Mark Sweetman's page

Noice :) - I'll progress the concept a bit more then. I'm casting him in the vein of 'big fun' and 'large ham'.

Apologies for being a bit out of circulation over the last week - we lost a team member from work, so it's taken some adjustment and mental reconciliation.

I'll go with Mark's vote on Lil's fate - which is for her to escape at some point and become a recurring theme in our future. She serves for a decent antagonist in the shadows, and gives a counterpoint to the games to come.

As for what to play moving forwards - I'm easy. I'd be happy to take up the healeresque role if needed, or could take a skills / combat route as well. Even happy to be Mr Beefcake in the front line if desired :)

So Javell - roll with what you feel like and I'll flow round the edges :)

A quick message to confirm that I still exist - work has been debilitating-ly busy (not that it's an excuse) and I have been exceptionally lax. I'll show up in thread in the next hour or so and will give myself a percussive back of the head wake up call tap to be more consistent in engagement moving forrads.

A quick message to confirm that I still exist - work has been debilitating-ly busy (not that it's an excuse) and I have been exceptionally lax. I'll show up in thread in the next hour or so and will give myself a percussive back of the head wake up call tap to be more consistent in engagement moving forrads.

A quick message to confirm that I still exist - work has been debilitating-ly busy (not that it's an excuse) and I have been exceptionally lax. I'll show up in thread in the next hour or so and will give myself a percussive back of the head wake up call tap to be more consistent in engagement moving forrads.

Condolences from this part of down under as well Ever_Anon.

-.. --- -

You are correct - I'm specifically choosing to Delay (and not Ready) and take my full turn after the turn of the first overt threat coming into view.

Block initiative is indeed quicker - though I can understand Joana's reservations given the amount of interactivity in PF2 where crit successes / failures can have a more tangible impact on options.

A half-measure might be to permit posting in block initiative out of sequence... and then seeking clarification if actions become invalidated or options fundamentally change. Each of us can be a bit more open to alternative actions when relevant as well.

Which I suppose is a fancy way of shrugging my shoulders and saying I'll go with the majority :P

Hand raised in steampunky interest :)

I'll need to drag out the books and brush off the dust, but parroting above the setting's been a real appeal for me. Personal inclinations lean t'wards the glorious nation of Khador... but can be convinced in any direction.

Master Pett knows when his eldritch name has been invoked...

As an aside... just a tad of interest in your recruitment eh Joana? - just putting out a marker that while I would be honored to be picked, I could equally understand if you choose to try for greener grass.

Updated:
ūnus) Halfling
duo) Local Scion
trēs) Rogue

Gethric Orted is a baker's son, a baker's grandson and a baker's great-grand-son. The Orted's have long held regard in Breachill, supplying sourdough and sweet comestibles to the Cayden's Keg. Having tended dough for most of his life, stories of adventure and derring-do enjoyed over rye bread, cheese and kvass have sparked a wanderlust within him.

To the grumblings of his most respectable father, he has tightened belt over his modest girth, tucked his filcher's fork to one side and strode forth to answer the call.

A waved hand raised in greeting followed by a furrowed brow in trepidation and thought. I also share an interest in seeing exactly how the ways and wherefores of 2nd edition play out in the PbP space.

For my first foray I'd fall back to my own warm and secure place - and promote a:

ūnus) Halfling
duo) TBC
trēs) Rogue

My initial malformed thought is of a chef at training with delusions of grandeur that seeks to skewer something more lively than fungi with his filcher's fork.

Will fill out his form later tonight when one has time for rumination.

I think its definitely going to take a bit of trust and rhythm on the reaction side. Theater of the mind combat makes that even muddier unfortunately as well.

I share the Ooh shiny feels as well...

So... 2nd Edition... what are peoples thoughts?

My knee-jerk review is that I like the changes, but need to draw it out a bit more in a PDF rather than just on Archives of Nethys.

My itchy DM feet are starting to get scratchy again too...

-.. --- -

A marker placed for ponderment and consideration.

Oh and have had said system for over 12 months now too

Our switch is still rocking with no problems and I can hands down recommend. We take it out and about to keep kids occupied at times and it works great hooked up to a tv as well.

Not sure whats up with her friends... but ours has survived the tender ministrations of a 6, 9 and 37 year old :P

Zelda, Mario Odessey, Rabbids and Mario Kart are all top shelf Nintendo gaming. Pokemon and Smash Bros is coming too! Can even get Skyrim on it

Hey BD - as you will have noticed... I've been criminally absent for a long period of time. Moving and lack of laptop access and holidays and new job and whatnot. It ain't fair on the rest of you lads to be a rattus in absentia, so probably best for this campaign that I fade into the mangy and protein bar shaped background.

Has been appreciated and enjoyable, still think Starfinder looks da shnizzle... and disappointed that I won't be able to shank more peeps with cheek shivs... but best for all that I don't weigh down the starship.

Sesquipedalian loquaciousness is always an aspirational goal...

Waves to CharlesJ - aye, you're about right with the Sense Motive.

And aye BD - running Outlaw theme. I'll bodge together the stuff into a uniform ish character sheet soonish.

Assuming the rat-bastard is a Mechanic I'd lean towards an Exocortex driven scavenger. Prone to keeping grenades and knives in his voluminous cheek pouches.

Saluting. Will get to it tonight after the bairns are down. Will either do a rat bastard, or if Cap'n wants the Mechanic I may go Soldier...

I has it.... all mine... my preciousss...

Do you like it grim, gritty and dark? - if so, might I suggest the comforting confines of The Blight?

Something like Horror in the Sinks?

Safely in Sydney... but still sorting out interwebs collywobbles.

Safely in Sydney... but still sorting out interwebs collywobbles

Safely in Sydney... but still sorting out interwebs collywobbles.

-.. --- -

Google is your friend:
GMP Miniatures
Blue Table Painting

There are a lot more out there - those are just the top couple that came up on google when searching for miniature painting service.

I would re-suggest using your local gaming shop if possible as well. Put up a flyer and you'd probably be able to find someone happy to do it on a payment or a product-in-lieu-of-payment basis.

Mark of interest to investigate.

After due consideration and with the wealth of other interest I figure I won't be missed... and am therefore pulling myself out of contention.

Good luck to every and all others.

Bloody Jack is a beautifully brutal and evocative introduction into the setting. The redacted and the bit with the redacted... oh and the denouement where the redacted, redacted at the redacted.

Consider the whistle well wet and salivating for the rest of the goodies.

Waves - reaffirming my intent to submit a Tortured Crusader Paladin (archetype is from Horror Adventures). He won't be a fine or mighty dwarf, instead being somewhat of a broken Stoic.

Abadar is the most Vulcan.

I'll toss in an interest chit - specifically for the dwarven side of the equation (hankering to run a Tortured Crusader Paladin).

I do have some exposure to the AP on the GM side of the screen and even ran part of it on the boards here - but it was long enough ago that I've legitimately forgotten most of it anyway :P

What is the "troubled history" of this AP? Players who are aware of it could certainly work to help get around it.

Basically that it hasn't been finished and doesn't look like it's going to be in the foreseeable future. Some of the content has been release (either 2 or 3 volumes) but the tail end of the campaign will potentially be homebrew - which the GM has indicated he's comfortable running with.

Respectfully and with well wishes then I shall withdraw my interest.

Interested... but only if there is no Commissar involved.

I just find that the disparity in assumed power between a rank and file soldier - and the 'beyond reproach, cannot be questioned, fully within his rights to shoot you in the head' Commissar to be too much.

The end is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, that hand! The window! The window!

Apologies for being a bit late getting in on this (though in my defence I was floating around offshore on an oil rig for the last two weeks).

I was a backer for both of the Artisan Dice kickstarters - the original d6 edition as well as the polyhedral, plus I've ordered a couple of sets separately. Here's my TL/DR recommendation if you're thinking of ordering from them... don't.

Crap photo of my dice
Artisan dice are the second row - top are standard, and bottom two are ceramic

That said - some of their work is good - the signature sets they put up on the last KS were really well done. But I would only buy complete sets - that are physically in front of you at the time. That way you can get the important 'hand feel'- plus you get instant payoff for your investiture. I believe they will be at GenCon?

I don't believe anyone else is doing wooden poly sets though. There are some other cool poly dice out there - like:
Prism dice - though not yet received in hand.
Gemstone dice - really nice... though wouldn't cope with dropping off the table. Also numbers are applied rather than engraved.

Unfortunately my favorite set is from a company that I don't think is operating any more: Black Rock Relics - which are ceramic dice. Beautifully done, sharp edges and tough as nails.

If you want to get your wood on though - I'd heartily recommend the fine folks at Wyrmwood for pimped out accessories - maybe one day they'll branch out onto dice...

Been there and done that previously with a poisoner gnome Bard that used illusions for stage effects and his flute doubled as a blowgun.

Would be interested to tag along, but don't have the time right now to commit to details (I am working offshore on an oil rig for the next couple of months).

So here's a dot, hope you rock on... and maybe hire a roadie / session musician at a later stage.

NSFW due to language - but these are well worth a watch and chuckle.

The summary blurb from IMDB:
Fed up with the Magical Realm's obsession with large-scale fantasy warfare, Jack the Wizard decides to migrate to the sanest place he can think of: Melbourne's Western suburbs. After accidentally causing Flinders Street Station to turn ever so slightly into a giant Fish monster, his existence (and that of his fellow magical immigrants) is revealed to the Australian public. Fearing a backlash against himself and his kind, Jack swears off using magic in a bid to better assimilate into human life. But of course, fitting in was never going to be easy when people tend to get a bit 'explode-y' whenever you sneeze...

With re-spect and re-gret I'll withdraw my dot. Won't be in an adequate and appropriate headspace to put together a character I'll be happy with.

Við hleifi mic seldo ne viþ hornigi,
nysta ec niþr,
nam ec vp rvnar,
opandi nam,
fell ec aptr þaðan.

Or... you know... dot :)

Dotski

I just finished reading The Aeronaut's Windlass and the cat character Rowl is extremely racist against humans, and it makes him really annoying. I think he's supposed to be kind of cool, but because he's always acting stuck up, and totally discounting everyone else (even other cats, so I guess he's also a misfelid) but it makes him dumb. And he's supposed to be clever, quick, intuitive, and tough.

*Raises eyebrow* - that isn't so much racism as it is Blue and Orange Morality. I had no issues whatsoever with the manner in which Rowl was presented.

Congratulations to ol' Blighty... and heartfelt commiserations to all of us as we'll play witness to her birthing.

Now that the funding is done, now begins the long cold night before dawning twilight throws light upon her beauty... can't wait!

Stepping into hostile territory here... but the Punisher has a great deal of potential if done right, and forms an important part of the moral world of superhero-ing.

Done right he is not a 'common thug' or just someone who likes 'murdering criminals'... he's an extension of moral absolutism given literal flesh. The unwavering belief that people who cross the line deserve to be 'punished' and an unwillingness to compromise regardless the circumstances.

The contrast of that against a more morally grounded character like Daredevil has the nugget of a great empathic piece within it. Whether Punisher works as a standalone series is another thing entirely though.

ShinHakkaider - the reasons you quote for liking the Operative from Serenity is an example of a Punisher style character done right.

**Warning: Mild Spoilers for Age of Ashes: Hellknight Hill**

I attempted to incorporate the Secrets of Magic Playtest into my group's ongoing Age of Ashes campaign. We are currently in Book 1: Hellknight Hill. This is a description of how that attempt went.

I am the group's DM - but I decided to let my players control an extra character during their adventures (first, the Magus, then the Summoner). Due to the short playtest period & some real world "life happens" stuff, I didn't get to do a full playtest (particularly with the Summoner), but I will still offer some commentary on what my group was able to do.

The plan was simple: I re-rolled two NPCs from Book 1 as a Magus & Summoner. For the Magus, I recreated Alak Stagram (the Hellknight Initiate) as a Sustaining Steel Magus & allowed him to join the party for Chapter 3: The Citadel Below. For the Summoner, I re-rolled Warbal Bumblebrasher as a (Primal) Summoner who's "Beast" Eidolon happened to look like the Bear "Big Bumble." The intention was to let Warbal join the group for Chapter 4: Breachill's Secrets.

In both cases, I then would allow one of my players to control that NPC in the corresponding portion of the adventure.

Due to "Life Happens," my group did not get all the way through Chapter 3, so I was only able to playtest the Magus (Alak Stagram), but I did get to at least roll-up a Summoner (Warbal Bumblebrasher) for use.

Here are my observations:

***THE MAGUS (Alak Stagram)***

-Character Creation-

Alak Stagram is normally a Fighter focusing on Two-Handed Weapons, so I rerolled him as a Sustaining Steel Magus. This round of Character Creation was genuinely engaging & enjoyable. I really enjoyed creating Alak as a Magus. I felt like I had interesting options & the process was surprisingly fun! The final result felt appropriate to the character in the story & flowed naturally.

Overall, I feel like Slide Casters are the clearly optimal subclass for Magus, so I did feel like I was taking suboptimal choices when I was making the build, but the build itself felt very appropriate to the character I was creating.

I enjoyed character creation for the Magus more than I thought I would.

-Adventuring w/ the Magus

I gave the Magus to one of my stronger players - but that player has famously said that "magic makes my head hurt" in previous editions of the game. So, I was curious to see how well they would adapt to the Magus.

In the first session, they had a very hard time understanding Spell Strike. However, after a two week "Life Happens" break, when they came back, they didn't have any problem remembering how to use Spell Strike - and they naturally adapted their tactics appropriately.

So, learning curve wise: Magus was definitely harder at first for my player, but after a full session, they were able to retain the information necessary to play the Magus well - even after a pretty significant break.

The party only completed about 65% of Chapter 3 - so I didn't get to see the Magus in play extensively, but I did get to see it some.

The dice hated our poor Magus! The Soulbound Doll almost managed to one shot the Magus with a brutal early critical hit, and that fight caused the party to lose a lot of exploration time retreating to heal & rest.

However, that dramatic bad moment aside, the Magus proved to be a really effective... martial character.

Alak Stagram almost never actually used Spell Strike during the course of the adventure. I think he used it twice, hitting once. In almost every other situation, the optimal tactical choice was normal melee attacks.

The party got swarmed by Boggards & Charau-Kai fairly early. (Let's just say my party is not exactly... "stealthly.") Alak held up well in that fight, but even swarmed by enemies & frequently in close proximity to enemies, the opportunity to really use Spell Strike just didn't come up much.

I feel like some of this was due to the Sustaining Steel Subclass (which really does feel more limited), but I also feel like this may be an issue inherent to the Magus class overall. Even in theoretically ideal circumstances (swarmed by multiple targets), Spell Strike just didn't see much use.

Again, the Magus was definitely effective. It held it's own as a "martial" class. Outside of a freak critical hit from the Soulbound Doll, there was never a moment where the class felt "weak." (And to be clear, that critical was super harsh - almost max damage. It would have nearly KO'd any member of the party.) It also just never had the time to really shine via Spell Strike.

-Overall Thoughts

The Magus was very interesting to build. I had a lot of fun there! This is definitely more engaging to build than the 1e Magus (at least for me personally). There are definitely interesting ideas here.

Play wise, the Magus feels "balanced, but boring." Granted, I didn't get a lot of play - so that observation may be skewed. Mechanically, the Magus was easily on par with the other classes. It neither over-performed or under-performed. It didn't feel unbalancing.

But, the Magus almost never got to use the Spell Strike ability, which is the core of the class & the primary reason you'd want to roll such a character.

That puts me in an awkward spot, because I "want" Spell Strike to be more usable, but the class currently feels "balanced." I'm worried that making Spell Strike more usable would throw things off in overall mechanical balance.

Wish I could have played this a little more & gotten more data. Life Happens.

***THE SUMMONER (Warbal Bumblebrasher)***

So, I had to edit the story a little for this one. In my game, when Warbal lived with her tribe, she used her Summoner Magic to call her Eidolon, a bear known as Big Bumble, to help defend the tribe. The other goblins didn't quite understand her magic & that she wasn't calling a "normal bear."

After she moved into Breachill, the goblin tribe decided they needed a new bear, "Big Bumble the 2nd," and that attempt didn't go so well. Hence, the "bear-icaded" bear in Chapter 3.

With that small story modification completed, I was able to roll up Warbal as a (Primal) Summoner with a Beast Eidolon (Big Bumble).

-Character Creation

Summoner Character Creation was great, until suddenly, it stalled awkwardly. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but it was very noticeable after my experience rolling up the Magus (Alak). I got about 2/3 of the way through creating a Summoner (Warbal), and suddenly the process just - stalled. It's hard to describe beyond, there was just a point where character creation suddenly got so complex that it messed up my progress.

I pushed through it & at the end of the process, I was very happy with the character. I felt like I had (once again) done a good job representing the character I was trying to represent. I got where I needed to go.

But there was a very distinct moment when the process got awkward.

Maybe the moment would vanish if I had more experience creating 2e Summoners (this was my first attempt), but the process definitely wasn't as smooth as it was for creating the Magus.

-Adventuring w/ the Summoner

My party didn't reach this point, so this didn't happen. My party will probably hit Chapter 4 next Friday, but the Playtest will already be over by then.

Sad day. I didn't get to see the original Big Bumble in action...

-Overall Thoughts

First off, I LOVE the concept of Summoners for each of the Spellcasting Traditions! That was a glorious design move. Without even digging into the class, that one mechanical distinction really inspires a lot of character concepts! I have no grounds for judging the mechanical implications of that decision (no actual play), but man, oh man, do I love that concept!

Sudden character creation difficulty spike aside, I liked how Warbal Bumblebrasher turned out when I reimagined her as a Primal Summoner. The process is rocky, and might need a little smoothing out, but I was satisfied with the result.

My group didn't get a chance to use the Summoner, so I can't comment on mechanical balance or how "understandable" it was to my players. I had two different players interesting in controlling Warbal for the adventure, so there was interest there at least. I am planning to still let my players do this when they hit Chapter 4 - it just won't happen in time for the playtest.

My gut reaction to Summoner Mechanics - I don't like the shared pool of resources for the Summoner & Eidolon (e.g.: Hit Points). It "feels" like a downgrade. Again, this is entirely my "gut reaction" (no playtest), but I feel like I'd rather take a Ranger's Animal Companion than a Summmoner's Eidolon.

Also, given that Animal Companions "feel" better than Eidolons, I have to say - Eidolons use up too many of the Summoner's Class Feats. (An Animal Companion would use up a max of 7/11 Class Feats - probably closer to 5/11. Meanwhile, a Summoner can easily use up 9/10 Class Feats, & will probably use at least 8/10 Class Feats on their Eidolon.) In fact, as it currently stands, the Eidolon feels like your actual character, & the Summoner feels like an overglorified meat taxi.

Since Warbal was an existing character in the narrative, she felt reasonably fleshed out, but I feel like a truly new PC Summoner might come across as bland since almost all of their class options lean so heavily on fleshing out their companion (rather than themselves).

*************

I wish my group had more time to actually see these classes in play. Right now, emotionally, I feel like my responses to the playtest classes are going in opposite directions.

For the Magus, I'm hesitant about the class overall, but there's enough interesting stuff that I'm definitely intrigued. I don't know if they can get the balance & actual-play right, but I hope they do!

For the Summoner, I'm excited & really love where they want to take the class, but when I look at the mechanics of the class, I'm really worried that it's not going to hit the mark.

Those are my observations, for what they're worth. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

So my party managed to go very off-script for tonight's session, and one of my players got married Vegas-Chapel style.

So, my question is: does anyone know where I can find fan art for an El-Vesk Impersonator?

If anyone knows a site where you can make fan art requests, please point me in the right direction.

I'm a DM about to run Doomsday Dawn: The Lost Star for the first time later tonight. One of my players is planning to roll up a Cleric, so I've been reviewing the class rules so that I can help them.

Here's my question:

Clerics have class feats which are available at 1st level, but their class chart says they get their first class feat at Level 2.

So, do clerics get a class feat at level 1?

Am I missing something?

Paizo,

I have a giant request - Please give us some vehicle rules!

My players are typically obsessed with vehicles in every game I run! Carts! Wagons! Ships! AIRSHIPS!

I've even had my players trick out a chariot for fun & hijinks.

What I'm saying is, I can kinda squeeze some vehicle rules from your current skills, but they would feel sloppy at best (and poorly supported).

Can you please update skills to cover vehicles, & maybe even throw on some feats for players who really want to specialize in commanding vehicles as part of play?

Right now, I can see Nature - "Handle Animal" for carts, wagons, carriages, & chariots. (I've also considered Athletics for Chariots.)

Sailor Lore might cover boats.

And maybe Acrobatics for Hang-gliders.

But that's just a sampling of the weird & crazy vehicles my players are apt to want to drive. (Experimental Gnomish Submarines, anyone?)

So, Paizo, please help an exasperated DM out & give us some comprehensive Vehicle rules!

Thank you for taking a moment to read my rambling post!