Icaste Fyrbawl's page

I just want an enlarged Valeros miniature.

So I'll admit I haven't read every single post. With that in mind, I jumped for joy when I read this blog. I've avoided pfs for lack of ingenuity seen at tables. I remember playing my yearly dip into pfs last year and having to use Kyra because I wasn't high enough level. Good thing I did. We dealt with hellknights and I was the only one with a respectable diplomacy. Everyone else built cannons.

This is great for me. I want to gm core mode only and bring my group to convention. Or do it for it home group. Heck, if my marine nephew who rarely plays is home, he won't feel overwhelmed and can spend time with his uncle. I don't own a FGLS or anything but if this works well and I get some cash I'm just going to buy a whole season and run with it.

As for experienced players, as a player of 3.0 onward, I look at this for what it is: hard mode. Not hard to understand, but challenging. I'm so excited to just pick a base class and run with it. I might even be a gnome!

Ok that last part was a lie. I hate gnomes.

Excellent. In time for my July birthday! Still want to pre-order so I can read the pdf though.

I had actually considered that. In your picture it appears you have the pawns front and back folded over like the pathfinder paper minis. I was under the impression that the Pawns were all one page and the next page in the list was their backside so you could glue them together. Am I wrong? And thank you for the image!

Silent Saturn wrote:

A wand of shillelagh shouldn't be any harder to come by than any other wand,

Here I'm going to disagree. Take a wand of cure light wounds for example, it can be maid by: druids, witches, bards, clerics, oracles, paladins, inquisitors and rangers. A wand of shillelagh can be made by: druids.

I know there's a prestige class that allows the person who takes it to add a druid spell to their spell book every level (maybe every level except the first) but I don't recall the name of the prestige class nor rather or not a magus can even qualify for it.

I believe Pathfinder Savant is what it's called.

This would be a fun idea but you would indeed need to burn feats to pump up that UMD. I think it's your best bet. And the only ways I can think of are : Druid Dip, Pathfinder Savant Prestige Class, Wand of Shilleleigh, Ring of spell storing and druid pal.

I would go with the wand and take the magus arcana that allows you to activate a wand with spell combat so you can pop it off in the first round and still attack.

Has anyone who prints these out come up with a solution for using them with the pawn bases. I feel I'll get more for my money with the pdf of the bestiary (I sold the physical copy to some friends) because I can always just print what I need. However, cardstock paper doesn't really go into the pawn bases with just one sheet of width. Any suggestions. I have yet to purchase the pdf of any of them because I'm trying to determine a solution to this issue before I do.

My wife just saw Irabeth and squeed!

Psst. You should do Carrion Crown. Pretty please!

Firstly, the A&EG is probably one of the most referenced books I've ever used. Ultimate Combat has some interesting rules as well (some, like bronze age weapons, I think are just updated).

In a low magic campaign, there are a few things of interest you need to be ready for.
1) Determine if low magic means less casters, maximum caster levels, and the rarity of magic items. Things like potions of remove disease become more valuable.
2) With more money and less magic to spend it on, PC's will invest in communities or mundane things such as fortresses. Be prepared to make snap decisions about economy and what DC's are for skill checks and what not. The Kingdom Building rules in Ultimate Campaign would come in handy here.
3) Race/Class matters more than the equipment on there backs. Rogues become extra deadly because they excel at many things.

Advice wise, let's look at a few models

a) Magical knowledge is limited
-Casters may be unable to learn higher level spells after a certain point. Allow them to continue to gain higher level spells slots that they can fill with metamagic versions of those spells. This pulls out all the stops on how to creatively use lower level spells.
-Magic item creation may be a lost art. Sure, Brew Potion is still available as a means of passing out magic, but other item creation feats are unavailable until double their caster level requirement. Magic weapons are rare and powerful.

b) Magic is dangerous to use
-Casters take nonlethal damage equal to 1d4 X Spell Level when they cast a spell. If they reach half HP, they become fatigued and so forth. If they run out of spells, they can attempt to cast a spell for 2d8 x Spell level worth of damage.

c) Magic is no longer practiced.
-This one is the hardest for an adventuring party to cope with. If you wish to do a no magic campaign, decide if it applies only to the heroes or also to everything else. This makes dragons less deadly for example. In this version, changing the Alchemist from a semi-magical class to a purely science class helps out a lot.

Personally, in a low magic campaign, I've told casters they can't gain about 3rd level spells unless they burn a feat and have encouraged them to use metamagic. With that in mind, I've limited spells for NPC's and monsters as well unless they are 1k year old liches etc. I always make the alchemist a science class. Also, in a low magic campaign, science WILL take off. Guns are the likely evolutionary curve. You'll have areas go through industrial revolution/steampunk. Dwarves become more important as their knowledge of structural engineering promotes them to a highly valued asset. This also makes assaults from the fey realms more dangerous as they are generally not limited by such magical issues.

Sorry, I'm getting off on tangent. I love low magic. It brings out the creativity in people.

The biggest piece of advise on this is to use Ultimate Combat's Armor as Damage Reduction rules. At some point, monsters will always hit the PC's. DR is going to help them stay alive alot longer.

Gods I'm so hot for this!

I would like to see these in a boxed set
-Shadows Under Sandpoint Megaadventure
-Guide to Sandpoint
-Pathfinder Pawns of NPCs/monster encountered.
--Anyones opinion on weather or not Bestiary entries should be repeated.
-A new, detailed map of Sandpoint.
-A fold out, laminated battle grid of the final battle area.

I'm asking a bit much. I'd settle for the first three.

$50 price point would be fair to me.

I'd be straight with you; This is not AP worthy. With that in mind, let me explain why.

It's a chance to tell the story (and for a guy who was writing those journals, Talbot? something like that, to finish them), set up side treks, possibly throw in easter eggs about the Varisian AP's and how they affect the country as a whole (i.e. seeing a group of adventurers with strange metallic shards on a wagon towards Magnimar) or even hooks! We all know there are certain parts of an AP we'd love to jump in on without starting the first sections. But keep it level 1-10. It's good. It's solid. It doesn't feel forced. Give some leeway room for higher or lower levels depending on side goals accomplished. Tie in already published material such as Varisia: Birthplace of Legends and include quips about NPC's from the other AP's like Mvashti from Jade Regeant. I personally think a "Guidebook to Sandpoint" would be a fantastic piece to include in this. Oh, yes, this needs to be a box set. Most assuredly a boxed set. And I would throw money at this as a kickstarter.

Kickstarter this thing, and watch it happen. Share the campaign, include the side notes like "When so-so did this, I was unprepared. Be prepared for X" and fun things like that. And I have one last radical idea: Leave the ending open.

Leave the ending open? You may ask. Because it's a great jump off point for a GM to really kickstart their own campaign. Give the GM's tips on where to go from there. Maybe even weave in a 'secret bbeg' that the GM can create and determine their motivations. But mostly, it's just a good spot for GM's who have grown comfortable from level 1-10 to really branch out because it's easier to have 10 goblins, 2 hobgoblins, and 3 bugbears than to try to decide how to condense a good fight into a few critters for level one. It can serve as an awesome adventure and a teaching aid for new GM's. This is Sandpoint, after all.

So a better question I pose to you, Desna's Avatar (so you're a chaotic good Mothman?) is are you looking for a large book that covers more in depth on the whole world of Golarion in general? I myself have not read Ed Greenwood Presents.. but I get the general jist that it covers a multitude of areas in more depth. The reason I came to this conclusion is while many of the books are crunch and fluff in certain ratios, I used to own Lands of the Linnorm Kings and it was about 90% fluff vs. some crunch (and it must not have been much, as I don't remember it). I assume the other region specific books do much of this as well. So it goes to say that you may be looking for a larger book with much of this information consolidated with new material and no crunch. Am I correct?

xevious573 wrote:

"As with all the elementals in this set, this guy is sculpted in clear plastic,"

Are their earth elementals in this set?

Yes, and they've been sculpted in clear plastic, even though you can't really tell. Originally this was because they have crystals sticking out of them, and we thought it would look really cool to have those crystals clear, but in fact we ended up going with a shiny opalescent paint on the crystals, anyway, so you can't really tell.

Until we start doing promotional repaints, of course. Dun dun dunnnnnn!

I agree with the previous poster, but green clear plastic. Something that would be great for promotional value would be to have different colored plastic underneath (to create certain "gem" based earth elementals) and maybe one with the crystals painted color of earth but orange plastic underneath and various "cracks" to represent a volcanic based earth elemental!

I think I would honestly take a pdf of the maps stripped from the AP's and enlarged in all of their grainy glory as long as they could be printed out on standard paper. I would even consider buying the pdf's of the old gamemastery map packs and the new pathfinder maps if I could print the maps out in sections and just tack the papers down (via foam display board). This would help out SO IMMENSELY because if the players wanted to use markers on the maps, they don't have to worry about erasing. I'll print more if I honestly need the map again. This method would also cut down on carrying a stranglehold on full maps. I nice folder would do just fine (I leave the foam display board at my friends house that we game out).

Please. I want this. I need this. We all need this. And you can still charge me the same price of the normal pdf. Or even more! I'll spend more! I just need this so much more than i need a pdf I can't print or a map folio/ap map I can't enjoy in its full glory.

Actually, here's a synergy I want, and it has nothing to do with your new map products

I own one flip-mat. The blank one. That way I can draw the dungeon maps on that, and erase it for the next map.

The blank flip mat is 24x30 squares. Right now I'm running RotRL:AE, and the other night I discovered something interesting: some of the very first maps aren't 24x30.

The Glassworks, as laid out, is something like 25 squares tall, and some of the basement rooms have to be shifted slightly to fit on the mat with the main building. Similarly, the Cathedral of Wrath is something like 34 squares long, and maybe 26-27 tall. It doesn't matter much, but my dungeon corridors are comically tiny.

What I'd like to see is a cheap product that gives 'paint-by-numbers' instructions that can show

a) how to lay out a dungeon from book to map so that everything fits, and where the 'dividing line' might go on a double-wide.
b) If the book image won't fit the map, what to modify to make it still look nice.

That right there is actually the reason I purchased the Gaming Paper. That and you can have all maps pre-drawn. And copying the image from the picture was somewhat difficult even then. But it is an immense help in not having to confine it all to one space. Try also drawing it out as shown on graph paper, cutting it out, and rotating it on another sheet of graph paper and trace. It might help

I would like to see the maps from the AP's as downloadable pdf's that are DESIGNED to be printed off on standard size paper (so a decent map might be nine pages worth or so). I personally hate "settling" for a map that looks the part. I'm one of those GM's that doesn't have a whole lot of time, which is why I love the adventure paths. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to draw my maps either. I think it would be great to just print out the maps, throw them in a folder, and be ready when game comes. They are easy enough to pin down on poster board (or something thicker) with tacks. I have done this with Gaming Paper in the past, but again I don't have alot of time to draw the map.

Please. Consider this. It would be a great boon for those of us who neither have the time nor the photo-editing software to rip the map from the pdf and enlarge it (without it looking like crap, to boot).

Usually I would expect to see something like that when a player abuses a power to the point that the GM gets frustrated.

If you are sure that it is not a misunderstanding, that there is really no grounds for it, then maybe it is time to move on. You need to look at it from both perspectives, as does he. But he is right, he is the GM, and it is his right to do anything he wants. He may not have any players by the end of it, but it is his game.

Bolding mine. And I'm not singling you out, Aeshuura. I've heard this statement from many other people.

That statement is the kind of thing that helps to create the sort of GM that is being discussed.

And it is highly inaccurate.

GM's with the "might makes right" attitude are not there to have a good time, they are there to "win".

Pathfinder (and all other RPG's that involve a GM and PC's) are team games. The GM isn't on the other team, he's simply there to challenge his team into interacting with the story he set out with in interesting ways.

Whenever a GM uses "I'm the GM" it's an excuse. I don't understand why GM's have a hard time with the phrase "Because at this current time, I do not have a plan for this."

I've left groups for the exact reasons you specify in your post Zakur.

While you could indeed decide to talk it out with the GM, I have a feeling it won't do you much good. What it essentially comes down to is how your friendship with this person is, if it exists at all (I've played with groups I wasn't friends with outside of the group). If it isn't strong, or doesn't exist, cut the cord. If it's strong, or at least retain-able, bow out gently. But don't make excuses, make your reason be heard. But explain that you're not going to stir the pot for the rest of the group if they enjoy his style of GMing.

Also, before it's brought up, I've been a GM for over 6 years now. So I can speak from experience of being "that guy". Being the controlling GM doesn't work out in the end. I expect it of new GM's who believe it's all about power. But seasoned GM's should understand that it's a team effort on everyone's part to tell a story and have fun for all.

In reference to the cover art, I have a suggestion that goes wildly against what makes sense.

*brace for backlash*

Why not use the cover of the players guide? Just move the text on it around to say:

------Pathfinder------

------(Sihedron)------

Rise of the Runelords
-Anniversary Edition-

(except of course, no dashes with pathfinder or the sihedron rune, they are just placeholders to move the words to illustrate my point. definited dashes or squiggles on both ends of 'anniversary edition')

It's iconic, it's nostalgic, and it has that 'ancient' look. While it doesn't tease, most people who are picking this up either have heard of it, already want it, or already know what is in it (this is indeed my assumption, however I believe it is a fair one). And if they don't meet those criteria, it's eye-catching in its own way. The cover has a big pointed star on it. People want to know what the deal with that is.

Just an idea.

P.S. Unrelated, but any chance the store could sell sihedron necklaces like all the bad guys have. Those are pretty cool.

Ok, I'm almost certain this has never been mentioned. If it has, PLEASE direct me to that thread so I can read the ideas! :)

I recently started a new campaign for my players. They are level 6. I decided I wanted magic items to be rare so I only gave them 10,000 gold. In return for the reduced magic items and reduced gold, I decided to use the Epic Fantasy (25 points) point buy.

Even more ideas sprung from this "reduced magic" idea. A friend had an idea to use "Achievements" for his campaign in a similar way that Xbox 360 games have achievements. He was going to use experience points as a reward. However, I want this campaign to last so I decided to go another route.

For example, the party fighter went toe to toe with a Huge Fire Elemental. He took tons of fire damage (refusing to attempt to put out the /Burn/ damage, because he's a man like that). I had made it clear I wanted ideas for achievements. He asked if he took enough damage over the course of the campaign to virtually kill him twice (without actually dying) if he could gain Fire Resistance. I loved the idea and agreed.

Another example I came up with was improving magic items using achievements instead of the usual "I have this much gold, I want to go from some master crafting wizard and have him improve my armor". I really hate that, because if you're trying to have a working campaign, there aren't that many wizards/clerics/etc. that just stop adventuring, open up shop, and hope for business. So I thought it would be better if their weapons improved based on how they used them and their armor improved based on what they were successfully being protected from.

The group's cleric has +1 light fortification scale mail for instance. I told him if his light fortification successfully prevented 20 critical hits, it would improve to medium fortification. He agreed and liked the idea.

The reason I'm posting is because I wanted to hear your feedback on the idea and if you have achievements of your own that you'd like to throw out there, I'd love to hear them (as I am but one GM and can't possibly think of everything you bright minded people can come up with)