Overseer's page

What's a float? (That which the Blue Nixie was moored on in TINH). I made the assumption that it was 100 feet of open water between the Nixie and the pier, so the characters had to commandeer a rowboat to get to the ship.

Naturally, being terrible with their social skills, they were sitting ducks when Soller’s men began peppering them with crossbow bolts. One was rendered unconscious and the rest, after so many failed climbing checks, manage to board the Nixie and won the encounter, barely.

So again I would like to know what’s a float, for the sake of knowing what I did wrong with the encounter?

What's a float? (That which the Blue Nixie was moored on in TINH). I made the assumption that it was 100 feet of open water between the Nixie and the pier, so the characters had to commandeer a rowboat to get to the ship.

Naturally, being terrible with their social skills, they were sitting ducks when Soller’s men began peppering them with crossbow bolts. One was rendered unconscious and the rest, after so many failed climbing checks, manage to board the Nixie and won the encounter, barely.

So again I would like to know what’s a float, for the sake of knowing what I did wrong with the encounter?

give it an hour i just loaded it.

3 hours and waiting, ooh, the suspense is killing me! Guess I have to prepare a new batch of popcorn.

I thought it was a great improvement from the first. But after those annoying playable NPCs, plot twists, and stronghold 101 (shudders), I felt like everything having a mediciny taste - and when I had that feeling I decided not bothering in finishing the story. Not even its replayabiliy, like trying out the various prestige classes, would entice me to go through it over again.

Have a demon, sent by Demogorgon, suddenly appear and scoop up his remains before the characters have a chance to use the spell.

How do you resolve a encounter between a party of 4 mid-level PCs vs. say 50 orcs in an open field? The players roll their respective initiatives and the DM rolls for the orcs as a whole, do you let all 50 orcs swarm in on the players? *shudders* Or do you let a number do nothing that round and just wait, observe, etc.? What if the 50 orcs have shortbows and all decided to fire?

The truth is, Bas-Lag could easily be a 224-page campaign setting book, complete with a new magic system, more monsters, national descriptions, new equipment, etc. Dragon invested most an an issue in describing the setting (which fans of Mieville are sure to appreciate), but even that isn't the same as a complete, ready-to-run world.

Wow! Is there any chance of that becoming a reality? I would definitely buy it!

What weapons, armors and equipments do they use in Bas-Lag? Do they still use swords and such, what about armor? Are there guns and other advance technologies? The articles in that issue of Dragon were very vague about it.

This may seem late but I would appreciate if someone could help me on this.

So for example in the case of the lycanthropes which states - lets say having a DR of 10/silver; that means even if you have a magic weapon (+1 at least) unless it is also made out of silver, the full damage reduction above comes into effect?

Having to come home from work at 11:00 PM and then immediately do net surfing, I only get an average of four to five hours of sleep these days. But my eyes are diagnosed as mesopic and I should really rest more a bit.

While I run an Eberron-type "Age Of Worms", I've greatly enjoyed the Greyhawk-intense treatment done to the two Adventure Paths especially to the various locales: Amedio Jungle, Free City of Greyhawk, Cairn Hills, the Mistmarsh, the Nyr Dyv, Rift Canyon, the Bandit Kingdoms, etc.

James can you hint us to the area(s) of the next AP? But I'm hoping it would be in places that have not been extensively explored like (in my opinion): the ruins and mysterious locales described in "From the Ashes" (Red) Greyhawk Box set, the Great Kingdom, Scarlet Brotherhood, the blasted Baklunish lands to the west (I would love to see an AP set in the
Baklunish lands), The Sea Of Dust or the lands of the former Suel Imperium.

2: We should probably assume more readers are running the Age of Worms as a series than running individual adventures, spend less time on providing adventure hooks and guidance for running adventures as stand-alone adventures and more time providing strong links between adventures.

Won't this spell out as a recipe for disaster for you, James and Co., from hardliners who would be opposed to this idea and make such threats like canceling their subscriptions for having one less stand-alone adventure in their magazine?

Oh and I'm one of those who would like to see your idea above in AP3 and beyond.

This may come as strange, but in my 1st Edition days I had no problems in visualizing and running combat without the aid of tactical elements like miniatures and battle mats. But now I can't seem to effectively resolve an encounter without at least using makeshift counters on the table. Certain rules like flanking make it hard to play out combat without depending on some tangible visual aids. I feel like 3.5 had made me loose my DM's 'touch' in running fast, fluid and fun combat situations instead it made me into a ridged tactical freak! Well I can only hope that 4.0 will deal with issues like running encounters in the manner similar to the 1st or 2nd Edition; but I doubt of that ever happening due to the fact that miniatures and rules for running miniatures are today's norms in RPGs.

In AD&D, the 1st edition, players were obliged to draw a map of their progress in a dungeon (usually) and there was a mechanic for it - 1 turn (10 minutes) for their slowest movement I think. In those days it was cumbersome describing the dungeon features, especially irregularly shaped rooms or caves and caverns, to my players. They couldn't tell the difference between a passage turn to a side passage without me showing it to them. Today maps have become more essential due to the meticulous nature of combat system of 3.5.

To those who use photocopied or scanned player's maps from the dungeon magazines lately or to those who DMs who make the extra effort of making player's maps; how do you present them to your players, as a whole or piece by piece?

In the AD&D, the 1st edition, players were obliged to draw a map of their progress in a dungeon (usually) and there was a mechanic for it - 1 turn (10 minutes) for their slowest movement I think. In those days it was cumbersome describing the dungeon features, especially irregularly shaped rooms or caves and caverns, to my players. They couldn't tell the difference between a passage turn to a side passage without me showing it to them. Today maps have become more essential due to the meticulous nature of combat system of 3.5.

To those who use photocopied or scanned player's maps from the dungeon magazines lately or to those who DMs who make the extra effort of making player's maps; how do you present them to your players, as a whole or piece by piece?

Good point. We'll look into it.

--Erik

Erik-sama, while you're at it why not add some Asian themes as well :)

That's just my two centavos on this.

My goodness, why can't I think of such great and innovative ideas like those? Maybe it's because I just don't have the time to think and design adventures of my own and depend too much on time-saving and ready made adventures from such sources like Dungeon. Again many thanks to both of your ideas, they're inspiring.

Where in Eberron do you plan on putting the Whispering Cairn?

I planned using as is in the Overload but after reading it and looking at the map it seems that the PCs will have to take a ship from Diamond Lake to the Free City (Sharn) and vise versa. What about you?

My players and I have played "Whispering Cairn" as is - where the PCs are natives of Diamond Lake - but somehow stopped after the part of defeating the 3 wolves. We ditched it and started off on an Eberron campaign, using the Forgotten Forge as a start.

I plan to introduce the Whispering Cairn again to them in the very near future, but as visitors and not as natives of Diamond Lake. All I need then is a good adventure hook, besides the default one and one that involves outsiders coming to town, to get them involve in the adventure.

Many thanks in advance.

That would be Dragon 337, the Zuggtmoy issue. Its under bazaar of the bizarre: Magic Face Paints