Chris Shadowens's page

My warlock just hit 8th level and I've given him the Hungry Darkness invocation (took Devil's Sight last time around, too, so I can see inside it should I need to.) I'm looking for some clarifications/ideas on some useful ways of dropping it into a fight.

Since it works like Darkness it's range is touch. At first I was thinking that just meant I had to drop it where I was standing but since it can be cast onto something, just like Light, can I cast it on, say, a coin and toss the coin into the battle (grenade-style)? Or onto an arrow and fire it into something or someone?

Also, it says the bat swarm occupies every square of the 20' radius (which differs from the 10' square a bat swarm normally takes up) which is 44 squares versus the 4 the normal swarm takes up. Should the swarm stats be beefed up to account for the additional space they take up or is it assumed there is overall the same amount of bats but they're more spread out?

Any further useful tricks/tactics anyone can share with this invocation?

- Chris Shadowens

*BUMP*

- Chris Shadowens

I'll open with: I've not used the magic item creation tables to make my own magic items despite having played 3.5 for a number of years now. Just haven't had the need to until now and I'm looking for some assistance.

I'm looking to create an item, was thinking initially a ring but after going through the Magic Item Compendium I'm thinking it could be an Augment Crystal.

What I'm looking to do is create an item that'll allow the user to use a weapon they wouldn't otherwise be able to do, effectively giving the user the Martial Weapon Proficiency, either for a specific weapon or have it be generic, allowing the user the "emulated" proficiency with whatever martial weapon the crystal is attached to. Assumingly, it could also be done for Exotic Weapon Proficiency, at a higher cost I imagine.

I guess what I need is to know how to price a feat as accurately as one can.

I did find Gloves of the Balanced Hand (Magic Item Compendium) that emulates the Two-Weapon Fighting feat. Would the cost of that be essentially interchangeable with a Martial Weapon Proficiency (or cost less if it allows only a specific type of weapon instead of whatever it's attached to?).

Or, should all this be for naught, is there a magic item somewhere (even non-WotC-sourced) that does what I'm looking for here?

Thanks to any and all that can help me iron this out.

- Chris Shadowens

Hello,

I got my shipment in the mail today (huzzah!) and while everything was lovingly packed I found that an incorrect book was in the box. I received Green Ronin's - Temple Quarter and I'd originally ordered Green Ronin's - Thieves' Quarter. My online invoice says I ordered Thieves' Quarter as does the printout in the box. Can we swap out the books? While temples are interesting structures the thieves, to me, are the bunch I'm really interested in.

== Chris Shadowens

c.c. email

Howdy Paizo Folk,

Was curious as to the status of this order, placed on November 19th and still in pending-mode. Thanks for any info you can impart.

- Chris Shadowens

Was wondering if anyone knew if Rich was putting out another collection book any time soon. I've read all 4 books thusfar (yes, I know, one can just read the strips online, I just prefer the books) and would love to sit in my comfy chair with a cup of coffee and the tales of my favorite band of mis-adventurers.

- Chris Shadowens

...went to look at a game product (Dark Tower module) and my shopping cart was filled with 3 items that I'd bought ages ago. I removed them, and all seems fine, but that was weird. Even had Monte Cook's Best of d20 in there (which was auto-removed as it's not available...wish Monte'd compiled subsequent books, it's a great book!) Anyhoo, just thought I'd mention.

- Chris Shadowens

Just a quick shout out to Corey for once again coming to the rescue with my wayward order.

And not to start any conspiracies but it seems odd to me that Vic mentions that the Pathfinder goblin shirts are in then takes a vacation and the shirts are nowhere to be found.

Hmmm...maybe he's laying on a beach in Acapulco trading shirts for margaritas? Just a thought. ;)

Anyhoo, thanks again!

- Chris Shadowens

I was looking at building a warlock for a new campaign I'm joining and couldn't find the starting gold listed. I saw that the starter package has 4d4 gold left over for pocket change but that was it. As wizards and sorcerers share the same rate (3d4 x 10) I'd assume I could just use that as the base but is it there and I just missed it (and as I scan the Warmage and Wu-Jen they're also missing the starting gold)? I didn't see it in the brief errata for Complete Arcane, either.

- Chris Shadowens

Was curious to know any updates on when either (or both?) are shipping out, orders were placed about a week and a half ago. Thanks for any info you can impart.

- Chris Shadowens

Just wanted to publicly thank CSR Corey for helping me out with some order woes yesterday afternoon.

I'd ordered the Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide along with a few other things when an automated process only identified to me as ROBOT took the book and moved it over to my Pathfinder subscription order which managed to goof up the payment method resulting in it showing that I didn't pay for the book. In a few moments Corey had everything straightened out and assured me she'd give the ROBOT a kick in the head. :)

Thanks again, Corey, for the stellar assistance!

- Chris Shadowens

Glancing up at the wall near my computer I've got Reynolds' Age of Worms and Lockwood's D&D 30th Anniversary posters framed on the wall...and that's pretty much it for fantasy art in the house...oh wait, I've got the Dragon Species poster from WotC (that I got at Wal*Mart of all places.) What I don't have are any of the classic artists I grew up with (more than a few adorned my walls, too) like Frazetta, Vallejo, Parkinson, Caldwell, Elmore, Easley, and many others. Aside from the Age of Worms print I've never seen any of Wayne Renolds' art in poster form, so it would seem that many of the modern fantasy artists are also without wall-art formats.

Is the fantasy poster dead? Sure, I suppose the head shops (am I the only one left that calls them that?) carry a few now and then though they usually involve some psychedelia which isn't what I'm looking for (though I wouldn't mind a cool black-light dragon poster...velvet maybe?). Is there a treasure trove somewhere (online or not) that I've missed? Those few that I have framed on the wall are nice but it'd be even better to be able to pepper the apartment (and, maybe someday, the "Game Room") with some awesome classic/modern fantasy art.

- Chris Shadowens

Has a more specific release date been selected for this book yet?

- Chris Shadowens

Was going to order it but lists as unavailable. Is there a date of any sort for when it'll be back in stock?

- Chris Shadowens

I was curious to know if the newly-spiraled Workbook is actually on backorder or are they just "on hold" to facilitate all the returns (I sent my "card" in over the weekend)? If it is indeed on backorder, any idea when they'll be in?

- Chris Shadowens

I'm working on an adventure and was thinking I'd whip up a map I could include in the PDF of the adventure. I'd goofed around a bit with AutoREALM but hadn't yet tried to make a map with it. In short, I couldn't get what I was looking for. Moreover, it was considerably slow compared to just grabbing a pencil and some graph paper. I've used Campaign Cartographer 2 in the past with similar results, slow and not what I was hoping for. Now, I've seen some good maps made with both programs but were they long in the making? Am I just not giving either enough trial-time or is it just the lengthy process that I'm seeing it to be? I also spent a little time with the demo of Dunjinni and was also less than impressed despite the glorious ads in Dragon. Also, would I be better served using a drawing pad versus the mouse?

- Chris Shadowens

I'm working on some character generation house rules for an upcoming campaign and I've been thinking about level adjustments. Mostly so because I want to offer up to the players nearly any playable race they'd like to roll up in an effort to have a sort of "Star Wars-like" universe where all walks of life are all around you, it's how you play them (alignments & role-playing) that dictates them to be good or bad.

That said, I'm not sure how to handle races with level adjustments. I've flipped through Savage Species and while I like the ability progression idea it's not available for every playable race and I kind of like having certain abilities from the get-go...but not without a properly balanced penalty.

The only thing that initially came to mind, and mind you I'm in no way a guy who likes (or even had an aptitude) for changing rules, is to make some sort of minus to things equal to the level adjustment the character's race has. For example: a 1st level Bugbear Barbarian (LA= +1) would have a -1 to attacks/skill checks/saves. In an effort to work out of that penalty once the character has surpassed the level adjustment the penalty goes away.

Sure, if someone wanted to play a 1st level Mind Flayer Sorcerer he would have -7 to attacks/skill checks/saves (and spell DCs?) until 8th level but at that point he'd be free of the negative shackles. Or maybe subtract one each level gained up to the level the LA disappears.

Does this seem right or way off base? Is there already a rule somewhere that I haven't yet come across (any d20 source, WotC or others)? Any assistance/feedback is much appreciated.

- Chris Shadowens (Did I mention that I'm planning on DMing after a nearly 15 year hiatus? Yea, no pressure. ;) )

I don't know the likelihood but I'd like to toss out a vote for making it a poster. I've the initial Age of Worms poster framed on the wall and I think this would be the perfect companion piece.

- Chris Shadowens

I'm looking into possibly attending GenCon SoCal this year but I'm curious to know, how does it compare to GenCon Indy?

Is it smaller? Less cool? Insignificant when compared to its big brother? The GenCon site doesn't yet have info up for this year's SoCal show so I can't directly compare the two.

I've never, in my nearly 25 years of gaming, been to GenCon (or any gaming convention for that matter) so if I do get to go it's a win but should I, instead, wait to try to go to Indy next year?

- Chris Shadowens

Today marks the 14th day since Dungeon #134 has shipped and I have yet to see it. I'll give it a couple more days before I ask for a replacement issue, just in case it shows. But, I wonder, is there anything that I as a periodical subscription consumer can do to assure that my issues don't get lost in the mail?

I don't blame Paizo, in fact they've been very helpful when I've lost issues in the past (3 so far, if memory serves, in a year of both Dragon & Dungeon) so the blame must fall somewhere between the publication shipper and the USPS. Should I contact my local postmaster to see what, if anything, is wrong? My letter carrier seems a decent fellow so I don't imagine he's pitching it in the trash or keeping it himself (though if he was keeping them, I'd assume he's a gamer and I'd just ask him to join our group and stop pinching my mags.)

Is it just the nature of magazine subscriptions? Are they particularly susceptible to the lost mail otyughs (or the re-jobbed No S.A.S.E. Ogres...remember them?)? Has anyone addressed this with success before? Either way, I'd appreciate some advice so I can hopefully improve my and possibly others' subscription enjoyment.

- Chris Shadowens

On a different thread here we're discussing our favorite non-WotC products. What I'm wondering is how much is getting to be played with out there, especially where players are concerned.

I don't have DMs who are stone-set against the plethora of d20 books out there but it seems everything I've seen so far with the DMs and players (in the 2 groups I'm currently in) it's all "official" stuff.

I'm wanting to pick up Monte Cook's Best of d20 book but I think it'll end up sitting on my shelf unused. I did mention to one of my DMs that I'd maybe want to play a Blood Witch from Relic & Rituals (it's 3.0 but nothing much would need updating.) Without outright vetoing it he pointed out something similar in, I think, Complete Arcane, an "official" book.

Now, it's not like I couldn't provide my DMs with photocopies of whatever information they'd need to know about anything I'd want to play but it seems that it's just quietly ignored that there's a world of other books out there that are great to put into use.

Has/is anyone else facing a similar hurdle?

- Chris Shadowens

Spotted this on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6429229906

(and no I'm not shilling for this guy.)

Seems it's already out for the Region 3 market. Lucky folks. Didn't they also get the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD first, too? And that *WAY* cheaper X-Files boxed set (with ALL the DVDs for about 1/9th the total cost of the US sets.)

So, all that being said, has anyone watched the complete movie? If so, how was it? Not necessarily looking for spoilers (though ample "spoiler alert" warnings should suffice.)

- Chris Shadowens

I tried doing a search for "pugilist" but the search engine spits back an error. Weird...a secret backdoor code like in War Games? But I digress.

What I'm looking to find out is if anyone can explain to me what the special ability "Shake It Off" really does? How does it work? Does it mean the PC would only "cause" non-lethal damage and the bonus for that is that the PC is shaken one less round (which is weird in that shaken just makes you drop your stuff and gives you a -2 to everything for the next round.) Was it corrected in a post somewhere? As it is, I'm playing a warforged pugilist in a game on Saturday and neither me nor my DM can properly get it figured out. Anyone? Is Clifford Horrowitz, the article's writer, out there?

- Chris Shadowens

In an attempt to as accurately calculate as I can my character's encumberance I was looking into the carrying capacity of certain items like a belt pouch or a backpack. It seems like it'd be a simple table that one could access but I can't seem to find one. I know a standard backpack weighs 2lbs but how much can it hold (cubic feet & weight)? The dimensions of Heward's Handy Haversack are detailed well enough, but what about a normal belt pouch? Spell component pouch? Is there a chart/table/book/PDF/etc that I'm missing?

- Chris Shadowens

I just came across this on eBay. Did anyone pick this up? I was mostly curious to know if the new stuff was worth the wait (it was about 2 years since the original, right?)?

http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=970201

...and wasn't it originally supposed to come with a Mialee miniature?

- Chris Shadowens

My wife and I saw Sin City this afternoon at the Cinerama in downtown Seattle. Got there at just the right time as the line to get in went clear down to the end of the block (don't these people have jobs?! Waitaminnit...we're both off today...) I'd never read any of the Sin City stories but I've been a fan of Miller's since his Dark Night days as well as his Ronin story (which I'd love to see done on the big screen...that or Mike Saenz's Shatter.) I'm also a huge Robert Rodriguez fan despite his push for digital cinematography (and those who know me are already crying "HYPOCRIT!!!" since I've nothing good to say about the digitalization of the Star Wars series.) Robert is all about the gonzo movie shoot but he's got it all down so well that everything works at the rapid-fire pace he shoots movies at.

That all being said, I loved this movie. The noir feeling was perfected both visually and in the gravelly internal narratives by the various leading characters. The 3 different story lines, separate but inexplicably linked by both the underbelly of Basin City as well as the paths these unique characters invariably cross.

Yes, it was definitely a comic book story but I don't think that I missed out on anything by never reading any of them. I will say that if one didn't like comic-to-film adaptations then this is a definite steer-clear film.

But, as I'm all for comic book movies (even the really bad ones), I highly enjoyed Sin City and highly recommend it.

- Chris Shadowens

I'll admit it, the full-page spector art caught my eye in this month's issue (Dungeon #121) but I kept reading because the thought of being able to play D&D online (and not that infernal MMORPG that I keep avoiding reading about at all costs) with friends sounded great.

Checking out the fledgling website the one thing I didn't care for was the subscription-based payments. I'd assumed it was a downloadable program, one-time-payment sort of thing. Not so (though I think there's something about one-shot games or something, I skimmed a little on the payment page.) Granted, $54/year isn't too high-priced I suppose ($42/year if one subscribes with the early bird special) but is it going to be worth it?

Which leads me to the question: has anyone used this yet? I imagine it's only the playtesters at this point, any of them willing to share any experiences (or are you even allowed to talk about anything yet? Damned non-disclosure contracts!)?

And while I'm at it, is there anything already existing out there that does this sort of thing? It's not always easy for me to meet for games (hell, I haven't gamed for months now...so yea, it's a little difficult to hit the gaming table) so something like this could be great tool. I was going to finally shell out the $$$ for Neverwinter Nights Platinum so I could game that way with a few people (though NWN2 is supposed to be in development) but have yet to do so (something about fearing the scripting language that seems to be needed...I never went past BASIC back in my Commodore 64 days.)

- Chris Shadowens