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My idea is to have a friend in the graphic arts splice the PDFs together (I just bought all four magazines in that format just for that purpose), and then have them printed on a big banner in high resolution, possibly blown up a bit. My friend says that will likely run about $120, but I think it is worth it.
Nope. It is the same here, in central California. Minis and cards make the bulk of the money. Books bring people into the store, but do not make nearly as much.
And, oh yeah, the DM can control the pieces light source. I haven't figured out why that was such an impressive feature to demonstrate. I have. Determining who can see what is a royal pain, and any tool which helps this is great. That is true regardless of what edition is being played.
Erik posted over in the "Greyhawk & 4E?" thread that WotC has refused all requests to license Greyhawk. So apparently they believe it has some value and want to keep it in-house for the forseeable future. Bummer. Well, I will not have the capital for at least another 9 months anyway. There is always negotiation.
Since Greyhawk will no longer be the default setting for D&D,Since when? According to EN World, the following was said at GenCon 4E Q&A: "Greyhawk will not be default setting in core. We want to leverage the assets of the assumed parts of a D&D world – Mordenkainen, Bigby, Vecna, Llolth, Tiamat, Asmodeus, etc. However, we also want to call upon the great mythology that is more commonly known such as Thor, etc."
Iron Heroes is amazingly good. I prefer it over straight D&D, mainly because I dislike the "Christmas Tree O' Magic Items" phenomenon that is higher level D&D. It has an awesome skill system, a functional and imaginative feat system, and some great character classes. That said, the magic system really sucks (although there are tons of player-created variants that work very well). Also, there is definitely room for tweaking. However, the vast array of player-created resources makes finding tweaks that fit your gaming style easy. I have been running a modified Greyhawk Age of Worms game (using a variant on Elements of Magic for the magic system), and it works well.
Greetings! Since Greyhawk will no longer be the default setting for D&D, and (I have heard) Living Greyhawk will soon end, I find myself wondering what is going to happen to Greyhawk. Does anyone here know the value of a license to produce Greyhawk material? How about the value to buy the IP outright? Ballparks are fine at this point; I won't have the kind of capital I imagine it is worth until at least the 2nd quarter of next year, and likely a bit later than that. I am very interested in seeing the line continue.
You are awesome! I have been extremely happy with Paizo's customer service, and I continue to be impressed.
Do the PDFs for Dungeon 118-121 include the Greyhawk maps?
http://malachiasinvictusaow.blogspot.com/ I recently lost some data on a few of the adventures, which I am recreating. MI
Haven't received mine yet. I'm near Sacramento, CA. Same here. MI
For my players' AoW game, I want to create an interesting, new, and recurring villain - perhaps a devil spawn - and I'd like to get your input! I'm thinking maybe a child of Belial and maybe a warped human priestess or sorceress? You *really* need to get the Dicefreaks: The Gates of Hell book. It is a fan-based take on the Nine Hells, and it is the best piece of work ever done on the subject. I have all the files, if you want them. I could email them to you, zipped. Be sure to thank them authors, though ;-) MI
Right around 1E. Yes, I have a minotaur PC. MI
OK - so I am about to start the Age of Worms and am having preliminary chats with the players, when the super-munchkin of the group announces that he really wants to play a psi-warrior thri-keen!!! Okay. There is nothing inherently wrong with playing a Thri-Kreen. However, there are several things you mention that are troubling.
It would not be too difficult to use the Savage Species progression, actually. It is pretty well laid out. 2) Having a huge insect wondering about will make any social interaction hard work. Yes. Yes, it would. This is a job for a really good roleplayer. However, you have stated that this fellow is not one. That sounds like a recipe for frustration. 3) I am running this in FR, Daggerford. Why on earth would a thri-keen be in Daggerford? And doing what? Pariah's idea about Zalamandra's Gallery of Science in the Emporium is great. In fact, this character could replace Shag Solomon's role in the Gallery (weird monster with manners). The chap in question is not a great player - his previous characters have been a nightmare to run. He is persistantly bugging for some new buff or modification to the rules. Ugh - nag nag nag.... ...and you know that this character will be the same, correct? Also, are you used to running psionics? Are you prepared for the implications? This fellow sounds like he needs a GM who knows how to set hard limits and stick to them. Anyhow - I guess I have always been a touchy feely kinda DM where I let the players play whatever they want knowing that they will not abuse my good faith. I am the same way. However, there are limits. For example, I am running this game using Iron Heroes and Elements of Magic in the Greyhawk setting. I do not want non-humans to be very common, and there are not many magic items around. One of my players wanted a Bariaur character. That would normally be fine, as this player is excellent with roleplaying unusual characters. However, it does not fit the feel of the setting much. He ended up with a Dwarf (which I am treating as somewhat unusual, anyway). It is working quite nicely. Not so this current group. Another chap wants to play a Drow - not a problem, he will start with a few negatives, come up with a good backstory and will *role-play* it well. Well, in Faerun, every other character is a Drow, right? The thrikeen chap is in it for a big kick ass psionic character. There is nothing inherently wrong with that desire. However, when such is disruptive to the game as a whole, it should be shut down. So I guess I will have to just lay down the law. From your description of the situation, I think that is a good call. Part of my problem is that I am completely new to FR, and do not have time for extensive preparation or modification. I will be running the modules as they come, and only reading those bits of the FR source books that I need to. Personally, I think Greyhawk is a better idea, with your limitations of time. The Adventure Path is designed with that setting in mind, primarily. But I do like the "must be able to buy a cup of tea" proviso. That would rule out the more ridiculous character races. Yes, but sometimes a good roleplayer can pull it off, and pull it off well. You just need to know your players. Question: Should I let the player go for it? If he is consistently a disruption, you may have to. However, I think setting reasonable limits is a better solution in most cases. MI
Heh. In my game, it is 581 CY, so these things have yet to pass ;-) In fact, the whole Rary/Tenser thing may end up happening during this campaign. MI
I'd use that red metal from Sandstorm. It negates the DR of Earth subtype creatures, which would make sense as the Windlords were fighting evil earth elementals. I was not able to find it. Page #? MI
Nice indeed. You could even have the "grimlocks" be degenerate cannibal human cultists, a la Lovecraft. MI
Froghemoth is a new monster,Well, not really. It first appeared in 1st edition's "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" adventure. Glad to see Ol' Froggy make the conversion! The old Tome of Horror also has an updated version. MI
Just to throw in my opinion, I would prefer to *not* see anything from Weapons of Legacy or Magic of Incarnum in Age of Worms. As for Heroes of Horror, I do not know, as I have not read it. MI
we play with instant kill threat and 'blam' down goes the 4th level half orc barbarian. What is an "instant kill threat?" MI
I've always wanted to run a scenario when there is a TPK, where all the PCs wake up in the afterlife together -- likely in hell/purgatory, etc. And let them battle their way back to the Material Plane.That cannot happen... Nonsense. When killed, a character's 'soul' travels to the home plane of their alignment, permanently. ...unless the GM says otherwise. Look, even if you are using the above as your default cosmology (which is not necessarily the case), special circumstances can change the situation. Examples: 1) An Archdevil diverts the souls to Hell through diabolic magic. However, the spell does not work exactly as planned, and the PCs end up in a different area than the Archdevil planned. Now, the PCs race to escape Hell before the Archdevil can locate and capture them. 2) There is some sort of strange planar energy surge, which causes all souls currently "in transit" to become displaced. Thus, evil souls are appearing in the Heavens, lawful souls in Limbo, and everything is thrown into chaos (which was the plan, perhaps - it could be a plot by the Slaad). The PCs have to figure out where they are, and how to get back to where they should be. 3) The PCs die near some sort of soul-trapping artifact which is a sort of "Underworld in a Bottle." The PCs and other beings must find a way out. There are funky traps, weird creatures, and difficult riddles on the way. Little do they know, but the struggles of all within are actually feeding some strange being, who watches with greedy delight. Can they get out? If souls could return to the Prime Material Plane at will, the plane would overflow with those living and dead...there would be virtual immortality - which would severely imbalance the game. If everyone could do it, there would likely be no imbalance. MI
My group has done this since 3rd Edition came out, and it works great. I have never had any complaints, and my group feels the same about "cheating" by getting free experience. You catch up faster than you would think, especially if you bring the new character in a level lower than the rest of the party. MI
Exactly. I have *no* idea why people are getting their panties in a bunch over a stat block that does not perfectly match a given array. My PCs do not use a standard array; why should every NPC? Do you demand straight average hit points as well? Ability scores are one thing; adding extra feats or tweaking BAB is a different story. I *do* agree with this point, however. Ability scores, hit points, equipment, magical buffs, etc. are fine, but everything should match up as far as saves, BAB, number of feats, etc. for a given creature. Of course, if they don't, it is simple enough to create a template, add hit dice, or use some other excuse to increase things. MI
Greetings! I just cracked open Doomgrinder, an old adventure from the Lost Tombs series. Right at the end, there is an awesome color map of the entire Cairn Hills, including Diamond Lake, the Mistmarsh, Blackwall Keep, Tenser's Castle, etc. If you have it or can get it, this is a great map. MI
It looks like little will be done with the Rod of 7 Parts in the AoW, so since I have the old boxed set, I was thinking of making an epic level version of that adventure. That sounds like a great idea. Personally, I am going to be setting my Age of Worms game prior to the Greyhawk Wars, and integrating it somehow. Ideas? MI
Sorry for the double post. Weird server burp. Feel free to delete. MI
Greetings! I was just reading the Ecology of The Spawn of Kyuss article in Dragon 336, and I could not help but notice the awesome pictures there. They would be *very* useful for any Age of Worms campaign. Any chance of having those posted, perhaps as part of an upcoming online supplement? *Great* artwork. MI
Greetings! I was just looking through the Ecology of The Spawn of Kyuss article, and I could not help but think that having access to those pictures would be great for my Age of Worms campaign. Is there any chance these could be posted, perhaps as part of one of the upcoming Online Supplements? MI
This thread mocks those patiently waiting for responses. It's also intentionally divisive. ...and incredibly funny. MI
I think the only real problem with D&D is the same problem that can exist in any hobby or entertainment: the proclivity to let the hobby eclipse your life. I think this is what some churches and religious people respond to when they see that their kid stops caring about anything other D&D. Yet, I've see the same problem manifest itself with videogames, comics, collectibles, and movies. ...and religion. MI
it was going around at the time that martial arts calls on the power of the devil to break boards. This made me laugh so hard I almost peed. MI
I went to a public elementary school in Elverta, CA. The school board at the time (very early 80s) was heavily peopled with Mormons. I used to read (1st Edition) D&D books all the time during free reading in class. My history teacher used to talk about Satan a lot (in fact, this teacher claimed to have seen Him curled up at the feet of her daughter-in-law's chair shortly before she decided to divorce this teacher's son - I kid you not). Anyway, one day, in this very class, there was an announcement from the principal over the school's PA system. The principal announced that "from now on, Dungeons & Dragons books and other Satanic material is banned from this school." I was not paying much attention and only half-heard what he said, since I was at the time engrossed in reading the 1st Edition Dungeon Master's Guide (you know, the one with the huge, demonic-looking efreeti on the front). A few seconds later, I noticed the silence. Everyone in the classroom was staring at me. Needless to say, I quickly stowed the book under my desk. MI
Thanks for the idea. Consider it swiped: Malachias Invictus' Age of Worms Campaign Of course, mine needs some major work. I have dangled some XP carrots in front of my players in exchange for more detailed character backgrounds/stories and some other goodies. MI
Personally, I think creative players should be rewarded. MI
Sheesh, people. Give the guy a bit of slack. This is a busy time of year. They also just got through putting out Overload, and are having staffing problems. Have you never had staffing problems at a place where you worked during a busy time of year? MI
It's never coming out. Thank god my group just finished the Whispering Cairn last night and it took them five 4 hour sessions to do so. Whew! I thought it was just *my* group that was running slow. We have had two full sessions, and have only managed to get into monkeying with the sarcophagus. They are currently running from the acid beatles. MI
I like the way you are thinking. On the other hand, I think I am still going to use Manzorian for a while. At an appropriate moment, the characters will find out that Manzorian is actually Tenser. MI
I'm going to start AoW in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to it but I was wondering how you all handle PC deaths. Of course when PC's die in the first adventure it isn't difficult, the player will start with a new 1st level character, but what about when most characters are 4th level or higher? I generally start them one level below the lowest "real" character, and with zero experience. When they earn enough experience to be at this level, we say that the character has become "real." In my group, this generally does not take long, because of the DMG experience system. MI
I don't mean to steal your fire, but elementals are immune to crits. MI
I have picked up the first 3 of the series and am really happy with what I have seen so far. Im incorperating it into my campaign, but am having a bit of a problem. I have 7-8 players (!) and the party level average is currently 4. Wow. That is a chunky group. I was going to start with 3 faces, but the party took so long with their current adventure that they leveled passed the starting point. The first adventure looks like it can be easily skipped as long as the notes and relevant info is passed on to the party. They will be given a "diary" of a group of adventurers that completed the 1st adventure. I personally would send them through the first adventure anyway. Tha main point of it is to get the characters entrenched in Diamond Lake, and to pique their curiosity about just what the Hell is going on around there. You could even level up the baddies, and increase the numbers; with 7-8 players, they are going to level slowly anyway. My problem is how to resolve the level issue for 3 faces and beyond? The suggest tweaks for higher level games is useful, but theres going to be problems when the party has access to 3rd level spells. Lightning bolts, fireballs and dispel magic can really put a damper on some of the scenarios. What, specifically? I am running an Iron Heroes party using the Elements of Magic for Arcanists. Under EoM, you can cast (very weak) area effect spells and dispel magic at first level, and I have not noticed any short-circuiting.
I would definitely keep the important encounters challenging, through powerful enemies and sheer numbers. The less important encounters might be cakewalks, but eventually a party that large is going to lag behind in levels. I think the problem will resolve itself. MI
Maybe all creatures from the Monster Mannual should be Commons, MMII and Fiend Folio Uncommons, and MMIII and other sources Rares. There should be some correspondance to the frequency at which creatures appear in D&D products to their rarity as figures. Part of the issue is the complexity of the sculpt and the difficulty in painting it on a mass-production basis. For example, it has been stated that all mounted figures are going to be rare, because of the paint complexity. Judging from the Mounted Paladin figure, I believe it. By the way, the next set is going to include a spider swarm. Too bad for me it will be far too late to sub it in for those acid beatles. MI
I wonder whether the price of grimlocks and kenku's have risen in the past month compaired with other commons of their set? If anyone is interested, I have tons of both still in the bag, and I am willing to sell them for $1.25 each plus minimal S&H (the cost of the postage plus the box, and about $1.00 fudge factor). invictusebay@yahoo.com MI
There is a real need for a better "official" mechanic for this. There is obviously a desire for something like "unkillable undead" (meaning "unkillable without doing something special"). Something that heals at the Fast Healing rate but can only be permanently dealt with by doing damage it is vulnerable to hits the spot exactly. MI
On top of that, I've gotten some blackscale lizardfolk with their tails missing from the Angelfire pack. Call WotC customer service. They will replace defective minis, and give you a little extra for your trouble. MI
Your view does not mesh well with economic reality. They need to make money, and they have a great strategy to do so. If they were to sell the minis individually, their sales would be a small fraction of what they are now. And yet most other miniature companies do just that…weird. They produce ready-to-play, painted minis for $1.25 each on average? Maybe if they limited the miniatures they produced to ones that people actually wanted, The huge success of D&D minis indicates that people actually *do* want what they are selling. I have never seen a figure that was common or uncommon sell for more than a rare. I have. Many times. The resell price is based purely on the rarity of the figure. Not remotely. For example, Drow figures are almost *always* high ticket items, no matter what the rarity. Drow Archers regularly sell for $8.00 or so, and there are some rares I have never gotten that much for. I have seen Harbinger Wolves (a common) go for as high as $8.00, and had a Sahuagin Ranger (uncommon) go for $27.00. Hmmm. How to prevent unsold stock….Don’t make figures that no one wants. Even then, you will have some problems moving stock. As it stands now, WotC has created *huge* demand. Stores buy extra so they can sell it later for a higher price. People buy massive numbers of cases to get the selection they want, then sell the remainder on eBay. I totally agree, Sandra Garrity is fantastic. As far as Miniature transport of metal figures, I have an old briefcase with egg crate foam in it. I put the figures in and close it and it works like a charm. I have a similar setup for my metal minis. However, I have over 3700 plastic D&D minis, and I can store them in small ziploc bags by type (e.g. Ogre Ravagers), then in clear plastic shoeboxes by group (e.g. Ogres & Trolls), then 13 shoeboxes in a toybox-like bin. My collection takes up 5 such bins so far, and all my minis are in great condition. I would need a bobtail moving truck to keep that many metal minis around with adequate protection. Granted, I am an extreme example, and it is a pain to transport the whole shebang, but I like having a mini for every occasion. As far as painting. I would rather have a quality (high detail) unpainted metal miniature than a poorly painted lo detail plastic one. We differ on this. I like having color on the table. Then again, I do not have to make that choice, because there are plenty of great, highly detailed plastic minis in my collection. That may just be me though. I also am a fairly good miniature painter when I have the time to do it, and have repainted most of the D&D miniature singles I have purchased. I figured you were a painter ;-) As for substituting minis for creatures that I don’t have…What choice does any DM have…that is pretty much SOP. I’d practically kill for a Xorn Mini! I hear one is coming. Hopefully Underdark will have one. My guess is that WotC, despite what they say will eventually re-release most of the discontinued miniatures just like the people who marketed beanie babies did… That does not appear to be their plan. They have issued *resculpts*, though (Minotaur, Zombie, Gnoll, and Drow Fighter so far). Very interesting conversation though. Agreed. MI
I’ll take a limited range of figures and Low cost over random packaging any day. Sure. Others would rather keep the random packaging and continue to get a line of 180+ miniatures per year. I am certainly one of those. No D&D miniature set to date has had more than 20 figures that I have been interested in. My experience obviously differs. Generally, I find over half of each set to be regularly useful in gaming (the Evil half, for the most part). As for the rest, I enjoy a wide array of PC and NPC minis. And of those that I want, 80% are "rare". I say cut the Woad Woads, Killer Frogs, and Blues, and focus on the biggy core D&D monsters like Beholders Carrion Crawlers, Displacer Beasts, Slaads, Otyugh, Giants, Demons, Devils, Dragons, Mind Flayers, Chuul and the like. You see, they *are* focussing on those. They only include a few of the really popular ones in each set, because eventually, they are going to run out of popular monsters. Trickling them out is a smart marketing decision. How many people bought Deathknell mainly because they wanted a Beholder? Heck, leave the PC classes, Humanoid races, and SRD Undead out. Why? Those are dime a dozen anyway, and _ every_ other miniature producer makes them. Fully painted and ready to play straight out of the box? Who produces such minis? Don’t drop junk on the consumer who is trying to purchase what they desire. One man's trash is another's treasure. I have sold large volumes of individual D&D minis since the first set came out, and you would be surprised what individuals want for their games. The wide selection supports many more gaming preferences than a higher-priced narrow selection would. MI
Some very interesting points have been made: WotC has created a scheme of marketing that allows them to incur substantial set up costs for a given run of a set of 60 miniatures. They have done this by marketing their miniatures in such a way as to create incentive in the purchaser to buy the product in a volume greater than they otherwise would if sold individually. Incentive? “Keep buying until and you might get what you want…but we guarantee you will get a lot of what you don’t want.” The beatings will continue until morale improves. This marketing strategy has proven quote successful. You cannot argue with results. If someone only wants a specific mini, there are tons of sources for them. The secondary market provides the individual sales, and WotC saves on costs. WotC’s costs of good sold is not the same for every miniature. Many miniatures are more complex to model, cast in a mold, paint and assemble than others. Which is why I said I would be willing to pay production cost + profit margin for figures I wanted. Production cost is not the only extra expense. How about the increased market research costs? You also must know that with an increase in price comes a decrease in sales. *You* and others like you may be willing to pay the price, but that might not tip the scales. Let’s use $10 a package as it’s easy to break down. There are 8 figures in a box. Your average cost per figure is $1.25. Which is a great price…until you have to buy a case (12 boxes) and very probably not get the 1 miniature you wanted. To which I say: why didn't you just buy the individual mini you wanted in the first place? My local game store opened two cases of Deathknell figures and still didn’t find one Beholder. They did get 16 Wood Woads, 17 Dire Badgers, and 13 Killer Frogs. Greaaaat…. What 24 rares *did* they get, though? What other desired minis were among the 192 acquired? It is getting stuck with that which I do not want that really bothers me. If that is the case, why don't you just buy the individual minis? Fiendish T-Rex? Give me a Behir! Why don't you just *buy one*? Doing a cursory seach, I find that the average online store price is around $23.00 (which is really not that bad for a well-painted figure of that size). However, looking at recently completed eBay auctions, I see one that sold for only $6.50, with the highest priced recent sale being only $14.99. That is plenty cheap for someone who wants a Behir. I am going to break this message up, since these are getting rather long. MI
We are playing with Iron Heroes-style characters (using the Elements of Magic magic system), in an alternate Greyhawk (there is no specifically clerical magic, and the population in most areas is overwhlemingly human). The characters are: Barracus, Human (Touv) Male Weapon Master (Twin Bastard Swords). A giant by Touv standards (6'), Barracus won his freedom from the slave pits through gladiatorial combat. However, some problems with a moneylender ended with him working the mines for Balabar Smenk as an indentured servant. Thalestris, Human (Oeridian) Female "Man"-at-Arms. A mercenary of amazonian stature, she is seeking glory and riches. She took pity on Barracus, and bought his contract from Balabar Smenk, in return for service. Rogar, Human (Flan) Male Archer. A local ranger and outdoorsman, Rogar seeks to escape the tedium of Diamond Lake. Little does he know the consequences of his decision... Allsaran Telrün, Grey Elven Male Arcanist. A scholar and specialist in the magics of ice and wind, he is in Diamond Lake to visit his friend and colleague, Allustan. His curiosity draws him into the mysteries surrounding Diamond Lake. We may have more later, but this is the group for now. MI
I have a substantial number of both, and they fit perfectly on a 2X2 space on a 1" grid Crystal Caste combat mat. I would check measurements again.I just ran TFoE using a Dire Ape. It did not have a 2" diameter base. Hmm. I will check again. MI
We could really use a good large uncommon for a carrion crawler; perhaps underdark will have something wormy. You could always fudge with a Grick (Common from Giants of Legend). It is green and has tentacles - all you need to do is set it on a bigger base (like a 2"x2" piece of 3x5 card). And if you need an army of beholders I feel sorry for your players! Indeed. Even *I* only have 6... MI
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