Anthony A. Scott's page

Are there any problems that you've been trying to solve with technology that just hasn't worked out quite right?

On the note of campaign notes and websites, one of my groups used to run a google site where roleplay, official character sheets, lore and world knowledge was held. We'd also post character journals and official notes here.

We also used Drop Box for official character sheets so the GM had up to date information for the next game. We found a good digital character sheet that did some of the math for us. I think it was a modified version of the neceros character sheet that used to be on the pathfinderdb website.

One other note is we found that collaborative roleplay sessions away from the table worked really well in Google Docs. This essentially amounted to a co-authored story with two or three players writing fiction like they would interact at the table. After finishing a session like this we'd edit it for smooth reading and then post it as a blog entry on our google site. It was often an effective and fun way to continue the story and explore the characters outside of combat or fully flesh out a scene we skipped over at the table.

Thanks for the great ideas so far and keep 'em coming!

voska66 wrote:

...

I think being able to text at the table would be great as GM. Not everyone has phone though. If they did I could send player specific details to them with out other knowing and it would be less intrusive than passing a note.

Personally, I think the phone going off is more intrusive than a piece of paper.

I have a GM that has tried this. However, for me (and at least some of the others) text means a low priority message. I will look at it when I have free time and it wouldn't be rude. Which is almost never at the game table. Heck, half the time I turn my phone off while gaming so I won't be interrupted. So sometimes the next morning I will have several cryptic messages that never accomplished anything since I didn't read them at the time.

If you are going to do this, be sure to tell people so they can try to remember to check their messages.

I had a GM run a campaign where we all had our laptops out and communicated through instant message for personal messages. Much of the group dynamic was squashed by this since many conversations were had in secret while the characters were standing in the middle of the party. It got so bad that we'd kill monsters and their corpses would be looted as we struck the killing blow. I want to try and avoid these sorts of things, but I'm still interested in trying to get secret or personal character knowledge to players without physical note passing.

Wow, okay. A lot of people are using more technology than I thought. A few of posters mentioned digital character sheets, other than Hero Lab on the iPad/Laptop, which apps are you using for character sheets?

As a Pathfinder GM, I seem to constantly be teaching new players how to play Pathfinder. I started using the Pathfinder Beginner Box as a tool to teach new players how to play and this has helped tremendously. After running the initial adventure, however, I still get asked basic questions about what dice to roll, what actions players can take in combat, what players should do next, etc. Tabletop Role Playing is complex and I don't expect everyone to understand everything in one sitting, but I wonder if there are some tips and tricks others have picked up to make the on-boarding of new players even easier. These could be anything like:

• Place mats that use weapons as slots for dice.
• Have a large initiative board so everyone can see whose turn it is.
• Or simply make a point to pick up the die that is expected to be used when you ask for a check.

I'm interested in anything and everything that you've found gets ideas across more clearly to brand new players. I'm also interested in stories about what specifically you find players having a hard time with. Maybe we can come up with some ideas that may solve those issues too.

Thanks everyone!

I've been running Pathfinder for quite some time, but I haven't found a good way to use technology at the table. I'm curious if any of you have found great ways to speed up their game, more deeply engage your players, or create a better experience through the use of technology. Do any of you have some good tips on technology at the table whether praise or horror stories?

Hello Everyone,

I am a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University and am pitching a project that aims to create an app or game aid that makes it easier for new players to get into the game. Here is my problem statement:

Enable Pathfinder RPG to be intuitive and easy to learn for beginners using mobile devices.

My team and I are doing research in the space and are wondering what players and GM's already use to help new players learn to play the game. As a veteran player, I am aware of a few tools that make the game much easier to play including:

1. Beginner's Box, Bash Scenarios and transition to full core rules.
2. Auto Fill Character Sheets like the Mod Neceros PDF.
3. Hero Lab
4. D20PFSRD.com and Official Pathfinder Rules Reference
5. Pathfinder Wiki

What other tools do you use to teach players how to play?

These tools can be physical or digital tools. They can even be techniques you've picked up that have proven to be effective for new players to learn. I'm really looking for any and all information on the subject to increase my awareness of the current solutions and allow for better improvement in the space.

Are there any tools available for assisting players in learning how to role-play?

Thank you for your time, and if there is a thread that already explains this topic, please point it out.

Thanks again!

Ah, that worked after all.

I just posted elsewhere and saw that my goblin squad executive founder title and icon are not showing up. I checked my account settings to make sure that my Kickstarter pledge was actually applied to my account and it is. Is there some other setting I need to adjust to get the icon working?

I just turned my pathfinder society icon off to see if that works on this post.

I agree the slide sleeves are a little pricey at $10.62, but they hold so much and you are getting 25 sheets in the package. The Business card sleeves are like $2.18, but you only get 10 sheets.

The math works out to about 42 cents per page or 3 cents a pocket for the slide sheets.

On the other hand you are paying 22 cents a page or 3 cents a pocket for the business card sheets. If you stuff them full of 3 mediums, then it's essentially less than a cent per pocket.

I rounded up for all my calculations.

They also have a bulk package for the slide sheets if you want to save about $10. They are 100 sheets for $30.75.

100 page 2" slide sheets on amazon

This brings the slide sheets down to 31 cents a page or 2 cents a pocket.

It will take a while to go through all 100 pages though. The bestiary box, the rise of the runelords pawns, and the bestiary box only went through maybe 10 sheets at the most. That includes both larges and smalls using those pages. If you have a subscription to the pawns, then it may not be a bad idea to stock up.

I wasn't satisfied with the sideways solution for the larges, nor the sliding of the smalls. I searched for a better solution and I think I've found an adequate solution for both.

I found 2" slide sheets that hold 20 slides per page.

2" slide pages on amazon

I used these 3x5 photo sheets for the huges.

3x5 photo pages on amazon

I used the previously mentioned business card pages for the mediums.

business card pages on amazon

Here is an album of my results. I've included a picture of the smalls, larges, larges back view, and huges.

Bestiary Box Storage Album

This worked out great for both the smalls which fit 2 in side by side in each slot and larges. The larges do poke out of the top just a bit which actually makes them even easier access. The one drawback that I see is that the names are obscured when you are viewing them from the front. If you look at the back picture, however, you can read all the names, thanks to the brilliance of double sided printing provided by Paizo. The slide pages also cut the number pages needed for larges in half since they hold 20 per page instead of 10.

The huges I think were already posted, but I included them anyway. The mediums look just like the previous posts, so I didn't repeat that one.

I think it would be a good product idea to release something along the lines of what we're looking for in this thread.

I whole-heartedly agree with this sentiment. I've been hoping Paizo was going to release some sort of custom storage since I found out about the pawns. I've been looking for a slide holder solution or something similar, but the binder sleeves would definitely increase visibility. I do wish there was some custom solution that would exactly fit the pawns though.

Thank you again for the feedback Jacob. It really does help to have another neutral opinion on the item creation process as my friends are rarely neutral on the subject. I really do appreciate it.

*You gave me great feedback on the template and will put that to good use.

*I added the extra level of functionality in attempt to differentiate the item from the cacophonous monkey it was being compared to. I must have gone too far in the wrong direction, however.

*Command word items unless specified are a standard action. I can include this expressly if its preferred, however.
Command Word: "...Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity."

*Touche. I would have liked to give it the stats of a regular thrush but didn't have the word count.

*Touche.

*I changed the word owner SKR's suggestion but still couldn't find a good word for it. I looked over items that were similar and many of them are not the same or talk about the item and not the character who activate it. I'm not quite sure how to remedy this item without staying away from this category of wondrous item.

Once again, thank you for your feedback. I will put it to good use.

I appreciate the attention to detail on the template, Jacob. It's one of the areas that I didn't get much feedback on. I tried to find an item with bardic performance in the requirements, but was unsuccessful. I think a few of these mistakes were from me failing to fully translate the item to this thread. It is no excuse, and I will do better next time.

One reason I felt it was fine to use this item here is I've already disqualified it for future use by requesting feedback from Sean. I figured the item deserved some more polish since I had developer notes.

I eagerly await the rest of your feedback.

Here is the link to my original item with Sean's comments

Shelyn’s Thrush
Aura Moderate Transmutation; CL 10th
Slot -; Price 12,000 gp; Weight 1 lbs.
Description
This tiny bronze bird has 10 long flowing tail feathers. Not only can this statuette be used as a holy symbol of Shelyn, the bird can be imbued with magic using bardic performance. Every two rounds used to inspire the bird illuminates one of its tail feathers. Bardic performance used in this way does not have the normal effect and is instead stored in the bird. When lit, the feathers act as if affected by the light spell.

On command the bird sings duplicating the effect within it. Alternatively, the bird can sing in double or half time increasing or decreasing the caster level of the performance by 6 levels respectively. The imbued performance must be at least 7th level to use the half time command word. Feathers fade while singing at a rate of 1 feather per 2 rounds in half time, 1 feather per round in normal time, and 2 feathers per round in double time. These rounds need not be consecutive but must be spent in 1 round increments or 2 round increments for half time.

When the last tail feather fades the bird becomes a statue landing in the current square. If the character has a free hand, he may catch the bird as a free action. The character may catch the bird at any time as a free action to end its song. If the bird is struck in combat, it reverts to its inanimate form falling in its current square ending the song. At the end of the day any bardic performance stored in the bird is lost.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Animate Objects, Continual Flame, Magic Mouth, Bardic Performance; Cost 6,000 gp

I want to apologize for the late post. An emergency came up yesterday. Hope you enjoy the revised item.

To both Curaigh and Jacob I met Sean at Paizo Con and he directed me here.

Thanks for the welcomes everyone. I will do a submission tonight I think. I am going to revise my item that i submitted this year.

On Jacob's Fetching Ball I really like this version better than your first fetching stick. It is really useful to have a slew of returning items.

I found myself asking if the ball's movement would provoke attacks of opportunity.

The fetching ball will retrieve one item per round and functions until the user speaks the command word again or the user has no more items to be returned within range.

I was confused about this part. If there is only one item to return, does it retrieve the item and then lie dormant because there are no more items to return?

I could see this item being better than the returning special weapon quality since it returns anything and not just a single item. A returning weapon would be a minimum would cost 6000gp since it requires an item to be +1 before returning can be added.

Can you have multiple fetching balls active? Could I have 6 different ones active and have all 6 of my daggers returned to me on the same turn?

Ronars mirror shield is an interesting item that is immediately recognized to me. I feel that the fragility and slot of the item limit its potential. As a light shield that is no good as a shield, save for two rounds, I would need to retrieve it as a move action and then equip it as either a standard or full round action before I could use it. I also find myself asking if I need to avert my eyes while targeting the gaze giving me a 50% chance to still take the effect of the gaze. Clarification in this section would help. I think this might work well as a buckler that only gains the broken condition if I choose to add the shield bonus to my AC.

I was pointed to this thread by Sean K. Reynolds and love that there are so many posts practicing already. I will try to get in here and help critique as soon as I can get to a computer to do some actual typing. For now I will will lurk reading already posted submissions.

Very well done. I can't wait to start using these pawns in my games.

When I called the hotel inquiring about a fridge they said they couldn't guarantee that there would be a fridge in the room. They said you could put in a request for one but it still wouldn't guarantee it.

Dont burn a feat on MWP - you can use heirloom weapon (trait) to become proficient instead. Just write it into your backstory as handed down through family or your order.

I agree about not burning a feat to do this, but that trait only works with that specific weapon. If you lose that weapon you are screwed.

The eidolon should be able to make all attacks on a pounce because being large size increases your reach for all attacks to 10 ft which is the same as your lance.

I think Darkholme has made some very good suggestions.

Gnomes also have an alternate racial trait that makes them proficient with anything they specifically crafted. This could be useful if you don't want to do any dipping. Half elves also have an alternate racial trait that makes them proficient with a single weapon type.

If you aren't opposed to dipping a level into fighter, the dragoon archetype would be awesome with your build because you will get two mounted feats for the level of fighter as well as martial weapon proficiencies.

One more thing to consider about going with a medium sized race is your mount must be larger to carry you. You have to burn 4 evolution points on this in order to be viable at all. If you stay with the small character, then, you have 4 more points to play with in your eidolon build. Also with a medium character, your mount may not be able to follow you into small corridors. You would need to keep a reduce person wand or learn the spell if you want to keep your eidolon out all the time.

Some things to consider is whether your eidolon will be doing attacks of its own. It may be a good idea to get the pounce and energy attack evolutions as you will likely be charging a lot and energy attacks apply to all the eidolon's physical attacks.

Based on the advice presented from Gregg Reece I was planning on jumping into C++ building games from scratch. I have already built a few games in flash for Facebook and am not unfamiliar with the concept. I'm already involved in an RPG app project to get more experience with mobile application development. Through the Star Craft editors, I planned to create a few scenarios that I thought would be fun to play through, which should give me some scripting experience in a real game engine. I by no means am going to explore every avenue you mentioned to mastery, but I don't think it hurts terribly to dabble a little in each. The thing I have to keep in mind is making sure my dabbling doesn't detract from my main focus of game design and coding.

I appreciate the advice from both Gregg and Brock, as it helps give me an idea of my options moving forward. I will definitely look up Andre Lamoth .

Thanks. Will do.

I really appreciate all the feedback.

Get some game development experience. That can be as simple as writing an add-on for WoW, a map for StarCraft, or similar type games. You could also download a middleware SDK like Unity, Unreal, or even XNA and start developing on that.

I will likely start looking into StarCraft or WoW right away since I already have access to these. I will likely look into creating things with other middleware once I've gotten my feet wet. Are there any specific areas I should explore with these middlewares to demonstrate proficiency with learning and integrating into those systems?

Generally, knowledge of a compiled language ( C, C++) and a scripted language (lua, python, perl). Databases. Math skills involving trig and linear algebra. How to play directly with hardware as well as optimize calls to it without going through APIs. Camera controls, shaders, animation, and 3d graphics. Usually linux platform experience. Networking experience in TCP / IP and UDP protocols. Knowledge of setups for networked games.

Where would I start with hardware play? Hardware is something I've never jumped into.

I am not sure if this type of thread exists already, but please let me know if it does.

My question is: What should a software developer with a bachelor's degree in computer science focus on if I want to work at Goblinworks?

I am a software developer who is very interested in getting into a company like goblin works. Most of my experience is in web technologies including PHP, C#, Javascript, and html, but I do have a bachelor's of science in computer science. Other languages that I have experience in are C++, Java, and Flash/Flex (Actionscript). I have over 4 years work experience as a web developer making tools and custom software.

I have played and GM'd Pathfinder since beta soft covers were out, and played D&D 3.0 and 3.5 before that. I've been playing MMO's since Ultima Online and am quite excited to see Pathfinder Online on the horizon.

I'm fairly certain that I don't quite have the experience for Goblinworks yet, since the Goblinworks job page says they are looking for developers with experience in the MMO industry. I would, however, like to break into the MMO industry and am curious what skills are necessary. Once I fill out my skill set to be more in line with a typical entry level Goblinworks Developer, I plan to apply to work there.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

I just wanted to make the point that a mystic theurge with a witch/cleric combo with a hedge witch archetype allows you to switch out any of your spells arcane or divine for an appropriate leveled cure spell. I would imagine it would be quite handy to always have the number of heals you need without ever having to prepare for it ahead of time. This, of course, is mostly only for out of combat healing, but when you really need a heal and you've burned all your divine spells it could be a life saver.

This isn't a great reason to go with the split casting prestige class, but it is a cool idea if you always want to make sure you have a heal available.

Another cool hybrid concept, though probably very under powered in an optimized sense, would be a Magus 7/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 10.

This gives you medium armor arcane casting, and you can deliver a spellstrike or perform spell combat with arcane and divine spells with the broad study arcana. You also have most of the magus core abilities and a decent arcane pool before jumping into cleric and Mystic Theurge. You probably wouldn't take any levels of Mystic Theurge until level 11 though.

The one stand out that I see missing is your divine casting and possibly your trap finding. All of the suggestions already given are great options, but I thought I'd throw a paladin option out there. It makes for a great front-line fighter and some divine casting later on. It also shores up some more healing. The front-line cleric could also be a great choice. Either of these choices give you access to channeling which is a great in combat healing tool, even if you only have 3 party members.

I currently am playing a hedge witch in a 3 person party and am planning on taking the trap finding spell to shore up that section. This is an option for your fellow witch.

Thanks Sean for the review of the item. I really appreciate the time you took to provide all of us with some paizo design insight.

Sgmendez wrote:

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

BTW, I haven't forgotten about this thread, I'm just bogged down with commenting on the 32 organizations, which I have to finish today so they can go live for voting tomorrow. I'll resume commenting here after that. :)

Take your time. This is an awesome opportunity and we can wait.

+1

Agreed.

Anthony A. Scott wrote:

I Submitted Shelyn's Thrush, and would love some feedback on the item.

I don't know if you knew this or not, but thrush is also the name of a fungal infection of the mouth and tongue, so.....the name kinda would seem to beg ridicule and/or corny jokes.

I'm not trying to rag you or anything; on the contrary, I salute you guys that put yourself out like this.

Hrmmm, so it is. I didn't even realize all the double meanings of the word. I was going for the little songbird, but I can see how the name would be problematic now.

I Submitted Shelyn's Thrush, and would love some feedback on the item.

I'm assuming that like most MMO's Pathfinder Online will allow an account to have multiple characters. If this is the case, will I be able to set all of my characters to train skills? In effect I could have say 4 characters that I devote to earning class skill trees and in 7.5 years have all 11 of the core classes represented as level 20 characters with capstone abilities.

I do understand that the skills will not be the only factor in achieving a class merit badge, but I could see people maxing out the system to get as many 20th level characters as possible. I could see this turning into a hurry up and wait system where you check the list of things you need to accomplish to get your next badge before you shelf a character to take care of the rest of the things on your list. In one respect you would constantly be playing 4 classes, but you would still be at the mercy of which one is "ready" for you to play.

I do like the idea of the system working in this way, I just think that 20th level characters will still be more common than expected.

One question that I had is if you will be able to switch to a previously "capstoned" class while you are leveling up your newest "capstone" class without losing your ability to achieve the second capstone?

I currently run a game for players at work, but a co-worker and I are looking for a new game to play in. We are familiar with Pathfinder and would like to join a game. We both live on the southwest part of town.

Sorry about that last post i hit the refresh to see if you responded.

Anyways, I assumed your half dragon was going down the sorcerer route. What class is the half-orc playing?

I'm currently at the end of the second book of the Serpent Skull campaign with 5 players.

I believe this campaign could easily be run with 3 players as it seems most of the encounters are designed around 4. With 5 players I find that the encounters break down to be a bit easier than expected at times.

That being said, your players already cover quite a few roles with their group makeup. The only major hole is in healing, and if the players don't mind managing NPCs, they can easily use one of the Jask to fill that role since he is a cleric whose equipment can easily be recovered in the first couple encounters. If the players don't want to run him, you can easily run the NPC on heal bot mode for them. If you or your players don't like that route, then you could provide them with an ample supply of potions, scrolls or wands (assuming the sorcerer and/or ranger took use magic device). There is also a dryad that provides healing if you help her. She could seek out the adventurers earlier and offer her services along the way.

If you don't like any of these routes, most of the encounters can either be scaled back by reducing numbers of monsters, as many of the encounters are a composition of monsters and not single monster encounters. For single monster encounters, you can reduce which abilities you use, or the frequency at which you use them. If you don't like to dumb down your monsters/encounters, then the PCs will need to be smart about how they approach the encounters. Go ahead and make sure they are aware that they will need to be smart about their play and remind them they have other options after they've run into things head first and retreated.

The benefit of the Smuggler's shiv adventure is that the time it takes for the PCs to get off the island doesn't really matter. The PCs can easily approach an encounter with a plan, retreat, and revisit several times after becoming stronger, recovering, or coming up with a better plan. The more difficult sections for a smaller group will be book 2 when you are in a race to the finish against 4 other factions. There is a cleric guide and a druid/barbarian scout available to help the PCs, on that leg though.

All this being said, it would run very smoothly if you found a 4th player to play a healing role. If this isn't plausible there are a lot of tools in this adventure for you to fill that role.

This sounds like the game I've been waiting for since UO went to crap.

I second That!

Regarding the 'sandbox' nature of this game, how open to change will the world be? Will people be able to make their own settlements? Can a person make a living as a merchant or a crafter?

From what I've read on these forums we should be able to both make our own settlements and make a living as a craftsman. To what extent we will be able to manage those cities is still a mystery. I would imagine that craftsmen would be a resource most adventurers would need in order to make something of the rare materials they find. I doubt every city will have a legendary blacksmith or leather worker.

I am quite excited to see a new and innovative model begin to work its magic on the MMO space. This new plan for the MMO creation will quickly weed out players that cruise through content before bouncing to the next new thing, allowing those seeking meaningful play through interaction with others to support and nurture the game they want to play. I think this plan will create a core community of loyal players that are emotionally invested in the game they watched grow from infancy. I wish more companies with IPs that I already love gave me the opportunity to give them feedback on what I do and don't enjoy about the game play. Not only am I able to support the development of something I enjoy playing, but it has to be incredibly useful to have real players testing your game rather than building systems to simulate real players or paying testers to break the game.

From the blog I get the impression the game will be very playable from the start, albeit limited in scope. There likely will be more for us to do than we can exhaust in a month's time span assuming the player base is engaging in RP and forming its own community. You must remember that it is a sandbox game with theme park elements and not the other way around. This means that the players are the ones creating the meat of the content through their interaction.

As for the consistent player base growth, I know I found myself immediately asking how I could be one of the first 4,500 people in line for this MMO, and I'm sure there are more than a handful of others that have the same sentiment. After all, the table-top RPG player base is an incredibly loyal fan base and will likely support Paizo (and Goblin Works) for the long haul.

I can't wait to see what Pathfinder Online has to offer and will be excited to support the development of this game soon!

First of all I would like to congratulate you on creating such a wonderfully exciting and dynamic table top RPG. I've loved it from beta all the way up to the current incarnations of expanded bestiary and ultimate combat/magic.

As an avid MMO player I am extremely excited to see this game come to fruition. One of the largest areas I've always felt was lacking from tabletop RPGs was the consistent player base. I've always had to fight and scrounge for players that are not only consistently excited about the game, but those that can manage to show up on time and regularly to sessions. I've always found that by opening the games up to the internet, I've had much more success finding a dedicated group willing to not only game regularly as a group but get into the role play as well.

Although there are many challenges when designing a game of this magnitude, I look forward to seeing how Goblin Works will topple these seemingly impossible tasks and bring what we all know and love into the game. If nothing else, the game will have a loyal and passionate fan base excited about playing with others of their ilk. From playing MMO's the players have always been the most memorable part of the entire experience and can often make bad games good and great games even better. Goblin Works and Paizo seem to be aware of this taking the unorthodox approach of player feedback right from the get go.

I look forward to the creation of the game, not only because I want to play it, but also I am excited to participate in something I believe will bring a breath of fresh air to the stale MMO genre.