Kelly Youngblood's page

My own thoughts, from seeing and organizing a lot of interactives over the years for Houston:

* High-level play has a very different pace from low-level play, which makes it hard to have the same number of encounters at every tier in a 1-12 or even 1-8 interactive.

* While a player with a high-level character can always create a new 1st-level character, the reverse is not true for a new player, who may not have the system knowledge to play a high-level pregen effectively.

* Often the high-system-mastery players who have high-level characters are exactly the ones you want to encourage to GM for something as complex as an interactive.

Thus, the 1-2 and 3-4 tables tend to make the majority of tables at events locally, with only 1 or 2 high-level tables for flavor.

So in general, I think having a low-level focus in the interactives will work for the best in real-world conditions.

I encourage you to check out the uplifted dinosaurs article I co-wrote for Wayfinder 20. It should not be too hard to adapt their racial abilities to creature type grafts.

We raised $270 for Texas Children's Hospitals. Thanks to everyone who tuned in and donated this year!

Join the heroes of Team Qoolaid and Houston Starfinder Society as they confront the might of the Azlanti Star Empire and raise funds for Texas Children's Hospitals.

This Saturday, from 10 AM central time till late.

Check out the Qoolaid gaming site for info on our bad of misfits, or head straight to the stream at Twitch.

Shameless author's plug: Wayfinder 20 is out, with uplifted dinosaurs!

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

painless

Where's the fun in that?!? :-P

Found the kuthite!

We still need GMs! PM me if interested.

And in breaking news, our overseer for 2-00 Fate of the Scoured God will be none other than Thurston Hillman himself! So come on down!

Yep. Rice university campus, Houston, TX Feb 28-Mar 1, 2020.

Owlcon 20/20 will be held on leap day weekend this coming 2020. Organized play plans include plenty of seeker-tier play for PFS1, Starfinder season 2, and the Owlcon debut of Pathfinder Second Edition.

We've also got not one, but two specials on Saturday. In the morning, we conclude The Solstice Scar, and in the evening brave Starfinders discover the Fate of the Scoured God. And if you're not interested in one of these, we'll have extra-length scenarios of another system running in room 103 during them.

GM recruitment is open. PM me for the google drive link to sign up!

Pacing yourself to avoid burnout is crucial in any endeavor.

Rysky wrote:

So I thought you might be amused by this:

I was reading over the pamphlet mentioning all the events at Dragoncon and there was one called The Masters of Game Design. Under speakers it mentions an I. Frazier.

Directly underneath that name is where it takes place, the Crystal Ballroom.

I squeed aloud when I saw it... and then I made myself sad when I reread it.

I haven't been to DragonCon in almost a decade, sadly. It's no longer car-trip distance from me.

Speaking of southern cons, the folks at Owlcon (Feb. 19-21 in Houston, TX) would be interested in flying you down as a special guest GM. Would you be interested?

Kelly Youngblood wrote:

Would you like to represent Paizo at Owlcon 2014?

That'd be fun! I was jealous of Mike last year. :)

Drop me an email at my VC address and the guest coordinator and me will start working out travel arrangements. It's

Would you like to represent Paizo at Owlcon 2014?

Is is too early to pre-order a Daigle-in-a-box for Owlcon 2014?

Having a bit more practice and having read up on the proper application of wash coats, I submit my 3rd batch of minis for review. (None in the second batch struck me as all that great.)

An armadillo from one of Reaper's familiar packs:

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A skunk from the same familiar pack:

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Finally, the trickiest of the bunch, an archer, also from Reaper. A brown wash helped bring out the details, even if the breastplate ended up looking a little dingy. I didn't even try to paint the eyes though:

Image 1
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Now I'm inspired to play a Mwangi paladin of Erastil.

Comicpalooza is coming! May 24-26 in Houston, Texas.

Bring your bravest characters for the first Texas run of 'The Ruins of Bonekeep -- Level 1: The Silent Grave'.

Then, bring your 12th-level Seekers for all 4 parts of 'Eyes of the Ten'.

GM signups are now open. To sign up, contact Marc Vanderbrink at

If you are interested in playing 'Eyes of the Ten', please email me so I can get a headcount. Email is

This will be Houston's biggest event yet, let's make it memorable.

Hey, I've never seen them in the same room at the same time. For all I know, they could be the same person.

You're right. My money's on veiled master.

Phillip Reed wrote:

Here's some interesting trivia: at the Q&A with James Jacobs at Owlcon,

Wow I totally missed James at Owlcon, I did meet Mike though... ;)

Mike, did you smuggle James in your luggage again?

In favor:

Sister Bellis of the Order of the Golden Erinyes: It's fun roleplaying a Halfling with fanatical devotion to Asmodeus and Cheliax, and a possible side-order of Stockholm syndrome.

Ayako Wu: Panda warbeast companion, 'nuff said.

Out of favor:

Isa Harris: A 1-level dip of Mysterious Stranger on an Archaeologist bard is proving less mechanically effective than I'd hoped.

Shan Taicho: Another disruptive player with a similar build has ruined Tengu Musket Masters for me, even after I had to ban him.

I did neglect to wash my minis before priming. Good to know for next time.

I used a grey spray-on primer which unfortunately tended to overwhelm whites and flesh tones I tried to pain on top of it, requiring multiple coats. Must see if I can find a lighter primer.

That's a useful link there. Reading now. Hopefully I will be able to improve my technique for next mini.

Kelly Youngblood wrote:

So I decided to take the plunge.

My first paintjobs were a pair of reaper succubi in a simple 2 color coat and dip. Looking at them this close I can't say I'm very happy with them (so much so that I'm not posting images), but I learned a lot.

Some harsh lessons learned, I proceeded to paint a mini for my next character, a "mad dog" barbarian. The mini is a bronze age conversion of one of Reaper's cave girls. i could never get the facial details like I wanted, so I copped out and gave her warpaint.

I'm not sure if its the pictures, or the paint, what paint are you using, from the pictures it appears to be very thick.. If its accrylic, you might want to water it down a bit, might help show your details.

The paints are a Flames of War Quartermaster acrylic set. I have been thinning them down, but it hasn't been helping that some of the paints in the set have proven naturally thicker than others.

I know the face got too many coats, as I would botch the details, paint over them, then botch them again.

It may also be the clear coat I used, which proved much glossier than advertised.

So I decided to take the plunge.

My first paintjobs were a pair of reaper succubi in a simple 2 color coat and dip. Looking at them this close I can't say I'm very happy with them (so much so that I'm not posting images), but I learned a lot.

Some harsh lessons learned, I proceeded to paint a mini for my next character, a "mad dog" barbarian. The mini is a bronze age conversion of one of Reaper's cave girls. i could never get the facial details like I wanted, so I copped out and gave her warpaint.

Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4

And her faithful baby panda companion. Having no such mini on hand, I was forced to improvise with a raccoon mini from one of Reaper's familiar packs.

Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3

Work in progress: Drow gunslinger. I have no idea how I'm going to use this mini, the color scheme just seemed like a cool idea at the time.

Do Gunslingers have to have tools to craft/restore weapons? What tools are these?

They need a Gunsmith's Kit, yes.

So Animal Archive is out and I'm ready to create a character with a panda companion.

just one problem, I'm having the hardest time finding a medium or small bear mini that I can paint in panda colors. There's plenty of large bear minis. Can someone point me in the direction of a medium or small mini for my companion?

Awaiting the animal archive to show up in additional resources, but count me in with Ayako Wu, Aasimar "Mad Dog" barbarian and Lao Jiu, panda.

Have: Kitsune/Nagaji/Wayang

Want: Dhampir

Which two scenarios were the ones set in Galt from Season 0 and 1? I've always wanted to visit Galt, so I'm quite curious.

Season 0:

Season 1:

There is a dwarf NPC in 'Cyphermage Dilemma'. Roleplaying her is typically my favorite part of the scenario, especially if certain factions are present.

Thank you.

On the heels of an incredibly successful Owlcon, I'd like to announce the appointment of Matt Savage to be the newest Venture Lieutenant in the Houston area and surroundings.

Matt has shown incredible dedication to spreading Pathfinder Society play to stores and schools in the Kingwood area. He's also been a great asset at local cons, to the point of running a table of 'Race for the Runecarved Key' cold at Owlcon. Finally, he's heading up PFS at MAG-con in April.

In short, he's doing everything I could ask for from a Venture Lieutenant, and I'd like to officially recognize his efforts.

Eric Clingenpeel wrote:

Pirate Rob wrote:

There was no PFS blog last week :(

And as its an hour and a half past the normal post time, its not looking good for this week either... :/

Paizo's closed today for Presidents Day aren't they?

And Mike only got off the plane from Houston 2 hours ago. I believe he mentioned to expect the blog next week.

I'm very curious about what was redacted now, guess I'll have to wait to find out.

Watch the Paizo blog closely then...

After 'Race for the Runecarved Key', Texas gamers got a chance to ask Mike Brock their questions about the future of Pathfinder Society, and he revealed some interesting bits of information on season 5.

Some changes to factions and how they work:

Number of factions likely to be reduced partially so writers have to spend less time writing for factions which are barely played. There are likely to be scenarios which center around these factions' fall. Mechanics for changing factions for those affected were discussed, but are not set in stone yet. Old faction traits and vanities from those factions will remain in effect, but it will no longer be possible to take them on new characters.

The disconnect between nation-based (Taldor/Qadira/Osirion/Cheliax/Andoran) and ideology-based (Silver Crusade/Lantern Lodge/Grand Lodge/Scarzni/Shadow Lodge) was discussed as something Mike was unhappy with.

These and more details on changes to the faction system to be revealed in the blog soon.

Just as season 4 spent a lot of time in Varisia, season 5 is likely to see a lot of The Worldwound. Future seasons are unlikely to be connected completely to adventure paths, in order to allow the PFS and AP players to experience different parts of Golarion. However, nothing is set in stone.

Mike mentioned wanting to put out a PFS book which would remain in print indefinitely versus the limited-run 'Seekers of Secrets' and 'Field Guide' sometime after that book. However, further internal discussion is needed at Paizo and will be announced when there is more concrete info.

'The Fabric of Reality' will not be the last appearance of the Hao Jin Tapestry.

Mike expressed a desire to setup a GM reward system for every star level, beyond the 4-star exclusive scenarios. This will require a lot of work from Paizo IT team, who are currently tied down to Paizo's virtual tabletop project, as well as several other projects.

Sanctioning of 'Reign of Winter' and future adventure paths was discussed. Mike commented that it was too early into seeing results from 'Shatered Star' and 'Rise of the Runelords' sanctioned to know how expanding this will effect the campaign. He would like to see more reporting data and feedback on sanctioned APs before sanctioning additional APs.

'First Steps' may be retired, as it introduces faction leaders who may longer be present in season 5, and new players are often not interested in committing 12 hours to an intro series.

Finally, Mike teased scenarios for tier 12.

And we have shattered all previous Houston records with a total of 48 tables run!

First character death of the con has been recorded at the Slot 0 at Asgard Games.

Crack! Splat!

Studded leather has a max Dex bonus of +5. Given that it's impossible to have a Dex bonus greater than +5 at first level, I don't see why not wear it at first level.

Registration is now closed, and Warhorn will close tomorrow night for mustering.

See you there!

9 hours remain.

Volunteer signups are now closed, and player signups close at 10 PM on Friday. Warhorn will close shortly after that, so get in while you can.

Pre-registation and Warhorn signups will close in one week. Games are filling up. Sign up today to guarantee a spot.

If you're short on funds, or just feeling helpful, the con still needs a few volunteers. Sign up as a volunteer here or purchase a badge here.

PFS does not use the randomizing game selection process deployed for the rest of the Con. We use our warhorn page (linked above) to muster tables. DundraCon is a great first Con!

Confirming that Dundracon is indeed a great first con. If you're in town, you should go, because who knows where you'll be and what you'll be doing a few years later.

Eric Clingenpeel wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Not only that, it specifically says that you can only fix it at the GM's discretion, so that would probably be a 'No' in PFS.

And finally, it is not found with any ammunition, and its ammunition is never legal for purchase.

Two weeks until pre-registration closes!

Fiendish Vessel (Cleric; Tiefling) from the advance race is legal...

all racial archetypes except Fiendish Vessel are legal for play.

Even if it wasn't explicitly called out as banned, it requires an evil alignment, which means it's impossible anyway.

Can I replace weapons with a Masterwork version of my weapons ? Basically selling my weapons then buying the masterwork one.

Yes.

Except for firearms, masterwork weapons are always available. You can simply sell back your starting weapon and buy a masterwork one for the normal masterwork price of that weapon (300+base cost).

3 weeks left until pre-registration closes!

Sign up if you haven't already!

My birthday's that weekend. I think I'll celebrate by running some of my favorites, Tide of Morning and Tide of Twilight. It's a bit early to be certain though, hope to have things certain in a week or two.

We're now full on PFS GMs and desk staffers.

At 1 month out what we could use is some general con volunteers. Signups are here..

Hurry, pre-registration closes Feb 8th.

We still haven't managed to get a group started at Fat Ogre, but Swords and Superheroes has a well-established Saturday group running.

They're doing 3-05: Tide of Twilight tonight, and 27: Our Lady of Silver and #4-01: Rise of the Goblin guild in 2 weeks time.

Signups are on their meetup.