Lanfranc's page

There is NO way they can legally do that. They do not own those physical books anymore. If they do that, they might as well order EVERYONE to turn in their older-edition books (and Charleton Heston's already voiced my opinion on that ;)) The only reason they could pull such a takedown order is if they found one of the books to be legally actionable, and even then, it would most likely be the stores themselves taking it down to avoid prosecution or a legal action (in much the same way that the infamous Vanessa Williams-loses-her-Miss-America-Crown-Centerfold issue of Penthouse from IIRC '84 is forbidden to be sold in the US, because of a 15-year-old Traci Lords doing a pictorial).

Even WotC would not be that stupid.

Not quite. It's possible that the big operations like WotC have different terms, but Amazon usually works on a commission model - you send them your stock, they store it and ship to to customers, and send the money to you after deducting their (substantial) percentage. However, you retain ownership until a product is actually sold, and I'm pretty sure that you can ask for it to be returned at any time.

That being said, I'm sure cutting out Amazon would be pure suicide for WotC, so it's all a bit academic.

*Looks at his deadtree Paizo books.* Uh, oh. AND have the pdf versions. Hmmmm....

PDFs are very convenient if you have a laptop or PDA... ;-)

You should give a medal to whoever's responsible for your marketing. This is brilliant, both in timing and execution.

I amused myself for several minutes by imagining a heavy emphasis on all the "we"s. ^_^

Second, if the material was leaked via file-sharing sites, shouldn't WOTC (and, in my opinion, online retailers everywhere) go after these pirates and their sites, instead of punishing the legitimate retailers following the law? An ambitious proposal, I know, but again, in my opinion, these file-sharing/"torrent" sites should be shut down flatly, considering how much piracy takes place upon them.

In an ideal world, sure, they should. Realistically, though, that's not going to happen. Even if you manage to shut down one site (which is difficult enough in itself - check out the currently ongoing trial against The Pirate Bay which could take up to six years including appeals), there'll always be dozens of others waiting to fill the vacancy. And then there's UseNet, which is effectively impossible to control.

The fact is that as the music and video game industries have had to learn the hard way over the past decade or so, aggressive strategies like lawsuits, DRM, controlled distribution and such are not just completely ineffective - they're actually worse, because they mostly result in considerable annoyances for the legitimate customers.

In my opinion, the best way to deal with piracy is not trying to limit the supply, but rather the demand. If you make people want to buy your products by providing high quality value and content, maintain good customer relations, and building company loyalty, they'll be much less prepared to pirate your stuff. That's what makes WotC's decision in this situation that much more bone-headed, because they're doing the complete opposite.

Do they're doing this because people are snarfing their pdfs via torrents and ed2k?

Let's see, if they cut off channels through which people can get their pdfs, what will people do?

Hmmmmmmmm.

And for that matter, the thingies that are really trading on bittorrent are their current rulebooks and magazines. So maybe they should cancel everything....!!! Right?

Really, first they go INTO the pdf only business, then they do something like this? It reminds me of my grandfather's driving when he was 88.

Exactly, and while doing all that, they should of course completely ignore the comparable experience of the music industry, which is only now beginning to realize that draconian anti-piracy measures like this are completely worthless.

Wow. So basically, they're pissing off both a lot of customers and the big digital retailers in the business? That's got to be one of the more inept business decisions I've seen recently.

Anyway, excuse me, I'm off to grab a couple of Birthright PDFs while there's still time.

I found stuff to like in all four proposals, but Neil's was the only one that appealed to my own playing style, and in my opinion also had the best design and writing.

So another vote for Neil.

This is an excellent adventure. Unlike others, I'm a great fan of the fey, and particularly of evil fey - it's always fun to see just how bad nature can get when it does go bad.

Things I particularly liked:
- The overall atmosphere. I don't really like adventures that get too epic, with too much going on, but this strikes a nice balance. Not too overpowered, but the PCs are still doing something that matters to a lot of people. Also good plot that seems to "grow organically", as Clark put it, with good pacing overall.

- The intro. Dying dryads are always great for setting a scene. Although I did have some reservations here, which I'll get to below.

- The obsessive, yet failed Gnome beekeeper villain. How can you not love him?

- "...the ghost of a drunken treant named Vinroot..." I so want to see this.

- The First Bloom of the Spring Dryad. Good item, and I remember we briefly talked about this way back on the Last Leaves, so it's nice to see it worked in.

- The Queen's palace - very nice description - and the last battle. I like that the PCs don't necessarily have to kill the villain to succeed, or perhaps shouldn't even expect to, since that allows me to use her as a recurring villain.

On the other hand, the only substantial thing that jarred me was the dryad in the intro. It seemed a bit unlikely to me that a dryad, no matter how desperate, would really jump into something as relatively civilized as a wedding in the middle of a town? Wouldn't it be more logical to turn to the local druid for help first? But then it occurred to me that maybe she did exactly that - perhaps she did go to Devarre first, discovered that he'd been possessed, and only then fled to the place of absolute last resort, the big town with all the scary people in it? If necessary, that would also conveniently allow her to drop a hint about the possessed druid. That's how I'd do it, anyway.

So final verdict: Great stuff here, both in terms of design and writing. Definitely has my vote.

It was difficult to choose between the many good submissions this round, but in the end, I went with:

Kevin Carter - 26 Paper Street
Neil Spicer - The Legendary Playhouse Theater

How many published adventures have constructs? Yes, there are some, but not many. Are you going to add/subtract constructs in an adventure, even if they have nothing to do with the story arc? Just to appease a player that had other oprions but chose to power game? In my opinion, this feat flawed on many levels.

No... but I am going to write stories that tie in with my players' characters.

So if one player were to build a character who focuses on constructs, I am going to write adventures about constructs from time to time, just like I'm going to write adventures about devils for a Sorcerer with an infernal bloodline, or adventures about a cleric's particular church - in other words, make the adventures relevant for the PCs. That's not "appeasement", that's just doing my job as a DM.

As for "powergaming": Considering a player would have to spend no less that three feats to get here - and item creation feats, too, which my players at least tend not to be too keen on - I don't really see that this is a particular obvious candidate for powergaming.

While I like the Count in general, it's not entirely clear to me what he actually wants to accomplish in the long term. What does "unravel fate" mean, specifically? Does he want such great mastery of divination that he will be able to predict anything "fate" throws after him? Or is he on a sort of Nietzschean quest to actually literally destroy fate, by magical means? What are we working with here?

Even then, I like both the new spell and the overall concept - in fact, I think it's quite an accomplishment to make a credible diviner villain in the first place. Not the most flashy enemy, perhaps, but more subtle and scary in his own way. The whole "magical prediction plus actual powers of legislation" combination could get very interesting as well. There's strong competition, but he'll probably get one of my votes.

Can't really say much that others haven't already. I didn't even pay much attention to Malgana in the last round because she seemed sort of weird, but that's certainly changed this time around. A great villain with great mechanics. She's got my vote.

(I must join the petition to restore her "witch"-status, however.)

(Forum ate the long reply, so this is the abridged version.)

First it would be useful against stupid or uninformed construct makers. They are stupid or uninformed because they would hear of this feat that directly relates to their specialty. As a result the smart ones would build in fail safes and counters, which is what I referenced earlier.

That assumes that it's something that can be countered in the first place. You might as well ask why necromancers don't try to make their undead immune from turning - it's just a weakness of that particular type of creature.

More generally, this isn't just a "make constructs go away" feat. I think there are several ways that a DM could use it creatively.

For instance, you could throw in a golem to provide some unexpected, but unreliable assistance to even the odds a little in an otherwise very tough fight. Or perhaps the PCs come across a portecullis or some other obstacle that's too heavy to move on their own, unless they risk activating that dormant golem they found a couple of rooms back. Or a golem could even itself work as a key to a door or mechanism, if the PCs are able to control it properly. There's plenty to work with here.

Track is another example of a self-defeating feat, I've ranted at some length on the uselessness of Track because DMs will inevitably give parties without witnesses a Search check, a Gather Info check, or a guide to make Track superfluous. After all, a good DM or adventure designer will never say, "I guess the bad guy gets...

I don't quite follow your argument there. Who would ever run an adventure that requires Track if the PCs don't have that ability? But on the other hand, if they do have it, it only makes sense to give them an opportunity to use it from time to time - again, they did pay an opportunity cost to get it. Command construct doesn't seem much different.

Seconded. But it's more than that: It's a feat that quickly makes itself worthless at the gaming table. As soon as you take it and use it ONCE to order off a construct, the DM inevitably will either remove constructs from the game or have HIS Hecataeus build in new features that nerf the ability for adventure-important constructs. And, after all, that's what a smart construct guy would do.

Can't agree with that. I think a good DM should provide challenges that offer opportunities for the PCs to actually use their abilities creatively. Keeping certain elements entirely out of the game specifically because the PCs took certain abilities to counter is - well, that's just bad DM-ship in my opinion. Not least because the PCs are in fact paying an opportunity cost for having those particular abilities.

That may well be the case--and I don't deny that such villains certainly are easier to use--but it's also much more difficult to grab the reader's (and the party's) attention and interest with a low-powered villain than it is with a high-powered one.

I think exactly for that reason, I'm usually more impressed with a well-crafted low-level villain that still manages to be credible and interesting.

Finally, the schemes and hooks really let me down. So he manipulates the grain market in a small town to sell his own imported grain "at a slightly elevated price"? The fiend! Those commoners will have to buy one less pot or drink a few less beers to make up for that. As a ruthless merchant lord, at least have him gouge the village for everything it has to afford his vastly inflated grain so they can survive the winter!

Maybe it's my adopted Britishness speaking, but I did read that as a deliberate understatement for actually bleeding them dry.

You also had me at otyugh, because using creatures that are smarter than they get credit for always hooks me.

I must admit I wasn't even aware that otyughs were sentient at all. I've never used them, so I just thought of them as some sort of monstrous animal. So I even learned something here.

My votes:

Carl Klutzke - Sharina Legendsinger
Mark Thomas - Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon
Neil Spicer - GULGA CENCH, Scion of Cyth-V’sug
Vladislav Rashkovski - Kardam, the Burning Khan

Also on the shortlist: Volner Tain, the Thrice-Damned Disciple; Aelfric Dream-Slayer; Hecataeus, Master of Constructs; and Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler.

Yeesh. The death lottery is much older than Dragonslayer. Try googling "The Lottery" for a version of that tale from 1948. And I don't think it started there :)

You could say that. :-) It's basically the plot of the Legend of Saint George and the Dragon, which is from the 11th century.

I probably won't be voting for this one, but... I have to say that preying on the sick, the old and the dying for your own does seem pretty damn evil to me. "They would have died anyway?" Yeah, perhaps not if he'd used his healing to help them instead.

I could easily see that gradually beginning to permeate the local society, throwing a pretty creepy atmosphere over the whole valley. ("Hello, people from outside the valley. Oh, your friend is sick? No, we can't permit you to let him rest here. He must be given to the Great Druid. It is for the good of the valley, you understand.")

Just a shame that wasn't more explicit in the entry itself.

I agree that the "just a merchant" angle is unfair. A good Lawful villain, even one trained for a century by a blue dragon, doesn't just run out and start smashing things up. No, he carefully builds up an organization, collects resources, prepares plans, etc. - and when ready, then he starts smashing things up.

I'll most likely be voting for this entry.

Ideally, it shouldn't matter.

But realistically, it probably will.

My top five:

Last Leaves of the Autumn Dryad (definite overall favourite)
Maw of Urgathoa
Dust of Weighty Burdens
The Scarlet Legionary Banner
Hurricane Gloves

Very interesting and rather... unsettling.

If I were to use this, I'd make the extra-dimensional space the actual stomach of some awful creature lurking somewhere deep in the Astral. One that sometimes demands to be fed. And the item should be cursed so you couldn't get rid of it, of course.

Nomnomnom!

This is an awesome item. Useful, not just for scrying, but also for communication. Interesting limitations, too. I think that even the 40 miles range is a little optimistic - unless you know precisely where the target is, you'd probably have to set some time aside for tracking it down. Also, a bunch of leaves flying around like that could very well attrach some attention, and 10 miles per hour is not faster than a fast horseman could keep up with. So there are some risks involved.

Love the name, too. Has a very nice wistful sound to it, and raises some interesting questions without actually mentioning them outright. Who's the Autumn Dryad, and if this is her "last leaf", did anything happen to her? Is there a Spring and a Summer Dryad as well?

Basically, a great item that brings a lot for both the players and the GM to work with.

I am curious though, how many magazine articles, adventures, stories, novels and books have you had published?

None, but I have produced two music CDs, and I would suppose that the relationship between producer and composer is much the same as that between publisher and author.

In any case, I don't really see why not having published anything should necessarily disqualify anyone from having a valid opinon on the subject.

That really seems like going much too far to the opposite extreme. Certainly a writer can't get everything the way he wants it, but the editor/publisher shouldn't be a dictator, either. Ideally, it should be a creative relationship between publisher and writer, although of course within the limits set by the publisher. That's the way to get the best material in my opinion.

And as far as creativity goes - I'd really expect that a publisher who doesn't look for at least some amount of creativity in their writers probably won't be in business for all that long. Although the market for crappy books is probably bigger than one could hope for.

Thanks very much for your comments, guys. Highly appreciated. :-)

GLOVE OF SANGUINE RUNES

That's a lovely item. It's probably not something I'd use as a player, but speaking as a GM, it'd be perfect for a villain. The PCs descending down into the enemy's lair... on a heavy door, an arcane mark drawn in blood, but they know he's not a wizard...? And when they try to force it open, the bleeding starts...

Yeah, I like that. I'll see if I can use it sometime.

I don't know in the judges' eyes how big a strike that would've been against the item, but, like I said, it's something that immediately jumped out at me.

Yes, that's exactly one of the practical problems I mentioned. Another one is that an obvious way to terminate the effect early would be to just turn the glass again after e.g. 30 seconds, making the forced stay much less of a limitation. I personally considered those very big strikes, but couldn't really solve them and still stay within 200 words, so...

Submitting for Clark's and general feedback.

The idea for this item was an item similar to a cloak of etherealness, with a longer duration to allow for more exploration and such, but with some other drawbacks to compensate. However, other than the longer duration, it doesn't really do much that the cloak doesn't do, and there were some other practical problems I couldn't quite work out, so I decided to put it aside. (Besides, who ever goes to the Ethereal these days?)

HOURGLASS OF THE ETHEREAL TRAVELER

Aura strong transmutation
CL 13th
Slot —
Price 35,000 gp
Weight —

DESCRIPTION
This pocket-sized hourglass of ornately carved darkwood and crystal glass contains a small amount of faintly glowing blue sand. Starting the hourglass running while speaking a command word allows the user to become ethereal as if using an ethereal jaunt spell. The user is returned to the Material Plane when the sand runs out, unless the glass is turned again to prolong the effect. The effect cannot be terminated prematurely, and the user must hold the glass stable, giving a -1 penalty to Armor Class and attack rolls and a -2 penalty to all Strength- and Dexterity-based skills.

Each time the hourglass is turned on a given journey, including the activation, there is a cumulative 10% risk of attracting hostile attention from the natural inhabitants of the Ethereal.

Some of the sand is consumed every time the hourglass is activated. A newly created hourglass will usually hold enough sand to run for ten minutes. Each activation reduces this by one minute after use. The hourglass loses its magic when all the sand is consumed.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, ethereal jaunt; Cost 17,500 gp

I think a lot of people here could use this one at the moment:

COIN OF RPG SUPERSTAR(TM) DIVINATION

Aura Faint Divination
CL 5th
Slot -
Price 1000gp
Weight -

This brightly shining platinum coin will immediately turn old and tarnished should the owner's RPG Superstar submission be rejected. The coin can only be used once.

On the obverse of the coin is the Superstar logo, while the reverse shows an old boot.

Requirements Craft Wonderous Item, clairvoyance. Cost 500gp

...the Superstar judges' favorite characters will come into your dreams, and beat your enemies severely.

With a boot, I guess?