DM Jeff's page

Just one really - The Living Greyhawk Gazeteer!

LINKY

The biggest thing I discovered in my home conversions is that re-skinning is really your friend. The more I look at Pathfinder monsters these days, all the number-crunching stuff for 3/4 of the sta t block is generically interchangeable. It's the bizarre and nifty Powers at the bottom like exceptional and spell-like abilities.

Take daemons. No real presence in 5E. So when I needed one, I took the numbers of a 5E demon and just grabbed the text of the special abilities of the Pathfinder version and translated it to 5E. Pretty easy to do. Then changed the alignment to NE and bam.

From the PF Goezspall in Feast of Dust:

Scalding Spray (Ex) As a standard action once every
1d4 rounds, a goezspall can spray a 60-foot line of scalding
water at its enemies that deals 12d6 points of fire damage.
Against creatures, this stream acts as a bull rush. A goezspall
can bull rush creatures of any size with its spray. When using
this ability, a goezspall attempts a combat maneuver check
and applies its results to each creature within the area. This
bull rush does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

"5E-ized":

Scalding Spray (Recharge 4-6) A goezspall can spray a 60-foot line of scalding water at its enemies. Any who fail on a DC 16 Strength saving throw take 12d6 fire damage and are knocked prone. A successful save means half damage and the creature is not knocked prone.

Basics:

Use a clear layout and font people can read.
Have someone edit your words.
Allow a preview of the first few pages so folks know what to expect.
Write something you have a passion for, not what you think the site 'needs'.
Have someone edit your words.
Don't use heavy graphics to suck ink unless you also provide a printer-friendly version.
And most importantly, have someone edit your words.

:-)

In 36 years of playing this game I've had a share of disappointing players that had to get booted but nothing like I've read here.

Humorously tragic was the two player parents who would bring their 2 & 3 year-old kids then let them run loose with no supervision. We found a peanut butter sandwich in the VCR, juice drinks poured into air vents, and the joy the kids had when they found "a little sandbox - WITH tootsie rolls inside"! When the parents found them there, it was classic.

(For the Captain Obvious reference: yes, we have multiple cats.)

Jeff, that pdf is awesome, thanks! The MaD Compendium link appears to be broken though.

Let's try this:

MaD Compendium

:-)

We got 2 feet in NJ where I live. The only disaster was both Saturday AND Sunday D&D games were cancelled. Bah.

There is indeed!

CONVERTER

You copy the text from any Pathfinder monster from the System Reference Document and it spits out a pretty good conversion instantly.

Some special abilities or spellcasting may need to be added depending on how weird but it gets you off to a very good start.

I use masterwork weapons in 5e. I decided if one damage die of the weapon rolls a 1, consider it a 2 instead. That's it.

When I was DM, by the time we ended Reign of Winter and everyone was wrapping up and turning in the magic item cards they collected over the campaign, each player turned in easily between 25-30+ cards, and a few in each case didn’t even know what some did or remembered they had them.

When I played, that by playing smart to avoid or just ignore a bunch of xp-packed encounters meant to level us up and equip us with proper magic weather we wanted to or not (despite our characters and what they would do) we weren’t properly equipped or leveled at the end of Jade Regent to tackle the bad guys. So a heart-felt, passionate, role played speech by Ameiko’s player resulted in an opposed die-roll, followed by a TPK.

What is the "Delve" format¿

Each of the encounter areas is described under its room number, as usual, but with only the basic of trappings. If there is a monster or threat present, you are directed to a 2-page spread in an appendix that has a close-up map of the immediate dungeon area, all trap and monster stats collected, and notes on lighting, terrain

James is right, in general I liked this as it made running the adventure easier, but it was a drawback in the fun factor as far as reading the adventure.

Some 2nd Edition AD&D game at GenCon in the late 90's. Pregens. I was handed a Paladin of Honor that had a personal oath to always face an enemy head on and never use cowardly ranged attacks. The entire adventure was a seafaring one that involved distance combat ship to ship or ship to land. I don't know what nimrod came up with that character in such a scenario but after listing to everyone else do things while I sat around, at the halftime break I removed myself from the table and went to the dealer's hall.

Annoyed me utterly to the point that the next time I joined a game a GenCon was two months back. That went swimmingly well, by comparison.

All the best Sean and Jodi!

Your time at Paizo has been amazing and at the end of the day think of all the travel hassle you'll save going to GenCon. ;-)

There's also a good feeling I have when dealing with Paizo customer service: Because of past history, they've built up a trust factor. I don't suspect my email went missing or was ignored, they're a little busy. Have a little patience, and then they write back, make everything right as rain and we move on. :-)

One thing is to encourage players to be better audience members. When it's not your turn, enjoy the show - don't look for other entertainment outside the game.

When I GM I make sure that a certain bar is set. The players who are ready to go when their initiative comes up get the benefit of the doubt during rulings. I also respond to said actions with equal enthusiasm.

If a turn comes up and someone doesn’t know what to do I suggest “aiding another” if they think they have nothing to offer, I then ask for an action in 10 seconds, then I automatically delay them in combat. This happens a few times and then it doesn’t happen again.
When rolling Initiative for monsters I try to make sure there are at least 2 or 3 different times they get their turn so the initiative is a little mixed up. If there’s skeletons, zombies, a boss and a henchman, they all go on their own turn.

If it’s a city situation or just role-playing I do quick cut scenes between players and their NPC’s, switching back and forth sometimes at random so you’ll never know when you’re up again. Conversations rarely last longer than a minute or two before switching. Roleplaying the NPCs using a good voice can draw attention to the encounter even if you’re not the one interacting.

When I play (which is nowhere near as often), I try to show good manners and set an example. I scan over my feats, skills, equipment or spells. Is there something I have that’s not used often that can be used here? I watch the combat so I know where everyone is. I listen in so if another player has a question I can help them look up a rule or remind them how something works. I collect tiles or minis that have already been used and hand them to the GM to keep the table clear.

I could echo a load of statements above but can add one really bizarre unexplainable thing. I’ve played Greyhawk for 2 years, Eberron for 2 years, Forgotten Realms for over20 and my home brew for a bunch in between.

I’ve been playing in Golarion since I first received Adventure Path #1 and the strangest thing happened: I remember stuff so easily. I remember names, locations and NPCs. I can rattle out stuff off the top of my head without constantly consulting sourcebooks or saying “you know, that guy…who builds the best ships” or “that place, past the desert…with the elves, you know”.

I’m no walking Golarion encyclopedia and I’m not getting any younger but for some reason I feel at home here and remembering names easily is just one small part of the magic.

Similar to my thread with a Kaer Maga Index, here is an index for Magnimar City of Monuments

We just finished up Skull & Shackles last night! I was waiting till then to respond to this thread. Having played it, I can say it left me with two impressions I never had from any other AP I’ve run, and I’ve ran six.

First, when we wrapped up last night it somehow didn’t feel like the end. The last book was over but there were so many things the group never got around to doing. Having the treasure side quests in the covers to hand out and with access to the support articles and the Isles of the Shackles book, there’s enough material to sustain a game for years. But on the medium advancement track it’s hard to sustain it all over the course of the campaign.

Second, this sucker has replay potential like none other. I could literally run this for two or three different groups start to finish and because of the sheer number of options, character interests and decisions it would feel like a completely new game each time I’m sure.
Of course with that last notation comes agreement with what someone posted above: this campaign doesn’t do it all for you. A GM is going to have to do prep and keep ahead of locations and story to run an entertaining game.

Now to your questions!
>>Are there any parts of the campaign that come off as weak or in need of work?

Not necessarily weak but not to my or my player’s liking. Books 3 and 5 have a scavenger hunt-like feel to them that I tightened up a LOT. I kept the basic storyline intact but streamlined a number of the situations and used these books more as toolkits than running them straight as-is. Otherwise the books were great. I find the criticism of including some ‘dungeons’ to go through as a bad thing is just strange. They’re towers and seaside forts and ancient ruins that fit right in with the story – there’s tons of seafaring action, so a chance to map some rooms is great!

>>Are there any changes you'd recommend to any characters or story elements?

As mentioned, read the books ahead of time and make notes as you go. Your group may like the running around gathering feel of books 3 and 5 and will need less work.

My only other hint may not apply to all, but you know on the really cool “hand-drawn” map of the Shackles in the Map Folio? There’s a giant whale with a fort on its back depicted. My group looked at that and all asked “what is that?!” I told them it was an old legend the maker of the map must have included. They weren’t buying it and I knew I had to find a way to integrate it into the game before the end. I pulled it off by using elements in the Kobold Press book “To The Edge of the World” and merging it with the island/tower adventure of book 5. Nuff said.

Also, check out this thread to look into getting a copy of the ‘director’s cut’ of book 6. It brings to light a lot of detail and situational elements they cut for size but it helps a great deal in prepping to run it.

>>Is the naval combat system good?

As written the ship-to-ship rules were not liked, because it didn’t engage the entire table. There’s a post here with advice we used that turned that all around however, and then the system worked just fine. Also, the fleet battles rules worked very well with only two house rule tweaks. We allowed different sized ships into the same squadron and had more criteria for when to make a morale check (in playtesting we had squadrons that got pulverized stick around and others that were untouched that fled because of poor dice rolls which seemed very weird).

>>Also, how does Skull & Shackles stand up against the other APs?
This comes from a biased standpoint because my favorite AP’s are the sandbox ones. With that in mind the only one that could tie or beat Skull & Shackles is Kingmaker. It’s such an open sandbox experience on an even larger scale than Kingmaker it is literally difficult for me to pick a favorite between the two. It’s hard to even compare to the AP’s with a more determined storyline and how the players get from point to point.

With that aside it’s a great AP in my group’s opinion that stands with the big hitters like Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne.

In Shattered Star we have a grand adventure set in Kaer Maga, and I hadn’t run anything there in a couple of years. While recently becoming reacquainted with this city and its sourcebook, I realized for quick lookup purposes during play I needed an index of locations. The following text places the numbered location on the map of the city in the Shattered Star Map Folio to the page numbers in the source book City of Strangers. It also has small notes to jog my memory thus possible spoilers. I thought it might help to share here.

Also, I got a huge kick out of the “seen on a street corner” sidebar in City of Strangers, but I’ve wore it out over the years and needed some more. Here are 20, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Enjoy!

Here are a bunch of freebie tables we posted on messageboards and came up with "after hours" to share with Paizo and En World: LINK

Currently mine are still empty links under "Still to Come" but I sure am looking forward to these!

The... scarcity of comments for parts 5 and 6 is sort of... odd. Or does everyone modify these parts beyond recognition ?

We’re halfway through book 5. I too was wondering if many didn’t go off the beaten path. I was tempted myself. I ran a lot of little side treks. I have a whole host of maritime adventure material plus the very well written Guide to the Shackles (which itself spawns tons of ideas). So I wanted to use them in the sandbox vein of “let them sail where they may and the currents bring them adventure”.

To sum up, after the awesome start and set-up of books 1 and 2, and with groups wanting control of their own destiny when presented with the open seas, I bet there are plenty of groups who go their own way. After all…pirates.

I’m returning after my post above because I remembered something. Carrion Crown - and filling in the blanks between books in an otherwise really great campaign.

Between each book, which took part in vastly different locales, there were days of travel with no real support. You just "Indiana Jones’ red-lined" it across the landscape. This may have been by design, but what it made for was more GM work than I’m used to. Before the game began I needed to put a map of Ustalav in a drawing program, map out the different locales noting which book they were in, then individually research what was between them so I could run a satisfactory game (my players like to stop and smell the roses at times).

If each book in Carrion Crown had taken the map (no new cartography required), just blown up the section between that book and the next, then included some ideas for interesting encounters that were not necessarily monster or combat related, this would have saved me a ton of time. Instead between each book I combed Rule of Fear (an awesome book), but even it wasn’t able to go “close up” regarding some of the travel assumed.

Someone else on these boards kept asking about a campaign “road map” and this was the first AP where I really felt like those 6 pages per book could have been used to help a GM connect the books together a little more.

I certainly don’t expect pity, I am a hard working GM who doesn’t mind the research put into my games, it just seemed for some reason that my time should have been better spent than connecting the adventures. Certainly, even if a GM is just running the one adventure a few extra incedental encounter or bare-bones town ideas wouldn't hurt!

I haven’t chimed in on this before too much, but it seems Paizo’s stance on this has become more fluid, so I shall reiterate that I think the AP’s would be better off without the fiction.

• My wife reads the novels, but not the AP fiction. Why? She just says they’re too short for her to get fully into.

• Episodic, sometimes by different authors. I won’t even start reading them until I have all six issues in a set. And the AP’s I don’t plan to run I don’t read the fiction at all.

• Hit or Miss. A few I’ve tried starting but after the first one or two lose interest because I see I’m not getting anything out of it to help me run the AP. As GM I’m interested in them as part of the AP I’m running. If it seems to be just set ‘somewhere in the area’ or for flavor it’s not as important to me as if it was more, I don’t know, “targeted” toward the AP?

CASE IN POINT: if the fiction for Shattered Star was all set in Magnimar dealing with different locations in the city, describing them, the mannerisms of the people or giving me GM fuel to use, that’s one thing. The story starts in Riddleport, which is neat, but the AP doesn’t even go there (uh, spoiler?)!

So what’s become of it? After Kingmaker’s fiction (which had a really funny part dealing with nuns) I haven’t read any installments since, and only a handful before that. In prepping for my games it hasn’t added value to the adventure, the core reason I subscribe.

1) If the 6 pages were GM fodder I would even be more interested in “fiction”. Get this: I would be more inclined to read the fiction if in Shattered Star there was an adventure set in and around the city watch of the Arvensoar. Meeting some characters (not even in the AP!) getting the ins and outs, the architecture, splendor across to help my own descriptions. Heck, even if each chapter explored a mini transaction in 6 different Magnimar locations, like “a day in the life” would be better. And they wouldn’t have to be in the AP, just something extra for me to use.

2) A couple of more monsters that would be in the area but do not necessarily show up in the AP would be better suited to this, my tool as a GM, than the fiction.

3) GM advice. Sometimes this gets a paragraph or two in the foreword and I relish it! Anything regarding liner notes, things to watch for, alternate workarounds, etc.

4) And finally, if in general the editor’s have a conundrum where they have to cut something the author wrote for the adventure due to space, I would sure appreciate that in the AP than the fiction.

To summarize, I don’t think the fiction is not quality work, it just doesn’t suit any purpose the way every other page in the AP does (directly supporting me, the GM, to the adventure).

Thanks Paizo for listening.

The flip mats are now printed on thinner stock and I'm not sure that I like the change.

Someone gave the amazingly done flip mats for Thornkeep a lower review based on the thinner stock too but I can’t figure out what the concern is. I took out an older mat and compared them; the new ones are obviously thinner but seem just as sturdy overall, work the same and have great art. They actually lay out a little flatter on the table too. I’m not disagreeing with you per se I just wanted to know what your concern is.

DM Jeff wrote:

I’m assuming this means I am on the list of folks to receive the book?

Thanks Frogs, thanks Nic, and HUZZAH to this being made for Pathfinder!

Jeff, if you got that email, it means you should be on the list. If you want to double and triple check, you can plug in your original order email at the bottom of the page here. Also lets you update your shipping and email info.

Thanks for keeping the faith and for backing! If you jump in at the $110 level they bump you to the $150 which now includes a LOT of extras, including all the 3PP Pirate Pack of PDFs. Ah, alliteration, always acts with actinic activation and accelerates the altitude of my attitude. :)

I'm on it! AND now I've just posted my $110 pledge, the first time I ever backed a Kickstarter project; this is a recipe for amazing. Thanks again!

Golarion is the most racialy diverse campaign my players and I have ever known. For the first time in my 30+ years of playing, folks are actually putting great thought into they type of human they are, not just 'human'.

It makes for a better game, and Paizo's done it.

Here's how my DMV campaign went a couple years back:

Into the Haunted Forest
Crown of the Kobold King
Howl of the Wolf (Necromancer Games' Glades of Death)
Timber Rivalry (Necromancer Games' Glades of Death)
Revenge of the Kobold King
Hungry are the Dead
Tower of the Last Baron
Treasure of Chimera Cove
The Volcano Caves (Dungeon Crawl Classic #19)
Beyond the Vault of Souls
Winter Council
Valbryn Morlydd (WotC's Exemplars of Evil)

I also watched the first 10 episodes of the series Deadwood for town flavor and based the mayor off of Gene Hackman's character in The Quick and the Dead.

Good question! I was really thrilled by the megadungeon and flip-mat news, but no one in our house does MMO's. If I can't get it on its own, that will be a shame. We still wish Goblinworks and Paizo all the best success with it but we're just not computer gamers.

I like this change a LOT. Also - Mike Shel. Win!

I have a great interest in tracking down a sound file of a possible song coming from Windsong Abbey to play while the players explore...

Well, look what I found! Complete with sound file and all.

Remember when I said "If it's the 3PP I think it is I rejoice for Nic's good fortune and can't wait to jump back on this bandwagon."?

THIS is EXACTLY the 3pp I hoped would get it. MAGNIFICENT.

Laori Vaus from Curse of the Crimson Throne gets the win with my group.

The Beast from Carrion Crown comes in close second.

And the NPC they loved to hate most was Gregori the Bard from Kingmaker.

BEHOLD the mighty and oft-craved for Table Of Contents!

I've been a little pain about this regarding previous products in this line and the chronicles series, but the new format has a table of contents each a I really, really appreciate.

Once again Paizo perks up and listens - three cheers to the Pit!

I'm such a curmudgeon. Star Wars Saga Edition all the way for my crew.

Part the first:

After listening to my wife rant out loud for minutes on end about the magazine cancellations I said “Well, we have about 3-4 months of our sub left, and we can convert it to their new thing Pathfinder. It’s supposed to be like both Dungeon and Dragon rolled into one. “ My wife: *sniff*”OK…”

Part the second:

In the ‘Paizo is still undecided’ thread, which I read wide-eyed and hit refresh throughout the workday to follow, I finally posted “Enough is enough. You ask our opinion? If you stick with 3.5 I will make all future gaming purchases through your store. You’ll have earned my eternal loyalty.” That has stuck to this day.

Part the third:

My players: “So you don’t want to even try 4th edition?” Me: “Not at all. Now, you all have your characters ready? Good. Let me tell you about your home town of Sandpoint…”

No matter how that 1075 number may dip over the years for whatever reason, I’ll gladly remain one, because while I’m aware of my loyalty to Paizo…my players and I directly benefit from their loyalty to us and the game we love.

Another vote for this needed flip-mat.

Fairly sure there is one in the war room of House Thrune.

Reaver-like barbarians called the kuru are in the Isles of the Shackles sourcebook.

Here's a level-up cheat sheet I created for my more "casual" players: LEVEL UP

And all this said... there's no reason why anyone can't just keep using kuo-toa in their home games if they like them.

So say we all. ;-)

How nice of you to ask, I was seeking a good segue to lead into this!

I am running the same set of adventures, and realized the same thing. I am filling the 'in between times' with adventures and leads from the Necromancer Games book "Glades of Death". Print copies might be hard to come by but the PDF is for sale.

There are 3 or 4 adventures in there that just reek of locations directly in Darkmoon Vale, like the Wolfrun Hills and Darkmoon Wood. Just a little name changing and they're good to go.

It's written for 3.5 and so there is minimal work to adapt them.

For a long time now, I have had an idea to create a sandboxed portion of a gaming world where the characters are free to do exactly what they want. Maybe they'll head out to the mountains in search for some adventure? Maybe they will go down to the dockside tavern to see if someone needs adventurers? Maybe the church of Pelor needs help?

Anyway, I don't know if this made any sense, but what I'm looking for is a product (city product, regional product) that describes a location in great detail, which I then can improve upon.

I think you just described Necromancer's Lost City of Barakus hardcover.

-DM Jeff

**Spoilers by Necessity**

My group has finished Book 1 and are about to head into the Skinsaw Murders. During downtime, a number of my players have asked what will Ameiko do with the Glassworks now that her father is ceased to be, and all the workers were murdered by goblins. :-)

This coming session I have investors from around the area coming in to look over the building and speak with Ameiko. It'll give the party new folks to work with and I can empart some knowledge of the world outside Varisia to them.

I was curious how other DMs were handling this?

-DM Jeff