Helmut Zemo's page

I don't know the ship building rules that well yet, so I wanted to run this by the boards to see if there's something I'm missing.

As far as I understand it, your ship's size limits what sort of power core you can install, and what sorts of weapons you can install (no capital weapons on tiny ships), but it does NOT limit what sorts of shields you can install. Is that correct?

So, provided you have the PCU and the BP for it, you can buy outrageously powerful shields for your little Medium explorer ship.

Context:
My players just started book 4 of Dead Suns today. They upgraded their ship to Tier 7, and spent a big chunk of their BP on a Nova Ultra Power Core (300 PCU) and Heavy Shields 480. This gave them 120 SP in each arc.

We had a laugh about it, and the players enjoyed feeling like badass space explorers. However, unless we're all missing something in the rules and their ship build is illegal, I'm probably not going to run another space combat for them anytime soon.

One of the rules I implemented for my Strange Aeons game was to give any player who writes a recap or summary of the previous game session one free d20 reroll during the next session.

One of my players, Ashton "N'wah" Sperry, went above and beyond the call of duty, and has been writing these recaps in the form of an in-character illustrated journal.

We thought that other GMs might get a kick out of reading them, but he didn't want to poke his nose into the Strange Aeons board, lest he encounter spoilers, so he asked me to post them here. Since he did all the board formatting for me, I could hardly refuse!

Note: Major spoilers for books 1-4. May contain some foul language.

Root Directory: The Mythos Notes of Astrapi Mirous
(Contains every illustration and journal entry compiled so far; N'wah plans to convert the older entries to the 9" x 6" trade paperback format as time allows.)

BOOK 1
1-1: Awakenings; introductions; ZOOGS!; doctorgangers; the Survivors; "stew"; and a Cryball.
1-2: Crypass; stew-cookies; let slip the tumors of ooze; RATLINGS!; everything's gross; RACH! MAMBI!; and mouth-fog.
1-3: We get our names; Zanda-doodles; a coin trick; BIRDS!; a nightgaunt; books; that's not how blood works; a dark room; more "books"; dead old man ass-kicker; and a mystery lamp.
1-4: A camp of crazies; ghouls ghouls ghouls; a Kool-Aid Man joke; and at least two video game references. Also, a bit of dabbling into conspiracies.
1-5: The colors sound delicious; Conan the Librarian; more ghouls; Orpsie-Dorpsie Corpsie Fog Machines; and all the usual nightmare revelations.
1-6/2-0.5: Cleaning up Briarstone; Welcome to Thrush-mess; dapper hats; and learning we're jerks.

BOOK 2
2-1: Crazy cakes for breakfast; CAVE OF WONDERS!; hanging with a fun guy; a misguided Sarenite; a nifty box; and Fishdame McCliffhanger.
2-2: Fishbulb and Ghost-Faced Killa (alias Black Casper); Wailing House; Nym's past comes back to throttle him; and A Night of Gambling (For Other People).
2-3: Filing reports; trespass; How To Piss Off a Wizard; meeting with Dalton; and a head-to-toe soul player.
2-4: Hay bales dampen sound; a steadfast gut-stone; Legends of the Fall(ing cultist); I saw the sign; basement hypnosis; and a Hailcourse boss rush.
2-5: A side trek of extraordinary minimitude.
2-6: Assassin assassins; high irregularities; Rat Patrol; life's a juice bar; lady-guts; and more clues than you can shake a masterwork composite (+3 Str) shortbow with 20 arrows at.
2-7: Fishbulb figured out; six mantles; an unfriendly denizen; "Do Your Job"; Meli-sent to her death; a byakhee bites it; my new favorite book; and planning for a boat trip.

BOOK 3
3-1: Books; another Amazing Chest Ahead; I'm on a boat; Illmarsh in passing; a dreamy fella; and If that's CR 10, I'm Tsathoggua.
3-2: Something humorous; dream journaling; I Am Regal (Yellow); Ghastown ladies sing this song; a Red Right Foot; a Ginsberg joke; it's lean and afrearing; and ship giggles.
3-3: If this boat's a-rockin; captain de-hatted; keep foods fresher with Celephais; Viscount Brellin's Rockin' Perma-Dusk Eve with Rhinestone Signet; spinnerets deep; a New Year; a zoog forest; and Chess-Piece Face.
Intermezzio I- Razmir: Where the fools go; and a bullVig dream.
3-4: Lay in a bind; the first rude awakening; a Paranoia Agent; books for days; a hag disheartened; more ghoulplomacy; osteoparalysis; and the second rude awakening.
3-5: Stuff I was dead for; new madness; Nym un-insane; a week of waiting; Hell Comes to Frogtown II: Frogtown's Revenge; more madness; and we get to Xer.
3-6: Row like you believe; Nym revelations; howdah to a shantak; I almost solo an encounter; bogeymath; a gaggle of gaunts; STRAIGHT TO THE MOON; and a murder most foul.
Apocrypha I- Contract Negotiations: Hey, devil, assist me in murdering this scholar for the heck of it, kthx.
3-7: Clues for the clueless; Port Me To the Moon; a Wick lights us; impromptu skylight; a dance with madness; a Moon Unit zaps us; painful toots; I die again; and someone new.
3-8: Sackacoinsidone; I'm no longer crazy; a teleport mishap; Wrench Lady; YelLiberated King; Dream-Trek of Unknown KaDistance; danger fruit; a Mad Poet; stunning revelations; and we fight our past.
3-9: Onward to Riverton; a trail of rubies; a dab of Dabril; Gray Gardening; senatorial smuggling; Augurs for a bit; thirteen days of boredom; and finally we're in Cassomir.
Intermezzio II- Backstory: Look, man, I don't know who you are, thinking you can talk to me like you know me, but I'm kinda Queen S*** of F*** You Mountain, so if you could be slightly less of a tool and get me another drink, at least it'd seem like you've got a reason to sit there- The Astrapi Mirous Story

BOOK 4
4-1: Astrapi sits this one out; Girl, interrupted; a waste of skin; and I shall know them by the trail of dead; water go down the hole; and an art-becue.

Hello folks! Welcome to the Trouble in Tamran (Author edition)

I figured I'd open up the floor for people to talk about characters, and figure out what tier we're playing at.

I'll have some pregens available as well.

So I came across this book while looking for art for my Strange Aeons game, and I fell in love with the art style. Maybe those of you who play Call of Cthulhu have heard of it, but it's new to me, so I figured I'd share.

S. Petersen's Field Guide to Lovecraftian Horrors

You can get a physical copy through Paizo, or grab the .PDF from Chaosium for $18. I found it well worth the purchase. It's got separate chapters for mythos monsters and monsters of the Dreamlands. While its technically a Call of Cthulhu book, it's got very little actual rules material and is almost all flavor and art.

The illustrations in it are fantastic. Here are a few sample images from Loïc Muzy.

Hound of Tindalos

Zoog

Byakhee

So somebody posted some weird stuff in the Paizo chat last night, referencing holy books of the various Golarion deities, along with some kind of code.

Over on the off topic thread about it people are saying it might be some kind of buzz marketing for Inner Sea Gods. Anybody have any ideas?

Here's the stuff they pulled off the chat:

Our Master's Book 192:4:4
The Bone Lands in a Spiral 63: 8: 10
The Book of Joy 19: 19: 4
The Birth of Light and Truth 139:18:3
Skull of Mashaag 247:1:1
The Skull of Mashaag 224: 39: 1
The Order of Numbers 8: 31: 9
The Order of Numbers15:2:4
The Eight Scrolls 117: 34: 1
The Skull of Mashaag 339: 12: 10
The Skull of Mashaag 238:35: 7
The Birth of Light and Truth162: 36: 3
The Skull of Mashaag 224: 39: 1

Link to OT thread

I played through The Confirmation today with 3 other players, all of us were playing new ACG classes.

I was playing a Hunter, with a small cat animal companion. I enjoyed myself immensely. The Animal Focus ability didn't really come into play much--I ended up using it for the Stealth bonus to sneak up on a creature, but that creature didn't actually want to fight, so it ended up feeling like a waste.
Aside from that if felt pretty much like playing a Druid, although without 9-levels of spells to look forward to I was more willing to let my Wisdom slide during character creation to focus on Str/Con for melee fighting.

My dad played an Arcanist (Revised). He felt the arcane reservoir was a bit too small at 1st level (1 point). He otherwise felt a little underpowered, but I chalk that up to his lack of experience with arcane spellcasters, as he seemed to me to fare about as well as a level 1 wizard or sorcerer.

Our other two players were running a Warpriest and an Investigator. I'll let them share their own thoughts.

We played through a few encounters from Dragon's Demand, mostly stuff from the dungeon I think. I ran two characters (Arcanist and Swashbuckler, another player ran two characters (Slayer and Shaman) and a third ran the Skald.

1st fight was against a Gibbering Mouther
2nd was an attic whisperer
3rd was a group of 4 Azers
4th was a Wraith and 4 Wights
We rested once here.
5th was a Mummy with monk class levels

The Arcanist played pretty well, though I didn't really get a chance to play around with the neat spellcasting mechanic since we only rested once and I didn't have a lot of changes I wanted to make with my spell list. I did like having the opportunity though, and can see how the versatility will make it fun to play in a full game.
Blood Focus helped me out in a couple tight spots (the last two fights especially) by giving me some extra oomf on my evocation spells, but I never bothered to spend it on my bloodline power (verdant) as it didn't seem worth the point cost to use tripvine. None of the other bloodline powers I skimmed through when building the character felt like they'd be any better. Maybe at higher levels, the more powerful bloodline abilities might be worth the point, say flight perhaps, or energy resistance.

The Swashbuckler was very fun. I built for Dex to Damage via Dervish Dance, which gave it quite a boost (which was quite nice, since several of the enemies we fought were undead, and at the time were not subject to precise strike. I see that's been changed now). I liked the Parry ability, it was fun and easy to use. I never got to use riposte because I didn't have the feat to spend on Combat Reflexes and it requires multiple AoOs--perhaps a class ability that grants additional AoOs would be a good idea, otherwise this feels like a feat tax.

One thing that almost came up, and I wasn't sure about. Parrying attacks from incorporeal foes--does that work? I had a magic weapon so it made some sense, but I can see an argument that a ghost should be able to pass right through a mundane sword no problem. I've got no problem with it either way, just something I wondered about.

The Skald was not terribly impressed. He played a mix between spellcasting and melee, and fared pretty well in both, but his Raging Song didn't help the rest of the party too much (two casters and a Dex fighter), so consequently he never felt like it was worth the standard action to activate it. He also had a tough time choosing rage powers, as a lot of low level ones require an action to activate, and thus don't work with raging song.
He recommends trying to make raging song helpful to more types of characters, and perhaps giving the skald a way to just rage himself as a free or swift action, like a barbarian does.

The Slayer was a little let down that he only had 1d6 of sneak attack at 5th level. He also didn't use his Favored Target ability very much, since it was usually better for him to just run up and attack rather than spend the move action (that may have been a consequence of his build though). My sense of the targeting mechanic is that it's meant to be used prior to combant, as the Slayer sneaks up on his prey, which is a cool concept, but is tough to pull off in a group-focused game where not everyone may be as sneaky as the Slayer. He otherwise acquired himself pretty well in melee, and only the last fight caused him any real concern due to the mummy's despair aura.

The Shaman said the character felt pretty much like a cleric, what with having cleric spellcasting and channel energy. He did really like the Battle spirit's initial power, that let him maximize healing spells he cast on other people. He actually used it offensively more than he did on his allies, since we fought a lot of undead. It seems pretty powerful, even when limited in uses per day.

Overall, I thought the classes were quite fun and flavorful, though I think a few of them need some work, and I'm excited about the upcomming revisions to the Arcanist!

Ultimate Magic has a couple new symbol spells that confer beneficial effects rather than penalties, for example symbol of healing heals whoever sets it off. Kind of a cool idea, I think.

However, like most symbol spells they say "This spell functions as symbol of death, except" and then lists the differences. This causes a minor issue. Symbol of death says:

Any creature attuned to a symbol of death cannot trigger it and is immune to its effects, even if within its radius when it is triggered. You are automatically considered attuned to your own symbols of death, and thus always ignore the effects and cannot inadvertently trigger them.

That means that if you cast symbol of healing, you're automatically attuned to your own symbol of healing, and you can never benefit from it.

I'm just wondering if this was intentional?

Played a Gunslinger for the first time tonight, and I had ridiculous amounts of fun earning Grit. It really made me think about the environment and how I could use it to do something cinematic and cool. I fired at guys through soft cover, used a door as an improvised weapon (by kicking it into a guy's face), and had loads of fun looking for daring things to try.

Spending Grit, however, felt a little 'meh'. All of the deeds I could use at 1st level seemed very situational. I don't think I found myself out of the first range increment once during the game (we were indoors for most of it), and the one time one of my pistols jammed, it was easier for me to switch to my other gun that it was to spend a standard action in combat to Quick Clear it.

It doesn't look like it's going to get any better for some time either. At 3rd level, I get Pistol Whip, which again seems pretty situational (also, since my Gunslinger has a low Str, his attack bonus is going to be underwhelming) It's not until 7th level that he'll get something worth using regularly (Targeting).

I'm really digging Grit as a class feature, I just think the Gunslinger needs a go-to deed at first level. Something that you can fall back on when you've got Grit to spare and none of your other deeds seem appropriate. Maybe a boost to damage? Or a way to use a gun attack to make intimidate checks or apply the shaken condition (sort of Startling Shot Lite)?

So my good friend Melissa (who works as a writer for the Times-News in Twin Falls, Idaho) is trying to raise funds for a book she hopes to write.

For the past few years she's been working with Bhutanese refugees who've been resettled in the Twin Falls area, helping them adjust to their new life and all that good stuff. Now she's planning to travel to the Beldangi II refugee camp in Nepal and shadow a family of refugees as they travel to America and spend their first year in Twin Falls.

If that sounds like an interesting project to you, please follow this

LINK

to her Kickstarter page, where you can watch a short video, read more about what she plans to do, and donate to help get her project off the ground.

She only gets funded if she meets her fundraising goal by November 15th, so she really needs all the help she can get. Every little bit helps, so please take a look!

Hello to the players in my Mouse Guard game, thank you for signing up.

I thought it was about time I got a thread together for information. Please stop by and say hello, and feel free to ask any questions about the game, the setting, or anything else you might be curious about.

I'll be making pre-gen characters available sometime next week.

Also, it looks like Curaigh was forced to drop out, so we do currently have an open slot, so anyone didn't get in through the lottery and was really hoping to play, now is your chance!

A while back, I tried signing up for a free spot in the Twisting Plots: The Crowd Messes with Greg A. Vaughan's Game event, but after clicking 'Save Changes' the page comes back with No check mark in that event's box, and it didn't add that game to my Event Schedule.

Then when I signed up for a couple seminars during that time slot, Greg Vaughan's event displayed an error message saying "This event conflicts with Creating Evocative Locations" and I can't get that to go away.

Any idea what's going on there, and how I can fix it? I'm also having a similar problem with the Coliseum Morpheuon Demo and Lilith's Return to Chinatown game.

Sorry for breaking the sign-up system, I promise not to do it again.

The Peerless Menagerie of Ashpanjara Isle
An hour’s journey across the sea west from Niswan lies the isle of Ashpanjara, a sprawling terraced garden filled with exotic and fragrant flora of unspeakable beauty. At its heart rests one Jalmeray’s greatest wonders, the Peerless Menagerie of Khiben-Sald (so called for in the eyes of the native Vudrani, no other collector in all of Golarion has yet matched the work of the great Maharaja).
Standing at center of Ashpanjara Isle, the Menagerie’s glistening white marble façade is visible for miles around. Finely-wrought cages of gold fill and surround the three-domed structure, running through even the stone of its walls like veins of ore through a great white mountain. The grounds and cages of the palace are home to an amazing assortment of animals, both fantastic and familiar, and all but those capable of flight are allowed to run free over the island. Even the most resplendent of these creatures pale in comparison to those found within the palace, where through potent genie magic the Maharaja provided his most exotic specimens with vast non-dimensional cells that perfectly replicate their natural habitats. From the tiled halls of Ashpanjara one can seemingly step from the sweltering jungles of Mwangi, to the sun-bleached wastes of Qadira, or even to the frozen expanse at the Crown of the World.
Khiben-Sald commissioned the Menagerie to celebrate the first anniversary of his arrival on Jalmeray. Once completed and filled to capacity, it boasted 1,001 of the world’s most fantastic and bizarre beings. In honor of Nex’s gift of Jalmeray, the Maharaja declared that twice each year he would open the gates of his island palace to any who wish to enter. This promise was fulfilled for the remaining nine years of his reign over Jalmeray. Guests were allowed to wander freely among even the most fearsome and vicious predators kept on the island, thanks to powerful sanctuary-like magic provided by the island’s genie caretakers. When the Maharaja and his court finally departed Jalmeray, the care and maintenance of Ashpanjara Isle was left in the hands of its sole remaining genie, a stern and severe Shaitan by the name of Ynsat-Bar.
A crafty and devious creature, the Shaitan foresaw the arrival of the exiled Arclords of Nex and was able to construct a force of Lantern Thralls large enough to defend the island. Bonding the thralls to her own elemental essence exempted them from the island’s pacifying effect, allowing them to battle intruders while still under the Menagerie’s protection. Tales soon spread among the Nexians that Ashpanjara was a haunted isle, to be avoided by all but the suicidal and the insane. Thus in 2822, when the Vudrani returned to reclaim Jalmeray, they found Ashpanjara more or less just as Khiben-Sald left it.
The first act of the returning Vudrani was to reinstate the edict of Khiben-Sald; twice each year the palace would open its doors and allow all to enter freely. This event draws visitors from all across the Inner Sea. Most seek excitement or wonder, others to study or observe. Rare few seek an audience with the most ancient and wise of the Menagerie’s residents, whom can be found in the fabled “Hall of the Enlightened.” Of particular note is the great bird Orokath, considered by many the last true Haga left in the world. The death of prophecy one hundred years ago tore through his noble race like a plague; most perished outright, while some lingered on as twisted mockeries of their former selves. Only through the sustaining effect of his magical prison was he able to survive, forever locked within his roost at the crown of Ashpanjara’s central dome. While unable to prophesize, Orokath nonetheless has much wisdom to share, for his memory stretches back to a time before the birth of man and holds many secrets dark and wondrous. Ynsat has the only key to the Hall of the Enlightened, thus any who wish to consult its residents must first prove their worth to her.
The current master of the Peerless Menagerie is a studious young Vudran rajah named Alissam-Tahn who inherited the position five years ago from his late father. Tahn’s ascension was not without intrigue, as his elder brother Nabbat was favored to take their father’s place. None suspect that Nabbat’s jovial exterior hides a heart filled with unyielding, murderous rage.

1. Ardorwesps Bearing Gifts (CR 8)
On your way to the observation platform, you notice a Chimera loitering just beyond one of this halls many portals; it turns to scornfully watch you pass. Continuing east, a strange sense comes over you. Before you can identify it, screams echo from hall ahead, followed by the sound of gold wire twisting apart. Terrible looking insects have forced their way through the open window, each a peculiar amalgam of hornet and dragonfly. The last one into the hall drops a small hourglass-shaped object on the ground, its stinger twitching in anticipation.
The island’s sanctuary effect has faltered, causing the strange sensation felt by the PCs at the start of this battle. Two human nobles (aristocrat 1) stand on the observation platform to the south, they are frightened and will try to flee up the stairs or down the hallway on their turn. The hourglass carried by the rearmost ardorwesp is an hourglass of the insightful conjurer currently charged with three mass cure light wounds spells. Unless perturbed the hourglass will activate on the fourth round of combat at the ardorwesps initiative, healing 3d8+9 points of damage to the closest nine creatures. Unlike most items of its kind, this hourglass is of inferior quality, and will crumble to dust once emptied of spells.
Creatures: Four ardorwesps have broken through the southern window. They engage the human nobles first, hoping to implant eggs. Once the nobles have fled or been implanted, they turn their attention to the PCs.

Ardorwesps (4) CR 3
XP 800 each
hp 22 each (RPG Superstar 2010)

Hazard: The chimera in the center cell along the north wall cannot leave his room, but will attack the first creature he sees crossing the doorway with his breath weapon. Treat this as a readied action to breathe a line of acid into the four squares directly south of the portal, dealing 6d8 points of damage. Creatures hit may make a reflex save DC 17 for half damage. He will repeat this action every 1d4 rounds, or until something attacks him, after which he retreats into his forest.
Development: The entire island is under attack at the behest of Nabbat, who has persuaded the insects to aid his bid for vengeance. For their part, the ardorwesps will receive free access to the islands supply of magical beasts and exotic flora. Nabbat also recently wrested control of the Shaitan’s compliment of Lantern Thralls, who may travel freely amongst the Menagerie’s cages thanks to their gaseous form. If Alissam-Tahn is killed, control of the island and its Shaitan protector will fall to Nabbat. Regardless, he has brought shame to the Peerless Menagerie and has earned the undying enmity of Ysnat-Bar. If the PCs can successfully defend Ashpanjara from the ardorwesps’ attack, the Shaitan will reward them generously.

Luminescent spittle drips from both this rat-like beast's malformed heads. It rears up onto two pairs of hind legs, standing as tall as a man, and fixes its cunning gaze upon you.

Churjiir CR 4
XP 1,200
NE Medium Aberration
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +10
Aura servitor fleas 5 ft. (1d3 plus distraction)
=====
Defense
=====
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 45 (6d8+18)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +8
=====
Offense
=====
Speed 40 ft., burrow 15 ft.
Melee 2 bites +7 (1d6+2 plus gnaw the mind), 2 claws +5 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks nest of memories
=====
Statistics
=====
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 18 Feats Iron Will, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +7, Climb +11, Intimidate +7, Perception +10, Stealth +16, Survival +10, Swim +11; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth
Languages Common (cannot speak); speak with rats, telepathy 100 ft.
SQ king among rats
=====
Ecology
=====
Environment any urban
Organization solitary
Treasure standard
=====
Special Abilities
=====
Gnaw the Mind (Su): A churjiir’s bite damages not only the flesh but the mind. Such gnawing leaves behind gaps in the victim’s memory that interfere with the ability to cast spells. This functions as a curse. Moving beyond the range of the churjiir’s telepathy suppresses the curse, but does not remove it. The curse DC is Intelligence-based.
Gnaw the Mind: bite; save Will DC 15; effect target’s takes a -4 penalty on all Knowledge checks and adds 25% to their spell failure chance; this 25% applies even to divine spells and spells without somatic components cure kill the churjiir who bestowed this curse

King Among Rats (Su): The churjiir imposes its will over lesser rats. Rat-like creatures of any type with fewer hit dice than the churjiir are considered dominated as the spell dominate animal once they enter its telepathy range. Creatures with an Intelligence score higher than 2 can resist this effect with a DC 15 Will save. This is a mind-affecting (compulsion) effect. The DC is Intelligence-based.

Nest of Memories (Su): Once per day as a standard action a churjiir can manifest its collection of stolen memories, causing a swirling phantasmagoric illusion to form on a point within 30 ft. A nest of memories has a radius of 15 ft., provides the churjiir concealment from attacks made into or within its area, and lasts for a number of rounds equal to the churjiir’s hit dice. Any creature other than the churjiir that enters the nest is affected by confusion unless it makes a DC 15 Will save. The confusion effect ends immediately when the creature leaves the area or the nest expires. Creatures that succeed on their saving throw are immune to this ability for 24 hours. True seeing negates the concealment but not the confusion effect. This is a mind-affecting effect. The DC is Intelligence-based.

Servitor Fleas (Ex): A churjiir is surrounded at all times by a seething swarm of fleas which it uses to torment its enemies. At the start of the churjiir’s turn opponents adjacent to it take 1d3 points of damage and suffer distraction (DC 15). Damaging the churjiir with a spell or effect that affects an area suppresses this aura for 1d4 rounds. The DC is Constitution-based.

The defining characteristic of any rodent is its urge to gnaw, and the churjiir is no exception. While the average dungeon rat sharpens its teeth on wood or occasionally bone, the churjiir instead chews upon minds. Using its telepathy, a churjiir scavenges the thoughts of others in search of pleasant, happy memories it can steal for itself, leaving behind frayed and warped recollections. From these thoughts it constructs a nest within its mind, a joyful illusion into which it can retreat from the stench of urine and haze of fleas which constantly surround it. Wretched and vile things, churjiirs seek only luxury and comfort for themselves. They take great pleasure in subjugating other rodents to serve their twisted whims.

Rumors persist that a churjiir’s psychic abilities result from its second head, and that three or four headed monstrosities exist with even greater powers.

Chymick
Description: A chymick is an intricate winged glass and copper construct about half a foot in length. Often encountered in swarms numbering in the hundreds, these devices closely resemble oversized bees, complete with insectile eyes, strange hair-like protrusions, and short metal stingers at the end of their bulbous glass abdomens.
Unlike most constructs, chymicks must eat to survive, spending much of their time foraging for inorganic matter to consume. They hunger for glass most of all, drawing them into more civilized areas in search of food. Each chymick transmutes this material into a potent magical concoction which it stores within its abdomen. At once both incredibly rich in magical potential and dangerously caustic, chymick essence is highly prized for its uses in alchemy, poison-making, and the brewing of potions and oils.
Those capable of crafting a chymick swarm usually keep them well under control, though some swarms have been known to outlive their owners or their usefulness and establish independent hives.

Powers and Abilities: A chymick swarm is able to rapidly consume most non-living material, though they rarely display this ability on anything other than their favorite food—glass. Whatever a chymick eats, it condenses and refines into a powerful magical extract known as chymick essence. This substance sustains and animates the chymick, bonding it to the rest of the swarm and giving it a measure of independence uncharacteristic of other constructs. More than mere sustenance, chymick swarms also use this vitriolic essence to lend potency to their stings. Even those chymicks who fall to an intruder’s blows have their final revenge as they shatter, sending shards of acid-laden glass into their enemies.

Steadfast Gut-Stone
Aura faint abjuration; CL 3rd
Slot — ; Price 800 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
Description
This fist sized chunk of off-white stone seems too large to fit inside a man's mouth, but may be swallowed with ease as a standard action. Once ingested, the gut-stone may remain active for up to a week, maneuvering itself within the body to protect its owner's vital organs. Any time an attack would subject the user to precision based damage (such as a rogue's sneak attack), that damage is instead directed to the gut-stone. All other damage from the triggering attack, as well as damage that surpasses the gut-stone's hit points, is applied to the character normally. A gut-stone has 10 hit points and 0 hardness.

When a gut-stone is damaged by a melee weapon attack, as a free action it's owner may sacrifice the stone to damage the attacker's weapon. Treat this as a regular sunder attempt, except that it does not provoke an attack of opportunity, bypasses the weapon's hardness, and deals 1d4 points of damage.

Only one gut-stone may be in a body at a time. Any attempt to swallow a second destroys both stones and forces the swallower to make a DC 15 fortitude save or be sickened for one round. If a gut-stone is not used within a week of being swallowed, or is destroyed, it crumbles apart and is passed harmlessly out of the body.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, magic stone, shield other; Cost 400 gp

So my room mate got this game for Christmas, Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, which happens to have been co-written by a guy I've seen posting on these boards, AdAstraGames.

Long story short, it's super amazing. It's your standard hex-board space-combat game, except done in 3d, and with Newtonian physics...so basically nothing like your standard hex-board space combat game. What surprised me most was that it manages to be incredibly easy to grasp and play, once you get used to thinking a turn or two ahead of yourself.

We played our first game the other night, running a race between me and two other guys through a course of four 'gates' set up around the board at different elevations. Being the only person to briefly acquaint himself with the movement rules, I actually managed to round the first corner instead of blowing well past it. In SITS, hitting the gas pedal indiscriminately can get you into big trouble.

Seeing that I had plenty of time, I pointed my nose straight down and spent the next few turns leisurely diving down to the level of the next gate. I ended up spending much of the rest of the game oriented vertically with respect to the game board, which actually came in handy later on. By this time one of the other racers had managed to get back into range.

Jealous of my obvious skillz, he decided to open fire, leading to one of the coolest space duels I've ever played. After deftly deflecting several of the dishonorable whelp's missile salvos, I returned fire and scored a couple hits up his kilt (actual game term!). This player happens to be a incorrigible coward, and once he saw this fight wasn't going his way, he fled of the side of the map, allowing to me handily win the race.

The game is based off the Honor Harrington book series by David Weber, which I'm not really familiar with, but the ships are pretty fun to fly and the shielding systems (some kind of gravitational wedges on the top and bottom of your ship that are primarily used for movement) are a bit more interesting than your standard 'energy bubble' style deflectors (in that they make maneuvering really important).

Overall, I'd say it's well worth the price if you interested in that sort of thing.

And Mr. Burnside, if you happen to read this, thanks for an awesome game!

Would it be possible to cancel my order, #1294896 Carrion Hill PFRPG? It's currently awaiting payment since it tried to charge my expired card number.

I'd like to cancel/suspend my subscription as well. I haven't had the chance to run these modules lately, and while ordinarily I'd stock up and use them at a later date, I'm going to be laid off in the next few weeks.

If its not possible to cancel the order, I'll arrange for a different payment method, but I'd still like to drop the subscription.

Thank you very much for your assistance, and for providing quality products (which I unfortunately can no longer afford).

Ok, haven't had a chance to read through it yet, but I just wanted to share;

Power Source: Psionic

So I got a wild urge to play a kenku today, but gosh darn it, those guys at WotC seem hell bent on making me wait for them. So I took a look around at the various homebrew versions I could find, and I thought they had some good ideas, but none of them were really doing it for me (the racial powers in particular didn't grab me, either because they felt wonky, or not particularly kenku-y. Not to diminish their efforts though, mad props to the homebrewers).

So I've slapped together an amalgamation of them, and I'd like to hear what you guys think of it.

BTW, I took the vast majority of this from other people, so I'm not going to claim any sort of authorship of it. If you want to check out the work of actually creative people, check out this one by DreamStalker, part way down the page, this one by Siberys, most recent version is post #10, and this one by Wizardmon, partway down the page.

Kenku Racial Traits[/b]]

Average Height: 4'10"-5'2"
Average Weight: 60-90 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, one other
Skill Bonuses: +2 Bluff, +2 Stealth

Great Ally: When you use the Aid Another action, or benefit from an ally's use of the Aid Another action, increase the bonus from +2 to +3.
Kenku Opportunity: When a Kenku gains combat advantage by flanking an enemy, they gain an additional +1 to their attack rolls.
Mimicry: A Kenku may replicate any sound they have heard at least once, up to and including another person's voice. This does not confer the ability to speak a language the kenku does not understand, though they may mimic specific phrases they have heard. When attempting to fool a listener into believing the sounds are genuine, the Kenku makes a bluff check opposed by the listener's insight.
Winterkin: Kenku get a +1 to fortitude defense due to their connection with the Raven Queen.
Natural Sneak: Kenku may use Bluff as a minor action in combat, instead of a standard action.

Instead of a racial power, I put in Natural Sneak, kind of similar to the Dwarven ability to use Second Wind as a minor action, but with the idea that they'll use it to feint or hide in combat instead.

I also kept the Winterkin ability, which was ported in from the Shadar-Kai, because as someone pointed out, races with bonuses to two abilities that determine the same defense usually get a bonus to a different defense to compensate. I'm not using the Raven Queen in any of my games, and will probably change the name of that racial feature to something else.

So, what do you guys think?

For those of you who've had a chance to check out Fables #77, what did you think of "Freddy" and "Mouse"? Name change (probably copyright induced) aside, that has to be who I'm thinking it is, right?

Did anyone else have a little geek out moment?

I didn't make this, my roommate did. You might know him on the boards as N'Wah.

PICTURE 1

I mentioned to him that I was going to be running Rise of the Runelords for some of our friends (since he never got the chance to run that module himself), and so he immediately went and started making minis for the game, starting with some of the important ones from Burnt Offerings, and then skipping way ahead to make this lovely piece of papercraft.

PICTURE 2

Here it is with our Curse of the Crimson Throne minis for reference, which he is DMing, and converting to 4E.