Ghormagon's page

Hmm, yeah, out of 100 or so answerers, quite many of them have not played quite lot of APs so quite lot of APs don't really have a lot of data to say much about

I personally think though that roleplaying potential's answers are mostly about players' and gm's ability and not really the AP. I mean, sure, if adventure is only combat and no tips on how characters behave are given to GM then yeah roleplaying is hard and requires ton of work, but players can't know that without reading the AP. So while player can answer "Yeah this AP had ton of roleplaying" or "This AP had none of roleplaying", that answer can't be accurate if they haven't read the AP since they don't know how much stuff GM added or removed.

While CorvusMask makes valid points above, I kind of disagree. Nothing prevents people from roleplaying their characters in these AP's, however roleplaying in these AP's (with some exception, ie Kingmaker) carries no intrinsic value to the campaign, and in some instances runs counter to the campaign.

The most dramatic example for me was playing a paladin in Reign of Winter. For those who don't see a problem from that statement alone, consider what it means to play a paladin in a campaign where you are magically compelled to help Baba Yaga, a powerful and evil individual.

Aside from that, AP's tend to be very linear, so any roleplaying we bring to the table is fluff, and rarely builds upon the story as published by Paizo. Personally, I feel that sandbox campaigns are the only avenue that really demonstrates value to roleplaying.

Good job, way to go, Nick!

My PC's are just finishing Book 2, and their kingdom almost collapsed because of Grigori. I thought this was odd, as they were building up very well. When I went back and reviewed their sheets, they were missing some modifiers, and some of the ones they had were out of date.

Knowing how much bigger kingdom building was going to get, I designed my own excel sheet to track everything, much like Grifta did...

Ghormagon's Kingdom Template

Most of the drop down menus and cell references didn't carry through during the upload to googledocs, but it gives you an idea of what it tracks. Let me know if you want the excel sheet, and I can send it to you. I'm totally open to feedback and pointers on how to improve it. Thanks, guys!

Greenwarden Gauntlet

Thanks for the critique, T9. Wow, looking at it in a different light, maybe this wasn't as stellar an entry as I thought it would be? :) lol

When you say, "adding something new to the game" are you referring to it's uniqueness, or to thinking outside of the box?

Greenwarden Gauntlet

I really liked the visuals on this, but it was too expensive to justify the need to have 2 (at 71k each) in order to unlock all the abilities. Still, loved the idea.

Thanks, Belabras! Perfect example of how my simple typo cost me :)

Making Top 100 feels just like Christmas to me! Knowing that the Greenwarden Gauntlet (should have been Gauntlets, blast my feeble eyes!) made it this far, I am proud of how well it did. Thanks to everyone who threw it an up-vote, and look forward to participating with you next season!

I've posted my item in the Critique My Item thread, really looking forward to your feedback!

I've done my best to read through all of the posts on this thread. Which, considering the nature of it, all of them are valid. However, there is one point I haven't seen yet that I think is worth considering, or at least saying "hmm, interesting point."

The criteria to be an eligible contestant in Round 1 of this contest is less than 3 authoring credits through Paizo (if I am wrong, please correct me).

Bearing this point in mind, quite literally, you got the guppies swimming with the giant gar of developed writing talent of this game we all love so much.

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I was competing the same year as when Neil Spicer won the contest, damn straight I would want to know how I ranked.

Why? Because those of us who do not have the time to immerse ourselves to find a professional place in this industry, will try through this contest. If we didn't make Top 32, did we make Top 100 (ie Honorable Mention List). This is important, and it's been said, there isn't a single person who's posted on this thread who can say they don't need acknowledgement, kudos or whatever, and that the absence of recognition wouldn't affect the quality of their work. That's like saying, as a GM, seeing your group go off the wall having a good time with your unique scenario didn't spur you on to create something even better. These are benchmarks towards developing into something better than what you are now. If this is something that is commonly absent in the industry, then that's a really sad thing. If this contest is about finding desirable creative talent to keep your product line fresh, what does it cost you to post the people who made the Top 100 in alphabetical or phonetic order, whichever works best. Why is this a valid point? Because we are also the demographic who is spending a crap ton of money buying your product, and we want to enter a contest to help you sell more of it.

And now the "hmm, interesting point" part. Before I make this next point, I apologize if I offend anyone, but I think it must be at least mentioned. Doesn't it seem strange that the professional criteria for participating is so loose? I mean, professional freelancers vs. working single parent of 2, for example? As Owen and other have mentioned, with the current structure of the contest, they have a massive plethora of entries which are very time consuming to go through / vote on? If for example this contest was to discover a new, fresh unknown talent, shouldn't it be that? I dunno. I think maybe refining the contest to make it more focused on what you are looking for might be in order?

My first year submitting, after a previous 8 seasons of fearing the plunge. I saw some critical errors after I submitted, which I kicked myself for afterwards...
1) Should have been "Greenwarden Gauntlets"
2) Price based on one gauntlet
3) Wanted the special ability of the item to have more punch to it
4) Grossly underestimated the time required to develop an item worthy of making the Top 32

I'm sure I've missed / overlooked more. Critique away!

Greenwarden Gauntlet
Aura Strong Transmutation; CL 13th
Slot Hands; Price 71,750 gp; Weight 1 lbs.
Description
Intricately carved to resemble tree bark, this weapon functions as a +2 greenwood gauntlet when worn individually. Worn as a pair, the gauntlets cover both arms with a bark-like growth providing a +2 natural armor bonus enhancement. Once per day as a standard action, the wearer can merge forms with a tree by placing both hands upon it. While merged, the new form functions like that of a tree animated by a treant's Animate Trees ability. The target tree must be Large size or larger. If of Large size, apply the young creature template to the treant statistics block. This ability has a maximum duration of ten rounds.
Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, animate plants, barkskin; Cost 35,875 gp

First, congratulations on making the Top 32, Daron! As a GM, the flavor and visuals implied would make this a real fun item to see in play.

However, as a player, I have some mixed feelings on this item. The dimension door effect seems to leave the wielder at a disadvantage.

1) Playing on the name, and using the item to enable the escape of allies, what position does this leave the wielder in? If the wielder must remain stationary, they are unable to travel through, correct? If they can travel through, would the shield be left on the other side, where it was originally planted?
2) Once their shield is being used as a door, if we assume this is a sword-and-board build being a tower shield, doesn't this leave the character temporarily sub-par in their build?

Otherwise, I think this was a great item. Congratulations again on placing Top 32!!!

Congratulations, well done!

Good morning, Everyone! As a gamemaster, this has probably been one of the most educational experiences in over 30 years of enjoying this fine game. I had a blast doing it. Good luck to everyone, and looking forward to seeing what comes next from the community's font of creativity and inspiration!

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2494827?hl=en

Thanks for the headsup on this one, TA. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks again!

My boss is geeking out just about as much as I am about my entry in this contest. He's even created a profile on Paizo forums so he can vote too. God, I love my job!

Ghormagon wrote:

pH unbalanced wrote:

Ghormagon wrote:

Finally saw my item today, man, I am super pumped!!! Sad thing is, the excel sheet seems to be locked, and I can't update dates like I could this morning on items I am seeing today?

Is the sheet down or something?

Were you trying to put in a future date? Those aren't locked out.

And the point of record is Paizo's office, so if you hit today before they did, that might have been the issue.

I was entering today's date this morning, all was cool. Tried again this afternoon, and I can't even select a cell in the excel document. I also don't see the messages when I hover over cells at the top of the page. Any ideas? :)

Did you make sure you are logged into a google account? Sometimes my work computer logs me out for no reason and I have to log back in.

I closed the browser tab, reset my password on google, relogged into Google, closed the tab for the spreadsheet, reopened again from scratch. Same problem...

Noooo, I will not be denied my right to vote! lol

Ghormagon wrote:

Finally saw my item today, man, I am super pumped!!! Sad thing is, the excel sheet seems to be locked, and I can't update dates like I could this morning on items I am seeing today?

Is the sheet down or something?

Were you trying to put in a future date? Those aren't locked out.

And the point of record is Paizo's office, so if you hit today before they did, that might have been the issue.

I was entering today's date this morning, all was cool. Tried again this afternoon, and I can't even select a cell in the excel document. I also don't see the messages when I hover over cells at the top of the page. Any ideas? :)

Really, if I make it past the third cull, I'll feel like a superstar already.

Dude, you are so right on that one!

Finally saw my item today, man, I am super pumped!!! Sad thing is, the excel sheet seems to be locked, and I can't update dates like I could this morning on items I am seeing today?

Is the sheet down or something?

He has already begun the Dance of Ruin!

I've been Rick-Rolled... roflmao!!! Guess what though, I watched it until the end and sang along, too!

This is my first RPG Superstar but I have a new level of respect for people who create unique items. That was a challenge and I had to scrap more than one idea. Nervous is not how I would describe what I'm feeling. I'm excited for the opportunity to create more items. Win or lose, this was fun.

Jessie, I couldn't agree more with you. I'm a first timer as well, and really looking forward to this. I've been wanting to submit since the first RPG Superstar contest, but we all know how RL forces us to re-prioritize our time. Good luck, everyone!!!

PS I've seen some posters commenting on what the future rounds are going to be. I actually haven't seen the list for future rounds, could someone post a link, or offer some directions on where to find it? Thanks!

I'm planning on using these coming up in future sessions, specifically where the PC's cohorts are used as secondary characters to respond to threats too. PC's can't do everything, right? :)

Mine went along the same line as Kharis2000's group. Created Archpora, based on the initials of their first and last names.

My group is just starting RRR. I've decided to up the ante a bit on this one, and incorporating the Mythic Adventures ruleset, using the death of the Stag Lord as the moment of their Ascension, and heralded in with a brief appearance by Norns.

Tried using Obsidian Portal, and really not happy with it. Trying to find another site I like, and will post the link once I have it up and running.

Thanks for all of the forum posts, including this thread, it was an incredible help as a DM to get much needed inspiration!

Being an Excel junkie myself, I can appreciate the work you put into this. Thank you for helping me take my game to the next level, FilmGuy!

@Ghormagon

Go look at all the other sandboxes in development, they are all doing the same thing to raise additional funds and improve the content level at launch.

Secondly, Paizo and GW are two separate companies. Paizo is not funding PFO, they are helping to get things started. GW is it's own company, and both kickstarters are for GW.

So your disappointment seems to be misdirected.

Everything you've said is correct, and I make no assumptions that they are one and the same. Let's be honest here, GW would not be making Pathfinder Online without Paizo's involvement/cooperation/support, whatever. The fact remains, they are working together to make this happen because they mutually have something to gain. Nothing wrong with that, by and large.

I believe I explained it a little better in my second post, and tried to help those who disagree with me understand where I'm coming from. Not to agree with me, mind you, but to just understand where this perspective comes from.

As to my disappointment being misdirected, I don't agree with you, but respect your perspective.

Many of you have raised great points, some of which really resonate with me. For example, contributing to a Kickstarter is a matter of choice, with no expectation or pressure to do so. The greatest aspect to a Kickstarter, I'm sure you'd all agree.

Here's the rub, and where I begin to be concerned where this is going. The first Kickstarter included a significant portion, IMO, of it's rewards focus on providing its supporters with table-top gaming material inline with what the sandbox is going to be. Great, Fantastic! More great material from Paizo, where can you go wrong?

Here's where. If you are Kickstarting an MMO, maintain and hold your resources within the development and delivery of the MMO, not a tabletop game and vice versa. Granted, I've only taken a quick peak at the incentives for the 2nd Kickstarter, but it looks like they are doing it again to some extent.

Why? If you need $1M to get this baby done bigger, better and faster (as previous posts have noted), why are you diverting these much needed resources into areas that do not support the completion and delivery of your Kickstarter project?

Why does this bother me, and why not just quietly not support it? Because to me the direction of this Kickstart is reminiscent in my mind of what another company did, which lead to the creation of another company that followed a "path" the fan community loved. Needless to say, the first company didn't really make the impact they hoped for and are playing catch-up to the company who found a better "path".

Just checked my email and saw an email from Paizo announcing a second Kickstarter. With incredibly excitement about what new marvel they were going to launch next that would require another call for fan support, I saw it was a second request for the same thing. I promptly sent an email to Paizo with the following message...

To Whom It May Concern,

First, I would like to thank you for keeping the fan community "in the know" about the development of Pathfinder Online. Personally, I believe this to be a really awesome MMO project you guys are putting together!

However, I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED that you chose to launch a second Kickstarter for the same project. You are a very successful business, and in my opinion, have brought Dungeons and Dragons where it needed to be. This to me feels like a money grab because you do not wish to carry the normal costs associated with running/launching a new business venture.

In all actuality, this doesn't qualify as a new business venture, because you guys got this nailed down game-wise, and have demonstrated competently that the community is behind you.

Seriously, you know we're behind you, and the community already put their money on the table once to support you. Don't you think you should look after the next stages yourself? Are you really going to double-dip that cookie in the milk?

Shame on you....