Kalervo Oikarinen's page

In part Q, there are 5 spaces marked on the map:

...

Is the intent that the PCs start at 1 if they do not get enough successes for "Unaware Guardians" and at 2 if they do? Otherwise unaware guardians just means the guardians start even closer to the PCs...

I haven't seen the final pdf yet so things could have changed in development but I think there should be another condition that affects the PC placement in a sidebar or in the Table GM Instructions section.

So one question I have on this scenario is with the travel time. It says it takes a "few" days to get from the Xorn encounter to the camp - is this still under the effects of Heavy gravity? If so what's a fair number of travel checks to require?

A single check is required for the Towards the Border Region section and it only affects the Destroyed Caravan encounter, which is also the end point for the heavy gravity. Also, a single check is required for the Crystalmaw Pass section and it only affects the Camp Outskirts encounter. The PCs have a chance to take a rest and use their spells etc. to deal with any adverse effects shortly after those encounters, after leaving the heavy gravity area and after getting into the more temperate camp.

I'm glad many of you have enjoyed the scenario and thank you for all the comments, positive or negative. I'll take them into consideration for any future scenario I might write.

I'm happy to hear that the puzzle has been well received for the most part, I tried to strike a balance of it not being too difficult or time consuming but still interesting.

Hi,

I'd like to cancel my Pathfinder comics and tales subscriptions.

I can get the comics in digital format faster and cheaper, and my book backlog has become a mountain. :)

Hi, the author here!

It's been enlightening to read about your experiences playing the scenario and I'm glad that many of you enjoyed playing it or at least parts of it. I've taken note of the issues raised and I'll keep them in mind for any future endeavors.

Ultimately I'm pretty happy how the scenario turned out, as it is the first I've ever done. In hindsight I'd probably cut something from the previous sections to make room for more options and guidance for the ending.

Thank you everyone for your discussions and feedback.

Now I need to make a character that can use my murktouch cloak. :)

lumiapina wrote:

Which magic items are included?

Breach Barrier

...

*sniff* No Fate-binder. :)

Which magic items are included?

How does advancement happen in the subsequent rounds? Is it still solely by public vote? Do the judges act as tie-breakers? Or the judges are the ones deciding and the votes are the tie-breakers?

Also, will I be notified if my entry gets DQ'ed?

Public vote, judges give comments and recommendations on who people should vote for. I suppose they can vote as well but their vote counts just as much as anyone else's.

I don't think they notify you if you get DQ'ed. You'll find out during the reveal. Exception is if you get DQ'ed due to your actions during the competition, expanding on your entry etc. Then everyone is notified, not sure if they send an email to the person in question as well.

I, too, am attending Paizocon this year.

Superpoll.

Congrats Monica! A well deserved win. :)

Thank you everyone for the comments. :)

I'll make use of them in my future endeavors, whatever they may be.

Congrats!

This year has been great, and personally very exciting as well as nerve-racking. Well done, Owen!

Thank you for the new comments.

That image does not fit to me with the 'everyone in 30' feet attack. I would have preferred that every target it hit became threaded to the next instead.

It's a 30-foot line, so basically it does that? At least that's what intended to convey.

I am not sure it would be entirely breakable, but you could bind an ally barbarian to a enemy spellcaster for a Will or bind an ally spellcaster with your ally rogue against dragons etc. instead of just hoping to nerf enemies.

In the current mechanics, each creature uses their own modifiers and only the lowest die result among them is shared. So I suppose it could be flipped, so they would use the highest die result among them. That might be too powerful, since it's easier have your friends line up.

Though maybe the dragon will just wait and breath fire the next round. :p

Sorry. :p

A big thank you to the voters!

Wow, I'm still a bit flabbergasted by all of this.

Now I must set my brain into adventure pitch mode!

Thank you all! Congrats Monica, Christopher, and Brian!

And in other news, I am being invited by the RPGSS page to submit my entry for the next round. If only!

...and I'm invited to "Come back March 17 to view this round's entries and cast your vote!"

Some devious twist for R4 would have been exciting. :)

Here are the written interviews. :)

Thank you everyone for all the comments. There's a lot good points in them to consider for future encounter designs.

I'll share some thoughts on my encounter at a later date.

Thanks indeed!

Ah, I forgot it was the 10 hour countdown. :p

I blame it on RPG Superstar warping space-time into a blur of anxiety.

11!

Me too! Thank you.

Now I really should get some sleep...

Like maybe there was some fine print about offering tribute to the goblins, so they won't eat your submission.

Yeah, map is indeed the thing that is feeding my paranoia brain at the moment. :)

Hello dread about not receiving a confirmation email before the deadline. :)

...and I submitted. Phew.

I'm still working on mine but it's getting pretty close to finished. That 1400 word limit is a pain. :p

I slept about three hours last "night" .__o

Helsinki, Finland, and it's surprisingly warm here at the moment. Nothing like Hoth.

*huge sigh of relief*

Congrats to the others in top 8. Monster round finally conquered!

Salute to the whole top 16, you made this a really nerve-wracking round with your devious monsters.

Now the R4 rules!

You can never have too many monkeys in an encounter.

Well there's still some pain left to be experienced this year, maybe enough to last a lifetime. :9

Thank you for all the comments and to everyone who voted for my monster.

I'll post some thoughts on it at a later point. If I make it to R4, I'll be busy with that, so that later point might be after the Friday deadline.

Good luck everyone!

So close...

(/`.__.)/` <(REVEAALLL!)

I've never done PBP and only a bit of PBeM long ago. For me, the latter just didn't have the same pull as playing face to face.

Playing on a virtual tabletop, like roll20, might be interesting to try out. I've only used a virtual tabletop to replace physical maps and miniatures. If I ever have trouble finding face to face games, I'd probably opt for these instead of PBP.

I can see PBP/PBeM has its strengths but as long as there are real time alternatives available, I probably wouldn't opt to join one.

Hmm, where are the teasers about monster types, alignments etc? We need something to obsess over while we wait for the reveal. :)

Monica, I hope everything goes well tomorrow.

Anthony, I know the feeling. My mind goes from I did pretty well to Jon Snow, as in "You know nuthin'!"

I already bought a ticket for PaizoCon and for the hop over the pond. I'm not looking forward to the looong flight but a couple of weeks around Seattle should be fun. :)

Chris Shaeffer wrote:

I really don't know how well this round is going to go for me. I'm worried! :|

But hey, let's remember: the worst case scenario for this round is that we lose now and enter again next year older and wiser. Right? :)

Actually, I kind of feel like the worst-case scenario is making the top 8 but not the top 4, because then you can't enter again.

I think I'd prefer top 8 to trying to tempt fate and achieve consecutive four-peat. :)

This is my third time having a go at the monsters round, hopefully I have learned something. :p

Phew, I just submitted. .__o

I'm still making final nudges and checks. :)

Thanks, Lady Firedove. :)

My thinking was that the outside should be full-page map and the interiors would be on other page(s). Since there's the tower, caves, and the mountain stronghold, which probably should have been renamed to a fortress, so the different elements combine into a stronghold.

Also, I didn't want clutter up the map but I can understand wanting to see what's in there.

In hindsight I would have added some more details (barricades, braziers, objects to the guard post / barracks) as well as added the cyclops heads & mountain tops to the key.

My starting point was to imagine what the adventurers would see when they climb up the side of the mountain ascending above cloud cover and seeing the archways, waterfalls, then the tower and sphere looming above them and so forth. Then I wanted to add some natural hazards like the ice and snow shelf (avalanche). At those heights the thin air and winds would provide their own challenges as well.

Overall I'm really happy with what I managed to put together in the time allotted and how the map was received.

I have my first draft done and it hit the 550-600 word count range, so off to a good start.

Congrats to the others who made it as well! Nar-voth, hmmm...

3D Virtual Tabletop on a tablet and then cast onto a TV has been working pretty well. Players can join the game on their own tablets to move a token or just tell where they want to move.