Mark Aaron's page

Hello Mark,

We have an unusually large volume of emails. We're working to answer them all, but the response time is longer than normal right now. You should be all set now.

Yes sir! Like I said, you guys have taken care of me once again. I'm looking forward to the rest of the Starfinder line and further PF products. Thanks again!

I just got an email from the team; they'll be taking care of me. I've been with Paizo a long time, I've got my copy of the Pathfinder Alpha that I printed out still displayed on my shelf. This is only the second time I've ever had issues with a product out of about 100 or so, and now both timed customer service has stepped up. Keep up the good work!

--Mark

Hello Paizo team,

I received my order of the limited edition Starfinder CRB on Friday and upon my first opening of the book the spine was already mostly separated from the interior. I called it in to your customer service phone department that day, who advised I send an email with pictures attached. I did so but have yet to hear back from the customer service team. The book is gorgeous but I would like to actually be able to use it without it falling apart on me. Anything you could do would be appreciated.

--Mark

Sure. I'm not sure I'd say it works better as a weapon so much as I think it may be more of a weapon, if that distinction makes sense.

-snip-

Here's a similar thought -- if you had a magical haft or shaft, that gave a bonus of some sort to an axe/spear head that was attached to it, would that be a weapon or item. I think you could try to argue item, and if you presented it well you might get away with it, but I could see other people disagreeing. Or, what if you item hadn't been the string but was the bow itself. I guess at what point do you draw the line?

Thank you, sir! Now I see what you're saying and I agree. It sort of feels like a weapon crystal from old 3.5 now that you point it out to me. Something worthless when not attached to a weapon.

This is the first I've seen this item, though I saw other's comments first. I personally would NEVER purchase this item, and here's why. There is now in place the "Adaptive" weapon property, which for a flat 1000gp dials your composite bow up or down to match ANY strength rating, effectively. No breakage, no scaling costs (not even +1 effective enhancement cost). The Adaptive weapon property is in the Ultimate Equipment source book. So, definitely not creative OR superstar in my book since there is already something in the game that is both better and cheaper to solve the same problem.

Aaaaand that's what I get for scouring only the wondrous items section of all the books. I suppose that, on the bright side, I am thrilled to see another of my groups' house rules/creations show up independently as canon within the works of Paizo. My thanks for pointing that out.

Sorry, Mark, this just didn't bring the mojo for me (and I thought it tread awfully close to being a weapon, not a wondrous item). I thought it was in the end just a numerical bonus.

Also, while I like the idea that the bowstring itself adds to the strength rating, I'm not sure what the point is. I think it's just a cheaper way to add damage to an arrow attack and I'm not sure that's something that's that needed. I'd probably just save up so I can get my basic magic bow.
It does look like it's presented perfectly.
Oooh, looking at the later comment from Andrew, I think he nailed how I'd have maybe changed this to make it work. A string that let a weaker character negate the bonus seems like it would be far more useful.

I appreciate the feedback. You are the second person to tell me that this works better as a weapon. Can I con you into explaining that position for me? I can see a magical weapon ability (which, in truth, it was modified from an existing house-created magical weapon bonus) but I cannot see how a bowstring works better as a weapon. If I can better understand my fellow peers, I think I can make a better item (or at least one that fares better) next year!

Mark Aaron wrote:

Bowstring of Additional Might

I liked the concept behind this item but there are a few thins that I would have liked to have seen handled differently.

I would have like this item better if it worked on any composite bow not just magical ones.

I'm not a fan of the string breaking line it's too infrequent an occurrence (a .0025% chance I believe) to have any real meaning as a flaw for cost reduction and it's just a nuisance when it does occur then.

for something that doesn't really add a magical bonus that couldn't be purchased much cheaper mundanely when the bow was created the magical cost seems very high. I think I understand why but it's jarring.

If I were going to make a similar item it would in some way increase the wielders effective strength bonus for drawing the bow negating the penalty to hit and perhaps allowing the wielder to capitalize on at least their own strength bonus to damage.

I appreciate your taking the time to do this. Your insight mirrors many of the qualms I dealt with in creating the item.

I immediately regretted adding in the break chance. If there is one thing I could have changed, that would definitely be it.

I was going to go cheaper for the pricing and initially had it a 1/2 the list cost it is at now, but I just kept going back to the Bracers of Archery in my head and how costly they are for a somewhat similar item. In the end, I went high, figuring that someone who could benefit would from the item would rather purchase the Bowstring than make a completely new magical bow.

OK, it being Friday I won't hold out any further on a complete list of my favorite items. Just a list, no specific praise for any specific item because I could go on endlessly.

My own private 32:

(Listed solely in the order that they crossed my voting path, not in any kind of actual preferential sequence. That would be too hard!)
** spoiler omitted **

And for completeness' sake: my alternates:

(Which means I did have to do a little preferential sorting, but only in a 'what four items do I really, really regret not including in the top' sense.)

** spoiler omitted **

And since someone did request upthread that I post my full top 64 (because I kept mentioning it), here's the rest of the best, as I saw it. Again, no special organization to these:

** spoiler omitted **...

I am delighted to see that my Bowstring found some love somewhere!

Here's my list of "I loved these items". Note, not all of them are superstar quality, but these were certainly the items I liked enough to save a copy of the item and say, "I'll be using this later."

** spoiler omitted **

I'm a little disappointed--though I can't say I'm surprised--that no one's mentioned my first light.

The fact that someone like yourself saved my item for their own personal use has made entering this year a vindicated decision.

Firstly, my thanks to the gentlebeings both kind and dedicated enough to take time out of their lives to pass along their thoughts on our items. Now, on to the dissection!

Bowstring of Additional Might
Aura faint transmutation; CL 3rd
Slot –; Price 1,000 gp (+1), 4,000 gp (+2), 9,000 gp (+3), 16,000 gp (+4), 25,000 gp (+5); Weight –
Description
This supple black cord replaces the existing bowstring of any magical composite bow. Once in place, the bowstring applies an additional strength rating to the bow, ranging from +1 to +5. This allows the bow's wielder to apply a Strength modifier greater than that of the bow's original crafting. Should the wielder's Strength bonus be less than the new strength rating of the bow, the wielder can no longer use it effectively and suffers a -2 penalty to attacks made with the weapon.

On a roll of a natural 1, there is a 5% chance that the bowstring snaps, rendering the string unusable until it is mended by a caster of equal or higher level than the item's creator.
Construction
Requirements
Craft Wondrous Item, bull's strength, crafter's caster level must be at least three times the bowstring's bonus, crafter must be proficient with a composite longbow or composite shortbow; Cost 500 gp (+1), 2,000 gp (+2), 4,500 gp (+3), 8,000 gp (+4), 12,500 gp (+5)

For my group, the first step was attempting to rebuild after several of Nyrissa's Blooms wrecked some of our major cities. The 'human' capital of the time, Narland (the Staglord's re-purposed fort), and Fort Numesti (the renamed Fort Drelev) both fell to the ravages of the Blooms. Thankfully, the two other PC nations (long story) came together and formed Greater Argoth, a collection of city-states reminiscent of Ancient Greece and my players' new nation was able to survive. As soon as a new capital city was built for the conglomerate nation (on the isle in the Candlemere), Brevoy sent Choral after us.

We knew of his coming due to our advanced network of informants and we met him on the battlefield, prepared for his assault. To my utter astonishment, Choral fell within two rounds. I was flabbergasted and my PC's were giddy as hell. Then we looted Choral's lair.

From there, seeing as Brevoy launched Choral after us (nevermind his complete ineffectiveness), we retaliated. Thus began a months long war with Brevoy which saw intrigue and alliances with the Numerian Techniq League (a highly advanced society of Gnomes in our realm due to a hilarious misreading of information) and some of the nearer River Kingdoms.

The war was the most difficult thing my PC's had dealt with to date, spanning no less than 3 full game sessions of several hours each. We had something like 12 cities by then and only three remained unscathed. Most were looted and burned, as was Restov for its betrayal in joining us.

Still, in the end, Brevoy was the kingdom on its knees. We subjugated all the northern houses (except for house Labeda of Silverhall, who joined us in our plight). Pitax, who rebelled against our rule during the war, were completely crushed and subjugated as well.

Now, with the war over, I will be throwing the threat of the First World back at my PCs. As I doubt that they will simply acquiesce and apologise for killing Nyrissa, I need to whip up encounters with the powerful denizens of the First World for my players to face.

Maybe I missed this somewhere, but where/how do I add more city and army tabs? My group has (finally!) made it into the 'Beyond Kingmaker' section of SoaTS and we are beginning to run out of tabs to keep up with everything.

Also, my thanks to all you guys and gals for putting in the extra effort and sharing it!

@ Erik Freund

You're correct, that's not really what I was looking for. I'm well aware of the abstractness of my players and how the races in question "generally" function in fantasy settings. I appreciate your response, but it doesn't help me with the mechanics.

Letting everything cost the same could balance out mechanics-wise, but the realism of it would be lacking. Ideally, every city district built underground would already have all four levels of city wall built right in, which is an unfair bonus that my above ground PC cites would miss out on. Tunnels cost more to carve out/shore up than a road costs to pave, so if I want to connect several underground cities together, my underground players suffer an unfair cost penalty.

Also, just curious Erik, but how would you have handled things had your party been entirely (or a majority thereof) composed of dwarves? Given that Dwarves tend to do things slower, how would you reflect that in the Kingmaker setting?

I have an issue that I would like to put before my fellow DM's and the amazing people at Paizo. My PC's have divided the Greenbelt amongst three cooperative nations, the Nightscale Hegemony (run by the Kobolds they befriended early on), the Silverfist Dwarves (a clan of Dwarves that 'reclaimed' the dwarven settlement that was overrun by the hodags), and Narland. Of course, Narland receives the most hexes, as it was the first nation in the area. However, my question concerns underground development of hexes.

Both dwarves and kobolds are underground species. Both wish to expand underground to increase the size of their respective kingdoms without interfering with Narland's expansion. The thing is, while I have some ideas floating around, I could use any help with rules for how much development would cost underground.

For example, how much would it cost to build a farm underground? They obviously exist, as underground species such as dwarves, drow, and svirfneblin could not maintain kingdoms without them. What about the price of roads/tunnels? Any additional input or insight that anyone would be willing to provide would be much appreciated.

CrimsonHorizons wrote:

Is anyone else having difficulty with the PDF? Mine came in something like 13 different pieces, a vast change from the first two books in this AP. Is this some new format or just a technical issue?

You can DL it in 2 options. 1 file per chapter or as one complete book. Sounds like before you always used the second option and this time you picked the first option.

Good to know. Many thanks!

Is anyone else having difficulty with the PDF? Mine came in something like 13 different pieces, a vast change from the first two books in this AP. Is this some new format or just a technical issue?