Jason Belter's page

You do also get to Reforge every 10 minutes, so niche options become more valuable when you can switch between them, and when combined with your attunement choices you can cover a lot of damage types.

I would guess a couple of things. First they used to refer to having to shift to creating Pathfinder and the monthly subscriptions as keeping the lights on. So there is probably a cash flow element and one that was repeatedly tested by supply chain challenges the last few years. And the other is being able to test the waters with hardcover only releases with Starfinder. I'm excited for this change as well since the hardcovers are going to be a better value.

I also highly support this. From a slightly different perspective there overall there is a lot of Org Play content (looks at my Gamehole Con schedule were we have over 40 tables of legacy campaign scenarios and adventures running) without sanctioning that's a big negative compared to 10+ APs and at least a dozen modules I'd still love to play or GM.

On the positive side I remember when Starfinder's popularity was big enough to drive them going to 2 scenarios per month and monthly AP releases, so there is precedence for pivoting when there is demand.

Very much agree that this was one of the best short fictions and I'd love to read more. I don't think Pakelia needs to be an iconic, and might even be more interesting if not tethered to that type of role.

In person PaizoCon options galore!

I'd say take a look at the Starfinder rules as well since they would be reasonably compatible with a pathfinder 1e games https://www.aonsrd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1973

And I just got my copy so I haven't looked through it but Mechageddon is an entire AP as mech pilots that you might be able to adapt to your needs. To Defy the Dragon is also a Mech focused module for Starfinder.

6-99 True Dragons of Absalom could definitely be run that way.

I guess being free of the OGL means someone can write an adventure where you kill a vampire besides Strahd for the first time in almost 40 years so that is a plus.

Plug for Gamehole Con in Madison which has really grown in size for all kinds of gaming and guests. Oct 17th-20th this year. We have over 100 Org play tables scheduled for 1e, 2e, Starfinder and Playtest. Big enough to easily need a convention center, but were parking is still pretty simple. Also congrats to all the honorees this year especially Darrel for making every Starfinder table he is a part of an absolute blast.

After 2 high level AP volumes I got a lot more comfortable and faster. When I do prep I pull up mostly likely to be used spells, feats or items on Nethys and have them ready to go that way. I've not really done much for modifications and generally been able to have a reasonable amount of challenge. That said prepping Rise of the Runelords the first time was a big time investment, but paid off with about a 5 hour combat that was a good 6 or 7 rounds. My second Hell's Rebels was a dud because no caught that the zen archer was misusing and ability.

Bump this map seems like it would be a good candidate for the classics line, it is used in at least 7 different scenarios and is very difficult to find on the secondary market.

Hilary has authored multiple scenarios and at least 1 AP volume I can think of plus other credits in source books.

Starfinder Enhanced adds an ability called Inspiring Combo for the ENvoy at second level that lets them both attack and use an improvisations as a full action. Not all the time, but at least once per combat. It opens up some extra value in some of the improvisations beyond the Get'em ones. Nethys hasn't added those versions yet, probably because of the major bandwidth needed to try and get Remaster added. There are a few other abilities added like signature support which basically just adds another improvisation for the envoys. Nothing really balance altering, but it increases the diversity of builds that are fun.

I haven't used them yet, but the options are good enough that it was easy to just purchase the boon for all my characters, so I can practice more with the options and just make it easier to remember.

I did try and craft my scenario list for 1E scenarios at Gamehole Con this year with GM input we've got, so Mike if your looking at helping with a bigger convention in the future let me know, we've still got room if you want to join us in Madison and play.

Some areas use Meet-up. As an in person player, once you figure out what the local community uses it's often pretty straightforward. However trying to figure out the local scene is actually quite difficult given the number of options. More experienced players might be willing to try and navigate the maze if they move (I had one do so a few months ago), but for a newer player it is definitely a reason people might leave the campaign.

I think a concert is too easy, that last scenario should be equally difficult as the last special. I suggest planning a school fundraiser.

Duck hunt and Super Mario are both compatible with the NES, that word is a lot more flexible then some seem to be thinking.

Reducing our dislike of the system change to 'don't like change' is just being dismissive to be convenient. The last time a mechanics changes increased my enjoyment of the game was Skills and Powers for 2E DND. Most setting materials published since then have been worse in quality though some of the 3.X settings were solid. So all the work and money to learn new systems has not produced additional happiness. The existing Starfinder setting is one of the exceptions where it has been a truly new and fun setting, but why would I be excited to pay money to get the same type of options I already have to build characters.

The number of fun AP level ideas with Golarion World is just staggering.

I'll go less ambitious, but adding a version of the Mystic gunner boon to the ACP list would be nice

Coming at it a different way the intent of the rule is to prevent PCs from bringing a bag of space rats around and then 'fighting' the space rats to be able to use certain class features without a meaningful threat. The envoy's ability to recover stamina would be a prime example of this. The 4 level difference is more of a guide to when the power dynamic starts to get to that point. If there was a reason such a lopsided fight broke out running initiative is fine, but if you think the initiative is necessary and you can't just handle the scene as a narrative then all class features should work. It sounds more like you and your GM hadn't encountered this type of rule before.

I think Training Montages should be role played at the table, preferably with appropriate costuming and theme music.

I ran a party of 5, with some solid optimizers in the group and book 6 of Return of the Runelords held up pretty well in my estimation. Most encounters were not challenging, but the challenges were diverse enough that they had a way of sooner or later finding some party weak points for some of them. I even nearly had a TPK without having to do much modification, certainly not any of the give everything the advanced template or max HP. I don't mind that pace for high level play where the highly competent PCs can chew through a bunch of stuff cause they are prepared and then find a challenge when they least expect it.

Melee can definitely throw out more DPR, but there is a significant tradeoff in giving up specializing more on Dex defensively. With the way monsters tilt towards higher attack bonuses the melee tank already needs to go the heavy armor route to stay competitive on AC, and they are going to get hit in return a fair bit. For classes getting pulled in other directions with stats or not getting heavy armor or the melee proficiencies that tradeoff is often not worth it. Which I think means the balance is about right, you can do those things but there are tradeoffs to go melee which helps give those choices meaning.

Glad you seem to have found the spark again. I've gamed more in the last 10 years then my first 20 years put together and I think in directly that has been part of my secret. I spent so many years wanting more that I've been able to have it and enjoy it with the occasional short break (think skipping a session or 2). Getting a mix of GMing and playing in helps too. I do a mix of homegames and Org play and that's also given me some perspective on how to contribute to a positive community without over doing it and burning out for good which has happened to a fair number of Org play folks over the years.

1E and Starfinder for me, so many fun adventures to play yet in both

Based on recovered notes, Golarion goblins were described as "funny creatures". Welcome to our Golarion nightclub were all the comics are goblins!

Well it is an open question the indeterminate amount of time, if any Starfinder species would still be capable of reproducing with physically similar, but ancestral populations. Evolution is funny that way.

I could see it being a way to pull in some old 1E stuff as either a LARP type set-up, or go for the holodeck type experience. Both could be a lot of homebrew fun.

Based on the description from the interview it sounds more like Enhanced will have more options that are additive, not ones that invalidate older options. I would definitely recommend Character Operations Manual if you are having a good time.

Given the way people liked to complain about nerf bats in 1E the strategy makes a lot of sense. At the moment the best reason I can think of for referring to the additional Witchwarper spell slots just for Infinite Worlds is that it does preserve the option to still burn a normal spell slot to use Infinite Worlds. There may be some other backwards compatibility reasons as well.

Is the world really ready for whatever Thurtsy has had months and months to percolate?

They intentionally kept ship economy out of the rules, since there was not a sensible way to balance a 'normal' gear economy and a ship. With that in mind you have free reign to determine how much debt would make sense for the campaign.

Solarions, Soldier's and Vanguards are more apt for that method of comparison. By that level spell casters have a lot of options they would be using instead of firing their weapon. Even a very basic combination for a technomancer, Magic Missile with Harmful Spells Magic hack is 12.5 average damage for a 1st level spell and has the added benefit of being more reliable then having to roll to hit.

Can we not promote pseudoscientists who were 'popular' before D&D was more than a glimmer in Gary's mind. For those unfamiliar (which I would imagine is most) Velikovsky was a major force that Carl Sagan (and others) worked hard to appropriately discredit.

Sometimes I pre-roll initiatives as a GM. It doesn't seem like much, but when the number of monster initiatives starts to creep over 4 the rolling and initial starting can bog down, which makes side conversations more likely. Getting that feeling of combat is starting and creating a sense of urgency does seem to keep things moving along when I do it.

archetypes, adjust Starship combat (I don't mind it as is), make it streamline with vehicle and mech rules. Those needs some independent rules of course, but it would be great if we weren't having to learn tons of different sub systems. Backwards (ish) compatible. For those who don't like online gaming, things pretty much shut down for a few years so the system just isn't that old. Starfinder is fun because it's just zany no reason to make it look like 2E.

At the mountains of madness now that is a selling point.

It seems very complicated and fiddly at best. And this is coming from someone who figured out how to build a Silverhawk character in 1E that was Society legal (Tinker Alchemist, Savage Technologist, Magical Child Vigilante) Nanocytes and Vanguards have some tricks to them, but you can at least see where to try and go with them.

Any insight on either your preferences for types of games or your players can help.

There is also the Spellslinger archetype for wizards which gives some magus like capabilities with firearms
https://www.aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Wizard%20Spellslinge r

I had read the statement slightly differently as referencing DPR not accounting for variance differences in different strategies, as well as other items like how it feels when the inevitable good and bad stretches arrive. I might be misunderstanding Temperans, but I don't believe the intent was to say probability doesn't exist.
Not accounting for variance is actually a rather significant flaw in particular as the discussion already mentioned maxing out to hit bonus, but in a lot of combat situations overkill on damage is wasted DPR output and underperformance is where you see higher risk of PC death.

I would strongly argue that filler is a semi-subjective term. Different parties (even with the same group of players some role-playing hooks just work differently). Different choices even in a dungeon crawl can make different encounters feel of different weight. And then there is personal preference. As a GM trimming or speed running things makes a lot of sense, but as the game and party dictates to an extent. I trimmed almost nothing from Return of the Runelords but did speed some encounters. I trimmed probably 1/2 to 2/3 of a book total from Strange Aeons and Shattered Star. While some of those trims are more likely then others across differnet GMs I think of it more as maintaining a pace. Some speed bumps are fun for the party, but especially at higher levels which sections are speed bumps can be very unpredictable. On a personal level part of an epic feel is some level of unexpected, if the thread gets to tight then it is more like watching cut scenes on a video game then interacting with the story.

Based on normal dice statistics that Int gap would translate roughly into a year+ achievement difference based on standard deviations. I'm mostly amused by the question though because most people fail to appreciate how close that situation is to what a modern classroom looks like, and why phrases like "teach everyone" and "meet them where they are at" sound like cheap platitudes. For an example girls can enter menses as young as 9 and some male college athletes can still have a growth spurt in their early 20s. The averages for starting puberty of course are much closer than those extremes, but everyone still assumes they should graduate high school at 18.

A modest observation for Terevalis, perhaps there is something about your emails over the months? While I have had some delays in responses you seem to have systematically experienced much longer delays than myself on a number of occasions. Random chance is a possible explanation, but perhaps some other weird quirk has caused you more delays.

Ray has some solid insights, but it might be helpful to at least have a smaller list to look through for something that sounds fun.
Shattered Star's biggest critique as a lot of dungeon crawl also makes it pretty straightforward to run as a GM, and on balance if the PCs are playing smart also one where I don't think there would need to be a lot of finessing of encounters.
Rise of the Runelords would also be a solid choice, but even a decade later there can be some very challenging portions for a small group of PCs in the later books. A new GM might find running all the spellcasters at the end a bit of a challenge.

I think Council of Thieves might also be a solid choice, there is intrigue but not as complicated as either of the Hell's APs or War for the Crown. It finishes at a slightly lower level as well. The most common advice on that AP is to switch the order of books 5 and 6 which is not that big of a modification based on my read through. It's also early Pathfinder so the monster choice and rules are straight CRB.

Could you share a bit about your groups play style/ preferences?

I definitely preferred One shots to Bounties.

There have always been delays in expanding new rules after a product release. Unless there is coordination at launch to share the rules broadly across multiple products, the authors on future products need to wait for a book to actually be published and have time to digest the new rules before they can turn around and use them to expand on. For some products like scenarios the lead time hasn't generally been as big (a few months), but for books writing begins in the neighborhood of a year before. Look at the evolutionist playtest for a sense of how far in advance. Then factor in taking some time post release to judge if the rules are popular enough to drive more it can take a very long time, and a big reason I prefer to have a slower release schedule and hope the game system has a longer shelf life.