I left a message here a few weeks ago cancelling my Starfinder subscription once the previous AP finished, which you acknowledged. I then got an email this week stating that I would get the last adventure of the previous AP (Assault on the Crucible) AND the first adventure of the next AP (Fate of the Fifth). So I left a message here on the Customer Services board saying I didn't want this latter adventure (and certainly didn't want to pay for it) as my subscription was finishing with Assault on the Crucible. This subsequent message was NOT acknowledged and I then got an email saying both adventures had been despatched.
I am very disappointed with the service here, as I thought it was clear my Starfinder subscription terminated with Assault on the Crucible. I do not expect to have to pay for items I have expressly said I do not want. Please refund me the cost of th Fate of the Fifth (including any extra postage incurred) as we clearly agreed earlier that I don't want it. Paizo customer service is normally excellent but this is an clear and significant lapse which is costing me money.
The order currently contains the last adventure in the previous Starfinder AP and the first adventure for the next AP. Please note that I requsted the my Starfinder AP subscription should be cancelled at the end of the last AP so please remove the first adventure from the current AP from the order. Thanks!
Can you please confirm that the above order will not be actioned as I previously wrote to cancel my subscription at the end of the ladt AP, and that any amounts debited to my credit card will ne refunded. Thanks
Could you please cancel:
- my Pathfinder Adventure Path subscription at the end of the current adventure path
- my Starfinder Adventure Path subscription at the end of the current adventure path
- my Pathfinder Modules subscription with immediate effect
Hi, I received a faulty copy of Eulogy for Roslar's Coffer, as it is missing a large number of pages (and has others repeated). I'd be grateful if you could send me a new copy, please.
The gold-painted figurehead is almost obscured by foam as the prow of the warship is heaved upwards upon a crashing wave. The sky churns with dark clouds and the wind drives spray and snow across the deck. On either side rise the sheer grey walls of the fjord, and the sea is choked with ice floes, shattered timbers and the floating corpses of sailors. Two more ships, murky silhouettes in the storm, list heavily as they founder. Icicles hang from their masts and rigging, decks awash as they succumb to the mountainous waters.
The dragon fills the sky, ivory wings spread wide, dwarfing the surviving fighting ship beneath it. Its head bears a crown of slender horns, a thin membrane pocked with holes and tears stretched between them. For a face it has a brutal scarred muzzle filled with irregular fangs, white spattered with the crimson blood of men. Sunken eyes glitter with malice. Despite its enormous size it twists its pale body sinuously as it turns in the air to make a final pass, tail slicing like a whip. The crew of the ship cower, awaiting their doom.
All except one. On the fo’c’sle is one man, by the gold braid on the shoulders of his navy greatcoat a senior officer. His dark hair is plastered to his forehead but his face is calm and his gaze intent as he crouches by a ballista, aiming upwards at the looming beast, hand on the lever ready to loose the bolt as he waits for it to draw closer...
The painting is certainly impressive in its way, its huge size giving it an epic sweep, even if it provides a somewhat idealised and heroic vision of battle. It dominates the wall above the fireplace in the drawing room of Lord Elveden’s townhouse. Here the group has gathered, summoned by his missive and the promise of gainful employment, and now waiting for their host to arrive.
Knowledge (Nobility), DC 10:
Spoiler:
Lord Elveden is one of the richest men in the Empire, descended from one of the old families but also with close connections to the Church.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (Nobility) check:
Spoiler:
Lord Elveden generally has a reputation for fair but shrewd dealing. He is a widower, with a son and a daughter who are both coming of age. He gives generously to many charitable endeavours.
Knowledge (History), DC 10:
Spoiler:
This is a well-known painting, popularly known as “The Battle of Skull Beach”. It depicts the battle when an Imperial flotilla slew a dragon to annex the Isles of Allam to the Empire.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (History) check:
Spoiler:
The correct title of the painting is “Bishop-Commodore Elveden defeats the dragon Injarjok at the Battle of Skull Beach”. The battle took place about fifty years ago, when the flotilla led by Commodore Elveden killed the dragon and annexed the Isles to the Empire. The painting was commissioned by the Church to commemorate the victory and serve as a moral lesson to the followers of the Diktats. This is probably a copy since the original would be in a military cathedral.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (History) check:
Spoiler:
Commodore Elveden’s expedition was largely tasked with slaying Injarjok. The dragon was an occasional menace to shipping in the Northern Ocean and increasing Imperial presence in the north led ultimately to the conflict. The task force was equipped with powerful ballistae and dragon-slaying harpoons but, nonetheless, the battle was in many ways a disaster. The sheer power of the dragon had been woefully underestimated by the Admiralty and all but two of the seven ships in the flotilla were destroyed. However, Elveden himself managed to slay the dragon with an enchanted ballista bolt and then claim the Isles for the Empire, securing for himself a place in the pantheon of Imperial heroes.
The battle is named after Skull Beach, the strand beneath the cliffside cave where Injarjok made his lair. The dragon made a habit of a twisted form of trophy-taking, devouring the bodies of sacrifices and other unfortunate victims and tossing their more-or-less intact heads from his lair down on to the beach. After the many years of the dragon’s occupation, a massive pile of skulls had built up above the high tide line. The Inotian sailors named the area Skull Beach when they finally landed after defeating the beast. Stories tell of how they had to wade knee-deep through the skulls before they could climb the cliff and loot the dragon hoard.
Bishop-Commodore Elveden was the current Lord Elveden’s grandfather. He died several decades ago and is buried in the Hall of Heroes.
Also, if you got 10 or more on your Knowledge (History) check, you may try a Knowledge (Geography) check, DC 10:
Spoiler:
The Isles of Allam are an archipelago of islands in the Northern Ocean, and are the most northerly of the territories of the Inotian Empire. The capital is Port Elveden.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (Geography) check:
Spoiler:
The Isles are extremely mountainous with very little land for agriculture, with several of the peaks bearing snow year-round. The weather is typically severe with cool and brief summers and long, freezing, dark and stormy winters. However, they sit close to bountiful fishing grounds and, in particular, the migration routes of the great northern toothed whales. Consequently, they are a major supplier of whale oil, ambergris and other cetacean-derived products to the Empire. The Isles are also rich in mineral wealth. The Empire transports indentured prisoners to the Isles dig the mines and man the whale rendering plants.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (Geography) check:
Also, if you got 10 or more on your Knowledge (History) check, you may try a Knowledge (Local) check, DC 15:
Spoiler:
The Allam Islanders have largely not accepted the ways of the Empire and instead cling to their old traditions. They are primarily fisherfolk, speaking their own language.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (Local) check:
Spoiler:
The populations of the native Allam Islanders has fallen by half since the Empire annexed the islands, primarily due to epidemics. Many islanders also suffer from alcoholic intoxication, despite it being illegal to sell alcohol to a native. They have little to do with the Inotians who administer the Isles, and as are not considered suitable for working in the mines or other commercial enterprises they are largely left alone in their poverty.
Also, if you got 10 or more on your Knowledge (Local) check, you may try a Knowledge (Religion) check, DC 10:
Spoiler:
The Old Gods are strong in the Isles of Allam, with few of the natives taking up the Diktats.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (Religion) check:
Spoiler:
The dragon Injarjok was worshipped by the islanders and ruled the Isles as a living god for hundreds of years until he was slain by Commodore Elveden.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (Religion) check:
Spoiler:
Injarjok was considered an avatar of Siku, the islanders’ goddess of the northern sea. She is a capricious and cruel goddess of storms and darkness who was propitiated more than worshipped by the islanders. With the death of the dragon, the islanders largely turned to more benevolent local gods.
The gold-painted figurehead is almost obscured by foam as the prow of the warship is heaved upwards upon a crashing wave. The sky churns with dark clouds and the wind drives spray and snow across the deck. On either side rise the sheer grey walls of the fjord, and the sea is choked with ice floes, shattered timbers and the floating corpses of sailors. Two more ships, murky silhouettes in the storm, list heavily as they founder. Icicles hang from their masts and rigging, decks awash as they succumb to the mountainous waters.
The dragon fills the sky, ivory wings spread wide, dwarfing the surviving fighting ship beneath it. Its head bears a crown of slender horns, a thin membrane pocked with holes and tears stretched between them. For a face it has a brutal scarred muzzle filled with irregular fangs, white spattered with the crimson blood of men. Sunken eyes glitter with malice. Despite its enormous size it twists its pale body sinuously as it turns in the air to make a final pass, tail slicing like a whip. The crew of the ship cower, awaiting their doom.
All except one. On the fo’c’sle is one man, by the gold braid on the shoulders of his navy greatcoat a senior officer. His dark hair is plastered to his forehead but his face is calm and his gaze intent as he crouches by a ballista, aiming upwards at the looming beast, hand on the lever ready to loose the bolt as he waits for it to draw closer...
The painting is certainly impressive in its way, its huge size giving it an epic sweep, even if it provides a somewhat idealised and heroic vision of battle. It dominates the wall above the fireplace in the drawing room of Lord Elveden’s townhouse. Here the group has gathered, summoned by his missive and the promise of gainful employment, and now waiting for their host to arrive.
Knowledge (Nobility), DC 10:
Spoiler:
Lord Elveden is one of the richest men in the Empire, descended from one of the old families but also with close connections to the Church.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (Nobility) check:
Spoiler:
Lord Elveden generally has a reputation for fair but shrewd dealing. He is a widower, with a son and a daughter who are both coming of age. He gives generously to many charitable endeavours.
Knowledge (History), DC 10:
Spoiler:
This is a well-known painting, popularly known as “The Battle of Skull Beach”. It depicts the battle when an Imperial flotilla slew a dragon to annex the Isles of Allam to the Empire.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (History) check:
Spoiler:
The correct title of the painting is “Bishop-Commodore Elveden defeats the dragon Injarjok at the Battle of Skull Beach”. The battle took place about fifty years ago, when the flotilla led by Commodore Elveden killed the dragon and annexed the Isles to the Empire. The painting was commissioned by the Church to commemorate the victory and serve as a moral lesson to the followers of the Diktats. This is probably a copy since the original would be in a military cathedral.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (History) check:
Spoiler:
Commodore Elveden’s expedition was largely tasked with slaying Injarjok. The dragon was an occasional menace to shipping in the Northern Ocean and increasing Imperial presence in the north led ultimately to the conflict. The task force was equipped with powerful ballistae and dragon-slaying harpoons but, nonetheless, the battle was in many ways a disaster. The sheer power of the dragon had been woefully underestimated by the Admiralty and all but two of the seven ships in the flotilla were destroyed. However, Elveden himself managed to slay the dragon with an enchanted ballista bolt and then claim the Isles for the Empire, securing for himself a place in the pantheon of Imperial heroes.
The battle is named after Skull Beach, the strand beneath the cliffside cave where Injarjok made his lair. The dragon made a habit of a twisted form of trophy-taking, devouring the bodies of sacrifices and other unfortunate victims and tossing their more-or-less intact heads from his lair down on to the beach. After the many years of the dragon’s occupation, a massive pile of skulls had built up above the high tide line. The Inotian sailors named the area Skull Beach when they finally landed after defeating the beast. Stories tell of how they had to wade knee-deep through the skulls before they could climb the cliff and loot the dragon hoard.
Bishop-Commodore Elveden was the current Lord Elveden’s grandfather. He died several decades ago and is buried in the Hall of Heroes.
Also, if you got 10 or more on your Knowledge (History) check, you may try a Knowledge (Geography) check, DC 10:
Spoiler:
The Isles of Allam are an archipelago of islands in the Northern Ocean, and are the most northerly of the territories of the Inotian Empire. The capital is Port Elveden.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (Geography) check:
Spoiler:
The Isles are extremely mountainous with very little land for agriculture, with several of the peaks bearing snow year-round. The weather is typically severe with cool and brief summers and long, freezing, dark and stormy winters. However, they sit close to bountiful fishing grounds and, in particular, the migration routes of the great northern toothed whales. Consequently, they are a major supplier of whale oil, ambergris and other cetacean-derived products to the Empire. The Isles are also rich in mineral wealth. The Empire transports indentured prisoners to the Isles dig the mines and man the whale rendering plants.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (Geography) check:
Also, if you got 10 or more on your Knowledge (History) check, you may try a Knowledge (Local) check, DC 15:
Spoiler:
The Allam Islanders have largely not accepted the ways of the Empire and instead cling to their old traditions. They are primarily fisherfolk, speaking their own language.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (Local) check:
Spoiler:
The populations of the native Allam Islanders has fallen by half since the Empire annexed the islands, primarily due to epidemics. Many islanders also suffer from alcoholic intoxication, despite it being illegal to sell alcohol to a native. They have little to do with the Inotians who administer the Isles, and as are not considered suitable for working in the mines or other commercial enterprises they are largely left alone in their poverty.
Also, if you got 10 or more on your Knowledge (Local) check, you may try a Knowledge (Religion) check, DC 10:
Spoiler:
The Old Gods are strong in the Isles of Allam, with few of the natives taking up the Diktats.
If you got 15 or more on your Knowledge (Religion) check:
Spoiler:
The dragon Injarjok was worshipped by the islanders and ruled the Isles as a living god for hundreds of years until he was slain by Commodore Elveden.
If you got 20 or more on your Knowledge (Religion) check:
Spoiler:
Injarjok was considered an avatar of Siku, the islanders’ goddess of the northern sea. She is a capricious and cruel goddess of storms and darkness who was propitiated more than worshipped by the islanders. With the death of the dragon, the islanders largely turned to more benevolent local gods.
No peeking, please Rarely Accountant 2/Auditor 4/Waster 30
OK, just to get the ball rolling, here's a link to a little bit of information on the setting. It's mostly broad-brush stuff to help create a character, rather than detailing the location for the adventure.
Hello, there seems to be some strange things going on regarding this order and I am now quite confused.
I ordered a number of items, to be delivered with my AP subscription to cut down on postage costs. Most of these items were for existing titles although a few won't be released until later in the year. I then, on the same day, ordered another book, also to ship with my subscription (order 3590631).
I have now received an email stating that order 3590410, consisting of this book and the AP volume, have shipped. I haven't received any other emails, but I have been keeping an eye on the bigger order to see when it will ship (so I don't miss it over the holiday season). However, if I look at the details for order 3440559, it says (for some items, several times) that they also shipped yesterday (including some items which haven't been released yet).
This all seems a bit confusing - what has actually shipped?
The alias-creation thing seems to be malfunctioning. Hitting "create new alias" causes an error message, although a new default alias is then created. But when I try to edit it, that also creates an error message and I can't get into it. Is this a problem with you or something to do with my browser (though I'm on IE 10)?
It is the festival of Armasse in Kenabres. On the frontline facing the demons of the Worldwound, there is normally little to celebrate. But once a year, this is a time of jousts, the choosing of squires and the ordination of new priests into the Church of Iomedae. Locals get to dress up as knights and parade about as the civilian militias engage in mock battles before retiring to the beer tents. The normally dour, tense people of the city can let their hair down a bit and have a little fun, even if the jollities still have a martial flavour.
At Clydwell Plaza, the large square next to the Cathedral to St Clydwell, is where most of the events will take place. The opening ceremony is just about to begin. The militas form well-drilled squares, lofted pikes glittering in the noonday sun, as the knights on their fearsome chargers ride to their places, hooves clattering on the cobbles. The crowds press in at the sides, though everything is well-mannered and orderly as befits this bastion of Law. Here, standing in the sun on the steps of the Cathedral, offers the best view over the Plaza and of the podium on the far side where the great and the good of the city are sitting: Lord Hulrun Shappok, the Prelate and governor; Nestrin, the Archbishop of St Clydwell's, and his deputy, Eterrius Sunnestier; and there, looking relatively non-descript in her human form, the silver dragon Terendelev, guardian of Kenabres.
You are on the steps of the cathedral, all standing more or less in the same place, watching the opening ceremony. Over to you to introduce yourselves.
No peeking, please Rarely Accountant 2/Auditor 4/Waster 30
Discussion thread for the forthcoming PbP for Wrath of the Righteous. Currently in the frame:
Vatnisse
Nevynxxx
Please note, this recruitment prioritises existing players from my other PbPs, so there is no open recruitment yet. However, I'm looking for six players so, if I do not get the right number from there, I might look to recruit. However, at the moment, I am not looking for players I haven't expressly invited.
Hello. I thought I ordered the Bestiary 4 a few days ago but (order 2851109) I note it doesn't seem to be in my order history. Did I or did I not order it? Thanks.
Tensions rising on disputed Aundair, Thrane border
The diplomatic war of words between Aundair and Thrane has escalated further over the province of Thaliost. Aundair has increased troop numbers on its border with Thrane, while Thrane has been reinforcing its border defences. Both sides accuse the other of provocation.
Thaliost was part of Aundair until it was annexed by Thrane towards the end of the Last War, and was permanently ceded by Aundair to Thrane as part of the Treaty of Thronehold. However, tensions remain high between both nations. Aundair accuses Thrane of terrorising its former citizens, including atrocities such as public burnings of dissidents. Thrane responds that Aundair has been stirring sedition against its legitimate rule within Thaliost in contravention of its treaty obligations.
Aundair and Thrane have largely suspended diplomatic relations, with Breland and Karrnath acting as mediators between the two. King Kaius of Karrnath has publically called upon Queen Aurala and the Council of Cardinals to set aside their differences and enter into meaningful negotiations in the interests of peace.
Independent analysts suggest that immediate conflict is unlikely. Both Aundair and Thrane were significantly weakened by the Last War and have yet to recover economically and militarily. Unless the strategic situation changes dramatically, war between the two nations would likely be inconclusive and could open up either to attack from other combatants. The current situation is regarded largely as posturing intended to deflect from domestic concerns. While open conflict cannot be ruled out -
The prospecting camp leader, an old man with long straight grey hair and a face like dark fissured leather, wraps the yellowed newssheet round the dragonshard. The news is already months old anyway, and the Five Kingdoms are half a continent away. He packs it into the sawdust-filled crate with the others. "There you go," he says to Bokehn, the Tharashk agent, "That's the last one."
The grizzled half-orc grunts, "Not as many as last time."
"No," replies the camp leader, "But the ground's getting played out round here, and heading further afield means heading into lizardfolk territory. That'll break our obligations, as you well know."
Bokehn just sniffs, then begins filling in the paperwork. The shed is dark, the wooden walls sweating in the humid jungle air, but his dark eyes don't need the light like a human. Without looking up he asks, "Any news from upriver?"
"Only the usual."
"Hnnnm." Bokehn glances up and fixes his newest recruits with The Look. "Don't just stand there. Get those crates into the boat."
Assuming you do as you are told by your boss.
Outside the squats Camp Vinor in all its festering glory. A few prospectors, taking leave from digging Eberron shards out of the unforgiving jungle earth, lounge about outside their barracks chatting, smoking or grabbing at the grubby-looking camp-followers that have made it this far. A handful of intrepid traders have set up shop in flimsy-looking shacks, and a couple of filthy naked children chase some squabbling chickens. The ground squelches underfoot and the air stinks of bodily waste and wood smoke. Buzzing flies constantly attempt to crawl into at eyes and mouths. The sky is dark with clouds and thunder rumbles in the distance.
A short jetty sticks out into the turbid, rain-swollen river. Tied up at the end is the boat to which Bokehn was referring. The Silver Maiden, a light Lyrandar vessel designed for river travel and powered by a bound air elemental, bobs in the rapid current. This is the Ouse, a major tributary of the Adder, the largest river in Q'Barra. Five days south is New Galifar and civilisation. But here the jungle is supreme and men tread with caution, or not at all. Outside the camp palisade, and on the opposite bank a hundred yards away, the trees press in. Beyond is the dark vastness of the forest where, if the stories are to be believed, lurk ancient horrors guarded by angry lizardfolk and worse. If it wasn't for the dragonshard trade, you wouldn't be here at all.
Will:
Spoiler:
You hired on with Bokehn at Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar, mainly for the experience. The mission is a routine trip to pick up dragonshards from the Tharashk prospector camps in the jungle. However, these trips are often enlivened by lizardfolk attacks. You role is primarily as a healer, another fairly rare commodity in the jungle. And everyone knows that halflings make the best healers.
Rehil:
Spoiler:
You hired on with Bokehn at Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar. The mission is a routine trip to pick up dragonshards from the Tharashk prospector camps in the jungle. However, these trips are often enlivened by lizardfolk attacks, with a concomitant need for security. You managed to sign on as a guard, and also as cook and general dogsbody. However, your main interest is to follow up on rumours fed to you by your handlers in Regalport of strange activity in the deep jungle.
Wultram:
Spoiler:
You hired on with Bokehn at Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar, mainly for the experience. The mission is a routine trip to pick up dragonshards from the Tharashk prospector camps in the jungle. However, these trips are often enlivened by lizardfolk attacks, with a concomitant need for security. You managed to sign on as a guard, and also as general dogsbody.
Portforged:
Spoiler:
You hired on with Bokehn at Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar. The mission is a routine trip to pick up dragonshards from the Tharashk prospector camps in the jungle. However, these trips are often enlivened by lizardfolk attacks, with a concomitant need for security. You managed to sign on as a guard, and also as general dogsbody. You are there mainly for the experience, but also to check out the dragonshard trade and see if it is worth signing on as a prospector.
Cole:
Spoiler:
You hired on with Bokehn at Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar, mainly for the experience. The mission is a routine trip to pick up dragonshards from the Tharashk prospector camps in the jungle. However, these trips are often enlivened by lizardfolk attacks, with a concomitant need for security. You managed to sign on as a guard, and also as general dogsbody.
Grazzat:
Spoiler:
You hired on with Bokehn at Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar. The mission is a routine trip to pick up dragonshards from the Tharashk prospector camps in the jungle. However, these trips are often enlivened by lizardfolk attacks, with a concomitant need for security. You managed to sign on as a guard and possibly interpreter should some of the more friendly lizardfolk be encountered. But your main interest is to understand the ways of the civilised folk, particularly the dragonmarked houses like Tharashk.
Time for some roleplaying and introducing your characters (though bear in mind you've actually been together for five days or so in game time).
No peeking, please Rarely Accountant 2/Auditor 4/Waster 30
OK, for those expressing interest, please let me know what your character concepts are. As a starter for ten, the campaign will kick off in Qbarra. I'm looking for about six players which seems more or less in line with the interest expressed so far. Going more or less on a first-come, first-served basis. Also, in line with the overwhelming (and unsurprising) preference, we will run with PF rules. Conversion to PF of Eberron stuff will be on a case-by-case basis, maybe (or maybe not) referencing Tzimine's stuff.
I'm testing the waters for a PbP set in Eberron. I currently run a PbP set in Eberron on these boards that has been running for about six years, and I'm wondering if there is an appetite for another one. It wouldn't have the same plot as my existing one. I have preference for 4e (since it makes my life as a DM easier) but I will do it in PF if that is the players' preference (please indicate either way).
We have an ongoing 4e DS campaign but due to real life pressures three of the players cannot continue. The discussion thread is here. So I'd like to recruit three or four new players for this campaign. We are not especially advanced in terms of the campaign - the PCs are 2nd level. At the moment we have two players remaining - a half-elf bard/rogue hybrid and a human wizard. If you are interested, please feel free to get in touch.
I've noticed that Paizo has debited my credit card for USD56.37 on the first of June. I'm curious as to what this is for, as I didn't order anything and there isn't any record in my order listing.
I'm experiencing difficulties posting into one of my game threads (Aubrey's Rise of the Runelords gameplay thread). I type the post into the box and hit submit, but it doesn't post through to the board and instead simply reappears, with the text I wrote still in the box and unposted. Hitting submit several times doesn't work and then closing out loses the post entirely. This is a problem I've experienced before here, so I don't think it is an issue on the individual thread. I had just posted to another thread with no difficulties.
The fire crackles, throwing out its flickering orange radiance. It gives up its heat grudgingly, making those around it huddle close to enjoy its warmth. Wrapped in their cloaks and blankets, they look like low rocks where they lie snoring. An inix grumbles in the darkness.
Other fires crackle nearby, with more sleepers around them. The vague shapes of animals loom and twitch in the darkness: crodlus, like featherless, snouted ostriches, hobbled and dozing; inix, giant monitor lizards, muzzled and staked down to prevent them attacking. Meanwhile, circling slowly in the freezing night, the guards.
Keeping away from the fires so their eyes can adjust to the dark, wrapped up against the cold and breath fogging, they keep watch in small bands. While the caravan sleeps, they watch for danger coming out of the desert.
Calla:
Spoiler:
Calla's pulled the night watch again. Probably another punishment. Her parents and her uncles still don't appreciate her views on the slave trade, despite the fact it was both obviously wrong and bad for trade. Of course it has made things difficult for House Ianto, but the House has withstood worse before. Surely? And if the hushed conversations Calla has overheard mean anything, the caravan is carrying some very profitable if mysterious items that will fetch a good price when they get to Tyr.
Calla stamps her feet against the cold, and looks at the companions on her patrol. The hulking mul, Gorad, looks about intently, and she envies the boundless endurance of his race. As one of Grandma's favorites, though, she wonders if he's there to keep an eye on her. The cantankerous old buzzard might be the caravan-master for this trip, but she still seems to have problems accepting Calla is grown up now. And the enigmatic mul is a very odd and slightly unsettling nursemaid, even if he always has been friendly in the past.
Arakan the half-elf is more fun, if seemingly about as trustworthy as any other elf. He and his companion, the lame woman Irivis, joined on at South Ledopolus, claiming to have arrived on another caravan. Both are vague about their origins and life stories, which makes Calla slightly suspicious. Neither seems entirely comfortable out in the desert, despite their previous experience.
But they are the epitome of wilderness-craft compared to Jareen. Claiming to be a follower of the Way, he hired on at the last minute in Balic. But he seems very unsuited to the rigours of the desert, with his soft hands and slight paunch, and seems to be finding the trip heavy going. Again, like the others, he seems reluctant to discuss his past.
This could be a long night.
Gorad:
Spoiler:
Gorad looks out into the desert night, watching for danger. He notices the cold but simply shrugs it off. Not only is he responsible for the safety of the caravan, but the caravan-master has also tasked him on this particular occasion to keep an eye on her idealistic granddaughter, Calla. Grandma (if she ever had a name beyond that, it seems to have been lost in time) might be a crabby old crone, and a shrewd and ruthless merchant, but she also keeps an eye on her family. Calla's enthusiasm for the abolition of slavery may not be very popular in a House that was built upon it. But Grandma still has a soft spot for the girl. And ever since Gorad saved the life of Calla's uncle, he has been Grandma's unofficial eyes and ears. She trusts him as he's the only one not vying to take her place.
As for the other three, Gorad withholds judgement for the moment. The half-elf and human woman who joined at South Ledopolus, Arakan and Irivis, he doesn't know well, but they both seem unhealthily secretive. They joined on at South Ledopolus, claiming to have arrived on another caravan. Arakan is friendly enough, but his elven heritage does little to reassure. Irivis is lame, leaning on a stick. Both are vague about their origins and life stories and neither seems entirely comfortable out in the desert, despite their previous experience.
But they are the epitome of wilderness-craft compared to Jareen. Claiming to be a follower of the Way, he hired on at the last minute in Balic. But he seems very unsuited to the rigours of the desert, with his soft hands and slight paunch, and seems to be finding the trip heavy going. Again, like the others, he seems reluctant to discuss his past.
This could be a long night.
Jareen:
Spoiler:
Why didn't they say it would be so cold?
Jareen stares glumly into the night and not for the first time curses his misfortune. Why did Saela's father have to come home just at that particular moment? Why did he have to be one of the most powerful templars in Balic? And why did he have to be a raging, murderous lunatic when it came to his daughter's honour?
And why, exactly, did Jareen ever pursue the brazen Saela, knowing all these things? He sighs, and looks into the darkness. At least he had been able to pull some strings with the Veiled Alliance, otherwise he'd probably be in the arena in a loincloth fighting off some terrible beast with a toothpick. Even if the Alliance are a somewhat humourless crowd, he always sympathised with their aims to eliminate the damage done by defiling magic, even as a templar. Plus he quite fancied the sister of the Balic cell's leader. In any case, his occasional assistance meant they were willing to smuggle him out of town and on to the first caravan out.
Bloody sands, but it's cold! It was never like this in Balic, where he had slaves to cater to his whims and do the drudge work. Why does he always get night duty anyway?
He looks about him at his companions on this patrol. The girl, Calla, seems quite sweet if naïve - always prattling on about how great the abolition of slavery is in Tyr. Given that this is a House Ianto caravan, and that House Ianto were some of the biggest slave-traders in the Tyr Region before the revolution, and that Calla is herself a child of House Ianto, perhaps her unwise enthusiasms have led her to draw this uncomfortable duty.
The mul, Gorad, on the other hand, keeps looking at him. Does he know anything? Jareen has held off any casting so far, so as not to be lynched as a defiler - oh, the irony! - but that mul seems to look through him. He also seems close to the family running the caravan, especially that old bag, "Grandma". Jareen had been grateful when Grandma had hired him, but she seems to delight in giving him the most uncomfortable duties going. The arena seems almost preferable. Almost.
And the other two - the half-elf Arakan, and the lame human woman Irivis, seem to have secrets of their own. They are friendly enough, hiring on a few days ago at South Ledopolus after leaving another caravan. But if they don't want to talk about where they have come from, that's fine by him. He doesn't want to talk about himself either.
This could be a long night.
Irivis:
Spoiler:
Irivis shivers in the cold. She peers into the desert dark but her mind is on other things. Soon, if the spirits of the wastes are willing, she will be back in Tyr. A changed place now Kalak is gone and slavery abolished. Changed, but without her help. She wonders how her former revolutionary friends will receive her, given her sudden flit just as the going got tough. But if she's going to live anywhere, it will be in free Tyr.
She glances at Arakan, her companion on the way from Balic. They met on another caravan but left it at South Ledopolus as it unexpectedly headed back to Balic. So they hired on to the next one, belonging to the Tyrian House Ianto. The woman running it, "Grandma", is a leathery old bag of ruthlessness if ever there was one, but seemingly fair - and heading in the right direction. Irivis is heading home, but Arakan seems to be escaping Balic. It's his business - both of them nursing their secrets.
Grandma's granddaughter, Calla, is also on this patrol. She's a sweet young thing, and very caught up with revolutionary fervour, always talking about how Tyr is better with the ending of slavery. Given how House Ianto was the biggest slave-trading house in Tyr before Kalak's fall, perhaps that explains her uncomfortable duties here on the night watch.
A hulking presence in the night is the mul, Gorad. He also seems close to the family running the caravan, keeping a close eye on Calla, athough his history is unclear.
And then there is Jareen. Claiming to be a follower of the Way, he was already with the caravan when Irivis and Arakan hired on. But he seems very unsuited to the rigours of the desert, with his soft hands and slight paunch, and seems to be finding the trip heavy going. He also seems reluctant to discuss his past.
This could be a long night.
Arakan:
Spoiler:
Arakan shivers in the cold. He peers into the desert dark but his mind is on other things. Soon, if the spirits of the wastes are willing, he will be in Tyr. Which is good, because it isn't Balic. Hopefully he can disappear from view and make a new start, in a city where former slaves abound and a man can make a name for himself.
He glances at Irivis, his companion on the way from Balic. They met on another caravan but left it at South Ledopolus as it unexpectedly headed back to Balic. So they hired on to the next one, belonging to the Tyrian House Ianto. The woman running it, "Grandma", is a leathery old bag of ruthlessness if ever there was one, but seemingly fair - and heading in the right direction. Irivis is heading home, being from Tyr, but seems preoccupied by the prospect. It's her business - both of them nursing their secrets.
Grandma's granddaughter, Calla, is also on this patrol. She's a sweet young thing, and very caught up with revolutionary fervour, always talking about how Tyr is better with the ending of slavery. Given how House Ianto was the biggest slave-trading house in Tyr before Kalak's fall, perhaps that explains her uncomfortable duties here on the night watch.
A hulking presence in the night is the mul, Gorad. He also seems close to the family running the caravan, keeping a close eye on Calla, athough his history is unclear.
And then there is Jareen. Claiming to be a follower of the Way, he was already with the caravan when Irivis and Arakan hired on. But he seems very unsuited to the rigours of the desert, with his soft hands and slight paunch, and seems to be finding the trip heavy going. He also seems reluctant to discuss his past.
Hi, BigNorseWolf. While the original thread has been locked, you raised some points in your reply to me I'd like to respond to. As we aren't spewing hate at one another, I'm assuming this is acceptable
[Quote=]
A: That's actually considered debatable, rather than a proven truth. However, extended deficit spending right now is probably not a great idea, as the downgrades and turmoil going on in the markets suggests.
B: It's about as proven as anything can get in the murky realms of "what if" economics and history. It PROBABLY helped the economy but there's absolutely no doubt that it helped the individuals involved by giving them enough cash to buy food for their families, job skills, some pride. It also definitely helped the nation by building up the infrastructure. So it's definitely a double win, and possibly a triple.
I think it also disproves the idea that people were out of work because they're lazy. As soon as the government put up a sign saying "work here" veritable armies of people showed up to do it.
Even if deficit spending is a good idea (and I'm not especially denying it under the circumstances we find ourselves in) there is a limit to what can be done with debt levels so high, and from where it becomes counter-productive. More below.
I didn't say all people are unemployed because they are lazy. I doubt the vast majority are. I am lazy and even I went and found myself a job. More below.
[quote=]A: You already are. They are getting restive, as comments from the official news agency indicate. There are probably limits to what they will accept.
We're too big to fail. We're not only their biggest borrower we're their biggest customer. If we're not buying more things than we need their entire system shuts down. America would have riots that would end with some minor legislative changes. China would have riots that would end in revolt. So we can play chicken with china because we're driving and SUV and they've got a smartcar. Suckers.
Hmm. So everyone is getting excited about nothing, are they? Actually, the US doesn't need to default to do itself a lot of damage. Yes, a lot of Chinese money is tied up in US Treasuries, and falls in the value of that debt would hurt them. They hold that money as foreign exchange reserves. That could come from falls in the value of the debt due to credit downgrades and from falls in the value of the dollar itself, which would probably happen in concert if some serious downgrades happened and also be self-reinforcing.
However, a fall in the value of US debt would actually not be very helpful for your spending plans. The flipside of falling values of debt is increasing interest costs. A brief example: a US Treasury, face value $1, is issued with a 5% interest rate on the face value payable to the purchaser, and will repay in full in five years. Due to credit concerns, the value in the market of that Treasury falls to $0.90. If that bond is then sold by the purchaser to someone else at $0.90, the actual interest rate is 5%x1/0.90 = 5.5%. If the government, under those market conditions, wants to sell Treasuries to new investors, the rate they would have to pay would be 5.5%, because that is the going rate in the market.
For a foreign investor (like the Chinese) the fall in value of the dollar adds an added layer of risk, which might also mean they demand a higher interest rate in the market. And there's another implication. The US is in the happy position of providing the world's reserve currency, i.e. the currency which other central banks will predominately hold their currency reserves in. Because of this, funding cost for the US government are a bit lower than they otherwise would be (this is a factor of the additional demand for dollar assets as opposed to, say, sterling). But this is a right that is earned in part by economic size but also be economic stewardship. If it looked like the US was willing to "play chicken" with the markets, it is hard to believe that reserve currency status would be maintained, also increasing funding costs.
So you can see that not paying attention to your credit rating will impact on how much it costs the government to fund itself, so in fact that would impact on how much money, after interest costs was left over for spending. Also bear in mind that corporate borrowings are also priced off US Treasuries, so companies would have less to invest. In the US (not the UK) mortgage rates are also priced off US Treasuries, so it would raise prices for the average guy in the street. Couple that with a falling dollar, and you would see rising inflation along with rising debt costs. That's not a recipe for a happy economy. And that's before you even bring the costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security into the mix.
And then think of the political implications. A US government that doesn't stand behind its own credit rating would have a lot of trouble telling anyone else what to do, which could damage any diplomatic efforts. There would almost certainly be reduced spending of stuff like defence, which would mean that the US's role as the world's policeman would suffer. And who would you like to step into that role? China? I've nothing against the Chinese as such but at the moment they are an autocratic dictatorial oligarchy with no genuine respect for human rights. Would was want to leave the world in their grasp?
And even if China did bail out the US (assuming they could afford it, and actually their economy isn't that big even if it is growing fast) what would be the impact of that? Increased Chinese dominance on the world stage, in business (NEWSFLASH - CHINA BUYS WALMART!) and so on. China doesn't have much of a consumer culture and if the Chinese start selling to themselves, they won't even need the US as a market that much. And if the Chinese don't blink? I mean, there's lots of developed countries who would like to borrow from the Chinese at the moment. What if they decide to hold their reserves in euros or sterling?
US dominance is not a given. In fact, it is a fairly new phenomenon (from the Spanish-American War). Remember, I'm British - we had a global empire considerably less than a century ago, and are now very much a middle-ranking economy on the edge of Europe.
[Quote=]A: Also true, but I get irritated by people telling me about the horrors of unemployment when I have experienced them and they don't seem to have done.
B: It's hard to tell what the other person has or hasn't experienced. It could also be vastly different in their country or even by city.
That's also true.
[Quote=]A: Firstly, company B will offer cheaper products to the market. That benefits consumers.
B: It does.. unless one of those consumers used to make the product. You however reach a tipping point where the cheap products can't be bought because the consumers have no money. It's a matter of group vs individual benefit. In an ideal world, everyone else would make things in an expensive country in order to provide you with rich consumers for your cheap products.
A: Think about what you have in your house and where it was made. Secondly, tying up resources in an activity which can be more productively carried out elsewhere is a way of being inefficient, which actually reduces wealth for everyone. This was established by Ricardo a long time ago.
B: Equivocation: everyone is not everyone.
A group is not synonymous with an aggregate of the individuals within it. If you have a group of 10 people making 10,000 dollars each, or 5 people making 20,000 and 5 people making nothing the GROUP is the same, but the individuals are not.
If a job is exported to china the benefit and savings is dispersed among all of the consumers, saving them say 3 dollars per unit. The downside is that the cost is localized and the employees are loosing 18,000 dollars or whatever their salary was. You can't just look at things from a macro point of view: that's how we got into this mess.
You can't design policy for individuals. Plus, individuals change. Economies change. Tastes and technology change. My mother used to use a Kalamazoo counting machine, a sort of mechanical computer / calculator, in the late fifties and early sixties to do the payroll for the company she worked for. Now, that technology is clearly obsolete with the advent of computing. But what did the guys who used to make the machines think about the rise of computing think? Were they worried they would be laid off, flung on the scrap-heap with irrelevant skills? Maybe. Should they have been protected, by placing restrictions on people using computers, the purchase of computers, extra taxes for computerised payrolls to discourage the use of computers, and so on? Clearly, such a policy would have been ultimately bad for everyone, given that computing has revolutionised pretty much everything.
So maybe that's a silly, straw man example. But how do you choose which industries to protect, and which to throw to the wolves? If you are talking about government action, you are basically talking about civil servants and their political masters (yes, politicians, those corrupt bastards we were talking about before) having the say. Do you trust them to predict correctly? How would you prevent corrupt vested interests - you know, those terrible corporations (and unions) lining the pockets of the terrible corrupt politicians - manipulating such a policy to their own ends. And that's not exactly a rhetorical question - a lot of lobbying is about maintaining the status quo and the flow of subsidies to inefficient industries that need the funds to survive, at the expense of tax payers and consumers. In fact, the whole process could help corrupt the political system without adequate checks and balances.
Perhaps we should consider the exporting of a steel-worker's job from Pennsylvania to Romania instead. You don't have to predict technological trends, you are making rolled steel. But the plant in Romania makes it cheaper - lower overheads, not need to pay for expensive healthcare and benefits, probably fewer people in the process. Clearly, if the steel plant closes, that would be bad for the local community. A lot of the problems of long-term unemployment stem from people living in areas where the big employers have gone down, possessing skills which are useful in those defunct industries but not much elsewhere, and nothing much has come to replace the lost jobs. It's bad for those people and it is bad for the fabric of the society in which they live.
But...
What can you actually do about it? There is actually plenty of manufacturing going on in developed countries, but it tends to be high tech. The answer, surely, is to ensure that people are provided with the skills they need. But what about the users of that steel? Why should a car company have to pay over the odds for steel? And to whom would it pass the costs? Well, the consumer. And what about competition to the car firms from firms using cheaper, non-US steel - unless you decide to protect the car firms too. Of course, a company that doesn't have to compete doesn't have to try very hard either, of course - so you'll probably get an expensive, s!$@ car made with s+#@ steel that actually no one would buy if the Japanese cars weren't so expensive due to tariffs. How is the consumer benefitting? He (or she) isn't. A small coterie of uncompetitive steel and car workers are, at his expense. Is that fair?
And, bluntly, economic development has winners and losers. When push comes to shove, I'm more sympathetic to 1) a worker in a developing country who has come from grinding poverty in a village where subsistence farming is the norm, who is working in a factory to provide a future for themselves and their family, than 2) someone sitting in a first world country who has lost their highly unionised job because of competition. The needs of the former feel a bit more urgent than the needs of the latter, social issues created notwithstanding. Because the flipside to non-competition from developing countries is non-development in developing countries - you know, infant mortality, malnutrition, that sort of thing.
[quote=]A: And anyway, what would you do about it? The Chinese are here. Economies adapt and change over time. Trying to prevent that, especially through protected markets and government spending, is simply storing up trouble. Southern Europe is finding this out now.
B: Fair trade not free trade. American companies are fighting with one hand tied behind their back. They're competing with China where
1) there are lower labor costs
2) there are human rights abuses-you strike? The government runs you over with a tank.
3) There are no environmental protections.
4) China keeps its currency devalued.
5) American goods are taxed to high heaven coming in.
China is already violating the trade agreements we have in place. Tax their goods the same way they do ours, but higher until they start giving their workers a decent wage, bathroom breaks, and air they can breathe.
People line up for these factory jobs precisely because they offer a way out of a poverty neither you nor I can imagine. Bathroom breaks? Sure, I wouldn't want to work on a Chinese production line either, but then consider the alternative they face. They aren't coming home to US standards of living.
Also, if you go on strike in China, you don't get run over by a tank. Tiananmen was about democratic rights, not wages. Actually, there has recently been a rash of strikes in Chinese factories and they got - guess what? - pay rises rather than the jackboot. In fact, wages in China are rising quite fast - the endless pool of young workers is drying up due to the one-child policy. I'm not claiming that China isn't a dictatorship in which human rights are not the primary concern of the leadership. But they tend not to interfere so much in business - challenging the authority of the state, on the other hand, is something different.
I think the US going on about pollution is also a bit rich consider that the US produces massive amounts of greenhouse gases and has caused plenty of environmental degradation in its time (plunging water tables in the South-West, for example). People begin to care about the environment the richer they get, so arguably the development of China will help with environmental standards. There is a nascent Green movement in China. And while environmental concerns aren't that high generally, there seems to be a growing appreciation that it can't be ignored either.
The currency devaluation thing is moot, as well. I've seen conflicting stuff about that and whether it is fair valued or not. Their tariffs I'm not clear on, but China's world trade is actually fairly balanced overall - they import lots of raw materials and capital equipment, and export finished manufactured goods. So someone is doing alright - just not the US.
You talk about "fair trade" as opposed to "free trade". Fair according to whom? In the end, you are basically talking about protectionism. That doesn't have a good reputation for solving anything, as it leads to beggar-thy-neighbour retaliatory responses. Part of the reason the Great Depression of the 1930s was go awful was because of Smoot-Hawley and its impact on trade.
[Quote=]A: The stuff about the environment is something of a red herring. Yes, there are environmental abuses, but they are hardly confined to China or the developing world (like BP in the Gulf). The issue is cost of labour, land and productivity of resources.
B: In America BP in the gulf was a disaster. In china its Tuesday.
A: See above. This is lump of labour fallacy again.
B: You're making the opposite error in assuming that labor is perfectly fluid: that for every job lost another will be made. That is patently not the case: we're seeing a good pit of friction from the labor balloon expanding.
See above re the environment in China. I'm not denying it entirely. But again, America produces its fair share of pollution too.
Well, that's lump of labour for you. But I also don't deny that on a local level there will be pockets of unemployment (and obviously, in a recession like this, big, big pockets on a cyclical basis). But technological change creates new and different opportunities that cannot necessarily be foreseen. For example, ecommerce has been a boon to courier companies. So while the rise of Amazon has been bad for brick and mortar booksellers, it's been great for couriers. Should we protect bookshops, and tax courier companies? Which employs more? Whole new industries (especially in services) have grown up in the last century (apparently PR, for example, didn't exist until the early 20th Century - you might not like PR people, but I can't see how they have displaced other workers). So, overall, I don't buy it except on a localised level. And skills and labour mobility are the issue then.
[Quote=]A: Not so much in the UK, to be fair, Murdoch notwithstanding.
B: Right, because he only broke the law and bribed the government agency that's responsible for catching him breaking the law... do you want to put bets on how many days he serves in jail? I have 210 to 1 odds on 0.
That's something of a distortion. He himself didn't seem to know what was going on (the paper in question providing less that 1% of corporate revenues) and he didn't "bribe" police officers to look the other way. Police officers were paid for news on current stories by some News International employees, rather than for them to actually do anything. Not saying it's right, and News Corp seems a bit ethics-free and to have appalling corporate governance. But yeah, on that basis, I can't see Rupert going to jail.
[Quote=]A: The rules in the US strike me as pretty stupid, but then again it can be seen (not that I do) as free speech. I can see how it is potentially corrupting, but politics is at its heart about compromise and relationship-building, so a lot of this will go on anyway.
B: And what you have is the interests of the entire country being compromised with the interests of an incredibly small segment of the population with equal or greater weight being given to the smaller segment because they have the money.
Quite - see above re vested interested.
[Quote=]A: It depends on political culture - talking about Europe, things seem to be cleaner in northern Europe rather than southern Europe, and we can debate Protestantism v Catholicism and its effects in that, for example.
You can. I can't. I have noooo idea how religion enters into it over there.
It was more a non-sequitur comment than anything else.
[Quote=]A: But it strikes me as somewhat beside the point. The rioting doesn't seem to me to have much to do with evil corporations. There are issues about the collapse of the traditional manual jobs done by the working classes, which is associated with the trend for these jobs to go overseas.
B: The connection is patently obvious: The evil corporations wanted to roll around in even more money, so they sent the labor jobs overseas to china, screwing hard working people out of a living so they could get richer.
To some extent, since a lot of these people seem to have had jobs, but this is an example of localised problems. I've already commented above on this.
[Quote=]A: But I don't consider that trying to stand in the way of global economic trends is a great way to address this - it has been tried, and it didn't work so well (see Portugal)
It has worked ok for highly socialized nations putting high taxes on said corporations, so that the people they're collectively screwing over are at least getting food and medical care.
Except, of course, it seems to be unravelling in many of those places. Southern Europe are examples of such a places, and it's not going so well now.
[Quote=]A: It seems that having a well-educated, flexible workforce is the way to go about it. For me, this is the deficit which has not been addressed.
B: The same corporations that are shipping people overseas are the ones against the taxes that might be used to pay for a well educated flexible workforce.
I agree - this is the role of the state in all of this: to provide education that equips people for the markets in which they live and operate. It doesn't require punitive taxes to get there, though.
Hi, BigNorseWolf. While the original thread has been locked, you raised some points in your reply to me I'd like to respond to. As we aren't spewing hate at one another, I'm assuming this is acceptable
[Quote=]
A: That's actually considered debatable, rather than a proven truth. However, extended deficit spending right now is probably not a great idea, as the downgrades and turmoil going on in the markets suggests.
B: It's about as proven as anything can get in the murky realms of "what if" economics and history. It PROBABLY helped the economy but there's absolutely no doubt that it helped the individuals involved by giving them enough cash to buy food for their families, job skills, some pride. It also definitely helped the nation by building up the infrastructure. So it's definitely a double win, and possibly a triple.
I think it also disproves the idea that people were out of work because they're lazy. As soon as the government put up a sign saying "work here" veritable armies of people showed up to do it.
Even if deficit spending is a good idea (and I'm not especially denying it under the circumstances we find ourselves in) there is a limit to what can be done with debt levels so high, and from where it becomes counter-productive. More below.
I didn't say all people are unemployed because they are lazy. I doubt the vast majority are. I am lazy and even I went and found myself a job. More below.
[quote=]A: You already are. They are getting restive, as comments from the official news agency indicate. There are probably limits to what they will accept.
We're too big to fail. We're not only their biggest borrower we're their biggest customer. If we're not buying more things than we need their entire system shuts down. America would have riots that would end with some minor legislative changes. China would have riots that would end in revolt. So we can play chicken with china because we're driving and SUV and they've got a smartcar. Suckers.
Hmm. So everyone is getting excited about nothing, are they? Actually, the US doesn't need to default to do itself a lot of damage. Yes, a lot of Chinese money is tied up in US Treasuries, and falls in the value of that debt would hurt them. They hold that money as foreign exchange reserves. That could come from falls in the value of the debt due to credit downgrades and from falls in the value of the dollar itself, which would probably happen in concert if some serious downgrades happened and also be self-reinforcing.
However, a fall in the value of US debt would actually not be very helpful for your spending plans. The flipside of falling values of debt is increasing interest costs. A brief example: a US Treasury, face value $1, is issued with a 5% interest rate on the face value payable to the purchaser, and will repay in full in five years. Due to credit concerns, the value in the market of that Treasury falls to $0.90. If that bond is then sold by the purchaser to someone else at $0.90, the actual interest rate is 5%x1/0.90 = 5.5%. If the government, under those market conditions, wants to sell Treasuries to new investors, the rate they would have to pay would be 5.5%, because that is the going rate in the market.
For a foreign investor (like the Chinese) the fall in value of the dollar adds an added layer of risk, which might also mean they demand a higher interest rate in the market. And there's another implication. The US is in the happy position of providing the world's reserve currency, i.e. the currency which other central banks will predominately hold their currency reserves in. Because of this, funding cost for the US government are a bit lower than they otherwise would be (this is a factor of the additional demand for dollar assets as opposed to, say, sterling). But this is a right that is earned in part by economic size but also be economic stewardship. If it looked like the US was willing to "play chicken" with the markets, it is hard to believe that reserve currency status would be maintained, also increasing funding costs.
So you can see that not paying attention to your credit rating will impact on how much it costs the government to fund itself, so in fact that would impact on how much money, after interest costs was left over for spending. Also bear in mind that corporate borrowings are also priced off US Treasuries, so companies would have less to invest. In the US (not the UK) mortgage rates are also priced off US Treasuries, so it would raise prices for the average guy in the street. Couple that with a falling dollar, and you would see rising inflation along with rising debt costs. That's not a recipe for a happy economy. And that's before you even bring the costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security into the mix.
And then think of the political implications. A US government that doesn't stand behind its own credit rating would have a lot of trouble telling anyone else what to do, which could damage any diplomatic efforts. There would almost certainly be reduced spending of stuff like defence, which would mean that the US's role as the world's policeman would suffer. And who would you like to step into that role? China? I've nothing against the Chinese as such but at the moment they are an autocratic dictatorial oligarchy with no genuine respect for human rights. Would was want to leave the world in their grasp?
And even if China did bail out the US (assuming they could afford it, and actually their economy isn't that big even if it is growing fast) what would be the impact of that? Increased Chinese dominance on the world stage, in business (NEWSFLASH - CHINA BUYS WALMART!) and so on. China doesn't have much of a consumer culture and if the Chinese start selling to themselves, they won't even need the US as a market that much. And if the Chinese don't blink? I mean, there's lots of developed countries who would like to borrow from the Chinese at the moment. What if they decide to hold their reserves in euros or sterling?
US dominance is not a given. In fact, it is a fairly new phenomenon (from the Spanish-American War). Remember, I'm British - we had a global empire considerably less than a century ago, and are now very much a middle-ranking economy on the edge of Europe.
[Quote=]A: Also true, but I get irritated by people telling me about the horrors of unemployment when I have experienced them and they don't seem to have done.
B: It's hard to tell what the other person has or hasn't experienced. It could also be vastly different in their country or even by city.
That's also true.
[Quote=]A: Firstly, company B will offer cheaper products to the market. That benefits consumers.
B: It does.. unless one of those consumers used to make the product. You however reach a tipping point where the cheap products can't be bought because the consumers have no money. It's a matter of group vs individual benefit. In an ideal world, everyone else would make things in an expensive country in order to provide you with rich consumers for your cheap products.
A: Think about what you have in your house and where it was made. Secondly, tying up resources in an activity which can be more productively carried out elsewhere is a way of being inefficient, which actually reduces wealth for everyone. This was established by Ricardo a long time ago.
B: Equivocation: everyone is not everyone.
A group is not synonymous with an aggregate of the individuals within it. If you have a group of 10 people making 10,000 dollars each, or 5 people making 20,000 and 5 people making nothing the GROUP is the same, but the individuals are not.
If a job is exported to china the benefit and savings is dispersed among all of the consumers, saving them say 3 dollars per unit. The downside is that the cost is localized and the employees are loosing 18,000 dollars or whatever their salary was. You can't just look at things from a macro point of view: that's how we got into this mess.
You can't design policy for individuals. Plus, individuals change. Economies change. Tastes and technology change. My mother used to use a Kalamazoo counting machine, a sort of mechanical computer / calculator, in the late fifties and early sixties to do the payroll for the company she worked for. Now, that technology is clearly obsolete with the advent of computing. But what did the guys who used to make the machines think about the rise of computing think? Were they worried they would be laid off, flung on the scrap-heap with irrelevant skills? Maybe. Should they have been protected, by placing restrictions on people using computers, the purchase of computers, extra taxes for computerised payrolls to discourage the use of computers, and so on? Clearly, such a policy would have been ultimately bad for everyone, given that computing has revolutionised pretty much everything.
So maybe that's a silly, straw man example. But how do you choose which industries to protect, and which to throw to the wolves? If you are talking about government action, you are basically talking about civil servants and their political masters (yes, politicians, those corrupt bastards we were talking about before) having the say. Do you trust them to predict correctly? How would you prevent corrupt vested interests - you know, those terrible corporations (and unions) lining the pockets of the terrible corrupt politicians - manipulating such a policy to their own ends. And that's not exactly a rhetorical question - a lot of lobbying is about maintaining the status quo and the flow of subsidies to inefficient industries that need the funds to survive, at the expense of tax payers and consumers. In fact, the whole process could help corrupt the political system without adequate checks and balances. Oh, look....
Perhaps we should consider the exporting of a steel-worker's job from Pennsylvania to Romania instead. You don't have to predict technological trends, you are making rolled steel. But the plant in Romania makes it cheaper - lower overheads, not need to pay for expensive healthcare and benefits, probably fewer people in the process. Clearly, if the steel plant closes, that would be bad for the local community. A lot of the problems of long-term unemployment stem from people living in areas where the big employers have gone down, possessing skills which are useful in those defunct industries but not much elsewhere, and nothing much has come to replace the lost jobs. It's bad for those people and it is bad for the fabric of the society in which they live.
But...
What can you actually do about it? There is actually plenty of manufacturing going on in developed countries, but it tends to be high tech. The answer, surely, is to ensure that people are provided with the skills they need. But what about the users of that steel? Why should a car company have to pay over the odds for steel? And to whom would it pass the costs? Well, the consumer. And what about competition to the car firms from firms using cheaper, non-US steel - unless you decide to protect the car firms too. Of course, a company that doesn't have to compete doesn't have to try very hard either, of course - so you'll probably get an expensive, s~!+ car made with s@~+ steel that actually no one would buy if the Japanese cars weren't so expensive due to tariffs. How is the consumer benefitting? He (or she) isn't. A small coterie of uncompetitive steel and car workers are, at his expense. Is that fair?
And, bluntly, economic development has winners and losers. When push comes to shove, I'm more sympathetic to 1) a worker in a developing country who has come from grinding poverty in a village where subsistence farming is the norm, who is working in a factory to provide a future for themselves and their family, than 2) someone sitting in a first world country who has lost their highly unionised job because of competition. The needs of the former feel a bit more urgent than the needs of the latter, social issues created notwithstanding. Because the flipside to non-competition from developing countries is non-development in developing countries - you know, infant mortality, malnutrition, that sort of thing.
[quote=]A: And anyway, what would you do about it? The Chinese are here. Economies adapt and change over time. Trying to prevent that, especially through protected markets and government spending, is simply storing up trouble. Southern Europe is finding this out now.
B: Fair trade not free trade. American companies are fighting with one hand tied behind their back. They're competing with China where
1) there are lower labor costs
2) there are human rights abuses-you strike? The government runs you over with a tank.
3) There are no environmental protections.
4) China keeps its currency devalued.
5) American goods are taxed to high heaven coming in.
China is already violating the trade agreements we have in place. Tax their goods the same way they do ours, but higher until they start giving their workers a decent wage, bathroom breaks, and air they can breathe.
People line up for these factory jobs precisely because they offer a way out of a poverty neither you nor I can imagine. Bathroom breaks? Sure, I wouldn't want to work on a Chinese production line either, but then consider the alternative they face. They aren't coming home to US standards of living.
Also, if you go on strike in China, you don't get run over by a tank. Tiananmen was about democratic rights, not wages. Actually, there has recently been a rash of strikes in Chinese factories and they got - guess what? - pay rises rather than the jackboot. In fact, wages in China are rising quite fast - the endless pool of young workers is drying up due to the one-child policy. I'm not claiming that China isn't a dictatorship in which human rights are not the primary concern of the leadership. But they tend not to interfere so much in business - challenging the authority of the state, on the other hand, is something different.
I think the US going on about pollution is also a bit rich consider that the US produces massive amounts of greenhouse gases and has caused plenty of environmental degradation in its time (plunging water tables in the South-West, for example). People begin to care about the environment the richer they get, so arguably the development of China will help with environmental standards. There is a nascent Green movement in China. And while environmental concerns aren't that high generally, there seems to be a growing appreciation that it can't be ignored either.
The currency devaluation thing is moot, as well. I've seen conflicting stuff about that and whether it is fair valued or not. Their tariffs I'm not clear on, but China's world trade is actually fairly balanced overall - they import lots of raw materials and capital equipment, and export finished manufactured goods. So someone is doing alright - just not the US.
You talk about "fair trade" as opposed to "free trade". Fair according to whom? In the end, you are basically talking about protectionism. That doesn't have a good reputation for solving anything, as it leads to beggar-thy-neighbour retaliatory responses. Part of the reason the Great Depression of the 1930s was go awful was because of Smoot-Hawley and its impact on trade.
[Quote=]A: The stuff about the environment is something of a red herring. Yes, there are environmental abuses, but they are hardly confined to China or the developing world (like BP in the Gulf). The issue is cost of labour, land and productivity of resources.
B: In America BP in the gulf was a disaster. In china its Tuesday.
A: See above. This is lump of labour fallacy again.
B: You're making the opposite error in assuming that labor is perfectly fluid: that for every job lost another will be made. That is patently not the case: we're seeing a good pit of friction from the labor balloon expanding.
See above re the environment in China. I'm not denying it entirely. But again, America produces its fair share of pollution too.
Well, that's lump of labour for you. But I also don't deny that on a local level there will be pockets of unemployment (and obviously, in a recession like this, big, big pockets on a cyclical basis). But technological change creates new and different opportunities that cannot necessarily be foreseen. For example, ecommerce has been a boon to courier companies. So while the rise of Amazon has been bad for brick and mortar booksellers, it's been great for couriers. Should we protect bookshops, and tax courier companies? Which employs more? Whole new industries (especially in services) have grown up in the last century (apparently PR, for example, didn't exist until the early 20th Century - you might not like PR people, but I can't see how they have displaced other workers). So, overall, I don't buy it except on a localised level. And skills and labour mobility are the issue then.
[Quote=]A: Not so much in the UK, to be fair, Murdoch notwithstanding.
B: Right, because he only broke the law and bribed the government agency that's responsible for catching him breaking the law... do you want to put bets on how many days he serves in jail? I have 210 to 1 odds on 0.
That's something of a distortion. He himself didn't seem to know what was going on (the paper in question providing less that 1% of corporate revenues) and he didn't "bribe" police officers to look the other way. Police officers were paid for news on current stories by some News International employees, rather than for them to actually do anything. Not saying it's right, and News Corp seems a bit ethics-free and to have appalling corporate governance. But yeah, on that basis, I can't see Rupert going to jail.
[Quote=]A: The rules in the US strike me as pretty stupid, but then again it can be seen (not that I do) as free speech. I can see how it is potentially corrupting, but politics is at its heart about compromise and relationship-building, so a lot of this will go on anyway.
B: And what you have is the interests of the entire country being compromised with the interests of an incredibly small segment of the population with equal or greater weight being given to the smaller segment because they have the money.
Quite - see above re vested interested. Your suggestion seems counter-productive in that respect.
[Quote=]A: It depends on political culture - talking about Europe, things seem to be cleaner in northern Europe rather than southern Europe, and we can debate Protestantism v Catholicism and its effects in that, for example.
You can. I can't. I have noooo idea how religion enters into it over there.
It was more a non-sequitur comment than anything else.
[Quote=]A: But it strikes me as somewhat beside the point. The rioting doesn't seem to me to have much to do with evil corporations. There are issues about the collapse of the traditional manual jobs done by the working classes, which is associated with the trend for these jobs to go overseas.
B: The connection is patently obvious: The evil corporations wanted to roll around in even more money, so they sent the labor jobs overseas to china, screwing hard working people out of a living so they could get richer.
To some extent, since a lot of these people seem to have had jobs, but this is an example of localised problems. I've already commented above on this.
[Quote=]A: But I don't consider that trying to stand in the way of global economic trends is a great way to address this - it has been tried, and it didn't work so well (see Portugal)
It has worked ok for highly socialized nations putting high taxes on said corporations, so that the people they're collectively screwing over are at least getting food and medical care.
Except, of course, it seems to be unravelling in many of those places. Southern Europe are examples of such a places, and it's not going so well now.
[Quote=]A: It seems that having a well-educated, flexible workforce is the way to go about it. For me, this is the deficit which has not been addressed.
B: The same corporations that are shipping people overseas are the ones against the taxes that might be used to pay for a well educated flexible workforce.
I agree - this is the role of the state in all of this: to provide education that equips people for the markets in which they live and operate. It doesn't require punitive taxes to get there, though.
I'm curious - how compatible is Essentials with the earlier version of the game in the PHB? I ask because, based on my limited experience, some of the feats seem to be of a higher power level than might otherwise be expected. I know WotC say it is mechanically the same and fully-compatible, but are Essentials character more or less powerful than those created from the pre-Essentials sources? Also, and most pertinently for me, what happens if you mix Essentials material (like the feats) with pre-Essentials character classes? Do you end up with power-creep?
Looking for one or two players to add to an existing group, but starting a new campaign. Berik, you mentioned an interest in another thread, but any interest is welcome. We are a bit light on strikers.
My ongoing 4e Kingmaker PbP on these boards is looking for a couple of new players as we have had two drop out. If anyone is interested, please post here or here. The characters are still all at 1st level and we are at a very early stage in Stolen Lands.
I'm running a PbP of Kingmaker and it is throwing up some interesting issues around rulership. It's early days but they have some bandit captives and the PC's are wondering what to do with them. They don't really want to indisciminately execute them (though they have killed one) especially as one of them is "mentally ill". They don't really want to use corporal punishment and then send them on their way (known by the technical term "beat and release") as they might come back or become someone else's problem. And they don't really want to watch over them while the pay off their debt to society as they don't, at the moment, have the resources.
Have any other sorts of issues like these blown up in other games of Kingmaker? How have they been dealt with?
EDIT: Oops, should probably have mentioned that his might contain spoilers.
So, was it a deliberate decision or an oversight to remove the Scent ability from minotaurs in converting from 3.5 to PFRPG? It's no big deal (I can just give it back) but I'm curious why it was done.
"Be it so known that the bearer of this charter has been charged by the Swordlords of Restov, acting upon the greater good and authority vested within them by the office of the Regent of the Dragonscale Throne, has granted the right of exploration and travel within the wilderness region known as the Greenbelt. Exploration should be limited to an area no further than thirty-six miles east and west and sixty miles south of Oleg’s Trading Post. The carrier of this charter should also strive against banditry and other unlawful behavior to be encountered. The punishment for unrepentant banditry remains, as always, execution by sword or rope. So witnessed on this 24th day of Calistril, under watchful eye of the Lordship of Restov and authority granted by Lord Noleski Surtova, current Regent of the Dragonscale Throne."
Well, that's what the charter the reeve gave the group said. Exploring the unknown, putting wrongs to right. All stuff to stir the blood of anyone with ambition and talent.
The reality is somewhat less exciting. A tramp on foot from Restov to Oleg's Trading Post, where the track finally petered out. A hamlet so insignificant that all it really comprises is the titular establishment and a few mean hovels where colonists try to beat back the encroaching wilderness and farm; the incessant pitter-patter of the rain; water and mud soaking into every pore; surly and disgruntled peasants looking on in dumb insolence.
These are the things from which greatness is born.
Or something.
OK, you have just arrived at Oleg's Trading Post. Time to roleplay while you bring your character sheets up to scratch.
No peeking, please Rarely Accountant 2/Auditor 4/Waster 30
Ok, I'm sticking up a thread here to try and organise things. At this point I want to gauge interest from the assembled worthies on the other threads. I have basically a series of maybe's from:
A more maybe maybe is Old Guy. And that's about all my jetlag-fuddled brain can remember - apologies if I left you out and you were gagging for it, but then that's why I put up the thread.
Now, I probably want to run with six max, so I may need to winnow things down. As we all know, there is very likely going to be a 4e Dark Sun run by Heathy in the next few months. So I guess the questions are:
- who wants to be in the 4e Kingmaker by preference?
- who wants to be in Heathy's 4e Dark Sun by preference?
- who is greedy and wants to be in both?
- who is meh about the whole thing and is just being polite?
Off the back of that, if I end up with less than five, I'll advertise on Gamer Connection. Your votes, please (and any other queries)!
(Oh, and bear in mind I might not actually reply for a week.)
A player in a game I am DM'ing has chosen a beast master ranger as his PC. I can't help thinking that it's a bit under powered, as well as being quite poorly explained (do the beast's defences and attacks go up every level, for example, or just every other level as normal?) in the book. Does anyone else have experience with this?
Gary, my PbP threads are growing in length and while they aren't as long as Heathy's, they are getting that way (especially my Eberron one). While I have no problem with setting up a new thread to save the site from having difficulties, I would have a problem if I couldn't access the old thread since I refer to it for details about names, places and so on (it has been running for two years and my memory isn't good enough to remember stuff I made up on the spur of the moment). Do you think it is likely I will have to set up a new thread anyway? Is it likely I would not be able to access the old thread for any length of time under those circumstances? Would it be better to set up a new thread now before the old one reaches a threatening length, so I can always have access to it in the archive?
The town of Qom is the largest settlement along the main trade route from the old Hashputene Empire to the City of the Five. It marked the furthest official southerly extent of the Empire, where the old Imperial Road from the north ended and the City Way continued south. While trade is lower than in the Empire’s heyday, Qom nevertheless remains a busy trade town, mainly shifting goods such as salt, residuum, minor magic items and exotic foodstuffs from the City to the barbarian kingdoms north of the mountains in return for grains, cloth and ores.
Qom also acts as the unofficial capital of the foothills region of the Southern Hinterlands, being easily the biggest community between the mountains and the City. As such, it is a relatively cosmopolitan place, with people from several races and regions visiting or living there. The majority are Hashputene humans, though halflings and dragonborn are also common, with an additional smattering of City merchants, dwarves from the hills, forest elves and haughty tieflings.
The town is run by a descendant of the last military governor of the region under the Empire, who retains the title of Tribune. Tribune Darshastha is generally considered a canny and just ruler, his main focus to ensure the security of the trade road and maintaining peaceful relations with the City of the Five. He has little formal sway over the more outlying settlements but has influence through the wealth borne of trade, his grasp of diplomacy, and his control of the Qom Lancers, a relatively small but highly-proficient cavalry. Nevertheless, beyond the near stretches of the Imperial Road and the City Way, the Tribune’s authority is only absolute within the town itself. Any attempt to expand through force could meet with the fatal displeasure of the Five, which limits the Tribune’s ambitions.
The town is mostly composed of mud brick dwellings with baked shingle roofs, clustered behind a wall of timber and earth. The wall is about 10’ tall and, while hardly impregnable, acts as a reasonable deterrent to the disorganised tribes which are the main threat to the community. There are two gates: Imperial Gate to the north and City Gate to the south. These two roads meet in the centre of the town at Temple Square, the main open space in the settlement where there is a vibrant market full of haggling vendors hawking their wares. Above the town, on a promontory of red stone, sits the Garrison, home to the Tribune and the barracks for the Lancers.
Outside the walls by Imperial Gate is the caravanserai, mostly filled with grumbling camels but also the occasional tethered skywhale. Nearby is Halfling Town, a slightly ramshackle collection of huts and wagons for the itinerant halfling community. Beside the town runs the Springflow, which alternates between a raging torrent as the winter snows thaw to a stony streambed in the dry season. However, the water still flows underground even in the driest periods, and deep-dug wells and cisterns of rainwater keep the town from thirst at these times. Around the town are orchards, dusty fields and a few outlying hamlets and farmsteads, giving way to scrub and cliffs. The Springflow heads south and down into the desert where it eventually disappears.
Imperial Road
Imperial Road heads north from Qom, winding through foothills towards the high mountain passes. It is an impressive testament to Imperial engineering skills, being in relatively good repair even a century after the Empire’s collapse. It is cobbled, cambered to ensure water runs off it, and crosses a series of rivers and valleys on sturdy stone bridges. Along its length it has regular way-shelters, and among the foothills of the Southern Hinterlands there are villages and fortified inns serving passing travellers. South of the mountains it is patrolled by the Qom Lancers, but up amongst the high mountain passes trekkers must provide for their own security. The main dangers on the road are highwaymen and large predators. The first town of any real size along its length after Qom is Varata, formerly an Imperial border town north of the mountains and now the capital of a petty kingdom ruled by a bandit prince.
City Way
City Way is not an Imperial-built road, but was made long before to facilitate trade with the City of the Five. The City is twelve days’ ride south along the road from Qom, but only the portion immediately below Qom is patrolled by the Lancers. Instead, a series of small fortresses have been built along its length, manned by troops from the City. There are four forts in total, equidistant from each other, and these also provide facilities for travellers. The soldiers have little interest in the lands beyond the road, which remain wild and contested, but attempts to disrupt traffic on the road are greeted with deadly force. The usual hazards are undead that wander from the Bonefields, gnoll and dragonborn raiders, and thirst.
The City of the Five
The City sits on an escarpment above the northernmost extent of the Salt Rift, protected on all sides by steep cliffs. The City itself comprises a large temple/palace complex of marble walls and golden domes, surrounded by garden plots, orchards and modest housing for the rest of its inhabitants and arranged around a central oasis. As such, deific splendour mixes surprisingly with the mundane lives of its citizens.
While the City is home to five living deities, they are remote from the general population, only seen from a distance at major festivals. The edicts of the five are disseminated through the High Priest of the Five, and City is administered by a council of clerical Regents reporting to him. The main trade is in salt and residuum, both of which are mined from the nearby upper reaches of the Salt Rift, which are used to buy foodstuffs and other basics hard to obtain in the desert.
Most of the inhabitants of the City seem happy with their lot, living unremarkable but cosseted lives away from significant danger, and virtually all are enthusiastic followers of the Five. The worship of deities other than the Five is not permitted within the City. Worshippers of other gods may freely honour their own deities in private, but attempting to convert a local, proselytise or establish a temple is strictly forbidden.
The Salt Rift
South of the City of the Five, the ground begins to fall away in a series steep cliffs and barren white plains, plunging deeper and deeper into the earth until it flattens out into an immense shimmering salt pan almost two miles beneath the general level of the surrounding desert. The heat is even more oppressive and the sparse signs of life disappear almost completely. Here, strip miners from the City, often felons serving their punishment, carve out blocks of salt and ply the thin veins of residuum.
The complete extent of the Salt Rift has not been accurately surveyed, but it is a roughly star-shaped depression perhaps two hundred miles or more across. The City sits at the north-eastern extremity of one of its out-flung arms. The mines occupy only the nearest portion on the Rift, and the deeper parts are almost entirely unknown, as the generally unliveable terrain makes exploration extremely hazardous. Rumours abound of strange creatures twisted by prolonged exposure to residuum, lakes of boiling mud or caustic pools of water tainted with poisonous minerals, and odd ruins projecting from the white crust as if they were half-buried.
It is possible to circumnavigate the Rift, but the regions around it are claimed by some of the most murderous dragonborn tribes in the Southern Hinterlands. Many consider it a religious duty to execute any non-dragonborn found in their territory, and they also raid the mining camps of the City looking for captives to sacrifice.
We are looking to recruit a new player to a long-standing group with vacancies following various moves and relocations. We generally meet every other Sunday, from 4pm to 9pm, at eachothers houses in Worcester, Stourbridge and Rugby on a rotating basis (effectively, the West Midlands). Our RQ campaign is drawing to a close and our next campaign will be 4e. If there is anyone in the area who would be interested in joining us (we are looking for a commitment to join long term) please don't hesitate to get in touch. Thanks.
Hi, in my orders I have my latest Pathfinder subscription order including both PF 12 and PF 13. While I don't really mind receiveing two at once, is it likely that this order will be sent soon? For example, is PF 13 likely to be available so soon after Crown of Fangs? The reason I ask is that I cannot download anything until the order is processed, and as I live in the UK the order takes a couple of weeks more to get to me after it is sent, downloading the modules is quite important so I can get my hands on it the faster. I would prefer if you just send the PF 12 now (plus whatever else is availble as part of my subscription package) and send PF 13 along later, unless delivery of PF 13 is imminent. I'm not terribly bothered about the postage costs and would like to be able to download the module reasonably soon.
PS: the title should read "Holding PF 12 for PF 13?". :-(
Sorry for the really dumb question, but where in the PHB does it say what the damage bonus is for using a two-handed weapon? I simply cannot find it, but I know there is one (as halflings don't get it). Thanks.
