Bhalzabahn's page

Hi there, could you delete the item "Rackham Legends: Iraem" from Order # 1567079, please?

Please still send the other two items included in that order. Thank you!

Hi there Cosmo,

Could you please cancel my Pathfinder Adventure Path and Pathfinder Companion subscriptions, please?

Thank you!

Hi there.

My Order #1170556's payment was delayed when it was due. Now, it is "pending" since ... April 30 or so.

Should I do something to process the order, is it stuck? Thank you!

See here on RPG.net.

Wizards of the Coast has instructed us to suspend all sales and downloads of Wizards of the Coast titles. Unfortunately, this includes offering download access to previously purchased Wizards of the Coast titles. We are in discussions with Wizards about their decision to change their approach to digital sales of their titles and will post more information as we have it. If you would like to let Wizards know your opinion on offering D&D titles for download, we suggest the D&D Message Boards found here.

Also here on WotC's boards.

My question: Has WotC asked the same thing from Paizo?

Just a notice for all of you who knew and/or loved Gary Gygax's work and deeds.

The GaryCon website now has message boards available to talk about Gary of course, organize future GaryCon events and talk gaming. The place is welcoming.

It seems that the description of Elmshire, not so far from Greyhawk city, is included in Dragon #262, which I do not own.

As I am preparing to launch a campaign in this general area, I would like to know more about Elmshire. What can you tell me about it?

Thank you!

Hi there.

Cosmo, please cancel my Pathfinder Chronicles subcription.

I keep my Pathfinder Charter AP and Pathfinder Companion subscriptions going.

Thank you!

When the first Adventure Path and creatures for Golarion came out, and later on, up until now, we are told time and time again of how the setting is Old School in style and inspiration.

Disclaimer: I AM a huge fan of Golarion. Don't get me wrong.

My fear is that the more we detail the setting, the more what we end up getting is 3rd edition's Forgotten Realm's Campaign Setting in supplements, aka a uber-described setting down to its last details.

This is NOT what I call Old School. Golarion is NOT the World of Greyhawk or Grey FR boxed sets. This is not the Wilderlands of High fantasy. These settings give a frame for the DM's imaginations to run wild. The more you describe these settings, the more you run into AD&D2's pitfalls of describing too much for not enough adaptability, imagination sparkling value.

The very text of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting reaches back to 3E's FR campaign setting rather than any previous edition's settings.

What do you guys think? Is this a fair assessment on my part?

For some time, I've been wondering if D&D was truly "D&D". I defined the latter as a complementarity of characters, a search for treasures and accomplishments, a management of resources... lots of things.

The more I read about 4E, the more I believe it is "D&D".

Is it the "D&D" I want to play, though?

And there, we are stepping away from any reasoned argument towards personal definitions and experiences of what "D&D" may mean to one or the other.

One definition is not better than the other, much like one gaming experience is no better than another.

We are gamers. We make different choices based not on what is mechanically "sound" or not, but on what we like, feel we are able to use and tweak, or not.

D&D 4E does not seem to be the "D&D" I want to keep playing. But others may make a different choice. And it may still be "D&D".

The bottom line here is that we may not agree on WotC's choices, modus operandi, PR, ways of belittling previous editions of the games, its fans, and so on, so forth, but this has nothing to do with the actual mechanics of the game and whether it "feels like D&D" or not.

Let's separate experiences and opinions from ethical disagreements with WotC. That's what I mean. And before anyone asks, yes, I anticipate to stay with 3.X, PRPG, whatever OGL material is out there, for a long, long time.

[I feel a bit like Aint-it-Cool-News posting the following scoop! I can't vouch for or against its accuracy, but it certainly has a ring of authenticity to it. I'm posting it here in its entirety exactly as I received it.]

I was today at my FLGS here in Hungary, and to my big surprise they already had the Races & Classes preview book for sale. I have no interest in buying it, and had no time to read in it for a long time (or to make notes), but here are some details I can remember.

• The book is just fluff, no game statistcs or any rules in it.
  
• Diferent D&D designers have written different parts of the book, it's definatly teamwork. It is always mentioned who wrote which chapter or which paragraph.
  
• The races mentioned in detail are Humans, Dwaves, Eladrins, Elves, Halflings, Tieflings, and the "mystery race", Dragonborn. Each of these races gets some pages, humans I think had the most with 4 or 5, eladrin the least with 1,5. There are 4-5 paragraphs each on some other races as well. I remember drow and gnome, but there were maybe 2 or 3 more. The gnome part was titled "The problem with gnomes" or something like that.
  
• The Dragonborn in their picture looked like big and well muscled lizardmen. They were antropomorphic, had two legs and no wings. It looked as if their hands had claws. If I had to judge by the picture, they should get natural bite and claw attacks.
  
• Halflings looked just as 3ed halflings (no hobbits).
  
• The classes section had details about five classes: Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Warlock. Each of thes gets 3-4 pages. Then - as with the classes - there is an "other classes" section with 3-4 paragraphes for each class. I remember paladins, rangers, druids, barbarians, swordmages and warlords among those.
  
• I couldn't find any mention in the book why they chose to write about some races and classes in detail, and why some get only some paragraphs. While for some of the "lesser" races and classs it did say that those would appear probably in later D&D proucts, I couldn't find any passage saying that those and only those detailed would be in the PHB. (Five base classes certainly seem to much.)
  
• Besides races and classes there were some chapters about the designwork, about the basic things they are trying to achieve, and so on. One interesting little info I remember is that there will be just one progression for all classes, and differences between them will come from their different character ablities, feats and so on. If I remember well, BAB (and AC?) was among the things mentioned. Hp was probably also on this list, butu I don't remember well anymore, sorry.
  
• There were two pages about the design history, which the different stages were, and when they began.
  
• The art looked good, often there was a pencil sketch (concept art), and the final colored version side by side.

That's about what I can remember. I had not much time to look through the book, and sadly I have no camera on my moblie, otherwise I would have taken a picture of the table of contents.

I no that I all this might soun a strange, since I have no prrof for it. But if you look at my old posts (I don't post much, so it shouldn't be to hard to find), you'll see that my FLGS started to sell Fiendish Codex II also well before it's street date. (I don't have access tot the search function, so I can't give you a link to that thread.) My screenname on ENWorld is morbiczer.

From ENWorld.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drdd/20071121

In D&D, the words "adventure" and "quest" are virtually synonymous. They both mean a journey, fraught with danger that you undertake for a specific purpose. We sometimes joke that the game is all about killing monsters and taking their stuff, but the reality is that the game is about adventures. You go into the dungeon and kill monsters with a larger purpose in mind: to stop their raids on caravans, to rescue the townsfolk they've captured, to retrieve the lost Scepter of the Adamantine Kings for the rightful descendant of those kings.

Quests are the story glue that binds encounters together into adventures. They turn what would otherwise be a disjointed series of combats and interactions into a narrative -- a story with a beginning, a middle, and a climactic ending. They give characters a reason for doing what they do, and a feeling of accomplishment when they achieve their goals.

Quests can be major or minor, they can involve the whole group or just a single character's personal goals, and they have levels just like encounters do. Completing a quest always brings a reward in experience points (equal to an encounter of its level for a major quest, or a monster of its level for a minor quest), and it often brings monetary rewards as well (on par with its XP reward, balanced with the rest of the treasure in the adventure). They can also bring other rewards, of course -- grants of land or title, the promise of a future favor, and so on.

The idea of quest rewards is nothing new to D&D. Second Edition, in particular, promoted the idea of giving story rewards of experience points when players completed adventures. The quest rules in 4th Edition are directly descended from that idea, integrated into the economy of rewards in the game. They're a rules wrapper around the story of the game, a way to keep players mindful of the purposes behind all their adventuring.

One of the suggestions in the 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide is to give players a visual, tactile representation of a quest as soon as they begin it. At the start of the adventure, after the baron has briefed the characters on their mission and been bullied into paying them more than he intended, you can hand the players an index card spelling out the details of the quest -- including the agreed-upon reward. In the middle of the adventure, when the characters find a key with a ruby set in its bow, you can hand them a card, telling them that finding the matching lock is a quest.

When the players have cards or some other visual representation of their quests, it's easy for them to remember what they're supposed to be doing -- and to sort out goals that might be contradictory. That's a really interesting ramification of the quest system: It's okay to give the players quests they don't complete, quests that conflict with each other, or quests that conflict with the characters' alignments and values.

For example, the mentor of the group's paladin might ask him to find and destroy the Ruby Tome of Savrith the Undying. At the same time, a shady character is offering the rogue a sizable sum in exchange for the same tome, and the wizard's research turns up a reference to a ritual contained in the Ruby Tome that the characters will need to use in order to complete another quest. Three quests stand at odds, and it's up to the players to decide what they want to do.

There's a story that's a lot richer and more interesting than simply going into the dungeon to see what treasure is there.

Beyond J2, can we expect to see more 11+ level GM modules?

I just wanted to tell everyone:

If we aren't among the 32 remaining for round 2, it does NOT mean our design sucked. It just means that these 32 people made a really good job on their magic item.

Doesn't mean yours wasn't any good. Keep trying!

Remember that. :-)

Cheers,
Benoist

Would you be interested in such a product for 3.x?

You can read more about it here: montecook.livejournal.com

and here: ezboard.com/fokayyourturn

Monte might publish it.

I'm listening.

I'm interested in how many people are actually interested in this, because it would be a significant amount of work on my part to put it together as a product.

IMPORTANT: The POLL on OYT.

Thanks to Jaws for the post's template!

Rise of the Runelords seems to have its share of wilderness adventuring, village/cities investigation and dungeon delving. Seems to be a bit of everything, in fact.

Curse of the Crimson Throne seems to be an Urban AP. True/untrue?

The third AP (what's its name again?) would be an Underdark AP. True/untrue? Something else?

Is there a pattern here showing that different Pathfinder APs will have each a focus on a particular environment?

Hello everyone.

I started to draw an alternate map for Varisia, and I would like to know a few things about the one that appears in the RotRL player's guide.

From what I see, there are five major woodlands in Varisia: Mierani Forest and Lurkwood to the North, Churlwood, Sanos Forest and Ashwood to the South.

I would like to know the wood composition of these areas. Which are mostly composed of deciduous trees, which are coniferous, and which are of mixed composition?

Would this be possible to make all iconics available in JPG format like this one? What about full-page PDFs?

It's cool to be able to print them off to any dimension without having to scan them by spreading the soft cover wide open.

Pretty please? :)

Erik in his post about Paizo's conundrum right now was talking about the possibility, if the company stuck with 3.5, to release a new set of 3.X core books that would integrate with the rest of the Pathfinder/GameMastery universe and feel.

Wayne Ligon, later, was talking about the possibility to work on something integrated to Pathfinder akin to Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed.

Which made me wonder...

What if there was a Pathfinder 4.P RPG ?

See, what I dislike with WotC's 4E at the moment is the whole "let's milk everything" marketing, PR, digital initiative, redesign monsters and basic feel of Fourth Edition.

But what if the rules themselves rock? Provided there's an equivalent to the OGL and/or d20 License, wouldn't it be possible to produce something akin to Arcana Unearthed with alternate classes, races and such that would depict the particular feel of Golarion just like AU used the Diamond Throne as a "default" setting and basically help the dungeons and dragons we love to survive while riding 4E's wave at the same time?

If anything, this could be used just like AU, as an alternate source of house rules for particular games. It would only enrich the 4E experience, appeal to those who dislike Wizards' approach, and would plant the seeds to make Paizo more independent in regards to a fifth, 4.5 whatever edition?

How do you guys feel about that?

Even simpler.

A summary of all the stuff on the blog so far:

Character Creation
Why such a love for Ptolus?
Campaign Aims: Living and Breathing Characters
House Rules
Tools and Resources
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Campaign Checkpoint
Session 5
Session 6
Thoughts about Leveling-Up
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12

You asked for interpretations as to the way the symbols of the sins were designed the way they are, so here's my shot at it:

Wrath: The horns of the bull. Impulsive, violent passions.

Pride: Someone lifting his arms above his head as a sign of personal victory and inner pride.

Envy: The upper contour of the eye and the narrow pupil. Envy shows itself by the way we "look" at each other. It is in the beholder's own eye.

Greed: a clawed hand grasping the triangle (a thing, a diamond) for itself.

Gluttony: A bloated body contoured by the arms holding its own tummy.

Lust: A tongue? A sexual/phallic design.

Sloth: Somebody lying down with his arms stretched above his head.

It becomes harder and harder to find the original Tome of Horrors in print. I think a Tome of Horrors Revised in print would be a great commercial success.

Granted, I do base my opinion on sporadic observations over the internet, and internet doesn't make a rule. I must precise, however, that I've never seen a fan of the original ToH who would not buy a revised print edition.

I've got the 3.0 edition in print and the revised PDF. I would buy an updated reprint in a heart beat, and all the fans I read would do the same.

Furthermore, using ToH monsters along with Pathfinder would just make sense, given the old school inclination of the book series in some instances, like the presentation of the world through the adventures instead of a dry "campaign setting" thrown wholesale to the masses.

Whether grognard or noobs to D&D, I can't see any gamer who wouldn't profit from the contents of the ToH. I have all the MMs and numerous monster books whether they'd be OGL or d20 trademark licensed. Monster Collection, Ravenloft, Arcana Unearthed and Iron Heroes, etc ... you name it. ToH is easily the non-WotC resource I use the most in our games. I suspect many, many fans of DnD and the OGL would do the same if given the occasion.

I think a print version of the revised Tome of Horrors would do good to us all. Please? What do you think?

Hello there!

I would love to be able to order D0: Hollow's Last Hope. I am not in the U.S. but in Canada, and I don't think I'll be able to take avantage of the Free RPG day since the closest FLGS is at about 500 km from my home.

Will it be possible to get it from Paizo's online store? I would prefer the physical book, but a PDF would make a fine compromise too. Thanks for your attention!

I don't know for you guys, but sometimes for me it's easy to come up with names for elements (nations, NPCs, deities) of a campaign setting, and sometimes it can be a real pain in the butt.

When purchasing a new setting, the names chosen by the authors participate heavily to the flavor of said setting, and are thus part of the first impressions I have about the new product. They may, or may not, draw me in.

Now, Varisia, Thassilon, Lamashtu, Karzoug, Desna... I really dig these names.

Thassilon. I can feel the ancient empire just by saying the name. Nice!

Hello everyone !

Reading through the preview of the Rise of the Runelords goblins got me completely psyched about them. Me and my dearest have even started working on an actual TUNE for the goblin song ! We've had fun all evening with this (and would send it to you if you'd like to have a look !). :)

My question would then be: will there be miniatures comparable to the Game Mastery/Compleat Encounter/Ptolus miniatures that would release to represent these little guys (and other PF unique monsters) at our game table ?

I would LOVE to paint and use these guys in our games. I love Wayne's work on them.

Please ?

Hello Paizo and fans.

I've just heard the sad news and me and my dearest are completely devastated. Dragon and Dungeon are both institutions of gaming, and I really can't express the sadness I feel rushing through my heart right now.

I'm also happy Paizo moves on with new projects and endeavors. Erik, James, Josh, everyone: I'm in, guys. I'm going to support and help with Pathfinder. I already converted my "credit" with Paizo.

Please relay my compliments and admiration to all the staff. You guys rock. You should be proud of your accomplishments!

Benoist.

It's been a while that Monte Cook has been writing his Dungeoncraft articles for Dungeon magazine.

A few weeks ago, the subject of a compendium of all the Dungeoncraft articles into a single volume came up on his website (www.montecook.com), and Monte had this comment about it: "When I write a collumn for Dungeon, I'm selling it to Paizo. I think it would be very cool if they collected them all into a book, but that's up to them."

So I just put it to the attention of fans of the magazine and push the topic back to the people deciding here: Paizo's staff. Would such a compilation volume be at all possible? I for one would preorder instantly. *hint hint* ;)

Thanks all, take care!

Hello everyone !

I received Dungeon #119 one week ago, but still didn't receive Dungeon #118. I just read about other people having the same problem in this forum.

I hope you can do something about it (my shipping adress is in British Columbia, Canada).
If not, please tell me what next step(s) I should take.

Thanks you all very much,
Benoist Poiré.