Capt. D's page

As for replacements, Intellect Devourers fill the "evil psionic-like overlords" niche, while I'd take Decapus as the beholder stand-in.

Since there are no official psionic rules I don't use these much, but really good choice. I picked the Ogre Mage because it has the intimidation factor that mind-flayers also possess. They just both seem more imposing.

You are correct about the dragons,and I apparently was not clear that this is all just my opinion. It is completely subjective and I was not attempting to portray it as fact. It is just an image association/perception that I have noticed, based solely on my own personal observation, on various blogs and message-boards. I've noticed a lot of people making an association between black dragons and Pathfinder. While the blacks have only appeared on two covers that I know of, I've seen people comment about their apparent more numerous interior appearances. I can not confirm this as I do not own every Pathfinder product, so I took their word for it.

I also must apologize for not making my question and the spirit with which it was asked clear. So I officially withdraw it. If a mod could delete my posts on this thread I would appreciate it.

We played in Eberron all through 3.x from the day the setting was released. We continued using it with Pathfinder, until the Inner Sea Guide was released, then we moved over to Golarion. So if it isn't Golarion it is Eberron for my group. Unless we are playing 2e, then it is Forgotten Realms.
I do have a map that I found on the internet that puts Eberron and Golarion on the same world. If I decide to mix them it would make it pretty easy to mix the two and easily explain why I have warforged in Golarion.

I think there is also a map that puts nearly all D&D settings(Dragonlance, FR) on Golarion. Some of the country/continent sizes were altered to make them fit, but if you want to run them all on one world that's one way to do it.

Capt. D wrote:

. I'm actually interested in knowing what everyone else uses as iconic "subs"

You know, they made Pathfinder backwards compatible to 3.5 for a reason. If I have a niche that is best filled by a displacer beast, a mind flayer, or a beholder, I crack open the Monster Manual and use that monster. The WotC IP Police are not going to bust down your door for using one of those in a home game. The only real circumstance to avoid them is if you are PUBLISHING an adventure.

I'm only talking about using what's official PFRPG material rather than just converting, which I have done in the past, or using 3pp.

. I have used, and sometimes still do use the older stuff in my games.

My point was if you used only official PFRPG material in your game what would/do you sub for the iconic creatures. Or what do you see as the creatures that Paizo uses/intends as the subs.

The most obvious seems to be:
D&D -> the Red Dragon
PFRPG -> the Black Dragon

There may not be an official declaration that Pathfinder is associated with Black Dragons and D&D is associated with Red, but that's how it seems. D&D products generally use Red Dragon imagery as the big bad monsters. While Paizo has used various colored dragons (red on the core rules, blue on the GMG), there is a sense that Black has become the unofficial (or perhaps official for all I know) dragon of PFRPG.

I am curious and just wanted to know other PFRPG players' view points about the iconics and not snarky remarks that serve no useful purpose.

I obviously can't speak for other groups/gamers, but in all the groups I've been in Mind-flayers, Beholders, Red Dragons, Drow, and Orcs (some people might add Kobolds to the list) are the monsters everyone thinks of when they think D&D. They are the iconic monsters. I want that same kind of automatic monster recognition for Pathfinder, but with different monsters of course.

So far I think Goblins are pretty well cemented as the Drow replacement in Pathfinder. Again for my group at least, Goblins are the villains they love for me to use (they are so "gremlin-like" and so much more fun to use in PFRPG) and they are the monster that is most favored as a player race. (In D&D everyone wants to play a Drow) Although in my own games I have been trying to use the Duergar as my Drow monster/villain replacement quite a bit because I don't want to overuse Goblins. Especially with them popping up as PCs so often. Goblins have kind of become the less intellectual (but not dumb) Kender (curious trouble makers) of my group.

I never was big on orcs, though I've played in groups that were, so in my home games I don't really have a replacement for them. The closest thing I use would have to be maybe lizardfolk or gnolls. I use those two races as minions on occasion. Now that I think about it, I do use Kobolds as minions quite a bit so I guess in my games they are kind of the default minion/bad guys. Though I would say it is a safe bet that orcs will officially maintain their place as an iconic monster, even in PFRPG.

Since Red Dragons are an undeniable D&D image, the primary dragon type if you will, I almost exclusively use Black Dragons as the big bads for Pathfinder. This mostly came about because I got the Black Dragon w/rider mini at Gen Con years ago (the only dragon mini I had when PFRPG came out). Since then I've noticed that the black dragon seems to be the one that Paizo uses the most as well. So that works out great for me. Besides Black Dragons in Pathfinder artwork are just awesome.

I'm still playing around with my Mindflayer and Beholder replacements. Here is what I have so far. For the Mindflayer I've been using the Ogre Mage as my villain replacement. I'm pretty sure they have the same base CR, they work great as the masterminds/controllers and the Ogre Mage is just a tough customer that makes a great villain. This is especially true if you take the time to beef up their CR for higher level play. One of the truly under-rated and under used creatures in my opinion.

For the Beholder I've been using the Aboleth and on occasion the Neothelids. From what I've gathered I think Aboleths and Neothelids are supposed to be the unofficial mind-flayer replacements, but when you pair them up with each other they make pretty fair replacements for beholders. They really work if you are the type that ever used the different kinds/caste of beholders in your older edition games. They can definitely give you the same kind of feel.

Those are just my alternatives to the iconic D&D creatures. I'm actually interested in knowing what everyone else uses as iconic "subs". Or what creatures you think Paizo has put in place of those creatures (intentionally or not) in terms of usage. I'm only talking about using what's official PFRPG material rather than just converting, which I have done in the past, or using 3pp.

I just got an iphone and the first apps I searched for were Pathfinder Apps. So these were my first two app purchases.
Sure I would have preferred some GM tools (NPC & Monster) Apps, even some PC Apps(Char. Gen/Char Sheet) or a rules compendium/reference app, but I'm still happy with these two. The ifumble will get more use than the crit app, but that's just because my group has more fun with fumbles.

I foresee, in the not-to-distant future, a world where the best of the characters belong to film, TV, games, and the online world, but where comics as they are, are (unfortunately) a thing of the past, and many existing characters go the way of the dodo.

I can see this happening to a degree. I think I'll be too old to care before it happens completely, but to some younger kids this is how it is now. I know kids who had never seen, much less read a comic until I showed them one. They thought Superman, Batman, Spiderman, X-men, etc, all came from cartoons, movies and video games.

I know a lot adults that used to read comics and remember them fondly but they had no idea they were still being published. This is mostly because comics disappeared from the places where people bought comics, retail stores. These people have never seen or been in a comic book shop and they don't even know where to find one.

I've collected comics for the past 30 years and until I was a teen I bought every single one from a drugstore, department store, convenience store or grocery. I was 15 before I saw my first comic book store. Even then (late 80's) they weren't that common so I still depended on the local grocery rack.

In the 90's there was a store in every strip mall and shopping center. Even small rural towns had comic shops. Then just as quickly, they were gone. Now I live in a town where the closest shops are an hour away. I have to mail order my comics because I can't buy them at the local grocery store anymore. The direct market is partially to blame for the reason that no one even knows that comics still exist. If it wasn't for bookstores selling trades and some single issues, I bet that number would be even smaller.

I don't believe we will see the end of comics for a long while. Trades, graphic novels, and digital comics will keep the characters alive and in print of some form. I even think we will still be seeing printed monthlies for at least another decade. If not longer.

People like to compare digital comics to music and ebooks, but they are a different animal. I'm cool with downloading a book to my kindle, even though I don't have a physical book to hold it is still stored in my device and I can call it up anytime I want. When I buy a song from Amazon I can put them on my mp3 player, my daughter's mp3 player or burn then to a CD. I can do pretty much what I want with them.

There are some digital comics you can buy as pdfs on sites like Drive Thru Comics, but those are mainly small press companies. Most digital comics (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image) you can only read online. I want no part of that. That may be great for the casual reader, and there is nothing wrong with that, but when you are dealing with a core fanbase made of collectors that doesn't cut it.

Even if it is a digital product, most collectors want to have access to their material anywhere, anytime. Even though it may be paying for the rights to view it, you still feel like it is yours. Something that the current digital comics don't provide for most of us. So while we may buy a few more trades instead of single issues than we did a few years ago, until the digital comics are in a form we can keep, most collectors will still be at their shops on Wednesday.

I believe that Superman is the only one that is getting a major reboot in this. If I remember correctly Grant Morrison was given leave to completely redo the origin and history of the character. Of course none of this was motivated by the lawsuits or DC's potential loss of any parts of the Superman mythos in the coming years. This was a completely spontaneous creative decision....yeah.

I wonder how changing Superman will change the upcoming movie?

I really don't care that they are rebooting the DCU, I'll still read DC books. There are books that I'm glad to see returning, books I'm sorry to see go and some I'm just wondering what they were thinking, but over all I'm eager to see what they're going to do.

I'd actually like to see them stick with the 52 books and just replace the books that fail. For example in a couple of months when I, Vampire, Blackhawks, Sgt. Rock, Hawk & Dove, Frankenstein and Voodoo get canceled they can just replace them with The Atom, Metal Men, Metamorpho, Captain Marvel(Shazam), Booster Gold & the Question. Then when other books fail, just replace them and so on and so on. But they should always keep the monthly books @ 52 and put a new series up the month after one is canceled.

I'm all for rebooting/retconning/reimagining characters if it results in good stories and more sales, but I don't see this as anything more than a huge mess.

I can't believe that someone actually ok'd many of these choices. At first I thought that the reboot was a bit of misdirection and was actually part of DC's retro-active "event" going on this summer. They're doing issues of some characters that tell stories in the style of the 70's & 80's by the creative teams from those eras. So it made sense.

The reboot looks like 1993, so it had to be part of that event, right? Alas it appears that it is not so. This is an actual reboot/relauch that is full of all kinds of crazy.

First, in order to bring in new, younger readers lets get rid of the up and coming young talent that we have under exclusive contracts and bring back older talent. Cause everyone knows that someone in their 50's knows what people in their 20's want to read a lot better than someone closer to that age. That's just common sense.

Also lets get rid of all of our most talented writers and artists and then give multiple books to some of our least talented and most undependable. They haven't been able to sell books in the past so if we get rid of everyone that is more talented than them, then they will be best sellers now. It's simple logic!

Since cheesy quasi-military "uniforms", armor, knee-pads, collars and guns were all the rage in the 90's, the kids now are gonna love 'em. It'll be popular like them thar Power Rangers I heard so much about (15 years go).

All the kiddies love them vampires now don't they? So lets do a vampire book about a long forgotten character than no one has ever cared about, and even fewer have heard of and let's put it in the initial line up.

Of course this means we are going to have to cancel all of our fan favorite books that have loyal fans and sell fairly well(for DC books). Then we'll replace them with books about characters that have never sold well, that no one is asking for or that no one has ever heard of. That will bring in new, younger readers for sure.

We also need to take out all of the confusing continuity for our more well known characters that impedes new readership and replace it with more confusing retcons. Unless of course it is Batman or Green Lantern. For them we are just going to claim that everything really happened, but it all happened in the last 5 years.

So in the span of 5 years Bruce takes up the mantle of Batman, takes Dick as a ward who becomes Robin, grows up, becomes Nightwing, becomes Batman and then Nightwing again. Then Bruce takes Jason Todd as his ward/new Robin, who then dies, grows up and comes back from the dead as an adult Red Hood. Who is then replaced by Tim Drake, whose dad is murdered, who then becomes Bruce's new ward/Robin, who is replaced by Stephanie Brown, and then replaces her, then becomes Red Robing and is replaced by Bruces 10-14 year old son Damian, who wasn't even conceived until after Bruce became Batman (less than 5 years ago in DCnU time).

Yeah, cramming all of this into a 5 year span (the time frame DC states since Superman, the first superhero, premiered) is not confusing at all. It makes total sense.

Man DC is full of marketing geniuses!

Of course I've heard (rumors) that Stephanie may never have existed, so she was never Spoiler and never Tim's girlfriend, Robin or Batgirl. Then Tim was never the actual Robin and didn't become active until he watched Battle of the Planets and became inspired to become Red Robin. Then he joined the Teen Titans. Barbara Gordon, according to rumors, was shot but not paralyzed by the Joker. Thus keeping the Killing Joke as part of continuity, but erasing the past 20 years of her time Oracle from continuity.

Also in that 5 year time span I can only assume that Dan Garrett and Ted Kord were both Blue Beetle and both died so that Jaime could become BB. That's a pretty short legacy, unless they are removing Ted and Dan from continuity and making Jaime the first.

There is just so much about all of this that is just so dang confusing and silly. Of course all we have to go on is what little DC releases and rumors. That's a bad mix.

I'm really hoping there is more going on here than meets the eye and that a lot of this is just to get people talking. If things are just as they seem, I can totally see this going poorly. I'm pretty confident that 50% of the announced books will be struggling or canceled by issue 12. I'm betting that is a bit optimistic on my part.

I've been a DC fan for over 30 years and I've seen them do some silly stuff, but this has even me amazed at how ridiculous it is. I'll be trying several of the books and I'll still be buying the ones I've bought for the past 30 years (Superman, JLA, Wonder Woman, etc), but I'm not feeling too confident about all of this and I'm wondering if it isn't time to start reading more Marvel, Image and Dark Horse.
Hmmm, the Gold Key characters are being published again and I hear that Valiant is getting ready to start publishing again.
Now all we need is multiple versions of chromium, holographic, foldout covers featuring Wolverine and/or Lady Death and it will be the 1990's all over again. Yeah!

I was going to cancel my AP subscription after Carrion Crown, then Jade Regent was announced. I decided to keep my subscription going until the end of Jade Regent, then they announce Skull & Shackles. They just keep getting better.

Professor, what's another word for pirate treasure?...

This is what I've been waiting for since the game was released. My players are going to love this.

Bestiary 1 & 2, plus the monsters in the APs, 3rd party products, my 3e MMs and other supplements provide more monsters than I will ever use. So, I'm not too excited about another monster book, at this point. I'm sure it will be great, but I don't see me needing this one.
Now the Advanced Races, that my group and I can find a lot of use for.

Theory: In about a year DC will number this universe Earth (insert number here), and the comics will go back to how they were before this reboot.

While I have no real problem with the reboot, as long as the books are good. However, I am inclined to agree with this.

I will be picking up the issues of what I was getting before the change, and then I will determine if I continue to buy them. However, taking Dick out of the Bat-Suit is already strike one against my continued purchasing of the Bat-titles.

That's my view on it too.

To go into a bit more detail on that, Amazon Marketplace sellers are given a certain allowance for shipping for each product they sell, and that allowance is based solely on the product *type*, not on what it actually costs to ship. Sellers get $3.99 to ship a book, whether that book is a 4-page leaflet they can ship in an envelope for under a buck, or a 46-pound cookbook that would cost *at least* $25 to ship within the same county.

Our shipping fees are based on actual shipping costs.

I did not know that either.

I buy a lot of stuff via Amazon. A LOT. I'd say about 50% is from Amazon itself, and the other 50% is from Marketplace vendors.

Amazon's packaging it adequate for a lot of things, but those air pillows are horrible for large books like the CRB. About 3 months ago, I purchased a 3rd Printing from them, and had to exchange it three times to get a copy that wasn't mangled. Fortunately, as a Prime subscriber, it was quick and on their dime - they advance-shipped the replacement, I shipped the mangled copy back in their packaging.

Marketplace vendors are all over the board. RPG stuff purchased from Titan Games or Sci Fi City (via Amazon) are always packaged fantastically. Some other vendors kinda suck.

Living at least an hour from most stores (Dept. Stores, Malls, shoe stores, book stores, FLGS/Comic Shops, etc), means that I also order a great deal online, predominately from Amazon.

I don't have nearly the problems some folks claim. The CRB issue above? Over the last 10 or 12 years that I've been buying from them, I've had far less issues than I've had at brick-and-mortars.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post the only issue I had was with a seller in China. The item took a few weeks to arrive, but they dropped the S&H to make up for it. Other than that I think I was double charged for an item once and it was refunded within 48 hours.

The only company I have ever dealt with that had customer service that good was Paizo. I love dealing with Paizo and I have bought books directly from them on occasion, but now that money is an issue I have to go with Amazon whenever I can. Still I have bought a lot more product because of the cheaper prices and free shipping.

We don't use Media Mail at all, because Media Mail does not allow the shipped items to contain any advertising whatsoever, apart from "incidental announcements of books," which means that very few books actually *can* legally be shipped using Media Mail. Many small companies ignore that rule, but that's not something we're going to do.

I did not know that. I've gotten more than a few items from other publishers that obviously ignored, or simply did not know about the Media Mail rule.

Shipping of $3.99 is set by Amazon for a single book. What this means is that, in many cases, if not ordering from Amazon, but a Marketplace vendor, that you'll be lucky if you get a padded envelope sent Media Mail.

Since 99% of the stuff I order is directly from Amazon and not from the other sellers, my stuff always comes in a nice box with air pillows. I try to order directly from Amazon because I don't pay S&H since I have a student account(Prime). However, even when I order from the other sellers on Amazon, my stuff is always packaged in a nice package and I get it in about 1 week, if not less.

Now that I think about it, it usually takes longer for an item I order from Paizo to get to me(1-2 weeks) than it does for something I order from Amazon, and I pay higher shipping with Paizo. Like I said I've been ordering from Amazon for years and have never had the problems that everyone else is claiming. I've been lucky I guess.

All I know is that I often buy the pdf from Paizo and order the HC from Amazon and I still save $10 or more (even with my AP subscription discount) for many books by ordering from Amazon instead of Paizo. My product comes in packaging that is just as good if not better and I get them two days after I order.

Granted I do not get the items on the day that they are released and I may have to wait a few weeks before Amazon has them in stock. Of course I feel no pressure to have the new books ASAP. I'm completely happy to wait. Even if I had a FLGS or if I do order from Paizo I can't order until I have the extra money so I often end up waiting anyway.

If I have to wait anyway I might as well save myself some money. Which means I usually can pick up one of the new Campaign Setting or Player's Companion books or some Gamemastery Cards with the $10 to $20 I save by ordering from Amazon. Paizo is still selling the product and I'm able to buy more of it, just not always directly from them.

I can understand hating on Amazon if you are a game store owner/employee, if you've had a really bad experience or if you absolutely have to have your new release today, but I've never encountered any of the problems anyone is talking about.

Like I said I'm all for supporting Paizo (note my two subscriptions)and if I had a FLGS I would probably buy a as much as possible there. There is just something about walking into a shop, thumbing through the books and buying it right there on the spot that can't be replaced. The instant gratification and interpersonal relationship with the store owner/employees is worth the extra cost for most items, but I don't have that option.

I've been ordering stuff (RPG books, School books, video games, novels, Movies, music, Trade Paperbacks, electronics, etc)from Amazon for years and only had a delay when I ordered from a distributor in Hong Kong. That one time I had to wait 3 weeks for an item, when I complained they refunded the S&H. I almost always order the items that ship directly from Amazon and as I said I get them in 2 days or less. On the rare occasion that I order from the other sellers I get my stuff in a week, at the most. I always get what I order, it comes in just as it was described and every complaint I have ever had, has been taken care of within 48 hours.

Without the option of having a local shop to hang out in, I just can't justify spending over $40 on a book (including S&H) when I can wait a couple of weeks and get it for under $30 (including S&H) and no more than 2 days after I order it.

I'm not trying to convert people to buying from Amazon, it's your money and you spend it how you like. I guess it just bugs me because it feels like people sometimes adopt the "I'm a real fan and I'm better than you" attitude because they don't need to cut corner when it comes to money. Its not as bad on these boards, but I have seen it and it sometimes gets downright cruel on some of the other boards. I guess I just felt like "sticking up" for those of us that need to pinch pennies and who live in BFE and aren't lucky enough to have a shop nearby.

I guess I also don't understand how someone who owns a shop in Texas or Oregon can get the books and sell them brand new on Amazon (including S&H) for less than I can buy them on Paizo's site (even with my discount). Even if I don't order directly from Amazon, but from one of these other sellers the S&H is $3.99, but I think I average over $5 for S&H from Paizo.

One thing I have noticed about Amazon is it seems that of the RPG items I buy, Paizo's stuff is the only stuff that has the big release delay. I don't buy as much from other RPGs companies as I do Paizo, but it seems that when items for other RPGs are released they are pretty much released at the same time, or at least really close to the time that they come out in the shops or that company's site. I'm more curious about why this is so than anything else.

Just in case anyone takes offense, I sincerely meant no offense to anyone. This was just my POV, so please don't take anything I said personally or in a negative way.

While I do subscribe to some Paizo lines, I do not have a FLGS and I do regularly buy from Amazon.

Depending on the book I can save as much as $15 for brand new HC books. The smaller books end up costing the same or less than they would if I bought them from Paizo with my Subscription discount.

I am in grad school so I get a student account that gives me free 2 day shipping, thus saving me as much as $8 S&H.

For a $39.99 book I pay around $24 - $26, sometimes less, with no S&H and I get it no more than 2-days after I order. So I save almost $20 for a single book. Granted I may have to wait a week or two,(a month is the longest I've ever waited), for Amazon to get it in stock, but then I get it two days after I place my order. Actually I've ordered books in the middle of the night and had them delivered that next morning.

I'm big on showing support for my favorite game and game company, which is the only reason I subscribe, but I also have to live in the real world where my mortgage, car payments, and family needs come first.

The really sad part is that I like the stuff he creates (characters, etc) I just hate when he works on them. I loved the new Youngblood series, until he came onboard and sent it down the tubes. I'd also like to see a new Supreme series, but again if he got involved it wouldn't last long. Are they even still publishing Youngblood. I don't think I've seen an issue in a year.
I never did like his art, although he can draw far better than I can so I guess I can't say too much. Still, having him on a project for a prolonged period is a death touch. It's too bad too, the new Youngblood was a lot of fun.

Some of the best songs about gaming can be found right here: 20-Sided Rhyme. The album cover is the best.

There should also be some good links to other free geek related albums on Hipster, please.

Check out Hassle the Dorkening by MC Front A Lot (there are better versions of this song than the remix found on 20 sided rhyme). Plus Front a Lot has several albums out that have quite a few good songs on them.

One of my personal favorites is I play D&D by Krondor Krew (the remix version on 20 sided Rhyme is probably the best version of this song and their best song over all. My non-gamer friends even like the remix version of this song. "It jams," as one of my co-workers says. Krondor Krew also has a few good gaming songs on their other albums)

MC Lars has a lot of geek friendly songs, many of which are related to tech, star wars and/or video games.

You may also want to check out Jonathan Coulton , or Kirby Krackle, nearly all of the Nerdcore rappers and Eben Brooks.

Like I said earlier, some of my non-gamer friends like songs by these artists. More than a few of them are actually talented and they make songs that just happen to be about geeky topics without making fun of them or the people that like them. Some of the songs aren't even funny, but they are still good. Of course there are also more than a few that are meant to be funny, but only to people that are in on the joke.

Anyway, these are the artists I can think of off the top of my head at this time of night. Nearly all of them have some free songs/albums for you to download, the rest have songs/albums available through itunes or amazon.
I think you can still get some of Jonathan Coulton's older stuff through itunes if you subscribe and then download his Thing-a-week podcast. There are no new items on there, but I think the old stuff is still available.

Hope this helps.

I am loving this book!
Will I ever need another campaign setting... probably not.
Is that going to stop me from wanting more... definitely not.
I want a Casmaron source book ASAP!
Will we see source books for the other worlds, such as Castrovel or Akiton, in the near future?

I think prestige classes do not hold what they promise!

None of my groups every played a prestige class in Pathfinder after I allowed them again (banned them in 3.5).

My group tried PrC in 3e and honestly never saw a good reason to keep using them. We eventually agreed as a group to allow them if someone really wanted to use them, but no one ever did. Sticking with the core classes and multi-classing(which was rare for my group) works far better.

So I am on Sebs side - waste of space.

Totally agree and never even bother reading the sections of rulebooks that contain Prestige Classes anymore.

I've ran Pathfinder games in Eberron where players used characters made with 3.0, 3.5, and Pathfinder rules, all in the same game, and never had a problem. Any differences in the classes, skills, etc were explained away as being differences in education or regional differences.
Granted the newer edition characters did tend to be a tad more "powerful", but since I knew this going in I, as the GM, was able to compensate with no problem. All I ever needed to do was give the older edition PC's a +1 to a stat or weapon. Maybe even give the PF characters a -1 somewhere.
Even when everyone is running a PF character we still keep the 3.5 Spell Compendium as well as several other older edition books on the table (Book of Vile Darkness is a must). We use them without changing anything and never run into problems.

I once had a campaign where the PCs came across twin children (a boy and a girl) in an underground lair. The kids claimed they and their parents were captured by the same villain that the PC's were looking for. The area contained a torture chamber where the kids said they were forced to watch the villain torture their parents to death.
They promised to help the kids get to safety and proceeded to lead them back to the surface. Somehow they became lost and separated. Long story short, the kids were actually demons who had been trapped in the bodies of twin kids by a wizard. The PC's found themselves prisoners in the kid's underground torture chamber. The villain that the PC's were looking for was also captured and had been tortured to death by the kids. The kids then took turns torturing the PC's.
Eventually they escaped, as did the demon children. The kids were actually in the service of the main "big boss" villain of the campaign and had several run ins with the PCs through the course of the year long campaign.
Since the demon kids always managed to slip away the PC's never got revenge. Because of the extent of the torture several members of the group became jumpy around kids. One PC developed an extreme phobia of children.
So in future campaigns/adventures if I wanted to put the group on edge all I had to do was say that they heard the laughter of children or something else about children being present. They wasted a great deal of time obsessed with even the slightest hint that the demon kids may be present. They chased and frightened many children in their search for their tormentors and gained quite the negative reputation. They were often banned from entering cities and chased out of town.

Got my copy from UPS. This is no book; it is a work of art!

Could not agree more.

Hey. Johnny and Peter Parker are friends. We'll just have Peter sell Aunt Mae's soul to bring him back.

We can hope

I'm not talking rule mechanics. I just hate gnomes. The old school gnomes looked ugly, the WoW gnomes look ridiculous, and the Golarion gnomes look like those old "Troll" dolls from when I was a kid. Not to mention lawn gnomes deserve smashing. All gnomes deserve my undying hatred. Why do you people put up with them?

Until Pathfinder, I've never allowed them in my game, except as villains. After Pathfinder I think I had one request to play a gnome. I'm not 100% sure why I don't like them. Maybe a garden gnome scared me as a child, but I have never liked them.

I wish I had a problem with players being too into creating great characters. I tend to find lazy players who expect me to own all the books, read the books and memorize all the rules for them and who generally don't even know what options are available to them. I end up doing all the work if I want to game. That's what burns me out.
I've had players who have been gaming for 10+ years and still need me to help them with character creation because they've never read and/or don't own the core book(s). I've even bought books (used & cheap) for the players I've known the longest and still they barely read them, if at all. My players suck! ;-)
I'd give anything for a good munchkin player to challenge me. I'd even be willing to run 4e!

Our interpretation of goblins has been one of Paizo's greatest successes; they're VERY popular, and one of the things that a lot of folks identify with. Whether or not a goblin is precisely balanced with the other core races, I predict this book will sell VERY well because the goblins have a lot of fans out there.

Goblins are probably my favorite race in the game. They can be a lot of fun as PCs, villains, or NPCs.

I like these kinds of products, and I hope paizo continues to do them. As for my vote on what to see...PLEASE make a Pathfinder version of warforged!!!!!

Definitely!

A) Monstrous PCs book.

I'd like this but not a "here is how to run any monster as a PC" like Savage Species for 3e. I'd rather it be limited to certain non-standard races that seem to be popular in home games.

There are certain "monsters" that nearly every group I have ever gamed with seem to like running as PCs. Drow (pretty much any "dark"/alternate version of the standard races is popular), Goblins, some type of winged humanoid (usually a fairy or elf), intelligent undead, werewolves, demon/devil ancestry, reptilian/draconic humanoids, aquatic humanoids(usually elves) and most 1/2 races.

I don't know if the alternate PCs my group(s) like are actually the most common, but I'd imagine at least a few of them would be well received in an alternate race as PC book.

I'd also like a some kind of planar HC.

Detailed books about specific countries/regions would also be great.

I just want to ask if some posters dislike rules bloat so much why even bother buying Pathfinder? Paizo invsted alot of time money and resources in creating PFRP. It would insanity and financial sucide for them as a company to not improve or add anything new to it. ...

Some need to remove the rose colored glasses they have sprayed painted black and realize that this is a company that has employee and bills to be paid. They need to make a profit. Where exactly do you expect the this to come from? ...

Every time any product that has the remote chance of having new rules their is an assumption that "BAM" Paizo will be the new Wotc and that the game system is going to hell. I'm starting to get fed up and tired of hearing about it. I do not know what it is about rpgs and an overinflated sense of entitlement. No one goes to Ford and tells them to stop coming out with new cars. No one tells Maytag to sto publishing new models. Espcially not because the new models may have newer features or add-ons.

Being told to not buy new product is pretty valid response. Your not forced to buy the new product or use the new rules. Telling a company to possibly take a loss and not support the product they spent a lot of effort and time developing good luck trying to convince anyone of the "logic" of that. I see no one complaing about the extra stuff showing up in the APs. While we are at it lets just tell Paizo "no...

a big +1

I understand people having opinions and voicing them. I support everyone's right to do so and I really enjoy reading them, even the ones I disagree with. Thankfully Paizo is tolerant and they not only let fans voice their opinion, but they have the decency to come on here and try to explain their position/reasoning. Some RPG companies would erase any non-favorable comments, lock or erase the thread and completely disregard the fans comments.

I want the UM and UC books and I will be buying them. I think the race books like "Gnomes of Golarion", "Orcs of Golarion", "Humans of Golarion" are a complete waste of time. They offer nothing that I find of interest and I think they add nothing to the game, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't print them. It just means I shouldn't buy them.

Oddly enough, I tend to gain weight when I'm not gaming. My group went on hiatus last summer and I blew up like a balloon.

The only CCG I play anymore is L5R

I bought a box of L5R starter decks ($15 for 12 decks, I think) at Gen Con one year and I still haven't sat down to figure out how to play that game.

Capt. D wrote:

houstonderek wrote:

Capt. D wrote:

Set wrote:

Prefer 2e to 1e, vastly.

But, if you're a D&D player Born after '78 or so, chances are 2e was your first. And your first is always special.

I actually was born a bit before'78, I started playing with basic and 1e, but I just like 2e better.

Right on. :)

But, I hope my summation of why 2e is under represented in the OSR was helpful.

I gotcha and I don't disagree. I was just pointing out that I was an exception to that.

Capt. D wrote:

Set wrote:

Prefer 2e to 1e, vastly.

But, if you're a D&D player Born after '78 or so, chances are 2e was your first. And your first is always special.

I actually was born a bit before'78, I started playing with basic and 1e, but I just like 2e better.

Liking Deep Space 9 over other Star Trek stuff is worth geek cred, in the right crowd. Plus, Jadzia Dax. Mmmm.

Oh Yeah ;-)

... no clue about social networking sites, didn't I leave high school to get the hell away from those people? Why would I want to 'reconnect' with them?

Exactly!

Prefer 2e to 1e, vastly.

the OSR give 1e lots of love, but almost everyone seems to ignore or hate on 2e. It make me sad :-(

Alpha Flight (and the GLA!) rocks.).

@#$@ Right!

We'll agree to violently disagree about Babylon 5 (which, granted, didn't get good until seasons three and four, and then fell apart again for season five). :)

Fair enough. I only watched the first season and a couple of the movies. It may have gotten better, but it didn't keep my interest long enough for me to find out.

Right now, we're very focussed on strengthening what we do best—and that's fantasy gaming. So—not in the cards for us anytime soon.

Good!

Aelryinth wrote:

So if Hasbro were to abandon the D&D name, they'd sell it off to someone else. Or just license, like so many other names and properties do.

I don't see Hasbro doing either with the D&D brand. Not gonna happen.

I don't see them ever letting the brand go, even if they never publish another RPG book. Not unless something happens and they absolutely have to do it.

It may well translate into an increased demand/popularity for their player companions and a proportional decline in 'Adventure Path Enthusiasm'. Such a shift might result in a change of focus (or hopefully simply an expansion of that area) - it's no good providing what people used to want if you want to remain at the cutting edge, imo.

Honestly if it wasn't for the discount that subscribing to the AP gives I wouldn't buy them. Sure they are good reads and I get a few ideas from them, but honestly I'd rather get the discount on the Campaign Setting or Player Companion subscriptions. Those I find more useful.

Given the S&H charged by Paizo it is still cheaper to buy from Amazon even with the discount, but getting the discount eases the pain a bit. Plus I really do want to directly support my favorite RPG company and get product when it comes out. But if it wasn't for the discount I would have to buy nearly all my printed material from Amazon or pay the higher Paizo price and buy less.

Whenever 5th edition comes out, it won't be called that. So watch for "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" or something similar, just like D&D Essentials was 4th edition's .5 version.

I get the feeling that is exactly what will happen. I think they'll keep 4e alive, in some form, for the people who like it and that the new AD&D (5e) will try to recapture the lost fans from Paizo and other companies.

Of course they'll likely just screw it up and get everyone PO'd because they'll hype something they can't deliver or they'll badmouth 4e, or require some kind of subscription or something just as ridiculously empty headed.

Not a huge fan of Tolkien's writing style. I thought the LotR movies were better than the books.

I prefer DC over Marvel comics

I do not play or like MMO's & very much dislike Halo.
I don't like playing games online at all. I play video games to get away from people, that's my me time.

I am not a fan of Conan at all
I find Babylon 5 to be very dull

Deep Space Nine and Enterprise were two of my favorite Star Trek shows, but since I'm not a huge Trek Fan in the first place this one may not count.

I thought the new Star Trek movie "reboot" was better than any previous ST movie or TV show. As a matter of fact up until the current ST movie I listed Galaxy Quest as the best Star Trek movie (not a big fan of the ST movie series).

I did not like Lost

I thought the Watchmen movie was great

I like Hockey (I can't play for crap, but I like it)
I can't swim

I don't own an iphone and don't really want one. I've even blocked all internet access from the phone I have. There's is nothing so urgent on the net it can't wait until I get to a computer.

I can't stand facebook and I think twitter is ridiculous.

I like 2e AD&D more than OD&D and 1e AD&D. Of course I like 3.x/Pathfinder more than all of them.

I liked Green Hornet and thought both Batman Begins and Dark Knight were over-rated.

I prefer Alpha Flight and Great Lakes Avengers over any other Marvel team.

I preferred the Scarlet Spider and Spiderman 2099 over Peter Parker Spider-man

I prefer Dick Grayson as Batman

I like Mello Yello more than Mountain Dew

I like Neil Diamond

I prefer werewolves to vampires and zombies beat them all.

I like science fiction movies, but generally get bored with Sci-fi literature.

I like some "chick flix"

I liked Waterworld and the Postman

I have started playing M:tg again, but only the core set.

I love to paint minis, but I can't stand using them in my games

I only own 5 sets of gaming dice

The Girl with the dragon tattoo

No D&D in my Pathfinder, please !

I just did a blog post with a very similar title. You must have read my mind and I must have failed my save... dang it!

where do you live that target carries roleplaying games in store?

I'm in the Southern Indiana/ Louisville Kentucky area and as I posted a few pages back, I actually bought a Red Box at Wal-mart when it came out. I still see it up front with the M:tg cards and I have also seen it in the area where you find boards games or over where they keep the Chris Angel Mindfreak learn magic sets.

As for Target they keep the Red Box and the D&D Minis up front with the CCGs as well. Plus, the last time I looked, if you get the Red Box at Target the box has an instant coupon attached to the front so you can get a free box of D&D Minis with your purchase.

I have not seen the Essentials books in Wal-mart or Target, but since I gave up on 4e I haven't really looked for them in stores.

I have never seen a single book or miniature pack at Target or Wal-Mart or any other big box store.

I actually bought a Red Box at Wal-mart when it came out. I still see it up front with the M:tg cards and I have also seen it in the area where you find boards games or over where they keep the Chris Angel Mindfreak learn magic sets.

As for Target they keep the Red Box and the D&D Minis up front with the CCGs as well. Plus, the last time I looked, if you get the Red Box at Target the box has an instant coupon attached to the front so you can get a free box of D&D Minis with your purchase.

Now I have to admit that I haven't seen the Essentials books in Wal-mart or Target, but since I gave up on 4e and went back to Pathfinder (2 months away was all I could stand) I haven't really looked for them in stores. Now if Pathfinder finds its way into Target and Wal-mart I'll definitely keep my eyes open.

As far as Paizo buying D&D, here is my wish for this "what if" scenario.

Paizo gets the IP after Hasbro gets tired of it and wants WotC to focus only on M:tg.

Paizo publishes a line of Pathfinder compatible Dungeons & Dragons products {Book of Vile Darkness(my favorite 3e supplement), Planescape, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Maztica, etc} eventually blending the two together into one hugely successful brand.

The default D&D realm will be Golarion. When possible the various D&D campaign worlds will be found to actually be continents or regions on Golarion. This will keep from having multiple campaign settings and these regions/realms will simply be released as supplement books for the Golarion CS.

Paizo then takes 4e, revises it and renames it Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. They continue to allow the game to be very tactical with heavy reliance on minis and battlemats. This will allow Paizo to keep fans of both editions/style of play happy.

Both D&D/Pathfinder and AD&D become wildly popular and a new RPG renaissance occurs. Also Paizo finally gets Hollywood to make an amazing D&D movie trilogy that will surpass LotR and Star Wars as the greatest sci-fi fantasy trilogy of all time!

It will never happen, but I can dream.

Etherscope and Imperial Age are my two personal favorites. If you are looking for stand alone I'd go with Etherscope. If you want something to go with your d20 Modern books I'd get d20 past and the Imperial Age books. The pdfs were $1 @ rpgnow, but that's probably overwith.

I'll have to see if I can find the link again, but there is a really good pdf fan book that expands upon the original d20 WOT book. I downloaded it and printed it out to use in my d20 games, it really is well done.
on a side note I have heard that once the WOT book series is done there will be an RPG released for it and (this is all just rumors that I have not verified in any way) that Green Ronin is the front runner for releasing it. If anyone has else has heard about this please share the info.

the single most used book(besides the core books and eberron setting) I had during 3e was the book of vile darkness. I would love to see a pathfinder version of this.