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New Pathfinder gaming group forming at The Spider's Web comics shop in Yonkers. Sunday afternoons, mature gamers, cinematic, heroic style of play...and free pizza and soda! So if you're a Paizo fan in the NYC area, you can't go wrong! We'l be starting the Iron Gods adventure path and also be forming a Pathfinder Tales book club. PM or leave a comment and I'll get right back to you. - Gotham Gamemaster
Gotham Gamemaster here! I'm starting the first Pathfinder Meetup Group in The Bronx, NY. As our oft-mailgned borough is feared to be the Port Peril of NYC, this group is part of a larger effort to support Bronx-based gaming and geek adventures--with a new mall at Bay Plaza and renovations at area sites from Yankee Stadium to AMC Theaters, it's high time to broaden the scope of activities in the BX and maybe change some perceptions! We'll feature an ongoing game and a Pathfinder Tales Book Club. So whether you are an experienced fantasy roleplaying gamer or just a fan of fantasy like Game of Thrones, Frozen. or The Hobbit, The Bronx Pathfinder Fantasy Gaming Meetup welcomes you! http://www.meetup.com/BronxPathfinder/
The Gamers: we are a group of old and new friends who are using virtual table software (Fantasy Grounds 2 with Skype) to play through the adventure path. For all of us, it's a first attempt at an online game. The Rules: Beta rules and complete conversion for NPCs. The Flat extra hit point option was used (6 points). The Frightened condition variant from Heroes of Horror (-4 to attack, saves, etc.) is being used instead of core Beta. We are following some Pathfinder Society guidelines as well including no crafting (Spell Focus instead of Scribe Scroll for wizards, etc). On the whole, though, it's 99.9% Beta pure. The Characters: Cruril Fletcher (N human rogue) grew up in the dirty streets of Riddleport, where quick reflexes and an even quicker tongue earned him a spot in the local thieves' guild. Due to some professional misfortunes, this shadowy character found himself on the road to Sandpoint. His war razor is never far from his palms. Brother Mathias (NG human cleric) was trained to be a zealous chaplain of the Hellknights but when he uncovered corruption in the order, he was beaten and left for dead. A sign from Sarenrae brought him back from death's door and left him on a new path in life. But he continues to wear the dark armor and mace of his former patron to insure that he doesn't forget his evil past. Curgen Voss (CG dwarf wizard) was a formidable "special forces" scout for the dwarven settlement of Janderhoff until his arms were maimed in a dungeon collapse. After a struggle with bitterness, Churgen discovered that he could continue his war with evil by using his mind instead of his now-frail body--and so he bent his intellect to the mastery of wizardry. Volmer Grissom (LN human fighter) was an orphan in the streets of Magnimar where he learned to live by the strength of his arms. With hard work and practice, he carved out a living as a caravan guard until he saved enough gold to achieve his true goal: to become an adventurer. First session write-up coming soon!
Geoff Johns and John Katz will leave one of the best superhero comics in decades, Booster Gold, after only twelve phenomenal issues to write stuff like 'event comics' that will one day be remembered as fondly as Invasion, Bloodlines and Armageddon 2001. Sigh. If you haven't read Booster Gold and you are fond of the DC Universe, I can't recommend Johns and Katz's 12-issue run highly enough.
In Dragon #364, James Wyatt doesn't mince words about 3rd edition (and by extension, Pathfinder): "One of our goals in designing 4th Edition was to extend the "sweet spot" across all 30 levels of play. There's a general sense among 3rd Edition players that the game hits a sweet spot around level 5 and stays good up to level 12 or so. Below level 5, characters are too fragile, and above level 12 they're too complicated. But I contend that another reason for that sweet spot is that, utterly by coincidence, that's the range of levels where a mostly arbitrary system of damage, hit points, and attack and saving throw numbers align to make the game work reasonably well." Thoughts? Rebuttals? Do the Alpha revisions address these concerns?
Grant Morrison is the Stanley Kubrick of comic creators and Final Crisis seems to be his 2001. Sadly for me, I keep expecting a fun and exciting comic book (especially when a Crisis is involved) but instead the fun seems to going right over my head---much like most of the story.
Paizo hires Sean K. Reynolds as a developer for Pathfinder! Paizo's Murderers' Row lineup is complete! We haven't seen the likes of this since Lee, Kirby, Ditko, et al, worked together during the halcyon days of the Marvel Bullpen. It's obviously a great fit for both sides and I can't wait to buy all the gaming goodness about to result from this partnership.
Players (21 or older) wanted for a Pathfinder playtest game in the northwest Bronx, bi-weekly Saturdays from 2p-8p. Group consists of 20s-40s with experience levels from undiscovered newcomers to celebrity grognards. The only requirement is that you have a passion for playing. Interested players should post to this thread!
One suggestion that keeps cropping up in the playtest threads is something along the likes of: "While I wouldn't want to see proposed new rule XX as part of the Beta/Final, I would like to see them included in the book as variants." Regardless of the novelty of the rule, I don't want to carry around a phonebook for a rulebook (e.g. Hero System 5th edition) and hope that Paizo does not populate the Beta with sidebars. If we were to see an "Unearthed Arcana" for Pathfinder someday, that would be a great place for all these variants to find a home.
Recently, the availability of Pathfinder Release 2 failed to appear as news on the front page of ENWorld (on or near the same day that someone's video review of the WotC website was listed as news). I used to be an avid reader of ENWorld news and boards, but since the announcement of Pathfinder RPG, I find the site to be increasingly uninteresting to the point of irrelevance. Most of my "Eh"World feeling stems from how great the Paizo boards are. The fan interaction is great, the discussions are topical and lively, and the participation of the Paizo staff members is nothing short of astounding. (I am reminded of the early days of the Marvel Bullpen in terms of positive fan-company feelings here---well, at least as the Bullpen appeared in legend if not in reality) Of course, the pushing off of Paizo to the OGL forum also had an immediate impact on my ENWorld reading--as despite the formality of the decision, it seemed an immediate relegation to second-citizen status. But while I think my reasons for a lack of interest in ENWorld are understandable, I think it's not going to help Pathfinder marketing for fans like myself not to visit there and engage in the same lively discussions we do here. Is anyone feeling the same way towards ENWorld? And do you have any suggestions to "buff" Pathfinder discussions there? -Peter
GMed a 4-hour session of the Pathfinder Module: Carnival of Tears yesterday evening. We had four player characters and one NPC: Human Sorcerer 5 (3.5 versIon)
and Valeros, Fighter 5 (3.5 as published in back of module) Almost all of the characters are making use of Pathfinder 1.1 with additional selections from Complete Arcane, Complete Mage, Complete Divine, and Spell Compendium--including reserve feats and the like. In addition, I made use of the Critical Hits and the Critical Misses decks. The adventure is full of wild social encounters and bizarre combats. My attention as GM was drawn to portraying colorful NPCs, describing the odd atmosphere, playing background music, etc. I adjusted 0% of the published adventure to account for Pathfinder 1.1. Here's my report--I don't have one! The whole thing ran together seamlessly and spectacularly as the event-based module marched to its dramatic climax. Fireballs exploded, beads of force erupted, swords sang, skill checks were made, saves were made---you name it, it happened and all of it hung together without any noticeable moments where one would say "Oh, that's Pathfinder changing the game!" or "What? These rules don't work together!" Players and GM alike simply played the game and the blending of 3.5 and 3P happened entirely behind the curtains. I'm not the most mechanically-minded GM, but I thought that fact was worth mentioning on the boards.
I'm curious what my fellow Pathfinder GMs are doing with Alpha Playtest rules that they have tried but haven't liked (for either mechanical or non-mechanical reasons): Do you retain the "undesirable" rule as written for the purity of the playtest and wait for changes from Paizo or do you create a new house rule on the spot? As for myself, I'm going to keep any "undesirables" intact and allow Paizo to make the changes between now and the final ruleset--at which point, I'll take stock of things.
RULE PLAYTESTED: Turning EVENT: 4th-Level Cleric vs. various CR ghouls THE GOOD: The healing effects of the cleric's positive energy burst seemed balanced and entertaining. In fact, a TPK would have almost certainly occurred without the new rules--saving the campaign in a stroke. The dungeon layout prevented the cleric from reaching injured party members with touch spells but the burst effect gave the cleric's injured allies just enough of a boost to continue fighting---but not too much that whatever threat they faced was diminished. Overall, my vote is 100% for the healing effects of the positive energy burst. THE BAD: The damage inflicted by the 4h-level cleric's positive energy burst was minimal once turn resistance (with its resist positive energy effect) was taken into account and did not seem commensurate with the healing benefits provided by the same burst. Or in other words, turning seemed to function mainly as a mass heal with a few hps of damage offered to undead as an add-on. THE UGLY: Frightened undead fleeing for 1d4+Cha rounds. Combatants fleeing the battlefield for brief amounts of time was awkward, silly and needlessly complicated (tracking particular creatures for X number of rounds as they paraded to and from the battle was neither dramatic nor sensible). SUGGESTIONS: 1) Increase the damage effect of a turning burst from its current levels, but retain the healing effect at current levels. So a burst that did 3d6 damage, provides half that in healing (rounded down). 2) Replace the frightened effect with either shaken effect or a dazed effect.
Just an update-- Session start time has changed to 8:00 pm. Four players are onboard and there's room for 1 or 2 more. First game session will be held Friday, September 29th. Neutral Groundsman
Fun, freewheeling, Wednesday night gaming group is looking for a mature player (21 or older to join in on the stellar adventures of the Age of Worms. We play with core rules and few-to-no houserules. Interested players should email the following address: GothamGamemaster@yahoo.com |
