Ceylon Tom's page

I don't recall saying that everything has to be special, but the story of the giants attacking the town has been told before. Multiple times. Paizo has proved that they can write great, original adventure paths without having to result to sci-fi or time travels. I would like to see them going further on that road.

Not a big fan of this back-to-basics approach. I surely hope that there will be some twist to this adventure path. Really looking forward to Hell's Rebels though!

For some reason my vote only got recorded after the fifth time I hit "Vote".

I've already submitted my entry, so there will be at least one foreign competitor this year. :-)

Make that two!

I get what you mean. I was thinking of a creator of a wondrous item that gets help from someone with a higher caster level to cast to required spells.

Generally, you want it to be at least the minimum level to cast the requisite spells.

Just today I was wondering, is this necessary? Does the CL of an item have to be at least the CL to cast the spells in the requiered spells?

I think I will try to solve the problem in-game. I don't want to take away the witch's strongest attack, but as was said before: some Will save buffs on the monsters and a template here and there will probably fix a lot.

Thanks for the advice. I really like the rule DevilKiller suggests, but I understand it will be hard too introduce in the middle of the game. More variation in monsters and Iron Will are interesting options too!

Last session my players slaughtered a large quantity of demons using only one procedure. Each time the wich would use the slumber hex (a supernatural ability, so no SR applies. Moreover, he really buffed the DC his hexes) and the fighter would perform a coup de grace (wich either kills the creature instantly or results in an impossible-to-beat fortitude save). Am I missing something here? Is this a legit procedure? Im affraid they will ruin the demon-heavy adventure I prepared.

Grasping at shadows

...

*...This doesn't look like a magic item to me, it looks like a technological item, or at least a nonmagical item that jabs you with poison.

*...It's not well-written.

*...I like the "trade the Con for critical hit confirmation bonuses," but the Will save bit is (1) way too low of a save for the benefit, and (2) a really weak connection. Reject.

*...I think the idea of varying the benefits and negatives of rage is interesting, but the overkill of world flavor on this, plus the fact that it's based on a poison found somewhere (not created by the spell as the construction requirements indicate) negate any cool it might have had. Agree with above. Reject.

I find it quite awesome that people who write the adventures that I buy in my local gamestore took the time to comment on my wondrous item.

Great contest.

Numerian Bracers of Phantasmal Fury
Aura moderate divination and necromancy; CL 8th
Slot wrists; Price 11,000 gp; Weight 4 lbs.
Description
First constructed by the arcanists of the Numerian Technic League, these metal bracers are adorned with copper tubes filled with hallucinogenic toxins extracted from the Silver Mount. Whenever he is in rage the wearer suffers from the same effects as if he had ingested these toxic fluids. This negates the constitution bonus granted by the rage class ability, but increases the viciousness of the wearer’s melee attacks. For every point his constitution score would normally increase while raging he receives a +1 bonus to confirm critical hits.
On command, the bracers can cause the wearer to see a brief vision of the horrific beasts that lurk in the Silver Mount once per day. This effect can only be used while raging. The wearer must first make a DC 12 Will save or become shaken for 1d4 rounds. If the save is successful each melee attack that deals damage is a critical hit for the duration of one round. Both bracers must be worn for the magic to be effective.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, poison, true strike; Cost 5,500 gp

Should we submit a 750-word summary of a finished scenario or present an idea in 750 words and write the entire scenario if it gets accepted?

The Pathfinder modules and adventure paths use a lot of mythology and folklore. My concern is that basing my (possible) entry for round two on existing tales would maybe be considered unoriginal or "not superstar material".

One of the auto-reject rules was: "don't use real world names". Are there any limitations on what names we can use from mythology and/or folklore?

I'm in too!

A quick question: is the description text written in second or in third person? The core rulebook uses third person, but some of last year's entries are written in second.

I think that someone who manages to get a wondrous item that breaks all 26 auto-reject rules into the top 32 should be declared RPG superstar right away!

These topics are advice. They're not hard rules for the contest--those are listed elsewhere, and you shouldn't break or even bend those rules. But all of these topics I've been writing, they're just advice. Can you recognize what *advice* that's been given here can be skirted, or ignored entirely?

I think that by now most people on these boards know what you mean, but in Chris Chapman's defense I would like to add that the topic titles do contain the word "auto-reject". This may suggest to some people that breaking these rules causes your item to not even be considered as a valuable entry.

Ok I know we still have a couple of weeks, but who's finished their Wondrous Items?

Another interesting question would be:"who has already finished his/her adventure proposal?"

Seriously, are there any people who have already completed their submission for the final round? Just curious.

Mine is pretty much ready. I'm just hoping that it does not fall into this years commonly-occuring theme. I'm considering investing in a lead helmet this year to keep the thought snatchers at bay.

You're not the only one. Nothing is more frustrating than believing you have an awesome, original idea and later finding out that dozens of people thought of it too.

From my Uncle's Satannic cult.

I also started playing rpg's in Spanky's Uncle's Satanic cult.

Tha Superdupa Everythingdestroying Sword
Aura Aura of Coolness; CL What is this?
Slot Hands, duhh...; Price 10,000 Euro; Weight 30 lbs.
Description
this sword is like superkewl and it shoot lasers and if you push the button it turns into a helicopta. it kinda looks like those things in star wars but its a little different and if you have two of them you can combine them and make this uberawesome megasword that can KILL dragons and even that guy from lord of teh ringz
Construction
Requirements laser, hammer, blowtorch, fireball; Cost 30,000 gp

Stick
Aura Faint Necromancy; CL 33th
Slot Nose; Price 20 gp; Weight 6 lbs.
Description
This cylindrical item is made of wood. Dogs tend to catch it when you throw it away. Three times per day you can use this item to cast the spell mage hand. Once per year this item can be used to summon a blind squirrel.
Construction
Requirements power attack, improved initiative, dimension door, wish, Windows Vista; Cost 60,000 gp

I'm going for Doom of the Drean Thieves. I think this story has some great elements, but it would be even better if there were a Splorudra in it!

Maybe we can persuade all finalists to write down their full module...

I'm also not a big fan of plane-hopping, but that's a matter of taste. I think there are some really interesting ideas here. In fact, I would love to know more about Shadow Absalom. I think it would be a nice idea to make the first part of this story into a module and really give PCs a chance to discover this city.

I think most people will find it very hard to vote on these entries. Like the judges said, neither of the encounters is really mind-blowing. I don't mean to criticize the contestants, I guess three days to come up with a really epic encounter is just too little.

Coming up with a full encounter and map in just three days sounds pretty nerve wrecking to me. I do envy the contestants for making it to round four, but I'm glad I won't have to go through all the stress they 'll be having this week. Good luck to you all!

It strikes me that nobody came up with a stat block for the incredibly awesome splorudra.

My complete vote is:

Splorudra
Chaitrakhan
Corpse Sticher
Skin Taker

My vote for the Splorudra has already been counted.

Go Splorudra!

Is Varisia considered to be in the Inner Sea Region?

What's the deal with maps in a scenario submission? Do we include self-drawn maps in our word-file or do we describe the buildings?

I don't think that the stat blocks will pose a problem. I was just wondering if a scenario submission had to contain all the details of a full adventure, but Josh answered that.

Is it customary to include stat blocks in a submitted adventure?

The problem with the "spy robot" is the same problem with the "make camping way too safe" item: they take the inherent risks and dangers of adventuring out of the game and they show that the designer isn't thinking like a designer but is instead thinking like a player making an item they wish they had to avoid risk for their PC.

I get what you mean. This is the first year I participated, but I think I understand why my item wasn't Superstar material. It's not sufficient to show that you can do your math and make an item with sound mechanics, you have to make the judges think "I'd like to see what this contestant can will in the next round..." Ok, now that I get this I cannot wait for the next RPG Superstar.

Is it 2011 yet?

Oh god, yeah this was the year of the "spy robot" item.

Hmmm, my item was a "spy robot" item. When I came up with it I felt I had a pretty good idea, but reading that this kind of item was the most common this year is really a slap in the face. Well, better luck next time.

I would like to (try to) write an scenario for the Pathfinder Society Open Call. Is anything known about when this open call closes? Is there still time to start writing?

That is strange... I can confirm that Belgium is covered in a thick fog too. Maybe this has something to do with the next round... spooky.

Only 10 hours left... I entered this contest just for the fun of it, but secretly I hope that my item will be among the 32 best.

It's all very complicated, it involves lots of math and deep thoughts and math... and rating each from 1 to 10 then adding everything up. Again, all highly complicated. I don't really expect non-judges to understand.

Wow, that's a lot of maths. Were there any dice involved in this rating system?

Wes came up with a new, more scientific and precise way for us to rank the submissions that really was great. Wes is the man!

Can you tell us what method you used to rate the submissions?

Why would they keep these numbers a secret? I think most contestants would like to know how many people they were up against.

I must admit that after this long discussion I am quite curious what this joke item looks like...

My item has been submitted too. I hope I can stop thinking about it now and don't come up with ways to improve it...

Good luck to all other contestants!

I see that the submissions for round two are due the 22nd of january. Isn't three days very little to come up with a new design?

Difficult to explain, but read some of Clinton Boomer's entries from the first year of the contest...

Ok, I think I get what it means. I looked it up in Wikipedia, but there I found that it was some type of adult movie...

Hi all, this is my first post in these forums and I'd like to start with a question: what does "Gonzo" mean?