Brian Carpenter's page

That is a fantastic project. Thanks for documenting the procedure. Now I'm wondering how to use LEDs in some of the clear plastic minis, like the Huge Fire Elemental from the old D&D minis line.

This is tangentially related to the OP, but I thought it might be of some interest to folks reading this thread.

Why I Write "Strong Female Characters" by Greg Rucka

Greg Rucka is one of the best writers in comics IMO. He's given voice to Wonder Woman, the Question, Batwoman and a whole lot more creator owned material. The article above is his response to a common question he gets in interviews, "How/Why do you write such strong female characters?". It's well worth a read.

Bonus: Greg is a gamer!

What is a magnetic field made of?

Well, according to the gauge boson model of forces, the magnetic field is made of a sea of virtual photons that interact with charged particles by transferring momentum to and from them. The net momentum transfer is explained as a force which is exerted by the field on the charged particle.

Here is a short video explaining what is meant by the exchange of photons/gauge bosons as a model to describe force/action at a distance (be it electromagnetic, strong/weak nuclear or gravity).

Minute Physics - Every Force in Nature (Theory of Everything, Part III)

You might have some luck here. I gamed with a few of these folks when I lived in Louisville, but that was before Pathfinder was released.

Thanks, Vic!

I'm curious about the possibility of shipping two issues of the S&S Adventure Path in the same month. ...[well written post]...

Good gaming to all,

DJF

I am hoping that they don't do this. The adventure paths vary widely enough in setting/style that I evaluate each one and decide if I want to continue my subscription. Usually, I do this by picking up the first volume with my current sub and reading over it. If Paizo were to ship the first two volumes of the same AP in one month, I'd be required to buy the second volume, sight unseen, when I may not want to. I don't mind a missed month though.

I sent an email to customer service about this since Skull and Shackles seems on course to double ship and got a very nice reply from Sara. Paizo has the best customer service folks working for them.

Currently, a subscription includes the following:

• Character Builder
  
• Monster Builder (great if you are running a game)
  
• access to the Compendium (searchable rules database)
  
• new content through Dragon and Dungeon magazine only for subscribers
  
• and I think access to the Virtual Tabletop Beta
  

Personally, I've really been enjoying Dragon and Dungeon lately. There have been some great articles on Dark Sun and just this month a bunch of articles on Cormyr and the Forgotten Realms. We're starting a new FR campaign soon, so I've been enjoying reading these for inspiration.

I do subscribe to DDI and have for most of the time it's been available.

I'll most likely continue to subscribe when D&D Next/5e is released. I like new editions and am excited to see what tools and content they release for this newest edition.

I can just buy the PDFs of Paizo's adventure path for $6 cheaper a month than their print magazine and use that money to pay for my DDI subscription. I get the best of both worlds.

You honestly think that WotC is going to admit that they screwed up the setting? Corporations never admit mistakes, unless under litigation.

The old setting is dead and will never return. Sorry. :( I loved it, too.

You're right. There is no precedence for WotC to produce materials for a campaign setting that are set in a time frame that fans love more than materials covering later years. A return to the parts of the setting that fans truly loved would be impossible.

Oh, wait...

Dark Sun

Was it by chance Killer Instinct? The character Fulgore has a Predator-like look to him.

Hi all.

Our group is hoping to invite a few more gamers to join our table. We're starting a D&D 4E Dark Sun game soon that will focus on surviving the harsh environment of Athas and it should be a ton of fun. Our group tries to meet every two weeks, typically on Saturday or Sunday as our schedules allow. We usually meet at my home in Solon (the southeast corner of Cuyahoga county), share a meal, and roll some dice together. We like to keep things at the table fresh, so we rotate games (and DMs) in as each campaign arc comes to a close. This let's us have a great mix of role playing and combat in our games and we get to explore a variety of settings. If you're interested in learning more, send me an email to carpento-[at]-hotmail-[dot]-com.

When these titles are gone, will the PDFs (for those that have them) remain available for purchase?

Thanks for the quick and through reply, Cosmo! I'll look forward to getting it at the con and meeting you at the register.

flash_cxxi wrote:

Any idea when the option to select starting a Sub with "Souls for the Smuggler's Shiv" will occur?

You might already know that you can always start a sub with either the most recent volume on the next upcoming volume... but since volumes 36 and 37 are shipping simultaneously, 37 will never actually *be* the next upcoming volume, and 36 will never be the most recent volume.

So the answer is that, as soon as we put 36 and 37 into inventory, which should be sometime next week, your starting option will switch from your choice of 35 or 36 to your choice of 37 or 38.

Will something similar be occurring with #48 and 49? Ideally, I'd like to subscribe to the first issue of the Jade Regent AP AND pick it up at GenCon. Is this feasible? I keep checking back to see if the switch has been made yet, but it doesn't look promising since we are only about two weeks out.

What about the campaign setting books that intersect with the AP, such as the Land of the Linorm Kings or Dragon Empires Gazetteer? Will material be drawn from them for the AP?

46) Avengers: Under Siege (not to be confused with the recent Siege Marvel event)

I love this story! It's such an overlooked gem in the old Avengers run.

51) Y: The Last Man
52) X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
53) Fantastic Four #67/496 (understand what makes Doom tick)
54) Captain America #14 (Vol. 3?) (understand what makes the Red Skull tick)
55) Infinity Gauntlet

I just read issue #4 and am loving this comic. I think this is probably one of the most entertaining comics that I buy each month.

John Rogers is establishing a clear voice for each of the characters. I loved the internal dialogue for Bree, the halfling rogue, as she disarms a trap in this issue. Andrea DiVito and the art team are doing a great job as well. The action is easy to follow and the characters (including the supporting cast) are distinctive and well designed.

And if you are worried about an overwhelming 4E tone - don't. While the last page of the comic has contained stats for the main characters, the story itself is rules agnostic. Pick this up even if you aren't a comic reader, as I think the quality of the series will make you a fan.

Thanks for sharing this. I'd been having the exact troubles with finding a good copy of his works like she outlines. This looks like it has everything.

Just finished up our first Castle Ravenloft game. It was a great time and we had a lot of fun with it. In the 4 hours we played, we managed to get through two scenarios (technically, the same scenario twice). We had six players, so we figured it might be a bit easier.

Both games were Adventure 2 in which you have to find the Icon of Ravenloft. On the second turn of the first game, the Strahd Attacks card was pulled and he brutalized us all. From there things went downhill, but in a "Let's see how bad this can be." kind of way. We managed to find the crypt and unleash a wave of monsters that quickly devoured everyone but the paladin (a stand-in from Wrath of Ashardalon). He fell to a dart to the back from a trap.

Frist scenario - TPK.

We went back for more though determined to put one in the win column. Things went much smoother the second game as people had a better idea of the rules/gameplay and were able to make some tactical decisions to improve our odds. We used powers much more readily and were better able to support one another. While we used all of our healing surges, we ended the evening triumphantly by claiming the icon and slaying the monsters.

The game provided a great afternoon of exploration, monster slaying, treasure hunting and a lot of laughs. I'd recommend checking it out if you get a chance.

I just had a chance to finally play through the solo adventure this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and I barely escaped. If Strahd had one more round, I'd have been dead.

Our group is getting together this coming Saturday to try it out together for the first time and I'm eager to see how it plays for a group.

This is definitely an idea worth exploring. I've only read the first two parts of the Age of Worms AP, but I recall a temple involving three different deities. I wonder how you would handle converting that to Dark Sun. Elemental sects? Merchant houses? What organizations stand in for religious ones on Athas?

And a Lost City is perfect for Dark Sun,

This alone is making me want to take the plunge on my first Open Design project. I'd love to have a paragon sandbox of a lost city ready to go when my players hit that level.

I'm seriously looking into buying an eReader in the coming year, so this is a topic that interests me. If I can make a suggestion, please consider using the ebook format to distribute short stories/novellas rather than just novel length works. For instance, I've purchased a number of Larry Niven's short fantasy short stories for around $1 apiece for my iPhone's Kindle reader. While I like collections in the published format (such as Robots Have No Tails), I like the ability to cheaply explore different authors through this new publishing format.

RadioLab is the best science podcast produced. Listen to the episode on parasites. Absolutely amazing.

Excellent news, Scott. I'll looking forward to reading your conversion notes.

Per page 30:

1)Select new class level. You must already qualify for this based on previously gained abilites, etc.
2)Apply Ability Score increase due to Character Level gain.
3)Integrate all of that classes' abilities from that level and roll for hit points.
4)Add new skills and feats.

Is the ability score increase a +1 to a single ability score? I can't find the answer to this question in the rulebook.

Unfamiliar Moon by Vance Gilbert.

Have they released the locations for the US yet? It's barely a week away and I'm not sure what stores are participating.

Thanks Cosmo!

You guys and gals in Customer Service do a great job.

At the beginning of August, I subscribed to the Pathfinder AP, Modules and Companion lines. When I subscribed, I chose the one month shipping option and chose to start my module subscription with Beyond the Vault of Souls. I received an email last Tuesday notifying me that an order of mine would ship soon (Order #1221744). I noticed that the Beyond the Vault of Souls module is set to ship, but I don't seem to have the Crypt of the Everflame module showing in my shipment. I checked the My Subscription section of the paizo site, but it isn't even listed on future shipments. The next module I have listed is Carrion Hill in November. I'm really looking forward to Crypt of the Everflame and would like to get it as part of my subscription.

Could you please check into this and be sure to include it in my next shipment?

Thank you.

Despite this being a RPG forum, when I first saw the thread title I thought it was about tensors.

Does FantasyCraft use iterative attacks or spells per day/spell slots?

I'm thinking no, but can someone with the book confirm?

I don't have the book, but the preview has the courtier class which has a BAB that goes up to +10 with no iterative attack listed. While not conclusive, it is suggestive.

Well, I just reupped my Pathfinder AP subscription, in no small part thanks to the description of this module. The whole idea of the play sounds so fantastic that I just had to see what it was all about.

I wanted to finally give my feedback on the new format since I recently finished reading through Robots Have No Tails.

Overall, I find the push to make the product more "pulpy" a welcome change. I think that it can help to distinguish it from the traditional sci-fi fantasy mix on the shelves. As a reader, the size was never an issue and in fact it felt much like the recent trade paperbacks being pushed by publishers.

I rather enjoyed the two column format and I know that places me in the minority. The style lends itself to the feel of a pulp magazine in which the stories were originally published (I have no idea if this is true, but it felt that way). It didn't have any detrimental effect on my ability to read and enjoy the story.

The artwork is welcome addition and I can't wait to see more of it. Art always seemed to be part of the planetary romance/sword and planet genre, be it interior illustrations or fantastic covers. I enjoyed the work both on and in Robots Have No Tails.

The paper stock was rather flimsy. The quality of the product suffered due to this, especially in light of the price. In fact, after my wife finished the book, I asked her about the same issues I've outlined above. She had no issue with any of the formatting either, but when I asked her what she would pay for the book (her not knowing how much it cost), she replied "No more than $6." She was a bit surprised when I told her how much it cost and made it clear that she would never have purchased it in a bookstore. Thankfully, she doesn't care what I do with my entertainment budget, and she's always happy to have more books to read.

Hope this was at least a little helpful. I plan on continuing to enjoy and support the line in the future.

It is out (for real this time), and it is awesome! Very easy to use. It's going to make tweaking and creating monsters so much easier now. I'm really excited. I've just been playing around with adjusting monster levels and it's easy as pie. The builder does all the work for you - you just have to adjust the level. I now plan to put all my monster creations in this builder.

This is one of the best tools for DMs to ever come out.

I completely agree. I've never been one of those DMs who likes to play with all of the fiddly bits of monsters, being sure to get them just right according to the rules. The Monster Builder does all that annoying work for me and lets me just build the monsters to do what I want them to do. I'm really liking this so far.

And I can't help but think that this is going to make conversions of Pathfinder material so much easier.

This is fantastic news! While the DDI certainly had some stumbling blocks at the beginning, it has provided the best dollar value out of all of the gaming purchases I've made this year. I'm really enjoying it and can't wait to get a look at the Monster Builder tomorrow.

Well, our next sci-fi book club book is Kindred by Octavia Butler, so I've started that. Very well written so far and I like how she's using the time travel as a metaphor for slavery. Least that's how I'm reading it.

Also just finished Lord of Spiders from the Planet Stories line. Ugh, I wish I'd read another Brackett book instead. Consider me done with Moorcock's Burroughs pastiche. Still plugging away at Game of Thrones and looking to start Storm Dragon by James Wyatt next.

Brian Carpenter wrote:

Thanks for the domain info Larry. It looks like Calistria can be well represented by the Love, Trickery and Vengeance domains.

After briefly glancing at the Love domain in Divine Power, I don't think that Love is a great match for Calistria. It seems to be more ... caring for others than I would attribute to Calistria. I would think that a power connected with her would be more likely to allow you have damage dealt to you be redirected at a willing ally than the reverse.

Hmmm, I haven't receivedy my copy yet, but from your description it sounds like you are probably right. Thankfully, I've downplayed the lust aspect of the worship and focused more on the trickery and vengeance aspects.

I was also thinking this morning about how much I liked D0, D1, D4 and Falcon's Hollow. It would be cool to see another "sandbox" style setup with a few adventures supporting one of the region books from the Chronicles line.

Thanks for the domain info Larry. It looks like Calistria can be well represented by the Love, Trickery and Vengeance domains.

I've noticed the lack of high-level (13+) modules and wished there were more available. I'd also like to see a sequence of linked modules. As an example, I've always been a fan of the Desert of Desolation series published by TSR and I fondly recall the Istvin series of adventures from the Paizo Dungeon Magazine days.

Gah. I really can't wait to get this. I haven't been looking forward to a book release like this for a while. I'm playing a cleric of Calistria in our 4E Pathfinder game. Any chance you could tell us how many domains there are or even possibly list them? Pretty please.

Just finished Dune for my sci-fi book club and it was a fantastic read. I'm seriously considering moving on to the second book.

Now I have to finish Robots Have No Tails (Yaaa for Planet Stories!), A Game of Thrones (last months book for book club), and Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life.

Brian Carpenter wrote:

Gen Con is right around the corner and I was wondering if the discount described above would apply to old books purchased at the Paizo booth? I know that you guys have us ring out through the online system, but I wasn't sure if it would still apply.

My understanding is that yes, it does apply.

Thanks Erik. I'll look forward to picking up some of the titles that I missed.

Additionally, subscribers will be able to order older Planet Stories books at a substantial 15% discount off the cover price as an added benefit of subscribing. We hope this new discount structure makes it easier for collectors to pick up volumes they may have missed from earlier in our series.

Gen Con is right around the corner and I was wondering if the discount described above would apply to old books purchased at the Paizo booth? I know that you guys have us ring out through the online system, but I wasn't sure if it would still apply.

Thanks to all the people that worked on this and to Paizo for distributing it to those of us that couldn't be there.

I've had issues too, especially in the mornings here (Ohio).

Hey P.H., how is your game going? Are you still playing through SD and converting it?