Adventurers' Armory.) Is that a fair assessment? If so, does it put new pressures on the adventures, to include material that, say, makes players feel they got their money's worth when they buy the Advanced Players Guide?
1) The #1 lesson was "Provide LOTS of support for the setting after you establish it." The #2 lesson was "Don't blow up your world once you have folks liking the world."
2) Nope; not a fair assessment. While the rulebooks do seem to get folks on these threads pretty worked up, the other products are still going strong. We do 3 rulebooks a year (about 800 words or so), but we continue to do 12 AP installments a year (about 1,150 pages a year), 6 modules a year (about 200 pages a year), 6 player's companions a year (another 200 pages), and 10 campaign setting books a year (about 640 pages). The Adventure Path itself continues to be a significant source of income as well. All of this DOES put pressure on the non-rulebook content, but not necessarily out of a desire to include new rules content—more due to the fact that while we added 800 or so pages of rulebooks a year, we did NOT reduce the amount of output we were doing for other products at all. Which means more work. Which is why we've been hiring a lot of new folks lately.
In any event, all of the non-rulebook materials remain 100% Golarion compatible. Even in the Player's Companion line, which still produces campaign setting material. Adventurer's Armory has a LOT of stuff in there that's Golarion specific. We just try to make folks who don't play in Golarion aware of the fact that even though something like, say, Adventurer's Armory is filled with Golarion content like pesh or NPCs or Mwangi coffee or copies of the Prophecies of Kalistrade or whatever...
Rulebooks are splashy and high-profile, but the fact remains that all of those books' contents are 100% open. They're free, in other words, if you know where to go on the internet. This is NOT the case of our world-specific stuff, and that's really where the value is for Paizo. Making the rules free or cheap and easy to access is only a way to enable folks to enjoy the parts of what we're doing that aren't free.
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James, two questions:
1) When Wizards ended Paizo's licenses for Dragon and Dungeon, and you folks decided to build new adventures in a new campaign setting, what lessons did you take from the published settings that had gone before, from Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun and Mystara, Ptolus and the Scarred Lands?
1) The #1 lesson was "Provide LOTS of support for the setting after you establish it." The #2 lesson was "Don't blow up your world once you have folks liking the world."
#2 - LMAO
I added a spoiler tag.Thanks, Mr. Scrubbing Bubble! :D
Mr. Thread Scrubbing Bubble! :D
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James, two simple questions here:
1) Our group is currently trying to use the Demoralize ability and some are insisting that the shaken condition does indeed stack with other shaken conditions. I realize that this was addressed in the 1st and 2nd edition erratas outlining that shaken does not stack with the Demoralize ability.
The issue is that for some reason this is no longer mentioned in the 3rd edition errata, the 3rd or 4th edition rules, or the online PRD which is supposed to have the most up-to-date rules. They are insisting that since it's not mentioned in the more "up-to-date rules" that original errata is no longer correct and that it does stack.
I argue that it is simply an oversight and that the Demoralize should work as written in the 1st and 2nd edition erratas.
2) In the future when something like this occurs and the various editions of errata don't correspond to one another how should we handle this? I would imagine that if something is mentioned in an errata, any errata, even if it's not mentioned in future errata or corrected in future printings of Pathfinder or even the online PRD the rule is still valid and should be used. Is this correct?
Thanks for your feedback! After years of 3.5 we are loving Pathfinder!
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My new DVD copy of Let the Right One In arrived yesterday, and when ready and comfy and cozy I am going to soon be watching this much-recommended (by you and many others) piece of cinema.
Would you recommend a 1st viewing be the dubbed version or subtitled version? Both are on the DVD. I have mixed feelings and experiences with both types of viewings, and I am wondering if you've had the chance to watch both versions or not, or if you've watched only one version and have no desire to watch the other version.
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Creative Director
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My new DVD copy of Let the Right One In arrived yesterday, and when ready and comfy and cozy I am going to soon be watching this much-recommended (by you and many others) piece of cinema.
Would you recommend a 1st viewing be the dubbed version or subtitled version? Both are on the DVD. I have mixed feelings and experiences with both types of viewings, and I am wondering if you've had the chance to watch both versions or not, or if you've watched only one version and have no desire to watch the other version.
Watch the subtitled version of every movie. Never watch the dubbed version of a movie unless there's no other option and you either really REALLY want to see the movie (and are prepared for dubbing to ruin the experience) or unless the movie isn't one that you feel deserves to be seen in its native tongue.
This goes for "Let the Right One In" as well. Subtitles, absolutely.
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Creative Director
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1) Our group is currently trying to use the Demoralize ability and some are insisting that the shaken condition does indeed stack with other shaken conditions. I realize that this was addressed in the 1st and 2nd edition erratas outlining that shaken does not stack with the Demoralize ability.
The issue is that for some reason this is no longer mentioned in the 3rd edition errata, the 3rd or 4th edition rules, or the online PRD which is supposed to have the most up-to-date rules. They are insisting that since it's not mentioned in the more "up-to-date rules" that original errata is no longer correct and that it does stack.
I argue that it is simply an oversight and that the Demoralize should work as written in the 1st and 2nd edition erratas.
First of all... go with what the GM decides. And whatever the GM decides should remain constant from then on for your group.
If the GM isn't comfortable making that decision without advice from others or from errata/FAQ files, though, my suggestion is that the difference between shaken and frightened is VAST, and that frightened should not be something that can be achieved by simply doubling up on effects that cause folks to become shaken.
In my game, using Intimidate to demoralize foes can never increase things beyond the shaken stage; to use Intimidate to cause foes to actually become frightened would require some sort of class skill or feat or something.
2) In the future when something like this occurs and the various editions of errata don't correspond to one another how should we handle this? I would imagine that if something is mentioned in an errata, any errata, even if it's not mentioned in future errata or corrected in future printings of Pathfinder or even the online PRD the rule is still valid and should be used. Is this correct?
As I imply in the first answer above, the GM should make the decision. That's pretty much what being a GM is all about; interpreting things and making decisions. It's important to stick to the decisions though, because the GM is the "window" into the game world and if what happens through that window changes, then the players don't know what to trust.
One of the GREATEST skills a GM in the modern age can develop is the ability to not rely so heavily on errata. Go with what feels right. I promise no one from Paizo will yell at you. :-)
Thanks for your feedback! After years of 3.5 we are loving Pathfinder!
No problem! And thanks for playing the game!!
The picture of Penander Nulligan on p25 of “Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk” appears to be a caricature of you (in the same way Jarvis Alebrecht in Pf#29 “Mother of Flies” looks to be a caricature of Jason).
Is there any special significance to the name or background of this character that is linked to you?
Do you have any editorial guidelines for including Hitchcock (Alfred or Tim) moments in adventures? Is it just common sense with respect to frequency and being in good taste? (except when Pett does Vaughan or vice versa)
Any thought on the humboldt squid, should we be worried or is it all just hype?
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Ok then do you have a hobby outside of the industry and video games??Yup! The one that's currently taking up the majority of my free time would be watching movies, but other hobbies that come and go include:
Writing Fiction (which I hope some day to graduate from hobby to job)
What other game designers/writers who have not yet published fiction would you like to see graduate to fiction other than yourself?
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Your loss! The Pacific Northwest (which to me INCLUDES Northern California; its weather is not all that different from Seattle) is the best place in the world! (RAH RAH RAH!!)
Tell me the ads/disads. Seriously. I live in SoCal and while I'm currently considering Canada, my spouse has convinced me to look a little more south and at Oregon and Washington to move in the next few years.
Gouda, camembert, or medium sized creatures wielding a small sized two-handed weapon in one hand?