Ben Mathis's page

I should have mentioned I saw that, sorry. It doesn't explain where 3 expansions and the turret access have gone, or the presence two extra berths. That's what is messing me up.

Because with a compliment of 8 max, 2 expansion bays (both cargo holds), no listed weapons, and a length of about 175 feet I'm having trouble stating one up. I like the layout and want to build something similar. Thoughts (or official position)?

I'm gonna have to slap a bump on this, because I really want a corrected map PDF. I heart this area and wanna start a big run. Like it to match up with offical if possible.

I think this is the effect in question...

Enrichment: This effect targets plants within a range of a halfmile,
raising their potential productivity over the course of the next
year to one-third above normal.

And the "stack with itself from this effect should be clear. And would go a long way towards explaining why even mid level druids have groves full of appropriately ancient trees...

Also why can farmers in this setting can support such large, late medieval urban populations with early medieval agriculture and transportation.

Don't want it.
It's not needed.
Several books full of variant rules, plus one that totally rewrote four base classes, show that unless the basic system is flawed there is no need for a 2nd ED.
Do NOT go all D&D/Shadowrun/CoC/WoD on me guys. I've dumped systems for that. In fact I've dumped three of the four I just mentioned.

All through RotRL I allowed my characters to sell off non-standard sized weapons & armor in Magnimar for a reduced rate. The tiny dagger sold for 25% of its value. What shopkeeper is going to give high return on equipment that isn't useful to the vast majority of his customers? Same with the large and huge weapons in books 4 and 5. Now they did keep some of the odd sized gear to put in their trophy room at Foxglove Manor (seems the original deed was vacated by the government. Something about being tied to a group plotting to kill the Lord-Mayor...)

How can I put this....

Yes, I have stuff.
Lots of stuff.

Now that there are PFS sheets for APs, I was wondering if there are official end results for the adventure paths? While I would assume the final Boss is going to be beaten and Glorion saved, there are often very serious ramifications that can have a serious effect on how people might interact in-game, especially if they have one or more of the AP sheets on their character.

For instance...

The same question could be asked about some of the Society specials too, but I'm assuming that would be based on the characters experience playing the scenario. But with the APs being such huge, world changing events, the final outcome would be good to know for character back story if nothing else.

So somebody spill.
Or tell me how I missed it in the search.

Ruick wrote:

semi off topic but:

So if I'm not mistaken the taxes they put on tobacco products pays for school programs of some sort or another...

I always wondered where they were going to get their money once enough people quit smoking. Looks like its going to be soda...since there area already bans in place...

Im just going to kick back and giggle since I no longer smoke and have instituted my own household soda ban lol.

It all goes into the same place and comes out in one undifferentiated mass.

Not necessarily so. Several state/local "sin" taxes chuck their takings directly at one program or another. Example- here in WV the soda tax that has been in place for decades was all routed to WVU for the purpose of setting up a medical school.

iBooks works fine, as does Adobe Reader. I also get good use out of...

PFR - a rule reprint app. Costs money, but you can get almost all the hardback books for $2 a pop.

Spellbook - though it hasn't been updated recently. All the basics are there, but if you are playing a serious spellcaster look for one that updates more often.

InitiativeBoard - Just what it sounds like.

Hero Lab - Love it on my computer, love it on my iPad. I get more use from it than anything else. WARNING! It is not cheap. As new material is released by Paizo they update the program, but not all the updates are free. But as a DM it is great for keeping up with my bad guys.

Since this sounds exactly like my Wednesday night Runelords game from last week, I guess I should explain myself.

The BoL wasn't cast the same round, it was cast on the same initiative tick. The bad guy and the PC cleric had the same tick, he just went first. (Mokmurian, from "Fortress of the Stone Giants")That, coupled with the fact the gnome sorcerer only missed the save by 1 (yes Grant, you missed it by 1!) is why I decided the cleric was able to get there before he was totally reduced to a lil pile of dust. In any other situation (bigger margin of failure on the save, slower action by the cleric) this would have been a kill shot. Instead I gave him the staggered condition for 1d6 rounds (and promptly rolled a 1) and moved the combat along.

It was my call based on the near miss saving throw and the immediate action taken practically at the same time by the cleric. Is it a perfect call? Not likely. Most aren't. RAW it is likely dead wrong. But it stopped the book races going on around the table and got us back to playing the game, which is what I invited people over to do in the first place.

I don't know. The idea of constellation-based monsters would mean you need a whole new set of constellations. So you use the ones listed in Different Worlds. And with this being the Age of Lost Omens, one might have a lot to fear from creatures based around astrology...

On the outer space note, some more off-world monsters specific to some of the more environmentally challenging climates (Aballon, Aucturn, Nox, ect)

Agreed, it's a house rule, you can play it as you like.

My point is that the item predates the Ultimate Campaign book (or Paizo. Or WotC.) If the designers thought the item rules needed modification they likely would have included them it in the UCam book or the Core Rule update that hit my inbox this morning. Or assigned it a point value under the downtime building system. The lack of rule change leads me to think they didn't feel the need. And I'm sure they thought about it.

The idea that "The players can get something for nothing, can't have that!" just sits poorly with me. The item eliminates labor costs. So bumping the transport cost to compensate strikes me as being punitive for no good reason. Extra transport costs to stockpile materials? Fifty trips in a wagon will cost as much as fifty wagons making one trip. Or ten a day for five days. and it will still be a fraction of the actual material cost. And your players know this. Gigging them for planing ahead when you let them have the lyre seems like poor sport. And if they do take up the gauntlet then expect to see them realize the (underground building=no transport cost) mechanic I mentioned above.

Now if you want to talk about really unbalancing uses...
>Use the stone from underground construction as an offset for BP when building roads.
>Irrigation ditches dug with the Lyre make plains farmland hexes faster and cheaper. Terracing makes hill hexes into fields for lower BP
>Rerouting waterways can dry out swamp hexes fast, lowering BP cost to put anything there by lowering prep costs.
>Motte & bailey, rampart & ditch, moats, and other earthworks can be produced fast and free (since the spoil is used in adjacent rammed earthworks) and increase the defensive value of settlements.
>Breakwaters, quays, and defensive shoals can spring up overnight. Harbors can be dredged out equally rapidly. Reduce the BP cost for Waterfront. And eliminate the cost for waterways.

None of these projects have any transportation cost, or the cost is offset by the diminished labor costs to extract the material (example-the gravel from the excavation going to road construction). With 1 Labor=20gp and 1BP=4000gp THIS is where you'll see the unbalancing effect.

Transportation costs should not be equal to 1/2 the labor costs of a building. Teamsters are quite a bit cheaper than stonemasons and carpenters (or they should be). And since the lyre can be used for excavation (as per the item description- "magically construct buildings, mines, tunnels, ditches, ect.") if the materials are available on site in their natural state (stone in a quarry for example) then this should not cause any cost increases at all. I would also apply this to wood used in construction if the building site is in a forest, but that's just me.

And for underground construction there would be no material cost as long as the areas excavated didn't require materials from off site to be used for bracing. As long as the stone you're working can be engineered to hold itself up (dwarven bards looking really useful all of a sudden) then labor cost should be 0gp.

Honestly, this comes back to the oldest trick in the DM-ing arsenal. If you think an item is overpowered, don't let the players have it. Period. You can give reasons (can't find one to buy, can't find the needed information to make one, ect), impose penalties for having it (in this specific case I'm sure nobles tend to confiscate Lyres of Building from untitled riff-raff. Especially if they go building fortifications without permission. Tradesman's guilds likely go a bit nuts about them too.) or just say "No, you can't have one."

But in the end, how big an issue is this? Does it need a rule? I think not. The only time I have ever had players pulling their hair out trying to get one of these was while running Kingmaker. And if they had located one, I'd have let them have it. It's primary use is during downtime. Kingmaker is the only time I've had a situation where a Lyre could mess up the story line, but it was just the B story. The odds on it trashing your main plot line are normally pretty low. Just work with it.

Nevermind, I found the fix.
I'm apparently blind...

So, in the interests of making my game a bit more portable I've been putting all my bad guys into HeroLab. When I got to Barl, I notice that under SQ in his stat block it says Thassilonian Specialist. If I add that archetype is spells per level goes up by one more than shown in the block. Anyone else found a problem with him, or is this a HeroLab glitch?

OK, so to confirm for the mildly confounded...

#1-I am currently running RotRL as a home game with standard PFRPG characters. After the players finish Thistletop I can give them (and myself) a Chronicle Sheet for "Burnt Offerings" that may be applied to any 3rd through 5th level PFS character in their inventory.

#2-Then after they finish Foxglove Manor I can give out "The Skinsaw Murders" Chronicle Sheet. It can be applied to any 4th to 6th level PFS character. It does not have to be applied to the same one that received the "Burnt Offerings" sheet.

#3-In either case, the Society characters that get the Chronicle Sheets for sanctioned Adventure Path content can still be played normally in Society scenarios and sanctioned modules. Or other sanctioned Adventure Paths for that matter.

Are these assumptions correct?

Ahhh. Totally forgot that it requires brass cartridges. That pretty much squashes using it even if it could be fixed. Carry on.

I've been asked to edit this to hide the spoiler. Sorry, I wasn't thinking.

Ghost of Jerry Lewis is banned for being considered brilliant by the French

To:Paracountess Zarta Dralneen,

This situation is unfortunate. And it sounds as though you may have allowed this to progress too far to correct it. Especially with the whining of some of the Society members that I'm sure wouldn't have the spine needed to be as blatant in their disrespect if you had not advised us of this possible threat to your position.

In all honesty, you know I'm not sufficiently trustworthy to be given this information. Of all the people you know you can trust, you give me this missive? That is very likely not one of your best thought out plans. Giving me a hint of weakness is akin to giving me a dagger and then turning your back. This also likely applies to more than a few members of our Faction. That whole "might makes right" view of order that the homeland thrives on is alive and well in more than a few of our countrymen here in Absalom. I'd be very careful who else you entrust with this information.

As for myself, at least, you did make the correct choice. After careful consideration I have decided to support you in this little misunderstanding. And as I'm sure you can guess, the decision was based on my own selfish personal interests. If you are displaced I'm sure it would be by someone much less interesting to work for. Being stuck dealing with the same sort of hide-bound, scripture-quoting, sycophant I left Egorian to get away from in the first place does not fill me with joy. You are, regardless of the jealous quips of your detractors, the only reason that working for the Society is actually entertaining. I could pull in a great deal more simply thieving and looting with a crew of my own. But you make dealing for people with scruples tolerable. And as such I'll do what I am able to assist you keep your position.

I will also remind you, I have quite the imagination...

Pax,
Alexite Baradin
Captain, The Silver Princess

P.S.- Varia says she will support you as well. Again, mostly out of self interest. But she's a good bit more trust worthy than myself.

I think the last encounter in First Steps #1 is the only on avalible for purchase. It is part of the Ambush Sites map pack.
First Steps #2 uses the Haunted Dungeon flip mat
First Steps #3 uses the Waterfront Tavern and River Crossing flip mats

Unfortunately, the big warehouse in #1 is not, as far as I know, available. Which is a bummer because if they sold that one as a flip mat (w/o the hole in the floor. I can draw that in) I'd grab one up. Getting sick of drawing it...

"Honestly'" sighs the rakishly attired half elf by the window " if I was such a stickler about THE LAW as you lot nothing I ever get set out to do would actually get done. Let me make sure all my priorities are in line here...sex, gold, sex, power, sex, drugs, sex, booze, sex, parties, sex..." Lifting a glass of wine he cracks a mocking smile, "Oh yes, I can work for the Paracountess. Though I find myself in agreement with the orc as to my plans when toiling away here loses its...allure."

Don't feel bad TOZ, our DM did that at Origins after the battle interactive. Oops. Happens to the best of us.

Hey! Let's build an escalator on Mt Everest!

There, I suggested it. Now, other ways to get race boons...

Obviously, buy them with prestiege from another character whose Faction could have something to do with the race in question. Want a tiefling? 20 Chelixian PP. Aasimar for 20 Silver Crusade PP. You get the idea. Note that I'm not suggesting the new boon-race character has to be a member of the Faction the points come from, just the player has to earn the points working for that Faction with the original character.

Less obviously, the "if you have all three Chronicles" trick for extra-fancy swag when compleating an entire series could be a good place for something like this. After all, so far I have an axe beak mount and two characters with permenent endure elements from that deal, why not a cool race.

I'm sure there are other ways to do it, those are off the top of my head.
But let's face it-either one is better than having them for sale on eBay.

That doesn't make any sense.
I know the rule is one player Chronicle and one GM Chronicle for any given Scenario per player. And they can't be on the same character.

So...if he died he didn't get a Chronicle. `Why can't he play it again and get one?

Not trying to be difficult, but it doesn't make a lot of sense.

I got $30.00 off! Yay!

Which means it only cost me half as much as the Rappan Athuk Kickstarter.

Which means I'll get to have food again by....
Crap.
Y'all my have to buy me a hot dog at GenCon so I don't starve to death at the table in the PFS room.

Fair enough. Can we maybe get plushies of the pregens from We Be Goblins?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

By contrast, religion isn't the sole repository of intolerance. That street goes both ways, y'know. You don't have to like or respect someone's beliefs or opinions, but you don't have to be a jerk about it either.

That all depends on what you intend to do with those beliefs...

Planing on bringing them into my science classroom? Then I will break out my physics book, and proceed to make you look like a fool.

Planing on using them to deny civil rights to a class of people because you think that the way they express thier love is prohibited by your rule book? I will break out my Constitution and make you look like a fool.

Plan to use it to run the country I live in? I will call you on it every time it conflicts with the Constitution, common sense, or the not insignificant number of us out here that don't subscribe to your version of the rule book.

As taxpayers we (agnostics, atheists, deists, and others not believing in whatever rulebook your game plan is running out of)have the right to be represented too. And a lot of us would like some sound policy about things that your rulebook doesn't really cover. Like $4.00/gal gas, domestic spying, border security, and the impending failure of social security. So once we live is a country where all the non-theological issues have been addressed we can see about continuing the not so impressive history of running government like a religion.

On the other hand...
Planning to use your faith in church, your private school, or in a public forum not supported by my taxpayer dollars? Knock yourself out.

(P.S.- I use the term "rule book" above since I don't want to single out any one group. My disdain for religion in governance, especially in taxpayer funded situations, isn't limited to any one religion. All are equally unwelcome in politics when I already provide de facto funding through their 501c3 status)

Sorry, but I'm gonna weigh in on the side of insensitive feelings-hurters everywhere and say religion has no place in politics. Ever. Pandering to voters beliefs in order to win is repellant in the extreme and should be subject to disdain not only from those of us that don't belive in the invisible friend, but from believers who should be intelligent enough to see the prostitution of faith for what it is-a ploy to win votes.

As a Libertarian I'm a great deal more interested in your energy policy, economic policy, and if you plan on restoring the lost personal liberties from the last fifty years or so of two party rule in this country.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew 6 Today's New International Version

Giving to the Needy
1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

See, even the rulebook says not to make a spectacle out of it.

And that is the end of me giving money to WotC. That's all, it's been a blast, but I'm over it. I'll be reverting to my house-rule 3.25 game and all the 4th ed can go hang.

I had heard that Greyhawk was out of 4th ed. This seems to be the clincher.

Hell's bells

So, I lose the mags I have loved since about '79 or so. And I'm to assume it will also be the end of offical Greyhawk material too. Or are they letting you keep using Greyhawk in Pathfinder?