Netigy's page

Guys, I read the original title "The Watcher of Ulduvai" on Wolfgang's open design site.

I've got to say, I think it's a lot better than the current one. For what it's worth, I recommend you go with his title if there's still time to change it.

As a consumer, I'd be more likely to look at the module if it had The Watcher title. It's more evocative. And, even if I didn't pick it up at first, the title is something that would stick with me. It's catchy, to the point where I might go back for a second look later.

IMHO, Crucible of Chaos isn't a poor title, just sort of standard fare - and such, isn't likely to stand out in my mind as a consumer.

My $.02

PS - I hope it's not impolite to suggest the title change :-)

Now that 4E has been announced, when will the GameMastery modules and Pathfinder convert to 4E?

Also, will Paizo look into a Greyhawk license for either modules or setting material?

Seems like a good time.

So how about it - any chance of fiction from Paul Kidd in the final issue? His Greyhawk stuff was top notch, evoking the feel of a PC party. I think it would be a good fit.

Do I just walk in on the day and say - I'd like a copy please?

Do I sign up in advance with Paizo? WIth the store?

I can't believe there will be any copies left if there's no advanced sign up, but maybe it's all first come first served?

Please focus on the faith - rituals, holy days, factions, revenue/finances/mercantile considerations, politics and power bases, plots and schemes, all that - more than avatars and high level stats (unless the stats are relevant for specific encounters of course)

Also, and totally unrelated - I subscribed for month-to-month, so shouldn't my posts show as "charter subscriber"? :-)

I'm on a bit of a Conan kick. Hadn't read it when I was younger, and man, it's good stuff. Different in tone. Evocative. There's a sense of danger to the world, history, and discovery that I don't get with current fantasy - even much of the good stuff. Gets my imagination going.

Anyone have recommendations for similar writers, stories, themes, of similar quality?

I asked on enworld and didn't get much feedback.

The suggestions there were Karl Wagner's Kane stories, and Louis L'amour's The Walking Drum.

I'm wondering if the folks here have others.

Thanks.

Are there plans to do compilations of the Pathfinder adventure paths?

On the one hand, I like having everything in one place. On the other, I think the serialized nature makes for much more anticipation in reading it, run it, and wanting to be a player in it.

The main reason I'm asking though is because I want to know whether to stick with subscribing, or wait for compilations. I don't want to be in a position of missing out on cool material, extra encounters, or whatever, in a hardcover, because it wasn't in the subscriber editions.

I figure you'll logically want to do some type of content enhancement to add value to a compilation, which means I'll want the material, and I don't want to buy each adventure path twice.

Just wondering what format I should plan for long term. For now, I've subscribed to the first Pathfinder.

Thanks.

I am hoping you take advantage of the monthly release cycle to bring about the cliffhanger/serial feel.

Ideally each issue will have that cliffhanger and can't wait for the next one feel when reading it, as well as playing it...

To replace the mini adventure paths in Dungeon, are you planning to have linked modules that tie two or three Game Mastery adventures together?

Much as I like the Pathfinder idea, sometimes level 1 - 15 is just too much of the same thing. And some players like shorter arcs that theyn lead to other things. A mega campaign, even if done well, can call attention to the fact that some areas are "off the map" for a campaign.

The subject title is a quote from the End of Greyhawk? thread.

I saw this and thought, well, sure, if there are enough customers who want things to change, write to WotC and tell them. Change your buying habits to not do business with a company that undertakes in practices you find undesireable (and note I don't mean immoral here - simply, if you don't like what a business is doing for whatever reason, then don't be a customer).

Tell them you won't subscribe to online. Tell them you won't buy more D&D unless they reverse this decision. Tell them you won't read their fiction, or buy miniatures, or Star Wars gaming stuff. Or just tell them nicely that as a customer you'd like the magazines back in print.

Anyone who really feels strongly about this could organize a writing campaign so that they get hundreds or thousands of requests at once, instead of one here and one there.

You could create a list of names that want things to change, or however you want to approach it.

In commerce, we vote with our dollars. And you also have more power in numbers.

I suppose you could even write to Hasbro's board of directors since their names are probably public record, and bring it to the top.

Personally, I don't think I'd be the person to lead such a crusade, but someone might want to undertake that if they feel strongly enough.

Just a suggestion.

I hadn't even thought of that until now. But even with all the cool new stuff coming out, I'm guessing none will have editorials.

It was always the first part of the magazine that I read.

Bummer.

You guys should do a blog or journal or something where you can preach to the masses.

How about a Paizo P series of modules for the Ptolus setting?

Man, this news has my mind working overtime on hopes for Paizo's future product lines. Ptolus modules would be cool.

If I transfer credits to Pathfinder, and also subscribe, will my subscription overlap issues 1 - 5 (the amount my credit gets me), or will it begin with issue 6?

A setting exposed to the audience (players and GM alike) in an old school way where bits and pieces are learned through adventuring in those locations, against those factions and antaginists, etc instead of via hundreds of pages of setting exposition text would be cool!

I hope you structure the reveal of the setting this way.

Also, will the Pathfinder series be in the same setting, or will each Pathfinder be a sort stand alone setting/mega adventure. I'm fine with either, though the latter would give you guys the opportunity to do themed settings that GMs can keep alive or move on from after each path.

I'm not sure if I read this right, will there be fold out maps with each of these modules? Will they be regional maps? Miniatures scale maps?

If you go miniature scale, I'm thinking you'll hit gold combining short, solid adventures with the Fantastic Locations style maps that are useful during play, at the price point you're at.

And if you're not planning to include them, I'd pay somewhat more per module to have them :-)

Hi,

I'm thinking that given the new format and product lines, Paizoe is no longer a place for new writers to get work accepted/considered, and that everything will shift to you freelancing projects out to people whose work you've seen in other products.

I'm not complaining, just wondering if this assumption is correct.

I had some ideas for campaign workbooks and class acts that I was planning to send in this weekend.

C'est la vie.

I don't suppose you guys know what wotc will be putting into the online service, whether they're interested in proposals, what type they'd be looking for, or who to send things to?

Also, is it correct to assume that there's no interest in Paizo looking at fiction submissions for the Planetary Stories line? I'm thinking you could take it in the direction of publishing new genre and/or game related fiction, and would produce stuff that meets a high standard, but I get the impression that's not a direction you're taking the line, at least not for now.

Thanks.

Will there be any? Just asking, while I'm in the mood to plan out purchases of new Paizo stuff :-)

I buried the following in a different thread, but will post it here in hopes you either implement the idea, or advertise to all of us that it's already on the roadmap...

Will you have extra stuff bundled with various issues like there was with the old magazines? I'm also thinking that as someone who plans to use the content, I'd like some of your other products (or you to put new ones on the roadmap), as enhancements to this.

Specifically, tiles that can be used for encounters, miniatures/compleat encounter packs that fit in with the path, miniature scale encounter maps like in the wotc Fantastic Locations line, laminated regional maps (ideally that roll up instead of fold) , etc. I'd pay for these tie in products.

In addition, anything you want to toss into the magazine like cardstock monster counters (fold up for 3D would be cool), some of the maps mentioned above, etc would make me happy.

I'm thinking you have the opportunity here to offer a sampling of things in the magazine to entice purchases of larger tie in products, as well as the opportunity to create tie in products similar to what was done for Ptolus, which could allow your pathfinder campaigs to take on a premium campaign feel for those who want to invest in the extra table schwag.

In a recent Dragon editorial, Eric pointed out that he likes his fiction leaning more toward REH's Conan. I'm a big REH fan as well. I've also found that a number of articles in Dragon aren't ones I'm inclined to use (though it's been getting better over the past year or so) - especially not over and over like some of the ones from back in the day. One thing that I'd like to see return are Campaign Components, like the gladiator one, pirates ones, etc. that they've had in past issues.

In general, I'd make use of these types of articles for short themed campaigns. Specifically though, I'd like to see one on bringing a sword and sorcery feel to D&D.

This gives me some of the benefit of Iron Heroes, or the Conan RPG, without needing to buy them, learn them, etc.

How many others would like this?

A while back you guys mentioned that you were working on a method for returning the campaign workbooks.

Just wondering if I've missed it, or if it's yet to be ironed out?

Thanks.

I got my campaign workbooks. So far they haven't fallen apart :-)

I'm wondering though, why are they different than the advertised version in Dungeon 143?

The ad says 'actual size', but the ones I have are shorter and fatter (not by much). Mine is also sort of a salmon pink, whereas the ad has one that's more of a deeper red. And finally, it looks like more of a hardcover journal. I'm basing this in the indentation along the binding. It looks like other hardcover journals I have.

Is it just my imagination, or have others noticed this as well?

The next AP thread over on ENWorld mentioned this...

"Stat blocks for high level creatures are so huge, that the DM can't digest them without a Tactics guide. Half the stuff there is a waste that will never see play in your encounter."

And I thought to myself, if I'm never going to use some of the data elements, why have to navigate through them, let alone have them take up page space.

Since we already get web enhancements with the maps, why not just add the full length stat block to it for those who want the info, and provide an abridged version in the magazine, keeping only the elements you'll (likely) need in play?

Has this been considered?

If it's a new idea, what do people think?

This thread on ENWorld got me wondering. I'm guessing it doesn't take two years for people to play through an adventure path when playing regularly (but not at an uber aggressive schedule). Since the adventure paths go from levels 1 - 20, I figure they are a good real world framework to test the theory.

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=176501

What has been your experience?

I don't know if Monte plans to continue writing this given that he's stepping back from game-related writing.

Whether he writes it or not, I definitely want to see it continue.

If you need a new writer, please try and get either Robin Laws or Aaron Allston.

And if neither pan out, then I think Sean Reynolds' take on things would be interesting.

Reading the product descriptions I see that they're designed so that you can combine tiles to form custom locations.

Are there sample setups included?

Are the tiles designed to be re-usable for multiple locations? Or do they really just work in one configuration?

Thanks.

I was reading this the other day
http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?designdiary_mmearls_8

It reminded me of how I tend to flesh out homebrew story arcs. Before I have things finalized, I speculate about a lot of "what ifs?", and then I decide on how I want things to go, more or less.

It would be nice, I think, to get some of the "pick and choose" delivery in Dungeon adventures.

Some adventures I don't use, or have a preconceived notion about not being a good fit. I'd get more value out of those, and consequently more value from the magazine, if they were presented in a more open ended manner.

Anyone else think this would be a useful format for them?

Would you like to see an experiment in delivering things in this format?

Ed Greenwood mentioned in the web site Q&A for Power of Faerun that he's always wanted to do a book on trade routes and mercantalism of the Realms.

Wizards might not have their eye on such a project, but I'd like to see that info, and I think Dragon can deliver it.

I'd like some of it to be re-usable in my setting of choice in terms of concepts, but I don't see why the series can't have a Realms spin to serve as the "core setting" of the material, so to speak.

For me, this would be be cooler than cities of the Realms (though I like that too, even though I don't play FR)

I like the three adventure arc format. For me, it's more usable (or at least at a mental level) than a 12 arc adventure path.

That's not to say that I don't like the adventure paths. I do. I like the concept of them, and I like the storylines, but they seem a bit too much of a committment to dive into. I'm never sure how long a campaign will last, and I'd be bummed to start such an intertwined storyline and never get to finish. So despite owning the Dungeon issues with Shackled City, Age of Worms, plus the Shackled City hardback (I couln't resist the new bells and whistles and thought "I'll run this someday"), I've never tried to run them.

I also own Red Hand of Doom. That, to me, seems like a manageable commitment, and a campaign that has a chance of finishing before 1) the group gets bored and wants to take a break to a new system, or 2) the group goes on indefinite hiatus due to life and other commitments.

In terms of Dungeon, the three story arc is closer to Red Hand of Doom length than the adventure paths are, and I think that is more what I'm able to finish these days. It helps that they have more obvious breaks between arcs where you can stop and play a different game for two months and then not have to worry about forgetting the arc you're in the middle of.

Also, they leave room for a wider ranging reminiscence, in my opinion, than a single story arc does, in the event you keep characters over ten or twenty levels. What I mean by that is in the old days, you could have a group of characters that played Scourge of the Slave Lords, and Against the Giants, and Ravenloft, and the drow adventures, and have those be the same characters that did all that. You'd have a lot of history with them. With the 20 level adventure path, you basically get to remember one story arc with those characters. Lots of adventures, sure, but somehow it just feels like more "stuff" if there are multiple story arcs to wax nostalgic about, even if it's the same twenty levels.

All that said, I do hope to run or play in one of the adventure paths some day. It just seems daunting compared to the three arc series right now.

In reading the Red Hand of Doom recently, I really liked the sidebars that explain things, and offer advice on complications you might have when running the adventure.

Would the folks at Dungeon consider making this part of the standard adventure format?

Below are some adventure types that I'd like to see. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but concede that I'm perhaps in the minority. Do a good number of other readers want these types of scenarios?

If so, is the issue in publishing them that they are not submitted very often, compared to more dungeon crawl or typical action adventures?

I'm also willing to accept that these types of adventures may be there, and I just haven't noticed. I don't read every adventure in every magazine. So if I've overlooked some gems, feel free to point them out.

Mythological quests - something that has a real epic, dangerous quest type feel. Like the quest for the golden fleece, the labors of hercules, descending into hades to rescue a soul, that sort of thing.

Under Siege - A castle, city, frontier town under siege, etc.

Battlefield (Something along the lines of a Heroes of Battle style adventure. Red Hand of Doom, The Black Company, the war of the lance, A Song of Ice and Fire, all come to mind here. Also, the structure of a battlefield adventure may be well suited to the under siege scenario mentioned above.

Spy or investigatory mission - Robin Hobb's Farseer books come to mind, as do modern spy stories, Top Secret, etc. Really anything where the idea is to investigate and learn something, confirm rumors, etc. And where avoiding combat, and/or fast and quiet combat, is rewarded.

Theft or retrieval - Steal the gem, steal back the scroll, something like this. Get in, get out, have a chance to avoid being caught, and to fight your way out and escape if you're discovered.

Politics and the quest for political power - Again, A Game of Thrones, and other NPC interaction heavy storylines come to mind. The idea being that a number of encounters are role playing, and a number of obstacles can be solved with skills. Bloody Sands of Sicarus had what looks like a good political storyline. Power of Faerun offers a number of good ideas as well.

Displaced into Earth history or myth - Maybe the PC's end up helping in an ancient battle, or end up in Arthurian England for a more mythic tale. Maybe they have to help vikings and viking hero gods stave off a troll invasion. Something like that would be cool as a change of pace, with the end returning the PC's home - or possibly giving some the option to stay, like the book and movie Timeline. Given a more historical bent, there could also be a conversion section for using the d20 modern rules.

Mercantile - something having to do with trade, money, etc. Maybe a caravan trek with encounters with monsters and rivals. Maybe an expedition to recover a caravan that didn't make it back from a jungle. Maybe something urban having to do with spying on and sabotaging someone's merchant interests.

Horror - Not something with the trappings of horror. Undead are common, for example. I'm talking about something that can really come off as scary and suspenseful. Abominations and strangeness lurking in a dungeon the PC's are trapped in, a cult kidnapping and sacrificing victims in farm country, something that ties to elements that most players will be conditioned to accept as potentially scary, then execute on that and deliver the play experience.

Mystery/Investigation - like a murder mystery, a theft investigation for the city watch, or something like that. It should be built factoring in higher level abilities, and serve as an example to GM's of how to build future scenarios that will be both viable and cool for utilizing the abilities, powers, and equipment, of the higher level PC's, instead of being wrecked by them.

Something with a bit of a fairy tale feel. I'm thinking like the movie Labrynth here. It has trappings of children's tales, fantasy genre stuff, and could bring a bit of the sense of wonder to what is often an action heavy and mechanics focused play experience.