Cobbler's page

Hi fellow Nova Scotians,

I am running D&D Encounters Season 3: Keep on the Borderlands in Halifax, at Quantum Frontier (on Robie) every Wednesday night from 6:30 to 8:30. The season starts September 22 and runs into February - no 4E experience required. It is designed to be a casual drop-in game for people who are new to 4E or don't have a regular group to game with. You can find out more by searching for D&D Encounters in Halifax on the D&D Website. You are more than welcome to contact me through the search/link there (as I won't be checking here that often).

Best,

Shoe

Hi fellow Haligonians,

I am running D&D Encounters Season 3: Keep on the Borderlands in Halifax, at Quantum Frontier (on Robie) every Wednesday night from 6:30 to 8:30. The season starts September 22 and runs into February - no 4E experience required. It is designed to be a casual drop-in game for people who are new to 4E or don't have a regular group to game with. You can find out more by searching for D&D Encounters in Halifax on the D&D Website. You are more than welcome to contact me through the search/link there (as I won't be checking here that often).

Cheers,

Shoe

Thanks P.H.

Sorry to hear about your departing player! Time and location work great for me, and I'd love to come by soon and check out a game! You can email me at saborst at yahoo dot com or let me know another way to reach you. Thanks for your quick reply and friendly invitation ... my hoots of joy sound nothing like having a demon crunching on the faces of three fallen heroes. What a dramatic end!

Sjoe

Hi P.H. et al,

My name is Sjoe, (like Shoe) and I’m a 32 year-old urban professional who lives here in Toronto. Many moons ago, I came across your amazing Savage Tide campaign and now read your Second Darkness campaign regularly. It has been great!

You write really well, and I have been thoroughly enjoying your tales of adventure. I love the dedication you and your players have to the story - whether role-playing, in combat, or just having a laugh. As a DM, you seem quick on your feet and able to make creative use of NPCs to account for your player’s wild and inventive choices. You take the sessions in amazing directions, both dark and original. I also like the editorials you give on converting to 4E, and it seems that the new system in Golarion really works well in your hands! Your characters’ letters are also such a treat to read – Giles, Elric & Dante, and of course the occasional dismissive quip from Lord Davain. You clearly have an imaginative super-group that gets into it as much as you do – thinking, talking and writing in character!

I have run several D&D games in medical school and residency, but for one reason or another, we never could make the campaign last beyond the 4th level. School often got in the way; we graduated and moved to different cities. D&D was always a pleasure to play and it remains one of my all time favourite activities. Ever since those glory days, I have tired to meet with players in Toronto, including the pub-nights at the TRPA, but I never could quite manage to find a group as enthusiastic and dedicated as I was. I have bought a lot of Paizo and 4E stuff and continue to read, world-build and paint minis regularly, but it has been too long since I rolled a 20.

By now it might not surprise you that I am hoping to join you guys for a game … I am a friendly team-player and consider myself quite reliable and easy to get along with. I stay pretty organized and honour my commitments, too. I have been incredibly busy with my liscensing exams, but after a dozen years of studying, time has finally opened up! If you have any need for a new player, even for a trial run to see if I click with your gaming group – please let me know! And if you are planning on running Legacy of Fire I would be delighted to join in! Might I introduce you to Al-Razir, the impetuous genasi swordmage, Whitesand, the half-orc desert ranger or Pashmiri, the half-elf belly-dancing bard? How about Salud, the silken gnome rogue, or Averonne, the human wizard facing expulsion? Each of them are keen to write their own tales… and it probably goes without saying that I also play a masterful Dwarven cleric with a voice like Sean Connery and a breath like fermented Pesh. But doesn’t everyone?

I would be delighted to send along my email if you were interested in chatting privately!

Thank you Sebastian. You have managed to shine, and encourage a long string of posters to be as inclusive and welcoming as you are. We really do have an embarrassment of riches, many times over. I had to look up your name in my dictionary of saints to see which other wonderful miracles you will perform. Shine on!

Cheers

A cascade of positive feelings! Go! Go! Go!

That's an automatic awesome "I Like You" you to Tarren Dei for starting this.

And everyone above is supercool - but in the spirit of including others who haven't posted yet, I will add Kelvar Silvermace, cuz he often seems to respond to my ideas.

Cheers

Deus Ex Machinegun ... priceless!

Does anyone own Rifts South America ... 1 or 2? They had some lovely arcane wand pistols and wand rifles, if I recall correctly, inspired by Conquistador pistols.

I was thinking along purely aesthetic lines though ...

Cheers

BIG WISH #3: DOWN WITH DINKY WANDS

I wish that Pathfinder artwork would also feature the kind of wands that mean business. Shaped like flintlock(?) pistols, carved with runes and meant for pulling from a holster, spinning in the hand and blowing out when the duellins' done.

I dislike the aesthetic of thin, whispy, strait and narrow little pointers studded with dainty jewels. This isn't a lecture hall ... this is combat!

Another trademark of Pathfinder?

Thoughts?

BIG WISH # 2 HORSE HATE

Ever since watching Princess Mononoke, I have thought it wonderful to have a fantasy setting without horses. There would of course be horse substitutes, with the identical stats - but a flurry of horns, stripes, and interesting fur.

It is a small point, in the stream of moving Golarion away from Medieval France and Rennaisance England - but it would be a cool way of marking a Golarion trademark in artwork. "Ooh, that Paladin Elf rides a Red Elk, she must be from the River Kingdoms!" or "That is a Golarion piece for sure - that horsey has stripes!"

All in the quest of making things unheimlich - like home, yet not like home.

Cheers

'Ling, you are absolutely right. That's why I am trying hard to keep it generalized, and not applicable to all cases, all of the time. I just think its an important aspect to discuss, without getting personal, misused or as a weapon.

If it turns out that way, I will refrain. Psychobabble can be destructive, too.

Cheers

Congratulations, Christine. I could comment on how great it is that a talented female writer from Germany with English as her second language wins the prize, but I don't want to take away from the fact that you are simply deserving for the work you produce!

What impressed me most about your submissions was the sexuality. It was mature and subtle, but ever present. The androgynous villain, the bleeding-god-head tower encroahed by pudendal forestry, the slippery race through a warm mound ... it was spectacular. High literature and base feeling. Brilliant.

Cheers

Thanks Jade. I must confess that while 'psychobabble' is my profession, this hobby is my love.

Cheers

In reference to a few posts back - psychobabble ain't all that bad.

It tells me that anxiety happens with change.

It tells me that sometimes, added structure needs to be in place to offset regression.

It tells me that a lot of anger comes from loss.

It tells me that anger can get displaced - at the wrong people at the wrong time.

It tells me that grieving that loss - of a magazine, an edition, or even a game world - is more productive that being destructive.

It tells me that suppliers of pleasureable creative engagement - our parents, our lovers, our game companies - are not all good or all bad.

It tells me that these issues are true in dyadic relationships, small groups, gaming communities and even nations.

Respectfully, it tells me that this isn't true for all people, all of the time, but it may be an important piece of the pie.

Cheers

When Can We Stop the Debate?

Respectfully, when we come to terms with WOTC not being all bad or all good. When we can tolerate ambivalence. When we stop splitting, and seeing things as black and white, one side against another. When anger gets assertively expressed at the right time, the right person and for the right reason (not, with few exceptions, fellow message board posters). When we express sadness at what we might be loosing, instead of misdirected hostility at our peers.

Probably when the 4E books have been out for a while, when Paizo makes its decsion and is happy to discover that people love their adventures and their world regardless of what mechanics they use. When we get down to playing again.

Entering these threads are not without risk, but I couldn't resist that kind of introspective question.

Cheers

What a loss ... what a gift ... what a time to say goodbye.

Thank you, Gary.

Thanks guys for the encouragement! I wish I had the discipline to avoid the 4E threads, or at least look at them in a more positive light.

I would love more cosmology, too! The moons around Golarion had me daydreaming for days.

And I am enthralled with the notion of an American plains style place. My own campaign has such a continent called Acedia with half-elves as Metis - living between colonials and native elves. A group Centaurs in the plains would be a fantastic touch, too!

Having said that ...

BIG WISH #1: MIX IT UP MORE

Unlike what someone wrote in the 4E Preview: Worlds and Monsters, I think we need to continually looking to the real world for inspiration. Maybe not Medieval France and Rennaisance England, but there is so much more out there!

I love what's been done with Varisia so far - there are Eastern European influences, African Savanah influences and Greek style colonies.

My wish is that Osirion doesn't become strait Egypt, you know? Why not have Celtic influences? They both rode chariots, and personally, pyramids would look really cool with Celtic patterns all over them. Names could reflect a little of both: Chu-Tet, Seth-Danan, etc.

My hope is that the world builders continue to blend cultures together to make something new and cool. Avistan and Garund are looking a lot like Europe to the North, and Africa to the South. Egypt is of course to the Northeast, and the Congo style Jungle is - predictably - South of the desert regions. None of this is bad ... I just hope that the cultures there have a little bit of Asia, America, Australia and sundry else thrown into the mix!

Cheers

Lazaro, you are a machine! A spy master! Do you even sleep?

Cheers

When I came back from Africa a few months ago, things had changed on my favourite website. On the one hand, RPG Superstar was underway, letting some very talented and imaginative fans add to the growing world of Golarion. On the other hand, much of the creativity was being replaced by an unproductive and sometimes toxic back-and-forth about 4E. It made me sad and disinterested. I started lurking more than posting. I longed for the earlier days of generative enthusiasm.

Don’t get me wrong – I have been morbidly curious and at times, highly amused by the 4E discussion threads. I think I’ve abstained from the debates because I’m not sure how I’d respond to criticism. Yet again there is a loss to deal with … and I suspect some of the angry feelings floating around here have to do with unprocessed grief. Some people are naturally conflicted when a source of pleasure is also a source of pain. I get it. But when it comes out indirectly, unassertively and against fellow fans – the anger is really getting misplaced. Before I digress into psychobabble …

I decided to start a new pathfinder wishlist. I plan on adding my own personal wishes for the campaign setting every week or so. If it sparks discussion – great. If the paizo staff can use some of the ideas we come up with for the adventure planet – even better. If I end up looking solipsistic – so be it – at least I tried to carve a little niche and start a little something like it was in the good old days of early to mid 2007.

Cheers

Respectfully to everyone who posted above, Thomasson had me at:

"Racing through a mine in a mine cart Temple of Doom-style should be mandatory for all D&D adventurers, at least once in their careers. Complete with jumps, hairpin corners taken on two wheels, monster attacks and collapsing tracks, it was possibly the most fun sequence of encounters I've ever had in a D&D game. In previous editions, I never would have considered taking this risk."

I set this up as my first 2E adventure, and my players, being experienced players - didn't act the part of the good doctor Jones. It was disappointing.

I am certain that thrill seekers in 4E will continue to push the envelope till they reach that 1 in twenty chance of death.

Cheers

Welcome Skinnyfat. Back to voting!

As briefly as possible (Poor Eric! Shoulda made it a poll!)

1) Yes

2) Increase in the short term, then the same as now

3) Same in the short term, then decrease over time

Cheers

I haven't been that long on the threads, Brent, but my condolences. And it says a lot about you and your relationship to the community to include us in your healing process.

Best

If I remember correctly, the cover's being done by Andrew Hou.

And there's really not much crunch in the book at all. The vast bulk of the book works fine for 3.5, 2nd, 1st, BEMCI, Stormbringer, 4th, Runequest, Shadowrun, GURPS, and pretty much any other RPG that uses some or all of the monsters in question. Provided you want to inject that game with some Golarion flavor, that is!

First - that is a beastly beauty of a cover!

Thanks James - just thinking along the lines of the new crunch/flavor for Orcs and Hobgoblins in 4E.

And as far as injecting my game with Golarion flavor - my game has Golarion track-marks, man.

Cheers

I had a different kind of question ... in light of the potential transition between editions, and the possible mechanics and flavor changes that might occur with iconic monsters, does it make sense to delay release of the product?

Cheers

I will add props too - you guys really have hit your stride. Its always important to define your style, and even though you have a bunch of different artists, there is some good unity going on. keep Ben Wooten!

In comparison to WoTC 4E stuff, which I'll call a thick style, you guys are going for thin - dark, sharp lines, lots of vertical. I like both - and am happy that there are differences out there to define one look from another.

Cheers

PH, I love reading your posts! They are well crafted and show a lot of love for narrative and a flair for combat. As a fellow Canuk in Toronto ... count me first in line if you ever have a new campaign and an opening!

Cheers

Hilarious! Keith Baker has a great (and much needed) sense of humor. I think his last point also has a double intention - as many of the D&D 4th Ed. conceits mentioned in the Worlds and Monsters Book are his innovations. Thoughts?

Cheers

For the size, all of it so far can fit into Australia, which is about 2000 miles by 3000 miles. From a world design perspective, this seems like a good size for a continent.

For comparison, the whole world of Eberron is less than a quarter the size of our world ... which speaks to the potential for Golarion to be much, much bigger.

As for the dotted lines - thanks Sir Oliver - I thought the mountains and rivers were most often a natural demarcation, too. My hope is that the designers resist the urge to lock-down every nation. From a play perspective - I feel there should be no-man's lands between each safe haven, so that monsters can dwell and PCs can travel more freely. Just a thought!

Cheers

What a wonderful surprise this morning! Great colours, lush details, beautifuland enticing names like The Shackles, The Eye of Abendego and the Verduran Forest.

The greatest compliment I can muster this early in the day is that I am studying this map -feverishly and with great pleasure - like I am going to live there for the next twenty years!

I am also happy that there is still more to discover ... Minkai and Tian Xia are further away, and neither continent has an end in sight.

I wonder if the little red lines marking different nations are all that nescessary - as I generaly believe that marking borders in an official way, on the balance, limits the fun. You tend to loose the frontier wilderness and end up with border guards, passports and a more static realm.

I also hope that the 'known world' presented so far covers what is only a fraction of the adventure planet ... by my calculations, it can all fit in real-world Australia. This is another good thing, mind you -as there will hopefully be many, many more continents in the future - even if it takes twenty years of adventuring between Geb and Mendev before some new lands are described!

Back to drooling over my new home!

Cheers

Oh I verily likes it, I does. The perfect balance between inviting - lush, crimson, soft ... and repulsive - dark, clutching and decadent.

I didn't even realize there would be a player's guide for COTCT and I was just on my way to beg, plead and argue effectively for the merits of having one for each new adventure. Just like I was for an unpainted line of iconic minis. You keep beating me to the punch ... but as insulting as it can be, sometimes its nice to be the demographic.

Cheers

Awesome - love the idea of shorter, and therefor more numerous and diverse dungeons. It adds variety without challenging that important sense of verisimilitude.

It also encapsulates a more typical evening of play - 3-4 hours, 4-5 encounters by my reckoning. I've been designing my challenges along those lines for a while now.

Nothing I find harder to swallow than a random, crowded dungeon that makes no sense - as fun as these can be for one-off adventures, for an ongoing campaign its hard to get worked up about stuff.

The urban setting for COTCT has me drooling! Can't wait James!

On New Year's Day, James Jacobs asked us readers to let Paizo know what we'd like more of - adventures, products and blog posts - so I thought I'd pull this post from out of the archives and start it up again.

Thanks for the iconics miniatures that are on the way ... this has been on my pathfinder wishlist for some time. They look awesome!

Any chance that Savage Tide will become a bound book?

I am SO happy you guys did Flight of the Red Raven and RPG Superstar - every competitor has done a great job and I hope this opportunity to submit will repeat itself sometime in 2008-2009.

Unfortunately I was away for the latter competition - in Ethiopia without email access - but my visit left me with lots of adventure ideas for the land of Geb. Anyone interested in an African inspired setting should check out Aksum, Lalibela and Gonder (yes, the original!) - each from a different time period in Ethiopia's rich and dramatic history!

Cheers

Awesome Andrew - first one of 32 I looked up! Of coarse, tha cobbla is biased!

I couldn't resist making the Azurestone a Lapis Lazuli - the original azure stone of the ancient world. And rearranging 'red raven' to be a villain named Verendra and Vera Dern, depending on her purpose. And throwing in some Yeti. And blue-fisted monks of Irori. Oh, And swapping an airship for an overland chase with ice-ships.

Can't wait to hear more ideas now that the submissions are done!

798 words and I'm done! Good luck to everyone - and for everyone who entered, I hope you buy the module! For everyone who hesitated, it was worth it just to write the submission - both to share in the creative process but also appreciate how hard our favourite authors work. I am really looking forward to hearing about everyone's ideas after the submissions deadline, and to future open submissions too!

Cheers

It may be too late, but another way to tie your players in an affectionate way to Sandpoint is to give them bonus feats for having grown up in the place or be related to one of the named notables. These would replace the Big Game / Country / City Born feats, and look a little like the ancestor feats from Oriental Adventures or Skill Bonus feats from the PHB.

Cheers

Ooooh ... I love naming things! Let's see - Travis' world has cobbled (yay!) together Forgotten Realms, Middle Earth and the World of Greyhawk. Why not cobble them with a Travis-sound?

The Travelled Lands? Traevir? Terassar?

Cheers

What about the red & green planet names?

I read a lovely article in the New York Review of Books hilighting how clever JK Rowling's name for Voldemort is (French for theft, flight, death and mold) and was thinking about getting the messageboard readers to try the same with our heavenly bodies.

For the Red Planet I was thinking Marcanus (Mars + Volcano)

For the Green Planet: Verdanis, Vertune or Verdunis (French Green +
Venus)... um, something more feminine to counterpart a more masculine Mars?

Anyone?

Cheers

I'm with Fletch - you write very well, Selk - and I'm looking forward to reading more!

Cheers

I've been giving Golarion's seas and oceans some thought recently - one simple way to keep different parts of the campaign world distinct is to have tempestuous, torrential cores to each body of water.

Limited trade and travel and make very different campaign settings on the same world believable. Ocean names like the Savage Sea, Lost Sea and Wintersea can convey that ferocity nicely.

I personally hope that Golarion will contain many, separate, smallish continents to ensure lots of room for future campaigns. I'm thinking decades ahead - because I think Golarion will be a place people will want to visit for a long time!

Having a little "science" and having it far away seems like a great compromise. Now it feels there are four whole worlds to explore ... yipee! A great moment will come for PCs when they arrive on the moon through some arcane portal, or the green and red planets, only to look up towards the heavens and make out a sphere of water ... and land ... and the shape of the Chelish Empire ... what the @#$%! That will be priceless!

My thoughts on the green planet would be to have a "forest moon" idea -one vast emerald swamp, forest and freshwater planet with green, irridescent algae in all of its water. A small alien twist, such as a MINOR increase in gravity, or supernatural fog, or permanent effect on inhabitants and visitors would set it apart.

As for the red planet, a more "dune" idea of reddish sands and volcanic rock. Chlorophyl would need only one change in chemical composition to be red - why not red leaves and plants of every hue? And to make it just alien enough, a black and starlit sky, day and night ... with a brief and blinding sun an hour a day. Don't get caught outside!!!

Wow you guys are responsive: calendars, celestial bodies and now holy symbol descriptions! My wish for their future drawings would be to see a few as they appear in the world - carved into a stone shrine, or emblazoned on a tattered shield - rather than the typically detailed and cartoonish glyph floating on the page. The holy symbol Kyra carries is a perfect example of what I mean. Spectacular effort as usual, guys!

Cheers

I'm with all the positives posted here too. I've said it in Dungeon and I'll say it here again: Paizo has an openness to criticism, a love of creativity, a respect for its readers and a maturity in its readership. I have never been part of a message board before this one, and I am so happy to have found such a confluence of creativity, collaboration and respect. And I'm not just talking about the Paizo staff!

Cheers to you all!

I'm with Kevlar and Fletch on this trip to the moon ... an arcane ship is the way to go. Fortunately, the good folks at Pathfinder create such good adventures, I think it will be easy to change an magic arch to an arcane ship in my own campaign, and vice versa for others. That's half the fun of being a DM ... making it your own!

That being said, in terms of appearance, I'm a fan of huge, rock-like monoliths covered in runes, over a wooden ship with cloth sails heading on through the stratosphere. That Steve Prescot picture of the Creation Forge in Eberron, or Christophe Vacher's floating mountains are what I have in mind.

Cheers

Thanks for the response, guys. I always find this an interesting topic for discussion! My own inspiration came from a graphic novel called Thorgal by Rasinski and Van Hamme- regrettably only in French and Dutch. Great art and a wonderful Medieval world full of Norse myth and a boy who happens to have fallen to earth. Less regretably, I speak a little of both and grew up in Quebec, the only part in North America, until recently to my knowledge, where European graphic novels were popular.

And the balance should be about right: One Sci-Fi enthusiast in a Group of Seven!

Cheers

Dislikers of science fiction in Pathfinder beware - there are aficionados in the ranks! I personally love a little Sci-Fi in the background, and was heartened by James Sutters' confessional - how about you?

My home brewed adventures generally include some science fiction twist - as a 'believable' explanation for magic, including some Asimov-style transducing-lobes beneath those pointy-ears. I have even made spells require 'DUST' to function, the metallic powder of dying stars that has a colour with no name. I usually suggest that Humans were recent arrivals from some crashed ship, and hint that they were also the original terraformers and experimenters responsible for all the biodiversity and magic-wielding races on the planet today. How else can humans interbreed with Orcs and Elves?

But the major point is to make it a background element - something that can just as easily be replaced by the more arcane and mysterious for those who don't like it. A rocket ship of wood and stone, covered with runes and powered by eldritch fire is only a wizard's tower until a PC activates it and a DM likes the idea of a short flight. So while I'm excited about James’ new module and Golarion's Moon - I hope the Sci-Fi remains magically blended and creatively optional. You know what I mean?

Thanks Jason Bulmahn for a wonderful adventure! Totally solid! I especially love the way it blended combat and roleplaying, and the choice of baddies that all had a natural and integrated niche in the Vale. I'm a real fan of ecologies that make sense - even if this is fantasy roleplaying! Good layout too - though I'm suprised you guys chose blue for the tables over green, what with the rosebush theme and all! Looking forward to the next adventure!

Thanks Chris! Thanks Heathansson! I find its a great way to get creative. Tomorrow I'll put together Half-Elves, Sea-Cliffs, Polynesians and American Hippies!

Looking forward to Halfling Knights of the Shadow!

Cheers

This creative exercise for the Pathfinder Messageboards is to combine interesting races, places and cultures that may one day find their way into Golarion. Simply pick an OGL race, an interesting geographical habitat from Varisia or beyond and two inspiring motifs from real-world cultures.

Here are my examples:

Gnomes, the Sanos forest, Australian Aborigines & Medieval Monks.

These forest Gnomes are exiled keepers of lost knowledge. Each family is a guardian of a tree that contains hidden writing within it, and these repositories are copied and recopied over generations. If such a tree is ever lost, damaged or destroyed, a Gnome from the family is encouraged to go on a walkabout to discover knowledge about the world worthy of replacing what was lost.

Another example:

Dwarves, the veldt North of Janderhoff, Big-Game hunters and Mongolian nomads.

Across the veldt and plains South of the Cinderlands, Dwarven hunters track the big game. With magic, engineered ballistae and alchemical substances, these hunters shoot at great distance. Master taxidermists, they trade their precious hides and horns to perpetuate their nomadic, tinkering lifestyle. Living on the hard flat backs of giant beasts, their sturdy tent-encampments and dour yurts can be seen for miles across the plains.

Get the idea?

I'm also a huge fan. I hope to see more of Wayne Reynolds, Andrew Hou, Ramon Perez (admittedly, without cargo pants!), Warren Mahy, and Ben Wooten. My test for greatness is if the art tells a story, and if they can actually do buildings and landscapes - and they all do. Hold onto them!

Is there any possibility for other favorites like Steven Belledin, Steve Prescott, Christophe Vacher – or the various artists who illustrated my esthetically favourite Mysteries of the Moonsea? I think the main dude was William O'Connor. Love that stuff!

How about you guys? Any *reasonable requests* (Not just gene-splicing Elmore / Lockwood / Reynolds into a stylistic superbeast?)

My latest wish for Pathfinder is not to give too much away about the rest of the world too early. I hope the Gazeteer doesn't set every continent and land in stone - and that there will be room for more Gazeteers in the future. Given that Varisia is the size of California, and at least two adventure paths will be comming out of it - a lot of Californias can fit into a world.

Given the great quality of writing, and examples of mysteries that are revealed so far that only serve to create more enticing mysteries - I'm not worried!

Having savage, near-impassable seas and multiple large islands and small continents beyond "the known world of Golarion" that will be revealed slowly over time would be my way to go!

Cheers