Heh
Unfortunately it won't let you even checkout.
I used to have trouble with their site because it would let me check out without the shipping. Or to be more accurate, it wouldn't add the shipping costs to the payment amount despite my selection. I had to pay those as a separate transfer.
Thankfully that problem seems to have been fixed now.
Ah, there it goes. I think it actually did have something to do with being at work. I just tried it at home and it now added the shipping cost when I chose the first option.
It's odd, FGG loaded just fine at work, but trying to finish the order was another matter.
Well lets get back on the subject, about the monsters in the book or the book its self. Seems we are turning this into a Q and A for web support of FGG, its about TOH4 content.
So on first glance at the spider lich, seems like a great concept, but it seems to me to be more of a template for a phase spider, so what would it look like with the phase spider abilities included?
Also, as a previous purveyor of monsters, Did you happen to include the storm elemental s and black Unicorns (of course i did my own version of this one in 3.5 when we wrote Citadel of Fire, evil as hell).
Shabast, Storm Elemental: pg 84 cof, CR10, HD 10, HP 65, AC25, Fly 60, Swim 20, BAB +7/+2; ATK +3 SPEAR +16 RANGED OR 2 SLAMS +13 2D4+4 (+1D8 ELECTRICAL)MELEE; Medium Elemental, SA Electric Arc, Spell-Like abilities, SQ DR5/magic, Darkvision 60, Freedom of Movement, Vapor Form, Elemental Traits, Electric subtype. (from plane of Air): Str 18, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 18; FEATS: COMBAT RELEXES, IMPROVED INITIATIVE, WEAPON FINESSE, ABILITY FOCUS (Sp).
POSSESSIONS +3 SPEAR OF THUNDERING SHOCK; +2 MITHRIL CHAIN SHIRT.
K GEILMAN
So on first glance at the spider lich, seems like a great concept, but it seems to me to be more of a template for a phase spider, so what would it look like with the phase spider abilities included?
I might have to check this out.
Hey, I just wanted to ask you guys who bought the pdf so far. I bought it last week, and while I love the write ups for all the new monsters, it takes forever to go through the document because, for some reason, opening the file slows my computer to a crawl. Is anybody else experiencing this or could it just be my pdf reader?
Hey, I just wanted to ask you guys who bought the pdf so far. I bought it last week, and while I love the write ups for all the new monsters, it takes forever to go through the document because, for some reason, opening the file slows my computer to a crawl. Is anybody else experiencing this or could it just be my pdf reader?
Using adobe reader on an I core 2 duo with 2 GB of ram and I experience the same issue. Tried it on my work computer just to see and even on that one which is only a year old with 4 gb it is still a little slow but moves closer to what I would expect.
I have the same problem and I can't get the cover or back to print.
There you go, your problem is RAM. On my Core Quad with 6GB all the pdfs open and read with no issues.
Hey, I just wanted to ask you guys who bought the pdf so far. I bought it last week, and while I love the write ups for all the new monsters, it takes forever to go through the document because, for some reason, opening the file slows my computer to a crawl. Is anybody else experiencing this or could it just be my pdf reader?
The PDF is brutally unoptimized. My home system is fine with it but my work PC was massacred by opening it. I updated from Reader 10 to Reader 11 and that seemed to help somewhat but I didn't have much time to confirm it. The slow system is a 6-year-old AMD dual-core system with plenty of memory. The fast system is a 2-year-old i5 something something reasonably high end when it was purchased.
updated to Adobe Reader 11 and the performance seems to be improved a bit.
There you go, your problem is RAM. On my Core Quad with 6GB all the pdfs open and read with no issues.
'Fraid that's not it at all. The work machine I mentioned is also a 2G box but I'm an IT guy so I know how to diagnose things. Plenty (as in in excess of 1G) of unallocated RAM after the PDF full opens. On the other hand, it spikes one CPU core to 100% pretty much every time you touch anything. No excess hard drive activity, no memory pressure, it's the PDF content requiring processing time. Faster CPUs mean less time processing which makes the issue less visible on modern machines.
I am not saying that the file could not be optimized better. It is over 300 pp in full color so it is heavy on graphics so your video ram is part of the equation also here. Doubtful either box has dedicated video ram. Nor would I expect FGG to optimize files for systems over 4 years old. Mine is 3.5 but has 1 GB of dedicated video. Don't want to make this an IT discussion (I am in IT also, since 1990). That needs to be taken up with the FGG IT guy if a lot of people are having issues. All I know is Windows 7 started choking on 2 GB of RAM several years ago and we went to 4 GB systems. The OS needs almost that (2 GB) to operate in or it starts to shut down operations. I have not tested this file yet, but the only FGG file that I have issues with on my 2 year old tablet is RC due to size.
Edit: yeah it tends to choke a bit on my tablet as do most of the Paizo pdfs of full color. Pages turn without issue but will not zoom. Definitely not tablet optimized. I had worse issues with the RC file. The other question, is that 1 GB available or free memory? It makes a huge difference in Windows 7. If you don't have the free memory it will choke. Windows 7 is worse than Vista about caching memory for applications it thinks you are going to use again and Internet Explorer is the worst offender.
I am not saying that the file could not be optimized better. It is over 300 pp in full color so it is heavy on graphics so your video ram is part of the equation also here. Doubtful either box has dedicated video ram. Nor would I expect FGG to optimize files for systems over 4 years old. Mine is 3.5 but has 1 GB of dedicated video. Don't want to make this an IT discussion (I am in IT also, since 1990). That needs to be taken up with the FGG IT guy if a lot of people are having issues. All I know is Windows 7 started choking on 2 GB of RAM several years ago and we went to 4 GB systems. The OS needs almost that (2 GB) to operate in or it starts to shut down operations. I have not tested this file yet, but the only FGG file that I have issues with on my 2 year old tablet is RC due to size.
Edit: yeah it tends to choke a bit on my tablet as do most of the Paizo pdfs of full color. Pages turn without issue but will not zoom. Definitely not tablet optimized. I had worse issues with the RC file. The other question, is that 1 GB available or free memory? It makes a huge difference in Windows 7. If you don't have the free memory it will choke. Windows 7 is worse than Vista about caching memory for applications it thinks you are going to use again and Internet Explorer is the worst offender.
Sigh. Off-topic nerd time. Video RAM is used (in general) for two things; texture space and 2D buffering. In the case of a video game, 3D wireframe meshes are calculated and 2D texture "pictures" are mapped onto those wireframes. Dynamic lighting, shading and a bunch of other post-processing happens on that, giving you a frame of a rendered game. Outside of video games, video memory is rarely used for more than containing the currently displayed screen. Without getting hugely verbose, a 300 page PDF doesn't rely on video memory any more than a 2 page PDF.
For the record, the work system is a Server 2003 machine which isn't "choking" on anything. When I say that the memory is unallocated, I mean precisely that. It isn't being used for anything, including system file cache, executable pre-load cache etc. Given Server 2003 is effectively the XP kernel you should be familiar with how memory was treated in that era; the (correct) view that unused RAM is wasted RAM didn't apply at that time.
It turns out that Adobe Reader 11 has massively improved render performance on the work machine. It's not fast at roughly 1.5 seconds per page draw but it's nowhere near the 5-10 seconds that I was seeing on the same platform with Reader 10. Randomly paging through the book isn't exactly fun but normal use as a reference book is just fine.
I want this so bad I can taste it. It tastes like crab cakes.
I was in IT too and the PDF runs fine on my (admittedly gaming) PC - barely makes a flicker of RAM/CPU/GPU HDD but also run fine on my iPad (gen 3). I am using Foxit Reader on the PC, and I would always recommend that over the bloated Adobe Reader.
Perhaps the Frogs can take a look at the file when they get a chance. I know they have a lot on their plate with GenCon coming up and Razor's Coast being released.
Goodies will soon be on their way, Razor Coast, TOH4 and Stoneheart Valley along with the rest of the kickstarter! Almost feels like Christmas or my birthday!
As a bit of a veteran of monster books, I can definitely say that this is a quantity over quality book. Sure, some of the monsters are absolutely amazing ( the previously mentioned spider lich actually inspired a whole series of adventures the moment I stumbled across it) but largely most of the critters are the off the cuff sort of stuff that you can find some version if in any other number of monster books. " Oh look scorpion men...again. Oh look, elemental undead. Oh look, various forms of giant animal or bug who's one defining trait is that they're giant."
If you're just starting out and are looking for a few more things to spice up your menagerie then by all means get it. However if you're like me, and have a good number of 3rd party bestiaries under your belt, I'd say skip it. The book has a bad habit of giving you barebones monsters that don't go any further than their base stats.
If anyone at FGG is listening, you guys did a great job getting this out, and all the artwork is amazing, I'd like to see a little more effort put into each creature is all, a little something to make shadowy undead # 3 to stand out from shadowy undead # 1-7.
I want to look over it again after looking over the Tome of Horrors Complete, but I kind of feel Elias review is pretty much on the mark.
There are some good critters in here, but quite a bit of it is definitely generic material that really doesn't stand out from existing material.
I will probably have a more detailed review after I finish looking at the book.
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I agree with the last two post. Presentation was awesome. Most of the monster were uninspired with the exception of a handful. Greg Vaughn reprinted Tsar monsters were probably the most creative.
On another note anyone know what happened to the CD and RA subscription modules? I haven't seen one released in a long time.
To each his own I guess, but my initial impression is that it is the best Tome yet especially when it comes to monsters that I will actually use in my campaign!
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I agree that ToH Complete had more great monsters, but it did also have about three times as many monsters as well.
I actually think the monster book withi the most great monsters that FGG has put out is Monstrocities. Lots of great, very strange stuff in there. I wager on them slowly trickling into Pathfinder with future FGG releases.
I will Definitely be picking this up at Gen Con.
One question, though. will the Tome of Horrors be able to summon these creatures as well?
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I will Definitely be picking this up at Gen Con.
One question, though. will the Tome of Horrors be able to summon these creatures as well?
The Tome transcends time and space. It can summon anything...
The Tome transcends time and space. It can summon anything...I will Definitely be picking this up at Gen Con.
One question, though. will the Tome of Horrors be able to summon these creatures as well?
Good to know.
Must remember to finally order this tonight. I'm glad to see the inclusion of monsters from Slumbering Tsar. I often raid that book and Rappan Athuk for unique monsters in my campaign.
There are monsters from RA in it also.
Any idea when these will begin to ship? "After Gencon" is a bit vague.
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I am sure they will get it shipped as soon as they can James. They are still working on shipping Razor Coast and Stoneheart Valley orders as well as anything else that is on their plate. I would like to get my hard copy also, but I have enough patience issues as Skeeter can attest! Trying to be more patient on this one:)
I think I am being patient. I was just wondering if it could be narrowed down any more than sometime before the end of time. Something like by the end of August, or mid-September, or even by the end of the year. Surely there is someone who could ballpark it a little bit.
Sorry didn't mean to say YOU were being impatient. Was more referring to myself on that one. I am sure it will be out long before the end of the year. Give them a little time to recover from GenCon and perhaps they can give you a more firm answer.
I think I am being patient. I was just wondering if it could be narrowed down any more than sometime before the end of time. Something like by the end of August, or mid-September, or even by the end of the year. Surely there is someone who could ballpark it a little bit.
Fulfillment is getting through the orders as they come in, and as fast as they can. Now than con season is essentially over, things should pick up speed.
I know people don't get their books instantaneously, but it is usually 2 main people, and several helpers (who work for food and beer) that get these things out. We do the best we can, promise! :-)
So I don't need to worry that I haven't received a shipping notice for my July 16 order of ToH4 and Stoneheart Valley books, correct? But they are now in the process of being shipped soon?
So I don't need to worry that I haven't received a shipping notice for my July 16 order of ToH4 and Stoneheart Valley books, correct? But they are now in the process of being shipped soon?
Correct. if you have no shipping notice by Aug 30, send an email and ask if they have your order in the system.
Thanks!
Fulfillment is getting through the orders as they come in, and as fast as they can. Now than con season is essentially over, things should pick up speed.I know people don't get their books instantaneously, but it is usually 2 main people, and several helpers (who work for food and beer) that get these things out. We do the best we can, promise! :-)
Thank for the update. Looks like I'll most likely get it much quicker than I expected.
Shipped today! Thanks to everyone involved!
So I don't need to worry that I haven't received a shipping notice for my July 16 order of ToH4 and Stoneheart Valley books, correct? But they are now in the process of being shipped soon?Correct. if you have no shipping notice by Aug 30, send an email and ask if they have your order in the system.
Will do....
I just got my shipping notice also.
We're glad you're back. :)
Looking forward to getting my shipping notice for both Stoneheart and TOH4.
^SNAP! I got my shipping notice too, ToH4 and Stoneheart! :D
Mine should hopefully arrive just in time for my birthday and next Pathfinder session. Last session, I threw a couple of baba yagas from ToH4 and some of sentinel huts (basically Baba Yaga hut constructs) from the Paizo Irrisen book at my PCs. Once the PCs destroyed the huts, the baba yaga popped out. Good times.
^SNAP! I got my shipping notice too, ToH4 and Stoneheart! :D
Stoneheart is excellent from what I've read so far (S&W version).