paizo.com Recent Blog Posts in Nicholas Gregorypaizo.com Recent Blog Posts in Nicholas Gregory2016-03-24T01:44:01Z2016-03-24T01:44:01ZWar of the Wordshttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lim2?War-of-the-Words2016-03-24T19:00:00Z<blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">War of the Words</h1>
<p class="date">Thursday, March 24, 2016</p>
<div itemprop="articlebody">
<p itemprop="description">As a GM, one of the things I love about the <a href = "/pathfinderRPG">Pathfinder Roleplaying Game</a> is that it allows you to play out any story you can imagine in the fantasy world within. But when those stories have fewer physical combats and more scheming, infiltration, persuasion, and other types of intrigue, the rules don't have your back as solidly as they do for combat, so a GM, like me, who ran lots of those plots had to do a lot of improvisation. In <a href = "/products/btpy9j6p"><em>Ultimate Intrigue</em></a>, we present both subsystems and advice for players and GMs alike to sink their teeth into an intrigue game and all sorts of fun challenges they might find therein.</p>
<div class="blurb360"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1134-SocialCombat.jpg"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1134-SocialCombat_360.jpeg" /></a><br />
Looks like Kess is about to put somebody... on ice!<br />
<i>Illustration by Nicholas Gregory</i></div>
<p>First up, we have two influence systems, one for gaining influence with particular characters at an event to pursue a goal, and another for gaining influence and power within an organization. Next, the Heists section shows you how to build and play a fun heist and get started with some "Ocean's Elven" style action. The leadership section shows how to modify leadership for a variety of types of leader or follower that break the standard assumptions and how to tie leadership into all the other subsystems, as well as presenting an enormous chart of potential monster cohorts from all five Bestiaries, with some adjusted cohort levels that reflect either disruptive abilities or relative lack of options in an intrigue game (for instance, stone giant is much lower now, but the hound archon with its at-will <i>greater teleport</i> is much higher). The nemesis subsystem helps with creating and managing of various nemeses of the PCs, including increasingly drastic options a nemesis might take once she has fixated on the PCs as a thorn in her side. Pursuit offers a long-term version of a chase where the whole group works together to overcome the challenges of the terrain and catch up to an NPC, escape an NPC, or beat an NPC in a race to a crucial site. The research subsystem helps in roleplaying the challenge of discovering hidden lore, based on the system from <a href = "/pathfinder/adventurePath/mummysMask"><em>Mummy's Mask</em></a> but adding a bunch of fun twists, like monsters or traps tied into the research progress. Spells of intrigue is an advice section on some of the most common spells in an intrigue game and how they fit into the world of intrigue without cracking it wide open (including their limitations, countermeasures, and so on). This section includes advice on adjudicating charms and compulsions, illusions and what counts as interacting, divinations, and more! </p>
<p>The social conflicts section is in some ways a centerpiece for the various subsystems, as it addresses directly how to put together a social conflict with various stakes and contenders like you might see in <em>Game of Thrones</em> (including an example social conflict where fey changelings are instigating a class war between the common folk and the nobility). Verbal duels are battles of wits and words where each duelist chooses various tactics to try to defeat their rival and impress the crowd. For instance, the allegory tactic is a good opening tactic, but telling a story isn't great in the middle of a fast-paced exchange, baiting tries to goad your opponent into responding with a penalty, mockery is great if your opponent is on the ropes with the crowd, and red herring lets you escape a tense situation by starting a whole new argument). Lastly, the skills in conflict section provides a variety of advice for the skills most often used against each other, like the social skills, Perception, and Stealth, filling out some of the skill descriptions from the <a href = "/products/btpy88yj"><em>Core Rulebook</em></a> with more expansive rulings and advice. We've got advice in here for dealing with situations like:</p>
<ul><li>bluffing with a party</li>
<li>true lies and implausible truths</li>
<li>the aftermath of a bluff</li>
<li>bluffing someone who has already been bluffed in a different way</li>
<li>requests are not mind control</li>
<li>roleplaying and social skills</li>
<li>calling for a cease-fire</li>
<li>when disguise is opposed</li>
<li>seeing through an illusion that augments a disguise</li>
<li>two sides each attempting to Intimidate the other</li>
<li>explaining negative consequences to someone who doesn't like you without using fear tactics</li>
<li>active and automatic Perception</li>
<li>precise and imprecise senses</li>
<li>cover and concealment for Stealth</li>
<li>states of awareness (unaware, aware of presence, aware of location, and observing)</li>
<li>hunches with Sense Motive</li>
<li>Sense Motive is not mind reading</li>
<li>and more!</li></ul>
<p><a href = "/products/btpy9j6p"><em>Ultimate Intrigue</em></a> is the toolkit that will let you bring all sorts of new styles of adventure to your gaming table, or enrich your games if you were already throwing those kinds of plotlines and adventures at your PCs. I can't wait to hear what sorts of stories of intrigue you tell using this book!</p>
<p>Mark Seifter<br />
<i>Designer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Ultimate Intrigue, Nicholas Gregory —>
</blockquote><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/nicholasGregory">Nicholas Gregory</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderRoleplayingGame">Pathfinder Roleplaying Game</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/ultimateIntrigue">Ultimate Intrigue</a></p><blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">War of the Words</h1>
<p class="date">Thursday, March 24, 2016</p>
<div itemprop="articlebody">
<p itemprop="description">As a GM, one of the things I love about the <a href = "/pathfinderRPG">Pathfinder Roleplaying Game</a> is that it allows you to play out any story you can imagine in the fantasy world within. But when those stories have fewer physical combats and more scheming, infiltration, persuasion, and other types of intrigue, the rules don't have your back as solidly as they do for combat, so a GM, like me, who ran lots of those plots had to do a lot of improvisation. In <a href = "/products/btpy9j6p"><em>Ultimate Intrigue</em></a>, we present both subsystems and advice for players and GMs alike to sink their teeth into an intrigue game and all sorts of fun challenges they might find therein.</p>
<div class="blurb360"><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1134-SocialCombat.jpg"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderRPG/PZO1134-SocialCombat_360.jpeg" /></a><br />
Looks like Kess is about to put somebody... on ice!<br />
<i>Illustration by Nicholas Gregory</i></div>
<p>First up, we have two influence systems, one for gaining influence with particular characters at an event to pursue a goal, and another for gaining influence and power within an organization. Next, the Heists section shows you how to build and play a fun heist and get started with some "Ocean's Elven" style action. The leadership section shows how to modify leadership for a variety of types of leader or follower that break the standard assumptions and how to tie leadership into all the other subsystems, as well as presenting an enormous chart of potential monster cohorts from all five Bestiaries, with some adjusted cohort levels that reflect either disruptive abilities or relative lack of options in an intrigue game (for instance, stone giant is much lower now, but the hound archon with its at-will <i>greater teleport</i> is much higher). The nemesis subsystem helps with creating and managing of various nemeses of the PCs, including increasingly drastic options a nemesis might take once she has fixated on the PCs as a thorn in her side. Pursuit offers a long-term version of a chase where the whole group works together to overcome the challenges of the terrain and catch up to an NPC, escape an NPC, or beat an NPC in a race to a crucial site. The research subsystem helps in roleplaying the challenge of discovering hidden lore, based on the system from <a href = "/pathfinder/adventurePath/mummysMask"><em>Mummy's Mask</em></a> but adding a bunch of fun twists, like monsters or traps tied into the research progress. Spells of intrigue is an advice section on some of the most common spells in an intrigue game and how they fit into the world of intrigue without cracking it wide open (including their limitations, countermeasures, and so on). This section includes advice on adjudicating charms and compulsions, illusions and what counts as interacting, divinations, and more! </p>
<p>The social conflicts section is in some ways a centerpiece for the various subsystems, as it addresses directly how to put together a social conflict with various stakes and contenders like you might see in <em>Game of Thrones</em> (including an example social conflict where fey changelings are instigating a class war between the common folk and the nobility). Verbal duels are battles of wits and words where each duelist chooses various tactics to try to defeat their rival and impress the crowd. For instance, the allegory tactic is a good opening tactic, but telling a story isn't great in the middle of a fast-paced exchange, baiting tries to goad your opponent into responding with a penalty, mockery is great if your opponent is on the ropes with the crowd, and red herring lets you escape a tense situation by starting a whole new argument). Lastly, the skills in conflict section provides a variety of advice for the skills most often used against each other, like the social skills, Perception, and Stealth, filling out some of the skill descriptions from the <a href = "/products/btpy88yj"><em>Core Rulebook</em></a> with more expansive rulings and advice. We've got advice in here for dealing with situations like:</p>
<ul><li>bluffing with a party</li>
<li>true lies and implausible truths</li>
<li>the aftermath of a bluff</li>
<li>bluffing someone who has already been bluffed in a different way</li>
<li>requests are not mind control</li>
<li>roleplaying and social skills</li>
<li>calling for a cease-fire</li>
<li>when disguise is opposed</li>
<li>seeing through an illusion that augments a disguise</li>
<li>two sides each attempting to Intimidate the other</li>
<li>explaining negative consequences to someone who doesn't like you without using fear tactics</li>
<li>active and automatic Perception</li>
<li>precise and imprecise senses</li>
<li>cover and concealment for Stealth</li>
<li>states of awareness (unaware, aware of presence, aware of location, and observing)</li>
<li>hunches with Sense Motive</li>
<li>Sense Motive is not mind reading</li>
<li>and more!</li></ul>
<p><a href = "/products/btpy9j6p"><em>Ultimate Intrigue</em></a> is the toolkit that will let you bring all sorts of new styles of adventure to your gaming table, or enrich your games if you were already throwing those kinds of plotlines and adventures at your PCs. I can't wait to hear what sorts of stories of intrigue you tell using this book!</p>
<p>Mark Seifter<br />
<i>Designer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Ultimate Intrigue, Nicholas Gregory —>
</blockquote><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/nicholasGregory">Nicholas Gregory</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderRoleplayingGame">Pathfinder Roleplaying Game</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/ultimateIntrigue">Ultimate Intrigue</a></p>2016-03-24T19:00:00Z