DocG's page

I'm enjoying the first volume of the adventure path. I'm a bit of a grognard, so I really enjoy the return to the classic theme of Against the Giants. I hope an upcoming AP will be along similar lines.

That said, there is something that really stands out in the first volume:

I was reading a 4E blog the other day, and stumbled on an interesting discussion in the comments.

The thread is here.

Do you think Pathfinder would exist if WotC had not released Fourth Edition?

***Nitpick Incoming***

As a sailor, I find it hard to swallow that The Wormwood Mutiny describes the job of quartermaster as having something to do with maintaining and issuing supplies. In an army that would be an accurate description; however, aboard a ship the quartermaster is chiefly concerned with navigation. The men responsible for maintaining the ship's stores were called storekeepers.

Specifically aboard pirate ships, the quartermaster was the ship's second in command. He (or in a few rare instances she) typically led the boarding party to capture a prize.

Please triple-keelhaul the man responsible for this outrage.

This isn't a complaint, just something I've been thinking about as I browse my Pathfinder library.

Why does every adventure path chapter, pathfinder module, RPG superstar proposal, Golarion backdrop, etc. have to contain new monsters?

While I realize that new monsters can give an adventure a fresh feel, it just seems like the well of monster innovation is running dry and Golarion's sense of internal consistency is sagging. Why publish a bestiary if following products will let 80% of it lay mostly dormant? The world must be a very scary place for its inhabitants if thousands of different types of intelligent, terrifying monsters patrol its forests and hills.

I don't want to see too many cooks spoil the soup. My wife was really into Design Star when it came out. Since my computer is in the living room, that pretty much made me a viewer of the show too. The show had these people that were so concerned with being unique and fresh that they would design ridiculously outlandish clothes that no one in their right mind would wear.

Of course Golarion has not reached such an extreme position; however, as the years go by, it's not unreasonable to expect more and more really out-there content. I'd like to see Golarion's contributors use what they already have in unique ways. Maybe change ideas to fit Golarion instead of changing Golarion to fit ideas?

Then again, I prefer more of a low to medium fantasy feel so maybe I'm the only one of this opinion.

I'm sure there are some people out there who really enjoy the "Downer" comic strip in the back of the magazine, but I wonder how many people would rather have two pages of adventure or campaign workbook material? The smaller strips like "The Portent" and "Mt. Zogon" are humorous and don't take up much space. They add something to the magazine without taking much in return. "Downer" does not rate two pages in your awesome magazine in my opinion. I'd like to see something else along the lines of Mr. John Simcoe's 'blank form' suggestions in issue 139.

Let's see what everyone can come up with and see if there are any good ones we might want to incorporate into our own games. Let us know why you made the changes.

I run a fairly deadly campaign, and I allow the players quite a bit of room to make really good characters. Munchkinism is kept in check in my game by very tough opponents.

I've played in a number of campaigns where the DM was, for some reason, afraid to let a PC die. I once had a character jump straight into the mouth the a elder red dragon just to see if the DM would let me survive. He did, and I singlehandedly killed the beast too! Anyway back to my point, I have no problem letting something relatively random kill a PC. That's the hazard of the adventuring life.

My house rules:

In general ability scores are standard, 18, 16, 14, 12, 12, and 10 before racial modifiers. The PC's are supposed to have superman potential, but they have to be up to performing superman tasks if they want to live.

In addition, at levels 1 and 2, each PC gets maximum HP for his class. After that it's up to the dice. This prevents some of the REALLY random deaths at lower levels.

Spellcasters do not need to prepare spells ahead of time; however they require roughly twice the amount of rest specified in the PHB to regain available spell slots. The classes that are already spontaneous spellcasters require the regular amount of rest.

There is no range limit to a rogue's sneak attack with a ranged weapon. If the target is unaware or otherwise unable to react at any range, the rogue is able to precisely line up an easy shot to a vital area.

The 'lawful' requirement for monks is dropped. One's outlook on social organization does not affect meditation and self-improvement through mastery of internal forces.

The paladin's code of conduct is still present but not quite as rigid. The paladin himself is not allowed to perpetrate evil, but he is not honor bound to chase down the party's rogue every time the rogue's fingers get a little sticky at the local tavern. Major sins are not tolerated, but paladins in my game do not feel their values are threatened by tolerating a few minor infractions by an otherwise good person every now and then. I enacted this rule so that the entire party doesn't have to live by the paladin's code.

Handing out treasure - I give out about 1/3 to 1/2 of the suggested amounts in the DMG

Regarding XP - I really, really despise 3/3.5 experience rules. It makes no sense that a fighter would get just as much experience as say, a rogue, if the challenges of an adventure consisted of nothing but traps that the rogue disabled.

My system is this:

All PC's-
For Combat - 1/5 the experience recommended by the DMG
For Combat the PC's barely survive - 2/5 recommended xp
For Traps Disabled - 1/5 of the suggested experience
For Traps Sprung and Survived - 2/5 suggested experience (nothing like learning the hard way)
For Every Gold Piece Equivalent Earned - 1/20 experience (varies from campaign to campaign based on how much loot I give out)
Magic Item Creation - No experience cost, materials cost doubled (except for scrolls / potions) experience earned equals 1/20th material cost.

Archetype Bonuses:
Fighter/Barbarian - 10xp per HD of creature personally engaged and defeated in combat
Bard - 10 xp per successful use of a spell that significantly contributes to adventure progress
Rogue/Bard - 10xp per successful use of a skill/sneak attack that significantly contributes to adventure progress
Rogue - 1/5 Experience per gold piece equivalent earned
Paladin/Ranger/Monk - 5 xp per HD of creature personally engaged and defeated in combat.
Paladin/Ranger/Monk/Druid - 5*current_level xp per successful use of a class non-combat ability/skill that in some way contributes to adventure progress
Cleric/Druid/Sorcerer/Wizard - 20xp per use of a spell or spell-like abilityintended to contribute to adventure progress

End of Adventure-
Adventure Wildly Successful - 30% Bonus (unlikely)
Adventure Fairly Successful - 20% Bonus
Adventure Successful - 10% Bonus
Adventure Barely Successful - 50% Bonus (assuming the PC's tried their best)
Adventure Barely Failed - 30% Bonus
Adventure Failed - No Adjustment
Adventure Miserably Failed - 50% penalty (only if due to poor roleplaying)

There are more, but my homebrew PHB is at my other house and I don't feel like flying up to get it.

After picking up newstand copies of Dungeon off and on since I was 9 years old with issue 22, I finally subscribed.

Anyway, I just noticed that next month's issue shipped to subscribers today. I was wondering if I could get it shipped out some time over the next couple days. I would appreciate it and understand that my subscription would only be good for 11 months from today assuming I get the current issue.

Thanks for taking a dying magazine and turning it into something successful and better than before.

I've been playing D&D off and on since about 1988 and always hated having to resume the hunt for a new group every time I moved somewhere new. I'm hoping there's some sort of online database of players that I could use to find some new people for an Eberron campaign. I'm located in Jacksonville, NC which is a great town to be in if you want to get a high and tight haircut (Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune borders the town), buy a Mustang, get a tattoo, or go to a strip club. It is however, lacking in terms of hobby/gaming stores. The closest WOTC affiliated store is an hour drive. Anyway, hit me up with some suggestions. Thanks.