LeiberFan's page

Yeah, it really does seem like something you'd want tightened down from Day 1.

For me, the big problem would be wanting to preserve the two big shock moments: finding Zellara's head and realizing "SHE WAS DEAD ALL ALONG ooOOOOooOOoOOOooOOO!" and finding her body bricked up in Castle Korvosa and triggering the final unlocking of Zellara's memories and the truth-drama bomb. And those two really conflict.

...<more good stuff>...

Love the ideas brought up here on this thread.

I agree that the most difficult problem is to juggle finding the head vs finding the body and how to mesh those together. I wonder though if you need BOTH those specific scenes. Finding the head is, I think, the more shocking of the two and if only one can be kept, that should be the one. It adds all kinds of questions to the mix about why Lamm would be involved, but I think those are solvable.

What I am wondering is if the second reveal, the body in the bricked up room...if that can be changed a bit. The purpose as I see it is to "unlock" the information that Venster/Zellara carry that can further the plot. Retrieving the body is ideal for that, but does it have to be the remains? Could something else be required of the ghost in that walled off room to put the spirit at ease or unlock Zellara's memories? I am not quite sure what that would be, but there has to be something else besides interring mortal remains in ghost story traditions that can soothe the restless dead?

Maybe a diary left by Zellara, detailing her early life in the castle, before being cast out into the city. Or a charm or some piece of minor jewelry that was left behind, perhaps a gift from her brother...something to link her to the castle, that will connect Zellara to the plot to kill the king and restore her memories and reveal the mystery of Zellara's true identity.

Then you could work with Lamm as the agent who murdered Zellara to tie off that loose end, and perhaps that's how he came into possession of the Queen's brooch. He was paid with it, or maybe he himself lifted it in a meeting with the Queen. Not sure yet how to work it out, but that could be done, I think.

Would still need to rewrite the introduction where Zellara gives her reasons for wanting Lamm dead, but again, that is small stuff compared to the "head" vs "body" conflict.

I can honestly say that my first experience with CJ Cherryh was horrible and since then I have avoided her books like the plague. She and Janet Morris got into a short story pissing contest that basically ruined the Thieves World collective series. It was like watching two grade school children fighting...

JM: My character is the best!
CJC: My character is better.
JM: No way. Mine is better.
CJC: Mine is better by far.
ect. (repeated over many novels)

I loved the collaborative nature of that Thieves World series, but it did get out of control with the escalation between those authors, I agree.

Still I have found that her books, at least those I have read, are very good, better than the short stories in that series.

I would also love a copy to run my kids through. Such fond memories of that adventure. Appreciate your hard work.

ckguyer@cox.net

jreyst wrote:

I'm 42 and started around 1980 or so. AD&D 1st Edition with Efreet on the cover of the DMG. Good times...

Same Here.

Me too.

I don’t really have any new ideas to add, but feel strongly enough about a couple authors already mentioned to reinforce their recommendations.

Jennifer Roberson writes strong and interesting characters of both genders, and gender roles and expectations are frequent themes in many of her fantasy stories. As Steven Tindall earlier mentioned in this thread, the Chronicles of Cheysuli are very good. Also look at the the Tiger and Del series (Sword Dancer is the first one I believe), two of my personal favorite characters in all fantasydom.

Ms. Cherryh's artfully-phrased prose reflects a comfortable erudition that fills me with envy. Her characters and plots build on, then confound the stereotypes of heroic fantasy.

I cannot recommend her work strongly enough.

+1

I really enjoy C.J. Cherryh’s characters—I read Roberson first, then some Cherryh and found a common thread between them, very well crafted strong characters. The Paladin is a quick little read, but well worth it. A lot of her work isn’t fantasy—I’ve read more of her sci-fi—but all of it is good.

Werthead mentioned Guy Gavriel Kay. I have only read one book (Tigana), but it really stuck with me; again female characters written with skill rarely found in the genre.

I liked Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart, probably not as much as the others I mentioned. I loathe the trope of the powerful female fantasy warrior who is really just a teenage boy’s porn-star wet dream. A lot of work is spent in the story establishing a powerful female character, only to exploit her sexuality in some fashion later in the plot. Not that the two are mutually exclusive (strength and sexuality), but that it is SO OFTEN poorly written. In this story (Kushiel’s Dart) it almost seems a reversal of type: the character is established as sexual prey ripe for victimization, but her personal strength prevails. I liked the “flip” in this series.

REALLY?

Damiel-Alchemist : Str12, Dex15, Con12, Int17, Wis8, Cha10
+2 +7 +2 +13 -2 0 = 22pts.
Alain-Cavalier : Str17, Dex13, Con14, Int8, Wis10, Cha12
+13 +3 +5 -2 0 +2 = 21pts.
Imrijka-Inquisitor: Str16, Dex12, Con13, Int10, Wis15, Cha8
+10 +2 +3 0 +7 -2 = 20pts.
Alahazra-Oracle: Str10, Dex14, Con8, Int13, Wis12, Cha17
0 +5 -2 +3 +2 +13 = 21pts.
Balazar-Summoner: Str6, Dex13, Con12, Int14, Wis12, Cha17
-5 +3 +2 +5 +2 +13 = 20pts.
Feiya-Witch: Str8, Dex14, Con12, Int17, Wis10, Cha13
-2 +5 +2 +13 0 +3 = 21pts.

Actually, while I don't have the pregens, when I look at your examples I think if you take out the racial modifiers you will find the Elite Array (8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15) and I think that adds to 15 points.

It seems PFS is run on 20 point, but the APs are set for baseline 15. Not that big a deal, really, as each group will run what they want, but it is a little inconsistent and confusion will arise.

I had a player like that, lol. Rhazan the Bull for a sorcerer name is funny.

Rhazan had maxed his Cha, but jacked his Str stat as high as he could and dumped his Wis. The player used Conan as a visual cue, a massive, bull-shouldered slab of bone and sinew, but he wanted to play up his bold and determined personality as a destined sorcerer. Interesting idea, but ultimately flawed. Sorcerers don't have the hp to play the way he did.

Name:Rhazan the Bull

Race:Human

Classes/levels:Sorcerer 3

Adventure:Stolen Land

Location:Stag Lord's fort (just inside the palisade wall)

Catalyst:Low Wis role-player

The Gory Details: The player was role playing this sorcerer as a gung-ho "fortune favors the bold" optimist. After taking enough hp in damage from bandits firing arrows as the team charged the walls (sneaking failed due to the sudden appearance of some moldy corpses), Rhazan leaped over the palisade wall, hoping to storm the baddies and save the day. Once over, he traded shots with bandits in the towers until the others arrived. Unfortunately the owlbear got there first. One longspear attack does not a deterrent make, Rhazan took both claws and bite damage for 20hp and fell to -16 on the spot.

The rest of the team managed to pull it off, but without any resources to bring their companion to life, it was time to roll a new character...one not so determined to rush into things.

(Rhazan had previously barely survived an encounter with a whiptail centipede because he rushed headstrong over the chasm without taking time to really think things through. Sometimes they never learn.)

Ranged mwk light crossbow +6 (1d8/19-20)

The +6 is the total of all the attack bonuses for that weapon counting the BAB, ability score modifier (Dex in the case of the crossbow), the +1 enhancement bonus from masterwork, etc.

For the HP entry it lists the actual hp then the hit dice in parentheses. Often the hp of an opponent IS averaged, but not necessarily. Of course, it is YOUR game so feel free to roll it up however you want. :-)

Here is a link to the reference where it explains the stat blocks
link

It sure would be nice to look forward to the weekend! :-) Me, I'm looking at a heaping plate of fresh, steaming humiliation served up by the River Bottom Nightmare Band! While they haven't won yet...it sure looks that way. My neck hurts from looking up at everybody else in the standings! :-)

Oh, and I don't want to forget about the other performers, like Marques Colston who got 21 points. Shame I left 15 points on the bench in the shape of Donald Driver, but hopefully I'll be able to get away with it.

Seriously though, Chris Johnson was unreal.

It's not over yet, but it looks as if I get 35 points from Frank Gore and STILL lose! As I post this I am tied, but the Allstars get Peyton Manning tomorrow night and after the current games end I am done. Maybe, just MAYBE Rivers or Gore can pile on a couple of touchdowns and try and squeak this one out...but I doubt it! :-)

Johnson had an incredible game!

Them Runelords are going down!

It's time for the Rise of the Runelords! :-)

Nothing to say really except to note that comments like that contained in the above quote are one of the fantastic things about the Paizo boards. As a keen purchaser of your products, yet one who is ignorant and oblivious to the realities of writing/editting/publishing, I find it fascinating to hear about the behind-the-scenes reasons for various decisions you've taken over the years. Thanks for taking the time to indulge my curiosity.

Well said! I agree with everything you mentioned. My wife is amazed whenever I tell her the level of feedback the consumers get here on Paizo. She will have a question on a topic regarding the AP we are playing and I might mention that, well the designer actually had this or that in mind when this encounter was written and she is floored that I know this because I read it from the designer/publisher/editor/writer; it is extremely impressive that you all care enough about your product and customers to interact in such a way. Thank You!

Andrew Turner wrote:

I'm probably the only person on the planet who's only seen the first season of Lost.

I've only seen the first season and part of the second but got bored with it and stopped watching.

That's the way I was...halfway through the second season I got bored. I was excited about it during the first season, but I just didn't care after nothing ever got resolved.

I really like Defying Gravity (I like Ron Livingston quite a bit--Band of Brothers was wonderful) and I do like the writing, but Fox ran a pilot a few weeks back--Virtuality I think it was called? I can't help but think that it would have been better than Defying Gravity--of course, it didn't get picked up and DG did, so it's got that going for it.

For MillenniuM fans and Chris Carter fans this is huge... Investors have approached Lance Henriksen about doing a MillenniuM movie. Source: Lance Henriksen himself details at this link.

MillenniuM movie news!

If you are a fan, you might really enjoy this forum...

Ahhh I loved the Millennium series. I quickly tired of X-Files after season 3 or 4, but really enjoyed this series. Henriksen was so good with his understated portrayal of a non-typical TV investigator. I'd be worried that the writing may not be up to the standards of the series (at least the first two seasons), but am excited at even the chance to see Frank on the big screen!

<grumble> Drew Brees and his lousy SIX touchdowns <grumble grumble>

Who's the Rune Lord of Envy again? ;-)

Then I go and leave 37 points on the bench with Philly's DEF. Somehow I doubt San Diego will step up and give me that kind of performance tonight!

Who's got- heck, just post your teams for your fellow Paizonians to trash.

Runelords

QB Philip Rivers
WR Calvin Johnson
WR DeSean Jackson
RB Matt Forte
RB Frank Gore
TE Visanthe Shiancoe
W/R Eddie Royal
K John Kasay
DEF San Diego
BN WR Lance Moore
BN RB Willy Parker
BN QB Donovan McNabb
BN WR Nate Washington
BN WR Santonio Holmes
BN RB LeSean McCoy
BN TE Anthony Fasano
BN WR Devin Hester
BN DEF Philadelphia

Oh goodness...the 'Lords gettin STOMPED 46 to 117 by Shin'Rakorath! We have a QB and DEF still to play. Guess they shoved that Sihedron where the sun don't shine! :-)

I'd like to write my own campaign the story is coming along great but I can't think of a single unique name for my NPC characters. How do you come up with names for your characters?

When I am stuck for a name I will get lazy and go to the Google map site, zoom into somewhere with a culture that approximates what I am looking for, and find an obscure place-name. I might edit it a bit here or there, or even just pull it complete and use it that way. It can get the juices flowing at least...

Looks like we need more teams!

I'll join...sounds like fun.

The Runelords

I can't thank you enough for the fine work you are doing.

Couldn't agree more!

It works great so far. Thanks for all the hard work!

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

Porn? Really. Reviews seem pretty mixed. Are some of these stories more worth reading than others? I might cherry-pick based on advice.

Soft, as I recall -- like "Cinemax After Dark" or something -- but hardly what you'd call high fantasy. Been years since I read that one, but I remember there was a softcore novella in which the Mouser spent most of his time in something like an imprisonment spell (while Fafhrd made out with some djinn), then there was a very brief non-romance story about a pair of color-coded assassins sent by Death (yawn) -- as if that hadn't already been done to death (yuk) -- and I don't remember what else, if anything. I do distinctly remember thinking that none of the stories really added anything to the saga, and that the whole collection really was better off left out. YMMV.

I'm going to have to agree here. I would pass on that volume.

I enjoy the posts here and am curious about the other posters. I'm guessing most people are older..

Age?
Occupation?
Type of Person?
Interesting Points?
Gaming Style?
Favorite Module ever?
Most unbalanced character you ran?

41 year old housedad, started gaming back in '81 with the Basic D&D. Quickly moved to AD&D, tried Gangbusters, Top Secret, Gamma World, Car Wars, Star Fleet Battles, Runequest, Traveller, and so on. I prefer story and role playing. My favorite module ever was Temple of Elemental Evil--ran a few groups through that one but never finished! I was always the DM, but the most unbalanced character was back in the 1st edition days, my gaming group wanted a super-hero flavor. One had telepathy, one was a fighter who could shoot lightning bolts; the NPC I made for the group was an X-Men Colossus clone (I think I made him a "diamond golem" or something). The main villain was a Lich with a magic artifact that could open a portal through time and he hurled a battalion of WWII Panzers at the party. Rules? Who needs rules! ;-) We were young then!

Pathfinder means consistent quality and value for grown-up gamers.

I couldn't agree more!

Paizo brought me back to a hobby that I loved, but lay gathering dust on a bookshelf in my basement. I wish they had been around twenty years ago when I had the time, money, and the crew to game with!

Red Dwarf

Millenium: Why couldn't they just finish it off properly!?! Argggh. And the last season was so awesome as well, with the plague and that episode where the devils were corrupting humanity... it was a classic!

I agree wholeheartedly! I drifted away from the X-Files after a few seasons, but I really liked Millenium. It was a shame it didn't have a chance to end right.

Firefly, Veronica Mars, Buffy, Farscape, Brimstone, Profit, Life (can't believe they cancelled it!!)

Wow! Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your skill and talent!

I like it!

Love the description of the frustration in fighting the pugwampis!

I created custom Pseudodragons for Korvosa. I hadn't seen the blog post about the PDs and the imps before I designed them, so I then found myself upgrading the imps with tiny glaives to balance things out after giving the PDs holy stingers. It was a weird battle during EoA, to say the least.

That's actually kind of cool...tiny glaives...interesting image with ranks of imps flying in formation. :-)

My group saved him as well. I'm just leaving him as a normal Pseudodragon (though I put him on the elite array and tweaked a couple of bits of the MM PD that seemed kind of wrong) at the moment and he isn't gaining any XP (he's damn useful as he is! Little guy completely circumvented the Shingles Chase and took out Cabbagehead and Vreeg due to bad fort save rolls on his sleep poison.) Current plan is that at level 6 the fighter will be taking Leadership and take him on as a cohort, at which point he'll level use the normal cohort rules, probably taking Bard or Rogue once he's exceeded his racial HD and ECL. The wizard will also be taking leadership at level 9 or 12, just in time for Trinia :).

I did the same thing, leaving him as a normal Pseudodragon for now. He is quite useful, not just for the poison, but he makes Aid Another rolls in combat to help the party out. My players thought of using him on the Shingles Chase only AFTER Trinia got away. I like the cohort idea, the current "owner" is a Rogue, so natural he would go there.

With him flying around and having a high touch and normal AC, it was definitely a tough fight, so 7 sounds good.

I just ran this encounter last night and had a bit of a problem. Vreeg is in a small room (25' x 15') and while I can't find a specific mention of the room's height, it seems a bit of a stretch for the height to be enough to make Fly a tactical advantage. Sure if he was in a large vault-like chamber, but he's in a bedroom. Even though he is small, is that enough to make melee attacks against him by tall characters impractical? (the fighter is 6'2", the half-orc cleric 6'5")

Wondered if anybody else handled this differently.

Vreeg was still pretty tough--but there was no danger of a TPK.

Some days I think my addiction to spicy food keeps Pepcid in buisness. ;-) Fortunately for me, one of the resturants here in town has a hot sauce bar, so I try and grab a few new sauces to try every time I go in there. The best I have found is Tahiti Joe's and Bad Day in Baghdad, but they don't keep those stocked regularly. A local company is also making peach, strawberry, kiwi, and blackberry infused sauces. I like all but the kiwi.

Ooooh! Blackberry infused? That sounds interesting! I imagine the peach would be okay, and I bet strawberry is good too. Can't really imagine the kiwi though...sounds like it would be...odd. Unfortunately my wife and kids don't like spicy (black pepper is too much for them!) so I don't get much chance to use the good sauces in cooking. I will have to look around for some of the infused fruit sauces.

Generally I prefer salt, vinegar, and peppers, but I do recall tasting a carrot-based habenero sauce once that was different in a good way.

I'm also very keen to try some of this as well Dragon's Blood as I haven't seen it where I get my Turbo Supercharge from :(

I am pretty sure my brother (a chef and a big pepperhead) has tried that before...I think he liked it! He has over four hundred bottles of hot sauce that he has collected over the years. He has even purchased a jar of capsaicin crystals--he used these to make his home made sauce. Man is crazy!

For Christmas last year my brother made a pot of chili and added a drop of Mad Dog 357 into his bowl and mine. I didn't really feel all that well the rest of the day!! Don't remember much in the way of taste...just the pain. My wife doesn't understand! :-)

I've tried a bunch, including Dave's Insanity Sauce (too hot-too little flavor) and the Death, After-Death, and Mega-Death sauces (WOW! WAY too hot) but I suppose the hottest sauce I actually liked was West African Voodoo Juice. Cholula is my favorite all-round sauce for day to day consumption. My gut doesn't like the super hot stuff any more...and it makes me PAY! :-) Melinda's is darn tasty though!

LeiberFan wrote:

While many of the Company Wars books are connected, the characters exist in the setting, the setting doesn’t exist to market the characters.

I'd probably like this, as it is the way I like to run my homebrew.

It does kind of have the feel of a well crafted campaign in a way. The books generally center around characters and stories that may intersect with background elements from the other stories, but it's not all about Space Admiral Hope Hubris and his meteoric rise to power, (just an example, don't mean to pick on Piers Anthony). Different stories and characters may meet some of the important NPCs, but the star spanning stuff is generally left to the bigwigs. Our heros have smaller roles in the big picture--much like a gaming universe.

I bet that would be a fun campaign.

Hey Leiber fan, I just got a hardback with the first three Fahrd & the Grey Mouser novels in one this evening! Had to tell someone, and you seemed appropriate.

I have lost count of how many times I have read those. I wore out two sets of the whole series in paperback, and then bought the White Wolf hardbacks. Hope you enjoy!

Sorry to threadjack!

Whatever marketing gimmicks her publisher uses, the lady can write. I have read Heavy Time, Hellburner, Downbelow Station, Rimrunners, Tripoint, Finity’s End, Forty Thousand in Gehenna, Cyteen, and The Paladin. I was really surprised at the one fantasy novel of those I read (The Paladin). I really love the voice she gives each of the main characters. It has been awhile since I read any of them, but I don’t recall ever feeling that they were written by the same author. I mean, the author’s style didn’t seem to pull focus away from the stories—the mood, setting, whatnot were all unique to their genre and background. Now many of the ones I read were from the Merchanter Universe and the Company Wars, so they had a similar feel, but Forty Thousand didn’t really feel the same to me as say, Cyteen. And the Paladin fit in it’s own niche. It’s not a massive tightly plotted epic spanning decades (I’m lookin’ at you George R.R. Martin!) I fell in love with the characters, but the story was told, the tale is finished, and I’m okay with that. While many of the Company Wars books are connected, the characters exist in the setting, the setting doesn’t exist to market the characters.

Haven’t read any of the Foreigner series, though I’ve heard good things. I did try to get into the Faded Sun Trilogy, but it just didn’t catch my interest so I quit. Haven’t done that very often, so not sure what that says about that series, but oh well.

I once corresponded with her briefly, maybe 15 years ago, on a Fritz Lieber fan messageboard (I forget where—this was dialup AOL back then) and she came off as just one of the fans. We discussed her focus on character and some of her influences. Nice lady.

Me I prefer the old style D@D sitting around the table with friends rolling the dice. Use the Dungeon Tiles, maps or draw out the maps for use with minis. Have never played any video games or computer games, guess I'am just old fashion.

I've played my share of computer games, but I have to agree. Battered and mismatched miniatures scattered across the table top, pens and pencils haphazardly lying amidst brightly colored pools of dice, loose stacks of paper shoved to the margins of the playing surface. A can of pop here, a bowl of popcorn or chips there. Four or five friends counting hexes or adding up dice. Sigh. The good old days. ;-)

Now I'm lucky to get twenty minutes on Neverwinter Nights 2.

I am sitting here re-reading "A Clockwork Orange" .

"We were all feeling a bit shagged and f!@ged and fashed, it being a night of no small expenditure," said Alex.

A masterpiece. One of my treasured volumes. In our study we have seven or eight bookshelves crammed with books; mostly guilty pleasures and old pulp I can barely stand any longer. One shelf is reserved for the masters, and this is one of them.

Quote:

I need a good fantasy read, but I am pretty picky. Anybody have any suggestions on some good, quality stuff?

http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Itself-First-Law-Book/dp/159102594X

A trilogy, all published :)

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Locke-Lamora-Scott-Lynch/dp/055358894X/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217265690&sr=1-1

rogues in action!

Hey thanks! Those both look interesting.

Reading Charles Stross "Halting state".

Finishing "Pushing Ice" by Alastair Reynolds. Good read.

I read Pushing Ice about six months back. Good stuff. I have read so much junk over the years that it all seems to run together. I have become picky so I make myself take a chance every now and then. That book was one of them and I was pleasantly surprised.

I don't know about fantasy per se, but I've always loved Joss Whedon's female characters, whether in Buffy (Buffy, Faith, Willow) or Serenity.

I have to agree with you there. It took awhile for Buffy to grow on me, but the Serenity characters were just such nice changes of pace from what you would expect in the genre.

I found Phedre from Jaqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart and it's sequels to be an interesting take on a strong female character.

Still, my favorites have to be the ones written by Jennifer Roberson. The heroines in the Cheysuli series were smart, tough and capable without the sexual supercharging that seems to be expected in the genre. Del from the Sword Dancer series is my favorite; a broken woman who hates violence, yet dives headlong into an obsessive quest for vengeance.

I also really like C.J. Cherryh's characters (Cyteen) because I never felt I was reading about a cartoony cardboard cutout.

I'm really looking forward to Dance With Dragons.

Simply wonderful stuff, DG. Thank you for sharing. I'm going to make some popcorn when I read the next bit!

I'd hate to think the turn-based RPG is really dead and all we're going to see is MMO-style, but it seems like even console-based RPG's are doing their best to move that way...

Sucks because what seems to get shortchanged on a lot of the multiuser games is some kind of cohesive story, and that's what drew me to RPG's in the first place.

I have to agree. Story drives the experience for me. I screwed up in Final Fantasy VII by pushing forward to progress the plot, and left my characters without enough experience to face the music.

Arcanum was a blast, thanks to this thread I am going to dig out my copy and see if I can make it work on Vista.

MacArthur by Richard Frank. An interesting read especailly since the author pulls no punches as he examines all of the general's triumphs and his ego-driven lowpoints.

Hey, that sounds like a good read. I recently finished Sea of Thunder by Evan Thomas that had a lot to say about Admiral Halsey, and there seemed to be a lot of implied criticism regarding MacArthur. Don't know much about him and am interested to learn.

Quicksilver, Baroque Cycle #1, by Neal Stephenson.

The Granny, by Brendan O'Connell

Dinosaur Canyon, by Douglas Preston

I loved the Baroque Cycle. Couldn't find anybody else brave enough to tackle it!

Am reading Almost A Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence by John Ferling

On a non-fiction kick lately.

I need a good fantasy read, but I am pretty picky. Anybody have any suggestions on some good, quality stuff?