Luke Fleeman's page

Hello all. Back on the Paizo boards, and I read the alpha release. One thing from 3.5 that remains that jumped out from me is a problematic issue with the Ranger.

Is there any good mechanical reason that they cannot receive the Combat Style at first level? In my experience, they would not unbalance the game if they receive it at first instead. Furthermore, the 2nd level combat style actually works against a Ranger. Were it first level, he could invest his first feat(s) in improving his style, and embrace it. With it being second level, not only is it much harder for him to capitalize on his style and really take advantage of it, but at first level he is denied one of the fundamental, defining traits of the class- two weapons or archery.

I think it would be worthwhile to consider bumping combat style forward to 1st level, and allowing the Ranger to make it more useful.

I summon the awful power of my fellow DMs from across the board to serve my whims!!

Hey All: I am in the process of writing the next few adventures for my home campaign, and I really want to run a special, strong adventure for this particular leg of the campaign. I was hoping you guys my help me cook up a way to acheive this.

The scenario: Armies are converging on the capital. The PCs are in a distant city, and they learn an assassin is on the way to kill the King at the capital. They must pursue and catch the assassin before he gets to the King, and in their way are the armies of various foes.

The problem: I want to create a long chase scene, where the PCs, by virtue of their actions, can get closer or farther from the assassin at each encounter. I need a unique, new way to facilitate this chase, a method by which I can create tension but a sense that they have control over what will happen.

So tell me, you brave souls, how would you make this happen?

I went to GenCon SoCal this weekend. As is to be expected, I stopped by the Paizo booth.

To my delight, I got to meet staffers, inlcuding Erik Mona and Joshua Frost, who were really great.

I was slightly surpirsed that Erik Mona was not, in fact, a large, one-eyed creature per his avatar. In fact, he has 7 eyes, is mottled purple, and has many tentacles.

I got to demo Kill Doctor Lucky! which is an awesome game- Its going on my Christmas list. If you haev a group of friends who like casual, but fun and challenging, board games, pick this one up. And I got to Demo it alongside Wil Wheaton, which was sweet.

Thanks guys!

The Samurai Class from CW is flawed. While I agree not everything should be perfectly historically accurate, and that we cannot recreate classes exactly for the fantasy world, I think the Samurai class is far off of the mark.

Only one school/style (ryu) of Kenjutsu was known two wield two swords at once. And it was not widespread.

The samurai was a brave warrior, fearless, iron-willed and wielded as single sword two-handed, and was something of a renaisance man.

So I suggest:

Remove all the Daisho abilities.

Replace them with a single-sword, two handed bonus. A bonus to hit and AC that increases in level, a la sneak attack or skirmish.

Add skills so they can do calligraphy, cha-no-yu, and other such activities.

A challenge ability akin to the Knight for duels.

And an fear/iron-will effect.

Thoughts?

I have been hearing some rumors at various websites saying that WotC is holding up the Age of Worms hardcover out of fear that it will hurt sales of their own adventures.

Is there any truth to this claim? I know it is a rumor, btu I was curious if it was perhaps a misinterpretation, half-truth, outright lie or the actual situation.

Furthermore, WotC is supposed to be delving into the online magazine market- if they do, how will that affect Paizo?

It has been stated elsewhere that querying the Editor whose section you specfically want to write for is a more efficent way of getting you ideas seen.

But, for the life of me, I forgot which editor is in charge of which section. Would some kindly Paizoan please tell me who is the honcho heading the particular sections (you know, like Ecology, Features, etc.).

Thanks!

Alright my fellow Paizoan uberposters, here it goes (bear with me on length):

On Sunday night my group played in a Spycraft game. An excellent diversion for me: I have been running Age of Worms and playing RPGA, so a non-D&D non-fantasy setting, and a chance to play, was nice.

The game went well. My friend had planned a 1 to 1 1/2 adventure. And we played 3 1/2. What happened? Well, our planning, rping, skill use, investigation and use of contacts joined with a paranoia of the high-damage firearms and a devious setting to make it more fun, and longer.

Afterwards, I lamented that our D&D games weren't like this. I like combat, and I like to run it, but it seems like games I play in or run seem to devolve into a plan of kicking in doors and kicking ass all the time. Even other plans seem to devolve into combat somehow. I wanted a more RP and investigation intensive D&D game. I also realized most solutions in Spycraft required us to not kill.destroy everything, or punished us if we did.

First, I resolved to re-tool my future games to encourage this.

Second, though, I had a theory. It seemed that the increased lethality of Spycraft combat, the non-combat base abilities, and the greater use of skills facilitated the game I liked.

Am I right? What is a solution? Here's what I got:

I envision this: Re-tooling classes more like UA's generic classes, allowing PCs to add the features they want. I want to also add some cool non-combat features to be available too. Lowering HP, using the DR armor options and Defense, and emphasizing skill use in the game. Lowering the magic items available and scaling spells back some. What would this do? Make combat more dangerous and spells less likely to circumvent a problem. Additionally, adding quests that cannot have so much collateral damage or need to preserve the life of foes. Ideally, the PCs would then be more careful about plunging in and more strategic, and more investigative. But combat will still be there- albeit more dangerous, and more of a thing to be used "just in case," or when they are in trouble.

So will this work? What works for others? Can this be fixed?

That's right.

I don't know if it is reported elsehwere, but the first Dragonlance Book, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, is being filmed as an animated movie to be distributed my Paramount. Voices include Kiefer Sutherland, Phil Lamarr, Michale Rosenbaum, James Mardsden and Lucy Lawless.

Thoughts?

Don't panic- this is just a question.

I have heard recently that there was talk of WotC pulling the OGL if a 4th Ed were to surface. Whether it is true or not, I cannot say.

My question is whether or not they could do this. As far as I know with most open source things, once the source is put out there, it cannot be pulled back; it now belongs to everyone.

Does this apply to the OGL? Anyone have any idea?

I hope this isn't against the rules to talk about beer, but I know a few people on these boards have expressed their enjoyment of fine beers and microbrewing, so I though I would solicit some opinions.

I personally am a dark beer drinker. My faves are Guiness and Newcastle, although I recently got into New Belgium's 1554, which is yummy. I love Sam Adams, too.

There is a milk stout out there called Snow Plow, I think by Sam Adams, that you can get only seasonally and that I greatly enjoy.

Other people here have favorites? Recommendations? Free beer (j/k[kind of])?

Is there a reason that our posts/profiles cannot have sigs? Most Fora seem to allow them. Is there a specific reason you do not have them here?

I would like it, if that means anything.

I also like PMs, personally. Sometimes I want to ask a question or talk to someone, but not hijack a thread ot do it, and that would help.

You guys might have a rationale I don't know about, so let me hear it.

BUY IT!

I mean this in the most fair and balanced way. Please bear with me. This isn't spam, just a passionate fan.

I began playing the card game Warlord: Saga of the Storm, when it first came out. I have played it casually ever since, and of all the CCGs I know, it is both the closest to D&D and the most fun. It is simple, straight forward, and relatively quick. I urge everyone to play or try it.

One thing that always attracted me to the game was the really cool backstory and neat setting. The Accordlands are one of the most interesting backgrounds I have seen, and there are tons of great characters I have grown to love over the years of the games existence.

And, finally, they have let loose a monster. Four mammoth books of campaign material for the setting. And it is fantastic. All of the cool background is well detailed, with tons of stuff to do. A whole book of adventures for an entire campaign, too.

So, I wrote this thread to urge everyone to take a look. If your FLGS has a copy of these books, take a peek. Even those who have never played in the setting should love these books. This is a great campaign, and I want to recommend it to anyone looking for a good setting to play in. Hell, even some of the ideas might be great for your game, like evil, necromanitc elves, halfbreeds who die before they are 10, a nation of anti-Paladins, etc.

Take this recommendation, and take a look you won't be disappointed.

P.S. I saw a "McArtor" in the addtional writing credits. A little more enticement.

I want to take it out.

I understand the idea behind making this possible, specifically with the Paladin, but it is a major problem for my games. No one can be surprisingly evil, it is hard to hide the one evil cultist, etc. Not just the paladin, but all classes. Surprises are more difficult to spring.

The dilemma in removing this is that it creates some problems. It seems that removing this would require removing Protection/Circle Against spells because they would indicate alignment. So I was curious for some suggestions.

Do I limit this to monsters/outsiders? Maybe allow protection but don't tell the PCs. Ideas?

I was curious how this was figured. Is it an actual, real time, up to date tracker of what items are selling most? Or does someone just put it up? How recently does it track? The last 24 hours, week, day?

I like to see what other gamers are getting, and what's popular, but its hard to gauge the numbers and get any answers unless you know the method.

Coming up as a gamer in the late 80s and 90s, there were a few authors I saw quite a bit of,and who now are not apparently in the game. Does anyone know what happened to William W. Connors, Roger E. Moore, or Zeb Cook?

I'm going to be in Italy taking a class for about 5 weeks, and I would love to hook up with a gaming group there for a session or two, to just experience the way other gamers play and connect with international players.

If anyone is in the vicinity of Viterbo, that would be great, but I can travel if neccessary. Any takers?

Readin the PHB 2 thread, I saw there was some dissatisfaction between people, and I was curious as to what exactly people want WotC to put out.

For example, some people think the books full of new spells and feats are a little bit of a waste, adding too much ammo for munchkins and stretching the DM on what he must know.

Others apparently dislike "fluff" or any book that is more on characters and adventures, as opposed to options.

I fall somwhere in the middle; I feel like sometimes there are too many books with too many new races adn classes, but sometimes the books that are predominantly "fluff" bother me.

I know what I'd like to see: More books like Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness, which offer new rules and options, but have a healthy dose of background stuff, or books like the ones on Sharn or Waterdeep, giving an extensive background.

Two books I miss from the past of D&D are the Book of Lairs, which has a bunch of mini-adventures, and the Rogues Gallery, which is just a collection of NPCs and bad guys to build around. Somethign like that would be awesome. I enjoy the Fantastic Locations and things like that, too.

What does everyone else want to see? Is there a consensus on how things should be done?

This message is for Mr.Wissel. I just ran Wingclipper's revenge last night at the last second when I needed an adventure and I wanted to tell you it was fantastic. I hope you keep it coming.

A few points my PCs loved:

-Fighting fey creatures (my PCs now DESPISE pixies)
-Dire toads with flames on them (everyone wante dto attempt to mount one)
and
-the illusory map.

Well done!

There have been a few requests for this thread, and the part I compiled, so I am reposting it alone for reference, with an alteration for new info the editors put up. I hope this helps potential contributors.

Tips for Potential Dungeon Contributors
*PUT YOUR NAME AT THE TOP OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT - Put your name at the top of the first page of the manuscript. Submissions usually get printed out, and if we have to go back to your email, figure out who sent what, and write your name at the top of your manuscript, you are making the staff do unnecessary work.

*ONE SUBMISSION=ONE EMAIL: This is far eaiser to organize for the editors.

*INCLUDE THE SDF FORM AS A SEPARATE FILE - It makes filing a lot easier if you attach the SDF form as a separate file. We can't accept an adventure without an SDF! It may be sent in paper form or emailed in electronic form.

*DON'T JUST PASTE YOUR QUERY IN THE EMAIL BODY - Your full query should be in the word processing format you will write the adventure with, preferably Microsoft Word.

*PROOFREAD - A spellchecker will make minor fixes, but an abundance of grammatical and spelling errors makes your manuscript much less attractive and professional looking. Try to get others to read it first for clarity and correctness. Give yourself time to adequately go over the whole manuscript. This can be especially important for foreign-language contributors who must compete with native speakers. Also, learn how to use apostrophes.

*SHOW, DON'T TELL - Instead of saying "a really cool trap" or "a mind-bending puzzle", give us a QUICK idea of what it involves. Additionally, minimize backstory and NPC information for the sake of increased description of what will actually transpire in the adventure. You do not have to include every single monster or grunt, but the main NPCs and villains need to be have some detail. Also, include notes for anything particularly unusual.

*TWO PAGES MAXIMUM PER QUERY - Two pages can seem limiting, but it's extremely important to get as much of the adventure itself into the query as possible. When possible, condense or sacrifice background description in favor of telling us about PC involvement. If you can't explain your adventure in two pages, it's probably too complex to fit into one of our adventure slots in the magazine. If we like your basic idea but think we need a longer proposal, we'll ask for it.

*DO NOT RE-SEND QUERIES - Please don't resend a query unless we ask you to rewrite it for us or we ask you to resend it because we did not get it.

*BE PATIENT - It can take some time to get a response. The average time between proposal acceptance and manuscript submission is a couple of months - even the best queries generally have some changes that need to be made, and the editors understand that such things don't always happen overnight.

*DO NOT PRESUME PC ACTIONS - The whole reason we like D&D is because it allows us as players to do anything we want. In your adventure, don't presume that the PCs are always going to follow the path you've laid out. Go ahead and talk about incentives for PCs to take various actions, but realize that being lead by the nose is rarely fun or effective.

* PUT YOUR BEST FACE FORWARD - Consider what elements make your proposal exciting and a "must buy" from an editor's perspective (great story, great NPCs, great location, basically great anything) and put them up front. Let us know what makes your adventure cool, because if we have to go hunting for it, there's a good chance it's going to get missed.

*WE ARE NOT YOUR PLAYERS - A lot of authors like to be sneaky about key plot elements, avoiding a big "reveal." Even if the adventure is a mystery, it shouldn't be mysterious to us. Don't hide elements of your adventure from us. Give us all the information we need to make an informed decision about whether or not to buy the module. If you don't, we're probably not going to buy it.

*WE NEED MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF ADVENTURES - We still need Eberron and FR adventures. We need low-level adventures. This changes around a lot as months go by, but right now we're seriously hurting for good low-level proposals.

*AVOID OVERUSE OF THE DUNGEON CRAWL
There will always be a place for "traditional" dungeon crawls in Dungeon (it is, after all, the name of the magazine), but we're beginning to yearn for more interesting adventures.

*NO MORE BORG ADVENTURES - At least five proposals from the current meeting (and this is after scores have already been rejected) hinged on some sort of creature, usually something that looks like a bug, trying to spread out and assimilate innocent folks.

*MORE URBAN ADVENTURES - This ties into the request for more than just dungeon crawls, but we're really interested in some cool urban adventures that can be easily slotted into any urban D&D campaign. City adventures, like any other adventure, should generally be for the core D&D world. If you want to do a city adventure set in Forgotten Realms or Eberron, make sure that it's in the city you chose for a reason. In the end, there's no real difference between the two as regards a footprint in the magazine, since we'll want to present enough info in the magazine to run the city even if it's been extensively detailed elsewhere. For an excellent example on how to structure and present an urban adventure, check out "The Styes" in issue #121.

*READ RECENT ISSUE OF DUNGEON - Not only will this help in showing you what kind of adventures we tend to accept, but it'll also tell you what adventures we've run too often.

*TAKE YOUR TIME - Once we accept a proposal, we typically give the author several months to write the manuscript. Usually three months. We never expect a writer to be able to generate a full manuscript in a week.

*MAPS MUST BE CLEAR - If you can't draw good maps, do your best to at least draw a clear and legible map. Don't clutter it with too many notes. Don't do it in pencil and then photocopy it so it's hard to read. As long as it's understandable, you should be fine.

* YOU CAN USE NON-CORE BOOKS - You're welcome to utilize concepts and rules you find in any book published by WotC, but keep in mind that we'll need to reprint enough of the rules so that someone without the book in question can still use the adventure.

*USE THE NEW STAT BLOCK - Don't go getting tricky with text boxes or frames or adding lines. We take care of the actual document formatting during layout. Just presenting the stat block in plain text is all we're looking for, like this:
MONSTER NAME CR XXX
Gender race class level
AL Size type (subtype)
Source xxx
Init xxx; Senses Listen +xxx, Spot +xxx
Aura xxx
Languages xxx
AC xxx, touch xxx, flat-footed xxx
hp xxx (xxx HD); regeneration/fast healing ; DR xxx
Immune xxx
Resist xxx; SR xxx
Fort +xxx, Ref +xxx, Will +xxx
Weakness xxx
Spd xxx ft.
Melee weapon +xxx (xxx)
Ranged weapon +xxx (xxx)
Space xxx; Reach xxx
Base Atk +xxx; Grp +xxx
Atk Options xxx
Special Atk xxx
Combat Gear xxx
Spells Prepared (CL th):
2nd-xxx, xxx
1st-xxx, xxx
Spell-Like Abilities (CL th):
1/day-xxx
Abilities Str xxx, Dex xxx, Con xxx, Int xxx, Wis xxx, Cha xxx
SQ xxx
Feats xxx
Skills xxx
Possessions xxx

*A FEW SMALL DETAILS - I think it's time to lift the "double-spaced" restriction from proposals; there's no need for this. Another thing that needs to go away: using 2 spaces after the end of every sentence. Please only use 1 space after that period.

I know there is a non-American presence on these boards, and I was hoping to hear from those of you outside of the States on this.

In the US, even when not played in regularly, there is a general awareness of RPGs, and it has been portrayed in popular culture failry often enough to say it is well known.

In other countries, how well known are RPGs in general, and D&D in particular? Is the game very well known? Do many people play it? How are the games seen?

I know, for example, boardgaming is very popular in Germany (I <3 Deutschland) and the video games are in Asia, so I have a feeling certain segments of those nations may know about these games.

Thanks in advance.

Someone posted a video in another thread which I had seen before, and I think all D&D fans should watch.

Fear of Girls:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7521044027821122670

Also, watch this one too:
D&D Asskicking:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7521044027821122670

Does anyone else have any others to offer?

I have nto had an oppurtunity to rea dmuch of his work. Most of this is due to the fact that unlike fellow pulp authors Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft, his work is not as widely available.

Nonetheless, I have happened upon a collection of his, and I was curious of the opinions of others before I got it. I'm sure I will purchase it, considering what I know about him and what i have read. But I was curious about the input of others.

After reading the horror story thread, and the "Worst DM Ever" page, It occured to me that we might draw from these experiences what kind of things a DM should always do, or not do, or various points. Without getting overly critical, or overly technical, let's see if everyone can contribute one thing a DM should always do, and one thing they should avoid. The result migth be a sort of Dm study guide, a way to check how you are doing.

Do: Be organized. It makes the game go faster, reinforces your authority, and will keep the PCs involved.

Don't: Use too many house rules. While options and rules are great, try to stick to published stuff, and deal with things on a case-by-case basis. Established rules have often been tested more thouroughly.

I know that since the OGL there has been a robust market of d20-based RPG games in PDF forms on sites like RPGNow.

Does anyone know if the market is still relatively strong, or watched by many gamers? I got some stuff I'd like to throw ona PDF and put out there for publishing, and I was curious.

I just wanted to thank the Customer Service staff. In any of the few instances I have had any problem, they have quickly, professionally, and courteously handled it.

I greatly appreciate your efforts, and thank you for putting up with frustrated gamers like myself.

Getting ready to make a new RPGA character. Thinking about a spiked chain wielder, but...

I noticed it's not a double weapon. I've always assumed it was, but when I looked around, I noticed it isn't.

So, is it? Or is it just a finesse-using, tripping, disarming and all around good weapon?

Not including Campaign settings. What do you think is the best supplement WotC has done so far for 3.5?

My first and most emphatic vote is for Lords of Madness. The perfect blend of fluff and cool rules. Combined with the far realm stuff from Dragon, creates a totally new campaign flavor.

Also: Expanded Psionics(massive improvement on 3.0) and Complete Adventurer (so many good options!)

Hello All, quick question.

What is a typical ship time? I'm in California, and it took exactly 3 weeks ot get my last Dungeon, and the turnaround on all the issues seem about the same. Is that typical?

I subscribe to MHM, and I just wanted to recommend it to other D&D players. I subscribe more as a history buff than as a D&D resource, but it never lets you down.

Last month they had a whole article on the use of Music in War, and how it worked and its actual effects, and would be invaluable as a bard resource.

This month they have an extensive article on Medieval Armor and the way it was used and its relative success rates.

Also, lots of adventure backgrounds, NPCs and cultural traits can be gleaned as well.

Without any criticism of defense of that departed section of Dungeon, doe snayone have any ideas as to what they would like to see replace it in the magazine?

Maps of Mystery?
More Dungeoncraft?
More comics?
Side Treks?
Column by someone else?

Maybe if we could get some good idea to give Dungeon we could be helpful and avoid the unpleasantness of another article going away.

Has anyone else found huge problems with the Level Adjustments in Monster Manual 3?

I was looking through, and I generally have no problems with the statistics or numbers involved. However, the MM3, which is a great book, has some serious issues when it comes to level adjustment. Compare what any one of these things would be with one class level to a similar level character of a standard race.

For example:

How about +14 Str, + 6 Con, 8d8 HD, 3 feats, two bonus feats, +2 AC, for only +3? Skullcrusher Ogre! It seems to me a 1st Level Skullcrusher fighter would have more hp, a much Higher strength, more feats, more AC, and better abilites than a level 4 human fighter, by far!

This is pretty common throughout the book. I think several of them, like the Nycter and Lizrdfolk, are ok, but there are a bunch, like the Rakshasa, that are ridiculous. Anybody else pick upon that?