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As another possibility, could they take the stance that Fantasy Flight Games has taken in regards to their 40K roleplaying game books. By that I mean, make a new setting such as Planescape, it's own seperate DnD game. They could continue this process through several iterations as they develop additional campaign settings each one tweaking the ruleset to incorporate feedback from players while also experimenting with new ideas. Seems to be working for FFG.
I don't play with potheads...they annoy me, high or no. I don't know when are they worse really. Also i avoid playing with drunks. If you show up at my game drunk or high, i send you home. If you bring booze, i tell you do drink it after the session. I'll have none of that stuff during play. I'm thinking of banning beer as two of my players are starting to overdrink it. I've played with potheads. I've played with drunks. I've played with nerds. I've played with average ordinary joes. I've played with hot ass women as well as the complete stereotypical game geeks. I really could care less what adjectives can be used to describe them. I have had fun with all of them. The problems only seem to become visible when individuals within these "groups" don't like or care for individuals from the other "groups". Perhaps I'm just blessed with the ability to love a good serious roleplay with one group and an over the top ridiculous game with another. Spoiler:
DM: "A god appears before you."
Sir Ted: "Sigh, ok, how many arrows do I have left?" It all really depends on the group, what everyone's expectations are, and how well everyone gets along. Some games aren't for everyone. Me? I don't care as long as long as I have a good time.
I couldn't have said it better. I called and canceled and plan to resubscribe following this product, hopefully before I miss Bestiary 3. Customer support at Paizo is incredibly easy to work with so canceling this for one product is painless. Yes, its an minor inconvenience, but that's about it.
To everyone that replied. Thank you. Knowing the reasons behind a decision does make me feel better about it. I also appreciate that such a decision does not extend beyond the bestiary line which as many others have stated they have anyway (so do I). PS: I have all the adventure paths, having started with the Second Darkness AP, and accumulated the previous ones over time. Though I will never get to play or run all of them, I never feel like my dollars are wasted.
Is Bestiary 2 now considered a core product? I ask because I noticed a creature used in the first Jade Regent Adventure Path references a creature out of the Bestiary 2. Creature:
The Soggy River Monster To me, this isn't a big deal now but it does bother me a bit that the material needed for the adventure isn't right there or in the Bestiary 1. The main element of my concern being that I need to have or find something for the product I purchased that isn't just right there or in one of the original core products. I do understand that most of this information can be found free on the internet under psrd or whatever but being a physical book guy first and a internet guy second doesn't help me much. Am I the only one that is bothered by this? Not looking for an argument. Just wanted to express my concern.
Thanks
The Beginner Box will be part of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game subscription. That's not going to change.Guess I'll cancel my RPG subscription for a month then. I'm not saying it's a bad product. Anything to bring new players into the game is beneficial. That said, I have no interest in it either.
Nope. I already own the individual volumes. It would need more than a Pathfinder update to be useful. If it was enhanced, then I would consider it.
Would you feel the same way if we used those extra two pages to put in two more ads? No, not really. If I had to choose between two more pages of ads and the pregens, I would take the pregens. That said, it's not really the greatest feeling in the world to know that I'm paying for the same page of material over and over again. If I had to choose something that wouldn't add significant cost to the page (I'm guessing here as I have no expert knowledge of the costs involved), I would choose to have a page of regional map. At least that would provide reference material of the surrounding area quick without having to open up another book. It doesn't even have to be a newly drawn map, just a cut out of the section from already existing world maps.
Hmm, I will start by saying that I like Pathfinder and hope it doesn't get a major revision for a long time. That said, the one thing that I would like changed more than anything else would be high level play. There are many that like it just the way it is but I would prefer it modified in some way to make it easier for both the players as well as the GM.
There are a ton of pen and paper game systems out there and different folks have different opinions about those that they like best or what have you. My question isn't about whats best though, its about how many of the games out there tackle different aspects of the game. My main area of knowledge has been around 3.x systems and how they handle combat and skills and traps etc. I have experimented with 4e and I had a good time with it as well. So, skipping past all that to my point. I have and continue to enjoy different games takes at how to do things. There have been some such as the Pathfinder skill system that hit me smack in the face and I thought to my self "Why on earth didn't I think of that years ago, its just so much simpler?" Recently a podcast from the Tome Show opened my eyes to how the 4e skill challenge system works and I have already taken aspects of that game into one of my games. This got my mental juices into digging into a few other d20 systems and I was intrigued by how Spycraft changed the combat mechanic to 2 half action or 1 full action. This is a cool idea. It isn't one that I currently use, but it was cool to know about and something I filed away in my alternate rules ideas folder. Continuing my quest, I came across the new warhammer 3e line. I had played the 2nd edition in the past so I didn't know about the new image that the game had taken. Regardless, the dice pool mechanic was one that I had not really seen before and I found it odd, yet intriguing. It is a cool mechanic that I never would have thought of though it is not a very viable option when playing a messageboard game. In person though, I can see how it creates a story with each roll. The Dark Heresy line uses the percentile dice to both determine a hit as well as location (the reverse of the dice in the roll). This may have been used before but this is the first instance of it that I remember. Traveller has a very cool character creation system that has you basically playing out the decisions of your characters preadventuring life and using random tables to determine the outcome of those situations. Granted, I can't just use this system in any other game, but the system is cool nontheless. The new kingmaker adventure path has a system mechanic for exploration and kingdom building. I haven't dug deep into them, but they also hold some cool mechanical rules for certain aspects of a game. Ramble ramble ramble.....oh yes....my point. What other cool system mechanics are out there that have either created something new and innovative, fixed something that may have been broke, created an alternate system to an existing system, revived a mechanic that may have been forgotten, addressed some other campaign need, etc. In short, what else should I take a look at?
For me it would depend a lot on the purpose/guts of the book. If the books primary function is to provide ideas and flavor for those types of characters, this could be an interesting book that I would likely pick up. If it consisted of a large portion of new feats, abilities, splat book type stuff, than I would have no interest in it.
Ok, I am looking to run a science fiction game and am looking for some decent science fiction music to help set the tone. I figure many of you are likely to have far more knowledge on this than me. What is some great science fiction music that meets these two requirements. Also, I am unsure of the exact tone that I am going to go for with the game yet so just post for all styles. 1. No lyrics
Suggestions?
I think the product you are looking for is Ptolus. An amazing book but it comes at a steep price. It is perfect for a sandbox, however.
I agree, that just isn't feasible. This does make me wonder if there is a possibly yet another way to do adventure paths. Imagine this scenerio. Adventure #1 - Sets the scene.
This sounds really cool to me though in order to pull off #2 - #5 you would have to use at least 90% of creatures from the core bestiary. In this way multiple encounter types could be listed depending on the party strength (number of adventures played thus far) without wasting valuable space on stat blocks. You could even make it so that only 3 would need to be completed in order to take on #6 allowing for failure. I think the game that uses a similar construction would be Mass Effect. But, all ramblings aside, I am quite content with the Adventure paths as written and have no intention of ending my subscription any time soon.
Might I suggest the Thanemage out of the Advanced Player's Manual, if you are looking for something that is OGL (unlike the Duskblade). It shouldn't be too hard to bump up to PF, toss in wizard-like specialization and cantrips, and it should be fine. I agree thanemage is a viable alternative and looks balanced. It was mentioned briefly above but Runeblade from the book of experimental might is very cool and would fit in Pathfinder easily as is. There is also the mageblade from arcana evolved that the runeblade was partially based off of though that one would take a bit more to convert. But, while on the subject. I feel that a "gish" style character doesn't have to be as powerful as a fighter and a wizard. Having a spell progression that doesn't progress as high as a wizard and combat abilites that don't overpower the fighters abilites is what many are looking for anyway. Just looking at the mageblade from monte cook it has the increased movement in medium armor (but not in heavy) and up to 7th levels spells. You could still restrict the fighter only feats to the fighter. Seems like a perfect fit to me. I agree that Eldrich Knight and Arcane Archer do a fine job of this but understand why many want to avoid prestige classes.
This depends on the game. I play in several groups. One group is dedicated exclusively to the Pathfinder Society Scenarios so there is not use of 3.5 material there. That group was formed as a combination of three groups that wanted to play more frequently but had difficulty aligning schedules. The society stuff is perfect for the one shot while at the same time allowing players to build up characters. My long running (for approx 8 years and will likely take another 10 to complete) has been converted over to pathfinder from the core rules perspective but I still use multiple systems/expansions with modifications from 3.5 (chaositect, ptolus, advanced series from green ronin, unearthed arcana, arcana evolved bits, forgotten realms stuff, etc.). I also run a runelords game that consists of only Pathfinder material. I play in a 3.0/3.5 game that is just now considering Pathfinder changes. Finally, I am working on the groundwork for a new Pathfinder game that is grim and gritty that will use mostly pathfinder with some modifications to the hit point and critical hit systems.
This is one long thread. My thoughts on psionics are fairly short and sweet. 1. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't. The campaign I have been running for 9+ years uses them though it didn't start with them. They were added later. The RotR campaign I have been running for just over a year doesn't use them. 2. I hope Paizo releases a psionics book someday. I don't really care if it uses the 3.5 edition method, a method used by another 3rd party, or some new system we haven't seen yet. I'm impressed with their work and trust their decision regardless of what system they would use. That's my two cents anyway. I doubt its anything that hasn't been said before.
Green Ronin's: Advanced Bestiary (all of it)
I apologize in advance for anything I posted that isn't open content. I have never paid much attention to what is or isn't and have no idea where to find a list.
Though I might contribute to this conversation with some recommendation based on product interest. If you are interested in the Pathfinder Society Scenarios, there are several products in the companion line that are closely related, specifically the faction books. These, in order released are:
Also, there is a Pathfinder Chronicles book, Guide to Absalom, that is appropriate to that line. If you are interested in the Golarion world, I would recommend the following titles for all the fluffy bits:
If you are interested in one of the 6 issue adventure paths, there is generally a Pathfinder Chronicles book that is closely related: Curse of the Crimson Throne
Second Darkness
Legacy of Fire
There are several companion books on the horizon that look to be more player friendly. One of them has been released, the rest are coming soon.
Finally, I want to bring up the Classic series of books. Classic Monsters Revisited, single handedly brought my interest into Pathfinder. This book is excellent. There are several in the series. If you want an alternate take on some of the classic lore of fantasy, these books are for you. Mostly fluff, these are excellent.
This has been an interesting thread to say the least. My initial reaction was absolutely not but I no longer feel that is the case. The circumstances in the campaign would have to be there but it would work. If I were Asmodeus I would absolutely empower paladins who wanted to serve me. I could come up with a million jobs for them to do that wouldn't go against their code but would still serve my purposes. :D This is absolutely correct in my opinion. Asmodeous has much to gain by grant powers to Paladins. Yes, he would have to do a good job of keeping them separate from his more illegitimate affairs but I can imagine a god of contracts would be more than capable of weaving such a web of deceit. Such Paladins would serve better away from the the main body of the church spreading the value of Asmodeous teachings (those teachings that don't interfere with a Lawful Good alignment).
Why wouldn't an evil deity have access to them. Evil clerics can cast heal spells. I agree that such a character should be a rarity, but at the same time it does sound like a fantastic idea to base an entire campaign around. This would be a story worth reading in my opinion. A Lawful Good Holy man tricked into believing his god is misunderstood and really is working towards the benefit of all mankind. The campaign could even build up to the point of the character finding out the truth, besides just naysayers, and choosing between his moral grounds and the good things that Asmodeous has done for the world. That choice could result in one of many scenerios including converting to some sort of Blackguard, or rising up against the church that he has promoted for so long. My opinion, Generally, I wouldn't allow this in a game, but, given the right campaign or circumstances, I would love to DM such a game.
I personally would have no use for the rarity but it wouldn't bother me to see it there either. I would prefer the color versions with pictures. That is a big part of why these are so cool looking to me. I don't know the slightest thing about finding free artwork so sorry I can't help you there.
all that said, btw, I rarely run a module as written. I really like using a module as a framework. When I am tired or pressed for time I might start with a module, then grab something level appropriate from Dungeon Magazine and twist that to fit, then improv something else that seems fun. That pretty much describes my games. Part module, part random elements from some other book, part improv, part wtf. The longer more complex storylines are almost almost always some idea I came up with that basically gives me an anchor for the whole campaign in general but even that doesn't happen with each campaign. Sometimes I will just run a one shot for simplicity.
I find that for me to play in a campaign, I just have to go with it. I have a large collection of modules and have played in modules that I ran. This doesn't bother me as I generally don't remember finer details but those that I do, I just look at things from what my character would know and continue on. I'm there to have fun, and I don't go out of my way to "cheat". The end result ends up being different anyway, as different dm's run modules differently. Hell, I modify all over the place when I run a module.
Hey all, I'm gearing up to run this for a party of only 2 players and am looking for some suggestions on how to go about doing it. I was thinking of merely upping their starting lvl to 3, but I'm concerned that it'll still be a rough ride. But if I have lots of healing "floating" about Sandpoint it should be all right. Any other suggestions you guys have would be great. Thanks alot. I understand your desire to not have extra npc's to manage. With that in mind, here is what I would do. Starting level of 3 is a good idea.
What classes are they playing?
I am far far far from an expert on pbp but here is what I have learned since I started my first pbp RotR game 10 months ago. 1. Big Groups I started the game with 9 players. One left for personal issues. I asked another to leave do to issues posting in a timely matter. This left me with 7. I engaged the party to split up, modifying encounters to compensate. This has accelerated progress. I do have them do some things as a big group though. 2. Group XP Rather than dish out individual XP, the group has one big xp counter that is kept current on another post. This counter is split among the characters equally. For individual awards, I give out luck points, bits of treasure, npc boons, etc. 3. I enjoy 3.5/PRPG combat. I use battlemaps via pictures and have the players post their actions during combat. The map is updated only on the NPC turn. To speed up play, initiative only matters on the first round of combat. After the first round the initiative is basically, NPC's then players, NPC's then players. The players can go in any order. This has worked well for us. Cut out some of the unnecessary combats. They don't serve much purpose in the long run. I usually roll xp for these combats into RP xp or combine smaller combats to make it more challenging. For treasure, it all gets dumped into another thread that is updated occasionally. If someone wants something, they just post they want it and write it down on their sheet. If it turns out contested, I allow them to discuss the issue. When I update the list, I remove all claimed items and delete those posts. So far we haven't had any issues here though we all know each other so circumstances may be different.'
I like the entire range 1-20. Though in all honesty, I did like the tapering off of levels in earlier editions as well. I do enjoy solving high level problems as well. Just because it is high level, doesn't mean the characters don't have to think. The problems are just different. My issue is that we game either infrequently, or via message board (which is slow anyway). I would love to see the Kingmaker AP go from 1-18. It will just be one long game for us is all. To give a few examples of what I am playing in and what I mean by long: Homebrew Forgotten Realms Game - I DM, Started in August 2001. Characters are 10th level. Rise of the Runelords PBP Game - I DM, Started in Novemeber 2008. Characters are 2nd level. Greyhawk Homebrew Game - I play, no idea when it started, I came in around 2006-2007. Characters are 15th level. Age of Worms Game - I play, started last month. Characters are 1st level. We are also playing around with the idea of Pathfinder Society modules to increase frequency as it allows a wider range of us to get together. Our gaming group has a total of 11 of us. Of the games mentioned above (not counting the pbp) there are approximately 4-5 players in each. Different campaigns for different groups of us. Pathfinder Society modules will allow a mix and match of players and DM's, something we are seriously considering.
My thoughts... Cavalier - Despite the name coming from horse rider, I like the name of this class for nostalgia reasons. I loved the Cavalier in 1st Edition and have fond memories of cavalier characters from those days. If I remember correctly, the Paladin was a subclass of the Cavalier after Unearthed Arcana came out. As long as the mechanics/powers are unique for the class, I will be happy to see its return. Summoner - I know the summoner seems like it would be a conjurer specialist but I think it goes beyond that. A summoner would be more of a Specialist Conjurer Specialist. Where a conjurer conjures many things beyond just creatures. A summoner would be focused on the conjuring/summoning of creature(s). The video game references are many and I have tried my own variations of this idea before but never especially successful. Rydia ftw! Oracle - Like the idea, not the name. I also feel Avatar would be cool. Alchemist - Concept sounds interesting. I am curious how it will work.
I do know that high level play is not for everyone, but the thing is that 1-20 level games normally last a year or more so Paizo wont be having to push them out back to back. Another options is to create an optional 16-20 level expansion for their 1-15 level APs. I'm not an expert, but I think one way to do a continuation of an existing AP would be to combine it with the modules line. Basically, the design behind it would be to create a high level module that could stand on it's own as an epic style adventure, but, for those that have played through the relevant AP, it would blend seamlessly into the AP. The method for writing such a product would, in my opinion be challenging. For one, integrating it into the AP would require intricate knowledge of the AP and already existing skill in writing high level adventures. Top it off with having to add additional information for those that didn't play through the AP only makes it that much harder to develop. Kudos to the writer that could pull it off, and if it happened, I would buy it, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
I would say that 95% of the gaming materials I own (and boy do I have a lot) have never been used in and of themselves, but as brainfood and sources to steal ideas from. I am sitting in the 95% not used directly, also. I have almost completed my collection of AP's, having joined right at the tail end of CotCT and slowly picked up the previous AP's. I am currently running RotR but I know that most of them I will never get to run. I have started creating my own high level variant of Second Darkness to be played as a continuation of RotR but that will be some time before it is finished. Though I have most of CotCT, all of Legacy of Fire, and will have all of Council of Thieves, I know I likely won't have the chance to DM them. I bought them just for the extras and to read. I am crazy excited about Kingmaker though, and if it meets expectations, I can all but guarantee I will run it. Let me just say...most of the sourcebooks and such that I acquired over the years I've only just skimmed through or read specific bits that interested me (for D&D 2Ed, 3rd, 3.5 and many many many other systems). I have purchased far too many books during the 1e/2e era, but there are some real gems in there that are easily usable today.
Though I don't think I recognized at the time what originally drew me to the world of Golarion, I can say that what you just said was a large part of it. The more I read into Golarion, the more I want to read. Now I'm an addict.
I don't agree that Bards were "nerfed" as they have been in demand in the games I play in, though I respect your opinion. I do believe the Cavalier could easily fill a role that the bard doesn't. To me, it would seem the Cavalier is more martial orientated than the bard. Also, I expect that the Cavalier isn't the skill monkey that the Bard is though I could be wrong. This class sounds more appealing than the bard to me primarily because I have a hard time being interested in the bard concept (I have no issue with their mechanics) but would enjoy a class that boosts allies. I just don't have the desire to play a character that sings, dances, acts, etc. I look forward to seeing how this class develops.
Well, for what it is worth. I love the new cleric. The channel energy change was a huge hit for our group during the beta with only one complaint, the Turn Undead portion of it was irritating to manage. Unfortunately, there is no way to make everybody happy. As far as the armor portion is concerned, my Cleric lost two points of AC when going from Full Plate to wearing Chainmail. I'm ok with that. Although the BoXM is a cool book, I like that it is an alternate book and not the core.
On a related subject, how do people feel about modules where it is assumed you use the pregenerated characters. Something like a historical adventure with important NPCs, or an all-goblin adventure, or something? Although I as a gm would likely enjoy the concept behind historic modules, I don't think I would be interested in them at this point in time. I have been a subscriber since just before Second Darkness had begun and have slowly accumulated a significant portion of the Golarion material including all of the RotR adventure path and roughly half of the Crimson Throne adventure path. I am excited to read the new material as it comes out each month. My players are enjoying the RotR game that I am running currently. All that said, the players know very little about the overall world and up until this game, they had never heard of Golarion. A historic module just wouldn't mean anything to them.....yet. I asked a couple of them if they would have any interest in that type of game and the biggest factor for their lack of interest was the pregenerated characters. One of them did say that it might be fun if the module wasn't long and could be completed in say one or two sessions. In this case it would serve to give insight into the background of the world. Now, being I tend to enjoy just about all things Paizo, I would likely buy it anyway just to read the story, so I'm probably not a good example.
I ran my Age of Worms campaign for more than a year, but we only got about halfway through The Champion's Belt because of all the stuff I added in Diamond Lake, in the Mistmarsh, and in the City of Greyhawk. We had whole sessions go by with the PCs interacting with the background in a way that didn't touch the "spine" of the AP at all. When the PCs (and I) were ready to return to the main plotline, I grabbed the magazines and picked up largely where I left off. This happens to me more often than not when I run any sort of book adventure. It sparks so many ideas and the players themselves spark so many ideas that I branch off all over the place. The adventure ends up being just one layer in what has become the entire campaign. I don't mind it at all, and in fact, I have happier players when I just run with things that trigger my imagination.
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