Cindy Robertson's page

So I have two products in My Downloads that I am unable to download at all.

Sometimes I can see them, sometimes I can't. Right now, I can't. One of them is Pathways #69. It doesn't show up with the other Pathways products either. It's always at the very bottom of the page.

I have 2 files in on my Downloads page that say that they are unable to download. They are at the very bottom of the page. I know for sure that I put them there. Why can't I download them? One has been there for months and one has been there for a few days.

Hey all! I'm trying to create a bunch of characters for Anachronistic Adventures. They are all level 7. They are all real world historical people. I'm using 15 point buy, no magic, Automatic Bonus Progression (+2 levels since there is no magic). Adjusting stats by age appropriately with their ages on November 1, 1989. I'm not worried about gear. I'll handle all of that.

I just have so many characters I'm trying to create and I'm trying to get a little help. If anyone wants to help out, that would be great. I can answer any questions that may come up.

Robert Tappan Morris (created first computer worm)
Aldrich Ames (CIA officer turned KBG mole)
Rudy Boesch (Navy SEAL)
David Hasselhoff (Actor/Singer)
Jerome Clark (Cryptozoologist)
Martin Cooper (created first mobile phone)
Mark Edward (Cold Reader)
Joaquin Garcia (FBI agent who took down the Gambino family)
Aziz Ab'Saber (Brazilian scientist in geography, geology, ecology and archaeology)
Michael Wolffsohn (German Historian)
Yves Marie-Joseph Congar (Theologian)
Sidney Korshak (Lawyer/Fixer for the Chicago Outfit)
Deng Xiaoping (Chinese revolutionary and politician who played a role in the The Tiananmen Square protests)
"Freeway" Rick Ross (Drug Kingpin from the 1980s)
I already created Dr. Ruth Westheimer

There are quite a few 3pp products that I own or want to own that would be great as physical copies. Is there a way to actually have them printed out?

I would also love to see some compilations of the products put into a single physical copy. I know that it would take a ton of work on the part of the 3pp publishers who are already strapped for time and resources so this is probably just a dream.

So I'm going to be running an Anachronistic Adventure and it's set during the time the Berlin Wall was torn down. I'm looking for trivia related to WW2 time frame. I need secret societies, locations, people, events, etc.

The basic story that I'm working on so far is that the Wall is not just something that separates Berlin. It actually imprisons a creature. The Wall was torn down early (this is true) and the creature escapes. The party needs to find out about the creature before the wall is torn down. They start learning about this on November 1, 1989. The Bilderberg Group will summon them all to tell them about what they know, but they don't know everything. They need the party to seek out information from around the world. They estimate that there is 2 to 3 weeks before the wall is torn down.

The creature will be an alien that spreads disease similar to typhoid. It is highly contagious, but the onset is slow. It was finally captured in Siberia during the winter shortly before the end of the war. As far as the Bilderberg Group can tell, it can't be killed.

I'm trying to create a table or series of tables that uses a d12s to generate either an number from 1 to 13 or 1 to 26. I want an even distribution. I don't mind if there are "reroll" options on the tables, but I want as few tables to roll on as possible.

Can this be done? If so, how?

I don't have to use d12s, but for simplicity for a character I'm using it would really make it easier and more enjoyable for me. If I can't do it, I'll just have to live with it.

I'm really struggling with the mesmerist class. It feels very overpowered. I'm running the Iron Gods adventure path and one of my players has brought in this character:

I'm having a hard time with the simplicity of reducing the Will saves of the opponent. I'm also really not pleased with the way spellcasting works. There isn't anything that can tell if the mesmerist is casting a spell? So it's impossible to counterspell?

I'm running this campaign and we're now in the Valley of Brain Collectors. The barbarian wants to get himself a flying mount. He desperately wants a Pteranodon. He thinks it would be cool. I agree that it would be, with the exception that much of the campaign seems to take place indoors or underground.

I have asked him why he wants to invest in something that he may not get much use out of and his response is that he wants it. That's fine. It's his character and if he wants to do this that's his choice, his character.

Is this a good idea? Is there something I can do as GM to help him get this beast? Will it actually be useful as a flying mount at any point?

So I'm thinking about changing how Knowledge checks work, slightly. I'm thinking that it might be interesting to have a table of random bits of information about each creature and the better you roll on your check, the more times you get to roll on the table to see what you know. This would take some work to set up, but it also might make it more interesting for the players. Even if more than one player has ranks in the skill, they might remember different things.

I'm just not sure how much I want to put into this. Do you think it might be worth it?

What happens if a creature is in a pit and I put a wall of force over it like a lid then the pit spell ends? How much damage is taken or does the creature appear on top of the barrier?

I am going to be running a short adventure for a friend and her family. I have been debating on what I want to do and I think I have settled on an idea. I am going to have them all play boggards. I am looking for a Paizo adventure that already has boggards in it. I plan on using that scene as the basis for the adventure. Which adventures can you think of that have boggards?

If there aren't any that come to mind, what kind of adventures do you think would be something that the boggards would be on. I am thinking something along the lines of the 2E module Reverse Dungeon. I just want it to be a short adventure that can be played in about 4 hours.

I'm having a difficult time printing out rooms from various maps so that they are on 1-inch grids. I don't like taking the time to draw during the game so I want to just print out the room the characters are in and have it already set up with 1-inch grids.

I've managed to select the portion of the maps that I want to use. I can put it into MS Paint, but I can't seem to get it to be the right size. Anyone have any skills I can tap into for this?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I want to work on a time traveling campaign. I am not really sure exactly how I want to pull this off though. Right now I'm thinking of having everyone make characters at 1st, 6th, 12th, and 18th level. I will run the characters through an adventure and then send them backwards or forwards through time. They will retain all of their memories, but their class abilities will be based on level as normal.

Any ideas of how I can flesh this out? I don't even have an idea for a villain yet.

There is a creature called rhu-chalike that can project terror. How long should the frightened condition last? I chose 1 round because it can be used every round.

I have a friend who is going to be running his first game. Not just Pathfinder, but his first actual game. He has minimal experience with RPGs so I suggested that he only allow Core characters until he is comfortable with the system. I'm going to be there to help guide him along, but he has to make all the decisions himself.

The rest of the group will have minimal experience as well. Instead of having everyone sit down with me to create characters (I am recovering from surgery and I have my own campaign to work on) I told him that I would be willing to create a ton of 1st level characters. I want to make one for each race/class combination. I am trying to build them while keeping in mind the stereotypical traits of the races. I want the dwarf rogue to feel different from the halfling rogue.

I'm soliciting advice from everyone. More accurately, I am asking for as many 1st level core only builds you can come up with. Please, CORE only. Not PRD only. CORE.

I don't know what the stat generation is so I've just been using the Elite Array. I can always make adjustments later. This is just the fastest set of stats.

So please share with me your 1st level core only builds!

So I'm looking for ways to make my games better. One thing I want to do is use Power Point on my tablet to show things with a description next to the picture.

I'm also going to be printing out the rooms or encounter areas with 1 inch squares on them so I don't have to take the time in game to draw.

Are there any things that you do that don't eat up a lot of your prep time?

So there have been endless threads on how to fix the fighter. Personally, I don't think it's as bad as some people think. It's certainly not where I would like it to be either. So I have a simple fix that I would like some feedback on.

What if all fighters had to take an archetype but they gave up none of their class abilities?

I have purchased a lot of Rogue Genius Games things over the years. Now that there are Bundles put out for very low prices, I can get more of the things I've missed. This means that I end up with a few duplicates. I don't need two copies of the same product. I spoke with Owen KC Stephens and he will be glad to send you the extra copy that I have! I just need to know who wants it so I can send him your email. He will send it to you through DriveThruRPG. I only have 1 extra copy so I can only gift it once. If you are interested in any of them, let me know. I don't know how I'm going to decide who gets what if there are multiple people interested. Probably just a die roll. It's not necessarily first come, first served. I'll give it a day or two before deciding.

This is a great time to get your first 3rd party publisher product.

These are the products I have:

Houserule Handbooks: Spellpoints Compilation
Mythic Options: Mythic Base Class Features
#1 With a Bullet Point: 6 Godling Feats
Houserule Footnotes: Stocking Stuffers
Mythic Options: Core Mythic Class Features
The Genius Guide to Expanded Favored Class Options
The Genius Guide to Hoof and Horn Racial Options
The Genius Guide to Wind and Wing Racial Options

Should the value of the legendary item count against Wealth by Level? I tried searching but I was unable to find anything.

I'm leaning toward "no" because you only have precious few mythic abilities to choose from so you are still investing. However, I can see an argument for it since you are getting a lot of value for no monetary cost.

So I'm looking for some advice on products to use for a mythic campaign I'm going to be running in Hell. 3rd party or Paizo products are all welcome.

So I need a bit of help. I am going to run a mythic campaign and I am trying to come up with 29 trials. Before we get going, let me give you some background so you know what's going on. I'm looking for general ideas. I don't need complete adventures.

So they are going to start off as NPCs in their town (seriously, they will only have NPC classes to choose from and have NPC stats). They are just day laborers. Everyone is getting ready for an annual Festival of Lights when a lady is murdered near them. They aren't immediately blamed for it but as the week goes on, the evidence mounts against them. They are found guilty when someone finds poems that they wrote about her. (I'm stealing an Alice Cooper song compilation Time to Kill; Chop, Chop, Chop; Gail; Roses on White Lace which are all about a gruesome murder).

They will be exiled to a prison island where people have never returned from. Along the way their ship will be attacked by devils or creatures from Hell. Some celestial beings will show up, one of which is a very powerful angel. Their ship will be destroyed in the battle and the angel will die but not before giving them a small bit of heavenly power. This power will grow with them as they level up. They will have 10 racial points to build their race the way they want. They don't have to use the points all at once. They can use them at any point in their career but their abilities will be locked in once chosen. They will also be given more points for their attributes as they level up until they are at 20 point buy. They will start with 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 for their stats, just like any other NPC.

They will get to shore and find that they have lost their forms. They will look like formless humanoids, just like everyone else in the town. What they don't know is that they have actually entered Hell and have taken on the form of dretches (the lowest of the devils which are often tortured by higher devils). They will learn to form their bodies into a new race of their own choosing.

Along the way, they will have to deal with 29 trials. Each one will give them a bit more heavenly power until they are demigods and ready to take on the devil overlord for the domain they are in. This overlord is slowly building an army to take over their original home world. The angels found out but were unable to take it on directly so they came up with a plan to use people who would never be presumed to be infiltrators.

The trials are (I haven't figured out the order yet):

1. Trial of Strength
2. Trial of Agility
3. Trial of Health
4. Trial of Intelligence
5. Trial of Wisdom
6. Trial of Charisma
7. Trial of Faith
8. Trial of the Arcane
9. Trial of Skill
10. Trial of Prowess
11. Trial of Good
12. Trial of Evil
13. Trial of Law
14. Trial of Chaos
15. Trial of Courage
16. Trial of Gluttony (Temperance)
17. Trial of Pride (Humility)
18. Trial of Sloth (Diligence)
19. Trial of Lust (Chastity)
20. Trial of Greed (Charity)
21. Trial of Wrath (Patience)
22. Trial of Envy (Kindness)
23. Trial of Chastity (Lust)
24. Trial of Temperance (Gluttony)
25. Trial of Charity (Greed)
26. Trial of Diligence (Sloth)
27. Trial of Patience (Wrath)
28. Trial of Kindness (Envy)
29. Trial of Humility (Pride)

The ones in parentheses are opposites of each other. I haven't figured out what those trials will be yet but those are the titles.

I've seen a few threads about people trying to convert Dragon Mountain to Pathfinder but they are short lived. I'm working on converting it as well and as I enter the NPCs into Hero Lab I'm noticing some things: some have gear well above what a PC should have at that level. So I'm thinking about not changing their gear at all and if the party gets a hold of it, that's ok. They might actually need it for the final battle anyway.

Here's why I'm not worried about it: I'm going to run it as a single adventure, not tied to any campaign, while I work on my actual campaign. So it will be a Monty Haul style adventure but these characters aren't going to be going anywhere after this. Do you think that they will have enough firepower to take on the big bad at the end or will I still have to make some adjustments?

How many people fully use the weather and environment rules? Have you found them to enhance your gaming experience? Have you found them to restrict your experience? Have you found that they are too much for some characters but not enough for others?

I ask because I like using them. I think they really force the characters to deal with things besides just the goblin at the end of the road. I also think that it gives characters a reason to invest in survival so they can plan farther ahead.

I would like to try something different. I would like to see how many different ways we can build a character to the same general concept. For example, maybe someone wants a gunslinging dinosaur rider. How many different ways can we build that and still have it be fun and effective? I would like to see people think outside of the normal builds. This would not be a thread for finding the optimal build. It would be for finding as many interesting builds for the same concepts. The builds should be playable and fun at all levels of play.

So I would like to start with the dinosaur riding gunslinger.

So this is the current ideas that my players are having:

1) Gunslinger
2) Spellslinger
3) Two-handed or two-weapon melee
4) Summoner, probably a synthesist
5) Druid (Jungle), mounted
6) Druid, he has no idea what he wants yet from the druid
7) ???

I'm concerned with the gunslinger not being able to craft bullets. I also don't know if they have enough damage soakers. They have no one to deal with traps at all.

All of this can change as they read through the Player's Guide, but are there things that may be better or things I should be aware of if they still have their hearts set on certain classes? I don't want to tell anyone they can't play a particular character but if it won't work well then I want them to know ahead of time.

I need help finding a game for a young lady. This is a Facebook post from a friend of mine and I told her I would help:

Every time my lil niece says, "I don't want to play those game because there are no girl main characters or I don't want to watch those series (like Ninjago) because there are no girl main characters" my heart sank.

A while ago I was watching Ben 10 with my niece and nephew and my nephew really got into it, I mean he loves the show my niece wasn't that keen. I asked her why? She told me because the show was about a boy saving the world from aliens not about a girl. I told her that there is a girl in the show, his cousin...and she told me that, "she's not saving the world, she's helping Ben save it". :*(

She also started to tell me that she's iffy about math because in school a lot of her girlie friends are into other subjects...and not math/science. #$#Q^#(&$! What?!
She's also pretending to "hate" math because her girlie friends don't like it either. FML! I want to smack the shit out out of those girlie friends parents for not pushing them into the sciences/math and pushing for pink tu-tu's and boyfriends!

The little girl is 6 years old and really wants a game that she feels represents her somehow. She reads at a 1st grade level (I know, she's in 1st grade, what a shock!). She wants a game where the girl is the hero. She likes board games and video games.

Any suggestions?

So I'm working on my adventure and I'm trying to figure out what I want for a BBEG. The party will be trying to figure out what's causing a bubonic plague outbreak. The increase in rodent activity is caused by a drought. The rodents are eating the crops which is causing a loss of food. People are starving and sick. I'm looking for a BBEG for the party to face off against who is CR 2 or 3. I want it tied to the drought and rats somehow and I also need it tied to the larger story arc.

I'm going to run a campaign similar to one I ran 20 years ago in a world called Generia. Almost all the NPCs will have stats of 10. They will be generic. The entire world is very generic. People all look very similar, language is all very similar (I plan on having only a few languages to choose from). The world has mostly been cut off from the gods by a set of artifacts (coincidentally, one for each character). Once they find all the artifacts, they will be able to bring them to a specific location and get things back to normal.

There aren't many adventurers because everyone lives a very generic life. The party is not entirely unique but they rare.

Anyway, any suggestions on a BBEG?

So I have an idea for starting a campaign but I'm not really sure how to go about doing this. I want the players to come to the table with mostly blank character sheets. The only thing they would have is their race. As the adventure progresses, they choose their attributes, feats, classes, skills, etc. I want them to start as level-0 characters and then have them progress normally from there. They will end up with 20 point buy by the end of the first adventure and a full class at level 1.

Any suggestions on how I could go about doing this? I'm debating if I want them to start off as slaves or as friends in a local community that end up in an adventure.

In case it's confusing as to what my plan is, I want everyone to start with an 8 in each stat, adjusted by race. When they want to accomplish something, they simply tell me what bonus they see their character having (maybe they need to open a stuck door and the dwarf thinks he should have a +2 bonus). I would then have the player set their stat to the lowest value necessary for that bonus. Maybe the characters get into a fight and someone decides that their character is quick to react, so their first feat is Improved Initiative. Skills would all be untrained (basically just attribute checks) until the character settles on a class, which may take a little while. For the most part, this shouldn't be much of an issue. If they want to use a trained-only skill, they will have to spend a skill point. They won't be able to do this often until they choose a class though.

I'm trying to figure out how to make it so that they choose their classes as part of game play. I want all the classes to be options (as well as some 3PP classes from SGG). Any suggestions on how to go about any or all of this?

I've been throwing this idea around in my head for a while now and I'm wondering what problems people see pop up from this proposed house rule:

The skill affinity feats (+2 on two specific skills) and skill focus grant their normal bonuses as well as turn those skills into class skills.

As it stands, I would limit it to just those types of skill boosting feats to keep it simple. I think this could go a long way to helping some classes pick up class skills and it makes sense to me.

This Veteran's Day, a lot of you will be posting "thank yous" and it's appreciated by those who served. There are plenty who died for our rights, many of which are taken for granted or simply ignored. However, it's not the ones that died that I want to remind you of. It's the ones who didn't. There are many who have been seriously injured, physically and emotionally, from their service to this country. Even though they are no longer serving, they are still sacrificing. Please, don't just thank them but give back to them. They gave for you. Now it's your turn. Please donate to a decent veteran's charity like The Wounded Warrior Project: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org//

If you can't donate money, you can donate items or time to veterans organizations in your area. Please don't forget to take care of those who took care of you.

I have seen many people claim that some classes are gear dependent while others are not. I would like to see this put to the test. I would like to see some non-gear dependent builds for casters.

These are the criteria:

1) 20 point buy (the game assumes 15 but I will concede that many use 20)
2) The character must be able to survive at all levels below it's build. If you build a 10th level druid, show it at some lower levels too so we can see that it can survive.
3) No magical gear. Spellbooks are ok, swords are ok, etc. Blessed Books and +1 longswords are not. This also means no crafting because then you would have magical gear. I know that means that some classes won't be using class features but them's the breaks. The claim is that those classes aren't gear dependent.
4) The build must be able to contribute meaningful (whatever that means) to four appropriate challenges a day without rest. You can go for fewer or more if you adjust the amount of resources you think you should use.

I would like to see builds for each class if possible. A variety of levels and racial options is also welcome.

So when I created my account I just took an old character that I really liked and used his name. I have since moved on to a name I really enjoy more and will probably use for years to come. For the most part, this isn't a problem. I can just post with this alias. However, when I write reviews, I have to use my actual avatar name and I don't like that name anymore. Is there any way I can either change the name or just post reviews with my alias?

Some tips when asking for advice on rewrites of classes:

1) Don’t use abbreviations or acronyms until they are defined. The first time you use an abbreviation or acronym, explain what it stands for. There are quite a few different acronyms and abbreviations and it gets confusing trying to figure things out especially for new readers.

2) Explain what you are trying to change and why. Use bullet points and keep them short and simple. It’s very hard to give advice when we don’t even know what the goals are. It’s one thing to say that class X needs to be changed. It’s another to say why and your intentions.

3) Proofread your post. Type it up in a word processing document first. Make sure that you are using proper punctuation and grammar. It is much easier to give advice when we can read what you’ve written. It doesn’t have to be perfect but there should be more effort put forth than I have seen. Please attempt some basic formatting. I know that we can’t use tables and such but we can use bold and italics. We can use spacing. Please make it readable.

4) Understand what the role of the original class is supposed to fill. Keep in mind what the class is meant for. Fighters, for example, are supposed to be extraordinary. Don’t give them a bunch of spell-like or supernatural abilities.

5) Look to see what has already been done and see if it appeals to you. Often the changes I see proposed to a class have been proposed plenty of times, and even sometimes officially. See if there is an archetype that already accomplishes what you want. For example, there are at least two that give fighters better skill points and more class skills. Check out what else they can do and see if you are just mimicking what’s already been done.

6) Can the changes be done in a simple fashion? Keep the changes as simple as possible. Don't change what doesn't need changing just for the sake of change.

7) Keep in mind how the mechanics of the rest of the system work. If you think that fighters should have better saves and you want to make the Great Fortitude, Iron Will, and Lightning Reflexes all combat feats, that’s fine but keep in mind that there are other classes that can affect as well. If you are ok with that, then go for it. Just keep it in mind.

8) Don’t get too specific with the role the class fills. It should be broad. Archetypes, feat choices, and prestige classes are for getting specific. Not all wizards are god wizards, not all monks are unarmed masters, not all rogues are sneaky trap detectors, etc. Your changes should still allow the class to fill multiple concepts.

9) Become familiar with the target numbers in the Bestiary. They aren’t meant to be perfect but if you go through them you will notice that there are some things that aren’t needed. Fighters don’t need buffs to hit for example.

10) See how your class functions with and without magic items.

11) Please tell us if you are using any house rules. Even if it’s something as simple as the Critical Hit deck. Options you add could affect the advice you get.

I love reading about proposed changes. I just find it hard sometimes. I don’t usually comment on them because I find the very high majority of them aren’t needed or I don’t know what they are actually trying to do. “Better” isn’t good enough. Tell me what needs to be improved so I can follow along.

I'm looking for a simple combat manager that will keep track of initiative (possibly determine it randomly for each combat), hit points, and conditions. I have found two apps that do some of these but no apps that do all three.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Using a laptop or desktop isn't an option due to where we game.

If it matters, the two apps I have found are "Pathfinder RPG Manager" and "Roll Initiative."

I like the way that "Roll Initiative" lets me just move to the next character with ease. I like how "Pathfinder RPG Manager" not only allows me to color code (makes it easy to distinguish between creature types, NPCs, or other notations I may want) and it keeps track of conditions.

If these two could be combined somehow I would be a happy gamer.

Too often we get into discussions about various issues without fully understanding what the numbers mean. It’s one thing to say that the wizard is awesome because he can cast Fly at level 5, but what does it mean in real world terms? What about a barbarian that has a raging Strength score of 26? How big is that Magnificient Mansion? How far can a fireball fly before exploding?

That’s what I hope to answer with this thread. I appreciate a lot of input. Most importantly to make sure my math is correct but also with other examples. Just because I can visualize an olympic size swimming pool (roughly 16 x 8 ten-foot cubes not stacked) doesn’t mean that others can as well. I’m also open to other benchmarks. Power of an explosion or pressure references is something I think would be interesting.

Speed
Let’s start with speed. It’s easy and there are lots of benchmarks we can compare it to quickly. So the base speed for most characters is 20 or 30 feet. How fast is that? I’ll put the speeds in order of Walk, Hustle, Run (x3), Run (x4), and Run (x5).

A dwarf moves at 20 feet per round. 2.2mph, 4.4mph, 6.6mph, 8.8mph, 11mph. What does that mean though? What else moves at those speeds? Well the average hiker walks at about 2 mph uphill and 6 mph downhill. The average walker walks at 3.5 mph. A liesurely bike ride is about 8 to 10 mph.

Humans move at 30 feet per round. 3.4 mph, 6.8 mph, 10.2 mph, 13.6 mph, 17 mph. So we’re a little faster but how fast are we? Well we already know the average human walks at 3.5 mph so that’s a good start. A hustle is a little slower than that bike ride we mentioned earlier. The triple speed run is about the same as the bike ride. 14 mph is the speed limit in the Disneyland parking lot, which is probably about how fast those trams move. 17 mph is how fast this lady is running

50 feet per round is 5.6 mph (speedwalker), 11.2 mph (leisurely bike ride), 16.8 mph (a little faster than is needed to meet the 4-minute mile), 22.4 mph (the fastest swimming bird is the gentoo penguin and it hits this speed), and 28 mph (Usain Bolt and Carl Lewis were clocked at these speeds, they were professional athletes).

60 feet per round is 6.8 mph, 13.6 mph, 20.4 mph, 27.2 mph, and 34 mph (a tiger runs at this speed).
90 feet per round (a 18th level monk) is 10.2 mph (car in parking lot), 20.4 mph (driving in a school zone), 30.6 mph (driving on main road), 40.8 mph (zebras run at this speed), and 51 mph (we’re approaching freeway speeds for the elderly).

Distance
Let’s take a look at distance. It’s one thing to say that something is 10 feet away or 100 feet away, but how far is that? Let’s look at the most common distances we’ll encounter. 5 feet is about 2 steps away (the game has a 5-foot step but I don’t think it must be a single step). 10 feet is across the bedroom. 15 feet is about the length of a full-size car. 20 feet is how wide a two-car garage is or the distance between you and the eye chart your doc wants you to look at. 30 feet is how far you need to go for a 1st down in football.

We’re getting into close range spells so let’s look at: 40 feet is is a 4-lane highway width. 50 feet is the width of a high school basketball court. 60 feet is roughly the distance between the pitcher’s mound and home plate. 75 feet is the width of an Olympic sized swimming pool. 90 feet is the distance between 1st and 2nd base in baseball.

Now we’re up to short range spells: 100 feet is about the width of 8 lanes of traffic. 150 feet is half a football field. 200 feet is the length of a hockey rink. 240 feet is the width of a soccer field. 300 feet is 100 yards, which is a football field length without endzones.

Here are some long range spells: 450 feet is a football field from goalpost to goalpost. 500 feet is 1.5 football fields. A par 3 hole on a men’s golf course is 750 feet. this man is 800 feet above the ground. The roller coaster at the top of the Space Needle in Las Vegas is just over 900 feet high. The Eiffel Tower is 1000 feet tall. Once we start getting to 1200 feet, we are close to ¼ of a mile. 1200 feet is the maximum distance (without feats) that a long range spell will have.

Weight
Weights are something that many people think they understand but really don’t. Here are some weights for common objects (If you ever want to get frustrated, try to look up common weights. I swear people should be slapped for some of their answers. I know that a 5-pound barbell weighs 5 pounds.):

1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg
4 pounds is a half gallon of milk
5 pounds how much a full grown chihuahua weighs
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
11 pounds is the combined shipping weight of your Core Rule Book, Bestiary, and Advanced Players Guide
11 pounds = an average housecat
15 pounds is about the size of 3 small bags of potatoes
20 pounds is about the weight of an average 1 year old child.
20 pounds = an automobile tire
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
50 pounds = a small bale of hay
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and shes 5'11")
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and shes 5'4½")
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony

Volume
Now it’s time to look at volume. This is probably something that many people have a hard time visualizing.

1) Let’s start with the basic 10 foot cube. It’s the size of a small bedroom.
2) A 10’x20 ‘ room is about the size of a large moving van. This truck should give you a good visual
3) A party tent is 20’x20’x10’ so if you stack them (which is not advisable), you get a 20-foot cube. That’s 8,000 cubic feet.
4) 30 foot cube is about the 200,000 gallons of water. That’s as much water as the central tank at the New England Aquarium. This tank holds several sharks, turtles, and many other fish.
5) 40 foot cube is about the volume of a 747 which can hold about 17 million ping pong balls.
6) A 10 foot sphere is the size of one of those giant rubber balls you can roll down a hill in

Putting it all together
What does this all tell us? Well let’s look at a few spells to get some ideas. These first looks at spells are at the minimum of what they can do.

Level 0 Spell: Mage hand at 1st level can pick up a Chihuahua just outside a two-car garage if you are on the other end

Level 1 Spell: Magic Missile can strike 5 targets that are inside a full size car that is on the other side of 8 lanes of traffic

Level 2 Spell: Enthrall can be cast from the top of the Christ the Redeemer statue (in Rio de Janeiro) and affect people on the ground.

Level 3 Spell: A fireball can be thrown to the other end of a football field and it will explode affecting vehicles that are on opposite sides of a 4-lane road.

Level 4 Spell: A druid casting control water can control all the water in an Olympic size swimming pool

Level 5 Spell: A wizard can stand at one edge of a hockey rink and use transmute rock to mud on the opposite end and can turn 18 ten foot cubes worth of rock to mud. That’s the size of the Harmony Node 2 on the International Space Station. That’s about half the space of the cargo hold of the space shuttle.

Level 6 Spell: Mass Inflict Moderate Wounds can affect 11 creatures that are on the opposite side of a high school basketball court (width) and no two are 10 to 12 steps apart.

Level 7 Spell: Druids can cast a fire storm on the other side of a soccer field and affect 26 ten-foot cubes. That’s enough to fill the cargo hold of a 747.

Level 8 Spell: A wizard standing on the pitcher’s mound can shout loud enough to stun and deafen creatures at home plate. Interestingly enough, that’s also enough to destroy a strong wooden door which is common in dungeons. It exceeds 130 dB since it can cause hearing loss and actual damage. Imagine someone yelling at the volume of an artillery weapon.

Level 9 Spell: A storm of vengeance can create a cloud above the Eiffel Tower that is a two football fields in diameter. This storm is above 85 db but less than 130 since the sound won’t actually deal damage. The acid rain is strong enough to burn through rope in 6 seconds. The lightning bolts will destroy most wooden doors but have the potential to blast through an inch of adamantine. The hail stones strike with enough force to destroy most wooden vehicles like carts and wagons. The rain is as thick as a strong sandstorm (I’ve been in them and you can’t see very far at all) with winds as strong as a tropical depression. Scroll through those pictures to see what this spell is capable of doing. They are all from Hurricane Irene.

So that’s an idea of some benchmarks. What do you think? Any other benchmarks to help players and GMs visualize the action?

Can an alternate class, like the ninja, take a rogue archetype?

So in the next few months I will end up being a player in an adventure path. The GM hasn’t decided on which one but it looks like Kingmaker isn’t going to be it. I have the first chance in my gaming career to play a character from level 1 to 20. I know the APs stop about level 15 or 16, but he can work up something for the last few levels. I have a ton of ideas running through my head and I would love to see how some people deal with some of these concepts. I would prefer to see how they would work out at levels 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 (or other reasonable levels).

We will be allowed to use all the Paizo products for Pathfinder. I may be able to talk him into a third party product if it is balanced and fits the concept, but I’m not going to hold out.
Character Concepts:
1. Gunslinging warrior on the back of a flying dinosaur (saurian druid looks like an interesting choice)
2. Monk with temple sword and flurry…but effective in and out of combat. I also want to rage
3. Character that dimension doors through combat, a lot like night-crawler
4. Wizard or sorcerer that fills the role of martial character, possibly a switch hitter
5. Dog the bountry hunter, actually uses animal-like abilities (scent, hearing, etc).
6. Gnome tinkerer riding an invention into battle (I’m thinking something like a summoner)
7. Master of disguise: can function in and out of society to blend in, disappear
8. Crafter of all gear for the party, using every loophole to increase speed and quantity
9. Heavily armored magical tank of blasting
10. Someone that always has an answer. In other words, skills, skills, skills, and knows how to aid the party with tactics.
11. Caster that channels magic and actually weakens himself to the point of possibly falling unconscious or even dying. He would have to be able to channel more energy than normally allowed. If anyone remembers the channelling rules from the 2nd Edition Player’s Option: Spells and Magic, this is what I’m talking about.

Thanks for the help.

My friend wants to create a true master of the elements. He wants to be able to convert his elemental spells to any other elemental at will. He wants to be able to change into an elemental as often as possible. He wants to be one with the elements in as many ways as possible.

To pull this off though, we need to see the build from level 1 to 20. I'm working on a crossblood sorcerer (Efreet, Marid) who also has Elemental Spell twice for acid and electricity respectively.

I'm not sure if I'm headed down the right path or if there is a better path. I can post each level as I work on it and you can critique the general build. The only thing I would keep in mind is that the GM will be paying attention and making sure that we are able to use our abilities. This means blasting will be useful. How useful is something we don't know but it won't be a waste.

The only other characters we know will be in the party are an inquisitor and probably a gunslinger (who keeps changing his mind but keeps coming back to gunslinger).

Almost all the books are allowed. If you suggest something that isn't allowed, I will say so. We may just end up buying the book. The book must be Paizo and for Pathfinder. If you have an suggestion for a 3rd party book, please put it in its own post with a link so I can check it out.

The characters will all be 25 point buy and be restricted currently to races in the Core Book and the first two Bestiaries. We're trying to stick to Core Races as much as possible though.

If you were creating a full caster, which 2-4 spells of each spell level would be almost indispensable? Obviously there will be some differences based on what you may encounter, but which 2-4 spells of each spell level do you think that your characters just can't live without? Why?

So I'm working on something and I would like some help redoing the iconics with a lot less wealth. This is the expected wealth I'm working with:

Level.........Total gp Value
1..........No changes
4..........1,200 gp
7..........3,000 gp
10..........6,375 gp
13..........13,500 gp
15..........22,500 gp

These levels don't have stats from Paizo but should be easy to extrapolate.

16..........29,250 gp
17..........37,500 gp
18..........48,000 gp
19..........61,500 gp
20..........79,500 gp

They can be found here: http://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/pregeneratedCharacters

I also have them at levels 10, 13, and 15 without the reduced gear and I can post their stats for those who want them.

So we have a mobile version of the PRD which is amazing and has been a boon to me many times.

Is it possible to have the rest of the site done as a mobile site as well? The message baords is my primary reason, but I'm sure others might find other areas could use some Mobile Phone Lovin.

I don't know squat about this so if it's not feasible, just tell me to shut up. If it is feasible, I want my name hidden somewhere as the idea guy.

I'm debating between playing a gunslinger (pistolero/mysterious stranger) and a spellslinger. I haven't actually had the opportunity to be a player in many, many years.

What are your thoughts on the spellslinger? Is it worth it? Note that I don't worry about playing god wizards. I go for fun more than power.

I'm looking for a group to join. I've never played in organized play before. The only "local" group I have found is about an hour away at a time I can't join. I would really like to join in the fun.

So there are a few skills (Knowledge for example) that have DCs of X + CR. This works fine for some, but when you start to add things like class levels or advanced creatures this breaks down a bit. A goblin is a goblin, even if he does have 5 levels of druid. An advanced boar is still a boar even if he is a bit tougher.

The way I want do it is I base the DC off the base CR of the creature. If there are advances to the creature (templates, additional hit dice, class levels, etc), then I increase the DC to learn more.

So the DC to know about a half-green dragon grizzly bear with 10 hit dice is:

To determine that it is a grizzly bear: 9 (5+ CR)
To determine that is has the half-dragon template: 21 (15+ CR+ template, I would say this is a rare creature)
To determine that it also has 1 additional hit dice: 19 (10+ CR, I would say this is uncommon)
To determine all 3: 26 (15+ total CR)

So what would be the best way to handle this? The players should be able to figure something out but I don't know where I should set the DCs.

What if it is also a goblin but it has 5 levels of druid? What is the DC?

There are tons of third party products out there, with a wide variety of topics. Thing I look for in a third party product are:

1) Creativity: I don’t want another race of elves. There are tons of races out there already and honestly, there isn’t much need for too many more. When I do look at a new race, I look at its uniqueness. What does it add to my campaign? Is it too easy or difficult to add? Are the racial abilities something that are balanced and interesting? Do the racial abilities push it to a particular group of classes but don’t preclude it from being other classes? If create a new class, is it something that couldn’t be done with the current classes or by multi-classing?
2) Simplicity: It’s great to add something new to the game and even to add some new rules. How complex are the rules? Are the overly complicated? Are they overly simplistic? How easy is it to integrate into my game? If you create a spell point system, how does it work with metamagic feats? Is the new rule something I can easily adapt as new things are added to the game?
3) Integration: How easy is it to integrate this into my game? Do you have any tips for some of the more esoteric additions? How does it affect current products and potentially future products? What potential problems do you foresee? For example, if you create a spell point system, how does this affect creatures with spell casting abilities such as dragons and devils?
4) Compatibility: This is similar to integration but I’m more concerned with how it is compatible with your other third party products. If you are going to introduce a new race, is there a product that you have with feats that would be appropriate for that race? Do you have a product with some interesting magic items that the new race might prefer? Is there a locale that you had fleshed out already that this new race comes from? Did you take the new race from an adventure you wrote? Show me how your new product is compatible with your old and upcoming products. Make me want to buy more of your stuff.
5) Consistency: Is your product consistent with the rules system you are writing this for? If you are writing something for Pathfinder, do you follow the same general guidelines (written or unwritten)? In other words, do I have to spend a long time trying to figure out if this is going to be balanced with the core book for the system you wrote this for in the first place?
6) Usefulness: Just because you can come up with an interesting idea doesn’t mean it is something that I will want to buy because it isn’t going to be part of my campaign. Obviously this is going to be different for everyone but the more general the product, the more likely I am to buy it. I would rather pay for a book on gemstones than one on the mating habits of mephitis.
7) Literacy: Is the document something that has a good flow and is easy to read? Is it broken down into sections and subsections that make it easier for the reader to look up in a hurry? Is it hyperlinked and/or bookmarked? If it is a longer document, does it have a good table of contents and index? Is there a bibliography for me to look at in case I want more information? How is your spelling and grammar?
8) Layout: Is it pleasing to look at or are the fonts physically painful? While it’s fun to use some of the more unusual fonts for short titles, using them in the entire document turns me off quickly.
9) Artwork: If you are going to add artwork, does it look like something I could do after a few beers? I’m no looking for Todd Lockwood or Brom level of artwork but I also don’t want it to look like something a mom would put on the fridge because her kindergartner found the crayons. Is the artwork appropriate or does it detract from the product? Is it placed properly so that a drawing of armor is in the armor section? Is it labeled if that would make it easier? It’s cool to see a dozen new weapons but if I can’t tell which is which, why did you waste the space to put pictures of them there?
10) Cost: How much work did you put into this? How much overhead did you have? Did you have any special licensing requirements? What is your reputation? If you have never put out anything, you probably shouldn’t charge as much as someone who’s name as been out there for 10 years or more. Name recognition counts.

So those are some things I look for in a third party product. Here are some products I would be interested in buying:

1) Gemstones: I want to know more than just a list of names and values. I want to know sizes, locations where to find them (near certain deposits for example), and potential mystical properties.
2) Mounts: I want more than just a handful of mounts from the Core Rulebook. I want to know what advanced mounts would be like. I want different mounts and prices. I want the ride and handle animal skills to be useful with those mounts. I want to be able to look at another character’s mount and tell where it came from. I want there to be a difference between a horse from elven lands and human lands.
3) Henchmen: More than a simple list of artisans, I want them to work at different rates based on their skill and I want them to have different prices based on those skills. I want a bunch of stat blocks for potential adventurers. I want some interesting cohorts.
4) New materials: Equipment comes from all over the planes. I want to see interesting ideas for materials from those planes. Is a sword forged from the Plane of Fire different than one forged in Hell?
5) New magic systems: I really liked the concept with the Tome of Magic from WotC. I think it needed more work but the concept behind it was interesting. I also like the Magic of Incarnum ideas. There were issues with all of them, but the idea behind them was great. I would like to see more stuff like this.
6) New specialties for wizards: 2nd Edition brought in a lot of specialists in Dragon Magazine. I would like to see stuff like this. Dimensionalists (specializing in time and space not necessarily traveling through time) and transfusers (specializing in apportation or travel magic) were just two that I recall.
7) Full Adventures: I want the opposite of the Adventure Path. The Adventure Paths are written with 6 or more modules as a single campaign that can be used as stand alone adventures. I want a bunch of stand alone adventures with ideas on how they may work as part of an ongoing campaign. If you write adventures for all levels of play, you can use other adventures as hooks for each other. This allows me, ad the GM, to pick and choose how my campaign is going to turn out based on what the players and I want.
8) Short adventures: These should be written to last a single night (about 4 to 5 hours of play). These should be relatively stand alone but can have notes that integrate them into other adventures you may have written. Again, make me want to buy more of your stuff.
9) Sets of new rules that I don’t have the time or energy to create: Weather, economy, crafting, etc, are all things that require more work than I want to put into something but I would be more than willing to pay someone else for their work.
10) Unique items (magical or not) with a general history that I can use with the Knowledge (history) skill or bardic knowledge. I don’t want anything too specific. I like names and general locations. If you are going to be specific, let’s say with the name of a god, then make sure you also tell me what part of the god’s portfolio would be appropriate in case I don’t use those gods. For example, if you create a magical bow meant for Erastil’s clerics, make sure you make a small note (in parenthesis), that it could be for any cleric of a hunting god. This way, if I don’t use the gods in the setting, I can easily find another god in the setting I am in without having to do a lot of extra work.

If you also use software for your games, like Hero Lab, a downloadable file with this stuff in there if possible would be nice as well. For example, if you write an adventure, you can have a file with the NPCs, new monsters, new gear, etc, all in there as well to make my life just that much easier.

So I'm building a wizard for a 1-shot adventure at level 10. The concept is to have his familiar do most of the dirty work for him. I want the familiar to be the one in combat and I'll be beefing him up as necessary.

The books I am allowed are the Core book and APG. I don't know the point buy we will be using yet so let's assume 15 points. I can always add points later. Generally I go with the elite array when I do 15 point buy. I am open to other arrays. I do not want to have more than 1 dump stat so please no suggestions with three 7s.

Can it be done well enough to be useful? Which feats, spells, and which familiar should I go with?

I could do this with a summoner, obviously, but I have been asked to not play a character that can summon tons of monsters.

So obviously the classic wizard would focus on Intelligence to get more spells and boost the save DCs. What if you didn't build a classic wizard though? Do you still want to focus on Intelligence? Can you be effective if you focused on another stat instead?

What I'm getting at is let's say you want to build a swashbuckling wizard. Using only the wizard class, and focusing on being a swashbuckler, how would you do it? Do you still need Intelligence? What if you wanted to make a wizard that was a sneaky mother-f sir! Essentially filling in as the party rogue. Do you still need intelligence and if not, how would you go about doing it? Could you make an effective unarmed combatant who is a wizard?

Is there a level cut off where maintaining the concept isn't going to work anymore? Is there a level where you must be in oder to establish that concept?

Just for fun, I would like to see what people can come up with for wizards that don't focus on Intelligence but are still effective characters that are also fun to play. 20 point buy is probably enough to see what you can do. I'm working on seeing if I can make a two-handed combatant wizard who revels in melee combat.

Query: If a character begins crafting a magic item (let's say it's a +1 sword because he only has 1000 gold and doesn't know how long they will be out) and is adventuring at the time. This sword should take him eight days because he's adventuring. So he manages to get back from the adventure with a ton of cash on day 4 and realizes that he's going to be in town for a while. Can he just extend his time crafting for two more days and go for a +2 sword assuming he is the right level and can afford the cost difference?

I'm wondering how the random bleed damage works. If a creature deals 1d6 bleed, is that 1d6 rolled on round 1 and the same number is used for all subsequent rounds or do you roll 1d6 each round?