So, Geek and Sundry is doing a contest with Inkshares right now.
First of all, if you've got a book you've been waiting to get published, check it out.
Second, if you like to read books...Inkshares lets people like me post my idea and a sample chapter, and people like you can preorder it! The top 3 in preorder sales from now until November 1 will be published--in stores and as e-books.
If you've got a minute or maybe 10, I would love it if you would check out my book.
And if you like it, it would be super awesome if you preordered it.
While I certainly hope you buy mine, there are also lots of other cool-looking novels waiting to get published, and you should check them out! I have to imagine there might be other Paizonians there!
Thanks for reading, and (hopefully) reading some more!
Thanks for the congratulations, everyone! I too had so much fun competing.
A big especial thanks goes to James Sutter and Pathfinder Chronicler for judging and holding the contest. It's a lot of work for busy people, and it is so cool that it happens. I know I'm not the only one who likes to exercise my imagination in Golarion, and this is a great opportunity to do that. So, thanks!
I think it helps if you ahead of time define how your character would react in certain situations. I seem to recall that Ultimate Campaign had useful questions you could answer about your character. You kind of expand your backstory to include not just what's happened to you, but how you would respond to people or what decisions you would make. That way when something comes up you don't default to your natural instincts, you've got some guidelines for new instincts.
So my mom and I were going to be at PaizoCon this year, but after a family emergency, we won't be going after all.
I know this is last minute, so I don't know how much transferring is allowed at this point, but we have our badges and our banquet tickets that we would love to transfer to other people in exchange for a gift card or something.
If I'm still allowed to do this, post here and I'll arrange the transfer first come, first served.
We can't drop things from our schedules anymore, but we did want to let it be known that we won't be in our games. And they were good schedules, so people may be excited.
We had spots in Secrets of the Sphinx (Friday 1-6), the Search for Syrja Vel (Friday 1-6), 2 spots in The Season 5 Gen Con Special (Friday evening), and 2 spots in Old School Game Theory (Sat 8-1).
1) Riddleport! I love this place.
2) Kaer Maga
3) Storval Plateau--okay, apparently I just really want Varisia. But I'm more interested in the wildlands of Varisia, maybe some of the old Thassilonian ruins. Also, Riddleport.
4) Castrovel--reading about this in the distant worlds book gave me joy. It's got similarities to ancient Greece. But in OUTER SPACE.
5) Qadira--I like Qadira better than Katapesh, honestly. I love Katheer.
Like Neil, I guess, my criteria for most of these places is: if I were writing Pathfinder fiction, where would I want to write? These are the places that spark my imagination the most.
I second the call for variety in depictions of men and women. I like drawing my character. But I am no artist. So I like using the artwork in books as a model to copy or adapt slightly to depict my own character. The more variety, the better chance I can find a picture I can use. For me then, more realistic and less fanservice-y is better.
How much would you actually want this to be a setting over an all-purpose resource?
A resource doesn't have to have much cohesion. A setting, on the other hand, seems to me to need a few things defined.
Like:
1) A pantheon
2) World geography
3) Cosmology
If you would actually want a setting, but as versatile a setting as possible, it seems to me that the cohesive elements would have to be there but could easily be dismantled. Like a puzzle-piece setting, I guess. The GM can just work with individual pieces, or start putting them together as necessary.
I think this is a really interesting idea. I had two thoughts:
What about a kind of database? If a GM says, I need a thieves' guild, they can look at the fully written up, open content thieves' guilds and pick one that suits their purposes. I know this doesn't fully fit what you're talking about, but I think one way to increase usefulness is to contribute components rather than overarching, unifying setting themes. Also, I think this might cut down on the NPC plots and mary-sue PCs you mentioned.
Random thought about geography. Your whole idea for some reason makes me think of a storybook, where you turn the page and a new city pops out. So I was picturing that, and wondered, what about a world like an origami creation--where you travel almost through folding space, or paper. That way, geography hardly matters. Every time someone creates a new city/region/etc., you just put another fold in the paper.
Okay, actually I have a third thought. One thing I think would be so helpful in adventure modules would be a sidebar at the beginning saying, "Looking to insert this in your own world? This module essentially requires 1) an isolated swampy area for a hidden temple and 2) a forgotten serpent god." Like, a list of the essential setting pieces. I don't know if that makes sense, or would be helpful to anyone else, but it seems useful to me.
Anyway, count me interested. I'll be paying attention to your thread.
I agree with a lot of what has been said. Here's what I usually hope to get out of a player's companion:
1. Inspiration for new characters. Not necessarily on the mechanical side, however. I will look at the mechanics you put in there, and if I see a feat or trait (I love traits) I like, I'll beg my GM to use it, but it's not what I'm primarily interested in. I like when the companions give me a picture of what a character could be like.
Faiths of Purity did this particularly well for me. I can't stand playing clerics, but reading this helped me have ideas for religiously motivated characters. It helped flesh out what I consider to be a boring class. Motivation, I think, is actually a key word. I am engaged when the companions help me see how a certain race/class combination would be motivated behavior-wise in Golarion.
2. Knowledge my character should know. As a role-player, I despise having to say to my GM, "So, I want to talk to this guy in a diplomatic way. I don't really know all the formalities, but my character should and I got a really high roll, so can we just assume I did them?" Or: "Wait, where are we? Hey, I'm from this country so shouldn't I know what he's talking about?"
I really like when the companions give me the details my character should know because of her elaborate backstory. I loved the slang terms in the Second Darkness players' guide, for example.
3. Role-playing ideas. I loved in the Elves book how it described how elves seem to other races and how they make decisions--that helped me have some concrete ideas for how to interact with other characters and how to respond in-game. After all, adventurers rarely see normal life, but we have to make decisions constantly. That was helpful. Paladin codes are also a great example of this.
Put another way, I love to role-play. But I am no improv expert. So when the companions prepare me for my "character immersion"--then I am interested.
I guess I would say, I find the companions engaging to read when they spark my imagination.
Isn't this the key to any of this, really? Surely there are some groups for which using a GM screen would be a disaster. Our group really, totally trusts our GM. We'd never assume she was cheating. On the other hand, we're much more likely to try to figure out what bonus she was adding. If we got a whole map of the dungeon, we'd have a hard time not metagaming. Now, our GM doesn't really need a screen since so many of our players don't have good enough eyesight to see her rolls anyway, but if she decided to use one, I don't think it would bother us. But having read some of the horror stories on these boards, there are people I wouldn't trust to use one.
You've got to determine the right flow of the game for your players.
TOZ wrote:
The game was thoroughly enriched by the player stepping up and contributing to the game world. I'd like to see that happen more.
Couldn't agree more. One of our best moments came when a criminal had a PC hostage, and a different PC started his turn by saying, "I was in the prison with Horace Finn, and everyone knows he has horrible peripheral vision, so he won't see me come up beside him and throw this ash in his eyes..." How could the GM deny that?
Our party just played this part of the module last week. I loved it, by the way, since I really love logic puzzles. We trapped him in a logical paradox.
Here's how:
Spoiler:
Skipping our first question, which was ultimately unhelpful, we asked:
"Will you answer "yes" to the next yes/no question we ask?" The ringmaster said no.
Then we asked, "If we prove you are lying, will you give us the token?" He was trapped.
We figured we had to commit him to an answer in the first question, then ask a question with an obvious answer, removing the difficulty of proving his lies.
This took us quite some time, but we all really enjoyed it, even those party members who don't typically like puzzles. In the brainstorming stage, our paladin came up with some great questions: "If we don't kill you, will you give us the token immediately?" and "If we cut you up into little bits, will we find the token?"
I also love Robin McKinley: Rose Daughter, The Hero and the Crown books, Spindle's End.
I would highly recommend Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest series, beginning with Dealing with Dragons, especially for your younger niece. I can't count how many times I've read those books.
Friday at 12:01 AM we throw the kill switch. Get your entries in soon!
The instructions on the website say July 1st, 11:59 PM. Since this is the difference between me having all of Friday to submit, or none of Friday to submit, which is it? 12:01 AM or 11:59 PM? Don't want to mess this up!
My table for the Midnight Mauler chose to split up often, nearly costing them their lives. But in the end, their perseverance paid off and they caught the Mauler at literally the last second before he could kill again. They succeeded in every possible way and The Society rewarded them well.
As the frequently unconscious rogue in that party, I think "succeeded in spite of themselves" might be a bit more accurate, but regardless, it was so much fun! Thanks for running a great table, Kyle!
PaizoCon was awesome!! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on it.
Well, if you want some small forum hype, I notice that someone dropped out of my first game of the con, "The Star of Prizendorff," so there's a space freed up in a formerly lotteried game if someone wants it, assuming the system is still taking extra registrations. I don't know if that's "outrageous" or not, but it's nice to have all the characters taken.
I'd totally jump on that, but I've got mini painting at 10:00 (plus, it looks like event signup has ended)
Hmm. I guess that explains it. I expect there will be a bit of "wait list/bring a friend in case someone doesn't show up." Basically the usual for convention games.
Yes, I would have jumped on that had the system let me...
I'm still hoping for more hype too; you know, to feed my own.
Well, knowing you somewhat from the boards, and you being the first to speak up, being both free and interested, you can have the 8th slot. Assuming of course you show up at the same time, identify yourself, and the lottery system hasn't done some strange re-add or something.
Kevin
Really? Yes! I will absolutely show up, identify myself, and hope the lottery system doesn't change anything. Thanks!
Well, if you want some small forum hype, I notice that someone dropped out of my first game of the con, "The Star of Prizendorff," so there's a space freed up in a formerly lotteried game if someone wants it, assuming the system is still taking extra registrations. I don't know if that's "outrageous" or not, but it's nice to have all the characters taken.
I'd totally jump on that, but I've got mini painting at 10:00 (plus, it looks like event signup has ended)
Hmm. I guess that explains it. I expect there will be a bit of "wait list/bring a friend in case someone doesn't show up." Basically the usual for convention games.
Yes, I would have jumped on that had the system let me...
I'm still hoping for more hype too; you know, to feed my own.
2 of us in my group tried to save our lottery picks yesterday, only to find this morning that just one of our event ratings had actually been saved. So I don't know why that is, but people might want to double-check their sign-up to make sure it looks the way they want it to.
You guys should SO get involved with the writing seminar James Sutter and Chris Carey have put on the past couple of years. Several of us aspiring fiction writers have participated each year. The first go-around, we each wrote a shortstory and sent them in early so James and Chris could forward them all back out to the seminar's participants. Then, we all showed up and critiqued them as a group for a couple of hours or so.
The second year, I think James and Chris were just so overwhelmed that we skipped the round-robin critiquing and they just highlighted the common issues/mistakes/criticism they wanted to review with everyone. At the end of the hour-long review, they handed our manuscripts back to us with handwritten edits and advice.
It works well either way. And, personally, I'd love to see a whole fiction-writing track added to the PaizoCon slate.
I pretty much agree with Neil. I'm really hoping to get in on this seminar this year, and having so many novelists there might really help a "fiction-writing track" run smoothly. Writing workshops and short story critiques would be AMAZING.
Read this thread, forgot about it, then joined a Kenpo Karate class two days later. Coincidence? I think not.
Me too! This is my second week! Although I think I saw this thread after I started.
To contribute to the thread, my shape is best described as fence post or string bean. I am not in any great physical shape, having pretty much lost what muscle I built up playing softball in high school. Hopefully the Kenpo will fix that.
If you are going up to 200 BC, you might want to add the Macedonians as their own race, since they weren't technically considered Greeks. And since I'm a Classics major, I'll go on about the Greeks for a second. Sorry. :)
The problem with the Greek city states is that they are so drastically different. I think your list of skills works great for the Athenians, but if Greek also means Spartan, I would not give them Perform (Oratory) and Diplomacy. After all, the Spartans are famous for saying as few words as possible. Intimidate might be a good choice. I wouldn't give those skills to Macedonians either. I think if you are going to lump all Greeks together mechanically (which is certainly fine for your world) you might not want to differentiate among Greeks flavor-wise.
You haven't said much more about the classes, but I think favored class bonuses are a great idea. In Pathfinder, they are really more meant to discourage MCing because if you stick with your favored class, you get more bonuses. As a player in this game (which I would love, by the way), I would be frustrated to be really restricted in my options. Every culture has magic in their myths, but I can only be a wizard if I'm from Atlantis? What if I want to be Medea--well, I guess she's a witch, but still. I think certain Archetypes for things like Djinni Binder could be great. Also, how are your players going to make their group? I could see how starting out heroes wouldn't have a great mix of races, and then your group would be rather restricted to a few classes.
I don't remember what campaign we were playing, but when we came to town we learned that wild troops of baboons were attacking the town. After we asked some information-gathering questions, one player sort of woke up from a sleepy stupor and asked, "But why are there baboons?" Now, every time someone asks a vague, existential question of NPCs who obviously don't know or they wouldn't be asking for our help, they receive a chorus of "But why are there baboons?"
1) I love that both the web fiction and the novels let me experience different parts of Golarion. I wouldn't want there to be a lot of doubling back--occasionally is fine, but I want to see someplace new.
2) As some others have said, I think more emphasis on the title and less on the Pathfinder logo is important. While I loved both Salvatore and Weis and Hickman, I reached a point where seeing the FR or Dragonlance logo made me roll my eyes and move to a different section. I think new readers see that serial/game indicator and either think, "I'm not in the in-crowd that will get this," or "This probably isn't top-notch writing," or "Blessed gods, what order do I read these in?" You've already got the quality of authors to match the weight of a beloved Weis and Hickman name, and I think that's more important than the serial logo.
3) I liked the cover art for Winter Witch better than Prince of Wolves. The art for Prince of Wolves seemed almost like a cartoon to me, and said to me, "this book is for a game." The art for Winter Witch made it look like a book I would be interested in regardless of the Pathfinder logo.
I realize you've never said you play in Golarion, so maybe my thoughts won't be helpful. Anyway:
This sort of idea reminds me of the Pathfinder Chronicles for the Pathfinder Society. I don't think a Bestiary is too far from the maps, descriptions of tombs/dungeons/ruins that Pathfinders create after one of their missions. Looking in Seekers of Secrets, some volumes of the Chronicles are so popular they "can be found in markets throughout the continent." So in Golarion, at least, it's built in for books to be available. On the other hand, some of these books are so valuable, sets can be sold for thousands of gold.
So for a Bestiary, I think the cost would partly depend on how rare the information is. Making this actually useful enough to be worth the cost for your players, however, is a totally different matter, and one I can't talk much about.
In short, I think a lot of the argument about how available books should be really depends on what kind of world you campaign in. In one like Golarion, I think the idea is reasonable.
Haha. You people are very funny. Although I admit, I'll probably find you funnier after I've turned the paper in tomorrow.
Sorry. I actually wrote more and it was eaten again by the forums. I was trying to be helpful, I promise (see my post above again... some of it got through that time).
Non-sequitur is close. Just because it is Latin does not mean you cannot use it. The idea of recurrent hybris clusters were introduced later than Demosthenes, but are still highlighted in his speeches.
Demosthenes uses the technique, if I can remember correctly, in On the Crown and the First Philippic.
No no, that seemed like a great Classics joke. Now being able to see what you actually meant, I understand your point. I do not believe that this cluster idea is necessarily at work here, but I'll take another look. My paper is comparing two sections of On the Crown and Against Ctesiphon, for my graduate Greek seminar class. It's the part about Amphissa and the Amphictyony, if anyone cares.
And don't worry, I know better than to listen to Vic up there...
He's making a statement that isn't actually related to the topic at hand, and using that as a premise. He's allowing the audience to believe it is relevant because most people expect arguments to make sense.
That can't be right. Non sequitur is Latin, and Demosthenes was Greek.
Haha. You people are very funny. Although I admit, I'll probably find you funnier after I've turned the paper in tomorrow.
Starglim wrote:
seems more like simple deception
Yeah, he's absolutely lying, but he does it so systematically that I feel like it should have a name.
Ross Byers wrote:
It's a Non Sequitor.
Thanks, Ross, this is making sense to me. Then again, I am expecting your argument to make sense...
The only other option I'd found was the type of Begging the Question where: "a dubious premise which is needed to make the argument is ignored." Here, he's ignoring the premise "Their courts work just like our courts," but that isn't how I usually think of Begging the Question, and Non Sequitur really makes sense. After all, relevance is the key.
Nice. Misdirection is definitely a word I can use here. I'm not sure if it's a technical term (I'm a Greek/Latin student, with only minor logic knowledge), but its useful.
I am sure there has got to be someone on these boards who can answer this question for me:
I'm writing a paper on Demosthenes and Aeschines (a couple of Greek orators), and Demosthenes uses a tactic that I feel ought to have a name but that I can't find in any of my texts.
Here's the setup:
The two are arguing about whether a legal motion was brought against Athens in a Greek council. Demosthenes tells the Athenians that this couldn't have happened because there was no summons. What he's doing is conflating Athenian legal procedures with the procedures of this council--his audience won't know the difference, and I'm pretty sure he does this on purpose.
So, is there a name for this kind of argumentation? He's saying that because the familiar is a certain way, the unfamiliar must be the same, and his audience probably can't recognize the fallacy. However, I can't find a category that feels like it fits.
Hm, I see I'm a little late, but I still want to answer the questions...
KAM's Norret has been my favorite character so far, and I'd love to read more about him. I also really liked J.C. Hay's Omaire, and could definitely read a novel about her.
I agree with the 3-4 installments crowd. I thought 2 was too short, but what I like about the webfiction is getting to visit a new place and meeting new characters every month, so any more than 4 would mess that up. I like that the webfiction is a sampling.
And, since this is RLB's thread, I really enjoyed this story! I probably wouldn't want to read more about these characters, but the story itself was exciting and vivid, so Richard Lee Byers has my vote!
43. The pleasantly plump cook is beginning to attract a crowd as she tells her harrowing tale of beheading and resurrection at the hand of a local evil tyrant. It can't be true. Can it?
[Perception] A stern figure in the shadows watches the woman with great interest.
[Even better perception] You catch a glimpse of the figure's badge, identifying him as a member of the tyrant's guard.
Classics major here. Not, admittedly, specializing in Roman history, but I think I'm familiar enough to weigh in, and I see several problems.
First, if your teacher is actually using I, Claudius as a source, then that is a big problem. It's a novel, so Graves very reasonably takes artistic license. Not exactly secondary source scholarship for a history class.
What I figure is happening is that you are learning all the stories that Graves uses but not necessarily putting them in context. These episodes that you mention are in fact found in ancient sources. Graves particularly used Tacitus and Suetonius. I don't think you can make the blanket statement that this has all been "debunked as anti-imperial, pro-senatorial propaganda," but there is certainly reason to discredit many of the details, for a variety of reasons. And that is to me the problem with your class. Part of history is dealing with the primary sources. I don't agree with your Shakespeare allusion totally because Tacitus and Suetonius are extremely important sources, but you can't read them like you would a history textbook. You aren't learning why these ancient sources may or may not be correct.
In short, I would criticize your class as not teaching you how to critique an ancient source. No ancient history (and one could probably argue modern history) is completely without bias, and part of the modern historian's job is understanding and dealing with that.
Not knowing your exact situation, here's how I work:
I often find that my writers' block is worst when I don't have enough information. Maybe I haven't done enough research, or maybe I simply haven't thought enough. I have to have pictures to write, so I'll go through google images endlessly until I can picture the scene I'm trying to write. Going to museums can help. I just search until I find that detail that really makes my scene pop. After all, its the details that makes a scene good and not blah, and if I don't have the research to picture the details, well...
I also recommend sitting and daydreaming. I like to envision the movie of my scene, almost, and sometimes I just need to watch it before I can write it.
Music is also extremely important to me, but it has to be the right music, because I will focus on the story that goes with the music, whether it's the one I need to be focused on or not!
On the other hand, sometimes it helps to focus on something totally different. Write something else. Let your subconscious work.
Of course, this is one thing where everyone has their own unique process, so probably the best I can give you is: Good luck!
As a GM, I play a lot of the intimidating types, from the sullen, burly town guard to the insane cultist to the raging, flaming 20 ft. tall demon. You know, the ones who try to freak out the PCs before the final battle, or at the very least, rough them up a little for breaking curfew.
Me though? Not intimidating. I'm a physically small, mentally nerdy grad student who only ever beats up on standardized tests. The problem gets worse when I play with guys who, say, are in the military. Their PCs fight back.
So I need some suggestions. When all I can come up with is either a string of expletives or "Your mom," neither of which are that original, what should I say? What are your best intimidating/trash-talking lines? How do you role-play this part of the game?
"Stay thirsty my friends" Dos Equis, Chosen of Cayden Cailean.
That's just hot. Tell me you're playing a character based on him.
We tried to convince a generally whiny and cowardly player to base a new character on "the most interesting man in the world" once. It didn't so much work.
I definitely want to revise Enchained as well for you all. I'm planning on joining Pathfinder Chronicler soon, when the school year gives me a good opening to make the commitment. Question: as far as revisions/getting works into the Anthology goes, do the word count limits still apply? I feel like I might need a few more words to fully take into account all of the feedback, but I'm happy to work within the limits as well.
And in light of these upcoming revisions, Zuxius, your comments are more than welcome...
One object, creature, or spell is the target of the dispel magic spell. You make one dispel check (1d20 + your caster level) and compare that to the spell with highest caster level (DC = 11 + the spell's caster level). If successful, that spell ends. If not, compare the same result to the spell with the next highest caster level. Repeat this process until you have dispelled one spell affecting the target, or you have failed to dispel every spell.
Now if you are targeting someone, do you always have to go to the highest level spell? Could I let’s say target Fly instead of Stoneskin?
With how the spell reads, it makes it sound like you have to go after the highest level spell first and work your way down.
Nope.
Core Rulebook wrote:
"You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire). You must name the specific spell effect to be targeted in this way. If your caster level check is equal to or higher than the DC of that spell, it ends. No other spells or effects on the target are dispelled if your check is not high enough to end the targeted effect."
