Holy Warrior's page

I am working on a set of new and modified classes according to my preferences.This is to be the first step on a path to creating a modified version of Pathfinder as a whole, a sort of 1.5 to Pathfinder's 3.75 if you will. I will be using some ideas from PF 2e and maybe D&D 5e. Right now I mostly just have concepts and the skeletons of the classes i.e. hit die, BAB, etc. As of this post I haven't figured out what to do for equivalents to the Bard, Monk, Paladin, or Ranger, though some of them may become Prestige Classes. Feel free to check them out and give comments, criticism, etc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eTV0bVjA9CXCV1Ru7_1NbtgXEyDaMAYzRsxf9uX HtgM/edit?usp=sharing

I'm guessing this issue has been thoroughly addressed by previous threads. However separating the wheat from the chaff as it were is somewhat daunting. So, I am wondering if anybody could direct me to stuff that is worth looking at. Of course, if anybody has some novel ideas on the subject I welcome them.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b1FqEpDLV82TnL_JXgsQqrNLMVaX8FEE3QIajRA q2qM/edit?usp=sharing

I am working on an attempt to make the NPC Classes a little more interesting by adding class features. These are not intended to increase the power of NPC Classes but to just give them a little more pizazz. I figure just because a character is of an NPC Class doesn't mean they can't have some special abilities. Any input is appreciated.

I am looking to convert the d20 version of Big Eyes Small Mouth to Pathfinder, mostly classes. I’m not really looking for a 1 for 1 conversion, but an equivalence. Some of the classes already have clear analogues to Pathfinder classes. Others might need some more work. I have no plans to convert the attributes, except as class features or feats, and character point system.

This project is part of a larger one. I am trying to convert these rules to Pathfinder for the Coreline setting. I am considering opening another thread for Coreline in general, as we are always looking for new ideas.

Adventurer: Might not be necessary, but I have thought of some ideas. I did think of them having a class feature similar to Vigilante Specialization and/or being a hybrid class of fighter and rogue.

Dynamic Sorcerer: There is already a sorcerer class, we just need to make some changes. Might have an equivalent to domains instead of bloodlines.

Giant Robot: A racial class, has the ability to equipment into their body. Focuses on improving their robotic abilities. Possibly a transformer archetype/alternate class.

Gun Bunny: A gunslinger archetype.

Hot Rod: This class may have to be done from scratch.

Magical Girl: The Magical Child Vigilante archetype is already based on this concept, though an alternate class may be a better fit.

Martial Artist: There is the monk, and its Martial Artist Archetype for non-Ki users, but additional options may be needed.

Mecha Pilot: With the mecha pilot you also need rules for mecha. I am thinking of adapting the rules from Dragonmech.

Ninja: The ninja is already a class in Pathfinder it might just need some new options.

Pet Monster Trainer: A tricky class to do, but rangers and or summoners could be a basis.

Samurai: There is already a samurai class.

Sentai Member: Teamwork feats, lots and lots of teamwork feats.

Shapechanger: The closest thing is the Shifter.

Student: This is an odd class. In BESM d20, you can be a 20th level Student.

Tech Genius: This class can probably be represented with the Inventor archetype from Anachronistic Adventures.

I am wondering if I could find several people to participate in a playtest of Occult Adventures. It will be 1st level, standard point buy and I would prefer that characters be limited to Core material along with the playtest materials, including spells and the like mentioned in the document. It will likely be set in Golarion, more specifically Varisia, but that's mostly just to give it an easily recognizable context.

Angry Cat Traps Family In Bedroom, Forces 911 Call

Maybe the d20 stats for cats aren't that far off after all.

I am thinking of running a game where there are two sets of players, each representing a different faction. Not to say that the game will be all about PvP, it's more about seeing how the efforts of the different players will effect the overall conflict between their factions. The PCs might never directly interact, but they exist in the same world and there actions have an impact on the other.

I am also thinking of running this as a hybrid virtual tabletop/play-by-post. The most involved adventures will be running using the virtual tabletop to speed things up, more simple/quick adventures and stuff like downtime will be handled through posts.

I'm looking for players for a game set on Golarion, on roll20.net. Looking for players listing is here.

I would like to assemble a list of rumors for a campaign I am planning to run in Varisia. It's supposed to be a sort of sandbox, so I want to give each player some rumors to spur them into seeking adventure. The campaign will begin in Magnimar, so some of the rumors should be local to that city. Any suggestions?

Basically what the title says. I'm planning a campaign using the classes, so I am wondering how other people have used these classes.

I would like to run a game using the Anachronistic Adventurers classes. This game will be about being part of Department 7, which in this game will be a group that deals with the supernatural (but not aliens, that's Department 8...). It will be played on roll20.net.

Characters will be 3rd level, with abilty scores generated by rolling 2d6+6 three times and 4d6 drop the lowest three times. A character gets 3000 gp worth of gear and is assumed to have an average lifestyle. Their gear is provided for by Department 7, which means that there is certain restrictions on it's use.

As for deeper thematic considerations beyond that which is stated above, I would like to discuss that with the players.

I'm thinking of allowing "talking animals" as a possible racial option. However, the Race Builder does not allow for magical beast characters. So here's what I've come up with:

Magical Beast (4 RP)
Magical beasts are similar to animals. They usually have supernatural or extraordinary abilities, but are sometimes merely bizarre in appearance or habits. A magical beast race has the following features.
Magical beasts have the low-light vision and darkvision 60 feet racial traits.
Magical beasts breathe, eat, and sleep.

Special Subtype: Augmented Animal (2 RP)
An animal is a living, nonhuman creature, usually a vertebrate with no magical abilities and no innate capacity for language or culture. An augmented animal has increased intelligence and possibility even the capacity for speech. An augmented animal race has the following features.
Augmented animals have the low-light vision racial trait.
Augmented animals breathe, eat, and sleep.

I'm not sure how to handle the various disadvantages such a creature might have, such as lack of hands, lack of speech, etc.

I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in playtesting on roll20.net? I have an idea for a scenario to run, but would also be interested in playing a character.

So what does everyone think about these rumors? I find it interesting that WotC once had the license to make Star Wars games... and now they might be owned by the same company as Lucasfilms. Also I'm curious about whether D&D might be effected. Maye we'll get a good D&D movie?

I am interested in running a Pathfinder campaign in which the characters begin at fifth level. That is only one short of the highest level which a character has ever reached in any of my campaigns. I am interested in experiencing a higher level campaign.

I have been considering various ideas. One is that the players would play the newly ascended heirs to a throne of an established barony or other land (perhaps a bisphoric), using the Kingmaker rules for Kingdom Building. The problem is that it might be a bit difficult to set up.

Another idea is that there might be two teams of good and evil, based on the fact that there was such an arrangement in the Blackmoor campaign run by Dave Arneson. Yes, this would likely involve PVP, an element that many dislike in their campaigns. However, the fact that these are two teams should result in less of the problems that result from this. The two teams will be expected to get along, though.

If any one has any other ideas feel free to share them. I hope I can find some interested players.

According to the Book of the River Nations: Exploration and Kingdom Building each hex is approximately 125 square miles in area. Each hex, if claimed by a kingdom, contains about 250 people. Thus the kingdoms in the Kingmaker rules have a population density of about 2/square mile. This might be appropriate for a burgeoning kingdom, but what about more established ones?

The average population density for a fully-developed medieval country is from 30 per square mile (for countries with lots of rocks, lots of rain, and lots of ice—or a slave-driving Mad King) to a limit of about 120 per square mile, for a land with rich soil, favorable seasons and maybe a touch of magical help. No land is wasted if it can be settled and farmed. There are many factors that determine the population density of a land, but none as important as arability and climate. If food will grow, so will peasants. If desired, exact density can be rolled randomly, and land arability reverse-engineered from the result. A roll of 6d4x5 will do the trick nicely. Reduce the x5 multiple by any amount down to x1 to represent a much less developed land, or to represent countries depopulated by invasions, plagues or other calamities. Nations hit by such troubles can stay depopulated for centuries, too, barring an influx of immigrants: natural population growth is usually glacial in pre-industrial worlds.

Some Historical Comparisons: Medieval France tops the list, with a 14th-century density upwards of 100 people/sq. mile. The French were blessed with an abundance of arable countryside, waiting to be farmed. Modern France has more than twice this many people. Germany, with a slightly less perfect climate and a lower percentage of arable land, averaged more like 90 people/sq. mile. Italy was similar (lots of hills and rocky areas). The British Isles were the least populous, with a little more than 40 people per square mile, most of them clustered in the southern half of the isles.

So, while a newly established kingdom is likely to remain quite small for some time, what if the players are, for instance, taking over a kingdom that's been around for a while? Does it really matter for the rules, if there are 12,500 people in a hex as opposed to 250? What changes, if any, should be made to reflect higher population densities?

I am wondering if anyone in or in the vicinity of Auburn New York would be interested in playing my Monster Hill campaign. I have also been planning to run sessions at Play the Game, Read the Story in Syracuse. Now that I will have some money for bus fare I can make that a reality.

Monster Hill Wiki

I am considering a variation of Wish spells for my game. Instead of just preparing a wish spell and being able to get any effect they can think of at the time of casting, they must research a specific effect ahead of time. This doesn't apply for creatures that have wish as a spell-like ability (the primary reason I'm keeping these spells in the game).

Discussion thread.

The heat in the City of Brass is stifling, though unlike most of the rest of the plane it isn't so hot that you'd catch on fire and die in a moment. That may be why you enter the cafe on the road near the Commoner's Marketplace in the Avencina Ward of the City of Brass.

The cafe, called simply "Akabar's" is known for catering to patrons from the Material Plane. It has a magical item that cools the building as well as an unusual dress code for it's servers, that being that they don't wear anything above the waist. It has also garnered a reputation as a gathering place for fortune seekers, soldiers of fortune, adventurers and the like, due to the founding of a quite successful party some years ago.

For whatever reason this is where you are. There are several patrons besides yourselves, many humans and dwarves, but also others. The menu includes fruit juices imported from the Material Plane and various light dishes.

So what will you do?

I'm working on an encounter table for an area inspired by the Australian Outback. In addition to the local fauna, like dingoes, kangaroos, etc. there are going to be creatures from Australian folklore such as bunyips, dropbears and yowies as well as D&D/Pathfinder originals like grey renders and hodags. Here's what I have so far, you're suggestions, questions, etc. would be appreciated.

3d4 dingoes CR 4 (statistics of dogs)
gray render CR 8
hodag CR 6
1d10 kangaroos CR 3
drop bear CR 1
bunyip CR 3
1d6 yowies (statistics of sasquatches)
coautl (aborigine myths have a "rainbow serpent")
3d4 crocodiles CR 8
3d6 dire crocodiles CR 12
1d4 monster hunters CR 7
1d8 monitor lizards CR 6
advanced giant venomous snake CR 3
3d4 megalania CR 13

I'm wonder if anybody would be interested in playing a campaign set on the elemental planes? I mean from low-level on upwards, starting in more hospitable areas and then traveling to the more dangerous ones. I will finalize the character generation rules when I know whether I have enough interest to go forward, but I will definitely be allowing advanced and monstrous races and ability scores will be rolled.

Recently, I've been playing Dungeon Crawl Classics from Goodman Games. This campaign is using the "Character Creation Funnel" concept wherein each player starts with multiple 0-level characters. These characters also have an occupation determining what gear the character gets. It's fun. I've lost two characters and might lose one more, but it's incredibly fun.

So I'm considering running a Pathfinder campaign with a Character Creation Funnel. There are several rules for 0th level characters that are compatible with Pathfinder, but I'm considering creating my own, since I want one where the character doesn't start off with a class, but rather has no class. This what I have thus far.

Apprentice
The apprentice is a character who has not yet trained in a character class. They might be considered 0-level characters, and start with -500 xp and 0 gp (however they will get gear and additional money from a theme, alternatively, if the theme rules are not being used they receive 1d6x10 gp). Once they get 0 xp they may choose a class, getting additional skill points and a higher hit die and other features appropriate for they're class, replacing these.
Hit Die: 1d6
Base Attack Bonus: +0
Fort Save:+0
Ref Save: +0
Will Save: +0
Skills (2+ Int Bonus), no class skills
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An apprentice character is proficient with one simple weapon.

In addition they may or may not get the feat for being first level, since they aren't actually first level. Theme rules will be forthcoming.

I'm thinking of having the bards in my Monster Hill campaign setting cast spells like a wizard, having to prepare spells from a spellbook. Anybody done anything like this, or have any thoughts to share on the idea?

The way to Monster Hill is a rough path leading out of the valley wherein Gruntal lies. It leads through wooded hills up and down and around obstacles. As you progress along the path through the woods you notice a change. Slowly, but steadily the woods seem to get darker, more eerie. The sounds of animals start to change, from the normal natural sounds you'd expect to more creepy, strange noises. Then, after perhaps an hour and a half of hiking you see it. The Hill. There appear to be some kind of ruins, just a few stones atop one another, really, atop the hill. Then you see two entrances, one a natural cave, the other a worked corridor. What do you do?

As you enter the Green Dragon Inn the first thing you notice, before you even open the door, is the sound of the patrons. When you enter you smell the scent of pub food and alcohol. The tavern is quite busy due to a number of patrons. A good portion are armed and armored.

This is this discussion thread for Monster Hill. In addition, in character interludes between adventures an take place here.

Hey I'm wondering if there would be anyone interested in playing at least a few delves into my megadungeon, Monster Hill?

Ability scores are generated by the standard method.

Quick clarification, while the Obsidian Portal site says that I am running sessions face-to-face, this is for a play-by-post game. Of course if you happen to live around Auburn or Syracuse, NY...

I really, really like Kingmaker. It's my favorite adventure path. I would like to run it, but incorporating it into my Monster Hill campaign. I do have some concerns. One, incorporating it into my campaign world. Two, I'd like to have it be a bit higher level, so that characters that have been adventuring in my Monster Hill dungeon can transition into Kingmaker.

Incorporating it into my campaign world is actually pretty easy, because I'm going with a bottom-up approach. I'm pretty much just detailing the dungeon and the village the players are operating out of right now. I have a general idea of what exists beyond. The kingdom (the term is used lightly, since it's mostly just a collection of independent baronies, duchies and so forth united by a common heritage and purely theoretical in most cases loyalty to the "king in name only") based to a degree on Medieval Germany.

I'd like to set it up so that the characters would start Rivers Run Red at 9th level, "Name Level" in Old School parlance. So that would suggest that Stolen Lands would start at 6th level, I believe. Some parts of the conversion won't be that hard, just swap lower level monsters for higher level ones. The named NPCs are going to be the hard part.

In my Monster Hill campaign I have decided to use versions of the Greek/Roman deities (as the Imperial/Regulan Pantheon), the Germanic/Norse deities (as the Norden Pantheon), and the Celtic deities (as the Daoine Pantheon), in addition to the traditional D&D Elven and Dwarven deities. I'd like some help figuring out the domains, subdomains and favored weapons for the deities in these pantheons. These versions need not be 100% accurate to the historical versions, though.

I'm having some trouble with Zeus in particular. He was worshiped as a god of law and order, yet many of his actions in the mythology are more consistent with a chaotic alignment. I'm thinking of giving him an alignment of Chaotic Neutral, but giving him the Law domain and treating his alignment as lawful neutral for purposes of cleric alignments.

I received this e-mail just now.

Hi--

Together, we beat SOPA in a huge victory for internet freedom. But this Saturday, internet freedom protests are breaking out in over 200 cities across Europe. Why?

Because the companies behind SOPA are using international trade agreements as a backdoor to pass SOPA-style laws

SOPA's supporters are pushing two agreements: ACTA and TPP1. ACTA would criminalize users, encourage internet providers to spy on you, and make it easier for media companies to sue sites out of existence and jail their founders. Sound familiar? That's right, ACTA is from the same playbook as SOPA, but global. Plus it didn't even have to pass through Congress2.

TPP goes even farther than ACTA, and the process has been even more secretive and corrupt. Last weekend (we wish this was a joke) trade negotiators partied with MPAA (pro-SOPA) lobbyists before secret negotiations in a Hollywood hotel, while public interest groups were barred from meeting in the same building.3

Trade agreements are a gaping loophole, a secretive backdoor track that--even though it creates new laws--is miles removed from democracy. Trade negotiators are unelected and unaccountable, so these agreements have been very hard for internet rights groups to stop.

But now the tide is turning. Fueled by the movement to stop SOPA, anti-ACTA protests are breaking out across the EU, which hasn't ratified ACTA. The protests are having an impact: leaders in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have backtracked on ACTA.4 Now a massive round of street protests in over 200 cities is planned for this Saturday February 11th.

We're planning an online protest this Saturday to support the protests in the streets. Why? Because together we can drive millions of emails to key decision makers--and start tipping the scales like we did on SOPA.

Can you take part? Click here to get the code to run on your site!

We just built an ACTA & TPP contact tool, and it's not just a petition. It's code for your site that figures out the visitor's country and lets them email all their Members of European Parliament--the politicians who will be voting on ACTA in June--or the trade negotiators behind TPP. This direct contact between voters and their officials, driven by websites of all sizes, was instrumental in the fight against SOPA.

We can use the same tactics to defeat ACTA & TPP, but we need your help!

Support the street protests with a flood of emails to the officials responsible for ACTA & TPP. Get the code for your website!

Don't have a website? Tell officials in your country to scrap ACTA & TPP! And spread the word about Saturday's protests!

This is going to be tough fight. But we need to make secretive trade agreements harder to pass than US law. If we don't, our internet's future belongs to the lobbyists behind SOPA.

This is just the beginning,

--Holmes Wilson, Tiffiniy Cheng, Joshua Blount & the whole Fight for the Future team.

P.S. This map of ACTA street protests in Europe is amazing. The largest has almost 50,000 RSVP's!

Sources:

1. For more information on ACTA, read these excellent articles from Techdirt and La Quadrature du Net. For information on TPP, read this Ars Technica piece. For video, watch this.

2. Obama's signing of ACTA may have been unconstitutional. See Anti-counterfeiting agreement raises constitutional concerns and Techdirt.

3. Hollywood gets to party with TPP negotiators, public interest groups get thrown out of the hotel.

4. Ars Technica: Czech, Slovak governments backing away from ACTA, too.[/url]

As far as I understand things, Maure Castle was developed from Rob Kuntz's personal dungeon, El Raja Key. However as I understood it most, if not all, dungeons back then were what we call megadungeons or campaign dungeons. The highest levels would be suitable for low-level characters and get more difficult as you went deeper. I'm actually running this sort of campaign right now (well almost, the first session is on the 16th), using maps I bought from Rob Kuntz!

However, Maure Castle isn't like this. It starts at mid levels. Why? Was El Raja Key like this, or did it have upper levels that weren't adapted into Maure Castle? As I understand it Rob was co-DM of the Greyhawk campaign before creating El Raja Key, so maybe it was exclusively for veterans of the Greyhawk dungeons? However, it seems unlikely that Rob wouldn't have some material for low-level characters. Any one able to shed some light in this? (Maye Rob himself?, since I know he posts here sometimes?

I've been thinking of running an XCrawl campaign, but instead of using the alternate, magical version of Earth presented in XCrawl I've been thinking of setting in a future version of Golarion. So I'd like to figure out what might happen in Golarion's future, from perhaps 300 to 600 years in the future.

What nations will thrive and which will decline? What nations might cease to exist and what new nations might replace them? What cultural changes will the various peoples undergo? Since I'm assuming that the future of Golarion will lead to something resembling modern earth in technology as well as culture how do these technological advances come about and how do they effect the course of history? How does XCrawl fit into this?

The CR of Skeletal Champions seem to be a bit out of whack. For instance, according to the template, the Skeletal Champion Tiefling Fighter 8 that I've (tentatively) placed in my Monster Hill dungeon is CR 6. I mean, it supposed to be one of the most powerful monsters on the first level, but... that CR seems to not be right. Furthermore, imagine that you have a wizard 11 (eligible to become a lich) that became a Skeletal Champion. It's CR would be only 7! So what's up with this?

So I'm going to be running an extraplanar campaign on these boards. I'm pretty confident, but might need some ideas to flesh out the area I'm working on.

The basic idea of the area is that there is a port city by an ocean on the plane of Purgatory (i.e. the Neutral-aligned plane). The ocean eventually leads to Limbo/the Maelstrom and thus ships from all over the planes come and go from this city. There are several small villages in the area beyond the city, but beyond that is untamed wilderness. Not far from the civilized lands is a great fortress. This fortress has been held by many owners over the eons and has been expanded greatly in that time. Thus there are opportunities for dungeon, wilderness and urban adventure in the area.

Theoretically I'd like to actually publish this adventure/setting in some form, and use it as the starting point for a series of planar adventures, if I can get it to a point where I am happy enough with it. For now though I just want to play. Anyways, does any one have any input?

Hey, I'm looking to recruit some players for a game set in the planes of existence, kind of Planescape-ish, based mostly on the Great Beyond. The campaign begins in a port city (with vessels that comes from and go to many planes of existence) on the outskirts of Purgatory, with nearby opportunities for dungeon delving and wildreness exploration. I will start at low level, but I'm not sure exactly what level. I might start at 2nd or 3rd level to allow players to play Advanced or Monstrous races (according to the rules in the Advanced Race Guide Playtest).

Basically what the title says. I want to be able to carve out my own dungeon complex. Attract monsters and other minions, build traps, place treasure hoards, etc.

I'm thinking I want to run a Kingmaker-style campaign but with a dwarven kingdom. An inspiration for this idea is the computer game Dwarf Fortress, wherein you build a Dwarven Settlement. I'd like to run it in Golarion, because I find Golarion cool but have let to run a campaign in it. I'm likely running this via Play-by-Post, so I'm also looking for players.

One of the things I need to figure out is where to put it. The Stolen Lands are a theoretical possibility, and good in that they are already detailed, but I'd rather have an area more thematically approprate for the campaign idea. So we're looking for lands that would be desirable for dwarven colonization and also available, i.e. not already inhabited and either close to or claimed by dwarven lands/dwarves or allies of dwarves that would be open to supporting a dwarven colonization effort.

I have a couple areas in mind already. I'm pretty sure there are areas of the Five Kings Mountains that are either loosely settled or wilderness areas claimed by the dwarves, but not currently settld (perhaps having dwarven ruins that can be claimed and resettled by the new dwarven land). The Lands of the Linnorm Kings have a dwarven population and lots of wilderness, so that's a possibility. Varisia is a land ripe for colonization and there are dwarves in Janderhoff.

There's also the matter of the "story". Since I'm not going to be publishing this I do not need, nor do I desire, as planned out of a story as Kingmaker was. For the most part the PCs will decide which direction te story takes. However as they seek to establish they're new dwarven nation it is likely that various threats will arise. So I'll need to figure out what those are.

I'm wondering why exactly were hexes decided to be 12 miles in size? The size for hexes in many D&D and related products, are 5 miles. That's also the size I generally use for mapping.

I made a thread a while ago about editing the exprtion rules to use 5 mile hexes, but I'm wonderng if using 5 mile hexes would somehow break the kingdom building rules.

It seems a pretty simple matter to convert Star Wars d20 to be compatible with Pathfinder, using the Modern Path rules. Excepting perhaps the Force. I'm wondering if anybody has tried a Star Wars conversion before, though? So ya' know I don't have to do all the work myself if it's not necessary. Advice, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated.

Since reading pg. 23 of the Advanced Race Guide Playtest, I've been wanting to play a fire elemental. More specifically a sorcerer, since the idea of a being made of fire with fire-related magic abilities appeals to me.

However, I'm wondering how I would play such a character. What motivates a fire elemental to go adventuring? How would it interact with the other characters? What would it say in a given situation and would it be talkative, or not so talkative. Would it be emotional or stoic?

I think the character would either adventure in order to find a way to return to his home, or to explore the new world in which he finds itself. In either case it would be beneficial to work alongside companions. Possibly the elemental would not have much emotional connection to the other PCs, seeing them as merely allies of convenience. This may or may not change as the campaign progresses. However it's possible that the elemental might be curious about these strange beings and would ask about they're ways and customs.

So... I want to play a Fire Elemental Sorcerer using the rules from the Advanced Race Guide Playtest. Anybody have an open spot in one of they're games that is willing to try allowing a monster PC?

I'm working on a set of Mecha Rules for use with Pathfinder and the Modern Path rules. I'm thinking the rules for mechs will be based on the vehicle rules from Ultimate Combat, but there are probably other alternatives, some of which may be better. Suggestions and assistance would be apperciate. If I can get a set of rules I'm sufficiently happy with I might actually publish them.

I'm thinking that there will be a Mecha Pilot class, actually a variant of the Modern Hero class from the Modern Path. It will have it's own unique archetypes to represent various types of mecha pilots. all Mecha Pilots will get a class Feature that gives them ranks in the piloting skill, except maybe a few (Some mechs like the Mobile Fighters from Mobile Fighter G Gundam aren't actually piloted, instead they duplicate the pilot's motions, then again maybe Domon and his fellow Gundam Fighters are actually better represented by the martial artist archetype). For the Real Robot side of things we've probably got a "Mecha Prodigy" archetype for guys like Amuro Ray and Kamille Bidan, and probably another for trained soldier pilots like most of the bad guy characters and many of the good guy characters in real robot series, to name a few Char Aznable "the Red Comet"/Quattro Bajeena, Slugger Law, from the Mobile Suit Gundam series and Roy Fokker from Macross. For super robot pilots we have a Super Robot Hero archetype, and possibly a number of variants based on the Five Man Band, i.e. the Lancer (or maybe this would just be the Hero with atittude), the Smart Guy (basically a Mecha Pilot version of the engineer archetype), the Big Guy (good at having his mech take large amounts of damage, basically a "tank") and the "Chick" (aka the Heart, not necessarilly female, good at supporting teammates, may even have an ability that "heals" allies mechs). All of the Super Robot archetypes would be able to use abilities called "Spirits" similar to a Gunslinger's Deeds but costing Action Points. This represemts a super robot pilot's ability to make the impossible possible by shear force of will, Getter Rays; Spiral Energy; Guts and Hardwork; Passion; etc. A campaign including Super Robots would definetly include Action Points as a matter of genre simulation.

As for the actual matter of the stats for the robots, there definetly should be a system for building you're own robots. This probably varies by the type of robot you're building. If you're building a real robot you'd probably have to figure out what knd of armor you'd want, which effects you're mechs speed, heavier armors can be compensated for by adding additional verniers and motors, which require a stronger reactor... etc. There'd be a variety of interrelated factors that you'd have to consider. Super Robots wouldd probably not have to pay as much attention to that. They'd have whatever capabilities the player desires within the parameters of the campaign's power level, explained by whatever super science technobabble is applicable in the campaign world. Yet there is sometimes overlap between super robots and real robots, so whatever system is used should probably handle both in different, but not entirely incompatable ways. Also I'd really like to be able to have both Reals and Supers in the same campaign, mostly because I'd like to run a Super Robot Wars like crossover campaign.

Comments, suggestions, constructive criticism, assistance in writing some of my ideas out, etc. are appreciated

Basically, I'd like to know how to handle a situation like in "old school" D&D, where a character would be able to claim a stretch of wilderness, clear it of monsters, establish a stronghold and gather followers. The obvious choice would be the kingdom building rules from the Kingmaker Adventure Path. I have those rules, but am unsure of exactly how to apply them to this situation.

Obviously you'd start by exploring a hex, and then claiming it. Presumably you'd also assign leaders right before actually claiming a hex. But then what? Would establishing the stronghold be part of the establish and improve cities step of the improvement phase? Does it matter that the stronghold really isn't technically part of a "city"?

Also, I enjoy the game Dwarf Fortress, by Bay 12 Games (aka Tarn Adams). It's a really excellent game, and amazing that it is developed and programmed by one man. The subject of the game pretty much what the title says, the establishment and development of a Dwarven settlement, or Fortress. You start with a small amount of Dwarves who establish an outpost and the settlement eventually develops into a village, town and city depending on how well you do.

I'm wondering what kind of adjustments to the Kingdom Building rules would you suggest if you were establishing a subterranean kingdom? One thing is the possibility of vertical cities. City blocks might be below or above one another in addition to being next to one another. Another consideration is how to determine what kind of soil and stone in in a particular area, as well as what you might find down there, like caves or dungeons, what kind of minerals are there etc. There's also the consideration of the necessary labor in delving out the necessary space for all this.

I want to use the exploration rules from Kingmaker/Book of the River Nations, however there is a problem. I map using five mile hexes (and many published maps use five mile hexes), whereas those rules assume a twelve mile hex. So how do I adapt the rules to work with five mile hexes?
I'm not sure how the time to fully explore a hex is calculated for instance.

In the Monster Compendium Monsters of Faerun there is a beholderkin monster called the Eyeball, a CR 1/2 miniature beholder basically. What I'm thinking of doing is by some means, illusion or some such, tricking my players into thinking it's a full-sized beholder (albeit one with only four eyestalks, which could be a clue. As I said, I could use illusion, but I'd prefer a more clever means (if such a thing can be devised).

I'm thinking of putting flumphs in Rise of the Runelords if I ever get around to running it. The reason why I think putting in flumphs would be a good idea is the presence of Lovecraftian creatures such as the denizens of Leng, and the Hounds of Tindalos, and the denizen of Leng's plan. It makes sense that a race of beings who warn creatures of the plots of otherworldly beings would get involved, right? So where would be the best place to put the flumphs in?

Unfortunately the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me. I just started a new job and have had to take care of the house while my father is away. Compounding that has been continuing problems with anxiety and depression. This has all come together to make it very hard for me to do more than post a couple of posts here and there and I've not been able to focus on DMing my play-by-post games. I should have mentioned it earlier, but...

So I'm going to be waiting at least until the weekend. Then I'll see whether I feel I can continue with my campaigns or if I will be unable to.