Kevin Mickelson's page

They should behave exactly as any other items would, though you could certainly make a good case for them changing the color of the light that shines out!

This would be purely cosmetic however, and wouldn't have any impact on the spell from a mechanical standpoint.

Amazing Aviary
Aura strong transmutation; CL 5th
Slot none; Price 5,000 gp; Weight 5 lbs.
Description
This small bird cage is crafted of precious gold and mithral, with several swings and bobs and ends to keep any occupant entertained for hours. It can hold four birds at maximum capacity. When a bird exits the Amazing Aviary, it instantly grows until it is equal in size and ability to a giant eagle, though otherwise retains its appearence. The bird retains its free will, and will only obey an imperative given by someone who succeeds on a Handle Animal check. The bird (or birds) can return to former size as a standard action and return to the cage if successfully commanded to do so.
Construction
Requirements craft wondrous item, enlarge person; Cost 2,500 gp

THANK YOU JACOB! I AM WAITING FOR FRIDAY TO SEE WHAT LIES AND SLANDER ARE HEAPED ON MY LATEST MASTERPIECE SO I CAN RETALIATE WITH ANOTHER SUITABLY SCATHING AND TIMELY VIDEO! WITH A MEME THAT IS FRESH AND NOT AT ALL OVERPLAYED! IT WILL BE GLORIOUS!

THE PHARASMIAN TOMBSTONE WAS FLAWLESS

The characters were created mostly in Herolab with a little pencil and paper tinkering in between. The starting funds were set a bit higher than usual. I believe that I chose a number that seemed right to give a slight extra edge to first time players, though I don't recall what the math was at the time. =)

It's in reference to the Beginner's Box, HW. =) Though of course it also works very well with the core rules.

Thanks for the review, End!

So for people who have been to both, which do you prefer - Paizocon or Gencon?

Racing to Ruin saw us partaking in hamburgers from the local Culver's. Good stuff!

Awesome! Love that you're still chugging away with the tiny bits of plastic crack that I crave so desperately.

No idea if one shows up in Shattered Star, but I (and many others) are watching and hoping each and every day that Paizo will produce a gargantuan green dragon to fill a certain spot on our shelves. =)

What an incredible time. Amanda and I were blown away by how friendly and open almost everyone was. The venue was outstanding, and we made some amazing new friends! Cannot wait for next year.

Latest is that it'll be 2 pm on Saturday. -)

where at Gen Con will this private gaming session take place?

That is an awesome question. I suggest you ask on the Dead Gentlemen Production and Zombie Orpheus Entertainment facebook pages. I'll find out around the same time you do!

Every gamer at my table knows that movie by heart.

That's what they think. There is so much added content here, as well as different ways to handle situations. What if the Hierophant doesn't manage to steal the Mask? What if they successfully interrogate Mort Agrippa and then just totally skip Westhaven? Do the townsfolk know or care about all the awful stuff the PCs have done?

All this and more can be answered!

Asked! It should be addressed on the Kickstarter page very soon. =) And thank you!

Update! After selling like hotcakes, there are now full-color versions available, as well as gift packs where you can order more than one a time, get it packaged with Dorkness and/or JourneyQuest, or even a limited edition Gamers 2 poster. Furthermore, there are also some special wholesale deals for retailers only.

Whoa!!! How did I miss this before?!

I noticed the estimated dates of delivery under the payment options is listed as September, 2012. But the description for the product mentions that this lets you "have the printed product in hand for Gen Con 2012."

Will backers be able to pick up their rewards at/by Gen Con?

Thanks so much Al, and everyone else! To your question - I've been talking with Matt and Ben about whether people will be able to pick the modules up directly from Gencon. The "product in hand for Gen Con 2012" is so we'll have copies to sell at the convention itself.

It would make lots of sense for us to just do signings there (though I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it, all the folks you're really paying to see will be) and put it right into the hands of the people who contributed, but it may be hard to sort out. I'll keep you posted when we know for sure! The Zombie Orpheus facebook page will be a good place to check for updates or ask questions directly to the real movers and shakers. =)

Thanks man! I really think you'll like what we've cooked up for you here.

The Kickstarter campaign for the Mask of Death started a matter of hours ago, and in that time we have almost totally met the 4,000 dollar goal.

Mask of Death Kickstarter

When and if we go beyond the initial target, the stretch goal rewards we're planning will be out of this world. Please check it out, pass it around, and post your ideas for other rewards you'd like to see! This may lead to some really big things in the near future.

Thank you for your attention!

Don't disparage the proud hunting traditions of my people, Ambrus!

Kevin Mickelson wrote:

PHARASMIAN TOMB STONE, BABY!

I'm sure you meant, Pharasmin tombstone... ;-P

Look, if you wanna make some creative alterations I guess we can talk about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BViZsQRGivI

PHARASMIAN TOMB STONE, BABY! They'll sell like hotcakes!

Your ideas sound really interesting but...

Oh indeed. I'm firmly of the opinion that the PCs are the stars of the show (especially after playing in a few games where the GM didn't have that idea). We have a group of only three players and one DMPC (elf sorc/fighter), so I like to keep the other castaways viable in case the party feels like they could do with, say, a Bard for a particular task.

Just because I wanna tighten their builds a little bit doesn't mean they'll be stealing the spotlight. It's just that my players seem to really like them, and this would add just a little more depth whenever mechanics become an issue.

But anyway, does anybody have an opinion on Monastic Legacy + Martial Artist?

So my group has hit Racing to Ruin just recently, and they are having a hell of a time. They also made friends with all 5 of the NPCs, and managed to broker a deal that has everyone working together on a joint Pathfinder Society/Sargavan Government venture.

The 5 NPCs are going to be following behind the main party, helping to defend the main expedition. However, odds are good that the PCs will want to travel with the NPCs as well from time to time, so I decided to brush up on their builds a little bit.

Ishirou is gonna take the Thug archetype, and I've been kicking around the idea of him also mixing in some Fighter (Cad).

Gelik is going to take the Street Performer archetype.

Jask is going to be a Cloistered Cleric now.

Sasha is going to end up with the Beast Master (she got 4 dimorphodon "babies" on Smuggler's Shiv) and Skirmisher archetypes.

Aerys is going to take the Brawler archetype, possibly mixing in 3 levels of Martial Artist monk (I've been seriously considering allowing her to take the Monastic Legacy feat so her unarmed can keep improving after those three levels, even though Martial Artist doesn't allow Still Mind so it should be impossible RAW. Am I missing some huge unbalancing factor that would make that a bad idea?).

I also think I'll be improving their stats a little bit - the dice seem to have slapped them across the face pretty hard.

What have you guys done with the other Castaways? Got builds you'd like to share? Chime in!

Like some others have said, that fire event sounds like it was mishandled. The thing you described was because your GM wanted it to go that way: not because it was written to happen that way.

That sounds pretty cool, actually! My wife and I are gonna be first timers this year and just bringing the two of us, but we'd be way into it. =)

No no, it's a collegiate thing. 2 writing classes, 2 English classes. 1 writing and 1 English are now focusing heavily on poetry - its analysis and composition. Never been my thing, but it is good to broaden one's horizons.

Well it looks like I'm just in time!

rowr.

Unrelated note - poetry is weird, and I cannot focus on a damn thing lately. February is already sinking its claws in!

Ryan Dancey wrote:

Perhaps the ability of the community to do design in the wondrous item space is exhausted and Paizo needs to consider a new first round option for next year.

+ 1,000,000,000.

*Looks up from the massive pile of wondrous items he's been working on ever since finding out he'd lost, clearly horrified*

This is all I'm good at. ._.

This was extremely well done - the Downfall meme thrives on detail and wit, and I LOLed muchly. But somehow, I dunno, I kept expecting SKR to break into the room waving his sword...

Oh man, now that is funny!

P.S. Even though my item could "see through walls," I forgive you! LOL ;p

But does it do laundry?

Well, this IS a small world. I moved here (FL) from Duluth, MN a few years back - one of my fave gaming groups, and the one that got me back into D&D, then D&D 3.5 is still alive and well there - I miss them still. When I go north for a vacation as I try to do each year, I usually sit in on one of their games. Next time I'm up, I'll have to buy you that beer myself (two since you'll have to drink mine for me) just so I can shake your hand in person for the sheer delight we all got watching Hitler rant. And yes, I know it is a well-used meme; still a very creative entry. Kudos again!

Sounds good to me! And thanks. =)

Epic...genius...hilarious. Great reason to smile, pre-7am. I also read the title and knew it was intentional. It only made me curious to see what the reason was. Better luck next time, "My Game Master"!

Thanks Tammy. =)

...let's just say that I view my first GM as an inspiration. Of everything not to do.

And, unfortunately, I am what I like to term as an optimistic pessimist. I hope for the best...and expect the worst. And with several of the players/GMs I had, that was with good reason. No, they didn't pull Pun-Pun, but it was almost as bad in several cases. In my opinion, the first question I ask is: How could a player easily abuse the item? If it takes hoops, fine, as long as it isn't obvious or overly easy.

But all of this is my opinion. And everyone knows how opinions are.

Also, no grey hairs. I'm 26, with long black hair without a hint of grey, thank you. ^_^

See, I wanted to keep production of them down with the very particular materials and criteria needed for their construction. You know, holy relics and all. But there isn't really a mechanical way to say "Hey GM! Don't hand these out like candy!".

I should've tried to get that point across more. Instead, I thought I'd distinguish myself as that guy that stood out by being really succinct and being way under the word count. Whoops!

Cantering Stilts

Aura faint transmutation; CL 3rd
Slot feet; Price 10,700 gp; Weight 6 lbs.
Description
Used by amorous bards for balcony serenades, street performers, and combatants in elevated battlefields, these 3 foot long polished wood stilts increase the wearer’s height and speed.

To activate, the wearer must have the leather straps fastened around their calves, stand vertically, and say the command word. Once activated, the wearer can mentally change their height (up or down) by extending the cantering stilts as much as 20 feet/round to a maximum of 60 feet as a move action. Additionally, the wearer’s horizontal base land speed increases with an increased acrobatic DC modifier for all move actions based on height.

An acrobatics check must be made at before any move action (DC 15).

• Success indicates a successful move action can be made. A speed bonus is added for horizontal movement.
  
• Failure by less than 5 indicates a stumble: the wearer moves 10 feet in a random horizontal direction (1d8; 1 is north with other numbers clockwise) from their starting square.
  
• Failure of 5 or more indicates a fall from the current height.

Height(feet)\Speed Bonus(feet)\Acrobatics DC
3-10\+0\+0
11-30\+5\+1
31-50\+10\+3
51-60\+20\+6

Cantering stilts (Hardness 5, 20 hit points) do not affect the wearer’s size category. A sunder attack which breaks the stilts or a successful trip against the wearer results in a fall. If the wearer falls or otherwise does not have their weight supported vertically by the stilts, then the device deactivates and standard falling rules apply.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous item, Levitate, Longstrider, creator must have 5 ranks in the Acrobatics skill;Cost 5,600 gp

I like the ingenuity in this item, but I don't know how much use it would see in most parties.

When most people play bards, they want to be sexy and/or cool...unless they're gnomes or halflings. In my experience, those are the jokesters that aren't afraid to look silly. And given that these are stilts, it could be a good tie-in to short folk!

That aside, it might also have helped if you cut back on the maximum height a bit. 60 feet is quite a way up there.

Hope this was useful!

lol

Benjamin, be sure to thank whichever group of players traumatized you into this state of hyper-vigilance. It's helped you pass muster in RPG Superstar, and your pragmatic (pessimistic?) eye toward how power gamers will abuse any item placed before them has helped broaden the perspectives of at least two of your peers!

I'm sure reading that makes all the gray hairs worth it, right?

...right?

The improper caps are in the submitted version, and the Price/Cost matches what you posted here. No dashes, though!

Okay, last question then! I realize that the prerequisite cost for a CL 9 spell is pretty high, but I eyeballed it low because of the limited applications that the item itself would have. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was okay to adjust a price as befitting items of comparable utility.

Badwrong?

Even if you don't get to this one man, I've got to thank you for taking the time to give me the feedback you already have. This has been absolutely invaluable. You didn't blow smoke up my ass or sugar coat your expectations, and now that I have this insight into exactly where I went wrong, I'm brimming with confidence for next year.

Time to get to work reconciling that death-ray that sees through walls and does laundry!

And going into 3) a little more, I'd say that they would not be frowned upon at all. Given that they are only made from the headstones of heroic priests, it would be considered an honor, as well as a means by which one's deeds can live on in the fight against the undead.

1)Also, its a temporary effect item. So why cant you use it more than 3 times (or encounters if you will) a day? Is that some sort of charge limitation? How and when does it recharge for starting the next 3/times?

I can use my ordinary whestone between every encounter, so this did grate a bit.

2)Why cant it be used to smooth the head of a bludgeoning weapon to give that ghost touch too? (It could have been a whetstone for sharp weapons or a polishing block for maces and other bludgeoning weapons, its just a shape carved from a head stone after all).

3)Is it's use frowned on by the general populace - me, I'd be pretty miffed if someone broke my parents head stones to make weapn sharpening stones whether my parents clergy accepted it as common practice or not.

4)How long does the whetstone last for? 100 sharpenings, 200?

5)Sorry for all the questions

1) Because more than that would have driven the price up beyond the range I was going for. Check out the Scabbard of Keen Edges that Sean made mention of. Same principle.

2) I had no idea that there was such a thing as a polishing block until just now. Nevertheless, Pharasma's favored weapon is the dagger, so this keeps more in line with her idiom.

3) This seems like the kind of information that would've fallen squarely into the "padding" category, so I didn't go anywhere near it.

4) Being magical, it lasts forever. I figured that would be self-evident by virtue of going unmentioned.

5) Not at all! Like most nerds, I'm all too happy to lovingly outline and explain anything and everything I've ever done in the pursuit of gaming. This is certainly no exception. =)

The real reason why your item isn't superstar is because the summary of your item is: three times per day, you can apply [weapon property] to a weapon.

It's mechanically simple, not that that's a bad thing. And easy to understand (ditto). But it's not particularly interesting, any more than the scabbard of keen edges is interesting. Functional, yes. Useful, yes. Interesting, no.

Even if this were a spell effect, there's not enough flavor here to elevate it out of the "just a SIAC" ghetto. In one of the auto-reject threads, I distilled Neil's last leaves of the autumn dryad down to "you can do spell X 1/day and spell Y 1/day"... but Neil's flavor made it much more than that. To use a building metaphor, this item has a strong foundation and girders, but the final building is plain. It's less than 80 words, and almost half of that is stat block--it's the bare bones of an item that could be interesting with another ability and some more detail. That and the errors in the stat block (dashes, improper caps, costing issues) mean this item didn't make it into the Top 32.

Ah, so I was right in thinking that I shouldn't have been afraid to tart it up with a little more lore. And hypothetically, would adding something like, say a dim 10 foot blue light effect around the affected blade count as another interesting ability?

Lets say that I had done both write some really nice fluff and gave it the aforementioned lighting effect. Would that have been enough to make it a keeper?

Lastly...and I'm almost afraid to ask...were the errors with the stat block also there in the main entry, or just the rougher one I copy/pasted in to this thread? I guess it doesn't matter now, so if it'd be a bother for you to check, nevermind.

Am I being way too specific? I'm being way too specific, aren't I?

what's with all the dashes? After aura, price, etc? That's not part of the template.

lol, those are something I always put in my own magic items when I make them. I can't remember if my actual submission had those (I just copy and pasted the rough draft into the box, and then did some last minute editing before clicking submit), but I didn't get dinged for it so I HOPE I remembered to remove them.

Thanks for the kind words and feedback; I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

Since you asked for community feedback (and keeping in mind that I have no developer cred whatsoever), I would say the part I bolded is most of the problem. This isn't a wondrous item, even in your own mind, but a plot-device. Also, there's always a problem stacking weapon special abilities onto weapons...

Hey Nazard, thanks for taking the time to offer your critique! Not to be argumentative, but I'm not sure that this item qualifies as a plot device as outlined previously by the judges.

A plot device item is usually a wondrous item who's sole purpose generally hinges on one single application or occurence in a campaign where it would be relevant. It's probably meant to help move the story (or plot) in a certain direction, either acting as a plot hook all by itself or only ever fitting into a campaign setting through the specific introduction of a particular plotline the author likely has in mind.

This wouldn't be nearly that integral or campaign-influencing as something so described. There are, after all, temples to Pharasma all over the Inner Sea, so it wouldn't necessarily have any significant impact whatsoever on the item's application.

The problem with stacking weapon special abilities is a legitimate concern, but I figured that the temporary nature of the bonus, plus the necessary scarcity of an item like that (most parties won't be carrying around more than one, given the limited source of materials), would negate the concern.

That, and needing a ghost touch weapon is so situational.

Haha, don't take this as me shaking a finger in your face, though! You are just experiencing all the justifications I've been turning over in my head, and feeling like I somehow failed to explain. I really do appreciate that you took the time to reply! =)

I know that the judges are absolutely swamped, and this thread is absolutely huge, but I'd sure appreciate it if somebody involved with the judging process could offer further criticism of the Pharasmian(sic) Tomb Stone that I submitted.

Pharasmian Tomb Stone
Aura - Moderate Conjuration; CL 9th
Slot - none; Price - 3,000 gp; Weight - 1 lb.
Description
This pocket-sized whetstone is crafted from the headstone of a hero-priest of Pharasma, goddess of the dead. Up to three times per day, it can be applied to any slashing or piercing weapon to give it the ghost touch property for 1 minute.
Construction
Requirements - Craft Wondrous Item, Plane Shift, Patron Deity - Pharasma; Cost 1,500 gp

In the "Catharsis" thread I started, Neil was good enough to let me know that the item had some problems other than the fact that he'd mistaken "ghost touch" for "ghoul touch" in the initial criticism. If that could be elaborated upon, I'd love it.

I feel like maybe I should have dressed it up with some more lore, and not been so keen on expressing its lore and abilities in as few words as possible. In my mind this thing is freakin' awesome, but that is largely to do with the fact that I've got images of somber priests of the goddess of the dead showing the PCs the headstone from which each Tomb Stone is cast, tying it into a campaign's story...

Well, you know how it is. Anyway! I know you guys are busy as all get-out right now, so take your time. And of course, any community feedback is also always welcome! This thread is so huge, I hope I'm not lost in the shuffle. :x

Thanks!

Thanks for all the kind words guys - it went over about a hundred times better than I expected it to. I guess the grapes were just sour enough to squash into vintage comedy!

Busy day today, with me working on the Mask of Death and my wife painting minis and trying her hand at sculpting. Pretty awesome schedule!

Shared on FB. Awesome job.

Thanks! And speaking of Facebook, I've got a group I run that's all to do with RPGs with a heavy emphasis on Pathfinder.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002292043669

I hope anybody that would be so inclined would be willing to look me up and send a join request!

Well that seems pretty cool. I fell quiet for awhile seeing as we were off playing a little Legacy of Fire.

Really glad that you enjoyed that video I put up!

Did a lot of you guys participate in RPG Superstar?

Whats all this then?

Well Kevin, you may not have made the Top 32, but you are getting an official invitation to join in the merry chaos over in FAWTL. You rock dude, that had me busting at the seams!

Come on, you know you want to! ;)

Don't mind if I do! Brace for newbishness, as I'm clueless as to what FAWTL is all about.

loving wifely things

<3!

Holy ---, that YouTube was awesome. Especially since I boxed up all of my 4e books ... and they're in the garage.

They just seem to wander out there after awhile, don't they?