Carl Meyer's page

I'm considering picking one of these up, both are currently available to me, but I really only can afford one at this time. Which would you recommend and why?

My first child! On Sunday my wife gave birth to our beautiful little baby girl, Iris.
Baby is healthy, wife is healthy, I am ecstatic. And while I may have used that word-ecstatic-to describe my feelings for various gaming products here, this is different by orders of magnitude.
My advice? Go get yourself one of these! They're great!

Now to decide which edition of D&D to start her with, I guess I have a few years to work on that.

Just a quick thanks, I received my order this week, and as usual the packaging was excellent, the items I ordered were all there, PLUS a pack of Heroes Hoard cards. Also, I ordered a copy of a Compleat Encounter, adventure only. Well, it came with the miniatures. I assumed this was just another little nice thing from Paizo, but got a little paranoid. If the whole shebang was put in by accident, I would be happy to pay the difference. If it was, in fact, just someone over at Paizo being extra nice, well, I really appreciate your generosity.
No problems here, just wanting to say thanks again.

Could the art used on these covers be sold as prints by Paizo, or by the artist (Andrew Hou, I believe)? I would love to have several of these based on what has been posted (especially Black God's Kiss).

I have been collecting old fantasy paperbacks and intend to display them face out in my future study/den/studio/gameroom/discussion salon/hideout. Having modestly sized prints of these covers would be perfect for the feel I want in "my space".

I know you guys are busy, but I just thought I'd throw the idea out there as you guys do a damned fine job of taking customer desires and making them happen. Especially the really great ideas like this one. Right? Right?

I think it would be great to have access to the images from Pathfinder (and the whole GameMastery line) available in a gallery, like Wizards does.

I may be an anomaly, but I usually check out the art galleries or art previews before buying a book. I know the content is the most important aspect, but I have bought more than one book I had no use for simply because the art is fantastic, and likewise skipped some books I was interested in until I saw the art was terrible. Does this make me shallow? Probably, but I think I am not alone.

After looking through Burnt Offerings and Seven Swords of Sin last night my first thought was that I'd buy these just for the art. I guess so far, that is all I have really checked out. So maybe there are others who would get into Pathfinder if they got a glimpse of just how great the illustrations are (they also serve a very practical purpose in conveying the feel and type of world present in Pathfinder).

Also I like to print out pieces of art as play aids, usually an image of an NPC on a card to hold up when I am speaking in-character (I don't do voices, well, not well at least).

So what do ya say? I know you guys don't have much to do over there, with so little product coming out these days ;)

So, I only own one flip mat so far, the Ship one. Many months ago I requested a GameMastery map-pack of ship decks that could be assembled into whatever size ship was necessary (I still would love something like that), but after getting the Ship flip mat I have a new idea.

A flip-mat of 3 ships, top deck level only. And here's the part that would make it extremely useful: have the map separated into 3 long strips, each deck plan on its own. The flip mats already fold into thirds, just have them pre-cut on those lines.

This way you could actually have a running sea battle, moving the ships independently of each other over another map (either the back of the current flip mat: Ship, or whatever is on hand). I have wanted to run a cool, full-on naval battle with miniatures, and this seems an economical way to pull it off. I'd love to be able to get a few Ravaged Prides, but I really can't even afford one.

Good idea? Bad? Just obsessed?

Just got KQ #1 in my inbox today. Nice stuff. Wolfgang, if you're out there, great work. And thank you for taking up the challenge of providing a new venue for material we would normally see in our beloved Dragon and Dungeon.
I really liked the Derro ecology, especially that they are incantation users. I really hope we see some more incantations in future KQs. It is my favorite magic variant so far.
The new fey was cool as well.
The thing that stood out most to me was the fantastic interview with Erik. Interesting commentary on the place of Greyhawk in the history of D&D (as well as its present and future). What struck me about the interview was how much it made me think it would be great to get to just sit down and have a beer with Erik sometime. I really get the impression that a lot of this industry's greats (Gary, Monte, Wolfgang, all the Paizos) are just good people who it would be a pleasure to shoot the breeze with.
Planet Stories gets some good plugs as well (18 books lined up already). I think Erik is right about the role of sword-and-sorcery and sword-and-planet books on the formation of D&D, and it has really affected my view of the game having begun reading a lot of those titles (from appendix N and the back of Moldvay basic) in the last couple of years.
Anyway. Enough of my yakkin'. If you haven't looked into it yet, I highly recommend Kobold Quarterly.

Wow! What a cover! I can't wait to get my hands on this. The couple of Jirel stories I have read are just fantastic. It may be blasphemy, but I am hard pressed to determine whether I prefer Moore's or Howard's writing.

Any chance we may see an OGL planetary romance rpg from Paizo? Maybe a full-length version of Iron Lords of Jupiter?
In the genre I have only read the John Carter books and it just seems like such an awesome game model.
Perhaps build it on D20 Modern, or just expand Iron Lords of Jupiter, or even something built from the ground up. What is Lizard up to these days?
What do you say Paizans?

I seem to remember there was to be a big announcement each month from Paizo, and there was a big thread over at EnWorld with speculation about this month's announcement. Well, we're almost out of month here. Erik mentioned March's announcement would be a big one (even mentioning the possibility of 2 big announcements), so I've been checking back regularly.
I understand no one at Paizo "owes" us any kind of special news - especially as they have continually given us such cool toys and ideas. That, however, is the very reason to be excited by Erik's cryptic words. Paizo does great stuff, and I can't wait to learn what new great stuff they have planned for us!

Just out of curiosity I searched "Paizo" on Amazon. Got a whole bunch of results, but most interesting were two new GameMastery modules listed for fall.

GameMastery Module: Gallery of Evil
Never before has the great city of Absalom seen an artist rise in fame so quickly, but when his patrons turn up torn to pieces, more than a few begin to wonder if his renditions are a bit too lifelike. Gallery of Evil is an urban adventure for low-level characters, compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game, and part of the GameMastery Module line. The adventure includes information on the mad artist and his vile works, as well as details about the city of Absolom and a map of one of its districts. GameMastery Modules also include four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action and full-color maps and handouts to enhance play. When the mad painter's visions come to life, the heroes find themselves entering his crazed landscapes to find a way to stop them from tearing the city apart. September 25, 2007

GameMastery Module: Entombed with the Pharaohs
The ruined pyramid tombs of the ancient emperor-gods of Osirion are finally open to exploration and the race is on to plumb their depths and rescue their priceless treasures. Entombed with the Pharaohs is a desert adventure for mid-level characters, compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game, and part of the GameMastery module line. The adventure includes information on the city of Sothis and the ancient tomb that lies nearby, as well as details on rival adventurers bent on getting to the treasure first. GameMastery Modules also include four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action and full-color maps and handouts to enhance play. Do your heroes have the will and the wits to survive the pyramid-tomb of the pharaohs and the strength to fend off the hoard of treasure-seekers hot on their trail? October 25, 2007

Both look pretty cool. I am excited about this whole line.

I understand there were issues with ACD, and I'm just wondering if all that is taken care of. I'm still not seeing copies of the Compendium in my area, or any of the GameMastery items.
Thanks.

I have been a bit troubled in my search for the Dragon Compendium over the last month or so. I have checked with five different game stores for the Compendium, and none of them has ever even HEARD about it, much less have copies on hand. Just fifteen minutes ago I called Millenium Games in Rochester, NY (formerly Crazy Egor's), and the reply I got was: "They haven't done one of those in years! A new one would be great, but there is no information about it in our database."

Now, Millenium is a huge store. Second only to the Source in St. Paul to my experience. Their employees have always been very on the ball with what is available and what is forthcoming. Two of the other stores I frequent are also generally very savvy in regards to the game industry (How You Play the Game, formerly Altered States, in Syracuse is also huge, and has no knowledge of its existence). And all of the stores I have checked with carry Dragon and Dungeon!

My regular FLGS (Coyote's Den in Canandaigua) has had the Compendium on order for me since the start of December. Earlier this week, when I checked if it was in I was told the distributor still maintains it has not yet been released.

I have seen the SCAP in Millenium, and the Dark Elf Sanctum, but none of the others have had any of Paizo's non-magazine products (except at Coyote's Den, when I have special ordered them).

So, to get to my point (apologies for the length of this): Is there anything Paizo is doing to create awareness in gamestores of their products? I have seen many times here and on EnWorld requests to make local retailers aware of these items, so they can get their distributors to get on board, but is that the extent of the Paizo marketing campaign (yes, I am aware of the ads in Dragon and Dungeon)?

I don't mean to complain or to call Paizo's strategies into question. I know everyone I have ever interacted with at Paizo to be stand-up, extremely helpful and generally pretty clever folks. I am just wondering if there is any way for them to directly promote these products to the retailers? A mailing to all the stores that carry the magazines perhaps?

I guess I am just a bit cranky that I still don't have a copy of the Compendium yet, and am getting tired of explaining to game stores what it is and that, apparently, it does exist and is already on the market.

I'm looking for a group to join in the area of Geneva, Canandaigua, Rochester, Waterloo, Seneca Falls area (areas?).

I'm looking for an existing group that may need another player.

Although I am primarily interested in D&D 3.X, I would be happy to try almost any other system or genre. I just want to get to play again!

I am an experienced gamer, adult with a pretty good sense of humor, and willing to drive for a game.

Any previews on these? Are they still slated for November and December? I am excited for both, they are great ideas.
Now that I finally have the first compleat encounter, I have very high hopes for the graphic qualities of these two.
Thanks!

I just picked it up yesterday (evidently my FLGS had it for quite a while, just neglected to tell me). I am impressed. The minis are by far the best part, though. In addition to being good looking creatures, they are probably the best produced minis I have ever seen. I can't even find seams on them! I do have a few little nits to pick with the product, but overall, I think it is a fantastic start for a line. I will try to put up a review over on EnWorld in the next few days.
Thanks for the cool new toy!

It has been a couple of weeks since there has been anything new on this board. Just hoping for some more info (perhaps map previews? Concept art for the next two compleat encounters? More greens?). I am excited by what I see about the Shackled City HC, but the GameMastery line seems to address more of my gaming needs. I can't wait to see these things in my FLGS!

It looks like our favorite half-elf paladin-in-blue and the red elf rogue have some new pals. It looks like one is a tiefling fighter-type and the other, well, I have no idea. She may be a cleric, and she has all those blade-looking things on her clothing.
I am basing this on the fact that those two new images appear both on the cover and in a couple of other interior illustrations with the elf and the paladin.
Did something happen to the ranger-ish woman and the sorcerer guy?
I can't believe I am this interested in this. Wow, I need to get out more.

Subject says it all. This feature was announced several months ago and I have been eagerly anticipating it. I'm a big sucker for new monsters, so the sooner it starts appearing the better.

Ok, it's been a couple of weeks or so since I pestered about this line. Any news?

Anything? Maybe just a "we'll have more info next week"?

Just a little bump for my own gratification. This line has really piqued my interest, I'm excited to hear more about it.

Wow! I assume that is Graz'zt and Iggwilv on the cover. I guess I never imagined Iggwilv as that, well, hot. Maybe it's her name, but Iggwilv sound more crone-like. Well, I guess if she had a demon-prince's attention, she must have been fairly attractive.
Regardless, great cover, I can't wait to get this one!

I would like to second Jack Flynn’s suggestion in #329’s Scale Mail. Including counters of wagons, caravans, etc would be great. It is his suggestion of a poster map for a ship that is the real gold to me. I have considered writing to request something along those lines recently, so I am glad to see I am not alone in wanting one. A ship is such a great adventure location, and one that can be used over and over again. To take Mr. Flynn’s idea a step further, why not a series of maps with above- and below-decks views of each of the ship types listed in the DMG? Maybe fold-up models of the smaller ships? How about a D&D minis tile of a small boat?
I seem to recall something about the return of Maps of Mystery to Dungeon. Perhaps some of those could be of the poster variety, scaled for table-top use? I love the maps of Greyhawk we have gotten in Dungeon, and I would love to see more little extras like that for in-game use. Well, I better stop for now, I can only get this worked up over an idea every 1d4 rounds.
-Carl