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Man, the store just did not want to work right for me this morning.... Ok, for Order 7590001 please:
During the order process, the site simply would not accept starting the Pathfinder Rules subscription on anything other than Planar Adventures and it would not let me set the sidecart items to ship with the subscription at all. Thanks,
I'm curious whether a Cleric multiclass who obtains a Domain (such as through the Domain class feat) gains access to any other domain abilities besides the domain powers (for example, does a Cleric Multiclass with Basic Spellcasting add domain spells to the divine spell list when chosing spells? Do they add the domain skill as a signature skill? Access and training with the favored weapon?). I'd understand if the skill/weapon access weren't, but the spell list add really seems like it should be minor enough to be a "freebie" as part of the access.
This ability seems a lil strong for a first level ability (situational, but still strong). "You are immune to the harmful environmental effects of outer space and vacuum." So does that mean a character with the ability is immune to radiation damage from cosmic rays, can breathe in space, and is not susceptible to explosive decompression? (Baring guidance, I'd probably say "they can tool around without a spacesuit, but still need an air supply").
So in several of the books, they point out that Aasimar don't have to be born to human parents, other humanoid races can have aasimar children as well. I was thinking of tweaking the "Scion of Humanity" alternate racial trait to allow players to plug in other appropriate races, but otherwise leaving the trait as written. Am I overlooking any negative consequences of doing this?
I saw this article the other day and thought that maybe there would be a Paizo blog post or announcement shortly after, but so far bubkiss... PAIZO STRIKES DEAL WITH GOB IN TUX I'm assuming Polaris is an already existing RPG that is just being translated/adapted for English audiences, but I'm not having any luck finding more info. Anyone know anything more about this game other than what is in the article?
I'm prepping to run RotRL and I'm thinking I may allow a witchwolf skinwalker as one of the playable options for the group. I'm being fairly restrictive to classes/archetypes/prestige classes/races that are either generic or regional to Varisia and figured that there are probably some witchwolves out of Wolf's Ear (I'm also allowing aasimar as an option, due to the large number of angels in the history of Magnimar). I'm trying to come up with a Campaign Trait, roughly equal to the other RotRL campaign traits and specific to the character either being from or having family from Wolf's Ear (Wolf's Ear is mentioned in the Varisia Players Companion and detailed slightly more in the Werewolf section of Classic Horrors Revisited). I wanted to pick people's brains for some ideas. Initially I was thinking of giving them bonuses to bluff/disguise to conceal their breeding, but as long as they aren't shifted, they are indistinguishable from normal humans anyways. There is no point giving bonuses to dealing with other lycanthropes, because there is really only one occasion in the campaign when it might come up. The trait is meant to be more of a cultural / social trait, rather than modifying the actual racial abilities of the character. One last thing - I won't be allowing evil characters in the campaign, so it would be perfectly reasonable to have the trait address why the character is going against the nature of his blood. I appreciate any ideas and look forward to seeing what folks come up with!
A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for Levels 1 - 5. Valuable relics of religious natures have been disappearing on their way into Absalom and the Pathfinder Society stands to lose countless irreplaceable artifacts if the cause isn't found. Amid the bustling markets of the God's Market in the shadow of the Starstone Cathedral, the Society sets a plan in motion to ensure the parties responsible for the recent thefts are caught and brought to justice. Written by Dennis Baker. To secure a slot, please submit your information at the following link. God's Market Gamble Submission
As part of his kickstarter drive, Rich Burlew is going to make a PDF file with 100 monster stick figure (and some PC) paper minis available to all donors at the $10 or greater level. If he reaches the milestone of $1,140,000 on the Kickstarter drive, he will increase it to 100 monsters a season, releasing additional pdfs every season for the remainder of the year. Order of the Stick Reprint Drive at Kickstarter There is less than a day left in the drive, so I figured I'd throw a post up here for folks who would be interested in such insanity. Per his updates:
"Previously, I had promised you a file with over 100 OOTS-style mini monsters to cut and fold for your D&D game (or to have little fights on your kitchen table). If we reach the $1.14M line on the chart, I'll quadruple your monsters. I'll send you FOUR such files, one every season until around this time next year. That's over 400 monsters, if math isn't your forte."
Given the apparent future success of the pawns, I was curious if the following product might be viable/successful and what price point it would have to cost: 32 page module (same as current Pathfinder Modules, but no front/back cover)
My guess is that the cost would get pushed up to the $19.99 range, from the current $13.99 range, but I know that I personally would be more likely to pick up modules just on the pawns alone. Anyone else feel the same?
I'm sort of surprised that there hasn't been any discussion about this on here, since Adamant has been a Pathfinder 3PP and all. Then again, I was completely unaware of it until io9 did a story about it yesterday... Far West
The first thing that grabbed me about this setting/game was Rick Hershey's art. Very evocative and the particular style he is using I really like (tho like one of the folks that posted on the website, I'd prefer he didn't use as common of photo references as he does - if I recognize the photo that was used, it breaks my suspension of disbelief.). I like that the setting is a western/wuxia combo, but it isn't an alternate history. Things can be built up organically without having to try and wedge in explanations for them. I like that there is already a bunch of short stories up on the site to sell the setting and that they are all good. And that much more fiction is coming. I like that it is a Kickstarter project that can really stake itself out at the beginning and give it a good bit of momentum right away. Take a look and see what you think. (BTW, if someone from Paizo reads this and decides to go in for the Retail Patronage on Kickstarter for the web store, I'd appreciate the nod when you sign up ;)
So I'm planning out the first session for my Kingmaker game and decided I wanted to open the game with the PCs invited to a "social mixer", basically a chance for the Lord Mayor to show off the chartered groups to a mix of Swordlords, merchants, and local nobles. The goal is to give the PCs the impression how political the choice to send the groups out is, as well as to give them an impression of the leaders of the other groups. The leader of the Iron Wraiths and his aide-de-camp will be present as well as Maegar Varn and Baroness Stroon-Drelev (her husband departed early so he could time his departure with a southbound caravan headed down the East Sellen). I'm building up the captain of the Iron Wraiths as a 7th level Ranger so they can get the impression that the Wraiths are (currently) much more experienced group. I'm setting the background of the Wraiths as a mercenary company with experience raiding into Numeria on behalf of Brevoy, and the captain has even acquired a piece of Numerian technology that has earned him the ire of the Technic League (a skymetal gauntlet that bound to his hand and functions as a ring of force shield). I'm looking forward to the PC's finding his severed arm with the gauntlet still attached during Part 5, as part of either Irovetti or the giants loot. Maegar Varn I plan on playing up as a genuinely nice guy who is taking the opportunity to make his name. I'm not sure of the PCs backgrounds yet, but my goal is to strike up either a long distance friendship or romance with one of the PCs so that when Varnhold goes silent in Part 3 the PCs will a) have more incentive to investigate and b) be more horrified when they find out his final fate. I'm also planning on creating a few merchants and lords to meet who will be the ones responsible for providing the gold, equipment, and manpower for the early BP that Restov awards the PCs. As the campaign progresses, the plan is for some of the merchants and nobles to fall out of favor and probably towards the very end have one effectively sell Restov out to New Stetven (I'm hoping to follow up the campaign with the Rostland Rebellion). I think I've got most of the significant players in Restov lined up, but if anyone has any thoughts on how to further flesh out the ideas above or additional people worth including in the social, I'd love to read them.
Quick question: There are a few Bard spells in the APG that require a bardic performance to cast, and the performance ends when the spell goes off. If you have the Lingering Performance feat, do the effects of the performance still linger for the two rounds or does the spell completely end the effect of the performance?
I was looking at the Arcanodaemon from "The Great Beyond" and the Leukodaemon from "Seven Days to the Grave", and I wanted to confirm exactly what is involved with the Daemon subtype. My impression is that it is: Daemon Subtype: Daemons are neutral evil outsiders that call the Abaddon their home. Demons possess a particular suite of traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry) as summarized here.
Is that correct or are some of those features from those particular daemons not part of the subtype?
Heh Heh heh. Heh heh hehehehehehehe.... OMG, I loved it. It is a lot of fun, the gals are gorgeous (normally I'm a Jessica Alba kind-of-guy, but when Michelle Rodriguez breaks out the leather, wow). The action is all over the top silly, the dialogue a lil stilted, although it is pretty obvious de Niro is having fun hamming it up with his role. I live in Austin, so I was watching it at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz theater. From what I could tell, probably 2/3 of the movie was filmed within 8 blocks of the theater.
This is sort of a companion thread to the Ultimate Magic wish list thread...what sorts of things are you hoping to see in the Ultimate Combat book due out next year... My big one is more for animal companions and the classes that love them (er, not in that way). The nature warden from APG was a step in that direction, although I think that it is a little weird and not suitable for all classes. The mounted archtypes are also nice, but I'd like to see more feats and magic items specifically for either the animal companions themselves or for the owners to augment their animal companions (allowing for more exotic companions, like magical beasts, or adding templates).
I'm going to preface this by saying, normally in a home campaign I'd just make a ruling and go with it, but since I'm judging Pathfinder Society I need a lil more to go on, since I can't entirely make rules calls. I've got a player with an alchemist who is stacking modifers on to his bombs to maximize splash damage. He purchased a +1 flask thrower (from Gnomes of Golarion), he uses point-blank shot. At 4th level his splash damage is 9 (2d6 + 5 Int + 1 magic weapon + 1 point blank). Would I be in the wrong to say that the magic weapon and point blank bonuses only apply to the direct hit target, not to the splash damage?
Two comments:
Two, I somewhat understand the decision not to allow rebuilds with the introduction of APG, but there is one place I really was reconsidered - archtypes (and to a lesser extent, bloodlines, domains, and schools). While a lot of the archtypes are a huge difference from what was in the game before, some are exactly what folks have been trying to do with their character all along, and it seems almost cruel to say "sorry, you can't apply the archtype to your character...if you want to play the archtype, you can make a new character." I don't imagine that there are many folks out there who, when they finish playing a character, are looking to essentially roll up almost the same character - they want to move on and try something else. Feats and spells are a different beast entirely - you can add those to your character at any point, and fighters can change out old feats and sorcerers can change out old spells. But archtypes you are stuck with...you can't change it, even if it makes absolute sense to what the character is. I guess what I am asking for is a lil more leniency in allowing existing characters to take advantage of the alternate class options. With the lifespan of characters in the campaign, it doesn't hurt the campaign overall, and it leaves it up to the players to determine what fits their character's concept, rather than an impersonal rule created by someone that doesn't know the character.
OK...Here's the ability I have the question about: Perfect Balance (Ex): At 15th level, the penalties for fighting with two weapons are reduced by an additional –1 for a two-weapon warrior. This benefit stacks with improved balance. If he is using a one-handed weapon in his off hand, treating it as a light weapon, he uses the normal light
Based on the earlier ability in the archtype, using a one-handed weapon in the off-hand already uses the normal light weapon penalties. So I guess I want to confirm there is no further benefit for one-handed weapons past that, or is there some improvement between the 11th level and the 15th level ability? I can see it going two ways:
My reading of the rule is B, but its grey enough I wanted some other insight.
I noticed on one of the PaizoCon pictures someone holding one of the new Pathfinder Tales books, and unless they are a midget, it looks like it is a trade paperback. Is this true, can it be? I had been holding out on getting a subscription because I hate mass market paperback format and I thought Paizo had said they were using MM for wider sales...
There is a monthly Pathfinder Society weekend gameday starting up in Austin, as well as biweekly weeknight game. Details on upcoming games and events will be discussed on the North Austin Pathfinder Society Yahoo!Group http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthAustinPathfinderSociety/ Also, sign-up for games is done via Warhorn at:
We are ironing out a consistent location, but right now it looks like the majority of games will be at Dragon's Lair Comics and Games, on Burnet Road. The next game will be the Season 0 adventure Black Water on February 4th at 6:30PM.
I got to thinking after reading some of the "Customs?" thread, that I'd really like to see PDF Only Subscriptions. I'm not especially interested in a further discount for PDF's, mainly the option of subscribing and being able to get the PDF at the same time as other subscribers. I've lately gone on a lil bit of a green tear, and I really like the idea of printing my copies of books using preferred materials (recycled paper) and eliminating shipping (both from the printers overseas and in delivery to my home). The PDF costs are perfect for this, as from my estimates the cost difference between the PDF and the printed materials is how much it will cost me to print and bind the book at home, and I'll save the cost of shipping (or at least use the savings to recoup the costs of a printer)
So I was playing around with the Eidolon, and one of the things I tried to do was "recreate" an angel as an eidolon. Starting with the traits of the subtype, I tried to stat it out as similarly as possible. Darkvision 60 ft. (free)
So that's 19 points right there to just cover the basics of an angelic eidolon (not including other staples like winged flight, magic attacks, etc). I imagine that someone trying to put together a similar eidolon but of other outsider subtypes (archon, azata, demon, devil, elemental) would face the same problems. My suggestion is include tiered subtype packages that summoners can apply to their eidolons that actual apply the subtype and can be paid out over the level of the caster (possibly at a discount, as a reward for staying within a theme). It has to be purchased at first level and cannot be swapped into or out of later. For example:
That works out to 11 points, which is a significant discount (so maybe would need to be adjusted upwards), but the eidolon would have a significant portion of its points committed to a theme.
I'm a little unclear on exactly what Versatile Performance substitutes on the skill checks. Does it entirely substitute for the check, does it substitute for the skill ranks and class skill bonus? What about feats or abilities that grant bonuses to Perform or to the skills being substituted for? Does it use the ability score for the original skill or do the substituted skills become Charisma based? A few examples (all assuming Perform (Dance) substituting for Acrobatics or Fly. The example Bard has a +3 Charisma modifier, 5 ranks in Perform (Sing) and no ranks in Bluff or Sense Motive). Perform (Dance) Bonus: +11 (3 Cha + 5 Ranks + 3 Trained) Acrobatics check as a Halfling with 16 Dex - would the +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics be applied to the substituted skill check (i.e. +13) Fly check as a Dwarf with 10 Dex - would the check use the bard's Dex or Charisma to determine the bonus? (+8 vs +11) Skill Focus (Perform (Dance) - would the bonus to Perform apply to substituted skills? Skill Focus (Acrobatics) or Acrobatic feat - would the bonus apply to Perform checks substitued for Acrobatics checks? Would the bonus stack with similar feats (i.e. both Skill Focus (Acrobatics) and Acrobatic or even Skill Focus (Acrobatics) and Skill Focus (Perform (Dance))) I know how I would rule on these in my own home games (the Perform skill ranks and class skill bonus apply to the substituted skills, but they use their own Ability modifiers and other bonuses from feats only apply directly to the skills they are intended for), but as I intend to play PFS I wanted to see if it could be nailed down a lil clearer.
(Saw the U.S. Premier of this last night at Fantastic Fest and thought I'd share my review with ya'll) OMG. Ok, I thought Clerks 2 may have gone a little over the top with the whole donkey thing. Having seen Z&M, I now know that Clerks 2 was just sitting there looking at the wall thinking about going over the top, while Z&M did a flying double sommersault with kick spin over the wall and continued running for another half mile. And it did it in a single two second camera shot (I won't spoil it, but when it happened there was a five second delay afterwards before I started laughing my ass off because it was so shocking that it took me that long to accept what I just saw). That said - Zach and Miri is about two lifelong best friends and roommates who are in dire financial straits. Both are working, but their slowly and steadily falling further behind on bills, with the threat of eviction and utilities being turned off looming. Following a chance encounter at their 10 year High School reunion with a longtime crush of Miri's (Brandon Routh - Superman Returns) and his gay lover and porn co-star (Justin Long - I'm a Mac), Zach determines that the solution to all their problems is to make a porno, because hey, everyone likes to watch people screw. Using a loan from a co-worker (Craig "I'm in every movie this summer" Robinson), they finance the movie and work to find a cast (Jason Mewes - Jay from every other Kevin Smith movie, Katie Morgan - porn star, Traci Lords - former porn star, Ricky Mabe - nothing I've seen). However, when it comes time to figure out who is doing whom on camera, awkwardness sets in between Zach and Miri. Ok, this was a damn funny movie, although it was a little slow to start. However, once they hit the High School reunion about 15 minutes in, it gets its legs and doesn't let up til the end. It is as crude and lewd as you'd expect a Kevin Smith movie to be, but this time with the addition of nudity (which goes both ways...seeing Katie Morgan getting bounced around="yay"...full frontal nudity of Jason Mewes, not so much.) However, this movie really does raise the bar for Kevin Smith, not necessarily because of anything he did, but rather because of who is in the movie. I love Clerks 2, but to be honest, Brian O'Halloran (Dante) and Jeff Anderson (Randall) are not great actors. They deliver their lines and well, since the characters were written for them, they are who we'll always see for those roles. On the other hand, Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks are both very solid actors and what they bring to the material really does elevate it. There is a scene with the two of them that in the hands of a lesser actress, you would end up losing all sympathy for Miri because of what she does and it would ruin the movie, but Banks brings it all to the table and it carries the entire weight of the movie. I WILL be seeing this one again when it hits theaters the end of October (if anything to try to catch the jokes I missed when laughing thru it the first time). Also, I didn't stay for the Kevin Smith Q&A after the film (I needed to haul ass to get back to the Alamo to see Astropia, which was well worth it), but he did spend a little time before the movie telling a damn funny story about busting a toilet in a video store with his fat ass. Fortunately, the owner of the video store is his friend "No one has to know". Well, that is no one has to know until you tell the story in front of a crowd of 600 people at a film festival.
Astropia is about a young socialite named Hildur, who becomes homeless and broke when her boyfriend is sent to prison. Living with her sister and nephew, she ends up taking a job at a comic and games shop (Astropia) to help pay her bills. Although she is a complete outsider to the geek life, she slowly learns to stand on her own and embrace her inner nerd. It is a sweet movie, with a bit of a romance thrown in. It is very accessible, even though it is subtitled and one of the best movies I've seen in terms of being able to sit a non-gamer down and say "this is what its like". It is also the closest to a gamer "date movie" I've ever seen. This is an Icelandic film from last year that did well in its home country, has seen some festival play in Europe, but has only played Fantastic Fest in the States. The director and screenwriters are at the festival and according to them, they don't have any current distribution for the movie in the U.S., in theaters or on DVD. I think this is a really well done movie, far better than most we get regarding gaming culture, and it would be a shame if the vast majority of gamers were never able to get a chance to see it. I encourage folks to poke around and try and find it if you can. (The subtitle "Dorks and Damsels" is the International name of the movie, although they billed it by the original name at Fantastic Fest.)
So again I saw an early sneak (this time Hellboy 2) and thought I'd post my thoughts on it. Overall, I liked the movie, maybe even a bit more than the first one (I didn't think the first one was super-fantastic-wonderful, but I did have fun and didn't think it a waste of money to see in the theater and buy on DVD). This time there is no human agent acting as the audiences "in" and instead lets the Freaks have most of the screen time. Most of the focus in this movie is between Hellboy and Abe Sapien. Liz Sherman is still present in the movie, but she really is less of a character and more of a plot device that motivates and informs Hellboy's actions. The movie deviates from the comic books in that Hellboy and Liz have a relationship (not really a spoiler if you've seen the first movie) and it has settled into a rocky patch. In a way this relationship is the best and worst things about the movie. It provides a lot of the direction and focus of the overall story, but unfortunately it relies on some cliches of the "relationship on the outs" story genre. Ultimately it doesn't hurt the movie as much as it helps it, but it could have definitely gone either way. Abe Sapien gets a lot more screen time and the actor in the costume (Doug Jones) actually gets to speak the lines this time (in Hellboy 1, the voice was provided by an uncredited David Hyde Pierce). He's able to pull off the speech mannerisms perfectly and without careful examination there is no reason to believe they aren't the same voice. Abe gets a bit of a relationship story to himself and his is more the "awkward guy pining for the pretty girl" story. The overall story for the movie is pretty straight forward from the trailers. The son of the elven king seeks to bring mankind down for their reckless destruction of the magical world and to do so he seeks the means to control the Golden Army. Most of the scenes thru the remainder of the movie involve either investigation (in the Hellboy "tell me what I want to know or I'll hit you" style) or actively trying to prevent the prince from obtaining his goal. There are no big twists...the secrets are all revealed fairly early on, and you are just left to see exactly how they'll resolve themselves in the end. The big positive point for me was the humor of the movie. There are more genuinely funny moments in this movie than the previous and they worked fantastically given the characters involved. A new uptight character (Johann, voiced by Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane) doesn't mesh well with Hellboy loose and fast nature and seeing the two of them have at it is hilarious. And a buddy bonding moment between Hellboy and Abe steals the show. The special effects are really amazing throughout. Most of the stuff is pulled off with practical effects (costumes, sets, etc), with only the most alien stuff touched by CGI. Most of the introduction explaining the origin of the Golden Army is a fantastically designed piece of CGI meant to recreate the look and feel of stop-motion puppetry. Also, in comparison to the first movie, there are a LOT more monsters running around, many of whom are uniquely designed. So in the end, I'd say its definitely worth the theater at full price. Disclaimer: The showing I was at featured a Q&A session with Guillermo del Toro (Director), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien), and Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy). All three were fantastic guests and spoke with a lot of humor and fun. Rumors came out of it:
Also, Universal Pictures doled out loot. Everyone got Hellboy 2 t-shirts (although they didn't really account for the typical sci-fi/fantasy build by only having up to XL size) and they covered everyones tab at the theater (which considering the theater served food and beer, was probably substantial...the tab for me and a friend would have been around $40).
I went to a sneak preview screening of Hancock tonight and figured I'd give ya'll my review. If you've seen the trailers, most of what you've seen comes from the first half of this 90 minute movie, and that is probably 70% of the best stuff from the half (there are still a few good bits that they haven't shown yet from that half). Unfortunately, that tone and pace doesn't continue into the second half of the movie. In fact, the nature of the movie changes dramatically, going from a hard-edged comedy to some bizarre drama thing, that really has a hard time deciding what it wants to be. It has some problems following its own rules, using them occassionally just to remind you that they exist, then letting them disappear into the background. The acting is decent, with screentime split between Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charize Theron. Will pretty much only has one character trait in this movie (ornery) and its probably the weakest role I've seen him in in quite some time. Charize's character largely doesn't make any sense, and Bateman is barely able to hold the plot together (not the actor's fault, pretty much all of the problems for the movie I'd put on the directors lap). I wish I could just write it off as "summer movie", but it doesn't really treat itself like one. At best I'd recommend it as a matinee, more honestly, I'd say wait for Netflix or cable.
Apparently Stan Winston died yesterday. For those of you (heathens) who don't know who Stan is, he is one of the foremost practical effects creators in the business, picking up from the work Ray Harryhausen did and creating a huge body of work. Stan's designs litter the landscape of sci-fi and fantasy film, including the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park, the Predator, Aliens, and the Terminator. His most recent work was Iron Man and he still has more to come, including James Cameron's "Avatar". No word on cause of death (although believed to be cancer). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Winston
I was curious whether or not Paizo intends to continue with the Map Folio products beyond the announced one for AP2. In my case, I'm curious because I really want to subscribe to the Chronicles line, but I don't want the map folios AT ALL. The discount for the subscription is pretty much eaten up by the cost of a map folio twice a year and makes the subscription unattractive to me. The reason I don't like the map folios - the only thing in the entire folio of use to me is the fold-out regional maps...the encounter maps are useless to me. If they were full size 1" square maps, then we could talk, but just reprints of the maps from the books do me no good at all. If Paizo produced a folio that just had several of the large fold-out maps, I would be more interested in that product than the current folios. Rob Little
So I'm hoping to go to GenCon Indy, but right now, I'm pessimistic. I can definitely get a flight, already have a badge ordered, but the hotels are pretty much completely booked. Right now the only ones available via the GenCon housing page are 8 miles out from the convention center on the loop or near the airport, and while they are cheaper than the hotels downtown, once you throw in the extra $40-50/day for cabfare to and from the con, they are nearly as expensive. Any folk have any suggestions what to do?
As the fighter class is intended to fulfill a wide range of martial styles ranging from soldier to swashbuckler, there does need to be a means of enabling unarmored fighters to function, especially at higher levels. No one expects them to withstand the attacks of enemies as well as a heavily armored dreadnaught, but at the same time, they should have enough AC in order to survive in the front lines of combat. My suggestion: In addition to the various forms of armor training available to the fighter, add a category for "unarmored". Instead of the +1 AC/penalty reduction, grant a dodge bonus to AC while unarmored. As it doesn't necessarily make sense for an unarmored fighter to gain DR via Armor Mastery, perhaps allow another option such as evasion for high-level unarmored fighters.
So, in the course of adventuring, it is inevitable that at some point a PC is going to die and the party is not able (or willing) to bring him back. In these cases, it is not uncommon to have a memorial or grave created to remember your fallen companion. And sometimes, just sometimes, those memorials are just not right. Tell us your story! Here's mine... I was running Under Illefarn for some friends in college, including a couple that were playing a paladin (him) and a barbarian (her). The party was having a running fight with the orcs that had overrun the dungeon and the couple were both unconscious, but stable. The party had discovered a secret room and deposited the bodies there while they continued their fight elsewhere. While the rest of the party was galevanting about, the barbarian woke up and took stock of the room. In the far corner was a small nook containing a variety of jewelry and other "pretties". Dazzled, the barbarian got up and picked up one of the pieces of jewelry... which promptly dropped the 10x10 stone slab trap on the unconscious (now dead)body of her boyfriend. After the dungeon was cleared and the dwarves moved back in, the party made an agreement with the dwarves to retain the secret room as a tomb for their fallen companion. On the wall where the secret door once was a plaque was placed. "Here lies Thrinn, Paladin of Tyr
Saw this movie this weekend and wanted to post about it, particularly because I think a) its good and b) the trailer completely mis-sells the movie. The trailer makes the movie look like some sort of Baz Luhrmann/Guy Ritchie crime movie with kinetic action and bizarre characters. I've even read some reviews that refer to the movie as Tarantino-esque. I have no idea what movie those reviewers watched, but it wasn't this one. In Bruges stars Colin Farrell (as Ray) and Brendon Gleeson (as Ken) as two hitmen that are hiding out in Bruges, Belgium after Colin's character botches a job in London. The two are old friends, but they both have completely different attitudes regarding their stay in the medieval city - Ken finds the architecture and art fascinating, while Ray is bored out of his skull and just wants to drown himself at the pub, particularly as he is feeling an incredible amount of guilt regarding the consequences of the botched hit. A majority of the movie deals with Ray and Ken's friendship and the "honor among thieves", particularly the sense of duty Ken feels towards their boss (played by Ralph Fiennes) and the sense of responsibility he feels towards Ray (who he brought into the business). The overall seriousness of the movie is offset by lighter scenes, featuring an American dwarf who is in Bruges to film a movie and a young woman named Chloe who manages to distract Ray from his guilt for a time. I'd definitely put the movie more in the drama category, rather than action or comedy, although it certainly has aspects of both. While it is not as great of film as Scorseses work, it is probably closer to films like The Departed than it is to Ritchies or Tarantino's movies. Note: I love the fact that Brendon Gleeson is a lead in this, rather than a supporting actor. He's a great actor that I've enjoyed in a lot of movies, and its nice seeing him get a role that brings him to the forefront. His stint in Kingdom of Heaven as Reynald was fantastic, but I've pretty much liked everything I've ever seen him do, from Braveheart, Gangs of New York, to this movie.
Hey folks, Earlier this year I had the chance to see "The Orphanage" at Fantastic Fest, a genre film festival here in Austin, Texas. The movie is produced by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) and written/directed by some first time features folks from Spain. It is Spanish language (with English subtitles) and comes out in limited release starting December 28th. Simply put, its a ghost story, very similar in tone and feel to movies like "The Others" (with Nicole Kidman) or "The Devil's Backbone" (directed by del Toro). It is a beautifully done movie with several inventive twists and touches to the story that you simply won't find in American cinema with the ending of the film equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. The film has been nominated for many awards and entered as Spain's entry for the Academy Award for Foreign Films. An American remake is set to be produced by del Toro, but I strongly encourage people to see what I feel is one of the best films this year in its original form. Rob Little
Just a quick suggestion for the Paizo folks (and to be frank, I'm pretty sure that someone there has considered the idea, just want to throw it out so they can see a customer likes the idea too). I'd really like to see Complete Encounters released for encounters from the Adventure Path series from Dungeon. While it maybe would be difficult to do while the Adventure Path was in first run, I think it would be insanely cool if you were able to pick up the newest issue of Dungeon and be able to pick up a "Complete Encounter" for a fight for that issue on the same day. A more likely scenario is that certain encounters might receive the "Complete" treatment once the series is collected (ala the Shackled City HC). Just a thought,
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