Derron42's page

As a heads-up, please don't engage in edition wars. That's one way to surely sour my mood on providing free extra stuff.

James - I appreciate your candor and for taking the time to respond. I can promise I would never nitpick and would enjoy seeing the crunch, even though it's 1st edition. For my part, I feel badly that so many prior "nitpickers" have negatively affected you. Your work stands on its own merits ... clearly.

I'm truly bummed these stats won't see the light of day, even if they were on this thread. But I am grateful you took the time to read and respond to my request. I hope you understand and believe that your supporters and admirers far outweigh the trolls, nitpickers, and keyboard courage cowards. I appreciate the respect you accorded me here.

I wish you good fortune in the journeys to come ...

Kindly,

David

James - I wanted to respectfully check in on the item below. It's now getting into late spring/early summer and wanted to see if some "stats for fun" could be posted. I appreciate that you're juggling the launch of second edition and a post of other balls in the air. Thanks kindly and have a nice week.

"There are no plans to publish the full power Xanderghul ever.
Those stats exist, and I'm debating on whether or not to put them online as a blog post or not, but kinda trepidatious about doing so this soon, because I want the Adventure Path to stand on its own as presented, with Xanderghul as NOT the most powerful foe. Maybe later in the late spring or early summer I'll put his stats up for folks to see, but for now I'm not comfortable making them public.
If you want Xanderghul at full power to play a significant role in your game, this is a GREAT homebrew opportunity for a GM, but it's not the intent of the Adventure Path and so I don't want to confuse folks by having someone post "official" stats for him until the Return of the Runelords Adventure Path has had at least a few months to exist whole in the world.
If you're just curious to see how I built his stats, I'll ask you to be patient and understanding, and hopefully you'll still be curious later in the year."

CoeusFreeze wrote:

What are the odds of seeing full-power Xanderghul? I homebrewed my own version in case my campaign does go down that route but I'm curious to know if there ever will be a release of the official version.

There are no plans to publish the full power Xanderghul ever.

Those stats exist, and I'm debating on whether or not to put them online as a blog post or not, but kinda trepidatious about doing so this soon, because I want the Adventure Path to stand on its own as presented, with Xanderghul as NOT the most powerful foe. Maybe later in the late spring or early summer I'll put his stats up for folks to see, but for now I'm not comfortable making them public.

If you want Xanderghul at full power to play a significant role in your game, this is a GREAT homebrew opportunity for a GM, but it's not the intent of the Adventure Path and so I don't want to confuse folks by having someone post "official" stats for him until the Return of the Runelords Adventure Path has had at least a few months to exist whole in the world.

If you're just curious to see how I built his stats, I'll ask you to be patient and understanding, and hopefully you'll still be curious later in the year.

I am definitely one of the stat nerds [mix of baseball card collecting + Dungeons & Dragons as a kid will do that to you;)] that would love to see this down the road. As a fan and customer it really means a lot that you take so much time on these forums to provide such thoughtful and helpful responses. That you didn't completely blow this off ... well done. Your explanation ... makes total sense. Your offer to post May/June/July is magnanimous. When the time does come, how can one best be kept abreast of this small, but fun development?

I hope you have a great weekend James.

I wanted to re-build a handful of iconic, classic World of Greyhawk characters into Pathfinder ...

Would love some constructive build advice from folks familiar with characters from The Company of Seven. All would also have mythic paths/tiers.

Keoghtom - tough one here as he's VERY much a polymath ... bard/alchemist/ranger/sorcerer ... this is the one character who's stumping me

Kelanen - pretty much one of the greatest swordsmen ever ... carried a longsword and broadsword in 1st edition [2 relic blades called Swiftdoom & Sureguard]. Would love to see what people come up with for a near perfect sword master.

Murlynd - a paladin with the holy gun archetype

Heward - bard ... pretty easy concept/build

Nolzur - illusionist/alchemist ... straight wizard with alchemy skills or multi-class specialist wizard/alchemist?

Quaal - ranger with an interest in useful spells & magic

Zagig - master wizard

Thanks for any wisdom from people who remember these characters!

The recent "Weapon Master's Handbook" player companion was actually a refreshing batch of "nice things for martials". I think there's definitely been a recent trend to be less restrictive in non-magical options.

Brew Bird ... Paizo has done a commendable job creating "crunch" [Inner Sea Combat, Weapon Master's Handbook] for martials. I was referring to in-world characters.

Desna and Cayden Cailean inspire a lot of hope, happiness, and optimism from my perspective.

On a side note, is Nethys the least popular god of magic in the history of role playing games?? If I had to play 10 magic users for my next 10 characters, not a single one would worship that bat***t diety.

... because Sirian Aldori has been gone for ages. So clearly he's not "bringing it to the house". I love Pathfinder and am still thrilled that Golarion swung me from Faerun.

The sword, in all it's incarnations, has captured the imagination of hero builders and storytellers for centuries. Luke Skywalker, Sir Lancelot, Li Mu Bai, Elric, Drizzt, Inigo Montoya. Yet Golarion gives us ... a single long dead dude who built a sorta-maybe cool style. Um, wow. That's a barrage of coolness. Please allow a moment to pull my tongue from the figurative cheek.

Savith and Arnisant ... also gone for millennia and minimal details about them beyond "lopped off Ydersius' head" and "was brave and had a saucy shield to fend off Tar Baphon".

I'm stunned that we haven't been given a living, breathing sword master in anything. Pathfinder Tales. Player's Companion. Adventure Path. One shot modules. Nothing. Nada. Niente. Zilch. Zero.

James Jacobs and crew? Why? With all the historic love and significance of the "role", why?? Bueller? Bueller?

What part of Pathfinder do you want to know more about?

And should this be a multiple-choice poll?

Vudra, Sarusan, Iblydos, Dehrukani

You guys at Paizo have a fantastic opportunity to do something special and cool with Sarusan, Please, PLEASE do not make it some simple "large continent with enormous mammals and a re-hash of Kellid type folk". It's a huge continent with SO MANY possibilities. I REALLY hope you guys, when the time comes, allow the land to be a mix of urban, rural, etc. Terribly boring and uninspiring if it's southeastern Kellids hunting enormous animals.

Iblydos has been given sparse [only Aelyosos so far] , but rich and intriguing background details.

Dehrukani could open up some fascinating possibilities ... an anti-Razmiran/Cheliax

Finally ... anything that explores JATEMBE and his legacy.

I love what Chris Bennett & Jeremy Smith did in converting the cool, cinematic rules from Tome of Battle into Pathfinder.

I know that many players seem to love or really struggle with the content ... which frankly has always surprised me.

This is not meant to be another "casters rule and combat oriented characters get the shaft" thread ... merely a quasi psychological question posed to other players. It's completely within the bounds of fair play and "good rules" to have spell casters that can bend, warp, and shape reality. A reality wherein the sky's literally and figuratively the limit.

Why do the players and folks who decry "combat initiators" from the aforementioned books need their fighters to be stuck in the middle ages? Why is the limit Arthurian Legends & samurai from feudal Japan?

I'd wager the same players who critique the above content LOVE the lightsaber scenes from Star Wars & the fight sequences from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Again ... not a casters vs. combatants argument. Not trying to convince people to play something with which they're uncomfortable. Varied opinions and views can make the world a more rich place. Just so intriguing that reality bending abilities are OK for some characters and not others. It's as if Wizards, Sorcerers, Clerics, Druids, etc. are allowed to evolve into "Tesla/Ferrari territory" and many players need "sword swingers" to be stuck in the Model T era.

In closing ... awesome work Jeremy & Chris. Can't wait for the next installment.

I've always been a fan of high magic, epic play, and mythic play ... and while I love Mythic Adventures, am probably just disappointed it didn't generate more mass appeal.

Are we ever going to get more? Basically 4 parts so far: hard cover book, adventure path, 2 supplements.

I love Mythic Adventures and I KNOW some do and some don't ... it's not a universal love. But was Paizo happy with the products' reception and "ratings"? James Jacobs or Jason Bulmahn or someone of that ilk at Paizo ... can you please speak to this?

Thanks all & Happy New Year!

P.S. Very excited for the "spiritual" child of Against the Giants coming along with the next adventure path!!

Age of Worms, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Wrath of the Righteous.

Here's the thing with Wrath of the Righteous - some folks [like me] will love mythic rules and others will cry about "balancing" and their unhappiness with the rules. I think Mythic Adventures and Wrath of the Righteous took guts and balls to produce ... Jason Bulmahn & Paizo took a serious creative chance and thought outside the box. Kudos for that!

How many of those that decry the system make equally bold creative efforts in their professional lives?!

When we were all in kindergarten - give or take a year - our teachers and parents taught us to "never judge a book by its cover".

It never ceases to amaze and crack me up when DOZENS of adults and young adults on these boards jump to conclusions when the adventures HAVEN'T even been released yet! How do y'all know what's REALLY in store from a few paragraphs of descriptions?! Really?! Really?!

Paizo has consistently produced some of the best adventures of the last 35 years. People - R-E-L-A-X. Give it a chance before you make these ... quite frankly ... rash and hyper analyses.

Let's "role play" a bit. Pretend you're making a presentation for school or work. You start your presentation and after only thirty seconds, I stop you and make a snap decision on your efforts and effectiveness. Well that's what many of you do on here ... over and over again. Think McFly, think ...

This is one of the best adventure paths ... EVER. And I'm including Age of Worms & Savage Tide. As a fan who just turned 40, I know that sentiment runs deep for players of my generation in relation to Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants, & Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, etc.

But Paizo ... with ALL of their adventure paths ... have raised the bar to Michael Phelps-esque levels. Well done folks ... be proud.

I remember reading Runelord Karzoug's stat block from the first adventure path ... if memory serves me correctly, his preparations included flying to a height of FORTY feet while waiting for the PCs. This is just an example to set up my points ...

So let's take a 20th level character with 10 mythic tiers [Remember - the champion Path is NOT intended solely for monks, thus aerial assault MUST be viable for non-monks]. Max ranks in acrobatics = 20 + 3 [class skill] + 10 [pretty damn high] ability modifier = 33. Throw in some buffing spells and we'll pump that up to 40. Circumstance bonus = 100. Total bonus = 140.

Now according to the Acrobatics skill description, a character can high jump 4 feet at a DC of 16 and an additional foot per +4 on the DC. So to reach the above character at 40 feet, the DC = 16 + 36x4 = 16 + 144 = 160. So the above character [non-monk] with maxed out ranks, a stat of 30, and buff spells can only reach 40 feet on a natural roll of 20.

And again ... this is a 20th level/10th mythic tier character. It's EASY AS PIE for flying characters to ascend to 36+ feet. So essentially, what becomes the point of the ability below? A character will rarely be able to "hit" an opponent with aerial assault ... at any level.

And the solution should NOT involve a feat. Very FEW, if any, abilities should ever REQUIRE a feat to prove successful.

Thanks for any feedback!

____________________

Aerial Assault (Su): When making a charge attack
you may expend one use of mythic power. If you do,
include a single Acrobatics check made to jump with a
circumstance bonus equal to your champion tier × 10. You
take no falling damage for height gained as part of this
leap. In addition, you may substitute your melee attack
for a single grapple check as part of this aerial charge.
Any creature you successfully grapple is brought to the
ground with you at the end of your jump. This creature
takes falling damage for half the height gained in your
jump. Alternatively, you may use this leap to empower
your charge. Calculate the falling damage appropriate for
your descent and add this to the damage caused by your
charge attack, if successful.

Fact is ... no base class or PrC should earn a crap capstone ability. Aldori - cool history, cool concept, cool weapon, cool base calass archetype, pretty cool PrC ... some terrible high level abilities.

...trying to figure out builds that can work at first level. I just saw a thread with ONE THOUSAND posts regarding the merits of monks and how one can successfully build them.

I always laugh at players who wring their hands with character builds, like they're trying to figure out a shell game or some equation.

FOLKS - there are no RPG police that will come into your homes, storm into your games and DEMAND you make first level characters with "stat caps"!! This isn't the NFL or NBA with a salary cap. It's YOUR game and my friends & I always wanted to play supremely gifted characters that could do amazing things. Real life is challenging enough.

Forgive me, but I'm not going to start a character with a 15, a few 12s, an 8, a few 10s...those are the stats of my buddy down the hall in college. I want to play gifted badasses - we always had a rule: 2 18s, 17, 16 , 15, 14. I don't want to play with mediocre scrub stats. Never screwed up game balance...and we STILL role played and enjoyed the "non stat" parts of the game.

Just blows me away that so many millions of players box themselves into low starting stats. I want to play with characters well above my own real word capabilities...not below them.