Andrew C Gale's page

Thanks for sharing your game with me. Keep 'em coming though, I'd like to hear more.

@Gamer Girrl & Robert Ranting:
Wow, three games at once, Gamer Girrl! May I be in your group? ;) Your group (almost) fits what I was suspecting, the difference being more half-human races and I like how you give your players free reign as long as they meet your selection cirteria (see below). Robert, you have been given a non-human party through circumstance and I like how he hasn't let that affect the AP and side adventures as written. Please don't think me racist (or classist) by any stretch but I sometimes find that by having a non-human party tends to have me change certain aspects of a campaign (much like the multiple intros from the Temple of Elemental Evil CRPG), so I find I am relating the game to suit the player's class and race selection in an effort to make them care about the plot. This can be sometimes a bit of a task. On the other side of the coin is what Gamer Girrl does: Gamer Girrl asks two things of her players: Firstly to cover the basic classes. Secondly, fulfill the criteria for having the Players involved in the Adventure Path as written (in RotL it was to come from a city and have a need/desire to protect their homes). Ultimately, there is no right way of doing it, however, I am going to try Gamer Girrl's way the next game I run.

@Cpt_kirstov:
Sorry I am not following 100%. I see some of what you are saying, but I don't understand how a beginner playing a human can use more OOC knowledge than -say- a beginner playing an elf can use more OOC knowledge? Apologies, I am just trying to understand.

@tbug:
This alternative method really intrigues me! I would especially like to know about your undead races. I have an undead homebrew AP I would love to run, but I don't know how to facilitate the races in the best way. I'd be interested in the mechanics you use; I imagine templates or something similar?

(I also like how you don't have any vampires in their either. Vampires: As soon as I say to my players: 'How about we run an all-undead campaign?' I have three hands go up and ask: 'Can I be a Vampire?' What I hear is: 'I want to be all human/normal looking and mysterious and emo.' What about A frikken Death Knight like Saint Kargoth?! Yuk, he's had his eyes torn out by Demogorgon. I want normal features so I don't have to worry about my looks. Jeez...) /rant

Erm, back on topic; I'd be interested in hearing from more. Share 'em if you've got 'em! (Even if they are similar to what is here) I am trying to establish what people do at gametime!

I picked up Howl of the Carrion King today and saw that Paizo for the first time has reused their 'Character Iconics' out of Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne.

It got me flicking through Second Darkness as well and I see some of the class demographics they have. At the very least, the Iconics are made up of 1 melee type, 1 arcane caster, one divine caster and 1 'other' (the class varies from AP to AP).

In a more consistent manner, I can see the racial demographics are always made of at least 2 human characters. Rise of the Runelords and Legacy of Fire contain parties of 3 human characters.

I'm curious if people actually use the iconics in their games, perhaps use them to base their own characters on, or totally disregard the iconics altogether? If players make their own characters, I am also very curious whether people's race selection reflect what is provided in the Adventure Paths, ie: are the characters in player groups made up of 50% or more human characters?

This is merely a curiosity thing. I find the groups I play with mix it up a bit, but the bulk of the party consists of humans. Incidentally, the last non-human or spellcaster I played was in the early 1990's and my best friend ALWAYS has to play a ranger (and, he still does).

I'd like to hear what others have to say about their party's race and class makeup, be it for Legacy of Fire or one of the other APs. Does the DM find he needs to adjust the AP to suit the race and class selection? Does he cringe at the sight of a party made up of non-humans or for that matter, an all human party? Do DMs sometimes need to limit how many non-human characters there are? Is the healer always the last class to be selected?

I'm interested in any thoughts or experiences people have had, so fess up!

And while Absalom is the largest city in the Inner Sea region... I don't think it's really our "flagship" city. I'd honestly say that Korvosa's our flagship city so far, (remainder removed).

I appreciate that on other threads Paizo and the community have talked about best avoiding 'Paizo' versions of licensed material (Paizo's stance on if they should create something akin to Death Knights while trying to avoid dubious copy-sterotypes-for-the-sake-of-it such as 'Sothgar the Death Knyght', or 'Gythyanki', etc) but I was sorta hoping that Absalom was indeed analogous to the Free City of Greyhawk or City of Splendours in some respects.

For beer... I prefer bottle to cans... but some brands taste better in cans.

I do not like American beer in generally as it tastes watered down. I recently got into infused beers... a bit artie fartie but I have to say refreshing in hot country for sure. Miller has a lime and salt infused beer... I liked that which is surprising as it is American.

No tin cans and Al. Unfortunately no refund for cans or bottles in Queensland. It is around 60c a kilo to recycle Al.

Back to the thread, what surprised me is the misconception that folks have about Milsims and Jedko. I am surprised that there is no comments either way.

The reason why I didnt comment is because of the way I prefer to shop. I shall try and work backward on my reasoning here. In the past, I have used Mil Sims as the place I use as a fall back should Tin Soldier and/or Games Paradise not stock what I want. Some time last year, all three bombed out on me; there were a number of things I wanted and I was getting a lot of 'run around' from all three. To wit: I had Mil Sims remove me from their books after I first shopped with them in the 1980's.

My philosophy is that if I cant walk into a store to buy it, I have to mail order it. If want to mail order something, why would I bother dealing with a national distibutor who cannot guarantee if or when they can get it or get back issues. As much as others have faith on the in their favourite Australian suppliers, I simply do not. (And Peter Stone of Mil Sims, if you are listening, I am still referring to order #14494. Wholly not good enough at all.) I shall not be forced into adopting a line of shopping just to suit the whims of distribution or availability or if the person on the other end can be bothered to look for it.

Bitter? Yes.

In this case, I might as well go straight to the source.

Wow, this thread is still going.

I got my stuff from Tin Soldier, so 'nuff said on that.

Do they still sell beer in tin cans on the continent which is an island and a country? Here in the States, they switched from tin to aluminum for the Foster's cans (about the only down under beer available here) quite a few years ago and the taste difference was obvious and in my opinion a change in the wrong direction.

However, this is something I cannot -for the life of me- pass up.

Aluminium.

Yes we use Aluminium, but we say 'Al-EWE-min-YUM' (and EWE as in a female sheep).

Not 'A-LOO-min-UM'

The last time I saw Beer in a tin tinnie, it was on deployment somewhere in SE Asia.

It was Bin-Tang.

However you pronounce aluminium, I am one of these arty-farty types who prefers beer in a bottle and my tea served in china.

That said though, I am not a lolly-water drinker.

And heres the cincher; I also prefer Budweiser beer and I cannot stand the medicrity of Straya Nidol (work that one out). Curse your American TV and their cheap knockoffs.

Thanks Chris,

I moved recently myself so my heart goes out to you. On the virtue of your statement, I called Tin Soldier (now Tin Soldier and Napoleon's Bookstore, no less).

Here is an audio file of the telephone conversation I had. You can get to it here. It hasn't been processed at time of writing, so give it a bit. Also, please be aware I am the kind of person who will 'play dumb' in order to get what I want. You will hear a number of, ah, fabrications uttered. I know full-well that Tin Soldier stocks Paizo products and I am a regular customer.

In short, they had PF #17 and #18 in their warehouse and concluding from his tone, it seems like they have had it a while. It just goes to show it depends on who you talk to at Tin Soldier. I can think of one person there (who left and has mysteriously returned) that I would rather not deal with in the future.

In any case, the damage is done and I am feeling impotent because it seems that all this ranting has been for nothing. I'll wait for them to ring me and tell me that they have them at the store. If they can coordinate that, it will be -the last- Paizo products I am buying from their store.

Isn't Austia where that guy is from?

Which guy? The Guv'nah of California?

I am quite familiar with who gets what and from where having been exposed to a number of -frankly- lame excuses from Local Gaming Stores as to where missing preiodicals are, so I will not bore everyone with them. What bugs me about this whole thing is that I cannot rely on my Local Gaming Stores as a result, because it boils down to their consistent mismanagement of the situation. AS much as I *like* to go into a gaming store and saying 'oooh', I find that in recent months bordering on years, I am now walking in with an expectation. This expectation is consistently turning into disappointment, which often morphs into frustration and anger when I do some digging to find if it is -indeed- in Australia at all.

I've gotta do this. Ive gotta walk away from Tin Soldier and Games Paradise in that regard; I am now thinking that a subscription directly to Paizo is a better option.

This is holiday season in Australia? No wonder you call it a silly season. :)

Pssst...
** spoiler omitted **

lol, it is not the holiday season, but it seems that whoever has the big frikken-magic-to-import-pathfinder-wand is still on holiday. At least in his head perhaps?

I should probably clarify the context of my statement about the 'holiday-season': In Sydney, there has not been a new issue of Pathfinder or any recent Paizo product since late November last year. If anyone would like to prove me wrong, please do so and post me a copy of Pathfinder #17 & #18 while you are at it.

Ironically, Australia is +10 GMT, so we are living in the future too. On an island. That is a continent.

Hmmm. Islands that are stuck permanently in the future that seem to have no contact with the rest of the world. I wonder if there is a TV series in that? No wait...

It happened around this time last year, the year before and again again this year:
Holiday Season = No recent Paizo Periodicals in Australia.

Tin Soldier and Games Paradise in Sydney give me the same old, tired story:

'We've ordered Pathfinder #17 and #18, but they haven't been delivered.'

I fail to understand what happens during the silly season, but it is just that: Silly. Where is my LGS copy of Pathfinder #17 and #18?

Yeah, you got it right. It was one of many "Pan's Labyrinith chalk items" we got. Rejected without much comment. But someone did comment that it was well-written.

Encouraging! Thank you Clark; being well-written is something I can build upon.

OK, bookmarking here. I think I got all the ones before this post.

Time for (early) bed. Its 12:12. :) That is early for me.

Here's a headache for you when you wake up!

CHALK OF THE TRAILBLAZER
Aura moderate divination and transmutation; CL 12th
Slot –; Price 23,760 gp; Weight –

DESCRIPTION
This stick of rune-inscribed chalk is an item prized by many explorers and adventuring groups, assisting them greatly whilst exploring the unknown and forgotten. Chalk of the Trailblazer has two functions:

Portal: When the user sketches a rough, door-shaped rectangle on any wooden, plaster or stone wall and speaks the command word, the sketch lines turns black and the area within the lines becomes a passage up to 15 feet deep; identical to a Passwall spell.

Pathfinder: By concentrating on a particular location and speaking another command word, the chalk animates, acting as a Find the Path spell: The chalk moves with the user, scribbling notes, markers and directions in Common on any surface, indicating the most direct physical route to that specified location. The chalk is attuned to the person who activated it, only moving when she moves until the spell expires or the user reaches her destination.

The chalk allows the use of either function (but not both) once per day.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Animate Object, Find the Path, Passwall; Cost 11,880 gp

If I may start the ball rolling (I want to see if I am right in my self-criticism):
1. one-part Pan's Labyrinth Chalk Item.
2. one part spell-in-a-can.

Lay it on me please, Clark: Any criticism is helpful. I already have an idea for 2010, but I want to see if I am consistently making a number of obvious errors and need to change my train of thought.

Yeah, I'm disappointed, having pipped myself at the post for creating an item stereotype from Clark's 'this-is-what-you-need-to-watch-out-for-thread'. I am annoyed at myself for not coming up with a more original idea.

To hint a little more, it was a Pan's-Labyrinth-Chalk-item-stereotype. Ironically, I had not watched Pan's Labyrinth until the other night (when it was mentioned here on the forums), just so I could go 'OH NOOOOOO'.

Add insult to my disappointment; I didnt like the movie! It was going so well, right up until the little girl uses my wondrous item, eats some food and then spends the rest of the movie crying about it. Jeeeeezus.

In any case, I am going to post it in a day or so so I can see where else I went wrong and learn from it going into Superstar 2010.

A clock adhering to the PST Zone would be immensely handy.

Right now here in Australia, it 7:36am in the morning on the 21st January 2009, which is......I don't know....uh.....lemme google it.....12:36pm yesterday in Washington. Yesterdays's lunch for them, brekkie for me.

Okay. So competition is announced 10pm PST tonight....so thats +10 hours....17:25....okay....5pm/Beer O'Clock for Aussies on Australian Eastern Daylight savings time (that's me)...3:30pm/Smoko for South Australia and Northern Territory these days and 3pm/Early Smoko for those over in Western Australia.

Yeah, a clock would be handy.

(Don't worry Paizo. I formatted my submission for US Spelling.)

Oho, wish me happy birthday! Today is my birthday and for my birthday treat, I am going to indulge in a mild panic attack now that I have submitted my wondrous item (I seem to remember a DUNGEON Editor doing the same every time he released the latest edition) for dissection and critique.

Hey, I may not win, but I can sleep soundly knowing that:

a) I have thought this item through carefully.
b) I have made sure that the submission is under 200 words
c) I have edited it
d) I have edited it some more
e) I have edited it some more
f) The item name is appropriate

and most importantly:

g) I gave it my best shot.

All the best people! Thanks again Judges and Paizo for this opportunity.