M. Balmer's page

This week on History Channel, they have been running 'WW2 in HD'.

High Definition?

Now wait a minute. This is film that was taken with 8mm cameras (for the most part) 65+ years ago. No matter how good a job anyone does restoring this footage, no matter how much colourizing is done to it (because we all know if it's not in colour, it didn't really happen), the film itself will never meet HD quality. The technology used to record the film at the time was incapable it.

So what's the point?

Don't get me wrong. This is a very good documentary; it's the first one I've seen that even mentions the Aleutian campaign. Still, since the films are still going to be grainy, what's the point of calling the documentary 'WW2 in HD'.

I salute History Channel for uncovering new footage and for their efforts to produce such an excellent show. I salute them for finally getting off the endless reruns of 'Modern Marvels', 'Ice Road Truckers', and the like, but I am mystified how they can think this show is really going to be HD.

I don't know how to make a spoiler button, so if you're a player in the Second Darkness AP, don't read any further.

Please forgive my occcasional digressions in this rather lengthy post.

Next session, my group will be heading into the Boneyard. They're highly suspicious of Saul Vancaskerkin, having seen through his Bluff attempt. The party rogue actually saw through his second Bluff as well, but decided not to say anything to Saul about it.

The party wizard, an exceptionally paranoid (he says insightful) dwarf, said to the group: "Of course it's a trap. We're being sent into the city garbage dump in the middle of the night." He went on to list the party's enemies: Clegg Zincher, Boss Croat, Gaston Cromarcky [maybe not an enemy, but they know better to expect help from the gendarmes], Avery Slyeg, and now even their 'friend' Saul's motives are suspect.

Ondred, the wizard, summed it up by saying, "Our list of allies grows thin." Which led to endless ribbing from the other players: A dwarf quoting an elf. He now denies ever saying that.

I'm afraid the wizard has the right of it, though. Who the heck is on the PC's side?

Now, in our first session, as a bit of window dressing for Riddleport, I had the PCs stumble across a pimp who was trying to turn out a local girl. The party rogue and cleric intervened, using Intimidate to scare off the pimp. I hadn't planned on their doing that, and I should have forseen it (the rogue was a girl inspired by Lavender Lil to break away from her pimp, and the cleric is a LG, charitable type),but the encounter made for some good local flavour.

In preparing for the upcoming session, I went over the Boneyard ambush, and what Ondred said stuck with me. Basically, the PCs have no allies within the town. Riddleport may be a rough place, but everyone has to have some friends, otherwise why wouldn't the party just skip town? The wizard suggested just this course of action after the raid on the Gold Goblin by the local crimelords, arguing that Riddleport was getting to be too dangerous for the party.

So, I want to turn the ambush in the Boneyard on its ear. Instead of having the wererats attack the party, I want them to wind up allying with the PCs. Maybe they won't make the best allies, but it's better than having none.

What I'm thinking of doing is this:

The girl rescued in the first session is Ziphras' daughter, this gives the wererats a reason to aid the PCs. The wererats follow not only the PCs, but also Saul's ambushers, who are intruding on the family's turf.

Second, Kwava is leading the ambush. Saul hired who he thought were some random thugs with no known links to him. Vancaskerkin was unaware that the muscle he was paying for actually works for Kwava. The Shin'Rakorath operative intends to capture the party for interrogation, to find out what Saul's employees know about their boss' dealings with renegade elves.

This may be adding more complexity than is necessary, but what I'm hoping happens is that the party can use their ties to Ziphras and the wererats to secure things on the homefront while they complete the rest of the adventure path. The party can still end up working with Kwava and still maintain ownership of the Gold Goblin, with fewer worries about how to run the place in absentia.

Any comments or aid in possible troubleshooting would be appreciated.

I wanted to thank Paizo for their excellent customer service.

I placed an order earlier this weekend. This morning, I found another item I decided I had to have.

Paizo's online ordering system made it possible for me to add the new item quickly and easily, with no hassle.

There was no sending of frantic emails, asking if the orders could be combined, giving the order numbers, etc. All the while hoping that combining orders would be possible, but only if I was lucky enough to reach the right person in time...

Tow or three mouse clicks, and it was all arranged. Brilliant!

Thank you, Paizo, very much.

This came out of someone else's post about being laid off.

If your employer is hiring, post some information about the company, contact information, and location [in general terms].

Gamers who have lost their jobs might be able to use this information as a way to get something new and find out about opportunities they might otherwise miss.

Here goes:

Clarient Inc., cancer diagnostics lab in Orange County, California.

www.clarientinc.com or monster.com

Uncertain what positions are being hired for. I believe there are Customer Service and entry-level lab assistant positions available. Also, we're always looking for licenced histotechs and clinical lab specialists.

Are there 3.5 stats for these somewhere? I seem to recall seeing mention of them in Stormwrack, but I have been unable to confirm this.

Assistance in this endeavour would be appreciated.

I just got the email for KQ, without the issue being attached. Am I the only one this has happened to?

I'm hoping it's just a system burp or a brain fart...

Given my general fascination with zeppelins and airships, this adventure intrigued me. I haven't bought it yet, but I have been thinking about it.

If any of you out there in Paizoland own or have played this adventure, I would appreciate your opinions.

In 'Beast of Burden', Dragon #100, I can't seem to find #5 (Gnu-Dalcom's Pod) anywhere on the map (pg. 81). There doesn't seem to be any errata for that omission that I've been able to find.

So my questions are: Am I just missing it?
-If I'm not missing it, where does it belong on the map?
-What is the interior layout?
-Is there some online resource that answers these questions or provides corrected map(s)?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Inspired by "Prince of Redhand" and delvesdeep's treatment of the Demonskar Ball, I've been working on something similar for my homebrew campaign.

One of the things I wanted to feature was billiards, but I'm not sure how to go about building the mechanics of shooting pool.

A simple opposed check of Profession (gambler) is unsatisfying, but I don't want to overburden the session with an endless series of rolls.

What I've come up with so far is a game of 9-ball (to reduce the amount of time needed to play a round).

A Spot check is made to find the best shot available, the higher the Spot check roll, the easier it is to sink a ball.

Shooting takes the form of an attack roll, the AC of the target determined by the results of the Spot check above. The AC rating of the shot takes into account the distance, proximity of the ball to a pocket, etc. without the DM having to figure out where the cue ball is in relation to the other balls in play.

Critical hits allow a second attack roll, potentially sinking another ball.

Levels in Profession (gambler) allow a synergy bonus to Spot checks, reflecting a gambler's expert eye on lining up her shot. Similarly, Profession (gambler) grants a bonus to hit as well as increasing the threat range for critical hits.

Those with Profession (gambler) skill can also attempt a trick shot (DC 35), which allows two attack rolls, either of which will sink a ball if a hit is rolled.

That's the nutshell form of what I have. Please, let me know what you think. Comments, suggestions, and the like are welcome.

My PCs are coming to a point in the campaign where large-scale battles will be occurring. To facilitate this, I am looking for some rules for dealing with mass combats.

The only two products I know of that touch on this subject are the recent 'Heroes of Battle' by WoTC and 'Cry Havoc', which was released a couple years back by Malhavoc Press.

I was wondering how they compare, what the buyers thought of the products, and what recommendations might be made in handling large-scale combats

My players average around 6th level at present, the group consisting of a Ranger, a Fighter, a Wizard/Sorcerer, and a Priest/Wizard.

Each of the combat types (and I include the Priest in this) have defensive magic (armour or bracers of armour) and either a +2 weapon or two +1 weapons.

The Wizard/Sorcerer and the Priest/Wizard have a wand apiece, plus a handful of spells on scrolls between them.

It seems that the party is underpowered as far as magic items go, there being no potions or wondrous items. Despite this, I am hesitant to dish out more items, for fear of unbalancing the game.

I tend to run low magic campaigns, but I feel perhaps I'm being too stingy as a DM.

I was hoping other DMs might provide some advice on the subject and let me know how they've dealt with this in their own games.

An excellent author, he has several well-researched and brilliant titles. My favourites:

The Peshawar Lancers (steampunk in an alternative future earth)

Dies the Fire (electricity & gunpowder go bye-bye; SCA takes over the world)

The Protector's War (sequel to 'Dies the Fire')

Dragon #340 provided us with a workable system for astrology. I would like to see a treatment of the effects of multiple moons on a world.

The system detailed in the 2nd Edition 'Dragonlance Adventures' was pretty good. Perhaps an article could use that as a basis, updating it to 3.5 and expanding it.

I have put together a few things for my campaign, but they are cumbersome to use.

Are there others who would like to see something similar?