Elvombor Isebring's page

Ignore v5

Install:
1. Mozilla Firefox
2. Greasemonkey
3. paizo_ignore.user.js

Notes:
- Your old ignore list will not be preserved in the upgrade. (Sorry)

- The "Ignore" link has been renamed "Block User". The function is still the same.

- There is now a "Hide" link. Per a brilliant suggestion by Maizing, this link will hide the specific post without blocking everything else the user has ever written.

- The lists to Un-Hide posts and Un-Block users are still at the very bottom of the page. Scroll all the way down, and click to remove it from the list.

- The Un-Hide list is quite cryptic; sorry about that. Hopefully you won't need to un-hide too many times.

On 29 Oct 2012, I noted that Google was curating extensions through the Chrome Web Store.

On 07 Nov 2013, Google announced that local Chrome extensions will be blocked on the Windows platform starting in January 2014.

It is not clear to me if this prevents the Download/Drag/Drop workaround that allowed Chrome users to install the Ignore Script in the past.
My guess would be that it does, so people using the Ignore Script on Google Chrome on Microsoft Windows may find that the script no longer works in January 2014 with no way to reinstall the script.

Unfortunately, I haven't owned a computer running Microsoft Windows for a number of years.
I cannot provide support for this issue, because I have no means of testing a solution.

Possible workarounds are:

1. Switch from Chrome to Firefox (and install Greasemonkey)

2. Switch from Windows to Linux or OS X

Another possibility is that I could get a developer account on the Chrome Web Store and maintain a distribution up there for Windows/Chrome folks.

Are there any users here on the messageboards who are tied to Windows/Chrome?

Let me know if this is something you'd like me to do.

I consider myself a passable programmer and a passable GM, but even simple stick figures are beyond my skills at art.
So, I have an odd art request, if anybody is willing to try.

I'd like an image of my Paizo forum avatar (owl.jpg) wearing Truesight Goggles, as described below:

These goggles, constructed of a pair of perfect prisms held in place by golden frames and affixed to the head by a black leather strap, grants the wearer true seeing continuously. Furthermore, once per day on command, the wearer can use analyze dweomer as the spell.

Source: Goggles, Truesight

Thank you in advance to anybody who can help! :-)

The party was trying to sneak into a fortified city through a crypt and encountered a Beholder.

After finding out that the central eye is an anti-magic cone and inhibits the beholder's own eye stalks, the Dwarf Barbarian has come up with a plan:

I'm a very Yes-You-Can kind of GM, so I've got no problem with the plan. In fact, I thought it was so crazy/funny that it deserved a thread here on the forums.

My first reaction is that Step #2 could be handled by grappling contests. If the barbarian can "pin" the beholder, she can accomplish Step #2. I'm not sure if this is the right way to go.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to handle the mechanics of such a plan?

Setup

The party:
Elf Cleric 10
Elf Rogue 10
Elf Wizard 10 + Pseudodragon
Dwarf Barbarian 10
Catfolk Ranger/Sorcerer/Arcane Archer (total 10) + Cheetah

The party has been fending off a nasty infestation of vampires in Rolgrimmdur. After a lengthy investigation, the mid-tier bad guy (Wizard 10) turns on his former employers and hires the party to wipe out his old boss.

First Encounter
Following the lead, the party goes up against the BBEG's trusted lieutenant (a re-skinned Nuetetia Irsinoe from Rival Guide (p.50)), and a few pet demons. It made for a pretty tough CR 13+ encounter.

The party injures her enough to drive her away, but decides they will return to safety, rest and heal, and then finish off the BBEG later. In the meantime, the BBEG and allies rescue the lieutenant and heal her up. No help for the demons; they're destroyed.

Second Encounter
The party again attempts to find the BBEG. They run into a lackey vampire and start chasing him. The party nearly sets off a magical trap, and winds up splitting themselves into two sub-groups, one staying behind to disarm the trap, and another trying to chase down the vampire.

The Catfolk (alone) follows the vampire down a ladder and puts himself right next to Nuetetia. He gets taken down to negative HP. The Wizard (alone) now attempts to intervene. The vampire lackey uses Dominate (and succeeds(!!)) and asks the Wizard to "follow me to the boss to parley for a little bit". The Wizard complies.

Now the remainder of the party (Barbarian, Cleric, Rogue) are left to face off against Nuetetia. The party has a very tough fight on their hands. Nuetetia keeps them away with an Anti-Life Shell and channels negative energy to really put the hurt down. The party responds with ranged attacks and spells of their own. [The rogue begins to get frustrated because he feels ineffective.]

Nuetetia (seeing the tide go against her) offers to parley information about the BBEG with the party in exchange for being allowed to leave with her life. The rogue decides not to accept the offer and presses the attack. Nuetetia uses spells to escape. [Now the rogue is quite frustrated, as he would like to kill Nuetetia and this is the second time she got away.]

Third Encounter (so far)
The Barbarian, Cleric, and Catfolk regroup and heal up. The rogue, still wounded and leaving behind his primary melee weapons (!?!), charges on ahead of the party (alone). He encounters a magical portal to the BBEG's lair and charges through.

He sees the BBEG (a re-skinned Vesnic Demicci from Rival Guide (p.51)), the lackey vampire who lured the Wizard away, and a Thanadaemon.

The rogue is about two or three rounds ahead of the rest of the party, has about 25 hp, and has only a +2 dagger for a melee weapon. He decided to charge the lackey vampire. [And this is where we stopped the session for the night.]

Request for Comments
The rogue's player was complaining that Neutetia is over-powered. It is my contention that a pair of epic difficulty encounters are exactly appropriate for the end of a story arc. After the session, the cleric's player sent me a text message: "Good session last night. Thanks. Challenging = fun." and I think the rest of the party is along this latter line.

Things are looking mighty grim for the rogue. Charging off into the second epic encounter on his own? I'd place money his character is going to die next session. I'm pretty sure the rogue's player is going to complain that the encounter(s) were overpowered / unfair when this happens.

So tell me, does the rogue in the party have it coming?

Creating a test thread for extension/script development.

These aren't the forum posts you're looking for.

He can go about his business.

Move along.

I was doing some work with WebSockets this weekend, so I hadn't logged into the Paizo forums for a bit.

Private messages tell me that the Ignore Script is broken!

I'm fueling up the Firebug mobile; I'll post again on this thread when v4 is working in Firefox and Chrome.

The rogue in my campaign just reached level 10. The rogue's player had a question for me about two Advanced Talents:

Slippery Mind (Ex) {Core Rulebook}

Benefit: This ability represents the rogue's ability to wriggle free from magical effects that would otherwise control or compel her. If a rogue with slippery mind is affected by an enchantment spell or effect and fails her saving throw, she can attempt it again 1 round later at the same DC. She gets only this one extra chance to succeed on her saving throw.

Hard to Fool (Ex) {Ultimate Combat}

Benefit: A rogue with this talent is hard to fool with mind-affecting effects. At the start of her turn, if she is still subject to any mind-affecting spells or effects, she can make a Will saving throw with a standard DC for the effect’s level, and if she succeeds at the check, she is no longer subject Classes to the mind-affecting effect. She can make this saving throw even against mind-affecting effects that normally don’t allow a saving throw. In those cases, generate the saving throw as if the spell or effect did allow a saving throw.

Note that Hard to Fool should not be confused with an identically named Advanced Talent from the APG:

Hard to Fool (Ex) {Advanced Player's Guide}

My player said: It seems that Hard to Fool gives me one roll per round until I shake it off, whereas Slippery Mind gives me just one extra roll period ... so I want to know:

1. Why would anybody choose Slippery Mind?
2. Has Hard to Fool been given any errata for being "overpowered"?

I told him that the wording for Slippery Mind covered "Enchantment" while Hard to Fool covered "mind-affecting" which were two different tags; although I couldn't come up with a non mind-affecting enchantment spell/effect on the spot (and haven't had time to research it yet today).

I also told him that I didn't think Hard to Fool was overpowered, but would check for errata and forum opinions. To me, it seems the game effect is a long-acting defense against a specific category of attacks, which does not affect hundreds of other ways of killing the hell out of the rogue. Moreover, the opportunity cost of not taking one of the more offense-oriented advanced talents means that my baddies will last longer in the fight anyway.

Anybody have any examples of where Slippery Mind might still be useful?

My Golarion-fu is weak, so I'll offer this question up to the experts...

I'm looking for the cities that make Golarion what it is. One might say, "It just wouldn't be Golarion if it didn't have XXXXXX."

If you had to make a list of the Top 5 iconic cities in all of Golarion, what would they be?

So I had a situation where the Dwarf Barbarian was attempting to resist a Vampire's Dominate ability.

Dominate (Su)

A vampire can crush a humanoid opponent's will as a standard action. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire's influence, as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet. At the GM's discretion, some vampires might be able to affect different creature types with this power.

The players seemed to think that the Dwarf's bonus for Hardy should apply against the Dominate ability:

Hardy: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.

I ruled that since the ability was a Supernatural (Su) ability rather than a Spell-Like (Sp) ability, the racial bonus to the save would not apply.

As it played out, the first resist attempt was made regardless of the bonus, and the second resist attempt was failed regardless of the bonus. So, in the end it didn't matter.

However, I would like to know if I ruled correctly.

Party Wizard has a hand on Party Cleric. Monster With Grab has successfully attacked and then successfully grappled Party Cleric. Party Wizard casts Dimension Door and wishes to take Party Cleric along without taking Monster With Grab along.

1. Does Dimension Door allow this "get out of grapple free" card? Or does the Wizard have to take both or neither? Does the monster's willingness or unwillingness to go with the Dimension Door matter at all?

2. What if the situation were reversed and the Cleric had grappled the monster? Can the willing Cleric forcibly drag a grappled but unwilling monster along for a Dimension Door ride?

Last session, the party's ranger had a close (within 30') encounter with a Vampire:

A vampire can crush a humanoid opponent's will as a standard action. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire's influence, as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet. At the GM's discretion, some vampires might be able to affect different creature types with this power.

The ranger was affected by the ability, missing her save by 1.

After the vampire used Greater Invisibility, all of the players seemed to think the vampire couldn't use the Dominate ability against them, as they wouldn't be able to see the vampire.
I said that it wasn't listed as a gaze attack, so the vampire could (in theory) use it, but wasn't using it at the moment. (The next likely targets had good will saves.)

Anybody think the Ranger with Undead favored enemy should get a bonus?
Anybody think the Vampire wouldn't be able to Dominate if invisible?

Recently on FOX News former Senator Chris Dodd said (as quoted on news site TechDirt), "Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,"

Sign a White House petition at:

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/investigate-chris-dodd-and -mpaa-bribery-after-he-publicly-admited-bribing-politicans-pass/DffX0YQv

If a character succeeds at a Perception check to spot a secret door, do they have to check again if they come back 24 hours later?

How about if the character is an Elf and comes back 240 years later?

Does the DC of the Perception check make a difference? Should it be easier to "remember" a DC 15 secret door vs. a DC 50 secret door? Or vice versa?

Here's an idea to reduce the amount of work that needs to be done when cleaning up threads.

Beneath or next to the [+] symbol to mark a post as favorite, add a symbol of a cricket with a number.

If someone sees a troll post, they can click the cricket to add +1 to the number. (i.e. It's the sound of crickets chirping, because the post doesn't really merit any response.)

The catch is, if the person posts to the thread after they click the cricket, their +1 is removed from the cricket score. (i.e.: They responded, so they don't get to be a part of "crickets chirping")

I think part of the drive to respond to a troll post is the "free marketplace of ideas"; if someone says something inflammatory and there are no responses, it looks like the troll's ideas are unchallenged.
This can be especially unnerving when reading something racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.

A visual indicator like [Cricket] (30) shows that thirty people saw it and consciously decided the content of the post didn't merit a response.
It might convince others who would post (and later need to be cleaned up) that clicking on the cricket is better than making work for a Postmonster.

A friend of mine is a musician. He said the worst response from a crowd is nothing. If they cheer, it's great. If they boo or hiss, that's fine too.
But silence and crickets is absolutely the worst. This idea is the forum analog of a silent crowd.

Note: Thread Title Reference Video

I have created a new script/extension for the Paizo messageboards called Gargamel.
It removes certain blue avatars and replaces them with the author's original avatar.

In order to use this script/extension, you must be running Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox (Notes)

If you have Firefox, you will need to install the Greasemonkey Plug-In before you will be able to use the script.

Installation

Both Firefox and Chrome use the same script/extension. Click the link to the script and you should be prompted to install it.

paizo_gargamel_v1.user.js

Usage

Install the script/extension. Browse the messageboards. Notice the lack of certain blue avatars.

General Notes

If the author does not have an original avatar, the certain blue replacement avatar will remain! (Gargamel never catches them all, despite his best efforts.)

Tonight, my group is in Rolgrimmdur and starting to unravel the mystery of exactly why Hayla Sagginsdottir is acting so strangely.

They have begun referring to her as:

Hayla Carl Sagan's Daughter

...

Do you or your players have any pet names for NPCs in your campaigns?

Never Say No To Panda

Since Messageboard Auto-Linking isn't quite as controversial as an Ignore feature; the original thread fell into the depths of the archives.
Since I'm not high enough level to cast True Resurrection, I'll have to settle for making a new thread.

I have completed Autolink Script (Version 5) that is compatible with Paizo's new page structure.
In order to use this script, you must be running Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
.

Mozilla Firefox (Notes)

If you have Firefox, you will need to install the Greasemonkey Plug-In before you will be able to use the script.

Installation

Both Firefox and Chrome use the same auto-linking script. Click the link to the script and you should be prompted to install it.

paizo_autolink_v5.user.js

Usage

Browse the messageboards. If you see key words or phrases highlighted with green underlines, they link to http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ and open in new tabs.

Note that the script does some intense processing. On pages with a large number of large posts, you may see a beat or two of delay before the page finishes loading. Chrome tends to be faster than Firefox.

General Notes

Unlike previous Firefox versions, the topic map is contained within the script. It does not load from any source, nor is it updated. As new content is released, there will not be links to it.
(If you see something you think should be linked, please post here so that I can update the map in a future version).

Also, is anybody interested in a version that autolinks to Paizo's New PRD?
I haven't heard of such interest, so I haven't worked on it.
In a later version, it might make sense to give people an option; assuming anybody actually wants this.

See: Reference

Don't worry though, they all showed up on Detect Evil, so it's all Good.

Relevant Rules: Helpless, Prone, Unconscious

The Ranger in my game wanted to use a ranged attack against an Ogre who had fallen unconscious (HP below 0); when considering the modifiers, it looked like this:

Unconscious condition implies Helpless condition
Helpless condition: -1 AC from Dex (Ogre) becomes -5 AC from Dex; no special bonus applied to ranged attacked
Prone: +4 AC against ranged attacks

So the Ogre only had a -1 AC penalty for being an unmoving target.

When Unconscious (Helpless), do we ignore the Prone condition for calculating this modifier?

My players are currently assaulting a Hall of Frost Giants and came across this:

Giant, Frost

A frost giant's hair can be light blue or dirty yellow, and its eyes usually match its hair color. Frost giants dress in skins and pelts, along with any jewelry they own. Frost giant warriors also don chain shirts and metal helmets decorated with horns or feathers. An adult male stands about 15 feet tall and weighs approximately 2,800 pounds. Females are slightly shorter and lighter, but otherwise identical to males. Frost giants can live to be 250 years old.

Maybe some questions are better left unasked...

So as not to desecrate the thread of salvation, newly risen from the dead after 1.5 long years locked away in a tomb...

I have moved a discussion on blasphemy here.

No, not this Blasphemy.

Melee attack the last poster for intimidating you so viciously!

Lesser Finger Horror

CR 7 -- for a DC 29 Fort save against that attack? Really?

Pit Spikes: Treat spikes at the bottom of a pit as daggers, each with a +10 attack bonus. The damage bonus for each spike is +1 per 10 feet of pit depth (to a maximum of +5). Each character who falls into the pit is attacked by 1d4 spikes. This damage is in addition to any damage from the fall itself, and the statistics presented above are merely the most common variant—some traps might have far more dangerous spikes at their bottom. Pit spikes add to the average damage of the trap (see Average Damage, below).

Source: Traps

----------

I was wondering if there are any rules out there for more advanced pit spikes? What I have in mind is something like characters falling off the edge of some raised platform onto spikes that are 20' (or longer).

It would seem that if they don't get hit by any spikes, they'd just fall between the spikes and take falling damage when they hit the ground.

If they do hit one or more spikes, they'd take the spike damage plus they'd either get stuck in "mid-air" while impaled by one or more spikes, or slowly slide down the one or more spikes until they hit the ground.

Regardless, getting away from the trap is no easy matter. Either the character would have to cut a path in their body to extract their body from the spike, or they'd have to cut through the spike itself so they could take that section of the spike with them.

So in essence it's a kind of weird grapple that requires dealing damage to escape ... any rules (even 3PP) exist to cover this kind of thing?

I think the time has come for the United States of America to retroactively concede the American Civil War.

Sorry about that whole making the Confederate States of America surrender thing. You can be your own country now. Good luck, and try not to get in any trouble.

Any states that weren't around during the American Civil War can hold a vote to decide if they still want to be a part of the United States of America, or if they want to join the Confederate States.

Maybe Confederate President Palin can come visit American President Obama in the White House some day; after going through customs, of course.

Last year, I released a Greasemonkey script that would allow users of the browser Firefox to have keywords in messageboard posts automatically linked to d20pfsrd.com.

For example, if somebody writes Magic Missile in their forum post, the script will automatically create a link to Magic Missile.

I have now created a version of the script that is compatible with the browser Chrome.

Installation

In order to make use of this you need two things:

1. Chrome

http://www.google.com/chrome/

2. another_mage's chrome_autolink script

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~meade/greasemonkey/chrome_autolink.user.js

After installing Chrome, click on the link to the script. Follow the prompts provided by Chrome to install the script. (Chrome will call it an Extension.)

Usage

Browse a thread on the messageboards. When you see words in green with an underline, you'll know the script has auto-linked to an article on that topic. Links always open in a new window/tab.

Notes

- Chrome includes the ability to run user scripts as a part of its functionality. Therefore installing an extension like Greasemonkey is not necessary for Chrome.

- Unlike Greasemonkey on Firefox, Chrome does not support cross-site requests. This means the topic map either has to be hosted by Paizo, or embedded directly into the script. Since I don't have access to Paizo's servers, the only option is to embed the topic map in the script.

- An embedded topic map is more secure; it is loaded from your computer, so it much more difficult to redirect the user to malicious links.

- An embedded topic map is less flexible; it will NOT automatically update with the latest content on d20pfsrd.com; the script must be re-released to update the topic map. (another_mage, or some other software developer would need to do this.)

- This script is running in the user's browser on their own computer. If you are not running the script, there will be absolutely no difference in your online experience. (The script always runs locally for those who install it, not on Paizo's computers.)

- I've given the script quite a workout while creating it, however, it may contain bugs. If it starts to adversely affect your online experience, click the wrench next to the address bar, select Tools -> Extensions from the menu, and click the "Disable" link to disable the script.

- This script is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3+. Generally, this means you are free to modify and share, as long as you share-alike. If you have any questions about the license terms, contact another_mage or check the GNU website.

I made the ignore script, and the topic autolink script, and now I am working on a new Greasemonkey script.

I needed a thread for some space to do some testing.

You might see some oddball and illegible stuff posted here; please ignore or contribute your own oddball stuff as fits you best.

Here are a couple questions that came up in my game today. I made some quick rulings, but I'd appreciate a RAW interpretation from those who know better about such things.

1. "Double" Difficult Terrain

The characters entered a large room in a cavern. The floor was covered in bones, such that every square in the room was difficult terrain.

Later, a Drider cast web and covered a section of the floor.

Does the difficult terrain from web stack with the difficult terrain from the bones? (Each square counting as 3 instead of 2, for instance?) Is there any situation where terrain can be more-than-difficult while still being passable?

2. Web Spell and Movement

Do characters have to make the check (CMB or Escape Artist) on each and every square of the web?

Or, do they make a single check on the first square and move freely (well, freely through difficult terrain) until the next round?

3. Sunburst and Blindness

As I read it, the blindness caused by Sunburst (failing a save) is permanent (until a Remove Blindness/Deafness can be cast). Is that the correct reading?

Toy Factory Worker

Nuclear Scientist

Just made a run down to my shipping address the other day and picked up the box for Order #1426347.

The first eight pages of Kingmaker #33 (Varnhold Vanishing) look like they were damaged in a printing mistake; folded before they were cut, making the upper-right corner a weird triangle shape when the pages are unfolded.

Should I send the damaged copy back to you?
And if so, to what address should I send it?

At the request of JReyst, I have created another Greasemonkey script to auto-link topics from the messageboards.

For example, if somebody writes Magic Missile in their forum post, the script will automatically create a link to Magic Missile.

Installation

In order to make use of this you need three things, and you are recommended to install them in this order:

1. Firefox

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/upgrade.html

2. Greasemonkey

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748/

3. another_mage's topic_autolink script

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~meade/greasemonkey/topic_autolink.user.js

Usage

Browse a thread on the messageboards. When you see words in green with an underline, you'll know the script has auto-linked to an article on that topic. Links always open in a new window/tab.

Notes

- The topic map (what words link to what articles) is loaded dynamically over the web.

THE SCRIPT MAY NOT WORK ON THE FIRST PAGE LOAD!

Until the topic map can be downloaded in the background, the forums will continue to look normal. After the topic map is downloaded, it will do the markup work without further intervention. It will also attempt to update the topic map on every page load on the messageboards.

- This is a Greasemonkey script running in the user's browser on their own computer. If you are not running the script, there will be absolutely no difference in your online experience. (The script runs locally for those who install it, not on Paizo's computers.)

- I've given the script quite a workout while creating it, however, it may contain bugs. If it starts to adversely affect your online experience, click the Greasemonkey icon in the lower right-hand corner of your browser window. It should turn gray, thereby disabling Greasemonkey and the script.

- The script is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3+. Generally, this means you are free to modify and share, as long as you share-alike. If you have any questions about the license terms, contact me or check the GNU website.

Security & Privacy

- The topic map is downloaded over the web. In theory, this would allow the host of the topic map (currently another_mage) to track your messageboard usage. At present, I am not doing this and have no plans to do so; however, it is technically possible. I feel it would be unethical not to disclose these facts.

I had a rules dispute come up tonight during the game I was running, so I'd like to throw the scenario out there and get some feedback. I try to be fair to the players, so I want to know if my rulings were unfair.

-----

The last session the characters finished cleaning out a crypt and captured Skizzik. Skizzik is a 5th level evil Cleric who had been bothering the party since they were first level. His band of goblins burned down the party's cleric's temple (almost with the party's wizard in it) and tortured some dogs the party's ranger later rescued and befriended. He escaped from captivity once before and the party hunted him down. In short, he's been a small green pain in the @$$ for probably the last eight game sessions.

A Man In Black once suggested a house rule on the forums here, whereby a truly fatal blow would instead inflict conditions of the striker's choosing (any combination of conditions, up to and including death). We adopted this as a house rule in our campaign, and the party member who got the "killing blow" on Skizzik chose to inflict a permanent coma on the goblin. So the goblin was alive, but he wasn't going to do anything without some major clerical healing mojo to make it happen.

This session, the players had rested at the nearby village and were traveling on horseback to return to the captiol city, to turn in Skizzik and claim the reward laid upon his head.

In the first two sessions of the campaign, the party met one another while "exploring" a bugbear tomb. The bugbears had a different view on this "exploration", they called it defiling the crypt of their ancestor and wanted revenge. This was the second such band of bugbears to ambush the players along the road and demand retribution during this campaign.

None of the party were terribly proficient riders, and these were travel horses without combat training. Most of the party dismounted immediately in order to fight the bugbears hand to hand. The party's wizard was not so lucky, and after the bugbear struck his horse, the wizard took a wild ride on a very frightened horse.

The battle then split into thirds, each approximately 70' (14 squares) long. The road was roughly 30' across and had a gentle curve.

In the "down the road" third, the party's barbarian fought two bugbears at once, and the party's ranger and cleric ganged up on a bugbear.

In the middle third, the party's horses stood where they had been dismounted; the ranger also commanded his dogs to "stay" so they wouldn't risk combat.

In the "up the road" third, the VERY tough leader of the bugbear pack wielding a nasty heavy crossbow took aim at the cleric. The party's rogue popped an invisibility potion and headed this direction.

As the combat played out, the rogue managed to get in for the sneak attack, but got low damage. The enraged leader of the bugbears drew his greataxe and proceeded to give the rogue two nasty wounds, reducing him to 1 hp. The barbarian scored an amazing critical hit and slew one of the bugbears outright, and fought the other very well. The cleric and the ranger had little luck, the cleric couldn't seem to hit and the ranger kept missing with her bowshots. The wizard hung on for his life and tried to slow the frightened horse.

In the midst of this, one bugbear disappeared into the grass, and I removed the token from the board. Without replacing it, I decided he would sneak back in the tall grass on the side of the path, cross the path while passing by the party's horses. At this point, I rolled several rolls. The first set of four were the stealth rolls for the bugbear, they came up pretty high: 13, 15, 14, 16. The next set of four were the opposed perception rolls for the rogue (who had line of sight, but may have been distracted by a greataxe sweeping through his guts), they came up pretty low: 3, 5, 6, 7. The rogue's perception was +9, and the bugbear's stealth was +14.

I ruled the bugbear was able to sneak through the middle, cut the prized goblin off the horse, and flee across the path into the tall grass on the other side. (All told, he crossed six squares of "open" terrain.) I didn't move any tokens on the map; waiting until the characters would notice before informing the players via the map.

In the next rounds, the rogue popped a healing potion and slew the leader of the bugbears, and immediately asked for a Perception check, looking actively for the "one that got away". I rolled a 19 and told him, "You don't see the bugbear who snuck away, but you do see this." and removed the token indicating the prized goblin.

The rogue's player was livid. He thought it was completely unfair that the bugbear snuck through combat, that he should have been limited to five foot steps, wouldn't have had enough time to do anything, he would have been in plain sight, etc. I just said "Well, I gave you opposed checks, and the bugbear won. You were fighting for your life and so you didn't notice until your break in the combat."

The rogue's player continued to argue, and I said, "Well, you look and the goblin is not there. Are you going to call out to the other party members to let them know?" The rogue's player said, "No. I just sit down." And so the character (and the player) sat without saying a word for the rest of the encounter.

The other players were obviously interested in this turn of events, but knew their characters knew nothing about it. They asked for Perception checks, and the party's cleric noticed some grass being disturbed and called out to the party. The ranger instructed his dogs to "sic 'em" and the dogs cornered the bugbear in the grass. The bugbear (who was relying on stealth and knew all his companions were dead) surrendered and stood up in the grass with his hands up. The party's ranger immediately put two arrows in the bugbear, and the party's barbarian slew the sneaky bugbear.

They recovered the prized goblin. Still comatose and a little dirty from being dragged through the grass, but no worse for the wear. At which point, every bugbear had been killed and the encounter was over.

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Was it unfair to let the bugbear sneak through the middle and snatch the goblin "in plain sight" without informing the players?

I ruled the wizard too concerned with staying on the horse and too far down the road to get a check. The barbarian had a similar situation, being too far around the curve to get LOS.

The ranger and cleric were arguably close enough, but they were engaged in combat and had some obstructions in their LOS.

The rogue arguably had a clear LOS, but his perception rolls were pretty lousy against the bugbear's good stealth rolls.

Ultimately it was futile for the bugbear, who died at the hands of a very unmerciful party. But, was it unfair to let him pull the caper in the first place?

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I keep coming back to the idea, what if the party's rogue wanted to pull a similar stunt? If he wanted to sneak through a combat and fetch something off an enemy's horse? Would I let him do it? What rolls would I require for him to do it?

I like to think I would have done it the same way for him. If the enemy is distracted and he's trying to be sneaky, Perception vs. Stealth. If anybody had direct LOS and no distractions, I'd rule it hopeless in plain sight. However, if everybody is engaged in a vicious melee, it's enough of a distraction to allow a shot; luck of the dice be with you.

Fair? Unfair? Your comments are appreciated.

Aranel
(Temple Astambha)

Aranel was not a typical elf. She was beautiful, tall, and delicate as most elves are, but the similarities ended there. She was considered quick, in both body and mind, even amongst the elves. She seemed to know from little onward that her destiny would take her on paths that few elves would walk.

A chance encounter with a brightness seeker began her journey. She was instructed, "I am headed south. If you follow me, you may find that which you seek." Aranel followed the mysterious elf south until they reached Darkmoon Wood. At a small Vudrani temple to Irori, tucked into a small clearing, Aranel knew she had reached her destination.

A single Vudrani adherent greeted the pair from the gateway arch. Aranel entered the temple to find two rows of meditating monks creating a human corridor to the large gong placed at the center of the temple. Instinctively, she walked toward the gong, picked up the gong stick, and the temple resonated with the sound of a new entrant to the priesthood.

Aranel noticed that her companion was no longer with her, but knew in her heart that he would not be waiting outside. She took a seat in front of the gong, and a servant of Temple Astambha began to braid her long elven hair while the dogs barked and played outside.

Prakash is the high priest/monk of Astambha, and has been Aranel's primary instructor for the last 20 years. According to Prakash, Aranel's arrival was given to him in a vision a year before she arrived; and that her primary purpose was not to learn, but rather to teach. Neither Prakash nor Aranel understood Irori's vision on that point, but Aranel has been an excellent student in dedication to her studies.

Of late, a small tribe of goblins have been pestering Astambha. If this is because the monks have food, or because the monks have dogs, it is difficult to tell. However, something must be done about the goblins.

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GM Note: The Lumber Consortium has also had its eye on Astambha for some time. The quiet monks made good neighbors; they kept the area around the temple safe for themselves, and a safe(r) zone in Darkmoon Wood was not overlooked by the lumberjacks. However, now that profits are being squeezed, some in the consortium have suggested it is time to collect on back rent that has come due...

I'm starting a PFRPG game (as GM) set in Golarion in two weeks. Last night I was having a discussion with one of my players for the campaign.

The player asked:

"How are you going to handle female characters?"

I asked for clarification, because the only thing that came to mind was writing down the letter F on the character sheet.

A succinct paraphrase of the player's clarification would be:

"In Golarion, is there a general asssumption that females are inferior to males?"

I said I wasn't intimately familiar with every aspect of the setting, but to me, the world seemed to have rough gender equality, except where noted in the campaign setting. The Vudrani society, for example: "Throughout Vudrani society, such heavy emphasis is placed on the creation and care of male offspring that female infanticide remains a constant problem." (Pathfinder Chronicles 38)

My player seemed to think the whole world would/should have a tilt of male superiority/female inferiority, drawing upon Europe's historical medieval period and other fantasy world sources (such as Yrth from GURPS Fantasy), and that gender equality would be the pocket exception. The passage quoted above would be an explicit example of really bad sexism, but that the world itself would be at least moderately sexist (anti-female) almost everywhere.

Perhaps somebody more in the know about Golarion can enlighten me? In (canon) Golarion, is sexism the exception (as I believe), or the rule (as my player believes)?

In 3.5, the section "Ex-Monks" (PHB 42) and "Ex-Paladins" (PHB 45) state that multiclassing out of Monk or Paladin means you can never raise Monk or Paladin again.

In looking at PF last night, I didn't see this restriction listed in the PF class description. Is it really true? Can Monks and Paladins really moonlight in another class without giving up all chance for advancement at their day jobs?

Please forgive me if this is the wrong forum for this thread; it seemed like the appropriate place after looking it over. Also, I tried to search for a thread already covering this topic, but was unable to locate it if it exists. So, apologies in advance if I didn't try hard enough. :-)

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I thought I'd run an idea by the community here. I'm suggesting that each person adopt their local library for a Pathfinder donation. Or, if you have a Pathfinder gaming group in your area, everybody pitches in to donate something.

I first got into Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (1st edition!) through books I checked out from the local library. A friend in grade school told me about the game, and being so young my only avenue to research it was the local library.

The library having those books started my life-long addiction to role-playing. And, I remember vividly being on a waiting list to check out The Complete Book of Psionics (for AD&D2), so I know I'm not the only one!

The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to order another copy of the Pathfinder core book to donate to my local library. Anybody else think it's a good idea? Enough to do it in your locale? I'm interested to know.