Onagella Sunpath's page

I'm putting this in a spoiler because it names the creatures depicted in the blog, although of course they are named in the links to those pictures anyways.

LINK

I like the new avatar, but it's going to take some getting used to.

Hi all,

A bunch of us trying to get fairly regular Pathfinder Society games running in Ottawa, Canada.

We've spoken to Dave at Wizard's Tower in Barrhaven (conveniently right beside the transit way), and he'd love to have us.

He has space on Tuesday evenings and they are open a little late because it's their 4E campaign night. Tuesdays are bad for me because that's my regular game night.

They have space on Wednesdays and Thursdays potentially, Wednesday being better (and better for me as well), but they close at nine, so a four hour slot would have to start at 5pm. Friday they are busy and loud.

They also have space Saturday day, although it gets busy on new release days for Magic.

I propose that every second Saturday daytime is the best option. I'd like to get a stable of rotating GMs and have slot 0's in advance of actual game days, so only one GM eats each slot.

I'm not sure when exactly we will start, but I'd like to know how many people here are interested, to begin with.

The Rambling Scribe

All right, I know I'm not unbiased in this, but lots of people keep asking me if the Parry feat tree from Art of the Duel will be in the Pathfinder RPG rules.

Personally, I'd love to see this happen, and I think Nick and Lou at sinister are on board too, and it's already open content. And the 'Bind' special attack action has already shown up in the PFCSHC.

So Jason, take a look at it! I'm sure we can get you a copy (just ask Nick).

And everyone else, if you're with me, dog-pile on this thread so that it's not just me tooting my own horn!

The Rambling Scribe

I just wanted to say thanks to John and itrainedyoda for their kind reviews! Much appreciated!

The Rambling Scribe

I have three minor requests, all for the greater glorification of myself. Well, actually, I think the 1st one is just generally helpful.

1) Can we have the PFS character alias names show up in a different colour? Right now they appear in the same blue as people's primary alias (at least for me they do) and it makes it harder to spot when someone i already know is speaking as their character rather than it being someone that I don't know. I vote for green.

2) Next time you adding new avatar icons, can you add the guy from PFS #4, page 10? I call 'dibs!'

3) A long time ago, in another age, I had a contributor tag for writing for Dragon and Dungeon. I know those days are over, but I have now written a published PFS adventure. Can I get a shiny new contributor tag, or perhaps a 'PFS Contributor' tag? Pretty please?

I have recently been checking the PFS messageboards more than any other part of the boards here, and discovered that the fastest way to get there was to click on the PFS symbol in the corner and scroll down... but now the PFS boards are not displayed there.

It's not the end of the world for me to scroll through the boards or use the jump box in the bottom right, but I liked having the messageboards right there.

Smiteworks, the makers of Fantasy Grounds, have sent a cease and desist to WotC for infringement of their IP by using their dice roller in Screenshots of the online tabletop.

LINK

THIS picture shows the two dice rollers side by side.

Here's the full press release if you don't want to follow the link.

This weekend was CanGames, the local gaming convention here in Ottawa, Canada. I ran several games of Stonehenge and Kill Doctor Lucky, all of which generated quite a bit of interest.

I want to thank Paizo for generously donating prizes for the winners of these tournaments. The players and the tournament organizers were very impressed and grateful (as am I).

I'd also like to say thanks to anyone who was there and came out and played (and reads these boards). I had a great time running the games.

So there has been a lot of discussion about how much or little Pathfinder should/will diverge from 3.5 and why, and what the goal is.

And right now, I think a lot of this discussion is being generated by people talking past each other based on their own interpretation of Paizo's intent with this game and in particular with how "Backwards Compatibility" is actually defined.

To clarify: Does backwards compatibility mean that you can pick up any Pathfinder module and play it with 3.5? (James Jacobs defined it this way in one thread) or, does it mean that you can pick up any 3.5 module and play it using the Pathfinder rules? Or does it mean both?

My impression is that the first of these three things is the most important, because then you satisfy those who want a modified 3.5 and those who want to stick with their existing ruleset.

The thing that makes the second thing important is the existing APs, unless Paizo is going to provide free conversion notes for them. But in the long run, this is less important as the purpose of the Pathfinder game is to give continued rules support for the new APs and modules. Paizo doesn't really have a vested interest in making sure that you can play WotC's out of print adventures with their new rules.

Setting up Pathfinder to run all your old 3.5 stuff also strikes me as impossible. Paizo can't legally work with all the material outside the SRD, and even if they could, there is so much that it would be outrageous. So if you want to play a module with a 3.5 ninja npc, there aren't going to be any corresponding rules for the ninja class. Unless it is a completely new invention, that is visibly not an infringement of WotC's IP.

Which sort of leads to another point. How compatible is compatible? If you are running Pathfinder adventures in 3.5, are you at all hindered by having to use deception for bluff and sense motive? Can you just ignore the feats that aren't in your 3.5 rules? How much required conversion work is acceptable? Will each adventure need a page of conversion notes for people who want to use straight 3.5? If so will those notes be provided? If they are, will it be a generic guide printed each time, or will there be specific conversion notes?

Will 3.5 players be satisfied if they have to do some minimal conversion work on their own? Say on the level of converting 3.0 to 3.5? (Which I have done on the fly many times)

I'm very curious as to where Paizo stands on this, and I strongly suspect that different customers have different perspectives on it. I think it might be an important starting point for a lot of this discussion.

I'm going to go a step further and say that clarifying this will help resolve a lot of potential conflict before it happens. I suspect that now that people are done arguing over 3.5 vs. 4E because they have a personal vested interest in what Paizo decides, we will soon see similar arguments of backwards compatibility because it affects how useful future Pathfinder products are to each customer. Mostly because the more of your own house-rules you can get worked into the game, the better for you as a purchaser. In fact I think that's part of the large volume of posts so far. We're already getting a bit of the attitude that "a previous poster supported something I disagree with! I'd better speak up or Paizo might listen to him!"

Just to clarify, I don't think that the Pathfinder threads have descended into the problems there were in the 4E threads for a while. I just think that a) the volume is tremendous and b)things could go that way.

Okay, Crazy Talk Time.

I've been running using Spell Points for a long while now, and as part of that, I allow unlimited 0-level spells. For obvious reasons, I ditched CmW and created a stabilize spell just like Jason did (except mine brings you to 0 hp, unconscious and stable).

I've been doing this for a while and it works. It even works well.

BUT...

I've also been thinking about two related issues. The 15 minute adventuring day and encounter design.

People run out of healing magic and other resources and pack it in and call it a day. We all know this problem.

Or they decide to push on and do one more encounter, and suddenly, they are in TPK-land. The DM then writes a nasty letter to Paizo and Greg Vaughan because the encounter was too hard. Meanwhile, some other group rested and hit that same encounter fresh, and say it was a cakewalk.

So, I've started to believe that designing a balanced encounter would be a heck of a lot easier if you could make the default assumption that everyone was healed up at the beginning of most encounters.

Now don't get me wrong. I know that resource management is part of the game, and I LOVE that it is part of the game, but I think that hp are too important a resource (and frankly have too big an impact on your other resources; clerics still are mostly dedicated healbots, when they have so many cool utility spells) to screw around with too much.

So I am going to playtest Cure Minor Wounds as always available.

Now, before you eat me alive, consider the following. You can cast it once per round. That means 10 per minute, meaning that in 10 minutes you can heal a total of 100 hp. Divide that up among a party of 4 characters and that's an average of 25 hp each. After a big fight, it's going to take a little while to pump everyone back up. Long enough for reinforcements or a random encounter, if you want to put the pressure on. And really in combat CmW is pretty useless except to stabilize a dying character. That 1 hp will never be seen as making enough difference to be worth the effort.

PCs will still run out of spells and stuff, and have to camp sometimes. But mostly, you can keep the action going, and designers can rest a little easier knowing that the tough encounter isn't going to kill some party that would have beaten it if they camped for the night before opening the last door in the dungeon.

One more thing. My bro, the Scribbling Rambler, has a similar rule that he's trying in his game. He's made a spell (I forget what it's called) it has a 1 minute casting time (or is it ten minutes?) and it allows you to make a Heal skill roll. I believe the DC is 10 or 15, and for every point that you beat the DC by, you heal 1 hp. It's a little more complicated, but it does give you a reason other than caltrops to take the heal skill.

I know a lot of people are going to disagree with my sentiment, and I'll try to be as respectful of that as I can.

I haven't been posting here as much as I used to, partly because I'm too busy, but part of it is that I really wanted to have a rational conversation about 4E, and that was not possible on these boards.

I know many of you feel that you or others are being censored by Paizo, but frankly, the shouting matches on the 4E boards was drowning out way more free speech than the recent clean-up. All IMO of course, but suffice it to say that I frequently decided not to post because I felt my words would simply be drowned out, or had my words drowned out and lost in a sea of insults, or saw the same thing happen to others.

Freedom of speech is not just for those who shout the loudest.

Anyways, thanks guys for cleaning things up. It looks like a mostly thankless job, so I thought I'd do what little I can to change that. I really appreciate your hard work and tolerance through this process. I look forward to more rational discussion of the game.

And thank you to everyone who respected Paizo's decision and brought it down a few notches.

And thank you to everyone who kept their cool all along.

Craig Shackleton,
The Rambling Scribe

PS: I am personally undecided on 4E, in case anyone feels that this colours my perspective.

Today, I opened my mailbox and got out the mail, and there was a letter for Jeremy Walker. I was baffled.

I looked closer and it was addressed to the same house number as mine on a different street, here in Ottawa, Canada. So obviously not the same Jeremy Walker.

Unless he's got a hell of a commute.

And if so, I should apply for a job at Paizo and carpool with him.

Cosmodeus,

I ordered myself a Harrow deck, and then what with this and that and the other thing, I finally subscribed to Pathfinder Chronicles. Can you please cancel my separate Harrow Deck order? (#895659)

Thanks!

Craig Shackleton

Schweet!

Will this be written by Michael Kortes?

I said it before and so have several other people, but I just want to give Rodney props in a thread just for him!

Rodney has waded in on some of the more adversarial 4E threads and answered questions in a consistently polite, patient and respectful manner.

And the net result that I have seen is that suddenly there is real, open, rational discussion about 4E that is not getting flamed from either the pro- or the anti- side.

So not only has Rodney been directly helpful by answering questions to the best of his ability, he's opened a door to better discussion.

I still haven't made up my mind about 4E. I know I'm not the only one, but I'm glad to see more of us talking about it.

So thanks!

I was sick in bed yesterday and read a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a while called "Hunter's Run" by George R R Martin, Gardner Dozois, and Daniel Abraham.

At some point I'm supposed to write a review of it for SFSite, but it will be a bit difficult because I could easilly spoil it for some people.

Anyways, it's awesome. It's scifi, hard, gritty and vivid. The story is clever, and the characters are deep and real. It reminds me a bit of some of David Brin's Uplift novels, but without FTL.

I won't say it's the best book I've ever read, but I will say it might be the best hard SF book I've ever read. Apparently it took them 30 years to write it, so it better be good... ;-)

Seriously though, I strongly recommend this to any SF fans.

This ones dedicated to James Jacobs.

LINK

I'm sure some of you have already seen this article.

What interests me is how close its scientific name is to Jackalope. Makes me wonder if it's a fraud. Freaky nevertheless.

A few years ago I read an excellent little Cyberpunk short story, and now I can't remember what it was called, where I found it or who wrote it.

The basic premise is that a gang of small time teenage thieves start off stealing small items from containers in a freight yard. The containers have a weight sensor so they can only take very light items without setting off alarms.

The enwest member of the gang comes up with a better plan, and they start hacking into the freight transfer computers and diverting entire containers to themselves.

Anyone know what this story is called, who wrote it and what collection it's published in?

So i got my 149 today, in perfect condition, polybagged etc. I'm totally happy. But I am curious.

An address sheet was in the bag with it, with a Canada Post label and a note saying 'If undeliverable return to..." an address in Windsor, Ontario.

Does Paizo have a shipping agent in Windsor?

Is this something customs did at the border?

Did a letter soreter carefully read my magazine then repackage it?

Just wondering. Totally unurgent.

Craig Shackleton,

The Rambling Scribe

I didn't see any other threads about this, so I thought I would start one.

I really like the new sketches for Kyra and Merisiel. Not only is the artwork top-notch, but also:

1) The women are dressed practically for their class/role. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against depicting hot women in fantasy art. I just like them to look like they are dressed for what they do. Seoni was a little borderline for me, but she is a tattooed sorcerer after all, and these two balance her out nicely.

2) Merisiel has sold me on the long-eared elves. She looks awesome. In fact...

3) I just realized, I may have to steal this image for my existing female elf rogue character with a rapier and 500 daggers. My PC actually has dark hair, but otherwise, this picture really suits her.

Craig Shackleton,
The Rambling Scribe

Just read this today after picking it up at Origins. What an excellent adventure all round. A beautiful integration of well-designed challenges and thoughtful storytelling.

I am particularly happy with the flavour of the unique magic items throughout. Lots of stuff that is so much cooler than a +1 sword.

I'll definitely tie this to D0 when I run it. Someone suggested having the kids be motivated by the heroism of the PCs in Hollow's Last Hope to set things rolling in D1. Beautiful idea that I will completely steal.

Good Job Nick!

As promised, I am starting a spin-off thread on half-races in Pathfinder. Post your thoughts on how they should be portrayed or explained or whatever.

I'm sure we will get a lot of "Drop Half-Elves and Half-Orcs" from Pathfinder responses. Let's take for granted that they will be there, because a) we've already been told they will, and b) it's abundantly clear that Pathfinder will include everything that is a core element of the SRD.

Personally, I usually don't like half-races, because they are inconsistant and poorly explained. So let's come up with some explanations that work. Then I can like them.

I am personally not a big fan of 'everything can breed with everything' rules, because man, what a big freaking can of worms that is. I know that there are already a number discussion threads and published materials devoted to this, but this is not what I want in Pathfinder.

So, what do I want?

Well, there are the big three: Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, and Half-Dragons.

I'm going to lump half-orcs and half-elves to gether and simply summarize my thought from another thread:

I'd like to see elves as former denizens of the fairy realm who have become mortal. After warring with the orcs for generations and seeing that the war was corrupting them, the elves started a magically enhanced breeding program to make orcs more like elves and created humans. Thus humans can breed with either.

Half-Dragons: Half-dragons are usually explained away by the fact that dragons can take human form. However, most half-dragons I see are half-chromatic rather than metallic, and AFAIK know only some of the metallic (and none of the chromatic) dragons have the "Alternate Form" ability. I realize that any of them could learn polymorph, but so could many creatures.

Of course, the draconic blood/sorcery connection and the Dragon Disciple class allow the creation of half-dragons, but only from people who supposedly already have draconic ancestry.

To be honest, I've never been satisfied with this whole dragon-blood thing, and I'd be grateful to anyone who can make me like it.

Then we have tieflings and Aasimars and half-celestials and half-fiends. These, I'm pretty happy with as they are. To me, the idea that an essentially magically being from a foreign plane of existence can breed with humans (and other races) and produce offspring is less jarring to me than having seemingly unrelated creatures from the same world being able to do so. Actually, this is part of why I'm so keen on having elves be ex-fey.

Well, that's a good long rambly post; let's hear your thoughts!

Craig Shackleton,
The Rambling Scribe

EDIT: Twice now today, I have typed a long post, selected all and copied, and then posted, to have the message disappear. So then I recreate it, paste the message in and repost, and suddenly both are there.

In the last Pathfinder Chat Summary, it was mentioned that Pathfinder Orcs are still in need of fresh paint.

I've been thinking about it a bit.

Alright, first of all, there are two half-human races in the core races; half-orcs and half-elves. Let's use that as a starting point. I'd like to see a better justification for these half-races, and personally, I'd like to limit half-races that are not specifically created by some arcane or divine effect. I've always liked the idea that elves are either feytouched mortals or fey that gave up the fairylands for the mortal world.

I don't know how much elves have been developed, but bear with me.

So Orcs are the original evil masters of the underdark. They made war on the surface world eons ago, taking slaves and building an empire based on might.

The dwarves and elves of the world united and fought back, eventually turning the tide and pushing into the underdark themselves. Many of the elves and dwarves became corrupted. Seeking to destroy the orcs, they became what they hated. Likewise, many of the slaves captured by the orcs became more like their masters. Thus were born the drow, the duergar, and the derro. The elves realized that they could not defeat the orcs without destrying themselves, so they tried something different.

The Elves captured hundreds of orcs and began working to change them. Careful breeding programs, and magical modifications were enacted to create a more elf-like orc. And thus was born a new race. Humans.

Meanwhile, the dwarves had changed to a defensive strategy. They built fortresses at many important entrances to the underdark and became more and more insular.

Humans still clung to the fierce independance inherited from their orc ancestors and won their freedom from the Elves, who declared the experiment a failure. Humans spread accross the land and became a buffer between elven lands and the orcs and dwarves.

In the underdark, the orcs grew more complacent and dependant on their slaves. When the slaves organized a rebellion, their greatest weapon was that the orcs could no longer do the basic tasks needed for survival. The great orc households had more slaves than orcs. Between being betrayed by their trusted 'servants' and suddenly having no way to get food or other basic neccessities the orcs were undone. The empire was fractured, and only small tribes of orcs survived by raiding their enemies for supplies. some of them manged to escape to the surface, where they found a new people raid; their distant cousins, the humans. Human style agricultural communities out in the open were an easy target, and eventually the orcs carved a new niche for themselves, living in caves and raiding the surface by night.

I'm sure that some of this already incompatible with the setting, but I'm sure it could be adapted. I mostly just like the idea that humans are descendants of orcs...

Hi all,

A little preamble: About a month ago I finally decided to go to Gen Con. Being an 'in for a penny, in for a pound' kinda guy, I signed up for the VIG program (I'm not sure if that's 'very important gamer' or 'very intensely geeky').

So two days later, I get a contract in the mail from Paizo for "The Aundairian Job," meaning I can actually afford and justify my choice. Karmariffic!

Then two days after that, Paizo and Wizards announce the end of an era.

So I can't help but feel that the big DM who runs the game that is my life is trying to tell me something. And whatever the clue is at GenCon that I need to beat the BBEG, I don't want to miss it.

I'm thinking it's going to be at the VIG insider dinner, where I get to bump the elbows of industry bigwigs who just want to eat a meal in peace. But here's the kicker; they haven't announced who will be there, and they have asked us to give suggestions for who to invite.

Well, I'd love to talk to just about anyone who works for or contributes to Paizo. So I have two questions:

Have any of the Paizo staff been invited?

If not, would you like to be? Obviously, I can't guarantee that my request will lead directly to an invitation, but I can at least try.

The dinner is on Friday from 7pm to 9pm.

Of course, I'll be at the Paizo booth pestering you with my Fanboy antics regardless.

As an aside, is anyone else signed up for the VIG program?

Craig Shackleton,
The Rambling Scribe

PS: don't read to much about my actual view of reality into the above post.

So WotC has put up a barrel, sack and crate contents generator on their website.

My impression/guess is that this is supposed to be demonstrative of how electronic materials can do things that a magazine can't. At the very least they seem to be trying to counter the popular attitude that they have a poor online content track record.

It does quickly generate random contents very quickly, and it appears to be fairly customizable in terms of number of boxes, total value, types of things to be found etc.

However, the results frequently include things like '1d4 [gem type] value 10 gp' or even worse '1d4 random common weapons, see table x in DMG.' If this is supposed to save me time by generating the contents, why not do the whole job?

But it doesn't really bother me, because I doubt I would ever have a need for it. I mean, if I'm designing my own adventure, and have a room full of crates, I should already have a pretty good idea of what is in them. And if I'm running a published adventure and there is a room full of crates and barrels with no description of what they would contain, I would assign them no particular value or use. If the author intended more for them, they would have assigned it themselves, and hopefully the treasure is already balanced to the encounters.

I suppose in a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants adventure where the PCs break into a random warehouse or something, it would be handy, assuming you had your lap-top at the table. Also, it does show that there are neat things you can do with electronic content. Quick generators can be useful.

I just think there are more useful things that could be generated (I'd love a generator that could quickly make a variety of humanoid warriors with different stats, feats, and equipment). And I think that a generator should complete the task it's intended for.

Now, they haven't said that this has anything to do with their online initiative, and of course, if it does, they don't want to give away their best stuff for free right now.

But if this is the face of the future, I have to say "meh."

Craig Shackleton,

The Rambling Scribe

I realize this might not be viable, as a lot of people don't want to by more rulebooks, but personally, I would be happy to see a PHB-like book with the SRD integrated with setting-specific material from the new Paizo Campaign setting.

For example, the major deities in the cleric class description, starknife in the equipment section etc.

Also, it would be a good opportunity to fill in the blanks in the SRD. I don't remember exactly, but IIRC there are some key elements left out, like experience progression and stat generation. Replacements for these could be brought in as well. Plus you could throw in some other OLG material that you want to use, and integrate important erratta.

Obviously it's not worth doing until you've proven that the adventures are selling, but you have already generated a lot of interest.

One more advantage is this; IF WotC is ending all of their liscencing because they're getting ready to release a closed-liscence 4th edition (not that I'm convinced of this, but I can't deny the possibility), you will already have a new core product in place that you can continue to build off of. In fact, it would put Paizo in good position to be the centre of the new OGL market.

If WotC does creeate a new closed-liscence D&D, all of the third-party OGL companies will be left with 3 options. 1) Continue to run with the OGL, which means at least one company putting out a core rules set. 2) Branching off and creating your own new system. 3)Packing it in.

Option 1) is ideal for Paizo's Gamemastery/Pathfinder line because it already has an established following. Some players would still follow Paizo into a completely new game, but more will follow down an established successful path. And right now Paizo has the most D&D brand power other than Wizards themselves.

Craig Shackleton

The Rambling Scribe

PS: I'd be happy to write that rulebook! :-)

Alright, I'm not here to criticize, I'm here to offer suggestions and solutions.

Like everyone else, I felt punched in the gut when I read the announcement yesterday. I immediately decided to subscribe to Pathfinder to support Paizo who I feel are getting the short end of the stick.

Then I saw the price. Ouch. The subscriber discount makes it tolerable, for a cause. $5 shipping per issue to Canada and then I paused again.

I will subscribe and give it a chance. My wife won't be happy, but I'll work it out. But I can't do it long-term with the proposed set up.

Here's the problem. My group alternates campaigns and DMs. I am lucky in that we play every week for 3-4 hours. I know a lot of players who don't play nearly that much, especially in my demographic (mid-thirties, married with kids). My brother is running age of worms, I think we're about half done, and I'm running Ptolus. I'm looking forward to starting the Savage Tide sometime in, oh 2008 probably. By that time I will also have the entire Rise of the Runelords on the backburner, along with whatever else comes along, and probably still have a lot to do in my Ptolus campaign. And at that point I'll be looking at paying for the next Adventure Path. I'll have so much material that I won't be able to justify it.

Now, I know that I can use it by ripping off bits to stick in my existing campaigns. In fact, I do that a LOT. But not so much when I have it in my head that I may run it as a complete campaign some day. And did I say, by the way, that I LOVE that Paizo is producing entire ready-to-go campaigns? Because it's about the awesomist thing ever. But when I have two and a half campaigns lined up, I don't need more. Unless I'm getting something else with it.

The reason the adventure paths work is that they give readers a reason to be consistant in purchasing. But we also want those other adventures that we don't mind plundering for our existing campaigns.

So instead I could just buy some of the Gamemastery stand-alones. And I might, but not regularly. And I'll be more picky about them.

All this to really say two things, both of which have been said before, more than once.

1) The price is on the high side for a monthly subscription. The shipping takes it over the top. My suggestion is offer a cheaper shipping option, especially for foreign subscribers. As an additional note, I have frequently cancelled my Paizo Shopping Cart when I got to the part where it adds the shipping. Especially because I will also pay import duty on it when it gets here. It might sound crazy, but with admin fees that might be an extra $8 per issue of Pathfinder.

2) The campaigns will come out too fast to justify buying them consistantly when they are arriving faster than they can be run. Especially at that price. I suggest having two (or three) adventures per issue, with at least one being a stand alone.

And now I'll add a third:

3) Set all of the adventures in Pathfinder in the same setting, whether stand-alone or Adventure Path. Do the same for future Game Mastery adventures. Soon you will have a setting product line with an established audience.

Craig Shackleton,

The Rambling Scribe