Search Posts
"PDF: Fulfilled immediately" - Any news for the original patrons? I believe patrons should have received their PDF copy- I'd check with koboldpress@gmail.com. Dark Deeds was my introduction to Open Design. It's great to see it come to fruition, and thanks for letting me contribute, Christina and all. ^^
I really enjoy the Harrow Handbook- I think this is great news! I don't think most of the mechanics are going to be too much of an issue- most of them don't actual require a full Harrow reading. I am just a tiny bit concerned about the Harrowing/Greater Harrowing and similar powers- I'll see if I can figure out some way to speed that up.
A question for you fine folks, if I may. How much does this book offer to an aspiring Wordcaster using the Words of Power (originally from Ultimate Magic)? I'm sure Ben can answer this more fully, but there's a section on Words of Power in Chapter 4 that introduces a few new target, effect and meta words as well as some example spells using the system. I dug it. ^_^
1) I'm not terribly familiar with the Ironborn, but the spells for the Gearforged are fairly appropriate for any type of construct race. 2) I'm guessing you're talking about the Shadowsworn. The most current version of the Shadowsworn is found in The Player's Guide to the Crossroads. The spells are appropriate for classes dealing with shadow or illumination magic. I'm not sure if any of them are shadowsworn exclusive off the top of my head- I don't think they are- so other standard classes can probably use them already.
No, PFS rules trump the FAQ. While the FAQ addresses general play, the note in the Pathfinder Society quoted section specifically states that racial archetypes are only available for characters of the associated race, which means that the feat would not allow you to take that archetype. A similar question was discussed and definitively answered here:
Unless a newer ruling has been made that indicates otherwise, that wouldn't be allowed. You can create a tengu, though. ^^
I'm certain that's true for the new spells in Deep Magic, but I'm guessing it's a bit less certain for material brought in/converted from some other books (like the Midgard Campaign Setting). Lessee... I wrote many of the Wasted West and Dragon Magic spells from the Midgard Campaign Setting that came over to the book, and some Dragon Magic, Time Magic, and Ring Magic specifically for Deep Magic.
Seriously. Hire a lawyer sometime. ^_^; I'd also suggest mixing Open Content and non-open content is tricky. IMHO, saying something "is OGL" isn't quite sufficient if you're a publisher. Colloquially, sure, but I'd suggest publishers should be as specific as possible when they're talking about these things. Using OGL terms, if you use something from a product that is OGL, you're generally using Open Content (as distinguished from Product Identity). Also, I'd suggest publishers distinguish copyright and trademark. They're different areas of law, the OGL deals with both, and there are different associated risks. (For a variety of reasons, risk tends to be higher with the use of trademarks.) The OGL restricts your uses of material that is trademarked in some ways- which is we used to have the d20 STL and now the Pathfinder Compatibility License. And by using the OGL, you agree to not use Product Identity without permission. Product Identity can be declared, but is also defined fairly broadly in the license itself. That's one of the reasons mixing and matching OGL material with other material gets complicated. You still have to worry about Product Identity in the sources that aren't using the OGL, because by using the OGL you're agreeing to do so. One big, major, huge thing to keep in mind- if you get it wrong, you may not be the only person affected. You're not just risking yourself. You're potentially affecting the community- anyone who wants to use your open material in the future. So please get it right. ^_^ You normally shouldn't find works that are using the OGL in which nothing is declared open content. Making something open content is required when that material is derivative of open content, and specifically declaring that derivative material open content is a requirement of the OGL. So even if you run into such a situation, it's quite possible that whomever published that material is doing it wrong. That will get into its own tricky legal waters, since then you potentially have a challenge in whether or not that license is valid at all. In this case, though, Ghostwalk isn't your option b. Ghostwalk did not use the OGL. Even though any given third party publisher would need to use the OGL if it was printing such material, the book was published by Wizards of the Coast. Since Wizards of the Ghost holds the copyright for the original material, unlike any other publisher they don't need to release any of their derivative material under the OGL. As the original copyright holders they can license material however they want to. They can't close material that they've released under the OGL, but unlike other publishers they can release new material under a different (or no) license- which is what they did with Ghostwalk, the Tome of Battle, the Tome of Magic, and later books. They specifically declared that no part of the book was open content- I'm assuming just to be absolutely clear- but they didn't need to do that, and they definitely didn't use the Open Game License for the book. (At least, not my copy.)
Publishers are not required to make ANYTHING Open Game Content, but they must indicate that. I'm sure you already know this, but just to be clear OGL use can be a bit more complicated. Original material doesn't need to be OGC. Derivative material- work based on existing open game content- has to also be open game content. That's mainly described in 1b, 1g (definitions of "derivative material" and "use"), 2 (the license) and 4 (what the license grants).
Best wishes, Sean and Jodi! After a break from RPGs, when I started looking again I found and loved Malhavoc Press. I've followed all of its authors ever since. I used to be a semi-regular on Sean's forums (Caerin) and I fondly remember those discussions and trying to go through all of the relationships in Bonds of Magic. ^_^ Sean replied to everything, from everyone, which greatly impressed me. I came to Pathfinder when Sean joined Paizo, and my great appreciation of the game and company are a direct result. Thanks for everything.
Just wanted to chime in- I just finished a talented monk levels 1-20 for Christina's Talented Adventurers of SpirosBlaak. It's the first of the Talented books I've picked up. For someone who likes customization and likes creating characters, it's just amazing. I'm definitely going to check out more. I'd like to see the cleric. ^^
Playtest. I ran an intro Pathfinder Society module this past weekend. The party was comprised of a swashbuckler, a ranger, a barbarian, and a cleric, all level 1. The swashbuckler was dexterity-focused, wielded a rapier and used a buckler, and had the highest AC of the group. The swashbuckler was trained in several class skills that were useful in the module. Acrobatics for tumbling was particularly successful in both its combat effectiveness and style. The swashbuckler only really attempted to parry once. His AC was higher than his average attack role might have been, so parrying seemed particularly risky at that level. He may also have been "saving" his panache, but I wasn't clear on that. His damage was relatively low (especially relative to the barbarian, but who didn't see that coming?), so although he did successfully hit several enemies, he did not really have a chance to regain panache. Overall, the player and the other players really enjoyed having him in the group, and he very much contributed to the adventure's success in a variety of ways. (The one that surprised me was acting as the group's tank.) |
