Mike Shel's page

Howdy people! Remember me?

A friend of mine has recently published an ebook on fantasy worldbuilding. Though it's geared towards fantasy fans and writers, I really think it would be a treasure for any GM working on building their own campaign world, or further fleshing out an existing one.

No, I have no financial stake in this. It is well worth the modest cover price. Check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089GKQYVP

This blog post by Matt also gives a taste of what's in store:

https://www.mdpresley.com/post/worldbuilding-for-fantasy-fans-and-authors

Kanebaenre wrote:

In Wrath's Shadow http://paizo.com/products/btpy8r0c, one of my favorite PFS scenarios is also near Hollow Mountain and from Mike Shel too... Any relation?

Not intentionally, no.

Other than they're both potential deathtraps, no.

My debut dark epic fantasy novel, Aching God is available now in print and digital formats at Amazon.

Here's a recent tweet about it from fantasy author Phil Tucker (of Black Gate fame):

"ACHING GOD is live! If you like classic fantasy told with compelling characters and a modern sensibility that really drives home how traumatizing and intense exploring ancient, evil tombs would really be, grab yourself a copy .

Mike,

I love the sound of that name. ;) As for "define lots" More than two but less than a hundred?

More than one, less than 100. Truth be told, it's mostly just a bunch of cranky CR 1/2 kobolds armed with clubs. Nothing to worry about.

Of course, you never know what James Jacobs will do during development...

So Mike, does that mean there's lots of qlippoth in this book?

Define "lots." ; )

But I'll leave you with a name: Vexenion...

I took my lead from the excellent article on Hollow Mountain in Dungeons of Golarion - I can't recall who's responsible for it (Jason Bulmahn, Matthew Goodall, Brandon Hodge, or Anthony Pryor), but it provided a great framework for a multi-level crawl I hope people will love (even if they fail to survive).

The talented Matt Goodall wrote the chapter on Hollow Mountain in Dungeons of Golarion. Thanks for those nasty hooks you planted there, Matt!

For better or worse, I've joined Twitter. God help me.

@MikeShelAuthor

Howdy, all!

For those of you who haven't been following my occasional posts, I am in the process of self-publishing my first epic fantasy novel in a planned trilogy. I've gotten my manuscript back from my editor and I am working through her edits. I anticipate the final version landing in the hands of my e-book formatter on Monday.

The next step will be identifying a group of people - readers of fantasy fiction - who would be willing to read the book in advance of its release and commit to post a review to Amazon on the day it goes up for pre-sale. With indie publishing, reviews are absolutely essential to garnering the attention of Amazon's algorithms so that a book is put in front of the reading public's fickle, constantly darting eyes. An unknown author such as myself needs this more than anyone.

If you've enjoyed my work for the Pathfinder RPG, I think you'll also enjoy the novel I've written. If you have any interest in being a part of this advanced reader team, you can get additional information at a hidden page at my author website, made exclusively for you lovely people: CLICK HERE.

Thanks for your time.

Are you allowed to tell us just how much of the dungeon you used? Considering that the deep levels are basically 15th level plus possibly mythic.

Nope!

With that said, since this is chapter 2 of the AP, there are limits, and the levels listed in Dungeons of Golarion were used as a guideline.

Except for my BBEG:

I loves me some dungeons!

It remains to be seen what the cruel and clever James Jacobs will do to my turnover, but what I sent in is packed with nasty, dungeon-crawling badness. I took my lead from the excellent article on Hollow Mountain in Dungeons of Golarion - I can't recall who's responsible for it (Jason Bulmahn, Matthew Goodall, Brandon Hodge, or Anthony Pryor), but it provided a great framework for a multi-level crawl I hope people will love (even if they fail to survive).

I am also glad I am not dead.

In the meantime, if you want to be kept abreast of my projects, sign up for my mailing list. No more than one email a month and your address will not be shared with anyone.

Help! Bob has me tied up in his basement!

ABSOLUTELY FREE INDIE FANTASY AUTHOR ANTHOLOGY

Howdy, all!

On January 15, 2018, an anthology of stories by 16 indie fantasy authors, including yours truly, will be available free of charge in electronic format across platforms.

It's entitled Lost Lore and includes such indie luminaries as Dyrk Ashton, Alec Hutson, Phil Tucker, Timandra Whitecastle, Steven Kelliher, Benedict Patrick, TA Miles, and TL Greylock.

There's a placeholder for the anthology at Goodreads. I'll post the Amazon link when it's live.

My own contribution to the anthology is entitled "Barrowlands" and is set in the world of my epic fantasy trilogy, Iconoclasts. The first book of the trilogy is currently in edits and slated for release later in 2018.

In the meantime, check out Lost Lore for a taste of my world and the worlds of fifteen other talented fantasy writers. There's also a cool interview with three of the anthology's authors at Fantasy Book Critic as well.

OK, that thread title is admittedly a bit over the top.

Nonetheless, I'd like to draw the attention of fans of my Pathfinder work to some other projects at which I'm laboring away in my foreboding, cavernous lair (actually, it's a condo in Indianapolis, Indiana).

This will be the space to check on the glorious Paizo Messageboards. I'll make a point of dropping updates here, but for all things related to my RPG and fiction work, check out my brand-spanking new, still-in-development website:

https://www.mikeshel.com

Hey, why not join my mailing list?

Egads! I always find things out late!

Wes, hope you're new endeavours are rewarding and fun. I will never forget your immensely encouraging notes on my first feeble attempts returning to RPG writing. Thank you.

My wife and I also had the pleasure of having lunch with Wes at GenCon two separate years. What a fine person you are. Hope you will still make it to GenCon sometime in the future so we can have lunch again!

I am only capable of writing kittens and rainbows. Everyone knows that.

Chaotic evil kittens and rainbows.

Oh, hey Jason, I just noticed you gave Mike Shel and me credit for the adventure in your blurb. That should actually be the esteemed Richard Pett. :)

Don't believe him! I wrote everything!

Whoa! You guys are still at it?

The newly updated OGL for Bestiary 5 has a capital "U" in "AUthors" and capital "H" in "Mike SHel".

This must be corrected iMmediately!

You can pronounce Aeteperax however you'd like. My pronunciation would be ay-TEH-per-AX.

Witch's Tower:

Hunclay's Manor:

Truth be told, I'm an old school GM who gets impatient with players who refuse to follow obvious storylines, seemingly out of spite or plain orneriness. Yes, I know the kids these days (GET OFF OF MY LAWN!) bemoan anything that smacks of "railroading," but for Pete's sake, can't we tell a story here? Why are you playing a published adventure? Why not just roll on random encounter tables?

If your players won't follow the bread crumbs, let them do whatever they want. However, I'd have the town of Belhaim and its ruler respond logically at what would likely be perceived as an arrogant and lawless challenge to her authority. There are cells in the town jail for them if the free rooms kindly provided at the Wise Piper aren't to their liking, after all.

As Neil Spicer would say, that's my two cents.

I'm starting to feel bad for the poor ol' residents of the Tomb.

I'm going to be so bummed if they just waltz through the Tomb. I want tears! Blood! Broken bones! Shattered spirits! Minds teetering on the precipice of madness!

Yeah, this is Mike Shel's first module.

** spoiler omitted **

We can run with archetypes, standard Paizo of course. I think we've got enough interest that I can start a Recruitment thread. I'll put one up shortly and link to it here.

Thanks for the compliments! I'd love to follow along with play to see how you Pathfinderize it and how it stands up to more sophisticated (read: paranoid) players.

However, Mud Sorcerer's Tomb was my second adventure for Dungeon. My first was called Sleepless, about a wizard who rather unethically sold his soul to multiple buyers, unbeknownst to the various purchasers.

Ditto on the words of Sir Pett!

Had fun with the interview, though people should note that it took place OVER A YEAR AGO.

Glad the Chronicles miscreants are back at it!

Oh wow, you wrote this? The module is awesome.

I don't think my players are breezing through it even with me adding encounters to make up for experience (and because I have other story stuff I want to do as our game will continue on past the module).

My players are a mixed bag, one experienced DM who is playing, a couple of guys who grew up and playing D&D and haven't played in a while (first time in Pathfinder) and a new guy who hasn't played anything.

There have been about 5 fights where someone has dropped unconscious, and at least twice as many where they have gotten really darn close. I generally don't pull punches, so I actually feel for a group with just 4 if the GM is playing it right.

I really think if the GM is playing smart a party of 6 would have a rough time in many places still and I'm only up to the auction place. As a GM some of the more deadly encounters caught me off guard (Ludo especially, he wrecked the party).

That's Lodo. Just for that, Lodo...

Glad Dragon's Demand is still beating up your party. WRITE A REVIEW!

Well as a wrapup, I gave the Wizard a peek at the spellbooks for a number of hours (he had 47+ stealth check # of hours based on the fact he had to sneak in while they were inventorying the manor)then we just sat and rolled to see what all he could successfully write down.

As far as experience I've added a few encounters to pump their XP up, I'm happy with what I've added so far (a CR 5, 6, and CR7 right before the auction). Also I generally add a couple of mooks depending on how they're doing. Maffei also wrecks shop against a bunch of these monsters if they're struggling.

Note that one reviewer gave the module a mediocre review because it was a "cakewalk" for his party of 6. Remember that due to action economy, bigger parties quickly overwhelm the CR. It's pretty tricky to get it right. Throwing in one or two mooks to compensate may not be enough to ramp up the challenge.

Remember to post a review!

DrSwordopolis wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

The adventure in this book ran a bit long, so we essentially have an additional 6 or so pages of adventure content and only one support article. It's not something we do often, but in this case, the adventure simply needed that extra space to do what it needed to do.

Speaking for myself, I honestly don't mind more content at the expense of additional support articles. The support articles are usually great, of course, but I'm just as happy to have additional adventure content.

Same here... but the amount of extra time it took me to develop the adventure is part of the reason WHY we rarely do this, frankly. If we did this for every volume, then the AP would quickly turn into a once every other month product instead of a monthly product.

In my defense, I came in at word count.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

The irony.

What man has not been driven to acts of diabolical evil by Male Pattern Baldness?

Let the Rebellion begin!

As Judy mentioned above, Mayor Ballard issued an executive order essentially countermanding the governor's bill in Indianapolis. This was especially unusual as Ballard and Pence are members of the same party: no way not to see this move as anything other than a thumb in the governor's eye. Much of the politics driving this discrimination-sanctioning bill originated in the far more reactionary rural areas of the state, which exert outsized influence in the halls of government.

What made me really proud of GenCon and the values of the gamer community that it reflects (acceptance, not tolerance), is that the Con was the FIRST entity to take a public stance on the dubiously titled RFRA. All other corporate and organizational announcements followed in GenCon's wake.

I've lived in Indianapolis for the past 20-some years. Let's hope that the blowback from this ill-considered act teaches the haters that the times, they are a-changin'. With gamers in the vanguard.

See you in three weeks!

Neil Spicer wrote:

But, I consider myself quite lucky to have the support of more than a few industry veterans in writing and publishing it. .

There are a lot of industry vets that are excited to be part of it too!

Part of what? What are you guys talking about?

There's minimal info re: the Order of the Torrent in currently available publications. For instance, they're historically centered in Kintargo and have dwindled to a rather small sect in more recent years. Turn of the Torrent fleshes them out a bit more.

Also: you'll become acquainted with the Silver Ravens over the course of the Hell's Rebels AP. Intimately acquainted.

Congrats, Amanda! You left Indiana just in time...

Mike Shel wrote:

EndlessForms wrote:

Cast Summon Mike Shel!

It's a 1-round spell casting time so it might take a bit. Let's hope I don't take damage and lose concentration.

I'm wearing my Talisman of EndlessForms Resistance.

That had to cost you a pretty penny. I'm everywhere!

Cantrip cast on a bottle cap. Sorry. ; )

Cast Summon Mike Shel!

It's a 1-round spell casting time so it might take a bit. Let's hope I don't take damage and lose concentration.

I'm wearing my Talisman of EndlessForms Resistance.

Mike, this is a FANTASTIC adventure. I think you hit it out of the park. This is the AP I've been waiting for ever since I first read Expedition to Barrier Peaks 30 years ago, and it has not disappointed. However, I think you have done an excellent job in particular of capturing the weird horror of the Dominion of the Black and Lovecraft elements...and still making them feel different from each other. I just wanted to chime in and add my kudos. Did I mention I really like it. :-)

You made my day, Greg! Just beaming ear to ear.

Say, aren't you supposed to be rooting around in a cadaver rather than reading this stuff?

I love the alien touch in this volume, it's just a shame Mr. Logue didn't get to write it. Man, now that would have been some scary s#!£ that's for sure!

Well, whaddya gonna do? Sometimes you just have to settle for some second string hack and hope for the best.

I also died the night before during Stonelords.

I am happy.

Who's this Garringer fellow?

They can have my brain when they take it from my cold dead hands. :-)

Your proposal is acceptable.

*Gets the mop to clean up head explosions.*

Sneaks into janitor's closet, squeezes goop from mop head into a bucket, tip toes out of Paizo offices with bucket, having animated conversation with self

Valley of the Brain Collectors is just the most amazingly engaging title ever, can't wait to see what Mike has done with it...

Terrible, terrible things...

Has the update for 6-00 Legacy of the Stone Lords been completed?

Will hitting the refresh button on my browser every three minutes speed the process at all?

No?

OK, I'll be patient.

...

...

...

hits refresh

So is the June 27 version the final version or is it still the play test version? Kinda cuttin it close if its not the final.

No, the final version hasn't been distributed yet.

But fear not! John and dozens of his whiskey swigging quasit minions are feverishly working on the final version of the scenario as we speak.

Note: Truth be told, it's only two quasits, and one of them does nothing but peel John's grapes.

Seconded Mud Sorcerer's Tomb, the Sinister Spire.

I really can't agree with Tomb of Horrors, though. It is rather incomprehensible why people think it is such a great adventure.

I must confess that MST is actually an adventure in homage to the Tomb of Horrors...

Dear evdjj3j:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and cogent review of this scenario. I was especially charmed by your call for the brutalization of my testicles. I think I speak for many scenario authors when I say that it's this kind of insightful critique of one's work that makes all the time and labor that goes into producing PFS scenarios and other Pathfinder products worthwhile. Should you deign to participate in any other material I have written, I hope you will provide more of your adroit and penetrating commentary.

On the off chance that you are under the age of 13 — chronologically or emotionally — let me make a recommendation: while the internet provides a level of anonimity and therefore offers opportunities to ignore basic rules of courtesy, try to refrain from coarse insults. It tends to mark one as a troll and results in others making an uncharitable assessment of the poster. Indeed, some may make comparisons of the poster to specific parts of the anatomy.

Sincerely,

- Mike Shel

Awesome now I kinda want us to lose

I have done my best to see that that happens. ; )

This is officially my favorite thread of all time.

But, O me Brothers & Sisters, I'm getting more and more excited about the twist: I think it'll both surprise and delight players and GMs alike.

And rumor has it that the real Kreighton Shaine will be present at GenCon for the event...

GM Lamplighter wrote:

Like TOZ said, I have no idea what my party could have done after the throne room...

I'm not saying it's going to be aliens...but I imagine a spaceship crashing into Jormurden and aliens attacking. ;)

John is very aware of the resource challenge and we have already bandied about some ideas re: this. The journey through Jormurdun will need to get tightened up some.

But, O me Brothers & Sisters, I'm getting more and more excited about the twist: I think it'll both surprise and delight players and GMs alike.

*curls into a ball, rocking softly*

That 5th star comes at a cost...muhuhahahaha

Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:

That might be what Iron gods turns out to be.

Maybe, but I'm pretty sure the theme of Iron Gods will be more Robots than Aliens.

You just keep telling yourself that.

Looks again at turnover manuscript. Caresses it. Smiles knowingly.

Alright, who came up with "The Chapel of Rent Flesh," huh? Give that man or woman a raise...and keep them under close observation...