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I just got my next "going to ship" email, but the two September Chonicles books (Seekers of Secrets & Princes of Darkness) are not on there. Are they going to be late? They are listed as "Early Sept" just as Pathfinder #26.
No it wouldn't, just print out a cover sheet and a back sheet and glue them to the UPS/USPS box ;)
The one thing that really bothered me was Xavier's appearance. If he was there, then he was aware of everything going on, including the reasons for Wolverine's amnesia. This puts the X-Men movies in a different light since Xavier should know exactly why Wolverine can't remember and lies to him about it. I suppose with Cyclops, the experiments done to him by Weapon X are the reason he can't control his powers in this reality. And was that supposed to be Quicksilver strapped up with the kids?
One little suggestion, could we list the Barbarian's Rage powers by level gained? One thing I always do when I have a new class to play with is to create a 20th level NPC just to get a feel of what the "ultimate" version is. But with the barbarian, I was slowed down by going back and forth with the "he gets this power at this level". I think it would make it easier for a DM to create mid to high level NPC Barbarians if the list was by level accessed.
10ft ladders are more common than 10ft poles. I can think several places in my town where I could buy the ladder, with many options on style, materials and quality. I don't know of any place that would have a 10ft pole in stock. Most lumber is in 6ft or 8ft sizes, most paint poles would be 4ft to 6ft, aside from expanding pruning poles saws, that 10ft pole would be special order.
I thought minions might be interesting, but then I saw the WoTC stats for the Legion Devil. Why would you create a Level 21 creature with Fie Resistance, Teleport, AC 37, High Saves and only 1 hp? It just doesn't make sense to me. What is to stop a player from recognizing a minion for what it is and just slaping out of the way? I mean a good B!tchslap does at least 1 hp damage, right? In the Wicked Fantasy Factory adventures from Goodman Games, some creatures are designated "Mooks". When you face them, every PC is considered to have the Cleave feat (Improved Cleave if you already have it) and all Crits are automatic.
When I was working the Psionic races into Pathfinder, I decided to make Maenads and Xephs children of the Runelords of Wrath and Pride. They were created by them and survived the fall of their masters. What races would make good children of the other Runelords? Lust =
I think Favored Class should work like Occupations in D20 Modern. You would get to choose 2 or 3 skills that are considered class skills no matter what class you level in and you gain +1 rank to those skills. You would get a special bonus based off the class, possibly chosen from several options. The one key advantage to choosing any class as your Favored is when you consider just how many classes there are in 3.5 D&D.
I am a charter Pathfinder subscriber and I decided to add the subscriptions to Pathfinder modules and chronicles. And I have my shipping options set for everything to ship with my Pathfinder adventure path, but I was wondering, if I order something else from the Pazio store, can waiting items be included with them? For example, I just ordered the two new Mutants & Masterminds books (#650176) and the next Chronilces release (Gazateer) is pending (and for some reason was not included with Pathfinder 9 which just shipped without it), can it be added to the M&M order? In the future, can pending orders from my subscriptions be added to other orders and if so would I have to ask each time?
I really like the Auras, a Paladin is supposed to be a beacon to his allies. I also like all the Bond options. If you don't want a Familiar/Animal/Warhorse, you have another option, not just a wasted option. As to the value of the Divine Bond/Weapon, the ability to choose a weapon enhancement is the big boon. Having played a Soul Knife, being able to modify your mind blade to your enemies weaknesses by way of enhancements is a great advantage over a basic magic weapon.
How about a compiled Iconic page since they are scattered within your Blog?
We interupt your regular Omni-cast for this special Legion Update. I don't know how many of you have been reading the curent Action comics arc with Superman being reunited with the Original LSH, but I got the last issue yesterday, and while it was great to see "my Legion" again, the last three pages are better! Comming in August; Superman & the Legion of Superheroes VS Superman-Prime and the Legion of Supervillains.....Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds
Oh and yes, that is XS in the background behind the Time Trapper isn't it? Hmmm and is that the main Oan Green Lantern battery shattered behind her? We now return you to your regular Omni-cast programing; Can you find the Durlan?
OK, I went back and re-did the PCs, but this time I multi-classed them; 5/5. Dropping the Rogue to 5th level, he losses;
Taking 5 levels of Fighter gains;
So my archer can keep the four archery feats (3 fighter + 1 Combat Trick) and still take another Rogue Talent. So yes, this version is a better warrior, but a much worse Sniper. The +1 to hit/ to damage all the time is good, but since most of his sniper shots will be when Sneak Attack applies (and it now applies to all targets), I would rather have the +2d6 bonus. The Magical Rogue gains much as a 5th level Wizard;
This does not relect the character concept at all. I want a Rogue that could have been a great wizard if given a chance. His magic seeps out with his Minor/major magic talents and his feats. Being able to cast two cantrips twice a day in no match to unlimited casting of cantrips. Basically what I want here is the ability to touch on an aspect of another class without having to multi-class and then losing out on what your main class offers. I want the two PCs above to be Rogues first and foremost, but rogues with a singular combat expertise or a little magical talent. I used to have my "Company of Half-Elves", an adventuring party that allowed me to fill any role in a new game that was needed. The Cleric was a priestess of Tymora and to represent her "letting everything go to chance" in battle, she took a level of Barbarian. The Rage was her leaving it to luck, but it did cost her a couple of levels of Cleric (the Uncanny Dodge and Trapsense +1 were also an aspect of Luck). One complaint many have about 3rd edition is the "need" to multi-class or go to a prestige class. There are many Prestige class options that could be built into the classes as options similar to the Rogue Talents.
When WotC released a sneak peak at the 4E Rogue, my first thought was some of my all-time favorite Rogue PCs. From what I saw of the 4E Rogue, none of them could be created wth those rules. So no we have Pathfinder rules, can they be made with these rules.
I had to multiclass several of them to create the character I had in mind, but with Pathfider rules, I was able to create them as a single class 10th level Rogue. I did break one rule though, that Rogue Talents cannot be be selected more than once. I would suggest that Combat Trick, Minor/Major Magic and Weapon Training be available multiple times. One of my old PCs was a Archer, but more sniper than Legolas. Where I previously had to go Rogue/Fighter or the feats, here I just took 4 Combat Tricks for Archery feats, a few more from the normal feats and Crippling Strike and now we have a very dangerous and stealthy Archer. Another was the first 3E character I played, a Rogue/ Sorcerer. Here I took the Minor/ Major Magic talents multiple times and combined them with Dispelling Attack and Arcane Strike, and I created a very Grey Mouser-like PC. Now the next one was one of my all time favorite PCs, an AD&D dual class Human Thief/ Illusionist. The ability to endow his Rapier with Arcane Bond and the Illusion school abilities would make him a very fun swashbuckler to play again. I have to say that Pathfinder does make me wish I had an active game right now and the time to play. These rules are inspiring, they make me want to start all over again at 1st level.
The bard does have many flavors. The original 1E Bard was basically the first Prestige class of D&D, as you had to have levels in Fighter, Thief and Magic User first. The 2E & 3E bards were a gestalt of those three classes, but with emphasis on music. This is unusual compared to other classes because the special abilities were dependent on you having enougth skill points to actually use them. Now if you consider a "Bard" a combination of three classes, then these are also "Bardic" classes; Factotum (Dungenscape): Stupid name, but great class. And it is Proto-4E with it's encounter based Inspiration points abilities. Healer (Mini Handbook): Broken class, but can be fixed and made into an interesing expert-style class. Hex Blade (Complete Warrior): Nice idea, but I would like it to be focused more on curse-weaving instead of combat. It could be a nice assassin-bard, like from Dark Sun. Ninja (Compete Adventurer); Very nice, especially with the spell-like abilites instead of spells. Beguiler (Player's Handbook II): The true charmer of the bardic classes. Makes a great con-artist, grifter and spy. Basiran Dancer (Kalamar): More monk than fighter and can use her dancing to fight and cast spells. Akashic (Arcana Evolved): The best Psionic Bard out there, using a combination of Telepathy and Clairvoyance to gain their knowledge and abilities. Monte Cook's Variant Bard (Book of Eldritch Might II): Takes the music aspect to the next level by replacing spells with Spellsongs.
Be sure to take a look at Monte's Book of Experimental Might. Paladins and Rangers lose all their spells, but gain the choice in various Discipline abilities. And with new disciplines based on Alignment or Deity, you could have non-LG Paladins. While I agree the Paladin should be LG, there is no reason why other deities could not have Champions too. One of my problems with both Paladins and Monks is that too many of their abilities are built-in with no choice to the player. Add in the limited number of feats they get and there is very little to make one Paladin different from another. As to the Poke-mounts, I would not mind if they were actual Celetial creatures comming to the aid of the Paladin. In a world full of magic, saying "I can summon a horse!" is not going to get very many Bardic songs in your honor.
I would favor some kind of Craft Point system, based on level and number of craft feats you have. I would also add that rare materials (Mithril ore, Hide of a Displacer Beast, Blood of a Dragon) provide bonus Craft Points to certain items. My biggest problem with crafting items are the feats themselves. I prefer feats based on what the item does, like those in Arcana Evolved not what it is. Craft Alchemical Item: Includes Masterwork Items, Alloy Weapons, Herbal Medicine, Treated Hides Craft Spell-Completion Item: Scroll, Runestone, Powerstone, Fetish Craft Single-Use Item: Potion, Tattoo, Token Craft Charged Item: Wand, Dorje, even a ring or sword can have limited charges. Craft Minor Trigger Item: Usable 3 times per day. Also can be used to put restriction on items; Elf only, Paladin only, etc,. Craft Major Trigger Item: Usable under certan conditions, recharge item, Legacy Item Craft Permanent Item: Allways on item Certain Items would require a combination of Craft Feats, for example a Wizard's Staff would require Craft Spell-Completion, Craft Charged, and Craft Craft Trigger (either). A powerfull magical sword would require Craft Alchemical, Craft Trigger (either) and Craft Permanent.
I already posted my ideas on how the Psionic races would fit into Golarion, and I've copied it here; Spoiler:
Once psionics was almost as common as magic, but as the Runelords rose to power, they viewed any power they did not control as a threat and they targeted anyone who manifested psionic powers.
The most powerfull manifesters were a tribe of Dwarves in the Mindspin mountains, but a combination of magical diseases and curse magic forced the dwarves to retreat into the Deep Earth and become the degernerate Duergar known today. This attack did not go unobserved among the Human manifesters. A large group decided to flee to the Astral Plane for their safety and it is believed that they became the Githyanki and Githzerai races over the next 10,000 years. The last group who tried to leave were attacked by agents of the Runelords and their gate malfunctioned and flung them to some Far off Realm. It is believed that they were changed by this Realm and became abominations beyond description. The remaining psionic users were forced to retreat to a mountain monestary of a powerful Seer. When the Runelords made their move, they found all of the manifesters dead. Even the Runelords were puzzeled by what they found and the mystery of the deaths has remained for 10,000 years. But in the last few decades a possible answer hs appeared in the form of the Elan. No one knows exactly where they come from, they are normal humans untill their "awakening", after which they are Elan. Some belive that those ancient Psions attemped a form of Psionic Reincarnation and the Elan are the result of this power. The insect races of Dromites and Thri Kreen are found to the far south and have little to do with most other races. Recently it was decided among the hives that they need to know more about these strange speaking animals to the north, so explorers and spies have been sent to these strange northern lands. Half Giants are similar to Ogrekin, as the result of crossbreeding with humans, but in their case, they have avoided the mutations and inbreeding of the Ogrekin. Many Half giants want nothing to do with thei giant kin and have fled to try to live among their human cousins. The last two psionic races Maenads and Xephs are liiterally the children of the Runelords. The Maenad race was created by Alaznist, the Runelord of Wrath, and survived the fall of Bakrakham by becoming masters of the seas.
Now, to do the same with the psionic classes. Psion: I have always had one problem with Psions, All Psions are specialists, yet they really are not special. But with the way Pathfinder does the Arcane Schools, the Psionics Disciplines can make psions special. I would make the following changes; 1: Bring back Zero level talents 2: Fold the Discipline power list into the Psion/ Wilder list. 3: Certain powers need to be redone; Astral Consruct needs to be split back into 9 separate powers. The augments for these powers should augment the size, nature and numbers, but only Shapers should be able to augment the level of the construct.
4: Metamorphosis will get the same treatment Polymorph gets, personally I would split it into several powers; Alter Self, Animorph, Aberration, Elemental Form, Giant Form, Faerie Form, Inanimate Form, Dragonmorph, etc. Again, I would allow Egoist to augment these in special ways. 5: Psion Disciplines would give them access to many of the powers on their 3.5 discipline power list. I would also add augments to many powers that are exclusive to the specialists. 6: I would add a generalist discipline, similar to the Erudite. I would base it off the 3.0 power Emulate power, allowing them to emulate powers they do not know. Other special abilities would be based off powers like Feat Leech and Power Leech. Psychic Warrior I once played in a Arcana Evolved game using the Ritual Warrior as an Akashic Warrior. Instead of training riuals, his special abilities came from taping into the Akashic for tactical knowledge. Personally, that is how I would prefer to do Psychic Warriors. I would let them keep their power points so that they can still learn powers by way of Expanded Knowledge and they would be able to augment their rituals with power points as well. Soul Knife: The one problem I have with them is the lack of powers, but this can be fixed by replacing Wild Talent with Hidden Talent and giving them Power points. Then they can use Expanded Knowledge to gain select powers. Wilder: The Wilder does need something to set it appar from Psions and the Enervation aspect of Wild Surge needs to be redone, it gets worse as you level. The lingeing effects of the 4E Sorcerer sound interesting or theme-based powers like the Ardents Mantles would also work. I personally see Wilders as "Theme Casters", Like Robin from Witch Hunter Robin using fire and destructive powers. Other classes; The Akashic from Arcana Evolved can make a great Psionic Bard and many of the classes from Dreamscarred Press can be used as is. The Morphean is a great psionic rogue, the Marksman is a psionic archer, and the Halo Knight, Enlightened Monk and several Soul Knife variants are all great additions to your psionic rules and almost all of them would work as is, no conversion needed.
The crickets weren't chirping, they were LOLing. This stuff is very usefull, I was thinking that Ameiko would be a good side trek/ NPC support. Has anyone fully stated her out?
I am afraid that 4E will have no challenge for me and therefore not be any "fun". If you start will lots of hps, can heal yourself with Healing surges and by punching someone in the face, can go deep into negative hit points and if you do die and you are high enough level, you can even raise yourself (and nothing says "video game" more than extra lives), where is the challenge? As I see more actual 4E content, the more simplified it looks to me. Look at the 4E spells, where Prismatic Ray has 7 effects, Prismatic Beam only has three. The monster stats look more like a miniature card that an Monster Manual entry and the magic items all seemed "blah"; +1 to this and +1 to that. That is not my definition of a Wonderous Item. I am also afraid that 3E will fall aside and be lost. Even if there are companies that support it, I would not put it by WotC to start going after them if 4E does not sell well. I am afraid that it will divide the gaming community even more than it already has. I no longer feel welcome at ENWorld, they are fast becoming a 4E only board. If it wasn't for their news page, I might not even visit there any more.
1: No, I will look at it, but I will steal any good ideas for my 3.5 game. My home setting it too dependant on the options that 3.5 brings to the table and it will be almost 2 years before 4E even covers Psionics. 2: I would cancel my subscription to Pathfinder, personally I would suggest that if Paizo does go 4E that you make it a new subscription. (Save wear and tear on Cosmo)
3: I would keep my Pathfiner Subscription and continue to buy Gamemastery adventures.
Well, Amazon messed up one of my orders and gave me a gift card, so I got the two 4E preview books. If the Halfling pictures weren't labeled, I would not know they were Halflings!
No hairy feet, nothing to show perspective of how tall they are, just braided hair,.....yeah when I think of braids, Halflings are not the first thing to come to my mind.
Oh good, I wasn't the only one watching Planet of the Apes the other day, because that was the first thing to cross my mind. The second thing was; GAMMArealms!!!!!!!! Play as a Spellplague mutant dragonborn, flee before the might of unstopable Warforged death machines and marvel at the bizzare landscapes of this gods forsaken realm.
Here's how I used the psionic races; Spoiler: Once psionics was almost as common as magic, but as the Runelords rose to power, they viewed any power they did not control as a threat and they targeted anyone who manifested psionic powers. The most powerfull manifesters were a tribe of Dwarves in the Mindspin mountains, but a combination of magical diseases and curse magic forced the dwarves to retreat into the Deep Earth and become the degernerate Duergar known today. This attack did not go unobserved among the Human manifesters. A large group decided to flee to the Astral Plane for their safety and it is believed that they became the Githyanki and Githzerai races over the next 10,000 years. The last group who tried to leave were attacked by agents of the Runelords and their gate malfunctioned and flung them to some Far off Realm. It is believed that they were changed by this Realm and became abominations beyond description. The remaining psionic users were forced to retreat to a mountain monestary of a powerful Seer. When the Runelords made their move, they found all of the manifesters dead. Even the Runelords were puzzeled by what they found and the mystery of the deaths has remained for 10,000 years. But in the last few decades a possible answer hs appeared in the form of the Elan. No one knows exactly where they come from, they are normal humans untill their "awakening", after which they are Elan. Some belive that those ancient Psions attemped a form of Psionic Reincarnation and the Elan are the result of this power. The insect races of Dromites and Thri Kreen are found to the far south and have little to do with most other races. Recently it was decided among the hives that they need to know more about these strange speaking animals to the north, so explorers and spies have been sent to these strange northern lands. Half giants are similar to Ogrekin, as the result of crossbreeding with humans, but in their case, they have avoided the mutations and inbreeding of the Ogrekin. Many Half giants want nothing to do with thei giant kin and have fled to try to live among their human cousins. The last two psionic races Maenads and Xephs are liiterally the children of the Runelords. The Maenad race was created by Alaznist, the Runelord of Wrath, and survived the fall of Bakrakham by becoming masters of the seas.
1. Generating numbers for NPCs is like doing (really boring) homework. Not if you reach for your Dungeon Magazines, they are full of NPCs just waiting to me modified for your game. Oh but you cancelled that resource, didn't you? 2. The game seems to function best at about levels 5 to 12.
Actually I would say all three of these depend more on the people playing the game and not the game itself. And I don't know what "Swingy" means. Is this another one of those WoW terms, like Agro? 5. The CR system is confusing and produces wonky results. Never had any problems with it. Personally, I don't care if my monsters "balance" with the PCs, They're Monsters! They're supposed to be "unbalanced". When facing a Vampire, you are supposed to be afraid! 6. Spellcasters outclass everyone else. Again, this depends more on the players and DM. One of the best aspects of 3rd edition is that the different clases all have something they are best at. If 4E gives everyone magic, everyone weapons and armor, everyone skills, then noboby will be special. 7. Multiclassing works for only certain combinations. Classic tropes (warrior-wizards) need new core classes because the core system doesn't work. I have always seen Wizards and Fighters on opposite ends of the class spectrum, they should not blend easily. And we have new core classes; Hex Blade, Marshal, Psychic Warrior, Lurk, Book of Nine Swords classes, Mage Blades, etc..how many more do you need? 8. Characters have too few skill points. Then do what I did; everyone has all Class Skills with their Class Level in Ranks. Skill points are what makes you better than the NPC next to you, as they don't get the bonus skill points. This also makes NPC creation easier, a group of 5th level Rogues all have 5 ranks in all skills, no need to even write it down. 9. Monsters are unnecessarily complicated. Only if you make them that way. 10. You don't get enough feats. Then fill in the dead levels with feats. 11. Attacks of opportunity are confusing. Not to me. 12. Magic items are really important, but it isn't equal. Some items are critical, others are complete chaff. So, some of the most memorable items my PCs have had were complete chaff. Back in the 1e Balton's Beacon, my half elven Thief/Magic User got ahold of the Vorpal Razor. Of course it had the one restriction that it could not harm living flesh. But need a rope cut? Want those steel bars out of your way? I had lots of fun with that razor! Remember, the game is supposed to fun, right? 13. There are a number of weird little subsystems that introduce unnecessary complexity, like grappling. Again, it is only as complex as you allow it to be. If grappling needs fixing, then fix it. There is no need to demolish the house because a faucet drips.
I think I almost threw up a little reading that. The Forgotten Realms Grey boxed set was the first time I discovered the concept of a "Game Setting". Before that, we were just playing adventures with no thought of world concepts. But the Grey Box changed that, now I had new ideas, new concepts and, well, an all new Realm to explore and for the first time for me, to DM. The Realms is where I learned to be a Dungeon Master. It was exactly what I wanted, lots of details, I love the fluff. I specially loved how they blended the nations with bits of real world history, because as a history buff it allowed me to "get it" right away. The Realms novels got me back into reading novel again and also brought life to the people fo the Realms by giving them a voice. They inspired me to create my own Realms in places; A half elven nation, an island of Psionicists and more. My favorite PCs are from the Realms and my most memorable sesions as a Player and as a DM all came from the Forgotten Realms,.... and now it is gone. I think I realize the one thing that I "hate" the most about 4E, taking someone elses work and trashing it. Think about just how many writers, designers, artists, authors and gamers actually created the Realms that we knew. Add to that all the home-brewed settings out there. And now it is gone...just like that. Of course they didn't destroy all of it. They kept the parts they liked and used, but the rest, just tear it up and throw it in the trash. What are they, 5 years old?? I really don't understand why. Why not create a new core setting built around 4E? One of the reasons Eberron works so well with 3E is because it was created by those rules. There was no adapting it, this is how it was from the start. And for 4E to succeed, it needs a setting crafted specifically for its rules. Re-writing the Realms, just destroys all the work other authors and designers did in the first place.
So I roll a Critical Hit and I do Maximum Damage. But if I roll Maximum Damage, was it a Critical Hit? Also, I don't understand how it simplifies the game to replace one dice roll, that many people already house-ruled out, with a table that has to contain every weapon, its type, and if it has "special" qualities and a decription of those qualties?
Yes, because we are seeing that 4E is a different game. You could draw a comparison between D&D 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 3.5 editions and Football in High School, College and NFL. You could even add in Arena Football, Flag Football, Canadian Football and the XFL. They all share the same basic rules and are essentially the same game. Someone who knows how to play one of these can learn quickly to play any of these. 4E is English Football, you know Soccer. It is a different game, and it is not a game I grew up playing and watching, so I find it boring. Yes, some of the terminology is the same, but "Offsides" in the NFL means something different than it does in English Football. And that is the problem with 4E, words do not mean the same thing (Eladrin, Death Knight, Ice Devil), basic aspects have changed (Magic, Devils, Elemental Planes) and much of what I consider "must have" for my game is missing (Psionics, Eberron, Gnomes, 7 Schools of magic, Bards). Sure they will eventually get around to adding them, but be honest, would you buy a video game that promised you a needed update 2 years from now? (Remember E-Tools?) They are step by step invalidating my knowledge and experience of playing and DMing D&D, they are invalidating every PC I have every played and they are invalidating mine and everyones Home-Brewed Setting. My confidence as a Player or a DM is based on my knowledge of the game and changing what things mean will only cause confusion. And telling me I should just throw all my old PCs, DMs notes and Home-setting in the garbage just causes anger. But as on another 4E thread, my anger has moved on to depression and is now becoming acceptence to the fact that they just don't care. By 4E's release, I should be ready for Revenge!!
Quick, I need a map to these guys homes and all the garden gnomes in a three state area by tomorow morning. |
